It’s been one WHOLE year!

August 28, 2011

Happy 1 year Anniversary Steve!

August 28 , 2010

Cheers to many more years!

I love you!

Happy Birthday!!

August 26, 2011

Today is the anniversary of the day my husband was birthed.

If only we could all go back in time and see little Stevie Wonder running around in his superman cape and Underoos and know that he would one day grow into a wonderful man, who runs around in his superman cape and Underoos.

That’s just one of the many curiosities of Steve that I cherish so dearly in my heart.

Awwww precious moments.

Funny, this is still how he thinks laundry is done

You better work; turn to your left, now turn to your rright

Bringing home the bacon

Remember the kingdome

Here are 20 reasons I think Steve is awesome:

1. He is dependable

2. He can fix my computer AND my car

3. He will pick up the tab when we are out with friends (Without any ulterior motives)

4. He is my number #1 fan & encourages me everyday to do things I don’t think I can

5. He loved me when I was 30 lbs heavier and had a faux hawk (that’s love)

6. He is taller than me, so tall that I can wear any heels I want ( I’m 5’9”, this is a big deal)

7. He loves his job and knows what he wants to do in life ( I am still wandering aimlessly)

8. He will eat anything I cook ( And tells me it tastes good too)

9. He is generous, unselfish and will do anything for anyone (Making up for my lack there of)

10. He can math good

11. He loves kids & wants to start a family ( My maternal clock on the other hand, isn’t even plugged in)

12. He will pretty much wear anything I ask him to (Finally made the switch from Levi carpenter jeans to something a little more fashionable from the Buckle)

13. He thinks my Parents are great and loves learning everything he can from my dad

14. He is an incredibly hard worker

15. He let me get the girly white bed for our master bedroom, even though he hated it

16. He will make a fool of himself, just to get me to laugh

17. He tolerates our cat Bentley because I love her (She talks. A lot!)

18. He will admit he is wrong and lets me think I am right, even when I am not

19. He lets me have my bad days and doesn’t take it personally

20. He can drink your husband under the table any day of the week

Steve says “I’ll drink to that”

Pretty much Perfection

August 25, 2011

Absolutely love this mismatch mixmatch of chairs

Great idea for a shabby chic alter

I hate when one side has everyone on it anyway.

Guests should sit where they want.

Let’s not play favorites, it’s just a wedding.

Who are you and what did you do with my daughter?

August 24, 2011

Last week was a week of firsts.
I feel like a new person, a freshly born bambino, a fawn frolicking through the grassy knoll.

Ok, not really, but I did do a few things that I think I deserve a gold star for.

1. I gave blood.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t a completely selfless act. I did have a motive for this one. I realized a few weeks ago that I didn’t know what my blood type was. I am 27, that is probably information I should have stored away with my social security number or something. First step; Call mom. She would know for sure, or have it written somewhere. Nope. Second step; Call Dr.’s office. Surely it would be in my file. Nope, apparently a law passed years ago and they are no longer allowed to keep record of your blood type on file. They suggested the easiest way to find out is for me to give blood. That way I can avoid a lab fee and dr. visit. Third step; Wait for blood drive. I went on my lunch break. It wasn’t awful. Although, I didn’t realize the needle was so much larger than the one they use when you get a shot. I still have a bruise 1 week later. Now I know my blood type AND I helped out someone in need.

2. I ran a 5k.

I don’t run. I am not a runner. The longest I have ever ran consecutively (prior to this event) was 1.5 miles. That was just recently, while out running with the hubs. Before that, I can honestly say the only time I ever ran was in elementary school when we had to run the mile for our yearly physical fitness test. During which I came in last and walked the 2nd half. I grew up doing ballet, I was active (ish) , but I never played sports. Running was something I made sure to avoid. Anyway, these days I am getting in better shape and I had a few friends that were running the Lise & Faith Memorial Run and urged me to give it a try. It was for a good cause. This was generally a selfless act, and I signed up.

Sista Run club

3. I went to a Renaissance Faire.

Embarrassingly enough to admit, this wasn’t a total first for me. I attended one of these fairs in the 7th grade. This time around took it to the next level though. We dressed up and camped on site (with the gypsies) so we could hang out and drink Mead after hours. I would like to let it be known that I truly took one for the team. And by team, I mean my marriage. My husband is a bit of a nerd and when a friend invited us to attend this event of course it couldn’t be passed up. I figured I could at least do some serious people watching. This was a completely selfless act.

Kayleigh and me

The hubby

( The title of this post came from my own mother’s mouth when I told her what I had planned for the weekend. Sometimes I surprise people , in a good way)

Fried Green Tomatoes & I can see Russia from here (Part 2)

August 23, 2011

There are two reasons this post is titled “I can see Russia from here.”

One being that we ate salmon caught in Alaska; Sarah Palin lives there and she can see other countries from her porch.

The second reason is that on the way to Angela’s for dinner, the hubs and I had a strange encounter with a Russian.

As you all know, the in-laws are building a house (Lodge); they asked us to pick up a door they found on Craigslist for them.

I wish I had taken some secret camera phone shots to share because I can’t even begin to explain what this fortress looked like.

It was far beyond gaudy and elaborate.

(I included some photos that I found online that are in similar fashion to what was inside this home.)

The house was still in the finishing stages of construction but it was already completely over the top.

It had huge hand tiled mosaics and naked lady statues out front flanking the 15 foot windows over the entry.

A small Russian man appeared in the driveway when we pulled up.

It Turned out he was the builder and owner of the home.

After showing us the door we came to pick up, we complimented him on his extravagant house.

That was all it took for him to invite us inside for a tour.

He said we needed to be quick though, because his wife would be home soon and she didn’t like him showing the house to strangers.

(How weird , right?)

He took us inside and I’m pretty sure we were taken to another time and dimension.

This place was either furnished by a museum or Liberace on his world travels.

I couldn’t decide.

It was basically completed, and packed with furniture and home décor.

No space was left untouched. Not a square inch lacked embellishment.

He pointed to a sign on the door that said something about being an Ambassador at the Consulate or something.

I thought it was a joke at the time, but in retrospect, I think he may have actually been a Russian Ambassador.

This place had 6 foot crystal chandeliers, layers upon layers of molding and up lighting.

Marble, granite, hardwood, gold, gold and more gold.

Huge paintings, mosaics, stained glass, faux finishes, Venetian plaster, artifacts, and hand painted scenery.

It was jam packed.

It looked like Europe threw up in there.

He told us the inspectors came to see his work and were so impressed they returned the following day with 10 people from the office to show them the house.

(For some reason, I doubt this was because of the exquisite craftsmanship , but rather because of how crazy bizzare this home was.)

Apparently the appraiser didn’t know how to categorize it because it had so many unusual and unique features.

He said it could be anywhere from 3-5 million.

Every room we went into looked like a furniture store showroom but everything was from a different country and century .

Kind of like when you go in Cost Plus World Market except these pieces were all originals

(allegedly) and over 100’s of years old.

He said they travel a lot and buy items as they see them and then have it all shipped back.

Hand carved wood furniture with even more elaborate wood inlays

He had a huge 5×15 foot copper, hand carved, Asian art piece on the wall he told us was a one of a kind original.

Then he pushed a button and down came a giant screen from a hidden ceiling mount to watch his 3D HD Projector on over the top of it.

Down the hall, the guest bath had a flat screen HD T.V. inside it along with a telephone.

I’m just standing there like “Who is this guy!!? “

Next, he took us upstairs to see the bedrooms and we were rushing through so that his wife wouldn’t catch us.

He made sure to mention all the details had real Ivory inlays

Just then, she pulled into the driveway and spotted us through the window.

I noticed her giving her husband the stink eye.

I couldn’t find the a photo of the real bed set he had, as I am sure it was one of a kind.
It had a profile of Christ carved into it.

He says “Uh oh, she is home, we must get downstairs!”

Mind you, on this tour, I can barley understand half of what he is saying because his accent is so thick.

When we got to the landing, his wife greeted us.

Then she turned to her husband and they had a brief conversation in Russian.

I don’t speak a word of the language, but you know what?

I knew exactly what they were saying to each other.

It is funny how you can read people’s body language and the different ways they stress words.

Her: Why are you showing our house to more people? They just came for a door!

Him: They wanted to see the house! I have been slaving over that cement fence all day, we should charge people for tours.

Her: No more tours, I mean it!

Him: Get in the kitchen and make me a sandwich.

Her: Hahaha, I want a divorce.

So, we get on our way and load the door in the truck.

The people you meet on Craigslist… wow!

Fried Green Tomatos & I can see Russia from here (Part 1)

August 22, 2011

Last week our friends were gracious enough to invite us over for dinner to feast on some fresh caught Alaskan salmon.

My friend Angela’s husband went on a fishing trip and brought home the main dish!

I was in charge of bringing a side of fried green tomatoes.

I had never eaten them before, let alone made them.

They were surprisingly easy though and tasted AMAZING!

So good in fact, that we spent a good whole 5 minutes coming up with ways to incorporated them into our regular dinner meal rotations.

For example; BLT with fried green tomatoes or grilled cheese with a fried green tomatoes.
Basically, anything that already had a tomato in it, we replaced with a fried green tomato.

Cleaver, I know.

Here in the dinner fixin’ in action.

Corns on the cobs

The green tomatoes ( and my cocktail)

Ready to bread & fry

Finished product

They tasted kinda like an onion ring but better.

The Crab Prep Crew

Boys drinking, while girls are cooking..

There is garlic bread under the towel

Oven roasted red potatoes and carrots

Extreme food close ups

And this post was all about the delicious salmon… which I don’t have a single photo of!!

The chefs

Cheese!

I mean, seafood!

A few days later Angela and I ordered food to go from a bar in town.

We were busy and didn’t have time to hang out and eat.

She pulled the menu up on her phone so we could call the order in and save some time.

We were both elated when the front page of the menu showcased the week’s special.
FRIED GREEN TOMATO BLT Sandwiches!

It was a dream come true, a sign from little baby Jesus himself.

What a coincidence.

I’m all ” Order me that!!”

She continues to brows the menu looking for a vegetarian option.

As she is reading the other menu items out loud to me, nothing sounds familiar.

I have eaten at this bar a lot and know the spread fairly well.

I said ” Are you sure this is the right place?”

Angela replies ” Yes!” and reads the restaurant name out loud to me.

Followed by ” Oooh…… this isn’t the right place. It’s in Kentucky.”

We then pulled up the correct menu.
No fried green tomatoes.
What a tease.

Your furnace is moldy

August 19, 2011

Oh is that where the smell is coming from?!

I got a coupon in the weekly mailer for a special on furnace duct cleaning.

I thought this was probably something I should have done,considering we didn’t know the last time (if ever) the duct work was cleaned in our house.

I made an appointment and they came out to do the $29.99 job.

While one guy was hooking the vacuuming system up, the other guy took off a vent cover and sent his long cable with a camera attached to it deep inside.

He asked me if I knew when the ducts had last been cleaned.

Then quickly interrupted himself with ” Oh, wow…. you should come take a look at this!”

At this point, I should have handed him my credit card and walked to Starbucks.

It was brought to our attention that no cleaning had been done in quite a long time.

There wasn’t just loose dirt and hair in there either.

With the condensation of the heater air coming through, along with temperature changes, the debris had solidified.

Thus, making a $29.99 vacuuming completely ineffective.

Ethel, Ethel, why didn’t you maintain your duct work?

Do you think I am made of money!?!

The cleaning guy convinced me that leaving it this way would be comparable to slapping a band aid on a bullet wound and urged that I take care of the issue.

” Just think about all the junk you are breathing in!” He says.

Now, if I knew this “junk” was MY junk, not 80 years of some other family’s, I might be okay with it.

Just like washing dishes at work.

Touching other people’s left overs grosses me out.

It is so disgusting.

However, washing my own dishes, doesn’t bother me at all,because it’s my family’s dirty food.

Somehow there are less germs.

I’m sure it is a mind over matter kind of thing.

Anyway, the fact that we don’t know who this hair and whatnot belongs to, I decided I needed to bite the bullet and get it out of there.

They immediately went to work, scrubbing the ducts out with long hoses and mechanical brushes, then sanitizing the whole thing.

They also flushed out the main unit of the furnace and replaced the filters.

All for a mere $600.00!