My Dream Home

Friends,

Lucas and I have been perusing realty and home-buying websites for months trying to figure out where we're going to end up this time next year once I'm officially an OT/R (hopefully!) and have acquired my first job.

Right now, my aunt has offered to let us stay in her lakeside cottage from January 'til June. After that, our living situation is still up in the air. BUT, Lucas and I have fallen head over heels for the Sugarberry Cottage house plans from Southern Living's House Plans. We have both agreed that it meets our dream home criteria in every way:

• It's not too big -- a little over 1600 square feet. Big enough to entertain, small enough to maintain
• It has an open floor plan that's perfect for entertaining with the kitchen, dining, and living room all essentially part of one larger room
• Two big covered porches -- swoon
• The master bedroom is downstairs -- practical for when we get older (we're definitely thinking long-term here!)
• The fireplace -- again, swoon

When I found these plans, I knew this was our #goalshouse. It suits us both in every way. Even though we still may not know where we're going to be a year from now, we do know where we want to eventually end up. I have been so giddy about finding this that I couldn't wait to share it with you all! I know Mrs. Stewart would approve ;)

Happy Monday,

This poem is for Martha S. and anyone else who loves the elderly.

Old Folks Laugh

They have spent their
content of simpering,
holding their lips this
and that way, winding
the lines between
their brows. Old folks
allow their bellies to jiggle like slow
tambourines.
The hollers
rise up and spill
over any way they want.
When old folks laugh, they free the world.
They turn slowly, slyly knowing
the best and the worst
of remembering.
Saliva glistens in
the corners of their mouths,
their heads wobble
on brittle necks, but
their laps
are filled with memories.
When old folks laugh, they consider the promise
of dear painless death, and generously
forgive life for happening
to them.

By Maya Angelou

#tbt catch-up

I don't have an excuse for not taking photos for the challenge the last three days, I simply didn't do it. I've had lots of other super exciting things on my mind. I know a bit more about my future than I did at this time yesterday. *smiles for days* I've contemplated announcing it here but for privacy's sake, I think I'll wait until our monthly dinner Friday night. Mwahaha.

Since I haven't taken photos the past few days and today is Thursday, I thought I would peek back at old photos. Looking back at old memories, even recent memories, is such a blast. Here's what I came up:

PJs

Town You Live In

Commute

I plan to get back on track tomorrow.

Until then,

Smile

What makes you smile? The kind where you grin so big your cheeks feel a little sore.

My husband makes me do that.
My Marv makes me do that.
The TwentySomethings make me do that.
The perfect cafe au lait on a cold day makes me do that.
When a recipe is super yummy...
When my family is together...
When I'm floating on the lake...
I could keep going because I have "won the lottery on life" (more about that here). The point is, there are a lot of things that make me smile and I am blessed and grateful for it.

Now, for the photo:

Until next time,

Mums light up our lives

Light

I took this while I was out with the hubs, Miss Ellaneous and her mancandy on Saturday night. The hubs and I have similar lights strung in our backyard now. I am anxious to put them to use as the weather continues to get warmer.

Country Boy Brewing in Lexington, KY

Mum

Herm, we're either trying a little to hard to be British or it is highly coincidental (and specific) and we're talking about the flower. You'll never know. Being as I don't have a picture of the flower version, I'll share some photos of my mom. I owe so much of who I am to this woman. She has helped me through my lowest of lows. Still, after being away for six years, going home is like a safe haven. A mental retreat. Love her heart.

Momma & My Granny Boots

Momma, Papa, Granny Boots, Uncle

Momma stuffing stockings

Until next time,

Catching Up

Need/Want

The past several days, I have been surrounded by yummy food. First, my professor hosted a final party at her house where we discussed the course and ate. The woman can cook! It was so delicious. Then, I went out that night with other OT students to celebrate the semester winding down. Last night, Lucas and I decided to venture to The Bluebird in Stanford again. Tonight, we're going out in Lex. What does that have to do with the topic of the day? I need and want all those calories to burn themselves. I need  it for my health and want it so I can eat like this forever.

Burgers @ Bluebird

Chili @ Hopcat

Finals Lunch

Finals Feast

Season
Spring has certainly sprung at Martha S.'s home. I thought this picture captured the season well.

Hubs mowing lawn @ 8:42pm

I'll save today's challenge word for another post.

Until later,

Trying to be less wasteful

Here's the thing: over the past several months, I have noticed myself becoming more and more wasteful when it comes to food. It started with letting a bit of lettuce good bad and has gotten progressively worse. To the point where I have thrown away whole heads of lettuce and 5+ oranges and lots of leftovers. I'll admit, part of the problem stems from some of the less-than-stellar dishes I've made lately. Trying new recipes is great. But when they're a flop, it can be super wasteful. All of that mumbojumbo to say this

one of my goals for summer is to dispose of less foodwaste

That's where this snack comes in. A little over a week ago, I bought some organic apples at Kroger. I haven't been splurging on organic lately but the prices were a slightly better last week so I decided to go for it. I took one for lunch the next day and noticed an odd alkaline, chemically taste. Thought it was a fluke. Next day, new apple. Same problem, only worse. I couldn't stomach it. I had to throw the apple away. Fast forward to a week later and I still had five apples awaiting me in the fridge.

I felt guilty everytime I opened the refrigerator door. There they would be. Crying for help.

I couldn't shake it. I began frantically considering possibilities. Baked apples? Too healthy. Fried apples? Not healthy enough. Apple pie? Too much work. Apple oat crisp? Just right!

Tapped in to the knowledge of my friend, Google, and had a recipe in minutes. Now the apples are much happier (in my mind), they're cooked and fixing to be in my belly.

Yerm! A super delicious snack if I do say so myself.

Until tomorrow,

Ehf.

I contemplated between fingers and fur. Both are integral parts of my every day. I settled on the former primarily because I have left my laptop for two hours at most today...and that's really pushing it. My poor little fingers and wrists are flat out pooped. However, I AM SUPER MOTIVATED and am pushing through the pain because after this assignment is complete all that stands between me and the end of the semester is a measly little test I'm not worried a lick about.

Being as this assignment was given over a month ago, I have no excuse not to have it done. I chose to put it off because I know that I work best and most efficiently under pressure. When I work ahead, I end up getting engrossed in YouTube videos by children with CP or sifting through an unholy amount of research articles unnecessarily. In fact, I discovered this sweet soul just recently. Fabulous videos but definitely not helping me get my studying done.

Oh, BTW just incase you really wanted to know, I took this picture by setting my timer for 10 seconds, holding my phone with my teeth and crossing my eyes to get a glimpse of the screen to make sure I was actually getting my hands in the picture.

For all you non-students (I'm looking at you Granny Eyre, Captain FunSomething, and Miss Ellaneous!), be so happy you're not stressing right now. And feel free to send me a care package anytime!

Until tomorrow (when it's all over!!!),

Morning Ritual

Food. It plays such an integral role in our lives. A wedding, birthday, holiday, funeral, ... any occasion you can think of isn't complete without it. Without breakfast, my mornings wouldn't be the same. When I don't have a warm cup o' joe and some oats or toast or cereal or whatever I happen to sit down with that morning, a little bitty piece of my spirit dies.

I can skip the shower or fixing my hair. Skipping coffee and calories? Not an option. That's why the morning ritual I chose was feasting eating.

This morning's breakfast was a bit of a disappointment. Sorry you're not able to see it. You're not missing anything. I made my typical plain oats in the microwave. Then, added my recent favorites: honey and sliced banana. Today, however, the banana I used was not ripe enough. I ended up having to eat around it. Here's to hoping they get ripe before tomorrow.

Until then,

May Day

I could post a picture of an emergency situation or some cop with a walkie-talkie looking slightly panicked. Instead, I'm going to go with a photo from our adventure today. Lucas, Marv, and I went to Wilgreen Boat Dock to check it out. It's a cute little dock with a bait and tackle shop. There's not much to it but the views today were absolutely gorgeous! A perfect May day photo.

Until tomorrow,

Martha Learns a Word

Just learned a new word and wanted to make it known since I thought it was so neat.

That is all.

Finishing up the Challenge and the Year

Day 29:

I had to wait until I had a photographer to get the full effect of this picture. Here is my newest blanket scarf.

Ha! It's actually an afghan that my Grady gave me for Christmas. I really like it. The colors are gorgeous and it keeps me warm and cozy in my chair.

Day 30:

I thought about combining these posts since I just posted a photo of myself, but then I realized there's another aspect of my life I wanted to share. I brought all my friends books back from my mom's house which meant I had to buy a bookshelf. After perusing all of the discount stores in Richmond, I settled for a Walmart shelf because it would fit into my car and my budget. So here I am contemplatively looking at my books. Fair warning, I have more books in my apartment than this. I was an English major.

Day 31:

How is it already the last day of the year?! And this challenge is almost finished. We all did pretty well. I'm proud that we all made it through the challenge (I'm giving the benefit of the doubt that you will all finish). The challenge actually says to reflect on 2013, so I did. It was fun to look back at what was only two years ago.

In 2013, Martha S. got married to Marvel's Dad (well it was before Marvel, the dog was in the picture, but it's a good psuedonym for her husband). Unfortunately Captain couldn't be at this event because she had just gotten a new job. I'm sure the picture would have been more fun with her help as well. Wasn't it cool that I happened to wear Martha's other wedding color to go well with the two bridesmaids (Miss Ellaneous and Farmer's Daughter). It was such a nice wedding. Of course I only had one real-life wedding and movie weddings to compare it to.

I also spent the summer of 2013 in England. This photo is from a trip to Dublin that some of took one weekend. It was jam-packed and included a crazy chance meeting with one of the travel buddies old elementary school friend who had moved to Ireland. In this picture we had just decided to use our bus passes to ride until we felt like getting off. We ended up in a park.

Now for a picture of 2015 to really reflect.

In January, I was housesitting and there was a kitty. In February, I hosted an Un-birthday party which turned into a sleepover. In March, I walked to Sonic. In April, I moved to Union City. In May, I met a sloth. In June, I moved into my own apartment. In July, I learned to be a super VISTA. In August, I and some other lovely ladies welcomed the freshmen. In September, we went to First Friday and had Ale8. In October, I hiked the Pinnacle on Mountain Day with my co-workers and Gunner. In November, the freshmen bonners gave me cookies and nice words. In December, I saw a friend graduate; it seems that all of my friends are slowly graduating college.

Well that's all for this year. Until next year.

Cheers!

Days 28: A Beautiful Sight

Day 28: Seeing my pup happy is a beautiful sight. Marv was superduper excited about his squeaky. When this video was taken, he had already been playing with it for five minutes.

As for Day 29, that photo will have to wait. The weather hasn't been cool enough to wear a scarf. It should be cool enough by this weekend.

Until next time,

Days 25, 26, & 27: My Christmas Day, Favorite Quote, and Snow

Day 25: This is the best picture I have of my Christmas Day right now. My uncle and dad took most of the pictures and I have yet to get access to either set.

Day 26: I don't reckon I have a favorite quote. I have quotes that I enjoy reflecting on during different situations. This happens to be on that I look to for motivation.

Day 27: Snow... bahaha; there is none to take a photo of. Maybe another day?

Day 22 & 23: Cookies and Fun

On my dad's side of the family, there is a Christmas tradition that brings joy and jealousy to all the "Kentucky cousins". One of their cousins has resided in Indiana for years. Every year, she chooses one cousin to send a batch of cookies to. This year, my dad was the lucky lad! Boy were those cookies good! Turns out, the cousin must have been feeling extra generous this year because three cousins received cookie packages. Glad Dad got in on the goodies either way.

Last Friday, the hubs, the sis, and I went to the Southern Lights Holiday Festival in Lexington. I was really impressed with the price point and all that the event had to offer. It was $15 for a carload on a Thursday night. The lights are cute and pretty lengthy. Then, after the lights, there is a little museum, a model train show (shown in video above), a petting zoo, beverages, crafts for sale, and you can visit Santa! You all should check it out sometime if you haven't been. It is going on through December 31st.

Day 21: Santa

My parents' Christmas tree featuring a primitive Santa that was just discovered under the bed yesterday.

Days 19 & 20: Pinecone & Snowhuman

I thought these decorations were super simple and cute that my mom had put together. Lots o' little pinecones in there.

Although the lighting is terrible, this is my favorite snowhuman in my parents house. Mom went through a stage of buying lots of primitives and I think this one is just darlin'. 

Days 17 & 18: Favorite Holiday Movie & Stockings

Hmp, I'm with The Farmer's Daughter on this one. Picking a favorite holiday movie is tough. There are several that I really like including the 1994 version of Miracle on 34th Street, the newer film Arthur Christmas, and Disney's A Christmas Carol.

Now, on to stockings. One reason I hadn't posted a photo for stockings yet is because we didn't have any hung up at our apartment. I knew there would be some at my parents. The stockings you see in this photo are both my brothers. My grandmother made the one with a cowboy on it for the bro when he was just a wee tot. He's turning 14 the day after Santy Clause comes. Sure does make me feel like an oldie.