Spring Cleaning

The weather has been so nice lately that we finally got outside and did some Spring cleaning.  I love watching all the plants come up and awaken from their winter hibernation.  I've always enjoyed gardening but I have to say I've come to love it even more since Sean's been around.  He really loves doing all the gardening stuff too so it makes it really fun for us to do together.  Here's what's been happening outside.

First the cleaning part - frogs and bench needed a fresh coat of paint!

Time for some new plants...

Had these in my wedding bouquet (well, not this exact one but calla lillies)!

Hostas have emerged and looks like they'll be bigger than ever!

Sean's favorites - Tiger Lilly - have started to emerge (they remind him of his Gram)

My Blackjack seems to have had a baby!  I didn't even know it would do that.  This is the third or fourth year I've had them and the first time they've done that.

Who knows what this will be.  Sean has been known to order bulbs online without telling me and then just plant them.  Seems at least one has taken!

For the Love of a City

I LOVE TEXAS!!!  I was meant to live here.  However, if I had to move I could totally see me living in Washington, DC or Boston - if it wasn't for the winter weather that is.  Of all the places work sends me those are my, hands down, all time favorites.

This past week work took me back to DC.  Here are some of the reasons I love this city and nation's capital.

I thought the bark on this tree was so beautiful.

I was told these were dogwoods but everywhere I look online the flowers just don't look the same.  If anyone knows what they are leave me a message as I want to get one for the Maine house.  Anyway, they were in full Spring bloom.

The tulips were already blooming.

This was the closest to peak Cherry Blossom time I've ever been to DC.  The festival actually started this weekend.  I wish I had more daylight time and could have hit the Lincoln memorial and the water basin.  This was my attempt to snap some pics on the drive to the airport.

The architecture in DC is amazing.  There is so much marble and detail work.

I love riding the metro in DC.  This is the ceiling in one of the stations.  I just think this is so beautiful.

If you have never been to DC you need to plan a trip!  You won't regret it!

The Long Haul...

Another day, another city.  I had gotten spoiled by being home so much lately.  Now that I'm traveling again I don't get to see Sean as much and you know what.....I REALLY MISS HIM!!!  He has also been traveling so even when I've been home I haven't seen him. 

I knew back before we even started dating we would get married because I could handle being around him a lot without wanting to kill him.  There has been so much in the news lately about celebrities cheating on each other.  I don't understand why people get married and then spend all their time cheating on their spouse or wanting to spend time away from them.  What happened to back in the day of our grandparents when people actually loved each other and stayed together for the long haul?  Did they just feel obligated to stay together?  Did people just not talk about it if people split up?  Have we just made it too easy for people to get divorced?  Do people not believe in the sanctity of marriage anymore?

Well I do and I hope Sean understands I'm in it for the long haul - there's no getting rid of me now!!!  I hope this travel thing ends soon so we can spend time together again.

My Handyman

and yes, I'm actually talking about Sean!  Not only has he fixed a leaky faucet and a running toilet but he has now actually changed the kitchen faucet.  He's becoming quite the handyman I tell you.  When you buy a new house and have no say in its building you get the cheapest fixtures, etc possible.  I've been wanting to change the faucet in the kitchen so we finally did it this weekend.  I'm so proud of my honey!!!

This is what the old, lame faucet looked like...

Here's proof that Sean did the work since I know most of you won't believe he did it...

and drumroll.......

Now Sean has a soap dispenser!!!  Good work honey!

A Green River

Last week work took me here...

and it just so happened it was St Patrick's Day!!!  Chicago is known for dying the river green in celebration of this Chi-rish day.  I was so excited to finally get to see it.  We even planned a group dinner for the team for Wednesday night so we could enjoy a green beer and see the river.  We were disappointed when we learned it was turned green on Saturday (for the parade) instead.  So we had to settle for this...

instead of this...

of course we had to have one of these...

and saw some of this (and I'm not talking about the crazy look on Sean's face)...

and I learned something new.  Apparently "The Night Chicago Died" this was the only building that survived...

De-girlifying

Before Sean and I got married my bedroom was pretty girly.  Once we got married I decided it was time to take some of the girl out of the room to make Sean feel more comfortable.  While on our honeymoon we bought a beautiful silk comforter.  The existing wall color didn't match the new comforter.  So, we decided to repaint the bedroom (which was actually the very first room I painted when I moved into my house 6 years ago).

Here are the before pictures...

(Grandma T made the quilt folded up at the end of the bed)

Now, drumroll please.....

(The little tiger on the bed was a gift from Sean on our very first date)

Here's a close-up of the new comforter.

I still need to make new curtains.  I'm having difficulties figuring out what color to make them.  I'm sure once I find the right fabric there will be a post about it!

Spring In My Step...

...and in my garden!

Duke and I went to get the mail today and noticed some exciting stuff...

The rose bush is so full of leaves

and the black jacks started to come up again

But my favorite was the daffodils (and apparently we have 2 different varities)

I hope this bring cheer and sunshine to your day as much as it did mine (and Duke's)!!!

Best Picture Show

In select locations the AMC theatre has started to offer a marathon of the movies up for best picture at the Oscars.  Since there are 10 movies up this year they offered it over two Saturdays (there were some locations that actually offered it as a 24 hour deal).  Since Craig and Amy were in town last weekend I wasn't able to attend the first Saturday.  It ended up being alright since I had already seen 3 of the 5 showing last weekend. 

The first movie started at 10:30 AM and the last one for the day started at 8:00 PM.  There were five of us that were there together and I actually ran into someone I knew there too.  Did I mention the free, bottomless, popcorn???  YUMMY!  If you buy a large drink it's free refills all day too.  We got about a 15-20 minute break between most of the movie.  They would do movie trivia and give up prizes.  Tamara won the soundtrack to A Serious Man.

Here's my take on the 5 movies we watched (in the order we watched them):

• Up - This is a Disney animated movie.  I had actually already seen this with Sean (he loves animated movies) but I watched it again.  It really is a great movie and I enjoyed it even more the second time.  Their eye on all the detail is amazing; all the way down to one of the characters with his tag sticking out of his shirt.  This movie took you through all the emotions - and that was just in the first 10 minutes!  The premise of the movie is an older man trying to live out his deceased wife's dream and becomes friends with some unlikely things.  In the adventure he sees his childhood idol for what he really was.  My favorite part was when the old man was looking through the Adventure Book his wife created and learned even though making it to Paradise Falls was her childhood dream she ended up living her real dream and that was spending her life with him.  On Netflix I gave this one a 5 star!
• A Serious Man - This is a Coen Brothers movie - that should say it all right there.  The premise of the movie is a Jewish man that seems to have the worst luck ever that was past to him from his ancestors.  It was extremely slow and almost awkward.  My favorite part of the movie was the end.  This was because it was over and because that was actually the best part of the movie - the last 10 seconds.  On Netflix I gave this one a 2 star (bumped it up from a 1 just because of the ending).
• The Hurt Locker - This one was spoken so highly of that I was excited to see it even though I don't like war movies.  It was based on the Iraq war and the unit that disarms bombs.  There was absolutely no plot to the movie and the camera action actually started to make me sick a couple of times.  I could appreciate the movie but didn't enjoy it.  It was literally the same scene like 5 times over in different locations.  I didn't have a favorite part to this movie except maybe the end because it was over.  I gave this a 1 star on Netflix.
• An Education - This was based in 1960's England and was a high school girl getting an eduction scholastically and the pressures of her father to excel and an eduction in boys.  My favorite part of this movie was when she realized the guy wasn't what she thought.  I guess that really just hit home for me.  We've all had that guy in our life that we wanted to be the one so bad we made up excuses and glossed over the sure signs only to come to our senses later.  We then put our focus on the right stuff (school and career) and in the end have the really right one come out of no where but we try not to accept it.  Oh I digress.  I ended up giving this one 4 stars on Netflix.
• District 9 - This was a sci-fi movie which are usually hit-or-miss with me.  The premise was that a bunch of aliens landed above Johannesburg, South Africa.  They were all moved from the mother ship to what was essentially a slum called District 9.  They had been there so long and were multiplying that they tried to evict them.  There was a lot of blood and gore in this movie so don't go see it if you have a weak stomach.  My favorite part was when an alien robot thing put up this force field and caught all the bullets being shot at it and then turned them all around and shot them back at the people.  Of the 5 of us that went together Tamara and I were the only ones that made it all the way through this movie.  If the others had waited about 10 more minutes they would have gotten into it and liked it I'm sure.  It probably took 30 minutes before you weren't just sitting there going "what is up with this movie".  It was shot in a documentary style.  I gave it 4 stars on Netflix.

It was so much fun and I will definitely do it again next year.  Who knows, maybe if they have 10 movies next year and Dallas offers the 24 hour marathon I'll do that!  Now the only two movies I won't have seen up for Best Picture are Precious and The Blind Side (both are in my Netflix queue but haven't come out on DVD yet).

Don't forget, the Oscars are tonight!!!

Trippin' with Floyd

Pink Floyd that is, and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.  Sean is a huge fan of Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin and really enjoys the orchestral rendentions.  I walked down the isle at the wedding to the orchestral rendetion of Stairway to Heaven if that tells you anything.  So when I saw the DSO was having a one night only "The Music of Pink Floyd" I just knew I had to take him.

As the sun was setting we headed to pick up Elizabeth on our way downtown.  Of course Sean had to have Pink Floyd blasting on the ipod.

The concert was at the Meyerson.  I hadn't been to an event there before but knew it was really nice - and I wasn't disappointed.  The organ on the back wall was georgous!!! 

When did going to the orchestra become casual?  There were so many people in jeans and even someone in booty shorts and knee high socks.  Oh and I have to mention the woman breastfeeding in the chair right in front of us with no blanket or anything.  I just don't get it.  Here we are - all dressed up and waiting for the show to begin.

It was also a laser light show.  I think the concert hall was too big for the smoke machine so it made the light show a little weak.  This is a fun picutre though cuz you can see the lights and the orchestra.

Here's the set list (most of which Sean told me the song with the very first note of the song):

• Dogs of War - this song started out with all the gnarley dogs growling and stuff - cool way to start
• Breathe
• Time
• Learning to Fly
• Wish You Were Here
• Nobody Home - I had never heard this one before
• One Slip - I had never heard this one either and I wish the guy hadn't sung to it
• Money - I wish he hadn't sung to this one either - the orchestral part was so cool
• Intermission
• Is Anybody Out There Interlude
• Hey You
• The Wall - they had some people from the audience get up on the stage and sing with them
• Us & Them
• Signs of Life - I hadn't heard this one before; there was no vocals and I really liked this one!
• On the Turning Away
• Dark Side of the Moon
• Comfortably Numb
• Run Like Hell

Probably my favorite line of the night was when Sean leaned over to me and said "Finally songs you don't know all the words to".  How true that is but I'm getting there with them since Sean plays them so dang much!

Valentine's Update

It's been brought to my attention (multiple times) that I never posted how Sean did with the "make the Valentine's gift" tradition.  For the first year, he did pretty good!  Here's what I got:

• Very sweet/romantic card - not made but still very sweet
• Very cute card to me from Duke - again not made but I didn't even think to have Duke get him a card
• Heart shaped box of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups - he didn't make them but at least he knows what I love!
• Very sweet hand written letter that he framed - best part is it's legible (for those that have ever tried to read his handwriting you know what I'm talking about)
• Wrote and read me a story - he started writing me a story when we were dating and he added onto it and then read the whole thing to me

It's very interesting to see how we each used our talents.  Sean did a lot of writing and I did a lot of crafting.  If any of you have had the opportunity to read anything Sean has written you'll know what I'm talking about.  That boy (I mean man) can make up some funny stuff and with such little effort.  I don't know where he gets some of the stuff he comes up with.

The only suggestion I might make to him for next year is to maybe take more effort in wrapping the present.  As we were getting ready to exchange presents he ran into the kitchen and grabbed a brown paper grocery bag.  But this is Sean we're talking about!  Oh, and a single heart peanut butter cup instead of a whole box.  That's more because I don't have any self-control when it comes to Reese's.

Good Times, Good Friends

This was the busiest weekend I've had in quite some time.  It all started off with hosting Bunco Friday night.  We've probably been playing for 5 years or so now.  This was my month to host.  I made guacamole, pork fajitas and a Lemon-Ricotta Tart I saw get made on Martha.  I really wanted it to have a stronger lemon flavor.  Probably won't make it again.

Craig and Amy came down for the weekend.  Amy was one of my Matron of Honors.  They made it in time for Amy to join the Bunco fun.  After everyone left and the boys got back (Bunco is girls night) we stayed up and played Wii.  Went to bed way later then we should have considering we got up early to head to Canton.

In case you've never heard of Canton, TX here's the low-down.  Canton is the home of First Monday Trade Days; a giant flea market that's held once a month (the weekend before the first Monday of the month).  A buggie is a necessity to carry all your loot.....

or tired pooches.

You can pretty much find anything in Canton and I mean anything.  Here are all the goodies I found.

Starting out with cute cookie cutters.  These are going to the Maine house to be used as decoration.

This awesome bag is black lined and supposed to keep your potatoes from sprouting and supposed to keep your veggies fresher, longer.  That's good considering how long it takes me to get through them sometimes.

Here's Duke sporting his new bandana.

Some new fabric you'll see more of in a future post.

A new flag - yes I realize new years is a long time away but when it's only 6 bucks.....

My new torso!!!  The hat and scarf are Amy's addition.  You'll see more of the torso in future posts, too.

The best peanut butter!!!  I did say you could find everything in Canton, didn't I?!?!  The two flavors I got - Mint Chocolate Chip and Peanut Butter Cup.  Amy also got White Chocolate which was really good too.

Sean got some new bird feeders - two humming bird feeders (one sticks to the window), one you put peanut butter (but not my new peanut butter!) on with seeds...

and one he's already put to use.  It was supposed to go to Maine too but he said he was going to try it out here first.  It's supposed to attract cardinals which is what Sean wants.

Sunday was spent helping Amy do her taxes and the boys doing chores around the house.  It's good to have Sean hang around with guys that are a little more savvy about stuff like fixing dripping sinks.  I'm sure we'll (or rather Sean) be repaying them when we visit them next with computer help.

We had such a great time with Amy and Craig.  We don't get to spend enough time with them since we don't live close.  Funny thing - Sean decided it just might be ok to hang out with a cop!!!

Oh and Amy gave me a blog lesson so you may be noticing some changes happening to the site!  Thanks Amy!!!