The Palmers: An Adventure!

Half-Marathon

2010-06-21T20:59:00.002-04:00

I have now signed up for 1/2 marathon number #2, unfortunately (or fortunately) this will be the first one I actually run!

September 5, 2010: Rock n Roll Virginia Beach 1/2 marathon. Signed up.

Maybe I just don't take the 1/2 marathon as seriously as I should being that I have done two marathons. Training for this one will be difficult, running in the hot, soupy, humid air of Virginia summers. And the 1/2 marathon should be pretty hot too. I need to start eating better and seriously training instead of just running here and there. Oooo, and maybe some new shoes. Any old excuse to shop will do!

New territory for me, hot weather (very hot) and a 1/2 marathon. Official training starts the week of July 11.

Anyone else with me?

Happy Memorial Day

2010-05-31T21:53:00.003-04:00

To all the men and woman currently serving all of our military forces.

To all those that served in the past.

To all those who lost their lives defending our freedoms at home and abroad.

To my Grandpa the Marine who fought in the South pacific in WWII.

To all of my friends who have traveled to Iraq and Afghanistan to risk their lives in a sometimes unpopular war.

To all those who have lost loved ones, today is a day of reflection of your good memories.

Thank you to all the men and women who serve, we take you for granted so today we give long overdue thanks and appreciation for all you do!

Hunting

2010-05-29T22:20:00.003-04:00

I don't think I could ever kill any animal. Except maybe a snake, or if an animal was trying to kill someone I loved.

However, I love the hunt of shopping. It could be grocery shopping for all I care but I especially love clothes shopping.

I love digging through sale racks searching for that cute top in my size at 75% off. I love all the colors, it is particularly dangerous for me when stores are arranged by color like Charming Charlie's. It appeals to my need to organize and it is beautiful to the eyes! I love picking out an item of clothing in a store and seeing the whole wonderful outfit it will become!

Clothing is my game and cash is my weapon! :) Happy hunting this Memorial Day weekend my fellow sale hunters! I'll see you there!

Thankful

2010-05-22T16:00:00.002-04:00

John 14:27

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Psalm 63:6

Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You.

Zephaniah 3:17

The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. he will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.

Psalm 71:14

But as for me, I will always have hope, I will praise You more and more.

Thankful:

For the best husband in the world. Whose love and spirit of service have upheld me this week. His trust in God has helped me this week when I have not believed. I love you.

For a loving and supporting family and friends. Your love, support and prayers have been felt by both of us this week.

For laughter

For our home which was another thing that I had to trust God with and in the end He blessed us more then we expected.

For spring time, everthing is new.

For tears.

For jobs that allow us to not only bless others but also to give us access to the wonderful doctors we saw this week.

For God who has sustained us through this week and will continue to do so.

A Basket of Roses

2010-05-20T17:40:00.003-04:00

I got a basket of roses today. It was from my parents.

It seems to me all I have heard about lately are people that are hurting and people that are going through excruciating emotional and sometimes physical pain. I'm a 'why' kind of person. Especially when it comes to people suffering. I wonder why there are babies born into the world, never worrying about food and why some other babies born into the world hungry.

I like David and the book of Psalms. He was full of emotion! And he asked God questions. Sometimes they were really hard questions. God didn't always give him the answers but he did give comfort and peace.

I haven't had a lot of personal experience with death yet. Tuesday morning my world changed. A mom-to-be, I was secretly (some of you knew :)) planning my baby's future when God decided that our time would be short with our little baby. Time seemed to fly and stand still at the same time.

It's hard to explain what you feel like when you lose a baby you have never met. However, the more women I talk to the more I find that this is a heartache a lot of you have been through. It's a very silent pain, you feel isolated and hurt.

Why did God let this happen?

I don't know.

But what I do know is:

God is still good. (Even when my reactions and attitudes are not)

God has a plan and it is good. (Even though we can't see it now and might not on this side of eternity)

God is faithful. (He will not let us be crushed by this)

God loves me. And he loves our baby, who has now never had to know any heartache of this broken world and is in the presence of the Almighty.

I miss our baby. I will continue to miss my little one as we mark the milestones that should have been in pregnancy.

Jay and I covet your prayers as we heal. And we know that God has a good plan for us and that it is to give us hope and a future. We trust that and in Him.

I will watch the rose bush my parents gave us grow and think of the little one in heaven who has no suffering, pain or tears.

Greek Yogurt

2010-03-01T20:54:00.001-05:00

So what's the big deal about it? I tried some thought it was okay but maybe I am eating it incorrectly? Any suggestions of good brands or different ways to eat it?

I (heart) shopping!

2010-02-14T18:30:00.002-05:00

Jay and I just returned from a short visit to Virginia Beach where the majority of the time Stacie and I drag Jesse and Jay shopping. It's usually kicking and screaming. Usually I just shop online at JCrew, Forever21 and NY & Co.

So.....we made a trip around the mall and here is what we found:

1. Forever21 (in store): tank tops! I found several other tops that I liked but Jay did not.... hence the $2.50 rainbow of shirts. Good stuff.

2. American Eagle: nothing for me! (surprisingly!) Jay has needed new jeans forever but he is very picky about style and fit. We found two pair on sale, I almost had a coronary. He bought them without much of a fight either!

3. Coach: nothing big altough when we were leaving the store Jay asked me if I wanted anything else...... not sure what happened there and why I missed it. I just got some cleaner for my handbag.

4. Williams Sonoma: the best smelling grapefruit cleaner anywhere! I was only going to get one small overpriced $9 bottle but Jay started looking at ounces and cost benefit analysis and we got two big bottles for $30. Geez.

5. Charlotte Russe: I normally don't buy a ton here but I got this cute little pink top with flowers on it. Perfect for spring if it ever gets here!

And then today we went out again!

6. Best Buy: 3 movies on sale, all Jay's idea.

7. Lowes': vent deflectors and a level (basically my V-Day gift for Jay, nevermind he picked it out himself

8. HomeGoods: Yay, stuff for the house! I got some baking items, finally got a angel food cake pan! Also got a cute little palm throw to go on our bed.

Now if I could only blog about the things I wanted to buy and didn't!! :)

Great weekend, now on to the Amazing Race and then Extreme Home-Makeover! Off tomorrow, think I'll head to Bed, Bath & Beyond.

:) Happy shopping everyone! Where does everyone else like to shop?

Coulda, woulda, shoulda

2010-02-12T19:40:00.002-05:00

Ah, the list of things that I would like to continually get more consistent with!

1. Running
2. Taking my vitamins
3. BLOGGING

These three things are always in the back of my mind as things I would like to make habits! But somehow with work and life, they always get pushed back in priorities. Well Jay recently made 2 of the above things a lot easier!

1. Mid-January we purchased a treadmill! On facebook I got lots of pokes about hanging clothes on it but it has been quite useful, especially with all the snow the eastern coast has been getting! I love this treadmill, it has a hook up for my iPod so I can hook it into it's speakers and rock out while I run. Not to mention, Jay bought me a DVD player to be hooked up to our extra TV in the basement, I have no excuse not to run!

2. Jay is a very practical man. We never go out to eat on Valentine's Day because he thinks they jack up the prices, which of course they do. If I go the day after, I usually get to pick wherever I want to go in that compromise. So I was not surprised at his Valentine's gift he gave me last night. An old lady daily vitamin storage thingy, what is the word for this thing? It's a plastic container that holds all your daily vitamins for both AM and PM thus making it far to easy not to take daily! What a man! The outer package said it was approved by the arthritis foundation. I'm set.

3. With these other two goals so attainable now, I'm not sure how much of an excuse I will have not to blog. The trick being, what to write about. I have plenty (okay, copious amounts) of drama at work but if I wrote it here, it would get me fired it's so juicy! :) So we'll see what I can get to entertain the masses in it's absence.

Alas, that is all I have time for tonight. Going to see our friends the Gibsons, new little baby girl. Good night for now!

Anniversary

2009-07-15T23:23:00.002-04:00

No, not our marriage anniversary. It's our 2 year mark together! We began dating July 15, 2007. :) Crazy that we have made it this far and how much things have changed! :)

Quick update on the house. God provided for us yet again. Once we found out yesterday that we had the house, we realized we only have 30 days to get our financing in order. So naturally we went online to our financial institution and tried to apply online.

We got to the end and were quoted an interest rate which we found to be acceptable. However, when we went to lock in that rate at the last screen, it jumped by 1% point. In mortgage speak this is gargantuan. It meant $100 more a month in our mortgage. We decided to wait and call the bank in the morning.

We spent the day worrying. We found out why our interest rate jumped. The home we had been in contract with in April caused our credit rating to go slightly down although it was still really good. Because the title had a legal problem, the seller had had to back out of that contract even though we had already started our loan process.

So we were upset that we couldn't get a lower interest rate. Because we are already in contract with our soon to be home, we have to apply for a loan NOW. We checked around but stayed with the same bank.

The cool thing comes in here. We went to finalize our loan application and take the higher interest rate and God had miraculously lowered our rate to almost as low as the original rate. We have no other idea how else this could have happened, given that the bank had just told us today the cause of the spike. It's not like our circumstances in our credit changed. Wow.

Although this process is very stressful, it is so neat to see how God is working out all the details. Stay tuned for more updates on the house buying process!

Surprise!

2009-07-14T12:19:00.002-04:00

As little as 48 hours ago, we had no solid leads on any houses. We were both feeling very discouraged about the whole situation.

Back at the end of June, we were preparing to move in temporarily with Jay's parents. Although I love them, I was discouraged at the course our life had taken. Looking back, it felt like Abraham, being told to move with out an end goal. I did not have too much faith in our situation. I made one request from Jay that I had no idea would have any impact on anything...

So our realtor, Matt Whitman, has been working tirelessly on finding us a home. Since March, I would estimate he has shown us between 50 to 70 houses. Seven of these homes, we put contracts on so that was even more work for him.

On Sunday, I began looking for homes on the internet and we sent off about 8 potential homes to look at to Matt. We've never looked at homes with Matt on Sundays so as to give him some time away from us. However, Jay decided to call Matt and see if we could look at any that day since we are going out of town on Thursday.

Matt went to his office and found two homes still available. Only one was available to look at that Sunday evening so we went. I must admit, I went without thinking we would find something we love or even something that was a viable option.

So when I walked in this regular sale home (all the others have been shorts sales and foreclosures) and fell quickly in love. It is perfect, everything we wanted and more (more on that later).

The sellers realtor met us at the house and told us she had an offer but would wait for ours if we wanted to offer. Which we did of course! So we went back to the office on Sunday night to write a contract, knowing we were in competition for the house. Through some very intense and nerve wracking negotiating, we ended up leaving Matt's office near 11pm after walking away from the wants/needs of the seller.

I thought we were walking away from this home.

I was wrong.

Last night we got a message from the seller's realtor saying they wanted to work with our offer. However, they didn't like the pre-approval loan letter we had and it was all our bank could give us without actually applying for a loan which would take longer than the noon Tuesday deadline the seller had given us to supply this.

We found a lender last night at 8pm who would give us an approval and they verbally accepted our offer last night!!!

I was still nervous though because we had no written ratified contract. After waiting all morning, I just received word about 15 minutes ago that the house indeed is ours.

I'm still just shocked that 48 hours ago we hadn't even heard of this house and it is to be our home in just 30 days. We close on August 14.

This is where my request of Jay comes in and it is amazing that God listens to our 'little' requests and, I think, has a great sense of humor. The night before we moved to his parents, I told him I needed an end date, a date we would give up looking for homes and make arrangements to rent again.

Do you know what that date was?

August 15.

Amazing.

More details to come. Pray the rest of the process goes smoothly and without bumps!

Love

2009-07-12T18:50:00.002-04:00

One of the many reasons I love my husband is that although he very much enjoys being on time, he never rushes me even when I am running late. Never once has he ever asked me when I will be ready to leave, even when the time to be there has past. :) What a good hubs. :)

Update on Kate

2009-07-12T18:41:00.002-04:00

I found a recent update on Kate McRae, the little girl with the brain tumor. Her parents (her mother was a fellow student at my high school) posted another video on You Tube and I thought I would provide the link for their new video here. At the beginning it shows Kate just before her big surgery last week, being just as cute as possible. :) Please pass this on to anyone who would pray for her.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czK94X9_ebQ

Busy Summer, Just the Way I Like It!

2009-07-11T14:13:00.002-04:00

So it appears that our move was just the beginning of our busy summer. In the pipeline for July:

July 16-20: Boston bound to see Jess (& meet Jason!), Holly & Brian, Chris and Gina (and new baby Joey) and Kevin and Jackie. We can't wait for this little get away and to see our fun friends!

July 24: weekend at Lake Anna with small group at Joe and Donna's.

Either August 1 or 8: helping Katie move from Silver Spring, MD back into DC

August 22: trip to WV to see the newly engaged Rob and Christina. Mae might also be going on this trip with us. Can't wait to spend time with the fam and also see the rock Rob got Christina!

August 29: an overnight trip for our 1st anniversary! It is already here, I can't believe it! Location to be determined but most likely it will be to a bed and breakfast or an overnight trip to DC to go on a dinner cruise on the Potomac I've been dying to go on. :)

That's as much as we have planned so far. Hopefully we will buy a home somewhere in there too and include a moving day. Hope you all are having a great summer too!

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-04T21:10:00.002-04:00

This is my second favorite holiday (excluding my birthday of course). Maybe it's summer, maybe it's the watermelon or the grilling or the sunny weather that could make anyone have a lighter step.

I love summer and the 4th is the epitome of this time of year! Today we spent it at our friend's Max and Amanda's parents for a pool party for Max's birthday! Amanda's dad builds pools for a living so needless to say, they have a state of the art pool. We swam and ate to our heart's content in the sun. I had managed earlier to convince Jay I needed a new swim suit so of course I had to put it to good use.

We also grilled out burgers and hotdogs, had some watermelon and some other great summer foods. Because of all this, we are just to tired to go the fireworks downtown....oh well, maybe next year!

Happy 4th of July!

Praying for Kate McRae

2009-07-03T10:55:00.003-04:00

For those of you who don't know, I went to a very small high school. It had, during my time, about 200 students total if that. Kate McRae is the daughter of a girl who went to high school with me. I didn't know her personally, however, I feel for her now as she and her husband go through this with their daughter Kate. Please watch the below video and pray for little Kate who was diagnosed with a large brain tumor on Monday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ese3zYZ-NA4

Life Point Gives Back

2009-06-28T13:45:00.003-04:00

What you say does Life Point Gives Back have to do with us moving?

Well my friend, a lot.

Jay and I moved some small things to our space on Friday night. It was lightening when we loaded up the car and then poured buckets and buckets by the time we got to our destination. That's how the weekend of moving began.

We woke up on Saturday morning to an odd sound. It was the sound of our POD being delivered at 7am. Jay got ready for a morning of work and I got ready to pack up the kitchen. Henry and Diane came over that morning and pack up all of our food to take back to theirs. We ran out of boxes at about 11:30am and the moving party started at 12:30pm. Jay got off work at 12pm and ran out for 5 more boxes while we had pizza delivered.

Because we were moving we were not able to participate in something our church was doing from 10am to 12pm something called Lifepoint Gives Back. The church plan was go out out and help in the community. In the words of our Pastor, "It's time for the church to stop telling everyone what not to be doing and go out and show people God's love through our service." They did things like hand out water at local parks, load people's groceries into their cars for them, taking sweets to local businesses and washing people's windshields at the gas stations. Just because. Jay and I really wanted to be involved in this but obviously we were pretty busy.

On Wednesday, we had told our small group that we would love any help anyone could give us moving. We had a lot of people tell us that maybe they could help us so we weren't sure what to expect, especially since everyone was already volunteering in the heat for two hours prior. At 12:30pm I saw Joe and Tony show up and thought, okay, more would have definitely better but any help we can get is great.

However, we were totally shocked when over 15 people showed up to help us. What an unexpected blessing and surprise. Because of this, we had our whole apartment moved downstairs (bless them it was three flights) and strategically stacked into a POD in about 2 hours. It went so fast I hardly knew how it happened!

We feel very lucky to be a part of a church and a small group that showed their love to us. Many people barely knew us as they had just started coming. And yet they came to help us anyway.

We thank you all from the bottom of our hearts and are so thankful that you sacrificed your Saturday to participate in the annoyance of moving, especially when it was for someone else. Thank you!

Mid-Night Post

2009-06-26T02:09:00.003-04:00

So, we are almost finished with this week of transitioning. Otherwise known as the torture of moving. Oh how I hate moving. I feel like I've already completed my quota of moving in life but it looks as though there will be at least two more moves.

I've spent the whole of this week trying to cram 40 hours a week into M-Th. It worked, as of 20 minutes ago, I just completed 40 hours and then also 2 hours of overtime. Oh and that's not all, I have more work to do tomorrow. My brain is fried tonight though and my work needs to be quality so.....

Also up tomorrow, a much needed hair cut and highlight. My roots are pretty nasty. And that is the end of things that I am looking forward to in this weekend! After work and the hair appointment, I need to start taking some things over to our new residence, heirlooms, food, cosmetics, etc. Plus, I need to pack up the kitchen. I'm just praying that God will extend the day for me tomorrow as there is just so much to do.

Luckily, some of Jay's friends and then some of our small group from church will be coming over on Saturday at 12:30pm to help us pack up the POD we rented. I'm hoping for a good turnout and an easy move with minimal breakage.

Now to find our new digs......should be an interesting couple of months. Stay tuned for more blog-worthy adventures. Hopefully more good than bad. :)

On This, The Longest Day of the Year!

2009-06-21T20:39:00.003-04:00

Happy Father's Day Dad!

8am: wake up and get ready for church.

9:30am: Life Point Church, yet another great Sunday and sermon.

11am: meet up with Mae at Henry and Diane's for a Father's Day lunch

3:30pm: head home to our now messy apartment. Half packed.

4:15pm: Danielle comes over with the kiddos and they hang out our park across from our apartment.

6pm: come upstairs to the last week of our home and relax a bit in front of the TV.

Not much report today but I guess that is a good Sunday.

Happy Father's Day to all the daddies out there!

T-Minus 1 Week

2009-06-20T20:04:00.002-04:00

We are close, very close to the end of our lease at our apartment. June 30 is the big day to be out of our place. We started packing up everything today and it was really sad! This was our newlywed love nest! Oh well, on to bigger and better things.

But first....

As of next Sunday, we will be living with Jay's parents. I hope they know what they are getting into! We have a bedroom we can use there and also another room that I can use for my office since I work from home. From here, we will continue the house hunt.

We've put in 7 offers on 7 different homes. Only one is still active as a maybe. It is a very big house and I'm not going to hold my breath on this one as wonderful as it would be.

Today, we changed tactics. We are looking into townhomes. Although the yard could be an issue, some of the square footage on these places are bigger than the homes we've looked at thus far. And the price, so much cheaper!

Maybe townhomes are more our pace....we'll see.

Recycling

2009-06-16T10:25:00.003-04:00

No, not going Green. Just my posted items. I posted the following blog on a previous blog but thought it encouraging for now....enjoy.

Why do we love the underdog?

I am watching Cinderella Man and just had to ponder this question. It's not only that the opponent is evil, or that the odds are insurmountable, or that good is supposed to triumph. It is because the underdog is a picture of us. Of me.

We desperately need odds that are so far against us to somehow swing in our favor. And yet, God swings those odds in our favor for us. It looks like we are going to lose, lose the battles to our faults, our shortcomings, our sins, our wants that control us, and our desires that cripple us.

We are the lame little child that somehow beats the swift runner. We are the David that slays the Goliath. Did David's brothers and fellow countrymen mock him for trying to beat the unbeatable giant? We all have giants that seem to beat us in our lives. They punch us, they kick us while we are already down, they give us the really low blows, they try to crush us.

And as we lay there, moaning in the failure of our defeat from somewhere, our beautiful redeeming Saviour of a husband jealously attacks our enemies. He lays them out. Faults, doubts, fears, angers, he conquers them! For us! The underdogs. And then what does He do? He brings us into the ring of victory and holds our arm up, like it was us that won the fight.

How does He do this? He accepts me for what He knows I'll be, not for what I am now. How does He fight for the ones that crucified Him? The answer is His love.

Why do we love to see the underdog win? It's simple. We desperately need to see the picture of ourselves. The ones never favored to win. But through some miracle of Christ, we win. Our opponent mocks us, and tell us we are not going to win, that it is impossible. I am thankful however for knowing my Father is the God of the impossible.

One Last Lazy Weekend

2009-06-14T21:22:00.002-04:00

Sunday
June 14, 2009

8am: Jay and I get up and make cinnamon rolls for breakfast! Yum! (As will be seen, this was a great day for eating!)

9:30am: okay we leave the house at this time for church, nevermind church starts at 9:30am, I made us late. Luckily we live 3 minutes from church!

11am: come home and try to think about lunch. We decide to go to Olive Garden! Yummy.

1pm: at home again and it is time for the pool. Sadly, we will soon be moving out of our apartment complex and will not have a pool for the rest of the summer.... :(

2:30pm: we go back upstair and relax in front of the TV. :)

4pm: the Johnsons come over with the kiddos and we head back to the pool. Lovely.

6pm: We all decide we are hungry and head to Outback Steakhouse where I got the teriyaki steak and a baked potato. Man, the food was good today.

8pm: Come home and shower.

9pm: Jay heads to bed and I plan on working a bit tonight to get a jump on the week.

So sad to see the weekend go.....

Hating on HGTV

2009-06-12T19:12:00.002-04:00

So Jay and I have been looking at houses since the end of March. As many of you know, our apartment lease ends on 6/30/09. We just signed our 5th offer since March tonight. Because we have no house yet and our lease is up, we will be moving in with Jay's parents. While it is wonderful that we have that to fall back on, it poses some problems including our cat living with them and also the fact that I work from home. Talk about crowded!

Since May and our house hunting exploits, we have become huge HGTV fans. This has soured after watching multiple episodes of shows like "First Time Homebuyers", "Walk Into the First House You See And Buy It...", and "HGTV Makes It Appear Easy to Buy a Home", and my absolute favorite, "No One Else Will Ever Outbid You On Your Favorite House". The frustrations have definitely soured our experience, especially with our lease deadline.....

I mean seriously, who looks at three homes and then puts in a low offer and then moves in 3 days later? It's like false advertising making it seems so easy! I think I decided we will stop watching the home buying shows and stay just with getting decorating ideas from the staging shows.

Hopefully we will find something soon. :)

Sleepy Sunday

2009-06-08T08:40:00.002-04:00

Sunday
June 7, 2009

8:30am: wake up groggily and get ready for church

9:30am: church at Life Point :)

11:15pm: Jay and I were in the nursery for the second service. So proud of Jay, he does a really good job with the kiddos who are toddler age.

1pm: lunch at the always classy Wendy's. I just wanted a baked potato and this seems like the best place

1:30pm: small grocery run

2:15pm: at home, nappy nap

5pm: wake up from said nap. Jay actually took a nap about that long too!

6pm: Cubbies game on TV (Jay) while I facebook.

7pm: ????

9pm: watched a movie

11pm: read a bit

12:30am: night night! :)

Maybe THIS weekend we will make it to the pool. We only have it for about 3 more weekends!

Busy Busy!

2009-06-07T01:39:00.002-04:00

Saturday
June 6, 2009

7:30am: Jay and I both get up, he heads to work and I get to stay home.....

8am to 10:30am: I spend some time doing my fav, cleaning the house!

10:30am: I went to look at a potential house. I tried to force myself to like it because I think our realtor is getting really annoyed with us. However, just couldn't make myself do it...

11am: go back to cleaning and laundry

12:30pm: head downtown with Jay to meet his parents (for his mom's birthday) and Mae for lunch.

2:30pm: head home and change quickly!

3pm: head towards I-95 to go to DC to meet up with Katie and Mark

4:15pm: park at the Springfield metro station and metro into the District

5:15pm: meet up with Katie and Mark and head to the Nats stadium

6pm: get to stadium, get some food and watch the Nats whoop up on the Mets. It was a great game.

11:30pm: head back home to Fred-Vegas! :)

Sunday, 2am: why am I still up blogging???? I think a nap will be in order tomorrow, and I'm not going ANYWHERE tomorrow!

Is it Friday yet?

2009-06-03T21:54:00.002-04:00

I'm just wondering because this week seems to just be dragging on and on. This is my favorite time of year too.

Summer. Wow, when I was a kid, summer was a time just to waste time. I remember walking down to the Cedar Falls Library and checking out as many books as I could carry home. And then reading all day! And how can anyone forget Dad sternly admonishing us to turn the outside hose off and that no more water can be used to run through the sprinkler. Popsicles! And watching movies in the cool AC while it is swelteringly hot outside.

Oh how I miss those days. Alas, I am an adult now and am facing the reality of an early morning team meeting tomorrow. Will have to survive with my memories of carefree summers!

House Hunting, Boo!

2009-06-02T20:37:00.002-04:00

So many of you may know that Jay and I have been actively looking to purchase a home since about 3/08. (Our lease is up 6/30/09, yeah, I haven't started packing yet....)

In early April we put an offer on a home close to our current apartment. Everything seemed to be going well until after we got back from our vacay to Phoenix in early May. At that point we found out that there was a legal problem with the house title and the deal fell through. We went from thinking we would be in our first home the end of June to being homeless at the end of June.

Needless to say, we hit the ground running about a month ago. Looked at lots of houses but didn't see anything worth putting an offer on. (Yes, I'm from Iowa, I just ended a sentence with a proposition, so sue me....)

Last Thursday we found a gem. It is on an acre of land surrounded with trees, a pond in the back yard. It also has a front porch, a back deck and also a screened in porch. The inside of the house has tons of character (read: will be working on this for years to come, but is probably worth it) and is ridiculously large. However, this is a short sale and IF we got it (we offered below their asking price) it would be a while from now. Not before the end of June.

This time in putting in an offer, we decided to keep looking for houses so we wouldn't be out time if this didn't go through. Tonight we looked at another house and loved it. The yard and land is not as great but the house is better than the first. If I could put the land and outdoor area with this house, I would be uber aggressive about getting it. Anyway, this house was so great we also put an offer on this house. This is also a short sale so we would still be homeless at the end of June....

This is how Leta & Jay have two offers on two different houses. So now we just wait to see which one (if any) that we get. In the meantime (*spacehogs*), we will continue to look at more homes.

P.S. Don't worry Dad, we can get out of either contract......

Something New

2009-06-01T21:14:00.002-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, my boss (also my friend) asked if the hubs wanted to play soccer in their coed adult league on their team. Jay is not keen on physical activity, however, he played soccer in HS and also played intermurals at Gettysburg College with his fraternity. He is also pretty competitive in life!

He agreed right away. Jay is an early bird to bed and doesn't like anything past 9pm on the week nights (to be fair, he gets up way earlier than I do so it's understandable) and last week's game was at 9pm. Despite the late hour for him, his team won! He is already into looking at the rankings of the teams one week into the season. :)

In the spirit of support, I agree to go out the field next to our apartment tonight and kick the ball around. I have never played soccer before and have a tendency to dislike things I am not good at. To my surprise, I had a lot of fun and plan on going out with Jay again to 'practice'. It helps that he is very encouraging and a good teacher too.

Just keep in mind, he originally wanted me to go out and kick it around with me because I was more likely to kick haphazard kicks and it would help him get back into the game. :)

So my future....running or soccer?.....maybe a little of both!

Adventures in Moving

2009-05-31T20:03:00.002-04:00

7:30am Jay and I wake up and had coffee (Jay had coffee today, wasn't sure how that was gonna work out for him but it had no effect) and breakfast

9:30am church at Life Point, good stuff

11:30am went to Henry and Diane's (Jay parents) also in Fredericksburg and had a quick lunch!

noon: we (all four of us) drove up to Arlington and had a small detour at the Pentagon because the exit we needed was closed. :( Talked to a couple of Pentagon police officers and they were absolutely no help so we relied on Jill (my trusty GPS who is often wrong).

2pm: arrive at Mae's (Jay's sister) old apartment and practiced our move in a month by helping her out. I started up the first trip to her new apartment by shattering one of her wine glasses. Luckily, they were not expensive and also replaceable.

4:30pm: end up back at Mae's old apartment and have a quick meal.

6pm: leave Arlington to commute back to Fred-Vegas

8pm: home again home again, Jay has Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals to watch and I am thinking about starting the work week.

All in all, good practice for our own move, however, we will have way more stuff to move and a lot more flights of stairs to complete it. I think I'll play like I'm Scarlett O'Hara and think about that another day.....

The Exciting Life and Times of the Newly Wed.

2009-05-30T21:37:00.004-04:00

Saturday
May 30, 2009

10am: I wake up, poor Jay left for work at 8am and was up at 7am.

10am to noon: not really sure what I did, watched some TV, facebook, wandering around the house procrasting cleaning.

noon to 3pm: cleaned (my house smells fabulous right now!) :) ****laundry also*****

3pm: sit around with the hubs while he finishes some guacamole (made by moi!)

3:30pm: shower (what? it's the weekend, you shower Nazi!)

4pm: go grocery shopping with the hubs (fight, we usually do it in the public eye for dramatic effect)

5:30pm: the hubs starts a dinner (yes, he cooks and I clean! perfect.) of marinade steak, corn, mashed potatoes, and biscuits; while I put the bed back together after washing the bedding and start some more laundry

6pm: dinner. yum.

6:30pm: we watched Bolt

8pm: Redwings Stanley Cup Finals in hockey on TV, so I keep doing laundry and lose myself on the internet (read: facebook)

I don't forsee anything more exciting happening. And that is totally cool! :) Ah the wonderful life and times of the newly wed.

They tell me I'm old.

2009-04-16T12:30:00.009-04:00

Last month while visiting my parents, they gave me birthday present early! Love these freshwater pearls! They are so beautiful! Plus I love early birthday presents! :)

So last week was my biggest oldest birthday so far. 30! Crazy. It seems as though I just graduated from high school! College seems like yesterday. :) It was also Easter weekend and we got to spend some time with family. It was so nice. Mae and Scott came down from Arlington and went to church with us and then we had (made by Jay! He is such a fabulous cook) lasagna. Our little Italian Easter dinner. Mae (not pictured here) gave me a Coach passport cover and also a Coach mini wallet. She knows what I love! Pictured above is the real leather and ostrich handbag that Diane and Henry gave me for my birthday. They found it while shopping in Morgantown, WV visiting Jay's brother Rob and Christina. How did she know I love handbags!

On Friday (the big day!) my parents sent me flowers and Jay was in on the conspiring fun! I love surprises that are true surprises! And I love flowers.

Jay is tired of me always using his laptop so for the bday he bought me a little netbook. It's not good for much other than the internet and word processing but that is perfect for me! I love it.

Here is how small it is compared to a regular sized laptop. It's so small it can fit in my purse! Thanks to all who made this a very special 30th birthday. :)

Little cuties!

2009-04-11T12:44:00.003-04:00

Oh how fast they are growing up! :)

Green Thumb

2009-03-24T12:15:00.008-04:00

I am trying my hand at plants. Never really cared about them until recently and now I have caught the bug that my mom gave, from her mom and from her mom. I'm sure it goes on further than that! We have an African Violet on my mom's side of the family that is over 100 years old! :) Here are just a few of mine.....

This is the newest addition to the house. I found it at Ikea, it's a perfect welcoming plant on our entry way table....

This one came from my mom and was recently repotted into this cute pot I found at Ross.....

This one I also got from my mom but it has just started to bloom, I've had it for 2 years and this is the first time it has done that!

And last but not least, I pick these Tulips up today and they match my pink and green kitchen! I think I'm becoming the crazy plant lady, but I love it!

Therapy

2009-02-25T17:24:00.002-05:00

****Warning: if you are looking for a warm and fuzzy post, stop reading here!****

Okay, so I'm the Type-A that will be having a heartache at 35. I'm not gonna lie. It's part of the reason I married Jay! He is the calming voice in my life and helps keep me more even-keeled. However, lately I've been seething with anger.

I am not advocating anger, in fact, I think it is very detrimental. I am very guilty of it over the years. My anger has come from many sources, the government, the media, my job, and just the general stupidity of my fellow man.

In the past month I've heard some of the most stupid ideas of my lifetime. I was against Bush when he advocated the bailout last fall so when Congress came up with this lovely $767 Billion disaster, I about went through the roof. Talk about ruining not only my parent's retirement, any hope I ever had of retiring and the future of my children or grandchildren.

I'm sorry, I do not fit the mold of most women. Talking about home-making (which is my dream job), cooking and crafts. Politics just get me fired up. I apologize in advance if it is not ladylike.

And that's another thing. I'm tired of tip toeing around other's feelings. Sick of it. When a conflict arises at work, volunteering, etc. I tend to pretend I don't know about it or try to find the best in either person that is involved. For once I would just like to blast someone for their blantant pettiness or incorrectness. Diplomacy sucks. I would like to use the red nuclear relationship phone.

And the media, oh the media! These people are the very bane of capitalism and free speech's existence. We are totally fooling ourselves if we think that what we hear on the news is either accurate or fair. Is it too much to ask for some honest truth!!! With no spin or advocacy?

Oh and you want to know what I heard today? California's deficit is so bad that they are considering legalizing marijuana use so they can tax it for revenue. This is wrong on so many levels and if I have to explain it to you, you are part of the problem and should consider going to rehab.

When are the people of the US going to wake up and smell the coffee!?! Are we kidding ourselves??

I digress, I'm not as angry as I sound. In fact, putting it down here for digestion lightens my anger considerably. This is MY therapy. :)

I promise, happier posts to come.

Come on Spring!

2009-02-11T18:13:00.004-05:00

Little Roo-Roo loves sitting in the window in this 70 degree February weather! I love it too! Been having the windows open as much as possible.

Fabulous Weekend

2009-02-08T22:41:00.002-05:00

What a weekend! It was just what the doctor ordered. After consulting my boss on Friday, we decided that is was not necessary for me to work this weekend. Since my job is at home, it is very hard to get away from and I tend to make myself miserable thinking about work. So this weekend, I decided to not think about it at all.

I think it saved my sanity!

My new friend Candi and I headed over to Danielle's house for a girl's night. Games, eating and chatting. Lovely. Came home and slept like 9 hours! Then I was awakened by my hubby bringing breakfast to me in bed! Eggs and bacon, yum. Then I got to clean my house, most would consider this a drag but it was great for this clean freak. I even got to repot two dying plants (which are now totally rebounding)! In the afternoon we finally bought our tickets to Phoenix in May (yay)! Then it was on to Henry and Diane's for dinner and movies on Saturday night. This morning brought church which was great. We are just starting a series on He Said/She Said and relationships (the sermons are located at www.visitlifepoint.org ) which was very good. Then we had lunch with Nick and Dana at Camille's (yum), followed by a shopping afternoon for Danielle and I. Then, to top it all off, Jay made us dinner (Jake and the kids are in Kansas this week so Danielle is on her own).

Ah bliss! I haven't been this happy or relaxed in a while! Starting my work week off right!

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend also!

A Typical Night

2009-02-01T12:36:00.006-05:00

No, this is not our bed but frequently on the weekend I get out all the blankets and make a 'nest' on the floor in front of the tv and we watch movies. This time, Jack got in on the action.
Cute little Roo-Roo.

Awwww!!!! ;)

25 Random Things About Me

2009-01-30T16:00:00.000-05:00

1. I will surrender my woman card and admit that I do not like dark or milk chocolate. I do like white chocolate though...

2. My cat was found in a gutter and looked like a rat. Now he just looks like I've fed him whipped cream and peanut butter for the majority of his life.

3. Before I die, I will visit all 7 continents. (3 down, four to go)

4. I actually love to write, however, I hate writing in my job....

5. I could never read and own enough books. Makes moving fun! :)

6. My first name means the same as my middle name, Joy.

7. If I could, I would blog for a living.

8. I really dislike talking on the phone however, texting is strangely comforting.

9. I could eat a potato in varing forms every day. Probably the same for tomatoes and a cold glass of milk.

10. I was the good kid in school. No one ever heard a peep from me. Recently I saw my speech teacher Mr. Kapanka at a wedding and he commented that I was always the quiet, good kid in class. He then tells me that those are the ones that are the worst. They have no idea, I was so devious.....

11. I used to sneak the hard pieces of brown sugar from it's container to eat them when my mom wasn't looking. A lot.....it probably explains the problems I've had with my teeth.

12. I owned a convertible in Hawaii in which the floorboards filled with water after a hard rain. Just the floorboards, I have no idea how the water got in, I think it was a freak of nature. I also used that experience to give Tuemler a good laugh when I would remove the water with a turkey baster.

13. A good human interest story where the person overcomes some huge setback always brings a tear to my eye. I never let people see it though....

14. I can trace my maternal father's family back to the 1700s in Germany.

15. Jay and I rarely agree on anything, just the important stuff. Keeps it exciting!

16. I used to want 6 kids. Now I'm not sure I could handle one.

17. During college I babysat for a family of four. They had an older son and triplets. I'm pretty sure one of those triplets is now a serial killer. He (at 3) once hit me with a golf club probably because I didn't get him his snack fast enough.

18. I have been blessed to witness first hand two births! What an amazing experience (for me anyway!) and Gabriel and Dinah were worth every lost minute of sleep.

19. I'd rather be at the beach than pretty much anywhere.

20. I could buy out the Yankee Candle store and still probably not have enough candles.

21. I am a deeply suspicious person. If there is a conspiracy theory to be had in a situation I will think of it and promote it.

22. Plumerias are my favorite flowers.

23. People either say I look like Sarah Jessica Parker or Caroline Bissett Kennedy (sp?). Somehow this seems twisted. One is dead and the other has been voted most ugly.

24. I believe I have the best parents and brother and sister-in-law. I think they should all move to Virginia. :)

25. I have more clothes than any one person deserves. Yet I always want more....

Amazing

2009-01-28T12:50:00.003-05:00

On Sunday (regretably I was at home sick but Jay got to go) our church Life Point gave the congregation an average week of giving (about $12,000) in increments of $10, $20, $100 and even $1000 to everyone there. The idea was that we were to give all this money back to the community to show God's love to them.

In a time where hope (in this world) seems to be fleeting, I wanted to share the website that houses all the comments from people who gave back and their stories of how God directly them to give, some to people they knew and some to people who they did not.

If you are in for a bit of encouragement that God still does amazing miraculous things, or if you just want to warm your heart go to:

http://www.visitlifepoint.org/blog/?p=5#comments

Our hope is not in this world but in God above. :)

Winter Wonderland

2009-01-27T09:16:00.003-05:00

Virginia's (excluding the mountains) first snow! This is what we woke up to this morning. Now Iowans (midwesterns in general) pay attention: ALL schools are closed! Look how little snow there is!!! :) Hee hee. In keeping with Virginian tradition, I cancelled my appointments today (mostly because there were so many accidents out there and I would just be sitting in traffic) and am at home drinking coffee, watching the snow and working on a HUGE deadline I have today.

So blessed.

2009-01-20T16:53:00.002-05:00

I was struck by several things today. Today we swore in our new President. Although I will probably agree with very few of his decisions, I am reminded how lucky we are in America. Rick Warren's prayer hit on so many good issues today at the Inauguration but one thing stood out.

"We are blessed enough to witness the peaceful exchange of power for the 44th time in our nation's history." (paraphrase)

Simple saying however, on this day when I worry about some of my values being threatened by the new admistration, I see how we are still so blessed. For over 200 years we have lived in relative peace (with the exception of the Civil War) in our lands with no fear of forceful take overs in our government.

My daily worry is not over what I will find to eat or if another ethnicity will rise to power that will attempt to annhiliate mine. I don't worry about a warm home or even hot water. We have so much in this country!!!

We are in the midst of a series of financial sermons at our church and something Pastor Daniel said a couple weeks ago really resonated with me. He was talking about the passages in Scripture that address riches and people who are rich. We have a tendency to assume that the Scriptures are not speaking to us in this section. Because being rich is a moving target. He showed us that we are the ones that God is speaking to as the rich.

Pastor Daniel also brought up a very shocking statistic. If you make $37,000 a year, you are in the world's top 4% of all income earners. If you make $45,000 a year, you are in the world's top 1% of all income earners. Wow! Talk about a change of perspective. I live my life based on how many clothes I can buy....

So for most of the majority of the US, and yes, even those who live on significantly less that $37,000 a year, we are extremely wealthy. God has blessed this country with monetary wealth and looking back, so much relative peace!

I was driving today thinking about these things and my thoughts turned to a couple that I went to high school with. They have a son born with heart problems. He has had 4 open heart surgeries in the past 2 years. They have faced significant financial difficulties resulting from many medical bills. They are concerned about the well-being of their son. The mother/wife just had an accident were she was injured and incurred more medical bills. To top it off, the husband/father was laid off from his job on Friday. And yet, they continue to walk in faith.

As we face these changes and trying economic times, we do have a constant. God is still in control. It did not surprise Him that 9/11/01 occurred. It did not surprise Him that Obama was elected our 44th President. It did not surprise Him that bad things would happen to good people. However, nothing is allowed to happen without His express allowance. Sure, we make our own decisions and sometimes choose the wrong ones, however, He does make all things good and He does have a plan and it's a good one.

So today, a day that leads to all of our futures, I have a different feeling than I thought I would. And that is one of thankfulness for all He has entrusted us with in this country. We are so blessed!

It's Done!

2009-01-07T13:34:00.002-05:00

Just registered for the Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon on 5/17/09. There is no turning back now as I've just invested $60 in making myself train for the race. It's here in Fred-Vegas.

http://www.marinecorpshistorichalf.com/Top_Nav/Register.htm

Let the fun begin.....

Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?

2009-01-05T18:01:00.002-05:00

I hate speed limits. I think they are put there by an overly regulating government who does not spend enough time going after real criminals. ***Back when I worked for car place, I had to go meet a state trooper who had pulled over a rental car full of illegals. I had to pick up the car and the trooper dropped them off at the nearest McDonalds because INS is just too busy. Oh, and they got no tickets because they were not registered in this country.***

Yet, they have interest in pulling me over two times in the past month. Up until this point in my driving career, I have only managed one ticket and it wasn't for speeding.

Now to be fair, up until about a month ago, I have been a speed demon. I just don't see the point of moving slowly when I have places to be. And often times, in this greater DC area, I am unable to even move at the speed limit as we are basically moving backwards in this ridiculous traffic. Alas, that topic is for another post.....

Anyway, last month in NC while visiting Jesse and Stacie I got a ticket for speeding (first ever in my life). In my defense, there was an open road and being from DC, I was so unaccustomed to moving without inhibitions, that I was just happily driving away (at an unknown speed under and unknown speed limit) when a cop pulled me over. In my bliss of trafficless driving I had managed to be going 70 miles an hour in a 55. Who drives 55 anyway?

Aside from seething from the thought of having to spend $150 on a ticket instead of clothes I brushed it off. With all the speeding I have done in my life I figured I probably deserved it.

*******I no longer deserve any speeding tickets*************

Apparently the Sheriff's office and deputies of Caroline County did not get this memo.

Because of the ticket last month, I have been driving very carefully lately. I've been obeying speed limits in all arenas besides I-95 and let's be honest, if you are not going at least 80 on I-95, I want you off the road. You should not even be allowed on I-95 if not willing to drive that fast. Again, that is another post for another day.....

SO, I had had a meeting for work today and was driving home on Route 1. For those non-Virginians, this is a hilly 4 lane road that runs parallel to I-95 and the speed limit is 55. Because I have been so cautious lately, I put the cruise control on at somewhere between 55 and 60.

I'm driving ignorantly along, blissfully unaware of my coming doom.

As I'm driving I see an SUV with lights on pull out onto Route 1 about 3/4 of a mile behind me. I panic briefly and then realize that I have on my cruise control. I'm totally safe! :)

I keep driving and slowly realize that they are still coming up behind me and are not speeding up so as to pass me. The SUV comes right up on the BMW behind me and the BMW starts to pull over but then the SUV goes around the BMW and I start blaspheming all police departments as I realize they are after me.....

the hardened criminal......

who has a security clearance......

and has been very good lately about speeding.....

Crap.

So I pull over and the deputy asks me why I think he pulled me over.

I looked as him dumbly (and innocently I might add...) and he enlightens me. You (me) were going 62. And I'm thinking, am I really getting pulled over for going 7 over? And I had been going down a hill which made my cruise control go up a bit.

I cannot win.

Then he tells me that for a brief minute, the speed limit reduces to 45. Shut the front door! Are you kidding me? That is reckless driving in Virginia and I could totally lose my license and job.

Boo to cops, go arrest someone harmful to society.

Anyway, I manage to get out of a ticket or a warning due to a fluke and he only runs a background check on me to make sure I'm not wanted anywhere.

Luckily (barely squeeked by that one) he found nothing and I was free to go.

I'm not sure how much more I can alter my behavior and if bad things come in threes I'm due for one now. I'd better start thinking about how to get out of the next one.....

Hereditary

2009-01-03T16:41:00.002-05:00

I was thinking while scrubbing one of my toilets on what is now my ritual Saturday morning cleaning:

How did I get here?

I have to thank my mom for my love of cleanliness, because it was her idea to clean every Saturday morning.

To a child, this is utterly ridiculous torture. When I was a kid, cartoons (the good kind) were on from 7am to noon and the last thing I wanted to do was clean!

Hence my early on slothfulness.

I remember having the weekly task of cleaning the upstairs bathroom. That thing was disgusting. Probably because my brother and I were the only ones to use it. I distinctly remember incorrectly cleaning it on purpose. Either to annoy my mom (sorry mom) for giving me this horrible task or to get her to do it. Somehow, as a child, this made sense: spending time doing a job incorrectly so I wouldn't have to do it.....(duh). She still made me do it again the next week so who knows why I tried this more than once....

Now I'm a clean freak, thanks all to my mom!

So thanks mom, for making me clean. Sorry you didn't get to reap any of the benefits.

Bring it on 2009.

2009-01-02T16:31:00.003-05:00

So most people out there make some New Year's resolutions at the beginning of every year. Not Jay! Jay doesn't like doing anything that everyone else is doing.

Example: He currently hates anything pomagranate because it is the 'in' thing right now. He is a such pomagranate snub. I love it however so I used that to annoy him.

So anyway, he decided several years ago that for his New Year's resolution that he would never make New Year's resolution again. So far, he has been more successful than the majority of the American public on keeping their resolutions.

So that covers Jay.

Me, I'm a little more complex. I always have the best intentions on making resolutions but then I never make them. This year I decided that I would just set a goal rather than make a resolution. So I have decided to run the Historic Fredericksburg Marine Corps 1/2 Marathon on 5/17/09.

Yes, yes, I'm a classic underachiever. Only I would set a goal of running a 1/2 marathon when I've run two marathons. However, a marathon is just more than I would like to take on. All the scheduling that goes on, you have to cut out huge chunks of your day to run in the later training and you have to schedule all your meals to make sure you eat enough carbs at the right time. I'm just not feelin' it.

So 1/2 marathon here I come. I'm telling you all because I need some accountability. Jay's already told a lot of people here so I thought I'd also share with the cyber world. :)

There you have it, my life shattering resolution. Any other takers????

Happy New Year's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You Can Have Whatever You Like

2008-12-26T17:41:00.020-05:00

This year, Christmas 08, Jay and I spent at the Palmers. It was good to spend time with family. This is Diane's front tree in the formal living room....wait for it.......
This is the only present I received from Jay that I did not personally wrap although I did guess what was in it... a robe!

This is the present of the year. Watch the video below to find out what it is.....

This is the family room tree! :) Looky looky at all the presents!

The other side of all the presents.

Brothers pretending to like each other.

Henry and Diane opening their new printer from Rob.

Mae and Scott patiently awaiting their turn to open presents in our round robin style.

Rob opening our gift to him! A Nerf Vulcan! I was unsure about this present but Jay insisted. Rob tormented us with the next couple of days so he must have liked it!

Henry and Diane with more presents!

Sonny even found time to shop for Henry. How sweet! :)

Mae & Scott

Jay acting 13! :)

Brian and his awesome new 'Bomber' jacket.

The carnage at only 1/2 way through....

I've been waiting a month to have/use this present that Jay bought me and I wrapped. Watch the video to find out what it is......

All I can say, is that I have the best husband ever!!!! :)

The boys trying out the new Vulcan.

The bare tree after all the present were opened! :) What a wonderful 1st Christmas as a married couple!

Freezing our heinies at the Eagles game.

2008-12-21T21:28:00.009-05:00

For Jay's birthday in November, I got him Eagles tickets (for those that don't know, he is from South Jersey), his favorite team, to be played here in DC at the Redskins. This is how excited he was this morning to go to the game!
This is the view walking into Fed Ex Field, home of the Redskins. This is also when we found out that instead of starting at 1pm, the game was starting at 4pm instead. Small oversight. It was noon when we found this out so.....

We had some major time to kill. We decided to go to the players entrance and watch them come it. We got pictures of some random Redskins players but the above picture was the only one worth putting up. ***Troy Aikman*** :) After watching players/commentators go in from noon to 2pm we STILL had time to kill so.....

We found the place Jay's sister Mae and her boyfriend Scott were tailgating and hung out with them for while. It was silly cold outside!

By 3:30pm, we made it inside to our nosebleed seats! The view was actually fine but the chill was terrible! Oh the cold wind!

Still excited, before we were miserably cold!

Watching McNabb and the boys warm up!!!

Note the unhappy look on Jay's face. I don't think either of us could feel our legs at this point. I get chills now thinking of how cold I was!

Night time at Fed Ex Field. Eagles lost. :(

So glad to be home in my nice warm toasty house! Thankful to have had this fun experience though!

Mr. Bigglesworth

2008-12-18T15:31:00.000-05:00

This is so my little kitty....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qit3ALTelOo

Very funny!

Hair yourself a merry little Christmas

2008-12-16T17:44:00.004-05:00

Well, I've been feeling rather somber lately and haven't had anything happen to make fun here on the blog. It's mostly just been the daily grind! Work has been really stressful lately and I've been trying to stay on top of that. Also, who knew that adding one person to my household would make cleaning that much more intensive.

I thought Jack was the hairiest creature in existence. I have always been constantly vacuuming, sweeping and dusting Jack's hair since I got him 6 years ago. It has been such a pain (although I love his cute little face). And that's adding to me, I already have long hair that has a tendency to find its way around the house.

All of this was nothing to the hair droppings I've been cleaning up the last 3 1/2 months. Jay's hair falls out in bunches. Or so it seems. Hair covering the shower and the whole bathroom for that matter.

And his pillow case!

Every morning it is covered in hair. It seems like he has tons to spare as he is definitely not going bald.

So the two hairy men in my life are keeping me busy....and cleaning!

Maybe I will start to wish that Jay would go bald...... Nah! :)

My husband the chef!

2008-12-14T20:08:00.004-05:00

OBX

2008-12-14T19:50:00.015-05:00

Jay and I traveled down to Jesse and Stacie's home in Greenville, NC so we could celebrate Christmas with them this week. As you can tell, Jesse is uber excited about his presents!

Stacie didn't want to ruin the wrapping! :)
We got to NC on Friday night and stayed at Jesse and Stacie's place. On Saturday morning we bundled in the car and drove 2 hours to the Outer Banks, NC (OBX) for shopping and to see the beach! On the way there however, I got a speeding ticket! The first ever in my life! I totally deserve one though, I'm constantly speeding. After that ordeal we made it to the outlet stores and parked next to this dog who really wanted to drive!!!!!

The view from our hotel room in the OBX.

Me and Stacie freezing on the beach while waiting for Jesse to set up for our group photo.

The beach at night!

A great Christmas on the OBX!

We also got to watch the UNI v. Richmond game which UNI sadly lost. :(

These three pictures are all from the same house on the OBX. This guy decorates for Christmas to the hilt and people come from miles around to see his decorations. The pictures do it NO justice!

The next morning leaving the OBX. It was really warm! 60 degrees! :)

Christmas!

2008-12-14T19:47:00.001-05:00

The final tree with all the presents under the tree! Jack likes to gnaw on them as seen here.

Petals & Stems

2008-12-10T21:10:00.002-05:00

This is the name of Christine Jones' new company. She did the flowers at my wedding and did a fabulous job! I loved my flowers, they were so me.

Here is the link that shows her new website and it has some pictures from the wedding the the gallery section:

http://www.psfloral.com/testimonials/

Enjoy! :)

The Compounded Procrastinator

2008-12-10T20:20:00.004-05:00

Yep, that's me.

I think there are several aspects of my personality that inclines me to this tendency. It's unfortunate, it has caused a lot of unnecessary stress in my life over the years.

A. It is hard for me to work on work when the house is messy or dirty (which it is right now)
B. I would rather wait to the last second. I see time as what is left until a deadline rather than completing things with extra time left over.... (which consequently is also how I view my bank account, thank goodness for Jay's money management!)

And here I sit, doing it as we 'speak'.

Jay went to bed 1/2 hour ago, yep, that's 8pm (EST). He is definitely the morning person of the two of us. I love being a night owl. I love it more when I'm not working though.

I'm putting off writing some reports I need to finish tonight. I do love working at night though. It's quiet, the Christmas tree lights are shining and my candles are burning. I'm also doing some laundry before our trip to NC/OBX on Friday to see Jesse and Stacie for Christmas. So all is not lost.

I do remember many all nighters in college though. I think I told myself I worked best under pressure but I think I was just over-involved in everything there and just didn't have time. I wish that was my problem tonight.

ARGH. Four small reports calling my name. I'd better run off and complete them. Let the procrastinating end. Midnight is fast approaching and then I would be late. I hate that.

Off I run, wheeeeee......

Leta Joy Palmer

2008-12-08T15:12:00.002-05:00

Well, it's official. The Social Security Administration considers me a Palmer.

And let me just say, there is no way I want the government in charge of any more things than they have to be.

I walked in to a waiting room full of people. The room smelled slightly of old feet.

The only improvement in service the SSA has done in recent history is install a touch screen computer so that you can check in. This presumably, is so they can deal with you in the least amount possible.

When I came in they were on number C228 (don't ask me how that is a number) and I had gotten C232. Before I got too excited though, I looked at the room full of people and realized there were several lines of numbers depending on what you were there for and they were all going through the same windows of clerks. Boo.

Only 2 windows of clerks. Double boo.

I had a form to fill out and I did that quickly. Oh what to do with the rest of my time. Cell phones were strictly prohibited by signs everywhere telling you to turn them off. I, ever the rebel, left them (I have 2, one for work, one for me) on but with no ring (or so I thought, my personal phone did ring later but luckily no one noticed). I had planned on working while sitting there so that was now out the window.

So I started observing. There was a security guard/police officer with a gun. A gun at the SSA? I was totally surrounded by octogenarians. What the heck are they gonna do? I can see the headlines now, sweet 80 year old grandmother guns down a SSA office after waiting for 3 hours to find out where her money is. Please.

Tweet, tweet.

Rent-A-Cop: "Sir! Is that a cell phone?!"

Unsuspecting SSA long line waiter (meekly): "yes"

Rent-A-Cop: "Turn that off!"

Ah ha! Now I know why there is an officer there with a gun! It's so simple!

Meanwhile, it still smells like butt in the waiting room. And I am wondering if they are EVER going to get to C232. I'm still wanting to know why there are only 2 people manning the front to take care of a room of 30+ people. This is almost as bad as the DMV.

I then watched an older lady walk up to the Po-Po at the counter and say that she had an appointment 2 hours ago and when was it her turn? Her simple question was, when I am going to see someone behind the magic door? (keep in mind this is at about 2:15pm)

I quickly found out reason #2 that this cop carries a gun by his response:
"They will help you as soon as they can, I can tell you it will be before 4pm when we close."

How's that for efficient governing!

Now contrary to the DMV lines, when I actually had my turn, the lady was super nice. And very friendly. My only beef with her is that she took my old Social Security card and shredded it.

I wasn't really worried.

Not until she ushered me out the door with only a paper record stating that I would get my new card with the new name within 2 weeks. With the timeliness of this government, I'll be lucky to get it by the end of the year.

So here it is, the new name:
Leta Joy Palmer
(I was very sad to let Brass go, I loved my name!)

Good luck on any future trips to your local SSA office.

Don't bring a cell phone or a gun.

What a Freeloader!

2008-12-07T17:03:00.010-05:00

He is the fattest cat. He has recently been put on a diet but continually begs for food. Human food too.
I think he is embarrassed about his size. Or wait, he could just be napping. His activity for 90% of the day. The other 10% is used eating and waking us up in the wee hours of the morning by walking all over us in bed.

Immobility, unless of course we shake the food bag.

His cute little face is his saving grace.

"Life is so hard being a cat!"

"What?!"

Such a cute little face!

"I am cat, hear me roar!"

The 3 Seasons at the Palmer Household

2008-12-07T13:49:00.002-05:00

Since marrying Jay in August, I realized that we will now be observing 3 different seasons in our home:

Football season
Hockey season
Baseball season

I actually love watching sports on TV and in person. I have also realized that baseball can be exciting contrary to my former belief.

But these 3 seasons are pretty much seamless throughout the year and they even overlap. I was already a diehard Hawkeyes fan (especially football) and of course I'll cheer on the UNI Panthers (they won last night by the way, and the game was televised here in VA due to them playing UNH I think). However, I've never really been an NFL fan. Probably because their immature spoiled players like to go to clubs and shoot themselves in the leg.....I'm just sayin'.

So since knowing and now marrying Jay, I'm a default Philadelphia Eagles fan and I actually enjoy watching, especially when McNabb has a good day. (Which is probably not today, they are playing the Giants!) Jay grew up in South Jersey outside Philly so it's easy to see why this is his team and his family's team.

Harder to explain is his NHL team. The Detroit Redwings. I'm not sure Jay has ever been to Detroit let alone lived there. Regardless, this is his team. I've always loved watching hockey (probably because of their proclivities to fighting, I'm so violent!) so the Redwings were an easy sell to me. We've also been to several Capitals games and cheer quite frequently for them.

And then comes the 3rd season for us. Baseball season. Jay was raised a Cubbies fan (again, despite never having lived in the Midwest) as both of his parents are from the Chicago area. I have no major alliance to any baseball team although a year ago I went to see the Red Sox play at Fenway Park and fell in love with the Sox. I tend to cheer for them above most other teams. We have also been to several of the Washington Nationals games but it is hard to love a team for geographical reasons only when they are consistently terrible. However, we do tend to cheer for them.

And this is how I became a sports fanatic. Okay, I'm not that bad but I now know stats of certain things and am excited when any playoffs are in session. Interesting the things that come to change your life. :)

Go Eagles! :)

Photo montage of our busy (yet fun) Thanksgiving weekend

2008-11-29T22:02:00.008-05:00

All the clothes we are donating to the Salvation Army so we could organize our closet.
New floor level organization

Jay's side (the smallest size)

New!

The beginning of my side, it's all color coded, love it!

And gifts! Lots of shopping and wrapping of presents! FUN!

Jay's Birthday Pics at Fuddruckers

2008-11-29T21:59:00.005-05:00

Amanda & Max
Bryan & Holly

Holly & Leta

Leta & Jay

There is a reason they call it Black Friday.

2008-11-29T10:53:00.002-05:00

On Wednesday Jay saw an ad for a flat panel TV he just had to have. On Thursday at Thanksgiving, Jay somehow convinced his parents to buy said TV with their credit card.

The catch?

We had to take their credit card and fight the mobs ourselves to purchase this TV on *gasp* Black Friday. I tried to get out of it, I really did. Jay said I would have to go.

So yesterday morning, Black Friday, we pulled ourselves out of bed at 4:30am. Absolute torture for me to begin with, I hate mornings. Oh and we woke up a bit late too so we were rushing.

We made it to Wally World right at 5am (when their sales started) and the parking lot was completely full. I looked at Jay and said, there is no way we are getting this TV.

We tried anyway.

I don't know what I was expecting? Whenever we go to Wal-Mart now, it is always ridiculously busy so I guess I expected just a bit more. NO HU-WAY! As we walked through the front doors, total shock and awe. With what I witnessed, I think people were one step away from brawling, bread lines in Moscow during the Cold War style.

I should have brought a gun. If not for protection, but for crowd control.

The main aisles were completely clogged. People were just standing their with their shopping carts, unable to move at all.

I'm a really impatient person so this didn't sit well with me. Our advantage was that we did not have a cart as they were out (yeah, somehow Wal-Mart ran out of carts) so we were able to zig and zag. Somehow, the crowds became more dense the closer we got to the electronics section.

We looked futilely for a while in electronics and all we managed to do was get more tangled into the large crowd. THEN, we saw a guy with a cart that had two of the TVs we were looking for. Because we had no where else we could go, we waited for him to inch closer to us so we could find out where he had found them.

He informed us that they were all located in the food section. You, tell me how much sense that makes? TVs in the food section?

We finally found them after a lot of short cuts and pushing and shoving and Jay got his TV! :) Lines were then long checking out because everyone decided in this economy that it was wise to purchase multiple TVs. I saw some people who had bought one of each size of flat panelled TVs that Wal-Mart had to offer.

Truly crazy. Yet strangely exhilarating for me. Maybe I should take up hunting?

It all ends well though, afterwords we went to the mall and found that the style of Coach bags that I have always wanted were on sale! Looky looky, we both got our Christmas presents!

All in all a good day, what an experience!

Girls Night Out! :)

2008-11-24T21:30:00.002-05:00

So my friend Danielle has her birthday in December and she just got a new job so we decided to celebrate! Ladies Night Out at The Melting Pot, a four course taste bud extraordinaire!

To accomplish this however, there was the issue of the kids. I love Gabriel and Dinah but I don't think The Melting Pot is conducive to small children. I'm seeing third degree burns and an unhappy ending.

Luckily, my dirt phobic, child fearing, dirty diaper avoiding husband VOLUNTEERED to watch both the kiddos so Danielle and I could go out to dinner.

We began the night at the Johnson's home so I could pick up and Danielle and drop Jay off. Danielle had put Dinah to bed to that Jay wouldn't have to 'deal' with her. She is 1 and I think that age scares Jay just a bit so all he had to do was keep Gabriel happy for the night.

During the appetizer portion of our meal I received a text saying that Dinah would not stop crying in her room. During the salad portion of our meal I received a text saying Gabriel was now going commando. By the entree portion of our meal I had received a text saying Dinah was downstairs with the two of them because even the milk we had told him to give her was not making her happy. And finally at dessert, we received the appetizing message that Dinah was 'stinky'.

For fun, I told him to look down the back of her diaper to see if he saw some poop.

By the time we got back to Danielle's house, everything was perfect. Dinah was crawling happily on the floor, Gabriel was sitting in front of the TV watching SpongeBob and Jay was sitting on the couch with a full head of hair!

Nothing to it! :)

We were so grateful to Jay that he did this for us and that he got out of his own comfort zone so we could have some alone time. It was wonderful! AND, he even volunteered to do it again sometime!

Maybe next time Jay can graduate to changing diapers as when we got home, Dinah was still 'stinky' and Danielle got to instruct Jay (by doing it herself) on how to change a dirty diaper.

Ah bliss!

Today is Tuesday. :(

2008-11-22T08:04:00.002-05:00

Next week is Thanksgiving! Luckily my company does not work on Friday after Turkey Day so I made Jay take that day off too, especially since all of his siblings are in town. I am so looking forward to next week and not working.

Because I did not want to work on Wednesday either, I've been working extra this week so I will not have to do so. However, that means when I stop typing here, I must go sit at my computer and dutifully write some reports. :( I have 3 reports due today and 2 due tomorrow. On Thursday night I figured out that if I succeed in my plan of not working on Wednesday, I must work Friday (yesterday) thru Tuesday as my full work week.

Which in truth, makes today Tuesday if next Tuesday is Friday for me. Sigh. It's very depressing but I'm trusting it will be worth it on Wednesday and my LONG weekend! :)

You never can tell....

2008-11-20T17:35:00.002-05:00

So in my job I have had a lot of weird things happen to me. I've met a guy who now lives in DC who was the tennant right before me in a house on the North Shore of Hawaii (don't ask me how we figured that out!) and then last week sometime I was on Quantico and saw an MP that I had worked closely with on Kaneohe Marine Corps Base in Hawaii. It always make you feel like it is a small world!

Anyway, last week I was again on Quantico at a tightly secured location and after proceeding through 3 bouts of security I finally get to the front desk/receptionist who has me sign my life away to be in the building (just kidding, I only got strip searched....okay, that's a lie too....). She then calls the person I am there to see and after a quick wait the woman I am waiting for comes to find me.

Now, to be fair this situation is partial my fault I guess. When I go talk to people on my daily basis in my job, I refer to these meetings as interviews. And they are for all intents and purposes, interviews. So this woman comes up to me and asks me if I am there for the interview and I respond with a yes and are you Ms. So-and-So? She responds yes and ushers me into to the basement of this particular facility. She then walks me into a room full of several people and I turn to walk back out as, clearly, I am in the wrong area. Oh and the lady does not follow me.

I'm thinking, hey lady, I'm here to talk to your sorry butt, you can't pass me off to other people!

They are all staring at me with big smiles expecting me to sit down.

It dawns on me.

I am interviewing for a new job and I don't even know it.

Instead of finding out whether this job is better than my current job and just stealing the employment interview, I fess up. When I let them know that there has been some kind of mistake, we all have a good laugh and I head back to security upstairs.

And this is what makes me (along with all of that superfluous security) 20 minutes late to interview the real subject.

Who knew, my job is never the same every day and there is always some reason to laugh at myself. I'm still wondering why that lady who led me to the 'interview' said she was the person I was looking for, maybe she was just aiming to please, or more likely, hard of hearing.

Who knows what kind of job I could have ended up with if I had just played along!

Happy Birthday Jay!!!

2008-11-19T17:46:00.002-05:00

Today is Jay's birthday! :) We are celebrating pretty much from now until Saturday! I am currently baking chocolate cake (yuck!, it's all his!) and cheesy enchiladas for dinner! Tomorrow Jay has the whole day off thanks to him doing a favor for his boss which is a blessing because work as been stressful for him lately. Friday, a few of our friends are getting together and we are having dinner at Fuddruckers and Saturday is dinner (possibly Outback) and a movie (the new James Bond movie) with his parents. Whew! I hope he has an enjoyable one!

I began volunteering at Bethany Christian Services today. They are a non-profit organization that provides adoption services. In Fredericksburg, Va (the only location in the country for this organization) they also offer crisis pregnancy counseling/ultrasounds and they are pro-life. It was a lot of information today but I think it will be good overall once I learn the ropes!

Yesterday was the consultation with my dentist regarding my tooth. To root canal or not root canal????

The dentist chose NOT! :)

YAY! It is all to prayer and mega doses of vitamins that I didn't have to have one. So happy and now I have a brand new tooth that feels fabulous!

Well, the cake smells done. Ta-ta for now!

Let it snow!

2008-11-18T15:13:00.002-05:00

Okay, maybe not so much. But it did flurry here today. That never happens in Virginia in November, snow is for February in this state. But for some odd reason it did make me *happy* to see some snow. :)

I'm about to go see the dentist about my tooth. I had a temporary crown done in October and they had problems with the permanent crown which ended up irritating my tooth. The doctor orignially told me that I might have to get a root canal since it was swollen. However, with prayer and some mega doses of vitamins the pain has completely stopped. So here's to hoping THIS permanent crown fits and that there are no complications!

Stayed tuned for more edge of your seat updates!

Christmas Came Early...

2008-11-17T18:19:00.000-05:00

So I'm (Leta) jumping back on the bandwagon of blogging. :) Our life is generally pretty boring so I'm going to have to generate something interesting from nothing! However, I can think of some family members who will be appreciative.

Jay (he will likely never write on this blog) is always telling me that my favorite holiday is my birthday (April 10th for those that don't know) which is closely followed by Christmas! I can't wait for Christmas, I simply love it. Here are a few things I love about Christmas (in no particular order):

1. Gingerbread Lattes from Starbucks

2. Snow (yes... snow.... I, Leta, loves snow at Christmas, AND CHRISTMAS ONLY)

3. Decorating!

4. Buying presents

5. General feeling of festivities and fun!

6. And last but not least, this truly and most importantly is the day our Savior was born

There are so many other things I love about Christmas but I'll save it and leave you on this first post with some pics of our already decorated apartment (I did it yesterday!). Luckily Jay lets me decorate as I please! :) Please note the wrapped presents under the tree.

P.S. How do I turn these pictures to the correct angles?