Giveaways make my day!!!

So, I really hope everyone is already following Ashley at Ramirez Family! If not you are definitly missing out!! She is such a fun blogger and her header is to die for!! Such a gorgeous picture :)

Ashley is hosting a giveaway for hitting 100 followers!! Go on over and check it out. Ohhhh & it is a surprise giveaway!! So it is twice as fun!!

GOOOOOD LUCK!!!!

Aly's giveaway!!!!

Everybody loves a good giveaway! && it's so close to the Holidays that it is especially fun to recieve boxes in the mail :)

Head on over to Aly's blog It Ain't Always Pretty But It's Real and enter to win this adorable Holiday plate!

AND if you are not already a follower of her blog, you definitly want to be. She's a northern girl who tells it like it is! :)

Good Luck!!!

Only the good die young.....

If you happen to live in Jacksonville, you have heard, this past week, about a fallen US Soldier. Army Warrent Officer Earl Scott,24, died on Sunday the 8th when his plane experienced a "hard landing" (or another word for a type of plane crash). I went to middle school with Earl, and he was one of the nicest guys I have ever met. I consider it a privelege to have known him, even if it was for a brief period of time.

It's strange to have a personal connection to a fallen soldier in this war. I mean, I know alot of people who have been deployed, currently deployed, or about to be deployed, but they have never come home in a casket. It brings a whole new meaning to this war, and it makes it that much more real to me.

I hate to think about the possible outcomes all of my military friends have. I have 2 friends in Afghanistan, one in Iraq, and one leaving for Iraq on December 12th. Yes, my baby sisters boyfriend leaves for a 12-18 month tour in 4 weeks. If you think about it, if he stays the full 18th months, he will miss 2 Christmases, 1 Thanksgiving, 2 New Years, 2 Valentines Days, 2 Easters, 2 of my sisters & his own birthdays, etc. This is a big deal. He is 20, and my sister is 19. Their relationship will be so strained from this deployment that it will be difficult for them to make it. As for Adam, all I can say is he better come back from this tour safe and sound because I do not think my siter could survive otherwise. I can not imagine how men and women leave children for this long to do this difficult job. I read about a man whose wife had her baby 2 months after he left for a 16 month tour. When he got back, his baby girl was 14 months old. He never got to hold her, never got to feed her a bottle, missed her first step, first word, and so much more. Imagine the feeling he got when he got home and his own daughter did not know who he was. This is the strength and courage it takes to be one of our men and women in uniform. They are a better person than I am.

In honor of the recent holiday, I have been thinking about this alot and I want to become involved in helping the soldiers who risk their lives for me and you day in and day out. Brian and I are going to look into helping out with the Wounded Warriors project. B already recieves calls from them since he was injured while serving in 2004, but I think it would be such a rewarding experience to give something back to the troops. If you would like any information on the project, let me know. I will be glad to fill you in :)

Love. Love. Love.

Come on Nov 28th!

So, I just found out that we for sure have Florida/Florida State football tickets!! I am so excited, not only because it's another glorious game in the swamp, but it is also Tim Tebow's last game at Florida! It's an end of an awesome college career for him, but I am in no way worried for Florida, we have Brantley who is more than ready to lead this team.

Okay, enough about that! Hope everyone is having a great night.

Meet the Crew pt.3

So I have two more siblings that I have not informed you of. You guessed it---my STINKY little brothers....Matthew and Timothy

Meet Mathew!! (In the black shirt)

Matthew, 17 (who will be 18 on Halloween...gah that makes me feel OLD!)is a senior in high school. He has never been one to enjoy going to school, but 2 years ago, he was randomly given chorus as his elective. Well, after a lot of unnecessary drama, he was still not able to get out of the class. He ended up Loving it! And, he is actually not half bad! I can't wait to go to his senior concert in May, where the seniors in chorus are all called to this stage and given a medal for their acheivement...I'm already stocking up on tissues.....

If you thought a car was more expensive than a bike...you've never been to TREK!! My brother is so into bikes its not even funny. And its not the kind of bikes where you can go to walmart, pick out a bike and they build it for you either. You have to buy a frame, then you pick out tires, handle bars, a seat, a water holder, pedals, and the nuts & bolts to attach all of these parts. Thank goodness for employee disounts! Matthew has worked in a bike shop for 4 years, 2 of which have been at TREK (aka a ridiculously expensive bike store) where he assembles the bikes. He loves his job and enjoys what he does. One of his bikes, his most prized possesion is valued at 9,000.00 due to all the extras that it has on it. It's wayy to expensive, but I'm glad he has a hobby. (If you are looking for a high end bike, he also sells the ones he does not use anymore on ebay, but careful, he sold one on Sunday for 1,900.00 and it was 5 years old!)

Matthew or Matt has a great sense of humor...that I like to think he got from me...and he always makes me laugh. Even if he drives a redneck, jeep with a lift kit on it (yes, I literally have to jump into his car, and I'm 5'7) that he uses for muddin' and stuff, I still love him!!

Meet Timothy!! (In the red shirt)

Oh, Timmy, the youngest of the 5 kids. My kindred spirit. The reason for my grey hair at 22. Timothy, or Timmy is 12 years old and goes to a Christian Academy down the road. He thinks he is the same age as my brothers friends, which causes alot of arguements when it comes time for Matt to go off with friends. Timmy always wants to go, but there is a huge age difference between 12 and 18.

Now, I know this is a touchy subject for some people, but I honestly do not believe in ADD. I believe in little boys who are outgoing, and yes, a little hyper. Well, Timmy was diagnosed with ADD about 2 years ago and has been on meds ever since. I am not one to take medicine when I absolutley do not need it, so I hate that he takes a pill 365 days a year! It also makes me angry that when he is getting a little on the annoying side, people will yell at him "Go take your pill, did you forget today?" Being the baby in the family, you'd think Timmy would be a babied little boy, but he is so independent that it's not even funny. He is a bigger boy, and I dream of him going to the University of Florida and being a football player (& no, I wouldnt mind if he followed in the footsteps of another young man with the same name on the team now...)

My little brothers annoy the heck out of me---but that's what they are for. I love them with all my heart, and they definitly make life in my house interesting :)

Weekend update!!

So, this weekend was FABULOUS!!! I had a 5K on Saturday morning, a halloween party Saturday night, and a productive Sunday!!!

As most of you know, I am totally obsessed with 5Ks!! I have always had an average of a 39 minute finish time, which equals out to about a 13 minute mile. Well, in Saturday's run, I beat my time by 2 minutes!!! I ran the 3.1 miles in 37 minutes, which is about a 12 minute mile! I was totally excited and I can not wait to get my time down even more. I am currently training for a 10K in December, then the River Run, which is 9 miles, in March, so I really hope to be able to finish both with decent times!

Saturday night, B and I had a halloween party. I looked and looked for a costume that I wanted to get, but I couldn't find anything. Well, let me rephrase that, I couldn't find anything with a decent price. Since when do costumes cost an arm and a leg?? I fell in love with a really cute pirate costume, but it was $90! No thanks. As you can guess from the picture, Brian came up with the brilliant idea to go as Gator fans! (I know, totally not like us at all!!! lol) While I was at work, he went to party city and raided the orange and blue isle and found orange & blue paint, wigs, clappers, & so on. Since I was stuck at work a little longer than I thought I would be, he also made the orange & blue jello shots (which turned out AMAZING!), he is such a good boy :) When I finally got off work, we headed to the Town Center and I bought a new skirt from Old Navy and it was only $15! Oh the joys of living in Florida, when all the summer clothes go on clearance to make room for the winter collection, we can still wear summer clothes for a good 3 months! B was so sweet that he even asked me if I would like to get a pedicure while we were there! I decided to go all out and choose orange and blue for my color! It was a nice afternoon. The party was alot of fun, and it was even more fun to watch my Gators win yet another game.

Sunday was a lot more productive than we thought it would be. We woke up around 9:30 and decided to pick up the kitchen and go get some breakfast. Welllll, once I start cleaning, I can not stop cleaning until everything is cleaned! So, I deep cleaned the kitchen, living room, dining room, and bathroom. B took care of the bedroom because he has the desk so cluttered that I could not even see where to start. Now, the apartment looks like we just moved in again and I love it! I also made B's sandwiches and bagged chips for him to take for lunch this week since he wakes up so early and doesn't really have time to pack a healthy lunch before work. We then went to lunch at European Street with one of B's good friends, Drew. It was fun to catch up, chit chat, and sip on a new beer that tasted JUST LIKE pumpkin pie! It was crazy!! We definitly left with a full stomach! Which was a perfect time to go to the grocery store--for some reason we always go when we are starving and we spend a ton more on bad food choices. But this trip, we bought only the things on our list and even picked up some delicious fruits! After putting all the groceries away (seriously we had a long list, we hadnt been to the grocery store in 2 weeks!!) We made the trek down to the laundry room and washed every single peice of dirty clothing. It felt so nice to sleep in a clean clean clean apartment last night. I think I slept better than I had in a looong time.

Well, this week is going to be a long week for me! We have tickets to the Florida vs. Georgia game on Saturday and it is Brian's first time going to this game!! I have been going for a while, but I seem to be more excited every year! We are making more Orange and Blue jello shots for the game, as well as some yummy food that will of course resemble the Gators. This should be a no problem game, but just like every team that has played Florida this year, they will show up ready to play like they have never played before! Since they have nothing to lose, they will give 110%! I have complete faith in the undefeated team to come out with another W!

Enjoy your Monday, and have an amazing week loves!

Grey's Anatomy Followers...

Okay, so I am 2 weeks behind on Grey's Anatomy and I am watching the episode from the 15th.....I HATE it!! This stupid merger is ruining the show and I do not think I will be able to watch it anymore after I watch last night's episode. Just wanted to share that.

(ohhh and I miss George...and now Izzie? It just keeps getting worse!)

What are your thoughts???