Laundry day... its a love/hate relationship

I'm not the cleanest, most organized person in the world... I wish I was, but I'm just not. When it comes to cleaning, once I actually start doing it, I don't mind, but actually convincing myself to take some time to clean... that is the hard part. I was sitting there on my floor (on what room was left on my floor) and staring at my pile of laundry saying, "just do it, just do it"... and I did. After a few loads of laundry, some bed making, desk organizing, swiffering and vacuuming, my room is spick and span! So worth it, so so worth it. The best part about it is that I can sprawl out on my beautiful, clean floor like this......

....how convenient!

An adorable dinner party on my porch!

I hosted my very first dinner party on Sunday! Olivia and Tyler came over and Drew and I cooked! (since Olivia cooked for our last dinner party). It was so much fun eating and chatting all evening with three of my favorite people. We had spinach fettucini alfredo, citrus-herb shrimp and a fruit salad with cayenne-lemon-mint syrup, complete with brownies and ice cream for dessert! Since my house is too small to fit a dinner table inside, we set up an adorable little table outside on my fabulous porch and had a cute candlelight dinner! It was perfect. Can't wait to do it again!

 

How bazaar

My roommate, Claire, came home from the grocery store with this today... strangest thing I've ever seen. A huge stalk of brussel sprouts! I've never seen brussel sprouts on a stalk before, it was quite a surprise. If I didn't know any better, I'd think she grew it herself! She's a weirdo... she bought it because she thought it was funny... and it was. Not to mention brussel sprouts taste like the earth itself. yuucky yuck. But let me tell you... it was hilarious. And barely fits in our refrigerator! Can't wait to eat those earthy-tasting vegetables growing on that stalk.

Praxis... YIKES

I had to take the Praxis exam on Saturday, which is the test you have to pass in order to get your teacher certification. It was terrible. I hate standardized testing more than anything in the world. I get really worked up about it and think about the amount of time I have left to finish and then I can't concentrate on the questions and then I worry about not getting every one right and then I freak out some more. I tried my best to just go with it and not think about the time factor much, but its easier said than done. This was only one of the tests I have to take. Some people take them both on the same day but I thought I would do my self a favor and split them up. I'm not about to put myself through four straight hours of standardized testing... ew... SOO, I have to take another one in a month and I won't find out if I passed this one for about a month. But we'll see! aaahh!

Breakfast... best time of day

I used to hate breakfast food. I would usually skip breakfast or just eat some cereal real fast in the morning. My family and I would stop at Waffle House while we were on a road trip and I would order lunch food. Who orders lunch food at a Waffle House??!! A younger version of me does, I guess.

Now, at this time in my life, breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. I love breakfast and everything about it. I love going out to eat for breakfast and I love making my own breakfast, depending on my mood and food supplies at the time. Usually my breakfast will consist of some type of breakfast sandwich. I like to make an egg and put it on a croissant or english muffin, along with some pepper jack cheese and bacon. As well as a lovely side of fresh fruit! (as pictured above). If I'm not in the cooking mood, a bagel and cream cheese will satisfy me any day, any time... ohhhh man I LOVE me some bagel and cream cheese.

When I go out for breakfast I go to one of my two all time favorite places to eat... Bull Street Gourmet (just two blocks from my house!) or Charleston Tea Company (just two blocks from Cupcake!). Except Saturday mornings when I don't have to work, we will go to the farmer's market at Marion Square and eat some delicious crepes while we sit in the shade under a tree.  Oh yummy yummy yummy.

Meet Jack Henry!

Jack Henry is my nephew. He's the cutest, funniest, most adorable baby I have ever met, and I'm pretty sure I'm not just saying that because I'm related to him. He was born August 15, 2008. I recently went to his charming little 1st birthday party. He threw us all a pool party! I was sad to find out that he doesn't know who I am and is a wee bit scared of me, but I tried my best to be his friend. He will soon learn that I am his favorite Aunt Shannon!

Jack Henry only 1 day old! (I flew home just to see him!)

Jack Henry in his spiffy wedding attire

A little Halloween pumpkin

Haha who knows?? his mom thought this would be funny....

Wishing me a happy 21st! (not that he knew it)

He can even drive the boat now!

 

yum yum cake! on his first birthday!

The whole family! He thought he'd give dad a little cake too!

He's a fabulous baby and very happy all the time. He's great! I looove him sooo much! There's some really really funny videos of him too! Click on these links to watch them.

pooping video

Dancing to Justin

Absolutely Hilarious

Harmony and Balance

I took a wellness assessment in my health class today in order to evaluate myself in the five dimensions of life: physical, social, spiritual, emotional and intellectual. In the end, I wasn't surprised by my results. My highest was a tie between the social and emotional categories and my lowest was the spiritual category. A person with a care for their well-being should strive to make the appropriate changes that are conducive to overall health and happiness. A person will reach harmony and balance once each of the dimensions are at optimum level. The motivating factor is that these transformations will help a person live life to their highest potential.

Looking at the assessment, it seems almost impossible to have each dimension at optimum level. However, I'm going to keep this assessment to remind myself to attempt to improve each aspect every day. I really don't see myself reaching the optimum levels any time soon, but maybe one day if I keep working on it, I will. I'd like to think so, anyway.

[picture taken in Costa Rica, 2007]