CREATIVE FREEDOM NEEDS!

We wanted everyone to know that we're moving our blog, so everyone! We're taking some time to get the new design up and running but stick with us!

A FARE FOR THE FAIR?

Note to all, and self - bring cash to the fair...because they don't take credit card! Seriously, try walking to 3 entrances (not close together), just to find that out. Then sending Jim and Pete up the block to a bank to see if they have an ATM - all on Magnolia. It was a sight! Even got to see a man get arrested, up close and personal.
But enough about Melodrama on Magnolia... on Saturday, we went to the Tennessee Valley Fair and had a good ole' time indeed! We didn't do much riding on rides, but we did a lot of people watching!!!! Also, Jim and Pete went to see all the agri-prizes up in the hall and tested their skills of photography - which I think both of them are becoming obsessive about!
The fair, as always, was loaded with fabulous fair food and we indulged in those giant turkey legs, a corndog, an elephant ear (a flatter solid funnel cake), and a MONSTER BAG OF COTTON CANDY...which, when ingested after not living a year of much sugar, actually causes you to become drunk on sugar. Sugar drunk. It's silly!
Still, we saw interesting things and people. However being at the fair, I recognized I'm really starting to settle in here in Knoxville. We ran into the spectaular Randall, Becky and Willy - whom I hope we'll get to see more of and I realized, I may belong?! I mean, part of settling into a town is really setting roots and growing your friendship garden right? Up till now, Nashville left me feeling a bit hesitant to trust any new "friends". After the Easton trip, I've realized it's good to take some risks and open up to those who really do seem interested in friendship...life is too short not to see what's possible right? Anyway...who knew the Fair would be so enlightening...oh, and it's $9.00 for an adult admission - have FUN!

DRAGON CON ON A BUDGET...

Doesn't really happy fully :). Seriously, we went this year for Friday Night, Saturday and came home on Sunday. Now frankly, that was enough time for me to cope with the crowds which were copious (45,000 attendees as opposed to the 30,000 which is probably about standard). There was mounds of humans dressed in varied costuming efforts, and apparently so many that the Fire Marshall had taken particular notice of this year's event and caused shut downs frequently, which, I heard, was FUN.

You see...we didn't get a membership to attend the con. We went this year to spend some time with our friends Kenton, Sarah, Matthew, Pete and the Knoxville "Crew", as well as other assorted Kent & Sarah friends/family. So we hung out in the hotel room, enjoyed Dragon Con TV, got to people watch in the lobby and the underground mall food court (it's always funny to see a stormtrooper order a smoothie). It was fun, even though we didn't to treking through tracks - which are MANY. I even got to see Erik Estrada (who looks the same but a bit bigger). We watched the Dawn contest on DCTV and I realized, I had better do it next year because this year's contest should have been called "The Emotional Eating Dawn Contest" - lots of big ol' girls...68 total. My GOD.

Anyway...we had fun with our folk and plan to go next year.
I already have stellar plans for costuming myself - let alone buying our memberships.
So next year, we will indulge in our geeky-goodness.
It's all good.

OFFICIALLY A ROGERS!

Well, y'all - Uli Bear is officially a Rogers! She had her spaying at the best vet office in the area (Emory Animal Hospital), and we paid her adoption fee to the www.midsoutheskiealliance.org.
We love her so much - she's a mess and she's ours!


If you are ever interested in having an Eskie of your own - please go to the eskie rescue above - they're great!
BTW - Easton is an AMAZING big brother doggie!

FAMILY, FRIENDS, FUN, FEELING & FRENCH FRIES.

Jim and I have successfully returned from a very meaningful trip (for me especially), to my hometown of Easton, Pennsylvania. We piled up the Matrix with the hubby, the two puppies and myself and made the 10 hour drive in fine form - and blissfully escaped the horrid 90 and 100 degree heat here in Tennessee. The reason for the trip being so "momentous" was that I have successfully avoided "going home" since I moved to Tennessee over 6 and 1/2 years ago. Partially, I was running away and avoiding my reality. Clinically we call it something like denial or unresolved grief stuff. I made plans after plans to return to the area in these 6 years, but never followed through. This time...I did. I was ready.

Jim and the pups were there to cheer me on and be my support system and they were there to add light and joy from my present as I confronted some of my Past. My trip back home actually did more good than I can say. My good friend Sarah said it right...it was closure for me. It was a pausing to reflect and a moving forward, which I effectively delayed for 6 1/2 years. Truth is...anytime beforehand, I probably wasn't ready for it. I was ready this time. Ready to conquer fears and continue to grow. I didn't cry when I got to the house, but I did cry when it was appropriate - all in all, I got the closure I needed to move on with my life.

NOW you might ask - what did we do for fun? Well...

Easton has amazing FOOD finds, and we indulged in a culinary walk down memory lane:
Jimmy's Hot Dogs (25th Street Shopping Center - still amazing)
Colonial Pizza (OMG - best EVER - upside down pizza seen here!)
Maryland Fried Chicken (still my favorite type)
Williams' Restaurant's Rice Pudding (still delicious)
Chicken Croquets (salmon who?)
Sal's Pizza (still classic)
Friendly's Restaurant's Sundaes (who ordered the cheese?).


Easton is home to the Crayola Factory and "fun center" - which is really fun if you have kids. I do not have kids and I liked it quite a bit, but it would have been more fun with the tikes.
Easton also has a PEZ Museum - which I don't think is worth paying for, but some people do. You still can buy some neato discontinued pez dispensers and such.

Easton is only 1 hour and 10 minutes from NYC baby! We rushed in...rushed around inside the MOMA (try seeing a ton of art in 90 minutes). We did get to see some stunning and well-known works by Warhol, Lichtenstein, Eames, Pollock and Wyeth; but also some suprises from Seurat (anyone who knows me knows I love him), Monet and believe it or not...Starry Night by Van Gogh! It was fun, but next time we'll plan for more time. We ended our day at Brasserie Les Halles, the home base of the always interesting Anthony Bourdain. We had to go there, I'm a sucker for good food from somewhat celebrity chefs. It didn't disappoint! Especially the pommes frittes (french fries), which I heard Mr. Bourdain identify as "THE best". Okay, yeah...they were. We ordered another side of them. If you go...eat them!
Easton is near Dorney Park and Wild Water Kingdom - the amusement park of my childhood which is actually still really awesome!!!!

Most importantly, Easton is where my father and my family are. That is where my best friend from high school, Jenn is. I got to be with my Dad & Dolores, my brother and sis-in-law, Donna, Travis and his new girlfriend and spend time with Miss Kim. It is home; but not fully-home. Which I now know is okay. My Mom lives on in me. Importantly though, I forged new bonds with the old links and reconnected with those I love and care about deeply. I didn't get to see everyone I wanted...I just needed to get here and I did.

Now, I have plans to come back every year and you bet I'll be seeing you soon :)

For more random pics - click on the link to Jim's Flickr page - Jim supplied the pics, Anna supplied the babble here.

AN ADVENTURE IN PARENTING

For those who know and those who don't, Jim and I have signed on to occasionally take care of a teen at our church. He's a great kid and has lots of energy - for two old 30 somethings who realized they don't have as much energy anymore. We had him for a week and it went REALLY WELL overall. I think I was pretty suprised by that fact! I mean, we had to deal with the typical teen multiple wake-up calls (but heck, I can hardly get Jim outta bed in the mornings), to having to share my time on the internet, worrying he'd monopolize the phone (which he didn't), and finecky eating. I even took him to get his hair dyed close to platinum blonde as you see here. Really though - it was....actually...FUN.

Again though, I did recognize that Jim's going to be the more laid-back parent and I'm going to be neurotic mess - but perhaps that's just us. I was impressed that both of us really worked together at setting limits and enforcing them. Perhaps, when we have a child of our own someday - we won't completely screw it up!

AHHHH...WEDDINGS!

This weekend we got to spend some quality time with our friends and witness the wedding of our friend Randall to his lovely Becky! It was in the beautiful UT Gardens (which I never knew was so AWESOME), and was...pardon the borrow from Goldilocks...JUST RIGHT.

Here's some pics for y'all...congrats Randall & Becky!

WHEN YOUR KIDS ARE 4 LEGGED.

As an update, everything is going really well with our new child - Uli Bear Rogers. She's feisty and a little more independent than we'd like, but we have plenty of time to get into obedience training. We're planning to have her spayed in August which will make her our new adopted daughter. Easton is adjusting fine and still gets to go to doggie day camp every Wednesday. We've also figured out how to get him to eat his dinner (she tries to be alpha dog), you just let him eat up stairs by himself. He's way too mellow sometimes. Anyway...Iris (our black cat), is adjusting fine and Kira still hates her - but otherwise all is well in the world of the Rogers.

We're also babysitting Chris' babies, Trixie and Ginny. They are doing super good and Ginny gives Uli a work out, which is so good because she's got more energy than the whole duracel plant.

Here's some pics for good measure...

Uli's Getting Bigger...


Now That's A Smile!


Easton - Mr. Chill, Coping Well...


Easton, Uli & Ginny Play!


The Divine Miss Trixie...

FALL IN LOVE WITH FILM...JUST THIS...ONCE.

The story is beautiful, the music divine, but in such small distribution - see if it you can.

JIM'S ANOTHER YEAR OLDER!

Woohoo...today was Jim's birthday and he's officially 30-somethin-or-other :) I think he had a good day. He prefers some of the low-key variety on his b-day and since his sweet Mom was here for some of the day, there wasn't much time to do much other than go out to eat at an eatery of his choosing.
First, he wanted to try out the new "Japanese-Buffet" on Kingston Pike, only to realize, it hasn't opened yet (I'm a tad scared, but up for a try). Then we went to Jim's second choice CHARLEY PEPPERS. It was good, and who knew they served brunch?!
I continue to note that Jim is difficult to buy b-day gifts for. He want's weird audio related products that I have NO IDEA about.
Anyway...I think it was a good day.
I hope he realizes how happy the 4 four-legged-children and I are just knowing that he was born.

UNEXPECTED IMPRESSION.

Jim sent this to me a few weeks ago and it caught me truly off-guard. It reminds me that there are moments in life that still can leave us speechless.

NEWS FROM NEW PUPPY LAND.

Jim is a far less neurotic parent that I am. Far less. I'm on "high alert" so much that I think I'm adding tension to our household. She wines horribly when we leave her alone. Easton growls when she goes near his rawhide, his food bowl, him. I read that it's NORMAL and I'm sure it is. He feels displaced and it's making me a sad sack.
She is however cute...extremely cute.
Rambunctious too.
Easton is so amazing that he's trying. We took him for a special ride to Sonic tonight and got him a hot-dog.
She's teething too which means, move everything out of her way.
We did this weekend (which is a good thing), get to eat yummy dinner with Jon, Alison, Pete and Tia and then today went to see 1408 (see Musings of a Muse for my review).
Mostly, things are good in the midst of a big transition.
Jim is the best doggie daddy ever.
Btw...we've named her Ulika "Uli" Bear Rogers.

THE BEATLES & ZOMBIES - PERFECT TOGETHER.

Our good friend April (who saw this from our other friend Matthew), posted this on her blog today and it made me laugh. It's kind of a perfect for our group in a way or at least Jim and I.

OUR POSSIBILITIES - AND HOPES!

Well, the dog we were wanting to adopt from the rescue already has an adoption contract on her. So the woman asked if we'd be interested in "fostering-to-adopt" a puppy she's named Panda. Panda is a mixed-breed with AED/Spitz as her primary breed (which is what we were looking for). Jim and I talked about it and agreed to foster her and as long as everything goes well with integrating her into our 2 cat, 1 handsome dog family we're planning to adopt her! Easton has really enjoyed playing with Trixie and Ginny since they've moved in and I think he misses Lady-Bear like we do. We agreed to give this the big try, and did this without even seeing her...so they sent us a picture tonight.


OMG - Could She Be Cuter? We're excited and spending the next 10 days puppy-proofing the house as much as possible! Wish us luck - I hope this goes well!

ACCOUNTABILITY UPDATE - HA!

The Weekend is sadly over - here's what we said we'll do:

HOUSE NEEDS
1) Move all "Anna's Office Furniture" into that room - MOSTLY DONE!
2) Move all "Sunroom Furniture" into that room - MOSTLY DONE!
3) Take TV out of our bedroom and put in sunroom - YEAH, NOT DONE AT ALL.
4) Move all "Garage Sale" crap into the...wait for it....Garage - HA!
5) Do an overall "straighten up" routine - NOPE!

SOCIAL LIFE NEEDS
1) Reset the start date of the Movie Lover's Club, and make sure everyone we want to invite is invited - STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS!
2) Let people know that the start that was supposed to be next week has been postponed until next month - THAT'S ON JIM NOW.
3) Go see Oceans 13 - DONE - GO SEE IT!
4) Go see Knocked Up (I'll be shocked if we actually get 2 movies in this weekend) - NOT YET, BUT I KNOW WE'LL GET TO IT.

WE did do grocery shopping for the next week +, I did stick to my diet, and Jim and Chris did get our remodel garbage to the dump so YEAH FOR US! It was also good to see part of our circle of friends at The Creamery on Friday too...we have so much fun with everyone. Here's to a good week ahead!

NEW FAMILY MEMBER? POSSIBLY.

No, no, no - sadly I'm not pregnant yet! Hey, since I'm finally working hard-core on my weight loss effort, I'd like to lose the weight before I gain the baby-belly.

Anyway...since Chris and the puppies have moved in, we've fallen in love with the Trixie-dog breed = Alaskan Eskimo Dog / Spitz. So, since we have been considering inviting a new canine girlie into our lives since we lost our beloved Lady-Bear almost a year ago...we've decided to look at the AED/Spitz breed. We've found a possible dog from the AED/S Rescue in TN and we found a possible new baby-girl addition to our family.

She's 1 year old, good with cats, good with other dogs and good with children (even little ones - so the hopeful baby will be okay). We've gone the distance by contacting the rescue and filling out the adoption form. We'll probably have to have a home-visit done, which is fine with us! Based on her foster-parent's profile of her, she seems like a perfect fit with our family. I don't want to give a whole lot of information on her yet because I'm hoping that she'll join our family (i.e. I don't want to jinx it). She's cute as can be.

If we do get her we're toying with 2 different names "ELKE" or "AVA". That would make us a 2x2x2 household: 2 Adult Humans, 2 Kitties, and 2 Pups! Who knows - we're hopeful! Wish us well in whatever is supposed to happen for all of us!

AN EXPERIMENT IN ACCOUNTABILITY.

Poor Jim is riding along on my new "hold myself accountable kick", so let's see what happens when we set plans and aim to follow through. We have discussed getting some projects done in the house since we've backed up our trip to the mecca that is IKEA for next saturday...here's what we said we'll do:

HOUSE NEEDS
1) Move all "Anna's Office Furniture" into that room.
2) Move all "Sunroom Furniture" into that room.
3) Take TV out of our bedroom and put in sunroom.
4) Move all "Garage Sale" crap into the...wait for it....Garage.
5) Do an overall "straighten up" routine.

SOCIAL LIFE NEEDS
1) Reset the start date of the Movie Lover's Club, and make sure everyone we want to invite is invited.
2) Let people know that the start that was supposed to be next week has been postponed until next month.
3) Go see Oceans 13.
4) Go see Knocked Up (I'll be shocked if we actually get 2 movies in this weekend).

All right...let's see what we're capable of!

THE READER'S DIGEST CONDENSED VERSION

Okay, it occurs to me that if anyone is actually going to read our blog, we need to be UPDATING it more often. Otherwise, it's normal to grow tiresome of a page that doesn't change and evolve. Wow, that sounds self important. Anyway - here's the 2 minute recap of life from December till NOW.


DECECMBER
Christmas was fun!
Easton likes to stay at the Lowes Vanderbilt Hotel.
Jim's Mom got us a Wii and Wii LOVE IT (and have no idea how she scored one for us)
New Years was Fun with Dave, Paula, Pete, John, Alison and the rest of the crew at D & P's House.


JANUARY
I get promoted to Project Director/Manager at my Job - Whoohoo!
I cope with another year of missing my Mom - it's been 8, my god.
Jim's job still going strong and he's happy!
Jim and I start working out at the GYM.
Jim realizes he misses playing Racquetball and dives right back in.


FEBRUARY
We go to VEGAS BABY as we celebrate 5 years of love!
We don't win money :(
We do see 2 amazing shows: Zumanity and KA (both by Cirque du Soleil).
We learn that Kevin James is a Breakfast snob.
We are reminded that French Cuisine ROCKS, and eating at even a fake Eifel Tower is decadent.
We realize that Fairmont Street, even with a canopy, is SAD.
We learn that it is possible to sleep in an airport on a 5 hour unexpected layover in Chi-Town.
We are reminded that the NORTH is cold -
Chicago was 5 below zero and we had to walk outside to get to the plane (I did not have a jacket).
We realize if it ever happened, we'd consider living in VEGAS.


MARCH
It's a blur, I'm sure things happened.


APRIL
I get older (friggin 33).
I get to go to her annual decadence that is The Melting Pot for my birthday.
(Thanks hun, I know it doesn't make you feel good.)
Jim does really sweet things for my birthday (flowers, itunes credit, dinner, extra good attention).
I begin "Do-It-Yourself Communion" and consider eating more Christ-Chex daily.
Jim still rockin on his job.


MAY
Jim, Easton and I go camping with the "inner circle" of friends up here and spend an AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL and restful weekend at Elkmont in the Smokies. We cannot wait to go again!
A good friend of ours moves-in because he's in transition and needs some time to figure out his next steps; it's fun having a guest who can take care of himself!
Jim and I considered potentially taking in a teenager at our church who needed a home. After a lot of hard thought, Jim and I realized we probably can't make a successful leap from "NOT PARENTS" to "PARENTS OF A TEEN" so easily since we both (kinda) live like college students. We realize that adopting a teen may be in our future but after we have our own child because frankly, it allows you to adjust to parenting a bit more (i.e. it takes time before the kid can understand rules/boundaries, etc...which gives us time to figure out how to set those and maintain them).
We agree to be respite providers for said TEEN above - he's a really cool kid.
I legally change my name (it's time).
Jim and his friend Darrin finally get tix to see the Police Tour.
We learn that the Millertown Carmike theatre is somewhere NOT TO GO EVER AGAIN.
We see Hot Fuzz (****), twice; and Shrek 3 (**).
Jim get's an amazing performance review and reminds me how PROUD I am of him - he's one talented man.
We go to an AMAZING cookout at D & P's house with the "inner circle" and realize that Dave can cook the hell outta' some chicken, hamburgers, hotdogs and are sad because we missed out on the ribs. I'll eat there ANYTIME!


Which brings us up to JUNE -and we'll update this more often as I'm sure there's plenty I've missed along the way.
I have got to encourage Jim to post too - we'll see if that happens!

We Have Been Neglectful - Not For Long.

It occurs to me that we've been neglecting our blog. We will update it this week. A lot has happened - most good, some phenomenal, some hard - mostly FAB. Stay tuned.