Our Weekend Getaway ...

... is here
Ahhh just looking at this picture instantly makes me feel relaxed. It's our little "love nest", as a friend of mine calls it. That sounds really hokey but it's our getaway place that we found four years ago. We went for the first time for our three year anniversary. Then we went back on our four year when Ethan was only three months old and if you do the math you can figure out the rest. ;) Last year we were trying to save some moola so we didn't make it so this year I'm even more excited to go. Everything about this place is wonderful. From the linens to the food, the decor to the gardens, an the smells to the sounds of the birds chirping outside the window. It's just perfect! We're celebrating our six year anniversary (three weeks later) in Asheville and we cannot wait. Our plan is to hike, photograph and picnic along the Blue Ridge parkway on Friday. Saturday we have a massage booked at our favorite spa in the morning, antique shopping in the afternoon and we're planning on a nice dinner that evening. Thank God I have a husband that enjoys the same things that I enjoy! Any other man would never dream of going to the spa and antique shopping! :) Anyways, our little B&B is our guilty pleasure that we look forward to and it gives us a chance to reconnect and remember why we fell in love to begin with!

Everything Trucks!

Saturday morning we headed out to the parking lot at First Baptist Church for the Everything Trucks! event from the Come See Me spring festival. Ethan had a blast! All he talks about is trucks or anything with wheels - firetrucks, police cars, ambulances, etc. They even had a school bus there!

Eclipse trailer!

See the new Eclipse trailer here!

Also, found out the cast will be on Oprah on May 13th!

Yipee!

Friday Randomness

HAPPY FRIDAY FRIENDS AND FAMILY!

Is it just me or has the excitement from Twilight just completely fizzled? It stinks. When New Moon was approaching it's premiere date, fans were a flutter everywhere. My favorite twifans blog, twilighters.org, was constantly posting all kinds of stuff including clips and pictures from the movie. That hasn't happened with Eclipse at all. I'm hoping it picks up soon because I'm ready to get excited!

As far as an update on the house, we had a showing on Saturday with an older couple. Apparently it was the realtors parents. Her dad loved it but her mom did not like a part of the layout, which obviously we cannot change. So that one's a no-go. We had another one on Wednesday night. I thought they never showed up because I was babysitting down the street so I kept looking out the window every ten minutes but never saw anyone show up. It turns out they did show up but probably for like 15 minutes. It turns out the price was too high for them. THEN WHY ARE YOU VIEWING THE HOUSE IF IT'S OUT OF YOUR RANGE!?! The whole process is getting a bit frustrating so I'm trying to keep the faith that it will sell ... someday! Chris and I have talked with our realtor about the fact that there are now two houses on our street that are priced lower than ours with the same square footage or more. It's making us appear over-priced although our home has a good bit more to offer than the other ones do. We'll see what she says and if we need to stick to our guns or drop the price. I am just getting irritated with hearing it's too high but yet NO one has put in an offer to see what we would take. I guess no one is in love with the house enough to really want to put an offer in. We'll see what happens next.

I found out yesterday that HT triples are back starting next Wednesday. Yea! At least that cheers me up. :)

We are looking forward to a fun weekend. The Come See Me Festival (Rock Hill's spring festival) is winding down tomorrow with a tailgating and fireworks show out at the Winthrop Lake. We have gone three times and I've really enjoyed it every time. It is kinda a big hoopla to set up the whole nine yards - ie, tent, cooler, food, etc. So, this year we're going to drive by Bojangles with some good ol' tailgating food and head out around 6 PM with a blanket and a rolling cooler. Carrie and Kaitlyn as well as my sister, Liv, will be joining us so we'll just throw the kids in a wagon and get our roll on. LOL. We also will be taking E to an event called Everything Trucks on Saturday morning where there will be, well, everything trucks. He's gonna love it!

So ... did anyone catch Glee Tuesday night!? It was AWESOME! Of course, I've already watched it twice and loved every minute of it. It literally just gets better from week to week. * sigh * Glee how you complete me.

My new Christian band that I like is Sidewalk Prophets. They have a really inspirational song on the radio now called "The Words I Would Say". If you've never heard their music, check them out here. They're awesome!

Have a great weekend!

10 Things I Learned This Week

1. I am SO glad Glee is back. Ohhh and it came back with a vengeance! It was a tad bit over the top BUT there were new characters, new drama and even more singing and dancing! I read that Idina Menzel may possibly have a part coming up as Rachel's mom, but now she's director of Vocal Adrenaline. EVEN BETTER! She was in the original Wicked as the wicked witch of the West. I smell a duet with Mr. Shu!
2. I heart rewards programs! I submit points to Pampers Rewards, Babies R US, Coke, Disney and even one for every cabinet that I sell at work. Just this week, I cashed in points for 60 free Snapfish prints, Breaking Dawn (believe it or not I don't own it), Iron Man for Chris and the Glee DVD. It's so much fun to get free stuff!
3. Carrie will find out what baby #2 will be on Monday afternoon!
4. Scrapbooking until the wee hours of the morning with Carrie makes Amanda one happy camper.
5. Watching Glee re-runs all weekend makes Amanda an even happier camper.
6. Having family time all weekend makes Amanda the happiest camper!
7. I am SO sick and tired of whining. I get enough from my 2 year old and dog, I don't need it from clients too.
8. Poor customer service is one of my pet peeves!!! Please live up to your promises. That REALLY irks me!
9. I'm already ready for our beach vaca. Only two more months. * SIGH *
10. I'm looking forward to our date night on Friday AND our weekend away in two weeks. *SIGH*

Friday Randomness

Happy Friday ya'll!

Wow - I have so many random things to discuss so hold on to your britches...

Two weeks ago I had a mole check up with the dermatologist. First of all I don't like the word mole - I'd rather call it a freckle. The word mole just like an old woman with tons of gross moles all over her body. Anyways - it turns out that I had to have three removed. One that was just cosmetic and two that were questionable. A week later I got a call with the results of the biopsy. One of them was called a Compound Nevus and they wanted to take more out to make sure it does not turn into melanoma. MELANOMA!?! I was a little freaked out and she assured me it was nothing to worry about. Well, me worry!? NAH! But ya know what? All of a sudden a calmness came over me and I actually wasn't worried. I trust God and I know all will be ok. I went back in Wednesday morning for more removal and I'll hear in a week if there is no more concern there.

Last Wednesday we showed our house for the second time in a month. Several days went by and we STILL didn't get the feedback. Our awesome realtor was in touch letting us know that she has been emailing and texting and calling the other realtor and still no word. Monday morning we finally heard back! The potential buyer has not officially ruled anything out but she is still searching. We are in her top three and will make a decision by the end of the month to get the tax credit. We'll see! We also had a realtor preview Thursday morning where twelve realtors came by to view the house to see if it would fit any of their buyers. There was lots of positive feedback and a few of them will be seeing the house with their clients! Awesome!


I was looking at another blog recently and saw where this girl had started a bucket list of things she wanted to do or see or accomplish in her lifetime. I think I may start one so be on the lookout! Hers had 100 bullet points! OMG seriously!?

Have a fabulous weekend! We'll be joining in on the Come See Me Festival activities. Should be lots of fun!

Free Starbucks!

Join the movement. On April 15th, bring a reusable travel mug into your local Starbucks and get a free brewed coffee.
One person can save trees, together we can save forests.
For the good of the planet, Starbucks is encouraging everyone to switch from paper cups to reusable travel mugs. One day in March thousands of New Yorkers made the switch. Join them now by taking a pledge to do the same.

I for one am very excited about free SB coffee! Don't forget your travel mug.

10 Things I Learned This Week

1. We want a camper. Saturday morning we went to look at small, light weight campers while we were in Hartsville. I grew up camping in a pop up tent and both Chris and I love the outdoors and tent camping. Of course we want to instill that love in Ethan as he grows up as well. It'll be a while before we can make a purchase but it makes me excited to think we could possibly have one, as soon as the house situation is settled, whenever that will be.
2. Glee makes it's grand entrance back into my life tomorrow night. My only beef is that it is AFTER American Idol at 10 PM. But I WILL be awake with my L on my head.
3. This pollen has got to go. My car barely looks black anymore.
4. Anniversaries get less of a production as the years go on, but they sure do mean more and more.
5. A simple, quiet dinner and a movie out without having to tell a 2 year old to drink his milk and not color on the table is pure bliss.
6. Don't tell your two year old that he's going to see Mickey Mouse in a play until you actually arrive at the destination. Otherwise you'll be pulling every trick out of the book that you can to keep him from having a mental breakdown because we aren't' there yet!
7. Having a pinched nerve in your neck / upper back sucks.
8. Is it just me or do you other women get what's-for-dinner-amnesia? Some days I just have no idea what to put together yet I have a refrigerator stock full of food.
9. Man babies are just poppin up everywhere! I've got the baby fever!
10. Three weeks until Chris and I go back here ... man how I love this little place. It's heaven on Earth.

Best Carrot Cake

I made this delish carrot cake for Easter and got rave reviews. If any of you are big carrot cake fans, this one is certainly one to try! Bon appetit!

CARROT CAKE

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 large eggs
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups finely grated carrot
1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
1 (3 1/2-ounce) can flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
Buttermilk Glaze
Cream Cheese Frosting

Preparation

Line 3 (9-inch) round cake pans with wax paper; lightly grease and flour wax paper. Set pans aside.

Stir together first 4 ingredients.

Beat eggs and next 4 ingredients at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add flour mixture, beating at low speed until blended. Fold in carrot and next 3 ingredients. Pour batter into prepared cake pans.

Bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Drizzle Buttermilk Glaze evenly over layers; cool in pans on wire racks 15 minutes. Remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks. Spread Cream Cheese Frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake.

BUTTERMILK GLAZE
Ingredients

1 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

Bring first 5 ingredients to a boil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Boil, stirring often, 4 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
3 cups sifted powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preparation

Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Add powdered sugar and vanilla; beat until smooth.

Friday Randomness

Happy Friday everyone! If you're anything like me, you're SO glad it's Friday and looking forward to the weekend. It's supposed to be yet another beautiful weekend, but at least a little cooler so I'm all for that. Now on to some randomness ...

My dear friend Carolyn shared this little ditty with me this morning and I just had to share it with all of you. It's Jimmy Fallon doing a spoof on Glee with the cast of Parks and Rec. It's so entertaining and it makes me even more excited for Glee's return next week! Bring it on Sue Sylvester, bring it on.

We showed our house for the second time in almost four weeks on Wednesday and I'm chompin' at the bit to hear some feedback. Here's a not so quick little story:

Got a call from Coldwell Banker around 12:30 ... potential buyers want ignore the 24 hour notice, again, to see the house between 4:15 - 5:15 ... I immediately flash to visions of dirty dishes in the sink, an unmade bed, and toys in the floor and I say no - see if they can come after 5:30 instead ... lady says she'll call back if they reschedule ... I hang up and feel a pang of regret ... 30 minutes go by and I don't hear back to reschedule ... I call our realtor, leave a long winded message about how I am a horrible perfectionist and I just wanted time to get home and clean the house ... 5 minutes later she calls back and wonders why I said no to the showing in the market the way it is ... i feel awful ... I tell her I can leave work early to get the house ready for 4:15 ... she says she'll call the other Realtor and call me back ... 5 minutes later she calls back and says they are thrilled that I agreed to the showing ... I leave at 1:30, get home at 2:15, clean like a mad woman until 3:30, leave the house by 3:45 proud of my achievement and how lovely the house smells

Needless to say no offer has been made so that pretty much tells me this one didn't fly either. It's all good though ... right? :) GOD GIVE ME PATIENCE! Hee It's just another lesson in patience from the big man upstairs but I am convinced that the right family or person is out there who wants this house so we'll just wait and see.

Our 6 year anniversary is tomorrow! Man how the time flies by. We are heading to the big ol' city of Hartsville for the weekend and are planning on having a night out just the two of us tomorrow while the in-laws watch E. I'm sure they'll have a great time and I for one am so looking forward to a quiet dinner and possibly a movie!

Ethan loves to watch Golf, Tiger more specifically. Last night we sat down for a bit after dinner to watch Chuggington then we turned on The Masters. Ethan sat like a good little boy for about 30 minutes watching the golfers tee off and putt the ball into the hole. He would say "It went in the hole!" and "Go Tiger". Well, he called every player Tiger. He had a good time!

I've been trying to research ways to jazz up the blog and I'm falling short. I've seen on other blogs how people are able to change their font on the titles and I'm dying to do it. Any of you other bloggers out there had any luck?

He Has Risen!

What a glorious day! The sun was shining reminding me of God's glory and the fact that Jesus had in fact risen! Church was wonderful and inspirational and just perfect. Then lunch was even more perfect - yummy goodness at Cracker Barrel with the family. After Ethan's nap, the rest of the family came into town (Chris' side) and we awaited the prince to awake for his egg hunt. It got to be so freakin' hot outside that we literally had the egg hunt for 10 minutes then headed back inside to cool off. We then proceeded to open all FOUR baskets for Ethan! I mean really?!? Does a two year old really need all that candy? He certainly thinks so! :) He also got goodies that he cared more about - a set of 8 books from Cars, a wooden choo-choo train, Easter books and bubbles. Not just any bubbles but non-spill bubbles. I wish I would have thought of that one! We topped off the afternoon with a yummy carrot cake and creamy lemonade pie made by yours truly. It was a wonderful Easter!

The delish carrot cake - it was GONE at the end of the day too! High five!

Oh What A Weekend!

Have you ever been so exhausted that you can't think straight, stand on your own two feet or keep your eyes open? That is me! I'm definitely NOT complaining one bit though because this was one fantastic weekend. For one, the weather was drop dead gorgeous. Beautiful blue sunny skies and a warm breeze in the air and I am so thankful!

Friday started off wonderful! I had the day off so after a trip to the gym for a quick work out, Ethan and I headed to Columbia to see Aunt Liv and Uncle Tim. After Liv gave E the first of many Easter baskets, we threw an old T-shirt on him and headed outside to dye eggs, or should I say attempt to. It was quite the experience. There is a reason why they say 5 and up on the package. The first egg Ethan crushed on the deck then plunked it into the dye. He was squealing and having a great time.

After a while, I decided to peel off the shell on one of the eggs that was already cracked and ate the egg. It must have piqued his interest because he just grabbed an egg, peeled off the shell and ate an egg. I was blown away because he won't even look at scrambled eggs. You learn something new every day. After a scrumptious hamburger dinner and Ethan was in the bed, we watched New Moon (yes again for me)! It was just as good the fourth time around too. ;)

Riverbanks Zoo

Saturday morning we ventured out to Riverbanks Zoo and had a blast! The weather was PERFECT in the morning. A slight overcast and a breeze in the air made enjoying the animals that much better. As soon as we walked through the gates, Ethan immediately wanted to see the giraffes. That was all he talked about past the grizzly bear, gorillas and elephants.


We were finally to the giraffes and he got the opportunity to feed them. He got a kick out of feeding the baby until the mama came a little too close!


Then we ventured over to the farm area and then E heard the choo choo train. So of course we HAD to ride that.


We saw the monkeys, lions, tigers and koalas. Then we took a stroll across the bridge over to the garden area in the haze of pollen. I could not believe how much pollen was in the air. I've never seen it that bad! All the times I've been to the zoo, I've never gone over that bridge to the garden. We took a short walk in the woods and it was so peaceful and serene.


We joked at the end of the day that we were admitting a new animal species - Ethan. He was ALL over the place running from one exhibit to the other. Needless to day, I was exhausted. We finished up the day with a picnic lunch. What a wonderful day! We were excited for what was to come the next day - Easter!