is this my life? this is my life

last night after plopping into bed from exhaustion, my dog (who just had leg surgery and is on strict bedrest orders) starts whining and getting all amped up. thinking he wants to spend time with my husband (who is in the living room, staying up late to watch some important basketball game or something), i open the door to let him out and collapse back into bed. well, the dog keeps going crazy so i scream out my husband's name. he doesn't respond. so i scream out again. and a third time. silence. laying there for a second, i wonder if it's worth getting out of the soft sheets -- what if he had a stroke and needs attention? sigh. get out of bed. enter the living room, no one there, and my dog is at the back door pacing (so much for bedrest). i join my dog and peer out the window, and what do i see? my husband, shirtless, wearing bicycle shorts, black dress socks, and nike frees (he was cycling in our living room while watching the game), using a rake to claw at our dogwood tree. our cat is on the very end of a branch, arched back, hissing, while the neighborhood orange cat works to avoid my husband's persistent rake.

another day, another dollar. another cat fight, another night in our household.

Five Favs: Kitchen Necessities

If I were stranded on a deserted island, these are the five favorite kitchen items I could not live without (assuming this hypothetical island had working electricity, sanitary water, and an abundance of food to cook!):

1) Black & Decker Toast-R-Oven
I cannot say enough great things about this toaster oven. Not growing up with one, I didn't realize how useful they were until much later in life...which led me to putting it on our wedding registry, of course! This thing works like a charm. You can bake/toast/broil, all without needing to use more energy that a conventional oven would produce -- keeping your kitchen cool and cooking a breeze (see what I did there?)!

2) Calphalon Tri-Ply Stainless Steel Saute Pan with Cover
This is the pan most often used out of the awesome set my mom gifted us with for our wedding (the set originally from Bed, Bath & Beyond, though the link is to Amazon). I read the reviews on Amazon, which stated that this pan warps -- I don't know if it's the incorrect pan, but we have been using this almost every single day for 2.5 years and have not experienced anything but pleasure when cooking with this saute pan.

3) Hamilton Beach Food Processor
This is a very basic food processor that I think was gifted to me when I moved into an apartment with my best friend, A., six years ago. Though it didn't get much use the first couple of years, ever since my plight into domesticity, it gets, on average, about 2-3 uses per week (depending on the recipe). Of course, J. and I have been coveting a Vitamix for years now, but we haven't yet made that intense financial plunge. In the meantime, this food processor works wonders.

4) Henckels Classic Stainless Steel 6-inch Utility Knife
What did we do with our Amazon wedding giftcards, you ask? Why, buy our first set of decent knives! Out of the three (utility,chef's, and paring -- a similar set to this, actually), the utility knife sees the most use. I don't know how I ever chopped fruits/veggies before this bad boy entered our home (actually I do, and those memories are outright nightmares!).

5) Silicone Flexible Cutting Boards
I had never heard of these until seeing J.'s aunt cook with them during a visit. It's fun because if you were worried about cross-contamination (something we don't have to worry about most of the time) you can keep poultry on one color, veggies on a different, and fish on a third (why you would be eating a chicken-asparagus-salmon meal is beyond me, but you know, all hypothetical chopping cases) and cook worry-free. I like them because they are flexible so I can simply bend the cutting board after I've chopped by bell peppers and let them slide right into the saute pan (or right into the composter bin for veg/fruit leftovers). They are thin so take up little space and are super easy to clean. I even use them as a "clean surface" (doesn't it ever weird you out to prepare food directly on a counter, even if you scrubbed it yourself?) to prepare sandwiches, burritos, etc. without having to waste a papertowel. The first six months of us living in our new home was stressful because I couldn't find these cutting boards that were packed away in a non-descript box. Imagine my pure joy when they found their place back in my kitchen!

There are many more gadgets/appliances that we use almost daily, but if I had to pick my top five, these would be it. What items do you use every day and couldn't live without?

The Tale of the Bleeding Nose

Everyone has their opinion about my laugh. It is something I have heard all of my life -- either it is too loud and obnoxious or people, quote, "love it, it makes me laugh!" There is no grey area when it comes to my laugh. You all know exactly how you feel about it.

Freshman year of college I was watching Kung Fu Hustle with some friends in Gainesville. (Let me point out that this movie is a comedy.) During the opening fight scene, I remember the old lady landlord doing something funny, so I -- of course -- laughed! Out loud! A lot! Two of my three friends promptly stood up and sat three rows away from me. (And I promptly stoop up & walked into another theatre to watch The Ballad of Jack & Rose -- a movie I was much more interested in watching, by the way.) More recently, coworkers have coined me "Betty" (and my colleague, K. "Wilma") for our disturbing bouts of laughter. This type of attention to my guffaw is not new.

So earlier this week we were all lying in bed. By "we," I mean my husband, Jasper, and me (Gilly hasn't gotten down with this snuggle fest just yet, but cooler weather is around the corner and I see her changing her mind). Jasper is between us, going to town licking/biting himself, doing whatever it is he does, and out of his mouth (I think it was his mouth) escapes a loud fart-like noise. J. immediately accuses me of farting and tells me how gross I am. I told him it wasn't me, but, really our puppy's flatulence. My dear husband, my best friend and soul mate, accuses me of lying to him, and of course it was me not the dog who made this obscene noise in our pure virginal bed. I started laughing -- I mean really laughing -- so hard. I couldn't believe that J. wouldn't believe me! Laughing turned to snorting, and well, you get the picture. In response to these noises he had probably never heard before, Jasper got really excited, fumbled his way out of the in-between space of the covers, started panting like he does when he's overstimulated, hops toward me, and mid-snort, bites me in the face!

Like I said, there is no grey area when it comes to my laugh.

Busyness Can Be a Blessing

Life has been pretty hectic up in these parts, so we will be taking a little break from blogging for the time being.

Upcoming events include, but are not limited to:

• Master's Practice in Augusta GA this upcoming Monday
  
• Second Anniversary Camping Trip to Wilmington Beach NC the following weekend
  
• Archery lessons
  
• A.'s graduation from her nursing baccalaureate program!
  
• Chicago trip for J.'s sister's graduation from Moody Bible
  

Of course, the regular busyness of life is intermixed in all of these things, so you can probably imagine how quickly these next few weeks are going to fly by. We are definitely blessed!

On Purchasing Your Own Home

I don't think I've really talked about (at length, anyway) our house buying fun that we've been experiencing for the past couple of months. I was wary of getting too excited about it in fear that something wouldn't work out. Our friend K. wanted me to kind of blog about the process (probably while the process was happening), but to be honest, you wouldn't have wanted to read about it. Aside from a few gleaming possibilities, most of the house "shopping" was torturous. I never thought I/we would be this way, but we're one of those typical couples you see on Property Virgins that drives you crazy because they want the Perfect House.

One house I fell in love with immediately. It was over a century old, in an older part of town, closer to work and parks, and I don't know...seemed very "us." And though it was old, all of the major upgrades (read: kitchen & bath) had been taken care of. Cork kitchen floors? Yes please! I was sharing my excitement with a coworker and instead of encouraging me, she did just the opposite and told me how terrible it is to resell your house. She is moving with her husband and kids to Florida (her husband is in the service) and she is very excited to be renting an apartment. Basically she told me every possible horror story there could be about selling your house and it totally freaked me out. So, on our second visit to House #1, I couldn't get over the negatives (weird floor plan, poor insulation on second story, not as good of school district) that could possibly impede a resell. Sad, because my husband was just starting to warm up to it. (See, I am the difficult person in this situation.)

We decided to take a second look at another house we liked, which is in a different part of town with better schools, and generally a better resale area. Called our realtor to set up an appointment and found out twenty minutes later that the house was under contract. Booo. I was very sad that day, but worked it off with a exhausting game of tennis in 110-degree heat, and came home to pleasant and encouraging messages from friends.

Well, the next day we were at it again, visiting every house in this city with our dear and patient realtor, Earl. He is seriously so patient with us and deserves every penny from the sale. Going out to look at houses was quickly becoming a tiring thing and not the way I wanted to spend my days off. I told my husband that if we didn't find something in a month, we were calling it quits and just renting. The realtor and owner of one house we wanted to see weren't returning Earl's phone calls, so instead we looked at another ten. The next day I was to fly out of Charlotte and into Seattle and I wanted to get it over ASAP.

And this is the part where y'all call me/us crazy.

While I was out of town, the realtor for that one house (which will now be called The House) finally contacted Earl and they set up an appointment with my husband. JP excitedly texted me that night, "I have warm fuzzy feelings about this house and I knew it was ours right when I entered the door." I had only seen The House from the outside and the photos from Zillow or Realtor.com, but I told him to make an offer. I figured after us seeing about 80 different houses together (yes, that many), he knows what I like and I trust him. For some people that is too huge of a thing to trust somebody on, and I wouldn't have predicted I'd be doing it if you had asked me at the beginning of all of this, but boy... He did good.

The House was built in the mid '40s, is a 4/2, just a little over 2000sqft, has a chain-link fenced in backyard, is landscaped, with original hardwoods inside, and completely remodeled bathrooms and kitchen. It's our dream house and we close on the 26th (assuming everything goes as planned).

My dear husband got everything rolling while I was touring the Pacific Northwest, from securing interest rates, to scheduling house and termite inspections. We now have a Google Document of things to do before closing, things we want to work on, and things we will probably need to buy. It's all happening so quickly, and I do feel a bit overwhelmed, but I have faith that God is in this and I have been praying every day for serenity in this situation. If I start listing my life to-dos on top of The House to-dos, I get very anxious, so I have been taking it one day at a time.

I am heading out for the termite inspection in a bit and am toting our camera along. The next post will have photos plus a grand list of projects. Happy Monday!

ch-ch-chaaaanges!

Today wasn't such a good day, so I did something drastic for the one I love. I've more recently come to terms with the idea that vanity isn't all that it is cracked up to be and there are more important things to fret about than makeup and hair.

Upcoming Travel

April 8-10: Surprise Anniversary Weekend
April 21-24: Savannah, Georgia
May 25-June 6: Utah, Arizona, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana
June 7-June 10: Savannah, Georgia
July 1-July 9: Perdido Beach, Alabama
July 26-August 3: Washington, Oregon
September 2-11: Maine, Montreal

I have figured it out and I will be working only three weeks in June, two and a half weeks in July, and three weeks in September.

Life is good. (:


- - - -

I am so looking forward to our alone time together next weekend. I have no idea what Jonathan has planned for us, and as much as I "want to know," I don't actually want to know. In preparation, I will be getting my pampered manicure and pedicure from Soak Salon (my birthday present from my darling husband finally coming to fruition). I will be working Sun/Mon/Tues night and no additional shifts this upcoming week. Boy, am I ever excited for that. (Not looking forward to going in for my fourth day tomorrow.) Everyone has been getting fresh spring cuts and I have been tempted to do the same...but then I look at photos from last August when Sarah & I went to Missouri and I miss my long hair (since I have already cut off 10-inches). Thoughts?

In other news, we are addicted to Mad Men, my brother is an official South Carolina resident, my mom might be coming up for Easter, Jonathan is headed out for testing approx. April 14-May 25 (very sad), and I have been asked to co-chair a committee at work.

How is everyone else?

A Small Blurb about Life Changes

Lives change all of the time -- for good and bad -- and we have been extremely blessed this last year. My husband and I are really growing into one another, and I don't know if it's the warmness of the season, but I'm finding myself appreciate so many little moments lately that it is hard for me to say what exactly has changed in us. Just last week marked eight months that we have been married, which I proclaim is "almost a year" and David quickly corrects me and says "it's only eight months!" It's been fast, this whole time, and after barely having enough time to get ready for a wedding yesterday, my husband looked at me and said with great emphasis, we have got to stop doing this.

We've been moving so quickly and I cannot imagine the new year slowing down anymore. I recently found out I was accepted into a RN-BSN program, which is awesome news, but also a little unexpected. (Unexpected because I was thinking Summer 2011 admission, not Spring, aka less than a month away, admission!) Tomorrow I should be sending in all of the paperwork and forms that will qualify me for in-state tuition, and the 6th of January I have my orientation. I don't really know what all of this means with my work schedule, but with only 7 credits I cannot imagine *not* being able to work as much as I do... We will see. Then we have quite a few trips planned for the new year, and I don't know if/how me being enrolled will alter those plans. Again, we will see. I am nervous and I am excited. At work we often discuss what we plan to do, since most of my coworkers are getting critical care experience and then applying for NP/CRNA programs. I don't know how any of that falls into my future, but for right now I know I need my BSN, just in case.

In other news, Friday marked us paying off $6000 in debt since August, which means I can officially close two credit card accounts this upcoming week. I know I've never written about this to you all, but David and I have a very aggressive debt pay off plan that will have us finish $35,000 by May 2012. We could theoretically be even more aggressive, but we'd like to also travel and save during this period, so .. womp, we can wait the two years.

The discussion of what do we do with all of that "extra" money after May 2012 has turned into yet another aggressive financial plan for purchasing a house, which, by the way, scares the heck out of me. All of it is exciting, though...just very, very scary.


For now I am just content knowing that the huge life change that occurred this year (getting married and moving away from family & friends) has been fairly easy. We have really genuine and awesome friends here in Columbia that has made everything kind of just pass on by...

Before heading to frisbee, after I crawled into the warm cocoon of a bed, David grabbed our coats to hang up in the closet. He paused at the doorway and said, "You know you married the best husband in the world?" I smiled and said, "Boy do I know it," though I guess I am a little partial. (:

Goals

Two things I have been very bad at this summer: housework & blogging. I only see the latter as "important" because between David and I, we've been doing a lot of traveling! I never posted, but here is a list of the tentative summer itinerary:

June 4-8: MD, DC, Richond VA (I actually posted pictures of this!!)
June 17-20: Savannah GA
June 9-13: Palm Beach Gardens FL
July 18-20: Cherokee NC
July 30 - August 1: St. Petersburg FL
August 14-15: Brevard NC
August 26-30: Nashville TN, St. Louis MO
September 8-14: Chicago IL

As you can see, more than half of these occurred, and we only have three trips left before our "season of traveling" will sort of die down. No worries! Aside from dedicating myself to writing thank you cards (No, we still have not finished our wedding thank yous, what's wrong with us?! Look above.), I plan to really catch up. Heck, photos from last year's trip to Washington or my graduation trip to Utah/Arizona/Nevada are still not properly documented on the internet! Between the two of us, we have three computers (plus three external harddrives) with a scattering of unorganized folders on the desktop. It's really just horrible.

As far as housework goes... well, it's really not as bad as I'm making it out to be. It's just our mudroom has become the catchall and that bothers me! I can take one look over my shoulder and see leftover programs from our wedding, a Twilight Blast Frisbee, poker set, Fodor's The Carolinas & Georgia, two camera bags, a multitude of cords, a stack of frames... the list goes on (and that's just over my left shoulder!).

What I'm really trying to say is that our life has just been incredibly busy. I'm so thankful for all of the opportunities both of us have had to travel since April, but I really am ready to hang out in town with friends at home, ya know? Our summer roommate, Karthik, moved out on Saturday (also David's birthday!), and I think that's when I realized just how quickly the summer has gone by.

So, here is a list of goals to help keep both of us focused on what's important:

(1) FINISH THANK YOU CARDS. Oh my gosh, you cannot even believe how much time I spent thinking about doing this, but then not doing it. We have a little over 30% complete. We started them in June. What the heckkk is wrong with us?

(2) MULTITUDE MONDAYS. Our friend Miriam told us about this, and I'm finally going to take the initiative and try to do this. (See next post.)

(3) RUN A 5K. Originally we were planning for September, but that month is already looking way busy (going to Chicago and all), so now we're shooting for October.

(4) KEEP OUR FRIENDS UPDATED ABOUT OUR LIFE. This maybe isn't a totally unselfish goal, but it would give me at least some semblance of organization in our life, which would help overall probably.

(5) WEEKLY DINNERS WITH FRIENDS. Before David had to leave a few times for work, we were having friends over semi-regularly for dinner. It was really nice. I want to continue.



Andddd it's time to fold laundry, do dishes, attempt to fix one of the external harddrives (and not enter panic mode!), and post my first Multitude Monday!

Hope you all are doing wonderful. God Bless!
Rose

Time to Catch Up (no, seriously!)

Friends, friends, friends... it's been a while since you've heard from us. The past two months have been crazy busy with Rose finally working and the wedding plans all coming to a head. Things to report: Rose's job is going great and the wedding was wonderful! The marriage (two week anniversary tomorrow!) is going pretty well too.

People have been making crazy requests, wanting to see photos and all. Well, folks, that's not happening -- anytime soon, that is! I'll just tell ya'll about our honeymoon (minus the gory details), since that is the second question most people ask after the photos question.

We went to New Bern, North Carolina, which is the second oldest city of NC. Our original plan was to rent a house in the Outerbanks, but we really didn't feel like we could commit the time (driving and all) just yet to that seemingly awesome area. New Bern was a nice compromise -- it has the quaintness of a small town, is near the Croatan National Forest, an hour away from the Atlantic, and has history galore. This would all be great if we didn't spend more than half of our time either sleeping or lounging or eating. I'm lying, we probably spent more than half of our time doing those things.

First of all, the B&B we stayed at is called Aerie Inn and is owned by an awesome couple, Marty & Michael (no they aren't gay, Marty's real name is Marcia!.. wait was I the only one that assumed they were a cute gay couple owning an Inn?). Anyhoo, Marty & Michael have really set our standards high when it comes to B&Bs now. The day we went to the beach they provided chairs and a cooler. The night we wanted one of our (many) bottles of champagne, they provided ice and a bucket. There were also these delicious mints everywhere in the house. Okay okay, that stuff is nice and all, but really the breakfasts were more than fantastic. Each morning we had a starter (usually a cobbler variety -- my favorite, peach & raspberry YUM) and then a choice between three entrees. Most mornings I chose the French toast, because, well, anybody who knows me knows I love French toast. Marty cooks all of the breakfasts herself and they are goooooood. We stupidly only took pictures of our entrees our last morning there... oh well, I expect we'll go back in the next few years.

Aside from the owners, the Inn itself is really neat. All of the rooms are decorated with original antique furniture, and then modern conveniences are there to add interest (TV w/ DVD player, the most comfortable 1000-thread count Egyptian Cotton bedsheets EVER, gorgeous heavy curtains, and down pillows). Each night we would look forward to the wine-and-cheese social hour where you had a choice between white wine, red wine, or pink lemonade (guess what David chose?) and delicious appetizers. At least three other older couples were also staying at the Inn and they would make uncomfortable raunchy newlywed jokes that we both surprisingly enjoyed. It's kind of fun getting a lot of attention from strangers when you are just married! Toward the end of social hour, the owners would ask where we planned to eat that evening so they could go ahead and call for a reservation. And this is where the honeymoon gets really good... every dinner was so so soooo delicious. Luckily we took photos of our meals. Have a looksie at the new couple of posts!