A tree of...eggs?

I've been wanting to make a tree of eggs just like my friend Mary Gene ever since LAST Easter. I saw her blog post last year and longed for an egg tree of my own, but thought I'd never be so crafty as to do such a thing. But this week I decided I must have an egg tree, so I thought the perfect time to make one would be when we were babysitting our pastor's kids this afternoon. Aren't they adorable? And Thomas is pretty hunky too. 

Here are our eggs after the yolks had been blown out and the dying had begun. Up next: gluing the twine to the top of each egg. I used super glue. Worked just fine. 

Its perfectly safe to say that I am obsessed with the egg tree. I think it looks marvelous. Thomas made fun of me collecting sticks from the parking lot behind our apartment, but do I look like I care?

And as a parting laugh, please notice Silas there in the background. No clue what he was up to, but this was probably when Thomas was spinning him around on our swivel barstools and making him run in a "straight line." Don't ever let us babysit unless you're prepared for your kids to have fun. 

Even more cellular photos

I don't know why I end up taking so many photos on my phone rather than the camera...sheer laziness I guess, but I usually can't bring myself to delete the memories. So, lucky you, I choose to post them here for your laughter and enjoyment.

This one is from the beginning of our horrendous trip to Orlando. I never got to properly post about GETTING to Orlando. We can laugh about it now, but it was seriously a bad day trying to get out of Providence. Long story short, our original flight was cancelled, then uncancelled at the last minute and we were allowed to board the plane....all 4 of us that were left from the original list of passengers. Thomas was loving the fact that he got an entire seat to himself, and free drinks! 

This photo is also from our trip to Orlando. We'd missed our connecting flight at Reagan because of the previous fiasco, so I had to sprint to another airline and put our names on the stand-by list. But at Reagan, in order to get to the other airline, we had to go through security AGAIN. At this point, Thomas was in a wheelchair because all of the speedy crutching through the airport was starting to grow old. This must've alarmed the security folks, because he got a 15 minute pat-down. No joke, I was standing there waiting on him FOR.EV.ER. The security officer was so nervous and kept saying to him "ok, I will now place my hand on your right leg" etc etc. I think he thought Thomas was going to beat him up. Too bad I was the one wishing I could punch him so we could catch our next flight. 

I snapped this picture when we were in Orlando (we finally made it, obviously). Maggie and I looked over and found our husbands talking to each other like this. Should we be bothered by the fact that they love each other more than they love us? Tyler is still holding a grudge against me for taking his roommate away from him one year early at Clemson. Poor guy. 

This may look like a picture of my uncle's produce truck, but it is really a picture of the truck that moved all of our earthly belongings from Clemson, SC to my parent's attic. My sweet dad drove me to and from Clemson and we loaded that sucker up in less than an hour. Hopefully one day some more of the possessions that we transported will be here in Massachusetts with us. 

Remember that I packed my food processor in my luggage on my way back from South Carolina? It is serving me well. I'm making hummus, pesto, and pizza dough like a mad woman. I literally use it every other day. 

This photo was obviously not taken on my phone, but I had to show you the result of the food processor pizza dough. It was absolutely divine! Of course I use Mark Bittman's recipe for pizza dough, except I use 1 c. whole wheat flour and 2 c. plain. And check out that fresh mozzarella on top that my mother-in-law bought me! It really makes a huge difference.

Now, go forth and use your food processor.

Back to our roots

On Saturday we went skeet shooting with some South Carolina friends who are living in Boston. John's dad was Thomas' offensive line coach at Clemson and we dearly love he and his sweet wife Kirstin. John is in the midst of a residency program in Boston and he wanted to show his fellow surgeons how to shoot a gun. We had an absolute blast and got quite a few laughs out of the whole ordeal.

 Thomas hit almost every time he took aim. Show off. Look at him sticking that big bottom out like he's sassy.

 I, on the other hand, was a little rusty. I did take a hunting class at Clemson and got college credit for it. You wouldn't have known that by the fact that I did terrible on Saturday.

 This fellow was hysterical. Never shot a gun in his LIFE. Showed up in skinny jeans and Keds. Hit almost every clay. Giggled after every shot was fired. MADE.MY.DAY!

Here is our whole group! We loved being outside and the folks at the hunt club were so friendly and allowed us to use their personal guns. I decided that small town America is the same everywhere. They just talk a little differently here. 

Fun with visitors

Thomas' parent's just left after a 3 day visit, and we were able to have a few wonderful taste bud experiences. We began with Ina Garten's Parmesan Chicken that my old friend LB shared on her blog recently. It is my favorite chicken parmesan recipe to date and is simply divine served over the greens. We also had a local chowder that we bought at our new favorite Sunday tradition, the farmers market at Attleboro Farms.  WE LOVE LOCAL FOOD!

The next night our dear friends from church took us to Bristol, RI (a totally cute town) and we had incredible seafood from Quito's.  I forgot my camera so I did what I could to capture the moment with my phone:

The fish and chips there were so good and only lightly fried, not heavily breaded. But Thomas' meal was probably the best--it was just simple grilled shrimp and scallops with garlic smashed potatoes! Their coleslaw was also another highlight. And the sweet potato fries. And my mother-in-law's seafood casserole made with an ample amount of sherry.

Ok, so everything was good.

Then we had wonderful Italian last night at Rino's in East Boston. This is the same place that was closed the last time we tried to go and Thomas nearly had cardiac arrest+panic attack+ hyperventilated +temper tantrum. Anyway, we called ahead to make sure it was open and it was so delicious! We'll definitely be returning for their home made pasta and friendly atmosphere. And once again, I forgot my camera so I didn't get to capture much of the Austin's visit! But alas, it must live on in our memories.

New Abode

We've officially finished our latest move and are really loving our new place. We look at each other quite a few times a day and say "I love this place, don't you?" I'm especially enjoying the fact that I now have my food processor, a full set of silverware and other miscellaneous items that I shoved into a suitcase on my way back north. Yes, I put a food processor and a full set of silverware in a suitcase. And checked my bag. It was 54.5 lbs and I ran from the scene before the airlines guy could realize I was 4.5 lbs over the bag limit. Hooray for having more than 4 forks, 4 spoons, 4 knives....you get the picture.

Endless amounts of counter space! This kitchen has more counter space than all of our other kitchens....combined.

I love this little nook above the sink in the kitchen. 

There is a great built-in dresser in the guest room, which works out nicely since we don't have one here. 

Our cozy bedroom. Please note that I also shoved the bed skirt into my luggage. I'd been missing it!

I'd like to give a special shout-out to Thomas Austin for spending many, many minutes figuring out how to install this curtain system from Ikea. Our windows are weird special and I could really find nothing that would fit them properly. Enter handy husband and you have these delightful curtains on a wire. 

Yet another fun built-in bookshelf in our bedroom. I love these thoughtful little spaces!

Bathroom with PLENTY of space for us to brush our teeth at the same time. Finally. 

We love our new space!

What we've been up to

The past few weeks have been half vacation, half chaos. Here is a quick photo run-down of what has been happening in our lives:

We flew to Orlando for 3 days for an amazing conference for pro-football players and their significant others. This is the only photo that I took at the conference. Poor documentation on my part! We learned so much and had a wonderful time relaxing with friends in the afternoon/evenings. 

Maggie and I ran the Disney Princess Half Marathon after the conference was over. It was hilarious and fun and mostly exhausting, but we were proud when it was over. It was fun to be with my old running partner once again. 

Thomas and Tyler were at the finish line with some hilarious signs. Thomas' sign said "I'm with the hot blonde."  He actually took a picture with a REALLY hot blonde, and it wasn't me.....

(Yes, that guy ran the race looking like that)

The next day and a half were spent by the pool, recovering from our run. Thomas gets the credit for taking this awesome sunset photo. Just wish we could edit out those light posts! 

Our last day and a half in Orlando consisted of a quick jaunt through Disney World. Thomas and Tyler had never been and were quite hilarious as they took in all the sights and sounds. Thomas insisted on going from place to place as quickly as possible to maximize on our time, while Tyler stopped every few feet to capture something on the camera. Needless to say, it was entertaining. 

3-D Bug's Life movie. 

Thomas and Tyler after a long day of walking in the parks. 

Enjoying our last night together at the California Grill.  If you ever go to Disney, we highly recommend the sushi there, and it has a great vantage point for the nightly fireworks show. 

THEN I had a layover in order to move our stuff out of storage in Clemson into a more accessible place at my parent's house. I was in South Carolina for 24 hours, then flew back to Massachusetts where we moved into our NEW apartment the next day! We've decided to spend our off-season/the potential lockout here in New England as I've found a great job working with autistic kids and Thomas has some buddies nearby to work out with. I will post pictures of our new place as soon as I can!