New Camera

This has been such an exciting day!  I just couldn't wait to get home from work because guess what came in the mail today?  My brand new camera that I bought last week.  I am soooooooo excited for the battery to be fully charged so that I can play with it and learn everything that it does!  So, I guess you're wondering what kind of camera I ended up with.  It's the Nikon Coolpix S8100, and I'm pretty sure it's going to be fabulous!  Here's what it looks like:

And, yes, you guessed right...I got red.  The red one just looked so much more than the black one, ya know? 

I'll keep you updated on how I like it, and stay tuned for MANY pictures to come!  =)

Top Two Tuesday!

Top 2 things you're thankful for

So, today's Top 2 Tuesday will be a little bit of a cliche...however, I truly believe these are the people I am the most thankful for!  =)

1.  My family

This is the latest picture (and quite possibly, the ONLY picture) of my entire family.  I am thankful for each of them for different reasons, so I thought I would mention one reason that I am currently feeling thankful for each of them:

 

Daniel, my brother -- Because any time I have a sports-related question, I just call the walking football encylcopedia that he is and I have the answer in no time.  =)

 

Laura, my sister -- Because I know that even though she is super busy with grad school, she still managed to put together TONS of stuff (including the slideshow DVD) for our mom's birthday party.

 

Patrick, my beau -- Because he gave up what I assumed was going to be a day of constant football watching to run all over Nashville doing fun stuff with me yesterday!

 

My Dad -- Because he is helping me plant Day Lilies in my yard this weekend even though he'll only be in town a couple of days.

 

My Mom -- Because she guilted me into doing what it takes to FINALLY get in enough shape to walk a half marathon this weekend.

 

Carole, my aunt -- Because she practically remodeled the house I bought in Knoxville...then, when I decided to pack up and move to Nashville just a year later, she was right there helping me pack (yeah, it may not have been the most unselfish moment of my life)...also, she makes a mean cherry yum-yum.  =)

 

Kelley (my cousin), Tim (her husband), and Stephanie (her daughter) -- Because they (especially Kelley) did soooooooo much to help me get ready for my mom's birthday party.  It was such a great day and it definitely wouldn't have been possible without their help!

 

Rhonda, my other cousin -- Because even though she had just gotten back from the beach, she still managed to come to my mom's birthday party...and she even brought cookies!!!!!  =)

 

2.  My friends

 

Again, I am thankful for each of these people for different and many reasons, so here are a few of my favorite pics: 

Kathleen, friend from grad school

Andi, friend from my first job

Anna Catherine, friend from grad school

Jennifer and Zac, friends from Nashville

Alysia, friend from formerly working together and Kevana, friend through Alysia

Stacy, friend from the Junior Chamber

Chase, friend from the Junior Chamber

Stacy, friend from kickball

Lindy, friend from Nashville

Mickey, friend from kickball and Kat's fiance

Casey, friend from Junior Chamber

Adam, Alacia, and Baby Hannah, friends I met through Patrick

Amber and Clay, former co-worker with her and played kickball with both of them

Sandy, friend from work

Geez louise!  I hope I haven't forgotten anyone!  All of these people mean sooooooo much to me!  I am so lucky to be blessed with so many wonderful friends!

Okay, so I just realized that one of the pictures I tried to upload last night didn't make it for some reason...stupid Blogger picture issues!  Then, when I tried to upload it today from work, I couldn't get it to work...stupid work computer isses!  Therefore, I'll just tell you about them and then I'll try to upload the picture tonight from home.  Elaine is a friend of mine from an internship I did in college and Ken is her husband!  They are great friends, and we always have such a wonderful time hanging out!  If only they lived closer to Nashville.  =)

#91 -- DONE!!!!!

Like I mentioned in yesterday's post, my beau and I went to Loveless Cafe for lunch.  Loveless is located at the base of the Natchez Trace Parkway (a 444 mile scenic road that goes from Nashville, TN to Natchez, MS), and since it was an absolutely gorgegous day (and because I wanted to mark something else off my 101 Things list) we decided to take a drive and see what it was all about. 

The first stop we made was, of course, at the entrance sign...I mean, we couldn't miss out on a photo-op, right?  Unfortunately, we were the ONLY people there, so, sadly enough, no pictures of the 2 of us together, but we did take a couple of single shots of each other:

Next, we came across the Birdsong Hollow, which is a lookout onto this beautiful bridge:

After hanging out there for a while, taking it all in, we decided to get back in the car and drive a little farther.  I was so amazed with how beautiful it all was.  Also, it was soooooo peaceful.  I think I realized that I have taken for granted how completely commercialized everything is in this country.  On the Natchez Trace, there are no billboards, no gas stations, no fast food...heck, there aren't even many cars because the speed limit is so low.  It was so nice to just be driving and taking in the beautiful scenery and spending time with my beau.  =)

Since we both thought it was really nice and peaceful, we decided that next spring (when it gets warmer) that we are taking a small trip down the Natchez Trace and finding somewhere to camp for the night.  How AWESOME will that be?????

Weekend Update!

Only one word can describe this weekend -- RELAXING!!!!!  I know that I have mentioned in previous posts that I have been looking forward to a relaxing weekend for quite some time...however, I didn't realize I needed one this bad.  Even though I love staying busy, I also enjoy OCCASIONALLY not having plans and letting the day take me where I want it.  I say "occasionally" because I am a serious planner!  It's really hard for me to just let go of the "to do list" and do something unexpected.  However, this weekend, (at least the end of it) was exactly what I have been needing.

Friday night was spent just hanging around the house, running a couple of errands, and watching a movie...well, attempting to watch a movie...I decided to watch Look Who's Talking because it was free On Demand and I remember liking it as a kid; however, I fell asleep in the middle, so I finished watching the rest of the movie on Saturday morning.

After the movie, I did a few things around the house, and then headed out on my last long walk (TEN MILES!) before my big half marathon next weekend!!!!!  Even though it wasn't easy, I actually averaged less than a 15 minute mile, so I think I'm as ready for the half marathon as I'll ever be.  I have 3 short walks at the beginning of this week, and then no more walking until EARLY Saturday morning!

After resting for a couple of hours, I had a few errands to run in Cool Springs (an area of Nashville that has a lot of shopping...and generally anything in the world you are looking for).  After running my errands I was able to do something I haven't done in a long time...I went shopping and just walked around the mall without rushing around to get the next thing marked off my to-do list.  I did buy a couple of items, but more than anything, it was nice to be able to take my time. 

Around 6:00, I ran home to meet Patrick who was picking me up at 6:30 to go have dinner with Mickey and Kathleen and then the 4 of us were heading to a party at a friend's house.  We had a really nice dinner at Anatolia Turkish Restaurant.  None of us had ever had Turkish food before, but because my beau had heard such great reviews, we decided to check it out.  I thought the food was delicious, and the service was great, too.  If you live in the Nashville area and are looking to try something different, you should definitely head over there.

Sunday morning, after not being able to sleep late (thank you Day Light Savings Time), Patrick and I decided to head out and see where the day may take us.  We first decided to have a quick brunch at this place:

Loveless Cafe -- A Nashville Tradition

And when I say "quick brunch" I really mean, wait an hour and a half and then decide that it's really time for lunch instead of breakfast.  Loveless Cafe is a very popular tourist attraction in Nashville; therefore, the wait on the weekends is ALWAYS lengthy, but it is definitely worth it.  In fact, the wait is really not that bad at all, because there are a few really cute shops on the property, and we were able to do a little shopping/looking around and even a little bit of this:

Me showing off my Boylan Diet Black Cherry Soda

Patrick and I posing in front of the old Motel sign

Once we got seated, we quickly decided what we wanted to eat and dug in...but not before taking pictures of our food first...I mean, who do you think you're talking about here?  =)

My meal -- BBQ Turkey with Mac 'n Cheese and Creamed Corn

Patrick's meal -- Chicken Livers (YUCK!) with Mac 'n Cheese and Hashbrown Casserole

We both LOVED our meals and were so glad we decided to head out there for the day.  After we finished eating, we decided to take one other fun adventure (which I will blog about later this week), then we headed over to the Nashville West shopping complex to do a little more shopping.  Well, I say WE did shopping, but really, just Patrick did shopping.  It was a lot of fun, and he was able to get some much needed purchases. 

After we finished shopping, we realized we still had about 30 minutes before the Nashville Humane Association closed for the evening.  Anyone who knows me knows that I have been trying to get Patrick a dog for Christmas ever since we first started dating.  He has been talking about wanting a dog for a very long time, and had just never really taken the plunge.  Well, this year when I brought it up again, he actually said that it may be a good idea.  Therefore, we decided to check it out this afternoon.  This is not our first trip to the dog shelter, and every time we go, I see a few dogs that I think are really cute, but they definitely aren't THE dog.  Well, today when we walked in, looked around at a couple of dogs, and then we walked into the puppy room...that's when we came across this little guy:

Meet Cowboy (although Patrick has already said that his name would be changed to Dakota)!  He is a 3 month old terrier mix, and came to the shelter a few days ago after being abandoned by his owner.  As soon as we walked in the puppy room, he stood up and tried to start playing with us through his kennel.  When we took him into the visitation room, he seemed really playful, but still a little timid.  After playing for a several minutes, Patrick decided to leave and think about it for awhile.  See, even though he is REALLY cute, and there definitely was a connection, there are several things Patrick has to think about:

1.  We aren't really sure anything about him or where he came from.  In fact, we don't even have a clue of what type of dog he is.  I mean, terrier mix can mean about 1,000 different things. 
2.  We think that, based on the size of his paws that he may end up being a pretty big dog, and that's kinda intimidating when you don't know what to expect.
3.  Quite frankly, being a dog owner is pretty freakin' scary!!!!!  (At least, that's how I feel...not necessarily speaking for Patrick here.)

With all of that being said, I'm not sure if Cowboy will be my Christmas gift to Patrick this year or not.  We may go back and look at him again later this week.  He's so cute that I'm sure if Patrick doesn't end up adopting him, he will definitely end up being in a good place!  I'm still keeping my fingers crossed though!  =)

Well, that's about all for me...I'm pooped, so I think I'll head off to bed.  =)  Have a great week everyone!

Fill in the Blank Friday

1. My last haircut was about a month ago...I should have a cut and color every 6 weeks, but because it's sooooooo expensive, I usually just do every 10 weeks!

2. My most daring hair moment was when I decided to let it grow out several years ago...2 words...BAD IDEA!!!!!  I had just moved to Nashville (the humidity capital of the WORLD), and my hair wouldn't do a thing!

3. A hairstyle I'd never be brave enough to try is an up-do for a fancy event.  My face is long and thin...therefore, I don't think my hair looks good pulled back at all!

4. I've always dreamt of being a (blonde, brunette or red-head) I guess a blonde, since it's not my natural color.  My hair is brown, and I've colored it blonde for most of my adulthood...therefore, I guess it would be nice if it was natural.

5. My go-to hair do is a graduated bob, with side bangs, straightened with a flat iron...that's pretty much the ONLY way I can fix my own hair, as if you haven't figured that out by all my pics.  =)

6. My biggest hair disaster was please see Question #2!

7. A hairstyle I am dying to try a short, almost pixie haircut.  I keep thinking about taking the plunge, but chicken out almost every time. 

8. My best hair day was I think I'm still waiting on this day...  =)

9. The worst hairstyle I ever had was when I had a perm in the 4th grade...need i say more?

10. My hair is something I have a love/hate relationship with...however, I have finally learned to love it more than I hate it over the last 3-4 years.

If you'd like to head along, head on over to the little things we do and link up!

Random Thought Thursday

So, it seems that this Random Thought Thursday thing is getting to be a regular occurance...even though most of my posts are "planned," this one really hasn't been.  I guess by the time Thursday comes around, I have a hard time organizing any other thoughts besides "random" ones.  =)  Anywho, several things to catch you up on today:

1.  I am participating in my very first Blog Swap!  The 2 Brain Children of Sandy a la Mode and Much Love, Illy have decided to host this awesome swap:

If you would like to head on over to one of their blogs and sign up, the more the merrier!  It should be a great time!

2.  This lady (who happens to be a friend of mine), is hosting her very first giveaway.  Head over to her blog and sign up to win!  I mean, who WOULDN'T want to win a $30 gift card to CSN?

3.  I had the best dinner tonight!  Thanks to Caroline for posting the recipe on her blog earlier today.  I thought I might pass the recipe on to my readers, since it was so delicious!

Ravioli & Vegatable Soup



Ingredients



1 Tbsp. Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

2 Cups Frozen Bell Pepper and Onion Mix, thawed and diced

2 Cloves Garlic, minced

1/4 tsp Crushed Red Pepper, or to taste (optional)

1 28-oz Can Crushed Tomatoes, preferably fire-roasted

1 15-oz Can Vegetable Broth or Reduced-Sodium Chicken Broth

1 1/2 Cups Hot Water

1 tsp Drive Basil or Marjoram

1 6-9 oz Package Fresh or Frozen Cheese (or Meat) Ravioli

2 Cups Diced Zucchini (about 2 medium)

Freshly Ground Pepper to taste

Heat oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat.  Add pepper-onion mix, garlic and crushed red pepper and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

Mixture should look like this...

Add tomatoes, broth, water and basil; bring to a rolling boil over high heat.  Add ravioli and cook for 3 minutes less than the package directions.  Add zucchini; return to a boil.  Cook until the zucchini is crisp-tender, about 3 minutes.  Season with pepper.

Finished Product!

This dish, really was delicious!  Here are a couple of tips:

• I cooked the pepper-onion mixture for a couple minutes longer than the recipe stated.  I really like to make sure onions are really cooked well before I continue on with the recipe.
• I use minced garlic that you buy in a jar in the produce section at the grocery store.  That stuff is amazing!  It keeps you from having to waste your time pressing garlic cloves and it's not nearly as messy.
• I wasn't able to find any fire-roasted tomatoes, so I used regular ones.  They were still good, though!

I think that's about all!  It was so freakin' good!  I can't wait to have leftovers for lunch tomorrow!

Well, I think that's it for me!  I'll see you all tomorrow when I'm back for Fill in the Blank Friday!  Good night!

#78 -- DONE!!!!!

So, as I mentioned in this post, Patrick and I did pretty well in our yard sale on Saturday.  Therefore, we decided that, as a way of celebrating, we would head to Ruth's Chris for dinner that night.  Granted, we don't treat ourselves to these type of expensive dinners very often, so this was a much anticipated evening for us.  =)  Not only is this one of my favorite restaurants, but it was also on my 101 Things list.  Patrick had never been to Ruth's Chris, and I was excited for him to experience it with me for the first time!

We each started off with a salad (he got the wedge salad, while I got a chopped salad), then for our main course we each got the ribeye with broiled tomatoes and shoestring fries to share.  My favorite was definitely the salad and tomatoes, but it was all very good.  Because we both agreed that it's not everyday that we get to eat dinner at Ruth's Chris, we also decided to order this for dessert:

Doesn't this look AMAZING?????  Well, rest assured that it WAS!!!!!  It was definitely my favorite part of the entire meal!  Absolutely wonderful!

It was definitely a fun night!  Not only did we have a great dinner, but we also had a great date night!

Weekend Update!

Whew!!!!!  What a busy weekend!  In fact, this weekend was sooooooo busy, that I didn't even have the energy to do my Weekend Update on Sunday, like I usually do.  Therefore, you're going to get SEVERAL posts in one evening tonight...sorry, but I had to get caught up!

I took the day off on Friday so that I could get ready for our big yard sale on Saturday.  Also, because I had to walk 9 miles this weekend, I decided to go ahead and get that over with as well.  Therefore, to start my Friday morning, I walked 9 miles in the Music Row/Belmont/Hillsboro Road area.  That part of town is soooo nice, and walking allowed me to really take it all in!  I enjoyed the walk...at least until the end, when it was getting a little tough.  Still, it was nice to get it out of the way early in the weekend.

Friday night, I got to hang out with these ladies:

Alysia and Kevana

And this lady:

Kathleen

Alysia and Kevana (who are roommates) had Kat and me over for dinner.  It was delicious and so great to catch up with this fun group of ladies!  However, as fun as the evening was, I couldn't stay out late.  I had to get in bed early because 5:30 a.m. was going to arrive AWFULLY early on Saturday morning.

See, a few weeks ago, I talked my beau into allowing us to have a Yard Sale at his house (he lives in a small subdivision off of a very busy road and therefore, had the perfect location).  After he agreed, I started asking several people if they were interested in joining us and actually got a pretty good group together.  We all made good money, but Patrick took the grand prize at over $360.  I came in second place at a little over $350 (I was able to sale an entire set of old living room furniture, 4 bar stools, and an old Nintendo...along with several smaller items).  The money has definitely been buring a hole in my pocket, but more on that later.  =)  Here are a few pics of the day:

View of the crowd -- Look at all those people!

Notice Patrick in the bottom right corner -- He was DEFINITELY making some serious deals!  =)

Jennifer, Stacy, Amber, and Kat taking a break from all the hard work just long enough to snap a picture!

Amber showing off her baby bump, while I'm showing off my over the shoulder bag.  =)

I think Yard Sales are fun because you learn a lot about people based on what they previously owned.  I won't point out WHO owned each of these items, but I will just say that this day brought back lots of old memories.  =)  Take a look at these pics and tell me you don't feel like your back in the 1990s:

After things started to wind down with the Yard Sale, I finally got to take my much needed nap....HaHa, I wish!  Instead, I had to run all a couple of errands to get things ready for our Halloween costume.  After that was over, I didn't have much time for napping.  I did, however, take a little time to relax and watch a little football.  Then, it was time for us to head to the Halloween Party at Dobber and Nicole's house.  Now, what you all have been waiting for (okay, okay, I realize you all have WAYYYY more important things going on in your life than to wonder all weekend what my Halloween costume was)...however, here it is anyway:

Yep, you guessed it...Jon and Kate + 8 made a reunion appearance on Saturday night.  =)

Just had to show a picture or 2 of my Kate Gosselin teased hair!

There were several cute costumes at the party.  Here are a few of them:

Humpty-Dumpty and Mrs. Humpty-Dumpty

Kat and Mickey won "Most Original Costume" dressed as Double Dare game show participants.

Even though the party was a great time, we didn't stay super late as we were all exhausted from the yard sale that morning.  It was still a fun party, though!  =)

Sunday was spent doing almost nothing, which was sooooo nice.  All I did all day was relax and watch football.  Then last night, my beau and I headed to dinner (more on that in a later post).

All-in-all, it was a wonderful weekend, and I feel very blessed to have so much going on in my life.  However, next weekend, I have almost no plans and I am sooooooo looking forward to it!  Hope you all have a great week!