On this day one year ago...

we got married! It's hard to believe it has been one year already...We had already lived together for one full year when we got married and already had a 13 month old. It was stressful, nervewracking and wonderfully beautiful! I love everything about our wedding and wish that we had someone record it. I have many more pictures from our wedding day but sadly this is the only one that I've scrapped so far. Unbelievable, isn't it?! Honestly, I'm so nervous to scrapbook our wedding pictures (I'm afraid I'll royally screw them up) that I haven't even touched them yet. I keep setting a month that I'll get started on them and then that month will come and pass by - oh well! They WILL get done...I just have to work up my wedding mojo again. :o) And speaking of my wedding scrapbook, if you attended my wedding I would love to hear what your favorite part of our big day was! This is something that I would like to add because it was so difficult to speak to all of our guests at the reception and it would be nice to hear what everyone's perspective of our day was. You can email me at ckunwar@oak.edu or leave me a comment here! Thanks!

Ta ta for now!

This cat...

absolutely hates it when I sing. Now, I know that I am not a terrible singer. I took singing lessons as a child and was good enough to be in the Pike Central Swing Choir (no, they don't swing while they sing. college-level choir here, peeps) for 3 years in high school...I just don't get it. Ever since she came home with Bret and Dad she has nipped and chased me around the house if I even hummed loudly. Which of course I did sometimes just to tease her... :o) It really is strange. It must have something to do with the tone or timbre of my singing voice because she doesn't react to loud or high pitched music or anyone else singing, for that matter! It is just crazy, I tell ya. So anyways, tonight as I'm home listening to music and catching up on my blogs and whatnot I start to belt out 'Cowboy Take Me Away' by the Dixie Chicks and Glendale jumps up from the dining room floor (Her domain and she does a right good job of holding down that floor. Unless she tries to get up and a claw gets stuck...then there's a problem...) and RUNS toward me. Now, Glendale does not usually run. I don't really think you can tell from this picture but Glendale is slightly overweight. She and Jonah weighed the same amount for a bit and she usually doesn't run for anything. Except food. Anyways, I look up to see Glendale running at me from the dining room, belly and fat bags swaying from side to side and I freeze. Because at that moment I remember exactly why I stopped singing out loud at home. Glendale flys onto my chair and proceeds to walk slowly forward, never taking her eyes from mine. I, of course, am terrified. She has claws. And she knows how to use them. I still have the scars on my forearms to prove it!

If Glendale could talk this is how the dialogue would have went:
Glendale: Did I give you permission to sing?
Me: *stuttering* No-no ma'am.
Glendale: *with condesencion*Did you not learn your lesson the last time you tried this?
Me: *whispering* No ma'am.
Glendale: I think you had better re-think what just happened here.
Me: Yes ma'am.

And then she proceeded to sit down by my feet and stare at me. Not lying. I went back to my computer screen and re-started my music. And promptly started singing quietly without thinking. The next thing I new she nipped my ankle hard and had jumped up on my lap with her ears back. I froze. Again. *sigh* And then I thought, "Hey! She's MY cat and if I want to sing I'll do it in my own dang house whenever I want to!" And promptly pushed her off! I'm not going to let a cat dictate what I will or will not do in my own house and I certainly am not going to let her know that she is the dominant female around here.

Now if I could just get the courage to start singing again...

Isn't he sweet? I absolutely love this picture of Jonah that Bishnu caught the other night on his camera phone. I know it's dark and a little grainy but hey, camera phones aren't the greatest. Look at his little cars and trucks - don't they just make you want to squeeze him to pieces?! The night Bishnu took this I was running around the house trying to clean and didn't even realize he was lying down on the floor. He ALWAYS lays down on the floor when he is tired and ready for bed so I slowed down and bent over to ask him if he was ready but found him like this.
There are some days when the no's, go's, hitting and random terrible two-ness just really gets to me and I'm not sure I'm going to make it to bedtime. But there are other moments and days when he will run to me with open arms or tell me "I wuve you" and just melt my heart into little pieces. Looking at this picture reminds me of all of that and how truly lucky I am. :o)

Wow! It's been almost a week since I last posted...but it's not my fault! I promise! Our internet connection at home has been terrible this past 5-6 days. We will have a connection for about 2 hours and then *poof!* it's gone. Bishnu has been working on it at home and trying to figure out but nothing has worked for an extended period of time.
We went up to Indy this weekend for a bbq at Brea and Stephen's house. Actually, Bret, Jonah and I went up to Indy. Mom and Bishnu had to work and Dad had already decided to go to a dinner/fundraiser for an old work friend. And as usual when Bret, Jonah and I are out together, people assumed that he was Jonah's daddy. *sigh* Dang Bishnu's schedule! Anyways, I'll see if I can get some pictures from others that were there (Bret forgot his camera) and post what I can.

We're searching for a twin size bed for Jonah. I've been pricing them online (cripes! they're expensive!) and of course I would love to get the one from Pottery Barn that they feature with the bedsheets we're getting Jonah but we also wouldn't be able to pay several bills after buying it soooo...I've been trying to find one that is made out of unfinished wood so I could do what I wanted to it but I'm not having much luck finding one of those either. Wish me luck and cross your fingers for me!

And on my last note - HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAGGIE! *smooch* Hope you had a good one!

Ta ta for now!

Seek and Find Consignments

Several weeks ago Mom, Bishnu, Jonah and I were in Evansville for a shopping day when we came across this nifty little consignment shop, Seek and Find Consignments (http://seekandfindconsignments.com/). The shop itself is located a little out of the way of the main E-ville shopping region but it is worth the extra gas. Their website doesn't have nearly half of their invitory posted but has just enough to give you a taste of what treasures lay waiting inside their store. They only take items that are in very good shape and carry great furniture. The way they price items is a little different - the item is given a price when it first enters the store. A month later that price is slashed by 15%. After 2 months it is cut by 30% and cut 50% after 3 months. If it still hasn't been bought by month 4 it is donated to charity. I don't know about you guys but that is a pretty good deal considering some of the items in the store are brand new...The day we were there I spotted a cute little table and matching chair that would be perfect for my scrapbook space and I'm praying that it is still there when I go next. I highly recommend all of you (all 2 of you!) to at least go and visit this shop. You just might find something that suits your needs. Just don't go and buy my table and chair. :o)

I am lusting after...

this beauty. The Canon EOS DRebel XT. Isn't it beautiful? I think it is. Bishnu and I have been talking about getting another digital camera since ours bit the dust last year. We already have a
wonderful film camera that my Mom gave us when she upgraded and I love it. I really do. I love using film and getting the negatives...there is something so wonderful about having them developed that way. It's like you're still paying a bit of a tribute to the early years of photography. But we want a digital camera. I feel slightly like I'm out of the loop by not having one and wanting one. And it would make sending pictures to Bishnu's family so much faster and easier. But, unfortunately, it will probably be awhile until we get this. It is definitely out of our price range right now and unless someone sends us some surprise money we will not be able to get this until Christmas. That is my goal. To have this sucker by Christmas. *sigh* So for now all I can do is look. And watch for a sale. And sigh. Oh well. We are trying to reduce our debt right now and it's not going so well. With the economy in such a downward spiral and gas prices rising it is hard to imagine that we'll be buying any extras anytime soon. Bishnu has been watching the job ads - we have been planning on him finding a better paying job after he finishes up this summer and then he found out that the Sunoco he is working at will be closing due to I-69. We'll see what happens...

Ta ta for now!

Fun in the Sun...

I don't know about you but we had a great weekend...Bishnu was off this weekend so we were able to squeeze in a lot of family time. Saturday I was able to get up to the museum and volunteer for a couple of hours while Bishnu stayed home with Jonah. Sandy and I were able to print, fold and stuff most of the newsletters and get them ready to be mailed.
On Father's Day, I fixed breakfast for Bishnu and we got ready to go to a birthday party in Washington. The party was for Daniel, my mom's sister's older boy, who was turning 6. I can't believe he's 6 already! Coincidentally, he had a Cars themed cake that was very similar to the one Jonah had a couple of weeks ago. We spent a couple of hours catching up and chasing the kids around the park, which was pretty crowded that day. I, of course, got sunburnt all around the back of my neck and my upper arms. Bishnu and Jonah look very nice and tan today. I've been trying not to glower at them while I scratch my neck. But it's not working...Anyhoo, Grandpa Don (mom's dad) wasn't at the party because he is recovering from a dog bite to the hand. Yes. You heard me right. It seems that Grandpa was trying to separate two dogs who were fighting over picked cherries and one of them caught his hand. Hopefully it will heal up nicely soon. We'll keep you updated.
After the party we headed back to Petersburg and spent a couple of hours with Papaw Uppey (dad's dad). Finally got home at about 7 pm or so and Dad stayed here for a couple of hours. We watched 'Night at the Museum' (very cute! I recommend it!) and vegged out for the rest of the night. Hope you all had a nice Father's Day with your families!

Oh, I'm tired. Sorry if that was jumbled and whatnot. I really need to start blogging earlier in the day before I get too pooped out...

A little of this and a little of that...

I don't really have anything in particular to say. Well, that's not true. There are several things that I *could* blog about but I have stayed up extremely late the past two nights reading books (2:45 am and 1 am, respectively) and I am just too tired to really think about blogging tonight. So, instead, I'll just post some pics that I re-discovered this evening that I think are good. There will be no rhyme or reason...just real randomness here. Bear with me.



Resting at Eastland Mall -


Fun day at the Children's Museum in E-ville


At least someone had fun at Louisville Airport...Isn't he adorable?!


Papa*, Aama, me, Bishnu* and Jonah

*Who else here thinks that Bishnu is a mini-me of his dad? Can I get an amen?...Amen. Thank you.*

Ta ta for now!

Oops.

Oops! See June 6th for new post. Started it a couple of days ago and finished it today but it is listed beneath my last post. Sorry for the confusion!

Hooray for weekends!

I'm sooo relieved that its Saturday. Well, almost Sunday now. Today Mom and I decided to go yard sale-ing around the White Oak area. I'll tell y'all about that later and see if I can't upload some pics of the goodies we bought while out...

In other news, my brother and his gf are home for the weekend. They will both be leaving for New Zealand in a couple of weeks to spend a semester abroad. I'm so excited for him! He's wanted to go to New Zealand since Lord of the Rings was filmed there and this will be such a great experience for him career-wise, also. Although I'm nervous about not seeing him for 6 months I can't say enough how proud I am of him and how he has taken such control (do we really ever have complete control?...) of his life. He has become such an adult and I feel like I somehow missed the transition...of course, I am only 2 years older than him and I'm sure he feels the same way about me. When did we become so grown up? When we were making life plans I suppose...Back to original thought here - tomorrow morning we'll be going out for breakfast. I'm going to try to get a picture of all of us. I'll post it if I get a good one. :o)

In additional other news, I've discovered a great new artist today! If you can, check out Justin Nozuka at http://www.myspace.com/justinnozuka. I'm absolutely loving his music right now. He's very groovy... :o)

Ta ta for now!

Summer.

Things I love about summer...
-honeysuckle
-Papaw Uppey's garden (yay for fresh veggies!)
-the smell of Mom and Dad's house before the a/c is turned on
-sunlight until 8 pm
-library reading program
-the sun warming my face

This is all I can think of off of the top of my head right now but I'm sure I would have lots more to add given more time. It has been a wonderful day so far...We went to Denny's this morning and had breakfast with my family. I'm glad that this is becoming a tradition every time Bret and Stacey are home for a week or weekend. Came back home and did some dishes, finished putting away laundry and whatnot. There is something so satisfying about doing this little chores and feeling a sense of contentment in my home afterwards.

So yesterday, Mom and I went to White Oak for a big yard sale event. I think there was anywhere between 12 and 20 families that were having sales. However, we only saw about half this many because we 1.) Got lost within the first 20 minutes of our first sale and 2.) Ran into about 3 cousins we didn't realize lived back there and spent most of our time talking and catching up. Those Uppencamps are EVERYWHERE, I tell ya! If you have never driven through White Oak and live in the area, do it. It is beautiful. The land is so peaceful and full of trees. It feels so unspoiled and miles away from the nearest town (well, that part if doubly true since it is, really.) I think my parents would both love to move there if they ever had the chance. I would too but I don't know if Bishnu could handle being that far away from a Chinese restaurant. :o)

One more thing about Justin Nozuka and then I'm done, I promise! I don't what it is about his music specifically that I'm loving but he has the most wonderful voice. It's strong and pure at the same time. Don't you just love discovering new music and then realize that you were needing something new all along? Anyways, I love his style of rythym. And yes, I have been dancing crazy to it around the house this afternoon. Now that is the true measure of good music.

Ta ta for now!

It's hot, Don.

Don?! Who the heck is Don? Well, really, if you don't live in southern Indiana or northern Kentucky you probably won't get it (It's from a car commercial a local dealer updates every summer). But it really is hot. Last week it started warming up and today it was supposed to get into the 90s. I'm not really sure what the high today actually was but I can vouch that it was pretty high up there. So can my flowers. I think they're dying...and if they aren't yet they will start to pretty soon. It just got too hot, too fast. I sort of feel like a failure in the gardening department right now. I'm trying to keep the soil moist without over watering them and nothing is really working. I'll just have to keep chugging along and hope they stay alive. :o)

I'm really starting to feel the fact that I haven't scrapbooked in the last month. Yes, you read right. A. Month. We have been so busy since we moved into the house that I haven't even had time to set up my scrapbook area downstairs, much less try to put together a page. I'm really starting to miss it though. I think tonight I'll work on some Thank You cards and see what I can get done.

Anyhoo I'll leave y'all with some cute pics of Jonah playing with one of his many cars. Lord, we find these things all over the house...

and one more pic from Minnesota of me and Bishnu -

Hm....methinks I should start running again...I'm starting to look like a chunky monkey...I'll think more about it after I finish this here bowl of ice cream with chocolate syrup.

Ta ta for now!