2013 in review

I'm going to skip over the fact that it's been a year since I blogged. Well, skip over the reasons/excuses. I really cannot believe it has been a year… And what a year it has been! Here's a quick review:

We sold our townhouse at the end of May, in a mere 2 days, over a holiday weekend! It was bittersweet, as it was the first home we shared as a married couple and it held many memories. We loved our neighborhood but were ready for a little bit more space and a yard for our Paisley pup.

We moved into a temporary apartment while we house-hunted… And by "moved into" I mean lived out of boxes and put most of our belongings in storage for the summer. The only real plus of apartment living? We had a pool for the summer!

In July, we found our house! It was hideous inside, but the husband I both saw the potential. It's located in an amazing little "neighborhood" area and I have an amazingly short commute (1.5 miles!) to work. It's also in a great school district for elementary school. We closed on the house at the end of August after quite the back-and-forth with the prior owners. We countered back and forth initially and could not meet on a number, so we walked away. The owners contacted our realtor after less than 2 weeks and asked if we were still interested… I had a feeling the whole time! We quickly signed the paperwork and bought our first house together! And the renovations began.

We started renovations in September and moved into the house in October. We continued renovations (and by "we" I mean Sean) through November and "finished" shortly before the holidays. I say "finished" because we have plenty more projects to complete over the next few years including 2 bathroom guts/renovations and other small projects. But we love it!

Our renovated kitchen!

Did I mention some of the most exciting news of our year??

Yep! We are expecting a baby girl in 2 short weeks. Like I said, it's been an exciting year! More house and baby details to come soon.

Happy 2013!

Our new year's eve was spent cheering on the Commodores to win the Music City Bowl! Fun was certainly had by all and we ended the winning season with one of our biggest tailgates of the season. I was shocked at the amount of breakfast food, coffee, and mimosas we managed to consume prior to the 11 AM kick-off. 

And, because posts were few and far between during football season, here are a few pictures from prior games/tailgates.  

 

And because I can't leave Paisley out... 

Happy New Year!

Merry, Merry Christmas!

Thanks to my great friend L, we recently took some great anniversary/Christmas family pictures. 

Convincing the husband ended up being quite the, um, adventure. After putting it off multiple times and me getting a bit irritated he caved and agreed to sit for pictures. 

And suggested we just do them in our house. 

With the self-timer set on our camera. 

Let me just go ahead and tell you not a single picture was successful. And hence the husband agreed to let L take pictures, like I suggested 2 months before. Anyway... I was so excited with all of the great pictures L captured for us. 

I would share my actual shutterfly card but honestly, for the first time ever, I was really disappointed in the quality. Let me preface this with saying: I am incredibly picky. And spent way too much time and energy picking out a card. And it's probably my own fault I wasn't pleased, because I went with the photo cards (because they were way cheaper!) instead of the card stock this year.... The color of the pictures looked bad/washed out and I just didn't love the overall product. Again, I went for cheap and got what I paid for, I guess. I have learned my lesson! 

And will most likely find a new company to order from next year. 

That is all. I certainly did not intend for this to get negative. :)  Life is too short. 

Very Merry Christmas from the Bucks! 

oh, hey there.

Seriously? My last post was about summer salads. Clearly I've been slacking in the blog department. I'm going to work on fixing this. No big promises for a blog a day or anything, but maybe at least a few a week... 

A good amount has changed in life since the summer, mainly from a career standpoint. At the end of August I began a new job! I am still working in pediatrics but am at a different facility. I will not bore you with details (or any of the ridiculousness related to the decision...) but I am incredibly excited about the change and know I am where I am supposed to be. I miss the kiddos and families I worked with at my previous job an incredible amount; I truly believe they will always hold a special place in my heart as they were the first group I worked with as an OT. However, like I said, I know I made the right decision. 

In other news... The hubs and I are approaching our first anniversary. Crazy how quickly time flies! We will be celebrating with a trip to Napa Valley, Sonoma, and San Francisco in a week. Bring on the winery tours and a day at the spa! If anyone has any "have-to-see" suggestions for 

Wait, I've failed to even mention the fact that it is FALL! My absolute. favorite. season of the year. Pumpkins and chrysanthemums and cool, crisp air and dark nail polish and sweaters and boots... This list goes on and on! Oh, and football/tailgate season!  And pumpkin bread. And pumpkin spice latees. And pumpkin candles. Ok. I think I made my point and am officially rambling (possibly in part to the red wine I am sipping as I type). 

And now, I present to you an iPhone dump, summer edition (minus the most recent pictures which I haven't transferred from my phone yet...). 

I learned how to "sock bun". 

My friend "bowed" my hair for a bachelorette party. 

The hubs got new glasses. 

I interviewed for my new job. Like our toilet??

I was a bridesmaid. 

We brunched. 

Bachelorette party number dos. 

Our tailgate spot for the year!

I got a cat. 

And a gift from my gaga. 

summer salads

I love, love, love summer salads. I would much rather eat several salads for lunch than something hot when it's almost 100 degrees outside! Here are a few of my favorites as of late.

Watermelon cucumber salad: This has quickly become a summer favorite. One seedless watermelon and two cucumbers chopped up, salted, and drained overnight... Add pepper, additional salt if desired for taste, and feta and you're set! Delicious. 

"Recycled" corn salad: This salad originated from leftovers we had from cooking out last weekend. We had several ears of fresh corn as well as several slices of tomatoes and onions left from hamburger toppings. I hate wasting food, so I decided to chop up the tomatoes and onion and cut the corn off the cob and row them in a bowl... A little salt and pepper and viola! The salad was simple and yummy and was also good on fish tacos one night for dinner. 

The "blue" salad: Another made up, simple salad. Spinach leaves, blueberries, blue cheese. That's it! Top with dressing if desired. Might sound a little boring but I've been loving it this week. 

Greek orzo salad: Yet another made-up salad based loosely around recipes floating around on the internet. Cook orzo and cool. Add a little bit of olive oil to coat. Toss in halved cherry tomatoes, sliced kalamata olives, toasted pine nuts (Oh yea, toast pine nuts while you're cooking the orzo!), and a little sea salt and pepper. Again, viola! Easy peasy. 

Sweet potato salad: I'm stil working on an official "recipe" for this one. I had it at whole foods a few weeks ago and am still working to make a good imitation! But so far my tries have been delicious. 

(Red bowl: Watermelon cucumber salad; green: "Recycled" corn salad; blue: Sweet potato salad)

And... I have a confession. At the risk of exposing my absolute inability to spell, I am sharing an embarrassing moment I had with the hubs last weekend while composing the grocery list. I've never really been sure about the spelling of tomato and potato. I always, always question when they need an e on the end! As I wrote out the grocery list on Sunday, including a singular tomatoe, my husband (ever so lovingly, of course) quickly pointed out my mistake and filled me in on only needing an e before an s. Silly me. 

beach trip recap

So... A few weeks ago, we went to the beach. I haven;t blogged since before our trip. Oops. Here's a recap in iPhone pictures. My friend L took pictures with her real life camera that I will eventually share.

Our first stop upon arrival! 

My friend L was very patient with me while I tried on half the store. And she found me a bathing suit that was on sale! 

Our fishing boat. So fun! 

L and I before fishing.

The hubs with our fish. And by "our" I mean L and I's! 

Yum. But dangerous...

I was obsessed with the cuteness of the menus at Owen's Fish Camp. 

Coke in a bottle = heaven for the hubs. 

Excuse the hubs' fake smile. 

Some of the biggest shrimp I've ever seen. 

The end! Real pictures to come. Eventually... Happy Wednesday!