Days 9-12

Okay, we're skipping some days here, both because some of the prompts are lame and because I got a little behind.

Photo Challenge - A picture of something you hate.

Ugh. I hate hate HATE bananas. I tried one when I was 2 years old and thought it was terrible so I spit it out (on the floor). The lady I stayed with when I was little made me sit in time out for spitting on the floor, and I've forever had an aversion to bananas. I worked in the Infant-Toddler Program at First Baptist and kids would always have bananas for snacks. I used to have to hold the bananas with a paper towel just so I could cut it up for them. My students at school know "Mrs. Taylor does not do bananas" so they need to find a friend to help them open it up at lunch. The smell and texture are the worst. Sick. I'm positive my own children are going to love them and I'll have to just get over it, but until then I'll continue loathing them.

Photo Challenge - A picture of something you love.

Anyone surprised I started with food? I didn't think so. These are just a few of my favorites. I could eat carbs all the livelong day ... rice, pasta, bread, bagels, I love them all. Goldfish and Coke were my go-to snack until we started our nutrition plan. Now it's a treat I can have in very small portions. And of course, I have loved Chick-fil-A for quite some time. The nuggets ... the waffle fries ... the Polynesian sauce ... the fountain Coke (there is a difference). Unfortunately, my love affair with Chick-fil-A might be coming to an end after the controversy surrounding their support of anti-gay groups. Don't know what I'm talking about? Click here or here. That brings me to my next love ...

... gay people! I think my love for the GLBT community started with my love for diversity in general. I really started to realize the discrimination against this group in college (and the fact that it is absolutely absurd) and so I decided to become an advocate. I'm a member of the Human Rights Campaign and I went through Safe Zone Training (it's called Ally now) at Clemson. I could go on forever about this love, so if you want to know more, feel free to ask me! 

This (kind of) brings me to my next love ...

 ... rainbow colors in general, school supplies specifically. I love crayons, markers, Sharpies, pens (specifically gel pens, as pictured above) ... another subject I could go on and on about. 

 Finally, I love Clemson. I love the education I got from Clemson, I love the campus, the sports, everything!

As usual, I could go on and on about the things I love (and I'm sure I'll come back to most of these at some point), but for now, I'm calling it a night so I can spend time with my main loves.

Day 7 and Day 8

Day 7 of the Photo Challenge - A picture of your most treasured item.

I just love my wedding rings. I love my engagement ring because I know how hard Christopher worked to pay for it, not to mention the hours I know he spent researching and learning about diamonds (he likes to know everything about something before he buys it). I love my wedding band because it reminds me of our wedding day and the promises we made to each other on that day. And I love my anniversary band because it makes everything symmetrical.

Day 7 of the Blog Challenge - Favorite movies.
I'm one of those people who could watch the same movies over and over again. This drives Christopher nuts because I always want to watch the exact same movies and he wants to try something new. I tried to narrow it down, and this is the best I could do.

I honestly don't know how many times I've seen this movie (or parts of it), but I will never ever turn it down if I have the chance to watch it. Oddly enough, I don't own it. (Bonus: Meg Ryan's character's name is Kathleen Kelly! Not only is my name Cathleen, but it was also alliterative like her's before I got married).

LOVE this movie. My parents let me watch it when I was little (although they changed the channel during some of the "graphic" scenes). Unchained Melody was my favorite song for the longest time because of this movie.

I did NOT want to see this movie. An Italian film with subtitles? No thanks. Thank goodness I did, because I think if I had to choose, this would be my favorite movie. If you haven't seen it, you must. Without a doubt. After about 2 minutes, you don't notice the subtitles. 

I just recently discovered this movie and I finally see what all the fuss is about with Barbra Streisand. I've been begging Christopher to let me watch it again and he keeps insisting on watching movies we haven't seen. We've got it in our Netflix instant queue for me to watch after I get my wisdom teeth out in a couple of weeks.

Sweetest movie ever. My sister and I would watch this movie over and over again. It's so funny and absolutely precious.

Who doesn't love The Little Mermaid? I pretended I was Ariel in the bathtub and at the pool. I really wanted to be her.

I watch this every year at Christmas. I'm a big fan of Hugh Grant.

Have I mentioned that I love musicals? I could watch (and sing along with) both of these movies over and over again.

 I was terrified of the flying monkeys and the wicked witch and my (younger) sister wasn't, so she wanted to watch this movie over and over again just to see me squirm. Even though my heart still starts racing when I hear that music, I love this movie.

Day 8 of the Photo Challenge - A picture that makes you laugh.
Who's surprised that I couldn't pick just one picture or that they all involve the pups (mostly Henry)? My choices were a little limited because of our computer crash, so these are all from my phone.

 Henry is a bit clingy, especially when I'm cooking. 

Emma is just pitiful when she has to wear that cone.

 Henry likes to sleep like this and he also likes to pose like a little girl. 

Day 8 of the Blog Challenge - A place you've traveled to.
Booorrrring. I really have not been anywhere interesting. The most "foreign" place I've been is Mexico. Sad, right? I'm going to Hawaii this summer, so I guess that will be the farthest I've been, even if it's in the United States. I've really only been to a handful of states out of the southeast - Texas, Vermont, Massachusetts, that's about it. What a pitiful life I lead.

Day 5 and Day 6

Day 5 of the Photo Challenge - A picture of your favorite memory.

I know ... you're probably thinking "What the shit?" (Actually, you're probably thinking "What the hell?" but I like to think/say "What the shit?") I swear this will make sense in a minute. Maybe not. We'll see. My favorite memory is actually something that happened often as a child and something that we never thought to take a picture of. Weekend mornings Jennifer, Jason, and I would pile into my parents' bed in between the two of them. Someone started calling this our "bird's nest" because we were all crammed in there together. I don't remember how long we'd stay there ... it could have been 2 minutes, it could have been 2 hours. I just remember absolutely loving that time when the five of us were all together.

Day 5 of the Blog Challenge - A song to match your mood.
It's quickly approaching bedtime and I'm a bit sleepy so a lullaby certainly matches my mood. My dear husband introduced me to this song and it quickly became one of my favorites. He would play it for me on the piano when we first started dating. I think we'll sing it to our children.

Goodnight, My Angel - Billy Joel

Day 6 of the Photo Challenge - A picture of a person you'd love to trade places with.

Have I made you think "What the shit?" again? I would bet all the money I have (which, as a teacher, is a lot, let me tell you) that no one knows who this is. It's Rene Angelil. Still nothing? It's Celine Dion's husband, duh! And if you know me, you know that I adore Celine Dion. So if I could trade places with someone it would be her husband so that I could spend all day with her!!

Day 6 of the Blog Challenge - A picture of something that makes you happy.

The pups and my husband. Pretty self-explanatory I think.

Day 4

Day 4 of the Photo Challenge - A picture of your favorite night.

Our wedding night is easily my favorite night ... no, not that wedding night ... our reception. Christopher and I are both fairly shy people (I know our close friends would disagree). What I mean is, we're not the type of people to dance and go crazy at a wedding. Except our own.

 Making our way to the dance floor after the children and grandparents had gone home. Cute, I know.

 Check out Greg and Suzy in the corner.

 Oh brother.

 Not at all awkward.

I don't know what we're doing or why everyone is looking at us.

Somehow Christopher got a rag and he insisted on swinging it around his head the rest of the evening. I believe this is also about the time our DJ started playing unedited Jeezy and T.I.

I hope our friends and family had half as much fun as we did!

Day 4 of the Blog Challenge - Your parents. 

My parents are two of my absolute favorite people in the world. They taught me so many important things without actually having to teach me. Instead they showed me. They showed me how to laugh at yourself, how to love and accept everyone, how to be polite, how to be kind, and of course, how to be a smart ass (I credit my mom for that one). I really am my mother's daughter (is that how the saying goes?). I'm like her in so many ways, from our sense of humor down to the food we eat (or don't eat, rather). And Christopher is so much like my dad. My mom says I knew exactly what I was getting into when I married Christopher because I was around my dad my whole life. They're silly, require a lot of attention, and are both so sweet and thoughtful. 

I think these two pictures really epitomize my parents. 

 Precious.

I think my mom was getting ready to start crying and my dad was being sweet.

Day 3

Day 3 of the Photo Challenge - A picture of the cast from your favorite show.

This is impossible to just pick one TV show that's my favorite, so I've decided to pick 4. Two shows that are currently on the air and two favorites that I could watch again and again. I've also told you my favorite characters, not that you asked.

I'm definitely on the Glee bandwagon. It's over-the-top, dramatic, far-fetched at times and I LOVE IT!! Kurt is my favorite.

 Our friends Greg & Suzy introduced us to How I Met Your Mother and swore it was better than Friends and that we would love it. One weekend and 4 seasons of DVDs later, we agreed. Barney is my favorite.

 Oh heavens. The West Wing is a show I could watch any episode any time, no matter how many times I've seen it. It's serious, hilarious, sweet, and just plain wonderful. CJ Cregg is my favorite.

 Frasier is another show I could watch again and again. Niles is my favorite by far.

Day 3 of the Blog Challenge - Your first love.

Ahh ... my first love was Marcus Croft in 1st grade. He was a very tall black boy and he kissed me on top of my head standing in the lunch line one day. That's all I remember about him, but he will always hold a special place in my heart. I realize this is probably not the first love that  I was supposed to tell about, but we're not even going there. :)

Day 2 - A picture of you and the person you've been closest with the longest.

Besides my parents, I've been closest to my brother and sister the longest. They are two of my absolute favorite people - and not just because we're related. Unfortunately, the "closeness" of our relationships does not also apply to distance. Jason lived in Dallas for a few years and lives in Charleston now. Jennifer lives in Clemson, so I'm able to see her more often, but she lived in Spain for nearly 6 months and is most likely moving to Colombia (South America) next year. Oh well. I'm sure you'll be hearing about them later on.


Also, I found another challenge to do! This one is the 30 Day Blog Challenge (I think that's what I was looking for the first time). Our computer recently crashed and we lost everything, including pictures, so I'm not sure how feasible a photo challenge is. I'm still going to try to do that one, but I'll be doing the blog challenge as well. Confused? I usually am.

Day 1 of the blog challenge was basically the same thing, so we'll pick up with Day 2 - the meaning behind your blog name.

Well, that's pretty self-explanatory - it's who we are! Our pups are a big part of our lives (probably the best thing we have going for us right now), so it wouldn't make sense to have a blog about us if it didn't include them. I like "us and the pups" because it rhymes (sort of) and for some reason I didn't want to have our name in the web address.

Two straight days of blogging ... we're on a roll now.

30 Day Photo Challenge

Okay so I'm attempting to do this 30 Day Photo Challenge (I think it was originally started on Facebook). I'm not sure how interesting it will be and I've looked at the list and already know I'll be changing a few things, but I'm hoping it will at least help get me in the habit of blogging more often.

Day 1 - A picture of yourself with 10 facts.

1. I like to make people laugh.
2. I love filling out paperwork.
3. I'm a smart ass.
4. I love to cuss, but not with the normal combinations of words and phrases. I like to mix it up.
5. My mind is always in the gutter. I blame this solely on Christopher.
6. Christopher and I like to provide dialogue for Henry and Emma. We've made up voices and phrases that we think they would typically use. In our dialogue, Henry loves burritos and being sleepy. Emma likes to pout and always feels left out. This is some of our most enjoyable time spent together. Yes, we know we're freaks.
7. I'm trying to get in shape for our trip to Hawaii in June. If you know me, you know this is laughable. I'd much rather be eating goldfish and watching TV than working out.
8. I dislike wearing bras. It's the first thing that comes off after work.
9. I taught the pups to shake and it's their most dependable trick.
10. Sleeping is my favorite activity.