Last weekend, Josh and I went out to look for dining room furniture, and while Josh was looking at new work shoes (side trip), I walked into Cost Plus World Market to kill some time. Dangerous move.
I walked around, looked at candles, potpourri, then the rugs, then the international food selection, and then…their furniture.
I’d never thought to look at Cost Plus World Market for furniture, but they had some really cute stuff. I started taking pictures of things that I liked, and before I knew it, Josh was texting to see why I’d never made it back to look at shoes with him. Oops. I told him I was still looking around, so he came into the store and I immediately took him over to the furniture. The conversation went a little like this:
Me: Look! Look at this server, it’s perfect – just like we wanted!
Shown in Antique Honey, we got Mahogany
Josh: Oh, that is nice. And it’s got room for wine bottles.
Me: I know! And look, there’s a bar that goes with it.
Josh: Oh, I like that. It’s a shame they don’t have a dining room table to match.
Me: Follow me…
Josh: Wow, that’s really nice. I like it. Do you like it?
Me: I do like it, or I wouldn’t have shown it to you. 🙂
Josh: I think we should get it.
Me: Really? You don’t want to go look at a few other stores before we decide?
Josh: Nope, let’s get it.
Me: Okay!
Yes folks, we really are that decisive when it comes to making big purchases for the house.
So we flagged down someone that worked there and she went to look into whether the table was in stock or not. After about 10 minutes, she came back to tell us that they had everything in stock *except* the table.
Why do these things happen to us? We found out three days before our first dining room table that we purchased (back in January) wasn’t going to be available until April – so we passed on it. Now this!
Apparently the Verona style is pretty popular, and no one in the area had a table in stock. So we left empty handed with some Tim Tams and went to Haverty’s to look at their selection.
We didn’t find anything we liked, except for a coffee table and an area rug, so we bought the rug and took pictures of the coffee table to compare against the TV stand we have in the formal living room.
Once home, I hopped online and went to Cost Plus World Market’s website, where they had the Verona table in stock. I quickly purchased it (after finding a coupon code on Retail Me Not) so we knew we had one. I also found the same rug we’d purchased at Haverty’s on Overstock.com, for $100 cheaper, so we made plans to take it back the next day.
When we walked into the store, the sales guy seemed a bit surprised. We told him we wanted to return the rug, but wanted to buy the coffee table and end table instead. I think he was happy, it worked out better for him commission wise in the end. 🙂 We scheduled the delivery of the coffee and side table for the middle of the week and then went back to Cost Plus World Market. The same lady that helped us the day before was there, so we went up to her and told her we wanted to buy everything else in the set – that we’d found the table online and were able to purchase it.
We didn’t want to pay for delivery of the items they had in stock at the store, so we opted to fit what we could in the back of Josh’s SUV, and we’d just make another trip. It took 3 car loads to get everything home (I drove up there on the second trip separately to put the last small box in my car), but we did it without paying $90 in delivery fees (since we already had to do that for the dining room table we purchased online).
The boxes are heavy. It’s going to be a real challenge getting everything upstairs and put together – maybe we can bribe some friends to come help? 😉
Once we get the items put together, along with the new paint color in the dining room, I think it’ll look great. Then it will be time to accessorize and get new décor for the walls and the table. Fun fun!
[#18 of #52]
Spring is quickly approaching (I hope), but that doesn’t help me right now. I’m constantly cold, always have been, and likely always will be (except when I sleep, then I turn into Josh’s personal space heater). The current weather doesn’t help matters either!
During the winter I love making warm dinners (chili, soups, etc.) with the hopes that it’ll add some warmth to the day. Two weeks ago, I made Chicken and Dumplings in the slow cooker, last weekend I attempted to make Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe that I picked up from another book club friend, Rebecca. She made it for our monthly meeting, and it was so good I had to try it myself!
Josh was excited for me to try a new recipe, so I planned the meal for a day I hit the gym, so we could eat as soon as I got home – otherwise, it would have been a FFY [fend for yourself!] night – a favorite of mine. 😉
I got up a little early to get the slow cooker ready, though I laid my ingredients out the night before.
Preparation is key!
Slow cooker liner? Check. Love these things!
Empty all ingredients into slow cooker? Check.
Josh wasn’t sure about the soup from the initial looks of it…
When we got home, I was so hungry, I forgot to take a picture of it in the bowl, once garnished with cheese. So here’s what it looked like after I dug into my soup.
I added Mexican cheese and tortilla scoops to my bowl!
It was good! I think I might have put a little too much taco seasoning, and I only put two chicken breasts (though it calls for 3) since it was just Josh and myself that would be eating it. Next time, I’m using three to give it a bit more substance.
Nothing like a good bowl of soup to warm you up! It had a slight kick to it due to the Rotel tomatoes that I used (instead of stewed tomatoes), will have to see if I want to modify that next time.
Chicken Tortilla Soup
3 chicken breasts (raw) — or you could use rotisserie and stick it in last minute
2- 30z cans chicken broth
1 bag frozen corn
2 cans black beans, drained
1 can Mexican stewed tomatoes
1 small can tomato sauce
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. minced garlic
3 T. taco seasoning
2 handfuls of chips (put in like 30 min to an hour) before serving [I forgot to have Josh do this before I got home from the gym, and it was just fine!]
1 T. margarine
Place all ingredients in the crock pot and cover. Cook on low for 8 hours. Pull apart chicken with two forks so that it is shredded before serving. Garnish with cheese, sour cream, avocado and additional chips if desired!
===
Another thing that gives me warm fuzzies is helping out those in need when I can. I’ve got three friends that are doing some fundraising for various purposes. If you’re up for it, please feel free to make a donation to one (or all) of their causes via their links below! You never know, it might make you feel warm and fuzzy on this cold and dreary day too!
Cia: My friend Cia is raising money to purchase a series of books for her personal classroom. She teaches first graders out in California. She’s really close to her goal!: http://www.donorschoose.org/
Stephanie: My friend Stephanie is raising money for the Special Olympics in Georgia. If she can meet her goal, she’ll get to go off the side of a high-rise building – how cool! To help her cause, click here: http://www.firstgiving.com/
Kelly: And last but not least, Kelly is raising money for the Children’s Miracle Network. She’s been really involved with this group and the event is this weekend. She has until March 3rd to reach her goal. Help her out here: http://www.helpmakemiracles.
[#17 of #52]
Green is one of my favorite colors. I love, love, love it. When it came time to start decorating the house, I wanted to incorporate a little green.
First, we started with the guest bathroom. Luckily, we had a bit of green and brown left over from the condo’s guest bedroom so it didn’t take much to set this room up.
Green and Brown Guest Bathroom
Next, the formal living room. All of the paint in the house is designer beige and all of the tile around the house is brown and beige. With wood floors, there’s more brown. At first, we wanted to go with red sofas, to add a pop of color to the room – but common sense set in and we realized it’d be easier to go with a more neutral color, so we could change the room around us without wanting a new sofa.
So we settled on green.
Birdie approves of the new furniture
Master bathroom, what to do? I know – go with green!
Master Bath – Before
I envisioned a spa like sage green color. After spending a lot of time on the Behr website, I thought I found the perfect shade of green. Walked into The Home Depot and realized it was WAY too dark. I spent a few minutes standing in front of all the colors, picking out a selection, putting it back, asking Josh what he thought, etc. Finally, we agreed to get samples of two colors (Mother Nature and Rejuvenate, one darker, one lighter). We came home and tried them both out on the wall to see which we liked best.
Left: Mother Nature | Right: Rejuvenate
I was a fan of the darker green (Mother Nature), Josh liked the lighter green (Rejuvenate) – but was happy with the darker green. So we compromised.
Master bathroom was painted Mother Nature.
Master Bath – After (in Mother Nature)
The hallway bath will be painted Rejuvenate, when we feel the urge to paint again. 🙂
We’ve deliberated on various shades of green, and I’m fairly certain the process of moving has caused a few new silver hairs to appear. Thankfully, we’re 100% out of the condo and all that’s left is a walk through of the place and for us to return the keys!
All this talk of green made me think of one of my favorite Incubus songs in the process, so I wanted to share:
A Certain Shade of Green
tell me, is that what you need?
All signs around say move ahead.
Could someone please explain to me your ever present
lack of speed?
Are your muscles bound by ropes?
Or do crutches cloud your day?
My sources say the road is clear,
and street signs point the way.
Are you gonna stand around till 2012 A.D.?
What are you waiting for,
A certain shade of green?
I think I grew a gray watching you procrastinate.
What are you waiting for,
A certain shade of green?
Would a written invitation
signed, “Choose now or lose it all,”
sedate your hesitation?
Or inflame and make you stall?
You’ve been raised in limitation,
but that glove never fit quite right.
The time has passed for hand-me-downs,
choose anew, please evolve,
take flight
What are you waiting for?
A written invitation?
A public declaration?
A private consolation?
Do any of you have a specific color that you use everywhere when decorating? Or are you more of a multiple color chooser? 🙂
[#16 of #52]
…in the case of the missing ____________.
I’m leaving this blank as, the answer could really be anything. This week, it’s items from our kitchen.
If something has gone missing in the house, it’s because of Birdie, and we typically know where to find it (thankfully).
Yesterday, when I got home and went into the kitchen to start getting everything ready for dinner (we had a delicious Chicken Tortilla Soup in the slow cooker) when I noticed the dish towel was missing from the counter.
I immediately went upstairs and checked under the bed. Lo and behold, there was the dish towel – in the middle of the floor.
Our disappearing dish towel
This morning when I woke up and went downstairs to feed the boys, I noticed the dish towel was missing.
Re-enactment: Our counter before we went to bed
How I found the counter this morning…
It was under the bed…again.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, because it can be pretty funny), this is Birdie’s signature trait. It all started when Birdie was a kitten. He’d steal anything he could get his little mouth on. One morning when I was getting ready, Birdie decided he wanted to move Josh’s shirt.
First, he took it to the kitchen:
– Mail
– Newspaper articles
– Socks
– Gloves
– a bra
– decorative wooden letters (yep…)
– my Mercer sweatshirt blanket
– Josh’s UGA sweatshirt blanket
– place mats
It used to be a game to see where things would end up when we got home from work, and we have to be cautious about where we leave things.
A couple weeks ago, I made the mistake of leaving my coat on the sofa when I was in a hurry to get to work. When I got home, Birdie had moved it…
The coat *was* on the armrest of the sofa when I left for work
I’ve never had a cat that was so determined to move objects around the house – it’s safe to say that Birdie is a special cat.
If you’re ever over to visit, just keep an eye on your things. If they’re missing, you’ll know who the cat burglar is. 😉
A blanket in the hallway, taken from the sofa.
A cat bed, taken from the bedroom, made it into the hallway.
Caught in the act with a blanket under the bed.
Do any of your pets have interesting quirks? Or is little Birdie on his own island?
[#15 of #52]
This weekend we hosted my in-laws for the first time in our new house. Since we’re getting a little closer to being finished with the unpacking, they wanted to come see the new place.
I decided I wanted to be super domestic this weekend and cooked a few yummy treats. I wish I would have thought about taking more photos along the way.
For dinner, I made ‘Easy Chicken and Dumplings’ in the slow cooker, which turned out quite delicious! Josh and I have leftovers for lunch today, and he seemed pretty okay with eating it again, which is a bonus for me since I usually make our lunches in the morning. This is actually the second time I’d made it, I think it turned out a little better this go-round.
I love slow cooker recipes, simply because they’re really easy to put together, and you rarely have to look in on them during the day. Then a few hours later, you have yummy food ready to eat (and your house smells so good in the process)!
I do want to suggest a product for when you’re using your slow cooker, it helps with the cleanup once you’re done. They’re called Reynolds Slow Cooker Liners.
The recipe was shared by my 409 friend Jenny, but the original recipe comes from the Crockin’ Girls (formerly known as the Crock Pot Girls).
Easy Chicken and Dumplings
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 can Cream of Celery soup
3.5 cups of chicken broth
1 chicken bouillon cube (optional)
2 T. butter (since I get the butter flavored biscuits, I don’t typically add this to the mix)
1 cup diced onions
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced/shredded carrots
—————-
1 can of Pillsbury Grands Biscuits [not the flaky layered kind!! I opt to use the Homestyle Butter Tastin’® biscuits]
Throw everything in the slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours (OR cook on high for 4-5 hours). One hour before serving, shred the chicken in the soup and then take your roll of Grands Biscuits and cut them up into pieces (I cut my biscuits up into 5-6 pieces). Throw them on top and let them cook for about an hour or until they are not gummy on the inside.
Just after adding the Grands biscuits
While I don’t have pictures of the finished product, trust me, it’s delicious!
Later in the evening I made a great dip that I’d been introduced to by a book club friend, Allison. She made it one night, and it’s fabulous. Everyone that was there begged her to send the recipe to them!
It’s called ‘Apple Dip’, even though the dip itself doesn’t contain apples – it’s best paired with Granny Smith apples (something about the tartness of the apple and the sweetness of the dip causes an explosion of awesomeness for your taste buds).
Apple Dip
2 pkgs softened cream cheese
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 bag heath bar chips or 5-6 crushed heath bars
Blend cream cheese and sugars with mixer or by hand. Add heath chips. Enjoy! (Note: Josh, who hates green apples, tried it at the coaxing of myself and his mother and said that it was really good! I considered that a win for the day. :))
So. Good.
I will say that this recipe makes a lot of dip! We ended up having it after dinner, so everyone was full and though I’d cut up 3 apples for the dip, the apples were consumed but there was a lot of the sweet stuff left over. You could easily half this recipe if you were serving to a small group (3-4 people).
Sunday morning, Josh and I got up to make scrambled eggs, bacon and biscuits. Even though we ate around 9 am, it was still too early for me to remember to take even one picture. Oops. And after all of my domestic energy was released, we opted for fast food for dinner last night. Time to hit the grocery store this afternoon…
Did you try any recipes over the weekend? If so, do share! I’d love to hear about them (and maybe even try them myself)!
[#14 of #52]
We’ve been in our new house for almost 3 weeks now, and things are slowly progressing. We still have a lot of boxes to unpack, which I have no desire to do. We also still have a few things at our old place. Since our lease doesn’t end until the end of this month, we’ve been a little slack about finishing up and getting everything out of there.
Just *some* of the boxes we moved…
I hate packing. I also hate unpacking. I wish there was a way to magically make everything appear in its place, without me having to do anything. In some cases this is happening, since Josh has taken the lead on unpacking – which is only natural, since he did most of the packing. Thanks, Josh! 🙂
In addition to bringing all of our old stuff over, we realized there’s a LOT of other stuff that we still needed. While Josh was sitting with the cable guy getting things situation, I might have gone a little crazy at Target…
Just one of the cartloads that has made it into the new house
We needed new bathroom items (since our current ones don’t match the new décor), needed king size sheets (since we only had queen-size before), a mop and bucket, etc. And while I was there, I saw a bedding set on clearance that was totally adorable. It was originally $100, and I got it for $30! I haven’t taken it out of the box yet, so I’m hoping there’s nothing drastically wrong with it.
It’s not too girly, right?
Surprisingly, Josh wasn’t appalled by the choice when I sent him this picture of it (after sending him 15 picture texts while at the store). It is, after all the back-up to our primary bedding set that I got from West Elm (on sale at that!).
In addition to buying loads of new stuff, our boys have had quite the transition in moving to the new house. It took a day, but Runner really has come out of his shell. Once we brought Birdie into our life, his personally changed a little, and he was more reserved. Now that we’re in the house, Runner is so lively and happy! I think he likes the added room to run around – and more places to hide from Birdie.
Who needs art for decoration?
It took Birdie a little longer, but he’s finally adjusted. He’s still not a fan of the sound of pots and pans clanking, but he’s been scared of that noise for quite some time. He does still end up under the covers of our old bed in the guest bedroom every now and then – I think it feels like ‘home’ to him, but he’s definitely full of energy and can make it from the bottom floor to the top floor in four seconds flat.
My parents came up to help with the move (primarily to watch the cats while the movers took things from the condo to the house, and while they unloaded at our new house). Luckily, my dad was able to help with some of the tasks that I’d be no help with. He helped Josh install the new dryer plug for our dryer (there was a mismatch between the prongs – older house, newer dryer – it was bound to happen). They went off to The Home Depot to pick up supplies for that job, blinds for the downstairs door, and he even helped drywall a hole made by an evil woodpecker (I’ll post more on that later).
In checking out the fireplace, dad found out how to open the flue, which was helpful and entertaining.
When they opened the flue, they found a squirrel. One that had been deceased for a *very* long time. I didn’t take a picture of it, due to the laughter that I could not contain. Dad used the “gripper” to pick it up and throw it outside. He was going to toss it over the fence, but it hit a tree, and now it’s on the ground off of our deck. Lovely. I guess we should take care of that soon.
In any case, we’re enjoying starting to make this place ‘ours’ and I’ve already started on a list of projects that we want (and/or need) to do. Should be quite the adventure as new homeowners!
[#13 of #52]
Not only is it Valentine’s Day, but there’s another celebration that will be taking place tonight in our household – Runner’s birthday. 😉
Call me the crazy cat lady, but he’s my first furbaby and I love him dearly.
Our seven year old, Runner.
I adopted Runner over Labor Day weekend in 2005 from Columbus, GA. Yes, I drove 3+ hours to adopt a cat that I found on Petfinder.com (crossing off #4 from my life list). I’d called ahead to let them know I was coming, to make sure he’d be at PetSmart so I could adopt him, but when I got there, he was no where to be found. I was so upset. Luckily, someone was able to drive over to the shelter before it closed to bring him in for me to meet.
Before he arrived, I’d already filled out all of the paperwork and paid, knowing I was taking him home with me. There was no way I could put the pictures I’d seen of him out of my mind, he was going to be my new cat. When they brought him over to me, he literally wrapped his arms around my neck and started purring, I was in love. We made the drive back to Middle Georgia, and he purred and drooled the entire way there (thanks Mom for driving with me to get your first grandpet).
September 2005, our first photo together.
He was approximately 8-9 months old at the time, so I opted to make his birthday February 14th, so I’d always have a Valentine (give me a break, I was totally single at the time with no prospects in sight!).
I shared my love story with Josh last night, but it was only fitting that I shared Runner’s story today. 😉
[#12 of #52]
So I can’t take credit for finding this little survey, I’ll give that to Jessica. I just thought it was a good idea, and totally fitting since it’s Valentine’s Day. So here’s the link for the link up, if you want to see how it all started (there are a lot of responses!)
1. How long have you and your significant other been together?
Josh and I went on our first date in December of 2007
2. How did you meet? {What’s your “love” story?}
Josh and I met at work, and at the time, we didn’t really talk much since we didn’t interact on a work level. He was dating someone, and I had something going on elsewhere that I was going to explore a little later in the year. My situation didn’t work out, but Josh was still seeing this girl. We were both working pretty late on projects at work in the fall, each from our own residences (oh how I love working from home). I’d learned that Josh was a fan of Nip/Tuck, which was one of my favorite shows. On nights that it came on TV, we’d be online working and chatting about the episodes. This later turned into more chatting online and some during the day at work. And then it got flirtatious. He thought I had a boyfriend, but I was definitely single. Once he realized that, and after seeing me looking totally hot at our company holiday party, he asked me to go to the Falcons vs. Saints game with him that weekend. I told him that since he was dating someone, I wouldn’t feel right going with him. The next day he ended things with her, and asked me to the game again. I said yes, it was our first date, and things progressed from there.
Our first date: December 2007 – Atlanta Falcons vs. New Orleans Saints
3. If married, how long have you been married? {do tell}
Josh and I will celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary this April. I can’t believe it’s been that long, time really seems to fly lately!
4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding?
We got married at The Grande in Kennesaw, GA. We had approximately 130 guests, so it wasn’t large, but it wasn’t small either. Average sized, I guess you could say. 🙂 Everything went off without a hitch, except for the fact that I was getting over bronchitis and coughed through the entire ceremony and our getaway car died one exit after we left the reception, so we had to take a taxi to the hotel by the airport. I didn’t stress though – we were married and our flight was the next morning, so we didn’t have anything to worry about!
Taken by 35 Atlanta
5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another? Do share!
Hrm…nicknames. Babe, baby, A-hole (Amy), J-hole (Josh), and other playful names that randomly pop up.
6. Name 3 things you love most about your honey.
a. He’s driven and is a hard worker
b. He’s funny 95.7% of the time
c. He loves me and will do just about anything for me 🙂
7. Tell us how he proposed?
Josh and I planned our first vacation away together, a week on Seabrook Island, SC. We’d rented a condo for the trip, had plans to spend time in Charleston here and there, and really just enjoy a week away from work. Since we’d talked about getting married in the month of April, had even looked at rings, I figured he’d propose on this trip – but I was trying not to get my hopes up.
On day 1, I got stung by jellyfish, which worried Josh about how the rest of the week would go. Luckily, I managed to get past the pain of the evil jellyfish lashing I’d received (he even offered to pee on me to make the sting go away – I did not agree to this, but appreciated the gesture).
Josh had told me he made reservations at a nice restaurant in Charleston our second to last night in SC – and I *knew* that would be the night he’d propose. I brought a fabulous dress that I bought in Vegas a few months prior that was stunning, so that I would be ready for pictures afterwards. We made it through dinner, nothing. We walked down to the pier and spent some time on the swings listening to the waves and watching the stars, nothing. Then we decided to go back to the condo, nothing there either.
I kept a positive attitude, knowing that there was a chance this was not going to be the trip that he proposed.On our last day in SC, we went back to Charleston to do a horse-drawn carriage tour of the city. We spent the day enjoying ourselves and just goofing around. On our way back to the condo on Seabrook Island, Josh wanted to stop at the store on the island before heading to the beach to watch the sunset. He was acting really weird, and wouldn’t let me come in with him – which of course made me suspicious. When we got back to the condo, he told me to relax and watch TV – that he was going to be busy for a little while, and went into the kitchen. At this point, I’m even more suspicious. He packs up his backpack and said he was going to head down to the beach, and that he’d call me to have me join him. Um, very suspicious now. I get the phone call for me to come meet him, and he stays on the phone with me. When I walk out to the car, there’s a rose sitting in the driver’s seat. Apparently, he took a bike down to the beach instead of the car. He has me verbally describe where I am as I’m driving down to meet him. When I arrive, he tells me to walk down to the beach, and meets me at the bottom of the stairs. He’s setup a towel with a bottle of champagne and a tub of strawberries. I sit down and I notice a little silver box inside his book bag – the zipper was open. He begins telling me how much he loves me and how happy he is that we’re together and that he’s had a great time on our trip. Then he points over at a boat in the water, and as I look (only to find that there was not a boat), I look back to find that the silver box is now in front of me. Super suspicious at this point.
What I found when I got down to the beach
I open the box only to find a small piece of paper that reads, “What were you expecting to find in here? Haha! Sometimes messages are carried in bottles by the sea, maybe there’s one for you?” I look at him (slightly annoyed because he tricked me) and he points out that there’s a bottle down by the water, and that I should go get it. After retrieving the bottle, I open it to find a poem, and Josh tells me to read it out loud. My voice quivers a bit, and I slowly unrolled the scroll, in the event “Will You Marry Me?” is at the bottom of the page.It wasn’t. Talk about an emotional roller coaster! He then asks me to do him a favor, to stand up with him for a second. He then takes my hand, gets down on one knee, and starts a string of beautiful words that I was too emotional to fully remember. He then asks me to make him the happiest man alive and to marry him. What do I do? I laugh. Not laughing at him, but nervously laughing. I say yes, he placed the ring on my finger, and we took pictures as the sun set on our perfect day.
Self-photo since no one else was on the beach
8. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?
Hrm…tough one. He knows I’m not a teddy bear kind of girl, but I don’t really see him with rose petals either. He’s a “I get my wife a card because that’s what she wants and then plan a dinner out on the town for the two of us” kind of guy, which is pretty much perfect.
9. Are you a sunset dinner on the beach kind of girl, or pop a movie in and relax on the couch?
I could do either, to tell you the truth. On our honeymoon, aside from a couples massage, the only other thing I wanted to do was have a private dinner during sunset on the beach. Most nights, I’m a movie on the sofa kind of gal – but I wouldn’t pass up dinner on the beach, ever.
10. Tell us one thing you’d like to do with your significant one day. If you could do anything? Go anywhere?
Quit our jobs and travel for a year. Thing is, that’s not something Josh wants to do. 😉 I’d even settle for 2-3 months, maybe trekking around Europe. Or if money were no object, maybe a round-the-world cruise. Something travel related for sure, and if it can include golf (for him), then even better!
11. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine’s Day.
On the actual day, I have a training session at the gym after work, so probably nothing much. I plan on giving him his V-day card tomorrow though. We were supposed to go to dinner this past Saturday, he made reservations in advance and everything! We woke up on Saturday and I was feeling pretty bad. After we painted the master bathroom, I felt worse. We decided to postpone our dinner until this weekend. Now I think Josh has what I had this weekend.
12. Are you asking for anything this Valentine’s day?
All I ever ask for is a card. Reading words of love in something that I can keep forever, definitely is worth more to me than flowers, chocolate, or something else. 🙂
13. Give us one piece of advice of keeping a relationship strong and full of love.
We haven’t been married all that long, so I can’t say that I have a lot of advice. The thing that comes to the top of my mind is: Don’t take yourself too seriously; be sure to laugh.
14. Show us a picture of what love means to you.
I’m breaking the rules and going with three. 🙂 Cause it’s my blog, and I can. 🙂
Love is not wanting to take your eyes off each other.
Love is being able to act silly.
Love is never wanting to let go of each other.
So there you have it, our love story.
Happy Valentine’s Day! Care to share your love story? I’d love to hear it! 🙂
[#11 of #52]
If you know either Josh or myself, you know we’re pretty competitive, even more so with each other (in a friendly way). We both enjoy watching sports, but I’m a bigger fan of watching them in person than on TV.
I graduated from Mercer University for my undergraduate degree and Josh graduated from Kennesaw State University (KSU) for his. Neither school had a football team while we were in school, so men’s basketball was one of the big sports. We started dating in December 2007 and in looking at the Mercer men’s basketball schedule – I noticed they were going to be playing at KSU the following month.
I convinced Josh that we should go; it’d be fun to watch our old universities play. Josh agreed and we made it a date.
We pulled up to KSU and I was donned in orange, one of the few in the crowd. There weren’t too many people in attendance, but I was glad that we decided to come. The game was back and forth the whole time, but it was the Bears who took home the win. It was a good night for me.* 🙂
Our first Mercer vs. KSU basketball game – January 2008
Bears win!
The next month, KSU would be playing at Mercer. It was a Friday, so Josh and I took the day off and went down to Macon for the weekend. Unfortunately, it was the Friday before Spring Break at Mercer, so the campus was really quiet. I took him over to the Engineering Building, the University Center, and even to the top of the Administration Building (my favorite). That night, we entered the UC to watch our teams play each other again. The Bears were defeated 65 to 61 by the Owls, so Josh was rather happy. Thus began our decision to go to every Mercer/KSU game as possible.
Mercer vs. KSU – February 2008
Owls win…
Over the years, we’ve managed to go to 6 of the 10 games, primarily the ones held at KSU (it’s an easier drive). If we can’t make it to a game, and it’s on TV, we’ll watch it at home.
This weekend, Mercer played at KSU. After a 30 point lead against the Owls in January, I figured this would be another blow-out, so did Josh. We got to KSU early for a Mercer alumni dinner, where Coach Hoffman spoke and President Underwood was going around talking to guests. It was a great time. When we checked in to get our game tickets, they even gave us Mercer t-shirts (Josh got one too, though he was NOT pulling for Mercer at the game).
We walked over to the Convocation Center and the crowd was larger than we’d EVER seen at the KSU/Mercer game in Kennesaw. It’s slowly grown, as the two universities are trying to make it a big rivalry – and it’s working! The crowd Friday night was the largest KSU’s Convocation Center had ever seen, with 4,991 people in attendance. It was electric! There were around 400 Mercer students and alumni combined there to cheer on the Bears. KSU was handing out “BEAT MERCER” shirts again, and Josh was able to pick one up for himself – though they were suspicious since he was with a Mercer fan.
We made it to our seats and Josh put on his new, bright yellow t-shirt, which drew some funny looks from the other Mercer alumni in our section. He even got a few jokes from some of the people around us.
Ready for the battle in 2012!
The game was close the entire evening, I was actually a little nervous – as I didn’t want to hear Josh’s smack talk should KSU win the game. Thankfully, Mercer pulled out the win (61 to 57) and I was able to gloat for a few minutes about Mercer’s record versus Kennesaw since we’ve been together**.
That’s how we roll. 😉
Until next year…GO BEARS!
* The night of the first Mercer vs. KSU game we went to, Josh and I had the DTR talk (we defined the relationship) and decided that we wanted to be more than just dating, and we never looked back.
** Scores for the games since we’ve been together:
| Date/Location | Score |
| Jan 5, 2008 – At KSU | 77-75 (Mercer wins) |
| Feb 29, 2008 – At Mercer | 65-61 (KSU wins) |
| Jan 29, 2009 – At Mercer | 88-75 (Mercer wins) |
| Feb 5, 2009 – At KSU | 75-56 (Mercer wins) |
| Jan 27, 2010 – At Mercer | 69-71 (KSU wins) |
| Feb 4, 2010 – At KSU | 63-66 (KSU wins) |
| Jan 25, 2011 – At KSU | 78-70 (Mercer wins) |
| Feb 15, 2011 – At Mercer | 57-55 (Mercer wins) |
| Jan 13, 2012 – At Mercer | 81-51 (Mercer killed KSU) |
| Feb 10, 2012 | 61-57 (Mercer wins) |
[#10 of #52]
Today was the earliest morning we’d had since we’d been in Australia. We woke up at 6:15 am, this time on purpose! We had a tee time to make!
We woke up, had breakfast, got dressed, and made our way towards the Anglesea Golf Club. To be honest, I’m not a golfer, but Josh is, and this day was 90% for him (10% for me so I could get close to kangaroos again). Anglesea Golf Club is known for their kangaroos. We’re not talking a few kangaroos, we’re talking over 100 kangaroos that hop around the course.
Anglesea Golf Club
When we arrived, we believed that we’d be playing 18 holes, but when we made it into the Pro Shop, we learned that non-members can only play 9 holes on a Saturday. We rented a golf cart, two sets of clubs, and we were on our way – starting on the 10th hole. Our golf plan was for Josh to hit the ball down to the green, and I’d putt. Except, we just put another ball down near where he was putting from, so he could accurately keep his score. The man takes golf seriously.
Golf among kangaroos
There were LOTS of ‘roos on the course, and lots of ‘roo poo. You really couldn’t take a step near the greens without seeing it (or stepping in it)! As we were riding around, we were able to get close to some kangaroos, while some decided they didn’t like the cart. Had we realized that we were only going to be on 9 holes, we probably would have walked the course instead of renting a cart, so that the kangaroos didn’t hop away as we approached.
No kangaroos were harmed in this moment – I’m simply posing for a photo!
Over the 9 holes, we saw so many ‘roos! There were some that were fighting, some that were growling, some that were chilling. Josh was really excited to be that close to kangaroos, and couldn’t believe that he was standing among them taking shots! At one point, one of his drives landed in a crowd of about eight kangaroos laying on the fairway. When we pulled up, they looked at us and went back to what they were doing. It was a very cool experience! Unfortunately, during the time on the course, my DSLR died (I can’t believe I forgot to check the battery!), so I had to use our point and shoot for half of the time.
What are you looking at??
We finished up around 9:30 am and went back to the Pro Shop so Josh could buy some souvenirs. He and the Pro Shop guy (not sure what his official title would be) talked golf for a few minutes, discussing different tournaments, etc. The guy was really friendly, and it was a nice end to the morning.
Josh after an amazing golf experience!
[ Note: For those of you wondering, Josh shot a 42 – 6 over par. In his defense, he had to play in meters instead of yards, and he wasn’t using his own clubs. 🙂 ]
We hopped into the van and we were off to Kilcunda! Josh drove for the first part of the day, and I offered to switch off before we hit Melbourne, so I could drive through the city. He was cool with driving, just not in highly populated areas. Unfortunately, we ran out of places to stop before we hit the city, so he was stuck behind the wheel. It was slightly humorous, but I could tell he was frustrated – especially when the GPS unit informed us that he was over the speed limit (minorly) 16 times during our drive. [Note: We also received a charge on my credit card last week for a toll issue that occurred in the same stretch of his driving. I’m not sure exactly what the issue was, only that it was related to a toll, I really should look into that…]
Once we made it through, Josh pulled off at a “rest and revive” stop so we could make a sandwich and switch off on the driving duty. Not too long after making it through Melbourne, we arrived in Kilcunda.
We stayed at the Kilcunda Oceanview Holiday Retreat in a powered lot. The view from our parking spot was beautiful – you could see right to the ocean! We parked and left the doors open while we relaxed for a little while. I fell asleep listening to the sounds of the ocean, with the warmth of the sun creeping in through the window. I’m not one to take naps, but this one was perfect.
What a view!
When I woke up, I went back to the office to get our receipt for our stay. The owner told me that all the shops in the area closed at 2 pm for the holiday, so we would need to drive to Wonthaggi before their stores closed at 5 pm. The restaurant across the street would be open for the evening, which was an option for dinner. We knew we needed to get a few more supplies since the next two days were holidays and places would be closed, so we quickly hit the road. The first store we saw was an Aldi, so we pulled the van in and set off to get some food. Steaks, ice cream, ham, and soda made their way into our cart.
As we made our way back to our parking spot for the night, Josh started looking up things to do in Sydney, we were both looking forward to arriving in the city! An hour or two later, after a walk down on the beach, we walked over to Meikle’s Ocean View Bistro for dinner (Josh had Fish & Chips, I had a Porterhouse steak with mushroom gravy – delish!).
Pre-dinner beach walk photo
Loved Kilcunda!
We attempted to find some TV channels on the tube before heading down to the beach to take some sunset photos (again!). There were some beautiful cloud formations in the sky, and it was by far my favorite evening on the beach – and I took one of my favorite shots of the trip.
An amazing sunset on the beach
The tide started coming, so we left the beach to head back to the van since it was getting darker. In looking out the window, there were more interesting looking clouds, so I went back outside to try and take a few more photos and noticed that it was starting to sprinkle – the first rain of our trip. I came back to the van, where we had no luck with finding channels on the TV, so Josh pulled out the iPad and we watched Anchorman (again). I opted to get ready for bed and went to the communal bathroom to wash my face, when I noticed lightning in the distance. I encouraged Josh to go brush his teeth, and I’m glad that I did!
Shortly after he returned, the lightning started getting closer and more frequent, and then the rain started pouring. I’ll say that I was a bit nervous being parked in a van, that was plugged into an electrical outlet in the midst of a strong thunderstorm, but Josh assured me that we’d be fine.
The storm passed and I was finally able to fall asleep, that is until the next storm came in from the ocean. Lightning lit up the sky like the 4th of July and the thunder was incredibly loud! The storm was so powerful, it took out the power for the entire park. It was pretty intense and it was pitch black outside, aside from the lightning. I’m not entirely certain what time the second storm rolled through, but I know it was in the middle of the night and I was tired. So tired, that I managed to fall asleep in the middle of the storm – and we didn’t wake up again until the power returned and the air conditioning started back up later the next morning.
[#9 of #52]
