Part Time Golf Ball Hunter

Well, I have found my new calling life and it's as a part time golf ball hunter. Seriously, I spot those things with my eagle eyes (shhh - don't tell anyone I'm blind without my contacts) and then go out with the dog to collect them. Okay, obviously I'm kidding but I have really contemplated setting up a stand at the edge of the course to sell golf balls to back to the golfers as they pass the house. I'm thinking my slogan should be "Lost your Balls?" ;)

I digress thought - looking back on the week that has passed us...

The Original Sacher Torte - all the way from Vienna, Austria...a gift from Lindsey!

My beautiful rose, still holding strong 2 weeks and 2 days after it was given to me!

My weeks at this point are filled with applying for jobs and trying to get all the things that moving to a new state requires, such a getting a driver's license and registering to vote. The classified section of the newspaper has become my favorite spot to search for jobs and yes, even though I've only been here two weeks, I also check to see what kind of houses there might be...hoping that somewhere in there I might find a possible new "forever" home for myself here in the great state of Virginia! 

I was here less than 24 hours before I made my first trip to Target and I've already discovered so many other things I love about my new home. Just this past week, My Dad and I met my Mom for lunch at Chipotle, which might have excited me a little to much...but what excited me even more was that when we finished eating, we drove right across the street to Hobby Lobby. I also made my first visit to a Home Goods store and that was love at first sight; I mean, if you haven't been in one of those you need to get there asap because it is delightful! I guess it's fairly obvious to see that so far, I'm loving every minute of my life here in the great state of Virginia.

Such a delicious lunch - I mean, yes please. Once upon a time Taco Bell was my fave...but I'm fairly certain that was because there was no Chipotle anywhere close.

Home Sweet Home on the hill!

Watson exploring the 9th hole!

I should say that this week is mostly pictures - it's 10:20 at night and I can't seem to get my brain to work 100%, so I guess you all will have to take what you can get. Ha!

A Wednesday night Bible study welcome from all the ladies!

A slightly rotten little puppy taking a nap in my lap.

I might have doubled their golf ball count in just two weeks...

Thursday night sunset - beautiful!

I know Watson looks so thrilled to take a selfie....

The twilight view out the bedroom window.

Watson and I take daily walks and at this point we've explored the whole neighborhood at least twice; he's meeting people all over the place and it cracks me up because he has become the favorite pet of all the children in the neighborhood. They see us coming and one of the kids will holler "hey - it's Watson" and three or four of them come running to pet him, talk to him and just love on him. Of course, he eats up every minute and loves all the little kiddos too!

Deer tracks & giant plants on our Friday morning walk.

When the US Postal service fails...sheesh!

Dinner & a movie, courtesy of the Alamo! We saw Maleficent & I had a Philly Chicken Sandwich!

Waiting for his Nana to come downstairs on Saturday morning - he loves his people!

Saturday morning first stop - Lantz's Pharmacy & Gifts, which is amazing & was celebrating 25 years!

Saturday stop two - Marker Miller Farmer's Market & Orchard...always a delightful place to visit!

Using the dog to hunt golf balls...ha-ha!

Visiting with some of the neighborhood kids - the think Watson is "so adorable"

A Saturday afternoon treat - yogurt from Zinga...or as I like to call it, Bazinga!

A car side visit after church with two of my favorite goofballs - love them!

Six of the nine golf balls I found on Sunday afternoon - talk about a haul!

Well - that's it for now. So long and good night to you all, see you here again next week. Same time. Same place. Except, there may be a post before this time next week. We'll see. Have a good week!

The Macarena and Mozzarella Cheese

I confess that I copied this blog post pretty much completely - no shame. I stumbled on Motherhood and Muffin Tops post and thought it was completely clever and hilarious, so I decided I'd take the quizzes for myself and see what I came up with. Sometimes these silly Internet quizzes are right on the money and other times they are absolutely crazy...ha-ha. So, what did I learn about myself?

What is Your Personal Theme Song?

Oh my - the Macarena. Which is apparently my burden to bear, but that's alright because when I come around people can't help but get up and dance. Ha-ha... right. And now I have the macarena playing in my head. Oh joy. I guess it could be worse but I don't know; the macarena is pretty bad... Am I the only one who thinks this? I doubt it....

What Breed of Dog Are You?

I'm a Lab - and I don't have a bad bone in my body. *cue wicked laugh* I might have confused the sensors somewhere on that one, ha! I jest, I think I'm a pretty good person most of the time and this quiz seems to agree. This says that I'm extremely loyal and anyone who knows me is lucky for knowing me....and I'd have to agree! :)

What TV Show Character Are You?

Snoopy - what a perfect response! The first stuffed animal I owned was a little red Snoopy that sat in my bassinet with me at the hospital, so I guess it's safe to say I've been in love with Snoopy since (literally) the day I was born. I love it! And Snoopy certainly has a quirky personality, which I think I've also got myself!

Which President Are You?

The man himself - one of the Founding Fathers, TJ! Apparently I grew up fast but I grew up right...I'm bold and I make big moves...and I don't know how accurate this one is. I mean, I did just make a big move but I don't quite think that's the big move this is talking about... I also don't know how bold I am, so maybe this one is a little off? Oh well....

What Cheese Are You?

Ooh la la, I'm mozzarella cheese! :) According to the results, I'm fresh, clean and so flexible - ha-ha! I'm also perfect melted on top of chicken...which, well that's odd but okay. I certainly know that I'm fresh and clean; I bathe every day...ha-ha! As for the flexible part; well, I can put both my legs behind my head...so there's that. This result makes me want to go get some cheese...

What Animal Are You?

I'm a Beaver...which honestly, I wasn't sure about this. I mean, sure beavers are fine I suppose. The description that came with the result said that I was creative, practical and organized - and I'm all those things. It says people that have me as a friend, partner or parent are lucky - so, if you know me then I suppose you should count yourself lucky!

Which Holiday Are You?

Well this is not at all what I expected - I'm not a huge fan of New Year's myself because it always feels like the let-down after the joy of Christmas; which is no doubt my favorite holiday. Apparently I am more like New Years though: I'm always happy, excited when friends and family come around and I love suspense and the thrill of happiness! I guess I'll take it! 

How Nice Are You?

I am nicey, nice nice! Ha-ha! I'm good, old-fashioned nice but I know when enough is enough. Supposedly I'm the type of person that will drive a friend to the airport and not even ask for money! I guess this is pretty close, although I think I might need to work on being TOO nice - there is such a thing and I think I've got a little bit of it, ha! However, I'd rather be too nice than too mean.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

Oh my - Ariel! I dream of a better world and a great pair of legs...ha-ha! Last time I checked, I thought I already had a great pair of legs. I guess I'll just keep dreaming about that better world, huh? I certainly used to pretend to be Ariel when I was in the bath tub, much to my parent's "delight" since my swirling and spinning in the tub usually left water all of the floor....

What Should Your Name Really Be?

Well parents - now you know. When I came barreling into the world almost thirty years ago, apparently you should have named me Emma. Who knew?

And just for good measure...

Which Game of Thrones Character Are You?

Another surprise because I really feel like I'm more like the other Stark daughter but according to this quiz, I'm Arya. Apparently I'm perfectly able to handle myself on my own and I've already made it this far on my own, ha-ha! 

Well - there you go. Apparently I'm a fine cheese, a one hit wonder pop song and a small animal that builds dams...among other things. Who knows, maybe I'll take some other quizzes one of these days and learn a little bit more about myself!

A Whole New World

No - I didn't necessarily intend to quote Aladdin in my blog title but it certainly fits so I decided to run with it. I've officially been in Virginia for a week now! Wow! I don't think it's really sunk in yet and to be honest, it probably won't sink in for a little while that I actually live here...and that's fine, ha-ha! I'm just enjoying it day by day, figuring out what is where and how to get to it, ha-ha!

Trying out new walking trails...on Monday afternoon this was also known as the golf course directly behind our house.

Monday night supper with a fussy dog - he begged & begged & begged...

Monday night thunderstorm!

The most interesting part of the move so far has been trying to adjust Watson to his new lifestyle - he's used to being able to run wild and free and with the move, he is now more of an inside dog. He's been doing pretty well although he's certainly earned himself a new nickname this week: Jailbreak. My Mom bought a safety gate with the intent to put it up at the bottom of the stairs of the basement and Watson could sleep in the basement at night - let me just let you know that the basement of my parent's townhouse is not a cold, moldy and damp basement - it's fully finished with carpet, a second living room, a second bathroom and a storage room.

When we went to town early in the week for some supper, we just sat the gate at the bottom of the stairs and assumed it would be fine. When we arrived home, a certain little pup was waiting in the window to greet us - he'd knocked the gate down and just came right on up into the kitchen to do whatever he pleased. Well, we put him in the basement another night and put the gate firmly in place; locked it down and went upstairs...and my Mom kept hearing him bump, bump, bump against it, but I was sure he couldn't break through it. Well I was surely wrong! He persisted until he crashed that thing down and came racing back up the stairs, stopping to sit and look at my Mom like "well, I did it." So, we'll see where we go from here.

On our daily "long" walk...we usually do at least a mile or more in the mornings...

Sitting on a hilltop on the golf course on Tuesday afternoon - thankfully there were no golfers & so we were able to hang out, sitting on the hill for a good 25 minutes.

Wednesday, I spent the afternoon at the pool with my friend from church, Jen and her daughter Emily and Emily's friend (my little friend too) Jimmy. Hanging out with an eight year old and a six year old is pretty hilarious and they kept me entertained; they were so eager to entertain that they when Jen and I got out of the pool (after being in the pool for over an hour) to talk, Jimmy kept coming to ask me "why did you get out of the pool??" and when I'd tell him that I was going to come back to the pool in a little bit, he'd shrug and tell me "oh well - you're missing all the fun!" Kids are a mess! I re-applied sunscreen but I obviously didn't apply enough because by the time Wednesday night rolled around, I was feeling the heat! Yikes! Oh well, you live and you learn.

Trying to get rid of my pale, pasty white legs...with some goofy little kiddos!

Okay - I thought it was just a little bit cooler in Virginia...what is the deal?

Wednesday night's colorful supper, courtesy of me!

Wednesday night drive over Low Water Bridge - which I wouldn't want to drive across when the water wasn't low...

Wednesday night sunset!

A lovely end to Wednesday night, Sweet Frogs - just two miles up the road! And Watson got to come too!

I've also had my share of adventures at the DMV this past week - I do think that being grumpy is a requirement to working at the DMV because good gracious at the people and their unfriendliness! I went on Monday, thinking I'd be on top of things and get it taken care of, but I didn't have what I needed and the nice (ha) lady at the desk hi-lighted a piece of paper for me so I'd be sure to bring the right things on trip two. I went on Tuesday with what I thought were the correct things but another lovely (ha) lady informed me that I still didn't have the right things and she hi-lighted the paperwork a second time, because I was obviously too idiotic to read it the first time...*sigh*. I finally got everything together and went on Thursday for the THIRD time and when my turn came up, the nice lady (this time, actually nice) told me she loved it when people had all their stuff together. I just gave her a look and in a deadpan voice said "I've been here three times." Oh well, I'm registered to vote and my license will be here in three to five days.

Headed through downtown Front Royal after leaving the DMV for the third (and finally successful) visit....

Emily being a goofball & trying to box herself up - what a little nut!

Walking to dinner in Old Town Winchester on Thursday night....

We ate at Union Jack's - a British Pub!

Some pictures from supper - including my delicious mac & cheese from Union Jack's!

Watson's new favorite place to nap is on the back deck...in the shade!

My Mom and I went on an interesting outing Friday night - Styx and Foreigner were at the Jiffy Lube Live Amphitheatre and tickets to sit on the lawn were only $15, so my Mom and I decided to check it out! We were joined by our long time friends, Angie and Rachel...I say long time because I've known Rachel since we were born and our Mom's have known one another since before we were born. It's funny, we started our life together in California and here we are at thirty and almost thirty (yikes) in the same place again! I didn't really know too many of Styx's songs but I knew almost every song that Foreigner sang and I was singing along to every one! Rachel and I spent the time between the songs we knew people watching - and some of the people we watched, well they are still living in the early 80's and they also still think they're 25. Yikes!

Ready for the concert on the lawn!

The opener was Don Felder, of the Eagles. I didn't know much of what he sang, but I did know Hotel California!

Group picture - here's to thirty more years of friendship!

Styx!

Foreigner!

We got a very special package in the mail on Saturday - our magic bands for Disney!

The weekend seems to pass quickly even when you aren't working - isn't that wild? Saturday was the first day of Summer and we brought the Summer in with rain and a high temperature of 65 - crazy, right? My Mom and I went to see The Fault in our Stars in all it's weepy glory on Saturday afternoon and I went to sleep on Saturday night at 9:30, like some kind of old woman, ha-ha! After church on Sunday, I went on another adventure with the parents to the village of Millwood (yes, it's still called a village - I love it) to see the Burwell Mason Mill. My Dad and I perused the mill and watched a video while my Mom wandered around outside. After supper at Bob Evans (my Dad loves that place, it cracks me up a little bit) we came home and I introduced my parents to the movie Pompeii - which they both loved!

Millwood, the Burwell Mason Mill and the Old Chapel

Cheesy smile, ha-ha!

Sunday afternoon adventurers!

A little snack on Sunday afternoon - yum, yum macaroon!

So, that is my first week here in a nutshell! Amazingly, I've already got some things on the calendar for this upcoming week and I can't wait to see what else might pop up unexpectedly! Hope you have a great week ahead...I'm sure I'll be having one myself!

Holy backyard thistle!