Living My Happily Ever After

Biggest Loser and 30 Day Shred

2012-02-14T15:14:00.001-05:00

I work in a small office that is housed by a larger organization. I love the small office feeling and the way the employees all work together, but sometimes a small office misses out on the benefits of a larger organization. Fortunately for us, we have the best of both worlds.

The larger organization is hosting a "Biggest Loser" type event. We are allowed to have teams up to five individuals. There is a team competition and an individual competition for a pool of money. So, 3 other ladies from my office and myself jumped at the chance.

We were a group last year and did really well. However, I feel like I was the least successful last year. I have made a commitment to do better this year. Up until last week I was doing really well at my weekly weigh-ins. Unfortunately, this last week I gained about a pound back.

I am what I would consider over-weight. I would not consider myself obese, but I could stand to loose a few pounds. Being only 5'2", it is obvious when I loose a pound or when I gain a pound.

I am writing this post so I can hold myself accountable. I have a terrible habit of starting out strong with things and then falling off the wagon when I get tempted or tired.

So I started with exercising and doing the 30 Day Shred...I stopped for lack of motivation and now I have started the 30 Day Shred again.

The first day back into 30 Day Shred was a struggle, but I will push through!!! :)

Please post any suggestions you may have for sticking with my weight loss program!

Favorite Friday: Comedy TV Show

2010-03-26T10:16:00.004-04:00

One of my daily blog reads, A Girl in Pearls & A Boy with Toys, does a Favorite Fridays. This week's favorite friday is your favorite Comedy TV Show.

Mine is Friends

I know, I know. Friends is no longer on the air, but I don't get around to watching too much new TV. However, I do come home every day and turn on reruns of Friends while I cook dinner. The show never fails to crack me up. I pretty much love every episode.

I also love every character. These people are so real and I can relate real life people I know to every one of them. :)

So, Friends never lets me down for a laugh.

Join Jen to start playing Favorite Fridays.

Over American Idol

2010-03-19T14:15:00.003-04:00

So, I am pretty much over American Idol and I feel like I have wasted a large part of my time by watching this season. I haven't been that impressed by any of the contestants and the ones I start to like are then voted off the show.

So, I figure why revolve my Tuesday and Wednesday around the show.

So there waste of my time!!!!!

What do you all think about this season?

American Idol Update

2010-03-08T12:56:00.002-05:00

I hate to say it, but I am joining the bandwagon and saying that I don't think this year's American Idol is very good. There are people I like and I think are good, but no one I can really see being a star.

Also, the judges are really getting on my nerves. So far I believe Ellen is the best. She is good with constructive comments without being too harsh. It has really annoyed me how all of the judges say one comment and the next week say the exact opposite, such as "Try to change that song up and add something different" and then the next week "You changed that song too much". The poor contestants are probably driven crazy.

Here are my thoughts:

Aaron Kelly-He is good, but I believe he is a little too nervous. I don't see him becoming a star. He just seems so young, but I do like his voice and think he is adorable.

Alex Lambert-I like him, but I hate his look. I really hate the mullet. I would probably listen to him if he made it, but probably wouldn't buy the cd.

Andrew Garcia-I really really like this guy, but don't know if he has it to be a star. His looks seems very "Fall Out Boy" and his singing is not. She started off as one of my favorites.

Ashley Rodriguez-I really liked this girl and her look, but she did terrible the first week. I do see why she was voted off.

Casey James-Probably my favorite. His look reminds me of a cuter Bucky Covington. I could possibly see him becoming a star.

Crystal Bowersox-I love her voice. She is amazing to listen to, but I am not a fan of her look. I think her voice could make her big. Probably my favorite female voice.

Didi Benami-She is cute, but not star material. She has a unique voice which I like, but I haven't really loved her. We will see.

Haeley Vaughn-I really like her. I was shocked she was voted off. I thought she was most likely to be a star. I thought she was cute and had a great voice.

Janell Wheeler-Loved her look, but wasn't crazy about her performance. I did not think she would be one of the first girls voted off though.

Jermaine Sellers-Can't say I am upset he is gone. I think he had great range, but didn't love his singing or stage presence.

Joe Munoz-Wasn't too attached. I thought he sang well, but didn't see him making it.

John Park-Great voice I would listen to, but no star power.

Katelyn Epperly-I really like her. She may be my favorite female. She did a great job with Coldplay on the piano.

Katie Stevens-Great voice, but I thought she would be long gone. She just doesn't have it to be a performer.

Lacey Brown-I actually love her look. She is adorable and I think did a great job with "Kiss Me."

Lee Dewyze-Good voice, but reminds of a guy I went to college with. I am not sure he is a star.

Lilly Scott-Good voice-don't like much else. She is growing on me though.

Michael Lynche-Love the story and love him. She is a wonderful performer and singer.

Michelle Delamor-Can't say I am sad she is gone. She is so mainstream. I can see a lot of singers like her and just think I got a bad vibe from the start.

Paige Miles-Good voice, growing on me.

Siobhan Magnus-Amazing voice-not sure I love her though.

Tim Urban-Cutie and I think that is what is holding him on the show.

Todrick Hall-He impressed me at tryouts but not sure about him at this point.

Tyler Grady-Thank goodness he is gone. The 70s thing I could not deal with.

So obviously not impressed and not sure why I am still watching. It is probably because I have invested so much time already and want to see how it turns out.

What do you all think about AI this year?

Recap of the Weekend

2010-03-01T15:25:00.010-05:00

Friday-Dress Down Day @ work. I love these days. I was able to wear my favorite jeans and my WVU vest in support of the WVU Basketball game on Saturday.

Banana Bread Bakeoff @ work. Unfortunately I stayed up late to bake banana bread on Thursday night and then we didn't even have the bakeoff. Our dietary manager was not able to come on Friday due to snow. Some of the staff sampled my banana bread and Mr. McB was happy to eat it over the weekend.

Two free breakfasts. My best friend is the marketing director for Chick-fil-a. Our facility won business of the week and she brought us the mini chicken bites for breakfast. B/c of the snow I was also able to go buy bagels for the entire staff. These two items lasted me the entire day. :)

Dinner in the snow with the besties. We were supposed to head to see our families, but the snow was crazy on Friday and we decided not to drive 3 hours. We ended up staying at home, but needed to grab something to eat. We usually try to do a nice date sometime during the weekend. We went to Ruby Tuesdays and invited our best friends. They had already eaten, but joined us for a drink. I had the salad bar

and the buffalo chicken minis and a margarita on the rocks. My bestie had a pink sangria and it was very good. Mr. McB opted for a steak and lobster tail which he said was good and I thought was very reasonably priced. It was an awesome dinner. I think Ruby Tuesdays has much improved. I use to love it. Then they changed a lot and I no longer ate there, but decided to try it on Friday because it is the closest restuarant to our houses and was pleased.

Saturday-Relaxed in the morning. Mr. McB and I awoke really early as usual, but took it pretty easy Saturday morning.

Kohl's. Mr. McB wanted a suit from Kohl's that was being discontinued. So we headed to our nearest Kohl's with a great coupon I had. Unfortunately they didn't have his size, but they were able to call the Kohl's near his work and they were able to hold it for him. However we did get quite a bit of stuff. We purchased around $400 worth of merchandise for $80. I love all of the items we got. I even got a pair of awesome jeans for $9.

Driving through WV with Mr. McB. On our way back home Mr. McB decided to take a detour to Prickett's Fort.
Prickett's Fort is a living part of WV history. It is a recreation of the fort built to protect the Prickett family from Indian attack.

Minard's Spaghetti Inn. I know I know. Two nice dinners two nights in a row. We love Minard's, but it is around 40-45 minutes away from our house. We were in the area and decided why not. It was the best it has been, but my spaghetti and ravoli were pretty good.

Gabriel Brothers. Leaving Prickett's Fort we stopped at one of the first and oldest Gabriel Brothers. Gabes was originated in WV and the main office is still in our town. Didn't buy anything at this one, but it was neat to stop by.

The Meadows Racetrack and Casino.

We didn't have plans on Saturday night and the besties called to see if we were interested in heading to the casino about 45 minutes away. They offered to drive so we were in. We headed there, grabbed a snack and a drink and started playing. I am not a big gambler and spent $2 the entire night. Mr. McB and I set a $20 limit and those $2 lasted me for all the slots. I am surprising pretty good at slots. :) It was a lot of fun!!

Sunday-Sleeping in and cuddling with the animals. Mr. McB and I never sleep in, but we did on Sunday. Well, we slept until 8:30 a.m. and cuddled with the animals.

My best friend's upcoming wedding and shower. My other best friend is getting married in May and we had a planning get together for her shower. We went to her family friend's house and had snacks and planned. The snacks were awesome and I was so full by the time everything was over. She is having a Vera Bradley themed shower. We are only playing and couple of games, such as name the Vera Bradley print, the purse game and Bridal bingo. All of the prizes are going to be Vera Bradley items. She is also going to have a coffee bar set up. I still need to decide what I am going to bake or cook for it.

Laying in bed watching movies and reading. I headed to bed around 9:30 p.m. and watched Princess Diaries 2 while I read for a little while. I love being able to relax after a day and do that. :)

So that was my weekend...how was yours?

I Believe

2010-02-22T08:50:00.008-05:00

One of my favorite bloggers NewlyWoodwards did a list of things she believed in. She then asked what we believed in and I decided to do a list of my own.

I believe in:

-the love of my Heavenly Father and His forgiving power

-the love of my wonderful husband-He is my rock
Mr. McB and I at our friend's wedding

-the unconditional love of a pet or two
Kona taking a break while camping

-the support of wonderful friends and family
Friends on our spring break trip

-the importance of staying organized

-a healthy diet and home cooked food--mixed with a little of life's simple pleasures, aka fast food :)

-a fulfilling job that sends you home happy

-taking time for yourself and doing what you enjoy (I enjoy reading and crafts and my life feels so much more fulfilling when I take time out for these things)

-a girl who enjoys sports--you don't have to enjoy all of them
My BFF, Amanda, and I during a WVU football game

-learning from those older than you

-turing a house into a home

Your turn...what do you believe in??

Happy 101 Award

2010-02-21T18:47:00.006-05:00

My first official award brought to me by Suzanne .

I just happened to come across her blog one day and couldn't help but love it. Who wouldn't love something titled "Sunshine and Wine", umm hello?

So, here are my Top 10 Things That Make Me Happy:

1. God and Jesus.
My God is an awesome God. Whenever I feel close to God I am a much happier and healthier person. Unfortunately at times my commitment waivers, but I know God is always there for me ready to wrap me up in his love and arms. Lately I have been working on my commitment to Him.

2. My husband, Mr. McB. He is my best friend and amazing support. Every day I find more reasons why I love him and why I married him. I know through time our love will grow stronger. I can not wait to grow old with the man of my dreams. I adore when he kisses me on the head.

James with Braxton

3. My support system, friends and family. I can always count on my amazing friends and family. I have the best support system in the world. No matter what I may be going through I know exactly who I can turn to.

Group of friends at one of my wedding showers

Part of my family at my wedding-my aunts and cousins

4. My animals. Mr. McB and I have a dog, a cat and a fish. I really love our animals. Kona is a mix we got from the pound and is such a smart dog. Braxton is a rescue kitty and is the most vocal cat I have ever met. He is cuddly and loving. I love having family time and cuddling with Kona and Braxton.

Kona in the snow

Braxton in my bag

5. Teaching. I love teaching people things. This fact is making me reconsider my choice in professions. I had already started my masters degree before relizing how much I love to teach people. I am still considering the possiblity of returning to school for a masters in education.

6. Shopping. I adore to shop. However, I don't just like to buy things. I like to bargin shop. Nothing is more enjoyable or fulfilling than hitting a great deal.

Part of my clothing

7. Crafts. Although I don't have much time for crafts, I love them. My dream is to teach elementary school and work on crafts in my spare time. I would sell my crafts for extra cash.

8. Cooking. I like to cook, but I only like to cook if I am really organized and the food turns out well. I love Mr. McB walking in from work and seeing me in the kitchen.

9. Randomly driving with my husband. I love when Mr. McB and I head out of the house and have time to drive. Most of the time we have a destination, but detouring and drive through different areas just because. Most of my favorite memories with him are because of this.

10. Reading. I love to read, but I don't find much time for it. I have honestly been working hard at setting aside more time for it. I love having and book and reading right before bed.

Now who to tag:

I tag anyone who would like to do this. :)

I'm Back--Meet Me!

2010-02-19T12:04:00.008-05:00

Hello all!

I have decided to return to the blogging world. Mostly because I want to be able to document my life through this blog. I know it may not be as important to me now-without children, but as Mr. McB and I start to form a family this is a great way to remember all the little details and keep family up to date.

So, let me start over...

I am Mrs. McB. I am in my mid-twenties and we currently live in West Virginia (no jokes please). I was born and raised in West Virginia and am very much a Southern girl (we are south of the Mason-Dixon :) ).

Me on a camping trip with friends

A little background about me:

-I love my parents!!! My mama is one of my best friends-she is fabulous. My dad is hilarious. For awhile as a kid they were seperated, but are now back together. They are both very important to me.

My mama, me and Mr. McB after my masters degree hooding

Me and my daddy at my wedding-laughing of course

-My grandparents have been a huge part of my life. My grandpa (Dahee) pasted away a few years ago and I still miss him daily. I will always remember him with his camera around his neck cracking jokes. My grandma (Mom) is an amazing lady. She is in her 80s and still beautiful!!!
-I have a strong musical background. My family had a singing show in the '70s. I can no longer sing well, but my whole life I have sung and played instruments.
-I was a competitive figure skater. I quit after high school, but it was a large part of my life. I really miss it. Unfortunately my skating led to a small eating disorder in junior high and high school.
-I was in the band and actually loved it. Our band was very divided and not everyone was a band nerd. I quit after high school b/c college band wasn't for me.
-I used to always attempt to fit in, but I have finally come to a place where I realize I have the best friends in the world and there is no point in trying to fit in with people you do not go well with.

With our group of friends before a WVU football game

-I went to West Virginia University. I am a huge fan of WVU Athletics. I have my undergraduate degree in Journalism, Public Relations with a minor in Communication Studies and my masters degree in Public Administration, Healthcare Adminstration.
-I am the Director of Admissions and Marketing for a local nursing home.
-I met Mr. McB while at WVU. We both worked for a sports organization called the Mountaineer Maniacs. We weren't sure about each other at first, but quickly became best friends.
-I married Mr. McB in 2008. I got married much earlier than I expected myself too, but you can't choose who you love. Being a newlywed has been hard, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Mr. McB and me at our wedding reception

-We have a dog, a cat and a fish. We got Kona, our dog, when we were dating. After getting married we decided to get a cat, Braxton. Recently we decided to get a Beta fish and got Berkley. We love all of our animals. I wish I had a lot of property with a lot of animals.
-Mr. McB is a nursing home administrator. In twelve months he will get his own building and we will be moving more than likely. This is one of the reasons I wanted to get use to writing in my blog more--to keep in touch with family and friends.

If you have any questions you would like to ask me, please feel free to leave those in the comments. :)

New Dishes

2009-09-10T10:22:00.002-04:00

Last week, I tried two new dishes. I wasn't sure how they would end up, but I knew I needed to try some new things.

Typically Mr. McB is not a huge fan of my cooking. He is an amazing cook and simply makes things up and they usually end up good. I am not like that. I cook and sometimes it ends up good, but I have to follow a receipe. However, I am getting better at adding and taking away from the receipe.

My first new attempt this week was Southwest Chicken Skillet from Betty Crocker. Of course their picture is much prettier than how it looked, but smelled great. I made a few changes, so here is what I did.

I poured a bit of vegetable oil into the skillet and added my chicken chunks. With a dish like this, I usually cut the chicken into chunks. I let the chicken cook for awhile, then I added a bag of Kroger peppers and onions. I did not use broccoli or mushrooms, b/c broccoli doesn't sound southwestern and the bag did not have mushrooms in it. I heated the vegetable mix up to get rid of the excess water that would cook in the dish. I then added a drained can of black beans and 1 cup of chunky salsa. After that cooked for a few minutes, I added the cheese. Instead of using flour torillas, we put our skillet over crunched up tortilla chips. Mr. McB and I love crunchy food. We then topped it with a dab of sour cream. It was a great meal. I really liked it and so did Mr. McB.

The next meal was taken off of Delicious Meliscious' blog. It is the Mexican-Style Chicken and Penne. Mr. McB loved this one even more and I thought it was quite good. With this one, I made up a lot of it on my own. I started off by cooking the penne in boiling water. Then a put some oil in the skillet and cooked up more cubes of chicken. The start of this dish was much the same as the previous. I added some salt and pepper to the chicken and then added some onion salt and minced garlic. Real onions would have probably been better, but I didn't have any on hand. I then added a fresh banana pepper from our garden and a can of drained diced tomatos with jalapenos. In WV, I couldn't find the chipotle in adobo sauce, so I used some sour cream mixed with taco seasoning and a little water to make a creamy type of sauce. This was as close to the chipotle and adobo sauce as I could get. I omitted the corn and let it cook for a few minutes. Then, I added white quesadilla cheese and a dash of cilantro leaves. This was an amazing dish. I immediately feel in love with it and Mr. McB said it was the best thing I had ever made.

So, two good, but easy dishes down the drain for the week. :)

Let me know if you try them and enjoy them.

Life Update

2009-09-02T15:33:00.006-04:00

Wow, it has been awhile. I love blogging and reading other people's blog, but I can't seem to ever find the time to update my own blog. So, here is my attempt at a quick update.

I am still around, but I have been really busy. I really am trying to get better at this. Plus, I like to blog with pictures and can never seem to track my camera cord down.

Last time I posted, my in-laws were about to come to town to purchase a car for cash-for-clunkers. They indeed purchased a beautiful navy blue Honda Civic. While they were in town, we had dinner at Cheddar's and rented a movie. They decided on the movie from reviews. We rented Rachel Getting Married, with Anne Hathaway.

I like Anne, but I must be honest that this was one of the worst movies I have ever seen. Maybe it was a little much for me with the style of the movie, but I just didn't find it enjoyable. I thought the movie was extremely weird and the wedding in the movie even more strange.

The next day we took a trip to Wheeling, WV, about an hour from our place. We went to Cabela's and looked around there all day. Even though I am some what of a country girl, I do not like spending the entire day at Cabela's. After Cabela's we checked out a sports bar for dinner. It was pretty good. I had their nachos and they were huge. Finally, we got to go to TJMaxx. My MIL and I are both huge fans of TJMaxx. :)

After the in-laws left, Mr. McB and I traveled to Pittsburgh, about an hour away, to see a free Eric Church concert. We both love country and especially Eric Church. BTW...Mr. McB went to the same high school and Eric Church and actually knew his sister. :)

Recently, we have started a tradition of wing night with some of our friends. Wing night doesn't always happen, but we try our best to go on Monday nights when the wings are 35 cents at a local pub. We actually went this Monday and had a great time. :)

Since my last post, we have also been camping three times. We always head to Mountain Lakes Campground and make good use of my uncle's boat. We even got away alone for a weekend and go camping. Although I love my family and friends to death, I enjoy getting away by ourselves every once and awhile. If you are ever interested in camping and seeing West Virginia, I recommend Mountain Lakes campground.

My job is moving a long nicely. I am feeling settled in the postion and getting the hang of things at my facility. If you are new to my blog, I recently took a position as Admissions and Marketing Director at a local nursing home. This will hopefully jump start my career in long-term care administration. However, now I am thinking I should have been a teacher or principal. We'll see as time goes on.

We had a cookout at our place for our friends recently. We had the main courses, but we had our friends bring a side dish and premium beer. It was a lot of fun and a great time to get together with friends. :) We had a lot of wonderfuly food and my great husband made amazing BBQ and I don't even like pork or BBQ sauce.

At WVU, they have a concert the first night of classes. They try to bring in different areas of music. This year it was Kelly Pickler, Third Eye Blind and Akon. We headed to the concert with friends and actually got to shake hands with Kelly Pickler. She is adorable in person and my husband likes her even more now that he was so close to her. I wasn't a huge fan of the other groups.

This past week I went to a conference for long-term care social workers. I am not a social worker, but my position works closely with the residents and families. A lot what I do overlaps with the social worker. So, I decided to go to the conference and I learned quite a bit. After the conference, I headed to my hometown and hung around with my mom and had dinner with the in-laws. It was nice to see family. :)

I have also seen two other movies recently, The Last House on the Left and The Time Traveler's Wife. I didn't really like either movie.

I thought the plot of this movie was really good. Unfortunately, I thought it had a little too much gore to it. I don't care to see all of the details of everything that happened. However, I thought the plot was a great idea.

I had a great time seeing this with my girl friends, but I wasn't a huge fan. I thought I would love the movie, but I just found it alright. I found the plot really unrealistic. With unrealistic movies, I have a hard time getting into them. However, the movie was sad and made me cry quite a bit. With being sad and unrealistic, I just got mad that I was so upset about it.

So, there is my life update. Hopefully I will be able to post more. :)

Happy Homemaker Monday!

2009-08-18T14:01:00.002-04:00

Behind on blogging!!!!

The weather in my neck of the woods: sunny with a pop-up sprinkle every once in awhile

One of my simple pleasures: going to my fridge at work and eating a clemintine whenever I desire (usually my lunch-lol)

On my bedside table: 'The Last Summer (of You and Me)'

On my TV: I'm at work...but when I get home I usually turn on Bones as background noise

On the menu for tonight: not sure...busy night...reception at work for me until around 6 p.m.

On my to do list: deep clean the kitchen and living room for guests this weekend

New recipe I tried last week: didn't try anything new

In the craft basket: trying to catch up with everything first

Looking forward to: our cookout on Friday

Homemaking tip of the week: vinegar works great for cleaning glass tables

Favorite Blog post of the week (mine or other): I love all posts from Kelly's Korner

Favorite photo of the week:ummm...nada

Lesson learned the last few days: accept changes gracefully and expect them to happen unexpectedly

On my prayer list: several people

Devotional, scripture reading, key verse: Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it.
~ 1 Peter 3:15, NLT

Join Sandra at Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.

Happy Homemaker's Monday!

2009-08-10T12:52:00.002-04:00

The weather in my neck of the woods: looks nice and sunny outside my office window

One of my simple pleasures: laying in bed trying to wake Mr. McB after my morning shower. I love the few extra minutes of cuddle time.

On my bedside table: 'The Last Summer (of You and Me)'

On my TV: usually the TV is just background noise, but I am at work right now

On the menu for tonight: Wing Night at Crockett's (a local pub)

On my to do list: clean our place and get rid of some things

New recipe I tried last week: I failed at cooking last week

In the craft basket: nothing....hoping to start up soon

Looking forward to: our wing night tonight and whatever is on the schedule for this weekend

Homemaking tip of the week: make time homemaking and crafts-I am not doing well with this.

Favorite Blog post of the week (mine or other): Hmmm...That is a hard one.

Favorite photo of the week:failed with photos lately.

Lesson learned the last few days: make sure you state your feelings if you have them.

On my prayer list: a few blogger friends

Devotional, scripture reading, key verse: any scripture dealing with casting your worries to the Lord.

Join Sandra at Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.

Movie Review-The Proposal

2009-07-29T10:21:00.003-04:00

Last night, Mr. McB and I wanted to catch a movie. We wanted to have a relaxing evening away from home. So, we invited two of our best friends to join us. There were several movies Mr. McB and I were interested in seeing. However, our friends had already seen The Ugly Truth, they do not like scary movies, and Mr. McB wasn't in the mood for Ice Age. So, The Proposal it was.

credit

Neither couple had eaten very much for dinner. So, we decided to stop at a little ice cream stand before the movie. Mr. McB decided on nothing and to be honest, my milkshake was not very good at all. Oh well!

We headed up to the movies and all bought stuff up there. If we get concessions, we always try to get the large size b/c our theater offers free refills on the large drinks and popcorns.

The Proposal starring Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds was fabulous. It is your classic humorous love story. Sandra Bullock plays an editor Margaret Tate who is originally from Canada. She is going to be deported; so, she tells her bosses she is marrying her assistant Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds). However, the deportation office goes through a lot of checking up to make sure the marriage isn't fraud. So Tate goes to Alaska for Paxton's grandmother's (Betty White) birthday, where they are to tell everyone they are engaged. The movie is sweet with a lot of humorous parts in it. I won't give away the ending, but it is one of the best movies I have seen lately.

Everything was great, but the movie theater was way too hot. I was about to die. Mr. McB and I are thinking about a few more movies tonight. :)

Going Strong...

2009-07-28T12:32:00.004-04:00

Not me, my marriage, that is. Everyone always says the first year of marriage is the hardest. I heard variations from this, but I truly think it is. Probably b/c I never lived with anyone other than my parents and my two best friends. I had never lived with a guy and it has been extremely hard to adjust to life in a two bedroom apartment with even the man of my dreams. Needless to say, we have had our ups and downs and several fights over something stupid. However, Mr. McB and I have struggled to talk things out and have been successful in keeping our love and commitment to each other the focus.
This weekend provided reassurance that our love and commitment to one another are strong. Our weekend together plans got changed, which created a fight. However, we talked it out and came out falling more for each other. I always seem more in love than before whenever we fight.
Last week was extremely busy with work and all. Plus, Mr. McB and I are trying to eat healthier and cook more often. During Mr. McB's baseball/softball season, it has been really hard to cook very often. However, we want to work on cooking for our health and for saving money. So, this past week flew by.
Friday night we were going to camp at a campground close to our house. However, the forecast showed rain. So we brought up going to our hometown. I really wanted to spend time with my husband, but we headed to our parents'. We got about halfway and I realized I needed to head into work Saturday morning to have a test read. So, we turned around. By the time we got home, we went to bed and cuddled for the night. The next morning we decided to check out some yard sales. They really weren't very good, but we got a few things we didn't really need like poker table top and a few old VHS movies. After the yard sales, we were going to head to the Upper Ohio Valley Italian Heritage Festival in Wheeling, WV. However, it looked like a lot of rain. So we headed to our home town. Mr. McB went to play golf with a few friends, while my mom and I headed to check out some sales in the area. We were supposed to eat at our favorite Mexican place, but they were closed b/c of a power outage after a terrible storm that afternoon. So, we settled for Steak Escape. Mr. McB and I then headed to the West Virginia Power baseball game with a few friends. It wasn't a lot of fun b/c of the on and off rain. I had my mom pick me up b/c Mr. McB went to see a movie with his step-dad and I heard it wasn't a girlie movie. So, I hung out with my mom and played with her pup. I ended up falling asleep on the couch I always use to. Mr. McB picked me up and we stayed with his family. We arrived to presents on our pillows from their trip to Maine and Boston. Mr. McB got a baseball hat and I got a mermaid nighlight. Cute! :) The next morning I woke up to fresh donuts. We didn't make it church, but we headed to lunch with his parents and my mom. We ended up at Olive Garden. I had the grilled salmon.

source
The salmon was delicious, but it didn't settle well with me. After lunch, we hung out with each family for a little and then headed back home.

It was a nice little weekend and proved to me how important our marriage and families are.

Getaway or "Get Away" Weekend

2009-07-22T10:47:00.006-04:00

As if Mr. McB and I haven't had enough breaks this summer, we decided to take another weekend trip. However, you all probably don't know this since the disappearance of my camera cord halted any updates of substance. Well, I finally found the right cord and will update about this past weekend.

One of Mr. McB's best friends moved home to upstate New York recently. To be honest, Mr. McB has been kind of lost without him. So, when we got invited up to his hometown, we decided to take him up on the offer-the only stipulation was to bring his girlfriend back home with us.

Mr. McB and I left Friday after our work day was over. Unfortunately, we got out an hour later than we wanted due to issues we were having with the rental car we had. The trip was really unadventurous except for stopping at Soergel's, our favorite orchard, for wonderful ice cream. I love traveling with Mr. McB. I don't have an explanation why, but I do.

We arrived to Pittsford, upstate New York, around 11:30 p.m. Michael and Cassie had pizza waiting on us when we got there. Then, I got a tour of the house since I am the only one who had not been there. We needed to get up early, but stayed up and talked until almost 2 a.m.

Surprisingly, we woke up pretty close to on time. We went to downtown Rochester and checked out their open air market. The place was absolutely amazing. They had vendors with tons of fruits and vegetables, vendors with fake products like Canal Street and an inside market with fish, meat, etc. I truly wish we had something like this somewhere close. We got a few fruits and vegetables, but I wish I could go to something like that every week. After the market, we got a tour of Rochester, NY. We then stopped at Wegmann's, the most wonderful grocery store. I had heard a lot about Wegmann's, but you can't believe it until you see it. I wish I could share pictures, but you can't take pictures in the store. We got a wonderful tour since Michael has worked at the sub shop for several years. The store has a prepared food section bigger than some grocery stores I have seen. So, we ate breakfast there. I got a bagel and biali. If you haven't had bread in upstate New York, it is a must. There bread is 100 times better than anywhere else. After Wegmann's, we got a tour of Pittsford and the surrounding area and then traveled to Canandaigua Lake where Michael's parents have a condo on the lake. His parents were waiting on us for lunch. After eating and hanging out, we went out on the boat and cruised around the lake. It was a little chilly, but overall really nice.

The beautiful lake

Cassie and I-I love this cute picture

Here are the silly boys on Michael's balcony

Mr. McB and I

After our boating trip around the lake, we all went into the little town by the lake. This area is NY wine country, so we stopped at a cute little winery for a wine tasting. The wine was pretty good, but we didn't buy anything. They had the best smelling wine candle though. I really wanted it for my kitchen, but could not allow myself to purchase it for the price.

On our way back to Pittsford, we took a few detours. When we arrived in Pittsford, we stopped at a nice mall and looked around for awhile. They had Vera Bradley notepads on sale, but I also did not let myself buy that. After the mall, we stopped at a place called Beers of the World, where they sell beer from everywhere. You can pick out as many beers as you would like since they are sold as a single beer. Mr. McB and I picked up seven beers.

Then, we stopped at The Distillery for dinner. Dinner was good, but I like the atmosphere better.

When we got home, Cassie and I were really tired, but Mr. McB and Michael built us a fire in the firepit. To be honest, we had a long night planned, but headed to bed pretty early. I really wanted to hang out, but I was tired and freezing cold. I went to bed smelling like camp fire. :)

The next morning, we got up and headed back to Wegmann's for breakfast and some shopping. We got a few things we couldn't get back home.

After Wegmann's, we headed on the road for Niagara Falls. I had never been and part of Mr. McB's family is from there, so he wanted to show me the falls. The were beautiful, but not as wonderful as I expected. Next time, we hope to go to Canada for a few days.

After leaving the falls, we stopped to see the Whirlpool, which was a disappointment to me. Mr. McB was amazed. Then, we were off to an outlet mall prior to heading home.

On the way home, we saw beautiful New York and PA wine country and I was amazed by the beauty.

More 101....

2009-07-16T10:38:00.002-04:00

41. Play with Kona (our dog) and Braxton (our cat) more often-trying to do this more often, especially while it is nice out.

42. Celebrate Kona and Braxton's birthdays.

43. Take Kona on more walks-I love, love, love to do this while it is nice out.

44. Donate to a charity-for our wedding favors, we donated to two charties close to our heart. I would love to donate again.

45. Host Thanksgiving-maybe when we get a bigger place

46. Get wedding planning license-too expensive right now

47. Get long-term care activities license-too expensive and time consuming right now

48. Go to all WV State Parks-started working on this one.

49. Go to Disney World (again)-Mr. McB has been too many times, but I still love it! :)

50. Do a full scrapbook-I haven't done a full one for awhile.

51. Have a spa day with a friend.

52. Have eyebrows waxed regularly.

53. Go to wine country in California.

54. See more baseball-we have really boosted this. :)

55. Visit as many states as possible.

56. Buy a new laptop.

57. See a movie at a drive-in.

58. Go to a Broadway show again.

59. Have nice pictures taken of our family-only have wedding really

60. Watch AFI 100 List-probably won't like a lot of them, but it would be fun to do.

61. See Niagra Falls-going this weekend :)

62. Keep an address book/list of all important people and important dates.

63. Get a piece of Tiffany jewelry.

64. Read the Five Love Languages.

65. Buy nice sunglasses.

66. Whiten teeth.

67. ~~Get job in long-term care~~ -DONE-Admissions/Marketing Director at Mapleshire Nursing and Rehab

68. ~~Get WVU season tickets to football~~

More 101 in 1001

2009-07-15T10:31:00.004-04:00

Here are some more goals.....

21. Wash my face at night-I struggle with this. I get tired and want to go straight to bed.

22. ~~Make a realistic budget~~ -Mr. McB and I took care of this one prior to getting the truck. We wanted to make sure we could do it all.

23. Pay off all debt-This will be hard, especially if we buy a house anytime soon.

24. Boost savings account-Working on this one every pay period. We had a good amount of savings, but used it for our truck.

25. Go to garage sales-Mr. McB and I did this the 4th of July. I hope to continue.

26. Go to open houses-I love them and Mr. McB hates them, but we agreed to go to a few.

27. Spend one hour of quality time together each day-Working really hard at this one. I think it is going well.

28. Go on monthly date nights-We try to do this, but we are always so busy. The past few weekends we have been spending a lot of time together.

29. Buy a house-This will be a little while.

30. Get pregnant-We are waiting on this one too.

31. Take a family vacation with my family-We try to do this every year, but usually my dad does not go. :(

32. Take a family vacation with James' families-This one will be much harder.

33. Travel more-We have been doing this. However, there are some key places I want to go (Italy, Greece, Ireland).

34. Start videotaping major events-We usually only video Christmas.

35. Start doing random romantic things for James-I want to keep up the romance.

36. Send out Christmas cards by December 10th each year.

37. Vacuum at least once a week-Getting better at this.

38. Clean each room once a week-Also getting beter at this.

39. Keep pictures updated-I am awful at this.

40. Make our bed every day-Almost perfect!

101 in 1001

2009-07-02T12:41:00.012-04:00

I have been looking a lot at goals that I may have and decided to follow a lot of leads and do something similar to 101 in 1001. I am not following it as strictly as some. I don't know how many goals I have, but I do know that I will keep adding to this list.

1. Organize the files on the computers-I have failed to do this one recently and can no longer function.

2. Subscribe to a magazine-I use to buy magazines all the time, but recently have not hardly opened a magazine. I really miss it, so I want to subscribe to at least one magazine.

3. Go to New York City during Christmas-I love NYC. It means a lot to Mr. McB and I. We fell in love there, got engaged there....So I want to go back during Christmas.

4. Go skiing more often-We live in a place surrounded by skiing, yet we have failed to go very often. I would also like to own my own skiis again.

5. Start sewing-My mother is a master seamtress. However, I haven't tried very hard. I want to start sewing, but our lack of space has prohibitted me from bringing my sewing machine.

6. Get a massage-I admit it...I am the last person on earth who hasn't had one.

7. Get a facial-I have done this, but it has been awhile.

~~8. Buy at least one new car~~-DONE-The silver Civic is my new car (Mr. McB's old car) and we got the new red truck for him

9. Read more often-trying to do this one....

10. Transfer membership to Chestnut Ridge Church-wanted to do this for awhile, but the membership classes are always at bad times

11. Go to church every weekend possible-We try to do this

12. Start having more quiet prayer time-this one is a toughy

13. Decorate for Christmas early.

14. Read the entire Bible.

15. Pay for the person behind me in a drive-thru.

16. Send a care package to a soldier.

17. Make a meal for a family that has had a loss.

18. Get down to 125 pounds.

19. Work out more often.

20. Drink more water.

Here are my first twenty......

Firsts

2009-06-25T14:53:00.002-04:00

Obviously I'm bored at work...

Here is a list of firsts....:)

1. Who was your FIRST prom date? Adam
2. Do you still talk to your FIRST love? If I run into him, but we live in different places and only see each other every once in a while.
3. What was your FIRST job? Limited Too, well babysitting, but my first "real" job was Limited Too
4. What was your FIRST car? 86 Mazada something
5. Who was the FIRST person to text you today? I think Mr. McB...I haven't texted a lot recently
6. Who is the FIRST person you thought of this morning? Mr. McB :)
7. Who was your FIRST grade teacher? Mrs. Hall
8. Where was your first airplane flight/trip? Hmm..I think Chicago when I was little
9. Who was your FIRST best friend & do you still talk? Grant-we sometimes talk, but not that often
10. Where was your FIRST sleep over? Grant's, but that was common b/c we lived by each other-I would say "real" sleepover was Bethany
11. Who was the FIRST person you talked to today? Mr. McB :)
12. Whose wedding were you in the FIRST time? Aunt Sharon and Uncle Tim or Steve and Tina....can't remember which was first
13. What was the FIRST thing you did this morning? Get up to turn my alarm off and lay back down with the hubby :)
14. What was the FIRST concert you ever went to? I have been to a lot, but I think my first was Reba.....not sure
15. FIRST foreign country you've been to? Bahamas
16. FIRST movie you remember seeing? I would say Cinderella b/c it has always been my favorite, but the first I remember is Snow White.
17. When was your FIRST detention? Haha...high school for chewing gum....but the principal loved me and let me go after 10 minutes
18. Who was your FIRST roommate? Amanda :)
19. What is something you would learn if you had the chance? I'm not sure....I like to do so many things...maybe crocheting or knitting?
20. Did you marry the FIRST person to ask for your hand in marriage? First who was serious about it.....:)
21. What was the FIRST sport that you were involved in? I'm not sure if figure skating or gymnastics was first
22. What were the FIRST lessons you ever took? Piano
23. What is the FIRST thing you do when you get home? Put my bags down....then let out the animals

All about me!

2009-06-25T13:11:00.002-04:00

Holly did a really cute thing for people to get to know her better. I really liked the idea. :) So, I decided to do one myself. :) Here goes......

A-Age: 24
B-Birth date: November 21
C-Chore you hate: the dishes
D-Dog's name: Kona
E-Enter or Exit: ? don't understand
F-Favorite color: PINK
G-Gold or silver: Silver
H-Hair color: Blonde
I-Instrument: Flute, Piccolo, Piano
J-Job Title: changing jobs-Admissions Director at a long-term care facility
K-Kids: not yet....
L-Living arrangements: Live with my hubby and our cat and dog
M-Monkey or Moose: Moose
N-Nicknames: None
O-Odd thing about you: I have a lot of odd things...I'm a hypochondriac
P-Pet Peeve: When people cut you off in traffic, when people act like you know nothing because you are young, when people treat you with no respect
Q-Quote from a movie: I have so many, but I love this one from Sweet Home Alabama.
Jake: You're shittin' me, right?
Melanie Carmichael: I never fully understood that expression, but no, I am not "shitting" you.
R-Right/Left Handed: Right
S-Siblings: None, other than the 6 I received when I married Mr. McB-Ann, Paul William, Matthew, Jeremy, Alexis, and Jonah
T-Time you wake up? It depends, usually pretty early
U-Underwear: depends on the day
V-Veggie you dislike: raddish
W-What makes you run late: waking up late
X-X-Rays: haven't had one for awhile....
Y-Yummy food you make: it depends on who you ask...I make an awesome grilled cheese
Z-Zoo Animal: baby elephants

Now it is your turn......:)

I'm kind of a big deal....

2009-06-24T08:38:00.002-04:00

.....lol.

Not really, but I wanted to post about my new job-which I ACCEPTED. Yay!

Currently, I work for the university I attended, West Virginia University. The job was a good start out of graduate school because of the bad economy. I was lucky-I was one of my friends who came out of graduation with a job. However, I really felt like the job description was inflated. I was the development representative, but I was more like a glorified secretary-I wrote notes and signed thank you cards. Don't get me wrong, it was a fine job, but I didn't bust my butt for six years to be doing this.

My passion for awhile has been long-term care. My masters degree is in public administration with a focus on health care, most specifically long-term care. In January, I started searching for a position in long-term care, but never got one. I was a little bummed, but knew one would come along eventually.

Jump to two weeks ago, I opened the newspaper (which I never do) and the first job listing is an admission director for a long-term care facility in the area. So, I had to apply. This was the job I did when I was interning with a long-term care facility. From there, I got called to interview and then again and then I was offered the position. I accepted on Monday and gave my two weeks notice with the university. My boss at the university is not happy. Oh well, you can only worry so much.

I had to take this opportunity. This job was my short-term goal. I will be in administration at a long-term care facility. Couldn't really pass that up.....

I start July 7. I'm really excited....Wish me luck! Prayers are welcome! :)

I got the job offer!

2009-06-22T11:14:00.000-04:00

I got it!

I got the new job offer. I think I will accept. The job is perfect for me. :)

BTW-Mr. McB found the camera cord. So, looks like I'll be updating soon. :)

Not the happiest....

2009-06-17T08:24:00.001-04:00

I still can't find my camera cord.

I want to put up details about our anniversary trip to Baltimore, but I can't do that without pictures. :)

So, I must find the camera cord to blog!!!!!!

Feeling Relaxed and Big Purchases

2009-06-12T13:15:00.003-04:00

As you can tell by my blog, I have been have a rough time lately. I'm not sure I completely love my new job, I've been feeling really pressured and stressed (even though I didn't realize it at the time) and I am constantly thinking about bad things happening (such as bad health and such). So, I haven't been having the best last few weeks.

I have been praying about all of this and my worrying for awhile now. However, I still seem to have the anxiety and problems. Everyday I seem to feel a little bit more like myself, but then sometimes that slides away again. So, I continue to pray and ask for God to not let the devil put these toughts in my head.

Today, I took a walk at lunch. I went outside my office and there is a trail along the river for bikers, runners, walkers and I started walking. I've been trying to get outside every pretty day, but today I just started walking. I stopped and talked with God and to be honest, I feel much more relaxed right now.

Thank you God for granting me some peace! I pray that you watch over me and everyone struggling with worry and anxiety and help us turn our worries to you and get past this. In Jesus' name, Amen.

On a lighter note, Mr. McB and I now both have higher paying permanent positions. This is exciting. So, to celebrate, we purchased:

A Sanyo 42" flat-screen LCD....blah, blah, blah...I don't know everything about it. I just know that it looks great in our living room and it is so nice to sit down and watch with the hubby. To make it even better, we weren't planning on this. We just happened to be at Wal*mart walking around when we came upon this beauty. It was marked down over $300-not a bad deal. So, we bit the bullet and got it.

Our One Year Anniversary

2009-06-10T11:16:00.004-04:00

We did it! Mr. McB and I have been married for one year. :)

I wanted to post on our actual anniversary with pictures from our weekend together. However, I seem to have misplaced my camera cord-or was that Mr. McB that misplaced it? Anyway, I will write a post today about our anniversary and then try to post pictures when I find the cord.

Overall, I have had a wonderful first year of marriage. My love grows for Mr. McB as each day passes. I can't imagine life without him near.

I also won't candy-coat things. The first year of marriage is hard. It is hard to always agree. It is hard to get use to the other persons' lifestyle. It is hard to be around the person so much. It is sometimes not beautiful and perfect.

However, the good outweights the bad and it is absolutely worth it-especially when he looks me in the eyes and gives me a big kiss.

Friday night, Mr. McB and I hung out with friends. We went over to one of Mr. McB's best friend's girlfriends' because his friend was in town from NY. They were nice enough to grill fajitas and they were wonderful. Then, we headed out to see "The Hangover" as a group. That movie was great. I laughed most of the time even though I wasn't feeling great. Then, we headed back over to their place to hang out.

The next morning, Mr. McB and I headed to Pittsburgh, PA for the Kenny Chesney concert. For our anniversary, we wanted to stick with traditional paper gifts-so I got Mr. McB tickets to see Lady Antabellum, Miranda Lambert, Montgomery Gentry, Sugarland and Kenny Chesney. What an amazing line up. First, we went to eat at The Cheesecake Factory. I wasn't very hungry, but had the fabulous lunch portion of their grilled salmon. It was fabulous! :) Then, we got stuck in traffic for forever. After finally parking, we stopped by Calico Jack's Cantina. It was such a great place. Then we headed inside for the concert. I had such a great time.

After the concert, we knew we would be in traffic for awhile. So, we decided to stay in Pittsburgh at the Holiday Inn Express. I was shocked by how nice it was. The breakfast the next morning was amazing.

Our actual anniversary was not very exciting. We drove home from Pittsburgh, rearranged our living room and then Mr. McB had to coach a baseball game.

I will leave with a few pictures from our wedding.

Trolley ride to the reception

One of my favorite non-professional pictures

Our beautiful cake

Cutting the cake

Our first dance

The Wedding Party

Awesome Giveaway!

2009-06-09T11:20:00.001-04:00

Fancy Schmancy Designs has her own Etsy site now. Yay! I love all of her cute stuff and I am sure you will also.

Check out her amazing giveaway and enter for a chance to win.

Tagged!!!!

2009-06-08T12:53:00.003-04:00

Although not specifically tagged, Becky, tagged her blog readers. So, I am actually going to do this one. :)

Tag, you're it!
Open your FIRST photo folder.
Now find the TENTH picture.
Post that picture on your blog and then tell us the story of the picture!
The tag FIVE friends and have them do the same!

I am not on my home computer, which would probably be more interesting, so I may post again later.

However, the first folder is College-Friends.

Here is the photo. This is me and my best friend's husband painting their new townhome prior to moving in. She always commented that you knew your true best friend when they came to help you paint your house for no reason. I love them and wanted to be a part of this special process for them. Also, we had to get out of the apartment we shared. Haha! So here we are in all of our painting glory.

So, I tag YOU!!!!! Anyone who wants to play along. :)

In Case Anyone was Wondering......

2009-06-05T12:02:00.003-04:00

I'm not pregnant.

With this feeling funny, bad, awful, weird lately, I have gotten the common question for a newlywed: "Are you pregnant?" "Could you be pregnant?" It started at the first doctor I saw. At this point, it hadn't even crossed my mind. Then everyone, including Mr. McB's step-mother (a nurse), began to ask the question on everyone's mind. Finally, it ended up with my old boss asking through a message on Facebook.

Mr. McB and I checked and no we are probably not pregnant. However, blood work on Monday will confirm this for certain.

At this point, I am very happy to find this out. Not that I don't want kids, but now would not be the ideal time for either one of us. Hopefully in a few years we will be blessed with beautiful and healthy kids. For now, I am happy with myself and Mr. McB and our furbabies.

I went to the doctor today and am happy to report she didn't seem too concerned. I'm having blood work done to check everything out, but she doesn't think this is any huge issue. I loved the doctor. She is actually the mother of two kids who play on James' baseball team and I think I've found a keeper. She listened to everything I had to say and was very understanding.

Thank you for all the prayers. Please continue to pray for me until I am clear with everything.

Our God is an awesome God!!!!!!!!

Just What I Needed to Hear....

2009-06-04T13:01:00.002-04:00

As I brought up in the last post, I haven't been feeling well. It all started a couple of weeks ago and I've progressively gotten to feeling better since then. However, I am still having times when I am really dizzy and light-headed and just don't feel like myself. Being scared of everything, this has caused me some small anxiety attacks because the thought of death or serious illness keeps coming back to mind.
Luckily, I have another doctor appointment tomorrow. The first appointment basically told me I was having anxeity attacks and not to worry about it unless it got worse, it hasn't gotten worse, but it is still hanging on. Well, I needed a normal appointment anyways, so I am going and just discussing everything with my doctor to make sure I am all on track. I am sure it is something minor, especially after talking to every health professional I know, but my mind still drifts to what if I have something that will kill me.
I am a typically happy person, but this is tearing me up inside and making me extremely upset. So, I am asking for your thoughts and prayers.
I know that our God is an awesome God and will take care of me and watch over me, but sometimes the devil gets the best of your thoughts and emotions. I have been working through this by turning to God everytime I begin to worry and battling against the negative. At times this works, other times I seem to fail at this. So, this morning I open my devotional and find today is about the devil getting the best of your thoughts and turning your worry over to Jesus. This truly helped a lot because I realized that worrying isn't going to help me any, but praying to our Heavenly Father can.
Then, I get on one of my favorite blogs, Kelly's Korner, and she has posted words of encouragement from the Bible. These scripture verses truly helped calm me down and praise Jesus for the wonderful life I do have. I will continue to pray to have God help me through this and battle through the anxiety and worry I am experiencing. I ask you to also not only prayer for my faith, but also for my health.

Thank you God for being a truly wonderful and eye-opening God!

I am Back to the Blogging World!

2009-06-03T09:55:00.005-04:00

Hello my few readers!

I am happy to say I am fully back into the blogging world. I was having a busy time with the change of jobs and finishing up graduate school. However, I am settled within my new position and feel I will have time for regular blogging. I hope to get back to my "exciting" life and things I love.

Also, I haven't been feeling well. A couple weeks ago I started feeling really strange. I went to a doctor and was told it wasn't anything that was a big deal-it could be a mixture of many small things. Anyways, I needed a general appointment anyway and will be trying out a new doctor on Friday. I'm happy to just be able to talk to someone about what I've been experiencing.
(Note-I am a hypocrondriac-I always think the worst is wrong with me)

My life has been consumed by baseball. Mr. McB coaches a Pony League (13-14 year olds) team in our town and he also plays softball. Also, he is a huge Pirates fan and the stadium is only about an hour from us. So, I have been living and breathing baseball the past few weeks.
Funny story-last night Mr. McB and I got kicked out of our first Pony League game. There is this one umpire who does not like our team. To be honest, I think he has anger management problems and definitely displays this while umpiring. It is important to take your job seriously, but I don't think it takes it seriously-he takes it as a power trip. So Mr. McB asked about a call and he got up in his face. This continued as he told Mr. McB to shut up, while staying in his face and pointing his finger between his eyes. This was extremely disrepectful. So, I had to tell him about having to earn respect, not just receiving it. So, we got thrown out of the game. I absolutely hate people on power trips-get over yourself.

Also, we got an adorable cat from people who rescue them. His name is Braxton and boy is he a cuddler. Kona, our dog, has had some trouble adjusting to life with a "brother", but she is doing rather well. :) I'll post pictures as soon as I get a good one. :)

Also, Mr. McB and I joined a small group to grow in our relationship with God, ourselves and other couples. Unfortunately, we had to miss the last one. :( I really am enjoying it and recommend it to anyone seeking more time with Christians.

My jeweler, Joyce's Fine Jewelry in Uniontown, PA, opened a brand new store. My mom came up and we went to the grand opening. What a fabulous store and fabulous evening. I was amazed by how I felt like I had stepped into New York City while still in Uniontown. Congrats to them! :)
Although we haven't been home in awhile, we have had a lot of family time. :) I love being able to spend time with our families. Most of our family was in town for my masters graduation and my sister-in-law's graduation. We were able to spend time with each family seperately and together. Eating was interesting considering it was an already busy weekend for restaurants and we had about 14 people. Unfortunately my dad was out of town and didn't get to come see me graduate.

Over Memorial Day we went camping with friends and family. Mr. McB plans a huge trip everyone. This is his thing-he loves this camping trip. Unfortunately, many people left early and I wasn't there a lot because I felt awful and I went to my hometown for the evening to see my cousin graduate from high school. I was not going to go, but his expression when he saw me was very worth it.

The group camping-minus me-Chris, Kayla, Jessica, Rick, Jill, Andrea, Tony, Mr. McB

Mr. McB's youngest siblings-Alexis, Jeremy, Jonah, Matthew

In the water-I hate lakes, but I sometimes get over it.

My mommy and me on the boat-please ignore my fat legs

Mr. McB piloting the vessel :)

Awww-Sutton Lake

Some of the girls-Lauren, Andrea and myself

Our campsite-well part of it

This past weekend, Mr. McB and I went camping for a night in a new place. We went with one of our best friends, Jill. The campsite was awesome and we slept really late. The whole area was surrounded by trees and the light barely came through. Also, we were surrounded by running water, which always puts me to sleep. That night, Mr. McB and I had great tickets to the Pirates Game. After the game, there were fireworks and the Zac Brown Band played. It was so much fun and so exciting. :) Also, we treated ourselves and rode over to PNC Park on the Gateway Clipper. I love being able to spend time with my wonderful husband. :)

Tonight we are headed to another Pirates game. Mr. McB scored the tickets for $2.50 each and they are decent tickets. :)

It's been awhile....

2009-05-15T10:30:00.002-04:00

Life has been crazy.

I finished up my masters degree and will be graduating this Sunday. I'm super pumped because this means I'm done with school for good-unless I decide to go for my PhD- lol. I was really proud of myself this semester-I got a 4.0.

Now my mind is on to summer-oh wait-that's right-I don't get a summer. I started my new job on May 1 and don't really get any vacation time. That is ok though. I can look forward to working all summer. Ha.

However, my mind is wondering to the Zac Brown Band song "Toes." I really like their sound. If you haven't heard them, check them out. They are a mix of country and island music, similar to Jimmy Buffett and some of Kenny Chesney's stuff. I really want to take another trip to the Carribean, but I have so many trips I want to do. However, I'd love to go back and relive our honeymoon and 2nd honeymoon (friend's destination wedding).

Overall, the new job is alright. As odd as this sounds, I wish I had more concreate stuff to do. Oh well, maybe once my new boss sees my work, she will give me more. I'll eventually get to where I want to be.

The family is coming in this weekend. I'm graduating with my masters degree-did I mention that?- and my sister-in-law is getting her nursing degree. This weekend should be jam packed and interesting. Apparently, Mr. McB's dad is coming in today. That probably means he is not bringing the little kids with him-kind of bummed. However, he is able to watch James coach his baseball game tonight. Yay! Also, my mom and grandma are coming in tomorrow. Yay! My grandma still hasn't seen our place. She is really excited. Unfortunately, my dad and my aunt can't come-bummer. Also, my mother-in-law and step-father-in-law are coming at some point, but I don't know details. Should be a good weekend?

Mr. McB and I joined a small group at our church. However, I think we are going to have to miss the first two meetings. One is Sunday-right after my graduation and the other is Memorial day weekend when we'll be camping. Sundays probably weren't the best days to small group-oh well.

So next weekend we are going camping with friends. This should be a blast. :) I'll come back with lots of pictures. :)

My Small Problem with OCD

2009-04-24T11:47:00.002-04:00

Sometimes, I become a little OCD about things. One thing is organization and cleanliness. I feel like I can't go on unless everything around me is organized. This could possibly be a form of procrastination, but I truly feel like I get a little obsessed with it.
Mr. McB and I live in a two bedroom condo/apartment that we love. We were the first people to live in it and I really like most everything about it. One problem-very little storage-and I have a problem with the amount of stuff I own. Mr. McB loves to camp, but we have no place to put everything. So, since he has brought his camping stuff up from his parents' house, it has been sitting in piles in our living room. This has been driving me nuts!!!!! We got a storage unit for the stuff and it looks like we can finally pick up the key today. Thank goodness!!!!!!
However, we have a house guest spending the night and we are going camping tomorrow night. So, it looks like the stuff won't be getting put away before he gets here.
So, I decided to procrasinate from grading papers and clean our bathroom. One thing I hate is being a guest someplace and having to use a bathroom that isn't shiny and clean. So, it was time for another bathroom scrub down.

Cleaned the two mirrors in our bathroom with streak free vinegar spray.
Cleaned the sink with 4-in-1 cleaner. I'm a stickler for a clean, shiny sink.
Cleaned and organized our over-the-toilet organizer. No matter how organized I feel it is, it never looks organized to me.
Cleaned the toilet with 4-in-1 cleaner and a disposable toilet bowl cleaner.
Cleaned the bathtub/shower with Scrubbing Bubbles cleaner and a cleaning brush.
Finally, I cleaned the floor with a vinegar cleaner I make.

So, the bathroom should be nice and clean for our guest to use. :)

Anyone have any great tips for cleaning bathrooms??

I Got the Job!!!!

2009-04-15T12:27:00.002-04:00

Yay!

After all my interviewing and preparing, I pretty much had three job offers on the table.

I immediately nixed one because it hadn't been fully offered and I thought it was the most time consuming out of the three offers. Don't get me wrong, I know jobs take time, but I don't want to be away all of the time. I admit that some travel is good and sometimes awesome, but too much travel can get the best of you.

The next option was really good and truly in the field I want to stay in, but there would be a fairly long commute every day unless we moved a little more north. I am not totally against moving, but Mr. McB's job is here for now. He has the possiblity of a job near where we would move, but nothing has been confirmed. Also, the cost of living would be a lot higher and I would still have somewhat of a commute.

Finally, I have accepted the tentative offer for a position at the university I currently work for. This position would have me using a lot of my undergraduate skills. It is a combination of public realations/communication, donor development and special events. This is the perfect job for me. :)

Yay!!!!! Thanks for the prayers!

My Busy Day is Almost Over!

2009-04-08T15:39:00.000-04:00

Hooray!!!! My busy day is almost complete. This is a day I have been truly stressing over, but with God's help it is almost over.

This morning, I awoke early to make sure I have everything in preparation for today. I wanted to especially look nice for my interview. I liked the way I fixed my hair-curly and back in a bun type of style. I hear wearing your hair back for an interview is best. Then, I put on my suit I haven't had on since I purchased it awhile back. Apparently, I have lost some mad weight-the suit looked too big, but it had to do.

I left for class and powered through class anticipating my upcoming interview. Luckily, my interview was in the same building as my class. So, I went up to the interview. Overall, I think it went fairly well, but you never can tell. I've had interviews I think went perfect and have never heard back from the organization. I have prayed about this interview and jobs in general. I tried my best with the interview questions. So, if this is the job or fit for me then I will take it. I just hope God puts me in the right direction.

After the interview, I grabbed a quick salad and headed to meet my group member for our presentation. We went to present. I thought the presentation went well overall. At least I believe the person who grades us liked the presentation. We had to develop a secret shopper program for the transportation company in our town. I think we put together a really nice program-I just hope the organization liked it. I still have to do this same presentation to our class in two weeks.

Tonight, I have another presentation. This one should be much easier and I am truly not concerned with it. So, for a few minutes-I am relaxing-which I haven't done in days. I look forward to later tonight, tomorrow evening and the weekend.

I'm going home for Easter!!!! Yay!!!!

Stressful Week Ahead

2009-04-05T20:40:00.000-04:00

Praise God-He is probably the only One helping me power through this week.

Tonight, I drove in from my hometown (about three hours away)-had a group meeting for my capstone course.

Tomorrow, I work and then have to finalize everything for my capstone course.

Tuesday, I work and have to finalize everything for the rest of the week

Wednesday, I have class, a job interview, a presentation for my capstone project, and a presentation to undergraduate students

After Wednesday, I can finally breathe.

Please pray for me as I power through this week with God's help.

Prayer Warriors Needed

2009-03-31T09:56:00.001-04:00

Hi all!

I have a huge prayer request. My best friend's husband, S, recently had surgery. The surgery couldn't be performed in state, so he had to go to a different hospital about 4 hours away.
However, there have been many complications with the surgery. His condition has been up and down. Now, he is in ICU at the hospital in the different state.
My best friend, A, has been struggling with her job letting her have additional time off and she is having trouble with her in-laws.
Please get on your knees and pray for God's healing power on their family. S needs to be deeply healed and A needs comforting arms around her.

Also, Mr. McB has been fighting a cold/sinus infection thing for about three weeks now. He gets a little better and then feels worse. At night, he has a lot of trouble breathing because he is coughing so much from the congestion. Pray that he quickly gets better because it is starting to really worry me-he never gets sick. Also, pray that his position quickly becomes permanent so we can have health care to battle these problems.

On a lighter note, pray for me. I have a few job prospects which could potentially turn into something. I pray for strength through this process and I also pray that God helps guide me to the right position.

Finally an update

2009-03-29T14:11:00.000-04:00

Hi all!

I am still around. I have been super busy and haven't found the time to sit down and write a post. I've had so much I've wanted to share, but I have sense forgotten about many of them.

I never did an update about our conference, Capitol Convergence. The conference was a complete success. I had a lot of fun with everyone I worked with and must say I was extremely tired when I got home. However, I always feel like we get so close when we are around each other so long.

The beautiful capitol where the conference took place

The conference was in my hometown, the state capitol. So, I got to see my mom for a few. I arrived Thursday night with another of my co-workers so we could get everything ready. We got a great chance to have dinner and hang out that evening. Thursday, I wore my Limited cords with a teal v-neck shirt and a great shaw type of thing. I also did my adorable curly side bun.

Friday was very much all work. We got everything set up and ready to go. Then we had registration, followed by dinner and speakers. We closed the night with a session with the students. Friday, I wore black dress pants, black heeled boots, my black dressy tank top, and a purplish colored jacket. I wore my hair back in a headband.

Saturday was a long day. There were many speakers and many sessions. During the day, I wore black dress pants, a white tank top, my cute black Ann Taylor Loft cardigan and dressy heeled boots. I wore my hair pulled back with my Coach ribbon.

Saturday evening was our gala at the Governor's Mansion. The staff did a great job decorating and we all looked fabulous. :) I wore a black dress with a off white waist band. I wore my hair in a bun to the side. The speaker was my mother-in-law's co-worker and friend. I had a great time chatting with her over dinner.

The wonderful ladies I work with-Kim L, Kim C, myself and Kristi

My fabulous past co-worker, Neil, who helped with the conference

The conference coordinator, Brett, and I

Our staff picture-I love this one.

Finally Sunday, we had a few speakers and we all split up to do service projects. I lead a group to the Covenant House, an organization who caters to the needy. We were able to do things around the house to make it more organized. We had a great time. It was nice to be able to dress down on Sunday. We all got to wear jeans and our black staff shirts. Unfortunately, we all woke up extremely late, but we made everything work.

Spring Break

Over my spring break, I worked and my mom was able to come up for a couple of days. I've always been a momma's girl and being able to spend a few days with her was great. I really miss her.

We did some shopping. We both love to shop, but being a newlywed I have to watch my mom. So, for a special occasion, my mom and I did a little shopping. Boy, did we get some bargins!!!! :)

She came up on a Thursday and we went to the small mall we have in town. We also hit up Gabe's and our shopping center. We sure did find some bargains at the mall. We found my grandmother some awesome birthday gifts and we got ourselves some stuff off the sale racks. I got some awesome shirts for $4 each. Gabe's had a ton of Ann Taylor stuff, but I only convinced myself to purchase a headband. After dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant, we headed up to TJ Maxx. I found a Vineyard Vines tunic for cheap, but didn't buy it. I sure do regret that now. However, I did find this:

A Lilly dress for the cheap price of $7-I couldn't believe it

Friday, we were going to head up to Pittsburgh, but settled on outlets closer to home. I had never found much there, but it was a bargain day. I bought a beautiful black and white Columbia coat for under $30 and ski pants and gloves. I also bought a few new pairs of jeans from Gap and Banana. I scored some Crocs for my husband for $10-he wears them camping.
Here are my awesome purchases from Columbia

My mom and I before she left-oops we are sideways, oh well. :)

Finally, I have been doing some bargain shopping with the husband and on eBay. With Mr. McB, we bought some awesome pillows for our couch. They are beautiful. They are the white pillows with the black flowers. The other pillows were all on sale from Target last year.

I bought these awesome Lilly capris off of eBay for $10.

This past weekend can be summed up by my best friends birthday. Friday was my best friend of 12 years birthday. Her husband recently had surgery and is still in the hospital in another state. So, Mr. McB and I took her out for dinner at Fujiyama. We missed her husband, but we had a blast. Then, she came over and we watched movies and she stayed over. :)Saturday, I went to lunch with my two bffs, again for her birthday. We had salad and bread sticks at Olive Garden.

For her present, I bought her a Vera Bradley Capri Melon wallet-her favorite pattern. I also included a Strawberry wallflower to make her house smell summery and VS My Desire in travel sizes since she'll be making lots of trips in the coming months.

Here we are after dinner.

Please keep their family in your thoughts. Stephen, her husband, has a long recovery and a few more surgeries. Please pray for His healing power.

No Spring Break....

2009-03-17T18:14:00.000-04:00

but my momma's coming to see me and Mr. McB.

I don't get a spring break because I have to work. However, my momma is a school teacher and her spring break is this week and she is coming to visit. So, I have taken Thursday and Friday off to spend some time with her. :) Yay!!!!

I'm such a momma's girl and I miss her a lot sometimes. I can't wait to get to spend some time with her.

My Lifestyle....

2009-03-13T12:44:00.001-04:00

....living by faith.

Today, I was reading my devotion which was about living by faith. I constantly try to live by faith every day of my life, but I can't think of a better example of ways individuals live by faith than a couple of women in the blog world. They are my constant inspiration for living by faith and I try to do better everyday of my life because of them.

The first is Kelly

The second is Angie

The third is Erynn

These women are an inspiration and remind me to live by faith daily. I constantly think about the small hardships that have fallen on my life, but then I realize that these hardships are not monumental and that God and my faith will pull me through. I realize that all these hardships come as challenges from Satan. In the past, I have let these problems drag me down, but no more. I will endure these hardships, realize they have made me stronger, continue to pray and will stand strong on my faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

"Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus."
2 Timothy 2:3

Serious Life Magazine

2009-03-12T10:43:00.000-04:00

Hello friends!

I wanted to put a shout out about Serious Life Magazine, a fabulous online magazine that writes about faith, families and other inspiring stories. The subscription is free and it will benefit you from reading it. This month, I was added to the blog directory.

Please go to http://www.seriouslifemagazine.com/

and sign up for your free monthly copy.

Adorable Finds

2009-02-26T15:21:00.000-05:00

I have been in the shopping mood, but I am trying to be good and just look.

However, today I found two adorable finds. I probably won't get either, but I think they are both great prices.

They are both from Terry's Village, which has a ton of stuff on sale for really good prices.

The first I would love to have for Kona's leashes. It is a "Wipe Your Paws" wall hook.

The second is an adorable Leprechaun Dip Bowl. Mr. McB is Irish and I think these dip bowls are fabulous. You put ice in the bottom to keep the dip cold.

Help!!! I can't spend any more money!!!

Crazy....Beautiful Life

2009-02-26T14:13:00.000-05:00

The past few days have flown by...... (waves goodbye!)

I work in an extremely small office and we have been preparing for special events, our upcoming conference and creating a minor degree. Although higher education is not my field, I have loved my experiences working in our office. If I could stay in higher education and do this, I would totally do it.
The past few days, I have been finalizing things with the massive amounts of students I am specifically working with this semester. I handle the Multidisciplinary Studies program at our center and help the senior students decide on a capstone project. This week, I have been organizing everything and doing my first rounds of check-ins. Also, I have been helping my boss prepare for organizaing a service-learning minor. I'm really excited about WVU having a service-learning minor through our office.
Also, next weekend is our conference in my hometown. I will be extremely business, but it will be a blast. My old co-worker is coming back to help with the conference. I'm so excited to see him!!!! We were such great buds!
Other than being really busy, life is fabulous! I'm loving that it has gotten a little warmer here. I love the start of warm weather. Also, it looks like Mr. McB will be getting a promotion. Yay!
But, it appears I have done something to my lower back. Ouch!!! So, I've been in a lot of pain.

I hope to update with something a little more exciting. :)

Interview from Lindsey

2009-02-24T15:48:00.000-05:00

Awhile back, Lindsey featured an interview on her blog. I left her a comment wanting to do the same thing for my blog. However, it took me this long to do the interview.

1. What would a perfect day look like to you?
I have a lot of perfect days I can see. One of my favorite types of days is just spending time with Mr. McB in any way I can. Together, we have formed a lot of my favorite days by doing little adventures together-like traveling to Pittsburgh for the day just to drive around or just driving around and talking.
However, I see my perfect day as a cool summer day spent outside with a lot of friends and family-just enjoying ourselves and cooking good food. It would be ideal if it was at Mr. McB and my dream country home by a pond or stream and listening to country music :)
2. If you became president, what is the first thing you would do?
What a good question! I've never thought about being president, so I really don't have any idea. I have very strong opinions, but not very strong political opinions. I'm really stumped by this one.
3. Chocolate or chips?
Hmm...I don't really like either all that much. Occasionally I do like a little chocolate and sometimes I like to have a handful of chips. I guess it just depends on my mood. Most of the time, I'd probably pick the chips.
4. How did you get into your profession and do you love what you do?
The job I am currently in is not truly my profession. I am finishing up my masters degree and I am in this position while I finish up. I love working with higher education and I love working with the community, but I wish I had more control over my position and exactly what I am doing. Although I overall like what I am doing, it has nothing to do with either of my degrees. I would love to utilize my masters degree and work as a healthcare administrator, especially in a nursing home.
5. What do you love most about your significant other?
There is so much! I would say that I love James the most for what he does for me. I depend on him a lot and rarely does he complain. I know I can count on him for anything-cleaning the house whenever I need help, preparing dinner for us. He's the best!

If you would like to play along here are the directions:1. Leave me a comment & your e-mail address saying, "Interview me." If you dare.2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. (I get to pick the questions).3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions. The first five 'askers' get the interview!

Valentine's Day

2009-02-17T09:46:00.000-05:00

I wanted to give an update since I go through stages of faithful and unfaithful blogging.

Since Valentine's Day was this past weekend, I thought I would recap my events.

Mr. McB gave me an early Valentine's Day gift by taking me to see Rascal Flatts and Jessica Simpson in concert with our best friends. I have always loved Rascal Flatts and was even lucky enough to meet them and talk with them a couple of years ago in New York City. I think they are fabulous and super down to earth. Also, I can't help but love their music.

I use to love Jessica Simpson. I'm not so much a fan since she and Nick broke up, but I wanted to at least say I had seen her.

We had awesome seats for the Rascal Flatts portion of the show, but not so great for Jessica. That was alright though because she wasn't that fabulous. Although I must say I think she looked fine. Maybe she gained a few pounds, but she doesn't look overweight-just normal.

Jessica-sorry so far away

I was super excited to see the show and wasn't disappointed. I think Jessica should stick to pop music, but I was so happy to see her. Rascal Flatts was amazing as always. Mr. McB wasn't excited about the concert, but came out loving it. He couldn't believe how great Rascal Flatts was. :)

Their entrance at the front of the stage

Joe Don-my favorite-he rubbed my back and winked at me when we met- he definitely favored our side of the stage

Gary-he looks like he has lost some weight

Joe Don again-this is when the balloons and confetti were falling

Mr. McB and I having a good time-he wouldn't make a nice face :)

For actual Valentine's Day weekend, we were going to take a nice trip to a cabin, but decided against it. It would have been nice, but we wanted to save some money.

I got off work early on Friday to no power. When Mr. McB got home, we still had no power. So we decided to go for a drive out to the lake before it got dark.

The lake looked so pretty. This picture doesn't do it justice.

When we got home, there was still no power, because our fuse blew and the rest of the complex had power. It was going to take awhile for us. So we decided to go out to dinner Friday night. We headed to one of my favorite places. I look over and there is one of Mr. McB's co-workers. I say, "Don't you work with him?" Mr. McB replies with "Yeah and there is my boss." So, Mr. McB heads over to speak. His boss buys him a beer and then sees me and buys me a beer. I was thinking-Wow, that's really nice. As soon as he gets back from the bar, we get seated. I felt extremely rude leaving them after just buying us a drink. We get to our table and it is large. So I tell Mr. McB to ask them to join us (they were trying to get in and out for a basketball game). So, we had a nice dinner with Mr. McB's boss and coworker. At the end, they even bought our dinner. It turned out to be a really nice evening.

For Valentine's Day, Mr. McB and I decided to volunteer at the nursing home I use to work for. We volunteered for their Valentine's Day Dance. So, dinner was out. We headed out in the morning to do something, but I had a feeling Valentine's Day was going to be lame. However, Mr. McB had something in mind. He took me to our first "date"-shopping at Target. I got angry until he told me why he took me there-then it hit me-how sweet! I got to get a few treats I don't usually get to buy for myself. Then, Mr. McB took me to get a fishing pole and fishing license. He loves to camp and I get bored easy-so he thought fishing was something we could do together. He also thought we could go to ponds on nice weekends and do devotions and fish. How cute! I love the idea. So, I got a pink breast cancer fishing pole and I can't wait to use it on the first nice weekend we have.

After all that, we went to lunch. We both ate really healthy and it was a great lunch. :)

Finally, we got ready for the Valentine's Day Dance. The residents had a blast and I felt really good doing something for someone else. Here are a few pictures.
Dancing and having a good time!

Me and my favorite!!!!

I hope everyone else had a blessed day! :)

My Dream

2009-02-12T11:28:00.000-05:00

I have been dreaming about starting my own wedding planning business for as long as I can remember. It isn't because it is the trendy thing to do-I absolutely adore weddings and planning them.

So, I have been looking into a business license for awhile. However, I just don't know what type of business to do-sole or limited liability. I am somewhat business savvy, but I don't know all of the details. Therefore, I keep putting it off.

So, please pray for me throughout this process and I truly feel in this calling.

Recap of events!

2009-02-10T09:42:00.000-05:00

1. I've been really busy with work and graduate school. I feel like there is definitely not enough hours in the day.

2. Part of this not enough hours in the day is because I've been heading to bed around 10 p.m. every night. I don't know why I've been so tired. Probably because I've been fighting off sickness for awhile now.

3. Friday night Mr.McB and I had a fabulous dinner with friends at one of our favorite restaurants. Puglionis is a very small place not far from our house. They make their own pasta and I just adore their pasta and garlic (homemade pasta in a garlic butter sauce). Plus, their bread is to die for. Unfortunately, the food wasn't the best that night-probably because our service was awful and the food sat in the window forever. However, catching up with friends was a blast and we definitely stayed past our welcome.

4. I laid on the couch all of Saturday except for a tad bit of cleaning. I felt awful!!!! Mr. McB had to travel all day that day, but was in town in time to cook a great dinner and go out for a while with an out-of-town friend. He came home and cooked me parmesean crust pork. I verbally gave him the receipe from memory and he did a great job with it. I usually don't like pork, but it was tasty. Then he headed out to one of our favorite hang outs-Crockett's.

5. I finally got to see our out-of-town friend on Sunday. We grabbed a quick bite to eat at a local Mexican place before she went to catch a movie with some other friends. They were going to go see "He's Just Not That Into You" and I considered going, but I didn't feel like spending the money on a movie about a book I hated. Dinner was crowded and short but nice though.

6. We went to church and cleaned our place on Sunday. To be honest, I really think I pushed it. Church was good. We talked about how most people think they have to follow the laws of God from the Old Testament, but the main thing people miss out on is-we must believe in God and His Son.

7. I missed James' Grammy's birthday. I felt terrible. I failed as the calendar keeper. :(

8. We went out last night for 25 cent wings and to watch the WVU vs. Pitt basketball game. It was an awesome night surrounded by good friends and great food. ChickNBones is one of my favorite places to get wings-I usually don't like wings, but their wings are fabulous!!!!

Life is so precious!

2009-02-02T20:53:00.000-05:00

Last night, Mr. McB and I were driving back to our place from our hometown. The drive is usually about 2 1/2 hours. About 40 minutes from our place, we ran into wreck traffic. We decided to take the back roads, but we stopped to check out how bad the wreck was. It appears that one car was driving the wrong way on the interstate and ran head on with another car. Two of the people have been confirmed dead. It just makes me realize how lucky we are on a daily basis. I thank God for protecting me and keeping me safe. I'm just glad we were behind schedule and that wasn't us.

Thank you wonderful and holy God. You are amazing!

25 Things About Me

2009-02-02T11:47:00.000-05:00

A friend tagged me on Facebook to write 25 things about myself. I usually hate these things, but figured I would go ahead and share it with the blog world too.

1. I love West Virginia with all my heart and soul, but I truly can't wait to move out of here. I think I grew up in one of the most beautiful states, but I am getting tired of things about it, such as the awful job market. However, I know I'll miss the mountains terribly when we move.

2. Although, I love this state and think it is beautiful, especially in the fall, I secretly wish I had grown up a little further south. I love the southern draws on women, the Lilly fasion, the big hats, and the sweet tea. :)

3. I'm so glad my life has turned out as it has, but I didn't think it would be anything like this. I definitely found true love and got married before I ever expected.

4. I love our dog Kona so much. I'd love to live on an old farm property with lots of dogs and horses running around.

5. When I was a competitive figure skater, I had a slight eating disorder. At times, I miss my life during those years.

6. I love to travel, but I truly have no desire to ever go to China or Japan. Places I'd love to visit include: Ireland, Scotland, Greece, Italy, Hawaii and so many more.

7. Although I'm very much of a girly girl, I love to do things with the guys. Before college, I was much more of a guys girl.

8. I am a devoted Baltimore Orioles fan. I know they are no good, but I love them.

9. I love kids. I know it is definitely not the right time to start thinking about them, but I can't wait to have them and for all of our friends to start having them.

10. I can't wait for the day to be called an aunt. Although kids are special, I love the bonds aunts have with their nieces and nephews.

11. I have a blog and could definitely waste so much time checking out all of my blog friends' blogs. They have some fabulous ideas.

12. My wedding day was pretty much everything I dreamed it would be!!!! :)

13. If I could do my dream job, it would definitely be starting my own wedding coordinator business. I already have the name picked out.

14. I am the wedding coordinator for James' and my church. I love it!!!

15. I love scrapbooking. I could spend our life savings on scrapbooking materials.

16. I love to read and I am a fast reader, but I can never find the time with grad school. I can't wait to finally be done in May.

17. I am very competitive. I love to beat people, but I try to keep it under control. Sometimes, depending on the day, I can be really mean about this.

18. I love God with all of my heart and soul and wish I knew how to share this with more people. I've been trying really hard lately to worship Him in the best ways I can.

19. I love everything to do with wine. I would love to be a wine salesperson. However, I don't love every type of wine.

20. I love my family. I think it is strange how families change and evolve and I wish I could go back quite a few years and change everything back to the way it was.

21. I strangely love to wear professional and fancy clothing. However, if I have a chance to relax, I prefer track suits over jeans.

22. Pink is my favorite color. If I could buy everything in pink, I probably would. Also, if something comes in pink, I'm much more inclined to like it.

23. I can be really prissy, but I try really hard to not be as high maintenance all of the time.

24. I am a huge breast cancer awareness advocate. I think it is a very important subject that everyone needs to support and battle.

25. I love my friends more than any of them could know. I think it is very important to show your friends how important they are to you (I need to work on this).

So, if you haven't done this before-tag, you're it!

J is for...

2009-01-29T09:17:00.000-05:00

I joined in on the letter game with Emily at Vineyard Vogue. I was lucky enough to get letter J. Now I have to post ten things I love that begin with J.

Jesus-enough said (plus I thought the picture may be a little creepy)
James-my husband!!! :)

Joe-Mart-since being retired, my dad has taken on a part-time job at Go-Mart (obviously he was really bored)-my dad is Mr. Personality (everyone asks for him) and has now named his work place Joe-Mart-gotta love it!!!

Jeremy, Jonah and Jakob-you have to love the little people in our lives-Jeremy and Jonah are Mr. McB's younger siblings and Jakob is my little cousin

Jeremy

Mr. McB and Jonah

Jakob

Juicy Couture-I love the little Js-although Mr. McB says they stand for him

Jacksonville-WVU has played in the Gator Bowl more times than I can count-I love the city and I especially love my memories from that city

Jazz music-can't get enough of it

JCPenney's designer clothing lines-I love the stuff they carry in their designer lines-It looks so professional, yet trendy

"Just Married"-I love that movie and I love the chemistry Ashton and Brittany have together-I think it is a fabulous portrayl of how love conquers all

Joann fabrics-I love the store, but I'm more excited that Mr. McB and I may be moving so close to one :)

There are my 10. If you would like to play along, leave me a comment and I will send you a letter. :) Enjoy!!!

Rain Rain Go Away...but snow is ok

2009-01-28T16:26:00.000-05:00

Ugh! If only the rain would have stopped earlier and turned into snow.

If that would have happened, I wouldn't have had to work extra tonight and then I wouldn't have to worry about going home in the icky yucky (by that point freezing) snow.

WVU cancel classes when it gets this bad or has the potential to get bad after dark!!!!

The Shack

2009-01-28T09:34:00.000-05:00

I love to read, but I rarely have time with grad school and being a newlywed and the thoughts of moving and finding a job (hopeful post soon). However, my mother-in-law handed me a book a few weeks past and told me to read it. The Shack by William P. Young was a fabulous book. It was completely enjoyable, but was one of those books that still made you think about life and your connection with God.

In recent weeks, I've been trying, praying and working hard to deepen my relationship with God and I felt this book gave me a whole new persepective.

The book follows a man, Mack, on a journey through developing a relationship with God after losing his daughter. The way God and the Holy Trinity are portrayed through this novel is especially thought provoking and interesting.

This book is a must read for everyone!!! Do go out and buy it!

Marley & Me

2009-01-20T15:20:00.000-05:00

After all the good reviews of Marley & Me, Mr. McB and I finally headed out to the theatres to see it. We rarely go to movies, but we both really wanted to see this movie we had heard so much about.

Like everyone else who has seen it, Mr. McB and I loved it. Marley & Me was one of the best movies we have seen recently. Although sad, the movie was extremely heartwarming and showed the connection between a family and their beloved pet.

Mr. McB and I couldn't love our dog Kona anymore than we do, but we both came home from that movie hugging Kona and telling her how much we love her. Marley & Me really made us see the attachment we have to our dog.

I thought Jennifer Aniston looked amazing throughout the movie. She is such a natural beauty.

I also adored the house they lived in outside of Philly. That house would be my ideal house.

This movie is a must see if you love a good story that makes you cry.

The Way God Teaches Lessons

2009-01-16T11:19:00.000-05:00

As I have made quite evident over the past few days, Mr. McB and I had a dog problem. He really wanted a new puppy and I wanted it but was worried over so many factors.
Since January 1, I have been trying to be better about doing at least my daily devotion. One such devotion really struck me strongly. The devotion was about talking with God and listening to Him. I've always been one to turn to God with struggles, but I often fail to talk to God constantly. I have been working hard to be better at this. Although I talk to God, I never feel like I can hear God. So that night, I prayed for God to help me know He is there and for me to hear Him. I honestly believe He told me He was there. Then the puppy thing started and throughout the process, I truly felt God was telling us to take it.
I beg for God to share His voice and commandments with me and what do I do-I don't listen. My worry gets the best of me and I fail to listen to what I've been begging for.
I open my devotion for yesterday and it is about worrying and how worrying is a sin. See God is talking specifically to me. I know I need to listen to God and I know I need to turn my worries to Him. In the end, everything worked out, but I need to learn to trust more in my wonderufl and awesome God.

Too Cold for West Virginia

2009-01-16T09:15:00.001-05:00

This morning Mr. McB and I wake up and it is below 0 degrees.

I can't tell you the last time I remember waking up to below 0 degree weather. I was not happy, especially when walking my distance to work. Oh well, I'm warm and cozy now, but I made it known to Mr. McB that we would not be moving much further north. I admire people who can live in complete coldness. However, I would also hate to live too far south.

I'm sitting at work dreaming of skiing. I'll leave you with this picture.

I have a new sister

2009-01-15T15:36:00.000-05:00

...a puppy sister that is.

I just got off the phone with my dad and he did it. They got the puppy. Tomorrow at 4 p.m. they get to pick the little sweetie up. I am so happy for them and for the puppy, but I must admit that I'm a little jealous. However, it is for the best. :)

I'll post more pictures after our visit this weekend. :)

No new puppy in our future

2009-01-15T12:11:00.000-05:00

Unfortunately, Mr. McB and I decided right now was not the time to get a new pup. After really calculating all the costs, we are not up for it right now. This thought breaks my heart, but I know we have to be serious about some things.

1. We are about to move. Moving with one dog is hard enough-I can't imagine having two.
2. We will probably be renting for a year to save up for the house of our dreams (not just a house).
3. Renting adds on a large chunk of $-at the least $300 for adding another dog.
4. We are trying to also get dream jobs-less time at home.

So, our Nala is out of the question. :( That breaks my heart to say that b/c although I was concerned about getting her-I just can't get enough of that face.

So, now is the time to try and convince my parents to get her. They need a new dog (put one to sleep last year) and my mom loves her. So let's keep our fingers crossed that my parents decide to take her.

Could It Get Any Harder?

2009-01-14T10:22:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I made up my mind. I decided that I didn't want the puppy or a puppy period. This morning I wake up to find they have put the puppy on the website. So, I look at this.

Who could turn this little beauty down?

Now what?!?!

Puppy Love

2009-01-13T15:45:00.000-05:00

For a few months, Mr. McB and I have been contemplating whether to add a new addition to our family or not. No, not a baby, but another puppy.

We both love our Kona with all of our hearts and think we could love and rescue another puppy also.

Kona is almost 3 years old and will soon be too old to bother with another puppy. However, right now Kona very much enjoys being the only child and getting all of the attention. However, we are told to break her of that before deciding to have kids. We are thinking another puppy might break her of this.

How did this become such a big idea?

Well, Mr. McB convinced me to go to the animal shelter this past weekend. I knew this wasn't a good idea. We come upon a little puppy who is starving and looks just like our Kona. My heart breaks as she jumps on the fence just like Kona did when we found her-no barking, just wanting love. We are hooked.

When we go to ask about the puppy, another couple was already looking at it. We left our name in case they took the other dog they were looking at. As Mr. McB and I left, the puppy tried to follow us. :(

Lately, I've been doing my devotions and asking God to speak to me in different ways. I feel like I am one of those people who doesn't listen intently to God and so I don't think he is actually talking to me. So, Mr. McB and I decide to pray for the little pup on our way home. We prayed that God would take care of the puppy and do what is right for it. As we said "Amen," our phone rang. The couple took the other dog.

So, the next day we take our Kona out to meet the pup. However, Kona was so nervous about the shelter and going back in that they didn't get along. They didn't not get along, but Kona wasn't big on the puppy-probably b/c the puppy tried to get milk from Kona. When the puppy got in her face, she growled a little, but not mean just unhappy. Mr. McB has been researching this and found that Kona's reaction is perfectly normal.

So we left. We've prayed about the puppy since Sunday and we prayed for God to point us in a direction. Mr. McB went back today and they still have it (something we prayed about) and this morning on Rachel Ray they were talking about the joy of shelter dogs.

So, I am so torn. I loved the little pup and I love animals, but I am worried about our upcoming move and how Kona will react to her. However, I am not working as much right now, so right now would probably be the best time. I'm worried about having a little puppy and I'm worried about having two dogs. I want her, but Mr. McB just can't let her go. Since we left her, he is obsessed with her.

I pray for God to give me strength to make the right decision.

6 Months and Counting

2008-12-08T16:01:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was our 6 month anniversary. I can't believe it. These last 6 months have flown by. I have never had so much fun, felt so much love, and been so stressed all at once. My love for Mr. McB grows every day and I fall in love with him over and over.

Here are a few of my favorite memories with Mr. McB:

Our first Valentine's Day. Mr. McB bought be beautiful hot pink roses and this cow, Pinkie McRosie.

We both love West Virginia and enjoy the beauty of our wonderful state. I'm sad to leave in May.

NYC-how we love thee! You have been the place of so many special memories for us. Sitting at Rockefeller Center remembering our engagement.

Being honored to be best man and maid of honor at our friends' wedding.

Our rehearsal dinner. The air went out and it was the hottest day of the year. They say something always goes wrong with a wedding-this was our mess up.

Walking down the aisle as husband and wife!

I wanted to see the baby elephants-Mr. McB randomly took me. :)

My favorite season-fall. Mr. McB took me to a pumpkin patch to pick out my own pumpkin.

Mr. McB-I love you with everything that I am. You truly are my prince charming and dream come true.

Sweetest Guy In The World-MINE!

2008-12-04T11:11:00.000-05:00

If I haven't mentioned it before, I have the sweetest husband in the world. He loves to baby me-most of the time ;). He has been especially wonderful since August. I know he is really busy and doesn't have a lot of time, but he has really been pulling his weight this last couple of months. I have such an awful and busy life right now. I work 44 hours a week, plus have two graduate classes at night. Therefore, I'm not home two nights of the week. On top of that, we travel a lot on the weekends. So, I haven't been the best housewife. I love being domestic and hope to do better at it starting the end of next week.

My point-Mr. McB always tries to make the best dinners for me. He is one of the best cooks I know. Now he has taken up my passion-baking. He made me rice krispie treats just b/c I wanted them. :)

Here is a good look at my cutie:

My Mess of a Life

2008-12-02T11:28:00.000-05:00

The past couple of weeks have been really hectic. I've been trying to keep up with all the blogs I follow and also try to update this one. However, I haven't done the best of jobs.

Since November 3rd, I've had almost 600 3-page papers to grade. The joy of working for a university is the amount of work that must be completed on a deadline. I love my job, but the past couple of weeks have been so hectic.

Plus, my graduate classes are winding down. I have lots of work to do for my healthcare finance and nonprofit finance classes. Ugh! I can't wait for May to come. I just pray to God that I can get everything done and do well with this degree.

Also in this time, Mr. McB got a brand new job. He not works for the WVU Cancer Center with the medical director. Yay! Finally a job that revolves around the work he did for his maters degree. We can't wait to move-WV offers very few jobs in our field.

In an earlier blog, I requested prayer for Mr. McB's aunt as we rushed up to NYC to be with her. Well, she passed away. She had battled breast cancer for about 8 years and we are thankful that God put her at peace. However, the loss of a loved one is a hard thing to go through. I've lost two aunts to breast cancer and I've also lost my uncle, grandfather and two close family friends (like an aunt and uncle). I hope you will continue to pray for Mr. McB and his family. We are all in need of continued thoughts and prayers. This Thanksgiving was extremely hard for us since it was the first holiday without her.

After getting back from NYC, I got extremely sick for the next couple of days. Luckily, I'm feeling better now. I hate being sick and laying around. There was so much I could have done during those days I was sick.

Mr. McB did a fabulous job in putting together a surprise party for my birthday. The time wasn't the easiest for him, but he still showed me why I love him so much. We went out for my favorite dinner, Mexican. When we got to the restaurant, there was a huge table set up with many of my close friends.

Here are all the girls celebrating my birthday! Thanks girls! You're the best.

I also got some pretty fabulous gifts. Mr. McB got me some awesome scrapbooking stuff. I love to scrapbook, but I find it hard to take the time to do it. He got me some awesome stuff to make me take the time. :)

He got me this awesome Cutterbee in pink with some other Cutterbee things in pink. I love it all.

Mr. McB also got me a WVU vest. I love it and have already worn it a million times. What a great buy! :)

My bestests also got me great gifts. I received Sex and the City The Movie. If you haven't seen it, it is a must.

I also received a Vera Bradley Pink Elephant Cool Keeper. This was such a great buy. I have always been a breast cancer advocate and I love this pattern.

Mr. McB's BFF got me two pieces of Vera Bradley in Java Blue. I love getting Vera! :)

My actual birthday was less than exciting. Mr. McB and I drove into our hometown. The next day, we had dinner with my family. Dinner was terrible. I wanted to go to a steakhouse, but they could not get my steak right. Finally, I just stuck with eating my sweet potatoe. However, I have missed my family and I had a fine time, especially with my little cousin.

We then drove up to New Jersey for Mr. McB's aunt's memorial service. The service was nice, but it was a very hard and sad time. I did enjoy being with the other part of my family, who I haven't seen in ages.

Unfortunately, our car broke down on the way back and Mr. McB and I almost missed Thanksgiving. To make matters worse, my SIL would have missed her Thanksgiving too. However, God does provide and Mr. McB's dad sure was thinking. We got a U-Haul with a trailer and brought the car back home with us.

Since then life is getting back to normal. I will be a better blogger.

Hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving.

Missing my BFF

2008-11-19T14:35:00.000-05:00

I met my bff when working on my undergraduate degree. I sat down beside of her in class and we became instant best friends. I am not typically the one to like other girls and I usually keep my distance with people I meet, but we had an instant bond. Immediately, we became joined at the hip and continued to be like that for the next three years. Once we started graduate school, we became further and further apart. Even though I still love her like a sister, I miss my best friend.

Today, she took me out for a birthday lunch-my birthday is on Friday. It was so great to be able to sit down with her and chat. We try to do lunch on Wednesdays, but that has become less frequent with our uberly busy schedules.

To my bff and sister from another mister-I miss you!

Shaney-Thanks for the birthday lunch!

Prayers Needed

2008-11-16T11:29:00.001-05:00

Mr. McB's aunt has been battling breast cancer for over 8 years. This weekend, her sickness has increased. We have traveled up to New York City to be with our family in this time of need. I am currently sitting in the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Please pray for peace for our family and peace for James' aunt. Pray that she looks to our Lord and that her pain is diminished. Also, pray that we have safe travel back to our lives.

Joyce's Fine Jewelry, Uniontown, PA

2008-11-13T11:44:00.000-05:00

I have always been a planner at heart. I was again thinking about my future in wedding planning and saw a commerical on TV. It was for our jeweler and family friends at Joyce's Fine Jewelry in Uniontown, PA.

Check out the beautiful ring David designed for me.

I love both my wedding band and my engagement ring, which were both designed by David at Joyce's Fine Jewelry. Everytime I go to their shop, I see amazing and unique jewelry I would love to purchase-funds are stopping me. :)

Mr. McB's ring was also purchased at Joyce's, but was not designed there.

Not only does David design jewelry for their store, but Joyce and David's son has just gotten back from gemology school and is now designing his own line of jewelry called Carbon 6.

If you are looking for new jewelry, stop by Joyce's Fine Jewelry in Uniontown. You will not only be pleased with their selection, but will also love your service with our wonderful friends.

A Great Meal with Mr. McB

2008-11-11T09:37:00.000-05:00

Last night, Mr. McB made a simple, yet amazing meal. He made cheese tortellini with a butter garlic sauce.
He bought store tortellini filled with cheese and prepared the little bites of heaven as anyone would prepare tortellini. Then, he melted a stick of butter and mixed with garlic, olive oil and little slices of olives in a skillet. It was one of the best garlic butter sauces I've ever had. Not only was it amazing, but the meal was super quick and cheap to make.

Not a great day to be a Mountaineer....

2008-11-10T13:30:00.000-05:00

This weekend involved some good and some bad.

My weekend was started by getting off a little early on Friday and working around our apartment. I wanted to get everything super clean-almost made it. :) I still have some winter clothes I got out of storage, but aren't put away and I still haven't filed everything as far as paperwork. Other than that, our apartment looks beautiful. :)

After Mr. McB got off work, we drove into our hometown with his brother. Their dad was going to be in town and we don't get to see him very often. The older Mr. McB got us all tickets to see the Trans Siberian Orchestra. What a great show! It was loud and the lights were bright, but we really enjoyed ourselves. I really enjoyed the first half with Christmas music and a Christmas story. The show was super long and I was super tired when we finally got to my parent's house.

We got up early Saturday morning to drive back home. It was game day at WVU. Mr. McB's dad came up to our place to go to the game with us. The older Mr. McB was a WVU alum and went to medical school here. I think he really enjoyed coming back to town and hanging out with us. We tailgated all afternoon-that is what happens when there is a WVU night game. Unfortunately, the game did not go like all expected. We almost came back, but blew it. :( What an awful night!

Yesterday, Mr. McB, his dad, his sister and brother, and I went to breakfast at IHOP. Our IHOP is the best I have ever had. I got to have my favorite, pumpkin pancakes. After breakfast, Mr. McB's dad left and Mr. McB and I went out running errands.

Overall, the weekend was busy, but I enjoyed seeing my father-in-law.

What I've Done....

2008-11-05T14:37:00.000-05:00

Here’s the Deal. Bold the ones you’ve done. Simple right? From looking at my list it seems I still have quite a bit to do. Copy & Post this into your blog if you ever need a post or just want to do it!
01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said "I love you" and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and didn't care who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Taken a midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theatre
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on a television news program as an "expert"
83. Gotten flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Passed out cold
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a TV game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for 30 hours in a 48 hour period
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. States
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad and The Odyssey
135. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone's life

7 Minutes in Heaven

2008-11-05T10:54:00.000-05:00

I've been tagged by Emily at Imperfect http://www.mckevitts.blogspot.com/. I love these kind of things.

1. I'm scared to graduate with my masters degree, but can't wait to actually be in the real world and away from a college town.

2. I always get mistaken for younger than I really am. I hate this! It's my biggest pet peeve. Yes, I have one degree already. Yes, I'm old enough to be married.

3. Although I am a professional student, I hate being labeled as a student. I work and have a real life-it isn't all fun and games.

4. I often fear I have something wrong with me or I'm inflicted with some awful disease. I'm such a worrier.

5. I'm whiny and often get mad at the drop of a hat. This is the main reason Mr. McB and I get into fights. I always want my way.

6. I love clothes, but grow tired of them soon after buying them. Ugh, the neverending battle.

7. I still own clothes I bought in junior high school. I was 13. I need to let go. :)

I'll tag:

Shalane at http://youeatlikeagirl.blogspot.com/

G at http://allthingsgd.blogspot.com/

Abby at http://lifewithba.blogspot.com/

Bryn at http://brynalexandra.blogspot.com/

Kristal at http://goodfoodgoodfriendsgoodlife.blogspot.com/

Lindsey at http://learningtobeawife.blogspot.com/

WanderingDC at http://wanderingdc.blogspot.com/

Work Load

2008-11-05T08:45:00.000-05:00

Obviously, I haven't been posting very often. My work load is over the top. I am grading papers for an Adventure WV class with over 600 students in it. This equals to be a little too much for me. Oh well, hopefully I'll be back in full swing soon. :)

Cutout Sugar Cookies

2008-10-28T17:46:00.000-04:00

I am usually a good baker. I love baker and most of my baked items turn out very good. However, I've never been good at cutout sugar cookies. The other night I wanted to you my great Halloween cookie cutters and sprinkles and make sugar cookies. I couldn't remember how my mom used to make them, so I went to my trusty Better Homes and Garden Breast Cancer Edition cookbook.

They turned out terrible. The dough never did get hard enough to roll out-even with a whole night in the fridge. So, I made regular sugar cookies and they are very bland. Yuck! They look more like dog treats. Oh well, I'll not use that receipe again.

Anyone have a good receipe for cutout sugar cookies?

Sick!

2008-10-28T10:55:00.000-04:00

Although I love this time of year, I always get sick towards the end of October.

This is me-all day long!

Just got chills..

2008-10-23T09:00:00.001-04:00

...and not from the cold outside.

I just happened to check out a blog and "I Will Be Here" by Steven Curtis Chapman was playing. Mr. McB prerecorded this song for our unity candle song at the wedding. Now I get chills every time I hear it. What a great husband! I just love him!

A good start to a truly fall morning

2008-10-21T09:45:00.000-04:00

Yawn!

Welcome to fall. I wake up this morning to cold temperatures. This is nothing new, but I find out the temperatures are not going to increase much during the day. Welcome to fall!

Although I love fall, I have a hard time transitioning from summer to fall wear. Anyone else have this problem?

Today, I feel like I look too wintery, but I don't have a lot of outfits to wear during fall. Also, where we live, we have to park far away and walk a ways to work-this will be better once we move and I'm done with graduate school. So, I don't get to wear the cute trendy winter shoes. I have to stick with ugly flats or I'll bust my butt. :)

On a lighter note, I am having yummy coffee my boss brought in. She made coffee and brought in pumpkin creamer. I usually like my coffee black, but I can't resist the pumpkin creamer. :)

Stay warm!

Blog Giveaway!

2008-10-20T15:44:00.001-04:00

Looking through my lovely posts today, I come across this great giveaway at My Journey Toward the Fabulous Life of a Housewife-http://glamlifehousewife.blogspot.com/2008/10/yummy-giveaway_20.html

This pan is adorable-I dream of making pumpkin bread in it. :)

Books and Giveaway

2008-10-15T15:19:00.001-04:00

As we all know...I can't resist a good giveaway. So stop on by this great blog-http://myhome-mylife.blogspot.com/ for a giveaway.

Of course I had to this one because it involved a book. I love to read and I love new books. Any recommendations. Leave me a comment about your favorite read.

A Perfect Fall Night

2008-10-14T13:11:00.000-04:00

Monday night was an amazing fall night. Mr. McB and I got to spend the whole evening together-this doesn't happen very often since he has work and I have work and classes to finish up my Masters degree.

Mr. McB started off by picking me up at work. It is always nice to not have to fight the traffic with my P-O-S car. Unfortunately, there are too many people and not enough roads in our town. That's another topic for some other time.

Then, we made a quick run to Kroger. I love that our town bulit a brand new Kroger so close to our place. We picked up a couple of things and headed to our place.

For dinner, we had fried chicken, green beans, and fresh cauliflower. Although I love fried chicken, I never eat very much of it. So, my main dish was the yummy cauliflower we bought at the fall harvest festival for such a good price. I can't believe how much cauliflower we got for so cheap. We made half of it and had plenty. Even better, Mr. McB made a nice creamy cheese sauce to put over the steamed cauliflower. What a perfect fall dinner.

After dinner, we took our dog, Kona, on a walk through the neighborhood. She loves walks, but we don't get to take her on them very often.

When we got back, James put on Saw IV. I was the one who always liked scary movies, but recently I just can't watch them anymore. However, James has been in a scary movie mood. I've seen all of the Saw movies and this one was by far the most confusing. I was totally lost by the whole thing. Oh well! Anyone care to explain?

I'll end with a couple of pictures of fall.

Country Roads, Take Me Home....

Adorable gourds-but I love pumpkins more!

The entrance to our place. I love the bail of hay and mums. On the door is a Halloween wreath my mom and I made. We each have one and I think they are adorable.

Our adorable pup with the fall decor. She didn't want Daddy taking her picture.

The pumpkin Mr. McB carved. I need to carve mine, but I'm not very good at such things.

Happy Fall!

My Mild Obsession with Pumpkins

2008-10-13T14:58:00.000-04:00

I don't know why, but I've always had a mild obsession with pumpkins. When I was little, I requested a pumpkin pie instead of a birthday cake. Since forever, I have loved October, fall and everything that comes with that time of year.

Mr. McB has been extra great this fall. We are both very busy, but he has made time for us to do special things together this season. It began with football season and watching our favorite team-WVU-at every home game and even on one away trip. Unlike a lot of girls, I like football. We have also been to a couple local high school games. Mr. McB coached baseball and one of his plays football. We've been to a couple of those games and been able to take advantage of the beautiful new high school stadium.

Then last weekend, Mr. McB took us to a local Italian restaurant for a nice dinner. Puglioni's is probably one of my favorite restaurants in our town and I got to enjoy a nice pasta dinner with their garlic butter sauce. It was excellent-since they use a lot of garlic and make their own pasta. I also love their bread with butter and fresh garlic poured over it. Yum! After the WVU game on Saturday, we traveled to our home town to be with family. For as long as I can remember, it has been a tradition for my mom, aunt and I to go to the Pumpkin Festival about 30 minutes from our hometown. I couldn't do without going this year. So Saturday night, we got to enjoy our favorite Mexican restaurant with my mom and the in-laws. Then Sunday, my mom and I headed to the Pumpkin Festival. My aunt and Mr. McB and the in-laws met us there. My aunt got us a great personalized giant candy corn to hang on our door and my mother-in-law got us a great smiling pumpkin for decorating. I enjoyed a loaded baked potato and some pumpkin ice cream at the festival. Mr. McB pretty much only enjoyed the food and the birds from the wildlife refuge.

This weekend, Mr. McB watched as I participated in the Homecoming Parade for work.

Then Saturday, we attended a tailgate by one of Mr. McB's BFFs. Lookup's-that is his name and he's 6'7"-parents were in town for the game and wanted to have a big tailgate party. We had a blast and luckily WVU won. Here are Lookup and his gf (also our good friend).

Then yesterday, Mr. McB took me to a Fall Harvest Festival at his favorite orchard. We had so much fun driving along looking at the beautiful leaves. I took pictures, but they don't do the beautiful scenery justice. We got to the festival and it was super crowded and hot, but we still had a blast. We went through a corn maze. Mr. McB found me....

Here is my adorable husband-Mr. McB.

We took an awesome hay ride to the pumpkin patch to pick out our favorite pumpkins.

Here we are picking out our pumpkins.

After yummy apple cider and pumpkin roll, we picked out various things we wanted from the fall harvest festival. I got a brown sugar and cinnamon covered apple. Yum!

On our way home, we stopped at an Italian restaurant. I was not that impressed. My eggplant was great, but it was not all it was supposed to be. Puglioni's is still my pick. :)

Thanks Mr. McB-for making my fall the best ever.

Entertaining

2008-10-08T13:38:00.000-04:00

Although not properly displayed through the blogging world, I love to entertain. Entertaining friends and family is something I truly live for. Unfortunately, with work and graduate school, I have been unable to entertain as much as I would like.

Are you interested in entertaining? Check out this new book by Matthew Mead-available in bookstores all throughout the U.S. and Canada.

This book is a display of entertaining at its finest. Without all the expensive hoopla, Michael Mead shares a great way to entertain. Don't believe me? Check out Michael's website: http://www.entertainingsimple.com/index.php?option=com_flippingbook&book_id=2&Itemid=1

Now I'm off to begin planning my next entertainment venture-a fall/Halloween party. Don't these look nice and festive?

Now go check out that book and this great blog: http://restyledhome.blogspot.com/ :)

Giveaway

2008-10-08T13:09:00.000-04:00

Recently, I've been branching out in the blogging world and reading more and more blogs. I love reading about people and their lives.

Today, I came across a giveaway at http://wanderingdc.blogspot.com/. What a great blog and an even better giveaway.

Enjoy!

Eat, Pray, Love

2008-10-01T22:29:00.000-04:00

I finally finished reading "Eat, Pray, Love." I don't know how I feel about the book-didn't love it, but didn't hate it. Overall, I thought it was interesting and had a lot of good insight toward life and religion, but I didn't necessarily agree with Elizabeth Gilbert's persception of religion and her god. However, I did enjoy reading about her travels to the three Is-Italy, India and Indonesia, especially her account of falling in love. At times, the book seemed to be too in depth for the type of reading I was looking for, but her eloquent writing made me continue reading. In the end, I find Gilbert's "Eat, Pray, Love" an enjoyable book, but think I will stick to chick lit for the next read. Have you read it? What did you think?

I'm in love...

2008-09-23T08:06:00.001-04:00

....with this outfit from Ann Taylor. If I had the money, I'd buy it all right now.

"Fall"ing in Love

2008-09-22T15:06:00.000-04:00

Fall-my absolute favorite season.

Sometimes I have had second thoughts about my June wedding and wonder if maybe I should have waited until fall.

I can't wait to see more pumpkins and the changing of the leaves-one of West Virginia's truly glorious wonders.

I am usually even ready for fall and winter clothing-however, this season I'm not crazy about much.

Here is the highlights of what I like so far.

This coat from Newport News is pretty cute-however, I always hesitate about the belted waist. The waist is not my trimest of areas.

I'm loving the banded look from Target-however, I always feel pregnant in these styles-and I'm definitely not pregnant.

This tunic from Newport News would be super cute belted-it seems these looks I like will never work on me.

Although not a fan of this sweater, I'm digging the fall scrafs. I think they add something really cute to the outfit.

I just love the richness of fall and wish I could change my whole house decor for this time of the year-not rich enough for that yet. :)

Mr. McB's Recent Project

2008-09-17T16:36:00.000-04:00

Have I mentioned that I have the best husband? Well, I do.

Getting married fairly young (early-mid 20s), Mr. McB and I have had to handle some hand-me-downs in our life-especially hand-me-down furniture. My mother-in-law was gracious enought to give us her old dressers. We have two matching pieces, but they were stained different colors and had old hardware. Needless to say, the dressers were not Mr. McB and my style.

We decided to refinish them and one day while I was at work, I come home to this.

Our dresser-stripped and sitting in the middle of our place. That evening-my life revolved around this.

The painting of our old furniture. I was thrilled for the process to be happening so soon.

After hours of painting and hours of letting the paint dry and lots of money and wedding gift cards spent on the perfect hardware, Mr. McB and I have beautiful, brand new dressers.

Our beautiful dressers (please ignore the dog blanket in the floor).

What do you think? Did Mr. McB do a good job?

Mr. McB loves....

2008-09-04T10:45:00.000-04:00

After being tagged, but not directly, just as a newlywed....I decided to do a post on Mr. McB's loves.

1. If you know Mr. McB, the first is not hard to figure out.

WVU football and all other WVU athletics

2. West Virginia University, for the most part, in general

3. Our families

4. Our dog (lacking a pic on this computer)

5. God!

6. Our friends-near and far

7. Coaching baseball

8. Wine

9. Being a handy man

That basically sums up Mr. McB!!!! See why I love him?!

Tagged by Shaney!

2008-09-04T08:49:00.000-04:00

Here are the tagging rules:
1. Post the rules on your blog
2. Write 6 random things about yourself
3. Tag 6 people at the end of your post
4. If you're tagged, DO IT and pass on the tag

Some random facts about yours truly:
1. I can't wait to finish this year of graduate school and move away. Although I'll miss everyone, Mr. McB and I need to start off elsewhere.
2. We just watched two of our best friends and their little girl move to GA. I already miss them like crazy and I don't know how I'll function without them.
3. I love dressing professional, but I also can't wait until the weekends to wear sweatsuits.
4. I have a true obsession with shopping-especially for clothes and house stuff.
5. The world confuses me sometimes-especially when you begin to drift away from people you thought you'd be best friends with forever.
6. I love to travel and I'm not as spoiled and as big a girl as everyone thinks. I love camping and the outdoors.

I tag...
1. D at http://allthingsgd.blogspot.com/
2. Amy at http://www.inspirationforeverydayliving.blogspot.com/
3. Bryn at http://brynalexandra.blogspot.com/
4. Kari at http://kariandtom-bettertogether.blogspot.com/
5. Kristal at http://goodfoodgoodfriendsgoodlife.blogspot.com/
6. mrs.leah.maria at http://marital-bless.blogspot.com/

First Post

2008-08-27T22:07:00.001-04:00

Sitting here drinking a bottle of Rosso with Mr. McB after a long day of work, I decided to latch onto the blogging phenomenon. My main hope was to be able to share my thoughts and such with friends and family who are now quickly moving all over the country. I hate losing touch with people and over the last couple of years I am realizing how easy it is to quickly lose touch with your best of friends.
After graduating with my undergraduate degree, some of my friends began moving away. Now that I am almost done with my masters degree, I see more and more people moving away and losing contact. I figured that blogging sounded like a good way to keep in touch with everyone and keep everyone a part of my life.
These thoughts and overwhelming feelings of sadness for friends on the move have lead me to this-my first blog. Hope you all enjoy! Cheers!