geocaching

aaron's birthday is saturday and i was having a difficult time deciding what to get him. my standby has always been cardinal tickets, you can't go wrong with them as far as he's concerned. but with us moving so far away from any national league team, tickets aren't really an option. this year i decided to go another route.

the week before christmas aaron's gonna fly out to seattle and meet up with tom and a crew of his friends for five day hike/camping expedition. he's so excited to go, he's been preparing for months. tom told aaron not to worry about camping gear, he would provide most, if not all. only thing aaron needs is warm, waterproof clothing. tom sent aaron an actual checklist, one he must use everytime he goes camping. tom's very type-a in matters of organization so i wasn't surprised. the list has been sitting on our kitchen counter for weeks now and last week i decided something off of it would make a great birthday gift. he has a majority of the items, thermals, windbreaker, boots. i did notice a lot of items with gortex. (it's one of the best items to use to keep you warm and dry.) i looked everything up and apparently gortex also means you're gonna spend a pretty penny to stay warm and dry. anything with gortex is about 3x more than what you'd normally pay. i settled on a pair of socks. yes, i paid $50 for a pair of socks. he plans on going every year...so i justify the purchase as a long-term investment. plus i don't want him coming back with foot rot.

i did also purchase a hand-held gps device for him. since we've been hiking a lot, i thought it'd be something we both can use. plus, i wanted to try geocaching. what is geocaching? defined:

geocaching is an entertaining adventure game for gps users. participating in a cache hunt is a good way to take advantage of the wonderful features and capability of a gps unit. the basic idea is to have individuals and organizations set up caches all over the world and share the locations of these caches on the internet. gps users can then use the location coordinates to find the caches. once found, a cache may provide the visitor with a wide variety of rewards. all the visitor is asked to do is if they get something they should try to leave something for the cache.

it's like a modern day scavenger hunt. one of my blog buddies has one and used it while hiking in colorado. it just adds a twist to exploration. i'm so excited to try it out.

side note: mark, aaron's dad, is coming out here saturday to help celebrate both his and aaron's birthday. we've got a fun-filled week planned. we'll be doing a lot of boating, hiking and biking. hopefully i'll have pictures to post next week of all the fun.

four, 4, IIII

weeks and braces will be a thing of the past. oh happy day!

a finished home improvement project:


i've had this memo board since high school (a long time ago) and decided it needed an upgrade to fit with it's new environment. i've got a few more things to finish up and you'll see the fruits of my labor.

aaron has decided the camera is better suited to take photos like this:

the aad should use photos like this in their ad campaigns. ewww! this is mild in comparison to some of the photos i've seen. makes you think twice about forgetting the sunscreen.

so i've been without a good camera for the past month. i may have to break down and get a new one. the camera phone can only do so much.

gocco pg-5

my most recent purchase: a tabletop printing press


i'm extremely excited about this acquisition. so many possibilities. along with bulking up my fabric stash with lots of cute japanese prints. things are moving forward. i've been feeding my minds eye for weeks. soon, my friends, soon.

the air up there

yes, i live here.

saturday aaron and i went to an all day music festival at the boone city fairgrounds. this don't look like no stinking fairgrounds i ever saw. we listened to some roots, rock & reggae. not in that particular order. my favorite: black cash (a johnny cash tribute band). although all were great. there was a wide variety of people...mainly of the hippie persuasion. apparently the hula-hoop has replaced the hacky sack. i didn't get that memo. and i think aaron and i may have had the shortest hair there. definitely a good place to people watch. we got there about 2 left about 9. started to get a bit nippy.

we are still the the most unprepared couple of the bunch. forgot lawn chairs, blanket, food, frisbee, tent, kite, kids etc. just had our little cooler filled with 6 hard lemonades to last the both of us 6 hours. i think this happened to us the last time we went camping. aaron and i are eating granola bars and everyone else was cooking up bacon, eggs, coffee, etc. when will we learn?!?

friday i let jill inject a little botox in me. i really don't need it, but i wanted to see how it felt. she gave me 4 injections, mainly to lift my brows and give them a natural arch. i honestly can't tell anything yet. she said it might take a few weeks for results. luckily i'm blessed with some asian genes and don't have any noticeable wrinkles. thanks mom.

katie and adrian have decided boone is not the place for them. i'm a little disappointed but i kinda figured as much. they just aren't the outdoorsy type and you really have to be in order to appreciate this place. aaron and i don't regret our choice at all. it would have been nice to have another group of friends out here, oh well. they're still looking at asheville, so there is a possibility they'll end up fairly close. we'll just have to wait and see.

sakura anyone?

here are some pics of what i made for the cherry blossom swap.

a messenger purse: (pattern-free, i'm starting to get this sewing thing)

a felt change purse: (practiced my french knot)

some bracelets: (i got the flower beads from walmart for a buck and recycled some old stretchy bracelets i had)

all-in-all it was fun making everything. these were my big items. i made a few more things that i didn't take pictures of.

here's the email i got this morning from one of my partners:
i received my altoid tin today, it was absoultely awesoem, i feel like the one i sent wasnt that great, i guess i will just say it is simple. i tried so many times to make a really cool pez one but is just didnt work. i love the vampire tin and will post pics tomorrow. thank you so much.

what if it is a huge disappointment. ugh. sometimes i feel like craftster is like american idol. people think they're good when they're not. i always give credit when credit is do, but damn, what do i do if i'm not excited or impressed? what a predicament.

attack of the...

we're still in the process of exploring the area. every chance we get, we like to hike with the dogs. yesterday was no different. aaron wanted to show me some of the trails he found while riding his bike. so we packed up the dogs, put on our hiking shoes (yes, i went out and bought hiking shoes...chucks just weren't cutting it anymore) and drove over to the greenway. i hooked bosco up to his new "no pull" harness and commenced to start his "i'm the master, your the dog" training. (i've discovered the dog whisperer) of course, he's not having any of it.

well, while we're trekking uphill i really can't correct him and i give him more lead then i should. so he's off smelling and marking everything. when i finally catch up, he starts scooting around on his butt and acting really strange. he must have gone through some brambles and it's put him in panic mode. then i see the hornet on his little stump of a tail. i swat at it but it's almost like it's embedded in there. then i feel something on my finger and start flailing my hands. it's another hornet. *sting, sting, sting* on my back. i take off with bosco in tow. "bees, bees, bees!" i scream at aaron as i run past him. when i get a good distance away, i reach back and notice the sweater i've got wrapped around my waist is still covered with them. i fling it off in the middle of the road and start running again. seriously, this had to be a sight. finally, after we get a good distance away, i'm able to calm down and regroup. aaron heads back, with a big stick and picks up my sweater. it still has a few hornets hanging out on it so he flings it around and shoos them away. i make him carry it the rest of the hike. seems to be a hornet magnet of some sort.

we ended up in a neighborhood neither one of us was familiar with.

"i'm not going back," i tell him.

so we head down the paved road in the opposite direction.

"you know we're headed in the wrong direction?" he says.

i look down and see big lots and i know exactly where we were. damn it. if we continue, it's going to take us twice as long to get back to the car. i turn back around.

"when we get back there, i'm running past that hornet hole! you take bosco and you go first."

we run past. the only hornet that bothered us on the way down was stuck to bosco's tail again.

"there's one on the sweater! no, wait, that's a leaf."

"you're paranoid."

"i just got stung 5 times, i have a right to be paranoid!"

i guess i'm not allergic to bee/hornet stings. and neither are the dogs. marley's already been stung twice since we've been here. and yesterday was bosco's first experience. we're headed to the dog park shortly with jill and jigsaw. a little playdate of sorts. should be fun.

altoid anyone?

i had two swaps ending today. thank goodness. i was burning the midnight oil finishing them. one of them was a "fill an altoid tin" which was, by far, my favorite. i'm really happy with how everything turned out. here are some photos of what i sent. i'll post the other swap later. it was a cherry blossom swap.

the cover of the tin:

the contents:
can you tell what my partners theme was? i'll probably cease from swaps for a while. they don't match partners according to ability levels and i have a feeling i may be a little disappointed with what i get. we'll see. plus i want to get things rolling on my online shop. hopefully i'll have some things posted next week. i'll post a link when i have something to show.

check yes, no, or maybe

i was cleaning out my car today and i found a note i got the night before we moved out here. i was sitting at the bar at the hangar with carrie and jen when one the bartenders handed me a folded flyer. i opened it and this is what it said, "dude, i think that maybe, just maybe...only maybe. you should be my baby. just once." hilarous, i know. i wasn't sure if i should feel flattered cause someone was hitting on me or lame cause they were using the most idiotic method known to man. i think i have a note from one of my boyfriend's in 8th grade that reads almost identically. goes to show, most men don't ever evolve.

talk-on-the-phone girl

yes, i've become that girl. main culprit: miss dana. the other night i found myself talking to her while texting both ryan and her. don't you just love technology. i had to delete both my in and outbox on my phone. it was 95% full. the girl can talk/write your ears off!

i finally got through an hour long conversation with jamie without becoming an emotional mess. i knew time would ease the separation sadness. i still miss her though. her and the fam will be making a trip out here in november. hopefully it won't be too cold, want to get some more camping in.

monday i went to winston to get my root canal wrapped up. i was able to make a brief stop in greensboro to visit jennaya and family. it was a bit of a whirlwind. i got a late start and only had a couple of hours to spend with them before my appt. we ended up running errands together and getting my frappacino fix in. i'm so glad they moved fairly close. i can do the drive on my own, so be on the lookout davis clan!



here's a short video of aaron weed-eating our hill. i did it the first time. he was quite surprised that i managed to do it all on my own. i am woman hear me roar!! and yes, he's wearing an app. state tee and he did say "i bet i look dead sexy doing this."

pixy stix

since danny started college, i thought it'd be a good idea to send him a few care packages to help ease his transition. i remember when i started at siu, my aunt pam sent me a few and it made me feel a little less homesick.

our first package mainly consisted on everyday essentials for dorm life. mcdonalds gift card, towels, mac & cheese, pringles and what not. the second was a couple of t-shirts i had sent directly to him. i am currently working on his third package, a halloween themed one. lucky for him, mast general store sells candy by the pound. so i can get an assortment of different types and pay a nominal amount. unfortunately, since i've been buying a little here and there to fill the box, the candy has been sitting on our dining room table this past week. i just finished off all the pixy stix (about 20). and am very tempted to open another bag of skittles. danny, like me, loves the fruity candy. and now i have a paper sack filled with the yummy goodness. to resist temptation...

time stands still

a connection. a true testament of friendship.

a bond like no other. always there.

time never an issue. distance means nothing.

rarely in the form of the female persuasion.

one in each stage of life. i've discovered mine.

go mountaineers!

michigan (ranked 5th in the nation) paid appalachian state $400,000 to pad their win record. boy, was that a mistake. we got a call from jill and jerome on the road today. "you got your yellow and black on? app state just beat michigan!" *insert hooting and hollering!! unbelievable! yesterday, i was watching the weather channel and even the weather guy mentioned how it wasn't gonna be much of a game. yeah, i'm swelling with pride. i don't even like football, but i'm glad the little guy prevailed.  here's the espn article. way to go mountaineers!

btw, it's a seven hour drive from boone to baltimore. so we're almost halfway between the westphals and the richs. thought we'd be a little bit closer. oh well. we're here, kicking it with the fam. can't wait to get my grub on.