Then/Now

For my block class this year (the class where I go and shadow a teacher for the entire semester..eek! so excited) we are currently doing a project comparing ourselves from when we were in 5th grade to now. We are to make a poster and share it to our 4th or 5th grade class next week. I had a lot of fun with this project, mainly because I found it so funny that many of the things I liked when I was 9 I still like when I am 21.

We had to talk about what kind of music, movies, book and hobbies we were into then and now. Here is what I came up with:

The best difference about me now from then is I have no braces! I had braces for 2 years and did NOT like it one bit. Thankfully I got them off in 8th grade so my teeth were nice and straight for high school.

MUSIC: Then

I was OBSESSED with The Spice Girls!! Me and my best friends Nina, Laura, Stephanie and Courtney were each a Spice Girl. I was Ginger Spice haha! We even skipped school and rented a huge van with our moms to drive to Dallas and go to a Spice Girls concert. It was one of the best concerts ever, probably because we also dressed up like them lol.

N*SYNC baby! I used to think these boys were hot stuff...hello Justin Timberlake and your sweet frosted tips! lol

MUSIC: Now

It's a tie between Michael Buble and John Mayer. I love their relaxing, smooth voices. When I am really stressed, which seems to be happening a lot lately thank you college!, I crank up their music and all my problems seem to fade away. I really want Clint and I's first dance to be to a Michael Buble or John Mayer song, I just can't decide which one! Any suggestions?

TOYS: Then

Three Words--American Girl Dolls

Samantha

Kit

I loved my American Girl dolls! And I have to admit that I still have them lol...they are in my hope chest in my closet :)

TOYS: Now

These two furballs

MOVIES: Then and Now

Expecto Patronum!!!

It is so crazy that the first Harry Potter movie came out when I was 10 and I just saw the last one:( It truly is an end of an era! I think people my age are more attatched to the Harry Potter franchise because we literally grew up with it.

BOOKS: Then

Harry Potter, again.

...Don't judge

BOOKS: Now

I am loving THe Hunger Games series. I was hesitant at first because my friends who had read it did a horrible job of describing what they were about

"Oh it's about the US after a war and there are districts that each have make one good like agriculture or coal. And then there's an uprising.."

Ummmm, ya the books are SO MUCH MORE than that. I seriously could not put them down once I started. I am a sucker for a love story and I really like the female lead in this one, Katniss, because she isn't such a pansy like Bella from Twilight. The story definitely isn't all fluff and love which makes it really entertaining. And for any of you out there who have read it already I hope you are Team Peeta!

Well that was fun, it kinda makes me miss my childhood when I never had to think about making sure to have meat thawed for dinner, doing my own laundry or taking care of 3 "babies"..yes I am talking to you Clint, Bo and Belle. ;)

Celebrity Crushes

Have you ever thought about what TV show you wish you could be on? Mine is a toss up between two:

The Office

I am a HUGE Office fan. I own every season and can quote every single episode. (Yes, I am very proud of myself) lol. I even own a Dwight K. Shrute bobble-head!! I think the show is hilarious and I am proud to say that I converted Clint into a big fan.

Secondly, I wish I could of been in the cast of Sex and the City.

I never watched the show while it was on HBO, but since it started airing on E! I have been watching every episode. I'm not sure who my favorite character is, its a toss up between Samantha and Carrie. But I still really like Miranda and Charlotte. I think they are all super funny and the show just really makes me want to move to New York.

Clint couldn't come up with what show he would want to be on but he does have some major "man crushes". There is no doubt in my mind he would leave me if these two pretty boys ever showed up. Haha!

First, he is totally in LOVE with Robert Downey Jr./Tony Stark/Iron Man. He is convinced they are all the same person...

There was even one point where he grew out his facial hair to look EXACTLY like Tony Stark lol, gotta love him!

Secondly he loves Ryan Reynolds. Whenever a movie with Ryan Reynolds is on we have to watch it. (I don't mind too much)

Here's another fun question to answer..

If you could have dinner with 5 celebrities who would they be?

Here is mine:

1. My twin, Kate Middleton (William can come if he wants)

2. Ellen Degeneres because I think she is really funny and sweet

3. John Krasinski from The Office (I love him)

4. Harry Potter, not Daniel Radcliffe, but the ACTUAL Harry Potter :)

5. Alan from The Hangover

I think we would all have a good time! lol

What five celebrities would you want to have dinner with? Click "Comment" and let me know!

Crazy, Stupid Love

It's time for another movie review!!

This time I have reviewing my FAVORITE movie of the summer: Crazy, Stupid Love.

Going into it I knew this movie was going to be a winner on the cast alone. Especially because three of my favorite actors are in it! Here is a breakdown of the main cast:

Steve Carell plays Cal
Ryan Gosling plays Jacob
Emma Stone plays Hannah

There are a couple more wonderful supporting actors such as Kevin Bacon, Julianne Moore and Marisa Tomei. However, the top three really blew this movie out of the water.

Cal is going threw a painful divorce from his wife and decides to drown his sorrows every night at a local bar. He drinks cranberry vodka's everynight and talks loudly to himself about his pain.

Jacob is the ultimate playboy. He frequents the bar as well but for a much different reason. He picks up girls and goes home with a different girl everynight.

One night Jacob decides he cannot take anymore of over hearing Cal's whinning and decides to help him get his wife back by giving him a makeover.

He cuts his hair, changes his clothes and gives him some confidence and tips on how to talk to women. It is so hilarious how these two feed off of each other.

Now ladies, if I could give you only ONE reason to see this movie here it is....

...Ryan Gosling. O----M----G! He is beautiful. Not only is his characters confidence in this movie extremely attractive, but he has a slight New Yorker accent that will make you drool. I mean if a man looked at you in a bar like this, wouldn't your heart drop?

Even though Jacob is proud of his playboy lifestyle he cannot help but fall for a girl in the bar that actually blows him off at first, Hannah. Hannah is a successful first-time lawyer who has everything going for her (except a good relationship). Jacob continues to try and ask her out but she denies him everytime. Finally after breaking up with her extremely pretentious boyfriend she heads to the bar to use Jacob as on outlet for her heartbreak. Little do they both know, they are about to fall head over heels in love with each other..

That scene in the movie is so romantic and perfect. There is Dirty Dancing reference and who doesn't love that!?

While Jacob calling Hannah his "game changer", Cal is trying to get with women to make his wife jealous. He succeeds but comes to find out he cannot live without his wife.

There are a few more plot twists, but I don't want to spoil anything because they are so funny.

I really hope you will go see this movie! It is perfect for date-night, mother/daughter, father/son, and girls night out!

And now since I went on a little too much about my celebrity husband Ryan Gosling. I will leave you with a picture of THE most handsome, loving and wonderful man in the world!

PIG SOOOIEE!

Clint and I just got back from visiting Clint's family in Arkansas! Let me tell you this....it was the highlight of my summer. We had such a blast, I am not an Arkansas-lover ;)

We stayed with Clint's cousins Amanda and Cody and their adorable daughters, Addison and Chanie! (Side Note: Addie and Chanie are my flower girls). We left Houston at 6am and arrived in Fayetteville around 3pm. I was nervous about the lengthy drive but it flew by! This was probably due to the fact that Clint drove the entire time and I slept for about 4 hours total :) Gotta love Clint! Since Amanda and Cody weren't home from work yet, we drove around the University of Arkansas campus for awhile.

Woohoo! SAE represent!! (Clint's fraternity)

When we arrived at Amanda and Cody's house I was blown away. Let me just say that the way their house was decorated was EXACTLY how I want my future house to look like. It was absolutely perfect!

Clint's cousin Marissa and her boyfriend Moses also drove in for the weekend and after they arrived around 6 we all changed and headed out to dinner at a place called Grub's. It was like a better Chili's...so good! We all had a little joke that Addison looked like she could be Clint and I's daughter...what do you think?

Addison is the funniest 5 year old I have ever met. She has a more diverse vocabulary than I do! She is fiesty and I love her.

Chanie has the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen, they literally trap you when you stare at her. She smiled so much that you could not help but smile all the time since she was.

When we got back the girls went to sleep and all of us adults played Taboo! If you have never played Taboo I strongly encourage you to go out to Wal-Mart and buy it ASAP! It is so much fun!! We all had such a great time playing together.

The next day we went to visit Clint's Aunt Linda, Uncle Rick, cousin Anthony and Grammy! Their house is on top of a mountain and has the most breath-taking view! I am so sorry that I didn't snap a picture:/ I was too distracted by all the beautiful land. Get this..Anthony has a pet raccoon! As soon as I saw Anthony bring around his raccoon, Bandit, on a leash...I knew I was not in Kansas anymroe haha.
We had a great time at their house looking through old pictures and talking with everyone. (Hi Linda!)

That night Amanda decided that we needed to celebrate all of our birthdays. Her's is in September, Moses' was in June and Marissa and I's are in October. Yes, it seems like a stretch but Amanda and I share the same view on life:never grow up. We are always up for celebrating anything. Clint baked us birthday brownies and ice cream!

After eating our dessert we got ready to go out to Dickson Street which is a street full of bars.

We went to a place called George's to see one of Amanda's co-workers son play. We got there at the opening act only to find out it was a heavy metal band. We felt like fish out of water being there surrounded by head banging, long-haired, tattooed, screaming fans. It was hilarious but we made the most of it! We walked around for a little bit before coming back to George's to see her friend's son's band called "The Good Fight". (I think that was their name). They were pretty hardcore but definitely LESS intense then the previous band. We all had a great time!

The next day was awesome! Does anyone watch the show on TLC "19 Kids and Counting"? It is a show about Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar and their 19 kids. They live about 20 minutes from Amanda and she was so sweet and drove me there so I could see their famous house! I love their show...does anyone recognize the house!?

I could go on and on about how much I loved Arkansas and especially how much I fell in love with Amanda and her family. I am so glad I met Amanda and got to bond with her. I know that she is someone I can call anytime to just chat with. She was so funny, warm, beautiful and just plain perfect! It was also great to get closer to Marissa. I had no idea how funny she was and I am so excited to call up her and Moses soon and all get together!

'The Help' Movie Review

Woohoo its my first movie review! I am an avid movie watcher and HUGE movie buff. Whenever anyone asks "Who movie is so and so also in?" I can always answer the question. It's just my natural gift of useless knowledge:)

I am going to try and review a new movie that has come to theaters every week. That way you can read a review from a person you know before going and spending your $8-$9 on a movie! So here it goes, let's kick off my first batch of movie reviews with...The Help!

This movie was perfect from start to finish. From the cast, to the sets, to the script to the moving story that was told. I absolutely loved it!

It takes place in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1950's and tells the story of Skeeter who is a recent college graduate and dedicated writer. She is not like most girls her age, in the fact that she is not married and does not treat her African American maid like a second class citizen. An idea sparks in her mind about a novel idea that she believes can change the world. She wants to interview different maids and get their side of the story on what its like to work for their white misses.

The cast in The Help is so perfectly chosen and the acting done by these women is extraordinary. One of them HAS to get an Oscar for their amazing performances.

Skeeter is played by the lovly and hilarious Emma Stone.

Emma Stone deserves an Oscar for sure, but Abileen and Minny really stole the show.

Aibileen is played by Viola Davis and Minny is played by Octavia Spencer. You may remember Octavia from Dinner For Schmucks, she played the bird psychic!

Aibileen and Minny are the first maids Skeeter interviews and their hilarious and touching stories really bring Skeeter's book to life. The highlight of the movie is definitely one of Minny's stories about her ma'am Hilly. I won't give anything away because this part in the movie is well worth any price you pay:)!

All in all "The Help" is a beauifully written movie with a heart warming message about equality, compassion and love. I highly encourage everyone to go out and see this movie.

You will not be sorry!

Is That Dog Wearing Socks?

Who is watching the Texans vs. Jets game right now? We definitely are...Clint is a die hard Houston Texans fan and when a game is on we are not allowed to watch anything else lol. That's okay by me because I have grown to love the Texans (almost) as much as Clint. Currently Clint AND Belle are sporting some sweet Texans gear...GO TEXANS!

Speaking of Belle I have some big news to report....

...we think she is allergic to grass.

Our vet is highly concerned that she is allergic to grass and has told us she needs to be on presciption food for skin allergies. Also, for her to be more comfortable while walking outside we bought her dog socks. Oh yes, the exsist.

My sweet mother took me to PetSmart to purchase some "stylish" dog socks for my little girl. I wish all of ya'll could see them in person because they are truly a sight to see.

They are the tiniest things ever! She walks around pretty well with them, granted that Clint and I crack up everytime we put them on her. She looks like a school girl with knee-high socks on!

Yes, I love Glee!

Doesn't that picture make her look like an Octopus for some reason? Haha it looks like she has too many legs!


Well Clint and I are off to see The Help! I have heard so many wonderful things about this movie so I am really looking forward to seeing it...review to come tomorrow!

A Trip to the Dog Park

This evening Clint and I treated Bo and Belle to a nice little trip to the dog park. The San Marcos dog park isn't the best, but its still a lot of open space for our rascals to run around.

We waited until the sun set a little so it wasn't too hot outside. We have taken Bo to the dog park before, so we knew as soon as we let him off the leash he would run free. Belle on the other hand....decided she just wanted to stick close to us by the benches.

Our dogs could not be more opposite. Bo can barely contain his excitement when we get his leash out to take him outside and runs full speed when he is outside. We have to drag Belle to go outside and the only time she runs is to run back upstairs to our apartment. I think she thinks that she is a human instead of a dog haha.

When Bo was done sniffing out every single spot in the park, he decided he wanted to come and hang out with us. He is such a lover!

Look how sweet this picture is of Bo and I. I love my old man..(Bo is 11 years old! But he acts like he's 6 months old).

We finally got Belle to walk around a little bit by having her follow one of us. She is so tiny I love her!

After about an hour our stomachs were talking to us so we knew we were ready for dinner! Belle showed us again how she thinks she is human by refusing to sit in the back seat. She only likes to sit in the passenger or driver seat. Here she is sitting RIGHT next to me in my seat.

How can you not love that face?

Engagement Party!

Before I get into Clint and I's fantastic engagement party I have to give a shout out to Nina! As you can tell my blog got a face lift courtesy of my bff Nina who blogs over at www.tankyounotes.blogspot.com <--check her out! She graciously gave my blog a make-over because I could not figure out how to do it..so thank you Nina!! So, Clint and I had our engagement party on July 30th FINALLY after 6 months of being engaged lol. I don't think I have ever uploaded a picture of my ring...I am so in love with it mainly because Clint took months designing it himself and trying to get it to Colorado, which is where we got engaged. I remember the first time I saw it I could not believe that I got to have that beautiful ring for the rest of my life. I will blog in detail about our engagement another time, but here is my ring!

We could not figure out what we wanted to do and since it has been obnoxiously hot outside we decided to do an enourmous river float with all of our friends and family. We invited about 50 people to our apartment to meet up for some food before and then we all followed each other to the Comal River in New Braunfels. It was so much fun being on the river and everywhere we would look we would see our friends! Clint and I felt so loved. To top it all off the alcohol was definitely flowing to say the least. Laura, my future sister-in-law, made 250 jello shots that were ALL consumed! They were so so good!! Everyone was having a great time!

After we all got off the river we went to eat at Adobe Verde, which is a Mexican Restaurant in Gruene, TX. It was just the most perfect evening I was so happy with it!

Look how precious this picture is of Clint and his two older brothers:) We didn't get that many pictures of the engagement party since we were on the river but I love the 2 we actually did get!

Thank you to my family and the Carr family for providing us with such an unforgettable engagement party:)

I will leave ya'll with a quote I found that I am in love with. I feel like it expresses exactly how I feel about Clint.



In your eyes, I have found my home.
In your heart, I have found my love.
In your soul, I have found my mate.
With you, I am whole, full, alive.
You make me laugh. You let me cry.
You are my breath, my every heartbeat.

I am yours.
You are mine.
Of this we are certain.



You are my inspiration and my soul's fire.
You are the magic of my days.
You help me laugh, you teach me love.
You provide a safe place for me, unlike I've ever known.
You free me to sing my own song.
You are more of an amazement to me, each day I rediscover you.
You are my greatest boon.

I am yours.
You are mine.
Of this we are certain.


-From Ava

Picnic by the River

Last week Hillary planned for her and I and Clint and Maverick to go on a picnic! She went to the store and bought so much yummy food, check it out:

We even had a state of the art picnic basket/cooler! It was perfect to pack along all of our food and Blueberry wine!

We spread our blanket next to the river and stacked some turkey, cheese and pepperoni on pretzel thins. It was the perfect thing to eat on a picnic.

After stuffing our faces with all the food Clint decided we needed to take couple's pictures on the tree.

**Please note that Hillary and Maverick are dressed super cute and Clint and I are dressed like bums for no particular reason. haha! oh well, its all about the love:)

I hope you have a great week!