Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Ants in Your Pants

OR...in your house? I think I'd take the pants.

Since we've moved in (just six months ago), we've had an issue with ants. Big and small.

It started in our pantry - left side only, covered in small ants, a line of em' starting at our hot water heater. Came home one day to find them all in our food - cereal, wheat thins, pancake mix, etc. So we transferred everything to on top of the washer and dryer, laid out ant bait traps, and watched them die. Problem solved!

Oh how I wish.

Next up...big, fat ants on our porch. Leave the door open for a minute, and they were in the house. Husband buys a spray, spends all day outside spraying our foundation. Problem solved! (With the big ants, I think it actually is!)

Back to small ants. Come home one day to find a trail coming from just below our kitchen windown, down through the kitchen sink, and into the dishwasher. Nice. Put out more ant baits, and they eventually go away (although I don't see any die...hmm, I'm thinking).

Saturday was a busy day. Lots to do. So I don't have time for.....ALL the freakin' ants in our PANTRY AGAIN!! This time...both sides - along with the cereal and crackers, let's add flour, sugar, spices, etc. This is what our home currently looks like until we FINALLY call a pest control person...
This is what it took to convince my
husband that we need pest control!!

In other news...We finally got to watch the rest of Grey's last night...oh my goodness! Best one yet (except for husband making fun of me as I was sobbing throughout the entire episode).

And, this past Sunday, in his final game coaching soccer (for now), J's little team WON 1st in the tournament! Aren't they adorable with holding up their medals?!

Monday, May 24, 2010

bone to pick


Picture this:

Last night, after a super fun, but exhausting weekend, J and I decide to bunker in and watch the Grey's finale (no, we're not Lost fans...crazy, I know) before heading off to bed.

I go to our DVR section, choose the episode, and we get going. (Probably should mention that on Friday I checked to make sure the recording lasted all two hours of the finale. It showed 120 minutes of recording, so all was well.)

If you don't watch Grey's, or haven't seen the finale yet...it might just be the best episode yet, possibly even better and more suspenseful than the one where Meredith has her hand in someone's chest holding a bomb.

I laugh. I cry. I am holding Jamie's arm with a death grip while there is a shooter loose in Seattle Grace.

Then, just before he's about to shoot one of the main characters...........the recording stops. At 1:05. Not 2:00 like it said before.

WHAT?!?!?!

We try everything we can think of, and nothing works. I know this isn't the end of the world...it's just tv. But I am attached to these characters...and sitting on the edge of my seat waiting to see what will happen!! (You watch the above trailer and tell me you aren't wanting to know!)

And in that moment, I'm afraid that my anger at Comcast got the best of me. Yes, Comcast, you sure did tick me off last night. (Watching it online wasn't an option for us as we currently don't have a home computer.) I've never been too picky when it comes to my cable provider. UNTIL...we moved into the condo and got AT&T U-Verse. It was amazing. There was plenty of space for recordings. Easy to navigate. It NEVER cut off anything. A plethora of channels to choose from.

It pretty much thought for you. And I became a huge fan.

When we moved into the new house, we tried to sign up, and were informed that U-Verse hadn't made it to our area yet. Dang. But no biggie...we go with Comcast. Well, since then, there has been episode after episode (no pun intended) of frustration. We've had friends go through frustrating stints with Comcast. And last night was the last straw for me.

So, what does that mean. Probably nothing, for now. I'll get over it. J and I will head to a friend's tonight to catch the end of the episode. I'll survive. BUT...as soon as U-Verse gets to our area, Comcast will be losing a customer.

Friday, May 21, 2010

celebratin'

Speaking of the family I love...tonight and tomorrow we'll be celebrating this fabulous girl! My favorite sister-in-law ever...turning the big 2-4 :)

Country Come to Town

[I'm sure you're probably sick of seeing my life in pictures, but our latest adventures require a visual for the full effect.]

If you've ever met my family, only for a brief encounter, you'd probably say that we're the typical southern, medium-sized town (I hesitate to call it small), country club folk. I'm just going off what I hear and know, but that's probably the truth. And I hope you'd say we're nice and pleasant to be around! What you might not realize is that there are many different personalities to my family. Sure, we can behave ourselves at the nicest of all events. But, we are also laid back, loud, and all over the place. One type that comes out every so often, that you probably wouldn't expect, comes from my dad's side of the family.

Country.

I'm talking raised on a farm, milking cows at the crack of dawn, growing vegetables in the back yard (not the hippy, granola gardens that are all the rage right now), ridin' horses, pulling a tractor, racin' boats...kind of country.

A trip to Orlando, FL for my cousin's wedding just happened to be a great time to bring out the country (dare I say redneck) in us all.

1 - We thought a road trip would be super fun! (Ok - might have been totally my idea...but they fell for it.) In order for the 6 of us who tagged along to fit comfortably, along with our luggage, dad rented this -
Twelve passenger van (minus Sue, photographer,
plus cousin Rett, whose house we met up at in Macon,
but didn't actually join us for the trip.)

Of course we realized this could appear a little tacky/country of us, but whatever. Well, the story gets even more redneck.

2 - About two hours into our drive to Orlando (from Macon), the ride started getting a little bumpy. Then, it got bumpier. And bumpier. And then the side door would pop out of its lock and start shaking pretty crazily and loud. So Jamie would have to open it, while we'd slow down to 50mph on the highway. And it would pop out again. We laughed about it for a while. Until it got a little scary. (Video below...kinda scary in itself with Jamie as the videographer, but you get the point. If you don't get sick first.)


3 - So dad calls the rental car company, and there's not much they can do. But point us to a Walmart a few exits down. We pull off, realize that we are going to have to wait at least an hour, but have one guy take a look at the back tire and tell us it's a good thing we didn't go any further, as it was about to pop (great). We're all a little frustrated, considering that we had pretty much timed it perfectly to get to the rehearsal dinner. And now we're going to be late, if we make it at all.

But, one of the things I love about my family is that we'll get frustrated in a situation like this. And then we'll get over it and make the best. As you can see below.
We pranced ourselves into Walmart, got a few beverages of choice, saw some of the most interesting outfits shopping around (e.g. a bikini!), and headed outside to wait on the car and hang out. In the parking lot was one of those little motorized shopping carts, so RA decided to take it for a spin.

4 - Another 3 hours later, we finally made it to Orlando. We pulled our 12 passenger van into Isleworth (yep, that's where the bride's mother and step-father live), got asked if we were catering the event, pulled up to the valet parking folks at the English's home, spared them the opportunity to valet the van (dad parked it himself), and headed in to the tail-end of the party. Oh...and this is what we drove up to. in. a. van.

5 - The rest of the weekend was a blast. We did get asked if we were from Alabama, which was pretty funny. (No offense to my Alabama friends, but you know.)

And here are a few snapshots...
If we can't behave ourselves, at least we know how to dress??



Too cute not to share

Is it tacky to take a picture of the BEST wedding food you've ever had?
Yes. But I did it anyway. Amazing.

Love this photo

Proof that, occasionally, we can dress up pretty well

Have I mentioned how much I love my family?!

Monday, May 17, 2010

The rest of Cali

This is the last bit, but I did want to share some photos from two of my favorite parts of the trip - our anniversary, and the home we were so graciously gifted to vacate to!

Hot air balloon ride, early on the morning of the 25th.
A gift from my boss and co-workers.


The views were breathtaking.

Napa Valley below


Perfect memory and start to our first anniversary.

Followed by a champagne brunch.

After a restful afternoon (and a nice long nap!),
we had a fabulous dinner by Sarah, the chef and
property manager at Applewood.

End of a great day!

And here are a few shots of Applewood. Again, we were super blessed and grateful that our dear friends, Robin and Chris would offer us such an amazing vacation spot!

Boys playing bocce in the front yard.

Another shot of my favorite spot.

The vegetable/herb garden.



The playground (for kids in the foreground, and for
adults in the back (aka basketball court)).

The back yard.




One of the hot tubs, which we visited every day.

One of the many cozy outdoor nooks.


The end.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Cali #2

Mid-way through our trip, we picked up Luke, Courtney, and precious Jolene (3 months old!!). Luke is Jamie's best friend from Texas, and the friend he's known the longest. I didn't get to meet the Bourlon family until our wedding, and since then we've met up twice — both times in California! They are the perfect travel buddies for us — laid back, flexible, and fun.

After picking them up from the airport, we decided we'd spend the day in San Francisco. While headed to Fisherman's Wharf, we drove past the AT&T Park where the Giants play. Turns out, there was a game starting 30 minutes from then, so we bought tickets and went!
Then we drove all around the city, and found Lombard Street (America's crookedest street).

Lastly, I decided we should try our luck and drive by Robin and Chris' (the friends who own Applewood) San Francisco home. Turns out, friends Will and Juan were staying in the SF home, so we got to take a look around. I did get some photos of us from their balcony...such an amazing view!

Absolutely breathtaking, and the rest of the house is just as beautiful. The last time I was out here, they were under construction, so I was grateful to get to see the final product!

Our next few days were pretty laid back. We headed to some local wineries (with sweet Joley in tow!). The smaller, local spots were fun to visit. The wine was great and they had more of a home-y feel.
We even ended up playing Bocce with the owner of one of the vineyards, and his daughter.
We decided for one more trip to the coast, and it was recommended that we visit WildFlour on our way. And it might just have been the best recommendation we got. This place was amazing!

We got the savory
They got the sweet.
Both were equally delicious.


The herb garden on WildFlour's property

Then we ended our last day with one more dip in the hot tub. And a super delicious meal at Underwood Bar & Bistro in Graton (no pictures tho!).
A few quick pictures before leaving...
Joley and her daddy on the swing

J and I on under the pergola

The Bourlon family

We passed this house pretty much every day, and
thought it reminded us of a Pixar movie!
Situated on top of the hill.

One last snap of the Golden Gate Bridge