first time's a charm

wednesday february 25, 2009

sometimes it only takes one picture to get a good one. today was one of those days. (: .. however i did piddle around some and took a few others - but none compared to this one. 

february 24

february 24

this is another one of ben's pictures. he like's taking them - especially when they make the blog (: ... so since i didn't have one for the day he took the camera & took a few pictures for me to pick from. thanks ben! 

Coffee Time

monday february 2.3.

the last monday of february. yes! we are slowly moving on! march, here we come! (: in three weeks we (me, mike, chris, mike & kayla) will be skiing on the slopes in Crested Butte, CO (side note). Anyway, my picture of the day came from my morning coffee time on the porch. My last class was canceled, so I was finished with class at 10 (: I went back to read some of my book (For Whom the Bell Tolls / Hemingway) and have coffee, bundled up in the hammock on the porch. Lovely...but cold so I didn't last long, but it was still enjoyable! 

Another side note: the M & M mug was from Mike's mama, papa & Melbug from when they went to NY last spring break! (: I LOVE it! 

19 days til SB

February 22

Elizabeth's Valentine's flowers are dying...

Newness (:

Saturday, 

February 21

This is my new journal (: Yay because it is green. Yay because it has a red pirate ship on it. Yay because it is empty...completely clean. I LOVE getting a new journal. I am in love with Barnes & Nobel - so it's exciting to go because I need something...not because I want a new book. (I always have a list of books that I want!) So yiiippppeee for the newness of a new journal! 

Paintin' Days...

friday, february twentieth

I wish I could use this picture for Friday and Saturday, just because this little house in Laurens is where I spent most of my weekend. My mom bought this house as a 'fixer-upper' - to rent. She's gotten into the flipping business, which means when there's work to be done she's got cheap labor (from me, Mike and Melanie!). We actually worked on this house last weekend too - priming the walls which were: highway sign green, Mexican orange (there is no other way to describe it), and Banana peel yellow, and the kitchen cabinets. Well, today Mike & I met mom at the house around 3:30. We touched up primer and started painting the living room "Caucasian." Mom ended up leaving after about an hour - so Mike, Melanie and I kept painting...until dinner time where we met her, my dad & Carson at Whitefords. We enjoyed a great dinner (: and Blue Goo for dessert! After dinner, we headed back to work for about another hour then decided it was too cold to keep painting so we packed up and headed home! 

Spring is HERE!

thursday, feb. 19

I actually took this picture with my phone as I was walking into P&A (my 2nd home). I've realized recently that the daffodils are blooming on campus. Every time I see them I really wish I had my camera with me so I could take some pictures, because you know that I Love Flowers. So, using my quick thinking - I whipped out my phone & snapped this picture. Spring is HERE, my friends (: which means warmer weather (thank goodness, since snow is not on the horizon); intramural softball; shorts, t-shirts & chacos; Spring Break - Crested Butte, CO.; hiking trips; Turtleback; lake weekend (hopefully); and that we're getting closer to graduation (bring it on!). 

Like a Kid at Chirsmtas

february 18

Today had nothing to do with Christmas. However, Mike & I met with Chris, Kayla & Mike about our Spring Break ski-trip to Crested Butte, CO. This made me feel like a kid at Christmas. I. Love. Skiing. I can't explain it, but I love it. One day I will be a ski instructor in the Rockies. For a little while at least..hopefully before I have kids, while I'm still young and can afford for my fingers and toes to turn blue. 

I keep telling Mike that I'm gonna go up on the last day "for one last run" and never come down! (: (I know my dad would kill me though because of the money he's paid for college...and after SB we only have 5 weeks left!!) We got everything straightened out I think...dates (for driving), costs of stuff, and places to stay (fo free!). I'm real excited. It actually makes me want to pee myself when I think about! 

I had to show the inside of the card. Mike and I started a tradition a few years ago - we make home-made Christmas cards every year...this is mine Mike made me this year! (: I was really impressed! 

CRAFFFFTT NNIIGGGHHTT!

tuesday february 17

Ccrrraafffttt nnniiigghht! (: Melissa and I decided to go to Wal-Mart while our lasagna baked in the oven (or thawed & heated). I knew I wanted to do a craft & these "cookie" ornaments were simple, cheap & fun! (+ we had all of the ingredients needed!) I went looking for cookie cutters...wouldn't you think that Wal-Mart should have a plethora of them!? Yea, they had NONE, ZIPPO, NADA, ZILCH. So don't go to Wally World thinkin' you can get some cute / fun cookie cutters! I decided that was okay - Melbert had some Christmas ones, so I used her star & Clemson Tiger Paw (: then for the rest we used cups and tupper-wear. I enjoyed making these ornaments - I told Melissa that I was going to hang them all above my desk (she told me that I'd be weird if I did that) - maybe I'll hang them above hers as a surprise (: haha! Well, I'm sure I'll find something to do with all of them! Crafts + Biggest Loser on Tuesday night = much fun (: 

Ingredients for "Cookie" ornaments:

2 cups flour

1 cup salt

1 cup water

*Knead until soft (where you can't still feel the salt)

Roll out & cut into fun shapes. Bake for about 1 hour on 325. Take out, let cool. Enjoy decorating! 

Dunkin' Donuts

monday, february 16

Dunkin' Donuts (: On Mondays I usually have 3 classes - but today was a good day!! I only had my 8:00! It was sooooo nice! Mike doesn't have his (one) class until 4, so I went over to his house for a little while. We were lazy --worked on some hw, had lunch--& watched Ace of Cakes (: ... which made Mike decide that he wanted something sweet. So, we packed up early (Chris was there too) & headed to DD. It was a great afternoon treat! I got my usual Blueberry Cake Donut & shared a cold coffee with Mike. I think I'm going to throw out the idea of making this a once-a-week treat for us! 

flowers, flowers, flowers

Sunday, February 15

*This top picture is my picture of the day, but I really like the one at the bottom too--so I thought I'd share both (:

More flowers. I was waiting on Mike to get his stuff packed up so we could head back to Clemson & decided that it was picture time. These were growing in his yard (: ... I'm learning to use sunlight (when it's there) - as you can see in this picture! 

The yellow (Carolina Jessamine) ones are growing in their back yard (: I love them. 

VaLeNtInEs DaY!

happy valentines day (:

Well, for Valentines day - Mike, Melanie & I helped my mom paint all day at a rental house that she has in Laurens. After painting, my family (all 5 of us) ate dinner together at Kyoto Express (where Carson stated that he felt like he was 5 again because we were all together...sad!), then Mike & I went to see Coraline (: We LOVED it!! It was a little weird, but c'mon...it's Tim Burton - so you can expect that! & it was the 1st 3-D movie that I've ever seen! Mike kept saying the whole time "I love this!" ... and he's commented several times since then how much he loved it (: I would seriously recommend it  - but not for little children because it had a few inappropriate parts. 

TGIF!!!

friday the thirteenth

This is a picture of the the shed / barn that's back behind Mike's house. I didn't have much time to explore it because we had to get home to take Mike's motorcycle to the BMW place. But, the shed was pretty old and empty - except some trash and old doll houses. And it has an upstairs that I'm going to go in soon!

Another Love.

thursday, february 12

I also love taking pictures of flowers. Tonight, Cathy had a beautiful orchid on a table in the den (OD gave them to her for Valentines day!) (: Honey used to grow them, but hasn't in a long time - so it's been a while since I've seen an orchid like this! ... I loved it! I think I may have enough pictures of flowers to make a calendar, so maybe I'll make it & give it for a Christmas present! 

A new found Love...

Feb. 11, 2009

Today I decided to head down to the docks at the lake here at Harts. I haven't been since we've lived here, simply because there hasn't been water in the cove since we've lived here! But, today I had time in between classes (and no computer at this point) to head down there for about 20-30 minutes. On my walk down there it started to drizzle, which made me a little nervous since I had my camera, but it let up after a few minutes. So...I sat down on a dock & waited -- I was hoping for birds. They have become my new fascination (: I found the geese while I was sitting there & just started taking pictures...I got quite a few of them! After the photo-shoot with the geese, I walked down to the other docks (because I saw some other little birds) - however, when I walked up, they flew away! Oh well -- overall, it was a peaceful walk (I even enjoyed the sprinkly rain) & I turned up with some good pictures! 

tooosday

tooooosday feb. 10

This is a painting that I did last semester...it's hanging above my desk (where my compy comp used to live). I am by no means an artist (ask Mike), but I love love love being creative. I am fully aware that being artistic and being creative are completely different -- but I still enjoy doing "artistic" things - such as painting (and I'm attempting to draw a house from Cloudland - when I get it finished, it'll definitely be my picture for that day!)

Melissa, Carolyn, Melanie (and sometimes Ben) have craft nights when we can - it happens more often in the summer when we have more free time - or when we have a specific craft in mind (which I do right now!) - these nights are dedicated to going to the store (usually Wal-Mart), buying the needed supplies, renting a couple of movies that we've wanted to see for a while & buying LOTS and LOTS of candy (:

Dinner Date with Friends

february 9, 2009

Tonight Mike & I met Matt, Amanda, Caleb & John at the lake house for dinner. I love these dinner dates with these friends! (: It's always good and refreshing to hang out with them...I really wish we were closer & could do it more often--however, I think it's more special when we do get to hang out because visits are so spaced out! It's a real treat that I really look forward to!

For dinner we had: scoop chips and salsa, spinach & sun tdried omato stuffed porkchops, rice pilaf, and asparagus, and cheesecake & dinosaur gummies!



Amanda's yummy cheesecake! (I was impressed - it was the first one she'd ever made!!)

Good Bye Compy Comp

Sunday Feb. 8

Well, I'm still computerless, which means I'm also pictureless ): Which does no good for a Picture-a-Day! This is a picture of where my computer used to live. I recieved the "blue-screen-of-death" on Friday ... but thought I could surely drag out its life for a few weeks...hahahahah think again! Sunday morning after church I sat down at my desk to work on some homework -- and it wouldn't even come on. Give me a break! So after letting Ben look at it and determine it wasn't going to come back on I frantically called Dad who graciously let me order another one. (Thanks Dad!) It was a necessity - I have to have it for school. Hopefully my new one will be here tomorrow .. or at latest Thursday (until then, Mike is doing a great job sharing his) (:

Highlands Again (:

feb. 7

Today Mike, Chris Ward & I rode to Highlands (for the 2nd weekend in a row)! I told Mike that I'd like to make this an every weekend habit (: We left around 10:30 in the morning, rode all the way into Highlands and stopped for lunch at The Rib Shack. Moy Beuno! After we ate, the boys let me walk around and do some shopping while they sat with the bikes and talked to some other bikers who were sharing our parking spot. This time I walked down the other end of the street and found this really cool ("cute" in Mike's words) shop that had all kinds of neat kitchen supplies and doo-dads! I only left with some zebra stationary, simply because we didn't have room for any of the kitchen supplies. We'll have to go and take the car so I can load up the trunk! (: After browsing some more, we got back on the road...and ended up taking a different way back than we'd intended. I only knew this because I thought we were coming back through Spartanburg and ended up at a gas station that is on the way to Turtleback.

Oh yea...this trip was way warmer, which meant for me that the aspect of riding was a little more enjoyable - just because I could feel my fingers, toes & knees when we stopped. However, the ride home was pretty in different way from as last week - not as many "mountain views"...but we had huge trees / rock walls on one side, and a creek on the other side that ran the length of the mountain (or it seemed to). I loved it. And, with the warmer weather there were different smells - I hope heaven smells like the mountains. Subtly sweet, a little fruity, peaceful, and intoxicating.



Chris & Mike at a pull off over looking the mountains (:






Another view of the mountains from the over look





the boys bikes




PS - I attached my camera to Mike's computer and uploaded these pictures

New Family

Friday, February 6

Today we (most of my family, including extended famliy) went to eat dinner with another set of McCraws..who are also family. Apparently there was a "family fued" about 30 years ago & my dads generation of McCraw's decided it was time to let it go. (: The other set of McCraw's includes: Dee and Ruthie, Cameron, who is a year younger than me and goes to Wofford, and Daiton who is a senior at Wren High. Dinner was a delight (: [it was also a treat to see the rest of my family.] I love my family and I'm excited to have more family. It's a common bond that takes a lot to break .. and in the case of the McCraws - if you want one of us, you're getting ALL of us.

RearView

Thursday, Feb. 5

Today we rode to Greenville to OD & Cathy's for LOST again (: - I thought this was a pretty sweet picture...from where I was sitting, looking in the side mirror I could see the sun setting behind us (:

PS - My computer crashed, so I'm in the "in-between-phase" with computers- hopefully my pictures will be recovered & I can start posting them again ... until then, I'll just describe the pictures & update them when I can

Wedneday

Feb. 4

Wednesday is usually our "LOST" day...meaning, we usually go to Greenville to OD & Cathy's to watch LOST, however this week we moved it to Thursday (maybe permanently!?), which was good because I had a big nutrition test Thursday morning I had to study for. (After I cut 9 in off my hair) I studied for quite a bit at my apartment, then when the Clemson vs. Duke basketball game came on, I decided I needed a change of scenery (and was trying to avoid the temptation of watching LOST with Mel & Carolyn!) so I headed to Mike's. I am a very very good multi-tasker, which is something that I take great pride in (: ... so I enjoyed the game while studying.

In the picture: Dave was examining his ankle (I think) that is healing..it has been black / blue & HUGE!!! Chris is studying / playing on facebook, (blank space on the couch in btw Chris & Mike was my study space), and Mike is enjoying some green tea & possibly cheering for the Tigers?! (:

PS - Mike wanted me to note how nice their living room is!

Cooking, I Love.

February 3

I love to cook (and bake). Which is a little ironic because my mom hates it. She laughs because both my sister and I will be graduating college in May with degrees relating to food. I don't know what it is about cooking that I love -- maybe it's the instant gratification. I love finding new things to make too. I have several recipes that I've yet to make - I'll get around to it one day though.

Tuesday night Mike & I decided to cook pork stuffed with spinach and sun dried tomatoes, cheesy rice, and asparagus. (Melbert, thanks for the recipe--well, thanks to Giada, but you passed it on!) Yum Yum Yum!

PS- this was the last day of my long hair...I cut 9 in off on Wednesday!

Moth

Feb. 3, 2009

Okay, my initial thought about the moth..it's clearly warm enough for bugs to be around, so warm weather must be on the way! Right?!?! hahahahhahah joke of the day! Right now it's about 26 outside...friggen freezing! Haley called to tell me that class was canceled for today & tomorrow for her (the 4th - 5th) because of SNOW!!! This is the 2nd time this semester for her..I'm so jealous!! The snow has gone completely around us twice. It's like we have some kind of shield here at Clemson that says "No snow! Go away!!" I'm begging for it to snow here soon. I want feet & feet of it!!!! I want to be snowed in with nothing to do and no where to go because my car clearly won't drive in the snow! Wishful thinking...I'm sure I'll have plenty of school work, but at least I'd be stuck at home! Actually, I have given up on snow for 2009 (kind of early I know), but when it's sunny & warm outside it makes me want spring -- real bad! I want so desparately to be able to wear sandles and t-shirts again!! (: soon though .. no doubt.

FeBrUaRy!

Feb. 1, 2009

Sunday night we had hot dogs (and Julie's famous PB bars) over at Mikes house to celebrate Wills birthday & the Super Bowl (which I saw none of). We also had a nice fire on the carport which was nice and toasty! & always fun to hang out around... (:

I think this picture represents our friendships perfectly (: Melissa & I were clearly on the same "lets make a funny face" page, Carolyn seemed a little confused -- not quite sure what face to make & Melanie was happy & smiling! (a little clueless to the funny faces also) (:




Mike & Sam getting DOMINATED in Foosball (:








Wodie & Mike Hawkins playin'







A good one of Me, Me, Carolyn & Mel (: Yiippee!!

Can you tell who is holding up the others?! I thought it was BD, but Mike Hawkins was holding onto both BD & Mike!! What a load!

Wedding Bliss

Jan. 31

Today I went with Elizabeth (my semi-newly engaged roomie), and Elizabeth Steele (another bridesmaid) to the Wedding Expo in Greenville. We tasted TONS of cakes & all kinds of food from the different caterers! (: Yum Yum Yum!! This was a great (once is plenty for me) experience! -- We were exhausted by the time we got back to Clemson!

Mike came back from Greenville with a treat for me---Melanie! (: She spent the night & hung out on Sunday until after Will's birthday / Super Bowl party!