MIA

Just want to let everyone know I will be MIA until Tuesday. (When I get back, there will be tons of pictures to post of inlaw visit and more)
Tomorrow night (yes, night) we start our journey to Alexandria to "mini" move.  We're taking a walk through of the new place, moving lots of kick nacks in, and painting.  We then head back Monday.

BIG HUGE shoutout to Brianne!!!  She has gone above and beyond friendship by helping me pack up all the breakables (and my whole kitchen).  Tomorrow she will help me load the u-haul...please remind me why I am moving again???  I HATE PACKING!!!

On the road again....

This might be the end of me.....

I have put buying this this off for soooooo long.  What "this" am I talking about....The Kindle.

It was only a matter of time before my 2 loves would combine...technology and books.  While I am a weirdo, and love the smell of a new books....I might be ok with missing that "smell" when I have 15 books float through the air and into my Kindle for me to stick in my purse and read.  I might not mind waiting in the doctors office!!

And to think most titles are less than 10 bucks....some free.

This, sadly, is just page one of my book list. 

I am making myself not read one book until I finish beading my last darn necklace!

Don't.Judge.Me.

P.S.  Fine, judge me, but will you think better of me to know this is a Kindle 1 not the new one that came out (and it's used and got it for a STEAL on ebay)?  For once in my life, I am not buying the newest model out there :) 

Productivity makes me warm and fuzzy....

What a fabulous weekend! We started off earth day by recycling our old paint cans, computer monitors and donations for goodwill at the city earth day.

Then Geoff and I decided to go on a nature "hike" (ok, walk) at the Skidaway State Park. This might have been the longest walk the dogs have been on yet. Thank goodness we brought them water.

And now the latest obsession..."Getting those things you've said you wanted to get done for years". You guys know what I am talking about! Those minor things you've left on the back burner, because you know they are not THAT important, but something you would really like done.

So far my list has been:

• Fixing my grandfathers cabinet (has been refinshed, all hinges replaced and fixed, polished, wooden casters added back on, mirror backing replaced etc)   Now all that is left is finding the keys.  Considering this was made in 1901...has been a pain to find.  We'll see if a local key shop can find what I need.

• polishing my mother and great grandmothers silver pieces  (tired doing it myself...the results were less than desirable and my hands turned raw and icky. Found out there is actually someone close by that does it.  Would you be suprised if I told you this woman also has at least 20 cats??)

And this is the mack daddy of all things I wanted to get done....

• Re-string my mother's jewelry that is broken, or really fragile.

I went to a store in Downtown Savannah that was soooo sweet to help me. I didn't realize how much it would cost to restring beads. They charge by the inch (around 75 cents and up to 2.00 for the serious work) BUT considering some of the necklaces are more than 12 inches and have 3, 5, and 26 strands...it was going to cost be over 1,000 to do all the work done!!!

Ummmm...noooooo.

So the lady told me all the supplies I would need and I have been doing the time consuming task of restringing the beads all weekend.  Then I will take them back and she will help me put the new clasps on each of them.

I am on my final necklac.  Just making me think about it makes me cringe.  It has been the most time consuming since those beads are the size of the tip of a ball point pin. Each strand takes 1 hour to bead (hopefully it will get faster, since I'm only on 4 of 26 strands).

I swear I might go blind before I finish this! Wish me luck!!

Shock and Awe

...well in my case it was "Shock" and "AWWWWWW"
To say yesterday was a great day is an understatement. 

We had planned that we would do nothing over the top this year and no presents since our presents to each other were Geoff's laptop and fixing my grandfathers  cabinet (which I found out yesterday was made in 1901).

Shock #1:

Geoff made dinner plans

Awwww

Shock #2:

These beautiful flowers

Awwww

Shock number #3

Diamond Necklace (pendent)

Awwwww

Shock #4

Geoff smiled for a photo....ok it's a smirk....but he HATES taking pictures and can't smile on command (seriously, when you tell him to smile, you will get the same fake smile you get when you ask a little kid to say "cheese")

Awww....smirk face :)

Thanks to everyone for all your sweet well wishes!! 

3 years ago today...

...a boy...

...and a girl...

were married in one of the most beautiful places they could find.

A lot has changed in 3 years...

...but one thing remains the same...through ups and downs...the boy and girl lived Happily. Ever. After.

Smile

I feel like sometimes I let myself get down and not focus on the good things in life.  So this post is dedicated to all things that make me smile...

(Apologies in advance for some poor picture quality, but they all came from the cell phone camera)

This AWESOME hydrangea I found at a local florist shop (I made sure I could plant it in DC)

My iris' in the backyard are still kicking!  They have endured heat, freezing temps, 70 mph gusts of wind, flooding...and Charlotte.

These babies have lasted over a month on nothing but neglect.  They look fake, so I forget to water them :)

Look real close and you can see some cream color blooms!  I have been waiting almost 1 year to find out "what the heck kind of flower is growing on my arbor". 

Roses are starting to bloom in the backyard. 

Yet another awesome plant from the same local florist

And you thought all that made me smile today was plants...

For 10 years, this girl drove a gas guzzling SUV.  This is a sight that will bring tears of joy to my eyes!  My hybrid SUV (a little more than 1/2 full) and only 200 miles on the tank.  (the old 4runner would go 200...and you'd be running on vapors if you let it go any further without a fillup!)

And the best for last

Nothing makes me smile more than a puppy with a mohawk!

Peaks and Valleys

Sorry I have been MIA.  A lot of stressful stuff has been going on.  And while I know that there is a TON I should be (and am) greatful for.  I've felt crummy these past 2 weeks. (Big shout out to Kristy for letting me vent at lunch)

Let me start off with the "valley" portion. 
NOPE:
Let's start off with the peaks.  Thank you JESUS there is a PEAK!!!

Just got off the phone with our realtor and we just got an offer on our place.  WOOHOO.  Details and financing still have to be worked out...but FINALLY.  SO tired of having to keep our house looking like a museum (with before and after pictures, upgrade imfo, etc).  And being kicked out every Sunday for Open Houses was getting to be a pain.

Since my mood has changed... here are some peaks....

• My awesome hubby turned the big 2-9 last Friday!!  We had a wonderful dinner at Ruth Chris.  The pups (since I wasn't allowed to buy him more gifts, since his laptop was his birthday/anniversary present) bought him some NICE dress shirts, wallet and tie.
  
• I stuffed...and I mean stuffed (I don't think my poor chest will ever forgive me)  myself into my first size 6 dress. It fit perfectly everywhere but the darn chest.  Wii fit and my Personal Wii trainer made me loose some inches.  My Wii age and my actual age are the same (I used to be in my 40's...ouch)!!  Woohoo.

• I was able to donate our old PC, tv and converter box to an AWESOME family with the Interfaith Hospitality Network.  This is a  local charity we have donated to before (with our old dining room set and china hutch).  We also have babysat the kids one night while they stayed overnight at our church (remember the baby that took a bite out of my arm?) This time I actually got to meet the family we were helping.  We are trying to find a truck so we can deliver them our daybed for the 2 tiny kiddos.

• Made another $500 bucks just selling stuff sitting around the house and garage we no longer use.

• Bought the  Eye Fi Manager as an "opened item" from Best Buy and saved $30 bucks by doing that!!!!   I love it.  Pictures from my camera are automatically uploaded to my computer the minute the picture is taken!

• Charlotte had her first birthday on Saturday.  Here she is with her beloved cupcake (many fights with Jake over this).  And yes, that's her favorite way to hold any toy.

Now the valley's....I know some might not seem too bad...but toppled on top of each other...it gets to be a tad....annoying. 

• Took Charlotte and Jake to get groomed and came back with Charlotte's ears looking like this

Poor Charlotte...she looks almost as depressed as I did when I got her back :( I said trim her ears not make them "naked".  Sheesh.

• 
  
  Went off the steroids for 1 day, hives come back with a vengence same day.  Thought it might just be a random outbreak (who was I kidding), didn't take the 'roids again, hives came back even worse.  With the warmer weather I'm over heating faster and getting flushed in the face a lot more.  Dr. told me I am stuck with the 'roids.  More blood tests to come :(

• 
  
  Almost lost my wedding ring twice this week since it flew off my hand and I didn't even know it! Went to get it sized down.  Was told couldn't happen....blah blah blah...my warranty had lapsed since in 3 years I missed ONE 6 month cleaning by ONE month....blah blah blah...needed a new setting....blah blah blah....couldn't use my own diamonds.  I huffed out with tears in my eyes to a local jewler who said they could use my diamonds and make a new setting so I can size up and down without a problem.  This is my new wedding ring for the next month.....sigh....

• 
  
  Major family drama... costing me $$ and stress.  Feeling guilted into helping, even though I know I will get screwed yet again.  Hate it.  Makes me sick to my stomach.   Playing the "your mom would have helped" card yet again.  Real low blows.  I HATE being taken advantage of.

• 
  
  Feeling disconnected from some friends.   I'm not in the same place as they are.  Don't know if we will be in that same place again. Been there, done that before....it sucks/hurts.

And the icing on my cake

• Have been diagnosed with keratoconus. My exact words were "umm I just thought you were going to give me race car driver glasses so I could drive at night and you tell me this?"

Good news: I have 20/20 vision (thank you Lasik)

Bad news: The contact lenses and glasses only help those with blurry vision, not the problems with halos and night vision and light sensitivity. It's a whole different set of physics.

I always had a slight problem driving at night, after Lasik it got worse and it's going to go downhill from here.  More tests are going to happen.  2 hours in the dr.'s office this week....and they poked a needle in my eye while I was AWAKE...my eye was numb....BUT STILL...I can barely take the glacoma test!  Already had a second opinion.  Agreed with 1st.  

Enough of that... 

I am going to try to be more chipper!  There is a lot to be thankful for.  I just need to get back to that place, and not the "seriously, are you #$%#$% serious" mode. 

Let me end on a happy note.  Look at these babies in my backyard....

Life is beautiful....just have to stop and remind myself that...