Merry Christmas!

I have no pictures to show that Christmas even existed in Georgia this year.  Which is a little sad since it was our first Christmas in our house.  However, Christmas seemed to come and go for us this year.  Matt even mentioned a couple days before Christmas that it didn't even seem like the holiday season since we hadn't done anything Christmas-y - put up a tree, purchased gifts together, seen any snow (not such a bad thing!), baked Christmas cookies or embraced any holiday traditions.  Unfortunately, Christmas this year was just another thing to cross off the list in the midst of moving. 

But when Christmas morning got here, it was such a relief to wake up in our own home.  We were able to finally be leisurely - had a nice big breakfast, exchanged gifts, played with our little birthday boy (yup - Nigel and Jesus have the same birthday) and Skype'd with family.  While it wasn't the typical Christmas we're used to and we'd much prefer to be with family, I'm glad we were able to be home for the holidays.

Nigel's Tennessee Christmas

It all started with Nigel anxiously awaiting in his Christmas pajamas for Santa Paws to arrive:

And once he did, he was very patient while Mommy opened his Christmas treat!

Then boys became jealous of Nigel's Christmas pajamas so they decided to wear their own Christmas pajamas:


Then Uncle Joshy was a bad influence on Nigel and helped him celebrate his upcoming 21st birthday* (he'll be three in a couple of days):



*There were no dogs harmed in the making of this blog post.  Katy actually gave him a dog toy that looked like a beer bottle and we couldn't help but stage a little photo-op.

Welcome Home!

 

It finally happened.  The closing date has come and gone and we own ourselves this very house.  We love it.  We can't wait to move into it.  And we can't wait to show our little stinker his very own fenced in backyard.  Matt carried me over the threshold when we got there for the first time.  He's such a traditionalist that's a non-traditionalist since we didn't just get married, but he said it seemed like the right thing to do.  Whatever.  As long as I'm light enough for him to pick up I'm fine with it.

P.S. A lot of the posts will probably become house updates on what we've done.  I apologize in advance.

The Greatest Place on Earth

I've got two words for you.  Stone Mountain.  Best place on Earth.  Might be a stretch, but it's Georgia's version of Disneyland.  And while we were there it had a Christmas theme to it.  Doesn't get much better than that.  Except that it does.  Matt said we could go back when it's dark so we can REALLY see all the pretty lights.  I'm starting to think we might not now because of all the house stuff, but one can only hope.

There's other stuff to do besides all the Christmas things.  The South won't let go of the Civil War so it's basically a theme park-type facility dedicated to that era.  There's the carving (pictured above), a plantation house, museum, some sort of boat.  You can hike to the top of the mountain which gives you this splendid view of the city:

Our batteries died while we were there so I don't have many pictures, but next time we go, I'll make up for it!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just because Matt and I were down in Georgia for Thanksgiving didn't mean we couldn't have a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.  Clearly I need to learn how to cook for two and not an army.

Oh, why, yes, you are correct.  We did use our self-painted bowl for our rolls:



That's me in the back.  I worked until 2 a.m. the night before and had to get up at 8 to start cooking.  I won't tell you when Matt got up, but it was after 10:59 a.m., but before 11:01 a.m.  Needless to say I told Matt to make sure you couldn't see my face because it was not pretty.

Even Nigel shared in Thanksgiving dinner thanks to a rawhide turkey leg sent by my Mom.  He loved it so much he made the rounds of the apartment trying to find the right spot to eat it.  He does that with things he really likes.



We ended Thanksgiving with a trip to Taco Mac to watch the Cowboys game.  Thankfully they won :)

MIA

Sorry!  I haven't updated in forever, but my computer has been super slow/I have been working like a mad woman.  I have two entries to post and I promise I'll do that soon!  Meanwhile, I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving!

A is for Autumn and Acorn

Some Navy Federalites will be munching on fall trail mix and some of these cute-as-a-button acorn treats.  All you gotta do is adhere together a Hershey's Kiss, Nutter Butter Bite and chocolate chip with a little bit of melted chocolate and you have the perfect autumn snack.  Make 'em for Thanksgiving!  P.S. The word acorn has the word corn in it.  Coincidence?  I think not.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

from...

a very scary headless horseman and his devilishly handsome (and mortified) horse.

Just a Pretty Face

This face melts my heart.  Especially when he's sleeping.  I'm pretty sure this dog is cuter than most babies. 



Crafts

I saw this cute little fall decor idea on another blog and decided to copy it.  I already had the frame on hand so all I had to do was buy some buttons and some fabric.  I found mine in the remnant section of Joann Fabrics bringing this cute craft's total to a whopping $5.  And the package of buttons I bought had shades of pink in them too so you'll probably see this again come Valentine's Day in the shape of a heart!

It's starting to look very fallish in here!

From In-Home Therapy to Retail Therapy

I'm one month into working at Target.  Or Tar-jay as I like to say to make myself feel like I'm working at a high-end French boutique.  There are for sure pros and cons for working there.  But I would probably say there are more pros than cons.  Let's break it down:

Pros:
- Discount... holla!
- Getting LOTS of hours
- So much better environment than most retailers
- Little to no brain power needed
- Great co-workers
- Matt's super proud of me despite it only being a job a high-schooler could do

Cons:
- Evenings and weekends
- Standing all the live long day = really bad footaches
- Ever-changing schedule
- I feel like I wasted a whole buncha money and time getting my MSW

The pros probably outweigh the cons.  I am appreciative that I don't wake up every morning dreading going to work.  Unless it's a day that Matt's going to be home... then I dread it.

P.S. Isn't it bizarre that I haven't shopped at Target since I've started working there?

Library List

I got to thinking today that if anyone ever looked at the history of my library borrowing this summer they might be concerned I've become homicidal.

Forty Whacks - New Evidence in the Life and Legend of Lizzie Borden
The Ghosts of Hopewell: Setting the Record Straight on the Lindbergh Case
The Cases that Haunt Us (A FBI profiler book on serial killers)
In Cold Blood: A True Account of a Multiple Murder and its Consequences  
The Devil in the White City (About America's first serial killer at the Chicago World's Fair)
Crime and Punishment
Not Without My Sister (A book about a cult)

Watch Out, Matt!

 This was taken after a hike that was very, very steep and it poured, POURED on us.  I may have been homicidal at that point.



We've Got Pot(tery)

Way back when in the good 'ol days of grad school, my friend Holly and I went to a Paint Your Own Pottery studio.  We had a BLAST!  I painted a pitcher that's dark blue with yellow stars all over.  I would take a picture and show you, but I believe it's in storage right now.  While I lived in Indy, I took some foster kids to do it, too, but I never did my own piece because kids generally take 2.6 seconds to finish theirs and I wouldn't have time to do mine. 

Fast forward two years and I finally got Matt to take me.  We tried once in Charlottesville, but it was ridiculously expensive and I didn't want to pay that much.  I received a Groupon the other day for this so I thought that it was as good as a time as any.  It took us about 20 minutes on a project to complete - there were dishes, pots, vases, dog bowls, figurines, etc.  The problem with doing a piece together is that you have to agree on what to paint.  We eventually decided we wanted to do something seasonal and found a dish that had leaves circling it.  We chose to do it in fall colors and this is how the finished project turned out!...

House Offer

Matt and I have already put an offer on a short sale.  We're now putting an offer on this house.  Let me tell ya why - 1) We're allowed to, 2) Short sales are messy and they can take months.  Literally.  BFF Jessica waited 3 months for her condo.  3) We love this house.  So we're making an offer and Matt decided to video tape it while we did our last walk-through and we're sharing it with you.  Also, Matt took pictures of the few things that need to be replaced and insists we start with that (Debbie Downer).

This is wood rot that is around a few of the windows.  Easily replaceable.

There is nothing wrong with this picture.  I think Matt was just taking a picture.

See the top of the railing thing is missing?  We'll just get new ones sometime and replace it (I mean, if we get the house.  If we don't get it, we won't).

Here are the videos.  You might want to take a Dramamine before watching them.  Oh, and Matt does talk through some of them so maybe turn up the volume.  And one more thing, the lighting isn't great in some of them, but it's better than nothing.

Happy Birthday To Me!

I normally hate birthdays.  I think they're anti-climatic and I hate turning a year older.  I would much rather celebrate my half-birthday (which I do) that is on March 1st.  I am overly lucky to have all these companies make appearances at my birthday this year:

Muchas gracias to all of you who think I am special enough to receive a gift.  I love you!

Take 5

So the hubs has been missing from the blog for awhile.  In an effort to reintroduce him, I interviewed him to get some juicy information.  Okay, maybe not juicy, but some insight of what goes on in that genius, little brain of his.  I start with the number 5 and work down to the number 1.  You'll see as you read.  Matt's answers are in black, my answers are in red.  Let 'er rip!

What are your 5 favorite things to eat?
Slippery Ham Pot Pie, Toosie Rolls (I hate Tootsie Roll breath), Steak, Bread, Popcorn (Nigel second'd this)

Name the top 4 days of your life.
Wedding day, Getting engaged, Coming home from Iraq (I told him this happened twice so technically he's cheating at this game), Graduating Virginia Tech

The 3 events you are most looking forward to are ... ?
Buying a house, having a (human) family - don't think this is imminent, getting an XBox/Playstation - I'm not sure if this is the actual order.  My guess would be XBOX comes first.

What are your wife's 2 most annoying habits?
Not rinsing things before they go in the dishwasher (isn't that what a dishwasher is for?) and not making the bed in the morning (why make the bed if you're going to get back into it?). 

What 1 TV character do you most relate to?

"Phil on Modern Family because I feel like we have no clue about what's going on half the time". So true.  Don't they look alike, too?



Workin' Woman - Almost.

I landed the job at my favorite store!  Yup, you will likely find me wearing a red shirt and khaki pants on any given day.  They said I'll be getting between 30-40 hours/week depending on the season and need.  Plus, I can always pick up more shifts from other people if I want more ours.  I think it'll do for wanting just a part-time to full-time job.  I do have to work every other weekend (probably), but the hours and days will vary week to week so there won't be a set schedule. 

Everyone seemed really nice and the guy who interviewed me said I had good energy.  I'm not sure what that means, but hopefully it means that I have a good personality and eager to get started.  Which I think is true.  The boss-(wo)man called this morning and said that my orientation will be next Thursday, August 25th.  Nigel and I will be soaking up our time together until then :)

Katy and Josh Head South

JOSH AND KATY CAME TO VISIT!

Yup, I just shouted that because, yup, I was super, stinkin' excited for them to visit.  So was Matt.  So was Nigel.  This was the first time that all the siblings had gone on vacation/staycation together.  No adults allowed.  I mean technically we're all adults, but I don't think we are when we're together.  Based on the pictures below, I will assume you'll agree.

Katy and Josh arrived Friday night.  We took it easy and had dinner at home and took Nigel to the dog park.  It was a little warm so the little guy wasn't super crazy, but he still got some good runs in.  Here he is getting some camera love.  P.S. Nigel got a lot of lovin' over the weekend.  Josh and Katy can't get enough of him.  Neither can I. 



Saturday morning Matt and I had already signed up for a 5K before we knew Josh and Katy were coming down.  Off we went to that bright dark and early.  My time wasn't my greatest, but it was the hilliest course I'd run so Josh and Matt assured me that my time was respectable.  After the race we came home to a sleeping house.  Which was fine because it was 8:30 in the morning.  We decided that Saturday we'd go to an outlet mall about 30 minutes away.  The boys would later regret this decision.

Josh looks stoned in this picture.  Mom, I assure you that he is not.

That night we took Josh and Katy to Matt's favorite restaurant - Taco Mac.  Josh was equally in love with the place.  Katy and I went as a thank you for going shopping with us.  At least that's what we thought.  Until we ordered this.

It was the best chips and queso we'd ever had.  So good that we had to order it twice.  See those tortillas on the left.  Genius. 

That night we stayed in and this is what happened until 2 a.m.:

So we were told.  Katy, Nigel and I went to be at midnight.  The boys took it upon themselves to practice their "sniping skills" should they ever need them in real life.  So noble of them.

We didn't get up until 11 a.m. Sunday morning.  That would've never happened if there were any adults in the place.  But since we're not adults we're allowed to sleep in to almost the afternoon.  And since Josh and Matt aren't adults they proceeded to do this. 

Please note that this is where they stayed for the next 5 hours.  Also, this picture was taken at 1:30 p.m.  Matt was still unshowered and in his pajamas.  See, no adults here.

Katy and I went to another mall that afternoon.  We had planned on going to a movie that evening, but I think the boys decided they were content enough with Call of Duty.  So Katy and I decided to make it a bit more tolerable to watch them play their game.  Enter these beauties:

A portion of our CD collection from back in the day.  You'd be surprised how much you can tune out (gun shots and boys shouting, "I've got your back, brother!" "Dang it, I just got sniped" and "They're playing like a bunch of girls") when singing at the top of your lungs while holding remote controls up to your mouth as a microphone. 

The boys said they were going to cut off the video games at midnight.  Please remember that Matt had to go to work the next morning and Josh and Katy were going to be driving 10 hours.  At 12:45 they were still playing.  Needless to say, Matt skipped his morning run and Josh and Katy didn't get on the road until 10:45 since I couldn't get them out of bed until 9:30 a.m. 

Such a fun trip and we never even made it into Atlanta!  Maybe next time we can do more touristy things.  Or you can just play XBOX and Katy and I can sing to Celine, Britney, Mariah and Disney songs.  I'm down with either.

Job Front

Here's a quick update on the job search situation.  I have applied to about a bazillion jobs at lots of places ranging from day cares, preschools, the library, PetSmart, Petco, Michael's, Target, a nanny hiring place, a private school, Kohl's and possibly more.  I just can't really remember.  Anyways, last Friday I got a call to come in for an interview this upcoming Friday to Target.  Yup, it's basically my favorite store.  I'm not sure how I feel about working there.  Yeah, it'd be cool to work there and even cooler if I got a discount, but it makes me a bit angry that I'm not using my degree.  That I paid still am paying a lot of money for.  Probably more than I'll ever get out of it.  Either way, it's a boost to the self-esteem to get an interview and we'll find out more Friday.  Stay tuned!

Love is Patient, Love is Kind...

My husband.  My husband is a patient man.  He lets me yell at him when I realize we don't have any chocolate in the house.  And then he reminds me 10 seconds after my tyraid that there is, in fact, lots of chocolate in the house.  He checks to make sure I unplugged my hair straightener nearly every time we leave the house when I can't remember if I did (I always do).  He lets me have Mexican food about 80% of the time when we go out to eat.  He doesn't get mad at me when I wake him up to tell him about a shoe sale.  And he tolerates me saying, "You're the love my of my life".  Everyday.  Multiple times a day.  Except I don't say it to him.  Nope, not Matt, my loving, patient husband.  I say it to Nigel.  And I mean it from the bottom of my heart.

This is not an uncommon occurrence.  Except I'm not usually asleep.  Nigel is always asleep, though.

Finders Keepers

A couple weeks ago Matt and I went to an antique/flea market-type place.  It was huge.  So much stuff from furniture to dishes, books to movie posters.  I don't think Matt had high expectations going into it, but he ended up finding something:



Apparently it's a series of mugs that have the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria on them.  He already had one and he found another.  I don't remember which one he had, which one he found and which one he needs.  Anyways, it was a unique find and I think because of it I might be able to get him to go to other flea markets.

My finds were a bit more decorative:

The first one is a candle holder.  It doesn't photograph well, but it's glass with metal edging.  It's really cute.  The next is a little lantern.  It's more decorative than anything, but I think it'll look cute somewhere.  P.S. I took this picture like 2 seconds after the mug picture, but there's a milk jug in the lantern one.  How weird is that?

Today I went to Goodwill.  I don't feel like taking pictures of what I got because I'm super-snuggly with Nigel-Man and he's being super, super cute right now.  Like WAY cute.  Cuter than normal.  He keeps snuggling closer and closer to me.  And curling his toes.  He's the bees knees.  Anyways, I got Christmas decorations!  I think Matt thinks I'm addicted to Christmas decorations.  Doesn't bother me one bit.  P.S.  He has no idea that I bought Christmas ornaments today.  He'll find out when he gets home from work.  Anyways, once he finds out what they are he'll be down with it.  I found 2 boxes of glittery star-like ornaments.  They're 3-D.  And then a lady who was shopping next to me found another box of them.  I hugged her.  So we got 3 boxes of those (at 99 cents each!) and then a kit to make an ornament of your dog's paw!  It's like this plaster stuff and you stick your dog's paw in it and voila!  See what I mean?  Matt's going to be THANKING me for going there today.

Bon Appetit!

For our 4th of July celebration I made a bean dip (as seen in the previous post's picture).  It was super easy and very yummy.  It could probably be used as a vegetarian main dish or you could probably add some meat to that baby if you so choose.  We used regular tortilla chips and Fritos with it, but I bet if you put it in soft taco shells it's be like a bean taco or burrito.  Just add lettuce and you're set!  I got the recipe from the Mel's Kitchen Cafe blog, but here it is for you:

1 can of black beans

1 can of white beans (I used Great Northern beans)

1 can of shoepeg corn (I used canned corn since I already had it)

1 7oz can of Herdez salsa verde

2 cups of shredded Colby Jack cheese (I used 1 cup Monterrey jack, 1 cup sharp cheddar)

4-6 chopped roma tomatoes (squeeze liquid out of tomatoes before chopping)

garlic salt to taste (I used about 1/2 teaspoon)

Avocado-optional (I don't like avocado so I didn't add it)

Rinse and drain both cans of beans. Also drain the can of shoepeg corn. Make sure to squeeze liquid out of tomatoes before chopping so the dip doesn’t turn runny. Put everything (except for the avocado) in a bowl and mix together. Spray a shallow baking dish (I used a glass pie plate) with nonstick spray before spooning in the bean mixture. Sprinkle a little cheese on top and pop into the oven. Bake for 20 minutes until the cheese is melted and it is all warm and bubbly. Remove from oven and sprinkle with diced avocado and serve with tortilla chips.

Happy 8th of July!

Celebrating the 4th of July four days late (and posting this 10 days even later) means you get all the decorations for 50% off.  Read: I bought all the decorations and party supplies for $3.50.



Even Nigel celebrated by switching out his tan-colored placemat for a more patriotic placemat:

Now if we could only get him to not be afraid of the fireworks.  Still.  Two weeks after the 4th.  Darn dog.

Haunting



Apparently everyone on Food Network is making salmon today.  Do you know what I think of when I hear salmon?  Fourth grade.  Gee, Jenn, that's a weird connection.  Please tell us why you think about fourth grade when you hear salmon.  I'd be happy to...

In fourth grade I was a spelling bee queen.  I was in all of them and I was good.  Real competition, right here, I tell ya.  We'd even have practices I had to go to.  Yes, I was a loser.  Who cares.  I liked spelling.  Andrea, my bff at the time, did them, too.  In order to remember how to spell the word citizen we rhymed it with 'zit'izen and BAM... you've got citizen.  Clear skin was important to us apparently and zits were on our minds.  Anyways...

I was in the spelling bee and it was my turn.  "Jennifer, spell the word salmon".  Without so much as blinking I stated "Salmon.  S-A-M-O-N.  Salmon."  NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  The silent L!  What kind of dumb language has a silent L?  Stupid America.  Cost me the spelling bee.

After the spelling bee I went to go see my mom to tell her the news.  She taught in the same school I went to, but was unable to come to the spelling bee.  I got to her classroom and told her I lost and I think I was crying.  She gave me a card and it said that she was so proud of me.  I still have it.  It has hugging bears on the front.  I'm pretty sure she wrote that before knowing what the outcome was going to be. 

And thus, I'm having a pity party over my 4th grade spelling bee defeat that happened twenty years ago while watching Rachael Ray cook.  Maybe the spelling bee is the reason why I don't eat seafood.

P.S. I used spellcheck for this post because how embarrassing to misspell something while gloating over your amazing spelling abilities outside of fish breeds.  It was all correct.  Salmon, 1.  Jenn, 1.

Skeeter Bites Bite

I've found the one thing I hate about Atlanta.  Mosquitos.  It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that I get at least one new bite each time I go outside.  I just got done counting and I'm at 11 bites.  Ask Matt how many he has.  Zero.  Zilch.  Nada.  So I looked up why some people are more susceptible to them than others.  According to all the research I've done here are the more "at risk": men, those who are overweight, those with type 0 blood, sweet smelling sweat and hairlessness.  Seriously?  I can't change my blood type.  Maybe I'll stop shaving.

Happy 4th!

The Lawsons may not be together this holiday, but we still wish you a Happy 4th of July a la last year's holiday!

Notice the red, white and blue?

Treasure Hunting

Matt and I just spent the night with Grandma a couple of nights.  On our way to Illinois and on the way back to Georgia we made a pit stop in good ol' Paris, TN.  Let me tell you why Paris, TN is so fantastic.  Grandma doesn't have internet.  It's like living back in yester-year.  You don't need to check your Facebook, no need to respond to e-mails.  You just get to hang out.  Another great thing about Grandma's - it hasn't changed since the day I was born.  Sure, she's painted her house and got new carpet a few years back, but the essentials haven't changed - the mattress of the bed we sleep on was her parent's, same with her microwave.  Not only are these things the same, but I took some pictures (on my phone - sorry about the quality) of some iconic gems at Grandma's.  Josh and I played a game via text messages.  I took a picture and Josh had to name the room the item was located.  Amazing.

Let's start with Andrew Jackson.  Grandma has a picture of him in her family room.  I used to think he was a relative of ours.  Why else would anyone have a picture of him in their house?

Grandma provides entertainment at all times.  This is a waterproof book that's in the shower in case you want to belt out a tune, but aren't sure of the words.  My favorite is Singin' in the Rain.

This is the wallpaper in her bathroom.  Doesn't it SCREAM retro?  I love it. 



Not the best picture, but it's a picture of a ceramic cat.  Actually, a ceramic cat doorstop that's sitting atop a pillow.  Creepy, but I can't remember it not keeping watch over the middle bedroom.



And last, but not least, the Welcome to Paris, TN sign!  No, it's not at Grandma's, but on the way to dinner (yummy BBQ), I was sitting at a red light and had a perfect shot.  Just look at that giant catfish!