Happy New Year!

Happy New Year fellow bloggers! I hope that your 2009 is filled with happiness, health, good friends, yummy snacks, memorable pictures, fun shopping, good bargains, sunny days, big belly laughs, and time to enjoy it all!

I can't believe it's my graduation year already!

In the words of my math teacher: "Drive safely, the life you save could be mine...or yours." Happy New Years!

xxKatie

Blog Roll

Hey everyone, this is a super quick note! I've updated my blog roll a bunch so let me know if you'd like to be added/taken off. There are about 150 +/- up there now. If you don't feel like looking through just leave me a note and I'll do a second check! Hope everyone's enjoying their time off--I know I am!

xxKatie

Happy 101

I was tagged by my fellow South Carolinian, It's a Golden Day..., for the Happy 101 Blog Award! Here are the 10 things that make ME happy:

1. Seeing my family: I'm so thankful to be living with my family again! There's nothing like sleeping in YOUR bed, eating your family's snacks, and cheering on the hometown team (NAVY!) onto victory with the closest people I know!
2. Warm Weather: I haven't really realized how great the weather in SC is. I've completely taken it for granted and it hit me like a ton of bricks when I got home!
3. Being Healthy: I have a horrible cough right now that I seriously need to go get checked out (sorry Mom, you were right I was wrong).
4. Yummy Snacks: Let's face it. I'm a snacker. I don't enjoy real food. I like junk food. The first step on the road to recovery is admitting you have a problem. And I do.
5. Christmas Music: I LOVE Christmas music. It's so fun! What a better way to get into the season (besides an Advent Wreath-they're like the Catholic 25 Days of Christmas) than singing a Christmas song?
6. Wedding Movies/Shows: I'm beginning to realize that I love weddings. My favorite movie is My Best Friend's Wedding, starring Julia Roberts (so cute, see it). I'm obsessed with Say Yes to the Dress on TLC too. Weddings just make everyone happy!
7. Online Browsing: I rarely shop online, but I often will add things to my basket. Sometimes, I'll even check online to see what the store has inside to see if its worth actually going to!
8. Restaurants from Home: There are a few places that I don't have in SC that I visit every time I come home! Some include: California Pizza Kitchen, Robek's, a teeny-tiny Thai restaurant here in Annapolis called Lemongrass, a local Bagel place called Naval Bagels, the Naval Academy, our local Amish Market, and a few others.
9. Preppy Winter Clothes: I love cable-knit sweaters, Polo oxfords in any color, tights, corduroys, and ballet flats.
10. Blogging: I do love the little community that we're all a part of thanks to blogging! It brightens my day to see that I'm now connected to someone in Florida, Connecticut, or even farther away!!

I tag everyone who would like to participate. Thanks to It's a Golden Day, again for tagging me, you're too sweet!

“Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to”--John Ed Pearce

Michael Buble said it best:


I'm finally home! Sung-as-a-bug-in-a-rug! (Did anyone else say that when they were little?) Anyway, all my exams are finished up and I'm back in my real house! I'm posting as I sit on MY bed in MY room in my little town and I couldn't be happier. I can't wait to get my bake on since I'm back for real! Keep your eyes open for my Christmas and Holiday treats. That Sandra Lee on the FoodNetwork had a Holiday Special recently that I had a recipe for sugar cookies I cannot wait to copy! She showed how to make the most divine looking royal icing and decorations!

Finally school is over and I have a wonderfully long break until AFTER my birthday in early January. It kind of hasn't hit me that I'm home for a really long time! I've been SO ridiculously busy between winterizing the room, packing, studying and getting ready to come back that I have literally had zero extra time. I'm exams were balanced out by one another- Organic Chemistry for Nursing was one of the toughest exams I've ever taken and Statistics wasn't bad at all, thankfully. I can't wait to have a relaxing night and watch Glee on time for the first time in awhile! Special thanks to Gracie Beth for adding me to her exam prayer circle--she's so thoughtful!

I hope everyone had good days while I was so MIA! I can't wait to catch up with my reading and commenting. I tried to comment a little last night and work on my following new bloggers, yay!

As I relax a little more I'll have some fuller posts but I just wanted to tell everyone that I was back! I know I've missed you guys!

xxKatie

I love bloggers.

So I had a post all planned out and what I was going to write about, but I logged on today to see that I HAVE THE BEST FOLLOWERS EVER. Your comments on my last post about college made me SO happy. Everyone is offering support and you're all excited FOR me. You guys rock! I just had had had to say something. I promise I'll have a real post tomorrow.

xxKatie

New-ish Template...More Changes to Come!

Talented up-and-coming graphic design artist...my sister! She designed the beautiful new header for my blog that I couldn't wait to unveil! She'll be doing some more projects for my blog as well, creating some buttons and other fun blogtastic stuff. This year she really picked up graphic design in a class at school, and in about 10 minutes, she designed this for me! I am SO proud of her and I can't believe how good she is at this and she's only a sophomore in high school!

I'm not sure if she's ready to take on "clients" yet, but please let me know if you're interested! I'm sure she would love to at least have some ideas to throw around!

xxKatie