The One Where My Wildcats Win (fingers crossed!)

I thought I would throw a quick little entry out here, just to shout out to my Wildcats. Tonight they take on the #1 seeded Ohio State Buckeyes, and it is truly small group divided as hubs and I watch the game with our friends, who just happen to be a healthy mix of UK and OSU fans. The jabs are all in good fun though, and regardless of whether the Cats win or not, they will always hold a special place in my heart. That being said, fingers are crossed that the Cats kick some Buckeye bootay! GO BIG BLUE!

In honor of the NCAA tournament, we had to buy Roscoe a UK bandanna, of course! I am still learning that UK gear is hard to come by up here in the Buckeye state, however, so my last trip to Lexington I had to make sure I picked up some UK paraphernalia for Ross. One picture would have been enough had he been cooperating and modeling off his bandanna for you, but since he was not, I give you three. And besides, who can have too many pictures of this adorable puppy?

And yes, that is his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth - what a goof!

The One Where I Turned 24

I had always wondered at what birthday I would stop being excited about turning another year older. Well...this year I had the answer. It was 24. The big 2-4. AKA just another day on the calendar. Sad, but true. I am a big fan of birthdays. Always have been. Especially mine. And other peoples. I just really enjoy making someone feel special on their special day. I want to make other people's birthdays as exciting and special as I think mine should be. Not so much this year, though. Normally, I have a little countdown going. The day before, I repeatedly ask the husband if he knows what tomorrow is. I'll be honest, I am generally very annoying for the week or so leading up to my birthday. One positive thing about not getting excited about my birthday is that I was markedly less obnoxious, I will say.

I'm not really sure why I wasn't excited. I think it's because 23 still sounds young and cool and hip and by the time you're 24, you've started using words like "hip" and are so not. Sigh. My actual birthday (which was Saturday) turned out to be nice, uneventful day, though. I went and got a pedicure with my MIL and SIL, and went back to the in-laws for my favorite dinner - tequila lime chicken and a white-on-white birthday cake with sprinkles. Yum. My family couldn't come up to celebrate on my actual birthday, but I am hopeful that we will be able to do something over my sister's spring break.

On a slightly related note, I am slightly amused/slightly irritated at the fact that people think I am 12. Seriously. This happens a lot. Every time I go to get my nails done, they comment that I "look way too young to be married." Actually, I went on Sunday to get French shellac done on my nails (which look FANTASTIC, by the way) and I had another encounter like this. Keep in mind, I am legitimately 24 years old at this point. The convo with the high-school receptionist went like this:

Girl: "When I saw you walk in and I saw your ring, I thought - this girl doesn't even look like she's old enough to be legally married."
Me: (awkward smile) "Well, I am."
Girl: "I bet you get that all the time, don't you?"
Me: (glare and look away)

Okay, not really. I didn't really glare. I just awkwardly smiled as she proceeded to tell me what a compliment that was. The real kicker to this is that people think my 17-year old sister is older than me. I will recap a particular instance for you so you can see how serious this problem really is - Becca and I walk into a store in the mall after a long day of Christmas shopping (read: I am cranky).

Sales clerk: "Oh, you two must be twins!"
Me: "No, we're not."
Sales clerk: "Well, sisters at least."
Me: "Good guess." -- (okay, I wasn't this rude, I promise, but it makes for funnier dialogue when reading)
Sales clerk: "Let me see if I can guess who is older..." stands with finger tapping lip, thinking for 30 seconds... "You?" points to Becca.
Becca: giggling hysterically. She loves this.
Me: "No, I am. By 6 years." (storms away) -- okay, again. I didn't really storm away. I am much too polite for this, but I just want to emphasize for you what I was feeling internally.

Anyways, I'm not really sure why I just went off on this random tangent. It was on my mind, and talking about birthdays...I don't know. The dots connected in my mind. I am done. No more rambling.

And now, a few pictures that don't really relate at all to what I just wrote about - except to prove to you that I DO look older than my baby sister.

Becca and Jess

The One Where the Hubs and I Get Away

Not really sure why I just titled this like a Friends episode, but for some reason that's just what came out. Hmm. Maybe that will be my new thing. Anyways, the husband and I went on a little trip this past week. Josh bought some vouchers off of Living Social before Christmas this past year and had us a wonderful little trip booked for right after Christmas. Unfortunately, our trip was cancelled because of snow. We rescheduled for March, though, and I actually ended up being thankful that we rescheduled when we did. December is full of fun, exciting things - Christmas, New Years, time with family, etc. - but I normally get the blah-blues around this time of year so this trip was actually a perfect pick-me-up. We dropped off Roscoe at my parent's house in Lexington, which by the way, is his dream. Poor Ross is stuck being tethered to a leash or a line or is in some way hindered when he's home so to be able to just be let free out in the country at my parents is his favorite thing. He seriously never wants to come inside when we are there, so I knew that he would have a great time with Gammy while we were gone.

We fueled up at Cracker Barrel, which I feel like is a prerequisite stop for any good road trip, and then we hit the open road. Our destination? Christopher Place Bed and Breakfast Resort in Newport, TN. Neither of us had stayed at a B&B before, so to be honest, I was a little nervous about what to expect. I had heard horror stories from friends about having to share a bathroom with the other visitors, and being forced to eat meals with strangers, so needless to say, I was a little apprehensive.

And all for no need! The B&B turned out to be incredible...absolutely incredible! Check out this place -

The best (okay, maybe not the best since there were many things that we enjoyed - but ONE of the best) things was that we checked in on a Wednesday and were the only people there until Friday afternoon! This would have been awkward if this had been a B&B where the innkeeper lived at the house, but all the staff left at 8 or 9 at night, so we basically had the whole mansion completely to ourselves! Amazing.  There was a game room upstairs with a big screen t.v. and a pool table, and they made us freshly baked cookies and had a refrigerator stocked full of soda, so we were set. We just hung out in the game room or in the pub/library area, and basically had the staff at our beck-and-call. I would totally recommend staying at a B&B like this during the week of an off-season - it was the best way to get our money's worth!

We stayed in Margaret's Room the first 2 nights, and then stayed in a disconnected suite the last night. Margaret's Room wasn't even a suite but was so spacious that it felt like one. The staff actually offered to let us move to our suite a night early but we were contented to stay in the mansion by ourselves, so we declined the offer.

Here's a shot of Josh reading up on the history of Christopher Place in our room. Notice the king-size bed = NICE! :)

We also got a wonderful welcome tray, complete with grapes, chocolate covered strawberries, and mini cheeses. Talk about luxury!

Now, the breakfasts that we got might really be the BEST part of the trip. Check out some of these pictures...and if it seems like there are a lot of pictures of food, it's because there are. This probably adequately represents the amount of time we spent eating - I literally think I may have gained 3 pounds on this trip, no joke.

Seriously, hands-down this was the best waffle I have ever eaten in my entire life. And I've eaten a lot of waffles. This thing must have been made with sweet batter, because I didn't even need syrup.

Chocolate scone. Basically a chocolate chip cookie in disguise. I think they figure if they call it a "scone" instead of a cookie, it's acceptable for breakfast.

So yeah...breakfast was grand every morning. It was kind of a bummer that it was yucky pretty much the whole trip. We drove into Gatlinburg on Thursday, but it was cold and dreary, so we didn't really do too much. I think Gatlinburg may have been more fun when I was younger, too, because we had to look for things to do while we were there. I remember when we used to go to Gatlinburg when I was younger and I would get anxious-excited, worried that we wouldn't get to do everything I wanted. Not so much with this trip. We did visit the Ripley's museum, which is something I have always wanted to do. It ended up being cooler than I thought it would be, and seriously...some of that stuff? - I still don't know if I believe it or not.

We also visited the outlets while we were in Pigeon Forge, and had dinner at the Applewood Barn, which according to one review we read is the #1 restaurant to eat at in Pigeon Forge. Now, the food was good - hearty and definitely southern - but I'm not sure I would say the #1 restaurant. That is a pretty bold claim to make in my opinion, and Josh and I were looking forward to eating there all day. We were a little disappointed...but not disappointed enough to leave food on our plates! Apple fritter biscuits with apple butter were served while we were waiting for our food - now those, were definitely #1! Again, this is why I think I may have gained 3 lbs. on this trip. 

Besides that, we didn't do too much. Because it was dreary, we stayed at the B&B for the majority of the time, which was actually very nice. It forced us to just relax and spend some time together, which is really what we wanted this trip to be about. We did get out and do a short hike one afternoon, which was refreshing and so beautiful as everything is really starting to green up and look renewed!

All-in-all, we had a great trip, and came home (somewhat) relaxed, renewed and ready to plan our next B&B retreat! :)

Notice our new friend, Ringo, who tried to sneak into our room every time we opened the door.

Craftiness, part 2

Well, this past weekend I had another hankering to embrace my inner craftiness. I knew I wanted to do some sort of craft, but I was scratching my head trying to think of exactly what I should do. Then, I remembered seeing instructions for how to make a yarn wreath that I thought looked cute and easy, and I decided to give it a try, so I hopped in my car and headed to where else?...HOBBY LOBBY! :) Can I just add that I absolutely love and could spend hours upon hours in HL? I almost get a little anxious when I walk into HL because there is so much that I want to see and buy that I'm afraid I might miss something. It's a little sad, actually, but I really do get excited to wander the aisles of HL, so it definitely helps when I have a specific purpose in mind.

Let me insert here that there are probably a million better instructions out there than mine below, so you may want to Google directions if you are interested in making your own yarn wreath; however, I'll detail the steps that I went through.

 So, here's what I bought to make my yarn wreath:

• yarn (obviously!)
• a straw wreath
• different colors of felt

Basically, all I did was wrap the yarn around the wreath. This takes a while to get the hang of, but after a while you'll get the hang of it and really get rolling along with it. That being said, it did take probably 3+ hours to wrap the entire wreath, but I did most of it while watching a movie, so it wasn't too bad. Also, the yarn is definitely not wrapped perfectly, but that gives it character, right? At least that's what I keep telling myself. :)

I just have to share this picture of Roscoe, who was very interested in helping me...particularly when it involved the yarn! He's so cute, I could just eat him up!...although I do distinctly remember saying quite the opposite when this was actually happening, and he wouldn't stop attacking my wreath! Oh well, kids will be kids. :)

To make the flowers, cut a circle out of felt. Be sure to make the edges somewhat wavy. Then, basically cut a spiral, leaving the end to be a circle.

Wrap the felt strip around itself to make your rosette.

Keep wrapping until you get to the end, and then hot glue the circle at the end onto the wrapped flower.

 

Ta-da! Flowers! I also added a few beads to the center of a couple of the flowers for a little added decoration.

Hang your wreath on your front door for all to see!

I should also add that I sprayed my wreath with a suede shoe protector . Not really sure if that serves any purpose or is going to help anything, but I thought it might help with how the wreath handles the weather, even though it is under our front porch awning.

All-in-all, I'm pretty pleased with how my yarn wreath turned out! I'd like to make another one with the teal yarn that I bought, but that will have to wait for another rainy, dreary weekend! :)