A House Tour

I realize that we bought this house almost 2 years ago, and I never did a tour here on the blog. I was originally going to do it all in pictures, but how about a video instead? If you came to my house for the first time and wanted to see it, this is the tour I would give. Enjoy!


I'll leave you with a chalk drawing I did of the house yesterday.

How did I do?

For more posts about our house check out this House Updates one (you can see the former kitchen light fixtures and how the dining room used to look in that one) and the rest of them here.

7QT: Family time, Singing Nuns, Snow Monsters

--- 1 ---

My entire family was here last week for Thanksgiving. They drove up in one van on the 12-hour trek from Georgia. That means my husband had to step over every single one of his in-laws for 6 days straight. He handled it quite gracefully. Also, with my niece Emma here, it meant we had two potty-training toddlers under one roof. Emma's almost 3 and we were hoping having her see Cora on the potty would help, but I don't think it did.

--- 2 ---

So yeah, we're still sorta potty-training Cora. As a cloth-diapering mom, it is sooooo nice that my kid usually poops on the potty! She doesn't really communicate when she needs to go, though, so we're definitely not there yet. I just put her on both before and after her nap, and that's usually when she poops. I've only cleaned TWO poopy diapers in the past month, and B has cleaned one! My goal is to go a bit more full-force around when she turns 2.

--- 3 ---

Family pics!
While my family was here, I forced them to take pictures for my 2014 calendar! And my wall, of course.

Cora and her 2 cousins

All 9 of us (and 2 more in my sister's tummy!)

Also, I would like to note that Cora and her cousin Emma were wearing the same shirt in different colors, and it was completely unplanned. (It's hard to see in these pics, but the shirts have sparkles across the chest.) My sister and I didn't even know they owned the same shirt until they both were wearing them that day.

--- 4 ---

Okay, who watched The Sound of Music Live! on NBC last night?

:: raises hand ::

It wasn't terrible, but Carrie Underwood is obviously not an actress. It was weird without any audience, but still being a stage version. The truth is I have a lot of respect for Carrie because I, too, am a singer and not an actor. I really do want to be cast in a stage production of . . . something one of these days. Any pointers are welcome. Also, let it be known that I suck at auditions.

--- 5 ---

The closest I've gotten to being in a play or musical was back in high school. My school chorus would put on a musical revue every year--just singing and dancing various songs within a theme, no acting. But at least we got costumes. So here I am as a nun. (This was on VHS, and I just filmed it off the TV. Low tech.)

I'm on the left, and yes, I KNOW I'm off-key. I probably even knew that as I was singing it back in 2002.


But yeah, it's pretty obvious I don't know anything about acting.Why am I looking down? Or is that just my eyebrows playing tricks?

--- 6 ---

Oh hey, have you checked out my giveaway yet? It's buried in a post about how to actually win giveaways, because that's how I roll. Just like this is buried in Take #6 between a ridiculous video and a cute picture.

--- 7 ---

My mother-in-law got Cora a new jacket that makes her look like a yeti.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

thursday five

You must have five things that have been...

Fun

Amazing

Relaxing

Fabulous

Interesting

1. In case you haven't noticed yet, I have a fun new blog template!  I'm still trying to work out all the bugs (um, why aren't my pages aren't coming in full?  and how do I get rid of the abbreviated posts with the Read More link??  Sorry about that!)  But isn't it cute?  Just wish that was a cat  drawing instead of a dog.  Well, it was free, so I'll take it!  If you have any advanced blogging advice, please share as I spent all of last night digging around the internet for answers.

2. The Blue Angels are consistently amazing.  This week has been the Centennial of Naval Aviation celebration here, and I went to watch them do an airshow over the water yesterday.  Even though I hear them over our house every week, it never gets old!  Also amazing is the package I got for winning Britt Dill's giveaway!  It was a lot of cool wooden Americana signs that will hang proudly in our apartment.  Thank you Britt!

3. Ever since my crazy 5k/concert weekend, I've been relaxing. I haven't worked out since Saturday, and I need to get on that!

4. I think this new-ish YouTuber is hilarious and fabulous!  Her name is Hannah, and I wanna be her friend.  Here is My Drunk Kitchen (profanity warning!!):




5. B's birthday is this weekend and he wants to go kayaking.  I'm excited because it's on my 101 List, but it will be my first time in a boat since the sailing incident.  I'm thinking this might get interesting in a bad way again.  But hopefully I won't freak out!

 

rock paper scissors lizard spock

In case you haven't figured it out yet, I'm a huge dork. Or maybe I'm a nerd?

Either way, my tendencies led me to a little show on CBS called The Big Bang Theory.  I love this show!  I only started watching it regularly about a year ago when B was deployed.  I have since borrowed both the first and second seasons from the Pensacola public library, and B and I watched them straight through together.  Now I love it even more.

Dr. Sheldon Cooper (played by Jim Parsons) is my favorite character, and sometimes I sit there and equate everything he does to Asperger's.  It's never been said in the show--they just call him an "anal nutbag"--but someone brought it up to me once as a possibility and now I can't stop thinking about it when I watch.  I also love most of the female characters.  It started out with just wannabe-actress Penny, but now they've brought on some other strong females that really give the boys their match.  Did you know that the girl who played Blossom is on this show?  Yep, Mayim Bialik, who in real life actually does have a PhD in Neuroscience, has been playing Sheldon's 'match' since the end of last season.

What's a rambling post about a great television show without clips?  First of all, the title of my post was inspired by this game:




And if you ever meet another fan of the show, they'll probably mention the wonderful lullaby "Soft Kitty":

Yep, definitely singing any future babies of mine to sleep with that one.

Also, the theme song was done by Barenaked Ladies (remember them?).  I think it's delightfully catchy, and every time I hear it I sing along . . . but only to one line:  "We built the pyramids."  That's probably one of my weirder quirks.  Yep, such a nerd.

If you've never seen it and want to give it a try, a new episode is on tonight at 8/7c on CBS.  Or you can watch it online tomorrow at the CBS website, like I have to do because it conflicts with choir rehearsal.


Anyone else out there love this show? 

why today is special

December 13th is a great day!

1. My cousin's birthday - she'll be 28, which kicks off the deluge of birthdays for the same age in my family (my sister, another cousin, and my husband will all be 28 between now and mid-May)
2. My nephew's birthday. I can't believe he's 7.  He's the cutest kid ever. (I'm pretty sure all proud aunties say this?)

Here's him singing with the church choir on Christmas Eve 3 years ago (he had just turned 4). He's got brown hair and in the middle. Watch it 'til the end, and you'll KNOW which one he is, I promise.




Sorry, my sis had to put the camera down and go get him off the altar steps because he started crying. Next year, they did pretty much the exact same set but all the kids were on the floor instead of up on the steps.  And they have him to thank.

3. Two years ago, I said YES!
Here's the story from our old wedding website:

B had been back from his 7-month deployment for less than a month, but we wanted to take a trip to celebrate and just spend some time together.  We decided to go to Charlottesville, VA, to hit up some wineries and see the land of Thomas Jefferson ("TJ" as the locals call him).  After a fun day touring the University of Virginia, we had reservations at the Clifton Inn for dinner.

When we got there and B said his name, the host said, "Ah yes, I know that one. Table 5."  I should've been suspicious then, but I just pinned it down to his very memorable last name.  Then they put me right by the fire in front of this big window where I could see out into the winterscape of trees (even though it was dark, it was still very pretty).  We sort of had a competition going to see who could order the better course. But it was all too good; it was the fanciest and best dinner either of us had ever eaten out. As B put it later, "that place doesn't know how to make bad food."

After dessert (I won that one, at least for me), the staff brought our check and a little after-dinner chocolate/toffee treat.  B then told me not to "dive into that" yet, and that he had something for me. He then stood up (I swear he said "okay here goes" but it might be my imagination), then he said, "Catherine James, I love you very much and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.  Will you marry me?"  And then I saw that he was down on one knee and had a ring. I said yes, of course.

We talked for a bit after that, and then the staff/busboy came to get our check, which we had completely forgotten about. Our waiter came back out with champagne for the two of us and we drank, and I tried to eat the chocolate-toffee thing, but I couldn't get it down. So I'm really glad B waited until after dessert because he totally would've spoiled the food. I also busted him on forgetting my middle name--he said it was going through his head the whole time, it just didn't come out of his mouth. 

He bought it on Black Friday and kept it a secret for over 2 weeks!

Reflecting on this now is interesting.  I think a lot of us ladies had it in our heads how we wanted a man to propose to us one day.  I was never one of those 'planned my whole wedding before I met the guy' types, but after I met B and we got serious, I did give some thought to a proposal.  I had kinda wanted it to be outdoors, in private.  (Actually, my dream proposal was to take a hot-air balloon ride followed by a picnic where he would pop the question.)  And I always thought he would ask one of my friends for ring-shopping advice.  But he did none of those things, and y'know what?  It was awesome.  I love my engagement ring, and I loved his proposal, even those neither of them are what I "had in mind".  I may have planned the wedding, but the proposal was entirely his.

There is one thing that did happen that weekend that still makes me laugh.  A work buddy of mine knew we were heading to Charlottesville for the weekend, and she had already asked me if I thought he'd propose.  I really didn't think he was gonna do it until the spring.  But as we were driving up there on Friday, my work friend texted me saying something like "Have fun in C-ville; I'll be waiting for the special text!"  B and I don't keep things from each other, but there was no way I was gonna let him see that.  And I also knew they'd never met each other (they never did after the fact either).  So anyway, B proposed Saturday night, and on Sunday morning when I started making the phone calls, I sent her a text that simply said "special text :)"  Two years later, I still have it saved in my phone.  (Okay, yeah, I need a new phone.  T9 isn't awesome anymore?)

my first air show!

Check another one off the list:

✔ 79. Go to an Air Show

I'll admit, I had a few opportunities to go to air shows in Virginia, but I never did.  I hated hearing the jets there near Oceana.  They were SO LOUD.  And they would pass over at all hours of the day and night, luckily only in the eastern half of Virginia Beach--interrupting my beach time but luckily not my sleep.  I didn't grow up in a military household or anywhere near a base, and I also didn't marry a pilot.  All that being said, I didn't know the difference between a F-16 and a B-52 (still don't, by the way).  Nor did I really care (also still kinda don't).

We now have the good fortune to be living in "the cradle of Naval Aviation" and "the home of the Blue Angels."  Which means that I see these special planes (jets?) flying over a few times a week and occasionally see a loop-de-loop over my head while driving to the gym.  The locals here love "the Blues," as they call them.  On any given week during air show season, you can go to the museum on base and watch a practice and get some autographs from the pilots afterward.  Really, that's all these pilots do, since the full name of the command is the Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron.  It's a "multi-million dollar recruiting tool," according to B.

Every year, the Blue Angels end their air show season with a grand finale Homecoming Air Show here in Pensacola before they pack it up to train their newbies in California during the winter.  This is THE EVENT around here.  Jax has GA/FL weekend, Norfolk has HarborFest, Pensacola has the Homecoming Show.  Three days worth of it, too!  Even the base gym was closed for it, so I'm guessing it was a big deal.

I decided that the Saturday show would be best for us to attend, but we did get to watch the Blues all three days anyway.  The first day of the show was Thursday, when we trucked over to Fort Pickens (free admission for Veterans Day!) on Pensacola Beach.  It was neat watching them from afar while exploring the old fort.

The second day of the show, it was so loud over our apartment that we just had to go outside and watch it.  Here's a video B took near the mailboxes while I comment on the mail we received.




And then on Saturday, we went to the main event!  There were so many acts, and most of them weren't loud at all!  That very much surprised me, considering they were selling earplugs.  I took a gabillion pictures, and B had his handy flip-cam out for videos of most of them. 

For brevity's sake, I give you my 3 favorite pictures and my favorite video.

Paratrooper with American flag being circled by a plane

Otto the Helicopter!  I definitely think all helos should have faces.

The Blue Angels!!  In the diamond formation with 2 of them upside down

And now for a video:




To see more videos, check out all the ones on B's youtube site.

Also, I just want to mention that the Commanding Officer of the Blue Angels from this year (guy in the #1 plane at the front of the diamond, a Captain in the Navy) is now working at B's command (Deputy Director/B's boss's boss[?]).  While watching him fly, all I could think is how BORED he's gonna be now at a paper-pushing office after doing this crazy air show stuff all the time!