It's Beach Time!

We're leaving for Ocean Isle Beach today with Michael's family! I'm so excited for Michael to have some time off work and just to enjoy the gorgeous weather and relaxing ocean shore. Here's just a few things I'll be bringing:

Trader Joe's green salsa

My new shades from Forever

To get my tan on

My goal is to read this before I see the new movie version

Now I'm off to have some fun in the sun! I sure hope
you enjoy your Memorial Day weekend.

Scaredy Cat

I have never been the jumpy type. In college I would laugh at my roommates if I scared them just by walking into a room. But I was never the one to get startled. I grew up in a family of 5 kids, so there was always something going on. You can imagine this activity would continue in my college dorm, and then in my college townhome with roommates. Pretty much nothing fazed me. I heard strange loud noises and had people walk in from random doors all the time. It was just part of everyday life.

For some reason, Michael pretty much scares me on a daily basis, simply by walking into a room behind me and saying something, or coming up next to me when I am doing something in the bathroom mirror. It's so weird to be on this side of things after so long being even keeled and not having anything make me jump. Last night Michael fell asleep before me (a usual occurrence), and you know how your body starts twitching in that first stage of sleep? Well his leg, or arm, or something twitched, and I literally jumped out of my skin. I mean come on! There is someone else in the bed with me, there is bound to be some other movement in there somewhere, and for some reason my body freaks out when it happens.

I really have no explanation for this scaredy cat business. One recent theory is that it only happens in the bathroom and bedroom, which are two places for my whole life I have usually had my personal privacy. But I can't promise that those are the only places I get startled. Hopefully this is just a phase that I will work through. Maybe one day when I have kids and my house is noisy, I will not be scared of random noises anymore. It would be nice not to have my heart stop beating a few times a week because of fright! But for now, I am jumpy and on edge, and Michael just gets to laugh at me.

Happy Birthday to my Husband!

Today my husband is 25. That seems so old to me! But despite his old age, we have had an activity-filled birthday weekend extravaganza. Why limit it to 1 day? :)

Friday night we went to see Pirates of the Caribbean in 3D at the IMAX theater. It was neat and we both agreed that 3D is a cool idea but at the same time kind of hurts your brain from all the stimulation. And we also agreed that they are going to have to figure out some way around the glasses thing before we EVER buy a 3D TV for our home. I mean really, will I actually put on these goofy looking goggles when I sit down to watch a movie? Still a fun night though! Movie was entertaining and we had a nice evening walk afterwards.

Saturday we slept in, went out to run errands, and then I set to work building his birthday cake and cooking dinner. We had a yummy dinner called Tilapia Piccata, opened presents, and then went out for drinks at a nearby pub we had never tried before. It was fun to go out just the two of us, since we usually do that with friends or family. Once we came home, we dug into Michael's cake: Devil's Food cake with a cream cheese/cool whip/Oreo filling and chocolate icing. Mmmm!

Today after church Michael's desire was to go find a rope swing down at Haw River... so being the good wife I am, I went with him and our friend Bryce to find it. After braving snakes, cicadas, poison ivy, and swimming across the river, we finally found the rope swing and had our fun jumping in the water. I am wiped out, but it was a fun afternoon!

Pros of Renting

Let me take a minute to brag about my apartment's property management. First of all, they have always been super nice and that's really what made me want to live here initially (Little did I know the location would be perfect for us!). I also feel very taken care of here, like they are here to help us, not to squeeze money out of us. We have amazing amenities (pool, patio, gym, theater room) and the property always feels clean and up kept. We got a free 42" TV mounted on the wall when we signed the first lease, and they just gave us an upgrade for renewing our lease. Last week our repair guy came in and installed a goose neck faucet in our kitchen sink and I looove it! Our sink is a typical apartment sink that is shallow, and when that is paired with a small faucet it is awfully hard to wash larger pans and dishes. Thanks to our renewal upgrade, we have a tall faucet that is amazing! And I didn't even have to pay for it! Yes, I want to buy a house in the near future. Yes, it would be nice to paint and customize my house to the way I want it. But for now, since we are in the renting stage of life, it is quite nice to be taken care of and not really have any responsibilities. Owning will be great one day, but right now, renting is just fine with me. :)

Chicken and Kidney Bean Salad

So tonight I put together a salad that Michael actually liked! He was skeptical at first, and really thought that he wouldn't like it. He is funny about salads. No fruit, and no vinegar-based dressings - both of which I love to have on my salads! So that is kind of hard to work around if I want to do a salad as a meal. Tonight's dinner was sort of a southwestern taste, and it was yummy!! Another recipe from my mom, this one has been a great summer dinner in years past. The best part is that Michael thought it was good. Let me tell you what it's made of:

Head of iceberg lettuce
Can of light red kidney beans
Cooked chicken pieces
1/2 red pepper, chopped (my addition)
Dressing mix: mayonnaise, ketchup, chili powder, and garlic salt (this can be mixed to taste and then tossed in the salad)

 

Tonight I added half of a red pepper. It really added a delicious crunch to it! All I needed to buy for this recipe were the iceberg and red pepper, and the rest is just stuff I normally have in my pantry. I felt like it had pretty much all you need in a meal, so I didn't do any sides with it. Um, can we say EASY?? Because of the beans and chicken, it is filling and is also healthy (well, healthier than some carb-loaded meals). Michael did add some crushed tortilla chips to his, and said that Fritos would be good in it as well. I'm going to classify this as a successful meal! Wife points for me!