welcome to bradie's world!

today bradie is thinking about . . .

(yatuhduhdahhh)

snow!!


that's right dorothy, snow!

on sunday, just after my fateful post, we got a humongous storm. i heard it was the worst since 1993 - remember a little thing called 'the storm of the century'? yeah. it has been compared to that. i know that it isn't a big deal in a lot of places to get (a record) 6 inches of snow, but here it is a disaster. we're just not equipped for snow.



my adventure was trying to get husband home from work. i had dropped him off early, when it was raining, and by the time i went to get him it was insanity. the snow was still coming down heavily. there are very, very few plows in the area. even the highway around town was a mess. we're surrounded by woods and tall, nimble ponderosa pines line the highway and that means that every half-mile or so a tree had fallen onto the road. i'm a little bit of an expert when it comes to snow driving after my years at sundance, but i still get nervous every time. it only took me twice the time it would have taken and that's mostly because i was playing it safe.


when i got to the depot it was getting dark. we headed out on what ended up being a two-hour expedition. we tried two different ways through town and after driving over downed power lines and turning around on an icy bridge, we got back on the highway, but we had to go the long way. trees were down, big rigs were blocking exits, cars were off the road left and right. the longest stretch was the couple of miles closest to our house. the street was lined with abandoned cars and people were walking home, if they could. a lady knocked on our window to make sure she was on the right street and asked us if we thought she'd make it. it was like the end of the world.


we finally made it home to no power - so we risked it a little and built a fire in the fireplace. besides smoking the house up a little at first, it worked just fine. right before we went to bed the power came on again. we went to sleep knowing the next day would be a snow day - and hoping that the power would stay on, because the entire house is electric. luckily, and unlike most people in athens, we were only out of power for a few hours. yesterday it went out a couple more times, but only for a few minutes.


yesterday was spent trying to get our car out of the yard (and making a huge mess) and assessing the damage. luckily no trees fell on the house, but my favorite little magnolia tree got smashed by another tree and the whole yard is full of branches. when this melts, we have work to do.


note: most of these pictures were taken as it first started to snow, because i didn't think it would stick around long enough for me to take pictures later.
well, it did.

Dear Desert,

This is what rain looks like:

Day 1




Day 2




Day 3



and it has been like this every minute for the last three days.

Sincerely,

A Child of the Desert,
one who is unaccustomed to 72 hours of rain;
and also her dog who is so very, very bored.




P.S. -
It's almost noon and it's nearly dark outside.
There's a 70% chance of snow this evening.
We'll see.

the house. part four: the living room.

if ever there was a room that severely needed a makeover, this is it!
i'd love to do it, but i don't have a couple thousand to throw at it just yet. also, since it is shared space and i have no go ahead to destroy the man cave, i have to settle for the bedroom remodel for now. that's good enough.

i can keep it clean and dream for now . . .


apparently, i'm destined to always live with wood paneling - 3 out of 5 residences now.



judge doesn't seem to be too happy with the style, either.

below is my proof that this truly is a house for men.
the drum set and electric guitar in the front room is another indicator.




no, the fireplace isn't safe to use - yet.





these pictures are my only attempt at beautification. also, they remind me of utah.
thanks dad, for rescuing them!

i've been off the map.

i really have.
we've been a little busy this week. we've also had a bad internet connection. not pleasant.
anyway, it's a rainy day and i'm finally alone.

we've started a workout routine together. so far we've done five days in a row - which definitely beats our one day in a row record. it's fun and good for us and winter (as usual) has sucked much of our time into watching television. all we have to do is cut out one or two of the stupid shows that we aren't really watching anyway to move around.

we've also started work on our bedroom and bathroom. it's an endless endeavor but i'm excited. we have to finish removing wallpaper, mud up the walls and smooth them out, paint - and that's just the very, very beginning.

my sweet husband did one great thing that automatically cleaned up and modernized the room:
(although the rain has made it so dark that the pictures didn't turn out so well . . .)

before:

our lovely, shiny green, shower-curtain-looking thermal curtains with wrinkles that would never come out.
i'll do them justice - they did keep us warmer.



after:

blinds! hooray! i can actually let light into the room instead of living like anne frank!




we're also looking at paint colors for the room. we both like green, but not too bright and not too cool and not too . . . green. we're thinking a green so faint it is just a wash of green. right now the walls are a peeling creamy yellow, so anything's an improvement.


oh, and if you're wondering what a dog does on a rainy day, it's this: he curls up behind me in the chair and snores the day away.

Utah is unique . . .

. . . in more ways than one.


However, one thing about Utah culture that I never realized until now is YOUTH.

First of all, there are children all over the place in Utah. Maybe I don't notice because I don't really know any children here, but it seems like I don't see as many children out and about. I don't see the minivans with the stickers in the back window telling me the names of all the kids in the family (Sarah, you'd love it). Then again, I'm pretty sure I live in an old neighborhood and we are pretty far away from schools and parks. Maybe I'll change my mind in the summer.

Besides the children, it's the younger adults that I don't see. Athens is a college town, just like Provo. It seemed as though almost every business in Provo (or even the Valley itself) employed a large number of twenty-somethings. Here, I go to Barnes and Noble, Old Navy, WalMart or even the grocery store and I mainly see ages 35+ working. Again, maybe I'm not going the right places but I feel like the young people are missing in action.

One very probable theory is that the college scene is a real college scene. Kids here drink, club, get crazy . . . and that just doesn't happen in Provo. Sure, people drink and do drugs and what have you but it's mostly done behind closed doors. There isn't an entire section of Provo devoted to legal partying. Downtown here is lined with bars. When I'm at work on the weekends, I spend most of my time helping girls find outfits to wear out partying.

I'm not condemning anything here. I am saying that being young here and being young in Utah means something entirely different. Because they don't party, kids in Provo do a lot of other things to have fun. They are out in the world, carving in, starting life off. They get jobs, work hard in the community, become part of networks, etc. I think that being in your twenties here means putting off life until you somehow end up with a career or married or you hit your thirties (whichever happens first) - and that's where the young people are: putting off being citizens and hiding on campus.

I just don't see the widespread family-orientation, school zones every few blocks, kids running around in the neighborhoods or the absolute inundation with youth. Maybe I just don't know enough about Georgia yet, but for now it is my opinion that Georgia is old and Utah is young. I'm not sure where to fit.

fixin' to bloom!

i told you my friendly plant was about to start poppin' some blossoms!


uhhh, p.s. - i LOVE my camera. i can't help but take pictures of EVERYTHING these days.
indulge me. i don't have a whole lot to do right now.

my hubby bubby.

yes, i saw this on facebook.
i read the first question and i did okay. i read the second question and i did even better. then i thought about challenging myself (out of boredom) to not look at the rest of the quiz before doing it . . . so i blindly copied and pasted and here goes!

1. he's sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen?

most likely anything ufc, vs channel (we just started getting it again), the daily show/colbert report. he's not picky, though.

2. you're out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad?

he doesn't really like dressing. he prefers it to have a good flavor all its own.

3. what's one food he doesn't like?

pudding. i don't know why.

4. you go out to eat and have a drink. what does he order?

we both love cherry coke. he tries to be good and have water, usually. he also loves lemonade.

5. where did he go to high school?

clarke central, right here in athens.

6. what size shoe does he wear?

ooo. i think i 9 usually. he tries on a 9 first and then, depending on the shoe, goes up or down.

7. if he was to collect anything, what would it be?

records, music, and books.

8. what is his favorite type of sandwich?

he likes ham.

9. what would he eat every day if he could?

a big fat steak.

10. what is his favorite cereal?

he actually likes raisin bran and cornflakes.

11. what would he never wear?

skinny jeans or jewelry (except his ring).

12. what is his favorite sports team?

um, we don't really watch sports too often. he likes the braves. i know he likes fyodor, the mixed martial arts fighter.

13. who did he vote for?

we didn't vote. we had just moved and we really couldn't.

14. who is his best friend?

we're pretty much as best as it gets.

15. what is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't do?

i complain too much. sometimes i don't realize i'm even complaining.

16. what is his heritage?

english. some czech. some cherokee.

17. you bake him a cake for his birthday; what kind of cake?

"if it isn't chocolate i don't want any." so chocolate. maybe some apple pie.

18. did he play sports in high school?

he talks about his little league days. there was mostly mischief in high school.

19. what could he spend hours doing?

almost anything. reading, listening to music, learning about music, working out.

20. what is one unique talent he has?

he's the most likeable person i know. he can be silly, shocking, kind, frustrated, whatever and still, everyone likes him. he's also a good judge of character and my voice of reason.



um, i think i passed!