A Very Busy Weekend

This past weekend was jam packed and very busy. We had a wedding shower, a baby shower and two concerts over a three day weekend. Saturday night we saw probably my all time favorite band Athenaeum at Amos' Southend. They played an awesome 2 hour show! I could only find one picture from that show on Flickr, but it's a good one since it's a close up of Mark, the lead singer!

The other concert we saw was the Stone Temple Pilots on Sunday night at Verizon Wireless. When I heard that they were getting back together earlier this year I bought our tickets as soon as they went on sale! We were lucky enough to see them in 2001 on the Family Values Tour and they were just as good as ever. My only complaint was that there was an hour of waiting between the opening band and STP, but once they came out they totally rocked! I found a lot of great pictures from that show on Flickr too.

Here's a picture of Scott Weiland at the beginning of the show.

Here's a picture of Scott with the megaphone.

Here's a picture of the whole band at the end of the show.

More Baby Shower Pictures

Here are the guests working hard on one of the baby shower games:

Here is Becca opening her gifts:

This is Jackson, my co-host Kelly's son, holding Braden:

A Long Awaited Baby Shower

As I mentioned earlier in the blog some of our friends, Becca & Jason, were recently able to adopt a baby boy after waiting over two years. My friend Kelly and I threw Becca a baby shower last weekend. You can see the cake below:

Here's a picture of mom Becca with baby Braden.

Another picture of Sandy in the sun

Sandy loves to lie in the sun. Here she is on the scratching mat stretched out in the sun.

The Biggest Roses I've Ever Seen

Chad got me the most beautiful roses last week. They just kept opening up bigger and bigger every day! I love roses, but particularly white roses and these were some of the most beautiful roses I've ever seen!

Here's a close up of one of the roses.

House Lust by Daniel McGinn

I just finished reading a very interesting book, House Lust by Daniel McGinn. He basically explores our society's obsession with newer, bigger and "better" homes. McGinn does a great job of exploring all aspects of this issue, from the increasing size of new homes, the increased popularity of house "flipping", all the HGTV shows and how realtors also play into this issue. I am willing to admit that Chad & I got sucked into house lust when we bought our house. By the time we bought our house we had been married over 4 years and I felt like we were the last married couple who didn't own a home. We also got sucked into wanting a new home so that we could pick the flooring, appliances, etc. We have a very nice townhouse, but now we would choose something completely different. We didn't think we'd even still be in this house now, but with the housing market falling apart we're pretty much stuck here for now.

I think most homeowners can relate to some parts of this book. Although I cannot relate to one homeowner McGinn profiles in his book. This family consists of the 2 parents and 3 children and their house is 9,000 square feet. Compare that to probably the same size family in the 1950's where the average house was 983 square feet. I think the housing issue is just a reflection of what our society values now - quantity over quality and bigger = better. I also think that the people who live in 9,000 square foot homes, along with all the Hummer and other huge SUV drivers out there, are just trying to compensate for something that they lack in their lives.

Sandy and the blanket part II

I've posted before about how much Sandy likes to hide "inside" blankets. Well, our quilt for our bed had a small rip in it, so I brought it downstairs to sew back up. But, then Sandy decided that she wanted to hide in it for awhile. Roxy could tell that she was in there, but you can just barely see her in this picture.

Here's a close-up of Sandy inside the blanket.

Welcome Braden!!!

Our friends Becca & Jason have been trying to adopt for the last few years. They waited 26 months before they got a child - and that was AFTER all the paperwork, home visits, etc. were completed. They also had 3 calls before this one that someone had chosen them and then the birth parent(s) changed their minds. They have been waiting for this child for so long and now they finally have one! We are so happy for them! Welcome home Braden!!!

Here is the happy family!

Here is a close-up of Braden.
Here's Chad holding Braden.

Chad's Birthday

Even though we had the July Birthday dinner for Chad and Fielding, I always do something for Chad on his actual birthday. Here's the cookie cake I got for him this year.

Here's a picture of all my gifts to Chad - the cake, a balloon, a six-pack of Newcastle and his gift and card. Happy Birthday Chad!!!

The July Birthday Boys

Chad and my brother Fielding both have birthdays in July and so we always go out for a birthday dinner in July. So, here's a picture of the birthday boys - Chad turned 34 and Fielding turned 23.

Sandy and the blanket

Sandy really likes to get "inside" blankets. This past Christmas she kept trying to get underneath the tree skirt! Here she is attempting to hide in one of our throw blankets.

The Gamers

Chad recently bought Resident Evil for his playstation and has been playing it as much as he can. It looks like Sandy wants a turn too...or at least some attention!

Patriotic Chad

Chad snagged 4 hats at the parade - but this was the only patriotic one and it just happened to be the one that looked the best on him too!

Hanging out at the parade

Here's a picture of me & Chad at the parade. We actually we able to meet up with some friends, Paul, Kelly and their son Jackson. You can see Paul and Jackson behind us in this picture.

Here's a picture of Kelly with Jackson in all the stuff he'd gotten at the parade. Kids are magnets for all the stuff people are handing out at the parade! We ended up with TONS of candy and I think Jackson had about 12 necklaces by the end.

A fire truck ending

The Harrisburg parade always ends with the fire trucks - usually about 5 or 6. Here's one of the Town of Harrisburg firetrucks.

Best float (in my opinion)

I thought this was the most creative and well-done float in the parade this year. I think there is an actual competition for the best float, but I don't know who votes or who won this year. Anyway, this church went to a lot of trouble to create this Noah's ark float!

More parade pics

This year we actually knew the people in two of the floats. Below is the Harriburg Salon crew in a classic car and our hairdresser, Sage, is the one closest to us (in the brown shirt).

This picture is of the Girl Scout troop that two of our friends' daughters are in. We've gotten our Girl Scout cookie fix thanks to these girls for the last two years!

Harrisburg 4th of July parade

Chad & I are very lucky that we live within walking distance of the Harrisburg parade route. For the last 3 years we've walked up to the parade and got a seat right at the beginning! Here are some pictures of the parade. Harrisburg is not as rural as it used to be, but the parade still has plenty of tractors and horses as you can see below...

Sharing the favorite chair

The chair in our living room has become Sandy & Roxy's favorite place to sleep - probably because Chad & I usually sit on the couch. In this picture they are attempting the share the chair. Sandy in the seat and Roxy on the back - they can't both fit in the seat!

Updating our "backyard"

Since we live in a townhouse we don't really have much of a yard, but we're trying to make the best of what we do have. This weekend we planted some new flowers in the back, which you can see below....
...and we also bought a new patio table and umbrella. We already had a set of four patio chairs, so Chad painted the table to match. You can't see the table very well from this picture, but I wanted to get an overall shot of our little backyard.

Roxy tries to be different

Roxy doesn't want to be just like everyone else. Instead of just sitting on the futon like Sandy, she decides to sit on the futon underneath the footstool. Roxy's always trying to be different!

Sleepy heads

Here's a picture of Chad and Sandy taking a nap. It's a little dark because I was trying to take the picture without waking them up!

The Top 5 Things my Dad was Right About

Since this past weekend was Father's Day I thought I would share the card I made for my Dad. Now that I'm an adult I realize all the things my parents were right about. So, for my Dad I made his card the "Top 5 Things Dad was Right About" and here they are with brief explanations:

1. You have to play "the game".
This was something my Dad always said especially when I was in high school and college. Playing the game is basically doing things you may not like for the sake of your career or to get ahead in life. Now that I'm in my professional career and more recently in management I'm playing the game every day.

2. Everyone needs to know how to type.
When I took typing in junior high my Dad always said that everyone needs to know how to type no matter what you think your career might be. That is so right - I encounter people every day who are professionals, but have to hunt and peck to type an e-mail or letter. Typing is easy and it's only going to help you in life to know how to do it.

3. You can get tired of eating out.
When I was a kid my family hardly ever went out to eat except for special occasions and when we went on vacation. My brother and I looked so forward to vacation because it meant eating out multiple times in a week. I remember my Dad saying that he was tired of eating out and thinking how could anyone ever get tired of eating out! Now when we're on vacation I find myself saying "I'm so tired of eating out - I'm ready to eat at home again".

4. Get an education because no one can ever take it away from you.
I was very blessed to have both my undergraduate and master's degrees paid for by a trust fund my great-grandmother had set up for all her grandchildren. My Dad always stressed getting a college education because no matter what it can't be taken away from you. You can lose your job or your home or whatever, but your education and degree(s) can't be taken away or lost. Now that Chad is trying to finish up his undergrad degree (and we're paying for it) I also see the benefit of getting an education while you're younger because it is much harder to make the time and effort when you have a family to support and are working full time.

5. Pay your bills first, then live on the rest.
My Dad is very good with money and passed that on to me as well. He always stressed that you need to pay your bills first and on time and live on whatever is left. I've always done that - I've never been late with my rent or now mortgage and I make sure our bills are paid first and on time. I've seen 3 friends get foreclosed on because they didn't take care of their bills first or didn't pay them at all.

So, Happy Father's Day and thanks for all the good advice Dad!

One last beach picture

Here's a picture of me on our last day of vacation. We went and walked on the beach one last time before we left.

The view at Orton

Here's a picture of me and Chad at Orton Plantation...

... and here was our view from the bench we were sitting on.

Animals at Orton

If you look closely you can see the squirrel on the tree trunk/root. There were squirrels all over the place, but in this picture you can see the whole squirrel.

Here's a picture of a white heron that we saw.

The Trees at Orton

There are tons of huge oak trees at Orton Plantation. Here's a picture of one above and below is a picture of Chad by the trunk of one of these huge trees.

Orton Plantation House

Here's the plantation house.

More garden pics

Above is the "scroll garden" and below is a picture of one of the garden paths.

Orton Plantation Gardens

Chad and I went to the Orton Plantation gardens. Orton used to be a rice plantation in the 1800's and the house is still a private residence. If you look closely at the bottom picture you can kindof see a butterfly on the flowers.

Seagull pictures

This seagull came up and to finish off Chad's snack (an apple).

Here are some more seagull pics.