KC's Birthday! & MM&M!

Today marks a special day . . . one of my BFF's 27th birthday (Happy Birthday KC!)!!






















I cannot imagine my life without her. It's a funny story, because we were never friends (but she hung out with my elementary friends, and I hung out with her elementary friends --- same people) until 7th grade. Once 7th grade hit, God gave us all the same classes together, and we instantly bonded! We kicked major bum in our home ec class . . always getting bonus points for being done first in the class, having extra clean and extra dry dishes, and for the yumminess of our concoctions (let's forget about the time where I took the biscuits out of the oven and burned my hand and the cookie sheet flew and all the biscuits fell all over the floor).

We then did cheerleading and auxiliary (flag & dance team) together where our bond got even closer! And although we had completely different majors in college, we ended up being "undecided" for the first two years, so we were able to take the same classes, and I crashed at her dorm room a lot.

Kristen is one of the most thoughtful, unselfish people I know. She always knows some how when I'm in a sad or bad mood, and knows exactly what to do and say to make me feel better. She's recommended me for several different awards/speeches in college, and I know without her, I wouldn't have received the experiences and the opportunities that I did.

If I want a good laugh, I hang out with her. . if I want a REALLY good laugh, I just give her some gin and tonic.

If I ever need fashion advice or home decorating tips, or for someone to help me with words, she's it! And if I ever need a shoulder to cry on or someone to celebrate with me, she's it!

So blessed to have her in my life and so proud to call her one of my best friends!

Oh. . also! The SKANKs are getting together tomorrow to celebrate KC & I's birthdays. KC dibbed it as "MM&M"! Mexican, margaritas, and movies! Love these girls and can't wait! I'm going to make them do Just Dance 2 and take video and post it on here.

Holy Cow.

Wow. It's been busy. Insane. I don't know where my mind is . . . so if you find it, please let me know.

This time of year is bittersweet. Bitter because work is crazy. Too crazy. Mental asylum crazy. End of year close, forecasting next year, account recs, rep letters, auditing, new computer . . just to name a few. Sweet because I do love the holidays. So fun. And my mood instantly lifts when listening to Christmas songs and snuggling with my family by the glowing fire with the Christmas tree all lit up.

I am kinda happy with the Christmas shopping progress this year. I am about 90% done (including the wrapping), and that also makes me one happy camper (I won't lie that also about 90% of that was done online - it's something I like to call smart shopping).

Also, one of the best things about the holiday is that I get to see all my friends and family!

Next weekend we are having a girls weekend and the weekend after that is Christmas already (holy cow)! I thrive and live on my family and friends. They are my #1 priority in life, and I love it. I love them. Which is a good thing since we are going to have 10 different Christmas gatherings.

For now I leave you with some pics of our pup, Bria snuggling with our kitty Nina, and Bria with her new friend Daisy (KC's pup):

Beach Visit!

4/5's of the S.K.A.N.K.s (Nikkie had to do wedding stuff) decided to take a cruise to the beach 2 weeks back after Nikkie's bridal shower.

I really was not standing up to take this pic, I just have monkey arms (aww you can see Waldameer in the distance . . . which I still have yet to visit this summer)!

Here are the girls after successfully helping a lady get her car out of the sand! We felt like such good samaritans! A couple other people came to join us in helping, b/c I think they thought . . "4 girls all dressed up can't push a car out of the sand" . . . but it was mainly us who got her out! Girl power ( . . . that was lame, I know. . . I'm sorry. . . .)!

Mase, KC, and KT getting their toes wet! Seriously . . . this was the first time ALL summer that I was "in" the water. It felt so great, but was like a little tease b/c I miss swimming so much!

KC, Mase, and I are meeting at the beach this Saturday to do some kayaking and then some relaxing in the sun! Hopefully I can swim around a little too!

My girls!! So awesome and so blessed that we are still friends after 16 years (give or take a few)!!

Umm . . and then our normie "awkward pic session" started . . . .

We like taking pictures and we like being weird.

And it continues . . . .

I love this one b/c the biker guy is looking back and laughing at us!! I would too!

The sad part is, these were only a FEW of the "fun awkward" pics that we took!

Love my girls!

Wedding Dress Shopping with The Girls!

Yay! KT is getting married!! The 2nd of S.K.A.N.K.'s! So we all made a little trip to Pittsburgh to look for some dresses for KT! And obviously I can't post any of those pictures here in case her future hubby tries to see how beautiful she looks in her wedding dress before the big day! Which I guess we didn't really find "The Dress" . . . but we have a couple ones that we really liked on her! I think we are all leaning towards the "Maggie". Anyways . . . here are some pictures from our adventures:

This was at our "photo shoot" at KT & Mike's (Randie's) place. We love pictures. We love being with each other. We love when Mike takes pictures of us. (from left to right - Mase, KT, Nikkie, Me, KC)

This was our "lets set the camera on a timer and hold up a dress" picture. (ooh! I really love that yellow dress . . I don't know why I'm so obsessed with yellow dresses now . . )

Ha! Probably my favorite of the trip! During our photo shoot. . . Mike asked who wants M&M's . . . and those were our reactions!! We are crazy. . . I know . . . but we have so much fun together no matter what we are doing. I love it.


Ooops! These are kinda out of order, but here is a pic of the beautiful scenery we got to see on our way to and from Pittsburgh. This photo doesn't even do justice to how seriously breathtaking it was!


Aww! This was us girls at "Dozen" . . a yummy cupcake place that we went to for breakfast before the dress shopping! It appears to have become our "breakfast place". (They sell cinammon rolls and quiche and fruit crisp also.)


Pretty pic of Pittsburgh!


And probably my 2nd fav . . . Mase thought we were leaving her out . . . so she made this silly face! Ahh my girls!! Can't believe we are moving home and I will get to see them so much more!! :-) And that we are going on a cruise in like a month and two weeks!! Crazy! :-)