Return of Wiener Wednesday

I seriously think Wednesday might be my favorite day of the week.

There is just SO much to look forward to because it is almost the end of the hump!

Well, I just had to post these adorable wiener pictures.

Seriously, how can people not love the little rascals? My personal fave is the photo a FB friend titled "Free Shredding Company" (I'm sure you can guess which photo I'm talking about). I can totally relate...my little Samson shreds everything from undies to Mr. Ruby's $100 headphones.

Enjoy...and Happy Hump Day! We're almost to Friday...

I had to do a double take with this pic - I thought someone kidnapped Samson

"I swear we're innocent"!

Free Themm

Meet Maryam and Marzieh. 

Both are Iranian women imprisoned for their Christian faith.

These women were thrown into Iranian prison for publicly expressing their love for the Lord and were deemed as "anti-government" and a "threat to national security".  All simply because of their religious practices and refusal to recant their Christian faith. Both women are extremely ill and need severe medical attention. They desperately need our support and prayers. 

Please take a moment to read their story at www.freethemm.com 

This heart breaking story makes me on-my-knees thankful for the amazing freedom we have to worship and freely practice any religion here in the United States. We truly are so blessed. 

*I know my posts are typically light-hearted and fun, but I felt it necessary to bring this story to light. The more prayers for these women...the better!

Sunday Night Blues

I've got a case of em' real bad. 

Tomorrow starts my first (gasp) full week back in the office after 6 and a half weeks of travel.

As stressful as traveling can be, and as much as I miss my little fam while I'm gone - I absolutely 100% prefer traveling while working over being in the office. 

Sigh. 

However, as long as I have something to look forward to, a.k.a. the holidays and a cruise in February, I get by just fine. 

On the holiday note - is it just me, or is hard to believe that Christmas is exactly TWO MONTHS AWAY?!?!?! Seriously? Where does the time go? And, I'm quite sad because Mr. Ruby and I decided not to go home for the holidays this year. My mom and stepdad are trying to make a trip out here for Christmas...I'm desperately hoping that happens. 

Anyway...

We had a wonderful weekend. Friday night was full of relaxing and cleaning the house. While yesterday consisted of Birthday Celebration Fun Time for Mr. Ruby. I baked some delicious fall treats, we relaxed, watched Sunshine Cleaning, and had some good friends over. 

Sunshine Cleaning was absolutely adorable...same producers as Little Miss Sunshine (which I loved!!). It's sort of a dark-humored movie, which I tend to like for some reason. But I definitely recommend it.

Another recommendation?

Jalapeno cheese dip that I made (along with a few other tasty fall treats) for Mr. Ruby's birthday.  Also on the menu: Spiked hot apple cider, pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, apple bread, and 7 layer dip...just to name a few. 

But seriously, if you have a party to attend in the next few weeks, I highly recommend whipping up some jalapeno cheese dip (see easy recipe below) or baking the incredibly simple apple bread from Trader Joes. Both were gone in minutes!

Enjoy!

Jalapeno Cheese Dip (Warning: Extremely spicy!!!)

Ingredients:

1 (4 oz.) can diced jalapeno peppers

1 cup shredded (fresh) parmesan cheese

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup mayo

1 (4 oz.) can chopped green chiles

1 round loaf sourdough bread

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine jalapeno peppers, parmesan cheese, cheddar cheese, mayo, and green chiles. Cut the top off the sourdough bread bowl and hollow out center to create bowl. Fill the breadbowl with the mixture. 

Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. 

*Best served with sourdough bread or crackers

To My Birthday Boys

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY FAVORITE BOYS!!!

Yep. Both Mr. Ruby and Samson were born on October 22nd! Little Sammie turns 3 today while Mr. Ruby turns the big 25!!!

Unfortunately, I'm not there to celebrate with either of them. :( I'm heading home tonight, and hopefully I get there before midnight so they both get some birthday kisses. 

This Saturday I'm giving them a real celebration. Stay tuned for Birthday Fun pics!

Love my Birthday Boys!!!

Middle of Nowhere

Yep. 

I'm at it again. 

Recruiting in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE!!!

Thus, I made a top 10 list. 

Top 10 ways to know that you're in Boone, North Carolina

10. Two words: KFC Buffet. Who knew?

9. Cornbread is considered a delicacy.

8. Once entering the town, first thing I saw was a legit hitchhiker. Long scraggly hair and a  flannel shirt. Nothing but authenticity in Boone.

7.  The nearest airport is 2 and a half hours away.

6.  No cell phone/GPS/any kind of technological service...for miles.

5. Everyone and everything says "ya'll"...including road signs.

4. Drinks are served in glass jars. 

3. Nightlife includes banjo playing musicians. (Yet again, I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried)

2. The outlet mall consists of one store. 

1. Topping it all? My hotel room has a heart-shaped jacuzzi. 

Actual photo from MY hotel room

As I always say - I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried. 

Latest Obsessions

Ok. 

I am about to combust.   

I simply NEED to profess my love for my latest obsessions. Some old, some new - all currently on my mind. 

Warm Drinks - So, I used to absolutely despise warm drinks. Coffee. Tea. Cappuccinos. Ugh. But...now that I live in a place where it is cold more than half the year, I gave warm drinks another shot. I.am.completely.obsessed. Especially with spiced chai lattes. 

Nicholas Sparks - I've read three of his books recently. Just finished his latest - be prepared with lots of tissues. 

Fall TV - I don't even like tv really. But, this season has SO many awesome shows. My DVR is overflowing with Glee, Heroes, Gossip Girl, So You Think You Can Dance, and the Hills (sad, but true). 

Scentsy Warmers - So, my stepmom got me one of these for my birthday. Umm. It is honestly the most amazing smell-good-candle-thingy ever invented. I'm not kidding. It makes my entire house smell like a cinnamon/vanilla/spiced cider factory. There are TONS of scents. Seriously, best gift ever. 

Red Onions - Again, I used to hate onions. With a passion. However, the Panera Fuji Apple Chicken Salad (which in itself is a whole other obsession) got me hooked on sliced red onions. I love them on everything now!

Wiener Dogs - Ok, Ok. No news here. But seriously, the little guys are so darn cute. 

Best Purchase Ever

That's right.

We're going to WICKED! Just bought tickets today.

This is the one musical I have been dying to see for several years now, but somehow I always miss the boat. Tickets just go so quickly. 

But, it's a done deal. Tickets Purchased. December 20th can't come soon enough!

Fall Packed Weekend

There is nothing better than having Monday off. And Tuesday for that matter. 

I had such a fabulous weekend. Two of my sorority sisters/best friends came out for a New England visit. Not only that, but we jam-packed our weekend with so much autumn goodness:

Clam Chowder. Pumpkin patches. New Hampshire Farm Stands. Apple Picking. Leaf Peeping. Spiced Apple Cider. Oktoberfest. Chai Lattes.  

Seriously, if you are ever planning a trip to New England...it absolutely must be in the fall!

 

Full of Fun Fall Foliage Weekend!

Out of commission at the moment.

Two best friends from college are in town. And the weather has been PERFECT for us. 

Heading to Boston for the day, going to New Hampshire farm stands tomorrow, peeping at the fall leaves, carving pumpkins, picking apples, drinking hot apple cider...Fall Perfection. 

Stay tuned for pics. 

I LOVE AUTUMN!!!

Wedding Fun!!!

Ok, so I have been so busy with traveling and life in general...but I MUST share photos from a wedding we went to a couple of weekends ago. 

All I have to say is: Breathtaking. 

Seriously. This was one of the most beautiful weddings I've ever been to...and it was pretty darn fun too! It was held at a mansion right on the water. Can you get any more perfect than that? They even had one of those fun photo booths...I think we visited it at least 5 times. 

Thanks to Cristina and Matt for an AMAZING time - CONGRATULATIONS!!!

So, really quick story from the wedding:

I was having major dress issues. After the ceremony, I realized that the hemming was all off, and it felt really awkard...not to mention it looked so terrible! 

How could I not notice this in the store?!?!?!

So, my friend Sarah went into emergency mode, and we came up with a plan. We were just going to cut part of the lining out because it was crooked. 

Well, we searched throughout the entire church nursery and finally found some first aid scissors. After cutting a bit of the lining, Sarah decided to Project Runway my dress...and literally cut the ENTIRE lining out of it. 

I was horrified at the thought of cutting out the entire lining, but it turned out perfectly. My dress fit even better than before!!!

Lesson Learned: No more half-price dresses.

Today's Travel Sagas

I knew I couldn't complete a full fall recruiting season without some annoyances along the way...

So, I have two major travel pet peeves:

1). When it is so completely and painfully obvious to everyone on the entire aircraft (except for that one person) that their 5x5 suitcase is seriously not going to fit into the itty bitty overhead space. Listen, Pal: CHECK YOUR LUGGAGE or at least tag it and pick it up after the flight. Easy as pie. 

2). Those incredibly annoying people that immediately jump out of their seats the moment the seatbelt sign goes off after landing. Oh, and then they try to rush to the front of the plane...not caring who they stampede and trample over. 

Message to these annoying people: You need to WAIT YOUR TURN!!! Do not try to rush to the front of the plane, and especially do not cut others off. 

***This of course does not pertain to those who have connecting flights in which they are about to miss!

So, this happened to me today. 

The plane landed. I had exactly 10 minutes to catch my next...in another terminal. This man cut me off, and I politely said, "Excuse me sir, I have a connecting flight I need to catch."

You know what he did?

He said, "So do I" and literally shoved me to the side and ran over my foot with his suitcase. No lie. He then cut everyone else in the plane off as well. People were in an uproar because we were all trying to catch flights. 

If he wasn't over 60, I seriously would have slugged him with my carry on. 

Then, I ran through the entire Atlanta airport, in my heels, with severe blisters, carrying a recruiting display and my carry on. I finally got to the gate, and my plane hadn't even arrived yet. It was running late also. 

Sigh. 

Oh, and if my day couldn't get any worse...they guy next to me on the second flight fell asleep and kept passing gas. It smelled so TERRIBLE!

*******************************************************************

On a more positive note:

I want to thank Ashley at Breakfast at Ashley's for the Kreative Blogger Award. She and her marine husband are adorable, and if you haven't checked out her blog, you're definitely missing out!!! 

Thanks again, Ashley!

Queen of Lame

It's completely fine to laugh at my lame-ness. 

Seriously, I do it all the time. 

Last night, I was feeling sorry for myself because the other recruiter had plans with his fiance for the evening. I was all alone. Bored. Stuck in a hotel room with nothing to do. So, I decided to go explore downtown and find a fun place to eat dinner. 

I found a couple of cute places. I was so excited! 

Until of course I realized that...GASP...just about every restaurant required parallel parking!!! I do not have a clue how to parallel park. 

That didn't stop me from trying. 

But after a few 16-point turns and proceeding to back in and out and in and out several times, I realized this was definitely not my forte. Never has been. I just got really really flustered. 

So, I gave up and went to Wendy's.