So much has happened since my last post. We went to Chicago and had a great time, despite the 37 degree temp and snow flurries during the Cubs game. (By the way, the Cubs lost. Boo!) We ate some great pizza, walked around a little, did some shopping and just generally had an awesome weekend.

We came back home to the real world, worked last week and got ready for the walk-thru of our new house. On the way to the walk-thru, we got some horrible news. One of our friends died this week in a car accident. So any joy and excitement might have felt that day was certainly tempered by our sadness and shock at the loss of our friend. I say "our friend" because although he and my husband have known each other since grade school, I truly considered him to be my friend too. I was going to write more but I just can't seem to put my thoughts into words that make sense today.

Happy Birthday to Me...

It's been a little over a year since I started this blog. 2 moves and many posts ago, who would have ever imagined I'd stick with something this long. :)

Think I'll go have a Mint Chocolate Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwich to celebrate. YUM!
If you have not tried Skinny Cow ice cream yet, you should run right out and buy some. Very good. Well, very good for diet food anyway. Enjoy your evening!

Quite a few things keeping Mr. and Mrs. Crafty busy the next few months. This weekend it's "Take Me Out to the Ballgame". We're off to Chicago for a Cub's game to celebrate the hubby's 27th birthday. When we get back, I have an appointment with an allergy specialist where hopefully I'll finally get some relief from these allergies! Later in the week, we have the walkthrough to inspect our house to get ready for closing. Then this weekend, we have the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival. That's all anyone can talk about here is "Apple Blossom" this or that. Can't wait til it actually gets here so we can see what the big fuss is about. And after that, we have the closing on our house you've heard so much about. The rest of the month, we will be painting the new house, packing up our stuff and moving in gradually. We have to be out of our apartment by the end of May, so we have plenty of time to get settled in without having to rush. Maybe this time we can actually stay for a while! I must have at least a half inch thickness of "whited out" addresses for myself in some of my friends address books! I'll be glad to finally stay put for a while!

Oh yeah! And I've finally added a recipe to the much neglected recipe page I created a while back. Crafty Devil's Recipes

This CraftyLilDevil's been busy on her lunch hour...shopping at Lowe's for some paint for the new house. I LOVE to paint! Now the hardest part is choosing my favorite color.

What does anyone think of this idea for a bedroom? Even Mr. Crafty agrees that it looks relaxing. I don't care much for the toile but might add some chocolate brown in somewhere to coordinate with my antique white/chocolate brown crackle-finish headboard I made. Any comments?

Gotta quit playing around and get back to work! Bye for now.

Blue bedroom paint scheme. Found in Trading Spaces "Make It Yours" book. 

It's all about the honey...

I have a new fascination with honey. After buying some of the best honey I've ever tasted at the Virginia Farm Market, I've really started looking into the benefits of eating honey. (Started by wondering if I could help my allergies with it.)

I found some great honey recipes on this site, if you're interested
A Spoonful of Honey.

I am getting so excited about my new house! Can't wait to paint the walls and get some new furniture. Can't have my crummy old hand-me-down furniture in a brand new house! (My apologies to you if you gave me that furniture...thank you very much, but I am really ready to buy my own furniture now!) Mr. Crafty is not much of a painter, but he knows how much I've had my heart set on painting since...well, forever ago. And he actually said "If you really want to, I'll help you."

Ladies, I hope you have such a nice guy around! Last night, he made me dinner (lemon pepper fish, baked potato, corn and biscuits), did the dishes, did some laundry, and cleaned out the cat litter box. I thought he must have had an ulterior motive, but nope. He just knew I was worn out from staying up too late several nights before. Gotta love a man like that!

OK, too much wine with dinner and I start gushing about what a great guy I married. He should serve me wine with dinner more often. :)

Note to Mr. Crafty: See, I do talk about the good stuff you do, too! I love you, honey!
Note to everybody else: Sorry you had to read the mushy post. But I'm still a newlywed, give me a break, alright! :)

Another beautiful day! (Seems like I'm starting more and more of my posts this way.) We went for a bike ride with some friends today and boy, have I missed that! We rode 5.3 miles and it very nearly kicked my butt. I thought Muskogee had some steep hills, but those are cake compared to these bad boys!

Note to self: Ask friends for permission to use their names on my blog. "Friends" just sounds entirely too weird. We spend entire weekends with these people occasionally. It's time for the world to meet you, guys! :)

A newer pic of our house. Still under construction, but soon to be home sweet home.  

As requested by my sis, a pic of my apartment.  

What a beautiful day! It is sunny and 65 here in Winchester and I had to be stuck inside at work. Oh well, at least I only had to work 1/2 a day today. And my allergies would be killing me if I was outside anyway. We slept with the windows open last night and the night before and I am truly paying for it today. But the trees are in bloom and everywhere you look it's masses of pink and white blossoms. If I think of it tomorrow, I'll take a picture and post it here.
Tonight, we're off to play cards with some friends. Hope everyone has a great weekend!
P.S. Happy Birthday Mom! You should be getting a package in the mail from me any day. (Of course, if you read this blog, the surprise is ruined. Happy Birthday anyway, from your favorite daughter. I love you!)

Anyone ever heard of eating locally produced honey to help with allergies? I saw this on the news one night and thought I'd give it a try.

Wonder if this is for real...check out Honey4Allergies.

Oh. My. Gosh. I just had the BEST peach pie. I went w/a friend to the Virginia Farm Market to look for things to send my mom for her birthday. While I was there, I was tempted by the fresh pies they have. I've been craving hot peach pie and ice cream for a long time, so I decided to forget about the calories and splurge. Oh man. That's what I kept saying with every bite. "Oh man!" Wish I could mail one of these babies to everyone I know. But I'll settle for having some for breakfast tomorrow.
By the way, I did find some neat "made in VA" stuff for my mom. She's getting a box w/some cured Virginia ham, apple butter, apple candy, Shenandoah Valley pancake and waffle mix, pure maple syrup, several bags of Route 11 potato chips, and a couple of Virginia postcards. Hopefully she's not dieting like I'm supposed to be!