I'm Back [again, maybe]

Every time I come back from a long break from blogging, I almost feel the need to apologize for my absence. But life happens, so I can't really be sorry for getting caught up in the moment.

What's been happening with us for the past few months?

Well....

We bought a house.

We went on a mini vacay to Dallas [and fell in love].

I took a 16 hour road trip with a toddler and a dog, all by myself.

We got a new pup.

Adelei turned 2!

Nanny came to visit.

And finally, life is slowing down a bit. So maybe I'll finally have time to blog again...soon ;)

It's My Birthday & A Giveaway!

Circa 2010

So here it is, the big 2-5.
It's my first birthday away from my friends and family.
I didn't even  feel it coming.
When I was younger, I would be counting down the days.
I had a birthday wishlist ready months before, and I always picked out my own theme for the parties.
But this year, when Aaron asked me what I wanted...I had no clue!
All I knew is that I wanted to spend the day with my family.
Unfortunately, Aaron has to work, but I'll be spending the day with baby girl [as always :)], and I'm sure we'll have a relaxing night at home.
Something that seems to be a tradition on my blog is a birthday giveaway!
I do believe this year's is the best, though.

WINNER takes ALL!

So what's up for grabs?

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Birthday (Party) Girl

When I found out that we would be moving a lot sooner than we had originally thought, one of the things that bothered me was that we wouldn't be with our friends and family for Adelei's first birthday.

But when I realized that Aaron's Graduation and Mother's Day were scheduled for the same weekend, I thought I could just have a very early birthday party for her.

Yep, that's right. We had Adelei's first birthday party at 10 1/2 months.

 Her theme was cupcakes, and it was so, so cute!
My sister made her a custom onesie, tutu, and birthday banner, and my aunt helped me make the decorations!
Our menu included pimento cheese/chicken salad/pb&j sandwiches, french onion dip & chips, & Nanny's 'famous' rotel dip! Cupcake flavors included strawberry & funfetti w/ chocolate buttercream icing, and chocolate with pink [vanilla] buttercream icing.
We made all of the food/cupcakes ourselves to cut down on costs.
Oh, and who could forget about the punch?

Also something we threw together, but turned out amazing!
So many people came out to spend this special time with us! I couldn't have asked for a better turn out!

And although Adelei isn't quite 1 yet, she sure did enjoy smashing her cake!

 [I used cool whip instead of icing to avoid too much of a sugar rush!]

Adelei & her cousins

I'm so glad that I decided to have her party before we left. Everything worked itself out perfectly!

25

I've been wondering about you a lot lately.

What you'd be like now.

If you'd have kids or a wife.

A steady job.

I wonder if we'd still keep in touch,

or if we'd ever hang out.

If you'd still be rapping.

I wonder if you would have made it big by now,

or if you'd changed your ways.

But always, when I'm overwhelmed with my 'what if' thoughts, I remember that it doesn't even matter because you're in a better place.

Happy Birthday, SRA.

Happy Birthday to Me :)

Today is the day! This is the year that I quit pretending to be 21, and actually admit that I'm the big 24. Scary.
I had big plans [in my head] that this birthday would be spent at the beach...lounging, shopping, eating. Until we found out that Aaron was supposed to be scheduled for drill. So instead we decided to 'celebrate' yesterday by taking advantage of the whole tax free weekend. We went shopping at the local mall and then Aaron took me out to lunch at TGI Friday's.
Here were a few of my gifts:
Unicorn Wallet!

Reebok Easytones
TrueBlood Tshirt!

After a long day of walking around in & out of the sweltering heat, we came home exhausted. ONLY to find out that Aaron's drill weekend has been rescheduled. Awesome.
I think we're just going to spend the rest of the weekend catching up on shows/movies & relaxing!

But don't worry, I didn't forget about you guys!
The winner of my birthday give away is
Erika @ chambanachik! Leave me your email address on this post :)
Anyway, I'm off to enjoy the rest of MY day! Hope ya'll have a great weekend.

Birthday Giveaway

This year, in honor of my birthday, I am having a give away.
That's right, I'll be giving one of you lucky readers a gift on MY birthday.
So sweet, I know.
So, what's up for grabs?
A sassy homemade headband, a really cute/inspiring set of note pads, and a very sexy smelling body spray.

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post [be sure to leave me your email in case you win!].

Extra entries will be given to those who:

• become a NEW follower
• mention this give away in a blog entry [link back in comment]
• mention this give away in a tweet [link back in comment]

Give away will end on August 6th, 2011! So be sure to check back to see if YOU are the winner!

*only for U.S. residents.

I can only tell you what it feels like....

Remember how I said I was going to be busy?
Wellllllll, I have been.

Thursday night, we drove the 5+ hours to my sister's house.
Got up Friday morning and made it to the cheesecake factory for lunch. I got the spicy chicken chipotle pasta, and it was amazing--as usual!
For dessert, my sister and I shared the Tiramisu cheesecake. My mouth is watering as I type this, and I wish I could go back, now!
On top of all that, my sister MADE me a birthday cake.
It was sooo good!
That night, we went to see Salt. It was okay, but I was expecting it to be a lot better. At times it just seemed to go on forever, and ever.
Saturday morning we went to the local water park. It was smaller than what I'm used to, but it was really nice. It wasn't crowded, so we didn't have to wait to do things. It was fun seeing my lil nephew play in the water. But the best part, no doubt, was the lazy river. It felt so amazing just floating along without a care in the world.
Later, we went to see The Other Guys. It was so hilarious. I'm not going to lie, they showed some of the main funny parts during the trailers, but there were enough unexpected scenes to make up for it. I would definitely recommend it, and I will probably end up going to see it again when Aaron comes home.
Sunday, we made the long journey back home, and I spent the rest of the day lazing around baking cookies.
On Monday, myself and my friend Kelly headed up to Auburn to see our friends Matt and Frisco graduate. They aren't just any friends, they've been our best friends since high school, and pretty much the only people I've kept in constant contact with since.
Needless to say, I am very, very proud.

And now my journey continues....
Off to my MIL's today, then heading to north Alabama tomorrow for colorguard practice.
Hope you all are still enjoying the summer!

If only I could keep my head on straight

I feel like I've been running around here like a chicken with my head cut off for the past couple of weeks. It's really unnerving.

I don't really HAVE the time to be sitting here writing this, but I'm TAKING the time, because I absolutely need it to save myself from a mental break down.

I realized last night that Shedrick would be 23 today, and I wasn't quite sure if I should be happy, or sad.

But I made it a happy day. Because I can't stand to be sad. And we had a lot of good times.
We were what I like to call 'unconventional' friends. Because no one would have ever guessed that two people so UNlike would have gotten along as well as we did.


So Happy Birthday. We love and miss you very much. There isn't a day that goes by that you don't cross my mind.

Here's to all the memories and I hope to see you again one day ♥

Annnnnnnnnd here we go, another week begins.

I feel like I fell off the radar this weekend.
Saturday I went to pick up Aaron from the airport. I put on this super cute outfit, and was all excited about being there when he got off the plane. The airport is about 45 mins away from our apartment, so I left with just a few minutes to spare. I was jamming to some envy on the coast and drinking dr. pepper, when all of a sudden the can falls out of my hand and alllllllll over my brand new white blouse. I swear, for about 5 miles, I did nothing except cry. Yes, I'm a big baby, but I knew that my plan had been ruined. It took me a few minutes, but I had this brilliant idea to stop at a gas station and get one of those tide to go pens and fix myself up....but unCONVENIENTLY, gas stations apparently don't sell those. I know this because I stopped at pretty much every one I saw, and kept getting the same 'look'. Needless to say, I was late to pick him up, which means he had already landed, picked up his bags, and was waiting out front before I got there. Thanks a lot, Karma. What did I ever do to you?!

Well, I didn't let that ruin my day. As soon as we got to the mall, Aaron bought me a new shirt to put on, so I wouldn't keep getting looked at like I was some nasty girl who doesn't wash her clothes. And the rest of the day was pretty fantastic. I didn't realize until AFTER I put all my clothes away that I could have taken more pics to show you all, and then I was too lazy to do it, so I'll just tell you.

I got 2 dresses, a tank top, two more pairs of jeans, a purse, and 4 new shirts, allllll for just $109. Which, yes, I realize is not AS good of a deal as Friday's, but still :)

Sunday we went to Aaron's parents house. Enough said about that. Aaron got a new phone. It's the Samsung Eternity, it's a touch screen, and it is freakin sweeeeeeet. I'm so jealous ;)
But, I did get something pretty awesome from Aaron for my birthday......
A virtual drawing pad by Bamboo products.



In case you don't know what that is, it's a touch pad that plugs into your computer, and you can draw on it, and it draws onto your computer! Awesome, eh?

I'm going to leave you all with that, and well wishes for a great week!

Go ahead and sell me more

Yesterday was such a good birthday, I wasn't ready for it to end!

I went to work, where my boss threw me a party. It was sweet, and filled with cards, pizza, and cake. I obviously didn't get much accomplished, but oh well :)
That night, some of my friends took me out to dinner. TGI Friday's is the best. I had the gourmet mac-n-five cheese, and it was amazing. I also had some kind of berry margarita, which was also amazing. I would have pictures to show you all, but apparently our waitress couldn't figure out how to use my camera.

Today was my last day of work [well, atleast for a while], and I didn't feel sad at all. I was just excited to get off so that I could go shopping with a friend.

And because I love sharing my bargains with you all..............
This is what I got:


6 shirts, and two pairs of jeans, all for just..........

dun dun dunnnnnnnnnn






$67.00!!

If I were you, I would run to the nearest Wet Seal/JC Penny/Kohl's first thing in the morning.

Yep, this weekend is tax free weekend in Alabama. Not only were there sales galore, but minus tax, too, and I really did good.

Not to mention that Aaron said he was going to take me shopping tomorrow.

Speaking of which......TOMORROW!
Finally, our wait is over. Aaron is finally going to be home for GOOD. or...at least until next summer. How amazing is that?!

So get ready for some possible mushy gushy posts in the near future! HA!

Before I go I just want to thank you all again for all the birthday wishes! Ya'll are too kind :)

It's my birthday and I'll LIE if I want to........

That's right. It's my birthday, and as far as I'm concerned, I'm turning 21 again this year. And probably the year after that, and the year after that, & so on until suddenly I turn 29, and I guess I'll be okay with staying at 29 for eight years, too. Or atleast until I come to terms with the fact that getting older isn't a bad thing.

You don't have to tell me, I already know I'm crazy.

But in other news, I actually got a few bucks for my birthday, which means I'll be able to take advantage of this whole tax free weekend by going out and getting new clothes. :)

Other than that I'd just like to say thank you to all of you who have already told me Happy Birthday! Makes me feel all special inside.

I'll update later, but for now......I must go to work. *sigh*