Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

This Halloween I celebrated over the weekend instead of waiting until today. Friday night some friends of mine and I went to the K Pub Costume Party and had such a fun time. My friend Kate and I were Mario and Luigi this year. And yes, we played the theme song and ran around jumping on imaginary mushrooms and catching stars. So fun and so funny.





Saturday night we decided on a low key day/evening and just hung around watching football/hockey, playing cornhole, Brad Pitting it through the house in our socks, playing pool and laughing. Such a fun night and well worth the lack of sleep I got.

Sunday I went back to Auburn to celebrate my brother's birthday a little early. Daniel turns 27 (we are all getting way too old) tomorrow so the family had lunch and hung out in celebration of him.

Poor lil Eva Diva (my cat that lives at my parents that they won't let me bring back to ATL) has lost most of the hair on top of her paw from where the snake got her. She's fine, but she looks so pathetic with no hair. Looks a lot worse than it is.

I love weekends like last weekend and it made me like Atlanta again which is good. I just have to remember that in order to really enjoy a place, you do need to stick around occasionally.

This weekend takes me back to Auburn then Vegas next Tuesday and Athens on Saturday. Yay!

Update

Rodent..... Dead....

That is all :)

Letters to our Troops

I'm sure that many of you remember this from a few weeks back when I wrote about it the first time, but now the deadline is quickly approaching and the number of letters is not nearly close enough to what it needs to be.

As of this morning, The Bert Show has 40,000 letters. That's only 10% of the letters they need to send to the troops. 10%, absolutely ridiculous.

Is this country really this numb to the idea of our military and the work they are still doing for OUR freedom? Do people really not care anymore? Are we not thankful that every day these men and women sacrifice their time, their lives, the luxuries of home?

I had my office write letters yesterday and we have 70 that we will be sending in on Friday. One of my coworkers actually wrote 20 letters.

If you have 5-10 minutes (and lets face it we all do) please write a letter expressing your thanks to our service members and follow the guidelines below. It only takes a minute and can be such a difference maker in the end.


Deadline is next Friday, so please do this today! Pass this along to all your friends and family too, any person can help! This isn't just an Atlanta project, this is a project for any American, anywhere.


My first blog:
"http://erinrnewton.blogspot.com/2011/10/thanksgiving-in-october.html>

The Bert Show Letter Information http://www.thebertshow.com/the-bert-shows-thank-you”">

A glass of wine and a bestfriend

Last night my mind was going 100 miles an hour. You know those nights when you have 20,000 different things going on in your head at one time? When all you want to do is not think about anything and just either go to bed or get back to what you were trying to do? When you realize that half of the things don't matter, but your mind won't let you forget them for some reason. Yep, that was me last night.

So, when I needed to refocus, I turned to one person who is always there for me, my best friend Amanda. As I talked to her about the things I've been thinking about, worrying about, and considering I started to feel better and begun to feel good again and let my mind rest.

For the record, I love all of my friends and there are many (most) who will be there at any time, sometimes before I even have the chance to ask (which is such a blessing). I'm blessed to have friends who are in all stages of life (married, newly single, in a relationship, having children, wanting children, not wanting children, working, not working, in school, graduated, living in small cities, living in big cities, starting their own life in a familiar town, starting a life in an unfamiliar town, Auburn lovers, Not-so-loving of Auburn, etc.) who are never shy to give me advice or express their opinion, or let me learn through their mistakes, successes, or day to day lives.

But, Amanda and I are on the same page right now on a lot of things. Amanda and I are both pretty recently single (within the last year) from long relationships. We both are considering venturing out into the dating world (and quickly remembering why we don't love it). We both have made our fair share of mistakes lately. We both have similar views of our jobs, our cities, and the general direction of where our lives are now vs. how we pictured how/where they would be a few years ago and where we want to be in the coming years.

Last night when I needed to vent and to talk out some stuff, she was there to listen and, like a best friend always does, she sympathized, she gave me advice, and she worked me towards a better attitude. I laughed, I cried, I felt her pain and she felt mine. It just goes to show you that you can be hours away from someone, but some friends will always be there.

Now despite the fact that my to do list isn’t any shorter, I still have some life decisions to make, and I realize I'm not as patient recently as I thought I was, I feel better. Thank the Lord for struggles that help you remember the great things in life that are often times overshadowed by all the stress and problems. The Lord works in mysterious ways, and right now, those mysterious ways are not only keeping me on my toes, they are making me more appreciative of the great things that I have in my life.

Sleep

My overall definition of how I have felt over the past few months can be described with two words, sleep deprived.

My body has begun this fun trend of waking up (and waking up "wide awake") for the past couple of months. I can't remember the last time I slept through an entire night. I wake up usually once or twice a night, but sometimes as many as four or five times a night. It is miserable. I'm tired all day, all the time.

I'm sure that my weekend schedule lately hasn't helped this lack of sleep as there are nights when I'm still awake at the time that I'm waking up in the middle of the night other nights. Yes, I realize this is really bad for a persons body, but I'm not going to be in bed by 10 o'clock every night. And I've had the same weekend schedule for years, and this has never been a problem before. I usually have no trouble falling asleep (except for last night since I couldn't stop my brain from thinking about any and everything) just staying asleep.

If you have any advice, I'm up for suggestions. I need sleep, I need a full nights sleep.

Oh to feel well rested again..... that would be the life.

Auburn wins again

I mean that in two ways. Auburn the team won and Auburn the city beat me.

This weekend in Auburn was amazing. I had a great time with old friends and made lots of new friends. Friday night out, tailgating ALL DAY Saturday, the AU Florida game, and a late night Saturday made for a very long and painful Sunday. I am still tired today despite going to bed earlyish last night.

The game was amazing, nothing like beating that lil Gator Nation down some more.

In other news, I have Maggie back again. She is already missing the woods at home and her walks with Dad and Abi and of course her bike rides with Dad. I have to find a place in Atlanta where Mags and I can take my bike. She would really love that.

Life is good.

Trips in my near future:

Las Vegas: 22 days away (Nov 8-11) :Friend trip
Athens: Nov 12: Auburn vs UGA
Auburn: Nov 24-27: Thanksgiving/Auburn vs Bama
New York: Dec 7-9/10: Friend trip

Sparkles and Glitter

In 26 days I will be in Vegas!!!! (blog to come about this trip)

In an effort to find sparkly numbers (for our countdown)/ anything sparkly, I found this little gem.



Whether I am in Vegas or not (or going to Vegas or not), I think this is something I will forever think about. Such a true statement that works in so many fun and inspirational ways for me. Hope it makes your day too!

Weekend in Bham

I spent last weekend in Birmingham getting some much needed friend time in and boy did I have a good time.

Friday: Elizabeth, Caleb, Jessica, Taylor, my brother Daniel and sis-in-law Meegan, and Katie all went to get Mexican food. The food was pretty good and the margaritas were excellent. The karaoke party going on outside was less than stellar, but it was fun anyways. Some of the group headed out to some bar and enjoyed the rest of our night talking, and laughing, and enjoying eachother's company.

Saturday took me to the zoo. I haven't been to the zoo in like a million years and I loved it. It was fun just walking around and looking at all the animals (especially the monkeys, and the lion cubs... so precious you just wanted to squeeze them!) I was pretty disappointed the camel rides were closed down, but that gives us an excuse to go back! We also discussed running a 5K that the zoo puts on sometime next year. Looks like that isnt the last time I'll be going to the zoo.

After having AAA come to meet 3 grown women at the zoo to unlock the car (yes I locked my keys in the car... again)(and having Elizabeth tick off some poor zoo birds) we went to eat some pizza at a nearby restaurant. Yummy stuff. I cant remember the name, but the pizza was really good. The evening was spent watching football, poor Auburn, and enjoying our last bit of time together for a little while.

I do not see these girls enough and love love love the time I have with them. Friends forever, sorry girls, you are stuck with me!

Sunday, I headed to my grandma's to have some lunch with my MawMaw, aunt, brother and Meegan. Lunch was great and the family time was much needed. Fortunately it won't be too long until I get to see Daniel and Meegan again since they will be in AU this weekend with me (Katie too! EXTRA TREAT!!) (Manda will be in town too, extra extra treat!!)

Either way, I'm excited to see how Auburn improved since last week and finally have our boys back on their home turf. Cannot wait to be on the plains again, and to see my friends, and my family, and my puppy again! War Eagle! Bring on Friday.

Update

It has officially been one week since the dreaded day that heard my little rodent friend for the first time... and that brat is still living. I'm rather annoyed at this point as it seems to be smarter than the traps we have set out.

I think it moved out for a few days because I saw no evidence of it being there, and then last night I was rudely woken up by the sound of him snapping the trap under my bathroom counter. I assumed it was dead and went back to sleep only to be woken up again 1.5 hours later to a whining noise and the sticky trap noise. Again, it stopped so I assumed it was caught and had FINALLY been defeated. Again I was wrong.

I mean come on, could this be more annoying. We are having someone come by to fill up holes and cover openings with metal to keep it (and it's friends) out, but that has not happened yet. Really annoying, like really annoying. I still haven't seen this lil thing, but I know it is there and I would love to know for sure that it is either gone or that it is dead (preferably dead).

Mouse in my House

The title says it all...

I have currently moved out of my precious little house and allowed a tiny little mouse to have free reign... sort of, well not really at all but.....

Let's start with what I hope this lil mouse doesn't looks like. How come when we were little kids (and now) mice were portrayed as cute. You know, characters like Mickey and Minnie, Stuart Little, the mouse from Ratatouille, the mice from The Rescuers Down Under, and more. If my lil mouse has on a cute sweater ( I haven't actually seen the mouse, just heard it), I will be really sad about what I/Bryan did yesterday.

So I am totally 100% fine with bugs, I will kill them all day long. Mice, a totally different story. Those lil things come out at night, when I'm asleep and they are furry and dirty and chew things and just overall gross me out. *Oh my gosh, so gross . Talking about it makes me cringe.* Sooo when I heard one on Tuesday night, while I was trying to enjoy watching The Biggest Loser, I, of course, freaked out. Landlord was called and I moved out (for the night). Thank God for Hotel Schickel down the street (this is my friend's house, not really a hotel).

So yesterday, after I found out that the exterminator wasn't nearly as concerned about my safety and security and sleep and wouldn't be able to get to my house until Friday morning, I went to Walmart and stocked up on mouse traps both the snap traps and the sticky ones. And then I convinced my coworker/tennis coach/friend Bryan to help me out and set them up.

First of all, so freaking thankful for Bryan's willingness to help me. And while I convinced myself I would try and help, I was a completely worthless assistant. When he opened the cabinet that I heard the mouse in the night before I squealed and ran. Anytime there was a single noise or anything that could spook me, I jumped on my bed and squealed. (Ultimate girl on this one). When it came to throwing stuff away that had been destroyed I had him pick it up "just in case the mouse was in there." While he found this whole experience hilarious, I was not laughing and instead was overly freaked out. It did not help that my mom called in the middle and proceeded to tell me that there was probably more than one and that they can climb, (OH MY GOSH SO GROSS!!!) Bryan set up all of the traps throughout the house and then we left. I have yet to be back home.

And since I'm still afraid and being a huge baby, he (and his precious son) are coming over today to check to see if that lil thing is dead. I will be outside, with C, pretending to do anything other than think about that mouse. If it isn't dead, I'm moving back in with Taylor again (I stayed with her last night, best old roommate ever!!) And I will return with the exterminator in the morning to get serious about getting rid of my unwanted house guest. (Thank goodness I am leaving town tomorrow)

And since I know Bryan will eventually read this and has probably laughed his way through the whole blog: Thank you Thank you Thank you! You are the best! And I would have been up a creek without a paddle without your help on this one! For real, I owe you big time

Thanksgiving in October

One of the radio stations I listen to here in Atlanta is doing a campaign to get 400,000 letters to troops overseas for Thanksgiving.

These men and women risk their lives everyday to keep us free here in the US. I cannot imagine how hard it is to leave behind moms and dads, sisters and brothers, grandparents, pregnant wives (or wives at all), husbands, children or newborns, and friends to go to a foreign country. Leaving all the things that make you feel safe and secure knowing you are going to fight for your country. Some may never see battle, but the sacrifices they make are far more important than where/what they are doing.

I urge each of you to write a letter, or two or three and send it to the address provided in the link below. Let's do our part to say thank you to those men and women who have given up their lives to protect ours.


http://www.thebertshow.com/the-bert-shows-thank-you”

Happy Birthday Shish!

This weekend my little sister celebrated her 22nd birthday. We are definitely all getting so old. Sarah and I have begun to get a lot closer in our older age and I love it. In honor of her I have decided to post some of my recent favorites of her and me, I wish I could scan some from childhood, but these will have to do for now.

Happy Birthday Shishter! (and no that isnt a typo, it ish shishter shpeak) I love you bunches!