Saturday, July 31, 2010

The Long Ride Home

After the beach week and Flash's week with his buddies, he was SO sleepy. He hasn't woken up since we got back. He's out cold. He even fell asleep sitting up!
Both of my boys were pooped!
Naturally since Flash was playing all week, we gave him a bath. Doris gave him a bath before he left but he got messy and played again. As you can see, the little man can't even hold his eyes open in the bathtub.

Flashy Goes to Boxerland

While we were at the beach, Jason and I had to leave Flash for a week, which was really hard. He's still a little man and we have never left him before. Luckily, my dad's cousin lives in Roanoke, on the way to the beach. They have 3 show Boxers and an awesome place for the dogs where they basically have free run and lots of property to run around on. It was much easier to leave him knowing he would have some friends. Flash got along so well with the other dogs and had a blast. They had Flash basically boundary trained on all of their land and answering to a fog horn by the time we got back! They said he was so good. I also think Flash may have gotten a little spoiled because I hear that he got to eat steak, elk, and hamburger...AND got a bath in a Jacuzzi tub!!
Surfie...Flash's big boy playmate.
Flash and Ruby. They stayed together most of the weekend and were the best of friends.
Cute little Ruby. Doris and Kerry have some friends who just had new boxer puppies. These puppies are some of Flash's cousins because they use the same bloodline as the breeder we got Flash from. We got to go visit the little pups. They were only 5 weeks old and sooooo cute!
I mean...isn't that little face precious!

Wine Pairing Dinner at the Beach

My cousin Suzy and I both love cooking and coming up with new recipes. So...during our week at the beach we decided to make one night a wine pairing night. We made a 4 course meal paired with 4 different wines for everyone. It was a great success and it was a blast.
We made hummus and a Mediterranean plate, and a cheese plate with dips and several kinds of gourmet cheese and french bread for appetizers. We made 5 different kinds of gourmet pizzas, like Spanish chorizo and shrimp with smoked cheese, Steak with paprika butter and Gorgonzola reduction and a smoked gouda mac n' cheese, and a chocolate fondue, fruit, and a chocolate sampler with bizarre chocolates like chili pepper chocolate and salt and pepper chocolate. Each course was paired with a different wine to compliment the food.
Suzy's boyfriend, Tommy was nice enough to be our photographer for the evening to get pictures of the action.
Suzy and me cooking up a storm.

Myrtle Beach

This week we went on our usual family vacation to Myrtle Beach, SC. We stayed in a different place than we usually do, and it was very nice. We had a very uneventful, relaxing vacation.
Hanging out under the tent. It was 105 degrees, so we were enjoying the shade.
Jason and I on the beach.
At the end of the week we always have a surf n' turf steak, crab, and shrimp feast. It is always AWESOME!
The view from our room.
Beautiful sunrise!

Wilmington Beach Weekend

This past weekend my college friends and I all got together for a little reunion. My college roomie Erin has been living in Germany for 2 years and is finally home. We haven't all gotten together since our wedding in June, and let's be honest, I didn't really see anyone that weekend. We were glad to have Erin back in the states, and it was so good to see everyone. Unfortunately Jason wasn't able to go with us because he couldn't get off work. He was greatly missed!!!! However, I think Jason was glad to have a weekend at home. I'm not sure when my last weekend home was or will be!!!!! In our second year of marriage I think Jason and I will slow down a little and actually stay at home for once.
Erin's aunt has a beach house in Wrightsville Beach, NC. They have a fabulous boat that we got to drive around the island.
Erin, Mike, and Tones
The beach house.
I know what you're thinking...it's a rough life!!! However, someones gotta do it! We floated around on tubes all day!

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

My Crazy New Room

I finally got over to my new school in Lisbon last week. WOW did I have some stuff to go through! The man who retired was SO awesome and left everything for me. However, this meant that I had 36 years worth of teaching materials, music, and instruments to go through. I will probably be spending several days over there before the year starts.
I have 30 HUGE African Tubano drums....So excited!!!!
Although my room is still a mess I made some progress. Hopefully I will have it organized and ready to go soon.

More Projects

Since I am at home in the summer I have all day to look at parts of the house that need fixing or decorating. Our main floor bathroom was super boring so I decided to paint and do something a little different.
Boring before picture.
Prepping for stripes.
All finished!!!!
Since the bathroom is so small it is difficult to see what it actually looks like. Jason and I were both very happy with it and it's a little more exciting than it was before.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

4th of July

For the fourth of July, Jason and I went to Berlin, MD on the Eastern Shore to stay at our friends beach house with another couple. Although it was super crowded, we had a great time. We made dinner and had drinks on the deck, went to the pool, the beach, and also got in a round of golf.
Out little world traveler. Now that we have a larger car where Flash can spread out in the back, he refuses to ride in the back. We put him back there and we had the front blocked by coolers, suitcases, and golf clubs. Little Houdini managed to find his way through, and squeeze through the door and the front seat and ended up in my lap anyway. So much for our plan.
Flash...patriotic and ready to party.
Our friends Wendy and Carl have a Boston Bulldog mix named Bentley, who was a great playmate for Flash. They got along so well and they played all day.
The view from the pool at the Yacht Club.
The guys!
The girls!!!!
Picture of the SUPER crowded beach. This was at 9am....and this was the "less crowded part" of Ocean City!!!