home renovation

On Friday, Chad found out about something called the world wide photo walk and asked me if I'd like to go. Basically, it's a free event where photographers meet up in locations all over the world and spend a day taking pictures. We found out there were a few locations in our area that were participating, and so we opted to join in on the fun. On Saturday morning, we drove up to Beaufort (strangely, I had never been to Beaufort before Callie came, and now I've gone twice in two weeks) and spent the morning alongside other photographers. This is a group shot of most of the people who came:


I enjoy taking pictures, but I'm far from a pro, so I thought it would be a little intimidating. I was pleasantly surprised and had a great time. These are some of my favorites that I captured at the event:

And some of Chad's:

We had a lot of fun just spending the day together (plus there was some amazing seafood to be had at lunch). I think we'll definitely do it again next year.

There are a variety of reasons, probably the most prevalent being my laziness. I HAVE been writing, but I'm not nearly as far along as I'd like to say I am. Still, I feel like making an effort is better than not, and I think I'll be proud of myself for writing anything by the end of the summer, even if it's not a completed novel (Do I really need to post a photo of the empty sleeves of Oreos?) Before you really think that I'm a completely sorry woman who has nothing to show for her summer thus far, feast your eyes on the extremely LONG tale below. Warning: a lot of this has been a LONG time coming. Sorry.

In June . . .

1. I said goodbye to all of my darling students. (And really, when you look at the pictures, there is no contesting how adorable they are. I know that most of you are thinking that adorable is a word that should be reserved for use when describing elementary students, and it probably should, but I think my students are darling. Almost, gazing at these photos makes me miss them. Then I remember--6:00 alarm clocks+lesson plans+grading does not equal as much fun as no set alarm clock time+no lesson plans+no grading.)



2. Chad celebrated his 27th birthday. Happy belated birthday, Bebe Dish!

3. Chad's baby brother, Cameron, graduated from Kinston High School. We were lucky enough to sit in the gymnasium bleachers for two hours for the blessed event. Luckily we love Booba, or I don't know if my back could have handled it. Really, all sarcasm aside, we are so proud of him! Life isn't going to feel the same when he leaves for college in the fall. Even though he'll be close by at ECU, it's just going to feel strange without as much Booba.


4. We were in a car accident (please, let's not relive THOSE photos) and battled with an insurance company to pay off our loan so we could purchase a new car. Eventually, because my husband is a lot less nice on the phone than I am (in a good way), and Chad's uncle Craig has amazing car hook-ups, all the agonizing phone calls came to an end and we bought the car we affectionately refer to as Mazda Bebe 2.0 (again, we're quite creative with our car names):


5. We "put up" corn. Regretfully, I have no pictures of this occasion. All I can tell you is it was two days of shucking, cleaning, boiling, cutting, and freezer bag stuffing. Although, eating fresh corn on the cob for a few days was definitely worth it.

6. We were the official photographers for Chad's cousin, Heather's, wedding.


7. We tenderly cared for our tomato plants, pepper plants, and fresh herbs, and even were lucky enough to harvest our first cherry tomato about a week ago:



(Now, something is eating said tomatoes, and I'm not sure what. All I know is Sevin dust--which boasted that it killed 100 different kinds of insects--hasn't done the trick. It's a real bummer, but I've started to pick them a bit early, and let them ripen inside to help alleviate the problem)

8. We met a new friend, Ernest, and confirmed that buying a dog right now is probably not the best idea.

9. Meredith and Mackenzie arrived just in time to make the end of June the best ever!

In July, thus far . . .

1. I spent every moment possible with this little Priss Pot and her mom:


and have been reminded that being an Aunt is most definitely the most amazing thing EVER! Despite our best efforts, she didn't start walking while she was here, but she's definitely close. I also got to watch Chad teach our niece that every creature in the animal kingdom makes a dog noise, as he "read" to her--which is why I have this look on my face:


2. I savored spending five days with one of my oldest friends, who was sweet enough to fly out to see me. Callie and I had a blast, and I was reminded of how thankful I am for good friends who have made me the person I am today. While she was here we took a day trip to Beaufort, a quaint, little, fishing village. We stopped in New Bern on the way back. We had a great time window shopping, eating yummy food, and catching up. I think by the end of the day I'd almost convinced Callie to move here, but she'll have to convince her fiance before we can turn her into a southern gal.

We also took advantage of Lauren and Tyler's hospitality (and the hospitality of her very generous mom), and we spent a couple of days at Atlantic Beach. We stayed at the cottage and went tubing in the sound. I grew up going tubing, but it was always on a lake. Plus, I've always been on a tube with an actual spot in the middle where you can use your legs to brace yourself. This tube was completely flat, which meant all you had to save you was pure upper body strength, which we all know I have a lot of. I wasn't sure what to expect when we headed off into the waves, so I made sure Cameron and William went first:



Then, Callie and I gave it a shot:

As soon as we took off, I started shouting, "Callie, this is not like the lake! This is not like the lake!" It's so much choppier in the sound because there are natural waves already, not to mention what was being created by my brother-in-law driving the boat. Luckily, we both survived. I could not stop laughing and so it made it that much harder to hold on. I'll tell you what, between the laughter, clinging on for dear life, and the amount of exertion it takes to get back on the tube after you fall, that is one heck of a workout. It was so much fun!





3. I was lucky enough to have two of my best friends with me at the same time in the same place (something that doesn't happen very often now that we're all old and grown up). A lot of people lose touch with the friends who kept them sane in high school. I am proud to say that I still feel very close to a lot of the people I spent my adolescence with. Even though we all live in different places and have busy lives, and we don't get to see each other, and in some cases even talk to each other, very much, I love them. Lacey, who became my friend the first day we met, sitting next to each other in kindergarten, drove up from Raleigh so she could spend an afternoon with Callie while she was here. We went through old photo albums, reminisced over old stories, and had a great time together. I tried to scan an old photo of the three of us together in high school, but I'll have to add that later, after Chad can help me figure it out. For now, here are the self-portraits from our reunion.

It's been a great June, and a great July so far. I think it can only get better, since I'm headed out to Utah next week to see my family. While there, I will be joining them on a joy ride up to Washington to reunite with long, lost family members I haven't seen since I got married almost FOUR YEARS AGO! There have been numerous new arrivals added to my family that I haven't even met since living on the east coast. Life's pretty grand.

Sadly, the summer is flying by. I think I could get used to this not working thing, which is a little bit scary. The end of summer will be here before you know it. Until then, I plan on soaking up every possible minute of freedom.

Ernest is the fat, lazy datschound who has been staying with us since Thursday. We are pet sitting for a friend of mine. He's been pretty good (with the exception of one four-in-the-morning fiasco, when he was sent to doggy time out) and is a very sweet dog.

He's quite quirky, which makes him endearing. His only toy is this blanket:


Even though he's quite a tiny fellow, he drags this thing around the house. I've been impressed by his ability to manipulate something so much bigger than him. Also, he creates a nest and burrows inside it. If you look closer, you'll see the tip of his nose and paw on the right hand side:


Mostly he just sleeps, but I can tell he's sad and misses his family. They are coming to pick him up this afternoon, and I'm sure he'll be excited to see them.

After tomorrow the summer officially begins for me, which means the start of my new job. I always have anxiety when I start new employment. I don't handle change very well, for starters. Plus, my perfectionist nature doesn't function well in a state of "I don't yet know what I'm doing, and that's pretty obvious to others."

This summer I have decided to become a writer. Some of you are laughing right now, thinking this is typical Katie sarcasm, but please try to stifle that giggle, because I'm being completely serious. I've always wanted to be a writer. I took a creative writing class at the end of my time at BYU, and got some positive feedback from my professor. I started a novel, and he volunteered to help me with it if I ever finish writing it. Since then, novel writing hasn't had a lot of room on life's agenda, which is why I opted not to get a summer job this year.

This summer I'm going to sit in front of a computer screen, and I'm going to try to write down one of the stories I've had swirling around in my head for the last few years. I've always wanted to write a book, and I feel like now's the time to give it a shot, before my future children come along and and are vying for my attention. What's scarier than me thinking I can accomplish this, is the fact that my husband has enough faith in my minuscule amount of creative writing ability to let me do this for the summer and be happy about it. In fact, he is encouraging me to do this. Bless his heart; he really does love me!

Anyway, over the last couple of weeks I've been having a tad bit of anxiety over starting my new state of "un-employment." I've been picturing myself staring at a blinking cursor for 2 months and ending the summer with nothing to show for it (except for the 20 pounds I will have put on after drowning my writer's block sorrows in hot fudge sundaes and Oreos). Part of me wishes I'd tried to find a position waiting tables at Chili's or Ruby Tuesday, so I wouldn't have to worry about it (then I reflect on my Ihop days, and realize that, no, that's a lie. . . no part of me REALLY wishes THAT).

Anyway, I figure if at the end of the summer I have a book, even if it's a book that no one will ever publish, and no one will ever read but me, I will have accomplished something great. I can cross "write a novel" off of my bucket list, and call it good. I'll know I'm just not cut out to be a novelist, and I can move on. But, until I try, I'll never know . . . so here's to trying.

A teenager had to burst my bubble. This is what our car looked like at about 6:15 this evening:


My Mazda Bebe is dead, and I am very sad. I loved this car. The good news? Chad and I are both fine. The kid has insurance. It was completely unavoidable, since we were stopped at a stop light and he decided to forget how to use the brakes. Oh, wait, I mean, his brakes "didn't work" even though the officer on the scene seemed to find nothing at all wrong with them.

Tragic.

I'm looking forward to a lot of phone calls with insurance agents, paper work, and hopefully a rental car until ours is either repaired, or, if it is deemed totaled, replaced.

Although, I've got to say, it was pretty funny to hear the kid on the phone, "Yea, I just hit Miss Reese's car."

What a way to start the summer.

Well, 64% of you voted that we should, indeed, purchase a puppy. And of course, we couldn't disappoint you, readers, so we went right out and bought her.

OK. So, in actuality, much as we love you, you weren't really going to make this decision for us. See, it's great that you want us to buy a dog, but you're not the ones who are going to be paying for her, or picking up her poop, or buying me a new pair of shoes when she decides to devour my turquoise heels. Which is why, even though 64% of you were in favor of the puppy, we are still without puppy at chez Reese.

We wanted her. We did. But, the more we started thinking about it, the more we realized that the timing just isn't right. With me not working all summer, which translates to no money all summer, adding the expense of a dog while we try to replenish our saving account (something that's not looking as smashing as it once did after renovating our money pit), just isn't going to be the wisest idea. So. Don't fear, 64%, eventually we will add a puppy dish to our family, but for now we are puppy-less. Plus, we're kind of leaning towards a male puppy, after doing a bit more research about the breed which suggests the females have a bit of a diva/stubborn streak that the boys don't. So, come fall we shall see.

Since I know you are now terribly sad because there are no puppy picture updates to satisfy you, I've got a bit of a consolation prize. Go make yourself one of these:

It's called a pizzookie and you can find the recipe here.

My sister, Lauren, and I made these last night when I realized that the end of the school year is upon me and I have no grading to do at night. This means I can do irresponsible things that I only dream of doing during the actual school year (like make ridiculously rich desserts and watch a chick flick instead of grading or going to bed early).

After consuming one of these bad boys (Oh, who am I fooling? It was more like two due to portion size!) I'm pretty sure my blood sugar jumped a tad bit. In fact, I think I might now be a diabetic.

I made the hot fudge recipe that comes with it, but we used store bought vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.

So there you go, chums, go mourn the loss of future puppy posts and tantalize your taste buds with this exceptionally yummy snack.