This is what I live with...

My two favorite people doing their silliness.  I love them.  :)

Nobody loves my quite like my dog does.

I wonder how many seething arguments this song will cause in America.  I laughed pretty hard when I first heard it, but I can only imagine how many wives will want to slug their husbands over it.  :)

Enjoy!

A Happy Middle between Cloth & Disposable Diapers

Cloth diapers are something I've always been fascinated with since I was a little girl and saw the cute pins that my mom used to fasten them with on my little sister.  As odd as it sounds, I've always wanted to use them.  And now that they're easier than ever (read: no sharp pins!), it was a no-brainer for me.  Thankfully, Josh was agreeable as well.

But that doesn't change that many people think they are absolutely disgusting.  To each their own.  I have my reasons & I won't get offended if you think it's gross (or heck, I'd be offended all the time!).  I think diapers in general are disgusting, whether they're cloth or disposable!

But if you're looking for a mid-way point-- something with the ease of disposable, but the environmentally friendly advantage of cloth... then I have something for you!

Yes, SNL is to credit for this amazing product.  And thanks to Hulu for the link!

You Probably Thought this Deer was Alive... Nope, just Chuck Testa

Now this is a way to start your Monday!  Unless you're an avid member of PETA.  Then I would suggest watching something else.  Otherwise, please enjoy this totally awesome commercial!



I have to say, the guy is good at his taxidermy!  Not so much at commercials... or is he?  I mean, I'm a chick on the east coast watching & sharing his commercial.

Perhaps he's just a marketing genius.

My dog likes to dress up.

Our dogs love to play in our laundry piles on laundry day, which is fine, since we're about to wash them anyway.  But the other day, Jigsaw decided to dress up.  If I didn't know better, I swear he did it to get a laugh out of me, because he acted as if everything was perfectly normal... and even let me run, grab my camera, and walked to where lighting was bright enough to take a picture.

Is he... was he... posing for me?

I love that my dog & I have the same sense of humor.  :)

'Cause we're two cool kids like that.

Yesterday morning I decided I would go to the gym at some point in the day.  So before I headed out to work I packed a gym bag & set out on my merry way.

6pm rolls around and I tell Josh to meet me at the gym around 7pm.

I get to the gym, change, and head towards the treadmill, which is pretty much the only piece of cardio equipment that I can do while keeping my heart rate at or below 140 (doctor's rule).

And right when I walk out of the locker room, I round the corner to see my dear sweet husband wearing the exact same outfit.

It's not like we were wearing white shirts and black pants to the gym.  Oh no... we had to go all out in our thinking alike.  We had to pick the most stand-out shirts we own and wear them together!

Please excuse our faces in this pic... we just got back from the gym!

So yes, in case anyone at the gym was wondering tonight, we love our church!  We no doubt looked like lunatics that tried to hard, and were probably the topic of some dinner table discussions tonight.

"How was your day, honey?"

"Well, work was fine.  I saw these two crazy people at the gym tonight wearing matching t-shirts that said, 'I <3 My Church.'"

"They were wearing what??"

Yeah, that's right... never underestimate the power of the Fowler's.  This is also the most comfy t-shirt I own.  And I do, in fact, love my church.

You Spelled "Punching" Wrong, Chris Brown.

Well, Chris Brown didn't think this was too funny, so Andy Levy... ummm... apologized?  Classic.   And completely worth the 2 minutes to watch it.

"What kind of bug is that?"

The other night my mom noticed our cat looking pawing at the sliding glass door.

Mom: "Aww... how cute-- she's trying to get to that bug out there!  What kind of bug is that, Susan?"

I look over & shake my head.


Me: "That's a roach... and it's sitting right beside our can of roach spray."

Sorry it's dark-- that black blob to the right of the can of roach spray is a roach!

For one, this proves how awesome the mountains of western North Carolina are-- that she doesn't even recognize a roach anymore.

And the second thing is... I live on the 2nd floor... and didn't realize roaches crawl up to such great heights.

I'm not outdoorsy.  I don't like camping.  Seeing too many bugs makes me itch non-stop.  They need to get away from my house!

If you need a good laugh, this is for you!  This was a video our pastor did for this past Sunday's sermon.  If you'd like to hear the whole sermon, check it out here.



What is 'church' to you?

It's Friday, Friday... TGIF

It's Friday!  Or, as we like to call it in the Fowler household-- the weekend!  Josh has off Fridays & Saturdays since he works all day on Sundays. Let me just say that it is a glorious schedule!  We've always been super involved in church so it was a given that we'd be there all day on Sunday anyway.  But now?  We have a weekend again!

But back to Friday.  Friday.  Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend.

Is it stuck in your head yet?

If not, then watch this.  That should do the trick.

But no!  Don't leave!  Then you'll miss this (actually) awesome video.

Have you seen Katy Perry's video for TGIF?  Because it's awesome, and if you are older than me, than you'll enjoy it even more than I do.  Hint: it's set up as an 80s movie, and has great cameos in it!



Love this video.  Katy Perry's talent is just amazing.  Not to mention where else are you going to find the following people all in one video?

Darren Criss (Glee)
Rebecca Black (see link above)
Kevin McHale (Glee)
Hanson (wow-- these guys are still around?  I wanted to marry all of them about 14 years ago.  Mmbop!)
Kenny G.
Corey Feldman
Debbie Gibson

Hope you enjoy-- and hope your Friday night isn't quite like theirs!

Mac vs. PC -- which are you?

Awhile back I happened upon this list of facts & it totally cracked me up!  If you're into the Mac vs. PC debate, or even if you just use a Mac or a PC (which is approximately 77% of you, according to their research), this will make you laugh a little.

If you're not a math person, some of the statistics may throw you off a little, but just skim over those-- most of the others are very clear.

It has stats like who has more formal education, & who is more likely to be a vegetarian.

Here's one more screenshot from the page-- you must go check it out!

Which are you... Mac or PC?  How well do you fit the statistics they shared?  What's your favorite statistic from that page?

Little Bites

Sometimes there are little things that crack me up, but aren't enough to make a blog post, so I've been collecting them & wanted to share a few with you from the last week.  Little bits of my life, and all of these happen to be related to the baby:

---------

Josh: I love hearing you eat... it means our baby is getting nourishment.

Me: I'm eating Skittles, babe.

Josh: (sigh)


Me: It's like fruit.

Josh: (snort)


*To be clear, I wasn't chomping with my mouth open.  We were curled up in bed & after an obscene amount of morning sickness, I found some Skittles in my purse.*

---------

My cat thinks vomiting is a team sport.  She seriously comes & cheers me on, which is actually kind of nice, since Josh is curled up in the fetal position on the other side of the house singing loudly so he can't hear me... because then he would be joining in on this team sport himself.

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While having a conversation about finding out the sex of our baby, a convo between our friend & her 9 (?) year old daughter, Madisen, who is sooo excited about our little one & was hoping for twins!

Madisen: Do you know if it's a boy or a girl yet?

Me: Nope, a couple more months.

Her mom: What do you think it'll be, Madisen?

Madisen: Well, since you're only having one, I think it's either going to be a boy or a girl.

--------

"I'm pretty sure you're allergic to being pregnant."  -Carlyn

Larger than life.

A few weeks ago I went to a friends house & before I left, she insisted that we take some zucchini.  Not one to turn down free veggies straight from the garden, I was all about it!

I was more than a little shocked when she came back with these puppies.  That's a tuna can for size reference!

But it gets even better... for another friend, she just sent one with them... that was TWICE the size of ours!  The caption he put on Facebook says, "No, those aren't miniature bananas..."

And in case you're wondering, there are several ways to use it in the kitchen:

1) Have a cooking extravaganza & bake zucchini bread, zucchini muffins, stir fry, pasta w/zucchini, etc.
2) Cut one piece off at a time & make one zucchini item per day.

Needless to say, we're working a little zucchini into our everyday lives!  And since we knew there was no way on earth we could use two, we shared the love with some friends!

Because I think it's hilarious!

I promise I'm actually making a conscious attempt to not post things about babies 5 times a week on here, but it's kind of difficult when that's what consumes my life right now.  But this is at least hilarious and amazing all at the same time!

Baby, you've got swagger

So somewhere in my 15 zillion 3 trips out of state I've made in the past month, I lost my deodorant.  Actually, I lost it on the last trip.  I think.  At least, I wore it on the last trip.  Who knows, it could be in the house right now, but I can't find it.  It could be in North Carolina, or it could be in Georgia.  Either way, my armpits are raging with these pregnancy hormones, so I needed something to counteract it.  Going to the store wasn't an option (refer back to said pregnancy hormones), so I just kind of maybe a little bit started using Josh's.

Josh has said before, in no uncertain terms, that I am never ever allowed to use his deodorant.  He has a weird thing about it.  I would, too, if a friend asked for my deodorant, but c'mon... I'm pregnant with your child.  I think we're a little beyond sharing deodorant.

But being the good wife like he told me to be, I went to pick him up some new deodorant today since his is now tainted with my diseased armpit germs.  That's when I saw this glorious piece of art:

I can't accurately describe how much I wanted to buy it for him.  This is marketing at it's best.  It's pretty... and he likes Old Spice... and I want my husband to have swagger!

Unfortunately, they only had it in the solid.  I can't remember why, but I think Josh would rather use the deodorant that I've infected with my infectious diseases than use a solid deodorant.  And I'm not one to waste money, so I went with some boring "fresh air" smell instead.

I did find it online, though, in his special non-solid preferred state... and I have to say, I'm tempted to buy deodorant online!

5 foot metal chickens & how they become necessities in your life.

You know when you get so tickled that tears actually start to form and before you know it you're wiping tears off your face while laughing?

Yeah, me neither.

But anyway, I was reading this hee-larious blog post the other day and couldn't help but share it with you.

It's one woman's story of how she came to have a 5 foot metal chicken at her house.  A 5 foot metal chicken, you say?  Why yes, similar to this one, which currently resides at my parents house.

And because not everyone has a 5 foot metal chicken in their yard, I thought I may explain the perfectly good reason as to why they have one.  My mom actually bought it for my dad.  This one person in town had decided to sell stuff like this out of their front yard & my dad drove by it every day wanting it.  He finally stopped & asked how much and it was like $600!  He decided that that was just too much, even though he was in love with it.

He continued to ooh & ahh over it and over time, it became more of a joke than anything.  I mean, really, it's a 5 foot metal chicken, but there's something about it that makes you want need it in your yard!  I like to think of it as a very passive form of deviance (a trait I possess myself, which is why I occasionally eat ice cream for lunch-- my form of deviance.  I'm such a loser).

A few months later it was still there and my mom bought it for my dad's birthday or something for a 'deal.'  I can't remember the exact price (although it was hundreds less), but it was still more than anyone would want to pay for a 5 foot metal chicken.  But because he'd been talking about that stupid chicken for the better part of a year, it was his!

For years now it has proudly stood at the end of their driveway, welcoming anyone who dares to enter visitors.

And occasionally we'll see other family members of our dear chicken out & about.  This little guy was in Greenville, SC & made by Chicken Man Art!  With a name like that, my dad will buy a lot of items at your store.  :)

I promise my dad's not actually crazy, despite the whole 'owning a 5 foot metal chicken' thing- he's just doing a crazy face for this picture! 

So in case you're still reading this (why?) and haven't skipped over to that other blog I talked about yet, you definitely need to head over there now-- you will laugh until you cry!  Just click here.

Life is messy, that's for sure.

I'm the first to admit that our home can get messy.  I'm not the domestic housewife I once aspired to be.  I couldn't tell you the last time I opened a cookbook, or even which state we lived in when that happened.

If it comes between having a decently clean house or spending quality time with each other, Josh & I will choose quality time every time.  That's not to say we don't clean house, but it's just not our first priority.

So when it came down to grocery shopping going to the movies last weekend?  We chose the movies.  Friends invited us, the movie sounded good, and we had a gift card-- how perfect was that?  Plus, we had enough food in the house to last us a few more days, so no worries, there... basic survival covered.

Ahem.  Until we got home & realized we had a tiny bit of dog food left.  I split it between our dog bowls, but it just wasn't enough for our two little champs.

No problem, we'll just bring out the kitty food.  They'd rather eat that anyway!

So I poured the last of the kitty food into their bowls.  An hour later we went to bed.

That's when I was reminded that we have a hungry cat lurking in the bedroom... that I hadn't fed yet today!

She. Was. Pissed.  I'd wondered why she was meowing so loud & circling the dog bowls when I fed them.

So I scrambled together and found her 3 small dog treats & a bunch of kitty treats.  And filled her water bowl to the brim (hey, we had plenty of that!).

She's alive, but she doesn't like us very much (though, she should- that's like eating ice cream for dinner!).  She decided to let me know that by slurping out of my water on the bedside table.

No worries, kitty.  I don't leave that there so I don't have to get up in the morning with a queasy stomach... I left it there just for you.


Jerk.

Although, I guess she would argue that I'm the jerk!

Alright, y'all... I know you have some magical stories about this... time to 'fess up!

US Customs loves Chick-fil-A

I've only been through customs once before and something about officials dressed up and interrogating you for a few seconds totally gets me unnerved.  After our cruise, this is how our conversation with customs went.

Customs Man (CM): Passports.


(We hand over passports & he starts ruffling through all the pages.  He looks at Josh first.)

CM: Where do you work, sir?


Josh: Waters Edge Church.


CM: And what do you do there?


Josh: I'm the Worship & Production Manager.


CM: And what does that mean?


Josh: (explains his job)


-- Timeout-- I'm about to freak out at this point.  A guy had already yelled at me because I checked the time on my cell phone and that was apparently not allowed.  I hate interrogations.  My palms get sweaty and I always feel like I'm saying the wrong thing, even when I know I haven't done anything wrong. --

CM: (seems satisfied with Josh's answers & hands passport back to him, then starts thumbing through my passport) And where do you work?


Me: (babbling) I'm a photographer, and I also work at Chick-fil-A part time.


CM: Chick-fil-A?  I love that place! (I swear his whole demeanor changed) It's delicious!  What do you do there?


Me: Marketing.  :)

CM: Cool.  Well keep making great food!  Have a good day guys. (Or something like that, anyway.)


It was all I could do to not crack up on my way out of there.  He was so cold & customs-like when we first walked up and suddenly, you would have thought I'd given him a free chicken sandwich!

*Note: This blog doesn't necessarily reflect the views of Chick-fil-A or Waters Edge Church.  Or US Customs, for that matter.*

Nom nom & Gone Fishin'

Okay, last post about the beach for awhile, I promise!  Maybe.

At any rate... these little guys are quite interesting hanging out on this dried up rock.  I haven't done any scientific research as to what they are... or even googled it, which I'm sure would tell me.

I guess I haven't done those things in part because this is all I see in my head... and I kinda like it that way.

Or a slightly less demented way to describe what I mean... I imagine it a lot like the old "Gone Fishin'" game.

Saturday Funny.

A few weeks ago I went out of town for a wedding.  When I came back, Josh & I had this conversation:

Him: I found your stash of hairspray

Me: I wasn't hiding it!

Growing up, my dad & brothers acted as if they didn't even know what hairspray was, so it still cracks me up that my man uses it.  Obviously, lots of men do, especially those that spike their hair.  But it still cracks me up.

I was kind of hoarding it in the guest bathroom...