Tripping Down the Aisle

We are still alive!

2012-01-03T18:29:00.005-05:00

I'd like to say that it is a goal for me to blog more in 2012, but we all know that probably won't happen. No promises this year, but I will try to be a little better at this blog thing.

Lots of stuff has happened since the last time I updated. We hosted Thanksgiving, lost a dear friend, Clay's brother got married, Christmas, New Years... a lot!

We did have some free time to take some Christmas/Annual pictures this year. I was lucky to find Tanya on Craigslist because she was trying to build her portfolio. I figured we had nothing to lose and Clay humored my love for bow ties and balloons. :-) We had lots of fun spending part of the afternoon at a park in Charleston and jumping off of things. If you are in the area and need a photographer for family pictures you should hit her up.

Three Months

2011-07-25T21:22:00.002-04:00

I can't believe that I have not blogged ONCE in over three months. I'm probably going to publish this to the sound of crickets chirping.

I guess I should give you a little stuff to fill in the gap.

We:

Closed on our house April 21
Moved out of our rental before May 1
Worked a lot (We both got new bosses, so we have been busy.)
Bought an iPhone :-D
Got confirmed (Clay)/received (Katy) into the Episcopal Church
Partied- Hosted Memorial Day and 4th of July
Went home to Columbia for the first/second time since my grandfather passed away in March. Last week was the first time that I've been in the house since his funeral. It's still weird.
Celebrated Clay's brother's engagement
Vacationed in Bryson City, NC this past week

I'll post more about some of that stuff another time. I need to go find my camera cord so I can upload some pictures to go along with all the blogs. :-)

Until the next post you can find me on twitter and pinterest. :-)

Am I following you on either? Let me know if I'm not so I can stalk you.

Happy 1 Year To Us!!

2011-04-10T08:00:00.000-04:00

Just a few of our favorite pictures from our very special day last year.

We will be going to church in the morning and renewing our vows with the Deacon after. Our first year of marriage started stressful with my grandfather being sick and ended even more so with him passing in March. We had a lot of great times over the last year and want to renew our commitment to each other. It's just going to be the two of us (and the Deacon) there, so it is really just for us.

Who knows... we might get remarried every year. :-) I have a friend that has gotten married every year. She typically goes to Vegas each year for her anniversary and has been married by at least 5 different Elvis impersonators. I think that would be fun.

After that we are going to hang out on the boat, pop a bottle of champagne, and cut into our anniversary cake. Clay supposedly has some dinner reservations that he won't tell me anything about. All I have gotten out of him is that I need to dress up "nice."

We agreed on no presents awhile back. Since the first gift is supposed to be a paper gift and we are buying a house, the first anniversary gift to the both of us is going to be the deed to our house... and we'll use some "paper" to buy some stuff at Lowe's.

I'm sure of that.

Saying goodbye to my Papa

2011-03-18T18:56:00.003-04:00

I've been avoiding the post, but I knew I'd have to do it at some point. I started writing it weeks ago, but I just couldn't finish it. I think it's the saying and writing it part that makes everything difficult.

The excitement of getting the house quickly ended on Saturday. The excitement quickly turned into the devastation of losing my sweet Papa. If you've been following since before the wedding you know that he had a massive heart attack the week of our wedding. A year ago from yesterday actually.

He'd been suffering from COPD and required the use of an oxygen tank. Since he got sick he lost so much weight but every time you talked to him he would say he was feeling great.

On March 12th, he had gone to the mailbox and when he came back inside he was having trouble breathing. He went into the bathroom for awhile and my grandmother realized she hadn't seen him in awhile. He had collapsed in the bathroom and by the time the ambulance had arrived he barely had a pulse. He was taken to the hospital where he eventually passed away. I never got to say goodbye. By the time I arrived in Columbia, he was already gone.

In all reality he should have died in April. He actually should have died when I was in high school and he got very sick after his quintuple by-pass surgery. But last April was a gift from God.

He had gone to visit my great-grandmother at the nursing home. He started to feel faint on the drive back and pulled into a Shell station. Our family angel, Rose, had gone to the Pizza Hut across the street but decided she wasn't going to pay $2.99 for a soda so she was going to go to the Hess station next door instead. For some reason she wound up going to the Shell instead. She noticed my grandfather hunched over the steering wheel because he still had his turn signal on.

Rose knocked on the window once and he didn't respond. He lifted his head the second time she knocked. He rolled down the window and Rose asked if he was ok. He told her that he thought he was just having a diabetic attack, so she had someone get him some juice and a towel. She wanted to call EMS, but he said it was not necessary. My grandparents only had one car, so Rose asked if she could drive him home so my grandmother could take him to the doctor. When she was driving him home she noticed him clutching his chest. You know the rest from last April or you can click the link up there^.

It's a miracle that we have had almost this extra year with him. The biggest blessing for me was having Rose there the week of the funeral. She helped remind me of that every time I saw her. She said that the Thursday before he died, she had a four hour break and just had a feeling that she needed to go see my Papa. She sat with him for a few hours. When she told me that I got to thinking about how everything else has happened.

In February, we decided to go home to Columbia for Clay's birthday instead of going on a trip or to his hometown. The last time I saw my Papa was that weekend. That Friday he had spoken to my mom's second grade class about drawing with geometric shapes (he was a graphic artist, like me :-D) and that Saturday we all went out to dinner for Clay's birthday. He was so happy.

We found the house on March 10th and put an offer on it. We found out we got the house and I called to tell him that Friday. I got to talk to him the day before he passed. I got to tell him I loved him.

I feel like this past year has been an opportunity for us to say goodbye. He saw Clay and I happily married. He got to see wedding pictures. He got to see honeymoon videos. He heard we got the house and he saw pictures on facebook. This time last year I thought he wouldn't see that.

It's almost been an entire month since he passed. I miss him, dearly. I loved him so much.

WE GOT THE HOUSE!!

2011-03-11T23:38:00.002-05:00

Our house hunt has been... interesting. We went to one place that had a shotgun on the mantle, another had a stoned woman on the couch, and some very weird additions. We were scheduled to look at three houses yesterday. Two were new and the other 1 was a 2nd view for us.

Well... we got to the first house and just stopped looking. It was perfect.

Meet the Hunter's Lodge (get it? Our last name is Hunter :-D)

Our closing date is April 21st, so keep your fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly!

Life Management March

2011-03-02T10:12:00.002-05:00

I know I disappear all the time, but now I am back because I need to be held accountable by all of you. A few weeks ago I decided that I was going to turn March into "Money Management March." The more I thought about it the more I decided that it needs to be more about managing my life in general. I don't even have kids and I never seem to have enough time in my day to get anything done.

Yesterday, was the start of "Life Management March."

There's a few things I want to accomplish over the month. I will list the three things I want to do, plan to do, and the things I need your feedback on. Here come the bullet points:

- I want to become more organized when it comes to our household. I will do his creating a household notebook to have a universal place for all information in our house: calendars, bills, maintenance, meal plans, etc. I need you to help me figure out what I am missing in my notebook. What do you recommend I put in mine that helps your household be more organized? Do you have a cleaning schedule that you follow? Hook a girl up, because I need help.

- I want to do more than just tap class each week. I will do this by starting P90X with Clay. I passed the fit test, so I know I can start it. I need to be in better shape. I need you to give me tips if you have completed P90X or any long workout menu. I also need recipes. I only eat fish or chicken.

- I want to put a contract on our first home. I will do this because the lease on our house ends on April 30th and I don't want to be homeless. I need you to keep your fingers crossed that we find a house we like... soon.

Any have any Life Management tips for me? I need all I can get right now.

Happy Birthday to Clay!

2011-02-09T09:00:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to take a moment to wish a happy 25th birthday to my sweet husband!

Birthday plans for today include Wednesday Night Supper at church where there will be a cake for Clay! He helps cook each Wednesday so it will be a great surprise for him. :-) We also have some plans with family this weekend to go bowling, out to eat, and the whole cake/ice cream thing.

His gift is also EPIC.

You ready for this?

A brand new trumpet.

A "professional" trumpet.

He doesn't get it until Saturday and I know he doesn't check the blog anymore, so don't tell him I told you. :-D

my heart is heavy

2011-01-30T21:13:00.004-05:00

When I interviewed for my job at the church in August I had a second interview with the Interim Rector (minister). It turned out that the church had been without a "real" rector since April when he left to go to another church. We attended church that following Sunday to hear him preach. Clay and I heard the message that confirmed that not only were we in the right place for a job, but that we were in the right place for us. We needed a church and he preached everything we needed to hear that Sunday.

Over the course of the next few months we continued to hear what we needed to hear each week from Father Rick. It wasn't just Sunday mornings. I had a wonderful spiritual leader each and everyday at work. We aren't the only ones. It was everyone. My mother even came one week and had me send the audio file to my aunt, so she could hear his message.

He was only supposed to be with us until the end of November, but he continued to serve as our Interim Rector. In December at our staff meeting we learned that it wasn't forever. He and his wife had been called to Egypt. He had an opportunity to teach at a seminary in Alexandria, Egypt... and he was leaving in less than a month.

Then on New Years there was the Christian church bombing in Alexandria. After much prayer, they both decided that it was still their calling. They prepared. We prepared.

His wife told us that she had been in contact with the other wives at the seminary. They told them that it was worse than the news was portraying. They had the option again to say no, but they felt that it was still their calling

A few days before they left we met as a staff for a final lunch. They seemed at peace about everything no matter how difficult it would be. She told us that even if the worst outcome was possible that they would be fine and that their family would be fine.

They arrived in Alexandria on January 20th and planned to be there through July.

You know everything that has been going on in Egypt since then.

We haven't heard anything, but we are assuming that no news is good news. I don't know if they will even come home with the rest of the Americans tourists.

But if you believe in prayer...

Please pray for Egypt.

Please pray for Father Rick and Anne. As much as we would love to have them home, I know that the people of Egypt will hear what they NEED to hear right now from Rick.

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear. -1 John 4:18

there's an ache in my ear...

2011-01-28T22:30:00.003-05:00

For the past couple months I have had an earache.

Yes, you read that right, a couple of months. Like before Thanksgiving, couple of months.

It's been a dull pain. Tolerable. No sharp, stabby pain. A lot of pressure that is best compensated for by applying pressure from the outside.

With the ache came a tickling feeling. Not like a bottom-of-your-feet kind of tickle. It's almost like a tiny hair that torments you constantly.

There is also a lot of ear popping when I swallow, yawn, or breathe the wrong way.

And the real kicker... it only really comes around at night and first thing in the morning. It's made the whole sleep thing a hard thing to grasp. Unless I sleep on my left ear, I can't even fall asleep. AND if the tickle feeling is there I have to hold my finger in my ear until it goes away.

I can't even tell you when the last time was that I slept through the entire night. There are many nights when I wake up in the middle of the night and just sit straight up until the feeling subsides. Talk about aggravating. I know Clay was getting tired of my tossing and turning.

About a month ago, I decided that I had enough of it. Why did I wait so long? I've always had ear issues and most of the time it just goes away. I just attributed it to the indecisive Charleston weather. I figured one day I'd wake up and it would be gone, but then I Googled the feeling and read about people dealing with this same thing for months and years... even with seeing a Doctor and ENT. I took enough Sudafed for the pharmacist to think that I probably run some illegal drug operation out of our house. Clay's uncle is a doctor and he told me at Christmas to just keep taking it and if it didn't work to go see someone down here.

I went to Nason (if you are from Charleston you know they have awesome commercials) to finally get the medical attention my ear deserved. Nason is beyond awesome. They will give you snacks (soda and junk food are main staples of the list) and each room has cable. I digress. The point is that I went to the doctor. They looked at my ears and said I had a ton of fluid in my middle ear that was causing all the tickling and pressure. So they prescribed some heavy steroids and antibiotics.

I took them. It went away for a few days and came back. So I went back to Nason.

This time I saw THE Nason (the guy that owns the place and is in all the commercials). He said fluid was back in my middle ear. I bet you can imagine all the bad words going through my head when he said that. He told me that he thought I would need to see an ENT about getting tubes and wanted to put me on another heavy dose of steroids. Think 5 days of 5 pills of prednisone all at once. Followed by 4 and 3 and then... you catch my drift. They also tried to give me a shot which I quickly turned down (deathly afraid of needles) and then I headed out the door.

I talked about how frustrated I was with this stuff in my staff meeting the next day. Our children's ministry director sent a quick email to a pediatric ENT that attends our church explaining everything and asked him to call me. He called me 5 minutes after the meeting and told me to come to his office the next day and he would look at it. I also got the go ahead to stop the crazy dose of steroids that were making me feel crazy.

Clay and I went on Wednesday. Waltzed right in. Sat in a chair. He looked at my ear under a microscope and said he didn't see a lot of fluid. He decided to poke a hole in my eardrum to relieve some pressure and any fluid that was in there. I'll spare you the details. It wasn't painful, but it wasn't very pleasant.

I felt kind of weird after it. It was almost like a hot flash. I got real warm and felt like I was going to pass out. That afternoon and the next day I was pretty... off. He told me that my equilibrium would be a little messed up and he was right. I was also told that if it didn't fix it that I would need to come in for a hearing test.

But you know what?!?! The tickle is GONE. The pressure is gone. AND I got a full night of sleep last night. Praise the Lord! I am thankful for this little hole in my eardrum. :-D

I'm also still waiting for that original ENT that Nason was "referring" to me to call to set up an appointment.

Glad I'm not holding my breath on that one.

Back to Blogging

2011-01-14T13:00:00.002-05:00

I don't really even know where to begin this post. Actually I've started this post probably 20 times and just couldn't think of anything else to write beyond the "I don't know where to even begin" line. There probably isn't even anyone still reading this, but if you are... hi!

I'll start by saying that I am sorry that it's been so long since I posted anything really worth reading. Well I guess I can be honest and just say that I don't think I had anything going on that I thought you would find worth reading. I've been busy, but life has just turned into chaos.

Work has kept me busy. I love my job. If you've been around for a few months, you probably know I work as the Director of Communications for a church in Mt. Pleasant. I've been in my position since August and everyday I wake up happy to go to work. Don't get me wrong... there are plenty of days where I just want to stay in bed and snuggle with Clay and the dogs. BUT 99.9% of the time I am happy to be at work. I love the work I do and the people I work with everyday. My office is also lime green (and I'm working on making it even more fun) and I even have Fridays off. :-)

Work has had it's stressful moments, though. Christmas and Easter for me are crazy. Christmas week alone I had to make service bulletins for 3 different Christmas services and the regular Sunday bulletin... and then print about 1500 of them. A couple weeks ago one of our administrative buildings caught on fire. It was literally 4 feet away from my office building. We were very lucky that it was caught early and didn't spread to the other buildings. Then someone broke into another building and stole some office equipment. And now our beloved Interim Rector will be leaving us to go teach at a seminary in Egypt for a few months. Did you notice the Interim Rector part? We haven't had a "real" rector since April and the search committee is still looking. We have another interim coming in this week, so we get another "boss" until our real one arrives.

In all honesty the stressful moments really aren't that bad and I have been blessed with more than just a job. Clay and I struggled to find a church to fit us and our needs. We found that with my job. Not only do we hear what we need to hear each Sunday, we have found a great place for US in this church. Clay has been able to get involved by helping cook every Wednesday and he plays the trumpet at Sunday services. We also get to participate in awesome events like the one in the picture (it's from 12th Night, our Epiphany celebration, that has a huge celebration and a bonfire of hundreds of Christmas trees.)

I could really go on and on about how great my job is, but I don't want to bore you to death or have you hate me if you don't like your job.

I guess this is where I pull out the bullet points and fill you in on life:

The puppies are doing great. It's still just the three and right now they are all touching me somewhere on my body (Toby is in my lap, Ozzy is on my shoulder, and Mayfield is on my leg.)
We decided not to go through with buying our house on Johns Island and are looking in the Mt. Pleasant area to be closer to both our jobs and the boat.
I'm taking tap classes every Tuesday... and it's awesome.
I am stoked about Trader Joes announcing they are coming to Mt. Pleasant and that Forever 21 & PF Changs are coming to Charleston. Now we just need an Ikea.
Clay's in line for another promotion at work. Keep your fingers crossed that we hear something in the next few days.
Oh.. and I'm back to blogging!

We're Still Alive!

2010-12-16T22:04:00.000-05:00

Just really busy. :-(

I miss you. I really do.

I'll be back soon!

My Awesome Birthday and Glee Giveaway!

2010-10-14T21:33:00.003-04:00

For my 24th birthday last Saturday, I performed 24 Random Acts of Kindness throughout Charleston. For a full recap of my AWESOME birthday click here. It was truly amazing and I can not wait to do it again next year!

There is also a giveaway going on over there for a Glee Season 1 dvd. The giveaway will close on Saturday at noon, so be sure to enter before then!

The Epic 24th Birthday!

2010-10-02T13:45:00.004-04:00

I have decided that I am going to have the best birthday EVER for my 24th birthday on October 9th!!! I already have everything I could ever need, so this is a perfect time for me to give back. For my birthday, I (and the family members I have recruited) will be performing 24 Random of Kindness around Charleston, SC.

I first saw the idea over at Mix, Mingle, Glow when she did the same thing for her 38th birthday and our engagement photographer, Erin Hession (if you need a photographer in Indiana... she's your girl), did it for her 30th birthday. Go check out their birthday adventures, too!

Imagine how AWESOME the world we be if everyone performed just one random act of kindness a day. I will be posting to my twitter account (@KatyRAOKS) every time we perform a RAOK. At the end of the day I will post everything to this blog.

Help make my birthday EPIC! My hope is that you will join me next Saturday, October 9th and perform one or more Random Acts of Kindness around your town. Follow my other blog and Twitter to see what I do!

What's the nicest thing someone has ever done for you?

"Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality." -Romans 12:9-13

I'm Sorta Famous.. Again. :-)

2010-09-17T19:30:00.005-04:00

When I was a senior in high school, my school hosted a competition for who had the most school spirit for the Clemson/U. of South Carolina game. I was on a mission to prove that I was the biggest Clemson fan around. I decided that painting my face like a tiger was the best way to do it. I really wish I could find the picture from the first time I painted my face. My mom has it somewhere at their house, but it was the start of something great!

When I went off to Clemson I became involved with an organization named Central Spirit. The organization supports most sports organizations on campus by attending games and promoting them. They wear the orange overalls and run the flags on the field at the football games. In order to get your priority seating or field passes, you had to get up at the crack of dawn and blow up thousands of balloons to release when the players run down The Hill. Someone has to do it, right?

My blood bleeds orange. I have traveled North, South, East, and West... and as far as Texas... to see my Tigers play. Along the way my adventures got documented by many photographers and I became somewhat famous for being "The Tigergirl" as many people called me.

Here are just a few pictures from across the web:

This was at the USC/CU game my freshman year (2004). Ring a bell? It's a year that the big fight happened in the middle of the game... and that was when it started. Notice the look of confusion?

The majority of the games I was on the field waving the flags in the end zones when we scored. Before every game there is a parade with Central Spirit, band, and cheerleaders. When the parade reaches the stadium the person with the paw flag runs it in and waves it in the end zone by The Hill. People go nuts when it happens. I had the privilege of doing this multiple times throughout my college career. Needless to say, I have never had so many chill bumps in my life.

Notice the guy in the navy/white hat to me in the past three pictures... he's my ex.
This picture was from when I started to hit "the big time." The image was featured on SportsIllustrated.com and FoxSports.com. :-)

My sophomore year I was contacted by a writer for CO-ED magazine. It was a magazine surrounding college life. Every issue they did a feature on "It's That Guy"... because let's face it, every college has a super fan. I was selected to be "That Girl"... the first and only. :-) This is even framed in our house. I wish you could read everything on it. The asked me what the weirdest thing that ever happened to be was a drunk girl yelling "kitty cat, kitty cat, come here, come here" multiple times. When I finally went over she started petting my head.

I've also been in the school newspaper a few times, as well.

The coolest outcomes of me painting up are from going to this basketball game (I wish I still had those abs... ridiculous.)

A photographer took a picture of us front row cheering. It made the web and a few newspapers. BUT the coolest things that resulted were it being blown up on a wall in the Coliseum on campus (don't have a picture) and it being wrapped on the side of the Coliseum's van. I do have pictures of that. :-)

I'm telling you all that back story for a reason and not because it is football season. But GO TIGERS while we are at this point. :-)

Earlier this week my friend Frank sent me a picture message. Frank works as an advisor for one of the school's down here for Clemson. It said "You are on the cover on the new Clemson admissions guide!" I had a minute to comprehend that, because I graduated over a year ago. I must have been painted like a tiger, because that's what everything else is.

Boy, was I wrong. Here I am in all my glory WITHOUT face paint! I am semi-famous for the next year. :-)

I'm still excited. Can't you tell? :-)

Blogger Blahs

2010-09-12T14:18:00.003-04:00

Sorry I have gone MIA... again. Blogging and Tweeting have really been placed on the back burner the past few weeks. I just have a serious case of the blogger blahs. I feel like the stuff I'd blog about would just be depressing, because it's the stuff that has just been weighing heavily on my mind and heart the past few weeks. One of the "things" should have some clarity in the next few weeks, but the other is something we are going to have to live with for a lifetime.

On a positive note, I still love my job. :-)

On a side note, Does anyone know how to change a Blogspot account to a domain? We already own it from the wedding... I just can't figure it out. I can at least do something productive during my blogging break.

Awesome news!

2010-08-20T22:01:00.002-04:00

This girl has a full-time JOB!

{the picture has nothing to do with the job. it just conveys my excitement.}

August 10: Submitted resume/portfolio on Craigslist for Director of Communications job at a church in Mt. Pleasant

August 11: Got response back to set up interview

August 12: First interview- was told to go home and pray about it with Clay

August 15: Went to the church for Sunday service and we loved it! I let them know I was very interested in the position.

August 16: Set up time for second interview

August 17: Second interview

August 18: Got a job offer

August 19: First day at work

Everything happened so quickly! This job is the answer to so many prayers. I have spent the past 3.5 months submitting 30-40 resumes a week to companies in Charleston. I can't even begin to tell you how many times I have gone through interviews to have just been told that the interviewer could just "throw a dart at the resumes and pick one" {I actually heard that in one interview.} Sadly, student loans and bills do not pay themselves and my bank account was starting to look pitiful. I was pretty sure that I was going to be doomed to flipping hamburgers at McDonalds {not that there is anything wrong with that, but I don't think it would be the loans off either.} I'm pretty sure you can tell I'm excited about this job!

Clay and I are also excited we found a church to attend. He is Southern Baptist and I am Catholic, so finding a middle ground was awesome!

There will be a lot more coming up about my job and office {it's painted lime green!}

I AM SO EXCITED!

I've been thinking...

2010-08-12T10:18:00.002-04:00

About doing a video series on things ladies should know how to do without the help of a man. I am a firm believer that every woman/girl should know how to change a flat tire, how to jump a car, etc. As an only child growing up in the country I had to be the girl my mom wanted and the boy my dad always wanted. I spent some afternoons in ballet class and some with my hands in a engine bay.

What kind of things would you like to see or know how to do?

The puppies would like to say "hello"

2010-08-10T22:44:00.002-04:00

Mayfield, Ozzy, and Toby

Don't you remember the day we got Mayfield when she was the size of our hand or the day she opened her eyes? If you are a new follower you can start reading about Mayfield's (and her brothers') story here. We've had her since she was 3 days old!

You can read about when we rescued Ozzy here.

Toby was before we started the blog, but he's a rescue just like the others!

Guess who's back?!?

2010-08-08T22:15:00.004-04:00

ME! :-D

Obviously, you can still find us on Twitter (@KatyandClay) when you can't find us on here.

There has been so much going on lately and I wish I could find my camera cord. I took some really funny pictures of the dogs while we were in Clemson a few weeks ago.

Today also marks the 1 year anniversary of my graduation from Clemson. Time went by so quickly!

Congrats to all the August 2010 grads!

HELLO LURKERS

2010-07-21T20:51:00.002-04:00

Hi lurkers, followers, subscribers, and commenters!

As I posted earlier I am taking a bit of a break to recover from a severe ear infection. I decided that I am going to work on giving my blog a facelift at the same time. Please excuse the mess as I fiddle with everything.

While I take this blogging break, come out and let me know who you are! I need/want to update my blog roll and I know I have gotten new followers/commenters lately. So amuse me by answering a few questions:

1. Who are you?

2. What's your blog address? If you don't have one, where are you from?

3. Are you on Twitter? If so, where can I find you?

4. What would you like to see more of on our blog? Less of?

5. Tell me something unique about you.

Blogging Break

2010-07-21T16:54:00.002-04:00

I am going to have to take a break from blogging for a few days. I'll put all the challenges into one day, but I have a massive ear infection so I'm slightly medicated and resting a lot.

I'll still update on Twitter, so follow along with us there: @KatyandClay.

Day 18- a time I felt passionate and alive

2010-07-20T11:16:00.006-04:00

At football games when I was at Clemson. Every home game I was on the field waving a flag every time we scored. I was also in this contest with Alltel to be Clemson's biggest fan. I wound up winning a bike and some other stuff out of it.

Did you that I was known as The Tigergirl? I may or may not have been a crazy Clemson fan. When my face was painted it was as if nothing mattered. No one (except friends) knew who I was, so I could jump around and act like an idiot. It was definitely a fun alter ego. I've been in magazines, newspapers, and on tv. I'm also on a van and a few walls at the coliseum.

This is one of the articles I was in.

This is the side of the van.

Another fun fact- I was allergic to the orange face paint. When I took off the paint I had a rash in the form of stripes for a few hours. It didn't hurt, I just didn't go out in public until they went away.

You are only young once, right?

What about you? When have you felt passionate and alive?

Day 17- An Art Piece

2010-07-19T21:49:00.000-04:00

Day 16- a song that makes me cry

2010-07-18T10:40:00.003-04:00

I am not much of a crier. Is that weird? I don't ever show a lot of emotion, but that has a lot to do how I was raised.

So... to cry over a song just does not happen. I might get a little misty eyed when I hear Clair de Lune, but that's just because of the wedding.

Do you cry over songs?

Day 15- a person I admire

2010-07-17T11:24:00.003-04:00

Halfway through this thing and then it's back to regularly scheduled postings. :-)

Refer back to Day 8. It's the same people.

Day 14- a vacation i would like to take

2010-07-16T12:48:00.004-04:00

I would just like to take a vacation at this point. I am burnt out on looking for a job and Clay works so much that I barely get to spend quality time with him.

I would love to just jump on a plane, fly to the Virgin Islands, charter a sailboat, and then island hop. With a lot of snorkeling in water that looks just like this.

Actually. Forget it.

We are breaking ground on our house in St. Martin.

Just kidding.

A girl can dream, right?

Day 13- a guilty pleasure

2010-07-15T10:05:00.002-04:00

Are you starting to get burned out on this blogging challenge? I might be. I'm glad that I'm blogging everyday, but there's really not much depth to it.

I'm secret shopping at a gas station today. I have to buy cigarettes for the first time in my life since I look like I am 16. This adventure will probably turn out interesting to say the least.

Clearly, smoking is not a guilty pleasure.

`<--- that was from Mayfield

Thrift shopping is my guilty pleasure. Yard sales, flea markets, Goodwills, Habitat stores... you name it. There's just something about turning someone else's junk into my treasure. I can't even tell you how much Lilly I have found flipping through racks at Goodwill.

What are some of your guilty pleasure? Chocolate is a close second for me.

Day 12- songs at our wedding

2010-07-14T10:50:00.006-04:00

Clay arranged all the music for the wedding. He and the groomsmen (his fellow corpsmen) played the pre-ceremony music, his childhood best friend and stepbrother played me down the aisle, and they both played the recessional.

Doesn't Clay look scared to death?

Pre-ceremony included "Canon in D"

I walked down the aisle to "Clair De Lune"

And we left to "All You Need is Love"

At the reception, Clay's other step-brother sang while his brother played the guitar to "Write You a Song" by the Plain White T's for our first dance.

Dad and I danced to "Smile" from the Glee soundtrack

Clay and his mom danced to "Have I Told You Lately" by Rod Stewart

We cut the cake to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"

The garter was Georgia Satellites "Keep Your Hands to Yourself"

The bouquet toss was Queen's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love"

Our last dance song was Chris Botti's "Con te Partiro"

Day 11- Recent Photo of Me

2010-07-13T09:00:00.000-04:00

Recent would be the wedding, right?

The photographer took this while I was peeking through the doors at Clay.

Day 10- A Photo of Me from 10+ Years Ago

2010-07-12T09:00:00.000-04:00

I was 3 or 4... So I went about 20 years back. :-)

Day 9- A Photo I Took

2010-07-11T09:00:00.002-04:00

Day 8- A Thank You Letter to Someone Who Changed My Life

2010-07-10T13:24:00.003-04:00

Dear Colonel Senter and Chief Willis,

As a girly girl in high school it was difficult to convince my parents that I belonged in ROTC. Eventually I was able to and I enrolled in the class. I am pretty sure they were convinced I was trying to get out of gym.

I don't even know where to begin. It's been six years since I graduated from high school and I am still grateful for everything you taught me.

I learned how to be a leader. I learned how to work as a team. I learned how to be confident. I learned to push myself beyond my limits. I learned the importance of goals. I learned to achieve. I learned how friends can be family. I learned responsibility. I learned how to be passionate. I could go on and on.

Not a day goes by that I don't think about my years in ROTC. I will forever be grateful of everything you both taught me, even if you didn't mean to teach it to me.

Thank you really isn't enough.

But still, thank you for making a better person.

Day 7- 5 Things I Can't Live Without

2010-07-09T23:15:00.002-04:00

Gosh this is hard. 5 THINGS I can't live without. So that leaves out Clay, family, friends, and puppies... I am also going to stick with objects I depends on everyday. Other things I love include hugs, unicorns, and long walks on the beach.

1. My laptop. It keeps me connected to everything and houses a lot of memories (but everything is backed up on my external hard drive post this incident. Learn from me and back up your computers once a week or so!)

Meet Fleetwood. Get it? Fleetwood Mac.

2. My cell phone. It keeps me connected to family and friends... and the rest of the world when I am not around my laptop.

3. My pillow. Anytime I go anywhere overnight (it could be the nicest hotel in the world) I take my pillow with me. If you had my pillow and sheets, you wouldn't want to part with them either.

Ignore the price and just buy it.2 for the price of 1. :-)

These sheets are awesome. We have 5 sets. :-) 4 of which we registered for.

4. Comfortable underwear. I can write these things on my blog without people getting offended, right? You spend all day in them, so they should be close to perfection. After a 23 year (plus a brief stint in diapers) search for the most comfortable and affordable undies...these are them. I must be old, because now I aim for coverage. I'm still a long way from granny panties, though.

Sorry about the butt. I pulled in from the VS site.

5. My toothbrush/toothpaste. I just feel gross when I can't brush my teeth. No pictures for this. I think you know what a toothbrush looks like.

(Sorry it's late... I had to go to a funeral out of town. I still got it in on Day 7! Woo!)

Day 6- A Day I Wish I Could Relive

2010-07-08T09:00:00.000-04:00

This one.

It was perfect, but it went by so quickly. People ask me what I remember about the day and I can honestly say not much. There are some moments that were extremely vivid in my memory, but my mind was in a million different places. I was excited to be marrying Clay, but at the same time I desperately wanted to be with my Grandfather at the hospital. It's funny to look back on pictures and not remember something, but that's why we have pictures right?

What would you relive?

Day 5- A Favorite Quote

2010-07-07T15:25:00.004-04:00

"Greatness is not in where we stand, but in what direction we are moving. We must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it - but sail we must and not drift, nor lie at anchor."

- Oliver Wendell Holmes

Day 4- Favorite TV Program

2010-07-06T10:47:00.002-04:00

I have a lot of shows in my Hulu queue that I never miss an episode. These shows are the shows I subscribe to, so they are in the list of favorites:

America's Got Talent

The Bachelor/ette

Desperate Housewives

Drop Dead Diva

Glee

Greek

Grey's Anatomy

Design Star

Make It or Break It

Pretty Little Liars

Private Practice

Royal Pains

The Secret Life of the American Teenager

So You Think You Can Dance

True Beauty

My absolute favorite is Glee. It used to be between Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives, but they have both gone pretty downhill. I still watch them, but with Grey's losing actors left and right it is hard to get sucked in. Once you love an actor they wind up getting killed off (George) or disappear (Izzie).

I absolutely love Glee. I just wonder what they are going to do when everyone grows up and "graduates" high school. It's not going to be the same without all of them.

What's your favorite show? What do you think is going to happen to Glee when everyone graduates?

Day 3- Favorite Book

2010-07-05T17:15:00.002-04:00

In high school I took a few AP lit courses and our reading assignments were rather... extensive. Over the summer we had mandatory summer reading. I love to read, BUT I hate being told what to read.

One summer we were given a choice of a few different books. I decided to read Catch-22 by Joseph Heller.

Out of all the books I have read in my 23 years this is by far my favorite. If you have not had an opportunity to read this, you absolutely must! It really depends on your personality as to whether you would like it or not. If you are like me, you will love it.

Here's the synopsis from B&N:

Catch-22 is like no other novel we have ever read. It has its own style, its own rationale, its own extraordinary character. It moves back and forth from hilarity to horror. It is outrageously funny and strangely affecting. It is totally original.

It is set in the closing months of World War II, in an American bomber squadron on a small island off Italy. Its hero is a bombardier named Yossarian, who is frantic and furious because thousands of people he hasn't even met keep trying to kill him. (He has decided to live forever even if he has to die in the attempt.)

His problem is Colonel Cathcart, who keeps raising the number of missions the men have to fly.

The others range from Lieutenant Milo Minderbinder, a dedicated entrepreneur (he bombs his own airfield when the Germans make him a reasonable offer: cost plus 6%), to the dead man in Yossarian's tent; from Major Major Major, whose tragedy is that he resembles Henry Fonda, to Nately's whore's kid sister; from Lieutenant Scheisskopf (he loves a parade) to Major -- de Coverley, whose face is so forbidding no one has ever dared ask him his first name; from Clevinger, who is lost in the clouds, to the soldier in white, who lies encased in bandages from head to toe and may not even be there at all; from Dori Duz, who does, to the wounded gunner Snowden, who lies dying in the tail of Yossarian's plane and at last reveals his terrifying secret.

Catch-22 is a microcosm of the twentieth-century world as it might look to someone dangerously sane. It is a novel that lives and moves and grows with astonishing power and vitality. It is, we believe, one of the strongest creations of the mid-century.

What are your favorite books?

Day 2- Favorite Movie

2010-07-04T09:00:00.000-04:00

This one is easy! I have a lot of favorites, but I do have an ultimate favorite. Everyone has that movie where they can quote 99.9% of it, right? This is the point in time where a lot of you are going to go "um... this girl is slightly crazy" and maybe I am. I really do have a seriously sick sense of humor. I might even lose a few followers over this, but oh well.

Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket is my ultimate number 1 movie.

I tried to find an appropriate video on Youtube to post on here, but there aren't any. There are plenty of videos but everything has a lot of profanity in it. I was in ROTC in high school and my uncle is a former DI if that helps explain anything. I don't recommend the average person rent this. It's definitely more of a boy movie.

A more appropriate favorite movie is Up! :-)

What are your favorite movies?

Day 1- Favorite Song

2010-07-03T09:00:00.002-04:00

This blogging challenge is going to be a little harder than I thought it was going to be. A favorite song. Just one out of many. As a kid, I never watched tv. I listened to the radio a lot. Right now you could turn on a rock (alternative and classic) or pop station and I would probably know the lyrics, name of the song, and the artist to 95% of them within 15 seconds. Clay on the other hand knows classical and Drum Corps.

I have about 20 all time favorite songs and I can narrow it down to 2.

Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"

Debussey's "Clair de Lune"

Both of these songs were in our wedding. "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" was when we cut the cake and "Clair" was played when I walked down the aisle. I have loved both of these songs for as long as I can remember. The first time I heard SOR I was watching ER and some character had died. "Clair" was in Fantasia (deleted and at the end of mine) LONG before Twilight. Both are such beautiful songs and always make me smile.

What are some of your favorite songs?

30 Day Blog Challenge

2010-07-02T11:48:00.002-04:00

In an effort to get back into "real" blogging I decided to jump on the 30 day blogging challenge that I found over at Carolina Prep. I will start it tomorrow, but if you would like to join in here is the challenge:

Day 1 — A favorite song
Day 2 — A favorite movie
Day 3 — A favorite book
Day 4 — A favorite television program
Day 5 — A favorite quote
Day 6 — A moment you wish you could relive
Day 7 — 5 things you could not possibly live without
Day 8 — A thank you letter to someone who has changed your life
Day 9 — A photo you took
Day 10 — A photo of you taken over ten years ago
Day 11 — A photo of you taken recently
Day 12 — A song that you want played at your wedding (or was played)
Day 13 — A guilty pleasure
Day 14 — A vacation you would like to take
Day 15 — A person you admire
Day 16 — A song that makes you cry
Day 17 — An art piece
Day 18 — A time when you felt passionate and alive
Day 19 — A talent of yours
Day 20 — A hobby of yours
Day 21 — Something you know you do differently than most people
Day 22 — A website
Day 23 — A way in which you want to be remembered
Day 24 — A movie no one would expect you to love
Day 25 — A recipe
Day 26 — A childhood memory
Day 27 — A physical feature you love
Day 28 — A scar you have, and its story
Day 29 — Hopes, dreams and plans for the next 365 days
Day 30 — A motto or philosophy

A Moment of Silence for Cohen

2010-07-01T00:00:00.000-04:00

Link up to Cohen

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!

2010-06-20T11:29:00.001-04:00

Praying for Angel Cohen

2010-06-18T23:34:00.000-04:00

stupid phone

2010-06-15T12:19:00.002-04:00

I have a Droid Eris. Absolutely loved it... until the Droid update came out a little over a month ago. Once I did the update I had problem after problem with the software. I took it into the Seneca store and they told me it had water damage. The guy said it's probably from "showering with [my] phone." I laughed for about ten minutes at that one, since it has never been near the shower or water. I'm guessing that it has a lot to do with the fact that we leave in the humid south. So they replaced my phone. They did the update and the next day I had the same problem. Hard reset back to factory settings and same problems. Moved to Charleston and after the second visit they replaced it... again. This time I didn't do the update. For the past 2 weeks the phone was working wonderfully. Until I dropped in on the driveway on the backside and it shattered the screen last night.

Yay for phone insurance. :-)

{This isn't my phone, but it looks about the same.}

I'm getting bad at this...

2010-06-03T22:44:00.003-04:00

Clearly I am lacking in this updating the blog thing. I promise we will be returning to a normal blogging schedule in just a few more days. It's been a hectic month or so. Clay was transferred to Charleston (more specifically Mt. Pleasant), we found a house on Johns Island, I quit my job, and we moved. It's taking awhile to settle into our new house and find a job on my end, so I have been pretty busy. Oh, and my Papa came home from rehab. He truly is a miracle and we are so glad to have him still with us!

We did get out pictures back from the photographers. So until the next update follow us on Twitter (I update that regularly) and enjoy my favorite picture from the wedding.

Our House in Charleston

2010-05-12T11:00:00.004-04:00

3 Bedroom

2.5 Bath

4 Walk in closets (3 of which will be mine)

Screened in porch

Fenced yard

2 car garage

and

EVERY WALL IS YELLOW... but not for much longer.

It's on Johns Island in Charleston.

Come visit! :-D

Another Picture

2010-05-11T20:00:00.001-04:00

8 Things

2010-05-06T22:52:00.003-04:00

Here's 8 things going on with us lately:

1. We found a house in Charleston... well it's really Johns Island. We're moving on May 22nd! Come visit.

2. I have 36 more hours of long hair.

3. I turned in my resignation letter on Wednesday.

4. Still waiting on pictures from the photographer. Apparently, they are supposed to do a blog post Sunday night. I'll keep you updated.

5. I've found 3 Lilly items at 3 different thrift stores in the past week: a halter top, pants, and skirt. Didn't buy the pants.

6. We're thinking about having a yard sale, craigslistpaloza, blog sale, etc before we move.

7. Even though we are moving to a bigger house we are trying to downsize... a lot. Need anything wedding related? I might have it.

8. Mom and Dad are coming to visit this weekend. We might make a trip to Atlanta to go to IKEA. Dad's never been. I feel like he needs to experience it.

I found this tag that Emily posted over at From the Land of Cotton and I am clearly bored.

8 TV Shows I Like to Watch

1. Glee

2. Desperate Housewives

3. Grey’s Anatomy

4. Private Practice

5. Chelsea Lately

6. Secret Life of the American Teenager

7. Ugly Betty (RIP)

8. Greek

8 Favorite Places to Eat and Drink

1. Applebees

2. Buffalo Wild Wings

3. Brioso

4. Pixie and Bills

5. Poe’s Tavern

6. The Wreck of Richard and Charlene

7. El Molcajete

8. Carolina Wings

8 Things I Look Forward To

1. Moving to Charleston in 16 days!

2. Sailing in the harbor

3. Taking the puppies to the dog park

4. Decorating the house

5. Planting a garden

6. Friends and family coming to visit

7. Eclipse coming out

8. Drum corps season

8 Things that Happened to me Yesterday

1. Turned in my resignation letter

2. Went to Mexican Wednesday and got a free shirt

3. Drove to work and back home

4. Got a pedicure

5. Talked to my mom and dad

6. Ate some Zaxby’s with Clay

7. Found out we GOT THE HOUSE!

8. Watched Glee on Hulu in bed

8 Things I like about Winter

1. Thinking about the summer

2. Celebrating Jesus’ birth

3. Decorating the house

4. Snow

5. Christmas dinners with our crazy families

6. Seeing the boat out of water (every other year)

7. Snuggling with the puppies and Clay

8. Burning wood in the fireplace

8 Things I am Passionate About

1. My family

2. Animal rescue

3. Community service

4. Coupons

5. Hugs

6. Shoes and purses

7. Sailing

8. Organization

8 Words or Phrases I Use Often

1. Y’all

2. Booooger (that’s what I call Clay)

3. P-digglys (Dogs)

4. Little Dude/Piggy/Tub Tubs

5. Where's my phone?

6. I need to do laundry.

7. Are you hungries/thirsties?

8. Bad words that shouldn't be typed.

8 Things I Have Learned from the Past

1. Hair grows back.

2. Things really do happen for a reason.

3. Girls can be petty.

4. Who you were in high school really doesn’t matter.

5. You really do need to know how to do math.

6. A lot of people have it worse than you.

7. There are a lot of people that would love to see you fall, but there are a ton more than would rather see you rise above it.

8. To believe people when they tell you not to go searching for love. It finds you.

8 Places I Would Like to Visit/See

1. St Barths

2. St Lucia

3. Antigua

4. Alaska

5. Hawaii

6. Australia

7. Rome

8. Jamaica

8 Things I Currently Want/Need

1. Sunshine

2. A hug

3. To decorate our new house

4. To learn how to play golf

5. Another puppy... (that's a want... not a need)

6. The Kitchenaid. We have giftcards for it, but we're waiting to get down to Charleston.

7. Clay to turn the channel off of Men's volleyball...

8. To go to sleep. :-)

I tag anyone who wants to do this tag! It actually made me think for a couple categories!

Goodbye, 10+ inches of hair!

2010-05-02T16:36:00.001-04:00

I just made the appointment for Saturday at 10 AM! Stay tuned to see the outcome.

The Hunters are moving to...

2010-04-29T15:39:00.002-04:00

CHARLESTON!

We found out last Friday that Clay is being transferred to the Mt. Pleasant store. We have to be down there before Memorial Day, so May 22nd is moving date. We're going down this weekend to find a place to live. Any suggestions for condo/townhomes (that like big dogs)?

Let us know if you are in Charleston. We'd love to meet you!

More Wedding Pictures

2010-04-28T15:49:00.004-04:00

These were posted by my aunt (my matron) on facebook. There's more to come. :-)

Mr. & Mrs.

2010-04-23T14:30:00.000-04:00

Some big things have been happening on our end... obviously. We got married. :-) We are anxiously awaiting our pictures from the photographer, but we did get one preview shot. I definitely look like I am 12 and I loathed the flowers (I should have removed that frilly junk under it), but what can you do. It was just a prop and nothing more. There will be a ton of wedding recaps, but for now here are some pictures (iPhone) to tide you over until we get the real deal. :-)

The groom's cake from the rehearsal

I had to stab the cake to get it out. :-)

Side note: Papa is doing much better. He woke up while we were honeymooning. We got to see and talk to him for a bit at the hospital this past Sunday. He is supposed to be moving to a rehab facility (not the L. Lohan kind) within the next few days. Keep praying because it is working miracles!

Update on Papa

2010-04-08T10:32:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I spent the day at the hospital... again. I'm going to be a bride with heavy bags under her eyes on Saturday and I will most likely be crying 90% of the time. I'm excited to get married, but I'm extremely heartbroken that he won't be there.

On Tuesday he had gone to run a few errands and visit my great grandmother at the nursing home. On his way home he felt faint and pulled into a Shell gas station. Someone noticed him and gave him some orange juice. An off duty ity bus driver called my grandmother to notify her. My grandparents only have one car, so the bus driver drove my grandfather home and had her friend follow. My grandmother decided to take him to the doctor. On the way she could tell he needed to go to the hospital, so she turned around and took him to Lexington Medical.

When he arrived at the hospital on Tuesday his blood pressure was extremely low. Almost unreadable. My grandmother said he was almost like a rag doll in movement, but was speaking when they put him under. He has been under sedation and has had a breathing tube since.

One of his doctors (he has a team of doctors and round the clock nurses) came in to update us around 5 yesterday. He told us that he suffered a massive heart attack on Tuesday and will continue to be in extreme critical care for the next 48-72. When we asked what his chances were, the doctor said it is 50/50. He said that half of his heart is not working. They don't know if it can be repaired once more blood flows to it or if it is just "dead." He compared it to grass. He said "when you go on vacation for a few days and you have a few dead spots in the grass you can water it and it gets better and when you go for a few months you can water it all you want and it is still going to be dead." Because of his age and the damage to his heart from the quintuple bypass 8 years ago, they don't really know right now. He also said that when he arrived his blood pressure was extremely low and they don't know how much brain damage he can have as a result. All I know is that he squeezed my hand yesterday when I talked to him.

All I can do is pray, pray, pray. Please pray, too. Pray for him, my family, and Clay and I. He was so excited about this wedding. I am hoping he will be awake and able to see it via Skype. I'm trying to think positive thoughts. I am trying to keep my family laughing, but it's getting harder to be funny. I am trying to remember happy times with him and be at peace if he does pass, but I won't be. Not now. I don't want him to be in pain, but I know he's got more time with us.

For now I will remember my tea parties with Papa and pray that I'll get to have more.

Please pray for my grandfather

2010-04-07T01:06:00.002-04:00

Earlier this afternoon I received a phone call that my grandfather was being rushed to the hospital. He was running errands, felt faint, and had pulled over at a gas station. A city bus driver called my grandmother and drove him to the house. She took him to the hospital. What has happened is that he has had a massive heart attack. When I was in high school he had to have a quintuple bypass. The surgery had quite a few complications and he wound up being in a coma for almost a month. When they tried to put a stint in today, they were only able to place it in one valve. All the other valves are blocked. They had originally told my grandmother he would be able to leave by Saturday, but there have been complications. They had wanted to transfer him to the heart hospital in Columbia, but they said he wouldn't have made it if they had.

He is currently sedated and in ICU.

Please pray for my Papa and for my family. No time is good for something of this seriousness, but 4 days out from the wedding is making it increasingly more difficult. He needs and we need your prayers right now.

No rain on our parade!

2010-04-06T11:24:00.001-04:00

Yippy skippy for a great wedding weekend forecast!

Holy Cow! 5 days!

2010-04-05T12:16:00.002-04:00

I feel like all my blog posts start the same: "It's been awhile... sorry!"

Thank you everyone for sticking with me. Clay and I are doing most of the wedding ourselves, so it has taken a lot of time on our end. Sadly, the blog has taken the backseat because of it. If I post between now and the 19th (when we return from the honeymoon) it will be sporadic... just like normal.

Just a few more days and I will be back to my old blogging self. :-)

I have a bone to pick with...

2010-03-19T14:55:00.004-04:00

South Carolina drivers... more specifically in the Greenville area.

(1) If you are driving on a three-lane highway, do not go the speed limit or below in the fast lane.

(2) If I am driving in the fast lane with the flow of traffic, perhaps going 15+ over the speed limit, don't ride up on my bumper and expect me to move over. Can you not see the billion other cars in front of me?

(3) If I happen to decelerate in any lane, do you think it might be for a reason? Can't you see I have a radar detector hanging from my windshield? PS- I hope you get pulled over by the cop I know is on the other side of that hill.

(4) Just because you drive a Mercedes, Lexus, BMW (there are a lot of these seeing as how the plant is 2 exits away from my work), etc it does not give you a free pass to be a jerk on the road. We know you have a fancy car, but just because I drive a Ford Escape itdoesn't make me any less awesome. I love my car. It was my dream car and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world... except maybe another Escape.

(5) Mr. Semi-Driver, Just because you drive a truck 50 times bigger than mine you still need to abide to the road signs. Yield means you need to wait for me, because I have the right of way. It isn't the other way around

(6) When are you driving on 85N in the morning and 85S in the evening you will be traveling in the East and West directions as the sun is rising/setting. Guess what that means? INVEST IN A PAIR OF SUNGLASSES AND STOP HITTING YOUR BRAKES BECAUSE YOU CAN'T SEE!

(7) On the interstate, don't wait until a quarter of a mile before your exit to jump over 3 lanes of traffic. It's rush hour, dipstick.

(8) "O-M-G. There's an accident on the side of the road/on the other side of the highway. ::apply brakes and turn neck::" You are the reason there are always 2 accidents on the side of the road instead of one. Just keep driving.

(9) STOP TEXTING/TALKING ON THE PHONE, WOMAN!

(10) If you are turning right, you don't need to come to a complete stop before you turn. Slow down and then turn.

My rant is over. What are some of your driving pet peeves?

Personalized Tissues

2010-03-17T09:00:00.000-04:00

Way back when I first started blogging I had a post about Kleenex's site where you could put whatever you wanted on them. We decided to do it for the bathroom trays at the reception venue. It is $4.99 +s/h for one. We decided to order six since it was the most "economical" route. We are thinking about having them at the church by the door, but we're not really sure yet.

They arrived in less than a week, too! We absolutely love them. Check them out and order your own here. You could use them for your home, office, car... whatever!

an apology and upcoming

2010-03-16T12:06:00.002-04:00

Please don't hate me. :-( We are 25 days out from the wedding and I have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to take care of things. There is a lot upcoming on the blog dealing with the wedding. Starting tomorrow I will have scheduled posts about different projects, parties, and other random stuff.

Another upcoming post will be a review from CSNStores.com. Have you heard about it? They have about 200+ stores to choose from! If you have kids they have really cute kids bedding or maybe you need some new cookware. They have the same set we registered for at Bed, Bath, and Beyond for a lot less.

Anywho, they are going to send us something to review. I spent about an hour trying to decide what I actually wanted. Then I looked to my right and saw three dogs staring at me, so I went to the Pet Store. Be on the lookout for a review in the future on what I got from CSN Stores. :-D

Wedding Shoes

2010-02-25T11:30:00.002-05:00

When I started wedding shoe shopping I knew I wanted flats. I have never really been a fan of heels and I pretty much live in flats during the cold season. I knew I wanted something blue, but I could never find the right blue until I went to a Marshalls in Columbia. There on the clearance rack for $15 were these Nine West, blue, polkadotted flats that I knew I couldn't pass up.

I honestly don't know if these are the shoes. I might find something else I like more, but for now they are perfect. Post ceremony I am changing into white, canvas ballet shoes, because those are definitely going to let me dance the night away.

Ask Away

2010-02-24T15:31:00.001-05:00

I got the idea from Shasta...

Ask me (or us) anything here:
http://www.formspring.me/KatyandClay

Wedding Dreams

2010-02-23T10:09:00.003-05:00

I heard about them from other brides and how they can get pretty crazy closer to the wedding. I have never been much of a "dreamer" and if I do dream at night I typically don't remember them in the morning. But for some reason I am having crazy dreams about the wedding that I remember every morning.

The first one was about a month ago. I dreamed that we had ordered our invitations from a printer instead of making them ourselves. The printer sent everything off directly, but then we started receiving phone calls from friends and family asking us what time the wedding was really at. Each invitation had a different time on it that ranged from 2:30 pm to 7 pm. It was a pretty weird dream and the only reason I can think of that I had that was because we changed the ceremony time from 3 to 4 before we printed the invitations.

The second one was about a week after the invitation dream. It was a perfect day until I put on my dress. Apparently in a matter of minutes I developed the worst case of back acne you could imagine. I'm talking like huge, red zits covering my entire back. Not pretty. I don't really know why that one came about, but it definitely ranks up there in bad wedding dreams.

I've had a couple others, but those are definitely the two that have stuck out to me. I'm sure they will get worse the closer it gets.

What kind of dreams did you have before your wedding?

Meet Our Cake

2010-02-02T12:23:00.003-05:00

On Sunday we had a consultation with Holly from Holly's Cakes. We booked with her on the spot. :-)

The cake with be a four tier, square cake. It with be a white, textured buttercream icing with blue and white fondant rope around the bottom of each tier. The second tier will have a knot of some sort on it. It is, afterall, a nautical wedding in the middle of the country. :-)

The very top with be red velvet, the second tier will be strawberry, the third is butter pecan, and the bottom is marble with fudge.

I don't really know what we are going to put on the top. Maybe some tug boats, because I love tugs.

Wedding Month

2010-02-01T10:34:00.002-05:00

This is going to be wedding month on the blog. We've done a lot of projects over the past few weeks for our wedding in 68 days (eek), so I have a lot to share with all y'all.

I do have a question for you though. Have any of you ordered your flowers from a wholesale vendor online? If so, what were your thoughts and who did you use.

Wedding Website

2010-01-27T17:01:00.002-05:00

I told you on Monday that I would share our wedding website with you on Tuesday... obviously I failed miserably. I am still doing some work to it, so it's not fully complete. But here is our mainpage and you can visit us at www.katyandclay.com. There are a lot of engagement pictures (the ones where I fell in the lake) on there for all you new blog lurkers that missed that excitement.

We all know that I was a graphics major at Clemson, so I am a little anal when it comes to this kind of stuff. I can't even begin to tell you how many template sites I started making our webpage on only to decide that I hated the colors and layouts.

About two weeks ago I stumbled upon WeddingJoJo.com. It was an answer to all my website prayers. The layouts met all my needs, there were enough color choices to make me happy, and it was the right price. I had a few issues with getting some images to load, but I emailed their help section and had a solution within an hour. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is looking for a great template site with the ability to create your own wedding domain for under $20 a month. A++++ in my book. :-)

7 Quick Things

2010-01-25T12:00:00.001-05:00

1.) The big rainstorm yesterday flooded our basement again. Every time it rains hard... the basement/laundry area floods. Last night I went down to put the laundry in the dryer around 5 and the floor was dry. Clay pulled into the garage around 5:20 and the floor was wet. He ran to the store to buy a ShopVac since ours decided to conveniently die last night. Luckily I hadn't put the pile of towels in the wash yet, so I just laid them all over the floor. By the time we went to bed at 1ish, we had ShopVac-ed over 150 gallons of water out and I sent all the towels through the spin cycle 3 times. You could say that it was a long night. A contractor is supposed to come figure out what is going on at some point today.

2) I spent 3 of my 5 workdays working from home last week. Sunday night I got REALLY sick and I finally went to Urgent Care Wednesday morning. My blood pressure was really low... like borderline hypotension. They wanted to draw blood and I had a panic attack. I am DEATHLY afraid of needles, but doctors never believe you until you have the panic attack. They pricked my finger instead. Turns out I had food poisoning. Guess I won't be eating at a certain restaurant anytime soon.

3) We are getting married in 75 days! EEK!

4) Wedding website is 99.9% done. I'll share that with y'all tomorrow.

5) My Mama is coming to visit this weekend and we are going to Ikea in Charlotte. I have never been, so I am pretty excited about that excursion.

6) She is also coming the weekend after. We are going to see Wicked at the Peace Center in Greenville on the 7th.

7) I am almost done with laundry. Aside from all the floodwater absorbers from last night, I only have 2 more loads to do. Yay!

I hope your Sunday was better than ours! :-)

Hey y'all!

2010-01-18T16:40:00.004-05:00

I really have no excuse to not be blogging. I have enough time to blog stalk, so I might as well blog. I really miss y'all in my life.

A lot of wedding planning has happened. It is, after all, 82 days away. EEK!

I will condense everything for you in one short blog. If anything it will show you how laid back our wedding is really going to be and how I am the polar opposite of a Bridezilla.

• We bought my headpiece and ordered my veil. You can see the headpiece here. Clay doesn't want to see it before the wedding. My veil is an illusion one and hits right at my feet. I have no idea when it's supposed to come in... I should probably check on that.

• These are the bridesmaids dresses. I really wanted the ladies to have something that they

could wear again and weren't crazy expensive. The shoes are anything that is silver (non-disco ballish) and comfortable for them. I don't care if they are pumps or flats as long as they can dance the night away.

• The guys are wearing navy blazers, khaki pants, and Sperry boat shoes. We are buying their shirts and socks and I am making them polkadot bow ties.

• We booked a DJ.

• We start our marriage counseling with the church on Wednesday of this week.

• We started cutting out 500, 3" felt circles, so we can make 2 of these next weekend for the front doors of the church. We stopped at 75.

• We met with the florist and are waiting for the numbers... not that I want to hear those.

• We have met with the rehearsal caterer and gotten the proposal from the reception caterer. The rehearsal is going to be a backyard bbq type thing with a gourmet hot dog bar and lots of backyard games. The reception is going to be low country broil. We're excited... we love food.

• We have a meeting scheduled for the cake on the 31st.

• I am almost done working on our wedding website. I'll share it with you when I am done.

I think that's about it. We have lots of DIY projects ahead of us, so we are staying busy. :-)

A Blog Friend Needs Our Help!

2010-01-12T12:00:00.001-05:00

Hey y'all! A blogger friend needs our help. Many of you know Kirby from Good Gals Inc and she is collecting tabs from soda cans for a friend with leukemia. The Ronald McDonald House will donate a round of chemo for every gallon jug full of tabs she receives, so this is for a great cause. You can visit her site here or leave your email address and I will forward that on to her.

I don't even drink soda, but I am taking them from the cans in our recycling at work. So even if you don't drink soda you can make a difference, too!

Praying for Snow in the Upstate

2010-01-07T19:00:00.001-05:00

If I was writing into some ad, like Dear Abby, I imagine that I would sign it as "Praying for Snow in the Upstate." It rarely snows in South Carolina and when it does, I can work from home. They shut down part of a major highway that is now detouring on my work route. The shut down started Monday and it adds another 20 minutes worth of traffic to my hour+ commute that was already occurring. A day of not having to drive that far at 6 in the morning on icy roads would be lovely.

On the positive note, I am heading home to Columbia tomorrow (Friday) to hang out with my Mama while my Dad goes hunting. I have to order a veil still, so I have an appointment at Bella Vista Saturday morning. Then I am finally getting my hair fixed from when I had that boxed dye accident a few weeks back. I'm getting roots that are my natural color and it's not attractive. Plus, I'm not really digging the reddish tint to my hair. I'm also going to a bridal show at the convention center and meeting with a possible DJ. We're down to 90ish days, so I should probably start doing all this wedding stuff. We should schedule a Columbia blogger meet up. I'm seeing a lot of Columbia ladies pop up here and there.

We are going to a Chris Botti concert tonight. He's a famous trumpet player and my parents got Clay tickets for Christmas, so while this is posting we will be anxiously awaiting for him to play. :-)

Have a great night!

Postcard Winner

2010-01-04T09:09:00.002-05:00

I have picked a winner of the 100 custom postcards from UPrinting.com. I used Random.org to pick a number and the winner is #3...

who is...

Becky from The Details are in the Fabric!

Send me your contact information at KatyandClay {at} gmail {dot} com and I will forward that to UPrinting!

Postcard Giveaway!

2009-12-21T12:35:00.003-05:00

Hey y'all! I have another postcard giveaway for you!

UPrinting.com has given me the opportunity to host another postcard giveaway for my readers. One person has the opportunity to win 100 custom postcards. You can use them for a business, Christmas thank you's for your kids, etc.

UPrinting is giving me 100 for hosting the blog and I am planning to make something to go in the out of town guests welcome bags. I was thinking of doing a schedule of events for the weekend, but don't hold me to that. There are so many options!

So if you are interested in entering the giveaway here are the details of the contest:

• 1 person will win 100 4x6 custom postcards; 14 pt cardstock gloss; Full color on both sides

• Shipping must be paid by winner

• Giveaway closes January 1st at 12 AM EST. Winner will be announced shortly after.

To enter:

• Leave a comment telling us what you would do with 100 postcards.

• Follow us for an extra entry

• Tweet about it for an extra entry. Just make sure you add the @KatyandClay so I can count it

25 Things I've Been Doing Instead of Blogging

2009-12-14T17:00:00.000-05:00

1. Working... a lot. I work 8-5 Monday through Friday.

2. Driving... a lot. I work 60 to 90 minutes away from where we live depending on traffic. That makes for a lot of time on the road.

3. Stalking blogs. I've been trying to catch up on Reader in my spare time. Sorry that I'm not commenting, but I won't get caught up otherwise.

4. Trying to figure out how to use my new phone. I got the Android from Verizon. I think I might have become mildly addicted to it.

5. Decorated the house for Christmas

6. Went to Columbia for a weekend

7. Went to the doctor while I was there to have my biometrics done for work.

8. My mama and I went to the JL Holiday Market at the fairgrounds. I bought a metal tree and that was it. I'm not a red/green Christmas kind of gal, so there wasn't really much for me there.

9. Bought a Yudu. :-)

10. Did some Christmas shopping. I probably need to start doing some more since it's next week.

11. Cleaned the first and third floors of our house. I'm going to tackle the second floor this weekend.

12. My parents came to visit us this weekend.

13. We went TV shopping because our bulb went out in our projection screen TV. We can decide if we want to spend $150 on a light bulb or just buy a new TV. What are your thoughts on TVs?

14. Fell in love with Nivea's "A Kiss of Moisture" hydrating lip care. It's pretty amazing.

15. Finished a few books on tape. Last week was "The Devil in the Junior League." I typically listen to about a book a week. I think I might add a widget on the sidebar that has all the books I've "read," so I can keep better track.

16. Mexican Fridays at work. Each week we go to a Mexican restaurant down the road as an office. This week it's on Thursday because we have a meeting on Friday.

17. I started organizing a Biggest Loser program at work. It will be January 1-March 31. I figured a good company competition is a good way to get motivated to get in shape for the wedding.

18. Working on wedding plans. It's 118 days away... I should probably start planning, right?

19. Watched a tree company cut down a bunch of trees around our house. Those people are seriously crazy. We watched one guy climb a 60 foot tree and almost get knocked off when he cut off the top part. (They were harnessed to the tree... but still.)

20. Played with the p-doggies. They are really spoiled rotten.

21. Laundry. A lot of it, too. Our laundry area is in the basement and it keeps flooding with all this rain. So all the sorted laundry on the floor ends up having to be washed... quickly.

22. Sewing. I had to make a stocking for Mayfield and a few others presents for people for Christmas.

23. Watched some Christmas movies. Who doesn't love Elf and Polar Express?

24. Ripped out a hot tub. We actually did that the same day we got our Christmas trees, but we just finished cleaning up all the insulation foam.

25. Watched some football... and was disappointed. But there is always a bowl game to look forward to. :-)

See? I'm staying busy. :-)

Not Nice or Easy

2009-11-30T11:30:00.004-05:00

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend. I had the weekend from Hell. Typically in the Fall/Winter I color my hair just a tad darker. All the time in the sun in the Summer turns my hair a little too light for me. I've been blond and loved it, but I don't like the in between of my hair.

I picked up a box of the Perfect 10 from the Nice and Easy line in Dark Brown and settled in on Saturday night to get my natural shade back. I've used it MANY times before, but somehow this time it didn't turn out pretty. :-(

My hair was JET BLACK. It was absolutely horrible. Clay told me that it looked "fine" and didn't see anything wrong with it, but that's a man for you. I think he has learned just to say "your butt looks great in those jeans" when I obviously need to lose a few pounds or "you look great, honey" when I don't. He is good for the ego.

I scrounged the internet for an answer and it all sounded horrible. I read a lot about if your hair goes black that the only way to get it to go back to natural is to bleach it out and color it to match. The thought of bleaching my hair made me cringe, so I kept searching.

I bought Prell shampoo and Head & Shoulders per someone's suggestion. I used every single shampoo we had in the house plus those two new ones and spent about an hour in the shower washing my hair. It took it from Jet Black to just black, so I went back to the internet.

I saw where a few people had said to mix 3 parts lemon juice with 1 part conditioner, put on hair for an hour or so, blow dry, and then rinse. I did that three times for about 2 hours at a time. It worked a little, but it didn't make that much of a noticeable difference. It did make my hair really soft, though.

The last resort before calling in the 911 call to my hairdresser, Brett, was this stuff called Color Oops that you can find at Walgreens or BiLo (if you are in the South). It supposedly removes the color desposits from your hair without bleaching it. Clay went out and bought it for me since I was too embarassed to go in public with Elvira hair.

I did a hair strand test first to see if it would actually work and to see how long I would need to leave it on. It actually worked! You put it on for 20 minutes and then wash it out for 5. I did it twice to get it as light as I wanted it to be. My hair is softer than it was before I started this whole shindig, but that's probably because of all the lemon/conditioner treatments. The only downfall is that it smells HORRIBLE. My hair still smells a bit like it even after washing it 4 times, but I can deal with it. I'd recommend it to anyone who has a color accident. My hair was NOT bleached out and it returned it to my natural color (highlights and all.)

Lesson learned: Always go to a salon for color changes. A $10 hair dye from Walgreens turned out to be $40 in fix it, a lot of wasted time, and too many tears.

I should have taken pictures to show you the before and after, but I didn't think about it. Plus, it's nice not having to look at that ever again. :-)

Oh, Christmas Tree!

2009-11-28T21:47:00.003-05:00

Clay and I started a tradition of chopping down a Christmas tree two years ago. Last year we didn't get to decorate for Christmas since it was in the middle of our move back to South Carolina from Indiana. We started early this year and headed out to The Merry Christmas Tree Farm about 20 minutes away from Clemson.

We armed ourselves with free hot chocolate and a saw to find the perfect tree.

They had a TON of trees to choose from. There were about 5 or 6 different types and everywhere you turned there were trees. It was beautiful and smelled AMAZING.

We expected to spend about an hour finding the perfect tree, but we found it within ten minutes. We literally walked straight to it. Here's Clay cutting it down.

We carried it over to the path and waited for the tractor to pick us up. We picked a Leyland Cyprus that is 7 feet tall and it smells great!

If you are in the Upstate of South Carolina and looking for a great tree farm, Merry Christmas Tree Farm is the place to go. We went to another tree farm two years ago and paid almost twice the price for the same size tree. The people at MCTF are friendly and knowledgeable. We are planning to go there for many years to come.

When we got it home, we realized that we cut it a little too short. Robert and Clay solved that by screwing a chunk of wood to the bottom of it. Anything to get the job done. They also destroyed a hot tub that day, so I think they were out to use all their power tools. More on the hot tub later.

Naked tree

All decorated. I took the pictures before we vacuumed up all the needles, but you get the picture. The wire on the left is a phone charger, so that isn't like that all the time.

Clay's mom and stepdad decided that they wanted a real tree since their fake one was being a pain, so we went back to the tree farm again today to find them one. :-) They got the same kind we did, but it was just a bit shorter.

Clay and I have both been feeling a bit under the weather recently, so we are doped up on Tylenol Cold & Sinus watching Christmas movies. Polar Express was last night and Elf was tonight.

What's your favorite Christmas movie?

The Things I am Thankful For

2009-11-25T10:00:00.005-05:00

Since everyone and their mother is doing a "things I am thankful for" post, I decided to jump on the train and do one as well. So often we get caught up in daily life that we don't stop to think about those things and now is the perfect time to take that time.

I am thankful for... William Clay. Throughout the past two years we have been through a lot and I don't think I could have done it alone. He has supported me through school, job searching, and life. He has given me an abundance of love and the best furry children in the world. I don't think he will ever know how grateful I am for everything, but I have the rest of my life to make sure he does.

I am thankful for... my family. They have provided me with love and support over 23 years. I am thankful that they have instilled values and work ethic in me that push me to work harder everyday.

I am thankful for... my job. Just when I thought I wasn't going to find one, I got a call from HR. This job fell from the sky and into my lap. It is perfect and I love it more each day. I am thankful that I can breathe for once when it comes to my financial stability. I am thankful for the benefits the job provides and that I finally have health insurance.

I am thankful for... my friends. I really do have the best friends a girl could ask for.

I am thankful for... our puppies and the fish. The puppies can always cheer me up and provide me with more than enough love everyday. This time last year we only had Toby and over the year we have added 2 more to our family. I am thankful that they are healthy and have a home with us. Oh, and the fish is just pretty.

I am thankful for... a roof over our heads. The house that we are living in might have a leaky garage and the power bill might be a little high, but it is still a place to come home to everyday. It is nice to not have to worry about rent and save up for our future home together.

I am thankful for... graduating from Clemson. I am grateful for the education that I have been provided with from such a wonderful university. I am proud to be a member of the Clemson Alumni family and can't wait to send our kids there when they go off to college.

I am thankful for... an ACC Atlantic Title. What else can I say? I love my Tigers. :-)

I am thankful for... the internet and my Mac. It helped me search for jobs, get through school, and start a blog.

I am thankful for... this blog and our readers (you). I started this blog a little over a year ago thinking that it would probably just turn into one of the earlier ones that are floating in blog space now. I am glad that I have stuck to it, because I have met wonderful people through blogging. I also enjoy living vicariously through some of you, because my pocketbook can't handle all the shopping right now. Thank you for sticking with me and I hope that you will be around next Thanksgiving, too. :-D

Next year I am hopeful to say that I am thankful for my Uncle returning from Afghanistan (again) as I did a few years ago when he came home on Thanksgiving. I know he won't be home this Thanksgiving, but I know he will be with us again next year.

Next year I will be able to say I am thankful for my husband, our new blended family, and our first house.

And, hopefully, I won't be saying I am thankful for more puppies. Three is the limit... for now.

What is one thing that you are thankful for?

MMM... Banana Bread

2009-11-24T10:00:00.000-05:00

I made some awesome banana bread and muffins tonight to get use up some of our bananas before they go bad. The recipe is quick, easy and yummy! We had all the ingredients in house, so it was cheap, too.

1/2 C butter (1 stick)

1 C sugar

2 eggs

2 C All Purpose Flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tbsp vanilla

2 bananas (ripe), mashed

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Blend butter (softened) and sugar until smooth.

3. Add eggs and vanilla, mix well.

4. Add flour, salt, baking soda and mashed bananas.

5. Pour into greased loaf pan.

6. Bake for 45 minutes-1 hour

You can add nuts if you want. We just aren't the biggest fans, plus I didn't know if anyone I worked with had nut allergies if I brought some in.

Those muffins are calling my name and the house smells yummy!

Scheduled Posts=Lifesaver

2009-11-23T10:00:00.001-05:00

Obviously it is not 10 in the morning on Monday that I am typing this out, because I'll be at work. I figured this would be a great way to start blogging regularly by just doing it on the weekend and scheduling posts for the week.

Work has been keeping me busy. I am finally figuring out what my job actually is. I work for an engineering consulting firm and make instructional programs for the engineers, design stuff for headquarters, etc. Right now I am working on a Safety presentation, doesn't that sound exciting? (Side note- have you ever seen an Arc Flash? We have it in the Safety presentation. Google it. I will NEVER get near an electrical panel after watching that, but that is the point of the presentation.)

I am really enjoying the job. The people I work with are great and so is the company. The guy I work closely with just took two weeks vacation, because his wife had a baby. He had to train me pretty quickly before he left, but I think he had a pretty good reason to take his vacation days. There are 4 girls here and I am the baby of the office... well other than the baby. The engineers travel a lot, so I meet new people everyday. We have a big group that go to Mexican Fridays at a local restaurant every week. We always have a good time and it's always pretty entertaining.

I'd love to show y'all my desk, but it's not quite done. I has some pink in it but not enough. Once I get it perfect I will take a picture of my corner of the world.

I applied for so many jobs and never even applied for this one. They just contacted me out of nowhere, because they found my resume on Clemson's career center's website. After more than six months of job searching and disappointments, my prayers were finally answered. If you are looking for a job, know that something fantastic is in your future. You just have to be patient.

The only downside is the drive. In the mornings it is only an hour, but the ride home is anywhere between 1 1/2 to 2. People in South Carolina are HORRIBLE drivers. There are typically 2 or 3 accidents everyday within a 10 mile stretch. I really hope it doesn't snow this year, because that would make for an even longer drive. I used to avoid driving in Greenville at all costs, but after living in Indianapolis twice I have become a more aggressive/safer driver. I was always so intimidated by "city" traffic until I realized that Greenville isn't that bad.

I started doing books on tape in the car the first week. I am able to do about one a week, so I pick a new one up from the library each Sunday. The library I've been going to is fairly small and the selection isn't too great, but there is typically one worth listening to each week. So far I have found interesting ones, but I may be learning Hebrew at this rate. I did get an Alumni borrower card for the Clemson library, so I might go check that out before Hebrew lessons. Clay also checks out music each week for his ride. Last week he got classical and this week he got something from Hollywood 95 dealing with theme songs and stuff.

I guess that's about all in the job front.

I hope everything is going well for y'all!

PS- Sorry for the lack of pictures lately. I have no idea where my camera cords are. I can't wait for you to see how big Mayfield is.

Holy Snickerdoodles.

2009-11-16T21:43:00.002-05:00

The real world is exhausting.

Just figured that I should check in and let y'all know that I am still alive.

I'll do a real post later this week once I gather my thoughts.

Hope y'all are having a great week!

Sneaking in one....

2009-11-09T22:14:00.002-05:00

Hello everyone, its C ( the guy K is crazy enough to marry)... Just wanted to sneak a post in here. K and I were talking earlier about things going on and how it seems we ( as an engaged couple) get pushed to the back of the line. Since we have gotten engaged TONS of things have happened that have taken the spotlight away from us. It isn't that we are greedy and want ALL the attention, we just want our little moment in time. I know that soon, we will have our time, we just have to be patient. Boo I know you will read this at some point and I just want to say, no matter what, you will ALWAYS be in my spotlight. I love you so much and can't wait to see you walk down the aisle. You're going to be a beautiful bride and a knockout wife :-)

a long drive ahead

2009-11-05T10:00:00.000-05:00

We live in Clemson.

My job is in Duncan.

Duncan is an hour away from Clemson.

So for two hours a day I will be stuck in the car trying (1) not to fall asleep or (2) get irritated with the bad drivers of South Carolina.

I'd listen to the radio, but in the morning they have that talk show junk and that bores me. I also have the iPod/CDs as back up.

I've considered books on tape and learning a foreign language.

Anyone have any books on tape to recommend?

How do you beat long drive boredom?

Dear Forever 21 (and all your sub-companies),

2009-11-04T10:00:00.000-05:00

I really don't need to buy any new clothes since I did a lot of shopping when I was in Columbia this past week. There isn't a F21 in my hometown and the closest one is 2 hours away, so if you could make these appear in my closet (for free... of course) for work that would be great.

{1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10}

{11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20}

Come to think of it, if it has a bow you might want to add that to the delivery. I love bows. I would also like one of those headbands in every color.

XOXO,

Katy

Where are your favorite places to find budget friendly pieces?

My Supply Closet

2009-11-03T10:00:00.003-05:00

Growing up I always got a little giddy about school supply shopping. I didn't really care about the school part, but I really enjoyed picking out everything I was going to use that year. Now I get to pick out all my must have office supplies and that makes me just as giddy as I was for school stuff. Here are a few things you will be seeing plenty of in my cubicle:

Sharpie Pens=LOVE

White-Out Pen... Just in case.

Colorful Post-Its

A label maker, because I am OCD and everything needs labels.

Legal pads in white. I can't do the yellow.

And we can't forget the most important thing: SANITIZER!

Did you get excited about school supplies when you were younger? What are your must have office supplies now?

Priorities

2009-11-02T10:30:00.001-05:00

I start my new job next Monday. I am grateful and excited for this new opportunity, BUT I know I will be spending a lot of time in my little cubicle. I am an Instructional Designer after all so being smack in front of a computer screen for the majority of the day is pretty much in the job description. Figured that I could find some things to decorate my little corner of the universe to brighten my days. I already found a picture at TJ Maxx that says "Born to Shop, Forced to Work"... I hope the bosses won't mind me hanging that up. Here are some things that I have found that I like and would eventually like to have/make to have in my cube:

I would obviously get this in "Katy" and very girly to replace a nameplate. They definitely wouldn't question the creative genius* of that company. (*Joke)

Here

I would get everything in pink patterns that matched and not all the different patterns. There's so much stuff that I like so these are just a few favorites. I still have a week to plan. :-)

What are your must haves for the office?

You ask... I answer- Pt 2

2009-10-29T00:28:00.003-04:00

This has been the week of questions for me. I visited my Mom's second grade classroom for the first time this year and let me tell you... those kids are crazy. I walked out of the room and they bombarded my mom with questions, so she asked me to come back for a QA session with the kids.

Are you adopted because you don't look like Mrs. Allen? No. I look like my dad.

What is Dude's (Clay) last name? Hunter I don't like that last name. It sounds violent.

Why are you wearing a headband? Because I like them.

Why do you have so many freckles? I've always had them. I don't know.

Why is your hair so long? Because I am growing it to donate it to Locks for Love.

There were a million others, but I cut them off and told them to email me.

Short Southern Momma asked... What is the best and worst thing you have learned about blogging?

I think the best thing about Blogworld is that it is easier to make "friends." In real life, I am very shy at first but here I can just yap away without all the nervousness. The worst thing is probably all the negative commenters out there. I have never understood why people even take the time to leave nasty comments. There are things I don't agree with on some people's blogs, but I just leave and never come back to it. It keeps feelings from being hurt and you still look like a mature person in the process.

The Queen of Clearance asked... Do you want to add more pups to the litter, or do you feel like you have enough? If you feel like you have enough... if there was a little pup that needed your help and no one else was willing to step up and take it in, would you take it in anyways?

Eventually we would like to add more to our little family, BUT right now we really don't have the space/money to support any more. It has always been a dream of our's to have a big farm house with lots of land to run our own rescue organization. I think we would always help a puppy in need and would do our best to find them a permanent home if we couldn't provide that.

BLC asked... If you won the lottery, what would you do?

I would pay off my student loans, invest some, and then spend a month or two sailing in the Caribbean.

If you could swap lives with anyone, would you and who would it be?

I like my life, but I would probably switch with Reese Witherspoon. I absolutely love her and her closet. :-)

Do you have wedding woes?

All the time. I can't even begin to describe what they are about. I am far too much of a perfectionist to be planning a wedding.

Thanks for all the messages about my job. My start date moved to the 9th, but that gave me lots of time to come home to Columbia this past week. I'll give you the run down of my week:

• Friday night I helped out at my Mom's school carnival and painted faces for 3 hours straight. Ate at our favorite Mexican restaurant in town and went on a Wal-Mart trip.

• Saturday morning I went to breakfast with my Uncle to say goodbye for the 5th time before he deployed to Afghanistan again. Please keep him in your prayers.

• Saturday I shopped for work clothes with my Mama and Aunt Karen (my MOH).

• Saturday night Clay and the big dogs arrived (I travel with Oz).

• Sunday we went to the SC State Fair and recuperated from all the greasy foods. We did take a picture with sea lions at the fair, so I will have to scan that so y'all can see it.

• Monday we were lazy during the day since everyone was at work and school. We went to Carolina Wings for dinner and blew up some fireworks that evening. They were laying around and we figured they would entertain my little cousin (which they did). I then started sewing handles back on bags for my mom before I had to take my Grandma to the ER. We were gone from 9:30ish until about 2 am. Not too shabby for an ER, but she's ok and that is all that matters.

• Tuesday it rained all day and we went to my Mom's school to sew those bags for hours. We had a little sweatshop running. Clay (and the big dogs) had to leave for Clemson that afternoon and I continued work clothes shopping with Mom that evening.

• Wednesday (today) I slept in a little bit since I wasn't feeling so hot. This weather needs to decide what it wants to do! I went back to work on the bags at Mom's school. Then we hit up Kohl's and TJ Maxx.

It sounds like we did a lot of shopping, but I'm a really picky shopper so it takes me awhile to find stuff I like. I'll be heading back to Clemson tomorrow because we have Homecoming/Halloween on Saturday. :-D

Confession of the day: I hit the "Mark all as read" button on Reader. I am sorry. :-( I tried to catch up on it, but it has been over 1000 since August. I just needed a fresh start. I'll be able to read/comment more that I am actually seeing everything in real time.

Hope you have an awesome Thursday!

AHHHH.... GREAT NEWS!

2009-10-20T14:53:00.002-04:00

Someone in this house has a JOB!

Clay already had one, so that leaves me. :-)

About time! Right?

I'll be an Instructional Designer for a company in the Greenville area of South Carolina.

It feels so good to have a real job with a salary and benefits. They also have a business casual dress policy (yay, for no suits!) and have jeans Fridays. My kind of workplace! :-)

And because I can't leave you picture free here is a picture of Clay and I from his step-brother's wedding this past weekend. I'm rocking my Lilly wrap dress that is probably one of the most comfortable dresses I have ever owned. Love it.

I will answer questions from the Q&A post on Friday, so that gives you lots of time to ask me questions. :-)

Q&A

2009-10-15T14:27:00.002-04:00

I am in a blogging slump right now. I've just been so busy with all the cleaning and unpacking that I don't have anything interesting going on in my or our lives right now. I figured I could do a Q and A blog. What are some things you are wondering about me, us or the pups? We'd love to answer them.

Happy Birthday to Me! :-)

2009-10-09T11:04:00.003-04:00

It's my favorite time of the year! A few months ago I made a post of 23 things I wanted to do before I turned 23 today. Sadly, I didn't complete a lot of it but I did do about half of it.

I also didn't give myself an entire year to do complete the list so I am going to try again this year.

Here is my 24 before 24. :-)

{1} Start a training program to run the Charleston Bridge Run in the Spring

{2} Run the Bridgerun and AT LEAST 2 other 5Ks

{3} Get rid of the clutter.

{4} Read at least two books a month

{5} Find a JOB!

{6} Make a master wedding to do list.

{7} Get married :-)

{8} Stop drinking soda

{9} Complete the 30 Day Shred in 30 days.

{10} Win at trivia night... just once

{11} Plan a fun activity for Clay and I to do every other week

{12} Not adopt any puppies this year

{13} Learn how to needlepoint

{14} Get money back on a shopping trip from using coupons

{15} Lose 15 pounds

{16} Have more me time.

{17} Donate my hair after the wedding to Locks for Love and then start growing it again.

{18} Sew more... at least one sewing project a month.

{19} Post www.operationbeautiful.com notes everywhere I go. :-)

{20} Try out a new recipe every week

{21} Find a skincare regimen that works for me that I can stick to

{22} Fix and sell the condo

{23} Spend more time outside

{24} Enjoy everyday to the fullest!

Clay and I are heading to Waffle House to get a birthday waffle. It's close to a cake. :-)

It's been awhile

2009-10-08T10:57:00.003-04:00

Obviously I haven't updated in awhile. Sadly.

All the moving and cleaning is really taking a lot out of us. I'd love to tell you about the whole moving experience, but I'd rather post that in private. I've been thinking about creating a private blog to just vent where family and real life friends won't be able to read it. Not like I don't love them, but sometimes a venting place is nice. We could do a multi-author thing if anyone wants in on it, too.

Happy note: My birthday is tomorrow and my parents are coming to visit this weekend. Yay!

EDIT: I made the Stress Blog. If you want an invite send me an email at KatyandClay {at} gmail {dot} com or leave your email address in the comments.

yummies in our tummies!

2009-09-26T02:25:00.002-04:00

We are busy moving, so you won't be hearing much from us. It is only a mile and a half away, so it shouldn't take long. But I made some awesome turkey meatloaf tonight and I wanted to share my recipe with you:

1 Package of Ground Turkey (about 1.5 pounds)

1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs

1 egg

Chopped onion (that's to your taste... we used about 1/2 a cup)

3 shakes of Worcestershire

A dash of salt

A dash of pepper

Ketchup

1. Preheat to 350

2. Mix it all up

3. Put in a loaf pan

4. Smear some ketchup on top

5. Bake for about 50 minutes

Easy enough and super yummy!

These dogs have ADHD

2009-09-23T08:00:00.001-04:00

It finally cleared up enough to take new pictures of the puppies. We almost got them to actually take a picture together for once. They definitely have some ADHD issues (which definitely comes from their Mama) and for the majority of the pictures one would be looking off in some other direction... or Ozzy would want to give his brother a kiss. We did get these:

At least we got a few good ones.

Side note: Post 200. Yay! Thanks for sticking with us.

Wedding Day Venues

2009-09-21T04:15:00.003-04:00

I figured I could start sharing some of the wedding stuff we have actually already taken care of with you. The biggest thing, other than my dress, is booking the ceremony and reception venues.

We will be getting married at the First Baptist Church of Belton. I know you are probably thinking that we were getting married in my church, but we had a change of plans. I would have loved to get married at the same church my parents did, however, we just felt that there were too many regulations put into place that would have made it less "us." We have a list of things that we know we want (ie. Clay is arranging the music and the groomsmen are playing it) and we just couldn't do them in that church. We met with my priest and are going to go through a dispensation so our wedding will still be acknowledged by the Catholic church.

Clay grew up in this small, country town. It is really in the middle of nowhere. We decided to get married in his church and his step-father just happens to be the music minister. It also has the big doors and long aisle I have always dreamed of. There are still rules, but they are nothing like the Catholic church.
For our reception we are using the Historic Belton Train Depot. When we started looking for a reception site Clay said that the Depot was "hick" and wasn't a good idea. So we looked at a bunch of places about 20 minutes away. I really wanted something closer to the church, so we went and looked anyway. Apparently, since the last time Clay had visited this Depot it had undergone a renovation. I absolutely loved it and so did he.

You can kind of get an idea from this picture of how it looks on the inside. Each side has those doors that open up to the platform. The wood and brick is absolutely beautiful, but the stage not so much. I figured that could easily be covered with some fabric. I am hoping that the weather is nice enough on our wedding day to leave all the doors open and put some cocktail tables around the platform. My creativity juices are just flowing over both venues. :-)

The best part of the depot is that it sits in the middle of Historic Belton. Across the street looks like a little Mayberry type downtown with all the shops.

I am 99.9% sure we made the right decision by moving the wedding to the middle of nowhere. I am pretty sure that we can make it everything we dreamed of. Actually, I know we can. :-D

Mayfield wants to say "Hello"

2009-09-17T01:16:00.003-04:00

I was going to take new pictures of her today, because I don't have any real recent ones of her. If the weather would have cooperated with me you would have seen those instead. She is definitely growing up fast. Too fast if you ask me.

Dear Anthropologie,

2009-09-16T00:59:00.005-04:00

Why must you toy with my dress addiction?

{Bull's Eye Dress}

{Bespoke Shirtdress}

If these just happened to show up on my doorstep tomorrow, I wouldn't complain.

Love,

overwhelmed

2009-09-14T15:26:00.004-04:00

I am tired of this job hunt.

I am tired of being rejected.

I am tired of being overqualified.

I am tired of being underqualified.

I am tired of not having the correct amount of experience for a job.

I am tired of no one ever wanting to provide that experience.

We are tired of stressing over bills.

I am tired of worrying about how I am going to make payments on my student loans.

I am tired of worrying about obtaining health insurance and a 401k.

We are tired of draining our checking accounts.

I am tired of tapping into my savings account.

I am tired of not having an income.

We are tired of the condo being on the market.

We are tired of the wedding being in limbo.

We are tired of this economy.

Where We Were

2009-09-12T17:33:00.005-04:00

I know that I have been gone awhile. I was in my hometown for a few weeks for appointments and family stuff. Nothing interesting really. I tweeted a lot while I was home to fill in all the blog-free time. I am still trying to catch up on reader. It's been over 1000 for months.

Clay and I went to Charleston this past weekend to celebrate our dating anniversary and relax. When we started dating we used to head down to the boat every other weekend, but Clay's job has him working all the time and he rarely gets consecutive days off. The last time we both were down there was in March for Spring Break. It was a much needed break for the both of us.

I really didn't take many pictures while we were down there because my camera battery died. I did get a few of the sunset the last night we were there.

This was Toby's billionth trip to the boat, Ozzy's second and Mayfield's first. We were a little worried about Mayfield since she is hyperactive. Toby and Ozzy are pretty lazy and boat life suits them well. Mayfield actually did pretty well! It was like the boat mellowed her out.

We pretty much just bummed around Mt Pleasant, Sullivan's Island, and Charleston while we were there. We didn't have any plans while we were there, so we just did whatever we wanted. We also enjoyed the hot tub a few of the nights at the hotel. That was just the relaxation we needed! Our short vacation ended way to early, but isn't that how it normally happens?

Other happenings in the Hunter House:

• Mayfield had her puppy surgery and it went well.

• Wedding stuff is under way: venue, invites, decor

• I have a second job interview on Monday and it's looking good! More about that later.

• Clemson lost to GA Tech. :-(

Side note: Have you seen the show The World's Strictest Parents? They have been doing a marathon on MTV. I couldn't ever imagine speaking to my Mama that way or someone else's Mama. Crazy.

Time for me to go make dinner. :-)

One more day

2009-09-11T22:18:00.001-04:00

and my hiatus will be over.

Uploading pictures as we speak.

See you tomorrow. :-)

Postcard Winners!

2009-09-03T19:28:00.003-04:00

We teamed up with Digital Room for this great giveaway. They offer custom greeting cards, custom postcards, and many other services. For our giveaway, we have a set of 200 postcards for two readers.

We asked how you would use them and had many great responses!

We put everyone's entry on a piece of hot pink paper and put it in a bowl. Clay put it on his head and pulled two pieces of paper. (I'd show you pictures, but our internet is really slow on the boat.)

Our two winners are:

Caitlin who said she would use them for OperationBeautiful.com cards. If you haven't checked out Operation Beautiful then you should!

and

Polka Dots and Protein Bars who said she would use them for the launch of Hems and Hers.

Congrats ladies! Be on the look out for an email from Digital Room or UPrinting.

Giveaway: 200 Custom Postcards

2009-08-27T03:15:00.007-04:00

Hey y'all! Sorry we have been on a bit of a hiatus. Between wedding stuff and coming home for a few days I have been busy as a bee. I will be back in full swing next week. I have been slowly hacking away at reader. That thing piles on quickly if you aren't careful!

I am back today to tell you about a giveaway that I had the great opportunity to host from DigitalRoom.com.

Digital Room is part of the UPrinting network and offers many great printing services. If you are starting to think about Christmas, they offer custom greeting cards. I know that I have already started imagining the perfect card for this year. Christmas will be here before you know it, so you can never be too prepared!

Together with DigitalRoom.com, we are giving away 200 Custom Postcards to two readers. I could think of so many things you could do with postcards. A few off the top of my head would be change of address cards, small business advertisements, or even holiday greeting cards.

Clay and I have always known that we would send out a humorous, postcard save the date. It may not be all that formal, but we wanted our guests to get a good laugh out of them. We will always have the formal invitations to make up for it in the end. :-)

Here is what we are planning to use:

I know you are thinking "who is Peanut and Dirt?" or "why is the peanut wearing a sailor hat?" Peanut is my childhood nickname and Dirt is Clay's (in the south our "dirt" is really red clay). Our wedding guests will all be close family and friends that already know us by one or the other. No one really refers to us by our legal names, so they would probably be more confused by Kathryn or William showing up in their mailboxes. The jar of dirt and the peanut will not be making anymore appearances in our wedding stationery, but the polka dots will.

Our wedding has a nautical/sailing theme to answer the hat question. The website will obviously change to our wedding website once I finish it.

So if you are interested in entering the giveaway here are the details of the cost

• Two(2) people will win 200 custom postcards (choose your size: 4x6, 4.25x6, or 5x7); 14 pt gloss or matte, 13 pt uncoated; Full color on both sides

• Shipping must be paid by winner and is only valid for US shipping only

• Giveaway closes September 3, 2009 at 5 p.m. EST. Winner will be announced shortly after.

To enter:

• Leave a comment telling us what you would do with 200 postcards. Would you make Christmas cards? Business advertisements? etc?

• Follow us for an extra entry

• Tweet about it for an extra entry. Just make sure you add the @KatyandClay so I can count it

meet our flower girls!

2009-08-19T09:00:00.000-04:00

Clay and I spent a long time pondering how we would ask our flower girls to be a part of our wedding. We wanted to ask my cousin's daughters to be our tiny attendants. I looked for flower girl stuff and I just couldn't find anything that I liked, so I figured that princess stuff was the next best thing.

I got each of the girls a crown (that I embellished with some rhinestones), bracelets, chapstick, nail polish, ring pop, notepad, and grow your own princess/castle.

We made them a card to go along with it, too.

And here is Clay modeling the crown for you, so you could see the rhinestones. You can probably tell that he is not too happy I forced him to do it. He then proceeded to do a few poses that I figured he wouldn't want the world to see. No man wants to look like he is having fun in a pink crown.

We made some plans to head over to their house to give them their presents while we were in Columbia a few weeks back. Their Mama told them that I was going to be a princess and that Clay was my prince. She also told them that they got to be princesses with me, too. I didn't even tell her the presents were princess themed, so she really helped me out.

When we got there the youngest, Paislee, was taking a nap. Kelsie was wide awake and just stared at Clay for about five minutes until I told him to hand her the present. I think she was really convinced he was Prince Charming!

Here she is with her little bag. Kelsie looks A LOT like I did when I was little. Her dad, his brothers, and I could have all passed for siblings when I was little. I'll have to find a picture of the 4 of us.

I think she was pretty happy with all her goodies. :-)

Paislee woke up right before we left and she was not too happy when Kelsie made her wear her crown.

Can't you tell?

We are really excited that they are going to be able to join our bridal party. I know they will do a great job. :-)

pictures from graduation weekend and blogiversary!

2009-08-12T11:24:00.002-04:00

Thank you everyone for the congrats messages! I really don't feel very different... I just feel like I am about to lose my health insurance unless I find a job soon. :-)

Here I am trying to eat a banana for breakfast before graduation. You can see the top of my cap and all of the "bling." It helped my family find me on the floor and my mom said that people were talking about it. I wasn't the only one with stuff on the top of my cap. You can see my friend in the background of the next picture with her cap decorated. I was the only one with a sparkly tiger paw, though. :-)

This was before graduation while we were in our line. Clay came to visit before we headed to the tunnel. :-)

This was during graduation. We just asked someone in front of us to take the picture. We had 8 people from my major graduate on Saturday, so this is half of us. There were 44 in the Spring graduation, so we were just a small group.

Clay snapped this one after the guy had handed me my diploma. I'd show you the proofs from the professional of me shaking the presidents hand and all that jazz, but they are horrible. I was way too smiley in all of them. What's a girl to do? I was excited!

This was our rendezvous point after graduation. Recognize that girl in the tiger face paint? You should. It's my greatest legacy at Clemson. Not only am I on the side of the coliseum van, I am also on a wall in the coliseum. I've been on SI.com, FoxSports.com, and I have been featured in magazine articles. I think it's pretty cool and I'm proud of it.

My mom, Clay, me (my diploma), and my Dad

My little cousin (Dalton), Uncle Lee, me, and my Aunt Karen. You've seen Karen before because she's the Matron of Honor in the wedding. Dalton is the junior groomsman. We are both only children and he's like a little brother to me.

This was my big present. It was my Great-Grandmother's ring. Right now she is 93 and I have been very lucky to have her in my life. She is in a nursing home and wasn't able to make it. I know that I am still extremely lucky to have all of my Grandparents and a Great-Grandmother at these important times in my life (college graduation and wedding).

I also got money, gift cards, a painting of Tillman Hall, and my parents are spoiling me with a spa day when I go home. :-)

My dad, me, and one of my grandfathers (Dad's dad) at my party.

I'd show you more, but it's just a lot of people sitting around talking and I don't know if they want me plastering their faces on the internet. I had a great turnout for my party considering I am from a town two hours away. I never knew that 30-40 people could fit in our little townhouse at one time. Pretty impressive, right?

Now that graduation is over, Clay and I can focus on wedding plans and I can focus on finding a job!

Today is also our one year blogiversary! It's been a fun year, so thanks everyone for keeping up with us and our adventures!