Banana Hammock

This weekend was what I wish every weekend was like- no real plans.  There was no place we HAD to be, nothing we HAD to get done...just relax and hang out.  It had been a busy week, between regular school and work added together with spending the night at Chick-fil-a, haha.  On Friday we stayed in and just had a relaxing date night.  We ordered a pizza and rented a movie and just were lazy.  On Saturday we got to sleep in, watch our favorite HGTV shows, and drink our coffee.  Are we sounding like old, retired people yet?  Then on Saturday night we went out to dinner with the Martin's and Reese's and then went over to the Arehearts for a little socialization :)   We ended up playing this game that incorporated charades, catchphrase, and miming all in one.  It was really funny- and as far as the "Banana Hammock" comes in- we had to write down a person, place, and thing on our cards and sweet Emma says, "we can write anything?  So like banana hammock would be ok?"  HAHA!  We all cracked up and she spent the next 10 minutes describing what kind of banana hammock she meant.  She meant this kind of banana hammock...

But unfortunately (for her) our minds were all somewhere else....needless to say she sent us an email late last night when she got home with the image above to PROVE what she meant, haha.   Here are some more pictures of the shananigans from last night.

This is Stephen describing "skinny jeans..." did a pretty good job considering he was talking to four other boys.

 There is one round where you can only say one word to describe whatevers on the sheet.  The rule is if you say "um" that counts as your word and you're pretty much screwed.  Well, Matt fell into that trap....sorry babe.  Today we were excited to get to church because Buster (our pastor) is finally back from six weeks in Asia.  It was a great sermon, along with a good Sunday school lesson, and a pretty quiet day in the nursery. All in all a great weekend!

Eat Mor Chikin

Today was the opening of the West Ashley Chick-fil-a!  A lot of people know about the "First 100" event that Chick-fil-a does, but if not I will give you a little overview.  When CFA opens a new store, they give 100 people free CFA for a year!  The way it works is you get there at 6 AM the day before and whosever is there at 6 name goes in a raffle and 100 names are drawn out.  If your name is called you get a chance to camp out at CFA for 24 hours straight and then you win the prize!  I mean, who can pass up a years worth of CFA?  So we were there at 5 AM yesterday morning ready to go.  We put our names in and waiting impatiently as they called out all the names.  There was about 127 people there, so (there was 7 of us) we had a pretty good shot.  I was called number 64.  We got a little nervous though because Emma was number 99!!! It was a close one, but we all got in!

You set up tents, sleeping bags, air mattress, chairs, tables, etc. in your parking space.  You would not believe all the stuff people bring to these things!

Our air mattress barely fit in our tent, but it was perfect for me, Emma, and Mandy :)

As the day went on we found many ways to entertain ourselves.  Here, Emma, Ben, and Jordan are playing some Texas hold 'em.  We also played catchphrase, A to Z, took walks, naps, etc.

Ben and Ben playing more poker.

Emma with cup- notice her number 99!

Obviously they fed us PLENTY of CFA all day long.  When it was meal time we all had to line up in the drive-thru and show them our wrist band and receive our meal.  We ate all meals outside except dinner!  Did I mention IT WAS FREEZING!?!?!

Ben entertaining everyone with his guitar skills

Will playing the A to Z game... our new favorite :)

So there was several organized games throughout the day with prizes.  Well most of them were water games and I refused to play water games in 30 degree weather.  But there was one game we were willing to play. When they mentioned that the next game winners would be labeled the "smartest people there" we decided we'd give it a shot, haha.  The game consisted of giving each one of us a peice of paper with a number on it and then they would yell out a number (ex: 1,324,756) and we would have to run around and get in the order before other teams. Well WE WON and here are our trophies/prizes to prove it :)  CFA mugs, haha.

We made Valentine cards for the kids at MUSC.

Mandys card.  As she puts it....    "Business in the front"

"Party in the back"...haha!

Jordan all wrapped up like an eskimo :)

Eating like real people INSIDE.  It was nice to take a few minutes and dethaw!

Some of our Newlyweds Sunday School class that was there!  Go ECBC Newlyweds- even our Sunday school teacher was there :)  Stephen is in his tie because he just stopped by for moral support- he had to be back in the OR at 5 the next morning...

This is a picture of Dan Cathy (Truett Cathy, the owner of CFA's, son) playing the trumpet.  He gave a little speech about CFA and how the organization runs and what these events mean to them.  I think I was most impressed by this 30 min that he spoke.  I mean, I have always love CFA and knew they have amazing customer service, play Christian music, and are closed on Sundays, but I didn't know what kind of amazing outlook that had on this organization.  Dan Cathy truly impressed me.  He said that the reason CFA is so successful is that he gives God all the glory and that by honoring Him, God blesses them.  He gave God all the credit and preceeded to open his Bible and share God's word with us.  He introduced the new operator and his family and said that CFA holds good, strong, Godly marriages above all else and that they need to put their marriage first- even in this busy time of opening a new store.  He told the operator that tomorrow (which is the first day his restaurant opens) he needs to leave at 2 and take his wife on a date.  He isn't allowed to call or come by to check how things went, just focus on his wife. I know I am not doing a good job of explaining all he said, but I was just so impressed by his faith and boldness he has in Christ.  Anyways, just wanted you to know that it was a really fun night.  It might have been SUPER cold, but it was worth it!

They caved...

So two of my best friends from college, Lacey and Kathryn caved and they are now bloggers :)  I knew it was just a matter of time.  So you can enjoy catching up and reading about them from time to time.  Kathryn and Caleb got married December '08 and Lacey is set to get married December '10!!  So planning a wedding and being a newlywed should make for some good material, haha.  I am a little jealous because they both have super clever names for their blogs, but I guess I will have to get over it.  Lacey's is called Brackish Water and Kathryn's is called Love and Baked Spagetti.  For their reasonings behind the names, read their blogs, their links are in my list to the right! Happy reading!

A Trip to the Farm

This past weekend we went and visited Matt's grandfather at their farm in Campobella, SC.  He has been begging us ever since we got Tiger to visit him and bring the dogs up to play on the farm.  So this weekend we did and the dogs seriously had the best time ever.  I have never seen Grady and Tiger so happy in all my life, haha!  They had quite the adventure discovering cows, chickens, horses, and goats!

This is right when they got out of the car and started exploring...

When took them down to one of the ponds to swim.  Half of it was still frozen solid, but the other half had dethawed.  I didn't know if they would get in the icy water, but they wasted no time and jumped right in.

Matt and I at the farm :)

After a awhile we took them to yet another pond, but this one had a dock. Papa wanted to see if they would jump off the end- no such luck.  We would throw a stick and they would bark at it until we threw them in after it!

Grady was still a little scared...he sat out a little bit and just watched Tiger in action, haha.

Finally Tiger was willing to jump off the little dock by himself!

So after all the swimming we came back and Tiger discovered cows.  He didn't really know what to make of cows so he just started barking...they did not like that...especially the big bulls.

After the cows, he walked down to other pasture see the horses.  We decided that Tiger looks like half dog half horse- we call that either a "dorse" or a "hog".... I'm gonna go with dorse.

The horses surprisingly didn't mind these little annoying dogs.  I think the horses thought Tiger was one of their own after he licked a horse in the face.

Tiger thinking of a way to get closer....

Matt thought that it would be funny to tell me to get a "picture with the horse" but really he only took one of the horse's butt and me..ha. ha.

It was Grady who finally squeezed inside and roamed with the horses.  We were terrified he was going to get kicked or trampled...but he survived some how.

Eventually Grady showed his friend Tiger how to get through and they grazed the pastures just like the other animals :)

All in all we had a great time at the farm!

Stranded...

As of Monday I will have been without a car for TWO weeks!  You never really think about how much you depend on the freedom of coming and going as you please until you don't have it!  I have had to borrow cars, rides, and even walk!  Luckily I have had some awesome friends and family to step in and let me borrow their car, so we were very fortunate in that aspect.  My car had some minor flooding...thank you Charleston...and had to get all new carpets, flood mats, etc.  All the time I had my small Honda in Charleston I never had any issues, but the second a I finally get an SUV!   The good thing is that Allstate is paying for it, so I am trying to be patient.  Keep your fingers crossed that I will get it back soon, don't know how much longer I can make it!

Just when I started to feel really sorry for myself because I didn't have my SUV for two weeks, God snapped me back to reality while I watched the devastation in Haiti.  The people in Haiti had hardly anything to begin with and now their world has been destroyed.  All the mothers who don't know where to take their children and the children that may not have mothers anymore...just breaks my heart. I visited Haiti last summer and it is a beautiful, but so very poor country.  It would be scary if something like this happened to America, but a country like Haiti doesn't have the resources to handle this.  I am praying for all the people that are "stranded" under the rubble that they may be found and if not they would feel God's peace in this terrifying time.  Please join me in praying for the Haitian people, the disaster relief workers, and any other people involved!

"Though the mountains be shaken, and the hills be removed, 
Yet my unfailing love for you will not be shake 
nor my covenant of peace be removed, say the Lord,
who has compassion on you."
                     -Isaiah 54:10

Lately...

As my last few days of freedom wind down (I realize that my break was super long and I shouldn't complain haha) we tried to cram in a few fun things.  On Thursday night we headed over to Ben and Christy's to watch the BCS national championship.  Although almost everyone there (ahem, Ryan..) was cheering for Texas, we could not pull them though.  My favorite comment was when asked who everyone was cheering for, Anna immediately answers, "Texas!"  This was obviously a surprise to Ryan, so inquired why, to which her answer was, "duh, Matthew McConaughey." Haha! Well of course thats how women pick their football teams :)

Look at this picture of the boys super-serious/sad faces as Alabama rolls over Texas.... except for Ryan's slight smirk that he is sporting....haha

On Saturday we went and saw Avatar in 3D at the Imax.  It was surprisingly awesome!  I had no idea of what to expect because I had honestly not seen even a preview.  Such movie is not usually my cup of tea, but it was very entertaining and the graphics were amazing.  I would definitely recommend going to see it in 3D before it leaves theaters because I don't think it would have been half as good on a regular TV at home.  Here are some pics in our super-cool 3D glasses.

It felt pretty good to get to come home and check off one of my 20 movies on my list.  Not only did I get to check off Avatar, but we also squeezed in a viewing of Shawshank Redemption, too.  Which I thought was good, although I am confused why is it the "greatest movie of all time."  I know plenty would beg to differ with me, but I told you I had bad taste in movies :)

A Different Type of Education...

If you know me, then you know that I am not a huge movie fan. Don't get me wrong, I love a good chick flick, but when it comes to "normal movies" (as Matt calls them) I have seen very few. This has always bothered Matt and he is baffled how I made it through life so far without these "cultural experiences." My previous criteria for movies were they had to be set in present day, have a love story/marriage, and be rated G, PG, or PG-13. Matt also likes to include that they have to have Steve Martin in them...which is NOT true. It just happens that my favorite movies include him (Father of the Bride I & II, Cheaper by the Dozen, Baby Mama, etc)...I swear its just a coincidence. Anyways, Matt has decided that I need to broaden my horizons and see some "good" movies. He went to IMdB and printed out the list of the top 250 movies of all time and my job was to highlight how many I had seen on it. Well, surprisingly I had seen like 26 of them (most of which were the Disney cartoons..haha), but Matt's goal is for me to see ALL OF THEM. I know at the rate we watch movies I will be 48 when we finish, but we are still going to get started. Matt chose 20 of the movies on the list that I haven't seen to watch first. He picked them because these were the movies he thinks I need to see to "function in everyday conversations"....whatever. So here are my first 20 that I will be watching....

1. Shawshank Redemption

2. Schindler's List

3. Avatar (I'm pretty sure he just wants to see this one)

4. Forrest Gump

5. Saving Private Ryan

6. To Kill a Mockingbird

7. The Prestige

8. The Green Mile

9. Gladiator

10. Hotel Rwanda

11. Fargo

12. Casablanca

13. Into the Wild

14. Stand By Me

15. Good Will Hunting

16. The Pianist

17. Big Fish

18. Glory

19. Gone With the Wind

20. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Today I have the day off, so I am beginning with Big Fish (mainly because we had it readily available). Let the cultural enrichment begin! :)

Goodbye, Ashley!

One of my good friends from school, Ashley, is moving away to Ohio in a few days! We have been in school together since August of 2007 and have really become good friends throughout our master's program. She has a job in Ohio after graduation and has decided to do her last clinical rotation there. I am SO sad that she will not be here with me...I don't know what I am going to do without her! Her and her husband are moving back to her home town so I am very excited for her. Matt and I went out to dinner tonight to Boulevard Diner (both of our favorite) with her and her husband, David. It was nice to have one last dinner together. The next time I see her we will be graduates and NPs!!!

On a side note, here is my latest sewing project. I have definitely started with just some simple little projects, but I am kinda getting in the hang of it. Here is a little bag I made to put Tiger's food in when we go away for a weekend. Thought it turned out pretty cute.

Happy New Year!

To bring in 2010 we went out to dinner with some friends to King Street Grille and then went to to see fireworks at James Island County Park. It was a great way to bring it the new year!

It was also Emma's birthday- Happy birthday Emma! I was happy to spend new years and your birthday with you :)
The fireworks were pretty good! My camera has a fireworks setting so I tested it out. A lot of the pictures were crazy looking, but some turned out alright. I LOVE fireworks, always have. I told Matt a long time ago that all important events in life should include fireworks. Although obviously not possibly, Matt and I have seen a lot of good fireworks. Matt even set up an AMAZING fireworks show after our engagement. I just think they are so romantic!


We all crammed in one car because you had to pay to get in by the carload :) It added to the fun, haha!
Happy 2010 to everyone! I am looking forward to a new year and excited to see what God has planned for us. 2009 was very good to us- full of change and new beginnings. I hope the same for 2010. I hope God has big things in store for the Cogdill's this year :)