So. I'm sorry? I made some lists...

I haven't written in almost a MONTH. a month. Sheesh. (But I was kinda busy. Not an excuse, I know. But I'm going to try and parlay it for one. 'Kay? Good.)

Also, my camera is on the fritz. Circling the drain. Headed south. That is, I've no pictures of our new abode as of yet. And I don't think you would want to see anyway because there's still boxes everywhere and pictures leaning against walls and a general disarray that lends no beauty to photographs. Unless it's like hipster messy. You know, like when artists are featured on a blog and they are trying to come across as so cool they don't even care if their bed is unmade? Yeah. It's not even like that.

Since the earlier part of May, aka the alleged date of my last post, we've done a lot of things. Even things before then that I didn't blog about. Like go see Noah graduate and get commissioned as an officer in the Navy. That was at the end of April. I didn't even tell you! Shoot. It was awesome. I loved America before, but boy do I love her now. Brought a tear to my eye. And I'm so proud of my big brother. So proud.

And then we moved. A week-long logistical extravaganza, you might say, that ended in sunny Charleston, SC. Since that day, Andrew has set a date for his master's defense and his start date at WMI. I've started full time at the hospital. (Hooray!) We've joined and plugged in to St. Andrew's City Church (total awesomeness). I helped throw a supercute (if I do say so myself) baby shower for Summer in Hendersonville. We celebrated two years of marriage (woot!). We're on the waiting list for a puppy (be. still. my. heart.) We've been to the beach, grilled out, gone for long walks, watched movies, hung out with friends, and generally enjoyed summertime and togetherness. It's been so good. This is the life.  One evening after dinner we were just chatting and cleaning up and really came to the realization of how good we have it. We have it so good. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you and Amen.

So now. Here's the goal over the next few weeks.
1. Finish the house. Maybe not like tooootally finish, but hang the rest of the pictures and get organized. You know. A house that's a home is never really finished, right?
2. Go to the beach 100 million times. This one's priority.
3. Paint some furniture. Pretty excited about this one.
4. Rest and enjoy life with my love.

It's a pretty good list. Not too lofty, but a few goals that need motivation and motion behind them. I've got a few other goals for the summer though, including but not limited to:
1. Purchasing a beach cruiser.
2. Obtaining some new furniture. I've got a list. It's a long one. Probably won't get it all this summer, but maybe a few pieces.
3. Couch to 5k.
4. Fishing
5. Make one of the more complicated homemade ice cream recipes with our ice cream maker.
6. Sew new throw pillows with some leftover fabric. Recycling. Ah.
7. Read books that make me smarter. But also that I enjoy.
8. Write a new song. Haven't done this in a while, but I think I'd like to give it a shot.
9. Beg, borrow, steal or buy a new camera. Hopefully not steal. That would be trouble.
10. Make more trips to GoodWill. Simplify is a good word to think on.
11. Keep up with blogging! YES!

Like I said, not limited to. And since I'm the editor of this list I can, of course, edit things out. Or in. :) I like being editor.

So there you have it. A small summary, but hopefully has y'all up to speed. Two things before I go:
1. I'm obsessed with Pinterest.
2. Congratulations and best wishes to Zach and Cristin on their engagement!!! Love you guys and can't wait to celebrate with y'all!

Arrivederci!

Walk it out

A Springtime walk and some scenes from my favorite route in Chapel Hill.

A view up the road from our house.

Standing on the corner looking towards campus/UNC Hospitals. The cranes are helping build a new Dental school building. Gorgeous blue sky!

A house with heaps of potential, but coed residents keep it in a constant state of junkiness. Boo.

Another house with loads of potential.

Beautiful blooms!

From gloom to green in a few short weeks.

A little NC dogwood for you.

The Jimmy Dean Dome. (haha ;) )

Uphill. A.k.a. buns and thighs.

More potential.

The weirdest architectural design ever. It's scowling at me.

Azaleas!

I have to tell you, it feels good to sit and take a breath! The last few weeks have been a whirlwind and the next few weeks are not looking to slow down either. We went to Rhode Island to see my brother, Noah, graduate from the Navy's Officer Candidate School (Delta Company ROOLZ.) And we went to Hendersonville for Easters. And then I got a horrible cold. And we worked and drove and packed and drove and packed some more. Our time of residence in Chapel Hill is coming to a close and just when we want to slow down and take it all in, everything goes to warp speed and it's over before we know it. Ain't that the truth? Pray for us in this time of transition, pleaseandthankyou.

Also, was the Royal Wedding not spectacular?! I loved it! AND my wonderful husband got up at 4am with me to watch it live so that I would not be oo-ing and ah-ing alone. What a peach. :)

What ha' happened was...

Andrew got me flowers for Valentine's Day. {Awwwwww!}

Dane asked Meghan to be his Lawfully Wedded Wife! {Awwwww, a second time!}

At some point I made Ree's Meatloaf for dinner.

And took pictures of it. All whilst my husband sat salivating by. How cruel.

Andrew and I went to "Science Day" at a local elementary school to help four classes of 3rd graders "swab" the environment and inoculate agar plates. Except you can't use words like "inoculate" and "agar". You have to say "smear the q-tip on the jello".

He wears his Toms every day of the week. And I like it.

Little bird, little bird--brush your gray wings on my head...{tweet, tweet!}

Since last time

12 days is too long since my last post. Sorries all around, folks. Life on the road just gets under the fingernails and it takes a little bit to scrape all the dirt out. Rinse and repeat and such.

Andrew and I are sitting al fresco at Foster's Market in Chapel Hill with the hum of the traffic, the chirping and tweeting birds and the rotund bumble-bees' buzzing as our backdrop to this glorious sun-streaked afternoon.  There is a ginormous genetically engineered Golden-doodle nearby, smiling and drooling while his owner sips her raspberry soda and thumbs through a magazine. The conversations of nearby tables float over our heads, snippets of deals struck and prices negotiated rhythmically bobbing in the atmosphere.

It's the middle of March, Lent has begun--the season of waiting for Easter to arrive. This Spring holds so much. So much transition. So much accomplishment. So much hope. A little bit of rest for the weary. A time to get to work in a different way this go around. Something different for all this sameness. Like a childhood vacation spot revisited, geographically the same but feeling a little looser than last time.

Daylight saving time started last night, (also known as summer time according to Wikipedia), which means church was a little thin this morning, even with the ubiquity of cell phones that automatically take care of the time change. Kind of a goofy thing we made up ourselves to make the summer days longer and the winter days shorter, but I'll take it. Grilling out for dinner is much less romantic in the dark.

I have a camera full of photos to dump and post, but I just haven't gotten around to it. For all of you who read for the pictures, I promise they are coming. I just have to find the chord... :)

Winding down

The best part of my {work} day, somewhere between seven and nine o'clock.

A broken off square of Ghirardelli Twilight Delight chocolate, (At 72% cacao, this heavenly morsel is sweet enough to satisfy, but bitter enough to stop you from eating the entire bar. And really. Could there be a more perfect name for this piece of nighttime quadratical loveliness?? I think not.)...

And a hot cup of Bigelow Sweet Dreams tea. In a pretty cup, of course. (For what is tea without it's teacup? Hot, dirty water.)

Happy March, lovelies.

(Hurry, Spring, hurry!)

Spring, come on down!

I know I have previously confessed to you my fatal flaw of willing the next season to hurry up and get here...well, let me just sheepishly raise my hand and mutter, "guuuiiiiiilty", because Spring has sprung, whether or not it's reflected in the calendar date or the weatherman's forecast. Spring officially begins March 20th. But who wants to wait for twenty.more.days? Not I, said the fly.

For some reason, with every first bloom of the Bradford Pear trees, I am compelled to paint my finger and toe nails a bright, sunny shade of something deliciously girly and happy. This year it's the old cheeky standby, Cajun Shrimp. My good man.

Of course, I have more selfish reasons to encourage the coming of Spring--only eight more weeks-ish of driving back and forth, back and forth. I am ready to be a full time wife again. I miss my hubby every day that I'm not with him. It's time to reunite for good. Period. End of story. Thanksverymuch. Take a bow. The End. Fin. I can hardly believe that we have been doing this for six months already. Time flies when you're on the highway two days a week. (That's not how the saying goes, but...still. Time flies.)

How'd we do it?? Well my first answer is I HAVE NO IDEA. But upon ruminatin' a little more, I would say, 1. iChat, 2. Free Audiobooks app on our iPod, 3. Prayer and compromise. (Number three's a two-fer, but four is just an awkward number for a list, don't y'all think?) iChat kept us sane--seeing someone while you're talking with them makes a huge difference. Free Audiobooks have improved my vocabulary and my education instead of allowing me to follow my compulsion to mash "scan" over and over again until I know the song on the radio. And prayer and compromise...well you can probably guess that being apart the majority of the time is tough cookies. Like old leather tough. You get selfish with your time--and when I say you, Reader, I mean I. All of those, and knowing it's not forever has helped me keep my head on straight. As opposed to it spinning off into orbit. We've come close, but--so far-- still attached.

Anyway, Happy Early Spring to you and yours. Regardless of the calendar, my attitude is of Springtime, my heart says it is so. So it must be. :)

Did you know? {Groundhog's Day Edition}

Tomorrow, (February 2nd), will be Punxsutawney Phil's 125th prognostication. Which basically means Phil's got some serious longevity in his genome.

Phil lives in a burrow on Gobbler's Knob. Just say that out loud. Gobbler's Knob.

Before being dubbed "Phil" he was called Br'er Groundhog.

A groundhog is also known as a woodchuck. However, "how much wood could a groundhog chuck" doesn't really present the same challenge.

Let us have a moment of silence and pray that Br'er Groundhog does not see his shadow, henceforth cursing us with six more weeks of winter.

{Dear Springtime, please hurry! Love, MaryGene}

Look it up in your Funk & Wagnalls

Apparently, before the days of wikipedia, Funk & Wagnalls used to be a publisher of dictionaries and encyclopedias, with it's last issue going out of print around 1997. But more on that in a minute.

This weekend, Andrew and I headed way down south, where the wisteria drips off the trees like jewels on a royal's necklace. The weather was spectacular--not too hot and not too cold--sunny skies and a slight ocean breeze. Just magical. On Saturday night, my mother whipped up an amazing passover spread, complete with lamb and mint jelly and topped off with blackberry cobbler and creamy vanilla ice cream. Yummm. During our dinner conversation, with our lovely guests Dane and Meghan, my father began a discussion about something that, apparently, was quite incredulous, because we started saying things like, "huh?", "are you sure?", "really??", and he responded with, "yeah! Look it up in your Funk & Wagnalls!" *cricket, cricket*. Except it didn't sound like "Funk and Wagnalls", it sounded like "funkin' wagnalls" which sounded like something else. You can imagine the guffaws and side-splitting laughter that ensued. And I'm pretty sure I'm going to try to use the phrase, "look it up in your Funk & Wagnalls" at least once every day.

Easter morning, we dragged ourselves out of bed to beat the traffic to Boone Hall for St. Andrew's annual Easter celebration. Every one of the 4,000 chairs had a bum in it and there were people standing in the back. The children's tent was packed out. It was an awesome, awesome time of celebration and thanksgiving! I didn't take pictures until after the service, however, because we were busy chit-chatting with people, but I think I still got some good ones!

The celebration tent, nestled between the river and the "cotton field".

The annual, obligatory family phooootoooo! Minus two siblings and a sibling-in-law. We're looking quite natty in our Easter duds, if I do say so m'self. ;)

The flowered cross this year was a leeetle chaotic, (usually you bend the stems or cut them off prior to sticking them in the mesh), but our good friend Todd was in charge of it and his lovely wife, Elizabeth, was home with two sick cutie-patootie kiddos. So, we'll cut him some slack--this year. ;)

Every year, there's myriad carefully selected songs for pre-service music and for the service itself--this year, one of the opening songs was a Hillsong selection called Mighty to Save with the first lines of the chorus declaring Saviour/He can move the mountains/My God is mighty to save/Mighty to save, words borrowed from Matthew 17. As I was belting out this song with the other 4,000+ people in attendance, I got the feeling that Jesus wasn't necessarily talking about geographical feng shui. I think He was talking about people. Who in your life do you perceive as an immovable mountain? Who's heart is so hard that you have an inkling of doubt that even the One who cheated and pummeled death couldn't handle them? Well, he can. He is so mighty that His love and grace can move even the most stalwart of your friends or family to turn to Him and know the He is love. He is truth. And He is yours and mine--and theirs.

Happy Easter, everyone. And may we celebrate every day what Christ has done for us all.

All things bright and beautiful

It's amazing to me how nature continues to mirror God's character: how He is completely simple and pure, yet so infinitely detailed and genius.

I spent breakfast, lunch and dinner yesterday, and breakfast and lunch today on my porch with these sweet, smiling, blooming trees waving at me in the breeze. All kinds of birds and honey bees were twittering and buzzing back and forth to each other, all heralding the arrival of this present season. What a glorious thing, Spring!

Each little flower that opens

Each little bird that sings

He made their glowing colors

He made their tiny wings

All things bright and beautiful

All creatures great and small

All things wise and wonderful

The Lord God made them all!

Full swing in Spring: a vernal check up.

As the saying goes, March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb...I'm hoping we're in the lamb days, for good! Here's a little list of springtime made manifest in our household. I'm sure you all want to know. ;)

1. As previously posted, our Easter tree is still displayed in all it's pastel splendor on the kitchen counter. I'm seriously trying to avoid Easter candy, however, namely JellyBelly jelly beans, Reese's peanut-butter eggs, and Cadbury eggs of all kinds. But I won't be mad if I receive any or all in an Easter basket. If I'm not too old for that sort of thing. Which, I'm not. Because I just decided I'm not. So....there.

2. The heat and/or air-conditioning is OFF and has been for at least a week now: hooray for a low bill! Windows are frequently down during the day to freshen the air and get rid of the stuffiness of winter!

3. Our bedding has been changed and laundered; the extra blanket is back in the closet where it belongs.

4. My New Year's resolution is still rockin' on: vitamins swallowed daily!

5. All of my hanging clothes have been rifled through and clothes too small/too big/out of style/haven't been worn in a year(s)/bought in 8th grade have been gifted elsewhere.

6. Herbs are all present and accounted for, and thriving. Basil is a bit tricky with the weather still a little on the cool side at night. It needs lots of water because of the terra cotta pot (very breathable). I usually set it outside in full sun during the hottest part of the day and then bring it back inside at night. I try to talk sweetly to all of them, too, so they grow to be kind, smart, well-rounded plants. I haven't played any classical music for them, though (yet). If you find me someday in my yard reading the newspaper to the bushes with Beethoven blaring in the background, please have a Come-to-Jesus with me. Again, I will thank you, kindly. Anyhoo...Who knew a few stalks could be so high maintenance?

7. I've been using Jergens gradual tanning lotion on an every other day basis on account of my serious pastiness and the upcoming Bridge Run where I will bare my bare legs for all the world to see. I'm trying not to get to the orange-y, certain-areas-are-still-pale-and-obviously-fake-stage. I'm also trying to actually achieve a non-pasty hue by this weekend, so it's kind of an uphill battle to stay somewhere between pasty and orange...which would be somewhere around creamsickle. I'm trying to be a creamsickle.

8. The back porch (like we have a front one) is cleaned, re-staged, and readied for warm evenings of grilling out and feasting al fresco!

9. I have drooled over all of the beautiful Spring clothing lines being revealed in stores and online, like Target's Liberty of London...but when your shopping budget is approximately zero dollars and zero cents, drooling is about as far as you can go.

10. My toenails are a cheerful shade of OPI Cajun Shrimp, (a staple, kids), and I've worn sandals every day for almost a week. Just try to wrap your mind around that. Glory.

Baa-aa-aa. (That was supposed to be a lamb. In reference to "going out like a lamb". Use your imagination.)

An egg bearing tree for me!

I haven't dyed Easter eggs since...elementary school?? We used to always have an Easter tree, dingle-dangling with beautiful colored eggs, varying in color, shade, and sometimes crazily dipped and drawn on with wax crayons--you know, quintessential 7 year old artwork. Delightful. Well, this year, I decided it was high time I dyed some eggs again. I still had some branches from my fall foliage days so I just arranged them in a pitcher on the counter and hung my eggs on them. That was the easy part. Getting the egg out of the shell without breaking it to smithereens? A tad harder. Anyway, 14 eggs and near-respiratory arrest later, I had an Easter tree. Voila!

A little bit of warm water, a splash of vinegar, a few drops of food coloring: Hello, Springtime!


Pastels really aren't my fav to wear, necessarily, but pastel eggs? Pretty!



Hot glued some twine on each egg--super easy.

Easter loveliness!

(I used leftover nuts from the nut wreath for vase filler at the bottom. Scoooore.)

It's finally warming up here--so exciting! The bridge run is in about a week, and Easter is the week after! Holy cow--see ya later, March!

Before she left Killarney, did your mother kiss the Blarney?

If you don't know that song, you should. An oldie, but a goodie! Happy Saint Patrick's Day to all my fellow Iri'men (and women)! 'Anybody seen the leprechaun say, "YEAAAHHH!"'

Andrew and I went to see John Mayer: Battle Studies on Monnnnday!!! It was amazing. It was thrilling. It was like we were in 8th grade again. Seriously. The average age was probably 15. I mean, no worries, we weren't the only adults there--lots of people were suckin' down their ginormous Bud Lights and gettin' in the mood for a lil' 'lectric guitar, but still. There was definitely shrieking and jumping up and down and sign waving from the middle school sector. But the guy can shred, I'll give him that.

And for your listening pleasure:

Yehhh, I have a gh-etto camera, so that's all you're gonna get. But it was awesome. It really was.

Mary, Mary quite contrary, how does your garden grow?

With black soil and shards of pottery and pretty pots all in a row. :)

Ok. So. My past gardening experience pretty much peaked at growing a lima bean plant in a Styrofoam cup in elementary school. And I don't even like lima beans. But, I'm trying my hand at growing herbs as I mentioned in the previous post. Please note, my experience and/or terminology is that of a newbie, so if I am not quite a Gardener to the Starz, pardon me.

First things first: Here's what you need. Four terra cotta pots, four herb plants of your choice, potting soil, un poquito de extended release fertilizer pellets, pieces of broken pottery, H2O, and two nimble hands.

Um, I already planted the mint. 'Cuz I done stoled it from my parents' front yard. Did you know mint is a vine?? Yeah, those suckers will take over your yard if you let 'em. Anyway. I clipped a few leaflings and planted them before we left Charleston, so I kinda had a head start on this whole endeavor. The leaves are to keep moisture in. Just so you know. It ain't cute but it does the job. (Not sure why I've switched into Grungy Farmer mode...must be the fertilizer...juss kidd'n'.)

Moving on. Potting soil, pieces of pottery. And a large kitchen spoon thingy. In case you lack a spade like I do. I ended up using my hands, so it was kind of superfluous.

Step numero uno: place pottery shards in the bottom of each pot over the drainage hole. This will allow for oxygen to enter and water to escape more easily once the plant and all it's tangly roots get in there.

Fill each pot with a little bit of potting soil and then sprinkle some fertilizer over that. Mix it all around, if it makes you happy.

Tap each herb plant out of it's temporary home, being careful not to mangle it's beautiful foliage with your nubby hands. If you find that the roots have grown through the holes in it's plastic container, (like I did), do your best to perform emergency surgery causing as little damage as possible. Bottom line: get the thing out. Place the plant in it's new and permanent 3 bedroom/2.5 bath home. Fill in the sides with potting soil.

Rinse and repeat. Water the plant enough to saturate the soil and enough so that water drains out of the bottom of the pot. You're actually supposed to have those plate thingies to catch the water, but beggars can't be choosers. And I stole these pots from my parents. (Aren't they nice?) Repeat this process until all of your plants are lovingly nestled in their new pots.

Bonus: I also received a flippin' sweet valentine strawberry pot from my dearest friend Lauren. It had this little pellet of dirt that you add water to and then sow the seeds. Amazing. And realllllly cute.


Yep. It's tiny. If this thing grows, I'll be amazed.


From left to right: Bernice, Alma, Gertrude, and Myrtle.

Siiiiike.

Mint, thyme, basil, rosemary.

Yummy, yummy, in my tummy.

And that is how it's done.