I saw this yesterday and it made me want to run home and give Patton a hug! Every time I get home, I see his big head in the window, just waiting for one of us to walk up the steps....and when we get inside, it's like he hasn't seen us all week!
Since Billy was gone, and he usually wrestles with Patton...I gave him an extra fun walk and we watched Water for Elephants. He seriously watches TV and always gets excited when there are animals on the screen. He wasn't too sure about the lions though! Very good movie...it made me like Rob Patt. since I loathe the whole Twilight thing.

So give you pup a great big hug today!

And the debate begins....colored lights or white lights? I like both, but I am NOT a colored light hater, like many people. If I were going for a certain theme with my Christmas lights, I would probably stick with white. But I don't have one...I have a lot of hand-me-downs and a lot from when I was a kid, so for me, I like to decorate with colored lights. Billy does not. But too bad -because I have already wrapped them all the way up the stairs. Muhahaha.

Thanksgiving was over and I think we can all agree that it was probably one of the best Thanksgivings we have ever had. We made the short trek to DC/Maryland on Thursday morning. We got to meet our new nephew and he was an angel! The weather was beautiful, the wine and beer was seemingly bottomless and we got to participate in the fun tradition of bowling between dinner and dessert!

We only stayed overnight, which was perfect, because then we got to enjoy the rest of our long weekend at home, relaxing. I went to Zumba with Lisamarie on Saturday and it was awesome. I'm going to check to see if they offer classes at my gym. Since it gets dark at 5pm and has been raining nearly every day, it is hard to find time to walk/run outdoors!

We also tried another church on Mt. Washington this weekend...and this one only had 10 people, as opposed to the 20 the last time we tried to go! I have no idea what that is about or how these churches can sustain themselves with attendance like that. Perhaps that is why they tried to collect offering twice in the hour long service???

Tomorrow is back to the grind...with freshmen registration....no doubt I will have my phone ringing off the hook all day long! There will be no easing back into it for me! But the end is in sight...just 18 more working days until Christmas vacation!

Since only about 3 people read this blog, I'm ok with releasing our Christmas card photo...which is a semi-fail. I agreed to Billy's tacky sweater idea, but now the picture is made, I'm thinking they were not nearly tacky enough and that most people will think they are normal sweaters. At least Patton is looking rather goofy....lucky for us though, we got this picture in one take. As soon as the camera took the shot, the battery died. I can't believe everyone is looking in the same general direction!

Also I was feeling a little crafty on Saturday and made a wreath for our door. For me, this is about as creative as it gets. Keep your standards low, people.

To cap off the weekend, we had Melissa & Corey over and Patton continued his strike against poor baby Teagan. I think overall, he is just confused about what she is. It's like she's the size of a small animal, but doesn't smell like one??? Not totally sure what the root of his behavior is, but he had to be sent upstairs while we had fun without him....and Billy forced his Godiva liquor on our guests.

Cheers to a 3 day week....and only having to work two more 5 day work weeks from now until January!

5 Thing Friday

1- Today is the first day I wore gloves and earmuffs on our morning walk! It is currently 28 degrees, people!
2- Billy tried to get me a concealed carry permit this morning. Why would I ever need a gun in public when I'm by myself? I'm not a PA resident yet, so that easily roadblocked him.
3- I walked by a group of 20 of my freshmen yesterday and they all stopped talking and just stared at me. Awkwarrrd.
4- This weekend we will be taking our Christmas card photo. After 3 years of putting my foot down, I may cave to Billy's dream of wearing tacky Christmas sweaters for the picture.
5 - Two giant deer ran in front of us during our walk last night and Patton didn't even flinch. Some labrador he is!

HAPPY FRIDAYYYY!

More on PGH

Oh yes, I am adjusting. When it was in the 70's in August, I thought the 60's were cold. In September, I thought if it were in the 50's, it would be chilly. Now the 40's don't even seem to bother me that much! I will even go outside without a jacket in the morning with Patton sometimes. It is supposed to be in the 20s tomorrow night though...and that...may be unpleasant. We really need a new comforter and probably some flannel sheets real soon!

Also, whilst in the Burgh, I have noticed bumper stickers that say N@....I didn't have a clue what they were referring to until last week, and now I hear it ALL. THE. TIME. At first I thought maybe these people were Washington Nationals fans. Wrong. It's like saying, "I'm going to the grocery store to get eggs, milk AND STUFF LIKE THAT." Instead, they said, "N'at" in place of "things like that". Example:
For Thanksgiving, I'm in charge of bringing a dessert, and I think I'm going to try to make gobs, which are pretty popular up in these parts. And delicious, I might add. Billy's aunt assured me since I work full time, that I can just pick something up from the grocery store...but I think I may give these the ol' college try.

Black and yellow black and yellow black and yellow. The Steelers had a good win against the Bungals and the Ravens lost...which wrapped up a good weekend for us!
Billy's parents arrived on Friday evening and we went to dinner at Shiloh Grill on Mt. Washington. This is B's new favorite place because he found out about Bacon Tuesdays. Yes. This is where you can get all you can eat bacon. Just for ordering water. Sick. I'll sit this one out. And I love bacon as much as the next person...but no, I will not be participating in this.

On Saturday, we went down to the Strip District to stock up on Steelers geat and then went to the Heinz History museum. Five floors of museum! To my dismay, we made it to 2.5 floors. It was really awesome - but very random also. The first floor was an American Flag exibit(Go USA!), the 2nd floor was about Western PA sports, the 3rd floor was about Kethup...and I wouldn't know about the top 2! I love walking. Billy HATES walking. So for the rest of the day, we took a ride to the "hollowed" ground at Heniz Field...obv. that is Billy's word, not mine and watched college football.

We saw them off yesterday and agreed that it was a pleasant, drama free weekend! And we'll see them in just 10 more days for Thanksgiving in Maryland! I got my bowling shirt this weekend for the bowling that happens between dinner and dessert? This will be a new tradition for me...and sad for the team that gets me as their free agent!

Guess who is coming to visit for the weekend?

My MIL and FIL! Sans Kelly. Lucky for them, the chance of snow is gone! Since we still haven't had a chance to explore parts of Pittsburgh, hopefully we'll all get a chance to do that this weekend! Billy never wants to 'just walk around'. He needs a goal...so unless I have an objective other than 'looking around', I'm on my own!

One of my BFs and I have a style called "effortlessly mixing black and brown". I'm pretty sure we've had it since high school, but I don't think I can trace it back to an exact year. When we do it, we usually text or email each other about it. In terms of style, I am rarely bold, so doing this is about as on the edge as I will dare to live on. But lately, I see it being done more and more, especially with brown boots. So today, I did it with black tights and a dress that mixed it up for me, to give me some added confidence in my choice. The tights, are doing double - no, TRIPLE duty today! Style, warmth, AND making me look thinner! I could have never worn tights in FL, but I am liking that they are pretty much a necessity up here!!!
What do you think? Do black and brown go together?

Edit: For you northerners and soon to be Alaskans, here are some fleece lined tights for only $7.99. I just ordered mine! http://hip2save.com/2011/11/fleece-lined-leggings-only-7-99-shipped.html

Yesterday's post made me think of this other ridiculous bridesmaid picture of me:
Yes, that is me staring up into the ceiling. This was also my favorite BM dress! It was from White House/Black Market and she bought the jackets at Ann Taylor and gave them to us as gifts. It was great for a fall wedding!

What I liked about this past weekend's bridesmsaid dresses was that not everyone was wearing the same thing. I know it's tradition and all, and even I did it, but I still think it's a little dumb to have several women all wearing the same thing. If I were to do it over again, I would have had a color scheme and had them each wear something different. No plans to do it over, though! ;)

We had a fantastico time at Jimbo and Courtney's wedding. The problem with being in a wedding, though, is that you don't get a chance to take many pictures! And with both of us being in the wedding, we didn't get any pictures of the ceremony. It was fun for us both to be involved...and to not have to walk with a stranger down the aisle.
It was chillier in SC than PA I think, but we didn't let that get us down! A little alcohol and a wrap, and I was good to go. I even got Billy to dance! We got to the rehearsal by the skin of our teeth, but after that pretty much everything was smooth sailing. Except the groom's cake...but that is a story for another day. Or another decade.

For a gift, Courtney got her BMs a big box of embossed stationery. It was a perfect gift! I had to leave mine with my mom bc Spirit Air we didn't have space in our bags, but I can'w wait to start using it after they bring it up in December. For the groomsmen gifts, they got collapsible chair with a built in cooler. Perfect for tailgating and much better than the standard flask as a gift. All the groomsmen and bridesmaids were so much fun, which added to the weekend!
On the way home, we wore our Steelers jerseys(and dressed Jim's dog up) and had an ON TIME direct flight! We caught a little hell from the occasional Ravens fans, but we won't get into that. We did have the most strange cab ride home though. And before I realized it, he had my address, name and birthyear, so I made us stop to get cash so he wouldn't have my credit card number too. It was very bizarre.

So that ends my flight travels to the Carolinas for this year. Three times down and back in two months. Time to get ready for my FIL to visit this weekend and Thanksgiving in 2.5 weeks!!!

Since today was my day off, I decided to go shopping and take advantage of no traffic and no crowds. Bliss. Until I was trying on a dress and the sales lady asked if I wanted to try on some spanks with the dress. Ummm...no. Rude.