Our New Girl

Okay so we adopted a new member of the family about 2 months ago, but with everything that has gone on I never got around to posting her pictures! Here she is a 1 1/2 year old lab mix that was a stray and we found her at the local pound. If you got our Christmas card then I am sure you have already seen her. She is a sweetheart and she is my running buddy! Her name is Keino she is named after a famous runner Kip Keino...(Brandon got to name her since I came into the relationship with 4 animals:)!) So, currently we are a happy household with 3 dogs and 1 cat!

Rest in Peace Sniffy! Miss YOU!!!

I am very sad to say that due to complications from the surgery Sniffy's life was cut way too short tonight! I will always love you big boy and I will miss you like crazy!! Your crazy Sniffy stories will live on for years to come! I was blessed to have you be apart of my life...you touched my heart in so many ways!! Snuggles buddy..........miss you Sniffles!

Sniffy's Latest Adventure

If you know anything about Sniffy you know he eats anything stringy like ribbon, dental floss, rubber bands, etc. So Sniffy recently ate a ribbon and it was not coming out so easy this time! Surgery! Oh Sniffy....stop eating crazy things! What if we can't fix you the next time?!

I am just glad to say he is in recovery in the spare bedroom and doing well so far. Despite your craziness I still love you Sniffy!

Living Room at Christmas

So I love Christmas and luckly so does Brandon! :) Here is our living room decorated for this years Christmas. Enjoy! Merry Christmas!

Christmas Cards

Just a heads up...if you are going to send me christmas cards (but don't feel like you have to ) but if you are...send them to my house at 1019 w. 46th Street Richmond, VA 23225....this way I can use them for decoration in my card holder thing from pier 1....yes Julie I found one!! :)

also, i am sure I will be asking everyone for there addresses cause I lost all my addresses about a year ago when my computer crashed:( oh I am sure I was told to backup my computer somewhere along the way!

Kitchen Updates

Okay I am showing you some updates on the kitchen....I still want to do more, but this is what I have done for now...The other rooms are done, but we are working on the electrical so no light to take good pictures. The butcher block we found at a flea market it was used in a bar in PA. I think it is super cool! of course I only use it to cut vegetables no steak here :)

jon stewart rally

We were looking at Jesus on a lamp post holding a sign that read "I smoke weed everyday"

There were people on top of porter potties, in trees, on top of street signs....and there were even Vegans!! My people! :)

The rally was a bunch of fun! There were some crazy signs and crazy customs there!

lets see...halloween

Okay, I have tried to post a new post a couple of times in the last few weeks and something has gone wrong each time...so lets see if this one works!


We were Barbie and Ken we found our look at a wal-mart on the drive back from DC and the jon steward rally....we got ready in the car on the way to the party. I was a scary looking Barbie! :)

Sideways

Sideways is what we call my new house in Richmond, VA b/c it sits sideways on the street :). I kinda like that it it different! Ok I am showing you the before photos ....and hopefully in a couple weeks I will have a lot done to it to show you after photos....but we will have to wait and see....if you know me and my side tilt towards mania when it comes to organization and decorating it will be done unless my helpers slow me down ;)

Oh and there is a little pond in the backyard you just can't see it in these pictures!

Liberty, NC!

We spent all day Friday finding deals at a flea market/antique show in liberty, NC! It was fun...the antique show happens twice a year ...and we went down on Thursday and shopped all day Friday. There we some really cool things and being that it was Brandon and my first time at one of these things we didn't jump on everything and we are kinda regretting that, but luckily we are going to another one (a bigger one) in Fisherville, VA on the 10th! We went down with Brandon's mom and her friend.

First we found this really cool rustic wood coffee table that weights a ton and can also be used as extra seating. I like it cause it will be almost impossible to damage it and we go a sweet deal because the dealer didn't want to have to pack it up again!

Next, I found these cool candle holders...they are really tall and would have cost a lot more if i had found them at a store...and I can paint them whatever color I want! Lady Cool is giving you a perspective of how tall these actually are.

Next, I found the letter "A." I always find old letters fascinating and when I found one for my name I knew I had to have it....It is made of metal and is from the sign of an old building.

Here is everything we got featured all together.....we also possibly got a really cool door, but Brandon's mom gets first dibs on whether she wants to use it or not....its at her house so I don't have a picture. I wonder what kind of things we will find in a couple of weeks...exciting!

Alright I got in Trouble for Being Away Too Long!

Sorry Margo...This one is for you! ;) Margo said if I don't feel like writing I should at least post pictures...so here are some!


So Brandon and I took a 6 day 3,000 mile trip at the beginning of August from Virginia to Rogers, AR. My family was having a little reunion at my grandpa's condo on Beaver Lake ....before we tried to sell the condo cause grandpa passed away a little while ago.



Anyways, we made our way down there with the tinnies and Brandon got to meet my whole family. I think he passed...they liked him! :) And we put up with each other for that long of a car ride!!...we stopped off in

Kentucky on the way back to Virginia and went to some flea market shops..we got some cool finds.

And while in Rodgers I went to the IO Metro Outlet...got a cool side table at such a discount! Julie you might want to make your way up there some time.

These are just pictures from our trip...I'll be back soon!

i'm back!

sorry everybody I have been away for too long!! I spend my days writing articles for livestrong.com and so when I get done with that I don't want to sit in front of my computer anymore...hence I haven't written a blog post, but I am back now!:)

yes I am currently living in Virgina and it has been great!! The tinnies love it here and are getting spoiled rotten.

B took me and the tinnies to Richmond's veggie fest last weekend ...ummm it was sooo good!!! I had vegan chicken bbq...excellent! And a tofu stir fry very tasty and general tso's vegan chicken.....it was good!!! Yes I ate all that and I wanted more! There we dogs everywhere....some really cute puppies that I wanted to take home with me and a very sweet and cute pit bull named Brooklyn that I wanted so bad!

I am blogging from my phone and it won't let me type anymore...be back later!

Friday!!

Here I go again!...only nine to ten hours this time:) This Friday I leave to head to Virginia again...this time I am driving during the day time and I will be driving to Blacksburg first. I am leaving early Friday morning and getting into Blacksburg that evening then I will go see the boy I miss the most on Saturday and spent memorial day weekend with him.

Like mentioned previously this will be a new adventure. I am going to say with my Blacksburg people during the week and hang out with B on the weekends for about a month. After that we will see where I end up!;)...hopefully we will all still like each other..haha

Anyways the dogs are traveling with me this time, but the cats are staying in the STL until I make a permanent move...so I am going to miss them like crazy:(

What am I gonna miss the most...probably Gizmo!! My mom's dog. He is one of my favorites and he sleeps with me every night...he is one of those dogs that reacts to your feelings and comforts you. When you return home from a five minute trip its like you have been gone forever...he loves you to pieces!! Oh Gizmo, I love you! I will miss you terribly!! (that's him when he was a baby...he is bigger now)

I am so excited....and I know people are gonna miss me...as I will miss them! I truly appreciate those of you who have told me you will miss, but have acknowledged your happiness for me and told me to do it!! You can come visit;)

Anyways, I am not sure everyone is going to be ready for all the stuff I am bringing but oh well...I am really only bringing clothes, shoes, purses, computer, accessories, dogs....haha

Ok, I'll talk to you again from Virginia!!

Grandpa's Lake

So this weekend I spent at my Grandpa's lake condo. His condo is right on Beaver Lake in Rogers, AR...a magical place! Of course this was the first time I was there without him, seeing as he passed away in the fall. It was weird being there without him, but all of his things where still there so I felt his spirit. Also, I felt him telling me, "Alia, do you think we can get top dollar for this place if my old wallpaper is still up?" No, Grandpa I don't!! So what did I do....remove it of course, Grandpa's wishes;). Although, I truly don't think we will ever get top dollar for the place because we can't sell the laughter and joy that grandpa brought into this place with his love for our family!!

My Grandpa was a character....strong, full of wit and humor...yet down to earth and understanding. He fought in World War II...(flew the planes), was a journalist, and providing a great home for five children (and many animals)...he had many life experiences that I know we never knew of, but the one that I think abounds overall all others is through everything he still had a love of life, a love of family and friends, and his great sense of humor. Grandpa had his wit and sarcasm till the end!! I thank him the most for all these things:)............with much love and appreciation I miss him.

Grandpa--we will be there, all of us...critters included, this summer to celebrate you and your life! As a last tribute, to carry on your inspiring character and integrity!

Let Me Recap...

Lets rewind...I know that some of you are reading this and are like, "who is this person she keeps talking about." Okay so here is the story of how we met......

I was in a wedding on Halloween of last year (2009) in Blacksburg, VA. Lets just saying everything up until the actual wedding was chaotic because the bride was mainly doing a DIY wedding and she ended up in the ICU until 3 days before her wedding. So there was still a lot of stuff to get done...but if you know me you know I will do everything to ensure it gets done. Anyways, the bride's parents are like family to me so at the rehearsal dinner I was introduced to the best friend of the bride's mom, Seleta. Little did I know that the plotting had begun!:)

I was told pre-wedding that this guy was coming to the wedding and him and the bride April had a history....I had been given the role of dealing with him if he acted up at the wedding...but I still had no who he was. So apparently, the night of the rehearsal dinner or the next morning (I have gotten a billion different stories on how it went down) Seleta told her son, Brandon, that she met this girl who was a bridesmaid. Seleta says that she told him "she couldn't wait for him to meet me because he met his match." (I am still unaware of anything) At the wedding, Brandon was checking me out and says I had his attention when I danced back down the aisle after the wedding (Mind you we were supposed to...its just no one else did!)

Okay so the reception. I went over to the table to talk to the bride's mom and there was this guy sitting next to her....and she introduced me and said, "Alia, this is Brandon and I saved him a dance with you." I was like ok whatever...I mean you know I will be on the dance floor the entire night...so ok. Once again I didn't think anything of it! I knew my role was to dance and keep the party going (the bride and groom told me this was my job).

The first song, Brandon was out on the dance floor to dance with me and I almost turned him down because he wouldn't put his drink down to dance with me. Luckily he changed his mind and abandoned the drink;). Basically, we danced the whole night and finally at one point he said, "do you want to meet my mom?" I said ya...guess who his mom was...Seleta!! So this was the bride's mom's best friend's son and the guy I was supposed to keep in-line if he acted up....WHAT?! Crazy!

Anyways, we spent the rest of the evening into the morning getting to know each other better. Brandon lives in Virginia, as you have gathered, and I am in the STL...but some how we just kept talking and now it has developed into something bigger than I think either of us could have imagined:). Who knew...crazy!

As Seleta says, "It took them no time to connect and after that they never separated."

In refection on this story, I must say I think it is crazy, yet fitting, and I wouldn't trade it for the world:)

Did I get all the details right B? I miss you!

Wedding No No's

Okay, so like mentioned previously I was driving to Virginia to attend a wedding with my B on Saturday night. Well first of all I made it, for those of you who were worried:). I drove the whole way with only two stops...it took about 12.5 hours. I left the STL at 9:30pm and I arrived in Richmond at 11am the next day. Lets just say it wasn't exactly a fun time, but I did it and B talked to me on the phone for about 4 hours of the trip.

Back to this wedding! First of all, the wedding was about an hour and a half away from Richmond on a military base. Which means that you had to follow all these procedures to get onto the base. When we arrived the wedding was behind schedule because the DJ had not arrived. Finally, he arrived, and the wedding could start, but none of his equipment worked so the audience did not hear any of the wedding ceremony. To add to this, the wedding party stood in a gazebo that was much higher than the audience. Not only were we unable to hear the ceremony the majority of us couldn't see a thing either.



Then to the reception........well we got lost a couple times finding the reception site because it was on an entirely different military base. When we got there, guess who was behind, the DJ! Yep, he still was trying to get his music set up and the wedding party was having to sit in the lobby waiting on the music to make their big entrance. As an added bonus, the reception ended at 9pm. I have never been to a wedding reception that was in the evening and had dancing that ended so early....oh well.


All I have to say is, weddings are crazy!!!....keep it simple and I am sure it would flow a lot smoother:)


But, all in all, we still had fun!;) We danced and danced and danced. When B wasn't around to dance with me, which was almost never, I had to find other dance partners. I got his dad to dance with me to the Cha cha slide...very fun!


By the way, B and I wore matching attire:).....I am leaving Richmond and driving back to the STL on Thursday:(.

Driving all Night

I am starting my drive to Richmond, Va tonight after my softball game! It is a 12 hour drive...yuck!! Why am I doing it? Well first cause I am crazy and secondly because my favorite person was invited to a wedding on Saturday night. Yes I know he should have known about this sooner that a week and a half prior so that I could have flow, but he is a boy (is that enough of an explanation?!). We were going to meet halfway this weekend anyway, but that would mean that I would not see him till late late late Friday night because he, like a normal person, has to work and he would have to leave early on Sunday morning. Now I can leave whenever I want:)

Anyways, so I am starting the drive tonight! I have been attempting to sleep all day which is not something I am good at, but I would say I have been somewhat successful. If I had really been successful I would not be writing to you, I would be asleep instead...oh well! So both mom and B do not want me to drive through the night...they are both crossing their fingers that I will stop after a couple of hours and get a hotel and sleep till morning. I have assured both of them that I will stop if I feel it is necessary; but I did buy one of those energy shots at Target the other day so will see how far I get :)

And to add to this my ipod nano is broken so I will be hitting the scan button constantly I am sure. Oh well...all to dance at a wedding with my favorite dance partner! :)

Love you Margo and Brian...congratulations on baby James Owen! Can't wait to meet him!

ADveNTUrE!!

Okay everyone, I am going on a new adventure!! I am planning on moving in with my friends in Blacksburg, VA! They live closer to my cowboy then the STL. Besides you can see horses from their house and they have three dogs, all of who I love. What more could I want...oh and they can put up with me:)

The truth is, they have been asking me to move in with them since they moved back to Blacksburg, VA from New York last summer! I feel blessed to have friends like this....I almost moved in a while ago...but I felt the need to resist at the time :) I was confused at that time...lets just say I had recently moved back to the STL, was trying to make real estate work, and had just come across someone special in my life. I was lost! But, you all will be surprised by the proposal I passed up. So Kris said, if I moved in with him and April in the next three months he would become a vegetarian for a year!!! I know can you believe I didn't jump on that...whoops!:) I must have been out of my mind....lol!

Anyways, I am planning on moving in with them at the end of May and staying for about a month. When the month is up I will reassess the situation and determine where to go from there... This way I will be closer to my sexy man and I will get to see him on a more real life basis. Oh and I will always be looking for good jobs!

My two dogs will come with me...with their combined weight of 15lbs and we will live with their three dogs whose combined weight is probably closer to 300lbs. Hahaha....it will be great!:) Maybe they will all sleep with me!

When else in your life can you do this!! :)

Hendrix College Reunion Weekend

Over the weekend, Christina and I drove down to Little Rock so we could attend alumni weekend and partake in our 5 year reunion. We stayed with Julie and Steve, who are always the best of hosts.

I brought the little Lady Coco with me. I left Chiqui at home because Maggie, Julie and Steve's dog, and her do not get along. Well this time, Maggie put Lady Coco in her place....she turned her over and tackled her...luckily other people were worried and pulled Maggie off of Coco. We don't really know what the trigger was, but they were fine the rest of the weekend. And Lady didn't bark....thanks Maggie!!! (normally she barks all the time!)

We went to dinner at ZAZA's in Little Rock...it is owned by a Hendrix alumni, if you guys haven't eaten there try it!! Then we went to the Arkansas Travelers game with Starnz and her man...they are in LOVE! It was great we won!

Saturday we went to visit our amazing school....and yes it is still great! Even better than when we went---oh memories! and all those things we can't remember ;). That night we attended the reunion...lots of fun!! Margo we missed you...but Molly did a good stand in!! People were reminded, that yes, we still are crazy. Julie took care if us....thanks Julie...just cause you drove us does not mean you are old!!We returned to the STL on Sunday where we were reminded how much fun the 6 hour drive is...ugh!! Christina and I managed to fill the time with craziness... From our ride we have come up with a challenge for all of you...at some point this week use the term Daddy inappropriately!! Do it!

Dream house...

Okay, so I have decided what I want in my dream house....I want it to be cozy and calming. Filled with love, laughter, and spontaneous dancing!! I also want the pitter patter of all my tinnies following me on the wide planked wood floors.

I want a porch that I can sit on and soak up the sun or watch the rain. I wanted rescued chickens in my yard...I love chickens (alive of course!!). So that I can watch them live out their lives in happiness. And I want a pond...one that mimics the turtle pond at my Alma Mater, Hendrix College!! I was there over the weekend and I saw all the tadpoles in the turtle pond....I played with them of course....but I had to resist taking some home in a bottle to watch them grow into frogs. I used to love to do this as a kid!!! Tadpoles where the only reason I began playing golf as a kid....I wanted an excuse to catch tadpoles in the water :)..........You guys do all know that I am crazy and always have been!!!

Anyways back to my dream house with dancing, chickens, a pond, furry critters, and a porch...I also would like a special person to fill my house with love. But I would prefer this person to be strong and good looking so that I could ask them to fix things for me without their shirt of course...hahaha. Have I found this person already....time will tell! But if I have, I feel blessed!

For all of you who were following and I had no idea...

Here I am writing for you!! Now you can keep up with my exciting life...:). I spent this past week traveling from the STL to Little Rock, AR to Murray, KY. I spent time in Little Rock celebrating the pregnancy of one of my favorite people. She looked beautiful....pregnancy is perfect on her!! I visited with the special dog I found for her many years ago, Chico....he's a keeper. Too bad they live so far away!

After that, I traveled to Murray, KY to spend time with my most favorite person! He's a keeper also! If you have never been to Kentucky you should, at least stop there once in your life....its beautiful!! Everything is green and there is land as far as the eye can see. AND WATER...one of the loves of my life! Critters everywhere!!:) Luckily I didn't find any I could take home with me:) I watched Duke win the NCAA championship very sweet! I spent a whole lot of time doing nothing and reminding myself that my golf game needs improvement!!

I am back in the STL, not very happy about it, as I watched my favorite drive away to Virgina and I had to turn in the opposite direction. But the happiness of spending time together is worth the pain of being apart.....although I could do without it;).

Anyways, I think that is it for now. Love you all, miss you!!