Tuesday, January 29, 2013

The Couple who Brunches Together, Stays Together





Actually we are not people who brunch. During the weekday mornings, I just grab a banana and maybe some yogurt and go running out the door.  And on the weekends, we sleep in,  and it just makes sense to skip breakfast all together and just eat lunch. But when I heard about 3 skillets in downtown Huntsville I figured it was about time we "did brunch."

It was sooooooooooooooo good. I got the king, which is a waffle that has bacon, bananas, and peanut butter baked into the batter, and then it is topped with vanilla whipped cream. I was pretty much in heaven. And I would tell you what Adam ate, but he is not very adventurous, but his omelet tasted fine I'm sure.  However, he did have chocolate milk, which I thought was super cute. I love having a 28 year old husband who drinks chocolate milk while I drink mimosas. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Afterwards, we walked next door to Sam & Greg's Pizzeria and Gelateria (is that a word, I just made that up) for DESSERT!  And the weirder something sounds the more likely I am to try it I guess, because I got bacon maple syrup gelato and I LOVED it.

I guess it was just a bacon-ey kind of day.

Friday, January 25, 2013

Around the House

Things have been really quiet around here, and I haven't had too much to post about. We've had a ton of rain lately and even a little snow! Not much and not enough to stick, but just enough to get a few (unpaid, ugh) hours off of work and a nice afternoon nap. Unless you are Adam, and you work from home, and then it is just business as usual.

Last weekend, we drove to Nashville to do some shopping at Opry Mills. Adam spent way too much money on new Lego sets (that is what he collects). And I might have spent a little too much at the Vera Bradley outlet, and spent too much time slobbering over the Coach bags, that I could never really allow myself to buy.

So instead of sharing pictures of any recent adventures, I thought I'd post about a few things happening around the house.

One of the Lego sets Adam bought was a massive 2,000 plus piece City Hall. We started putting it together last weekend and it took something like 5 hours to build only the first level. We stopped there, and hope to finish it this weekend. What a project!

Yes, I love scentsy and I love scented things in general. I realize that good smells are something in life that make me really happy and calm. And the scent of the week this week? French Lavender. Lovely.

I've been practicing my paper folding skills since Adam got me this book for Christmas! It seems like such a simple thing but it is actually pretty challenging. I guess I have to just keep on trying.

We have been keeping this little one for my mom the last week while she is out of town. And dogs just don't come sweeter than Carlee. It has been fun to have a dog in the house again. It is nice to come home from work and have her here because she acts like you coming home is the BEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED IN THE HISTORY OF EVER.

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Favorite Things: Art Academy 3D







I am not a big video game fan. Although I kick butt at Mario Kart, and I love me some Mario Party. But recently Adam bought me Art Academy 3D for his Nintendo 3DS, and I'm obsessed with it. Not only is it relaxing, the game teaches you actual art techniques and how paintings are made. It lets you practice using pastels, paints, and even drawing with pencil (I'm not soo good at pencil drawings, did you see my windmill?). And even though you are only using a stylus, it feels so much like the real thing! I actually feel like I could use these skills in making real pieces of art. Plus, my teacher is this cutest bearded old man named Vince. He makes me smile.

I've never been much of an artist. When I was in middle school,  I was doing art with a group of kindergartners in Georgia during a mission trip. We were all drawing pictures of our families, and I drew mine. My drawing turned out pretty bad with my family looking like aliens. And a five year old laughed at me! So I'm pretty impressed with what I've turned out so far considering my skill level.

So what do you think of my works of art? My cherry was the first painting I did, and the avocados are my most recent. But I'm most fond on my melon. Gosh, that sounds dirty.

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Home Movies

This weekend I was fooling around on the computer and I found a whole treasure trove of videos we have taken over the years. Videos of our baby Sarah, which made us sad, but it was also so good to see her again and reminisce about her. There were videos from our honeymoon to D.C. Videos of Adam doing his signature touch down dance. And I thought they would be fun to share on the blog. SO I hope you enjoy! Make sure you got the volume up. You can also see more of our videos here.







Monday, January 7, 2013

Currently:


 
Currently:

Excited About: Our reservation in March at the Inn at Woodhaven in Louisville, Kentucky. The B&B looks beautiful and the breakfast is seriously calling my name. We are staying in the Derby Room in the Carriage house.  It was supposed to be a 4th Anniversary trip, but because I got the room through living social, I couldn't get the exact dates we wanted. But March is good enough! And we are seriously excited about exploring this charming city.

Listening To: The Les Miserables Soundtrack (The Complete Symphonic Recording Version). I was so excited last year when I found out they were making a new Les Miserable movie. I saw the play Les Miserables in 2004 on New Year's Eve in London, so it holds a special place in my heart. I have already seen the new movie twice, and the soundtrack has been on repeat in my car and on my walks.

Reading: The Pact by Jodi Picoult. It is sad, but an interesting read about a a teenage couple who seemingly enter into a suicide pact, that goes wrong, and only one person ends up dead, and the other ends up on trial for murder.

Eating: I am obsessed with homewrecker burritos from Moe's Southwestern grill. I love to go there during my lunch break, And unfortunately I think the staff is starting to recognize me. Which for some reason really makes me anxious. I hate when restaurants start recognizing me.

Working On: Restarting my 5k training. I'm doing the Color Run 5k in March in Jackson, Mississippi. I'm really hoping this will be the race I can run the entire thing. The cool thing about this race is we are all going to get color bombed every few miles.  SO excited, SO nervous.

Loving:  These prints from Exploding Dog, there is something about the simplicity of them that I really appreciate.

Researching (for fun):  I've fallen in love with Hadley Hemmingway (Ernest Hemmingway's first wife) after reading The Paris Wife & Paris Without End. I've been scouring the net for anything on her and have been gawking at the vintage black and whites images of her. She intrigues me.

Thankful For: The fact that the holidays are over. I love them, I really do. But there is something about getting back into a routine that is pretty comforting and welcome after all the chaos and heticness of the holidays.

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Got My Cranky Pants On


I have a confession to make. The confession is that in some ways I'm not much different than a toddler because I get uber cranky when I'm hungry or when I'm tired. Sometimes in the evenings after work, when it is nearing about 9 o'clock, I start to feel kind of annoyed. I start to think, "who is this man living in my house, and why does he insist on opening his mouth and saying words?" And that is the moment, when I realize, I need to go to bed. STAT.

But on rare occasions, I get cranky for no good reason at all.  Just like last night. Everything seems so blah and nothing is going to hold my interest. And it has taken me several years to discover what my cure all is for getting rid of the blues when you have no good reason to be blue at all. The first step is to get off your behind and go for a walk. Preferably when it is dark outside and a little chilly.  I usually start off listening to sad, slow songs because that fits my mood. And I can belt out the tunes and be all "woe is me." Joni Mitchell anyone?  And feel sorry for myself.  But usually half way through the walk I feel a little more up beat, and I can switch to more upbeat tunes, maybe something from The Ting Tings or Florence and the Machine.

Once I get home, I hop in the shower, as hot as I can stand it and use all my favorite products. I stay in the shower just long enough to prune and hike up the water bill. Once I come out, I change into clean and fresh pajamas. Preferably one of my favorites, maybe my pink pajamas with the Scottish puppies. And I lay in my bed and do a little reading of whatever my book du jour is at the time.

I did that exact routine last night, and then I felt better and I could go on and enjoy my evening.  Now if I can only find a cure all for my other types of crankiness I would be golden. Although I guess that cure all is just sleep, glorious sleep.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Wrapping it Up & Starting Fresh


So lets see how I did on my resolutions from 2012:

1. Try a New Recipe Every Month.
I only posted my recipes up through July, but I definitely cooked a lot more than that, so I can definitely put a check next to this one.

2. Work on Expanding my Wardrobe and being more Fashionable.
I don't think I accomplished this goal, I feel like fashion is not my thing and I'm always working on just looking put together. So this is something I'm probably always going to be working on.

3. Get My Scrapbook Up to Date.
I got almost all of my back pages done, and I just need to get some of the most recent events done.

4. Complete the Couch to 5k. 
I totally did this, and put my training to the the test in the street car 5k and veteran's day 10k! I'm most proud of this goal.

5. Land a Job in the Counseling Field.
Check, check, check! I am working as a children's therapist with my own little office and I'm lovin it.

6. Quit Cussing.
Epic fail but on the bright side I'm not any worse, and I never cuss in inappropriate settings.

7. Live Pinterest!
I did pretty well on this, you can check out what I completed by looking at this board.

8. One Top Secret Resolution.
This resolution was to send care packages to all my friends. I got off one or two, but by all means didn't do them all.

9. Accept Compliments.
This is something I struggle with and I will always struggle with. I tend to be overly critical of myself, and it is hard to take in the positive.

10. Stop Biting My Nails.
Winner, winner, chicken dinner! I did this and now I'm loving my long, beautiful nails that I'm obsessed with painting.
 
So now it is time for my goals of  2013!
 
1. Finish Anna Karenina
When I was a middle schooler, Anna Karenina was the longest book I'd ever seen. Although it is no longer the longest book I've ever seen, I still think it would be pretty cool to conquer this one.
 
2. Learn to Make Cheese
I love cheese, Adam loves cheese, we wear cheese on our heads. So I plan to take on this fun and new culinary challenge.
 
3. Learn Some Origami
Adam got me a Christmas gift of origami papers and origami how-to books because he knew I found the art of paper folding pretty cool, and I can't wait to learn a little more about it.

4. Complete a 5k Running
I have done a 5k and a 10k, but I've never been able to do one with non-stop running, so this is my fitness goal for this year, I know this one will be a toughie, and I'm somewhat scared, but ready to take it on.

5. Become a Home Owner
We plan on this being our last year of renting. And I can't wait till we have a place to call our own. *fingers crossed*

6. No Fat Talk
What is fat talk? Fat talk is when you make jokes about "eating things that you shouldn't," Or making jokes about being fat or apologizing for being fat or feeling awkward about being fat. And I'm just so sick of thinking and talking about being fat.  Yes, I will continue to work on being fit. But I just don't want "fat" to be such a big deal in my life anymore.

7. Have One Unique Date a Month
I love staying home and watching TV on the couch just as much as the next girl. But I think it is so important to get out and do fun and new things together, to keep it fresh and exciting!

8. Knock a Couple of Items Off My Bucket List
Never will I stop working on completing that list.And when I do them all, I will just make another list. It gives me joy.

9. Keep Up My One Sentence a Day Journal
I bought this journal a few months ago. It has you write a few sentences about your day for five years, I started it back in November, and I like the routine. And it keeps you from forgetting all those little moments from the everyday. So my goal is to keep it up.

10. Do the Instagram Photo a Day Challenge for 1 year
I've started this several times in the past and have always given up. But this year I will finish it. My instagram username is justaride08, if you want to follow along.

Cheers to all the opportunities a new year brings!