Challenge

While searching Pinterest today, I came across a little challenge that sparked my interest. I'm always up for a little challenge, and after reading the ins and outs of this one, I figured I'd give it a try.

http://pinterest.com/pin/56083957829410827/

All I have to do is take the required photo and blog about it. Voila! I'm gonna try to use my "nice" camera instead of my phone camera for these pictures. The way I see it, I'm working on my 12 in 2012. 

Here's today's picture. Bella and I spent some time outside in the backyard today after work and we saw this little guy. He was super busy climbing the trees, but stopped long enough for me to snap his picture.

That's it! Tomorrow's picture (words) should be interesting...

Surprise Party!

I've never been on either side of a surprise party. I've never had one, nor have I ever given one. I wasn't sure what to expect a few months ago when my sister-in-law came to me with the idea of throwing a surprise party for her husband, who is my older brother. Jen and Chip share the same birthday...February 7th...but this year, Chip is turning the big 3-0. Surprising him was going to be a super huge task. He doesn't like surprises. He doesn't like someone telling him where to be and when to be there. We had our work cut out for us.

Jen did such an amazing job with all of the details! She planned, organized, and delegated duties to Mom and I. The theme was "Life is great at 30!" and we used lots and lots of bright colors. The night went perfectly as planned. We had a great turnout, ate some really great food, and listened to Chris Canterbury play and sing. Chip was totally surprised and I think it is even safe to say that he was shocked that so many great people came out to help him celebrate his birthday.

The birthday boy mingling with friends and Uncle Tim :)

Ryan manned the margarita machine.

Kenni Lynn, Jenn, Ashley, Me, Lindsay, and Katie with Rudi creeping in the background.

Cheryl and Ben

Happy Birthday, Chip! Great job, Jen!

Poodle Surgeries and Birthdays

January has proven to be an extremely busy month in the Porter household! I can't believe that today is the last day of the month. It seems like we just got 2012 started! Oh well. Bring on February!

To recap what we've been up to, this post will serve as an all-in-one type thing.

We started the year off with a bang. Literally. On December 30, our sweet little poodle, Bella, had to have knee surgery on a torn ACL. Pitiful, right? She tore it at Mom and Dad's house a few days before and after getting her checked out, we were told that they'd have to fix it or she wouldn't be able to use her leg anymore. So awful!



So she had her surgery and we brought her home the same night. This is not something that I would recommend doing. She was still under anesthesia when we picked her up, and she slept for a solid 2-3 hours after we got home. When she woke up, she was in pain...big time. Poor thing. She and I were up most of the night trying to make her comfortable in her cast. It was awful. This picture is from the morning after her surgery...New Year's Eve. We snuggled on the couch all day and tried to make her as comfortable as possible.

Since then, she's recovered pretty well. She got her cast off 2 weeks after surgery and has seemed to get along fine. She's not nearly as active as she used to be, but then again, I wouldn't be either.

On a better note...January is full of birthdays for us! Papa Dude celebrated his birthday on the 14th, Ryan turned 32 on the 19th, and Dad wrapped up the month with his birthday on the 23rd. To celebrate, we invited Papa Dude, Mom, and Dad over to have some of the red fish that we caught on our trip. They were so awesome! I am blessed to have married such a great cook! I made a big strawberry cake for the birthday boys and Mom and I serenaded them with "Happy Birthday!" Ha!

Dad decided that he wanted to eat at his favorite restaurant for his family birthday dinner and I am so glad he did! We ate at L' Italiano in Bossier and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, but we missed Rudi being there!

To celebrate Ryan's big day, I tried my best to surprise him first thing in the morning. I woke up bright and early to decorate the area that separates our bedroom from the bathroom and the rest of the house. I blew up balloons, hung banners, and everything! Haha! I think he was so sleepy that it kinda confused him.

I made him his favorite Lemon Poppyseed muffins for breakfast and had to make him blow out candles!

When he got home that night, we pan seared some redfish and had some sauteed green beans to go with it. We always make each other a birthday cake each year, and this year he requested a "yellow cake with your homemade chocolate icing." It's the little things...

Happy Birthday to three of the most wonderful, loving, and supportive men that I know! I enjoyed celebrating with you and hope that each of you have a year full of happiness!

So....that's it for now. Tomorrow's post is about a birthday, too!

January Birchbox!

I read a while back about a company called "Birchbox" on http://www.thesmallthingsblog.com/. It is a website that, for $10 a month, will send you a box full of sample sized goodies for skin care, hair, and other beauty products. If you are anything like me and love shopping the travel section of Sephora or Ulta, you'll love this! Some of those travel or sample size goodies run about $8-10 each, so getting 5-6 of them for $10 is totally worth it to me! When you go to http://www.birchbox.com/ you can choose a 3 month, 6 month, or monthly package. They have you fill out a small questionnaire about the types of products you enjoy or are interested in and they also ask about your skin tendencies, coloring, etc. Check 'em out!

Today, my first Birchbox came! It is so neatly packaged and put together! I loved it! In the box, they put a card that explains each of the items and how much they typically run for a full size. Here is my first box!

The following information is from the card that they put in the box:

• Juicy Couture/Juicy Couture

Juicy's signature fragrance is a blend of sweet floral notes. Sophisticated and feminine, it's perfect for day or night. Full-size $69-$89

• Miracle Skin Transformer/ Treat and Conceal

Don't just hide your problem spots: treat them. This creamy concealer is packed with actives to correct, cover, and protect your skill. Full-size $36

• VMV Hypoallergenics/ Re-Everything: Eye Serum

Make a vow to conquer those dark circles once and for all. This anti-aging eye serum brightens and revives your under eye area. Full-size $80.

• Zoya/ Nail Polish in Megan

Part of Zoya's new Feel Collection, this pale lavender-gray is the perfect winter neutral. The creamy formula dries to an ultra glossy finish. Full-Size $8.

• 'wichcraft/ Granola

This toasty granola, from Top Chef judge Tom Colicchio's NY-based 'wichcraft chain, takes care of snack cravings without any guilt. Full-size $8

So there you have it! I am looking forward to trying out these goodies ASAP and am already looking forward to February's Birchbox!

Number 8

Well, it's the second week of January and I've already been able to cross off half of one of my 12 in 2012. I say half because my number eight on the list is to travel to two places that I've never been before. This past weekend, Ryan and I traveled down to Port Sulfur, Louisiana for a fishing trip with our friends Bernard and Jenny. I didn't travel out of state, but hey, I've never been to Port Sulfur...so mission accomplished (halfway)!

Ryan picked me up from school on Friday and we made the trek down south that afternoon/evening. We made a pit stop on the Westbank for some groceries and looky, looky what I found! Kalik is the Bahamian beer that my family loves to have when we are in the Bahamas every summer. It is so hard to find it here in the States, so I was thrilled to find it in New Orleans! We picked up a few six packs to bring home to Mom, Dad, Chip, and Jen.

Side note: all of these pictures are from my phone because I didn't want to take my big camera on the boat.

We made it to Port Sulfur Friday night and loved catching up with Bernard and Jenny. The fishing camp that we stayed at was so awesome! I'll definitely be requesting another trip soon! I didn't take pictures of the camp, but these are some pictures of our early morning fishing trip. Our boat ended up catching 15 redfish and 4 speckled trouts. We're gonna be grilling some redfish this weekend and I'll be making some kind of redfish dish for R's birthday next week.

After our awesome day on the water, we cleaned up and headed into New Orleans to meet up with Angele, Danielle, and Aunt June. We love spending time with them and this trip didn't disappoint. Ok, maybe it did in some ways, but we all had a fabulous time together and I even got to "Tiger Bait" a few Bama fans. Which, as Monday"s National Championship game played out, didn't help my LSU Tigers any. Whatev....

New Orleans was INSANE with BCS fans and the typical crazy folk. We found a nice perch at "Howl at the Moon" piano bar and really enjoyed ourselves. Some more than others.

Sunday was spent on the road headed home to start my first "full" week back at school from Christmas break. Is this school year really halfway over? Dang.

Thanksgiving and Christmas Belated Pictures

Thanksgiving in Athens-

Because no Thanksgiving is complete without a skeet shoot...

 And the crowd went wild...

 My two favorite men

 Tournament of Wanna Be Champions

 Christmas Tree Farm Adventure!

 Mom posing with her and Dad's tree

 My favorite little family of 3

 Bella partied hard on Christmas Eve.

 Cam? Is that you? Sweet shirt.

 Our tacky Christmas attire

 We wish you a very tacky Christmas and a happy New Year!

 Monkey see, Monkey do...



My Twelve in 2012

This particular post has been on my mind for the last week or so. I've never really been big into making New Year resolutions, particularly because I never have the true desire to keep them. Eat healthy, get into shape, lose 10 pounds...yeah, yeah, yeah...they never last more than two weeks. So this year, I'm changing it up a bit. Partly because I am determined to look back on 2012 and be overly satisfied (like I have been with 2011) and partly because I have a lot (A LOT!) I want to do this year. I've decided to make a list of the top twelve things I want to accomplish in 2012. These are in no particular order and the only time limit that I've set is by December 31, 2012.

1. Run a full 5k (no stopping, no walking)
2. Work out 3-4 times a week, every week.
3. Eat cleaner- less processed food and more fresh fruits and veggies
4. Make and complete a book list. (I've already started, but plan on adding to it throughout the year.)
5. Give up sweets (candies, cookies, cakes, pies, etc.) for 40 days. Depending on when Lent falls. :)
6. Take more pictures of everyday life.
7. Sign off of Facebook FOR GOOD and start blogging at least once a week.
8. Travel to at least 2 places I've never been.
9. *
10. Do more couponing. I was doing pretty well with this a while back and need to get back into it.
11. Join a Sunday School Class
12. *

So there it is in black and white. As I accomplish each of these twelve goals, I'll document it and proudly mark it off the list! I'm sure you've noticed that number 9 and number 12 have astericks by them. This is for a personal reason and in no way means that I'm skipping two goals! Ha!

Do you have any resolutions or goals for the new year?

Happy 2012!