Guest Post!

Check out our guest post over at Over the Threshold where we talk about our move to Richmond.

Read below for a sneak peak!!

I love living in Richmond, Virginia. Yes, technically, Virginia is not a northern state, but to me, it is the northernmost place I’ve ever lived.  The weather, while it is mostly the same as my home state of North Carolina, seems to be colder.  I even have the option of “Emergency heating” on my thermostat.

My husband and I have lived in Richmond for one year. That’s just enough time to have decided we like it here. And that we’re staying for awhile. Previously, we were a military family; my husband having lived in New Orleans, New York and Rhode Island.  So how did we end up where we are now? 

For the rest of the post click here!

Christmas with the Newells

This past weekend Trey and I went down to Raleigh to visit with the Newells and the Battersbys.

It was quite cold on Saturday. Very cold. Trey essentially had to drag me to go running with him. I had not brought appropriate cold weather running gear. It was very, very cold. Later that day, I met up with Sarah and went to go see The Nutcracker. The men had begun a boycott of The Nutcracker several years ago, probably while we were still in college, though truthfully, I'm not entirely sure. Trey refuses to go, and Brian just wants to listen to the music and not watch. Both are unacceptable.



After The Nutcracker we had plans to meet up with the hubbys at a local restaurant called Market . This is the second time we've attempted to eat here. The first time we went on a Sunday and of course, they are closed on a Sunday. This time, was a Saturday, and we knew from the previous time that they were open on Saturday. So, we drove there and yes, they are open! Just not to the public. Someone was having a wedding reception or some other nonsense there. So, our plan was thwarted again.

We went to Tir Na Nog. It was okay. Trey flung his wedding band at a group of girls who drunkenly thought that was his way of asking them to marry him. The pub was also having some sort of Santa Pub Crawl. I'm pretty sure we were the only ones not in costume.

We went out for pie at PieBirds to console ourselves. They had a chocolate cream pie that was delicious. Trey had some sort of Bananas in Pajamas pie, so we all sung the theme song to that horrendously-awful show. Which led to Lambchop's "This is the song that doesn't end."

On Sunday we did presents with the Newells. Hope gave me a book on death and obituaries that has been fabulous so far. We got a set of monogrammed towels (LFN) and a bird feeder that is hanging outside in the trees as we speak. I also got a vegetarian cookbook (The Accidental Vegetarian) and we've already made one dish from it that was yummy (see Recipes we LOVE for the recipe).

Oh, almost forgot. My FAVORITE thing about this weekend was that we got to see Tyndall (our niece). She has grown up so much and is so freakin' adorable. She held my hand the whole way to dinner on Friday night; it was the sweetest thing! She would take Trey's hand and pull him towards the piano where they would play duets together. And she has such a happy disposition! It was really a great weekend.

I can't believe Christmas is only four days away. This year has really flown by, especially these last several weeks. And tomorrow is the first day of winter. Uck.

Maybe it will snow this year!!

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Blog Revisions

So I've added some new pages onto the blog. Some are a way to keep track of things we do (for my sake) and then I've also added some things that interest us, such as books, travelling, and food. I'll try to update them as often as I can, and I'm sure Trey will add in his opinions, as well. For now, you can just click around see what we (hopefully) will write about in the future!

2013 Reading Challenges

This past year I've really gotten into blogging (not just writing, but reading as well). I subscribe to several blogs that cover a wide range of topics including cooking, book reviews, and anthropology. I didn't do any this year, but next year I've decided to take part in some reading challenges to help make my TBR ( to be read) list a lot smaller. Here are some of the ones I want to participate in and I've included the links in case any of you out there are interested!

1. Unputdownables' 2013 Read-a-long schedule

Reading schedule for 2013:

January: Persuasion by Jane Austen

February, March, April: Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

May: The Hounds of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle

June, July, August: Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell

September: Agnes Grey by Anne Brontë

October: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

November, December: Zelda by Nancy Mitford

2. The 2013 TBR Reading Challenge

Cut down your TBR list!!

3. 2013 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

4. The 4 month Challenge-Part 11

I almost completed Part 9, but am seriously behind on Part 10. But these are really fun! I get to read books off my TBR and get to try new books for the categories I don't have anything in. 

It's gonna be a great year for reading!!

A few honeymoon pics

So, here are just a few pictures from our honeymoon. We ate at a lot of DELICIOUS restaurants and saw and did a lot of really interesting things. It was hot there. I was not prepared having come from Richmond's quite chilly fall weather. When (not if) we go back I definitely do NOT want to go back during the summer. I would probably melt. 

Down by River Street by the Waving Girl statue. 

Crawdads that we ate on at The Crab Shack (thanks, Amy!!)

Alligators. They are real even though they look like statues. 

I made Trey sit on the alligator replica. He only did it to amuse me as he clearly does not look thrilled to be sitting on it. 

Musket firing demonstration at Fort Pulaski. 

We ate here. My grandmother/mother's cooking tastes MUCH better (though I still thought it was good). 

At Colonial Park Cemetery. Trey is actually smiling a real smile in this picture. 

(Note: as a former PC user I am still learning how to use my Mac. So, I have not figured out how to rotate pictures, yet. If you are a Mac and know how to do this, please tell me)

Beautiful picture of Colonial Park Cemetery. 

Union soldiers camped out in the cemetery. They decided to desecrate the graves and destroyed and moved a lot of the headstones. To prevent further angering of the spirits, later cemetery preservers put the moved headstones on the back wall instead of putting them with the wrong graves. 

One of the historic district's squares. 

I thought all the houses in the historic district were absolutely beautiful. I love this green color. 

This places was MUCH better than Lady and Sons. 

Bonaventure Cemetery

Walking around Bonavenutre

Heehee

No open container laws in Savannah!!!

Gracie Watkins. One of the more famous graves of Bonaventure. 

Bonaventure Cemetery-so beautiful!

Haunted Forsyth Mansion near Forsyth Park. 

We had a great time! I would really like to go back here. 

Thanksgithing

**Yes, I know this is not how you spell 'Thanksgiving.' This is how my little brother used to say it and I thought it was cutest thing in world. So, this is how the Frame family says 'Thanksgiving' now. **

This year is our first Thanksgiving as a married family. Unfortunately, we're not spending it together :( Trey had to work yesterday and has to work Black Friday and I have to work this weekend so we are spending the holiday with our respective families. I haven't been to Charlotte in over three months so it's nice to be back. Well, it's nice to be back at the house, Charlotte itself is a horrible mess of traffic, horrible drivers, and noise.

There are so many things that I'm thankful this year. I'm thankful that I have parents who will love me and support me in every aspect of my life. I have a brother who loves me unconditionally and who tells me so every day even if I have just fussed at him for something.

I am thankful for my husband who loves me despite my faults and can make me smile when I have had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

I am thankful that I have a job and can help provide for my husband and myself, especially when there are so many people who have no means of income.

I am thankful that I don't have to wonder where I am going to sleep or what I am going to eat. I am thankful that my parents are still with me and are able to take care of themselves.

I am so grateful to everyone who has loved me, supported me, befriended me, and stood by me throughout my life. I would not have been able to achieve the things I have and I would not have a wonderful life without any of you. Thank you!!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

PS-I got this at A Southern Season last weekend. I am wearing it to cook today and I am SOOOO excited!!

The Honeymooners

For our honeymoon, we settled on Savannah, Georgia. I vaguely remember going there as a kid and seeing all of the live oaks, Spanish moss, and large grassy plains. And so I figured what could be a more romantic spot than a place that resembles a wild African jungle?

We both had a blast and learned a lot about Savannah's history starting off from the first settlers landing there up to modern day. I think my favorite bit of history was the War of Jenkin's Ear which was fought between the Spanish Floridians and the then British Savannahians. Apparently what had happened is that a British sea captain named Jenkin was doing his thing out on the open sea and was headed home to Savannah, but then the killjoy Spaniards boarded his ship and told him to hand over his booty. Jenkin probably said something like, "Can you say that again in my good ear?" which the Spaniards saw as an opportunity for dark humor and lopped his ear off before absconding with the loot.

This went over with the British like passing gas in church. They gathered up as many men and guns as they could and proceeded to route the Spanish while yelling, "REMEMBER JENKIN'S EAR!"

And on that note our historical tour segued into a tour of the places and events featured in "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil," which seeing the actual places and the background of the more colorful characters just made you stop and think, "By God...These people were real and they were *(&!#@ crazy."

While in Savannah we toured the Mercer house, saw several Federal style buildings, and had the most fried food in our whole lives. I thought Paula Deen's restaurant was just ok. It was expensive food that's just a few steps up from the standard fare you could find at a K&W Cafeteria. However, her brother Bubba's restaurant was waaay better. We got oysters and po' boys there, and then trekked over to Tybee Island the following day to go to the crab shack where we had crawfish and crabcake sammiches. 

And so with our heads full of the newly discovered information and our stomachs full of fried low-country cooking we bid adieu to Savannah and drove back to Richmond.