Taking A Break

Hey Everyone! I know I have been a slacker about blogging lately, but things have been super hectic with work and helping with The Cooking Husband's blog on a nightly basis, so I find that this blog unfortunately gets very neglected. I'm going to take an extended break, but will be back when I have a renewed excitement for blogging. Sorry for the inconvenience, but you can at least keep up with what we are having for dinner most nights at www.thecookinghusband.com.

Thanks for understanding and I'll be back at some point!

Lazy Blogger, Busy Worker

Hey Everyone...quick post since I haven't had even 2 seconds to blog lately. I just returned from training in RTP for the last week, and had a brief trip up there the week before as well for an awards dinner. Things have been going well so far this summer...we had Rach and Coop's wedding over Memorial weekend--what a great time in the Dominican Republic! Then returned home and both Thomas and I have been working like fiends lately (no joke 70-80 hours weeks have sadly become the norm instead of the exception). The Cooking Husband blog has established quite the following and lucky for that group, Thomas is much more diligent about keeping his blog updated than I have been. The garden and flowers have been flourishing, though recently the plants have been less than happy with the almost 100 degree weather we have had over the last few weeks. Thank goodness we have a pool in our neighborhood to help beat the heat!! Here are a few pics from the Dominican for your viewing pleasure....I'll try to be better about posting more frequently going forward. We are headed to Las Vegas over the 4th of July weekend with Rachel and Brian--I'm super excited since the last time I was there I was only 15 and just a tad too young to gamble. More updates coming soon!!!

Worth all the hard work...

So this past weekend, Thomas and I spent a better part of both Saturday and Sunday doing yard work and transforming the outdoor space for our house. It was a much needed spring cleaning of shrubs, planting, and laying pine straw. When we were deciding what to plant this year, it was great because especially for me, I've learned my lessons on what works in the front yard over the last few years. There is quite a bit of shade under the trees so I went with different types of impatiens under there. For the sunnier areas, I planted begonias and a couple of gerber daisies. In our pot out front, I planted a bougainvillea--I LOVE THESE plants. The petals are so light weight that they flutter in the wind beautifully. On the side of the house, by the garage, we planted vinca and sweet potato plants which are great because the leaves are such a great bright green color. Tired of hearing about flowers yet?? But wait, there's more! In the backyard, we planted red carpet roses across our retaining wall, African daisies, and some red dahlias, along with a few other plants which I don't remember the name. See, I'm not such an accomplished gardener yet that I can rattle off every plant in our yard. Please enjoy the pictures, and I'll be posting more pics as the plants get bigger. Oh yeah, don't even get me started on all of the veggies we have planted--tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers, oh my!

Babies Galore and Updates

Wow, I just realized exactly how long it has been since I entered a blog post--entirely too long! Things have been hectic crazy busy lately with work...70 hour weeks are not uncommon at all right now. Added to that, Thomas' cooking blog has taken off--he has had over 8,000 visitors to his site since May 1st, and today is only the 4th! I've been utilizing my fine photography skills to make sure he has good step-by-step photos of all of his food for the blogs each night which means that this personal blog of mine has moved further down the priority list unfortunately. Anyways, weekend before last, 9 of the 10 JMU girls made it up to DC for a reunion/baby shower for the 3 girls who are currently pregnant--Anne, Lee and Tiffany. Lee is in the purple shirt in the middle and is due at the end of May with a little girl. Anne, in the flowered shirt on the left, is due in June with another little girl, and Tiffany, on the left in the navy shirt, is due in July with a boy. It was so much fun to catch up with everyone though we did miss Amber at our mini-reunion. Here is a recent picture of the girls of 1177I, our old apartment at JMU.

Thanks again to Laura who graciously hosted the event at her house. It is amazing for us to believe that it has been 10 years since we graduated from JMU. The years we spent together were amazing, and have forged life-long bonds between us. The best part is that even though we may not see each other for a while (years in some cases) we pick up right where we left off. Marriages, births, and deaths have happened for each of us during this time, and we always know we have this great support network in the friendships that were built in Harrisonburg, Virginia, or even before. Thanks again to my friends who are some truly amazing ladies!!

The house is under attack--by a BIRD!

**Please note, I do not condone violence to animals in any way--HOWEVER, this is starting to get ridiculous!**

Sorry everyone for the delay in posting, but with the way my day has started, I felt I had to get this out there. Please feel free to laugh out loud at the shenanigans (yes I did use that word, and no I am not an 80 year old woman) that have besieged the house recently. Starting yesterday, which was a super busy day for me since I was backing up the other two Account Managers within my group who were attending the funeral of our manager's father who passed away, we have had a new visitor who is trying to take up residence at our house. A seemingly innocent little blue bird started hurtling itself against the window on our back door. At first I was really concerned, thinking, 'Oh my, this poor little bird is hurt, and confused and that is why he keeps flying into the door.' I went outside to inspect, but noticed that the bird was still able to fly. I continued to be concerned on the state of this little creature, but after about 30 minutes, he stopped trying to fly through the door, and I figured that was the end of things...that is, until this morning. Starting at about 8am, this little guy started the onslaught of his attack on the house--AND IT IS STILL GOING!!! I'm not even kidding, at this point, I think he has probably tried to commit kamikaze bird suicide against not just the back door, (which was the only place he was flying into yesterday) but now against the kitchen window and the 2 windows in the dining room, at least 200 times. This is no exaggeration. Again, I am still concerned for the well being of this animal, but at this point, I'm about to lose my marbles on the little thing. Thinking he just needed something to scare him, I ran upstairs, grabbed a bunch of balled up socks, and got my arsenal ready for the next time he flew into the window. Of course, he did it again, I threw the socks, and he flew away, only to return again about 15 seconds later!!! If I speak to any of you over the phone today, listen for the tap tap tap in the background as I am sure this persistent little devil will still be around. It is mildly ridiculous that I am currently being kept a prisoner (and so are the dogs as I don't want them to hurt the bird) inside my house by a scrawny little bluebird! Please pray for me before I go postal and start swinging a broom at this bird in my backyard--or at least have your video cameras ready so we can all make some money on America's Funniest Home Videos! Feel free to post any suggestions you may have for getting this bird to go away for good!

Let's make The Cooking Husband famous!!

Hey everyone. As you know, Thomas has started his cooking blog at www.thecookinghusband.com. In ways that put my measly little blog to shame, he has already had more visitors to his site (which he started on March 1st) than I have had in my whole history. But, that's amazing, and I am so proud of him. In efforts to get his blog ranking up higher, I'm asking you to go to this link http://www.blogged.com/blogs/the-cooking-husband.html and vote on his blog. The higher the rating, the higher on the list his blog shows up and the more visits he will get. Also, be sure to check it out--there are some GREAT recipes on there, and I am not ashamed to be his 'test kitchen' for almost every single one of them. You will also get to see some of the pictures taken with the new Nikon! Now, if only the sun would stay out, we could get some pics on here with my awesome new camera!!! Please take the time to visit and vote--it can make a big difference!

New Toy and the Weekend

This weekend was a monumental event for me. I bought a new camera. Now, to some of you, that wouldn't seem like such a big deal, but to those who know me, this is HUGE! The best part is the fact that my new camera has both an automatic setting and a manual setting. Which means that instead of just pointing and shooting, I have the ability to let this camera grow with me as a photographer as I get more comfortable with Aperture and Shutter Speed, and can control it. Needless to say, it was an enormous buzz kill to buy my camera on one of the worst weather weekends over the recent past. It was a cold and constant rain all day, and by the time I got back home, and was able to charge the camera battery, it was not just cold and rainy, it was now dark, cold, and monsooning. Finally today the sun is starting to come out so I am sure I will be itching to take my camera out to see what she can do by the end of the day.

Even more fun for us this weekend was the fact that Laura and Kim came into town on their way to Savannah for St. Patrick's day weekend. If you aren't aware, St. Paddy's weekend and day are a HUGE event in Savannah. Think Mardi Gras. They got in on Thursday night, left for Savannah on Friday morning and returned on Sunday evening to spend the night and catch a plane on Monday morning. It was so good to see them, and Thomas was 'The Cooking Husband' on Sunday night by making dinner for the 4 of us plus Jon and Dave. It was a great time and I'm so glad they were able to come through Atlanta to visit! More posts with new pics from the camera soon!!!