I'm not as young as I used to be...

This weekend Jesse and I got new furniture, well, new to us furniture. I can imagine that this furniture sat in some old lady's house covered in plastic for years and years and was barely sat on. We'll post pictures of it once we have everything rearranged... It's an awesome yellow and green floral - totally retro.

Anyway, while Jesse was picking it up from the Estate Specialist on Saturday (awesome antique store in Lynchburg), I decided to move our old furniture out of the way. That was a bad idea seeing as our old furniture is massive and heavy. Now it is Monday and my back is yelling at me for thinking I can do that kind of thing on my own. I have come to the realization that I'm not as young as I used to be... 27 is tough.

The many faces of Carrie.

I was going through iPhoto tonight and found some interesting photos of Carrie. I can tell you Carrie has always had a great sense of fashion. In fact, if you ask her for her opinion she will gladly tell you what to wear.





The last one is me... in case you didn't know. Again, as you can tell from the photos, Carrie is great with style.

Zucchini - from garden to dinner...

So Carrie prepared a couple of zucchini for dinner a few nights ago. They were excellent. It makes me feel good to be eating stuff that we cared for. Next year we plan on expanding our garden extensively. We planted way to much stuff for the space we have... however, having never planted a garden we had no idea. Vegetables really need space in order to do their thing. Thanks for stopping by to see what we are up too.

I am thankful for these soldiers.

U.S. military service members take an oath at a mass re-enlistment ceremony in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, July 4, 2008. 1215 service members re-enlisted Friday during an Independence Day ceremony at al-Faw palace at Camp Victory.

The garden bears vegetables...

So, we have eaten from what we planted a couple months ago. So far we have bunch of cucumbers and beans coming in. Carrie cut up the first cucumber and gave thanks. The beans are trickling in. Everything is good so far.




Funny story... I got home from somewhere and Carrie was in the backyard working in the garden. She had something protruding from her sweatshirt that she is not genetically equipped for. So I ask her, "Is that a cucumber in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?" It turns out it was the cucumber in the photo above. I was relieved.

Three Ridges & The Priest Wilderness

So two weeks ago my Dad, Uncle, Cody (cousin), Ariel (cousin), and myself went hiking and camping on the Appalachian Trail. My uncle asked me to find a good place to go... naturally I found a place. I know of a couple of places around my house that provide great views and some good hiking. What I didn't know is that the section I took them on is considered by many to be the most difficult vertical climb on the entire trail. It was pretty brutal. Don't get me wrong, I am glad we did it and would do it again, I would just slim down my pack to essentials. Did I really need to bring my 6 person glass hookah? In hindsight, a 4 person would have been fine. Anyways, it rained for the better part of the first day, which kept us cool. I will post more photos later and a better write-up and maybe some links to what we hiked.




Not sure who this bozo is below... I think he was a through hiker. He followed us the entire time. We finally clubbed him and left him in a stream.

Carrie paints the bedroom...

So this holiday weekend Carrie tackled the bedroom. Previously it was gray... kind of dark and boring. Now it is nice and yellow. Carrie did an excellent job. She primed the walls and put two coats of paint. She painted the ceiling and also did all of the trim. She has got far more patience than I have and frankly she is good at painting. I like the color she choose - she asked me if I liked it and I do. So far she has done all of the painting and choose good colors.









What did I do this long weekend you might ask... I cut the grass and got stung twice by an army of bees that built a nest in the ground in our front yard. I wouldn't bother it but it is right in the middle of our yard. So, I poured gas in it and then struck a match. I was trying to think of ways to get rid of them without destroying them as bees are severely in decline. But I couldn't think of a realistic way to do so without being mauled by an angry mob of bees. I had a memorial service for them with Rummy. He cried.

Rhododendrons - they are difficult.

The Rhododendrons I planted some time ago are having difficulty growing where I planted them. From what I have read it could be that the soil they were in is not drained well enough, I could be watering them too much (unlikely), or they just all around suck. I transplanted two of them tonight to a place that is just at the top of a small slope. I am hoping the slope will encourage the water to drain downhill. A rhodos natural habitat is very rocky and non-clay soil. Where I had them planted was non-rocky soil and mostly clay! I am a jerk. The first plant looks like it may be gone and the second one is starting to show signs just like the first. I am really, really hoping that moving them will bring them back. It gives me a good feeling to see something that looks hopeless and with work and care it comes back and looks great.






Another possible issue is that these two plants were in direct sunlight pretty much all day. Initially I planted 3 rhodos. The third plant is in the shade for a good part of the day and it is really thriving. The spot these plants are in now have ample shade, so hopefully they recover. If not, I am going to throw them in the street. I may burn them. At the very least I will blow them up with dynamite.

Gardening, tomatoes, and stuff...

So, we are well into the season on growing things. Our tomato plants are growing well and so is the rest of our crap... I mean crop. It is pretty neat the way all kinds of tomatoes grow on the plants... frankly, it is surprising how much weight the stalk can hold. I am not sure if it is a stalk or a trunk... I am going to say stalk. If you don't like please exit this browser now... dick.




I think we planted to much in the space we have available. Next year we are going to move the garden to a larger location. We would like to be able to grown more variety. The cucumbers, tomatoes, and beans seem to be doing well. I am looking forward to gorging myself on fresh tomatoes.

Imgaine this goon riding his bike down the road...

So that is what I look like on most mornings and afternoons! I recently ditched the backpack as a installed a rack and bag on the bike. It is amazing what a difference it made to get the backpack off... I would sweat like crazy and the backpack just kept all the heat in. It is quite nice to ride home from work as most of the stress is expelled during my trip. In fact, on most rides I don't even think about work... I just think about riding and watching traffic and what the next crazy driver will do. The health benefits are extraordinary as well. Round trip it is about 18 miles of decent roads. Typically, I ride on the shoulder unless there is some obstruction. You are welcome to make any smart comments you like, however, bear in mind I will send a hitman after you. Should I have to send a hitman after you it will be one of these two:


Dangerous Girl.

Psycho Killer.

Fly fishing the Tye River in...

Nelson County, Virginia. Carrie and I headed out at about 3 PM in search of dinner. To make a long story short dinner came from the Kroger fish department. Carrie caught two fish and I caught 68 trout that were all over 3 feet long. Unfortunately, we didn't catch anything worth keeping. I will say it was a lot of fun. This was Carrie's first time fly fishing and she caught on really quick. She looked like a natural fisher women. I would equate her to the Shooter Mcgavin of fly fishing. Anyways, here are a few photos:

Peanut Butter

Yesterday, as I was making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, I started thinking about how much I like peanut butter. There are the typical things that I enjoy with peanut butter as I think everyone does: pb&j, peanut butter and apple slices, ants on a log (peanut butter on celery with raisins), peanut butter toast, peanut butter cookies... :) Then there are the strange things that my family and I eat peanut butter with (that I thought were completely normal until I start telling people and they give me this horrified look as they try to imagine eating it): peanut butter and scrambled eggs on toast, peanut butter and bologna sandwich, peanut butter on a BLT...
You know the saying "Everything is better with bacon?" Well, I say everything is better with peanut butter!

My pursuit of a fat chedder stack...

Since I was about 12 or 13 I have been figuring out ways to make money. I always wanted more. I remember reading a book when at about 13 years old called YBI: Young Boy, Inc. (ISBN: 1889557005) and thinking what they were doing was not that bad because people chose to buy the drugs. YBI was simply making them available... capitalism. As I grew up I realized that my perspective was incorrect. I thought that the more money I had the more happiness it would bring. As I have gotten older I am realizing that money doesn't bring happiness... sure it is nice to go on vacations, visit family, and get a gadget once in a while, but other than that it doesn't matter how much money Carrie and I have. I am more content spending time with Carrie at home on the deck watching the dogs than I am doing just about anything else. I am content spending time with friends. I don't speak from experience but it would seems that money can can divide people into groups of those that have and those that don't. There is such a disparity of wealth among people. I am all for the enterprising entrepreneur that goes out, starts a company, and does really well with it. In fact, I encourage it! I am just saying for myself I would prefer to go out and start a company, do well with it, earn enough money so Carrie can stay home with our kids, save for their college, and then give the rest of the money away to worth while causes. There are many people in this world that need financial help. I am not talking about people that choose not to work and milk the system.

It is the simple things in life that bring me joy... like seeing a job completed, growing a garden, eating fajitas, and riding my bicycle.

I feel like the more I change the more I stay the same... I just glean a little new knowledge from each experience. Like the time last week when I stuck my tongue in the outlet on the wall... it had two outlets, one on the top and one on the bottom. Don't put your tongue in the top outlet... it will shock you. However, the bottom one should be fine.

Detroit Red Wings are Stanley Cup champs!!!

So it finally happened last night... the Wings won the Cup! I watched the first period of the game at one buddies house and then went over another's house to watch the rest. My buddy Joe is a Red Wings fan... at least now anyways! It was great to watch them hoist the Cup and skate around the ice... the players were certainly on cloud nine. It made me think about some of the players that have been playing for 10 or more seasons and have never won the cup. Most notably would be Dallas Drake. He played for 15 seasons and never until last night won the Stanley Cup.


This really illustrates the way that practicing perseverance will pay off in the end. However, I guess it should be noted that with perseverance the desired outcome may not occur, but almost always some life lesson can be gleaned from the experience.

Chris Osgood is another guy I am glad to see raise the cup. He started off this season as the backup goaltender and he started the post season as the backup. Now he is the goalie in the playoffs with the most wins, best save percentage, and coolest mask. Congrats.

Red Wings.

I thought the Wings were going to win the cup last night... I guess not. I was over a friends house and we watched the game until the expiration of the second overtime period. I have come to the conclusion that games that last more than one overtime get dull really quick. The precision that is NHL hockey goes away pretty quickly when the players are dead tired. It was a lot of dump the puck, chase the puck, try to shoot the puck.... back and forth. I hope they can pull it off next game in Pittsburgh.

Pale is the new Tan...

I'm trying to start a movement of embracing your natural skin tone, of wearing SPF, of not fake n' baking... I've got a few people on board with me so far: Cheri and... ok, just Cheri so far. We're ready to brave the shores of Myrtle Beach with our SPF 45 and possibly blind those that dare to look directly at our skin!
Some beautiful fair skinned people:



Recently I found that Aveeno makes a daily body lotion with spf 15. I couldn't be happier. I hate having to worry about getting burned if I'm just driving in my car... It's great because it's moisturizing and it doesn't have a strong odor like sunblock does.

So join with us if you dare!