Girls Night

Last week Chris went to Utah to spend some time with his family, but I didn't have any vacation time from work, so I had to stay home. The Saturday night that he was gone my mom, grandmother, aunt and cousin came over for a girls night. It was great! We ate too much food, stayed up too late, watched a movie, looked at pictures, planned our Christmas gathering, and helped my mom tie the quilt for my cousin's baby. Well, everyone else helped with the quilt, I held the baby!

Thanksgiving

To date we've had three Thanksgiving dinners, Chris gets a fourth when he goes out to Utah this week. Our first and biggest one was with my mom's side of the family at my great grandmother's assisted living center in Ellicott City. They have a pool table to plenty of room for all of us! I had the most fun holding my cousins two month old baby! The second dinner was that same weekend, with just my parents and brothers at our house. The third was at a friends house for his birthday, so we've had our share of turkey!!

What We've Been Up To......

I'm so sorry that it's been so long since I've posted anything! Two months ago I started working full time at a bank and while I've been enjoying it, it's long hours and long weeks and we really haven't been doing much! Now that I've started getting adjusted to a 45 minute commute and six day weeks, I'm getting a little better at doing things after work. Still, we haven't been doing a whole lot to take pictures of. Chris and my brothers have done a lot of work in the basement, but I'm not taking pictures of that yet because it's still such a mess!

At my friend Marley's birthday dinner

We rearranged our bedroom!

Ice skating with a friend from work, Amber. Chris was nice enough to take pictures for me. Below is a video of me "jumping", which I haven't done in three or four years!

P.S. For those of you who couldn't find me in the movie clip, it's okay, I'm not that easy to see, I'm behind Nicole Kidman when she first enters the subway, but I'm blurry, in a long tan coat, and then you see again for a split second as she comes out of the subway, I'm walking away from her.

My Movie!

Anyone see The Invasion with Nicole Kidman? I wouldn't really recommend it, except that I'm in it!  I was able to be an extra for one very looooong day and it was a lot of fun.  I anxiously waited for the movie to come out and was thrilled to be able to pick myself out!  Chris ripped off the clip I'm in, see if you can find me! You can actually see me twice.

My new car!

Chris and I spent two weeks trying to buy a new car, we first were going to buy used, then decided to look at new, then went back to trying to find a used, then decided it was really only a couple of thousand more to buy new, so then we had it narrowed down to two cars and spent several days trying to decide which one. He told me I had to pick because he wants me driving the newer one since I drive farther to work now, so I test drove both cars back to back and decided I liked the Corolla best. But I wanted a green one, so the dealership gave me a loaner car, a RAV4, while they tried to find a green one. Apparently green is not a color they make a lot of, so the guy finally asked if I would be okay with another color, so I said blue would be fine. It took him another day to find a blue one, apparently I just like rare colors. I finally got to pick it up this past Thursday and I've been having so much fun driving it! It's an 09 and I got it with 20 miles on it! I drive about 50 miles a day, and that's if I only go straight to and from work, so unfortunately I'm racking up miles pretty quickly, but I'm very happy with it and hope to have it a long time! Isn't it so pretty?!?!

My very own pet hospital!

Ever since moving back to Maryland I have helped take care of the pets on our family farm, it was a lot easier when I lived there, but even now we watch the dog when nobody else is there and check on the cats. Last week I noticed the dog and one of the cats seriously limping. Well, nobody else was around this week, so I got to spend two mornings at the vet, one with the dog, one with the cat. They both hurt the same paw and have to be kept inside, given antibiotics, the dog has a spray for his paw and the cat has a cream, and they both have to be taken back to the vet in a week for checkups. Unfortunately they both love being outside and obviously don't like being cooped up. Good thing I think they're so cute!

Cute little Bay

My parents came out for dinner, which they do quite often, and they brought their 2 year old Chesapeake Bay Retriever, named Bay.  She likes to play with Roxy's mice, so we try to hide them before she comes.  Today she found another of Roxy's toys and occupied herself for quite awhile.  It was too cute, I had to get a video.  It's a mouse that "runs" inside this plastic thing, so they can't ever get it.  It's pretty funny how much she likes cat toys.

My Husband Tag

1. What is your husband's name?

Christopher Larry Brown

2. Who said I love you first?

I did, by accident, we were making out and it just slipped out, I did mean it though.  It was several more months before he said it.

3. Who is taller?

Chris, by like six inches

4. Who is smarter?

I think we're equally smart, but in different ways

5. Who is more sensitive?

Definitely me

6. Who does the laundry?

Me

7. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?

If you're looking at the bed, I sleep on the right side

8. Who pays the bills?

I do

9. Who cooks more?

Lately (finally) I do, I'm in charge of meals during the week and he's in charge of meals on the weekends, he enjoys doing big fancy Sunday meals

10. What meals do you cook together?

Nothing, unless one of us is running late and we ask the other to start

11. Who is more stubborn?

Me, by far, come on, I am a red head

12. Who is the first to admit they are wrong?

We'll both say we are and we'll both say the other is wrong

13. Who is more clean?

I think I am, but he's also not usually home enough to make too much of a mess of anything

14. Who has more siblings?

I have five, he has one

15. Who wears the pants in the relationship?

Definitely me, but I'm getting better at relinquishing control

16. What do you like to do together?

Watching movies, playing board games, going to the beach, playing with the dog, entertaining

17. Who eats more sweets?

Definitely me

18. Guilty Pleasures?

Any kind of war game on the computer or Wii, cold reeces cups, sour cream and onion chips

19. How did you meet?

He was the resident assistant in the dorms we were living in in college and we had mutual friends, I don't remember the first time we met

20. Who asked who out first?

After a month of flirting he still hadn't asked me out, so my friends and I hatched a plan so that I could ask him out - we went on a triple date for my birthday

21. Who kissed who first?

I always refused to be the one to give the first kiss, so he kissed me first, it caught me by surprise, but again, it came after a month of waiting

22. Who proposed?

Officially he did, but I tried to propose once, because, again, I was tired of waiting. But the proposal was prefect, it would take me too long to tell the whole story, but it was very intricate and special.

23. Best features?

His smile, his eyes, his comfy shoulder

24. What is his best quality?

His patience with me!

Playing at the Pool

My "other family" the Washburns bought a pool pass for the summer and as part of the pool pass they can have a designated "sitter" and who else would they have chosen besides me? Hehe. I've only gone with them three or four times, but it's always been fun. Today I thought to take my camera along.

Briella has gone back to not liking me too much, which is why she's not so thrilled in this picture
The boys decided early on that I am their personal jungle gym.



I had to include a picture of Kamberlynne! She and my brother spent most of the time playing catch or monkey in the middle.

Pasta a la Cat

It seems like lately I'm always talking to my friends about trying to find good recipes for dinner.  So I decided I would share one once in awhile on here (and hope that some of my friends do the same on their blogs!).  You all know I'm not really a cook and have only recently taken over cooking dinners, but every once in awhile I find something that I really enjoy making - and when it turns into something that both Chris and I like it's even more exciting!  This past week at the grocery store I saw a bag of mixed primavera veggies so I grabbed it and some chicken (I buy cheater chicken - the perdue short cuts).  I steamed the vegetables, warmed the chicken and cooked some spaghetti noodles.  I just added some olive oil and garlic pepper, Chris added parmesan cheese and italian herbs as well as the olive oil and garlic pepper.  It was really easy and we both enjoyed it.  We're thinking it might be good with some kind of white sauce as well.  The other great thing was that it was the perfect size for the just the two of us.

Cake Decorating

This past Sunday I helped throw a baby shower for my cousin. I had so much fun!

I went all out and spent hours decorating a cute stork cake.

Here we are at the shower, Cyndi, whose house it was at, and my cousin Leigh.

Playing Mom

For three weeks this summer I got to play mom to my friends' one year old daughter, Briella, and occasionally her four year old daughter, Bekah, while she and her older kids attended a theater camp. It gave me quite a good taste of what being a mom will be like and I had a lot of fun. Briella had fun too, although now every time she sees me she freaks out because she thinks it means her mom is leaving. For the most part Bekah went to theater camp, but there were a couple days that she hung out with Briella and me. One of those days we took a trip to the Baltimore zoo to see the new baby elephant. My parents and brother came too and even though I tried to be really prepared, it was so nice to have my mom there to help out!

Memories of Me

A couple of my friends have this on their blog and I thought it would be fun to do. Here is how you play: 1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember! 2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.It's actually pretty cool (and funny) to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Vacation part three - Toronto, Canada

The last part of our trip was having lunch in the revolving restaurant in the CN tower in Toronto (the tallest building in the world) and then to the Canadian warplane museum where there is a plaque for my biological grandfather. It was a nice last couple of days of our trip and we ended up driving home in one day.



There's a glass floor in the CN tower where you're looking down about 1,000 feet.

We're all ready for our flight, hehe.

Vacation part two - Niagara Falls!

We stayed in Niagara Falls for two nights, we really only went sightseeing one day because of the driving, but we had a lot of fun. We rode the Maid of the Mist and went behind the falls and to the butterfly conservatory. I bought a waterproof camera to take on Maid of the Mist, but just my luck, when I took it to get developed the machine was broken so I haven't been able to see those pictures yet! Hence why I love digital cameras! We found this great restaurant in the shape of a spaceship and ended up eating there three times. And I bought a sweatshirt and promptly spilled pizza sauce on it and haven't been able to get the stain out.

This is me trying to get a butterfly to land on me

 

 

 

Vacation 2008 - first stop

I went with my parents and two brothers on a trip to New York and Canada - our first stop was to see my sister and her family in upper state New York. We ended up staying for four days instead of three because of car problems, but my nephew was thrilled with the extra day off of school! It was pretty relaxing, we hung out and played pool and ping pong. Luckily it wasn't too hot.
Here we are in Will's room watching tv

Will and grandfather playing a game

Can you see the cat sitting on the bench next to the table? Apparently she does this at every dinner.
Some of the kids.

Another Upgrade For Our House!

We got our new fridge today and I'm so excited to have a bigger, nicer fridge! It was a little interesting maneuvering the fridges around the end of the island, something neither Chris nor I thought about. Plus they had to take our front door off so the fridges would fit through. Then the new fridge almost didn't fit in the space! Chris and I were all concerned about it being too tall, but the problem was it was too wide. Luckily I don't think we'll have to move it anytime soon because it's pretty jammed in there. Now all of our appliances match, yeah! And it was a great way to clean out the fridge.

Memorial Day

We had a pretty fun Memorial Day, we went to a picnic breakfast with our church, where one of my friends' one year old daughter finally decided I was okay to be friends with and actually reached for me! Then we drove down to my parents house, went to see Indiana Jones and then had a bbq. That was the fun part. The not so fun part was getting attacked by the "pet" squirrel, who, I guess has decided to only like my dad. I don't think I have to worry about rabies, but I definitely do not like the squirrel anymore.

My dad, the chef! He didn't really know I was taking the picture. I swear Chris wasn't drinking, even though he looks a little woozy Thomas and I trying bratwurst for the first time.

American Idol party

I have faithfully watched American Idol for all seven seasons, but this was the first time I'd watched the finale with friends, it was so much more fun! We had snacks and chatted and cheered when our favorite contestants got their turn to sing. I like both Cook and Archuleta, but I'm glad Cook won. Giles thought to take a picture of us as they announed the winners, I'm the only one in the picture who was hoping for Cook to win, you can kind of see the look of disappointment on Sommer and Jeanne's faces.

Roxy's new friends

Roxy has decided that she loves looking outside, so we bought a bird feeder to put on the deck, hoping that lots of birds would come so she'd have something to watch. We've only had one or two birds, but we've had several squirrels who don't seem to mind being watched by a cat. Normally I would be mad at the squirrels for stealing the bird food, but the whole point was to have something for Roxy to watch, and it works!

Key Largo, FL part 2 - dolphins dolphins dolphins!

I could write a whole book on how much fun I had swimming with dolphins - I want to do it every day!  Blogger only lets me put five pictures on each post, so these are my favorites.

 

Key Largo, Florida part 1

What a great weekend! Here's a brief description and some pictures. We got into Key Largo late Saturday night, realized there's no public beaches and switched hotels to one that had a private beach. Sunday we drove down to Key West, played on the beach, had dinner in the hotel's restaurant while watching a wedding and then played in the pool and hot tub after dark. Monday morning we got room service for breakfast, then swam with dolphins (the highlight for me), went swimming in the ocean again, got massages, and had room service for dinner. They messed up the dinner, so they gave us a free breakfast Tuesday morning. My next post will be all about the dolphins - I just have to get the pictures off of Chris' laptop.