Tuesday ~ The Mad {Crazy Cat} Lady with a Box (Attn: Doctor Who fans!)

I went Home last night after work, just because I felt like being with my family. I never want more than a few days to go by without seeing them, just because I want to always be up on their lives. So I detoured out of my new-normal route home to pay a visit. 

We chatted, we got caught up (on the barely 48 hours that had past since I last saw them, haha), and I went and got my cat-fix for the day. Stuart brought The Poof-Cat (real name being Petri/Petie, but we do believe in the evolution of cat names!) to see me, and just as I was about to give up on seeing my dearest Jonesie, she came gracefully walking towards me to say hello. I'm over there so much that the cats probably don't even know that one of the family is no longer there, but I can sure tell the difference.

This is my darling Jones. She is of a calm temperament, loves to have her belly scratched and her favorite past-time is hunting in the fields by the house for unsuspecting rodents. If cats received awards for the amount of rodent extermination they handle, Jonesie would have a trophy cupbard full of them.

Just look at that sweet face.

And of course, I know all you Doctor Who fans out there have completely ignored my cat and have zeroed in on the picture on the right.

Yes. What you see is correct: that is, indeed, a baby Tardis. Yet another creation by master craftsman Stuart. This one is to be attached to the chain of my ceiling fan, instead of the little wooden ball that currently hangs there so boringly. This one is once again made of wood with paper accents, hand-painted and of course, designed entirely by Stuart himself.

And I'll let you in on a  hint of a secret: Stuart may or may not be "opening shop" in the Tardis building department, since some of you expressed an interest in perhaps procuring your own personal time-machine. :) Feel free to shoot me an email or comment if such an idea tickles your fancy and you want to discuss it further. 

Have a lovely Tuesday!

Monday ~ Clap if You Believe in Fairies

Fairies. Mermaids. Dwarves. Unicorns. Sprites. Fawns. Elves.

In other words, fantasy.

I grew up on all seven of the Chronicles of Narnia, where magic wardrobes, duffle-puds and talking beasts were the setting. My favorite childhood book is an extremely obscure and little known one called "The Forbidden Door," by Jeanne K. Norweb - in which two children, in a very Narnia-esque story, find a door in a sea cave that leads into a land of dragons.

{ happy Monday! Note: let me know if I post to many photos of myself! I like seeing photos of the authors of the blogs I read, so that's why I post photos of myself. But I don't want to look vain, so holla' if it gets to "selfie" around here }

Whether it's been re-tellings of classic fairy-tales, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the almost countless Redwall books, or in more recent years, Percy Jackson, as well as the Harry, Ron & Hermione trio ...I've always had a bent towards the fantasy genre.

And so here's my silly Monday confession: even though I'm a grown-up now, there's still so much of me that wishes that fairy-tale stuff really happened. You know...that there really was magic in the air, wooden staffs that shot out light at just the right moment or fairies that flew in to help those in need. I wish I could catch a glimpse of a mermaid basking on a rock or the swooping wings of a dragon as it glided behind a cloud. I wish that there were little mice and woodland creatures who I could talk to or centaurs who'd teach me how to ride.

But of course, there's not.

*moment of silence*

But! I'll always be a dreamer. And I'll always love me some pixie-dust and magic moonbeams. And I'll always wish that I could be the next earthling to find that magic portal to another world. True story.

{ the black heals that have stood me (literally) through three different bridesmaid experiences // my Sunday outfit as I was about to head out the door }

But for now, as I was entertaining all these thoughts of fun, fantastic whimsy in my mind this morning, I got to thinking this question to myself, and I decided to ask the question to you.

Just for fun. Because there's a little bit of dreamer in all of us. And you know it.

If you could bring to life one magical, fantastical creature or persons, which would you choose?

Leave a comment with your choice! And any fantasy/make-believe book or movie favorites you have! I really want to know!

Saturday ~ You're Going to Think All I Do Is Eat

Oh you wonderful readers, you.

 

Yes, I'm laying it on so that you'll forgive me for  posting yet again about all the food that I eat. I promise that I do have a life beyond just sitting around all day and eating! Really. I promise. But food is the most exciting thing going on around here, so...

 

And come on, everybody likes food! One of the few things I really just can't bare to live without, ifyaknowwhatImean...

 

I had a dinner date with my freshly arrived Merlin last night.Oh and can we just take a moment to appreciate the food that inside of that bowl? Notice that it's not Mac & Cheese. Or a chicken-from-a-can sandwhich. Or take-out. Nope, it's an honest-to-goodness cooked-on-the-stove-top-and-inside-the-oven meal! Yes, please, high five's all round for Kellie, thankyouverymuch. 

 

Check out my two new cd's, yet two more finds at a thrift store. My Disney-lovin' heart has been satiated today with the soundtrack for The Hunchback of Notre Dame and my soft-inspirational-instrumental-lovin' soul is happy with Chris Rice's The Living Room Sessions.

 

For lunch this afternoon, not only did I actually eat my leftover teriyaki chicken and rice...but I added steamed broccoli to the ensambe. Let me say that again: I steamed broccoli. Something healthy. Something green. A veggie that actually took some {minor} preparation. Ah yes. I can just see my mother's tears of joy as she reads this.

 

*hi, mom!*

 

Well, that's my Friday night' dinner and Saturday's lunch for you! I'm going to try my absolute hardest to NOT post about the food that I eat tomorrow...but I'm making no promises.

 

Alright, I'm off to curl up with a bowl of ice-cream* and a movie. Just because it's Saturday and I can.

 

Have a fabulous Saturday, you wonderful readers, you!

And I really mean that.

 

*not pictured here



Friday ~ Don't.Stop.Believin' (Wk 5)

____________________

• I believe in teriyaki chicken over white rice.
• I believe in sleeping with my phone under my pillow.
• I believe in spending the night at Home just because I can. And snuggling with my 3 year old niece who also spent the night.
• Just because I believe in leaving two car spaces between me and the car in front of me doesn't mean I'm not going just as fast.
• I believe in Pinterest-pinning all kinds of pins on sewing, crafting and food baking that I'll {realistically} probably never attempt
• I believe in taking my sister thrift-store shopping on Saturday.
• I believe that I'm energetic and adventurous...when I'm really not. I like my bed, my books and my Doritos too much.
• I believe in never, ever, ever reading in the car for fear of traumatizing car sickness.
• I believe in pulling out my guitar ever few months to remind my fingers that there's more to life than long nails and nail polish.
• I believe in walking boldly through rain instead of hiding under an umbrella. .
• I believe that the Gods of the Highways should never allow there to be road construction on BOTH of the main thoroughfares at the same time.
• I believe in cardigans all year long.
• I believe that I've been having really crazy dreams lately, one involving Scotty McCreery saving me from being attacked by a street gang.
• I believe in secret food stashes.

Thursday ~ The Day a Wizard Was Waiting for Me at My Door

Guess what I have for you today? Yes, that's right - more pictures of my food and the books I'm reading! I see a definite trend setting happening in my photography these days, with food and books taking center stage. The evening lighting is at it's peak photography potential right after I get home from work...which is also when I make dinner and read a book for a little while. So, here's yet another post about (really) the things I love best. 

They say writers need to write about what they know. And since photography is an expression of the heart, perhaps photographers just need to take pictures of what they love. Eh? :)

I've signed up with several book publishers to do blog book reviews, since it combines one of my favorite things (books) with another favorite thing (free). And I'm currently reading In Broken Places by Michele Phoenix. I'll not steal the punch from my forthcoming review on this book, but let me just say amazing.

My goal as a living-on-her-own-er is to NOT eat Macaroni & Cheese for dinner every night, even though those delicious noodles rank high on my list of favorite foods. But last night called for a quick dinner, so Mac & Cheese it was. Oh how sad. ;)

You've seen this incredible woman on here several times before, but let me just re-introduce you to her. This is Colleen, one of my housematets. Also known as one of my very best friends. Isn't she cute? I don't think I could have wished for a better roomie.

Note: what exactly do you call someone with whom you share living space, but not a room? Roomie implies the same room. So...a housie??

Is that, is that, is that....MERLIN SEASON FIVE?? Yes, it is! I found a surprise package leaning up against my door when I got home from work last night and after ripping open the box like a 5-year-old on Christmas morning, I saw the face of Merlin nestled inside the wrapping, in all his wizardly cuteness (eek, did I just say that outloud? Oh snap, I did). My brother Steven and his wife Caitlin bought me pretty much the BEST house-warming gift ever. Although I'm sure the fact that they've been waiting just as anxiously to see it as me had nothing to do with their motive for getting it into the family circulation. Hehe. *wink*

This picture was taken just before I put in Episode 1...and then get no further than that episode, since the disc was defect and therefore, malfunctioned at just the wrong spot. So, it's being sent back and a new one should be here by tomorrow. Yay for Amazon Prime, people.

So between Mac & Cheese, an incredible book and Merlin to keep my company, last night was pretty much amazing.

Yup.

Wednesday ~ For the Love of a Roast

Katheryn spent this past weekend with me, since the rest of the family was gone at a Civil War reenactment. And let me let you in on my secret that's not really a secret, and that is that I don't like to cook. Or bake. Or really do anything in the kitchen. Which is unfortunate, since I love to eat.

But Katheryn, on the other hand, loves to cook, loves to bake, loves being in the kitchen...and she also loves to eat. Wow, can't you just see the team spirit happening between us?

Katheryn arrived at my front door Friday evening with several bags of delicious items specifically geared towards making our weekend a foodie paradise to remember! Yes, now you can see why she's my best friend. Just kidding.

Amidst the flat of fresh-picked strawberries from the local strawberry stand, a half gallon of ice cream, and a few other food wonders, there was...a roast. 

 I love roast. 

And so, Saturday morning found us together in the kitchen, filling my baby crock pot up with potatoes, carrots, seasonings and of course, the roast. 

Actually, Katheryn filled the crock pot. I just took pictures.

 That evening, she and I shared a lovely roast dinner sitting at my dining room table, with the setting sunshine brightening the room. It was delicious. I think I'm going to really love my crock pot!

Thanks, Ryn, for coming over and spending the weekend with me! Having you there made it feel a bit more like a real Home. Come anytime. 

And of course, feel free to bake in my kitchen anytime you want!

*grin* 

Tuesday ~ Good Foods + Good Reads

Two monumental things have happened in the past two days:

The first being, I finally got Lightroom installed on my laptop, so I can actually begin editing my photos properly again! Woohoo! Although, I'm a little unsure how that's going to look from now on, because I've been using my tv as my laptop monitor...but the screen tinting is drastically different between my laptop and my tv and I don't know which one is most correct. So if my photos start looking off-color and weirdly tinted, it's because my screens are wrong!

At least I hope that's why.

{ last nights dinner - bagel & chicken sandwich and cherry coke }

The second happening was truly monumental of the greatest proportions. At least  for me. Because I got our little house hooked up with wireless internet. 

*crickets*

Yes, yes...I realize that for most people, that's just a normal, every day house-hold item, like butter in the fridge or toothpaste in the bathroom drawer. But for this gal? See, me and my family just went from dial up to fast internet just last year. Yup, just last year. And it was only for our main desktop. So, when I wanted internet access on my laptop, it was either the library, Starbucks or my sister's house.

{ went thrifting after work yesterday and found THIS treasure! Pretty much one of my favorite books and I think I clung to it a little too protectively after I snatched it off the shelf! *grin* }

But now? There's are nebulous little wireless particles floating around my room, registered under my name and coming in through the jack in my room. That's a big deal for me, folks! 

I guess I'll always be just a little bit old-fashioned. But I'm okay with that. :)

{ dining room views}

I celebrated a Starbucks Tuesday this morning and went mainstream/unoriginal with a Strawberries & Cream Frapp.

Of course. It was delicious.

One of my other thrift store finds was this David Arch cd. I know he's kinda "juvenile" and his music is a little fluffy...but I confess, I still enjoy his music. Somebody's gotta like it, right? :)

Happy Tuesday, my friends! Not much out of the new-ordinary going on these beginning-of-summer days. At least, it's the beginning of summer here.

Yay!

Friday ~ The Doctor is In

Remember last week how I mentioned that my brother was building me something? You might actually have had a sneak peak of it on Wednesday. But yes, my 13 year old brother Stuart built me...

My very own TARDIS!

Blog people, meet TARDIS. TARDIS, meet blog people.

Stuart spent several days on this little wonder of construction, and I couldn't possibly be more pleased with it! And it even opens up on the top, becoming a nifty little place to put stuff! It may not be bigger on the inside, but in every single way, it's perfect!

My TARDIS has a place of honor up on the top of my bookshelf where everyone who walks into my room can't help but see it's amazing self.

 Check out all the detail! It clocks in at about 8 inches tall and is made entirely from wood. Stuart carefully took measurement, studied pictures, did and re-did portions of it, gluing pieces together until he was satisfied that it was a true likeness. I agree, don't you? For the windows and Police Call Box logo, he carefully designed, sized and printed from the computer using Paint.

 I'm going to cherish this little guy, and not just because I'm a Doctor Who fan.

I'm going to cherish it the most because I'm a Stuart fan. I may be 12 years older than Stuart, almost twice his age, but I truly, truly consider Stuart as one of my best friends. He's my "chum for chum" (the silly name I've called him ever since watching Finding Nemo), my fellow cat lover, and has always been there to go on adventures with me or to just sit around the house talking and telling jokes. He has a hilarious sense of humor and is always coming up with unique nicknames for me, the family and our cats. 

He's always up for helping me with any project, is usually found out in the garage/work shop designing and making other wooden wonders like my TARDIS (how about a working catapult, trebuchet, and ballista, designed and constructed entirely from his own research and imagination!). Stuart is a hard-working, determined young man with a great great sense of humor and a very intelligent and creative mind. He can also tell you pretty much anything you want to know about US coins and can find miniscule markings on coins that I absolutely cannot see, no matter how hard I try.

Stuart is 13 years old and already he challenges me in my faith. He's a stickler for upholding what truth and what's right and he never wavers in his beliefs. I admire that tremendously about him. He also is brave and not afraid of confrontation when confrontation is needed. He speaks his mind and is not afraid to call me out on something that I'm doing wrong. That is true courage, the righteous kind. I have so much to learn from Stuart.

Thank you, Stuart, for building me a TARDIS, for being brave with me when I moved out, for chanting "Who can do it? You can!" with me as I struggled against tears as I packed up my stuff, for always being there for me, bringing me a cat when I was sad (because you always know that cheers me up!), for reminding me to live more like Jesus and for being the BEST youngest brother I could EVER wish for.

{ November 2012 }

Thursday ~ Don't.Stop.Believin' (Wk 4)

• I believe in the occasional Green Tea Frappuccino.
• I believe in planning fun "adventures" with Stuart while most of the other siblings are gone for the summer.
• I believe that flip-flops should be considered appropriate work attire.
• I believe in bobby pins and paper clips. They have far more uses that just holding together hair and paper.
• I believe in friends who send me phone pictures of their cats because they know that I'm missing mine so much. Thanks, Brea!
• I believe too strongly in Chocolate Moose Tracks ice cream. Three bowls too strong.
• I believe in sunglasses all the time.
• I believe in messy hair buns.
• I believe in sleeping in a cold room under a huge mound of warm blankets.
• I believe in snuggling up with my niece before putting her into bed and reading "The Princess & the Pea." With different voices for different characters.
• I believe in talks with my 19 year old brother Scott about the Rapture and end times stuff.
• I believe in listening to music in the car and pretending I'm in a movie and the songs are my soundtrack. You know you do it, too.
• I believe in Andy Griffith & Dick Van Dyke.
• I believe in using turn signals and thinks everyone should believe in that, too.
• I believe in Super Saver Shipping.

____________________

Wednesday ~ A Little Bit of My House & Other House-y Stuff

Happy Wednesday! Today I just have a few random snapshots of my morning, taken in the few spare moments between eating my bowl of Life cereal and bolting out the door to my car. Pictures have, sadly, been put on the back-burner of my life the past week, especially as I still don't have internet at my new house or my photo editing software installed on my laptop.

{ a small glimpse of my room in it's temporary state before I get the rest of my furniture // my sweet smelling rose candle from Ikea }

{ family and friends }

_____________________

Because there's just been so much going on and so many little things swirling around in my head, I'm going to take advantage of what other blogger's have been doing and do a "collage" of thought:

Concerning housewarming: I'm now the very happy owner of my very own tv! My sister Kristine and brother-in-law Mark knocked my socks off by giving me a tv for my birthday/house-warming/just-because-they're-amazing present.  Mark & Co. came over last night to help set it up and we (me and my sister Katheryn, who was spending the night just because we do that kind of fun stuff) gave it it's maiden movie-watching voyage on "The Ruby in the Smoke." Which we both highly enjoyed and I'm sure my liking it had nothing to do with Matt Smith or JJ Field playing prominent roles. Really, I'm sure it didn't.

Concerning anniversaries: Yesterday was my one week anniversary of moving out. I planned on "celebrating" it by actually not going Home.. Because, even though I've moved out, I've still gone Home for either dinner, hanging out, packing up stuff or to celebrate birthday eve's every single day since then. But Mom called yesterday afternoon and said I'd gotten some packages in the mail, so I just had to go home. But that's okay. I was missing them a lot yesterday, so I sorta wanted to go home anyway. :)

Concerning music: Been listening to Plumb lately and really enjoying her style.

Concerning cats: Can I just take a moment and confess how much I miss my cats? Because I really, really, really, really, really do miss them. I have a soul-connection with cats and not having them around for the first time in my whole life is really causing some strong internal anguish! Yes, I know...I'm that crazy cat lady.

Concerning Paint: if anybody out there is thinking of painting their walls a light shade of gray, consider Benjamin Moore's Stonington Gray. It's gorgeous. It makes you happy just walking into the room. I may or may not have actually hugged my wall a time or two...

Concerning crock pots: does anybody have any good crock pot recipes that aren't full of onions, peppers, tomatoes and other such ingredients? This picky eater is embracing the wonders of a crock pot and I need some good recipes! Specifically ones that can be eaten for lunch the next day, too.

Concerning cyber mistakes: I think if I were to look up the word "panic" in the dictionary this morning, I would read:

PANIC:

The act of thinking you sent a highly sensitive and enormously confidential email to the very person you did NOT want to send that email.

And if I were to look up the word "relief," it would say:

RELIEF:

Finding out you didn't.

____________________

With that, I'll be done. Have a good day, my cyber and not-so-cyber friends! What are you "concerning" about today?

Tuesday ~ That Night We Danced 'Til Midnight

For the optimal viewing experience for this post, please grab a cold glass of sweet tea and play some toe-tappin' bluegrass music. You might just feel like you're actually there.

The day of the dance was spent is preparation. There was lights to be strung, wild-flowers to be beautified, tables and chairs to be set up,  and of course, a prominent display of the Confederate flag. Just because we can.

Part of our spring theme was hanging lanterns and I quite happily was on lantern duty. There a bit more wind that we'd have custom ordered, but not so much that our lovely lanterns were in any danger.

And then...

The people came. And the fun began!

Above right: Scott and I dancing the Virginia Reel, my favorite dance. Because it's amazing.

One of my favorite parts of the evening is seeing other people having so much fun - it makes all the time and work spent on the dance so completely worth it!

As in traditional form, the night ends with a waltz, which is one of my favorite dances. And ladies, my brothers aren't shabby dancers! They know their stuff and they're my favorite guys to dance with. 

People were there until midnight and beyond...which even then, the evening seemed to just go by way too fast! As the last guests left, we slowly began gathering the remnants of an evening well spent...

...and then hit the hay. Pun definitely intended.  The next 48 hours were spent in talking about it, over and over and over again, perfecting ideas, telling stories and of course, brainstorming and planning for the next one.

Scheduled for August 16th, y'all! If you're nearby and want to come, consider yourself invited. :)

Photos by mom and me. She took all the good ones. :)