My City

I live in Columbia, SC, and it was featured today on Design Sponge!

Go here and check it out!

Happy Birthday, Taylor Swift!

My favorite's birthday is today! Taylor Swift is now 22.

And since I never blogged about it, here is one of my cell phone pics from when Jake took me to her concert here in Columbia on November 18th.


It was so much fun, as always! And one of the most exciting moments of my life happened there... when Taylor brought out special guest Darius Rucker to sing his song, "Alright". I knew it was a possibility that he might show up because I knew she'd been having special guests appear at some of her shows when she performed in their hometowns/states. I thought he'd be the perfect choice for her to have as a special guest here in Columbia, since he is from Charleston, which is just a short hour and a half or so away, and since he is a fellow gamecock! He went to school here in Columbia at USC, which is where he started Hootie and the Blowfish back in the day. So, of course, I lost my mind whenever he came out in his Carolina hat!

Here is a video of their performance I found on youtube:



Happy, happy birthday, Taylor!! Love, your biggest fan!

Countdown to Taylor Swift!

Today begins the countdown to see Taylor Swift's Speak Now tour this Friday night! Being the superfan that I am, I couldn't be more excited!

Fun fact: I have met every single person in the above photo except for Taylor Swift herself. Ugh.

I Joined a Gym...

and now I'm:



bringing sexy back! I'm also back posting on this blog after a year away from it. I think. We'll see how it goes.

Our engagement pics!

I was finally able to see some of the pictures from our engagement session with our wedding photographer, Jordan, of Landon Jacob Productions! Clearly, I had no reason to be nervous about her change of my outfit and my hair being down. I think the photos came out absolutely fantastic! Here are just a FEW of my very favorites.For those of you on facebook, there are a few more on there if you're interested in seeing them. I should be getting my CD with all the images on it in the mail soon, and I am hoping there are even more there, as there were some shots she took that she didn't upload onto facebook.

What do y'all think of them?

Tagged!

Holly and Alanna tagged me in this fun little game!

Here are the rules:
1. Open your first photo folder.
2. Scroll to the 10th picture.
3. Post the photo and the story behind it.
4. Tag 5 or more people.


Here is my photo:

This was February 2009, just after Jake and I started dating, right before our first Valentine's Day together. We were at Art Bar (my first time ever going there) for my old roommate Amy's birthday celebration. I LOVE this picture. It is a little blurry, and the wind from the fans on their dance floor had my hair going CRAZY, but look how happy we are. :)

I tag: Jake, Nilly, Mandy, Kim, and Rebecca.

Engagement pictures!

Today, Jake and I met one of our wedding photographers to do our Engagement photo session around downtown Columbia, and we had the BEST time! I was sooo nervous beforehand, mainly because I just didn't know what to expect, and couldn't imagine what it would be like to be "paparazzi"ed.... but once we met Jordan, she was as wonderful as she sounded on the phone, and I calmed down pretty quickly. She was so nice and put us at ease as she provided us guidance on what to do in the photos. She wound up having me take off the vest I was wearing, gave me her REALLY PRETTY scarf to wear, and TOOK MY HAIR DOWN out of its usual ponytail. :) As you all probably know, my hair is always in its ponytail... I cannot wait to see what the photos look like with my hair down. I'm a little nervous about that. Anyway, she said the photos would be on her blog within 2-3 weeks, so I have a little bit to wait. If you're curious to check out some of our photographers' work before then, their website is: www.landonjacob.com. Their names are Landon and Jordan Thompson, and they are a husband and wife team. We think they are GREAT. We absolutely love their work, and I am soooo excited to see the engagement photos that Jordan took today and for them to shoot our wedding! I'll try to post again when they get our photos on their blog!

Ready for some football?!?!

Carolina football, that is! Football season has arrived! September 3rd was the Gamecocks' first game - away against NC State. One of the supervisors at work (Rick) had a few people over to his house to watch the game. He has a nice setup in his backyard... complete with pool, outdoor kitchen, a television, and SAND! Yes, that's right... his very own backyard beach! The Gamecocks managed to pull out a win for their first game with a score of 7-3. Thanks to Rick for having us over. It was a fun night!

Amanda and me

Some photos of Rick's backyard

This past Saturday was the Gamecocks' second game - away against Georgia. Dusty came over and joined Jake and me at the house to watch the game and have a lil bit of a party. It was a high-scoring game for both teams, but ultimately resulted in a loss for the Gamecocks at 41-37. We had a great time, despite the outcome of the game!

Also on Saturday, all my football tickets arrived in the mail! Now, I am all set to attend the first home game of the season this Saturday against Florida Atlantic. Can't wait to be back at Williams-Brice! GO GAMECOCKS!

Flying Saucer 5k Race!

On Saturday, August 22nd, Jake, Dusty, and I ran in the Flying Saucer 5k. The race began at 8:30 am, and we got there just in time to get signed in and ready to run! Pictures from the race are HERE. Dustin is pictured on the far left in photo #30 at the beginning of the race, and pictures numbered 31 - 33 are of Jake and me at the beginning of the race. In #32, that is my old roommate, Amy, and her dog in front of us. A funny sequence of photos begins with #94 with a guy pushing a stroller crossing the finish line. In the verrrrry back of that picture is Dustin in a grey shirt and blue shorts. That's right, he was passed on the last stretch of the race by a guy pushing a stroller. hahaha You can see Dusty's race to the finish line through picture #105. He finished #37 overall in 21:48. Amy and her dog are seen finishing the race in picture #191. You can see Jake and me approaching and crossing the finish line in pictures numbered 281 - 283. Warning: these are HORRIBLE pictures of the both of us. hahahaha We finished the race in 37:06 and 37:07 (I beat Jake by a second). At the end of the race, the Flying Saucer provided beer, water, apples, bananas, and brats, which were all delicious and very well received by the runners. Here is a link to the results. We were worn out at the end of it, to say the least, but we were very proud of ourselves for actually getting up that early on a Saturday morning and running this race. Now, we can check one more thing off of our lists! And I was actually impressed with our time, as I thought it was going to be around 45 minutes. Next year, we hope to improve our time! Who wants to join us then??

Run, run, run, run, run!

Today, Jake, Dusty, and I all registered online for the Flying Saucer 5k! It's a done deal. Based on my poll, those who said to run the race definitely outnumbered the one who voted to head straight for the beach. Thanks to everyone who voted!

Anyone want to join us?

Happy Birthday, Steve!

Well, as I mentioned in an earlier post, last week was Steve's birthday! Jake and I met up with him and some of his friends, as well as Robert and his girlfriend, Jessica, at the baseball game. It was such a treat to watch Steve's heckling skills of the opposing team, especially number one-seven, from about 5 rows behind their dugout. It was so fun, we hardly noticed the rain falling on us. Funny, it rained last year while we were there celebrating Steve's birthday, too. And it was so great to see Robert and meet Jessica! After the baseball game, we headed on over to the Flying Saucer where we were served by a Beer Goddess. Wish I had gotten a pic of Steve with her. Haha fun times!

Here are some pics!

Just like old times...

The birthday boy and me!

Jake and me

Had to include this one just because of Steve!

Robert and Jessica

Now, these pics below are of #one-seven and Steve with the ball that #17 threw to him after much heckling.

Yes, it does say "To Shrek"

My Columbia Blowfish cozy that Robert bought for me! I love these things!

And finally, a couple pics from Flying Saucer...

Cupcakes, anyone?

Columbia is getting a Cupcake! Now, I have never actually been to one, but I have heard good things about the one in Charleston, so I am excited!

Afternoon activities!

This afternoon, Jake and I are getting off work at 3pm. We were supposed to head to Charlotte to see Aerosmith with some friends, but the show was cancelled due to artist injury. So, we decided instead to go see the movie Up! in 3D at 4:30 and get that crossed off both of our lists.

Also, tomorrow is Steve's birthday, and he has chosen to celebrate it tonight at the Columbia Blowfish game followed by some quality time at Flying Saucer! Steve is one of my best friends, and I am really excited to be celebrating his 25th birthday! WOW. I cannot believe he is that old. In other exciting news, my friend Robert (Steve's brother) is coming into town for the birthday shenanigans and bringing his new girlfriend, so I am very excited to see him and meet her, and for him to meet Jake as well! Robert has been in law school up in Minnesota for the past couple years and I cannot even remember the last time I saw him, so I am doubly (is doubly even a word?) excited about that! These two boys are like family to me, and I don't see them near enough.

So, I have a very fun afternoon/evening ahead - movie and baseball game and Flying Saucer with some of my all time favorite people! What could be better? Let's hope it doesn't rain on us at the game like it did last year. If it does, that just means more time at the Saucer!

I hope to get some good pics tonight!!!

Holy cow!

The Chick-fil-a cow posed for a picture with me!

TV Star!

I am going to be on TELEVISION! hahahahaha

Last Thursday morning, I filmed a spot for Inspired Communities, the builder of my neighborhood. I was the featured resident for my neighborhood, Hampton Forest. I was interviewed by tylerontheradio from New 92!! How cool is that? And I didn't even realize at the time that that's who he was. hahaha

Anyway, I did a FANTASTIC job if I do say so myself. I did it in one take! They told me I did a good job... but I haven't seen any of it yet, so we shall see. We did film it a second time but not because I messed up, just so the cameraman could get closeups of me. hahahaha

The whole thing makes me absolutely crack up! I cannot WAIT to see the commercial on TV! Surely I am going to be the next breakout television star. Don't worry, I won't forget all of you little people...... :)

What can I say? I'm clearly a natural.




UPDATE: I am now facebook friends with Tyler Ryan (tylerontheradio) who interviewed me in the commercial... and since he works for the country radio station, guess who else he has interviewed. That's right.

Separated at birth.