Sunday, December 23, 2007

So, I'm finally sitting down for the first time in about 48 hours.

Well, maybe not literally, but it sure feels that way.

Matt and I spent all day yesterday with house projects that we'd neglected the past few months (finishing the moulding in the kitchen, re-painting trim, organizing some closets, etc) and today we cleaned until every room sparkled. His parents are in a rental vehicle somewhere between Nashville and Knoxville at the moment, so they should be here soon. I made a fresh batch of Chex mix that just came out of the oven, and now I'm just chilling out with Matt while Dexter terrorizes a rawhide bone on the floor between us.

What's sad is that I actually plan to follow "my" way of eating even throughout Christmas, which is eating less than my weight x 10 in calories every day, and nothing after 7pm. I don't really diet, per se, but doing things this way has helped me reach the lowest weight of my adult life, and I don't plan on seeing that scale moving in the other direction anytime soon. I'm currently at 144lbs on my 5'7" frame. I'd like to lose another 10, but I'm in no hurry. It'll come off in its own time.

Happy Holidays!

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Confession time. This is my favorite person this year:



Not the biggest Christmas fan this year.

Is it January yet?
On the evening of the 14th, we went down to Chattanooga for my brother's birthday (yes, both Matt and I have brothers with Christmastime birthdays) His wife had arranged for all of us to surprise him at the Vaudeville Murder Mystery Cafe, and had secretly arranged for him to be brought on stage.

I sat my lil camera on the table and let the video mode run while he was up there. I had to be inconspicuous, since cameras weren't allowed!

I don't think I need to point out which one is him:


Then outside I snapped a pic of Kev and Kelly:
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And then back in the parking lot we did a (terrible) self-portrait:
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Yesterday, I finally caved to the denial that I've been in about my slowly deteriorating eyesight. After going through several bottles of Excedrin Migraine and Aleve over the last few months due to frequent headaches, I headed over to Lenscrafters for some relief.

I always knew I was slightly near-sighted, but there had to be a reason for the overall fuzziness in EVERYTHING.. especially when using the computer or watching TV. Ugh. The answer? A pretty bad astigmatism in both eyes. Aha! My distance vision is actually only about 20/40.

So, after we spent almost 2 hours picking out frames (shut up, it's an important decision) I settled on a pair of dark Versace frames for the normal glasses and a pair of Ann Klein sunglasses. I splurged a little bit, since Matt had to use his Flex-Spending dollars by the end of this month anyway.. so why not?

Holy wow! I didn't know the world WAS this sharp! Taking my glasses on and off is like looking at two different worlds.. one that is in focus for the most part, but overall fuzzed over.. and one that is tack sharp to being able to see every detail in every blade of grass. It was so trippy!

So now, my outward appearance reflects the inner nerd that has existed all along. The transformation is complete.

Sunday, December 09, 2007

We had plans this weekend to rake the yard and clean out the front landscaping that is currently full of fallen leaves, but the constant rain put a nix on those plans! We did this week's grocery shopping, cleaned the house, and then I got an extra several hours of work. I could work 24 hours a day and never run out of things that need to be done. Ugh.

At least Matt is always a good sport about pics!


Kissy ambush!

Friday, December 07, 2007

Silleh

Matt and I made a small batch of brownies last night after dinner, and I put together a cheesy video blog of the process.. enjoy!

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Herding Dog = Fetch Fanatic

So.. I may have to inflict bodily harm upon whoever taught Dexter the joys of the game of fetch, because that is ALL the little man wants to do now!

Seriously.

He will pick up and drop the toy he has chosen for you to chuck across the room over and over and over.. until you oblige.

If you don't? He'll growl and bark, and continue to dribble said toy until he gets his way.

This can go on for HOURS!

We thought we'd cut down on fetch-time by taking his tennis balls away during work time.. but no, that didn't work. He started requesting that we throw his Teddy, his giant rawhide bones, his Pancake-Mouse.. I'm sure he'll eventually start dribbling the cats.

Check it out:

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Chicago

Matt and I were in Chicago a couple of weeks ago. We were both working during the day, so we really only had the evenings to explore, but that was fine, because the city was definitely more stunning at night!

Here are some of the snapshots we took while there:


Dex was a good boy for most of the trip, but when he got restless, a little tug-of-war did the trick.




And a few kisses to mommy and daddy when he was feeling lonely


Our hotel room was so colorful!


The room had amazing window seats with curtains you could pull closed behind you.. so cool!




This was the night we went to the aquarium on Lake Michigan, and definitely got one of the best views of the city.


Sears Tower takes center stage. I didn't get a full perspective on exactly how massive it is until you're standing right under it, though. Wow.


Another view of the tower.


Chicago's skyline is so stunningly beautiful.


Who's this?


Freezing our butts off while waiting for our cab outside of the aquarium.


front of the aquarium


On one of Dexter's evening walks (which he LOVED.. he did not know what to think about all of the people and activity that he got to witness!) I noticed this striking sky. I love how the buildings themselves are reflecting the color!




This was the night we went to the top of the Hancock Tower (a little shorter than the Sears Tower, but this one is said to have the best city views because of where it sits). Since I have an irrational fear of heights (flying freaks me out), it's a miracle I even went up there.. even though I didn't stay very long. Ha. It went like.. "Ok, yeah, that's nice. Wow, beautiful view *snaps a few pictures* Where's the elevator?"




This was the view Dex has as he did his twice-daily business on the bank of the Chicago River.


On the way home from dinner one night.

Friday, October 05, 2007

Yo

I'm working on getting a better template where the sidebar doesn't go all wonky if I try to use anything other than this current set-up. Maybe then, I can actually post stuff that I want visible at all times. Like this playlist. Until then, all content is going to have to be in individual posts.

I should have some more pics up soon. Promise!

For now, here are my top 3 all-time favorite Rascal Flatts songs. The ones I can listen to a million times over and never get tired of them, and usually the first ones I skip to every time I pick up my iPod. Enjoy.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Wowies

So.. wow. Matt and I saw Rascal Flatts last night in Nashville, and it was definitely the best live music performance I've ever seen! I had head-to-toe goosebumps for most of the show, and it takes a whole lotta talent to do that to me!


We only took our point & shoot (we were told before we left for Nashville that no professional cameras were allowed into the concert, bummer) but I'm still totally happy with how most of the shots came out!!


Even though it was less than a 3 hour drive, it was still Dex-boy's first major car trip. Here he is near the beginning, looking perky..



Then about a half hour in, dropping fast..


He finally gave in and snoozed-out for the rest of the trip, cuddled against the seat. Don't you just want to eat him up???


War protest bus we passed on the way in. We later saw them in downtown Nash setting up shop on the main strip through the Vanderbilt campus. I hope they, um, accomplished whatever it was they were trying to do?


Dex 'n daddy in the hotel room. Dex did not know what to think about all of the cars and people downtown.. he thought it was the coolest thing ever. Though this hotel was nice (downtown Sheraton), my only complaint is that they are advertised as pet-friendly, yet there is NOWHERE to walk your animals! The concierge actually said "Good question" when I asked her where we should take Dex to do his business. There is seriously no grass downtown, short of walking 3 miles to Centennial Park just to let him pee. We ended up just walking him in a bed of ivy we found across the street (it was either that or coax him to climb into one of the flower pots sitting around, so... yeah.)


We brought Dex's crate with him, since he still sleeps in it at night (and he considers that his haven and goes in there for security) and he still is not allowed free roam of our house while we aren't there, but he was scared in the hotel room and would just howl when we tried to leave him in there when we left for the concert.. so we ended up letting him roam free in the room when we left, hoping and praying that his potty training skills would serve him well.


Outside of the arena (last time I was there was in '99 for a Backstreet Boys concert. Yeah, I was a total teenybopper. Deal!):


I have no idea how Matt managed to get such FANTASTIC seats just 3 weeks before the concert, especially in Nashville. Hello? But look at how close we were to the stage!! Best birthday present EVER.


In our seats.. pretty giddy after seeing how close we were sitting.


Opener.. Jason Aldean


Time for my boys! How can you not love a group that comes out and announces right off that they are so glad to be back home with all of the "double-fisting biscuits 'n gravy eating rednecks" of Tennessee?


Joe Don spent a lot of time on our end of the stage:



This was during the acoustic set, where they sang music from their new album (coming out on the 25th!) and then each of them picked any RF song they wanted and sang it solo while playing their instrument. This was one of my favorite parts of the whole concert, because even though their harmony is unmatched, individually they have such amazing voices! They also picked some of my favorite lesser known songs from their 4th album that I wasn't expecting them to sing at all! Woohoo!


The killer set. This pic doesn't show it, but every flat surface was a display screen (even the ones on both sides and on top of the stairs that aren't lit up in this shot)


Jay



Gary (I think he looks like he's in serious pain when he sings, but hey, whatever gets that awesome sound out!)


Jay again










Us in our seats


Cell phone salute just before the encore (Life is a Highway, which I totally predicted would be their encore song, but they also sang their own version of Journey's Don't Stop Believin', which sounded awesome)


Just outside of the arena, with famous music row in the background (RF actually got their start at open mic nights in one of the bars on that street)


Goofing off at the hotel later (Dex was a total rock star and didn't mess up the room at all! it was pristine! He's such a smart little man now!)


Dex posing with mommy (and a lesson that no, ISO1600 is not usable in extreme low light on a point 'n shoot camera when trying to shoot natural light. o wells!)


Matt having less luck getting Dex to pose with him


Saturday morning, we were feeling pretty sorry for poor Dexman, who had been dragged all over the place with no real fun just for him, so after a quick breakfast we took him down to Centennial Park, which is also the location of Nashville's Parthenon


I LOVE this picture. Dex has such a look of sheer bliss on his face! It looks like he's laughing!


I'm now TOTALLY rabid to shoot a wedding in this park. We don't have anything massive and cool like this here!


'nother view of the Parthenon


On the way home.. total Corgi face. It kills me how he sits with his paws rolled up under him. I swear he learned it from the cats.. I've never seen a dog who sits like that so consistently!


And that's that!