Paisley

Monday, August 20, 2012

Columbus Life


I know you all are DYING to know what I have been up to in Columbus?! Yes, you are sitting on the edge of your chair patiently waiting to hear.


(ps this post has been sitting in my draft box for the past week, its hard uploading pictures, ok not hard, time consuming maybe?! OH i'm lazy?! riiiighhhhttt!) So when I say this past week, I actually mean 2 weeks ago!******

I'm really exciting. I cannot deny that. Anywhoooo all sarcasm aside. Life in Columbus has been pretty great, I can't complain and we have kept ourselves surprisingly busy.

Okay, okay. Michael has kept himself, UN-surprisingly busy. Why?! Cause basically all he does is work. For instance, I was out of town for work ALL week and then when I get home Michael continues to work, and then he works the whole weekend and doesn't get home until 8 or 9. His life is crazy and sleepless. That is definitely not for me, I would be a monster!

So since my hubby is working about 98% percent of his awake life I have had to figure out how to get by on my own as a fake single lady. Does that sound wrong, cause I don't mean it that way! So what have I been doing? And what do Michael and I have do when we have a chance to see each other? Here's what we've been doing lately:

1. I have been eating tons of ice cream! Is this a surprise?! No! This past week while I was out of town for work I convinced my coworker Azure-Dee to eat ice cream with me 2 of the 3 nights she was there. OH and that one night we didn't have ice cream?! I convinced her we needed to buy candy at Wal-mart, because dessert is necessary.

2. Trying to exercise. OK I have been a slight slacker compared to where I was before we moved. This past week while I was out of town I set my alarm every morning to wake up , of the 4 days out there I got up 0 and turned off my alarm and chose more sleep. I blame this on the olympics, since i HAD to watch ALL of primetime each night. I mean, it's addicting. However, I did workout 3 of the 4 evenings I was there, but you can't do a ton on crappy hotel equipment.

Yesterday, AKA Saturday, I woke up early and wanted to enjoy the fall temps and went on a run around our cute town. I had a hair appointment at 10 and thought a half hour run would be good. Well I got lost in all the neighborhood streets and was phoneless so my run turned into almost an hour long run. It was still wonderful though, just slightly stressful towards the end!
I did make it to my haircut though, post haircut pic!

Today I woke up and wanted to give my lovely bike some attention. I hit the Olentangy River Trail hard and biked ALL the way downtown on my own! I was proud of this accomplishment!! The ride back was tough since I felt the thing was uphill the whole way back (obviously it wasn't). But I ended up successfully riding a little over 20 miles with only 1 picture stop break!
Made it downtown!
Oh hello Christopher Columbus Ship and river!


Post bike ride, very proud of myself and my bike!

3. Watching Olympics - I know I mentioned this already but I LOVE them. They make me feel so patriotic and the little stories they do on the athletes make me tear up almost every time. I have enjoyed everything from the Women's gymnastic team to all the track events to swimming to basketball to sand volleyball to diving to I could go on forever. Seriously, people take these games for granted! And what better way to motivate an obese nation? I mean I'm not sure if i'm the only one but I definitely wish I was in the athletic shape that these competitors are in! Although I find it slightly confusing that our country dominated in medals but then we also dominate in the highest rates of obesity in the world. SAD.

**side note** --- thanks to the olympics I want to find an adult beginners tumbling/gymnastics class. i don't think they exist in Columbus, I mean I googled it. If anyone knows more than me please let me know!

4. Not cleaning my house -- again I blame the olympics. House cleaning is not fun, i just skip it :)

5. Opening up the windows in the house -- cause um this weather this weekend is phenomenal and who doesn't love a fresh breeze through their house? ***note*** AC has been off in our house for over a week now, and its refreshing!

6. Enjoying local attractions like Buckeye Lake! -- Last Sunday Michael and I headed out to Buckeye lake with 5 or Michael's coworkers to enjoy a day out on the lake on a Pontoon boat. This day ended with some very silly people but it was a great time! The weather was overcast but still warm so we were one of the few boats out on the lake! This trip definitely made me consider owning a boat in my near future.

7. Going to the beautiful Tackett wedding in Kentucky - Last Friday I checked outta work early and headed to Lexington to celebrate the marriage of Brittany and Tyler! Their wedding was super cute and very pinterest-y. And it was great getting to see soooo many friends. Michael couldn't make it to the wedding cause of work though and at our table I was the 11th wheel...how ridiculous was that? I also got to cuddle with Becca all night long since she let me crash in her bed that evening! :)


8. Date night with the Hubs - Michael actually had the weekend off last weekend (first day off in 19 days) and we had a little date night last Saturday. He was recommended a restaurant called Figlio's near the Scioto river. The food was excellent and fairly priced! I had a super delicious chicken and mushroom ravioli (this exceeded all mushroom ravioli I have ever had!) and Michael had a yummy pizza and of course we split dessert! We then went home and enjoyed some Breaking Bad (obsessed). I love spending time with the hubs!

9. Hanging out with friends - Last night Catherine, Drew, Liz, and Brian came over to our house for cocktails, boardgames, and a bonfire. Well the bonfire was  a fail, it rained alllll nigth. BUT I did make smores in the oven and we played taboo and scribblish and talked and laughed late into the night!AND Micheal made it home from work by like 8:30.  It was wonderful! I love these Columbus friends!

10. Friday night we went to a brewery restaurant downtown for 2 birthday celebrations for Michael's coworkers. I thoroughly enjoy all of Michael's coworkers, I think he got super lucky with them. They are all awesome so far! Sadly Michael had to work the next morning though so we had to leave around 10.

11. Dog Park - today i took the doggys to the dog park for the first time in Columbus. The dog park was Meh, I think it's new, but I'm glad to get the little stinkers out of the house.
On the way to the doggy playland!
playing and sniffing, sniffing and playing!

12. Trying to learn how to landscape --- I left monday and everything was all good in the yard. I returned Friday and 1 fir tree is totally brown (what the what..it rained during the week!), 1 was partially brown, an animal is obviously eating my zucchini but does not have the taste for tomatoes cause there are approximately 20 of these monsters growing, and there is something living under our shed. I called my dad multiple times about these issues since the man of this house wasn't around. I watered the crap out of the dying trees, fingers crossed. But the animal thing...uh...I just couldn't get the courage to look under the shed. The past 2 days Willis has been freaking out about it. Whining and digging at the shed. I just don't want a rabies infested animal to jump out and bite me in the face. WAH. Fake single wife life.
Sad dead trees :(

13. Plotting a way to get all the mosquitos out of our backyard. I hate these monsters and they eat me alive! I just want to be able to enjoy my hammock. Any suggestions?

14. Watching every HGTV show known to man. I record every one of them i see on the TV guide. I think I've said this before, but in the past year I have watch more HGTV than I have ever watched in my entire life. I really enjoy Property Brothers, Income Property, House Hunters (not international ), and Love it or List it. I can't get enough.


AND that's it for the 2 weeks following Moonfest...I'm hoping that since I am out of town for the week I can catch you up on some awesome things I did this past week! I definitely kept busy, loving all the new friends and activities in Columbus (don't worry Lexington, NKY, etc friends, I love you too! )





Sunday, August 12, 2012

Moonfest

Well Moonfest has come and gone already and I've been meaning to write a little bit about it just for memories sake. But like everything else that isn't super necessary, it got pushed aside, hence my lack of blog post in exactly 1 month! Hopefully my memory will serve me well and I can recall that wonderful weekend 2 weeks ago!

First off, wanna know what Moonfest is? Moonfest is awesome, that's all you need to know. But really, Moonfest is a pretty awesome gathering/party thrown at my Uncle Guire and Aunt Pat's house/property in the beautiful mountains of Pennsylvania. I say property because my Uncle, Aunt, and beautiful cousins (Anika and Melina) live on a bajillion acres of land, and I thought I had it made living on my quarter acre in the city (*wink wink*).  This massive amount of space includes multiple ponds, their house, a fully furnished cabin, a pavilion, a 9 hole golf course, a creek, a massive field used for the annual softball game, tons of trails through the woods, and other amazing amenities!
The party hosts - My fun loving Aunt Pat and Uncle Guire! (as pirates!)

Back to the party.. Now this isn't any type of ordinary party. This party is thrown on the full moon weekend in July, typically falling towards the end of the month. The party used to be thrown annually back in the day (this party has been occurring for many, many years, like before I was even a thought), but since everyone's lives have become hectic, kids are growing up, and traveling is expensive Moonfest now occurs every other year. Now the name "Moonfest" does not only relate to a festival thrown because of the full moon. It is also because mooning people is fun, and at moonfest you are guaranteed to catch site of a mooning, isn't it great to know super fun and silly people that enjoy mooning each other?! And there aren't just a few moonings, this isn't just a Webb-family affair, there are about 100 family friends and family (and dogs, we are doggy loving folks so at any time during moonfest there are probably about 5-10 large dogs running around) that come to this get together. People from ALL over the country show up from places like California, Kentucky (us), Ohio (us), Florida, Minnesota, Texas, etc.
A picture of half of the pavilion, just so you can get an idea of the size. 

So, each Moonfest has a theme, on Saturday night (our big dinner night), everyone dresses up for that theme. This year's theme was Pirates of the Moon. The themes are fun and a good way for people to get all silly and creative on each other. OH and another big note about the party, its camping! I LOVE camping, mainly because of moonfest. Everyone finds a piece of property to call their own and then sets up their outdoor home for the weekend. It's wonderful! Some people don't like camping due to the lack of plumbing..alas, this is no issue! My family built an outdoor shower at their house to accomodate the party and their are restroom facilities everywhere!

So what happens at this party besides mooning and dressing up as pirates?! Well, a good amount of the party goers arrive Friday at some point during the day, sets up their stuff, and then gets to helping prepare food, because honestly thats what Webbs do, we surround our get togethers around food! Friday we have a yummy dinner and stay up late having some drinks, or maybe a beer from the locally brewed keg and just enjoy seeing everyone that we haven't seen in a couple years or more (I missed the prior Moonfest due to being in a wedding). Saturday involves more eating, hanging out, maybe some drinking, eating some more, a softball game, and then our big dinner (chicken and grilled corn and a ton of sides and peanut butter pie for dessert!) and a late night of enjoying each other's company some more. Sunday is the day I always hate, knowing that the weekend is coming to a close. More delicious food is made, campsites are torn down and people say their tearful goodbyes, but you are always certain to get millions of hugs as you leave! Moonfest makes me feel good. It makes me feel happy.
All of the Webb cousins minus Ryan and Eric (who had departed prior to pic taking) and Whitney. 
This year's Moonfest was different for me since I was coming from Columbus (michael had to work, surprise, surprise!) and I was going to attempt to drive. LUCKILY Dustin and Christina were going to be driving from Northern Kentucky so on Thursday evening they made their way up to Columbus, through many thunderstorms I might add, to make our journey to PA! Once they arrived we loaded up the Prius, cause come on folks we are gonna save money where we can and not have to buy gas, and headed out on the road! Not leaving Columbus until 7pm, made for a 2 am late arrival but the drive honestly wasn't bad. I drove the first half and Christina drove the second. Dustin stayed up and chatted with me the first half while Christina rested from an early start to her day, but after her nap we were up the rest of the way, chatting, listening to good music, and enjoying each other's company.

When we arrived at my family's house obviously everyone was pased out, we found a place to lie down on the floor and did the same! Friday morning came really fast once everyone else in the house was rising pretty early. Dustin and I were both up by 8 and surprised to find that my Dad had already made it to PA. That morning I consumed a ridiculous amount of bacon. This isn't ordinary bacon. The bacon from my aunt and uncles town is fresh from the meat plant which is right next to their house. Something about this bacon is ridiculously heavenly, its crispy, yet melts in your mouth. Can I keep talking about the bacon?!

After breakfast Anika and I were recruited to drive to Elmira, NY to pick up some folks from the airport. Side note, Anika asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding that weekend while we were out there, so exciting!! We allowed extra time cause a tornado had swept through the town the night before. While we were out I commissioned Dustin and Christina to set up camp near the creek. While out we made a Walmart stop to buy a crap ton of milk, butter, toilet paper, and drink mixers. You know, the essentials. Since we were out for so long we had to stop for lunch. The town my cousin is from is tiny, itty bitty. So we had limited choices but they were delish! AND the restaurant had ice cream, I ordered the small birthday cake flavor which approximately a gallon's worth of ice cream and immediately went into a food coma. This girl cannot meter her ice cream intake, I think the communication from the stomach to the brain is broken when i eat ice cream.
Me and Anika hanging out
Anywho, we arrived back at Moonfest and got to see some more of  the people that had arrived. Hugs and more hugs ensued. While we were gone Ryan (my brother) had arrived too, I knew the weekend was about to get crazy!! A lot of fun was had that evening. I played it cool cause I didn't want to feel icky on the big day, Saturday. but lots of fun and talking was had,  I face planted onto my air mattress around 2am and slept soundly until about 8 am.

Breakfast Saturday morning was exceptional. French toast made on the massive outdoor grills, MORE bacon. AND super fresh delicious fruit! Drooling on computer just thinking about it. YUM!Not really sure what took place between breakfast and early afternoon. I think a bunch of lounging, chatting, and snacking occurred. But before I knew it, it was softball game time! One of my favorite moonfest events!
Got to finally chill with this little guy, my cousin Ian's son, Graham ! He's precious!
This is how our game works. Basically it's the old folks versus the youngins. And typically the old folks win. This year we split up those under 25 and those over 40 and then divided up the inbetweeners. The youngins took the field first and immediately got creamed by the old folks. yes they are all our parents but they are all pretty good at softball and smacking that ball way out into the outfield at fast speeds. Once the young folk batted it was pretty obvious that we were going to get killed. After a few innings a trade was made. Some older folks were sent to the young team and then myself and an 11 year old were traded to the oldies. I actually started performing once switched to this team and made a few outs and made it on base once. In the end the old folks won.
Softball spectators

The old guys team
the young folks (notice there are 4 women on our team *liz not pictured*, old men had none)

Cousin Eric beating a softball to death. 

Some pretty cool spectators (Ryan and Alycia!)
 After the game it was time to prepare for dinner festivities. Everyone started changing into their pirate apparel. everyone was slicking on dark black eyeliner and fake tattoos, It was amusing watching some of the men put on eyeliner. I will let the pictures do the talking about the evening.
Part of my piratey family!
This is the people getting creative part...you get it? Pirates...seaman?!
Sweet Mikaela
The original Webb girl cousins
awesome collage
Cousin Nora and her boyfriend Mitch!
      
Alycia (cousin's wife, so basically cousin) and me

That night was another late night, maybe 3 am and crashing face first in the dark onto my air mattress again. It was awesome getting to hang out with all my cousins and friends for such a long period of time, I just didn't want to go to bed! Morning came quickly though and I felt good still even with the lack of sleep. Another delicious breakfast was consumed and then came the denial. The denial of leaving Moonfest of course. I began acting like we didn't need to pack up our tent. People were slowly trickling out.  I should have chained myself to the pavilion and refused to leave. but after lunch at around 2 Dustin and Christina pulled me out of Moonvalley kicking and screaming. The whole 7+ hour trip home I was already reminiscing about the weekend. 

And there's my Moonfest 2012.

Yes, some of this means nothing to most of you. But this get together is very important to me and I wouldn't change a thing about it for all the money in the world .