I am so Thankful for...

1. My husband-I always hear people talking about how hard marriage is and I always think to myself I must be missing something (or not!). I have the.best.huband.ever. Seriously, I feel like we get better and better all the time. He makes me laugh, is supportive, thoughtful, caring, oh yeah, and HOT!! ;) I am blessed to be his wife.

2. My family-I was sooo blessed to have been given the best and most supportive family ever. Every single member of my family is amazing and I know I can turn to them if I need to. I have also been blessed to have amazing in-laws as well and couldn't of picked em' even better!

2. My friends-I have so many great friends that I don't even know where to start. We have this amazing little group of friends-it's so perfect. The boys are all best buddies and the girls are all best friends. We love our girls night and thanks to the #1 on my list, I am always able to go out with the girls. But not just with my friends here, I have some awesome friends who live out of state and I know I can just pick up the phone to have their support and friendship.

3. My job-I have not only a pretty good paying job, but a pretty great boss, pretty great hours, and a pretty fun workday. I get to hang out with kids all day watching movies, playing games, coloring, and talking. I truly feel that I make a difference in others' lives and for that I am thankful. I also have some really fun, laid-back, and supportive co-workers also!

4. My new car-As you may have noticed I recently got a new car and LOVE it. Although it sucked to get it (car accident), I am really enjoying driving my new car.

5. My house-Which is perfect, I love it because it's small, cozy, and affordable. I want to live there as long as we possibly can.

6. My health-Gotta be thankful for being healthy at a time when there are millions of others who are not. If I ever start to complain about anything minor, I need to remind myself how much worse it could be. I try to take care of myself with the choices I make when eating and by trying to stay physically active and fit because I don't want my health to turn bad.

These are just a few of the hundreds of things I am thankful for. Every day I realize how blessed I am and thank God for what he has done for me in my life. That is not something I take for granted! I hope you all realize how blessed you are and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Painting and Partyin'

We have had a busy weekend!! It started out Friday when we had a girls/guys night. My friend Andrea had a girls party at her house while the guys went to our friend Ty's house for a bonfire. We later joined up with them at the bonfire and had a blast hanging out together by the fire. It ended up being a late night but it was well worth it!

Saturday morning we got up and began what turned into 8 straight hours of painting. We painted our living room and hallway, which was NOT fun-- but in the end we love the outcome! I've put a few pictures on here to show the new color-take heed that these are from my iPhone so they are of not so great quality. The previous color was a basic beige-brown color that the rest of the house is painted (other than the kitchen which we have also re-painted).

Saturday night we went to a wedding shower for it our friends' Stefan and Jessie. It was a great shower but we were so exhausted from the painting all day that we ended up only staying a couple hours. We came home early and passed out!

Today we got up early and went to church and lunch with Matt's dad and step mother. We did some shopping at Target and have been relaxing at home since. Overall, it's been a great weekend and of course has gone by way too fast! I can't believe Thanksgiving is this week!! We are looking forward to coming home to Atlanta to celebrate the holiday with my family.

Shutterfly Rocks!

And here's why, they are giving away 50 free holiday cards for bloggers! I have been using Shutterfly for years and have always been able to count on the great quality from their photo products. Not only is it a great site to put up photos and share with friends and family, but it allows you and them to purchase directly from their site and have the pictures or products at your door within days. I have always been amazed by the speed and efficiency of using and purchasing products and pictures from their site. We actually used their website to design our invitations to our wedding reception (which many of you received) and we also designed and made hardcover photo books from our wedding which was perfect Christmas gifts for our parents. They have great gift ideas such as calendars, story cards, and books.

Shutterfly always has great discount and deals going on and this one is by far my favorite! If you are a blogger, Shutterfly is now offering bloggers 50 free holiday cards, just click here for more information.

Here are some of the cute cards they have, but I'm not going to show you what ours will look like just yet!

Nick + Megan Wedding

This past Thursday we headed to St. Petersburg, Florida to attend my brother in law, Nick's wedding. Unfortunately, the weather turned out to be very cold and windy, but we made the best of it and had a blast. The wedding was beautiful and we had so much fun hanging out with family and friends. Congrats to Nick and Megan! Here are some pics from the weekend:


First dance
All of my besties from left to right: Maria, Phoenix, Amanda, Mere, Angela, and myself

Matt and I by the sunset

The amazing resort the wedding was at, the Don Cesar

Bride to be and her father before the wedding

Megan and I the night before the wedding

At rehearsal dinner, which was fantastic! It was at this restaurant called Patrick's-a must go to when in St. Pete!
Megan and her mother

Mere and I

The first day we were there it rained all day. The rain stopped briefly and this is us on the beach

Destination....Horror!

In case you have been living under a rock, this past weekend was Halloween. We celebrated the holiday this Saturday night at our friend OJ and Phoenix's house. It was a blast! Here are some pics of everyone all dressed up:

New Ride

The sad part about my car accident is that my car was paid off and I didn't have a payment. The good part of my wreck other than the fact that I was okay, is that I got to get a new car! After being at the mercy of my husbands schedule and having him drop me off and pick me up from work (ugh, he works longer hours than I usually do) we quickly realized that we needed to car shop ASAP. I was pretty bummed because I really don't love many cars other than Honda Accords and some luxury cars which as a smart consumer I knew I shouldn't/couldn't afford. We began the car hunt pretty quickly looking at Toyotas, Nissans, Hondas, and Mazdas. I quickly knew that a Honda Accord was what I wanted. Thanks to the suggestion of our good friend Chad, we decided to check out Carmax. Prior to going to Carmax we didn't know much about them other than they advertise how they are different from the other car dealerships. Well, they are so right! We were amazed at how laid back the people were, letting us browse at our discretion and actually having the no-haggle (they really don't/won't haggle!) price on the vehicles. The process of test driving the car was quick, as they have the keys on the car in a lock-box and so you don't have to wait on the salesman to go find them which was very convenient. Once we test drove the car we liked, it took maybe a total of 30 minutes to do the paperwork and we were out of there with a brand new car! Of course I went with a Honda Accord and we love it!! I look forward to driving now! I really would recommend going to Carmax to buy a used car if you are in the market. They truly are different than other dealerships.

Here is the link to my Carmax owner website which has pictures of my new ride!

A sad story about a girl and her car

There was a girl who was driving in the rain one morning on her way to work. It began raining so hard that she had to lean in to see through the windshield as the rain pelted down onto it. She became nervous and silently thanked herself for having gotten her tires rotated and balanced as well as her oil changed in the car the previous day. Luckily though, the rain began to lighten up and eventually stopped. A few miles down the road the girl was about to pass through a traffic light. Suddenly, the light turned yellow. The girl realized that due to the wet roads, quickly hitting the brakes to stop for the light may cause her car to skid or even hydroplane-- potentially causing a wreck. At the last minute, she decided that she must continue forward under the yellow light.

In an instant, she saw the blue minivan turning in front of her. It was like slow motion-the van pulling out in front of her car. The girl immediately slammed on her brakes to avoid hitting the van and attempted to steer to the right hoping to miss it. Instead, within an instant, her car slammed into the side of the van creating a loud squealing than slamming sound. The girls mind raced. There was smoke all in the car and she couldn't get the car to turn off. Her hands were shaking. The airbags had deployed, thankfully she thought. She felt her face and looked for any injuries on herself. She then grabbed her bag and phone and made her way out of the car. She ran to the van to see a large black woman yelling "my babies! my babies!" The girl asked "are your kids okay? are you okay?!". The woman ignored the girl. The girl then picked up her phone and called 911 to report the accident. She was shaking and her heart was pounding. She kept wondering whose fault this was or how it could have been avoided. After calling 911 and her husband the girl realized that everyone was okay. The lady she hit as well as her "babies" were fine. The other woman began to talk on her phone. The girl suddenly realized her wrists were hurting and her face was in throbbing. She felt her nose and realized it may be broken. Her thoughts were racing as quickly as her heart was. She willed herself to remain as calm as possible and not cry.

Soon, the sirens wailed in the background as the firetrucks, ambulance, and police made their way to the scene. They made a parimeter with their cars and trucks to block off traffic. They got out of their vehicles to find the black woman hollering as if she suddenly were in pain. They immediately came to her to assess her injuries (which the girl noted had been none prior to the emergency responders' arrival) and began to pull the stretcher out of the ambulance. They placed her on the stretcher and into the ambulance. The "babies" that were in her car turned out to be 3 young children, under the age of 4 who were not in the appropriate car seats. Only 1 of the 3 was in a car seat, and that was the baby, who was in a car seat that was not appropriate for the age of the baby. The lady also informed the police that her van was new, therefore she did not have any car insurance.

Another car pulled onto the scene and a young black man with long dreads and colorful clothing got out of his car. His pants were sagging low as he walked towards the wreck. The "babies" were his children, as he was the other drivers' son. He parked in the middle of the road and the police officers yelled for him to move his car before another wreck happened. He ran and picked up the 3 children without even checking on his mother in the ambulance and left as quickly as he came. A few minutes later another car came screetching down the road. The driver was continuously honking the horn and stopped his car in the middle of the intersection. He began to run into the road towards the wreck yelling. He was still wearing his telemarker headseat and looking frantic as he searches for his wife, who is the woman in the ambulance. The police and firefighters become aggitated at this man's careless behavior. They begin yelling for him to get back into his car and pull into a neably parking lot. Instead he drives off.

The girls husband arrives and she immediatly begins to feel her heart slow down and she slighty relaxes some. The police talk with her and her husband obtaining the details of the accident and informing her that a tow truck is on the way to pick up her car. He gives her the okay that she can now leave. She and her husband walk away with their backs turned against the terrible crash and event that has just happened. Though the cars and debris are removed from the sight of the crash, the memory will remain with the girl about that terrible rainy morning.

So, as most of you all know, this story is about me Wednesday morning. Thankfully, I am fine and though my nose is fractured, it doesn't look so and will heal on its own. My car is currently in the shop and is most likely going to be deemed totalled. Though this wreck was scary and terrible, I have been overwhelmed by the caring and concern shown by my friends, family, co-workers, and even Matts' co-workers. I am so lucky to be alive and okay, and to have the support that I do. I wake up (most-haha!) every day happy and I now realize why I am always such a happy person-because the amazing people in my life!

Here are a few photos of the wreck and my car: