Pastimes

This is a long one... at dinner after tennis last night, we had a discussion about our different pastimes. Some of the girls were talking about reading and going to musicals, which, I partake in neither of the above. Everyone thought that was so strange that I don't do those things... So, the question is... what in the world DO I do all the time, because I sure don't sit and relax!! So, on the way home I pondered the thought of what do I do all the time?! Here it is... not in any particular order.
1) I spend time with Jared. We have dinner together every night that we are home... even though we are busy in the evenings, I try and make dinner for us before or after we have stuff to do. We spend every waking second together that we can.
2) I talk on the phone... so much that I had to get an unlimited plan, I think I tipped 6,000 minutes last month :) No Joke!
3) I Work. I spend my days working and I put a lot of time into it. I like to analyze reports and look closely into the numbers that I receive. I like to plan everything for the next hour, week, month, year... anything that has to do with work must be planned and most importantly organized!
4) I Socialize. For the last three weeks, honestly, three weeks, there hasn't been a week night that I haven't had something to do!
5) I participate in Junior League. This one takes up a lot of time and I enjoy what we do. I am on the WIN committee this year and we do a lot with the battered women's shelter. I spend a lot of time planning our events with them and also going to the shelters.
6) I shop. I shop everyday without fail, sometimes more than others.... but nevertheless, everyday. I frequent what Jared refers to as "retail establishments" more than any human alive. He says that every time he calls me I am in either a gas station, Starbucks, the nail salon, the mall, Forever 21, Hobby Lobby, the list goes on and on..
7) I play Tennis. We have a lesson every Wednesday evening, and I honestly don't play any other time, maybe someday I will practice in between lessons.
8) Take pictures. I love my new camera and even though I don't have the slightest clue how to use it, I still enjoy taking pics!
9) Plan events. I am currently planning a baby shower, holiday party, and a birthday party. I love to plan things for my friends and get everyone together.
10) Work out. I have actually been really good about this lately. I feel much better when I go to the gym, hopefully it will last, we'll see.
11) Bunco. We have such a good bunco group that gets together monthly and we have the best time. It is such a great group of women that didn't really know each other that well before and we have become great friends! Even though it is called bunco, I cant remember the last time we actually played!
12) Read my monthly magazine subscriptions. This includes Southern Living, Everyday, US Weekly, InStyle, People, Vogue, Self, Shape.
13) Cook. I love to cook! I have about 10 things that are in my normal regimen, but I also love to try new things!
14) Run the "Greer Hotel". Every weekend during football season we entertain guests and have our friends stay. We absolutely love having them here and it makes me feel so lucky to be able to see them so much. Every Friday, before they arrive, I get so excited I can hardly stand it! I stay busy cleaning the house, washing their sheets, planning snacks and meals, chilling wine and beer, and laying out blankets for the ones that will be on the couches. Last weekend, when we had 5 or 6 people, some of them slept on pallets and some on couches. It was so much fun!! I can't wait for the next one!
15) Spend time with my family. We see my sister, Mark and Charlie almost every day and my parents probably every other day. We love to sit around and hang out, mainly we play with Charlie, he is our entertainment these days.
16) We walk our dogs. Our Louie knows when it is 5:30 and he starts whining for his walk at this time every single day!! I am not kidding, he can tell time and he will not stand for his walk to be behind schedule. So, everyday at 5:30, we get him and Charlie ready and head out around the neighborhood. All the residents in the neighborhood love Louie and they know him by name! They all shout, "Hi Louie" or "look mom, it's Louie." He is so popular around here! Ha!
17) I blog. This one is obvious.
18) Download music. I love listening to music really loudly all day long in the car. I spend a lot of time downloading music and putting it onto my phone.
19) Surf the net. I have several websites that I frequent daily.
20) Have political discussions with my husband, on the same team of course! We love to talk politics and about the economy. He is so smart and knows so much about all of those things, that I love to listen. The best part is though, he truly values my opinions and my thoughts and genuinely asks me what I think. He always tells me how smart he thinks I am... I tell him he has to say that :)

It was interesting to actually sit down and think about what I do on a daily, weekly basis. It makes you realize that you are capable of so much!
Hope everyone has a Happy Halloween!! I will post pictures of our costumes. We are going to our friend's Halloween party tomorrow night, cant wait!!
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Fabulous Fall Weekends

Jared and I in the pit before the game Spears and Jake

All the girlies... everyone is looking at different cameras :)

Little Piggies... I was trying to figure out this camera!!

We had a great weekend around here with all our friends! It was so good to see all of you!!

After looking at all these pics, I have decided that I still have no idea how to use this camera! Don't get me wrong, its not like I have tried to learn and haven't been successful, I just haven't had time to study up on it!

To say that I had a long week last week may be the understatement of the century! My company went through a major reorganization and there was a lot of uncertainty from Monday to Friday. Everything ended up working out, but I never thought Friday would arrive. Anyway, I still have a job, I will have different products and a new manager, but a job nonetheless. If I learned anything last week, it was that a job can come and go in a heartbeat, literally, and although my career has always been important to me and will continue to be, there are many other things in life that are way more important. I sometimes get too wrapped around the axle over the uncontrollables and I have learned that you just have to hope for the best. I am so thankful for my family and friends and that I continue to be so blessed!

I hope that everyone has a good week, off to dinner with the fam!

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Crafty Doesnt Begin to Cover It...

My first wreath!

A pretty fall view of the craft fairs
Mo and I with our new frames
Some of the "interesting" items :)Good thing these carts were half off! Packed in like sardines
Charlie having his lunchWreath for MommaBusy elvesMy Fall Wreath... that I hung today! YAY!Jared and I at BonefishDad in his new bicycle cap :) .... and goggles!

This weekend was full of birthdays and crafting! A while back, when I was looking for a few hobbies, I never thought this would be one of them... I spent my entire weekend making wreaths!? It all started with a little trip to a local store that had the most wonderful Christmas decorations... while Mo and I wondered the store, we decided that we could make the expensive decorations that we were so in love with. And we did just that... all weekend long! We went and purchased our materials and then I made my first one Friday night... it's the Christmas one in the pics above. Friday was Mark's birthday so Jared and I babysat while he and Jess went out on a date. While babysitting, I experimented with the wreath and

was so happy when it was done!

We woke up Saturday morning and headed to the craft fairs! My mom drove Jess, Mo and I out there and we spent a few hours browsing around.. they had some pretty iffy items and also some fabulous ones. The ratio of fabulous items was about 10 to 1, not in their favor :) We found two booths that my mom had hit up last year and they were great! The first one was a booth that sold great wooden picture frames. I fell in love with the biggest one he had that holds three pictures and the man gave it to me at a discounted price because we were all buying them. I am so excited about it, just haven't figured out where to hang it... The next booth was SO cool, it is this lady that travels around and takes pictures of angels and statues in cemeteries across the country. Sounds creepy, but its not at all... they are so beautiful and peaceful. She puts the pictures onto canvases and adds sayings to them. The one I bought is a picture of an angel from St. Louis and it says "believe." Here is her website http://www.silent-echoes.com/ Check it out!

After the fairs, we went to HL to purchase the materials for a wreath for mom, Jess, Mo and an autumn one for myself. We made them as the boys watched the sad football game. Here are a few pics of how they turned out.

Tonight was daddy's birthday, we celebrated with dinner at Bonefish. These are hilarious pictures of him with a few of his gifts. He loves riding his bicycle and swimming, so he mainly got apparel and accessories for his favorite sports. Here felt he needed to try on his new goggles and bicycle cap... at Bonefish! Good thing he didn't get a new Speedo! Ha! Happy Birthday Daddy, I love you more than you'll ever know! Thanks for being the best dad in the entire world!

I'm off to bed.. Hope everyone has a great week!

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Desk and Decorations

As Jared and I were shopping last weekend, I spotted a new desk that I loved, it was just what I had been looking for since we built our house a couple years ago. I told him that we should get it and he said to put it on my Christmas list... this is his usual response from about September on :) So, of course, I pouted and said that I didn't want a desk for Christmas.. and I had been looking for so long... and it was a well thought out purchase... none of that seemed to work. So, we ended up leaving and I pouted for a good five minutes, before I was over it :) I honestly thought about just going and getting it the next day (similar to the camera on a prior post, if you recall) HA! But then I came home from work and Jared had already got it for me. What a sweetie, I love that boy! Here is a pic of the new desk, so neat and organized. It inspired me to clean out my old one AND the office closet! Whew, that was a serious task. It was one of those closets that when you open it, you just never knew what may fall out on your head. Now it's nice and tidy, what a good feeling! It even makes it more enjoyable to be working in the office!!

My other project this week was to create an arrangement similar to one I saw at the new PB. It really caught my eye when I was in there and I checked the price of the arrangement. It was $49.99. I thought, that's not bad.. oh but wait, that was the price of each stem! What?!? We are on the verge of a recession here people!! No way Jose. So, I took myself to Hobby Lobby and of course everything was half off, each stem I needed was $6.99 and 50% off! What a deal. The glassware was also half off this week so I got the entire arrangement for what I would have paid for one measly stem! Here is a pic of how it turned out.

And of course, a pic or two of Baby Charlie! Hope you are all having a wonderful week! We are headed to the craft fairs on Saturday, I hope I have fabulous finds to post afterwards!!

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Another Fun Weekend

Mommy and her presents
Watching her open her gifts!

Charlie playing with his favorite present, the wrapping paper :)
His new drums that Jared and I got him

Have you ever heard the saying, "if all you do is look forward to the weekend, you miss out on over 70% of your life??" I don't think that's actually how the saying goes, but its along those lines :) Point is, I definitely enjoy my weeks because I like my job, but I sure do like the weekends so much more!! How could you not look forward to the weekends?!? This one was really enjoyable! Jared had class on Saturday, which always leaves me looking for things to do around the house and around town. I got a bunch done while he was at school, then we headed to Charlie's 1/2 bday party. I think Charlie had the best time, he was so cute and happy all throughout the evening! It was like he knew that everyone was celebrating him! Afterwards, Jared and I went to hangout with our friends Steph, Jimbo, Candice and Denny. I had already gotten ready for bed then we decided to go over to their house and watch football. I basically went in my pjs and ponytail. Today we went to the Promenade and looked around, I didnt find much that I needed... I guess I wasnt in the shopping mood. All in all, another gorgeous weekend that has come to an end way too soon!!

Here are a few pics from Mom's bday last week and Charlie's 1/2 bday this weekend!

Hope everyone has a great week!!

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Yummy Recipe and My Famous Cousin!!

I stole this off someone's blog a while back, can't even remember which blog it was. Anyway, this is by far the easiest recipe that I have ever made.

Poppy Seed Chicken:

1 Rotisserie Chicken

1 16 ounce sour cream

2 cans cream of chicken

2 tbls poppy seeds (they are in the spice section in a little jar with a red top)

A few Ritz crackers

2 tablespoons butter

Shred the chicken into small pieces and combine it with the next three ingredients. Put the mixture into a baking dish. Cover with crushed Ritz crackers. Melt the butter and pour over top. Bake for 25 minutes at 350. Tasty!!!

My cousin is SO Famous!!! Check her out on Faith Hill's website. She is a huge Steelers Fan (our dad's are from Pittsburgh and she has always been a fan). She is the "Fan of the Week!" How cool!! Click on the website and scroll down to see the pic. Yay Christie, that's so much fun!
http://www.faithhill.com/snf/
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Viewer Discretion Advised.... sort of

As I am browsing a website tonight looking at Halloween costumes, I stumbled across this one and I thought.... honestly, who looks at this costume and thinks, "that's it, that's the one!"

This was definitely not the worst I found, I was too afraid to post some of the others. When I went to that place in town to look for costumes, it seemed that there was nothing other than this gross stuff. I have no clue what Jared and I will be, I found a funny idea earlier that I doubt we will do... Worker Bee and Queen Bee. Ha! The boy wears a tool belt and the girl a queen outfit. That's funny!! We are thinking hard for a super cute costume. Let me know if anyone has any ideas!! Hope y'all are having a good week!
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PICS from the weekend!!

Go HOGS!
Jordan and JaredSteph and JimboSteph and Lou Lou
Lou and his girlfriend Allie
Louie busy watching football with the boys
Charlie wanting his dad's cup!
Jess, Charlie and I
Charlie with two of his favorite women

The Boerner family in front of their apartments,

only two more tailgates there before the U of A

tears them down :( So many good memories there!! The jets buzzing around town before the fly over.. they look like birds, ha!
Daddy and the birthday girl, Happy Birthday Mommy!!Charlie with his buddy, Dr. PaytonNow on his head! Charlie loves him, I'd say Dr. Payton has

some experience with little ones his age! Lora and Brian with Charlie and the massive onion rings!So Cute! Like father, like son!
The gang on the patioJared and I
About to head off on the trails, the 2012 Olympic Team!!

We had such a great, relaxing weekend around here. Friday after we finished planting our "Lucky tree" we went and grabbed dinner and then went to bed early. We woke up Saturday and went to tailgate for a little while. While the boys went to the game, we went shopping and finished picking up some birthday goodies for our mom. We later went back to tailgate with Steph, Jimbo and friends.

Here are a bunch of pics from the weekend. We just got back from meeting our family at Red Robin for tids and bits. After church this morning, they met up with friends to go ride bikes and they usually stop off there for refreshments. Since Uncle and myself are watching the little one today, we went and met them for a bit so they could all ooo and ahh over the birthday girl's grandbaby! I'm in charge of the birthday dinner tonight, so I better get started :) Fish Tacos are on the menu!! Yummy!

Hope everyone has a good Sunday!

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