Friday, January 30, 2009

My Life In Pictures

Rules: Refer to the following list of prompts. Go to Google Images, search for your answers. Post.


1. The age you will be on your next birthday:
2. A place you'd like to travel:


3. Your favorite place:

4. Your favorite object:

5. Your favorite food:

6. Your favorite animal:

7. Your favorite color:
8. The town in which you were born:
9. The town in which you live:
10. The name of a past pet:


11. The first name of your present love:
12. An event you'd like to relive:

13. Your nickname:

14. Your first name:
15. Your middle name:

16. Your last name:

17. A bad habit of yours:


18. Your first job:

19. Your grandmother's name:

AND


20. Your major in college:



Wednesday, January 21, 2009

My Favorite Things

1. New Shoes. Bought these on sale at Anthropologie the other day (the only way I ever buy anything there). Love them! Mine are Navy blue with brown piping and are not peep toe - more ballet slipper. I couldn't find an exact picture online and didn't want to wait to get home to take a real photo so I could post this blog. Oh well, there shoes - you get the idea.

2. Mary Higgins Clark. I have been reading MHC since I was in Junior High School. Every year around this time I get in the mood to read mysteries and there are non better than hers!

3. New Jeans. After weeks of my husband begging me to buy some jeans that didn't have the back hem ripped off from walking on them, I found a pair I liked on sale at J.Crew. Although they are categorized as "short" and I still have to wear hills with them, I really like the fit. I will definitely buy some more when I get to a smaller size.

4. Martha Stewart House Keeping Book. I had MLK day off work and decided to take advantage of the free day and clean out my closets, drawers, cupboards, file cabinets, etc. Martha had a whole list of things I should do every 6 months. I have to admit that I already had a spread sheet of seasonal cleaning chores that pretty much matched hers perfectly. But this book is worth it's weight and gold. And trust me, it weighs a ton!5. Sweet Life Cakes. Check out their website for the cutest and literally the tastiest cakes I have ever had!!! They do great work at very reasonable prices. I have hosted 2 showers where we used their cakes and cannot tell you what a hit they were. I highly recommend using Laura & Mallory for all of you celebratory confections!


6. Cardigan Sweaters. I wish I had one in every color. I am really enjoying the boyfriend cardigans that are out right now too.


7. Label Maker. A Christmas gift from my husband. It proved to be very useful on my Cleaning/Organization Day last week.
8. Loreal Double Extend Mascara. I feel like I am wearing false eyelashes!9. Bridgewater Sofa's and Chairs. I can't wait to get a new living room suit in this style.

10. Rate My Space. I like the show okay, but am in love with the site!

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

My Favorite Things

  1. Planet Earth Series. At one point I was considering putting this on my Christmas List. But it was $60 on amazon.com and I just couldn't convince myself that it was worth that much money. I am glad I didn't get it because it is now The Discovery Channel and I have DVR'd it for FREE. But after watching it I have to say it would have been worth the $60. The tag line says to fall in love with your planet all over again. Our Father's creation really is the most amazing thing you will ever see.

  2. Chocolate Pudding with Bananas. My new favorite low-fat snack. Just chop up a banana and top with Fat Free Chocolate pudding. It is very yummy and filling.

  3. Skiing. Even though my poor husband endured a knee injury, we still had a great time skiing over Christmas. I can't wait to go back! For someone who isn't very active, I could ski all the time.

  4. Spring colors. I am so excited about the bright clothes coming out for Spring. For a moment I forget it is 30 degrees outside and my mind wanders the the freshness of spring.


  5. Salmon. Another low fat and healthy menu item. There are a million different ways to prepare it and they are all delectable!

  6. iPods. Okay, so I am a little behind the times on this one. I have never wanted an iPod. Never saw a reason to have one. Actually, my phone used to be one and I NEVER used it. Until I started using the elliptical. Now I cannot live without it. The time goes by much faster and the music helps me keep pace. I am going to have to get one of my own instead of always relying on my husband to share his.
  7. Harmony Landing. A cute little home boutique in Homewood. It is next door to at Home, another favorite merchant on mine.

  8. Forsale-byowner.com. I am addicted to checking this website. I check it daily.

  9. My Cat Nurse. Ben was out of town over the weekend (it was our first time apart since we got married). I got some Thai take out for dinner that didn't agree with me and ended up losing my dinner in the middle of the night. I'm not used to Ben not being there to take care of me when I am sick but Marley stepped right in to take his place. The sweet little guy wouldn't leave my side. He was such a good nurse. I could tell he was really worried about me! I guess he was paying me back for all the times I have taken care of him when he coughed up a big nasty hairball.

  10. Cuisinart Food Processor. I already blogged about getting this as one of my Christmas presents from Ben, but y'all...Seriously. Amazing.

Friday, January 2, 2009

Christmas, New Years, Ski Trip & Sad News

The Grizzles are back in Alabama after a 10 day trip to the big O-H-I-O. Just now starting to feel caught up. We had a wonderful time with my family. I only get to go home once a year, so we make it count when we go!

We spent all day on the 23rd trying to make it to my parent's house with out killing ourselves on the icy roads. We even had to stop off an exit in Kentucky because they had closed the interstate due to bad road conditions. It was extremely icy and very scary to drive on. All I could do was coast my car and pray we didn't hit anything while it slithered across the lanes. I was a nervous wreck with Marley in the car. I can't imagine what it will be like to travel with actual children in the car. He was sedated in the back seat the whole time and never even noticed a thing...lucky devil. Nonetheless, we made it to Proctorville LATE that night without any scratches.

The next day was Christmas Eve and we went to my grandparents house to continue our tradition of opening presents and eating with my dad's family. It is one of my all time favorite traditions. We came home that night and continued another tradition of opening new PJ's to wear to bed while we wait for Santa to visit. Usually just Ben and I do this, but I decided to buy the whole family matching sets this year. They weren't identical, just flannel pj's with matching button up shirts. But I must say, we all looked pretty darn cute!

Christmas day my sister had to work and couldn't make it back home until Saturday so we put off opening presents. That's right, I had to wait 3 extra days to open my much anticipated gifts! So goes the life of a girl whose sister works for the Big Ten. Ben and I went ahead and exchanged our presents on Christmas day and we killed time Friday by hitting the after Christmas sales and going to dinner with one of my best friends and her husband, Josh & Manda.

Saturday turned out to be worth the wait. I received a ton of goodies including but not limited to a new ski coat, a Cuisinart food processor (I had been DYING to have one and couldn't be happier with it), a fax/copier/scanner/printer (also much needed and appreciated), a label maker, lamps, movies, gift cards, clothes, perfume and the list goes on...

Sister got new slippers to match her new pet, Zoe the Bengal Cat!

Ben and I in our new ski coats. Luckily they both had removable liners since it ended up being in the 50's where we skied!

Mom's so cute!

Dad with is new Golf GPS thingymajig.

Part of our Christmas from my parents was a ski trip. They got us all a cabin for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at Winterplace Ski Resort just outside of Beckley, West Virginia. I hadn't skied since high school and was afraid I had lost the knack but picked it right back up. This was Ben's first time to do it and he was off to a really good start until he tore his ACL on a really hard fall down a slope he wasn't supposed to be on (thanks, Sister). Still, we had a great time skiing, playing games at the cabin and just hanging out.

Before Ben tore his ACL.

After Ben tore his ACL.


Wednesday morning we got a call that my cousin Nikki had died. She fell 16 stories from her balcony at a hotel in Orlando. We were and are, of course, devastated. Nikki was a single mother with an 8 year old little girl. We will miss her beautiful smile and wonderful sense of humor. Thank you so much to all of you who have been praying about this ongoing situation. There is nothing more sad than seeing Taylor without her Mommy. Please continue to keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

We made it home New Year's Eve. After the trip and finding out about Nikki we were pretty much exhausted. We watched Hancock and Ben and I were in bed by 11:00. So much for watching the ball drop? Although I have to admit that I haven't watched it in years...so I didn't miss it that much.

We drove back to Alabama New Year's Day. It was good to get home, even if it was to rainy and stormy weather.

I pray this year brings lots of blessings to you and your family!