Are you sure he isnt a toddler?

Yup this little man is 7 months old as well.

"Momma, my throat hurts!"

 

 

Is there anything cuter then a baby holding his own bottle??

My little stud muffin :)

Right on track with Carley, I am not holding him up...

He kept staring at this guy all morning...

Don't worry...Dave was telling him to pull his hair....such an obedient boy!! :)

Guess who came to visit :)

She is 7 months old now...where is my little baby girl going????

Making sure the I.T. guy knows what he is doing :)

Still teething :)

Helping show Sean how things work

Don't you just love that dress!

Is she standing on her own yet???

She is holding her self up....I am not doing anything

"Yup Marc, I think this guy will make it" :)

Not only is she just using my hands for support...she is trying to walk!

I am sorry I have been absent....

Knitting is going okay. My schedule has completely changed and I have been having trouble finding a new routine.

I have been  doing a lot of cooking lately. If Brian is ever in charge (maybe once a week if that) we end up eating out or ordering in. So far I have made Chicken Carbanara, Spaghetti, Chicken with Capers and Artichokes, Cheese Souffle, a neat twist on Tuna Melts and that was last weeks schedule. This week we are having Alton Brown's Ham recipe, Gnocchi and Acorn squash, a lamb recipe, a Greek chicken skillet meal and last night we had a cheesy chicken recipe from the back of a stove top box (good, easy, and quick).  I like cooking I just hate the dishes. Also we are having trouble with leftovers. We have SO many. Most meals last a long time...longer than I will admit because my mom will fall off her chair. We can of course halve some but not all. :-\. I guess it is better to have too much then too little.  I haven't decided if we are saving a ton of money doing this. We are eating out a lot less but we are also having to buy more food. I am probably not saving anything. Brian probably is saving more. Who knows since our bills are separate and we haven't done it long enough to actually track.

Brian and I need a break. We have had Saturdays off together for the past 3 weeks or so and that has been wonderful but we need an actual escape. We have some farms apparently in the area where we can pick berries. I have to work this Saturday but hopefully, if I get next Saturday off we can do that. After that maybe I can get Sat/Sun off and we can go to Atlanta which is on my list of things to do. Brian is in trouble though...because after Atlanta we only have one more place in GA I want to see and we are going to do that next time we go to FL to see the in-laws. After GA guess what has gone on the list? Tennessee! Can you say Dollywood :)

I have figured it out!

Knitting has been driving me nuts. Before I realized the pattern, some squares would go so quickly and others would take FOREVER! And then some squares would be looser or tighter then others. And I swear I haven't done it any differently!

Don't get me wrong, I am still enjoying it. Heck Right now I have 18 squares done. I just could not figure out why some were so different then others. But I have figured it out!

It is the color! Keep in mind...the color should not make a difference. Both are made by the same company. There is no dye lot, both worsted weight...they should both knit the same. But color A takes long and is alot tighter then color b. I start feeling good and even ahead in my project when I am on color B but as soon as I hit color A I slow down and start feeling behind and rushed and anxious about how long it is taking. Color B also does not last as long. With color A I can get 3 squares and then some. With color B I can BARELY get 3 squares. Again, each color is the exact same...

Who knows but I feel better knowing the pattern

"The Kalahari Typing School for Men" ~Alexander McCall Smith

April's book was "The Kalahari Typing School for Men" by Alexander McCall Smith.
This is the 4th book in the "The No. 1. Ladies' Detective Agency"  series.

I like these books because they are quick and easy to read. They have an interesting story line and I do have a fondness for all the characters. The way they analyse life and the changing of generations is relatable for every culture and true, in many aspects, in every culture not just an African culture.

I am getting a bit bored by the story line. It would make a great TV series and I am sure HBO is enjoying it. This series would not be hard to make into a television series unlike other books they have attempted. The two main characters just do the same thing all the time. The situations might fluctuate a little and new characters are introduced but it is still just the same. I did read a Nora Roberts book in between to maybe get rid of the repitition but I don't think it helps. The positive side affect of this is I can read half a book early in the month, not touch it until the end and pick up right where I left off with no issues.

I will probably read a couple more of these. There are 12 so far in the series and I think he is writing more. I do not know if it is good enough to read all 12 + though it would make my new years goal very easy but I will continue reading until I fully decide if I want to continue or not.

May will be a Nora Roberts book. I had bought myself the Irish trilogy which I read one book of so far and several of my monthlies have actually given me Nora Roberts books after seeing me read some of her books so I am all set for that. :)

My Super Starfish :)

Here are some pictures of my adventure and the surviving Starfish

Jelly Fish :)

What I came home with

The few that survived the stomping :)

In other news our A/C unit is down again and is needing to be replaced. If my landlord okays it, we might have AC back in a week or so. We are already reaching 70 degrees today and it will be in the high 80s by Monday... we are going to be miserable.

Charleston

As I mentioned yesterday I have been requesting Saturdays off so Brian and I can have at least one day off together to get things done. Shopping for cars, houses, etc becomes very difficult if you don't have time to visit and shop around as a couple. We aren't looking for houses seriously yet, we are still dealing with the car situation but are definitely coming up with plans/ideas together and can't do that if we aren't together! It is also important we get at least one day off so we can actually learn to live with each other! Because of both of our schedules, up till now we never had a day off together unless we both planned it out months in advance. Lets say it did not happen alot so most of our relationship we have spent apart. While we are both independant and don't need to be around each other 100% finding things to do together is necessary and we have to start getting used to having both of us around and how we split the day up.

Last Saturday we went to visit cars at a dealer, this Saturday we went to Charleston. Before Charleston we stopped at BofA to talk about their car loan option and their dealer service. We left very dissappointed. The lady we spoke to knew nothing and read everything off the website which we had just finished doing ourselves. If the website answered our questions we wouldn't be there. I have since talked to my Credit Union and while I don't think their API(APR?) is not as low they are bending over backwards to help us out. We may not go with them because through BofA it looks like we could get the exact car he wants for around $24k which is about 3k less then the national average. We are still shopping loans but had hoped that our local BofA would be able to help us. We will be calling their 800 # and hopefully they will have more information.

Next stop Charleston! They were having an Air Show so it was very loud at times and you could see the planes go by which was pretty cool. We met our friend Will at O'Charley's for lunch. O'Charley's is right outside Charleston and has pretty good food and a good atmosphere. We showed up early so before meeting Will we walked around the mall which is right next door. Their mall is in trouble.

Lunch was good. I had a burger and Brian and Will both got Penne Pasta with Prime Rib and a cream sauce. We ended up staying there the whole time. The poor waitress. The restaurant wasn't busy so we weren't holding up a table. I did get bored (the boys were talking about their online game at this point) and emailed Mom listings for houses in the Charleston area.

After lunch we went home and watched Top Gear. I love Hammond :)

Ugh

I am in a bit of a funk today :-\. Yesterday did not go as planned, my knitting schedule is still off kilter and there just doesnt seem to be enough hours in the day.

Yesterday was my day off that I don't have to do anything. I have been getting Saturdays off and Brian and I spend those together. My other day off I don't do anything except knit which is how I like it. My plan for yesterday was to finish the current square I was working on. If I could have done that I would have been back on schedule.

Yesterday Brian invited me out to lunch which was nice. I enjoyed seeing him but I drove 45 +/- each way to spend 30 minutes eating lunch so a big chunk of my day was gone and spent in a car driving in the rain.

Then Brian came home and we were planning on spending 5 minutes before his game night on my Mom's website to freshen it up before her huge mailer goes out. That turns into an hour long project because wordpress isn't cooperating with our "blog" idea for the website. We will get it to work somehow but I wasn't planning on taking so long with it.

Then we had dinner. Brian was a sweetie and stayed with me and helped me cook but it still took longer then I thought. We were having pork paprikash and it wasn't as good as we had hoped. It used Pork tenderloin which we get at Costco and use to make Pork Wellington. We thought it would be good to get another recipe using Pork tenderloin so we dont get sick of the wellington but this recipe definitely is not a keeper.

All in all, I did not finish my square. I stayed up until 11pm so I could get it to a point where I could finish it today and start a new one and hopefully play catch up and still finish on time. I am 2 inches away from being done. Nothing really bad happaned but I was so hoping yesterday would go by schedule and it didnt.

I am a very schedule oriented person so when my schedule changes or is in limbo, I tend to get anxious. Between me requesting Saturdays off so I can be with Brian, my allergies acting up so bad last week that I could barely function and just little stuff I feel like everything is up in the air and I hate that.  The last time I felt this way I made a To Do list that I had to get done that day and it made me feel better.

So this is today's To Do:

Finish the square
Post about Charleston*
Post about Starfishes*
Start another square
Make dinner (Chicken Pot Pie...hopefully this recipe will be good)
Continue square

*These will be written tonight but will be scheduled to post Thursday/Friday.

I am so upset :(

I went to Pawley's right after work. We still weren't sure if the roofers were coming to maybe finally fix the leak and our bathroom and I felt bad about dragging Brian all the way out after his long day at work. I found the beach just fine.

I started to head north once on the beach and while the starfish were definitely not every where if you followed the kids you could find them. Pictures will come later. I had found several that were already dead so I decided to pick them up and bring them home. I definitely wanted 3. One for me, one for my mom and one for Caroline. I ended up getting  a lot more then three and I was going to give those to co-workers. After about 45 minutes of walking and picking I headed home.

Some starfish legs had started to fall off already so i carefully put them in my lunch box and brought them home. I laid them on a towel out on the balcony so they can get some sun and dry out. I was making dinner when Brian and the roofer came in. I was thinking it was so weird that Brian had all of a sudden gotten a southern accent. The roofer looked around and apparently was having trouble trying to figure out where we were exactly so he could find us from the ground (I dont know how he was confused. We are in the middle of the top floor in an apartment complex that has 3 floors with three apartments on each floor. One on top of the other).

Brian and the roofer goes out to the balcony and I ask them to be careful of the starfish. A) I wanted them not to step on a starfish and B) I wanted them to be aware of where tehy walked. Brian heard but apparently the roofer was deaf and unobservant. He walked all over my starfish and didnt even notice that he was stepping on anything until Brian had to ask him to get off of them. He did apologize but it was clear that he had no clue what he had just done. I havent dared to go out and check on them. If the legs were falling off in my hand before on some of them...having a grown man stomp on them isnt a good sign.

Plus I am now sick. Yesterday I thought it was allergies but no...I am just sick. Ear hurts, throat hurts, nose stopped up, headache, wheezing, you know..my usual.

Knitting hasn't been going well with the last week or so. I think it has largely to do with my schedule being different. Instead of doing two a week I am doing maybe 1 and a half. That is driving me nuts. Plus the red yarn isnt lasting all three squares. It is BARELY making it and I have to add about 5 inches on to finish it. So far the orange is cooperating. Not that big of a deal but I don't understand what I am doing differently about it. Oh well.

Right now, I just want to crawl into bed with the lights off with hot tea.

Goin on a bear hunt

I am going on an adventure after work today! We had a huge storm, kind of, Monday night. It had been VERY windy so hundreds of starfish got dislodged from the rocks they were living on and ended up on the beach in Pawley's Island.

The beach covered, courtesy of The Sun News

Pawley's Island is the town next door to me on the south side and is a barrier reef. (Ms. Micki learned that from a jeep tour she took). Brian and I have driven through it before but I have never actually been to the beach part. My original idea was to get Brian to take me when he gets home but that isn't looking all that likely so I will try to find it on my way home from work.

Burried Starfish, Courtesy: The Sun News

I hope they are still there. The newspaper article tells people that they don't need to throw them back in, that nature will handle it but I am sure some people will take them home with them (it is difficult to tell if they are dead or alive) or thrown them back in. Wish me luck!

VERY productive Saturday

This Saturday Brian and I went car shopping. He is currently driving a Chevy Aveo and it is on it's last leg. We have been doing some research online for awhile now and playing with numbers but we wanted to take a day off together and see some in real life. Because of our horrendous experience with his current car and his AMAZING experience with his first Ford he has decided to buy a Ford Fusion. If Ford disappoints (it really shouldnt) later on in life I guess it is European cars for our family (which is honestly what I am used to. I come from a Volvo family that escaped once Ford bought it and I am currently driving a Honda which I love). The Fusion has had excellent reviews from real people and the techy people as well. Our plan for this car is for it to last at least eight years if not longer. Brian and I both agree that you drive your car till it is dead and a good car with proper maintenance will last years.

There are about ten Ford dealers in our area (The south sells ALOT of cars....not sure why) and we picked one in the Pawley's area and ate lunch at a great restaurant that we never get to much due to the distance. Lunch was fabulous! I had an Italian sub packed with meat on a fresh sub roll. Brian had a Pork sub and we split home made Strawberry Shortcake. This place has great lunches but the desserts/coffee is what REALLY sets them apart.

We are so glad we went to an actual dealer! We learned a lot via our research online but we would have ended up buying the wrong car and spending too much if we hadn't seen it in real life. Online, the SEL's look SOOOO much longer then the S's or SE's so if we went only on the website we would have bought the SEL (not a bad choice just a choice not made on actual fact). Turns out the SEL, S, and SE are really the same length. The only difference is underneath the hood. So we still want an SEL but our reasoning behind it is sound. We don't want a Sport because of the god awful seating/interior decoration. They use contrasting colors like you would expect on a car for racing and while that is fine for some, that is definitely not what we are looking for and the car only comes this way. We also walked in thinking we wanted a 6 cylinder. We got to drive both and after thinking about the increase in the car and the lower gas mileage on top of that we have decided against the 6 cylinder. We also walked in thinking we wanted the Sat Nav package. We would still like it but have decided that it isn't worth the 3k they were asking. So by nixing the 6 cylinder engine and the Sat Nav, it has come down to a price that we can afford now. We could afford a higher payment but we want to have a life and pay this off early so what we count as "being able to afford" varies from others. We aren't buying RIGHT NOW but maybe the end of this month? Next month?

Our only real question now is color... He wants the Tuxedo Black but there is something in that paint color that is made in Japan so it is on hold indefinitely. If it becomes available when we are ready to buy that will be the color but in the mean time...these are the two options we like:

Brian's preference via ford.com

My preference via ford.com

Which do you prefer?

While we were there we were also looking at the Edge. The Edge would be the replacement of my car. My car should last another 3-5 years or so and we are hoping that by shopping/planning now for it will help us get even more of a down payment and make the process easier later on. My big concern is I don't like tall cars. My mom has a Saturn Vue and LOVES it but I hate it. It isn't a bad car by any means...I am just sitting WAY too high. I don't like feeling like the car is going to tip. My mom on the other hand, feels more comfortable driving up high. Go figure... Anyway I just wanted to sit in one since I would know then if it was even worth looking at. I didnt want to get my hopes up on this car and then be crushed if I couldn't drive it due to height. The height seems just fine. It definitely looks like it will be on the top of our list when the time comes. It does have one big perk though....

The back end can fit one of these :)

Meet Teddy

And George :)

Carley time :)

I got too see Carley for a few moments on Monday. Such a cutie! Totally made my day!

My new FAVORITE recipe

I stole this from a blog I read. SO easy! SO good! AMAZING leftovers

Crockpot Flank Steak:

Makes 4-6 servings

-1 flank steak (about 1 1/2lbs) cut in half if you have a small crock pot (my store didnt have flank steak so we used Denver steak)
-1 tbsp oil
-1 large onion, sliced
-1/3 cup water
-1 4 oz chopped green chilies
-2 tbsp vinegar (we used white)
-1 tsp chili powder
-1 tsp salt
-1/8 tsp pepper

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown steak in oil
Transfer to crockpot
In the same skillet, saute onion for a minute or two
Gradually add the water
Add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.
Pour over the flank steak
Cover and cook on low for about 8 hours or until the meat is tender
Slice meat and serve with the onion and pan juices*

The meat was so tender we just pulled it apart like southern pulled pork. If we had used flank steak we may have been able to slice it but not with Denver steaks. We ate them with tortillas and sour cream. mmmmmm!