A Good Laugh

I love, love, love to talk the moment I climb in bed.  I blame this on having shared a room with a sister for practically my entire life until college where we could talk ourselves to sleep.  After nearly two years of marriage, Devin has pretty much gotten used to this.  Nowadays, we are rarely even make it to bed when we plan to and then generally talk much later than we should.  Towards the end of a week, we get sleepier and more slap happy during this time.  Once, a political discussion led to tears as I was imagining NASA astronauts building a railroad.  I know--very strange.  Last night, our conversation went something like this:

B: I talked to someone yesterday about watering our grass while we are gone.
D: Okay, although I don't know if it'll need it.  I'm going to have to replant one side when we get back anyways.
B: Oh, so we need more seed?
D: Yes, and I want to get top soil, too.  I'll only need about ten bags.
B: So, we'll need to budget for that next month.  How much is it?
D: Don't worry...top soil is dirt cheap.

This unintended pun led to a lot of laughter on my part.  I love it.  And don't worry, Devin groaned and hid his face in shame at such a bad joke.  Then I laughed some more.

Happy Birthday Jessa!!

 My baby sister is 19 years old today...craaaazzzy!!!

Back when this picture was taken, Jess and I were finally getting along as sisters.  With our almost 6 year age difference and strong personalities, we didn't always.  We even had one disastrous attempt at sharing a room that didn't even last a year.  I remember this day as one of the first times I didn't feel like I needed to treat her as a little sister but just a sister and friend.  It didn't mean she didn't count on me though--just a few days later I accompanied her to her first day of cheerleading practice because she was so shy.  However, no one will describe her as quiet now!

This past Christmas, I was freezing and trying to convince everyone that it was time to leave the live Nativity.  Jess wanted one more picture.  So, I grabbed my camera and shot this to try to convince her to go.  I feel like it captures my goofy sister so well.  And, it's one of the few pictures where we look alike (even though people tell us that we do all the time)!

Happy Birthday Jessa...please don't hurt me for posting these!!  :]

TV Debut

I've made my television debut...and cringe every time I watch it!  We were fortunate enough to be at Home Depot at the right (or wrong!) time.  For your viewing pleasure...



Or, you can view it on the WAGT website here.

Daydreaming...

We set sail in 5 more days...thank goodness!!!

Peanut Butter Bites

If you need a good cookie cookbook, you can't do any better than this one.  I have had this book for years, and my coppy is now a little worn with specks of cookie dough throughout it.  It was a gift from my Grammam, which makes me treasure it even more.  I thought I lost it once during a move.  It led to a sad Christmas without some of these wonderful cookies.  Then it was found, and all was well.

Because I have this awesome book, we were able to make these amazing Peanut Butter Bites when we needed a sweet fix this evening.  I don't use the exact recipe in the book, though, because I've found a couple things that work just a bit better.  And, I will share my secrets here...but just for this recipe.

Peanut Butter Bites

1/2 c butter, softened

1/2 c granulated sugar

1/2 c packed brown sugar

3/4 c creamy peanut butter (the original recipe calls for chunky)

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla (I don't actually measure this...I just add a small pour.)

1 1/3 c all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cream butter and sugars until fluffy. Add peanut butter, egg, and vanilla; beat until well blended. In small bowl mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture gradually, stirring until a soft dough forms. (I always just use the mixer.) Shape into balls slightly larger than 1/2 inch, roll in sugar, and place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten balls with a crisscross pattern using a fork. Bake 6-8 minutes until bottoms are lightly browned. (Tops will still be very light!) Transfer to a wire rack to cool then store in an airtight container. It's supposed to make 8 dozen bite size cookies but 5-6 dozen is more realistic.

Running Buddies

I am love, love, loving that it is spring!!  We have returned to our porch swing talks and evening walks.  Maximus is now doing wonderfully on his leash.  So well, in fact, that we decided to take him running for the first time yesterday!  It was our first run since the race, and we knew after 18 days off that it wouldn't be too intense.  Both Blue and Max were fantastic runners, though!  Max clearly preferred the downhill, while Blue relished the faster pace the whole time.  But, I think we will be surprised with Max being a better partner than we thought.

After the run, we rewarded them with ice cubes and peanut butter flavored rawhide.  Max was so excited about his rawhide that he tossed it all over the living room for several minutes.  Then, he jumped up on the Foof chair to roll all over it for several more minutes.  It was hilarious and adorable all at the same time.  Of course, he ended up in a tangled mess from pulling off the chair cover in the process.

So, Max eventually decided to hop off and actually chew on the rawhide next to Blue.  It's so cute to watch them together, but much more difficult to photograph them together.  I was very happy to get this adorable picture.  In other news, max is now on a regular dog bed at night alongside Blue's bed.  At some point in the night, they usually end up sharing a bed and melting my heart when I wake up to see them together.  We really did get lucky with two wonderful little boys!

Follow the Link

What happens when you follow a link to a link to a link?  (And, just to be clear we are talking about hyperlinks.)  For me, I started on a page informing me of an FDA warning issued to warn people of "fake" potassium iodide being sold as a protection agent against radiation.  In other words, it was every day news stuff of the not-that-exciting variety.  I ended up here.  Then I almost died....of laughter.  Now, the link is saved in my blog so that whenever I need a laugh for the rest of my life, I can just click it again.  You might want to check it out as well...

Countdown to Cruising

We are going on a cruise in two weeks!!!  When I wrote this post, I mentioned how much I was looking forward to simply looking forward to the cruise.  After months of this, though, it's down to time to get things done!  So, we have been very busy getting ready.  Here's a rundown of all we've been up to:

* We finally booked our shore excursions last week.  In Haiti, we will spend our time in lounge chairs or hammocks listening to local musicians and eating delicious foods on a beautiful beach.  In Jamaica, we will be touring the Green Grotto Caves and then climbing the Dunns River Falls.  In Cozumel, we will take an ATV through the jungle to visit Mayan ruins before snorkeling in a reef and eating a locally prepared lunch.

* I got my hair cut!  This also coincided with my race being over, but I am loving it more and more each day.  And, I finally broke down and bought my first flat iron this week because my stylist recommended using one instead of a curling iron...even though my hair has no natural curl...

* We have booked our shows for the cruise.  On the largest class of ships, Royal Caribbean allows you to do this before getting on board to simplify the process.  We were able to get seatings for every show except the comedy hour.  However, there will be an opportunity to hopefully get this worked out onboard or do standby seating...we're not too concerned.

* I have started clothes shopping!  So far, I have bought a new cocktail dress for one of the formal nights and three shirts.  I still need a couple more shirts, maybe a pair of shorts, a bathing suit, and shoes.  Devin hasn't started shopping yet but has agreed that we will do it all in one marathon session next Saturday.  I'm also working on a shopping list for Target as well.

* Our packing list has been made.  It is complete with check boxes (two if it's an item we both need) because I'm a little OCD sometimes.  But, I don't want to have to buy Devin new shoes because he forgot them (like last time) or run out of high SPF sunscreen (like last time) because we just weren't prepared.

* The bed in our spare room has started to become the staging ground for everything.  I plan to just keep adding to that bed in preparation for packing.  I consider it my "staging ground."  Anything I know I won't use before the cruise will go there.  So far, it's just clothes, but all the other items will start to stack up soon, too.

* I have been cleaning my house like crazy.  It's not just your regular, everyday cleaning though.  I'm doing those things that only happen once in a while like scrubbing the drip pans on your stove and moving your furniture to sweep where it usually sits.  We have friends who will be staying in our house with our dogs while we are gone, and I want to make sure that everything is nice for them.  Also, we went ahead and paid for the one night that the boys will be in boarding right at the end of the trip.

* Also, I've been compiling our documents for the trip.  We have completed our online check in but still need to print everything out.  Our luggage tags came in the mail.  Our passports are both ready to go.  Shoretrips.com has just emailed me to let me know I can print the vouchers for our Cozumel excursion.  So, that will be a weekend project of organizing it all in a folder.

After typing all this, I realize I have been even more preoccupied than I originally thought.  Before going, we still have a lot of shopping to do, more stuff to get done around the house, figuring out where to stay the night before we sail, and packing!  Obviously, I am super excited about all of this.  For those of you who were kind enough to read all the way through this long winded post, I will leave a picture of the beautiful Oasis (pulled from the web of course)!  In just a couple weeks, we'll be posting cruise pictures we took ourselves!

My Dogs...Again...

Friday afternoon Max decided to slip into the bookshelf while the sliding glass door was open...so Devin closed it.  Needless to say, he was not too thrilled about it.

Overprotective big brother Blue was not happy either.  So, after a couple laughs we let him out and gave them both some love.

Lest the whole world think we are terrible dog parents, this is how they spent their evening last night.  I was sitting between them, but ended up moving into another room.  For once, they felt no need to follow me.

New Hair Cut!!!

I love, love, loooove my new hair!  What do you think??  Please pardon the uber-posed smile... :]



I am Fierce

I made it!!!!!!!!  We successfully completed our first half marathon yesterday in Albany, GA.  After roughly 100 days of planning, preparation, and training, it all came down to just a couple hours.  This shirt and participant's medal may be two of the most well earned possessions I have.  I am fierce, and I deserve them.

At points during the race, I could not even think about the finish.  I never doubted that I would make it, but it seemed too distant through the pain and exhaustion to focus on.  However, I had asked Devin to remind me at any point when I struggled that I am fierce.  I know it sounds dorky, but just thinking about the word helped me finish.  It was my word all through training as well as for the race.  Obviously it worked, though, because here we are crossing the finish line!

Once we were across, I couldn't stop smiling.  The previous 2 hours and 27 minutes seemed like a blur.  Even now, I can only remember a handful of distinct thoughts during that time.  Amongst them, I can recall being grateful for all the volunteers who cheered me on.  I also remember hurting and being tired.  At the end, I laughed and cried in disbelief that I had done this.

I was so, so happy to be done with the race.  While it was a great experience, the best part was the feeling of being done.  In most of our pictures, this showed as me looking just a little bit crazy.  I was also exstatic that we had met our goal of under 2:30.  Granted, I would have liked to have done even better, but I know that there will be more races in the future.

One lesson learned is that I need to pre-fuel a little better before a race.  I had a few less calories than my pre-run norm because of my nerves.  It took just about everything I had to force down the packet of instant oatmeal I prepared.  I started to feel tired way too early into the run and that hampered my overall performance.  By the end, I was completely drained.

Several people have already asked me if this is something I will every do again.  I can safely say yes now, although I may not have back at mile 10 in the race.  The feeling of accomplishment was tremendous, and I'm actually excited to feel it again.  I can't say for sure when the next one will be, but I do have my eye on a couple halfs later this year.

After the race, we went to spend time at Devin's grandmother's farm.  His cousin April had also run the race.  So, we had a big family breakfast afterwards.  I gladly piled on the bacon, sausage, biscuits, gravy, eggs, and orange juice knowing that it was all less calories than I had burned.  This breakfast was even better because of the time spent with the extended family.

Devin's mom was kind enough to make the trip down and then come out in the weather to take all of our pictures.  While 56 degrees and misting felt wonderful to our sweaty selves, it was not as pleasant for all the spectators.  Thank you to everyone who supported us through this crazy challenge, and we'll keep you posted on the next time!!