Big Saturday Night

So my balcony has slowly been furnished since moving in last July...

...but still no flowers.

You may have seen Mary Margaret Cockroft's tweet yesterday with a picture of her nicely potted flowers and kite decor for her balcony.

Well, I got inspired when I went over to her apt last night before a trip to Hobby Lobby.

(Yep, we're living it up here in the big city.)

One trip to Hobby Lobby and Lowes later...

And below is the product of how MM and I spent our Saturday night.

(I had way too much fun playing in the dirt...and then sweeping it off the balcony...

...I really am turning into my mother...which I'm thrilled about.)

This is the bench Lori and I put together back in the fall.

Here's my balcony.

I like to call it a porch though.

We have the best view of the lake.

Talk about a great place for reading and drinking coffee...or other beverages...

(Why oh why is this underlined??)

Okay, I officially joined in with all you bloggers who blog about flowers.

I hope you were thoroughly impressed.

love and miss

COASTIES

My siblings are so talented.

I'm not sure how all the artistic talent skipped me, but John and Sara are definitely not lacking in it.

Sara is graduating from MSU in 2 WEEKS!!!

What the heck?!?!

Time, do you mind slowing down a little bit?

K, thanks.

Anyway, her Graphic Design class will be putting on their "Freak Show" this coming Tuesday night.

Check out the website.

And I'm obsessed with Sara's personal website.

Maybe I'm a little biased, but I love the colors and the waves and basically everything about it.

She's been working really hard and pulling multiple all-nighters the past few weeks.

So proud of my baby sister.

I'm going to miss her SO MUCH when she's working in Disney World!!

Speaking of waves and the coast, John's COASTIES business is taking off!!

The stickers have been selling like ca-ra-zy.

I love riding around in Memphis with this sticker on my Jeep.

It's been really cool to see people's reaction to this idea.

We're all so proud of growing up on the coast.

John, in his entrepreneur awesomeness, has come up with this image/statement to display the love and pride we have in our beloved Coast.

"It's more than a nickname...it's a way of life...Coasties."

I'm so proud of both of my siblings.

And have I mentioned how pumped I am to be getting another sister?

Yep, John is marrying his church camp sweetheart in March 2012.

Couldn't be more excited.

love and miss

Shuffle

There's probably no way to catch y'all up since I last posted 2 months ago without boring you to death. Well, here's one way...the short and sweet version:

Thanksgiving with the Vanderpools/Orrs

Egg Bowl victory with brother John

St. Jude Half Marathon (!!)

Harry Potter 1 - 7 in 3 weeks

Abby tied the knot

marked something off of my bucket list: attend a black church

(we were there for 3 hours)

the Granola Girls bowling team made it through 3 rounds

(I can still hear you laughing)

couple of Christmas parties in Memphis

missed the most important Christmas party in Jackson

*sad face*

5 days in Moss Point for Christmas

New Year's Eve

Gator Bowl watch party

Mary Margaret moved to Memphis (!)

colored my hair

(again)

experienced driving in for real snow for the first time

(scary)

Now let's look forward, shall we?

Rachel and I started this here video. The first week I spent 2 days hardly able to move.

Let me tell ya, it is awesome.

20 minutes a day and you've had a great workout.

Love it.

And to motivate me to run this I got myself one of these little cuties.

Can you guess what color I got??

Did y'all watch the Golden Globes??

I was obsessed with Olivia Wilde's dress.

And speaking of obsessed, here is my new favorite show.

While I was home for Christmas, my parents got me into The Big Bang Theory.

(I watched the entire first season in less than 3 days.)

They eat a lot of take out on this show, so if you decide to start watching it beware!

You will begin to crave Pei Wei and have no idea why.

I suppose that's enough for now.

Love and miss

Br'er Rabbit

Or rather "brrrr" rabbit.

At least that's what I was saying as I walked outside after work today.

At which time I was thinking, "I'm going to go home and blog tonight."

Thanks for the reminder Butler.

Things that have been going on lately:

I got that massage for passing my test. I'm trying to find a reason to reward myself with another one sometime soon...but I haven't done anything worthy lately.

Rachel and I tried to have a football party to watch the Houston game. I say tried because we got food and everyone came over and BAM we don't have that channel.

Worst feeling ever.

Well, maybe not ever.

I sort of laughed a lot after the guys that were mad left to watch it elsewhere.

(You're probably thinking "man, why is she going all the way back to talking about the Houston game?" Well, I told you I would update you, and it's been awhile. So there.)

My sister, Sara, and her little Westie named Lucy came to visit me. Lucy l-o-v-e-d our balcony. She really loved going out there and letting everyone know she is capable of barking.

Sara and I saw Wicked for a third time, and it was awesome!

Duh.

We had great seats, but it seems no matter how great the seats I will never be able to see the actors' faces very well. I need some opera glasses....like on Pretty Woman....except I'll know mine aren't broken....thanks Julia.

I got my hair colored dark again. I wasn't really even thinking about doing it. I wanted a haircut before a family wedding, so I call and make the appointment. That afternoon I go check the mail and my Redbook has come. Katherine Heigl is on the cover and she has this awesome dark hair.

So I was inspired.

So I did it.

Love living on the edge.

(Haha!)

Lori and I put together a bench!!

It's now on my awesome balcony along with the tacky tailgating chairs that I'm trying to replace with some way more attractive chairs/table.

But now it's too cold to sit out there.

When in Rome.

Those of us who live in Memphis and didn't go to Stark for homecoming had a party at Thomas Marino's house.

Lialah brought Church, her white boxer puppy. He stole the heart of everyone there...including the guys.

I missed the Kentucky game because I was at the before mentioned family wedding.

Said wedding was outside and most of you have heard the following event already...

at the age of 23 I have finally been stung by a bee for the first time.

It flew up my dress when we stood up for the bride's entrance.

Nothing could be done except for me to bite my lip and breathe through the pain.

For the first time in who knows how long I did nothing for Halloween except go to bed at 8:30.

2005: cowgirl (wasn't too creative back then)

2006: can't remember (maybe I didn't do anything)

2007: pirate with Anna and Emily

2008: a red state while Ben was a blue state

2009: flapper girl with Anna

2010: fun-sucker

Last weekend we had a fun time throwing Abby's bachelorette party.

Many friends were missed but I think we did y'all proud.

Granola Girls

That's the name of the dietitians' bowling team we started at work.

(I can hear you laughing.)

Baptist came up with this "bowling challenge" and Brooke, another RD, decided it would be a great idea to have a team from our department.

I tried to tell her I'm terrible...I even confessed to bowling a 30 one time.

It didn't work.

So sometime this week or next 5 other dietitians and myself will be bowling it out.

Try not to be jealous.

My grandparents are coming to visit this week!

Love when people come.

HATE when they leave.

I'll be spending Thanksgiving with the Vanderpools/Orrs this year.

Then on to Oxford to beat up some black bears.

Love and miss.

Officially

It's officially been a long time since I blogged.

It's officially Fall.

(Are you suppose to capitalize seasons?? I feel like it needs to be done.)

It's officially 90 degrees outside in Memphis at the moment.

(Which sort of makes Fall slightly less fallish)

I officially had my first student with me this week.

(I officially don't think I'm a very good teacher. This will get better over time. I hope.)

One week ago tomorrow, I passed my Registration Exam for Dietitians at 9:45am.

OFFICIALLY

I can now sign my name Mary Renfroe, RD.

It's felt like I lost about 50 pounds of stress this week. I have watched way too much TV. I tried to enjoy a glass of wine Monday night but realized I still do not own a wine opener.

(Don't worry -- that problem has finally been solved.)

I am getting a massage tomorrow morning as my gift to myself.

Lately I have started attending Bellevue Baptist Church. It's right up the road from my apartment. I'm going to sing in the choir for the Christmas music. Excited about this. I haven't sung in a choir since high school and I realize I really miss it.

The people there are so kind. And let me tell ya, there are a lot of people there.

(I'm currently watching FRIENDS on DVD. It's the episode where Phoebe and Chandler go to pick out an engagement ring for Monica, and Phoebe tries on all the jewelry and then wants to hold the musket. I'm laughing.)

I have this inkling to go to Hobby Lobby and buy a whole bunch of Fall decorations.

I kind of love pumpkins and leaves.

As a housewarming gift, my parents gave me a piece of Tom Jones pottery.

An original Jack-o'-lantern.

He makes 200 every year in a different color.

This year they were maroon!!

Her name is Jackie.

Isn't she pretty??

Can you find the "M" for Mary??

Love and miss