if only i could make up my mind

alright so we are back to trying out the old blog... well kinda the old blog. its got a new look, like it? i pretty much love it.

still not sure what i am gonna do about posting pics. i changed some settings in hopes it would be easier, but alas... i'm still having the same problems. stay tuned. there will probably be some more changes. in the mean time, enjoy one of my favorite pictures from Chicago.

love,

N

We Are Who We Are

tonight we're going har har har har har hard.......

oh ke$ha. how can I hate you and get addicted to your songs at the same time?

That has absolutely nothing to do with what I am going to "post" about, I just thought I'd share my most recent and unfiltered thoughts with you. I mean what is a blog for if not that very thing?

So sorry it has been quite awhile since my last post. All of the Christmas craziness got to me but alas, here I am, sending my thoughts out onto the web so that my dear friends can read them.

So lets talk about christmas. I was quite saddened that Knox-vegas did not get NEAR the snow that Chatt-town did... but there was a light dusting of snow on Christmas morning, so it wasn't competely without the joy of being "white". What was my favorite present you ask? Only the most adorable white peacoat that I got from Lerner New York! Sooooooo fun! It's white, and long, and it has layers that are kinda like ruffles... just not as ruffly as you might think. I picked it out back in October and have been anticipating opening that present for months. My other favorite present was quite unexpected.... the OFFICIAL 45th anniversary edition of The Sound of Music Soundtrack!!!!! Soooo fun. Don't worry - I did it justice and listened to the entire album Christmas day. There was much singing and even a little dancing too. E, you would have been proud. :)

After the rush of Christmas was over I went on a trip throughout the southeast with my work. I didn't know at all how this trip would go, if i'd have fun, or if it would be really boring or awkward or just be wishing the whole time i was back in the comfort of my home. But it actually turned out to be pretty fun. Which was relieving. With only a few awkward bursts of anger between some people on the trip - we all managed to get along very well and have a good time! We rented a HUGE tour bus and traveled to Charleston, Savannah, and then Jacksonville Florida and went to the Gator Bowl. Then we drove all the way back to Knoxville. It was a nice break from work though, and many memories were made.

The best part of the trip is that I won $75 in a bet on the Tennessee bowl game! Now normally Iwould not participate in such an activity but everyone else had already paid to play and I just figured why not. So I just had to fill in squares with my name to bet on what the score would be at the end of each quarter. And lo and behold... 3 out of the 4 quarters it was my name in the box!! ha. The best part is that I know absolutely nothing about football and don't care about it at all. You should've seen the look on all those guy's faces. Priceless.

(I will post pics on Facebook because it is WAYYY too complicated to post pictures on this bloggy thingy... i mean seriously...)

*queue classic look from A*

Anyways, other than being kinda sick this week that is about all that has been going on in my life. work is normal. Still living at home and trying to figure out when/where/with who I will be moving into an alternative abode. Oh but in some interesting news I have been put in charge of managing my companies' facebook page, so... drum roll please.... I will now officially be getting paid to be on facebook. hahaha. I kinda like it.

for now, that is all. Now go sing your favorite Ke$ha song in honor of me...

N

Doggy Goes Woof Woof

so for thanksgiving my sister and her family left the frozen north and came down to good ole TN for thanksgiving in the 70 degree weather! it was soooo good to see them. i hadn't seen them since september and every time i see my little nephew Jack, he is just so much bigger and smarter and older. they grow up so fast... tear... ha. no but really! he is crawling now and he pulls up all the time to stand. and we even taught him a few new things in the five days he was here! he knows that a doggy says "woof woof" and then every time we went outside and he saw Leah he would "woof woof woof" constantly. it was precious. we also taught him where his toes are. we would say "jack, where are you toes?" and he would think for a second and then grab his toes. he is so smart. so here are a few pictures from thanksgiving.

sweet boy

then it was time for thanksgiving dinner! i tried to get creative and take artsy food pictures. you be the judge. but it was really fun!

it is our family's tradition that every year, the day after thanksgiving, we go get our christmas tree! we go to the same farm every year and pick out the best one they have! it was Jack's first time to get a christmas tree!

success! got the tree and stopped in at starbucks on the way home. couldn't ask for a better thanksgiving! Merry Christmas!!!!

The Mile High City

Denver, CO. this is where i spent last weekend. so much fun. it had been a long 1 1/2 years since i'd seen my dear friend, Amy Fletcher... and so i used some graduation money to go see her and her husband, Max. i loved every minute that i got to spend in the gorgeous state and found it really hard to put down my camera cause everywhere you went was so scenic! but i only posted a handful of pics, and there are others on facebook. so here you go. a taste of my weekend.

first sights of the mountains for the weekend. why hello again.

my beautiful, fun, loving, and hilarious hosts. The Fletchers.

it had been way too long since we'd had a picture together

*note my necklace. anthropologie. for $10. booya! i was maybe way too excited to find something in the store i could actually afford. haha.

out to dinner in downtown (or LoDo, as they call it) Denver for dinner on Saturday night. so fun. Osteria Marco. sooooo good. our waiter clearly thought he was way too good to be working at such a restaurant. he was from NYC and used to "higer end" clients. tried to get us to buy a $51 bottle of wine. no way hosea. get over yourself. you are not that cool. haha.

me and Max. i call him "my guy friend" cause i only have one. haha. its our thing.

ok here are some pics that i took on our way back from boulder. the drive was absolutely incredible. gorgeous sunset against the flat irons. these are more heavily edited than the ones posted on facebook. kinda obsessed with them...

so these are slightly out of order but it is way too hard to rearrange photos on this thing. so back to dinner on Saturday night. trying to take artsy pics inside the restaurant. very slow shutter speed.

water bottle and glass. and Max's hand.

light fixture and bar

ok so their dog is named Mowgli. like from The Jungle Book. such a sweet and well trained dog. he was not so happy though that i was infringing upon his space. but he is fun to play with. Amy likes to wrap tape around his paws, which is really funny cause he is then all of a sudden immobilized cause he has one piece of scotch tape on his paw. dogs are funny like that. he also took a liking to my banana republic bag. which was ok, cause it was empty. but earlier that day it held a cute cardi that i got for $25. again, booya.

the last event of my trip was that we went to a soccer game on sunday morning. i felt like y'all for a little bit. cause you went to all those soccer games in chatt this summer. now i went to one. ha. the view from here was also incredible. you could see the snow on the mountains. so cool. (ha, get it?!) there was also a really cute guy on the team, but we had to leave before the game was over so i did not get a closer look. oh well. haha.

so that was my trip in a nutshell. so much fun. and it was so hard to leave, i was not at all ready to go home. not enough time with Amy after being apart for so long. ugh... long distance sucks. but i am really glad that i got to go!

love you all and can't wait to see most of you (sorry i will miss you Jodie) in a couple of weekends! yay!!! i get to see the other Aimie in my life!

Doe. A Deer. A Female Deer.

This post is snapshots of my weekend. i thought i'd make a post showing y'all what i did this weekend since i couldn't be with you. it was a great weekend! but don't get me wrong, my heart was in Winston-Salem.

I didn't really do a whole lot on friday. bought a new bra... woo-hoo.

can i just say, that seeing this right here ^ made me so happy all weekend. it made you feel close when you were far away!

when i was out in my yard taking pictures with Leah, i saw a doe in our field! (hence the title of this post. also cause i recently watched the sound of music) it was so beautiful. had just enough time to sneak some pictures before Leah saw her and chased her away. silly dog.

this one makes me smile. A LOT. it is my favorite picture of Leah. that is what i think of when i think of this dog. happy.always wanting to play frisbee.

and i just really like this next one...

so then saturday i went to the Smokey Mountains with my friend Lauren. it was so pretty up there, we walked for 7 MILES. and neither of us thought to bring food or water with us, so needless to say we were both thirsty and STARVINGwhen we got back to knoxville. ha, we will do better next time.

These are just few pictures from my trip to Cades Cove. i put them all up on facebook so you can see them there, i just figured i take this space to point out some of my favs...

love you all! looks like you had tons of fun and hopefully i will get to see you very soon!

Pumpkins are my Favorite!

pumpkin carving is one of those things that i look forward to so much in the fall. its just so fun. i have always loved it, even as a child. i loved going to the pumpkin patch and getting to pick out my very own pumpkin every year. so great. and my favorite dessert at thanksgiving has always been pumpkin pie. All around, i just really like pumpkins!!

soooooo i was looking through old pictures and i found this video that me and my old friend and roommate, Nicole Dhaenens Hoek, made 4 YEARS AGO ... back when i was in college.... yeah. i believe that was my first junior year? anyways... i thought it was funny cause i say the date in the video and it was yesterday! so in honor of times past i thought i'd post it. its not that exciting though. and ignore the fact that in the video i sound like i have a lisp. we all know that i don't. although i met a girl recently who did have a lisp and it was really hard to concentrate on anything else. and it made me miss Jenn Dewaard. ha.

me, nicole and theodore on our front porch at 901 oak st.

ok... video time...

OH and by the way, if you are into pumpkin spice lattes and you really like the one at starbucks, DO NOT get the one from panera. it was disgusting. waaaayyyy too pumpkiny. not enough spicy. just a warning. drink at your own risk.

oh and here are more pictures of more recent pumpkin carvings...which i remembered while uploading that it was Megan's 1st time to carve a pumpkin. so sweet. so glad it was documented.

oh and p.s. i miss my house.

clouds

ok so i freakin love clouds. i love the sky. i love it when the sky feels enormous and i feel tiny. there is nothing that i love more than a big beautiful breathtaking sky. it reminds me of home.

there have been some incredible clouds recently here in knox (and i'm sure in chatt as w

ell. and lets be real, i'm sure they were much prettier against the backdrop of downtown chatt). but i do my best to take in the beauty despite the not-so-beautiful backdrop of west knoxville. and since the clouds were so amazing i had to take pictures! yes, i keep my camera with me at all times. and yes i took these while driving. and yes i know that is probably not the safest thi

ng to do while driving. oh well. these were too great to

pass up.