Getting to Know You!

How do Sunday afternoons get here so fast?? I'm watching the Olympics gold medal hockey game--USA just scored and tied it up!--and thought I'd play the Getting to Know You with Keely for this week!

1. Would you rather bungee jump or sky dive?
Neither! Those both sound really really scary to me! But if I HAD to choose I'd probably pick bungee jumping...you don't have to remember to open a parachute or anything like that when you bungee jump, do you?
2. When using a public restroom to you squat over the seat or sit?
Definitely squat
3. Favorite flower?
Daisies! I've always loved them and Lee got them for me the night he proposed :) I really like orchids, too
4. Pedicure or manicure?
Pedicure I guess...I don't get either done professionally very often though
5. How many siblings do you have?
I won't count in-laws because I have kind-of a lot now. But I have a twin sister, a brother and another sister
6. Do you pee in the shower? (gasp!)
No.
7. Bikini, tankini, or one piece?
Bikini, probably shouldn't, but I do
8. Where do you hate to shop at, but go there anyway?
Wal-Mart. I hate Wal-Mart for so many reasons, but sometimes there's just no way around it. I pretty much have quit going, though. I really don't even remember the last time I went.

That's it for today! I hope everybody had a good weekend!

Rest in Peace, Rajaan

If you know much about me, you know that I love Alabama football. But when it comes down to it, I am really a fan of the SEC and *most* of the time I want all SEC teams to do well. (There are a few exceptions but that’s not the point of this post). I read the SEC blog on ESPN.com everyday, and I found an article today that literally made me cry at my desk at work.

Rajaan Bennett was an 18-year-old from Powder Springs, Georgia, who was shot and killed in an apparent murder-suicide on February 18. He had just accepted a full scholarship to Vanderbilt University.

From what I’ve read about him, he was quite a guy. His father was killed in a car accident when he was 10, and after that he became the man of the house and helped his mom take care of his special needs brother. You can read the article on the SEC blog here or CNN’s article here. I won’t get into it too much because I think you should read the articles, but even if you don’t read the articles, please at least read the essay he wrote the week before he was killed (taken from the SEC blog on ESPN.com):

"Strength"
by Rajaan Bennett
Somebody once told me that, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13). Life hasn't been a walk in the park for me, but I'm thankful for the obstacles, hardships, and accomplishments that GOD has provided for me. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be the Rajaan Bennett that you know today. I wouldn't have things any other way.

Strength is the ability to do or bear things in the state of being strong.

In the year of 2000, I moved from the streets of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, to the suburbs of Powder Springs, Georgia. A year later, my dad died in a horrible car wreck, and as a ten year-old, I knew he wasn't coming back. This tragedy rattled me to the core. I felt as if there was no need for me to live. I wanted to be as happy as the kids with dads and moms.

Some days I would wonder - why me? But eventually, I realized that it was my turn to become a man. As I became older, I came to notice that in life you use strength as a blanket to protect you from this cold world.

I am the oldest of 3 and I have a brother with special needs who I have to take care of. I have to balance school, sports, friends, and family - and it gets so hard, but I push myself. I push myself like a sprinter who is neck and neck with an opponent with 10 meters left. With the strength that I posses, I feel like I'm Hercules.

I matured faster than all of my friends - and there will never be a time that I will give up. I may complain, I may refuse, and I may even cry about it, but I know I have to do what I have to do.

I work hard at whatever I do - just for that man upstairs to smile down on me with the rays of the sun ...and they feel so warm. My drive cannot be stopped or even slowed down, because every obstacle has a way around it. Every day I become stronger from the weights physically, the books mentally, and life emotionally.

There is no limit to my strength and at the end of the day, I want to be known as the strongest.

Why I didn't work out last night...

Lee and I got new phones last night and we haven't been able to put them down! I'm blogging from the phone right now :) I think it's killing him because he's driving right now so he can't play with his phone!

Lee got a Droid and I got a Droid Eris. I would put pictures but I don't know how to do that from the phone just yet. Really I don't know how to do much on this phone just yet--I tried to send a text earlier today and had to send Lee a test one first to make sure I did it right. I'll get there though!

I won't be posting much from the phone I don't think, I just wanted to play with my new phone while I was bored on our trip :) I hope everybody has a great weekend!

New Challenges

I decided a couple of weeks ago that I needed to add something different to my workout routine. The gym is still SOOO crowded since it's still early in the year, so sometimes that discourages me from going. So I've started two new things: Jillian Michaels 30-Day Shred and the Couch to 5k.

The 30-Day Shred is HARD, yall. I was going to order it from Amazon with my Swagbucks, but Lee's sister and her roommate had it and let me borrow it. (There's a lot of jumping in it, and they live in an apartment, so they hadn't been using it because they're considerate of their neighbors), so if I didn't like it I wouldn't have been out any money, so now I can spend my Swagbucks on something else :) I decided I was going to challenge myself to actually do the DVD 30 days in a row and see what happens. I started last Thursday, but I didn't do it Friday so I'm counting my 30 days as having started Saturday. I haven't done it yet tonight, so I guess I'm four days in right now. Today is the first day I haven't been sore! There are three levels, and you work your way up as you're ready for a more difficult workout. I'm obviously still on level one. I still really like it, though. It's only about 20 minutes, so I feel like every day I'll be able to make 20 minutes to work out. I'll keep you posted on my progress!

A few weeks ago Lee decided he wanted to start running. I had done the Couch to 5k a while back, so he decided he'd do that. Have any of yall ever done that one? You can download a podcast every week for 9 weeks, and by the end of the 9 weeks you should be able to run 5k, or 30 minutes without walking. We're on week 3 right now. Our neighborhood is VERY hilly so it's pretty tough! He's been getting up and running before work, and I've been trying to get up with him, but I really like my sleep so it's hard for me to get up any earlier than I have to! I've gotten up with him one day so far. We're trying to go on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays so I'm REALLY going to try to get up with him in the morning. I did feel really proud of myself the day I ran before work :)

Oh, and I found the *best* Wii game last week! Just Dance! It is so much fun, and really good cardio! I danced to three songs Saturday and I was exhausted! My mom and Sunny probably thought I was crazy on Saturday because I kept talking about how excited I was to buy it, but then after they played it with me Sunday they went and bought it too! It's on sale this week at Target for $29.99, too, so you should check it out :)

Getting to Know You!

It's Sunday so it's time for a little Getting to Know You with Keely!
1. How often do you wash/change your sheets?
Once a week...it's one of my least favorite chores, but it needs to be done
2. When is your birthday?
September 2...it's nice because football season always starts right around my birthday :)
3. Have you ever met a bloggy friend in real life?
No...I don't have all that many yet, and most of the ones I do have I knew before I started blogging :)
4. Brad Pitt or George Clooney?
George Clooney...I think he looks good grey!
5. If you could change one thing about your body what would it be?
I'd like to be a LITTLE bit taller...I'm 5'2" on a good day, so it's hard to reach things up high...Lee's 6'3" though, so he reaches tall things for me :)
6. How often do you wash your hair?
Every day. I'm so jealous of people that can wash theirs just every other day.
7. Do you have pets?
Two maltese doggies:

Bruce Wayne

Ellie (sleeping in her daddy's lap!)

This was right after they had gotten their hair cut a couple of weeks ago. They were FREEZING! I don't always make them wear sweaters...Ellie does love hers though, BW not so much!
8. How many social networks do you belong to..if you had to give up one, what would it be?
Facebook and Myspace. I'd definitely give up myspace. I never get on there anymore anyway.

Maybe we should turn up the heat...

This is what the puppies have been doing tonight:
Usually they go wherever Lee or I go, but tonight they've pretty much stayed right in front of the fire! I'm gonna go turn up the heat now...

Valentine's Day

We didn't do too much for Valentine's Day, but it was wonderful! I've never really gotten in to Valentine's Day, so all I really wanted to do was relax, and relax I did!

We were planning on going to Ruth's Chris Friday night (we NEVER go out to eat on the actual day...I don't want to deal with the crowds), but the snow kinda messed those plans up. It wasn't snowing anymore Friday night, but roads were starting to ice over so we didn't want to get out. So we canceled our reservations and ordered a pizza and just hung out. It was really nice :)

Sunday morning we woke up and made breakfast. I discovered that our kitchen is NOT made for two people! We ate our breakfast and watched Mad Men (if you're not watching that I HIGHLY recommend it!). I made Lee a strawberry shortcake yesterday afternoon. I had never made one before but it turned out REALLY good! Then he made shrimp scampi for dinner. It was such a good day! (We did our taxes yesterday too...so romantic, right? But at least we got it over with!)

We didn't get each other big gifts because we're getting new phones in a couple of weeks, but we got a couple of little things. I got him a bottle of Maker's Mark (he doesn't usually get that because it's a little bit more than he likes to pay for whiskey) and some candy. He got me the new Miranda Lambert CD (I LOVE it!) and this:
I thought it was pretty funny!
He got me an Edible Arrangement, too!

I love flowers, but they die, so it's hard for me to justify spending THAT much money on them. And I didn't want candy since I'm trying to lose weight so I hinted that I'd like one of these. He took the hint :) He specifically got this one because it had pineapple...I LOVE pineapple. So now we have more fruit than we know what to do with!

It was a perfect, relaxing weekend. I guess it means I'm getting old now that having absolutely no plans is exciting to me. I can live with that...

Super Bowl Weekend

*I'm trying to do a better job of recapping everything that goes on in our lives and posting pictures...since that's why I started the blog and all!*

This weekend one of my oldest, best friends came to visit. I haven't seen her in sooo long! She had not even met our dogs or seen our house!
It was soo good to see her again! She came to town Friday night and we just hung out and watched The Big Bang Theory (our newest obsession!) for hours!. Saturday we went and did some shopping, but we didn't stay out for too long because it was COLD! Then Lee's best friend and his wife came Saturday night to spend the night then watch the Super Bowl with us Sunday night. When they got here we went to eat and we tried to go bowling, but they said the wait for a lane would be over an hour so we decided to come home and have game night.

We played Taboo and Apples to Apples. I love those games! Really I love most games like that. Here's a pic of the whole group:
Bruce Wayne got a little tired from all the game-playing:
Here's a pic of the girls (not sure why we're making that face...I think one of us did it on accident in an earlier picture and then we all decided to do it):
And here's Lee with his very best friend, the Silent Bob to his Jay:
Shannon left early Sunday afternoon and then we hung around some more (we were kinda lazy this weekend and it was WONDERFUL!), then a few more of our friends came over to watch the Super Bowl. I didn't take any pictures then...I'm working on trying to take more!! And if we're being honest, all the pics here are the ones Shannon posted on facebook. I did take pictures, I just haven't put them on the computer yet!

They're talking about snow for this weekend, so maybe I'll have some snow pictures to post soon!

Getting to Know You!

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

1. How many piercing's do you have?
Just one in each ear. I used to have my belly button pierced but it started getting on my nerves
2. I love the sound of.....?
Waves crashing at the beach...it's so peaceful!
3. Favorite city?
I love Nashville. I don't ever want to leave Alabama again, and I always tell Lee the only place I'd move out of Alabama would be the beach, but I could probably live in Nashville
4. Colts, Saints, or could care less?
I'm pulling for the Saints because one of my best friends in from the New Orleans area, but I do like Peyton Manning, so I'll be cool either way. Plus, I like the commercials more than anything anyway!
5. Frozen yogurt or ice cream?
Frozen yogurt right now I guess since I'm trying to lose weight. Plus, there's a new(ish) place that opened around here called Yogurt Mountain and I'm pretty sure that's what Heaven is. We went yesterday and I think we're going again today!
6. Favorite appetizer?
Calamari!
7. What item in your closet currently makes you the happiest?
My polka dot Alabama hoodie :) I love the Tide, plus it's really warm! Side story: I washed it for the first time last week (it's red and the BAMA part is white w/ red polka dots) and the red bled all over the white! So I used a bleach pen and it worked! Thank goodness! I was ready to buy a new one!!
8.Favorite facial moisturizer?
I'm using some kinda Neutrogena stuff right now

Vegas!

I'm FINALLY posting about our Vegas trip! We were there from January 11-15. Neither of us had ever been so we were really excited. We went with Lee's cousin and her husband. We had such a good time.

This is us on Fremont Street the first night.

They had a saxophone player and his name was Safe Sax. I thought it was funny :)

We went to the Coke store and got one of those Coke from around the world things...this was the Beverly...from Italy? I think? What can I say, Lee is a lucky man!

This was Lee's favorite hotel/casino, New York, New York. Next time we go (I talk like we'll be going back again soon!) we want to try to stay there or the Luxor.

And this is where we stayed, the Paris. (And a little bit of Planet Hollywood in the background on this next one)

Everybody told us there wouldn't be enough time to do everything we wanted to do...they weren't lying! We got to go see Penn & Teller, and that was a lot of fun. Our last night there we went to see the Beatles LOVE cirque du soleil show. It was really good, but I was so tired that night and my feet were killing me because I was stupid and wore heels. I want to go again when I feel better and can really enjoy the show!

It was such a fun trip, but I was ready to come home because I missed my doggies! I can't imagine what it's going to be like when we have children!