Lazy blogging

I know, I know... I've been a little slow on the blogging lately... well here's what's been going on!


1. Paying off my car

Oh heyyyyy... guess who OWNS their car?!?!

2. Enjoying LOTS of meals with Kristi before the baby comes! :) AKA Dinner with her and Mike, two lunches last week with Kristi, and dinner with Kristi and Laura last night! :) LOVE it!!!

3. Relaxing with my kitty

Millie just hanging around... she was like this for a
good 30 minutes

4. Seeing weird ads on the back of a GRTC bus...

Add on the back of a bus... uhhhhh???

5. Going for a picnic and nature walk with Laura :)

Nature Walk! 

Laura just doing some pull ups!

6. Seeing a random car wash sign... made me laugh

Car wash sign...

7. Watching Elizabeth's cats for the week

Harvey (he's 23 lbs which is more than twice what Millie weighs) and Sophie

Sophie!

Let's Get Married!!!

Last Saturday was a day full of parties! The first party of the day was Lila's wedding shower. Lila's bridesmaids and matron of honor (Jess) threw a great brunch shower. As I looked around at the cute touches (and I didn't take nearly enough photos), I thought that she and Laura could go into party planning together! Laura went down to Norfolk to take care of her cute nephews (Corbin and the new baby twins!) so she wasn't able to make the shower, but she would have liked it!

Cute added touch! :)

One reason why Laura and Jess would do party planning together!
Check out the cute giveaways and banner!

Game: Who said it! We had to determine which one of them (or both)
said/answered the question by raising our Lila or Patrick popsicle sticks

Second "party", was really just Kathryn and me watching the Hokie football game as I rigged my computer to display on my TV and hooked up my 10 year old speakers to do it!

I didn't take this photo quick enough so that Millie
smiled, but oh well!

After the game, Kathryn and I went to the grocery store to get the makings for a "gluten free" dessert that I was supposed to bring to the final party of the day! I found a recipe for Peanut Butter Cookies which only had three ingredients, plus chocolate chips. While I was extremely skeptical about these cookies, because there was no flour or anything, they actually turned out REALLY well! So finally I completed my "recipe" goal for the year with this one!

This was the first batch... after this I learned that the racks needed to be closer to the top,
because these guys cooked on the bottom but not on the top

Still using those glee plates from my birthday party, but these
are the cookies I brought

I put a couple in a baggie, for another person I know who has a gluten allergy.
These ones actually turned out better than the ones on the tray above

So the final party I went to was for my cousin because SHE GOT ENGAGED! A few weeks before I had received an email from her boyfriend, that went out to several friends and family members, inviting me to share in the special day by being at his apartment to celebrate when they got back from the proposal. So, my aunt, uncle and cousin picked me up, and we went over to the apartment to not so patiently await for the arrival of Kelly and Sam! There were a ton of people there and I'm just so excited to welcome Sam to our crazy family! 

Kelly and Sam telling the proposal story

Again with the proposal story

My phone does weird things with the flash

A cute sign that was at the party

So what a fun day celebrating with those who are JUST about to get married and those who JUST got engaged! Congrats to all!

It's my M.O.

First of all, before I get into writing this post, I wanted to explain that I know what M.O. means (sort of), but didn't really KNOW what it stood for, so for those of you out there who are like me, it actually means: Modus operandi (plural modi operandi) is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "method of operation".^[1] The term is used to describe someone's habits of working, particularly in the context of business or criminal investigations. In English, it is often shortened to M.O. - This came from Wikipedia.

So, without further ado, I'm sure you're wondering about WHICH one of my habits I am about to explain. Wellp, it's the one where I hold onto things "just in case" I need them some other time. I wouldn't say I'm a hoarder by any means, but I have DEFINITELY moved things more than twice that I have not used in years, buuut what if I ever needed them? I am clearly not a minimalist, but you know what? I'm ok with it. If I did become a hoarder, this little habit could become a problem, but right now I have lots of room and seemingly plenty of things I "might" need one day.

In the past week, I have successfully needed TWO things I have held onto for years.

Thing number 1: Hole puncher

Yeah, so I haven't used a hole puncher, probably since college. I hated to throw it away or even donate because it was a nice hole puncher, and I probably paid a decent amount for it (however many years ago). So last weekend, when we were at my aunt's house, we were helping my cousin with her kindergarten teaching activities and she was hole punching something with one of those "I only punch one paper at a time" hole punchers. I went home, found this guy (see below) and dropped it off for my cousin to HAVE for her teaching career (or until it breaks). This is totally a win-win for me, because I got to give it to someone who needed it, and I GOT IT OUT OF MY HOUSE!!!

Thing 1: Hole Puncher

Thing numbers 2 and 3: Cord to plug my computer into my TV and computer speakers

A couple years ago, I got myself a MacBook Pro computer. I used to have a Dell, so I switched from the PC to the Mac. (I love my Mac). However, when I did that, I lost the ability to use this computer cord that attached my PC to my TV,  because you never know, just in case VT football was ONLY on ESPN3 which is only online. Did I get rid of the cord? Nope... lucky for me I have two work PC computers that connect to this cord and this past weekend, when VT was only shown on ESPN3, I was able to rig up my computer to my TV and show the game. There's another cord that actually connects the speakers to the TV, but I didn't have time to look for it, so instead I broke out the 12 year old computer speakers and plugged them in, so that we could hear the game. Ideal? Nope! But I DID get to see VT kill Western Carolina this week.

The things we do to watch the Hokies play!

What kinds of things do you hold onto that you don't need?!?!

Family Fun!

Alert: There aren't so many photos on this one because I TOTALLY forgot to take photos! :(

So after one busy week, I followed it up with ANOTHER one! This time it was all about family! Monday and Tuesday (after canceling plans) I didn't have any plans, so I got my house ready, and all my grocery shopping done in preparation for the family cookout I was having at my house on Saturday. Several grocery store/Costco trips later, I was ready!

Wednesday was my cousin's birthday, so we went to dinner at Mellow Mushroom! Happy Birthday, Junior! Afterwards, I dropped by my friend Anna's house to give her a card for her trip to AFRICA! Then I ended up staying a little while to help her with her packing! We were SUPER productive!

Thursday my parents and nephew came into town. We went to Carytown and had dinner at Water Grill, then walked down to Bev's to get some homemade ice cream. It was all REALLY yummy!

Snapped this photo of my parents busy on their laptops

Friday I worked from home while my parents, nephew and uncle went and played golf. Anna stopped by to pick up some other things for her trip, then we went to CVS to get her an extra passport photo. That was the last time I was going to see her before she left for Africa!

My parents came home and we went to Old Navy and Staples to go back to school shopping for Scott. We got him lots of clothes, and all his school supplies! Then we picked up Papa and drove down to the diamond to catch the Squirrels game! Lila, Patrick, Kristi and Mike were all at the game, too! So we got to hang for a little while. The Squirrels didn't win, but I think Scotty had a good time at the game!

Saturday was the cookout. Dad and Terry went golfing again. Mom, Scott and I spent the morning in the west end buying Scott a backpack and going to Bed Bath and Beyond for a few other things. After we returned, it was time to get everything ready! So we made some food and set up the tables and chairs! We were just sitting down when Anna texted me and asked if I had a photocopier so she could get a copy of her license. So I got to see her ONE MORE TIME before she left for Africa! Then everyone arrived... no photos but here is who came:

-Mom, Dad and Scott (from MA)
-Jane (Mom's sister), Terry, Kelly and Kaitlin (all from Richmond)
-Richard (Mom's brother) and Rita (they flew down from MA just for this!)
-Anne (Mom's sister) and Pete (they just moved to Ruckersville last year)
-Stephanie (Anne's daughter) and Tom (from DC)
-Anne (Tom's sister from NYC)
-Ivana (Anne's daughter), Matt, Andrew, Gracie and Antonio? (all from Rocky Mount)

After everyone left, mom worked on my tile project and dad sprayed the hornet's nest on my roof :)

Sunday I got up and met Meredith and her mom for brunch downtown. Then I did some sight seeing with Jane, Richard and Rita.

James River

We saw a heron

Then we hung out some more and had dinner at Jane and Terry's! We played some spades and then I headed home!

I had a REALLY fun, really busy weekend! Love me some family!

Birthday & Wedding Celebrations!

I know it's been a little while since I last blogged, sorry! In the past couple of weeks I have been pretty busy. First, we celebrated Laura's birthday by going to The Band Perry concert at Innsbrook. It was a great evening, even the part where it rained for 15 minutes! Kristi, Anna, Laura, Elaine, Kathryn and Paul were all there enjoying the concert! The best part?!?! It was EXACTLY how Laura wanted to spend her birthday! :)

Laura's birthday funnel cake!

Laura, Kristi, Anna and me (this photo is kind of awkward, sorry!)

Then, the next evening, we went to Plaza Azteca for birthday dinner! :)

Bossman's wife made a cookie cake for her birthday!

While Anna and Laura were in the bathroom we put candles
in the cake and lit it up

On Friday Laura, Courtney and I drove down to Lake Gaston, North Carolina in order to celebrate our friends Emily and Kevin! We hung out by the lake, went swimming, water skiing, boating and then got to party on Saturday night! Because Emily and Kevin had a small wedding, Kevin's parents wanted another big party (like a reception post wedding), so they had one at their house on the lake!

Courtney, me and Laura

Four ladies

Emily and Kevin

Beautiful lake!

Hey Courtney! We stole your phone! :)

If Laura finds herself a dog (or two) or a baby,
she is HAPPY!

We left EARLY on Sunday morning to head back to Richmond. Laura needed to be at church by 9. So we headed out, and guess what!!! I got to see the sunrise!

Then on Sunday night we got to celebrate Laura again!!! She had a cookout to celebrate her 30th! So that, at least, takes me to the end of last weekend! Stay tuned, I'll post some more about what else I've been up to!