Flowers, Family & Food...Oh My!

My big sister Rissy (Carissa for the rest of you folks) came down for a visit this weekend to see our new digs. Colin and I have been waiting for company to visit so we could try out various local attractions. Saturday brought us a a visit to the Oceanfront Art Festival followed by dinner at Chix Oyster Bar. On Sunday we found ourselves at Norfolk Botanical Gardens, lunch at Azars, and a visit to Colin's squadron which was all capped off by steak and peach pie on Saturday night with our neighbor Diane and her kidlet (as Colin loves to say) Hannah. Additionally our good friends from Guam, Julie and John came up today for a quick visit with their son Tommy. All in all, a very fun and eventful weekend!

Norfolk Botanical Gardens

 Rissy's first time in the cockpit of a brand spankin' new helicopter (or any helicopter for that matter)

The wait is over!

Well if this were a perfect world I'd wait until we would have finished painting and upgrading before posting new pics of our place but we all know how long that will take. So in the meantime, here is a brief photo tour of a few rooms in our condo!

Our very red kitchen. Still trying to decided if I want to keep it this color. But isn't our new fridge awesome? I am all over the new french door refrigerators!

Living Room: We used two different shades of yellow to complement the chair rail.

Instead of acquiring a new piece of furniture for our TV, we decided to splurge on a built-in entertainment center next month. The shelving you see on the right was installed by the previous owner. For the time being we've learned gorilla storage boxes make great TV stands!

Downstairs 1/2 bath. I've always wanted a purple bathroom. So here it is!

Upstairs Hallway

Colin's Man Room was short lived. I recently took up sewing and needed a place for my sewing machine and all the fun that goes with it. I'd say he still wins the "I love me" award as we were able to fit most of his plaques and Navy memorabilia (one acquires an absurd amount of memorabilia that piles up over the course of their career). I still managed to sneak in my running medals though. :)

Our mismatched guest room. The walls are blue at the moment but when we get the urge to go on another painting spree we'll repaint this room. For now, it's the guest room and ready for visitors!

And that's it for now! We went down to High Point, NC over Memorial Day to purchase bedroom furniture. It should arrive mid-July so I'll be sure to post pics of our bedroom and the finished living room then!

Cheddarific Pooch Treats

So Colin and I don't have kids yet but as many of you probably know, I tend to spoil my dog just a little. Okay a lot. She's my baby and I'm sure that'll change once we have little ones running around. However for now, Cheddar is probably a little too spoiled for her own good. What can I say, she's pretty cute.


I love to cook and one of the things I love to make is dog treats. Mostly because you really can't screw up too badly. Especially when your dog loves to take inventory in the trash can on a regular basis. All dogs do that....right?


So today I made these fabulous treats for the pooper and her current roommate Scooter. While they love to take up residence in the kitchen while I cook, they were particularly intrigued by the smells these gave off this afternoon. Maybe it's the cheese. Maybe it's the oats. Whatever it is they were more than happy to taste test my new creations. So feel free to make these for your furry child. I guarantee they'll love 'em. I can prove it only because these two would never sit on command for anything else. Trust me. I tried.

  

Cheddarific Pooch Treats

Makes approximately 18-24 small biscuits.

1 cup boiling water

1-2 cubes chicken or beef bouillon

1/3 cup margarine or butter, softened

1 cup rolled oats

3 Tbsp brewers yeast

½ cup milk

½ cup cheddar cheese, shredded

1 egg, beaten

¾ cup cornmeal

3 cups flour

  

Preheat oven to 325°. Combine boiling water and bouillon and stir to dissolve bouillon. In a large bowl mix bouillon water, margarine or butter, oats and brewers yeast. Allow mixture to stand for fifteen minutes or until oats have softened and absorbed some of the liquid. Stir in milk, cheese, egg and cornmeal until combined. Stir flour in one cup at a time until dough becomes stiff and no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl. Turn onto a floured surface and roll into a ½” circle. Using cookie cutters of your choice, cut into shapes.

1 egg

2 Tbsp water

¼ cup cheddar cheese, shredded

  

In a small bowl whisk egg and water. Brush egg wash over shapes and sprinkle with a few shreds of cheese.  Line shapes on a greased baking sheet and bake 35-40 minutes or until edges are lightly browned and cheese is crisp. Cool and allow biscuits to sit out overnight to dry. Store in an airtight container and out of sight from counter surfing canines. 

Woof!

Kate's got it right!

NASCAR, Unpacking & One very neglected dog

So Colin caught a good deal flight this weekend and is up in Dover showing off his helo at a NASCAR race. Not a bad gig huh? Meanwhile I'm holding down the fort or rather, trying to setup the fort. I can officially announce all 21 boxes have been opened, emptied and thrown onto "Mt Trashmore" (where all the paper that wrapped our furniture is already piled) in our garage waiting for pickup from the moving company. I promise a full photo tour of the house soon...really I promise!

Until then, HRH Cheddar awaits her daddy's return. She figures if she backs up against the door, she can't miss him coming through it whenever he decides to return and love her neglected self again.

Recipe for fun: Just add confetti.

Colin and I had the pleasure of visiting Washington DC last weekend and Yorktown this past weekend with family. We stayed with my sister Rissy in DC and also got to spend some time with Colin's sister Lara. Visits to the Smithsonian, an awesome quilt store and some awesome restaurants amounted to a great weekend up north!

Colin's dad had a layover on Saturday so we took him up to Yorktown for some history education. When Colin and Slim weren't talking airplanes they were talking about our nation's great Revolutionary war battles. 

Colin showed his dad where he worked and we took him to one of our favorite restaurants Captain Groovy's in Norfolk. Not a bad day!

We tried out a new church for Easter yesterday and then spent the rest of the afternoon with our good friends Steve and Diane. They have an adorable 13 month old, Hannah. It was Hannah's first Easter egg hunt but I think the adults had more fun than she did. Diane's family sent her Cascarones, confetti filled Easter eggs. As a notion of good luck, one will crack the egg on top of unsuspecting friend's head thus showering them in a colorful display of confetti. 

 Didn't see that one coming!

Rather unamused, Cheddar also took part in the action. 

 Danielle, Me, Hannah & Diane

Hannah took more delight in the attention of six adoring adults than plastic eggs. 

She was also concerned Cheddar hadn't been walked in awhile. 

And perhaps the best part of the day. Hannah couldn't get enough of Colin. We were all in shock. Maybe he will be ready for parenthood some day!

Sew this is how I kept busy for a month

So while Colin was in school last month I decided to learn a new hobby. After years of refusing to learn I let my mom teach me to sew. I've always avoided it because it requires some pretty precise work, exact measurements. I tend to be a fan of scrapbooking, where I can get away with imperfections and call it "art".

So anyway, here are a few of my latest creations.

42"x42" quilt made for my friend's newborn

 Scented Neck Pillow

 42"x42" Baby Girl quilt

Dipe & Wipe Pouch

And when you have scraps of fabric leftover, you make this!

When will Congress grow up?

As I continue to mature ,(or at least try) I grow increasingly more dumbfounded at the arrogance of our government. There's an issue every week that I just sigh and wonder when someone will be elected into some part of our government who is there to do good, not serve themselves. There's got to be someone right?

This week, similar to about three weeks ago is the budget delay, once again the military will go without pay if Congress doesn't come up with an agreement on their long overdo budget. Something just doesn't make sense here. The MILITARY will suffer the consequences for CONGRESS not being able to do their job correctly. Am I hearing that correctly?

Sure the military will get paid eventually but that doesn't mean service members won't be late paying their bills, rent and mortgages. I just love how Congress voted for an extension last month so that they could go on vacation. Can service members go on vacation while they wait to be paid?

If you'd like to read CNN's take on this, click here.

The Art of Househunting

King Neptune Statue on the Virginia Beach Oceanfront

So Colin and I have been in Virginia for exactly eleven days and I'm proud to say I can get to Target and back without getting lost! Other than the Food Lion (Colin calls it the Food Kitty), those are pretty much the two places I've really been to. It's progress right?

When Colin hasn't been at work we've been house hunting. Hard. We spent a week here in February looking at places, about 30 of them. After returning last week we saw about 15-20 more. Everything from foreclosed 3,000 square foot detached homes in the burbs to four story stand-alones on the beach. Ultimately we decided to put an offer on a house in a neighborhood that in my opinion, is awesome.

Working at Norfolk, Colin has a tough commute. I won't even begin to imagine how many thousands of people drive to that base every day. Too many! Being an older city; good, safe and affordable neighborhoods are few and far between which has forced us to look further out. It's funny because we originally came to Norfolk thinking: Let's buy a detached, 2-3 car garage, 3-4 bedroom house with a moderate sized yard and maybe a cul-de-sac. Growing up in overpriced Southern California I figured we could easily find that. Well we decided on an attached, 1 car garage, 3 bedroom townhouse with a tiny yard (even that is a stretch). I fell in love with the neighborhood. It's new, gorgeous and next to a golf course. Having mansion sized homes in the neighborhood doesn't hurt either. :)

The good news is they accepted our offer and we're waiting on the inspection this coming week. Still, I refuse to get my hopes up too high for the time being, you never know what can happen in the contract process. If all goes to plan I will finally get to decorate my very own house which I've been dreaming about for way too long. I admit I keep a file in my Iphoto library of home and garden pictures I come across. Colin thinks I'm nuts but then again, he still misses his bacheloresque black leather couches and glass and lacquer coffee table. Oh my.

So hopefully by my next post we'll have some good news from the homeowner front!