the view from here

I love the view from my desk, and I often turn away from my computer to look outside. I have a new feature on my phone that lets me capture the entire scene. Had to share, especially now that there's so much snow!

it's beginning to look a lot like...

The tree is up! We would have loved to get another big, real tree, but we opted for our artificial since Chris will be gone for so long. Regardless, it's always fun to do!

I got a sticker!

Just kidding, I mean I voted today! We left the house early so we could make it to Chris's appointment on time. I was 12th in line! I will proudly wear my sticker all day.

All the thanks goes to Chris, who twisted some arms to get approval for our later arrival. He was smart and voted early. Total brain gap that I didn't think to do the same...anyway, it's done. Now I'm anxiously awaiting the results.

May you not see political ads for many more months! xoxo

birthday bash

We celebrated Chris's birthday all weekend!

Friday we invitedfamily over for what we hoped was going to be a nice little campfire (that detail didn't happen). I also secretly invited other friends over, so one by one they showed up. Not sure how surprised Chris was, but it was a fun night.

Chris and I went with my brother and a friend to enjoy a little karaoke, later, too!

On Saturday, we drove to the college to see comedian Tammy Pescatelli. It was such a good show, she's really good.

Sunday we celebrated with my family, birthday hat and all! Chris chose lasagna for dinner and chocolate birthday cake...so yummy!

color!

Well, this isn't the prettiest post (just ignore that extension cord there... But, we did a lot of work this weekend!

The red geraniums were a gift from our neighbor at our last apartment, I love that they've lasted so long!

We discovered the basket hanger at a garage sale, and found the perfect hanging basket and pansies to hang from it. Such small changes make such a difference!

My parents and Chris also painted our shed last week. WHAT a difference! I will have to dig up a 'before' pic, but I'll include an 'after' here. (The dirt on the side is waiting for some transplanted irises, they are dug up and waiting for their new home. I think the purple will look pretty against the gray side in the spring!)

Fall is definitely my favorite season!

xoxo

a box of sunshine

My stepmom, Char, has been volunteering at a non-profit in town. The local company spends time collecting donated items and has large garage sales every month or so. Other non-profits apply to be the benefactors of each sale.

My dad has been involved building some movable walls for their displays.

Over the last few months, I've enjoyed attending the sales. Chris has helped on occasion to move furniture and he often spreads the word at garage sales to increase donations.

During the last sale, we stopped by after one of Chris's chemo days (he is truly unstoppable). One of the women volunteers overheard Chris talking about his treatment, and we chatted with her briefly when she shared that she had undergone chemo a few years ago and was in remission.

Three weeks later, Char and my dad stopped over after his second treatment to drop off dinner. They brought with them a bright yellow box.

The woman who had had cancer, Sherry, holds a photo scavenger hunt every year. She donates the entrance fee money to a cancer-related cause. This year she decided she wanted to donate the money to Chris! Pam, the woman who runs the garage sales, made a 'box of sunshine,' full of fun, bright yellow objects.

We were blown away by it! It was so thoughtful and a complete surprise. I taped the paper flower-type shapes on our one door, and the card has been out on display with others he's received. The candy disappeared pretty quickly. :)

I'm looking forward to participating in the photo scavenger hunt next year!

(last) first day!

So about a week or so ago, D started his senior year. He almost tried to get out of the pic, but I made it clear he wasn't getting out of it. :)

So far the year has started off in a good way, we'll see what the year holds!

smores for everyone

Chris insisted that we get a fire pit this year, and I'm so glad he did.

A few weekends ago we had a large group over, my parents, my brother and his wife, a couple friend of ours, the neighbors, etc. We had so much fun just relaxing and roasting hot dogs and making smores. It was the sort of thing you do and then think, "why didn't we do this sooner?!" I even pulled out a string of colorful lights that had been sitting in storage for TWO years and strung them on our back porch (you can see through the window). Perfect!

So, last night we made a fire, just the three of us, and used up the rest of the smores materials. Chris, by the way, is not a smores fan. But he obliged, perhaps because I was SO excited, and we just sort of sat and enjoyed the quiet. (We also had to do some shifting, as it was quite windy out...)

D also had a couple fireworks, so we did one of those. It was good, but silent, a fact I'm sure our neighbors appreciated.

The fireflies were out, too. Our large yard (and adjoining yards) are perfect for firefly watching, and they glowed into the night as we wrapped up our chairs and headed back inside.

something old

I wore one of the brooches you gave me today. It looked so gorgeous on my blue sweater, and I got several compliments. So I thought I should thank you again!

(More importantly, I wore it when Chris and I got married, so it's pretty special to me. I wanted to be sure I had at least a piece of you with me.)

Unfortunately I don't have a picture of me wearing it. It was 90 degrees today, so I took off the sweater the second I got outside! I hope you guys are staying cool.

xoxo

it's that time of year

our annual block sale was today! I just took this picture, as the day winds down we finally sat down to eat lunch. it was supposed to rain all day, and it looked pretty dismal for a few hours. we hung in while it drizzled, and the sun finally came out for the second half. it's still cold (I'm actually wearing a sweatshirt and down vest!), but the sun is bright and beautiful!

luckily, the nice neighbors had cookies and rice krispie treats for $.25!

summer's here!

We headed to my parents' house today for a Memorial Day picnic. D was yet again the first person in their pool this year! My brother and sister-in-law took their little one in for his first swim, too. He definitely doesn't like it as much as D, but he has a while to get used to the idea.

a short hello

http://instagr.am/p/KBjHuNJ-nm/

and in my easter basket...

D has been playing baseball down the street a lot lately, so we decided last night to stop and get him a new glove as an Easter present. This morning we still gave him a basket, so I made him collect the eggs for his picture.

He came out of his room this mornig wearing it, I jokingly asked if he had slept with it on.

What's even better is that means I get his older, much smaller glove, so we'll finally each have a glove. I'm sure we'll head out later today, at least to play catch, and the weather is perfect!

Happy Easter!

made with love

I usually try to make D a heart-shaped cake for Valentine's Day. I think there's actually a picture in this year's calendar I made for you!

Well, today I got home with all of the ingredients and...well, not quite. I ran back out for vegetable oil. But then I had all the ingredients.

Then I couldn't find the heart-shaped pan! But I figured cupcakes would probably go over well. (And this way I can eat a few, too!)

Chris and I are planning dinner at our favorite restaurant tomorrow night, so that will be fun!

Thinking of you, always.
xoxo

white new year

Well, we didn't get snow for Christmas, but yesterday morning everything turned white! It's beautiful, but has caused a bit of havoc for people, as it seems the first snow usually does.

After discussing whether or not D's school was resuming on Monday about a hundred times, and deciding that he did indeed have school, it was promptly cancelled Monday morning due to weather.

My sister-in-law was also relieved (as she's a teacher) to have one more day of maternity leave to spend with their beautiful child, as this is her first week back.

Chris is 'breaking in' his newer car and adjusting to no all-wheel drive. I keep telling him, 'just go sloooow.'

This pic is the view from my second floor office, I just love these trees!

almost there...

Well, we got a real tree this year! It's been sitting bare for a few days, so we finally got around to decorating tonight. I've been playing around with the other decorations, too, I'll have to post a few more pics.

D says hi! and declared the new tree lights we bought are 'trippy'.

Chris says hi! too. We all miss you guys and send our love!

XOXO

deck the halls

Well, this might be the earliest we've ever decorated, which is nice. We don't have a tree yet, mostly because we haven't decided whether or not to get a proper fake tree for our much larger living room (the 5' just isn't going to cut it any more) or to get a real tree.

Last year we used the 5', but we ended up propping it on a bucket so at least from the outside it 'fit' the window. From the inside, of course, it looked a bit strange, in a hilarious kind of way.

I grew up with real trees, and Chris has expressed a real interest in having one, so I think that's in our future. I'll keep you posted!

So I've had this little tree for years, and I usually put it in D's room. I made a little garland out of ribbon and found some boring, plastic fake lights. Last year I found a little baby light strand that is battery powered, and much to my delight 10 minutes ago, I discovered that they're perfect. Now it has real, light-up lights!

Imagine my excitement when D walked by and actually said, 'hey, that's pretty cool.' High praise, by far.

So he'll have a proper tree of his own this year.

(In the background is a picture of him eating on the streets of New York City. He proudly bought a hot dog from a street vendor one morning, and I captured the moment. My sister, our hostess in the Big Apple, bought him the frame the following Christmas.)

caution: wet paint

I really wish I had a 'before' picture I could post with this. Just imagine wood paneling, brown trim, and yellow ceilings. It's been a goal of mine to paint this room since we moved in, for two reasons.

First reason was to make it more appealing, in general. Now that the back door is fixed, we'll be entering and exiting the house through this now-mud-room. But it shouldn't LOOK like mud, I say.

Second, there is only one light fixture in this room (poor planning on our part for telling the electrician to cut the rest of the power to this room). So, the white will definitely help to make the most of the one light.

My hope is to get a new light fixture as well, to help. My thought is track lighting could do wonders.

Now we just need to paint the door (your son has chosen a beautiful red), and to put the room back in order, including a neat row of snow boots. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had dinner at my dad's today, with their neighbors (old family friends) and my brother, his wife, and my new little nephew! I can't get enough of the little guy. And I actually changed his diaper (first time ever), which Chris thoroughly enjoyed watching.

It's always nice to see their neighbors, the wife was very close with my mom, so we enjoy sharing stories. She always has stories I've never heard of some adventure they had years ago.

The weather has held off and it's almost 60 degrees, although I still brought my scarf and puffy coat, just in case.

Hope you guys had a very Happy Thanksgiving, too! Gobble gobble.

the smell of the ice

We went to a hockey game tonight, the league is full of young kids, several in high school.

The guys weren't excited to go, but I was very happy! I spent many nights growing up watching hockey there. And, of course, they enjoyed some good fights that broke out.

and on Sunday we do this...

The birds have discovered the window ledges. This morning they had some bagels and then enjoyed chirping at every fallen leaf that drifted by.

at the fair

I forgot I had taken this picture. We made a trip to the Crawford County Fair this August—it's the largest outdoor agricultural fair in Pennsylvania, to brag.

They had a rodeo in town that night, and we saw the bull-riding and some barrel racing. Great show!

After we made our way through the chickens, roosters and bunnies, I made Chris and D pose with the giant cows. They're my favorites by far!

so, I did a little experiment

I took some time to do some "timelines" of photos, and this is one of my favorites.

watchbirds

Rocket and Rudy watched the bird seed for a bit...we took the bird house down to replace it but haven't quite finished the job. The outside birds don't seem to mind.

a tall tree inside

The birds are always trying to get to the highest spaces in the house. Therefore, they LOVE D's shoulders. They sit politely while he walks around the house, and Rudy even preens his hair sometimes...