a little butterfly wonderland

While commuting to work every day, I continually drive by this cute little building that was labeled as Butterfly Wonderland . Husband and I had the rare day off together last Friday and we decided that it was the perfect time to check this place out. It was a wonderful experience, that's for sure. 

These creatures are so beautiful and so thrilling. We mistakenly went early in the morning (we tend to be early risers) this turned out to be a good decision on our part. The sunrise made them so active, they were flying every which way. 

Husband didnt have any luck in getting one to land on him, I was able to have two and one that did not want to leave. After we spent time with the butterflies we got to see scorpions, bees and some stingrays. It was a cute little place and a very enjoyable one on one time with my husband. 

one chinchilla two, three chinchillas four

Most of y'all who know us know that we have a little bit of a chinchilla obsession. Over the last 3 and a half years of marriage we seem to be continually collecting these little creatures. 

I quite frequently find my self explaining to every person that I meet, about how on earth I ended up with four chinchillas. 

Pope, Cardinal, Bishop and Archie are our current fluffy butts that we have. On occasion we do pick up a few to hold for a local rescue here in Arizona. But four is our limit. 

Originally we had one. Pope the chinchilla. He had been my husband's family pet for a number of years. When we got hitched, we decided to pack up poor Pope from New Hampshire and fly him alllll the way out to Idaho to live with us.

 After a few months of living with us, I decided that he was lonely. Where he originally had been staying he had people constantly at his cage talking to him. Pope absolutely loves any and all attention.

We then set up a play date with some other local chinchilla owners. One thing led to another and we'll then there was two.

 Originally he was just going to stay the night...

Cardinal is what we call our derpy chin. You will frequently find him wide eyed in strange positions through out the cage. Once out he will clime to the absolute highest point he can possibly get to and stare at you until you chase him down. 

But, If there is one thing that I could say about Cardinal, it's that he absolutely adores Pope. From day one he has just wanted to snuggle and love up on Pope. The best part about it...Pope hates cuddling. I have sat and watched these two on so many occasions, it's absolutely hilarious. 

We have tubes in the cage for them to play and lay on and often we find Cardinal smooshed in with Pope on the same tube. Pope will knack and knack at him, occasionally Cardinal will move but majority of the time Pope will give up and accept it.

Because our first bonding of chinchillas had been so successful we frequently joked about getting another chinchilla for Cardinal to actually be able to snuggle with.

A few days after thanksgiving I made the mistake of walking into a petstore. Bishop the chinchilla was sitting very grumply and lonely in his plastic cage. I immediately knew I wanted him. And after convincing husband that this would be the best Christmas gift we walked out the door with our third chinchilla.

Bishop the chinchilla is a different kind of chinchilla. Chinchillas are animals of prey, scared and frightened little creatures. Bishop is none of these. He is aggressive, angry and has zero fears. 

Unfortunately he was and is unable to bond with other chinchillas. He will live by himself for the rest of his life. 

Over the year of owning him we have seen his temperment change and grow trusting of us. We hope to see him continually grow to become a better well behaved chinchilla. 

Back in  2014 husband was offered an incredible job, so we packed up our house and our Chinchillas and drove down to Arizona. It was quite an adventure to have three chinchillas stuffed in our car on a 14 hour drive. 

Shortly after moving to Arizona I met a wonderful woman here, who runs a rescue for chinchillas in the valley. One night she was unable to pick up a rescue chinchilla, she called me to see if we were able to. The chinchilla that we received had been so badly mauled that he had to receive an emergency amputation on his back leg. 

At this point in time we added our fourth and final chinchilla to our family. 

Archie the chinchilla is our youngest chinchilla of the four, and he is completely heart melting. He is very much a baby and has the sweetest temperament. He loves to be held and he loves to be loved. 

Due to his amputation he is unable to bond with Pope and Cardinal. They enjoy picking on him. 

Archie has been such a wonderful connection in our family and we are so grateful to have him brought into our lives.

Chicken Cajun Pasta.

Hello All,

I am back again with another yummy blog post. This time its about my husbands all time favorite meal......Chicken Cajun Pasta. And can we take a moment and talk about how obsessed he is.....he asks me to make it at least four or five times  a week. He cannot get enough of it.

I originally got this recipe from the Pioneer Woman, but I adapted it for my own liking so.....enjoy!!!!

So we start off with some yummy veggies. I keep peppers frozen around here (get em when they are cheap!!!) and then we slice and dice them. I used five roma tomatoes, one onion and a handful of peppers (use as much as you want....we love peppers over here so we always have quite a bit)

Then we take some yummy chicken breast and chop that up into little bite size pieces. 

At this point we are ready for some cooking. Take a skillet and heat it up, put a little olive oil and butter in it. Once they are nice and hot throw in the chicken breast and sprinkle a little Cajun sauce on them. (if you are making a lot or use a lot of chicken, cook in batches so that there is no over lapping). Now after you throw the chicken in the pan.....just wait and sprinkle more Cajun sauce. Let them get nice and brown, then flip and wait on the the other side. After they are cooked completely, with a slotted spoon pull them out and set them to the side. 

Next, add a little more butter and oil and throw those veggies in there sans the tomatoes. Add a spoonful of garlic and some more Cajun sauce. After they are fragrant pull them out with a slotted spoon and set to the side (be sure to keep all the yummy juices in the pan)

At this point I would get your fettuccine cooking!!!! 

Now with all those yummy juices add a can of chicken stalk (if you make your own i add about four ice cubes) and let that simmer for about 5 minutes or until it starts to brown. 

Next add two cups of heavy cream. and whisk it all in. Let simmer and thicken for about 3 or 4 more minutes. You want this to become saucy!!! I also add more Cajun sauce here until I like the flavoring. 

After the sauce has thickened up throw everything back in there and add some tomatoes. Let cook on medium heat for about 6 more minutes. 

Next drain those noodles and get them into that pasta. Cook until everything is heated. 

Then add some parsley and voila....serve!!!!