Turkey and Stuffing and So Much to be Thankful For....

So I totally lost track of time with the Thanksgiving holiday last week (I can't even believe that Thanksgiving has already come and gone!) O and I hosted the family at our house which meant I got to cook the Turkey and make the homemade stuffing to go along with it. I have done this before so not totally a huge deal and lucky for me I have the best Mom in the world who made some of the sides to bring over so I didn't have to make the whole thing by myself. Have I mentioned how much I love our family? Anyways Thanksgiving went off without a hitch and everything turned out wonderful, we ate we drank and stuffed ourselves silly. O filmed some of the prep making the dinner, he was inspired by the Podcast Epic Meal Time. If you have never watched these guys, do it! It's Jackass for the kitchen and is not for those with weak stomachs. Trust me you will laugh yourself silly watching these guys.

So Thanksgiving Day came and went and I hope you all had a wonderful one full of family and friends and love. I don't believe in Black Friday so I wasn't out there with the masses late Thursday night (I was enjoying my family) or at the butt crack of dawn either. I had to work Friday and so did O. I knew eww and ugghh but lots of people do it and since I work for the Man as in Uncle Sam, everyone else is pretty much gone so I relish the silence and enjoy it to the fullest. I also simultaneously lose my mind and almost collapse from boredom. I really think we should just get the day after Thanksgiving off but who am I to say. I think next year I will take it off just to see what its like :-) Back to not believing in Black Friday and nothing against any of you who participate but seriously ugggh! It makes me insane and I can buy the same thing online for the same price and not get pepper sprayed in my face so some lady can get an Xbox. I will now nicely get off my high horse before I go on a rant, and in case you want to know my horse's name is Spirit or Swift Wind because he is the same just depends. (If you know what amazing cartoon this horse is from you get 500 extra points).

O and I got started on our Christmas decorating and got the tree up which then the cats happily claimed as theirs. I am actually quite proud of them this year as of yet they haven't tried to climb the tree or use the ornaments as balls. And here they are Ninja and Sirius Black in their new favorite nap spot.

So the Holiday season is gearing up to be in full swing and O and I are so excited to be celebrating our first "married" Christmas together. So bring on the cups of Christmas Cheer and house covered in lights. Hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday!

Because I Can

In the beginning of October O and I went to see Ben Harper in concert at the 9:30 club. I have been having a love affair with Ben Harper's music since I was 15, seriously if you don't listen to him you should and if you ever get to see him in concert DO IT. This isn't about Ben though.

The opening act was a singer by the name of Grace Woodroofe and she is in a word amazing. Seriously I love her voice and have been listening to her album on repeat today. Sorry my friends here in the good old USA but we can't get her album here yet, she is an Australian singer and I only got it because I purchased the album at the concert. It should be here in 2012 so keep an eye out and get it, I mean it your ears will thank you later. I love this song, but my favorites are Bear and Transformer.

Since I am on a music kick Zac Brown Band is a great group to see live too and put on an awesome show! O and I were lucky enough to see them twice this year and get a chance to meet them too - I also thank Zac Brown Band for turning O into a country music fan.



And just because I can here is Straight No Chaser from last week in Richmond (told you easy on the eyes and you should hear them sing!)

O and I have such a diverse taste in music seriously between the two of us I don't think there is anything we don't like, This post is totally random but I'll close with a memory from one of our first dates -- I am feeling rather nostalgic today. O took me to see George Clinton Parliament Funkadelic. O thought I would have no clue about the music and I totally opened his eyes to a whole other side of myself. As he said I danced circles around him all night long and I know he loved every minute. I got a hot pink t-shirt from this concert and I love wearing it to work-- just because people always look at me funny when I do.
O may not know it but that night is one of my favorite memories that I will carry with me forever.

Virginia is for Wine Lovers...

It's no big secret I love wine, and truth be told I love beer too almost just as much, depending on my mood. But wine I love wine, I could drink it everyday and I think maybe I should start. For anyone who hasn't tasted Virginia wine I have to tell you that you are missing out. BIG TIME. I have a few favorites and made my way to the Smith Mountain Lake Wine Festival at the end of September and loved having to the chance to taste wines from wineries in Central and South Western VA. Most of the festivals here focus on Northern VA wineries and while I do love them it was a nice and appreciated change.

We went to one of my favorite wineries this past Saturday Unicorn Winery (about an hour west of where we live) with K and her boyfriend C. We had a blast and could not have asked for a more perfect fall day to enjoy a tasting and then a glass (or 4 or 5) by the lake there. I had never been but have gone by their booth at various wine festivals and I do buy their wine from a local place (Old Dominion Wine Shop in Occoquan) where they sell Virginia wines. My favorite is the Traminette and Slightly Embarassed. We spent the day relaxing eating and drinking, I mean what else do you need for a perfect day!

Check out Unicorn Winery's website http://www.unicornwinery.com/ and definitely do the text so you can save 25% off your next purchase and then bring me a bottle (that's my finders fee but I promise to share).

So if you're ever in the area or need a cool place for a day trip check out a Virginia winery and I promise you won't be disappointed! I have lots of suggestions so feel free to ask anytime and of course I am always happy to tag along! Cheers! J

Time Flies....

On November 10th O and I were married for 2 months and I don't know where the time went, it still feels like we just got married yesterday. We celebrated with a quiet night at home just being together (and lucky for us Friday was a holiday so neither of us had work the next day! Double Thank You Veterans!) I surprised O and made him one of his favorites carrot cake! I use one box of moist cake mix and a cup of applesauce and a cup of water and bake at 350 for the specified amount of time on the box....and voila moist and delicious and a little bit better for you cake (note:  I don't like icing so I usually do not out it on my cakes and cupcakes)! I got the recipe from Hungry Girl and if you have never tried any of her recipes -- you are missing out here is the link for some of her cake recipes http://www.hungry-girl.com/newsletters/raw/1543 I have used pumpkin before and it is awesome too especially with spice cake and to make chocolate brownies. Of course O had to get his fantasy football set up before the game too and Ninja decided to help!

Friday which felt more like Saturday I went to get pampered with a mani pedi which gave O time to play Call Of Duty uninterrupted. We decided to go shopping and grab lunch when I got back, while O was getting his shoes on I noticed the cake (of which we each had a piece of the night before) and it looked like this:

Hope everyone had a wonderful long weekend too! I can't believe two months has already flown by so fast!

The Fast and The Furious

This post has nothing to do with cars, Vin Diesel or Paul Walker and won't have like 6 sequels to it either. This is just a quick post to say hello. Things have been pretty busy this week with work and I have had a headache since Monday but am so excited for Wednesday. Why do you ask? Well because its Straight No Chaser Wednesday. I am heading to Richmond this afternoon to see the guys perform and if you have never had the pleasure well you are missing out. They are amazing and never disappoint!

An added bonus I get to see one of my best friends Pocahontas who will be joining us since O has to get up way to early tomorrow to make the trip. O gets to babysit our friends two daughters tonight instead ((insert evil laugh here)) I laugh because O thinks kids are easy, but has never really babysat or watched them all on his own. He loves kids and I know he will have fun and so will they but I hope this opens his eyes just a little.

Nothing else much going on here been working and doing laundry and going to bed early, I think maybe the time change messed me up a little too, who knows. O signed up for gamefly today with the promise he will never buy another video game again, I am interested to see how this works out but I am hoping it means I don't have to go into another Game Stop again.

Well this was a fast and a furious post although mostly fast. I am super excited to see my SNC boys tonight not only for their awesome melodies but because they sure are easy on the eyes too. Here see for yourself and hope you enjoy! Cheers! J

This one is about Poo

Why are women the most disgusting people I know? I mean seriously, how did you get that there in the bathroom? BARF. I work in a "professional" atmosphere, and I say that with air quotes, you see because while I may work for Uncle Sam with supposedly educated people who are mostly older than me (I am the youngest in my area by 10 years and I'm 29) they have a tendency to behave like middle school children but I digress as that is a story for another time and place, this post is about the women's bathroom.

I expect a certain level of nastiness in public restrooms especially bars and places where people have been drinking. Here at my fine government workplace though I feel as though I should be wearing a hazmat suit when I enter the bathroom. I mean how do you get poo there? Its like certain people enjoying destroying the bathroom with their bowels so much that I am convinced it has to take extra effort to do so or perhaps someone really needs to see a Dr. I mean I get things where they need to be and it really doesn't require any special talent that I know of. And why don't you flush! I understand we all have what I like to call "bathroom emergencies" but lady I don't want to nor need to see yours and I am pretty sure you didn't even wipe so I hope I don't get on the elevator with you later.

I have worked with kids and at a daycare and this place has it beat  and kids finger painted with their poo there. And truthfully I swear one day someone made their own artwork on the stall door here. I won't even get started on other lady products that are used and are disposed of on the floor. I feel as though the next training class here should be how to use the bathroom properly instead of saving for retirement.

I would hate to see what these women's bathrooms look like at home and I feel bad for their families. Or perhaps they are drunk at work (I am pretty sure some people here are drunk most of the time) Maybe even they are rebelling but really do I need to suffer? Go picket outside the White House or join Occupy Washington or something else to getting your rebel juices going but please for the sake of my gag reflex don't let them go on the floor of the ladies room.


So please lady keep it in the bowl and flush. And next time please don't announce to the others in the bathroom that you feel "10 pounds lighter" because I really don't care or let out an exclamation such as "Oh My!" we all heard it and are thinking the same thing and trying to escape we don't need any commentary on your sound effects. Everybody poops, I know I just don't like to see it on the floor.

For the record this is J...as far as I know O doesn't frequent the ladies room at work.

Weekend Recap

This weekend was pretty busy in good and not so good ways but I feel positive so I'll skip all the not so fun stuff. Ever since we got married O and I have been nonstop busy, every weekend since we returned from our honeymoon has pretty much been jam packed. Now its not like we haven't been having fun going to wine festivals, celebrating the return of our cousin making it safely home from Afghanistan after a year long deployment, friends birthdays and various other celebrations. And of course we moved on October 1st and finally got the last box unpacked and out of the house last Wednesday.(yay!) Now we are trying to figure out where to hang our art and pictures etc. Oh and did I mention we bought new furniture (double yay!) I am in love with our new bed and bedroom set. We went from a 867 sq. foot apartment to a 2,000 sq. foot townhouse so we had some rooms that at least needed a place for people to sit, ummm like the living room. Pictures to come soon once everything is finished promise. Anyways this weekend was on where we finally got to stay home for the most part.

We started off Friday making our own pizza. O had never made his own pizza before which was kind of a shock to me. I mean really who gets to be 30 and has never made your own pizza. Anyways it turned out awesome and we both got to put our toppings on our respective sides (I love black olives). O is super excited and cant wait to do it again and try out different toppings. I'm hoping it doesn't turn out like some of his omelet creations, like the time he made a pad thai omelet (yep you read it right). But hey at least he is cooking! (it is seriously a step up from when we started dating and he used to make what he called slop). We laid back and caught up on American Horror Story a show that seriously everyone should watch, and had a bottle of wine. Could not have asked for a better Friday night.

Saturday we relaxed and ran some errands and went shopping at O's request and yes I do know I am the luckiest woman alive. I even got a new pair of sunglasses out of it along with picking out O some nice shirts. We went out and celebrated a friends birthday and had a blast. I love pumpkin beer and Capital City Brewery has a great one!

Sunday was a bummer but wont get into that but just to say we were helping a friend we consider to be a sister and it was rough but I am glad we were there to help her through it and things are good now!

That's a little round up from our weekend! Hope you all had a great one too!

Everyone Has a First

And this is mine! Im J and just popped by blogging cherry. Being a hardcore blog reader, I follow about a bazillion I decided that perhaps I should contribute as well. I mean people are sure to want to read about my husbands and I's adventures or awesome night sitting at home eating pizza and watching old Kung-Fu movies (well that would be his choice if he had one). I mean people post the just about anything and everything now, why can't I?

Seriously though, we both will be posting (well most likely mostly me) and sharing our Rants and Loves and favorites and our adventures as newlyweds. We just got married September 10, 2011 or 9.10.11 as O will tell most people. At an old haunted mansion in Occoquan, VA. I love ghosts by they way, I just don't want to meet any. If anything we will have a nice journal to remember our years together with and will be able to keep friends and family that we have sprinkled over the globe up to date and perhaps keep you awake for those 5 minutes it takes you to read this and you are nodding off at your desk at work.

So thank you for being the first, I promise to be exciting (or as much as I can be). Will also post pictures soon as well. Here's to hoping that we keep up with this like our plan is to do.

Cheers!
OandJ