Snow…could it really be?

Living in Alabama, we hardly ever get snow.  There are only a few days (like I could probably count on one hand) that we have had snow that actually stuck and was “pretty” and I remember all of those days fondly.  It’s something about snow that makes me happy.  When talking to my mom this morning, she mentioned that there was a possibility of snow for them so when I check weather.com, this is what I saw:

How exciting…but usually when they predict snow….we get NOTHING.  So hopefully this is the real thing (and maybe just maybe it will stay through Monday so we can take a snow day ;)) My Birmingham news blog says that Birmingham can expect 3 inches of snow!!  I’m not 100% sure that we’ll get all this, but I went ahead and went grocery shopping just in case (just because I have NO food in my house!)  Hopefully I’ll have some snowy Tuscaloosa pictures to post tomorrow! :)

I love Microsoft (sometimes :))

I LOVE blogging, if I could write about every second of my day, I would.  However, blogger sometimes gives me a headache…I hate having to format and upload pictures and it just gets annoying.  Today I was in a writing mood and wanted to finish up my birthday posts and was dreading having to upload the tons of pictures manually and move them around…ugh.  Anyway, I was searching the internet for help and I found out about Windows Live Writer.  I had it on my old computer and completely forgotten about it!  So I downloaded it and I am so pumped, I’m thinking about going back and redoing some of my posts so that they are better formatted :)  Anyway, if you are a blogger, I highly recommend using Live Writer if you haven’t already :)

Have a fab Saturday!

M

What gets me through my workouts...

So since I now have a Wii Fit, I am actually excited about working out (well I was until I got sick this week, but that's beside the point). Not only does the fact that the Wii Fit tells me I'm overweight get me pumped, but there is one song on my workout playlist (being a former aerobics instructor, I'm finicky about my workout playlists!): Single Ladies by Beyonce

Yep, you got it! Beyonce gets me through my workouts everytime.  Not only do I love the song, I love the video. I'm a huge fan of the "Mexican Breakfast" dance with Fosse's wife (especially when they put it to "Walk it Out" Amazing! :))

that inspired Beyonce's routine. I'm a fan of Mr. Bob Fosse himself so I love anything "Fosse-style". My mom and I actually went to see their touring group when I was in Junior High and even though there were parts that made me squirm in my seat...I love the whole musical theatre/cabaret style movements. Beyonce's video, even though I know I could not shake my hips like that, is totally my style of dancing sassy and fun! Anyway, I'm determined when I get back in shape, I'm going to teach myself this dance because I LOVE it! (As does my mom...she is all about the "walk" part that appeared on the SNL...maybe this is where I get my love of dance ;)) Speaking of dancers, check out this little cutie...it makes me smile to see her doing this and reminds me of the many days I pranced around my den to music videos (heck I still do it...just not as cute :)) Enjoy!

All dosed up on caffeine....

So I'm on a caffeine high and believe it or not, I finished all of the stuff I HAD to get done to note (note the stress on the HAD...there are a million things I could be doing, but after writing 2 papers and cutting out what seems like a billion shapes for a craft project tomorrow, I feel like I've been productive enough! ;))  Recently I had to design some ads for baseball and softball programs and they just came out today and I was very impressed.  Anyway, I thought I'd share them on here as well for those of you who won't get the honor to purchase these lovely programs :-D.

Josh and some of his favorite girls, (his senior girls and best friend) in an ad for the softball program.  As part of the all sports package my mom bought for ads, we got a full page color ad for the softball program so Josh wanted to do something for them.  Although the photographer wanted him his baseball uniform, Josh said he wanted it to be about the girls so he wore a softball t-shirt (he's going to make an awesome boyfriend someday! :)) and I thought the picture turned out really cute and I was really pleased with how the add turned out as well :).  P.S.  Can you tell he loves being surrounded by pretty girls?  They took about 6 different poses so he spent a while with these girls :)

The ad I designed for the baseball program which shows a progression of Josh's baseball "career".  Although there were TONS of baseball pictures to choose from (he's played every year since he was 4 and in his later years, he played on 2 teams) but these were our favorites.  The first picture in the top left is his second  year of t-ball because we put his first year on the senior page (which I will scan later...I didn't design it so I don't have the jpg for it!)  I was pretty pleased with this ad as well!

Anyway, just thought I'd share!! Happy Friday!

Scrapbooking…

I absolutely love scrapbooking!  I started scrapbooking in Junior High when my cousin became a Creative Memories consultant.  My mom and I went to a ton of her crop sessions and got quite a bit of work done on our family album (mom did more family oriented stuff and I did my stuff…mainly dance pictures!)  Anyway, I wish I had all the time in the world (and resources) to scrap everything.  What usually happens is that I get in the mood to scrapbook and I don’t have what I need :(  I started a college scrapbook a couple of summers ago and I wish I could say I’ve kept it up, but I definitely haven’t.  I did pull it out this past weekend and started working on it and I got 2 1/2 pages knocked out (still working on another one).  Here are the two pages (well technically three but one is a spread) I got finished.

This is all I got finished, but I did get 1 page of a two-page spread done of our football dinner that I wish share as soon as I finish.

Here are the other pages in my album.  I wish I could say I had more, but I am too much of a perfectionist and I won’t finish them unless they are perfect (I’m not 100% in love with all the pages, but I do love some more than others :))

The title page in progess…I plan on adding some pictures of buildings and/or campus around the edges.

 

Moving day spread (sorry it’s not a better picture, it is in the album)

 

Pictures from my first night in my apartment

Pictures of my first houseguests

Capstone Casino

 

19th Birthday Party

 

I’m going to try and get at least one page done a weekend so hopefully I’ll have more pages to share :)

Have a fabulous week!

 

Maegan

Happy Birthday Alex!!

 

 

Yep, Alex is finally 24 (finally…he can no longer give me a hard time about being “old” :))  I wanted to plan something exciting for him, but he said his idea of a perfect birthday was to get Qdoba and watch Tv so that’s exactly what our plans are for the night :)  I did get him a cheesecake though (we’re tired of cake :)).

Happy Birthday Sweetie!!

So far behind!!

Okay, I realize that I am extremely far behind, but with all the festivities this month....I have not had a few minutes to sit down and blog.  However, my goal today is to at least get my birthday post finished and up (which will be hard because my wii fit is coming in today! :)) and I'll have the rest up by this weekend!

Have a great week!!

Valentine's Day!

This year, Valentine's day was wonderful!! Friday night, Alex made dinner (steak, homemade mashed potatos and baked beans...so yummy!) and we just took some time to hang out and relax. Since we had dinner plans for Saturday night, we decided to go ahead and exchange presents. I got two more SATC DVDs to add to my collection, roses, and my usual gift of Turtles :). We had fun just hanging out and spending some much needed time together :) On Saturday mid-morning, Alex made a delicious brunch of steak and eggs :) On Saturday night, we went to our fabulous dinner at Kozy's. We've been wanting to go to their Valentine's Day dinner for several years, but we've never been able to get a table. This year we called a month in advance just to make sure we could get it and the wait was well worth it! :) It was amazing!! Check out this menu

I had the lamb pot stickers, traditional caesar sald, lobster sherry bisque, bacon wrapped veal and strawberry arnaud. Alex had the oysters thompson, candy stripe beet salad, duck and andouille gumbo, filet mignon, and the chocolate expresso mousse. I told him to make sure that we got different things so we could try each other's and we did exactly that. Everything was extremely delicious and it was a wonderful experience to try things we don't normally get to eat (or things I would even think about ordering!) Anyway, this is our picture from the restaraunt. (Yes, the matching was planned....there are a few occasions that I can convince Alex to be "matchy matchy") :)

After dinner, Alex wanted to take me to see a movie of my choosing so we went to see He's Just Not That Into You. I've read this book quite a few times and Alex is familiar with the concept and the book from watching too much SATC with me ;). It was very cute and I'm glad we got to go see it! Now, I just have to convince him to go back and see Bride Wars and Confessions of a Shopaholic ;)!

Anyway, I hope you had a wonderful Valentine's day as well!!

Much love,

Maegan

Part III: Birthday with the Biehn’s

Alex’s family has always loved to travel, but after Alex and his brother Andy moved away to college, his parents travel a lot.  Mainly to visit family in Oregon, but they are not at home nonetheless.  As I have mentioned before, Alex’s birthday is 12 days after mine and this year Alex’s parents were going to be gone to Oregon so they came down to celebrate with us today.  Because they are amazing, they brought me a present too (a cool collapsible shopping tote and a target gift card!) and they of course brought some goodies for Alex too.  Here is he opening the loot!

 

 

Reading the birthday card

Ax shower gel

A coffee grinder!

Inspecting it closer :)

A mini tool kit

After opening presents, we went shopping at Target and then to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Iguana Grill, here in Tuscaloosa.  Alex made the comment that he was not going to be sung to (of course for the first time I commented “my birthday was over so there was no reason to sing to me”) and what do you know….his mom told the waiter right off the bat…thanks Mrs. Biehn ;).  Well we thought we were getting out of it, but right after they brought the check we see this big group of waiters coming down the aisle.  They drop this huge serving tray and sing Happy Birthday to you.  Then they place this tortilla covered in brown sugar, powdered sugar, honey, chocolate and whipped cream (shaped like a smiley face I might add) down in front of us.  Then they put a hat on your head and “serve” you your first bite of whipped cream that oh so conveniently lands on your nose.  I, of course, being the gullible one I am, I really thought they were feeding me my first bite.  Alex actually ate his bite, and the waiter said “hey, that’s not supposed to happen” and wiped some chocolate on his face anyway!  You can see the damage below (they put the hat on Alex, but it was too small for his head so I got it :))

Alex wiping the chocolate off of his face

Not only did I have whipped cream and honey all of my face, but my hands as well…thanks guys!

When we got home, our plan was to have cake…but we were so full that they just left it for us to have by ourselves (they remembered I love chocolate and even put my name on it!!)  Check out this yummy goodness:

   Our cake…so yummy (you can probably guess that Alex got to eat the cherry on top since I don’t do cherries :))

 

Anyway, it was a wonderful end to a wonderful weekend!!  Thanks Mr. and Mrs. Biehn!!

That’s the end of my birthday posts….finally!!  I appreciate all of the thoughts, cards, presents, wishes…everything and I am so thankful to have such wonderful friends and family to celebrate with!!

 

Love,

Maegan

Birthday Part II: Birmingham Style

Since I had my online class this afternoon and I couldn't come home, my parents decided to meet Alex and I in Birmingham to celebrate my birthday (that way neither one of us had to drive the whole two hours). We decided to eat at TGI Friday's since we don't have it in Tuscaloosa or in Decatur. We had a great time. Instead of doing a lot of typing, I'll just share the ton of pictures we took....enjoy!

When we arrived at the restaurant, they told us it would be at least a 45 minute wait so we decided to go back and sit in the jeep since it was freezing outside! Alex kept himself entertained with his Ipod Touch. Since I was bored, I decided to take pictures.

I told him I wanted a picture of the two of us and told him he needed to take it...the dork wouldn't even look up from his game even to take the picture. What a shame...it would have been a cute pic! :(

Me with my fabulous cake. I usually get red and white icing, but I'm a huge fan of the chocolate so mom asked for lots of chocolate. Apparently those things are supposed to be balloons, but they looked like fish to me...oh well, they were filled with M&M's so who cares ;)

After the obligatory cake pictures, it was time for presents!! As always I got spoiled!

Top L-R: My new black diamond ring from my grandmother, a card and money from my other grandmother, two new shirts from mom and dad

Bottom L-R: Smooth Away (yes the "As Seen on TV") and a black watch from Mom's friend Nancy, modeling my new ring (excuse the nails...I'm in desperate need of a mani), and the usual purses from Josh (a purple one and another Kristen Davis :))

Then we decided to take a ton of random pictures of all of my guests.

My baby bro and I :)

   

My mom and I waiting on dinner

Alex and I waiting on dinner

At this point you can tell we’re tired of pictures and ready for food!

Although there were several more pictures, you get the idea! After dinner came, we put the camera down and started eating (hey we take our food seriously). It was all so good!! :) We finished the meal of with a big slice of cookie cake...yummy!

The entire crew after our yummy dinner!

Then we preceded outside to have yet another photo shoot with everyone. Again, I didn't put all of the pictures because we took a lot and I don't feel like uploading them one by one.

The fam outside the restaurant

Alex and I outside the restaurant

We had a great time and it was nice getting out of Tuscaloosa and seeing the family! Thanks guys for yet another wonderful celebration! Tomorrow, Alex's family is coming down to celebrate both of our birthday's so I'll have a new post tomorrow!

Stay Tuned: Birthday with the Biehn's

The third anniversary of my 21st birthday (title courtesy of Alex) ;)

If you did not figure out the title...I am officially 24 years old! As of 11:00 am today, I officially went from "early 20s" to "mid 20s". This has been a dreaded birthday for me because if you know anything about me...I'm a big "planner". I have had my whole life mapped out since I was younger and 25 was my "year" to have everything accomplished. I don't know how I thought that would happen, but in my mind it worked. Obviously there is no way I will have a PhD, be married, and be completely settled by next year...but it still is a big year for me (I already know I'm going to have a quarter life crisis so just be prepared! :)) and 24 is just one step closer to the big 2-5. Anyway, I had lots of fun on my birthday today and I have three celebrations planned over the next three days so there will be three separate posts :) Enjoy!

As you know, I usually plan this huge party every year, but this year, I didn't have the time or resources to do it so I had to scrap it :( Although I miss the planning aspect of it, my birthday was a lot less stressful this year! Anyway, Friday (my actual birthday), I obviously had to teach school all day which I thought was going to be fairly uneventful, but I ended up having a great day! Several of the students/parents remembered my birthday and sent a ton of wonderful goodies :) The sweet janitor came in and had my class sing Happy Birthday to me and about an hour later, the principal came in and had them do the same thing :) My co-worker Amy and I (who shares a birthday with me) got cupcakes and a card from the principal and our fellow K teachers :) Anyway, check out all of these goodies below :)

After school, I went and had a massage (Alex had given me a gift certificate LAST YEAR for my birthday and it expired THAT DAY so I had to use it). It was absolutely amazing!! I could stand to have those once a week :) I then went home and got ready for dinner with Alex. As you know, Alex is an AMAZING cook so when he offered to cook for me, I was excited :) When I arrived...this is what I saw :)

The meal :) Lamb chops with mint jelly, asparagus, homemade mashed potatos and bread! YUM!


And he finished the meal off with a cake (WARNING: The following image may blind you!) He made the comment that he was afraid to set off the smoke dectector when I blew them out...Thanks Alex!



Bless his heart...this cake wasn't his original plan. We have a favorite dessert that we just haven't found anything that would even compare - the chocolate torte at the Globe here in Tuscaloosa. We have ordered it every time we have gone and will actually sometimes go just for dessert! Anyway, Alex waited for thirty minutes for the restaurant to open for dinner just to get the torte for my birthday only to be told they no longer serve it anymore :( I was so sad because it seriously is the best thing I have ever tasted in my life!! Oh well, maybe it will make a comeback! Anyway, he got me chocolate cake with pecans which was wonderful as well :)

After dinner, we went to Wilhagen's (pretty much because it was the only place that didn't charge a huge cover and his old co-worker is a bartender there!) with my best friend Casey and his best friend Alan. Although it was very lowkey, we had a great time!

Alex (I love this picture of him!)

 

Our dear friend and bartender for the evening, Skinner

 

Alex and I (this is the beginning of many pictures, but this is my fave)

 

Another picture of us

 

Yet another picture of us (I told you, I’ve become a bit of a camera nazi with my new camera!)

 

Casey and Alan

 

Casey and I

 

Round 2 of pictures later in the night

 

Casey and I again

 

Alan and I

 

Kisses!

The whole group!  Thanks guys!

 

The best thing about having a birthday....getting to check your e-mail and seeing all the love from friends :) Thanks guys!

Stay Tuned....

Next up: Birthday Part II in Birmingham!