Goodbye 2010!

2010
You filled us with such happiness and taught us many lessons (in patience, mostly).

Here are a few bits and pieces of our year!

Andrew and the boys came to the big city and moved me out of Richmond at the very end of 2009. Goodbye city, hello country! I was so excited to start this new journey in life.

We picked out our "spot" in the woods where our future home would reside. It was hard to imagine a litte home with all of the brush. And then of course we had to wait on the snow to leave to start clearing the woods. It was just the start of a looooong waiting line.

I made a quick trip back to Richmond to see good friends and finally got to meet Patti!

Here's a secret to some. In the midst of my new "change" I felt that woman instinct to change my hairstyle. I liked my bang for about 4 hours, and then I realized that I permantly had hair hanging in my face and became best friends with bobby pins.

Andrew was signed co-owner of Cool Breeze Stables! I was(am) so proud of him!

We searched high and low for the perfect trailer and found her! We emptied our bank account to put down the down payment. It was a very exciting day for us. We also watched as the land was cleared and the septic & water was put in.

And then we started the waiting game. We were held up in the moving process by weather, permits and anything else that could have gone wrong--went wrong. We took our minds off of the frustrating process by retreating to the mountains as much a we could.



I asked Andrew the other day what is favorite memory of 2010 was. He told me it was the day he asked me to marry him-hands down. :) He deserves 4 gold stars for how perfect it was. I was completly surprised.




Shortly after our engagement, we FINALLY moved in! It's our little work in progress but the saying is true, there is no place like home.
An engagement/house warming party was the pefect way to end the fall. Thanks to our family and friends, it was a night that we will never forget!
So, obviously the engagment ruled the last part of 2010! Shannon Miller took these amazing engagment pictures. I can't wait to see what the wedding photos wil look like on the farm!



I made big strides this year with music, finally putting some songs that I worked on with a friend on a CD. I played out as much as I could and even started playing and singing by myself. Baby steps. :)
We enjoyed settling into our new home this fall and making friends with the neighboring sheep farm. There is nothing better than looking out the window and seeing these friends so close by.
We spent Christmas this year in our new little home. It was cozy and full of love.

There seem to be a million other memories in 2010 (but damn this takes a long time to put together...) Thank you to all of our friends and families for making this year one of the best yet. I pray for blessings in 2011 to you and your loved ones!

Happy New Year!

arrive.

We waste so much energy trying to cover up who we are when beneath every attitude is the want to be loved, and beneath every anger is a wound to be healed and beneath every sadness is the fear that there will not be enough time. Our challenge each day is not to get dressed to face the world but to unglove ourselves so that the doorknob feels cold and the car handle feels wet and the kiss goodbye feels like the lips of another being, soft and unrepeatable.

-Mark Nepo, "Awakening Rights"

image found here.

the head and the heart

I'm a wee bit obsessed with this band.

I feel fresh today. Like spring. You know when you can feel something changing in you deep down? I feel that way today. Maybe it's the bone chilling wind that brought this change. Maybe that wind blew in goodness from all over the world and smacked me in the face this morning.

I don't know what brought it but I like it.

peace out.

merry happy happy christmas

oh, it was a wonderful, white Christmas.

mom sent us a fabulous stocking full of essentials like nyquil and milano cookies (she knows me so well) and we were all perfectly spoiled and thankful on this Christmas day.

peace and love to you and yours.

xo

i can only think in lists

-I woke up with 15 minutes to get ready for work this morning. Good thing I fell asleep in my black tights last night. Getting dressed was easy peasy.
-My potato soup that I made yesterday leaves a film on the roof of your mouth. It is an epic fail.
-I went on a hot date last night and watched Black Swan. I never want to say I want to be perfect again. Enough said. (ps. Don't go see this movie with your Mom or a first date....you will regret it.)
-I hard core spooned my cat this morning.
-I haven't washed my hair in more days than I would care to admit.
-4:00 p.m. today marks the start of my winter vacay.
-I usually cringe when I see someone write, "vacay". It reminds me of girls that do that whole extension of the last syllable that starts high pitched and then goes down. If you went to Roanoke College you know what I mean.
-I'm drinking a diet coke right now. I never drink diet coke.
-Andrew and I had a text battle this morning. We both started with rage and now we are talking to each other like pirates. Typical.
-I love everything about her.
-One time, a boyfriend broke up with me a month or so before Christmas and I thought my life was ending (dramatic pause) and he sent me a huge package in the mail right before the holiday that turned out to be those really good and expensive Harry & David pears. But to me, they were always "I don't love you anymore pears".
-My lips are chapped and they hurt real bad.
-Today marks the start of winter. Time for reflection and starting a new.
-I was just called a big fat dingleberry in a text from my fiance.

happy Tuesday.

my weekend

*snow turned it into a four day weekend
*i thought I could accomplish EVERYTHING on my to-do list
*i didn't.
*spent lots of time curled up on the couch next to the fire
*baked soggy banana bread
*went on a successful vintage shopping trip
*watched about 27 movies (you should rent this movie. amazing.)
*played apples to apples with friends
*talked about building a commune
*sat on the couch & watched 27 more movies (word on the farm is that we are getting a Wi for Christmas)
*started talking about the wedding and all of the sudden it seemed REALLY REAL. :)
*listened to Nicki Minaj with my boo. This album is off the chains.



and now here we are on Monday morning. woo hoo for a two day work week!

winter white

there were early warning signs that she would never be able to own a winter white coat.

i've been complaing on facebook about how I will never be able to own a winter white coat.

and it's true.

I can't even walk out to my car without getting dirt somewhere.

(and it's safe to say that i still end up with chocolate everywhere when I eat it)

it was just never in the cards.

blah blah blah blah blah

This is a wee rant.

It's not that I don't like you, Cocky Musician, but ya see, when someone says something like, "How 'ya been", to you, the polite thing to say is, "good" or "ah--i've been better" or "ya know, i just feel amazing to be alive today" .

You don't say: "i hate it when people ask me that question"

and to paraphrase: "i am basically so popular in the world that I have created for myself that I get asked that question all of the time and ugh, you small tiny people just don't understand how tiring it can be to have to answer that bland, shallow question day after day."

and then banter continued while C.M. eplained how complex his mind was and how he was "in a war with mythical gods in a field".

So next time, instead of just staring at you imagining a monkey with a guitar, I will tell you that in the South--where you claim to have your roots--we answer questions polietly and humbly--no matter who asks.

rock on.

ROAD TRIP- revisited

I think I started the downloading process last week and I'm just finally getting around to posting these. I feel like I am in super-slow motion time when the holidays come around. I just can't seem to get one project finished!

But, alas, here we are!!!!!! Road trip memories...

On our way to Norton we detoured off of I-81 and went on a drive on through the Parkway. I wish I had a fancy schmancy camera so I could capture the true beauty of these mountains. But these will do :)

The best thing about our road trips is that we both hate the interstate & love going on adventures in the mountains. We always stop when we see something interesting or beautiful. I hope we are old and wrinkly and still pulling off the side of the road to pause at the beauty.

We found this little spot that had a waterfall alongside the road. I was so happy that we jumped out of the car to take a peak because we found these really fun stepping stones going across the river.

He's no good for you.
There's my twinkle toes.

I have decided that A. this coat is just too small for me. B. I look like I have a turtle shell when I wear it.

This is where the fun part of the trip started. We got to the very tip top of a mountain and it started to snow. And then we realized that we were basically in the snow cloud that was shooting down ice & snow on the mountain with no guard rail in my little slip & slide Volvo.

So we had to turn around.

And that added about 2 hours onto our trip. Fun times in car land.

I only thought about pulling over on the side of the road to take an icicle and jab it into my eye once...or twice.

FINALLY. We pulled into the booming city of Norton. Norton really does have a charming little downtown section.

And this is a stuffed possum with a crocheted-by-Mamaw pink collar. Just some of the random things that I find when I go home.

Did I mention that I love going home? I do.

And I love our car trips, adventures and all.

conciousness and creativity

I've been wanting to write a post on this topic for awhile, so thanks Patti for once again inspiring through sharing.

This morning Patti posted an article by director David Lynch about meditation. Meditation is something that I have been working on for a little over a year now. And I will be the first to admit that it is something that I struggle with, daily.

My big hurdle? It's not quieting the voices (crazy train....) but it's the initiative to JUST DO IT. I always think there is something more pressing to do....which couldn't be further from the truth. It used to scare me to try and quiet my mind, deal with the "voices" but lately it has just been the inspiration to follow through on the act.

Or I think that I have to have super buddah powers and mediate for 2 hours each day.

What I loved about this article is that David brought mediating back down to reality for me. It's 15 minutes here in the morning...or 20 minutes during lunch break....or right before bed to still the thoughts. It is DO-ABLE. And I love the connection he makes to creativity.

I came to believing in the power of meditation a year or so ago. I've always been a nervous person....I can remember being paralyzed with stage fright when I was in high school. My brain always seemed to be going at full speed. After a few tough years in college and post college--I gave western medication a chance. It lasted about 4 months and helped through a very difficult situation in life but there was always a gut feeling telling myself that this was not the answer.

It seems like I have been on a journey ever since trying to heal. When my problems with GERD flared up again after moving to the Valley I finally said, enough is enough and I took action. Sometimes I have to step back and thank my little GERD friend. My body was telling me something was very wrong, and I am glad that I finally listened.

After a few phone calls with very close friends & family in the healing/spiritual world I set my course of action. Meditation, Diet, Exercise, & Acupuncture. That was my new prescription.

I meditated each day for a few minutes, followed a gluten free/sugar free/caffeine free diet for 6 weeks, exercised (I prefer pilates) and I started acupuncture treatments.

All I can say is that I went from thinking my life would be full of prescription meds, slight panic attacks & hugging the toilet at least 3 times each month to being able to control almost all of my symptoms--both physical and mental. Maybe one day I will dive into the specifics of my regimen...if anyone is even interested but I can tell you that no one thing is going to work. Everything is a balance and you cannot achieve your health goal without say...eating healthy. Or exercising. They all work hand in hand. Acupuncture will not make everything "go away". It opens up your energy fields..and paired with diet, exercise and a healthy mind, I 100% believe in its power.

So those are my thoughts for the day (wrap it up...its 11:15 a.m. and I am done!). I only speak from my experience and I fell off of the path MANY a time but this article and video reinvigorated me this morning to stop making excuses for mediating. I want this to be a part of my life, everyday. (& it would probably help things out if I stopped purchasing double stuffed oreos, darn.)

ps. you can also follow my soul sisters journey in healing, here. Her writing has become a daily inspiration for me. She will make you want to stare straight in the mirror and scream "I AM BEAUTIFUL!"

a very charlie brown christmas tree

Last night we piled the entire family into the car.

It was Christmas Tree time.

We took a drive over to a family members land that has a bunch of cedars and pine trees growing in hopes that we might find the perfect tree.

(we're on a little bit of a budget.....we'll see you next year Possom Hollow!)

Despite their gloomy faces, car rides are the pups favorite thing to do. Maybe they didn't like Olivia tagging along.

"Please don't leave me in here with these smelly dogs"


No, Andrew isn't taking a leak in the picture. He's revvin' up the chain saw for our monster of a tree! (and then my camera died....so it goes...)

TA-DAA!

And there she is!!! The most beautiful Christmas tree i've ever laid eyes on!

We sat beside our wood stove sippin' on some *tasty hot coco and delighted in our first christmas tree decorating day together in our new home!

We just need a few more ornaments....

We're gettin' in the spirit around here folks. Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

*Pretty Darn Tasty Hot Coco*

Fill one coffee mug up with milk (leave room on the top for marshmellows)

Heat milk up for about 2 min. or so..Add 1 & 3/4 packet of coco mix (mmmmmmm)

Stir together until well blended.

Reheat if needed. Add a splash of Vanilla Coconut Milk (sold in your healthy section of the grocery store---i'm trying it out. Milk has become my enemy)

add a dash of cinnamon (the secret kicker)

Reheat if needed...just make sure it is at a good sippin' temperature.

Add TONS of mini marshmellows.

Give another sprinkle of cinnamon on top--just for looks sake.

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. Now find a woodstove, 2 farm dogs, 1 black and white cat, a trailer, & your lover and I promise you--all will feel right in the world. :)

important milestones in life

we're back from a trip to South West Virginia.

we blazed through blizzards.

we ate our weight in candy and cookies.

and Andrew won that Cracker Barrel game for the first time in his life.

i love road trips with this guy.

Happy One Year Anniversary, Mt. Sidney

I love my drive to work in the morning, especially when I take the back way into town, winding around the hills of the Shenandoah Valley until I reach the city limits of Staunton.

It is good for the soul.

And this morning I realized that I have been living here on the farm one full year.

I moved around to a few different cities growing up but I always had this hunch, while making that long drive across the state from VA. Beach to Norton as a child, that I would end up in the Valley.

And here I am. Here we are. And I am so, so happy.

Here’s to many, many, more memories and years living in one of the most beautiful places on earth.

beautiful morning drive photos (on my little camera phone)

Happy Friday!

purple rain, purple rain

Today I am wearing purple tights.

I'm not a very trendy-wear-purple-tights-kinda-person, but I have to tell you....I'm rockin' the purple tights and i like 'em.

(maybe they aren't even trendy and I'm just regressing back into elementary school fashion wear)

-you can't really see the purple-ness of the tights in this picture, but I assure you they are -

Happy Wednesday! Put on some funky colored tights and have a great hump day!