Fun surprises come in little blue boxes...

I can honestly say I am 100% surprised! Tim gave me my birthday present early today. He did excellent! I usually figure out what he gets me, or I just tell him. But, this time he covered his tracks well. Tim ordered it online and then locked me out of our bank account so I couldn't see where he spent the money. Changed email passwords, even came home from work to intercept the package.

Edit: I FORGOT THE BEST PART! To know my size he called the place where my engagement ring came from and asked them if they had record of my size and they did :)

Tonight he put the little blue box on the counter and I was shocked! But, on to the photos:

I knew right away what was inside this little blue box!

"Happy Birthday to my wonderful wife"

Ignore my ugly hands... :)

The ring is from the Paloma Picasso collection and I have the matching necklace that my brother and his wife gave me long ago. I wear the necklace all the time and now I have the matching ring. I feel blessed to have wonderful people in my life, and these little tokens of their love. THANK YOU!

More Music Videos

Incubus- Stellar:



Tim used to sing this to me hehe :)

Saves the Day - Nightingale



Tim and I have seen this band at least 4 or 5 times. I remember him and Katie Eubanks skipping outrounds (or throwing a round) so we could go to the Roxy in Atlanta to see them. :) And look, they both ended up lawyers anyways!

Rocking Horse Winner - Miss You



Typical.Emo.Girl.Love.Song.Yup.That's.Me.

And I think that catches me up <3

Eleven in 11: Evaluating July

Uhhhhhhhhh! I am such a slacker this summer. I'm honestly just so exhausted from the four-day work week. I enjoy the Fridays off, but I've mostly been using it to recover from the four-day work week! Class has gotten a little crazy, and I'm very excited that tomorrow is the FINAL! Woohoo! I love my students, but the 12.5 hours on Tue/Thur are brutal.

The breakdown:
1. Volunteer opportunity- Still volunteering for SASC. Also, had a debate meeting with my CHS ladies. Hopefully we can get these kids into shape so they can debate at state this year!
2. The weight loss one- Stuck in a rut. Not gaining, but not losing. If I could just get back to tracking the WW pts again and hitting the gym more. We did start doing Pilates at home and I can feel a difference!
3. Plan and take honeymoon- We went to Amelia Island. Collectively, Tim and I decided that we simply didn't ever have a honeymoon. While the trip was a FABULOUS trip, it just wan't a honeymoon. We missed the boat 3 years ago, and it isn't something you can just have 3 years late. It's ok though, we still loved vacationing! You can see our recent trip photos from here and here.
4. Trying four new recipes- Slacker again. But, I did make Ricotta Cheese Chocolate Chip Muffins. VERY YUM!

5. Blog three times a week- Still kind of slow.

6. Student loan- Check!

7. Savings!- Check! I think I've actually exceeded my goal :) But, we're thinking about venturing into home-buying, so I need to keep it up.

8. Read 52 books- I'm awful.

9. Facebook birthdays- I have done very well with this I think!

10. Visit 12 new restaurants- We went to Mandarin Cafe, and I decided NOT to blog about it...because it was soooo awful...

11. Etsy- Consider this one failed too.

I'm going to come out of this goal-achieving slump and do it up BIG in August!

Eleven in 11: Evaluating June

I am so sorry for the lack of June updates. I am a mad woman, truly. This month I not only began a 4 day work week at work (which means 10 hours days and a half lunch) I took on some additional responsibilities. I am teaching in the evenings twice a week, making the work day an additional 2 hours longer), plus I helped with an online class at another university. Whew! Lots of work, leaves me with not as much time to blog. Anywho, I'm here now and I have lots of ideas for future posts!

The breakdown:
1. Volunteer opportunity- I got my certificate in the mail recently and I'm so happy to belong to such a great organization and good cause. Sometimes people ask me "rape crisis? ew, why?" Well, it isn't "fun" work, but someone has to do it. I don't want to sit by idly and simply complain. I want to be part of the solution. Women (and I say women because they are the largest demographic of victims) need to be reminded that there is absolutely no reason for sexual assault. Nothing they did made them "deserve it." I feel like when it comes to this, I'm very good at not judging a person but being empathetic and supportive.
2. The weight loss one- I'm awful! I've actually gained about 3 lbs back. Because I was so busy in June I all but quit the gym. But, now that the online class is over I'm going to make myself go Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. I'm going to make it to my ultimate goal!!!
3. Plan and take honeymoon- We went to Amelia Island. Collectively, Tim and I decided that we simply didn't ever have a honeymoon. While the trip was a FABULOUS trip, it just wan't a honeymoon. We missed the boat 3 years ago, and it isn't something you can just have 3 years late. It's ok though, we still loved vacationing! You can see our recent trip photos from here and here.
4. Trying four new recipes- Well...I haven't hardly cooked since my brother and his family arrived, but I will get back on it. I did however make:

• Oreo Truffles
• Chocolate Cake Balls

5. Blog three times a week- I fail, I know, I know.

6. Student loan- Check!

7. Savings!- Check! 

8. Read 52 books- I think I'm giving up here...but I did just learn about a cool new website: www.goodreads.com

9. Facebook birthdays- This really is a good tool for reconnecting.

10. Visit 12 new restaurants- I'm not sure if we went somewhere new or not...

11. Etsy- Again...not sure when this will ever happen...

Is your summer fun? I hope so! Stay cool and stay safe!

Intro to Gardening: First Harvest!

I haven't been following this as much as I should have, but we are still gardening! We have already had our first "harvest." The beans below came out a week ago. They were a very pretty green. We have bell peppers that are almost ready. I think the parsley and basil are also ready, I just haven't brought them in.

Beans!

Tim ate them right out of the garden!

Apologies for Absence

Good evening blogger world! I must apologize for lack of updates this week. Busy at work and busy in life. Tim and I have had quite the exciting week. We haven't made official announcements, but I think by now most everyone is starting to figure out our news. Needless to say we are very excited, nervous, hopeful, energetic, and  most importantly we're trying to show our gratitude. I have to say that the most fun part of the week was this morning. Tim drove me to work so I wouldn't have to leave my car there while I traveled on business, but there we were- both of us listening to NPR, talking about current events, talking about work, and just realizing that hey! This is what it must feel like to be an "adult." Nerdy? You might think so (I think so!), but I'm blessed to feel  so excited about it.