Turning My Thumb to Green

The weather today has been unbelievable... it's days like today that make me grateful to be living where I'm living. Maybe back home it's this pretty when the sun is out and I just appreciate it more here because the sun is rarely out. But I really do think sometimes that this is the most beautiful place in the world on a pretty day...

Anyway, because spring is (finally) in the process of... well... "springing" and everything is turning green and flowers are blooming, I ran down to the little nursery up the street and chatted with my pal there (he helps me everytime I'm in there, which has been a lot lately... mostly just looking) and I told him simply that I am where plants come to die. But I'd like to not be that anymore. And I was interested in some "hangy down plants" as I so eloquently called them and also something to stick in a big pot that I had. And I needed them all to be very resiliant- for it to be tough for me to accidentally end their pretty little lives.

He suggested petunias for the pot on the porch. So I planted them. Here they are. So cute. (He said they'd grow and be flowing over the sides of the pot soon...).

He also suggested these for the "hangy down plants"...

I think they're so pretty.

And, due to no effort on mine or Aaron's part, our yard has started blossoming some gorgeous flowers.

These:

Not sure what they are? They almost look like tulips but in the sunshine, they open up really big like this, and after the sun goes down, they close up and look like tulips again. Or is that a tulip? Is that what tulips do? I don't know. If you do, please tell me.

Then the Rhododendron. Native to Washington state. So so pretty- we have about 6 of these plants in our front yard alone and this is the first one to bloom so big. We've also got some pink ones.

Anyway, if all goes well, and I don't do the impossible and kill my new plants, I'll post pictures of their progress... As my pops would say (I've been quoting him a lot lately!) "I'm just tryin' to make this little house a home..."

Maiden Voyage of The Supper Club

That's right: The Supper Club (capital "The")....

Last night was our first supper club. We started it so that we'd have something to look forward to every couple of weeks, and we opened it up to husbands (when in town...). As of last night, only two husbands were in town, so they came (only because they'd have each other, I think). We decided on an Italian theme, and everyone brought something. We had lasagna. We had dover sol (is that how you spell that?). We had pasta salad. We had italian zucchini pie. We had garlic beer bread. And of course an italian cake made by Kim, The Pastry Chef Extraordinaire. All-in-all, it was a success. I'm pretty sure during the deployment (that's rapidly approaching... only about a month and half or so...) we'll be having supper club every single night! We say the more the merrier, so if you're reading this and didn't get the memo, give me a shout- we'd love to have you.

And now? Pictures, of course.



Kim, Emily, Brittany, Kim, Amy and Erica (sad, the photographer never gets to be in the pics...sigh...)


The cake. (That's cream-cheese icing...mmmmmm....)


The lone men and fearless defenders of our country...

The ladies sitting down to eat...

Can't wait till next time...

New Bathroom!

... Okay, so not really a new bathroom- no new major pieces were purchased for this redecoration I did over the past 2 days but, it still excites me greatly.

For those of you who have not had the pleasure of visiting the Scogin household yet, the color in our bathroom before was a pale purple. Lavender, really. It was very emasculating for Aaron... but he had a great attitude about it-rarely complained about it. Along with this lavender on the walls was a blue and white striped dingy looking shower curtain (mine from home...) that I'm sure, back in its prime, was a lovely addition to any bathroom. But now? Here? In this setting? Yeesh. Not a good combo but, as my dad says, "poor folks have poor ways.." ;) Fixing up the bathroom wasn't one of our first priorities- the shower curtain was a shower curtain, the walls were painted, great!

Since Aaron's been gone and I have YET to get a job (regardless of my constant pestering of those whom I've sent my resume to), I got an itch that only fixing that bathroom a little bit could scratch.

My original plan had been "a light turqoise and brown accents..." Pretty simple. Until it came time to pick the actual turqoise- YEESH. TOO. MANY. CHOICES. I'd get so confused, my eyes would cross and I'd forget what turqoise even looked like anyway. So finally I just made an executive decision and went with it. It turned out sooooorta bright. Like, hurt my eyes bright. I was sad at first. I'd liked it while it was still wet but once dried, I wasn't as excited. I'd spent hours on it (painting a wall behind a toilet in a bathroom the size of a shoebox proved difficult...) and it had been my first real pet project inside the house. What a bummer.

So I slept on it. And decided I DID like it, and now was just going to go a different direction. Black and white accents. Baskets for the lopside shelves. And a little rack to go over the toilet. I assembled the rack but our drill is broken so I have to wait until Aaron gets home to hang it over the toilet, and though I don't have any before pictures, here's what it looks like so far.

Not so sure it's any more "manly" than it was before... but at least now we have more of a theme going :)

New Neighbors!

Brandon and Brittany bought a house that is only about a half a mile from our place. We are thrilled! Brandon was still in Spokane topping off some training so Brittany had to do the closing all by her lonesome but Aaron, Howard and I walked up to the Chinese place up the street, grabbed some food and walked the rest of the way to their new place to eat dinner and help Brittany paint the den. We got one good coat that night and were surprised with Brandon arriving home a little early.... Here are some pics of our fun night of painting...


Brittany so excited about the new house...

The professional travelling painters

Doing a little edgework (with no tape... pretty big time...)

Some spackling

Taping up the ceiling (he IS so tall afterall...)

After the first coat!

Cleaning the brushes...

After we got home and opened up the door to let Howard out, we found him sitting in the backseat like a human... on his fanny

Tuckered out after a big weekend...

Someone Looks Tired

I just dropped Aaron off on base to leave today on yet another trip- this time, he'll stay in The States for some type of airdrop joint exercise... After I got home and settled into the chair to read up on the news and catch up on some celebrity gossip (Heidi and Spencer got married?), I looked over and saw this...

In case you can't tell, that's our fearless "guard dog "who has helped himself onto the couch and made himself comfortable-- flat on his back, legs spread wide apart, out cold.

He's got a hard life.

Home Improvement

We finally got rid of that monstrosity in front of our house and planted a new little tree. Granted, the tree is little- it will take it a couple of years to mature to full size but we feel like it's already made a world of difference not having that giant and seemingly deceased disaster in the very front of our house...


See really ugly plant to the right of the picture here:



And towards the left of the picture here:


And now GONE!!!


Our new little Mexican Orange bush... so tiny and cute...

Aaron said he was fairly certain that the other plant, after having been dug up and the giant leaves cut off, still weighed about 90 lbs. Yuck. Thank goodness for having my big strong husband back to perform some serious manual labor on Saturday.

Mariner's Game

Saturday night, Aaron was the only boy yet again as we ventured into town for our first Mariner's game... it was fun. We got there a little late and then of course couldn't find a parking space so we didn't even get in until the 5th inning, but it was Armed Forces Appreciation Night so our tickets were only 10 bucks and they did little things between the innings to recognize the different military branches there. Don't worry- we got there in time for Air Force.

It almost reminded me of that Cubs game I went to... but not nearly as fun :) RIGHT, Emily (Purnell) Huensch?!

Back Into the Swing of Things

We've had such a fun few days--way better than sitting around by myself with nothing to do :) Ha...

Thursday night a few of us grabbed dinner for Emily's birthday. Everyone's husbands were gone, so Aaron was the lone male, but he handled it nicely. And when Liz's husband came late after his flight, I know Aaron breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

Friday, Aaron went to work until about 2, and as soon as he came home, we left for Portland to meet our ole pals Ben and Kelsey for dinner. They were in the area for a conference that Kelsey had and we were so excited to get to meet up with them even for just a night to hang out and catch up before they head back to Florida and Kelsey moves to Korea...

Now for tonight, MARINER'S GAME!!!!! Pictures to follow...


Dinner down on the Tacoma waterfront...


Our friend Kim is a pastry chef... yeah... that's right--a PASTRY chef... we are happy to ask her to bring desserts for various social occasions. This is the cake she made for Emily's birthday. DELICIOUS...

Thai restaurant in Portland...

Reunited and It Feels So Good...

...Reunited never understooooood.....

Oh sorry, I got distracted singing. Where was I? Oh yes. Blogging...


Well, Aaron's back. The family unit is together again. Aaron and Howard.

And me.

I'm not sure who was more excited to see who that night. Was I more excited to Aaron? Was Howard more excited to see Aaron? Was Aaron more excited to see Howard? Was there anyone excited to see me? After Aaron and Howard's reunion, shown here:




... we hit the hay and woke up early the next morning thanks to an excited pup. We then took a family "stroll" down to the water. For those of you who have never been to our house, the water is "close" but not THAT close. Adding to the distance is the fact that it's also down what appears to be a 90 degree hill that's about a half a mile long (even steeper and longer when you're walking back up...I mean, our CAR can barely make it up that hill). Anyway, we grabbed coffee on the way down, ran by a seafood market on the way home to get some stuff to cook for dinner, came home, went to lunch, came home and took a huge nap, grocery shopped, cooked dinner, watched a movie and fell asleep. It's basically my typical day... but this time, I wasn't doing it all by myself- which makes an undescribably big difference. It was so fun to just be together again after over a month of military-required separation.

He's back at work now and I'm about to tackle an 85 lb bag (not exaggerating- seriously 85 lbs according to the scale at the airport) full of his dirty laundry. And all I can say is that I've never been so happy to do so much laundry :)

TONIGHT!

Aaron and his partner (FLYING partner) Tony land at SeaTac at 10:10 pm. I'm so excited that this may call for a "Run-Jump-Tackle" in the airport. I better wear some good shoes...

Big Day

Aaron has his checkride tonight- if all goes well, he could even be on his way home tomorrow! I am so excited I can't even concentrate on things I need to get done. I may ACTUALLY get to see my own husband within the next 36 or so hours. Too good to be true :)

Top Fives

TOP FIVE MOVIES OF ALL TIME
1. Annie
2. Return to Me
3. Little Miss Sunshine
4. Steel Magnolias
5. Love Actually

TOP FIVE DREAM JOBS
1. ANYthing for People Magazine (I'm WELL-qualified for something with them...trust me)
2. Owning a bakery (I'd have to learn to cook really well first...)
3. Owning a stationary store (I'd have to acquire some great taste first...)
4. Mom (I'd have to have some kids first...)
5. Professional Gardener (I'd have to learn how to garden first...)

TOP FIVE FAVORITE SONGS EVER
1. Somewhere Only We Know-Keane
2. Shy That Way-Tristan Prettyman (with Jason Mraz)
3. Modern Nature- Sandre Lerche
4. All I Want Is You- Barry Louis Polisar
5. Hot In Herr- Nelly (I'm not embarressed...)

TOP FIVE PEOPLE I WOULD WANT TO SPEND DINNER WITH - DECEASED (and not in any particular order...)
1. Patsy Cline
2. Winston Churchill
3. Mr. Bob
4. Granny AND Grandma
5. Bethany

TOP FIVE PEOPLE I WOULD WANT TO SPEND DINNER WITH - ALIVE
1. Aaron
2. Any of nieces...
3. My sister
4. Reba
5. Jason Segal (of Forgetting Sarah Marshall and I Love You, Man fame...)

TOP FIVE PLACES I’VE VISITED (disclaimer: I've not been many places so let's just change this question to Five Places I've Ever Visited...Ever...)
1. Jamaica
2. Chicago
3. Seattle
4. Flagstaff
5. La Jolla

TOP FIVE PLACES I WANT TO GO
1. Austria
2. Brussels
3. Italy
4. Victoria, BC
5. New York City

TOP FIVE BOOKS OF ALL TIME
1. To Kill a Mockingbird (my absolute favorite book ever...)
2. Diary of a Mad Bride (HILARIOUS)
3. Diary of a Mad Mom-to-Be (ALSO HILARIOUS)
4. Saving Milly- written by Mort Kondrake (sp?) about his first wife's battle with and then death from Parkinson's Disease... it made me love him... and I read it in one sitting
5. Marley and Me (which I did actually love before the movie was a big hit... and book is far better than the movie anyway)

TOP FIVE ITEMS I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT
1. Cell phone
2. Laptop
3. Gum
4. Camera
5. Coffee

TOP FIVE THINGS I REALLY NEED TO WORK ON
1. Patience
2. Understanding
3. Coming up with better cooking ideas...
4. Decorating
5. Did I already mention patience?

TOP FIVE COMFORT FOODS
1. Anything with peanut butter- or just peanut butter by itself
2. Mom's Biscuits
3. Ben and Jerry's Oatmeal Cookie Chunk (best. icecream. ever)
4. Mighty Bites by Kashi (a kids' cereal... but I LOVE it none-the-less)
5. Anything with goat cheese

TOP FIVE PHYSICAL MISTAKES/MISHAPS
1. Falling down on the concourse first day at Auburn
2. Falling down my auditorium classroom first day at Auburn
3. Walking around with my zipper down first day at Auburn (is it any wonder I transferred?)
4. Falling out of a 2 story window at the age of 2 when my brother was supposed to be watching me (thank you, Marcus)
5. Busting my head open on the trampoline when my brother double-bounced me (thank you, Marcus...wait... I'm seeing a pattern)

TOP FIVE THINGS I LOVE ABOUT MY HUSBAND
1. He is unbelievably thoughtful and romantic
2. He has a work ethic like nothing I've ever seen
3. He thinks I'm funny (even though sometimes he pretends not to)
4. He encourages me
5. The man knows his way around a kitchen

TOP FIVE FAVORITE MEMORIES
1. Getting married
2. The drive across the country
3. Absolutely any roadtrip involving my sister
4. Pratically anything from college, sophomore year and up--memories which no doubt involved the likes of Mary Neil, Michelle, JoBeth, Diana, Emily Purnell, Kelly Clark, Kelley Kirker, Paige Orman, Carrie Zaepfel, Lorrie King, Julie Ratchford... and also probably involved a LOT of laughter
5. Trip to Chicago with Emily (which also involved Kristin Rochester!)


All done... yikes-thinking of all of this stuff hurt my brain. Now I just need to get on that learning to cook, getting good taste and learning about plants stuff so I can start a few businesses...

He Is Risen!

Happy Easter!

This is the first Easter morning in 27 years that I have awoken without an Easter basket waiting for me downstairs (I'm not ashamed that I was receiving them until I was 26 yrs old... who doesn't love some free good candy and toiletries no matter how old you are??) This is also the first Easter I've woken up all alone. It's okay though because whether or not I got some good candy or was with my family or not, He is still risen of course...

I WAS able to see my family, who is together in Augusta (except for the Veazeys in Mississippi, having just added to their brood)- They Skyped me into their Easter brunch! Granted it was only about 7:30 am here, so I was still in my pj's - not my Easter best like they were. But I would say the highlight of the conversation was with 3 of the nieces... here are a few snapshots from that hilarious few minutes...

I miss them pretty big time...

It Wasn't Going to Mow Itself...

Aaron and I purchased a lawn mower not long before he left for airdrop... not just any lawn mower--a PUSH lawn mower. We don't have a ton of grass and we figured it will save money- it cost less, we won't have to buy gas for it, AND it's a better work out as they are harder to push. I had never used one before... Aaron had and said they get the job done--or, "make the cut" if you will (baha...). Before he left, we had at least opened the box it came in but had to assemble it. Today, in my boredom and hysteria over the 3rd day in a row of beautiful weather, and after having examined our blossoming and plush lawn over the last few weeks and considering the fact that Husband is gone and some things you just have to do yourself, I decided to roll up my sleeves and tackle my biggest project yet. The yard.

I put on my shorts (yes... SHORTS!! GHOSTLY white legs and all), t-shirt and my duck shoes and I headed out to the garage. The assembly of the lawn mower was not as taxing as I thought it would be and once put together, I tackled the back yard and I was so proud of myself, I hit the front yard, too. It had the highest grass and I saw the greatest results. After the grass was nice and neat, I decided the heeping piles of... "surprises"... that Howard has left all over the yard had to go, too. So I found the new hose that Aaron and I bought and I knocked those suckers out too.
After my job well done (if I do say so myself) Howard and I took a moment to reflect together on the porch. Go us, go us, go us...

Much better looking yard...

Howard, wondering where all of the "things" he had deposited all. over. the yard had disappeared to...

Guarding the homestead...

Buddies...



Haha...