He's Famous!

See that hot guy in the background on CNN?  Yup.  That's my boyfriend.  He's famous ;)  Howard works for the USGS and has spent the last week out in Missouri measuring the water flow on the farmland that was flooded when they blasted the levee. 

At first glance this picture looks just like a normal river, but if you look closely, you will see two silos and a barn nearly covered by water.  The man that owns this property called the USGS and asked them to go by and take pictures to see what state his land was in.  Unfortunately, his house has been washed off it's foundation and is actually pressed up against the trees on the left.  After they sent him the pictures of his property, he responded, "Looks like I've got a lot of work to do".  So freaking sad.

We Have a Garden!

Howard and I were adamant that this year we were going to have a real garden.  One that wasn't overrun with weeds.  One where you could actually distinguish vegetables plants from wild plants.  One that might actually produce something edible.

Yesterday afternoon, we finally made a real attempt.  We dusted off the shovels and hoes and spent three backbreaking hours digging away.  There were a few times we thought about giving up and making due with a smaller garden but we kept at it.  Here is our progress:

BEFORE

AFTER

Hard work really pays off sometimes!

What?  Why don't you believe me?  Because you know me and know there isn't a freaking chance I did this?

Fiiiine.  In reality I was in the living room watching Top Chef Masters and Howard was peeking out the guest room window marveling at the site of a man on a tractor tilling the garden in less than 30 minutes.

What can I say?  Paying for hard work to be done is more our style.

Thx Manda =)

Have I mentioned that I love getting care packages in the mail?  Because I so do!  Today I came home to find a package from one of my best friends, Amanda.  Inside was two different kinds of cookies, a loaf of banana bread and a bottle of sweet chili sauce I can't find around here.  I LOVE her! 

YUM!

Winner Winner!

Thanks to everyone who entered the CSN giveaway!  The winner is.......

KellFire said...


Warm & mostly sunny Southern California!!! We're actually looking into going there this year for Marshman's sabbatical. Sounds AWESOME! Wish I could go right now!!!

Congrats KellFire!!

I'll be emailing the gift code to you shortly =)

GIVEAWAY! Cure Your Winter Blues!

Today's ordeal makes me want to start searching luggage stores for some cute new bags to pack up and take with me somewhere warm and sunny.  Somewhere without ice and snow.  Don't get me wrong, I love the snow but there is something about the visual of sliding backwards down an icy hill to my death into a deep, rocky creek bed that makes me scream BEACH PLEASE! 

My parents have been soaking up the sun since early January down in Cape Coral, Florida.  They decided another Virginia winter wasn't in the cards and rented a house down there until April.  Do you know how awesome it is to call my mom on my way home in the snow to find out she's laying out on the deck in her bathing suit?  Or out on the boat fishing?  Or grilling up the 10 fish they caught that day for dinner?  SO AWESOME!  I'm hoping to make my way down there in early March for a bit of cold weather relief but it's up in the air with my job right now (Oh how I wish I could blog about my job...).

Anyhow, the kind folks at CSN Stores have offered up a $40 gift card to take away one lucky winner's winter blues.  All you need to do to enter is leave a comment below answering the following question:

If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would you go? 

That's it.  One comment per person please.  The giveaway will end Friday, February 11th at 11 am CST.  One winner will be chosen by a random number generator after the giveaway closes.

Good luck!!

PS.  I just watched the local news and we are getting more snow tomorrow through Wednesday night.  I sooo just came down with the chicken pox!

The Wrong Kind of Snow

What's the old saying?  Be careful what you wish for?  Well I've been wishing and hoping and praying for snow and we finally got it.  But I was hoping more for the kind of snow that keeps me out of work. Snow that lets me sleep in. Snow that I could watch out the window from my comfy, cozy bed. Snow that lets me crack a beer at noon. That kind of snow.


The problem with this snow was I was already at work since all they were calling for was a light dusting.  Instead about 7 inches fell in about 4 hours.  I finally decided to leave work around 11:15.  I drove really slow on the untreated roads.  Cars were stranded in ditches all along the streets.  I kept sliding but I managed to stay on the road.  The main roads weren't as bad but they still weren't plowed or salted.  Then I got to my back country road.  Of course it was a mess.  I could barely see where the road was and when I finally felt like I was home free, I slid backwards down the hill right before my driveway.  7 times!  Did I mention there is a long drop off into a creek at the bottom of the hill?  Because that's all I could think about each time I slid back down.  But I made it!  To my driveway where I proceeded to get stuck halfway on the road and halfway in my driveway. 

At least I was home though.  I got the shovel and the salt and tried for an hour to get my car out of the road.  I couldn't for the life of me figure out why my car wasn't moving.  I felt like I had shoveled out all the ice and snow around the tires, but it just wouldn't move.

(So here's the part I debated revealing.  I left this minor detail out when telling both Howard and Leslie the story immediately after it happened.  But I've come to terms with what an idiot I can sometimes be so here goes.)

When I first got stuck and left the car in the road to grab the shovel and the salt, I pulled the emergency break up so my car wouldn't slide backwards into the ravine on the other side of the road.  And then?  Yep, I never put it back down.  That's why my car wasn't moving.  Genius, right?  Luckily when a bus came up the hill and I went to try one more time so they could pass by, I noticed.  I was able to get my car far enough up the driveway so the bus could get by.  But that was it.  I was finished.  So here she sits.  She looks happy there, right?

Matt =)

When my friend Matt and his girlfriend Katie were visiting for Thanksgiving, Matt commented on our DVD collection.  He had noticed that although I had Saw I, II, V and VI, I was missing III and IV. 

See, back in 2006, I made Matt go see Saw III with me in the theater.  He had no desire to see it but being a good friend and knowing I wouldn't go alone and couldn't talk anyone else into it, he sucked it up.  Despite the fact he hadn't seen the first two, he liked it.  And so he started back at the beginning by renting the movies and has followed the series ever since. 

After a particularly emotional day (due to being overwhelmed about career making decisions that will affect the rest of my life...nothing big or anything), I arrived home from work and found a package from Matt.  I wasn't expecting anything so it took me by surprise.  Inside I found the following...

No idea why but I just lost it.  I could barely see my phone as I tried to text him.  The tears would not stop coming.  He just made my day.  He wanted to make sure I had all the movies for a Saw marathon.  Guy best friends can be so awesome and thoughtful.  I suggest you go out and get yourself one.  But don't steal mine!

Thank you Matt.  You are the bestest and I love you.

I'm Back! (For Now)

Sooo...hi!  It's apparently been over a month since I've last posted.  My bad.  I'll make it up to you all with a brand new giveaway starting tomorrow!  Am I forgiven? 

I'd love to tell you all what's been pretty much keeping me from writing the past month or so but as Ashley explains here, there are things regarding your employment that just can't be put out there if you still want to have a job the next day.  I'll sum it up by telling you the following:

I had another job offer.
I really considered it.
I went back and forth for weeks.
I made the decision to stay with my current job (my wonderful, awesome, amazing current job - just in case anyone from corporate is reading this...HI!).

It would have been nice to discuss it all here and maybe get some input from you all but I know I made the right decision for me in the end.  Now hopefully I can get back to my regularly scheduled blogging.  HA!  Like that will ever happen.