Birthday Fun!

Last week I turned 26! Yikes... but it was a week full of fun and excitement thanks to my fantastic boyfriend, great friends, and amazing family. I felt like I had an entire week of celebration just for my birthday...now that is humbling. I am blessed beyond words to have such a incredible group of people in my life. I wish I had some pictures to post but for some reason I was too busy to bother with pictures...BUT

Thank you Justin for my new country gear!! I love transitioning to a real life country girl. You make me feel special and loved everyday we are together, I adore you for that. I love you!

Thank you to Chris, Amanda, and Christine for the great Birthday celebration at your house. The meal was so yummy and it was so nice to spend time with you as always. I LOVE my new crafting gear. Lets get crafty soon! I think some Save the Dates need to be assembled...

Thank you Chad and Alana. Thanks for taking the time to share a spicy meal with us, I had a great time. I  LOVE my new antique bowl, I can see myself becoming obsessed with finding more and more. Alana how bout a few more trips???

Thanks to my girlfriends! I had such a nice night with you for our monthly sleepover. Lets NEVER end those ok??

Thanks to my awesome family!! Especially to Dad and Mom for the delicious Plum Garden treat. I had such a blast and learned something entirely new about myself that day. I thought all food that went in my mouth would end up in my tummy however, those rice balls proved me completely wrong. Then Tye singing Happy Birthday was the icing on the cake (that had no icing). (P.s. I love my gifts so much) Thanks to everyone for setting time aside to celebrate me. I love you all.

An one last thanks...to all you who sent Birthday love my way in the form of cards, messages, phone calls, or emails.

pheewww...see how lucky I am? Next Birthday...Chad--How does a week long celebration sound? Pretty good huh?

Chad and Alana go to town

Chad and Alana have a gorgeous old Victorian farm house that they have spent years and years renovating, while maintaing its historical value. They both have impeccable taste and pay close attention to detail, it makes you just melt when you see the work they accomplish. They took on a very brave and exiting feat when they decided to gut and remodle the ENTIRE downstairs of their 4000+ sq ft home (I am guessing at the size...but its big).

Chad called in the troops (his sons) on Sunday morning to bust and gut. Here is some of the progress...

Chad and Chap in the family room...







The guys had to wear suits and respirators due to the lead dust that was going to be disturbed.

















Christopher and Brandon in the dining room getting all suited up.

Friends of all shapes and sizes

We had a Taco and dog play date last week with our sweet, adorable, cute, and smart friend Jamie. Jamie and Paul just bought a little ranch house in Gates this summer around the same time we bought the Redman Rd house. They have done a ton to fix it up and make it home. Her boyfriend, Paul, was out of town so she and Snowy made the treck to Hamlin for dinner, company, and some fun!

We let the dogs run around and let off some pit energy. Snowy is quite a bit bigger than Stu but neither dogs seemed to notice or care. They played like they were energizer bunnies, nothing could stop those two.

Stu and Snowy worked on learning some new tricks. We would say "Snowy speak" and Stu would diligently bark.

Isn't Jamie so cute? We are so lucky to have her as a dear friend!

Snowy was a bit tired out after the outside play time

Nightmare with food

I am currently in the midst of teaching my high school students "human sexuality", which is always entertaining. You simply cannot start the human sexuality unit without the proper introduction of the human anatomy and physiology, so that is where the story begins. Prior to starting the unit I taught the simple procedure of writing questions down on a sheet of scrap paper to be turned in at the end of class. This saved me from seniors without filters, awards me the chance to think through answers so that I respond appropriately, and helps to secure the future of my position at the district. I have had a variety of questions that made me chuckle:

"Why do men have more sexual desires than women?"--no comment
"Why do we have to learn this, are we going to have to watch a girl give birth?"--I am not even going there, and no
"What happens if women get prostate cancer?"--haha

I will start the following class answering EVERY question that the students had guaranteeing me at least 10 minutes of pure silence and gaping mouths. My favorite part of the day.

Last class we were labeling and identifying the male and female reproductive organs, I was labeling diagrams using the SMART board and the students were taking notes. For each part I would provide a quick explanation, and background information. Apparently, I also make references to the shapes and sizes of the organs as well...and here are some of the questions returned to me the following day..

"Why do you compare everything to food?"
"Is the prostate really like a walnut?"
"Ms. Fraser, you compare everything to food"

What had I done!! Instant panic flutters set in after realizing that I had quite possibly ruined food for the Spencerport teens forever. yikes!

I Compared the prostate to the shape of a walnut,
Compared the uterus to the shape of a pear,
The baby growing to various foods at various stages of development including a piece of rice crispy cereal.
and the big birtha:
The inside of the uterus to brace yourself..........spaghetti sauce. I won't even begin to explain the analogy that I used but it had to do with acid and the addition of sugar to create a less acidic environment. The perfect way to ruin a perfect food for anyone...ooyyy vey!!

So my simple answer to them was of course an apology and encouragement to KEEP EATING. I had to take a big step and admit  that I have a serious love for food, which consumes my thoughts almost all day every day.

I love to eat food

I love to cook food

and I love to give others food

This love is also reaffirmed by the fact that I spent an entire hour this morning looking at food blogs and recipes, I cant wait to try these goodies..

Red Chile Chicken and Rice with Beans

Smokey Bean Soup with Ham and Bacon

Lemon Spaghetti 

Anyone want to come over for dinner?? I promise, no human sexuality analogies... :)

A Crabby Date Night

We went to Wegmans for yogurt, milk, fruit, and carrots but came home with giant CRAB LEGS!!! An after New Years special at $15.99 a pound, trimmed down to $10.99 a pound because we winked at the adorable girl behind the fish counter, we had an exciting date night ahead of us!

WE LOVED THEM!

50 Degrees and Perfect

 New Years Day was a perfect day for a walk so Justin, Stu, and I took off through the fields and did some hiking. Above is a picture of the hawk that lives near the pond across the road. It is really neat to watch him soar and dive.

 My new FAVORITE hat.

It was super muddy and wet but Stu loved every second of our trip. He decided to express his excitement by tearing up some mean old squash.

All the places a kitty would go...

Bean joined the Redman Rd crew this past summer, when Justin couldn't possibly go home without her. Justin was over working behind his father's house on "Old White" (the faithful truck he uses to deliver firewood) when he came across a litter of kittens. He must have taken note of the "cute kittys" but made no big move until I arrived to pick him up. I was in a big hurry because I had an evening full of cooking ahead of myself to prepare for our Labor Day weekend away, and it was our first Wegmans date night in eons. Justin pointed to the kittens and saw me smile and nod their way, but share no other ooos or ahhhhs. Before I even turned around there was Justin standing with a kitty wrapped in his arms and a "can we take it home with us pleaaassseee face"..... and now we have BEAN. I am probably going to try that next time we are in a jewelry store.


Bean has a very unique name that came after a week and vet trip without a name (imagine when we have kids). We have Stu, Tator, and now bean who was named while reading an LL Bean catolog and just for lack of anything else to call her. I might file for a legal name change to George, or Georgia after the curious monkey. She possesses all of his traits. 

I have never been a "cat person", I always thought they were like sweet pickles or butterfinger bars, why would anyone in the world consider that exciting?

 Now I find her entertaining on a daily basis and find myself running for my camera at almost everything she does...

 In the laundry basket with Tator...the "older" cat, doesn't he look happy?

 She found a cozy nook in the TV stand...

 Cuddled up with the big sweet pit bull...

 In a Barnes and Noble bag...

 Under the dresser...

On the couch...

 In a box...

Waiting for her dinner to be served...