Well it's official......

After the Salt Lake Marathon a year and a half ago, I (Brooks) said that I wasn't going to run anymore, but..... I just can't stop. It is addicting! So I have decided, with a little coaxing from Lane Blake, I am going to run the Nashville Marathon. Here we go again!

It's Back!

Tomorrow (Thursday the 27th) marks the 4th Season Premier of NBC's THE OFFICE. In case you didnt see my 8 Things post, we are huge fans of The Office! The trademark Dwight Bobblehead (click on it to see the clip! its hilarious!) sits on our mantle and the Dunder Mifflin Snow Globle has a home on top of the TV. We are dying to find out what is actually going to happen with Jim and Pam. What happened to Jim and Karen? How is Ryan the temp doing in his new corporate job? What will happen with Michael since he didn't get the job? How is Kelly doing without Ryan? I'm telling you, this is one of our favorite shows of all time and this one-hour season premier is a big day. Don't count on us answering the telephone or the door between 9:00 and 10:00 pm Eastern time.
I think it is also safe to say that this will be one of many moments where we miss our friends the Stubbs family and their cute baby Rachel. We loved watching The Office with them. We miss you guys!

8 Things

A tag is a nice solution to a lack of blogging ideas for the day. Robin tagged me to list 8 habits or facts about myself. (I'm going to steal some ideas from her...)

1. I have recetly become obsessive compulsive about flossing and using mouth wash. I do each of them almost three times a day and I'm constantly thinking about when is the next time that I can clean my mouth. Crest makes a wonderful tasting mouth wash called Crest Pro-Health. It doesn't have the taste and sting of alcohol like Listerine and other brands. I highly recommend it.

2. Brooks and I love to watch The Office (It took me a few episodes to catch on to the 'style' of the show). I like it so much that I find myself totally involved in the lives of people on the show, primarily Jim and Pam. Sometimes when I haven't seen an episode for a while, I find myself almost missing them as though they are real people that I haven't seen in a while. I just want to hang out with them cuz they are so funny and cool. This is one series that we will own all seasons on DVD for sure. I could watch them over and over again.



3. I danced through most of my middle school, jr. high, and highschool years. Between Drill Team and Dance Company I probably danced close to 6 hours a day. I loved it! It wasn't practical to major in dance in college so I left it behind. I'm still trying to figure out how I can get involved in dancing again. (I'm talking about jazz, ballet, hip hop, modern, etc) My husband says I could just join a team at a highschool and nobody would ever know...but Southern dancing is really weird and out dated. At least once a week I have a dream at night that I'm with my dance group either practicing or getting ready to perform/compete. Usually there is some catch that I don't have the right clothes or I somehow forgot the whole routine. My closest recovery was a few dance classes through Granite School District and a hip-hop class at Golds Gym. And the TV show So You Think You Can Dance, I love it!


4. I like to buy books. I've never been much of a library user although I'd like to be. If I want to read a book I like to buy it and keep it and store it and add it to my collection. I also really like used bookstores for some reason. The books are cheaper and there is some sort of specialness about a book that has been read and used that I like. The last book I bought was The Memory Keeper's Daughter.

5. Despite the fact that I ran the Salt Lake Marathon in April of 2005, I hate to exercise (unless it is dancing). I'm really lazy. Strangely though, I'm planning to run the Nashville 1/2 Marathon in the spring.

6. I have strong opinions about things like credit card companies (see the Maxed Out movie for an extreme view), irresponsible personal financial behaviors, and the Georgia Teachers Retirement System.

7. I love art and design although I'm not good enough to make a career out of it. I majored in Graphic Design for my first two years of college. I loved it althought it was hard work and I really couldn't compete with some of the talent of my classmates. See my other blog.

8. Musical instruments I've played: piano-I recently bought my own piano but I had to leave it back in Utah and I'm sad about that, guitar, banjo, violin (started and quit in 6th grade because it wasn't "cool" and now I regret doing that), accordian (my dad plays the accordian, funny huh!, he taught me how to play it once)

Now I would like to tag some of my blog friends Katey T., Garrett, Cas, Molly, Whitney, Katie F., Kay ...and anyone else who is inclined to play.

Here and Gone

A few days before we got to Georgia my good pal from USU, we call him Jakey, called me to tell me that his brother who is serving his mission in this area had just been transferred to Athens! I was excited find him here. That was 3.5 months ago and now we are saying goodbye to Elder Ricks. I can't remember how many times we had Elder Ricks and his companion over for dinner but it was pretty often. We had fun with him here and can't wait for him to come back and visit when his 24 months are up in January.

Day Old Donuts

I had a donut yesterday, from sources to remain annonymous. I was excited about the sweet treat and the perfect timing. Turns out that the donut (classic glazed) wasn't so great. I can't complain because it was free, but I'm not a fan of "day old donuts." I'm not hung up on the imperfect donut but more on the fact that I have been craving an exremely soft and delicious fresh donut ever since. The donuts in this picture look delightful! What I would really enjoy is a fresh maple bar from Shaffer House Bakery in Logan, UT. They make an exquisite rasberry filling too! Oh Yum! For now it seems that my only option is some sort of hostess treat in the vending machine downstairs. That brings me to another craving I'm having (no, I'm not pregnant)....If I were to eat a processed dessert of any sort then it would have to be one of those hostess pies...blackberry!

Just another manic Monday - Whoa oooo oh

Today is Monday. Sometimes I wonder what all the hype is about Monday's. It's really just another day right? Actually, after thinking about it, I have determined that Monday's are hard for all the reasons that "they" say: hard to come back to work after a weekend; 5 whole days of work ahead which is the farthest you can be from the next weekend; all the extra stuff that comes with Mondays and the beginning of the week....the list goes on right? I was trying to think of a great blog post for the day since I've been really on top of blogging lately. I don't have new pictures....or new things to share, so I decided to post this picture of my nephew Kellan. Not sure why I didn't post this in the post titled Whats Up? with all the other pictures from the wedding. Kellan is going crazy over this bottle of Pepsi. Don't tell his dad who is a loyal Coke drinker. As for the rest of the Monday....I contracted a NASTY cold/flu bug over the weekend and didn't get a chance to do any of the fun weekend stuff that I wanted to do....like try these
So to make the Monday worse, I have all the house work and "weekend things" to do today because I didn't get to do them over the weekend: a pile of laundry the size of Texas, the kind of grossness that accumulates in the bathtub when you live in humid climates, random de-cluttering, dishes, sweeping/mopping/vacuuming - much more intense when you have a shedding husky in the warm weather--how can you resist that cute face!?

Blurb Blog Books (say that 3 times fast! ha!)

I have been thinking for a while now that since my blog is almost like an online journal/scrapbook, it would be great if there was a company out there that would turn my blog into a book. Well....THERE IS! I'm so glad I stumbled on to this! Maybe I'm catching on a little late but this is great!

The company is called Blurb and they do more than just blogs. I think it would be great to have a book for every year of the blog, considering I blog faithfully for many years....

Great Things

Today I was bouncing and linking between blogs of all sorts of people that I do not know. I came across some really pretty things. I love looking a blogs of people that are really creative and stylish. Some of these sites have great ideas for decorating and others for simple homemade crafts. I just wanted to share them with everyone because I find them quite enjoyable to look at. I might even get around to trying something of my own. For now, I enjoy the inspiration. I also have to put in a plug for my "other blog." It's where I like to post my creative moments and things. Check it out!

shelterrific - some weird-interesting stuff that I like to look at. I don't particularly want this shoe rack. Its just...interesting.

one hour craft - I love the concept of a one hour craft!

Go here to find out how to make a Gypsy Lantern
imedagoze - more...the photo with the pillows on shelves is interesting...
stringandscissor - kinda weird but those booties are cute

themonkeybasket - I really want to make one of these cute pencil bags

Trix are for Kids

This weekend I had a major craving for fruity cereal. I was watching one of those funniest home videos shows and this little girl was pouring herself a giant bowl of cereal. Turns out she ended up dumping the entire bag into her bowl and poured the whole gallon of milk on it. Needless to say it was fruity colorful cereal and I just needed to have some after that. So I hopped in the car and before I got to the store I already knew exactly what kind of cereal I wanted. I swear I haven't had Trix cereal for years. Didn't they use to make in shapes of fruit rather than just round colorful balls? Maybe I'm getting it confused with Runts candy. Mine certainly wasn't shaped like little flowers like the picture. Who cares though, it definitely satisfied my craving!

I can't wait for Hawaii!!

Flip Flop Summer Tour

Kenny Chesney came to Atlanta to wrap up his Flip Flop Summer Tour. Mamma Steele gave us tickets to the concert for my birthday back in June. Great concert! Kenny always puts on a good show. He boasted that this concert had more songs on the program than any concert he had ever done. We did our best to capture some images of the concert but since we were pretty far back on the grass is was hard to get a clear shot.

That's Kenny there in the bright blue with the black cowboy hat. The poor guy was so sweaty only 5 minutes into the show. That's what Georgia weather will do to you. Kenny brought some surprise guests.....some of you might recognize....DAVE MATTHEWS! The photo below is our best shot and getting a photo of Dave. I have to admit that it was a pretty sweet surprise. They sang a few songs together. Kenny also brought the usual Uncle Cracker (or as Brooks calls him; Cousin Cracker). Another surprise guest was country start Dirks Bently and rock and roll legend Joe Walsh (of The Eagles). I must say it was a night of surprises. We had a great time. Thanks for the tickets Karen!

Bonus Time!

Disclaimer: The thoughts and opinions expressed in this post do not reflect the thoughts, opinions, preferences, tastes, interests.... of the male owner/affiliate of this blog.

It's Clinique bonus time at the UGA bookstore! First of all I think it is great that the bookstore has a Clinique counter.

Since smokey eyes are the thing for fall (so I hear) I bought this lovely eye shadow duo. I also bought some new eye liner that is better than any I've ever used. It is called Kohl Eye Shaper. I got Black Amethyst so it has a hint of purple in it. It's way better than the kind you can buy at the grocery store that claims to be self sharpening, easy application, and no smudge. Sometimes you just have to pay the price.

I really liked the bonus this time too! It came with Sugared Maple lipstick, Clinique's famous mascara, eye cream for circles and puffiness, lotion, blush, and a brush. I really like the pink bag. There is just something about Clinique's immaculate design that I love.

It's Finally Football Time!

Hey all. The football season is underway, and it is about time.On Saturday we went to the Georgia vs. Oklahoma State game in Sanford Stadium. Our day started at 10:00A.M. when we went up the the MBA tailgate party on campus. Throughout the day we were able to learn the words to one of the many Bulldog chants. It is one of those that the leader says a line and then the rest repeat it. The chant goes like this, "What's that comin' down the tracks? It's a mean machine in red and black. There's nothin finer in all the land. Than a drunk, obnoxious GEORGIA fan! Goooooooooooo Dawgs! Sick 'em woof woof woof woof" So kickoff was at 7:00P.M. which means we were tailgating for around 9 hours, and we were a couple of hours late! Anyways enjoy the pics of us tailgating and the game. Georgia won!!! 35-14 Go Dawgs!

Here is Bon with a cute tattoo on her face. You can see in the background a girl in a skirt, well one of the cool things about everything in the South is that Ladies dress up for everything, even football.

Here is a game of Beer Pong. Yes this was just one of MANY that we were able to witness. For those who don't know, Beer Pong is a game played with cups of beer set up like bowling pins and there are two teams of two at opposite ends of a table, and each player throws a ping pong ball into the cups, and if the player makes it into a cup one of the players on the other team have to drink the cup. As you can imagine, by the end of the game both teams are so drunk the ball doesn't get anywhere near the cups. Awww good times.

These three pics were of some of the tailgating that went on. It was unlike anything I have ever seen before. Even at 10:00A.M. all of campus was packed. Any open piece of grass was used for tailgating. I love football here!

The top picture is of Pete and I. He is one of my classmates. The bottom one is Pete, Brian (also a classmate), Bonny and I.

Leah (Brian's Girlfriend), Jen Gainer (a classmate) and Bon.

Bon and I at the game right before kickoff.

Matt Stafford taking the snap.

The stadium at night. Official attendance 92,746.