Daily Relish

Beautiful Day

2013-02-02T18:51:00.000-05:00

It really was a beautiful day here.. for a handful of reasons.. we woke up to a little bit of snow, I got all my errands done and I scored some more brand new baby items via the thrift store on the cheap. I have really enjoyed shopping for our little girl so far, everything I have bought has either been on sale, via e-Bay or thrifted and I have bought some really cute items. I think it is completely normal to splurge a bit on baby, especially when it's your first.. and when it happens to be a girl, but that does not mean you have to break the bank over it. I don't mind maybe over-buying, clothing in particular because I am buying it for less than half of what it is on sale at most stores so if she only happens to wear it once or not even at all, I can re-thrift/sell it or just donate it..   no loss for me, or anyone else.

We are buying all of her "gear" brand new but I am still comparing all of the stores and getting the best prices possible.. for instance her bassinet/playard.. the one we really liked was $159.00 at BuyBuy Baby.. we decided to go with the exact same brand & model of bassinet/playard at Target in a different design and got it for a total of $87.00..   it ended up being on sale from $99.00 the week I bought it and I found a free shipping and -$5.00 coupon on retailmenot.com. I am diggin' it.

Before I completely go on babbling..       snow:

NYE - Gatlinburg

2013-01-02T17:34:00.000-05:00

We decided to visit Gatlinburg for the day on NYE.. not the wisest choice we made all year (heh). I figured it would be busy as it was NY's but really did not anticipate the kind of busy it was, it was like a small NYC, there was 100's of people in every direction, there was a line 20-30+ for every restaurant or practically anything else you wanted to do..and there wasn't even any snow on the ground?!

We did a couple pretty touristy things like visit Ripleys Museum and take pictures of the mountains, etc. I think we did more waiting than anything.. waiting in traffic, waiting to park, waiting for food, waiting to get out of the parking lot.. home was a beautiful site when we finally got back. There are some things we would like to do out there but I think we will wait til it is a little warmer and a few less people hopefully. Maybe we can sneak in a weekend before kids get out of school for summer break this year and before the baby is born.

We had some good laughs as always and I really do appreciate that.. plus we had a pretty nice dinner out after we got home and rested.

Welcome 2013.

Mostly Last Minute

2012-12-13T14:38:00.001-05:00

I feel like the holidays really snuck up on me this year.. that and I am just not sure this year there was that much anticipation in front of it. Up until literally days before Thanksgiving I was down and out with morning sickness (liars, try all day sickness) and just really, truly didn't care about anything besides when I could take the next nap.. Thanksgiving came and went, drive-by style. Christmas is now bearing down on us and I just kinda.. eh.. yea, I don't know. The house is decorated although I did it pretty late for my standards, a few presents are wrapped but the majority isn't even bought yet, we don't have a tree and I am not sure putting one up this late is worth it.

I am just not really.. that excited this year. I think part of it is being pregnant, I don't have much energy and for the most part would rather lay around than actually do anything. Another and probably bigger part of it is our work schedules, more D's than mine..I basically see him, meanwhile I work for an hour, maybe two around lunchtime, he's normally browsing the internet or reading, something and I am working so it's not very quality time.. then we see each other again for a couple hours when he gets home very late in the evening..7 days a week currently and has been for a long time now.

Compacted by this is that I work from home and don't have friends or family here.. although life is fine right now and everything is logically good, it's boring, it's lonely, it's teetering on gloomy.. sure, sure things could be worse, I know it.. but things could also be so much better and we are both looking forward to that day in big, big way..

/end whining.

winter is here, mostly..

cards all done

New Found Fascination

2012-12-04T22:36:00.000-05:00

You don't run into Dam's very much in FL.. in fact I am not sure there are any? Maybe? Anyhow, I have come to find that I really love them. I like the mechanics of them, how large some of them are, they are normally Federally owned so they are normally situated in the midst of beautiful scenery like lakes and mountains, greenery as far as the eye can see and for the most part.. people don't visit Dam's in excess like other places for obvious reasons, we have 2 very close to us now, both pretty sizable and we are surrounded by many more just within an hour or so drive.

This one I liked particularly well.. it was just beyond a state park and camp ground and the biggest I have been to so far.. all of the land around it was so lush and quiet.. I wish this one was a little closer, it's a nice place to sit and ponder.

Norris Dam

Anderson, TN

New.

2012-12-03T17:28:00.000-05:00

There are a few new things going on around here since we last spoke, let me show & tell.

I think we had already moved into our current apartment so that isn't new, however.. me not liking.. ok, that's not new either.. even though we both despise the act of moving, we will be doing it again next year because, well, mostly I am pretty unhappy with living in our current housing. It was chosen in a huge rush and we will need more space and less outer stairs for reasons to follow.

I bought a new car.. yea, not really news of any kind but it sure is nice not having what was turning into a money pit anymore. The new car gadgets don't hurt either.

We are expecting..! This is probably the best and biggest news we have to offer since our decision to relocate back to TN. It weren't no incident... we were trying but it happened very quickly, the 2nd month into trying and whaddya know.. I got to surprise the Mr. on his birthday with the positive test and it's been an interesting ride since! We are due in early June and should hopefully know if it's a little girl or boy in the next 4-6 weeks. Pregnancy is still pretty new to me and sometimes I'm overjoyed and others I am kind of reserved and partially freaking out on the inside.. stay tuned?

This was the first ultrasound so he/she was just a tiny little blip and should be about the size of a lime at this point, maybe a little bigger..

Hello..all?any?

2012-11-29T23:38:00.003-05:00

Hello to everyone.. and anyone at all.. I have decided that maybe my previous post a couple months ago was a little premature in that I would decide to stop blogging and I feel bad that I just quit it like that.. -1 point for me.

Thing is I don't really want to quit, maybe I was just a little burnt out.. or having blogger block? In any regard, I am back.. and hopefully to stay. I will try to be a little more committed, at least to myself?

Hope you forgive my absence.

Peach Freezer Jam

2012-07-25T14:19:00.001-04:00

We have peaches.. lots & lots of peaches. We have peach wine, peach cobbler and now peach freezer jam.. (and peach butter in the works).

Ya know, I would consider myself a moderate foodie.. I know a handful or so of things about food, restaurants, preparations, etc. I've worked in the restaurant world in many positions and I have tried lots of food.. but, there is so much more. One of those much more's is canning, I don't know where to begin or what to do and even though peach freezer jam isn't necessarily canning, it was the first time I've ever cut up food and put it in a jar to keep or send away for others to enjoy.

This is how it went:

Meet Abigail

2012-07-23T20:11:00.002-04:00

The newest member of our family..

We found her on the way home from the creek on Saturday.. despite my efforts, it was first decided we would take her back to the spot we found her with food & water.

We tried that and she followed us back, running as hard as she could.. then, again against my efforts, our other dogs were let out to chase her off, she still came back.. I then stormed outside, demanded my dog back inside and went upstairs and broke into tears. She was/is no less than the two dogs here living cushy lives, she was clearly just abandon and needed some help, I couldn't wrap my head around turning my back on her..

Fast forward, a few minds changed and some understandings made.. she is now our dog! :] I bathed her yesterday, cleaned her skin up, got some flea/tick medicine on her, got her a comfy bed, a collar and a toy! And now.. she has a name, Abigail.

She is the sweetest, most mellow little girl I've ever met.. I hope to provide many, many happy, comfortable years for her ahead..

Kingdom

2012-07-17T22:04:00.002-04:00

We went away for the weekend for our anniversary to the little town we met in.. the little town in GA that I used to live.

It was a lazy, simple, wonderful weekend. We rented a cabin, ate, piddled, tried to fish, swam, laughed = perfect.

See:

fried oreo :D

fried pickles :D

A Fuller Creek

2012-07-13T09:49:00.001-04:00

We went to the creek a couple weeks ago and even though it did have water in it, there was no flowing water and it was a little stale.. since then it has rained hard here and there and currently has rained the last 3 or 4 days all day. We decided to take a drive up to see how it was looking yesterday.

According to TN, it's still not up to the levels it use to be but it was definitely flowing and beautiful. It was raining the whole time there, making walking on some of the slick rock a bit challenging but I actually wore sneakers yesterday as opposed to flip flops.. imagine my smarts! Anyhow, the road there is pretty lovely.. and so is the creek, see for yourself:

As you can see, TN took a couple very beautiful pictures :]

Local

2012-07-08T13:58:00.003-04:00

All around me.. I am in love.

A Really Nice 4th

2012-07-06T13:02:00.001-04:00

This was the first time I have ever really celebrated the Fourth of July outside of FL.. we bought our own fireworks, had a cookout, bought more fireworks, traveled to Kingston Park for professionals on the 4th and tried out a wonderful new restaurant.. all in all, a fantastic 4th!

I snapped a few of both our fireworks and the professional ones.. our dog tried chasing ours at home and we saw some really neat ones at the park, including some that were tossed into the lake and then shot up out of the water ~ very cool.

We tried a (new to us) restaurant in Kingston called Red Bones on the River ~ it's menu is fairly straight forward fare BUT do not pass quick judgement, every bit of their food is delicious. We had fried mushrooms to start, with a wonderfully creamy horseradish sauce (TN opted for bleu cheese, I dug into the horsey sauce). Then we both had a reuben.. it was a large sandwich but not too much or too little of anything, the corned beef was juicy and the russian dressing was delightfully sweet. TN got a loaded potato with his and was literally LOADED with sour cream, cheese, hand shredded bacon & butter. Red Bones is NOT to be missed! I will snap a few pics next time.

After we filled up there, we made our way to the lake and plopped down in the grass for the show.. it was a great night!

The works:

a sparkler at home, shot with slow shutter

firework at home, shot with slow shutter

professional fireworks, shot with slow shutter

Longest

2012-07-03T23:21:00.001-04:00

So.. we've been in TN since the 24th.. and getting here was NO simple or enjoyable task. Lemme whine.. let's rewind back to the 22nd (Friday) - after ending a week at work and getting myself prepped, packed and training someone, I came home and we did a little bit of packing and I hit the sack early, anticipating the long days ahead of me.. conveniently woke up sick on Saturday morning but I could've cared less, TN was on my brain 100%. We spent the day running errand after errand, picking up a few more boxes we need, stopping off at my office to pick up my computer, get the Uhaul trailer and so on.. we started packing way too late in the day for my preference. As the day went on I felt less and less healthy.. the skies also decided to start dumping non-stop steady rain.. which turned out to be a tropical storm that ended up battering a lot of FL (we had no idea there was a tropical storm on it's way..hah)... after many, many...many trips up and down the stairs in the rain, some dropped & broken furniture we were ALMOST done packing BUT had a few problems still to face..we had almost a half room full of things to pack and a packed-to-the-brim Uhaul trailer., it was raining harder and we were exhausted.

We decided to break, shower and went out to one of our favorite restaurants since we'd probably never eat there again.. even though I was enjoying myself and happy to be eating some of the best Italian I've ever had, my mind was fully focused on what was left to do at home, my worry getting the best of me and my cough worsening.

After we got home, we decided to clean up the house and get to bed so we would be energized for the next day.. we got up at 3 on Sunday morning.. this time to POURING, blowing in your face rain.. g-r-e-a-t...explicative x 100. It took us almost 3 hours to finish packing up.. we were once again soaked completely to the bone.. and I was feeling even less hot than the day before. At around 6:30, we finally hit the road.. both our vehicles packed to the roof, a packed and then some trailer.. we finally hit the road.

It was still pouring rain as we were making our way thru Tampa, not starting out as a fun drive and I got considerably soaked again on the one trip to my car. About 40 or so miles down the road, I decided a hot coffee and a pee break was necessary.. this is pretty unusual for me to stop so early in the trip but I was already exhausted and we were already behind so.. whatever right? I pulled in before D and had already made it in and was walking back out when he met me at the door and informed me to get comfortable.. Huh? Welp, our Uhaul trailer tire blew.. literally, shredded.

We hung out with some truckers for the next almost 3 more hours and got soaked to the bone again...

Long story, longer.. we finally made it to TN at midnight on Sunday.. took us 17 hours in total.. should've been about 12. Just short of wrecking, every single thing about our trip here sucked.. and of course we were met with 108 degree temperatures up here.. BUT.. everything is evening out now and things are starting to fall into place and it's been worth it.. it's been a real good time so far.. it'll only get better :]

I'm in love with my new state.. oh and yea, today is me and my honeys' 1 year.. love you, baby :]

New in Town

2012-06-29T15:46:00.001-04:00

Hello all.. well, anyone..

We're finally in TN! Have been since last Sunday night.. I have a horror story to tell on that too!

But for now.. I've been up to..

Grandpa.

2012-06-04T11:23:00.002-04:00

My Grandpa passed away last Thursday.. he was much more than a Grandpa, he was the closest thing I had to a Father.. I sure do miss him.

I will be back around once things get back to normal.

Robert J Randall {Obituary}

Walking the Yard

2012-05-21T16:54:00.002-04:00

A lot of times I jokingly think while I am on lunch at work that I have an hour "in the yard" like they do in prisons.. haha. Don't get me wrong, I can leave and have plenty of times to go grab lunch or even eat lunch out but often times I am busy and have brought lunch so I spend the first 20-30 minutes of lunch inside eating and browsing online or working and then I go outside. The reason I feel like I am walking the yard is because it's fenced in as other buildings/homes back up to the complex and it is all black topped.. sometimes I even find myself pacing along the back wall instead of walking all the way up the back to the street.

So, as to not always walk in circles, I normally take my camera out and capture whatever strikes me.. I am honestly surprised that I find anything to shoot at all seeing as how I have walked back there a million times and nothing has really changed in the last 4 years.. but somehow, I seem to spot something just slightly different each time..

Here are my findings in the yard today: (hah)

Filling In The Blanks.. Random Style

2012-05-18T10:16:00.002-04:00

1. Something that is very near and dear to my heart is Ellijay, GA.. a great many things happened to me there and I will never forget being in that place. I took so many good things away from my experiences there.

2. Friday is good cause to celebrate.

3. The most fun I ever had was anytime I have ever spent in the snow, I adore it.

4. True friends are people who add to your life, not those who complicate it.

5. Something that makes me terribly happy is when Dustin genuinely smiles at me (which is a lot).

6. A good way to spend a sunny day is exploring the outdoors.

7. My favorite celebratory food is anything downright bad.. bring on the fried chicken, melty cheese, brownies, etc.

fill in the blank fridays via the little things we do

Hoping for More Rain

2012-05-16T12:48:00.001-04:00

It stormed today.. it was forecast yesterday.. and I hope it storms more. I hope it pours and rains and thunders and lightnings some more.

I love to do this after it rains:

yea, it's blurry.. but I love it.. natural, beautiful colors.

current sky

the building drying after a waterfall of rain

meant to macro in on the water but my camera had other plans.. i dig it still

definition of fresh right?

I love mostly how it smells after a hard rain.. the whole land has been washed clean.. Mmmmmm!

Weekend and Whining

2012-05-14T12:41:00.002-04:00

This weekend didn't have a lot of content but it sure went by quickly for being so.. bland? If you will..

I've definitely got the waiting blues or insert technical term here.. the only actual reason we are still here in FL is to finish out our job commitments, well, really MY job commitments as I gave a resignation letter months ago with a final date. Don't get me wrong, sticking around has helped up gain some additional funding but we are certainly at the stage where it's clear nothing is holding us back but time itself and it's somewhat frustrating to be just waitin' around.

Although, in my boredom/frustration/allaroundgrouchyness this weekend I did manage to get some packing squared away. I am hoping to do a little bit every few days honestly so we are down to bare essentials and have very little to do the days before/of because I have been in the situation of last minute cramming shit in boxes and it sucks in a huge way. Plus, packing things makes me feel like I am speeding up time a little, like it's all that more real? I don't know. My logic.

We did go see The Avengers this weekend, in IMAX of course ~ great movie, really liked it but REALLY looking forward to Prometheus, we have seen the IMAX preview of it about 3 times now and it's just as exciting every time, it looks awesome quite honestly!

I did spot a bunny this weekend.. they are the rarest of all the critters we see, oddly.

I did make a buffalo chicken mini pizza that was REALLY good..

Not everyone was ready to get out of bed this morning.. myself included but I have less options than she.

I did get this face a lot this weekend.. I deserved it.

Oh, oh.. go see my honey's blog. Driftless

He's such a great writer.. kinda jealous really..

Miracle Skin Transformer

2012-05-10T16:39:00.003-04:00

So, I want to revisit something that I had previously posted on that I have SINCE changed my mind on.

Back when I was getting BirchBox, one of the boxes came with Miracle Skin Transformer and I was pretty excited because my skin can be pretty uncooperative and below was my original opinion of the product:

miracle skin transformer ~ total waste in my opinion. coming from someone with skin issues, i was excited to see this in my box, it didn't cover for shit, my cheap l'oreal covered 3x better.. for 36.00 for a jar or tube of this stuff.. bare minerals would be a much better route.

Since then I have changed my mind in a big way. I was out of my normal products the other day, yes, I procrastinate, so what. Anyhow, I remembered it was the only type of "concealer" I had in the house so I searched around under the sink and found it, I dabbed a little and I mean a little bit, maybe the size of a pea or a little less on a sponge and proceeded to put it on, having zero faith. To my honest shock, it covered my entire face flawlessly and smoothly with just that tiny little bit.

Now, I do think the one big difference here is that since my first encounter I have been using foundation primer. Mine is from Bare Minerals. It preps your skin and fills in all the lines before you ever put your foundation/concealer on and it is extremely lightweight so you don't at all feel like you have a ton of make up on. I will say this is the first time in my adult life that I have come across a true all-covering concealer (with the aid of foundation primer) that not only lasts but doesn't cake or peel whatsoever. I just bought a full size container and I am pretty happy to have given this product another try!

**I did not receive any monetary attributes for my original or additional review, I am simply just personally promoting a good product, IMO.

Snapshots & Pizza

2012-05-08T19:48:00.003-04:00

We are almost half way thru the week folks, it can't get much better than that. We are also only 46 days away from our move! I think we started the countdown back in early February so we have covered quite a bit of ground since and even though it still feels like forever away, I know it will be here before we know it. I need to start cracking on some box packing because I know that FOR SURE will sneak up on us. Ugh to packing.. big ugh.

In other news, I have been really enjoying snapping a few shots with my tiny Canon and really am kind of surprised at how nice it shoots.

took these at lunch yesterday.. never really was one for clouds photography wise but i am really loving it now.. they edit up so beautifully.

made homemade pizza last night.. this is a shot of TN's.. it was alfredo, fresh tomato, feta & provolone. i didn't try it but it sure did smell great! mine was pretty standard with tomato sauce and feta but it didn't deserve a photo.

here's to the work week wrapping up quickly!

Worn Out

2012-05-06T21:34:00.000-04:00

Well, there is something officially wrong with my larger Canon.. changed out the main battery and it's still asking for batteries after several battery changes so it's going to need to be looked at but being that I am not sure what is wrong with it or when I will be able to have someone look at it, I decided to pick up a little point & shoot in the meantime.. got an awesome deal on a little Canon that included a new sd card, case for it and a $20.00 gift card to Target.. I dig it.

Took a few mess around shots tonight of the pup after she pooped out in her chair from tug-a-war.

at first we were nice enough to pose.

and then that mood passed.

and then snoozing sounded like a good idea.

and then.. we just succumbed to sweet, sweet sleep..

(this one came out a little grainy b/c I didn't want to wake her up with the flash and had to brighten it a little)

all in all, very happy with my little (literally) purchase. it's going to be a good fill in and a great back up.

Another Sunday, Another Park.

2012-04-29T16:31:00.002-04:00

Checked out Wall Springs today, it's a really nice little park but due to some intense FL heat and my camera being on the outs for the second day in a row, we walked around long enough to take in the sights, snap a few photos and then be on our way to the closest 7-11 (slurpees, ya know?)

My Canon needs a tune up I think.. it's being acting up.. I think I am going to buy a small point & shoot in the meantime, thinking a used Sony cybershot.. looked some over today and was pretty pleased with the small Sony's.. we will see!

Thank YOU IB4M!

2012-04-25T20:20:00.005-04:00

Got my coffee gift-basket from IB4M today via the beautiful lady behind the Honey Hazel Blog. She was way too kind and included some fantastic things such as a lb of Starbucks coffee, Starbucks VIA for iced coffee, a coffee cup, some yummy chocolates, real cute note cards and the cutest little S&P shaker I've seen.

Thank you, IB4M and especially Thank You to Honey Hazel!

Easy Going Night

2012-04-24T21:37:00.003-04:00

Today was unnecessarily long work wise, just one of those days where it occurs to you that sometimes we would better without SOME technologies.. when a 30 minute process get's dragged out into a 2 hour process and an hour long process gets dragged out into a 2 day process, I curse technology. Now, some of this incurred annoyance was part my own fault but if things weren't so impossible to correct it could've been dealt with quite immediately.. oh well?

My drive home was a quick one even though I took off later than normal which was a nice surprise and an even nicer surprise was that TN finished up the laundry and did all the dishes.. then he ordered pizza for us for dinner.. what a nice, relaxing night it's been. Thank you, honey :]

we are actually trying to watch what we eat/exercise so I ordered a plain, thin crust.. it hit the spot.

TN's pizza looked phenomenal..well, tasted too.. it's an all ends deep dish.. yum yum.

snuck in a bath for puppy girl with my free time tonight.. she's always tuckered out after a bath.