Monday, October 31, 2011

Sunday Funday!! Crafting & Food Preparation

Sunday started with some awesome church services and brunch with our lovely friends the Ivey's at Cracker Barrel afterwards. I love that I always feel so refreshed, uplifted, and encouraged after leaving church!! And this whole brunch at CB with friends is becoming a little tradition....who's next??

Every Sunday I go to the grocery store and prepare my food for the week….
That means boiling LOTS of eggs (I eat three or four boiled egg whites every morning) & chopping up LOTS of veggies for a jumbo salad that will last me through the week.  I also made some muffins for my honey…he loves them & I thought he deserved a Halloween treat on our cute little plate!
{Thanks, Pam Autrey!}
Crafts 023Crafts 024Crafts 025Crafts 026
We also stayed up way too late “crafting.” Yes, I officially have the BEST husband ever.  I already knew that, but he further confirmed it when he helped me craft for hours last night.  We had a blast!  Jon set up a work station for us in the basement & we turned the radio on and went to town.  He was so helpful & everything turned out SUPER cute!! I would LOVE to post pics, but then all my friends and family will know what they’re getting for Christmas!
I guess I can give you a little preview of some of my practice experiments….
Crafts 033Crafts 036
Hope you all had a WONDERFUL Sunday!!

Celebrating with Laura!!

Laura’s mom invited Jon & I over on Saturday night to celebrate Laura & Clay’s birthday with them.  Elaine ALWAYS cooks up a feast, and she certainly didn’t disappoint for this birthday dinner- a low low country boil! I got to enjoy my top 5 favorite foods!! Shrimp, salad, double doozie cookie cake, s’mores, and apples!!
Check out Elaine & the spread she prepared….
Crafts 001Crafts 003Crafts 010
Big Jon was excited to get his grub on!!
(Especially considering that we’d eaten boiled chicken & veggies the last 3 nights in a row!)
Crafts 002
Of course Laura & I were more excited about the meal than anyone….duh! (Fat kids at heart…) We really needed bibs.
Crafts 004
Clay & Jennifer were happy the DAWGS won!!
GO DAWGS!!!
Crafts 005
Brian & his ‘ole lady’….haha!!
Crafts 006Crafts 007
Like mother, like daughter. You know what that means, Laura! We expect some “feasts” from you in the future!!
Crafts 008
Double doozie cookie cake~ YES, please!!
Crafts 012Crafts 013Crafts 014Crafts 015Crafts 020
The birthday girl & birthday boy!!
Crafts 022
We LOVE birthday fun!!!
(And crab legs, of course!!)

Birthdays everywhere!!!!

My mom, hubby, brother and several of my best friends have their birthdays within a week of one another!! That means lots of cards/gifts and lots of celebrating!!!

Meet my mom, bro & a few of my BFF’s as I wish them a HAPPY BIRTHDAY from the blog!! (I’m listing them in order of their birthdate….)

MAMA
DANA
anniversary_2011_3365
MICHAEL
020
EMILY
SONY DSC
CHELSEA
-130
LAURA
Crafts 011
CRISSY
photo (12)
I LOVE my brother & my girlfriends SO much and am so very thankful for the impact each one of them has made on my life. They are ALL such dear friends and I am truly BLESSED to have them in my life.

Happy, happy birthday!!!!

I LOVE y’all!!!

Friday, October 28, 2011

My hubby is on a magazine cover!!

Granted, he made it himself, and {obviously} it's not a real magazine....but don't tell him I told ya that part!

Big Jon gets about 5 minutes of free time a night....

And this is the result.
Haha, hilarious! He was e-mailing one of his buddy's a new workout, and he asked me to create a fake magazine cover with his picture to include in the e-mail. When I declined, he took it upon himself to figure it out.

The subject of the e-mail was "hard work pays off."

I guess it'd be funnier if you actually knew him and his hilarious personality. And how modest and humble he really is.

I love him. Funniest man I know.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

It's almost here...the most wonderful time of year!!

I have been neglecting the blog to work on Christmas presents!!! 

I am making all of our gifts for others this year.  The newlywed/new homeowner budget is serious business.  I pride myself on my jam up gift giving abilities, so I knew I needed to start early if I was going to pull this off!
{Thank goodness for Pinterest!}

I know it's not even Halloween yet, but I have listened to my Christmas c.d. on the way to work the past few days and it has totally put me in the Christmas spirit!!!!

Don't get me wrong....I LOVE this beautiful Fall weather and the gorgeous colors of the leaves changing, but there is just something magical about Christmas time that I can't help but be excited about!!!!

Anyone else thinking thoughts of Christmas yet??

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

When I Grow Up….

I am a business education teacher in a middle school, and I focus on career exploration & technology with my students.  When they first come into my class, they all pretty much want one of the following careers:    
                     
       doctor, lawyer, professional athlete, interior designer, wedding planner, video game designer, vet, marine biologist, or crime scene investigator
I think it’s so important that they be exposed to different options and know what’s available to them!
  Throughout my life I have wanted to be a….        

1. TEACHER. Duh. I played school hard core as a kiddo….made schedules, worksheets, nametags, graded papers- the whole shebang. Way to make all your dreams come true, Danielle.

2. News broadcaster. I practiced a lot in front of our video camera at home (seriously, we have dozens of home videos of me reporting made up events) and on the Cedar Hill Elementary School News Broadcast.  I think I missed my calling.

3. Dentist. This one was short-lived in college when I realized I HATE science. And I didn’t want to be in school for forever. Yea, that was a fail.

Now, after being in the big girl world for a little while, I think I would make an excellent….
STAY AT HOME MOM. Except I don’t have any kids.  (Yet.)

So, here’s my new list.  I think I would like to be a yoga instructor, a children’s book author, or a professional grocery shopper.  Yea, I made that last one up, BUT, I know lots of people HATE going to the grocery store. Wouldn’t it be cool to hire me to come to your house and go through your frig and pantry with you and help you analyze your food choices? Then I could talk to you about how to eat more healthy diet and go to the grocery store with you to help you make smarter choices. I can even do all your shopping FOR you if you prefer!

 I think it sounds brilliant….what do you think??

What did you want to be when you were little???

Monday, October 24, 2011

Sunday Funday: BFF time!

I signed up for the Athens Half Marathon about a month ago without realizing it was on a Sunday. Boo!! It was the perfect mileage for my long run and I wanted the race experience before Savannah, but we didn’t want to miss church.  $70 down the drain!!  I will NEVER sign up for anything again without being certain of the date! (It said Oct 22-23…I just assumed it was a Saturday!)  Uhhh, don’t you hate when you do stuff like that?  Okay, maybe it’s just me.  Oh well, lesson learned!! (A $70 lesson…)
Anyway….I ended up having an AWESOME Sunday!  Church was unbelievable…Don’t you just LOVE those Sundays when the Holy Spirit is ALL up in it? It’s truly indescribable.  After church we had brunch with our BFF’s the Doss’s @ Cracker Barrel.  We always share lots of funny laughs and stories…we really love our time with them (in case you haven’t picked up from how much I always rave about them on the blog!). 
011012013014015
They gave Jon & I our AWESOME birthday gifts, too! Of course they couldn’t have been more perfect and we both LOVED them!  I also picked up Emily’s gown….can’t wait to send it to her and get some pic to show it off! Mrs. Mary did GREAT- SOOO cute!!
{Jon thought the pink tissue paper in the bottom made for an “artsy” picture…Bless his heart; I’m rubbing off on him!!}
016017018021023
After brunch Jon dropped me off at Barnes & Noble to meet my lifelong BFF Chelsi for a cup of coffee and quick catch up. It was SO good to see her & hear about what’s going on with her!  It’s cool that we are both in the same place in our lives right now (newlyweds getting settled in our first homes) & can relate on so many issues.
024
I go to church with a few of my other best friends, so I really got to see them all in one day (except a few who live further away!)!!!….Am I spoiled or what?!?
What a FUN Sunday with my BFF’s!!!!

Happy Birthday, Big Jon!!

Big Jon turned 28 last Monday!!
{Feeling strong on his birthday…}
Fall Break 139
We were in Gatlinburg most of the day, but we went to eat Olive Garden with his family for dinner when we got back home.  We LOVE the OG…yum!
006007009
  They got him the perfect birthday gifts…exactly what he wanted.
MOOLAH!
002003004005
Ohhh yea!! Maybe he can buy some shirts that actually fit! (My man’s a hoss!)
I got him a Columbia vest, an adjustment at the chiropractor, and a massage.  The massage was actually part of a Groupon deal that included 15 minutes on a Chi machine (breaks up tissue around spinal cord, and supposedly equivalent to running 5 miles), an ionic foot bath (pulls toxins out of your body through your feet….this machine was broken so I’ll post about it on Thursday after our rescheduled appointment), and a traction machine to stretch out your spine.  Got his back feelin’ right!
I JUST realized that we didn’t have any cake….BUT, I did buy his steak dinner at the Peddler, so that’s even better anyway, right? He doesn’t have a sweet tooth like I do, so we all know how that’d end up.

HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my wonderful husband!!