a homecoming.

debo and i are traveling to pittsburgh this wednesday for a nice long weekend. he'll be spending most of the time up at geneva, and while i'll be visiting a little there, i plan on spending most of the time with me mama. we didn't get much quality time together when i was home in december because debo and i were running around trying to see a lot of our friends and my cousins. so i look forward to some serious girl time with her. which with my mom means: food, petticures, shopping, old movies, and if it's warm nice long walks in our favorite spot in the city. *sigh* goodness i love living in the city and i love my mom.

i've actually had a lot on my mind lately, and hopefully i'll get to post more on that later when i clear out my thoughts. this past week was lovely as i had a ton of free time (i.e. no nannying), but i must say i look forward to seeing my cuties tomorrow morning at 9. blessings on the start of your weeks.

paint the silence.

how can you say your life is empty, so late in the day?
why would you stay another second? now your sight got in the way.
a combination of love and aggression, another second lived.
don't paint the silence black now save me,
don't leave it a day,
you got a right to stand or die so maybe,
you take chances all the same.
pain comes in stages
if we dont make it, nothing changes. ~ south "paint the silence"

this song is in my head. it reminds me of my freshman year of college. *sigh* ah memories. i listened to so much music that year.

i ran 5 1/2 miles today! it felt so amazing. debo and i are going to be running a half marathon this april so i'm hoping all my running will pay off, because although i'm sure i'll be walking some of the marathon, i'd like to at least jog a good half of the half, lol.

today is debo's birthday. i am making a funfetti cake, lol, i know i'm slacking i could do a homemade one, but the thing is he really loves funfetti cakes so i kinda wanted to do something he'd esp like. i also got him season 1 of Arrested Development, and a very nice and new power drill. he was very pleased.

the sun is shining here, i'm expecting some company so i guess i should get going. however i felt inclined to write something here as it has been a while. hopefully i'll have something more significant to post about soon!

a wednesday afternoon.

i've opened all the windows in our apartment letting a refreshing light breeze into our home. the sun is shining, the high for today a balmy 68 degrees, and this red-head is soaking it all in on her day off. it's perfect rollerblading weather! so, here's a snapshot of those well loved blades. what a nice pair those two pairs make? hehe. i'm going to get debo to go out with me this afternoon or evening for a glide about campus.

on another note. last semester our desk manager, Fussy, gave us a turkey because he knew we were making a pre-thanksgiving dinner for the RA's. however, at the time i didn't need it since i had the poultry already bought for that meal. he reminded me this week that indeed that 7 pound bird is still in our freezer and he said we should have him over for dinner. so, yes indeed, i have a turkey roasting in my oven, stuffed with stuffing, and a plan for red skin mashed potatos, corn and green beans. mmm. hopefully it will turn out okay, Fussy gave me his mom's recipe for stuffing so i decided to do that kind instead of my own. however, his recipe didn't give rounded measurment sizes or anything, which i guess with stuffing you usually wing anyway. however, it's just a little different from my stuffing so we'll see. all smells good though. we invited a few others over to join us so it should be fun.

lastly, i recieved my vincenzo rizzo watercolor painting late last week, and got it framed and hung up in the living room area of our apt. here's a shot of it nicely framed. so pretty. it's been nice having finishing touches of decorations hung about our walls.

i hope you all have a lovely day.

less is more.

random thoughts.

wow, i can't believe it's already friday, where did the week go?

i just can't help it. maybe i'm too simplistic, but really for me less is always more.

and to add to that...i am totally digging this haircut. i was watching "what not to wear" and after i saw what they did to sunny here, i just couldn't stop staring at it. i guess i just am ready for a change so i'm kinda getting to the point of being up for anything. i feel that the length and cut of this hair will make it easy to blow dry and straighten (which i would have to do w/ my frizzy waves). however, since it just looks so cute i think i'd be up for the challenge! oh the possibilities. debo and i are visiting pittsburgh the first week of april and mom set up a hair appointment for while i'm there. so i will have some time to think on it.

have a lovely weekend all! :-D

oatmeal darlings.

what is it about fresh homemade chewy oatmeal cookies? i whipped up a batch this evening adding of course the usual raisins and deciding also that a cup of walnuts was in order. so good. the fella's all enjoyed them as well as we ate them over hockey and the new episode of heros.

last week was positively lovely. spring break. warmer weather. walks. rollerblading. lots of eating out. some shopping. some home improvement and spring cleaning. some fun outings with friends and some great times making new friends. i also managed to make it back up to a 5 mile run (something which i haven't been able to do since last may), it was so invigorating that i am now rehooked on running for distance again. oh and getting paid is always nice! hehehe, good things.

the kiddos are finally over their sickness and i found myself super excited to see them after not being with them for a week. *sigh* and keagan was just so cuddly. i'm just so charmed by these cuties.

for a pair of black eyes.

a little while back i stumbled upon the blog, lovelydesign. it is such a delightful blog to read. not only does it hold such clever and lovely homemade design ideas it also follows Sharilyn herself who is a new mom with her daughter Addie. she posted a good while back with this picture, and it literally makes my heart melt.

is that not precious? she took this pic of her daughter while she was napping with their cat elliot who had cuddled up with her. i know a lot of people hate cats, but i grew up with them and i just love them. i love dogs too, and i know debo and i want to have one of both when we finally have the space and are in a place that allows them. however, i must say that along with longing for a pet, i find myself more and more really wanting a baby of my own. it's so funny for me to be saying this because, although, growing up i always knew i wanted kids someday, i've never been really the mothering kind of girl. yet, i think getting married and settling down, pretty much nannying a baby & 3 year old almost full-time, and totally adoring the tv show jon & kate plus 8, have left me truly looking forward to being a mom.

don't worry though, hehehe, i'm not in a rush just yet! i think it's good to enjoy the time i have right now just being a newly wed before i start thinking about having a family. i think debo and i will at least wait 3 or 4 years until we make that next step. however, it is fun to think about the future and all the possibilities.

right now though i def. do truly yearn for a pet. every time i return home to pittsburgh i get to cuddle, play with, and tease this little guy:

this is chance. i call him, "chancey pants." this grey beast is the best cat i've ever had. he's literally part-dog incarnate. he has so much energy, he loves people, he's a good greeter, and he's not afraid of anything (not even the vacuum cleaner). he loves to cuddle, and he is the softest cat (his fur is like silky velvet). i soak up my time with him every visit i get to pittsburgh. he's just so enjoyable. he's also super mischievous and gets into lots of trouble. i know people hate cats, or because of their allergies they hate cats, or because they think all cats are mean, or that they are stupid compared to dogs (which is ridiculous, esp if you are a cat owner, and you grew up knowing plenty of stupid dogs), but...i insist...please give him a chance! (pun intended, sorta).

on a completely different note i purchased one last piece of artwork (i need to take a break from buying stuff for my walls now). this beautiful original painting is from italian painter, vincenzo rizzo. it's water color on acrylic paper and the painting itself is called, "For A Pair of Black Eyes." as soon as i saw it i was drawn in. it's youthful, simplistic, and just lovely. not anything against men, but i love the way that God created women. i just feel He knew how to show the softness, the vibrancy, the nuturing soul from the inside all the way out. our Lord is a fine craftsman, and i think this piece by vincenzo does our Lord some justice in portraying his creation of women (at least in this particular painting).

our cozy room.

wow. i'm on a blogging kick. 3 days in a row. i guess i have more time on my hands without all the students around this week.

they came today! the photos i ordered (i also got my earrings which i am loving!). i've been keeping my eyes out for square frames this past week, however i decided to do something a little different instead and i think it came together nicely. so to copy kel (who just posted lovely photos of the adorable living room in her home), here are some pictures of how our bedroom now looks (try to ignore the poor picture quality here).

debo also found a disposable camera a while back that was mixed up in some of our various packing boxes for our move out to indiana. he actually got the film developed and boy was i surprised. it was pictures from my trip to italy (i went the summer after my sophomore year of college). my digital camera had died during the last part of our trip which happened to be in venice (go figure), so i had to use a disposable. i was just thinking a few weeks ago about my italy trip and how sad it was that i didn't have any of my venice pictures (i thought i had lost the camera). so to make a long story short, i used some of the pictures i took and put them in a frame i got and added it also to our bedroom decor. (note the third picture in this frame was not taken by me, it was a free pic i got from scarlet beautiful 2, that happens to be of the one of the islands in venice i took photos from too).

i feel like our bedroom is becoming a very warm and cozy place. it's fun putting together your first home, even if i can't get away from dorm cinder block walls, or have an adorable fireplace like kel's, or the coolest farm house ever like suz's. (love you ladies *wink wink*).

pretty. lovely. sweet.

i spy with my little eye some pretty colors, loveliness, and adorable things.

maria bonita extra has my favorite color palette, soft-simple-whimsical dresses, and what i like to call some downright "prettiness-charm".

orla kiely also has lovely pieces i'm totally adoring.

these pins from fomato cards crack me up. my cousins and i always joke about our love for food and how we are chubby kids at heart, lol. fomato cards are equally entertaining.

lastly, but of course not least, i was looking through pictures i took in jamaica and well let's face it God created such beautiful things.

spring fever.

friday started out as a normal day. debo and i even traveled up to kokomo, IN (w/ a bunch of students) late that afternoon, to stop at goodwill & pac sun (one of our RA's had plans for both of these places). we came back and ordered a bunch of pizza. debo and his RA's went to do room check outs (because spring break week was starting) and i baked cookies with my friend maggie. later hannah showed up and us girls played some rummy. all was well.

around 12 or 1 am however, my stomach started to feel super queazy. to spare you the details, i was up all night and was very Very VERY sick. i haven't been that sick since i got the flu my junior year of high school. i am not sure if it was food poisoning or some sort of stomach flu bug. both ellie and keagan have been sick so i wasn't sure if i got it from those kiddos or if was just something all of its own.

however, i have to say that my hubbie was absolutely wonderful in taking care of me. he stayed up with me pretty much all night. he kept me drinking (which is hard to do when your stomach is queazy), held my hair back, and he did plenty of other things that i will spare you details about. he was just so great that even in my sickness i just found myself so in love with him. hehehe, that sounded cheesy and romantic, but none the less it was so true. he just makes me so happy.

so, saturday was spent recovering all day. i watched plenty of movies on TV and finally was able to eat something, calm my stomach and really sleep.

today i'm feeling a lot better, although i'm not going to push it. it's sunny outside and campus is eerily quiet. it's strange to be around when students are not. debo and i have some plans for this week however, which should be fun. i'm just hoping he himself doesn't get my bug.

*sigh* i just love this kid.