Louisville Transplants and A Very Dharma Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has come and gone yet again. And now that Christmas has passed, I thought I'd share our holiday with you all. Despite being away from family we had an awesome Holiday. We had the opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving not once, but twice this year.

Round One:

One of Wendell's dear friends, Kristin, had moved away earlier this year (or maybe it was last year, time flies) and came home for a visit. She and a few of her friends have an annual tradition of gathering at someone's house for a fabulous feast, games, and of course alcohol. All of them are "Louisville Transplants" and have no family nearby, so they have created a little family of their own. It was an honor to be invited to join this group of warm and wonderfully unique characters.

It wouldn't be an adventure if we didn't take the wrong freeway, and miss a turn on our way there. That's just how we roll.

Once we found our way, the evening started out with cocktails and football. It was nice to be around another Cowboys fan for the game. I'll always cheer on my team, it's just always more fun when you can share that enthusiasm. More cocktails were consumed amongst plenty of lovely conversation, jokes, and shared tales.

Then the feast. And OH, what a feast it was! Of course there was turkey, mashed taters with a scrumptious homemade gravy, green beans with bacon, stuffing, broccoli casserole, and sinful sweet potatos made with rum and a yummy brown sugar topping *drools*. It was the kind of meal that had you unbuttoning your pants to make room for your newly expanded belly.

Despite being stuffed, the cocktails continued being consumed. There's always more room for liquids!

Now were all ready for games! Or, a game that is. Cranium. Wendell and I had never played before so we didn't know what exactly to expect. Although, with the amount of alcohol that had been consumed, we were sure we were in for a good time. And boy, did we have a grand ol' time! The game was full of hum-dingers, acting out words like 'cocktail dress' (use your imagination) and plenty-o-laughs. We added a little twist to the game. There were about 120 jello shots that hadn't been touched, so every time a team missed their question, the whole team took a shot. We even did the whole 'Battle of the Sexes' thing and of course the ladies killed, and I mean KILLED the guys! Slaughtered even!

I couldn't have asked for a better evening, especially on a day when it's hard for me to be away from family. I ate too much, drank more than I should have, we stayed later than planned and we were thankful to have been invited to join such a group of wonderful people who made us feel like we were always a part of the group.

ROUND TWO:

We had a second, delayed celebration the following Saturday with Wendell's friends (our friends I should say)/band mates. We were treated to another delicious meal. I have to say, corn pudding is one of the best things ever and I'll never understand why I hadn't discovered this super yummy dish before the age of 30! The night was full of silly antics, a few sweet moments, plenty of sarcasm and smack talk, and an improvised acoustic jam session. To keep this post from becoming a novel, I'll let the pictures tell the story:

Back From My 'Pity Pot' Hiatus

I hadn't realized how long it'd had been since I posted anything. I didn't mean to stay away so long. I just kind of fell into a 'funk' and not the good kind. Work has been a little less than satisfying, I have yet to find a buddy that I can go and get into trouble with (miss you Kristen!), and I've been extremely homesick! My trip home last August only made the homesickness worse, WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! So, I ended up on an Eeyore like "woe is me" bender and almost drove Wendell nuts in the process.





Then, one day Wendell sat me down for a talk. In the sweetest, calmest and most respectable way he basically told me to pull my head out of my ass and to get off the pity pot.

Once I got that little piece of perspective I really started to think about all that I do have and I realized that in the grand scheme of it all, I'm pretty damn blessed.

I have been fortunate enough to be blessed with a large, loving, dysfunctional family that has accepted me and my crazy antics, ideas, wild streaks, and numerous phases. I've never needed a large group of friends because I always had them. I don't think they quite realize just how much of a hand they had in molding the person I am and will grow to become. Despite the great distance between us, that won't ever change. They are a part of my daily life, thru thoughts and memories, emails, phone calls and facebook. And I know this distance isn't permanent. It is where I need to be right now and regardless of where I am, I know they'll always be there.

Most of all, I was also lucky enough to find a partner in crime who really gets me. I've always been an open book, but he has looked to the core of who I am. He has been witness to my beauty and has even stared down my ugly side and into the faces of the monsters that live there and he hasn't faltered once (not even when I was kicking at his knees) and he manages to make sense of it all. He compliments me in every way possible. We truly are the yin to the each other's yang. Even as I sit here trying to come up with the right combination of words to get anyone who may be reading this to understand the awesomeness that is Wendell, I can't seem to find any that do him justice. I'd proclaim that he in fact actually pisses excellence, but even that can't compliment him well enough.

So, my lovely readers (even the ones who don't comment but rather send me emails =0P) you have Wendell to thank for inspring me yet again to bless you with these glimpses into our world. Especially the ones that will send you running to your porcelain god with cheesy fairy tale romance induced nausea.

Be sure and stay tuned!

Bragging Rights

Every woman thinks their significant other is talented in some aspect or another. When you love someone you see them through your love lenses and they're just awesome, even if their talent isn't a great talent. I don't mean to sound like a bragging, know-it-all bitch, but my Gordo really IS talented (I swear to Buddha).

He has many talents, but I won't rub them all in your faces in this post. If you don't believe me just go here:

www.myspace.com/musicofdharma

Take a listen, if you disagree with me, please feel free to come back here and let me know.

By the way......he's the vocalist.

Stimulating the Economy

Wendell and I had a busy, busy day today. We had all kinds of plans to work on our house, clean up, organize, paint, rearrange, make it more "us". That was the plan anyway...

It started with a quick trip to the bank since I needed to send some cash via snail mail, I need my CA driving record in order to get my DL here, AND, I'll have to take the written test....DUN...DUN...DUUUUUUUUUUN!!! I am oh so excited about that, NOT!

At the drive-thru window Wendell asks me if I want to go shopping. As if he ever reeeaaalllly needs to ask me THAT question. We were in dire need of a new comforter since our old one was left in the dryer too long and the corners shriveled up and the rest of it ended up with patches of discolorment (is that even a word?). I've been wanting a new one since I pulled it out of the dryer in its horrid state last October. But, pretty things aren't necessarily at the top of Wendell's priority list, so after asking him 3 times that day if we could buy a new one, I hadn't asked again. So, you can imagine my joy when he asked if I wanted to go shopping for a new one!

My first thought was "Pottery Barn" as my heart pitter pattered at the idea of their lovely colors and patterns, but I knew Wendell wasn't looking to spend big bucks on "just a blanket". So Target it was. As usual, we couldn't agree on color nor pattern, so we headed for Wal-mart *sigh* I wasn't too upset that we left there also unable to agree on a color or pattern. So I suggested Bed Bath & Beyond. Wendell was all for it, and it didn't dawn on me that he had probably never walked into a BB&B to realize that the price tag was bigger than those at Target or Wal-Mart. We found several we liked and actually agreed on, however, we didn't agree on the dollar amount. Again, after store #3 we left empty handed.

Today was especially warm (which I just loved) so by this point with only a minimal breakfast in our bellies, we were famished. Choosing a place to eat can prove to be just as much of a task as agreeing on a comforter, if not moreso. Luckily for us we found a nice looking Mexican restaurant tucked away behind some other food places. It was a well needed meal (and a beer for Wendell and a Margarita for me). And now that we were refueled, onward we marched....back to Target.

We decided we needed to pick up some additional items, and well, we just love Target. So back to trying to find a comforter set we could agree on. Forest Gump's momma was right, miracles do happen every day. We found a comforter we had looked over on our first trip that we both liked...SCORE! I don't know about you, but I can never go into Target for a single solitary item without making a round of at least half of the store, just in case there's something else I don't really need that I absolutely must have. So, we picked up some TV trays and a movie.

So, after a long day spent running around town, Casita Hess is still a disaster area, no painting got done, and we can look forward to another busy day tomorrow instead of being a couple of amoebas and doing nothing (well, maybe).

Oh yeah, did I mention we bought another car? Another Kia. Nothing fancy, so I haven't taken any pics. It was really just a replacement for our other car that perished in the fire and which 0 of 2 insurance companies will cover. We were just going to pick up our plates for the Soul and our car salesman worked his magic and got us an incredible deal we couldn't refuse. And we've decided that the Soul is mine and Wendell gets the Spectra.

And that my friends is how Wendell and I did our part to stimulate the economy today....Tadaaa!

Three.....O!

Friday, April 10th it happened.......I turned 30. 30? I've really been here THAT long?

Of course I got the old lady jokes all day. Wendell kept mentioning that 40 is just around the corner and 50 will be here before I know it. And one of my sisters and brother-in-laws called to sing me their rendition of "Happy Over The Hill Birthday", all while cracking themselves up.

Originally I was to spend my 30th in L.A., but for some unfortunate circumstances we weren't able to make the trip. We are however, planning a trip for the summer! (sunny beaches here I come!) Instead we opted for a night on the town as dancing is one of my many passions, though it is near the top of the list. And it had been a while since my feet graced a dancefloor.

Despite being stood up by a couple of friends (I won't name names, *cough...Chris & Chey...cough*) we had a grand ol' time. We bellied up to a bar and had several drinks, some even on the house since it was moi's birfday. It was a very, very rainy and stormy night so I basically had a dancefloor to myself....SCORE! We were entertained by a group of characters at the bar and we even made a couple of new friends, which still being farily new in town, we could use.

I missed being around familiar faces for my birthday as birthdays are always a big deal back home, but Wendell made my day (and night) grand. As did those I celebrated with. I had a damn good time.

I got to go shopping for a new outfit and stuff and I got my hair done too! It wasn't cheap....and to top that off Wendell got me a new iPod and hard drive since my last one crapped out on me, and then to top even that he also got me a whole 10" Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. If you're a chocoholic and you haven't had a slice of one of those......you are missing out! Your eyes will literally roll into the back of your head, it is not for the faint of heart (or diabetics).

Here's a looksie at moi all gussied up for a night on the town:

Sadly this is the only picture we got of the WHOLE night. But drinking more than your usual will do that to you.

We ended the night with a cab ride home with a driver who was nice enough to pull over (maybe more than once) so that I could exorcise some of the fun I had through the course of the night (sexy, innit?) I woke the next morning with tangled hair, almost fully dressed....with a desert in my mouth and a head that weighed about 10 tons. And it only took me 2 days to recover.

My hair didn't take to what was done to it, so I had to have it redone. Because when you pay as much as i did for hair, you can bet your ass that it's what I'm going to get no matter what! The salon was awesome though and gave me no fuss.....and here's the finished product:

And on a final note.....I so don't feel 30! I swear at times I still feel 16 (minus the insecurities and uncertianties). I think I'll always be one of those people who hangs on to youthful qualities, whether or not I'll keep looking youthful is another story.

"Growing old is a requirement, growing up is a choice" - I don't know who said it, but I like it!

FIYAH!

We had some excitement on our block at 3:30am last Wednesday morning. It all started with a BANG, literally. The bang startled me. Growing up in the 'hood, my first thought was "gunshots"....until I smelled smoke (it was a couple of transformers that blew). We got out of bed and looked out the window and our eyeballs were greeted with bright oranges and yellows. Then we noticed the bright colors raining down on our car. And all we could do was watch. (it was too smokey and fiery to get pictures of that).

It didn't take long for the Fire Department to show up and begin battling the blaze. We continued watching the fire rain down on our car, hoping and praying the damage wouldn't be too terrible.

Look at the house across the street, the vinyl siding is melted. This was one HOT fire.

And that's our (old) car under the water hose.

Here we have the bulk of the damage to our car: scratches, gunk melted on, and stuff just melted.

A close up of the headlight...crazy!

This was at about 10-11am (approx. 7 hours after the fire started!) We still couldn't move our car, it was apart of a crime scene.

Here's what's left of the building. I couldn't get a shot before the boards went up. They had even replaced the pole by the time I got this shot, it was charred badly.

The fire was deliberately set and according to an eye witness the molotov cocktail went through the front door.

And this is the debris we must deal with as it has not been cleaned up. Since we've had two windy storms blow through our neighborhood, a lot of this stuff has ended up in our front and back yard.

The house was being used as an office building, so thankfully no one was inside. We really feel for the guy, he's a Pastor at a church across the street who works with troubles youths. However, this is the 3rd or 4th building he owns that has been set on fire, including the Church itself (maybe he tries to help pryomaniacs?). And that was only about a year ago. He has most recently purchased the house right next door to ours (the house between us and this building) and that makes me a little nervous.

Our house was filled with smoke for a good few hours, and filled with the smell of it for the next couple of days. Although we were approached by a sales guy advertising his company's services of carpet and uphosltery cleaning, all ambulance chaser like. I guess in this case you would call him a fire truck chaser.

Our new car no longer has that new car smell. We had it for a whole 2-1/2 weeks! We aired it out and bought an air freshener and now it smells like "beach scents". But, it being our first brand new car, I was hoping to have that smell for as long as possible (self absorbed much?)

On the "brighter side" we either get a car that'll look almost new, or get enough cash to buy a newer used car. And we got to meet a few more of the neighbors we hadn't met. Nothing like a raging neighborhood fire to bring the neighbors together eh?

Nyuck...nyuck...nyuck

Last Friday Wendell and I played out our own scene of The Three Stooges. We play fight...a lot. I like to say Molly is the 3rd stooge as she always barks, jumps and paws at us when we do. Our last play fight was no exception.

Wendell took his stance, took a few swings....but I was already floating like a butterfly, so he missed. I'm floatin.....and floatin'....and I saw my opportunity.....STING....just like a bee! Molly instantly joined in the fight jumping and barking. She proved to be a slight distraction which allowed Wendell a few jabs.

But now that I was alert:

He was taking it like a man. Then he restorted to kicking....a disadvantage to me. My 5'3 stature next to his 6'4 didn't stand much of a chance.....but I wasn't going to let that keep me down.....no sir!

So I kicked back.....but he was too quick for me.....he grabbed my foot. I tried to stable myself to no avail. I hopped and hopped my way right smack into a shelving unit of DVD's

I was waiting for the rainfall of DVD's to pelt my head, but miraculously not a single one left its shelf. Instead, the large vase full of wilting flowers sitting atop the shelving unit toppled over showering me with murky water and flower petals in an array of sizes, shapes and colors, and it would not have been complete without the smelly, sticky stems sticking to my hair. Who could resist bursting into laughter after a scene like that?

I was covered in the icky remnants of what once were lovely, aromatic flowers. And of course all this happens as we are suppose to be heading out the door for a bite to eat with a friend who just so happened to come to the door right after I stripped off my wet, stinky and dead flower decorated clothes, leaving me to make a mad dash to the bathroom to dry off, deflower and change.

We've got S-O-U-L......

Wendell and I have had many firsts together......and this past Sunday we added yet another to that list.....a brand spankin' new car! The 2010 Kia Soul....ch...ch....check it out!

Zee front

Zee Driver's Area

This is the section I'll be using the most!

Speakers that light up to the beat of the music!

More of the front area

Check out those seats!

Love that logo

Zee Moon Roof

Zee Passenger Side

Some more of those pimped out seats

A roomy backseat (this angle doesn't do it justice)

Soul Booty

Plenty O' cargo space, plus folding seats

And one final look at our wicked new ride!

It may not be a Mercedes.....but it's funky.......it suits us.......and doesn't hurt our wallet. Oh, and did I mention we are the first people in Louisville to own one? Two firsts for the price of one! The perks:

• 34 miles to the gallon


• 10,000mile/7 year bumper to bumper warranty


• Roadside assistance that tops what AAA provides


• A killer soundsystem, complete with tweeters and a subwoofer! What more could two music junkies ask?


• Free Sirius satellite radio for 3 months


• Built in blue tooth for handsfree convos


• 2 front and 2 rear power outlets, usb port, plug in your iPod and/or laptop!

There's more but I don't want to sound too much like a commercial, well moreso than I already do. Come visit....we'll take you for a spin!

Blessed

I was sitting at the reception desk at work this past Friday, exhausted after a long week. I couldn't focus on much and thankfully my only task was to answer the phones for an hour and forty five minutes.

As I was fighting my heavy eyelids, I mean, keeping busy, I saw a delivery guy walking into our offices carrying flowers. There are only two other women who work in my office so I wondered which of the two they could be for. Then the delivery guy says:

"I'm looking for an Ana (pause)". I have yet to encounter a person out here who has tried to pronounce my last name.

I sat up fully alert and proudly proclaimed I was the one he was looking for. The site of the flowers held my gaze and I wasn't even sure if the guy said anything on his way out. My head swirled with the aroma of fresh flowers. And I smiled. A bright, big, beaming smile. And then I read the attached note:

"Just because I love you"

Talk about making a lady feel special. Some may see it as cheesy, but it really is the small things in life that count. And some of the smallest gestures can go a long way.

I just feel blessed to have someone who takes time out of their own busy day to make me feel special and who lets me know just how much I mean to him. I truly couldn't ask for anyone or anything better.

I hope you have enjoyed your dose of sappy cheese for the day.

Love Hurts

Meet Molly:

This is our baby, although she was Wendell's baby before she was "ours". Not only was she Wendell's, but Wendell was hers. She repeatedly tried to make this clear to me on numerous occassions. And every now and then she still does. She tries to get in between us on the bed, she barks at me when we play fight (even though I may be the one in defense mode), she jumps and claws at us when we kiss, if we hug she stands between us at our feet. If we pay more attention to each other than we do to her, she'll whine, and if we ignore her long enough she'll bark at us to let us know she's been neglected long enough. This behavior is usually the most prominent when we come home after she's been left alone all day.

Feeling guilty prompted us to get Molly a playmate, especially now that we have our own home. We didn't have to look long before we were given Nancy:

We fell in love instantly, she was such a sweetheart. It took Molly a day or two to take to her, but once she did they played constantly. It was a perfect match all around, or so we thought....

It didn't take long for us to discover Nancy was a chewer. You would think that a dog of her small size wouldn't be able to do much damage. WRONG!

In about a weeks time she has managed to maime or destroy the following:

My Puma overnight (these are not cheap), a backpack, a pack of sharpies, socks, house shoes, surround sound speaker wires, 3 funnels, a vinyl record (a collectors item limited to 300 copies no less), one of Wendell's prized action figures, a blanket, a dog bed, and some miscellaneous plastic items we couldn't identify. She even chewed on the vinyl siding on our garage!

The other day we came home and she had tried pulling our desk chair through the doggy door! Of course she chewed the lower portion of it, as well as the flap on the doggy door.

And on top of all of this, this dog that came from an outdoor environment has taken to using our house as her personal restroom. Of course all of this has been more than frustrating. We have tried all that we could think of with no results. To make matters worse we're gone 10 hours a day and don't have the time to teach her how things work here at 'Casita Hess'.

Sadly, all these means that she has to go. We feel horrible taking away Molly's playmate. And I've grown a little attached to her as it was nice having a dog that I could call mine, she warmed up to me moreso than Wendell.

But she gets to go live on a farm, a place she's use to being. So, at least she'll get her roaming area where she can chew on whatever the outdoors have to offer. We lose a buddy, but get to keep our home.

*sigh*

Happy Valentine's Day

What better day to begin a blog about Love than on Valentine's Day?

This blog will follow the story of a country boy and a city girl who met online, completely by chance.....or fate.

It all started with a casual conversation about music, then exchanges of funny emails, which eventually led to 5 hour long phone conversations while drinking red wine, and of course sharing music. As they grew to know more about each other, feelings developed and grew. One day, the city girl hopped on plane from L.A. to Albuquerque, NM to meet this country boy face to face. Impulsive? Yes. Exciting? Yes. Crazy? Yes.

While on this plane to NM the city girl came to her senses and realized this was just plain CRAZY. This guy could be nuts! He could be creepy! He could cut out her kidney to sell on the black market and leave her in a bathtub full of ice in a seedy motel room! As she kept herself from hyperventilating she decided that once the plane landed she would change her ticket and fly right back home. Well, the airport in NM isn't open 24hrs like LAX, so she was "stuck". Thankfully.

That weekend was a weekend of bliss for the pair. Both felt things that they had never felt ever before. Butterflies in bellies like never before, they soared higher than cloud 9, it had to be too good to be true.

So, a long distance relationship began. Trips to L.A., and trips to NM followed. As did love letters and phone calls into the wee hours of the night. The only problem was the distance, oh the distance!

The city girl, being the silly city girl that she could be, questioned all that she had, weighed the pros and cons. She told herself she couldn't leave the city, so she told the country boy goodbye. She tried to convince herself she had done the right thing, what was best, and besides, she still had the city.

Sad days ensued, confusion set in, and bad decisions were made. The city girl missed the country boy, and he missed her too. So much time had passed, what were these two broken hearted lovers to do?

One day the city girl snapped out of her funk, grew tired of sadness and bad decisions, she knew she had to take a chance to get back what she had. The worst answer would be no, so she picked up the phone and called the country boy. And with a simple hello, things began to fall into place...

Fast forward a couple of years:

Present day, Louisville, KY.

The city girl and her country boy are madly in love, live in a house they own, with two dogs and big, big plans. And with that, the story continues......