Friendship

I have no idea what has happened to the past 3 weeks! Last thing I remember was Thanksgiving, and now we're only a week away from Christmas! Work has been super crazy busy, and my nights and weekends have been jammed pack with festivities.

Last night I didn't have anything on my schedule, just a long list of things that needed to get done at home, so I made plans to meet up for coffee (or in my case, hot chocolate) with a good friend. We both are involved in Wyldlife, but it seems like any time we see each is team meetings, or club or something to do with the ministry. We were both super excited to have time to catch up just us. You know how you have some friends where you haven't seen in awhile, and you can make the small talk, and catch up and then an hour later your conversation is dead and you get that awkward silence? (Please tell me I'm not the only one this has happened too!!?!?) Well, that totally wasn't us. Two and a half hours flew by before I knew it!!!

It's so easy to get caught up in the hussle and bussle of the holidays and be busy all the time. But sometimes you just need to stop and enjoy the people around you.

I have my best friends dinner tonight with our hubbys...can't wait!!! Hopefully this snowstorm holds off...

And the Christmas Festivities Begin...

I have lived in this town for over 8 years, and this is the first year I was able to make it to the olde fashion Christmas parade. It was definitely better than I anticipated too!

We made the mistake of attempting to eat at Applebee's before, but with the wait time we would have been cutting it too close to making it. So we drove into town, finally found a parking spot a bazillion miles away ( okay, so nothing is more than a mile away from the center of town, but it seemed far!), ran into some friends from church who told us about all this free food in the shops, went into a few shops, but didn't feel right eating their food. We grabbed a bite at Salad Stop and watched the elf runners. Then, we wondered down to the courthouse and watch the tree lighting. Let me just say that it was a huge dissapointment. It was a matter of the PECO plugging it in, just like I do at home every night. Oh well, I guess as a kid everything seems a little more magical. Plus, the tree in Lancaster is huge and in the middle of the square.

We recieved some free candy (yum!), free Flava coffee and tea, and met up with brother. After watching the parade for a little, the cold got the best of me. I am a wimp when it comes to cold. I serious cannot hack it. I should have been born in the south. They get an occational snow, and it gets cooler, but nothing compare to this! I dont' know how people survive in Minnesota! I whine when as it's dipping into the 30's and 40's, and they would consider that a heat wave! (I have family out there, so I can pick on the state.) Luckily, Jackie invited us up to watch the parade with her family from the Young Life office. It definately was much warmer, and the view was fantastic! I took a few pictures, but low lighting and moving objects don't exactly take the best pictures. Maybe if I had a low apenture lens some might have turned out (hint, hint, Christmas is less than 3 weeks away...).

All my weekends from here on out are filled with Christmas fun, and I love it! I'm not getting caught up in the craziness this year and obligations, I'm goint to enjoy everything, and if I feel like it's too much, than I'm just not going to do it.

Not Me Monday

I do not want to get a portrait lens for our camera. Nope, I'm totally content with lens we have and only want a zoom.

We did not enjoy the gorgeous day on Sunday and head out to the Preserve. Who enjoys the outdoors in the middle of November? I also did not take off my sweater because I was hot. Nope, no I.

I did not land on my bad ankle .3679 seconds after this shot. I did not crumpled to the ground in pain. Not me. I did not later climb a fence for a picture and attempt to climb a tree even with the shots of pain shooting down my ankle.
We did not plan our outfits and take Christmas pictures.
I didn't get awesome new was I was in the middle of a store and let out a little squeal and do a little dance. Nope. I'm waaayyy to cool to let emotion like that show in a public place like that.

I did not have a bat fly past my face in the middle of church! No way would a bat get inside our church.

Check out more Not Me! Mondays at MckMama's blog!!!

Silent Sunday: Fall Day Fun

Just one of the many pics from our day at the Preserve :-)

Friday Night Fun - Delta Night

Once a quarter (was my school the only one that called them marking periods? Or are quarters the 'new' name?) Kevin's school host a night called Delta night. The middle schoolers come back to school for fun activities, like, game night, movie night, ice cream sundae night, etc. Last night was movie night and the 7th grade was in charge of it, ie. we man-ed the snack table and kept an eye on the kids who tried entered the hallway. The parents stepped up and brought lots of yummy snacks and candy, AND we had a popcorn machine! How sweet is that?
First you had to pour the "butter-like" substance in and wait for it to melt, then you add the kernals and watch 'em POP!


Definately a good way to get a sugar high! I'm sure that the parents loved us pumping their children full of sugar and then sending them home. :-)

Christmas is fast approaching...

I cannot believe that Thanksgiving is just over 2 weeks away!!! And a measly month later is Christmas! Recently I have been bitten by the craft bug. I, by no means consider myself crafty. That's my mom. She always had some crazy, creative project up her sleeve. But the past few weeks I've been in craft mode. I really would love to make a homemade gift for everyone in my family for Christmas. Some people I have figured out, others I'm not sure about.

That's why I was super excited to find out that Just A Girl is having a "I Can Make That" party! Over 150 people have linked up with tutorials to make all different fun presents! I've only clicked on a few so far, but there are a lot of great suggestions that are easy to do. I'm really excited to try some!

Check it out and get some fantastic ideas!

Not Me Monday!

I'm joining up with MckMama's Not Me Mondays


I did not come home every night last week and either take a 2 hour nap, or fall asleep by 8. Nope. Not me. I have way to much that needs done to spend that much time sleeping.

I did not go to a work seminar in Lancaster on Tuesday. It did not happen to be at the hotel that my ex used to work at...and he does not still work there 6 years later. And I definitely didn't run into him and walked in late to my seminar. No way. I would never be late for something, especially something my work was paying for.

I did not consider eating Qdoba take-out a dinner date with Kevin. No way. Qdoba is definitely not the high class enough to be even considered.

I did not spend Saturday night on the couch by myself. No way Jose. I have way too many friends to spend a Saturday night alone. I did not spend that time watching some of the Jonas marathon. No way would I ever be caught watching a Disney show like that. Never.

We did not get a Staples Easy button at work. I definitely wasn't super excited about it and kept hitting it to see if it said anything other than "That was easy." I would never be amused by something that silly. Nope not me.

Silent Sunday

Freak Out

I remember when I was younger and had to stay home alone, I would get freaked out. It probably didn't help that we lived in the middle of the woods with the closest neighbor outside of screaming distance.

I would hear a floorboard creak upstairs and immediately there was someone else in the house. Why they broke in upstairs, I'm not sure, but they did, and now they were going to come down the stairs to get me! I was always a little relieved when the cat came sprinting down, but part of me stayed on guard. Any sound that was out of the norm would blow up into some huge crazy story in my head. Did I mention that I have an overactive imagination?

Kevin is out camping with the boys and I am stuck home alone. Being the bum that I am, I'm sitting on the couch watching The Office and making beads when I hear a loud noise back in the bedroom. Crap! What was that? We live in the 3rd floor condo, there's no way someone could be in here, right? I flick on the hall light because there's no way I'm walking back a dark hallway. As I reach our room and turn on the light I start to laugh, partly still freaked out, partly relieved to know the cause of the noise.

For some reason one of the blinds decided that it didn't want to be down and shot up. Why? How? I'm still trying to figure that out. We've lived here for over a year and it has never happened before. Why did it have to happen when I'm here alone? So not cool. I may be sleeping on the couch tonight...with the TV on to keep me company...

Philly Phever

I have never been one much for baseball. It may be the American sport, but it's so slow. I've been to one professional game in my life and it lasted 16 innings...not a good impression.

Yet some how I find myself captivated by the game the past few weeks. Maybe it's because it's the only thing I hear about at work. Maybe because it's the only thing I hear about ever. Maybe I'm actually realizing it's not quite as boring as I once thought. It may not have the action like football, but definitely has it's moments. I find myself taking stats and plays from the previous games and it's scary. How do I get so caught up in a game I once despise? I mean the only good thing about the game is cute boys in tight pants, right? Oh yeah, I'm not in grade school any more.

So as I lay on the couch yawning and barely able to keep my eyes open, I find myself unable to go to bed as this may be the deciding game. If we can pull this game off we only need one more for the series. If we don't, than it's all over. Oh the pressure.

We need to load the bases and then hit a home run, and then do it again. No lead is too great against the Yankees. We got the skillz, we just have to use it!

P.S. Is it just me or is our team much better looking too?

Silent Sunday: aBs Wedding

The my besties are married!!!

Philly 100

Okay, so this is way late, but my laptop got a horrid virus, but she's all better now. :-)

A few weeks ago the 100 top growing companies in Philadelphia area were named and recognized.


It was held in the city and everyone got all dressed up. It's funny to see everyone clean up so nicely. We were in it last year too, but it also happened to be held on the first night of the World Series, so you can image the traffic. We missed the entire cocktail hour and made it just in time to eat the dinner and leave. Well this year they decided to cut out the dinner and just serve hor'doures and cocktails. Oh well, can't complain about free right?


I was all ready to get a picture of our name and ranking on the screen, but it's kind of hard to get a clear shot when you're clapping. We're 39th baby! Up 18 places from last year.


Even though I had no clue who he was/is Jaw's was an amazing host of the event and kept everything moving with his "two minute plays". He moved around a little too much so it was impossible to get a clear picture of him.

Mark's Hat

Since facebook won't let me upload pics...
and iPhones doesn't receive pics...

Mark, here's your hat.

We have the same size head so this is for sizing, or else I wouldn't have posted this.Please ignore the completely disgusting pic of me.

Steph's Weekend

The other weekend a group of friends headed down (over?) to OCNJ to celebrate our good friend Stephanie's upcoming wedding! I haven't gotten many weekends recently that haven't been booked and it was wonderful to just hang out with friends and relax. No plans or agenda's to follow, just a time to do what we want, at the pace we want.

We kicked off Friday night with a Friends marathon. Love it!!! Despite a wicked storm over night, Saturday woke us with sunshine and warmth!

We took a lazy morning before walking around the shops in town. A few of the girls had to buy flip flops since it was so unexpectedly warm.


Kel and I enjoying the sun while the others finish their purchases.

Then we went for mani's and pedi's. The people who ran the place were so friendly and nice, and their son was so freaking adorable!

Thea...
Rae Rae
Kate, Steph and Kel
By then it was late in the day and we were all starving so we headed up to the boardwalk for some classic, boardwalk style grease pit...err, I mean pizza.
That was only one of our napkin piles...I guess that's what you get when half the group majored in nutrition.
After more shopping on the boardwalk, we were heading back to the car and stumbled across a beach wedding! You can't really tell from the picture, but you should have seen the shoes most girls were wearing. Stilettos on a boardwalk? In the sand? Not the smartest move.Arriving back at the house I realized that I haven't set foot on sand and you absolutely CANNOT go to the beach and not walk on the beach.

With a little photoshop I think these would make some awesome pictures!
It's sad to think that was probably my last time at the beach until next year. :-(

Silent Sunday (A Day Late)

I'm gonna jump on the bandwagon of silent Sunday's, but since I worked this week, it's a day late.

Let's just say that work started out a little slow...
Meet Rich, the Ace of Spades...err the King of Rugs (doesn't he remind you of the card guys in Alice and Wonderland?)

Kick Off Event

The other Sunday we had our kick off event for Wyld Life and it went fan-tab-ulous!!! The week leading up to the event was rainy and cold and God totally pulled through with a warm, sunny day!
Both the kids and parents had uber amounts of fun on the slip and slide. I wish we would have gotten pictures of it at the end because someone went crazy with the soap and we had a huge, I mean ginormous, mud/soap puddle at the bottom. Kids would come running up the hill begging to be hosed off because they couldn't see from all the suds in there eyes. I don't think I've ever seen a muddy mess that was covered in soup bubbles. Kinda ironic.



After noshing on some awesome food, we moved inside for our mock club. It took awhile for the kids to catch onto the songs, but it went well. The mixer was a HUGE hit! I mean, c'mon...people banging on a pot on their head to call out the name of a song, while their mouth is full of lollipops...drool everywhere...seriously hilarious!

We also played our version of mission impossible... opening starburst (which is hard enough by itself) with snow gloves on. Oh yeah.

God totally blessed and encouraged us through this time. We got to meet and get to know not only some kids, but also their parents. Many of which are super excited to help and come along side of us! CAN.NOT. WAIT. UNTIL.OUR.FIRST.CLUB!!! Oct. 27th here we come!!!

Love is Laughter

I think I have mentioned before, but I'm always cold, and Kevin is always hot. Always. The weather has been perfect lately to open the windows and let the cool air flood our home. That is until yesterday when the humidity came back.

Barely mumbling a hello to me, Kevin came home and made a beeline to the thermostat. I have become accustom to this, and bit my tongue about telling him how that would effect our PECO bill.

Flash forward a few hours and he's already in bed and I'm brushing my teeth. Casually, I stroll into the hall to see what he has lower the temperature too. After spending all summer with the air on, I have learned that it wasn't a question as to IF he lowered the temp, it was HOW low. After bumping it back up to normal, I crawled into bed. Not even a minute later Kevin announces that he needs to get some water and ask if I want anything. Shaking my head I say no and turn out my light. The second he's out the door I pounced out of bed and too the hall only to see him by the thermostat! He looked at me and we lost it.

I love how we know each other so well that he knew I would adjust it, and I knew that he would check! There is nothing better than being married to your best friend, knowing them inside and out and being able to laugh at ourselves instead of being mad.

Bean & Veggie Burritos

It's funny how the change in season's change so much. Over the summer there is way too much going on, and it's too nice outside (not to mention too hot inside), to cook. Our meal planning and cooking dinners feel wayward. Fast, easy, and not requiring the oven became our perimeters.

Well, now that it's cooling off, I've found myself in the kitchen all week so far. I've missed it. Kevin and I both love cooking, but we don't stop there, we love to modify meals. Having my degree in nutrition, I've spent many hours in the food lab at school learning what effects substitutions had on foods. Kevin just likes to be creative. He prefers to create a recipe as he goes. I'm excited to see what we come up with this year!

I'll leave y'all with the recipe from our Monday night meal. Enjoy! :-)

Bean and Veggie Burritos

• 1 T olive oil
• 1 med. onion, diced
  
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
  
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 large seek potato (baked & diced)
• 1 can (15 oz) black beans
• 1 cup corn (froze, fresh, canned you pick)
• 1 pepper, chopped
• 2 T lime juice
• 3/4 cup shredded cheese
• 4-6 tortillas (10 in)

1. Preheat over to 350*
2. Heat oil over medium heat in a large pan. Add onion and cook for 10 minutes, stirring often.
3. Add oregano, garlic and any other spices you desire, and mix.
4. Add 1T water, stir and remove from heat.
5. Stir in the sweet potato, beans, corn, pepper and lime juice.
6. Sprinkle 2 T of cheese in the center of each tortilla, and top with approx. 1 cup of the veggie/bean mixture. (I don't measure, I go by sight, which is how I end up with more tortillas)
7. Fold up the bottom and sides (burrito style) and place in a baking dish, seam side down.
8. Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes, or until heated through. (I think 20 minutes work fine, but that's just me.)
9. ENJOY!

Sorry I don't have a picture, I'll have to remember to keep my camera close by BEFORE we dig in!

I'm Free, Free Falling...

I have had that song stuck in my head since we sang it during club on Sunday!

Happy First Day of FALL!!!

Can you believe that summer is actually over? It just feels like the other day I was so excited to break out the shorts and sundresses. Trudging down to the pool every evening just to get some sun, relax, read and swim a few laps before dinner. Planning vacation with both families, that are now just memories. Where did summer go?

Maybe it seems shorter because most of June was chilly and overcast. I don't know what the reason, but now it's time to enjoy a new season. I am a summer lover 110%, but there is something about Fall that's magical. Maybe is the chilly nights, where you can wear jeans and a hoodie, or that you can now snuggle up on the couch, under a blanket with your love. (Okay, I'm guilty of using a blanket in the summer too, but Kevin is mister hot blood and won't even come close to one). I love watching the leaves change colors (but cry when they fall). Love hot apple cider, carving pumpkins, and bonfires.

It's a bittersweet time, saying goodbye to my precious Summer and sun, but at least I don't mind welcoming Fall in with open arms. Winter on the other hand...
But I still have a while before I have to worry about that dreaded time. :-)

Leader Weekend

So this past weekend I spent down in OCNJ with an awesome group of God-fearing men and women who have hearts for the youth.

The view that greeted us when we arrived wasn't your typical beach scene. Road blocks were up everywhere because so many streets were flooded.



The rain did a number on the beaches too! Look at that drop off! Byebye Jersey shore!


In between sessions we had some down time to play... hello Bananagram! Basically it's like Scrabble on steroids.
Half the group HAD to have their Mack&Manko's pizza, while some of us hit up the food court next door. Ever seen a Stromboli that big???
Followed by some awesome beach volleyball. Take note the size of our court...
...and the size of theirs. Luckily, so still managed to win!
Oh, and we got to see some pretty sick cars since it was hot rod weekend.
Meet team Wyld Life!!! Can't wait to start reaching out to the middle schoolers!
Thank you so much to the Carnuccio's for open up your beautiful home!!!
Sorry for the choppiness of the post. There was so much crammed into 24 hours it's impossible to recap. God totally showed up and moved in that house as well as my heart. It's not about the list and what has to get done, I have feed myself first, before I can try and feed others.

Labor Day with the Family

After spending 3 days with my out in Lancaster with my family really made me miss it. I love West Chester and all, but there's just something about home.

Meet Cinder and Jiggs. These sweet babies belong to our neighbor, but they think they live with my family! The light gray one actually ran into the house when one of the family members opened the door!


The one side of our property is a field, and this year was rotation year, so there was hay instead of cornstalks. We just happened to get up there while they were baling.
This is my Nana. She hates to have her picture taken, so you have to be sneaky. She's my only living grandparent, so I enjoy any time I get to spend with her!
This is her about 85 years ago.
Little brother loves to copy me, and as soon as he sees me taking pictures he has to get his camera out too. He swears that Nikon's are better than Canon's...I beg to differ.
We got a tripod for Christmas, but I have yet to use it, so we tried a few night shots. Too bad it was cloudy and breezy.
The older I get the more time I wish I had with family. The brother pictured above is moving back to West Chester this weekend, so I get to see him, but everyone else is an hour away in Lancaster. :-(