It was warm even a month ago!

So I'm behind with my blogging.  What's new?  But I didn't want to get too behind because we have lots of fun things coming up! As the title of this post says, it was warm here even a month ago.  Warm meaning I was able to sit by a lake with the sun beaming down on me and get a tan, even back on April 7.  We knew there were some reasons we liked North Carolina!

Meet Necia and her three little girls Mia, Ellen and Hannah:

Necia is one of my dearest friends here and I look up to her in so many ways.  We've discovered we're living almost the same life just 11 years apart.  Every time we talk we find out more and more how similar we are which is why she is such a great example to me.  If I turn out anything like her and her daughters 11 years down the road, I'm set!

Necia is an expert at finding fun free things to do in the area and she introduced me to Lake Wheeler.  The girls were able to play on the edge of the water while we basked in the warmth and just gabbed as we women like to do.  It was perfection!

I just love these girls!  When they took me back to my car they asked if they could call me Aunt Caitlin and my eyes couldn't help but well up with tears!  No worries, they can't replace my real nieces, but they are great substitutes. :)

Necia also recommended that I needed to go to Duke Gardens like IMMEDIATELY.  The tulips were in full bloom and it was gorgeous according to her report!  So Ryan and I made a date night of it.  Unfortunately, my dinner spilled at sometime throughout then night on my pretty white shirt. :(

 Ryan is convinced that this is a "turduckin"

 There are so many cardinals here!  There is one (or a few?) that live in the trees right outside our apartment and something about them just makes me happy to see.

Unfortunately my camera just doesn't do it justice - especially on a cloudy day! 

But I'm sure you can tell it was gorgeous and I had a wonderful night with my hubby.

THE END.

What A Relief

Ryan is on the downhill slide of school now! That does not at all mean that the rest is going to be easy, however.  It just means that he is done with his Neuro class that all of the professors agree is the hardest class of the program.  Not only is it the hardest class but if you don't pass the final you fail out of PT school.  Harsh, huh?? Talk about stress (for both of us!).  Ryan studied for about 2.5 weeks for this final and was very happy with how it went today! 
To reward his accomplishment I surprised him today with two of his favorite things - Buffalo Chicken Dip and Root Beer Floats. And a nap.  He just finished his take home final as I'm writing this which means he is one step closer to being done.  One group final in the morning and see you later 2nd semester!!!

Double Date!

Ryan and I are poor examples of weekly dates.  Are any of you good at it?  And we don't even have kids.  Really, I have no excuses.  Unless RedBox counts as a date.  Therefore, a few weeks ago we decided that a date was very much needed - and why not a double?  So we called up our friends Ali and Daniel and had a lovely BBQ (yes, it was 80-something in March) and a trip down to Adventure Landing for go-karts, mini-golf, laser tag and batting cages.  It was just what the doctor ordered!

In similar news, they just bought a puppy!! Looks like we know who we'll be hanging out with more. :)

Car Seat Cover

For those of you who know my sister Whitney, she had a little baby girl this past Monday night!
That makes 14 for the Luke clan.  Welcome to the family, Penelope! 

Whitney requested that I make a car seat cover for her like this one:

It's supposed to be a quick 1 hourish project, but of course I have to make my life difficult and make it fancier than that.  So I learned how to do ric-rac, ruffles, and piping and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the result.  I almost hope Whitney doesn't like it and I can keep it for my future (DISTANT FUTURE) little girl. :)

For any of you who want to make one, I found the tutorial HERE.

Holy Flavor Explosion in my Mouth!!!

Wowzers.  Can I just tell you how much I love the blog Our Best Bites?  They have not failed me yet.  After browsing around today I decided to make both strawberry sauce and strawberry freezer jam with the 3lb of strawberries I bought the other day.  Then for dinner I made the Southwest Pasta Salad. 

UUUUH-MAZING.

The best part about the blog is its' pictures - it's jam packed with them!!  I have become a visual learner in my old age and for someone new to cooking, it's perfect! They have a lot of useful posts on basics like Handy Substitutes, Stocking the Kitchen,  and How-to's like Juicing Lemons and Limes, Cook Chicken Breasts, Make the Perfect Hard-Boiled Egg, and much more! And the recipes are seriously TO DIE FOR.

Seriously, check it out.  You will NOT be disappointed!

A Room Divided

I FINALLY got my craft stuff organized thanks to a little birthday money from Mom and Dad and a trip to the Home Depot.  I was shocked when all was said and done that I really don't have that much stuff!  And believe me, working at a craft store makes it very difficult to not fill those empty drawers and boxes.  Someday...

And I know it's stark white and boring.  That's a work in progress as well!

 For a brief moment in time my side of the room was as clean as Ryan's but not for long!

Popcorn Popping

I looked out the window and what did I see?

Popcorn popping on the apricot tree!

Spring has brought me such a nice surprise,

Popcorn popping right before my eyes!

 

This little tree is my fav. :)