A Year of Dates - Part Two

I don't mean to brag, but so far I'm 2-for-2 with my 2015 New Year's Resolution. I'm a little behind on the writing part, but last Tuesday I went on my second "date" of the year. February was a no-brainer just like January. Kristin Tuckey is one of my nearest and dearest friends and she celebrated a pretty important birthday on Feb. 28th. (We won't mention what number it was or anything.)

We actually had made plans to get together a week earlier than we did, but a sick kiddo changed things up. We were determined to get it done in February so we rolled with the punches and bumped it one week later.

The original plan was to do some shopping, eat lunch and then go for a hike or walk before the kiddos got home from school. But then the temperature dropped to non-Kristin-approved levels so we stuck with the indoor activities.

After I dropped Eli off at school, I headed to Bubbletown to pick up Kristin and then we headed to the outlets in Gettysburg. Of course I hadn't actually checked to see what time they opened so we were a little early - one of the only times in my life that I have been early for anything. But that just gave us more time to catch up. It had been way too long since we have taken the time to check in so the catching up was good for the soul.

Then the stores opened and we got to work. It was so refreshing to be able to take our time trying on clothes and not hearing the whining voices outside the dressing room asking if we're almost done. (And that's just what Matt and Jeff sound like - I wasn't even taking into account the children.)

We tried on lots of stuff and made some excellent purchases - although we both had to say no to the shorts we tried on. The shorts themselves were awesome, but it's hard to get a clear picture of what they are going to look like when you're wearing knee socks. And did I mention it was cold? For those reasons we just couldn't pull the trigger.

We loaded the van and started talking about where to eat. We consulted the GPS for suggestions and headed toward Dobbin House Tavern, or so we thought. Mrs. GPS was a little off, but we decided to follow our memories instead and finally arrived.

Photo credit to Stefanie Sweger

I had seen the sign for the restaurant, but had never actually eaten there. Kristin thinks she did, but can't really remember. So basically neither of us knew where we were going. We wandered around the parking lot and house before we found the door that led to the dungeons steps to the Springhouse Tavern. It was the perfect mix of creepy and cool as we descended into the tavern.

The atmosphere was cool, the food was great and the company was even better. After the delicious meal we climbed out of the dungeon and started the drive home.

Although we haven't seen each other in awhile, we picked up like we had just talked the day before. I love having friends like that! It was a great day and a little hard to return to reality. We don't plan to wait a year to get together again...and we might even let the husbands and kids join us next time :)

I'm not really a slacker

So while it may seem that I have been a slacker and totally bombed at my kitchen window series, rest assured that I have not. While I haven't posted anything for a couple of weeks, I have kept up with my photo series and haven't missed a day! It was pretty late one night when I remembered I hadn't taken a picture yet, but I still got it in before midnight! I won't bore you with all of the photos since I last left off, but I will post the ones from last night and today since they have snow in them. I particularly like the one from last night.

I took this around 10pm but the snow was reflecting the light of the moon and it looks much earlier than that. We got about 3 inches of snow that prompted an early dismissal - before even a flake had dropped. Whatever. Rachel and Eli headed outside to sled on the the little bit of snow/mostly grass this afternoon when I took today's picture.

So what has happened since I last wrote...I've been busy with work and doing a side project for Keystone Financial Associates. The kids have been doing a lot of swimming as usual. We had our last home meet last Saturday and I had fun taking pictures again. Here are a few from the meet:

Isaiah, Jackson & Max taking off in the 500 free

Isaiah pulls ahead of Jackson on the last lap of the 500

Isaiah, Jackson & Max after finishing the 500. Isaiah dropped 43 seconds and finished 2nd!

Rachel working hard in the 50 fly

Check out that form!

Wyatt and Eli's 25 back start.

I thought this was a cool one of Paige in the 100 free

And I liked the lighting on this one of Daniel in the 200IM

I got this one of Alex's backstroke start from behind the blocks

Kaylin coming into the wall after the back portion of the 200IM

Well, I'm gonna get going. We are headed to Rob & Niki's tonight and I can hardly wait! We had to reschedule when we got a nasty storm after Christmas. I've been waiting a whole month and can't wait to catch up!

So I'm A Little Slow

I am quite the home decorator. OK, that's a complete lie. We built our house in 2005 - and by "we" I mean our friends Doug and another Jeff who actually knows how to build things like houses. We moved in on Oct. 1, 2005. I just checked the calendar and apparently it's now 2012. So it's only been 6 years and some odd months...seems like a pretty reasonable time to get decorations up, right? Now, before you go jumping to conclusions, rest assured that we do have some decorations in the house. But for some reason the dining room just didn't get much attention over the years. So one day a few years ago we had our friends over for dinner. Kristin actually is quite the home decorator and she helped me pick out blinds, picture frames and other stuff to fancify the room and to go with the only thing I had to contribute - a painting I bought on my first trip to Haiti. I'm remembering this whole encounter to have happened in the summer of 2009. I bought everything she suggested, but then it sat in my closet for a little bit. Jeff and I had our most successful home improvement project late in 2011 when we actually installed the blinds. It really was monumental. But the picture from Haiti still sat in my office wrapped in plastic. And the picture frames were still in the Kohl's bag in my closet.....until this past Thursday! It was quite an undertaking, but Kristin returned and we also roped Randie and Jessie into the project as well. And then home-builder Doug even made a guest appearance to get the big daddy picture from Haiti on the wall. So here you have it - just 4 short years after I got the painting in Haiti and almost 3 years after I bought all the other stuff - everything is on the walls!!!

My "red" picture from Haiti and the seahorses sconces Kristin
picked out....but didn't like as much almost 3 years later.

Pictures of other people we now get to look at while we eat. Kristin also decided
this wasn't enough frames so I have to get four more...and then actually put
pictures in the frames of people we know. I believe bets are being placed
on how long it will take for that to happen :)

Swag Dragons

Soooo......it's been a few days since I've written last. I can't disappoint the masses, so I'm back in action! We had a break from school last week and into this week for conferences and President's Day. Isaiah and Rachel had a swim meet on Sunday. Several bribes incentives were offered throughout the meet to encourage good performances. Yes, you read that right people, we are not above bribing our children to try to get the best out of them in sports. If that's a problem for you, go ahead and stop reading now. One of our current swimmers is a little more self-motivated than the other. However, the less self-motivated one really thrives on the outside motivation we are so eager to provide. So who are we to mess with what's working?!?! I was the only parent at the meet so I was the lone deal-maker. Several offers were left on the table for both kids. Lucky for me, everyone is still loading and unloading the dishwasher this week. Only one bribe came to fruition. Anytime we have this many days off school, my kids immediately realize the potential for a sleepover. So I told Isaiah if he qualified for YMCA Districts in the 50 back he could have a sleepover. Of course at the time I had no idea if any of his friends could even come over, but he was pretty pumped about it so we went with it. Sure enough, he dropped some good time and will get to swim the back again at districts in a few weeks! Woo-hoo!!!! This is good stuff! So he was very chipper and couldn't wait to get home to see if his friends could come over. Sure enough it worked out so Caleb, Coby and Nate joined our family for the night. But they didn't remain "Caleb, Coby and Nate" for long. They quickly evolved into the "Swag Dragons" as they rocked out on Lego Rock Bank for the majority of the night and next day. Here's a little taste of the budding rock stars.