Catching up from Thanksgiving

It has been a long time since posting. I figured I would catch up on November news. We have had two sets of family to visit from New Jersey, I have made it through what the doctor thinks is the flu, strep throat, and bronchitis.

 

I made a little banner to hang over the fire place.

I made FOUR lemon pies for Justin to take to work, for his grandparents’ house, for my parents’ house and of course, one for us to keep!

Homemade cranberry sauce

We had one sick puppy girl with a kidney infection. Naturally I ran out and got her a whole bunch of toys to make her feel better after a visit to the V-E-T.

And I visited my sister in Savannah to watch New Moon! It was quite awesome and I really can’t wait for the rest of the movies. I have re-read the first three books in the series and she’s bringing Breaking Dawn home from school for the Christmas break. I could read those books over and over again!

P.S. There’s a big project in the works that should be done in the next few weeks (Hubbs promised before Christmas) that I can’t wait to post about.

My Status Cloud

The lovely Shasta from My Blonde Reality posted about her status cloud that had been generated from a month of Facebook statuses. I loved the idea and figured it might give you a better idea of my day-to-day life. I mixed it up a bit and used my entire Facebook history.  Here it is:

I think it did a pretty awesome job. I was fascinated by Wordle when it first came out and I think this is cool in its own right. I’m interested in seeing everyone else’s!

All Hallows’ Eve!

We had a blast at La Casa de Cook for Halloween this Saturday. Here are a few pics from the festivities (I apologize…they’re from my camera phone):

Skie really doesn’t do this well with dressing up…I had to balance a treat on top of the camera to get her to sit still. She wore a cheap vampire cape I picked up on a whim at Dollar Tree, a set of devil horns from my sister’s costume, and a witch’s hat headband I picked up at my favorite country store: Calhoun Produce.

We had some devilish spider-covered eggs.

Some mummy hot dogs.

Nutter Butter ghosts.

 

This is my baby sister and me. I was Wilma Flintstone and she was a geisha.

Don’t I have the most adorable nephews and niece ever? I have to brag because they’re mine. :) The boys were firefighters like their Uncle Justin and Rivers, my niece was a princess (as always).

 

Justin wasn’t as enthusiastic about Halloween as I was…he did manage to throw on an old afro wig and stick a crow in that mess :) Lori, my best friend, sampled the candy apples with her shirt proclaiming, “This IS my costume.” Party poopers…we had a blast anyway!

Happy Halloween from us!
{sCm}

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Now you know!

‘Stewardesses' is the longest word typed with only the left hand.


‘Lollipop' is the longest word typed with your right hand.

No word in the English language rhymes with month , orange, silver, or purple.

' Dreamt' is the only English word that ends in the letters 'mt'.

Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing.

The sentence: 'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog' uses every letter of the alphabet.

The words 'racecar,' 'kayak' and 'level' are the same whether they are read left to right or right to left (palindromes).

There are only four words in the English language which end in 'dous': tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.

There are two words in the English language that have all five vowels in order: 'abstemious' and 'facetious.' (Yes, admit it, you are going to say, a e i o u)

TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.

A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.

A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds .

A 'jiffy' is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.

A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.

A snail can sleep for three years.

Almonds are a member of the peach family.

An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.

Babies are born without kneecaps. They don't appear until the child reaches 2 to 6 years of age.

February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.

In the last 4,000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.

If the population of China walked past you, 8 abreast, the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction.

Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors

Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite!

Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.

The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing.

The cruise liner, QE 2, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns.

The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.

The winter of 1932 was so cold that Niagara Falls froze completely solid .

There are more chickens than people in the world.

Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance.

Women blink nearly twice as much as men.






Now you know more than you did before!!

These are a few of my....

...favorite things! Around La Casa de Cook, fall is in full force! I love fall--it's by far my favorite season. I love the pumpkins, the chill in the air, the new foliage (or lack thereof!), seeing my cute nephews and niece in their Halloween costumes and even dressing up myself. --Yes, that's me in scrubs with a pet goat in a surgical mask (no animals were harmed for this picture). My newest fall addiction is the Bath and Body Works scent Leaves. It smells just like all of the things I love about fall! Try some out next time you're at the mall.

Today, look around you and appreciate the subtle changes that are taking place. In south Georgia, it certainly isn't chilly, but I can feel that it's on its way.

Halloween Crafts

I was feeling especially crafty last night so I decided to put the paper lanterns we used at our wedding to good use. Here they are during a dance I shared with my hubbs and with my cousin Kiki helping put them up:

I used the large ones to spell out "B-O-O" and to make two jack o'lanterns. I used the small white ones to look like ghosts and to spell out "S-P-O-O-K-Y." I'm sorry for the awful pictures--I snapped these on my phone!

I also grabbed up some orange Dixie cups and wrote "Boo Ya'll!" for my Halloween punch. More to come!

State Fair Fun

This past weekend, my mom, my sisters and I went to the 20th Annual Georgia National Fair in Perry. It was a blast! If you're in Georgia, I suggest you check it out! It will be well worth your time. It will run through October 18th. Check out the details here.

Free Luke Bryan!

I came across a site where you can download Luke Bryan's newest album, Doin' My Thing, LEGALLY!

Check it out here. The code is LONGHORN.

Have a great day!

P.S. Just a little eye candy!

Picture from LukeBryan.com

Thank you, Janice Chen!!!

Justin and I just got back from the Great Smoky Mountains after celebrating our first anniversary on Sunday. After I uploaded my pictures to my computer today on my lunch break, I deleted them off my camera memory card. Just as soon as I opened the folder where I sent them, I felt woozy and ready to pass out. My pulse began to race and I started to feel dizzy. My pictures WEREN'T THERE!!! In a blind panic, I ran to see if our IT team would help me recover their pictures (even though it was their lunch break). I couldn't find anyone and frantically Googled my problem. Luckily I came across my LIFESAVER, Janice Chen! I was able to successfully download the recommended program and was successful in recovering MOST of my pictures. I only lost about 20 out of nearly 150. I was so thankful to get that many back that I was unconcerned...after all--I usually take two or three of very similar pictures so I can choose my best one. The only problem was that the pictures tended to have a grey block at the bottom like this:

No fear, I simply cropped that out. Now, my pictures would never make it into the pages of a glossy magazine, but they wouldn't have even before I recovered them. They will serve their purpose to remind Justin and me of our first anniversary even when we've been married 50 years. I highly recommend you try this program if you ever loose pictures or accidentally delete them from your memory card!

You can check out our album here.

{sCm}

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my anniversary present from my sweetie! Our first of many to come.
{sCm}

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First sign of fall! Cottonwood tree blossoms

Polka dot toes!

#End

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Just because you are unique does not mean you are useful!

Appropriate name at McDonalds in Tifton!

I MUST HAVE THIS!!!!

I have an obsession...Be Different...Act Normal is an awesome blog! I came across this lovely and now have to find a way to get my hubbs to make me one :)

Read the full post here!

{sCm}

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My latest project..

0903091403.jpg, originally uploaded by Sarah Mastrario Cook.

...car vinyl decals :)

Skie Cook

0901090732.jpg, originally uploaded by Sarah Mastrario Cook.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Ways to Charm a Lady

I found this on a random website I came across today. I don't have the site, but I know it came from Southern Living Magazine (which is pretty darn awesome, if I do say so myself!).

I think it fits Justin to a 'T'! I'm such a lucky girl :)


1. Stand Up For A Lady. Actually this doesn't just involve chairs.

Although this is not necessary for yours truly, it's a sincere gesture that is appreciated.
2. Know That The SEC Has The Best Football Teams In The Nation.
Again, NSM for me, but love for the Dawgs is never a bad thing :)
3. Kill Bugs
Hubbs did this last night---"Sic it, Skie!" He sent the dog and subsequently the cat on a spider chase.
4. Hold Doors Open
5. Fix Things or Build Stuff
My man is awesome with this stuff!
6. Wear Boots Occasionally. Not the fancy, I-paid-$1,000-for these kind. We're talking about slightly mud-crusted, I-could-have-just-come-in-from-the-field boots.
This is an everyday occurence for Justin--fresh out of the cotton fields.
7. Take Off Your Hat Inside
Let's just say we're still working on this one.
8. Grill Stuff
I married a Grill Master. (Yes, capital letters are necessary) When people are suprised or rave about his grilling skills, he asks them with a smarty-pants quip, "What's my last name?' It's Cook and he lives up to it!
9. Call Us. If you want to ask us out, don't text and don't email. Pick up the phone and use your voice.
When I'm at work, a text is fine. When we were dating, I would love to get "just because" phone calls, though!
10. Stand When We Come Back To The Dinner Table
Not really a big deal for me :)
11. Pull Out Our Chairs
Just not when we're about to sit in them! I have a prankster hubbs!
12. Pay The Tab On The First Few Dates
Our money is just that-ours. But hubbs still likes to be the one to whip out the debit card and take care of the tab.
13. Don't Show Up In A Wrinkled, Untucked Shirt
He can de-wrinkle a shirt in five minutes flat---with a damp towel and the dryer!
14. Never Get In Bar Fights
We don't frequent too many bars, so I don't think this one is ever going to be a problem.
15. Know How To Mix Our Favorite Cocktail Just The Way We Like It
Justin can whip up a mean cocktail!

Reason #579...

...why I can't wait to have kids:

This would just have to be one of the perks!!!

You can get yours at Hot Chocolate Caramel Mocha.

Yard Free

Last weekend, my sister-in-law told me about a "yard free," essentially where an older couple was cleaning out their house and having a giant giveaway.

I scooted on over and boy did I snag some fun stuff! It all was pretty old stuff--probably over 500 8-track tapes, but the price was right-FREE! I snuck away with an original Nintendo NES AND a Super Mario game and this too:

HA! It's a vintage hair dryer that looks like a gun...I know, I know...it's kinda morbit, but it's gonna be a great conversation piece in Lori's shop!

I got this shelf that works great for extra space in our bathroom closet. Until then, I had a gaping unused spacee from the floor to about four and a half feet up because the closet is too narrow for a hamper.
I also got this old raggedy footstool. I got it in hopes that my Hubbs would quit putting his big ol' boots feet on the coffee table.

I grabbed up some batting, fabric and some paint from Walmart and went at it with the staple gun and got this:

WOOT! WOOT! I love how it turned out...maybe I'll take on my couches next.