My friends Michelle and Melissa

Today I'm linking up with Kelly for Show Us Your Singles Day!

I have two beautiful friends (inside and out) to introduce today: Michelle and Melissa.  And I totally stole these pictures from their facebooks.... sorry friends.  :)  That should also explain the picture quality...

This is Michelle:

I have known Michelle for the past 8 (ish) years since we were both in the same sorority at the University of Arkansas.  Michelle is 25 and from Benton, AR.

She is a nurse and is a fun girl!  She is always up for anything and is super outgoing.   She has recently gotten into running which is something we are both just getting started into- mainly 5k's like the Color Run- which is coming up soon and I am super excited!


This is Melissa:

I have known Melissa for the past 4 (ish) years through some mutual friends.  She is 33 and is also from Benton, AR.

Melissa is an occupational therapist and a fellow Razorback fan.  She is a fun tailgating buddy.  :)  She has this crazy dog named Masai who is the center of her world right now.   We have been in a Bible study together for a long time, but we are not this time so I don't get to see Melissa as often as before.  We always have a good time together.

This is me and Melissa in Eureka Springs when we went on a ghost tour of the Cresent Hotel (for the record I was scared to do it and the rest of my friends made me do it!):

Writing about my friends is harder than I thought!  I considered writing about myself too, but in the end decided against it.  But this is my blog and there is a lot of stuff about me on here- just scroll down!  Ha!

Both of these girls are super fun and I would love to be a part of helping them find somebody!  If you are interested, or know someone who might be a good match, please leave a comment! 

A little bit closer to being caught up

And here we go again.  :)

My coworker posted this picture on my facebook wall, so I had to print it out and make a decoration to hang on my cubicle.  This cracked me up.  I just happened to have a little Arkansas scrapbook paper and ribbon leftover from a previous project, so this happened:

 

I had a Bachelorette Finale watch party at my house on a whim.  Because you know, once something is on facebook, it is official. Ha.  I invited a ton of people, and it was good that a lot of people I invited were watching somewhere else because I thought after I invited all those people that I didn't have enough room in my house for that many people!  Ha!  I found some free Bachelorette printables online, so of course I had to make cupcake toppers!

 

 

Obviously there were more cupcakes than this- these are just the ones that wouldn't fit in my cupcake holder.

 

The question of the day:

 

I was Team Arie.  Oh well.  And you can't have a Bachelorette watch party without roses!  Duh! :)

 

I may have bought a few too many veggies.  Oh well- they were colorful!  And tasty- I had raw veggies in my lunch for many days after this!

 

I also made some brownie batter dip that I found on pinterest.  It was amazing.  I took the leftovers to work twice and shared with my coworkers at lunch, and they all loved it too.  Probably not that healthy- but delicious.  And it just so happened that the punch I made matched the drink bucket.  It was accidental, but cute.

 

 

I bought this peacock shirt from The Limited a while back before I lost weight, and I didn't get a lot of wear out of it.  It was not terribly expensive, but definitely not cheap.  I love it and just never wore it alot for some reason.  But now I am wearing it alot, even though it is a little too big now.  I love peacock colors!

 

 

While we are on the self portrait kick.... here's another.  I bought this shirt at the Fayetteville visitor's center.  It was actually a little too small when I got it, but it fits now, woo!

 

 

And one more, just for laughs.  This one is from when I was at the eye doctor and my eyes were dilated.  I was really freaking bored as they left in there for a long time, so this is how I was entertaining myself:

 

 

Technically I went to the eye doctor on August 1, but we can pretend that happend in July.  Close enough right?  The funny thing with this appointment is that I was glad it was in the mid-morning so that I could sleep in- I wasn't going to go into work for a short time and then drive back past my house to go to the hospital.  But- I forgot about my appointment until I was already at work at 7am.  No sleeping in for me!  But I did at least remember in time to make it to my appointment.  Finally caught up with July!  An August post is coming soon and then I will be caught up!

Rewind to July

Blogging this far behind is really hard.  I'm having to raid my facebook to remember what all happened.

Looks like I went to see Magic Mike with my friends Karen and Ashley.  I was supposed to dog sit for my friend Cherry, but the dogs got sick and I had to board them instead.  That worked out better for me anyway- less work.  Ha.  But on the downside, there was some ex drama.  Of course.  Somehow we just can't manage to get along.  Something about not doing what you tell me you are going to do just pisses me off.  :)

I found a freaking scorpion in my garage!!! I knew that we have them in Arkansas, but I like to pretend that we don't.  I've never seen one in real life, so all I knew was from the movies and such, where they kill you.  I didn't know if their stinger could go through your shoes or not, so I thought it might be a bad idea to step on it.  So I threw my shoe at it- and of course missed!  Those suckers are fast.  But I got him on my second try.  Luckily I have not seen any more.  I did look it up on the internet, and it appears that the one in Arkansas will not kill you.  Good to know- but I'm still going to throw my shoe at the next one I see anyway.

I went to the lake with my family.  That is not my favorite place to be, but I tried to make the best of it.  My aunt and I took a half day excursion to the outlet mall about 45 minutes away from the lake and I scored some pretty good deals, including a dress and necklace from Banana Republic that I'm pretty sure people are getting sick of seeing since I wear it so often!

I made these chocolate covered strawberries.  They were a big hit.  Definitely making them again next year!  I got the idea from Pinterest- can't take credit for this one.

I made a "secret" cake and wouldn't tell anyone about it.  I also got this recipe from pinterest.  Here's what it looked like on the outside:

 

And here's the inside:

I was super excited about this cake!!! :)

 

We had a cactus dog competition.  Apparently my dad and sister went to an air show and they had cactus dogs, which was a hot dog that was cut and then boiled so that it looked like a cactus.  So we had to have a competition.  This was my entry:

I was going for pickle relish to make the cactus green, and the crackers were supposed to be sand.  I either won or got runner up, the judging was kind of sketchy since it was coming from an 8 year old.  I think the winner changed a couple of times.

I tried a chocolate chip cookie dough popsicle recipe from Pinterest.  It was not my fav but my sister liked them.  I think I want to try more popsicle recipes with juice or something for the base instead of milk.

My car had it's first birthday.  Everyone was making fun of me and asking how in the world I remembered that.  I actually didn't remember- the car dealership sent me a happy birthday email. Ha!

I got some fancy new running shoes.   The jury is still out on if they help or not.  They have more support in them than I am used to, and I think it feels kind of weird. 

My sister and I went to the skating rink with my friend Mary and two of her kids.  I had a Groupon that included our admission plus pizza and soda.  Let me just warn you- do not order pizza at the skating rink.  It was so disgusting that we could not even give it away to teenagers. 

I got a new garage door opener.  I was really trying to tough it out and deal with the one I had, but its little attitude finally got to me.  It would just decide when it wanted to work or not, and the day I had to manually open and close the door to get to work was the last straw.  I absolutely love my new one.  It is so quiet and has a motion detecting light and kid smashing sensors and all that.  I only wish I would have gotten it sooner.  oh well.  Better late than never?

I am clumsy.  I often spill things.  Especially my water at work.  One day I spilled water all over the papers on my desk, and right into my lap.  My pants looked like I peed myself, and my chair was so wet that I had to stand to work for the last hour of the day.  At least I gave everyone a good laugh...

Another Pinterest project:

 

I met up with some other ladies in my area from my sorority to have a recommendation letter writing party.  I made these cupcakes.  Our sorority's colors are white and blue, so I wanted the cupcake liners to go along with that.  I had white liners, and then I saw something on Pinterest about dying the edges a different color with food coloring.  It was more difficult than I thought it would be, but I was very happy with the results.

 

This post is getting pretty long, so I think I will do the rest of the month another time in another post.

June Part 4 (the last one!)

This is the last post about the month of June!

When I came back from Minnesota, my cousin who lives in Ohio was in town for a few days.  We went to my mom's work picnic at the Traveler's baseball game at Dickey Stephens Park.  I love me some baseball!  And after the game, there was a diamond dig in the infield dirt.  We did not win.  It is hard to dig in compacted dirt with a plastic spoon!

The Razorback baseball team was in the College World Series, and I watched every game.  One game came on during my favorite show- the Bachelorette- so I watched the Bachelorette on my tv and the game on my laptop.  It was amazing!  Two fabulous things at once!

Somebody ran into the front of my car in a parking lot.  I thought that was what happened, but I was too afraid to confront them because I didn't see it happen, just two huge dudes hanging suspiciously around the front of my car.  I was going out to the car to put a bag in the trunk and then run into the next store and when I came out of the next store they were gone.  When I got a chance to look at it better, the license plate and cover on the front were broken.  It is not a big deal, but I wish the people would have at least apologized!

We had Vacation Bible School at my church.  It was so exhausting.  I had the 3rd-5th graders.  I had to go into work late twice because I was so tired!

I watched the Olympic trials.  I love the Olympics (which is what I am watching right now!).  I guess I love most sporting events.  During the Olympic trials, it just so happened that I did not have any plans at all.  It kind of freaked me out because I am always so busy!  But it worked out- because I was bored, I did a lot of cleaning- even some deep cleaning that doesn't get done often.

Next up- July!

June, Part 3 (Serious shopping)

The next day in Minneapolis, we spent 12 hours inside the Mall of America!  We pretty much showed up when the doors opened, and stayed until the amusement park closed.  It was crazy.  I of course did a ton of shopping- and ate 2 meals and a snack, got a massage, and rode roller coasters.

I don't really have any pictures of the shopping that day, but I got a lot of stuff.  We ate lunch at the food court, and dinner at a nice restaurant called Crave.  I had my first ever grilled salad:

These pictures from dinner are not the best because the lights were turned low for ambiance- and I was not about to embarrass myself with a flash!  This was a very nice (i.e. Expensive!!) restaurant inside the Mall!

This was my dinner.  I thought it was cute.  :)  Some kind of chicken (I can't exactly remember) made with a sauce with agave.  I was not crazy about the cold green beans, but the rest was delish!

After dinner, we decided to ride some rides in the amusement park.  There was a special since it was approaching closing time so we decided we should ride.

Here we are with our armbands!

The next day was our last day in Minneapolis.  We went to the American Swedish Institute.  Catherine is super into Sweden, so it was most entertaining for her, but there were some neat things there.  They are doing some major renovating, so I'm sure it will be much cooler when they are done.  I took this picture with this horse:

Who says you can't ride a horse in a dress??  Ha!  Definitely not the most lady-like picture!

After the Swedish Institute, we headed towards Catherine's house to spend the night.  We got up the next morning and drove to Kansas City to pick up my aunt, and then to NWA to drop off Andrea.  I got a really cute shirt from the Fayetteville visitor's center.  It was a little too small, but I can fit in it now since I have lost some more weight.  Woo!

All in all, it was a good trip.  I got to see new places, try new things, and see old friends! I drove all 2000 miles, so I was very glad to be home!

June, Part 2

Obviously I am getting very creative with these post titles.

So I started couting calories a little before I went on vacation, and I told myself that I had to work out 3 days that week.  That did not happen- but I did start out one morning in the hotel gym.  I tried to kill myself running on the treadmill.  It was actually hilarious- but I seriously almost did hurt myself.  I started my Couch to 5K training program that morning, where you alternate walking and running.  So I was about halfway through the session when I ran out of water.  I waited until the next walking session and decided I would walk in place while I filled my water bottle.  Getting off the treadmill was not the most graceful move ever- I seriously almost busted it.  I caught myself on the next machine over, and I was so glad nobody else was in there.  I am not known for my gracefulness...  Anyway, I was proud of myself for getting up before my friends at least once and making it down to the gym. 

One of our other sorority sisters lives about three hours away from Minneapolis and was going to drive in to visit us on Sunday, but there was bad weather and she was afraid to make the drive.  Luckily the bad weather stayed away from us, but we would have loved to see Amy (my little diamond sister!).

Our first stop was the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden.   I first heard about this place on a cake decorating show- I think Ace of Cakes.  This is me inside some kind of greenhouse that had these vines everywhere.  They were dripping on me and kind of freaking me out.  But I love this picture.

This sculpture was the whole purpose for visiting this garden.  Some people on that cake show had this on their wedding cake and I thought it was so cool.  I did not know that there was water running through it like a fountain.

It took us many tries to get our poses just right.  Catherine's was the best- her's looks like she is taking a bite out of the cherry.  It probably is because she had the best photographer (me).  Ha!

Here's another picture- with some crazy windblown hair.

We went to Loring Park.  This was not on the schedule, but happened to be right across from the restaurant that the trusty GPS lead us to for lunch, so we paid a visit.  :)

We ate lunch at Joe's Garage.  Apparently they serve Sunday brunch- which I was not thrilled about- and we were not expecting.  Also- you are also apparently supposed to have a reservation.  Whatever.  And I got a weird sunburn on one of my arms and one of my legs.  Apparently half of me was sticking out from under the umbrella.

Here is what I ate:

I was trying to be adventurous, and got this on recommendation of our waitress.  It was a mashed potato omlet.  I usually don't really like eggs- but this had so much other stuff in it that you hardly noticed the eggs.  I would definitely eat it again.

Then we went to a Minnesota Twins baseball game.  We had seats pretty high up, but you could still see pretty well.  And to me- they were stellar seats because they were in the shade the whole time.

I went to get a coke (actually a Diet Mountain Dew- ha!  If you are from the south, then you understand!) and when I got my wallet out, my credit card was not in there!  After a few stressful minutes waiting in line at the Guest Services desk, it was found down at the ticked counter.  The people at Target field could not have been more helpful.  I cannot say enough good things about the staff.  They brought my credit card up to me at my seat, and the guy even remembered to ask for my I.D.  Ya'll- I was so stressed out, and so happy to have my card back again!

After the game, I stopped to take a picture on the way out.  The lighting is not the best, but it is proof that I was there!

After the game, we had a couple of hours of shopping left in us.  We stopped at a few stores that we saw along the way, and ended up at the Mall of America again.  I finally made my first purchase at the Mall of America- 2 dresses from H&M.

I think that's enough for today. Looks like we will have at least one more June post....

June, Part 1

June was a crazy, fun-filled month.  I should have blogged about it right when things happened, because now it is so overwhelming to even think about typing everything that happened!

A few months ago, a couple of my sorority sisters and I tried to plan a little reunion since we had not seen each other in a while.  Nobody really wanted to make the decision of where to go, except that I really wanted to go to the Mall of America.  One of the girls lives about 4 hours from Minneapolis, so we decided that was what we would do.  Everyone was not able to make it though due to scheduling conflicts, so it was myself and two other girls.

I split the trip up as much as possible because I don't really like being in the car for long periods of time.  The night before I left, I decided to make a recipe found on Pinterest (of course)- Trix Krispies.  You know, like Rice Krispies, but with Trix cereal instead.  I had some colored marshmallows that thought would make a pretty treat.  The recipe said to microwave the butter and marshmallows and then add the cereal.  Well.... I forgot that marshmallows get HUGE when you microwave them.... and I had a WHOLE bowl full of them in the microwave.  I put it in the microwave and walked off to start a load of laundry, and when I came back my microwave was completely full of marshmallows!!  It was a pretty mess, but a sticky one!!  It took me forever to clean the microwave and kitchen after that disaster!  I was still able to make the Trix Krispies, but it was definitely not good enough to go through all that trouble!  I will probably not make them anymore, but stick with regular Rice Krispies next time.

I also signed up to run in the Color Run in Memphis in October with my friend Shannon.  I am super excited.  This will be my first 5K to actually run in- and let me scratch another thing off my 30 before 30 list.  Speaking of which.... I need to do an update on that list just to remind myself what I still have to do!

The first day of my trip, I drove 3 hours after work and spent the night with my friend Lyndsey and her family.  We got to go for a long walk around the neighborhood and it was good to catch up.  :)

The next day, when I woke up I was really not looking forward to the longest leg of my journeyand wishing I would have gotten a plane ticket!  Looking back, the driving part was a little fun and saved a lot of money, so it probably was for the best, but it sure took a long time!

I picked up one girl that morning, and we drove through Iowa.  This was my first time to visit Iowa.

I got to go to the Iowa Speedway, which was my first time to be at a race track (for cars anyway).  I took a picture with this sign, although I have no idea who this dude is.

The next day, we woke up and started the last leg of our trip.  We finally made it to Minnesota.  First activity- bathroom break at the Welcome Center!!

Our first real stop was in Austin, MN.  The trusty GPS led us to this fine eating establishment for lunch.  It was delish.

We had to make a stop at the SPAM Museum!  One of my coworkers told me about the SPAM Museum, and I just knew we had to stop there.  I mean, I don't actually eat SPAM, but how many people can say that they have been to the SPAM Museum??!?

The SPAM Museum was very fun and we stayed there much longer than we expected! There was a movie about SPAM and the door to the theater looked like a pig!  So cute!

We got to dress up like factory workers and even have a race to see who can package SPAM the fastest.  I believe that Catherine is destined to work in a SPAM packaging facility as she beat the pants off of me and Andrea. 

After the SPAM Museum, we went to IKEA where I made my first non-food purchases of the trip.  I got a popsicle mold, a large glass bowl, a cereal container, and a salad spinner.  All good purchases if I do say so myself!  We ate dinner at IKEA also.  Then we headed over to the Mall of America (yay!) for just a short time since it was getting pretty late.  Here are me and my peeps at the Peeps store!  :)

This post is getting pretty long, so I think this is a good stopping point.  Hopefully I will be back soon to finish posting about the month of June!