WILW

I am loving that everything is starting to bloom outside. The azealeas, cherry blossom trees,and dogwood trees are a few of my favorites.





I love a cold Diet Dr Pepper first thing in the morning. That is MY coffee.



I love to put lemon juice in my water. It makes it SO much better! I gave it up when I was having stomach issues, but it is easing back into my water everday. I am a tad addicted to it and have been told that I am really drinking "lemonande".



I am loving that a lot of people I know are getting married and having babies. What an exciting time in someone's life that I get to share with them! Now if only it will just slow down a little bit.




I of course always love my "black babies". My Mom had a girl paint this picture in black and white on a canvas for my birthday surprise. I love it and will have to share it soon.





Peace, Love, and Happiness Readers!

Top 2 Tuesday

Top 2 TV Shows

I have always been a big tv watcher. I mean, what better way to escape from the day than a great tv show. I would not be able to enjoy my shows if I did not have DVR.



1. I have always caught this show randomly on TNT. I didn't quite get into the show until when I was out of school for a snow week in January. It comes on tv twice a day on TNT and I DVR it to watch whenever I have time. I love a good mystery and she is such a Southern Belle/Bitch that she makes me smile.





2. I have been into the "vampire" trend ever since the Twilight books came out a few years back. I like reading about them and now I watch tv shows about them. No I don't wear fake fangs thank you very much. I started watching True Blood on HBO a few summers ago and enjoy it. But then the CW announced this new young adult vampire show that was also based off books they were premiering. I have been HOOKED ever since the first night it came on. It is non stop action packed and the cute people on the show don't hurt either!

Oh Deer!

No I did not misspell "Deer" in the title. That slogan basically sums up the crazy week I have had. It started with the great snow/ice storm of 2011 and being out of school ALL week! The roads were full of ice and snow due to the fact that the temperatures did not get above freezing until the end of the week. I was basically stuck inside my house for a few days. I was able to sleep in, work out everyday, watch tv and just have ME time. It was nice for about......oh 2 days!

I finally ventured out Tuesday to go to the grocery store and head over to Ben's for dinner. My battery light came on halfway to Ben's so I called my Dad to see if the cold could be causing this issue. As I was on the phone with my Dad being reassured that if it started and it running then surely I would be fine.....when it started dying. I was able to pull off the road into a school parking lot. But it was 20 something degrees, I had the dogs in the backseat, and a half full bottle of wine with me. Thank goodness Ben decided not to go to the gym and was able to come rescue me. We had to wait forever for a tow truck. I ended up having to get a new alternator, battery, and belt for my car. I had problems with my car awhile back and was told that I would probably need maintenance, but it still was a hard pill to swallow forking over all that money.

I picked my car up from the shop Thursday. I was headed over to Ben's to cook dinner when I realized that I had forgetten an ingredient for our dinner. I decided to swing over to the Target close to Ben's to grab that 1 thing I needed. I was on the phone chatting with my mom, when all of the sudden I hit something. I screamed "I just hit a deer!" and hung up the phone. This huge deer had run out of the middle of nowhere and I hit it going about 40 mph---it flew! I was so shakin' up that I turned on my caution lights and pulled out of traffic. My car had some serious damage, but was luckily driveable. I called my insurance agent the following day and was told to get a quote. When I took it in and they started pointing out all the things that needed replacing, I realized I was going to have to get it fixed sooner than I thought. Sigh.....Even worse is that I killed a deer :(







Let's just hope that the rest of my 2011 is not going to follow this pattern.



TV shows:
I of course have been sucked in by Bachelor Brad's jawline and sexy body. I am still unsure of who I am pulling for yet, but it is still early.
I am ready for the rest of my favorite tv shows to come back on after winter break. This week while off work I have rediscovered The Closer on TNT. I forget how much I love that show! It comes on everyday on TNT for those of you who want to record it

Movies:

I went and watched The Dilema this past weekend. I freakin' love Vince Vaughn! He just talks to fast and has such a witty personality.
I want to see the upcoming movies No Strings Attached, and whatever the Jennifer Anniston/Adam Sandler comedy is.

Peace, Love, and Happiness readers!

27 Dresses Anyone?

I went wedding dress shopping with my sister and mother this past Saturday. We had a wonderful experience! We went to a bridal store in Homewood and thought we had found "the one"--that I picked out none the less. Next we went to a nice consignment shop in Homewood and we weren't even there 15 minutes and knew that it wasn't the store for my sister. We proceeded to go to Bella Couture in Mt. Laurel that was recommended to Kathryn by a couple of girls who had gotten their dresses there. She ended up trying on a few dresses while waiting to try on the dress she thought was "the one". A few were cute but just not her. Well I was called into the dressing room to help zip up a dress. When I was zipped up and I looked at it....we all just knew. It is absolutely gorgeous! My mom and I even teared up watching her in the mirror trying on veils.

Then we moved on to my bridesmaids dress. We had found a short one earlier in the day that we really liked. After she had officially found her dress--my dress was changed. We found a pretty one that almost matches my sisters dress but it is going to be long due to her long train. So operation bridesmaid dress is on because I need to look good.

I am enjoying my relaxing time for the next month, because after that things are going to pick up big time. Between my annual girls beach trip in February, to my birthday, to wedding showers for Kathryn. Whew!

The great "winter storm" of 2011 is in full effect as I type. We are experiencing mainly a huge amount of sleet and maybe some snow late tonight into Monday. My school is cancelled tomorrow and I am not really looking forward to being iced in my house....or making up a day of school later on. If it is in May around my sister's wedding I will probably just take off.

Well readers. Peace, Love, and Happiness and stay warm!

Oh and War Eagle on the outside.....but secretly Roll Ducks Roll on the inside!

Tis the Season

Parties, Friends, Gifts, Family.....Ahhhh the joys of Christmas. It always manages to sneak up on me how busy Christmas can be and how fast it goes by. I have been really booked with parties, dinners, babysitting, birthdays, etc. I won't complain because I enjoy every second of it. I am officially off work for 2 weeks and I plan on enjoying every second of it.

My laptop finally bit the dust last month. I had left it on the bed about a year ago and during the day one of the dogs somehow managed to knock it off my bed. Ever since then, the screen has had a slight short in it. If I kept it a certain way (aka never moved it) it was fine. Well it decided to finally give out around Thanksgiving. I was okay for the time being due to my IPhone 4 and my work laptop, but knew I needed to shop around for a new one. I got a great deal on a DELL since they were having a 12 Days of Christmas sale. I am loving it so far. Now if I can manage to get all of my data off my old laptop I would be in business. The things I am most concerned about are my Itune songs and picture. Let's cross our fingers I can get it trasferred.

So I have some exciting news.....my sister got ENGAGED this past Tuesday. Her birthday was Monday and she was in NYC for work. She flew back Tuesday and he picked her up from the airport and took her home to her house. When she got inside, the Christmas tree was on and there was a big present wrapped up under the tree that was new. He told her to open it up and inside was a cooler filled with champagne. He then proceeded to tell her that they needed something to celebrate and got down on one knee.


I am so excited for her and look forward to celebrating in the upcoming festivities and helping her plan. They are looking at getting married this summer so we will be busy in my family this year---a wedding this summer and one in October.

We had our girl Christmas party last night at my friend Emma's. It was a slumber party/ Dirty Santa/dinner and boy did we have a blast!


I am looking forward to the upcoming week and all the things coming up. I am going to The Highlands Christmas program with Ben and some friends Tuesday night. I will be heading home to spend time with my family for Christmas Wednesday. This is the first year in some time that I have had a boyfriend for Christmas. I am so excited that he is coming to Atmore for Christmas Eve. My family does a big Christmas Eve dinner and presents at my Grandmothers. I will be spending time with Ben's family as well at the beach.
I am unsure as to when we are doing our gifts to each other, but that should be entertaining because I snuck in a few surprises for Ben.

I hope everyone has as a great Christmas!

Thankfulness

I am going to devote this entire blog to list all of the things I am thankful for--and include a few pictures of those things :)


I am thankful for my Mom and Dad.




My mom is my best friend. She will listen to me at all times--even when I am acting horrible. She will always tell me like it is, push me to do more, encourage me when I feel like giving up, loving me unconditionally, and most of all I am thankful for the way she raised me.

My Dad will always be my best guy. He is someone that I look up too. He has shown me what hard work looks like, taught me how to look out for myself, how to fix things and don't back down from people who may treat women differently, and most of all I am thankful for the support that him and my mom gave each other while raising us.


I am extremely thankful for not being an only child and having an older sister and younger brother.





My older sister has been a wonderful example to me while I was growing up. She has taught me how to be independent. She also gave me a wonderful shoulder to lean on during a low point in my life. She is one of my best friends and I am glad we live so close together.

My younger brother has always been a playmate for me. We are so much alike at times that we clash. We have a ton in common--football, music, movies, and great taste in clothes. I have always felt protective towards him and want the best for him.

I am thankful for my AWESOME friends.





My friends are always there for each othe. We take trips, have girls night (with wine of course),celebrate birthdays, holidays, and everything in between. I would be lost without all of them. They know me inside and out and still love me!

I am thankful for having two wonderful dogs that are my constant.




We have been through thick and thin together. They will make any bad day better by the greeting they give me when I walk through the door. We snuggle together everynight--they are great bed companions.

I am also thankful for the wonderful ladies that I work with in First Grade.



They are the people I spend the majority of my day with (well besides my kiddos). They always make me smile and are willing to listen to my stories. We share not only work stuff, but our lives with each other. I couldn't ask for a better group of ladies to work with.

Okay that is enough for tonight. Look for more later.

Peace, Love, and Happiness!

My 2 Hearts

As many of you know--I am the proud owner of 2 Miniature Schnauzers. Growing up my Aunt always had Schnauzers and I have always longed for one of my own.

I got the first one (Maximillian) a year after college. He was my constant companion and went everywhere with me. I remember him sleeping up beside my head on the pillow when he was a puppy. Max is your typical male--all manly, full of energy, wants to always play, but loves to cuddle when he is sleepy. His favorite things to do are the following: chewing on sticks, playing fetch with tennis balls, trying to attack suitcases when you are packing, and barking at anything with wheels (vacuum, pushmower, suitcase, etc).




After owning Max for a year, I decided that he needed a friend--so I got Lexi (Alexia Belle). I almost ended up with a silver Schnauzer just to change things up a bit, but decided that I just was too partial to black. I was thinking of breeding them because I had alot of people who were interested in puppies. After one time of Lexi being in heat I decided that was enough and breeding would be too much work. But Lexi totally rocked diapers while in heat (I cut a hole for her tail).
Lexi is such a girlie dog. She used to be terrified of men and would pee whenever my dad or brother tried to pet her or pick her up. She loves the following: to be held, to sit in your lap, to snuggle, and to follow you wherever you go.



Max is now 6 and Lexi is 5. Both of their birthdays are in August. I had to let them live with my Mom and Dad for two years while I lived in an apartment. I have had them back with me for a year now that I have moved into my house with a fenced in yard. They are so special to me and can always put me in a good mood after a bad day. There is nothing that makes me feel better than coming home and seeing how excited they are to see me.

I have TONS of pictures of them but I am going to try and limit how many I post. Enjoy! :)