Celebrate Good Times, Come On!

I am extremely late on posting this, but definitely wanted to make time to tell you about my fun time last weekend.

We celebrated my sister, Mandi's, 30th birthday. She is a couple years younger than the rest of us, so she's just now joining us on the bandwagon. When we turned 30, we celebrated with a cruise to the Bahamas. As much as we wanted to recreate that, it was kind of out of the question. So the next best thing was a trip to Bahama Breeze.

The night started out when I kidnapped Mandi.




Surprise!!


To recreate the ambiance, Amanda brought us all leis.




After a tropical dinner, it was on to dessert at The Atlanta Cupcake Factory.



This is what the yummy cupcakes looked like before:


And this is what they looked like after:


Poor lil cupcakes didn't stand a chance!

Changeling

I'm still decompressing after seeing this movie. It was heavy, physically draining and overall disturbing.

In fact, I was so tensed up during the movie that after it was over, it was hard to walk down the stairs because it felt like I had run a marathon.

If you haven't heard of it, it's based on this.

Spin City

Whoever invented the spin bike...is wicked! The seat is like a spear going up through your rear. The pedals are like spikes going through your feet. And the intense throbbing pain in your legs is enough to send anyone into an insane assylum!

Bloggy Baby Shower

It's amazing how close people can become by reading each other's blogs. I came across Kelly's blog almost a year ago through Boomama's Christmas Tour of Homes.

She had an adorable house and great style, and I became an instant fan of Kelly's Korner! One thing that drew me in was her vulnerability and transparency especially through her infertility. You just couldn't help but love her and feel her unbearable pain as she faced, yet again, another negative pregnancy test.

But God is good! And I vividly remember sitting in the living room of my friend's lake house this summer when I read THE post and literally gasped out loud because I was over the moon ecstatic for her!!

Granted I've never met her, but I just KNOW that we would be good friends. She likes to bake, shop and watch the Biggest Loser. I would love to hang out with her. But more than that she has a heart of gold! I am so encouraged by each and every post. Her faith is contagious and I know God smiles ear to ear when she writes about her blessings. She is a prayer warrior! She has started a blog to pray for those in waiting periods: waiting for babies or husbands. A lot of people say they are going to pray for you, but I know that Kelly does pray for me! Someone she's never met!

So, Kelly, I just want you to know how happy I am for you and Scott. Harper is going to know more love than any baby ever! I feel like I'm expecting another niece or something! I pray God's blessings over you as a mother and Scott as a father.

Philippians 1:6
being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Love ya girl,
Staci

Happy Birthday Mandi!

Things that make me feel old:
-someone calls me ma'am
-when it feels so late, but I realize it's only 7:30 pm
-remembering when all my elem. and middle school reports were done on a typewriter
-WHEN MY LITTLE SISTER TURNS 30!!!!!!!!

Mandi, today you celebrate the big 3-0 today and it's kind of weird to me because even though I'm older, you've always seemed to have it more together than me! You seem so much more grown up than me and maybe that's because you're married with 2 kids, but you've always impressed me with the way you've handled herself.

We didn't fight a whole lot growing up, but when we did...it was ugly. And I always remember my mom saying that one day we will appreciate and love each other. (Of course, I was internally rolling my eyes. Yeah right!)

Well, turns out to be true! I appreciate and love you more than you know and certainly more than I show you. You are a great wife, mother, sister, but more so...friend!

So, I thought it'd be fun to share a few (30 to be exact) fun facts about you with the blogosphere! (Now YOU'RE the one rolling your eyes, I'm sure!)

Everything you wanted to know about Mandi but were afraid to ask!
She...
1. hates, despises, detests cleaning up hair. From a brush, the drain, anywhere.
2. knows how to write "strongly worded" letters to congressmen, homeowners associations...basically anyone who needs a talkin' to!
3. hates cats even though her old bedroom was wallpapered in them.
4. wore glasses and braces.
5. is braces free and had lasik!
6. was the first in our family to graduate college, get married, and have the first grandkid (gee, thanks. The only thing I got was the first masters degree)
7. has absolutely NO rhythm. None. Ask her husband!
8. hates being the center of attention.
9. is very modest. In the privacy of her own bedroom, she used to go and lock herself in her closet to change.
10. always had the best grades out of all the kids.
11. is extremely tender-hearted. I can pretty much guarantee she has already cried or will cry by the end of this post.
12. can't stop laughing once she gets started.
13. and I used to share a bed in elementary school.
14. loves 24 and LOST.
15. developed Bells Palsy during her last pregnancy.
16. used to work at a shoe bridal salon where she dyed shoes.
17. oh...she also got her ears pierced before me! (I'm a little gun shy!)
18. and I went to the very first American Idol tour concert.
19. once had an ingrown toenail and had to get 3 or 4 shots in one toe!
20. and I once ran out of gas on the way home from school and had to walk home.
21. learned how to cut the grass on a riding lawn mower in the 3rd grade. (We won't go into what happened shortly after that!!)
22. was in our local paper several times for stories or poems she had written in school.
23. used to crawl into the ocean backwards when she was little.
24. was able to come home from the hospital when she was born because my dad sold one of his prized bulls. (They needed some way to pay the hospital bill!)
25. came to my class one day and taught my kids the density of the earth's mantle by making oobleck.
26. has my mom's middle name. Shouldn't that go to the first born?! Oh well, we know who the favored child is! Just kidding...
27. can intelligently talk about government, politics, and more while all I do is shake my head.
28. is not the most crafty person you'll meet. She'll admit that one!
29. is spending today day with her husband who took off work and has some fun stuff planned.
30. has NO idea what her friends have in store for her tomorrow night to celebrate!

Whew! Happy birthday little sis! Hope your day is as wonderful as you are!

I love you!!

Climbin' Everest

One of the things I wanted to be when I was growing up was an actress! Well, you can see how well THAT worked out!

But one of the fun things about being a teacher is that I can incorporate some of that into the class. Today was one of those days!

We were just finishing up our unit on landforms (mountains, plains, plateaus, etc. for all you lay folk!!) so, we thought it would be fun to explore Mt. Everest.

I did some research on what it actually takes to climb Everest. It was SO fascinating to me!! I loved researching it.

So the science teachers all dressed up like mountain climbers. Get ready to laugh...


We all introduced ourselves and told about our climbing experience. (That's me all the way on the right)

"Hi, I'm Boot Stompin' Brown and they call me that because I've been stompin' up and down mountains for years. I've been up Everest so many times it's like a walk in the park"

After that, we read off the different jobs each team member would have and they were to break up into expedition teams.

Then we ended with a powerpoint I made that showed the actual costs and some pictures people had taken from their climb.

It was fun, but, sheesh, were we h-o-t after wearing all that garb the whole day!

By the way, a climb up Everest will set ya back about $65,000!

Love is in the Air...

...for my roommate, Amber. She and her boyfriend got engaged a few months ago.

They have the greatest story! They met online. What do ya know? Apparently it does work!

They got their engagement pictures done this weekend. Here's a teaser:


Go here for the rest of these amazing pictures!

Halloween Hoopla

I love Halloween because it's always been a family event. This year was no different. We all met at Mandi's for dinner and then it was time to trick or treat! This year, we had 2 cowboys, a monkey, a punk rocker, and a little sleeping pumpkin head.





We tried oh so hard to get them all together for a group shot. I tell ya, these kids just have a hard time doing that! We grew up taking pictures ALL the time, but it truly is an act of congress to get all these together. We never did, so we just got bits and pieces.



It was fun to look through all the candy to see what people were giving out this year. He got lots of chocolate (which, by the way, I read that a dentist said was the best kind of candy because it was easier to wash off and didn't stick to the teeth as much as the sugar candy). He also got play-doh! How clever. Then I was shocked to see how many gobstoppers he got! Who gives out gobstoppers to kids?!?! Here you go, little kid, enjoy this choking hazard!

My brother, Clint choked on one of those when he was little. I'll never forget my dad picking him up by his ankles and shaking him to get that gobstopper out! I know, I know...I guess the Heimlich never crossed his mind. Anyways, it did come out, but it was a scary moment.

Halloween is over, but the holiday season has arrived!!!!!!

Bloggy Giveaway

It's here, it's here!!

Time to give away free stuff. This time I will be giving away 2 Vera Bradley book covers. Here's why I'm giving these away. Last year, I went to the Very Bradley Outlet Sale. I stocked up on tons of VB goodies that I am still giving away as gifts! But I was a little perplexed at how to use these. It says they're book covers, but it just doesn't seem very practical because you'd have to find a book the exact same size as the cover.

I thought they'd be cute as a note pad cover or photo album cover, but that's about all I could think of.

They are 5 x 8 inches of quilted fabric. Each has a ribbon bookmark. The patterns are Capri Blue and Carpi Melon.



Leave me a comment of what you would use them for and you may be the lucky winner. Please leave me your email address. I will draw the winner on Halloween night (after trick or treating, of course!!) and will contact the winner by email. US residents only, please.

Battle of the Bricks...part 3

Part 1

Part 2

And now, 6 months later mind you...I'm seeing some small signs of progress!!

Really?!

I LOVE getting mail...snail mail, email, voice messages...I love it all! I love checking my MySpace, Facebook, hotmail, school email, etc. I get a little twinge of excitement at what might be in there. Is it a long lost love professing their undying love for me? Ed McMahon saying he's got a check for me? You get the picture.

Well, imagine my surprise when I got the following in my inbox from a complete stranger. Needless to say, this is a first!

I promise I did NOT tamper with this email in ANY way.

this is going to be the weirdest thing you have ever been asked. whens the last time you pooped?LOL i like girls that are very open. i know its a really gross ?, but thats kind of a test to see if you would be open enough for me. LOL

Sorry to say, loser, I am NOT open enough for you!

E.M.O.T.D.

Embarassing Moment of the Day:

Walking into church this morning with a Starbucks in each hand and eventually WEARING one of them:


I had to sit through the whole church service like that!

Ay yi yi!

It's all GREEK to me!

Today we fulfilled a life long fantasy of my brother-in-law: going to the Cumming Greek Festival!!






And who knew inflatables were of Greek descent?!



The food was delectable, though!!



Oompa!

Birthdays. Brown style!

This weekend we celebrated my birthday at my parents house. We eat the favorite food of the honored guest. Mine was mexican!

Then there's usually some sort of chaotic hullabaloo with all the kids. When they all get together, it can get...um...lively!





Lots of wrestling and yelling are usually involved.

But there were some sweet moments.






Here was the most challenging photo of the night: Aunt Staci with all the kids. What you couldn't see was Tera was sitting just out of sight feeding Bo ice cream to keep him satisfied!!


It was a fun night!

This little piggie...

If you're from Atlanta (or just even drove through it) you KNOW how awful our traffic is. I mean, it rivals a mall parking lot on Christmas Eve!

And one day this week I was in the thick of it and got behind this tractor trailer. I was so aggrevated, but when I finally got around it, it brought a smile to my face!


I'm sure they were on there way to someone's frying pan, but they sure were cute in the midst of Atlanta traffic!

Sweets

I've started another blog...sort of. It's called Sweets. I've been wanting to get all my pictures of my cakes online for those who've asked me to do cakes, but want to see some of my work.

I won't be regularly blogging on it. I'll just be adding pictures to it as I make more cakes. It's not the most ideal format, but it'll work for now.

I'm actually a little embarrassed to put these out there for all the world to see, because I cringe every time I look at them. All their flaws and mess-ups are like glaring red lights to me. Yikes!

Anyways, enjoy!

Yummy Combination!

plus




A Yummy Combination!

Happy Fall!