Keeping the vampires away.....

Well...I've never been a fan of Twilight or True Blood...but I think I've come up with my own way to ward off those blood sucking vampires. Here's what you do. First you register for one of these as a wedding gift:



Next you decide to use it for the first time by making a yummy meal for you new hubs. You're a HUGE fan of this so you decide to use a little extra..



Even though the recipe for refreshing spinach pesto only requires 1-2 cloves of it, you decide to use 5. Yup, FIVE. I love garlic. I thought it would be amazing. I guess I overdid it this time...

Guess I figured out how to keep those pesky vampires away from here....oh yeah, it works on husbands too. And my tongue still burns....also...my reflux has been attacking me. No, garlic does not keep the reflux away.

Safe and happy cooking haunting this Halloween weekend!!

There's no place like home

A friend on facebook posted this video that made me greatly miss my hometown, Roanoke. I love Roanoke this time of year..with the leaves and the mountains and of course my amazing family and friends. This video is about a guy who is looking for a place in NYC (ANOTHER awesome city) and while in the midst of apartment hunting, comes to Roanoke to do a film project...in the end he decides he must move to Roanoke! Lee and I watched the video and started to feel homesick..especially at the end when the guy is looking at apartments......in the building we used to live..the hancock. Actually that apartment was the one DIRECTLY above our old one :) Hope you watch and enjoy a little of our hometown :)

PS: In order to hear the video..just pause the music on the player at the bottom of the page :)

Sick Face

I'm really sick with a cold this week. Nyquil is my new BFF. My former BFF, Seth, gave me this terrible cold. This is what I have to say to my stupid cold:

Dear Cold,
It's that time. Time to tell you that you've overstayed your welcome. It's understandable that some sniffles will come to visit this time of year. I accept that. However, it is time for you to go. You're like the leftovers in the back of my refrigerator (I really should toss those) that are starting to smell. I've got things to do, and you're just slowing me down, so it's time for you to get out of my life.

Thanks,
My former healthy self

PS: Typing this from my new laptop...thanks my (healthy) handsome Hubs! :)

Oh Pumpkin, where art thou?

This weekend we went to visit Hunt Club farms for the fall festival! Every year we love to go the the "pumpkin patch" and pick out a pumpkin, take a hayride, drink some cider..all of the above! This year we were fortunate enough to visit the farm with The Parsons family. Over the last several months, we have become the best of friends..they're our go-to couple and we have so much fun with them and their kids! Lee and I didn't pick out a pumpkin this year because we honestly don't have a place to put a pumpkin. We have no front porch, no back deck and our apartment is so tiny. We decided when we get a new home we will buy extra pumpkins to carve for not getting to do it this year! We did however, help Leira pick out her perfect pumpkin! The fall festival was so much fun...we of course browsed the pumpkins, played in the hay, pet the animals, watched Leira in the jump-jump! We had so much fun..more fun than expected and we can't wait to go back every year that we are here! There was so much to do that we didn't get to do it all, but it was a perfect fall day anyway. Here are some fun pictures from the day!















Afterwards, we headed back over to Seth and Julie's for our own version of Octoberfest. We grilled up sausages with peppers and onions..and burgers too since I'm not a fan of sausage..and some Octoberfest beer ..Although I didn't drink ;) Such a wonderful fall day! Yesterday, our plans for Howl-O-Scream were once again..scared away! We were supposed to go a couple of weeks ago and it rained. Then, we were going to go this weekend but we ended up lacking in the funds department! Don't think we're going to make it this year..I'm bummed about that but I can't complain. :) I am enjoying the season this year much more than last year, as I was sick. We're looking forward to the upcoming weekend! We are heading to North Carolina to see the fam and so I can accept the grant money that I applied for in person! Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and that your week is filled with many blessings :)

Megan

Yo Gabba Gabba!!

Yesterday, I spent a lovely afternoon with my favorite toddler, Leira. She was celebrating birthday Numero DOS! It's so hard to believe Leira is two! Leira is the daughter of our BFFs Seth and Julie and big sister to Daxton Michael :) Lee did not get to join me for this event because he is in Roanoke hunting with friends this weekend! Last year, he attended L's 1st birthday and I missed it because I was in Roanoke running wedding errands so I made sure I was in attendance for this one! Leira loves the show "Yo Gabba Gabba" so that was the theme of the day! Here's what we did!:




We played with balloons (BOONS)...





Leira got an extra special visit from DJ Lance Rock (AKA Daddy)...



We had pizza...




and cake...





Opened presents!!...Lots of presents!!...



Mommy was especially excited about Aunt Megan's gift--Cabbage patch Doll! (PS: Megan was excited too!)...






Some of Leira's friends and family came to celebrate! That's Leira's new little Cousin Kate Elaine (Adam and Krystal) and Leira's sweet friend Daniel with his Mommy Tracy :) (Tracy and Jeff) Aunt Karrie came with cousin Anna, and Tara and Whitney and Grandma and Grandpa Joness and aunt Megan :)

We all had so much fun celebrating Leira's second birthday!! :)

I also had to sneak in some camera time with this little guy (I think I blinded him)..he was so cool and laid back all through the party..I think he enjoyed himself!



Happy Birthday, Cakey!! :)

Animal Kingdom Honeymoon Day 6 :)

On the last day of our honeymoon we were going to tackle Disney's animal Kingdom! I was really excited about going to this park because I love animals! Unfortunately the two of us were incredibly exhausted from the last few days and we ALMOST didn't go to Animal Kingdom. I knew I'd be kicking myself if we didn't go and at the last minute (after a nice late morning) we decided to go! I AM SO GLAD we did! I think Animal Kingdom might have been our favorite park..and that's saying a LOT because we LOVED the other 3 parks!!
The first thing we wanted to see was the Tree of Life. Walking in, we felt like we were in a tropical jungle..and then..THIS emerged!



Totally gorgeous! We actually went inside the tree down under the ground and saw "It's tough to be a bug!" Such a cute 3D show..it even had smells and bugs crawling under your seat..very cute :)
Next we headed over to Asia to ride Mission Everest. The details as usual in Disney were amazing but the town in the Himalayan Mountains was awesome! Mission Everest is now one of my favorite new Disney rides! So many unexpected twists and turns..and the ride itself is soooo long for a roller coaster! Backwards, forwards, darkness..so much fun!



After coming in extremely close contact with the Yeti, we headed over to Kali River Rapids, which was a good thing because it felt like the hottest day yet!



I was seriously getting light-headed. I felt a million times better after getting SOAKED and I DO MEAN SOAKED on the rapids! We then went to watch the Finding Nemo Show! Another Disney MUST SEE! This was one of my favorite shows! I loved the music and the actors and actresses were incredible considering they had to act, dance, sing, and puppeteer all at the same time!
Next, we headed to Dinoland! We rode "Dinosaur" and "prime-evil whirl!" Dinosaur was pretty incredible...a pretty rough ride though, I probably wouldn't take my little children on there due to the roughness and scary factor!
Next, we wanted our chance to tackle the Kilamanjaro Safari! We asked for directions and were told we'd basically have to run because they were shutting everything down for the parade and there would be no way to get there. We literally RAN through the park to make it to the entrance of the Safari ride! We totally lucked out because at the entrance of the ride was where the parade started. We got to stand in the perfect spot where all the characters came out and greeted us for the start of the parade! It also benefited us, due to the fact that no one could make their way to the ride because of the parade, so as soon as it was over we went straight into the ride with no wait and were the first one's on. This is a bonus considering this ride usually has the longest wait time and usually requires fast-pass! We saw so many amazing animals in the safari.





You really felt like you were out in the Savanna! It was totally perfect! We decided to head home shortly after, but first we had to stop and get some of these!



We'd been eyeballing them since our first day in the Magic Kingdom and decided it was time to treat ourselves! They were Oh so yummy! Animal Kingdom is the park that closes the earliest. They close at 5PM daily so the five hours we were there was just enough time to see all the best attractions!
It was bittersweet. We almost cried on our way back to the car because we knew our honeymoon was coming to an end but so happy that we were going to be spending the rest of our lives loving each other and starting our life as husband and wife!

We flew back to Roanoke the following day. My dad picked us up from the airport and took us to a nice dinner. We went back to his house and spent the evening opening our wedding gifts and eating wedding cake! It was wonderful :) I'm so grateful that we had the opportunity to share this honeymoon together, although not relaxing, it was so incredibly fun and we canNOT WAIT to go back to Disney again!! More importantly we are so very in love and are looking forward to the many adventures we have waiting for us!!

Animal Kingdom Stats:

Mickey Sightings: 1
Hidden Mickeys.. blah blah blah
Extinct animal sightings: 2-as well as several species of dinosaur..
Number of almost heat strokes: 1
Number of heat strokes witnessed: 1--we did actually witness this
Contact with the yeti: 1
MPH of Mission Everest: 55
Shows: 1
Parades: 1
Chocolate covered rice Krispy Mickey Mouse Head of Goodness: 2
Pouted lips leaving the park: 2
Hours waiting to get through security at Orlando International Airport: 2
Presents waiting for us when we arrived home: 33
Wedding cake: 2 MUCH!

Fall Freshness...

This past weekend, Lee and I took the opportunity to attend the Neptune Festival in Virginia Beach! It was a beautiful day and we headed down to the boardwalk to see all the vendors/live music. Lee was there for the food. The Gyros in particular and I myself was scoping out the premises for the perfect corn dog. I did find it! We took a stroll on the beach and even stopped to listen to a fun 80's band! LOVE it!
We also took a trip to local farmer's market to pick up some fresh fruits and veggies and gourds to decorate for Fall! We are so looking forward to Fall and Halloween! :)

The weekend prior, my dad and stepmom came to visit! We watched the Oceana Airshow from our front yard...that was pretty amazing! We took my parents on a grand tour of our new hometown and took them to all our fav restaurants! We even hit up the Cheesecake factory for a sweet dessert! Played some games, took a trip across the bay-bridge tunnel and even spent some time at the beach!