Yay for Friday!

Finally, it's Friday again! Hallelujah.

Shane and Mandy are coming to visit this weekend. It's the first time they have been up this year, I think, so we are excited to have them. I'm sure we will do plenty of shopping while they are here, and perhaps play some Wii :-).

Earlier this week, I was in Blacksburg to do a career fair at VT. It was so fun to go back - it always feels like I never left, except that I feel older and wonder if the students are looking at me, thinking "Why are you here?" Obviously they aren't - for all they know, I'm a grad student (or do I still look young enough to pass for undergrad? hmm...). I got to visit some old coworkers, it is always nice to see them. The fair itself was rather boring, and talking to some of the students is just so awkward. They don't have a clue, don't know what to ask, don't have answers to questions. I swear its amazing I didn't have 100 job offers in college, because I know I was more impressive than any of the students I spoke with at that fair. Not to be egotistical or anything. LOL.

Tomorrow is the last day of February, and then we are finally into March. March gives me hope for warmer, sunnier days. And yard sales! Ya'll know I've missed my yard sales. I looked to see if there were any this weekend, but there were none nearby. Maybe next weekend! The only thing I have near my actually IS next weekend, but its a "Baby Clothing and Toy Consignment" sale at a church. Not anything I need!

Today is going to be warm - in the upper 60's. Combined with the fact that its a Friday, that's the perfect day to me. I hear it may rain, so that could literally put a damper on things, but that's ok. I'll just read Twilight in our new "Reading Room". We got 2 leather chairs for the front room of our house, and I've designated that the Reading Room. Maybe once we put in bookshelves and such, I'll call it the Library. How fancy.

Aunt Blakelyn....or Aunt B.B?

We got very exciting news last weekend! My sister-in-law on Scott's side, Jeanine, is pregnant! I'm going to be an Aunt! We are so happy for them. She is due in September :-)

This weekend is Valentine's Day, but we don't have any plans. Rory and I are going to Jennifer's book signing on Saturday at Family Christian Bookstore in Ashland. She'll be signing books from 12-3pm.

I'm going to VT later this month for a Career Fair, and then in March I have a training session in Atlanta for "Interpersonal Effectiveness". Haha, that should be fun. It's part of my Project Management training, which is one of my goals for 2009.

I didn't sleep at all last night because of the wind, and I've been sleepy all day. I absolutely HATE wind, and it kep me up all night. Howling and whistling and threatening to blow down trees. At least its winter and there are no leaves, so it isn't quite is likely for trees to come down.

I need to start planning our trip to Texas. My responsibility is San Antonio. There's so much to do there, but if anyone has suggestions, feel free to leave me comments!

Eric & Shannon visited last Sunday with Connor. He's getting so big, and he's so cute. We enjoyed spending the day with them. We went to the out to lunch, went to the mall (it was a gorgeous day), then played guitar hero and cooked out for dinner. It was a lot of fun!

Hopefully this weekend will be enjoyable too. I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday!

Wow.....its been a while

OK, so I apologize profusely for not posting a new blog in....well, 2 months. To anyone who is actually still visiting my blog, thank you!

I have good reason to blog today. I want to spread the word (again) about Jennifer Valent's new book, Fireflies in December. If you haven't already heard me talking about it, you probably haven't been listening to me. The book is fantastic so far. GO BUY IT. I might be able to get it signed for you :-).

Not much is going on. I've had the January blues, and February seems to be a bit brighter - literally. Each day, the sun is up for a moment longer and its a bit brighter when I get home from work. I cannot wait for Spring to be here.

Keeping me busy this winter has been the trusty Wii that Scott got me for Christmas. LOVE IT. The best games I have are Mario Kart, Guitar Hero: World Tour, Outdoor Challenge, Wii Fit, and I'm currently renting Harvest Moon. The latter just came in the mail yesterday from Gamefly (a game rental site which I'm not sure that I recommend, at this point) and I'm addicted already.

Eric & Shannon are visiting this weekend, and we are excited to see them. My goal this year is to do a better job of keeping in touch with my friends, so expect facebook messages and emails asking when you have a free weekend to hang out :).

I better sign off - its almost time to go. Tomorrow is Friday. WOO!

Christmas Party #1

My company's Christmas party is tonight at the Dominion Club, which is the country club in my neighborhood. It's quite convenient! I'm somewhat looking forward to it - I think I will feel more comfortable this year, since I've gotten to know so many people over the past year in my new position. I was able to find a cute dress that is actually flattering on me (i.e. not tight in the waist) at Dillard's this week. It shouldn't be too bad. We plan to get there early this year (last year we didn't get there until 9:00 pm) to get food, and if its boring, go home.

The one I am dreading is Scott's party next Saturday. Everything about it is dreadful: I don't know anyone, it's downtown, it's late at night....ugh. Plus, I feel the need to make a good impression on these people because I'm his wife and this will be the first time most of them are meeting me. I hate small talk, I'm terrible at it.

The one I'm most looking forward to is my family Christmas party! It's on the 20th (2 weeks from tomorrow), and its the start of a 2 week (minus one day) vacation for me. So I cannot wait. Plus, I love the Christmas party. It's the one day out of the year where all the family gets together to catch up. I just love that.

My Favorite Things

Why should Oprah get all the fun? Here's a list of all MY favorite things.

* Keurig Coffee Brewers - We received one of these as a wedding gift last year from our brother and sister-in-law, and its the best thing ever! It's a necessity for any coffee-lover, and even non-coffee drinkers can join in the fun with flavored teas and hot chocolate. It serves a single cup of coffee or tea, or a cup of hot water, in less than 30 seconds. The coffee & tea come in K-cups and can be purchased at Bed Bath & Beyond, Target, and several other stores. You can also join the Coffee Club on Keurig's website and get free shipping plus a percentage off. For those who don't want to part with their Folger's, you can purchase a My K-Cup filter and put in a scoop of your own coffee.

*Trader Joe's Kettle Corn - No doubt, the best Kettle Corn ever made. At only $2.99 a bag, you just can't beat it.

* Bare Minerals by Bare Escentuals - I began using this makeup a couple years ago when my mom bought me the "starter kit", and since then I've been introduced to their shadows, blushes, eyeliners, and lip glosses. The makeup is all natural ("so pure you can sleep in it") and good for your skin, plus it doesn't feel "cakey". The makeup kits are the best bargain - my favorite is this season's Bare Crystals kit. You get 2 eyeshadows, eyeliner, blush, mineral veil, buxom lip gloss, and 3 brushes for just $54. A steal when you consider how much each of those would cost by themselves.

*Victoria's Secret Very Sexy Mousse - For any girl who has thin, fine hair with no volume, this is the product for you. It runs for $10.50 a bottle, unless you choose to combine it with shampoo and conditioner - then you might get all three for $24. It's definitely the best volumizing hair product I've ever used.

* Neutrogena Healthy Defense SPF 45 Daily Face Moisturizer - After 1 bout of skin cancer, and another scare, I definitely want to keep my skin protected. This face moisturizer is a great way to keep my face protected all year long, and not just in the summer time.

That's all the ideas I can think of at the moment, but I'm sure more will come to me. Anyway, happy holiday shopping everyone!

December already?

OK, so not yet, but in a few hours it will be. This year has flown by, that's for sure.

Thanksgiving was great. Bonnie got in town about 8:10 on Wednesday night, then we headed to Lynchburg Thursday morning. We spent the afternoon playing basketball and watching movies, then had dinner at about 6. After dinner, we celebrated Anne's birthday with ice cream cake and gifts. On Friday, I woke up at 6 am, took a shower, then woke up Scott. We woke up Anne & Bonnie as well, and we all went out shopping.

Scott and I met the twins for breakfast about 9:30 at Panera, and we stayed and chatted for about 3 hours! It was great catching up with them. Poor girls had been up since 3:00 am.

We did a little more shopping at the mall (met up with Anne & Bonnie) then decided we'd had enough and went back to my parents house to relax. I took a nap while Scott worked on his computer. When I woke up, I headed over to Mandy's to do some scrapbooking. Then the whole family went to dinner at Watercrest that night. On Saturday, we had breakfast and Scott and I went out with Rory to do a little shopping. We relaxed some more in the afternoon, watched Superman, and had a bite to eat before making our way back to Richmond around 6:30. We made it back in time to go to the mall for a little while, then came back to the house and I fell asleep on the couch.

Today, we went to breakfast at the Silver Diner, then took Bonnie to the train station. I did some shopping this afternoon and have been relaxing all evening. I need to relax as much as possible, becuase December is going to be very stressful at work. UGH. I have 3 weeks to bring in $25M in revenue. Yuck.

I convinced Anne & Scotty to sign up for Ebates this past weekend, and they are both hooked already. Woohoo!

Yay Thanksgiving!

I'm quite excited to have a long weekend for Thanksgiving. I'm hoping they let us go early tomorrow - I know everyone is expecting it. I could really use the time off so I can make cherry pie (completely from scratch, mind you) tomorrow night for Thanksgiving. I'm also going to make some cranberry orange bread. I have so many things to do before tomorrow night!

We still haven't put ornaments on the tree - not a big deal, I love it with just the lights. We were going to do it last night, but Scott wasn't feeling well and he needed to do some work from home. We might have to wait until the weekend if we don't get it done tonight.

We started the Nielson Ratings booklets last Thursday and we go through tomorrow night. It's really fun, but it can get annoying having to write down every single thing you watch on tv. You even have to write down if the tv is on, and nobody's watching it!

Well, so much to do in the next couple days. Hopefully I can get it all done. Leaving work an hour earlier this week will certainly help.