The One Where it's The Moment We've all Been Waiting For!!!

Okay, so maybe all of us haven't been waiting for it, but I sure have!  I got my braces on on August 1, 2008.  I got my braces off TODAY- July 31, 2009.  Almost 1 whole year!  But today was the end of a long, loonnngg journey!  If you've been reading my blog long (and if we are honest, it hasn't been that long haha!) you'll know that I had jaw surgery in December, plus a lot of side affects.  So this "end" has been a long time coming and it closes an interesting chapter in my book.  Now I know you all are just so anxious to see the before and after pictures...so here they are!

This is me before I left this morning for the orthodontist!  I wore my Clemson Soccer shirt for good luck ;)

This is me with my Aunt Diane at lunch today, the first picture taken of me after my braces were off!  

So what do you think?  Was it a success? :)  

Anyway, the only bummer today is that I have a fever.  I don't feel sick, although I'm kind of tired (but that could be because my ortho appointment was at 7:30 this morning....) but I was supposed to head down to see David tonight, but decided to hold off until the morning to make sure I'm not getting sick.   I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend:)  I'll leave you with this picture!  

This was taken at Jessie's 21st birthday dinner last week!  We had so much fun and I can't wait to do it again!  Love you girls!

The One Where We Sing Mamma Mia!

Hello friends!

This morning was a lazy morning which turned into a lazy afternoon!  I worked on my scrapbook for a long time and took a short nap before I had to....get ready for MAMMA MIA!!

Tonight my mom, my Aunt Diane, and myself went out to dinner and to a play.  We ate dinner at a restaurant called "Sweet T's".  Dan Morgan (one of the panther's) owns a whole bunch of restaurants and this is one of the new ones.  It has a lot of good, southern cooking and it was delish!  I had a cheeseburger and some fries and it literally tasted like a home-made hamburger!  Not something just slapped on a cheapo-grill at some places.  Here is a picture of us at dinner!  That's me by the window, my aunt next to me, and my mom on the end!

Y'all.  I love, LOVE the movie Mamma Mia.  So I was a little worried that I wasn't going to enjoy the play as much.  Don't get me wrong, I also love plays- my favorites are Annie Get Your Gun and Cats.  Anyway, I was a little worried that it might not be as good.  But it was.  Oh boy was it good.  I don't think it was better then the movie but it was FAN-TAST-IC.  The characters were well played, Sophie was precious and the audience was just riveted.  Some people were singing and some people clapped along....and everyone applauded after every. single. song.  I kid you not.  There was applause after every song, but you know what?  They deserved it!  They did an amazing job!  If you've ever seen the movie, at the end the 3 main women and the 3 main guys (the fathers) come out dressed in spandex dance outfits and sing a couple songs.  THEY DID THIS.  They actually dressed up and danced these little numbers in these huge platform shoes and spandex outfits!  It was outrageous:)  The only bummer about the night was during this last performance, one of the main guys busted pretty hard during the dance, stood up, and limped off the stage- and wham bam, on came is under study.  (who was by no means anywhere as enthusiastic as the main guy!)  We think he's okay, probably just a twisted ankle, but it kind of stunk for the poor guy.  

Anyway, I totally recommend seeing the play if you love the movie.  And maybe even get your guy to watch it!!  David was pretty adamant about not watching the movie until I MADE him watch it with me, and when he found out I was going to the play tonight he said, "yeah....I liked that movie!"

Hey, that's enough for me:)  Goodnight y'all!

Oh P.S.- BRACES OFF AT 7:30 AM!!!  By the time you wake up, I'll no longer be a brace-face...yahhoooooo!!! :)

The One Where Nutrition Rocks My Socks!

Heidy-ho neighbors!  Today is Wednesday and you know what that means....nutrition class!  It was are last official day of class.  Next Wednesday we have our final so everyone was pretty excited during class this evening:)  We got all of our grades today.  Here are mine: 98, 91, 98 on my 3 tests and 100, 100 on both projects.  Are you kidding me??!! How awesome!  Sooo excited.  I'm not conceited, but just felt like sharing my joy with you guys haha!

I think it's safe to say I'm looking forward to nursing school in a few weeks.  We ordered my books today and all of the girls in my class are so nice.  

I have taken to reading the Harry Potter books all over again this summer.  I am currently on book # 5 "Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix".  I like it just as much as I did the first time I read it.  So I'm going to read now:)

Happy humpday everyone! 

The One Where the Internet Stinks.

I just wrote a whole long blog about the fun day I had with Jess and then my internet went out.  

What the deuce??!

And I'm not about to re-write the whole thing.  So here it is in summary:  Jess came up today to spend the day.  We went to the mall and only bought 2 things after walking around for 4 hours.  We even got to spend some quality time walking around Tiffany's because, you know, you can't do that with boys---it's too girly.  We had loads of fun.  The end.

Well I think that about sums it up!  Ha.  Sorry I just don't feel like repeating myself from earlier...even though you guys didn't even get to read it.  But I do have some advice for everyone.  

If you make a habit of going to the gym, do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT take a bath in cologne before you go.  It makes people sick and want to kick you in your shins because you are stinking up the place.  And the place already stinks anyway because of everyone's sweat, and here you are trying to smell good and really you are just stinking worse than the rest of us.  Gross to the 10th degree.

And it wasn't even good smelling cologne.  

I'm going to go eat some ice cream now.  All of this talk about the gym has worn me out. :)

Happy Tuesday y'all!

The One Where He's There.

I just wanted to share a story with you guys tonight:)  There's a long version and a short version...and I'm going to try and share a medium version with you!

Some history about me.  I grew up going to church.  A small baptist church in the midst of growing into a big baptist church.  All of my childhood friends were my church buddies and I couldn't wait for Sunday's and Wednesdsay's.  That eventually changed.  About 6 years ago one of my best friends committed suicide.  (Now, don't go get your panties all in a wad...this isn't what the story is about!  But it does have a purpose!)  I was young at the time, just barely 16 (I act as if I'm 50 now haha!) and I didn't understand it all.  He never asked for help and relied heavily on drugs.  I tried to be there for him as much as I could, but there is only so much I, at 16, could do for him.  This isn't the kind of stuff they teach you to deal you to deal with.  At 16, I was looking for someone to blame.  I know now that no one is to blame, but at 16, someone should have been held responsible in my eyes for letting my friend slip through the cracks so bad.  I really lost respect for my church because I felt like they were the ones who should have been there making it all better.  Instead, people shunned him because he was "different", called him a trouble maker, and never invited him to come hang out with "friends"...and then showed up to his funeral and cried.  I was so angry at them.  How can you come to his funeral and CRY when you did nothing to help him??!!  

So medium story short, I lost faith in my childhood church, grew up way too fast, and fell out of the whole "religious" thing.  I quit going to church, lost some of my really good friends, because, well...I had "strayed" from everything we had been taught- you know...being the good and ever faithful servant.  I'm sorry that I'm human guys.  Through all of that though, I don't think I ever lost my belief in God.  I prayed to Him, I sang to Him.  But I didn't do it with a mass of people every Sunday and Wednesday.  I did it on my own terms.  And I still do.  

But recently, I feel like God has been calling my name and I just can't get it out of my head or my heart.  I feel like He's wanting me closer to Him, to have a better relationship with Him.  And by recently, I mean for months and months.  I am not ready to go back to church and I think God knows that.  I don't feel like He's pushing me to go there, but I do feel Him pounding away at something.  I don't know why I have been pushing Him away for so long, but I finally gave in the other night.  I was laying in bed at 2 am in the morning and was praying to Him and I said, "God, you know what would be awesome right now?  If there was a thunderstorm to fall asleep to."  And do you know what happened next?  IT THUNDERED.  I kid you not, and no it wasn't in the middle of a storm, nor was there one supposed to be.  The weather channel had called for rain earlier in the day, but nothing at 2 am.  I fell asleep that night to a wonderful thunderstorm and the realization that God is there, always present and when you NEED to hear from Him, He answers.  Now I know for a fact that God has been speaking to me.  It was so awesome! 

I'm sorry if this was a boring story to read, but I just really felt the need to share it! 

P.S.- I totally started taking Flinstone's vitamins the other day because I need some extra of about everything!  I used to take them as a kid...and wouldn't you know, they are good for adults too?!!

P.P.S.- My braces come off at 7:30 am on FRIDAYYYY!!  Look for before and after pictures to follow soon!:)

P.P.P.S.- I hope you all had a wonderful Monday:)

The One Where the Party Started!

This past Tuesday was my friend Jessie's 21st birthday!  YAY!  She celebrated in Clemson, but headed up this way to celebrate with some of her family and friends!  Her and her boyfriend Jake came up early Saturday to spend the day with David and me.  We all went out to lunch for some sushi which was pretty good!  It took us like 2 hours to get our food though...it was nuts.  Then we went to her brother's house.  Michael and Trish just bought a new townhome- and let me tell you- it was NICE.  One of the Panther's players lives right next door to them!  Holy Moses!:)  Michael and Trish are expecting a little on in a few months so congratulations to them!!

We all went to P.F. Chang's for dinner where some of Michael's friends met us.  I have never been to P.F. Chang's (don't shoot me!)  and I have been "de-virginized" as Trish called it!  Oh my I have never tasted such goodness!  We had everything from cashew chicken and ginger glazed chicken to mongolian beef.  And plenty of rice to feed all of China!  I literally don't want to eat for a week, I really think I ate enough to last me that long!  It was DELICIOUS!  I can't wait to go back there!!!

That's really it for my weekend!  I have class on Wed. and on Thursday night, my aunt, mom, and I are gong to see a play at the Blumenthal called "Mamma Mia".  I LOVE the movie so I'm hoping the play will be just as good!  Have any of you seen the movie?

Can't wait to hear what you guys did this weekend! :)

The One With The Love of a Friend

Again, there's not too much to report from this end of the blog world.  I had class yesterday, 1 review session next week, and then my final the week after.  Today I have done nothing.  Well, I went to the mall with my mom.  That was about it.  BUT Katie over at The Adventures of Katie and Josh, they are deciding whether they should get a small doggy when they move in a few weeks.  Their dilemma is whether to get a small dog now and a big dog in a few years when they have a bigger yard.  My answer to her was: YES!  Absolutely get a small puppy now and a big one down the road!  They most definitely can get along:)  And I promised her I would post a picture of my puppy Marley and his best friend Macy- who happens to be an 80 lb. golden retriever.  Y'all...the post says it all- the love of a friend.  They are too cute.  So here is the picture Katie!  I hope it helps in your and Josh's decision:)

The One With P.Y.T.

Nothing much to report here today.  I finished my projects/papers for my class (due tomorrow) yesterday so I literally had nothing to do.  I watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone this morning and then decided I should probably go to the gym.  Because I had nothing better to do.  And believe me, I looked.  It just so happens that I picked the time when Full House was on for a whole hour!  Can you believe the luck?  Full House was a kick-ass show when I was younger and I've seen every. single. episode. Times a billion.

So I just turned on the caption thingy and listened to my ipod while i watched Full House/ellipticalled (there's that word again!).  Then on my ipod came some MJ- P.Y.T.- hence the blog title.  If you ever need some pumping up while you are exercising, Michael Jackson can deliver.  I was so revved.  OH!  And when the Free Willy theme song came on...well I about ellipticalled out of the building!  (I know...that's Elvis..)  I mean I just thought to myself, "Wow Erin!  If Free Willy, who wasn't free at the time...can overcome is Sea World obstacle to become free AND jump over a humongous pile of rocks in the sea to become even "free-er"...then you can surely keep working out for 15 more minutes!"  Mucho power y'all.

I did go to Starbucks with my granddaddy today.  I always love that.  He's so enjoyable to be around:)  Great man, my grandfather.  Too bad you don't know him, otherwise I think you would totally agree with me.  <3

Well, that's pretty much what happened in my oh-so-eventful day today.  I hope yours was more exciting!!!

PS- Marley wanted to give a shout out to mylittlebecky over at I guess I'll Go Eat Worms because she gave him a birthday pat.  Which he loved.  It mostly turned into a belly rub.  But you get the point. :)

Erin

The One Where We Sing Happy Birthday, Marley!!!

Today is Marley's very first birthday!  He has really enjoyed the day!  He hasn't gotten in trouble at all for being "bad", he had bacon for dinner, and napped all afternoon!  He sure is enjoying being 1!  I can't believe he is already a year old, and I know it probably seems weird that I'm doting so much over my dog...but I love him, what can I say?!  He makes me laugh and loves me no matter what!  And he's pretty cute.  For your viewing pleasure today, I thought I would post some pictures taken over his first year of life:)  I hope you enjoy looking at his pictures as much as I enjoyed his first year!

Marley at 4 days old:)  He was so tiny!

Marley is 4 weeks old here:)  His eyes were opened and he was making little noises!

This was Marley's first football game:)  He was 7 weeks old here!

One of Marley's favorite hiding spots- under my bed!  He was about 4 months old!!

Marley playing in mom's bag!  Still hasn't grown into those ears;)  6 months!

Marley's first snow!  8 months!

Mom, Dad, and Marley at Amy's graduation!!  10 months old!!

The birthday boy!!  Such a big guy now:) 1 year old!!

Happy Birthday, Marley!  And I'm sure the blogging world agrees;)

The One Where I Just Call You Mine:)

Okay, a little mushy tonight!  My cousin Amy introduced me to this new song called "I Just Call You Mine" (in case you couldn't read the title of the post...?? haha)  by Martina McBride. OH MY GOLLY I LOVE IT.  It is such a sweet song and I really feel like the whole entire song was written about me and David!  He is that one guy that everyone loves to be around and anyone who meets him loves him.  I, unfortunately, don't have the same effect but he makes me a better person and I love him for it:)  And, as the song says...I just call him mine!

Enough lovey dovey.  Amy (my cousin) turned 18 on Wednesday!  And we had her family party on Saturday because she was out of town on Wednesday!  We all went over to my grandparents house and had salmon, wild rice, and corn for dinner...with homemade ice cream and chocolate cake for dessert!  Amy got all of the Friends dvd's to take to college with her!  You KNOW  I was excited!  Christmas is going to be awesome with Friend's scene it haha;)  David came up to visit this weekend and I loved having him here.  We went out to dinner on Friday night and then went bowling with my cousin Scott!  I think I surprised everyone ....including myself....with how well I bowled my first game!  I only got a 127, but believe me when I say that is probably the best score I have ever gotten!! Ha!  He left tonight since he has to work, but he's coming back on Friday because.....MY BFF JESSIE IS TURNING 21!!!!!  Woo hoo!!  And we are all going downtown to celebrate.  It's going to be fantastic.

Here are some pictures from Amy's birthday.  Enjoy!

The most precious picture of  Amy and her boyfriend:)  Happy birthday Ames!!!

Isn't she pretty:)

Gotta have one of me and my boy!

And of course I have to have one of my sweet little boy!! :)

I hope everyone had as wonderful a weekend as I did:)  Anything interesting happen?

Erin

The One of No News!

Like the title says....I really have nothing new to tell you, my blogger friends.  So I'll just throw some stuff out there for you to hold on to until something very interesting comes along!

• I "ellipticalled" (I just made that word up.  It's a great word if I do say so myself) for an hour today= 505 calories burned= 4 1/2 miles.  It was great until I got off and almost fell over because my legs were so wobbly.  I'm sure I gave the rest of the "gymers" (another word I just made up.) quite a laugh!
• I had class tonight.  It was a fiasco when I arrived because 1) there was no parking in the 1 parking lot that I park in.  I had no idea where else to look for parking! and 2) I had a TEST that I was almost late for due to the parking issues!  I did make it to my test though and I think I did pretty good on it.
• I. LOVE. HARRY. POTTER.  I'm sorry if you guys don't understand/agree.  But I grew up in the "Harry Potter" era, craze, fanatical insanity- whatever you want to call it and I can't wait to see the movie on Friday.  No, I *feel* old and don't stay up late anymore so I couldn't make it to the 12 AM viewing.  BUT...I am re-reading the whole series.  Yessss.
• I hope everyone had a wonderful day!  I love reading about what you guys have been up to during the day:)  So thank you!

Erin

The One With the Trip to the Farmer's Market!!

Short and sweet today!  Mom told me a couple weeks ago about this new farmer's market just down the road from us on Tuesday afternoons!  Since I headed home from David's today and it always makes me sad when I leave, we thought going to check out the farmer's market would be a good idea to keep my mind off of leaving.  It's a pretty small farmer's market, there are bigger ones around the area but oh goodness did they have some good stuff!

We bought some "rustic italian" bread from this really nice guy and he said it had been baked that day!  It was really good!  Hard crust but soooo soft on the inside!

We also bought some corn, zucchini, and squash!

There were quite a few people who had crafty things like purses, notecards, and headbands that were all very cute!  Unfortunately I don't have much money at the moment so I couldn't buy anything haha!  But I definitely want to go back because there were places that sold fresh, free-range eggs, cows grown in open pastures, and so on!  I'm really into eating organic-ish foods because I just think lots of problems are stemming from how they raise cattle and chicken these days.  (But that's an opinion for another post, yes?!)

Sooo for dinner tonight we had BBQ chicken, corn off the cob (yes, I shucked the corn and scraped the kernels off!), and sauteed veggies!  Oh my gosh it was SO good!  A nice home-cooked dinner to end the day.  I'm debating what to have for dessert- mint chocolate chip ice cream or a few chocolate chip cookies and milk!  Any suggestions?  What have you been up to today?

Erin

The One With My First Tag!!

I have never been tagged for anything in the blog world until I got home and realized that Katie over at The Adventures of Katie and Josh had tagged me for a fun little blog where you get to know about one another!  I am so excited to have been tagged and can't wait to tag others and read your responses!  Here goes!

I believe the rules are that I have to tell you guys 10 things about myself that you, the blog world, may not know about me!  And then I get to tag some of you to play along!

1.  I am an only child!  My parents divorced when I was little and my mom never remarried!  I do have to cousins who live in the same neighborhood as me that I basically view as siblings because we are so close!

2.  I am the only one in my family with blonde hair!!  Everyone else in my family has/had brown hair (some of them are turning gray...woops, did I just say that?!)  My mom used to joke that the mailman had blonde hair!  I'm not sure where it came from because everyone, I mean everyone has brown hair.  Crazy huh?

3.  My favorite show is Friends.  I have all of the seasons, the Scene-It dvd game, and can literally beat the pants off of anyone.  I randomly quote "Friends" throughout the day and it always thrills me to no end when someone actually has a clue as to what I'm talking about!  What's really awesome is that my cousin Amy loves Friends too and we crack each other up with all of our quoting!

4. You may know this already, but I feel it needs repeating.  I LOVE CHRISTMAS!  I love it.  I love it to the point that every month, I give my family and friends an up-to-date on the fact that Christmas is only so many months away.  This begins the day after Christmas.  I begin listening to Christmas music in July every year and can't wait until Thanksgiving because that's when I get my tree!  I've had the flu on Christmas, eye surgery one Christmas, and was so sick this past Christmas from my jaw surgery that I hardly remember it- and I still love Christmas!  :)  It's only 164 days away...better start planning soon:)

5. When I was little, I used to have a recurring dream that I was asleep and someone would come and take me out of my room....basically, "steal" me.  I would realize that I didn't know this person and start trying to get out of the car and then I would wake up.  I think this still bothers me some today, because I'm still scared to stay alone (but I do...because I'm a big girl!) and I'm scared that my car is going to break down on the side of the road and I'll be by myself!! Ahhhh....

6.  I have a terrible habit of quoting lines in movies before they are said....and it really gets on David's nerves:)  He tells me all the time that I better stop because it gets annoying.  I also just asked him to help me think of interesting things about me that I could write about and he said, "you have a bad habit of thinking you are always right"....but I mean, you're allowed to think you are always right when you are, in fact, always right....right?!

7. I hate shopping.  Sort of.  I can only shop for like 2 hours and then I get really, REALLY irritated and am just ready to be done.  Sometimes it doesn't even take 2 hours before I'm irritated.  I'm just not patient enough to sift through clothes and find something I like.  I'm picky and very particular about what I wear.  I like to walk in, have something jump out at me, try it on and get out!  Apparently that's "weird" because I'm a girl...

8.  I twirl my hair.  It's a habit I've had since before I had hair.  I didn't have hair until I was like 2 and my mom says that when I was little I would just lay there and twirl my finger on my head and fall asleep.  And I've done it ever since!  I pretty much do it all the time.  And when I get tired, it gets worse.  I don't have a problem with it, it's kind of like a comfort thing I guess!  But it gets on my mom's nerves:)

9.  I have NEVER had stitches from injuries!  ( I had them when I had my wisdom teeth out and when I had my jaw surgery)  I have broken a few bones, but no stitches....knock on wood!

10.  And last but not least, I play on the expert level of guitar hero!  Call me a nerd if you want, but it's an awesome game and I love being able to beat the boys haha:)

That's it!  If you want to know more or have questions about anything I have said then feel free to ask or comment:) 

And now I tag:  D.A.R.

    Carolina Dwelling

    My Little Becky

Erin

The One Where We Are Home Sweet Home!

Whew!  What a weekend!  Since David had to work on Friday I drove up to some outlet stores and met my mom, aunt, and cousin to do a little shopping!  I got a few t-shirts from J.Crew (see previous post to hear just how much I like J.Crew!!) and a really cute green and white checkered button-up shirt from Ralph Lauren!  I also picked up some home-grown peaches at a peach stand near the outlets!

When I got back to David's he was already off work and we packed the car to head to the lake!  Two things you should know:  David works for BMW- works as in helps create the future programs for the future cars that haven't even been "made" yet.  So needless to say, we drove a really fast car to the lake....sooo fun!  And the second thing you need to know is anytime we go on any trip, I have to have a Starbucks drink.  I don't know why.  But I do.  And I LOVE it.

The weekend was full of beautiful weather- again!  It was so nice and we had so much fun.  We relaxed, took boatrides, and went intertubing.  David's dad said it best this weekend when he said, "when I'm at the lake, it feels like time passes slower."  And it sure feels like it does!  It was so nice being able to just sit around and do absolutely nothing!

But in my last post I told you that Marley got a new shirt and I would post pictures- and I will!  But probably even cuter (if there is such a thing!!) is that David's mom and dad bought Marley a doggy life jacket!!  Oh my, it is toooo cute!  So those are probably sweeter pictures to post than his luau shirt!  Here are some of the pictures from this weekend:

This is Marley and his luau shirt!  Haha, he looks ready to take off for Hawaii!! :)  PS: it's black and white because I was trying to figure out some fun things my camera could do.  Black and white is one of them, although that's not really "fun" haha:)

This is Marley getting in the water for the first time with his new lifejacket!  He wasn't really sure what to make of it- as his face undoubtedly shows!  And David was holding on to the handle so Marley wouldn't swim off!

And here is the best part of the weekend!  Since Marley had his own lifejacket, he got to ride on the intertube with mommy and daddy!!  He didn't shake or whine so we assume he liked it just fine haha! :)

I woke up this morning and missed being at the lake and being able to take boat rides and such, but I am glad to be home-ish.  I'm heading back to my home tomorrow for a few days and then David will be coming up to visit me next weekend.  It'll be nice to get back in my own bed--with my NEWWW duvet cover!  I'll have to take pictures of it when I get home tomorrow!  I hope everyone had a great weekend!  What did you guys do??

Erin

The One Where I Am Out of Town...Again!

Just wanted to explain my absence.  Because you know, we all owe each other justification if we don't post every. single. day.  I'm headed to the lake again this weekend.  David's family thought it would be fun to go down again.  And they have a boat, and I have my bathing suit.  So I'm tagging along.  They don't, however, have internet.  (What am I going to dooo??!!)  Marley is going too- this time without stitches!  Maybe I'll put him in the water this time! (Maybe not....have you seen the size fish some of the lakes have nowadays?  Huge.  They probably would love to feed on my little rat-size dog.)  So on second thought, I probably won't put Marley in the water.

He does have a new shirt though.  A luau shirt.  It's adorable and I'll put pictures up when the weekend is over to show you just how cute.  

What fun plans do you all have this weekend?  I'm sure I'll enjoy reading all about them when I return:)

Erin

The One Where I Learned Things

Well, they don't lie when they say you never stop learning, even after you graduate.  For your viewing pleasure, I have compiled a list of the things I learned today.  And hopefully you will learn something new!  Ha:)

#1: The Ikea Bag- did you know it can be used for more than just holding large amounts of things in such a large store?!  Not only can it do that, but it can double as  an umbrella!  I left today to come visit David, and before I left I let Marley out to potty, because, you know...you always have to at least try before you leave on a trip.  Well, it was raining and Marley didn't seem to mind, nor did he want to come in.  I didn't have an umbrella around (list of things to do: buy umbrella.)  so I grabbed the biggest thing I could find to cover me.  Enter Ikea bag.  That thing pretty much enveloped me AND kept the rain out....who knew?!

#2: I love J. Crew-  now some might say that this is something I should have already figured out about myself.  But I didn't.  Even though a lot of my clothes hail from J. Crew and even though I have to go in there every time I enter the mall, even when I'm money-less.  I should have known but I didn't.  Today they were having their 20% off sale.  The sign beckoned me to come in; so I did.  And I bought: 1 white skirt (verrrry cute if I do say so myself.) 3 perfect fit t's (because you can never have enough good-fitting shirts...) and 1 heavy sweater (for the many snowfalls that occur during the summer you know.)  All of that for $47.  I love J. Crew.

#3: I hate it when people slow down to look at accidents- Okay, so I know that when people have accidents, sometimes it's fun to look and think to yourself, "oh thank God it's not me."  But when it starts affecting the flow of traffic....and by affect- I mean affect by hours- the accident watching is becoming a little obsessive.  Case in point: I was making great headway to David's this afternoon.  In fact, I was AHEAD of schedule.  That does not happen often, let's be serious.  I just knew I was going to make it to his house early!  Well well well, the traffic gods had other plans.  MAJOR other plans.  Plans, in fact, that included backing up traffic so bad that it took me AN HOUR.- yes one whole hour- to move from one exit to another.  I was one exit away from my exit and got caught in a huge traffic jam.  It didn't help that it was rush hour.  It took me an hour to get from that exit to my exit.  It's literally like 3 miles to my exit.  And do you know what caused this traffic jam? 3 cars parked on THE SIDE OF THE ROAD.  Not even a wreck that closed down one lane of traffic, oh no.  3 cars, fender bendered, and parked on the side of the road.  Good grief.

#4: I love my boyfriend.  OKAY.  You got me.  I didn't learn this today, I've known it for a while but I just thought it bears repeating:)  He is wonderful, makes me laugh, and does everything in his power to make sure I'm happy.  Little does he know that just simply being with him makes me happy.  Oh, and my puppy makes me pretty happy too.  But love him I do, and I'm glad that I am able to spend the weekend with him. PS he's pretty cute too!

I hope you all learned a little something from this oh-so-valuable post.  I really think the ikea bag is quite the invention. ;)

Erin

The One With Good News!!

Good News #1:  I get my braces off on July 31!!!   I went to my ortho appointment this morning and my doctor said, "I've got one more thing to do, but the next time you come in, you can get your braces off!".....I'm not going to lie, I almost cried!  Laugh all you want, but it's been a long year, a long haul, and I am more than ready to get these things off! :)

Good News #2:  I got to see my boyfriend tonightttt!!  One of my mom's friend's brothers passed away last week and the memorial service was today in the same town that David lives in.  Soooo, I tagged along with my mom this afternoon/evening and she dropped me off at David's and we had sushi for dinner and got to spend some time together.  It was so nice to get to see him in the middle of the week!

Good News #3:  I don't have to get up early tomorrow morning....Yes!  I am sleeping in, getting up and going to the gym, and then spending the day with my grandparents.  It's going to be a good day!

Did you guys do anything interesting today?  Any plans for the rest of the week?!

Erin

The One Where I'm Certified!

What a busy day this has been!  I was almost too tired to write, but I figured I've skipped enough days from being out of town.  I had to get up at 6:30am today to be at the designated place for my CNA test.  (For those of you who don't know...CNA stands for "certified nurses aide"- I have to have this certification to begin nursing school in the fall!)  You have to go through the state and today at 8am was the time they scheduled for my test!  You have to take a written test, pass that, and then do a skills test and pass that!  I was SOOOO nervous!  I knew going into the skills test that I knew everything, but still- being put on the spot and having someone actually watching for you to make a mistake is just nervewracking!!  I did pass though and I was so excited I gave the instructor a hug haha:)  

My mom's friend Linda is here from Florida.  Her son Wade plays baseball for a farm team for the Tampa Bay Rays.  Everyone is hoping he will get called up to the big leagues sometime soon, so keep your fingers crossed!  Anyway, Wade's team played our home team this week, so Linda came up to stay with us for a few days!  After my test, mom, Linda, and I trekked out to the new Ikea store in town.  Okay, I'm sorry, but if a store is so big it has to have a restaurant, then it is TOOO big!! :)  But we had so much fun walking through and they really do have some cute, cute stuff!  I really really liked the fabric on this sofa:

But they didn't have it in a bedspread or duvet cover!  I was kind of sad, but I'm hoping to find one similar to is somewhere!  Any ideas of where I might find a similar pattern??!!  

After we left Ikea, we headed home.  I was exhausted from being up so early so I took a two hour nap- and let me tell you- it felt SOOO good!  Sometime in the middle of my nap I woke up to a thunderstorm outside, and it helped me fall right back asleep.  That's one thing I love about the summer- the thunderstorms.  Thunder is so calming to me!  Which is strange because when I was little I was so scared of it!  Now I just think it is peaceful.  

My mom made King Ranch Chicken for dinner tonight.  I think I have seen similar recipes on some of your blogs!  My aunt and cousin came down to have dinner with us tonight and I really enjoyed that:)  I am so family oriented and I just love being around my family!

But the big news today- besides passing my CNA test and the tour of the new Ikea store....is that there was apparently a serial killer in the bordering state to mine!  Maybe you've heard about it on the news?  He killed 5 people.  WELLLLL.  It turns out he's been just "chilling" with some "acquaintances" about 30 minutes from where I live.  How scary is that?  I do know he was shot and killed though, so I suppose I don't really have to worry about him now.  But honestly.  On my way home from the lake the other day I was driving through the part of town I thought he was in- thought to myself, "well I ought to keep my doors locked in case he tries to carjack me while I'm going 70 mph on the highway!"....when I should have been more careful closer to home:)  Ahh, well.

I hope everyone had a good Monday!  Tomorrow is Tuesday and then it's just humpday!  The weekend is getting closer y'all:)

Erin

The One About Summer Time!

Obviously it is summer because I'm finding it hard to find time to actually sit down and write!  I haven't written in a few days because for the fourth David and I went to his family's lake house!  My cousin Scott joined us so that was fun!  We all had a great time!  On Friday, David's Aunt Sherri, Uncle Rusty, and Poppa came over for dinner.  His sister Susan was there too, which was great because I enjoyed having another girl around!  His grandfather brought three of his friends so we had quite a crowd!  All of us "kids" went tubing and riding on the jet ski.  On Saturday, we did it all over again!  EVERYONE was out on the water so the tube rides and jetski rides were a little rough!  That night everyone came over again for a cookout and then we all went down to the dock to watch the fireworks.  Man were there some good fireworks last night!  I really think the dock David's family has is in one of the best spots on the lake.  We could see just about everyone who was shooting off fireworks.  This weekend was Marley's first time on the lake.  We weren't sure he was going to get to go because Thursday afternoon I was giving him a haircut and accidentally cut him!  He had to get 3 stitches....I literally cried the rest of the afternoon and evening.  I felt like such a bad mommy!! :(  He was in good spirits the rest of the weekend though!  He doesn't like water so he didn't get in the lake (good thing since he had stitches...) but he LOVES having the wind in his face so he absolutely had a ball going on boat rides:)  It was probably the cutest thing I've ever seen.  What did you guys do for the fourth?!  I hope you guys had beautiful weather like we did!  Here are some pictures from my weekend!

Mom and Marley on a boat ride:)

Me and David tubing!!

Scott enjoying a spin on the jetski!

Did I mention that Marley loves having the wind in his face?!

Tomorrow I have to take my CNA test so I can be "certified" and start nursing school in the fall.  I'm a little bit nervous about it so wish me luck!  I am looking forward to next weekend because we are going back to the lake!  (Although I'm going to enjoy being at home for a little bit and relaxing!!)  Any plans for your week?

Erin

The One That's Quick and Easy

There really isn't much to write about today so hopefully this will be quick and easy on you:)  I woke up this morning and felt okay, but right after breakfast I got a HORRIBLE headache.  I'm not sure I've had one that bad in my life.  The light was killing me....I want to venture and say it may have been the beginning of a migraine?  But I've never had a migraine so I'm not quite sure what that fully feels like (knock on wood..).  But this one was pretty bad.  I (and my mom haha)  think it's because I finally finished all my work and studying for that dang anatomy class and I've been going non-stop...and now that I've stopped it's all catching up to me!  So I went back to bed and slept until about 3:30.  I felt a lot better but still had a slight headache.  

I figured getting out of the house might do me some good so I made my way to a baseball game.  My uncle coaches a legion team around here and I always enjoy baseball so I went and sat with my Aunt Diane, cousin Amy and her boyfriend Tyler.  (See previous post for their pictures...they are TOO cute!!) We had a great time and my uncle's legion team won!  They are in the playoffs now so they knocked out the other team:)  YEA guys!

Now that I'm back home, my head is starting to hurt a little again and getting in a fight with my boyfriend didn't help it feel much better.   I guess you have good days and bad days haha:)  I'm about to take some medicine and hit the hay.  I'm planning on feeling much better tomorrow!  I have to..it's my grandfather's 70th birthday!!  

I hope everyone had a great humpday and are looking forward to the 4th this weekend!  Is anyone doing anything fun??

The One I Almost Forgot!

I can't believe I almost forgot!  I have only 1 follower at the moment and she had a "100th post giveaway" that I entered and I am one of the big winners!  I was so excited when I got home from my trip and found out I had been a winner!  She is an awesome blogger (I'm kind of partial since she's my first follower!) and such a sweet person!  You should really check her out at The Adventures of Katie and Josh !!! 

Thank you soooo much Katie!! :)

The One Where I Said Adios Anatomy!

Well its 12:00 am where I am and I've been up since 8:00am so I am exhausted.  But I haven't blogged in a few days due to my beach trip so I'm going to try to get one in real quick before I fall asleep!  Thursday I left for the beach with David.  We were on our way down and were having a conversation about how Ed McMahon and Farrah Fawcett had died.  I don't know how many of you believe in the "power of 3's" but it's something I see a lot of haha!  So I was pointing out to David that usually when you hear about famous people dying, 3 people end up dying around the same time.  Case in point: not 5 minutes later my mom called to tell us Michael Jackson was in cardiac arrest and "not doing well."  Then about half an hour later we heard he died.  I know everyone has posted about MJ so I won't go much further except to say all 5 hours and 30 minutes of my trip down to the beach was filled with "Thriller", "PYT", and "Billie Jean".  All 5 hours and 30 minutes.  That's a lot of MJ.

But we finally arrived and went to sleep haha:)  Friday we spent all day out on the beach.  I HATE the ocean.  I have a major fear that something is going to bite me, sting me, or pinch me.  I do not like not being able to see my feet....and if you put me in clear water I spend half the time looking around to spot things that might hurt me.  But I was "brave" because David wanted to get in the water.  So I did.  Until David's cousin Andrew caught this:

It was a 3 ft. shark.  Now that may seem trivial in relation to other massive creatures lurking in the water, but that is big enough to take a good chunk out of my foot...so that was it for me and the ocean.

Saturday was spent out on the beach as well.  The weather was BEAUTIFUL the days we were there!  The sun was hot, but there was a breeze coming off the ocean so it cooled things off considerably.  Here are some of my favorite pictures from the weekend!

This is Susan, David's sister!  She is so tan compared to my pasty whiteness!

This was my view from my chair!  Those are my feet in case you didn't know.  The beach was SO beautiful!

This is my favorite picture of the whole weekend:)  Props to David's mom for taking it!  

Today I had my anatomy lab final and my anatomy lecture final and all I have to say is ADIOS ANATOMY!!!  No more!!!  I am way too excited about being finished with it, but now I have my summer days back!  Woo hooooo! :)  I hope everyone is having a great week so far!  Now I'm going to bed:)