Season's Greetings

Our Christmas cards have been stamped and ready to be mailed out since the first weekend of December. However, you may not see our debut delivery until this very week. So, what's the hold up you ask? The return address stamp I ordered online 3 weeks ago set me back a few weeks.

You see, I bought a handy dandy stamp gadget back in April for our wedding invitations. Since I already had the machine, all I needed was the stamp plate. I really didn't think it would take 3 weeks to construct and ship. Once the stamp plate finally arrived, I began doing a few test impressions only to realize that I needed to buy a new ink pad. Greeeeat. Another set back to getting our cards out at a decent time. I looked online and found that they were indeed in stock. I didn't want to deal with shipping again and figured I would just go to the store and pick it up myself.

The next day I took off work early just so I could make it before the store closed for the day. I came to find out that the refill ink pad I was looking for is only sold online. *sigh* It was like a stab to the heart. I was so sad. So, so sad. But alas, I did not give up! I did not wait for half of December to NOT use this cute little stamp of mine. I bought a regular ink pad and then made my own stamper since all I had was the plate. It worked out just fine and I hope you all treasure our little Santa gnome as much as I do. If you don't even care about our gnome, just tickle my fancy and say you love it anyways.

Alright, alright, I'll get to our very FIRST Christmas card now. I'm so excited to share them! I designed them myself and printed them through Mpix.  :) I only wish I ordered them in a larger size. At least now I know for next year!

Front

Back

Lessons Learned from our first Christmas (I'm sure I'll need to add more to the list later on):

• Order purchases made online well in advance of Christmas.
• Order larger Christmas Cards. Ours look so small next to all the ones we received!
• Don't move for at least a year so you can re-use the stamp for next year.
  
• Be patient.
  

I can't wait to add our card and write down other Christmas memories in our Christmas book that we got as a wedding present :D

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone!

Book Worm : The Hunger Games

I have hopped onto The Hunger Games bandwagon and so far I am loving the ride. I can't put the book down! I've found myself reading rather than sleeping, forcing myself to save the next chapter for tomorrow so I can get some rest. If you know me, this is a BIG deal. I am greedy with sleep, so you know it's a good book when you'd rather read than get those precious ZzZz's. There have been many moments where I find myself talking out loud while reading, whether I'm laughing, shocked, or sad by all the action taking place. This book has got my attention and I can't wait to finish the rest of the series. If you're just as late to the game as I am, go ahead and read it already!! Trust me. It's good. Really good.

Alright, alirght, enough with my nerdieness. Here are my goals for December:

1. Finish The Hunger Games series.
2. Keep Running. In fact, beat November mileage.
3. Create an engaging Cover Letter to go along with my new and improved Resume.
4. Have all Christmas shopping done the week before Christmas.
5. Beat Jeremy on Words with Friends AND Hanging with Friends. He's frustratingly smart/good and currently the reigning champ in our household. I MUST beat him.

My Strange Addiction : Canine Diaries

Have you ever heard of the T.V. show, "My Strange Addiction" on TLC? They have episodes where people are addicted to absurd things. For instance, addicted to eating toilet paper, eating sofa cushions, or collecting hair from drain pipes. Very disturbing. The list goes on and on with even more crazy addictions.

Our dog could very well be on the next episode.

Apollo needs to go to therapy or something. He has this thing for trash cans.  Yes, most dogs like to rummage through garbage, but Apollo likes to go in our room, when he knows he is not allowed,  and raid the two trash cans that are available to him. He picks through for what he specifically prefers and leaves the rest on the floor for us to pick up after him like we're his maids. It is very obnoxious and we are getting fed up with this crazy habit of his.

We know for sure that this is an addiction of his because lately we have put the trash cans off the ground to where he can't reach them. One night, we put the trash can on the floor and Apollo eyed the goods and went straight for it, WITH US IN THE ROOM!!! C'mon, man! At least think a little!

He, of course, gets in trouble by his foolish actions. Not only a few days later, by having trouble pooping the substances out, but he also gets crate time which we're beginning to think doesn't even phase him anymore. His feelings seem to hurt more if we ignore him with no attention.

For now, he is banned from our room. We like to think this sinks in a little more and that he learns a lesson. We need some kind of dog whisperer or something. Come tell us what goes on in that big head of his!

Despite Apollo's weirdo obsessions, we still love him to pieces and couldn't ask for a better dog. We love you, Apollo! (Noooooo, we could obviously ask for a better dog... one that doesn't eat all of the trash. Just kidding, Apollo. - Jeremy)

All I want for Christmas is.....

Hello all! December is upon us and the countdown to Christmas is officially on! Before I share my Wish List for 2011,  I'll go over how I did with my November goals. Ah ha hem......

1. Update and revamp my resume. I'm tired of commuting 3 hours a day. I need a new job  DONE! I must say, I am absolutely in LOVE with my new resume. It's modern and very me. Hopefully it will get me a job closer to home.
2. Start running again. (I kind of miss it)  CHECK! I ran a total of 13.19 miles for the month of November! 
3. Lose 5 Lbs. and KEEP it off! Maybe the running will help. I came close which is why I half-way crossed this out. I lost 3 of the 5 Lbs. Almost there!
4. Create some artwork for the bare walls in our home. Yeeeah...this didn't happen. I still need to work on this.
5. Get Jeremy to blog at least one time this month ;) Looks like I finally got not only ONE, but TWO blogs out of Jeremy!

And here's a peek at my Wish List in no particular order! A girl can dream, right?

1. 6 Piece Mixing Bowl Set from Crate&Barrrel---This was one thing I really wanted off of our wedding registry that I never got. Crossing my fingers that it appaears under the tree this year!
2. Nex 5 Digital Camera from Sony---Jeremy and I have been eying this baby for about a year now. I love it's compact size with interchangeable lenses and Jeremy could even use it for video footage! It's a little out of our price range but maybe one day....
3. Jason Mraz + Toca Rivera Acoustic Show---Hey, did you know I love Jason Mraz?! Do you even know who Toca Rivera is? (probably not) Either way, I guarantee you this show is awesome and I don't want to miss it! Let's take a road trip to VA and swoon over him on December 19th. Pretty please?
4. Parenthood Season 1---Parenthood is one of my favorite T.V. shows. I got sucked into it's greatness during Season 2, yet I still haven't seen Season 1. Now is my chance!
5. iTunes Gift Card---I love music. I love iTunes. Let's put two and two together.
6. Christmas Village Toy Store---Don't forget to give to the less fortunate this season! The Christmas Village Toy Store provides Charlotte families a chance to purchase new gifts for their children at an affordable price. Our church donates gifts to the organization so they can help build gift revenue. You can also volunteer your time to work at the Toy Store itself!  Jeremy and I picked a child's age group last year and had a blast choosing gifts to give for this great cause. We plan to do it again this year :)
7. Michael Bublé Christmas---I've heard a preview of Michael Bublé's latest Christmas album and I love it! He sings great versions of original Christmas songs. I want. I want. I want!
8. Race Bibs and Running Medals Display---I love to run any kind of road race and I never have the heart to throw away my racing bibs or medals. They are currently all hanging in the laundry room looking a hot mess. I stumbled across a bib/medal display on Etsy and LOVE the idea. I'm sure it's every runner's dream.

What's on your Wish List this year? Do tell! Oh, and happy shopping!

Give Thanks

We usually leave town for Thanksgiving but a new addition to our extended family is coming in the next few weeks, so traveling wasn't the best idea at this time. Although we missed them terribly, it was nice to spend our first Thanksgiving as a married couple with our immediate families.

I did keep tradition and ran a Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving day. Since we're usually in a small town for Thanksgiving, I'm used to running a race with maybe 100 people (which seems to be at least 2/3 of the population there). The race I ran in Charlotte had 8,000 people. 8,000!  It was crowded to say the least. The race was an 8K (5 Miles) but a 5K (3 Miles) walk was an option as well. I talked my friend, Sairy, into slacking off and signing up for the 5K walk, but running it instead. The race turned out to be pretty fun. A little difficult maneuvering around the other 7,998 people, but once we got going, it was worth it. I'm really glad Sairy ran by my side the entire time. She was just the extra motivation I needed. I ran with a GPS for the race and once we finished, I noticed that we ran 3.44 miles. Looks like they lied to us. Clearly not a 5K. Either way, I think we would have survived the 8K....

South Park Turkey Trot 2011

Once the race was complete, it was time to focus on the feast! It works out great that both Jeremy and I's family live in Charlotte. We ended up dividing the menu between families and met at my parents' house for the scrumptious feast. Food, football, laughter, Black Friday deals, and old stories were shared all afternoon. The only thing missing was pie. We somehow missed that in the beginning, but no worries, we ended up getting some later.  Turkey Day was also a celebration of my Dad's birthday! He's now 62 years young! {Happy Birthday, Dad!}

Mmmm...food!

Thanksgiving 2011!

Apollo wanted to make an appearance :)

Someone just  had to ruin the picture....haha :)

Once home, I took a nice long nap in preparation for Black Friday shopping at midnight!  Nickie (my sister) and I decided we were going to conquer the crowds since we are usually in a small town with limited shopping on Thanksgiving weekend. We had to take this opportunity and get some good deals! We met at Khols and once the doors opened, we ran through the store grabbing countless deals. It was actually kind of exhilarating! Waiting in the line to get in and pay for things wasn't too horrible. You make friends with those around you which makes the wait a tad more enjoyable. I was out until 3AM and saved a total of $266 between Khols and Target. SCORE!!!! My first Black Friday was a success :D

Ready to get our shop on! Long lines and all :)

There we have it. Thanksgiving 2011. I am thankful for the most wonderful, kind-hearted, handsome man that I get to call my husband. I'm thankful for our drooling mess of a dog, Apollo. And last but not least, I am thankful for two wonderful families that are there for support, love, and advice whenever we need. We hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving!!

NOW we can listen to Christmas music!!!!

Throw ya diamonds up!

I forgot to talk about this earlier, but a couple weeks ago my brother and I went to the "Watch the Throne" concert with Jay-Z and Kanye West. I'm not a girl, so I didn't take a bunch of pictures while we were there, so I'll just proceed to tell you about how awesome it was.

The arena filled up pretty quickly. I have to admit, that was a whole lot of black people and none of them were on the popular "CP" time. However, the stars of the show were held up in Atlanta and were late starting our show... almost 2 hours late. It was all good though because once it started, it was definitely a hip hop party.

Last year I saw Jay-Z in concert and it was awesome, but this year adding Kanye brought a different element to the show. The stage set up was clever. There was basically the main stage on one side, then another, smaller stage across from it. Also, each stage elevated about 20-30 feet up and had video playing underneath them when raised. (Did that make sense?) They also had HUGE screens on each side of the main stage showing both Jay-Z and Kanye while they performed so us folks in the nosebleeds could clearly see the performance. There were also lots of lights and flames and lasers going off giving you plenty to look at throughout the night.

Kanye West on the mini stage.

Jay-Z on the big screen.

Anyway, they did nearly every song from their new album, Watch the Throne, and mixed in some of their older hits as well. They really did a great job going back and forth with their songs too. They started out on separate stages, then Jay-Z took over, then back together, then Kanye took over, then back together. It was great because there was never a lull or break in the action which meant I just lost my voice quicker.

There was one thing they did that I thought was brilliant. Any time I go to a concert and a good/favorite song is performed, I usually want to hear it again. Well, they performed their song "N***** in Paris" and it was awesome. The crowd was loving it so guess what they did... that's right, they just performed it again. Crowd continued to go crazy (we were feelin' it) so ya know what... they did it one more time! Probably my favorite moment of the concert.

Overall it was a fantastic show. Also, very, very, very good album. You should own it if you don't already (if you like rap music). Enjoy the video clips from the concert below (taken by my phone so sorry it ain't in HD).

Baby Bump

I'm not the one who's prego, but MY SISTER IS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Eeeeeeeeeeeee! I'm so excited!!! I'm going to be an Aunt!!!!! I've been itching to tell the world for the past two weeks! I wanted to make sure it was confirmed by the doctor and that she was able to tell all friends and family before I opened my big mouth to the blogesphere.

Let me start from the beginning. Two weeks ago, my sister and her fiance of 9 years (they have been together for a total of 12 years), came over to our house for a visit. I hadn't seen her for a month (sad since we live 5 minutes away from each other) so I was super excited to see her and catch up. We were chatting about this and that when she interrupted and said she wanted to show me her Halloween costume. She went to change and came back wearing this:

There's going to be a Little Baby. Ha, get it?

It took me a few seconds to comprehend and then my jaw dropped. I hesitated and asked..."IS THIS FOR REAL?!?!??!?!" in excitement. She confirmed with a big smile and said, "Yup, it's for real!"

Kind of funny. This whole situation almost turned into a "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant" episode. Turns out the tentative due date for their baby BOY is March 1st! March! That's 3 1/2 months away!!! I don't have much time to plan a baby shower, but I am super psyched to plan one in the coming months.

Ahhhhhhhhh!!! I'm going to be an Aunt! I'm going to be an Aunt! I'm going to be an Aunt! If you can't tell, I'm excited!!!!!!!