as time flies

Babies!

2009-10-03T20:44:00.002-05:00

I have two videos to share of Elle and Hudson.

First - from last week's newborn session.

second - from the day they were born.

My favorite boy.

2009-08-10T14:57:00.001-05:00

or at least until his little brother gets here in a month or two!

Introducing...

2009-08-01T08:37:00.004-05:00

My photography website. I will still update here when need merits, but the bulk of my photo work will now be displayed at:

www.victorialouisephotography.com

Enjoy!

dahlia

2009-07-15T19:38:00.000-05:00

dragonfly

2009-07-05T14:39:00.002-05:00

This was much more entertaining than weeding my garden.

photographers nephew syndrome?

2009-07-01T14:36:00.000-05:00

I got a lot of quick "cheese" and turn smiles but no great pictures on the boat. I think he's coming down with a case of photographer's nephew syndrome, and Uncle Matt is facilitating it.

h.

2009-06-25T14:34:00.000-05:00

miss h. graduated from the sixth grade last week. congratulations!

the other men in my life

2009-05-23T21:56:00.003-05:00

finney wishes she were an escape artist

2009-05-19T18:55:00.003-05:00

If she were she could go from this..

and this...

to this...

without the help of her humans.

can't stop myself.

2009-05-18T19:14:00.002-05:00

its a ruff life.

2009-05-17T19:48:00.001-05:00

hum, flickr washed the colors out. it looks much better in my photoviewer!

a whole new world

2009-05-15T20:26:00.002-05:00

opened up courtesy of my macro lens. i love the bug's eye view.

texture

2009-05-03T20:48:00.003-05:00

green

2009-05-03T20:39:00.004-05:00

life at the farm

2009-04-15T09:12:00.003-05:00

I spent the weekend visiting my parents at Ridgefield Farm downstate. Here's the photo proof!

spring has sprung

2009-04-02T17:00:00.001-05:00

oh yes, thing really are that brown

good thing the sky is blue!

little cutie

2009-03-28T20:49:00.003-05:00

crosspost: this is L. Mike's niece, she's strong! L worked very hard to earn her fresh from the condenser maple syrup. I'm positive that she whined less than I did about how heavy the buckets were.

hey mike?

2009-03-28T19:28:00.004-05:00

this is mike. he's a awesome guy. once he pretended to be my dad so that i could go snowboarding, the day we learned that snowboarding should be added to the list of sports i shouldn't participate in, thanks mike! mike needs a facebook profile picture, friends don't let friends look like this:

we're friends right mike? you don't just pretend to like me because i married your cute youngest brother? we are? good. now, right click, save picture, and upload it to facebook. please?

a word about my watermark

2009-03-07T21:43:00.004-05:00

my hubs brought it to my attention tonight that he isn't a fan of the big "do not copy" watermark on my photos. please rest assured, it is there for a reason. someday i would like to consider doing photography for profit - it's an expensive habit that to continue long term will need to start paying for itself (except for my little punk and any siblings and or cousins he may have). as such, i want to make sure that all of my work is presented in the best possible light. images pulled from my blog are sized for the internet and as such are small image files at low resolution, not the best example.

so, images on this blog (and the 365 blog when i start that back up) will always be watermarked. however, if you want a full resolution image to use or print, please let me know, i'll send it right out to you.

ice fishing: part deux

2009-03-07T21:33:00.004-05:00

hotrod brought the 4x4 - the unloading part always freaks me out.

no old fashioned fishing for us. we're too cool to lug our gear to the ice by hand.

my idea of a power auger.

errr...weren't there just too of you?

I got in on the fun.

i offered up $20 if he didn't dump me...i wasn't really going to pay, totally wasn't necessary to dump me, thank you very much.

back off ladies, this hot young stud is spoken for. unless he doesn't burn the hat, then he's up for grabs.

actually, forget the early american fighter pilot wanna be hat, i think i'll keep him.

ice fishing

2009-03-01T15:33:00.003-05:00

this morning we woke up early and headed out to the lake. i'm not gonna lie, the cracking ice freaked me out!

too bad we only caught francis and his brother moe

the little punk came out for a while, it took him a few minutes to get his ice legs under him, but before long he was running around like nothing. punk thought that the dead/frozen minnows were sleeping and kept telling them to "wake up!"

a few more pics to post later this week - for now it's grading and planning for the coming week.

vicki needs these 10 things

2009-02-26T21:04:00.003-05:00

According to google:

1. Vicki needs to pay the rent. (never have actually)

2. Vicki needs a family that is loving (matt and finney love me, this i know)

3. Vicki needs to get fatter. (good lord no!)

4. Vicki needs to go. (where? i am in search of warmth!)

5. Vicki needs new tires for her truck. (umm...matt?)

6. Vicki needs work, and guidance. (ALWAYS!)

7. Vicki needs your prayers (again, ALWAS!)

8. Vicki needs to leave Jeff (interesting, sorry matt?)

9. Vicki needs you (why yes I do.)

10. Vicki needs to go home (already there).

What do you need? Plug in your name and the word needs in the google search bar!

when i win the lottery

2009-02-11T19:49:00.002-05:00

we have a ton of projects to complete this spring and summer. so many that we're foregoing a spring vacation getaway to start on the list. we may need to win the lottery to check everything off.

February

Buy trees (ordering from St. Lawrence Nurseries in Potsdam) it's a big order (14 trees and some plants) and we're excited.
Pick a site for the much needed shed. living with you husband's tools is not every woman's dream.

March

Plant Trees
Clean out the woods in front of the little house (future site of the big house)
Install finney's dog fence - underground wireless.
Build my garden. it will look similar to this:

April

Find a wagon for the lawnmower so we can get rid of mcnasty - aka the Toyota
Build the shed - okay, this one probably isn't a "we" activity
Finish the garden

May

Congratulate ourselves on getting through the February-April list
Plant the veggie garden
Top soil around the house so it doesn't look like we live at a dry beach.
Plant grass

June

Get students through US History regents (oh, wait, that's just me!)
Paint siding
Apply siding to the house

July

Find a weedeater. Depending on rain levels, may need to move up!
Fill in miscellaneous areas with topsoil

August

More stone for the driveway

Here comes the Countertop.

2009-02-11T19:47:00.003-05:00

we've been ogling this beautiful bad boy for months now. i finally took the plunge yesterday and clicked buy. It's on it's way to becoming my kitchen island. i absolutely cannot wait.

say it with me now, scary

2009-01-26T20:53:00.003-05:00

i found this little gem in my mailbox at work this morning. my 4th day on the job, they hustled us down to the auditorium for yearbook pictures. my room is freezing so i threw a sweater over my shirt, guess i forgot to look in a mirror. thanks so much school photo company for over fixing my face. i always wanted to have barbie's skin. lets just say that this freaked me out for the rest of the day. mommy, do you want one? ;)

insert really amazing title here

2009-01-20T19:11:00.003-05:00

there is so much swimming in my head today i don't know where to begin. it was a historic day, one where i'm sure that 10, 15, 20 years from now i'll still be telling my students where i was and what i was doing. but...

i really wish that this day were historic for the sole reason that it marks the end of an eight year presidency for a man with a low approval rating, who did the best he could with the circumstances that he was given. i do not agree with everything that former president bush did, i agree even less with much of what he said, however, only history will tell what his legacy was. i do believe that he believed every second that he was doing the best job he possibly could. we only know part of the story, until every american citizen is part of the daily briefings of the president, we have only the slightest ideas of the challenges this great nation faces. i wish that this day were historic for the simple changing of the guard, the perhaps only temporary move from republican to democratic leadership, in all actuality, this peaceful changeover of power in many areas of the world would be a miracle - one that as americans we take for granted. in the words for ronald reagan upon the occasion of his first Inaugural address:

To a few of us here today, this is a solemn and most momentous occasion; and yet, in the history of our Nation, it is a commonplace occurrence. The orderly transfer of authority as called for in the Constitution routinely takes place as it has for almost two centuries and few of us stop to think how unique we really are. In the eyes of many in the world, this every-4-year ceremony we accept as normal is nothing less than a miracle.

but no, while today is a historic day for all of the aforementioned reasons, for many today will be remembered as the day that america's first biracial, read: black, president took office. it saddens me to think that today, in 2009, we are are not culturally able to get past the idea that a person is more than a color or a gender. i am sad that as president and mrs obama stepped out of the protection of their armored car this afternoon, the newscaster on CNN remarked that it was a "brave" action. at this day and age, many of us would like to think that we live in a period of acceptance and tolerance, yet this is not the case. for our children, i hope that today's events will leave a legacy of open-mindedness and of hope. that anyone can be elected to our nation's greatest office based on nothing but merit, achievement, and force of personality. that they will truly be raised in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

president obama has many challenges ahead of him, challenges not of his creating, nor challenges the sole creation of his predecessor; but problems nonetheless that will need to be dealt with swiftly and decisively. history alone will be the judge of how well president obama rises to the occasion, tonight i add in my hopes that obama will not be judged a a great black president, but as a truly great president.

little miss e.

2009-01-10T21:56:00.003-05:00

what a little sweetheart she is. i think i'm going to get to take her one year old pictures this spring. i'm excited!

stay tuned

2009-01-08T19:52:00.003-05:00

i think i'm going to start posting smaller images from the three65 blog over here this weekend. there's a cool trick up my sleeve to accomplish this. check back this weekend for updates.

love!

project 365 has moved

2009-01-04T19:25:00.001-05:00

oops, forgot to put the link in here.

project 365 blog

project 356 - day 1

2009-01-01T17:32:00.001-05:00

a goal for the year is to be more consistent about picking up my camera and documenting my life. so, the idea is to at least take one picture per day and post it here. we'll see how it goes.

day 1.

yes, i'm evil. finney likes to howl along with the fire whistle so i found a youtube video of a firewhistle then videoed her howling along with it. this isn't finney at her best, sometimes she gets a more mournful sound to it. i wonder if she thinks it's her mom calling to her?

Finney Howls! from vicki Mccullouch on Vimeo.

celebrate good times

2008-12-28T21:16:00.002-05:00

i think this is what i have to look forward to in 30 years. insert party music here.

ebates - sign up now and get $10

2008-12-27T17:47:00.003-05:00

i think i've posted before about the gloriousness of ebates.com. if you haven't signed up yet, try it out. i promise that it's 100% legit, the only hard part is remembering to go through ebates before making a purchase. i have $70 coming back on february 15, when they mail out payments.

so if you don't already have an ebates account - sign up here and get $10 when you make your first purchase.

*in the interest of full disclosure, we both get $10 when you make your first purchase.

merry christmas

2008-12-25T20:17:00.006-05:00

this punk is the only kid on this side of the family. for this reason we all tend to get a little carried away in the gift department. i think he likes it!

open it dad!

oh! a camera! payback's a comin for the auntarazzi

"i see it! i see it!"

grandma & grandpa got him a train that spells out his name.

it was all over once he opened the tractor. i think he's in love.

what? a box of clothes? can I PLEASE have my tractor back?!

shhhh, don't tell tommy i posted his picture for the world to see.

gah. snow. go away.

2008-12-22T00:08:00.003-05:00

dear snow, please understand that i have work i want to be completed. if you do not cooperate i will not get anything done. you may stay until december 26, then you must vacate the premise. looking out the window to see noting but white is not my idea of a good time.

dear readers

2008-12-20T23:54:00.002-05:00

i was just flipping through my sitemeter and saw that there a few ips that check in on a regular basis, including one in houghton. come on all, make yourselves known, leave some comment love!

merry everything.

Merry Christmas a few days early

2008-12-20T22:58:00.004-05:00

today we went to a family christmas party. we had a great time. thanks E & J for inviting us to your home. since we were at the punk's house the auntarazzi came out to take some pictures.

we love him

what are they pointing at you ask?

the life of the party decided to take a little nap.

no punk, don't be surprised that the auntarazzi has the camera out!

m! it needs batteries. fix it!

did i mention that he's cute?

showing grandpa that the noise maker needs batteries.

oh yeah!

did i mention that he's cute?

changes have come

2008-12-03T19:58:00.003-05:00

hi all. just a quick note to say we've ditched wildblue in favor of roadrunner and moved! pictures and lots of updates to come soon. happy belated thanksgiving!

oh ben!

2008-11-09T20:46:00.004-05:00

Why did I just discover your delightful Pumpkin Cheesecake creation today?! Why is it a limited batch and I can't get more until next year? I don't know how I'm going to live without it until next fall. Note to self. Start stalking wal.mart in September next year. It's the only place I've seen it.

quite possibly my favorite series ever

2008-10-14T15:58:00.003-05:00

let's call this - installing a well pump 101.

aw, dad, why are you trying so hard, it's easy!

ok, i'll just hold this while you push.

dang, it's harder than it looks.

maybe if we both push REAL hard

we can get it

look son, we got it!

by golly, we did. go team.

House Photo Update

2008-10-14T15:46:00.003-05:00

New Exterior Photos - notice window trim and fill up to the door - no more ghetto ramp.

Happy Birthday Punk

2008-10-14T15:34:00.003-05:00

Our favorite (only!) punk nephew turned two last week. As the auntarazzi, I brought my camera along and took some pictures of said punk kid and his cousins.

Deep down, he's really excited that it's his birthday.

Here's his cousin J.

Birthday dude was a little tired.

He was VERY excited when he opened this one. "Oh!" He exclaimed.

M., another of Punk's cousins.

N. had the job of ferrying gifts to the table.

Color Choices

2008-10-14T15:20:00.003-05:00

The house is moving right along. The drywall started going up yesterday - we should be moving in a couple of weeks! I'll post pictures in a bit of more recent progress, but for now, here are my color selections.

Exterior -

Boughs of Pine siding

white trim

bordeaux doors

Kitchen/Living Room:

Clover cabinets

Canary Walls

White Trim and Windows

Dark grey concrete floors

Upstairs

Ice Blue Walls

White Trim

Oak Floors

Mulling Spices Walls

White trim and appliances

Slate Floors

Comments?

wilderness girl

2008-09-02T17:43:00.004-05:00

have i said before how much we love the land we bought? if not, for the record, we do. it's true love. while frank and the punk were out gathering wood last weekend, I was playing with the camera and my new lens (that's true love too!).

okay, so this isn't as pretty, is it sad that my compost pile needs to be weeded?

labor day - hang time

2008-09-02T16:09:00.005-05:00

labor day weekend around here means one thing. we get the privilege of spending a whole day with my favorite punk kid in the world. frank doesn't spend a whole lotta time with kids. this weekend was a huge landmark. he almost changed his first diaper, at least he got to the point where he had the diaper between punk's legs - while punk ran around tooting gleefully. made me laugh hard. frank and the punk had a ton of fun together, everything from mowing the lawn with the maow maow, to rock throwing, to picking up fire wood. it was a great day!

Whine Wednesday: But I don't read VAMPIRE books

2008-08-27T18:09:00.002-05:00

Stupid addictive vampire books. If you don't know what I'm talking about, carefully overturn that rock you've been living under and crawl on out. I'm talking about the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer. It's YA fiction and it's delicious, I couldn't put it down. It's a fairly quick read - and a wicked page turner - I didn't do anything for 3 days last week but read the 4 books in the series. M was not very impressed with my lack of motivation all week!

It is a major exercise in self control that I am not reading the leaked chapters from the book she's currently working on (Twilight from the male MC's perspective), it's not that I don't want to read something that's "leaked" (conspiracy theorists argue that the author herself leaked them because fans were so disappointed with the last book Breaking Dawn), it's that I would be thinking, nay agonizing about it until it's finally published.

Check out the series website. There's a movie, but we all know how hollywood butchers a good book, so I won't be watching that one.

So yeah, apparently I DO read vampire books. Now aliens are another story...

me and my gang

2008-08-25T21:24:00.002-05:00

people say we look alike. what do you think?

we're leap step children - five years between me and the middle brother, five years between the boys.

Pasta Primavera

2008-08-24T22:11:00.004-05:00

Summer's last big Hurrah. It's so sad that summer is quickly fading. To take advantage of the locally grown vegetables that Hannaford sells, last night I made pasta primavera, it was fabulous!

1 zucchini (sliced thin)

1 yellow squash (sliced thin)

1 head of broccoli (separated)

1 large onion (loosely diced)

1 ear of corn (kernels sliced off)

1 tomato (big chunks)

fresh basil

linguini noodles (I used homemade)

1 cup heavy cream

olive oil

Kosher salt

fresh cracked black pepper

in a large pan heat oil until hot. add in broccoli crowns, let cook while other veggies are chopped. add in veggies as you get them chopped (save the tomato and basil for last). when all the veggies are working, heat the water for linguini. add in noodles when the water is boiling (cook to al dente). at the same time, add heavy cream to vegetables, allow it to simmer until it begins to reduce - or until noodles are done. drain all water from noodles and add to vegetable mixture. serve warm - actually or cold, it was great for lunch today cold!

In My Red High Heels?! A Challenge.

2008-08-21T21:47:00.004-05:00

Alright, I admit. I have a slight love affair with Crocs. I currently own 4 pairs of the mary janes (black, brown, blue, and white), a pair of original caymans (bright blue), and a pair of flip flops (brown). However, that said. I would never, Never, NEver, NEVEr, NEVER consider purchasing a pair of these...monstrosities.

Seriously, 4" croc heels?

So, here's where the challenge comes in. The first person to buy and take a picture of themselves WEARING these sexy little numbers will receive $5. That's right folks. I'm going to pony up a whopping $5 for someone to publicly humiliate themselves (because, you know, that picture will be posted here for all eternity or at least until I delete the blog). Any takers?

The rules:

1. You must provide proof pictures (full body shots!)

2. If we've never met IRL, you must provide a comparison photo to go with that full body shot (no cheating!)

3. That's pretty much it. Send me the proof and I'll send you $5 (but only to the first!)

The view from within

2008-08-15T14:25:00.004-05:00

Not a lot of progress on the house front. M has been working long hours so the house has fallen to the back burner. He has a month off coming up so hopefully things will fall into place soon and we'll be able to host Thanksgiving.

Front of house- note M playing with his chain saw.

Side view with rain bucket.

This area will house my kitchen.

Our $75 Craigslist find. Andersen Bay Window. 300 pounds, installed by M and I, alone. Not fun.

Bathroom elevation.

View from the bay window.

Sitemeter

2008-08-15T14:20:00.003-05:00

I have a sitemeter which among other things tells me how the few people who read this blog get here. There have been a couple google searches for "slate tile under wood stove." I have pictures of the tile for you, but nothing of the stove on it. So here you go random searchers:

The wood stove is a small DutchWest by Vermont Castings. We got it on ebay for a ridiculously low price, lets just say that it was cheaper to buy it online and ship it here, than it would have been to buy it at a local store. I hate taking away local business, but we're on a tight budget.

Over the Hill

2008-08-15T14:13:00.003-05:00

This summer has been incredibly draining. The month of July was spent teaching from 8-1 (and being at school from 7-3) then going to masters classes from 4:30 until they decided to let us out. I also went on 2 failed job interviews for the school year, it's okay, I just have to keep believing that something will open up at just the right time. For now, it's back to subbing.

My students this summer have been fabulous though, especially my 7th graders. I don't know why 90% of them were in summer school, they were that good.

About a week before school let out, they were getting a bit burnt out. I asked a question, and didn't get a reply. Bueller, Bueller, nothing. Soooo, they decided that because I've not only seen the movie Farris Bueller's Day Off, but I quote it constantly, I must be old. Since my birthday is next week they decided to throw me an "over the hill" party. I know! What?

I'm only turning 24, but they did it. Complete with a fantastic cake and 2 cases of Monster Energy Drink. I had to apologize to their 3rd period teacher for getting them so wound up. So, thanks for the cake B (and B's mom!)! It was delish!

Gallery Wrap Canvas!

2008-08-13T21:26:00.003-05:00

I was so excited to learn about the site canvasondemand.com from the photography board that I visit. SIL's birthday was coming up, so this was an excellent opportunity to revisit May's photoshoot with Storm. I ordered her an 11x14 and got an 8x12 of my hydrangeas for the house.

I've also been revisiting some old pictures with photoshop. I came across this one of JoAnne Young, Houghton College Equestrian Center's fabulous program director on her mare Fawn at a cross country event 2 years ago.

And I played a bit with more of Storm's May pictures

Guess the most common words in the English language

2008-08-13T20:48:00.002-05:00

I got 47 my first time out. How'd you do?

100 most common english words

I love this kid

2008-07-26T08:31:00.002-05:00

He is so freaking cute.

Interesting, this isn't as "soft" as the original.

Thank you FedEx!

2008-07-25T20:23:00.002-05:00

Yesterday in the midst of a crazy day, I ran home to find that photoshop had come! Excellent!

I bought a few actions to use - here's my first PS edit. I kinda like it.

Super Senior Super Scoopers Unite!

2008-06-17T19:39:00.004-05:00

When asked what she would like to drink, Krusty took a good long look at the choices before her and decided that pink looked good!

Holy Cow! Doogie's pregnant!

Actually Krista is too, and she recently had a birthday. Shannon got her miracle squirrel proof flowers.

"So this kid today told me...."

Mmmmm, heart attack on a plate!

Gifts for Danielle

The pregnant half of the super scoopers.

The non baby carrying contingent.

This is what cheese thinks doog's baby will look like. Watch out for those teeth!

Shannon's been threatening Danielle with a helmet for her first born for oh...6 years? So they're going for a test fitting.

We definitely need to see each other more!

a couple new house pictures

2008-06-17T19:15:00.004-05:00

Finney's all grown up!

Slate tile for under the wood stove

Close up of the tile, I love the orange one!

Roof, chimney, and the well being drilled.

Come thou Fount of Every Blessing

2008-06-13T21:21:00.003-05:00

Yesterday we had our well drilled by my grandparent's next door neighbor Joe Kampnich. I was secretly afraid that we wouldn't find water or wouldn't find enough water to last us the life of our home. However, at 120 feet deep we have not just a bit of water but a brimming fount of water! Praise the lord!

The drilling process. Check out the pink soil!

This is what happens when you find a lot of water! Even Joe seemed excited to hit such a big vein. We had a lot of water a few feet before this, but man! That us about 100 gallons of fresh water per minute. We still need to get it tested, I hope it's good! I love well water.

In other house related news:
We have the roof completely done. Here's Matt and Tommy working on the back side. Pictures of the front to come later.

And We have a lawnmower! Thank you craigslist!

Friendship is a true gift

2008-06-13T21:07:00.006-05:00

Ladies and gentlemen of the blog, please meet my newest IRL friend Faith. We met on a message board and met up for real during spring break at the Carousel. Memorial Day we met up at the Rodizo at Turning Stone Casino for dinner. The restaurant isn't quite as awesome as the Brazilian Grill in Cape Cod, but it's pretty close.

They bring your meat on a sword and you pull it off as the server slices it.

Me and Faith. I can't get this to resize properly so click the picture to see the whole thing.

Next meeting? The beach!

Product Rave

2008-06-13T20:43:00.002-05:00

I am really working on making this whole "green" thing become a way of life, not just some random trend that I picked up on. Matt was laughing at me the other day because Christina has the same kitchen compost bucket that I have, and called me trendy. BUT doing things the green way is healthier and not much more expensive than doing them the "normal" way.

Today's green products that I love:

Dr. Bronner's Magic Castile Soap

www.drbronner.com

It is pretty magical stuff. It can be used for almost anything (uses range from shampoo to vegetable wash). I've just been using the liquid version to clean. When combined with baking soda, it makes a great scrub. Comparable to soft scrub, but better smelling and better for the environment. Who wouldn't rather smell mint than chemicals?

Product number two:

Reusable grocery bags. I bought mine on ebay for less than the $5 per bag retail price. Because one grocery bag can take 1000 or more years to decompose, it makes sense that we shouldn't be using them. I have a couple of big totes that I was using, but they were so big, they were more of a hassle than anything. Enter the Chico Bag. Tough and compact, it stuffs into it's own little pouch and comes with a hook to go on your keychain or to hook them together. The last person I had bagging my groceries at walmart looked at me like I was nuts, but I was able to fit what would have taken 10+ plastic bags into 7 of my chicobags. I was hugely excited to find out that Hannaford offers a $.05 discount for every bag you bring in! Score.

www.chicobag.com

fine, my middle name is procrastination...

2008-06-10T20:55:00.004-05:00

...But only when I don't want to do something. Right now that something is working on a presentation for an online grad class. Subject: John Dewey. So for all you Houghton Education people out there, I'm bring back a classic.

Learning from the master.

Oh Dewey, you're my superhero!

Can I just say how much I miss these girls (and Danielle and Rob - I'd put up picture of you and Dewey too, but you had to go and leave the country. Then snapfish and to go and mess with their pictures.)

Best late night credit card purchase EVER!

very excited about this one

2008-06-10T18:15:00.003-05:00

The new Apple iPhone 3G! I was initially upset when we signed on with Cingular (now AT&T) last January. Everyone I talk to has Verizon and I wanted to call them for free. Alas, Verizon's tower wasn't up and functional in Theresa until well after we needed the phones so Cingular it was. It now looks like I have been rewarded for my acquiescence.

My favorite things:

1 - Runs on 3G network (fast!)

2 - iTunes integration (and holds way more songs than my nano)

3 - iCal integration (yes! something to keep me organized)

4 - price; at $199 it's cheaper than the last edition to come out

The price might actually be number one. We are eligible for new discounted phones in July, which is great because our old phones are ready to bite the dust. Matt will probably end up with another free phone, but has said that I can get an iPhone for my birthday!

Photoshop CS3 at a discount!

2008-06-10T17:15:00.005-05:00

Photoshop CS3 for mac. I was going to buy Photoshop Elements 6. It's a decent basic program and it's only $90. I'm getting sick of the cheapola program that I'm using that came with my camera. Frankly it doesn't work that well and I want the pictures I take to be the best I can make them. Luckily before I bit the bullet and picked it up, I checked around the apple education store. The education store offers discounts to students (and teachers). I bought my macbook using my student discount. Since I'm enrolled in a Master's program, I am still eligible for the discount. ARe you ready? The extended version of CS3 retails for $999 (no you're not seeing triple). I just couldn't swallow that price. Guess what? The student price for the extended version is SEVEN HUNDRED DOLLARS cheaper. $299. Merry Christmas to me! Lucky Matt doesn't need to figure out any gifts for me this year!

New Fabulous Green Product

2008-05-30T17:54:00.005-05:00

I am majorly excited about my new green find. It's all natural laundry detergent that a wahm (work at home mom) makes then sells in her etsy.com store Crunchy Clean. This stuff is amazing! When it arrived, even my mailbox smelled great. I eagerly ran inside and started a load of laundry. It works as well as or better than my old standby Era - and is comparable in price. $8 (plus shipping) for enough detergent for 64 washes (double that for HE machines). Fabulous stuff. It comes in a ziploc bag - I dumped mine into a glass jar, and she will give you a .50 discount on your next order if you return your bag.

She better not ever stop selling this stuff - there just may be a revolt.

If you haven't checked out etsy before you definitely should. I have also ordered from Belle Creek Village - awesome handmade jewelry.

And my friend Cridey has an etsy store: missprissdesigns.etsy.com with some cool bags and jewelery.

The miracle of computers

2008-05-09T18:43:00.004-05:00

I love black and white photography, but sometimes the shot just looks better in color. I always shoot in color then edit to a higher contrast black and white. And sometimes upping the saturation just makes the color photo look better.

Photo Shoot

2008-05-05T20:01:00.003-05:00

Photo shoot with the world's cutest toddler!

POWER to the McCullouchs!

2008-04-30T21:28:00.002-05:00

Houston we have electric! Or at least we will by tomorrow morning! John came on Saturday to help pull the wire from the road to the house. I have to say I was very skeptical about it working, but it did. Phew, we won't have to dig up the conduit and redo it where it's cemented in.

And guess what. Stinky internet again means no pictures. But as soon as I'm back to full capacity, I'll post pictures of the ledge out back that I cleared off and the firepit that I built.

This weekend the shingles go up - and Matt can work on the wiring. It's coming!

Looking Ahead

2008-04-15T07:42:00.002-05:00

I think this might be the third possible "big" house plan I've posted but this is the one we keep coming back to lately. The garage opens in the back - which would make it easy to put the house in front of the garage/shop/cottage thing like Matt wants. The colors here are ugly, the siding would be green painted Hardie Plank with a brown roof.

The Barrett from www.eplans.com

Front View

First Floor

Second Floor

I suppose that whichever plan we could always open the garage to the back - or at least with the colonial style plan we liked. But this makes it easier and the footprint is smaller. I like it! The Master would overlook the yard and I like the galley kitchen. We would probably switch it around so that the breakfast area was in the front and the dining room in the back to take advantage of the morning sun.

Adventures in Home Improvement Warehouse Shopping.

2008-04-14T19:14:00.004-05:00

Today Shannon and I hopped into Matt's new truck and set off on a mission to buy a sink and toilet. I've never driven the truck into the city so I was very nervous.

Stop 1: Target
Made it there in one piece and I love riding above the crowd rather than below everyone in the civic. We went perimeter perusing - Shan found a TP holder for $2.50 - woot! I printed off some pictures of the world's cutest 1 year old and picked up some new method aroma pills in citrus cilantro. They make the house smell so clean, I love it! Actually I love pretty much anything method makes, good for the environment and it smells good. Check it out. www.methodhome.comStop 2: Home Depot

I knew I wanted to pick up the sink today and thought I was going to buy the toilet and I wanted to use my free $50 gift card I got for test driving a Toyota Tundra. Adventure #1 finding a cart. Apparently they horde the big flat bed carts and you have to hunt for them.

off, they wouldn't match it. So the mean lady left us and we went to look at toilets. I agonized over which to buy. Shh...don't tell, but I actually looked at reviews of the two that I liked online to make sure they flushed well. I decided not to buy it now and went off in search of the rest of the list Matt gave us, which included 12 - 10' sections of pvc conduit and 2 giant bags of cement. So we hunted down the cement - I used my brawn to heave the 94 pound bags onto our cart (no strong men around at that point) then went off in search of conduit. Found a cute sales boy whoWe finally hunted down the cart and headed back to the fixture section. I found the sink I wanted (see picture a few posts down) and the base was on sale! Sweet - I didn't have to make them price match Lowes. But the sink was $20 more than Lowes and because one number was pointed us in the rightish direction and we piled the conduit on. The question became how do we maneuver the cart because I decided that I did want to buy the toilet after all. So I straddled the 4' pipe overhang and the handle end. Sure straddle the pipe and 2 men come running over asking if I needed help. I think they had pipe envy, because mine definitely won :) They asked what we were building...A dollhouse? Um, no buddy. I'm old, building a house, that's why I'm carting around cement and piping. Anyway he let me leave my cart with him while we went on another hunt for gold...er a flat cart. Found one, and had one of our pipe envy guys call ahead to have someone lift my potty.

Uh oh. It's the same lady who got annoyed when I wanted her to price match for me. Um, I just had a strong man, why can't he do the lifting? Whatever. I make up my mind to get the one with better reviews and she loads it onto my cart. Just as she got it loaded on, she noticed a scratch on the bowl. She made to take it off and get another...so I asked if I could have a discount if I took it! She rolled her eyes at me but I scored 10% off! Woot.

Made it to the checkout and even managed to back the truck to the loading area without hitting anything (score!) and helped a little kid load the truck. Find that the conduit does not fit in the truck bed and I didn't bring the straps. Crap. Good thing I had the Cheese with me, who suggested opening the back window and shoving them through. Crisis averted.

Stop 3: Lowes

I left Shannon in the car to guard my pooper while I ran in to grab the sink basin. I had to wait for a guy to pick it up for me (holy heavy batman!) and I ran up front. Then I felt the ominous buzzing in my pocket, it was Shannon, someone had hit the truck! Oh crap, Matt's going to kill me. Sounds like someone pulled in too close and bumped it, gave Shannon quite the shock, but everything was fine. Phew. Get off the phone and realize that hey! I'll be Lowes will match HD's price on the base. So I went back and had the guy load on the base. Go back up front to find that yeppers, they can price match, so I saved another 10%.

Stop 4. Home Depot
Get back into the truck and decide that since we're already in town, we should go to HD to return the sink base. Drive over there, figure out which base came from them, and leave Shan to guard the goods again. Wait 10 minutes for someone to take care of the guy in front of me, and return the sink that I bought there 45 minutes ago. I should have told the girl that lowes had it cheaper to see if they would undercut themselves. Oh well not that smart.

Finally made it home 4 hours after I left but I have bathroom fixtures that I love. Life is good.

Homemade French Fries

2008-04-14T19:07:00.004-05:00

I baked up some fries tonight, they were AMAZING! Again, no pictures, I couldn't keep the boys out of them long enough to snap some shots.

6 potatoes, unpeeled and cut into wedges length wise
butter
Sea Salt
Fresh cracked pepper
Garlic Powder
Chili Powder
McCormick's Garlic and Herb Grillmates

Heat oven to 350. Melt 2 Tbs butter in the oven on a foil covered baking sheet. Lay potato wedges on pan. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, and grill mates seasoning. Bake until tender about 35 minutes.

Good Eats part deux

2008-04-13T10:32:00.004-05:00

This morning I told Matt to sleep in so I could make him breakfast, since he's been so occupied...oh I don't know...building our house.

Melt in Your Mouth French Toast

I didn't measure so these are estimations.

4 eggs
1/2 - 3/4 cup Half and Half
2 T Cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp maple syrup
salt and pepper
5 slices Texas Toast bread (the thick cut stuff!)

Mix ingredients together in a shallow dish. Dip bread in to coat. Fry on a nonstick skillet until golden brown (more or less how you like it).

Today I topped it with a generous portion of butter and some fresh maple syrup. So good.

Good Eats

2008-04-13T10:28:00.004-05:00

I'm finding more and more that I really enjoy cooking. Here are my latest creations (no pics, I forgot to take them!)

The first is a Fettuccine Alfredo that I found on WC Nestie Jolene's blog http://joelens.blogspot.com/ check it out, I can't wait to make more of her recipes.

Fettuccine Alfredo
Cooking at Home With America's Test Kitchen
page 177

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
salt to taste
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
9 ounces fresh fettuccine
1 1/2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated (about 3/4 cup)
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1. Bring 1 cup of the heavy cream and the butter to a simmer in a 3- to 4- quart saucepan over medium heat; reduce the heat to low and simmer gently until the mixture reduces to 2/3 cup, 12 to 15 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the remaining 1/2 cup cream, 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper.

2. While the cream reduces, bring 4 1/2 quarts water to a rolling boil. covered, in a large stockpot or Dutch oven. Using a ladle or heatproof measuring cup, scoop about 1/2 cup boiling water into each serving bowl; set the bowls aside to warm. Add 1 tablespoon salt and the pasta to the pot of boiling water; cook the pasta until just shy of al dente. Reserve 1/4 cup pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta.

3. Meanwhile, return the cream mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat; reduce the heat to low and add the pasta, Parmesan, and nutmeg to the cream mixture. Cook over low heat, tossing the pasta with tongs to combine, until the cheese is melted, the sauce coats the pasta, and the pasta is just al dente, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the reserved pasta cooking water; the sauce may look rather thin but will gradually thicken as the pasta is served and eaten. Working quickly, empty the serving bowls of the water; divide the pasta among the bowls, tossing the pasta to coat well with the sauce. Serve immediately.

I added about a cup of steamed broccoli and topped it with rotisserie chicken

Amazing

2008-04-12T21:45:00.003-05:00

So on wednesday, I'm going to head to Syracuse to meet up with a girl who I met and talk to daily through a website. How weird is that, totally not something I ever thought I'd do, but hey sometimes God works in mysterious ways. If only I could meet all of my nestie friends IRL. We're going to check out Pottery Barn and I'm going to get my first ever Cold Stone Creamery ice cream. Woot!

Amazing that a website could bring together people who grow to truly care about each other.

Bathroom

2008-04-07T21:36:00.003-05:00

My color scheme. Green walls, white trim, and brown accents (shower curtain and such)

I am in love with this sink. It's kind of sad and pathetic actually, just how in love I am.
Kohler Memoir Collection

I bought this faucet to put on it on Ebay.

And this tub/shower faucet, again ebay.

In case you were wondering

2008-04-07T17:02:00.002-05:00

I see I have posted NO pictures of what the place actually looks like. Might help you figure out where those lights will go.

We rented this thing to take care of the stumps and level out the spot.

Stone is down and tamped. All level and ready for concrete.
Pad is down and Matt is working on laying the brick for the walls.
Here you can see that it will indeed later be a garage.

Trusses in a pile. We had to drag them down the long tree lined driveway. Not fun.

Each truss had to be hand lifted.
Glad all I had to do was take pictures!

From a distance...See the new truck. Don't ask why we still have the Toyota.A while later - ice and water shield on the roof and the front boxed in.

Tyvek up.

Windows make it look like home.

Not loving the ugly brown trim on the door but that can be painted. Love the hardware however, thanks ebay!

Back of the house. Same door is now on as the front.

Side view

The stairs inside.

Bright lights

2008-04-07T16:37:00.003-05:00

Matt gave me the go ahead to make some purchases for the house. So immediately I jumped online to start ordering. I was going to wait until spring break and go shopping, but hey I want what I want, so I did what I'm good at. I ordered online.

Let me take a few minutes to say that if you don't already have ebates you should definitely get it. You get a percentage of what you spend back a few times a year. Last quarter I made $30. If you want a referral let me know, we'll both get $5.

Where was I, oh yeah, lights.

Check these out! The little ones (13 1/2") will go on either end of the front (think garage lights put in early) and the hanger will go in the entry way. It's a bit bigger (19") but it's a 10' ceiling so it needs it.I got them from lampsplus.com with a coupon code found on retailmenot.com ($30 off) plus the cash back from ebates (6%) I've saved about $40 on these! Woot.

Is this for real?

2008-04-07T16:17:00.004-05:00

When did I become a grown up? Was it when I received my college acceptance letters? The day I graduated from high school? Perhaps the day that Matt asked me to marry him? Was it the day that we walked down the aisle? How about moving in together? Could it have been when we packed up and left for Houghton? The day we moved home forever? Perhaps the day we bought our land, or the day we took out a mortgage? Weird. After all that and I still don't feel like a grown up. It's weird. I have a husband, I have a couple of degrees, I have a dog, I have bills, and yet deep down, I wonder when I turned into a grown up.

Today, as alway I was amazed when I walked into my old high school; as an employee not a student and said hello to the other teachers, greeting them by their first names. You know, I think that's when I became an adult. I was teaching summer school when one of my colleagues said "you know Vicki, the world will not end if you don't call me Mrs. Smith." And you know what, I called her Carol and the world didn't end.

Change of plans

2008-02-23T13:58:00.004-05:00

Until we move to the cottage and reconnect with roadrunner, it might be easier to just use this as a venue to make updates on what's going on in our lives.

On the cottage front - (really the garage that we're going to live in until we build the real house), things are going well. We have the shell totally up. Matt's building stairs as I type. Then we'll lay down the upstairs floor, put up the fascia and soffit, and put in my beautiful windows. I'm pretty excited about those windows.

On the job front...I'm working as a substitute at my home district. I love it, but can't wait to have my own classroom. How exciting will that be?

Satellite Internet Sucks

2008-01-06T19:45:00.001-05:00

No picture posts for a while!

I promise I'm not really this lazy!

2007-09-23T15:52:00.001-05:00

Big changes have been going on in McCullouch land. 1. We moved. To my mom's house, with my brother. 2. Houston, we have a driveway! It took 10 loads of stone, but we've got it. Woot.

Matt and the stone guy figuring out where it should dump.

Load 2 coming down!

Load 3 or 4?

3. We finally got a dose of reality and realized that we wouldn't be able to pay cash out of pocket for this whole project - so we applied for a mortgage to build the garage/apartment. Our inspiration for the project is this garage on Rt. 342. We're thinking dark green with a brown shingle roof.

And the plans for the "real" house have changed, hopefully for the last time. Matt's liked this house for a while, but I wasn't sure. It's growing on me though - I'm sick of looking at plans, so I want this to be it!
Front of the house. Again in green with a brown shingle. Perhaps a reddish brown stone instead of the grey.
First floor plan
Second Floor plan - notice the two story living room

Moving - back home

2007-07-30T19:30:00.002-05:00

My parents are moving to Dutchess County and need a house sitter, so we've moving back to the house I grew up in. Plans to be living on our land in the near future are still in the works, but it'll be much cheaper to heat my parent's home than our old Victorian house.
I left a lot of stuff there when I moved out. Including my wedding dress. Four years later and it still fits...almost ;)

Sucking it way in

I made him kiss me for the picture.

Wondering if the couch is ever going to fit through the door.

Sucking it in

Random Update

2007-07-30T19:15:00.001-05:00

No new pictures to show of the land today - just some random shots of what's going on in our lives. Other than work, we do a lot of that!

We love Storm!

I shot Chris and Katie's wedding in June

Tommy's graduation party was the Sunday after he graduated.
Somehow mom caught the grill on fire...

So we gave the charburgers to Foxy

Who immediately took it and buried it out back. Maybe a few months from now it'll taste better!

Our idea so far for the house...

2007-06-07T20:01:00.002-05:00

Here's what we hope our land will someday hold...

What the front of the house will look like.

First floor plan

Second floor plan.

I think that the house will face away from the road. The driveway will come through the woods and make a half circle into the garage. This way we'll have a big front yard with no view of the baseball field. Eventually we'll do a deck off the back (where the french doors are). With the house situated so that it faces away from the road, we'll have shade there in the evenings so we won't roast while having dinner outside!

This is a few years in the future. We're doing a large garage that will be our apartment until the house is built this fall.

And more new pictures

2007-06-02T16:56:00.001-05:00

Finally, spring comes to the North Country. We've been able to get a lot of clearing done.

Matt's done a ton of work in the past few weeks.

The driveway will wind through the woods and emerge between these bushes.

Matt and our nephew, Storm.

Oh stink, time really does fly!

2007-06-02T16:42:00.002-05:00

Wow, I can't believe it's been almost two months since I posted new pictures. Matt's been doing a ton of clearing over at the land. I think that what is cleared now will be it. We don't want too much lawn to mow.
Here's pictures since the last time I posted.

The burning brush pile. Luckily everything was still wet so there wasn't much worry about grass fires.

Our dog, Finney. She used to be all black and white. No brown, you wouldn't know she was the same dog!

Clearing it out

2007-04-16T14:40:00.001-05:00

Matt's been working on clearing out the brush.

This is OUR Land

2007-04-11T15:40:00.001-05:00

That's right it's SOLD - to US!

We finally closed on our land after having our purchase offer accepted in January! It looks a bit wild now, but Matt's working hard on clearing it. 4.5.07