September and October

Hello again, blog. As I mentioned a couple posts ago, I feel like I blog all the time, but it’s for the event company! Most of you probably don’t read it (you should cause it’s awesome and super fun to write, BLOG), so I realize you may feel like we don’t update very often. I’m going to try to keep you all up to date more often on what is going on in our lives.

A few months ago I blogged about getting to be a bridesmaid in my friend Torie’s wedding coming up in May. Since then I have not added that I also have the pleasure of being the Matron of Honor at my best friend Jamie’s wedding in May, and a bridesmaid in my other great friend Anna’s wedding in June. I am telling you I have the BEST friends in the whole world, and I am so thankful for them. I am so completely honored that all three of them want me to share their special days with them. I cannot WAIT for showers and parties and dresses and tears! Love you ladies!

So what have we been up to lately you ask? My sister and her husband recently bought a house. A few weeks ago we helped paint and move them in. It’s such a nice house only about fifteen minutes from ours. They’re still settling in, but they love having the security of their own home and a nursery that’s ready to be decorated for baby! Kelsey is now 19 weeks along and starting to show. She’s such a tiny, cute pregnant person. I can’t wait until you can REALLY tell!

Our friends Mandy and Bryce also just bought their first home. A couple of weekends ago Trent and I went to Augusta to visit and see the new house! It is gorgeous and perfect for them! We’re so excited for them and their new life. They recently moved back to Augusta for Bryce’s job and Mandy will be finishing up her degree next semester while student teaching. We got to be the first guests to sleep in the guest room! Thanks Howie’s!

Earlier in September I got to go to a few weddings, also. The first one was for two of my colleagues, Matt and Robin. I shouldn’t just call them my colleagues because they’re my friends more. Robin and I joke that we should have known each other in high school because we would have instantly connected over our love of ‘N Sync! The wedding was perfect and so beautiful! Here are some photos.

The weekend after that I got to travel with my mom and sister to Minnesota to see a family friend get married. They were our neighbors when we were little and have stayed close friends. Congratulations to Paul and Amy! It was a beautiful and fun night! We had so much fun spending time with the Shanafelts and the Hays and shopping at the Mall of America!

This weekend we went to Augusta again, this time for Anna and Amos' engagement party. It was so fun to celebrate such an exciting thing and see great friends. Here are some photos.

That’s basically what we’ve been up to. We are loving the new fall weather, and Trent can’t wait to take Yozh camping again. They’re planning a trip for next weekend. Busy busy, but we wouldn’t have it any other way!

My New Art!

So I'm obsessed with Pinterest.

I know that a lot of you are, too! I just can't help it. It's so fun! I have gotten so many ideas for brides there, food ideas for showers (I will be throwing lots of those in the near future), and home decor. Besides finding some DIY projects that I've been posting to the SHE blog, I just completed my first DIY home decor project! Take a look!




I'm sure many of you have seen it on Pinterest, and it was so easy! My in-laws had some extra wood from their old deck that Trent and I cut. Then I just screwed them together and painted the word "love"! Do you like it? I wanted to put it above our bed, but it weighs like 50 pounds and Trent was afraid it would fall on our heads in the night and kill one or both of us. So it's our newest edition to the living room!

More projects to follow soon! I'm a DIY machine!

August Update

Hello!

It's been a while since we've posted anything on here. Mostly that's because I post blog entries for my new event planning job once a week, and the research time it takes and prep time kind of blogs me out. But I thought I would update anyway since I’ve got an hour or so before I have to leave for a bride meeting J

First thing’s first. Now that it’s public, we can announce that Kelsey and Greg are having a baby in Februrary!! It is our first neice or nephew! They are not finding out the gender of the baby, which of course is killing me, but it’s super special for them and we can’t wait to meet little baby Potthast! They are also closing on their house tomorrow and they get to set up their family home. So exciting!

So Trent just started his final semester at KSU. We are both really excited for graduation to come in December. He is student teaching at Kell High School and teaching World History. I think if he could pick and choose, that would be the subject he would teach, so he got really lucky! His teacher is also the baseball coach, so he was already offered a community coaching job for the spring, even if he doesn’t work for Cobb County next year. He’s liking it so far, and making a good impression. We can’t wait to see what’s next! December couldn’t come faster!

So as I said before, I’ve been doing the event planning stuff quite a bit. I guess I shouldn’t really say quite a bit, because I am only working with one couple, but I do a lot of blogging and research for the company. I get to meet with vendors and go to meetings and I am loving it so much! I really can’t wait to do it full time some day… just don’t know when that will be possible. But, I don’t need to know because it will happen when it is supposed to happen.

Trent has also been finishing the basement and our friends Chad and Carrie have been living down there for two months. The basement is almost finished and it’s been working out really well having tenants down there. There’s a separate entrance for them and since they have a bathroom, a bedroom, and a kitchen (the living room and other bedroom should be done pretty quickly), it’s a completely separate space for them.

That’s our quick update. Hope everyone is doing well!

I Need Your Help

I need your help. With a few things. See below.

1) I have decided to start meal planning healthy meals. I think we have been ending up eating way too much bad food by accident because of the fact that we don't meal plan. I need your help because I want some good recipes that you have tried before. I have a few, but I don't want to get in the habit of eating the same thing for dinner every week. So please, email me your recipes! erin.l.stapleton@gmail.com

2) To go along with number 1, I am trying to eat healthier. SO... if you are with me and I start eating food that's bad for me, please help me stop. You may be laughing or think I'm stupid, but I'm being 100% serious. Please say something to me or don't take me out to eat at Zaxby's or KFC.

3) Spread the word about Stella Harper Events! I know I have mentioned my new event planning job, but I need your help spreading the word. If you have a friend or family member getting married or who needs help planning a birthday party, anniversary party, etc., please give them our website to check out. www.stellaharperevents.com I am really excited about how it's been going! You can also view our blog for some decor ideas and DIY ideas.

That's all. Hope life is great for everyone :)

Random

Written Friday, July 15... for some reason it wouldn't let me update...

So I feel the need to update the blog, but with nothing in particular, so here it goes: my random thoughts for the day.

1) Today I got a new computer at work. It's got Windows 7, which I've never used before (I have a Mac at home), and it's pretty rockin. It's just fun to get new things, even if they're at work!

2) Last night was the last Harry Potter premier ever. I have so many feelings about it. My first feeling is tired... not really about the movie but because of the movie. I got home yesterday after work and took a nap from about 6:30-9:00. I then went to the theater, watched the movie, got home at 3:00 and slept until 6:00. And that's the sleep I running on right now. I got a grande White Mocha from Starbucks this morning and I think that helped. After work I get to go straight to babysitting for the night. I hope I can make it until the babies fall asleep! Next I am feeling sad. It's the last Harry Potter movie... ever!! It was such a fun thing to experience every year or so: getting in line and waiting until midnight, sitting in the theater full of dressed up fans and clapping when good things happened on screen, and getting to see each book come to life on the screen for the first time! It's sort of the same feeling that I got when I finished reading the last book. It's actually over. But what a fun ride. I am also definitely feeling happy because it was such a fun movie to watch! A little dark and creepy at times, but so good! Of course I have to say that, but I really can't wait to see it again. I am thinking about having a HP marathon all weekend and dragging Trent to see this last enstallment with me. He didn't feel the need to come to the midnight showing last night. Smart guy. Overall I am sad, but overjoyed. Hope you all liked it, too!

3) Lately I realized that everytime I watch something or read something, I want to do it. That probably didn't make sense, but here is where my thought came from. Recently I have told myself that I want to be on Broadway and/or work at a musical theater. I'm not the best singer in the world, and that's what's holding me back- HA! But, this thought started on the season finale of Glee this year. It was so moving to me (not everyone loved it, I know). I started crying when Rachel and Kurt sang on the Wicked stage in NY. Then I cried for the rest of the episode, and until I fell asleep that night. Since then I got a copy of the Wicked soundtrack to prep for the September show, and I decided I want to play Elpheba. Most would say I should probably be Glinda for the mere fact that I'm blonde, but I like Elpheba better. Either way I am not ever going to be on Broadway (not being negative, just realistic. You haven't heard me sing). Another example is that I have been reading Rob Lowe's autobiography and it makes me want to be an actress! His life is just so interesting, and I think it would be so much fun! On the other hand, I would HATE to be famous, so it wouldn't work for me very well. My third and final example is one from middle/high school. I used to watch the movie Center Stage all the time. I wanted to be a ballerina. I still do everytime I watch it. If you haven't seen it before, go home and watch it.

Those are my thoughts. Nothing too exciting, but something at least. Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Stella Harper Events

So if you have Facebook (which you probably do, or you wouldn't know to come read the blog), I have a new (additional) job! I'm really excited about it, and I just thought I'd share a bit about it.

So if you know me very well, you know that over the past few years I have wanted to become an event planner and have taken different steps to try to reach that goal. It's a pretty hard industry to get into full time without many years of experience. I do have some experience, just not many years.

So through a friend of mine (shout out to Ashlyn), I got in contact with Emily Smalling, owner of Stella Harper Events. She has been in business for a few years and has done some really amazing events! She took some time off to have her twin girls (Stella and Harper) and is ready to build her business back up. She graciously hired me and Ashley Croxton to help her as coordinators. I cannot tell you how excited I am for this opportunity.

Stella Harper specializes in weddings, but can also do any type of event. We can do as much of the planning/coordinating or as little as you need. Check out the website if you're looking to have an event, and need some help! www.stellaharperevents.com

June & Boston

I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted a blog! I'm so sorry (as if you were really missing my posts :)

June started with a wonderful 25th birthday for Kelsey and I. We're so old now, I can't belive it. Thanks for the friends and family who celebrated with us. Trent and Greg got us really good tickets to go see Wicked at the Fox in September and I'm so excited! We've been listening to the soundtrack in preparation (thanks Katie!).

Shortly after was a weekend trip to Savannah for Michael & Catherine Haywood's wedding. It was such a pretty event and really fun to see everyone! Thanks for inving us guys, we had a really fun weekend. Great picture below of the beautful couple.

Then we headed to Plymouth/Boston/Cape Cod for a week with my family. We rented a house and all 8 of us (me & Trent, my sister & her husband, my brother & his wife, and my parents) stayed Saturday - Saturday. We did so much stuff, I think it would take hours to write it all down. Here are some pictures of some of the highlights.

On the last day we ventured to Cape Cod. After a 3 hour morning whale watch boat ride which produced no whale sightings and a couple hours discovering Provincetown, we found this stop in Truro. It was super gorgeous, even though it was a rainy/overcast day.

This was the view from the front porch of our house in Plymouth. It was gorgeous. It was crazy because when the tide was low, there was no water and these boats were just sitting in the sand.

We also got to go to Boston for a few days and discover a lot of the history there. It was pretty cool. This is the Old State House Musuem. The Boston Massacre took place right on the street oustide of this building. Cool place to experience.


This was the menu at an awesome burger place we went to at Harvard. They have like 100 different kinds of burgers that they make. This is a short version of the menu. It was so good and it's featured in The Social Network. Watch and see if you can spot it!

This is off the pier in Plymouth. It was so pretty!


We got to see a lot of different very old graveyards with tomb stones from the 1700s. This one is in Plymouth. I love this picture because it overlooks the water.

We also got to go to a Red Sox game. Greg and Trent loved this part. Fenway Park was really cool and it was fun to sing Sweet Caroline in the 8th inning!

We had a great trip and have decided it's time for us to stop vacationing for a while. We have been out of town forever it seems like this year. Of course we love it, but our poor dogs are getting confused with who these different people are they are seeing every week!

July will still full of fun, but fun in town! Hope you all have a great 4th of July! Wish we were still in Boston for this holiday!

May 29

May 29, 2010. The day was sort of a blur, but I remember every minute of it. Trent and I were married and started our long journey as man and wife together. It was a perfect day.

Since it's already been a year (that flew by, but was filled with so many fun things), we decided to celelbrate our anniversary by taking a trip. New Orleans just sort of was thrown out there one day and we thought it would be fun! We drove down on Friday night and stayed through Monday morning.

The first thing we did on Saturday morning was have some beignets at Cafe du Monde. Yes, it was touristy but they were delicous! For some lukck reason we were sat in the small air conditioned part, so we got a break for the HEAT! The whole weekend was super hot, especially when walking around. It was still fun, though. After our beignets we just walked around the city, walked through a Mint Musuem, and headed over the aquarium. It was super packed I think because of how it was outside, but it was still pretty cool. We watched an iMax movie about Hurricanes on the Bayou and that was pretty cool since we were in the area that had been affected by Katrina. That night we had a late dinner at House of Blues and tried to find some good bluesy music. We didn't have much luck, but the city was pretty at night. Our hotel was right on Bourbon Street so we walked around just to see the hype, but certainly did not participate. It was interesting, ha!

As we drove down on Friday, Trent noticed that he may have gotten some poisen ivy on his face while on a jog near our nieghborhood. When we got up on Sunday, or anniversary, his poor face was all swolen. Our first stop was the Urgent Care where they gave him a shot of steroids and some other medication. It worked pretty well to stop the swelling, but Trent wouldn't let me take pictures of his face :( We then spent the morning at the World War II Museum which was pretty incredible. They had a 4D movie narrated by Tom Hanks, that was pretty intense and great.

Tid Bit: Why would the WWII Museum be in NO you ask? Because the man who designed the boats used in combat was from New Orleans. It was said that we would not have won the war without him.

We also went on a swamp tour. Saw lots of gators, took lots of pictures, and met a guy who is friend's with all the people on Swamp People. That was probably the highlight... Trent LOVES Swamp People. That night was a great anniversary dinner followed by Erin's allergic reaction to the Alligator Bites and passing out at about 10:00. It was still a great day!

Here are some pictures from our adventure:

The gorgeous swamp.

World War II Museum.

Yummy! Hot Chocolate and beignets!

One of our only pictures together from the weekend. Not a great one because we were SO HOT, but I like it anyway.

I aboslutely love the architecture in New Orleans. This was my favorite building. I took two pictures... one without a car in it... but I accidentaly deleted the wrong one. Oh well.

Cool art was all over the park to buy.

Just wanted to say thank you to all of our family and friends who have supported us and our marriage over this past year. We are SO lucky in so many ways and we can't wait to spend all the rest of the years together :)

Lance Bass

Many of you know this by now because of Facebook, but I think an entire blog post is necessary for this one event.

My goal since I started using Twitter a few months ago was to get a celebrity to tweet me. This weekend it happened... from the celebrity that I would have chosen out of all the celebrities that I follow. Of course I say that now... I'm sure I may have said that about a different celebrity if it had been them. BUT come on... Lance Bass!?! The man I thought was my one true love throughout middle and high school? I couldn't be much happier. Here is the convo... (my tweet came first, obviously) I tweeted on the way to New Orleans.

Afterwards I tweeted him one more time and said " Man! We should have stopped by"! And that was end of the most perfect twitter conversation I have ever had. And it will go down in the history of my life as one of the best moments :)

Lucky

I just wanted to write a post about the great things going on in our life and the lives of those around us. I feel really lucky right now and happy for all of people in my life! Here are some great things that have happened recently. If I left you out I am SO SORRY! Please let me know and I'll add you :)

1) Marriages- As you have seen over the past few blogs, we have had a lot of friends get married recently, and we have more still coming. It makes me so happy that my friends have found loves that they shall spend the rest of their lives with. Being married ourselves, we can only hope that others get as lucky as we are to find their other halves that make them whole! To name a few: Danni and Reed Cozens, Stephanie and David Chastain, Kate and Matt Prince, Michael and (soon to be) Katherine Haywood, Matt and (soon to be) Robin Freeman. Love you all and are so happy for you!

2) Engagements- First ones engaged recently were our friends Torie and John. They went off for a weekend together in Charleston, and John proposed to Torie in a BEAUTIFUL church with an equally as beautiful ring. They are special friends to us and we can't wait for their wedding! They have the date set for May 25, 2012, and I am lucky to be a bridesmaid in their wedding. I can't wait!

Second ones to get engaged were my best friend from high school, Jamie, and her boyfriend Chris. They met in Pharmacy school at UGA and have been dating for about 4 years (I think... correct me if I'm wrong Jamie or Chris). They took a day trip to Athens and ran some errands and they Chris proposed in the park that they had their first date in! He also got on his knee and gave Jamie an amazing ring. They have been engaged for one week exactly so the details of the wedding are still to come. Jamie and Chris came to Atlanta on Friday and I got to have lunch with them and hear the full story. I AM SO EXCITED for them! Love you guys!

I have a hunch there will be a few more engagements soon, so I'll keep you posted ;)

3) Babies- I have a few friends that have recently announced they are pregnant! One of those is my friend Valerie whom I met working at BBQ Street, and her husband Jayson. Their baby is due in December. Excited for them! I also have another friend that recently found out that she is pregnant, but I don't think it's public knowledge just yet, so I'll let her and her husband share that news when they are ready! BUT I am SO EXCITED for them as well.

Kelsey and Greg (my sister and brother-in-law) also became an aunt and uncle this morning (or maybe last night... I got the text this morning)! Greg's sister Pamela and her husband Ryan had a healthy baby boy, Hudson Bennett Ingram. Congrats Pam and Ryan!

Our good friend Ashley is getting ready to have a baby girl, Allie Delane Croxton, in August, so we are anxiously awaiting the arrival of their bundle!

4) Jobs- This year was much better for teachers and thankfully Greg got a full time PE/Health position at Simpson Middle. They are so relieved and have now begun the hunt for a house! They are also going to try to have a baby sometime soon. We could not be more relieved or excited for them.

Our good friend Kent also got a job he had been hoping for at Kennesaw Mountain High School. He just graduated in May and got lucky enough to get a great job. Congratulations Kent!

Our great friends Bryce and Mandy have also been on the job hunt. Bryce just graduated from Southern Poly in May with a degree in Construction Management. Bryce was looking in a few different areas for a job, and he found a great position in Augusta! He starts work in a few weeks. We are thrilled for them, although we are sad to see them leave. We know it's for the best but we will miss them terribly!

5) Graduation- TONS of people graduated this year. We are so happy for all of them, and wish them all luck in their new paths! Just to name a few: our brother-in-law Jason graduated from BYU and has begun Physical Therapy School at MCG in Augusta, our wonderful friend Ashlyn graduated from Dental Hygiene School at the top of her class (SO PROUD OF YOU ASHLYN) and will begin the hunt for a job as soon as her license comes in, Kent (mentioned above), Bryce (also mentioned above), and my cousin Justin graduated from high school.

Trent will be graduating in December as long as his student teaching goes well :). Can't wait for him to start teaching and hopefully coaching baseball. Katie will also graduate from her Masters program in December. So proud of everybody!

6) 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!! We have already passed the one year mark. I can't believe how fast it flew by!! It seems like the wedding was just a couple weeks ago, but it's already been a year. We have done SO MUCH in the past year that when I think of everything we did, it actually does sink in how long it's been. I am so grateful to have Trent as my husband and thank God for him more than once a day. He has been such a blessing to me and has made my life a million times better. I will post another one sometime soon to give details of our anniversary trip to New Orleans. It was fun!

More posts to come soon because I have lost of pictures!

Hilton Head

So some of you may know this already, but Hilton Head is probably my favorite place on earth. I'm not really sure exactly why, but it's just such a gorgeous place, and so fun to go visit! It's a short 5 hour drive (ha), but it doesn't seem so far when you are on your way, because of the knowledge that you'll be in the most amazing place when you get there. Not as enjoyable on the way home.... (unless of course I have left my husband behind or my favorite dogs)

The occasion for Hilton Head this trip was for my dear friend, Danni's wedding. She has been a great friend since about 10th grade. Her brother, Kent, was dating my best friend Kristyn's sister, Kate. Since Danni was in between our grade and their grade, Kate introduced Danni to Kristyn. The rest is history. Danni's family loves Hilton Head equally as much as I do, so that's where she decided to marry her man. Danni's now husband Reed, is such a nice guy, and you can tell when you see them together that they are so in love! Thank you Danni and Reed for letting us share your wedding day with you.

The wedding was on Friday night, same day as the Royal Wedding. We drove down after work on Thursday and I woke up to watch the first wedding of the day. I don't care what anybody says... watching it live was completely different than watching it on the DVR. Not bashing anyone who may not have had the opportunity to watch it live, but I was glad I did. I love that I witnessed a part of history (through the television). Anyway, I could write an entire blog about the Royal Wedding, but I won't. We started Friday out by the pool and everyone was sun burnt by the end of the day. Then we made it to the beach wedding.

The wedding was absolutely gorgeous, as well as the bride. It was decorated with yellow, and it was a perfect night. The wedding was right on the beach and it was a small and very special ceremony. We were really happy to be a part of their intimate ceremony. I have posted some pictures of the happy couple and the awesome decorations.


Bride and groom during the ceremony.


Mr. and Mrs. Reed Cozens



They gave out awesome yellow coozies as favors!

All the high school girls together again! I hate this picture of me, but it makes me super happy anyway! SUCH a beautiful place for a wedding!

Danni's niece, Layne. She was so precious and this was the first time I got to meet her. I just loved her.

Since the wedding was on Friday, we had all day Saturday to just be in Hilton Head. We decided to rent bikes. It was literally the perfect day. I wouldn't have changed a thing.

Kelsey and Greg riding and holding hands. Yes, this picture was posed.


Kelsey and Trent in the Salty Dog parking lot.

We also saw two gators. If you don't go to Hilton Head, it's a common occurrence and sort of a disappointment if you don't find at least one on your trip. This was the first one we saw. The second one was swimming in a pond and was eying some birds for lunch.

The end of the evening was also perfect because we had dinner with the Finnells. Not pictured was Greg, Trent, Erik, and Mrs. Finnell. Bryce had his big presentation for school so we missed him.

Perfect weekend. I will definitely remember this one always. Congratulations Danni and Reed!

Indroducing Mr. and Mrs. David Chastain IV

I have been leading up to the wedding of David and Stephanie for quite sometime in this blog with shower stories and bachelorette pictures. Finally last Saturday, April 16th, they became man and wife! These two have a special place in my heart for a few reasons. One reason is because David was literally one of my first friends in Kennesaw. After my first semester at Kennesaw started in the fall of 2004, the "Augusta girls" attended the first Wesley meeting of the new semester. There we met David, along with some other people that we remain great friends with today. It makes me really happy that we met so long ago and have remained such close friends. The next reason is because Stephanie let me live at her house for a little over a year! We met at Barbecue Street and struck up a close friendship, and then I moved into her house about 6 months after I graduated from KSU. We grew even closer being roommates and then she asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding :) The third and best reason these two lovebirds are close to my heart is because they are another manager/server relationship that blossomed at Barbecue Street and ended up in happily ever after!

The wedding was in Big Canoe, GA which is about 45-60 minutes north of Acworth, and it was a beautiful day! Luckily the horrible storms that happened the night before went away for Saturday, and the sun was shining. It was a little chilly, but no rain drops in sight! David was a sensitive and sweet groom (which is hard to imagine if you know David), and Stephanie was a stunning bride. I'll leave you with some photos from the big day. Congratulations David and Stephanie! I love you!!

-Erin

Eating Better

So I'm not going to sit here and tell you all how fat I am just to have everyone write back and say "No you aren't! You look just fine!"; I am not that kind of girl. I hate when people put themselves down for the sole purpose of fishing for compliments. But here's how I feel: chubby. I feel like at this stage in my life I am exercising more than ever and I am just not getting the results I had am hoping for. In fact, I really do think I am GAINING weight all the time! I don't think I'm FAT or OBESE (stop rolling your eyes!), but I hate FEELING fat while I'm just sitting at work, or driving somewhere. I don't think I have every just felt fat sitting around until right now. It sucks a lot.

Although I exercise regularly, I think I know the solution: eat better. Genius, I know. I don't think I eat HORRIBLY, but I also don't monitor or balance the good and the bad very well. What I think the best thing to do would be to meal plan. I have never been that good at trying to plan my meals, but I'd like to choose some healthier options and stick with a plan. Has meal planning worked for you in your life? Pros? Cons? Give me some feedback because I'm batting in the dark right now. I also need to know some good healty recipes. I don't want it to taste like crap, but I don't have a very large repitoire to create a varied menu. Any ideas? Also, I don't eat fish. Yuck.

I am also open to other people's suggestions how to lose a small amount of weight. I refuse to diet. Unless a diet is something that you stick to for your entire life, it just doesn't work in my opinion, and it's not worth it. :)

Leave me your thoughts!

High School

So my friend Kate Plummer from high school is getting married in a little over a month. I’m so excited for her, and it’s the first friend from my Lakeside girls that is getting married (besides myself and my sister, Kelsey). I can’t wait to have all the girls back together again for the evening, and to laugh a lot and have a good time. We’ve been getting together more recently for showers and other small events, but it’s been a long time since we have ALL been together. I hope everyone will be there!

Since Kate’s wedding is coming up so soon, it’s got me thinking back to the good ‘ole high school days. It doesn’t seem that long ago, but when I think about how I’ve already been graduated from COLLEGE for 3 years, it really does! I loved high school, while I was in it. I feel like a lot of people hated it or just think of those 4 years as the “awkward years”, but I genuinely had a good time. I had an amazing group of friends (both at Lakeside and the rival school, Greenbrier), and was active in a lot of groups at school and competition cheerleading. As I was thinking back however, I pretty much realized that most things that happened were completely embarassing. HA! Now that it’s been 7 years since graduation, I can look back and laugh, and I literally just shake my head every time I think of them. I thought I would share some of my embarrassing stories, just to reminisce with the world of my “great” high school experience.

Two of my embarrassing moments have to do with white bottoms… sounds weird I know. The first one happened one day when I wore a white skirt to school. I thought it was a super cute outfit (wow… I can’t believe I thought it was super cute… it was a white skirt, maybe halfway to my knees, and a long-sleeved collared shirt from Abercrombie and Fitch with light blue, gray, and white stripes). Anyway, I wore white underwear with it because I figured, “Hey, it’s a white skirt, I’ll wear white underwear”, so I did. Then I went to Trig. As I was walking down the hall, my Trig teacher, good old Mrs. Lancaster, stopped me and said “Do you know that your skirt is see-through??” OMG I thought I would die from embarrassment. I just played it off like it was no big deal, but I was mortified. What did she expect me to do? I didn't have clothes to change into except cheerleading shorts! Those wouldn't have met the dress code for sure. This lead to my next white bottom story…

Thinking I was learning from my first mistake, I decided to wear white linen pants to school one day but NOT wear the same white underwear. Does anyone remember those awesome linen pants from Express that everyone had in a different color? Well, I had white. I decided to wear them one day, but this time instead of white underwear, I went with a little SMALLER white underwear, if you catch my drift. Well, I thought I was fine throughout the whole day, but when I was standing in the commons area after school, my guy friends started to ask me to turn around or stand in the middle of the group or something. Again, I was mortified. I believe I sat down in the commons for a while and then held my backpack behind me as I walked out the door. Ugh, stupid boys!

Speaking of stupid boys, my next story has to do with a boy. I’ll keep the boy stories limited to one, but I could go on for days being embarrassed about boys. So back then I had a freeonlinediary or whatever the website was called. I guess it was sort of like the blog of 2002. Anyway, I can’t remember if it started out private and then I made it public, or if it started out public and then I made it private. Either way at one point I was writing in it just for my own journaling purposes, and only giving my friend Carty the password so she could read it, too. She probably never wanted to read it because it was always about one boy, who we won’t name. If you knew me, you know who it was. So at whatever point I decided to make it to make it public, I still wrote all of my thoughts and feelings and did not hold anything back. I mean anything. I wrote about every moment that made me giddy or the opposite… everything that should be kept personal and in a real diary. I thought that no one would read it, so it wouldn’t matter. One day I found out that not only did my boy read them all, so did all of his friends. Luckily none of them ever said anything to me about it, but just knowing they had read it was mortifying. What was wrong with me, really? Why would I ever put those moments that gave me "tingles" (which was such a popular way to describe liking a boy back then... now it sounds so dumb!!) out for the world to read??

The last embarrassing story is about cheerleading that you probably won’t think is embarrassing unless you were a cheerleader. Anyway when I was a freshman, freshmen were not allowed to be on Varsity competition. When I was a sophomore, it was still hard to make Varsity. I was moved onto Varsity as a sophomore and I thought I was so special. Pretty quickly after I was moved up, they had me try flying. I was nervous as crap. I didn’t cheer in middle school so this was my first time doing competition stuff. When I was doing my first flying gig I was up in the air and they asked me to “come down”. From what I had seen them do, I thought they wanted me to do what is really called a “cradle”. You know, where the bases (the girls holding the flyer) pop the flyer up and then catch her? So instead of just simply coming down (by them just lowering me), I cradled. Basically I just fell on top of them. Some of them sort of giggled and others were real nice about it. Wow… I felt like such an idiot. Luckily they brushed it off and I was a flyer for that season.

Good times were had I swear, but when I think back in high school, I can always remember the embarassing things! haha

So what embarrassing stories do you have from high school? I cannot be alone in this…

Lately

We haven't updated in a while, so I thought I'd just kind of bullet some fun things that have been going on.

• The Destin trip with the girls for Stephanie's bachelorette party was so much fun! The weather was amazing and we were so grateful that our family friend Sally let us use her condo. It was perfect and we really just had so much fun! Stephanie was a good sport about everything and we all wished we could have stayed longer.


• While I went to Destin, Trent went camping with Shapour and their dogs Yozh and Olive. Shapour was awesome and sent me pictures of the weekend. Seems like they had a really good time, and will be going again soon. Trent says that camping makes Yozh more manly, ha! They did tell me a story, however, when Yozh was trying to cross a river and came to a point that he did want to go any further. Trent was waiting on the other side waiting for him to man up and keep going, but Yozh just stood on his rock and whined and whined until Trent came to save him! Such a sweet baby boy!


• The little boy that I have been babysitting for since he was about 2 months old, Wade, turned 3. He was ringbearer from our wedding, and the son of my boss when I was an intern at the Make-A-Wish Foundation. I helped out with his birthday party (which was at the Civil War & Locomotive museum in Kennesaw) and got to watch his baby sister, Bree, for a while. I love getting to know her, too, because she is the age that Wade was when I was babysitting every week. Mandy is their babysitter now and gets to see Bree all the time. They're just both the cutest kids in the world, and I'm glad that I still get to babysit them every once in a while, and I can't believe my baby Wade is 3!


• This past weekend Kelsey and I went to Athens and met up with a bunch of friends to participate in an MS Walk. Our friend Kristen from high school was diagnosed with MS a few years ago, and this event helps raise money to cure the disease. It was great to see my friends and help out a great cause. If you'd like to donate, you can follow this link: http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR?px=9246593&pg=personal&fr_id=16359&et=c1iAbtptlBT78Au5miGV3A..&s_tafId=202114


• We then headed to Augusta and met up with our husbands. We spent the evening at Mexican celebrating Jamie's birthday (a couple weeks early). We all laughed so much and such a fun time! Kelsey made fun of me for saying it, but this is our future! Hanging out with these three couples forever. And I can't wait! Happy early birthday Jamie! Can't wait to celebrate many more!

Wedding Season Begins

Wedding season has officially begun! The first wedding of Trent and my year of weddings is going to be Stephanie and David's wedding on April 16th. I am so glad to start off this year's wedding season with them because I am lucky enough to be a bridesmaid in their wedding! I have known David since my first days at KSU and met Stephanie while working at Barbecue Street (which is also where they met each other, and Trent and I met. It's a great place for couples). I lived with her for a little over a year until Trent and I got married last May. We have now started getting into showers for Stephanie. I threw her a shower at my house a couple of weeks ago and we are going to Destin for her bachelorette trip this weekend! I'm so excited!

This past Satruday I also made a day trip to Augusta for my dear friend Kate's wedding shower. She is getting married in Augusta on May 21st. I love going back to Augusta and seeing all my great high school friends, especially for something like a wedding. Unfortunately since I am going to Destin this weekend I will also be missing a shower for another high school friend, Danni. I do get to make it to her wedding, though, so I'm excited about that. Here's a rough outline of what we've got going on this year as far as weddings go (all of which are out of town).

April 16- Stephanie and David's wedding in Big Canoe (college friends for me, David was Trent's high school friend)
April 29- Danni and Reed's wedding in Hilton Head (high school friend of mine)
May 7- Catherine and Clinton's wedding in Augusta (mom's friend... I am actually more just helping set up and decorate for this one)
May 21- Kate and Matt's wedding in Augusta (high school friend)
June 4- Michael and Catherine's wedding in Savannah (high school friend)
September 17- Robin and Matt's wedding in Lawrenceville (work friends of mine)
September 24- Paul and Amy's wedding in Minnesota (family friend from Iowa)

Whew! I'm exhausted already! I guess this is what happens at this time in our lives, and I am loving every minute of it, even if it's busy. I love love, especially when it involves my friends. You can also add in there an amazing 1 year anniversary trip to New Orleans for the two of us! I can't BELIEVE it's already almost been a year since we've been married. It has absolutely FLOWN by and been amazing! We have decided to splurge and have a long weekend trip to NOLA. Should be very exciting! We are also taking a weeklong trip to the Boston area with my family (yes this is the same trip that started as Alaska, then switched to Wyoming, and is now Boston), a trip with a TBD location with Trent's family, and some weekend trips with friends scattered in there. I am super excited about all of it and LOVE vacation, so I can't complain!
I'm sure most of you have the same types of summers planned. It's such a fun time in life and I feel so blessed to have great friends to celebrate with. It's looking like next year will be quite similar and can't wait to see what happens ;0)

American Idol Predictions

This is Erin. Here are my AI predictions for this year in writing.

My favorite girl is Lauren Alaina, and my favorite boy is Tim Halperin. I remember his name because it sounds like Jim Halpert.

Anyway, one of them will win. I hope most that it's Tim, but Lauren is so dang good!

New Things!

First new thing that I need to get out there is this blog design. I've probably been driving all of you crazy because I've been changing it constantly. I couldn't ever find one that I liked enough, but I think I've got it nailed down now. The current one should be around for a while because I actually like it!

Next new thing is that I joined Twitter!! I did it to follow my favorite celebrities. I know that might sound really lame, but then hey, I'm lame. It makes me feel like I'm friends with them. Ha! I really am a loser. Follow me @erinstapleton.

Okay so the REAL new thing that I wanted to write about is my new job!! For any of you that work for Innerface that may be reading this, don't worry, I'm still keeping that job. This is more of a laid back, work when I can, type of job. And I'm SUPER excited about it! So here's the deal, I am going to be an Account Executive for a photography company. They're called Sevan (pronounced 7). It's a really cool company with photographers in NY, Washington D.C., and Atlanta. They're all about creating relationships with their clients and really getting to know them. That way they can make sure to capture the unique aspects of a person, couple, or event. They like to use the term "photojournalism" because the photographers strive to tell stories with their shots. It's a really cool company with a great attitude and some amazing talent! My job as an Account Executive will be to find clients and take them along in the process of choosing the photographer, getting to know them and their personalities, and making sure they are getting everything they want out of their photos. Like I said before, I'm really excited about it! I think it'll be a great start to my dream of working with weddings. The hard part is going to be finding clients. That's part of my job. That's where all of you can help me, too!! Sevan does any type of event or portrait session you'd like photographed. If you know of anyone that is pregnant, engaged, getting engaged, having an event, is a model, or just wants anything photographed, please give them my email address: erin@sevangroup.com. I will need to do a lot of spreading the word to get the client base built up!

You can take a look at some of what they do at www.sevanphotography.com, www.sevanweddings.com, or at their blog at www.thesevanblog.com.

-Erin

My Oscar Review

So since the Oscars are coming up this weekend, I've been trying to see as many of the "Best Movie" flicks that are nominated as possible. I LOVE awards season, and obviously the Oscars are the best. There are always so many movies that are nominted that I haven't seen and then I just get mad when they win. Ha! So I have been trying to see the ones that at least seem somewhat interesting to me. So here are my thoughts thusfar:

The Social Network:
Pretty good. It keeps you hanging on throughout the whole movie. I felt like it was really well made that way... keeping you holding on for what would happen next. I think the guy who plays Mark Zuckerburg was really good, and the friend was pretty good, too. I don't really see why he (the friend) is nominated for an award, though. I mean, good acting for sure, but what stood out over other actors in other movies? I'm not sure.

Toy Story 3:
I mean this is an obvious favorite. Made me cry... sob actually. Can't beat a Disney/Pixar movie. Especially a Toy Story movie. Brilliant.

The Kids Are All Right:
Not my favoriate, at all. I think it was an alright message in the end (marriage is hard, so work at it... at least that's the message I got), but it just didn't keep me intrigued throughout the whole film. Too much sex. I don't really like movies that show the act of sex all the much because I feel like you can get the point across that sex is about to happen without actually showing sex. If I wanted to watch that, I'd watch that. But I don't. Anyway, not very good. And I definitely don't get why Mark Ruffalo is nominated for anything, but whatev.

The Fighter:
I liked it. Not my favorite movie ever, but entertaining. It's pretty predictable, but it's funny throughout and shows real issues. I know they're saying Christian Bale is going to win for Best Supporting Actor, and I can definitely see why. He did a really good job playing a crack addict. They should have had Charlie Sheen play the role. He would have DEFINITELY won!

Inception:
Really good. It's crazy to me that someone could come up with a story like that in their own head. Keeps you guessing and wanting more. I think Leo should have definitely been nominated, and the movie in general should have also been nominated for a ton more awards. I hope they don't get snubbed, but I don't think it'll be winning Best Movie.

I have saved my favorite for last...

The King's Speech:
SO SO SO good! It's funny, sad, and makes you cry! It's so well done, and so well acted, and by far my favorite. I am voting for this one to win Best Movie and Best Actor for sure. I think Geoffery Rush should win for Best Supporting Actor, too, but they'll give it to Bale. It's a must-see even if you don't care about the Oscars!

I don't want to see Blank Swan, but Natalie Portman is my pick for Best Acress because even from the previews I can tell it would a hard role to play. I also don't have a real desire to see 127 Hours, True Grit, and I have no idea what Winter's Bone is about. I guess we'll see what happens on Sunday!

Happy Oscars everyone!

Valentine's Day

**A warning to all... this post will be cheesy, lovey, and may make you want to throw up. If you're not up for that, do not continue reading. It's also more so that I can remember what we did on our first married Valentine's Day when I read it again in the future.

So I would say that in the past, Valentine's Day has not ever been a day to dread (whether or not I've been in a relationship) or the best day of the year. I have always enjoyed it, however. I really like that there's a day to celebrate love! I know that every day is a day to celebrate love, but why not appreciate a day that is made for it?!

So I decided that I was going to get Trent a bunch of stuff he loves, and add a few things I thought he'd like. I bought him a big "tub" (that's what I call it) that holds drinks for when people come over to hold all the little things I got him. I decided boys don't have a use for baskets so I'd get something useful. Then I got him some Scottish foods that he's always had growing up, a way cool mug with chalkboard on the front, and then a teapot! He has been making empty pots of coffee to use hot water for tea. So in the morning before I left, I put the basket together and placed it on the kitchen table for him to find and enjoy after he woke up in the morning. I thought I was so cool and sweet. HA! I then went to work feeling content.

My gift, however, was super lame compared to what Trent did for me. The first romantic thing he did was send flowers and chocolate to my work. It was a way cool flower arrangement inside a Hershey Kiss shaped bowl (the top lid part was off and the flowers were put inside) and a box of Hershey Kisses. I put a picture below (minus the chocolate). All the ladies at work told me Trent sent me flowers at work because it was our first year of marriage and that would change after a lot of years! haha hopefully they're wrong!



So then when I got home from work I walked into a kitchen that smelled delicious! Trent was cooking me a homemade dinner! For those of you who know that he does that often, this time was different. He made lasagna from scratch (everything but the noodles), including the sauce! He also made Foccacia bread from scratch (not in a bread maker), and a yummy white chocolate fondue with TONS of dipping goodies! On the table were three vases full of flowers. The roses on the left were from Trent, the flowers in the middle vase were actually from Trent the week before (that he got me for no specific reason) and were still pretty, and then he sent the tulips in the right vase as though they were from Ellie and Yozh. The card said "To the Greatest Mom in the World" from Ellie and Yozh. How sweet!



So right after I walked in the door, Trent told me to go upstairs and take a bubble bath that was already full and waiting for me. It was SO nice! I love our bathtub but rarely take baths. Trent finished cooking while I took a nice relaxing bath. He also had MORE flowers in square vases around the bathtub. So sweet! I couldn't stop smiling!



After my bath we ate the delicious homemade dinner and Trent watched a chick flick with me! This rarely happens so it was a special treat for me! It was such a great Valentine's Day and I have a such a sweet and romantic husband! I am so thankful for him and hope that everyone else had a wonderful Valentine's Day, too! I LOVE YOU!