The Rumor is True...

…about State Workers & food! Okay so there may be several rumors about state workers, but the one I’m referring to is that there’s always food around. Since I’ve been working for the state, for a year in September, I have seen more food come through the office than comes through my own kitchen! When I was in my old position, every Wednesday a sweet retired lady, Mrs. Sharp would bake something fresh every morning and bring it in for our section to snack on. It ranged from cookies to brownies, cakes and pies, but my FAVORITE was when she made her pound cake. Oh. My. Goodness…SO GOOD! I’m telling ya when she got here every Wednesday morning, there was a buzz around the office that went something like, “cookies today- better get em fast!” or “pound cake is here, get it now or never!” And believe me, I always got my share haha!

I have to admit one of the biggest bummers about leaving my old position is that I no longer get to have Mrs. Sharp’s Wednesday treats:( But what I do get, is my new boss’s treats! Probably at least twice a month if not more, my boss treats us to ice cream, goodies from Panera, cupcakes, etc. She often just shows up with an armful and says “pick one!” In case ya didn’t know, July is National Ice Cream month as well. Well, our Bureau has now had two ice cream days and the most recent was a help yourself to a freezer full of it! I chose a Reese’s Klondike Bar- yumm:)

Today after my boss got back from an appointment, she spruced up the 2:30 afternoon lull with cupcakes! And these were no skimpy cupcakes, I’m talking The Cake Shop cupcakes. There was a box full of flavors but I went for the Snicker’s one, mmm delicious!




I really enjoy all the treats around the office but goodness knows I shouldn’t be eating them! Whenever I do get my lazy self into some healthy eating habits, it’s going to be tough to come here and face the goods!

Young House Love Shelves- They're Up :)

SIDENOTE: My bathingsuit is STILL NOT HERE! I have been tracking it online and it’s now on it’s third trip to Jacksonville…why?! Every time I call I get someone who says “Oh the tracking shows here it’s in Jacksonville and it’s on its way, you should get it soon!” Puh-lease. I am beyond frustrated with this dang thing & can’t seem to talk to someone who knows why it’s doing what it’s doing!! Almost a whole month has gone by since I ordered it…maybe one of these days it will make it here:/

I’ve already posted pictures of the completed shelves on FB & spoiled the fun, but here they are again with start to finish pictures. I really love the way they turned out. I may rearrange here and there with the stuff on the shelves, but for now, this is what they look like. If you want instructions for these bad boys, you can find them here at younghouselove.

*Special thanks to both Dads for their handyman skills & help* Ya'll rock!

I would have had a picture of the building process but somebody (Big David!) got a head start on them:)





My Dad & I hard at work. Well he was working, I was pretending to work;)



I hadn’t gone shopping yet for knick knacks for the shelves, but after scrounging the house and boxes of useless stuff, I gathered enough to pull them together in a presentably decorated fashion. Nevermind that I stole stuff off the cabinets which now look bare or that I stole a jar from my 3 piece jar set on the dining room table. I needed stuff and I found stuff! I think one of my favorite things is the books. I have never really liked hardback books for reading purposes because I like the flexibility of a paper back, but when it came to decorating the shelves, I was scrounging for as many of my hardbacks I could find! A little tip I learned from Young House Love is using books to decorate, but be sure to take the cover off. They are so much prettier and simpler without those glossy unattractive covers on them. I will probably keep my eye out at garage sales/goodwill for cheap hardbacks just so I can use them for decoration.



I also really like the DIY artwork that I made from an empty frame and scrapbook paper. I took some “thoughts” as well from my Real Simple magazines and framed those which gives it a “don’t take life too serious” theme:)





I can’t wait for Christmas to come around so I can change up the theme. One thing I have to figure out now is where our tree is going to go since I just took up the big wall I was planning to put it against! Oh well- I still have a little while to figure that out:)

We're Baacckk:/

Well, after 9 glorious days off, it was back to work today. Boo! We had a wonderful time at Disney but boy was it hot and crowded! We probably will not be visiting again in July since it is just so much more pleasant at other times of the year. Each day was fun-filled with parks and lots of food! We usually hit two parks a day, but maybe more if we were up for it. It was the third time we stayed at our resort, the Caribbean Beach Resort. We love it! Afternoons were usually broken up by pool time before heading to the next park. We also went to Islands of Adventure one day to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter...VERY COOL! We really enjoyed ourselves and here's a few pictures of our trip:)







Oh and we went to the outlet malls one night and my momma bought me some new shoes:) I love them and now I feel all trendy in my "gladiators" :o)

07.14.10

Not a lot to blog about today. I gave blood after work, it was uneventful and I always feel good for the deed after I'm done.

Saw a sign on the way home for a Found Dog that said "Found Pug. A face that only a mother could love. Call..." haha! It's the little things that get me through life.

Umm, my bathingsuit still isn't here. I'm starting to get really bummed that it may not be here before we go on vacay, and i ordered it the end of June:( Fingers crossed it gets here before soon!

Oh and I forgot to mention, but we are going to do the "Keys to the Kingdom" behind the scenes tour while we're at Disney! It's about a 4 hour walking tour and I absolutely can't wait!!

Until we go, this is what I'll be thinking about:



To wrap it up I leave you with a beautiful picture of yours truly, :-)

Summer Reading

Fair Warning; Book post ahead, may be boring to some!

In the last couple months, I have been reading like a mad-woman. Since I got my new position and now have an hour lunch break, I had to find something to do to occupy my time. I have always loved to read but it’s usually only specific authors that I love and will only read when their newest book comes out. Nowadays I always have a thick book weighing down my purse and one waiting in the wings so that when I finish, I don’t go a moment without a new one. I love the thought and keepsake of buying a book because I often re-read them, but when you go through one a week like I have been doing lately, that can get pricey. In comes my favorite new place, the library! Not only can you rent books, but 7 DVDs at a time! Granted, they are not the newest releases, but there’s always some oldies but goodies to be found. Like Weekend at Bernie’s & A League of Their Own to name some that I’ve surely picked up before. Recently I got the Aviator and the Reader. Never got around to the Aviator but hey, it was rented for free so it didn’t really matter!

I have my favorite authors and then I have ones I just blindly go to the library and pull off the shelf to see if it’d be a good read. I own all the Nicholas Sparks’ books, and Emily Giffin just came out with a new one, The Heart of the Matter, that I’m dying to read but have to at least wait til it’s on paperback to buy (which I like better than hardback anyway). I’ll admit I don’t read anything life-changing or intellectually challenging, but I do read for pleasure and if that includes Chick-Lit romance novels so be it. I was starting to run out of material so I was looking online for suggestions and came across Nora Roberts. She is a romance novelist but her books also have some sort of suspenseful plot and mystery involved. The woman has written well over 100 books and I am hooked, so it looks like I’ll have something to read for a looong time. I just read Black Hills & I’m currently reading Northern Lights, both which I’ve thoroughly enjoyed.


Northern Lights was made into a Lifetime movie with Leann Rimes so somehow I want to find the movie to watch when I’m done with the book. I honestly don’t even know where to start since there’s no longer movie rental stores:(

Today I picked up two more books to make sure I have plenty for the Disney trip!

What’s on your reading list? I’d love to hear suggestions!

Feelin' Hot Hot Hot!

Okay, you might live in Florida if your car reads 111 degrees. That’s right folks, and here’s proof:

Might I add this was nearly 5:00 in the afternoon. Phew, glad I don’t live where it gets that hot. Oh wait, I do, and it WAS! Yiikess…

Friday night was Bunko, and I lost a roll off for my 5 bucks back- just my luck! But we had fun and I ate way too much food. Buffalo chicken dip=pure bliss. Of course I was paying for it in the morning…I know, I know, TMI.

Saturday was pretty uneventful, and ended in a trip to Lowes in which we decided to make, DRUMROLL PLEASE….floating shelves! One of the blogs I can’t get enough of http://www.younghouselove.com/ is full of DIY ideas. For a long time now I have wanted to make the floating shelves that they gave a tutorial on and we finally broke down and decided to do it. You always have ideas and say oh I could make that, or we should make that but it just gets tucked away and forgotten about. Well not this time. We have a big blank wall in our living room where it merges into the dining area and that’s where these beauties are going to end up. (I think). I will put pics up when they’re done. My awesome Father-in-law wanted to get started on them while we made our way over to use his shop Saturday morning, and by the time we got there, he pretty much had them knocked out! So thanks Big Dawg! I filled all the holes with wood filler and all that’s left is I need to sand, prime & paint. Then they’ll be ready to hang. Next stop, finding lots of neat things to adorn them with. I’m thinking vases, pictures, starfish, candles, etc…

Sunday I was asked/invited to take pictures at Zoinks for my mom’s friend’s daughter’s 4th birthday. I must say I need some practice with fast moving kids in low lighting, but here’s a few shots from the day. Oh and I must say, it’s a pretty cool place and I was ITCHING so bad to get in those bouncy houses! Why can’t they have those kinds of places for adults??

Miss Ryleigh

My In-Laws were hosting a fish fry Sun. afternoon while I was at the bday, but when I returned I found my boys and the rest of the gang taking a dip in the neighbors pool. I sweated my butt off while sitting there watching since I didn’t have my suit, but got some cute pictures instead!

Sluggey peeked in for an over the fence visit!

The Hubs

Remi always has an eye on whoever is in the water.

Pretty Boy!

Oh and one last thing, I ordered a new bathingsuit from Victoria’s Secret a few weeks ago and it’s still not here. Usually I get my suits from Old Navy or Target, but they were on sale and my mom offered to pay for some of it just because so I got one. Well, long story short, something got messed up on the forwarding end (because my address is forwarded from my parents to mine because of the move) and now my suit came to Tallahassee to my parents address, USPS saw it had a forward request, and then sent it to PENNSYLVANIA just to be able to re-forward it to my new address. So now it’s been 3 weeks, I still don’t have the suit, and I’ve already missed approximately 5 pool opportunities to wear my new suit. Although the part that really stinks is I won’t look anything like the model who’s wearing it so I don’t know why I’m in a hurry to get it! Haha!!

4th of July

And yet again, I can't move my pictures under the text where I want them to be!!

I don't even know who this is but she was jumping so she became my subject!

For probably the first time in history, at least in my history, I think this was the first July 4th holiday that didn't involve going out of town or at least having something planned. David worked all day Sunday at his old job (City Parks & Rec) and I went to my Aunt's get together with my Mom & Dad. It was a great day at the pool with lots and lots of food and people. Katie came by later to hang out and then she, Remi & I rode the golf cart in my parents neighborhood to catch the firework show from the church across the street. Of course, right as i'm about to have my first play shoot with my new cam and the fireworks, I take ONE picture and my camera dies. Sheesh. My own fault but In was rather disappointed. Anywho, here's some pictures from the day. I had fun taking action shots of people going down the slide and off the diving board. And you'll also see the cake I made (alternate to the rainbow cake I've made before, thanks to Lindsay's July 4th color modification idea!) I accidentally broke one of the layers so it was a 5 layer instead of 6, BUT it worked out perfectly because then I was able to put my cake lid on, which I couldn't before with 6 layers!

Not much longer now either til our Disney trip! I am soo ready to be there. Call me corny but I actually have a Disney CD that I listen to for a few weeks leading up to each trip. It's got all my favorite movie songs and yes, I know every word, and no, I'm not afraid to sing them at the top of my lungs. (with the windows up! haha!) If I had a kid in the backseat, might not seem so weird, but to pull up next to me and see me singing "I'VE GOT GADGETS AND GIZMOS A PLENTY, I'VE GOT WHOSE-ITS AND WHATS-ITS GALORE...YOU WANT THINK-A-MA-BOBS? I GOT TWENTY...BUT WHO CARES, NO BIG DEAL, I WANT MOOOREEE! (Ariel-Part of Your World) in case ya didn't know. yaaa might freak a few people out. Oh well, that's me and so what if I'm a big kid? What's the rush to grow up anyway?! Like they say, "Growing old is mandatory, growing up is optional" :)

Eclipse

Thursday night my Mom called and said, we're going to see Eclipse tonight so get ready to go! I have been dying to see it since it came out on Tuesday but we were going to push it back until next weekend so Lindsay and Joseph could go too! (Last year, Linds, Joseph, David, Mom & Me went to New Moon!) Well it was last minute we made it to the 8:00. It was so good! Definitely very action packed and I know the guys enjoyed it much more because of it. I absolutely can't wait for Breaking Dawn to come out in the movies. (the 4th book in the series). It's going to be two parts but was my favorite book so I'm looking forward to it! Here's a pic of Lindsay and I with our "next" husbands. As to whose is whose, we shall share I guess!

*Missed you Kimbo! You need to be sure to be up here for Part I of breaking dawn:)

PS-I got a new computer so i should be posting more frequently now:)