How my weekend went from good to SNOW GOOD

 Good Tuesday my dears!

Excuse the hiatus, but I was living in my dream world 3-day-snow-weekend!  (for you non-school workin' types, don't be jealous)

We spent Friday night at home and I took 30 photos of my new pets.  Sounds like fun?  Oh it was. 

 Presenting to the world:  LADY MARY (beta), and FRANK & BEANS (frogs).  Frank is somersaulting over Beans in this pic.  I was worried that they didn't like their new home but they have been quite happy lately.  I'm really digging the new family additions.  (I really want salamanders next..)

Saturday I took a trip to the Asian Market in Charlottesville with some of the international boarders from the school that I work at.  We loaded the short bus and I had my first experience with an Asian market.  I really wanted to buy something so I grabbed candy, tea, edamame, and these cute little asian soaps. 

 Sunday came around and I had so much to clean around the house.  So naturally I sat and watched Oprah's Super Soul Sunday and put all of my dirty clothes on top of the bed and felt satisfied with cleaning. (clean floors = clean room)

Sunday night was extra fun because I played music with a bluegrass band I have been jamming with lately.  The name of the group is the Mason Jars (love) and I am pretty stoked about our first gig. I really love playing in a group and having some voices to harmonize with.  Ill keep you posted.  :)

On Monday morning the alarm went off and Andrew let me know it was snowing.  I brushed it off because we have not had a full snow day all year and I wasn't about to get my hopes up on March 5.  Except when I looked out the window it was really coming down!  I prayed hard while looking at the blue strip on the bottom of the news page and then finally, like a little snow angel, it appeared!  SCHOOL IS CLOSED!  I did a little snow dance in my pajammers.  It was like a do-over day. 

We played in the snow for a bit with the dogs, horses, chickens, and cats. 

Hunter loves snow more than any dog I have ever seen. 

 

 Isn't Little Bit so handsome in this picture?  I love him so.  

AND that was my surprise 3 day weekend.

Happy Tuesday!

Lots to say

I have lots to say about my weekend trip back home to visit my kin folk.   

There were adventures

Wax museums

Mimosas

Mountains

Moonshine

Family Q.T.

Driving woes

Pools

Sunburns

Great music

and lots more to report about

But in the meantime can I recommend this song to you?  Of course I can.  

We bought Allison Krauss & Union Station's new album and it is fab. 

Girlfriend is like a fine wine....she is getting better and better with age!

thoughts on a Monday morning

It was a splendid and busy weekend.  One of those weekends where you have a lot of extra work related events to go to---which is a little soul sucking---but the extra wonderful weather made it up to me.  

AND

I had my first wedding dress fitting.  On Friday I rushed to the shop after work to pick up my dress and then drove home going 25 mph with my precious cargo.  I kept catching myself glancing into the rear view mirror thinking "Oh my gosh.  I have my wedding dress in the back seat of my car".  It was one of those moments where you feel like life is really happening.  (which, of course it is happening....this was a slow motion movie moment though & maybe got me a little teary and then this song came on the radio and I sang it as loud as I could in a grammy winning performance.  It was movie soundtrack perfect)

I scooped up my girl P on Saturday morning and off we went to the seamstress.  She was nothing like my worst nightmare imagined.  She was so sweet, loved my dress, and said all of the right things.  We then celebrated this alteration success at chik-fil-a for breakfast.  It was quite scrumptious and the people that work there are just so darn friendly and nice.  

The rest of the weekend was a blur of sunshine and friends (& rainbows?  what did I take this morning)

Andrew spent the weekend working on the fields.  I am so proud of him.  He is going all organic this year in the fields & gardens.  Chemical free.  But that also means that hours are dedicated to weeding.   

 I was bored at the house and decided to come down to the field to supervise/complain about being lonely.  

Small children, cover your eyes.  A vampire with hippy shoes is on the loose.  

I have given up on trying to be a bronze goddess in this life.  Maybe the next one.  For now, it is SPF 70 baby all the way.  Keeping my freckles in check.  My version of a tan will slowly take effect in the upcoming months (while andrew already has a deep farmers tan from just a few days.  Let's hope the kiddos get his mountain skin and not my Irish genes).  AH, there are worse things in life---try telling that to my 15 year old self.  I thought it was one of lifes great tragedy's that I could not get tan like my friends.  The pain, the hurt, the sadness in it all.  *Sigh*   

 

I hope you have a great day!  Here are some pretty pictures of Andrew's mom's famous rose bushes!  Comin' right atcha. 

lister lester

  1.  My first rose blossomed the other day!  I was very excited to see that it is yellow--one of my favorite colors.  

2.  We got straaaawwwwwwwbabies.  They are in full bloom in our backyard.  mmmmm delicious, organic strawbabies.  

 Do not be fooled.  That is not Olivia.  It is her boyfriend, Hank (Hankerpants--who I caught yesterday in an attempt of murder of one of my bunny rabbit friends.  I stopped the car dead in its tracks and ran around chasing Hank screaming, "STAY AWAY FROM MY BUNNY!".  I'm sure it didn't look strange at all). 

He was probably trying to swoon Olivia from inside this morning.  That devil.  That tramp.

3.  I am picking up my wedding dress after work in preparation of my first fitting consultation in the morning!  wooooooo hoooooo!  I am nervous.  The woman has a thick Eastern European accent and probably no patience for picky brides.  I got my dress on a super sale rack & got a deal of a lifetime---but it is also about 3 sizes to big for me.  We shall see how it goes. 

4.  I dreamed last night that I was on a trip with random people and ended up in a guest room overlooking the ocean in Thailand.  Then I was awoken to my alarm radio blasting Elton John's song "Daniel".  What does all of this mean?  What is the universe trying to tell me?   

5.  Worried about the end of the world tomorrow and what will happen to your pets when you are floating up to heaven and everyone else is burning in a fire ball?  No need to worry!  Click here and all your furry friends can be taken care of.  (i think this is for reals?  crazy.people.crazy)

Happy Weekend Loves!!!!!!!

summer jam

TGIF

for reals

this will be my new pre-summer jam.
(except they look like babies in this video....babies)

have a fabulous weekend. 

张悬 - 宝贝

(V, my chinese counterpart)

I don't think it is any coincidence that I am currently writing a Grammy award winning song on the very same night of the Grammys. It's all in the cards. I just need like 4 more verses & good melody for the chorus.....almost there.

I'm also simultaneously trying to learn the words of a Chinese song that I told my friend from school I would learn. She is 14 & from China and is starting to learn how to play the guitar (but like, she can read music and already blows me out of the water ). We practiced for about 2 hours on Saturday. We are going to tour the world one day--a U.S. tour and a China tour at first--and then the world. Her American name starts with a V too, so we planned out a perfect peace sign trademark.

Learning a Chinese song is hard. It reminds me of when me and a friend in high school were obsessed with the soundtrack/movie to "Selena" and we would just butcher Spanish words and just make up what we thought she was singing. It wasn't until my fourth year in Spanish that I realize what she was actually saying. I'm going to try and respect the Chinese language a little more on this one.

We had our "VALERIE Day" today. I woke up A by singing my new Chinese song at the top of my lungs to him while he was still waking up. He really loves me. Brunch was amazing, but then we went for like a 500 mile hike, I fell into a creek, busted up my knee & I dropped my cell phone into the water and had to hike out with cold wet feet. : (

So there goes the pictures to accompany that adventure (but maybe talks of a fancy phone were brought up?!)

"V Day" was a little bit of a flop. But I am cozy at home in a robe, knee propped up, learning Chinese and writing grammy winning songs.

Can't stop, won't stop. Peace out.

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!

beautiful day

The fall leaves have gracefully bowed out for the season, allowing our view of the mountain sunrise to once again be visible. There is nothing better than sipping on coffee next to the wood stove and watching the rays fill the sky. I remember when we would sneak down in the morning on our freshly cleared land to see what our future sunrise would look like. Pinch me!

Thank goodness it is FRIDAY. I am looking forward to working on the homestead, printing out pictures on my new fancy printer, playing music in my freshly designated "music room" (for now, this will be my stand in woman cave), & hanging out with Olivia & Co.



Have a wonderful weekend and spread some love! xo

oh yes it's friday

(Irish, Cool Breeze Stables)

you should hang out with us on Saturday nights

We cranked out the fun factory on Saturday night.

Who needs to go out in the big city when you can stay snug at home and have a good ole' fashioned Yahtzee tournament.

We played about 10 games. (that's a lot of Yahtzee for me..short attention span)

These next 2 pictures are from games where I was winning. Odd that I only took pictures of these? Nahhh girl.

Things to know about.

1. I am not good at math. Yes, I somehow made it through college, many tutor sessions later, but I also developed a "fluster", as I like to call it, when I have to do math on the spot in front of someone. I just get sweaty and the walls start to close in on me. (deep, deep rooted math issues here. years of therapy awaiting me.)
Andrew is working on not calling me his 5 year old nieces name when I don't blurt out the sum of 6+3+5+1+6 .....(brainnn poweerrrrr.....mmmm..21?)

pain. emotion. embarrassment. somehow I get through.

2. Who uses the cup? I think it's unneccessary and would probably make fun of you to your face if you played with a cup in my tournamnt. And I can do that because sh%# talkin' is fair game in my professional Yahtzee tournament.

3. This was "Amazing fruit punch, Valerie. No really, taste it. Ohhhh. This is so good." I don't know why I found it so funy, but I did. Maybe you had to be there.

4. Crappy coffee table shelf full o'stuff I need to organize.

THEN THINGS GOT CRAZY NEAR ROUND 8 (or was it 4?)

We brought out the CORNBREAD and homemade HONEY BUTTER. (whattttt? yes, we did.)

I popped open a bottle of gingerale and things got all loosey goosey.

(gross. Who wants to bet we dropped this knife on the floor and continued to eat off it?)

but in the last rounds....I started to get tired. And my attention span was on a rapid decline......

We ended up tying in a sudden death face off on Sunday afternoon.

Until next time......

I'm officially living in 2 places at the same time

(This picture has nothing to do with my post. It's a Domo coffee cup from 7-eleven and I like it.)

My car is packed full of summer clothes on their way to hang nicley in Andrew's closet at the farm.

Olivia has been dominating Andrew's mothers house for over 2 weeks now.

I picked up empty wine boxes at Strawberry Street Vineyard on Wednesday.

It's official. I'm in the throws of moving.

I should be somewhat of an expert on moving. Except that I'm not. I have big dreams of organizing and preparing boxes....and I'm going to hold onto those big dreams for now, but we'll see how it all turns out.

For now, baby steps. Summer clothes and sass pants cat. Checked off the list.

Happy Friday!

(and pray for me. Dad & co. are coming to the farm this weekend. We are hiking? What? It's supposed to SNOW with a high of like 45. Andrew won't stop texting me about how excited he is. Good thing you can't hear sarcasm in a text, "Me too!! Can't wait!"

(and of course you can't hear in a text. that's silly. but you know what I mean)

Cool Breeze Stables

I had the best weekend! I have been so busy catching up and spending time with Andrew (YES! He took Monday and Tuesday off to come to Richmond) I'm just getting around to posting pictures.
My mom was in town, the sun was shining and the farm was buzzing! I loved seeing all of the riders compete and I really looooved eating as much as I wanted from the concession stand (a perk of being "in" the family).

Here's a little peek of the weekend:

Mom and her new GrandHorse

Andrew's newphew...chocolate lovers unite.

Hunter, Andrew's dog/best friend
Hank the barn cat

Andrew and the big green tractor! (humming the song in my head as we speak)

Everyone is invited to the horse show next year!!!!! love.

and it's not even my birthday.

I hope I don't come off as Nellie Olsen in this post. But I have to brag. Because my surprise was that good.

I was supposed to stay in Richmond last weekend. BUT, how can you stay at home when someone is dangling 2 surprises over your head that are, "the best val, the BEST I have ever gotten you"

I mean......any girl would go? Right?

So I got to the farm just as the sun set on Friday. Andrew came down from the barn and asked if I would finish helping him feed.

So off we trot to the Old Barn.

"Go get the buckets out of that stall" Mr. worker pants barked at me with his back turned.

"What stall?"

(and yes, I started to get that 16 year old attitude in my voice-don't you boss me around, I just got here-watch it!)

And then I read this on the stall door that Andrew was pointing to:

And I saw her with bows on! BELLE! My favorite horse that was just a baby when Andrew and I first met! Mine? Is that what it says?

I turned into a 9 year old. I jumped up and down and cheesed a HUGE smile. I wrapped my arms around Andrews neck and screamed, "YOU GOT ME A PONY!"

(all the spots are from the hay in the stalls floating around. kinda looks neat? I think so.)

and then I made him take a photo shoot of me and Belle and made a few faces like this:

SO, I don't know how to ride yet and you aren't trained yet, Belle

(or Bella, as Johannah promptly texted me that she would be calling her. She is in a Twilight phase. Yes. That phase. I have not entered the world that is Twilight, but I have seen many around me fall victim. Get it? Victim? Vampires?)

back to the horse:

but Belle, I will brush you and pet you and braid your tail and love you forever.

oh. yes. I had a SECOND surprise.

but the more I thought of it, the more I think it's a private surprise. It's a personal goal that Andrew has set for himself. And I'm very proud of him.

Nellie Olsen, signing off. ( I HAVE A PONY!)