A Night of Nerves!

This is it...the night before the big race...and by big, I mean huge!  There will be more than 30,000 people running this little race with me tomorrow, and that in and of itself freaks me out!  How do I really feel about the big day?

Well, I'm excited, I'm nervous, and I'm scared.  I'm scared that my knee is going to hurt.  I'm scared that because of all the people that I won't get to see my family at all of their pre-planned stops.  I'm scared that I won't finish in a good time.  I'm scared I won't be able to run the whole thing.  I'm scared that the fact that it is 10:41 pm and I am still awake will really hurt me tomorrow.  I'm scared that I have told too many people about this race and that if I don't do good, I will have to explain it all week next week.

However, amongst all of that fear, I have another overwhelming emotion...Pride!  I am so proud of myself for attempting something that I never thought I'd do.  I just hope I can make my family, my friends, my boyfriend, and most importantly, MYSELF proud tomorrow.

Good night all and happy raceday!

What I'm Loving Wednesdays!

Guess what everyone?  It's Wednesday, and you know what happens on Wednesdays...it's not just Hump Day; it's the day when we all get to head over to Jamie's blog to tell you everything we are loving this week:

1.  The Voice! 

This show premiered on NBC last night and It. Is. AH-mazing.  That's all I know to say...Such a great show and it's wayyyy better than American Idol, in my humble opinion.

2.  That I have lived in Nashville, TN for 5 years as of last Friday!  I HEART this city!

3.  That the Country Music Marathon is this weekend!

I (along with 30,000 other people) have trained so hard for this big day and I cannot wait until 7:00 on Saturday morning when the race officially begins!

4.  That my parents and Peppermint are coming to town this weekend to cheer me on!  Yes, I just saw them last weekend, and yes, I will see them the following weekend for Mother's Day, but still, it will be fun to have them here!

5.  That my kickball team is currently undefeated and we have another game this weekend!  Hopefully, we can keep our streak alive!

Rain, Rain Go Away!

THIS is what Nashville has to look forward to this evening!  I don't usually get scared during storms, but the looks of this an hour before I am planning to go to bed is kinda stressing me out!  Hopefully, it won't be as bad as it looks, but I have heard there will be flash flood and tornado warnings.  GEE WHIZ!  When will this spring weather move along and make room for summer? 

Weekend Update!

Well, my weekend officially started last Tuesday; however, to save all of my readers from hearing about time spent doing laundry and running errands, I think I'll start my weekend update a few days into the week.

On Thursday afternoon, my beau took a half day off work and I was very excited that we were heading to the Nashville Zoo.  For some reason, I LOVE the zoo, and I have found that a random weekday is the absolute best time to go!  Here are a few pics:

Patrick and I enjoying the animals

This elephant was pretty far away...my camera just has a great zoom!

I love giraffes!

Look how close we could get!

The meerkats are always interesting!

I am always fascinated by the flamingos.

After spending the afternoon at the zoo, we decided to wrap up the day with a little shopping!  I MAY have bought a few too many dresses from White House Black Market (LOVE that store)...don't worry, at least one of them will be going back!

Friday was spent enjoying a mani/pedi (the shallac nail polish is fabulous, BTW), having lunch with Alysia, Kevana, and this special girl:

Running 10 miles (which was very UNFUN), and heading Chase's Birthday Party:

Me with the new Nashville Junior Chamber President-Elect, Amanda Wyler!

Patrick finding his inner Hulk Hogan (there was a wrestling theme, in case you were wondering)

Group shot toward the end of the night!

Uh, oh, Patrick found a food truck on our way to the car...and it was YUMMY!

On Saturday, we headed to Knoxville where we played 9 holes of golf with my brother.  Let me preface this by saying that I am NOT the best golfer in the world...HOWEVER, I definitely had the best 9 holes of my life!  Here is a quick pic of the 3 of us:

On Sunday, the whole clan headed to church and then after getting back home, we had the biggest Easter celebration we've had in a LONG time!  This was the first Easter Patrick has gone home with me, and also, my sister and mom both invited friends over whose family lived out of town.  It was so much fun having a lot of people around.  We had a huge lunch, played a little corn hole and even had an Easter Egg Hunt!  It was a blast.  Here is a quick pic of my family all dressed up in our Easter best:

I hope each of you had as wonderful an Easter as I did.

One final thing to mention...please say a quick prayer for my parents' church:  Washington Pike United Methodist Church in Knoxville, TN.  There were some really bad storms that came through Knoxville this evening, and a tree was uprooted and landed on the church sanctuary.  There were several people inside, but thank goodness, no one was injured!  There is, however, quite a bit of damage.  It's so strange to think that I was just in that church yesterday...

Project 365 -- Week 1

Since I am back among the land of the living, I have decided to start my own little Project 365!  Because I know that I would never remember to do a post everyday, I have decided to do a weekly Project 365 update.  So, without further ado, here is my first week of Project 365:

Tuesday, April 19 -- Post Tax Season Haircut

Wednesday, April 20 -- Iron Fork with the Girls

Thursday, April 21 -- Meerkat at the Zoo

Friday, April 22 -- Jayla and I at Lunch



Saturday, April 23 -- Daniel and Patrick on the Golf Course

Stay tuned for next week's addition of Project 365!

Summer Reading List

Am I the ONLY one who put off my high school summer reading until the VERY end of summer and then I was hurrying around like a crazy person trying to read them all (i.e. buying cliffs notes and hoping that was enough to pass the test)?  Well, now that I get to pick the books, my summer reading list looks a little different:

The Help -- I started this book a LONG time ago and slowly but surely am making my way through it.  I REALLY like it, but it takes me forever to read a book...especially in the spring when I'm working a lot.  Hopefully, I'll get to read it a lot more often now that I have nights and weekends free!

Something Borrowed -- I had no desire to read this book because I've read another book of Emily Giffin's (Love the One You're With) and didn't like it.  However, I saw the preview for the movie the other day and IT LOOKS AMAZING!!!!!  I HAVE to read this book before going to see the movie!

Something Blue -- I have heard that this book is told from the "other" girl's point of view in the love triangle, so I definitely want to check it out, too!

Anna and the French Kiss -- I had never heard of this book until Caroline mentioned reading it.  I must say, I love a cheesy romance novel, so I can't wait to get my hands on it!

Sweet Valley Confidential -- I mean, really?  Does this book need an explanation?  Were you a girl who grew up in the 80s and 90s?  Then, you will be reading this book...'nuff said!

Sugar and Spice:  An L.A. Candy Novel -- After reading the first book in this series, I HAVE to complete the trilogy...also, I have a girl crush on Lauren Conrad...just sayin'...

Sweet Little Lies:  An L.A. Candy Novel -- Of course, I have to read the final book in this series...I've heard that it's the best book of the 3!

Gee whiz, it looks like it's going to be a busy summer, huh?  At least I love laying by the pool, so my Kindle should get lots of action.  Oh, also, thank goodness there won't be any End of Summer Tests either.  =)

What books are you reading this summer?  I'm always open for suggestions!



Ebates Love!

Has anyone heard of Ebates?  Well, thanks to my friend, Anna Catherine (AKA the master mind behind Kelso Thoughts), I am addicted!  This website is awesome!  Pretty much, you just register on the Ebates website, and then every time you shop online, you first go to ebates.com, find the website you are planning on buying from, click on their link from the ebates site, make your purchase, and congratulations!  You just earned cash back through Ebates!  Simple as that!!!!!

You may wonder why I am so excited about Ebates all of a sudden...well, that would be because I got my first "Big Fat Check" in the mail this week!  See, they send you a check occasionally, paying out all of your earnings!  Granted my check was only for $3.82, but since I am a newby, I'll take whatever I get!  Soooooo exciting!

If you haven't tried Ebates, you should definitely click here!  I mean, come on...everyone is doing it!  =)

What I'm Loving Wednesdays!

It's still BARELY Wednesday, so I figured, why shouldn't I tell you all what I'm loving today:

1.  Having the WHHHOOOLE week off work!  I have worked sooo much lately, and I am really enjoying my much needed break.  Not only have I had time for some fun, but I've also gotten caught up on sooooo many chores!

2.  That my beau is taking a half day off tomorrow to spend the day with me!  I'm really hoping we get to go here:

3.  That Patrick and I are heading to Knoxville this weekend to celebrate Easter with my family!  I can't wait to eat ham, green bean casserole, and chicken 'n dumplins!!!!!

4.  Dinner Club!  Tonight, my little group of girls went to a fundraiser here in Nashville called Iron Fork.  It's similar to the TV show Iron Chef, except with all Nashville chefs!  It was so much fun, and I love getting together with these girls:

5. My condo...I know, I know, it's not the biggest house, and it's not the nicest house, and it's not in the faciest neighborhood, but it's all mine, and I pay for it and I bought it, and I LOVE the way it's decorated!  I am thankful on a daily basis that God allows me to live somewhere that I love.

What are you loving today?  Head over to Jamie's blog and tell us all about it!

Top Two Tuesday!

Top Two Things You Collect

1.  Stuffed Animals -- Yes, I frequently ask myself if I have been replaced with an 8 year old girl because I LOVE stuffed animals.  Every time I go on a trip, I HAVE to buy a souviner stuffed animal.  My beau has even caught on to my addiction (even though I'm sure he thinks it's silly) becuase he has started buying me stuffed animals when HE goes on trips...for instance, I have an elephant from Mardi Gras and a lamb from New Zealand.  Love it!  What are my favorites?  Well that would have to be either the ET stuffed animal that I got at Universal Studios or the Clydesdale that Patrick bought me when we visited St. Louis.  

2.  Pencils from the Target $1 Spot -- I always use pencils at work, and a few years ago, I decided to start buying the fun, cute ones in the Dollar Spot at Target.  I love having a little personality in my writing untensils.

What do you collect?  Head over to The Undomestic Momma and let us know!

On Top of the World...and a Few Weekend Updates

Hi, my name is Melissa...I used to blog at least 3 times per week about things other than work...That was BEFORE tax season...well, guess what?  Tax season's over and I am READY to get back to the old me!  I'm not going to lie...it wasn't pretty, and this weekend was one of the most stressful I've had in a LOOOOOOOONG time.  However, I got through it, and after a few short hours of work tomorrow, I get to enjoy the rest of the week.  What are my plans you ask?  WELL, probably just a lot of boring stuff like laundry, a spray tan, a hair cut and color, a mani/pedi, grocery shopping, bill paying...ya know?  All the stuff that I've put on hold for the last 2 weeks!

Okay, enough about work...let me update you on what's been going on for the last 2 weekends.  Last weekend was pretty chill and a few of us hung out at Patrick's for a pre-summer cookout!  It was nice being able to relax with friends for the evening.  Sunday was our very first kickball game of the season!  I love kickball, and this year is going to be great!  We won our first game in overtime and I can tell it's going to be a successful season!

This past weekend was mainly about work...however, I did manage to get in a little fun.  Saturday morning, several of my co-workers and I ran in the Purity's Moosic City Dairy Dash 10K.  I was pretty proud of my time:  1:14:43!  That's a little over a 12 minute mile pace, which is okay...but considering how little I've been able to train lately, I was pretty pleased.Here is a pic of the big event:

Sorry for the poor picture quality...all I had with me was my phone.

Saturday night, Patrick and I attended the Nashville Junior Chamber's Ragin' Cajun' Crawfish Boil...it was a lot of fun, but I was so exhausted from running and working all day, that I didn't get to enjoy it as much as I would have liked.  Sunday was yet another kickball game, and we had a great game!  So good, in fact, that the mercy rule came into effect and we only had to play 5 innings!  Go Kick This!  After having a quick lunch with the team, Patrick and I headed to a birthday party for my friend, Reca, at the new Margaritaville that's located downtown:

Well, hopefully, I'll be back at this whole blogging thing very soon...until tomorrow, have a great night!

Weekend Update - Better Late Than Never

Shew, what a week!  The good news, though, is that we are only 10 days away from the tax return filing deadline, and then it's back to blogging, running, doing laundry, keeping my house clean, hanging out with friends, and generally enjoying life!  WOOHOO!

Thought I'd take a quick minute to update you on what last weekend held for me.  On Friday night, I worked late and then came home and relaxed for the evening.  Saturday, after working most of the day, my beau and I headed out to dinner at one of my favorites places (Cheddar's) with Alysia and Ed!  Oh, and BTW, they have a Honey Dijon Chicken that APPEARS to be fairly healthy and tastes absolutely delicious! 

After a good meal, we decided to head to the bowling alley!  I love bowling (even though I am borderline terrible), and after promising Ed that I would beat him, I MAY have embarassed myself, but we had a great time.  Of course, I had the camera out in full effect.  Here are a few pics:

Alysia and I are ready to play!

Ed in his stance!

I think Patrick just got a strike!



And finally, a group shot to round out the evening...

On Sunday, I had to head back to work in the morning and then it was time for kickball practice!  I love kickball!  It makes me feel so young and carefree, and it's also a great time to hang out with friends.  After kickball practice, I had to run 8 miles, and then Patrick and I celebrated my run with a trip to the Chinese buffet.  YUMMY!

That's about all of my weekend...I did have one more fun thing happen this week.  On Wednesday, the firm I work for had a drawing for an XBox 360 and guess whose name was drawn??????  Yep, this girl!  I never thought I'd be the proud owner of one of these:

But, I have to say...I'm pretty pumped about it!!!!!

Have a good weekend everyone!  Hopefully, I'll be back on Sunday with another weekend update!


Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today is my dad's birthday!!!!!  And if you knew him, you would realize that him being born on April Fool's Day is soooooooooooooo fitting!  He's always trying to be a jokester and giving everyone a hard time...to him, it's April Fools Day all year long!  I think he had a good birthday!  When I talked to my mom tonight he had received cupcakes, 2 birthday cakes, a few cards, a few gifts, several phone calls and even a text wishing him Happy Birthday!  Not too shabby for such an old man!  Just joking, Dad!

Daddy, I'm so glad you had a great birthday!  I know I haven't always been an easy daughter to raise, but I know that deep down, you loved every minute of our constant tyraids when I was a teenager...afterall, you always won!  =)  I know there is nothing you wouldn't do for your children, and that growing up, we were always your top priority!

Love you and Happy Birthday!

Here's a Pic of my dad with my mom and their new favorite child...Ha!  Just Joking!

Blogger Mistakes

So, tonight while doing my typical Friday night blog stalking (yes, my life really is THAT exciting), I came across this article that was first referenced on West Sac Honey's blog.  Apparently, someone actually wrote an article about the Top 10 Mistakes people make while blogging.  I'm not 100% sure I agree with all of these mistakes (in fact, I've already committed one of these "sins" in this blog post).  However, it's definitely something to think about.  From the looks of things, the author of this article would probably breeze right past my blog because I have made all of the following mistakes:

1. Always apologizing -- Yes, I am guilty...I have always been a pleaser, and quite frankly, I think this is one of my positive traits...therefore, the apologizing will probably continue...I'm really sorry though...  =)
2. Not running spell-check or proofreading -- Again, guilty!  I am constantly mispeling evrythng!!!!!  I shuld probly wrk on this!
3. Busy, cluttered sidebars -- This one's still up in the air...I like having an "exciting" blog.  That's part of the fun, is having this pretty page for people to look at!
4. Links that don't tell where they are going -- EXTREMELY guilty!  So, according to this author, this is annoying!  Again, I'll work on it.

In all seriousness though, I really do think this blogger has a lot of good points...the key to getting people to read your blog is for it to be interesting and easy to navigate.  I think I'll take SOME of her comments to heart!

Giveaway!

Hey Everyone!  Jenn over at Munchkin Land Designs is giving away a free blog design!  Be sure to check her out!