off to arizona!

nately and i celebrated christmas for the two of us tonight - it was great :) we wrapped all the gifts yesterday - santa brought me all kinds of good stuff (photography books, poetry books, 600-thread count sheets, a football, a bunch of random disney whatnots, and more!) i am totally spoiled this christmas and it's not even over yet!
our flight is tomorrow afternoon which gives us a bit of time to get organized (read: do laundry) and get cleo all packed up for her big trip to arizona! i'm excited to spend time in AZ, haven't been home since the wedding! big plans to take nate hiking, to rito's (our favorite mexican), maybe even sedona and/or flagstaff.
since i never post pics anymore on this blog, thought i'd include one from castaway cay- disney's very own island in the bahamas. as we were disembarking from the ship, they handed us eggnog and had carolers and fake snow -- it was pretty entertaining ;) so here's me with my eggnog and a gorgeous blue sky (i'm a bit blurry, but you get the idea). happy holidays!

my life in short

went on a 7-day cruise, loved it but missed nate like crazy! christmas for nate and i on friday, headed to arizona saturday, christmas with my family on christmas. work's busy but pleasant, FL is warm for this time of year!

back to junior high...

You Passed 8th Grade Science

Congratulations, you got 8/8 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Science?

it's thursday already?

how did that happen? and it's the last day of november too! well our christmas tree is up -- he's so cute! we decorated with our joint collection of ornaments and it's lovely :) i need to amass wayyyy more holiday decorations than i have though, barely fills a room in the house!
tonight i'm making dinner for nately and then i don't know what we'll end up doing -- probably cleaning the house because the termite inspector is coming in the morning!
oh and i posted more pics -- TONS from our thanksgiving/christmas weekend in PA :)
i guess that's it... our weather here lately has been gorgeous -- it's even supposed to be in the 80s tomorrow! and tomorrow's an all day team building event, so should be a good day for it!

santa, the christmas tree

will be decorated tonight! nate and i got a real tree this year, which i haven't done in years :) i'm so excited! it's a little 4' baby - tonight he'll be all lit up and christmas beautiful!

take a look at the five & ten, glistening once again

with candy canes and silver lanes agloooooooooooooow! it's beginning to look a lot like christmas... :)
as always, we had a wonderful time in pennsylvania, filled with family, food and fun! i have many pics to post. we had thanksgiving on thursday (well, duh!), a little black friday shopping and put up the tree friday, and had christmas morning on saturday! it was great ;)
i have all kinds of wonderful christmas gifts to play with- and expect more pics from the new camera as i now have a bag to tote it around in!
all for now, i'm trying to blog more often -- stay tuned ;)

bri's list of exciting news

1. we're off to PA for thanksgiving (and christmas!) i can't wait!
2. i'm going on a 7-day carribbean cruise in december!
3. we're going home for 10 days to arizona in december!
4. it's the holidays :) i love the holidays!
5. the ghoons are planning a FL visit in '07!

have a wonderful turkey day, i'm thankful for so very much this year :)

Butterball Help-Line Help-Line

By Alysia Gray Painter

Q: A caller just said she forgot to baste every 10 minutes. I advised her to serve the turkey anyway. Was I correct?
A: Not at all. The turkey is merely the vehicle for the basting. In a recent poll, nine out of 10 people would rather sit down at the table and suck on the end of a baster full of buttery juices than gnaw at some dry old wing. Bad call.

Q: I just overheard my co-worker advising a home cook to truss the bird. I arrived late at the "Talk Turkey" seminar last week and missed the trussing segment. Can you advise?
A: Trussing, while not the chef's best friend, is that pleasant acquaintance you see about once a year and always have a compliment for. Trussing is legal in every state. Trussing comes from the word "truss," which means to truss, or tie string or put pins in a turkey to help it stay in a pretty poultrylike shape that is pleasing to the eye. Cooks must remove pins and string before consuming. If a caller wants to know if she should truss, you should tell her you only go around this crazy world once. Trust truss.

Q: Cinnamon or nutmeg?
A: Cinnamon is a nice spice people are comfortable consuming throughout the year, sprinkled either on toast or in a delicious coffee beverage. Nutmeg is a nasty, gritty substance that wants nothing to do with us in the spring or summer but demands our favor come November, only to disappear to the back of the shelf for another year. Why do we continue to accommodate this so-called seasoning? Nutmeg is a stupid jerk.

Q: I just hung up with a caller with the words "gobble gobble" instead of "goodbye"—was this appropriate?
A: No. Make sure you note that in your report to your supervisor on Monday.

Q: The vending machine on the second floor is broken and we're starved. Should we call maintenance?
A: Maintenance is home eating a proper dinner with family and friends. Go to the office kitchen and look in the cupboard behind the fridge. There will be a half-eaten box of Triscuits there, because every office kitchen in existence contains a half-eaten box of Triscuits in the cupboard behind the fridge. Triscuit dust is an acceptable snack when poured into a small paper cup and drunk in the manner of water. Do not use a straw.

Q: My boyfriend didn't care if I worked the holiday. Is our relationship in trouble?
A: Perhaps your boyfriend wanted to watch football unencumbered and without you fussing around with gravy boats and miniature marshmallows. If your boyfriend is a fresh-faced soap star who wants to move up to Broadway, look for him tap dancing his heart out in front of Macy's around 10:35 a.m.

Q: I've been answering calls from perplexed home cooks all day and I still don't know why we bother, really.
A: Everyone talks about the bickering relatives and the burnt yams, but few talk about taking a weekday to eat and nap and gossip with a sibling about another sibling. No one owns it. No focus group studies it. Just you and a mostly empty bowl of stuffing and no clean utensils, so use your fingers already.

pictures galore!

i posted tons of pics for you to feast your eyes upon-- enjoy :) they're in the october and november folders.
nate and i had a great weekend -- we spent saturday running errands and then at beer fest which was great fun :) then we went to see "the prestige" -- i liked it...but i don't know - it was odd.
sunday we had a tasty breakfast (thanks chef nate!) and then worked in the yard- pics of our developing herb garden, coming soon! we watched the steelers win a very exciting game (go willie parker!) and then had yummy hot sausage in spicy marinara for dinner and FINALLY got caught up on desperate housewives. all in all, an unquestionable success ;)

poem

we spent our first years
flying away so often. pulling
away from the earth together.
i want to be at home
with you. i want to soak
in the waters of our new life
together until our skin
is filled with wrinkles.

if dreams are like movies then memories are films about ghosts...

hola! como estas? i'm good -- and need a weekend from my weekend! we had a fun activity filled weekend :) friday we had some of nate's family and even extended family over for dinner... exact count? 16 people counting nate and i! satuday morning we spent with nancy and dick and granny and pappaw :) got to show them around winter garden a bit and eat at our favorite greasy spoon for breakfast.
the rest of saturday and sunday we spent with the glen sandusky family and had a great time :) water parks, epcot and animal kingdom, followed by a great seafood dinner :)
speaking of dinner, nate's home from work so time to eat!

cleo was a pumpkin this year!

happy halloween!

pics from the new camera coming soon- nate's getting really tired of being followed around the house with me snapping a picture every five seconds. he wants to know how many pictures of him drinking a glass of water are really necessary!

we had a wonderful time with my parents this weekend -- spent time at every park but magic kingdom and also got plenty of things done around the house (like putting curtains on the bay window!) animal kingdom was the reigning favorite i think- the weather couldn't have been more beautiful- we really enjoyed the entire weekend :)

alrighty, time to get to work! hope you all have a wonderful halloweenie! :) the pic of cleo is a few years old, but i think she'll be a witch again tonight for all our trick or treaters :)

will blog for...

pretty much anything ;) you people are lucky i don't blog for comments. actually, blogging has replaced journaling for me, but serves the same purpose -- a loose record of my life i can go back and read at any given time.
so what's been going on? nate and i have been making progress lately on the house -- you can even see part of the garage! last weekend, we had an absolutely wonderful time with the raynors :) we spent time at the food and wine festival and at emeril's restaurant (food and service was unlike anything i've seen or experienced!) it was fun to see charlie react to the various things in the parks -- he loved the new nemo ride and calls water "maya." they even took time out of their busy vacation to come see our new house and have lunch, which was great :)
so this week we bought something i've wanted for a REALLY long time. a canon rebel. i actually wanted one (the film version) back before digital was even really a blip- then they went digital and many years later, i'm about to be the proud owner of one! :) i'm so excited -- should arrive friday just in time for my parents to visit (yippee!)

off to kansas!

and this is our last trip until thanksgiving! we're off to see my cousin tara marry tommy :) so quick trip -- we leave tomorrow after work and head back sunday evening.
i STILL haven't located our camera cable and we still don't have the internet, so no pics still- hopefully soon :)

ikea products or lord of the rings characters?

by Caley Feldman

1. Faramir
2. Freden
3. Grundtal
4. Boromir
5. Molger
6. Galdor
7. Freda
8. Agerum
9. Babord
10. Frodo
11. Grima
12. Akurum
13. Brunkrissla
14. Sultan Högbo
15. Deagol
16. Grimbold

Lord of the Rings characters: 1, 4, 6, 7, 10, 11, 15, 16.
Ikea products: 2, 3, 5, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14.

off to pittsburgh!

we're headed out to PA today to kim and steve's wedding. also in our plans is my first trip to punxsy (yay!), eating italian food (mmm..), visiting with dave and maureen and baby owen (who's probably now considerably bigger!), going to the 'O' (Original Hot Dog Shop) for my birthday, and getting to see John and Linda's house for the first time :)
on the house update, we've turned in our apartment keys, but still have many many boxes to unpack! loving the neighborhood though :)

A Marriage by Michael Blumenthal

You are holding up a ceiling
with both arms. It is very heavy,
but you must hold it up, or else
it will fall down on you. Your arms
are tired, terribly tired,
and, as the day goes on, it feels
as if either your arms or the ceiling
will soon collapse.

But then,
unexpectedly,
something wonderful happens:
Someone,
a man or a woman,
walks into the room
and holds their arms up
to the ceiling beside you.

So you finally get
to take down your arms.
You feel the relief of respite,
the blood flowing back
to your fingers and arms.
And when your partner's arms tire,
you hold up your own
to relieve him again.

And it can go on like this
for many years
without the house falling.

hip hip hooray!

we spent the weekend with cassie and mike, had a wonderful time :) cassie and i did some dress shopping (sorry, those pics are passworded until after the wedding!), we of course spent time in the parks, and even were able to take them downtown orlando and to winter park! it was a busy busy weekend, but it was so great to see my sister- i wish all our families could live so much closer! i'll just keep holding out for a "beam me up scotty" machine for christmas i guess ;)
in other news, we have our house!!! closing went off without a hitch (thanks sarah!) and lastnight, nate and i celebrated by using the new grill (thanks john and nina!) for a tasty dinner of hot dogs and beer :) is there a better way to celebrate? i think not.
i can't even describe what it felt like to back down the driveway and think, wow... i live here!
john (nate's dad) will be here tonight to help us pack and move which will be a huge help. tonight, nate's going to cut the grass while i clean the house - tee hee :)

escrow: e-s-s-c-r-o-e

when i was in 5th or 6th grade, i was in a spelling bee (as i'm sure many of us were!) in my memory, i was doing pretty well.... until ... they rolled out with the word "escrow"
.
.
eh? es-wha? i'd never even heard of the word and i certainly didn't know how to spell it. turns out, i overcomplicated it. it's quite phonetic. (i don't think the above is how i spelled it, but i know it was incorrect!)
with that in mind, we close this friday, which is incredibly exciting :) escrow and all. cassie arrives on wednesday, we're headed to a better than ezra concert wednesday evening, wedding dress shopping thursday evening, mike arrives on friday morning, then nate and i will sign more papers than we ever thought possible! we're planning a minimalist bbq on friday evening with mike and cassie before showing them the orlando sights all weekend :)
next tuesday, nate's dad arrives to help us move- which is going to be an incredible help! we're trying to get organized to he doesn't arrive to a total mess! :)