CAMERON and JONATHAN

Happy Birthday J!!!

2011-01-18T09:04:00.003-05:00

Happy Birthday to the most wonderful man, husband, and friend I know!
I love you and hope this year is the best one yet!

Slumber Party!!!!

2011-01-05T08:45:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Durham got to come home with Aunt CamCam to stay the night!

This was D's first slumber party with CamCam and JJ...what a fun time we had!

D had to first check out the house by exploring her way through

all the rooms, drawers, and cabinets.

We then played and practiced our numbers and letters with toys!

D was intrigued with watching Ellen!

We read, and read, and read some more!

We played dress up in CamCam's boots!

We had a delicious dinner of corn and apple sauce...yum!

We took and bath to get clean and ready for bed.

We got on our PJ's and brushed our teeth.

We begged JJ to drag us all around the house on the blanket!

We drank our night time milk!

And we finally chilled out for a little bit before heading to bed!

D slept right inbetween CamCam and JJ because when you have a slumber party with the aunt and uncle, you get to do fun things and skip sleeping in your crib!

Love you little D, we had so much fun playing and having you spend the night!

Here's to many many more slumber parties in our future!!!!!

free christmas cards

2010-11-21T19:07:00.001-05:00

What's better than receiving Christmas cards in the mail at Christmas time?

FREE Christmas cards!

Shutterfly is giving away free Christmas cards to anyone who blogs!

I can't pass up a free deal!

Here are some really cute ideas....

Shutterfly not only produces great cards, but you can also design your own photo calendar, create a mousepad, coffee cup, tree ornament, collage canvas...the list goes on. There is nothing more personal than adding your special picture and your special touch to a gift like these!

I am trying to decide what to do with my 50 free cards this year. I may begin a new tradition, or i may give them to my sister so my favorite neice's picture can go out to many more mailboxes!

I can't wait to see which free cards all these bloggers choose!

If youre interested in getting your own free cards, go here!

A Fab Two Years!

2010-08-16T09:14:00.002-04:00

Happy 2 Year Anniversary!

The past two years have been more than I could have ever asked for. I am so blessed to have married my best friend and can't wait to see what God has in store for us many years down the road! I love you babe and thank you for being you!

My Little D tuns 1!!!

2010-07-09T00:01:00.000-04:00

I wanted to be the first to tell my little D happy one year birthday!

This past year has been such a joy and blessing watching Durham grow and change into a little lady! I love her more than I could ever have imagined loving a child, and that love continues to grow each day! This year has flown by and she has developed quite the personality. She knows what she wants and how to get it...and of course being the aunt, I give her whatever she wants!

And to say that her Uncle JJ is smitten with her is an understatement!

Durham,

We love you and are so excited about celebrating your birthday this weekend! We pray for many many more birthdays to come that we can watch you grow into the girl God has created you to be!

All our love and His,

Aunt CamCam

Uncle JJ

EDISTO

2010-07-07T15:43:00.009-04:00

We had an awesome week at Edisto! Aside from the Thain crew, J's family, and even his Nana was able to be there the same week.

We also had some other fun visitors: Shelby, Henry, and Manning!!

It was a great week spent with family!

The weather was great and we did a lot of nothing...my kind of vacation! Laying in the sun, reading, laughing, and being entertained by all the little ones was the best part of the week!

A little update...

2010-06-11T17:47:00.005-04:00

It's been forever, but I wanted to fill everyone in on my first two weeks as a grad student. First of all, it's not near as fun as undergrad, but the classes are much more interesting and i'm learning a ton. Actually one research class i'm taking is a bore, but what can you expect with a class called Educational Research? It's been keeping me very busy and I am so thankful that all of my TV shows have already ended for the season, because everyday after class, if i don't go to work, I come straight home and do not stop doing school work until around 11 or 12 at night. No more TV time for me! I'm not kidding you, and if any of you know me and my study habits you would find this hard to believe. But it's true, all I do these days is school, school, and more school. I'm hoping it will slow down when the fall semester starts but during the summer they cram so much into such a little amount of time, you are doing good to just keep your head above the water. I'm making some friends in my program and I really think i'm going to enjoy this whole grad school thing, even though it might take me a while to get back into the school mode. If it were not for Jonathan I don't know if I would have gotten through these last two weeks, he has been so supportive and loving through this whole process, and i'm so thankful for that!

A few things that have happened since i've started school (not even 2 weeks ago):

-written 2 papers

-taken many quizzes

-taken my first grad school test today and have another one on monday

-in the process of applying for a grant (please pray that I receive this, it will cover my full tuition if I get it)

-was in a minor "fender bender"(and yes it was my fault)

-went on the lake for the first time this summer

-went to a USC baseball game

-went wedding dress shopping with Jess

And a side note on that....Jess and her mom came to Augusta this afternoon to go to a few dress shops, so we went to lunch and then made our way to start trying on dresses. It was so neat and fun to see her in those beautiful white dresses! The whole experience made me wish I was doing that same thing all over again, but of course with the same guy! hehe We had so much fun as we pulled dresses from the racks not even looking at the prices, when we got into the dressing room we saw that the majority of the ones we picked were over $4000. Jess still found some beautiful dresses that were a little more reasonable! The second place we went was a joke. We couldn't get out of there fast enough, but didn't want to be rude so we pretended that she had found "the one," but she needed to sleep on it, and she would let them know soon. All the dresses were terrible and our consultant was even more terrible! At least we made fun memories! Thanks Jess and Carol for letting me join in on this fun and special time!!!

me, court, and jess at the USC baseball game

This weekend J and I are going to a wedding in Charlotte, next weekend is father's day, and then the following weekend we are going to another wedding, and then heading to Edisto for the week...this is what I have to keep thinking about when I get stressed about all my school work...a whole week at the beach and nothing to do nothing but relax! I probably won't blog much more this summer, but wanted to let you know that school is going good and i'm excited to finally start the process of my lifelong career!!!!

TAG!!!

2010-03-14T09:45:00.003-04:00

Tag...you're it!

Court tagged me on this fun picture game...here's how you play:

1. open your first photo folder

2. scroll to the 10th picture

3. post the photo and the story behind it

4. tag 5 or more people

My first folder on our computer is Alyssa and Matt's wedding weekend! So, here is the 10th picture from that album. It's at Alyssa's bridal/bridesmaid's luncheon the day before her wedding. These are all of Alyssa's 11 bridesmaids (with Laura missing). The luncheon was held at Nonnah's on Gervais St. in Columbia and it was such a fun time! Alyssa was the first of our best friends from college t0 get married, so that whole weekend was an awesome time for all of us...i'll never forget it! Love all these pretty ladies!

I tag: Shelby

Soaking up the Rays!

2010-03-08T12:00:00.004-05:00

No worries, I got to see my Little D this weekend. We made a trip to lexington on friday night just to see the cutiest little one in the world, and then made our way back home on Saturday night after dinner. I worked all day yesterday, and then we went out for dinner to our favorite, Mexican, last night with Catie and Will.

I have today off of work and I couldn't be more happy about it. Not only do I have tons of house work and spring cleaning to do, it's a beautiful SPRING day out. I just got done cleaning the house and i'm now washing/drying/folding heaps of clothes. Once i'm done with that i'm heading outside to sit out in the warm sun and spend a little time with the Lord as I work on my bible study. I also have plans to do some fun reading and relaxing as I soak up the rays! Later this afternoon i'm going on a fun walk with Catie after she gets home from school. What a wonderful, delightful day!

Hope you are enjoying this nice weather!

Miss my little D!

2010-03-03T18:06:00.005-05:00

I haven't seen my little D since the weekend before last, and lets just say i'm missing her like crazy! Not sure when i'll get to see her again, but hopefully sooner than later...court's blog is great and all, but it doesn't do justice t0 seeing my DurC in person!

Great Super Bowl Appetizer Recipe

2010-02-05T17:00:00.003-05:00

Guacamole has become one of my new favorite dips recently. Jonathan's uncle made some while we were in Florida over Christmas and I just discovered that our favorite Mexican restaurant has the best guacamole ever! For some reason I have taken a big liking to this fun dip and wanted to share a recipe I just saw on Oprah that looks so easy and delicious! I like my guacamole very creamy, so this recipe looked like a great one for me to try. Depending on what we do on Sunday night for the big game, I might have to make this and see how it turns out.

4 ripe avocados

1/4 cup white onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped

2 limes , juiced

2 tsp. kosher salt

1 jalapeno , finely chopped

Directions:

Split the avocados along their sides and divide in half. Remove the pits.

In a ceramic or glass bowl, smash the avocados with a potato masher until smooth.

Add the next 5 ingredients, and continue to mash until fluffy.

Place one of the pits in the middle of the guacamole to help keep it from turning dark. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for about an hour before serving.

Serve with warm tortilla chips.

The Best Flat Iron to Ever Touch Your Hair!

2010-02-05T11:21:00.006-05:00

I wanted to do a post for Kelly's Korner Show us Your Life, Beauty Tips and Favorite Products.

About a year ago my Chi straightener decided to quite working on me and one side of the iron didn't work. I can't go more than a day without my straightener so I had to splurge and buy another one that very day. I had only had it for a little over a year and I had always sworn by Chi. I never would use anything else, thinking it was THE Best! When I had to break down and spend over $100 on another one I wanted to make sure that it wasn't going to happen again and my mom told me about a flat iron that her hair dresser uses in her salon. I went out on a limb and decided to trust a lady that I personally don't even really like (the hair dresser, not my mom), because she has curly, thick hair and uses this iron on all her customers. I may not like the lady, but boy does she know hair. This flat iron is the best thing that has happened to my hair in so long! It's a Bio Ionic Itools Ceramic flat iron. I can't go back to a Chi now. Anytime we stay with my parents, my sister, and J's parents and I have use one of their Chi's instead of my Itools because i'm trying to learn to be a lighter packer, it just doesn't work the same. You set the temperature on it and it goes as high as 400 degrees. And with my hair, I def need the extra heat to smooth out all my kinks. Anyway, the point of this post is for all of those who still swear by their Chi's...next time you have to buy a new flat iron, take my curly, thick haired advice and try out, the same a little over $100 price, and get yourself an Bio Ionic Itools!!!

Quarter of a Century!

2010-01-25T17:56:00.008-05:00

Jonathan turned 25 last Monday and we celebrated by inviting out families to town for the weekend! On Saturday the girls went shopping and played around town while some of the boys played golf. That night we cooked Beaufort Stew and had fun just hanging out! Jonathan did most of the cooking and it was more than delicious. I love you babe and hope you had a wonderful birthday! Here's to hopefully your best year yet!

Thanks to our families for taking time out of their busy schedules to come hang out with us!

J's favorite guest at his bday party: little D!

Do you see the trend the she eats ALOT!!!

Everyone helping with the cooking and eating appetizers in the kitchen

Jingle all the way!

2009-12-09T09:19:00.010-05:00

Last Friday Mama, Court, and Durham came to our house to help me decorate for Christmas. This has turned into one of our traditions each year. It wouldn't be near as fun to decorate the house without mama and court's company. We had fun putting ornaments on the tree as we drank hot chocolate. I now love coming home to the pretty lights and walking in the door to see a lot of red and green! Thanks Mama and Court for helping me put everything in it's perfect place. And a big thanks to little D for keeping us laughing and keeping us distracted! I love you all!!!
Pictures don't do a christmas tree justice, but here are a few to show you the beautiful work of the Thain girls!!!
(P.S. Please forgive the terrible quality of these pictures. These are taken from a cell phone camera. Court still has my camera and I will finally get it back on Christmas day when she gets her new one. Aren't I a sweet sister to let her use my camera for almost 6 months? It's all because of how much I love my little D!)

Mama bought us this ornament at the Holiday Market this year!

Make-do place for stockings in a house without a mantle.

Dinning Room

I love having a storm door, but hate how it takes away from our wreath.

On Saturday night I went to my first Christmas party of 2009, and then yesterday I started wrapping gifts. There is a lot more to come for our busy schedule this December, but i'm so excited to celebrate our 2nd Christmas together!

My best friend!

2009-11-23T08:13:00.006-05:00

I thought I would start out this holiday week telling you what I'm the most thankful for. The three most important people/relationships in my life are my Jesus, my husband, and my family. I fail each and everyday at letting all of these people know just how special they are to me.
I wanted to spend this Thanksgiving thinking about how I can be a better wife and how I can show appreciation to Jonathan and all he does for me. I will start with telling the world (bc the whole world reads my blog) how I am so thankful for his love and support. In all I do, he is always behind me, backing me up and encouraging me in my daily encounters. I never have to worry about his dedication to working hard and providing for our family. He works harder than any guy I know, sometimes working 10-11 hour days and without even complaining. Then I come home from an 8 hour day and grip over how tired I am, all the while he just sits there listening. Over the past year and 1/2 I have watched him grow so much in our Lord. I can see his determination to become the godly man he was created to be. I know it's not always easy having to be the spiritual leader of the household, and i know he struggles each day, but he is always wanting the Lord to teach him new things in order for him to grow and strengthen in his faith. The few things that have never changed with J, and I pray never do, are that he is always making me laugh and he loves my family as much as I do. God knew what he was doing when he brought Jonathan into my life. He isn't the same guy he was 6 years ago, and i'm so thankful for all the work the Lord has done in Jonathan's heart over the years. We haven't been married long, but I love being able to look back over that little bit of time and see the changes God has made in us. We went from being two selfish single beings, to two people trying to live each day providing for all the needs of the other. And that is not always easy my friend, and I know I have a long way to go. But I am so thankful that Jonathan chose me to spend the rest of his life with, spending each day trying to think less of himself and more of me. God def knew what he was doing when he created each of us for the other.
Thanks babe for all you do for me and for just being you! I love you!

NEW MOON

2009-11-20T14:40:00.002-05:00

Last night, or should I say this very early this morning, I attended the midnight premier of Twilight Saga: New Moon with some of my work buddies. We saw Twilight at 9pm (for only $5), and then around 11pm headed into our allotted theater to wait anxiously for the movie to begin. Buying the $5 Twilight ticket was well worth it...a great way to pass the time, instead of waiting outside in a long line. Before I tell you how great the movie was, let me begin by telling you why I was so excited about going to see this movie. It all started back when I began working at the Gap. All my coworkers were and still are obsessed with Twilight. That's all they talked about, so I figured I might as well read the books so I can be a part of the conversations going on around the work place. After I finished the first book, I watched the movie and it was good, but I still wasn't hooked. I love to read in the summertime as I lay out in my back yard, so I didn't mind picking up the second Twilight book, New Moon. I finished this book in less than 3 days and would then say, I was hooked, or sucked in to this obsession, if you will. I read all four books and ever since we've all been anticipating the New Moon movie. I can't wait until Eclipse next summer!

Now that you know my story of how I began to love Twilight, now I can tell you how much I loved the movie. If you know me well you know that I don't do late nights very often. I fall asleep when it gets dark and I get comfy, so even in a movie theater I have been known to fall asleep a time or two. I was a little nervous that I was going to waste money on this ticket because I would just fall asleep, but oh no, this was well worth staying up for. I had to sit on the edge of my seat a time or two to make sure I was not getting sleepy, but I didn't close my eyes except to blink. This is def a movie I could go see again...it was awesome. I don't want to give too much away, but the only dissapointment was the ending. It just leave you hanging...but overall, I would def say it's much better than the first movie, Twilight.

Too early for Christmas? I think not!

2009-11-17T17:55:00.007-05:00

So when is it too early to decorate for Christmas, to listen to Christmas music, to shop for gifts, to make a wish list???

I say it's never too early! It might be the fact that I now work in retail and it's hard to avoid Christmas anytime after the date of Oct 1st. We've had all our decor up, trees and all for 2 weeks now in the store. We started playing Christmas music last week, and we are already planning for all the "Black Friday" shoppers. (FYI, if you are one of those who gets up at the crack of dawn to shop on the day after Thanksgiving, stop by the Gap to get your Buy One Get One Free sweaters... we are also having this promotion on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving as well.) This all probably plays a big role in the reason why i'm almost already done with all our Christmas shopping. I only have a few more gifts left before I have my whole list checked off. This is not the norm for me, and I've always been one to say that you shouldn't do anything "christmas" until after Thanksgiving. Working at the Gap has changed my perception on this, and i'm not ashamed to say each day at work i've been not only enjoying the music, but i've been singing along and been in the cheerful christmas spirit. I wanted to decorate our house the week of Thanksgiving before we go out of town, but Jonathan said he would put a stop to that. He is a firm believer in the whole "no Christmas before Thanksgiving." So to fill that yearning of Christmas cheer, i've turned to shopping. I can't wait to start wrapping all the gifts and putting them under our tree. And who doesn't love some good holiday commercials, like our new Gap advertisement that just started playing. It's a little corny, and nothing can beat the old Oreo Christmas commercial with the little boy waiting up for Santa, but it still puts a little pep in your step to get geared up for the Holidays.

Ok, ok, I realize i'm seeming to forget all about a very important holiday on the calendar. But just so you know, i'm still looking forward to Thanksgiving and will do a post soon on Thankfulness. This is not a holiday to be taken lightly. I mean geez, who doesn't want to sit down with family and enjoy a delicious feast? I am very excited about next weekend, even though the majority of it will be spent working, I am fortunate enough and thankful that we get to spend thanksgiving day with our family! Because of my crazy work schedule, Jonathan's family was gracious enough to change their traditional thanksgiving weekend plans so that we could all be together on Thanksgiving day. My family, along with his family will be enjoying next Thursday all together as one big family in Lexington, and I can't be more excited about it! And it only makes it that much better that I get to eat fried turkey...which only happens once a year!

Fall Cleaning

2009-11-04T11:44:00.002-05:00

I don't have to go into work until 5 tonight, so I had the whole day to do whatever I pleased. I started the morning with the Lord in a good quiet time, watched last week's private practice espisode, and then got bored. I have been putting off cleaning the house for a week now, and couldn't make excuses any longer. I love a clean house, but hate to clean. So i took the plunge and did a good deep clean throughout the whole house (a whole house that is only 1200 sq ft...haha). But, even though it's small, it still takes a while to clean the entire house at one time. But boy do I feel so good! I love it! The house smells great, but I feel dirty...thankfully I hadn't taken a shower before I started cleaning.

Now I get to look foward to my lunch date with Jonathan. He comes home almost everyday for lunch and when i'm home and not working, I love that time we have together!

Have a great fall day everyone!!!

Congrats to the future Mr. & Mrs.

2009-10-24T20:39:00.003-04:00

Lacey and Kyle are getting married!

I am so excited for yall and can't wait to see all the great things God has in store for your future!

PC HOMECOMING

2009-10-24T20:01:00.010-04:00

This weekend was homecoming at the greatest place on earth, PC. We came up Friday night and spent the night in Laurens with Court, Ryan, and Durham. Today we spent the day tailgating and catching up with old college friends. The weather turned out great and it was a beautiful day to spend outside! PC lost the football game, but all in all it was a fabulous day!

Cutest baby and cutest outfit (courtesy of Aunt Brookie) at the game...

The Proud Uncles...

Back at the house after the fun day, relaxing with little D!

Great Recipe Blog

2009-09-21T18:01:00.005-04:00

Here is the link to an awesome recipe blog. I have already saved several of her recipes on my computer. I can't wait to try them out! I get excited about new recipes because I am the type to easily get into the habit of fixing the same things over and over again for dinner. When I get good ideas like these from this blog it helps me to venture out and try new fun dinners. I'll let you know when I try some out and give you my food critics.

Check it out: House of Bowling Recipes

Last day of Summer! :(

2009-08-31T17:17:00.009-04:00

In honor of the last day of summer I decide to bit the bullet and blog again. I'm sad to see the summer end, but excited to break out the turtle necks, jeans, and sweaters. Football season is about to crack up and we are all pumped about tailgating, PC homecoming, the Clemson game J promised to take me to this year, and i'm sure a UGA game or two. I love fall weather, but i'm just not ready to let the summer heat go. The Thain family just got back from Edisto Beach on Saturday. Because of Court being pregnant right in the middle of summer, we decided to go late in August so that the Molony crew (including Durham) could join us for the week. We had the best week and did not want to leave. Edisto is the most tranquil and quiet place. Our days consisted of waking up early, going on a run or bike ride with Daddy, laying in the hammick on the screened in porch with Durham napping on my chest, laying on the beach, playing games on the beach, going for a walk on the beach, coming in for lunch, then going out and doing it all over again. We cooked most nights and just enjoyed being with family. Shelby and Henry got to come down and join in on the fun for 2 days. Thank you to Mama and Daddy for the awesome week! We couldn't have asked for a better vacation! We love you!

Now that we are back at home and getting back into the swing of things, i'm marking all important dates for the fall on my calendar. The coming months are sure to be busy and full of fun.

Another very important date that has already past, but has not been forgotten by me was our first anniversary. Jonathan and I celebrated our 1 year on August 16th. It has been an awesome year and I am so blessed to have such a great husband. Everyone says the first year is the hardest, and I don't believe it, because this year has been fun and exciting...not hard in the least! I can't wait to see where the Lord will take us in our future, but for now, I am so happy to be Jonathan's wife! I love you babe!

Ohio Mission Trip

2009-08-03T16:54:00.004-04:00

Mama and I will be leaving tomorrow at 6:45am from the Columbia airport for our Ohio Mission Trip. We will be ministering to African refugees in several ways. Teaching ESL (English as second language) classes, Back to School Bash (school supply give a way), crafts, songs, and games with the kids, and much more. We will return to Columbia on August 11th, but while we are there we would appreciate your prayers. We want to show their community Christ's love through our own relationships, through how we interact with them, and our conversations. God is already at work in Ohio, and he will continue to work in the lives of these refugees after we leave, but please pray that while we are there that we are encouraged and renewed by our interactions with them.
Below is a prayer guide that you may use to pray for us. Again, thank you in advance for any prayers for our team! God will work through your prayers in more ways than you will ever know.

Prayer Guide for Ohio Mission Team

August 4-11, 2009

We would be so honored to have you praying with us during this time.

July 27-August 3 Preparation
Pray that we stay focused on our own spiritual preparation. Pray for clean hearts and hands. Pray that packing will go smoothly and that God will lead us to exactly what we need to take. Pray for our hosts as they prepare for our arrival and complete logistical details. Pray for the other teams as they prepare to come.
2 Corinthians 10:4-5

August 4 Travel & Orientation
Pray for rest, health, and safety for our team, those who will be joining us, and our Ohio hosts. Pray that our luggage arrives with us. Pray for complete unity and flexibility as we begin our orientation so that we will be open to hear God’s plan for our time here. Pray for our Man of Peace as God works in his heart. Romans 9:17

August 5 Prayerwalking, Distribution, ESOL & Crafts at Community Center
Pray for strongholds to be broken and hearts to be soft to hear His message of love and hope. Pray that we will be invited into homes and be led to leave the Jesus Film with families.
2 Corinthians 4:1-7

August 6 Prayerwalking, Distribution, ESOL & Crafts at Community Center
Pray that the communication barrier of speaking a different language will not be a hindrance. Pray that we will have opportunities to share stories from the Word. Pray that each of us will be in tune with the Holy Spirit and will allow Him to guide our every action.
Ephesians 3:14-21

August 7 Prayerwalking, Distribution, ESOL & Crafts at Community Center
Pray that God will use us to love the people we meet and that their hearts will be open to God’s truth & love. Pray for the children who come to craft time while their mothers attend ESOL classes. Pray that those we encounter will see something different in us and seek Truth.
Psalm 19:14

August 8 Block Party & School Supply Distribution at Community Center
Pray that God’s love, joy, gentleness, and peace abound in and from each of us as we give an expected 300 children school supplies. Pray that the children and their parents will see Jesus in us during what could be a chaotic time.
John 3:30

August 9 Worship at Local Church, Crafts at Community Center
Pray that our worship at a local church will hold renewed awe as we praise our Creator and Sustainer. Pray for renewed strength as we have more time at the community center with children and adults. Pray that all those around us will know we are HIS disciples by our love.
John 13:34-35

August 10 Follow-up Visits with Families
Pray for Spirit-led conversations as we are sensitive to His leading. Pray for discernment of when not to speak and for boldness when we are to speak.
Exodus 4:12

August 11 Travel back to SC
Pray that many in Ohio will be called to continue serving this community. Pray for safety and health as we travel home. Pray for restoring rest so we will be prepared to return to work. Pray that we will never forget all that God has taught us during this week and that we will continue to pray for these precious people.
Acts 1:8

The Puzzle Club

2009-07-29T16:20:00.003-04:00

So go ahead and call us dorks!
The other day while J and I were strolling around in Walmart, we came across the puzzle isle. Oh yes, we bought a 1500 piece puzzle and have been working on the massive thing ever since. The only table we have the is big enough to work on it is our dinning room table. So, because J thinks we can't work on the puzzle without the TV on, we had to move to table into the living room. I would be very embarrassed to have anyone over to our house right now, not only because they would think we were the biggest nerds with this puzzle out, but also because that one piece of furniture out of it's place makes me feel like our whole house is a wreck.
I do have to say i'm a little addicted to working on this puzzle. Anytime I have a free minute I try to find another fitting piece. It might take us a year to finish this monstrosity, but we will get it done. Alyssa, LP, and Aly might know this feeling, because I do recall the summer after our freshman year in college they created "The Puzzle Club." I was not a part of this puzzle club but I'm pretty sure they invited Ryan (my brother in law) to be a part of this club. You have to know each of them to know how funny this is.
Oh well, I guess if me and my friends weren't so dorky we wouldn't be any fun to be around. And i'm so glad I married a dork too, to enjoy doing things like this with me!

Oh and did I mention I get to see Durham all weekend. We have a wedding in Lexington and get to spend the whole weekend with the fam! I can't wait to hold her and kiss her!

Just a little update

2009-07-23T17:07:00.003-04:00

The summer is flying by and so many fun things have already taken place, but there is still so much to look forward to before the weather starts turning cold. Of course there is always more time to spend with my sweet little Durham, and that is always something i look forward to. Some other things to be excited about in our coming weeks are: Spending this weekend in Atlanta with J's family, Mama and I are going on a mission trip together the first week of August, and last but not least, our Family Edisto Beach Trip the last week in August (Durham's first beach trip).

I don't wish the days away, because I love summer time, but I am excited that there is so much coming up to be excited about. I love this summer weather...a lot of people probably think i'm crazy, but I would rather walk outside and immediately start sweating than walk outside and immediately have my teeth start chattering. I'm not a fan of winter weather. After Christmas is over, i'm ready for summer weather again.

All this to say, i'm soaking up the great hot weather while i can. Fall will be here before we know it!

I'm OBSESSED!!!

2009-07-15T16:56:00.012-04:00

I had to work from 6:30am to 10:30am on Tuesday morning and as soon as I was off, I got in the car and raced to Laurens. I couldn't get there fast enough. I am officially obsessed with my new niece, Durham. I spent the day and night with Court, Ry, Mama, and sweet Durham and we had a blast. She is the sweetest, best smelling thing in this world. I could sit and hold her all day long and never move and inch, and be more than happy. I never thought I could love someone else's child so much. I know she has my name but I truly do feel a special bond to her. I can't wait to continue to watch her grow up to be a pretty young lady, but I don't want it to happen too fast, i'm loving watching this sweet, innocent, helpless in every way, baby!

Last night Courtney Shelton and Elizabeth Ann came to visit and meet Durham. It is so fun watching others see her for the first time! Courtney and Ryan are doing great and I know they appreciate all of mama's help this week. They are already amazing parents!

J couldn't go with me yesterday but I know he wanted to be there, because he kept asking me to text him pictures of Durham and give her kisses! I don't know the next time I will be able to go to Laurens, but I know one thing...it won't be soon enough! I left this morning to go back to work, but I hated leaving! I think we all know where I will be spending all my spare time in the next 5+ years.

Durham Cameron Molony

2009-07-11T22:13:00.007-04:00

Welcome to the World little Durham!

2009-07-10T17:53:00.003-04:00

As of July 9th at 3:35pm, J and I became an Aunt and Uncle. Durham Cameron Molony is the most perfect, precious, beautiful creature on the face of this earth. (Court has my camera so I can't post pics, but please see pics later on today on her blog www.teammolony.blogspot.com)
I can't tell you how much I already love her and love being an aunt!
We spent 15 hours at the hospital yesterday with a bunch of family and friends, and thanks to the cutest little boy in the whole entire world, Henry, we were all well entertained as we waited for Durham to make her entrance. Yesterday was one of the best days of my life and I can't wait to send some more of the weekend with Durham, Court and Ryan. We are leaving to go back to the hospital when J gets home from work in a little while and hanging out with them until they go home tomorrow.
Court did great and was the best sport, and I know she would not of been able to be such a trooper without Ryan being by her side through the whole amazing experience. So, Congrats new Mommy and Daddy! We are all so excited for you! You will be the best parents for Durham, bringing her up in a Godly household and always striving to show her God's love!
We love you and your new family addition more than you know!!!!

Wahoo for KRIS ALLEN!!!

2009-05-21T14:34:00.002-04:00

Jonathan and I have been obsessed with American Idol this season and did not miss one show. Of course we were pulling for Kris Allen and we were so pumped last night after they announced that he had won. He is a quiet, humble guy with an amazing voice. He's the type of artist I love to listen to. That acoustic, Jason Marz/Jack Johnson, type and I can't wait till his first album comes out! And to top it off, he's a Christian and I pray that he will continue in his faith even when the fame and fortune can get in the way. Kris and Danny were our two favorites throughout the whole season and I think the reason we were so drawn to them was because even without saying so, you could tell they were believers.
The only sad part about all this is I don't know what we will watch on Tuesday and Wednesday nights now. I know, it's sad we have our "shows" that we have to watch each week, but I guess this will be a good excuse to get off the couch and go for some walks after dinner this summer.

Mother's Day

2009-05-12T12:49:00.006-04:00

Happy Late Mother's Day!
We had a great time celebrating the day with Mama. After church we took her to a restaurant called Motor Supply Company in Columbia. The food was awesome and the company was even better. The rest of the afternoon we just had fun being lazy and hanging out with my family.
I am so thankful to have the most amazing mama and the best mother in law in the world! Hope you both had a great Mother's Day! Love you both!!!

Early Birthday

2009-04-19T22:11:00.003-04:00

It's been a busy, yet fun weekend. Both Jonathan and my parents came into town on Friday night to celebrate my birthday a little early. We went to a new restaurant called The Chop House and then went back to our house for some yummy cake! J's parents spent the weekend with us and it was so great to hang out with them. This spring has proven to be very busy for J and I, with something every weekend. The next two weekends we will be out of town for weddings, and in the midst of that, we will be trying to move. Not sure how it's all going to come together, but I know that the good Lord will help us with the transition. I have already been collecting boxes from work to use for the move. I will probably start packing up some of the house this week. It will be sad leaving this house where we started our married life together. We've loved it here. It's the perfect size and I don't have any complaints. We hate to move, but because I plan on going back to school to get my masters at USC, we have to get back to SC so that I can receive in-state tuition. In the long run, it will be worth it, but it's just hard right now because we have so much going on and trying to move at the same time. Mama is coming up on Thursday to help me pack up some and from there we will ride together to Greenville for Hanna's wedding weekend. I am very excited about the fun weekend ahead of us!

On another note, J already gave me my bday gifts...he can't keep things a secret for long...he gets too excited. So, he wanted to go ahead and give me my presents early. He did WAY too much! I got a Garmin (because I always steal his from his car), a new pair of awesome tennis shoes, and a shewing basket and sewing materials. J's mom gave me her sewing machine and for the past few months, i've been talking about how I want to learn how to sew. I was very surprised by all the gifts and love how thoughtful my awesome husband is. He must get it from his mom because she gave me a box full of new clothes this weekend. I am so thankful for such an awesome new family that I have become a part of since J and I got married!

A Weekend at the Masters

2009-04-14T14:49:00.003-04:00

Jonathan and I spent this past weekend at Augusta National. It was nothing short of amazing. Everything about the course and the Masters was way more than i ever expected. The scenery is beyond beautiful and seeing all the pro golfers up close was very cool. When we were watching replays on TV on Sunday night, I kept saying to J, "I can't believe we only live 5 miles from there." You feel like you step into a different world. You def don't feel like you are in Augusta. I am so thankful that we were able to go this year and experience the Masters while living in Augusta.
Ansley gave us the badges and so it was great to hang out with her for two days. I can't thank her enough for asking us to go both Sat. and Sun. On Saturday we met up with Catie and Will and a few other friends, and then on Sunday we hung out with Ansley and some her of friends for half the day before we started on our trek around the course. We decided to follow our fav, Phil. He was paired up with Tiger Woods, so of course the crowds following them were ridiculous. Despite the crowds we were still able to get pretty close on certain holes. We were hoping that Phil would come back and win the Masters, but with a few mistakes on his part, it didn't happen. I am not too excited about Angel Cabrera winning, but oh well. I'm just glad Tiger didn't win.
Overall, it was an awesome, yet tiring weekend. All that walking wore us out.

27....so old!

2009-04-02T21:26:00.003-04:00

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SIS!!!
Court turned 27 today, she is officially in her "late 20s!"
Hope your birthday was awesome and I know this year to come will be amazing. Courtney will become a new mom in July and this next year will be filled with many new memories and a lot of excitement. I can't wait to be an aunt!!!
I love you Court!

Spring Fever

2009-03-31T13:25:00.002-04:00

Besides the fact that my computer still won't let me post pictures, i'm loving life. This spring/summer weather puts me in the best mood. I make any excuse to go outside, even taking out the trash. I canceled our YMCA membership yesterday because I now run outside and will all summer and through the fall. The winter is really the only time i hate to run outdoors, so I decided to save $65 a month and endure the hot weather and exercise outside! I am so thankful we aren't like our friends in Fargo, North Dakota with the terrible snow flooding. I can't imagine having that cold of weather in April.

That's right, it's already (almost) April. So much is happening this month...so many birthdays, a bachelorette party, a fun wedding, the Masters, Easter, and lots of work. This weekend i'm heading to Charleston for Megan's bachelorette party and then next weekend Jonathan and I are going to the Masters on Saturday and Sunday...thanks to our wonderful friend Ansley for the tickets. This will be the first Easter that I am not going to church...kinda weird...of all times to miss church i would def think we wouldn't pick Easter Sunday, but we couldn't pass up Masters tickets. We've never been and now that we are living in Augusta, we wanted to go even more!

And one more thing...please be praying for Jonathan and I over the next month and we will find the time in our busy schedule to look for a new apartment or house to rent in North Augusta. We have to move to South Carolina so that when i go back to school I will get in state tuition. Please pray that the Lord will make our transition smooth and that he will open doors at the right time! THANKS!!

my world

2009-03-26T17:50:00.002-04:00

Sorry for being so slack lately on my posts. Frankly I just didn't think there was anything worth posting about and I didn't want to bore my many readers! :)

All that said, the past two weeks have flown by and so much has happened. Besides our trip to Boston, there have been a lot of changes in my life. Many changes that I have been praying about for soo long and trying to wait patiently on the Lord for. He took his time, but when he answered those prayers, he answered them in a big way! First of all, most of you know that the past month and a half I have been looking for a new job. It was getting very frustrating and hard for me and just when I didn't think I could take it any longer, I got an email of this lady who needed a babysitter for her 4 children a few afternoons a week. I met with her and she offered me the position. A week later, I had an interview with the Director of the Preschool/Kindergarten program at the church Jonathan and I attend, First Baptist Church of Augusta. I applied to be a teacher next school year for a 3 or 4 year old class. In the mean time I got an email asking if I wanted to apply for a sales position at the Gap. I applied for it, interviewed and the next day got offered the job. That same day I got a called from the Director at the church asking if I could be interested in coming for a second interview in front of the Kindergarten committee. That interview will not be until later in April, but all these things happening at once have been such a blessing. I started at the Gap this week, and i've been babysitting for two weeks now.

God has def answered my prayers and all those others praying for me. This season in my life has been so good, the Lord has taught me so much about his providence in my life. He is always at work in me and he is always working for MY good. The Lord knows how to rescue us, he is just waiting for us to trust him to do that. Never in our wait is God in-active. There is nothing more tiring than waiting, but if we are waiting on the Lord, he will renew our strength. God is passionate about us, that is why he is so patient with us each time we step off his path. I am so slow to cast my cares on the Lord and give him the weight of my worries, but as i've seen in the past when I finally give it all over to Him, he takes it and fights for me!

I am learning what it means to be a woman of God and what it means to be a godly wife. Day in and day out, season by season, God is chaining all these events and circumstances together to become beautiful in HIS time. I will probably always struggle with patience and waiting on the Lord, but one thing I am sure of is, if I wait on Him, He will do a good and beautiful work in me. (Eccl 3:11) Life is so good and God is great!

I just finished the Beth Moore Esther study last night and I cannot say enough good things about it. Praise the Lord for giving Beth the gift to speak, write, study, and research! God spoke through Beth to me over and over again in this series about the "Reversals of Destiny" and how God will turn our lives around for our good, but only when it's in his timing. "For such a time as this" (Esther 4:14) I want to wake up each morning believing that the Lord gave me one more day on this earth, for such a time as this to live out this day to the Glory of God!

excuse my computer

2009-03-26T17:48:00.001-04:00

For some unknown reason my computer will not let me upload pictures to my blog right now. As soon as I can figure it out, i'll have pictures from Boston posted!

BOSTON

2009-03-26T17:21:00.004-04:00

Two weeks ago (March 13-16) Jonathan, Elizabeth Ann, and I took off to Boston for a long weekend. Tyler Holley, a friend from college, was getting married and we used his wedding as a great excuse to take a fun vacation! It was awesome. Tyler and Amanda had a great wedding and we are so excited for their future together. It was great to see some other friends from PC that had traveled north for the occasion. Even though we had other friends in the city at the same time, we only hung out just the three of us the whole time. We had a blast! I didn't stop laughing the whole time. We experienced a lot of walking, train riding, more walking, and some cold weather. Jonathan got the train system down pat after the first 5 minutes, whereas EA and I didn't quit pick up on it so fast. The first day, after a 3 to 4 mile walk to Harvard, we decided to go see Fenway Park (home of the Boston Red Sox). We were standing in the stairway of one of the train stations, looking at our map (typical tourists) when a lady passed by us (with plenty of room I might add) and made the comment: "Great place to stop and look at your map" in very sarcastic, rude tone. That was our first and only experience with a rude northerner. When we finally decided which train to get on and which stop we needed to get off of to get to Fenway, we set off up the stairs to get on the train.

EA: "I hear the train, let's hurry and catch it"

Me: "Ok great" as I start running right behind EA to catch the train

Jonathan: "why are ya'll running?"

EA get on the train and I am about to step on when the door to the train closes. EA is on one side with her hands on the window looking at me with a "what do we do now?" stare, and i'm on the other side looking at her the same way. I then realize that we just got separated in a city we have never been before, and all i could do was laugh. Thankfully EA is a very independent woman and doesn't get freaked out by being by herself in a new surrounding. In the mean time, Jonathan does not find this situation as funny as i do. We finally found each other at the stop near Fenway! This is probably one of those "you have to be there moments" but i had to share!

There are many other funny stories, including EA having to walk to the train station by herself in the middle of the night and then the train being closed so she had to walk back to our hotel (a mile) by herself and sleep on the floor of our room. She stayed with a friend in Boston and was trying to get back to his house after the trains shut down for the night. And this again is probably another "had to be there moment."

We did end up getting to Fenway Park and even took an awesome tour of it. Like I mentioned earlier, we walked around Harvard's campus, went to a really awesome restaurant in "Little Italy", joined other locals after the wedding at Mac Caldwell's house for a keg party(if you know Mac you will think this is funny), went to the St. Patty's Day parade (supposedly the largest in the country), and walked part of the "Freedom Trail" (a tourist way to see all the history of downtown Boston. We ate at other great restaurants, but didn't gain any weight because all we did was walk walk walk. Everyone in Boston is skinny, because they all walk and run. Even in 10 degree weather! The coldest it got when we were there was in the 30's but that's very cold to me.
All in all, we had a fantastic time and I love Boston. I wouldn't want to live there but it was great to visit!

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!

2009-01-20T09:09:00.002-05:00

It's snowing outside my lovely window and as I watch the snow fall down, I am not sitting on my couch with hot chocolate or snuggled up in my bed. Nope, i'm at work. It's hard growing up and realizing that even on days like today, when I get excited about a few snow flakes, I still have to go to work. When I was in college they would cancel class if there was even a chance of snow or ice. Well, i'm not in college anymore, and to work I go, even in this beautiful weather!!! And to make it worse, mama called me this morning to tell me that Courtney and Ryan both had school cancelled today, and don't have to go into work. So, yes i'm a little jealous!
But to all those outside playing in the snow and making snowmen...throw another snowball for me since i'm stuck inside working at this job that I hate!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY J!!!

2009-01-19T09:18:00.002-05:00

Jonathan turned the big two four yesterday! We had a great weekend celebrating with friends and family! Friday night we went to a Japanese steak house (J's choice) with some friends! We were all so full and tired by the time dinner was over, all we wanted to do was go sit in front of the TV and crash for the night. I woke up the next morning pretty early to clean the house a little and start cooking. Saturday both my family and J's family came over to hang out for the day and stay for dinner and desert. The girls went to the mall for the afternoon and the boys stayed at home watching basketball. When we got back, we got the rest of dinner together and J put the meat on the grill. We had the best meal and a great time with the family! Thanks for all the cooking help I had from the ladies! After dinner Jonathan opened presents, which consisted of: a golf shirt, 2 polo shirts, a new wallet, a pair of shorts, money, and a new pink Calloway golf bag. Yes you read that right...PINK. My mom ordered Jonathan a black and white Calloway golf bag for his birthday but never thought to look in the box once it was shipped to the house. So, we all had a good laugh when J pulled out a big Pink and White golf bag from the box. Mama is taking care of returning the bag for the right color, but it sure was funny! After gifts, we had desert and everyone headed back home. Yesterday it was just me and Jonathan. We went to church, chilled out, walked around the mall, and then went to dinner at Olive Garden. It was a great weekend and I hope J has the best year yet!!! Happy birthday babe!! Love you!

Christmas Pictures

2009-01-06T12:33:00.017-05:00

The three pictures above are from the bonfire we had up in Daddy and Mama's field the weekend before Christmas...hopefully it will be the first annual bonfire!

My little cousin HENRY wearing Daddy's glasses. He and Shelby came and visited right before Christmas!

The Whole Family in our Christmas PJs

Mama showing off her new Brighton Sunglasses

My excited Christmas face!

Santa was very good to Daddy...check out all those gifts!

Our traditional Christmas breakfast...we've had the same menu since I can remember

J, Me, Court, and Ry...we couldn't show off our new Christmas clothes cause it was too dang hot!

Our First Christmas together!!

That night we got in the car and drove to Atlanta to do Christmas with J's family

Here's Mrs. Rolande smelling her new candle!

And Josh checking out his new Lauren's Academy Shooting Shirt...compliments of Ryan!

New Years Resolutions

2009-01-05T16:00:00.004-05:00

Jonathan and I started talking about our New Years Resolutions last night, going back and forth about what we want to focus on this coming year! Here are a few that I came up with for myself:

1. Cut down my food portions and eat healthier
2. Do my quiet time daily and always be aware of ways to help strengthen my faith
3. Do unexpected, sweet things for Jonathan more often
4. Exercise more than three times a week
5. Continue to be more organized
6. Wash my face each night before bed (i'm terrible about this)
7. Cook at least 3 nights a week
8. Be more creative with how we spend our free weekends
9. Continue to read more good books instead of watching TV each night before bed
10. Get accepted into grad school

Beer Bread

2008-12-16T08:48:00.003-05:00

I decided to bake for some of our Christmas gifts this year. I have my office Christmas party tomorrow night and wanted to bring everyone some sort of gift, so the cheapest thing to do was bake. Court gave me the recipe for Beer Bread. She said it was easy, and no offense, but if Court says it's easy, it has got to be EASY! hehe (jk court, you really are a good cook!!!) So anyway, since this recipe only called for 3 ingredients and didn't take much prep work, I decided to do a trial run last night before I made all six loafs tonight. Here's the recipe:

1 cup sugar
3 cups self rising flour
1 can of beer (12 oz.)

So i mixed it in the mixer and in less than a minute it was done, ready to be poured into a loaf pan. In the mean time I still had our dinner cooking in the oven, so i set aside the bread to be put in the oven as soon as the quiche was done. I came back into the kitchen after about 2o mins and realized that the bread had already risen. It was HUGE, overflowing on the sides! So i quickly put it in the oven with our quiche thinking that as soon as the heat hits it, it will die down...oh no. It only got bigger and bigger and bigger. It was all over the oven by the time it was done. But sure enough after 1 hour at 350 degrees, it wasn't pretty, but it sure did taste good! So now that I've learned that I have to put it in the oven as soon as I mix it up, I will make my other 6 loaves tonight.
But, seriously, now that you have learned, from me, the only mistake you can make with this bread, you should try it. It's the easiest thing in the world and it taste awesome. It's that sweet kind of bread that you don't need any butter with!!! I bought green cellophane that I will wrap them up with and tie it off with a pretty red bow! How cheap and easy of a gift is that?

Finally some Pictures!

2008-12-08T10:03:00.016-05:00

This weekend was the best weekend i've had in a while. There are many reasons for the wonderfulness of the weekend. To start out, I got up at 6:30am on Saturday morning to get ready and be at the testing place to take the GRE at 8:00am. This is my second time taking the test because the first time I didn't make the score that I was hoping for. So, I was back again taking the test. Thank the Lord I made my goal score and was out of there by 11:30am. Enough time to still enjoy my Saturday! But I was so excited and so thankful that the Lord answered many prayers (thanks to all those praying for me Sat morning)!

Reason #2 why this weekend was great: We got to stay home and enjoy a relaxful weekend while in the midst of our Christmas decor! Mama came up last Tuesday night and helped me decorate my tree. It was so fun to have her come up on a random night to hang out and decorate! She def has that decorating eye and I can always use that help! Mama made the big bow on top of the tree and she also made all the small bows to go as ornaments on the tree! I have been spoiled by her help this year, so I hope she can come back and help me every year from here on out!

This weekend I even started wrapping a few gifts to put under the tree. I have to go back to walmart today to get some more boxes to finish up the wrapping!

Our ornament we got the day we got engaged (and we actually got engaged a year ago today! Dec 8, 2007

Our Make-shift mantle

This is my centerpeice on our coffee table

The cute coffe cups that J's mom bought us a few weeks ago!

The beginnings of our Willow Tree Nativity Scene

The wreath for our door

Our new Christmas China

Reason #3: Jonathan's co-worker needed someone to watch her dog for the weekend and J of course volunteered our services. I was a little hesitant to take in a strange dog for the weekend, but there was no reason to worry. Maggie was the sweetest, most well mannered, obedient dog i've ever been around. She is a boxer and so much fun. We had the best time taking her on long walks. Saturday afternoon we went to the Savannah River Walk and took a long stroll to wear Maggie out. She was pooped the rest of the afternoon as we watched football, read, and took naps! Even last night as me and J got Chinesse take out and ate in front of the TV, she didn't even seem to care that there was food within inches from her. I'm used to Beau and Gracie (mama and daddy's dogs) that will beg and beg for people food, so this was very suprising to me. Maggie slept on the floor right beside our bed each night, J woke up on Saturday morning with her licking his hand (hanging off the bed). She was so much fun and an entertainment for our weekend! Maggie is def welcome back to our house anytime, even though now J has dog fever and wouldn't stop talking about us getting a dog.

Thankful!

2008-11-25T11:45:00.002-05:00

Only 1 1/2 days of work left before THANKSGIVING begins. I am so excited about the holidays and can't wait to celebrate with our family and friends! Can you believe it's almost December? This year has flown by, Jonathan and I have already been married over 3 months. I feel like it was just yesterday we were dancing at our reception. One thing I am most thankful for this Thanksgiving is my husband! I am so blessed to have such an awesome man in my life. Just this weekend, he helped me clean the house and then went with me to Michael's and Walmart to look at Christmas decor...what a good man! hehe
The past three months have been so fun having him by my side! Everyone says the first year of marriage is the hardest...well so far, it's been a piece of cake, so if it gets any easier than this living with J, than I can't wait!!! I know we are in for the long haul and we will go through some hard times together, but even so, I will always feel that I am the luckiest lady alive!!!
Since getting married, I have also been a lot more thankful for my family. I lived at home after college until I got married and I def. took that time for granted. I love hanging out with my mom, dad, and Court and Ryan, and now that I am living away from them, I see how much I appreciate them and love them!
So those are the two things that I am thankful for this Thanksgiving and everyday following!

Weekend Fun

2008-11-21T08:56:00.002-05:00

This will be the first Friday in a while that we are staying in Augusta. Because of our busy schedule, we are on the go every weekend, but tonight we get to stay in town and hang out with friends. I'm excited about being able to go home after work and not gathering our bags and getting right on the road for the weekend. Tomorrow night I will be in Greenville for one of my college friend's bachelorette party! Kathryn is getting married on December 13th and I'm so glad I have an excuse this weekend to see all my best friends as we celebrate KATHRYN. So besides a little travel on Saturday and Sunday, this should be somewhat of a relaxful weekend and a fun one at that.
Next week will fly by with only working 3 days! I'm so pumped about Thanksgiving! I am so ready to hang out with our families and eat some REAL food. Today i'm half on/half off the diet. I didn't feel like cooking more this morning and we ran out of some of our diet food, so I decided to hopefully maintain my weight by just being extra healthy this weekend. Come Monday morning we are back on the diet until Thanksgiving day of course. My whole goal through the holiday is to stay at the weight i'm at, to not gain anything. I'll be okay if I don't loose any weight as long as I don't gain! Jonathan and I are going about the same pace, we have now both lost 7 lbs.
I was reading a friend's blog and she was talking about Christmas traditions. I hope that even with traveling between families, Jonathan and I can start some of our own family traditions this Christmas. We finally have a plan for this Christmas. We will go to my parent's house for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Then travel to Jonathan's parents house either Christmas night or early the next morning. The day after Christmas day we leave with his parents to spend about 5 days in Florida. All of Jonathan's extended family lives in Florida, so we felt like it was really important to spend some time during the holidays with them. I am still not over the fact that I don't get a whole month off for Christmas like I did for 4 years in college. This is other reason good why I want to go back to school and then start working in the school system! I not only have all the holidays off, I will have the whole summer off!!!

Answers to your comments on the last post:

2008-11-19T13:41:00.002-05:00

The diet we are on is called the Michael Thurmond Diet. You eat 5 or 6 times a day (every 3 hours). So you never go hungry, you just can't eat anything with a lot of flavor. Here is my basic meals for a day:

Breakfast: 2 egg whites, 1/2 cup plain cooked oatmeal (you can add artificial sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg), and 1/2 banana or apple

Mid morning snack (2 1/2 hours later): 1 to 2 cups of lettace and 3 oz. of turkey

Lunch (3 hours later): 2 oz. chicken, 1/2 cup rice, 1 cup of veggies

Mid afternoon snack (3 hours later): 2 oz chicken and 1/2 cup roasted mixed red potatoes and sweet potatoes

Dinner (3 hours later): 2 oz chicken, turkey, or fish, 1/2 cup rice or potatoes, and 1 cup of veggies

Nighttime snack (2 to 3 hours later only IF HUNGRY): 1/2 cup of mixed berries or 1/2 banana or apple

Ok, so I know this prob doesn't seem so bad, and it's not, the problem is just that everything taste so bland and you get to a point where you don't even want to eat. Eating is a chore! But the only way the diet will work is if you eat everything you are suppose to eat and at the times you are to eat. Now, this is the food designed to help my body type loose weight. You can take a quiz of your body type on: https://www.mybodymakeover.com/tools_for_success/body_blueprinting_quiz.aspx , and that should tell you what type you are and then from there the diet tells you what foods are best for you. Me and J are both Body Type C, so thankfully we have the same menu, except the males are to eat double what a female eats. His mom started the diet this week as well and she gave us all the information on our body type cause she is a different body type and didn't need the info she gave us. I think the whole plan cost like $100, but because of my awesome mother-in-law we didn't have to pay a cent!

It's working!!

2008-11-19T10:18:00.003-05:00

J and I have both already lost 5 lbs each in only 2 days. We are on our third day today and it's pretty terrible, but today i've made a deal with myself that I have to stay positive. I already see results and I have to stay with it for another 10 lbs, so if I continue to be miserable and complain about how awful the food is, it will only make it worse. Yesterday I was in a foul mood because I felt crappy and this bland, no sugar, no salt thing was making it even worse! So today is a new day, and no matter how bad the food i'm eating is, my day shouldn't be effected by it. Obviously I put too much emphasis on food :)!!! Hints the pounds i've put on. This is only temporary, so I can make it!!!
Now that you've listen to my pep talk to myself, i'm sure you are thinking i'm an idiot for torturing myself with this diet, but I assure you, it will be well worth it when I've lost this weight that i've put on in the past 3 months!

Diet

2008-11-17T14:30:00.002-05:00

J and I started a diet today. We plan to be on it for the next few weeks, so yesterday we splurged and went all out for our last day before the diet began. We went to Starbucks, which is my absolute favorite, and we ate Mexican for dinner. When I go to a Mexican restaurant, I pig out!! I eat prob a whole basket of chips by myself and then I eat my whole meal. It's ridiculous...hints the pounds i've put on since getting married. They have got to come off, so this is my first official diet. I have never been on a diet before, so this should be interesting. Supposedly it works good and fast, exactly what I need and want. All I have to do is keep telling myself that this is only temporary, once I get to the weight I want, then all I have to do is maintain that weight. Yeah i know, easier said than done, but i've seen this diet work on others and i'm convinced this is exactly what I need.
Thanks to my mom, I have inherited a gene that makes you think you HAVE to have something sweet after every meal. That right there is going to probably be the hardest part about this diet. Not being able to eat something sweet, not even my coffee (because of the cream), is going to kill me before i'm done with this!
Don't worry i'll keep you posted on my progress. Let's just pray this actually works and i'm not going through this torture for no results!!! You should have seen me this morning trying to eat egg whites...i was literally gagging as i was eating them (for those of you who don't know...i HATE eggs), and then try eating plain oatmeal...pretty much taste like tasteless mush!

I got a dollar, I got a dollar, I got a dollar, hey hey hey hey!

2008-11-10T14:51:00.003-05:00

So I did it, I faced my fear and went after it. At work on Friday I finally got up the guts to ask my boss for a raise. And guess what? He said that he and the other owner of the company were already talking about giving me more money at lunch on Friday. He told me to "give him until the end of next week", aka this Thursday or Friday and then he would get back with me. So, I don't know how much the raise is...i only hope it's more than just a dollar more per hour. But hey, more money is more money!

Thankful

2008-11-07T11:15:00.003-05:00

So I guess i'm getting a little ahead of myself with all this Christmas talk. Don't get my wrong...i LOVE Thanksgiving and don't want to just rush through this awesome Fall weather and wonderful Thanksgiving holiday to get to the cold and long winter that begins (and i'm ready for it to end) right as the Christmas and New Years Holidays are over. I actually hate winter...i love the fall cause I get excited about wearing warm clothes like turtlenecks, sweaters, cords, and jeans; but most years winter weather seems to stick around a little too long.
All that said, I need to take advantage of this cool Fall weather. It's always beautiful outside and I love to watch the leaves change. We were in the mountains last weekend for a wedding and the scenery was beautiful! And actually Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays! It's always a good reminder of how thankful we should be for all that the Lord has given us, but it is always the perfect holiday to put us right into the beginnings of the Christmas cheer!
The day after thanksgiving it's always been a tradition of me, Mama, and Court to wake up at the crack of dawn and make our way to the Harbison area to do some shopping, people watching, and just spend some good girl time together! It's always been something that I look forward to and I actually don't mind getting up at 5am when I know I get to spend the day shopping with Mama and Court. The funny thing is, we don't always do tons of buys, we just go look, and like i said people watch. Especially in the mall, there are so many people it's really pointless to try and get all your shopping done. But, even so, we go to have fun and as a tradition. This year Jonathan and I will be driving down to Charleston after we spend Thanksgiving lunch with my family. His family spends thanksgiving in Charleston and luckily they always do dinner on Thanksgiving night. Because i'll be in Charleston, Mama and Court have decided to possibly come down to do some "day after thanksgiving" shopping with me, Ro (J's mom), and some family friends of theirs. So we are changing things up this year, but i'm very excited and very thankful for my wonderful family, that has grown into two families since August!

Christmas is calling my name

2008-11-05T10:58:00.004-05:00

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Ok, not really, but in my head it is. I realize it's still a little early, but i'm already getting in that Christmas mood. This is the first year I will actually decorate my own place for Christmas. Even though J and I will not be in our own home on Christmas day , I still am getting very excited to decorate our humble abode. I've already started buying ornaments, ribbon, and various decorations to fill our house with the Christmas cheer. I do have one dilema, we don't have a fireplace, much less a mantle. So, i've been debating on where I will be hanging our cute stockings that I got on sale last year at High Cotton in Irmo. As soon as I get the house decorated and decide on the perfect place for the stockings and for the tree, i'll take pics and post them. And i'm so pumped because I already got an early Christmas gift from J's mom. She gave us some of the Willow Tree Nativity Scene. I absolutely love it and can't wait to set it out. So see, i'm not the only one already getting pumped for the Holidays!

On another note, me and J still don't know what we are doing about Christmas. We haven't decided how we are spending the holidays. A lot of it depends on which days he gets off of work, but it's still gonna be different for both of us as we spend our first Christmas as a married couple, trying to spread our time out between two families. I'm excited about spending my first Christmas with Jonathan, no matter where we are! I'll keep you posted on our holiday schedule as we figure that all out...because I know you really want so badly to know where we will be every waking moment of the Christmas season!

Ok and one last thing: I need some advice. I've been working here at this employment agency for over a month now. Since I started I have taken on many new roles in the marketing and staffing areas of the company. I'm ashamed to tell you exactly how much I make, because it's such a small amount that you wouldn't be able to quit laughing. So, needless to say I need to ask for a raise. I am doing as much if not more than the owners of this place and feel like I have already emplimented new ideas and have made some money for this company by getting new job orders! I have the right to ask for more money...right? Any ideas on how to go about asking for a raise????

VOTE 2008

2008-11-04T09:20:00.003-05:00

Have you voted yet??!?!?!
I'm sure the lines are T-Terrible, but please don't let that stop you from voting! I had to do an absentee ballot because I am not registered in Georgia yet, but I guess i'm lucky I don't have to get out and stand in line for hours. I'm getting kinda nervous about the outcome, but at the same time, I have to remember that no matter what happens, it's God's plan!

Anyway, on to more exciting news: Court started her very own blog!!!
The link is over to the side under "Fun Links"...so go check it out.
Also, a big shout out to Courtney Shelton as she turned the big 26 yesterday! Happy birthday Court!!! Hope it was fantastic!

So yesterday I got home from work and on my front "stoop" (no we do not have a porch) was a big heavy FedEx box. I was very curious and excited to open it because I hadn't ordered anything recently and it had my name on the box. All I could think was a late wedding gift! And it kinda was...it was our sample wedding album. It was the album of all the 4x6 pictures that our photographer took. From this album we are to pick out 60 of our favorite pictures to go into our big wedding album. We get to keep this sample album and we have the copyright to make copies of any of the pictures. With the album was also a CD of all the pics. We had fun sitting down last night after dinner looking at all the pictures and reliving that awesome day!!! And let me tell you, there were some funny pics from the reception of our friends and family dancing the night away. As soon as I get them on my computer from the CD i'll put some on the blog.

It's Been A While

2008-11-03T16:46:00.003-05:00

Married life is so great I haven't even had time to blog! haha, jk!
But yes, married life is great! Jonathan and I are now settled in our home and staying very busy. Every weekend we have been traveling for either football games or weddings. We have been to more weddings than I can count. But I love weddings, so that's been fun for me...it's a different story for J! During the weekdays, we are both keeping busy with work. I started a new job in Augusta, working in an Employment Agency Office doing marketing and staffing. Since the last time I blogged, or should i say Alyssa blogged, I decided to apply for grad school. I want to get my master's in Speech and Language Pathology. So, i'm going through the application process right now. This saturday I am actually taking the GRE. I need your prayers for this one...i'm not the best tester, so I would def appreciate your thoughts on Saturday around 12:30.
Other than that, we are doing good and getting adjusted to married life. So far, so great! Being married has been a lot of fun and I know it will only continue to be!

I promise i'm gonna start doing better about posting! Oh and guess what?!?!?! The best news of all....me and J are going to be an Aunt and Uncle! As of two weeks ago, we found out that Court and Ryan are preggers! WAHOOO!!!! Can't wait for that little baby to get here! Court is starting a new blog too, so i'll post that as soon as I get the address!!!

The Truth about Cameron's Husband-to-be

2008-07-21T11:05:00.004-04:00

Ok so Im sure everyone who reads this either knows J or has heard all about him from Cameron. Well the chances are that you don't really know the real jonathan and the truth is that everyone needs to know. There are some little known facts about him that should be public knowledge. I am basing my knowledge off the the past five years of friendship that me and J have experienced and the fact that my husband lived with the little guy for three years. Here are some facts in random order that I feel everyone should know to get to know J a little better...

- He is a complete computer nerd

- He arranges his clothes in rainbow order in his closet

- He is cleaner than Danny Tanner

- He LOVES corndogs

- He has had a crush on Cameron since freshman year

- He has a weak stomach and a slight tendency to throw up in a second

- Hes pretty good at soccer (when he's not hurt)

- His middle name is Renee

- He loves it when you put Merry Christmas on his door in dye cut letters

- He has more clothes than any man should.

- He's obsessed with cameron.

- Beware if he ever shouts at you "GO AWAAAAY!"

- Sometimes he likes to hold Matt's hand

- He has Christmas Jeans

- He's strong as an ox and can feel like dead weight when he leans on you

- He's WAP Dave reincarnated

- He used to love hemp bracelets

- He is part of "the team" and Cameron is not

- He loves egg drop soup

- Lastly, he REALLY loves corndogs

That is all for now, hope you know just a little bit more about our little friend Jonathan Renee Anderson!

From you Guest Writer- Alyssa Cogdill, the other half of "the team"

Book Worm

2008-07-11T10:54:00.005-04:00

My new favorite hobby:
READING!

Yes i'm a dork, but ever since the beach, I have been an avid reader. I'm currently on my fourth book. I've already read two books by Karen Kingsbury and one by Emily Giffin. My next two reads will be "Something Borrowed" and then "Something Blue", these are also by Giffin. I can't fall asleep at night until I read at least a chapter...i feel like i'm in elementary school again trying to get my "book-it" points. So yeah, i'm a huge nerd, but if you haven't read a good book in a while and need a way to relax, I would def suggest it!

I even bring my book to work and secretly read while discretely hiding the book under the desk. I'm pretty sure that would not be acceptable to leisure read during working hours, but oh well, i don't feel too guilty about it.

So i'm still looking for a job in Augusta. The Lord is teaching me patience and trust in a big way right now. I've been praying through some verses to calm my heart and help me realize that God has it all under control!
"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails"
-Proverbs 19:21

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."
-Romans 12:12

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."
-Philippians 4:6

It's actually not too bad when I start to think about it. Life would be boring if there were no "unknowns" in life. If everything was laid out for me and I felt like everything was already planned out, what excitement is in that? NONE! God is showing me that he doesn't want me to always know what the next step is. He wants to be the one that determines that as I continue to learn how to life each day for him. So, i'm very excited about the job that is to come, even though i don't know what that job might be, it's out there and soon enough, God will open that door for me.

Wedding updates:
-invitations went out last week
-made final decision on wedding cake...yummy!
-PC friends are throwing J and I a lake party this weekend...can't wait!!!!
-going next week to get programs printed

There is a lot going on between now and August 16th, so i am hoping the time will fly. I'm so ready to be married and be able to celebrate with all our friends and family on our wedding day!
But at the same time, I am trying to enjoy each little thing about being engaged. It's so easy to want to rush everything along and mark off the days on the calendar until the Big day! But we have a lot to look forward to that comes in between now and then as well. 3 more showers/parties, my bachelorette party, J's bachelor party, 2 weddings to attend, etc.

And those down times when we don't have ribbons to tie on programs, itineraries to type up, or out-of-town guest welcome bags to fill, those will be the times when you can find me once again, READING a good ol' book!!!

Mr. and Mrs. William Michael Bennett Boyd

2008-07-02T13:21:00.012-04:00

The worst part about going on vacation is having to come back to work and be busier than ever trying to catch up from being out a whole week. But, it's official...as of August 1st, I will no long be employeed by the Midlands Authority for Convention and Sports Tourism. Yes, that's right I finally told my boss that i'm leaving. The bad news is I have to find a new job. Probably one of the hardest things to do...especially when you really don't know what kind of job you want. So while i'm figuring all that out and trying to keep in mind that the Lord has my life all worked out, I'll show you some pictures from the wonderful Pursley-Boyd wedding weekend!

The wedding was 2 weeks ago, and the happy couple is already back from their honeymoon. The whole weekend was fabulous. We all had a great time. Jonathan and I both were in the wedding party, always fun!!!

Catie and Will, I love you both and i'm so happy for you!!! You're wedding was awesome and everyone had a blast and a half! Can't wait till I move to Augusta so we can all hang out more!

The B1 roommates (minus Kathryn) at the Bridesmaid's luncheon

The dashing bride and groom at the rehearsal dinner

Me and JJ at rehearsal dinner

Beautiful Bride

Bride and Groom!!!

Awesome Cake!

CHEESE!!!

You have got to be kidding me!

2008-06-18T15:49:00.004-04:00

When gas is $3.85, I go as long as I can before stopping to fill up again. I drive slower, I don't accelerate as fast, try to keep the air conditioner off as much as possible, and all of this to help my tank get a little better gas mileage. If I drove a little car, I probably wouldn't have to worry about this as much, but when you go and fill up your tank and you pay a good $110, your heart drops and you want to cry. Yes my friend, you read it right...$11o.

Yeah it's terrible, and I don't wish this upon anyone!
Ok, point of me telling you all this....I ran out of gas on the way to work this morning!
I got in the car and realized first thing that I needed to get gas. I thought I had enough gas to get me through town in order to find the cheapest gas station. I just refused to pay $3.85...i had to find cheaper and I knew I could! Well, God intended for me to pay that $3.85 cause he made sure I didn't make it to find cheaper gas...or to a gas station at all. All the sudden as I was driving down the road, I feel the car jerk and realize I have very little power steering and can't accelerate at all. I pull over on the side of the road and call Trish to the rescue! Thank goodness I was only about 10 mins from my house.

So when i'm actually trying to save money, it backfires on me. I run out of gas and I end up having to get gas at the next closest station and of course it was $3.85 per freakin gallon. I know this is cheap compared to some cities out there, but for us in the little ol town of lexington, I know there is cheaper!!!

There you have it, my wednesday morning saga!

Pictures!!!

2008-06-13T09:13:00.012-04:00

CATIE's BACHELORETTE PARTY

Saturday, June 7th

Catie with her new house decor (PANTIES)

Opening some lingiera (sp??)

THE garter with Catie's initials added

(we met up with all the groomsmen that night for dinner)

The Happy Groom and Bride

Me and the future hubby!

Catie with all her PC bridesmaid's

SOUTHERN LIVING SHOWER

Sunday, June 8th

All my wonderful hostess

Some of the SL items on display

Me and my MOH

Me, Jess, and Alyssa (2 of my bridesmaid's)

Mrs. Marie to the rescue, always prespared to sew on a button for a friend!

funny? or not so much?

2008-06-11T14:23:00.003-04:00

I have pics to post from this past weekend, consisting of Catie and Will's bachelor/bachelorette bash and my Southern Living Shower. So those are coming as soon as i have a second to actually sit down and download the pics on my computer at home.

On to other things, i'm so ready for a vacation. I feel like i've been going none stop for weeks on end and i'm ready to just CHILL!! 10 days and counting until Edisto! You should see how big VACATION is written on my desk calendar! This is going to be the first family vacation i've been on since middle school. Okay I could be exagerrating, but it's been a while since i've been on a full week vacation with the fam. Me, Mama, and Daddy are going to Edisto from Sunday, June 22nd to Sunday, June 29th. Court and Ryan will come down later that week and we have a few other fun visitors (Jess, Carol, Shelby, Henry) that will be joining us for a few days here and there. So needless to say, i'm so ready and so excited. Only sad part is, J prob won't be able to come. He is having to save those vacation days for the honeymoon.

Edisto Beach is a place where time slows down. There is nothing to do but lay on the beach all day, go for long walks, cook dinner, and sit out on the porch and enjoy the ocean view. Yes I know I sound like a grandma, but it's awesome. There are only a handful of restaurants and one or two gift shops, so really when I say there is nothing to do, there is NOTHING to do. Funny thing is, that's the reason I love Edisto so much. The week will (hopefully) go by at a slugs pace.

You know i've been busy when I tell you that I haven't even had time to watch the season premier of LifeTime's "Army Wives." It comes on Sunday nights at 10pm. I made sure it was was TiVo(ed) cause after the busy and exciting weekend I had, I was passed out by 10pm. Well you would have thought by now I would have had time to sit down for an hour and watch the dang show. Nope. And I won't get home till late tonight, so I guess it will have to wait until this weekend. and P.S. if you don't watch this show, it's awesome. The first season of Army Wives started last year. Court got me hooked and we've been obsessed ever since. I've been looking forward to this season for a month now and when it finally came on, I was too tired to watch (what's new?).

On to bigger and better things...so i've made a decision. My blog is not funny enough. I am just lacking in the creativity section. Yes i blog about what's going on in my life, like what showers i have or who's wedding I went to, etc. But I need funniness! You need funniness! It's boring and needs some sprucing up. So, i'm sorry for the lack of laughs you have had from my blog. I realize i need to make it funny and i'm gonna do my darndest (is that a word??).

Thank you notes!!! I've had two showers and I'm already seeing why when I get thank you notes from newlyweds in the mail, they are usually have messy handwriting and say the same thing as every other thank you gift i've gotten. I understand...it sucks sitting down and writing basically the same thing over and over. You get to the point where you aren't even thinking about what you are writing and then you mess up and have to start again, oh it's terrible. Ok well it hasn't been that bad yet, but i'm just imagining all the thank you notes i'm gonna have to write for wedding gifts and it's not gonna be fun. I've already decided that J will be taking care of all the Atlanta thank you notes. So far i'm on top of these shower ones and I don't mind them, but I might have a different attitude about them after the wedding! jk...i prob should not be saying this before the wedding when some of the people that read this are invited to the wedding and will prob not give us a gift now cause they think that I won't appreciate it enough to write a sincere thank you note. So to all those that think that way, it's ok, I am just kidding and really love to write these thank you notes and appreciate all the time, money, and effort it takes to pick out a wedding or shower gift for someone.

So now that i'm choking on my foot, i'll end with this thought:

Cardboard Testamonies

2008-06-05T10:28:00.003-04:00

My computer wouldn't let me upload a video so just click on this link.

You can't watch this and not cry!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvDDc5RB6FQ

First Shower

2008-06-02T11:29:00.012-04:00

This weekend me, mama, and J traveled to Atlanta for my first shower. J's aunt and his mom's best friend hosted a beautiful and awesome shower. We all had so much fun and I got tons of gifts. Everything from a Kitchen Aid Mixer to some of my everyday china. All the ladies I met were so sweet. J's grandparents were even able to come down from Florida for the weekend. His grandmother, Nana, is the sweetest lady in the world. I'm so glad mama got to meet some of his extended family before the wedding. J spent Saturday golfing with his dad, brother, and granddad. As we dropped off J in Augusta on our way home yesterday, we unloaded all the gifts in our house. I can't wait to go to Augusta this weekend and unpack and organize everything around the house. And you should be so proud of me, I already wrote all the thank you notes! Okay, well I at least I was proud of myself, and already dreading having to write the millions of thank you notes for the wedding gifts, J will def be helping out on those!

Me with all the wonderful hostess'

All the gifts (notice the blue superman bag, a gift I had to take home that was just for J :))
The delicious food table

Playing a fun trivia game about Me and J

Mama and J's mom (Ro) thinking they can fit into one chair together...haha!

opening gifts

Meredith made me a bouquet out of all the ribbons from the gift wrap

Sweet Summertime

2008-05-28T09:11:00.002-04:00

This past Saturday me, mama, and J went to Charleston for Lauren Tober's wedding. We spent all day before the wedding, hanging out with Shelby and Henry. We were amused all day by watching Henry get into EVERYTHING. He is def. the cutest thing in the entire world. Thanks Shelby for being the best Hostess!!! We had an awesome time!

As of Monday, it's officially summer for me. Monday was the first day spent on the lake, so to me, summer has begun! It was the perfect day. Court, Ryan, Mama, Daddy, J and I all had the day off work for Memorial Day. We packed a picnic for lunch and spent the day soaking up the rays. The weather was great, not too hot and not a bit cold! When we got home, we grilled out and had dinner outside on the back porch. It was the best way to spend the Holiday!!

lovin life

2008-05-21T16:29:00.003-04:00

Wow is it hard to come back to work when you've been out for three days straight. It's my second day back at work since I had the ol' teeth cut out. I really could have come back on Monday, but i decided to stay home with mama and hang out with her all day. It was actually a very busy day, full of accomplishments. We got to meet Hanna for lunch and see the big ROCK on her hand! CONGRATS HANNA AND JOHN ON YOUR ENGAGEMENT!!! I am so excited for you! Then we ran errand after errand getting things checked off the wedding list.
So now here I am caught up with all my work and bored again! But hey, at least it's only a 4 day work week for me and then I get next Monday off for Memorial Day! Woohoo!

On another note, I want to thank Dr. Mama and Dr. J for taking good care of me while I was recovering this past weekend. I couldn't have asked for better caretakers! We had a relaxing weekend laying around watching movies and eating ice cream and jello. Thanks you two for being so sympathetic to such a wimp like me who can't take the pain! I love you both!

So I can't remember if I already posted about this but last Tuesday I had my portrait taken at PC. The weather was absolutely perfect and me, mama, and courtney had the best time! There were several different places on campus that I wanted to have my portrait taken, and I found it easier to walk from place to place instead of getting into a car with the dress on. So from the walking around campus with a wedding dress on (not what you expect to see everyday on PC's campus) to getting honked at a million times and people yelling "don't do it" out their windows, it was a very interesting, funny, and exciting afternoon!
I can't wait to go see all the shots the photographer took! As you probably can tell by how much I talk about it, the thing i'm most excited about for the wedding is the photography. Travis Bell really is amazing and I can't wait for everyone to see his awesome work! I just think that photography is so important on your wedding day because it's the only thing that is left after the day is over. It's what we will have to show for all the money and time spent, so to me photography is well worth every penny!

YAY for the wedding being only 87 days away, everyday i'm more and more ready and excited for August to be here! The time is going by pretty fast, but not fast enough! And the big thing right now that i'm trying to focus on is finding a job in Augusta. I'm praying hard that God will open some doors between now and August and show me where He wants me. So if you want to put this little tid bit on your prayer list for the next few months I would greatly appreciate it.

HATE SPEECH by Ryan Molony

2008-05-14T09:53:00.001-04:00

Today we have a guest post by my very strange, yet hilarious brother in law:

"Let's talk a little American Idol. I hate Paula Abdul. I know that hate is a strong word, and I mean it in the strongest way. You would think somebody with that much money could present herself a little better. She looks hideous every Tuesday and Wednesday night. If her appearance wasn't enough to make me sick already, her comments make me want to jump off the roof of my house (which wouldn't hurt because most of you have seen my house). If she says, "oh david, I could see your soul shining through and I've never been so proud" one more time........ Speaking of pure hatred, not a fan of Ryan Seacrest or Randy Jackson either. Seacrest likes boys and Randy talks like he is a 7th grader trying to "fit in". With all of that said, the reason I can stomach these other morons is because I am in love with Simon. I don't care if it is all a show, he makes me laugh and he says exactly what I am thinking. The only thing he hasn't done is backhand Paula right off the stage........by the way, my heart is really not filled with this much hatred....it is only for the blog......but I really do hate Paula."
-Ryan Molony

i'll probably look like a chipmonk...

2008-05-12T11:56:00.004-04:00

First and foremost...HAPPY (late) MOTHERS DAY to my wonderful mama!!!!
I love you mama and hope yesterday was as fun for you as it was for me and Court.
Courtney and I cooked brunch for mama after church. The rest of the day was spent relaxing and then me, mama, and daddy went and walked the dam. It was a great day!

Tomorrow me and mama are running around all morning going from appointment to appointment before we have to be at PC by 3 oclock for my portrait. Our photographer agreed to travel to PC to take my portrait. I'm so excited cause PC is such a beautiful campus and that being where me and J met, I wanted to have my picture taken there.
Wednesday i'm back at work for the last day this week, because on Thursday I have my wisdom teeth taken out. Which i'm not looking forward to, but the good news is I only have 2 days of work this week. Just wanted to fill everyone in on my excited and eventful week! Hope everyone has a wonderful Monday!!!

and the COUNTDOWN begins

2008-05-08T11:30:00.002-04:00

only 100 days until August 16th!!!!

Pictures of our house

2008-05-08T09:34:00.013-04:00

The outside view of our little home :)

Several angles of our kitchen

The two barstools I got for my bday

My green couch and little red chair

J's favorite piece of furniture

Pieces of our bedroom suite

Making a toast to celebrate our new home

Georgia on my mind....

2008-05-06T11:22:00.004-04:00

This past weekend was spent moving Jonathan into our new place in Augusta. I took the day off of work on friday because I had to be there for the bedroom furniture and couch to be delievered. Both of our families came to help with the move on Saturday, and on Sunday Jonathan and I spent most of the day cleaning and getting things in order. Today the cable service gets hooked up so J doesn't have to be in a silent house all by himself...he will have the TV for entertainment and background noise. For almost a month now he has lived without a TV, pretty impressive I might say. So you can imagine why now that he is in his own place, the first thing we bought on Friday night after he got off work, was a new TV.
Thanks to both my parents and Court, and J's parents and Josh for coming up on Saturday to help out. It was fun to have everyone together!
The place is really coming together and there are still a lot of things we need and want, but I'm trying to not be so impulsive and remember that we don't have to have EVERYTHING right now. Our next big purchase is a washer and dryer. Don't you hate spending money on things that aren't fun and exciting? But at the same time I can't live without clean clothes!! I can't wait till August when i get to enjoy living there, but i'm glad I have all summer to get it decorated and looking good!!!
Can't wait for everyone to come visit!
I'll post pictures after I get them uploaded onto my computer.

Announcement

2008-05-05T14:01:00.001-04:00

click on the link below to see our engagement announcement that was in The State paper yesterday...

Thain - Anderson Wedding

Hair Makeover

2008-04-29T14:50:00.008-04:00

Ever wanted to get your hair cut like a celebrity, but you weren't sure how it would look on you?

Here's your answer: http://hairmakeover.instyle.com/

I've never had hair this long, and i'm pretty sure after seeing this, long hair will never be an option for me!

This is me with BANGS!?!?!?!?

And this is just a short bob...similar to hairstyles i've had before

I wanted to give J a hair makeover, but they don't have any guy hairstyles....too bad!

Tag, Your it!!!

2008-04-28T11:36:00.003-04:00

i read this on someone else's blog and even though I didn't get tagged, I decided to pretend I was tagged and continue on with the game:

5 things on my To Do list:
1. Drop off engagement announcement to The State Paper
2. Pick up clothes from the dry cleaner
3. Go to Boltinhouse Jewelers to order mine and J’s wedding bands
4. find out details and payments for renter’s insurance
5. Put all my pictures from my computer onto back-up CD’s

5 snacks I enjoy:
1. Dr. Pepper
2. Hersey Kisses
3. Fruit
4. Cheese balls
5. Ice Cream

5 things I would do if I won the lottery:
1. Save, save, and save some more
2. Pay back my parents for all the wedding expenses
3. Open a wedding planning business with my mom and sis
4. Put money aside to build our dream house
5. Give to missions and other charities that I feel passionate about

5 bad habits:
1. Not checking my voicemail messages
2. Interrupting people
3. Stopping by the Chickfila drive through on the way to work for sweet tea
4. Falling asleep during movies
5. Not washing my face every night before I go to bed

5 places I have lived:
1. Lexington, SC
2. Clinton, SC
3. soon I’ll be living in Augusta, GA
4.
5.

5 jobs I have had:
1. McAlister’s Deli
2. House Keeper at Ocean’s Creek (Myrtle Beach)
3. Build a Bear Workshop (Myrtle Beach)
4. Youth Intern at Lake Murray Baptist
5. Columbia Convention and Visitors Bureau

5 friends who ghost read your blog and need to start their own:
1. Courtney Molony
2. Elizabeth Ann
3. Alyssa Cogdill
4. Courtney Shelton
5. and I’m really not sure who else reads this that doesn’t have a blog

5 favorite things to do on the weekends:
1. Anything outside!
2. Go walking or running
3. Hang out with J and family
4. Travel to visit friends
5. Take a sunday afternoon nap!

Ok, I now tag Shelby! :)

Turning the big TWO THREE

2008-04-25T09:45:00.002-04:00

Jonathan got three free tickets to go see OAR in concert last night. J took me and his other girlfriend Catie to the concert. The three of us had a great time. I spent the night with Catie after the concert and drove into Columbia this morning. Thanks J for a wonderful Birthday! I had so much fun with you and Catie!

Also thanks to everyone for all the sweet phone calls and cards yesterday! I am so blessed by all my amazing family and friends. My parents suprised me with some furniture for me and J's new place, so i was also very excited about that. We are moving J in next weekend, and I can't wait to get in there and decorate. His parents and my parents are going to be there to help. It will be fun having everyone together. J and I spent last weekend at his parents house. His mom took me shopping, as usual :), and bought me some very cute birthday gifts! She is always spoiling me like i'm her own daughter...it's great to have two moms...hehe!

Tomorrow me and mama are going to try and get some things checked off the wedding list. It's so crazy to think that the wedding is less than 4 months away. There is still so much to do, but day by day it's coming together. The process has been so smooth and so fun. I know i've said this before, but all the credit goes to my mom...she's been awesome!

You might have already noticed by the boring post, but i'm bored out of my mind this morning at work. The day is inching by and i'm sooo ready for 5:00 to get here! I'm sitting here playing Snood as I wait for the time to pass, which is so addicting! So, if you have any time-waster ideas, fun blogs, or youtube videos, or websites, please send them my way!!!

Bye Bye Brooke

2008-04-23T09:43:00.003-04:00

Tonight on American Idol, it's time to see the over emotional, pouty, made too many mistakes on stage, Brooke White go home. I'm making this prediction because even if she isn't the one voted off tonight, she needs to be. Of course this is all just my opinion, but who are the idiots out there that voted for and kept Kristy Lee Cook on the show up until last week? She should have been long gone at least 5 weeks ago.

I think most would agree with me that David Cook has had some awesome performances the past few weeks and without a doubt should be our next American Idol.

Top 10 Favorite Memories of PC

2008-04-22T13:27:00.010-04:00

With college graduation quickly approaching for all those 2008 seniors at PC, it's hard to believe that it has already been a whole year since I walked across the stage and accepted my diploma. It's funny how most people associate graduations as a happy time. Well, try going to PC for four years and trust me, you won't be happy to leave. Anyway, as I was sitting here thinking about all those that are a year younger than me getting ready to step into the real world, I couldn't help but think about how my last few weeks were spent as a senior at PC. I believe me and the girls in my townhouse made more memories during those last weeks, than most make during their entire 4 years of college.

Ok, so i've decided to make a top ten list of my favorite memories made at PC.

10. Getting to spend one year at PC with Courtney, I was a freshman when she was a senior
9. Running down the steps on bidday to ADPi
8. Convincing all my roommates that studying is overrated, therefore GPAs suffered sophomore year
7. Staying up till 3am for no good reason
6. Me and alyssa hanging out on 4th floor Georgia with J, Mark, and Taylor our freshman year
5. My senior toast at Black Diamond 2007 (haha...this is a total joke for all of those that were there); really every ADPi and PiKapp party has it's memories
4.Tailgating with my family and friends for all the home football games
3. B1's Fall 2006 Fish Fry and Spring 2007 Fish Fry (me, alyssa, and catie's campus adventure)
2. Growing in my faith tremendously because of the opportunities and people that the Lord placed in my life at PC
1. Meeting my future husband (J was one of the first boys I met at PC)

There are so many more I could list, but these are the few I thought of off the top of my head. Maybe I can convience Jonathan to give me his top ten so that I can post his list as well. haha...like that will ever happen!

"Another turning point a fork stuck in the road

Time grabs you by the wrist directs you where to go

So make the best of this test and don't ask why

It's not a question but a lesson learned in time"

"It's something unpredictable

But in the end is right

I hope you had the time of your life"

"So take the photographs and still frames in your mind

Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time

Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial

For what it's worth it was worth all the while"

"It's something unpredictable

But in the end is right

I hope you had the time of your life"

"It's something unpredictable

But in the end is right

I hope you had the time of your life"

"Good Riddance" by Green Day

What A Week...

2008-04-17T10:22:00.003-04:00

It's been a busy busy week and I don't see it slowing down until after August. But, I like being busy. I'm much more productive and feel like I manage my time better when i keep busy. Monday I left work early to go get my hair highlighted...i like it but im still getting used to it. Then on the way home, I had to take my car to the shop after driving around all day feeling like it was going to blow. Funny side note...Court's tahoe also had to be put in the shop on Monday and last week Mama's car had to be put in the shop. Not the best week for us as far as cars are concerned. Daddy picked me up from the dealership and when we got home I helped mama cook because it was Grammy's 80th birthday. We had Grammy, Papa, and Hanna over for dinner. It was so good to hang out with the fam!

Tuesday after work, I met Elizabeth Ann at the bookstore and we picked out our Beth Moore study (Jesus the One and Only). We are only on day two, and so far it's awesome. After bible study I was able to pick up my car. For some reason I was so busy at work on Tuesday, I didn't get to eat lunch so by the time I got home that night I was starving. After I ate a very yummy grilled pimento cheese sandwich, I watched American Idol and then off to bed. PS...David Cook is by far the best on Idol!

Wednesday work was busy as ever. I was hardly in the office all day, which is a good thing. The time flies when i'm running around all day. For lunch we got to go to the State House grounds to Hospitality Day. Tons of different restaurants and vendors were there serving food. I was stuffed by the time I left, but the food was awesome! I met mama after work at Travis Bell's photography studio to look at me and J's engagement pics. And let me tell you, there was not a bad picture. I couldn't believe how awesome every picture turned out. We picked out the newspaper engagement announce pic, then we picked out a few others. He doesn't post his pics online like some photographers, so that's the only downside.

J has been staying at Catie and Will's townhouse in Augusta the past two weeks so he doesn't have to commute back and forth to work. They have been so sweet to offer their new place for him to stay. I think he was getting lonely there by himself cause he called when he got off work yesterday and decided to come to my house and spend the night. We went to dinner and had a great night just hanging out. I can't tell you the last time the just the two of us went out to dinner. He left early this morning to get back to Augusta in time for work. And by the way, he is loving his new job. He works in a small office with a few other co-workers, most of which are young guys, so he's had fun getting to know them. It's always nice to go to work with people who are fun to be around.

Today has been much slower, hince the writing of this post. I have a few errands to run this afternoon for work, but besides that I am just procrastinating from doing my research on companies that I could care less about. It's funny how now that I know that I won't be here with this company after August, I don't care quite as much about my work. And no one here knows that i'm gonna leave. I am waiting to tell them until the end of May or beginning of June. Don't get me wrong, I still work hard and get everything done on time. It's just the fact that I know i'm leaving so it's hard to not slack. I need to get better about that because I still have at least 3 more months here and I want to be diligent and hard working. We are called to glorify the Lord in all that we do, even in things that we don't like doing, this is something I have to remind myself everyday!

Today after work i'm going for another fitting of my wedding dress. This is my third fitting and probably one of my last. My portrait is being taken on May 13th at PC, so there is still plenty of time to make sure the dress fits perfectly.
Tomorrow will be a fun day. The CVB staff will be doing site tours of different hotels and meeting facilities around the Columbia area. We always have fun together when we are out doing these tours. I love the ladies I work with and I will for sure miss them when I leave here.

So if you aren't bored yet with the play by play of my week, thanks for reading to the end!...hope I helped you waste a few minutes of your time today!

Turn it up!!

2008-04-14T12:26:00.002-04:00

You're going to need to turn up your volume. I put a playlist on here for the thousands of viewers that read this blog everyday, so you have some tunes to jam to as you are reading about my oh so interesting life. I'll be taking request of new songs to put on the playlist, so please feel free to leave your ideas on a comment. And yes, i know what you are thinking...I am very bored at work and have nothing better to do than find cool things like a playlist for my blog.

85 degees

2008-04-11T10:24:00.002-04:00

How awesome is this weather today? If only i wasn't stuck inside this office on such a beautiful day. It's the perfect day to go for a jog and lay out with a good book by the pool. Those are the two things I would be doing if I didn't have to be here at work. And of course Saturday and Sunday, when i actually have the time to enjoy this nice weather, it will either be raining or 60 degrees. So today as I sit at my desk, i am trying to take in this nice warm weather by staring out my window and pretending that i actually get to take advantage of it.

I did get to enjoy yesterday's nice weather. Jonathan and I had our engagement pictures taken at the State House yesterday. Travis Bell is our photographer for the wedding and he and his assistant were so awesome to work with yesterday. I can't wait to see how all the picutures turned out. Having a great photographer for our wedding was very important to me, and I know with Travis we will have nothing to worry about. I've seen his work and have no doubt that he will capture every special moment of the day of our wedding. http://www.travisbellphotographers.com/

Congrats to the future Mr. and Mrs. Epps

2008-04-10T11:54:00.003-04:00

Congratulations Megan and McNeil! I'm so excited for you both!

McNeil proposed to Megan last night on PC's campus. I stole this picture from facebook so that everyone could see the newly engaged happy couple.

Tribute to Courtney Shelton...

2008-04-10T09:12:00.021-04:00

The ONE AND ONLY COURTNEY SHELTON!!!!

St. Pat's in 5 Points

This is me and Court on the marta in Atlanta a few years ago. (Ignore my "freshman 15")

This is quite possibly the best pic of Courtney that i've ever seen...she has the BEST laugh and this pic says it all.

And this picture is really only funny because of how young alyssa and ea look

Happy 30th Shelby!!!

2008-04-09T09:06:00.006-04:00

A little shout out to my beautiful cousin Shelby...

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Me, Shelby, Court, and Hanna...the 4 cousins!

(this pic is from when Shelby was pregnant with little Henry)

I love you and hope you have an awesome year ahead of you!

Tuesday nights with EA

2008-04-08T15:44:00.009-04:00

Every Tuesday, after work, Elizabeth Ann and I meet to have dinner and bible study together. Tonight we are going to Panera Bread, which is one of our usual spots. It's been awesome to have this time with EA. She also lead me in a bible study my sophomore year in college. God has definitely blessed me by providing not only a great friend but an amazing sister in Christ. It's so encouraging to know that almost every morning I have an email waiting on me when i get to work. EA will email me to see how my day is going as well as for accountability. I remember praying when i moved home that God would place another girl in my life to encourage me in my daily walk. And as usual, God answered my prayer.

Tonight is our last study on the Book of Ruth. Next week we are starting a Beth Moore study. Ruth has always been one of my favorite books of the bible, but it wasn't until these past 2 months that I have truly understood the key points behind her story. I've learned so much about how God's plan and timing is so much better than my own. 99% of the time, I do not think like that, I want things done my way and in my timing. But little do i realize that, as John Piper says, "The life of the godly is not a straight line to glory, but they do get there." God takes us down roads where we may not want to follow him, but in the long run, he always has our best interest at hand and he will never leave our side. He has so many great things in store for our future and "in all the setbacks of your life as a believer God is plotting for your joy." It's so comforting to know that God is our #1 fan. "Life is one curve after another. And we never know what's coming. But the point of the story is that the best is yet to come...that is the unshakable truth about the life of the woman and the man who follow Christ in the obedience of faith."

I hope you enjoyed my little sermon! I just wanted to fill you in on what God was doing in my heart. Slowly but surely he is showing me my stubborn and selfish ways and helping me put myself aside and focus on Him. I'm so excited to see what God has planned for me and Jonathan and our future together. One thing I am certain is that it is going to be far better that I can imagine, as long as we have faith and follow our Lord.

Here's the most recent pic of me and EA:

Elizabeth Ann, Me, and the fabulous Courtney Shelton at my engagement party!

a case of the Mondays...

2008-04-07T09:34:00.002-04:00

This past weekend, Jonathan and I traveled to Sewanee (The University of the South) to help celebrate the engagement of J's best friend from home, David Scavone. David proposed to Becky on Saturday night and then took her to their favorite restaurant/bar where all of his family and friends were waiting to suprise Becky and celebrate with them. It was a long weekend of traveling, but it was good to spend time with J's parents and family friends. I didn't get home last night until around 11:30pm, so needless to say i'm exhausted and wish i was still in bed!

Congratulations again to DAVID AND BECKY!!!! We are so excited for ya'll! Can't wait until your big day!

Happy Friday!

2008-04-04T13:40:00.000-04:00

I love Fridays!! At my office we can wear jeans on Fridays, and i'm not sure what it is about wearing jeans to work, but something about it makes work not quite as miserable as when you are dressed up. Not that my work is miserable, but there are those days when i'm bored to tears. It's like i don't mind coming to work when i'm in jeans. Weird I know, but wearing jeans just makes the day seem so much more relaxed. Usually friday's are not very busy around and the phones aren't ringing off the hook like the rest of the week. And everyone in the office seems to be in such a better mood on a friday, they laugh more and seem to have more fun. The company I work for is awesome because rarely does anyone have to stay at the office till 5pm on Friday's.

All that to say, i'm bored today and since I have the time, i wanted to tell you a little about mine and J's newly married best friends. On March 8th, Alyssa Tober and Matt Cogdill were married. J and I both went to PC with Alyssa and Matt. Alyssa and I grew up together and have been best friends since 4th grade, we then went off to PC together and were roommates/housemates every year of college. Matt also is from Lexington and was a good friend of mine in highschool. He and J became friends at PC and were also roommates for a few years. Alyssa and Matt got engaged in April 07. We were both so honored to be such a big part of their wedding. The whole wedding weekend was perfect and so much fun. They were the first of our close friends from PC to get married, with many weddings to follow.

Here are a few pics to recap the wonderful weekend of March 8th...

The mother of the bride, the beautiful bride and her sister (Maid of Honor) at the Bridesmaid Luncheon

All the bridesmaids at the bridesmaid's luncheon
Our cute bags that Alyssa gave us!

It was sooo windy, we had to put bags over our heads to keep our hair from messing up!
The Gorgeous Bride

more pics from the Tober-Cogdill wedding

2008-04-04T13:35:00.003-04:00

Me with the bride!
The First Dance
Me and J
The bridesmaid's dance...so fun!

Happy Birthday COURT

2008-04-03T13:30:00.000-04:00

This is a day late, but I wanted to wish my favorite sister in the whole wide world a very Happy (belated) Birthday!

Happy 26th Court!

I love you!!!!!

My New Blog

2008-04-03T12:09:00.000-04:00

I was informed by my cousin Shelby, that I should start my own blog. You can see Shelby's little boy, henry's blog at http://www.lowcountryboy.blogspot.com/. I was hesitant at first to start one of these, but then realized how much I am a freak about looking at everyone else's blogs. So, here's one more blog to entertain you while you are bored at work.

For those of you who do not know me, I am getting married to my best friend, Jonathan Anderson on August 16, 2008. All the wedding plans are underway, with still so much to do in only 4 months. Our wedding will be in Lexington, SC at Lexington Baptist Church with the reception at the Radisson Hotel and Conference Center. We are both getting so excited. The whole planning process has been fun and stressfree. We couldn't do any of this without my mom's help. I've loved every second of this time with mama, she's been nothing be awesome.

Some other big news is that Jonathan just started a new job in Augusta, GA. His first day was yesterday, so it's very new right now, but so far he seems to really enjoy the company and staff he is working for. Our good friends, Catie and Will also live in Augusta, so Jonathan and I are very fortunate and excited to have such close friends already living there. This past Saturday we went apt/house hunting and found the cutest patio home. We will be moving Jonathan in our new place around the first of May. I am so excited to finally have a place to call my own that I can decorate and fix up. As soon as we get Jonathan moved in, I will take pics and post them. As for now, he is commuting from Lexington to Augusta until he can move in. It's only about an hour, so i don't think it's too bad of a drive. The home we are renting is only about 3 miles from his office, so that will be very convenient and will help save on gas.

I'm still working at the Columbia Convention and Visitors Bureau as sales assistant. It's a great first job and I love the group of staff that I work with. The experience has been awesome and I've learned so much about the "job world" and what I do and what I do NOT want to go into after I leave this job in August. I love sales and really want to pursue that path. I haven't started looking for a job in Augusta yet, I plan on starting the job hunting process this summer.