NEW YEARS AND RESOLUTIONS

So NYE really isn't my favorite holiday but the last couple of years we have done low key things and I find that to be a lot of fun.

So our plans for tomorrow are to go over to a friends house. She is making dinner. I am bringing lots of appetizers and the ingredients to make this delicious champagne punch. And the other attendees will bring the rest of the things needed. So low stress and relaxing and so fun. It is what we did last year and I am looking forward to it. If a wild hair strikes we might stop by a close by bar but there are no real plans. I will try to take pictures of the festivities.

Then for the rest of the weekend, Kenny and I want to go see Avatar. I know, kind of nerdy but I heard it is really good and we both love going to movies. We are also going to spend some of Christmas money and gift cards and go shopping. Excited about my four day weekend.

RESOLUTIONS
-I am going to try and get back on the blogging train. I have totally been slacking. I just haven't felt like I had anything to say. But i forget that I do this so that Kenny and I can look back at the things that we did together and our day to day lives. So who cares if it is interesting to anyone else. So I am going to try and be better.

- I am going to continue to eat well and lose weight. I have lost 20lbs in the last few months and could not be happier with loss. So I just want to keep going! And maybe I should throw some exercise in with that. But I really hate exercising. It is so much more fun to eat.

- Be more spontaneous and not worry so much. Life is a gift and I need to stop worrying about whether we are prepared for the future and live for today.

- Enjoy my friends more. Plan more trips,dinners, girls nights, etc. and get to know new people and make new friends.

2009 was a good year that was full of change and new oppurtunities. Can't wait to see what all 2010 will bring.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

So I know I haven't been doing too well at this blogging thing. I will try to do better next year which is in about 14 days can you believe it???

Kenny and I have been thoroughly enjoying our holiday season. I finished my Christmas shopping by December 1 and I could not be happier about it. My time has not been spent running around like crazy. I have had time to relax, throw a few get togethers and watch a zillion Christmas movies. It has been heavenly.

I am so excited because Kenny and I will be doing our Lacey family Christmas(just he and I) Friday night. So presents are only two days away for me! I cannot wait to give Kenny his gifts. I hope I surprise him. We have a Christmas date night planned. We are going to go eat at an Italian restaurant and then walk through zoo lights before going home to open gifts.

Hope everyone else is enjoying their holiday season as much as we are.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

P.S. My friend Susan over at JPress Designs designed our Christmas card this year and I love it so much. Keep her in mind for next year or for any other event you have coming up. She is great at what she does and so easy to work with!

THANKSGIVING WEEKEND IN NUMBERS

2- Number of people that attended the Lacey family Thanksgiving. Kenny and me. It was heavenly.

4- The amount of times I cried during the first half of the movie The Blind Side. Looooved that movie and want to see it again. It was so good.

2- How many times we have watched Christmas Vacation already. Not to mention I have already watched The Family Stone once, every silly Christmas movie on the Family Channel and Lifetime. We have also watched Elf, and Santa Clause 2 and a few others. We like Christmas movies.

1- the amount of Egg Bowls I have ever been too. This past weekend was my first Egg Bowl. Can you believe it!!!! And what a fun one to go to!!

41-27 The score for MSU vs. Ole Miss. We beat their tails. It was soooo much fun! I think after this weekend I might be a tad obsessed with Dan Mullen. And I decided that he is reeeeaallly cute when he smiles.

3- times that we have eaten Thanksgiving dinner. Once on Thursday and a few more times for leftovers. We still have food left. Not complaining at all. It is all so delicious!

9- as in 9:00 pm. The time that Kenny and I fell asleep both Friday and Saturday night. To our credit we both worked on Friday and then Saturday we woke up at 5:00 am to make it to Starkville.

1- Present that I have left to buy on my Christmas list and I am officially DONE Christmas shopping! Hooray!!

WEEKEND IN STARKVILLE

This past weekend Kenny and I FINALLY made it down to Starkville to see the Bulldogs face off against Alabama. And while it wasn't the outcome we had hoped we still had a fantastic time.

We woke up EARLY Saturday morning and got on the road. We had big plans of hitting up The Grill before making our way over to the tailgate. We were definitely the first people in the door when they opened. Ha! We enjoyed our cheese sticks, and other appetizers and maybe a couple of mimosas (Ha!) while we watched the Ole Miss game. I love the Grill so much. After hanging out there for a while we headed on campus to meet up with friends at the tailgate. We had so much fun and it was such a beautiful day. Kenny and I still can't get over how much Game days have changed. The tailgating is craaazy and there is just so much energy. And the game was packed and that jumbo tron is ridiculous. We think we want to buy season tickets for next year so we will see.















Ummm so I had never heard about this lady but some of the guys were super excited about spotting her. I gather she is a University of Alabama YouTube phenomena. Google her. Her name is Ramp Lady and she screams really really loud. Which I would of rather not heard her demonstrate.


AND SOME OTHER THOUGHTS SINCE ITS BEEN A WHILE SINCE I BLOGGED::
• Definitely kicked off my Christmas Music listening yesterday and I am thrilled. I jut could not hold out any longer. I am soooo excited about the holidays. Yesterday I completed probably 80% of my Christmas shopping. My goal is to be done the first week of Christmas so that I can really enjoy the holidays and not be going crazy in the stores. I am also waiting for my extremely cute Christmas cards to come so that I can start addressing those and I am about to send out my invites for my Christmas party this week. I am on the ball! Now I just need to start wrapping!

• NEW MOON IS THIS WEEK!!!!! I already have my ticket bought and a girls night planned that includes sushi, movie and then maybe an ice cream so we can discuss afterwards. Am I a 13 year old. No. Am I on Team Jacob???? YES!

• I made Lifetimer in Weight Watchers last week! I am so excited and to date have lost 16lbs!

• Last night I watched Nights in Rodanthe. It was kind of weird. Richard Gere is HOT.(still)

TELL THE TEACHERS

I know everyone always says to make sure you tell the people that you love that you love them because you never know if it could be the last time. I just found out that a professor I was close to in college as were many many many other students were, passed away yesterday and I am heartbroken.

I am heartbroken at the loss of life and I am heartbroken that we had lost touch in the last couple of years. She had been battling cancer when I graduated and last I had heard was doing better. I had emailed and spoken to her briefly after moving to Memphis to let her know that I had landed the job that I wanted and I owed so much of it to her. She had been my advisor when I had strayed off my educational path and I had taken every class that she taught in my four years of being there. Totaling seven classes with her as my teacher all of them having to do with my major(which I loved). I loved her for shooting it to me straight and pulling out my talents as she did for so many other students. She was an amaaazing teacher and I am filled with regret at not having told her what she meant to me.

Tell your loved ones that they impact your life......but tell your teachers, role models, mentors and even your college advisors that they meant something to you too.

We will miss you Lora.

WEEKEND RECAP AND MENU MONDAY

Hope everyone had a very Happy Halloween. I had a very low key weekend because I sent Kenny off to Austin, Texas to see his favorite band play with a bunch of his friends for his birthday. He had an absolute blast and dressed up as a cowboy for Halloween. When in Texas do what the Texans do...right?

On Friday night I went to dinner with Tracy where I ordered an obscene amount of sushi. I have a serious self control problem when it comes to ordering sushi. After dinner we ran to the grocery store because I needed to pick some things up for my Junior League shift the next morning. We did talk about how old we are. I mean really. Dinner and grocery shopping on a Friday night. Ha!

Saturday morning I had two Junior League Merry Marketplace Shifts back to back. Uggg. One I worked in the hospitality suite and another was for my Kids in the Kitchen placement. We were doing food demonstrations. After being there since 7:30 AM i went home and napped for 4 hours. I never nap. I was soooo tired.

Saturday night I met up with Christin and JR where we gave out candy to trick or treater at their house, watched The Exorcist (really fast forwarded to all the good parts) and then went to a local bar for some food, drinks and a little karaoke. It was low key and wonderful.

Sunday, I picked Kenny up from the airport and then we napped during a little football. It was heavenly. It seemed like I napped through most of my weekend. I did manage to make a delicious and low fat casserole for dinner. Can yall believe its November????? Time to start planning our Thanksgiving menu.

Here is what is on the Menu for the week.

SUNDAY - Taco Casserole served with corn and green beans (this is from the past menus but I just now got around to making it) WW- 6pts per serving

MONDAY- Baked Shrimp & Grits served with a side salad and a Dijon lemon vinaigrette.

WW-8pts per serving

TUESDAY - Taco Casserole leftovers

WEDNESDAY - Ultimate Chicken Fingers served with new potatoes and broccoli 

WW- 3pts for 3 chicken fingers

THURSDAY - Shrimp and Grits leftovers

BACK TO THE GRIND

I started feeling bad last weekend and by Tuesday I was in bed. Not sure if it was a cold or virus but I am pretty sure that it was not the Swine. Which I almost wish it was just so that I could be done with it. But after two whole days of watching every horror movie on TV along with a marathon of that show A Haunting which I happen to love I am back to work. Although looking at the weather here in Memphis I should of just stayed in bed. It is sooooo gross here.

On a much much happier note! I was so pleased to see that as of today I have lost 15lbs!! I am so happy with my results and can't wait to get to my next goal!! I would like to lose at least another 10lbs. But we will see. If I were to lose 10 more I would be the smallest I have been in a loooooong time. Weight Watchers works! Ha!

Last night when Kenny got home we made plans to watch Poltergeist. One of my favorite Halloween movies ever. I love this movie! And for the entire seven years that Kenny and I have been together I try to get him to watch this movie every Halloween. Last night we FINALLY watched it. Annnnnnnd he hated it. How is that even possible. I looove that movie and think that it is such a Halloween classic.

I think in the next couple nights I want to watch a horror movie that I remember terrifying me when I was little that I noticed was listed on OnDemand. Sleepaway Camp II. Anyone ever seen it? Can you tell I love scary movies.

EDITED TO ADD: Okay so I watched Sleepaway Camp II last night and that movie was soooo different than the way I remembered it. It was so scary when I was younger but this time I found parts of it to be funny. The acting was horrible and overall the movie was very campy. It was demented and dirty and most of just weird. Will not be watching it again.

BIRTHDAY WEEKEND

So let me first say HAPPY BIRTHDAY KENNY!!!! This weekend was Kenny's birthday. So we made plans to relax and enjoy ourselves a little since we had been going non-stop.

Friday night Kenny and I went for a casual dinner date to Memphis Pizza Cafe. It was slammed but very delicious. Once we were done eating we headed home to meet my mom who was coming in town.

On Saturday Kenny had to work in the morning but had requested for my mom to make his favorite meal that she cooks and watch the Florida vs. State game. So while Kenny worked my mom and I ran errands. I ran into Vineyard Vines to buy him some hokies that he had wanted so that he would have something small to unwrap because I am sending him to Austin to see his favorite band for his big birthday present, but I couldn't resist getting him one of their new college polos that has the Mississippi State Bulldog on the chest. Then we grabbed lunch and swung by Muddy's Cupcakes to get the birthday boy some cupcakes. The New Yorker is his favorite. Chocolate cake with cream cheese icing. All of their cupcakes are so good though!!!

Saturday night my sister came over and we watched the Bulldogs hang in there with Florida. We played our hearts out even if we did lose.

Sunday morning Kenny had requested a country breakfast with country ham (which I have never cooked before). I found him the biggest piece of country ham you have ever seen. It was so big that he cut a big piece of it off to put in a biscuit as a snack for later. We were helping my mom load her car when I came back into the kitchen to find that the ham that was on the plate was now gone. Lena ate Kenny's ham. How selfish! Ha! Guess dogs don't understand birthdays.

Sunday night we went to see Paranormal Activity. It was really good. I can't say that I was as terrified in the theatre as I was for The Ring or even as scared as I was during the strangers but parts of Paranormal Activity were incredibly creepy and Kenny and I both were jumpy when we got home.

And today Kenny and I both have colds. We came down with them over the weekend. Heres to hoping its not the Swine.

Here is what we are having to eat this week. I found a great website that had casseroles with WW points. So they are all from that site this week.

MENU MONDAY
Monday - Beef Stroganoff with a side salad and a lemon Dijon vinaigrette.

Tuesday - Taco Casserole

Wednesday - Pulled Pork sandwiches served with corn on the cob

Thursday - Taco Casserole leftovers

HALLOWEEN (the parts I like)

Halloween. I love it. But there are definitely parts of it that I like more than others.

My least favorite part really is the whole dressing up and costumes mumbo jumbo. I just don't really enjoy costumes. In college(Starkville) you went to this second hand place where you payed money to rent these used costumes and then you had to return them in your hungover stupor the next day before you had to pay more money. State people what was the name of this place? That lady was crazy as all get out. And honestly those costumes were so disgusting. Think about it. Sweat, alcohol and who knows what else.....yuck. I also don't enjoy wearing costumes because they always seem to be itchy and uncomfortable, especially when props are involved. Not to mention the time and money it takes to pull them together. And please do not even get me started on the skankified versions of costumes they have now. I know I sound like a spoil sport and its not to say you won't see me dressed up this year. Just not my favorite part.

My favorite most favoritest part of Halloween and I mean big time is the spooky stuff. I have been obsessed with ghosts stories, scary movies, haunted houses and stuff like that since I was younger and I still love that aspect of Halloween. I love the scary movies on TV. ( I already tivoed some thing on Bravo: 13 Most Horrifying Moments of Scary Movies) I love pulling out my copy of Poltergeist and watching it. This morning, on the radio station I listen to, they were talking about whether you believed in ghosts and people were calling in and telling their stories. I could listen to that all day. I love hearing people's ghost stories. I like to get goosebumps when things get creepy. I am dying to see that movie Paranormal Activity. I heard it is soooo scary and think that would be the perfect thing to get in the Halloween mood.

Other things I do not mind about Halloween:
Fun Size Dark Chocolate Milky Ways
Fun Size Snickers
Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
Fun Size M&Ms
Fun Size Kit Kats
Fun Size Twix
Candy Corn

DO YOU KNOW ANYBODY?

I need help finding someone who makes T-shirt quilts. I finally got the motivation to go through all of our drawers and even ventured into the attic to try and find all of our fraternity and sorority t-shirts. This is something I have been meaning to do for a while considering we have been out of college for a while, and we just keep wearing these t-shirts around the house or to sleep in making them more worn out. I was pleased with the amount that we managed to keep and was really excited when I found the trash bag in the attic that I suspected had a lot of Kenny's old t-shirts actually had a lot of the main parties and formals and what I was missing. Now I am just excited that we will have this to look at when we get old. Ha!

So! I have looked on Etsy and I have seen a few people who make the quilts but I am really nervous about sending the T-shirts off to someone I do not know. I mean it took 4 long years to collect all these t-shirts(alright maybe a couple of extra semesters) and I would hate to lose them. Has anyone had a quilt made or know somebody that has one? Or maybe you know someone who makes them. I just want to have some kind of connection or testimonial to the product ya know. I would appreciate any help!

I had a very uneventful weekend. Kenny has been out of town since Tuesday and is finally coming back today!!! Snaps!!! Finally!!! And I was supposed to go to Jackson for a friend of mines shower but my plans fell through. So on Friday I was the epitome of old and went grocery shopping and ordered out sushi for myself and watched a movie.

On Saturday I had a hair appointment which I desperately needed and then went to get a manicure and pedicure with my friend Mollie. Later that night she cooked and we watched football at her house with some other people. It was a lot of fun. Sunday, I literally watched Lifetime movies alllllll day. So pathetic. So ready for Kenny to get home. In my spare time I did manage to do a little meal planning for this week. So here is what we are having. Still doing Weight Watchers so all WW recipes.

MENU MONDAY
MONDAY - Weight Watcher Broccoli and Cheese Soup with buttered toast (for Kenny) and Oreo Pie for dessert. I made the Oreo Pie with healthier choices and got the points down a good bit.

TUESDAY - WW Stuffed Peppers with a side salad

WEDNESDAY- Broccoli and Cheese Soup leftovers

THURSDAY- WW Sweet and Sour Chicken served over Rice.

FRIDAY - Leftovers or go out

MINT

Mint.com just might be the bomb.com. That's right. I said it! Ha!  It is my new discovery and to say that I am a wee bit obsessed would be an understatement. Have yall heard of it?

Here is how they describe themselves:
In five minutes or less, you’ll see where you’re spending your money, understand how your investments are performing, and set up realistic budgets. Set up email and SMS alerts and you’ll be automatically updated whenever there’s an important change in your finances. Only Mint.com finds you personalized ways to save money, using patent-pending software which analyzes your current spending. The typical Mint.com user finds $1,000 in savings in their first visit. Learn more about our award-winning service.

Mint is a website that allows you to upload any and every financial account you have and in turn categorizes all your spending and creates a budget for you. I know that this is similar to Quicken and other software programs but this one really takes the fuss out of it all. This really plays to my personality. I love to see where it is all going and I love that it sets an amount of money for me budget wise for each category without me having to worry about it. If we go over we go over and it will adjust for next time. Love it!  

WEEKEND RECAP

Well the rain FINALLY stopped here in Memphis and I am pleased as punch. It rained for two weeks straight but this gorgeous weather we are having now is almost worth it. Not to mention that it makes for great hair days. Kenny and I had a really nice and relaxing weekend.

Friday night we grabbed some dinner at Humdingers (which I love) because they have some healthier options and I can do my best to count points there. Then after dinner we went to see the movie Surrogates. I am kind of a nerd and love Sci-Fi movies and thought the premise looked really interesting. Kenny and I both really liked it. As we were standing in line we watched two huge charter buses pull up and drop off the entire Memphis Football team and their coaching staff. They all went to see Surrogates with us too. Ha!

Saturday morning I had a Junior League event for my placement of Kids In the Kitchen. The event was at the Memphis Children's museum and went really well. Once that was over I rushed home to watch the rest of the State game with Kenny. Tracy ended up coming over and watching the second half with us. All I have to say is GO BULLDOGS!!! We played amazingly and I am becoming a huge fan of Dan Mullen. We actually have an offensive team this year and it is so exciting to watch. I was heartbroken at the outcome of the game because we were just so close to winning but I am so encouraged by how well we played!

Saturday night we met up with our friends Susan and Andrew for dinner at Pete and Sam's with our bottles of wine in hand. This was our first time to eat there. I know I know. It was so good and we had such a good time. So after consuming our bottles we decided that we needed to have after dinner drinks and headed for Brookhaven Pub. And......after that Dan McGuiness for a little karaoke. Good times but definitely felt the effects of the night all day Sunday. It has been a while since Kenny and I had a night out like that. Ha!

Yesterday we just enjoyed being lazy and Kenny finally got a chance to work on the yard since the rain had prevented us from mowing for two straight weeks. It needed it! Then I cooked a couple of chicken pot pies that I was supposed to make during the week and my sister and her roomie came over for dinner. So since we got busy a couple nights last week my Menu Monday is a lot of the same stuff this week.

MENU MONDAY
SUNDAY - For lunch I made Potato Soup*. It was a weight watchers recipe. Very good and easy. And then last night the Chicken Pot Pie recipe from last week. This recipe was sooooo easy and very healthy. Lots of veggies.

MONDAY - Junior League meeting so leftovers

TUESDAY - Taco Soup recipe from last week. See link below.

WEDNESDAY - Shrimp Boil with new potatos and corn on the cob

THURSDAY - Leftovers

*POTATO SOUP
Weight Watchers points: 2 points per serving (1 cup each)

Ingredients (for 10 servings):
16 oz Ore Ida Style Hashbrowns
4 Cans FF low sodium chicken broth
1 envelope McCormick country gravy mix
1-2 onions chopped
1 clove garlic - minced

How to prepare the hashbrown potato soup:
Spray nonstick pan w/Pam and saute onion and garlic. Add hashbrowns & cook till tender.
Transfer to large stock pan.
Add 3 cans chicken broth and bring to boil. Add 4th can of broth and gravy mix, whisking gravy mix into soup.
Bring to a boil and simmer for a bit.

I'M A SUCKER FOR....

GLEE!!!!!

Well it is Wednesday night and despite the many many many shows that I manage to keep up with. (seriously I might have a problem) I am totally and completely infatuated with GLEE! I love this show. Have yall been watching?

I love all the musical numbers and have downloaded all of them from Itunes. I love how they just break into song. Like when Rachel sang Rhianna's song "Take A Bow" a couple of episodes ago. So good! I love the cute actor who plays the Spanish teacher turned Glee Club sponsor who can sing and dance to boot. And the writing and humor in this show are top notch.

Cannot wait for tonight!

HELLO THERE

Sooooooo......I have been a little MIA. Don't really have an explanation. Here are some things that have been going on:

• Kenny and I drove down to Waveland, MS with our friends Joe and Tracy to spend the long weekend with our friends Megan and Patrick who just finished building their house down there. It was an amazing time and I want to go back. I am still hoping to do an entire post on this trip because we had so much fun and took lots of pictures.

• My sister moved to Memphis for grad school and Kenny and I are so excited to have her here.

• We joined the church that we have been visiting for the last few months and we are so pleased to have found a church home.

• Kenny went to Las Vegas for market and stayed at the New York New York. He will go twice a year. I got a phone call while he was looking for some souvenirs and he said...."Everything here is just so tacky." Ha. Well yea. It is Vegas.

•FOOTBALL SEASON HAS STARTED AND THE BULLDOGS ARE 2-1! We are actually scoring and playing offense and we are flying our Mississippi State flag proudly. We also really hope to make it to some games this season.

• My best friend Stefanie and her husband Conrad had their baby, Conrad Patrick on Saturday morning. I am so excited for them and can't wait to make a trip out to Raleigh to see them.

• And after having a really sad day one day I joined Weight Watchers and I am loving it. Tomorrow will be my fifth weigh in. And I have lost around 11lbs. So I am feeling great!!! I like going to the meetings because weigh in is such an accountability thing for me. Even though only one person sees it. It still matters to me if I do not have a loss because I feel like a failure.

And now because it is Monday and I have not meal planned in months (literally) here is

MENU MONDAY!!!
SUNDAY- Went over to Christin and J.R.'s for make your own pizza night and NFL football. It was delicious and so fun. During the day I went ahead and made our Monday night dinner, and also cooked and chopped the chicken for another recipe. I am on the ball.

MONDAY - CHICKEN AND SPINACH LASAGNA 11 WW points per serving

TUESDAY - Have a Weight Watchers Meeting and a Junior League meeting so leftovers it is! 

WEDNESDAY- CHICKEN POT PIE ( My friend made this a week or two ago and said it was so awesome and so easy.) 7 WW for 1/4 of recipe.

THURSDAY - TACO SOUP 2 WW points per cup.

FRIDAY - Leftovers

WHERE THE BUFFALO MEETS THE WHITE

This weekend Kenny and I loaded up the kayak, the dog and ourselves and headed for the Ozarks with some of Kenny's friends from high school/college for a little float trip. We stayed at the White Buffalo resort and rented a large cabin. This resort was where Kenny and his friends went for his bachelor party. I had never been. But after this weekend it might be one of my favorite spots. And we couldn't have asked for better weather. High of 85 and not a chance of rain. It was one of those weekends where everything seemed to be in technicolor.


Although the drive is a little long, (4 hours) most of it is two lane driving through quaint little towns in the foothills of Arkansas. So it is a really pretty drive. After stopping in the great town of Mountain Home to stock up on food and alcohol we made our way to the resort. Now resort sounds fancy. This place has any type of accommodations you might like such as,tent camping, one room cabins, and larger cabins that will fit any group. It has a small store where we were lucky to find the makings for smores which we had forgotten and other small items. It also had a pool. Not to mention the cabins were 50 yards from the river. Providing lots of enjoyment for us and the dogs.



Once we were all settled in. It was so nice just to relax and get the grill going. Of course the boys main focus was getting the fire in the fire pit started. It was all about the core right boys! First they started with foliage.

Then the boys decided they needed more wood. SO naturally they found a tree.

And finally we got the fire going.

So of course we talked Dan into jumping over the fire. Good times. Ha!

On Saturday we woke up to prepare for our day long canoe/kayak trip. Kenny and I had decided we wanted to take Lena. But we weren't sure if she would fit so we had to do a test run.
Kenny was not into making the fun poses with me. Spoil sport. We ended up deciding that while Lena did in fact fit in the kayak with us that it might be a tight squeeze. So Kenny and I ended up renting a canoe and letting Danny B take our kayak down the river.

And unfortunately I do not have any pictures from the actual trip because I was not trusting my camera in the dry bag. But let me tell you. Buffalo river is one of the prettiest places I have ever canoed. You literally can see down to the bottom of the river the entire time. It is so gorgeous! The water was freezing but that did not stop the boys from fly fishing. We really did have the best time. The 6 mile trip took us 7 hours because we kept stopping at all the sand bars and just relaxing. It really was so nice. And Lena could of died a happy dog that day. She had the best time!

When we got back to the cabin that night we grilled out and I had a couple of Firefly Vodkas with some Simply Lemonade and then I layed down to rest my eyes and that was the end of that. I was asleep by 8:30. Plum tuckered out. I even missed roasting marshmallows.

We headed back pretty early on Sunday. So sad to leave. Can't wait to go back!

BIRTHDAY GIFT

Kenny is on his way to pick up my birthday present right now! I am so excited. Isn't it so pretty!
I am getting it in eggplant! So cute!

WEEKEND RECAP-PARIS!!!

So this weekend I flew to Paris!!! It was amazing!!!





Just kidding!! Ha! Did I fool you?? Can you believe that there is a miniature replica of the Eiffel Tower in the very small town of Paris, Tennessee???

I was so excited to be able to tag along with my friends Joe and Tracy to their family's lake house. We joined Joe's parents and they adopted me into the family for the weekend so that I could celebrate my birthday relaxing by the lake. Kenny was out of town for a market he had to attend. So I was on my own. Joe's parents were even nice enough to let me bring Lena. So we had as many dogs as we did people.


So this was my view for the weekend!!!




And this is literally what Lena did all weekend!

She swam and swam and played. She was so happy and so tired by the end of the weekend.

We took the boat out for a long spin around Kentucky lake and ate lunch at a bar/restaurant that you pull your boat up to and they served us wine coolers in slush form. I am not kidding. And they were so delicious!!! It really was such a fun day.

However, I have forgotten that I am no longer a bronzed beauty that tans easily and am now a fair-skinned girl. I do not know what I was thinking not wearing any sunscreen and being out in the sun all day. I am paying the price. Aloe Vera is not soothing this burn. Won't make that mistake again. It is only Tuesday and I am already peeling!

When I arrived home Sunday evening Kenny was home and I was so happy to see him. He had picked up Chinese takeout and flowers and we crashed after our Sunday night television.

MATHEMATICAL EQUATION

THIS:



+



+



+(to mix with the sweet tea vodka)



= what is shaping up to be a nice relaxing birthday weekend. Can't wait!

I KNOW.....I KNOW.....

I am doing terrible at blogging right now. It is a combination of a few things.

I have been extremely busy at work. Totally swamped.
I haven't really been doing to much that is interesting enough to blog about.
And basically I just haven't felt like it.

I will try to do better. Kenny and I have some fun trips planned soon so I will be sure to report back on those.
Can you believe the summer is almost over. Almost time for football?

What is up with Ole Miss being ranked #10. Give me a break!!!!!!

SNIFFLE

Do you ever have one of those days where everything makes you cry or feel like you are going to cry.

I AM HAVING ONE OF THOSE DAYS.

I have cried at least five times today. It is not even noon. What is wrong with me. Please make it stop!


No good very bad day.

FUNNY PEOPLE WAS FUNNY.

Kenny and I had a relaxed leisurely weekend. Friday night I went over to Christin's and hung out with her. We grabbed some dinner at this place called Skimo's and I have to tell you...they had the best quesadilla I have ever eaten. I have been craving one ever since. The restaurant is kind of far away from our house but I am temped to start driving out there just to have that quesadilla again.

After we finished our delicious dinner we went back over to Christin's house with plans to watch a movie but we ended up just flipping channels and looking at wedding dresses because she is getting married.

On Saturday, I did some grocery shopping because we had 0 food in the house. And then it started to rain and I enjoyed a glorious afternoon on the couch watching various movies. It was wonderful.

Saturday night we went to sushi and then went to see Funny People. Like I had mentioned before I was so excited to see this movie. And it was really good. Adam Sandler was really good and played a much different role than his other movies. I would definitely recommend it.

As of yesterday I started doing The Shred twice a day. This morning was my third time this week and I am now hobbling. I am so sore. But I am hoping all the strength training and abs will help get my behind into gear.

FUNNY PEOPLE

So snaps! It is Friday and I could not be more excited. The sun is finally out after it raining every day this week and that includes full out thunderstorms and tornadoes. Kenny and I do not have any major plans for the weekend except to have a date night where we grab some dinner and go see Funny People.

Have yall seen the previews for this movie? I love love love Judd Apatow movies and this is one of his movies. I have heard this movie is so funny but also kind of sad. I will be sure to let you know what I think! Have a great weekend!

BATHROOM BEFORE AND AFTER

So I have always had a thing for old houses. I love how quaint they are and how they can have so much charm. So when Kenny and I found our house we fell in love with our little starter home. What we DID NOT fall in love with was the bathrooms. Extremely outdated! Our bathrooms were victims of the colored tile. I am not even going to show you our master because we will have to completely and 100% gut that one. But the hall bath was a little easier of a fix.

The green is not totally offensive and we were so lucky in that the tile really was in great condition. So we lived with it for a while.


I called up a company here in the Memphis area that refinishes old bathtubs and tile. What they do is the treat the tile and then re glaze it to a more appropriate color and it is much more cost efficient than knocking out all the tile. It takes three days and makes your house smelly. But they did such a great job.

Here are some pictures from after they finished but I had not painted the walls yet.



Next I found an adorable Pottery Barn shower curtain and had Lowe's match a paint color to it. I picked brown to make the colors from the curtain and the white tile pop. Then I also spray painted the mirror frame a metallic silver to match all the other fixtures in the bathroom. Please pardon my toilet lid being up. I really should of put a little more thought into it. Ha!

As always pictures do not totally do it justice.

So what do you think??? Better than that green right!

EXHAUSTED WOULD BE AN UNDERSTATEMENT

Kenny and I took off from work Thursday and Friday to head to Atlanta (where my family lives) for my cousin Pamela's wedding. She is marrying an amazing boy named Cullen and we were so excited to be able to attend all of the amazing festivities. While I did not get pictures from the entire weekend. I am TERRIBLE AT taking pictures I did get some fun ones at the wedding.

Thursday night after driving most of the day. My Aunt Pam and Uncle Mike hosted a small get together for family, a few out of town guests, and my cousin's bridesmaids. It was a lot of fun getting to meet all of Pamela's closest friends.

On Friday, we attended the bridal luncheon at Piedmont Driving Club. It was so gorgeous! The rehearsal dinner was held at Chastain Horse Park. The weather was perfect for a cocktail out on the porch. My aunt had even arranged to have some riders come and trot their beautiful horse around. That is the picture of the back of the club. So fun. After the rehearsal dinner there was an after party at this little building called the American Legion post that was so so fun and cute. American quilts as table clothes, with little old ladies passing out home made peach ice cream and a band. We probably stayed out a little too late that night but it was so worth it.

The day of the wedding we spent just lounging around and eating lunch. ( I needed something greasy.) Then that night the wedding was at this beautiful old Presbyterian Church where my aunt and uncle were married and the reception was at the Atlanta History Center and it was GORGEOUS!!!! And I actually have pictures of this night so enjoy. Please look at how pretty my cousin's dress was!

Different arrangements on every table but so pretty.  Please ignore all the empty banana pudding glasses.  That stuff was good.

The entrance when you came in.

Loved her dress so much!

Mom, sister, and me.

My other cousin, Lindsay in green.  She is getting married in March so we will get to do this all over again!

My aunt and MOB dancing with the band on the dance floor.

The band had called all the girls on stage.

After the wedding we went and had some drinks but Kenny and I were fading fast. So needless to say exhausted was an understatement on Sunday. We were so tired but we had to get on the road early because we had tickets to see the American Idol concert.

So we got home late Sunday afternoon and headed to the concert about two hours later. I think I might of been a walking zombie but the concert was AWESOME. It was so good. This season was really so incredibly talented. Most of them played instruments and their singing was phenomenal. The forum was packed and people were going crazy for Adam Lambert. The whole thing was a little nuts but so much fun.

I am definitely not feeling like myself today. I am so totally out of it. But it is all because of such a fun weekend.