Awesomeness

Who knew such things even existed?  I kinda want these!

Lion King, Florida, Vacation, what more could a girl want?

So I just need to make it through 6.5 more hours of work and then I am off for 5 days!!!  Going to see the Broadway production of the Lion King tonight (but in Richmond), then off to Vero Beach, Florida--yes, driving through the night, for 5 magnificent days of NO WORK :)  Can't wait for some fun in the sun! 

Youth Retreat....SUCCESS!

So I survived, which is saying a lot.  I was definitely tired on Sunday when we got home, but it was worth it.  I had a great time with my girls and got to do a lot of fun things--bowling, jockey's ridge, walk on the beach, dip my feet in the 48 degree water--YIKES!  All in all, I would not have changed anything, well except maybe allowed for some extra sleep in there.  I averaged about 5.5 hours a night---but what did I expect with 8th grade girls?  We had a blast and I most enjoyed getting mistaken for a high school student all weekend--YES!


I, in fact, did not get any sleep yesterday but caught up last night with a whopping 9 hours!!!  HOLLA!  


Pictures to follow, as soon as I get my lazy butt motivated.  In other new and exciting news....I got my new phone today--the Droid Razr Maxx :)  I am super happy, my first real adult phone!

I just want some sleep...

So for the past few nights, I have NOT been sleeping well.  Up 8-15 times a night leaves me pretty exhausted the next day and normally that is okay, because I think well I will just catch up the next night but combine a few days of that with the idea of a youth retreat this weekend and I am starting to get a little anxious that I will never sleep again! haha  At least I have Monday off of work so if I need to play catch up then, I guess I can!


Happy Weekend all! :)

5 beach trips before Summer

So in thinking back to one of my previous posts, now that I am going to Vero Beach, Florida, I will actually be making it to 5 different beaches before the summer kicks off.  I guess I need to start planning some beach trips in the actual summer time!

5 states in 5 days: a recipe for fun or one tired Laura?

So in keeping with radical tradition, my friend CJ and I are going to embark on a 5 states in 5 days journey to Florida and back in about a week!  I was sitting today minding my own business, when CJ asked if I wanted to go to Florida for a long weekend next week.  Umm sure why not!  So next Thursday night, we are going to see The Lion King in Richmond, then we will hop in the car and drive to Vero Beach, Florida through the night.  Crazy?  Maybe.  Insane?  Most likely.  Fun?  You betcha!  Her parents are on sabbatical down there and have a 2 bedroom condo that we can crash in with meals provided.  Vero Beach is just a hop, skip, and a jump from Orlando too so we can hit up a park or two for our quick little jaunt.  


If we planned it out correctly and can do without the sleep, we will likely arrive sometime around lunch on Friday and hang out by the water, then will be there Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, then get up super early Tuesday morning to be back in town by 6pm (I have my class Tuesday night).


All in all, I am not gonna lie, I am pretty pumped!  Mickey Mouse, here I come!

Love is in the Air....

Can you feel it?  It is in fact Valentine's Day and I am all decked out in my pink :)  I hope everyone has a fantastic day of love and knows that they are loved by someone out there!

A weekend of no reading?!?!

This weekend I did not read at all (well books that is), of course I still read magazines, articles, and the news reports.  I started off Friday evening with a YUMMY new recipe and taping off my bathrooms to begin painting.  Saturday morning was spent painting, then I finally got dressed about 1:30pm and did a little clean up before heading out to meet up with my friend CJ's.  Well turns out I missed the freak blizzard warning in Richmond.  I literally drove through what is called a Thundersnow in Richmond.  We had thunder, lightning, crazy amounts of snow/sleet, and wind like crazy.  I have NEVER seen anything like it.  And 20 minutes later, it all just stopped...so Odd!


CJ and I went to go see the Muppets movie at the Byrd Theater and it was fantastic.  Then we went for a super yummy dinner at this new Greek place in Cary Town.  So fabulous!  I went home after and got home about 9pm then proceed to paint for a couple more hours until bed.  


Sunday came with the usual church routine followed by about 4 hours of painting with 2 lovely volunteers.  And viola the weekend was over!  But with some fun, friends, and 2 bathrooms fully painted!  


Not the most fun of all weekends but I got a good dose of productivity and fun in there!

Done, and way ahead of schedule...

Just finished my James Patterson book, Private #1 Suspect. Soooooooo Good!  I tell you, I could not put that one down.  3 days, 400 pages done and now I have the whole rainy weekend to start on another book.  Anyone have any suggestions?

He gets me every time....

James Patterson, that's who.  


I decided after my last more serious read, I would default to one of my favorite authors (well that and my mom offered me a free book--no trips to the library or nothing), so it was an easy call.  But I started James Patterson's newer book, Private #1 Suspect, YESTERDAY.  and I am already 204 pages into the 401 page book.  I can NOT put his books down.  With Sisterhood Everlasting, it took 150 pages for me to be interested and into the book, James Patterson, it took 6.  SIX PAGES...that is crazy!


Well at this rate I should have this sucker done before the weekend is over...now what to read next??

Just when you thought....

Just when you thought this blog was going to stop being about fun and adventure and take a turn to introvert world, I am switching things up on you.  In exactly 10 days I leave for a weekend in OBX.  Yes, the Outer Banks in FEBRUARY!!!  I know I know, this was NOT my crazy idea.  I am (get this) chaperoning the youth trip there with my church.  What part of me and my life screams responsible adult?  Who knows?  But for me, it is an all expense paid trip away for a holiday weekend...what what!  I am sure there will be very entertaining pictures to follow. 


Now you can stop thinking I lead a dull life full of reading, sleeping, crafts, and cleaning.  Don't fret this is just the kick off to quite a few upcoming beach trips, all before summer mind you.


St. Patrick's Day will be spent in Sandbridge, VA for a weekend away with some friends from church in a 3 story house that sleeps 22 people!  Complete with a 16 person hot tub and an elevator...feel free to be jealous!


Then Easter weekend, I will be taking 1.5 days off to work to head down to Hilton Head Island for my bestest friend, Allison's wedding!  CAN NOT WAIT!


Then to wrap up the pre-summer trips, I will be hitting up the Bahamas for a week long trip in the middle of May.....I can barely contain my excitement for this trip :)

3 down, 23 more to go....

So last night I finally finished my 3rd book for the year, "The Secret Holocaust Diaries" by Nonna Bannister.  It was okay.  So this book was only published a few years ago, because Nonna was a Holocaust surviver and did not want the book to be published until after she died (which happened in 2004).  It is her first hand recounts of her time during WWII Russia and Germany.  There was a LOT LOT LOT of her family history and  stories of her family prior to the war and a lot of add-ons from the editors (which I thought many were unnecessary and disruptive to the reading).  I am not really sure if that was used to set the stage for the drastic change in life or what, but I felt like parts of the family history were unnecessary.  Overall, it was a very interested recount of her time in Nazi Germany and her life throughout the war (including witnessing multiple deaths, the way she and her mom lied about their ages to be eligible for labor camps (and then were later found out), her two+ year sickness after the war, and how she came to American alone in the late 1940s.  Parts of the book were very emotional, but parts I was having to push myself through.  It is OBVIOUS that Nonna is a very strong woman and had a very important story to tell about a time in our history that shall forever be remembered.  Next Up...a new James Patterson book (while I am still working my way through the purpose driven life).

Read, Clean, Cook, Sleep, Rinse and Repeat

That about sums up my weekend.  In my life sometimes I feel that I am going at warp speed and never get a chance to chill and relax.  Well this weekend was definitely that chance and I LOVED IT!  Friday night I left work and headed home where I cooked breakfast for dinner and stole a recipe from my friend Amanda which she stole from Pinterest so it was all good.  I made Ham and Egg Cups and I had two with a super juicy orange for dinner..YUM!  In case you are interested, the recipe is here.  I cooked mine a little longer (about 15 minutes) cause I do not like my yolk runny.  Then I was pretty lazy on Friday afternoon--read a little, watched some TV, and did some cleaning out of stuff.  


Saturday, I was awoke at 8am when my sister called to tell me she would not be able to meet me at 10 am like we planned but it would be more like 2pm.  Ummm thanks for calling so early to let me know!  So with all the extra time, I got up and was on a quest to clean up and clean out.  Well that just created way more mess.  See I have a stash of American Girl doll stuff and I have started going through it all and turns out some of it is worth lots of moneys, so I have started sorting through and taking pictures to post on ebay.  Then I had lunch and left for Williamsburg to meet up with Tiffany and Corbin around 1pm.  We spent a good 5 hours together and I was home by about 9pm, then I read myself to sleep and slept for a whopping 9 hours (10:15-7:15am), I swear this NEVER happens.  I feel lucky when I get 7.5 hours, so this was a real treat.  


Sunday, it was off to church, where we have a new Sunday school teacher (!!!! yay !!!!) and then my friend, Brian, joined me to visit my church.  Afterward, I meet up with my friend Anna for a lovely lunch at Panera, I absolutely love being around her, she always makes me smile and brightens my day.  We then went grocery shopping together and I came back home to finish my picture taking and packing up my American Girl stuff for sale.  Then I went over to my parents and cooked my mom and me a fantastic Weight Watchers dinner  (recipe here).  It was super yummy and only 5 points...insane!  We then choose to watch "What is your number?" over the Superbowl since I did not care much about the game.  Afterward, I went home and again read myself to sleep (in fact, I woke up this morning and could not find my kindle....turns out it was under my pillow from where i left it last night...whoops).


All in all, a semi-productive, but super awesome weekend filled with some of my favorite things--Corbin, family, friends, yummy food, shopping (i got a new pair of boots), cleaning, reading, and church!  What did you do this weekend?

Purple, Pink, Hearts and Love

Yes, yes, we have entered the month of February a time of love, overabundance of pink, red, and purple (Hey, I am not complaining), hearts, cupid, and groundhogs?  How the heck did that little sucker get thrown into the mix?  Well, turns out I am just a curious as you are, so I googled it.  And thanks to about.com, here is what I found:

German tradition holds that if the sun comes out on Candlemas, the precursor to Groundhog Day, the hedgehog (or badger) will see its shadow and six more weeks of winter will follow. When German settlers came to Pennsylvania they continued this tradition, using groundhogs instead of hedgehogs to predict the weather.

The first official Groundhog Day was celebrated on February 2, 1886 in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, with a proclamation in The Punxsutawney Spirit by the newspaper's editor, Clymer Freas: "Today is groundhog day and up to the time of going to press the beast has not seen its shadow." The legendary first Groundhog Day trip to Gobbler's Knob was made the following year by a group of spirited groundhog hunters who dubbed themselves "The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club." Clymer, a member of the club, used his editorial clout to proclaim that Phil, the Punxsutawney Groundhog, was the one and only official weather prognosticating groundhog.

Phil's fame began to spread and newspapers from around the world began to report his predictions. Growing legions of fans started making the trek to Punxsutawney every February 2, and with the release of the 1993 movie Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray, the crowds began to number in the tens of thousands. Phil's yearly Groundhog Day predictions are actually even entered into the Congressional Record! 

So you see, turns out the little sucker was likely around before the idea of Valentine's Day even came to fruition.  I hope your February is filled with lots of love, candy, sweetness, and hopefully not 6 more weeks of winter.  (Although if the weather stays the same, I think I could rough it).