Crazy Bird Lady

This is my mom. She's turned into the crazy bird lady and I mean that in a very loving way. She's babysitting two birds for a friend in her ward and she loves it (just as much as dad pretends to hate it). She has always loved watching birds, she gets it from her father. I remember Grandpa sitting in his chair by the window with binoculars, watching the different bird feeders they had in the backyard. Whenever mom's home she's playing with these birds. I called her the other night and could hear them chirping away. The bigger green bird is Scooby. He's trained to say a few things and do some tricks. He's pretty moody, but when he feels like it he'll sit on your finger and let you pet his head. The little blue bird is Birdie. He's new and Scooby isn't crazy about him. Birdie flies around and lands where he pleases (Scooby can't fly and I think he's a bit jealous). Birdie is very hyper and doesn't stay in one place very long. He doesn't talk, but makes little noises that sound like R2 D2...pretty funny. My mom has really been enjoying having the birds around, and I have to admit, it's cool to play with them. I mean, I'm actually holding birds!

Dad feeding the birds...they loved the bread! I knew he didn't really hate them!

When I was home last weekend I finally got to meet Abby, the daughter of my good friends Darron & Robyn Billeter. She's so adorable!!! We had a great time and it was so amazing to see Darron with his daughter. I knew he'd be a great dad and it's always fun to be right!

Eileen and I are headed up to UMass this weekend to see Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds play. It's our first Dave & Tim show and we're VERY excited. It'll be a whirlwind weekend (7 hour drive up on Sat. and 7 hour drive home on Sun.), but we don't care...it'll be worth it. I'll be sure to take a lot of photos to post!

Easter Kitchen Aid

Susan and I colored Easter eggs last night and had a blast!

My favorite egg.










Susan's favorite egg.

Here's the whole gang!

This year, the Easter Bunny was very, very good to me...I finally got my Kitchen Aid mixer! Okay, the EB didn't bring it to me, but I got such a fantastic deal at the Williams Sonoma outlet that I just couldn't pass it up. So, here it is! I love it SO MUCH...isn't it gorgeous!?! I can't wait to use it, so everyone should come visit soon!

The DMB Dilemma

Okay, I need some help! Eileen and I are in the process of deciding where go this summer to see our favorite band. We're only getting one night in Pittsburgh, so we need to travel to see them more than once. (Yes, we already know we're insane, but you all love us anyway!) We've narrowed it down to three options.

Option #1 - Raleigh, NC & Charlotte, NC
This is the closest option to home and the least expensive, but also the least glamorous. We'd head to Virginia Beach for a couple of days on our way to Raleigh, then Charlotte, then home. The plus side to this option is that it's the week before my birthday.

Option #2 - Gorge Ampitheater, George, WA
This is Eileen's 1st choice because the Gorge weekend is legendary among DMB fans. This is probably the most beautiful venue out there and there are 3 nights of concerts. The downside to this is that it's 3 hours from Seattle and the only place to stay (other than a hard-to-get-into motel) is the campground. If you know me at all, you know how I feel about camping...especially for 4 days. Plus, we'd have to fly there, rent a car and then find some camping gear. It's kind of a logistical nightmare. However, it is a once-in-a-lifetime DMB experience and we're not getting any younger! :) Anyone out there have a nice RV they'd like to loan us (and operate for us and drive there for us)?

Option #3 - Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, CA
This is the most glamorous, but also expensive. We'd fly to LA, go to Laguna for a few days (provided the Griffith's will let us crash at their condo) and then drive up to LA for one or two of the shows there. Then we'd fly home. I've never been to LA and it's tempting. This is also the last stop on the tour so the shows are guaranteed to be AMAZING. But even with my Marriott discount, LA is expensive and we'd have to rent a car as well. But October in California is tempting...

So there are our options. We have until Monday to put in any ticket requests on the Warehouse website (DMB fan website where we can request tickets before they go on sale to the public). We can only request 2 tickets for each show, so if you'd like to join us on any of these adventures, you're on your own for tickets. But we'd love the company (as long as you abide by "Sara & Eileen's DMB rules"). Yes, we're snobs about it, but we take our concert experiences VERY seriously! :)

Anyway, the voting is now open...let us know what you think we should do this summer!

NCAA Champions

And Florida Repeats! Florida - 84/Ohio State - 75

Now I have to begin by saying that I'm not a Florida fan...except for tonight. Of course, this is because I picked Florida to go all the way and win the NCAA Championship for a second year in a row. And with this win, I am finishing the tournament in 1st PLACE in my pool!!! Not only did I pick Florida to win, but I guessed the final score would be 84-76. Off by only one...boy am I GOOD. I ended up picking my bracket with 96.5% accuracy. This just goes to show what can happen when you make your picks with your head instead of your heart (sorry Pitt!). It was a fun tournament and now I have bragging rights for an entire year!

The Beach

Last weekend we went to Virginia Beach. Some friends were running in the Shamrock 8K race and the rest of us went to support them. This is what the weather looked like when we left...freezing rain and snow. Nice.

This is the beach the first day. It was FREEZING (though the seagulls didn't seem cold). We wanted to take a walk on the beach but had to bundle up completely. It was still nice to be at the beach though. We rented a big house and relaxed. We played games and watched the NCAA tournament all day. My kind of weekend!

Here's the beach the last day. The sun had come out and it was a bit warmer. I was sad to leave and go back to real life. It was fun to hang out with friends and get to know some people better. And it's always nice to be at the beach...even if it's cold!

Dallas

I spent the last few days visiting Anna, Chase and the boys in Dallas. It was great to see everyone and I miss you guys already! Dallas is gorgeous this time of year, 70+ degrees and sunny skies. I could get used to that! Anna and I had a chance to go to the Dallas temple (see below) and afterwards had some yummy Texas BBQ!

Here are two of my favorite boys, Cameron and Miles! Cam kept us safe all week and here he is practicing his web slinging. Is "slinging" a correct Spiderman term? Anna and I were wondering, so if there are any Spidey experts out there (aka John), let us know! Cam and I played in his tent a lot and he helped me unload the dishwasher for mommy!

Here's a great photo of Miles. This was my first time meeting him and we hit it off well. I also got to meet two of Chase's brothers and his sister-in-law Kathleen (thanks for the hair advice!). Anna is lucky to have married into such a great family (especially when she gets a flat tire...)!

I'm glad I had the chance to visit Texas. I lived there once upon a time, but it was a while ago and I was pretty young. I enjoyed seeing some of the state when I drove just past the Oklahoma border to meet up with a friend. It's beautiful down there, very flat and open and I can see the attracting to living in that part of the country. I'm definitely a city girl, but part of me is still drawn there (and not just because of Sonic's cherry limeades). Though I'll NEVER like country music! :)

End of an Era

Wednesday was my last day at Ford Motor Company. It's been 10 mostly good years. I'm still not sure what I'm feeling and I'm sure this won't really hit me for a while. I'm thinking it may hit me once I start my new job at Marriott. Right now I just feel like I'm on vacation or something. Ford was good to me and I was given a lot of great opportunities. But it was time to go...and hopefully I'm off to bigger and better things!