Roll Tide!

I love this commericial! It's airing on ESPN right now and I'd say it's pretty accurate.


The youtube description for the commercial says this:
"Roll Tide" is a universal expression among 'Bama Nation, versatile and applicable in nearly every situation as a greeting, farewell or standard cheer or praise.

Sounds about right to me!

It's not crazy, it's sports.

ROLL TIDE!

We Need a Little Christmas!

Since I did it last year, I wanted to post a few of the Christmas decorations we put up this year too!

My little snowman family in our entryway


Our new tree is REALLY tall! Lee couldn't even reach the top with the step stool! We had to bring in one of our outside chairs [they're pretty high] so he could stand in it to put the star on top.


Our niece had been playing with the gravel in our backyard on Thanksgiving, and when we brought the chair in we found out she had left us some in the chair!


One of my best friends gave us this "Our First Christmas" ornament :)


Ellie and Bruce Wayne's "Aunt" got them this ornament this year. We had gone to the Christmas store at the mall and we saw this ornament but I didn't want to pay for it. I went to get something to drink and she told me she had bought something for some of her other friends and asked if I wanted to see it. I saw Ellie's name first and thought "Oh, they have an Ellie too!" but then I saw Bruce Wayne's name, and she said "It's for yall!" So sweet!


I bought these last year and Lee said they should be next to each other on the tree :)


These are just a couple of tables in the living room. Nothing too exciting, but there's one of those Bath and Body Works candles I'm obsessed with!


We have stockings on the mantle, but it looks pretty much the same as last year so I didn't post that picture.

That's pretty much it for Christmas this year. It's pretty simple but I'm happy with it. I've already got plans of what I want to do next year!

What I'm Loving 12.15.10

I'm linking up again this week with Jamie's What I'm Loving Wednesday :)

I'm loving that I passed my teaching music class this semester! I've never failed a class, but I was really and truly afraid that I might fail this one. I am not very musically inclined [my dad sucked up all the musical talent in our family!], and my teacher and I didn't exactly see eye to eye, so I was just hoping to get by with at least a C, but I ended up with a B+!! So I ended up with about a 3.8 GPA for the semester...not bad for my first semester as an official graduate student!

I'm loving our new Christmas tree!
I got this tree last year because our ceilings in our house are so high it made our old tree look kinda Charlie Brown. I did love our old tree though, and I gave it to my sister-in-law so I know it's in a good home :) I'm going to post the rest of our Christmas decorations later this week.

I'm loving that we're going to Nashville again this weekend for the Titans/Texans game!
Lee got the tickets for me for my birthday. [I'll be wearing this shirt, even though nobody will see it because it will be under all the other layers I'll be wearing!] I'm not a HUGE NFL person, and I kinda just picked the Texans as my favorite team because I can't really watch football if I don't have a team to cheer for. My favorite football player from college, DeMeco Ryans, is a Texan, as well as Kareem Jackson and Antoine Caldwell, other former Bama players. DeMeco's hurt right now though, so I won't get to see him play :( If I had to pick another favorite team it would be the Titans just because I like Nashville, so I don't really care who wins, I'm just excited to be going to my first NFL game :)

Speaking of football, I'm loving that Lee and I are in the championship game in his fantasy football league! I could actually win the whole thing this year! Last year my fantasy team was really really bad and I was expecting pretty much the same thing this year, so it's pretty cool that I could win. Lee would never get over it if his wife beats him in fantasy football, though.

I'm loving using my Christmas china!
It's the M. Bagwell Simply Christmas collection. I wish I could use it all year. I got most of the pieces when we got married, but I still need a few so I've been asking for them for my birthday to finish up the collection. I was so busy last year I completely forgot to get out all my Christmas china last year so I couldn't wait to use it this year!

I survived the semester!

Last week was pretty crazy, but I survived. I had finals every day except Wednesday. The tests I was really concerned about were Tuesday and Thursday, so at least they were spaced out and I was able to study all day Wednesday for my Thursday test.

My Thursday test was at 11:30 that morning, so I woke up pretty early to get ready then study until it was time to leave for my test. I got about halfway to Tuscaloosa before I realized I was still wearing my slippers! Thank goodness I called my sister-in-law and her roommate let me borrow some shoes! She's so sweet...they were leaving the apartment before I got there but she left me four pairs of shoes to choose from :) So anyway, I was clearly not in a mental state to be taking a test! But I actually think I did better on that test than I did on any other test in that class, so it worked out.

I had another test at 11:30 Friday, then I drove home right after I finished and we headed down to Panama City for Lauren's rehearsal dinner. Lee wanted to be sure we got there in time for cocktail hour, and that we did. I needed a cocktail [or several] after all my finals!

Me and Lauren at her rehearsal dinner:

We had a lot of fun at the wedding and reception, and then we got up Sunday and visited with everybody for a while and then headed home. It was such a good weekend.

For the past two days I've just been relaxing a little bit and trying to get this house back in order...I let it get to be a complete mess during finals! I'm gonna try to get my Christmas shopping done in the next few days and finally wrap some presents. I haven't wrapped the first one yet, I need to get on that!

What I'm Loving

I'm linking up this week with Jamie's What I'm Loving Wednesday! Here are some of the things I'm loving right now:

I'm Loving that all my family [except my older sister and her family] is going to be here for Thanksgiving tomorrow! Most of them are coming to spend the night tonight! We get to see all these cuties:
I'm Loving the turkey cupcakes I made! [pretty bad quality I know, I took them with my phone!] I found them here on one of Tatertots and Jello's link-ups. I'm not creative, so I'm always checking those out to see what I think I might can make! Hers were way cuter, but I was still proud of mine :)

I'm Loving that we're going to Nashville to see the Rockettes Saturday! I saw them a few years ago in New York and I really liked it. We're going with Lee's parents and grandparents, so I'm glad that we'll get to spend some time with them since we won't see them on Thanksgiving. [This is the first Thanksgiving I know of...maybe ever...that Lee hasn't spent down at the beach at his grandparents' house]

I'm Loving The Nate Berkus Show. I DVR it every day because I'm never at home when it's on. He's amazing :)

I'm Loving the Glee Christmas CD. Two of my favorite things combined! And yes, I went and go it the day it came out :) Happy Thanksgiving!

I Have a Problem

I have a problem. I CANNOT stop buying Bath and Body Works 3-wick candles. It's a sickness. They just put them on such good sales and I just can't help myself!

Right now I'm burning this one in the kitchen:

And this one in the living room:

I have Kitchen Spice and Pumpkin Patch waiting their turns. I know it's past Halloween now but I think the pumpkin can last me until Thanksgiving :)

This morning I got an email from Bath and Body Works that their candles were on sale for 2 for $30, [which is obviously not as good as when they're on sale for 2 for $20, but I don't know when that sale is gonna come around again], and there was a $10 off $30 coupon in the email, AND I had gotten a coupon in the mail for a free signature item with any purchase. So I obviously went and got more candles. Today I got these:

I got this one because Lee told me he liked it when I dragged him in the store this weekend :)

And I got this one just because it smells Christmas-y and I liked it :)

When I checked out they gave me another $10 off $30, and a coupon book, so of course I'll be going back before too long. They definitely know what they're doing! But at least my house smells good!

Happy Halloween!

Lee dressed up for Halloween at work today...he took it way back...
I feel so safe knowing that I'm married to Quail Man :)

On another note, I'm really going to try to blog more...school has just had me so busy! Once I finish with all my homework I just want to go to bed!

I hope everybody has a safe and happy Halloween!

Friday Fives

The Friday Five this week over at Just Me and My Life is 5 Things you Want from csnstores.com. This was a lot of fun! It was hard to narrow it down to 5 things, but here's what I came up with:

1. A fondue set.
We've gone to the Melting Pot for my past two birthdays, and every time we go it makes me want a fondue set of my own. Whether or not I'd use it if I actually had one is another story :)

2. This giraffe print luggage set.
I've been wanting this luggage for so long!

3. A new comforter set.
I think this one is really pretty.

4. This mirror jewelry armoire.
I love that it's a full-length mirror too!

5. The Paula Deen cookware set.
I just hate the set that we have. The one we have is what we registered for, and there's really nothing wrong with it, I'm just not good at cooking unless the pots and pans are non-stick, and ours are not. Plus, I love red :)

Now if you go play along you'll be put in the drawing to win a $35 gift card!

Memory Lane

Last weekend one of best friends from high school had a baby shower so I went home for it. Before we left on Sunday I got out my mom's big box of old pictures and started looking through them and found this one:
That's me and Sunny when we were probably about four, eating boiled peanuts. We both still LOVE them [which explains why I was so happy when Lee made them for my birthday!] and daddy had some waiting for us when we got home...and then went and bought more when we ate up what we had!

Life is [and always has been] good when we're eating boiled peanuts with our daddy :)

Ready for Fall

Where is the fall weather? I mean, school's back in and it's football season again, so where's the cooler weather??

I am usually a summer girl. I love the longer days, the beach, the pool and all the other stuff that goes along with it. USUALLY. It seems like the older I get, though, the more I love fall. Not hot anymore, but not cold yet [because I definitely HATE cold weather]. So I'm definitely looking forward to fall...even though we only get about two weeks of it here! [I'm exaggerating but fall really doesn't last very long]

We had some fall-ish weather over Labor Day weekend that really got me ready for it! Now it's back in the 90s every day :( So I've decided this weekend I'm going to put up my fall decorations to kinda try to trick myself into thinking it's cooling off!

We don't have a whole lot of fall decorations because I'd rather spend the money on Christmas decorations, but I try to get a couple of things every year. Yesterday I got some fall flowers to put in the living room to replace the orchids [haven't decided if I like them or not yet] and some hand towels for the kitchen. I can't even remember what all we have already.

This afternoon I found this and thought it was a really cute idea:
I'm not crafty at all, no matter how hard I try, but I think I could do this. AND it's pretty cost-effective! I think I'll take a shot at it this weekend. I'll report back on how it turns out :)

Birthday Weekend :)

My birthday was Thursday. My sister-in-law makes the best cookie cakes ever, and she made me that one. She's the best.

The kind people at ESPN gave me college football for my birthday! I had been not very patiently waiting for football season to come back since January 7, so the start of college football was just about the best present I could have gotten :)

The only thing that wasn't so great about football season starting on my birthday was the fact that I had class until 8:00 Thursday night, and the South Carolina/Southern Miss game started at 6:30. So I missed most of that game :(

BUT I have an awesome husband who made it up to me! I got home, and he had pizza and beer waiting for me, and these:
He went to the farmers market Monday and got the peanuts, and then Monday night I started talking about wanting boiled peanuts. He said he thought the farmers market was only open on the weekend, but that he would get some for me the next time we were in Tuscaloosa on the weekend for a game. I told him that was fine and well, but that meant I couldn't have them during the game Saturday (and then I pouted for a little while). I'm pretty sure his response was something like "That's too bad, I'm sorry." Then he changed the subject. When I got home Thursday night saw the crock pot out I still had no idea! I thought he had made me cheese dip. I was so excited when I saw that they were boiled peanuts! He had never made them before, but they turned out really good!

This was also waiting for me:
That's the shirt that he got for me to wear to go with my other present: tickets to the Texans/Titans game in December! I'm so excited! I've liked the Texans since they drafted Demeco Ryans in 2006, and now they have two other former Alabama players, so I for sure love them! And we're pretty close to Nashville, so I'd always kinda liked the Titans too. I can't wait for the game! (And yes, I realize that I got a short sleeve t-shirt to wear to a football game in December. We didn't really think that one through. Guess I'll just have to layer)

And Lee had flowers sent to me Friday afternoon.
I think they're pretty, even though they aren't what he ordered. He was hoping to surprise me with them Friday afternoon, but the florist called me Wednesday afternoon to set up a delivery for Friday. I've never had a florist do that before. I doubt he'll be ordering from them again. But to me, the thought he put into it was way more important than what they looked like.

Friday night we went to dinner at The Melting Pot. It was so good! We went there for my birthday last year and decided to go for my birthday again this year. Here's a picture of us after dinner:
When we got back from dinner my parents got into town and they stayed with us until today. Yesterday we watched football all day while we counted down to kickoff of Alabama football. My sister, brother-in-law and nephew came, and Lee's mom and stepdad came. We cooked out and ate a ton of food and just had a good time. We had a cake from Edgar's that was decorated for football.

SO, SO GOOD!

I had kinda been dreading my birthday this year, but thanks to my awesome husband and family (and nice facebook messages helped too!!), it turned out to be really good. Presents and stuff are nice, but to me there is really nothing better than spending my birthday kicking off football season with the people I love :)

Today is Beautiful

One day earlier this week I was walking back from class, and there was a guy behind me who just seemed so HAPPY. He spoke to everybody he passed, and then he said, "Today is a beautiful day. I'm gonna enjoy this day." Then he looked at me and said "How 'bout you?" So of course I said I would, because who would say no? But then I realized that I had not once that day taken time to think about how gorgeous of a day God had given us. The weather had FINALLY cooled off a little bit, the sun was shining, and it really was a beautiful day.

I want to be like that guy. I want to be thankful for all the blessings I do have in my life instead of harping on the little things that aren't going my way.

I got this email from my dad this morning that reminded me of how I felt that day. I don't usually send forwards, but I wanted to share this one, so here it is:

"A blind boy sat on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said: "I am blind, please help." There were only a few coins in the hat.
A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.
Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy. That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, "Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?"

The man said, "I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way." I wrote: "Today is a beautiful day but I cannot see it."
Both signs told people that the boy was blind. But the first sign simply said the boy was blind. The second sign told people that they were so lucky that they were not blind. Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?

Moral of the Story:

Be thankful for what you have.. Be creative. Be innovative. Think differently and positively. When life gives you a 100 reasons to cry, show life that you have 1000 reasons to smile. Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear. Keep the faith and drop the fear.
The most beautiful thing is to see a person smiling…
And even more beautiful, is knowing that you are the reason behind it!!!

If you appreciate this message, please share. You may touch someones heart today and forever. Enjoy your weekend with a heart of gratitude...

"Faith is not about everything turning out OK; Faith is about being OK no matter how things turn out."

OWWW

I am HURTING today. Lee and I are on Day 3 of P90X, and I am some kinda sore! We started the P90X on Monday night, then we got up early yesterday morning and did Day 2, and we were SUPPOSED to get up before work and school this morning for Day 3, but when my alarm went off I could BARELY move. I'm not hurting as bad right now as I was last night though. Last night I didn't want to move. I parked myself on the couch and read a book and tried to move as little as possible. It was hard to not move, though, when you have two spoiled dogs who have to be on the couch with you all the time, but jump down any time they hear ANY noise, then want to be picked back up. (They CAN jump onto the couch, they just don't know it...that's probably for the best so I can at least kind of control when they're up there and when they're not)

So anyway, my arms, back, and now legs are killing me AND it's the first day back at school for the fall, so I'm walking around campus with a backpack (which obviously is not good when your back hurts...at least I don't have any books to carry around yet!). I told Lee that if we are going to deal with being this sore, we HAVE to finish this program, and not quit a month into it. I'm not exactly following the meal plan, but I do feel like if we stick with this we'll get some really good results.

To make myself just a little more pitiful, I had to go get a shot and a TB test today :( I don't do well with needles at all, so I was really dreading it, but ready to get it over with. This was my third attempt to get all this done...third time's a charm :) The first time I went to health center on campus the line was almost out the door, so I left, thinking I could just get it done at the walk-in clinic close to my house. So I went there yesterday to find out that they could do the TB test but not the other shot I needed. So this morning after my first class I went back to the health center. I tried to make an appointment for this morning so I hopefully wouldn't have to wait so long, but they said that because they had not treated me there before that I could only come in as a walk-in. That just didn't make any sense to me, but whatever. The line wasn't nearly as long today, and I was only in there for about half an hour. And it didn't hurt too bad. I've had the TB test before so I knew it wouldn't be bad, but I wasn't sure about the meningitis, so I was a little worried. I told the nurse about my issues with needles and she did a good job distracting me so I wouldn't get all nervous and forget to breathe or anything (yes, that has happened to me before!). And now I've got an awesome band-aid with the Tasmanian Devil on it where I got my shot :)

Funny Little Story

I had a job over the summer that I had to quit last week because it didn't work with my school schedule. It was a pretty well-known retail chain that sells soap and lotion and stuff like that. I enjoyed the job and the people that I got to work with, and it seems like a really good company, so I hate that I had to quit, but I just couldn't make it work.

But anyway, back to the story. My last night there was last week, and we had gotten some new Halloween themed hand sanitizers. A girl came in with what I'm assuming is her mother (it could be her aunt, friend, whatever, but for the purposes of my story we'll go with mother) and they were looking at the hand sanitizers. I had not seen the new Halloween ones yet so I was looking at them with them, and we were smelling them and showing each other the different ones. The mother saw one called "Vampire Blood" and showed it to me and her daughter. The daughter looked at me as serious as could be and said, "Is that really what vampire blood smells like?"

How do you respond to that?? I just stood there for a second trying to figure out what to say when the mother laughed and reminded her that vampires aren't real. I took that as my cue to walk away and let them shop around on my own (and so I could turn around and get a little laugh out of my system)

I'm glad I was able to get a funny little memory for my last night there!

Lee's consultant

Lee's working from home today and look who's helping him out:

She has no idea she's not a person!

The Boys of Fall

I think I've mentioned a time or two (or seven or eight!) how much I love football, especially The University of Alabama football. I've been counting down to football season for at least two months now (and we still have one long month left!). A few weeks ago when I thought I couldn't be any more ready for football season, I heard this song. Oh man. Then the video came out earlier this week. It brought tears to my eyes. It's "The Boys of Fall," by Kenny Chesney. If you haven't heard it or seen the video, here it is (it's kinda long but so good!):

{Here's the youtube link}

(As an Alabama fan, I was watching for Alabama clips the whole time and was getting a little upset because I never saw any, but the video goes out pretty dang strong!)

And since I'm on youtube, I wanted to post a couple of Bama football videos I've come across in the past couple of weeks.

This one is a hype video to get everybody pumped for this season:

{youtube link}

And this one is supposedly the new intro video they're going to show in the stadium:

{youtube link}

Win or lose, I love the Tide! Only about a month until the season starts (Alabama's first game is two days after my birthday, and college football actually starts on my birthday! I get the best birthday present every year!) I'm going to continue my countdown now...

What a week!

It's been a pretty busy couple of weeks! These summer classes are KILLING me! Right now I'm taking an online math class (I started that one in June), a regular math class (a five week summer class) and last week I had a one-week Intro to Education class. Even though that class was over last week, I still had two papers due for it this week. When I say papers, I mean one of them was just 3-5 paragraphs and the other was a 3-page research paper, so they didn't have to be long or anything, but still. And I had a math test on Wednesday in the middle of my papers being due. Next week I have a test on Tuesday and then two finals on Thursday. Then I'm done with summer classes! Whew! I'll get a break for ALMOST a week then fall classes start. I'm excited about fall classes because they actually pertain to my major and they're not just deficiencies I didn't take my first time around.

So my plans for today are to get to everything I didn't get to do this week. I want to get this house clean, pull weeds in the yard, get some homework done and go to the grocery store. We'll see how much of that I actually do get done! My mom is in town keeping Riley since Sunny had to go back to work yesterday (he doesn't start at daycare until Monday) so she's going to come stay with us when Sunny gets home from work today :) Tomorrow I have a baby shower to go to and I have to work a little bit on Sunday, so I guess I should really try to be productive today!

Five Question Friday

Happy Friday! I had to work tonight, so I guess my weekend is starting now...even though I have to work Sunday night...during the season premier of Mad Mad :( Thank goodness for DVR [sidenote to Bright House cable: if your stupid DVR messes up during Mad Men Sunday like it always does when I record The Bachelorette, I will throw a fit...just sayin'] Anyway, I thought I'd link up to Mama M.'s Five Question Friday :)

1. What were your school colors?
In high school we were red and white...college colors were Crimson and White...Roll Tide! Probably about 90% of my t-shirts are crimson Alabama shirts...

2. What's the best compliment you ever received?
That I have a "beautiful soul" :)

3. Do you buy cheap or expensive toilet paper?
I guess it's kind of expensive...I prefer Charmin Diamond Weave. Right now I'm using Cottonelle because it was on sale but I'm going right back to my Charmin when it runs out!

4. Have you ever had a surprise party thrown for you? Or have you had one for someone else?
Nope, never had a surprise party thrown for me :( We had one for my dad though when he turned 50. He really was surprised!

5. What is one material possession that you "can't live without"?
It was a tough decision...it was going to be either my laptop or my phone, but I'm gonna have to go with my phone. I mean, I really need my laptop for school and everything, but if it died I guess I could get by without it and use Lee's desktop. My phone, on the other hand...I don't know what I'd do without it. I don't actually KNOW anybody's phone number anymore, so I couldn't call anybody from my house phone if I didn't have it. Plus, if I didn't have my computer I could get on the internet with my phone, and the other day I got a "groceries" app! I haven't used it yet, but I'm pretty excited about it :)

I hope everybody has a good weekend!

Weekend Fun

This weekend my childhood bff came to visit! She lives in Eufaula right now so we don't get to see each other as much as we'd like, but we always pick right back up without missing a beat :) She brought her boyfriend with her, and his daughter because we had not met them yet.

We had so much fun! They got into town Saturday afternoon and we went over to Sunny's house for a shrimp boil. This was the weekend I tried to get better about taking pictures!

The bff and me

The twin sister and me

The other bff and me

I was trying to give him a kiss and he laughed! Not the reaction I was going for! :)

Sunday we got up and played some guitar hero, then we went to Full Moon (home of the biggest bbq potato I've ever had!) for some lunch then did a little bit of shopping then to Yogurt Mountain! They weren't allowed to leave Birmingham until we went to Yogurt Mountain! Shannon has been before, but her boyfriend and daughter had not, so they had to experience it...plus, I'll take any excuse to go there :)

I clearly blew my diet this weekend, but it's okay. We had such a good time :)

it's the little things in life

Ever noticed how the little things in life sometimes (probably even most of the time) make you happier than the big things? You know, when you're just having a regular day, not particularly bad or good, and something that's not really a big deal at all can just make your day? I love those little things.

Here are a couple of little things that have made a couple of my days this week pretty awesome:

1. Tuesday night I had to work until about 9:30, and then I was planning on studying the rest of the night for a math test that I had on Wednesday. When I got home from work, Lee told me that he had gone to the store to get some salad and he got me a surprise while he was there since he knew I'd be up later than normal. He told me that he was going to get me ice cream (because we all know how much I LOVE ice cream), but he knew I was trying to lose weight and didn't want to mess me up too bad. So instead he got me some Luigi's Italian Ice. It wasn't any big thing that he did for me, it was just the thought behind it that made me so happy :)

2. I think I've mentioned on here how much I hate cleaning the bathroom. I don't mind cleaning the sinks and even the toilets, but I detest cleaning the shower. It just seems like no matter how hard I try, I can't ever get it really clean. Then I'll go to take a shower the next day and it looks like I didn't even try. I saw a commercial the other day for the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser Bath Scrubber and figured I'd try it. I've tried everything else, so why not? I used it today, and I am absolutely IN LOVE with it! It wasn't perfect, but hey, my shower never is, so I'll take it! It really did make my day to find something that works on my shower!

I might start doing this kind of post more regularly. That way, if I'm ever feeling sorry for myself I can just look back at them and be reminded of the little things that make me so happy :)

I hope everybody has a great weekend!

it's an exciting life...

Not really. Not lately anyway. I've been pretty boring for the past few days. I was supposed to have my astronomy final tomorrow, but we were ahead of schedule in the class so our teacher gave us the option to take it yesterday. I probably could have used the extra time to study, but I figured I could just suck it up and stay up studying all night Monday and then be done with it. So that's what I did. I studied all night Monday night, went and took the final at 10 yesterday morning, then went to the library and studied for my astronomy lab final, and took that at noon. I obviously wasn't as worried about the lab final as I was about the lecture. Now if I can just get through my math classes next month I'll be moving on the stuff I'm actually interested in!

In other news, I'm patiently waiting to go see Eclipse on SATURDAY! I'm going with some of my friends from work, and I haven't seen them since my last day, so I'm as excited about seeing them as I am about the movie :) I'm re-reading the book, so I'm trying to get finished with that before we go.

Also in random news, a piece of the bottom of my computer fell off today. Something tells me that's not good?

one down, a whole bunch to go

I finished my first class of the summer semester yesterday! It was definitely my favorite of the three I'm taking right now, BUT I had to carry a keyboard clear across campus every day, so I won't miss that! I'll be done with all my classes for the first summer semester Tuesday, and I have a final Thursday, then my first (summer) semester back in school will be complete!

I knew I'd be busy this month, but this has been crazy! I spent my ENTIRE weekend studying. Well, most of the day Friday, Saturday night (we had some family stuff and I worked a little bit during the day) and ALL DAY Sunday. I'm taking an online math class right now, and I had been working so hard on my other two classes I got behind in it so I had to spend most of the weekend catching up on that. I had homework and quizzes that had to be done before my test yesterday (and let's just say I'll need to study a lot harder for the next two tests!)

Next month I'm taking two math classes (one is the online class I just mentioned) and an Intro to Education class. The Intro to Education class will only last a week though, so I think next month is going to be a little less stressful, and I should be able to better manage my online class.

Since I'll only have class for two hours for most of next month, I'm actually going to be able to go back to the gym! (Which I'll need since I won't be walking near as much to and from class.) A friend of mine said she's going to join too, so we can go together. I'm excited...I've actually missed the gym!

I guess that's all I have for an update today!

How Lee Proposed

I'm participating in Kelly's Korner's Show us Your Life today...it's proposal stories :) So here's how Lee proposed:

Lee is a little bit younger than me, so when I graduated and got a job he was still in school. He was an MIS major and ALWAYS had projects and group meetings. Plus, he was the president of a club in that major that had meetings every Tuesday. So for his last year and half of college we hardly ever saw each other. It was tough.

One Tuesday night his meeting got cancelled so we were going to have a date. We didn't see each other much during the week so I was pretty excited. When I got home from work that day he met me at the top of the stairs at my apartment with my favorite flowers:
He had cooked dinner for me and had it waiting...I think it was chicken cordon bleu...not the kind you buy frozen in the box (not that there's anything wrong with that stuff, it's delicious...I have some in the freezer now!), but he had actually made it! I know he's made that for me before, I THINK that's what he made that night!

It was a gorgeous day (April 3, 2007)...it was warm outside but not hot, and the days were starting to get longer. So while we were eating I said we should go get ice cream and eat it at the park (which worked out PERFECTLY since that's what he was planning on doing).

We were heading to get ice cream (listening to a CD of sweet songs he had made me...he gave it to me later that night and it was labeled "Marry Me Mix") and he said he was really full so why didn't we just go to the park and walk around a little while. We got there and walked around a little bit and then sat on a bench in front of the river and were just talking. The sun started to set and he said "You know I love you more than anything in the world," to which I responded "Yeah I know" (haha). Then he got up and said "I brought you here to ask you a question," got down on his knee and asked me to marry him. I don't think I ever actually said yes now that I think about it! I was just crying and nodding!

And we DID got get ice cream when we left the park!

I don't have any pictures from that night, but here's the first one I have of us after we got engaged:

Easter 2007

So that's our proposal story! I think he did a good job ♥

Know What's Awesome?

My computer is connected to the internet right now through my phone. We're at a friend's house who doesn't have wireless internet, so Lee hooked it up so I could get on and watch my online lectures through the phone. Maybe it's not a big deal to any of yall, but I think it's pretty cool! Thanks for setting it up for me, Lee :)

Now I'm off to study...since that's the reason he set it up for me in the first place!

I hope everybody's having a good week so far!

Getting to Know You!

It's Sunday, so it's time to play some Getting to Know You with Keely!

1. If you could have one of Superman's, powers which one would you want? Superhuman strength..Flight..Superhuman speed..X-Ray vision..etc
Well, considering that this month I have to walk completely across campus with a keyboard about as big as I am in about 90+ degree heat, I'd pick superhuman speed. Next month I might change my mind though!

2. The best thing I ever won is....?
Super Achiever. 7th grade. SWEET.

3. Have you ever skyped with a bloggy friend?
Nah, I don't skype

4. What is your favorite Summer month?
Do I have to pick? I really like July...maybe because of the 4th of July? Not sure. And then there's August...ah, August. ALMOST football season...

5. Pool, Lake, or Ocean?
A couple of months ago I would've said ocean...I love playing in the waves...but last time I went to the beach I saw five stingrays right there by the shore and it kinda freaked me out.
You can see two of them really well in this picture.

Plus, stupid BP is trying to ruin the Gulf of Mexico for EVERYBODY...but I probably shouldn't get started on that one again.

So now I guess I'd have to say pool. You can always see what you're swimming with in a pool :)

6. One of my favorite Summer memories is.....?
Summer in college...no stress of classes...just working and hanging out with my friends. One summer I interned with the park and rec department and I loved every single second of it.

7. What's your favorite secret bargain?
It's not really a secret, but I love getting good deals at the grocery store and CVS with the help of Money Saving Mom, Southern Savers and I Heart Publix. Buying groceries is kind-of like a game to me now to see how much I can save. And now that I'm back in school and only working a few hours a week, saving on groceries is a really big deal!

8. Do you plan on or have you been watching the World Cup?
I haven't yet and I doubt I will...I really don't get into soccer very much (or at all)...right now I'm watching the NBA finals...go Celtics!

I hope everyone has a great Sunday! I'm planning on studying and doing homework ALL DAY. This month of school is absolutely killing me. I don't mean to wish my life away, but I am REALLY looking forward to July!

I just have to say...

that BP makes me SICK. I wouldn't usually post about something like this on my blog, but I am just really disgusted right now.

The oil spill happened. Can't turn back time and undo it. I get that. I'm even moving past the part of BP knowing there were problems on that rig. But first there was that awful commercial, and then today I read this article. So, let me get this straight. BP is out there spending money on making and airing commercials, and buying phrases on search engines to bump themselves to the top? Am I understanding this right? I was a PR major, so on one hand I understand wanting to let people know how hard you're working to make this right, but on the other hand, I'm a resident of Alabama and a frequent beach-goer who has family on the beaches of the Gulf of Mexico, so I'd rather SEE what you're doing to make it right than to hear what you SAY you're doing. Why don't you spend that money you spent on the commercial and buying phrases to give jobs to the fisherman and others who are out of work and can't support their families right now because of YOU? I see them on the local news every day...LOTS of them aren't getting anything from BP!

I have always used BP. I've had a BP card since I was sixteen. Not anymore :(

Memorial Day Braves Game

Last Monday (Memorial Day), Lee and I went to a Braves game with my friend Cally. I had not been in about three years, and Cally had never been to a Braves game, so we decided to go. We got tickets for really cheap, and the Beach Boys were doing a concert after the game!

It had been really rainy all weekend, and it rained some on the way to Atlanta, but it didn't rain while we were there! It was really, really humid and muggy though.

Me and Cally at the game

Me and Lee at the game (I realize that my forehead is ginormous, but it was so hot I really didn't care!)

Before the game, since it was Memorial Day, they had all the different branches of represented on the field, and they also had family members out on the field. It was really nice, and I may or may not have teared up.
The Braves won the game...I think the final score was 9-2, and the Phillies manager got thrown out! Very exciting! After the game we waited about 45 minutes for them go get the stage set up for The Beach Boys concert, then we heard them sing one song, then we left. I was just so hot and ready to get home, plus, I don't know if they have had any concerts there this year, so I don't think they had all the sound worked out just yet.

We had a really good time at the game. I don't know if the Braves have put their employees through a customer service workshop or anything, but every single person working there was really nice. So kudos to the Braves for that--it made our experience that much better :)