Buena Buena

For Posterity

2010-03-16T13:50:00.000-07:00

MSNsportsNET.Com -- West Virginia University Mountaineers

Hibernation is over...

2010-03-16T13:30:00.000-07:00

Sorry, we've been hibernating for the long, misearable winter. Don't worry, we woke up just in time for this....

Best night ever! Thanks for the crazy ride, guys! NCAA, here we come...

Weekend in Georgia

2010-01-17T15:20:00.001-08:00

I was finally able to make it to Atlanta and visit the CDC while still an employee. Dj and I got to spend a three day weekend seeing the sites. We got a city pass and were true tourists. I was surprised by how much I liked it there.

Olympic Centennial Park, still decorated for the holidays.

Woodfire Grill

2010-01-17T14:59:00.001-08:00

For any Top Chef fans out there, this was our favorite season. We had to visit the Woodfire Grill, home to the best chef-Kevin. We treated ourselves to a tasting menu. Well worth it.

If you look closely, you can see all the goodies we got to eat, including antelope. It was amazing. Should have taken pictures of every dish (which half the resturant was doing--it was just that good).

Kevin was super friendly and took a minute out of his cooking to pose with us.

We were seated at a table with a direct view of Kevin's woodfire grill, so we were able to see him cook all night.

Atlanta High Art Museum and CNN

2010-01-17T14:13:00.001-08:00

The City Pass included tickets for CNN, High Art Museum, Georgia Aquarium, World of Coca-Cola, the zoo, and a natural history museum. The CNN tour I was least looking foward to, buy ended up enjoying it a ton. It was really cool! First, we got to ride up this giant escalator that made me dizzy. Then we got to see everything, including the actual broadcast room.

We walked from the art museum to CNN and passed by the house Margaret Mitchell lived in while writing Gone with the Wind. Yeah, one of my favorites.

The art museum was having a special display on the drawings and sketches of Leonardo di Vinci. A lot of horses and battle scences.

Atlanta Aquarium and World of Coca-Cola

2010-01-17T07:51:00.000-08:00

The aquarium is pretty awesome. They have a huge aquarium filled with a ton of fish and four whale sharks. They call this area the theater. Dj and I sat there for a long time just watching everything.
We were lucky enough to be there for feeding time for the whale sharks.

Everyone enjoying the view.

Sea otters = adorable. Can I have one?

Jellyfish.

And of course, the world of Coca-Cola, my favorite pop.

The famous tasting room. I was hoping I could get a Turkish Coke, my ultimate favorite, but no luck. They only had weird, fruitty stuff from around the world.

Atlanta Natural History Museum and Zoo

2010-01-16T18:41:00.000-08:00

We happened to be in Atlanta during the coldest weather they have seen for ten years. This made our visit to the zoo a little short--it was way to cold for the animals. Eventually the sun came out, some some of the animals came out to say hi. The zoo was nice and gave us two free tickets to return. Anyone planning a trip to Atlanta in the next three months? Here are some of the animals that came out to say hey:

And finally the natural history museum. Kind of cool place. Had an entire floor dedicated to hands on science stuff.

OBX Christmas 2009

2010-01-13T08:14:00.000-08:00

For Christmas this year, The Family decided to gather together at the Outer Banks, NC for some festive relaxation. Dj and I woke up at 3:30 am to try to make it by 1pm. The weather channel was warning of snow, but the most we heard was 4 inches. We packed the Big Green with the weeks food supply and headed on our way. And the snow fell. We slowly traveled, trying to stay behind snow plows, and the snow fell in complete white out at times. After 3 hours and only making it to Cumberland (not even an hour on a good day), we decided to pull over (ok--mostly I was scared out of my mind). We checked into a hotel, watched bad movies all day, and watched the snow fall. The next day travel went smoothly, for the most part, and we made it to our beach paradise. Here is a view out of our hotel window at 7am. It snowed another foot after this. Part of the adventure!

The 30 minute drive from Nag's Head to Corolla was the longest part of the trip. The house did not disappoint. Here is the first view as we pulled in.

Here is a picture of the great room. Amazing ocean views, a gas fireplace, decks all around.

The kitchen area.

This is a view of the house at night. A huge place! Notice every single light on. It was well lived in for the week.

Dj and I took a day trip to Corolla. We saw some sights, at some good southern BBQ, and enjoyed the sunshine. The weather was perfect all week, sunny and not too cold--just a little rain on the day everyone left. Corolla is home to the Currituck Beach Lighthouse. Unfortunately, it was closed for the season. It was built in 1875 and is still being used.

Across from the lighthouse was a nature trail. It was posted with signs, so we were able to learn about the sound's native habitat. Somewhere out there is the mainland.

Corolla is also home to the Whalehead Club, built in the 1930's for fowl hunting. For the very, very wealthy. Now it is a nice park, and the house is being restored to its former glory.

Admiring our private beach view from our private pier. I think I saw one other person on the beach the entire week. Nice to have it all to ourselves.

We bought a tree while there and decorated it the good old fashioned way: popcorn and cranberry garland and collected seashells. It was adorable.

A full view of the tree. Dj and I found a washed up buoy on the beach to top it off.

Shipwreck!

Dj and I enjoying a very memorable Christmas Eve lunch with the traditional steamed shrimp. Front row seats to the waves!

Decorating a gingerbread house with the kids.

Lots of guitar hero played during the week! Dj and Josh rocking out.

Also lots of puzzles put together. I think we finished two. This one did not get finished. The house had a perfect, sunny nook for reading and puzzles. I think it might have been empty a total of ten minutes the entire week.

We took daily, sometimes more, walks on the beach. Dj and I got lucky one night and found two star fish (one was alive) and a ton of hermit crabs. We attempted to take Maiya out the next day, but had not luck.

Because the Play Station wasn't enough, there was the Wii. Dj and old man getting a work out.

It was an incredible trip. We did a lot of R&R-- great company, great food, great surroundings. Lets do it again!

Ornaments for 2009

2009-12-29T07:41:00.000-08:00

Buddah from Korea.
Washington Ferry From Vashon Island.

Olyve Oyl the octopus from the Seattle Aquarium.

For our last WV Christmas.

In memory of Peekaboo. Black, white, and pink.

Thanksgiving in Seattle

2009-12-12T18:44:00.000-08:00

We spent the week of Thanksgiving in Seattle. I met with the UW program I am interested in, Dj made some dental job progress, and we looked at some condos while we were there. It was kind of a bummer of a trip for two major reasons-- did not get really great news from the school (the school is lacking in funds right now during this recession) and did not think rent would be so much (as in add a zero to the monthly rent we are paying now... 10x our rent....). However, it was good in a lot of ways. We stayed right in the thick of things in downtown. We got to explore that city like we were natives. We learned which streets to avoid walking up to avoid the major steep hills. We learned how reliable the bus system is, which will help us as we look for a place to live. We ate really amazing food. We got to spend Thanksgiving day with the best company- Julie and her family. Plus the trip really brought us back to reality. We realized we need to enjoy the good things of WV for just a little bit longer. And then the adventure of living in a HUGE city will begin, increased rent in all.
We took very few pictures while we were there. We did get to watch the Macy's parade on black Friday, and really enjoyed it.
Marching bands from all over. My secret dream is to be a parade judge.

Everybody was dressed in all types of costumes: dogs, cats, cowboys, flowers, elves, everything, etc.

Our favorite part was all the dog clubs. The clubs in the area each had a section for their dogs to march. It was adorable. The St. Bernards were so cute with little carts to pull.

It was fun to be there for the start of the holiday season. They had lighting ceremonies all over the down town area, with little carnivals and fun things. It was fun seeing the Christmas trees for sale at Pike's Market along with misletoe and amazing wreaths. The weather was very agreeable--it rained on Thanksgiving Day while we were inside anyway.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-22T11:56:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We'll be here:

Brothers Bloom

2009-11-19T06:26:00.000-08:00

Dj and I watched a movie a couple of weeks ago, Brothers Bloom. It is one of those movies that turn out to be a little deeper than expected and kind of sticks with you. Rachel Weisz plays Penelope. When she was a kid she got tested for allergies and came back positive for everything. Her parents sheltered and protected her, never letting her experience life. When she was an adult she discovered she was not really allergic to everything, she was just allergic to the metal alloy in the needles used to test. She then spent years taking care of her invalid mother, again staying isolated. Her response to this is amazing:

"This was a story about a girl who could find infinite beauty in anything, any little thing, and even love the person she was being trapped with. And I told myself this story until it became true. Now, did doing this help me escape a wasted life? Or did it blind me so I didn't want to escape it? I don't know, but either way I was the one telling my own story..."

I really like this quote because so many uncontrollable things happen in life, really unavoidable crappy things. Take those things, find some beauty in them, and don't let them hold you down. So, here's to telling my own story.

All You Can Eat Chocolate

2009-11-08T15:31:00.000-08:00

One of our favorite places in the world is located in a small Pittsburgh subburb called Trafford. Hidden on a one way street is the gem of all gems--the chocolate factory Sherm Edwards. We stumbled upon this place by accident a couple years ago. They offer free tours to anyone, anytime. And every November they hold the "All You Can Eat Tour", which is WAY better than it sounds. This year, possibly our last year of the tour, we decided to share it with Hannah and the kids--calling to claim the last 3 adult and 2 child tickets. Whew! The factory is very small, a main floor for selling and a basement for making. Everyone gets a hairnet.

Hannah, Caleb, and I enjoying the trays loaded with goodness--chocolate covered pretzels, meltaways, carmels, creams, cordials and jells in milk, dark, and white. My stomach is growling!

A table lined with almond, cashew, and pecan bark, again in milk, dark, and white.

Not only do you get to sample all of their goods, you can also watch them at work. This is the owner of Sherm Edwards-- he makes all the peanut brittle, carmel and toffee himself. In this picture he is cutting toffee for the almond butter crunch (kind of like an almond roca but much, much better).

Dj loves asking this guy all types of questions, trying to figure out the secret to his amazing skills. He answers them all.

After the toffee is cut, it gets loaded onto a conveyor belt. All of this is done by hand, each square lovingly placed.

Ready for the chocolate!

Once it leaves the other side, now covered in chocolate, an almond is placed in the center of each square, perfectly of course.

I could eat it right now!

But back they go, for another layer of chocolate.

The finished product, ready to be enjoyed.

My favorite fall treat is their carmel apples. The BEST thing ever. I order at least a half dozen every October, then buy more the day of the tour. The apples are always perfect and the carmel is perfection. I love these things!

They buy there chocolate elsewhere, melt it down, and use it for all of their treats. Two kinds of milk, two kinds of dark, and white. Samples for all.

We can not say enough positive things about this place. We spoil ourselves a couple times a year, driving up to Pittsburgh to pick out our favorites to enjoy. Check out their website--they deliver, too!

http://www.shermedwardscandies.com/

Travelzoo DC

2009-10-31T06:21:00.001-07:00

Travelzoo is my favorite travel discount website. They send out a Top 20 list every week with the best travel deals around the world. This is how I found my Turkey trip, as well as pretty much every other trip I have been on in the last couple years. This month a featured deal was a weekend stay near Potomac, MD at the Bolger Center, a most unusual building that formerly served as the Post Office Training Center. We stayed in a nice room, with an amazing breakfast, shuttle to the metro, and other perks for a mere $49/night. Since reading The Lost Symbol, I thought it would be fun to do a tour of the sights in the book. Unfortunately, the weekend we choose to go, it poured down the rain. This led to a soaking wet visit (that really let us try out our new coats we bought the day before at the Hagerstown outlets). We managed to visit the art museum, the capitol (no one allowed inside!!), the botanical garden, and the white house museum. We then spent two hours-I joke not-looking for the Old Post Office so we could eat at our favorite gyro cafe. Despite the rain, we had a really fun visit, and even made it to Baltimore to visit with Anica, touring the amazing Walters Art Museum (I recommend this to everyone--it totally kicks the Smithsonian's butt). My only regret is not crashing the Bar Mitzvah being held in the hotel...

Reel Big Fish

2009-10-21T15:08:00.000-07:00

A while back, and I mean a while back, I had a friend ask me if I wanted to go fishing. I said, "I would love to go,but you need to know one thing. I am bad luck when it come to fishing and most likely you won't catching anything." Matt, my friend, laughed a hearty chuckle in reply and said "That's because you have never been fishing with me before. " He told me to meet him at a place at a time and he'd show me how to catch a fish. I said "Great what are we fishing for?"
"Bass" came his reply. I have to admit at this point I start to get a little excited. "I have never caught a Bass before that will be exciting." Matt's jaw hit the floor "what was that? Did I hear you say that you have never caught a bass before?!?"
"Yep" I told you I was bad luck and most likely you won't catch one this time either. Matt shook his head in bewilderment. "You just leave that up to me. You meet me where I told you and I'll do the rest."
I gathered my gear at the appointed time and met him at the appointed location. "This is your secret location?" I asked
"Yup"
"Everyone knows about this place"
"But not every one knows there are fish here."
We proceeded to start our fishing adventure and after Matt had caught his tenth fish and I still hadn't caught one. Matt gave me a look and said. "Man, you weren't joking were you?"
"No" I said.
"Well no one makes a liar out of me! Come on I'll take you to my uber secret place." We proceeded to walk about a hundred yards up river. "This is it?" I ask. "Yea and don't tell anyone." I started to chuckle. OK genius, where do I cast my lure? Matt studied the river for a few seconds and pointed "Right there behind that rock."
I draw my rod back and cast....
The first bass I have ever caught. All I had on me was my cell phone and up until now I had no way of getting the pictures off of it. So all my stories of how big the fish was and how long it took me to reel it in can now be confirmed with the proof that you now see before you. If you look closely you can see a tear just under my sunglasses.
"Haaa haaa" came a shout from Matt. "See what'd I tell ya!" I was so choked up that all I could muster was a goofy grin.

Some time later on a different trip to the same location and after many months of tutelage.

I caught the biggest Bass I have ever caught in my life!!! The expression on my face I feel sums it up for you.

WVBG Kid's Day

2009-10-16T02:59:00.001-07:00

When the Smiths came to town for a family reunion, we happened to have some free time to visit the West Virginia Botanical Garden's Kids Day. Audrey was unfortunately asleep at home (while the guys were also napping on the couches), so Hannah and I had Caleb all to ourselves. We had an awesome time! Caleb got to paint a pumpkin, create some leaf art, make a bird feeder, and snack on some yummy treats. All for free. My favorite thing ever was the new fairy garden they set up on part of the forest trail. Here anyone who wanted to could create their own little fairy house using any natural item from the forest floor. They even provided a little table full of accessories. Hannah had the idea to make an arched roof and found a curved piece of wood to be the main structure. We then covered the roof with red oak leaves and lined the inside with red bark and pieces of moss. We added a stick driveway, some pine cone bushes, nut shell chairs, and a feather bed for the finishing touches. We loved walking around the garden and admiring all the other fairy houses. So fun! I am already looking forward to making some fairy houses for the little creatures that live on the beach when we head to the OBX this Christmas.

Fashion Show

2009-10-16T02:53:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when your sister comes back from a trip to the dollar store with fairy wings for her two year old. Mia was a rockstar. Boo not so enthused.

Rocky Gap

2009-10-16T02:30:00.000-07:00

The first weekend in October, we met Hannah and the kids at Rocky Gap State Park, MD for the kid's first camping weekend. We drove down in rain, found a spot to set up in rain, tried to make some dinner in rain, and tried to help Dj as much as possible as he single handedly put up two tents and a tarp all by himself in RAIN. We fell asleep to rain and woke up to SUN. It turned out to be a beautiful Saturday and we enjoyed every last minute of it.

We were a short walk away from the lake. The kids loved throwing whatever they could find into the water to watch splashes of all sizes. The adults enjoyed setting up camping chairs right on the lake's edge, enjoying the sunshine while sipping on vanilla coke. Really, we just enjoyed the outdoors and the beauty of autumn.

We were able to take the kids on a couple of geocaches so they could find some buried treasure. This geocache was called "Troll under the Bridge" and held some fun goodies.

Dj and I were both very impressed with Caleb's fishing skills. He learned how to cast and reel like a pro with just a little help from Uncle Dj. It was such a lovely little place, and only an hour away from us. I left feeling very relaxed and happy. Anyone up for some winter camping?

Molasses

2009-10-13T09:35:00.000-07:00

Every fall the Chapman family gathers together to harvest cane and turn it into molasses. Most people do not enjoy the taste of molasses, and I used to be one of those people. The molasses from stores is not purified and tastes BLAH. Homemade molasses is magical and makes the perfect gingersnap cookies. Since this will be our last year until who knows when, we decided to document the process. Unfortunately, we arrived when the cane was already cut down with the seed heads and leaves already removed.
This picture shows about half of the total grown cane. We then moved the stalks from the truck to the "juicer". This contraption has evolved over the years for maximum productivity. What started out as a mill driven around and around by mules has now become hooked up to a truck engine. The two wheels spin together and the cane stalks are pushed through. The spent stalks exit the other side and the juice falls to a container below. View from the back. You can see the complicated machine that was hand pieced together with spare parts and some ingenuity. This is the first filtering stage for the sugary juice.
Filter number two. It is hard to believe something so green can transform into dark, rich molasses. Goldie filters again with colanders and paper towels. She claims she enjoys this part because she can sit down and still work hard. The filtered juice finally makes it to the oven, another piece created through the years. A wood fire heats the pan. The pan's edge had been coated with clay collected the night before to prevent escaping smoke. When the juice is added and the fire is going, the next step is to wait until the perfect moment. Just the right amount of boiling has to occur to help some of the impurities rise to the top. This is the step that commercial molasses making ignores--all that foamy, gross stuff just gets stirred right back into the mix. But the Chapmans get rid of it! Here is Dj removing some of the impurities. He used a piece of wood with a door handle screwed on it. The wood just barely touches the liquid and impurities stick. And then everyone waits! And eats! And visits! Stir, scrape, stir, scrape. Eventually all the excess water boils off, and only about 1/4 of the original volume remains. This high quality molasses is then divided up. Clean up is eased by the help of the honey bees that suck up every remaining missed drop. We left before it was finished, so you will have to imagine the nice bottle of dark brown molasses that soon will be waiting in our fridge. Here is a shot of our almost empty jar from last year.

Forest Cathedral

2009-09-29T12:08:00.000-07:00

I saw this picture on some one's blog and fell in love with it! Just had to share.

Tribute to My Sweetie

2009-09-19T21:08:00.000-07:00

9/12

2009-09-18T15:42:00.001-07:00

We spent a nice weekend in Washington DC for the big 9/12 rally. We spoiled ourselves and stayed in the historic Henley Park Hotel, only a short walk from the mall and all the sights. Plus, it was right next to Chinatown, so we got to eat some tasty things. We arrived on Friday night and decided to explore the city. The place was buzzing with activity--already the protesters were gathering, with Hannity broadcasting live. We also were able to see a concert and some motorcyclists performing stunts--just the normal Friday night there. Saturday we woke up and headed to the start of the march. People everywhere with signs and political shirts! We somehow ended up with the first batch of marchers. Still, when we finally made it the couple blocks to the capital, it was already packed with people:

It was impossible to get a good shot of everyone, just because there were so many people. Some mysterious company rented the lawn that day, so no protesters were allowed on it. I heard rumors that they didn't want to compare the numbers to how many were at the inauguration. We managed to find a spot on the left lawn of the capital and could not see the end of the crowd.

One of the most exciting things was reading people's signs. They ranged from very creative to very simply stated yet deep. We decided to stick with politcal shirts. Mine said "We the People" and Dj's said "Goverment is not the solution. Goverment is the problem".

It has been disappointing to hear the media's coverage of this amazing event. Some say there was only 60,000 people. We say no way! 60,000 people is the size of a WVU home game. This shut down block and blocks of downtown DC for hours. Traffic coming in the city was backed up all day. People kept marching in all day long. We started at 9:30 and people were coming in as we were walking back to our hotel at 3:30. BBC news reported 1.5-2 million people. That I believe. The media also reported the crowd as being "angry" and some other unpleasant things. This crowd was happy, energetic, optimistic, normal! The number of scary freaks I can count on one hand. They were families, grandparents, young married couples, and everything in between. I saw zero angry people.

One of the goals we made when leaving DC was to email our senators and congressman. We encourage every one who loves the freedoms granted in the constitution to do the same! If you have nothing to complain about, email them and tell them to keep doing what they're doing.

www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

Redneck truck

2009-09-18T15:20:00.000-07:00

Dj got a new truck. A '94 Chevy Cheyenne. It has already been put to pretty good use. I guess we are preparing for the 'winter sandwich' that is predicted.

Korea Trip Pictures

2009-08-31T19:05:00.000-07:00

Whatcha Reading

2009-08-10T07:52:00.000-07:00

For all of you that read this blog.... so that might be like... two or three. My sister just started this website that reviews children's books. It just started so there are not many, but if you would like to help review some children's books for this website just let her know by visiting the site and then pass the word along to any of your other friends that have children and would like them to read some good books on recommendation. The link is on our blog.