B&MW

One thing I knew before meeting Celia, was that she knows how to keep a house. I had to take a few photos of some of her fantastic design ideas.

I was impressed with the inside of the house, but the garden is where I wanted to spend most of my time!

We will definitely be taking another trip out there to see more (and to take advantage of Celia's cozy home and hospitality)!

Several months ago I was inspired to do some more 'homemade' decorating this year. Growing up our tree was always decorated with mostly children-made ornaments, but I remember some little bird ornaments that in the early years of my parents' marriage my mom had sewn; that have survived every Christmas since. So I decided to replicate these little ornaments.

We spent a quiet Christmas here is VA with some of my family. It was good to have so many of us in town. We spent most of our time playing games, doing puzzles, and just catching up.

On Christmas day we flew out to Oregon where several of Brett's family members were meeting up for the Holidays. It was great for me to get to know some of the Webers a little bit better, and to have some fun playing with nieces and nephews. We stayed in Oregon through New Years and flew home on the fourth. Such a fun trip!

Before Brett and I were married he had done a good deal of traveling, mostly over Thanksgiving. It's a convenient time for him to travel because he has so little time off. He has traveled out of the country every Thanksgiving for the last 5 years or so...what started out as a tradition for him has become a tradition for us (you won't hear me complaining!).

Day 2: After a good night's rest we woke up early and started our excursions. First we headed out to The Rock of Cashel, a castle in the town of Cashel.

After wandering around Cashel we went to Cahir, saw another castle, and grabbed lunch. That afternoon/early evening we drove over to Blarney castle.

At Blarney there is a legend of sorts about the 'blarney stone'. As the legend goes those who kiss the 'blarney stone' are endowed with the gift of eloquence. Brett and I both took the opportunity to kiss the famous stone, which I must mention is not an easy feat. In order to kiss the stone you have to lie down and bend over backwards with all the blood rushing to your head. Very memorable.

This second day was definitely a day of castles for us. Three castles in one day...not bad!

Day 3: The third day started out cloudy, windy, and rainy. We went to Muckross house; a victorian mansion near Killarney. There we took a ride in a horse drawn carriage around the grounds. Killarney National Forest is right in back of the house so we got to spend some time walking around the forest up to a waterfall. It was absolutely beautiful.

The rest of the day we spent driving around the Ring of Kerry, a tourist trail circling the Iveragh Peninsula, known for it's beautiful views. It was beautiful...but the weather was still cloudy.

Day 4: We started out early again so that we could get as much in as possible. The fourth day we drove around another trail along Dingle Peninsula just across from Iveragh. This day though, we had perfect clear skies and fantastic views. Our first stop on our way to Dingle was at Inch Beach.

Seriously, the weather couldn't have been more perfect.

We got to do some hiking along some of the cliffs on the peninsula. This day was one of my very favorites of the entire trip.

Day 5: Cliffs of Moher! If you've seen The Princess Bride you'll remember the famous "Cliffs of Insanity" that Wesley climbs with his bare hands in pursuit of Buttercup. Well the "Cliffs of Insanity" are in Ireland, and are really called the Cliffs of Moher...although they are kind of insane. The day we went it was a little cloudy again...and RIDICULOUSLY windy, but nothing could detract from the view of these cliffs.

It was so windy, I seriously had a hard time walking around. I had to hold my hat onto my head otherwise it would have flown off. It was crazy. Later on in the day it began to rain. We went over to the Poulnabrone Dolmen (a portal tomb) in County Clare. We got drenched.

Day 6: Day 6 was another castle day for us. We drove out to Kinvara to walk around the Dunguaire Castle. Then we drove out to Trim and saw the Trim Castle. I think Trim may have been my favorite castle...too bad we couldn't go in; it was closed for the season. It was a very cool looking castle.
After Trim we drove out to Bru Na Boinne and took a tour through Newgrange. New grange was so neat! It's a Neolithic tomb that predates the pyramids. Check it out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Br%C3%BA_na_B%C3%B3inne

I loved all the artwork on the walls!

After finishing up at Newgrange we drove back to Dublin and spent our last night in Ireland at a little pub, eating good food and listening to a traditional Irish band. A great end to a great trip!

Most recently I tried making Saag Paneer. I had more confidence after trying the Tikka Masala, but still the process of making my own paneer (a simple indian cheese) was intimidating. I was shocked when I had finished. Not only was the paneer fairly simple to make, I actually had a lot of fun doing it! I decided to document the process:

We started out the trip at around 2pm by motoring out to where the fireworks would be set off. We got out the raft and took turns being dragged behind the boat...very fun. We ate dinner, read a book, played Who Wants to be a Millionaire on Keith's phone, and really just relaxed...cause that's what you do on a sailboat.

By 9:10pm the fireworks started, and I don't know if it was just me, but the show seemed to last much longer than in years past. I'm not complaining. It was great!

What made the whole trip even better is that I didn't get even a slight sunburn. I've gotta say; that's quite an accomplishment for me. Thank you spray-on sunblock! I'll never go back to lotion again.

Enjoying the view.

Tots is a creep.

Boats gathering for the show.

See what I mean about the reflection???

For our First year Anniversary (May 8th), Brett and I decided we wanted to celebrate by going out to the country and spending a relaxing weekend away. So we decided West Virginia was the way to go! We stayed at the Hillbrook Inn in Charlestown and really enjoyed it. With a King sized bed, large jetted tub, delicious breakfasts in the mornings, unbelievable views, and free sparkling cider; you really can't go wrong. It was absolutely in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by trees and streams...and deer and bunnies and geese. We went out to Harpers Ferry and wandered around for a bit then went to Shepherdstown. While in Shepherdstown one of the more exciting things we did was go to a flea market. Neither one of us had ever been to one before, so it was an exciting outing for us (we ended up bringing home a few fun finds). Recently we have also gone on a reading binge (we do that every so often) and read quite a bit in front of our little fire place. This time it was with Agatha Christie. Nothing like reading a good murder mystery in middle-of-nowhere West Virginia!

View of the Inn from our cottage.

This year (Brett and I's first Easter as a married couple) we decided to start our celebrations with some Easter egg dying with Andrew and Emma. Here are some of our lovely creations: