Pitiful

This game of the Wolfpack vs. Gamecocks is pitiful. Nearly painful to watch. More painful for Steve Spurrier though...

Week #2

Well, 7 days down...173 to go :) Just kidding...I won't count down the entire year until next summer! The beginning of the year stuff has gone surprisingly awesome. My schedule is better this year, I have a clue what I'm doing, and I am more organized with therapy and paperwork.
I have been getting up at 5 in the morning to go to the gym. (actually 5:05) I am more apt to not skip out if I just do it before work...no excuses. I am pretty sleepy at night and heading to bed around 9ish--but, it makes me feel better the entire day and I have it over with and don't have to worry about it after school. I am currently really into spinning...makes me feel productive for the hour work out. That's why I love SportsClub...there is always something new to do if you are getting bored.
This week I finished the 3rd "vampire" book...working on the 4th one! My reading has slowed significantly since returning to school, but they are still good and I still recommend the series!
I took a sewing class on Tuesday and made two pillow cases with cording and an invisible zipper. When I get the pillow forms to put in the cases, I will post pictures of my project. I hope I remember how to make them in the future because they are super easy and look really good.
We are headed to Atlanta tomorrow for the Bama/Clemson game. I am looking forward to looking at a sea of orange!!! People are already flying their car flags and I am itching to get ours on the Tahoe :)
Lastly, be sure to wear a collegiate (obviously Clemson!) to Chickfila on Monday and you will receive FREE chicken strips! What a deal! I think we are going to try to head to Sky Top Orchard for some apple picking on Monday...pretty pumped about that :)
Following this weekend...you will be happy to know I will have pictures on my next post!

Calm before the Storm

This weekend was wonderful! It was so relaxing and we did things that made us happy!
Liz was in Greenville to visit her dad and so she spent the night with us on Friday night. We enjoyed a delicious dinner at Trio's and it was great catching up! (Sorry we didn't take a picture, Lizard! I forgot!)
Saturday Josh and I slept in (yay for not getting up at 5 am) and ran a couple of errands. We ate dinner with his parents at Smoke on the Water and then ran a few more errands. We watched the remainder of the Olympics (go "redeem team!") and relaxed the rest of the night.
I am just about to head off to work at the Loft. I am starting therapy tomorrow with my kids so it's no doubt going to be a crazy week! I still have some work to finalize before I am ready for therapy.
This coming up weekend, we are headed to Atlanta for kickoff to football season! We are looking forward to it but it is going to be a busy couple of months. It definitely is an every weekend commitment. It's great fun, but not the most relaxing way to spend a weekend. Regardless, I can hardly stand to see the Tigers run down the hill for the first time and get back up to TigerTown!
We are going to watch the closing ceremonies tonight for the Olympics. I am pretty bummed it's already over. I can't believe it's been two weeks. I hope some good television is going to come on in the fall because it's going to be hard to beat watching the Olympics!

Meet Benjamin Michael Garrett

This is my co-worker, Elizabeth's, baby. He was born on Sunday night, weighing 8 lbs. 7 oz. Isn't he so cute and loveable? I held him for an hour and a half today and he just snuggled up and slept the entire time. His big brother Joseph started kindergarten at Pelham Road so I've been looking out for him at school! :)
I feel like I get to hold a new baby every week! I love it!

Did y'all know about this??

I was just clued in by a speech buddy that there is a thing called "Google Reader"! Who knew?? It is amazing. If you read lots of blogs, you will save SO much time by using this nifty application. Check it out...you won't be disappointed.
Today was the first day of school with kids. It is always stressful in the beginning of the school year with scheduling and medicaid and paperwork up to my ears! It's going more smooth than last year I must say since I have a clue on what to do.
Elizabeth (my co-worker at Pelham Road) had her baby yesterday...Benjamin michael Garrett. He was 8 lbs 7 oz...I can't wait to meet him. I'm probably going tomorrow so I will post pictures then!
I have been getting up at 5:05 so that I can work out before school. It's rough in the morning but it's awesome in the afternoon when I've already worked out and I don't have to spend my time there when I get home from work.
The wedding this past weekend was beautiful, Cameron was beautiful, everything was incredible! We had a great time at both the rehearsal dinner and the reception. I cut the cake at the rehearsal dinner and Josh assisted with plating it. I loved doing it--if you ever need a cake cutter, I'm your girl :) (It's the small things in life that make me happiest!) Cameron and Jonathan are in the Dominican Republic for their honeymoon and staying at the resort next to where Josh and I stayed. Sure wish I were laying out by the blue ocean right about now! Guess Pelham Road and Greenbrier Elementary are going to have to do for a while...one day down, 179 to go!! :)
I'm sad that gymnastics and swimming are over...I have loved every minute of the Olympics and hope I can find another sport that gives me as much entertainment as these did!! I've already thought that if the Olympics come to Chicago in 2012, we're going to have to arrange to attend an event! Go America!!!!! :)

Tomorrow!

I promise I will update on last weekend. We had a great time at the wedding...and glad that Courtney took enough pictures for me and her! (We didn't take any pictures...)
School has been chaotic as EVER, therefore...I am sleepy and need rest :) Happy Monday!

Gracie is famous!!

http://www.saltydog.com/photos/petpics/index.php?menu_id=7&sub_menu_id=724&thm=y&file=gracie

check her out!

Exhausted!!

Well...I have officially embarked on my 2nd year of my career! Only 26 more "first day backs"...(meaning 27 years until retirement...)!
I was an idiot and stayed up to watch woman's gymnastics until 12:15. That bedtime combined with having to wake up at 6:00 doesn't make a good combination! I am so sleepy today and cannot wait until I can leave! Anyway...I was very bummed that USA didn't win gold. I can't imagine the stress on these athletes. I have become entirely too consumed with the Olympics this year...I even love watching water polo??? I especially enjoy the mini-videos they do to showcase some of the athletes. It's fun to get into their lives a little.
We had a long-winded faculty meeting this morning, along with breakfast from Panera (yummy!!) and now are able to work in our classrooms for the afternoon. Since I have already come to set my room up...I don't have TOO much to do at this point.
Our new principal hooked us up with snazzy Greenbrier Elementary polos. Please don't be jealous! I will have Josh take my picture on my first day of school with the kiddos so you can all admire it!! :)
Off to make copies and some lesson planning!

The Last Day of Summer

I have 16 hours of summer left! AHHH!!! I can't believe it's over. It has been wonderful though and I feel like I am re-charged and ready for my 2nd year of an SLP! I am hoping to be lots more organized this year since I understand the paperwork portion of my job. We'll see how long that lasts :)
I vowed I wasn't going to leave the house today except to go to the gym tonight. I am enjoying playing with Gracie and taking care of a couple of cleaning things around the house. It is beautiful outside today in Greenville so Gracie and I are going to go for a walk in a little bit!
We have been glued to the Olympics since Friday night. It is addicting! We particularly love the swimming...and I love the gymnastics.
If my posts lag in the coming weeks...you know why! I am busy with paperwork, scheduling, and playing with my kiddos!

A Lazy Saturday

Hip Hip Hooray for nothing to do! I love it! We haven't hardly moved from the living room today and it has been wonderful. It's much needed for the week ahead of beginning work again. I am dreading school...I compare it to going to the gym--the act of changing clothes and driving to the gym is much worse than actually working out. Once you're there, it's fine. It's the anticipation. That's my analogy for returning to work.
Anyway...we did head up the road for a quick outing to ease Josh's cabin fever and went into Mr. Knickerbocker's at Shops of Greenridge. We're getting geared up for football season and looking forward to more times with family and friends!
On another note...I got a new sewing machine!! Yippee...it sews beautifully. The stitches are so even and it runs much more smooth than the old one. Honestly, I didn't want to buy a new one quite yet...but, I broke the other's tension knob by accident and the parts were so old they don't make them anymore. I'm looking forward to sewing many items in the near future :)

Sewing

I took a sewing class yesterday and below is the product! Not looking too closely, it doesn't look too bad! My stitches aren't the straightest and they're not lined up perfectly, but I learned a lot yesterday and had a great time. I am pretty proud of my bag too :)

Tonight I'm going to a smocking class. I'm looking forward to that and hoping I can catch on pretty quickly!

The next class I take is a pillow class, learning how to insert invisible and visible zippers, as well as cording around the pillow. It sounds hard...but having a one on one teacher helps so we'll see!

Last night we also enjoyed our anniversary dinner at Soby's! It was so yummy...it's been exactly two years ago (when Josh proposed) that we ate there so it's been a long time! It was the perfect ending to anniversary bliss!! :)

Here is the bag I handcrafted! The material isn't really what I would necessarily choose, but it was on clearance at Hancock :) It was called "Tarzan"

Here is my little sewing corner in the office. Isn't it cute?And here is the oldie but goodie sewing machine...it doesn't have too many bells and whistles but it does have everything I need to do right now. It was my mom's who never used it so gave it to my granny.

And on another sewing note...if you are on the look out for a professional sewer and sweet, precious baby clothes...check out Kelli's boutique. I buy all of my baby shower gifts from her...they are always a hit! She is very talented and creative...her items are awesome! Her website is http://www.blushandbashfulbaby.com/

Savannah

Josh and I headed to Savannah, GA for our anniversary weekend! He took the day off from work on Friday so we slept in a little and then headed up the road for our weekend. We dropped Gracie off at my mom's house in Lexington. Gracie is currently snoozing under my feet--she is always pooped after a weekend away! (and with another dog)

We stayed in a hotel right across the street from the river and it was a great location. Most importantly, we were two blocks away from Paula Deen's restaurant :) (Just kidding) Friday night we roamed around and explored a little and ate at a local brewery. They had a beer that is made from Krispy Kreme Doughnuts...we sampled and it was disgusting. I didn't realize this, but Savannah has tons of candy and ice cream shops! If you've ever been to NYC there is a Starbucks on every corner. In Savannah, there is a candy/ice cream shop on every corner! Note to self: never live in Savannah, otherwise we might be elephants. :)

Saturday we had to wake up early (7:30) to get in line to make a reservation at Paula Deen's (Lady and Sons's) restaurant that night. It is the craziest thing...everyone wants to eat there! This man that was standing in line said that she is worth 25 million dollars a YEAR! Unbelievable. Standing in line was part of the experience though and since we've been saying for several years that we wanted to eat there, it was worth it.

We then headed a couple of miles to Hilton Head. We ate at Salty Dog's and Josh aquired a new, famous t-shirt and Gracie got a new orange bandana. Too cute! I'm going to send her picture in to the restaurant in hopes they'll put her picture up in the restaurant. We did a little outlet shopping and then headed back to the hotel. We went swimming on the roof top which was really neat. I've never done that before.

And then...we ate at Lady and Sons! (following purchasing a cook book signed by Paula herself). Josh chose to eat the buffet and I ordered shrimp and grits. It was so much food...I thought I needed a wheelbarrow to get out of the place! It was delicious though...and I'm glad we can finally say that we've eaten there! We're Food Network addicts...and so it was something that we had to do while being in Savannah!

We headed home today after picking up Gracie. It was a great weekend and it was fun celebrating one year of marriage. It is true what people say about it flying by. Our real anniversary isn't until tomorrow--we're headed downtown to Soby's for a nice dinner to celebrate the actual day. I'm looking forward to many more anniversaries to come!!!

Me with Paula Deen...ok, really it's just a cut out of her...but it looks real, right?us at Moon River Brewery...yummy!!one of the candy counters...do you see why we shouldn't live here??this is after dinner at Lady & son's...notice my tummy about to explode!! :)Gracie in her new Salty Dog bandana...she's very proud that she received a prize when we got home!