Good Ideas: CANDYCORN !

When I think of a good idea...and I think about where that idea came from...it usually came from someone else.  If the good idea came from someone else...then is it considered "my good idea"....hahah...do you see what I am saying??  Well I am just here to say... other people usually have better ideas...and I wish I could say they were my ideas, but they're not!!!! HAHAHA! For example:  My mom is Queen of good ideas.... a really great Fall idea that she gave me was to put CANDY CORN in any glass vases I have out.  Putting the CANDY CORN in glass vases will give you a nice orange, fall, and Halloween look!  The best part about CANDY CORN...you can get an entire bag of CANDYCORN at The Dollar Store for ..you guessed it...$1.00 !!!  Such a cute, cheap, and fun Fall idea!!!  You can thank my Mom for the cute CANDY CORN idea ...because the idea...well it was not my idea!!!!!  I am just thankful for people who have good ideas and are willing to share them!

Happy Fall !!!

Thank you!  Love you!

Fall is in the air ...dahh da da da dahhh!

Yes, it is true...Fall is here!  There are so many reasons this is true...football is on TV, sweaters are in stores, and the holidays are just around the corner!  I think I am one of those people who puts up seasonal decorations way to soon.  You know what...I don't care if it is to soon...there are only about 4 months out of the year where we get to put all sorts of adorable extra decorations out in the house!  I LOVE holiday decorations.  Last Sunday, my Dad, Mom, and sister came up for the day to see me and help put out fall decorations!  My newest Halloween addition is this pumpkin with our monogram on it.  Mrs. Wicke (Andy's mom) got this adorable pumpkin for us.  The pumpkins are on sale...half off...at Hobby Lobby (at least they were last week!) ...Check it out!!  The cream pumpkin made for a great new fall table center piece! 




Ellen (my very pretty sister)is SO talented!  She made this adorable spider picture frame above!...and YES that us in the picture frame...2 Halloween's ago..I was a bunny and I think Ellen is a dancing something! haha..  She is majorly into decoupage.  I have another post coming with more of her adorable picture frames!  Thank you Ellen!!  XOXO







My Mom (who is in the above picture) is an incredible decorator!  My house looks like a big Fall leaf...it's amazing!  Thank you Mom!  XOXO 

My two favorite men.  No other words need to be said.

Eggplant.

Eggplant is often forgot about (by me anyways!)!  I tend to forget how much I love it... here is the key word..FRIED eggplant!  It is so easy to make and is delicious.  I do not follow a certain recipe..just kind of make it as I go...it is that easy!  All you need is eggplant, flour,bread crumbs, eggs, and hot oil!  To make my eggplant a little more tasty... I added tomato, basil, and mozzarella to the top of a few.  You can never go wrong with with good sides... mac and cheese (whole wheat noodles, of course) and lima beans!  Yummmy..it was a good dinner!




 

Swim, Bike, Run.

For those of you who know my sweet, handsome, adorable husband the next few things I say will not surprise you.  When it comes to hobbies...Andy is ADD.  He loves the following very much: camping, playing guitar, fishing, tying flies, biking, reading, kayaking, collecting records, and the newest of these hobbies: triathlons.  For those of you who do not know what a triathlon is...here is the definition:
tri·ath·lon [ trī áthlən ]
athletic contest with 3 events: an athletic competition in which the contestants compete in three different events and are awarded points for each to find the best all-around athlete.  I have tried talking him out of this one...I have had zero luck!  The good thing about this hobby is there seem to be a lot of friends who are interested in this hobby as well.  Aaron who is in the middle in the yellow shirt below, is in Andy's Dental School class.  Aaron is very interested in triathlons...I am glad!  Erika and Molly (who are in Dental School) came to cheer the boys on too!  So glad that you both came!!!  Nathan Oliver is also involved in this triathlon hobby.  The good thing about Nathan being involved in this hobby ...Mary Kathryn!!  I wish you could have seen us...we were literally running around trying to make sure we did not miss a photo opportunity!  I have to say...I am OK with this hobby as long as MK and other friends are apart of the package!  All three of the boys finished under 2 hours ...they are in shape hotties!!  I have a feeling this is not my last triathlon.  :-)

YOU KNOW YOU MAKE ME WANNA SHOUT !

You know that song...You know you make me wanna shout, throw my hands up and shout!! ...I think that is one of the best songs to dance to at weddings.  It is usually played at the end of the reception when everyone is dancing and when it comes to the part...get a little bit softer now....everyone starts getting low to the ground...it is making me want to dance now!  Sometimes in life I wish that song would just start playing when something frustrating happens.  For example, yesterday (Friday) I got off work at 12:30 and had the entire afternoon to grocery shop, clean our condo, and wash clothes.  I was so excited to spend my afternoon this way.   Went to the grocery...brought all the groceries inside...before I unloaded the groceries...I thought I would start a load of laundry.  Our condo does not have a washer and dryer in it...we have to go to the basement to wash clothes..which requires a key to get in.  We have a certain set of keys that I use when I wash clothes...the laundry keys have a key to our condo as well.  The other little issue is...the door to my condo locks automatically if you shut it.  I have lived in this condo for one year and I have washed probably 5,000 loads of laundry (not kidding).  I am very aware that the door to my condo locks and keys are needed to get into the basement.  Well Andy took the laundry keys to school with him...I borrowed laundry keys from a neighbor...not thinking properly...I shut the door to my condo and went down to the basement to wash clothes with my neighbors key...I was very thrown off when I came back from the basement and tried to get into my condo with my neighbors key...obviously ..I could not get into my condo.  It is one of those moments where you just want to shout and throw your hands up in the air!  So here I am..standing in front of my condo with no phone..and it is starting to rain.  At this point it is about 2:00 in the afternoon.  That morning Andy told me he would be at school until 6:00.  I thought at the time my only option was to sit on the front porch for the next 4 hours or try to catch a bus.  The bus idea really scared me...so I decided to just sit on the front porch for a few minutes and brainstorm.  I know 2 of our neighbors...I went and knocked on their door...they were not home.  So I just start walking up and down the side walk in front of my condo...literally I did not know what to do...no keys, no phone!  I finally see a neighbor (who I don't really know) come outside.  I go over to him..tell him the situation and ask to use his phone...call Andy 6 times...no answer.  Because of technology...I have not memorized the cell phone numbers of any of my new friends...so this poor guy who let me use his phone asked if he could do anything to help me and offered me a glass of water (I guess I looked thirsty)... I knew the only way to get a key to my condo was to somehow get to the Dental School.  I am not in Dental School...but pretty much everyone I know here in Louisville...is in Dental School.  I knew if this neighbor would take me to the Dental School I would be fine.  So the neighbor very kindly drives me to the Dental School.  It was an interesting drive...he talked to me about the video game halo.  Finally arrived at the Dental School!!  After several friends helping me...I finally find Andy...in the corner of the library.  Kayla (whose number I am memorizing ...because she always answers her phone!) calls Andy...Andy just happened to look at his phone...got the keys to the condo...the neighbor drives me back to the condo....and basically that was my afternoon.  So I do not have pictures of this entire afternoon, but I do have pictures from the last wedding we attended.  These pictures are taken while the song Shout is playing.  I felt like that song should have been playing for me all afternoon!  Sorry the pictures are so little...I had to download them from Facebook.  Thank you!  Love you!

Where do I begin?

I would like to start this by saying I do not know where to begin this blog.  Do I go back and start with college and talk about how I had a house with my best friends?  Do I go back and talk about when I first met Andy?  Do I go back and talk about how I moved to a new city and made all new friends?  WHERE DO I BEGIN?  After thinking a lot about where to begin, I thought I would take this first post and do a summary of the last year of my life.  This past year has been the best year of my life.  I married the man (Andy) of my dreams.  Andy was accepted into Dental School. 

 We left our family and friends and moved to a new city.  We have been to several horse races at Churchill Downs with Uncle Mark and Aunt Nancy. We went to Chicago and went to a Bulls game.  We went to Las Vegas and saw two shows and missed our flight home.  We were in our Best Friends wedding.  We have had so many visitors, it is unbelievable and amazing!  We have made new friends that will be apart of our lives forever.  I feel like all of the above are just a few of the major highlights.  I want to go ahead and let it be known that I am not the best writer or story teller.  I hope that when you read my blog, you know that I am just trying to share great moments of my life with people that I care about, but do not get to see on a daily basis.  We are so blessed and love the opportunities that have been put in front of us.  We are having the time of our life and want you to be apart of it! Thank you!  Love you!