Trip To Savannah

Well, we've finally scheduled our trip for our anniversary.  We've been going back and forth between Boone, Savannah and Charleston.  This weekend we decided that we would head to Savannah. 

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We haven't made too many plans yet and are just starting to come up with our 'schedule'.  If you have any suggestions for things to do or places to eat let me know!

Now to go shopping and find some cute clothes for the trip!  Hope you're all having a great weekend!

Anniversary Gift Ideas

Our first wedding anniversary is quickly approaching (middle of next month).  We are planning a trip (still undecided as to where - yeah, we need to get on that) but I would also like to get KC a gift as well.  I think it would be cool if we could stick to the 'lists' of what to get for each anniversary.  I was doing some web-browsing and found out that there are 2 different lists for Anniversary Gifts.

There is the Traditional List and the Contemporary List (found here):

Anniversary Year	Traditional Gift	Contemporary Gift
1	Paper	Clocks
2	Cotton (Calico)	China
3	Leather	Crystal, Glass
4	Linen (Silk)	Appliances
5	Wood	Silverware
6	Iron	Wood objects
7	Wool (Copper)	Desk sets
8	Bronze	Linens, Lace
9	Pottery (China)	Leather goods
10	Tin, Aluminum	Diamond
11	Steel	Fashion jewelry
12	Silk, Agate	Pearls, Colored gems
13	Lace, Moonstone	Textiles, Furs
14	Ivory, Moss Agate	Gold jewelry
15	Rock-crystal/glass	Watches
16	Topaz	Silver holloware
17	Amethyst	Furniture
18	Garnet	Porcelain
19	Hyacinth	Bronze
20	China	Platinum
21		Brass, Nickel
22		Copper
23	Sapphire	Silver plate
24		Musical instruments
25	Silver	Sterling silver
26	Star Sapphire (blue)	Original pictures
27		Sculpture
28		Orchids
29		New furniture
30	Pearl	Diamond
31		Timepieces
32		Conveyances (e.g., automobiles)
33		Amethyst
34		Opal
35	Coral (Jade)	Jade
36		Bone china
37		Alabaster
38		Beryl, Tourmaline
39	Cat's-eye	Lace
40	Ruby	Ruby
41		Land
42		Improved real estate
43		Travel
44		Groceries
45	Alexandrite	Sapphire
46		Original poetry tribute
47		Books
48		Optical goods (e.g., telescope, microscope)
49		Luxuries, any kind
50	Gold	Gold
51
52	Star Ruby
53
54
55	Emerald	Emerald
60	Diamond, yellow	Diamond
65	Star Sapphire, Gray
67	Star sapphire, purple
75	Diamond, diamond-like stones, gold
80		Diamond, Pearl
85		Diamond, Sapphire
90		Diamond, Emerald
95		Diamond, Ruby
100		10-carat Diamond

So I can choose from Paper or Clock if I stick with the 'lists'.

• For clock I was thinking Watch (because I'd like a new watch too :-) ) and then realized that Watch is actually listed for 15yrs.  Hmm, so I guess that means I can't do watch.  I could get him a clock, but we don't have many clocks around the house and I don't know where I would put a clock.
• Ok, so paper.  I've done my share of picture books and photo albums so that's not going to work.  I've done tickets to sporting events before as well (and with his wacky summer Ultimate schedule, who knows where we will be on what weekend).  I love the idea of the architectural letter pictures of last names as seen on a few etsy shops.  I purchased a few prints from one of these shops for a wedding gift this past year and they looked great (I think it might be more for me than for him though)!

What did you get your SO for a first wedding anniversary gift? Did you stick to the traditional or contemporary list or just get something you thought he/she would like?  Any suggestions for me?

P.S. A 10-carat Diamond after 100yrs?!?!  I wonder if anyone has ever been married for 100yrs.

Laundry

Last night we spent about 30 minutes folding laundry and that was a small pile compared to normal.  On our bedroom floor you can generally find at least 1 if not 2 baskets full of clean unfolded laundry most days of the week.  I feel as though I shall forever be haunted, by laundry.  We each wear about 2 outfits a day, 1 to work, plus workout clothes.  Somehow (including sheets and towels), this amounts to an average of 7-10 loads of laundry a week for just the 2 of us.  That is crazy!  It's a never-ending battle.  I have no problem actually doing the laundry, it's the folding that I loathe.  I don't mind the washing/drying, even though that requires just as much work because about 1/2 of our clothes don't get put in the dryer, they get hung to dry.  I simply hate folding/hanging!  I tried to implement a nothing comes out of the dryer without being folded rule but KC doesn't get that.

Laundry is one battle I may never win.  I can't even imaging what life will be like when we have kids and all the laundry that comes with them.  If someone would just come in and fold my laundry (and clean the bathroom, but that's another story), I would be ever so happy and keep the rest of my house spotless, I promise!

Anybody have any laundry (management) secrets to share?!

1st Anniversary Trip

K and I have our 1st Wedding Anniversary coming up in 2 months.  We would like to take a short trip somewhere, but we can't decide where to go and what to do (sometimes we're very indecisive people).  We already have two "Big-City" trips in the works for the summer, but we are looking for somewhere different to go for our anniversary.  Somewhere different, to do some site seeing or just enjoy the city in general.  We'd like to do something that doesn't require a plane ride, so that may limit things a little. We've visited a few places in driving distance from Raleigh, but are looking for a few more options.

We went to the Outer Banks for our first 'non-family', 'just-the-two-of-us' trip, about 4 years ago (with Maya!).

We went to Asheville almost 2 years ago for my Birthday, but K had other things in mind as that is where he proposed.

Last year, our "Big-City" trips consisted of Washington D.C. and San Francisco (we went to Lake Tahoe while we were there)

We've tossed around a couple of ideas, including Savannah, Charleston and Boone.  We're not looking for a beach trip, just somewhere that we can have a good time exploring the town, maybe going hiking.  Any suggestions or recommendations?

If we don't go out-of-town, I'd like to find something out of our norm to do in town.  What have you done for your first anniversary or what do you plan to do?  Anything different from dinner and/or a movie?

Weekend Recap & Random Info

It was a pretty good weekend even though I had to call in to work periodically.  I didn't take any pictures, I need to get better at doing that.

Friday

Hubs and I went out for sushi and it was delicious.  I don't think that we've ever been out for sushi just the 2 of us but it was nice.  We got to get rolls that we both liked and finished them all!  After that we spent the evening home together and just caught up on some TV shows.  It was nice to just spend a quiet evening together just the 2 of us.

Saturday

We spent most of the day cleaning the house, working outside and doing little things (I had to call in to a conference call for work).  We made some chili in the crock-pot, for probably the last time this year. :-(  For dessert I made Rocky Road brownies and they were pretty good.  I made some modifications - doubled it, used 1/2 brown sugar and 1/2 white sugar for "cake-like" brownies, pecans instead of almonds and 1/2 of the chocolate chips were butterscotch chips instead of chocolate, yum!  We'll be adding these to the keepers list.

Sunday

We had some beautiful weather on Sunday and I went for a 5 mi walk on one of the trails around a local lake and it was beautiful out!  After the hubs got out of work we had softball practice.  Hubs has never played before and he did great.  I'm so happy he'll be playing on our team this season.

We had some birthday dinners to celebrate so we went to Brasa the Brazilian Steakhouse.  If you've never eaten at a Brazilian Steakhouse, it's an experience.  You're meat comes out on swords (anywhere from 10-12 different kinds/cuts) and you have a little stone (or coaster-like object) in front of you that is green on one side and red on the other.  If you want them to stop by you when they bring out new meats, then you have the green side up and if you don't then you put the red side up.  I would recommend not eating much for the day before you go!  There is also a cold/hot bar that goes along with your meats.  I enjoyed some of the cuts of meat better than others, but definitely ate too much.  The pineapple with cinnamon is my absolute favorite!  It was a bit pricier than we had all remembered but we were celebrating 2 birthdays so, I guess it equaled going out 2 different times.

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Random Info

• A new Stampin' Up order is coming in today, hopefully I'll be able to spend some time making some cards and card sets for gifts for people.  New supplies always make me excited!


• I finished my first 4 times through the first circuit of the 30 Day Shred and will be starting the second work out this week.


• I really really want spring to come and quickly!  The weather was a tease!


• We might be going skiing again in a few weeks!  We had so much fun at Snowshoe Mountain over Valentine's Day weekend.


• We got a Save-The-Date in the mail for a destination wedding next March!  I'm really pushing hard to go, it's just so far in advance to plan already, who knows what we'll be doing 1 year from now.


• I finished "The Last Song" last night.  I liked it, I didn't cry as much as I normally would because I had been reading it in small chunks.  It wasn't my favorite Nicholas Sparks book but I'm glad I finished it before the movie comes out.


• I'm swapping my books for March and April because someone is going to give me "The Help" instead of me going out and buying it.


• I added a picture to my sidebar listing what I'm reading now and I what I just finished reading.


• Hubs is out of town this weekend again, but that makes for a fun meal planning week (I'll explain more in my next post)


• We watched the Academy Awards last night briefly.  I don't usually watch them, but I enjoyed what I saw last night.
  
  
  
  • I thought Sandra Bullock looked fantastic (and I loved "The Blind Side")
  
  
  
  

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  • I didn't recognize Cameron Diaz at first, but I thought she looked great as well
  
  
  
  

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  • There are many others that I liked and disliked, but those are my favorites so far!  I have pretty simple fashion tastes so there were quite a few popular ones that weren't my favorites.
  
  
  
  

Have a great day!

My own "My Boys"

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I went out to the bar (our version of Crowley's) last week for dinner and a drink and there were 7 of us, 6 "boys" and me. I feel like I'm living in my own Raleigh version of "My Boys".

Left to Right:  Mike, Kenny, Bobby, PJ, Andy, Brendan (Source)

It made me think, I have my own version of everyone.  Some are quite similar to the characters on tv too!

• Bobby (actually he was dating P.J. last season) - The hubs - loves baseball and has the "nice guys finish first" attitude (no hubs didn't call off a wedding prior to ours)


• Brendan - Brendan - no really, my friend's name is Brendan, dating or in a relationship - maybe, depends on the week, care free and always has interesting ventures to pursue


• Andy - Bryan - not my real brother - or married, but he's very much like him in with a 'stuck in the middle' mentality, as the oldest he can't decide to be the responsible adult or go out for a pitcher of beer


• Mike - Jason - a toss up really,  he's the perpetually single guy, who could be a hit with the ladies,  he would be a great catch


• Kenny & Stephanie -  Matt & Fav Roommate - They had an encounter and started seeing one another behind everyone's back (only I knew).  My friends are now getting married this fall, I'm waiting to hear about Kenny & Stephanie.  (They weren't out this Thursday evening in particular)

(I think TBS needs to update their character descriptions a little.)

There are still 2-3 more guys that hang out as well on a regular basis.  One just got engaged so that brings another girl into the mix, but she doesn't always come.  On a normal dinner outing, there are 5-6 boys and myself.  If we all went out we might be a little bit more balanced, but that only happens on rare occasions.

Here we are at the beach-house we rented in 2008, plus 2 extras.  (Big guy in the back moved to SLC and one girl (far right, floor) no longer hangs out with us)

Minus the couple on the far left, here's my own "My Boys" cast at our wedding last year (May 2009). (Taken By)

Sometimes I think I need to find some more girl friends or that these boys need to find some girls on the dating scene, but there are other times when it doesn't bother me that much.  Like PJ, I work in a male-dominated field and it can have it's pluses and minuses.  I usually take my share of the jokes, but have also been known to dish out a few without missing a beat.

Luckily we have a few other couple friends (the ones in the far left in the above photo) that we hang out with on other occasions, otherwise I might not be able to handle all the testosterone.  I would love a good girls night or couples night but I know that will come in time as we all grow up and make new friends.  Plus, I would only trade 1 or 2 of them in for a girl or another couple (kidding, kidding!).

Looks like "My Boys" is returning this fall, until then, I like my own version.  :-)