Live a life less ordinary...

Move Over Webster & Urban Dictionary

2012-02-12T21:05:00.002-05:00

We are finally on the upswing of getting over the strep-throat and sinus infections that invaded our house this past week. We also discovered this past week that sometimes Jordan and I speak in a lingo all our own. So here you go Mr. Webster a few words we think you should consider. The first being "hangry." Hangry is that attitude/reaction to being hungry and not having eaten yet that makes you suddenly become angry. Properly used in a sentence it would go something like this, "I know you're hangry but the grilled cheese won't cook itself, so chill out!" That may or may not have been overheard in our household this week. Most people experience this with children but in our household we experience this with two grown adults, no shame here. This led us to discover what has become another well used word..."sangry." One experiences this when they are sick and tired of putting up with being sick and tired so you become angry. Properly used in a sentence it would go something like this, "Just because you're sangry doesn't mean you can act all crazy!" Also possibly overheard at our house this week.

We also have other random words we use as if everyone else around us should understand them. For example, "zingy." When travelling and in need of a healthier snack option we stop at a gas station that sells proportioned fresh fruit, crackers, and cheese for around 200 calories. Unfortunately, if you're not careful the grapes can be a bit zingy. Zingy is that cross between ripeness and fermented taste that leaves a little zing on your tongue when eaten. Jordan likes the occasional zingy grape. I on the other hand only like my grapes ripe or fully fermented, and preferably in a white wine glass. None of this in between mess...

Letting my hair down...

2012-02-05T23:22:00.002-05:00

Some people have seen the new do posted on facebook but for those that haven't I thought I'd post a picture of my new hair do. Jordan and I also have our new glasses and we keep meaning to post picture for our family to see but that'll have to wait for another day.

Somebody set fire to the rain...err snow.

2012-01-31T19:58:00.001-05:00

Here we are at the end of January and no snow. As someone who works in a public school this is incredibly disappointing. Teachers look forward to snow days as much as kids look forward to recess. I'd go so far to say that most of the teachers I know look forward to snow days more than the kids. It's not just the break from the routine but the excitement and anticipation of hearing those magical words on the radio or television. Snuggled up with a blanket eating breakfast and then to hear... "Such and such county/city schools are closed!" It's an amazing sense of delight that overcomes you! At this rate I'd take a two hour delay but looking ahead at the 10 day forecast this might be the first winter in years that we've had no snow. My brother in Afghanistan has seen more snow than we have! Heck he saw more snow in New Mexico than we've seen here this year. For now I'll continue to wear my pjs inside out and flush ice-cubes down the toilet every night...because according to some of the cutest future-meteorologist that I spend my days with, that's all it really takes.

Creating a Healthy Lifestyle

2012-01-18T20:56:00.003-05:00

You may or may not know but Jordan and I spent the last 5 months of 2011 making some healthy lifestyle changes. As a result Jordan has dropped 70lbs and I have dropped 18lbs by the end of December. Our goal for ourselves was to maintain our weight through the holidays and then continue our weight loss at the start of the new year. Jordan's been busy going to the gym and I've gotten back on track with making more meals which Jordan claims has helped his weight loss efforts greatly (I think he just enjoys a home cooked meal). I had been joining him with his personal trainer when my schedule allowed. I've got to get back in the gym with him. I have to admit it is hard when our schedules don't exactly sync but we both do so much better when we're working out together. The hustle and bustle of the holidays and traveling really threw a kink into our healthy lifestyle efforts. We keep moving forward and that's what is most important. Of all the things we're doing I'm really struggling with journaling what I eat. Jordan's had his lapses with it but he's so much better at it than I am. I'm hoping to really improve my food journaling. I'll try to share what we're up to as far as fitness and healthy recipes for anyone who may be interested. I'll also try to be candid about what works and what we struggle with. Believe me when I tell you, this process is not easy.

In other adventures...

Jordan has joined a work sponsored bowling league so I'm able to enjoy some "me" time on Wednesday nights for the next few weeks. I have to say it was nice having the house to myself this evening and being able to just relax from a somewhat stressful day.

I've been working on trying to figure out my brother's free time in Afghanistan and the time difference so that we can hopefully skype soon. It seems his free time isn't always truly free time. I've received short messages from him periodically so that's been nice to have at least a little bit of communication. (Jason if you're reading this you need to send us a message about some things you'd like in a care package!)

Jordan's Small Request

2012-01-18T20:17:00.004-05:00

Jordan makes very few requests of me and is a laid back person. So today when he asked me to call our congressmen I knew it was something he was very passionate about. In an attempt to push the movement forward I too am sharing Jordan's request with anyone who happens to stumble across our humble little blog. Please take a bit of your time and check out this link SOPA and PIPA. If you feel strongly about the government being able to censor the internet please take the time to contact your congress person and let them know how you feel. You can also check out Google's petition here.

Holy Crap, I'm gonna be 30!

2012-01-11T18:49:00.000-05:00

It hit me the other day that in a few weeks I'm going to be thirty....wow. (If the thought of this doesn't give me a slight heart attack, I'm pretty sure the thought of it does give my parents one.) I don't consider it old but it's not the same as turning 20-something, that's for sure! Up until recent years, I had been rather big about my birthdays. I'm talking as in GO BIG OR GO HOME kind of celebrations which I always threw for myself. (Now we're not talking MTV's Sweet 16 kind of BIG...I'm saving something like that for when I turn 90) but they were usually more than the "normal" person would do for his or her birthday.

So this year I want to do something to embrace 30 because in some ways I'm having a hard time swallowing that number. Not because it's old (I still feel young whether I should or not) but because 30 isn't looking like I thought it would. That's not to say it's a bad thing but it's not to say it's a great thing either. If anything it has caused me to do a lot of reflection and thinking...lots of thinking...

My grandfather, Pop always turned 29 on his birthday. I thought that was kind of weird but now I'm beginning to understand a little better and considering only turning 29 from here on out. Well at least until I reach 90. For now though I'm just trying to figure out how to embrace 30 and what exactly I should do to celebrate it in style. I'm all ears for suggestions on celebration ideas so do please send them my way.

Travel Mug Lust

2012-01-10T18:27:00.000-05:00

Jordan is always teasing me for my zeal for a good travel mugs and my quest to find the perfect one. He jokes that I have travel mug lust. (He has spiral notebook lust but that's another blog.) My sister-in-law gave me a gift card to Teavana. I've been in a Teavana store several times before but never purchased anything. It was more of a look and don't touch store for my budget. I was pretty excited to put the gift card to good use. I love hot tea and I drink a bunch of it. (Jordan didn't drink an ounce of hot tea until he met me and now on somedays he drinks more hot tea than I do.) I love the taste of hot tea, the ritual of making tea, and serving tea. Pretty much everything about tea is just so comforting. Well today I received my order from Teavana and I'm in love..with the new travel mug I ordered (the tea is good too). The travel mug is amazing! It is the shape of a regular stainless steel travel mug but with a thermos type lid over top of the sipping lid to help with extra insulation. It also has a brewing pail that fits perfectly inside for brewing loose tea. Most importantly it has the double insulated stainless steel that keeps my beverage of choice nice and hot. You're probably reading this rolling your eyes but a girls gotta share when something knocks her socks off, which this mug totally does!

Pinterest...so addicted!

2012-01-06T22:46:00.002-05:00

I'm in love with the website Pinterest. I consider myself to be a very creative person but even the non-creative can be creative with the help of Pinterest. The site offers so much creative inspiration on a daily basis! I love the ability to pin something so I don't forget and save it for later. It's like virtual window "idea" shopping!

If you haven't given it a try, you really must check it out!

Hello, Is This Thing On?

2012-01-04T22:19:00.001-05:00

Well I'm trying to get back in the saddle of blogging for several reasons. The most important reason is because my little brother (who's not so little anymore) is currently deployed. I want him to be able to catch up with what's going on with us while he's gone. I'm also gonna throw in some fun things along the way like recipes and music I think is worth a listen. Jace here's to you and here's hoping I keep a steady routine of posting through 2012 to keep you up to date (as well as our other family and friends)! P.S. Love you bunches. Buttons, Oscar, Barney, and Abbey all miss you! Oscar became Erin's new best friend over Christmas. I'm pretty sure he's in love with her.

Christmas was great minus the small trip to the ER and being sick most of it. Thanks to some high powered antibiotics and several days of rest I'm feeling much better. We spent a week visiting Jordan's family in TN. We simply did not get enough time playing with our three nieces but we had a blast during the time we did get to spend with them. It's going to be mind boggling how much they've all grown and changed when we see them again later this year. We returned from TN to VA on Monday after 12 hours on the road that day with 6 hours spent on the road the day before. We got caught in a crazy snow storm on the interstate that was not fun to drive through, an event I'd like to not have to experience again. Jordan's new winter coat (thanks Jace) came in super handy during the winter storm when we had to stop.

Jordan returned to work today and I return tomorrow. I can't really complain about a two day work week. It's truly hard to believe that it's already January much less 2012! 2011 brought some great things into our lives, 2 new nieces and a sister-in-law! This year will bring some special milestones, I'll be 30 (try not to look shocked mom and dad) AND Jordan and I will have been married for 5 years (try not to look shocked Jordan). Yeah, it all blows my mind too!

Music you should check out: Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros-HOME

Thanksgiving Chickens

2011-12-11T19:37:00.001-05:00

At Thanksgiving in TN I forgot to take pictures of people but I did snap some of the chickens...

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Christmas cards

2011-12-10T16:16:00.001-05:00

Working on handmade cards...

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Don't Forget To Wash Your Hands

2011-08-15T17:38:00.000-04:00

I love all things related to soap and admittedly own too many of such things. In an effort to minimize and be a little more conscious/green I've started to look for easy ways to reduce and reuse items. Most recently, soapy items. Before our 5 month stay in Rochester, NY we had great success with making our own laundry detergent (the powdered kind). Eventually, I'm going to try my hand at making a liquid version of laundry soap. For now I've settled on finding an option for hand soap. I LOVE foaming hand soap. Weird? Maybe. After depleting a new pump of Bath & Body Works hand soap I figured I'd make my own foaming soap and reuse the pump.

Just fill the foam soap pump up with warm/hot water and add 1 tablespoon of liquid castile soap. Shake and you're ready to pump. If you've never used liquid castile soap it's important to know that it's highly concentrated (a little goes a long way) and low on phosphates (which is important for the environment)!

Black Eyed Peas

2011-08-15T17:15:00.003-04:00

Several weekends ago we had the opportunity to go see the Black Eyed Peas in concert, for free! It was a great concert with a total party atmosphere. We were also able to meet up with Julie and Brandon at the concert. The only bad thing was it took us over 2 hours to get out of the parking lot so we ended up staying at a hotel about an hour and a half away from home because by the time we had made it to that point it was already 3:30am and Jordan and I were both exhausted!

Chillin' in the car waiting to get on the road at the end of a "good good night."

Julie and I with Fergie and Will. I. Am .in the background, seriously!

Julie and Brandon watching the concert.

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We're back to the world of blogging!

2011-07-11T10:25:00.001-04:00

Sometimes you just need a break or to step back. After a 3 month hiatus, I'm glad to say we're back! Back in town and back to the world of blogging. We just got in from Memphis, TN and visiting Jordan's family for a week. We came home to our first red ripe tomato, two very lonely cats, and a lot cooler weather. In Tennessee we were able to spend time with all three of our nieces (two of them were born in the past two months). There's nothing like a 3 year old little girl's giggle and holding newborn babies!

Now to get several things accomplished around the house...

We Live in the City...

2011-04-04T23:27:00.001-04:00

and there was a deer in our backyard. We are not sure where exactly she came from, maybe the college two streets over? I mean you would have to be pretty smart to survive in the city...

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Bad Blogger- That'd Be Me

2011-04-04T21:39:00.000-04:00

I've been a bad blogger and my only excuse is that life has been just so daily! Who would have thought right? Better to be busy than bored...although I could go for a little bit of a slow down.

Soccer is going well when it's not raining which seems to be pretty much any day we have a game scheduled. Mother nature apparently was not a natural born soccer fan. The kids I coach crack me up and at times make me feel old. Their shock today that I like to rock out to Top 40 radio every morning was humbling to say the least. I'm not that old but they sure knocked me down a few pegs in my youthfulness!

My parents are having a grand old time this week in Orlando, Florida. I think I can speak for both my brother and myself to say we're green with envy! I wish I could be a fly on the wall to see them going through Animal Kingdom and Universal Studios just the two of them, kinda cute if you ask me. Jordan's parents just got back from a beach trip to Florida a week or two ago.

We're actually going to see Jordan's family in a few weeks for a long weekend. It'll be a short but fun filled visit. I'm throwing a baby shower for Jordan's sister (my sister-in-law) and we'll be visiting with our other pregnant sister-in-law too. Jordan and I will be welcoming two nieces by mid summer! We're pretty excited to have two more cuties to spoil. I've had a fun time picking out some cute items for our future nieces over the past few weeks. I even found a little something for Ruth, our oldest niece, for her new 'big girl' room. I'm pretty excited to see her and her new room!

The Parkway Dinner...It's Kind of Our Thing

2011-03-17T10:20:00.000-04:00

Neither Jordan nor I can remember how it started, without fail we end up on the Blue Ridge Parkway in early Spring having a picnic dinner of sorts. It's never planned, it just happens spontaneously, yet it happens every year around the same time. Somewhere along the way we discovered this great little gas station that makes a great sandwich, fried chicken, or whatever your southern taste buds might crave and the pie...oh, the pie is yummy too!

Last night was one of those nights where our annual parkway picnic dinner just kind of happened. Jordan had some exciting news from his day to tell me about and I said let's go talk on the parkway and get dinner while we're at it. We both knew that meant a trip to this little hole in the wall gas station where you can buy your 15lbs of 10-10-10 fertilizer, a Smith & Wesson knife, a pack of Reese Cups for 69cents, and the best gas station dinner you've ever had. It's a cheap dinner and a spectacular view and it's something I hope we continue to do for years to come.

News Flash or a Brief Update for Your Time Wasting Pleasure...

2011-03-10T21:15:00.000-05:00

Jordan had a mustache for all of 15 minutes last weekend. I'd post a picture but it scares his brother and I both too much to look at it! Let's just say 1970 called and they want their mustache back.

I've started coaching my 4th soccer season for the middle school. Here's hoping to a successful year with no injuries and sunny weather! Try-outs and the first week of practice have been filled with rain...Jordan says that's how he knows what days we play by looking at the weather forecast and seeing which days they call for rain.

Buttons had his stitches taken out on Wednesday and is doing quite well. He's returned to his normal crazy Garfield like behavior. Oscar, in other adventures, got locked in the dog crate with the dogs one evening last week. You would have thought he was dying with his little cat cries. The dogs just kept staring at him totally confused as to what was going on. We just heard his cries and it took us a few minutes to realize there were one too many animals in the dog crate at bedtime.

Today is Brought To You By The Letter "C"

2011-03-09T13:05:00.001-05:00

Talk about a blast from my past...today during my nanny job I discovered something pretty amazing. That my friend's in the right hand corner of this children's alphabet book is my first car! (Color, tires, literally the exact same car!) Usually the little kiddo gets excited when she can recognize a photo and then points to it and says what it is. Today, I was the big kiddo getting really excited because I recognized the photo and kept pointing to it going, "car, car, car!!!"

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Jordan Day

2011-02-28T15:11:00.003-05:00

I'd been asking Gwen for a day where we could go do things I wanted to do. Well she surprised me Sunday with a "Jordan" day. In the morning she made breakfast in bed for me, served on a tray! In the afternoon we went to Peaks View Park and took the dogs on a walk and found an empty ball field to let them run loose in for a while. Then we went out for red velvet cake milkshakes and to the dollar theater to see TRON in 3D. Our dollar theater hadn't been the best (not the most comfortable/clean). They just had new seats installed as well as some remodeling done and I'm hoping we will be going to see a lot more movies now!

Card Style, Where Have You Gone?

2011-02-25T08:51:00.000-05:00

I've been trying to find my groove with my card making lately. I need to make some invitations, a set of swap cards (I swap with a set number of people each month) and birthday cards and I just haven't found my groove lately. Here are some recent creations and hopefully I'll have a creative spark this weekend so I can knock out my growing list of cards I need to make!

Where does the time go?

2011-02-24T08:22:00.000-05:00

I've been meaning to post lately but just have not found the time to get around to it. Jordan has been quite busy traveling for work. Every time he has returned from a business trip he's brought a new illness back with him. The latest being a cold, which is easier to deal with compared to the stomach flu he brought back the previous trip. It used to be I'd bring the illnesses into our house from working with kids but Jordan seems to have taken over that duty. Hopefully, there will be less business travel and less exposure to vast amounts of germs! I've been enjoying my nanny job and the beginning of soccer season is right around the corner.

As for an update from the previous post Buttons is racking up a hefty little tab at the vet. We thought his injured leg was on the mend until I came back from being out of town for a baby shower and visiting with friends last weekend to find his paw swelling to close to the size of a tennis ball. Jordan said it hadn't been like that earlier in the morning and of course this had to happen on a weekend, read: $$$ We whisked him off to the emergency vet in town. They had to give the little guy 13 stitches and an anti-inflammatory. He seems to be on the mend and we go back in two weeks for the stitches to be removed. Here's hoping that's the last of unscheduled vet visits for quite a while!

Not his best day...

2011-02-21T14:19:00.001-05:00

Buttons with his Kitty bandage.

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LOVE IS IN THE AIR

2011-02-15T15:31:00.000-05:00

Literally, my love is in the air....on Valentine's Day Jordan flew to Nebraska for work. Today is my birthday and the hubs is in Nebraska until midnight tomorrow. Boo.

Oh Bugger!

2011-02-04T12:51:00.000-05:00

Jordan started off the week with a stomach bug and I caught wind of it on Wednesday. We're both on the mend now but please excuse our blogging absence, we'll be back to it soon.

I call him Mickey, Oscar calls him breakfast

2011-01-26T15:58:00.000-05:00

It's been a BIG day for me, I flushed a dead mouse down the toilet. No joke that's huge for me and one more reason Jordan needs to hurry home. I can not describe the amount of stress this ordeal caused me. It involved a bit of screaming "eww, gross gross gross," rapidly opening and shutting my eyes (apparently closing your eyes doesn't make it easier), and a spatula from the kitchen (which by the way will never be used again).

Fun Times

2011-01-25T22:14:00.000-05:00

Guess what? Jordan and I have only been back home for the past three weeks and Jordan has been in Arizona for two of those weeks. Yep, he's back out in the southwest working. It's weird going through my day without having him go through it with me. We often tell people that the perfect marriage involves two houses. Being apart does make you look forward to seeing each other and appreciate the time you do get to spend together as opposed to constantly being together and starting to get on the others nerves, it happens, if you're human it happens.

My nanny job helps keep me from being too lonely and humorous at times. My day now involves constantly asking the question, "Do you have a poopy diaper?" With as much as I say that during the course of a day it just may be these kids first full sentence. I also find myself using, listening and even on occasion singing along, to the Toddler Radio station on Pandora. I can do a mean Pattycake and Itsy Bitsy Spider.

Christmas Rewind

2011-01-19T10:14:00.002-05:00

Here are a few photos from the holidays in TN with our niece. We miss her so much! I'm still playing catch up from the holidays and moving back so bare with me!

Please don't feed the animals they're already stuffed!

Singing songs and napping with Uncle JoJo

My Tree

2011-01-09T10:37:00.001-05:00

Yeah little late posting but here's the tree I did for the George Eastman House!

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The Games We Play

2011-01-08T14:00:00.000-05:00

Jordan and I have a little game we play in our kitchen called, What Smells in the Fridge? It actually started with a former room-mate because inevitably there would be something that smelled in the fridge. Well let me tell you when you leave a home for a number of months and have left a few items in the fridge you will have to play, What Smells in the Fridge?

This came to mind while reading an article on CNN about de-cluttering your house. Something I'm in the VERY beginning stages of at our house. It suggested playing a game of Let's Pretend We're Moving Overseas. So we now have two games to play at our house. Unfortunately, the Let's Pretend game is going to take a little longer to play than the What Smells game.

Almost Home!

2011-01-03T17:44:00.000-05:00

Jordan and I are both back in VA just in two different places right now. He's working in Lynchburg and I'm chilling in Blacksburg until Wednesday. We were able to see both sides of the family over the holidays and had a great time catching up with everyone.

This year we've set some goals for ourselves. We're really hoping to work towards getting our house ready to put on the market next year. We're also hoping that the market will be better by then for selling a home. The first part of this process will be cleaning, organizing, and purging in every room of the house including the basement. We've also got some repairs to make and then a few improvements that we will be taking care of over the course of a year.

We also want to make the gym more of a priority in our lives. It's especially hard in the winter because for some reason when it's cold outside it doesn't make it easy to motivate myself to go workout.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T17:03:00.000-05:00

Here's hoping you are spending some quality time with your family and friends.

Home...

2010-12-21T20:04:00.000-05:00

is where the heart is right? We have made it home but we pick up and leave again in a day for the family holiday tour. It truly does feel like we're living out of our car! We realized that it will be 2 weeks before Jordan's officially back home and 3 weeks before I'm officially back home. Busy, busy, busy!

I'll Be Home For Christmas...

2010-12-18T19:49:00.000-05:00

We've started to say our good-byes to the friends we've made here in Rochester and it's not easy. Tears well up in my eyes each time. After lunch today as we were waving good-bye to some of Jordan's Rochester co-workers I had tears in my eyes. One of the hardest so far was saying goodbye to our friends at Sugar Mountain Bake Shoppe. They have been so welcoming to us and made our stay here so fun and might I add, yummy! They were kind enough to send me off tonight with a special treat after dinner. I cried as we took pictures, gave hugs, and said our last goodbyes. I have a feeling tomorrow will be the hardest because we will be saying goodbye to a family who has been like a mentor to us while we have been here.

Our experience here has really helped us grow in various ways. Willing taking ourselves out of our comfort zone for half a year has been very beneficial to us. I wouldn't say we walk away with clarity but we do walk away with such a greater life experience that has helped us grow together. It's given us a broader perspective on several things in our lives and allowed us to make some great memories that will be wonderful to look back on together.

We're excited to be seeing family and friends over the holidays and could not think of a better way to be returning home. It's with a grateful heart that we will be making our way home for Christmas...

Food things that weird me out...

2010-12-14T08:43:00.000-05:00

Last night I was making some peanut butter fudge for Jordan's co-workers. It's super super easy if you've never made it. I knew what ingredients I needed but I did have to look online for the proportions. Well boy was I surprised in my recipe search. Before I continue, let me preface this, I enjoy using Paula Dean's recipes BUT what I found yesterday has REALLY grossed me out.

Go here and read the first ingredient: Paula Dean's Peanut-butter Fudge Recipe

This completely weirds me out on so many levels. I hate processed cheese, in all honesty I think it's just disgusting. I never buy it and I very VERY very rarely eat it, if at all. The thought of combining it with peanut butter and sugar makes me weak in the stomach.

So if you are looking for a easy, non-disgusting Peanut butter Fudge Recipe might I recommend searching for Alton Brown's super easy recipe but please I beg you stay away from Paula Dean's PB Fudge recipe....

Too Cute!

2010-12-12T10:36:00.002-05:00

This is the caricature that was done of Jordan and I at his company Christmas party last night. We were so pleased with the way it turned out we're going to get it framed! We had a blast last night!

Weekend Preview

2010-12-10T19:43:00.000-05:00

Jordan's sister got married this past weekend. We both did the photography for her wedding and are in the process of editing her photos. I figured I'd take a break from editing and post a few random shots from the weekend. Not too many wedding photos going up, I'm saving those for another sneak peak post!

Cousins chatting it up.

Sitting on round hay bales to get the perfect shot.

Flower girl love.

One of my favorite pictures.

Semi-Wordless Wednesday: Thanksgiving Pics

2010-12-08T21:07:00.000-05:00

Look at who they put at the kid's table :)

Miller Cousins Rockin' Some Scattegories

I borrowed these images from my dad that he took at Thanksgiving in Ashland. My attempt at a somewhat wordless wednesday.

Don't fly with sinus issues: or why I'm spending the day in bed with this stuff...

2010-12-07T09:51:00.001-05:00

Yesterday we flew back from TN to NY and I managed to pick up some sinus funk. Let's just say I highly recommend avoiding air travel when you're having cold or sinus infection issues. My ears would not stop popping and I couldn't hear out of my right ear once we were on the ground. Today I'll be spending the day snuggling with these guys...

I'll also be worrying about Jordan making it home seeing as we're going to have over 2 feet of snow by this afternoon!

One last pic, Dr. Oscar:

Just Dance 2 or a picture is worth a thousand words....

2010-11-30T20:32:00.002-05:00

If you're not wearing a pair of Depends Underpants you're probably going to wish you had after viewing these pictures. I almost peed myself watching him do the dance moves. We haven't bought a Wii game in a long time and we bought this one in an effort to get us moving more, it's also got us laughing a LOT more too. Just ignore the laundry in the background.

What you can't see is me rolling on the floor laughing.


Nope that's not a Thriller move that's one he made up all on his own

Thankful for

2010-11-22T07:54:00.002-05:00

THESE GUYS:

Oscar prefers running water and I'm a sucker and oblige his request,

I have so much to be thankful for and sometimes I think we all forget what is good in our lives. I've been inspired by several friends who've been posting something everyday that they are thankful for. It's really made me stop and consider what I am thankful for this year. So here's my shortlist...

First I must say, Jordan, he is probably the most patient human being I know. As the sage old bumper sticker goes, "We may not have it all together, but together we have it all."

My family both immediate, extended and by marriage, more often than not it's like being part of a peanut gallery with constant laughter. I'm also so lucky to have friends who are like family and been there in so many ways.

Some people might think we're crazy but Jordan and I both agree our lives would not be the same without Barney, Abbey, Buttons, and Oscar in our lives. They provide endless humor and companionship.

This opportunity we've had in Upstate NY. It's been such a growing experience for Jordan and I in ways we did not even know it would be. We've met some amazing people who've had a tremendous impact on our lives, some who've been like mentors to us.

Here's wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving and encouraging you to take a moment of reflection on what you have to be thankful for. And to those of you who've touched our lives in so many ways this year, thank you!

Thanksgiving, Here we come!

2010-11-21T15:39:00.000-05:00

Jordan is actually not working today and we've had a lazy laid back day in the hotel. He's even been so nice to do the dishes and straighten up the kitchen. I need to get on the laundry so that we can pack for our trip home for Thanksgiving. We've decided to take home most of the appliances we brought up with us so that it will not be so complicated to pack up in December.

Tomorrow we're taking the day just to hang out with each other. We're going to go see the newest Harry Potter movie. The kids up here will still be in school so we're thinking the matinée showing near us will not be so crowded, fingers crossed!

So we won't be putting up a Christmas tree this year since we're kind of living in two places. I'm excited to decorate at least a little bit of the exterior of our house while we're home.

Halloween!

2010-11-12T07:12:00.000-05:00

Jordan was the Red Bull commercial...

Yes, my friend's no shame here, that's my hubby strutting some wings.

Us together on Halloween but I'm not wearing my chef's hat. I was an Iron Chef.

Autumn Trifle Recipe

2010-11-11T14:23:00.000-05:00

I've had several requests for the recipe that my cupcake at Sugar Mountain is based off of so here it is:

Autumn Trifle:
-A package of gingerbread cake mix or premade gingerbread cake from the grocery store. If making it from a mix of scratch let cool before you use it to layer your trifle.

-1 large can of packed pumpkin seasoned for pie making

-1-2 packages of Vanilla Pudding made to instructions

-2-3 cups of Heavy Whipped Cream sweetened with sugar and a dash of vanilla or a large tub of Cool Whip

-Crushed Ginger Snap Cookies

Mix together the pumpkin and vanilla pudding, will make something similar to a light custard when whipped together with a mixer. Pull out a trifle bowl and layer with gingerbread cake, pumpkin custard, and whipped cream/cool whip. You can layer with gingersnaps if you want some crunch or just sprinkle on top after done layering. I prefer just sprinkling the cookies on top and not layering the ginger snap cookies.

It's really quite easy and delicious and great for dessert after Thanksgiving Dinner!

Buffalo, NY and what I've been up to...

2010-11-10T15:10:00.003-05:00

Last Sunday Jordan and I went up to Buffalo, NY in search of the best Buffalo wings. We started out with lunch at Anchor Bar where the Buffalo Wing is said to have been created. We then went out to a movie (The Social Network) and had dinner at Duff's which is supposed to have one of the best Buffalo Wings in the area. Overall we decided we prefer the baked wings we're used to as opposed to the deep fried wing found all over Buffalo. Jordan loved the Anchor Bar butter sauce used on their wings where I loved Duff's wings with Frank's Red Hot Sauce. Below are pictures from Anchor Bar in downtown Buffalo.

In some sad news we also found out Sunday that my grandmother had passed away that morning. If I have this correct, she was 87 years old. She was my last living grandparent which made the news even harder. I adored her so much and will miss her greatly!

I haven't been blogging as frequently because I've been busy working on my gingerbread entry for the George Eastman House as well as decorating a Christmas Tree for them as well. I've got some catching up on posts to do. So keep a look out for Halloween pictures, Gingerbread Trains, and Christmas Tree photos being posted in the near future!

Today, I helped make apple pies at a local Methodist church for a church fundraiser they do and then was fortunate enough to have lunch with a retired OB/GYN who gave me his undivided attention to ask as many questions as I wanted to. As many of you may know, we are going through fertility issues related to my diagnosis with Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). I have never been so grateful in my life to sit down and have a conversation with someone. He was able to give me such a wealth of information and understanding of PCOS and the fertility issues we are encountering with it. So many times Jordan and I have found ourselves at the Reproductive Endocrinologist's office with a long list of questions and then we get in the car to go home and come up with 20 more. Even though we have been on a hiatus from the fertility treatments while we're on this adventure (in upstate NY) it was so helpful to develop a better understanding of what exactly is going on, as well as get another doctor's perspective on what we should be asking our doctor. I have to say the experience and opportunities we have had/are having here in upstate NY are just amazing to me!

My Cupcake: Autumn Trifle

2010-11-02T14:03:00.002-04:00

I have had the opportunity to get to know the staff at Sugar Mountain Bake Shoppe in Rochester. They have been so warm and welcoming to Jordan and I as well as create some of the most delicious cupcakes we both have ever tasted! I was completely honored when they chose to take an idea I gave them and create a cupcake based on a fall dessert I along with my mom (and now even my mother-in-law) make! They liked the idea so much that they started working on it as soon as I told them about it. It premiered this past weekend at the Bake Shoppe and Jordan and I were there to see other customers reactions and enjoy it ourselves! Not only did people enjoy it but the flavor sold out within the first hour of SMBS being open!!!

The cupcake is spiced molasses cake filled with pumpkin chiffon, topped with gingerbread buttercream, and is then rolled in gingersnap cooks and garnished with a candied pecan on top! If you're ever in the Rochester area you have to check this place out!

Only in Rochacha

2010-10-31T09:13:00.003-04:00

Snow + Halloween = Rochester Only in Rochester would their be street banners with a snowman holding a Halloween pumpkin as well as one on his head in October! I even heard the weather guy say that this coming week may be our first week of winter weather....

(If you can't quite see the pumpkins click on the picture)

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Welcome Fall, Hello Crockpot!

2010-10-20T17:12:00.000-04:00

I love cooking in a crockpot, so much so that we actually brought ours with us while we're here in upstate NY living in a hotel room. I also thought it would lend itself well to cooking in a hotel room. While we do have a kitchen it is smaller than most apartment kitchens. I hadn't used it much the first two months but this month it's starting to cook a lot for us. I made a beefstew that turned out quite nice last week.

Crockpot Beef Stew:

2 carrots (I hate cooked carrots so these 2 were only added for Jordan)
Bunch of Celery (on the other hand I love celery so I used a lot)
one onion chopped
Container of Fresh mushrooms sliced
Large can of whole tomatoes
1 very small potato (only to help thicken, trying to watch the carbs)
Stew Meat
1 cup of water, dash of olive oil
2 cloves- crushed garlic
1 packet of Organic Brown Gravy mix (I'm allergic to MSG so I have to be very careful about what types of seasoning packets I use)
2 Tablespoons of Whole wheat flour

Cooked all day on low. Freezed half of it for lunches. It's quite nice to be able to pull it out for my lunch or pack in Jordan's lunch.

I have some recipes ready to go for upcoming meals this week and next that I plan on using the crockpot for. I'm excited because I found a stuffed cabbage recipe. I hated cabbage unless it was in coleslaw...that's all changed in the past year, Jordan has shown me how good cabbage can be! I also discovered stuffed cabbage up here and it's one of my new favorite foods and I can not wait to try and make it!

Coming Soon: Toronto Pics

2010-10-18T12:32:00.000-04:00

I would gladly post some Toronto pics already BUT Jordan hasn't uploaded them to the computer yet. I try not to mess with his spiffy camera (other than to actually take pictures with it) because I don't wanna get in trouble for messing it up. If he doesn't have to work too terribly late tonight I hope to have a few pictures up so stay tuned.

We had planned on going to the Toronto Zoo all day Sunday but they closed the parkway out of the city towards the zoo for repairs and the Toronto Marathon. I think we're going to try and do a day trip to the zoo soon! We did get to see part of the Marathon while it was going on. Saturday we ended up staying in Niagara Falls a little longer because we hadn't been on the Canadian side in the daylight yet. We wanted to get pictures in the daytime from the Canadian side because it is just spectacular.

We checked into our hotel in Toronto on Saturday around 4 and went to check out the Eaton Center. For those who've never been it's a mall in downtown Toronto. While I'm sure there was fabulous shopping to be had we did not partake in any shopping. It was full of hustle and bustle and quite overwhelming. Sunday we went to the top of the CN tower and then to the Royal Ontario Museum. We walked quite a bit and used the Metro which has to be the cleanest metro system I have EVER used. They city in general was so clean and felt safe.

Canada, eh?

2010-10-15T10:38:00.001-04:00

I actually have a weekend off.

Take Two Days & See the Doctor in the Morning

2010-10-12T11:06:00.000-04:00

Being sick away from home stinks, being sick in a hotel room with out the comforts of home really stinks. I think what I thought was a cold or may have started as a cold has turned into a sinus infection. It took several phone calls before I found a doctor that would accept me as a new (temporary) patient. Much better than having to go to an Urgent Care since that would be a higher deductible and a bit of a wait. They aren't able to see me today but I do have an appointment for tomorrow morning at a family practice near us. I think the pups know something is not right because they have been very well behaved and Buttons (one of the cats) has spent most of the day by my side. I want to get well enough so that we can do a little exploring together this weekend. We're considering going to Toronto, Ontario.

They are giving all of the people on over-time this Saturday off so Jordan actually will get a full weekend. It's his first full weekend in about 6 weeks! The past two Saturdays he's put in almost full days (on top of his 50 hour work week) so this is very exciting for both of us. Unfortunately, it doesn't mean overtime is over yet but at this point I think Jordan will take what he can get.

For now I'm off to enjoy some hot chocolate and sleep in bed...

Scarecrows

2010-10-11T07:12:00.002-04:00

Here's the beginning of what would become the Mad Hatter and the Queen of Hearts....

And now for the finished scarecrows, I have to say the Mad Hatter was my favorite...

They may look uber cheezy but it was so much fun to do! I'll have to go back and take some pictures of the other scarecrows on display in the village. Not gonna lie these two were some of the best! The Scarecrow Festival was topped off with an Oktoberfest in the village that evening. We had some of the best beer-cheese soup I've ever had. The Oktoberfest was outdoors and it was cold enough to see your breath! This weeks average high in Upstate NY, 55 degrees!

Scarecrow Theme Courtesy of Lewis Carroll

2010-10-07T17:46:00.000-04:00

This week I've actually been busy and it's such a nice feeling to have something to do! I've been working on the scarecrows for the scarecrow festival. They look so cheezy but I just keep reminding myself it's a scarecrow. I went with an Alice In Wonderland theme. I created a Mad Hatter Scarecrow and a Queen of Hearts Scarecrow. I set it up Saturday morning so I'll take pictures then and post them on the blog sometime this weekend.

Jordan has worked...a LOT! It'll be over a 60 hour week for him this week... Doesn't make for a happy Jordan. We are going to the Scarecrow Festival (this weekend) and they're having an Oktoberfest along with it so we're going to check that out.

Oh, I also finished my sock! (Now I just have to finish the matching one.) We start our sweater knitting class next week. The ladies I take the class with are a riot and it is such a refreshing part of my week. I'm glad we get to keep it going for a little longer.

Garfield & Friends

2010-10-04T19:00:00.002-04:00

That's Buttons on the left and Oscar on the right, their brothers from another mother. I end up taking more pics of these two than the dogs because they're more chill and will standstill for more than a second (unlike some lovable pups of ours). We've decided that Buttons is the real life version of Garfield. He torments the dogs, eats like crazy (if left to his own devices I'm pretty sure he'd devour a whole lasagna), and gets into more trouble but knows just how to turn on the cat cuteness charm on at the very moment he's about to get in trouble. He also turns on the charm when he wants something, mainly food. Oscar on the other hand thinks he's a dog, he loves a good tummy rub and will typically come when you call him, and chews everything like a small puppy would. I'm on my 2nd pair of ear buds thanks to this guy and his chewing toy of choice as of late has become my wooden knitting needles. Good thing they're so darn cute...

For Love of a Library Card: Or Why Electronic Reading Devices Will Take Over

2010-10-02T08:40:00.004-04:00

Who knew it would take an act of Congress to get a library card up here. I'm pretty sure I even signed something that said I will name my first born child Rumpelstiltskin. (of course it would have to be Rumpelstiltskin because that fairy tale scared the crap out of me when I was little).

I went to the "new" library branch closest to me. At the information desk I asked how someone from out of state could get a temporary library card because I'll be here for several months. Both ladies sitting at the desk looked at me and said, "I dunno if we can do that." Pause...so I say, "Can you find out?" They pull out the handy-dandy Megatron of Librarian Manuals and look it up. We need a bill from your current residence and proof of your permanent residence. My response went something like this, "Okay, I can do that but umm, I'm staying in a hotel here and we haven't been billed yet because like I said we don't leave for several months, can I bring you a piece of forwarded mail?" Well it says here in the manual we need a bill from your current residence, so I repeat my previous statement. There response, "You could try that." Wow, really? so I provided them with a piece of forwarded mail but the forwarding address is not in MY name it's in Jordan's, even though the permanent address on the mail is in MY name.

I had to drive back to the hotel and ask (it looked more like begging) the hotel manager to please FAKE a bill for me here with my name on it! (Don't you dare tell the library if you're reading this, it was complicated enough.) Back I go to the library with my fake authentic hotel bill. This time its a whole new pair at the information desk who now usher me to the check-out desk where I not only get the library card but then the Rules of Temporary Library Card privileges are given to me. Only two books at a time....I wanted a cookbook, a fun book to read, and a knitting book...well there goes that... Only one hobby allowed at a time if you're going to read for fun here!

I then made the mistake of asking how to get FULL library privileges and they said I had to pay $45. What? Okay, I stick with my free crazy-rule library card. Then I ask if I'm at least allowed to renew my books and they answered, "We don't know, oh and by the way as a temporary user you can't places any books on hold/reserve." So that my friends is why I'm now lobbying in support of a Nook/Kindle, I'm pretty sure I can get more free titles of classic books than the library is going to let me check out here.

Jordan's take on all this was super helpful too (please note my sarcasm), "Gwen, maybe you should have just gone to the central branch location, I bet they know what they are doing there."

Best Small Job Offer Ever!

2010-09-30T14:51:00.000-04:00

I'm the kinda person who loves a hot glue gun, a rubber stamp, some fabric, a few beads, a needle and thread, and an oven to bake in. One might even say I have a few too many hobbies (that ONE is mainly Jordan). Today that crafty talent got me a sweet job offer. First let me back up for a minute...I haven't been looking for a job here because most places don't really want to hire someone for a couple of months. My grand plan had been to volunteer somewhere because I have always had a heart for service and enjoy volunteering. Well you know what they say about the best laid plans...they don't always go the way you expected.

Where I'm from most places accept volunteers because it's a warm body and they're willing to help. Here it's a little different... a good amount of the places/organizations I've tried to "get-in" to volunteer at require a one-year commitment. At first that upset me when I was turned away but after some reflection (and multiple thanks but we're looking for someone who can volunteer with our organization for at least a year) I can understand the purpose of a policy of that nature. I was however surprised at how many volunteer organizations hold that policy. Now fast-forward back to...today.

Jordan's boss' wife has been kind enough to take me out for coffee or lunch a couple of times. Today while out for some hot tea I was asking her if she knew of anywhere that would be in need of and/or willing to accept a volunteer that can only make a 3 month commitment. She then asked me what I'd want to do/who I'd want to work with, etc. I told her I'd want some human interaction as opposed to data entry but other than that I'd be up for pretty much anything. Well then she said, "I need some help with my business." (She runs a business in town aimed at kids and theater) She then went on to explain that she had some marketing opportunities that she needed help with because due to a big marketing opportunity/project that had come her way she did not have enough time to work on some of the smaller projects. She asked if I'd be interested in helping out and I said, YES! It gets better...

Then she went even farther an offered to pay me for the help! What might I being doing you ask? Well, only the best small project side job I've ever been offered! To help market her company she participates in several events locally to help get her name out there in a creative way.

Project #1 Design a Scarecrow and decorate it for Main Street in a nearby "village" (that's what they call a lot of towns up here) that her business is sponsoring. The Scarecrow display will be a subtle advertisement for her business and on display for 3 weeks in October.

Project #2 Design & Decorate a Table Top (it's about a 3.5 ft) Christmas Tree for display at the George Eastman House and Museum. For those that don't know George Eastman is the founder of KODAK which was started here in Rochester. The tree will be on display at the museum for almost 2 months and then auctioned off!

Project #3 Design, Bake, & Decorate a Gingerbread House/Display for exhibit for 6 weeks at the George Eastman House and Museum and again to be auctioned off! Now this I've done before and had my 5 minutes of fame in Charlotteville (3 years ago) where I was on the front page for making a Noah's Ark Gingerbread House for the competition in town there. No pressure...I know it won't be professional baker quality but I'm still excited none the less!

As you can imagine I squealed with delight when I got back to the hotel room...here's hoping this all turns out well...not gonna lie, tiny bit nervous, but still squealing with delight! I'll be sure to post pictures and updates along the way.

Sock Progress with a Side of a Stomach Bug

2010-09-29T23:55:00.001-04:00

I am almost done with my sock knitting class! Two of the other women from the class and I asked our instructor if she would teach us how to make a basic sweater!!!! Next week we're going to set up the dates for this new impromptu class, all I can say is here goes nothing!

Jordan had some kind of stomach bug this past weekend and was kind enough to share the love. It was pretty much down hill for me after my knitting class today so much so that I was not even able to pick up Jordan from work. A kind coworker brought him home.

Handsewn Projects

2010-09-28T09:01:00.001-04:00

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Buttons Does Laundry

2010-09-23T15:34:00.002-04:00

Buttons folds the laundry about as well as I do sometimes...

My parents are coming for a quick visit this weekend. I didn't realize this but my mom has never been to Niagara Falls (I thought she had) so we're going to take her on the Maid of the Mist before the season is over. I think we're going to hit up the George Eastman house for a tour for my dad and Jordan. Now I just need to get the laundry done and the hotel room cleaned up before they get here. We're also sending some of our summer clothes back with them to make some room for fall/winter clothes. Tomorrow's high is supposed to be 86 degrees to be followed by Saturday's predicted high of 61 degrees, so crazy. Fall is in full force up here! It is weird because we won't be carving a pumpkin this year or decorating for trick or treaters.

Hello Sunshine!

2010-09-22T19:30:00.002-04:00

Jordan and I have been having a rough week emotionally, yes, we know it's only Wednesday... My parents figured we needed a little sunshine sent our way and that's just what they did. This evening at dinner when I went to pick up our mail, the front desk gave me a bouquet of flowers. The bouquet of flowers was addressed to Jordan and I from my parents. It's full of bright yellow flowers, even the vase is bright and cheery. It really brought smiles back to our faces. Thanks mom and dad for brightening our day, we love you, and are excited to see you soon!

Not Our Best Day

2010-09-21T17:15:00.002-04:00

The long and short of it. We park in front of a front door at the hotel, that is well lit, and people are constantly coming and going out of it. Some idiot crow-barred the frame and bent the door (you can't see it well in this photo) and smashed in the glass and then stole our gps around 8pm on Sunday evening. Estimated damage upwards of $700 dollars and we received the worst customer service from the insurance adjuster they sent out. Today, we called our agent back home to make a complaint about the customer service problems and he has been responsive thus far in contacting the adjuster's supervisor to let him know about the problems.

The Adventure Continues...

2010-09-20T11:15:00.003-04:00

My job assignment has been extended and we will be experiencing Upstate NY for an additional 2 months. We're excited to see what the cold weather is like during the beginning of the winter months here and anxious about life in a hotel for 5 months as opposed to 3 but we've made it almost 2 months so far and we're still married!

Cupcakes & Fiber

2010-09-17T09:20:00.000-04:00

This weekend there are several fun things going on around Rochester. We're going to the Finger Lakes Fiber Arts Festival tomorrow after Jordan gets off work. (Not the kind of fiber you digest.) Tonight, I think we're going to have dinner at the Bake Shoppe we frequent (once a week) although this week it will be twice because they are fabulous. Last week I was talking to one of the owners and I was telling him I would LOVE if they sold apple cider in the fall. Well, Jordan went last night to pick up some cupcakes on his way home from work and the owner told him they were now serving apple cider because he liked my idea/suggestion! The owner said we've now moved to VIP status! It's things like this that are going to make me miss Rochester when we move back to Virginia.

My First Sock

2010-09-16T13:49:00.001-04:00

Yesterday I started my sock knitting class. We're working with worsted weight yarn instead of sock yarn so that we can get the hang of the construction easier and it will knit up faster. Here's my progress from class yesterday...now I just need to complete the leg so we can begin the heel next week.

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What Not to Do in a Hotel: When You Have a Kitchen

2010-09-14T23:27:00.000-04:00

Monday night we went out with several of Jordan's coworkers to a British Pub called the Old Toad in Rochester. It was trivia night and it's been about 5 years since I've attended a trivia night. We had a great time even if our team failed miserably at the trivia quiz. What made the evening a little too interesting is as we're ordering our drinks before trivia starts I suddenly realized I had left the eggplant I had been roasting in the oven in our hotel room!!!! Needless to say I had to race back to the hotel and make sure I hadn't burnt the place down. The beauty of where we live right now is it takes pretty much 15 minutes to get anywhere. Crisis was averted and I even made it back before trivia started!

Summer's End Gazpacho

2010-09-13T17:41:00.002-04:00

Every summer I make Gazpacho and it occurred to Jordan and I the other day that I had not made any this summer. I promised Jordan I would make some before the end of summer and as our ride out to Waterloo proved this weekend Autumn is on it's way in Upstate NY! We had to go buy Jordan a jacket and the leaves are already turning colors! This is such an easy, healthy dish so I wanted to share the recipe because it's been a while since I've shared one. If you've never had gazpacho you need to try this delicious Spanish cold raw vegetable soup.

I chopped up 3 tomatoes a cucumber, 1/3 of a white onion, and 2/3 of a green pepper. We like our gazpacho chunky but you can use an immersion blender if you want a really smooth thick soup.

I then lightly salted the vegetables and added some crushed garlic. If you're following my recipe I just salt to taste basically. You add about a tablespoon of olive oil (extra virgin olive oil is my preference). Next, you add a can/bottle of 48fl oz of tomato juice. Then you add about 1/2-2/3 a cup of white vinegar (again I do this to taste, so measurements are not precise). I let the soup sit overnight in the fridge so that the flavors meld together and marinate. When I'm at home I actually make this in a pitcher so that it pours out easily. It's really as simple as that and healthy at the same time!

This will be packed in Jordan's lunch tomorrow along with a sandwich. This soup is served cold so it's great for packing in Jordan's lunch since he just sticks his lunch bag in the fridge at work. If you're eating this at home I highly recommend pairing it with a grilled cheese sandwich! If you try it let me know what you think or if you have any questions. Oh and if you're wondering what's cooking in the crockpot behind the bowl of gazpacho, well I'll probably be blogging about that later this week. I'm cooking dry garbanzo beans (some people call them chickpeas) to turn into homemade hummus.

Mandatory Overtime

2010-09-11T22:42:00.002-04:00

Jordan is now having to work mandatory overtime. He has to work a minimum of 50 hours a week and he has to go in on Saturdays for the next few months. The pic below was taken today (Saturday) a few minutes after he got home from work...apparently the overtime is pretty rough on the pups too.

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Bathroom Sink Barber

2010-09-09T14:23:00.001-04:00

My new doo! My hair was down to the middle of my shoulder blades and I decided it was time for a change. So I gave myself a new look...

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Windows Open + Ragweed = Epic Fail!

2010-09-09T14:00:00.000-04:00

Last night I left one of the windows in the hotel room open because it felt so good outside. That was a huge mistake, my sinuses are killing me today! The ragweed here is unbelievable and it doesn't help that there is a nice crop of it growing in the woods next to the hotel right by where we walk the dogs. Here's hoping the antihistamine and decongestant kick in soon.

I finished reading Mockingjay last night, the final book in The Hunger Game series. Jordan and I along with his brother and sister-in-law were hooked on the series after we read the first book. Since Jordan and others haven't read it yet I won't be revealing any spoilers but I have to say I just don't know how I feel about the end of the book. Nick, Ashley, Lindsey, Jordan, you all need to hurry up and read this book so that we can discuss! I think I'm going to have to call or email my friend Julie who just finished it and get her take on things.

I don't know if this is a good thing or not but it seems we no longer have to tell the front desk our room number when we go to ask for extra towels, collect our mail, or if we have a problem with something. Living in a hotel is quite the experience and I'm very appreciative of the staff and their help. There are frustrating things or problems that happen on occasion that are not ideal. For example when housekeeping leaves a sopping wet rag on one of our electronics or when they do it again a few days later but this time leave it on the fabric chair where we sit. Overall we've had a good experience and I'm truly surprised that we've been living in a space that is only 500 square feet for almost 6 weeks. Our little house is going to feel like a mansion when we move back to Va! For those of you who keep up with our "less ordinary" journey thanks for taking the time and we hope we don't bore you too much! To our family and friends... we miss you all tons and we'll keep posting pictures and updates with what we're up to!

Niagara Falls Illuminated at Night

2010-09-07T20:49:00.000-04:00

NY Labor Day Update

2010-09-07T13:54:00.000-04:00

Today I'm heading out to sign up for my first knitting class. I'm going to take a class on knitting socks, it will be my first attempt at socks. I'm excited and nervous at the same time because I still feel like such a novice. I'm not sure how well I'll do but everyone has to start somewhere! The cowl that I have been knitting in the round has been going well so far as I get farther along with it I'll post some pictures.

Jordan has begun working a mandatory overtime schedule (from now until the end of December). He has to work a minimum of 50 hour weeks and four of those hours must be on Saturday each week. This stinks for both of us (Jordan more so because he's the one working it) but it means a lot more alone time for me. I'm loving it here but to say I don't get lonely would be lying.

Tonight we plan on posting the rest of the Niagara Falls pictures on the blog! The temp is supposed to hit a high of 67 tomorrow then the rest of the week should be back up in the 70's. This past weekend we didn't get to go do what we planned but we did get to go try a restaurant that a lot of people had been telling us to check out. It's a biker bar called Dino BBQ and it was delicious. The atmosphere was rough and gruff and the food was wonderful! We had fried green tomatoes that were topped with muenster cheese, spiced shrimp, and shaved country ham. They were out of this world! We each had a bbq sandwich and were not disappointed at all and we can be pretty picky about our bbq.

Slacker Sunday

2010-09-05T18:36:00.000-04:00

Well I've been a slacker and haven't put the pictures of Niagara Falls, illuminated at night, up on the blog yet. I plan on doing so after Labor Day. Last night we went out to get a cupcake at this cupcake bake shoppe and it was so cold outside. I had to run back in the hotel and get a fleece jacket! The leaves are already starting to turn yellow here too, not a ton but they are starting! I love fall but I didn't realize it would start to come on so fast here!

Today Jordan and I slept till 1pm! We have never slept anywhere near that late ever since we have been married. We're not sure why but we're just assuming our bodies needed the rest. We decided to wait to go to Ithaca on another day and to just relax the rest of the afternoon. I made BLT sandwiches for lunch and we have been watching the Star Wars 1-3 marathon on tv. I've started a new knitting project, I'm trying to knit a cowl and doing my first project knitting in the round. Jordan has started to work on a toboggan (hat) and I have a feeling he's going to need it sooner than he realizes! I'm not going to lie it's been such a relaxing day watching Star Wars and knitting! We're hoping the weather holds out for tomorrow we're planning on going to the NY Hot Air Balloon Festival to see a balloon launch.

Niagara Falls Part 1

2010-08-31T17:19:00.006-04:00

Pictures from our ride on Maid of the Mist. We were able to see the American Falls and the Bridal Veil Falls. Several of these pictures were taken with a disposable water-proof camera and then digitized.

Watkins Glen

2010-08-30T12:56:00.000-04:00

Jordan's brother, Nick and his wife, Ashley came to visit us this past weekend for Nick's birthday. On their first full day here we took them to Watkins Glen National Park to see the Watkins Glen Gorge. It's one of the most beautiful places I have ever been/seen! Over the next couple of days I'll post pictures from our adventures...


Nick & Ashley at the top of the gorge.

Jordan & I on our way down into the gorge.


Ha ha ha, this picture makes me laugh every time I look at it...

Regal Beagle

2010-08-24T20:37:00.000-04:00

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Random Notes

2010-08-23T23:18:00.000-04:00

If you haven't picked up the first two books in the Hunger Games series you need to go get them right now! I am so excited because the new and last book in the trilogy comes out tomorrow (Tuesday). Luckily, Jordan pre-ordered it a while back so that we would be able to read it the day it came out. If you can't reach me tomorrow it's because my nose is literally in a book, hopefully, until I finish it! I know when Jordan comes home (home being the hotel room) he's gonna want to jump into the book so I really want to finish it before he gets home. Maybe, we should have ordered two!

In other random news with us, we tried tofutti tonight. Tofutti is a tofu ice cream sandwich you can buy at the grocery store. The verdict is, we can't even tell there's tofu in the ice cream sandwiches. They are tiny portions but a decent healthy alternative to regular ice cream sandwiches.

This weekend we are having visitors again! Jordan's brother and sister-in-law are coming for the weekend! We're excited to have people we know to hang out with and it will be Nick's (Jordan's brother) birthday. while he's here.

Today the high was 69 degrees! Jordan and I both ended up wearing long sleeve shirts and it's only August. Luckily, it's supposed to be back up near the 80s this weekend.

Museum of Play with The Kamienski Family

2010-08-21T12:27:00.000-04:00

On Friday we were able to meet up with some family friends in Rochester! It was so nice to see familiar faces! We got to hang out with the Kamienski family at the Strong National Play Museum and catch up for a few hours. Their two oldest children were our flower girl and ring bearer in our wedding. I've known their mom for around 10 years now! Here's a few pics from the day:

Joey Rockin' the Legos

Future Architect Emily

Who could resist this face?

Handsome Mr. Noodle aka Sammy

Do you recognize this address? 123 Sesame Street!

He's just a big kid at heart!

The Garbage Plate Experience in Pictures

2010-08-20T07:48:00.000-04:00

BRACE YOURSELF!

Before (both plates looked like this):

Gwen's After:

Jordan's After:

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Jail Break

2010-08-19T11:16:00.000-04:00

Our cat Oscar is a trip! We're pretty convinced that half the time he thinks he's a dog and not a cat. He has Jordan wrapped around his left paw. All he has to do is roll over for his tummy to be rubbed by Jordan. Jordan will stop everything to rub his tummy and has even trained Oscar to give him a nose bump (think fist bump for cats). This morning I thought I was going to pee my pants laughing because Oscar pulled his favorite stunt on Jordan. Oscar likes to take advantage of Jordan. He knows to pull something when Jordan is at his most discombobulated state. (i.e. when he just woke up or when he has the dogs) Well this morning Oscar had the perfect storm. As Jordan came in from walking the dogs after he just woke up Oscar saw his chance and darted out the door. Now remember we're currently living in a hotel! At this point I wasn't sure what was going on because it took Jordan more than a couple of minutes to come back. Apparently the hall was a little bit overwhelming for Oscar because everything looked the same. According to Jordan, Oscar ran up and down the hall FOUR times before Jordan could finally catch him. I really wish I had been out in the hall to see this big guy chasing this little orange tabby up and down the hotel hallway at 6am in the morning!

Scrub a dub dub!

2010-08-18T16:30:00.002-04:00

My first knit "designer" washcloth:

Do you see the dragonfly? Finally starting to master some basic knitting skills! This pattern can be found on Ravelry!

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Lets Talk Trash

2010-08-16T23:29:00.000-04:00

Later this week Jordan and I are supposed to have a true Rochester landmark experience and it has to do with garbage! His NY co-workers are setting up our "garbage plate" experience. We are going to post pictures but in the mean time I just want to suggest that you all check out the wikipedia link that explains the garbage plate. Let's just say, I'm scared....

Wikipedia-Garbage Plate Info (click here)

Tea For Two

2010-08-15T20:04:00.000-04:00

Friday for lunch Jordan and I went to La-Tea-Da a whimsical restaurant whose concept made we swoon with joy and excitement. Ever since we got to Rochester and I found out about this place I had been telling Jordan I wanted to go here. The setting is an old victorian house that serves light meals and all things tea! They even serve "afternoon tea" complete with little finger sandwiches. Every table has mismatched china (love it), cloth napkins, antique linens, and mismatched silverware. There are a slew of hats for you to wear if you so choose. The decorations are a bit "uber tacky chic" and could give the mad hatter a migraine headache, if not careful. It was simply adorable though and I loved every minute of it and we had a fabulous nippy who provided great service. (A nippy is a 19th century term for a waitress providing tea service at a tea shop.) It was like the my inner child's dream come true being able to have a real tea party! What made it even more fabulous was the children's birthday party going on in one of the rooms and everyone was dressed up in cute hats and accessories from the tea room. The whole experience just made me smile!

A Finished Stocking!

2010-08-14T21:50:00.001-04:00

I've been sewing in the hotel while Jordan is at work during the day. One of the projects I brought with me is a set of Christmas stockings. Today I finished Jordan's stocking. Here is a pic...

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Goodnight Moon

2010-08-13T20:35:00.001-04:00

All tuckered out this evening...

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You Can Take The Boy Out Of The Country....

2010-08-10T12:39:00.000-04:00

...but you can't take the country out of the boy!

Here's the scene last night: Jordan has just come home and gives me a hug and kiss asking how my day has been....

Jordan: You smell good....did you put on perfume today?

Me: No. I haven't worn perfume in quite a long time.

Jordan: Really? You smell really good!

Me: I did put on bug spray before I went out to walk the dogs an hour ago.

Jordan: Oh, really?! (long pause) I guess that makes me a redneck right?

We both then bust out laughing hysterically. I couldn't help but wonder should I be worried about his sense of smell or the quality of the bug spray and it's effectiveness on the crazy mosquitos outside of the hotel.

Got Yarn?

2010-08-09T14:24:00.001-04:00

These are several of the knit and crochet items that I have been working on during the day.

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John Wayne Toilet Paper & Other 1st Weekend Adventures

2010-08-08T22:10:00.000-04:00

"This is the true story of Gwen and Jordan picked to live in a hotel for three months, live together, and have their lives recorded on a blog to find out what happens when people stop being polite and start getting real..."

Well we've been through our first week in Rochester! We went driving around just to get a feel for some of the area on Friday. This weekend we went to the Park Avenue Festival which is kind of like Steppin Out in Blacksburg but bigger and a better variety of craft vendors. Although I did hear that there were Hokie Sock Monkey's at Steppin Out and I would love to get my hands on one of those! We had the most amazing cupcakes from Sugar Mountain Bake Shoppe while we were at the Park Ave Festival. If you ever go to Rochester YOU MUST GO THERE and if you come visit us WE WILL TAKE YOU THERE....amazing!

Life in a hotel room is similar to life in a dorm room, we've discovered. You must have quarters to do laundry down the hall. You can't choose your hall mates, some are annoying and others are very nice. You have to have a key card to access almost everything. The gym and pool are open certain hours and you have to try and beat the crowd. You may or may not like your roommate...ha ha...

By far the worst part has to be the John Wayne toilet paper. Jordan says it's rough, tough, and takes no crap. (He's not over-exaggerating by any means...) Thank goodness for Charmin and all it's cushy goodness and an emergency trip to Target this weekend! All jokes aside we are enjoying this wonderful opportunity and are very lucky to be here! We will post more picks soon but for now enjoy the pet pics!

Friday Night

2010-08-06T23:39:00.000-04:00

This is how the puppies let us know it's time for bed at the hotel...they go to bed before us!

And this would be Buttons demonstrating his domestic skills...

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NY or Bust: Pet Version

2010-08-05T06:20:00.001-04:00

Loading up the car and then finally arriving at the hotel.

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Are we there yet?

2010-07-30T21:10:00.000-04:00

This is Oscar checking out his new pet taxi for the trip up north. As soon as I put the crates together both cats had to hang out in their crates. I hope they are that excited about being in a crate tomorrow! Yes, he looks a little stoned but I assure you he hasn't had any catnip tonight.

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Packing Day One

2010-07-27T17:50:00.000-04:00

I'm going to be honest....not a lot of packing got done today because I'm still a bit overwhelmed about what to take with us to NY. Plus I'm working on laundry from the weekend which is taking a while since I can't line dry today. (it rained) We have decided to just take one vehicle so our space is limited. My dad had suggested to us that we look into getting a trailer to pull from Uhaul but we do not have a trailer hitch and it would be $300 to get one installed with lights and all. We may change our mind in a month and come back down to pick up the other vehicle but for now we're going to see if we can survive as a one car family for three months.

We have some exciting things to look forward too as far as our NY living accommodations go. We will have a maid service come in every day to change the towels and sheets. I also found out today that we will have a grocery service available to us. In the morning we fill out our grocery list and they go and pick up the groceries for us. We don't have to pay for the service we just pay for our groceries. Can we say, AWESOME! We will have to revert back to the college dorm days and do coin laundry at the hotel but at least there is a laundry room on every floor. I also will not have to worry about fixing us breakfast because a hot breakfast is provided every day too! We will be able to swim in an indoor pool every day and have 24 hour access to the gym every day while we are there. When I called today to discuss with the hotel staff how some things will work i.e. mail, I asked if we could have a first floor room and the lady offered not only a first floor room but one next to the dog walking side of the building and next to an exit!

My life has become an alarming series of todo lists...

2010-07-21T15:29:00.000-04:00

With our move looming I find myself in a sea of to do lists. To do around the house, what to pack, to do before we leave, what we need from the grocery store but only for a few days, to do so we can leave, to do as we leave... You get the picture! I even have a list for what I need Jordan "to do" each day before the move. I'm finding it a bit overwhelming as far as prioritizing my "todos.". Last night I had to come to the realization that I am one person and I will get done what HAS to be done and what CAN be done. Other than that it will just have to wait until we get there or get back.

Now back to the TO DO LIST...

Lemon Bar Results

2010-07-15T17:46:00.001-04:00

Little Yard of Horrors!

2010-07-15T17:00:00.000-04:00

I worked out in the front of the house today trying to reclaim what used to be our front yard. It's amazing how fast things can take over in a months time of coming and going. We had a grape vine climbing up a window, a gigantic weed from Hades that took forever to hack down and these random tree saplings that I still haven't completely conquered. Hopefully, Jordan will be able to get the edges of the front yard with the weed-eater tonight when he gets home. Speaking of when he gets home...he's going to be so surprised because I'm making Lemon Bars from scratch! I've never made these before so I'm hopeful that they will turn out well! If they do, I'll post the recipe :)

Happy Stitching

2010-07-12T14:39:00.000-04:00

Today has been dreary and the animals have spent most of the day sleeping. I have been working on knitting the scarf I started on the Outer Banks. It's a variation of different blue hues because it was hand dyed. I've also been working on crocheting the table runner I began before we left for the beach. I'm doing just a basic triple crochet with an occasional single crochet thrown in on certain rows. I found a shiny nylon thread at Walmart of all places and decided it would be nice to have a table runner out of the nylon yarn. I'm better at crochet than I am at knitting right now and I would have to say Jordan is the opposite he is better at knitting than crochet. We bought two books a few weeks ago that have been really helpful by Debbie Stoller. The first is Stitch n Bitch and although the title might seem crass to some it is very informative for those beginning to knit. The other is called The Happy Hooker and it has been so helpful on learning new crochet stitches/designs.

First up on the to do list this week is to get the laundry rolling again (it would be nice if we could get some sunny days so I could line dry but the sun's not coming out until Thursday-ish) and start bagging old clothes that no longer fit us to take to the thrift store.

The Real World or Something Like It

2010-07-11T16:17:00.000-04:00

Well we are back from our final beach trip for the summer. We were lucky and were able to go to the beach twice this year. The week went by way too fast but we had a lot of fun. While at the beach Jordan knitted a LOT! I finally started to master my beginner knitting skills and have been working on a scarf and have not had to tear it out thus far! Now it's on to new adventures, as you may know we're moving to Rochester, NY for three months for Jordan's job. I have a feeling it's going to go something like this...

"This is the true story of Gwen and Jordan picked to live in a hotel for three months, live together, and have their lives recorded on a blog to find out what happens when people stop being polite and start getting real..."

And so begins the packing process....For peace of mind we are putting important belongings into storage so that if something were to happen while we are away we won't have to worry about them. We also have to pack what we need for three months. Figuring out what you need for three months is quite the daunting task especially when you haven't seen where you will be living and have no idea what to expect about what will be there. I've decided that since we have several weeks until the move date that this coming week will involve cleaning and organizing the house. We've been coming and going so much lately that we have laundry and other household duties to catch up on. I'm also trying to meal plan based on what is currently in our pantry and freezer so that we can use up what we have and not have it set for three months. I have to admit I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with the can of pumpkin in the pantry. There's something about pumpkin in the middle of the summer that just doesn't seem right.

Ahh the beach...

2010-07-08T17:48:00.000-04:00

We've been enjoying a great week with the Miller Family (all 20+) of my cousins and aunts and uncles in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. If only we could live hear year round! Tonight we're having Chicken Savannah and I'm really hoping everyone likes it! Here's hoping your having sunny skies like we are this week!

Miller Beach Week

2010-07-02T10:11:00.000-04:00

Today I'm packing again for the beach while Jordan is at work! It's Miller beach week beginning this weekend with my family in the Outer Banks. By family I mean 20 + relatives including aunts, uncles, and cousins, all in one house for a week. I won't lie it is one of my favorite times of year!!

The Weekend I Would Not Like To Repeat: Or Why Goldilocks and All Her Friends Were Sleeping In My Bed

2010-06-30T11:45:00.000-04:00

When Jordan and I returned from our vacation #1 to the beach, we returned to a balmy 87 degree house and the temperature was continuing to climb. Our central air for lack of a better phrase "crapped out." There was no restarting it, we only had a lovely buzz/hum. Our capacitor had actually bit the dust come to find out... We spent our first evening back sweating out the toxins in our bodies in a 90ish degree house. When a cat wasn't hogging a fan we were strategically placing them to create some sort of air flow through the house. You would think that the logical solution for the time being would to be to open some windows. Well that's a great idea when you don't live in a 1930s house where the windows have been painted so that it seals them shut! Believe me that's on the home repair to do list but the windows are not our first priority right now. We all jumped for joy (cats and dogs included) when the heating and cooling guy fixed our problem the next day.

As the house began to cool down I decided I wanted to take a nap because I did not sleep at all the night before. Between putting wet rags of my face to cool me down and two highly irritated cats who kept waking me up to complain about the heat through out the night. (You think I'm joking about the cats but I'm not.) I had probably a grand total of 3 hours of sleep. It was time for a nap so I let the dogs join me in bed because at that point with the a/c starting to cool again and the fans in the bedroom, it was the coolest room in the house. At one point I had Oscar, Buttons, Barney, & Abbey all curled up with me on the bed. The cats stuck to one side while the dogs stuck to the other of course. I brought my iPhone with me to play a game and check my email with before I fell asleep. A few hours later I woke up and went on my way. Fast-forward to that evening when Jordan graciously washes the bed linens since the humans and animals had sweated out our toxins over the past day. When I went to move the laundry from the washer to the dryer I noticed that the sheets felt heavy so I unfurled them to find my iPhone in a not so happy state. Oh happy times...I think Jordan and I would agree last weekend was one for the books and one we would not like to repeat ever again!

What Not To Do...

2010-06-29T22:18:00.002-04:00

Something I recommend you not do:

Wash your wife's iPhone while trying to be helpful around the house and do a load of laundry of bed linens. How was I supposed to know she left it on the bed? Oh, and you really shouldn't do this as the iPhone 4 is being released....