A November to Remember

I realize it's been an extremely long time since I last posted. Life has seriously gotten in the way. With so much going on, I have found little time to dedicate to my blog.

I have so much to be thankful for and the month of November was full of blessings. I am reminded of one of my favorite hymns: Count your many blessings, name them one by one.


1. My sweet friend Suzanne came to Milledgeville to visit

2. I was accepted into the January 2012 Dietetic Internship class at Iowa State University!!

This is the big news I was referring to at the end of the last post. This internship is a distance program which means will go to Iowa for one week in January (brrrrr!!) and will come home to complete all of my rotations. That's right... I said home!! I'm sad to leave my friends and co-workers in Milledgeville, but could not be more excited to be back in Alabama and closer to my family and friends again. I also cannot wait to get started with my internship. While I know it will quite possibly be the hardest 6 months of my collegiate career (50 hours of clinicals weekly + grad school courses) I have never been more excited for school. I know this is God's plan for my life and I could not be happier!

3. My dad started a new job

This past year has taught my family to fully rely on God in every situation. I am thankful for parents who love the Lord and have taught my brother and I to trust in HIS provision.

4. I did not work a full week (in the clinic) the whole month of November

November holds two state holidays (Veterans Day and Thanksgiving) which means I got a bunch of days off! The way the schedule worked out, I worked no more than 4 days each week this month! Thank goodness for short work-weeks and long weekends...

5. I celebrated my 24th year of life

6. My little younger brother turned 18!!! Whoa.

7. My sweetest, prettiest, favoritest cousin turned 20 on the same day. Double woah.

8. Breaking Dawn Part 1 is now in theaters

I know it's silly to be thankful for this, but it's my blog and I'll be silly if I want to. Oh how I love the Twilight. I also spent the better part of the last two weeks re-reading all four books. Don't judge me.

9. Thanksgiving Day

Since we had a much smaller group this year (12 of the possible 23), we spent Thanksgiving Day at the lake. We still had all of the regular grub to munch on, but it was nice to have a change of scenery. We watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, ate delicous food, and played our usual rowdy game of Apples-to-Apples. It was a successful Thanksgiving Day in my book.

10. Iron Bowl 2011

I am well-aware of the fact that Auburn lost this football game. However, I'm always thankful to be in Auburn and show my school spirit. WAR EAGLE!

11. Black Friday

I have never been one to really participate in the Black Friday shopping festivities. While I was not up with you crazies at 5am, I did spend the whole day shopping with the madre and finished most of my Christmas shopping. We also took full advantage of the California Yogurt Kraze buy-one-get-one-free Black Friday special. Score!

12. I spent ALOT of quality time with friends and family



13. Friends are gettin' hitched

My high school friend turned freshman year roomate, Ashley Pavey, got engaged a few months ago. But I didn't have a blog then... so I'm thankful for it now! I cannot wait to stand by her side in April as she marries the man of her dreams.

Also, my life-long friend turned sorority sista, Jenna Brendle, got engaged the day before Thanksgiving. Thankful that she, too, will be marrying the man of her dreams very soon.

14. Christmas is a comin'

I really love everything about Christmas. The music, the decorations, the shopping, the gift giving, the cheery feel in the air... EVERYTHING. I have been listening to Christmas music since early November and put my wreath on my door before I left for Thanksgiving so that it would already be up when I returned. This really is the most wonderful time of the year!

I hope everyone had a blessed November and has as much to be thankful for as I do.

I'll try not to stay away so long next time...

In Good Company

Meet Suzanne.

{hanging out in the cubby above the closet in our dorm room sophomore year}

She was my very first friend at Auburn Univeristy. We were in the same Pi Chi group for sorority rush and bonded instantly. Obviously we were meant to be friends because we both pledged Alpha Omicron Pi. The rest was history.

{at an auburn football game freshman year}

I've mentioned the Auburn roomies before and this special lady was one of the original fabulous four.

While we added others to the roomie club, the four of us have been thick as thieves since the new member retreat at Camp Ascca two weeks into our freshman year. The convo on the bunk beds went something like this:

Mallory: "We should all live together on the hall next year."

Natalie: "We could put all four beds in one room and use the other as a living room!"

Suzanne: "And we can be best friends forever!"

Me: "Done."





{me, suz, mal, and nat- before the redneck riviera swap/social freshman year}

Five years later we are all living in different states (Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, and New York) and persuing lives of our own. But we will jump on any chance to spend time together and pretend like we are all still college roomies with no worries in the world.

Imagine my excitement when Suzanne told me she was coming to Milledgeville to visit this weekend! She was my first non-family/non-boyfriend guest and I couldn't have been happier to have someone to share this beautiful fall weekend with. Waiting for Friday afternoon was like waiting for Christmas morning. It couldn't get here quick enough.

Friday night we went to dinner at The Brick in downtown Milledgeville and split an appetizer that could have fed a small army. We went on a quick tour of the town, including a drive-by of the new Kroger that opened last week. It's supposedly the largest in the state and kind of a big deal. Oh the joys of living in a small town. We stayed up until 2am watching movies, eating cookies and pretzel M&Ms, and talking about everything under the sun.

Saturday morning we got a late start. We had our morning coffee and ate strawberry muffins for breakfast at 11am! Later, we went to Macon, GA for a Christmas craft show at the convention center. It was comparable to Holiday Market in Montgomery for all of my Alabama friends. We browsed all of the booths, tasted most of the dip, soup, and hot chocolate samples, and both purchased Auburn shaped cookie cutters.

We spent our evening eating crock-pot potato soup (will post recipe later) and watching the National Championship Bama v. LSU football game. I apologize to all of my Bama friends. I'm afraid that my actually wanting Alabama to win a football game was a kiss of death. I promise it will never happen again. Please forgive me.

We each caught the other up on our new favorite TV shows. Mine is Once Upon a Time and hers is Pan Am. They actually air back-to-back on ABC on Sunday nights. We stayed up until 2am for the second night in a row watching the previous episodes of both shows. If you're looking for a great way to spend your Sunday nights, I highly recommend tuning into ABC from 8pm-10pm (7pm-9pm for you Alabama folks).

We got up this morning, drank our coffee, and prepared Suz for her long journey back to Dothan, AL. She said her goal was to make it back in time to fill her mom in on Once Upon a Time and watch the new episodes of our shows tonight.

It was so nice to have company this weekend. While I enjoy my downtime and have learned to appreciate weekends alone in Milledgeville, it was so nice to spend this weekend with one of my best friends. I actually told her last night that I felt like she was still my roommate and that I was starting to forget that she didn't actually live here.





{tailgating in auburn a few weeks ago}



That's all for now. I'm off to pass the time while I eagerly await the big news I'll recieve tonight. Please pray that I am content with whatever answer I get. I am trusting in God's will for my life and know that my future is in his hands. Great things are on the horizon and I am excited to see what the future holds. I'll share more when I know more.

Toodles.

Happy Halloweekend

I celebrated Halloween a few days early this year. Funny thing is, I hadn't planned on celebrating at all. It just kind of happened. It seems like the weekends that "just kind of happen" turn out to be the most fun.

I decided to go to Auburn for the Ole Miss game and was invited to a Halloween party Friday night hosted by one of my former college roommates. As of Thursday I had given absolutely no thought to what I could possibly be for Halloween. I decided to dress up as a cowgirl. I know it's not super creative, but it was the best I could come up with last minute. I already had most of the items in my closet and knew it was a costume that would be cute and easily recognizable.

When I left Milledgeville Friday afternoon, I called Lee to find out if he had come up with anything to wear. At that point, he was still costumeless. I suggested going as a prep and wearing a pink polo shirt, khaki slacks, and a sweater around his neck. Again, not the most creative. But I knew he had all of those items in his closet and I assumed this was the final decision. Boy was I wrong.

When I got to Auburn I found out he had come up with a great costume idea that actually went with mine. "Cowboy?" you ask. Oh no... that would be too easy. Lee's imagination is far too great to settle for a cowboy.

That's right... he went as a RODEO CLOWN!!! Sadly, he also had all of this in his closet too. The green Dickey shorts were purchased for the Lambda Chi Alpha Bling Bling Fling in 2008. They are a size 40 (he wears a 32) and were held up by the rope-suspenders and a paper clip. The striped socks were from the co-ed intramural softball team we played on in Auburn Spring 2010. The other clothing items are pretty self-explanatory. He did a great job of putting together such a fantastic costume in virtually no time.

I had no idea he was such a fan of dressing up and going all out for Halloween. It's fun to still learn new things about each other even after 5 years. He was serious about that facepaint and kept telling me my costume wasn't "halloweeny" enough. He was by far the most elaborately costumed person at Jessica's party and waltzed around downtown Auburn like he owned the place. His confidence for new and potentially intimidating social situations truely amazes me.

The night started at Jessica's Halloween party. Let me just say, this girl knows how to throw a good theme party. I wish I had taken more pictures of the decorations and food.

The walkway leading to her front door was lined with light-up ghosts, a witch was hanging from the awning above her door, and a vibrating noise maker was stuck in the bushes beside her door. Inside was decorated with rubber eyeballs and spiders in glass jars, a Halloween themed tree in the center of the table, and hanging sparkly bats. She also had a bonfire out back with orange lights, more hanging bats, and a skeleton made from paper plates. I'm really not a fan of scary Halloween decor, but Jess knows exactly the right combination of cute and kinda disturbing to make for the perfect Halloween party.

The food was also perfect. She made the basic party foods including spinach dip, hashbrown casserole, chicken wings, hamburgers, ribs, and a cheeseball with crackers. She also had halloween cupcakes, a graveyard made from a chocolate dessert with Milano cookies reading "RIP" stuck in like headstones, and finger treats made from melted white chocolate, pretzels, and green food coloring.

Unfortunately this is the only picture I took at her party. It does show the food and some of the decorations though. She was dressed as Pebbles Fintstone. And yes, that is a real doggy bone in her hair. She does love "the Halloween." Those of you who know Jess know that she loves to put "the" in front of most proper nouns. It's one of those things we have all come to love about this crazy girl.

We ended the night in downtown Auburn along with most of the student body. My favorite costumes of the night were:

Smurfs- two guys wearing white shorts, white hats, and painted blue bodies

Easter Bunny- a guy wearing a mall-style Easter Bunny costume

Allstate Mayhem Guy- wearing a black suit, a butterfly bandage on his forehead, makeup for a shiner on his eye, and a pink sports-band on his head.

We had a great time at Quixotes dancing to the musical stylings of DJ Ozz including Michael Jackson's 'Thriller', N'Sync's 'Bye, Bye, Bye', and 'C'est La Vie' by B*Witched (see video below for more on that last one). He obviously played new songs too, but those weren't nearly as memorable.

Please tell me someone else remembers this song too. I think Disney Channel used to play this video circa 1998. I probably haven't heard this song, nor have a thought about it, since around 5th or 6th grade. But even 12 years later, I somehow remember every word. Maybe the video will help jog your memory.

{C'est La Vie by B*Witched}

I celebrated my 23rd Halloween with friends, food, and lots of fun. Hope your festivities were equally as refreshing.

Be back soon.