Cinnamon M&M's

If you know my husband, you know how much he LOVES his plain M&M's. In fact, they were the theme of his groom's cake I got for him for our wedding.

However, he really only likes the plain ones, though I have gotten him to where he will at least eat the pretzel ones with me. Needless to say, anytime we are in Target (which is all the time, but no less than once a week), we have to take a stroll down the candy aisle. If only just to look to see if they are on sale.

So, we were doing just that the other day, and I found these:

Cinnamon M&M's! I love trying all the different types/flavors that come out from time to time, so we picked up a bag of these for me. And they are pretty good. Not too cinnamony though. The first couple of them taste cinnamony, but then the taste kinda fades and they just taste like regular M&M's, which you can't really complain about. I must say they aren't as good as these Chocolate Trio Premium M&M's we tried back around Valentine's Day. Those were AMAZING.

Anyone else tried these cinnamon M&M's? Did yours taste cinnamony the whole time? Have you ever had the Chocolate Trio? So good!

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?

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!

Moooooon

Some of you may know how much I love the moon. Others of you may not. But anyway, I do love the moon, and this is just about one of the coolest things I've ever seen: click here!

I'm Engaged!

Jake and I got ENGAGED tonight, and we couldn't be MORE thrilled!


Here are some pics of the ring..... ACTUAL photos will follow soon

Taylor Swift singing George Strait

I LOVE this.

Halloween is Fast Approaching!

Alright everyone...

what should I be for Halloween this year?? Last year, I was a Rubik's cube (that I made myself), and it was a big hit! I won Best Costume at one party, and Most Original Costume at another! So, I need to try to top that!
This is Dusty with me at the Hampton Forest neighborhood Halloween party last year.

I am taking costume suggestions for just me, or for both Jake and me to go as a couple. What are your ideas?!?!

Taylor Swift's Fearless Tour 2009!

What can I say? The concerts were AMAZING! Friday night, Heather Ann and I drove to Greenville to see Taylor Swift (and Gloriana and Kellie Pickler) in concert there. Gloriana was good, Kellie Pickler was fun to watch as always, and Taylor was just plain awesome!!!!!!!

She played most of the songs from her Fearless album and her five singles from her first album. She had eight different costumes (nine at the Charlotte show because she came out in a Bobcats jersey), including one on-stage costume change, and she had an amazing set.

She did several songs on the main stage, then showed up in the back of the arena in the crowd playing "Hey Stephen" before she made her way to the center of the arena, hugging all the fans she passed along the way. Then, she made her way back to the main stage (again hugging all the fans she passed along the way), and she finished playing "Tim McGraw" there. After that song, the crowd stood and screamed for over three minutes both nights, while she stood there taking it all in. She removed her earpieces so she could hear the crowd, and then thanked the audience for that, saying she would never forget it. She then did her hit "Love Story" complete with costumed dancers, and a few other songs before leaving the stage.

She returned with an encore of "I'm Only Me When I'm With You" which is my favorite, and she brought out the members of Gloriana and Kellie Pickler to sing it with her. I loved that part! Her last song was "Should've Said No" where she ended up singing in the rain, like she did once on an awards show. It was so neat because she had words from the song appear in the rain as she sang. Here is a link to a video of her doing it on the awards show. You can skip to the end (around 3:00) to see the rain.



Saturday night, we did it all again in Charlotte - this time including Amanda! Our seats were up sooooooooo high at the Time Warner Cable Arena, it was a little ridiculous. It made our upper deck seats at the Bi-Lo center in Greenville feel like the front row! I enjoyed every minute of my Taylor Swift weekend. Thanks to Heather Ann and Amanda for joining me!

On my way to see Taylor Swift!

A van we saw near the Bi-Lo center

Taylor's bus in front of the Bi-Lo center!

Heather Ann and I in our seats

KELLIE PICKLER!!!

The view from our seats in Greenville

"You Belong with Me" - Taylor's opening song!

That's Taylor's mom there in front of her behind the mic stand

Taylor and her whole band

Kellie Pickler singing "Red High Heels"

Taylor Swift singing "Our Song"

Taylor Swift singing "Fearless"

In other Taylor news, she was recently nominated for FOUR CMA awards, including Female Vocalist of the Year, Album of the Year (Fearless), Music Video of the Year (Love Story), and ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR! She is the youngest artist ever to be nominated in that last category, and after seeing her on tour two nights in a row, I definitely think she should win it! Watch this video for her reaction to hearing all of her CMA nominations announced. Also, I bought a Flip Video Camera like Taylor uses to make those videos, so now I can get started making my own and check that off my list! And congrats to Taylor on her very first VMA win (and the first ever country artist to win one!)!!! I'm not even going to mention Kanye... TAYLOR SWIFT RULES!!!!

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!

Litchfield Beach!

So, later that day after we finished our 5k race, we met up with Jake's parents here in Columbia for a brunch of sorts at Waffle House before hitting the road to Litchfield Beach for the week! The beach was perfect. We had perfect weather the entire time until our last night there, when it finally thunderstormed. We spent our days on the beach, in the pool, in the hottub, visiting Myrtle Beach, shopping, eating, but mostly just relaxing. We spent our nights going out for dinner (usually AMAZING seafood - especially the conch fritters!!!) and hanging out in the condo and hottub with Jake's parents. It was a great time, and a very much needed vacation from work. I had not been to the beach for a week in forever, and definitely not since I started working! I definitely did not want to leave to come back home. And, on our last day there, I just happened to get stung by a jellyfish for the first time in my life! It hurt SO BADLY. I never did see the jellyfish, but I definitely felt it. Thanks to Jake for pouring some vinegar stuff on it to take the stinging away. And as a side note, a week after the sting, just when you think it is all okay and going away, it comes back ITCHING like nothing has ever ITCHED in my life. So, if you are ever stung, be prepared for that. But, I did get a fairly decent tan. And, a big thanks to Jake's parents for letting me join them on their family vacation! Here are some photo highlights from our week.

Jake and his dad

Jake and his mom

Jake and his parents

Me with my DELICIOUS conch fritters!

The worst part of my jellyfish ATTACK!

Me on our last day

Our caricature we had done at Broadway at the Beach in Myrtle Beach! I love it!

Do you think it looks like us?

I love Taylor Swift

She is so hilarious!
Click here!

Taylor Swift's new video

Here is Taylor Swift's newest video blog! I love these things.

If you haven't seen any of them before, click here for a link to her other ones.

This is the kinda video I want to make one day. It would be soooo fun! Any ideas as to what song I should set my video clips to?

Rain

It is raining right now - my favorite kind of rain!

The sun is out, and there are realllly huuuuuuge raindrops. I love love LOVE it. I can hear it hitting my office window behind me, and I love it. I am sitting here wishing I could go out and run in it. I love doing that.

Yarn contest!

In order to get an entry in this contest for some great yarn, one requirement is to post a link to it somewhere. Any knitters out there who are interested, it ends tomorrow night, so enter fast!

Click here for the link!

Has everyone seen this???

This is the funniest thing ever.

This post is brought to you by the letter L...

Back in May, my mom emailed me a link to this blog post. It is by a woman who has decorated one wall in her house with the letter L. (And, I just realized that I chose the same title for this post as she did for hers. Oh well, I am not changing it now.) She has since updated her blog about her L wall. Anyway, I thought the idea was sooo cute as soon as I saw it, and I began my lookout for the letter L wherever I went. I have found none... until today. I stopped into Hobby Lobby, and found all these! And the best part is that they were all 50% off.

So far, mine are not looking near as bright and exciting as I hope they will. I may have to make some adjustments to them, but I am just excited to have found some. Now, I just need to decide which wall to put them on while I continue my search! The blogger I am copying did mention someone with an etsy shop selling letters - and you can get 20% off by mentioning "Artsy" in your notes to seller! However, I checked and didn't see an L for sale.......

Here is another example of a letter wall using the letter H.

I just think they are so cute!

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!

A Capitol Fourth!

Well, our trip to Washington D.C. was a great success! We left Columbia just before 8 am on Thursday morning, and we were on our way.

We arrived at Lark's apartment in Arlington just before 5 pm, and after resting for a little while, went out for dinner at Ragtime, which was a delicious restaurant and bar just up the street from Lark's. I had clam bisque and crabcakes with onion rings. Soooo yummy! We left there and went for a walk around Arlington where we saw the Iwo Jima Memorial and Arlington cemetary.

Lark and I ran to hug this tree.

This is the view of D.C. from Arlington.

Goofy times with Lark!

Friday morning, we got up and headed into the city to check out the White House first. We then went by and saw the Washington monument before heading to the Smithsonian Museum of American History. This was one of my favorite stops because we got to see the original Star Spangled Banner that our national anthem was written about. I remembered seeing it as a kid, but back then, they had it displayed hanging, and now it is laid out flat. Unfortunately, you aren't allowed to take pictures of it... but I think it is one of the neatest things to see. It amazes me that they actually still have the original flag intact and on display for everyone to see. We left that museum and went to get some lunch on the National Mall - hotdogs of course! After our we satisfied our hunger, we checked out the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. It was a pretty good time. At some point, Jake and I were able to buy a couple of $4 souvenir t-shirts.

I loved this building with all the flags hanging on its windows!

Here, Lark and Thomas Edison shared a special moment!

Nilly, this picture was taken with you in mind.

After that, we headed on down to the Capitol building, where they were busy setting up and rehearsing for Saturday's concert. We climbed all 75 of the Capitol steps and rested for a while. This was probably one of my favorite parts of the whole weekend.

After that, we headed over to the Sculpture Garden for some jazz and Sangria! Then, we headed back to Arlington, and we were exhausted, but we went up and sat on top of Lark's building where we enjoyed seeing some early fireworks from all different directions!

Here is the view from the top of Lark's building.

Saturday morning, we got up and headed back into D.C. for a reading of the Declaration of Independence in front of the National Archives and the parade. We ended up skipping out on the reading and grabbed ourselves a prime spot for the parade. Jake did go over and get some pics for us of the front of the National Archives, and more hotdogs were consumed while we waited for the parade to begin.

Jake wanted his picture made in front of the IRS building.

Waiting on the parade

The National Archives - reading of the Declaration of Independence

The parade came down Constitution Avenue.

Saturday afternoon, we ate lunch back in Arlington, where I tried some of Lark's falafel (yummy!), then Jake and I ventured out on our own on the metro back into D.C. to visit the International Spy Museum and then to the Mall for the fireworks that night. Cameras were not allowed in the Spy Museum, so no pictures from there, but here we are waiting on the fireworks.

None of my fireworks pics came out very good, so I won't post any on here, but it should be noted that they were AMAZING! Sooooo beautiful - exploding right behind the Washington Monument. Best in the nation. The metro was PACKED leaving the mall after the fireworks, but we managed to get back to Lark's with no trouble and in less than an hour. We took a total of 429 pictures and videos over the course of our 4 day weekend, so I have really just posted the highlights here. One video is of me trying to do a cartwheel on the National Mall. haha

Anyway, we had a FANTASTIC 4th of July holiday weekend in the D.C. area, and we want to give a HUGE thanks to Lark for letting us come stay with her! We do hope she'll let us come back again sometime, and Lark - come visit us in Columbia! Hope everyone's 4th was as great as ours!

Happy Birthday, America!