Isn't it gorgeous!

I saw this picture online of a living room and I LOVE IT!! Can't you just imagine coming over to visit and Chris is making dinner and I'm relaxing on the couch?!? Really, he would prefer to be cooking. Ahhh, life is good.

Christmas Photo Cards

Yep, it's thetime to start thinking about Christmas cards. I love receiving photo cards from all friends near and far. Actually, I don't just enjoy them during the Christmas season but throughout the year. Chris can tell you that they stay on our fridge until the new ones arrive . They all warm my heart and remind me everyday just how blessed we are with such great friends. If you are looking for a creative card this year, check out www.tamagrams.com. She is a friend of mine from church. You may have remembered me using her specially designed wedding note cards earlier in the year :) and now she has a line of Christmas photo cards. Check 'em out!

Trunk-or-Treat

Lego Land

Tonight our church in Grennville hosted Trunk-or-Treat. IT is always lots of fun and I enjoy seeing how creative each group is. This year, our community group went with a "Lego Land" theme. The kids loved it and the costumes were low budget. Attached are some pictures from tonight. Chris was at work so unfortunately he wasn't able to participate in the fun.

Congrats to Ann & Lawrence

This is the grooms cake my mom had made for Lawrence. The picture of the State and the red SC flag was the logo for the wedding.

The wedding on Saturday was beautiful. I was reminded just how photogenic my brother is. Every picture of him is just perfect! His bride, Ann did such a good job of taking care of the small details. She looked stunning in her gorgeous dress...and it even had a bow on the back. It couldn't have fit her better!

Apple Picking

On Sunday Chris and I went with our small group from church to an apple orchard. My favorite apple is a Pink Lady. Dispite the fact that the Pink Ladies were not ready for picking (according the dry erase board), we did so anyway. We sampled them, against orchard rules and they tasted just delicious! We did get a small bag of Granny Smith apples for me to attempt to make a pie. I'll be sure to post pictures next week if that happens. Stay tuned.

I promise to post soon. Not too much to update other than our Maryland trip, which was a ton of fun! Stay tuned...

Help those that protect you

Some of you may have seen my facebook update the other day. I was on the hunt for someone who knew how I could get my expired coupons in the hands of someone that could use them. Weeks ago I had heard about a program in which you could mail your expired coupons to families on a military base to use at the commissary, which honors them up to 3 months after the expiration date. Well, I was able to find a lady that has put together a program called Coupons for Troops, ironically enough! :) I have included a link HERE if you are interested in mailing coupons to other families to help them save some money. She will email the name of a family and their address. As we know, every little bit goes a long way.

Dancing in the Rain

Well, it wasn't exactly dancing. Actually it was cheering in the rain. Yes, we were at the Clemson game and stayed the entire time. Thankfully we were prepared with rain suites so we really didn't get wet, but what a yucky feeling! Everything on your body just feels moist. Chris' hands were so wet that at one point when he was doing the "O-N" his ring flew off and bounced down 4 or 5 rows of bleachers. Thank goodness I didn't know why he had made a mad dash down a few rows. He did find it and all was good. At first I thought he was going down to tell some punk-like teenagers to behave. Although he was just getting his ring, he did manage to address the un-chaperoned teenagers at the end of the game when one thought it was a good idea to toss a full coke bottle. Chris made sure he knew in just enough words that what he did wasn't a good idea. Yeah for Chris! So many people would have just watched and then mumbled some words under their breath, but Chris handled it very well.
I took a picture of us on my new blackberry that I will try to post. Having a new blackberry is another post for another day. Let's just say, you don't have to worry about me being one of those friends that can't put it away. I don't even get it out...I can't even use it!

We are going to MD this weekend for the football game with some friends from Greenville. Chris and I have never flown together or gone out of town with another couple. I know we will have fun and I'm just so thankful how laid-back my husband is about traveling. I don't have to worry about him ruffling any feathers or being hard-headed about doing something. At some point we have all traveled with someone like that and it takes the relaxation out of the vacation.

I am looking forward to cooler weather! You?

Free (cont.)

Last night I went to get a sandwich at a nameless sub shop :) for dinner. I treated myself out for dinner since I had eaten lunch at the house. The story is that I ran in to get my sub, the guy made a HUGE sub and then...he asked me if I had cash. Cash? I never carry cash anymore. It turns out there credit card machine wasn't working and I went home with a free sub.
You may be thinking that is so cheap of me, but I promise I wouldn't have ordered the sub if I knew I had to have cash and the employee assured me he wouldn't get in trouble. After I apologized numerous times, I finally left with the free sub. At this point, it's a few minutes before 9pm, and they were closing the doors behind me or I would have run to the bank.

I definitely enjoyed it!

Free Ride

FREE: Did you know that if you complete the survey at the bottom of your Bi-lo receipt, you will be taken to a link to print a coupon for a free Bi-lo recyclable bag? Not only do you have a chance to win $250, but you can get a free bag and Bi-lo will refund you .05cents on every visit when you use your bag. These are great to use when making trips into the grocery store. I didn't realize how many plastic bags we accumulate until we started recycling them. They really add up!
RIDE: Chris will get off of work at 6am Monday morning from working this weekend. He will then ride with his mom up to VA to pick up a few little things that are still at the house, sign paperwork for closing, and then hit the road back to SC. Please pray for safe travels and strength for him to get through the day after having been up since 5pm Sunday night when he went into work. It will be a looooooong day for him. I do have a little stash of snacks for them to take.

Also...Happy Birthday to Ann, the future sister-in-law!! We hope you had a great day and a fun weekend.

Quick Update

Does anyone else think it's time for me to post? I'm sorry it's been forever. Here is a quick summary of our life in 5 short sentences. :)

1. We received an offer on the house.
2. Inspection and appraisal is this week. Until both of those are both done, we aren't celebrating.
3. Work has me busy, busy, busy.
4. We are sooooo ready for football season. I'm already thinking about some good recipes to try.
5. I have scored some major bargains this week! Whoohoo!

OK, that's really 7 sentences. Cross your fingers things go smoothly with the house. We are looking forward to only having 1 mortgage.

Lawrence's wedding is less than two months away. October will be here before we know it and I'm so excited about fall decorations, cute sweaters, colorful scarfs, and of course time with family.

Have a great week!

My favorite things

What are two of my favorite things?? Yes, besides Chris and Clemson...well, have you guessed?

FREE & CHOCOLATE! That doesn't come as a surprise to most of you :)

Every Friday, Mars is giving away 250,000 free pieces of chocolate HERE. I already got mine today. The certificate for your free chocolate does take six weeks, but it's worth it for me. I'll grab a cold diet coke and enjoy my free chocolate right about the beginning of October. And maybe I'll share it with Chris while we are enjoying a Clemson football game! That sounds like a great plan.

(Dad, I already registered for you today too. Love ya)

Free food

I just ordered $10 worth of free food to be delivered on Monday. Whether you pick out a few items and take $10 off or you order 1 item under $10 and get it free, it's still a great deal. Check it out HERE! No charge for delivery.

6 months ago tonight...

Can you tell I was excited?

...we were counting down the hours until it was time to say "I do." I really couldn't believe that January 31st was almost here. The place that we had the dinner at was decorated so nicely by my moms sweet friends. There was such a glow that night and we were so thankful for the time they spent setting up the facility. Earlier that afternoon, my mom and I had gone by to get things ready, but were told that things were under control and we could leave. There wasn't anything we could do. Ahhh...what nice words to hear when you have a million things running through your head: pick up grooms cake, bring gifts for honorary bridesmaids, bring gifts for groomsmen, pack groom/bride Tervis Tumblers (gift from mom), shower, get dressed, get to church for rehearsal in time, etc.
The actual rehearsal at the church went smoothly and shortly after that we were on our way downtown for dinner. The site was very quaint and was filled with our closest family and friends. The dinner was delicious and just what we had in mind, a casual dinner with not much fuss. Fried turkey and marinated pork was served with green bean casserole, seasoned potatoes and pasta salad. Chris and I requested a peach cobbler with ice cream too. A warm treat on a cold night. After dinner, Chris cut into the grooms cake which I had picked out for him. It was a chocolate cake with chocolate icing and a BIG Clemson football helmet on it. I ordered it from a bakery in Columbia. Hmmm...I wish I had a big slice right now.
A few toasts were made by my brother, my dad, and the matron of honor. There weren't any groomsmen that wanted to speak (which I'm a little thankful for because I was warned in advice there may be some embarrassing stories). Chris and I created a "soundtrack" of Us. Some of the songs were upbeat, dancing songs and others were slow, sappy love songs. Chris created the cutest cover for our personalized CD's. We also had tons of candy there which was initially purchased for a "candy bar" we were going to have at the reception. As the wedding got closer, we decided the "candy bar" was a little overdone and nixed that idea.
The night was just an enjoyable event for the two of us. I think I shed a few tears, but that is to be expected, right? Once we said our goodbyes and sweet words, we parted ways with plans to meet at the alter the next night at 6pm to begin our Forever!

The grooms cake. Yummy!Kristie, the best Matron of Honor ever!!the table of goodiesCan you read it? So creative, but not our idea. I wish we could take claim to it. :)

When my dad said a toast, this is what everyone toasted with.

Amy & Chris started with a Clemson orange crush.

For those that read this and don't know us too well, I'll give you a brief summary:

Chris and I met at Clemson in 1996. He had a crush on me. :)

12 years later, it's the night before our wedding!

My dad giving the toast. He did a great job!

Did I toss & turn all night long? Absolutely not!

This is a picture that mom snapped shortly after coming home from the dinner.

sandwich coupon

Did anyone try the sandwich for the coupon I posted below? I gave out two coupons and received low ranking from both people. I guess it just looks better than it tastes. oh well.

FREE FREE FREE

Has anyone taken advantage of the free book bag offer this week? We did! Can't beat a free $50 book bag to take on trips. Speaking of trips, Chris and I are headed to VA this weekend to check on the house. We are meeting with a new realtor so cross your fingers that this guy can get the job done. THIS HOUSE MUST SELL SOON! I will update the blog when we get back with news from the trip. This is also our "6 month anniversary" trip too so a getaway from the house is also planned. Yippee!!

Quick--it expires 7/12

Click HERE for the link to the coupon. Enjoy!

Fun on the 4th

Each 4th of July, The Nichols family (my mom's, mom's side of the family) has a reunion on Lake Murray in Saluda. My family been going to this reunion since I can remember. In fact, it may be a 30+ year tradition. Anyway, there are usually a ton of people there, although I don't know most of their names, but we have fun catching up and eating some delicious food. When I was a child, my brother and I would take our bathing suits and swim in the late UNTIL one year someone saw a snake. I don't think my brother and I ever got in the water again. It still gives me chills.

The night before, a couple of men get the hash ready and continue to stir it into the night. The hash is prepared in big iron pots that were used to wash clothes over 70 years ago. Unfortunately, Chris hasn't been able to attend the reunion with me. 2007: we hadn't "re-met" yet. 2008: engaged, but had other plans. 2009: Chris was working. I know he wishes he could come. I hate attached some pictures below of my family and the infamous hash.

My grandmama and me

An uncle preparing the "to-go" containers of hash that can be frozen and enjoyed all year

Another tradition: homemade ice cream

hash in the pots

Deals of the Week

Since Chris wasn't home this weekend, I had tons of time today to plan my shopping trip. Attached in a picture of all the deals I got for a grand total of...............................$21.84.

2 tubes of toothpaste, 2 invisible tape, Febreeze starter kit, Febreeze fabric spray, Febreeze neutralizer, 1 box of Motrin, 1 box of Excedrin, 2 Venux razors, 1 nail police, 1 lip balm, 2 bottles of Dawn dish washing detergent, 2 canisters of Pringles, 1 Pantene styler for curls, 2 bottles of Lowry's marinade, 2 bottles of Head & Shoulders, 3 Pantene shampoos.

Has anyone else found any great deals for the week? Please share!

Happy 4th of July

Whatever your plans are and wherever you may be, we hope that you enjoy the holiday!