Camping Out

It's My Birthday

2009-10-08T22:54:00.004-04:00

Today is my birthday. I won't tell you how old I am, but I'll play a little guessing game with you. If you take my age (as of today), add a zero on the end, then subtract 100, then you get how much I spent on that ridiculous dress I blogged about last Fall. If you can solve that, then you'll not only know how old I am today, but you'll also understand why I'm never going back to White House Black Market.

Moving on, I've had a great birthday today. I've also had a great birthday week. Over the past week, Branden has made breakfast in bed for me twice, bought me a fudge sundae from McDonalds, a Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks, and went grocery shopping for me. Today, he surprised me with coffee and Spinach and Artichoke Quiche from Panera, dinner at Chick-Fil-A, and a gift card to Anthropologie. I think you can see how most of my presents are food related. :)

Other great surprises from today:

My boss got me a chocolate cake and sang Happy Birthday to me.

She also had flowers delivered to work.

This was on our apartment door when I got home from work from little miss Haven:

Branden is Very Handy

2009-10-06T20:55:00.002-04:00

Recently, Branden and I started redecorating our entire apartment. We never set out to redecorate the entire apartment, but that's how things have progressed. I've never liked the way our apartment has been decorated, but have always lacked creative ways to change it for cheap...until about 2 months ago. I think reading Young House Love has jump-started our imaginations.

I've been a faithful reader of the YHL blog for about 6 months. A little while ago, they posted pictures of a job they did redecorating someone's bedroom on a tight budget. They used Ikea side tables to build a headboard. It was genius.

I showed this post to Branden and he suggested we take our Ikea kitchen table and transform it into a headboard since we currently don't have one. We never use this table, and I've been wanting to get rid of it forever. It sat in the corner of the kitchen with stuff on top of it. It was a great deal though. $99 for a table and 4 chairs. The chairs currently sit around our dining room table. Enough talking...let's see the results.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Thank goodness Branden is so handy. We are so happy with the final result. We wanted to make the headboard look like an old door. My mom told us how to age it and make it look vintage-y. We painted 2 coats of chocolate brown paint first. We let that dry and then painted one coat of creamy white paint on top. Before the cream coat totally dried, we took nails and began scratching the corners and the sides to make the "door" look worn. You may not believe me, but Branden did the majority of the aging work. He was quite good at it.

I'll post pictures later of the headboard on our bed. More posts to come showing how we've redecorated and our garage sale and antique store finds. :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-14T16:49:00.004-05:00

Branden and I have been enjoying a lazy Saturday: no grocery store, no cleaning (well, maybe a little. I can't help myself). I love it.

Branden and I aren't too big on Valentine's Day. We keep it low key. No fancy gifts or eating out at fancy restaurants. Still, Branden always tries to surprise me with something. He did really good this year. He bought me homemade chocolate & peanut butter candy and a chocolate rose. The chocolate rose is my favorite because I'm very allergic to real roses. Whenever Branden has given me flowers in the past, I ended up with a bad sinus infection and a migraine. It's so sad because I love roses.

Enough about us. Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!

-To my sisters: Boys are silly and stupid. Stay away from them until they become men.

-To my mom: Thanks for always making today special growing up.

-To my dad: You're still my Valentine.

It's Friday!

2009-02-13T14:49:00.002-05:00

And you know what that means - our weekly update.

This week's weather ranged from basking in the beautiful 50-60 degree Spring weather to almost being blown away in the freezing 50 mph wind gusts.
Phoebe is back and alive. She still needs a little work done but a friend is going to do it to help us save a few dollars. Every time I get in her to drive, I can feel her anger toward me for moving her to a place with terrible roads that are slowly killing her.
Lost: Oh. My. Gosh. Great episode.
Last night Branden informed me that today is Valenswine's Day - the day men take their mistresses out to celebrate Valentine's Day. I quickly filed this information in (2) mental places: "Things I Never, Ever Wanted to Know" and "Should I Be Concerned That My Husband Knows About This?". Then I punched Branden in the arm for telling me about it.
I have Monday off for President's Day. I can't tell you how excited I am. Does anyone have anything fun they're doing this weekend?

Weekly Friday Update on Monday

2009-02-09T20:33:00.006-05:00

Yes, I've totally failed with the weekly updates. I'm sounding like a broken record.

1. Last Monday night, we got a lot of snow. Maybe 4-6 inches - I'm not really good at estimating. It was probably the most beautiful snow I've seen since we've lived in NJ. Branden's lived here longer so he may disagree. It was the fluffy, dry kind of snow that perfectly covered every branch. It kind of looked like Narnia.

2. The snow didn't last long. We had a small glimpse of Spring this weekend. It was in the 50s!!!! It was glorious. We've been well below freezing for so long now.

3. I dared Branden to read all the Twilight books by our anniversary in April. If he succeeded, he would be "rewarded" with a new Fender Stratocaster. He tried for 10 minutes and quit. Bwhahahahaha.....

4. Phoebe's condition continued to deteriorate. She had major surgery today and it will continue tomorrow. Pray for her :)

5. Every now and then a word slips out of my mouth in a very Jersey accent. This week, it was endurance. Let me give you the sentence.

Branden: "How was the gym tonight?"
Me: "It was ok. I didn't have very much enDOORunce tonight."
Branden: "What did you just say?"

6. My co-worker sent me an email Friday about driving in New Jersey. It was totally awesome. I leave you with my favorites:

Road construction is permanent and continuous in all of Jersey. Detour barrels are moved around for your entertainment pleasure during the middle of the night to make the next day's driving a bit more exciting.
MapQuest does NOT work here -- none of the roads are where they say they are or go where they say they'll go and all the Turnpike EZ pass lanes are moved each night once again to make your ride more exciting.
Learn to swerve abruptly. New Jersey is the home of high-speed slalom driving thanks to the State Highway Department which puts potholes in key locations to test drivers' reflexes and keep them on their toes.

Weekly Round-Up

2009-01-30T13:22:00.002-05:00

I know I've been quite terrible lately with updating the blog. I need something to keep me on track. So, I've decided to post a quick summary of the week's event every Friday. Let's see if that will help me to be consistent. So...presenting the first installment of the Camp Weekly Round-Up (If someone has a better name, I gladly accept suggestions).

1. Lost returned January 21 and has therefore consumed our lives. I'm completely obsessed. It's quite pathetic.
2. Branden has been in Nashville since Wednesday on his first official business trip for the record label. He's loving it, but I miss him a lot. He comes home tonight though! I'll be picking him up from the airport between 8-9pm.
3. We've received a lot of wintery weather this week. I woke up to about 4-5 inches of snow on my car Wednesday morning and drove to work in the sleet and ice. Lovely day...not! We're supposed to get more snow tonight - but just the fluffy, billowy kind.
4. One of my best friends, Tiff, is currently in Manhattan visiting her lovely sister but I will get to see her tomorrow! I am so excited!
5. I've only been to the gym once this week. Gasp! I will be going tonight though. Still...very, very sad. I've had a little-to-no motivation week on all fronts: gym, work, housekeeping.
6. My poor car Phoebe desperately needs to see the doctor. She puffs black smoke from the exhaust pipe whenever I start her up. I have a hard time not choking to death on her fumes when I'm scraping the ice and/or snow off the car in the mornings. The fumes fill the entire parking lot - no lie. I still love her though.
7. We are now officially out of coffee. The free l lb./week of coffee from Starbucks has run dry now that Branden has been long gone from the Bux. We had stockpiled and received a few donations, but we have run out. It has been a sad week indeed. ;)

As you can see, we live very exciting lives - not really. Which is why we are obsessed with Lost, I believe. We live vicariously through the characters :)

And if you would like to donate coffee to us, we like all the Latin American - medium blends. :)

Southern Tour

2009-01-18T19:21:00.007-05:00

Right before Christmas, Branden flew down to Atlanta with Chris Dickson to do a mini tour of metro Atlanta and Alabama. They performed on Atlanta Live, played at a couple of bookstores, and gave a few radio interviews. Here's some pics from the trip - enjoy!

Cracker Barrel & Philly Cheesesteaks

2009-01-11T18:35:00.005-05:00

I call Branden my "idea man" because every few minutes he says, "Hey Laura, I have an idea...." Well today, he had one of the best ideas in a while - breakfast at Cracker Barrel.

There aren't many Cracker Barrels in NJ. The one we went to was about 30-40 minutes away in south Jersey. So since this was destined to be a special breakfast, we had to invite our great friends the Zilas along. We waited a while for our food to come out but it was well worth the wait. It was like Christmas morning - as Jen said :)

We didn't want the day to end quite yet so we thought about what we could do next. Philly was quickly decided upon since we were only about 30 minutes away. It was COLD but very fun.

Independence Hall - where we took a small tour

Inside Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence & the Constitution were signed.

The Liberty Bell

Campo's - where we ate delicious Philly cheesesteaks

Branden goofing off at the Philadelphia Visitor Center.

Snow Day!

2009-01-11T18:25:00.003-05:00

This is what we woke up to this morning:

Not as much snow as we thought we'd get, but enough for the township to close the schools - which means no church for us today since we meet in an elementary school. So what did we do today you may ask? Well...we went on a short road trip to Philly! See the next post for pics.

Safe and Sound

2008-12-23T10:10:00.003-05:00

I finally got here to Atlanta. I woke up at 4:30am on Saturday morning and checked me email to make sure my flight was on time and found to my horror that I had an email from Delta that my flight was cancelled. I was quite upset - crying, stressing what to do. I decided to just get dressed and go to the airport since I probably would have a better chance of getting on a flight once I was there.

Once at the airport, I took my place in the long line at the Delta counter of miserable passengers whose flights had all been cancelled. I was feeling pretty hopeless. My phone was dead (the battery only lasts about a 3 minute phone conversation) and I wasn't able to call Delta while standing in line. I didn't think I would ever be able to get home but I was prepared to spend the night.

After about 20 minutes of standing in line and not moving, a nice man let me use his cell phone to call Delta. After about 10 minutes of waiting on hold to get through to an operator, one of the Delta employees came down the line and asked people to raise their hands if they were flying to Atlanta and only Atlanta (not changing planes in Atlanta). I shot my hand up high. Turns out that I was the only one out of the 40+ people in front of me that was going to Atlanta and staying there. The Delta lady asked me and the couple other people behind me to get out of line and go to a new line where we all got confirmed, assigned seats on the 2pm flight. What a miracle!

I got my ticket at 6:30am so I ended up waiting about 9 hours in the airport for my flight, but the time really flew by. It didn't feel long at all. I was so grateful to get a ticket, and not have to wait on the stand-by list, that I was willing to wait all day and night.

I did get nervous again when the plane arrived. I was afraid that for some reason my ticket wasn't valid because I had heard a rumor that my flight was oversold by 20 seats. But I got on and most of the people on the stand by list got on.

So I'm here and just relaxing. I've been shopping for the last 2 days and last night we went to Atlantic Station to see the huge tree. It was supposed to "snow" at 7pm in the square but the snow machines had frozen. It's freezing here! It feels like New Jersey - except there's no snow.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas just in case I don't get a chance to post again.

Office Gift Exchange

2008-12-19T13:17:00.005-05:00

We had our annual department gift exchange today at work. My co-workers and I bought our boss this huge NY Jets clock that looks like a scoreboard. It's pretty cool. It's a lot bigger than we thought it would be, but he loved it. He's a big Jets fan.

I got Red Velvet Cake lip gloss, headbands, scarf, truffles, a cute new toiletries bag, and a Jamba Juice gift card. Very exciting.

Update on the weather: It's snowed about an inch so far in my part of the state and sleet has now started to replace the snow. I checked the weather at the airport for tomorrow. It's supposed to be clear. There haven't been many delays at the airport today for departing flights (approximately 30 minute delays), but the delays for arriving flights are over 5 hours. So, right now it looks like I'll be able to make it out OK. Keep praying!

And pray for Branden and Chris as they're in Atlanta right now doing radio interviews and performing on Atlanta Live tonight. Pray that their trip will be fruitful and they will make many connections with people.

Bracing for the Storm

2008-12-19T09:09:00.004-05:00

A big storm is heading our way today. I'm a huge fan of snow. I love, love, love it - especially around Christmas. But NOT when I'm traveling. Fortunately, Branden was able to fly out safely last night and land in Atlanta.

Tomorrow it'll be my turn to travel. My wonderful friend Jen is taking me to the airport at 5:30am so I can hopefully take off from Newark at 7am. Please pray that I don't get stranded at the airport - by myself - for a long time.

From what the weathermen are telling us, we're supposed to get 3-6 inches today. Then snowfall should stop around midnight tonight and start again Saturday afternoon and continue through Sunday. So, it looks like I might be leaving between storms - which would be awesome if that could happen.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

2008-12-17T09:49:00.001-05:00

It snowed yesterday! The snow is still on the ground today, but some has melted. I didn't have time to take some pictures yesterday or today, but I found some HERE. You should check it.

New Look

2008-12-15T21:37:00.004-05:00

What do you think about the new template? I loved the old template, but I've been feeling like I need to brighten things up a little. Then I came across this guitar template and thought that Branden would love it. Even though I'm not a musician like him, I'm surrounded by guitars and music equipment. I thought the template would be a nice representation of our life.

The Countdown Has Begun

2008-12-15T13:15:00.003-05:00

Five days until I'm in Atlanta! I can't believe that it's finally here. This week is going to feel like an eternity! Today has flown by though. Friday is probably going to be the toughest. This weekend I had to keep reminding myself that I still have a whole week of work left until I fly out.

Branden is leaving Thursday night so his countdown is much shorter. I'll be a bachelorette for a couple of days. I'll be living it up by cleaning, doing laundry, and packing. Fun, huh? Actually, I really enjoy packing (minus the laundry part). You can add that to the list of reasons why I'm a complete weirdo. I think my love of packing stems from my love of making lists - which stems from my love of organizing. Lists give me such great joy. Lists frighten Branden. I love seeing the mortified expression on his face when I show him my lists. It makes me laugh. He'd much rather get all his teeth pulled than read a list. That's how much he hates them. I make it up to him by packing his suitcase for him. Opposites attract, right?

I started making our to-do/packing list today. It's already a page and a half long. Did I mention I'm a detail-oriented person? Branden is going to love me. :)

P.S.: Do you like my cool new signature??? I saw many people doing this on their blogs and wanted one too. You can get one for your blog or emails by going here.

Saturday Shopping

2008-12-13T18:15:00.003-05:00

Today, my mom called me on the way to the grocery store and mentioned that Kohl's was having great sales. I have been looking for a new purse and have been disappointed with Target's current selection (we had visited it earlier in the day). Since Branden & I haven't been to Kohl's in forever, we decided to check it. I found a purse! Well, the picture below is not the same exact purse, but it's from the same company & it's the same earthy green color. I had just enough birthday money left to buy it. I'm so very happy.

While we were there, Branden found this awesome hat. We're both out of "blow" money this month so we couldn't buy it, but if someone still needs to get Branden a Christmas present, he would LOVE this (in a small). It's only $12! And it's so rocker. :)

Book Fair!

2008-12-11T14:23:00.003-05:00

Today we had a book fair at work! It was so much fun. They had shelves and shelves of books and DVDs priced at more than 50% off the full retail price. I was tempted to buy the complete collection of BBC Jane Austen films for $45 (originally $180!), but I had to say no. It would have been the perfect gift for Natalie (I pulled her name this year), but I already bought her gift and we girls have imposed $15 limit. Oh well, I guess we can live without it.

On the bright side, my co-worker won the book fair raffle! She received the complete the collection of illustrated Winnie the Pooh books with a really cute carrier. It's the perfect gift for her little nephew. Free things are so awesome.

Oh, Branden

2008-11-22T18:27:00.003-05:00

I think I may have to start a Branden Quote of the Day on this blog because he seems to say some of the silliest things each day. Here's one from yesterday:

Me: "Branden, why is the apartment destroyed?"

Branden: "Um...I'm not sure. I think I blacked out. It sounds silly now that I say it out loud, but that's what happened."

Sorry...

2008-11-21T12:42:00.002-05:00

I've been a bad blogger. No new posts in over a week! Branden and I have been super busy lately. We've had plans every night of the week for the past 2 weeks, I believe. I had to skip community group Wednesday night because we were drowning in laundry. Even after a night of folding and washing, all three of the dirty laundry bins are still full! I loathe laundry. I digress...

Thanksgiving is only a few days away and I'm so excited. Each year I love Thanksgiving more and more. If you have read my last couple of posts about how much I love Christmas, you probably think that I just ignore Thanksgiving. It is true that I used to not think much about it, but ever since we got married and moved to New Jersey, I have a whole new love and appreciation for the holiday. I think paying your own bills and living away from family will do that to a person!

This year we're celebrating Thanksgiving with other "orphans" who, like ourselves, have moved to New Jersey to work with the church. Some of our "new" New Jersey friends and "old" Georgia friends will also join in the fun. It will be a good crowd and quite a feast! Speaking of which, Geegee can you please email me your stuffing recipe? I promise I will not share it with anyone or my name will be mud - as Daddy likes to threaten.

O Christmas Tree

2008-11-12T22:23:00.008-05:00

Branden and I decorated our tree Saturday night. Our tradition is to bake chocolate chips cookies & watch White Christmas as we decorate. The plan was to eat a couple of cookies along with snacking on cheese and fruit, but since we only bake chocolate chip cookies once a year, we ended up eating about 10 cookies each. We were too sick at our stomachs to eat anything else.

I think this will be the first time that my family will "see" our tree even though this is our third Christmas together. When I told my parents that we have white lights on our tree, they were utterly shocked. This is because I used to throw absolute fits growing up about having only the blinking, colored lights on the Christmas tree. I could be quite a brat about the Christmas tree. We had to put out the big tree, not the small one. I had to put the tree together, no one else could help. Not something I'm proud of. Hopefully, I've changed a little.

As you can see, we (or should I say "I") have gone with a red & gold theme. I think my family also finds this is funny because I grew up singing the praises of silver. I couldn't stand gold. I think this is more evidence that I've turned into my mom.

I would like to thank Target for their vast array of beautiful ornaments. Everything we bought our first year was from Target. My goal now is to add more personal and vintage ornaments. I'm trying to pick up a couple new ones each year.

Last Day

2008-11-12T21:57:00.004-05:00

Today was Branden's last day at Starbucks. The last day I had to drive him to work at 4:45am. The last day we can get free coffee. The last time he'll come home with clothes stained with coffee. A lot of lasts today. But also a lot of excitement about new beginnings.

Branden at 4:45am today. Notice the new jacket from Heritage 1981? It has a hood.

Very rocker.

Christmas is Coming...

2008-11-07T12:33:00.003-05:00

I just received an email from Anthropologie announcing their Christmas ornaments are now available to order. I love Anthropologie! I rarely buy anything there though because it's usually way out of our price range. It still doesn't stop me from frequenting the store and staring. Even Branden loves the place!

We're decorating our tree this weekend, and I'm tempted to buy some of these ornaments. But I will have to summon all of my will power and hold out until after Christmas to see if anything is on sale.

A Day Off

2008-11-05T13:15:00.003-05:00

My work graciously gave us the day off yesterday to encourage everyone to vote. I love not going to work. Unfortunately, Branden had to work so I had most of the day to myself. I still had a lot of fun though, and I accomplished quite a lot.

I was so energized by not going to work that I...

Woke up before 8am. Branden finds this unbelievable since I usually have no problem sleeping until 9:30am or 10am.
Cleaned the entire apartment.
Washed 90% of the dirty clothes. I had to stop because I ran out of room to hang the wet clothes.
Pulled a "Denise" (my mom) and moved furniture by myself. I had to move the bookcase in the living room to make room for the Christmas tree.
Walked to our polling place to vote once Branden got off work. We were seriously bummed though when we were told that we wouldn't be receiving an "I Voted" sticker. New Jersey doesn't give out stickers. Total Bummer.

I did start to get a little tired around 4pm when Branden was taking a nap since the sun was already setting. Now that the time has changed, it's dark by 5pm up here!

But I was re-energized when the Zilas called and invited us to get Chick-Fil-A with them at the mall. Free Chick-Fil-A to voters! I love free things.

Elephant Ears & Donkey Tails

2008-11-04T08:53:00.004-05:00

I chose to make Elephant Ears & Donkey Tails for Branden's potluck today. Thanks to Kayla for using her blog to get recipes for me. Thank you Amber, Jon, & Jen for your suggestions. They were all very creative. The Elephant Ears & Donkey Tails recipe won me over simply because it seemed easy, cheap, and quick to make.

We did run into a few problems though. Apparently, the ingredients listed at the top of the recipe are only for elephant ears or donkey tails. We decided to make the donkey tails since they seemed easier.

The second problem was that I did not put enough parchment paper on the cookie sheets. The donkey tails stuck to one of the cookie sheet as a result.

Branden made a valiant effort to muscle the donkey tails off the cookie sheet.

In the end, he gave up and started eating. He then turned to me and said, "This is the best thing that has ever happened to me." I guess he liked them. Do you see how his eyes are closed?

Snow!

2008-10-28T17:46:00.003-04:00

It snowed today! First snow of the season! I can't believe it. Luckily, I had my camera with me and I was able to snap a few pictures at work.

11:00 this morning:

12:30 this afternoon:

Sweet Monday Surprise

2008-10-27T12:56:00.003-04:00

Someone at work accidentally ordered (2) fruit arrangements for his boss from Edibile Arrangments (sorry the picture is a little funky). So, the other arrangement was passed around the office. I got a chocolate-covered strawberry, pineapple, and a piece of melon. Soooooooooo good. Great surprise to start the week. I love free office food.

P.S.: I think I'm going to make McCainaroni & Cheese for Branden's potluck. I can't think of anything else. I'm so uncreative.

P.P.S: Branden just informed me that someone has already taken the McCainaroni & Cheese idea. Back to the drawing board.

Potluck Ideas, Anyone?

2008-10-26T18:23:00.002-04:00

Branden's Starbucks is going to start having a monthly Potluck. It's just for the employees. Everyone is supposed to bring something that can be placed in the break room so people can snack on all the goodies throughout the day.

For this first potluck, everyone has to bring something election or presidential themed. Here's a couple of things people have volunteered to bring so far:

-Impeached Pie

-Barackoli Casserole

I need ideas for something Branden can bring! Please help me by posting your ideas in the comments!

Signs I Should Have Stayed In Bed Today

2008-10-23T14:17:00.003-04:00

1. I put my sweater on backwards & didn't realize it until 10am.
2. My heater started smelling like fire.
3. We discovered that someone in Prince William County, Virginia used our department corporate credit card to pay their $400 water bill on Monday. We now have to cancel our card & answer the dozens of angry phone calls we are going to receive from vendors telling us our card has been declined. They'll become even more angry when we tell them that we can't give them a new card number until we receive the new card ourselves. Fun.

*Update (10/24): I've received a few emails expressing concern about the credit card. I just wanted to clarify that it wasn't our credit card, it was one of my company's credit cards. Specifically, the one my department uses each day to purchase things online for the trade shows our clients are attending. The physical card wasn't stolen. I've actually never seen the card. I just have all the info memorized. Somehow, someone came across our credit card information and used it to pay for their water bill. Since we use the card dozens of times a day, we're going to be receiving a lot of calls from the people we gave the card information to telling us our card has been declined. Thanks for the emails though. We've experienced credit card fraud twice & it's not fun.

Office Entertainment

2008-10-16T12:37:00.004-04:00

This morning I was working when I heard this song start playing loudly somewhere near my office:

But now it's time to go
Curtain's finally closing
That was quite a show
Very entertaining
But it's over now (but it's over now)
Go on and take a bow

For those of you who don't recognize the lyrics, it's a Rihanna song. I was completely bewildered. I sat there wondering where on earth this song could be coming from. Could it be one of my co-workers' cell phone ring tones? Did someone turn their radio up?

I got up and poked my head out of my office at the same time my co-worker did. We stopped & listened for a couple more seconds when we both realized that the song was coming from the fax machine! We both walked over to it & sure enough it was blasting the song like a radio. It makes no sense. We were & still are dumbfounded. I'm just happy someone else heard it beside myself because no one would have believed me.

End of My Birthday Week

2008-10-11T22:58:00.004-04:00

As I was grocery shopping tonight, I strolled by the bakery aisle just like I do every Saturday. Usually when Branden is with me, we stop and ask each other which piece of cake we would buy if we were to buy a piece. It's a fun little game we play because cake and sugary foods are not allowed in our home.

It's a rule I came up with when we first got married. I never asked Branden's permission for this rule, which is wrong I know, but in my mind it is a matter of personal survival. I love sugar. I can't get enough of it when I am surrounded by it. I have no self control. Therefore, I decided a long time ago that I must take strict, preventive measures to keep the sugar consumption at bay by not buying it at the grocery store.

You may ask how Branden feels about this. Lucky for me, Branden loves food - any kind of food. He loves vegetables, fruit, all sorts of healthy things. But to satisfy his junk food needs, he is supplied with a small amount of monthly spending money to buy whatever his heart desires. It's a great system, really.

Tonight was different from the normal weekly bakery drive-by. Tomorrow is the end of my birthday week, and I did not have any birthday cake this week. Plus, it's my birthday week. The rules clearly state that I can do anything I want. So I did what I have never done before and bought two slices of red velvet cake from the ShopRite bakery.

At home and half a slice of cake later, I regretted my decision. The cake was no good. If I were blindfolded, I would have no idea that I was eating a slice of red velvet cake. Then again, I'm very picky. The only kind of red velvet cake I like is my grandmother's because it's homemade & the icing is not buttercream icing. All others are too sweet.

Lesson learned from this year's birthday week: only buy ice cream from the grocery store, not cake.

Beautiful Fall

2008-10-10T09:22:00.000-04:00

One of the great things about living in the northeast is being able to fully experience each season. Fall is beautiful up here. I love the colors of the leaves. I wanted to share with you some pictures of the trees in our apartment complex. I also wanted to post pictures to prove to my friend Kayla that all of New Jersey does not look like Newark.

New Testament Challenge: Weeks 3 & 4

2008-10-09T22:11:00.000-04:00

I'm poorly representing our church! I'm slacking on posting the reading schedule for our New Testament Challenge. You must excuse me because I've been having eye problems. All is well now. I will share later. Until then, below is the schedule. Jump in even if the date has already passed.

Week 3:

September 29: Mark 1-2, Romans 13-15

September 30: Mark 3-4, Romans 16

October 1: Mark 5-6, 1 Corinthians 1-2

October 2: Mark 7-8, 1 Corinthians 3-4

October 3: Mark 9-10, 1 Corinthians 5-7

October 4: Mark 11-12, 1 Corinthians 8-10

October 5: Mark 13-14, 1 Corinthians 11-13

Week 4:

October 6: Mark 15-16, 1 Corinthians 14-16

October 7: Luke 1-2, 2 Corinthians 1-3

October 8: Luke 3, 2 Corinthians 4-6

October 9: Luke 4, 2 Corinthians 7-9

October 10: Luke 5, 2 Corinthians 10-11

October 11: Luke 6, 2 Corinthians 12-13

October 12: Luke 7, Galatians 1-3

6 Random Things

2008-10-08T19:12:00.002-04:00

Jen Z. tagged me to share 6 random things about myself.

1. I eat my cereal dry - no milk.

2. Our bed has to be completely made before I can get in it to go to sleep. I have been known to get up in the middle of the night to make the bed & get back in. The funny thing is I don't make the bed in the morning, only at night.

3. My mom was going to name me Rachel, but changed her mind on the way to the hospital.

4. Out of all the 50 states, I've always wanted to live in Virginia the most. Not really sure why.

5. I have a song I sing to help me remember the books of the Bible.

6. When I was little, my family lived in Texas. At the time there were t.v. public service announcements about teen pregnancy. They were always very dark with the pregnant girl staring out a curtained window looking downcast. Somehow from that I developed the idea that every girl must be born with a baby inside her & some girls' babies started to grow soon than others'. It became my biggest fear that my baby would start to grow early like the girls in the t.v. Around this time, my best friend came to me and said, "Look, Laura, I'm pregnant!" She still had a little baby fat on her belly because she was 5 years old, but I didn't know about such things at the time. All I remember thinking was, "Oh my gosh, she is pregnant! She's one of those girls! It's going to happen to me too!"

Now, I tag Kayla and my sisters! Here's what you need to do:

1. Post the rules.

2. Tell 6 random things about yourself.

3. Tag, tag, tag

Garage Sale Finds

2008-10-01T21:35:00.003-04:00

Highland Park is this great small town about 5 minutes from us where several of our new church friends live. It's full of grand old houses, trees, and cool little stores. It's also a predominately Jewish community where on Saturdays you can witness many Jewish families walking to their synagogues to worship. It is the coolest place. It definitely has that right-out-of-a-movie feel to it.

This past Saturday was the Annual Highland Park Garage Sale. I've missed the past two years, so I had been looking forward to this for a long time with great anticipation. With exactly $10 left in spending money for September, Branden and I were eager to go and see what bargains we could find. See what we got!

The silver-plated trays and bowl were 25 cents each, the green mason jar was 50 cents, and Branden found us a never-been-used French Press for only $2!!! So, in total we only spent $3.50. Pretty good, huh?

P.S.: I took the plunge & made an eye doctor appointment!

Fuzzy Vision

2008-09-30T10:15:00.004-04:00

My eyesight has been very bad lately. My eyes have been very strained, fuzzy, and both eye sockets have been aching. It's slightly better today since I've been keeping all the lights out in my office & I dimmed the computer screen, but my eyes are still a little fuzzy. I know that a lot of my eyesight problems lately are because we're really busy at work & I've been staring at the computer screen all day, every day. I told Branden to add my bad eyesight to the list of reasons why he needs to figure out a way to become rich so I don't have to work anymore (I don't like working). But I am also in need of a new contact prescription. I haven't gotten the nerve to call the eye doctor though. The reason for this is three-fold. First, I have really, really bad eyesight. I truly do fear that I will be blind one day, but Branden promised me that if I do go blind he will lead me everywhere. He's been my audio Bible lately which is pretty funny because he'll read it just like an audio book.

Second, I haven't found a good eye doctor since I moved to New Jersey. Granted, I've only been to one, but my experience with him was not very good. His office and equipment was circa 1970s, he wouldn't stop commenting on how bad my eyesight was for someone my age, and I had a minor panic attack during the eye exam. No matter what prescription combination he gave me, I could only read the giant "E" on top of the chart & barely the (2) lines underneath it. So this is what he said to me, "They're not going to be clear. Think of it this way - If these were the only two choices you had in the world, which one would you choose?" and "Do you have a history of detached retinas in your family? I ask because people with vision as bad as yours usually have detached retinas." Not very comforting.

Third, I have a major phobia of eye doctors. It all stems from a visit when I was 17. I needed new glasses & I was picking out frames. At the time, thin frames were in style. The doctor turned down every frame I picked out because he said that they were too thin for my prescription. After a while, I was becoming frustrated because all the "cool" choices were being turned down. The doctor went into the back room and came out holding a block of glass the size of a baseball. He then said to me in a very demeaning voice, "Look, you should be grateful that I got your lenses as thin as they are since your prescription is so high. This is what I started with (holding up the baseball-sized glass)." Needless to say, I cried. My family jokingly thinks I need therapy to get over this. I think eye doctors need to be schooled on patient sensitivity. I have yet to meet a sensitive eye doctor!

I have made steps to make an eye appointment. Yesterday, I printed out a list of doctors from my insurance website. I picked out a winner, hopefully. And today I'm going to make an appointment. Wish me luck! Seriously.

First Signs of the Season

2008-09-25T20:00:00.002-04:00

Christmas is my favorite holiday. September through December is my favorite time of the year. Once the air starts getting crisp and chilly, there is this ginormous hole in me that can't be filled unless I start listening to Christmas music and getting the tree out.

Last year, Branden & I put up our Christmas tree on Halloween, or the day after, I can't completely remember. It was totally Branden's idea, but I do admit that I had been thinking about it. This time of year usually hands me an extra dose of home sickness, and this year was no different. So when Branden volunteered to put up the tree, I was all for it since it would serve as a temporary remedy for missing my family.

The day after Branden put up the tree, I happily went to work and told my two lovely co-workers all about it. Surprisingly, I was met with dropped jaws, looks of horror, and severe admonishment. "Are you crazy, Laura?!" "Have you completely lost your mind?!" "It was just Halloween!!!" "Is this what people do in Georgia?!" Usually, my feelings would be hurt from such blatant honesty, but this is Jersey. And people up here in Jersey have no qualms about telling you what they're thinking. I've come to find it quite amusing, especially with my co-workers.

I explained to them that only the physical tree is up - no decorations. It didn't matter. I told them that we would take it down on New Year's Day. It didn't matter. I told them that it was Branden's idea. It didn't matter. I told them that I was homesick and the tree made me feel better. They paused...and then said that it didn't matter. Next year, they said, no tree until after Thanksgiving.

So, when I walked into work this morning and said, "Ladies, it's rather chilly outside. It makes me want to listen to some Christmas music!" I knew they would jump on me. And I wasn't disappointed. Oh well. Maybe we'll wait to put up the tree until after Thanksgiving or maybe not. I don't think I can hold out on not listening to Christmas music much longer though. Maybe I'll bring a CD to work and spread Christmas joy for all to hear. My co-workers will really love me then.

New Testament Challenge: Week 2

2008-09-22T21:08:00.003-04:00

Branden and I finished the reading for Week 1. I'm not going to lie. We missed a couple of days and had to play catch-up. It's definitely a lot of reading, but we're enjoying it. There were a lot of demon-possessed people, dead people being brought back to life & multiplying bread & fish in the first half of Matthew!

But in all seriousness, Jesus' example of love, forgiveness, and compassion shown in Matthew has reminded us how we should be living.

It's also interesting to see how the disciples changed from the time they were with Jesus in Matthew to how they were as leaders of the Church in Acts.

If you want to join us for Week 2, here's the reading:

9/22: Matthew 15-16, Acts 22-24

9/23: Matthew 17-18, Acts 25-27

9/24: Matthew 19-20, Acts 28

9/25: Matthew 21-22, Romans 1-3

9/26: Matthew 23-24, Romans 4-6

9/27: Matthew 25-26, Romans 7-9

9/28: Matthew 27-28, Romans 10-12

New Testament Challenge

2008-09-20T20:51:00.005-04:00

Besides personal stories about our lives, Branden and I want to use this blog to post about what we're doing at our church, The Point.

This past Monday, the entire North Brunswick congregation began The New Testament Challenge. In the service on Sunday, our Pastor (Tim) handed out journals and a reading plan and challenged us to read the entire New Testament in 63 days. All the Community Groups will be discussing the readings each week and Tim will be preaching each Sunday from that week's readings.

We're very excited about this challenge, not just because everyone hopefully is going to read the whole New Testament, but because of Tim's emphasis on Scripture meditation, journaling, and learning to listen to God's voice. We're praying that our people will step up to Tim's challenge and experience God in a big way through His Word. If we do, we know that God is going to do great things in our church collectively and personally.

If you'd like to join with us, this was the reading schedule for this past week:

9/15: Matthew 1-2, Acts 1-3

9/16: Matthew 3-4, Acts 4-6

9/17: Matthew 5-6, Acts 7-9

9/18: Matthew 7-8, Acts 10-12

9/19: Matthew 9-10, Acts 13-15

9/20: Matthew 11-12, Acts 16-18

9/21: Matthew 13-14, Acts 19-21

I Love Mail

2008-09-17T21:18:00.004-04:00

I love getting mail. It never gets olds to me. Twice a month I get (2) magazines in the mail: Country Home and Real Simple. When I came home from work today, Real Simple was poking out of the mail slot waiting for me. I couldn't wait to read it.

I've only read a few pages, but I had to share this with you: www.farecast.com. If you need to buy airline tickets soon, you have to go here! All you do is enter the airports you'll be arriving and departing from and the dates of your trip. The site will then list the current airline prices and predict whether you should wait to buy your tickets (because prices will probably drop) or if you need to buy now (because prices will probably increase).

This is just what I've been looking for because Branden and I need to buy our tickets to fly home to Atlanta for Christmas. Yay!!!!

Opposites Attract

2008-09-11T13:30:00.004-04:00

Branden and I are complete opposites. I'm detail-oriented, organized, & clean (in an almost neurotic sort of way). Branden is not pre-disposed to any of these things. Branden does do his fair share of cleaning & cooking though. He's become quite good at it, but cleaning, organizing, cooking, and processing detailed information are things that do not come naturally to him. He's the creative type and all his actions and thoughts are in a non-linear thinking sort of way. Because of these differences, there have been countless humorous situations that have been the result of me not communicating in his language and vice-versa.

Prime example: A couple of weeks ago, we were invited to a couple's house for a BBQ. It was a BYOM BBQ (Bring Your Own Meat). Because the BBQ was after work, I asked Branden to prepare the meat since I wouldn't have time. I decided to email Branden because he doesn't always answer his phone or listen to voicemails, but he always checks his email. Plus, the meat directions would be in writing & he could refer to it in case he had a question since I would be at the gym & not able to answer the phone.

This was my 1st mistake. If you send Branden a long email, he usually reads the first 2 or 3 sentences and stops. Even though I knew this, I still typed and rambled a long email. I said to myself, "Self, even though Branden doesn't read long emails, he surely will read this one because it's from me, but just in case, I'll type the key words in ALL CAPS so they'll stick out to him & he can gather the general idea." This is what I wrote:

Hi Honey,
I decided to email you since this will take too long to text you.

We're grilling out tonight at the B's. We need to bring our own meat.

Please take (2) pieces of chicken out of the FRIDGE & marinade them. I bought new marinade. It's in the PANTRY.

With the rest of the chicken that's in the fridge, would you mind putting (2) pieces each in plastic baggies and placing them in the freezer so they won't spoil? There's one box of baggies that have (1) or (2) bags left in them. There's a brand new box that's not open in the bag drawer. You might just have to look for it. I keep forgetting to freeze those pieces of chicken.

As you can see, I didn't ALL CAP all the key words - this was my 2nd mistake. I should have been worried when Branden called me later that afternoon and asked where the marinade was, but it was a passing worry. I didn't think twice about it.

We went to our friends' house that night & had a great time. The next day on my lunch break, I drove home to fix myself some lunch. I opened the freezer to get myself a popsicle when I noticed the large Styrofoam container of chicken that was in the fridge yesterday. This is the same chicken that I had asked Branden to place in separate plastic baggies. Instead, he had taken saran wrap & wrapped the container like an ace bandage. Except he had missed an area of the container so there was a huge hole of exposed chicken & it was now freezer burned. It was quite humorous. I think I learned my lesson - maybe.

Disclaimer: Please don't take this post as me degrading my husband. Branden is a great husband, but our personality differences add humor (and some friction) to our life. I thought (and Branden thought) this story might add a little humor to you life today.

Long Story About A Dress

2008-09-07T17:56:00.005-04:00

Yesterday, Branden and I attended a wedding. Earlier in the week, it hit me that I needed to think about what I was going to wear to this wedding. Jersey weddings are quite different from Southern weddings. They're usually fancier, longer, and have different rules of etiquette. So to avoid any mishaps, I usually consult my co-workers on anything Jersey-related.

On Wednesday, I asked my co-workers if I could get away with wearing black pants and a fancy top since the wedding was at 3pm and Hurricane Hanna was supposed to arrive right in the middle of it. "NO! NO! You have to wear a dress!," they said. I have one dress, which has been worn many times, and I am in desperate need of a new one (as well as new clothes). Of course, since I didn't think about what I should wear until Wednesday, I wasn't going to be able to go shopping for a new dress until Saturday - the morning of the wedding.

I woke up Saturday and went to they gym. I came home to change really quick before I went shopping. My plan was to start with the shopping center 2 minutes away from us. There's a New York & Co, Anthropologie, White House/Black Market, Ann Taylor Loft, & Banana Republic. I could hit multiple stores within a few minutes. If nothing worked out, my plan was to go to Marshall's, Target, and then the mall as an ultimate last resort.

Well, when I got home from the gym, Branden was having a mini crisis with the video project he's working on so I didn't end up getting to the shopping center until 11:45am. I needed to be completely dressed and leaving the apartment at 2pm. I was now in full panic mode.

I ran into Anthropologie first & went straight back to the clearance room. Nothing. I walked next door to White House/Black Market. I love their dresses, but they're expensive. This is where I got my dress last time, but it was like 60% off when I bought it because I bought it at the end of summer. I was just going to look through the sale section & if they didn't have anything, I was going to move on.

I walked into the store and I was the only customer. There were 4 employees. I started looking at the dresses when one of the employees walked over and asked, "Are you looking for a dress?" "Yes," I said, "I have a wedding in a couple of hours." That turned out to be a pretty dumb move on my part because the next thing I hear is the employee yelling, "White House emergency! White House emergency! She has a wedding in a couple of hours! You are not leaving here without a dress!!!!"

The four employees all start asking my size, pulling dresses, and putting them in a dressing room. I was just standing there in shock. If I had not been in panic mode before I walked into the store, I may have been able to stand up to these people - maybe. I hate confrontation. Branden doesn't mind confrontation, but I was all by myself. Where is Branden when I need him?!

I walked into the dressing room full of dresses and I hear a thick Jersey accent say, "What's your name, honey?" Laura. "We're out here waiting for you, Laura. We want to see every dress. We'll help you decide." I was still a little sweaty from the gym & from my minor panic mode when I walked into the store, but now I was really sweating. I hate trying on clothes & I hate trying on clothes in front of people. I felt like I was in a bad dream. I made up my mind to just find a dress as quickly as possible, buy it, and get out of there. I felt like I couldn't leave without buying a dress because (1): I wasted more time here than I planned, (2): I felt pressured since they told me I wouldn't be leaving without a dress , and (3): I was the only customer.

In the dressing room, I was having a very hard time getting the dresses on. I was so sweaty because I was nervous & my hands were shaky. I finally found a dress that looked pretty good, I thought, I really wasn't thinking clearly. It was strapless, white top, black bottom. The lady rang me up and I had a small heart attack. I'm not going to tell you how much it was because I'm still upset about the whole thing, but it was WAY more than I planned on spending.

I walked out of the store and Branden called and wanted to know if I had found I dress. Oh yes, I told him. I had found a dress. I told him how much it was and surprisingly, he wasn't upset. He said that it was ok since I needed new clothes. Yes, I need new clothes - plural. Not a dress - singular. Thanks to my dress purchase, I can't buy any new clothes until 2009!

So, we went to this wedding yesterday. Was it beautiful? Yes. Did it monsoon? Yes. Were there girls wearing black pants and fancy tops? YES! I am so upset, and believe me, I will be talking to my co-workers about this tomorrow.

P.S.: If you were planning on buying me birthday or Christmas presents this year, please just send money. I need to repay ourselves for the dress purchase, and I need new clothes!

Victory

2008-09-01T16:39:00.011-04:00

Over the past year, Branden has accumulated so much music, video, & recording equipment that all of it has taken over our small apartment. It's been driving both of us crazy: Me because every nook and cranny of our apartment was overflowing with cables, wires, guitars, amps & Branden because all his stuff was so disorganized he couldn't find anything.

I've been getting so aggravated lately that I was about to give Branden a final ultimatum: either the music equipment would have to go or I was going to go. Except, I was afraid that Branden would pick his music equipment over me. So, this Labor Day weekend, we tackled the monster.

We spent Saturday sorting through everything & throwing things away (my personal favorite). On Labor Day, we drove to Ikea to buy organizing equipment. Ikea was giving away free breakfast & coffee until 10:30am, so we made sure to get there super early. Their dining room overlooks the Newark airport, so we ate, drank coffee, & watched the planes land and take off.

Before Pic: We brought all of Branden's stuff and dumped it on the dining room table. Please note that the above does not include his (2) guitars, his (2) computers, his guitar pedals & pedal board, his guitar amp, his laptop bags, mixers, or speakers. These are simply the things that were stuffed in the closets, drawers, and strewn across our bedroom.
After Pic #1: We bought this bookcase & all the boxes at Ikea. We put the bookcase in our bedroom because Branden's desk is in our bedroom - easy access.

After Pic #2: Branden's desk. We bought the cream colored storage unit to the left at Ikea. It's the perfect size to separate and hold all his USB cables, iPod stuff, printer paper, etc. We're still working on getting him an office chair and organizing all the cords underneath the desk. That can wait though - I think we've accomplished plenty this weekend.

Birthdays and Mexico City

2008-08-15T17:37:00.010-04:00

I arrived in Mexico on my birthday. When we got to the missionary's house that night, they gave me a pack of Mexican Cinnamon Buns called Bimbos for my birthday. But enough of my birthday. Now I'll skip to when we went to Mexico City.

When we went to Mexico City on Wednesday (our 4th day there), we went to the palace and saw several Diego Rivera murals.

After the palace, I bought a Coke in the bottle, which is one of my favorite things to do in other countries since it's the original recipe.

We also walked around and looked at some Aztec ruins & visited some Catholic chapels.

We then ate at a local restaurant which I knew would make me sick when they laid the plate in front of me. I had Spaghetti Alfredo which had at least 2 cups of nasty mushrooms in it. So, I had to pick them out. By the way, I did later get sick.

After dinner, we went to Starbucks and I got a cup of the local blend, Mexico del Dia, which had crisp acidity with a nice medium body. I then bought my father-in-law a Mexico City Starbucks mug because he collects them. My Starbucks discount works in Mexico because it's still part of the North American Region.

Verizon is Not Our Friend

2008-08-14T12:25:00.004-04:00

We're sorry for the long delay in posting. We thought our internet would be working by now, but alas, it's not. The whole thing has been an absolute nightmare, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. Everything should be up in and running by tonight. If so, Branden will be posting about his Mexico trip in the next few days.

Until then, I'll leave you with some of our favorite moments during Branden's many conversations with Verizon's Customer Support:

Branden: I would like to know why a tech never came to our apartment today.
Verizon: A tech did come to your apartment, sir, but no one was home. So, your ticket was canceled.
B: I've been home all day. I've been sitting by the window looking out for the tech.
V: I'm sorry, sir, but I can't help you.
B: Then transfer me to someone who can help me.
V: I can't do that, sir.
B: Then send another tech to our apartment.
V: I'm sorry, sir, but it is not within my power to do that. Anyway, someone at the central office probably can fix the problem - not a tech.
B: Then transfer me to someone at the central office.
V: I'm sorry, but I can't do that.

Branden: Hi, one of your representatives just hung up on me. He did, however, tell me that our service ticket was canceled today because a tech came to our apartment and no one was home. But I have been home all day!
V: Well, sir, sometimes when we say "a tech came to your home and no one was home," it means that the tech went to the central office. It doesn't necessarily mean that they went to your home.

We Pahked the Cah in Hahvad Yahd...

2008-08-08T09:38:00.000-04:00

Translation: We parked the car in Harvard Yard...which can only mean we've been to Boston! Since we have this new blog and Branden is out of town, I thought it might be a great time to post about our trip.

Branden and I went to Boston at the end of June with our good friends Jon, Jen, & little Haven for a wonderful 4 day getaway. Jon and Jen had been to Boston before for a quick trip, but we had never been and were so, so, so excited to check it out.

We had great weather. It was only really hot the last full day we were there, which of course was the day we walked The Freedom Trail. It was still a wicked good time - as Bostonians say.

While we were there, we definitely all agreed that we could live in Boston. According to our Duck Tours guide, Boston is one of the cleanest big cities in the U.S. Although it's a big city, downtown Boston was beautiful, warm, and family-friendly. It seemed like a very active city. I've never seen so many runners and bike riders before!

One day we passed an insanely huge covered mound as we headed to the metro station in our hotel van. We asked the van driver what on earth was that mound & he informed us that it was salt for the roads during the first month of winter. I then said to myself, "Self, this can not be a good thing. Maybe moving to Boston is not such a good idea after all."

The beautiful garden behind Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's house.

Paul Revere & part of the Boston skyline.

Two fabulous street performers in downtown Boston.

All By Myself

2008-08-04T09:33:00.003-04:00

Branden left for Mexico early Saturday morning. We had to meet the other team members at 2:15am to drive to the Newark airport. I went with Branden because I was one of the silly people who volunteered to drive the team at 2:30 in the morning. I was so tired & definitely not very coherent. But Branden made himself a pot of coffee at 1:45am so he was his normal bumble bee self...buzzing around with tons of energy. I was supposed to drive a Suburban full of people, but praise God Jon Zila asked me if I would be more comfortable driving his car so he could drive the Suburban. I don't think things would have turned out well if I ended up driving the Suburban as originally planned. I had a hard enough time driving Jon's car back home after we dropped off the team because I was so tired. I don't really remember driving down the NJ Turnpike. I know I did it, but I don't remember very much. Fortunately, I made it home alright and was back in bed by 4am.

I have been living the single life since then...not the most fun. The apartment is way too quiet and way too clean (I never thought I would say that!). I definitely miss Branden. Luckily, he's found ways to contact me. His iPod Touch works so he's sent me an email. He's called me using Skype - which is way cool. He called me on my cell phone from a computer in Mexico for only 3 cents a minute. He'll be able to call me for free tomorrow because we'll have our Internet activated and we'll be able to video chat on the computer via Skype for free!

Mom Will Be So Proud

2008-07-31T19:37:00.007-04:00

Branden and I found these two chairs in the trash Tuesday night. Well, actually, Branden got the chairs out of someone's trash because I was too scared to get out of the car. All I did was make him stop the car and turn around.

I love them! They're a little short to go around the dining room table, but they'll fit in the living room. I'll post pictures of the chairs after we've fixed them up a little.

The Birthday Week Begins...

2008-07-28T09:13:00.004-04:00

Branden is turning 27 on August 2, but he will be on a plane to Mexico. So, we decided to celebrate this past Saturday by going to the city to see The Dark Knight. We ate a late lunch at Brgr in Chelsea once we got to the city. This is a great restaurant that we discovered when my family came to visit at the beginning of July. It boasts serving some of the best shakes & burgers in NYC & best of all, the burgers are made with hormone-free & antibiotic-free meat. After stuffing ourselves, we took a subway uptown to the theater. We found the theater by 3:30pm, but the movie didn't start until 5pm. We figured that we had a half hour to kill before we needed to be inside. Since the theater is near Central Park, we walked a couple blocks to the Park since it was such beautiful day. There were tons of people laying out on the lawn & we stumbled upon an Italian bride and groom taking their wedding pics in the Park. After a little while, we headed back to the theater figuring there wouldn't be a big line since the movie came out last weekend. Well, we were definitely wrong. We walked in the theater - mind you, we've never been here before - and there was not one employee inside waiting to take our tickets. We were very confused & started looking around for signs. We finally found a map which said that the IMAX theater is on the 4th floor - what? This place was way bigger than it looked. We had to take an escalator up to the 4th floor & soon discovered there was a line of about 100 people waiting to get into the theater. Employees were checking tickets and lining people down the entire 4th floor hall and down the staircase leading down to the bottom level! It was only 4pm! We ended up on the staircase between the 3rd and 4th floor. We only had to wait 20 minutes though until they started letting people into the theater - about 20 people at a time. We got really great seats - in the middle. This was our first IMAX experience & we were definitely overwhelmed. I wasn't too sure if I was going to enjoy this. I don't like to go to the movies. The theaters are usually dirty, run-down, & full of talking people with ringing cell phones. This theater was extremely nice though & the whole theater full of people was completely silent throughout the whole movie. I was impressed; there had to be at least 500 people in there. The movie was great though. Branden loved it & so did I. Branden said that he thought he was going to have a seizure in the first 20 minutes because the screen was so big & so in our faces. We felt like we were there. It was crazy! After the movie, we took a subway back downtown & got out at Times Square. Branden wanted to walk through it and take pictures on our way back to Penn Station. When we got to Penn Station, we bought birthday cake ice cream at Yolato, which is near Penn, in honor of Branden's birthday. We then headed home. Luckily, we were able to catch an express train back to New Brunswick on a new double-decker train. Quite the ride and a great end to a great day.