I'm Not Technically in the City, But...

I've lived in this apartment for 14 months now and I just noticed that someone down the street has chickens. Just walking around their yard. And I was suprised by the corn patch down the street.

Wang wang

That's chinese for "woof". I wish Daisy understood more english. There are some things I would like to tell her:

• You are the cutest dog on earth
  
• Going for a walk does not mean we are going to follow your nose somewhere.


• You will never be a sled dog.


• You don't even like the cold weather.


• There is a weird thing on your eye right now, but it's getting better.


• The cats really aren't that impressed with your dog food. And even if they do eat it, I can give you more.


• We heard the knock at the door too.


• The food on any table is ours, actually any food that isn't on the floor is ours.


• I know they are fun to chase, but you will probably never catch a bird or a squirell.

• Whining does not accomplish anything, unless your goal was to annoy me.
• You're ticked
• My mom thinks you have more spots everytime she sees you
• I won't let Nick and Cristina shave you
• I don't really want to take your toy from you
• If it's raining outside, you really don't want to go out there and you will probably still make me get up, open the door for you, only to have you run out and run right back in without doing anything.
• We love you!

Another RV

I forgot one of our favorite RVs. The Fun Finder. We really like the 160. It has adequate space without being too large. We could fit a family in here, but moving space would be low.

While my car gets fixed I am renting a little Mazda 6. It's actually cute. I have never rented a car that you could say that about. I kind of like it and it's zippier than mine, but I'm having a hard time mastering only 2 pedals.

Parking Wars

Some wanker ran into my car in the parking garage while they were trying to get into the parking spot on my passenger side. It looks like they made contact with my car, decided it was no big deal and kept going until they got into the spot, saw the damage to my car, and reparked somewhere else. So I decided to call it in to my insurance company, which is really my dad's insurance policy. Turns out, I'm a little too old and married and independent and living in Virginia to still be on my family's insurance, so I had to get my own insurance. No big deal, I had to grow up at some point. Anyway, I moved Nick over to my new policy all by myself. I seriously think I feel more grown up now than I did when I bought my first house. Here are some pics of the damage:

So True

I saw this little blurb on Dooce today and it struck a chord with me. I'm not talking about the necklace, it's what she says about all the clothes at Forever 21 being so small. I've never been there, but the same is true at H&M. My first time there, I started trying on my size and ended up with one that fit 2 and 3 sizes up. Why do I want to buy something that makes me feel like a giant?

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Nick on his promotion.

Under Pressure

Ohmigosh! The stress is killing me. I don't think I ever stop thinking. I just can't shut my head up so I can do other things, like sleep. Now, I admit, waking up at 4 AM and not being able to go back to sleep isn't exactly insomnia, but it is very unusual for me. I could win a sleeping contest. It's just the amount of thoughts that were running through my head the whole time. It was all I could do to not get up and get my "Idea Notebook." The thoughts have gotten so bad I just have to write them down right away so that, hopefully, I can think about other things. It's just not working.

Yay! Fun Weekend

Nick and Cristina and I got together to visit some wineries. Bethany and Brandon met us at the first winery,
James River Cellars, not too far from Richmond. Here is a pic of us walking back to the car.



Then Brandon and Bethany went home and Nick and Cristina and I went to
Grayhaven Winery. They had these stools there and they sold warm baguettes with local goat cheese. So we stayed a while and drank some wine and ate some yummy food. Then we took more pictures.








We finally made it to Cooper Vineyards where they make a delicious chocolate wine called Noche. Seriously, you have to try this wine. It is so good. It was all we could do to make it home before we opened a bottle of it ourselves.

Happy Valentine's Day

So, it's Valentine's Day. I should probably talk about the love of my life, my wonderful husband Nick. I know I don't usually tell you how great he is, I'm just not like that. We both know and that's all that matters. So anyway, I'd like to tell you about the night we met. It wasn't romantic, but we look back at it now and ask, "How did we get here?" It was 1997, April 25th I believe. The theme of the night was "This Magic Moment," I think. It was my junior prom and Nick's senior prom. He took his girlfriend and I dragged my boyfriend who had already graduated. Later that night we both ended up partying in the same room at The Whitney. I don't remember talking to Nick much that night, us girls spent a lot of time on the balcony dancing to Madonna. I asked him the other day if he remembered that night, and he said he remembered the Madonna and how stupid he thought it was that we kept listening to it. So, our meeting was pretty uneventful. We really didn't see each other again until 1999, when we kissed at a party. Anyway, Nick had borrowed his mom's car to drive to the prom and later that night parked it in the parking lot of The Whitney. Turns out there was some kind of district conference at The Whitney that night. Someone recognized Nick's mom's car and told her that she hadn't seen her at the conference. Nick's mom hadn't been at the conference and in fact hadn't even had her car, so she figured out pretty quickly that Nick had stayed there. I'm sure he got into all kinds of trouble, but it was the first time I met my husband. I'm sure that now he thinks the grounding was worth it. Right Nick?

Probably the longest, ongoing argument in the Roberts' House

It was 2002. I was 22, lived in an apartment with my best friend, and later moved in with Nick. I had dropped out of college, but was waiting tables full-time to pay my bills. My little sister was 17, living at home and going to high school. My parents decided to go out of town for the weekend and left my sister at home. Afterall, she had never done anything wrong and would never follow in my foot steps. Well, it turns out that my sister had a party and drank all of my dad's special Canadian Club. I don't think I even stepped foot in their house that weekend. I mean, I had my own apartment to have parties in and my own liquor to drink. I don't even like whiskey, or really liquor.
I don't know when my dad finally noticed that his liquor was gone, but I certainly heard about it. That's right y'all. My dad blamed me for taking his liquor. I know that I shouldn't have cared, but when you've spent your entire childhood being in trouble for everything you can possibly imagine, you don't really want to be blamed for something you didn't do. Yay! First Born. Anyway, my sister would never admit to drinking the liquor and usually got really mad at me and demanded that I drop it. Uhm! Clue number one. Or really 4, because, clues 1-3 were the fact that I had my own apartment, my own income, and a dislike for whiskey. Anyway, this argument has gone on in my family for the last 6 years. Nick has sat through it at probably every Christmas dinner. I needed to be absolved.
This year for Christmas, my sister gave all of us the best gift ever. She bought my dad a bottle of Crown Royal with a note that said, "I drank your liqour." Finally. I think 5 minutes after I saw it she said, "ok, can we drop it now?"
I guess so.

The RV Show

So, Nick lived through another RV show. RV shows don't ever have the RVs that I like, tiny ones. So here are my favorites:

The Little Guy
The Little Guy tear drop trailer is my first love. It is small enough that I could probably pull it with my civic and we could park it in our carport. I love the outdoor kitchen space on the back. However, as Nick and I add more family members (don't get your hopes up, we're thinking of a second dog) this might not be the most practical. It only sleeps two, there is no bathroom, it would be hard to change clothes in and it might suck to be stuck in it during a rain storm, with your kitchen outside.

The Tada
I like this one because it is small and comes in cute colors. RVs can be pretty ugly and Tada made them a little cuter. Three drawbacks: Maybe not enough room for kids, a cassette toilet, and the interior is a bit cheesey.

The Tab
The Tab is made by the same people that make the Tada. It also comes in cute colors. It has a lot of floorplans to chose from, but no bathroom. It also doesn't really have room for kids, but would fit us plus 2 dogs.

Casita
Nick and I considered a Casita for a while. It does have a shower and would fit one extra person. We've just never been in one.

The Aliner
I like these. They fold down so they are easier to tow, but Nick and I went in some at the RV show and I don't think it will work. It doesn't have a bathroom and it's a little tight.

The Chalet
A lot like the Aliner.

Pop Up Campers
I love pop-ups. I saw some at the show that were huge, but I can't remember the brand. Pop-ups are easy to tow, they are light, they have bathrooms, they have space, but they also don't have hard walls. It would be nice to camp even when it's really hot or cold outside. I'm sure AC doesn't sound like camping to some folks, but I don't live in the mountains and you are a little closer to nature than you would be in a hotel. Whatever floats your boat right.

And finally, Nick and picked our RV at the show.
Airstream
These are just so stylish. It was the first RV we actually felt like being in. It was the only RV we sat in and talked about how cozy it was. These do come in small sizes, but we were thinking that room to grow might be nice. Also, these are very expensive, so we can't even consider buying it for the next 10 years and we probably can't park it in our carport.

We Got the House!

I won't put up pictures of it yet, since we won't be closing until May. That is so, so far away, but our lease isn't up until July. It is the most adorable house. It was built in 1950 and is a brick cape cod. It is 3 miles from my job and school. I already started a notebook of house ideas. I can't wait.

I'm a huge dork. I am going to have so much fun this weekend at this. Please don't make fun of me. I've had it on my calendar since last April.

Homeownership Round 1

Offer. Counter-offer.

Happy Birthday!!!

You know who you are!

I saw this over on Vintage Journalizations and I thought it looked fun. So, I went straight home and tried it. My list came out almost perfectly. I've been carrying the list around in my appointment book until I had time to post it. I don't really have time now, but there is 10 minutes before my lunch is ready to pick up.

These were the rules:
1. Open your library. (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle.
3. Press play.
4. For every question, type the song that's playing.
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button.
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool.

• Opening Credits: Gordon's Message, Violent Femmes. This isn't a song, just an answering machine message that Gordon left telling the band that his cat locked him in the house. That is how my movie would start, with Spidey doing me in.
• Waking Up: Flesh and Blood, Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson
• First Day at School: Oppression, Ben Harper. Fitting for all of us, I guess.
• Falling in Love: The Wonder of You, Elvis Presley. Of course this is how my husband and I feel about each other. "You're always there to lend a hand in everything you do."
• Fight Song: Day Tripper, The Beatles. Kristin had this one for First Day of School and quoted the same line, "Gotta good reason for taking the easy way out." I think it's fitting.
• Breaking Up: Crazy, Willie Nelson. Yeah, you'd have to be crazy to break up with me.
• Prom: Crazy, Gnarls Barkley. "Does that make me crazy?" Well, going to all 4 years worth was crazy.
• Life: Minarets, DMB. Never heard it, it's my husband's, as much as I love a good violin, I have never liked Dave Matthew's Band. Sorry.
• Mental Breakdown: Upside Down, Diana Ross and The Supremes. Yup.
• Driving: Strawberry Fields, Beatles. "Strawberry fields forever" That would be nice.
• Flashback: Viva Las Vegas, Shawn Colvin. Wow, that one is good. My grandparents retired in Las Vegas so they could golf year-round. This was my grandfather's favorite version of Viva Las Vegas. While he was dying he listened to it over and over again.
• Getting Back Together: La Di Da Di, Slick Rick and Doug E. Fresh.
• Wedding: Diamonds from Sierra Leone, Kanye West. How ironic, we made sure not to buy blood diamonds. That was my one request.
• Birth of A Child: Don't Get Mad, Get Even. Aerosmith. Ouch! Karma
• Final Battle: Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthin to F' wit, Wu-Tang Clan. You get the gist of the song.
• Death Scene: My Name is Mud, Primus. "My name is mud, not to be confused with Billy, Jack, Pete, or Dennis. My name is Mud, it's always been." I couldn't have made this up if I tried.
• Funeral Song: Two of A Kind, Garth Brooks. What a sad funeral song.
• End Credits: I want to be Your Lady Baby, INOJ.