Oh Steph!: September 2009

Summer Adventures

Way back in July we went on a great backpacking trip with our friends Mel, Jim, & Sunny the dog. We backpacked into the Naturalist Basin and practically had the whole place to ourselves - it was amazing. However I have discovered something about myself - I am terrified of being attacked by a bear! I did not sleep the whole time we were camping, so I have decided that I am not going backpacking again until I buy a gun or bear spray or both.

White Trash Bistro Set

Dude! Check out my super fabulous WT Bistro Set. We have a balcony and since it count towards the grand square footage of our apartment (708 sq ft) I decided it would be great if we could use it. So I started looking for plastic lawn chairs and after searching the greater Northern Virgina area to no avail I gave up and went to WalMart (heaven bless them) and TaDa - WT Bistro Set, complete with cup holders, for the grand total of $28.57!

So now I can sit out on the balcony and enjoy the amazing view - Damn I miss the mountains!

Interesting enough that building is the National Science Foundation - to bad LB gave up Physics

Getting Crafty!!

So we did a little project this last weekend. LB helped me turn a broken gold mirror that we brought all the way from UT into a cool cork board. I was hoping that it would look somewhat retro to go with my amazing quilt but I am not sure if it hit the mark. I am pretty proud of it, I think it is the most crafty thing I have ever done.

The Coolest Gift Ever!!

Before I left Utah my Mothers best friend ThomaLee gave me the most wonderful gift! A "Stephanie" inspired quilt. ThomaLee and my Mom found these very clever retro styled dish towels in a little shop in Washington and ThomaLee just knew they would make the perfect quilt for me. The quilt is absolutely amazing and was supposedly a two year project. When they gave me the quilt ThomLee told me I had to use it but I fell completely in love with it and had to hang it on the wall. So here it is, I wish you could see it up close the pictures hardly do it justice.

"You say I'm a witch like it's a bad thing"

(The B has been covered up with a W so that future little eyes won't get ideas)

I will treasure this quilt forever - I love you ThomaLee!

Christmas Again?

It is no secret that Christmas is not my favorite Holiday, love me some Halloween and Thanksgiving but I could really skip right over December 25th. Every year you have the trauma of deciding which family to visit, what to buy, how to afford it, and the unachievable goal of not fighting with anyone. Well as previous Christmases go my Father usually calls in September to ask his famous question "What do you want for Christmas?" - Now don't be fooled because somehow this simple question is way more complex then one might think. In the past I would mention a few ideas, none of which he would think were "Christmas Present" worthy and then the conversation would turn ugly, I would cry and we would not speak again until December 24th - lovely family tradition we have going don't you think?

Now for the Story - So last night Marsha called (aka: my mom) and while we were chatting she said "Your Father wants me to ask you What You Want For Christmas". See Marsha has to ask now because my Father is not so thrilled with my life choices, apparently becoming LDS, getting married, moving to DC for grad school and attaining financial independence are just not the best things so according to him I suck!

Well by this year I have learned my lesson when it comes to answering this question because no matter what you tell dear dad that it is you want for Christmas you will get something different so what is the point, but you still must say something. So this year I am turning it into a game.... so I asked for this!

A Snuggie - the blanket with sleeves!

Only 19.99! I hope he thinks its "Christmas Present Worthy"

** LB does not see the point of a Snuggie - He told me to just ware my bath robe backwards and save the money.

A day at the beach

On Labor Day we took a road trip to Bethany Beach in Delaware with our friends the Speers. We had a great time, I love the beach and Delaware was beautiful. It was full of farming communities, fruit stands, and corn fields - which is right up my ally - and then you have the beach, what could be better?

Caden - aka: coolest/cutest kid in the world

Got to love a Funnel Cake - We should have shared!

Only down side of the trip was the 5 hours we sat in traffic on the way home - next time I think we should just say the night.

It's not broken, I'm just stupid!

So before I left Utah my mother and grandmother (aka: the sewing wonders) gifted me a sewing machine. Now mind you I don't know how to sew, you see in my early years I was to busy ballerinaing it up to learn how. However, I decided to give the whole sewing thing a try, after all how hard could it be.

So while at WalMart (aka: Gods gift to poor college students and Mormons with 50 kids) I bought myself a pattern and some material and following a pep talk from Mother I was ready to go. I pulled out the Sewing Machine and remembering the brief tutorial my mom gave me a month or so back I attempted to thread the damn thing...well my friends it all went down hill from there.

The machine would not thread, in fact the round thing on the side that moves the needle up and down would not rotate forward. So I called my mom, explained the issue, she had no idea what could be wrong after all she had just paid to service the machine and had used it only a few weeks prior. So then I took the damn thing apart (because after all I have a college degree in Health Promotion which is clearly applicable to sewing machine repair) and could not figure out what the issue could be. And then I gave up and cried!

LB came home and suggested I take it in to be fixed, I dramatically claimed that it would cost way too much but that I would call around anyway and see. So I found a repair shop in Alexandria that said they would look at it for free and then let me know how much it would cost and if it was even worth fixing.

So yesterday I drove to Alexandria to the Sun Sew Vac shop to have my sewing machine looked at. And big surprise there was absolutely nothing wrong with it! The idiot that is me just had the damn thing switched to fill a bobbin and not to sewing mode. The gentleman at the shop was very sweet, he took the time to show me how to use the machine, and how to push the little lever over so that the machine would work. I told him that my mother would be mortified to find out that I was this domestically stupid. He claimed that I was not dumb and that the only way one would know to push the lever was if they used the machine a lot. After the brief lesson he carried my sewing machine out to my car and told me to come back if I had any other problems. I am sure he had a good laugh after I drove away... after all if the rolls were reversed I would have been rolling on the ground.

Come to find out the little shop offers a class titled "Getting to Know Your Machine" and if I get up enough courage to show my face again I will be signing up!

UT to VA

So we made it to Arlington, VA. We packed everything we owned into the back of our Jetta and drove for 4 days. Well actually I should clarify LB drove, I sat am complained that my tail bone hurt. I was not allowed to drive because if we put the seat forward then things would shift around in the back and I guess that some how that would have been a bad thing. So LB drove and I sat on the cramped side of the car with stuff at my feet and on every side...it was a very long 4 days!

It was my plan to document our trip across the United States but early on I realized that there was not a lot to photograph on I-70 and after St. Louis I gave up completely. But I will give you a quick recap of the trip:

We drove to Colorado and stopped and saw our friends John and Katie - It rained really hard and water leaked into the car by way of the car top carrier straps.
We drove through Kansans and about the only thing to see in Kansans was one sign after another letting travelers know that "Jesus Saves".

Then Missouri - we saw the Arch.

Then Illinois - I think I was asleep.

Indiana came next - it was beautiful I think I could live there.

Then Kentucky - which was just plain scary and I am pretty sure that the hotel was haunted.

Then West Virginia - fried bologna sandwiches need I say more.

We then drove on to Maryland and then to Virginia.