Gimme some Chicken-Fil-A

For those of you who are not acquainted with my sister, you may not be familiar with the You Tube video that quote comes from.  I wish I could say the same.  About the You Tube, of course- most days I'm pretty over the moon that I know Jules.  That is neither here nor there...

This past Friday, my BFF's FH combined his love of all things free and his love of all things food into one perfectly amazing sitting.  After some hilarious email exchanges between his loving finacee and the Marketing Director of the local Chick-Fil-A, Brendan bravely signed up to participate in the Spicy Chicken Biscuit Eating context.

The task:  to down as many Spicy Chicken Biscuits as possible in 10 minutes
The prize:  free Chick-fil-a for a year (which in legalease translates to 1 meal a week for 52 weeks)
The competitor:  Kobayashi's little known Caucasian 5th cousin - Brendan "the Human Disposal" S.

Obviously Ryan and I had to go to cheerlead with Jen.  What choice do you have when a good friend takes on such a daunting task?  None is exactly the answer I arrived at as well.  So Jen, Ryan & I booked it to Chick-fil-a after work on Friday to watch people stuff themselves silly with what I believe was the bulk of the junior and senior classes of at least 2 neighboring highschools. 

Brendan put down an impressive 4.5 SCB in his alloted 10 minutes.  While he did not win - he was a valiant competitor.  I would say we all walked out of there winners- Brendan achieved his free meal and the rest of us achieved a good laugh.  Atta boy B-Schams!

One of his competitors informed Brendan that he learned about the competition from a flier passed out in homeroom.  This appears to be a very successful marketing tactic.

Talking strategy.

Watching the first and second heats.  I believe this is after the 10 year old finished off his 3rd.  Sidenote:  Brendan did indeed sport a Nathan's Hot Dog eating contest shirt.

Action shot.

Still our favorite competitive eater.

It's a Love Story...

Hiiiiiii!  So, I went on hiatus for a while.  I apologize.  The logic behind that is three-fold:  1) I was working.  A lot.  2) I haven't taken ANY pictures.  3)  I was working. A lot.  So maybe my logic is two-fold.  (Math and I are not BFF.) 

We will refer to this particular time period as my busy season intermission.  The 1st of my 3 busy season clients has filed.  I'm working on a new client for the next few weeks before my 3rd (and typically toughest) client begins.  In this interim time I feel it neccessary to pay appropriate homage to this time of year and the dude who makes it so sentimental for me.  As all who know me are well accustomed to- I'm not really a gusher.  I'm more likely to say something dismissive when someone pays Ryan a compliment and more likely to be making fun of him than singing his praises.  That is just how I am.  I've never been a fan of sap.  It makes me feel awkward and presumably makes you feel awkward as well.  So I'll try to put a little Amy-casm spin on it to avoid making you vom.

Feburary 2005
February is a special month for Ryan & I for a few reasons.  First, February was the month of our internship when we actually got to know eachother.  This was on a completely platonic level, of course, as we didn't start dating until much later.  However, it was at a time in my life when I had a lot of less than positive thoughts on men in general and had all but lost faith in them.  So it was truly refreshing to get to know him and enjoy some friendly banter now and then. 

February 2007
Second, when you flash forward 2 years, February is the month that Ryan asked me out on our first date...unbeknownst to me.  (My intuition and utter clued-in-ness are second to none).  February 16, 2007 he talked me into going to Chuy's and then we went out with some friends afterwards.  We have been telephonically inseparable since.  Jen can attest to the fact that we were so busy texting for the remainder of the first 6 months that I walked into countless obstacles in the mall, at Target, in our apartment...  Is that not what love in the 21st century means? 

February 2010
On February 27, 2010 Ryan made me the happiest girl in the entire universe.  He pulled off surprising me and proposing in front of the fam at the lake house.  Check out the wedding website for more deets.  Just thinking about that day makes my heart so incredibly full.  The most important elements of a proposal to me had always been being surprised and having family & friends involved... which he pulled off to perfection.

So, as you can see, February is a month that makes me feel pretty sappy.  It marks 6 years of knowing the man I now call my best friend, 4 blissul years of dating him and 1 year of being engaged and planning the day I've looked forward to my whole life.  I feel so very blessed to be marrying Ryan.  Even on the days when he can't remember to shut ANY drawer he opens or the days he crosses the sarcasm line so far that he can no longer see it- I wouldn't trade him for the world.  He makes me laugh harder than anyone else on the planet and I know that we will never live a boring day.  I trust his instinct and respect his intellect.  I adore that you get what you see.  He doesn't apologize for who he is- and he is that person every single day from the moment he wakes up to the moment he goes to bed.  He says what he thinks and he means what he says.  It's so nice to have those things to count on. 

Thank you to my better half for making me as happy as he does and for standing by me even when I'm kind of a nutcase (like during busy season).  Thank you to all of the friends and family who love and support us individually and as a couple.  I hope that each of you had a wonderful Valentine's Day and have as many reasons to love the month of February (or some other month) as I do.  I also hope you don't think this means that you won't see any more posts of me making fun of the future hubs.  After all- I have to keep his ego in check.  ;c) 

Nuptial News: Installment Eight

As cliche as it may sound, I can't believe we're only 5 months away.  I have allllll kinds of countdowns going on these days.  Days until busy season client #1 files: 5, Days until busy season client #3 files: 80(ish), Days until I'm eternally bonded to a man who thinks saying "m'lady" beforehand makes anything that comes out of his mouth polite: 150.  While I'm EXTREMELY excited about the first two, I'm hands-down most excited about the last.

Things Accomplished:

• Floral/Decor BOOKED (BIG woohoo)
• Hair/make up booked
• A little website tweaking
• A little registry tweaking
• Made hotel reservations
• Reserved hotel suite for getting ready with my hottie maids & other loved ones on the wedding day
• Ordered bridesmaid shoes
• Ordered coordinating ties for the dudes' tuxes
• Ordered Guestbook
• Ordered a little reception decor-related stuff
• Ordered my jewelry/accessories
• Ordered my shoes

Things in the Pipeline:

• Invitations
• BMaid Jewelry

Ryan's Contributions:

• Rehearsal Dinner location officially booked
• Picked out tuxes
• May or may not have inappropriately addressed you as a "Mrs." when you are not married

I would like to thank everybody who is not me for all of your contributions to this shindig.  Mom, Jen, Julie, Ryan, Tiff - I couldn't do it without you.  I owe you all my first born.  You can armwrestle over him/her.