Got Grass?

Cause we do!

 

You can see where I moved my garden. I leveled off a spot where they stopped the sod, so now I don't have to worry about my garden killing our grass. :)

Also, Caitlin discovered our camera while she was visiting. She left us with this lovely gem. Thought you might enjoy.

1096

That's how many days we have been married- including one day for the leap year! It seems so crazy to us that it has been 3 years. Wasn't it just yesterday? 

Although we have had many great days since then, we both think that was the best, most perfect day ever! We are celebrating tonight with steak and a late trip to pick up Caitlin from the airport!

And now for our year 3 recap!
- I started grad school.
- Trips to: Nag's Head, Boston, Charleston, Lynchburg,VA, Lake Hartwell, SC, Athena, GA, Jefferson, Mississippi, and Kentucky
- Continued decorating our house (I have a feeling this will always be in our recap ;))
- Hung ceiling fans ourselves (without a ladder!)
- Became obsessed with Supernatural and watched all 6 seasons on DVD in about 1.5 months
- My big brother got married
- David graduated from State
- Decorated our house for Christmas- including a real tree!
- Got a new (to us) car (LOVE MY PRIUS!)
- Pinterest was thrown into our lives, which as resulted in us trying new recipes

Clark and Amy

Autumn Mountain Trip

Boston

Nag's Head

Blue Ridge Parkway in VA

Christmas

We have been incredibly blessed this past year... here's what we're looking forward to for year 4!
- Marion coming to live with us for the summer
- Caitlin's visit (she lands tonight!)
- SWITZERLAND!!!!!!!!!!
- Getting grass in the backyard
- Graduating with my Master's (= raise!)
- Caitlin graduating
- Marion graduating

3/5ths!

3 semesters down. 2 to go! I am now completely done with the semester! I passed both my classes (which is surprising, I know). I have until August 16th off from grad school. I will have 2 online classes in the fall. I will then have 2 on campus classes in the spring and be done! Just another year.

We bought our train pass for Switzerland today! Can't believe it is next month! We bought an adapter so we can charge our ipad and camera battery. I also bought a travel hair straightener! It's so tiny! It might take me a while to have straight hair, but at least this one won't take up much room. And it can handle the voltage in Europe, so whenever we go back, I can take it then, too. Our itinerary is pretty much set (though flexible so if it rains we can change.) I still need to setup our paragliding, but other than that, not much left to do but pack.

Caitlin is coming to visit this week. We're hoping to make a day trip to the beach Saturday. I hope the weather holds up!

We are going to Tybee Island for Memorial Day with J's family. Marion is coming back with us to start her internship. I have her room all cleaned out (since Caitlin will be using it this week!) We just need to put some things in the attic. I am hoping to find some dining room chairs so she can help me paint them this summer. So far no such luck.

We supposed to be getting sod this week! Project Get Some Grass might get checked off the list this week... assuming it doesn't rain too much.

21 workdays until summer... it's getting so close I can taste it!!!!!

Down Time...

... what's that? Since I haven't had class this week and my final is open book/note online, I haven't had much to do lately.  I finished my last assignments early, so now I don't know what to do with myself.  I have been reading a lot and have even managed to keep the house looking decent- and the laundry clean! And to think this is what it was like before I started grad school...

I have the summer off (after a final Monday night) from classes. In the fall, both of my courses will be online. Woot! That will save time and money! Speaking of saving money... since buying my Prius, we have saved at least $50 last month on gas. How awesome is that?!

I have been working on nailing down more items on our Switzerland to-do list. I have mapped out some hikes we want to do and sights we want to see, coordinating train rides, and looking to see what we need to buy to get ready. IT IS NEXT MONTH! We are so pumped! Cheese, Cows, and Chocolate... here we come!

Marion got an internship in Holly Springs (the town just north of here), so she will be living with us this summer! I am excited that I will have someone to hang out with (when she's not working.) Hopefully, she will gain some good experience. We are secretly hoping they will love her so much, they will want to hire her when she graduates. :) It would be nice to have some family around.

I am hoping between having extra time with no classes and having a crafty person live with us, *cough* Marion *cough* I can get some things crossed off our house to-do list. We have hired someone to till and sod our backyard... no date as to when that will happen though. But I have some crafty things to do.

-Dining room chairs. Our plan is to get some older wooden chairs and paint and distress them. We plan on going for a mix and match look, so not all the chairs will be the same
-Curtains.. oh man we need some curtains! Living room, Dining Room, Kitchen, and Office!
-Find Fabric... yeah, I guess this will come before making the curtains, huh?
-Work on our hall gallery. We purchased a print in Charleston and have a couple of other things to add to it... I just need to get some frames.
-PLENTY of ideas from Pinterest.

Yeah, I have been putting most of those off. Maybe someone who knows what they are doing can motivate me to get 'er done!

I planted tomatoes and peppers in my pots. I am hoping this year will finally be the year that I get some great produce! Since it's already 91 outside, I will have to be diligently watering them! Speaking of, guess I better go do that now.

Birthday and Charleston

I had a great birthday! J planned a nice Saturday for us and kept me in the dark. We went to a restaurant in downtown Raleigh. It is called Bu Ku and serves global street food. I was a little leery at first, but I had the Korean BBQ and it was AMAZING! We then walked down to the history museum.  We finished up by renting a Redbox and eat cupcakes.

I have enjoyed not working this week. Spring Break treated me well!
Monday, I went to the park with my friends from church (and all their kids.) I helped wrangle the kids, we had a picnic, and rode the train. It was fun. Tuesday, I had a massage and girls' night. I also went to Red Robin with a couple of friends to get my free burger and sundae! Wednesday, I did nothing. I stayed in my PJs all day. That was a great day! Thursday, I went to the library to pick up a few books (and I read an entire one but the time J got home.) When J got home, we headed to Charleston. We got there around 10:15.

I forgot the camera, so I had to use my phone to take pictures. You can see a few here, here, and here. The weather was pretty good, the seafood was amazing, and hanging out with Richard was fun. He toured us around and showed us the sights. Charleston is like a nicer New Orleans. We really liked it- mainly all the live oak trees around!

I have 2 Mondays of classes, then a final and I will be done with this semester! It is quickly coming to an end. Hallelujah! 

On deck-
Caitlin is coming to see us in about a month.
Trip to Tybee Island with J's family for Memorial Day
End of the school year/start of summer
SWITZERLAND in just over 2 months.

New (to me) car!

It has been an exciting couple of weeks. Mainly because I got a new (to me) car. My car was on its last leg and there was no way it would pass inspection. We didn't feel like putting $$$ into it since it was 13ish years old and had 200k+ miles on it. We had been looking at the Mazda CX-5. It's beautiful. It was also more than we had planned to spend. :( We remembered Papa Ed had a Prius, so we made a quick call and bought ourselves a car. Last Saturday, we drove (well, J slept and read- I drove) to Pigeon Forge to meet Kate Kate and Papa Ed to trade cars. It was so nice to see them since we don't get to often! The Prius is much nicer than I thought and I am LOVING it! The 48 mpg sure doesn't hurt either. We spent the night in Asheville and went to see The Hunger Games. And on the way home, we had to stop at Steak N Shake.

They paved the road through our neighborhood this week. We had suspected this was the case since the city had been working around manholes. It's nice to have a smooth surface throughout the entire neighborhood instead of the more finished parts.

I made another crockpot cheesecake this week. Delish! I am not sure why I deemed that blog worthy, but it is.

I have 4 more weeks of class and a final between now and summer! 2 of those weeks I will only have 1 class instead of 2. Going to be so nice! My classes in the fall are online. And I finally got a student ID today. Apparently, if you are only enrolled in distance classes, you can request one online and they will mail it to you. Since my classes this semester are labeled distance, I got mine. Bring on the discounts! (Not that I haven't been using my USM ID. What? I'm still a student...)


Tomorrow, J is jumping into a new golf season. I have already bought him 2 Groupons, so the season is about to be in full swing.

Caitlin decided to come see us in May. She'll be here for 5 days. Super excited! I am hoping we can make a beach trip. Last year we couldn't go because of the wildfires. Too bad I have to work for a couple of the days she will be here. :( She has a friend that lives a couple of hours away, so I think her friend is going to come down one day to see her. win-win.

Next week is a sort of short week for me. Wednesday I am going to a workshop, and Friday is early release. Then SPRING BREAK! I plan on getting my garden ready and being lazy! Thursday (12th) we are leaving for Charleston. Woot Woot!

90ish days!

That's how long we have until we take off for the Alps!

The plan: Fly to Zurich. Train to Wengen. Enjoy lots of this:

Followed by a couple of days of this:

Then it will be back to the real world for J (after a short time to kick the jetlag!) We're super excited!

Plans are made...

I enjoyed not having class last week. It was so nice to have my Monday night back. This past Monday was a little abbreviated because we had our mid-term. I was home by 8:00!

J's mom and sister came for a visit. We enjoyed getting to see them! I wish I could have spent more time with them. J took Monday off, then worked from home today. We did do some shopping and even discovered the car that I have been wanting is at dealerships! Now that the reality of paying for a new car is here, we are now wondering if we want to pay that much for a car. They are expensive! We also mulched our flower beds, and now our front yard looks so much better! J also took his car to get an oil change and an inspection. He came home with new tires and new brake pads. It's been an expensive month! (J hired a lawyer to his speeding ticket so he doesn't have to take off work.)

We are also entertaining the idea of sodding our backyard. We have started getting quotes. Man, being a homeowner is expensive! Well, when you care about how your house/yard looks anyway.


We have also decided to take a big vaca this year. We are still working on the details, but it caused us to rethink our priorities. We decided we would rather take a big vaca than go on a trip during Spring Break. We cancelled our hotel in Savannah, but are still planning to go to Charleston. This will give J more PTO so we can use it for other things. :)

It has been almost hot here... 80s this week! I hope that doesn't mean we'll be in the 100s this summer!

Pinterest....

I have limited the amount of time I allow myself on Pinterest. However, I found a couple of recipes I just had to try. With company coming, I thought it was the perfect time since if I didn't like it, there would be less leftovers. :)

First up, zucchini cakes.I didn't take too many pictures, but here they are cooking:

They were pretty good. I am not sure if I would make them again since it was time consuming though.

Next up was my favorite!! Crockpot Cheesecake

It was SO good! We were surprised at how well it turned out. I can safely say that there will be more crockpot cheesecake in our future. The only thing I did differently from the recipe was that I added a dash of vanilla.

So, thank you, Pinterest!!!

In like a Lamb...

I think it was a lamb here. I guess March will be going out like a lion!

We have had an eventful few weeks. J got a speeding ticket on the way to the gym last week. I had him take the long way so we could stop by the library. As we got into downtown, he got pulled over (we were going downhill... a little too quickly.) We are hoping we can get the ticket lessened so our insurance won't go up. We will find out March 23, since that is his court date.

I have been busy with school and work. Next week is NC State's Spring Break, so I won't have class! yay! I have a mid-term coming up. I can't believe this semester is almost halfway over.

At J's work, they reorganized many of the departments. The new person in charge of his department did away with work from home. Just when he was about to qualify!!! We are not holding out much hope he changes his mind. :( J also had his annual review at work, and he said it went well. Unfortunately, this doesn't mean a raise since no one is getting them. Oh well, thankful for employment regardless!

I have been enjoying going to BodyCombat at the gym. It is a workout!!!

I have been finding some interesting recipes on Pintrest. I am hoping to be able to try some out soon... I just need to get an apple corer.

We have also decided on a Spring Break trip: 3 days in Savannah and 3 days in Charleston. I am just in the beginning stages of planning, but I am so excited. Once we get back, I am sure I will be itching to plan another trip. Hopefully we can go somewhere this summer!

We filed our taxes last weekend and should be getting a refund. Super excited about that. We are planning to put it toward sodding the backyard. It is on the to-do soon list!

That's all at Casa de Morrow. We will be having visitors in the next week and a half, so I will be busy cleaning, working, and my favorite- grocery shopping!! :)

Cajun Shrimp Casserole

We tried a new recipe tonight. It turned out really good. I just wish we had doubled it!

1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
5 oz cream of mushroom soup
¼ cup chicken broth
1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (I used more)
1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice
1/8 cup grated Parmesan cheese

 

1) Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and next 3 ingredients; sauté 7 minutes or until tender. Add garlic and lemon juice; and sauté 1 minute. Add shrimp, and cook 3 minutes or until shrimp turn pink. Stir in soup and next 4 ingredients until blended. Pour into a lightly greased 11- x 7-inch baking dish. Sprinkle evenly with Parmesan cheese.
2) Bake at 350° for 15 to 20 minutes or until casserole is bubbly and cheese is lightly browned. 

Yummy!

Pull up a seat....

except you can't...

We ordered a dining room table! We got it from a new website I just discovered, Joss and Main. It was a great deal! Now, we just need chairs. For now if there's 5 or more, we'll just have to stand around eating.

That also means we had to move our small dining room table somewhere. So, into the nook area of the kitchen it went. The overhead light isn't centered (which we can add to the to-do list), but we can sit at a table and watch tv now. I think the table might get more use now!

Another Day, Another Dollar

We finally got blinds up in the living and dining rooms. Maybe one day I will post a picture! We also ordered a dining room table this week! It should arrive on Monday. Hope we like it!

J has Monday off, but I have a workday. It usually seems to happen this way. We both have Memorial day off though!

Nothing too exciting here, besides getting blinds up and buying a dining room table. It was a stressful week for both of us, so we are glad it is the weekend. We are going to hit the gym, wash our cars, and go to the young married's valentine's party. Should be a good time!

Instead of going out on Valentine's, we went out Wednesday to the Smokehouse in downtown Varina (I had a coupon :)). We both tried BBQ, and while it wasn't MS good, it sure was better than Eastern NC BBQ! We also has friend pickles, which are always good!

Is it June yet?

Happy Anniversary, NC!

We can hardly believe we have lived in North Carolina for two years. Time flies. That also means I have been teaching for two years. Some days, I can't believe it. Other days, I don't know that I can do it for 23+ more years. Ah, the joys of teaching!

J has almost been at his current job for a year. Once he has been there for a year, he gets to work from home one day a week! No fighting traffic or having to put on real clothes. Not to mention it will save us some gas money! It will be nice to see him when I come home from work for a change.

We haven't been doing much lately. Work, school, and church mainly. And we have been continuing our Supernatural Marathon. We should finish season 4 tonight. I am still not sure why we like it so much, but we do! We DVR'd all our shows this week so we could watch Supernatural.

We watched the Superbowl at home. We didn't care much about the game; we just wanted to see the commercials. We thought they were mostly disappointing.

My classes are going well. Mondays are just extremely long for me, but I am glad to have class out of the way for the week! I am counting down the days until May 8 when I will no longer have class and work. 1 whole month of just work before 2 months of nothing!

We're still undecided about where to go for Spring Break. I am hoping to decide soon! I have a travel bug, so I need to plan a trip stat!

I checked out four James Patterson books yesterday. I finished one, so I am off to start another!

Since then...

Since we got back from Boston, we are getting settled into a new routine. I have class on Monday nights. It is nice that I only have class one day a week, but that also means all my assignments are due on the same day. I am trying to do a little everyday so it's not overwhelming. I am really liking my classes though. Makes me want to be a professional student!

A new semester has also started for work, so I have to get used to a new schedule! It will probably take me a couple of weeks, but over all I think I will like it better.

Our friends from church had their baby on Wednesday. She is so pretty. That means we'll be one family down on our Sunday night meals, but it's all for a good cause. (And no, it doesn't make us want one- just the opposite I think!)

We enjoyed watching State beat Vandy at our friends' house. Their little girl is obsessed with J. When we went to their house around Christmas, she gave J some candy. He figured she would want it later and just left it there. Well apparently, she really wanted him to have it and had been asking where J was for 2 weeks (while we gone to Boston.) She declared he must be on a date! Too cute. J did eat the candy during the basketball game. And she did manage to give me a candy cane, although I was instructed that J had to sit beside her during supper. "You can't sit there! That's John's seat," were her exact words.

Last weekend we rented Moneyball and the Ides of March. I really liked both, but J wasn't a fan of Ides. Gotta love RedBox!

We have also implemented a cleaning schedule. Since between work and school I sometimes neglect the house, we came up with a few things we do each day. While our house is never Mamaw or Kate Kate clean, it is much improved day-to-day. And I admit this is weird, but I love steam mopping. I simply cannot believe how much filth is on the floor!

We also tried a new recipe this week. I found it in Coupon Kitchen. J's friend at work introduced him to it. I have found that it is a great resource! Healthy meals on a budget! We have tried 2 or 3 meals from there and liked them all. And it helps us introduce something new into our standard routine of meals.

J borrowed season 1 of Supernatural from a friend at work, so we are planning to watch that this weekend (along with a basketball game, of course.) Glad it is warm outside. Today it reached 71! Love it! Too bad we still have 2 months of winter to go; who knows if we can keep the mild temperature trend.

Boston Tres

Sunday- was FREEZING! We wanted to make sure we stayed inside as much as possible. The wind chill was -11!

We headed to a coffee shop J and I found Saturday. We had a quick breakfast before heading to Cambridge.

Hot chocolate and Cinnamon Honey Latte at The Thinking Cup

We hopped on the T to Harvard Square. If I hadn't known I was on Harvard's campus, there is no way I would have discovered it really. It is kind of like Duke and Rhodes with its buildings.

Searching for a T, we stopped here!

We then stopped by MIT for Bubba to get a shirt, only to find all the bookstores closed. We then went to Trinity Church for a [free] tour. It was beautiful inside and out! It was very ornate. Everything is hand painted.

Then it was time for the library tour, which is just across the courtyard. I searched on the website and found the free tour and was so excited! See where this is going? No mention that the library would be closed on Sunday for MLKJ day. We were so disappointed! But this meant we could eat a real lunch. We had California Pizza Kitchen, then headed to Boston College. It was a LONG ride, but it was cool to see another campus. And Clark wanted a shirt or hoodie since MIT didn't pan out. Then it was back to the hotel to relax before heading out for supper.

After a detour, we finally got to Jerry Remy's at 6:55 for our 7:00 reservation. (Good thing we had one, too. It was packed! Bostonians love the Giants apparently.) The hostess tells us that our reservation isn't until 7:00 so we can come back then. Um.. we were 5 minutes early. We just stood and waited... and watched the game. There were tvs everywhere! Amy said there were even some in the bathroom. The fans were really loud, and it was hard to hear ourselves think! I guess we can say we have experienced a sports bar atmosphere now. Don't think I want to again though! After supper, we called it a night.

Monday, J and I headed out to Beacon Hill. We ate breakfast at The Paramount. Delicious!

Banana Caramel French Toast. Literally melted in my mouth.

We wandered around Beacon Hill and the Public Garden. We even met C&A there.

Acorn Street

Cheers

J Ice Skating on the pond. It completely froze while we were there!

And then we were off to Baltimore then to Raleigh!

Boston Part II

We met up with C&A at Quincy Market. J and I shared swordfish kabobs, Clark had a Greek something, and Amy had some amazing mac n cheese. There were 2098765789 options. Only slightly exaggerating.

 After a quick lunch, we continued following the red brick path. It took us to Paul Revere's House. Built in the 1600s and still standing! Crazy!

We took a quick detour to Mike's Pastry. Seriously Awesome Cannolis. Didn't know how good they could be. No surprise, mine was peanut butter; J's was chocolate dipped. (I'll let C&A tell you what they had, but I do remember!)

Enjoying cannolis!

Copp's Hill Burying Ground

Then onto the USS Constitution...

And then Bunker Hill...

For some reason, we decided to climb all 294 steps to the top. J and I had been walking since 9:15 that morning. It was 3:30 or 4 when we got to Bunker Hill. I thought I was going to have a heart attack on the way up. So. Out. Of. Shape. I just hoped I would pass out so someone would carry me down. :)

View from top of Bunker Hill Monument

We took the T back the the Boston Common and walked through the Public Garden.

After a little rest, we headed to Legal Seafoods. I had some awesome Mahi Mahi. J had shrimp, scallops, Blueflish, Tuna, and Mahi Mahi. So. Full. We decided it was too cold to go anywhere else, so we called it a night. We watched the Patriots games from our hotel room... well J watched. I slept.

Boston Part I

We had a great (although COLD) time in Boston.

We met Clark and Amy in Philadelphia and we flew into Boston together. We managed to figure out our way around on the T and male it to our hotel. Somehow, J and I got upgraded to a bigger room, but C and A didn't. :( Turns out they were the lucky ones. We had psychotic neighbors that woke us up every morning at 1:30 and yelled profanities at each other. Joy! The last night, the hotel manager stepped in.

Anyway, after a quick change of clothes we were off to Cafeteria Boston thanks to a Groupon! We got there early, but they seated us right away. We shared spinach artichoke dip and calamari. I had a messy, but good burger. J had hanger steak. We topped the meal off with apple pie. So glad we had the Groupon because it wasn't worth how much they would have charged. We walked around a little before deciding it was too cold and going back to the hotel. Thankfully, our hotel was 1 block from the T station.

Saturday morning, J and I headed out for the Freedom Trail. We stopped for breakfast at the Thinking Cup. We had pastries and hot chocolate. So yummy! We started at the Boston Commons and started to follow the red brick path!

Paul Revere's grave marker

Marking First Public School

Old State House

Boston Massacre Site

After getting through over half of the sites, we met C and A for lunch and Quincy Market and we went together to finish the trail....

Starting Off the New Year!

We started the year off asleep.. well, I did. J managed to stay up until midnight.

This weekend we had a movie marathon. We watched The Help, The Change-Up, and Super 8. The Change-Up was pretty horrible, but we enjoyed the other two! We also started the hunt for dining room furniture. Not sure how much closer we are, but we don't really have a time frame for getting one.

We went to a friend's to watch the boring national championship last night. I have class on Mondays from 4:10-9:55, but I got out at 5! I know that won't happen again. We had a good time, even if the game wasn't that fun to watch.

Boston this weekend! Looks like it will be cold- low 30s and upper 20s for the highs. We're not too worried since we did fine in NYC last year. We are getting excited about it!!!

Not much else going on here... Hopefully I can post about Boston soon after we get back!

Last Post O' the Year!

Crazy to think that Sunday starts 2012!!! Where has the time gone?!

I have a few ideas..
-buying our first house!
-moving (again!)
-decorating/painting said house (4 days after move-in, guest bathroom, guest room, dining room, entry and office, living room, bedroom, and bathroom, laundry)
-starting grad school
-trips to NYC, the beach, the mountains, Virginia, Texas, Kentucky (x2), Mississippi (x2), Georgia, South Carolina


What's happening in 2012?
-Boston with Clark and Amy
-Hopefully a trip to Charleston or Savannah
-Trips to the mountains and the beach
-David graduates from State in May
-Caitlin graduates from WKU in December
-Hopefully getting the house more settled- we need a dining room table!