What? No more T.V.???!

We couldn't live without the internet, but we decided we could live without TV. Mind you, we still have our t.v., just no more cable/sattelite. We had talked about not even hooking it up when we moved here a year and a half ago, but got sucked into an introductory plan. But now we've decided that we waste too much time watching things we aren't THAT interested in. I will miss the Food Network and Alton Brown, America's Test Kitchen, Dr. Oz and Ellen. But we can watch LOST online and get the DVDs of the Office. (and thanks to Carla and her DVR I can finish out the season of The Biggest Loser). In the 3 days it's been off, it's amazing the things I've gotten done and how much less zoned I feel from get sucked into the tube everyday. I've even almost finished my book for book club on Wednesday and I just started it on Friday. Another post about it later - it's a funny read.

Besides our own reasons behind it (including saving time and $50 a month), here is a great article that motivated us to actually do it.
Living Without Television by Christopher Westley

Pride and Prejudice Fans, LOOKOUT!

What have I been doing lately? Mostly just recovering from Christmas, a cold, and being 8 months pregnant. Lots of time to lie around and do little.

Here's something I did do recently, while lying around, with my good friend Keri who came to keep me company while Nick is gone. I watched a BBC miniseries called North and South (there is no Patrick Swayze in sight - don't be fooled!) It was EXCELLENT!!! Mr. Thornton has been compared to Mr. Darcy and the story isn't just a fluffy romance. You can read about it here: North and South. If you liked the Colin Firth Pride and Predjudice miniseries you will love this, and possibly more than P&P! I know, hard to believe. And if you haven't seen P&P and love British productions you will enjoy this. It's 4 one hour episodes, so it's doable in one long night or two shorter ones. I just watched it this weekend and I think I need to watch it again!


The baby is coming on the 31st - so I have some more projects I want to get done before then. Maybe I'll have some pictures up soon. I got some fabric to make a diaper bag! I'm so motivated - well sort of. I feel motivated for 4 hours in the morning before I just want to take a nap.....

Not my project...

But I helped! Nick's sister, Cat, was here for several weeks around Thanksgiving and she wanted me to help her make some pillows. She is way more ambitious than I am, she says it's her lack of sewing experience, but we were able to put together some cute pillows for her brown couches. The cord on the edges of the orange pillows were the toughest thing - but now I'm not afraid of it any more! I might even use some piping on the next bag I make - woah! Watch out! As a side note - it was really fun to hang out with her so much. We've never had the opportunity to spend so much time together and she is definitely a keeper!

Here are the creations - a good joint effort. These are corduroy with a super soft baby blue tiny corduroy on the back.

Canvas front, wide wale corduroy back, elegant cording on the edge.

A Christmas Carol for Everyone!

Do you like a cappela? This is pretty funny!

Unofficial High School Reunion!

Yesterday was a day of catching up with old friends from High School some of which I haven't seen since GRADUATION (a LOOOONG time ago). I was glad to see that we mostly look the same - a little wiser, maybe....

My friend Christina was in town from London and we got to see each other in the morning. We met in marching band our freshman year. The last time I saw here was about 10 years ago! She hasn't changed a bit!!



This lovely group of ladies (and one gent!) were all in colorguard with me through High School. Well Matt wasn't in colorguard he was just our mascot!! hahaha, not really, but we were all friends with him and he is so fun that's he's not threatened by hanging out with a bunch of 30-something married women! I had a great time catching up with all of them.


The great thing about friends like these is that it doesn't matter how long it's been, it's like it was a week ago that we last saw each other. Thanks for such a fun night guys!! (Jen and Charlotte, we MISSED you!!)

Marine Corps Ball

We haven't really managed to ever get a good picture of us going to the ball - but here's this year's. I doctored it a bit so it doesn't look AS bad. But, the mere fact that I am pregnant makes the picture all that less attractive to me. Really, can you even buy a decent maternity dress that doesn't make you look as big as a house?

The ball should've been more fun than it was. The commandant of the Marine Corps spoke, there was a MC band there to play the service hymns, etc. However, the acoustics were terrible - we were in a cavernous airplane hangar type space and they had some carpet strategically placed but as far as being able to hear anything - forget it. And don't even talk to me about how drafty it was - I hate being cold! Oh, and did I mention we didn't get served dinner until close to 10 PM (2 1/2 hours late)!? Once I found out there was no cheescake for dessert we left 'early' (11 pm). Oh well, I guess I wouldn't feel so bad if they didn't totally overcharge us for an event of such low quality. So my advice to anyone planning a banquet type event - don't do it at the Fredricksburg Expo Center.

On the plus side, it is always nice to see all those Marines (especially Nick!) dressed in their blues. So handsome! The Marine Corps really does have the best dress uniforms.

Opera?