Super Saturday Snapshots (Week 2)

 

Welcome to Super Saturday Snapshots! We love taking and sharing our photos and seeing photos our friends have taken. We figured what better way to do this than with a weekly photo linky party. Sometimes there are great shots that don't always make it into the regular blog posts and this will be a fun way to share them. 

We would love to have you link up with us, so dig out your favourite photos and join the party now!

Here's how to join in the fun:

1: Find your favourite photos from your week 

(or from your deep dark digital vault, cell phone, etc.)

2: Post your pictures on your blog and provide

 a short description of each photo

3: Grab the button and link up with us

4: Comment on at least one other post (please!) -- it only takes a moment and everyone loves getting "commented"

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Here are our photos for this week's Super Saturday Snapshots!

Even though this guy looks cranky and ready to tear me apart, he is simply waking up from a nap and yawning.

 

Busch Gardens (A theme park close to home) decorates the park for Christmas and is just stunning!

   What cures the winter blues like a good spring blossom? We went to DC for the cherry blossom festival last March and had a blast.

I have some ideas of things I want to knit as Christmas gifts. The fact that I am slow knitter is going to be the only problem. I hope I can get it all done.

 Do you BitStrip? I started a few weeks ago and I like finding cartoons to fit my mood. For the last three weeks I could have used this same cartoon each day. Then Thanksgiving Day, I started feeling bad again. It was official on Friday - another horrible head cold. *sigh* I am so over being sick.

Thanksgiving Photos --- Lunch, Dinner, and Dessert:

 Alex and I cuddled during the AKC Dog Show (a Thanksgiving tradition). 

 

 Happy Snapping, 

His: An Outsiders View on Thanksgiving

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Thanksgiving is one of the most important, if not the most important holiday on the American calendar. It is one of the few times that the stores close down (most of them do for at least part of the day) and a time where families get together to enjoy a meal together. In some ways it's like Christmas but in many ways it seems even more important than Christmas as the focus is on being together rather than the exchanging of gifts.

Thanksgiving was a holiday that I really didn't know much about when I first moved here as it is not a holiday that is celebrated in Australia or many places outside of the U.S or Canada. There really isn't a holiday that is similar to Thanksgiving in Australia.

A great meal is

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the backbone of a great Thanksgiving. The menu in each American household is a little different but there are many key foods that will be on most tables on Thanksgiving. No disrespect to the ham, lamb, beef or duck but the centerpiece of the meal has to be a turkey. It doesn't matter whether it is deep fried, slow cooked or smoked, the turkey is a key part of just about every meal at Thanksgiving dinner. The side dishes that compliment the turkey often include green beans, gravy, bread rolls and some sort of potato dish. The side dishes will vary from family to family but these items, or at least some of them, are likely to be on the table. The desserts are often just as good as the main meal so you need to save room for it. Popular desserts include pumpkin pies, apple pies, and cheesecakes.

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Spending time with your family is another important part of Thanksgiving. Millions of people will drive or fly great distances to be home for Thanksgiving and often go to great lengths. They may not go as far as John Candy and Steve Martin did in "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" to get home, but I'm certain some people have come close. For many people this is one of the only times they get to see their families, especially if they all live far apart. For married couple who have both families nearby, it is common to have lunch with one family and then have dinner with the other. Amanda and I don't have to worry about multiple stops on Thanksgiving Day as my family is not close enough to visit without spending a few days in a plane.

Another great thing about Thanksgiving is that its one of the few times of the year that most people are off work, which allows them to travel home for the holiday  Often people get the following day off as well which allows for a 4 day weekend. Sadly not everyone gets off as first responders, nurses, etc., but often they will have a turkey and side dishes at their work so they can still enjoy a nice cooked meal.

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One last tradition that many Americans love is the shopping madness that is known as "Black Friday". This is the day after Thanksgiving and is when many stores have big sales and is the unofficial start to the Christmas shopping season. There is a lot of competition on Black Friday so stores often have really good deals on big ticket, popular items to entice customers in. Black Friday draws big crowds and sadly a lot of pushing and shoving to get the deal they have lined up for. In previous years these sales started around 3am, but it has moved steadily forward and now the major players are opening around 8pm on Thanksgiving Day. A lot of people love Black Friday as they can get some great deals and they love the thrill of chasing the perfect deal, but it is definitely  not for me. I plan to be in my nice warm bed, avoiding the crowds and madness.

Even though Thanksgiving is a reasonably new holiday for me, I love it and look forward to it every year. Who wouldn't love a holiday where you get to eat, take a nap, and spend time with those you love?

 

His and Her Never, Ever, Ever (Week 26)

Well hello Tuesday! We love Tuesday around here because it means we can play --


**For those who are new to our blog - WELCOME - purple is Amanda, red is Sean, blue is for both of us. We hope it helps make it less confusing for our readers to know who is talking and sharing. :) **

Amanda will never, ever, ever...
-love any holiday as much as she loves Thanksgiving. The parade, the dog show, the family time, and the food. What's not to love??

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-understand the fascination with all-things-flavored-pumpkin. I can eat it in small doses, but it is not a flavor I am as enamored with as it appears others are. Not judging but I would rather have chocolate!

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 -need a break from school and all the drama going on there as I do right now. One more half day and then I am free for four days. I cannot wait to get away and breathe!

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Sean will never, ever, ever...
- Go shopping on "Early Bird Thursday" or "Black Friday"! I hate crowds at the best of times and would rather spend time with my family or the comfort of my warm bed instead of , fighting for the last spot in the car park, standing in line in the cold, windy weather and then rush and find that I just missed out on the one thing I waited outside for hours for. 

- Understand why Americans only eat pumpkin products around this time of year. I grew up eating mashed and baked pumpkin all year long and found it weird that pumpkins were only readily available between October and December. 

Source - Yummy Baked Pumpkin

- Not look forward to eating fruitcake. It is not a popular dessert in America and is often the subject of jokes but it really is a good dish if prepared properly. I have been lucky and have been able to find a few different bakers locally that make a really good fruit cake and its only available this time of year. One of them is even soaked in Brandy for a few days which gives it a non traditional taste but still very very good. 

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Your turn - what are your Thanksgiving never, evers? Comment below or link up to join in the fun.

Happy Almost Thanksgiving,

  

His and Her Weekend Shenanigans (11/24/13)

*phew* We had a busy weekend. Here's what happened - 

If you are new to our blog, WELCOME!! To make our posts easier to navigate, purple means Amanda is sharing, red means Sean is sharing, and blue is for both of us. Enjoy!

Friday:
I love when my former students come back to visit me. One of them, a young lady who is a senior now --- where did the years go?? ---, stopped by Friday to chat. Two more former students saw her car outside the school and stopped in also. I loved laughing and joking with them, hearing all the fun stories of high school. 
The rest of the night was spent resting and sleeping! 

I got off early on Friday so I went to Bennett's Creek for a quick round of disc golf. I had a decent round but got frustrated a few times when the disc got buried under a ton of leaves and took several minutes to find. However it was not all bad and getting the disc within 10 feet of the basket on hole 3 made up for all of the bad shots.

Nice tee shot on hole 3. Made for an easy birdie.

Saturday: 
A good friend and I met up for a movie. She and I both love romantic comedies, so we went to a movie theater cafe (where they serve real food and movie snacks) to see About Time. This movie is on a limited release but I don't understand why. It is so good!! Click the poster for a link for the summary and reviews. I definitely think you need to get a group of girlfriends together and go see this movie!

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I went out with Amanda and dropped her off at the movie theater. Since it was a chick flick I had no interest in seeing the movie so I headed off to play disc golf. After playing a round I went back to pick up Amanda and we went and bought some different flavoured coffees at Fresh Market, then another stop for a Christmas gift, then Ulta for Amanda's makeup needs and finally we stopped at Romano's Macoroni Grill for dinner. I got the Penne Rustica dish and it was really tasty. After all that I was ready to go home and get some rest.

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Sunday:
I can summarize this day in two words - Thanksgiving Prep! Mom always handles the big meal and I handle the brunch/midday snacks and dessert. On Sunday, Sean and I planned our menu and built the shopping list. He went shopping and then I started cooking and baking. Here's what we decided on for this year:

Brunch/Midday

Carrots with Ranch Dip (because a veggie cancels out the other calories for the day right?)

Chick-Fil-A Chicken Nuggets (because we are a CFA lovin' family)

Cheese and Crackers (simple, but tasty)

Cinnamon-Sugar Candied Pecans (umm, yum!!!)  

Apple-Cinnamon Bread (this looks so, so delish)

Dessert

Layered Pumpkin Dessert (I wanted something different than a traditional pumpkin pie)

Turtle Cheesecake (Sean's favorite dessert is cheesecake and he loves caramel so he really wanted me to try this recipe...if it is half as tasty as the photo shows, it is going to be a hit!)

I didn't feel too well as I think I contracted the cold that Amanda has had for the last few weeks. I spent quite a bit of the day sneezing and dealing with a runny nose. Thankfully that is all of the symptoms so far and I hope it doesn't get worse. I was able to help Amanda plan for the Thanksgiving menu and go to the grocery store and get the items we needed. I'm glad I went today as it was busy enough at Kroger but nothing compared to how it will be on Tuesday and Wednesday. I wasn't a big help when it came to cooking the food as I would have contaminated it. I am thankful that I was able to function almost normally today.

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How was your weekend? Comment below or link up with Sami to join in the fun. 

Happy Monday (of a short week - whoooo hooo!!!!),

Super Saturday Snapshots

 

Welcome to the first ever Super Saturday Snapshots! We love taking and sharing our photos and seeing photos our friends have taken. We figured what better way to do this than with a weekly photo linky party. Sometimes there are great shots that don't always make it into the regular blog posts and this will be a fun way to share them. 

We would love to have you link up with us, so dig out your favourite photos and join the party now!

Here's how to join in the fun:

1: Find your favourite photos from your week 

(or from your deep dark digital vault, cell phone, etc.)

2: Post your pictures on your blog and provide

 a short description of each photo

3: Grab the button and link up with us

4: Comment on at least one other post (please!) -- it only takes a moment and everyone loves getting "commented"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Here are our photos for this week's Super Saturday Snapshots!

Got something good to eat?

I took this photo at the Virginia State Fair. For some reason the goats are very photogenic and I often get some amusing shots like this one.

All the colours of fall

I saw this rainbow of colours while I was out playing disc golf earlier this week. It makes having to look for your disc under a ton of leaves worth it.

This is what happens when no body calls for the ball.

I love action shots and got this one of two outfielders colliding trying to catch a fly ball. If one of them had called for it maybe this wouldn't have happened.

  

New stitch markers

I went to Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, VA -- home of the Fighting Squirrels!! Since then I have loved all things squirrel and am a true squirrel girl at heart. When I saw these stitch markers, I had to have them. They are so cute!!!

 Well those are our Snapshots for this week. Don't forget to link up so we can see your photos as well.

 

  

His and Her Happies and Crappies (Week 45)

It's Friday so let's recap our week's --

**For those who are new to our blog - WELCOME - purple is Amanda, red is Sean, blue is for both of us. We hope it helps make it less confusing for our readers to know who is talking and sharing. :) **

Happies:
Work was pretty uneventful. We got off on time or a little most days this week which is not normally the case.

I had another successful platelet donation. I had some issues when donating shortly after coming home from Australia. The staff suggested I was probably mildly dehydrated and after increasing my fluid intake for several days prior to the donation I have had no issues.

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 The weather has been pretty good and hasn't been too cold. It is supposed to get cold soon so it may be on the crappies list for next week.

Thankfully it hasn't gotten this cold yet.

We have about 40 students who have joined Drama Club this year. They are funny and happy - committed to the activities we are doing. I am going to go ahead and say it - this is going to be our best year ever!!

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We had our very first Grading Party Thursday night. We met at Panera to eat, chat, laugh, and grade the piles of papers we all had to deal with. It was so much fun and I really hope we do it again!

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My students are so super sweet! One of them could tell I was having a bad day on Wednesday so he kept cracking jokes to make me smile. Another told me today that she was going to miss me this weekend. So sweet!!

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 Crappies:
- Dealing with slow people in the self checkout registers at the grocery store. I ran in there one day this week and a lady rushed to beat me to the last open self serve register and then proceeded to go slower than a turtle to scan her 5 items. The other 3 people using the self serve were no faster. I wish people who use the self serve registers in a quick and efficient manner would just use a regular checkout lane and leave the self serve for those who can use it without causing a massive backup.

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 - Searching for discs in the carpet of leaves that cover the ground this time of year. It's nice not having to worry about mozzies, ticks and poison ivy this time of year but you have to keep a close eye out to where the disc lands. Even if you know where it landed it can still be a issue to find the disc as it tends to get buried which can get frustrating as it is always your favourite disc that goes missing. (Thankfully I am always able to find them after searching aimlessly for several minutes).

See if you can find the disc in this pile of leaves. (hint - Its blue)

Looooong hours at work this week! The only day I left before dark was Thursday and that was because of the grading party. I think Alex is going to forget what I look like soon!

I have now finished my second full week of dealing with this crappy head cold. My voice is only at about 50% and my throat hurts all the time. It is time for this cold to go away!

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We hope you had more happies this week than crappies! 

Happy Weekend,