Friday, December 19, 2008

The date is set!


February 16th is the dreaded day. Now let's pray that I can defend the thing. Hopefully the holidays can distract me some from stressing out too much.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Happy Birthday Fritz!

Today is Fritz's 6th birthday (yes I know his actual birth date)! He has been a good little companion for 6 years and hopefully has many, many more years in him. He got an extra long walk and a special dog treat with frosting to celebrate. Happy birthday Fritters!

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

We're Married!

Well, we've been married for a little over 2 weeks, but I haven't gotten around to blogging. The wedding was great...we had so much fun! Everyone told me to expect something to go wrong, and for us it was that our photgrapher and his assistant were violently ill and could not shoot our wedding. He sent two people in his place, but I'm still kind of nervous about how the pictures will come out. We made our way to Sandals Regency St. Lucia Sunday after the wedding. We had a few issues along the way. We didn't make it to St. Lucia until Monday and then our luggage didn't make it until Tuesday. After that, the trip was great! I'm already ready to go back to St. Lucia!

Sunday, November 16, 2008

I was scammed!

Booo! I have been a professional online shopper for so long, I think I was taking for granted that I never had any problems. Well, I got scammed folks! I ordered some items from this site for my wedding reception and for the bridesmaids. I ordered it a while ago and still don't have the items. I emailed the company several times with no response. They have absolutley no phone number on their site. I finally googled "Pick N Personalize scam" and guess what....I'm not the only one! I don't know how these people are getting away with taking so many people's money...it makes me SO mad!! Luckily, I called my credit card company and am in the process of disputing the charges. Ugh...what a mess!

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Happy Halloween!

So it's a day late, but I hope everyone had a great Halloween! Kent and I passed out candy to trick-or-treaters. There were TONS of kids that stopped by. We went through our entire massive bowl of candy (which is a good thing because now I won't eat it). Here are the pumpkins that we carved (mine is the mean face and Kent's is the ghost).

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Fall & Furry Friends

Not much exciting has happened lately. This was the first weekend in weeks that Kent and I were both in Pensacola, so we really just enjoyed the beautiful fall weather here and ran around town for most of Saturday. We got into the Halloween mood and bought some pumpkins for the front porch (which will later be carved) and then watched the old Jamie Lee Curtis movie, "Halloween", which Kent found to be cheesy, but I always enjoy.


Today we've both been in work mode. Ugh. I have a presentation tomorrow and on Tuesday. I'm guest lecturing in a Personal Health class tomorow on Eating Disorders and Body Image. Tuesday I'm doing a training seminar for our staff on eating disorders treatment. I will be eating disordered out by the end of this week!


On a side note, Kent's 2 cats moved in with me and Fritz mid-August. I think everyone involved was nervous about how that would work out, but check out this picture I got tonight:

Sunday, October 12, 2008

12 Hour Bridal Portraits

What and adventure!! First of all, it was more difficult finding a place to have bridal portraits taken than it was finding a place to get married!! Everywhere around New Orleans has rules and restrictions and fees (some as much as $350) associated with bridal pics. I just don't get it...I'm not vandalizing the place...I'm standing in a white dress!


Anyway, so I took the day off of work on Friday to have my bridal portraits taken. The plan was to drive down to Metairie (about 45 mins away) to have my hair and makeup done at 10am, then drive to Baton Rouge (yes Baton Rouge....the only place we could find to take pics!) and meet the photographer at 1:30 all dressed and ready to start taking pics. We were going to take pics for 2 hours in the Old State Capitol and had to be out by 3:30 as they had a wedding rehearsal starting.
My mom and I thought we would have PLENTY of time to get to Baton Rouge, eat something for lunch and be ready for pics by 1:30...WRONG! We got stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic right outside of Metairie and then again in Baton Rouge. Then we get to the Capitol and they're setting up for some music thing they were having downtown which meant that most of the roads were closed...what a nightmare! We eventually found a spot not too far away, which is good considering we were carrying a dress, shoes, flowers, etc. It actually ended up working out for the best because we got started around 2:30 and got an hour of pics in at the Capitol and then went over to a park near the "new" capitol and got lots of outside pics. I love our photographer and had a really good time taking pictures.


So I changed and we got ready to make the 1 1/2 hour drive back to Slidell. By this time it's 5:00 and we still haven't eaten anything...which means I'm getting cranky! Guess what?? More bumper-to-bumper traffic! You couldn't pay me enough to live in Baton Rouge. We finally got home by 8:30. Who knew it would take 12 hours to take some bridal portraits?!
On a side note, my florist wanted to charge $100 for a bouquet for pictures, which I couldn't rationalize having my parents pay for. So...my mom went to the grocery store and bought 2 dozen roses for $8/ dozen and made this bouquet herself. I think she did a fabulous job...and in this pic the bouquet is 2 days old AND it's been through 2 1/2 hours of pictures and about 10 hours of traffic!

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Office Space

And I'm not talking about the show, I'm talking about my own. I'm finally getting my office set up how I want it. I've been working here for a month and a half, so it's about time! It's really important to me that my office be comfortable and "homey". One, because I spend a heck of a lot of time in here, and two, because I think it makes clients more comfortable if they're not sitting in a sterile, boring office. Anyway, here are a few pics of what it looks like now. I still need a few things like a couple throw pillows for the sofa and another floor lamp, but it's getting there! I REALLY miss having a window in my office. I feel like a hurricane could be going on outside and I wouldn't know because I live in this cave, but it could be much worse so I won't complain too much!


Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Wedding this and that

Not much has been happening lately, but I promised I would be better about updating, so here I go. I can definitely see why people elope because I feel like wedding plans/ details are taking over my life. I plan on putting invitations in the mail next weekend and I have pretty much all of them addressed, but there are still some addresses I'm trying to track down (and get Kent to track down). It'll feel so good to get those in the mail. I have my 2nd dress fitting on Saturday. Don't get me started on how the first one went, but I certainly hope this one goes better! We're also doing engagement pictures (finally....a little late!) on Sunday in downtown Pensacola. I'm pretty exicted about them. Here's the blog of the photographer we're using. I really like her style.

In other news, congrats to Mr. Morgan for passing his Adventure Boot Camp certification exam. This means he is now officially an Adventure Boot Camp instructor. If you don't know what that means, check it out HERE!

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Long time, no blog!

So, it's been ages since I updated my blog! There's been so much going on lately, I haven't even thought about it! Here are the bulleted points of what has been going on this past month:


  • moved to Pensacola...love the house!

  • drove to Cameron, TX for engagement party at Kent's parents' house...had a great time!

  • drove 12 hours back to Florida with a dog and 2 cats in the car...we're all still alive

  • started working at UWF on Aug.20th...like it so far!

  • I've already had to cover my computer with plastic twice at work before going home for Hurricane scares

  • Kent was hired at UWF as the "Director of Athletic Performance"

  • My parents evacuated Slidell to stay with me this past weekend because of Gustav. It took them 9 hours to get from Slidell to Pensacola. Their house is fine.

  • And I'll end with my new favorite candy...Hershey's Candy Corn Kisses. yeah, you heard me right. However, they don't taste like candy corn...they taste like buttercream which is even better. I wish I could keep the bag under my nose like a feedbag and smell it all day because it smells like heaven!! I will be stocking up on these because my guess is that they will be gone after Halloween.

Anyway, I'll try to be better about updating!

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Byebye Boone :(

Well today I finished my internship at the Appalachian State Counseling Center. I can't believe the year is over!! It was probably the hardest year of my life. The amount of work was ridiculous and I was away from friends and family (including Kent). I'm SO relieved that it's over, but I'm definitely going to miss Boone. Here are some of the things I'll miss the most:
  • the beautiful mountains, of course
  • the fact that I don't have or need A/C in the summer
  • the fall colors
  • Christmas tree farms
  • Rhodedendrums
  • Dan'l Boone Inn
  • Blowing Rock
  • The Best Cellar (where Kent and I got engaged)
  • going to the Biltmore Estate
  • hiking to waterfalls
  • Farmer's Market
  • Living half a mile from the Blue Ridge Parkway
  • no humidity
  • Mast General Store
  • fireflies

My fellow intern, Rebekah and I made calendars for all of our co-workers as a going away present. We used all of our favorite pictures around Boone that we have taken this year. I am sharing them as part of my final ode to Boone. It's 13 pics, so bear with me!

Cover:

January:

February:

March:


April:

May:

June:

July:

August:

September:
October:

November:


December:

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Check and check

Well, I am able to check off 2 of my goals that I set for my year in Boone. So, the first one is kind of nerdy. I always wanted to have a picture that was the "Photo of the Day" on booneweather.com. The man who runs booneweather, Ray, is somewhat of a local celebrity and everyone in Boone knows about booneweather. Well...after a year of sending in photos, mine was finally chosen and today my photo was the photo of the day!! It's a picture I took of Grandfather Mountain (notice the profile of a bearded old man) while I was at a park in Banner Elk last Friday. Here's the pic:


My second goal was to see a bear. After work I drove to Mountain City, TN to eat at a really great restaurant for a co-worker's retirement dinner. On the way there and on the way back I saw a bear in the very same spot. Why was he in the same spot?? Because the poor thing was dead on the side of the road. But it was a bear nonetheless, so I'm still counting it.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Unveiling of the Pottery!


Friday night I went to the pottery studio to pick up my very first completed pieces. This means I built them out of clay, let them completely dry (which takes a while), fired them once in the kiln, glazed them, and fired them again. Pottery doesn't happen overnight, folks! Think about that the next time you complain about paying $30 for a lovely piece of pottery. Anyway, the blue piece is the ONLY thing I was able to make on the wheel. I don't know how I managed to make it and I have no idea what it is. The white vase I made by hand, which is obvious by the asymmetry. The rest of the weekend I have been packing my butt off. I am now officially stuck eating frozen meals, sandwiches or takeout, as all of my plates, pots, and pans are packed away...ugh!

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Packing, Picking, and Potting

That about sums up my weekend.



  • Packing- I have been packing up my place to move to Florida. I HATE PACKING! My dad is coming up here to help me load the truck on the 31st and we're heading to Pensacola Aug. 1st. I can't believe I've already lived in Boone for a year. I'm VERY excited about moving, but I'm starting to get sad about leaving the mountains...it's so beautiful here.

  • Picking- As silly as it sounds, I usually drive to get my mail because my driveway is SO steep. This weekend I decided to walk up to get my mail and noticed tons of blackberries growing around the mailbox. I picked enough blackberries to make a cobbler and there are still lots left to pick.

  • Potting- So it's not really potting, but I had to add the "ing" just so it would sound cute. I've been taking a pottery class this summer and it's a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. I just can't seem to master centering the clay on the wheel, so I've decided to stick to hand-building pieces for now. This weekend I went up to the studio to make a bundt pan. I'm excited to see how it comes out!

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Blueberry Muffins in a Bowl?!


I just had to quickly share my new favorite cereal. I'm a big cereal eater, or even connoisseur if you will. I eat cereal every morning and I usually switch around to different kinds so I don't get bored. Lately I have been eating the Cinnamon Streusel Frosted Mini-Wheats. They're very tasty, but I was starting to need a change in my morning meal. I was at the store yesterday and there it was, sitting on the end of an aisle- Blueberry Muffin Frosted Mini-Wheats. What the perfect combination! Blueberry muffins are one of my favorite breakfast treats, but let's face it...who has time to bake up some muffins in the morning?? Now there's no need to...you can eat your muffins right out of a cereal bowl!

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Happy 4th of July Weekend!

It was SO nice having a 3-day weekend...I wish I had one every week! My plan for Friday (the 4th) was to go to Lansing, NC with a fellow intern, Rebekah, to pick blueberries at this farm. Then, we were going to watch the fireworks in Jefferson because we heard they were supposed to be pretty good. So we made the 45-minute drive to Lansing and as soon as we got there it started storming. I was so disappointed. We decided on Plan B, which was driving back to Boone, eating dinner, and then going to watch the fireworks at Tweetsie since by the time we got back to Boone the sun was out (of course). So, after we ate we drove to Tweetsie and there were cars parked along the road for miles. Apparently people make a day out of parking and waiting for fireworks. I guess there's nothing better to do in Boone. I like fireworks, but not enough to park 2 miles away and and wait for an hour. So, the goals for the day were to pick blueberries and watch fireworks, and I didn't end up doing either one. Oh well. Here's a picture of my niece, Ella in honor of the 4th!

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Dissertation Blues

I am sitting here on a Saturday afternoon trying to motivate myself to work on my dissertation. My plan is to work on it the rest of the day today and tomorrow...not exactly a fun weekend. This dissertation is such the thorn in my side. I am determined to have the bulk of it written before I move in a month so I can defend before I get married. If there's one thing I've learned about grad shcool, it's that getting a Ph.D. has nothing to do with intelligence and everything to do with persistence. It's more about how much you're willing to put up with and how many hoops you're willing to jump through. Well, I've jumped through LOTS of hoops the past 5 years and this dissertation is the last one...and the hardest one in my opinion (aside from internship). It's hard to find motivation because I am getting my Ph.D. to help people, and the truth is, completing my dissertation will not make me a better clinician. I will get it done...and I will get it done soon so I can have my life and sanity back.

On a happier note, here are some pictures from last weekend...the roommate reunion which was MUCH more fun than this weekend!


Dan'l Boone Inn:

Jail Cell in Mayberry:

Opie's Candy Shop in Mayberry:

Fancy McDonald's outside the Biltmore:

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Boone Bugs


Boone has some of the weirdest looking bugs I have ever seen. This little fella who greeted me when I got home from work today is no exception. I mean, look at this guy...he looks like something from a sci-fi movie. I don't like bugs I'm not familiar with...they frighten me.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Carolina on my Mind

So, this is my first blog post. I have resisted creating a blog for quite some time because I never thought my life was exciting enough to document on a regular basis. However, my 2 college roommates (Alisia & Emily) came to visit me in Boone this weekend. Emily convinced me that my life isn't as boring as I may think it is given that I am about to move, complete my Ph.D., start a new job, and get married. Anyway, she was able to sell me on the whole blog idea. We had a really great weekend...it was so good to catch up with them! I can't believe it's been 10 years since we first met our freshman year. Here are the highlights of the weekend:


  • Friday- All 3 of us managed to fall asleep by mid-afternoon. Their excuse was an early morning flight. I had no excuse. We then went out to eat pancakes for supper at the Mountain House Restaurant.
  • Saturday- Went in to Blowing Rock to pick up my wedding invitations (woohoo!). We then had a lovely lunch in downtown Boone at Our Daily Bread. This was followed by a trip to Mayberry (Mt. Airy). Alisia is an Andy Griffith Show fan (much like Kent), so this trip fulfilled one of her life dreams. We ended the day with dinner at one of my favorite restaurants of all time, the Dan'l Boone Inn (or DBI as the locals call it).
  • Sunday- We spent all day Sunday in Asheville at the Biltmore Estate. I am a 12-month passholder for the Biltmore if that tells you anything about how much I like it there. We took a Behind the Scenes tour which was very neat. As we exited the Biltmore, we stopped at the McDonald's in Biltmore Village. That may not sound like a very glamorous place to eat after strolling through the largest, most extravagant home in America, but this is not your typical McDonald's. The inside is complete with fresh flowers, a fireplace, tapestries on the wall, and a baby grand piano.


  • Monday- We started the day with a hike to a waterfall near my place off the Blue Ridge Parkway. We then had some fabulous hamburgers at Sonny's Grill in Blowing Rock. They're now on their way back to Forth Worth...boo! It was a geat weekend!

I will post pictures from the weekend later, but here's a blast from the past for now!