A final post...

Behnke Beach, VA is no longer. Pleases feel free to visit our new blog at www.teambehnke.wordpress.com.

Amanda's Birthday and News of News

So, last Wednesday I’m going to Wal-Mart. I’m driving down this street:

And I blink. And suddenly, it looks like this:

Pretty intense, huh? Shocking?

Okay, so I might be stretching the truth a little bit. Or, a lot. In fact, those pictures aren’t of the same road. Or even pictures from this state. They came from here (www.ayearinthepark.com, www.bangla2000.com). But that pretty accurately sums up the feeling Steve and I got around here. One day, everything was just green. It’s really kind of neat because we were told by everyone around here that nothing would green up until May but really, by early April, everything was green. The best way I can describe it is by saying that what you see starting to come out in Wisconsin in April starts to come out here in March. All the plants and trees and stuff bloom about two months earlier (and last longer). It’s definitely been one of the nicest things about being down here…although I do believe we could have enjoyed this even more if we’d had a yard to enjoy it in. I digress…

In other news, my mom and dad came to visit for my birthday (Thanks Mom and Dad) and we had fun on a trip to Williamsburg. Williamsburg is a neat little town, with a walking street full of “olde tyme” shops and restaurants and a bunch of old governmental buildings that you can see.

You can pay to go in but we had fun just enjoying walking around in the 82 degrees and sunshine. Here’s a pic of me and my mom that day:

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a great pic with my dad. However, Steve snapped one of us looking at my scabs on my knees (from the aforementioned fall) and I got one of him doing the “gorilla” in some bamboo (how appropriate).

And, of course, we saw some old buildings:

Wait, what’s that last one. ;) Anyway, we also bought some candy. Really, we were getting a gift for our friends Jessica, Dave and Sherry who watched Reggie for us while we were away but we also bought some for us. I got a chocolate covered s’more and, let me tell you, it was heavenly. I will definitely make a point of getting another the next time I am there although this time I will eat the treat in 4 sittings instead of one. It is quite a bit of candy.

I also got a multitude of gifts from my dear family. Some candy from my sister that came with an hilarious card that, if I knew how to do video, I would have made a video of. It was one of those musical cards but it was about chocolate. Ah, I can’t describe the hilarity. And my mom and pop got me a book and some shirts and BANANAGRAMS (It’s bananas! B-A-N-A-N-A-S). Steve and I have taken to trying to use the letters to make all long words (over 8 letters). We have not yet succeeded. And Steve got me an aluminum water bottle, some socks, the first Harry Potter book (which I didn’t have – I KNOW – because I had loaned it out in high school and never gotten it back), and my favorite gift of all….Cornelius R. Plant.

He’s so handsome! And, NASA says he’s good at keeping your air clean so, yay Cornelius.

The whole weekend was a hoot. I love having visitors and entertaining and I’m getting revved up for Steve’s parents to come out in May.

Steve and I also spent a recent weekend in Washington DC visiting my dear friends Jane and James and Lucy who are moving there in due time. I will be very excited to have someone so dear to my heart so close to my person when Jane-O moves there! Can’t wait! But, more on that trip in it’s own post.

We also practiced ourselves some hardcore natural family planning yesterday by way of babysitting for 12, yes 12, children under the age of 7. You heard me.

Steve’s co-worker, who’s lawn we mow, got us a gig babysitting some kiddos during her Family Resource Group meeting. That’s a meeting for spouses of military people to get together for friendship and discussion and support. Our job was to keep their kids busy in another room while the moms talked. And Steve, being the novice that he is, mistakenly brought out play-doh which ended up all over the floor and all mixed together. But, it was his first time and I can forgive him. At least we didn’t have to change any diapers.

In job hunting news, I had two interview this week (both went well but both were part-time or limited term positions) and I have two next week (both for full-time, benefited positions without a set end date so if you pray, PLEASE pray for me. I will be so, so, so excited to have a job!

In apartment news, our fire alarm went off today and as Reggie absolutely did not like the noise of the alarm, we went outside. And a good thing too because not only did the alarm scare Reggie, it scared the poo out of him…twice. And, two fire trucks showed up in response to the alarm so we know it was a legitimate call. I think that is the first time I’ve actually had to leave my apartment in response to a fire alarm. All in all, an interesting and eye-opening experience. What did I take with me when I left my apartment? My keys, my dog, and a poop bag. At least I’ve got my priorities straight.

Finally, we’re not gearing up for much this weekend. It’s a beautiful day right now so I might try to get Steve to go for another bike ride. Oh, and I also have another post already written so it will be an even shorter wait this time. Until then, here is the customary picture of Reggie being absolutely adorable.

And before I go, I might say that he has been extra cute lately because he likes to sit on the porch so I often leave the door open for him to come in and go out as he pleases. But, occasionally, a bug will get in the door and Reggie will chase it and bite at it and hunt it down until it flies back out. What a good watch dog!

TTFN…Ta ta for now,

Amanda

Reggie's Birthday

Oh my!  Has it really been almost 5 weeks since I wrote on the blog last.  And here I had wild delusions of posting every other day!  Not enough happens!  But, nevertheless, let me apologize for staying away so long.  I’ve been busy having visitors, getting older, and entering into long, drawn out discussions about my job prospects with my husband…discussions which I do not intend to reiterate here but, suffice it to say, going back to school to get a degree in a career field is becoming an ever more appealing option.  I digress. 

Second, let me say many gracious thanks to all those who called, sent cards, and sent gifts for my and Reggie’s birthday.  We both had truly excellent birthdays and I will tell you about Reggie’s today and my own in the next post.  They were both quite enjoyable.

Third, let me catch up on some happenings since the last time I wrote.  You may recall that in my last post I mentioned battle wounds.  Oh yes.  Here’s the story:

One of the reasons Steve and I wanted to move south was for better weather.  (Whether or not we actually have better weather is yet to be determined as we do get an awful lot of rain but it can definitely be said that we have warmer weather.)  And, one of the biggest perks of better weather is that we can take Reggie out for runs longer into the year.  This is a perk because, when Reggie does not run, he does this:

 But when he does run, he does this:

So, out on one of these runs in the warmer weather, I tripped on some uneven cement and, though I put my hands out in front of me, my fall was not exactly cushioned.  I not only scraped both knees and my shoulder (in an attempt to tuck and roll) so that both were bloodied through no less than three layers of fabric, but I banged my forehead onto the cement and was left with a decent sized bump and bruise.  I’d like to enter into evidence items A, B, and C:

All in all, it wasn’t really that bad.  The bump was about the size of a nickel and about as tall as a mini marshmallow and, though my knees hurt for a good week whenever something touched them, they got better and only left discolored marks where the scabs where.  The bruise, however, lasted a good week and a half after the accident and made Steve paranoid that anytime we went out in public, people around us were whispering about abuse.  But, it’s no matter.  All of the evidence is now gone and/or has paled and no one is the wiser.

We also had a little incident, though I have no pictures of this one, with our boy.  One rainy Monday, Steve and I decided to stay in and do a youtube Tai Bo workout instead of a run.  Reggie got very excited during out workout and ended up jumping over the back of the futon.  Imagine a standing leap from the floor over the back of the futon and, most unfortunately, then a slide off into the coffee table.  He hit is eye (or thereabouts) and two days later it was swollen and red and leaking some sort of greenish-yellow pus.  We took him to the vet who dyed his eye green, took a picture of it, and sent me home with antibiotics as he had a scratch on his cornea.  But, the nice part was that they gave us a free follow up visit a few days later to make sure he was healing well.

Finally, we celebrated Reggie’s birthday.  What was supposed to be a cold and stormy Saturday turned out to be mildly rainy and rather warm.  So, we began our day with a run in the neighborhood and, since it was so nice out, we followed it with a walk to look at all the budding trees and flowers.  Next, we went to the pet store to pick out a toy which we subsequently took home and wrapped.  Then, we had a birthday treat...a large milkbone covered entirely in peanut butter.  We tried to stick a candle in there but it wouldn’t stay upright so we were unable to light one but we did sing, “Happy Birthday”.  Sadly, we didn’t really have anyone to celebrate with…if I had been at home, I’d have undoubtedly thrown a huge party but maybe on our next visit we can have an honorary ice cream cake.  Anyway, here are a few pictures from our boy’s birthday:

 

And, last but not least, with our new, nicer weathered home, we have been trying to spend a decent amount of time at the beach.  Here’s a few pictures of us all at the beach a while back.  Reggie was digging up dead crabs.  I have a movie of that adventure on my phone but I have yet to learn how to upload from my phone to the internet.  Hopefully I’ll have it up soon…ish.

 

Again, sorry it’s been so long.  The next post shouldn’t take so long.

Cheers,

Amanda 

Update and After Pics

I know you have all been eagerly awaiting the rest of these after pictures.  So, without further ado, here they are!!!

First up we have our cozy little bathroom. 

One of the reasons we picked this apartment is because it was the only one bedroom we saw that had two bathroom sinks!  And I can tell you that we have been enjoying BOTH of those sinks thoroughly since we got here. 

We also have another shower curtain that should really be up in place of that ugly brown one.  It’s nicer..has some blue and green in it so it doesn’t look as oatmeal-y as the rest of the house but we just haven’t put it up yet.  That is, however, why we have two shower bars.

Next, we have our bedroom.  Here is the view from the kitchen:

And, of course, the 360 degree view of the room:

And, of course, you needed a picture of Reggie modeling his little bed which sits at the end of ours.  

He loves sleeping there and EVERY morning at about 6:00 am he gets up and walks to my side of the bed and puts his front legs and his head on the bed near my head.  Then, if I don’t let him up to snuggle, he walks to the other side of the bed and tries his daddy.  He usually makes it up into bed one way or another.

So, that concludes the tour of our apartment.  Scintillating, I know.  We’ll have some more lively posts coming up soon including battle wounds and a top ten list.  Ooooh.

Until then, here are some cute pictures of Reggie.  The first one is of him playing with bubbles and the next two are of him and his daddy.

 

Cheers, 

Amanda 

a long awaited, long winded post about pretty much nothing

Ah, well.  Can’t win them all. 

And I know, I know, I promised more after pictures soon and I will get to them but, really, it’s not that exciting.  I mean, since we can’t paint and Steve and I have agreed to not put any holes in the walls since we don’t plan to stay very long, there’s really nothing more in those pictures besides beige walls and hand-me-down furniture.  But, I digress.  This post isn’t about that, anyway.  It’s about something much more exciting: Valentine’s day, lent, and cottage cheese.

Oh boy.  

So, Steve and I are not incredibly emotional, sentimental, exciting, surprising, spontaneous (etc.) people.  Therefore, when it comes to celebrating holidays, we rarely do anything over the top.  But, given that Reggie woke us up extra early this Valentine’s morning past, we decided to take advantage of the special occasion and go get my favorite breakfast treat.  Donuts! 

 Here we all are on the way to go get donuts:

And here are the delicious and festive donuts we chose:

I know.  They’re really something, aren’t they?  Anywho…the reason this is important is because way back in December, my friend Jane was in WI and we spent an afternoon together.  During that afternoon, we got to talking about family traditions and Jane was saying that sometimes you need to decide to institute a tradition in order for it to happen.  So, it got me thinking about my family and if we had any family traditions that I really enjoyed and wanted to carry on in my own family someday.  And that is when I remembered donuts.  I believe it was Saturday mornings when my dad would get up early and go to the gas station to get a bear claw for his self and a white-frosted long john donut for me.  I can’t really remember how long this lasted or if it happened every Saturday but I remember sitting at the kitchen table eating my donut and a glass of milk and I remember the taste of the frosting and I remember pajamas and, in general, it’s a good memory.  So I thought, Steve and I should definitely have a donut tradition in our family.  We had decided on the first Saturday of the month (only one Saturday a month because, let’s face it, Donuts aren’t really good for you) but when the opportunity presented itself, we also got them for Valentine’s Day.  And what a splendid way to celebrate it was.  Hopefully we remember to do this again next year to carry on the tradition.  (And by the way, Steve also carved a piece of cheese into the shape of a heart for me.  What a dear!)

Next we gotta talk about lent because it’s coming up on us fast.  Today, being as it is Fat Tuesday, Steve and I are getting one last pizza and I am eating one last bowl of spaghettios before we embark on a healthier, happier lent.  We decided to give up processed foods.  I have actually done this before.  My senior year of college a few roommates and I (Lindsay and Jane I believe) gave up processed foods.  (Oh, and by processed foods I mean things like lunchmeat and mayonnaise and pudding and Doritos and flavored yogurt, etc.  We can still buy pasta and rice and bread and even chicken and things like that.)  Anyway, I really liked doing this because not only does it help you to get healthier, it also helps you remember that this is the type of food you were created for and, it helps me get a better perspective on food.  It helps me realize that food isn’t what makes me happy and makes me really focus on what does.  Anyway, I’m also very happy because we have inspired one of Steve’s co-workers to give up eating out for lent, in an attempt to get healthier as well.  So, you know, yay Jesus!  Oh, and if you can’t think of something you’d like to give up for lent, my friend Lindsay sent me this the same year we gave up processed food together.  You could pick one of these.  Or all of them.

Fast from judging others; feast on the Christ dwelling in them.

Fast from emphasis on differences; feast on the unity of life.

Fast from apparent darkness; feast on the reality of light.

Fast from thoughts of illness; feast on the healing power of God.

Fast from words that pollute; feast on phrases that purify.

Fast from discontent; feast on gratitude.

Fast from anger; feast on patience.

Fast from pessimism; feast on optimism.

Fast from worry; feast on divine order.

Fast from complaining; feast on appreciation.

Fast from negatives; feast on affirmatives.

Fast from unrelenting pressures; feast on unceasing prayer.

Fast from hostility; feast on non-resistance.

Fast from bitterness; feast on forgiveness.

Fast from self-concern; feast on compassion for others.

Fast from personal anxiety; feast on eternal truth.

Fast from discouragements; feast on hope.

Fast from facts that depress; feast on verities that uplift.

Fast from lethargy; feast on enthusiasm.

Fast from thoughts that weaken; feast on promises that inspire.

Fast from shadows of sorrow; feast on the sunlight of serenity.

Fast from idle gossip; feast on purposeful silence.

Fast from problems that overwhelm; feast on prayer that undergirds.

—William Arthur Ward (American author, teacher and pastor, 1921-1994.)

Finally, I have something to say about cottage cheese.  Here’s some cottage cheese, though not my own:

 

(I found the photo on this blog: http://peanutbutterfingers.wordpress.com/2009/09/20/cottage-cheese-if-you-please/) 

I didn’t eat cottage cheese as a kid.  It always looked too lumpy and watery for my taste.  And I’d once or twice left some milk out for a few days and it looks mighty similar…I’m just saying.  But, it’s considered a healthier alternative to some other cheeses and I decided to start using it in my recipes. First I tried it as the base cheese in a lasagna (which also used uncooked noodles, which I don’t recommend) and then I mixed it with veggies and stuffed some chicken breasts with it.  And, I have to say, in both recipes, I like the cheese.  It’s not super flavored so it just kind of makes a nice creamy tasting base in those recipes and then just a little flavored cheese does the trick.  Anyway, I am now a cottage cheese fan. 

So, that’s really it.  I haven’t got much more to say except that I promise that the next post will have the rest of the after pics and that Reggie and his daddy looked real cute taking a nap together yesterday.  See: 

 

Cheers,

Amanda 

Our Little Boy is Growing Up

Oh boy. 

I cleaned today.  After I spent 30 solid minutes looking for (and finding!) my cleaning CD, aka: Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack.  It’s an awesome soundtrack, in case you need some new tunes.  But, I digress.  The point is that I cleaned!  Yay!  Which means that very, very soon you will have the privilege of seeing some more after photos of the apartment. 

But not yet.  No, first I must catch up on some other news that I know you are all dying to know more about: Reggie’s date. 

 Meet Alice:

Isn’t she lovely?  Reggie thought so.  While he spent a lot of time playing with her, he also spent a decent amount of time trying to get in her britches.  And he wasn’t exactly discrete about it…if you know what I mean.  Anyway, here are a few more pics of the pups playing in the yard. 

The spectacular yard that you see belonged to a friend of Steve’s from work by the name of Jessica.  Jessica and her boyfriend Dave hosted us for the puppy play date, a wonderful dinner of lasagna, and a football game...though we felt it important to leave before the Vikings game against the Saints as some of us can become quite irritable when our choice of team doesn’t do so well.  Not to fear, though, our choice did great J. 

But, back to the play date.  It was a lot of fun.  So far in Reggie’s life, he hasn’t really had the opportunity to play with a dog his own size one on one.  The really cool thing was that Reggie and Alice were about the same size in both height and weight, and they played the same way.  They boxed.  It was really fun to watch and, next time, I’ll take my little camera and try to video tape some of their playing.

But, the best part of the play date was this:

 

For the entire play date, Reggie panted because Alice was wearing him out.  And for the next two days, he pretty much slept. Poor guy.

Cheers,

Amanda