Holiday-filled Weekend

This weekend was definitely filled with the holiday spirit.  For the first time I decided to sponsor a child for Christmas.  I went through a non-profit in Cumming called "The Place" and they do all kinds of charity work from running a thrift store to meals on wheels and obviously putting needy families in touch with resources.  I sponsored a 14 year old girl named Anita and that's really all I know about her but going shopping on Friday night with my mom (who co-sponsored) was so much fun.  We bought gifts like socks, a new purse, and Old Navy gift cards so I hope she likes them and has a Merry Christmas.  Next year I plan to sponsor a whole family.

Saturday night was the 3rd annual progressive dinner that wasn't really progressive.  The point of a progressive dinner is that it typically takes place with neighbors and each household prepares one course of the meal; everyone then walks from house to house to enjoy each course.  Ours has never really been that easy because our participating friend group does not all live in the same neighborhood but at least we all live within a 10 mile radius.  This year we all gathered at Derek and Kelly's house with appetizers and it was actually not easier because it's kind of a bitch to pack up all that food and drink and haul it around; at least I didn't have to clean.  I made a delicious ham and cheese in puff pastry recipe by Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) which Kennen, who didn't actually prepare anything, referred to as Hot Pockets.  What a dick!  The night consisted of Guitar Hero (which I suck at; I got booed off stage twice but I'm pretty sure the guitar was broken) and the usual lighting farts on fire.  

Sunday the festivities continued with Andrea's first, hopefully annual, cookie exchange.  The premise of a cookie exchange is that friends gather and all bring 3-4 dozen of their favorite cookie recipe.  They then taste and choose a tasty winner and a pretty winner and leave with a variety of cookies.  I made a no-bake chocolate rum ball by Alex G.  I'm not going to attempt spelling her last name and I don't feel like looking it up but she's new on Food Network.  I did something wrong and I don't think they turned out as good as hers but I'm bringing it next year so look out bitches.  Who said you can't win tastiest AND prettiest?

Today was the Spanish final exam at school so now I'm done for the semester.  Movie time!!!  

Georgia/Georgia Tech

Despite the rain and the cold we truly dedicated fans decided to to go to the game.  It was about 50 degrees and consistently rainy the whole day.  I bought some kick ass new goulashes last night at Target and donned my hooded rain coat and I was ready.  We had a short tailgate in the parking deck; plenty of time for a few mimosas.  Erik was smart enough to bring a couple of rags to wipe down the bleachers and to sit on but my butt was still soaked for the rest of the day.  Christy and I made it until half time and then we decided that it was time to go so we went downtown and watched Tech beat GA at Transmetropolitan with a pepperoni pizza.  Overall it was actually a great time and now I can tell my Dad honestly that I didn't sell his tickets.

First Annual Wedding Dress Party

Saturday was the 1st annual wedding dress party hosted by Amanda at her house.  I showed up late but when I arrived all of the girls were in the backyard playing corn hole (aka bean bag toss) and we soon left for the church for pictures.  I didn't realize that there were events planned for the evening but 5 girls in wedding dresses and a token bridesmaid can draw a lot of attention.  While we were standing outside of the church there were a lot of stares and honking horns.  We then went to Atkins Park, a bar in Vinings, for a drink.  When people asked us what we were doing they thought it was hilarious and Amanda is convinced that Atkins Park will sponsor the party next year.

Flag Football

Tony and the Douche-Unit now have a flag football team.  They are called "Balls Deep" and I was a little concerned with the team name thinking that my husband chose that.  I later learned that it is the team name on Dodgeball (I think) so I was relieved to learn that Tony didn't come up with that all on his own.

These guys take re-living their high school stardom pretty seriously.  Practice at least once a week and formal plays that Tony, as the quarterback, actually spends hours typing up.  Even more interesting, each of the plays have strip club names like Pink Pony and Oasis so they can remember which one they are supposed to be running.

Lexi just got a new camera and took these awesome action shots.  Have I mentioned they're 0-2?  Hopefully all the practice will start to pay off.

Happenings

Well, it seems lately that I have been pretty uninspired to blog but the fans are asking for it so I'm just going to give a little update on what's been going on in my life.

In the past month or so I have started a new job.  I've been a Spanish teacher for the past 5 years and last year decided to take some time off to see if there was anything better out there for me.  After a brief stint selling wine and getting fired from life-guarding I decided to go back to teaching.  I really like my new school-it is well organized and the students are sweet.  Our biggest problem right now if students not doing their homework.  I realized that I do like teaching but I just hadn't found the right school yet so it's great to be back.

Football season has just started so I'm reading a lot!  I just finished the best book I've read in a long time called Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin and I am about to start Something Blue by the same author.  It is the kind of book that you find yourself thinking about the characters even when you're not reading it and the story line is totally addictive.  If you're at all intellectual you find yourself slightly embarrassed that you are so into such a superficial read but it is just that good.  

Something else that is just that good and another one of my new guilty pleasures is the new 90210.  It is so awesome in every way; like a mix of the old school 90210 and the OC.  I even get to watch it on TV because it comes on Tuesday nights and there is no football.  Tony loves it too and as a self professed Dawson's Creek and Sex in the City fan I don't think he'll deny it.

I hoped to find inspiration to blog by going to Suwanee Day which is an annual festival in Suwanee to celebrate the day it was founded (I guess).  Andrea and I made plans a week ago to attend and when we showed up this morning there was nothing going on; no tents or people.  After a few minutes of roaming around we realized that Suwanee Day is next Saturday so maybe we'll give it another try.  It was the kind of mistake that I am accustomed to making but Andrea's usually got a pretty good head on her shoulders so I enjoyed it even more; especially as I decided to share the information with just about everyone we know:)

I've also been doing yoga in my new yoga studio, aka the garage.  I actually really like it because it's so convenient a lot less expensive than going to a real yoga studio.  I bought a few dvd's so I can vary my workout and stay challenged and I've seen good results because I'm doing it about 4-5 days a week now instead of 2.

Because I like to include a picture on each of my postings and because summer's almost over I've chosen this picture of the boat on a beautiful summer evening on Lake Hartwell.

Daphne in Beijing

Here is Daphne packing for her trip.

She won a gold medal in triathlon which in kitty olympics consists of 100 meter sprint, high jump, and nap time.

Tubing

On Saturday a big group of us went tubing for my friend Lacy's birthday.  Lacy is from Louisiana and we met through my friend Casey when we went to Jazz Fest in New Orleans (I don't want to leave Danielle out who went on the trip as well:).  Anyways, we all had a great time and have been friends ever since.  Lacy's family even came up from Louisiana to celebrate her birthday; and they really know how to party.  Her dad, Ted, is full of hilarious sayings and left me laughing about "can sandwiches" all day.

The company we went with was Up the River Outfitters on GA 20 (www.uptheriveroutfitters.com) and it only costs $12 per person which is really cheap for a whole day of fun.  It is an all day event though-we got there at about 11:30 am and tailgated for a while waiting for tubes.  By the time we got back to our cars at the end of the day it was 5:30pm but there is nothing more relaxing than floating very slowly in a tube with your friends and a cooler full of beer. 

Eco-friendly Cleaning Products

One of the things that I am passionate about is the environment.  I think our earth is a beautiful and fascinating place and I want to keep it that way-or at least not take a part in destroying it.  One way that I have found to reduce my carbon footprint is by buying non-toxic, biodegradable soaps, detergents, and cleaning products.  The reason is that most cleaning products that you find in the average home (including mine) have chemicals and toxins that are harmful to your body, especially your respiratory system.  In addition, these chemicals and toxins eventually find their way to lakes, streams, and oceans via the sewer system and they kill marine flora and fauna which I find devastating and so does our earth.

I'm not saying that I'm perfect; for example, there are certain products that are not yet produced in a non-toxic, biodegradable form and I do still continue to buy some of those products.  My philosophy is that if I am aware of a situation in which I can reduce my damage to our environment and I choose not to do anything about it then that is just ignorance.  It's even easier than you may think to find these products at places where you shop every week and I have found that most are the same price as what we're used to buying.

Here are some examples of my favorite brands and products and I have found all of these at Publix and Target (except for maybe the Aveda).

The brand is Method and I love the daily shower cleaner.

I use the Green Works toilet bowl cleaner and it smells like lime!

This laundry detergent and dish washing soap comes in scents like lavender and eucalyptus.  It's made by Seventh Generation.

Even shower gel can help the environment and I love this one in honey mango but it comes in lavender too if that's more your style.

Aveda products are plant based and the "be curly" line helps me stay "the curl next door".

Honeymoon in Mexico

Tony and I decided to go to Mexico on our honeymoon.  As a Spanish teacher I have made it a goal to go to at least one Spanish-speaking country each year and I had never been to our closest neighbor to the south, Mexico.  Tony didn't want to be "typical" and go to the Yucatan (I did) so we went to Puerto Vallarta on the west coast.  The city is pretty cool; it is situated on the Bay of Banderas and no matter where you are on the beach you can see the circular shape of the coastline as it curves around the bay.  It is also quite mountainous and slopes rather quickly from coastline to steep mountains.  The downside is that PV is a port of call for many cruise ships meaning that the locals are used to making money off of dumb American tourists and you get hassled quite a bit when in town.

Tony and I stayed at two different hotels while in PV.  This was not the original plan.  Originally we booked a beautiful, exotic, hotel off the beaten path.  When Mr. "atypical" arrived to an influx of breeding crabs and no air conditioning, the "typical" hotel that we both thought to be boring and lame was suddenly the object of our envy.  So we relocated.

Please enjoy these pictures of the crabs (we had to have proof so nobody would think we were exaggerating and not as cool as we think we are) and of the rest of our romantic and relaxing vacay. 

The Newlywed Life

Well, I am now a newlywed.  My husband, Tony, and I have been together for almost seven years and we just got married in June.  The best part is that everything is pretty much the exact same as it was before we got married.  We have lived together for a year now so the adjustment period when I wondered what I was getting myself into has already passed. 

The wedding was really quite awesome.  Before being engaged myself I had been a part of a few weddings and because it wasn't my wedding I really didn't understand what all the hype was about.  I didn't think it was worth all the stress, planning, and money and I had plans for a small, casual wedding.  It did remain pretty small and I didn't go overboard with the budget but I did get a lot more in to the planning than I thought I would.  I actually had fun; so much so that as Tony and I wasted away on the beach in Mexico for our honeymoon I found myself depressed that it was over and already asking Tony when we could do it all over again and renew our vows.  His response was typical: "Can we at least make it home from the honeymoon first?"

Here are a few pictures of our special day.