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!

My New Desk Accessories!

These are my new desk accessories! How cool am I?? ha! I bought the shopping cart at www.worldmarket.com (thanks to Ashlyn for pointing me in the right direction), and the mini cooler holds one can of Coke perfectly! My brother and sister-in-law got it for me for Christmas!
These things make me smile while I sit at my desk all day at work :)

-Erin

Happy Birthday to the Man of My Dreams

Yes, on Friday January 28th, it was Lance Bass' birthday! hahahaha j/k, he is no longer the man of my dreams. BUT if you would have asked me about 10 years ago, that's what I would have said. It was, however, Joey Fatone's birthday on Friday (to keep the 'N Sync thing going here). But I was referring of course to Trent as the man of my dreams. He turned 25 on Friday and is now officially old :)

Just wanted to tell the whole cyber world that I feel so lucky that Trent was brought into this world 25 years ago at a whopping 9 lbs 8 oz. He is the most amazing gift in my life and January 28th is a wonderful day to celebrate! Thank you God for bringing him into the world and then into my life!

Another birthday shoutout for the 28th goes to a new beautiful baby girl, Josephine Adair Shanken. Our great friends Emily and Justin Shanken welcomed Josephine into the world on January 28, 2011. She is so precious and we can't wait to watch her grow up! Trent is happy to share this birthday will this little angel!

I'll leave with you some pictures of beautiful Joesphine, and some of baby Trent.

Happy 2011

I can't believe it's already 2011! I feel like Trent and I got married a month ago, and it's already been 8 months! When I take the time to think about everything that has happened since we got married I can see that it has actually been a while, but it still flies by so fast!

Trent's turning 25 on Friday! I feel like 25 is so old! I know for people that are older than that, they are thinking I am crazy, but it's a quarter of a century! I'm so glad we are married now and getting to grow up together, though. How lame did that sound?? But I am excited about it.

I don't have much to report, just wanted to update the good ol' blog. I'm pretty sure our new puppy was in a picture on the last post, but just in case you dont know, I got Trent a baby Golden Retriever for Christmas. His name is Yozh (which means "hedgehog" in Russian). He is such a good boy (most of the time), and is so sweet! He rarely makes a peep and has been putting up with Ellie's bad behavior pretty well. She is such a punk and tries to make his life miserable! Ellie is such a sweet girl around people, and just wants to lick everyone to death! She does not, however, like other dogs. At all. She's getting better, but likes to terrorize him. Poor boy.

Since it's a new year and typically resolutions come with a new year, I have decided to post mine here. I have thought absolutely nothing about this up until now, so you are first to hear about my resolutions!

1) Exercise more. I know this is so cliche, but I need to do it. Kelsey and I have been good so far, so I am hoping we'll keep it up. We use her apartment complex gym (which is AWESOME) so it's free, but I can't go without her. So we're keeping each other in check. Beware if you're engaged, too, because what they say about gaining weight after you get married is definitely true. And it sucks.

2) Go to Augusta more often. I feel like I see my parents pretty often for living in different towns, but they are the ones that travel here about 90% of the time. I also still have lovely friends that live in Augusta that I should keep in better touch with.

3) Budget our money better. THIS is happening already! I made a budget sheet right before the new year and have been keeping up with every penny that Trent and I spend and make. I am a freak and I LOVE spreadsheets, so I actually enjoying logging into our account and filling out my table! I suggest that everyone does this because it shows you what you spend most of your money on, and it forces you to save more efficiently.

That's it for now. Pretty boring blog post. Sorry about that. I'll try to make something dramatic and exciting happen before the next post. Love.

Snowmageddon 2011

So... this winter was predicted to be a dry one... wrong. Our first snow was on Christmas day. The last time it snowed on Christmas day and accumulated in Atlanta was over 100 years ago. We made history! It was a beautiful White Christmas, and we were so excited to be a part of that history (well I was {Erin}, Trent was definitely not). On the day of the first snow of the season, we arrived at Trent's parents house right after it began, and ended up spending the night to avoid the roads. The next day we got to play at the park with the dogs and family, but spent most of the time inside. It was cold!

This time, it was a little different. This winter weather system started in the southwest of the country, and was predicted for many days to arrive in our area on Sunday evening. We didn't expect it to hold true, however, because as everyone knows, weathermen aren't always right in their predictions. Cobb County school system (where Kelsey and Greg teach), and Kennesaw State University were already closed for Monday, so Kelsey, Greg, and Matt decided to come over for a slumber party. It started snowing in our area around 9:00 and was coming down hard. It was so pretty! I was planning on still going to work in the morning, but thought I'd stay awake and play/watch movies until midnight and then try to get some sleep. I did just that. I set my alarm for later than normal because I knew I wouldn't even try to leave at my usual 6:45 because the roads would definitely be icy from not being driven on. About 30 seconds after my alarm went off, I got a text message from a co-worker friend telling me our office was closed for the day! For those of you who don't know, the Atlanta office of Innerface (the company I work for) is the headquarters for the whole country. All production happens in our office, and the only employees not in Atlanta are our sales reps scattered throughout the country. I was honestly shocked that they closed the office because of that reason. I am certainly glad they did though. Another thing you may not know is that the office is about 30 minutes away (in the case that there is zero traffic, which happens never) from our house, all highway. The news showed a bunch of roads covered with accidents, at standstills, and closed. I wouldn't have risked trying to get there.

So that left us stranded at the house all day on Monday. We played a bunch of Wii Party, played outside in the snow, sledded down the driveway of our deserted neighbor's house, and watched Inception, The Town, and then boys watched football and girls watched the Bachelor. It was a fun day of doing nothing. By the end of the night, Cobb County, KSU, and Innerface were all closed for Tuesday! We had another sleepover party, and again we were shocked! Excited, yes, but also a little concerned. It was supposed to freeze and ice again overnight. Which it did.

Today (Tuesday) was a bunch of the same, although Matt had to go in to work in the morning, and Kelsey and Greg left after we watched Going the Distance. I have recently discovered that Innerface will open again, tentatively, at 1:00 tomorrow afternoon, and KSU and Cobb County are closed. Trent and I are alone tonight, and we're hoping the freezing temperatures tonight will not be bad enough to shut down the highways tomorrow afternoon. Although I love a few extra days of relaxing, I am dreading reading the emails I may have in my inbox at work tomorrow! Like I said, since we're the headquarters for the country, our clients are relying on us, and may have no idea we are closed! Since no one has been in the office, our email AND voicemail is not alerting them! I hope everyone is having fun and staying warm in this winter weather, but most importantly, keeping safe!

Here are some photos of "Snowmageddon":

Recap of November

Hello! It seems like it's been forever since we wrote in here, so I thought I'd give a little update. I only have 10 minutes left of my lunch break so you may not get much of an update, but I'm going to write as much as I can!

Last time I wrote I told you all about my moral dilemma. After trying to return the table once, I called again and they actually sent me what I needed in order to send the second table back, so I returned it. It definitely made my conscience feel better, so I'm glad I did. It's a great gift though, so I suggest it to anyone looking for a cool Christmas gift to give!

November went by crazy fast! It was pretty busy and a lot of fun. Here are a few highlights:

• Trent's sister Abbie turned 17 and finally got a cell phone! We had fun trying to get her to open that package that was mysteriously ringing!
• Kelsey, Greg, and I went to see Lady Antebellum at the Fox! It was an amazing show, and their first headlining tour. For those of you who don't know, the two guys in Lady A are from Augusta (my home town, not counting Iowa), and one of them is our good friend Michael's brother. They went to my high school. It just makes the show that much cooler to see that you can come from little Lakeside High School and get nominated for 6 Grammys a couple years later! Anyway, we had such a great time and even got to see Michael and his sweet fiance Cat after the show. Love them!
• We went to the KSU v. GA Tech basketball game with Kelsey, Greg, Steven, Jennifer, Taryn, and David and it was amazing because KSU won! Didn't really matter to us that GA Tech is awful this year because we are just little KSU. Anyway, it was loads of fun!
• We went to the Dave Matthews concert at Philips Arena and were front row! Trent, Paul, and Mike went at like 11:00am and were first in the line for General Admission (for the fan club members). I'm not a big DMB fan, but the concert was really good, and the front row was amazing!
• We had a murder mystery party at our house with some of friends and it was so fun! It was a huge hit and we're hoping to make it an annual event. I definitely recommend trying one. They're awesome!
• We had Thanksgiving with Trent's parents and Abbie at our house for our first holiday married and in our new house. It was delicious. Then my parents came for actual Thanksgiving for 5 days and we did tons of nothing, and also a few somethings. We saw Harry Potter in IMAX (SO freaking good) and played a bunch of games! Good time with good people.

So November is going to be tough to beat, but I'm thinking there may be a few things that will be awesome coming up in December! More on that closer to Christmas :) I'll leave you with a few pictures from November's events!

Trent and Paul with Dave in the background.

Dave Matthews and Stephan in the front row!

Brasstown Bald

Our Murder Mystery Party Group