Our Busy Week

Things have been busy and oh-so-exhausting this week. I've gotten the chance to take a few snapshots of what's been going on...

The packers came on Tuesday morning and within four hours everything was packed up and ready to go. 

Wednesday morning we watched as our moving truck tried to navigate the awkward apartment parking lot. I felt bad that they had to park all the way over there... I gave them some brownies and a tip because of the trouble. 

And now, we're all comfy in a hotel. This is Ian and Zelda's first overnight trip and they seem to be adjusting well. They loved roaming around the room and exploring but they ultimately ended up where they felt safest. 

Saturday morning we're setting off for the first leg of our journey! I'll check in... sometime!

Virginia Highlights

Hello from Crazyville! Today is cleaning day. Oh so fun. But, it's easier to clean an empty apartment, right? 

I thought it would be kinda cool to take a peek inside my Hampton Roads Memories pages in my Smashbook. I did another post initially on what I'd done in my book already but have since added a few things to it that will remind me of our time in Hampton Roads. 

I love to save those pamphlets you get when you visit places but, they used to take up SOOO much room. Now with my Smashbook, I just cut out important things like pictures of things I got to see like the USS Wisconsin and Norfolk mermaid statues (which, there's dozens of differently decorated mermaid statues all around town: mermaidsonparade.com has a gallery of them from all over; they're really cool). I also included cut-outs of restaurants we loved: Cal'z Pizza and No Frill Bar & Grille. 

I also included some tickets from when we got to see the Norfolk Tides play (on THE hottest day of the year) and the sailor homecoming statue near the Nauticus and USS Wisconsin. 

There's a cut-out of Harbor Baseball Park, The Virginia Zoo, Norfolk Botanical Gardens and a part of the menu for the most delicious sandwich shop ever: Taste Unlimited.

I also saved some voting tokens from the Neptune Festival Sand Sculpture contest and some pictures from the Stockley Gardens Art Festival recently. I have a receipt from Dog-n-Burger and a little ad from Cogans Pizza to remind us of our trips to the Ghent area (though, they were too few...).

So instead of having a shoe box or two of all these pamphlets, tickets, and mementos; I've got five pages covered in my Smashbook. It's also so much more convenient to browse through and I can actually look at everything!

Pinterest Recipe: Oreo Cheesecake Cookies

Note: This post was scheduled ahead of time as we are in the process of moving, enjoy!

I've made cookies with Oreos in them before and they were dynamite... so, I thought trying these would be another fun take on cookies with Oreos as a main ingredient.

They were very delicious and not too cheesecakey (I usually only like cheesecake flavor in an actual cheesecake). The mini chocolate chips were great as well because instead of a few bites of chocolate chip, you get the flavor in every bite. 

Oreo Cheesecake Cookies (link)

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

3 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup flour

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

1 cup crushed Oreo’s (it took about roughly 10 Oreo cookies)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line baking sheets with silicone baking mats or parchment paper.
2. In a food processor, crush the Oreo cookies until they’re fine crumbs. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and cream cheese until smooth and well combined.
4. Add the sugar and vanilla extract and beat until well incorporated.
5. Gently mix in the flour and stir in the chocolate chips with a spatula.
6. Using a medium sized cookie scoop, scoop the dough and put it in your hands to roll it into a ball. Roll the ball in the Oreo crumbs and cover the dough well.
7. Place on cookie sheet and repeat until all the dough has been used up.
8. Bake for 12-15 minutes (I had to bake mine for longer because my balls were a lot bigger so it took 20 minutes to bake).
9. Remove from oven when you see that the edges are getting browned. Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to cool completely on a wire rack.
10. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

They had great texture and flavor. Also, they were better on the second day! (Maybe it's because instead of hot cheesecake it was cold cheesecake?) 

Packin' On Up

Hello, everyone! Today is Packing Up Day so please pardon me if I'm not around to post much in the coming days or weeks, things are getting cah-razy up in here! 

I may be popping in here, if possible, and updating on the moving process, but if I'm not around just know that up to my ears in moving boxes! (And if I am around it's because I might have some scheduled posts in the coming days...)

I hope to have some exciting decorating posts when we get to where we're going so I'm just trying to look past the moving mess and travel stress to get to that point.

Also, I'm going to be messing around with my Droid and perhaps I'll be able to blog from the road (which could be fun!).

Wish us luck! 

Keeping It Real

The last week has turned our household upside down. There's been lots of trash, piles of stuff, Goodwill donations, and way too many fast food dinners! I just keep trying to look ahead to a time when we will be settled and things won't be crazy or we won't be looking ahead to a future cross-country move.

But, for the sake of keeping it real and non-perfectly bloggy... here's what we're living in right now...

... Don't judge me. :( Everything's a disaster right now and it's driving me crazy. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello, everyone!

I hope everyone has a great day of parade-watching, delicious food-eating, and lovely family time!

See you tomorrow!

I wish I'd bought this hat. 

Pet Profile: Zelda

Sorry if you're sick of my pets. Oh well, they're awesome!

Name: Zelda Peach (two video game names)
Nicknames: Miss Zelda, Miss Kitten, Kitten-baby, Baby-Girl, Smellda (she did stink for a period... and does sometimes still)
Age: 6 months
Date of Adoption: July 25, 2012

Favorite Toy: Pretty much anything but especially her stuffed pink/purple mouse, shoe strings, and the laser pointer. She has completely destroyed one purple and one pink mouse already... for some reason she really rejects the white one, weird huh?

Before

After- she's actually ripped the stuffings out of her first one!

Seen with her favorite toy, her stuffed pink/purple mouse.

Favorite Sleep Spot: Under the bed.

Quirks: She loves to be held like a baby and loves to pounce at the wall while chasing shadows and reflections from the windows. She also LOVES watching the laptop mouse and anything on TV.

Favorite Activity: Chasing Ian, pouncing on Ian, chasing the laser, looking out the window.

Bad Habit: Has a fondness for unrolling and playing with the toilet paper. She also likes to confiscate pens and pencils. She also is quite fascinated with unlatching her collar.
Favorite Time of Day: In the morning when the blinds open. She'll hop up immediately to take a look outside at the birds and squirrels. 

Favorite Food: Ian's food- whatever he's eating.

Likes: Twisting in cords, batting anything and everything around, treats, playing on the scratching post. She loves to play in plastic shopping bags because of their crinkling noises they make. 

Dislikes: Being held for too long, getting her nails trimmed.

Other Facts: She's the typical 'annoying little sister' and bugs Ian as much as possible. Deep down he still loves her...

Sometimes she'll sleep with her paws folded like she's doing some sort of meditation. 

She enjoys a game of 'peekaboo' and will actually pounce at you from around a corner.

And she's always purring. I've never met such a sweet and happy cat!

I hope you all have a beautiful, warm, delicious, wonderful, and Happy Thanksgiving! (I'll be back either tomorrow night with a post or Friday morning to let you guys know about my Thanksgiving plans!)

Pet Profiles: Ian Weasley

Here's a little post to get to know my fur babies a little better!

Name: Ian Weasley (yes, his middle name is from Harry Potter)
Nicknames: Mr. Ian, Ginge, Ginger, Orange Baby, Buddy, Ianie, Ianzie, Ian-Pickle
Date of Adoption: July 22, 2011
Age: 6 years 

Favorite Toy: fluffy green catnip frog or random shoe string.

Favorite Sleep Spot: Under the bed or in the closet.

Quirks: likes to watch Ashley put on makeup.

And sit in the dryer...

Favorite Activity: loves waiting at the sink for water.

Bad Habit: Chewing Ashley's hair in the morning to get her up for breakfast, playing with pens, and laying on Ashley's laptop.

 Favorite Time of Day: 4pm Dinner time!

Favorite Food: Anything with gravy (and sometimes just the gravy).

Likes: Laying in the sun, head pets, being talked to, the bathroom faucet, being brushed, yummy treats, chirping at birds outside, and chasing Ashley's apron ties.

Dislikes: Zelda biting his butt, Zelda being in his personal space, strong smells like deodorant, and being held for too long.

Other Facts: I don't mind having things placed on my head.

Whenever Ashley takes naps I have to join her.

And, boxes are awesome.

Tomorrow: Miss Zelda gets her own profile!