August Goals - How'd I Do?

Let's see how this crazy month went:

Fun:
*Read 3 books - almost COMPLETE {I finished one, started and finished 2, and I'm 3/4 through another... so altogether, does that count? :)  }
*Travel outside the country! - COMPLETE {Amazing trip to Canada!! (1, 2, 3)}
*Celebrate our 1st Anniversary!! (& my 24th b'day!) - COMPLETE {We celebrated in Canada!}
*Have an Open House/Initials Inc. show - FAIL {but no worries! it's just rescheduled for September!}

DIY/Crafting:
*Take 1 bazillion photos - COMPLETE {Umm.. yeah, definitely did that.}
*Report on my CO trip - COMPLETE {here & here}

Home:
*Get our home ready for a party - {well, we didn't actually have a party, but we got our new couch(!!) so it's kept me motivated to keep the house in better condition than usual!}

Cooking:
*Make Monster Cookies again - FAIL {but I still really want them}

Wellness:
*Work out twice a week - EPIC FAIL {I worked out once. the whole. entire. month.}

I can't believe August is over!! It's weird. Very weird!

Apple & Sage Pork Chops

Last night we has a SERIOUSLY yummy dinner!

Apple & sage pork chops and baked sweet potatoes!

Mmm...mmm...good!

Mixed up the spices and covered the pork chops with them.

Heated 2 tbsp of olive oil and browned each side of the chops.

THEN (oh man - yum city!) you take the pork chops out, put sliced apples in and let them simmer for 2-3 minutes. Then you add 1 tbsp of brown sugar and a 1/2 cup of apple juice (my fave is Simply Apple).

Let that simmer for a few minutes and then add the chops back in, cover and simmer for 5-7 minutes.

Everything about this was sooooooooooo yummy. Okay, and I have a little teeny tiny confession to make... I had a little help from McCormick on this one:

$1.88 at Walmart. Seriously. We have a Garlic Lime Chicken one to try next!

Have you tried the "Recipe Inspirations" yet?

I felt like I really knew how to cook. :)

Saturday

Downtown with my hubby on a Saturday.   :)

Fun with Friends {and Fab Food}

Last night we had dinner with the Rocha's and the McLeod's at the Geyer's house!

{David M., Keith, Jason, & David G.}

{Kate w/Blair}

Cutie pie, little Kater!

{Em & Kate}

There are NO WORDS for this picture. I mean, seriously. None.

It was so great to catch up and enjoy a meal together!

I love these girls!!!

Giveaway Winner Announced

Alrighty folks! It's time to announce the winner of the custom designed blog header!

I got 8 comments, took out RachTurner & Kim, so that was 6 entries:

And the winner is.....

Emily Shears!!

(still Emily Seymour to me!)

Congrats Emily! Be on the lookout for an email from me!

~  ~  ~

Also just wanted to give some LOVE to my momma - she is so wonderful. We only talked for about 20 minutes yesterday, but in that 20 minutes she was able to make me feel like I could conquer the world! Her positive attitude and encouraging spirit is so contagious. I'm lucky to be friends with her, and I'm BLESSED to be her daughter. Love you Ma-ee.

Snooker's Life {Part 1}

(Don't forget to leave a comment here to win a new blog header!)

Sometimes I wonder what our kitty cat does all day...

Stare out the window? Jump over furniture?

Let's see what a normal day for Snooker looks like:

Before our alarm goes off, she waits patiently at the end of the hall, looking out the window at the sunrise and thinking, "It's got to be time for them to get up..." 

Her ears perk up as the alarm goes off, but then - silence.
Did he hit the snooze button?!

She slumps back down for 9 more minutes.
The alarm goes off again, finally, and her daddy gets up and opens the door.

Morning, dad - you won't believe what happened last night, I mean, seriously. There was this bug and it kept climbing all over the window and I kept trying to get it and I never could! So I just kept trying and trying and then - guess what, dad - it was outside!! It wasn't even in the house! Isn't that funny?!

All he hears is ::meooooooooooooooow, meeow, maaoow, meow?:: but he talks back to her anyway.

She automatically follows him into the bathroom, to wait for him to take a shower. She is still quite intrigued by the bathroom in general. She takes her place either on the very edge of the sink or in between the tub and the curtain, and again waits very patiently (and quietly) for her daddy.

As soon as he opens the curtain, she's at it again-- Wow, dad - you're showers are a lot shorter than mommy's. She takes FOREVER! I usually fall asleep, I'm so bored waiting on her. Hey! I think I saw a moth on the window! But it flew away... And then I heard something, but I think it was just Dash. So I ignored it. You wanna hear a joke, dad? Dad? Dad???

And this is just the first 15 minutes or so we're awake. :)

Stay tuned.

ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes {& a Giveaway}

Notice anything different?

No, it's not my hair (though I do need a cut...)

Well, if you're in reader, you probably aren't going to see anything different, but I changed my header!

Let's take a walk down memory lane, shall we?

Early 2009 - pre-engagement

Mid-2009 - pre-marriage

Later-2009 - MARRIED!

1st Half 2010 - house-lovin'

Now 2010 - updated!

Now for the giveaway!

If we can get 8 people who are in the market for a new blog header,

1 winner will be chosen randomly to get a FREE blog header makeover!!

Just leave a comment to enter!

Winner will be chosen Friday, 8/27!

Fall Favorites

Even though I'm not going "back to school", whenever it gets to be this time, it really starts to feel like summer is over and fall is on the way --no thanks to the weather, of course.

So in honor of the upcoming season...
What is your favorite thing about Fall?

MINE, in no particular order, are:

*TN football games

*bonfires

*"fall-smelling" candles
*hot (or cold) apple cider

*changing of leaves

*thinking about Christmas (really, Sarah? really?!)

Oh, and TN football games.

So spill it - what is your favorite thing about Fall?

Helloooooooo Sofa!

We got our new couch on Saturday!!!

And it came with not two, but THREE pillows!!!

You can see the coloring better in this picture - browns, blues, and tan - PAISLEY!! :)

I'm on Cloud 9.

No, wait...

I'm just sitting on our sofa!!

78

Today, my beautiful Mamaw turns 78 years young.

Happy Birthday Mamaw!!!

Hyper

I am internally hyper today.

I'm not usually as hyper as I am today.

Like, I have something to say, but I don't know what it is, and I'm all giddy inside, and I'm pretty sure I'm just extremely excited about getting our couch tomorrow! Is that lame?

Surely not.

Well, maybe a little. But it's a big deal.

From this:

To this (in brown):

EEEEEEK!!!!!!!!

Anyone else get this excited about furniture?

Did I Tell You...?

• Did I tell you that You've Got Mail, my favoritest movie of ALL times, came on when we were in Canmore and we WATCHED it?! I mean, I've seen it a ba-zillion times now, but they let me watch it anyway!!!!
• Did I tell you that Moraine Lake was probably my favorite place we went on our trip?

• Did I tell you that this is quite possibly the most fun moment captured in film from our trip?

• ...and that this is my favorite overall shot that I took from the trip (if I had to pick)?

• Did I tell you that my luggage didn't end up on our flight from MN to Nashville? And we had to wait around for the next flight and pray they would show up? (I sadly informed everyone that I left my good attitude in Canada, and they would just have to deal with the beast.)
• Did I tell you that I got to eat at TYPHOON for my birthday dinner?! Yummy!!
• Did I tell you that we're going to get our new couch this weekend! WHOO HOO!
• Did I tell you that Dash says hello, and that he missed his mommy?

• Did I tell you that I'm done asking questions?