Fun Shirts

The "3" shirt is for Ruby's third birthday this Saturday. I ordered it from a blog that I absolutely LOVE.

Here is another sorry attempt of mine to work a sewing machine. Needless to say, the machine definitely worked me. 

JOKE!

"Do to inclement weather, Henrico County Public Schools are closed tomorrow, February 8, 2010."

Just got the call. This state is NUTS! I was out today, driving on bare roads. This must be a joke.

Oh, and I want to make pillows, too!

Passing the Time

Jeremiah and I have never experienced such a severe case of cabin fever. It's been a silent killer for me, whereas Jeremiah is bouncing off the walls crazy. In our free time, we've mostly watched TV, ate, and played Skip-Bo. I'm pretty good at this game. Pretty good meaning I've won the slight majority of the games we've played. 

In addition to Skip-Bo domination, I have been conjuring up some ideas that will allow my sewing machine to make me rich. Well, in a dreamworld. Inspired by many things I've seen on Etsy.com, I've made a list of several items I could possibly make and then sell on my own etsy site, or by word of mouth to people I know. My ideas mostly consist of fun kids t-shirts, maybe some bags/purses, maybe some bibs. Who knows. Jeremiah ventured with me to Jo-ann Fabrics & Crafts to help get me started with some fun fabric. I also experimented with a shirt. The shirt pretty much was a train wreck, but I figure I can only get better from here.

One Day Work Week

You heard it correctly. One day work week!

Henrico and Chesterfield County Public Schools had a fourth snow day this week, after having three in a row and then a two-hour delay yesterday (I had to go in on time yesterday, but Jeremiah did not. I don't think I'm granted your sympathy though).

Today and tomorrow they are calling for a mixture of rain, snow, and sleet, which may all accumulate anywhere from 4"-10" I believe. Here's a snapshot of what we're working with as of noon today. Sticking to the sidewalks and cars (you'll notice Shaniqua to the left of the Cruiser), but not the road quite yet. It's a slushy mess for now. Jeremiah and I headed out to the library to rent a couple movies, and boy was that place packed. Same with the grocery store... again.

I got smart yesterday though and FINALLY bought a snow shovel. More money than I would have liked to spend, but it's worth not throwing my back out again trying to shovel with an ice pick. I was shocked I could actually find a shovel, but I found what I consider to be a hole in the wall home/garden/lawn place. Southern States, way to go. And way to go me for thinking of going there. I was planning on hunting for a sled, but was D-O-N-E with the crowds of people everywhere so called it quits and came home. 

These southerners are getting a rare taste of the north and I am loving it. I'd like to think the credit should go to Jeremiah and me, considering before we moved here Richmond could only dream of seeing the white stuff dust the ground.

No News is Snow News

One month exactly. That's a problem. Mom, thanks for confronting me about that tonight on the phone. Everyday when I'm on my computer I realize that it's been way too long since I've updated, but at the same time am totally demotivated because it seems like nothing very exciting is going on in our lives. From now on, I'll try to make even the mundane pleasant to read.

One thing that has indeed been exciting is blizzard round two in Richmond!! This past Saturday central Virginia got clobbered with about a foot of snow! In fact, I write to you now on the eve of our THIRD snow day. Yes, you read that correctly. As of tomorrow, we will have had three snow days in a row due Saturday's snow. Virginians are going nuts having had a huge snow last March (which we had three snow days for as well), a blizzard right before Christmas, and now this! On Friday I had to pick up some things at the grocery store and literally got the last spot in the parking lot. Who knew those massive parking lots could actually fill up. People here are crazy. Although ridiculous, I still love the fact that I once again can sleep in tomorrow morning. We're all positive will be back to work on Thursday though. The hardship of a two-day work week. Pennsylvania would scoff at such absurdity. VDOT needs to take a few tips from PennDOT, that's for sure.

An unfortunate consequence of the white stuff was that Jeremiah's concert on Saturday was canceled. Mark Willard (one of Jeremiah's best friends from Penn State) ventured down from Maryland on Friday night to spend the weekend with us. Him and Jeremiah were supposed to go see Lecrae (a Christian gospel/rap/hip-hop artist) on Saturday and spent $67 per ticket to do so. Weren't we all bummed when we got the email that due to inclement weather, Lecrae would not be performing. They were bummed for obvious reasons. I was bummed because that meant I was trapped in this small apartment with two men and only one TV. As you can tell, I've lived to tell about it, although cabin fever had set in only a few short minutes after they decided to watch the movie Star Trek. It ended up being a fun weekend, and we were very grateful for Mark's four-wheel drive to get us to church and to pick up Pizza Hut.

That's about all for now. Jeremiah and I have been counting down the hours until the season premiere of LOST. OH MY GOSH WE CANNOT WAIT! We just saw a commercial for it and my heart nearly stopped. We'll be glued to ABC for three hours of Lost obscenity in LESS THAN AN HOUR! I'm sure I'll be twice as confused and anxious once it's over, but here's to any hope we have to get any questions answered.

Here are a couple pictures of the snow from Sunday morning...

I'll Be Home For Christmas

As mentioned previously, Jeremiah and I headed north to visit both our families in Pennsylvania over our Christmas break. Luckily, we made it safely to Montrose, PA after only nine hours in the car. Have I ever told you how much I LOVE being in the car for the majority of the day?! LOVE it. The evening of the 23rd we then ventured down to the Koehler side of the family, making it in time to help prepare for our annual Christmas Eve shindig after church. We stayed for our 2nd anniversary because we both had haircuts scheduled (note: we are looking a world of difference from our Christmas card picture and some of the shots you see below... the beard is gone, my hair is short... my self-respect wants to send out a second round of pictures) and we later went out to eat at a place we went on our honeymoon. We left the next day for Richmond, and that night had another family gathering with Jeremiah's side of the family. It was a busy time, but so enjoyable. We love being able to see our family and to take a break from our normal routine here. 

Here are a few of the sights one would have seen at my parents' house on Christmas morning:

Actually, this was Christmas Eve. Jeremiah and I just couldn't wait to give Buddy his new Snuggie.

Here is one of the many fabulous wrap-jobs, done mostly by Cameron. He also wrapped gifts in a plastic storage bin and the shoebox for his dress shoes--both of which he needed back after the gifts were opened.

Another wrap-job, this time by Jeremiah. Can you guess what it is??

(It's a loofa.)

Jeremiah with his 1/2 lb. gummy bear from my mom.

Better known as "the Christmas miracle" by Cameron. Went to bed with a beard, woke up "miraculously" with a mustache, which he left until the next day. And the credit for the candy/gum cigarette we all played with as kids goes to me.

Blizzard '09

On the evening of Friday, December 18, 2009 a blizzard began to hit the Richmond metro area. Our plans were foiled. Jeremiah and I were supposed to head up to Montrose, PA on Saturday morning to spend those glorious, anticipation-filled days leading up to Christmas with the Link family. Jeremiah's mom's 50th birthday was also on Sunday. 

But when I was driving home from work a little after 6pm on Friday night and received a call from my mom inquiring about our travel plans, I knew this plan we had so carefully mastered was about to crumble to pieces. You see, Friday night was also meant for Jeremiah and I to have our own Christmas together--open gifts, cook our Christmas fettucini, and watch A Christmas Story. Unfortunately, I arrived home to my wonderful husband (who had cleaned every inch of our apartment and even lit a fire in preparation for our evening together) not having a clue it had begun snowing and instantaneously stressed by my own stress. We may or may not have been rather on edge and at each other's throats for the next hour and a half as we tried to figure out whether to quickly pack (packing for 12 days can't be done quickly) and leave that night or to wait it out til Sunday (hopefully) and cross our fingers the power won't go out in the process. The snow was already accumulating and apparently was moving along most of our route north. 

Around 8pm our verdict was in: wait it out til Sunday.

We've never been so confident in our decision after we woke up Saturday morning, and then tried to drive on Sunday morning. Some of these pictures/videos I posted look like we're driving in sludge, but alas it was thick, solid ice. If you look closely, in the picture with the plows, we are driving to the left of the rumble strip. We too were wondering why the left shoulder was the only 'lane' VDOT could claim as 'passable.' The shaky camera is not from my inability to have a steady hand, but we were actually being shook around violently as we tried to maneuver over the treacherous roads.