College House Reunion

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Catherine @ A Two Storey Home

First, I apologize for being MIA for the last week; it was pure laziness rather than busyness. I am back!

Last Sunday-Monday I got together with my college housemates. There were five of us that randomly lived in the same dorm suite our freshman year, and we quickly became best friends and rented a house together for the rest of our time at JMU–the Dollhouse.

Amazingly, all five of us still live in Virginia, so it’s not impossible to reunite a few times a year. This week we traveled to Norfolk and stayed with Leah. Before I left Andrew asked what we had planned for our time together, then said, “Wait, let me guess: eat breakfast and talk…go to a coffee shop and talk…eat lunch and talk… find another coffee shop and talk…” 😀 It’s true; we’ve noticed that when we get together, we just talk as we move from one eating establishment to the next.

We all arrived around noon Sunday–two of us from Richmond, two from D.C.–and immediately drove to a coffee/sandwich shop near Leah’s apartment. Then we walked around by the water for a bit.

…And Sarah decided to test-sit a stranger’s boat…after climbing over a locked gate to reach it… 😉

After a while we found a place to sit by the water and enjoy the day. And talk. And laugh. And talk.

Leah, with Kate’s help, reenacted a scene in which she fell while on a run and was groped (she suspects intentionally) by a homeless man who helped her back up. Hah! (Leah, don’t kill me for posting this photo… you are hilarious :-D)

From the water we headed to the grocery store, then back to the apartment to make dinner: quesadillas and bell peppers…

…+ homemade salsa and sangria

I’d also like to mention that our quesadillas were vegetarian because, while none of us are vegetarians, we all decided that the packages of raw chicken were just too gross to touch, and we’d rather go without. Andrew’s mind was blown by this, but it’s one of the millions of reasons that I love these girls. 🙂

It was a beautiful evening so we ate dinner on the back porch, then talked for hours about life and love and pranks we pulled in college (and a few we’ve pulled since…) Then ate ice cream & half-baked cookies. Then talked until we fell asleep. Glorious. 🙂

Monday morning, Leah made us waffles with a strawberry syrup, all from scratch, with strawberries she’d picked herself. It. Was. Delicious. After breakfast, Hannah and Sarah went for a walk while Kate, Leah, and I went running. If there are two things the five of us share, it’s a love for food and a love for fitness. 😀

After running/walking, we cleaned up and drove to the beach! We took lunch to go from a cute sandwich shop and ate on the beach.

It was awesome. Beautiful day… At the beach with my best friends…on a Monday. All I could think was, “It doesn’t get any better than this.” Complete in-the-moment contentment.

That is, until Leah turned around and said, “Uh, check out those clouds…”

To the East: perfect beach day. To the West: rain clouds of doom. We sat in the sun and denial for a little longer until I finally said, “You guys, this really is coming towards us. It’s probably already raining on the car.” We packed up, and after trying to wait it out in the car, gave up and headed back to Norfolk.

In our final hours together we parked ourselves back on Leah’s porch, ate pizza (yes, I ate more dairy this weekend than I have in two months,) and squeezed in a few more laughs.

I miss these girls like crazy when we are apart, but thanks to regular life-update email chains, we are always able to pick up where we left off when we do reunite.

(Our one, super-grainy, self-timer iphone photo group shot ;-))

Dollhouse ❤

Youth Stuff and Yard Work: A Full, Fabulous Weekend

Posted on May 6, 2013 by Catherine @ A Two Storey Home

Well, I survived the crazy weekend! Despite the stress I experienced leading up to this weekend, everything went incredibly well. Here’s what the last two days held:

Saturday morning I went with a group of our youth to volunteer with the Miracle League of Richmond–a baseball league for kids with disabilities. We “buddy-up” with the players each week during the league’s spring and fall seasons to help them enjoy the great American pastime. It is an absolute joy to know and be able to spend time with these guys and girls. Plus, it’s my kind of baseball: everyone gets up to bat, everyone swings until they hit the ball, and everyone makes it home. 😀

One of our youth, Eliza, and Carrie Rose have been buddies almost every game for about four years!

If you live in the Richmond area and are looking for awesome volunteer opportunities, check out the Miracle League!

When I returned home Saturday afternoon, it was time for yard work. Andrew was working on the roof installing… something related to ventilation along the very top (not my area of expertise. ;-))

After thanking Andrew for having such useful life skills, and also having a serious chat about not climbing on the roof when a. no one else is home and b. no one is holding the ladder (seriously, Andrew, what were you thinking?), I offered to mow the lawn. Now, I mowed the lawn frequently when I was in high school, but the lawn mower we have now stinks. It just stinks. The previous owners of the house left it behind, and it works, so we figured, why buy a new one? It is a full-body exercise to push it across the yard, and only once have I successfully started it by myself. (Andrew started it for me initially, and then when I took a break after, oh, four rows, Andrew was back on the roof, and our neighbor Gary took pity and started it again for me :-D)

In the garden we thinned the broccoli, Swiss chard, and beets. I know it has to be done–if two or three plants are too close together, none of them will thrive–but I have such a hard time pulling up little plants that are doing well!

Saturday night, this happened. I am scarred. Absolutely scarred.

Sunday morning was Youth Sunday at church, which meant the youth were responsible for most every aspect of all three worship services. This was a large part of my crazy-stressful week last week. Everything came together beautifully, and all our youth did a wonderful job! I am one proud youth director. 🙂

Meg was one of two high school girls to offer the sermon…Go, girl 🙂

After following the bulletin closely and nervously for three services thinking, “What did I forget? Where is there a hole in the service?” I headed home to rest for a few hours before our youth year-end banquet. I was nervous about the banquet, but all went well! Okay, I forgot to recognize and include one of our mission teams from last summer in the slide show…Sorry, LA Team! (Or as Forrest renamed it, the “Lost Angeles Team.” ;-)) Oops. Aside from that, all went well. 🙂

We ate, watched the slide show, thanked our parent volunteers, and honored our seniors and some other youth, including our awesome Servant of the Year, Lauren!

…and the public speaking wasn’t as horrible as I’d imagined 😉

When I returned home at the end of the night, I enjoyed reading through notes from youth and parents. Thanks to everyone for your kind words…they brought me a lot of joy! Perhaps the greatest…item…I received last night was this collage from hilarious 9th grader, Courtney:

Why, yes, she photo-shopped herself into a bunch of pictures and added captions like, “Our engagement photos turned out GREAT” and “I’m so glad we’re married now!” 😀 Andrew and I laughed SO hard. What a funny kid. We’ve considered adopting Courtney, but because she comes from such a loving, outstanding family, we don’t think the courts would approve the request. 😉

While I feel like I say this every Monday, this was a full, but great weekend! Thanks to everyone–youth, parents, Andrew–who stepped up to make everything run smoothly!

Today, I enjoy my first day off in three weeks. 😀

Workout Schedule + Laughing During Yoga

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Catherine @ A Two Storey Home

Today I feel much, much better than I did yesterday and exponentially better than the day before! I think a night of Benadryl-induced sleep was just what I needed.

After a full, long day at work yesterday (I arrived home at 6:00; don’t feel too bad for me ;-)) Andrew and I made a curry dish using a bottle of Thai Kitchen’s Green Curry 10-Minute Simmer Sauce. It is not an especially pretty dish, but it was quick, easy, and very tasty:

First we browned some ground chicken in coconut oil, then added the simmer sauce, sliced green peppers, baby corn, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, and bean sprouts. After it simmered for the full ten minutes, we tasted it and decided it needed ginger and some chili garlic sauce to give it more heat. We then served it over our leftover brown rice. Delicious, and easy (Are you noticing a trend? “Easy” has been our meal theme lately; I’m hoping to break out of that soon. :))

After dinner we made our way to yoga at our gym. Oh man, I had a bad case of the giggles throughout the whole class! “Bring your right foot beside your left hip, cross your left leg over your right leg, make sure your sitting bones are completely on the floor, and lean forward and touch your forehead to your thigh.” Whaat?? “Now take your toes in your hands, and straighten your legs.” Yeah… that’s not happening. But I will definitely laugh at Andrew (and myself) as we try. 😉

Now that I am feeling better, I am itching to do some more intense workouts–they have been missing from my routine the last few weeks. First, I was taking it easy in the week leading up to the 10k, then I was recovering from the 10k, then I had a busy week and minimized my workouts, and then I had another busy week… Four weeks later, I’ve stayed fit with a lot of walking and yoga, but haven’t had a really good, sweaty workout and am feeling a bit “bleh” physically.

So, I am setting a new workout plan for the coming weeks (well, I’m really just rewriting what has worked for me in the past as a means of recommitting to it. :)) As always, it will allow plenty of flexibility:

Monday: Running- 30-45 minutes

Tuesday: Weight Circuits- 30 minutes (Jillian Michaels DVD), Walking/Elliptical

Wednesday: AM–Running-speed work (intervals, tempo, etc.) PM–Yoga

Thursday: Weights- 30 minutes

Friday: Long Run- 60+ minutes

Saturday: Rest

Sunday: Anything/Just Move- 30 minutes

It definitely helps me to have a plan in place. I am looking forward to sweating again 🙂

I apologize for the very scattered post; it’s just that kind of week!

What does your weekly exercise routine look like? Do you ever get the giggles during yoga?

Climbing Walls, Canoes, and Capture the Flag (Retreat Recap)

Posted on April 29, 2013 by Catherine @ A Two Storey Home

It’s Monday morning, and I feel like I must have been hit by a train this weekend. Soreness everywhere. Our youth group retreat was a huge success. Here’s the play-by-play:

We arrived at Camp Willow Run Friday night just in time to catch the end of the sunset, settled in to our boxcars (the cabins are renovated boxcars… I realize that might sound weird, but it’s actually very cool, :)) and had our first session in our meeting room. We played a few icebreaker games, including Extreme Elves, Wizards, and Giants (it’s like Rock, Paper, Scissors, with different/bigger motions, teams, and chasing.)

(Sorry for the blurry iphone photo…)

We ate some snacks, introduced our lesson theme for the weekend–What You’re Worth–and talked about how we are often our own biggest critic.

Saturday morning we made our way to the dining hall at 8:00 for breakfast–biscuits, sausage, gravy, grits, eggs, cereal, fruit… Mmm. This was the first time I’ve been dairy-free at camp, and it was so tough to turn down those biscuits! After breakfast we met for our second group session. We played telephone charades, which is a hilarious game for those of you who haven’t played it! The clue is given to the first person in line, then acted out person-to-person (getting skewed a bit along the way.) The last person in line guesses.

At one point the boys acted out “going on a first date,” which the last person guessed was, “kissing.” (Parents, you should probably have a chat with your boys ;-)) The girls acted out “whitewater rafting,” which the last person guessed was, “dying on a boat.” Lots of laughs all around! In our lesson that morning we discussed the impact other people have on our sense of self-worth and how we can tune out those negative messages we receive.

Before lunch we played capture the flag–always a favorite with this group.

Headbands, eye black, game faces–we are serious about Capture the Flag.

We ran around in the woods for over an hour, sprinting after opponents, sprinting back to safety after jailbreaks. Only a few band-aids were needed at the end of the game, so I consider it a success 😉 I did manage to sustain a 4-inch cut on the back of my thigh when I was forcefully tagged just before crossing back to my side. Ahem. Battle scars.

For lunch we ate burgers, fries, and fruit cocktail. Power lunch for a busy afternoon! After lunch we went canoeing…

…played nine-square (like four-square, but bigger, and 3-D)…

Nine-square was a huge hit; we may need to invest in some PVC pipes!

…and climbed the wall and braved the Giant Swing…

Whew, it was a full afternoon! For dinner we had spaghetti and salads, then headed back outside to play some more nine-square (yes, every free moment we had was filled with nine-square. To quote one of the boys, “Nine-square is life.” 😉 )

Later that evening we met inside for our third group session. In my last post I mentioned that sometimes we play games whose sole purpose is to make me laugh. Saturday night we played, “Sock Wars.” It was one of those games that could either really be a hit or really flop…and turned out to be hilarious. The object of the game is simple: be the last person with a sock on your foot.

The result was total chaos. It was like the Hunger Games, with socks instead of murder. Some people hid. Some people attacked. Alliances were formed. They were ruthless. Unfortunately I was unable to upload the video, and the photos don’t quite capture the madness, but you get an idea. 🙂

For the sake of not making this post too much longer than it already is (thanks to anyone who is still reading!,) I’ll finish with a Cliff Notes version of the rest of the weekend:

Campfire. S’mores. Third lesson: God is our biggest fan, and we are worth more to Him than we can comprehend. Grog (outside, nighttime game in which one person is the “Grog” and tags people, and everyone else must find hidden pieces of a flashlight, assemble, and defeat the Grog by shining the light on them. In other words, more running around :)) Sleeping hard. Breakfast. Games. Fourth lesson: building up others so they know how much they are worth to God. Nine-square. Home.

It was a full weekend, to say the least. I loved being able to spend quality time with this group–laughing, playing, encouraging. Retreats always remind me what a cool job I have, and what an awesome opportunity I have to be part of the lives of these youth.

They also remind me that I am getting older, and my body can’t endure as much as it once could. Here’s to hobbling around like an old woman for a few days. 😉

“What is that smell?”

Posted on April 24, 2013 by Catherine @ A Two Storey Home

Catherine: “Ew, what is that smell? Is it the trash?”

Andrew looks guilty.

Catherine: “Did you fart?”

Andrew: “No…”

Andrew’s gaze drops to something on the kitchen counter–a just-opened package of kimchi.

[Kimchi–a traditional Korean side dish made from fermented cabbage; Andrew’s impulse buy at our most recent trip to the grocery store.]

Catherine: “It’s the kimchi?“

Andrew: “Do you want to try some?”

Catherine: “My first two guesses were the trash and a fart. No, I think I’ll pass.”

😉

Et Tu, Dairy?

Posted on April 6, 2013 by Catherine @ A Two Storey Home

At 4:15 Wednesday afternoon I was enjoying frozen yogurt with the youth group. At 5:15 I curled myself into a ball on the couch.

At 5:00 Thursday afternoon I made a snack that was a favorite among my college housemates–salsa+cream cheese+shredded cheese, melted and blended, eaten with tortilla chips. At 6:00 I curled myself into a ball on the couch.

At 6:01 that day Andrew insisted that I place this note on the refrigerator:

Andrew has been telling me for over a year that dairy is to blame for my somewhat regular stomach discomfort. I thought it was a “misery loves company” kind of thing, but the evidence is becoming too compelling to ignore. I halfheartedly gave up dairy a few months ago, but the thought of never eating ice cream again brought me back. The problem, I think, was that I didn’t set a time limit on it, and that made it seem overwhelming.

So, with all this in mind, starting today I am embarking on a 30-day dairy-free challenge.

If I don’t notice a difference in the way I feel after 30 days, I will welcome dairy back into my life with open arms. This is not going to be easy for me, especially as we enter ice cream season (…nah, ice cream is an all-season kind of food 😉 ) I do already eat some things dairy-free–when I last attempted to give it up I made the permanent switch to soy milk, and most dinners we cook are dairy-free (although I might put cheese on my tacos.)

I will leave you with a related joke from my favorite comedian, Brian Regan:

“I have to lay off the dairy though. That’s what my doctor threw in as I was leaving the office: ‘Oh, and uh, lay off dairy!’ I’m like, what the…? What kind of blanket sweep is that? He should have just said, ‘And no more happiness!'”

😀

A Rock Star Birthday

Posted on March 11, 2013 by Catherine @ A Two Storey Home

Six years ago I drove down to Raleigh, NC for my spring break; my sister was due with her first child that week, and I was hoping to be there when my niece made her debut into the world (uh, not in the room… just nearby ;-))

After spending a few days waiting, I finally had the joy to meet Kendall:

I didn’t know it was possible to love someone so quickly and so deeply, and my life was forever changed.

Last weekend, Andrew and I had the pleasure of attending Kendall’s 6th birthday party. To make a long story short, Kendall’s parties are elaborate. Like, make-other-moms-look-bad elaborate. This year the party was “Rock Star” themed. I’ll let the photos do most of the talking:

Friday night, the photo booth needed to be constructed and tested:

Saturday morning we had a bit of downtime to relax and break-in the bounce castle:

Andrew stepped up to the role of Cake Engineer and made an awesome guitar cake for our little rock star:

Impressive, right?

VIP passes and sunglasses for the guests, cream cheese and JAM! sandwiches, yogurt-dipped pretzel drum sticks, pop star popcorn, guitar pick carrot chips…

Kendall was born for the spotlight; this was the best smile we could get from Lauren 😀

Cake and presents, of course:

Isn’t Lauren a good helper? 😉

There was also Just Dance happening on the Wii and guitar decorating for the photo booth. Speaking of the photo booth…

After all the kids left (and I should mention there were 30 kids!), the ~~big kids~~ adults had some fun:

Charles, Kendall, Whitney, Ross, Ms. Patsy, Lauren, Andrew, and me… My dad, grandmother, aunt, and uncle were not able to make the drive from Atlanta, and we missed them dearly!

The masterminds behind the Jam: my sister, Whitney, and her best friend Jeanine:

We had a wonderful time celebrating Kendall. I sure am glad that kid was born!

When Andrew’s Away…

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Catherine @ A Two Storey Home

Andrew has been in Denver for work since last week. I am meeting him there Wednesday, but in the meantime, this is the longest I’ve been home without him! Here’s a step by step guide to life when he’s gone:

1. Download instragram and use it only to email myself photos for the blog.

2. Turn the thermostat to a more reasonable temperature.

3. Eat waffles with peanut butter and banana…for dinner.

4. Take a walk at a local park and find Mickey Mouse’s secret hideout.

5. Watch shows on Netflix that he has no desire to see (an entire season, if possible.)

6. Lock the bedroom door at night; this simple push lock will keep out any bad guys that may already be in the house. (Not pictured: the hammer/weapon beside the bed)

7. Take and send plenty of photos to remind him not to find any Denver honeys 😉

That about covers it for now. I’m looking forward to seeing him (and Jenny!) in Denver in a few days!

Family, Flowers, and Yoga (Valentine’s Days)

Posted on February 18, 2013 by Catherine @ A Two Storey Home

We spread our Valentine’s Day over a few days this year, and every component was awesome. Here’s what the last few days entailed:

Andrew and I have no problem celebrating events not on the actual day, so our plan was to celebrate V-Day on Wednesday the 13th. The primary reason? We just joined a gym, and they offered a yoga class on Wednesday night, and I really wanted to try it! Andrew agreed to go with me, for Valentine’s Day. If that’s not love as I described in my last post, I don’t know what is 😉

First, we grabbed a quick dinner at Whole Foods.

Then we made our way to yoga– Andrew’s first time, and my first time in years (and maybe fourth time ever.) Despite being the worst in the class, we both enjoyed the experience and will probably do it again. At the beginning of class the instructor urged us to focus on how we felt as opposed to how we looked because everyone looks different during yoga. Throughout class I was glad she clarified that because with my eyes closed, this is how I felt:

When I opened my eyes and looked in the wall-to-wall mirrors, this is what I actually looked like:

Minus the nakedness and excess body hair, of course.

On the 14th, we received Valentines from each of our Mamas (thanks, Mama and Donna!) That night Andrew had a basketball game (he plays in a church league,) but first, he brought home flowers.

Now, when I say to Andrew, “Don’t get me anything for Valentine’s Day,” I mean it. I really do. If he gave me absolutely nothing, he would not be in the proverbial doghouse. However, I do love flowers, and every year I am thankful when he gives me a bouquet anyway 🙂

Andrew played very well in his basketball game (they won,) and I had some quality time with the other wives and kids in the bleachers.

Sinking a free throw.

Later that night, my sister, brother-in-law, and nieces spent the night with us on their way through town. It was late when they arrived, and Kendall and Lauren were in that funny, tired-but-silly-and-about-to-crash-hard stage. Exhibits A-D:

Their hair in all its car seat nap glory 😀

The next morning, we awoke to the sound of children who do not yet know the beauty of sleeping late when possible, and we quickly discovered how child-unfriendly our house is (“Where’s your swing set?”)

Unfortunately, they couldn’t stay long, and they packed up soon after breakfast… But not before squeezing in some quality time with Uncle Ross:

(Please note Lauren’s wet, tangled hair in this photo. When Whitney began brushing it, Lauren frowned, covered her eyes with her hands, and said, “Tell me when it’s over.” :-D)

Family, flowers, and yoga… I could not have asked for a better Valentine’s Day(s!)

Shenanigans in the Shnow

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Catherine @ A Two Storey Home

Last night something wonderful happened that reduced us to 12-year-old versions of ourselves: snow. What is it about snow that makes us so happy? I am no less excited at the prospect of the fluffy white stuff at age 26 than I was in elementary school, waking up in the middle of the night when snow was in the forecast, and peeking through the blinds to see if maybe, just maybe, school would be canceled.

This particular snow was even more thrilling because it brought with it thunder snow. Thunder snow has been on Andrew’s bucket list of “cool types of weather to experience,” (really, how long is that list? I think it ends with thunder snow, as I feel confident he doesn’t want to witness a tornado…) and when we heard it last night, he was GIDDY. Jumping up and down. Spinning me in circles. Fist pumping. “YES!! THUNDER SNOW!! YESS!!” I couldn’t help feeling so happy for the guy.

This just about captures it.

Giving a nod to our 12-year-old selves, we played outside… way past our bedtime. We had a snow fight. We threw snowballs on the roof and tried to make them roll back down. We even made a snowman. In our awesome neighbors’ driveway…

Hi! Sorry you live next to two kids with no parental supervision… 😉

When we woke up this morning, the melting process had already begun, but everything still looked beautiful.

Our humble abode. In desperate need of a wreath and a pair of hedge clippers.

(Please note the roof over the garage- you can see the impact of last night’s snowball game :))

Until next time, snow!

A Two Storey Home

Where Marriage and Healthy Living Meet

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