"no guts no glory"

This quote comes from many places, but I am referencing it's presence on Patrick's favorite show... "Gold Rush:  Alaska".  Apparently the oldest of the gold miners on this show says this, and it got stuck in Pat's head (lucky me) and he said it the whole 1.5 hour trip we took this weekend to Boone, NC.

Boone is actually really far away from us, but it is close to my parents house, and since we were there this weekend, we decided to trek up there and try our luck at some gem mining!  My mom and dad came along with us and we had so much fun!  We sat out in the gorgeous 65 degree weather with our 5 gallon bucket and we scooped dirt and panned it in a flume and picked out our little (and sometimes not so little) gemmies! And we learned a lot too.  Who knew that North Carolina was the gemstone capital of North America?

Well, in all my infinite wisdom (aka excitement) I forgot our camera to take pictures of the actual mining.  Bummer!  But here's what we came home with:

Bags full of lots of quartz, garnets, topaz and more!

 

The small stone is my little baby emerald, and the bigger one is one of my sapphires!  

Jack was very interested in my chunk of rose quartz

And it wouldn't be mining without a little fool's gold :)

My big piece of tourmaline

We also found some more that is currently being made into jewelry for me and my mom!  In just 2 weeks I will be the proud owner of a dalmation jasper, 2 sparkling sapphires, 1 red ruby and a big old aquamarine all of which will be cleaned, polished and cut and ready to be set in something pretty!  My mom chose a giant piece of red jasper my dad found, her big emerald rock, an amethyst and a ruby too!  Can't wait to see how they turn out!

Now all we need is a rock tumbler so we can get our pieces at home shining like the real gems they are... 

i've got some big news...

the bank finally came through...

and I'm holding the keys to...

a brand new Chevrolet!

I'd like to thank Mr. Brad Paisley for the use of his lyrics to announce the biggest of happenings at our house, a new car!  (In case you didn't know, those were lyrics to "Mud on the Tires").  Anywho, we have been searching and searching for the perfect Tahoe for a loooooooooooong time.  Like since before-we-were-married long time.  Finally, finally, finally, we found one!  We picked her up yesterday, and so far so good!  It has a ton of features we didn't even know about and I'm keeping myself busy by reading the owners manual today.

That of course means one other thing.  We ( I ) had to say goodbye to a dear old friend simultaneously.  That would be my cabrio.  I will forever miss my little car.  We had some good times together in those 66040 miles (exactly) that we shared.  She got me where I needed to go (most of the time), even for this one final voyage to Carmax in Fayetteville a quick and short 2 and a half hours away.

Thanks for the many years, cabby.  I hope whoever buys you at auction will love you just as much as I did!

super sunday

We had a relatively quiet Super Bowl Sunday around these parts...  Quiet in that it was the 4 of us, not so quiet in that we were both yelling at the tv quite a bit.  And surprisingly for the same team!  That rarely ever happens.

This is how we do the Super Bowl in the McCreary household.  A ridiculous amount of appetizers, the majority of which made their way to tupperwear in the fridge.

My 3 men watching the game :)

happenings...

I know, I know... it's been a while.  I've been pretty lazy when it comes to this 'blog stuff'.  But here's a little update of what I've been busy with...

Jack 'helping' me make my flowers.

This past weekend we decided to sort our 3 gigantic jars of change, which we deposited in the bank... a whopping $297!  Then we ran out of coin rolls, so we still have one jar (of mostly pennies) left.

My Win snuggled up like a little lamb.  Love the way he tucks in his big old paws.

So, see?  SUPER busy around here.  Ha!  But big things are coming... stay tuned!

my favorite island place

Since my mom is visiting, we went out and about and saw the local "sights".  That pretty much included the aquarium.  The only indoor activity the island offers in the winter.  And boy do I LOVE the aquarium!

We had so much fun, we stayed for 4 hours.  And folks, let me tell you, it's not a big aquarium.  I think we chatted with every volunteer in there.  The fact that we were the only patrons made that pretty easy.  

Highlights included learning all about snakes, alligators and turtles, making a new friend (a cowl nose ray - um can I please get one?) at the sting ray petting pool, watching divers in the shark tank, learning a ridiculous amount about how amazingly important horseshoe crabs are in every day life (www.horseshoecrab.org - check it out... did you know their blood sells for $15k a quart?!), and last but certainly not least:  the sea otters.  Every time I go to the aquarium they are sleeping, but not this time!

 I couldn't get pictures of them swimming and jumping and diving and flipping... but I promise they were!

They even stopped to pose for me.  How friggin' cute?!  Can I have one of these too, please?!

winter on the island

So my mom is in town, and we headed down to the beach to let the dogs run.  And check it out!  The 7 inches of snow we got Saturday hadn't melted yet so we've still got some snow on the beach...

  

 The boys had SO much fun running around in the sand AND the snow...

SO much fun in fact that Winston took off after a bird, which flew out over the water, parallel to the beach.  He ran out into the waves and continued after it, half running/half swimming.  I chased him on the sand, and when I was finally able to catch up to him I had to charge into the ocean myself and grab him by his collar, dragging him out kicking and screaming.  OK not screaming, but he wasn't happy the bird got away.  Thanks a lot, dog.

undomestic goddess

It's official.  I win the "Least Domestic Wife" award.  Yesterday I was in charge of making chili in our new crock pot.  Patrick couldn't have made it easier.  He bought all the ingredients.  He set them all out on the counter.  All I had to do was brown the meat and chop up an onion and throw it all in the pot.  Well I did that.  I even checked on it all. day. long.

One weird thing... it wasn't getting hot.  Patrick called to let me know he was on his way home and I mentioned this to him.  He told me to turn it up from low to high.  As I did so, I noticed my fatal mistake.  I never plugged in the darn thing!

I was worried Patrick would be mad since he was SO looking forward to having chili for dinner.  So I waited until he got home, and when I realized that it would be several hours, even on high, for the chili to even get warm... I had to tell him.  He walked in the door, and I asked him how much he loved me.  And I couldn't keep a straight face.  I broke the news.  He looked at me like "are you serious?" which is probably because I was laughing so hard I started crying.  But alas, it was the truth.

Carly told me that it was the best newlywed story she's heard.  So I decided it had to be shared.  Anywho... it's been simmering all day today, so it WILL be enjoyed tonight!  Can't wait!

PS:  are you in love with our red kitchen accessories as much as I am?!