Skating is Great!

Since I've been posting about birthdays a lot this past week, I figured I would continue the tradition with a post about my sister's birthday party. Her party with her friends was at Magic Wheels, a skating rink that has been in this town since I was turning 8...and who knows how long before. Seriously, this place is ancient. (also, the title "Skating is Great!" is what is on the outside of the building...this place preaches truth, y'all)

I didn't really know what to expect, but I walked in and it was like a blast from the past...NOTHING HAS CHANGED. I half expected to run into the guy that worked there when I was kid. I remember him well...he looked like the love child of Danny Zuko and The Fonz (if that were even possible). He even had the Danny Zuko walk down...it was impressive. I may have had a small crush.

Sister and her friends skated for a while...but there really wasn't much of a crowd. It was kind of depressing how few people were there, but I guess it was good for the party. At least Sister and her friends had a safe, empty floor to skate on.

They also did a little party in one of the side rooms (which also happen to look the same). It was pizza, ice cream and cake. I still remember how hard it was to move around in those rooms with your skates on. You'd try to get up and just plop right back down because you couldn't get going....ahh good times.

 They did rearrange some stuff in this area, so I guess they did change SOMETHING

I'll be honest, I was dying to get out there and skate with them, but I didn't bring socks. It would be fun to get a group together and have a flashback skating party here...I'll work on this. In the meantime, maybe I'll throw on my skates and skate around the neighborhood.

I hope you all have a great Wednesday! This is my Friday this week because we get off for Fall Break. That's one of the huge perks of working at a University...you get to take some of the breaks with the students!

I Made Scones!

First of all happy birthday to my friend and coworker Sarah! I don't actually have a picture of her to put on here, but here is the screen saver and desk full of balloons that she came in to this morning.

She came in earlier than Scott and I, but she said it made her smile when she saw it :) I also made her some scones because she LOVES scones. I have never made scones (or biscuits, because Rhett refuses to acknowledge that there is a difference), but I was excited to try. I just used the basic recipe in the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook and it was SUPER easy! I was one egg short, but I added some extra cream so I wouldn't lose the moisture. I feel like that threw off the dough because it was crazy sticky, but the end product still tasted good. They weren't as good as the scones we get at the campus coffee house, but they were pretty darn good if I do say so myself. I think I'll be making scones again now that I know it's so simple!

Say it with me now... "mmmmmmmmmm!" I wish I could bluetooth you all your own scone, but technology hasn't advanced that far yet. Those are chocolate chips, by the way. The recipe calls for currants but I was like forget that, it's her 30th birthday! Who wants currants when you can have chocolate chips?! If anyone wants the recipe and doesn't have the BH&G cookbook, let me know and I'll scan a copy for you! No charge :)

Happy New Year + New Baby

There's a new baby in my boyfriend's family! Hooray! This is his sister and her adorable little girl who was born last night. I feel like having a baby is a GREAT way to start the new year, and I'm sure her year is going to be packed full of great experiences with this little ball of cuteness.

I hope that all of my readers had a HAPPY NEW YEAR! I am a little late with the well-wishes, but better late than never. I've been pondering how I might live this next year a little differently than last year. I know I'll change and grow as a person, and you never know what huge life changes I might make! I graduated college this year, which is a pretty big deal from what I hear. I also spent this year at my first post-college job (part time until June), and I really couldn't ask for a better place or a better group of people to work with.  I bought the camera of my dreams this year, after saving my money for what felt like forever. It's was a great year!

Here are a few goals that I might try to carry out this year:

1. Think before I buy, and spend a limited amount each week. I tend to go through weeks where I spend well over my "budget," and I always suffer for it later. 
2. Take the next step in my relationship. Maybe that's engagement...maybe not. I really don't have control over that :)
3. Work hard on learning more about photography and how I can improve. I don't want to plateau, and I fear that's what's happening. 
4. Keep focusing on eating and exercise habits. I've been doing good for a few months, and I want to keep moving forward. I still need to work on eating more vegetables.

I don't want to get too resolutiony, so I'll stop there. I've heard some GREAT resolutions in the last few days, and seeing what other people are doing is really a good inspiration to keep myself on track. I hope the rest of you are doing well on your goals for 2011! I can't wait to see what goes down this year.

As a sort of commemoration for 2010, I made a set on Flickr of my favorite images of the year. I guess I can compare those with next year's to see if I achieved goal #3!

Well, that's all for now. Best wishes in 2011, everyone! Let's see how long it takes to get used to writing 11 until 10. I'm guessing at least 2 weeks for me. 

Me = 23

That's right...I'm 23, and I'm not happy about it. I have this really irrational fear of growing up! I am a responsible adult, but I lament the fact that I don't have near as much freedom as I used to. I can't just pick up and go somewhere whenever I want to... I can't sleep it on weekdays... I can't wear pigtails. You see? It's incredibly sad. But, I need to move on and just enjoy my 23rd year! Thanks to everyone that wished me a happy birthday. You all made my birthday a very special day!

I'm trying not to eat out as much, so we ate in at the office! Sarah made some absolutely delicious taco soup and we had guac, hummus, and veggies to go with it. We're all trying to get our 5 veggie servings a day, so we chowed down on them! 

Just another day at the office. I was born in the 80s so I thought an 80s top would be appropriate.

top: Barefoot & vintage - I got this in her closing sale and I love it!

pants: Express. BEST EVER. I may have worn them 3 days in a row...

shoes: Kohl's

earrings: Express

The best part of my day was getting this little cupcake flower arrangement from Rhett! He's not a flower guy by any means... but I guess all my hint-dropping finally got through. I'm not big into flowers either, but I think every girl enjoys them once in a while! And he did so good finding something unique and special so I know he put a lot of thought into it. There was some confusion in the delivery process, but I got them and I was so excited :) Later that night Mom and Guy took Rhett and me out to dinner.

Thanks again to everyone that made my birthday special!

Monumental Occasion

(make sure you get to the bottom of this post for a special giveaway)

There's nothing better than unpacking boxes! Well, only if they hold things that haven't seen the light in quite a few years. Since my Grandma lived in my house before she downgraded, we still store some of her stuff. We (Paige- that's her in the grey, Mom and I) decided to go through some of it and see if any could go in our upcoming yardsale. We didn't get much yardsale material but we found some AMAZING games.

I didn't know Sorry! was an older game. For some reason I thought that all the games I used to play weren't invented until I was a child. I am DEFINITELY narcissistic. My mom got very excited about Spudsie. I think she actually jumped up and down a little!

Animal Twister?! Yes please! And I can't even tell you how many hours I spent playing Hide N Seek. It was so much fun, even though I always played it alone. Mom said that she and my uncle would play it all the time when they were kiddos. It makes me smile to think that Mom and I played the same game (same board, same pieces) as kids.

Clue was the only game I kept at my house. Mom took the rest to display at her house. I haven't put Clue out yet, but I was thinking I might display it on my built in bookshelves.

Anyone have some good suggestions for what I could do with it?

Now we get to the monumental occasion (as indicated in the title): 

I reached 100 followers!

Reaching those triple digits makes me so happy. Knowing that real, live people are reading my words and looking at my photos is just amazing. I hope you all enjoy the things I post about!

To celebrate this very happy occasion, I'm going to give away something that Mom and I found in our boxes! These are two vintage Coca-Cola bell shaped glasses, both in excellent condition and valued at around $15 (correct me if I'm wrong). I imagine these being used for some Coke floats! You could share one with your sweetie <3 or enjoy a nice cold soda with a friend. I love these glasses, so I want them to go to a good home.

I'm going to make this simple. To enter:

1. leave a comment telling me the best thing you ever found in storage! If you don't have one, just leave a comment to say hi.  Make sure to let me know how to contact you if you win. 

2. tweet about this giveaway (make sure to tag @kristimcmurry2) and comment to let me know. 

Each of these will be a separate entry (and separate comment), so you have two chances to win!

I'll be drawing the winner on Sept 20 (my little sis's birthday!) 

Thanks so much to all my followers. You are all so wonderful! Each comment you leave, makes me so happy... The little *bing* that lets me know I have mail always makes my little heart jump.