Holiday Weekend Recap

The nice thing about Thanksgiving break is that it is generally a low-stress holiday. It was just the two of us this year, so we didn't do the traditional turkey-dressing-pumpkin-pie route. We did homemade tacos, refried beans, and salsa instead. (Feliz Thanksgiving?) We ate and watched movies/football for most of the day on Thursday and Friday.

The not-so-nice thing about Thanksgiving break is that it is right at the end of the fall semester, so I have two final projects due next week. On Saturday and Sunday I mostly did this

while BD did this

Sunday Stitches: Part 1 of X

I've started a new cross stitch project.


Oh, really? You can't tell what it is? Hmmmm...I guess you'll just have to stay tuned until next week! I know, I know -- this blog just keeps you on the edge of your seat!

Carolina Basketball - 600th Win

Tonight we celebrate Coach Roy's 600th career win with an 80-73 victory over Nevada.





Congratulations, CRoy!

Flashback Friday

LA & BD, May 1998 - high school graduation

BD was the salutatorian of our class (hence the medal). He led part of the ceremony, but I can't remember which part. The year we graduated there was an obnoxious number of valedictorians - like 8 or 10. I think it was BD's one B in AP Biology that cost him the valedictorian rank.

I can remember that I got my bangs trimmed the day before graduation, and she cut them too short. I was upset because I thought the short bangs made me look too young. Right. It was the bangs. I wish I could go back in time and tell myself to just get used to it - 10+ years later and people still tell me how young I look. My mother says I will appreciate that one day.

Weekend Recap

Friday: Ate dinner out at a Mexican restaurant near work. Watched Carolina basketball blow a 2-pt halftime lead into an 87-71 loss to Syracuse.

Saturday: Slept in. Obsessively streamed episodes of last season Grey's Anatomy from Netflix. Took Kip for walk. BD watched Carolina football beat BC 31-13. LA cross stitched.

Sunday: More sleeping in. More obsessive streaming. More walking with Kip. BD did grocery run and outside house work - mulched leaves, cleaned gutters, etc. LA began preliminary work on capstone project for next semester. BD watched MLS finals. LA cross stitched.

Sunday Stitches: Simple

I started and finished this quick piece over the weekend (a lot of sports on TV = plenty of time for me to stitch). This is a Lizzie Kate design, stitched on 28ct lambswool linen with overdyed thread.

These days when we see this phrase plastered on everything from picture frames to coffee mugs, blog titles *ahem*, and bumper stickers, it becomes just another over-used cliche. But, for me, the simplicity of the message still rings true. It's a scary world out there, and there are a thousand bad things that can happen every day. I have a tendency to worry about things that are beyond my control; I let the "what if's" and the "why me's" take over; I focus on the negative. This simple phrase centers me. It helps me find my footing in an uncertain world and reminds me of what's real, what's important.

So, I stitched it. I'm going to finish it with a patterned mat and a funky frame and hang it where I'll see it often -- to remind myself that it really is that simple.

Flashback Friday

Kip and me, October 2001

This was the first weekend we had Kip. The vet estimated he was about 3 months old. We didn't have a collar for him yet, so we just looped an old leash around his neck. He was so tiny - about 7 pounds. He stayed that small for about 3 nanoseconds.

Tales of the Tail: The One with the Civic Duty

Who's a Pretty Boy?

And So It Begins...

Carolina basketball 09-10 has begun. They are already 3-0 on the season, but I just attended my first game yesterday due to school conflicts, etc. And by "etc" I mean "9 pm tip-offs when it's rainy and cold - I am not that much of a die-hard fan - have a good time at the game by yourself, BD."

Our seats got moved down 3 whole rows this year! We're now on row T instead of row W. We have high hopes that maybe our great-great grandkids won't have to bring binoculars to see the games. Although, if you've ever been to the Smith Center, you'll know that those 3 rows make a huge difference in how bad your quads are burning when you finally get to your seat.



It is very strange to not see very many familiar faces out on the court. But Ginyard and Thompson were strong leaders, and the Tar Heels held off the Valparaiso Crusaders 88-77.

This season is the 100th year anniversary of the Carolina basketball program. There is a new decal on the court in honor of the occasion.

It wasn't all fun and games for me. We live about 45 minutes away from the Dean Dome, so I got in an extra hour and a half of reading for school while in transit. I asked if I could bring my books in to the game. BD told me he was sure that the reception area at the divorce attorney's office would be very quiet, and I could get a lot of reading done there.

Until next time.....GOOOOOO Tar Heels!

Letters from First Grade

The second letter from my nephew in first grade:



Translation:

Dear Aunt [LA],
I am going to be Snake Eyes for
Halloween. Today after school
I am going to a carnival. How
cold is it in North Carolina?
How is Kip today? What is
Uncle [BD] doing right now?
I am still working hard in
school. I am doing my best
in school. Love, [nephew]

Fall Flora

BD recently planted some beautiful pansies in our flower beds.

Our tomato plant is *still* producing tomatoes!

Flashback Friday

My mom & me, circa 1999ish - judging by the overalls *shudder*

Judging by the pictures I have, I spent the majority of my undergrad years in overalls. I made lots of regrettable fashion choices during those years, but I think the overalls are the worst offender.

Tales of the Tail: The One with the Welcome Committee

Kip is the official welcome committee at our house. He always greets our guests at the door...including the bathroom door.

I guess he figures the odds are pretty good that you're going to trip over him -- which leads to you being on the floor at his level -- which obviously means you should pet him.

Studies show that your blood pressure lowers when you pet your companion animal. Natural health remedies...just another service he provides!

Hoot.

My mom wants me to drop out of grad school. She hasn't said those words exactly, but it's the only reason I can think of that she would send me a cupcake decorating book during the middle of the semester.

We have a screech owl that lives in our backyard, so in his honor I made a batch of owl cupcakes:

The book is full of really cute ideas. I chose the owls because they didn't look too difficult for an initial attempt at cupcake decorating. I found the instructions to be easy to follow, and although mine are not as perfect as the pictures in the book, I think they turned out pretty cute.


It took me about an hour and a half to make 8 big owls and 8 baby owls (is a baby owl called an owlette, or am I making that up?), not including the time to actually bake the cupcakes. Once I made the first few, I got the hang of it and picked up speed from there.

I'm not really sure what I'm going to do with them now. They're so cute that I don't want anyone to eat them!

Sunday Stitches: Follow Your Truth

I don't have any stitch-by-stitch pictures of this one - I know everyone is really disappointed by that! I finished this piece a couple of months ago and just picked it up from the framer yesterday. I have it sitting on the mantel for now, but I'm not sure where its permanent home will be. It is a monsterbubbles design, stitched on a 24-count stitch band with over-dyed Sampler threads.

Flashback Friday

BD and his dad, circa 1988ish.

This is a picture from a vacation BD took with his dad and step-mom to the Bahamas. If I'm remembering the story correctly, they took him on this nice vacation and all he remembers from the whole trip is a huge tree. He also refused to eat any of the fresh seafood available on the island and instead insisted on eating Pizza Hut.

I hope our future children get his memory genes - I'm just going to take them out in the backyard and tell them we're at Disney World.

Life is Good Today

Carolina Basketball tickets are here!

Hello, World. Remember Me?

Hoo boy! So, no one warned you that the second year of grad school is the year they try to weed out the unfit, huh? Yeah...me either. I've got about 6 more weeks to survive until the fall semester is over.

Although we've pretty much given up on Carolina football at this point, we did get out to a couple of games earlier in the season. I never thought I'd see the day that this SEC-football-born-and-bred family would ever wish for basketball season to start sooner.

This is the band spelling "Tarheels" during the pre-game show.

And the team taking the field to start the game.




Kip is up to his usual tricks....making himself comfortable on our bed

and resting his head in weird, uncomfortable-looking places.

We bought new art to hang in our freshly painted stairway. I couldn't get a good angle, but you get the idea. It came from this site on Etsy.

You can see that our life is just so exciting that I barely have time to blog about all the things we've been up to lately!