A Face Lift

WELCOME to the newly re-designed word fancies blog. I hope you like the new look.

I obsessively rearrange the furniture probably three times a year, at least. I like the refreshed spirit that comes with a new look or a new arrangement, and that feeling:YES, this is much better than it was and it will stay like this forever for at least a few more months.

(Best part of moving the blog over? Having the ability to strikethru. Worst part of moving the blog over? Google getting mad after about 50 posts and making me enter the stupid spam tests--I had a great success rate actually and out of 100 I had to do, only missed about 5.)

Not only did we get a new look (all courtesy of the free templates and header from shabby blogs, as you can see over in the left corner--no way I could figure out how to do this myself), but I have moved the blog from weebly over to blogger. I was having a hard time getting weebly to look, act, and work the way I wanted to. I'm sure that people more familiar with code could probably get weebly to work, but I just had too many issues. That being said, the newly designed blog is still a work in progress--but I was too excited to show it off. (I'd like to say that I've been so busy on the new blog that I haven't been posting, but really, I obsessively worked on it yesterday and today.)

Most of the posts from the old site are here, but the links have changed, I'm sure, and I still need to make sure all of the formatting is right. So please be patient as we get our act together, but definitely stop by this week as I'll be revealing a super fun project Nathan and I have been working on for a while.

A Dirt Party

This weekend, Nathan hosted a dirt party. Because I'm not especially capable of helping with things like moving, digging, or anything else that might require some arm strength and height I do not have, we bribed some truy awesome friends with beer and food.

Speaking of food, this was the first time I used our kitchen since it's been up and running (which yes, did happen the day before/day of the dirt party.) Because we essentially doubled (tripled?) our counter space, both my mother-in-law and I could chop vegetables/fruit AT THE SAME TIME. There was enough space to serve everything on the counters, too. Amazing.

On the Menu, in case you ever have a dirt party:

Chips/Salsa/Pretzels
Sloppy Joes (make sure you plug the crockpot in)
This pasta salad (for those of you were were asking for the recipe)
Fruit Salad
Grandma's chocolate cake (basically Texas Sheet cake)
Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting, from Elisabeth Hasselbeck's Deliciously G-Free Cookbook
Rice Krispie Treats

Shelby had a friend come over, too, and just saying: Best. Dog Exercising. Ever.

MWF Seeking Normal

My blog posts have been MIA lately, but for good reason. We have been living in crazytonfieldville lately, all for good reason. (My dad got the "Mr. Deeds" reference when I told him about it earlier, anyone else?) Our kitchen is finally almost done. As in, there are gorgeous bottom cabinets and new counters. As in, we only have one more cabinet and a door to put in before it is finished. And even if that never happens, I still think it is perfect. However, this also means we've been without water for abou

We've also been out on vacation, exploring D.C. We had an amazing time (and came home with incredibly sore muscles, or at least I did), and I will defintiely update you on our trip next week, as soon as we have pictures on the computer (Or maybe I'll just skip the pictures all together.) And I was in Denver last week, and still have a suitcase of things to unpack and find room for.

Sorry for the super brief post, but next week, after I find my normalcy (hopefully), you won't be able to get rid of me.

Movie Review: The Hunger Games

This weekend, Nathan and I (and the rest of the country, apparently) went to see "The Hunger Games." Now, normally we avoid going to movies on opening weekend if we can, but we'll be so busy the next few weeks and I didn't want to wait. Luckily, it was OK, aside from the semi-loud woman who was, of course, sitting right behind us.

Now, if you haven't seen the movie or read the books, STOP reading. Consider this a spoiler alert, because I'm going to talk about what I liked and didn't like about the movie. It will also contain some book spoilers. So stop. Now.

What I Liked:
*I actually liked all of the casting decisions. I didn't think I would like Katniss, but as the movie went on, she seemed like the right choice.
*I liked the music and sound effects they had throughout the movie (except for the ringing after the explosion, because I have actual ringing in my ears!). I thought it added a lot to the plot.
*Overall, I liked the adaptation--it's an already disturbing plot, and seeing it made it even more so. Nathan and I agreed that the scene at the cornucopia was very hard to watch.
*The costumes. Gorgeous.

What I Didn't LIke:
This section is more of a "what I wished they included" that I think made the movie less effective than the book.
*The girl from district 12 who works in the capitol.
*More on how she knew the berries were poisonous (or her mother)
*Her relationship with Rue.
*My sister pointed this out, but definitley more on her relationship with Gael. They hardly looked at this and it becomes pretty important. (Also, I always said Guy-al, thanks to that episode of How I Met Your Mother!)

So, those are my thoughts. What did everyone else think?

Library Love: Checked Out

Here are some books I've checked out lately, in case anyone is looking for new reading material.

Read:
Pretty in plaid : Lancaster, Jen 
Silver girl : Hilderbrand, Elin
Savannah breeze. Andrews, Mary Kay
Stories from Candyland. Spelling, Candy

To Read:
With a little luck : Crane, Caprice.
My fair lazy : Lancaster, Jen,
The bride will keep her name.Goldstein, Jan,
Girl in translation. Kwok, Jean.
All we ever wanted was everything. Brown, Janelle.
This is where we live. Brown, Janelle.

Loving Lately

*SPRING! Today is the official first day of spring, but we've been lucky to have some nice weather already. Shelby has totally become an outside dog and just sits out there in the grass with her eyes half-closed, sniffing the air. That is, when she's not getting in trouble in the mud like she did today. Nathan has worked on building her some agility equipment, a tunnel and two jumps, so she's been practicing for class. Nathan also put down the grass seed, and lucky for me, the rain has been watering it this week. Our landscaping is coming back, too, and I'm hoping my lilac blooms this year. The magnolia bush already started!

*SMASH. I am probably weird and fast forward through most of the singing, but I love the premise, I love the characters, and I love Marilyn. One of my favorite new shows. (Oh, and GCB, but I love Leslie Bibb.)

*RedBox. Saturday I finally got to see "Young Adult," and it was definitely something that did not live up to my expectations because I had set them so high. But I did love "My Week With Marilyn." Also different than I thought it would be, but in a good way.

*The library. I have an unbelievable (and maybe unreadable in three weeks) number of books checked out. Come back tomorrow to see what I've been reading lately.

*Cucumber water. Never thought I'd like such a thing, but had it this weekend and now want to make it everyday. It will be a perfet summer drink.

*Pinterest cleaning tips. My particular favorites are using a grapefruit and salt to scrub the tub and putting a cup of vinegar in a bowl in the dishwasher to clean it. 

*Road Trips. OK, I don't love the actual driving part, but I loved seeing my family two weekends ago. It was a super fun weekend and I came home with lots of treasures from my childhood.

A Confession

This weekend, Nathan and I went bowling together for the first time. Which also means I have not been bowling in three and a half years, at least. I actually don't even remember the last time I went bowling. There is a reason, of course: I am probably the worst bowler ever. Now, Nathan thought he was the worst bowler ever, and so we decided that whoever lost would make breakfast the next morning, and he was so confident that he was going to lose. Also, yes, we were being competitive about who was the worst bowler, not the best. Guess who made breakfast yesterday? Me. Nathan had at least four strikes in two games, and I had at least four times I actually knocked pins over in two games. The small children next to us were kicking my butt. And the bowling alley we went to doesn't let grownups put the bumpers on, bummer.

And that's the end of my bowling story. I dare someone to challenge me for worst bowler ever.