I made it on TV!

I made it on TV!

Watch the video - and, at 1:33, you'll see my blog name scroll down the screen!

That's Fort Cox, in case you're a newbie around here.






So, being a total nerdy blogger and rushing like a madwoman to put my blog name on Mr. Linky @ MyCharmingKids does pay off. Yep.

the mystery of Virginia.

The Mystery of Virginia: Part I

We bought a GPS right before we moved to Virginia. To help us get around and things. You know. Well, for the most part, it's done its job. But when we're in search of a place we really want to go, something happens.

We find the exact address, plug it in, and we set off for our destination. All is well until it leads us straight into a neighborhood and announces, "Arriving at ______."

Hold up just a sec. It's a neighborhood. How in blasted stars is a pet boutique, Mexican restaurant, or store located in a neighborhood!?

It's happened again and again and again. Just yesterday, it took us to a fancy schmancy cobblestone-paved neighborhood.

It really stinks, because sometimes we get our little hearts set on a specific store, only to find that the Smiths live there. And yesterday, we were so set for Maggie Wags Dog Boutique. When it led us to a neighborhood, Mark decided to call their phone number.

A dude answered.
He said that multiple people call his house looking for multiple businesses.
He had no idea why people keep getting his number.

Bummer.

We still have yet to find a good dog store (except for Petco). Virginia is very weird.

Tune in next week for another spicy round of "The Mystery of Virginia."

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Last night was cold, we crawled in bed,
but not in our room that's been painted red.
Watched "How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days"
At the foot of our bed is where Piper lays.
We laughed and we laughed, Kate Hudson is great
The movie kept Piper up really late.
The credits played, and we heard a gag
We sprung up real fast - and oh, what a drag
Piper threw up on our blanket, it's true
We held her close - we didn't know what to do
She seemed really sleepy, and we started to fret
It stunk, and our blanket was totally wet.
But she came around and started to play
She wouldn't let sickness get in her way!
We love our little dog; Mark's little princess
We laid in bed while Mark cleaned up the mess.

True story.

C: the Cellist.

Mary had a

little lamb

little lamb
little lamb

Mary had a little lamb

C played it pizzicato.

pictures!

Okay, I swear that real, large, fine-quality pictures are coming. After our furniture arrives. And after everything is set up. Until then, I'm posting mobile uploads. Mostly for my parents, since they're dying to see where I'm living. This one's for you, mom&dad:

Our newly-painted bedroom.

Piper's new bed! Adorable, right!?

Um, our really messy spare bedroom.
Don't freak out, mom.

Our bathroom stand that holds shampoos, hair stuff, etc.

Pink bathroom. Yay..

Our kitchen.
See my Martha Stewart flour sack towel!?
It's my favorite part of our kitchen.

Other side of our kitchen.
All the stuff on the fridge are pictures of
Clayton, Mark & me at Chuck E. Cheese!

Our terribly white hallway..

Stairwell.
Our stairs are in 3 sections. Up, turn, go up more, turn, go up more.

Dining room

View from our living & dining room.

Bookshelf again

Living room with Mark

"Laundry room"
aka our kitchen.
See our little laundry cart? Yep.

There you have it, folks. I'll post more on Monday. Maybe. I don't know what time the movers will come, but hopefully in the morning! Today we went grocery shopping at the commissary, and there were so many people. It was insane. We spent a ton of money, and somehow our refrigerator is still very empty.

I think we will take Piper to the beach. It's turned cold here, and it's given me a sore throat. Seriously!! It oddly turns really cold really fast here. I know that Kentucky had some wild weather, but so does Virginia! I am ready for sweater/pant season. I also think that I want a Snuggie.


Today Clayton scored 3 goals and assisted his teammate in scoring another goal. I called him after the game, and he told me, "I scored three goals for you." What a sweetheart. He told me, on his own, that he missed me and loved me. I am sooo counting down the days until we're together again! There is a live creature kid museum in Norfolk. I believe it's calling Clayton's name. If you're from this area, or you've been here, can you suggest other places to take my 4-year old nephew? He is easy to please :)


What are you up to this weekend!?

Piper turns 15wks and more about our home. Shocking.

Our pup is now one day shy of 15 weeks old.

She can now: sit on command, stay (when we give her a treat, we place it on the floor and ask her to stay until we allow her to get it), and she now 100% of the time uses her Poochie Bell!

Well, what the fudge is a Poochie Bell? It's a contraption that hangs from our back door around our door knob. It reaches down about a foot from our floor - and it has four bells attached. We ordered ours in an adorable pink & green striped pattern. When Piper needs to go potty, she walks up to it and nudges it with her nose/paws. It literally only took us about 2 days to get her totally trained to use it. We love it! It eliminates barking by the door. At my old house, she would stand at the door and assume you saw her. If you didn't catch her by the door in time, she would pee on the hardwood. Now she just rings the bell! What a sinch.

We have a ginormous Petco in Hampton. It's amazing, and it puts our old Petco to shame. Tonight we got her a little doggy bed - so we'll see how it goes.

Piper loves many things in life, including (but not limited to): empty water bottles, her stuffed raccoon, treats that taste like cheese and beef, her Kong passy, and snuggling with us like crazy.

Her new-found hate in life is a Swiffer. She hates it. When Mark busts it out to clean our floors, she goes crazy and barks her head off. According to friends, their dogs hates Swiffers too. I wonder if the creator of the Swiffer knows that dogs hate their products.

Our home is coming together very quickly. On Monday, the cable & internet man comes to install everything (thankfully!). Our washer & dryer came today, so we are washing many loads of laundry. We only have one more coat of Posh Red to do, and then our bedroom walls will be complete.




Mark assembled our bookcase today. So far, it only holds pictures. But soon it will be full of much more!

We can now get to Target from our house without the use of a GPS. And by "we" I mean that Mark can drive there while I sit in the passenger seat and watch.

One of the walls in our living room is made out of the same concrete blocks that we had in public school. You know - the rectangle ones that are painted white. Attractive, right? We chose not to paint it . Someday I'll be brave and upload pictures. Maybe tomorrow.

I had a good birthday. For lunch, we went to the MacArthur Center, where they sadly did not have a Gap. We ate at Chilis, and I had a grilled chicken sandwich. I discovered an adorable baby store that sells many products that I've had my eye on. We found a bargain-priced candle from Kirklands that smells like Pumpkin Cookies. It was $6.

Tonight we went to KFC to get a little taste of home. We also headed back to Target, our trusty store, and got more supplies for our home (shocking). I have a feeling that we need to invest in Target stocks, because I'm sure that we (alone) are keeping Target above water in this recession.

Mark is walking around with a video camera and filming (and narrating) our first home. Piper is eating a soggy, nasty bone on our Ikea rug. I am exhausted and am now 22 years old.



Hi Mom and Dad!

it's my birthday.

Happy birthday to me.
I coincidentally share a birthday with the United States Air Force. How lovely.

We are going to the MacArthur Center, also known as the mall, and then to two different dog boutiques. I need a pair of blue jeans and a laundry cart. Exciting, I know.

um, another update. sorry.

I've been feeling sick lately. Not like Swine Flu sick, but I keep getting headaches. I think it might have something to due with the stress of moving. We are constaaaantly busy. Annoyingly busy. Really really busy.

Our television stand is being set up right now by Mark. There are billions of pieces, and it's taking forever. I'm glad he's a hands-on kind of man, because I would never be able to put this thing together.

Here it is. I'lll take a picture of our finished product with our brand new tv later on:



Anyhow, today was our first Ikea trip! We traveled two hours to Woodbridge, Virginia, and it was well worth the trip! In my little attempt to be just like MckMama (ahem), we just had to go. That place is HUGE! Really huge. We got a tv stand, book shelf, living room rug, sheep skin rug, and a tool set to put it all together with... since Mark's tool set won't be here until Monday (ugh), and the tool set was only $7 at Ikea! Bargain city.


Piper on our sheep skin rug.

I am a die-hard fan of Target. But, I must say that the quality and appearance of furniture at Ikea is top notch. And much cheaper. Our tv stand was only $80 - the same sort of thing at Target would be well over $200. And it's very thick and durable wood. I didn't know this before, but Ikea actually is made up of little pre-assembled rooms to show you how their merchandise coordinates together. Each piece of furniture and each accessory has a little tag with a number on it. You write down the numbers to the pieces you want - and, at the end of your trip, you take your paper down to the warehouse and find your furniture, load it in your cart, and do self-checkout. Simple as a pimple! Or.. something.

Tomorrow our washer and dryer arrive, and we'll start painting our room Posh Red.

I realize that my blog posts are now nothing but updates on our home. Sorry. That is all my life is right now.


Today was Piper's first day of daycare. Since she hasn't yet received her Lyme vaccinations, she had to be in a restricted environment. With cats. I'll tell you - Piper is insanely socialized. I don't know if there is another dog on this universe that has been exposed to everything she has in the 6 weeks we've had her. She is now to the point where nothing phases her. She has seen it all. She has met ALL types/sizes of dogs. She's been to gobs of different houses. She's adjusting very, very well. It turns out that our next door neighbor has a Westie as well! How about that.

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Virginia is different than Kentucky. Duh. But really, it is.

The speed limit doesn't go above 65 on interstates. Very, very annoying. And they mean it too. There are multiple signs saying Speed Monitored by Aircraft. What the fudge? ... There are also MANY cameras at each stop light watching us as well. Not to mention the secret cops that are in maaannny types of cars. We dearly miss Kentucky's laws, Kentucky's police, and Kentucky's interstates. Virginia is really picky. We don't like it.

People in Virginia, as a whole, like to be smart alecs. And I am not even kidding. To us, we ask normal questions. But if they think our questions are dumb, well, they let you know it. Even Mark's face has turned red at the attitudes that people have given us. For instance: Today we were looking for a specific rug at Ikea. There were about 4 rugs on display, and many rugs rolled up in plastic beneath the table. We were having problems finding the rug in plastic that we wanted. We kindly asked the man if he could help us find the specific rug. Well, apparently we were idiots for not taking the rug on display because "that's what they're there for."

"What did you think the rugs on top were there for?"
"Um, we didn't know we could take that one."
"Well, yeaaah... the rugs underneath just have plastic on them."
*Gives us a dumb stare*

Um, thank you. Ok bye.


Ahem. I miss Kentucky. Although we really do get jipped on the shopping dealio. The shopping here is fantastic. It really puts Kentucky to shame. And there is an ocean here. But those are the only two perks about Virginia. The rest sucks.

No offense to Virginia or anything.


Anyway, we are VERY much looking forward to Monday. I am craving a couch SO bad, you don't even know! Sitting on hardwood all day long is tiresome.


Ps. Guess what? CLAYTON IS COMING TO VISIT ME IN TWO WEEKS! YES, I SAID IT! He's coming with my parents! Oh, how I can't wait to squash him, hug him, kiss him, and snuggle him SOOOO much!!!!!!!!!!! :]