Snow Day

Thursday morning brought snowflakes and a surprise snow day for my little sister, Bekah.

She spent her morning in the comfort of my bed “reliving her middle school years,” (her words exactly) watching the first season of The Hills on Netflix.

Now me, on the other hand, I spent my morning learning how to shoot in black and white on my Nikon D40.

Bekah proved to not be the most willing participant in an impromptu photo shoot—she was too busy “reliving” the Jason and Lauren New Year’s Eve Incident.

 

However the cats didn’t mind having the photographer clicking away at them!

          

Nor did the photographer!

I cannot believe that it has taken me this long to figure out that my Nikon can shoot in black and white—what a shocker! And I loved every minute of my first test run. Now I just need some people to try it out on ;)

They day ended up being a quiet and calm one, full of pajamas and hot chocolate and The Hills—perfect in every way!

Did anyone else have snow days this week??

The Key to . . . Valentine’s Bows

Earlier I blogged about my guiltiest pleasures! I believe, however, that I left out my guiltiest pleasure of all—making hair bows! Today’s specialty? Valentine’s Day clips!

  

While stuck inside on the first day of the blizzard, Marko fell victim to my love for bow-making. Today, he’s sporting his new favorite bow-tie! He hasn’t taken it off yet, but he does move it from the front to the back quite frequently!

                     

The Key to . . . Crazy Kitties

I’ve recently realized that I’ve failed to update you on the status of our newest addition, Marko.

You see I may have failed to mention him due to the fact that I try and block out all his favorite past times: knocking over lamps, climbing on bookshelves and knocking books off, and unrolling yarn around all the rooms on our first floor multiple times. He is quite the opposite of my darling, Meredith. While at first he is a lot more affectionate, Marcus (as my silly father calls him) is quite the little scoundrel.

But for all the many, pesky things he may do, he does have a few cute moments.

Hallelujah, Part II

i heard there was a secret chord
that david played and it pleased the lord
but you don't really care for music, do you
well it goes like this the fourth, the fifth
the minor fall and the major lift
the baffled king composing hallelujah

                            Hallelujah, Jeff Buckley

I’m done!!!

All my college applications have been submitted as of 6:20. And of course they were the longest two (University of Mary Washington and UVA). We’ll see what happens…a month to go!

 

Check out Rachael Ray’s Best Pet Photo Contest. I submitted three pictures…vote for me…I could win a new camera!

And put a wreath up on your door…

You'd see that today holds something special
Something holy, not superficial
So here's to the birthday boy who saved our lives
It's something we all try to ignore
And put a wreath up on your door
So here's something you should know that is for sure
Christmas must be something more

                                   Christmas Must be Something More, T. Swiftster

I’m a decorator by nature. I love to re-arrange my room, trying to find the perfect spot for everything. I am always on the search for cool things to grace my walls (besides all the black and white pictures). And I always get in trouble for moving things in other rooms of the house.

And when it comes to Christmas, it’s no exception. I’m ready and willing to do everything and anything to get the perfectly decorated house.  The weekend after Thanksgiving I was ready, pulling the tree I put up in my room out and filling it with snowflake ornaments. But Houston, we had a problem. The problem’s name—Marko. Within five minutes of the illumination he was bating at the flakes and climbing in the tree. While the ornaments in my room fall onto carpet, in the living room the ornaments would have shattered against the hardwood floors.

So…this year we decided to skip decorating the tree with our Hallmark ornaments that we’ve collected over the years (the Grands’ have always gotten each of us one since I was born) and go with a different theme: silver and a blu-ish teal.

On Friday, mom and I hit Wal-mart for a few, inexpensive cute things. So yesterday, during the snow, I got cracking.

Our mantel turned out beautifully…my father thinks we need a silver candle right in the middle…he cracks me up! And our tree, though it also looks pretty, seems sad without all the old, familiar ornaments. But have no fear Mr. Tree, they will be back next year when Marko’s grown out of his kitten phase.

      

Speaking of the cats, here they are enjoying the tree…

Give Me the Simple Life

A cottage small is all I'm after / Not one that's spacious and wide / A house that rings with joy and laughter / And the ones you love inside

                            Give Me the Simple Life, Steve Tyrell (I couldn’t find this beautiful song on Youtube!)

(Warning: There are many adorable pictures of many adorable pets!)

Today…

We got a few things accomplished:

Mom hung up new curtains in the hallway upstairs.

And I did Calculus and AP Bio homework.

And Pepper enjoyed the gorgeous fall day.

 

But for the most part,

Today…

our house was a lazy one.

  

Aren’t all Sundays

supposed to be like this?

Soft Kitty, Warm Kitty

Soft kitty, warm kitty
Little ball of fur
Happy kitty, sleepy kitty
Purr, Purr, Purr

                                (Sheldon sang this on The Big Bang Theory)

When I was three I was terrified of dogs. When I was five I desperately wanted a cat. When I was seven we got a dog instead. When I was fifteen a cat nearly died in our backyard and now she’s mine.

We got our first pet way back when I was seven. Pepper is a black and white mutt, but he doesn’t even know it.  He gets bologna three times a day…probably more if we were honest. He sleeps between my parents and in the winter beneath the covers…sometimes he even puts his head on a pillow.

Meredith Grey, my baby. She came to us half-dead furball, only four weeks old. Two years later she’s still a furball and oh, does she have a personality. She’s definitely not a people person. Like Pepper she is spoiled beyond belief! I would say she’s the one that runs this house.

 And our newest addition, Marko. Completely on a whim, kinda like Pepper, we went to someone’s house after church and left one new kitten richer. We tried to keep with the Grey’s Anatomy theme by naming him Mark, but he’s now Marko. He’s just a wee thing-only 7 weeks old. But he’s definitely liking his new surroundings.