New blog name suggestions?

So as of tomorrow I will officially be an alumni of The University of Alabama. My blog name chronicles the life of a college student...that of which I will no longer be. In February Matthew and I will marry and our last name will be Stanford, I have been trying to think of maybe a cute or catchy way to tie that in or just find some inspiration for a new name?

I would love to hear some suggestions, comment or email me! Have a fabulous weekend

Top Books List

Let's start this off by saying that I LOVE reading a good book, there are few things more satisfying than flipping through (or swiping, thanks to the kindle software) the last page of a good story line. I just finished...

I finished the entire series yesterday and oh. my. word. They are absolutely fabulous! I cannot wait for the movie to come out and in fact I am sort of sad I am done with them because well, they were THAT good. If you have not read them, do not let the post apocalyptic storyline scare you (because it did me, at first) ...it is a MUST read.

After finishing this I was thinking about "what are my favorite books...." and to be honest I really cannot rank a first, second, or third because so many stories or fantastic for many different reasons so instead I will just list off a few of my favorites.

The Help - What an incredibly eye opening and insightful/humorous/heart wrenching story. I loved the book and thought that the movie was actually a pretty good depiction, but you can never out-do the book. The author also went to Alabama... Roll Tide =)

The Great Gatsby - This book to me is a classic, I think we had to read it in 10th grade and since then I have read it numerous times. I am stoked that they are making this into a movie with Leo Dicaprio --- it better be good. I just love love love the story.



Redeeming Love - This is hands down one of the best and most riveting books I have ever read, it is sort of lengthy but I could not stop turning the pages. It is deemed a Christian novel, it parallels the book of Hosea in the Bible. But you could read this and not know that and it is still an incredibly compelling and amazing love story. I have read it multiple times and it still astounds me.

Skinny Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes

Over the Thanksgiving break, I was really craving pumpkin + cheesecake. I LOVE cheesecake and I really like pumpkin and I decided to try out skinnytaste's mini pumpkin cheesecakes. I forgot to take pictures myself and so below is the picture from the website.

I had trouble actually swirling the mixture, but I will say they were pretty tasty but maybe not quite as "cheesecake-y" as I wanted. (probably due to the "skinny" recipe aspect) but do not fear... a family member decided to bring this for our actual thanksgiving meal...

That would be pumpkin cheesecake from the cheesecake factory - I do not even want to admit how many heavenly pieces I consumed....

I hope everyone had a splendid thanksgiving, and now it's Christmas time!

Epic Fail, but I am coming back.

So I know that in the last post I claimed with the new tablet and the blogger app I would be posting like crazy....well that is an epic fail.

The good news is, I have high hopes for the future...I have a 9 day break from school starting today and my consecutive days of teaching for my internship are over. The light at the end of the tunnel is shining bright.

This weekend begins the wedding shower season, I graduate soon, its Christmas time, and I get married in 79 days. Holy cow! I should have a lot toblog about :-)

Posting from the tablet

I have been horrible about updating my blog but I just got a new samsung galaxy tablet for the recent birthday celebration. It has a blogger app and so it is an expedited way of posting. Maybe....just maybe this will encourage me to post more. This is merely a text post from the tablet as I figure out how it all works.
Have a great weekend and Happy Friday!

Proud Aunt!

(Warner, just a couple weeks old, with the hiccups and Memaw) 

 (Bode beginning to walk!)

What can I say I am a proud aunt to two of the cutest little ones around! 

Teach, Eat, Sleep, Lather, Rinse and Repeat.....

(because it is funny....you know I would never say that, well maybe?)

First of all, way to go blogger with the new and updated interface. I am really liking it. Second of all, let me apologize...I know it does not take that much to actually produce a blog post. I mean it is about me and things I do...so how hard can it be? But apparently I cannot multi task in that way. I am a teacher intern this semester, meaning I am at the school day in and day out...teaching and doing everything that comes along with it. And well, lets be frank....It is exhausting.

I know, I know..."welcome to the real world and real work hours" but nonetheless it is still tiring. I will say that I think my body is adapting and getting used to the new schedule. I am at a local high teaching all grades psychology, AP Psychology, and 10th grade U.S. History. They keep me on my toes and by the end of the day I just want to lay on the couch and think of nothing (which is a lie, I am normally getting stuff ready for the next day or grading) Anywho...I will get back in the swing of things and I hope all of you have had a great start to the new school year and how about a big Roll Tide to football season being here. RTR

6 dozen...

I feel like I have been baking non-stop in the past month. I was asked to bake cupcakes for multiple functions...one particularly was for a ladys 90th birthday party. I ended up making six dozen which is the most cupcakes I have ever made at a single time. I keep telling my family this process would be a lot easier if they would buy me a bigger and better oven as well as more cupcake pans.

We did a basic vanilla and chocolate with a buttercream frosting to match the decor of the party. I used these fun wilton baking cups that were perfect for the color scheme....take a look

That is a whole lot of cupcakes....

Happy Fourth of July??

I have been meaning to post about my fourth of July dessert, well....since the fourth of July.
I decided to get really festive after I saw a post on plain chicken and I wanted to make the american flag cake. After I made it and was blog surfing I realized it is a very popular idea, but nonetheless it was very fun to make. I did not tell anybody about the surprise on the inside and so when we cut the cake there were a lot of gasps, oooh's, and ahhhh's. I was actually quite impressed with how it turned out and it was devoured in what seemed like minutes. This may be an annual thing from now on, I set the standards high... here are the pics...

I am starting to realize why no one will buy me a big and fancy camera...maybe that is because all I ever use is my phone? But I bet I would use it if I had it...right?

Congratulations Matthew!

This past weekend Matthew graduated from the University of Alabama! He actually graduated in May but due to the tornadoes the graduation ceremony was postponed and it would be paired with the normal August graduation. Matthew actually received his official diploma about a month ago.



It was a very nice ceremony and weekend. They honored the six UA students who were killed in the tornado, they were represented by their families and issued their degrees.

There were three graduations...Friday night, Saturday morning, and Saturday afternoon. That is a lot of names to call!

Matthew is in the picture below, it was taken on my phone so the quality was low but I promise he is in there somewhere!

All in all, it was an exciting day... I am very proud of Matthew and know that this makes us one step closer to the next chapter in our lives and I could not be more excited, oh and...Roll Tide!

In memory of my sweet Rose.

Today is a day that has been on the horizon for a while now... My sweet dog, Rosie, my baby girl..my sugar (I know, I had a lot of nicknames) is leaving us in what I like to think as a peaceful way.

We got Rosie when I was in first grade and she has been my girl ever since.
Until Rosie's hips began causing her trouble Rosie slept with me at the foot of my bed, every night..snuggled up. Rosie was the best dog...EVER. She was a pure mut and never caused us any problems. She was the queen of the house and matter of fact, queen of the kenwood neighborhood. When we lived in a local subdivision (until my senior year) Rosie would often jump our fence and roam the neighborhood. This caused many frantic car rides trying to find her and fearing she would get hit by a car or something of the sort. We quickly realized that Rosie was just making friends throughout the neighborhood...she would appear on friends and neighbors doorsteps just to hang out. She was a friendly dog and would never hurt anyone. Our across the street neighbors did not have a dog of their own but Rosie was a frequent visitor...one of their kids in school told the teacher that they did have a dog and her name was "Rosie".

For a long time Rose was going strong but in the last couple of years she has really slowed down, who wouldn't she is quite old in dog years. (15+) I knew that this day was coming and I always said that I didn't want to sit and watch her suffer...she was always healthy, just old. Well the decision was made this week that it seemed to be time to let her go and end the pain. She can barely get around and suffering from some other issues.

It is time, it is right. She is just a dog...but for many years and through many phases of life my Rose has been there right by my side. She will forever be the BEST dog and I am incredibly saddened on this day because no matter how much I prepare myself...it is just hard.

Here are some pics of the rose-nator!

These are both remotely more recent pictures, we came across some old pics of when we first got her and she was the cutest fur ball. Sure gonna miss her but thankful for the time and companionship I had with her.

Love and miss ya already Rose.

New Design

Since I have been failing miserably at blogging this summer I decided that a little redesign of the page might help the sense of motivation. (or lack thereof).

Navy, yellow, and gray are colors that I have been obsessing over...I just love how they all look together so when I found this template and played around with all of the new fonts on blogger, I felt like it all came together really well.

School starts in about 3 weeks, which almost feels like forever. This has been a long summer due to the tornado and then Alabama pushing the august start date back...I am not really complaining, but I am ready to finish out my college career and get back into the normal school time routine.

Matthew is graduating this weekend in Tuscaloosa, he actually graduated in May but due to the tornado's and everything they postponed graduation till the August date. I am super excited for him, but it is crazy...I guess we really are growing up.

I hope that everyone has a fabulous weekend and I hope that I can get back into the swing of things!

Wedding Wednesday– Save The Date!

We decided to send out “save the dates” since our wedding is not occurring in a high travel time and since we have a large number of out of town guests! We wanted to make sure they knew they date and information way a head of time!

We used one of our engagement photos and my sister in law used her skills and designed a card that mirrored one I had found online. I think I’ll keep her around…

**If you are seeing this and thinking “dangit, I did not get one”…I underestimated our guest list and prioritized out of towners first and ended up running short on an actual card for everybody. Also, I have had quite a few returned…**

For some reason the card scanned a little fuzzy…hmmph.

Welcome Warner!

Three weeks ago, my brother and sister-in-law gave birth to my 2nd nephew. William Warner Ledbetter, we will call him Warner.

We were not expecting little Warner until the middle of July…but he is HERE! He was born on June 18, 2011 around 1:26 pm. He weighed 5.2lbs and was 18 and 3/4 inches long. Due to his early arrival we were worried about his lungs functioning but he did awesome and never had to visit the NICU. Mom and baby are home and doing great. They are now home and he is eating and growing continuously. He was actually 4.14 when he left the hospital and this past week at his appointment he was 5.14! Woohoo, way to go baby Warner!

I already just love him to pieces.

did I mention he has the longest arms and legs, we like to call him an orangutan

Royal Icing Flooded Cookies

First of all, I know ….I haven’t blogged in about 10 years. There is something about summer that throws me out of whack. The ideal dreams of blogging, baking, laying out…doesn’t seem to come to fruition. I have been baking some just unfortunately not taking a lot of pics of feeling like blogging about it. I am certain, that for that reason, I will never be a big time blogger.

I have been wanting to make sugar cookies with royal icing for a while now. I had seen the “flooding” technique used by many bloggers but couldn’t seem to find the right time to do it. Well, my brother and sister-in-law just gave birth to a baby boy last weekend. I used the occasion to practice the technique.

I had seen in on pioneer woman’s blog, but I followed the technique and tutorial of the brown eyed baker.

the tutorial is found here -

the recipe for the cookies here -

Lets preface the pictures with the phrase…”it was my first attempt’

the icing writer pen I attempted to use was very gooey…It probably would have been better to just use regular icing in a piping bag. Oh well, you live and you learn.

the the sugar cookie recipe is quite tasty, soft and chewy, find the link above.

Wedding Wednesday–Addresses

 

For this edition of Wedding Wednesday I can report that collecting and typing out addresses is very time consuming and boring work. I know that it will be easy once it is done but man it sure is tedious.

I am curious…does anyone have any recommendations on how  to print address labels? how to store and sort the addresses? Did you use a book or notebook or just keep them on the computer?

I am hoping to get this done ASAP and get the “save the date” cards in the mail as well, once they are out I will share them with you but I do not want to spoil the surprise! =)

Ps- to those who scoff at the large wedding party…when it comes to sealing, stuffing, and addressing envelopes – It becomes mighty handy.

Survived the run

This past weekend I ran in a local 5k race. I grew up a runner, running my first 5k in 2nd grade, and ran competitively up until high school. Then I dropped the idea because I thought I was too cool for that, ahahah. But in the past year or two I have really picked it back up. I have not been able to actually enter in any races due to conflicting times or what not. But this weekend I ran the Bowlegs midnight 5k run, and it actually felt pretty good – my time was not quite as good as it used to be but hey…it will get there.

My sister and three friends also ran it with me, everyone did great and it was a lot of fun!! (callie –my sister – obviously kicked all of our butts)

I have also been baking, A LOT, recently which is a good complement to the running.

I am also compiling wedding addresses and making spreadsheets – which equals a whole lot of busy work. But hey, it is all worth it in the end…I hope everyone has had a good start to the week!

toodles.

For Good….so good.

Last Tuesday was a great day.

I am not sure that this was planned but the entertainment industry gave me a fabulous treat. Two wicked performances in one day.

On one of Oprah’s last show Kristen Chenoweth (the original glenda in Wicked) sang the song “For Good” live on the show. This is one of my all time favorite musicals, and she did fabulous as always.

(cannot find a video of it…sad day)

but then that very same evening…Glee, Kurt and Rachel, rocked their own version of the same song. It was a fabulous day.

Running Playlist…

hello readers, I am running in a 5k this weekend and today while I was running I decided I needed to revamp my playlist. I might be running the Disney half marathon in January with my sister. I say might because I have chickened out before, but I consider it my wedding work out method and I hope that will keep my motivation up.

In that case there is a lot of running in the future and I am going to need some good playlists with a  lot of variety…so readers…please let me know your suggestions!! oh and I tend to love all sorts of music so  please give any and all ideas!

also, if you have any tips like clothing items, gadgets, types of socks, eating, drinking…please leave those as well!

My best friend’s Weddings Wednesdays -

This coming weekend two of my best friends from college are BOTH getting married! How exciting is that? Unfortunately, I cannot be in two places at once but I am so stinkin’ excited for both of these couples that it makes it okay.

 

(all three of us on the day of my engagement)

Carlin – Soon to be Mrs. Whittington – the one on the left – was my bible study during my 2nd year at bama. We actually met, sort of, at the end of the previous year thanks to Garrett Dorris. We instantly clicked, figuring out we loved all of the same shows, music, people, talk shows, etc. It was almost sort of creepy. I have appreciated everything she has invested into my life, she is encouraging and will be an awesome elementary teacher. Her and Jordan came to show me soon after they got engaged and I couldn’t have been more excited for them. They are such a special couple and I am thankful to call them my friends!

Maria – soon to be Mrs. Richardson – the one on the right – was my freshman bible study leader and again..clicked instantly. We sort of favor each other, darker skin complexion and curly hair… people have asked if we were sisters? The first time we hung out outside of bible study I think I stayed at her house for many hours just talking. We were both in long-term relationships – both anxious to get married =) Maria is an awesome cook/baker – she really spurred my love for it. Again, she invested in me in so many ways that I cannot put it into words but I treasure our friendship. When she and Adam got engaged I felt like a proud parent! I am beyond excited to witness their wedding this weekend and even more so, thankful for what they have meant to my life.

Both of these ladies have affected me in more ways and words than this dinky blog post can provide but I hope they know that I love them both dearly. I cannot wait to see what God has in store for both of these couples, I know it is going to be awesome. Part of this is bittersweet…after getting married Carlin will move to Birmingham and Maria all of the way to Virginia. I think this is part of the growing up process – entering new stages in our lives – but girls..I love you and thank you for what you have done for me!!

Worth reading

 

This is a recent Sports Illustrated article pertaining to the devastating events in Tuscaloosa in recent weeks. Phenomenal article and worth your time.

#prayforTuscaloosa #WeAreAlabama

 Tuscaloosa SI article --- read all of the pages.

Slacker + Wedding Wednesday

It feels that I have not blogged in forever…Honestly, everything happened so fast after April 27th and the tornado. It was a crazy feeling that in a matter of 24 hours the finals I had been dreading had disappeared, my 2nd home was suffering immensely, and all of a sudden it was supposed to be summer? But what about the unfinished papers and books that still needed to be read?

I apologize for the slacking, it has just been a crazy couple of weeks.

On a lighter and more usual “wedding Wednesday” note…Tomorrow Matthew and I are taking engagement photos with my lovely sister-in-law. You can check out her stuff here.

We are taking them at Eden State Park

We will probably stop by the beach and snap a couple there as well, but this park is a beautiful place. As soon as I have some sneak peeks from the shoot I will share!