Easter Recap

This year for Easter, we decided to visit my sister in Georgia.

It was a lot of fun, and just really nice to get out of Troy.
On Saturday she showed us around her town, and we took Jackson out to play.



And on Sunday we went to Savannah!
I had never been, but have been wanting to go for quite some time.
In case you didn't know, I am a HUGE Paula Deen fan.
I want to be just like her when I grow up.
I have pretty much ALL of her cookware/prepware, and watch her show religiously.
Not only does Paula Deen live in Savannah, she has a restaurant there....SO OF COURSE we had to eat there.

It was amazing.
Granted we spent more time waiting to GET IN to the restaurant than we actually SPENT IN the restaurant. It was totally worth it's hefty price of $25 per person.
I mean, come on.....the mashed potatoes, the turnip greens, the mac-n-cheese---TO DIE FOR.
As if that wasn't enough...the banana nut gooey butter cake was like heaven in my mouth.
The only thing that could have possibly made it better, would be if I got to meet Paula Deen.
Once we finished stuffing our faces, we went walking around the town. We saw boats, went in cute little shops, saw a bunch of monuments, and went in a really cool art gallery.





So, the next time you're in Georgia, consider visiting Savannah. It's a cute town with a lot of personality.

Happy Easter [a little early]

My sister sent me this virtual Easter basket!

Hershey's is partnering with bloggers to donate $5,000 to the Children's Miracle Network! They are hosting a blog hop and for each blog entry, Hershey's will donate $10 to the Children's Miracle Network.

Hershey’s Better Basket Blog Hop Rules

1. Copy and paste these rules to your blog post.

2. Create a blog post giving a virtual Easter Basket to another blogger — you can give as many Virtual Baskets as you want!

3. Link back to the person who gave you an Easter Basket.
4. Let each person you are giving a Virtual Basket know you have given them a Basket.

5. Leave your link at BetterBasket.info/BlogHop in the comment section. You can also find the official rules of this #betterbasket blog hop and more information about Better Basket with Hershey’s there.
6. Hershey’s is donating $10 per blog participating in the Better Basket Blog Hop to Children’s Miracle Network (up to a total of $5000 by blog posts written by April 4, 2010).

7. Please note that only one blog post per blog url will count towards the donation.


I am giving baskets to:

Mr O
Jeanette
Sara
Emma
Melissa Leah
Haley
Leah
Lisa

Take the time to repost this on your own blog and earn some money for charity! But, remember to post by THIS Sunday.

WW: My Sister & Me Part 1

Just heard a knock on the door...

and guess who it was?

THE UPS MAN!

And guess what he brought?

MY PERFUME!

I feel like I've worked really hard this semester, and I really wanted to treat myself to something nice. Since I've been using the SAME Britney Spears' perfume for the past 3 years, I decided I needed a change.

You see, once upon a time, my sister went to Belgium.
She brought us all back presents, and one of mine was a sample of Lolita Lempicka perfume.

I fell in love. Seriously, I used that sample until it was all gone, and I searched high and low for more. For the longest time, I couldn't find it any where in the states, and to order it online and have it shipped here would have cost an arm and a leg. I eventually gave up.

Until last week.
It was like destiny.
I had a few gift cards for fragrancenet.com, so I decided to check it out. I honestly didn't think I'd find it, but there it was, in all it's glory.

It retails for $65, but on the site I got it for $35, plus free shipping. You guys...I don't think I've been this happy in a long time. [what can I say...it's the simple things in life] I couldn't help but tear gently open the package and spray some on my wrist.

So Thank you Cassie for introducing me to it, thank you fragrancenet for having it [and selling it at such a good price], thank you swagbucks for the gift cards.

Life is good.

Every word you say I think I should write down

Okay, enough with the healthy eating/exercising blogs, and onto the good stuff...

My sister and I FINALLY caught up with the world and saw Avatar.
It was amazing.
It took me a few minutes to get used to the whole 3D glasses thing [my eyes had trouble focusing!!], but once I did, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

This weekend I also saw Shutter Island.
All I have to say is............
it seriously messed with my brain....seriously.
I don't know what to believe. But, it was good. In a freaky 'I hope this never happens to me' kind of way.

In other news....
Our spring break starts in exactly one week. Which I am totally ready for because I REALLY need a break. And totally NOT ready for because it's not really warm yet.
*sigh* Here's to hoping the weather decides to be amazing while we're at the beach.

Also, I'm kind of having a dilemma.
You guys are always so helpful.....so,
my roots are showing BAD
should I
a] stick with dying my hair brown black

b] revert to dying my hair light brown [circa 2007]

c] just give myself burgundy highlights [circa 2008]

Gettin' it in Gear

Remember when the New Year began and I told myself I was going to get in shape?

Yea, well that lasted for all of TWO weeks.
I was doing really good, using my bender ball every day, doing ALL three of the workouts, not just one. I also got sick right around this time, and the medicine I was taking caused loss of appetite.
Lucky me, right?

Anyways, during that time, I was able to lose 5 lbs.
And then school started, and projects started, and stress started.
And then I stopped working out.

But then I saw this picture that my sister posted on her blog.......

I had almost forgotten about it.
Look how skinny I was!

This was not long after Aaron's 'quarter life' crisis, and we had broken up for a while.
I went through some sort of depression stage [I think?] and Nanny literally had to make me eat. I was around 120lbs here.
I want to get back to that...or atleast close.

So, I've decided to go running/walking 3 days a week, and do the bender ball at least 2 times a week.

Today I woke up [at 6 am--crazy, right?] and weighed myself.
Right now my goal is to lose 10 lbs.
I put Kami on the leash, and off we went.
I'm not sure exactly HOW far we walked, because the stupid pedometer I bought didn't end up working, but I know it had to be AT LEAST a mile. We were gone a good 30 minutes.

I'm not posting this because I think that you guys are interested in me losing weight, I just really need SOME sort of accountability.
I watched Lying to be Perfect the other night on Lifetime, and thought the whole Cinderella Pact was a cool idea...until I realized that I had absolutely no one to do it with.

So, Thanks sister for getting my butt in gear.
I hope I can really stay motivated this time!!

This time we're not giving up

Let's make it last foreverrrrr.

Guess what?

I'm married!

See...
And my dad even walked me down the aisle.........
but that is a story for another day.

I just wanted to update really quick to say 'hey' and let you all know that everything went well!
Expect a longer more detailed post at a later date.

Until then...a few pictures from the crowd until I get the professional ones back.

WW:Love is a battlefield

Engagement party pics!

doin' what we do best [fight]

♥

Suddenly Sunday?!

This weekend has flown by way too fast.

It seems like just yesterday I was sharing with you the yummy goodness that is banana bread, and now it's time to prepare for another dreaded week of school. Darn deadlines!

Last night my sister threw Aaron and I an engagement party. It was a lot of fun. Don't worry, I'll post pictures as soon as she uploads them. Until then....a teaser!


Kel, Matt, & Me.

Anyways, a few of you asked me to post the recipe for the banana bread, so here it is:

Ingredients

• 3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

Method

No need for a mixer for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4x8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

Courtesy of Elise @ Simply Recipes

Hope you all have a very relaxing Sunday. As for me, I'll be here writing lesson plans and listening to pandora until my shows come on!

We're Back!

Aaron and I left for King's Bay, Georgia on Friday.

It took us around 6 [long, very long] hours to get there, but it was well worth it.
But at least the weather was beautiful.
Aaron bought me some cotton candy to keep me occupied.
Saturday we went to the Cheese Cake Factory. It was so delicious. We went shopping at some ritzy shopping center in Jacksonville, and then decided to head back to Cassie's.
Sunday we decided to check out the local Catfish Festival. It was pretty interesting, to say the least, but it was very hot outside!
We tried Gator on a stick [whhhat?!] and fried pickles. They were...different.
The heat wore us all out, so we headed back home to relax.
So today, we had to drive back to Troy. It didn't seem to take as long as the trip down, but it was the same amount [obviously]. I dreaded coming back to reality. But that is life. The weekends always seem to pass by all too quickly. And here we are, at the start of another week, and it's almost time for the season finale of Secret Life HA!

I hope you all have a great one.

I spoke too soon...

My family has decided they would rather me have a whole ceremony now, rather than the whole court house thing; they are going to fund it [small budget, mind you]. And after much deliberation I have decided to do just that. We are going to have a full ceremony instead of just getting our marriage license. So, instead of being married on Dec. 3rd, we moved it to Dec. 12th. I am a little stressed, but am feeling much better now that I have the save the date cards made. And knowing that my sister is willing to help me any which way, is always a nice thing. So wish us luck, because we are definitely going to need it!