A Lot of Catching Up

First, most of this semester has been taken over by my new marketing internship at a wonderful boutique called Westwin Clothiers! I get to hangout with one of my best friends, Rachel and do exactly what I want to do for the rest of my life. I also get to work with the fabulous Abby Ott. We plan events and manage their social media. We have so much fun! This picture is a picture from our blog by the wonderful photographer Abby Ott.

During Fall Break a few friends (19 friends) and I went to Destin, Florida and lived the dream on the beach for a few days. Unfortunately I did not get very tan, but I like myself better pale with my princess skin. We just lounged around for the whole time and relaxed. My main goal during the break was to get rid of my dark under-eye circles. Mission accomplished, but they have returned after only one week of regular life.

This past weekend Elizabeth and I went to her first Chi Omega party!! It was so much fun and it was America themed! We got to go out to eat before the party together and I loved getting to share all of the fun of parties with her. She is doing so well and I am so very proud of her. Happy Halloween!!

Fall Break

Hello all, it's me again! I am back in my dorm room staring out the window at a rather glum rainy day. It is that cold kind of rain that makes you want to turn right around and go back inside. So here I am, writing a blog post in the comfort (maybe that's going a little too far) of my dorm room. :) I arrived back at school last night after being at home for about 5 days of Fall Break.
Here is a picture of my one companion on the drive home, which I later spilled when traffic started moving (this was taken when traffic was at a standstill on the highway):

I loved being at home. I settled right into the routine, except I didn't have to wake up and go to school with MC. Relaxation and shopping with Mama took up most of my time. Mama was so wonderful to cook my favorite food and everyone was so gracious to do what I wanted to do. I was very pampered. MC even let me eat her amazing fall treats! :) I got to see some of my friends from high school which was weird because for once I did not know every detail of their lives. We are all so close that being together was completely normal, and it was odd to think that months had passed since we had seen each other. Here are a few pictures:

I even got to see ANNA! It was the first time we had been together since she moved in first in August.

We had some great bonding time with Tucker.

Being with Daddy was wonderful.

I don't know what I would do without my family, and having this break with them was just what I needed. I love them so much. Sorry this was so short, I'm late for zumba! Haha.
Here's a picture from a few weeks ago when they came to visit Sarah and I at college:

Elizabeth

P.S. Sarah was at the beach, and we missed her! Just so you know what she was up to. :)

Halloween Treats!

So why do I feel like I'm the only sister blogging? :) You girls need to get a jump on it!

It is fall break for the girls so Anna and Elizabeth are home! We are so excited to spend a little time with them. Sarah took a trip to the beach with some friends during the break; maybe we will see a post about that! :) It has been really different with a full house again, but very fun.

I wanted to post about some fun treats I made from inspiration I found on Pinterest and my general love for fall! So here are some pictures and info. on the deliciousness I created!

I created: caramel filled apples, "acorns," "witches' hats," and "spider webs"!

First the apples.

Materials: apples, lemon juice, caramel, melon scooper, and toothpicks

I cut the tops off the apples for lids. Then I used a melon scooper to hollow out the inside of the apples to make it a little apple bowl (so cute!)

Then I filled them with caramel! I put toothpicks in the spheres made from the inside of the apple and dipped them into the caramel filled apple bowls! Any excess caramel and apple spheres can be "toothpicked" and made into mini caramel apples! So fun and easy. It probably took me 5 minutes per apple.

[Tip: Put lemon juice around the top of the apple and on the lid (and even the apple spheres too) to keep them from browning!]

Next up was the chocolate and pretzel spider webs! (My favorite of the bunch!)

Materials: white chocolate and stick pretzels, waxed paper, and a lot of counter space!

They are SUPER fun and delicious. Arrange pretzel sticks in groups of 6 or 8 with the ends really close. Melt white chocolate and spoon it into a pastry bag. (Or a ziplock with the tip cut off for those of us in real life) :) Fill the area in the center with white chocolate to stick the pretzels together. Then carefully squeeze the chocolate in circles over the sticks to make the webs! It takes a steady hand and few tries to get it right!

Also, it is hard to stop in the middle and take a picture.

Please excuse my face.

Last up were the easiest of the bunch: the witches's hats and acorns.

Materials: Hershey's kisses, Nilla Wafers or Nutter Butter snack bites, chocolate morsels, and Keebler fudge striped cookies

Assembly is simple. Melt a little chocolate to act as the glue. For the acorns, simply dip the bottom of the kisses into the melted chocolate and set the kiss on the wafer! To be extra detailed, add a mini chocolate morsel to the bottom of the wafer to act as the acorn stem.

For the hats, dip the kisses in the "glue" as well then stick them on the upturned cookie. For extra pizzaz as well, you can use any excess chocolate to pipe a little bow around the kiss. Ta-da! A hat.

I would call it a successful day. :)

Happy Fall and Happy (early) Halloween!

-mary claire

Homecoming 2011!

Hey, guys! Here's a quick post from me about my last Football Homecoming in high school! I am a cheerleader and have always felt the importance of this event. Though Anna was our only alumnus in the family to actually come home... :) it was a FUN but stressful time for me.

We have a tradition at my high school of decorating the hallways according to our overall theme and building a float for our individual grade's theme. Our theme this year was "Survivor" like the T.V. show; the senior class was "Señor Seniors"-cultural not racist. It was loads of fun.

So with my responsibilities as a cheerleader and my dedication to our senior float, I had a crazy week.

Cheer consisted of practices before AND after school, then I would head over to decorate the float after a quick stop at Walmart for supplies and food. (Also, Walmart's deli is awesome; I'm a new fan.)

These are some of the devoted float workers and some of my best friends!

Also, my friend's dog just had nine precious puppies. I may or may not have spent the majority of my decorating time with the pups. I mean look at them!! (Please disregard my cheer clothes-busy week.)

Homecoming is a very big deal. It may just be a Southern thing, but we really love it at my high school! Another beloved aspect is our theme days. One day was T.V./Movie Character Day. Two of my friends joined me in being the three orphans from the movie Despicable Me. We were awesome :)

There were some really creative costumes! Here's some of my best friends as two of the 101 Dalmations.

Here's my friend David in his Mexican dress! It was his mom's dress; I wore my mom's dress too! If you didn't know, my mom is awesome. Debsta lived in Alcapulco, Mexico for a year to teach music and piano to missionary kids. Is she not the coolest? :) So I wore one of the dresses she bought while there. I felt super authentic!

Overall, Homecoming is so fun. Stressful, yes-but fun! It is hard to fathom that this is my last football Homecoming to be involved in. It is bittersweet. :) This is a part of my high school experience I hold close to my heart and hope to always remember.

What are some of your favorite experiences from high school?

:) have a good week, y'all!

-mary claire

Who would've thought....

Who would've thunk it. The day that I post on this dang blog... Well get excited people, because here it is!!!

Anna has decided to post!

I'd just like to give a little shout out to the people who are following this thing, I admire your dedication. I'm probably just doing this to avoid packing(for a tiny weekend home), studying, writing an essay, or showering... Life is just busy, folks. A good busy, but still busy in itself.

It's almost October, and school is well into swing. And it is no easy thing, but I'm making it! I went through rush here at my school and I am a Chi Omega! wooo! So now that porker is one, too, there are three of us sistas in that srat! woo! mc has no choice... hahaha! just kidding. :)

Anyway, life is just chugging along, and I can't believe how fast it has gone! New friendships that have come into my life, and the old ones are still there too! So many changes, but they aren't bad! I don't know how I could do it without God though. It's been tough, I won't lie, but He has had me every step of the way. From sorority stuff, friendships, and school, He has been a constant and leaning on Him has given me a peace that is like no other.

So yes, life is good. God is good. And I get to go home tomorrow!! woo! who would've ever thought that I would be this excited!? haha :) and I get to see my baby, check check.

Well fellow bloggers, this is good night, and hopefully I'll be back on here sooner or later, giving details into my crazy, exciting college life! haha! just kidding, but not really :)

-anna

ps-here are some pics, enjoy!

The rooms and I!

Mom and Dad came up on Bid day!

Going to a wrestle-mania function with my sista and "brother"!

A Little Too Quiet: Senior Year

Hey, y'all! Holding down the fort over here. :) I titled this post "A Little Too Quiet" because that's our house right now... too quiet. Without my sisters, it gets pretty dull around here. M and D are doing great; there's a lot of "Words with Friends" and guitar playing going on tonight per usual. At least they aren't asleep again...

I have a feeling I will get in trouble for this picture, but it's so worth it! It's a little peak at what I'm dealing with daily... ;)

It's quiet here, but peaceful. Going from three girls at home to one is quite a change for all of us but, in all honesty, we are finding it a pleasant change. Although we miss all of our girls, the Lord knew we needed a year to ourselves: a year of peace. :) Just this morning when I was driving to school at the crack of dawn (okay, maybe it was more like 7:00 AM, but that's still early!) I saw this beautiful sunrise and was reminded of God's promise of new mercies every day and the comfort that He is with us. ALWAYS.

Exodus 14:14, "The Lord will fight for you; you need only be still." Amen and Hallelujah.

In other news, my senior year of high school is starting with a bang! Cheer is crazy as always, but I am truly enjoying the girls on my squad. They are all nuts; I fit right in!

Our high school has a tradition of having one "Senior Lunch" a quarter at a student's home. All 120 of us unload upon a house and eat-and eat and eat. Today we had our first lunch and it was splendid. Even better than splendid-stupendous! It really made me realize that I am actually a senior, not still in seventh grade.

The moms who helped set up the lunch brought all the foods we

ate in kindergarten and elementary school! PB&Js, grilled cheeses, Lunchables, KoolAid, Caprisun, cotton candy, ring pops, Laffy Taffy, Fruit by-the-Foot, and so much more. They even provided sidewalk chalk and bubbles! But, get this, they also had two ice cream trucks come and serve us whatever we wanted. It was like Christmas!! We took a class picture then headed back to school all hyped up on sugar.

They also gave us some sunglasses with "Class of 2012" on the side. Here are some pictures of my friends enjoying them-in class of course. :)

Aren't they adorable?!

So, sisterless, somehow I am managing. We do alot of praying around here. :) We know that even though we can't be together all the time, God is with us every moment of every day.

Hallelujah. :)

bye, y'all!

-mary claire

College Times

I am moved back in at school and it feels like I have not ever left. Although this year is different than the past 2 years. This year Elizabeth is here with me! I love getting to see her on campus, and now she is a part of my sorority!

I was reunited with my wonderful roommates. I am so thankful to them, especially working with the freshmen and seeing how I have made so many deep and fulfilling relationships. These relationships are evident in my 3 roommates.

During this semester I have done some craziness! We went to the fair. I love fairs. Not only because of the rides, but because of all of the crazy people and the best food ever. At the fair we attended a glorious magic show, and did not ride any rides. This girl loves her fair food more than the rides.

Lastly, Elizabeth and I went on a spontaneous journey to see Les Miserables! We were going to go with one of our friends, but that did not work out and the sisters decided to go on our own. Girl power! I sobbed through the entire show, and we had such a wonderful time together. It is such a blessing to be able to see her whenever I want. She is such an encouragement to me, and I love getting to share college with her!