{Not} Living Vicariously

Six (or seven) State Adventure - Come June

Why is it that buying plane tickets always gives me such a funny feeling? I get seriously freaked out at that sense of commitment, and yet I love to travel. Well, yesterday, I took the plunge once again and Aaron and I have tickets to Providence, RI to hang out with my brother and see a bit of New England. While I always thought we'd go in the autumn, that didn't work out and June is. We are hoping to find geocaches in at least six if not seven states while there (after all, I am goal oriented and it makes me happy to achieve something even while off having fun) and eat lots of wonderful food. Ryan has even started an itinerary with suggestions of blog worthy food events to be posted over on THB. We are so looking forward to this time away. Taking recommendations if you have any . . .

Whelmed Part 2

So yesterday I admitted that I was feeling just a bit overwhelmed . . . well today I came home to this

and this

not to mention this

and a glass of wine (not pictured). I have the best husband!

Picture #3 is a magnetic on your fridge vase that was in my stocking at Christmas. Thanks Santa.

Crazy Christmas Cards

In yesterday's mail, we received something rather interesting - a returned Christmas card that was mailed out on December 14, 2010 and has a yellow "return to sender, attempted - not know, unable to forward" sticker from 09/03/11.

?????

They tried for almost nine months to deliver and are just now returning? Or did it sit in someone's mailbox (this was an apartment address) for nine months and then got returned to the post office as a new resident moved in? Maybe it got stuck in some mail carrier's bag or fell down the side of the vehicle and was just found? Who knows?

I do know the intended recipient of the card has gotten married and since moved from that address so Kim, if you read this, we wished you a Happy Christmas last year and will attempt to do the same this year, hopefully with better luck!

Crazy Christmas Cards indeed!

Where did March go?

It was a busy month, I'll grant you that. However, to look back and see how long it has been since my last post . . . I was a bit surprised. Some of the things that I've done over the past couple of weeks:

• My father came to visit - we accomplished several chores. (my back door frame is finally painted!)
• We went to visit my brother up in Illinois - managed to acquire geocaches in Illinois, Missouri, and Indiana on that trip. (Can't cross any off my list of "neighbor states" though)
• I moved offices at work - got to love hearing about 4 pm on a Thursday that you are changing locations Friday morning. (and I had just finished unpacking from my move 2 months earlier)
• Did another marathon cooking session - started out with 11 pounds of ground beef and have a nice full chest freezer.

Now I just need to get back in tune with the normal chores of life - cleaning, laundry, dog walking, etc. Not to forget - blogging (the fun chore!)

Another picture finally hung

For a wedding gift we received this lovely frame with caligraphy writing on the mat from a dear family at church. It has sat empty for way too long . . . and I finally printed a photo and hung it on the wall.

 
The girl who gave it to us happens to be going through stage 4 cancer right now and yet her spirit and faith remain at such high levels she continues to be an inspiration to me in my walk with God. And my heart continues to pray to God that she has more time on Earth with her husband and sons. Although if He decides to take her home, she will be ready. Because that is just who she is. I am a better person for having known her.

God bless you Sara!

Happy Valentine's Day 2011

I'm not the best at celebrating or decorating for Valentine's Day. There are a multitude of reasons why this is so. Suffice to say, I put a lot more energy into other holidays than I do this one. However, with all the snow we've been through this winter and in celebration of the fact that we are in the 50s today I'm thrilled that this is not my car right now!

 
And having said that, I'm off to help my husband cook dinner. On the menu are Roasted Cornish Hens with Cherry-Port Glaze, Wild Rice with Dried Fruit and Nuts, Sugar Snap Peas, and for dessert Black and Tan Brownies. Yum!

One more memory of Disneyland

I have so many memories of Disneyland as an "adult" due to attending UCLA and benefitting from their annual passport programs. If you went 4 times in a year, you'd paid for the passport and any visits after that were "free" to my way of thinking. Debbie and I would sometimes go and not ride a single ride - just enjoy the weather and the people watching.

Granted, those were rare trips, usually we were riding the rides. I'm so glad I got the opportunity to take Aaron and that we went with my parents and Aunt & Uncle. (If my brother had been able to join us, it would have been even better.) It was great that he got to experience it as the "kid" without any children. Don't get me wrong, children definitely deserve to enjoy Disney as well! But it is so much fun to get to be the kid also, at least for that first time.

 
The weather was perfect, lines were short, and everyone seemed truly happy to be there. I couldn't ask for anything more . . .

NYE traditions

While many people are out celebrating tonight, we opted for a quiet night at home . . . once again watching Star Wars. We've made it through "New Hope" and "Empire Strikes Back" so far, while also doing prep work for tomorrow's annual New Year's bash down in Decherd. This year the theme is Mexican and we have several salsas created, plus have started on the bean and rice dishes. And while we are on a quick break and Aaron is chopping up more ingredients, I thought I'd give you a peek at what we had for dinner: we busted out some homemade dough and created little pizzas.

 
Pepperoni Black Olive . . . yummy goodness. We do still need to work on our dough but we did enjoy every bite of our dinner. Now back to our movies.

Date Night at Rumours East

We don't go out to eat very often, with two cooks in the family it is more fun to eat at home. However, once a year in October we make a point of going out to a fancy restaurant where I get to dress up. I even blow dry my hair and put on makeup which is a *huge* deal if you talk to my co-workers . . . this year we headed to Rumours East and you can check out the menu we enjoyed here.

 

I should have had a close-up to prove to y'all that I still know how to apply my eyeliner. Oh well, trust me, it was there. As well as eyeshadow, mascara, blush, and all the lipstick layers. As for the blow dryer, it is going back into hibernation for a while!

Enough about me, what about the guy I'm with? He even wore a tie. (And he bought me flowers, if we weren't already married, I'd have to marry him.)

Living Room Wall

I've always wanted a wall covered in family pictures. So far I'm not there yet, however I am pretty pleased with the look I've achieved in the living room. I was admiring some framed sheet music at a friend's house and started thinking about how fun it would be to do the same with the song we used for our first dance: Ray LaMontagne's "You Are The Best Thing" however was disappointed to discover that it is not sold alone. And yet the idea would not leave my head.

So after a while I decided to purchase the guitar tabluture book of the whole album. We also got copies of our unity song (The Greatest Command) and our walking down the aisle as Mr. and Mrs. song (Muppet Theme) and then I had black and white prints made of photos from those parts of the event. Along with our large photo inside a signature mat, I have a fun little vignette of our wedding day.

 
And here is a closeup of the one that prompted the entire project.

 
I apologize for the poor quality of the photos. Unfortunately, between the glass on the frames and the window that brings light in most of the day, I had a lot of issues with getting pictures that were not over-exposed.