Would you Rather....

I was asked an interesting question recently... Would you rather be rich but have your marriage fall apart OR be middle income and happy.

Money is the root of all evil. There are days when I daydream about what I would do if I won the lottery. With the lottery in my future, I picture pure happiness. How could you not be happy with so much money? It seems that the majority of problems arise from from money or lack thereof. For starters, I would buy a house near my family and friends. I would quit my job and travel the world. I would donate money to some of my favorite charities that I believe in (but have never been able to donate to for the lack of money mentioned above) like March of Dimes, Breast Cancer etc. I would drive a bangin' vehicle! Like a Range Rover. Oh and the purses that I could buy! Not to mention the wardrobe I would be rocking!

But even with all the things I would have, I know that I would not be truly happy. Sure my money problems would go away but I would be faced with new challenges. In the words Notorious B.I.G, "Mo money Mo problems." Our prblems would not go away, we would only be faced with new and probably bigger problems.


So I think I would rather be middle income and be truly happy. I have always said its the little things that make me happy. I do not need all the material things (and amazing purses) that money can buy. I am a content person. I prefer a Double-Double from In-N-Out over a pricey steak dinner any night!

Happy Thanksgiving

My MIL and I made thanksgiving dinner. Here is Debbie getting ready to inject our scrumptious turkey with buttter.


I have never made a turkey so I just stayed out of her way. I made the stuffing from scratch ;)




Dinner was really good, if I do say so myself. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because it involves all my favorite foods and I don't have to buy anyone anything. Can't beat it!

Unfortunately after dinner, I started to feel really tired so I took a nap. At first I thought it just had to do with the fact that I just ate a really big meal. I took a 3 hour nap, which is REALLY uncommon for me. Friday morning I woke up and I was running a fever, the whole nine yards! Not fun! I don't get sick often. To be honest, I don't remember when the last time that I was sick. It for sure hasn't been since I have moved to TN because I havn't been to a Dr. since living here. So its been at least two years! So what was supposed to be a fun four day weekend has turned miserable and I have been in bed the majority of the time. :( Good news.... I am feeling alot better!

The end of an Era...

Ahhh Oprah!

We are so sad to see her go, although technically we still have two years with her.

Believe it or not going to the Oprah show was on my bucket list. My Bestie, Damaris and I swore that we would go to the Oprah show one day. Back then I think I always assumed that she would always be on the air so its a little weird to think that the end is in sight. And in two years Oprah will be gone and my DVR will be empty. There will be whole generation of people who will not know Oprah. Someday when I am a stay at home mom... there will be no Oprah and that is just weird.





watch this hilarious video! Dane does such a good Oprah! Huuump Baaack Whaaaales! LOL

I tend to enjoy the serious shows alot more... like about pedophiles. On a serious note, her shows reach so many people and sometimes I enjoy just crawling up on the couch with a box of tissues and having a good weep fest with Oprah.

I would still love to go to the Oprah show however tickets will be ALOT harder to come by now. Who knows D, maybe we will get lucky! :)

New Moon... the wait is over!

Months and months of waiting all comes down to this!

Brandon looks THRILLED right?

Brandon and I went to the midnight showing of New Moon. There was not much else to do while we waited ....so we took pictures.

It was AMAZING!

Happy Anniversary 11.02.09

November 2nd was our two year wedding anniversary. As a gift to each other we decided to get concert tickets to see one of our favorite bands, The Script, play in Nashville. We drove to Nashville for the day on Sunday.



The show was at a small bar/lounge called Mercy Lounge. We saw the laughing stock of Nashville while we were there.


The opening act was a band called Heypenny from Nashville. They were pretty crazy but cool.


The Script....

After the show we got to meet the lead singer Danny.
and the guitarist Mark.

It was pretty cool. They were just hanging outside in parking lot with some fans. Danny was nice enough to sign our ticket (cause we didn't have anything else for them to sign.)

We didn't leave Nashville til about 11pm. I had to work Monday morning bright and early so we drove straight home. We didn't get home til about 2:30 am which made for an interesting Monday at work ;) but it was worth it. The way I see it, it's not an everyday occurance around here. We had a blast!

Goals

So its a Sunday evening and I am sitting here bored. So I started reading through my older posts. Do you ever do that? Well I came a across an interesting post. Back in March I posted about Goals I was trying to accomplish. So ironic.

I talked about going to the gym... lets just say that was so long ago!

I talked about taking my lunch to work.... That is actually less of a struggle. I have gone a few weeks without even thinking about going out for lunch. Impressive, I know! It only becomes a problem when its time to go grocery shopping again. Which in turn has made up for the above mentioned goal. The fact that I don't eat from drive-thru everyday has helped make up for the fact I haven't seen the inside of the gym in months!

I talked about reading a book. Damaris can vouch for me on this one! I have read the Twilight Saga.... more than once. We'll just leave it at that. And I have realized that as long as its something you enjoy, reading doesn't have to be a chore. My excuse was always "I don't have time to read." To that I say again, if its something you enjoy, you make time. I have a whole new perspective.

I talked about laundry. And laundry is still mayhem in this house. I have done laundry all weekend. Its a never ending battle. And I have come to terms with that.

IMAX 3D

We are waiting to see Christmas Carol in 3D. We look pretty goofy. I hope its good! We will let you know....

Family... Gotta love em!

My family came to visit for 4 days last week. It was so nice to have them here with us. Tennessee is VERY different from Vegas in that it is not touristy in the same ways. There are not shows and attractions to see however we do have things that Las Vegas does not. And that's trees and beautiful views. We wanted to show them a good time and do somthign different that they can't do in Las Vegas. So we went to a Corn maze and pumpkin patch in Corryton, TN. Check out the link and see the ariel shots of the corn maze.



I am not sure if you can see the picture of the map Brandon is holding in this picture but it was HUGE. It was in the shape of a FOX and said Great Smokey Mountain National Park. There were a total of 12 check points. In the beginning, we didn't really know what we were doing so in the quest to find check point #1 we ended up at #4! And then when we were looking for #5 we ended up at #12! But once we figured it out it was smooth sailing. Actually Brandon was the navigator so he figured it out and lead the way.



This is a shot of the corn maze. It was a beautiful day.





Fabby & Aaron.
Aaron loved it! He didn't get tired or cranky. I would have loved it more if someone would have carried me through the whole maze... ahh to be a baby again!









I enjoyed the visit SO MUCH! I hope they can come back soon.
"I have never paid money to get lost before." - MOM

Aaron Levi

As everyone is well aware, my mom, sister and nephew came to visit this weekend. Here are some pictures we took over the weekend!








Aaron was a very good sport and was my model all weekend. I think, he did a good job.

We call this one "exhausted." Sweet.

Thanks Damaris! These look WAY better!

I will post pictures from the rest of our weekend later!

Excited

This is my "I am so excited to see my fam" face! We are driving to Nashville tonight to pick up my mom, Fabby & Aaron. It's going to be a long night and a lot of driving but it is totally worth it!

Surprise!

Brandon surprised me at work with flowers! Isn't he so sweet :-)

Sydnie and Braydon

My friend Alicia was kind enough to let me take pictures of her kids Sydnie and Braydon. We had tons of fun. And needless to say, I learned that it can be very hard to get a 3 year old and 1 year old to cooperate, but we did get some good shots.

I also recently got more aquanited with my photo editing program. I just learned how to use color in black and white photos and I was so proud of me. :)

I found that some of the best shots were when they were not looking at the camera. Go figure! But capturing a true moment sometimes may be more important than a big cheesy grin.

Alicia and her family live in the country so we took these pictures in a big open field. It was such an awesome back drop.

Because the ground was not exactly flat and level little Braydon here had some trouble staying on his feet.

So let me know what you think!

Super Cute Video

HOLA Festival

Last weekend we went to Downtown Knoxville to the HOLA Festival. I was feeling a little deprived of culture and familiarity so I was hoping it would be "authentic." To be honest I was half expecting Taco Bell to be catering "Mexican food."
But I was wrong! They had awesome food and entertainment!


There were TONS of people which I wasn't expecting. Overall it served its purpose, it got us out the house and he didn't spend a whole lot of money so we can't complain!

Football season is here

Football season is back! And some of you might know that football is a VERY serious matter in this house. Brandon is a huge Georgia Bulldog fan. Last weekend Georgia took on Arkansas and it was a very excitng game. So exciting that Brandon couldn't stay seated!

Here is Brandon celebrating an awesome play. In the end Geargia won 52-41.

Doodles

Is it 5 pm yet? This is what I do when i am bored!

Sunset

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This is the sunset in South Carolina. The picture above is with no editing. I got a little carried away with the editing efffect below. Let me know what you think. Which one looks the best?


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