Minnie Mouse Birthday Party

I was so busy planning the Pink & Chevron Baby Shower for one of my best friends that I nearly forgot about Hazelnut's Minnie Mouse Party!

My amazing friend Devin made the cake again!  She made the fabulous cake from Hazelnut's Little Miss Sunshine party last year.

In the background you can see the banner I made, and on the right another sign.  I got these free printables here & just added my own text!  It's also where I got her invitation from.  So simple!

For food, we got Chick-fil-A!  Let me tell you, there is nothing easier, and nothing more enjoyed by party guests!  I live about 15 minutes from my preferred Chick-fil-A (Patrick Henry Mall!) so I opted to get a reheatable nugget tray and reheat it at my house rather than try to juggle picking up food & keeping it warm for guests to arrive.  Much easier just to throw it in the oven, and they reheated perfectly!

We also had CFA Chicken Salad Sandwiches, fruit, and Sweet Tea!  Then I used my friend's punch recipe.  A 2 liter of ginger ale, a bottle of sparkling grape juice, and frozen fruit on top.  It's pretty, the fruit keeps it cold, and it's sooo simple.  It's a definite crowd pleaser!  Mine was a little foamy-- it probably wouldn't be if I hadn't of dumped everything in so quickly.

For favors I had some bags from a rainbow birthday party I thought I was going to throw last year, but changed my mind.  I thought about getting pink favor bags, but then felt a little bad for the guys at the party, so went with these since I already had them.  Did they match?  No.  Do I care? Not really.

I put candy in all, and then headbands & necklaces for the girls & play-doh & extra candy for the guys.

For decorations I got this decor kit from Amazon.  It was $7 and perfect.  

Another look at the decor from the night before.

 My main thought with adding the decor set from Amazon was that she's two years old, and very visual.  Seeing Minnie Mouse all over her house made her a happy little girl, and isn't that what a birthday party is all about?

One more look at that cake... oh I just love it so much!  Ombre pink Minnie Mouse birthday cake... what could be better?  It was delicious!

Happy Birthday Beautiful.

Happy Birthday Princess!  We can't believe that you've been in our arms for two years.  We are so blessed.

 
We still check you every night before I go to bed, just to make sure you're still breathing.

We still keep you rear facing in the car to keep you as safe as possible.

But despite being overprotective, we still let you fall.

We let you learn new things, often by trial & error.

We're not perfect, but we do love having you in our family!

And we love you.  So very much.

Love who you are.

Comparison is the thief of joy. -Theodore Roosevelt

There are a lot of contradicting messages out there to soak in.  Pinterest is full of amazing decorations, parties, lunches, etc.  There are countless blog posts from moms practically bragging that they don't have it all together... that their house is messy & their kids ate Doritos for dinner.  And don't even get me started on parenting tirades covering everything from infant sleep to breastfeeding to discipline.

Here's the thing.  I'm definitely not an 'everyone gets a trophy' type of person, but sometimes, that's just the way it is. This world needs all types, so please, find your type & go with it!

Love who you are.

And instead of cutting someone else down or making it seem uncool... appreciate it.  Appreciate them.  Celebrate whatever it is.

If you are great at decorating, awesome.  Please always take pictures & post them on Pinterest!  Yes, be a show off.  Be proud of yourself.  And the rest of us need to cheer you on.

Is you house constantly messy?  Are you okay with it?  If so, then embrace it.  Don't skip over posting a cute picture of your kid because the background is messy.  Your kid is cute, so celebrate it.  And the rest of us need to celebrate it, too.

Is your kid not sleeping?  Sure-- search the interwebs for some ideas!  But also, remember that every kid is different.  I found a method that worked absolutely wonderful for my kid and yes, I would highly suggest you use it for yours.  But you may choose another route & that's okay.  It's the beauty of having your own kid-- you get to craft him/her into a tiny human that you like.

I could go on & on.  Every mom could.  It's a constant barrage of messages we're met with each day. 

So I'm working to do my part & I hope you do, too!  What's your part, you ask?

Each time I feel myself thinking too much about something, I think of a way to celebrate it. 

Does someone's Facebook post bother you?  Find a way to celebrate.  See a friend who just had a baby & looks amazing?  (WAY more amazing than you ever did after having a baby?)  Celebrate it.  Share in her joy.  Really truly celebrate.

Comparison is the thief of joy because there is no comparison.  We're just not all the same.  You can't compare yourself to an 18 year old version of you, or a 34 year old version of anyone else.

Love who you are.

Celebrate others.

UNREAL: Product Review

 I've been wanting to try this product out for a little while.  On my quest to eat healthier, more wholesome foods, I've tried to stay away from more processed foods as much as possible.  But today I was craving some chocolate & was at the store & picked up a pack of these:

Chocolate coated candies (think M&Ms) made by Unreal.  I think that's their name?  They have a whole line of candy- you can get it at a lot of stores now, including Target & Michael's!

The short of it:

-they're delicious-- way tastier than M&Ms!

-they're are not as bad for you as M&Ms

Now, that being said... it's not like they're healthy.  They're not vegetables.  They are not going to make you lose weight.  BUT... they are definitely not as bad for you as M&Ms.

According to the packaging, they don't use artificial flavors, corn syrup, preservatives, or GMOs.

GMOs are huge, y'all.  They have serious health effects, and they are popping up in pretty much everything you eat!  Here's an article breaking down the only (to my knowledge) long-term research done on the effect of GMOs (with links to the original research report so you can read it for yourself).

So if something doesn't have GMOs, then that's a huge win for me!

The other biggie for me is that they don't have artificial dyes in them.  Hello Red 40 can make your kids bounce off the flippin' walls!  But these are colored with things like beetroot juice.  And the red one?  It's definitely the tastiest-- kind of tastes like a chocolate covered cherry!

And did I mention that they're delicious?  Like a mix between milk chocolate & dark chocolate.  Mmmmm...

Now, because they don't have preservatives, they expire more quickly.  I was halfway through a bag before I realized that my bag had been expired for 45 days.  It was still delicious and didn't show any signs of mold, but I'll make sure to check that next time before buying!

In the end, please remember-- it's not a health food. It's not free & clear of bad ingredients.  It's not a raw food.  But it is better for you than most of the other junk food on the market right now, and that's a step in the right direction!

The 7 Year Itch

Seven years.  Seven!  Today marks our 7th wedding anniversary and man, do I ever love that guy more & more every single day.

Ten minutes into our anniversary he asked me, "So, do you have the seven year itch?"

I laughed.  I was about to ask him the same thing.  Truth be told, I'd been thinking about it for our past two anniversaries.  It's not that I was scared, but just a little curious as to whether we'd feel that tinge.

And the answer?  Not at all.

Truth be told, I feel more attracted to him than I ever have before.  More in love.  More secure.  More like a family.  We've always been a team & we still are... but stronger.

We're definitely in a comfortable spot in our marriage.  At least once a week we'll accidentally wear matching outfits.  We come up with the same 'new' ideas at the same time.  It's great, actually.  One of us will have a wild idea and the other one is already on board.  We know what makes each other tick & try to avoid those thing.  We're not as headstrong towards each other.

Also?  We've started finding pictures of ourselves & can't remember when they were taken.  That's right... we're getting old.

We know the photobooth is in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, but we're not sure if we were married or not.  It kind of looks like Josh is wearing a wedding ring.  It was definitely a day trip.

People ask us a lot about how we do it.  What marriage is like.  How it is to come home to the same person every day for seven years.  

It's all God.  Keep God in the center, and everything else will work itself out.  And coming home to the same godly man everyday is a dream come true!

The only question Josh had for my friend when she handed him my number was, "Is she a Christian?"  When she told me that, I knew he was different.  I am so blessed to be his wife.

The stockings were hung on the bookshelf withOUT care.

It's true.  My stockings are hung on the bookshelf.  And they were put there without much care or thought.

December is the busiest month of the year in our house in every facet of our lives.  Josh has the Christmas Eve services at church which are beyond what most people can imagine a church service would entail.  I do marketing for Chick-fil-A in a mall.  Anyone ever shopped at the mall this time of year?  Craziness!  And then there's photography.  Guess when everyone & their brother wants pictures?  Right before Christmas of course.  It is hands down the busiest time of year.  Not complaining-- it is a total blessing & I love every minute of it!

As if that weren't enough on our plates, we have Christmas parties galore.  And oh my are the ever fun.  Then there's Christmas shopping, wrapping, decorating, finding the perfect outfit.  And... this year we have a lively 10 month old to join in on all the fun, which requires an insane amount of prep & clean up to do anything (Can you hear that?  Mom's of multiple kids are laughing right now).

We were out of town for Thanksgiving & when we got back I couldn't wait to put our Christmas decorations up!  We bought a new tree-- a tall & skinny one that actually fits in our apartment, and I already had present to put under it, as I had been buying all year long this year.

But the reality was, I was tired.  Our house was messy.  I had a to-do list a mile long.

So I pushed some of the books further back in the bookshelf & hung our stockings.  I only had hangers for two, so Hazel's is held in place by a heavy book.  Classy.

  

It's a shame really.  I had big dreams for our stockings.  All three were handmade.  And the more I look at them, Josh's and Hazel's are nearly identical.  Extremely cool considering I think they were made by two different people, 28 years apart.

But that's okay.  Not every year is going to be a magical tale, and I'm okay with that.  I'm not super mom, and I'm at peace with that, too.  My goal isn't to perfect every detail of every holiday or event.  My goal is to help our little girl to grow up loving God & others.  And I'm pretty sure the placement of the stockings have nothing to do with that.

Double Take

Are you ready for this?  On the left is my husband, and on the right is Hazelnut.  As one friend described her life, I am apparently a cloning device for my husband.  :)  I still contend that she has my nose & cheeks.

I especially love how both of their eyebrows are raised.  Hazelnut raises hers all the time-- it's so cute!

This is what I live with...

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

Welcome to the World, Hazelnut.

A week ago we welcomed our little girl into the world.  Words can't describe how awesome this week has been.  All the cliches are true-- I can't imagine loving anything more.  Josh & I were trying to describe it to each other the other day.  It's a lot like the love we have for each other.  It doesn't matter what the other person does... we still love them with everything we've got.

Looking at her grow over this past week it makes me really sad.  I don't want her to grow up-- I want her to stay a newborn forever!  But grow up is what she must do, so we are soaking up every single second with her.

Labor was long... started around 1:30pm on Friday, January 20th, and our little Hazelnut was born at 9:41pm on Saturday, January 21st.  32 hours and I felt every single contraction.  The pain... well, it's really indescribable.  And unlike what a lot of people say, I haven't forgotten it.  But she was definitely worth it.

I have, of course, turned into an emotional mess.  Anything and everything makes me tear up lately.  She's just so tiny & innocent that I don't want anything in this world to mess with her.  She is perfect.  Completely perfect.  Not to mention absolutely adorable!

I may write more about the birth later, I may not.  We had a photographer there, which was out of this world amazing.  She captured moments that we will never be able to re-take.  First moments of life... and it is so amazing!

Also, we had a doula there.  I truly don't even want to think about what our labor & birth experience would have been like without her there.  She was amazing to help & show us what was normal & what was not.  I am totally unfamiliar with hospital situations & birth... but it's everyday for her.  She was a huge source of support & took a lot of pressure off of Josh.  He doesn't know how to be a labor coach, but he does know how to be my husband.  So our doula allowed him to be just that-- my husband.  He didn't have to make sure I was comfy or any of the other things that come up in labor.  He was just able to be there to support me in whatever way he could.

Finally, our doctor.  It was a long, hard road with our doctor, but in the end I couldn't have imagined a better outcome.  He was amazing.  He showed that he cared.  So much, in fact, that we may very well go to him for our next child.  I know that sounds crazy considering the things that went on (most weren't written about on this blog, though).  But Josh & I, as well as our doula agree... he truly cares & worked hard to learn a different way of looking at things-- a way that would be beneficial to us and our baby.  And for that, I am incredibly thankful.  I am doubly thankful because his name is all over documentation, and when I look at that, I smile instead of cringe.  I smile because it reminds me that we worked really hard to have the birth experience we wanted.  To have the medical care we desired... and we got it.  In a way, we paved the way for others to be able to get the birth experience they want as well.

I look back on these pictures and I can't believe I've had her in my arms for almost a week now.  I can't believe that a week ago I was in the most unbearable pain of my life.  They kept reminding me that at the end of it I was going to get a baby, but if I'm going to be very honest, I really didn't care at that point.  I didn't truly understand what wonderful things awaited me.

She is perfect.  She is wonderful.  She has the cutest little chubby cheeks and button nose.  She is a mixture of both her mom & dad.  And she sleeps like... well, she sleeps like us!  She sleeps like a champ and doesn't wake up for much.

Things I want to remember:
You weighed 7 lbs 3 oz at birth, and 7 lbs even when we left the hospital.  20 inches long, and born at 9:41pm.  You sleep with your mouth open just like your daddy, and your chubby cheeks are definitely from me.  I love the steel gray of your eyes right now.  I know they'll change, but I really enjoy the mystery that is within them.  I love it when you look at me, when you snuggle with your daddy, and when you make the most adorable little faces. I was scared before... scared that you may take away from the amazing marriage that me & your daddy have worked so hard for.  But I've learned that you have only added to the awesomeness.  You are absolutely amazing & wonderful and I am so thankful that God trusted us to be your parents!

Welcome to the world, Hazelnut!

Reindeer... Male or Female?

Obviously there are some of both, but here's a little insight into Santa's reindeer!

Thankful Beyond what I can even Comprehend.

Since it's Thanksgiving, I'm pretty much required to write about what I'm thankful for.  I tried to do a neat spin on it, but there's something awesome about just being truly thankful for all the boring things in life.  Except, you know, my life isn't boring and all.  ;)

Last year I was a little emotional on this day.  Everything in our house was packed up and it was the last holiday that we were certain we would see our family.  I mean, we knew that we'd see our family on future holidays, but we didn't know which ones, or how it would work out.  An 8 hour drive is much further than a 1-3 hour drive!

But still, I was thankful for the new adventure in life.  We knew that this was the final step for us.  The final move (at least for a long time), and I'm thankful that we still feel that way after a year.

I'm thankful for our amazing God.  He is incredible!  I mean, we aren't that great of people, and still... we have an absolutely ridiculous amount of blessings.

If you'd told us last year we'd be expecting a little one in January, I'm not sure we would have believed you.  Truly, we would have squealed in  excitement, but wouldn't have ever guessed it.  Don't get me wrong, she wasn't a surprise... we had planned & hoped for a little one... but truly didn't think we'd be at a point financially & emotionally to have children yet.

So last night as I stayed up until 2:30am furiously cleaning the nursery, I was thankful.  Thankful that maintenance fixed our closet so I could begin to hang items in there again.  Thankful that I had the energy to clean that much for that long.  I am not the type of person that has to have everything clean, but thankfully that nesting urge kicked in around the 6.5 month mark!  And oh-so-thankful to have my amazing husband by my side.  His nesting urge wasn't quite as much, but he stayed up with me (he's not a night owl at all!), and helped move large pieces of furniture around the house-- and put the stroller together!

Looking through archives, I found this picture.  I'd put song lyrics on it... and I think it sums up today perfectly.  "You only have on life to try to find out what it means to be alive."  That, my friends, is the key to thankfulness... knowing what it means to be alive.

What are you thankful for this year?

Fascinating Friday: Wonderland. (You are really going to want to see this!)

I stayed up way too late last night looking over all these photos... truly in awe of a most beautiful story and amazing creativity.  All I could think of was, this is absolutely fascinating... a true wonderland!  So I had to share it with you.

Passion, creativity, and excellence are three words to describe this artist.

She began this project "Wonderland" after her mother died & it's been a way of coping for her.

What a beautiful, magnificent tribute to her mother.  She describes it as 


"a very personal tribute to the memory of my mother, and the stories she read to me as a child. The plan was to create a storybook without words – an unexplained collection of strange and magical characters, set in the woodlands and landscapes that surrounded my home."

And let me tell you, Alice in Wonderland-- as great as the recent movie was-- needs to be checking out these pictures for inspiration!

You can also see the behind the scenes pictures (which were way awesome) here!

There's no way to share part of a picture and do it justice-- you're just going to have to go check them out and truly soak it in!  Let me know what you think!  Were you sucked in to the magical world like I was?

On Being a Britney Fan.

What is it about Britney Spears that makes me want to pull for her no matter what?

She was the pop princess for my generation.  In 8th grade, she was the bomb y'all.  By the end of 8th grade I was cutting my hair in long layers like hers.  Unfortunately, I was a greasy 8th grader without stylists to follow me around, so I ended up cutting my losses (literally-- cutting my hair to chin length) and realizing that I was not a pop princess myself.  It was a tough break.

Then she came out with an edgier video (for the time) like 'Crazy.'  After all, her fan base was growing older-- we were at least 3 months older by this point-- and we needed something to reflect our more grown-up lives.

Then there was the time when it was no longer cool to be a Britney fan.  This was the same time it wasn't cool to be a N*Sync or Backstreet Boys fan... and don't even get me started on Hanson.  just. not. cool.


But finally, thankfully, Britney has come full circle.  She went off the deep end, and then swam back to the shallow end.  I only caught about 20 seconds of the VMA's this year, but it happened to be the 20 seconds that Britney won & started her acceptance speech for Best Pop Video.  I wanted to cry, I was so happy for her!

I mean, really, she's come a long way over the past 12 years, and has done a ton of growing up-- all while the whole US... and sometimes world... were watching.  She's certainly not perfect, but she'll always hold a special spot in my heart.

How to put 300,000 miles on a car.

Last year I made a bucket list.  I've learned though, that there are some things that you don't even realize are on your bucket list, until you've done them.  Like, driving through a bridge-tunnel.  For some, that's no big deal.  For me, that's a huge, scary deal!  But I did it!  And now I can't even count how many times I've done it... even beside a tractor trailer!

Yesterday marked another milestone that I didn't really want to admit how bad I wanted to reach it.  It's one of those that is somewhat in my control, but also somewhat out of my control.

My car hit 300,000 miles.  

No, really.

How do you do that?

1) Buy either a Nissan, Toyota, or Honda (this happens to be a 1997 Nissan Sentra).
2) Give it to a teenager who dates a guy in the next town.
3) Now have that teenager go to college 30 minutes in the opposite direction from said guy, making the trip twice as long.
4) Have that same teenager move back to her hometown, but still go to college 30 minutes away.
5) Have the now 20-something move to Atlanta & get a job in sales where she drives her car all day long.
6) Then have the husband wreck his car, sell it, and make the Nissan their 'family car.'
7) Give husband the same job.

So yes, I've had the car since I was 16.  My dad bought it for me in the fall of 2002 & it has 73,000 miles on it.  It's a straight drive, and it has only been in one wreck.  It was pouring rain, and despite going about 25mph, I still hydroplaned into a ditch.  A few years later my dad backed his truck into the side of it as well.

We've replace the basics on it, and bigger things as it hit 150K & 250K miles, but overall, we haven't replaced anything unexpected.  Biggest repair was $1200 for the clutch.  Ouch... but really... it was around 200K miles at that point, and it should have only lasted 120K.

Why do we still have the car?  Well, why not?  Honestly, if we had anything else, it'd be beyond our means.  We saved up and came across a great fabulous deal for our 2nd car.  And now we're saving for a car to replace this one when it breaks down beyond reasonable repair.  Honestly, I feel like that may be right around the corner... but I've said that before... many times... a couple hundred thousand miles ago!

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!

Sugar & Spice

What are little girls made of?  Sugar & spice & everything nice.

Yeah... that's the problem.

Although we weren't very vocal about it before (because we didn't want people to misunderstand us & think it was for the wrong reasons), Josh & I were kind of hoping for a boy.  Of course, the important thing is that it's a healthy baby.

But we both know our limits.  With a little boy, we knew we could easily do gender neutral items & not go gaga over baby items.  We also knew that if we found out it was a little girl, we would turn to mush.  One big pile of butter melted in her tiny little newborn hands.

And guess what?  We were right!  Within a week we are nothing but piles of mush oohing & ahhing over the cutest little girl things.  We're still going gender neutral on the items that will carry over to the next child (furniture, cloth diapers, stroller, car seat, blankets, etc), but there is more pink than I would have imagined already filling our future nursery!

It isn't like we went out & searched for it... pink stuff just came to us.  I found this crib the other day (thank you to my parents for buying it for us!), and when I asked the lady how much, she gave me a price & said that if I wanted the bedding, it was free.

Like I'm going to turn down something for free!

So that's how we ended up with pink bedding.  Oops.  At least it had a lot of brown in there as well.  It is awfully cute!

But that brings me to my next picture.  I found this dress at the same consignment shop!  This is the style I want our little girl to have.  I know she's not going to be wearing dresses every day, but I do want her to have a better sense of style than I do!

Best thing about this dress? Well, other than the neckline... it's not pink!

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!

You know you're a Catamount when...

The other day I found a hilarious Facebook group titled "You know your a Catamount at WCU..."

It's really unfortunate that the person used the wrong 'your,' but aside from that blaring issue, I really enjoyed reading the posts!  Even though I didn't participate in a lot of the campus activities, there were many things about college that I just couldn't avoid.  Here are some of my favorites:

-"When an umbrella is more harmful than helpful in the pouring rain."  ---- ho. ly. cow.  Not even kidding... it rained, or at least sprinkled, every single class day my freshman year.  Monday - Friday.  Not even missing one.  Even if it was just a few sprinkles, it was guaranteed to rain a bit.  One group made t-shirts that said:

          We

          Carry

          Umbrellas

  Get it?  WCU... we carry umbrellas.  Those shirts sold like hotcakes!  So did umbrellas & rain boots.  And the harmful aspect of it was that any substantial rain meant substantial winds, so not only did the umbrella not help unless it was turned sideways, but it usually blew inside out almost instantly & sent you toppling over into the street with its force.  Quite exciting, I tell ya!

-"When quarters are like gold because there are no change machines in the laundry rooms."  ---- no seriously-- no change machines anywhere on campus, so we had to go to the bank, which, if you were lucky, had a branch in the next town over.

-"When move-in day at Wal-Mart is like Christmas at the mall." --- Wal-Mart was in the next town over & was pretty much the only place to go for move-in stuff.  No matter how prepared you were, you'd always end up at that Wal-Mart on move-in day.  I was lucky & always moved a week early due to color guard or being an RA... but it was still craziness!

Walker- I lived on the 8th floor freshman year

-"When you have practice fire drills your Freshman year and every time there are at least 3 people standing in nothing but a towel."  ---- ummm... one of my best friends was one of those!  But to be fair, in high school they would always tell you it was a fire drill- this is the first time in life the alarms just go off.

-"When you have to stay an extra semester because you didn't go to class your first semester."  -- This wasn't me, but this was roughly 90% of the student population.  People take their sweet time to graduate there.  I do think part of it, though, is that music is a very popular major, and it's nearly impossible to graduate in 4 years because many of the classes are 1 credit hour, but take up 8+ hours a week.

- And finally, to sum up about 15 of the posts-- the CatTran-- it was the bus system around the school.  Not that the campus was big, but you may or may not have to scale a mountain in order to get to class.  However, those buses were never where you needed them.  Instead of hitting a stop every 15 minutes, they'd be back to back & you wouldn't see another one for 45 minutes.  And riding up the mountain on one was a great time for prayer-- that the whole bus wouldn't fly off the mountain as it's careening around steep curves!  I found a hilarious post about the FatTran CatTran & the weather in Cullowhee here.  I have no idea who this blogger is, but that particular post is hilarious!

Altogether now.... na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na- CAT-TRAN! (sung to the Batman tune)

What was a fun quirk of your college campus?

The only thing I miss about college...

The other day an old marching band friend posted a picture of our old college campus.  As I looked at the pretty brick sidewalk & fountain, I realized that the same area was a road when I was a freshman... and was a grassy area by the time I graduated.

Photo Courtesy of Josh Duckett

This whole circular brick walkway was road, and then grass.  The building to the left used to be a parking lot.

Now I'm someone who loves progress, so seeing these changes bring a smile to my face.  They're building new dorms with... get this... air conditioning.  And tearing down old stinky awful dining halls and putting up nice ones.  For a little university so deep in the mountains that I haven't been back since the day I graduated, (it is not on the way to anywhere) I'd say they're doing pretty well.

But the funny thing is, I don't miss college that much and I don't miss what most people do.  What I really miss is walking to class, sitting in those old seats, taking out a pen and starting a fresh page of notes.  Having the occasional professor that would let you get away with murder and still get an 'A,' and sitting in the UC (common area) sipping Java City coffee & doing homework in between classes.

Oh, and freshman year my dorm was across the street from the gym.  I did 2 workouts a day!

So, I'm weird.  And I didn't make many best friends in college.  I was a little preoccupied with getting married & paying bills.

Did you go to college?  Do you miss it?  What was your favorite part?

Funny Friday to kick your weekend off right!

This blog has me laughing in fits!  The rawness of parenthood is revealed.

Here's a screenshot of the main page.  I love the pictures.  I mean, really, who has time to catch all this magical blog stuff on camera?  And the dry sense of humor-- I love it!

It appears to be a somewhat new blog seeing as how there aren't very many posts, but I hope it sticks around!