Tuesday, September 4, 2012

the happiest 5K on the planet!



COLOR RUN!!!!!!! It was awesome, you guys!!!!!

Tommy, Brandon, Sydney, Mary Ann, Chandler, and I (collectively we call ourselves the Rainbow Ninjas) headed to Birmingham at 6am this morning to run our first 5K in the pouring rain that Hurricane Isaac is so sweetly dumping on us. On the way there I was being a bit of a Debbie Downer because of the general ickiness of the day, but in the end it made our color stick better and kept us cool! God knows what He's doing! Yay for rain!

Color Zones were loads of fun and we went through a couple of them twice, just to make sure we got what we came for. A Color Thrower gave me a face-full of blue so I came out looking like a scary female Braveheart/Avatar monster!

When we crossed the finish line it was time for the Color Celebration, which is exactly as much fun as the name implies! On the count of three everyone throws their paint powder into the air and creates a giant rainbow cloud! It was the most awesome and most terrible thing all at once. When everyone throws and is dancing and singing to Call Me Maybe, it a blast! But when you suck down a pound of dust because you're singing to Call Me Maybe, it's an awful coughing mess! All I could think was, "I'm going to die. At Color Run. How lame is that?!"


As you can see, none of us died due to extreme color exposure. Though we may have lost our sanity! HA!


Even in the rain, Color Run was super fun! It's coming to Tuscaloosa October 6 so get your tickets and try it out! I'm thinking of volunteering to be a Color Thrower.
How was your Labor Day?

*click here to see more of our goofy pictures

Monday, September 3, 2012

mushy-gushy loveydovey awesomeness

Hooray!!! My sweet, sweet sissy-in-law is engaged to Matt!


We are so incredible happy for you two and hope you have a wonderful engagement, beautiful wedding, and a long, happy life together! I feel so privileged to have been able to share in your special day. It was perfect! Way to go Mattman! Love you both!

Who doesn't love a good proposal video? It's a proven fact that watching them improves your day by 67% so click here to have an instantly better day! You'll have to listen carefully. His poem is sweet and my sound is stinky.

***For people who may not know, Matt moved to Mobile during the summer for work. That's why he says being away from her is confusing.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

make this tonight!

Pinterest in constantly amazing me! And with that statement I have already lost all my male readers. HA! But seriously, I am constantly finding wonderful, magical things on that nifty site!
Between moving and starting school last week I haven't done any real cooking (because frozen pizza doesn't count) and we've eaten a lot of take out, which stinks because I really enjoy preparing meals.  We're mostly settled now and I am finally back in the kitchen! Woo! Last night I pulled two recipes from my pinboard for dinner and they turned out to be delicious! I'm not usually one to brag about my culinary (can you call it "culinary" if you use a Crockpot?) success, mostly because Tommy is my only judge and he risks his chances for getting the good lovin if he doesn't eat everything, but my BFF Sydney had dinner with us last night and she scraped her plate clean! That's what friends are for, to tell you if your cooking sucks.
Anyway, I wanted to share these recipes with you because they are finger licking good and super easy! Try them tonight and let me know how it goes!

Crockpot BBQ Chicken

This is a recipe I've made before and it's Tommy's favorite. I like to use Sweet Baby Ray's Sweet & Spicy BBQ sauce and tear the chicken into chunks right before it's served. 


WOWZA! First time making these and they were heavenly! 

We also had our favorite side dish, garlic brussles sprouts that are Sydney's mom's recipe and not from Pinterest. I know, I know, as kids television taught us to hate brussles, but they are so yummy when cooked this way: 
Cut the brussels in half and saute them in olive oil and garlic over medium-high heat, I like to use two big ol heaping spoonfuls of minced garlic. When they have turned a bright green and the flat bottoms start to brown, remove them from heat and place on a foil-covered cookie sheet. Sprinkle with sea salt and bake until the tops start to turn brown around the edges, usually about 3-7 minutes depending on how hot your oven is. I just pop mine in with whatever else I've got cooking, like the biscuits last night, and watch them to make sure they don't burn.

That's it! Pretty simple and a huge pay off! I have chicken and biscuits left over for lunch today. Come on 12 o'clock! Let me know if you try out these recipes and how you like them. Have a lovely Tuesday!



Thursday, July 19, 2012

boxes, boxes everywhere


That's all I've been seeing for days. But it's finally over! For now anyway. I've only moved once before and I hated it because living out of boxes totally stinks. And we've acquired so much stuff in the past year! The whole time we're packing I'm asking myself questions: How have I been storing it all? Where did it come from? What is that for? How is this all going fit into the apartment? You never realize how much junk you have until it has to be pulled out and stuffed in a truck.

But four days and four hundred boxes later we are halfway to our final destination! We officially no longer reside at 12 Springbrook! Huzzah! We're now (rather lamely) living with my parents for the next three weeks (yes, it's weird) until our new apartment is ready to be moved in to. So then we'll do it all again. I'm hoping to stay in the apartment longer than we stayed in the house. Moving totally stinks!

Now, don't think I'm not excited to be moving because I totally am! I cannot wait to be in our new home meeting new neighbors, decorating, chillaxing by the pool (that's right, there's a pool!), I just don't like the act of moving. Its sweaty work! Especially in July. In Alabama. Phew! Tommy and his friends did way more heavy lifting than I did so mega props to those guys! You go guys!

We'll be packing up and moving to our more permeant new home August 13th so if you're feeling generous and want to help us out, DO NOT FIGHT THAT URGE! Until then keep us in your prayers as we tie up the loose ends of leaving 12 Springbrook and I hope you have an awesome week because you are awesome! Catch ya on the flip side, bloggers!

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Happy America Day, y'all!


"Read somewheres that the human body is 75 percent water. Not me, y'all. I'm 75 percent sweet tea, 100 percent Merican."
Every year on the 4th of July my granny wants the whole family to dress in red, white, and blue and take a great big family photo. But every year no one knows about it until we get there so it's always a huge disaster. This year my brilliant mother came up with a great idea to raise enthusiasm and make granny happy and that wonderful idea's name is Redneck Showdown! The idea is to be as patriotic and tacky as possible! You have to wear your costume all day for flag football, tug-of-war, and eating yourself silly. At the end of the day everyone votes for someone besides themselves and the winner gets a trophy! We're all super excited! Especially Tommy and I because there's not much we love better than dressing up in costume!

This year we aren't able to fully participate because we are going to the beach with the rest of the Snows (we haven't yet mastered sharing family time) so we have to send in our photo submission. We can vote, but we can't win. Honorable mention by photo submission. But they better watch out next year! Even Jack the Dog will be bringing his A-game! I am so looking forward to sharing this new tradition every year with my family!

Momma and Poppa Snow are here now to pick us up for beach fun so I've got to run! Hope everyone has a wonderful and safe 4th of July! USA USA USA!

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Nanny Diaries: a funny, a sweet, and a gross



For a year and a half now I have been the proud full-time nanny for the three silly little Potter girls: Rylee, 7 years; Emory, 3 years; and Lucy, 18 months. In that time I have learned a lot about kids and myself and yesterday reminded me of all the reasons I love my job, as well as how strong my stomach has gotten!

It was Ashlee's (Potter mommy) birthday on Thursday so I hung out with the girls extra late so that the Potter parents could celebrate like adults with adult friends. We made a totally pool party day of it and had a blast!

Funny
While in the car we always listen to Disney songs on shuffle from my iPod for the simple reason that the girls love them and I don't have to answer a million questions about why I have so many love songs and why did "they" break up. So we're driving to the pool yesterday morning and playing "I've Got A Dream" from Tangled and Rylee takes particular notice of an unfamiliar phrase. 

The line goes: "I've always yearned to be a concert pianist!"

but Rylee turns to me and asks: "Bethany, what's a concrete penis?"

OH MY GOSH! I almost wrecked the car for laughing so hard!*  

Sweet
Around 2, after stuffing ourselves with pizza my mom brought and playing in the sun, I had to make a drug store run to pick up a prescription and more swim diapers because Lucy was blowing through them! But when I walked off to my car without Lucy she squirmed down from her chair and waddle-ran after me and threw herself on the concrete sobbing. I couldn't just leave her there with my mom when she was being pitiful, so I loaded her up and took her with me. She was being very good waiting in the long line and quietly yammering on in baby speak about whatever she saw. 
I've been with Lucy since she was 15 days old and I've gotten pretty attached to her. I love all the girls, but its quiet time that reminds me of my special connection with this kid. I kissed her little forehead and gave her a squeeze. She looked up at me, giggled and returned it with a sloppy, open-mouth, baby kiss on my cheek, gave me "taters" (a fist bump), and snuggled her head on my shoulder. I love Lucy and I am really going to miss her when I grow up.

Gross
We finished our pool day around 6, ate and played at Chick-fil-A, and finally got back to their house for baths and bedtime. Poor Lucy has missed her nap for three days in a row so she was barely out of the bath water before she nodded off. Emory convinced herself that she wasn't sleepy long enough to make it to the couch and curl up next to Rylee before passing out. I had Rylee hide so that I could tell Emory that everyone was in bed and she needed to be too. Yes lying is bad, but I at times like this I don't care much!
I picked Em up and started to carry her to her room went the perfect day went to pot. She raised her head to say, "Where my mo--" VOMIT SPEWING EVERYWHERE! On my face, in our hair, down the left side of my body. I stood her on the floor, more puke. Grabbed her hand and drug her to the bathroom to finish, leaving a trail down the hallway. I kid you not, it looked like the scene from Sixth Sense! I put her in the bathtub (she was so groggy that she couldn't understand why she needed two baths) and went to clean up, but luckily (luckily?) their giant red lab, Forbin, had already eaten most of it. I tucked Em in bed, borrowed some clothes from Ashlee, and washed my hair in the sink. When I got home I super scrubbed myself before Tommy or the dog could love on me. 

Kids are so pitiful and confused when they get sick. When she was in the bath Emory looked up at me with tears in her eyes and said, "I so sorry. I need clean up the floor, Bee?". Broke my heart. She's so precious, even when she's a barf monster. To think that I used to get sick at the sight of baby spit up. I was such a weenie! 

Hope you weren't eating when you read this! Happy weekend!

*I did not actually "nearly wreck"
**Couldn't find a recent picture of all three girls. Age that one about a year and you've got it!


Tuesday, June 19, 2012

fast and easy

Yeah, that's how I like it. Dinner, that is.

As a new-ish wife and a relatively unskilled cook, I'm always on the look out for simple, yummy recipes. Our first couple of months we pretty much lived off of Hamburger Helper and take out so out butts got a little fluffy. But don't worry! My dinners have improved greatly since the discovery of Pinterest and blog-surfing!

Last night I finally tried two recipes from my friend Brooke's blog and they were DELISH! Not to mention super easy! Minimum input, maximum reward. Naturally, I have to pass them on to you!

Our neighbors/landlords brought home their new baby boy yesterday so we brought them a cake to congratulate them. This cake, you guys, has major yum factor. I didn't actually get to taste is after it was baked (They would probably wonder why there was a giant slice missing!) but the batter was so rich it bumped me into a new tax bracket just from licking the bowls!

Flourless Chocolate & Vanilla Marble Cake


After we delivered the cake (a little begrudgingly) and went to the gym, we finally sat down to dinner and, boy, was it great!! My mom has always made stuffed shells but these had a yummy twist and were way easier. The recipe didn't call for sauce but we like to smother everything remotely Italian in Classico vodka sauce. So good! I also doubled the topping cheese to make it extra gooey and completely cancel out our workout. Can't have those calories sneaking away. HA!

Pesto-Chicken Stuffed Shells


Yum-o! Hubs woke up this morning still talking about how much he liked them!

I hope you'll give these recipes a whirl and let me know what you think!
Do you have any easy and tasty recipes for me to try?

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

tuesday tunesday

I have something awesome to show you. If you haven't already seen it. Which is entirely possible because it has over 4 million views on YouTube and they've been on Ellen. But, nevertheless, still wicked awesome!

So, without further delay, I give you WALK OFF THE EARTH!



 Five people. One guitar. The first time I watched this cover my mind blew all over the room and I haven't done much else except watch it over and over for the past week. Her voice is amazing! Like a stink in angel!

Happy Tunesday!

Monday, May 14, 2012

Oh, hello there!



Wow, blog friends! It's been quite a while since we've run into each other and I'm so glad to be back!

I kind of gave up on blogging after the midterm because of a terrifying drop in my grades, particularly stupid Western Civ, but now I can proudly tell you that after finals they are much better and my scholarship is safe. WAH HOO!

Other than being buried in our books, not a lot has been going on at the Snow house.
Let's see... we had a wonderful Valentines weekend! We made dinner at home and I surprised Tommy with a weekend get-away to the cutest little B&B in Birmingham. Highly recommend it if you need a cozy, romantic mini-vacation!

I was finally able to see Wicked! It was awesome!! My sweet mommy-in-law bought tickets for Mom and I as my Christmas present so we made a girls trip out of it. Love girls trips!

Tommy and I went to Panama City Beach for spring break. We purposely avoided the crowds (Wrong place for that, am I right? HA!) but I still saw Luke Bryan! He was chillin on St. Andrews beach with his camera crew not ten feet from me! I didn't ask to get a picture because I didn't want to be "that girl" and let me tell you, totally not worth it! Why, oh why, didn't I just take a stinkin picture?

We've seen Avengers twice and it was amazing both times! Thor.. Oh, Thor, how I love you.

I had a secret stray pet for a while whom I dubbed Poor Kitty. Tommy is allergic to cats so I just fed and pet her/him on the front steps every day. Then it rained really hard for a few days and I haven't seen Poor Kitty since. I hope he/she is okay and found a family without allergies.

And we've just gotten back from the beach again. I love having a father-in-law who owns a grocery store because Tom and I get to tag along on these awesome food show trips! Free food and great family beach time! Also, the place we stay has the BEST fish tacos. Not that I've eaten fish tacos anywhere else, but I'm assuming that they can't be as good as these.

Tommy has come down with some pretty icky sick this week, but other than that all has been well in our little corner of the universe. We have succumbed to the sweet laziness of summer and are loving every minute of it!

Now enough about me, how have you been?

Monday, February 13, 2012

love & history

Hello, bloggy friends!



Valentines Day is awesome! It's such a happy holiday! I love that there is a day dedicated to showing your affection to those you love, and not just you significant other (even though that's probably one you want to focus on a little extra. HA!)! Valentines is just like one big, national reminder to smile and little brighter and hug a little tighter. Not to mention that it is, historically, an enormous celebration of love growing in adversity, which I think is beautiful. Being a history teacher's daughter, I'm inclined to tell you the story, even if it's mostly ledgend. But don't worry, its an abridged version for your blog reading pleasure!


The Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred. One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons, where they were often beaten and tortured. According to one legend, an imprisoned Valentine actually sent the first "valentine" greeting himself after he fell in love with a young girl--possibly his jailor's daughter--who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed "From your Valentine," an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories all emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic and--most importantly--romantic figure. By the Middle Ages, perhaps thanks to this reputation, Valentine would become one of the most popular saints in England and France.

*long, girly sigh* And that is how Valentines Day came to be. Not a day to make up for 364 days of slacking, but to remind us not to take our relationships and freedom to love for granted. I can't wait to love the crap out of everyone I see tomorrow! Happy early Valentines, friend! I hope your day is filled with warmth and affection!

*image from sodahead 
**history from the most reliable souce ever

Monday, January 30, 2012

W.W.D.S.

What Would Disney Say?


"If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all!"

What a wise little bunny that Thumper is! Disney movies are choc-full of inspiring words and this one has been weighing on my mind a lot lately.
It seems like everywhere you go someone is angry with someone else and is wasting time and energy to drag their name through the mud. Whatever happened to just being nice? Or, when that doesn't work, keeping our mouths shut?

I fail at this daily, like to the extent that it's embarrassing to admit. When I see or hear something that makes me want to lash out in anger-- an urge that I often give in to-- I try to remember sweet Thumper's little words. There are some things (people included) that just fire me up and I could go on and on for days about how much I don't care for them, but I know it isn't helping the situation. I exhaust myself by focusing so much of my being into disliking whatever it is! It makes me look way more pathetic than the thing causing my reaction. Sometimes my knee-jerk reaction is to say something degrading without even thinking about it. That's terrible! Who likes a grouchy complainer who is constantly downing other people? I don't! Not only is it petty, but it isn't how God wants His people to feel about one another.

Ephesians 4:29 tells us, "Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear."

So, not only are we not supposed to slander one another, but grace each other with encouragement! Easier said than done. Isn't everything? My prayer this week is that God will help me to become the kind of person who doesn't talk badly about others and only offers up pleasant things. Compliments, words of affirmation, and support. And when those fail me, the strength to say nothing at all!


Ps. Totally didn't realize how sad Bambi is until watching it the other day! I sobbed through most of it.

*Bambi pic from here

Monday, January 16, 2012

the big 2-0! woot woot!

Today my sweet hubby has moved into his TWENTIES!


That's right. Today Tommy has turned 20! He's a real life grown up now, you guys! How exciting! I feel so privilaged to be able to spend this milestone birthday with him and I hope that he'll let me stick around for many, many more. I think he will though because I'm the world champion of snuggling.

I had something totally rad planned but since we collectively had to spend $800 on text books (Yeah, we both bought all used and it makes me sick every time I think about it.) it fell through. So, we decided to just hang out and be lazy all weekend. That's Tommy's absolute favorite thing! If it were up to him we would be hermits and the only people who would ever visit would be food delivery guys.
I could resist getting him out for at least a little while though. We went to Cheesecake Factory Saturday for lunch and nearly bust a gut! Oh, it was so soooo good! Fried mac-in-cheese heaven. Then we came home and took the most glorious nap in the history of all naps!

For his actually birthday I got him a few little gifts. Instead of getting him another card (he had already gotten a pretty sweet Jim Halpert talking card from someone special) I made him a message in a bottle.


I bought the little bottle at Michael's, rolled the letter around a pencil, and dropped it inside! It was really hard to squeeze it in that little bottle and even harder to get it out but he loved it :)

Tommy is my best friend and I can hardly believe he chooses to spend his every day with me. I can't imagine a more thoughtful, understanding, kind, funny, snuggly, HANDSOME man than the one God blessed me with. Happy birthday, Sunshine! I love you.

Monday, January 9, 2012

i love books!


I do! I love them! Books open doors to new worlds and places and times that a person would never have access to otherwise. Book are full of all the life and adventure and emotion that could ever be imagined. One can never read all the books in all the world; they're like a never-ending supply of everything that is good!

Yes, I'm kind of a nerd. I don't care!

Since the break started I've been reading up a storm! I'm trying to read everything I can get my hands on before I'm confined to boring ol' textbooks for the next five months. Not being able to read what I want nearly kills me!

I got a Nook from Tommy's parents for Christmas and I have used the crap out of it! The first thing I downloaded was the Hunger Games trilogy!

 I really, really enjoyed all three. They're suspensful and full of action and, of course, a love story. They're also pretty short so it's good for a quick read. I finished all three in about a week. Now I can hardly wait for the movie coming out in March even though I know the books will be way better! Aren't they always? Except for maybe Holes. It was pretty spot-on.

One thing I really love about reading is that you can cast whoever you want as each character. I've chosen very different people for Peeta and Gale than whoever they paid to be the casting director. Personally I like mine better, but I'm a little biased!


           Alex Pettyfer (my pick)                                           Josh Hutcherson (cast)

Sean Faris (my pick)                                      Liam Hemsworth (cast)

 See what I mean?! They cast the kid from Bridge to Terabithia as Peeta! I still see him as that immaginative kid from all those years ago, but I'm interested to see if he can break that image for me. I'm excited reguardless! You can watch the trailer here! It gives me chills!

Definately, definately read The Hunger Games trilogy if you haven't already! And when you finish, start on Water for Elephants. I finished it tlast week and loved it! But parts of it are pretty raunchy, so if you're sensitive to that you might want to skip out on this one and go straight for The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks.

What should I ready next?
Do you have a nook? Will you be my nookfriend?!


married christmas to us!

As you all know, this was our very first married Christmas! It was fantastic!
Of course I'm not going to lie to you, I seriously missed waking up at my parents house. It's just because it's different and the first year I was away. Tommy missed his old traditions too. But we still participated in everything we normally do and had fun figuring out new, grown-up-ish traditions!

Dec. 23rd we woke up early and went to my parents' house for gifts and breakfast before we left to visit my family in Ft. Payne!
Ps. I took all these with my phone, so they're pretty crummy. Bear with me!
Dad was really excited about his gift!

We spent Christmas eve at my aunt and uncle's house...
 ...having Tacky Christmas! I won.
 I didn't realize how long an actual game of Monopoly took! It eventually dwindled down to just Tom and I. Then he clobbered me and the bank took all my property.
 After a hard night of stealing my cash, Tommy used it to get his hair done at Salon Abby! He wasn't took happy about the pink and purple clips.
Abby and Sara found out that they are going to Disney World! They're sooooooo excited!

Christmas morning Tom and I packed our stuff up and met up with his family for our annual trip to Gatlinburg!
Tommy won this snowman/penguin man for me at a gas station on the way. He's the champion of crane games! Ha!

That night we exchanged our gifts to each other and to his parents.
I love how Tommy wraps my presents! Layers and layers of whatever paper he has on hand. He never cuts off the excess so he just folds and crumples it until he can tape the wad down! He also writes the recipient's name across the front in big, sloppy Sharpie! I get cracked up whenever I see his finished product! He's gotten a little better over the years, but I refuse to show him how its really done because I like knowing exactly which box from him. Underneath the double wrapping, packing tape, hand towels, old tshirts, and a broken hairdryer sat a Canon Powershot! I couldn't believe it! I've been so sad about my Cybershot breaking at Disney and I'm thrilled to be snapping away now! It was way too big a gift and made the Polo sweater I got him pale in comparison, but I'm extremely grateful for it! Now are better pictures!!!! Woot Woot!


 We had tons for fun in Dollywood!
 And the Ripley's aquarium! I swear, in Gatlinburg if Dolly doesn't own it, Ripley's does!
We had a wonderful first married Christmas!