The Boys Are Back in Town

So that title isn't completely accurate, the boys were back in town and have now left again, is a little better.  While I was catching up on girl talk and celebrating Father's Day, Speed Racer was out having a "Boys Only" weekend.  There was canoeing, there were guns, there was mockery, and there was laughter...sounded like an overall good time.  Wish I could have stuck around a little bit longer before they kicked me out, I love being one of the guys, but alas, they needed to talk man talk.  But here are some pictures I snapped before I left. Obviously you know Speed Racer...

Mr. B...

The Preacher...

Gumby...

And hiding back there is Mr. Hokie.

After a crazy weekend, we high tailed it back to Knoxville.  But before Mr. B left the next morning we got a chance to show him Norris.

All in all it was a fabulous weekend!  It was great to see so many old friends, both Speed Racer and I miss them a lot.

Kitty Post

Yesterday I received and email from our vet's office saying that this month is Sookie and Brisco's 1st Birthday.  We adopted them in late September (for my birthday) so we haven't officially had them for a year.  But of course the email coerced me into going through adorable kitten pictures from the past year.  And now I am going to share them with you!  I don't know about where you are, but it's pretty gloomy here, so everyone needs an adorable kitten moment.  Enjoy, and feel free to awww out loud.

Sookie was (still is) so tiny!

Must...get...blue...mousey.

There you have it, adorable kitty post.  I never thought I would be one of those people who would blog about their pets, but it's happened.  I've crossed that line and I'm not ashamed.  Happy Birthday Month to Sookie and Briscoe.

Happiness

"I hear that style is all the rage in Greece right now," Speed Racer said with a smile twitching across his lips.  I let out a wail of exasperation and the smile on his lips ripped open into a huge laugh.  I turned back to my reflection in the mirror.  I looked like a mummy.  I had gauze wrapped around various parts of my body, with tiny pieces of tape trying to keep them together.  I frowned, and that just sent Speed Racer over the edge. Pretty soon he was going to be on his hands and knees laughing too hard to breathe.  "It's not funny," I said, trying to keep a genuine pout on my face, but I couldn't help but laugh too.  I was covered, head to toe, in poison oak...on our anniversary. On Friday when I was thinking about this post, I thought I would make it another of our "How Did I get Here" series, and it would be a romantic post about Speed Racer and I's anniversary and undying love for each other.  And while that post still may appear later in the week...right now I am itching so bad and laughing that I just can't bring myself to do it.

The problem started last Saturday when I decided that our front flower beds needed to be cleaned out.  Speed Racer was out claiming car parts, and I thought what a great wifey it would make me look like if I tackled it and got it done by the time he got back.  It went just fine until I got to our maple tree.

I hit that thing like a hurricane from hell...pulling weeds this way and that...until I realized what I held was poison oak.  I had gloves on, thank God, but it was too late the damage was done.  At that moment I had a choice, and I'm going to admit folks, I chose wrong.  I got this trait from my Mom that once I start working on a project, I have to finish it, even if I should stop.  So instead of stopping and cleaning up, I tried to just power through until I had it done and could then go clean up.

Once I had finished I rushed into our downstairs laundry room and tore off my clothes, dumping them in the washing machine with some very hot water.  I raced up stairs to the bathroom and doused myself in rubbing alcohol.  I took a hot shower scrubbing every part of me with soap several times.  By the end of the day, I had no bumps...I had come in victorious, or so I thought until Friday.

Friday rolled around and little bumps started to pop up on my skin.  At first I thought I had just gotten some bug bites while I was outside the night before.  Then those bumps, turned into blisters, weeping, burning, itching, wish you could cut off that appendage blisters.  I tried to play it cool, it was just one spot after all, right? Right?  Wrong.  Pretty soon I had clusters of these on my legs, then on my abdomen, then on my side,  then on my chest, then on my elbow spreading up to my wrist.  It would be ok, I told myself.  It would go away soon, I covered it up with band aids.  But that just made it worse.  The adhesive on the band aids just angered the sensitive skin in the area, so now I had blisters and raw angry skin.

I finally gave in and showed Speed Racer.  He looked at me like I had the plague, like I was an infected Zombie.  He began to avoid all physical contact for fear of becoming infected.  Perfect, just what I wanted on our anniversary.

Saturday, I woke up mummified, but feeling ok.  Speed Racer was not in the bed next to me, and as I started to get up the door opened and he came in with a breakfast tray.  French toast, cherries, strawberries, syrup, and home-made whip cream...the man knows how to do breakfast right.  We decided we hit the road and try to find something fun and relaxing to do.  I could go into this part of our anniversary but really it involves several main aspects for you to get the gist of the afternoon: it was hot, there were lots of people, a semi purposefully tried to hit us, wherever we went we were in traffic for hours.  We tried to make it fun, but no matter where we went, we were fun blocked.  It wasn't our fault.  The best part of the day was the breakfast in bed, and then a cute little lunch place we found that had a screened in porch overlooking the smokies.  So we decided we needed a do over...Sunday would be our do over.

Sunday turned out great, Speed Racer got a few things done around the house.  We went down to the Crown and Goose, our favorite brunch spot.  Came back, took a fun ride in the Triumph Spitfire and got a slushy.  Then had some friends over for grilling out.  It was a pretty perfect day.  As the night was winding down, Speed Racer surprised me by sneaking out to get one of my favorite deserts, fantastic Carrot Cake, from a local restaurant.  We did the dishes while we listened to the playlist from our wedding, dancing and singing along the whole time.

The night ended perfectly as we lay in bed, and Speed Racer leaned over, trying not to touch my poison oak infested body, and kissed me gently, telling me how much he loved me, even if I looked horribly grotesque with blisters all over my body.  Ah, Amore.  It really can't get any better than that.

Marriage, that dream within a dream.

This weekend is our anniversary weekend!  It has officially been a year since Speed Racer and I tied the knot.  I was feeling particularly excited about it yesterday.  I was working on our wedding album, we were listening to our wedding mix, and then Speed Racer (to show how much he loved me and how excited he was for our anniversary) sent me this photo: (Photo by C.P.Storm and can be found on flickr HERE)

Isn't he sweet?  In all seriousness though, it's pictures like these that make me love him more and more because laughter is such a huge part of our marriage.  We've got big plans to kick back and relax, so stay tuned for more anniversary updates on Monday.  Have a fabulous weekend.

Dish-o-the-week: Lasagna!

I realized after I started taking pictures while I was baking the lasagna last night, that really I've been posting a food a week.  And yes, they have all been from the Pioneer Woman Cookbook.  Before you start having visions of Julie and Julia, I just want to put out there that this is not my fault.  I like to use new cookbooks I have (if I can, sometimes the ingredients are ridiculous and expensive) and this one is really fun, easy to do, and lets just say it, darn delicious.  I am also not the cook in this household, Speed Racer is.  I can bake all day long and turn out delicious fatty things, but cooking, I get a little flustered with.  With that in mind, I'm looking at this as practice cooking...so I don't live on Mac and Cheese when Speed Racer is gone, even though I would love to.  So we're just gonna go with it for now, maybe there will be a recipe next week from a different cookbook, who knows.  And as always, you can check out her full, mouth water recipes at www.thepioneerwoman.com.  To the Lasagna!! I didn't realize that I have never cooked lasagna before.  Everyone's made lasagna right? No, not me.  So I did not realize how long it would take.   Really long, that's the answer, really long.  I also didn't realize how hard it would be to take pictures without Speed Racer around, it was tricky.

Rule numero uno, don't be afraid of meat.  Is that ok to say on the interweb?

Or the garlic...delicious delicious garlic.

Definitely a good idea to put your noodles on the aluminum foil.  I tried some that way and some without, and the without ones were really sticky and hard to manage.

I'm getting hungry again.  You let the tomato's and meat simmer for 45 minutes, which is just pure torture.

I am not a cottage cheese fan, but I do love it in lasagna.

Mmmm, cheesy.

Let the layering begin.

This was my attempt at an action shot, with the not kind of lens for that sort of thing, on.

At this point I was starving, 35 minutes in the oven and I was famished.  So what did I do?  I dug in as soon as it was out of the oven and burned my mouth.  Start this lasagna early, or have a snack ready while you wait.

The kitties concur.

Dam Blog Post

Last night Speed Racer and I were feeling a little antsy in our pantsy after a lazy afternoon.  We had managed to go on a nice 23 mile bike ride in the morning before the rain started.  But after that were trapped inside, and quite frankly, took advantage of it with a long Sunday afternoon nap.  After dinner with some friends, the clouds cleared up and we hit the highway. To Norris Dam.

We really got there at the perfect time of day.  The rain had cooled everything off, leaving a slight mist on the water.  It was gorgeous.

This is one of our favorite "date nights."  We just get in the car and drive somewhere.  We've been doing this since either of us could drive and it's great because it's cheap, and relaxing, and just the two of us.

The two of us AND my CAMERA!

Unfortunately for Speed Racer...but he's very nice and lets me take picture of him...except when he decides to start moving around, to be mean.

Of course we were lucky to get a hot press car to ride around in too.

It was a wonderful night, and a great way to start the week.

The Darkroom Saga

As most of you know we are slowly but surely updating our house.  We are not even close to starting on the downstairs portion, but I decided to tackle the downstairs bathroom that will eventually be my darkroom.  It's a tiny room, but perfect for a starter darkroom.  And let's face it...any darkroom is better than no darkroom at all.  So my goals were to draw out an eventual layout for the darkroom, clean out things we didn't need, organize the camera gear, and possibly start some demolition.

So here is the basic layout.  I know, I'm fabulous at drawing.

This is what we're starting with, and this is actually after I have cleaned it up some.  And by cleaned it up I mean moved everything out into the other room.

As you can see.

Including the surfboard that was in there.

So after 12 hours of cleaning I decided it was time to show off my cute new haircut.  Just kidding...about the 12 hours, not the haircut.

Can you tell I'm easily distracted when it comes to cleaning?

After awhile I got it looking organized and cleaned out.

I was all ready to start demolition, but Speed Racer came down to see my handiwork, and didn't think it was such a good idea to get carried away with it right at that moment.  He took my sledgehammer away.  But he's very right.  It's so easy when you are remodeling a house to look at everything and want to work on it right that minute.  If you do that though, you have a huge mess on your hands.  So we're trying to FOCUS (focus? what? where?) and finish Speed Racer's office that we are currently working on.  Then hopefully we can at least gut the darkroom, so I can start purchasing items a little at a time.

Until then, we'll keep plugging away, and keeping you updated.  Sookie is very excited about being a darkroom kitty...you can tell.

Ecstatic.

And HGTV, if you're listening...Please Pimp My Darkroom.

Summer Portrait Special

I'm doing a Summer Portrait Special!  Memorial Day has come and gone, the pools are open, school is almost out, summer is beginning, and I'm ready to take pictures of you enjoying it!  I'm offering a one hour Portrait session for $98.99 at any location you choose.  With this session you get 1 8x10, 3 5x7s, and 8 wallets.  This session is for families, friends, senior portraits, couples, kids, babies, and pets!  I have many print sizes and types to choose from if you'd like a different look.  Interested?  Contact me at runawayalice@gmail.com, or 540.460.2691.

Don't live in Knoxville but still want to partake in the Summer Portrait Special?  Not a problem, just add the cost of gas (and room if you live really far away!) and I'll come to  you.

Here are a few samples from previous Portraits I've done:

What's Cookin'?

Last night Speed Racer and I decided to try another recipe out of The Pioneer Woman's Cookbook, so we tried Chicken Pot Pie.  Now before you think I'm a crazy person for constantly talking about The Pioneer Woman (see Meatloaf Mania, and PW Journey), what else are you suppose to do with a new cookbook other than try it out? That would be a waste.  So, it's legit.  That's what I'm telling myself.  I don't have a problem.  Really. Moving on....

Although this recipe was not as knock your socks off as the Meatloaf (how could it be, there is no bacon in it...duh) it was still fantastic, and Speed Racer and I oohh and ahhhed over the entire meal.

There are no prep photos because my hands were covered, absolutely covered in dough from making the crust.  I didn't want to dirty my poor camera that I already abuse.

The 30 minutes that it takes to cook is pure torture.  Speed Racer stared longingly at the oven the whole time, while heavenly aromas wafted out.

Ta-da!

Speed Racer was in charge of putting slits into the crust to vent the heat.  He put our initials, how sweet.  Come on I know you want to say it, give me a big "awwww."

Speed Racer is also a dough FIEND.  I cannot keep him out of the kitchen when there is dough around, he just lingers, waiting to snag a piece.  You can just see him in this picture, "Oh, hmmm, whatcha got there?  Looks like this little piece over here might be falling off...."

"Let me just pop it in my mouth really fast before you can catch me, and then move around so you can't take my picture in our dark dark kitchen..."

"Whew, that's hot."

Yeah, I know his game.

These pictures were actually taken by Speed Racer, he wanted to make sure we let the people know about the flakiness of this homemade crust.  He was very excited about it, and the piece that he stole.

That's it folks.  I rate this one, a success.

Cades Cove

If you live near Knoxville, you know about Cades Cove.  It's part of the National Park and is a fantastic place to get away, read a book, ride a bike, enjoy nature, and maybe...just maybe takes some fantastic pictures.  I love Cades Cove.  Speed Racer's Uncle (also a photographer who puts me to shame) took me up there a couple Friday's ago for some fun shooting.  I'm sure you will see many more pictures taken there, but here are just a few of my favorites.