Winter Fun

We've managed to squeeze some fun in between doing home projects and going to work.

- Kings of Leon concert with friends.  Our seats were great but the sound was a little off.  Great performance, energy, and people.  And it was on a work night!  I feel so young and less boring when I go out on work nights but usually regret it the next day.  YOLO!

- Daisy turned 4!  We gave her a doggy ice cream to celebrate.

- Made banana bread to test the oven.  I'm not used to using such efficient appliances.  It was done in less time and tasted great!

- Family came over for dinner.  Ivy, Carter, and I played Scrabble until Daisy decided she wanted a turn.

Paint Like Nobody's Watching ;)

Painting will definitely be an on-going activity over the next few months.  The living and dining rooms (technically one room) was the first space we attacked with paint.  There was no holding us back - we started and didn't look back until it was done.  It took all weekend but now the walls are alive with color and the ceiling is brighter!

Up next: molding, touch-ups, plugs, and switch plates!

One thing I want to remember about this weekend: Thomas sprang out of bed to start this project and sang and hummed most of the morning.  His eagerness and motivation to tackle these projects has been so enjoyable and infectious.  Love it!

First Week as Homeowners in the Books

We survived our first week as homeowners!  In the last week, we've done everything from ordering oil to moving to shoveling a serious amount of snow.  I didn't think our driveway was very big until I had to shovel it.  My arms are still sore!

Happy/Flustered/Excited/Terrified Homeowners

Shoveling our driveway gave us an opportunity to meet some of our neighbors.  I learned so much about the history of our street and the neighbors who've lived on it.  Everyone has been so nice and approachable.  A man passing by on his morning walk told me how lucky we are to have found this house and street.  It seems like there is a strong sense of community and a deep desire to preserve the great qualities of the neighborhood.

I already know some things I want to change in the house.  The oven was at the top of the list until I used it last night to heat up Spaghetti-O's (the culinary joys of moving and living among mountains of boxes).  The electric stove plate was effective and efficient.  We used it again tonight to make dinner and was really impressed with its performance.

Our sink is both killer awesome and killer awful.  It's a relationship in progress.

Running update:

I got into the Broad Street Run.  I have to establish a running routine again so my plan is to start slowly by doing three easy runs per week now through the end of February.  Once March comes, I'll need to follow a training plan.  I'm really excited about this run and can't wait to get back into the swing of running.

Have You Heard of "Snice"?

It's a combination of the words "snow" and "ice."  Also known as the only two things that have fallen from the sky this winter.  And wrecks havoc on daily life.  Thanks, snice.

The only silver lining is that snice is quite pretty after it falls and before it's disturbed by people ... pictures from last week's snice events:

 

Packin' Up

We're one week closer to becoming homeowners!  And we still need to pack... yikes!

My favorite part of moving is the weeding process.  It feels so good to trash/donate/sell material items and move forward in life with less stuff.  It amazes me to see how much stuff I've accumulated over the years.  It seems like it was just yesterday that I could fit everything I owned into four bins.  Sometimes I dream about owning just the bare essentials, but so much of my life and the activities I enjoy doing involve things.  Oh, it's a double-edge sword, it really is.  I think as long as I derive happiness from the result of my interests and activities that involve things and not from the things themselves, then I'm OK.  Does that make sense?

Anyway, my least favorite part of moving is packing.  One would think weeding and packing go hand-in-hand, but not to me.  I need to stop whining and start packing.

I think we have enough boxes...

Some other things I want to remember about this week:

Morning walks with Daisy girl.  She's such a sweet dog.

Our hike at French Forrest

And what's turning into my weekly outdoor run.  Easy three miles were pretty easy except for the hill in the third mile.  That almost killed me.

Splits according to RunKeeper

A Very Cold Weekend

Our friend Ashley is staying with us this weekend.  So far we've spent this weekend around the dinner table enjoying homemade pizza (delicious!) and red wine, running, and doing a little retail therapy.  Ashley and I decided to brave the cold and headed outside for a run, which felt great!  I think I'm turning into a winter runner because the cold weather (above 15*F) doesn't bother me as much as it used to.  I'm not a fan of running on crappy roads but I love running with friends, so I was game!  We were very careful with our footing, focusing on traction and dodging patches of ice and snow.  At some points we were tip-toeing and speed walking to avoid falling, but in the end, it was a rewarding and refreshing run.  We made it back just as it started to snow.

We made it back safely!

   

Our splits according to Runkeeper.

Sunday was even colder but that didn't keep us inside.  We went for a walk at Valley Forge where we shared the path with many snowshoers and cross-country skiers.

Winter is Here

There's no doubt about it.  Daisy loves the snow.  I'm over it.  The first few snowfalls were exciting but now the perpetual grind of winter is becoming monotonous.  Only two months until spring begins!

My running schedule has been pretty non-existent this winter as I like to run outside but early nightfall and poor road conditions make it near impossible to run outside.  I can feel the progress I made in running slowly fade away, which frustrates me.  I'm trying to be positive and tell myself that inconsistent running is better than no running, and that daylight and road conditions will soon improve.

I had a half day at work last week and managed to get out for what was suppose to be an easy 3 miles, but it felt much harder and took a lot longer than I had hoped.  Looking forward to getting out there again this weekend.

Welcome 2014

We welcomed the new year with family and friends at Mom and Ben's new home.  The traditional meal of pork and sauerkraut was had along with delicious chocolate lava cakes.  Yum!

Their new home is wonderful!  I love that it feels like home and not just a place with four walls.  It definitely has a comfortable feel to it and lots of natural light.  I love visiting them and spending time getting to know the area once again.

Speaking of homes, we are in the process of buying our very first home (!).  The process is very exciting and overwhelming, and has been a huge learning curve in many ways.  I've had so much fun documenting our experiences on this blog that I decided to create a separate blog just for our journey as homeowners.  You can read more about it at www.lifeonoak.blogspot.com.

We also celebrated Bema's birthday this month with dinner, desserts, and birthday cards.  It was another great night around the dinner table with family.

Summer Happenings

We spent a beautiful Saturday morning in June on the river with family and friends.  It was FULL of adventure. We ventured down a familiar off-shoot of the main river for some variety.  The river was swollen from recent rainfall but not moving particularly fast, so we thought the off-shoot would be a nice change of scenery and easy to maneuver with higher water levels.  And it sure was!  The off-shoot has some tight bends, making it just slightly difficult to steer.  With two people in a canoe and four kayaks, we had some exciting moments of direct contact and narrow passages from recently fallen tree limbs.

The adventure didn't stop there, at least not for T.  His phone unfortunately saw the end of its life after B and T took a spill in the water.  Fortunately for T his contract had long expired and all worked out in the end with the phone.  A ton of memories and long-lasting jokes were created on that beautiful morning.

Daisy and I made it into the local paper twice within two weeks, which apparently isn't very hard to do.  We were mentioned for our support of a local ice cream parlor that's under new ownership and has delicious ice cream.  The second occurrence was about our volunteer work with a wonderful organization that arranges a reading program for kids to read to dogs.  Daisy was a star - she was well behaved, tolerated little ones of all dispositions petting/poking her, and was generally interested in the stories, which is one of the requirements to attend (!).  It was a very rewarding experience with many tender moments.  I can't wait to do another reading program in addition to the nursing and rehabilitation facilities we visit.
   

Lovin' Summer

Wow... hello blog and readers.

A lot has happened since my last post all the way back in March.  I need to update this blog with pics and memories from Helga's visit and everything in between.  More to come on that...

Last weekend was beautiful.  We took full advantage of the gorgeous weather all weekend.  Mom, C, T, and I went to St. Peter's Village for some lunch on the deck overlooking the river of rocks and then C and I played on the rocks for a better part of 2 hours.  We had so much fun rock hopping and strategically maneuvering over and through them.  C is quite the strategist, too - I would totally do the Amazing Race with him.

C, T, and I took a hike around the lake at French Creek, where I was told I walked right past a snake and didn't even notice.  Which is funny because I was looking for snakes that whole time!  There was so much low movement in the brush that I knew we were bound to cross paths with one.  Daisy helped herself to a swim in the lake while we looked on sweaty and enviously.  Families and kiddies got a kick out of her love for the water.

Manboy

Dessert for breakfast!

St. Pete's

 

Recital and Smoothies

I attended my friend's faculty recital this weekend.  My friend, Katie, is an amazing musician and instructor.  She's a soprano singer and definitely jolted me out of my sleepy haze when she took the stage and let her voice take over!  Amazing performance AND dress - the girl brought down the house in style!

Katie, lovely in red:

Smoothies: my latest craze.  I've been having fun concocting delicious combinations for refreshing, fruit and protein dense smoothies.  With two of my latest concoctions below.

Oatmeal banana almond smoothie:

Strawberry blueberry banana smoothie:

My Lock&Key Diary from the 90's Never Saw this Coming

My blog came in the mail today.  In print format.  I've been getting my blog printed every year since I've started documenting autobiographical events four years ago.  I think the hybrid being within me - the one that lived without the Internet and a cell phone and the one that can't live without the Internet or a cell phone - needs/wants both mediums.  You know, something to show the grandchildren, right?  And, in a small way, to hold onto the memory and practice of the pre-Internet world.

A few months ago I filled in for an absent coworker and gave a small and very young group of boy scouts a tour of the library, full of instruction and information literacy!  When we ended at the microfilm machines and their final assignment, one young boy exclaimed, "Look!  These are the machines they used 100 years ago!"

Yikes!

  

February Birthdays Celebration

I have a few family members with birthdays in February.  Mum's was the most recent, so we gathered with fam today to celebrate by enjoying homemade soups, fresh bread, and desserts.  Yum!

I made fun-looking and awesome-tasting cream puffs, which I found the recipe for on Pinterest.  The recipe was super simple and a lot of fun to make.  I was a little concerned when the dough the recipe called for looked more like batter, but all was well in the end.  The best part was pipping the cream into the cooled puffs.  I opted to skip the chocolate ganache topping and decided to go with a simple dusting of powdered sugar instead.  Pinterest came through for once... there have been many FAILS before this success.

Trick candles!  

Daisy Turns 3!

Daisy girl is growing up!  She's now 3 years old and is doing better than ever.  She brings us and others  she visits in nursing homes as a therapy dog so much joy.  Slowly but surely her hyper disposition is giving way to a more relaxed, enthusiastic demeanor.  

No birthday wouldn't be complete without a treat.  In celebration we treated her to a bowl of doggie ice cream with a dollop of peanut butter.  And she licked the bowl clean!!

A Glamorous Evening

The invites to fancy dinners, posh galas, and other spectacular events just pour in these days... NOT!!!  So when I was invited to attend a gala in support of the preservation of the Reading Terminal Market, I was SO in!  I had a little over 24 hours to prepare - dress, shoes, accessories, nails, hair do, clutch, etc - OH MY!!

The event was great; Reading Terminal Market was completely transformed for the evening.  The lighting was dim, the usual vibrant colors from vendor stands were muted from the darkness of the night, with the action taking place on the dance floor with tunes flowing from the live band on stage.  The bar was crowded with people huddled around sipping cocktails and mingling.  

The best part of the evening was running into an acquaintance and local artist who was hired to draw people at the gala.  Her work is amazing and I feel so lucky to have been "captured" by her hand in her medium.  

Valentine's Day 2013

Valentine's Day was super fun this year.  I got an idea from a friend for a Valentine's Day card, pictured below.  It was so easy to make and a hit with everyone.

Also a picture of our V-Day breakfast together - love it!

Music to My Ears...

I've seen two great concerts this year that I absolutely loved.  I'm not sure if I'll see any show as good as  The Lumineers or Mumford & Sons for the rest of the year.  "Wow!" is all I can say.  Both shows were amazing in their own way.  I was in shock the entire time I was at the Mumford & Sons concert because I couldn't believe I was actually seeing them live!  The energy of the crowd and passionate performance by M&S was ON FIRE.  I kept pinching myself because it all felt so surreal and an out-of-body experience.  Awesome, awesome, awesome concerts and experiences.