Living, Loving, and Laughing in North Carolina

Flashback Friday

livelovelaughnc@hotmail.com (LA and BD) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 14:00:00 +0000

BD's high school senior portrait - 1998

Oh, this one is a classic. Look at that letterman jacket!

Oh, Fudge

livelovelaughnc@hotmail.com (LA and BD) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:00:00 +0000

Continuing on my quest to ~~consume as many calories as humanly possible~~ learn to cook new holiday treats, I recently made fudge for the first time.

Using a family recipe provided by BD's step-mom's sister, I took these simple ingredients...

worked a little BD-assisted magic...

and VOILA! a holiday classic appeared.

Okay, so it was a teensy bit more work than that, but it is melt-in-your-mouth good, so it's worth ~~buying larger pants~~ the effort.

Weekend Recap

livelovelaughnc@hotmail.com (LA and BD) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 03:25:00 +0000

Friday: Haircuts after work. (BD mad - hair cut "too short" [Author's note: It's totally not.] because LA tried to talk stylist into giving him a faux-hawk.) Chinese takeout for supper. Watched several episodes of Nip/Tuck on DVD.

Saturday: Slept in. House cleaning - bathrooms scrubbed, floors swept/vacuumed, furniture dusted, laundry clean, folded, and put away. YAY for clean house! (Housework done ~~never~~ ~~rarely~~ not very often during school.) Walked with Kip. Bundled up for cold walk to the Dean Dome to see a Carolina blow-out.

Sunday: Rainy and cold. BD grocery store and other errands. LA wrapped gifts and made homemade fudge. Walked with Kip. Shrimp creole for supper. Watched The Ugly Truth on DVD.

Holiday Music

livelovelaughnc@hotmail.com (LA and BD) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:23:00 +0000

I'm not sure where you stand on the Holiday Music: Love It or Hate It spectrum, but if you're looking for some good holiday music for yourself or for a gift, here's a recommendation:

Christmas Cheers by Straight No Chaser.

(photo credit: Amazon.com)

Their last year's album, Holiday Spirit, is also excellent. I actually think I prefer it to the new one, but I've listened to it more so that may be affecting my taste.

Straight No Chaser is the men's a capella group from Indiana University. They have a pretty cute version of 12 Days of Christmas on YouTube.

Flashback Friday

livelovelaughnc@hotmail.com (LA and BD) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 14:00:00 +0000

BD, LA, & L - January 2003

The three amigos - BD, me, and L, my college roommate. This was taken at an engagement shower for BD and me. L was my maid of honor (hence the corsage).

Final(ly)

livelovelaughnc@hotmail.com (LA and BD) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 04:00:00 +0000

Fall Semester 2009: COMPLETE!

*falls over in an exhausted slump*

Tales of the Tail: The One with the Boxing

livelovelaughnc@hotmail.com (LA and BD) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:00:00 +0000

Kip gets very playful when the temperature starts dropping. It's been pretty cold here recently, so he is full of energy. He plays this ~~infuriating~~ game where he paws at the back door (his signal that he's ready to come in) but instead of coming in, he just backs away from the door and wags his tail. This is cute at first... not so cute the 500th time. Sometimes he wants to play chase or fetch, but more often than not he just stands there and wags his tail.

BD, who is infinitely more patient with that "game" than I am, will go out and have "boxing" matches with him.

The opponents face off.

Kip swings the first punch!

BD deflects the hit!

See all those muddy foot prints on the deck? Because it has been rainy lately, his paws often have to be washed off before he can come inside. He loves it just about as much as you would imagine.

Let the Holiday Eating Begin, 2009 Edition

livelovelaughnc@hotmail.com (LA and BD) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 13:30:00 +0000

Last year I made Zebra Nipples to give out as holiday gifts to neighbors and co-workers. They are really cute, but to make as many as I need there is a lot of spreading out pretzels, unwrapping kisses, placing m&m's, etc. With precious few weekends between now and Christmas, I decided I needed something with a lower work-involved-to-benefit ratio.

I recently found a recipe for caramels that looked delicious and decided to make a test batch over the weekend. ~~Which worked out perfectly with my plan to procrastinate as long as possible over my one remaining final school project.~~

BD was not very happy about the caramel making because he loves caramels but has thousands of dollars worth of dental work in his mouth that run the risk of removal-by-caramel. Sorry, BD!

I started with a few simple ingredients.

I melted the ingredients in a "heavy-bottomed" sauce pan (I'm not sure what exactly that means!) while stirring constantly. I used a food thermometer to check the temp and cooked it at 240 degrees for 2 minutes.

It took about 2 hours to cool to room temperature and was then ready to cut,

wrap,

and bag!

I'm not sure I accomplished my goal of less work; I had to cut up the wax paper by hand and wrap and twist them individually. But I'm thinking of doing a combination of caramels and nipples in the gift bags.

Weekend Recap

livelovelaughnc@hotmail.com (LA and BD) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 05:30:00 +0000

Friday: BD made homemade pizza for supper. Walked with Kip and looked at Christmas lights in neighborhood. Watched several episodes of Nip/Tuck season 5 part 2 from Netflix.

Saturday: Slept in. Weather rainy and cold. Watched Carolina basketball lose to Kentucky 68-66. (gulp.) Managed to recover from that enough to go out to Bali Hai and run some Christmas errands. LA made caramels; BD watched UFC fight.

Sunday: Slept in. LA met girlfriends for lunch. BD walked with Kip, watched UNC women win 2009 NCAA soccer tournament, and did laundry. BD made taco soup for supper. LA worked on last final school project (due Wednesday); BD watched Sunday night football.

Flashback Friday

livelovelaughnc@hotmail.com (LA and BD) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 14:00:00 +0000

LA & BD, April 2000

We were dressed up for Casino Night at La Tech. This was a school-wide event held every spring in the student center. It was kind of like the college version of prom. There were all kinds of casino games to play. I think you won tickets or tokens or something that could be exchanged for prizes, and there was also food and dancing. I think it was probably a fund raiser for one of the campus organizations, but I'm not sure which one. I wonder if they still do this every year?

Fall 2009

livelovelaughnc@hotmail.com (LA and BD) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:00:00 +0000

We've had an unseasonably warm fall this year, so we didn't get the brilliant fall foliage that we've had in years past. I managed to get a few shots of the one remaining plant with fall colors in our yard.

Monarchs

livelovelaughnc@hotmail.com (LA and BD) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:30:00 +0000

The cupcake decorating bug has struck again! This time I went with something a bit more difficult.

I made the butterfly wings out of dark and white (tinted orange) melting chocolates. The antennae were dark chocolate. The book provided templates for the shape of the wings and antennae.

The wings set up in the fridge in about 5 minutes, and then I put them on top of chocolate cupcakes with vanilla (tinted yellow) frosting. Chocolate frosting made the body of the butterfly.

Holiday Weekend Recap

livelovelaughnc@hotmail.com (LA and BD) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 04:35:00 +0000

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

livelovelaughnc@hotmail.com (LA and BD) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 04:15:00 +0000

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

livelovelaughnc@hotmail.com (LA and BD) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 03:58:00 +0000

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

Congratulations, CRoy!

Flashback Friday

livelovelaughnc@hotmail.com (LA and BD) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 14:00:00 +0000

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

livelovelaughnc@hotmail.com (LA and BD) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:30:00 +0000

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

livelovelaughnc@hotmail.com (LA and BD) — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

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

livelovelaughnc@hotmail.com (LA and BD) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:00:00 +0000

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

livelovelaughnc@hotmail.com (LA and BD) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:00:00 +0000

Who's a Pretty Boy?

livelovelaughnc@hotmail.com (LA and BD) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:00:00 +0000

And So It Begins...

livelovelaughnc@hotmail.com (LA and BD) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:00:00 +0000

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

livelovelaughnc@hotmail.com (LA and BD) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:30:00 +0000

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

livelovelaughnc@hotmail.com (LA and BD) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:00:00 +0000

BD recently planted some beautiful pansies in our flower beds.

Our tomato plant is *still* producing tomatoes!

Flashback Friday

livelovelaughnc@hotmail.com (LA and BD) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:00:00 +0000

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.