Week in Review

Since it's been pretty much a week since I last posted, I thought I would do my week in review.

Last Tuesday night, my friend Ashley & I went to get dinner at Cheesecake Factory!

I tried to find a throwback pic to date our friendship, but I was feeling vain and didn't find any cute enough to share ;) But Ashley & I go WAY back!! She's one of my oldest and best friends and we always pick right back up from when we last talked!  She I stayed at Cheesecake Factory just jabbering away til 9pm (which is late for these teachers and mom!).

We never seem to take a pic when we get together (story of my life), but another childhood friend of ours, Erin, is getting married this coming weekend!  I'll be sure to take some pics and finally have an updated one of she and I!  BTW, Erin has an absolutely gorgeous sneek peek pic from her bridal portraits on her blog!  I can't wait to see her this weekend!

Brandon was gone all last week (boo) so Friday night I had a Girls Night Out with my friends Andrea & Hunter!  There was much jabbering, a few glasses of wine, and entirely way too much fun =)

I had the best of intentions and brought my camera along to take some cute pics....but it was dead.  Fail.

Saturday, Brandon FINALLY came home!!  "Reunited and it feels so good..." We came home, got him unpacked, and took a nap to some SEC football :) Saturday afternoon we were planning to drop off a suit of his to get a few alterations here and there and ended up buying him a whole new suit, as well!!

Men's suits are not cheap if you didn't know...ahem.  But he looks great in it and I will enjoy him as my arm candy when he gets to wear it at another wedding in 2 weeks!

By the time we were done buying his new suit, the gym had closed so we opted for a long run outside.  I'm so glad I married a man who will push me because Saturday that is what I needed!  Haha, I would have rather been sitting on my butt walking, but that run felt good!

As part of his birthday gift (his actual bday is next week!), I got Brandon an Omaha Steak package including some filets, chicken breasts, pork chops, burgers, franks, & stuffed potatoes!  It came this past week so Saturday night we dipped into the chicken and potatoes and made a delish dinner while relaxing on the couch!  It was a PERFECT Saturday night in my opinion!

Sunday was our first official tailgate of the NFL season!  We started it off with some waffles at home and then tailgated for a bit before scalping some tickets to the game!

The ladies starting out :)  Andrea, Hunter, Me

Me & my man

Greg & B

We were in the nosebleeds and the apparent "visitors section" (lame!!) but we still had a great view!

Me & Hunter

Despite our loss (I'm only slightly bitter), it was very fun!!  The weather was legitimately chilly and it didn't quite warm up until actual game time, but chilly weather and football just go together so it was ok with me!

This week I've felt like I've needed another weekend to recover from my weekend!  But I'm back in the swing of things and gearing up for another fun & busy weekend!

We have birthdays galore coming up around here & back to back wedding weekends!  Fun times coming up....I love it!!!

Happy first week of fall!! (well as of Friday really, but its already fall in my book ;)

 

Accent Vlog

So I'm a little late on this whole Accent Vlog thing!  I was also hesitant to even post it :)  I recorded it Sunday and finally worked up the guts found the time to post it today.  So here it is!!!

Just FYI, I was wearing no make-up doing this!  Yikes!  Haha


You can definitely hear Benson in the background meowing & playing with a picture on the wall.  Good right!? 


I say um about 1200 times and the lighting is a little dim, didn't feel like getting off the couch to record this.  Probably should have, oh well!  It was definitely fun little experiment, I may have to do more vlogs in the future :)


Accent Vlog directions as follows: 


Say these words: 
Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught 

And answer these questions: 
What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house? 
What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball? 
What is the bubbly carbonated drink called? 
What do you call gym shoes? 
What do you say to address a group of people? 
What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs? 
What do you call your grandparents? 
What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket? 
What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining? 
What is the thing you use to change the TV channel?

These are my confessions...

I have a few things I need to get off my chest...

1. First and foremost...I hate running outside.  There, I finally said it!  Ughhh, I really tried to like it.  I did!

I ordered an arm band for my iPod and got some new running shoes and socks....

but my arm band gets really sweaty and my new running shoes are apparently slightly too small and give me blisters like no other.

I can't run near as long outside without walking, yet I can run 6 miles on the treadmill.

Fail!  I just like the hamster wheel, that's all there is to it!

2. Since I so love my hamster wheel over outside, I'm not so sure about this whole half marathon idea.

What was I thinking!?!  I might just have to run 13.1 miles at the gym with a number taped to my chest and restart the treadmill over twice since it cuts out every 60 mins and give myself a medal.

That could work!

3. I LOVE Starbucks....but I hate pumpkin spice lattes.  :(  I want to like them!  They're so fall-y and delicious smelling!

But I've tried them every fall for many years and they're just gross.  Can't like 'em!

I love pumpkin spice fallish candles!  In fact I really need to hit up some bath & body works and get some for this season!

       

I saw Starbucks has a salted caramel mocha so I think that will become my new fall drink!!

4. Friday we saw the movie Warrior.....and I bawled like a baby.

Yes, I cried at a movie about UFC/MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) fighting!  And not even just once, I teared up and cried several times!

But this was much more than just a fighting movie!!  Don't get me wrong, the fighting is brutal and you will cringe through each blow....

but the story is what gets you.  Its about two brothers from a broken family, their estranged recovering alcoholic father, and their heart wrenching and amazing journey to forgiveness.

Brandon & I watch A LOT of movies and we both left the theater saying this was the best movie we've seen in a VERY long time!  Go see it!!

I have no doubt it will win awards!  It must.  It was that good!!

5. We missed U of Michigan's win over Notre Dame last night! Whoops!!

After the pool for a bit Saturday, Brandon & I watched college football all Saturday afternoon and flipped back and forth between all the good games!

Confession...this was really my view =)  but I was watching all the games too!

Brandon was super pumped (I was just mildly pumped :) for the first night game EVER at The Big House!  The Big House stadium has never had lights before so night games were never an option.

We made homemade pizza and brownie cookie bars and indulged as we basked in glory of college football.

But then Michigan started sucking and Brandon just couldn't watch.

We flipped around the tube, checking back every now and then, but it wasn't looking good eventually we fell asleep!

Big mistake!!  Michigan came back to win!!!  Might have been a little sloppy, but a W is a W right!?

B was very sad he missed it and made sure to watch the highlights on SportsCenter this am!

6. I feel overstimulated from all this 9-11 stuff, its a lot to relive.  I can't even imagine what it's like for those who were a part of it or were directly affected.

I think I'll just go read "The Help" and turn the tube off.

7. Brandon is gone for 6 whole nights :(  He's in Michigan for work and won't be back til next Saturday.

This makes for a very sad wifey.  But I will choose to be thankful for a hard working husband with a good job and a salary.

8. I wish I wrote less wordy blogs.

Oh well....don't hold your breath!  :)



Have a blessed week!

9/11 We Will Never Forget

It's hard to believe this is the 10th anniversary of the attack.  I've seen so much coverage of it this weekend and today and have teared up a few times - the ceremonies on TV this morning, the moments of silence, reading tweets at the gym, NFL tributes! Wow!

I was a freshman in high school and was walking to my 3rd block of the day when a friend from church stopped me outside in between buildings to ask if I had heard.  Somehow the planes had crashed and towers had fallen before I even found out.  The first words out of my mouth were something to the effect of "Oh my gosh!  Are we going to go to war??"  I had brothers around 18 and 20 and was terrified there might be a new draft!

During my lunch period I used a pay phone at school to call my dad who worked in a bank building in downtown Charlotte at the time.  I wanted to be sure no planes were headed to our big banking city.

As I searched for images to include today, I tried to pick up lifting ones. There were oh so many and oh so many sad and heart breaking ones.  But I wanted to chose ones that give hope, honor the memory, and look forward.

Those lost are gone, but surely not forgotten!  I choose not to remember this day as a day of defeat, but to remember this day as the day we all stood united as one nation under God, tall and defiant against the face of evil!

I will always remember President Bush's speech that night offering hope to our country on a day when hope seemed far.

"Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. .... I pray {those who grieve} will be comforted by a power greater than any of us spoken through the ages in Psalm 23, "Though I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me".  This is a day when all Americans from every walk of life unite in our resolve for justice and peace.  America has stood down enemies before, and we will do so this time.  None of us will ever forget this day, yet we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world. Thank you, goodnight, and God bless America."

Labor Day Weekend

This post is rather late, but better late than never right!?  Blogging was on my "to do" list each and every night this week and each and every night this week I would cut and paste it onto the next days "to do" list.  Needless to say, this week was a rough one and I'm glad its over :)  I was a bug on the windshield of life last week, haha, but luckily, next week will be a new start again!  Ain't that grand!?

Anywhoo....back to Labor Day weekend!  After school last Friday, our friend Andrea met us at our place and we set off for VA Beach about 430, only the worst time to try and leave Charlotte!  Haha...we encountered massive amounts a bit of traffic which set us back a little, but we finally made it to Justin's about 1030!  This girl was exhausted so I tried hanging out til 1130 but then I had to hit the hay.  But after a good nights sleep, I was ready to go!!

Justin did a great job playing host and took us to an awesome place for brunch called Citrus.  Their mimosa's were to die for (I had a watermelon mimosa with freshly squeezed watermelon juice!  Who knew you could squeeze a watermelon!?!?) and the strawberry banana chocolate chip pancakes were probably the best thing I've ever put in my mouth!!

Justin lives about 2 blocks from the bay so we packed a cooler with some beverages and good eats and parked our butts at the beach til about 430. PERFECT DAY!!

The bay is calmer than the ocean and a little warmer.  You get some little waves from the boats and traffic passing by.  One of Justin's good friends and his girlfriend drove up to meet us from Raleigh and we met another couple Justin & Andrea and Erin & Ryan had met earlier this year out on the beach!  They brought their all terrain radio so we had a party =)

The boys passing out brews.  Unfortunately we didn't really take many pics (what else is new!?).  I'm SO bad about this.  The boys tossed the football and played in the water while the girls relaxed, got our tan on, and talked about all things girly!

Saturday night we went out for dinner & then got our dance on!

This pic alone proves I am letting go of my vanity for the sake of the blog.  Hah!  We took turns catching each other "in action"!  Clearly we have awesome dance moves!  

Caught Justin in action too!!

Sunday it was more of the same!  We soaked up the beach as long as we could and didn't leave til about 530.

Sorry for the poor quality phone pic!

There was a cool little band playing at a house not far from where we were parked and they were decked out in American spirit!  That night we got some Mexican for dinner and stuffed ourselves silly!

Monday we headed back pretty early which left us with a little time to get ready for the next week.  Our Labor Day weekend was the PERFECT close to a sweet, sweet summer!  We spent it with great friends on the beach and made lots of fun fall plans for the weeks coming up!  

Hope your labor day was perfect as well!

Farewell Friday

I've been back in school for two weeks now, the kiddos have been back for a full week, and it's labor day weekend so I think its only appropriate that today I bid summer a bitter sweet farewell!

We are kissing summer goodbye with a LONG weekend in Virginia Beach with our good friends Andrea & Justin!

With summer leaving and the start of school, I am saying goodbye to a few things....

Sleep - oh sweet sleep!  How I love it so.  Sigh....early mornings and late nights are back to stay for this working girl.  I already loathe 530am on the clock and get a great amount of satisfaction out of pressing snooze each morning.  Sleeping in is now a precious rarity and a valued treasure on Saturday mornings.  On the brighter side, the early bird gets the worm right!?

Bright eyes - you did just read the above paragraph, yes?  Since I have bid adieu to regular and lengthy shut eye, I also bid adieu to my summer bright eyes that are free of deathly dark circles and say hello to beloved caffeine and gobs of concealer.

Bathing suit season - actually, this one I don't really mind leaving.  While I will miss Saturday's by the pool and a lovely summer glow, I will not miss the stress of squeezing into a bikini every weekend.  Sayonara and good riddance! I'll start that stress over again next year, somewhere around mid-February.

Summer - you were fantastic as always, shorter now that I'm older, and full of sweet memories.  I will miss you, but I welcome fall with open arms. Until next year, fare the well Summer!

Here's to a LOOOONNNNGGG weekend!!  Enjoy friends :)