Extreme Makeover Home Edition

If you follow the blog regularly, you read my post a few weeks back about learning to be appreciative for the things that we have right now. Sometimes its hard - with our glued together bed, college-era futon, eating all our meals on tv trays, etc. I feel like perhaps as a reward for being good and learning to be appreciative, God gave us a little miracle.

When we went to our super bowl party, a family friend of the Careys, the Walkers were there. They are from Britain and have been working here the last few years, but it is time for them to go home. Since all of their good things are waiting for them in Britain, that means that they needed someone to take all of their US belongings. They asked if we were interested, and we said YES!

So, last week I drove out to Ashburn to "claim" what we wanted. I laughed with Sue that her house looked like they were dying, everything had sticky notes on it to claim it for different families. Luckily, they had a lot of offer, unfortunately, we don't have alot of room right now. So, Caleb and I had to search out a small, affordable storage unit. AND, yesterday we rented a uhaul for the day and went to collect our goods!

First, lets start by saying that we went to the SHADIEST Uhaul rental ever! There were lots of men on the streets offering to help us move and the uhaul had a sign saying that it STRONGLY recommended not using the day laborers for our own personal safety. Caleb drove the truck and it was making AWFUL noises. The banging, clanging noise that sounded like the roof was being ripped off by a tree limb. We couldn't figure out where it was coming from?! I even stood up in the window at the toll booth to look but everything looked normal. Bizarre, BUT it was really windy yesterday so we are hoping that was all it was.

When we got to the Walkers they had invited a few friends over to help us load the truck, which was good because they lived in a 3 story townhome with a super narrow staircase. The best part was the Peter (Mr. Walker) was a super great organizer and kept making funny comments like "We didn't rule 1/3 of the world by not knowing how to move a sofa" or referring to the sofa "lounge" and the moving truck as a "carriage" and telling us to "rock n roll." Hilarious.

The only bummer was that after we left them, we were on our own to move out loot. You are probably thinking, how much stuff could they possibly have taken? Let's see: 2 queen bed frames, 2 queen mattresses and box springs, 2 dressers, 2 end tables, 1 coffee table, 3 lamps (with shades), 1 dining room table, 4 dining room chairs, 1 large rug, 1 baker's rack, 1 couch, and 1 loveseat!!!!!!

Crazy, right? Too bad we live in a 1 bedroom apartment right now :) BUT, we went ahead and put the couch and love seat in the apartment for now and moved the futon out to the storage unit. Whenever we choose to move, hopefully we can upgrade in apartment size and add some of our new furniture! Here are the pics of our new couches!!!

Don't they look great!!! Scarlett loves them already and all of the new pillows to lounge on. Plus, since she's orange, it doesn't look so bad when she sheds.

Caleb and I are LOVING living in DC where they actually celebrate President's Day - as Caleb says - one of the benefits of going to a school named after a President. Check back tomorrow for updates on our patriotic adventures to the Newseum, Ford's Theater, the Capitol & Library of Congress!

Happy Valentines/Single Awareness Day!

Well this post is a few days late but I have been a little under the weather the last few days. But I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentines/SAD (Single Awareness Day)! No matter what you celebrate I hope everyone treated themselves nicely!

Per my last post, my V-day started a bit early with my trip to the tea shop on Saturday. On Monday I had quite a few meetings with professors on campus, so I rode up to school early. As I rode up the metro escalator I was bombarded by V-day. First, the weather was FANTASTIC- the sun was out, the wind was calm, people were running around in shorts (it was seriously 60 degrees!). As I rode the escalator up from the metro, my usual vendors who sell umbrellas, fur hats and bags were selling chocolates, v-day decorations, and flowers. My homeless people who are usually playing tragic songs on their saxes and trumpets were playing Sinatra and happy love songs. It seriously looked like Valentines had thrown up on the Foggy Bottom metro station. I loved it!

AND, since me and Caleb were on campus at the same time (which never happens this semester), we met at a little shop and had lunch together! It would have been nice to have the rest of the afternoon off to play outside, but I had all my meetings and then class until 8. Unfortunately, by then the weather was back to being FREEZING and WINDY. But, my Valentine was sweet enough to come pick me up so I didn't have to walk through the wind back to the metro.

I should back up and say that apparently everyone goes out to dinner on V-day here. We have been looking for a dinner reservation for weeks but everything was booked. We could either eat dinner at 4 or 1030 and most of the restaurants have fixed priced menus that night that cost like $70-100 per person. RIDICULOUS!

Luckily, we finally found a steak place just one metro stop away at Crystal City that would let us eat at 9:30. It was FANTASTIC! Especially since we don't get to have steak very often :)

When we got home, I walked in and had a whole bouquet of roses waiting for me! I am going to post a picture, by I should preface it by saying I forgot to take a picture until the next day after they had sat in direct sunlight the whole day and wilted quite a bit, so don't worry, Caleb got BEAUTIFUL roses, they just didn't look quite as great by the time I took the picture...

So, I had a GREAT first Valentine's day in DC. Don't worry... Caleb had a good one too. We are getting him an Iphone for Vday but we need to work out a few kinks first. I'm sure I'll dedicate a post to when he finally gets it!

Annnnnd, can't forget Scarlett! She got an entire bacon/cheddar Beggin Strip Monday morning and after Caleb and I got back from dinner, I folded the laundry which is one of her favorite things. I usually don't let her indulge like this (especially because it hacks off Caleb), but seeing as it was Valentines Day...

We have some fun things planned for this weekend so check back for more posts soon!!!

Teaism

If you know me at all, you know I have a SERIOUS addiction to Dr. Pepper. I've had at least 2 cans/day since high school. I remember coming into school and getting a can out of the machine and leaving it in my locker for a few swigs between class. I'd go to track practice after school and grab another one on my way home. In college my 2 cans/day grew to pretty much Dr. Pepper being the only liquid I put into my body. AND since I wasn't running track anymore, the calories packed on and I very quickly gained alot more weight than I intended. One of my 2011 resolutions has been to get off of Dr. Pepper. I've tried before but usually within 2-3 weeks I fall off the wagons. The headaches are TERRIBLE and the sugar cravings make me incredibly crabby. But, this year I have been determined!

It is now mid-February and I can confidently say that I am off of Dr. Pepper!!! In fact, I don't remember the last time I actually had one. I must admit that I do keep a case of root beer in the pantry for those times I just HAVE to have some soda. But for the most part, I've completely cut soda out of my life and replaced it with water, coffee, and tea!

I never liked tea until I studied abroad in Moscow and Bishkek and that was the primary drink of choice. It was never my favorite, but I have great memories of all the times I sat down and tea with my foreign families and friends. My mom has always tried to get me to drink tea, but I'm pretty picky.

I went to a tea shop, Teavana, that opened in our mall after Christmas and bought this amazing tea thermos. It brews and keeps your tea hot for over 5 hours! Which is great, because one of my biggest problems is that I only like tea when it is scalding hot. Once it starts to cool, I'm not interested. Unfortunately, the actual tea from Teavana is pretty pricey, so I've only had 2 that I've been rotating and quickly running out of.

This story leads me to today. Every Saturday I go to a Russian class in DC from 11-1. Caleb and I have been taking our Saturday adventures in DC as soon as I get out of class. But today, Caleb said he had a surprise for me. We took the train to Chinatown and got off. I had no idea where we were going. We walked about 5 blocks and ended up at a little shop called Teaism. He told me this was my Valentine's Day surprise/gift and that I could pick something out. How great! They had AMAZING tea kettles and cups that I can dream to have one day. We smelled lots of the tea and looked at all of the cool gizmos. I ended up picking out a mini-pitcher that brews tea and keeps it warm (so I don't have to use my thermos to brew tea every time) and then picked out a few ounces of two different teas: Quiet evening (has chamomille, peppermint, and rose) and Moroccan Mint that has spearamint in it- it smells amazing!

I'm so excited to have some new teas and for my surprise! Caleb did VERY good on Valentine's Day and now I'm wracking my brain trying to think of something just as good for him...

As for the rest of our Saturday adventure, it went a bit downhill from there. The wind was FREEZING and it was pretty miserable outside. We walked a few more blocks to a Mexican restaurant Caleb had seen and thought was cool. Luckily, we read the menu outside before going in. It started with a few weird items like cactus patties, but when I read about the grasshopper tacos, I was out. Grasshoppers... in tacos... EW!

So we walked a few more blocks Potbellys and got sandwiches. Our original plan was to go to the Newseum, but when we got there apparently they were running a Groupon special and the place was SWARMING with people. Tickets aren't exactly cheap to see the Newseum so we decided to wait until a day we could really enjoy it and come back. So, we walked all the cold blocks back to the metro to ride home.... just in time to ride with all of the disgruntled Capitals fans who came out of the game. Awesome.

Oh well, nothing is dampening my Teaism day! Now I'm off to my Moroccan Mint and homework!

SUPER week!

Sorry for a whole week without an update! I woke up today and realized it had been an entire week. The good news is that we have had a crazy but fun week! Last Friday we didn't really feel like being responsible students, so we ran errands- including a trip to Target, Barnes & Noble, hunting for potential apartments next year, taking Caleb to see Black Swan (he's not a fan), dinner out, coffee, two rented movies and the discovery of a cupcake shop! I know I know, cupcakes aren't good for us- but it was a fun friday date and believe me, when you see these cupcakes, you'll understand why we couldn't say no....

And believe me, they were just as delicious as they looked! No, we did not eat them all on the same day. And no, we have not returned to Cake Love since last week. We'll be saving them for special occasions.

We have really been looking forward to the Super Bowl. The Careys, the family that Caleb lived with while he interned here a few years ago, invited us out to their place. We LOVE the Careys and they are so sweet to us, so we've been really excited to see them again. Unfortunately... Mr. Carey is from Pittsburgh so when we walked into the house, we found it decked out in Black and Yellow... ew

Despite all the Steelers-ness going on, we had a great time! Plus, the Packers took it in the end. I must admit that it was pretty hard to read all my dad's texts about how awesome being in a suite at the superbowl was. Oh well. At least he had fun, and SOMEDAY Caleb and I will get to go to a superbowl. Good things to look forward to.

Well, I think that is all I have to update for tonight. Sorry if this update is a bit discombobulated. I took a spin class tonight at the gym and every bit of my body hurts, even my fingers. It's ridiculous. I know it is good for me, but I just want to curl up in a ball. Plus, I need to quit blogging because I'm taking the online Jeopardy test tonight. I registered and I'm hoping I know enough to qualify to be on the show... ha! Ya right. But it's fun to dream right?

Check back Saturday night. We have a really fun Saturday in DC date planned and I'll be sure to blog about it!



Family Portrait

One of the things I find most frustrating about blogging is that I have very few pictures of me and Caleb together to post. We have to take pics of each other which somewhat defeats the purpose. While we were in Dallas over Christmas break, I REALLY wanted to have a few pictures taken of our whole family. Most importantly, I wanted to have some memories of what our little family of 3 looked like after one year of marriage- Caleb, me and Scarlett.

Luckily, a sweet girl who I grew up with at church has become an incredible photographer. Sooooo since we were in Dallas for a few days over the holiday, I called her up and she met us out at a park one morning and took a few pictures. I have been anxiously awaiting getting them back, and they are FANTASTIC! I was a bit concerned while we took them because it was windy and Scarlett was not exactly cooperative. Some of the pics are HILARIOUS, but Kate did a wonderful job and below are a few of my favorites. If you live in Dallas and want some GREAT pics, be sure to contact Kate Brewer. Here is a link to her website with all her information and more of her work http://katebrewer.wordpress.com/

Birthday Paw-ty

Scarlett has had quite an eventful week, starting with the snow storm and ending with her birthday paw-ty on Saturday. In case you are new to my blog, Scarlett and I are in the pomeranian club of Northern Virginia. And before you judge, Scarlett spends ALOT of time by herself in this apartment so its nice every now and again to play with other pomeranians. And, to reassure my mother-in-law and all other readers, this is safe, there are no axe murderers in the group. In fact, it is mostly middle-age/older ladies who have never married and have 3+ pomeranians as their children. This was our second event - we attended the Howl-o-ween Paw-ty in the fall and then on Saturday they held an event to celebrate all of the dogs' birthdays. The dogs played, the humans ate brunch, and then each dog got to leave with a birthday present. It was great fun! They are already planning a swimming paw-ty for the summer. Scarlett LOVES to swim so we can't wait. Here are some of my favorite pics of Scarlett from this last week of snow/paw-tying. Note: she wore her favorite sweater that my mom gave her for Christmas to the paw-ty. It was a big hit!

 Waiting not so patiently at the elevator to go on a walk

 Putting on our favorite sweater to go to the birthday paw-ty!!!

 Lounging! How can you resist this face!?!

Here are some of Scarlett's friends from the paw-ty!!!

Of course Scarlett would be the dog more interested in getting attention from the other owners than playing with the other dogs... Here she is being an attention hog

 Okay seriously... it's like she knows exactly what's she is doing and is so proud of herself...

 Her favorite part of the paw-ty was playing in the back yard!

 She thought she was going to jump in the pool and go for a swim only to find that it was completely frozen over and she skidded all the way across. I sooooo wish I had a video camera to tape it. She was so confused!

 Getting stuck in the snow

The snow was REALLY deep

 This is one of my favorite pics of Scarlett (she's running towards me) Of course the snow is as tall as she is haha

And here is the present she went home with. Inside was a stuffed ram which is made of such soft material is has no chance of making it past the week and a special towel for drying her off after baths. I guess I should take that as a sign that I should be giving her baths... we'll see.