Mrs. Origami

2011 reflections

2011-12-31T12:07:00.000-08:00

Since 2011 only has a few hours left, I thought this would be the perfect time to do a little wrapping up.

2011 was a great year. So many people we know would beg to differ, but we feel that it's been a very very good year for us.

For one, my husband started teaching piano, for real. He has a bunch of students and he teaches 2 days a week (and works at his other job the other 5 days a week). So, even though we don't get to spend as much time together as we'd like, he's working his way towards his real career, which is to teach piano full time. One of these days he will be there, teaching 5 days a week, and he can say "so long!" to his other job. For now though, we are making this work. It's a great opportunity, and even though we don't have the time together that we'd like to have, one day we will and can look back knowing it was all worth it.

We also started selling origami bouquets and such on etsy. We have a full wedding to do later on in the new year, and a few other bouquets have already been requested for 2012. I also started selling craft items and cake pops. This year I attended a few craft shows, and had my own booth/table, where I was able to sell some homemade/handmade items. They were fun experiences and I got to meet other local crafters/artists. I learned a lot from the shows I participated in and I hope to do even more in 2012.

We laid out all of our plans on the table. We've got goals and ideas ready to take off. Dreams are no longer dreams but are becoming reality. Anyone who knows me knows that I don't like to just say I'm going to do something, but I actually act on those things. I'm the kind of person who follows through, and 2011 has proven that. 2012 is going to prove it even more.

I would do a pictorial post, breaking down each month and such, but I think I'll just leave with one photo this year.

Happy New Year!

Chocolate Cameos

2011-11-04T10:34:00.000-07:00

A while ago I made some molds from some of my cameos.

These molds are food safe, so once they are cured and washed, they are ready to be used. I made these so I could make some cameo chocolates. I got the idea from this Country Living article I found from pinterest.

I'm not sure where you can purchase cameo shaped mold sheets from, which is why I made my own. The ones I made were just a test. I used this product, Amazing Mold Putty. I get it from the craft store with a 40% off coupon. It's not much in the containers but you actually do get a lot out of it.

What you do is you mix the 2 compounds together (just enough for whatever it is you want to make a mold of), and once they are combined, you press the object in the compound. Once it sets, you can remove the item, and then you have a mold. Once it cures you can wash it and then use it to make things like chocolates and such. Which is exactly what we do with it.

These are my two cameo chocolates made from my molds:

They are not perfect but with a little more practice I can figure it out. I plan on making multiple cameo molds from the molding putty so I can make more than 2 of these at a time.

What I did was painted the cameo image first with white chocolate, and then I added the milk chocolate to the molds. Once they were set, I removed the chocolates from the molds. Cute!

Next time I will make sure the mold isn't filled so much, so the chocolates have flat backs. I can also trim the chocolates around the edges in case there is too much on them..imagine how pretty these would be in multiple colors, like the Country Living article shows. Would be great to make a box of them as a gift for someone, or for favors at a bridal shower.

I wanted to blog this so I could share it in the YHL pinterest challenge this month. Lots of great ideas over there!

Homemade Chicken Pot Pie

2011-11-04T10:05:00.000-07:00

A favorite blog of mine shared a recipe for chicken pot pie (from scratch) a couple years ago. Since then I have made it a few times and it is delish.

Last night I made 2 pies for dinner, and one small one for lunches. I actually doubled the batch, but my instructions below only mention ingredients for one batch.

For the shell crust, take 1-2/3 cups of flour, 2 tsp of celery seed, 1 8oz. package of cream cheese, 1/3 cup of butter, and 1/4 tsp of salt and mix together to form dough. (I doubled all of this)

I lightly floured a surface and rolled mine out with a rolling pin. Then, I placed the doughs in the dishes I was baking with.

I cubed some boneless skinless chicken breasts (about three large ones) and cooked those through, then I put them in my food processor and shredded it up really nice.

While the chicken was cooking, I minced some garlic (about 2 tsp) in the processor first. I melted 1/3 cups of butter in a pot on the stove, and added the garlic, 1/2 tsp of salt, some pepper, and 1/3 cup of flour. After that was blended, I slowly added 1-1/2 cups of warm water, 2/3 cups of milk, and 3 chicken bouillon cubes. Once this came to a boil and thickened up, I turned off the heat and stirred in the shredded chicken, and 1 cup of frozen mixed vegetables and 1 cup of frozen hash browns (small cubed up white potatoes). (I doubled all of this)

Once that was all mixed together, I filled all the dishes with it. I think next time I will add more mixed veggies.

And then I rolled out the rest of the dough and topped the pies, using a fork to secure the edges. I also cut slits in the tops of the pies.

I baked these for about 20 minutes at 425 degrees Fahrenheit. They came out perfectly!

The larger one is being frozen for future meals and the round one was dinner last night and it will be dinner the rest of the weekend most likely. The small one is perfect for lunches (actually makes 2 lunches because it's so much).

Fall is the time of year to make cozy warm meals like this. Chicken pot pie from scratch is one of my husband's favorite meals. He doesn't even like cream cheese, but he loves the dough this recipe makes (you can't taste the cream cheese at all). These would be great made as individual pot pies and frozen. Thanks to Sunday Baker for a great recipe!

Happy Halloween!!

2011-10-31T06:44:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!!

This year we carved 3 pumpkins and 1 turnip.

The Kanji one is "face" in Japanese.

Why did we carve a turnip? That's because of Jack of the Lantern.

The story behind Jack'o'lanterns is here: http://merganser.math.gvsu.edu/myth/jackothelantern.html

Basically, Jack tricked the devil into promising not to take his soul. When he died he was in limbo between heaven and hell, because he wasn't good enough for heaven and the devil promised not to bring him to hell. He was given an ember from the devil so he could see while he was wandering around in the dark. He put the ember in a carved out turnip and held it like a lantern. He became known as Jack of the Lantern. It's an old Irish folk story, and I love it.

I also made some pumpkin cake pops. They are various flavors (next time I will have to actually make pumpkin bread or cake ones). Someone ordered 2 dozen from me for a Halloween party and I brought the rest to work to give out as treats for Halloween.

We decorated our front window with origami bats:

Even Beethoven at home has some Halloween spirit!

I made some apple butter with the rest of my apples from the orchard:

And canned it for some friends:

And I roasted some pumpkin seeds and flavored them with cinnamon and sugar:

They are delicious!

On Saturday, after I delivered the 201+ cake pops that a bride ordered for her wedding, I saw this amazing sunset.

And speaking of those wedding cake pops, here they are:

Apple Picking!

2011-10-13T10:47:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday my pal David and I headed out to Grave's Mountain to attend the apple harvest festival and to pick apples in the orchard!

It was opening day for the festival, so there was a line of traffic waiting to get there, but we made it around 11am. We parked and trekked across the way to where the festival was. We checked out the vendors and joked about all of the tchotkes and other things we saw there. We did see a few things we liked, too.

Like these gold/silver dipped leaves turned into pendants:

I really liked the ginkgo leaf pendants she made and I'm sure I could make them myself. I saw some liquid metal (gold, silver, etc) on QVC a few years ago and thought it would be neat for something like this. Guess that's what the vendor was doing. Either way the pendants looked great!

After we were done looking around the festival and taking photos, we headed over to the orchard. It was a little bit of a walk and we stopped to check out the petting zoo before we continued on..

Pigs on the way to the apple orchard:

Almost to the orchard:

Once we got there we picked up a half bushel box and made our way to the aisles and aisles of apple trees and started picking!

Gorgeous view:

View of the mountain:

David in the orchard:

Some scenery at the apple orchard:

We ended up with a half bushel and David took the ones he picked (he didn't want too many of them). We got a variety of fuji, golden and red delicious, stayman, and others. The fujis are my favorite! As my friend Anna says, I have never met a fuji apple I didn't like!

My half bushel of apples:

We also stopped at the road side stand when you leave the orchard to pick up some little gourds and mini pumpkins. One of the little pumpkins is on my desk at work. For some reason I find them really cute.

My gourds/mini pumpkins:

So, it was a great day with David, who was visiting Richmond for the weekend. We had a great time catching up and enjoying the weather. It was a mini adventure walking around the apple orchard trying to find good apples to pick, but we had a great time.

Some photos

2011-10-11T12:55:00.001-07:00

One of my last harvests of my cherry tomato plant:

Half a bushel of apples from Graves Mtn Orchard:

Crock pot stew:

Bubblecake Bake Shop in Roanoke, VA (delicious cupcakes):

Cute little pumpkin soup crocks from World Market:

Homemade pumpkin spice and vanilla sugar hand scrub, made by me for a friend's birthday:

Cookies for Kids' Cancer

2011-10-11T12:39:00.000-07:00

Last month I participated in a Richmond city-wide bake sale. I baked several dozen cookies and packaged them in packs of 3 for a recommended donation of $5. 100% of the proceeds went to a non-profit organization called Cookies for Kids' Cancer, which funds pediatric cancer research.

CFKC was founded by a mom who lost her son to cancer at the young age of 6. You can read all about it and the great things CFKC does on their website here: http://www.cookiesforkidscancer.org/

Cookies for Kids' Cancer mission statement:

Cookies for Kids' Cancer is committed to raising funds to support research for new and improved therapies for pediatric cancer, the leading cause of death by disease for children under the age of 18. Through the concept of local bake sales, Cookies for Kids' Cancer provides the inspiration and support for individuals, communities, and businesses to help fight pediatric cancer.

I thought it was for a great cause, and I love to bake and share my baked goods with others, so I thought it would be a great excuse to get in the kitchen, bake & package some delicious cookies, and collect donations for the organization. I got to meet so many wonderful people and hear so many touching stories. It was a really sweet day and I hope that everybody enjoyed their cookies as much as I enjoyed helping raise money for the cause.

I volunteered to work the Ellwood Thompson's table and my friend Anna joined me. We had a great time. My cookies were gone within the first hour after I arrived, so next year I need to double or triple the batch. I made oatmeal raisin cookies and chocolate chip cookies. People loved them and the packaging was really cute.

Any individual can host their own bake sale for the cause. Just check out the CFKC website to find out how you can do it and where to send the donation money to. It's a great idea!

Update on the ugly light fixture in our nook

2011-10-11T12:17:00.000-07:00

Here are some better photos of the ribbon chandelier I made over the summer to cover up the ugly light fixture in our nook. I'm sure people think this is ugly too, but it is 100x better than what it looked like before. I like the way it gives off a glow at night!

I used double sided tape to secure each ribbon strand to a wooden embroidery hoop. We then hung it up with thread and some eye screws (into the ceiling) and made sure that no part of the ribbon chandelier is touching the ugly old light fixture.

I had a bunch of scraps of ribbon and spools I hadn't used so I just made a sort of pattern to go all around the hoop, making sure I cut each piece to the same size. I like it a lot! It's way better than the old fixture before.

My grandmother

2011-09-14T08:49:00.000-07:00

My grandmother was a stylish woman!

Recently my sister gave me a burned cd of photos my uncle scanned that belonged to my maternal grandmother. My grandma kept a lot of photos. She lived from January 30th, 1923 until January 1, 2007.

I have blogged on here about her before, I have a part of her with me every day (my wedding band was her wedding band), and I think about her and my grandfather all the time. Especially when I see cute little elderly couples holding hands or laughing together in love. I want to grow old with my own husband the way they grew old together.

I really miss them both, and looking at the photos my uncle scanned for us really pulls at my heart strings. It makes me happy and also sad that I didn't know them the way my mom knew them or the way they knew each other. The photos are very sweet and heart-warming so I have to share some of them here. And my grandma had really good style back in the 40's and 50's (and even after, I always remember thinking she had great taste).

(This one says "your wife, love you" !! The back of it has a heart felt message she wrote to my grandfather. I think this was a photo she sent to him during the war.)

And on their wedding day..

Updates and projects

2011-09-09T06:16:00.000-07:00

When we were out of power last week, we went to Ross and Marshall's to get some big jar smell-good candles on the cheap.

We took our time going through each aisle and I spotted this decorative rhino.

He was $10 and I almost bought him. But I put him back because I decided he wasn't necessary.

At home I went through some of our origami boxes and found this guy:

I thought he was the better rhino. So he now has a place on our ladder shelf in our living room, next to our printer stamps. New life for almost-forgotten origami!

Here is another shot in the living room, which shows my chair I got from a friend who was moving.

I have since moved my brother's marine photo to the frame gallery on our staircase wall. I will post some new photos of that soon.

A few weeks ago, after we made our t-shirt quilts, I had some extra fleece and an extra shirt and decided to make this pillow for myself.

I already had the batting on hand, and the project didn't cost me anything since I already had all of the materials for it. It is perfect for while I am at work. During peak season it's going to be great having a pillow behind my back to help me keep my posture. It's really easy to sit the wrong way at the computer and end up with weird neck/shoulder pains. This pillow is going to help me out this coming season!

Ikea trip

2011-09-09T05:35:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I took a little afternoon trip to Ikea after having lunch with my parents and sister in Fredericksburg.

Driving North I could see all the crazy labor day weekend South-bound traffic, so I decided when I got to Ikea that I would take my time checking things out.

When I got there, I set up my Ikea Family card and strolled through the showroom. Then I took my time going through the other level and picking up the things I was there for. I also picked up a couple other things along the way, which was okay too.

I had dinner at the Ikea cafe, swedish meatballs of course. They were delicious. Here's a blurry phone photo:

This is the duvet cover that we have on our bed. It's called Ransby, and you can see this twin sized duvet cover was marked down to a clearance price. When I bought our queen size cover earlier this year, I tried to find it listed online somewhere but had no luck. It must be a discontinued item or something. It's not listed on Ikea's website now, either. They didn't even have any packaged ones left on the shelf this time.

Here's a closeup of the material:

I thought it was funny that there is a matching shower curtain out there. I was tempted to buy it, since it was only $10, but I took a photo instead to remember it by.

For some odd reason I really love these cowhide rugs. Not sure why. But of course I left them all there at Ikea.

I checked out the textile section and literally gasped out loud when I saw this amazing fabric, called Charlotta Vild.

It has origami animal figures drawn on it. It's a mixture of Japanese (origami) and Scandinavian (the animals). The designer, Åsa Ekström, must know something about origami! I fell in love with this fabric when I saw it, and I especially loved the marked-down price. You can see in this photo that it was marked down from $5.99/yard to $4.99/yard and then again to $2.99/yard.

So I just knew I needed to get 4 yards of it for that great price. After ringing up at the register, the price was even lower! I got it for less than $1/yard. At first I thought something rang up wrong, but I double checked the receipt and did the math-it was on clearance even MORE.

So, after loading my car up with my purchases, I happily walked back to the textiles department and bought the rest of the fabric they had on the bolts on the shelf! Got about 15 yards or so all for under $15! I did this because I knew it would be the last I'd ever see of the fabric unless I bought it from some etsy seller online. Ikea is definitely doing away with this fabric-it's from 2008, so it's time for something new on their shelf. Thank goodness I was there on that day and got this awesome deal.

I am going to make some pillows with this fabric, and the rest I will save for a future kids' room. I think I could probably make some nice bedding and curtains out of this fabric since I have so much of it now, and it would be perfect in a nursey. Not that we have one of those to worry about any time soon, though. Guess this can be added to the small collection of items we have for that future kid (remember the plush food sets and baby piano?).

The other things I purchased were typical Ikea items.

Like this green pot. I re-potted my christmas cactus in it-as soon as I saw it I knew it would be perfect. I had been meaning to re-pot the little guy because he was starting to look a little frail. I like this pot because it matches the plant.

I also got 5 packs of these glass Clips frames for .99 cents each. 4 come in a pack, so that was a total of 20 frames for $5. I had a specific project in mind for these little guys.

We moved our blanket chest back upstairs and I got these 2 Lack side tables for $7.99 each. Stuck them together (a little YHL tip) and now we have a new coffee table. I also got the faux sheepskin rug for $9.99 and put that on top. We already had the basket and I thought this would be the perfect place for it.

I love how the lack tables match our bar table and stools, too. The color and the shape all go really well together.

I bought a couple Tekla dish towels for .79 cents each.

And a couple packs of these Svajs clothes covers for Daniel's suits.

And this comfy polka dot Ikea Stockholm Cirkel cushion. I had been eyeballing this for the last few times I was at Ikea, so I knew it was finally time to get it.

Nephew weekend!

2011-09-08T13:13:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I picked up my nephews Joseph and Adam and we had a fun-filled weekend. On Saturday I took them to the Richmond Metro Zoo....

and then we played some mini golf at Patterson Sports Park...

and I treated them to some gelato from Deluca Gelato...

we visited World of Mirth in Carytown and they each got something special...

then we walked around Maymont and checked out the animals and trails...

and then we had dinner at Mary Angela's in Carytown, with Pearl's cupcakes for dessert.

Once we got home to my place, the pool was open (it had been closed because of the hurricane the week before), so we quickly changed and jumped into the pool before we headed inside for the night to watch movies.

I took them home on Sunday and we were all sad to part, but it was a great weekend!

Irene

2011-09-08T13:04:00.001-07:00

Now that hurricane Irene has come and gone, and me and everyone I know in Richmond has their power back (I think some other people in the area may still be without?), I thought I would share some photos of the aftermath.

I was on vacation during the hurricane. My vacation started the day the hurricane hit Richmond (Saturday August 27 th). I woke up, did some things around home, and as soon as I sat down to eat breakfast, the power went off. It was off for around 127 hours. Most of my vacation (staycation) week. Thankfully we didn't have any damage where we live, but it sure was awful living almost a week without electricity. I think I am over it now, but I know if I think too much about it I will probably get angry. But again, thankfully, we are okay. Next time I just won't take a vacation during hurricane season.

6 months

2011-09-06T07:13:00.000-07:00

This month marks 6 months since I have been soda free!

I have been drinking water for six months now. Every once in a while I may have had a little bit of tea, but I try to get unsweetened. I have tea at home but it's decaf. and I recently bought some Truvia sugar to substitute for regular sugar if I want it in my tea. But pretty much I've just been drinking water. Plain water, too.

I have a container of Mio water enhancer, but have only used it a couple times. I seem to really just like my water plain. I like the Hint blackberry water, but only had that a few times at the beginning of Spring to get used to just drinking water (plus they are kind of pricey).

We have a Brita water filter attachment on our kitchen sink, which has been very handy this whole time. We also have been recycling the sturdier water bottles we've bought in water packs. So, we just clean them out after each use and refill them with filtered water, and then put them back in the fridge to get cold again.

I have a big water container (32 ounces) that I use at work every day. In the morning I fill it up with ice and filtered water, and it lasts me through the workday. When I get home I drink another 32 ounces of water before I go to sleep. Usually I have more than that, though. So I get well over 64 ounces of water every day (64 ounces is over 1.5 liters). I haven't had any headaches in a long time, either. I am sure I have had one or two since I started the water thing, but I honestly don't remember them. I used to get terrible headaches!

We have a lot less trash since there's no sodas, and it's a lot easier bringing groceries in because we're not hauling around 24 packs of soda (we're not really hauling packs of bottled water either, since we recycle the bottles, or use a cup to drink from at home).

8/23/11

2011-08-25T05:49:00.001-07:00

Since I live in Richmond, VA, I definitely felt the East Coast 5.9 earthquake on Tuesday.

This was what we found at home:

Our bottle of EVOO on the stove fell. We also had some crooked frames and a couple things fell down in the shower. That was all.

It was a neat experience. There have been several aftershocks, but last night was the first aftershock I felt. It actually woke me up and kind of made me mad because I was trying to sleep..had to get up extra early today so I could find parking before the madness started on campus. Today's the first day of classes for students here and I did not want to have any trouble looking for parking. Luckily, I found a free all-day spot.

I am glad that everyone's okay after the earthquake. It was a neat experience for me. My second earthquake ever (the last one I felt 7-8 years ago while in Richmond, VA). I am sort of looking forward to more aftershocks just because it's such a neat phenomenon (as long as no one gets hurt). I heard that the aftershocks can last about a week or so. We shall see!

Hot Air Balloon Festival 2011

2011-08-22T12:38:00.000-07:00

My sister Bonnie and I went to the Hot Air Balloon festival at the Flying Circus on Saturday evening. It was so cool!

I love hot air balloons, but I am not ready to ride in one (they are expensive to ride, but I am also probably too scared). One day I do want to ride in one, though.

It was so neat getting to see all the colorful balloons. When we got to the Flying Circus, we checked out all of the planes that were flying around and were on display. We took a bunch of photos, too.

This is a basket for a hot air balloon that we saw in the back of a truck. It was so small and not what I imagined! I always thought hot air balloon baskets were huge and could fit a bunch of people to ride in them. I was wrong!

We rode this hay ride for $1 and the man, "Grandpa" drove us around for about half an hour, stopping every now and then to tell us about the history of the Flying Circus. He was so nice and really interested in the place and I could tell he really enjoyed driving the tractor around and telling people stories. He almost reminded me of my dad the way he played jokes on us during the ride!

When we were riding the tractor, we spied this behind some trees:

We also saw this guy sneak around some trees:

When we went around the other trees, here was a rainbow balloon being blown up:

We were really close to it and could feel the fire!

Here it is taking off:

This guy set his up all by himself, and he even wore it like a backpack.

This was my favorite hot air balloon (they were all gorgeous!):

And some more balloons..

Here's a bunch of the hot air balloons in the sky:

And another sky shot:

It was a great day! I will definitely go back again (maybe in several years), and hope to take my own kids to this one day. It was very exciting!

Movin' in!

2011-08-22T12:23:00.001-07:00

On Saturday morning, I helped Daniel's little cousin Paige and her mom get her moved into her dorm room! She is starting her first year of college!! I remember meeting her when she was just 8 years old, over 10 years ago. Time has flown by..

We had 2 cars, and we parked on the side of the street next to her building and unloaded. I moved the cars to parking after we were unloaded and we took turns taking items up to her room (we took the stairs, her room isn't very high up). Eventually we got a cart to take the rest of her bigger items up with the elevator, but we got her moved in pretty fast, considering the craziness that move in days usually are.

Here is Paige and her mom standing on the sidewalk with all of Paige's college belongings:

We saw so many other students with TONS of stuff. She definitely did not bring as much as most other students brought. I saw one student with cases of drinks and snacks that they must have bought from Costco....! You probably won't even eat all of that in one semester..

We also saw some VIPs walking around, like the university president, some other staff members, and the dean of the students. It was neat seeing everybody involved with move-in day!

Here is Paige after we got her moved into her room and set up for the most part:

Hope her first semester is as amazing as ever!

T-Shirt Quilts!

2011-08-15T11:32:00.001-07:00

This past Saturday, Bonnie, Kristen, and I finally did something we had been talking about doing for what seems like years now.

Kristen's mom made her a few t-shirt quilts when she was younger, and a few years ago Kristen made one for Nate (my brother-in-law). These are the most comfortable blankets, and anytime all of us would be at Kristen's house, we'd all claim those blankets if we were watching movies or something and needed a blanket to curl up in. They are the best! There is nothing like an old t-shirt and a comfy fleece blanket! These blankets combine those two very things.

Kristen sent us a tutorial a long time ago, and then we all recently decided we needed to make one big day out of it, with Kristen playing the teacher. Kristen rented a room at a local church so we could have plenty of room to work and spend all day concentrating on our quilts.

First, I cut out all my squares and strips. I used gold squares and black strips of fabric. The strips are for the sashing on the quilt and the squares are for the corners. The squares are 3.5x3.5 inches and the strips are 3.5x13.5 inches.

I cut out all of my tshirt squares. These are 13.5x13.5 inches. I had a lot of scraps left over, too.

Here I laid out all of the tshirt squares to get an idea as to where I should place all of them on the quilt.

Then, I laid out all my tshirt squares, little gold squares, and black strips to line everything up and see what it would look like.

I sewed 4 gold squares to 3 strips.

And repeated 4 more times with the remaining gold squares.

Then I sewed 4 strips to 3 shirts, to make one row. And repeated that 3 more times, so I had 4 completed rows of shirts and strips.

Next, I sewed my rows of squares/strips to my rows of shirts/strips, and then I sewed all of those together to get this:

See? It's basically done! Except for the batting and fleece part. At this point I decided to iron everything to make sure there were no wrinkles on the sashing/squares/shirts. I also cut off extra thread that was sure to bother me later.

I laid out my big sheet of batting (I bought of a big roll of this stuff), then my big sheet of fleece (about 2 1/4 yards). I placed the tshirt part face down onto the fleece. I trimmed the extra fleece and batting, and left room for seam allowance. Then I pinned all three layers together.

Then, I sewed it all together (left a hole for later use), and then folded it up.

It was time to leave the church building we were in. We packed everything up and made our way to Kristen's house, where I turned my quilt right side out. First, the fleece part comes out, and then the shirt part comes out (so the batting is now in the middle). It was neat! You can kind of see in the top right corner the hole where everything got turned right side out from.

It took me about 12 hours to complete my quilt. Maybe less? We didn't leave Kristen's house until midnight, though. The day included everything from laughing and joking to almost crying, because of the frustration that sewing machines cause. There was one point where I almost ran out of the room crying, and another point where I almost picked up my machine and threw it out the church building window. Well, not almost, but I did have an image of that happening cross my mind. I did throw my bobbin hook across the table one time. And I did break a sewing machine needle. And slammed my fist down a time or two. I had to remain calm the whole time though, because we were in a church building. There were so many times when I could have yelled out some bad words, but since we were in a holy building, I figured I better not. And it looks like "someone" was on our side, since the machines started working again (after playing some musical machines), and all three of us were able to complete our quilts!!

Here are all three of our completed t-shirt quilts:

Mine is the VCU one, Bonnie made a WFLS one with all of her old radio tshirts, and Kristen made her husband Dave a JMU one, since he went to JMU. It was a lot of fun making them and I am really glad we were able to complete our project!! I am no longer afraid of my sewing machine!

The City of Fredericksburg River Boat Cruise

2011-08-08T09:58:00.000-07:00

We had a birthday party for my sister Bonnie and her friend Sharon on the City of Fredericksburg river boat cruise this past Sunday (8/7). Both of their birthdays fall this week, and the river boat cruise was something different to celebrate it on. It was cool!

We got to sit on the boat and watch the scenic view as we made our way down the Rappahannock river. There was lunch (brunch?) and lots of conversation. The band on the boat played some awesome 90's cover songs. Kristen made some adorable sunshine cupcakes (the inside was yellow AND orange), and Bonnie and Sharon had a great times with their friends/family, from what I could tell.

After the boat ride, everybody made their way to Carl's ice cream to get some of their delicious ice cream. I got some chocolate and some strawberry (after searching everywhere for an ATM). How come they haven't joined this century yet and gotten a card machine? I guess the line would be even LONGER if they took cards..

Here's Bonnie and me on the boat:

Happy birthday girls!

Gone to the Birds 2011

2011-08-08T09:38:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday (8/6), was Richmond's 3rd annual Gone to the Birds (purple martin) festival, in Shockoe Bottom. I got there around 5:30pm and checked out the different tables that were set up with information about purple martins.

My dad loves purple martins, and their regality appeals to me (cheesy, I know), so I figured it would be a great opportunity to get some photos of them and witness such an extraordinary natural phenomenon.

Purple martins establish roosts when they are migrating to South America. One roost they have is in the pear trees on 17th Street in Shockoe Bottom, by the Farmers' Market. This urban roost is only one of 2 that are known about, so it makes it a unique and fun experience to witness the birds when they are "checking back in" to their roost at night in late July and August.

Purple martins depend on humans to provide housing for them. When I was growing up my dad tried really hard to get purple martins on our property but it never lasted. At my grandparents' at Smith Mountain Lake, every Spring my dad and grandpa would put up the martin house, and they'd take it down at the end of the summer when the martins left. We'd get regular progress reports from my grandparents and uncle about the martins. So, they have a special place in my heart.

It was a neat experience! I am not sure what the count was for the birds on Saturday night, but the big group arrived around 8pm and there were tons of them. It was really cool to see the swarm of birds in the sky as they all circled around the pear trees and then finally dove straight down to their roost. It was amazing.

In this video, you can see the "funnel cloud" of birds before they dove down into their roost:

The sound was very constant and very powerful. It reminded me of the constant sound you hear of water at the ocean or beach, or the sound of traffic on a busy highway. It was the birds! You can hear it in this video:

August Weekends

2011-08-05T07:30:00.000-07:00

Gone to the Birds 2011 in Richmond, VA

Fredericksburg River Cruise

Filipino Festival 2011

T-shirt quilting (photo by Kristen)

Hot Air Balloon festival in Bealeton, VA

Fabergé egg exhibit at VMFA in Richmond, VA

DIY projects

Farmers' Markets

Organizing

Scrapbooking and Cardmaking

Road Tripping

What do you have planned for your weekends this month?

6 years ago..

2011-08-04T10:13:00.001-07:00

6 years ago (in August) we rescued Dr. Wily and brought him into our home and our lives.

I never thought I could get so attached to an animal. He was such a small kitten, only a few weeks old when we rescued him (his birthday is July 10th, 2005).

This is from his first Halloween:

He hates costumes.

Playing with bubbles he got for his first Christmas:

He loves to chase things and tear things apart. He used to love playing with ribbon but I got scared it was a choking hazard and stopped letting him play with that. Now he gets to chase lights.

Here's his first Valentine's Day:

He always loves to snuggle up near us with a blanket. I think he's scared to be alone when he sleeps. We know he's afraid of the dark.

Giving himself a bath, what he does best:

He always smells so clean. It's funny because most cats I have seen are actually kind of gross or need baths. Dr. Wily is very particular about his grooming. He grooms alllllllll the time, if he's not sleeping.

Meeting his turtle brother Bob, when we brought Bob home with us in 2006 (he had been with some of the other Brown bunch before for several years):

He doesn't really care for Bob too much..in fact we keep Bob in a separate room that's always closed. If we left him in the open, Bob would probably never come out of his shell because of the D Dubs.

Playing with a present he got for his first birthday:

Stretching after a cat nap:

Hanging out in a basket for Easter:

He hates posing for photos, as you can see.

Laying in the sun on Thanksgiving:

Yawning:

Christmas 2010, under the tree:

He loves our Christmas tree. Loves tearing it apart and attacking the ornaments which are always nice and shiny. And there's lots of sparkly lights for him to look at, too. And attack.

Sitting on top of the TV armoire, where he's not supposed to:

We've since moved some furniture around so he can't jump on that (and then onto the armoire). I know cats like high places, but DW can't get up there anymore.

Being cute:

Sleeping with his cat blanket (he likes the ladies):

Last Fall Dr. Wily gave us quite the scare. It was a wake up call for us I think because we'd never really had to go through anything so scary personally/medically before. We have really grown attached to our cat and knowing he was in so much pain was heartbreaking. Luckily we were able to save him and he had a couple of successful surgeries. All the staff at the vet's office were great and I am really thankful they were so nice to explain everything to us and make sure he was in the best care.

He had a long recovery but he made it. He lost a lot of weight, but he has since gained a good amount of that back. He is such a trooper and even though he may be bratty and sometimes we call him Dr. Whiney, we love him so much and would not trade him for any other pet in the world. He's one of a kind. I don't think there could ever be a cat that could take his place (we probably won't get another one after he is gone).

As weird as it may sound, I honestly think this scare last year was good practice for us. We were able to see how we would react to certain situations and who would take charge and ask the doctors questions. We really do love him a lot, and it was interesting to see how things went down during all the stress and trauma. Back then I remember saying if I acted so scared with DW, how in the world would I react if he was a human child of mine??? Looking back now, I know I probably would have been the same, and Daniel would have taken charge. Like he did with DW, asking all the questions and taking care of everything. The whole ordeal really helped me prepare and now I know I'm a much stronger person and will be able to handle harder and more serious things in the future.

A favorite "glamour" shot:

Happy 6th birthday/anniversary, D Dubs! <3

Problem solved!

2011-08-02T07:53:00.000-07:00

Remember this ugly light fixture in our nook area???

See the ugly thing up there on the ceiling? It seemed impossible to hide!

It's much better now. I made a ribbon chandelier. This photo doesn't do it justice.

Better photos to come..

Blogging

2011-07-28T06:47:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the blog hiatus.

This weekend is the big yard sale at my parents' house. Going up there and working on things has taken a lot of time and honestly I haven't felt like blogging. Once the project at their house is done, I will be posting more.

Shots not forgotten..

2011-07-11T07:47:00.000-07:00

While going through the photos from my wedding, I came across some photos that I really seem to like. They were not forgotten, by any means, but they are not in our actual wedding album, either. I really like these shots, each for their own reasons. And, a lot of these shots were taken by some of our guests. I love them!

Guests arriving.

I like how both of my sisters are looking back at me at the top of the stairs, just making a final check.

My dad walking me down the aisle. This is before I cried and smeared all my makeup off my face.

This photo really speaks for itself..but I love the look on Daniel's face. I was walking down the aisle at this time. So glad someone took this shot! Thanks Aunt Sandy!!

The lighting in this is great. I think I remember the ballroom lighting being just like this, like it is in this photo. It's so neat seeing our friends and family all mixed together during the ceremony. We didn't have a designated side for the bride/groom (except for the parents). So everyone just sat anywhere.

This is right when we came out for the reception to start, everyone was clapping and cheering:

Guests mingling and jingling during our reception:

Guests watching some of the dancing going on during our reception:

Dancing with Daniel..I love this photo!

And this one too.

People dancing at our reception:

Dancing with my nephew Joseph:

I think it's a staple at wedding receptions that kids dance with the bride. For some reason during our reception, tons of kids wanted to dance with me. They were all so cute!

You can see they are sort of lining up waiting for their turn:

Me dancing with Krystal. She is so cute!

With some of my girls from work. I love how my dad is accidentally in this photo.

Hard to believe that this time 5 years ago we were engaged and planning our wedding. And that this November 15th will be our 3rd wedding anniversary. Sweet.

Chicken-Pepper Lasagna Cups

2011-07-08T07:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday for dinner, I made something I like to call Chicken-Pepper Lasagna Cups.

You will need a pacakge of won ton wrappers, like these:

Take a cupcake pan and spray it with non-stick cooking spray. Place one won ton wrapper in each cupcake section, like this:

Cook up some meat. I used ground chicken. I also sauteed some green bell pepper and a small white onion, and when the chicken was cooked I drained it and added the pepper and onion to it.

I also added some salt, pepper, and oregano. After that was well blended, I added some fresh garlic and mixed that in. Then, I added some crushed tomatoes (and a little tomato sauce to give it more ooomph).

Then, I took a bowl and mixed ricotta cheese with some dried basil and more oregano.

I spooned a little bit of the ricotta mixture onto each won ton cupcake section.

Then I added a little of the chicken pepper mixture.

Topped it off with a little blend of Italian cheeses.

Put another won ton wrapper on each section, with some more ricotta cheese mixture.

And more chicken pepper filling and Italian cheeses on top.

Baked this in a 375degree oven for about 10 minutes or so.

And when they were finished baking, I scooped them right out and served them. The rest were put on a serving platter.

They are the perfect size and they weren't messy at all. They were delicious! These could easily be prepared and then individually frozen, before baking. Once they freeze you could put them in freezer bags and then just take out what you need and bake for 10-20 minutes or so.

I also had leftover filling and cheese mixture, so I just froze the extra filling (flat in a freezer bag for better storing in the freezer), and put the extra cheese in the fridge. I could make a small regular lasagna with it, or I could make more cups. We'll see!

I was inspired by Andie Mitchell's blog Can You Stay For Dinner? and her recipe for Petite Lasagnas. Thanks Andie!!

Freezer Meals

2011-07-08T05:25:00.001-07:00

To make sure we don't eat at restaurants, I have found it's really helpful to prepare meals and freeze them. It's rewarding, too!

A few weeks back on a Sunday afternoon, after I went to the store, I made a bunch of different meals and ingredients and froze them. Since then I have been making other things and freezing them. It's so easy to just spend a couple hours one day making a bunch of stuff. It saves so much time during the work week!

Currently, in the freezer:

Spaghetti sauce with meat
A whole chicken, deboned and shredded
A pack of boneless skinless chicken breasts, shredded
Veggie lasagna filler (leftover filling from when I made some veggie lasagna roll-ups)
White chicken chili (this was made before the project and the rest was frozen)
Vegetarian soup (gluten free; this was made before the project and the rest was frozen)
Chicken-pepper lasagna filler (leftover filling from some chicken-pepper lasagna cups I made)
Blueberries (individually frozen and then bagged, will use for pancakes or parfaits)

I know I am forgetting some other meals I prepared ahead of time and froze..but I think this is what's in the freezer right now. I did make some french bread pizzas. I bought some french bread that was on sale for .79 cents, because the sell by date was the next day (I already had sauce, cheese, and toppings at home). The bread was perfectly fine, and I sliced it up and made french bread pizza out of it, and then froze it before baking. They came out perfectly when I baked them for about 20 minutes (from the frozen state). I also made half of a dozen of pantry burritos, and some fresh gazpacho, and froze those, too.

Anyway, it's very handy having stuff made ahead of time and frozen. Just the morning of or night before, place the frozen meal in the fridge and it's ready to be heated up in time for dinner. The burritos were really convenient. I only made a half dozen of them, but next time I will double the batch and make more to freeze. You can just heat them up in the microwave straight out of the freezer, no thawing needed. They are the perfect portion to take to lunch at work.

After doing this, I realized these items are staples for us:

green bell peppers
brown rice
canned tomatoes (any kind-crushed, whole, diced, sauce)
tortillas
garlic
onion

It's helpful to know this now, too. Now when the stores have these items on sale, I can get more of them at once, instead of getting just one of whatever the item is at regular price. Also, I have been scoping out the butcher area to see what's on sale or marked down. Same with the bread section.

My inspiration comes from these blogs:

http://joelens.blogspot.com/2007/01/freezer-friendlymake-ahead.html
Joelen's blog has a ton of great recipes for freezer meals.

http://aturtleslifeforme.blogspot.com/2011/06/freezer-meals-on-cheap.html
Natalie's blog here is very helpful and she gives lots of tips and ideas for freezer meals.

http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/stocking-up-for-nice-weather-five-dishes-to-cook-and-freeze-now-141887
This link on The Kitchn is also about freezer meals, with more recipes/tips.

http://annies-eats.net/2011/03/28/stocking-the-freezer-make-ahead-meals/
Anne's Eats blog has a good post about freezer meals. I love her pizza dough idea. We buy pizza dough from Fresh Market and make our own, but with Anne's recipe/instructions, we could totally make it at home and freeze a few balls of dough to have on the ready when we want to make our own pizza.

I have a great recipe from Sunday Baker for chicken pot pies. I could make individually sized pies and freeze those, too. And our favorite chicken enchiladas, made by The Pioneer Woman! The possibilities are endless.

8x

2011-07-06T10:44:00.000-07:00

This December 5th, Tori Amos will be performing in DC. Of course, we're going.

Her new album, Night of Hunters, comes out in September. This will be our 8th time seeing Tori live..and we're looking forward to it!

December is only less than 5 months away.

The new album is going to be released through classical label Deutsche Grammophon. Tori said this about the new album:

"It's a 21st century song cycle inspired by classical music themes spanning over 400 years. I have used the structure of a song cycle to tell an ongoing, modern story. The protagonist is a woman who finds herself in the dying embers of a relationship. In the course of one night she goes through an initiation of sorts that leads her to reinvent herself allowing the listener to follow her on a journey to explore complex musical and emotional subject matter. One of the main themes explored on this album is the hunter and the hunted and how both exist within us.”

I love how each of her albums is always a project, and not just an album for more songs. The songs all go together some how with each new album..it's always neat when she announces a new album/project. It'll be interesting to see how this one ends up.

Homemade Gazpacho

2011-07-05T08:05:00.001-07:00

I love gazpacho.

Gazpacho is a cold soup, with a tomato base and raw veggies.

I made some this past week with my trusty food chopper and my trusty blender. I used fresh veggies in mine, except I did use a can of whole tomatoes. I omitted the breadcrumbs/croutons.

I blended whole tomatoes, cumin, EVOO, white onion, green pepper, cucumber, salt & pepper, and white vinegar..

Until I had this:

Then I added some fresh cilantro for taste.

Blended that in and poured it into a big container.

I also poured some in small freezer bags and froze those flat. It was delicious! I think next time I will double the batch so I can freeze more. When I do that, I will freeze individual size bags flat and just keep in the fridge the day before I plan on serving. Gazpacho is perfect for the summer time!

Camping Trip

2011-07-05T07:38:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I went camping with my nephew Joseph at Westmoreland State Park. We joined my mother-in-law Fayth, her husband Tom, and her sister Frances. We got there on Friday and left on Sunday.

On Friday we set up the rest of the camp site (F & T had been there since Thursday).

We checked out the amphitheater where they had furs of animals that live in the area, and they also had a big fire going and s'mores.

We also checked out the other side of the park and saw a mother osprey with her nest.

For dinner, Tom and Fayth cooked an awesome meal (steaks, rice, veggies), and then we just hung out at the camp site.

On Saturday morning, we took Joseph to meet his boyscout troop leader, so he could participate in a 4th of July parade that was going on to benefit the Oak Grove fire department. The parade ended at Ebb Tide Beach.

After the parade, we made our way to visit the birthplace of George Washington-a great way to celebrate our country. We toured the grounds and got to peek inside some of the buildings there.

And visited the burial grounds of George Washington's ancestors.

After the walk back from the burial grounds, we decided it was time to head back to camp and have lunch & then go swimming at the park.

Joseph enjoyed the slide & the pool.

And the river.

Fayth and Tom came up on their kayak, and then Tom and Joseph paddled down the water.

Later that night, back at camp, we had another great camp dinner and enjoyed s'mores later.

It rained Saturday night, so on Sunday morning everyone packed everything up. Joseph and I headed to Fossil Beach to look for shark teeth around low tide.

We only found a few teeth but it was worth it.

It was a great camping trip, and we can't wait to go again.

A Bridal Shower

2011-07-05T07:24:00.000-07:00

A couple Saturdays ago, I headed to downtown Petersburg and joined some of the girls from work to celebrate and have tea in honor of our friend/former coworker Donna. We threw her a surprise bridal shower there.

It was really cute-the tea place we went to was the Blue Willow Tea Room, which is in downtown Petersburg.

Everybody there split a full afternoon tea service with another person. Even though the food was small, we were all full because there was a lot of it! We had tea, scones, devonshire cream, little appetizer type things, tea sandwiches, soup, and dessert. There was so much..and we even had cake for the bride while she opened all her gifts up.

It was a lot of fun and I know that Donna really enjoyed it. We all wish her the best and are really excited for her.

I also took some photos of some of the signs on the buildings downtown. I love old signs!

Wild berries

2011-07-05T07:16:00.000-07:00

My parents have wild berries growing along their driveway.

My nephews took me down to the spot and showed me on Sunday.

The boys and my dad have been eating them-my dad said the blackberries are safe to eat (not sure about the red ones?).

I picked a bunch of blackberries..

Homemade dishwasher detergent

2011-06-27T11:22:00.001-07:00

An update on my homemade dishwasher detergent:

We have been using it for several weeks now and it is great. It's so simple to make and use. And cheap!!

Mix equal parts of borax (completely safe) with baking soda. I filled a quart size paint can with my detergent and used my dymo labeler to label the can. I put a little scoop inside the can to make for easy dispensing.

We use white distilled vinegar as a rinsing agent, and we just fill both detergent compartments in our dishwasher with the homemade detergent. It works great. But, if you're not a pre-rinser, then don't bother using this (we always pre-rinse). Also, just put dishes in the dishwasher. No pots and pans (we always wash those by hand, it keeps them better looking after many many uses). I am not sure how those would wash with this type of detergent in a dishwasher. But anyway-so far so good!

And as for cleaning our kitchen surfaces-Dr. Bronner's liquid castille soap works like a charm and just one bottle of the stuff goes a very very very long way.

Lemon Sugar Hand Scrub

2011-06-27T10:46:00.001-07:00

Earlier this year for mother's day, I made my mom and my mother-in-law some Lemon Sugar Hand Scrub. It was so easy to make! I got the idea from this blog: Under the table & dreaming
Thanks Stephanie Lynn!!

You will need:
2.5 cups of sugar
1 cup of extra virgin olive oil
4 tbs fresh lemon juice

Sugar.

Take a big bowl and add your sugar.

Then add your olive oil. And lemon juice.

And then mix it all up until it's just the right consistency (you want it to be a scrub). Pour it into jars, or whatever you are packaging it in. I used little mason jars. There was only a little bit leftover, and I used it on my hands to test it out. It made my hands so soft and smooth!

I included a little scoop with each jar (I have a bunch of these scoops left over from our wedding candy bar/buffet you can see here and here).

You could double or triple the batch if you want to make a lot-this is perfect in smaller jars given as party favors. Would be really cute as a bridal shower favor, or even a baby shower favor in some tiny little jars like these half pint jars from wineonthekeyboard.com:

You could put a name/label/instructions on a circle that covers the lid.

A friend of mine tried the lemon scrub herself and her fiance tried it on his feet-they loved it. So it's not just a hand scrub..it works great on feet too!

Last time I was at my sister Bonnie's house, we made some Vanilla Brown Sugar Hand Scrub. The recipe for that is also on the same blog here. It was great and felt like sand. I actually liked it better than the lemon scrub.

The ingredients for the vanilla brown sugar scrub are:

2 cups brown sugar
1 cup sugar
1 cup sunflower oil (we used evoo)
1 tbs pure vanilla extract.

We used the EVOO and it worked out fine for us. Great gift/favor ideas!

Cupcake update

2011-06-27T10:41:00.000-07:00

Last year I had a Richmond Cupcake Taste Test. I determined back then that Pearl's was my favorite. Guess what? It still is today. Pearl's Cupcake Shoppe!

Not just because Pearl's cupcakes look so great, but they taste great too. I would recommend them to anyone in the Richmond area looking for a specialty cupcake shop.

Daniel's dream come true

2011-06-21T19:40:00.000-07:00

The weekend we were coming back from Roanoke, we drove through downtown Charlottesville to try and find some little place for dinner. We ended up passing an old theater and Daniel saw a poster in the corner of his eye for something familiar..so he got out of the car and took a photo:

This past Saturday evening we drove out to C-ville just for this special screening. Of course, it was for Jaws. Why else would we drive for 45 minutes just to see a movie? Especially since it's a movie we've seen a hundred times over.

Daniel has always wanted to see Jaws on the big screen. Jaws was also the first movie my parents saw on a date back in the beginning of their relationship, 36 years ago this summer.

We went to The Paramount theater to see the 7pm showing.

We picked up our tickets at will call (we ordered online the day before).

Inside the theater lobby was free food and beer, so that was pretty cool. The theater itself was so gorgeous inside and very very clean. I didn't take any photos once we were inside the place but the outside was pretty cool too. Next time we are out that way and have time, we are definitely going to take a longer stroll through the market place area where the theater is. (When we drove by the theater the weekend before, we were on the side of the street where the BACK of the building is, and they had a small poster advertising it. We notice Jaws that much wherever we go. The front entrance is in a market/shopping area that is pedestrian access only..pretty cool!)

The best part about the whole evening was my husband had a huge grin on his face during the entire showing of the movie. Love!

Did I mention

2011-06-21T09:58:00.000-07:00

Did I mention a couple months back I rearranged our bedroom?

I moved the bed over to the side of the room so the window sort of functions as a head board of sorts. The wedding quilt looks a lot better to me on its very own wall.

The marble side table in the corner was actually my grandma's, and it holds books and crosswords and such. Each corner of the room on that side has a bundle of those reeds.

I got this cool platter/tray from Ikea back in early Spring and it's perfect for our dresser.

I use this vintage pyrex dish to give spare items a temporary home. I love the dish, and it's divided so it's like 2 containers in 1.

My paintchip art is hanging on the wall above the dresser. It gives some extra color to the room.

This bookcase in the corner houses a lot of our wedding stuff. I like this stuff here for now even though it is pretty cluttered. I am thinking of putting shelves up some how......that's another project for another time.

The other wall/window inherited these baskets. They hold random things we don't want on display. The big basket on top holds other blankets and pillows when we don't want to use them.

The room is much more functional now than it was before. There's no walking all around the bed to get to the other window on the side, since it is now basically the "headboard" for the bed. Much more space, too. I think when we originally moved in I wanted the bed on this wall, but for some reason we put it on the other wall. It just works so much better this way.

Random things to share

2011-06-21T09:28:00.000-07:00

Here are some random things I wanted to share.

A chocolate fountain in action.

My shiny vintage canisters. Flour, sugar, coffee, and tea. (the coffee holds hot chocolate) I used Bar Keeper's friend on them to get them all nice and shiny. Love it!

Silos. Because every time I see one it makes me happy.

My dad's bluebird house and a bluebird sitting on top. I distorted the photo a bit and I like it.

My spinning card holder. I got this from the clean house yard sale, it was white. I spray painted it black and I like it. This way I can just grab what I need without having to sift through my cards. Each section is dedicated to a type of card..blank, thanks, birthday, congratulations, etc.

A while back I organized our linen closet. I just hated how bunched up sheets and stuff would get and it seemed like we had a gazillion towels and stuff. So, I consolidated. Donated and gave away a few things, but really just organized it all. And made room for more stuff.

You can see the top shelf has our queen size air bed rolled up nicely, with a brown down comforter and a spare pillow up there with it. The second shelf is dedicated to white hand towels/wash cloths, and other hand towels/wash cloths I couldn't part with. The third shelf has pillow cases, flat sheets, and fitted sheets. The fourth has a bin with extra items, like extra shampoo/soap, then in the middle is a first aid kit, and the other bin has travel sized items and things for guests to use. The 5th shelf has bathmats, a small rug, and some table cloths. And the very bottom section has a bed spread, another comforter, and a pack of new sheets I couldn't get rid of but may find someone to give them to (they are jersey pink full size).

It could be more organized but it is way better than it was before, thankfully. And it made me realize it's probably time to invest in a couple packs of just regular sheets. I am not sure why we have such mismatchy sheets..

Guacamole is fun to make. I made some from scratch a while back and just wanted to share this photo.

And here's a photo of some tissue poms I made for Paiges' graduation party..it just started raining when this photo was taken so they didn't last long but they were pretty neat if I do say so myself.

Downtown Roanoke, VA

2011-06-20T05:50:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we were in Roanoke, VA for my husband's cousin's graduation from high school, and a family reunion. While there we scoped out the downtown area and visited the Roanoke City Market. The farmers' market in Roanoke is one of the oldest ones in the state of VA (it started in the 1880's), so it was neat to be there on a Saturday afternoon and see everything in action.

The sidewalks were all lined up with different tables from different farms or tables people set up with their own garden stuff or gift items. So, walking down the sidewalk there were shops on one side and the tables on the other..it was neat! I loved the set up like that, it was much better than just having an empty parking lot with tables set up. This was cool because you could go inside shops as you were "shopping" at the market.

We picked up some bing cherries which were really really good. And we took a bunch of photos.

There were all sorts of shops and restaurants that looked cool that we may need to check out in the future. Like Thelma's Chicken & Waffles. We did peek inside Ladles & Linens which was a really cool specialty kitchen shoppe.

There were so many colorful heaps of fruit and veggies & other things all over.

And we also drove around the Warehouse district to get some cool shots. I think warehouse districts are my favorite in every city.

DIY Kid's Toy

2011-06-16T09:40:00.001-07:00

I worked on a little DIY project yesterday I had been thinking about for a while.

Daniel brought home some Voss water a while back and I knew exactly what to do with the empty bottles.

I saw the project on pinterest before but every time in the past I have seen Voss water bottles I have thought about doing this project. This one on pinterest finally made me go for it.

The Voss water Daniel brought home was in smaller bottles, which was just perfect for me. I took 2 bottles and once they were empty I let them dry out and removed the labels from the bottles.

During my last few trips to and from my parents' house, I had collected some little trinkets. I also found some tiny things to fit inside the bottles around my home, too. I collected a penny, a button, a mini pig, and some other little trinkets.

Last night I assembled the bottles. I filled 15 trinkets in each bottle (making sure each item was different in each bottle). Then, I filled it mostly with rice and put the cap back on and shook it up. The point of this is to look for the items, kind of like a game of I Spy. (There are actual toys like this I have seen in the stores called 'I Spy', but they are filled with small beads instead of rice.)

So, I made one for my nephew Joseph and one for my nephew Adam. Some of the trinkets actually belonged to them, which is funny, but that makes it even more fun. They will recognize some of the items in the bottle.

For the game, you can look for each individual item, or you can look for certain characteristics, like colors or types of items. It's really just a fun little identification/discovery game. And would be great for long car rides or if a kid is just plain old bored.

I plan on giving these to my nephews when we go camping in a couple of weeks. It's a surprise and I think they are really going to like them.

Here is the list of what's in Joseph's container:

scorpion
dice
heart
cow
pig
paper clip
penny
rock
button
safety pin
bird
lego
shark tooth
wheel
marble

And this is what's inside Adam's container:

cow
pig
macaroni wheel
bird
penny
paper clip
button
heart
star
safety pin
lego
rock
shark tooth
marble
scorpion

I am going to wrap these up and include a tag with the contents. I will probably glue/modge podge the contents tag to the cap since it is big enough. I may even put their name on the top of each one so there is no fighting over which one belongs to each of them. Also, the caps are super glued so they can't open them and spill rice everywhere.

Best of all, this project was free! It was fun searching for the little trinkets, but everyone always has little things like that hanging around. The rice we already had, and the water bottles would have just been thrown away after we drank the water anyway, so it was a great thing to make. I hope they like it!

Homemade Cheesecake

2011-06-06T07:17:00.000-07:00

During the strawberry class I took last month at Miller's farms, Jo Miller taught us how to make cheesecake. Yesterday, my friend David and I went to the Greek Festival here in Richmond (we went together last year too), and after it was over we came back to my place to try our skills at making this cheesecake.

We started out with the graham cracker crust. Mixed the crumbs with butter and sugar and patted them all around a buttered up spring form pan:

Here is the crust in the pan:

Separating the eggs:

Mix sugar, vanilla, and egg yolks:

Mix the above with cream cheese:

And then mix all of that with heavy cream:

Beat the egg whites:

Until they are fluffy:

Fold the egg white fluff into the cheesecake filling mixture:

Pour mixture into pan:

Baked it at 325 degrees, and for an hour. As soon as I put our cheesecake in the oven, I threw a couple handfuls of ice cubes in the bottom of the oven for the steam trick. This helps prevent the cake from collapsing or cracking so much when it's done.

After the hour of baking, turn off the oven and keep the cake in for a half an hour.

Here is our finished cheesecake straight from the oven:

And here it is on a crystal platter for serving:

Success!

Actually, we made a mistake or two.

You can see in the finished photos that the cake is browned on top. That's because the egg white fluff wasn't folded in completely, I guess. At least, that's my conclusion. Whatever the case, we put the cheesecake in the fridge over night and today when I sliced it, it was just as firm as cheesecakes are supposed to be. So, it was still a success.

We did fail at making strawberry sauce for it, but I am glad we didn't pour it all over the cake...we'll have to try making that again some other time.

And, in honor of the Greek Festival yesterday, here is a shot of the flag of Greece:

Tissue Paper Pomander

2011-06-06T06:40:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine asked me if I knew how to make tissue paper pomanders. Over the weekend I gathered up some tissue paper I had and gave it a try.

I found some really good tutorials online, like this one here on Martha Stewart's website. The instructions are very easy to follow. The first couple tries of mine were with random colored tissue paper and they didn't come out all that great, so there are no photos of those. Then, on Saturday I picked up a couple packs of red tissue paper from Target for 99cents and made this one:

It took a little while to grow on me and I had to fluff it out several times to get the look I was going for. It's there now, I believe. I like it!

These would be excellent for party decoration or decor in a kids' room. And they are so cheap to make (it only took 8 sheets of tissue paper to make this one, and I bet you can make various sizes if you cut the tissue paper.) I love how easy and simple it was to make. It really can make a huge difference in party decoration.

I already had floral wire and scissors on hand. I used the scissors to round the ends of the tissue before I unfolded it. I like that this one pops and is bright and red.

The Sunshine Makers

2011-06-02T06:25:00.000-07:00

When I was a kid, we had a vhs tape with some different old timey cartoons on it. For some reason, I watched it a lot and my favorite cartoon from the video was The Sunshine Makers (by Van Beuren animation studio).

It has been years since I have seen it. The tape was probably thrown out or something in the early 90's. All I know is I watched The Sunshine Makers so many times and I still remember the music and songs from it to this day.

A few years ago I googled the storyline but could not come across anything on the internet about it. Today for some reason I googled the storyline again and I came across a thread on metafilter discussing it. Some of the people there provided links, like this one here on Amazon.

The Amazon listing is for a dvd, but it must be similar to the vhs tape we had. Some of the other old cartoons on there I vaguely remember.

The Sunshine Makers is public domain now. I found out today that it is from 1935. It's about little happy guys who battle with little sad guys. In the end, everyone is happy.

It's creepy watching it now. While the cartoon is only about 7 minutes long, it's weird watching it and thinking of all the themes and other things going on. Here is a link to it on youtube, and here is a link to it on archive.org.

My cheery little cherry tomato plant

2011-05-27T12:47:00.000-07:00

I have a cheery little cherry tomato plant! I am so happy about it. I got it over a month ago and planted it in a big pot and it has been getting a ton of sunshine on our back steps. Before I got it, my dad told me everything to do to ensure it would flourish. I got it a little early and took a chance (because I was really excited about planting/growing one), but it was still a little early and there were still a few threats of frost..risky!

Here is my cherry tomato plant on May 7th (3 weeks ago tomorrow). There were already tiny little yellow blossoms on it then.

and here it is just over a week ago:

See this cute little cherry tomato peeking out??

Look at my plant now (this was this morning):

And check out these guys!

and these!

I can't wait until they turn red!

DIY projects

2011-05-18T11:17:00.001-07:00

Just a quick post to share my latest DIY projects.

Homemade laundry detergent! (going green)

And Homemade dishwasher detergent!

Burlap pillows I sewed on my sewing machine! (more to do with these later..and another blog post to come)

Personalized door mat:

Here's that old letter drawer I made over and turned into a jewelry display: (right now it just has rings on the bottom level-I didn't really like the look with anything else on there..but I may change it up)

And here's another shot of my paint chip artwork:

Love it!

Z

2011-05-16T06:07:00.000-07:00

Z is for zinnia. Like the flower.

Zinnias are one of my favorite flowers. Along with marigolds. My dad always grew them in his garden and I hope he grows some this year, too. They are gorgeous.

Y

2011-05-16T05:59:00.000-07:00

Y is for Yard Sale.

This Saturday is the big yard sale in my MIL's neighborhood. I am taking a fun class that morning with my sister and friends, but Daniel is going to participate in the yard sale for us.

I will say that every yard sale we prepare for, it seems like we are getting rid of a lot of stuff. I will say again that this year we are getting rid of a lot of stuff. I don't know how this stuff accumulates, but it just does..not sure why we were holding onto the stuff we are going to sell.

There are a lot of a books and movies, though. And recently we have been buying movies from thrift stores for $1 or less and dropping them back off when we are done (instead of always red-boxing them...hah). Now we're just adding those movies to the yard sale pile. Someone else can appreciate it while we make a buck off of it at the same time.

X

2011-05-16T05:52:00.000-07:00

X is for X. As in 10.

This Thursday marks 10 years of the start of my relationship with Daniel. It's hard to believe that we've spent the last decade together, but then again not so hard since it feels like my soul has known him forever.

Here are some cutesy signs I found on pinterest that remind me of him and our 10 year relationship:

Source: tinywhitedaisies.tumblr.com via Ashley on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Trace on Pinterest

Source: etsy.com via Abbie on Pinterest

And this is the transcript from a very very sweet letter that the late George Carlin wrote to his wife, that I just had to share here:

SALLYBURGER, If you took THE NUMBER OF SUB-ATOMIC PARTICLES IN THE UNIVERSE and multiplied that number times itself THAT MANY TIMES; and then added the total number of MICRO-SECONDS since the beginning of time, times itself; and then added 803—you would STILL have only the tiniest fraction of A BILLION-BILLIONTH PER CENT of the amount of love I HAVE FOR YOU. Love, your candle partner, the romantic Mr Carlin, your eternal flame.

Sweet.

W

2011-05-07T17:56:00.000-07:00

W is for wow.

Wow I can't believe I made this awesome piece of art. I love it and can't wait to hang it up.

I got the idea from this awesome blog: http://realhousewivesofbc.blogspot.com/2011/05/paint-chip-wall-art.html
I found it while searching around on Pinterest.

I pretty much followed her instructions, except I used polyurethane instead of modge podge, and elmer's glue instead of spray adhesive.

I went to Home Depot and got my paint chips. I used the Glidden brand ones because I liked their colors more and they looked easier to cut to the size I wanted my color squares to be. I also picked up a piece of plywood, 2x2, to get that square look I wanted.

After a little math, I ended up trimming all the paint chips to the size I needed. I needed 64 squares to cover my board (it wasn't exactly 2x2ft. and the squares were cut a tiny sliver below 3x3in.) Once they were all cut to size I put them all down on my board and decided which ones I wanted where, and which ones needed to go (I had some extras).

I also painted the edges of the board with some brown paint I had on hand.

These paint chips made the cut:

I glued them down one at a time (wiping up excess glue if needed):

Once they were all glued down and dried, I covered with polyurethane:

Once that was dried, I used super glue to glue down the corner flaps of paint chips that didn't want to stick. And after that dried, I stained the whole thing, top and sides:

I let that sit for a while and then I wiped most of it off (but I think I like it more in the photo above?). I love rustic looking things:

Then I added one last coat of polyurethane once that was all dried and made some touch ups where I needed to.

I have to put the hanging hardware on the back and then hang it, but it's currently drying. It's going to look so nice once it's hanging!

Thanks again to Monica from the Real Housewives of Bucks County blog!!

V

2011-05-07T14:54:00.000-07:00

V is for Violet.

My grandmother's middle name was Violet. One of her favorite flowers was the African Violet. Whenever I see one, it reminds me of her.

U

2011-05-06T13:18:00.000-07:00

U is for United States of America.

or rather, united steak of America.

This past Monday, my husband Daniel decided he wanted to cook steak for dinner, in the shape of the USA, in honor of the news the world received on Sunday evening.

He bought a big steak and cut it into that shape referring to a drawn out version of the country he made. We grilled it on our foreman and had it for dinner with some freshly steamed asparagus, mashed potatoes, and macaroni & cheese. He even whipped up some of those little toothpick USA flags. It was a lot of fun seeing how much he was into the preparation of the meal.

It was really good. I ate the west coast and he ate the east coast.

T

2011-04-25T07:39:00.001-07:00

T is for Trips.

Trips together.

Yesterday we went to Fossil Beach at our favorite Virginia State Park (in honor of Spring and Easter and Earth Day). We went easter-egg-fossil-hunting. We took plastic easter eggs with us and filled them with the fossils we found.

Together we found over 50 shark teeth, so it was well worth it!

We got there a little after 12 or so and stayed until around 5. It was fun and the weather was nice (even though I think I sweated buckets). There were a few other families coming and going but they didn't know what to look for..most of them had little kids so they were just out there enjoying the scenery/weather.

We saw some silk worms, toads, ducks, and bald eagles. I also saw a bunch of butterflies and managed to snap this photo:

On the way to Fossil Beach is a nice little hike.

The new community center before you start the hike is really nice. We've been there a couple times since it opened, it is really neat.

I also finally signed that letterbox that is there..and used the stamp in the letterbox to sign my letterboxing journal. Hope to find more letterboxes soon!

S

2011-04-22T10:38:00.000-07:00

S is for Sweets.

Sweet cake pops. SO MANY cake pops.

I have been whipping up cake pops so fast lately..so many people have been placing orders and I love it!

Here are some of the orders I have done this past month:

Several VCU themed pops were ordered: (devil's food cake with vanilla frosting)

They had these Rams on them that I made, for the occasion:

These were ordered for a family birthday party: (yellow cake with vanilla frosting)

4 dozen of these were ordered for a huge 50th birthday party: (lemon cake with lemon frosting and yellow cake with chocolate frosting)

Here is the same order bagged up:

I made these for Earth Day to take to the office:

And these are for Spring/Easter:

I love putting bunches of them in small mason jars and giving to people, and/or displaying them like a bouquet in the jar. They are so colorful and cute. Tons of fun to make! I love giving them to everyone.

R

2011-04-22T10:29:00.000-07:00

R is for Richmond.

Richmond is so diverse. Not just the people, but the landscaping, too. The surrounding counties are gorgeous. Whenever I am driving around I always end up seeing something beautiful. Here are some favorite Richmond photos of mine.

Q

2011-04-22T10:04:00.000-07:00

Q is for quilt.

This is our wedding guest book quilt:

My husband's second cousin Mary Clare made this for us. She is a very talented quilter (it's a hobby of her's). I picked out and purchased the fabric and she worked with me on the design, and made it for us. There is even a leaf quilt pattern on it. The backing is leaf fabric. I think it's my favorite detail from our wedding. Much better than a dusty old book with some names in it we'd probably never look at again. This quilt we see every day and every time I read the messages I seem to discover a new one or one I didn't notice before. Sweet.

This is what it looked like before our wedding:

During our wedding:

Now:

It is full of messages and signatures. It now hangs above our bed. Once we have a house, we will find a better place for it. I want to have a real wedding wall one day, so it would most likely hang on a big wall and be surrounded by framed wedding photos.

This quilt here was a wedding gift from my sister Bonnie and her husband Nathan. They got it for us in Ohio, where Nathan's family lives. One of his Amish relatives actually makes quilts and this was one she made. It is gorgeous. When we have a house, this will most likely be in a guest room, either hanging or on a bed. I love the turquoise and cream colors in the design.

P

2011-04-22T09:48:00.000-07:00

P is for platypi. and pandas.

Baby platypi and baby pandas are so cute. I could not resist sharing this here. The platypus is one of my favorite animals..they are so unusual.

Source: animals-zone.com via Sandra on Pinterest

Source: None via Vanessa on Pinterest

O

2011-04-21T09:35:00.001-07:00

O is for origami.

And Oh my god how are we not selling any of our origami bouquets..or bouts..or anything else we can make.

Goal this weekend: list some origami things on etsy. finally.

My etsy shop link: http://www.etsy.com/people/MrsOrigami?ref=pr_profile

N

2011-04-20T05:35:00.000-07:00

N is for neat things.

I had a huge order of cake pops I delivered on Tuesday. I had some extra cake pops after I filled the order, so I decided to make some earth day cake pops. Simple but adorable! They really do remind me of earth.

Another neat thing:

NOW

My christmas cactus is still growing and doing well! I am glad I have been able to keep it this long.

M

2011-04-18T05:25:00.000-07:00

M is for mornings. Monday Mornings, that is.

I like sleeping in on weekend mornings. This past weekend I didn't get to sleep in as much as I would have wanted to. In fact, the last few weekends have been like that. Monday mornings are not so bad anymore-I get to reflect on all the things I completed over the weekend.

I love having weekends off from work. It's a nice perk and gives me time to unwind and do whatever things I want to do around the apartment, or out and about in Richmond and sometimes other places. Daniel works every weekend unless he asks for it off..which is fine, because he's got 2 jobs now. (he is now teaching piano..so his regular days off are now teaching days)

Anyway, mornings are actually not so bad. I realized I get so much more stuff done when I wake up early in the morning. I'm done doing things I planned to do by 10 or 11, and that gives me the rest of the day to do whatever I please. It's actually not bad at all. Of course, it's simple math. But, it's nice seeing things get done.

Roundup of this past weekend:

-visited the Clean House yard sale on saturday
-went to an antique shop and a thrift store on saturday morning
-cleaned the entire apartment (vacuumed, cloroxed, took out the trash, put all dishes away, Dr. Wily's box got a thorough cleaning, things got picked up and put away)
-dropped off some clothes to goodwill that we didn't need anymore
-cleaned out my car
-talked to my mom on the phone for 23 minutes saturday morning
-talked to my dad on the phone for 2 hours and 40 minutes saturday afternoon
-spent some time on pinterest pinning and repinning things..inspiration!
-baked 2 cakes on sunday night for a cake pop order I need to deliver on tuesday (lemon cake and yellow cake)
-replaced the light bulb on our front steps
-returned a plant bracket to home depot and repotted/planted some seeds and a little cherry tomato plant
-modgepodged a wine box i got from the CHsale
-spraypainted the spinning rack i got from the CHsale
-went to the Richmond craft mafia Spring BadaBing sale on Sunday morning
-brunch with my sister and friends after the craft show (Kitchen 64), and icecream after that (Sweet 95)
-went to some more shops (class & trash, these4walls) and drove around some parts of Richmond
-rolled up vcu tshirts and labeled with tags, packed up and made them ready to ship
-watched Top Gun with Daniel over dinner sunday night

L

2011-04-16T13:49:00.000-07:00

L is for LOTS of fun!

Today I went to the Style Network's show CLEAN HOUSE YARD SALE. it was lots of fun!

Who wants a Cleeeeean Houuuuuse??

A friend told me about it the other day (it was mentioned on the local news). You can read/see the news article here: http://www.wtvr.com/news/wtvr-richmond-woman-gets-home-makeover-bon-air-home-named-messiest-in-america-20110414,0,3871092.story
This house is the messiest home in the country, so they were filming that episode..crazy that it was right here in RVA!

Anyway, anyone who knows me knows that I love that show. I love Niecy Nash and I loooove the cast on the show and everything that goes on. I used to love watching the episodes back to back when we paid for tv..anyway now there is a new host and some different cast members, but today I did get to see Matt Iseman and high five him, which was cool. I am sure I will be able to catch myself when the episode airs on June 29th..it'll be fun to watch.

The sale was from 9 to 1 at the Showplace here in Richmond..and let me tell you-the Showplace was packed full of things to sell. I was amazed at the great job the crew from the show did putting the sale together. It was a lot of fun seeing it all in action and getting to see people from the tv show. I got there a little before 9 and stood in line, and a friend of mine got there in line with me. We got to go in around 9:30 (they had groups go in one at a time, probably b/c there were so many people there) and there was sooo much stuff. It was unbelievable..

I bought 7 items, most of them were brand new, for $16. Yes, just 16 bucks!

Here's what I got:

metal spinning rack thing-I plan on spray painting it and using it for my craft stuff and maybe displaying cards and/or stuff to sell when I do some shows.

rolling pin with dough sheets-the pin is pretty much brand new, I don't think it was ever even used. it's awesome (daniel hates our tapered french pin so i thought he would like this one better)

microplane grater/zester thing-brand new.

canvas storage bin- new

huge glass jar-going to use for storage or as a big vase. i love jar vases.

wooden wine box-probably never used, but will be decoupaged and used for fossils or other treasures.

kuhn rikon decorating kit-i have wanted this for a while now and got this one brand new!

Anyway, I hope the homeowner had a successful sale (I am sure she did considering what I witnessed today) and I hope she really appreciates everything the Clean House crew has done and will do for her and her house. It's going to be a great episode!!

K

2011-04-15T17:18:00.000-07:00

K is for kitchens.

I love kitchens. and I love thekitchn.com. It's an apartmenttherapy.com site, so that makes it automatically awesome. There's always great recipes, decorating ideas, new gadgets, and tours of peoples' kitchens on the site. It's lovely.

One day when we have a house, I hope to have an awesome kitchen. Gotta have lots of windows. And a big sink.

On pinterest I have found a bunch of inspiring photos of kitchens and kitchen things. Makes me day dream.

Source: thekitchn.com via Ashley on Pinterest

gorgeous.

Source: 11magnolialane.com via Ashley on Pinterest

most brilliant pantry idea ever.

Source: bhg.com via Ashley on Pinterest

for some reason i love this. retro.

Source: coastalliving.com via Naomi on Pinterest

i think this one is my favorite so far. amazing.

J

2011-04-15T05:39:00.000-07:00

J is for Joy.

and things that make me happy.

Making cake pops for people. People love these and they look so sweet wrapped up like little bouquets.

Dr. Wily and his little sleepy face. How can anyone be sad when such a cute creature like this exists in the world?

Vintage pyrex..especially fridgies. They are perfect for making gift size quick breads!

Memories from our wedding. Such a happy day.

My christmas cactus. I should take some new photos of it because it has been growing. That makes me happy.

Cool & fun DIY projects. We have a lot of projects going on right now and I can't wait to reveal them here on my blog.

The beach. Any beach.

and animals. all kinds.

I

2011-04-13T12:44:00.001-07:00

I is for imaginary.

Like imaginary friends, and big imaginations.

When I was little, I didn't have any imaginary friends. My twin brother was there, and I had 2 sisters to keep me entertained. I did have a big imagination though. Us kids were always playing games growing up.

We made mud pies and served them through the "drive thru" we made at our back yard swing set.
We made complete villages and towns in the dirt/soil.
We did the same with legos. We even made up our own lego restaurants and theme songs/jingles.
We had a doll house that we used to make stop motion videos out of (called "The Doll house Family"), and made up all of the lines (my sister and her cool video camera back then was the director).
We used to rollerskate in the basement, and we made up fake shops/stores and sort of had a little mall going on down there. My dad's area with all of his tools/automotive supplies was called "Gerry's Auto." We even called the deep freezer down there a grocery store (we made it up). And the laundry area was a laundromat. Even more-we put paper traffic lights up and obeyed traffic laws as we were "driving" (rollerskating) through "town."
When we visited Smith Mountain Lake, we would pretend to be mermaids when we were out there swimming in the lake.
We used to play "school", and actually got graded.
We also played "store" and would actually buy things from my sister.
We played "radio" too, and had our own radio shows going on (recorded on cassette tapes back then).

So, we had a pretty good imagination growing up. We made up a lot of things to keep busy. We had lots of things growing up, I will admit that, but thinking about it I seemed to enjoy the imaginary things more.

H

2011-04-12T05:30:00.000-07:00

H is for history..

family history.

I was playing around on ancestry.com yesterday and decided to upload some photos from my uncle's books on my mom's side of the family. While I was doing so, I discovered some other photos another member of the website had already loaded..it was neat that she put photos to some of the same people in my tree..

I want to share these photos here because they represent my family history and my ancestors. The first 2 are from my uncles' books and the rest are from other ancestry.com members.

This is my great grand father, B.H. Runyon, on my mom's dad's side of the family.

My great grand mother, Lillian T. Reed with her Grand Union Tea Co. truck. My grandfather (on left) and his brother Russell are hanging out the window looking out. I would like to get some more information on these tea trucks..

Some ancestors..just look at their clothes. Fancy.

1901, upon the occasion of their wedding; Charles & Lelia Kagey. This just looks like a scene out of Back to the Future..fancy! These are distant cousins of mine.

This man, Noah Good, was born in 1823 in Shenandoah, VA, and died in the same town in 1903. He was a day laborer, and married to Julia A. Campbell. He enlisted in the war at the age of 40 in 1863, on the confederacy side, and he served in Virginia. He is my 4th great grandfather on my maternal grandmother's side (my great great great great grand father). Pretty neat piece of history.

G

2011-04-11T05:34:00.000-07:00

G is for Grand tour. Grand tour of the city of Richmond.

This weekend I took my cousin-in-law on a "grand tour" of Richmond (just the city). She is coming here in the fall to start college and I wanted to show her around so she will know where everything is.

We started on her school's campus and then made our way down through Monroe Ward and on Cary street to check out everything that's downtown. I took her through Tobacco Row, Shockoe Slip and Shockoe Bottom, went by the Canal walk and the River District. Zoomed through Church Hill. Back around the fancy shops and restaurants all throughout downtown, the end of Jackson Ward where the convention center and The National & Centerstage is on Broad Street. I showed her where a bunch of the galleries are on Broad which everyone should check out on First Fridays Art Walk. I showed her the Court end. We went through Hollywood Cemetery and Carytown and Uptown and the Fan. I also showed her the Museum District, and drove through the north side of Boulevard so she could see the Diamond and a couple other places over there.

Sunday we went to see the Picasso exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, with her mom and my mother-in-law. My favorite Picasso piece is this:

It's called Bull's Head. Picasso created it with found objects in 1943..it's a bronze cast of a leather bicycle seat and handlebars. I love it.

Before we went to the exhibit we went down Monument Avenue and I showed her the Malvern Gardens neighborhood (where we used to live) and Windsor Farms (fancy schmancy). I showed her the Virginia House, Agecroft Hall, and Windsor house. She also got to see the shops at Libbie and Grove.

After the exhibit We then went to lunch with everyone at Kitchen 64 (on the Boulevard), before we continued our tour down the Boulevard to pass through Randolph and go by Byrd Park and Maymont. We did a mini tour of the campus again so her mom could see where everything was. We then went down Cary for a little and back around to where Brown's Island and Belle Isle is located so her mom could see it.

I was happy to show her around everywhere. Of course there are more places for me to show her, but the main thing is I want her to be comfortable here. There is so much to do all over Richmond (just in the city alone) so she will never be bored and there is always a cool place to go to for inspiration/motivation to work on her art. She's going to be so busy with school alone but it's good to know the area you're going to be living in. The stuff I showed her over the weekend was just the tip of the iceberg.

F

2011-04-08T10:21:00.000-07:00

F is for Flickr.

I love my flickr account!

I have a flickr pro account, which means I can upload as many photos as I want. I love organizing and tagging all my photos, too. It's also neat to look at your activity on your stream to see what people have been typing into google and other search engines to come across your photos. And, it's handy to detect photo thieves.

A while back a map website (Schmap) found a photo of mine (of the Poe museum) on flickr and used it on their website for a tour of Richmond (with my permission & credit of course)..pretty neat if you ask me.

E

2011-04-08T10:16:00.001-07:00

E is for Empire State Building.

Daniel's favorite NYC building is the Empire State Building (my fav. NYC building is a toss up between Grand Central Station & the Chrysler Building).

Side 1

Side 2

Lego Empire State Building

Christmas Ornament Empire State Building

Rubber Stamp Empire State Building...

We even have one above our couch. It's next to some cool sepia photos I took while we were in NYC.

D

2011-04-08T10:08:00.000-07:00

D is for Dr. Wily.

Because I love him. and it's okay that I have an entire flickr set devoted to him, with over 200 photos. He's my little buddy. :)

C

2011-04-08T09:01:00.000-07:00

C is for cupcakes.

I love cupcakes. Not so much eating them, but looking at them. They are cute. Okay, maybe I love eating them too, but I can resist them. I can't resist taking photos of them, though.

See what I mean here:

Recently I have been making (and selling) Cake Pops..but cupcakes are just so cute and the possibilities are endless. Cupcakes will always be a favorite for me. Whenever I see a cupcake shoppe, I always have to take a peek just to see what their cute cupcakes look like.

My favorite cupcake is chocolate with vanilla buttercream frosting. Pearl's in Richmond makes the best cupcakes, in my opinion, and they have a delicious "black and white" cupcake. It's the best and the cutest!

B

2011-04-06T09:58:00.000-07:00

B is for Brown.

For the color brown (my favorite color). For my last name. For Charlie Brown.

I always thought I would keep my maiden name when I was younger. But, marrying someone with an easy last name like Brown, I thought it would be much easier to spell my name for people. People always had a hard time with the maiden name. My name is also now 1 syllable shorter than it used to be. So that's good too.

Names are funny things. if we ever have a dog, we'll name him Charlie..so he can have a cool last name to go with it.

A

2011-04-05T05:24:00.000-07:00

A is for Ashley..of course.

A is for Alluring

S is for Sweet

H is for Happy

L is for Logical

E is for Earthy

Y is for Yummy

Name meaning: A place name and surname from the Old English words 'æsc' (ash) and 'leah' (wood). This name transferred from surname to male first name but in recent decades has become increasingly popular for girls.

Alphabet blogging..

2011-04-04T08:04:00.000-07:00

I am going to do an alphabet challenge this month on my blog. Another blog I read did this last year and I thought it was cool..

by abbarichman

Tomorrow look for the letter A!

My first book..

2011-04-01T09:11:00.000-07:00

The first book I ever read when I was in kindergarten was 'Here Comes Winter' by Craig & Karas. I remember this book and how detailed the descriptions were. I liked it because the main character's name was Billy and he was a rabbit. He had to make his coat for winter because it was getting really cold out..so in the book you read about how he makes the coat. He goes to all of the stores to gather all of the supplies he needs for it, and each store his friends tell him what to do for each part. It's very cute.

It took me a while to figure out the name of this book. It has been forever since I could remember the name. I always knew the story though and could remember the pictures, so it was pretty easy to find by using my google sleuthing skills. I found it on amazon.com and went ahead and ordered the book. I want my own kids to read this one day.

I went on a random ikea trip a few weeks back, and picked these adorable plush/soft toy fruit and veggies:

I had seen them in the catalog and at the store the last few times..so this time I just had to get them. Another purchase for the far future.

When I was at ikea, I also picked up a duvet cover..I really like it:

I am working on figuring out something for the headboard on the bed. The bed is from ikea from years ago, and they used to sell these cushion type things that velcroed to that part of the bed, but I didn't really care for them back then. Now I wish we had something there. There are also things I have seen where you get enough squares in the colors you want and build your own headboard and hang it on the wall..I may do something like that..we'd have to move the quilt someplace else.

We also acquired this Wurlitzer student butterfly baby-baby grand piano. It is adorable. We spotted it at Class & Trash a while back, and I decided to get it for Daniel as an early anniversary gift. The one we have definitely does not look this great, but I got it for a great price and we hope to get it looking good one day. Fayth & Tom are actually holding it in storage for us right now, and they are experts at refinishing/staining things, so hopefully one day (with their help & guidance of course) it will look beautiful like the one in the above photo.

How funny-3 of these things are for future kids. No more shopping for them any time soon.

FINAL FOUR

2011-03-28T05:44:00.000-07:00

Joey Rodriguez!

VCU is now in the FINAL FOUR......if the madness wasn't here before..it is now!

A photo of the Monroe Park Campus I took after the game..people were everywhere.

Southwest champs!

GO VCU RAMS!

So..how about those Rams now?

2011-03-26T11:38:00.000-07:00

\
The VCU Rams beat out FSU last night for the chance to go on to the ELITE EIGHT! It was so much fun watching all the games last night.

We headed out to bdub's last night up the street to enjoy our vcu game. The place was packed and it was very intense those last couple minutes, especially seconds of the game. Once we finally made that last night and blocked FL's last one, we were all so relieved. Everyone was high fiving, hugging, cheering, it was so much fun to be a part of.

The top one is my sweet 16 shirt and the bottom one is my new Elite Eight shirt! It's awesome!

The next game is against Kansas tomorrow (sunday) at 2:00.. GO RAMS GO!

Yesterday at work, some of us took a group shot in our vcu gear..

(Photo by VCU creative services)

All of RAMNATION is so excited this weekend.

Dr. Wily even wore his VCU shirt last night:

(he was playing it cool because he knew we would win)

SO many celebrations..it's been an awesome tournament. At this point, I'm happy no matter what the results are tomorrow.

How cool is it..

2011-03-23T09:22:00.000-07:00

How cool is that Richmond is the college basketball capital of the nation right now? I am loving the fact that University of Richmond and Virginia Commonwealth University are both in the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tourney. The last big thing for VCU in the tourney was when we beat Duke in 2007..we played again in 2009, but this is our first time making it to the Sweet Sixteen! I am so happy and excited for our team. It's a great thing for the city of Richmond, too! At this point it doesn't even really matter much to me if we win or lose the game on Friday, it's just so cool that we got this far.

I love March Madness! but I love it even more when my rams are playing.

If both teams win their games this Friday, then the 2 will face each other in the Elite Eight game, to fight for a spot in the Final Four..how exciting. Go Spiders! Go Rams! Of course, I would have to root for my Rams if it gets to that point..gotta show my support.

I am all ready for the game this Friday. I got my sweet 16 tshirt from a local independent book store on the VCU campus.

I made my own little VCU themed wreath to hang on my door (very simple but to the point),

and I already hung up my VCU Rams flag in our front window.

I have black and gold nail polish to put on this week

and I have my pennant on display at work and some other VCU themed things at my desk.

GO RAMS!

I'm planning on making some cake pops to bring into work on Friday and share with the office..VCU themed cake pops, that is.

Over the weekend we stopped at this stamp shop and I picked this up for $1:

I have some ideas for it :)

Update

2011-03-21T18:04:00.000-07:00

I am actually down 20 pounds today from when I started my organic kick on March 1st. It sounds extreme but I think most of it has to do with the fact that I have only been drinking water.

I have been keeping a food log on a private blog of mine, to help me keep track of things I have been eating this month and what's been good/bad/etc. I definitely notice changes when I eat red meat-it makes me want something more. I never ate a lot of red meat before this, but thinking about it now, when I do have red meat I do usually eat a lot more than I should.

It's been hard the last week since I have been sick, but I haven't given in. I might have had a slip or 2 this month, but it's a little hard when you are celebrating birthdays with friends/family. Like a bite of a mozzarella stick I had at David's birthday dinner. Or the sip of a vodka & tonic I had at Uncle Ray's birthday roast this past weekend in GA. I need some more protein in my diet since I haven't had much of it in the last week.

I think most of it though has to do with the calorie limits and the extra exercise. Even parking extra further away at work makes a difference. I don't pay for parking so every day I have to hunt for street parking, and this month I have been so far away from campus it's like a little hike to and from the office in the morning 5 days a week.

Overall though, I feel really good. It doesn't really look to me like I have lost much, but I can tell my face is a little thinner and my clothes are a little looser. The dress I wore to the party this weekend was bigger on me than it was when I bought it a couple of months ago.

I only have a week to go on this plan, since it's only for 28 days. But, I am not even counting down anymore. Sure, there are some foods I'd like to slowly bring back into the picture, but I'll be making a ton of more healthy choices from here on out. I am happy and willing to make the changes I need to make to get where I want to be.

And, water wins. Especially that essence water.

What I'm Loving...

2011-03-14T08:22:00.001-07:00

Eos lip gloss smooth sphere, in summer fruit. I love that it's a sphere and it's a lot easier to find in my bag (the color of the ball helps, for sure). The moisture lasts for a really long time, and it's organic and gluten free (not that I'm making all of my products organic or gluten free, but it's cool!). It's 100% natural, includes vitamin E, shea butter, and jojoba oil. It's great!

Hint essence water. The blackberry flavored one. Comes in a 16 oz. bottle..it's all water. Nothing else. With a little tiny hint of blackberry. No sugar, no calories, no nonsense. It tastes like water, but there's that little surprising and subtle hint of blackberries. I love it. I am all for drinking water now, but this definitely kicks it up a little..because plain old water can just be so boring sometimes. It is pricey, so I won't be buying it much, but it's so very very good.

I love ulta nail lacquers. The top color is called 'set the nude' and the bottom one is called 'starstruck.' Starstruck is glittery, and it really helps my nails grow stronger when I wear it. Set the nude is like a grayish taupe color..it's neat and I really like it.

I'm also loving Justin's maple almond butter. It's all natural; the only ingredients are dry roasted almonds, maple sugar, organic palm fruit oil, and sea salt. The best part is..it's sold in little individual packets so you can grab and go, instead of lugging around the whole jar or having to pack it up separately. It's delicious.

The cutest thing you ever did see..

2011-03-14T05:24:00.000-07:00

Dr. Wily!

climbing on things he's not supposed to be climbing on..

profile shot..

being cute around christmastime..

getting his face in the camera..

snoozing..wait for it..

and the cutest thing you ever did see..

<3

30. A picture of someone you miss

2011-03-09T05:23:00.000-08:00

I miss my grandpa (and my grandma..my dad's parents). They live in Florida, and the last time I saw them was June of 2009. I really want to go back and visit soon. Of course, I also miss my other grandparents who are no longer around..but I can accept that. It's hard to miss someone who is still around and there's no excuse not to see them. Gonna need to fix that...

29. A picture that can always make you smile

2011-03-07T06:10:00.000-08:00

My grandparents..1943. I love this picture and it always makes me smile.

28. A picture of something you're afraid of

2011-03-07T06:04:00.000-08:00

I'm afraid of swimming in the ocean..or any natural and large body of water. I don't know what's deep down beneath the surface..anything could come up and bite me or tickle my feet. I don't like knowing that there are creatures down there, like crustaceans that can pinch and fish that can bite..and jelly fish that can sting. Ouch!

27. A picture of yourself and a family member

2011-03-07T05:50:00.000-08:00

Here's me with my brother and all my sisters! :)
From the top..

Kristen (family friend who may as well be a sister of mine)
Natalie (my oldest sister)
Bonnie (my middle sister)
Georgia (my sister-in-law)
Paige (my youngest sister-in-law)
and then me to the left with my brother Billy behind me.

Hummus for the rest of us..

2011-03-04T06:03:00.001-08:00

I have discovered hummus. I feel like I have struck gold.

I had tried some years ago but didn't like it..maybe I was just being closed minded. Who knows.

But yesterday at Ellwood Thompson's I picked up some things to stay on track and I also picked up some organic garlic hummus. It is delicious!!

The ingredients are:

chickpeas
lemon juice
garlic
EVOO
tahini (sesame paste)

I feel so good now that I am only drinking water-my head is clear and I don't miss soda. I love the carbonated feeling soda gives me but I have come to realize it is a real speed bump.

Yeah for water! Yeah for hummus! :)

26. A picture of something that means a lot to you

2011-03-04T05:36:00.000-08:00

My college diploma (the bottom one in the gold frame). It means a lot to me because I value education so much and am so glad that I was able to experience those years in college. I plan on eventually getting my master's degree but I am still working things out with that (trying to figure out which program to do and maybe take some graduate level classes as a non degree student before I decide on a program). I didn't really enjoy high school all that much-it was just something we all had to go through. But college was great-I have no complaints. There were some hard classes of course, but I loved pretty much everything about it.

It's hard to believe that this year marks 5 years since graduating college. I am so fortunate that I was able to experience college and earn my degree.

25. A picture of your favorite day

2011-03-03T06:10:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite days was the day before our wedding. We had our rehearsal dinner that night at the Black Finn in Shockoe Bottom. It was great.

The fun part of the day was the actual rehearsal at our venue. Getting everybody in the wedding party there that night was an adventure and it was interesting and funny trying to keep everybody under control/on the same page. It all worked out and everyone had a good time.

It was nice because I knew everything for the actual wedding day was ready and set to go..we planned a long time for it and it was finally happening.

24. A picture of something you wish you could change

2011-03-02T05:17:00.003-08:00

Eating habits.

I am currently on the 28 day detox program that my cousin Lora did last month. Yesterday was day 1. I am only eating organic food and staying away from sugar, caffeine, carbs, and everything else that is really good. I am only allowed to drink water, and I have to drink at least 48oz of it a day. Let's just say it really is messing with my schedule..

I have found though, that Trader Joe's sells everything one needs to change their eating habits. It's something I wish to do and it's something that's going to happen..at least for this month. After it's over, I will have learned all sorts of new healthy recipes.

23. A picture of your favorite book

2011-03-01T05:17:00.000-08:00

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom. One of my favorites books.

22. A picture of something you wish you were better at

2011-02-28T18:35:00.001-08:00

I wish I was better at piano. There is really no excuse as to why I'm not. Daniel is an amazing pianist and he is an awesome teacher. I should take lessons from him for real.

I have a great ear and good rhythm, so I should be able to pick right back up where I left off.

21. A picture of something you wish you could forget

2011-02-28T05:32:00.000-08:00

This may not be that big of a deal..but it is something I wish I could forget. My first speeding ticket. This happened years ago. Ugh, it was awful. I was literally a block away from my apartment. I shouldn't have even been out like I was. I was supposed to run to a friend's to check on their pets while they were away, and then come back home. So, I wasn't even properly dressed. I had on clothes, but I definitely wasn't dressed the way I would have normally been. I was in such a hurry to get back home I didn't even realize how fast I was driving, I was on a mission. That's when I got pulled over and it was awful. He gave me the ticket like it was no big deal, but it was a big deal to me. It was also a good lesson to make sure you are properly dressed/made up no matter where you go, because you never know what can happen.

I ended up getting a slap on the wrist in court, but it was still very embarrassing. I learned my lesson for sure. I wish I could forget it..

20. A picture of somewhere you'd love to travel

2011-02-27T14:30:00.000-08:00

I would love to travel to Rome, Italy one day. Actually, I would love to travel all over Italy. But I suppose Rome would be my first stop there.

19. A picture and a letter

2011-02-27T14:24:00.000-08:00

This is a photo of my brother and a letter he wrote to me back when he was in boot camp for the marines. Thankfully he is done with the marines, but it is something that will always be a part of him.

18. A picture of your biggest insecurity

2011-02-25T05:00:00.001-08:00

My biggest insecurity is my height. Sometimes I feel like I am taller than everyone else in the room. And I'm not that tall, I'm only about 5'8" or so. Tall would be my brother, who is over 6' tall. I am taller than both of my sisters, though. Sometimes I just feel very tall, much taller than usual. So I don't wear heels very often. I am okay wearing them at work sometimes, but I am still insecure about it.

It's also hard to find pants that don't look like clam diggers on me. I usually have to get long pants, but sometimes those are pretty hard to find.

I definitely don't wear heels when I am out anywhere with my husband. If I do, it's very rare. I am already taller than him without shoes on (he is short and his entire family is short), so I just don't want to seem any taller than I already am.

Over the years I have gotten more comfortable with it. I like the shoes that I do have, I am just a little cautious about which ones I wear for certain things.

17. A picture of something that has made a huge impact on your life recently

2011-02-24T05:16:00.000-08:00

New York City.

I always wanted to go but was always afraid. I don't know why I was afraid, I just was.

We always talked about going, and then last fall we mentioned it again and then both decided then and there to just go for it. We celebrated our second wedding anniversary in NYC.

It opened my eyes to so many things. I'm no longer afraid to travel to new places and see big things. I can't wait to see the world.

Before NY, I wasn't sure what to expect. I had heard so many different things about it. You never really know what it's like unless you have actually been there. And now that I have, I can truly say that I love it. I know we were only there for a short time, but I definitely felt like I needed to be there. I think it has a magical way of making some people really fall in love with it.

Lots more trips to that place in our future.

16. A picture of someone who inspires you

2011-02-23T06:07:00.000-08:00

The 44th president of the USA, Barack Obama, inspires me.

15. A picture of something you want to do before you die

2011-02-22T05:20:00.000-08:00

I want to go on a hot air balloon ride before I die. I know it's cheesy but I think it would be a lot of fun.

It would also be cool to see a hot air balloon festival..where the sky is filled with hot air balloons.

But yeah, I want to ride one, one day.

14. A picture of someone you could never imagine your life without

2011-02-21T08:02:00.001-08:00

My dad.

I can never imagine my life without my dad. I know he won't be around forever, so maybe I am answering this question wrong. But I have come to accept the fact that he won't be here forever. None of us will. I just can't imagine him not ever being a part of my life.

I grew up with my dad in my life. He was always working, but I remember the time he spent giving all 4 of his kids attention. I know plenty of people, especially some close to me, who did not have a father figure, or one that was barely around, or some who lost their fathers early on. I am so grateful that my dad was around when I was growing up. He is still a part of my life today, and I do see him occasionally. He is a great person all around and I am glad to have him in my life.

I would be a completely different person if he wasn't in the picture.

In the words of the Beach Boys.. (who we danced to together at my wedding)...God only knows what I'd be without (him).

13. A picture of your favorite band or artist

2011-02-20T13:34:00.000-08:00

Tori Amos is my favorite musical artist. This is a photo I took of her in DC on 8/1/09 during the Abnormally Attracted to Sin album tour..I think it was called the Sinful Attraction tour? Anyway, I got a lot of awesome shots during that concert. And I can't believe it's been almost 2 years since the last Tori concert! I think it's time for another one soon. There have been rumors that she won't tour again until after her musical opens in 2012 (based on The Light Princess), but can her fans wait that long?

I just read online that there is speculation that she may go on a charity tour this year too...we shall see.

Tori shows Daniel and I have been to (so I can keep track of the setlists we've seen):

Strange Little Tour:

Washington, DC (with Rufus Wainwright opening)
Sunday, October 7, 2001
DAR Constitution Hall

http://www.toriset.org/c.php?c=381

Scarlet's Walk Tour:

Fairfax, VA (with Howie Day opening)
Tuesday, November 12, 2002
Patriot Center

http://www.toriset.org/c.php?c=431

LottaPianos Tour:

Virginia Beach, VA (double tour with Ben Folds)
Thursday, August 28, 2003
Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre

http://www.toriset.org/c.php?c=1450

Original Sinsuality Tour:

Washington, DC (with Matt Nathanson opening)
Wednesday, April 6, 2005
Warner Theatre

http://www.toriset.org/c.php?c=1459

Norfolk, VA (with both The Ditty Bops and then The Like opening)
Sunday, August 14, 2005
nTelos Pavilion Harbor Center (Portsmouth)

http://www.toriset.org/c.php?c=1514

American Doll Posse Tour:

Washington, DC (with Yoav opening)
Friday, October 26, 2007
DAR Constitution Hall

http://www.toriset.org/c.php?c=1594

Sinful Attraction Tour:

Washington, DC (with OneEskimo opening)
Saturday, August 1, 2009
DAR Constitution Hall

http://www.toriset.org/c.php?c=1691

12. A picture of something you love

2011-02-19T17:21:00.000-08:00

I love my paternal grandparents. I love this photo. Grandma and Grandpa, known to me and my sibs. George & Helen to their friends/family. Mom and Dad to my own dad.

This photo is actually one of their wedding photos, put on a cake (an edible cake photo), which my cousin Mathew and his wife Claudia got for the 60th wedding anniversary party we all threw for our grandparents. Carrot cake is their favorite.

June 18th, 1949 was the day they got married. My dad was born the following May 10th, and his 2 brothers and 1 sister followed after. We celebrated their 60th on June 19th, 2009. Amazing.

They have been married almost 62 years this year. This photo of them is so beautiful and makes me so happy just looking at it. I love it.

more old photos

2011-02-19T17:11:00.000-08:00

looking through photos is a lot of fun.

this evening i was looking for some prints for our new york wall (to go with our empire state building art piece), and i stumbled across some folders with old photos. again.

Daniel was the cutest baby ever. As evidenced here:

Me, on the other hand, not so much. See here:

Daniel was a pretty stylish kid back in the day:

I was apparently not yet in touch with fashion:

Anyway, on to some other photos..

Look at how young I looked here:

No wonder people used to tell Daniel I was under age. Re: homeless dude in downtown fredericksburg one sunday afternoon.

Some other photos I wanted to share today:

Me in TX with a TX margarita.

Kristen, me, and Bonnie at dinner waiting for Billy to come back from Afghanistan.