Growth

I have great news... check it out!! Three of our four herbs are sprouting!! One is strugglin'...
Don't ask me what this stuff is... I wasn't wise enough to label it... so, I don't know. Guess I'll be able to tell soon enough, though!

Your Taste Buds Will Love this Salad

(iPhone photos don't do food justice)

This week, I was feeling like we needed to eat some salad! Too much pasta and bread, you know? That stuff weighs you down if you eat too much! So, I threw together a salad and I have to say I was impressed with myself freestyling with no recipe!

The salad had:

Romaine lettuce

Baby Spinach

Cucumber

Onion

Chicken (just cooked in a skillet with some olive oil, S&P)

Feta Cheese

Roasted Red Peppers (cooked in the oven doused in olive oil, herbs *I use Wegman's Basting Oil because it's already ready to go*)

Feta Cheese

Pecans (I did mix these with a little butter and brown sugar and chopped 'em up...)

Crasins

I tossed all that together just with the oil from cooking and some Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing and viola!

YUMMY!! We are definitely re-doing this one again, hopefully soon! Note: We had leftovers in the fridge the next day and the taste was even better!

Grocery Store Cheater

I have been a FAITHFUL Wegmans girl since moving out here to Fairfax. Before, I was semi-faithful at Harris Teeter when I lived in Arlington (they're just so expensive!) But.... HT sent me some $10 off coupons for a $50 grocery purchase... so I am game for cheating for the couple of weeks that these coupons run. The key to shopping at Harris Teeter is watching the sales! I only buy what is Buy One, Get One Free. You can't do much better than that when it comes to a sale, right? Yesterday, even though I was out of sale grocery store practice (I still use coupons at Wegmans, but they don't have "sales" per se) I managed to spend only $50 and rack up $35 in coupon savings! I am awesome.

And... for the second week in a row I actually remembered the reusable grocery bags! This is the only two times in my life I have ever remembered to actually take them inside and everything. This is progress, people! I'm pretty sure I deserve some sort of environmental award or something!

Note: I'm not a horrible plastic bag polluter. I promise I don't go and throw them in the river or anything. We use them in the bathroom trash cans and occasionally to pick up doggy waste.

Night Night Snacks

Typically, Michael walks the dogs and lets them go potty one last time before we go to bed. They know the routine. Leashes on, out the door, go potty, and come back in to get a "cookie!" They are so eager when they get in from that walk. They'll trot right on over to the end of the kitchen like, "okay, I'm ready for my cookie now." Last week, I baked some chocolate chip cookies, so the humans could have a little night night snack too :)

Old Girl

Princess LOVES Brokaw's new bed. I need to get her one! Our "princess" can turn anything into a throne! :)
Look at that face!!!

Porch Makeover

Checkout our new and improved porch! Welcome SUMMER TIME!!
The little bowls of dirt will (hopefully, Lord willing) be our Herb garden in a couple of weeks! I'm SO excited to cook with fresh herbs!
Please don't ask me what any of these flowers are called! The guy at Home Depot told me they are all "hard to kill," we'll see. I don't have the best track record with plants! I do manage to keep three (four if you count the husband) animals well fed and hydrated, though! But then again... they let you know when they need anything!
I'm hoping to grow a green thumb... we'll see....

Sew.... what's new?

Did you even know that one of my New Year's Resolutions was to learn to sew? Don't ask me why. I really never set out to be the little Betty Crocker/Donna Reed happy homemaker I appear to be turning into, I swear! I never really learned to sew. I mean, I took a "Home Ec" class in 7th grade and we technically had to sew a pillow from a pattern... but I think I kind of had someone else sew mine for me or something... because I have no recollection of anything to do with sewing. I do remember that the only part of the pillow (which was a cupcake!) that I was supposed to do was to sew up the bottom after putting the stuffing in. And I do remember that I never did it! I held that open part in my hand as I showed my project to my teacher! What a little slacker, right? Haha... so classic Dana. I probably got like a B. So me!

Anyway... I really, really want to learn to sew so I can have fun being creative and you know, creating things. A friend gave me a sewing machine earlier this year, but here we are, June, and I finally busted it out.
This sucker is an antique! It got some serious miles put on it making clothes, drapes, etc. back in the 60s! But.... upon advice I received from the, very well informed I do believe, women at Jo-Ann Fabrics... I ended up buying the equivalent of an Easy-Bake Oven of sewing machines. It's seriously a little, tiny sewing machine for kids! I brought that sucker home over the weekend and threaded it and made my very first sewing project, a coaster! Check it out!
I was so proud!! I have dreams of making lots and lots of stuff, so stay tuned... and Etsy, you better watch out!

Refreshing Change

We had a great Memorial Day weekend. Man, were we ready for a three day weekend! Nothing like working for a whole week after being on vacation, right? Doesn't it just drain you?

We fit so much into last weekend. We cleaned our apartment, went to the pool (yeah, baby! hope to be back there this weekend!), went grocery shopping, went back to church for the first time in a month!! (man, was it good to be back with our church family!). It was all around, a great weekend.

We ate steak, too. Yum! Wish I had a pic of that for you!

Some of my favorite things we did this weekend were the productive, creative things!!! For example.... These pictures in our dining room. Okay, so we thought it would be cute for Christmas if we printed out a bunch of Christmas pictures and frame them for the Holiday Season, right?
Yeah.... they were cute, alright? Real cute to have these Christmas pictures hanging on the wall.... until Memorial Day Weekend!!! It's like the yuppy apartment version of having Christmas lights on your trailer in the middle of the summer.

But, alas.... we FINALLY replaced them and man, is it refreshing!!!! Such awesome memories are tied to each of these pictures of us!
We printed out other pictures too and finally hung frames and wall art that we've been meaning to do for months! It's so nice to feel a little more settled in. Feels a lot more like home when there are things hanging on the walls, right?

4th row seat

Last week (was it last week? I can't remember), whenever the President held his little press conference about the oil spill, I had a crazy close seat.

4TH ROW, PEOPLE! I am not usually afraid of being called on because I am usually in the very back row, even in the briefing room. But for some reason, this day, I was suuuuper close. Like I could see the sweat beading on POTUS's forehead close. Most reporters know if they're going to be called on at these things, but there's always the off chance some random news organization will get called on, so I was totally scrambling together questions when I realized I was so close.

I'm glad I didn't get called on because I'm sure I would have looked like Fire Marshal Bill asking the question. I felt like cheerleading tryouts in high school. There was seriously no saliva in my mouth, I was so nervous!

VACATION, BABY!!!

The absolute HIGHLIGHT of May, was, hands down, our vacation!!! We spent an entire week away. Other than the wedding/honeymoon, I have never taken a full week of work off! I know, workaholic, right?

This trip was SO. WORTH. IT. First we road tripped it down to Myrtle Beach, SC to hang out with Michael's family. It was a super long drive, but it was fun. We made it fun. Always helps to have some Poppy Cock :) Then, on the way back to VA from there, we drove up the coast and hung with my mom and Dave for a couple of nights in Nags Head, NC. Love that place, hello!!!

For me, this vacation will go down in history as the week that we...
sat in the sand together...
swam in the pool together...
and rode on the boat together.

These are no small feats for us, people! These are all three things that I hold dear to my heart and feared we wouldn't really ever be able to fully enjoy together!! So... this vacation was OFF THE CHARTS as far as fulfilling and rewarding and relaxing and encouraging!

Major kudos to Michael's "little" brother, Jarred, who literally picked him up and carried him onto the beach for our family pictures, and carried him (nicely) into the pool so we could swim. No matter how strong I get, I won't be able to carry my husband like that, so it means the world to me that his brother did so we could enjoy these special moments together.
We had a blast with Jarred and Crystal and Brody and Grey in Myrtle Beach. They are a rock star family!
Would you look at Greyson???? He is so big and so cute and cuddly!! I loved holding him. Too bad it totally made my ovaries hurt and I do not have time for that right now! :) I think I'm at that age where I should really stop holding babies!
We enjoyed a night out at the Crocodile Rocks dueling piano bar. Those are so fun! You have to go, if you haven't ever been. Those guys are so talented, and it's so entertaining!
It was also so sweet hanging out with Michael's parents - just laughing, and eating, and relaxing, and eating, and watching them bank some quality grandparent time!!
Check out all the Mrs. Ritters!
Then... it was off to Nags Head to see my crazy family... a.k.a party time!!!
Michael encountered his first soft shell crab...
And... conquered it.
My mama liked that! We are a seafood loving family! Glad to welcome this Arkansas boy to the bunch! :)
The next day, we took their boat, "Go With the Flo 2" cruising on the Sound. Dave and I just slid Michael right on the boat, wheelchair and all! It was super liberating for my mother. I totally understand the feeling.
My annual picture of my mom and Dave on the boat:
And, my annual picture of Dave driving the boat. (You can almost hear my mother in the background, "Dave, Dave! Do you see that boat? Dave, Dave, do you see that crabpot?"
Dave made us an awesome dinner, of course. My mom "helped cook," always a sight to see! :)
And I got 47 mosquito bites. Thanks to my hunny for covering me up.
Oh, the joys of vacation! It was an incredible trip, y'all!!!! I so want to go back, RIGHT NOW.