We're back!

After a long hiatus, we have returned with a new post. We are leaving tomorrow morning, bright and early (6:00 am), to fly to Birminghm via beautiful Detroit. We're looking forward to seeing our family and the wedding. We're also looking forward to Jim n' Nicks tomorrow afternoon! When we get back, we'll post some pictures and post about our trip back home.

Last week has gone by pretty fast. I've started my job and I really enjoy it. The people have been wonderful. Helen and Kelly took me out to lunch on my first day. I'm starting to learn more about the company and understand the different facets of the division. It was a little slow on Thursday and Friday, but hopefully once I get security clearance within the company, I will be able to do more things. Don't get this confused with governmental clearance--it's not that. Anyways, on Friday evening Daniel had to work late--well not really late but had a AIMS meeting and a happy hour thing. I came home from work and read a book. On Saturday, we had our Sams date and then came back home. I took a nap and then we left to go to the game in DC. We drove to the metro center and rode in. At Old Dominion we met up with several people and we finally caught up with one of Brian's old pals from 'Bama, Chris. It was great to talk with him and Daniel got to meet him as well. 

We asked Uncle Bill to come over for dinner on Sunday, except that we found out that Janet was in town too, so we had an early lunch today with them because Janet's flight was at 2 or 2:30. We went to 9:30 mass and then came home and got ready for lunch. I got up early this morning and put a roast with potatoes, carrots, and onions in the oven, and then we also had english peas and cornbread. For dessert we had vanilla ice cream with strawberries. It was good. After Uncle Bill and Janet left, we went to the library and returned some shoes that I had bought for Daniel that didn't fit. We tried to get them in a different size but they didn't have them. I dropped Daniel off at our apartment and went to Target. I had to find some kind of halloween shirt for work on Thursday. We are having a big Halloween party for the kids at work with games, crafts, movies, food, and trick or treating. Tonight we've just been doing a little laundry and getting things straightened up around here. This Friday, we have tickets to the Coldplay concert--someone Daniel's been wanting to see for a really long time now. We can't believe it's only a month until Uncle Bill's and Janet's wedding. We go to Ben and Celi's not this coming weekend, but the next and then they will come down here for Thanksgiving. We can't wait to see everyone! So, I guess that's it for now. We hope everyone has a great week!

Oh happy day! (Oh happy day!)

Today was a good day. I had my interview today at 11 and it went really well. At 1:10, I was walking out. I really enjoyed meeting the different people I would be working with and they told me straight up that there was another person they were interviewing. However, I guess I left a super great impression because by 4:00 after their other 2:00 interview, I had a call from the staffing agency saying that the company really wanted me to work with them and I accepted. I start Monday!! We are still working out some of the details, but the important thing is that I have a job and I'm really excited about it. I really feel comfortable with the people I will be working with and the atmosphere. It's a nationwide company so I could potentially move and still stay with them. The best part of it all is that I will be able to help my boss plan different events whether it's for the office or if it's for a bigger company event. So, Daniel and I went out to Carrabba's to celebrate. Well that's all for now. TTFN!

A little while longer...

It's been a while since we've wrote. Let me try to get you caught up. Last week Daniel got to go to 'bama to help with interviews and got to spend the weekend with his family. He also got to see Brian, Janie, and Sam. We sent Elizabeth's very much belated and Sam's birthday present with him. He said both of them seemed to really like their gifts. Sam enjoyed her batteries more so than the puzzles...yes, these puzzles require batteries and Elizabeth enjoyed doodling on her Doodle pad. Daniel took lots of pictures while home and I really liked seeing how much Elizabeth and Sam have changed. I couldn't believe it. While he was home in Alabama, I went to the library, checked out the mall, Tyson's corner, and rented a few movies. I saw Definitely, Maybe--it was quite good and I also really liked Jane Austen's Book Club. It's a little different and takes a little bit more time to get into it, but by the end of it, I really enjoyed it. I think it would help more or be a little bit more entertaining if you have read Austen's novels but you can still follow it and the point that it's trying to make. 

This past week, well nothing too exciting.  Except for Wednesday night/Thursday morning, Daniel woke up and began to get ready for work.  He did the usual wash his face, fix his hair and all.  Then, when he went to the closet to figure out what he was going to wear for the day, he realized that it was only 3:00 am.  Since he had already put gel in his hair, he got a washcloth, put it on his pillow and went back to sleep.  He says that he thinks he heard an alarm clock in his dreams. (At least that's what he says happened. I have no idea because I was actually asleep through it all. He typed all of the previous.) Oh and I got a call Friday afternoon while washing my car, for an interview on Tuesday. 

Friday we went to Sam's as per our usual. On Saturday we decided to be a little adventurous and head to Baltimore. We parked at the Baltimore airport and took the light rail the rest of the way in. I think we've decided that wasn't the best way in the long run. We walked around the Inner Harbor and Fell's Point. We found a pub called Kooper's Corner to have lunch at and then a little gelato shop afterwards. Fell's point was pretty neat with all the cobblestone streets and old style brick buildings. There were streets that were so picturesque, something you would see in a real estate magazine. Today, we went to Cox Farms with our friends Astu and Rishi. They have all these giant slides, animals, a fake corn maze, pumpkins, a hay ride, and some entertainment. We went on this really huge slide--it was really really fun. I was disappointed in the pumpkin selection but the apple cider that they make was fantastic. We got all the apple cider and apples we wanted for free. That was tasty.  I must say, they don't really know how a hay ride works and I was a little sadden by the shape that some of the animals were in. I haven't seen a cow that way unless they were sickly and same thing for the goats. It kinda made me sad.  Anyways, the afternoon was fun and something different to do. When we got home, Daniel cleaned the bathroom and I cleaned the kitchen and cooked dinner. I made spaghetti and it was quite tasty. I don't know what made it so different this time, but it was really good. (not to toot my own horn or anything but we both really liked it) Oh yeah, and somehow my big pyrex dish broke. It was in one of our cabinet drawers with plenty of room and everything, but it shattered. The only thing we can think is that enough heat from the oven caused it to shatter. It's not a drawer that we go into at all-- I mean the only thing in it was the pyrex dish, our serving pieces, and a few jar rings. I don't get why it broke. Oh well. A mystery that we'll never understand. Well I guess that's it. We'll try to get a few new pictures up soon. 

Don't spill the grits.

Last night I had the brilliant idea to spill the grits. I know what you're thinking. Why would spilling the grits be brilliant? Well let me just tell you of the many advantages of why to spill the grits. Despite the over-spilling in the microwave and the fact that the grits are boiling lava hot and can produce many speckled and splattered shaped burns on one's arms and legs, you can find much laughter, amazement, and joy in life. Those three things usually come after the shouts and tears from the much wanted pain that you will receive. Now, back to those three wonderful things that come after---the advantages. Please, to really enhance the advantages, use a plastic rubbermaid dish that becomes pliable when it warms for best results. Of course after asking if you're okay, the laughter comes after your husband comes out and looks at you with a rather confused look and then the two of you look around to see the damage. It's amazing how one serving of grits that falls to the floor, just 3ft down, can spread to the walls on the opposite side of the kitchen to the tune of as tall as 6ft and get in all the cracks and crevices of the cabinetry. But wait! Then it hits! BAM! The amazement. Can you feel it? You'll find, for the ultimate experience, to drop the grits about 2 ft from the end of the counter. That way when you go to the closet next to the end of the counter to get the mop and look towards your nice and clean living room which is behind, to the right of, and blocked by the 2 ft of counter, you'll have a nice surprise awaiting you on the carpet. Now, for the final advantage--joy. Ah, the joy you will feel after you clean for an hour to get all those tiny little grains up. They make such a nice coating on the floor and it's such a great feeling to know how soft the floor has become. You'll look around and be completely satisfied--no not exhausted--but satisfied to know your kitchen is sparkly clean. Then you'll feel like your day is complete.

Laugh of the day...

So, Daniel made a funny. Here's how it goes:

Me: I didn't see the gooses (yes, I say gooses) anywhere today.
Daniel: I'll be your gooses. Onk! Onk! Onk! Onk! Onk! (While he's making his goose noise, his hand is opening and closing like the goose's mouth.)

Okay- so if that doesn't make you laugh...well you need to use your imagination more! 'Cause it was funny for me. The "onking" came outta left field.

Well I've been working the temp job the last 2 days and it's going pretty well. It's the same stuff day in day out of just entering a large amount of data into an excel spreadsheet. Each entry has between 20-25 pieces of information to enter. I think I'm averaging about 25 entries and hour. Not great but, not bad. There's a lot of deciphering. Most of the information is foreign so there's a lot of figuring out the order of stuff especially when it comes to the addresses. I think it's taking longer then they expected and I think they thought there would be more of the information pre-entered. When I started they told me that I should find a lot of the names already on the computer...not the case. Anyways, it's money and it does feel good to be working. I've realized how much I've missed working.

I hope everyone is doing well. We miss everyone so much. We especially miss seeing our little nieces grow up -walking, crawling, talking, and all the fun things of growing up. I look at the pictures online and I can't believe how much each of them have changed! Three little cute girls! Talk to ya later!

Nothing creative today...

It's been a little bit since we last wrote, so we have some catching up to do. Daniel's been in a testing phase so he's had a few later nights and earlier mornings, but not as bad as before. He's only had to stay a little later a few times. The metro has been having some repair work done and this morning it took him 2.5 hours to get to work. As for me, I've signed up with a staffing agency and they are helping me to look for a job. In the meantime though, they call me when a company needs some part-time or last minute help and I get to work even though I don't have an official job. I interviewed/screened and took all the computer tests on Thursday with them. I had a interview with Wachovia on Friday and I think it went pretty well. Hopefully, I will hear from them soon. The staffing agency found a place for me to work for a few days and that starts tomorrow. It'll be some data entry from what I know, but maybe it could turn into something else. At least I'm making a little money.

This weekend was nice. We had our weekly date night to Sam's on Friday. We like to "eat out" and walk around the store. Kinda sad, but we have fun and that's all that matters. On Saturday, since the game was at 12:30 our time, we went to DC to the alumni spot. It was pretty fun and we really enjoyed the atmosphere and hanging out with all the Alabama fans. It felt like we were kinda home and watching the game with our closest friends. Daniel knew a guy there that was one of the project managers while he was still in school and so we sat with him. I recognized a few people, but that was about it. I'm not sure if we will go this weekend since it's on national tv. I think this time around, we might try to drive to DC instead of taking the metro. It might be faster and then we wouldn't have to walk the streets late at night. That's why we waited until an early game before we went to DC. Sunday, we went to church and then Daniel was a good sport. He went to the mall with me while I looked around at shoes and clothes. We also checked out Bed, Bath, and Beyond and Linens and Things. Our LNT is closing so they have a decent sale going on we had a gift card to use up. We were able to get a nice, big, wooden rolling pin, tongs, and a wine opener. We also visited Target and enjoyed looking through all the Halloween, Fall, and beginning Christmas stuff. I found a delightful, fall table runner and finally, I mean FINALLY, some Kraft caramels. I've been looking for some of those since we've moved here. I was getting somewhat desparate and was either going to have Mom mail me some or get Daniel to bring some back after his visit to Tuscaloosa to conduct interviews for Accenture. (He'll fly down on Oct 2nd and he'll come back on the 5th.)

The weather has been absolutely beautiful here. It's been in the 70's since the beginning of last week. I've had the windows open since then with the air off. Janet will be in town this weekend and I know that we will be doing something with her and Uncle Bill. There's a new restaurant opening in the town center and I think Uncle Bill knows the owner so we will probably check it out Friday night. Well, I guess that's all I got for now. Have a good one!

More new pictures!!!!

We've added some new pictures of the geese that we have been talking about for a while now. We finally got the camera out on a day when the geese were in the pond next to our apartment. Hope you enjoy!

We had a nice, relaxing weekend. We had dinner with a friend from work and her husband on Friday night here, in Reston. We got up on Saturday and went to Sam's to get a few grocery items that we were out of and then came back to watch some football. To our surprise, one of the sports bars in the town center (Americn Tap Room) had the Alabama game available! So, we went there Saturday night to enjoy another Alabama victory. Hopefully, they can get another win next week at Arkansas! Sunday morning, we went to church and then to Barnes & Noble. We then came back to the apartment to do a lot of laundry and made hamburgers for dinner. Not quite ready to return to the workweek, but I guess it has to come around at some point, oh well. Hope everyone is doing well and we look forward to talking with everyone soon!

New Pictures!!!!

We just put up pictures of our apartment so that everyone could see it! Take a look!

Labor Day Success

We've had a great Labor Day weekend! Maw-Maw is in town and it's been nice getting to visit with her. Friday was Judy's and Uncle Bill's birthdays. We went out to dinner with Uncle Bill, Maw-Maw, Tom, Kathy, and Michael to celebrate. Judy- Happy Birthday to you! I hope you enjoyed your day! Tom and Kathy are some of Uncle Bill's long-time friends and Michael is their son. We went to this place called Jasmine Cafe and it was really good. I enjoyed it. Afterwards, we met up at Uncle Bill's where Maw-Maw had made a German Chocolate Cake.

On Saturday, Maw-Maw and I went shopping. We went to Macy's, Penney's, Nordstroms, Lady Foot Locker, Zales, and Old Navy. I got a new pair of tennis shoes, a brown pant suit at an extremely good deal, and a shirt (courtesy of MawMaw). I also turned in my rings to have them soldered together at Zales. They said it would take about two weeks to get them back. MawMaw found her a pair of comfy pants, a shirt, and a suit. We really did find some excellent deals. We had a wholesome meal of McDonalds for lunch and then went to Wal-Mart. I think I have decided to give up on Wal-Mart here. You just think it's bad in B'ham, Tuscaloosa, or anywhere else in 'bama. Not the case! This Wal-Mart is awful! 'Course, I should have known better than to go on a Saturday afternoon, Labor Day weekend, with schools starting here tomorrow. Everyone was school shopping. But--it is really disorganized here too. So that doesn't ever help. Saturday evening Daniel and I grilled a steak, had a baked potato, broccoli, and squash for dinner while watching the Bama game. Roll Tide!! That was a great game. So much for the sucker who was a Clemson fan in our complex. HeeHee...she quickly took her flags off her truck. I'd like to think that it's because we have our flags up on our cars and porch. :) We both thought the team looked better than it did last year. I don't want to jinx us though so, I'll stop.

Sunday, we picked MawMaw up and went to church. I think we've decided to join this church now. We've really grown to like it and have adjusted to the small differences. I've learned the new mass parts. The things that do bother me still but I guess are negligible, is that not everyone joins hands at the Our Father, sign of peace isn't very welcoming in that people don't seem willing to shake hands outside of their own clan (I mean they do shake hands if you stick your hand out, but otherwise...I don't know, it just seems a bit awkward. Maybe that's 'cause we don't know anyone yet.), and finally the Priest sits down before the Eucharist is back in the Tabernacle. I guess he does that because it is such a large parish and for older folks, but it does bother me. And of course as always, people leaving early. I do like that after Mass is over the whole congregation (at least what's left) claps for the musicians. That's always appreciated. Anyways, Sunday evening we went over to Tom and Kathy's for dinner with them and Uncle Bill and MawMaw. It was delicious. I had barley for the first time. I liked it probably better than rice. It was different but in a good way. I think I might try cooking it sooner or later.

Today, we cleaned in the apartment and invited MawMaw and Uncle Bill over for dinner. We fixed sweet potato casserole, marinated some chicken in Dale's, broccoli, corn, blackeye peas, and crescent rolls. For dessert, we made a strawberry cake. It turned out pretty well considering it was my first time cooking a real layer cake in a gas oven. I think I'm finally getting the hang of cooking with gas. I know it cooks faster, but I think really deep down, I'm an electric girl. I don't like having the open eyes. I know these are on electric stoves too, but I think I want a solid surface whenever that option comes available for me to utilize. We've started to really get used to our little 4 in 1 grill too. We cooked the chicken and the steak on there the other night and it really does a great job. I mean it's not got that full grill taste but it works. On a more thrilling note, our toilet over flowed this morning. That was semi exciting but luckily I heard it and got the water turned off pretty quickly. Daniel got to sleep in til like 11 or 1130. I think he really liked his sleep. I talked with Brian for a little while this afternoon and got to hear Sam talk a little bit. Mostly some ooo's and gargles...the norm but I think it won't be long. She seems to be getting some of the right sounds out. I learned that she got another tooth within the last couple of days and that she's starting to try to pull up. That's so neat and I wish I could be there to see it! Congrats Sam!

Today is Day 1 of the Health-A-Thon. I weighed...did you? In actuality, we may need to post-pone the start a few days because of Gustav and because of Labor Day. I forgot that it's Labor Day and everyone probably had big plans of good food. Plus it was a big weekend for football. I don't know. We'll see what some of the consensus is. I sent out an email with the guidelines. I do hope everyone is doing well and that all family is safe from Gustav. I hear that Mom and Dad potentially had a large crowd, but now it's just looking like it may be Mary Margaret and Keith from New Orleans pending how much damage Gustav does. I know they are in Florence or at least should be in Florence now. Aunt Therese, I understand kinda went in the Northeastern direction , but not all the way to Florence like she had originally thought she would. Hopefully, the levees will continue to hold. Our prayers are with each and everyone in the storm's path.

I guess that's it for now. We miss everyone so much. We are looking forward to coming home at Christmas and seeing everyone on Daniel's side at Uncle Bill's wedding. I plan on taking some pictures of the apartment in the morning and getting those up tomorrow. So no more waiting...hopefully. TTFN. Love Always!

Good Eats, Hot Treats!

Last night, Daniel and I went to Sam's. We treated ourselves to a piece of pizza each, a coke, and a coke-float---all for less than $6. Not a bad deal but not very healthy. We walked around Sam's and found some ciabatta bread. I'm gonna make some hamburgers and use those as my buns. I'm pretty excited about it. We also bought some popsicles--fresh fruit ones and they are quite yummy.

Today, I went to the farmer's market and got some squash, okra, corn, and peaches. I plan to make a peach cobbler at some point for Daniel. Later we went to this grocery store called Bloom. It was okay, but we both felt really weird there. There wasn't any music, the lights were dim, and very few people around. I mean the store was clean and everything was presented well, but something about it was just a little weird. We were glad to get outta there. It wasn't in a bad part of town or anything--I don't know, just weird. When we got home, I took a nap and Daniel watched the Cubs game. I got a special treat. Daniel decided to cook dinner for me tonight! He made homemade pasta! He made tortellini stuffed with beef and cheese boiled in beef broth with sauteed veggies--squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, and onions. We opened a bottle of wine and it was quite delicious. While he was working on that, I went to Target to get a few things.

Tomorrow we will be having dinner with Uncle Bill and we can't wait to hear all about his latest trip. Uncle Bill and Janet have set a date- November 22nd. I think Steve, Susan and Elizabeth will be staying with us for the wedding so that will be pretty fun. Maw-Maw will be coming up here in a few days so we are looking forward to that. Well that'll do. TTYL

Diet-Off

Okay- so I sent out a large email about the Family-Friends Diet Off. I think it could be a huge success, but all we need is participation. What is the diet-off you ask? Basically from Sept 1st to about Christmas time we are all going to work towards becoming healthy. There will be two pots each $5. One for the most weight lost and one for the highest percentage lost. So basically, $10 a person. The more people in the more you could win. You can lose the weight anyway you choose, but the basic idea is simply to move more. We will way in probably each week to keep it regular and to keep everyone motivated so everyone knows where they stand in the rankings. We've seen the different patterns develop in our family--cholesterol, blood pressure, diabetes, etc and we want to prevent this from happening. Yes, this is a bit of selfish motivation for us, but at the same time, I think this could be a fun exercise for everyone. If I missed sending the email to you, please let me know and I will pass it on.

For today, I had another interview. It went well and basically they want me to start Monday. However, I don't know that it is the best fit for me. We've talked about it and I think I'm gonna keep searching. When Daniel got home, we went to exercise and then I made a fantastic meal. We had broccoli, corn, boiled potatoes, and fried chicken--a healthy meal. :P You should try the chicken- I put some flour in a bowl and then added some pepper, a little salt, and a little lawry's seasoning and then mixed it up. I floured the chicken, then dipped it in milk, and then refloured again, and fried it in a little olive oil. Yum---very delicious. I must admit the boiled "tatas" were high on the list. I've always been a sucker for potatoes though. Right now, Daniel's reading his book "Playing for Pizza" and it looks like he is getting pretty close to the end. Oh--we did some laundry too. We are exciting people. BTW, sorry we didn't post for a while. The time really slipped by. I couldn't believe how long it had been.

Oh! Question for the day. Who are the VP running mates going to be? I'm interested to hear opinions. That's it. I think I'm going to bed. TTFN.

First Signs of Fall?

Yes, that Maple is already turning out red leaves!!! I can't believe it. We may be in trouble. Last Saturday we went to the National Zoo which was really neat. We were disappointed because the Panda's never came out and the Lions and Tigers closed at 4 so we missed them. They also didn't have any penguins--so sad. But, we did get some neat pictures so we will be posting those in a bit. I heard Mom had a good birthday--she got some lovely orange roses that I'm hoping to see a picture of. She also told me that I needed to go see Mamma Mia. So I know she enjoyed that, but I'm sure she enjoyed seeing the grandbabies more--their own kids just don't count anymore I suppose. We've been pushed out. I must admit that it was a little tough calling home and knowing everyone was there and we couldn't be there to spend time with everyone. We do miss our family gatherings.

I had an interview today with a marketing group today and I have another interview tomorrow with another company. The first one went pretty well and they want me to come back to shadow someone. I expect tomorrow's interview to be somewhat similar as far as what I would be doing. I'm not sure if these two places are right for me, but I guess that's what interviews are for.

We had spaghetti for dinner and it was goooooood. We also went on a walk. The weather here is nice and cool. Daniel said early this morning that it was a bit on the cold side. We had a cold front come through last night and we will be in the low 80's this week. It's quite different from Alabama where we are used to stifling heat and shorts/t-shirt 'til November.

My bruise is almost gone. I have some more pictures for that. Oh look here's one. I think that was about Day 5--a nice crescent moon shape. 'Least I get to see the moon whenever I want. I'm just thankful I don't have something that vibrant on my knee now that I'm going to some interviews.

Michael, I just heard Tony Stewart got fined and put on probation. Oops! Friday is his last day at work before he starts at his new job. I know he is excited and I'm really happy that he's found something that is a better fit for him. Good luck with those tickets though. Jackie, I think you should totally fight the ticket that you got. It seems a bit ridiculous from how Mike described it. I would love to see some video of the Sam and Chloe if possible. I wanna see them movin' and grovin' now. Susan, thanks for the video and pictures- we like checking them out.

Be sure to check out our new pictures from our trip to the zoo! The red toad---amazing! He was huge! Probably at least two of my fists put together. That's a large toad.

Day Three...

It's becoming quite the color palette. I rather like have a swatch book with me anywhere I go. Daniel stayed up for the USA vs Russia basketball game. It was at 3am this morning...I went to bed. We went to 11:30 Mass where they introduced the new music director there. After that, we went to Pier 1 and then to Barnes & Noble and finally to Best Buy. Daniel bought a new John Grisham book, "Playing for Pizza" and I got a couple of magazines. Stopped into Best Buy to try and change to a different phone plan, but no cigar yet. Daniel found Season 8 of Everybody Loves Raymond on sale and now he has a complete collection. I think he's pretty excited about that. I took a nap this afternoon while he watched the Cubs game.

We had dinner with Uncle Bill--it was very good. We had grilled chicken, fresh corn, salad, rolls, and fresh purple hull peas. He also made a peach cobbler for us. Tasty-we aren't going hungry here, that's for sure. We looked at the table Uncle Bill said we could borrow and we are hoping to get that here pretty soon. Almost got things in order where we can take some pictures. Daniel's currently watching the preseason football game (Redskins vs Colts). We've also got a load of laundry going too. I'm gonna finish checking out Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants when I finish this. (I'm really excited about the new movie coming out and Daniel said that he would take me to see it!) We are both excited about the Olympics starting soon. We both enjoy watching them so I'm sure that will fill our evenings pretty soon.

What do you think of the whole Brett Favre thing? We've been kinda following it too. It's so nerve racking---will he or won't he? Will he be with the Packers or will they let him move on? It's so stressful. What will we ever do?

Well I guess that's it. I'm sorry that last night's post ended so abruptly. I thought Daniel had finished it off, but oh well. It ended and now this will end too. TTFN

The many phases of a bruise...

Yes, I have decided it might be great fun to see the progression of a bruise. So take a gander at Day Two. It's quite a pretty shade of purple and yellow and sore as well. I wouldn't be in this predicament if someone wouldn't push me down on the ice (not true!!)...

Today we went to several different stores. We went to Target to get a vaccum cleaner and found one that we did like, but I wanted to see how it compared to the one we had registered for so we didn't buy it yet. After Target, we went to Sam's, Wal-Mart, and Wegman's. We browsed around Sam's and looked at their vaccum cleaners and found one their we liked too. It turned out to be the one that we had registered for, so I will be going back to get it a little later this week. The good news is that it's $10 cheaper than Target---what a positive! Wegman's is a grocery store chain, but it has everything. It's really neat and I feel like it's got a lot of good deals when compared to some of the other grocery stores around. It's a little further out, but if you have to do quite a bit of shopping, it's worth it. The meat always looks so fresh and they have all kinds of different types there. You can have fresh meat cut for you and they will even grill stuff as well. It's kind of like a Whole Foods or Fresh Market, but better.

For dinner, we had crepes. We had pizza ones for dinner and for dessert we will have crepes with Nutella on them. It's very delicious. We did good with our recycling this week. I was quite proud of how much we had. I bought some green beans at the farmer's market this morning and we ended and snapped those tonight too. That's one little thing that I can do to have a taste of home here. At the market this morning, one of the workers gave me a "Cherokee" tomato---it's almost purple and the lady said that it would be a deep shade when you cut into it at least when it's ripe.

Ice Skating...

Today is Friday, which is usually good, but today was really busy at work. I was glad to finally get home. Once I got home, Lauren had already made dinner (chicken casserole) and said she had a surprise for me. She said we were going somewhere, but didn't tell me where. She took me to a place here in Reston that has an indoor ice skating rink. From 7:30 - 9:30, anyone can go out there and skate for $10. I was a little nervous at first since I had never been ice skating, although I have roller bladed before. Needless to say, I was a pro....kind of. I never fell, which was pretty good, I must say. The little 3 year-olds were showing both of us up, big time. Lauren decided to get a closer look at the ice (a couple of times), showing it how good she was (or not). Which is why she currently has a bag of ice on her knee and a nice bruise to go along with it. But, all in all, it was a fun experience and when people come up to visit, it would be a neat place to go. Now, we are watching Cheaper by the Dozen 2 on FX.

Movin' along...

Today was kind of relaxing. I got up and replanted my fern and petunias. Now they look pretty. After that, we hung picture around the apartment. However, we ran out of nails so I'm gonna have to get some tomorrow. Daniel cooked a lovely meal for me today. We had hotdogs, tater tots, and baked beans. It was pretty good. I've learned he doesn't like corndogs. Not really sure why, but I personally like the grease on a stick. We took a walk around the town center, stopped into Best Buy and finally at Harris Teeter-- a store along the lines of a Whole Foods. On our way back to the apartment, we stopped by the geese and "played" with them. Unfortunately, I think something has happened to "Harry" the Heron---Janie what did you do? I've been looking for him for about a week and half now and he hasn't come back. I guess I missed out on getting my picture. Maybe he'll come back soon. My china and stemware pieces that I purchased with the gift cards and the credits from repeat items came in today. I've got to open them up and make sure everything is okay. I also had some shelves on order from linens n' things and it came in yesterday. I think I'm going to hang those in a bit.

Tomorrow looks like we will be going to church and then maybe just browse around for awhile. I'm gonna get some new bed raisers so I can stick the rubbermaid drawers under there for some extra storage space. We the ones from school, I'm shy about 1 inch from making it work. Maybe I'll stick those under our bed for a little more height. I guess that's all from me. Hope everyone is doing great and enjoying the blog. Love, DL

Rest assured, the real blogger is back!

As I'm trying to right this blog, Daniel reads the title and spits across the screen. ('Least it got it's yearly cleaning.) Mom left on Wednesday to return home. It was really great having her here to help us go through stuff and make sense of where to stick things. We really want to thank Ben and Celi for helping us lug everything up the stairs. It took some time, but we did it and I'm extremely grateful for their help. I'm learning my way around--so much that Daniel even admitted that I might know how to get around better than him now. However, I have had my mess-ups. When I took Ben and Celi to the airport, I missed my exit off the free part of the toll road to get to my real exit...so I took the really really long way around, but I managed. I didn't have to call anyone or even stop. Man I'm good. Coming back from Baltimore (Mom's flight left from there), I accidentally took the exit for the free part of the toll road...oops. I guess I'm a criminal now...but at least I saved $1.25.

Well, I'm officially a Virginian now. Apparently, I'm for lovers. They tried to say I needed some other information--like my birth certificate--I quickly said that I had a marriage certificate wouldn't that do? And they said "oh yeah, that'll work too." I mean be somewhat helpful. It took me longer to get through the "gatekeepers" line then actually sitting for them to call my number. I was sitting for like 5 minutes and they called my number...I didn't have any of my paperwork done. So, I'm up there and tell the guy what I needed to do and all he did was give me one-worded answers. I didn't know what I was doing and so I was trying to understand- When I asked him if I was getting my title back (my original Alabama title)---he laughed at me and said "yeah." Heck, I didn't know how it all worked and I didn't get my original title back. I got a new one for Virginia. It's not as pretty as the Alabama title. Anyways, I now have my Virginia license, new title, ss card, temporary tag, and a new voter registration card on the way. The cool thing was that they made my license right there in about 5 minutes. No paper license. Although, I think their red pigment was a little off because now it looks like I have a severe sunburn. Oh well, such is life---at least I actually have my license.

I'm still slowly working through our stuff and trying to get things organized. It's coming together. The air conditioner man came to look at our unit to see why it wasn't blowing through some of the vents. Apparently it was still blowing, we just couldn't tell it cause our hand wasn't touching the vent. He says there is nothing wrong and I think he thought I was stupid. Tonight, we had dinner with one of Daniel's friends from work, Roger. It was very nice to meet him and I think I was used. We went to this Mexican restaurant where if someone at your table has never been there, then you get a free dessert-sopapillas. Well guess who had been there before and who hadn't? Pretty sure I was used, but the dessert was good. When we were driving home, we saw a fox in the middle of the road. It was trying to cross the street but it stopped in the middle while we drove by. It was a little one and kinda cute--not that I wanted it for a pet or anything. It was the first time I had seen a real fox and in that regard it was pretty cool.

Daniel didn't want to write/type anything tonight so I guess I'm spent. TTFN.

I'm back...

Since I haven't posted in a while, as Janie reminded me, I thought I would fill everyone in on what's been going on. It's been a pretty busy week for me at work and trying to get the apartment ready for Lauren and Mrs. Mauter. Now, they're here, Ben and Celi got here this morning and we now have a full apartment, literally. It was a lot of fun (sarcastically) getting all of the boxes and furniture up to the third floor, we were very fortunate for all the help! We're in the middle of clearing some things up in the apartment and getting things organized....while watching American Idol Rewind. We're gonna go to Mass tonight at 5, then to the town center to see a concert that starts around 7. Our plan is to go into the city tomorrow and do some sight-seeing and see some museums. We'll fill you in on all that we did a little later. Now, it's back to work.

What women want...

and coincidentally the movie we are watching. No reason for the title, I just couldn't think of anything more interesting. This morning we went to the farmer's market. It was pretty neat. We got some peaches, tomatoes, squash, zucchini, and a loaf of sourdough bread. The bread is good. Then we were pretty much bums until we had to pick up Uncle Bill and Janet at the airport. Later we went to dinner with Uncle Bill, Janet, and Uncle Bill's neighbor and his son to Champ's. Daniel uploaded a slide show to our blogspot so check it out. It has a picture of the sad looking cake. Hopefully, it's a good laugh. There should also be some pictures from NY, Montreal, and Quebec. I'm gonna try to get some pictures of the suspected heron and the geese flock. We are planning to go to church and then check out the Reston Festival tomorrow. Okay, so I guess this is it for now. We are pretty blogged out today. Blah.

Daniel woke up stupid again...

I spent much of the day cleaning and yet, I don't feel like I got much done today. Surprise! Surprise! I did three loads of laundry, ironed some...and still have more to do. I took some of Daniel's clothes to the cleaners...and now I'm $20.00 lighter....for four items! Maybe that's good, but I don't really think so. Tonight we had a good dinner--lemon pepper chicken, steamed broccoli, sweet potato (Sam would be jealous), and a salad. I also made a funfetti cake--daniel's favorite(apparently I'm not worthy of capital letters). That was fun and my cake looks really special. So, I don't exactly have our round cake pans here and I didn't want to do it the easy way in a 9X13 pan so I made three loaves of cake in a single bread pan. I think I need a little more practice at that one...it's quite sad. After dinner we went for a walk. We saw what Janie says is a heron......not really sure since she wasn't here or anything. One of the ladies in our complex has a dalmatian named Riley, he was a sweetheart. We also saw a bummy, which reminds me of my Grandpa. And finally, we saw some really pretty orange day lilies that were unlike any i have ever seen. They weren't like the ones at mom and dad's house, but more like a a real orange crayon or orange jello. BTW, I'm excited about seeing some pictures of the three trees that fell a mom and dad's. I know Dad took some, so I will try to post them when I get there. Maybe soon I will put some exciting pictures up on this site.

The Reston Festival is tomorrow and Sunday. They are setting up tents, different concerts, character drawings, arts and crafts booths, and daniel is really excited about the free balloon animals. I think I'm gonna try to check out the farmers market tomorrow. We are also supposed to pick up Uncle Bill and Janet at the airport tomorrow from their return from Italy.

Well today started off good...

Daniel woke up being stupid! (Not quite true, but pretty close.) (Not true at all) I tried going to the DMV today, and well apparently getting your bank statement printed off on official letterhead with your new address is not enough...rather a true enough bank statement. It had to be mailed. My question is, how do they really know if it was mailed or not? Beats me. So, I went to the post office and put in some change of address forms and hopefully i will have something soon that they will accept. Till then, I can't get a new license or a temporary tag. I have been able to get my SS card changed. I came home after those fun experiences, and cleaned up a bit and rearranged the kitchen. Where, one of the drawers attacked my leg (i.e. she ran into it) and now i have multiple drawer shaped bruises. Then, a drink pitcher decided to jump off the counter and fall on my toe (funny how none of this has to do with something she did). It's quite a nice shade of red-- i'm glad I like red and it's various shades.

We had a good dinner of BLTs. Except, I made Daniel try the toms, because they smelled like freezer burn to me. And apparently, they tasted like it too (I don't recommend being the guinea pig in these situations). So, needlessly to say, we didn't have the Ts. I baked a few cookies and we had some ice cream with them. It was very good, if I do say so myself (they were Pillsbury, pre-made).

We got some green sofa covers! They look pretty good. We also got two new brown pillows. They are nice and fluffy. I'm ready to hang some pictures, I feel like we have a bunch of stuff in about six places. (To an extent, it's true. :) ) I went to the grocery store yesterday. That was fun and expensive. I knew it would be more expensive than back home, but, I guess i didn't think it would be that much of a difference. The only thing I can think of is that I hadn't really grocery shopped for a) two people, plus we didn't really have anything at the apartment and b) I haven't shopped for at least 2-2.5 months because of not wanting to have a lot of leftovers when I moved out and really seen the price changes that everyone has been talking about. Let me tell ya, I've seen it now.

--This is Daniel (also me in some of the parentheses' above). I had a regular day. Caught the bus at 7:30, the train around 8:00 and got to work around 8:45. You may think that's late to get to work...but I get there before everyone else. I'm glad tomorrow's Friday, it's been tough getting used to working again. I think I'm getting Lauren hooked on "The Office." She watches a couple of episodes every now and then with me. That's about all for me. I may think of something less boring to write about tomorrow.

First Post!

We started our blog today! We'll get around to fancifying it at some point.