the list goes on

It's been all over Facebook so I decided to share mine here with you in case you haven't befriended me over on Facebook. (Or maybe you aren't on facebook!?!?!)

1. I don't eat meat if it has a bone in it and you are suppose to pick it up and gnaw on it. (ie. chicken wings, fried chicken, ribs...)

2. I've shared a room with someone my whole life (besides the 2 years before my sister was born and the 8 months I had an apartment in college).

3. Attending the same church I grew up in, even after getting married, kinda makes me feel like I'm still in high school.

4. I am TERRIBLE at making decisions. I love it when stuff (any and everything) comes with the option to change it later.

5. I can get cabin feaver in less than 6 hours. Thank goodness I don't live somewhere with a lot of snow.

6. I like to save EVERYTHING. I'm always pretty sure that I can find a way to use something, it just might take me a couple of weeks. My husband is breaking me of this - which is a really good thing.

7. The next house we buy will need a big yard for my dogs, a front porch, and a dishwasher. Everything else is negotiable.

8. I love sports! They are even better in person but I'll watch football, basketball, and NASCAR on TV. Baseball games are a must in spring/summer. One day I will have season tickets to Virginia Tech football and basketball... one day.

9. The need to create something overwhelmes me sometimes so I usually have some kind of crochet project going on that I can pick up and put down as the urge strikes.

10. Aaron calls me a senior citizen because I like to crochet, eat early, and go to bed early. I also say things like "oh my stars" or my own grandma's favorite "bless your bones."

11. I love, love, love to get to know people through their family. I like to know who they are when they are not in public. How many siblings they have. How their parent's chose their name. I'm a big time people watcher.

12. I don't like to wear big coats, but lots of layers are comfy cozy.

13. I love jewlery but I'm always wearing basically the same thing. I forget that I have earings to match my maroon sweater perfectly or a necklace that is just right for that green dress.

14. I am not a phone talker. Text messaging has really saved me a lot of stress about getting details and plans worked out with those folks I'm suppose to meet up with. If its something really important I'll call of course... but it has to be really important.

15. In unfamiliar situations I like someone to tell me exactly what I'm suppose to do. What is expected and how should I get there. I don't like trying to figure things out for myself the first time. After I understand what's expected I'll take it and try to figure out my own spin on it, how to make it mine.

16. I'm not a cofee or hot tea drinker but I love apple cider and hot chocolate.

17. On the other hand, I'm not a person to crave chocolate. I went on vacation with Aaron's family to Hershey, PA and bought Twizzlers. hahaha

18. I've wanted to have lots of kids ever since I was 6. I begged and pleaded with my mom to have another baby and she wouldn't. It was bad, I cried and cried. From then on I wanted at least 4 kids. Aaron says we're only going to have 2. I told him God's in charge so we'll just have to see what he says.

19. Being a nanny has been my favorite job. I've officially had 3 different nanny jobs (but lots more long term families that I babysit for) and I'd go back in a minute, especially to the third family with their adorable, polite, sweet, funny, loveable boys.

20. I've never travelled out of the United States. I don't have a pasport.

21. I would love to wear flip flops all year. I don't even mind when my toes get so cold they turn purple. I've never worn them in snow though and going to college where there was snow sorta broke me of my flip flops in winter habit. Its slowly coming back though.

22. I have a slight pen/marker and post it note addiction. You can't ever have to many sharpies and post its can you!?!?! Just look in my desk drawer to find out.

23. I want give my kids family names... BUT... I don't love the names I would have to choose from. Plus hubby doesn't want to have a Jr. and I wouldn't want anyone's feelings to get hurt, so we won't be going that way.

24. Everyone talks to themselves right? I do it all. the. time!

25. Our dogs aren't allowed in our bedroom (hubby supposedly has allergies) EXCEPT on the weekends when Clover gets to come in and cuddle. Her weekday internal alarm (5:15 am) goes off on the weekends too so she gets to come cuddle so I can sleep in until a more appropriate time.

sing me a song

I could listen to live music for days on end without ever being bored. When I was in middle school I got accused of liking a boy at a youth group lock in at the YMCA because I was listening to him play the guitar. He was okay - but his guitar was what I was really after! I've been to more concerts than almost anyone I know and I've even wormed my way into being friends with the local radio DJs so that I can get better access to the live music in my area. Luckily, I live in an area that has a lot of good music come through. I can get pretty attached and selective of the music I will buy to play at home/in the car, but if I hear something live I almost immediately love it (there are a few exceptions!). I don't make a habit of going to concerts where I don't think I'll like the music, but I have a couple of times, and I've been pleasantly surprised.

The memories of my life are all tied to a song. I've got songs stuck to memories that I'm pretty sure I wouldn't remember at all if the song wasn't attached. There are songs that I hear years later that I could tell you what street I was driving on and who was in the passenger seat the first time I heard the song. These don't even have to be songs that I consider my favorite or even that I like. I often wake up in the morning with a song running through my head that I haven't heard in days and I have no reason to think of other than... I'm a music person.

It's hard for me to pick favorite songs because I usually have 3 or 4 at a time, but they'll stick around for a good long time. I love it when I buy a CD and the entire thing is full of songs that I could listen to on repeat.

I can't play a single instrument or carry a tune in a bucket. I've tried... and tried... and tried. I bought a guitar. I have no rhythm. Well I can get started keeping time to music, but I always loose it somewhere near the end. If only songs were about 45 seconds shorter I might be able to play an entire song without getting all off.

The lyrics of songs inspire me and make me feel. I could feel anything as long as I feel. Tonight we were riding around and I heard "Laugh like I'm not afraid to cry." It really spoke to me and until further notice it is my motto.

Quilty Comfort

*UPDATE - she loved it! YAY!*


In the last 18 months or so I have taken up quilting. I love all the different fabrics to choose from! (Its almost as good as scrapbook paper and stickers!) I am mostly a self taught quilter, but did use the book First Time Quiltmaking. Quilting has quickly become one of my hobbies. For Christmas my parents even gave me a gift certificate to take a class at a local quilt shop. My school schedule conflicts with the class schedule so it looks like I will have to wait until summer to take the class. So far, I've made 5 little things, but those were all TRULY test subjects. I've just finished up a baby quilt that I feel may actually be good enough to show to others and give away as a gift. My best friend, Dana, will be the lucky recipient.

Dana is due next week with her very first little one. A girl. The parents to be are super excited and beyond ready to meet baby Brooklyn!

Dana is a huge dog lover and she has been collecting baby stuff with puppies on it since she got married. You may have noticed (or not...) that most baby stuff with puppies on it is blue. When they found out they were having a girl, Dana put all of her blue puppy stuff away for next time (she's counting on a boy then!) and started looking for new puppy stuff. BUT she's not a huge fan of pink. She couldn't find anything... pink or otherwise. Everyone around her has been telling her that she's going to have to get use to pink because there is always the chance that Brooklyn will be a girly girl. Now that delivery is so close (and since she got a lot of pink at the baby shower) Dana has developed a pink tolerance.

I found some incredibly cute puppy fabric that is pink. (I happen to be a big fan of pink!) I'm going out on a limb here and hoping that her love of puppy stuff out weighs her dislike of pink stuff because I bought it to make baby Brooklyn a quilt. To tone down the pink puppies I also found some coordinating brown fabric. I'm giving them the quilt tonight at dinner and I'm a little scared about how pink it is. I'm worried that Dana will only see pink. Here's to hoping everybody likes it!




Here it is....

Four of the different pink fabrics and a corner of the back (a super soft brown flannel)

The finished quilt.

Not Me Monday

MckMama over at My Charming Kids invites us all to be completely open and honest about all the things that DID NOT happen around your life this last week. I'm giving it a shot this week for the first time.



I did not get excited when Dolly decided she loved me so much she just had to put her two front feet up on the couch to give me a kiss. After all, who would want to encourage such behavior from a great dane who was previously afraid of getting on the furniture. That might mean that I have to fight two great danes and a husband for a spot on the couch.



I did not get almost giddy with excitement when Aaron requested that we make a trip to Trader Joe's . A man who believes that the major food groups are made up of spaghetti, peanut butter & jelly, chicken nuggets, pudding, and Reece's cups would not have made such a request.



I did not get so worried about the state of my job next year that I started looking into going back to being a nanny (definitely my favorite job I've ever had)! Not me, I live by faith - not fear.



I did not get so excited about finally being able to wear jeans to work on Fridays {for the small small price of $2 a day} that I went ahead and added up how much it would cost for the rest of the school year.



I did not jump out of bed at 5:30 am, thankful that the phone was ringing. That would have meant that the school's connect-ed system was calling me to let me know that school was cancelled due to the weather. That certainly would not have been a very good reason to be woken up at 5:30 am!



I did not count AND re-count the number of days until I can test to see if we got pregnant this month. I am a patient person and I am relying on God's timing for all of that!



Head on over to MckMama's blog and see what she and a bunch of other folks have not been up to this week.

Meet the spoiled pups

This is Clover. We found Clover in the Roanoke Times in March 2005. She was part of an unwanted litter of 7 week old Great Dane (3/4) Mix puppies. My roommate volunteered with an all breed rescue and had brought home a great dane puppy several weeks earlier to foster. I was completely in love with him, but he was already spoken for. That was all the introduction I needed to Great Danes and I was determined to find one of my own. I saw the add in the paper on Tuesday and called to ask if I could come look at the puppies on Saturday. The guy said they would all be taken by then because they were first come first served, but I could call back on Saturday morning. I told Aaron that it wasn't meant to be and I would just have to keep looking. Something was still nagging at me on Friday afternoon though and I called the guy back. He said that they had 1 puppy left that had been returned to them. It was a female. "WHAT!? I'll be right there!" And if you ask Aaron, that was the day that he lost me to the dogs!

This is Dolly. (or as all her friends know her... Dolly Llama... or just plain Llama) Dolly started out as our foster in December 07. It was her second time through rescue. She had been fostered right down the road and then adopted to a horse farm. Everyone thought it was a perfect situation, but she did not get along with one of the little dogs in the home. She lived with us as a foster for about a month and I was COMPLETELY in love. We did not adopt her then because... well... because I have a problem. I have a problem saying no to the foster coordinator when she calls and asks me to take in another dog. Aaron knew that even if we adopted I'd still say yes to fostering. And he said there was NO WAY we could have 3 dogs in our house. NO WAY! Dolly was adopted to a very nice lady with another big dog for her to play with. Everything was great... for 3 months. Again Dolly did not get along with one of the dogs at her adopter's parents' house. Dolly came back and will NEVER leave. We adopted her in April 2008. {And YES, we've had several fosters since we adopted her because as it turns out, we CAN have 3 dogs in our house! hehe}

We volunteer with a Great Dane rescue and have had foster dogs pretty much constantly since November 2006. Clover and Llama are completely spoiled. They have their own room (come on... have you seen the size of a crate that fits a great dane... they NEED their own room!) but can usually be found lounging on the couch or our bed. We loose sleep and the covers when we let Clover snuggle with us on weekend mornings (in our full size bed!). Don't worry, Llama isn't left out, she prefers not to snuggle ON the furniture. So I can often be found laying on the floor just so we can get serious cuddle time. They are a great alarm system that would deter any would be burglar, but they would never hurt a fly.... OK, maybe Dolly would hurt a fly... she has caught a squirrel before! OOOPS!

I love my babies (and Aaron does too, he just won't openly admit it to strangers)!

Has your dad ever said...

"I'll give you something to complain about?"

Mine has... at least two or three (hundred) times. And today I heard it running through my head again. We all know the economy isn't great but I (wrongly) felt protected by being in the education field. WRONG! In my area, teacher jobs are being cut just like everyone elses. So today at our staff meeting while the principal was going over the budget, I was reminded of how much I was complaining about having to go to work this morning. I felt completely justified this morning in not wanting to go out in below freezing temperatures when I could stay inside doing crafty things instead. There's no guarantee I'll have a job next school year... which would mean no money to do crafty projects... or pretty much carry on life as we know it now. It may not be exactly what I want to do, but it's time to be thankful for what I do have!

one for the history books

School was cancelled today due inclement weather...or as it turned out a complete lack of weather... but still I was home from work. Beginning at 7am and continuing straight through to the evening news the inauguration of Barack Obama was on all major news channels. Mostly it was just on as the background to me puttering around the house, but I did stop from time to time to listen and watch the more important parts: the swearing in, the medical emergency during lunch, the parts of the parade that the Obama's walked, and whenever they talked about his beautiful daughters. Whether we agree with his politics or voted for Obama or not, he is our president now and I for one will be praying for his success because his success is the best thing for our country.

I was moved by it all.
the feeling of being part of history...
being simultaneously torn between wishing I was in D.C. and being thankful that I was warm with plenty of room to stretch for the historic moment...
the contagious joy that was obvious even through the T.V. ...
being so proud of our country...
joy on Michelle Obama's face ...
a feeling of "what now" for the Bush family...
the open moments of prayer
having young children in the White House

I am a "moments" person. I remember where I was, what I was doing, who I was with, and sometimes even smells or songs from various "moments" in my life. I'm quite sure that this will be one of the big ones though!