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I didn’t feel like being only a baby blogger. No, no, no. Well, that wasn’t the only reason I considered leaving this blog. Do you know what it’s like to work on a wordpress site all day then come over here and write and edit a blog? So tired of the blue/gray scheme here. And the way the buttons change shape depending on what browser you use. And just about everything else, really.
So Chad’s going through his interviews for two separate companies this week. It’s frightening how quickly the first is giving him an answer… on Monday! If it’s for the location that we would prefer (Atlanta) and the benefits are better than company 2, our choice is made.
Except… well, we had decided that we didn’t want to buy a house. Honestly, we really have no right buying a house. We’re barely out of college, about to have a kid, I have student loans and a job that isn’t considered “mortgage-worthy.” So what does this mean? We’re looking for rental houses.
Have you seen rental houses? They suck! I don’t know if it’s the time of year or what, but it’s been hard finding one that we like. Depending on where we go, we need to put a deposit down by the end of next month… that really puts the time crunch on. And I am getting more, and more, and more frustrated!
I haven’t posted in a while… I know, it’s so random. I’ve been crazy busy with… well, I can’t say housework. We’ll go with “buying random crap off the internet”
Chad got two second interviews today, for over spring break! We’re obviously pulling for whichever company likes him more and wants to offer him a job. 
So yeah.. we could be moving to NC or Cincinnati for real! Or… you know, staying in the Atlanta metro, as we found out. Ha. Not that I’d mind now. We’re going out to Farm255 tonight to celebrate this… it’s an amazing step forward in our lives.
Oh, and another step forward: we’re having a baby sometime around the first week of September!
Happy Friday!
I find it odd that, this being the THIRD christmas on this blog, I have not yet titled a post “deck the halls.” That just seems like something I’d do. Anyways, I’m here to share with you my excitement over christmas. Let’s start with the tree. Please ignore the grainy photos – I tried brightening them a little because my house is dark and drab. It sucks to live in a rental. Anyways…
This is our tree this year. Well, and it has been for the last three years, too – this is a cheapie we bought for $20 at Walmart that we plan on retiring next year. Anyways, I change the theme every year, and this year’s is like a hipster etsy (I redecorated from previous posts): it’s got felt owls, exposed stitching, some Japanese style kirie, and some kitsch things like silver tinsel garland and red berries. [Last year's theme was Elf, like the movie. It was an all silver and white tree and all across our living room, we hung three hundred feet of paper chains and probably 30-40 paper snowflakes, had paper trees on the mantle and tiny paper lanterns on the tree! Can you tell I really, really love themes?] You may have noticed the ducks there. I collect them – I probably have about 100? – and I put some out for Halloween and Christmas, Easter probably too. There are two Santa ducks because these are a special brand and they name each of their duck styles. But, you really didn’t care to know that.
This is my favorite ornament. Actually, we just got it last night, but I love it. You see, last weekend we froze our butts off helping my parents with this cool smores bar they set up at a holiday party for their church. We probably ate our weight in homemade graham crackers, hersheys & ghiradelli and jet-puffed marshmallows. So, it really does remind me of our first Christmas!
This photo sucks because my camera skills are sub par using Chad’s camera. Whoops. Anyways, we have some gifts wrapped, under the tree. I know you can’t tell from this, but I’m a serious gift wrapper. I layer different papers, different types of ribbon and bows and of course, use cute tags. I am aware that I am a dork.
Ouch, the grain in this picture is almost hurtful. Anyways, here are the stockings I hand embroidered while watching old episodes of SNL or the Kardashians or something. I think they were $1 each last year when we were doing the white theme, and I’m too cheap to go find better ones. They’re very nice, and I can’t find better for that price… and heaven knows I’m not sewing stockings. Tried that two years ago.
I understand that this is the worst photo in the history of cameras. In fact, if you stare at it too long, your eyes may bleed. The out of focusness, the ugly way the jar reflects… well, I’m sorry. But, I just wanted to share my pine-scented mistletoe. This reminds me of Chad’s house, because his mom has been burning this exact same candle all year.
You can’t tell, but this is the backdrop for the ducks. We only have a three foot banister where our stairs end, and it’s right behind the TV. I have no idea why they put the cable hookup on that wall, but that’s a story for another day. This has the same kirie plus some stars cut out of the world’s worst “survivor-esque” book. I was going to cut into a 1912 edition of a book no one has heard of, read or reviewed on the entire internet, but Chad stopped me, so we have lame stars. Oh well!
Cookies. This may be the best pic yet. Anyways, I halved Alton Brown’s recipe for “the Chewy” and got these babies. Mmmmmm.
Now, finally, the reason I was making cookies – to heat up the oven because it is 22 degrees, it feels like 11 and it is SNOWING!
Ok, I think these are the last of the dorky Christmas photos I’m going to share. Now… share your christmas decor with me!
Have you ever Pre-halloween Christmas shopped for yourself? I know, that sounds freaking crazy. I start making my list around September of each year (because if I didn’t, there would be five things on it, I’m indecisive and Chad needs direction) and we happened to be at the mall looking for boots (let’s just say Target was sold out and DSW needs more gray boots). Oh, but not our mall, the good mall that’s second closest to home – so we’re there, walking around and I SAW IT. I told Chad I was going to help him out with Christmas shopping and promptly whisked him in to get this:
[source]
so, I fully admit that it is weird to buy yourself christmas gifts. However, seeing as I couldn’t find three of the other things online this afternoon that I’d put on my list, it’s a good thing I grabbed them while they were still around… I wanted those babies! And they were cheap – Chad didn’t complain. I think he likes when I pick the stuff out, because he knows I want it. Also, he felt totally uncomfortable with the teenage girls milling about in forever21 and h&m… I probably never would have gotten it. I know, it all sounds like excuses, but it’s what’s worked for us for a while now.
And with that said… I am excited for christmas. I love new (even extremely cheap) jewelry!
So PMS and general blah-ness have prevented me from posting too much about my life. Boooo. And then, my wrist decided to revolt. Suffice it to say the past few days have made me feel like my body is tugging me in different directions. Basically, I’m in this massive rut of a life right now until PMSing ends and I go back to my general disgust for Baby Ruths. (Don’t ask.)
This means I have so many things to talk about. Let’s rewind to Monday last week:
Chad: So I was talking to the people from the lecture and one of them is from Charleston and we were talking about it and they’re located in Cincinnati, I know, like all the other places that might be ok to work for but she said it wasn’t too bad and Cincinnati isn’t a horrible place, that there’s kind of some hip stuff going on there and I don’t think it would be too bad of a move for us you know?
Me: UH. What?! Cincinnati? NO WAY EVER, GAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
I literally put that in the deep recesses of my memory. I don’t need to move to freaking Cincy, no thanks. I mean, what’s even there for me? Mandy would be happy since it’s only 2 hours to her beloved Peyton Manning (Please, do not let her find out). In fact, I left it there until this Monday, I didn’t think about it, I didn’t consider it, I didn’ t want to.
But, I was alone again for another Monday night Social Hour (that thing Chad does on Mondays that’s mandatory) and I started looking just at housing in Cincy. That’s how I always start – if I can sell myself on a cool place to live, I’m in. Right now, I accept being here in Athens because we have an all-white bedroom punctuated by a little yellow and gray, it’s my sanctuary. But, I digress. The first house I found was this:
[source]
Hi, Mid-century-modern-house-I-want-to-raise-hipster-children-in. Okay, Cincinnati. I’m listening to you.
And… well, that’s what I wanted to share. That I am perfectly ok with moving to Cincy… it’s hard to imagine, but I’m not totally opposed to the idea like I once thought I was. I have to stop being so quick to write cities off, I suppose. And thinking about our next move did make me want to pull out of my rut. Athens wasn’t quite the new start I was looking for, but a move to what will truly be our next home for a while is very encouraging – whether it’s Cincinnati, Boston, Raleigh, Chicago, NYC or anywhere else that Chad’s career is based in.
Do you know anything about Cincinnati? Anything about Hyde Park in Cincy? Anything about Waltham, MA (Boston suburb)? Give me a shout if you do.
First a cold, then severe nosebleeds, then kidney stones… OMG! What a freaking week!
I haven’t done much by way of cooking, but I am assembling a colorful version of this beauty… and maybe a bigger scale one, too, if the cricut has a lot of flower cutouts.
I found this beauty on 100LayerCake, one of my favorite wedding blogs ever… and I am pretty sure with the number of flowers I have, there are enough to do a wreath the size of a freeway loop. Haha.
Holla if you know me, because I plan on organizing my craft stuff soon and there’s a lot of stuff left in there that I do not use (I’m talking about YOU, 10 pointless inkpads I have and NEVER use… or all the chipboard cutouts that are now pointless thanks to the cricut)… and it’s free for you if you live in the upstate of SC! (The catch: you must meet me in Clemson to get it.)
Also, Chad has been cooking dinner, and what a great cook he’s been! I’ve only helped a teensy bit. Last night, he made the best baked penne I’ve ever had! It had tons of mushrooms, green onions and spicy italian sausage and a crusty gooey cheese layer on top. And of course, the night before was tacos… I couldn’t taste those very well. And tonight we just had the most amazing glazed pork chops, blanched asparagus and mashed potatoes from scratch… SOOOO good! I don’t mean to brag, I am just so thankful to have a fiance to take such good care of me when I’m sick. I appreciate him tons!
Finally, I started my LAST SEMESTER AT CLEMSON! This makes me so happy… I am so ready to be out of Clemson. Remember when I talked about getting out early or even transferring to get a degree from elsewhere? I don’t even care anymore, I’m so ready to be done. That reminds me… I should definitely get on that ePortfolio requirement.
Okay, homework time. And I have a jar of marinated artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, goat cheese and a loaf of french bread… coming up tomorrow, bruschetta recipe!
One of my favorite movies (and coincidentally, one of our first date movies to watch) is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, a love story… well, just to cut it short, people’s memories get erased and weird things happen during this love story.
Tonight, I read this New York Times article (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/06/health/research/06brain.html?pagewanted=2&hp)–it’s about the same thing, basically: erasing certain memories from existence. There are certain questions raised, however; for example, would all memories associated with the thing be erased (much like the movie, in which he does not know the song “Clementine” due to her name being Clementine)? Is it ethical, legal, moral (another question raised by the movie, interestingly enough)?
It will be interesting to see where they take this research… for now though, enjoy your memories, because each of them is the reason you are the person that you are!
______________________
Quick update:
Everyone here is doing well. Chad recently received an award for his Psych work, and Mandy is working at IOP again. I haven’t seen my lovely girls in a while though! Hope that changes sometime this week. Other news: we have planted a garden in the hopes that it will grow somewhat; we bought a grill and already I’ve burnt myself on it; and Easter is next weekend!
Finally, we have less than a month left of school before summer (though Chad is taking a class over Maymester and I’m taking a summer class).
Okay, it is very late, I should go to bed now. But just thought I’d let the blog world know about that crazy new memory-killing injection!
i had an amazing valentines day! i woke up to chad opening my door and telling me to stay in bed–a lovely breakfast in bed! (He can cook a good breakfast, too) So we ate together, took a nice long nap after some Spongebob and got up for a while.
We were supposed to have a picnic but it looked like rain, so we picnicked on the balcony! We laid down a blanket and put a small table out there and had a nice time making fun of the birds in the parking lot–it was cute. He made cuban sandwiches and I made tomato pie the night before, and we had cheese and apples and pomegranate blueberry juice. It was an odd picnic, but very much us.
So then next we watched some food network, that channel is awesome! we were enjoying just chilling out, and because of our nap…well, we missed going to the art museum. I’m excited to go another day, but it was nice spending time alone. So then we both went to get ready and took a nice walk to our dinner destination–Larkin’s on the River! We ate on the patio (it’s enclosed and heated) and it was so nice and inviting, a very warm atmosphere. Our server was amazing and so was the food! Too bad we were so full from lunch that we weren’t able to eat more of it!
Then we came home (Ok, i stopped to do a little shoe shopping, yay) and watched the duggar wedding and jon & kate + 8… to those of you thinking, that is so unromantic, we LOVE watching those shows. Chad loves jon & kate’s little kids.
So anyways. We watched that and enjoyed some truffles and wine (we also had some awesome wine at larkin’s… it was a good wine night i suppose) and had a wonderful time! After the shows, Chad was exhausted already, so I went to take a nice long bubble bath and he fell asleep… oh well. It was a nice ending anyways!
So that was my vday, how was everyone elses?!
so yeah. carmen’s cooking tonight, her momma’s delicious beef-a-roni. I know, that sounds so weird to be excited for it, but I am! I can’t stay long because of stupid Supplemental Instruction, but yeah.
I am so so SO thankful tomorrow is Friday, I need the weekend to catch up… it sucks being behind! I’ll get all caught up on saturday and sunday and feel better, but for now, I feel craptastic.
Chad and I discussed briefly over the weekend taking a road trip to Cape Cod and Boston to meet his G-ma and other relatives that I have yet to meet. I think that would be fun, but I’m nervous!
Also, I started the whole “healthy eating” thing yesterday. I’m not really balancing it so much as I am keeping track of what I’m eating. Something delicious I made yesterday is a Chicken and Avocado pita:
1 pita
1/4 cup mixed greens (I used a whole foods mix that had absolutely no lettuce, just other greens)
2 slices avocado
3-4 slices cucumber
1/4 cup chicken, sliced
1 tbsp light sour cream
It tasted rather like a taco, but it was more filling; i’m using avocado as opposed to cheese on some things now, like sandwiches and such, because it does offer a nice mild flavor but it packs so many more health benefits.
I’ve been doing a lot of deep thinking and the thing is, I want to eat healthy things that taste good. Most people just make themselves choose the low-fat option, but why? Why can’t we have it both ways?
I’d rather have an effing delicious sandwich/pita and cucumber slices for lunch than a bunch of little shitty tasting frozen meals. maybe it’s just me, but it’s the way I’m approaching this.
Also… when you can’t get around it, that’s where smaller portions (and a good lot of salad) come in. No probs!
