Saturday Snow

More snow + no where to go = Saturday fun. After our French toast & blueberries breakfast we took a walk around the Towne Centre:Stopped by the grocery store for samples. (They didn't disappoint - we had chicken sausage, ravioli, berry smoothie, milk, juice, pita chips, & chips and salsa)

Their beautiful spring flower display amused me with the snowy background.

Matt spotted a walking raspberry.

I made a snow angel in front of the gym

Then we went back upstairs to drink hot chocolate and watch the flakes fall...

Apple Pie

Haven't tasted it yet, but this, my first, apple pie sure smells scrumptious. And why did I put off baking a pie thinking it would be complicated? It is anything but. Especially with store-bought crust :0) Does anyone have tips for baking future pies? Bring on the baked fruit wrapped in cinnamon sugar sprinkled dough!

Reconnecting & Ravens

Yesterday I had the chance to reconnect with a friend from high school youth group days. We both moved to Maryland from Texas in August - small world! We, along with her husband, 3 year old and 3 month old boys had Mexican for lunch, drove around looking at neighborhoods (we both foresee eventually not renting) and then just us girls found ourselves sipping tea and cider and eating scones at Reynolds Tavern. It is neat to know someone from "home" just a few miles away.

This morning my husband invited me to breakfast :) He knew his upcoming work day was going to be slow, so we went downstairs to the diner for blueberry pancakes and Belgian waffles to connect a little before our weekend guest arrives. An hour or so afterward I was dilly-dallying in the apartment when out of the blue I heard what sounded like a marching band playing in the street right below me?!? It's 9:50am and though I'm awake it still seemed kinda early?!? I couldn't see anything from the windows, but after walking downstairs I discovered that the jewelry store directly below our apartment was hosting a Baltimore Ravens promo event and sure enough, a portion of the marching band was playing in the alcove directly below our apartment. How fun! (Hopefully the rest of the building thought so too) Inside purple and gold jerseys were walking around everywhere as fans waited for things to be raffled and auctioned off. Cheerleaders were there in their toothpick shaped, orangish tan skin, long lash & poofy haired glory... signing swimsuit calendars... ugh. I think there was a football player or two. And of course, the costumed mascot walking around as well as two live ravens. I chatted with the band director and a few of his people, who gladly welcomed me to Maryland and insisted I be a Ravens fan, not Redskins, then headed back upstairs grateful for a fun way to kick off Friday.

Bumbo Baby

Eating a rice cake on the dining table this morning. Too cute to not share:

1-2-10

Our good good friends Brock & Stefanie were married in Dallas on New Year's weekend. Matt & I were honored to both be in the wedding party. We flew there directly from Missouri Thursday night for a full weekend of wedding festivities. (A highlight for me was sitting in massage chairs with the bride and other bridesmaids, sipping on mimosas and poinsettias, while getting our nails done. Another storybookish moment!)

Congratulations Brockefanie!

Christmas in MO

Stuffing tummies with entries from our 1st Christmas Eve Cooking Contest. 8 out of about 18 people entered, so there was enough variety and good natured trash talk to keep it fun and exciting. A definite new tradition!

My cousin Jess brought over his girlfriend and her adorable two kids.

Christmas morning stockings. Thanks Santa :)

We gather in the living room, sit in a big rectangle of chairs and exchange gifts in a semi-chaotic, but always fun, fashion.

It gets warm in the room fast, so instead of a real fire we opt for the "fireplace channel" which also plays Christmas music. (Is that a common channel in other places?)

Post-exchange lounging and talking.

We woke up Christmas morning to a blanket of snow! Kinda storybookish. The wind was blowing so hard we waited until the next day to go sledding.

I think Matt was resting (?) on the ground when Andrew & Shelby decided to burry him using their sleds as shovels. What a trooper.

Sunday night football party at Mack & Carol's beautiful country retreat.

Snow Party!

Whoever wrote the song "Let It Snow" really knew what they were talking about. Two weeks ago the weather outside was frightful, the fire was so delightful, thankfully we had no where to go, so we let it snow and snow and snow! That Friday we went to our friends house to eat, watch movies, lounge by the fire and spend the night, but the snow didn't stop coming down for the next 24 hours... so we stayed another night. It was so beautiful. My favorite was making snow ice cream!

I know this was kind of a fluke snowstorm, and weather is totally unpredictable, but we kept laughing to ourselves thinking of the dozens of people who assured us before and after we moved that "it rarely snows in Annapolis and if it does, it won't accumulate much." :o)

Friday night lounging by the fire.

Matt playing Saturday afternoon.

So many flakes!

We did A LOT of first time snow shoveling.
Adorable snow baby in his makeshift laundry basket sled.Saturday night still watching it come down.Sunny, snowy, Sunday morning splendor!

Matt did a fantastic job of unearthing our car and clearing the driveway so we could make it to the airport later.

Doesn't do it justice. It was sooo deep! 18"-20" or more I think.