Joshua + Ashley

New Blog

2011-04-13T22:08:00.004-04:00

Well, I made a blog for myself. I will probably still use this one, but for now, I can be found over at The Life of the Awkward Lady. See you there!

Jewelry Box Update! YAY!

2011-03-27T12:53:00.002-04:00

So, I finally painted my jewelry box! So exciting. I need to run to Home Depot today to get some final additions, but then I am done. Well, actually, I am going to let it “cure” for three days, but I did do a quick run for pictures.

The bottom picture is the doors- I need to go get larger nails so that I can get the knobs on. The wood is REALLY HARD, so I need to get the nail in before the screw. Anyway, plan is to do that today. I also need to get new hinges. LOVE the grey and love the turquoise knobs and striped knobs. I love it all.

I was going to order a necklace carousel, but they run about $40 and I am not really ready to put in that kind of money, plus you have to drill the hole for it. I don’t have a drill. So unless my dad is going to make a trip up here with a drill, I think I am going to do some little hooks from the top for the necklaces.

Anyway, it is not completely finished, but here is the update!

27 at 27: Status

2011-03-20T20:31:00.002-04:00

Well, I am getting closer and closer to the closing of my year as a 27 year old. In the last week or so, I have crossed a few things off the list and made plans for accomplishing a few others.

5. Take a workshop. I actually have been enrolled in a class at Big Picture Classes since January. I am taking Yesterday and Today by Ali Edwards. I love this class. I love all the stuff you get with it. Ali is a genius.

14. Read six non-fiction books. WOOT! I was at four and a half a while back and just finished my sixth, which was The Bookseller of Kabul. Such a sad book. I wanted to cry out for so many things. I must say that I LOVE reading non-fiction. I had no idea it would be so wonderful. I feel as though I have become a better person through reading about lives and history. I know that might be cheesy, but it is true. I have learned so much.

17. Make really yummy cupcakes. I had a plan to make much better cupcakes, but I got sick. These still turned out great even though they came from a box. Gasp. I do not plan on making any more cupcakes before I turn 28. :)

18. Study for and earn E-6. Although the results do not come out until June, I know I will NOT be getting promoted this year. I did not study enough and the test was much harder than I could have anticipated. Next year, though.

19. Tour White House or Capitol Building. We toured the Capitol Building on Saturday. I will have to post pictures. The tour was kind of lame, but it was inspiring, so there’s that!

23. Make a mini book. I cannot remember when I crossed this off, but I have made several mini books this year. My most recent (and perhaps my favorite EVER) is a “Family Memories” book. I am collecting all the small snippets of stories my Grandddaddy and the rest of my family have told me. For example- one “story” is that my Grandparents met at the Porky Pig. It something I want to remember. We have a picture [of the Porky Pig] that I will add to the page. I will take pictures of the album later. I love love love it.

I do not think I have blogged about everything I have crossed off. But I have done a lot- some things I did not plan on adding to the list, but were fortunate to happen. Yay for living life!

Jewelry Box Update

2011-02-05T19:08:00.001-05:00

Remember ages ago when I posted about updating my jewelry box? Well. I finally got the supplies. I decided I am going to paint it completely grey. Actually, Chinchilla by Martha Stewart. It is light enough that it will not overwhelm any place I decide to put it, but it will look really lovely where ever it ends up.

I also got knobs. I got turquoise knobs for the drawers and black and white knobs for the doors. I know this may not sound good, but I think it will work out well. If I do not like the look, I will probably just change out the knobs. I got the knobs at Hobby Lobby when they were 50% off. $11.63. Good deal.

Anyway, I think I may paint tomorrow before and during the Super Bowl! Go Steelers!

Updating the Bedroom

2011-01-30T23:40:00.001-05:00

Our bedroom is very nice, but it has been feeling a little…bland. For me, anyway.

So I wanted some small updates. I really want to paint the walls grey, but it is a lot of work that I don’t feel like messing with.

So, I got this pretty fabric to make pillowcases with a statement…

and I got white sheers to replace the heavy curtains we have now.

And I cleaned out the room in a huge way. It looks kind of bare.

But I love that fabric. So yay!

I will show pictures when I make the pillowcases.

27 at 27 : Read Six Non-Fiction Books

2011-01-10T20:02:00.001-05:00

Looking at my 27 at 27 list, I wanted to kind of take inventory of what I have for preparation for Number 14 - Read six non-fiction books.

I knew I wanted to read quite a few biographies because I really love learning about people. Life is so interesting. I have watched so many documentaries about presidents and artists and architects and anyone else I could think of.

I asked Joshua which US Presidents he thought I should read about first. His first pick was Teddy Roosevelt. I am pretty interested in him as well because I watched a movie about FDR and FDR was a huge fan of Teddy.

So far:
The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dustbowl by Timothy Eagan

Life After the White House by Jimmy Carter

Christmas in Plains by Jimmy Carter

My Life by Bill Clinton

Currently listening to:

The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris

Future plans:

America's Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950-1975

Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi

New York by Edward Rutherford

The Accidental Guerilla by David Kilcullen

Woodrow Wilson: A Biography by John Milton Cooper

NOVEMBER: ROUND-UP

2010-11-29T11:45:00.000-05:00

Ashley:
- spent a week in a Russian immersion. Total insanity on her part.
- backed-up 30K+ photos. Thank goodness.
- learned to crochet (again).
- had Thanksgiving with half friends/half complete strangers.
- went down a size in pants!

Joshua:
- bought a plane ticket.
- went home to see his family.
- was thankful for a week off of work.
- also went down a size in pants!

They:
- decided December would be the Month of Soups. More on that later.
- went Black Friday shopping at an antique store at 11:30 PM. Fantastic experience.
- are enjoying life with each other & Jack.

OCTOBER: ROUND-UP

2010-10-17T14:21:00.004-04:00

Ashley:
- launched a big project at work that went over well with leadership.
- finished a new favorite book: The Power of One.

Joshua:
- supported his wife in a time of trouble.
- helped a friend set-up their computer.

They:
- finished Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
- watched the Rangers battle the Yankees.
- helped & watched a close friend depart for a deployment.

SEPTEMBER: ROUND UP

2010-10-02T12:47:00.003-04:00

Ashley:
- went to Monterey again! So beautiful!
- finished The Worst Hard Time: Untold Stories of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl.
- has been consistently taking Nasonex, but still has hollow ear. :\

Joshua:
- found new shows!
- helped Stephanie move out of her house.
- is still a devoted Cowboys fan.

They:
- missed Grandma; it's been two years.
- ate lots of fresh veggies.
- celebrated six years together!!!

Sweet Gifts from Mary...

2010-09-06T12:34:00.000-04:00

A package arrived last week from Mary... she sent me a few things to help me accomplish my 27 at 27 list! How cool is that?
14. Read six non-fiction books. She sent me one non-fiction and one fiction! Can't wait to start both!

17. Make really yummy cupcakes. She sent a really fun recipe!

20. Throw a party. CUTE invites!

26. Write letters. This is especially wonderful because I have been not so great at this one!!

She also threw in a cute cute cute owl calendar! Thank you so much, Mary!!

Fall!

2010-09-04T16:14:00.004-04:00

I am so excited to finally be able to decorate for fall! This morning we cleaned out all the weeds in the front yard and I decorated the yard and house for fall. Aunt Rhonda sent me this cute little flower from Leakey and I put it next to our little (big) froggy.
I changed out the display in the window above the door, added a fall rug, potted our rosemary plant in a terra cotta pot, and added fun little owl stakes.
In the window above the door I added a greenish-brown vase, an owl, and a pumpkin candle. I changed out our blue rug for a brown striped one. I changed the normal blue throw to a red one and removed all the stuff on the top shelf of the bookshelf and replaced it with a pumpkin bowl for our keys and a plate with a bird.

I also had an Anthropologie catalog (for September) that was really inspiring, so I tore out one of the pages, added the word CRISP (again, cannot wait for the crisp fall air!) and threw it in the frame. Easy, peasy!
And the kitchen! I added kind of a lot of stuff here! I love fall, what can I say? Everything above the shelves is just stuff I had in the kitchen (plates, pumpkin soup bowls, an apple that I put wine corks in, etc). The pear canister usually holds tea, but I switched it out with the Martha Stewart utensil crock. I like the change! I also changed out my blue butter dish for a brown one. Another simple change that works well!
I did not do much to the living room... just added some deep reddish-orange hydrangeas. They are one of my favorites... we had them at our wedding! :)

Things I Am Loving : Ballard Designs

2010-09-03T09:32:00.008-04:00

So, I love Ballard Designs has been one of my favorite "stores" since I was ... umm ... 15! Ha ha. We received a catalog at 504 and I fell in love right then! I still get the catalog and here are some of my current favorites and wishes.

First up... these great letters! I have been looking for a bunch of different types of big letters but these would be a nice addition...
Now the sunburst mirror... classic beautiful design...
Now these huge maps...while I would prefer a vintage map, this is a great alternative.
I love Paris and these pieces... I like the red & blue in la tour eiffel and the graphic look of the other one.

Oh dear how I love this settee. It is a little more traditional than I would normally go, but it would be FAB in a bedroom.

Love love love this rug. It is indoor/outdoor and just fabulous.

This is one of those cushy rugs. This is one thing that I am actually considering purchasing. My boots are so heavy and then to come home and stand on my feet to cook is pretty not fun. This could make it more fun.
Very classic lamp. Love it.

I love love love this little sconce. I think it could also work in my house. May also be purchasing this one.

AUGUST: ROUND UP

2010-08-31T11:01:00.000-04:00

Ashley:
- has the best husband ever.
- did very well on a big inspection at work.
- is running a total of 13 miles a week. Knees are not loving it.
- has to use Nasonex twice a day. Bleh.
- heard Marcus Luttrell speak. Very sad & inspirational.

Joshua:
- brought Ashley red roses randomly.
- saw The Expendables.
- cleaned the house more than Ashley.
- fixed the vent hood in the kitchen.
- found the forever-lost Carrie Underwood clips!

They:
- bought watermelon, peaches, tomatoes, and corn from a Russian lady on the street.
- cleaned the backyard.
- went to a play at Toby's Dinner Theater for Stephanie's birthday.
- watched Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. (Almost finished!)
- enjoyed the beautiful non-August weather!

Masala Dabba

2010-08-22T13:46:00.004-04:00

Today I was watching Food Network and a new show came on. It is called Aarti Party and was pretty interesting. The host is Indian (and has a blog, FUN!) so she is kind of showing how to infuse Indian spices and cooking into your everyday meals. She had some pretty good ideas.
The coolest discovery from this show for me was the masala dabba. It is an Indian spice box. It is really neat...basically your spices are right there for you, so you are more likely to use them. I love love love this idea. I use a lot of cumin, Joshua likes powdered garlic & onion, and I can think of other items we could use one for.

I would LOVE to just buy one right now. However, they are kind of large, so I do not exactly have a spot for one, especially given my need for neatness. I could not handle having one sit out of place. But I am going took look around my stove area and see if I could make the changes.

The masala dabba (plus a few hours of Food Network) inspire me to use more fresh herbs and spices. I imagine a few new herb plants coming our way...we already have rosemary (my favorite, courtesy of Stephanie) but I would like to add oregano and maybe thyme? We shall see, but I am excited!

Rug!

2010-08-08T12:00:00.000-04:00

We finally found a great rug for the living room. I think it is close to perfect. And ... is from the Martha Stewart Rug Collection! The rug was on SUPER sale, so we were able to get it!

Jack also approves:

Backyard Clean Out

2010-08-07T20:40:00.004-04:00

We finally got around to cleaning up our backyard. It was a little crazy:

So Tuesday afternoon we got to WORK. Four hours later:

I am sure this will take a lot of maintenance since the plant that was covering most of the ground has a very nice root system. But we will cross that bridge later. The plan now is to find some mulch and maybe some pretty flowers to go around the tree. I like that we can actually enjoy the outdoor space (though not really for a while since it is H-O-T).

JULY : ROUND-UP

2010-07-26T16:51:00.008-04:00

Ashley:
- got to spend time with Mary and it was so so fun. Miss her.
- loves cooking. Looking for easy recipes to make during our month of not eating out.
- is working out five days a week. High point this week? Taking 53 seconds off 1.5 mile run!
- had to write a paper for being late to PT. Not fun.
- went to the doctor for "hollow ear." Possibly a Eustachian tube problem? Follow up in August.
- read Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society. Great book.

Joshua:
- revamped some stuff at work to make it more efficient.
- beat a game in one sitting.
- is always up-to-date on CNN & FARK.
- slept in late.
- watched a lot of good movies.
- missed his family a whole bunch.
- is a fast runner.
- makes Ashley blissfully happy.

They:
- turned twenty-seven!
- celebrated Jack's first (& fourth) birthday!!
- took a mini trip to Philadelphia with Stephanie & Alyssa.
- are stressed at work. Luckily, they come home to each other & Jack!
- hosted a birthday party!
- might be addicted to Star Trek: Deep Space 9!
- missed their grandparents.
- saw Inception and really liked it.

Party Time

2010-07-26T16:08:00.003-04:00

This weekend we had the pleasure of having Alyssa's birthday at our house! Originally, Stephanie planned the party to be outdoors, but then it ended up being the hottest day of the year! We have a pretty big house, so we offered to have the party here. It was sooooo fun getting to decorate the house for a kid's party!
After the party we built a tent in the basement for a sleepover! Super fun!

Happy birthday, Jack!

2010-07-20T21:23:00.002-04:00

Today was Jack's birthday!

(When we got him, the owner said he was born in the summer & we got him on July 20th, so we decided that would be his birthday.)

I got him this little cat toy, which he went crazy for. It was funny though, because he played and played and then PLOPPED! It was cute. He really likes the toy, so that is fun.

We also gave him extra treats today- we normally only do treats once a day, but today we have given him extras.

We love our sweet Jack and are so glad he is a part of our family!

Non-Fiction Books

2010-07-17T11:31:00.003-04:00

For my 27 @ 27, I want to read six non-fiction books. Well, I am a little ways in to #1- America's Longest War: The United States and Vietnam, 1950-1975.

I have been really interested in American history lately. This came about while I was studying for my promotion test. I was reading through the chapter on Air Force enlisted history and came across a [rather small] section about the Berlin Airlift. I remembered seeing a book about the Berlin Airlift on the Air Force Chief of Staff's 2010 Reading List, so I looked up the book (Daring Young Men: The Heroism & Triumph of the Berlin Airlift - June 1948 - May 1949) on Audible.com and began listening. It was such an interesting story and made me want to expand my knowledge on American history.

That is when I picked up the book about the war with Vietnam. I usually read two or three pages a night and since it is not a very long book, I should get through it fairly quickly.

I am also listening to a book from Audible.com about the Great Depression, titled The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan. The book is about the great dust bowl in America's High Plains region. It is very interesting so far and very very sad.

I am likely going to continue with these kinds of books. I have really enjoyed expanding my knowledge and understanding more about our past.

27 at 27

2010-07-11T20:32:00.004-04:00

Elise Blaha & Kelly Purkey inspired me to do this ... 27 at 27. A list of 27 things I want to do while I am 27. I tried to make it a list that I could and would actually follow through with. I asked Joshua what he thought and he is actually excited to do some of the things on the list, so I think it will be fun!

1. Ride & then sell scooter.
2. Eat at home for a whole month.
3. See a show in NYC.
4. Use film. Actual film.
5. Take a workshop (either scrapbooking or photography).
6. Get a library card.
7. Participate in a race.
8. Clean typewriter.
9. Take a random trip.
10. See a concert.
11. Go camping.
12. Blog.
13. Take a portrait of someone I do not know.
14. Read six non-fiction books.
15. Get a passport card.
16. Spend quality time with various family groupings.
17. Make really yummy cupcakes!
18. Study for & earn E-6.
19. Tour White House or Capitol Building.
20. Throw a party.
21. Eat at Iron Bridge Wine Company.
22. See performance at The Kennedy Center.
23. Make a mini-book.
24. Go to a {farmer's} market.
25. See something new from 1000 Places to See Before You Die.
26. Write letters.
27. Visit National Cathedral.

Happy 27th Birthday to the Moseley's

2010-07-05T01:52:00.004-04:00

We celebrated our 27th birthday this Sunday and it was really a wonderful day. We spent the day with our dearest friends and it was really pleasant. We want to thank everyone for birthday wishes!

From the previously mentioned...

2010-06-20T23:28:00.003-04:00

LIST.

So, I have done quite a few things, which is surprising for me. When I wrote the list, I was actually thinking about how I would never get any of it done. So much faith, huh?
Anyway. I have....

- organized my sewing supplies. This literally took five minutes but I felt so much better after. Inspired to sew, even.- painted the china hutch. This took all weekend. I am now waiting the mandatory 48 hours before putting everything back in and let me tell you, I am excited.- recovered my dining room chairs. We have six, four in the dining and two in the living and I ended up deciding to only cover the ones in the dining room. They look awesome, and every time I look over at them, I smile.
- make some things on my sewing list. I made two pillow covers and hemmed Stephanie's curtains. However, all the sewing inspired some more ideas, so now the list is longer.
- got some pictures of Joshua's family. My SIL is awesome and put pics on FB and when I asked for them she said she will put them online for me. I am pretty excited about this.

- made scrapbooks. Two down, three or four to go. No more details here.

- cleaned out the laundry room. This was not on the list, but doing this enabled me to finish unpacking some boxes and get some clarity on where to hang some other stuff.

I have plans to work on the yard throughout this week and this weekend. It is going to be a lot of work, but I found some cute yard stuff, so I am jazzed about it.

I will come back with before and afters later this week!

One down!

2010-05-16T15:55:00.004-04:00

I cleaned the upstairs hall linen closet! It was kind of crazy. Our pillowcases were all mixed up and I could not find them so this was long overdue. I meant to take before and afters, but I forgot for this first one. So, imagine the picture below but a LOT more messy. A lot. Anyway. I also took this time to straighten the area under the sink in the guest bathroom. It was also scary. Plus, I wanted it to be a bit more organized so that if we have guests, they can easily find what they are looking for.
In a couple of days I want to start posting pictures of our house. I have been meaning to do this for a while now, but I just haven't gotten there. I will probably start with this cute little bathroom!

Things....

2010-05-13T19:40:00.008-04:00

I have not been inspired to do much other than scrapbook lately (I finally have stuff to scrapbook now that it has gotten warmer... we went to Pittsburgh, I went to Monterey, cousins came for a visit, etc).
Anyway, I have some things that I want to do this spring/summer that I know will make me happy...the kind of happy where you go back and look thirty times because whatever you did is so wonderful that you just LOVE it.

So, without further adieu-
1. Organize sewing supplies. Most of my stuff is organized pretty well, but it could use a good neatening.

2. Paint china cabinet. I have the paint. Now I need the motivation!

3. Paint my jewelry box. I have to admit this is intimidating. It reminds me of my Grandmother so much that the thought of painting it almost makes me sick. Then I remember that I want to paint it and that she wouldn't mind. But it is still scary to do.

4. Put a cute knob on my craft room closet door. We don't own this place, but this simple change will make me happy.
5. Recover my dining room chairs. I have the fabric. Also intimidating. I don't want to screw up!
6. Make some things that have been on my sewing list. It's pretty long, actually.

7. Get some pictures of Joshua's family. Hoping my MIL & SIL can help me with this one.

8. Make scrapbooks for some people. No more details because they might read this.

9. Hang some stuff in the house. We still have a few boxes that are only half-unpacked.

10. Work on the yard. Our yard is huge. I started working on it a few weeks ago, but it is pretty large, so I did not get much done, and then it started to rain. And hasn't stopped, really.

Ooh, one more...

11. Finish painting and putting knobs on my dresser.

ETA...One more, one more...

12. Organize linen/bathroom closets! This needs to be done so badly! - DONE!

Five Kitchen Favorites

2010-04-26T16:51:00.002-04:00

Last night as I was making our salads for lunch today, I started thinking about my most used kitchen items and narrowed it down (pretty easily) to my top five:

1. santoku knife. I don't have the one at the link; mine came from the BX at Lackland and was $25. Best $25 I have ever spent. Seriously. This thing makes life so easy.

2. Cutting boards - both plastic & wood. I have one large one with a lip around the edge and use it when I am cutting raw chicken, a small plastic one for cutting quick fruit/veggies, and a large wooden one for everything else.

3. Large saute pan. I don't have the one in the picture, but I have one similar and it is the best. I use it for everything. We even took it camping and it is still my favorite. We bought ours at Marshall's for $15.

4. Salad spinner. This might seem silly, but it really does make cleaning fruits and veggies quickly a breeze. I love it. I do have the one I linked to! :)

And finally...

5. Kitchen Aid mixer. My Grandma had her first Kitchen Aid for something like 35 years. They are tough. Totally worth the cost. Plus look at all the fun colors!!

Snow and books!

2010-02-10T14:52:00.003-05:00

We are currently enduring a blizzard. Good times!
I have wanted to cover the books for the kitchen since I knew that they were really going to be out in the open (on a big shelf). Well, yesterday, I went to U-Haul and bought packing paper for the move and it is the perfect thing to cover books! YAY! I am not going to cover all of our books, just the cookbooks. I am going to add the title of the book later with either a label maker or a pretty pen. We'll see! I am going to finish these books and then pack!

Getting Organized & Reducing Clutter

2010-02-10T13:36:00.002-05:00

I would say that overall I do a pretty good job with keeping the clutter low. However, sometimes I get lazy. Take our filing cabinet for example. Two full drawers of random crap. I didn't know where anything was because after the initial set-up, I hadn't maintained it. I knew I didn't want to move a bunch of junk into the new place (especially since we are moving ourselves) so I had to tackle it. It took me about two hours to go through everything. We had so many old and useless documents and user's manuals (coffee pot...who needs that and why would I keep it?!). So, I made a bag for recycle and a pile for shred. And ended up with one small container to hold all of the papers that we actually do need to keep! I am so happy to have it all in one small place that is portable!

Pillows!

2010-02-05T19:53:00.004-05:00

So a year or so ago, I found this neat Federal Reserve Bank bag. I had no real idea what I was going to do with it, but it was $3. Can't pass that up, right? Let's pretend you can't.

Anyway, the other day, we were at another antique store and I found this cool flour bag that says "DONATED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES." I am such a fan. The back has the same saying in twelve different languages (no Russian though...boo).

So, I decided that I should make pillows! For the guest bedroom. They are not normal sizes, but they are still so fun. I also had the blue and red striped fabric from my Grandma's fabric collection and thought it went *perfectly* with the bags. So I made three pillows! Great little project!!
By the way... this is the view from my window. So beautiful and enchanting outside right now.

New Place!

2010-01-24T15:47:00.002-05:00

We are finally moving out of our tiny place to a much larger place in Columbia, MD. Here is a link, which I will keep up for a couple of days! I must say that the pictures do not do this place justice! It is huge and beautiful!

Jewelry Box

2009-10-28T20:38:00.004-04:00

My grandma has this jewelry box. And I loved it. I thought it was so neat. So, my wonderful Aunt Chris made me one for Christmas one year! It was given to me unpainted and I left it that way for a while, until my Grandma had one of her friends paint it for me. As far as I can remember, the friend turned out to be kind of shady. This being said, I am not very attached to the design of the painting, more just to the jewelry box itself. So. I am going to repaint it and fix it up!

I am going to start with the doors first and decide on a paper to use to cover them. I will have to find something I love because I don't want to redo it anytime soon (anytime soon = never). I am going to paint over the existing design with something clear so that I can perhaps save it in case I wake up in 20 years and say "what was I thinking??" I doubt this will happen, but you never know. I am also going to add knobs to the doors and new pulls on the drawers.

Anyway, here is the before! This little jewelry box won't know what hit it!

I haven't really been interested in home projects lately, so hopefully this will help me get out of that funk!

Digital Scrapbooking

2009-10-25T09:46:00.005-04:00

A few months ago I began digital scrapbooking. I haven't played around with it too much until yesterday when I created these pages...I don't think I could ever give up traditional scrapbooking, but for now, I am loving digital!

Not a lot of posting...

2009-10-04T23:18:00.004-04:00

...because we have been going going going non-stop! Mary & I went to NYC last weekend (great trip!) and this week we will probably hang out a lot before she heads of to Alaska.

On a home project sort of note, while we were in NYC, I found the papers I am going to use for the bottom of the drawers for my dresser (which has yet to be painted...). I got a bunch of different map papers from Kate's Paperie. The maps are of the world, the US, Paris, London, and NYC. All fun designs. I also have the knobs to replace the current pulls (which are very loud), so after I paint I can add those. Anyway, hopefully that will happen sometime over the next couple of weeks.

We do have more stuff going on over the next few weeks- next week, Joshua's dad will be visiting and the following week my dad will be visiting. It will be great to see our dads; we are both so excited!!

Also, at some point I plan on adding "labels" to all of my old posts so that things are easier to find!

Cool vintage poster!

2009-09-12T20:49:00.002-04:00

While we were on our anniversary trip (the sole purpose of the trip was to go antiquing), we found this cool vintage Bausch & Lomb poster for $1! I was so excited. I finally hung it up today. I need to find something little to go above it, as it is looking a little bare up there (maybe I should have centered it more on the window?? Now I am thinking I should move it...). Anyway, YAY fun poster!

Fifth Anniversary!

2009-09-12T10:52:00.003-04:00

Friday was our Fifth Anniversary! For Labor Day weekend, we went to Pennsylvania for an anniversary weekend. We had a great time. More pictures to come from that later.

I wanted to do something special for Joshua, but he is very difficult to buy for. Then one day I had an idea! I decided to create a book with every picture of us taken over the last five years! Here is the book via Shutterfly.

I also got us Keel's Simple Diarys. I got red and I got Joshua blue. We will keep these and see what our life was like years five to six! Fun!

Joshua got me something really... brilliant! A 1 carat cushion cut diamond! YAY! Ha ha. I still have to have it put into my old band, but I am going to wait for that. For the photo I put it on top, but I wear it between my wedding band and my Grandma's band. I really really really love the cushion cut shape!

We have really come far in our five years. We have grown, learned more about ourselves, set individual goals, traveled, been happy with the everyday, we have lost special people, set goals together, helped each other through obstacles, and a ton of other things. When I think of Joshua, my heart almosts bursts with love and happiness. I am so thankful that God put us together!

New Projects!

2009-08-16T23:42:00.004-04:00

After spending the weekend antiquing, I now have several projects for our house! Pictures to come!

1. The first is fairly easy! We bought Jack a chair and the fabric on it is a little rough! So I have some other fabric I am going to use to cover it. Also, I am thinking of sanding it down and refinishing it. I think it will be so cute!

2. We got a second dresser for the bedroom. It is very simple and so cute! I am going to give it another coat of white paint. I am going to get some cute little knobs for the drawers. And finally, I am going to get sheets of decorative paper from Paper Source and cover the bottoms of the drawers! I am also going to cover the bottoms of the drawers in our other dresser.

3. Finally a project that I have been meaning to do for a long time! I need to order glass for our china cabinet. I also have Papyrus wrapping paper to cover the back with. I am so excited to see it up! I may also consider painting it, but it is more likely that I will leave it alone. The final part of this project will be to cover the bottom of the drawer with either paper or maybe fabric.

Stairwell frames!

2009-08-16T12:00:00.001-04:00

I just realized I never showed the final look of the frames! I love them sooo much!

Gettysburg!

2009-08-15T12:00:00.000-04:00

The last day the group was here, we drove a couple of hours north and went to Gettysburg National Military Park. Gettysburg was amazing. We explained the Battle of Gettysburg to the girls and it was really hit home just how many lives were lost and horrible the battle really was.

Bowling Fun!

2009-08-14T12:00:00.000-04:00

The day after the beach, Little Ashley was not feeling well, so while Karrisa stayed home to take care of Ashley, the rest of us went bowling! In order of bowling greatness: Joshua, Connie, Jessica, me! Ha ha. The first picture is of one of Joshua's strikes!

Bethany Beach

2009-08-13T21:14:00.002-04:00

Joshua's family recently came to visit and it was so fun! We took a *long* drive to Bethany Beach in Delaware! Along the way we stopped at Sonic for drinks and then we finally made it to the beach! Jessica and I loved the waves, Josh loved the blanket & his book, and Connie, Karrisa, and Little Ashley stayed right near the water's edge. We really had a ton of fun and we were WIPED out by the end of the day!

Family Reunion

2009-08-03T09:04:00.001-04:00

Meet Jack!

2009-07-20T02:49:00.003-04:00

We got a cat today! I found him on a Craigslist type site at work! He is really cute! He is pretty big. So far, we both really like him, although, I must admit... it is 3 AM and we have both been awake all night with meowing. I am hoping that it is just first night jitters!

Birthday Fun!

2009-07-05T21:00:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was our 26th Birthday! We spent the day with our close friends and had a great time! I secretly ordered these dinosaurs for Joshua's birthday. He had them when he was a kid, so I found them on eBay and surprised him. He was excited to see them again. I want to make a diorama to put them in! How fun!

Here is our birthday cake! I made a white cake (Joshua's favorite) and then made Cool Whip/Cream Cheese Frosting (basically a huge tub of Cool Whip, two packages of cream cheese, some milk, and some powdered sugar). I know my number of stripes is off, but it was YUMMY!
I usually try not to put pictures of kiddos up, but I am going to make an exception and put this one up! We had a group roll down this huge hill in the back yard! It was so fun! We were all laughing hysterically!
Finally, here is a picture of our backyard area! I am going to take the big puff balls down today, but everything else is staying. The two chairs in the back are the other two that I got at Goodwill. I painted them a lighter green color. I really love our backyard. It is like a little outdoor room! : )
We had a great day and we got some really awesome and much appreciated gifts!

Feeling Free?

2009-06-23T20:18:00.005-04:00

Last night, as I was shampooing my hair, I realized that it had been over five years since I chopped my hair off. I have had it short since we got married, but never *really* short. I find a short haircut to be a fresh start. Boy do I have a fresh start. I LOVE the haircut, though. When she turned me around in that chair, I almost shrieked with excitement!

After I got home and Joshua got of the shock of his wife not having any hair, I took the gold frames outside to be painted. Some of them took the paint really well, others, not so much. I can't decide if I am okay with them the way they are or if I will take another stab at painting them, possibly with a different type of paint. We will see.

I love the big frame. I bought a huge mat to put in it and I think it is all going to look wonderful. So excited for the finished product!

Stairwell Frames!

2009-06-15T20:48:00.002-04:00

Remember this post from three weeks ago? Well, I have *finally* done something with all of those frames! Not completely finished, of course, but moving forward none the less! I still have to put hangers on ten-twelve frames, put glass in some, spray paint some, and put pictures in MOST of them. BUT! They are up! So that is great! I still need *hint hint* more pictures of Joshua's family...

Picnic Area

2009-06-08T21:24:00.003-04:00

YAY picnic table! Sorry the pictures are so bad... not sure what was going on when I took these! Isn't the table beautiful?! I love it so much! I took the top photo last night while I was sitting outside reading blogs and relaxing. The bottom picture is from today, when we had our first dinner at our table! I am *loving* summer!

I love Goodwill!

2009-06-06T18:35:00.003-04:00

Well, we still haven't gotten the picnic table. Hopefully today or tomorrow; not sure. BUT! Today after lunch, we went over to Goodwill to see if they had anything that needed to belong to us! Ha ha. We found two chairs. Which were QUITE UGLY. They were brown and had these horrible rope "pads" on them. But the basic shape of the chair was great. They were supposed to be $12, but the cashier only charged us $6!!

So, we got home and I went straight to Wal-Mart to get paint. Twenty minutes and $16 later, I left with a clearanced green color and some primer. I primed the chairs and then put the green on. Paint is quick dry these days! The whole project only really took me an hour or so! Also, a while ago, I found a little outdoor side table for $5 at another thrift store so I painted it as well. I will have to do another coat as my fingers/arm went numb from spray painting for so long, but over all, I am happy with the end result! And the total cost for the project was $27!

We have been really wanting to spend more time outside lately, so I am excited to now have the chairs. After the picnic table, we are pretty much done with the back. I have one other little project to do, but really that is it! I think we might have a "birthday party" of sorts on the weekend of the 4th. It will be a nice way to celebrate summer and a great time to have all of our friends together!

Reisterstown Road

2009-06-04T20:29:00.005-04:00

Today, our Russian class took a short trip to Reisterstown Road in Baltimore. We went to two book/DVD stores and an international market. It was an experience!

The first bookstore (pictured) was great! The owner was a sweet Russian lady who was willing to help us with anything! There, I purchased a kids Russian alphabet magnet set for our fridge (I am hoping to teach Joshua some more words- he already knows quite a few phrases), an older book about Chekov, Chekov's stories on CD (for the car; I am hoping this helps my listening more), a children's sayings/tongue twister book, and a few cards for our nieces. Oh! I also got a book about a silly mouse. It is so cute!

Next, we went to the international market. This was not a great experience! The store owners were kind of rude to us- I think because they weren't ready for ten American adults to bombard their store with sometimes crazy faces (some Russian food is not very appetizing). But oh well. There, I purchased three little things of blackberries for 79 cents each. Joshua loves blackberries, but usually we do not buy them because they are so expensive!

Finally, we went to another book/DVD store. They had a lot of DVDs and a lot of music. There I bought a couple of post cards/cards to frame and a little book for our nieces. I will have to translate it for them, but it is neat anyway!

For us this week...update...

2009-05-31T19:02:00.004-04:00

- still in the Russian class. STRESS. Ha ha.

- ordered a picnic table from a local builder that will be delivered Friday! YAY!

- gotta clean the back up a little bit so that there is room for the picnic table. We are doing this tonight (Wednesday). I can't wait to have a nice outdoor area to hang out in!

- paint frames for hallway. This is definitely not getting done this week!

- softball games Monday & Wednesday at 5:30. I am glad to have early games this week. We lost the first one to a team with a bad attitude. Annoying.

- print pictures and do three scrapbook pages. Check!

And I have a personal goal for June to enter a scrapbooking challenge. We will see. I say this every month!

Library of Congress

2009-05-28T16:42:00.005-04:00

This place was AMAZING! I went with my Russian class and we got a private tour of some sections of the Library. We were able to see authentic Russian letters written to magazines in the 70's. We also saw some of the first color photos taken in Russia! It was really neat. After our private tour, we went on a tour of the public areas in the building. This tour was only in Russian, so we got a good speaking lesson while we toured! It was a really great day and it was so interesting to see the Library of Congress. The building was BEAUTIFUL!

US National Arboretum

2009-05-23T23:36:00.004-04:00

Today I visited the US National Arboretum. I knew Joshua would be bored to tears there, so I went alone. I had a fantastic time. They have a little tram ride for $4 which was fairly interesting. The Arboretum is huge, so the tram gives you a good overview of all the areas and then you can drive around to areas that you are really interested in. I didn't really know what to expect, but the Arboretum was amazing! AND! Peonies were in full bloom!!! The peony and ranunculus are my favorite flowers and the peonies at the Arboretum did not dissapoint! I have never seen this many peonies, so it was extra exciting.

I just added all of the Arboretum photos to my Picasa gallery. You will see that I took a kazillion photos of the peonies... I love peonies...

So far...

2009-05-22T21:33:00.004-04:00

Well. This morning I cleaned downstairs really well. I was not feeling very well, so I am glad that I got that much done. I am going to try to do more cleaning after I finish this post! I did get the stairs vaccuumed really well, which is great, because the new carpet was leaving lots of little fuzzies. I gathered all of the frames I want to hang and I see that I have a LOT to do! I really wanted to get this project finished this weekend, but I am not sure that will happen! I have to paint all of those gold frames black and put backing and glass in. Also, I have a lot of mats, but I am still unsure of the pictures I will use...

Oh yeah... the pretty purple rug there... it is from Home Depot's Expo Design Center. When they were closing the stores, we found a couple of little carpet samples and I really loved this one. It is a nice change on the landing from all the boring beige carpet.

Complete and Total Randomness...

2009-05-20T23:54:00.003-04:00

1. My friend Stephanie's daughter broke both of her arms today! So, please say a little prayer for them! She will likely be in casts for six weeks! : (

2. We were going to go to NYC this weekend but changed our minds!

3. Instead of NYC, we are going to DC! YAY! Sunday we are going to see the National Memorial Day Concert in DC. Saturday we might go to the Kennedy Center to see a play. This is still to be decided.

4. We had another softball game tonight and won! YAY! It was super exciting.

5. Americans got it right again this year and Kris Allen won American Idol! YAY!

6. This weekend, I have major plans:

- photograph jewelry for project

- write EPR (BOO!)

- do a bunch of Russian homework

- clean my house from top to bottom

- hang a BUNCH of frames and pictures in the hallway

- make a bunch of scrapbook pages that I am behind on

- clean my car ... *really* well

- update the ole blog... I have quite a few pictures, thoughts, and things to add...

- do a little research on a few things!

7. So number six is A LOT. But I have four days! Yay for being in the military! Ha ha.

8. Russian is very difficult. And Russians are very difficult. It is just tough all the way around right now.

9. I need to do laundry really badly!!

10. Josh is great. For real. He is awesome. I really do have the greatest husband ever. He is so sweet. And he cheers me on at my softball games. And he listens to me when I freak out about stuff. And he is understanding about my crazy class and homework. And he always has funny jokes. And not funny jokes. And I just *really* love him. He makes me super happy.

Sorry for all the gushing there, but really, I never imagined in my life that someone would be this perfect for me, but he is! :)

Our new friends...

2009-05-19T16:22:00.003-04:00

...or not. We moved into this new beautiful place and have a million little new friends. Boxelder bugs! They are everywhere! We can't open the windows because they will get through crevases between the screen and window. Super annoying, especially on beautiful days like today! Anyway, here are a few of our little friends!

Softball!

2009-05-17T10:25:00.003-04:00

I play on one of the squadron softball teams- The B Team!

Our shirts say "Bring Your A Game for the B Team." And have little bees on them. Cute, huh?

Our first game was last week and we lost. Pretty badly. Ha ha. We are a Division III team- we just play for fun. It rained during the entire game and it was SUPER cold, so we defintely weren't at our best. We had four (I think) home runs! I only ever got to first. I really need to practice batting!!

We did have a blast though. When I joined the Air Force, this is the kind of comraderie that I expected and have only just now (after six years in) experienced it. This is the kind of thing that really makes me glad that I joined the Air Force.

Austin

2009-04-27T21:27:00.003-04:00

Friday afternoon, I flew out to Austin to spend the weekend with Rachel, Lucas, and Messias. It was such a fantastic weekend. Lucas stole my heart the very moment I laid eyes on him. He is the happiest and sweetest baby and he loves to smile. He put up with so much going-going-going all weekend and I was so impressed that he never lost his cool! Of course, I also had a great time catching up with Rachel and Messias who are just *AWESOME* parents. I was so impressed with their comfortable parenting. I am looking forward to seeing them again!!!

Washington, DC Cherry Blossom Festival 2009

2009-04-15T23:59:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, we went to the beautiful Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC. A couple of my friends from DLI are out here for a class, so we went out to DC early in the morning and went to monuments and memorials. This was the first time I was able to see the Jefferson Memorial. I think it is one of the most beautiful in DC. There were SO many people in DC that it was hard to appreciate the trees and certainly hard to appreciate the Jefferson Memorial. But, I am so glad we went. The trees were just breathtaking! I was amazed! This was also Joshua's first time seeing the White House! He was very excited! He he.

Atlantic City!

2009-04-14T00:00:00.001-04:00

A few weeks ago, on a Saturday afternoon, Joshua suggested that we take a trip to Atlantic City... so we ran home, packed, got a hotel, and were on our way! A short, three hours later, we arrived. We checked into our BEAUTIFUL hotel and then hit the streets to find some food and casinos! Ha ha. We easily found both. We had dinner at the Ceasar hotel and then tried our hands at the slot machines. After losing $60, we decided to call it a day with gambling! We went back to the hotel and hung out. The next morning, we got up and had brunch at Teplitzky's, a fun retro diner in our hotel. Then we took a walk along the boardwalk. Joshua was so excited to see the ocean! We took a ride in these little push carts that are all along the Boardwalk and then we headed back home!

A visit from family!

2009-04-12T10:58:00.011-04:00

Well! It has really taken me forever to get these pictures up, huh?! Aunt Rhonda, Uncle Brian, Caleb, and Mary Ann (Uncle B's mom) came to visit us in March! We had a week to see everything Maryland/DC. We succeeded in jamming everything into one week! It was fun to see family and do all the fun stuff around here.

On the first day, I made THREE trips to the airport! The airlines overbooked flights, and Aunt Rhonda & Caleb came on one, Mary Ann on another, and Uncle Brian on yet another! So needless to say, we didn't do much that day. But we did get to catch up and that was fun.

On the second day, it was rainy. : ( So, we decided to do inside stuff. We took the Metro into DC and went to the National Museum of Natural History. It was so neat! They have a new exhibit open about marine life. They even have an actual giant squid. Which was kind of gross...

On the third day, we went up to Baltimore. This was really my first time going to Baltimore, but it was *really* neat! I definitely want to go back and explore the Baltimore Aquarium. We saw four boats! Well, a ship, a lighthouse boat, a Coast Guard cutter, a SUBMARINE! It was really neat. That night, we had a fun dinner at Phillips Seafood.

The next day, we went out to Annapolis. We walked through the little shops and then went for lunch at a little cafe where we had yummy gyros. Then we took a tour of the US Naval Academy. I went with Amanda last year when she was here, but got to see some new stuff this time.

Thursday, we ended up having FANTASTIC weather and we went into DC again. We walked around and saw monuments and memorials. It was really fun. Caleb and Uncle Brian quickly picked up on the Metro system, so that was fun. That night, we met up with a cousin, Diana, and her family who live in Gaithersburg. It was great catching up with them and chatting!

Thursday ended up being a lazy day. We went to Lowe's and bought a new shower head for our shower, which Uncle Brian installed. I had some AF stuff to do and really, we were all exhausted from all of the going going going!

So the next day, we went back into DC. We had lunch at the sculpture garden cafe and then split up. Aunt Rhonda and I went to the National Gallery of Art. It is such a beautiful place! The rotunda was FILLED with azaleas! Mary Ann, Uncle Brian, and Caleb went to the National Air and Space Museum and the American Indian Museum. They seemed to really like the Natnl Air and Space Museum.

The next day we took Mary Ann to the airport and she flew back to Texas. After we dropped her off, we headed back into DC. We rode the Metro to have coffee with Diana and then rode it again to go to Arlington National Cemetery. I have been to Arlington before and still when I go, I feel awed by how many people serve and sometimes die for their country. It is truely a sight to behold.

The next morning, I took everyone to the airport. It was FANTASTIC having everyone here and something I will never forget!

The new place!

2009-03-22T18:39:00.003-04:00

WELCOME!

Well, finally some pictures! It feels like we just moved, but it has already been three weeks! I only took pictures of the craft room, living room, dining room, and kitchen. The rest is coming along or not really picture worthy. Ha ha.

Updates soon!

2009-03-22T08:33:00.001-04:00

We have been BUSY BUSY in the last few weeks! We moved. And then unpacked for days upon days. And then Aunt Rhonda, Uncle Brian, Caleb, and Mary Ann came to visit. Lots of walking and chatting and general having fun! So I will try to put up some pictures today of the visit and of our house!!

We've moved!

2009-03-01T18:38:00.002-05:00

Well, we have moved. The house is slowly coming together! I worked my butt off Friday and got the dining room and living room mostly finished! We have a ton of boxes in the front of the house! So far, I really love the way the new place is coming together. It is a very slow process though! I think mostly because my craft room is not put together. Anyway, I will try to update this week with some pictures!

Random things...

2009-02-16T14:12:00.007-05:00

1. Kitchen stuff! Last night I made some art for the kitchen. I was going to order the Beantown print, but there is no spot for it in the new place! : ( So. I got to work on my own art. The first thing is the Calories towel I spoke of before. I put it in a simple red frame. Then, while searching the internet I found an idea to put a favorite lyric in a frame. Well, Joshua is always singing Jason Mraz's song, I'm Yours, so I thought that was perfect!

2. I found fabric for the valance in the kitchen! I might not look so great together right now, but it is *SO* cute in my head! Ha ha. Also, I found a cool pattern for making hot pads! So, I think if I have enough fabric left over, I will make some hot pads! Fun!

3. This is perhaps the most exciting part of this post! We received a letter Friday with our new address! We have a pre-move inspection tomorrow morning and should be moving in the next couple of weeks! YAY! I am super excited because we are Unit 'E' and I love the curlies on the E! Fun! We looked in the windows and it looks so nice!! I am very excited to move! Tomorrow we are having the loveseat delivered! Next week I am going to take a day and make a trip to Ikea! We have lots of things- big and small- to get there.

4. We have a lot going on right now! We are trying to get ready to move, clean out stuff, I have a big AF test this week, I'm flying to Texas this weekend (I am mostly excited, but a little nervous), and then next weekend we are going to Atlantic City (FUN!!!), then we have a week to get the house ready before Aunt Rhonda & family come visit, plus that next weekend Joshua is going to Texas! Busy busy! We are trying to stay sane and chill, but I am *really* bad at that when things are crazy.

New Place: The Stairwell

2009-02-15T23:03:00.000-05:00

Basics: Cream walls and handrails, beige carpet. Light fixture. Small window.

Frames: I am doing a TON of black frames in the stairwell. Sort of. I am also mixing in some frames that are a silvery/gold color. Anyway, some of the pictures are black and white. Some are of my family, some are of Joshua's. We have some of when we were kids, some of us now, some wedding. I want to do a memorial type frame for each of our grandparents that have passed. We are also adding some art. Larger pieces- Audrey Hepburn (a gift from Joshua on our 21st birthday), a Godfather poster (a joke gift from Mary & Harry), and some drawings we have purchased in various cities (London & NYC, I think). I think this will be a fun place. It will certainly bring different feelings each time we walk past, but I think for the most part, it will just make us happy.

Curtain: A simple small valance to cover the top of the blinds. I am thinking I will do something black and white- either a flower print or a check pattern.

New Place: The Bathroom

2009-02-15T23:02:00.000-05:00

Basics: White walls, white shower, boring floor. Ha. The cabinet is again that honey color and the countertop is grey.

Textiles: White cotton shower curtain. I found one that I think I will stick with at Target. It is simple white cotton with thin stripes. Classic. The rug will stay as will the blue and white towels. I am going to do a valance, but I am not sure of the pattern- something simple.

Art: When we were married, we were given a crochet of our name - MOSELEY. It is so neat. It is framed in silver and the matte is blue. It makes me so happy to see that every morning. : )

Storage: I will probably do inexpensive white bins in the cabinet. I keep my make-up in a little chrome storage bin.

This is kind of a boring room, but I like the combination of blue and white!

New Place Quick Peek!

2009-02-09T19:53:00.004-05:00

I was going to wait to post about this, but I am too excited! As I may or may not have said, we are putting recliners in the living room. Josh *REALLY* wanted recliners, so I caved and we made a trip to La Z Boy. I did not want to do a full set of leather in the living room (definitely not two recliners AND a leather couch, plus all of our dark furniture), but I was worried about finding something that would match! Anyway, today I found it! YAY!

*BTW... I won't be using those pillows; I have some that I have been saving FOREVER that I think will be perfect!

New Place: The Bedroom

2009-02-07T22:41:00.007-05:00

Basics: Decent sized room with beige carpet. One closet (for Joshua).

Wall color: One wall (the one with our bed) will be painted out a dark navy blue. The rest of the walls will stay the beige/white color.

Art: An ornate white mirror, black&white photos of our feet (white frames & mattes), another white mirror. Hooks and letters. I haven't decided what the letters will spell. Any ideas? So far I am thinking- happy, cute, or....

Furniture: Cal-King bed, white dresser (needs a little paint job), Elfa shelf, desk for Joshua.

Bedding: Navy bedspread, white pillows, navy & white pillows, white OFELIA blanket, white bedskirt.

Lighting: Joshua never wants a lamp, so we are just going to have one on my side. Joshua found the lamp at La-Z-Boy when we were shopping for the living room. It was on sale 75% off! I was so excited. Anyway, I love it.

Drapes: I was going to go with a solid blue, but I really think it would be too much solid blue, so I decided on pattern. I found some that I think I like- ALVINE TAPET at Ikea. I think the blue is dark enough and the pattern is big enough. Under the drapes, I am going to do a lot of white sheers. Dreamy!

Accessories: Not a lot of extra stuff. Although, today I did get this at Pier 1. Also, I will add some table frames and maybe a few other things. But mostly, I want to keep it simple!

The Look: The bed wall will be painted navy blue and the bed will be centered with three euro pillows in white shams then our regular pillows and then the blue and white pillows. On my side of the bed will be the Elfa shelf with the lamp. Above the lamp will be one of the ornate white framed mirror. On Joshua's side of the bed will be the taller white dresser with a few accessories and another white framed mirror above. Above the bed will be the two frames with pictures of our feet!

On the wall opposite the bed will be the large hooks for clothing. I am doing this for a few reasons. 1. It is inexpensive. 2. Joshua's desk will be in the bedroom and he always leaves his clothes lying around, so hooks solve that problem. 3. It is hard to decorate a huge wall like that without it feeling heavy. The other side will be really heavy, so I didn't want to go crazy here. The letters will go above the hooks. Also on this wall will be Joshua's desk. I am going to make a cover for his monitor to keep the area as light as possible.

I can't wait to see it all come together!

New CR-V!

2009-02-02T07:36:00.003-05:00

I have been without a car for the last year and a half! Finally, we decided it was time to get a new one. It was nice not to have a payment, but it was difficult to live without a car! We spent most of Saturday sitting at the local Honda dealership. After hours and hours, I finally left with my new CR-V EX-L! YAY! It was very exciting! Ha ha. They did not have the lower end version, so they gave me the nicer one for the same price! Great deal!

Kitchen stuff...

2009-01-31T09:51:00.006-05:00

We went to Target the other night and of course ended up in the kitchen aisles and found some fun stuff and then last night Mary and I went to Home Goods where I found a couple of other things.

Above: The red and white trays are from Target. We are putting recliners (GASP) in the living room and thought these trays would be great to use if we happen to eat in the living room. The red and white dish is from Home Goods. It was on clearance and I think I *may* use it as a butter dish, but maybe not. The clear glass jar will actually go in the dining room on the hutch. It is filled with toothpicks! How fun! The red untensil holder was on clearance at Target. I *love* it! Our old utensil holder was stainless steel and not so bad, but this just pops! Mary gave me the recipe file the other day! It has four different types of recipe cards, so as she suggested, I am going to do different groups of recipes- my favorites, Grandma's recipes, Joshua's favorites, and ... not sure about the last one yet! The soup toureen on the right was also on clearance at Target! Joshua found it for me. The only thing I do not understand is that the ladle has a hole in the handle. I am sure there is a reason behind this, but I can't figure out what that reason might be!

Below: I got this red basket at Home Goods. I am going to use it for dishtowels and wash rags.

We have mustard colored stuff that we previously purchased. Maybe I will do a post on that stuff. We have a scale, some canisters, a basket, a napkin holder, etc. I didn't really have much red though! I think with all of this stuff my kitchen is pretty ready to go!

New Place: The Kitchen

2009-01-26T23:37:00.000-05:00

Basics: The kitchen cabinets in the new townhouse are a honey color. Not my first choice. (White would be my first choice.) The countertops are a simple grey color. The appliances are all white and the sink is stainless steel.

Wall Color: We are going with a grey that will match the countertops. This will start us off with a fairly neutral palette.

Accent Colors: Red and mustard yellow! I have some red and yellow tins. Also, we have a mustard yellow scale and canisters. I will have to bring in the red in other places, but I am really excited about it!

Art: There will not be a whole lot of room in the new kitchen for a lot of art. One piece that I am excited to buy, have framed, and hang is a "Beantown" sign. (Boston's nickname is Beantown.) I also want to frame a cool vintage tea towel that I purchased in Frederick.

Organization: The KROKEN series by Ikea is perfect for us. We are going to do an open view spice rack with lots of extra hooks for hanging items we will use often. I also want to get a few clear glass canisters for the pantry. I really like being able to see all that I have available.

Dishes: As I said, I have been on the hunt for a good set of white dishes. Initally I wanted to get a set from Martha Stewart's Macy's collection, but I read a lot of reviews and decided that they might not be the best idea. Anyway, we decided on Pottery Barn's Great White collection (thanks Andrea)! We initally wanted the cup and saucer, but realized that that set does not come with the cereal bowls, but instead the soup bowls. So mugs it is!

Boston

2009-01-26T22:46:00.004-05:00

I can't believe that I have not done a post about Boston. Especially since we loved our time there so much! It was such a fun and easy city to be in! We had a ton of new, fun experiences and as always with Joshua, a lot of laughs! Here is a collage I made of our trip!

Moving...

2009-01-13T15:04:00.007-05:00

When we married four and a half (almost) years ago, neither of us really knew how to define our style. We knew that Joshua liked traditional and I liked contemporary, but we never knew how to make those work in our house. So we have spent the last few years really trying to figure that out. We have come a long way from our first apartment in San Antonio!

All of that being said, we have decided to redecorate! A portion of my reenlistment bonus will go to new furniture/decorations for the house. Luckily, we are moving to a newer/renovated townhouse on base and can start fresh! I love to read home decor magazines, blogs, and articles, so this is going to be a blast for me!

Over the next couple of weeks, I will post about each room- colors, furniture, art, etc. First up, the dining room!

New Place: The Dining Room

2009-01-08T23:28:00.016-05:00

Basics: A very small area attached to the living room. One window. Floor to ceiling white drapes from Penney's.

Wall Color: Same as living room; a soft blue! Probably similar to Behr's Silver Strand.

Art: We picked out art together last Saturday. Wild Roses and Begonias by Kim Parker. I love these prints because they are so cheerful!

Table: Simple lines. And the place to find those simple clean lines? West Elm! This parson's dining table will look great with the curve of the chairs we picked out.

Chairs: We are going with an off white chair with curvy lines at the top and an X back from Ikea. The quality of Ikea's products has really increased over the years, so I'm thrilled to see these in our home. I am going to get six chairs- four for the table and two to go on either side of the hutch.

Storage: The LIATORP china hutch is perfect for us! The size is great and I will have room to showcase all of the wonderful dishes that have made their way into our life. (I love love hunting for dishes...) The top will likely be filled with small dishes and vases and the bottom with larger pieces. So far I love the way the dining room is turning out!

10 Random Things

2009-01-05T21:46:00.003-05:00

1. My craft room is a wreck! Seriously, I need to clean it *REALLY* badly.

2. We had the *MOST* fantastic time in Boston. Pictures soon! I ordered the paper and embellishments for the scrapbook last week so hopefully I will get that project going this weekend or next.

3. My fish died. Randomly. On New Year's Day, actually.

4. A few years ago, my dad bought us a small set of silver at an estate sale. I think we are going to start using it in place of our current flatware.

5. I am on the hunt for a crisp white set of dishes. I am leaning toward something from the Martha Stewart line at Macys, but we'll see.

6. I am considering getting a freestanding jewelry box/case. I have a lot of jewelry and I wear all of it all the time, so it would be nice if it had a pretty home. Also, I am going to make a scrapbook of my jewelry. I found the paper I am going to use. Now I need to figure out how I am going to photograph it all and then get on that. I think it might be my February/March project.

7. We are supposed to be moving in February/March to a newer, renovated townhouse here on base. I really hope that happens, because I have *SO* many decorating ideas that I can't wait to see turnout.

8. Speaking of decorating, I am going to try to do a post a week or maybe two posts a week on each room of the house. Decorating and scrapbooking are my two of my favorite things! I already post my scrapbooking stuff, so decorating is next!

9. I am feeling good about 2009. We are planning a few big trips- Texas twice and Europe once. And of course, small trips will be sprinkled in there, too.

10. January 8th will mark my sixth year in the United States Air Force. So far, the Air Force has mostly treated me well. I have made a few really excellent friends and really, I don't know how I would have survived without them. They are there for me on days when I sob because I can't believe Grandma is gone and they laugh with me when I act as silly as ever. So I am grateful to the Air Force for that. And because of these great people (and the really horrible economy) I am reenlisting on the 13th for another six years. Wish me luck!

Altered book...

2009-01-02T16:19:00.007-05:00

I love the scrapbook tutorials on Paperclipping and saw a really great tutorial for altering a book for Christmas cards. I loved this idea. I plan on doing a book for Christmas cards, but first I was inspired to make a book of my BMT letters. I got so many (70!!!) that I thought they deserved a special place of their own!

Six Random Things

2008-12-09T11:59:00.009-05:00

1: We put up our Christmas tree and holiday decorations! We ended up with blue and white this year, and I think we will stick with that. I am going to keep the red decorations, but I really love the blue and white and so does Joshua. The second picture is of my "holiday" wreath. I love those little flowers... they don't really scream Christmas but I threw in the berries to make it work a little better.

2: When we move, we are changing our bedroom decor! We have had a Tiffany blue for a while, but are going for something a little more crisp. We purchased this blue quilt a while back and found these great pillows at Pier 1. Doesn't really match what we have now, but it will look great later.

3: I have to take this big basket to the Post Office to mail off Christmas gifts. I have about nine packages to mail off. I'm taking bets on the shipping costs. Joshua thinks $100. I am going with $85. We'll see.

4: After Grandma passed away, we were going through her craft stuff and I took some silver and gold pipe-cleaners. I decided to use the silver pipe-cleaners for the Christmas tree- this way we have something of hers on the tree. I found a cool idea on Martha Stewart and decided to go with it. Some of them turned out great and one turned out kind of funky, but that's okay. You have to hunt for them on the tree because the picture is so dark!

5: At work we are doing Secret Santa. I am in charge of it, so I made these cute little bags with Hershey Kisses and the person's name and wish list. Everyone loved them! Fun times! I wished for Coldplay's CD, Viva La Vida, and also anything off the Martha Stewart Crafts wall at Michael's.

6: Finally, here is a video of my fish, Kolya! It makes me really happy to come into my craft room and feed him every morning!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T12:53:00.003-05:00

Today we are going to Mary and Harry's for Thanksgiving with them and Stephanie. I made my Grandma's Hot Rolls, Aunt Rhonda's Broccoli and Rice Dish, and Aunt Chris' Refrigerator Pie. Have a great day, everyone.

Wonderful news and some other random stuff!

2008-11-12T20:19:00.002-05:00

I cannot believe I forgot to share the most wonderful news!

Rachel had her baby! Lucas Samuel made his appearance on October 30th at 3:41!

Isn't he a cutie! He is so adorable! I can see both Rachel and Messias in him! Congrats, guys!

Also, I wanted to share a few recipes that I love!

The first is Chicken Pot Pie! It is the perfect time of year for this! The first time I made this it was a little bit nerve wracking, but I basically memorized the recipe and it is now one of my favorites! It is also always the favorite of whoever is visiting us! : )

The second is one of Joshua's favorites! Mini meatballs! This recipe uses beef, but we substituted turkey and it is just as yummy! The thing I really love about these is that you can make a lot at once (I usually use two lbs of turkey), roll them up into cute little balls, and then freeze them. Then when you have had a long day at work, you just pop them in the oven for 15 or 20 minutes and you are ready to go! This is a really great thing to do at the beginning of the month!

Finally, I wanted to share my new favorite band! Do you remember Zooey Deschanel in Elf? Well, she collaborated with a musician and they have a band called She & Him! And I absolutely love the music. It is kind of country meets pop meets folk. Love, love, love it.

Have a great week!

New shoes & a scrapbook

2008-11-09T11:44:00.006-05:00

I have been wearing the same pair of black flats from Old Navy for a LONG time; finally I decided it was time to find a new pair. Mary and I went to the mall on Friday night and I ended up getting a GREAT deal on two pairs of flats! Black and green! I am very happy with that purchase (and they are pretty comfy!)

Last week, Mary and I threw a baby shower for one of my co-workers, Jessica. The theme for the baby's room was ladybugs, so we decided to carry that over to the shower.

And finally, I spent quite a few hours yesterday creating this album for our neice Ashley for Christmas. We are doing mostly handmade gifts this year or gifts to do with crafting. This album was a lot of fun to make!

2008-11-02T13:05:00.000-05:00

As of yesterday, I am Staff Sergeant Moseley! YAY!

A memory book...

2008-10-18T23:56:00.005-04:00

Grandma's death was (and still is) a pretty difficult thing for me. I have good days and I have bad. As a scrapbooker, I really feel it is important to document my feelings and experiences (almost like geneology). Her death impacted me in ways that I cannot explain at this point. I wanted to create a book that recorded the happenings of the week she died. Of my feelings and the events and people who were around me. It is less detailed than I initally planned, but eventually I want to go back through and really put my feelings down on paper.

For the book, I used a little notebook of hers that didn't have anything in it. For the cover, I added a leaf and a frame that she gave to me last year.

For the inside of the book, I took a patterned sheet of scrapbook paper and drew colors from it. The paper was one that I was keeping to do for a project for her for Christmas. It was a paper with sewing patterns and flowers and reminded me of her the minute I saw it. The other colors I used were coral, turquoise, and a kraft paper. I thought they worked well together. I only kept one "momento;" the memorial from Strawn.

So that's the book. It is small, but helped me release some of the feelings I had during that time and move on from there.

A few Christmas gifts...

2008-10-13T20:41:00.006-04:00

The week my Grandma died, my Dad and Aunts went through some money she saved for everyone and they came across these cards from when she and Granddaddy were Boy Scout parents (they were really into the Boy Scouts in the late 60's). There were five and I have five younger boy cousins so I decided to make shadow boxes for them for Christmas gifts . They may not fully appreciate this now, but I think in ten or twenty years they will really be happy to have something of theirs.

Baugher's Farm

2008-10-11T23:35:00.003-04:00

This is such a pretty tree! I love the gradual color change!

We are excited about our pumpkin find!

Pumpkins!/The pumpkin patch!

Today we went to Baugher's Farm in Westminster, Maryland. We intended to pick pumpkins and apples, but arrived a bit late, so we only got to pick pumpkins. That's okay though, because we had a great time. We went with Mary, Harry, Johnathon, & Hazel, as well as Stephanie & Alyssa, and Kita & Sequoia.

Hershey, PA

2008-10-05T20:43:00.011-04:00

The last few weeks have been pretty rough. So I was delighted that this weekend we had a trip planned to go to Hershey, PA. We had a free night's stay at a hotel and discounted tickets to Hershey Park through work, so it was a pretty care-free time. We got up Saturday morning and drove to Hershey. The drive was beautiful. When we arrived at Hershey Park, we started out with the tour at Hershey World. After that, we ate lunch, bought some goodies and then headed over to the Park. At Hershey Park, we were surprisingly able to avoid rollercoasters and do other stuff. We rode a monorail car, played lots of token games (our tickets won us a water bottle and travel pack), and saw Zoo America. The elk was my favorite. After Hershey we checked in at the hotel and went for dinner at Fuddruckers. Then we went back to the hotel and watched Are You Being Served? and Fawlty Towers and laughed our butts off as we ate Hershey's Kisses. (Joshua loves the Pumpkin Spice Kisses... try them!)

We got up Sunday morning and went to the Bluegreen Vacation presentation which was cool, but just not for us. Then we went to lunch at our new favorite restaurant, Houlihan's! The food was great!! Since my batteries were dead on Saturday I had to get some pictures of Hershey in, so we took a few pics and then checked out of our hotel. On the way home, we stopped at a scrapbook store in Hummlestown and then at an antique store in Lemoyne. At the antique store I got a super cute travel case, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (the book; I loved the movie as a kid), and two little stamps. Joshua got a book (Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam) and some old photos. We had a great time looking around. I will do another post soon regarding the travel case as I have plans to "alter" it.

2008-09-13T22:56:00.003-04:00

My Grandma

December 13, 1937 - September 13, 2008

Four years!

2008-09-11T20:38:00.002-04:00

Tonight we went to The Melting Pot and celebrated our four year anniversary! We both worked today so we hurried home and showered and went to dinner. It was fun deciding what we wanted to eat and which items we liked the best! We decided that one of our favorite things we have done since we have been married was going to the Raising Sand concert and seeing Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. We chatted and laughed and smiled and had a great time. I love being married to Joshua!

Winterthur!

2008-09-08T09:55:00.006-04:00

Dad and Tutie arrived Wednesday night and we got up early on Thursday morning to head out to Winterthur Museum and Estate in Delaware. Let me just say that pictures cannot do this place justice. It is so beautiful! We were given a private tour since Dad's company is recreating the moulding for a dream home in Fort Worth. When we arrived, Kris DeMesse (Business Development Manager for Licensed Products) greeted us and took us on the garden tour. Then we went on the Elegant Entertaining tour with Nichole (tour guide). Then Kris and her assistant, Susie, picked us up and took us to lunch. After lunch, our special tour with Kris and Susie began. First, they took us to the restoration shop, where we were shown first hand how they restore pieces at Winterthur. My dad LOVED that. Then we went into many rooms (that no one usually gets to see!) in the house. We walked through back halls and all over, really. Our final stop was the room where the staff keeps drapes and valances... this was my favorite room in the house!

My first day on the scooter!

2008-09-03T16:07:00.006-04:00

I finally drove my scooter to work today! Joshua was there for the take off! (He's a sweetie like that!!!) Here is a series of photos. Most of the time I was trying to figure out how to fix my helmet! : )

I finished ALS!

2008-08-29T10:31:00.002-04:00

Last night I finished Airman Leadership School! I was so thrilled. Joshua and Mary attended and we sat next to my Commander, LtCol Franzese. We did not get very many good pictures, but I am hoping to get some from the photographer that was there.

I have today off, work tomorrow, then have Sunday and Monday off. Then I am taking leave Thursday-Saturday next week because my Dad and Tutie are coming to visit! More pictures later!

A great day!

2008-08-20T16:31:00.004-04:00

This morning my entire ALS class was huddled around one computer to find out if we got promoted. I was very nervous. I studied my butt off, but you never know...

BUT I MADE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YAY!

My Commander, First Sergeant, and Superintendent came by class this morning to congratulate me (and a few others) and give me stripes! Very exciting day! : )

The Scooter arrived today!

2008-08-19T19:17:00.002-04:00

YAY!

Scooter scooter!

2008-08-16T19:06:00.003-04:00

Recently we have been in a sort of predicament with only having one car. Joshua needs the car and so do I. However, I really only need to drive about five miles with the car, so we have been trying to figure out what to do. We thought about getting a second car, but that seemed a little excessive. Then we thought about trying to make do with one car. Then ... we decided on a scooter. YAY! I was so excited. It will be so fun! Today we went to Baltimore and picked it out and paid for it and it will be delivered on Tuesday! YAY! It is a Honda Metropolitan! It is so stinkin' cute! The only that sucks is that I cannot ride it until I get a "motorcycle safety class" which I cannot do until I finish ALS! We had to go ahead and purchase it now though because scooters are a precious commodity here in Maryland and we were really worried they would sell out. We bought one of the two they had at Pete's. We are going to go this week and get a helmet, gloves, and a reflective vest. I am going to start surfing the net to find the cutest and safest ones! YAY!

New Shoes!

2008-08-10T20:24:00.004-04:00

It is almost fall in Maryland (well, sort of). Our nights are usually between 68 and 72 degrees! It's awesome! Anyway, we are busy busy busy! Joshua is starting a new job working for a ophthalmologist in Columbia. I am working my way through my last two classes until October and through ALS. Tonight we took a little trip to Target for some laundry detergent (I am allergic to everything except Arm & Hammer). While there, I might have taken a little detour to the shoe aisle! YAY! I found a super cute pair of fall shoes! They are a bit darker and greener than the picture shows, but I love them! And they are super comfortable and my HUGE feet (11) look small! Even better! LOL

Scrappy goodness!

2008-08-03T15:57:00.004-04:00

I have not posted any scrappy stuff lately, so you are gonna get a whole bunch! LOL Maybe I will break it up into a couple of posts. This first one will be our Texas book! I bought one of those ecofriendly binders at Target, not really sure what I would use it for. When we came back from Texas, I decided to use it for that book. I basically scrapped the trip start to finish; the only problem is that I don't really have much from Joshua's part of the trip (he stayed in Watauga the week I stayed in Conroe). Anyway, I really love this book! It turned out really cool. I mixed pages of just journaling in with actual scrapped pages and in between I hole punched souvenir items (or sometimes just regular items that were part of the trip). Anyway, here's the finished product! Click on this link to see the rest of the photos (and all of my craft/scrap projects)!

Great Falls!

2008-07-25T22:36:00.003-04:00

This morning was very stressful for me, as it was my first day of Airman Leadership School. So many things went wrong and I was just tense and over thinking things and I was tired. Since it was our first day of ALS, we got out at 1 in the afternoon. So I came home and Joshua and I *almost* took a nap. Then he suggested we go somewhere. First he suggested the gym. I was *NOT* up for the gym. Then he suggested a park. A park I can do!

So we ended up going to Great Falls Park where I have wanted to go forever! It is a park along the Potomac River in Virginia! This place is *SO SO SO* awesome. I was amazed and overwhelmed every time I looked up! We probably walked a mile or so along the river, but it felt like a lot more since we were climbing over rocks and up hills. It was very calming. We talked about everything we saw and never mentioned anything else the whole time we were there. It was wonderful. It is so easy to get wrapped up in things - friends, family, work, school, EVERYTHING, that once in a while you just need to stop and breathe and see the world. And that's what we did. Joshua has labeled Great Falls Park his favorite spot in the United States! It is definitely my favorite nature spot in the US. We saw a cool bird, a baby snake, tons of cool plants/flowers/trees, and a lot of nice people!

I added pictures to the Our Photos link at left. Please go see! And if you come to visit us, we will take you! : )

Inspired...

2008-07-15T01:39:00.002-04:00

Well, we had a great trip home. I am in the scrapbook zone right now! I am participating in a "scrap swap" with a group of women and I think it will be pretty fun. Anyway. I have decided to do a wedding album. When we were in Texas, I bought an "Our Wedding" album. It is pretty old, I think. Anyway, the page sizes are weird, so I was not initially sure that I would really do anything with it. Then, while I was at Grandma's, we were sitting around looking at vintage lace, and Aunt Carla suggested I use some of it for a wedding page. I was a little uneasy with the idea, but the more I started to think about it, the more I liked it. Then I was looking at Mary Ann's wedding pictures which were in a similar sized album and I loved them. So. I'm inspired now! I am very excited to do the album, but I am going to take it slow because the album only has 9 pages, which means just 18 scrapbook pages, so I will have to be selective with pictures. I have two other blank books waiting for me. And I have some cards to make (wedding, thank you, and baby). So. I'm going to get on that. : ) More later. With pictures.

Close friends...

2008-06-28T00:43:00.004-04:00

I am sure that I have talked about Mary and Stephanie on here before because they are my two closest friends here in Maryland. Stephanie and I have known each other since I was at DLI (in 2003) and Mary and I met at my first job in Texas (2005-ish). We are all very close and keep each other sane, especially at work or with Air Force stuff. Tonight we had another "girls night;" we usually just go have ice cream or coffee and chat. Tonight we went for ice cream at Coldstone and chatted and laughed about random stuff. We had such a great time!

Ashley, Stephanie, Mary; June 28, 2008

I got a ...

2008-06-26T16:08:00.001-04:00

2+/2

on my

DLPT!

YAY!

The 2+ was in listening and the 2 in reading. I went up a half step in both from last year! I am so excited! Plus, it means an extra $50 a month on my paycheck! YAY!

Hillwood and other stuff...

2008-06-20T23:46:00.004-04:00

I meant to do a post about my Russian class and a museum in DC - Hillwood. Our class went to Hillwood as an outing one day. It was so beautiful. The estate was formerly owned by Majorie Merriweather Post, of Post Cereals. Her father left the business to her. It was really an interesting place to see and explore. My friend Stephanie and I loved it! One very cool thing is that in her will, MMP stated that all of the flowers in the museum would be fresh and from the expansive gardens on the estate. The arrangements were just beautiful.

We are super excited to be coming home on the 30th. We are only staying two weeks, but I'm thrilled. We are going to be in the FW area for the first week. I cannot wait to meet Dad & Tutie's new retriever and to meet Jan & Paul's puppies. Also, see how my nieces have grown! We will be at Jan & Paul's house in Marlin for our birthday. I can't believe we are already gonna be 25! How time flies! I'm looking forward to relaxing that weekend. The second week I am going down to New Caney to see the family. I'm super excited to see Tyler. He's at a very cool age. I'm excited to see my cousins grown up and my brother's house. And to eat waffles. And cookie dough. And hang out with my Grandma. On Sunday the 13th, Rachel may be having her baby shower. I am going to try very hard to make it to that!

Joshua was wonderful today- I was sick in bed for most of the day and he took excellent care of me. I had an upset stomach and a *crazy* headache. He brought me food and water and lots of love! He's such a sweetheart.

Our return from Texas will be super busy. The week after we return I will begin ALS (Airman Leadership School). It is pretty cool that I am taking it at that time, since around the same time, I will be wrapping up my Business Writing/Communications class. While I am in ALS I will also find out if I got promoted. Cross your fingers!!

This was a pretty random post, but I had tons to say. I finally added the Raising Sand pictures that I mentioned from the last post. And I will the few pictures I have from Hillwood. No photography is allowed in the actual house. I think on Sunday we may make a trip out to Great Falls Park - it's on the Virginia/Maryland border. It looks like a beautiful place (with rocks, for Joshua) and I think the weather will be decent on Sunday.

Raising Sand...

2008-06-14T00:15:00.006-04:00

Tonight was the Robert Plant and Alison Krauss with T. Bone Burnett Raising Sand concert!

It was AWESOME.

Well. Robert Plant was AWESOME. Alison Krauss was LAME. Seriously lame. It was kind of sad. I thought maybe she was on sedatives or something. She seemed completely uninterested in the concert or the fans.

Robert Plant though. I think I am actually in love with 59 year-old Robert Plant. LOL He was so very cool. And he was very respectful to the other artists and really put on a show! His performance was fantastic, fantastic, fantastic.

Some cool/funny things:

After parking we got out to walk to the Pavillion, we saw that many people had card tables set up where they were drinking wine, eating salads, and chatting. It was very funny to me since they were surrounded by cars and people walking by.

When we were walking into the Pavillion, we were in front of this little girl, her mom, and grandmother. She sees this huge fountain and says to her mom, "Hey mom, that's pretty. We should get one of those." It was the cutest thing ever. Her mom replied, "honey, when you get a job, you can go ahead and start saving for it." LOL

As we walked to our seats, an attendant stopped us to check our tickets. She says, "WHOA. Those are great seats."

We were in the third row. One, two, THREE. That was us. Awesome.

Robert Plant. Pretty much just awesome all around. He put on such a great show!!

Krauss sang Down In The River To Pray. It was fantastic and moving to see/hear in real life.

Robert Plant looked right at me on the way out of the show! It was so cool! I'm pretty sure he looked at me one other time, but that could be wishful thinking!

When Plant, Krauss, and Burnett came back out, they did a tribute to Tim Russert. They sang Your Long Journey. It was beautiful.

We were both thrilled. We loved it and we were together and had a FANTASTIC time.