Thursday, April 29, 2010

3 weekends straight of being away from home :(

So Miah and I are going on our 3rd weekend "away from home". This weekend we will be sleeping in our own beds but we will be at a seminar from 9AM till 10PM Friday through Sunday night.  We are attending something called, "The Landmark Forum" aka (to me) group therapy, because Miah's new mentor suggested it and of course he said yes.  I am getting roped in so he doesn't have to go alone!

I wish we could just stay home and do boring stuff like, yard work, have a BBQ or something fun.  Maybe next weekend!

Here are a few shots from our past 2 out of town weekends...
1st we went to Las Vegas for the Scottish Highland Games with our good friend Jacy who competed in the Drum Major competition; this is a picture of Miah playing with the mase.
Here's a picture of Jeremiah de-linting Jacy's jacket before his inspection. All the drum majors had to line up and a judge comes by and inspects their attire. It's a pretty tough inspection, Jacy got a point off his score for having a piece of dirt between the leather of his shoe and the sole of his shoe and 1 point off for not having his hat tilted the right amount. Jeremiah and I acted as "drum major MOM" both Saturday and Sunday and got him ready for inspection.  We had to get all the lint off his jacket, straighten his socks, make sure his buttons were lined up, etc, etc, the list went on and on.
Here is a picture Jacy and 2 Irish drum majors lined up waiting for inspection.
The next weekend we were off to Temecula for Lisa birthday celebration. We hung out, did a little wine tasting, sat in the jacuzzi and ate till our bellys were bursting. Here's a few pics of us playing "Rock Band", I was the drummer and a mighty good one if I do say so myself.
Don't I look like a total pro?!?!?!
Well, it's off to relax before this 3 day seminar that I am NOT looking forward to. If I come back the member of a cult and try to brainwash you then you know who to blame...

Friday, April 23, 2010

New Camera!!!!

So yesterday I was driving home from an appointment when Jeremiah called and this was the conversation we had...
Miah-"you missed UPS"
Me-"what came?"
Miah-"you don't know what you ordered?"
Me-"I didn't order anything"
Miah-"it's the camera you ordered"
Me-"i didn't order a camera"
Miah-"Yes you did, it came today and it says you ordered it on 4/20/2010"
Me-"I swear I did not order a camera (very confused at this point), I have been researching cameras but I haven't bought one"
Miah-"are you crazy? or are you lying? cause there is a camera here with your name on it"
Me-"well I put a couple cameras in 'online carts' but I don't think I ever pushed purchase" (I am very confused now and thinking in my head that maybe somehow me or the computer accidentally hit purchase without me realizing.  Crazy but these were the thoughts going through my head)
Miah-"are you sure you're not crazy?"
Me-"Well maybe I accidentally bought a camera but I really don't think I did because I planned on going directly to the store today to buy one...and now one came, that's so weird! oh wait!  I'll call you back" (now I'm thinking in my head that maybe my sister bought it cause she owes me a camera)

Sure enough, I called my sister and she said that she had bought me a camera and had it shipped so that it would be a surprise :).  The funny thing is that I had seen her the night before and was giving her a hard time because she broke my camera back in September and I had given up on waiting for her to buy me a new one.  I told her I was looking at cameras online and was going to get one the very next day and she gave me a funny look but I didn't pay any attention to it.  She told me over the phone that she was hoping I wouldn't go get one since hers was already in the mail.  It was such a wonderful surprise and I am so excited!  I have been without a camera for so long and have missed capturing fun moments.  Thanks bestest twin sister!

Now that my excuse for not blogging because I have no pictures to post is gone I guess I will have to post more often, huh?  Here are a few shots I have taken so far of our semi-finished living room.

This one shows the really cool "headboard" bench I got in North Park at Pat's on 30th for like $75.  You go in there, pick out a headboard and they turn it into a bench and paint it all for 75 bucks!  I love it so much.  Someday I am going to make a cushion with that fabric that is laying on the bench.
Here is a shot of my Ikeas floating shelves with lots of Thrift Store finds and my favorite wedding photo/canvas I got free on WeddingWire for reviewing my wedding vendors. I need to find something for the bottom shelf, any suggestions?
Here is the couch area which hasn't changed much except for the pictures above the couch from our honeymoon in Italy.  There are supposed to be 4 pictures but one fell off when I was hammering on the outside wall and broke, I need to go get another frame from Ikea.

That's it for now, I am just so happy to have a camera again!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Uncle Robert

A lot has happened since my last post on March 24th...

One of the biggest is that my Uncle Robert died on March 25 while on a trip to visit family in Kentucky; it was very sudden and very sad.  He was the last of my dads immediate family and while he was such a loon, he will really be missed.  This was his obituary:

ROBERT DOUGLAS PRESTON

PRESTON, ROBERT DOUGLAS My beloved Preston passed away unexpectedly at our home in Kentucky on Thursday, March 25, 2010. He was 56, a graduate of Sweetwater High and a member of IUOE Local 12. He was a deeply loving and devoted husband, son, brother, father, uncle and friend. Preston is survived by his wife Maria, brother Bruce, his wife Sally, nieces Sally and Ruthie, nephews Loren, Jason and Mathew, daughter Natalia, son Bobby, granddaughter JoAnna and a loving circle of friends. I wish to thank family and friends for such loving support during this time. A very special thanks to Preston's cousin George of Kentucky to whom I will be eternally grateful. A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, April 10th.
We had a Celebration of Life at my parents house and it was so wonderful, especially for my Dad and my Aunt Maria, to see all the love and support for Uncle Robert in one place.  I made these collages for the "Celebration".
We are really gonna miss him and I will always remember what a fun time he had in Calistoga at our wedding last May.  It makes me really sad to think that we had such a great time and his life ended with in a year of such good times.  I had planned on framing the picture we took with him and giving it to him because I knew he would be tickled pink to have it, but being the procrastinator that I am, I never got around to it and so now I'll never be able to show it to him.  
There is so much to tell about his life, it was filled with some sadness and sorrow and struggles but at the same time he was so full of life.  He was very sentimental and sensitive, always happy and in a good mood and always very giving.  It's funny how things happen, I feel that I didn't really get to spend a lot of time with him as an adult.  I am finding as an adult that my relationships with family are changing so much, as a child, aunts and uncles and even older cousins are adults and you don't really relate.  Then as you yourself grow up you have better conversations and build stronger bonds.  I am sad that I didn't get to spend that much time as an adult with Uncle Robert, life gets so busy and things get pushed aside.  I will always love him and it seems so weird that he is gone but of course, he will always be remembered!