Photo Essay

Caroline's class. I don't think she has any discipline problems.

My favorite Valentine's present.

Our Sunday afternoon

My To Do List

Friday am

Making breakfast

Going to the office

Love/Hate

It snowed here in the Triad, a good 6-7 inches. It made this really cool white blanket that made everything look pretty and clean. Love that!


The bad news: It snowed a good 6-8 inches here in the Triad. That means we Southerners go into survival mode. (Read: Freak out and buy all the milk and bread in the store that isn't nailed down.) On Friday afternoon about, oh, 5:15 I had the bright idea that I needed not milk (had that), not bread (got that), but a fridge pack of Pepsi. If I am going to survive this blizzard I was was going to do it in style. The CVS by my house didn't have the caffeine free kind (I am trying to be good.) so I decided I would just run to Lowe's Food. There wasn't a parking space to be found. While driving around to find a space I told Caroline the game plan: We would run in, grab the one item, and run out. (Mwahahahahah!)
I walked in and the lines were backed up in the aisles. I knew it would be like this so I grabbed the box, walked out to the madness, and breathed...
I found a line for cash only, thanked my stars that I had some (I usually NEVER have cash.), paid and left. As we walked outside and got in the car, the snow started falling. By the time I got home (about 5 minutes away) it was coming down pretty hard.
That was Friday afternoon about 5:45 and I didn't leave my apartment complex until Monday afternoon. Count people...TWO and a Half days!!!!! Church was canceled on Sunday and the roads kept refreezing at night so I couldn't go anywhere. Oh, and Kevin worked all weekend 10 am-8pm (which translates to 9am-9pm.) On Sunday night I was ready to go postal. So this morning the three of us got out of the house and stayed out almost all day. It was sweet freedom.

The good news: We got to play, play, play in the snow!

Yes, that is the lid to a plastic box.

The fine art of snow angles

Look at those faces!

The good news: The snow is beginning to melt and life is getting back to normal.
The bad news: Snow is in the forecast for Friday and Saturday.

Better get to the store now for more Pepsi!

Case of the blahs...

I don't like January. No offense to anyone who has a birthday this month but January is just BLAH! It is cold, boring, and slow.
It took us forever to take our tree down. It wasn't a challenge; I just wasn't ready to let go. The presents are opened, the food is eaten and Christmas is over. It is a little depressing. We finally took it down on the 7th.
So when January rolls around I go looking for things to pick me up. Little things, big things, non-boring things. Here is what I have been doing so far:

1. New make-up. I know it's weird but I love it when I get down to the end of a bottle of foundation or the end of my eye shadow and I get to buy new stuff. (I know, the little things.)
Here is what I found...
This stuff makes my skin look and feel so good. buy it! Now! (No, I am not a paid sponsor for Neutrogena. I just love this stuff.)

2. Cooking,
I have discovered a new love of cooking. I am always on foodnetwork.com. I am a huge fan of Ina Garten and I love food. Case in point, I found an awesome recipe for apple turnovers over at The Daily Grapefruit. They were amazing!!!

I also found the best recipe for shrimp and grits. I could like to plate they are so good. When Kevin and I went to Asheville my favorite parts involved food. Tyler Florence's crunchy granola is now a staple in my pantry. Wow, now I'm hungry...

3. Camera
If I have to stay indoors because it is so cold outside I guess I will make the most of my windows. Love the yummy light on Caroline.

4. Music
My favorite Christmas present is a CD my friend Peg makes me every year. It has some amazing bands and amazing songs. This year's CD is now a permanent resident of my car's CD player. My great loves right now are: Warpaint, Throw Me the Statue, The Everybody Fields, Avett Brothers, Iron and Wine, Death Cab for Cutie, Matt and Kim, Ray LaMontage, etc.

5. Books
I love to read. Our book club just met to discuss The Book Thief (AWESOME!) and planned out the rest of the year. My goal is to read all of them. On the list so far, The Glass Castle, Fast Food Nation, 1776, The Lovely Bones, Water for Elephants, The Red Tent, etc. Some of these are titles I have wanted to read and now I have an excuse.

OK, dear Internet. That is my list of things that make me a little happy during my cabin fever. How about you? What helps you make it from January to mid-March?

3..2..1..

So,

What did you do for New Year's?

Caroline and I stayed in our pajamas until about 2:30 PM! on New Year's Day.

Life is good!

You better watch out. You better not cry...

Well,
Caroline must have been good, really good this year.

Like, found a cure for cancer good.

Santa came, and Grandmas bought and Mommy and Daddy indulged and Aunts spoiled etc.

Our car was loaded down when we came back from Wilmington.

Bedtime on Chirstmas Eve

My greatest wish is that this Christmas found you surrounded by your loved ones. That was the best present I received.

To Do List...

Well...
I looked at the date of my last post and then looked at the calendar and all I can offer is my sincere apology. We have had such a busy month and then it became a new month, just like that.

That wasn't fair.

I was just getting the hang of November and then BAM! December drop kicks me in the head.
I will give you an update in the form of my to do list since that is the only writing I have been doing lately.

1. Have a great Thanksgiving! {Check}
We had a lot of family join us for Thanksgiving this year since Kevin had a crazy work schedule. We got to feel just how many square feet our apartment has. We had good food, good conversations and swimming! Kevin's family rented a hotel here in town and got one with an indoor pool. I highly recommend it! The next day we did some sightseeing before everyone left to go home. My favorite part was watching Caroline and Katy play.


2. Spoil my new niece, Ava Grey {To be continued...}

3. Halloween...
When we explained the whole trick or treat process to Caroline you could see the gears turning in her head. "So I get to dress up in my new Cinderella dress, ring someone's doorbell, say "trick or treat" and I get candy? And why can't we do this everyday?"

4. Take Christmas pictures for others...
This has been a lot of fun. Head on over to my website to see the end results:
web.mac.com/toni.walker click on "view images"

5. We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo. You can come too, too, too...
Caroline's preschool took a field trip to the Nature Center here in Greensboro. The girls have been learning about different animals and this let them see some up close. They had a blast. The weather was great. We packed a lunch and just let the girls run and play until they literally dropped.

6. Play new game with Grandpa {Check}

7. Test out new rain boots {Check}

8. Be better about updating my blog...