Apple Pie, Moving & my 100th post!

This is my 100th post! Woooohoooo...hopefully many, many more to come!

Anyway, I was feeling domestic last night, so I made an apple pie. :) I found a new recipe in one of my cookbooks that I wanted to try out, so I figured Monday night was a good enough reason! *hahaha*

Here it is ready to go into the oven! And here it is just about to come out!

It looks good, right?? Well, if I'm honest, it was a bit of a disaster and I'm not quite sure why. Despite cooking it for about 15 minutes longer than it said to, the apples were still a little crunchy and the crust was a little uncooked in the center. I had to take it out though because the topping was starting to burn. Thankfully, apples with sugar and cinnamon taste pretty good even if they're not as soft as they should be, and my hubby will eat just about anything you put in front of him!

In other news, we're moving May 1st! We've moved just about every year since 2005, so I was a little hesitant about this. But the people upstairs are so loud, annoying and disrespectful that I could never just relax. I had been looking on craigslist every once in a while just to see what was out there, and I found what seemed to be a really nice apartment for $50 less per month than we pay now. I figured it couldn't hurt to just look at it, so the hubby and I went to check it out.

It has 3 bedrooms instead of the 2 we have now, the bathroom is bigger, there's a private driveway that we wouldn't have to share with anyone else, washer/dryer hook-ups and there's a backyard! Not to mention, it is just the owner and his wife that live upstairs. That means no more of what sounds like rollerskating kids 24/7 above us! The only thing that was on our wishlist that it didn't have was an extra half bath, but the bathroom it does have is at least twice the size of ours now. The closets are a lot smaller so that makes me a little nervous, but overall I think we're going to be a lot happier there. So we went for it!

Now I just have to deal with the packing and moving again. *ugh* I'm not happy about that, but thank GOD for my parents! If they didn't help us move every time, I think the hubby and I would have killed each other years ago! The thought of possibly being able to plant a garden will hopefully get me through... :)

*If you haven't already, don't forget to go check out and enter my GIVEAWAY!*

Not Me! Monday

Welcome back to Not Me! Monday! MckMama's precious little boy, Stellan, is still in the hospital and unfortunately not doing well, but I thought I'd honor her crazy little blog carnival by still posting my Not Me! Monday. I don't know if she'll post a Not Me! Monday or not, but you can head over to her blog to read about how little Stellan is doing. If you believe in the power of prayer, please say a prayer for this little boy, his family, and the doctors and nurses that are caring for him. *Edit* Apparently, The Cline Family is hosting a special edition of Not Me! Monday. Mine was already written before I found out about it, but I have not been doing all the things everyone else has not been doing too.

Stellan has been on my mind quite a bit, so I don't have a long Not Me! post this week. But what I do have for you definitely takes the cake! I mean...if I had actually done it, that is!

Last Tuesday night, I did not watch the Discovery Health show "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant," despite thinking that it was probably a bad idea. I absolutely was not up most of the night because of it and the other half of the night I was not dreaming that I was pregnant. Wednesday morning, I was not so completely freaked out that I actually took a pregnancy test, despite the fact that I was about 99% sure there was no way I could be pregnant. Nope, not me!!Definitely wouldn't take a picture of the test and post it on the internet for the whole world to see either! (And Not Me'ing aside, PLEASE, let's not start any rumors! As you can see from the test, I'm clearly not pregnant! I don't want any awkward phone calls from my mother!) My hubby does not think I am out-of-my-mind crazy!!

Today is not the 26th birthday of my very best friend in the entire world either! You most certainly should not head over to her blog to wish her a very happy birthday! :)

And last, but certainly not least, I did not post my very first GIVEAWAY yesterday! And I am definitely not BURSTING with excitement! You should not check it out because it would be a big waste of time and totally wouldn't be worth it! ;)

GIVEAWAY!!

It's finally time for my very first GIVEAWAY and I can't even contain my excitement!

My very best friend in the entire world is an extremely talented designer and she has started her very own business! In honor of her birthday (which is tomorrow!) and because I absolutely love her designs, I am giving away one of her custom card sets! This is what's up for grabs:

This deep purple design was inspired by an oxalis triangularis plant (aka purple shamrock). The set includes 8 blank cards and envelopes. The cards measure 3.5" x 4.875" (4 bar). Each envelope is hand-lined with robin's egg blue paper. The set comes tied with a ribbon.

The simple pattern makes the note card versatile and appropriate for many occasions. With a set of 8, you can use a few for thank yous, hellos, or even thinking-of-yous.

Beautiful isn't it?! Well, let's get to the rules!

1) I am so blessed to have this girl in my life, I can't even begin to tell you! Leave me a comment telling me 1 thing you love about your best friend and receive one entry!

2) I love making new friends, so become a follower and receive a second entry! (Please leave another comment letting me know that you are or have just become a follower.)

3) I want to share her talent with as many people as possible, so if you blog about and link back to the giveaway on your blog, I'll give you a third entry! (Again, please leave me a link to your post.)

It's that simple and I'm leaving the GIVEAWAY open all week long! Make sure to get all your entries in by midnight on Friday, April 3rd! I'll pick a winner and post who the lucky duck is on Saturday, April 4th!

If you want to wish little miss spy a Happy Birthday tomorrow, you can head on over to her blog! Or if you want to check out all of her designs, you can stop by her website or her Etsy shop!

Ready...and...GO!

Pesto...YUM!

We had a very yummy dinner last night and I just had to share it with all of you!

It's super simple. Boil 1 pound of bow tie pasta (use whole wheat pasta if you want it to be a little healthier). While the pasta is cooking, cut 1 pint of cherry or grape tomatoes in half. Cube 8 ounces of mozzarella cheese. Gently warm 1 cup of pesto. If you have a favorite pesto recipe you can make your own, you can buy the pesto pre-made, or you can use a packet of dry pesto mix (like Knorr's) and just add water and oil. When the pasta is done, drain and mix everything together. And voila!

Dinner is done in the time it takes to boil some pasta! If you want you could even add some cubed, grilled chicken. Enjoy :)

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Oh, and by the way, I did not forget about the GIVEAWAY I promised! It's just taking a little longer than I expected to come to fruition. I promise it's coming very, very soon! You're not going to want to miss out on this!

Fix It Friday!

I just recently found the i heart faces blog and it has become one of my new favorites! Every Friday, they post a photo that could use a little help, and anyone can work on their photo editing skills and try to fix it.

Today's photo is from Carol at Black Salt Photography.

Original

My Fix

Hope you all have a great weekend!!

ABC's of me!

Well, I was trying to be productive today, but it is not going quite as well as I would have hoped! I thought that taking a quick break to read some blogs might help get me back on track. I was over at Blogging Along and I thought her post was fun, so I figured I'd give it a shot too!

ABC's of Me!

A is for your age: 26
B is for your burger of choice: well done, American cheese, lettuce, tomato and mayo
C is for the car that you drive: Chevy Trailblazer and I love it!
D is for dog's name: we can't have pets at our apartment unfortunately, but I would love to have a puppy! Maybe when we buy a house someday...
E is for an essential item you use each day: moisturizer!
F is for your favorite television show: hmmm, that's tough...lately I'd say Private Practice
G is for favorite game: canasta
H is for hometown: North Adams

I is for instruments played: played the flute for a long time, but haven't even picked it up since high school
J is for favorite juice: orange
K is for what you'd like to kick: my tendency to worry too much
L is for last restaurant you dined at: I have no idea what the name of it is, but it was in Annapolis when we were down there and I had the best salad I've ever had in my life!
M is for your favorite Muppet: the Muppets always kind of freaked me out
N is for number of piercings you have: 2 in each ear and my belly button, although I've been thinking about possibly taking the belly button bar out
O is for overnight hospital stays: none
P is for people you were with today: just my hubby
Q is for what you do in quiet times: blog, take pictures or read
R is for regrets: I don't have any regrets. I strongly believe that everything that has happened to me, good and bad, has made me into the person I am today.
S is for status: happily married!
T is for time you woke up today: 6:30 but I made myself go back to sleep and slept until 8:30
U is for what you consider unique: hmm...this is a tough one...
V is for favorite vegetable: I love most veggies but if I had to pick a favorite I would probably pick carrots
W is for your worst habit: another "w" - worrying
X is for x-rays you have had: ankle once (wasn't broken, only sprained) and my left baby toe (was broken and they couldn't do anything about it)
Y is for yummy food you ate today: just had a yummy peanut butter cookie :)
Z is for zoo animal: I'm more of an aquarium girl to be honest, but I do love the gorillas :)

Ok, back to being productive! Hopefully I can focus more now!

Oh, by the way, I'm thinking about buying a sewing machine. Anyone have any suggestions for an easy to use, durable, beginner's sewing machine?

I am not ashamed!

Hello, my name is Sara.

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SNUGGIE!

I am not ashamed! I love my Snuggie!! :)
I must admit, the fleece is a little bit thin, but it's still worth it!

*Tip* If you're interested in buying one, stop by your local Bed Bath & Beyond to pick one up so you don't have to pay for shipping!

Oh, Almighty Target...

...you never cease to amaze me!

After not feeling well for the last few days, I attempted to eat a bagel this morning and was surprised to find that, after eating it, I didn't feel like throwing up! Yay! Since I haven't been out of the house in 2 days, I decided to venture out to Target. The other day when the hubby and I went furniture shopping, we drove by the biggest Target I've ever seen, so I wanted to check it out.

Let me tell you, this place is HUGE! Not only does it have it's own parking garage, but when I walked in the door I could not believe my eyes! It had it's own shopping cart escalator! Yes, you read that correctly, I said, shopping cart escalator. Now I may be a naive, small town girl, and possibly the last person on earth to see one of these, but I thought it was fabulous! *hahaha* Unfortunately, I searched my purse only to discover I didn't have my camera with me. Usually, I keep my little Minolta point and shoot in my purse, but my hubby has been using it for work so it wasn't there!

Thankfully, after a quick Google search, I found a plethora of photos to choose from, and share with those of you who have never seen this either!

Thanks to j.reed on flickr, you can see that you just
push your cart through the gate...

and (courtesy of John over at One Man's Blog)

the cart escalator takes your cart, and everything in it,

up or down to the next level for you!

Pretty cool, hey?! I thought so anyway! But small things excite and amuse me! I'm just a little disappointed that I didn't have my own camera with me! Rest assured that next time I'm there, I will be taking my own photos! ;)

Not Me! Monday

*UPDATE* I scheduled this last night to post this morning. Since then, MckMama has had to take her youngest son to the hospital. I'm assuming that she probably won't have a Not Me! Monday post this week, but their little boy is very sick. Please keep this family in your thoughts and prayers.

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Welcome back to "Not Me!" Monday! started by MckMama, where anyone who wants to participate can be brutally honest and live to tell about it. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week. I promise, they're hilarious and you won't regret it. In fact, you may find yourself sitting at the computer most of the day today...I mean, not that I have ever actually done that, but it could happen!

Anyway, Tuesday, I actually went golfing with my hubby for the first time on a real golf course! Despite doing really well for the most part, I absolutely did not do this crazy thing with my foot because I was swinging so hard. And there is no way there is photographic proof of said crazy foot move!

And definitely not from 2 different angles!!

Look at that non-existent balance!

I most certainly did not squeal like a little girl when I got my first email from a new reader last week!! And being the completely unemotional person that I am, I didn't shed a few tears writing the story of how my husband and I started dating. And I absolutely did not laugh hysterically at the picture I found of us from Prom our sophomore year in high school! Nope, not me!!

(Definitely not posting it again because
I still think the picture is hilarious.)

My hubby and I definitely haven't been sleeping on just a mattress on the floor for almost 2 years now. And we totally didn't go to 4 different furniture stores last week trying to find a new bedroom set and still weren't able to find something I we like. We're much more decisive than that!

Finally, I don't have my very first GIVEAWAY in the works for my blog! I'm not completely and utterly excited about it either. And if I did have a GIVEAWAY coming up, you definitely shouldn't check back this week to get in on it because it definitely won't be worth it! *wink* *wink*

Happy Not Me'ing everyone! :)

Just being me

I love to dance and to let myself be completely
absorbed in the movement.
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I love to be outside. Sunshine almost always
makes me smile and lifts my mood.
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I love the smell of the ocean, the sound of the waves
crashing on the shore and the feel of the sand in my toes.
♥
I love camping and sitting around a campfire.
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My universe revolves around my family.
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I love capturing a moment forever in a photograph.
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I love helping other people and taking care
of the people I love.
♥
I love being so comfortable with someone
that I can laugh, and let loose, and be silly.
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I love pushing my limits and doing things
I'm not comfortable doing at first, and enjoying them!
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I love babies and meeting a new soul for the very first time.
I love experiencing the world again through a child's eyes.

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I do not need to find myself. This is who I am, who I have always been for that matter. I do not need a high paying, boring desk job that seems important to define me because that is not who I am. I do not need to find myself, I need to spend more time being true to myself. I can't tell you how many times I was told I could be anything I wanted to be. For the first time in my life, I understand what that really means. I do not have to find myself, I can be exactly who I am. That is what I want to be.

Please excuse my language, but DAMN it feels good to say that, and feel it, and believe it!

Spring Has Sprung!

I hope you're all having a wonderful first day of spring!

I don't have a specific post for today because I've been really busy, but I do have exciting news! I have my very first GIVEAWAY in the works! Trust me, you're not going to want to miss this!! So stay tuned...

Once upon a time...

One of my new readers (yay for new readers!) sent me an email asking me to write about how my hubby and I met. She read back through some of my posts and seemed a little surprised at how long we've been together and how young we are. I love my hubby, so I'm happy to oblige!

My hubby and I met our freshman year in high school. He grew up in a very small town next to the one I grew up in. It is so small that they have one school for kindergarten through eighth grade, and his eighth grade graduating class was 12 people! So they went to our high school.

We had science class together that first year. The very first day of class, our science teacher asked if anyone had a dictionary, and he pulled one out. My girlfriends and I called him dictionary boy (to ourselves, not to him) for awhile because of it. But he was an athlete and hung out with a lot of upperclassmen, and I was a big time nerd and band geek! So I would say we were casual acquaintances, but there was nothing romantic.

We went to a pretty small high school, so even though I wouldn't say we were good friends, we definitely got to know each other. Sophomore year he was much more flirtatious! He sat behind me in history and health class. That year, I often wore my hair in 2 french braids and he'd run his finger down the part in my braids and play with them, while singing to me. (Reading back what I just wrote that sounds so dirty, but I promise it wasn't!) But he had a crazy girlfriend and I had a boyfriend, so it was all pretty innocent.

This is us at Prom our sophomore year.
(We both went with upperclassmen.)

The summer after our sophomore year, he moved away. We kept in touch over the internet and he moved back in December of our senior year. By then, we had the same group of friends. I was definitely still a nerd and bank geek (and proud of it!) but I'd say I was a cooler version of my freshman self. *hahaha* Anyway, I was really excited that he moved back, but not for romantic reasons.

I remember the first time I saw him after he moved back. There was a basketball game at our high school and I begged, ummm, I mean tried to convince him and some of the guys to come. When he agreed, all my friends were busy so I convinced my sister's best friend to go with me. We had been there awhile and I didn't think they were coming, but then they finally walked in. I remember exactly what he was wearing - corduroys, an ugly tan sweater (that mysteriously disappeared a year or so after we started dating) and a green puffy vest.

We started talking again at school and then, on New Year's Eve, we went to the same party. There weren't many couples there, if I remember correctly, and we joked with each other that we would be each other's midnight kiss. About 11:30pm, the guy whose house we were at kicked us all out. The girls and I went to one party and he and the guys went to another. So, I didn't get my midnight kiss. In my mind, it was just a joke, but at the same time I was a little disappointed.

Around 1:30am, the guys showed up at the party we were at. He tried to get a kiss, and I joked around playing hard to get, telling him that he was too late. Around 3am, the girls and I were leaving and I went to say goodbye to him. Right there in that random person's kitchen, we had our first kiss. I got in the car to drive the girls home and one of them said to me, "Sara? Did you just kiss _____?!?" The rest is history.

We managed a long distance relationship and made it through college together. Now, we are both 26, have been together just over 8 years, and our 2nd wedding anniversary is coming up in June! A lot of people seem to think that we have this fairy tale relationship and marriage. While it may seem that way, and while we love each other more than anything in this world, we are far from perfect! I can't stress enough that no marriage is easy!! But with the right frame of mind, lots of love, and a little effort, it is always worth it with the right person beside you!

Hittin' the links!

The sun is shining, the sky is as blue as can be and it's an absolutely G.O.R.G.E.O.U.S. day outside. To celebrate St. Patrick's Day, the hubby and I decided to get out on the golf course and have a little fun! If you read my blog regularly, you know that my hubby is an assistant golf pro, so I was a little intimidated to play with him, especially since it was my first time playing on a real golf course!

He is a really patient teacher though. We've been to the driving range a few times and he thought I was ready for the real thing, so off we went! I went in with the mentality that I was just going to have some fun, but I did REALLY well!! I nailed my first drive and completely surprised my hubby! It was hilarious. I definitely missed a few shots and did this funny thing with my foot, but all in all I was more than impressed at my golf skills, and my hubby seemed to be too.

I had to take my camera with me of course. Apparently, this is not very good golf etiquette, but we were the only people out there and I had to have some pictures for my blog! *hahaha*

My hubby about to drive it twice as far as me!

Can you see his ball in the air?

My turn!

Click on the picture to make it bigger
and you can see my pink golf ball in mid-air!

My hubby about to sink a putt!

Me too!

We had sooooo much fun!!!!

My hubby has been trying to get me to play golf for 8 years now and he was right, it's a perfect game for me. I love to be outside, I love to walk, and I love to spend time with my wonderful husband! Golf is something we'll be able to do together now, and as we get older. I have to say, it was a perfect day!

St. Patrick's Day FUN!

Top o' the mornin' to ya!

I have some fun St. Patrick's Day plans in the works for today, but I'm not going to tell you what they are! You'll have to come back tonight or tomorrow (depending on how tired I am) to see how my hubby and I are going to spend our day ;)

"Not Me!" Monday

Welcome back to "Not Me!" Monday! where MckMama, and anyone else who wants to participate, can be brutally honest and live to tell about it. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week. But only after you've read what I haven't been up to, of course! ;)

After my first "Not Me!" Monday, I did not miss two in a row while I was helping my sister move. I am much more dedicated to my blog than that!! And despite my clear dedication to my blog, I did not steal, ummm, I mean borrow the internet signal from my sister's new neighbors, while we were waiting for hers to get hooked up, so I could keep up with all of my favorite blogs to read. That would just be wrong!!

And after spending two weeks with my family, I was definitely not totally relieved to have peace and quiet when we got home, and to sit and relax, just me and my hubby. I actually do love my family [for real I do] and they would never start to drive me up an 'effin wall! crazy after two weeks!!

Being the good Catholic that I am, I gave up chocolate for Lent and I am not desperate for just a tiny little piece of dark chocolate.

And I absolutely would not have to hide the two boxes of Girl Scout cookies (with chocolate on them) that I bought, in the back of the freezer where they're hard to get at. I have much more will power than that and can totally resist temptation without doing such a silly thing!

(I had to take 3 or 4 things out of the freezer
to take this picture. That's how far back
I haven't hidden them!)

And if I did do such a thing, part of my reasoning would not be so that my hubby doesn't find out that I bought them and eat them all before Easter!

In addition, I most definitely have not been a complete lazy bum this past week. And knowing everything I do about nutrition, there's no way that I would skip breakfast every single day this past week and not eat a single thing until after noon because of the aforementioned laziness. I also didn't split my favorite photos from Washington D.C. into 5 different posts (family, flags, monuments, memorials & buildings, Arlington Cemetery and details) and post them all on Monday so I wouldn't have to post all week!
Finally, I certainly wouldn't justify buying a cute new pair of black, peep-toe heels at just the possibility of a job interview this week!

Nope, not me!!

Phewww...I feel better now! Can you be brutally honest and live to tell about it too?

Details

Well, if you aren't sick of my photos of Washington D.C. yet, I'm calling today's post details. Basically, these were the photos I loved, which didn't fit into the categories family, flags, monuments, memorials & buildings, or Arlington Cemetery. If you are sick of the photos, well, relax, today is the last day in the series. ;)

Beautiful orchids on exhibit at the Museum of Natural History

You can't even believe how amazing this room
with all the orchids smelled!

Wheel of a popcorn cart

Stars on the World War II Memorial

Me (through my hubby's eyes)

The only cherry blossom bud in all of
D.C. even close to opening.
Ironically, it was at the cemetery.

Bagpiper

Old school Metropolitan Police car

Well, folks, that's the end of the series! Those are all my favorite photos from our two days in Washington D.C. I hope you enjoyed them as much as I enjoyed being there and taking them!

Arlington Cemetery

If you've been following along this week, you've seen my favorite family, flag and monument, memorial & building photos from our recent visit to Washington D.C. Today is day four in the series and I'll be sharing my favorite photos from Arlington Cemetery.

I know it seems somewhat morbid strange, but I find cemeteries intriguing. There is something beautifully calming about them that just draws me in. Arlington Cemetery is particularly moving and interesting to me. We spend quite a bit of time there last Saturday. Below are my favorite photos of the cemetery and of the changing of the guard ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

















I avoided descriptions today because I thought these photos were powerful enough to speak for themselves. Tomorrow, I'll be bringing the series to a close with a post I'm going to call details. It's all in the details, isn't it? I guess you'll have to check back tomorrow and see for yourself!