Friday's Letters

Dear Summer,  I am so sad to have to say goodbye to you, but alas the school year is upon us.  Hi Ho Hi Ho it's back to work I go.  Dear Furbabies, you are super cute and cuddly.  I think you sweeties were the best decisions we have made in our marriage.  Dear husband, I can't believe this week we celebrated our second anniversary.  It feels like just yesterday was our wedding day.  So much has changed over two years and I love you more and more through it all.  Dear Ice Cream, I really miss you now that I am on this hardcore diet.  Maybe we will have to have a rendezvous soon.  Dear students and your parents, please be nice to me and my educator friends this year.  We would greatly appreciate it in advance.  Dear Brandon (again), thank you for helping me hang pictures in my office today.  You know my head is crooked and your measuring skills are genius, so you were the perfect man for the job.  Dear Fall, I can now open you with open arms since I bought my new boots.  I can't wait to wear them!  Dear blog friends, I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!!  For those of you going back to school or who work in school or who have kids in school hope you have a wonderful school year!

Friday's Letters

 

Dear Brando,  I am praying that your broken ankle heals quickly so that you can enjoy doing fun things again.   Being a hob-along is no fun for either of us.  Dear Piper, stop being such a hermit and come out of your kennel and play with me.  I am seriously considering getting you a puppy sibling to draw you out again. I miss your cuddles and cuteness. Dear house, please decorate yourself because I don't have enough patience, decision making skills, or money to do so.  I'm gonna need you to look like you belong on HGTV.  K?  Thanks.  Dear summer, please slow your roll.  You are going by way to fast for my liking.  I am not ready to deal with middle school drama yet.  Dear Ikea, thanks for putting our fave furniture line on sale this weekend.  Maybe I can get started on  decorating my guest bedroom after all.    Dear Diet, You are not working!!  I have worked out every single day this week and cut out sweet tea and dessert and fat and yumminess only to lose a grand total of 0.00 lbs.  Come on, at least give me a tenth of a pound.  Dear Piper (again),  I love that you talk to us (see video below).  You are seriously adorbs.  Dear hubby (again),  I am seriously a blessed woman to be married to you.  Just thought you should know. 

 

Friday's Letters

Dear Spring Break, Thank you so much for gracing us with your presence.  I have been looking for you for weeks.  Dear Hotlanta, I can't wait to visit you this weekend.  Aquarium, coke world, and lots of food here we come!  Dear Piper, your constant need to burn my nostrils with your farts is totally unnecessary.  Please stop.  Dear hubby, I can't wait to spend a weekend away with you for some much needed us time.  Dear diet, you suck.  The end.  Dear maple tree, please stop sapping on my car.  It looks like a true hooptie now.  Dear house, please decorate yourself.  It's very expensive and I am so indecisive, which makes things difficult.  Dear new iPhone, you complete me.  Thanks hubby for the awesome birthday present!  Dear 25th year of life, please be good to me.  I need a drama free year.  Thanks! 

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.  We will be in Atlanta, so if anyone has some suggestions on place to eat we are definitely open!    

One

Today is my booboo's first birthday.  I can't believe.  It seems like just yesterday we were meeting sweet little Piper.  Now, she is a big girl, weighing in at 45 pounds.  Piper, you are so loved and I am so blessed that you are a part of our little family.  Happy birthday baby girl!

Friday's Letters Link-Up Party

One of my favorite bloggers, Ashley, over at Adventures of the Newlyweds hosts a Friday's Letters link party every Friday.  I thought I would join in the fun this week.  So here ya go, my Friday's letters.  

Dear Thanksgiving, thank you for giving me the excuse to justify my eating habits.  Even though I feel a strong urge to go to the gym for a mega workout, it was all worth it.  Dear Brando (yes, Brando), thank you for being you.  I am truly thankful every day for you, not just because it is Thanksgiving.  Dear Piper, I love all of your sweet puddles ("puppy cuddles") that you so graciously give me each night before bed.  They make my heart melt.  What does not make my heart melt is the fact that you believe you are a human and you think that our queen size bed is made for three people.  I would very much like my leg room back, please and thank you.  Dear Pinterest, thank you for all of your fun Christmas decoration ideas, but please loosen your grip on me, you are becoming addicting.  Dear Wolfpack, I am so thrilled for your amazing victory last weekend.  Please don't screw it up tomorrow.  Dear Bloggy friends, go check out my very first Giveaway.  I would love to be able to give you an early Christmas present!  

 

Eleven

Today is 11-11-11 and being that it is November, the month of thanks, I thought it appropriate to share 11 things I am thankful for.  So here you go!

1. To own my own house and be able to build a home with my hubby.

2. My E-group at church.  I love having a group of people who you can live life with and who you can count on to build you up spiritually and in friendship.

3. My job.  I love being a school counselor and cannot imagine a better school to begin my career. 

 4. The freedom to be able to worship whenever I choose.

5. My education.  I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to earn a Bachelor's and Master's degree.

6.  My friends, specifically Justin and Courtney who are getting married this Sunday!

7. All of your blogs!  You each inspire me daily!

8.The ability to be active (work out, hike, be outside, softball, etc.)

9. My family.  My mom, dad, sister, mother-in-law, sister-in-law.

 10. My furbabies.  They are a huge joy in my life.

11. I am SO incredibly, absolutely thankful for my husband.  The Lord has picked out the perfect mate for me.

What are you thankful for?

Cuteness

I just had to share this cute video of my family.  My darling Piper is so adorable I just want to squeeze her.  She is totally a daddy's girl.  Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!!

Weekend Projects

We have finally set out to begin our home improvement projects.  We have a long list of things we want to get done in order to make our house feel like a home.  This weekend we made an agreement to cross some things off our list.  It feels great to have accomplished some things.  And by we, I mainly mean Brandon.  I am so blessed to have a husband who can handle projects around the house.  I can always rely on him to get it done.  Thanks boo! With that being said...here is what we got done around our house.  

We took down the ugly florescent light in our kitchen.  Thanks to Ikea for a $25 coupon we were able to buy some nice track lighting to up instead.  Brandon pulled down the old light and found a square hole in the ceiling and a couple other small holes.  It's nothing a little spackle and paint won't fix.  I think it looks so much better now.  What a difference a new fixture can make.  

Our Sunday project, after the Panthers game of course was to hang our new mirror and pair of sconces we bought a couple of weeks ago.  We got a stellar deal for the mirror and sconces from Kirkland's Home.  I love the detailing around the frame.  This was another easy fix and it makes a big difference. 

I love checking things off of my to-do list, especially when it involves home improvement!  In other news, I have to throw in some cute pictures of the furbabies. Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

A Little Randomness

I have a hodge podge of little things I want to share, so here is a little randomness. 

I have my first big-girl job interview tomorrow.  It is for a high school counseling job and I am nervous, excited, blessed, terrified, unsure, confident, praying, optimistic, hoping, anxious, waiting, preparing, etc, etc.  It is so intimidating to enter an interview with people you know are judging you, but I feel confident that if it is the right place for me then it will all work out.  So any prayers would be greatly appreciated.  I just pray that I can be myself and let my passion shine.  I know the Lord has the perfect place for me. 

Here is one of the cutest videos ever.  Our little Piper gets the hiccups quite often and it is so adorable.  She is the master of puppy eyes too, they will melt your soul.  This little video showcases both of these adorable qualities.  So enjoy!  Also, Brandon is seriously wanting to adopt a second puppy.  I can't decide if this is a good idea or a bad idea.  I mean I love dogs, but two in our little house, I don't know about that.  p.s. Piper is becoming way too much like a child to me, it's pathetic, but endearing at the same time.  

 

This weekend was full of mild injuries.  My mom and I drove down to the beach to visit my sister for the weekend.  Now, I am a redhead so sunscreen is a must.  Therefore, I slathered on the SPF 50.  FIFTY!  I still managed to get a miserable sunburn on my chest and belly and an odd-looking sunburn at that.  Oh the joys of being a redhead.  Then on Sunday, I had my weekly softball game.  First play of the game a lefthanded batter steps up to the plate.  I was playing second base, so I knew he was going to pull it to the right side.  Next thing I knew a super hard hit grounder comes speeding my way.  I couldn't get my glove down fast enough and POP it hits my ankle at full speed.  The picture doesn't really show the bruise too well but my ankle is swollen and a nice shiner has developed complete with the seams from the ball.  Such is the life of a softball player.  It was all worth it though because the next time he stepped up to the plate I backhanded his line drive and he was OUT!  I also randomly pulled the muscle behind my shoulder blade.  Standing on the field all of the sudden I felt it tweak.  Has anyone else ever pulled this muscle?  It stinks. 

                                         

Here is my only picture from the beach because I forgot my camera at home, so this is a phone picture.  Anyways, I hope you enjoyed my Monday morning randomness.  And, remember to send me your posts for my guest series Love and Marriage.  Have a lovely Monday!

The Mangy Moose

 ****Warning, lots of Pictures****

Brandon and I have been dying for a vacation, a getaway from the ho-hum of daily life.  The opportunity presented itself a couple of months ago when one of our friends called.  He and his fiance had won a 3-night stay at a mountain cabin at a silent auction and invited us to tag along.  Well, this weekend finally arrived and we took off to the Mangy Moose cabin in Banner Elk, NC, which is right outside of Boone and Blowing Rock.  We were so very excited to get out of town, spend some time with some great friends, and get refreshed.  Piper and our friends' dog Bender tagged along too.  The cabin was very interesting and full of taxidermy, complete with bearskin and zebra rugs, a moose and buffalo head, and ducks galore.  There were three bedrooms each with a private bathroom, so it was nice.  

On Saturday we spent the day in downtown Blowing Rock, which is a cute little town snuggled in the middle of the NC mountains.  We shopped the outlets and visited the downtown strip which was full of small boutique stores.  We had dinner at a local restaurant and finished off the night playing cornhole and Wii.  We did have some crabby neighbors who had the nerve to come over and tell us to stop playing cornhole because the bags were too loud, but anyways we moved the party inside.  

Downtown Blowing Rock

Surprised Prairie Dog Face

Bender joining the party

Bender Loves Cornhole

On Sunday we wanted to get outside and enjoy the beautiful sites that the NC mountains have to offer.  We took off to hike Linville Falls.  We hiked two different trails that had 2 or 3 offshoot trails.  It was wonderful to get outside in nature and get a great workout.  The falls were beautiful and we got to see them from several vantage points.  We also hiked to the bottom of the gorge and got to wade through the crisp river water to the falls.  Now, the hike back up was definitely a cardio challenge, but it was well worth it.  After finishing the climb back up we headed over to Linville Caverns and toured the inside of the mountain,which was interesting.  That night we relaxed, ate lasagna, and played board games.  We were so tired and went to sleep early.  We ended the weekend on Monday by grilling cheeseburgers and watching the hotdog eating contest.  It was a wonderful mini-vacation and just what we needed to get rejuvenated.