a little piece of home.

Early this afternoon, Andy and I dressed in our Mountaineer gear and used his practice's U of L season tickets to watch our gold and blue Mountaineers! What fun it was to see our team and cheer for them 9 rows from the floor amongst a sea of red and black. We were just a bit out of place, but loved every minute. Although our WVU Mountaineers lost to the Cards, they certainly made a valiant effort during the second half. I do suppose we always have football...

A & D.

Hurray! The mail finally came. Because of Louisville's recent snow and ice storm, our mail has not been delivered to our home since Tuesday, for very good reason. Today, both our old and new mail arrived and I was so, so excited, for it held a package that I had been waiting for! I recently made my very first Etsy purchase! When watching the movie Bride Wars I fell in love with a very simple stamped, initial necklace that Anne Hathaway's character, Emma, wore throughout the entire movie that had her single initial and the initial of her soon-to-be-husband. After searching Google, I found Anica Designs on Etsy and quickly made my purchase. What a smooth transaction my first Etsy purchase proved to be. I couldn't be more pleased with the effective communication from the designer, Anica, and my inital necklace!

exhausting.

Whew! What a job! I decided to take advantage of my snow day and tackle my closet. Uggg...I must say that it was quite a hefty job! Clothes upon clothes, handbags, hats, scarves, and yes, two boxes that remained unpacked from our move two years ago, and many other surprises seemed to be endless as I cleaned, sorted, and organized. While the piles of clothes mounted on our bed drove me crazy for hours, Carmen found them to be a cozy, cozy bed. After 3 hours of nonstop closet cleaning, I am quite proud to say that I won the battle over the messy closet! Now, if only I can treat my closet as I do the remainder of our home-neat and organized. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

So relaxed and cozy in one of my many piles...

"I'm tired of this cleaning business...
...Is it time to play yet?"

a snow day for 2.

Please don't split in half, little tree!

WOW! A Snow Day for 2! Andy now knows the sheer delight of a snow day as I do. Thankfully, the Brown Cancer Center decided to close today due to the awful ice storm that passed through Louisville! I was so thankful as I didn't have to worry about him driving on icy interstates amongst large trucks and other drivers during the awful morning commute. What a relaxing snow day we had together as we spent time cleaning, playing video games, playing boardgames, catching up on school work, and playing with Ms. Carmen. Now quite aware of the joy in a snow day, Andy must agree they are quite an early morning surprise!

While we have been truly blessed to keep our electricity, many others in our area cannot say the same. Being without cable and Internet for a few short hours today was a great exchange for staying warm in our home. Our development looks like an icy winter wonderland, but also a tree cemetery. So many of the beautiful trees in Adams Run have been lost to heavy amounts of ice weighing them down. Thankfully, while our three paper birch trees are completely bent to the ground, they have not yet split nor cracked. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for them as I continue to check on them as we are not out of the woods yet. Due to the large amount of families without electricity in Louisville, school has been canceled for the remainder of this week.

How many more days until Summer?

Enjoying our new favorite game,
The Game of Life: Twists & Turns

the weather outside is frightful.

While it was nice to have my first snow day today, the Louisville winter weather doesn't seem to be easing any. In fact, the amount of freezing rain seems to be increasing and the predicted snow fall tonight won't help matters. While it is possible that I could have another snow day from teaching, I only hope that Andy's cancer center decides to keep him at home also (a surprising possibility), thus safe from the dangerous interstates. Our driveway looks like an actual skating rink, while our backyard resembles a jumble of rock candy. Mother Nature can be so pretty, but I'm inside wishing for our 90 degree summer weather!

awww...closed!

With the threat of snow last evening, I couldn't help but secretly and not-so-secretly wish for our first snow day of the school year! This morning, our local weather station confirmed that Jefferson County Public Schools were in fact CLOSED! Carmen and I have been quite content to relax this morning with a cup of hot coffee for me and a few puppy snoozes for her.

So relaxed and content to snuggle...

Not a West Virginia snow...
(notice you can still see some grass),
...but I'll take it...

new moon.

After reading Stephanie Meyer's Twilight and loving it so much, I eagerly went to purchase the sequel, New Moon. Not to disappoint, New Moon was a quick read as well. At times, Andy was wondering if I was ever going to stop reading. Thank goodness there are still two more to read! Who knew vampires could be so enticing?!?

a lazy day...

Because I was out of school today due to the observance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday, my friend Dena and I decided to take in a chick-flick. While Bride Wars was very funny and sweet, only one minor problem occured! Stoneybrook was sadly out of our favoirte chick-flick snack, pretzel bites and cheese sauce. Nonetheless, until our next movie, popcorn easily took their place. What a nice afternoon on a lazy, chilly day.

snooooooow much fun...

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Taking advantage of Louisville's first snow fall, Carmen and I decided to take her most favorite outside toy, her ball on a string, and brave the soft snowy powder out back! While Princess Carmen most usually does not even like to place her feet in the grass, when in it involves a ball, she flies like the speed of wind up and down the yard! What fun we had in our back yard! However, when we came back in to warm up, she still was not ready to give up playing. Take a peek!

wicked and wonderful.

Last night, Andy and I enjoyed one of my Christmas stocking stuffers, tickets to see the Broadway show Wicked at downtown's Kentucky Center! Wow! Wow! Wow! What a wonderful production! We simply loved every minute! I will certainly never look at The Wizard of Oz with the same eyes...I now like Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West. Not only was it fabulous, it was very, very clever!

finally friday.

Glad that it was finally Friday evening following my first week back to Kindergarten and Andy's week back at the Brown Cancer Center, we met our good friends Jim, Jessica, Whitney, and Baby Caleb for delicious Borromeo's pizza! What a good ending to
a busy, busy week!



How did Whitney sneak out of a blog picture?

a new favorite.

Andy & I recently purchased a new game to add to our collection, The Game of Life: Twits and Turns. Complete with credit cards and an electronic banker, this game has now grown to be one of our newest favorites!

hooked.

While enjoying my time off from teaching, I decided to "jump on the band wagon" and read a much recommended book, Twilight. Nonetheless, while I was excited to have some free time to actually read for pleasure, I was a bit skeptical, but hopeful that this new series would gain my interest! Wow! This book has proved to be my fastest read thus far! Needless to say, I will be both purchasing the next book in this series and watching the movie with Andy tomorrow...can't wait!

a new year's tradition.

My Special Nana

A pork, black-eyed peas, and sauerkraut family lunch has been a long-standing tradition in my family on New Year's Day. While I do not enjoy eating any of the above, I annually indulge to obey all superstitions for a blessed, happy, and healthy New Year!

What a wonderful holiday we had with our family in West Virginia! As always, we were sad to leave those that we love so, so much, but were happy to return to our own home to enjoy our last few days of our holiday break! Now that we are safely back in Black Powder Court, we look forward to seeing our Louisville friends and can't wait for our family to visit us in Louisville very soon!

My Nana and Papaw and their two favorite girls

happy new year!

An early New Year's smooch

To celebrate the New Year, Kent, Danielle, mom, Andy, and I went to one of our favorite West Virginia restaurants, Twin Oaks...yum, yum! Oh how we miss their delicious pizza and special salad! After a quick visit with some of our family friends in Bridgeport, we traveled back to Philippi for a New Year's Eve game night at Danielle's home. What a wonderful and blessed 2008 we had! Andy and I wish you and your family a very healthy and happy New Year!

Mom, Carmen, & I smile on New Year's Eve


So, so happy to be home with our families


Kent & Danielle waiting for Twin Oaks pizza & salad...yum!


Danielle, the ultimate gamer, and I wait for 2009
during Game Night!

a holiday get-away to d.c.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Following Christmas, Kent, Danielle, Andy, and I traveled to Washington, D.C. to visit Danielle's Uncle P.J. and Auntie Barbie! With open arms, Auntie Barbie and Uncle P.J. were fabulous tour guides as well as hosts during our fun, fun D.C. trip! We have always known that Kent and Danielle were blessed to have such a special twosome in their lives, but now we feel as equally blessed to
have a new auntie and uncle!

Thank you, thank you Barbie and P.J. for an unforgettable get-away!