Friday Free-write!

HELLO TO ALL MY VISITORS STOPPING BY FROM NEW FRIEND FRIDAY, FRIENDLY FRIDAY, NEW FOLLOWER FRIDAY, and the rest of those fantastic Friday blog hops!

It's here! Friday is HERE! Which means it's time for a rambling run-down of my thoughts for the week:

I've been busy gathering up and pricing old junk for this weekend's yardsale - I'm heading back home to WV for all the fun, where I will join my Aunt and we will try to peddle our stuff to the local townspeople in a team effort. My husband and I are trying to be proactive with our big move coming up in 2011 by getting rid of stuff we don't want anymore.  I've found throughout this Yardsale preparation process that I wish I could build another bridal registry - the stuff I wanted four years ago is totally NOT what I want now!  Can we say, "UNGRATEFUL"? 

Regardless of whether you are interested in sports or not, you were probably well aware of the big Lebron James-free agent-"what team will he choose"-fiasco this week. Lebron announced his decision on ESPN last night: he will leave his hometown fans in Cleveland, and play for the Miami Heat alongside two fellow NBA all-stars beginning this fall. Ohio is MAD. Others, not so much.  But one concept that this whole thing has me questioning is Loyalty. What makes a person "loyal"?  Everyone seems to have differing opinions about it... and that sounds like a good blog topic for the future, so stay tuned.

I'm so terribly sad... Bachelorette Jillian and Ed Swiderski broke up!  BOO HISS! Jillian is definitely my favorite gal from any of the Bachelor/Bachelorette seasons.  She's now part of the design team for the new season of Extreme Home Makeover, and I'm super pumped to watch it!  I totally love her style. 


REMEMBER - SWEETS FOR THE SWEET tomorrow! It's a blog hop sure to satisfy your sugar cravings - check out last week's post - the very first Sweets for the Sweet! Start thinking about what your favorite cool summertime treat is, check my blog, and link up! I would love to see it grow, so please join in the fun!!!


Have a safe and fabulous summer weekend!!! And as always, *THANKS FOR READING!*

Friday Free-Write (No.7)

Happy Friday! I can't believe it's already July - the summer is totally flying by.   There are a few things swirling around i my little mind today:

One more month until the beach! My husband and I haven't been to the beach in five years.  In fact, the last time we went to the beach, we weren't married yet. (And while swimming in the ocean, a gigantic wave washed me ashore like a dead fish - and my bikini top was hanging off, my bottoms halfway down my legs. Niiice.) The Snyder fam is headed to Myrtle Beach the first week of August, and I can't wait!  Lots of relaxing and reading - just what I need. 

The Cincinnati Reds are awesome this year! I keep most sports-related thoughts to myself during the summertime, because 1) I'm mostly into football, which i WILL blog about from time to time during the fall, 2)I know most people don't want to hear my sports-related opinions - it's a good way to make enemies and I certainly don't want that, and 3) Summertime is kinda like a "break" from sports for me - they're going on, but it's nice to have a breather after NCAA fball & bball, NFL, and NBA have ended. I'm tightly wound during those seasons!  Anyway, I just wanted to point out that the Reds are doing really well this season - I've claimed the Reds since moving to Athens, and while I wish i could attend more games, I'm happy that I saw them on opening day - and i'm very happy that they're actually winning this year! Adding to that...

Football season is right around the corner! Just another month... then college practice and NFL preseason start!  GO PATRIOTS! GO HERD! GO BOBCATS!

And finally...

I've taken my love for dessert and... decided to start my own meme!  I've found that when I blog about chocolate and other sugary substances, my readers are super interested.  I thought it would be nice to tack this on to my weekend blogging - I'm not specifying a day of the week, because hey - we all like dessert on any given day, right?  A time to share all things dessert related - whether it's an ode to your favorite store-bought candy, a recommendation for a dessert at a restaurant chain that we should all try, or recipes that you would like to share - this will be the time and place.  And of course, Mr. Linky will be around - so get ready! This is the button:

and I'll be kicking things off with my favorite cookie recipe (and surprisingly, it's not chocolate! WOW!)
I can't wait to see how this goes - although I'm sure I'll be wrecking my beach bound body because of it. HAHAHA (like I even had one anyway - no amount of diet or exercise will ever take away my Chocolate pouch!) 


Speaking of dessert... I had a delicious piece of cheesecake with fudge sauce at the Outback last night. Mmmmmm....


So start thinking about your favorite sweet treats - the fun begins tomorrow!  


Have a super Friday!

Friday Free-write (No.6) and Music Video Flashback

Wow! Friday again already?!?  NICE!
I have quite a few random things on my mind:

The NBA Draft was pretty interesting last night - if you know me, you know I love me some SPORTS! Patrick Patterson (University of Kentucky), from Huntington WV, was drafted 14th overall by the Houston Rockets and will play alongside Yao Ming.  I watched both him and O.J. Mayo play for Huntington High in the WV State Basketball Championship a few years ago - it was their senior year, the Civic Center was sold out, and they played an amazing game.  Everyone in the building knew both of them would become NBA superstars.  It's so great to see that it's worked out for both WV boys!  Marshall University's Hassan Whiteside, one of the leading shot-blockers in the NCAA in 2009-10, was drafted in the 2nd round, 33rd overall, by the Sacremento Kings.  Whiteside is super young (19) and probably not as mature as he needs to be for the NBA right at this point, but he will get there - I'm sure his game will improve immensely with experience.  I traveled to Huntington and watched the Herd this past winter, and you could tell that Whiteside was a giant - but a little less mature than the older players. Anyhoo, I can't wait to follow both Patterson and Whiteside in the NBA next season - Anyone from WV or Marshall University is near and dear to my heart!

My Mommy and Step-dad are coming to visit today thru tomorrow!  We're doing the typical family visit things - dinner out, maybe some tasty dessert or a good coffee somewhere, trotting around Ohio U's campus, taking pictures, then hitting up the Farmer's Market tomorrow.  Mom and I are also heading to the big Bath and Body Works Semi-Annual Sale - i've been holding off for her visit! 

I finally joined the 21st century and got a new phone this week.  I chose the Iphone, because every other Apple product i have is totally awesome and hasn't failed me one time.  Seriously, folks - I'm overwhelmed!  I went from this (go ahead and giggle!):

to this:

Which is quite a JUMP!  I didn't have a transition phone - you know, to baby step my way from the most basic flip phone that weighs 14 pounds to one of the top smart phones on the market - so you can imagine my excitement (and current state of feeling overwhelmed!)  I feel like I have POWER with this thing - It's amazing! haha 

Finally, a note on Eminem's new album (which sort of goes hand in hand with my video flashback.) Recovery, which was released on Monday, is super serious and in my opinion, some of his best music. There is a track on Recovery that everyone is RAAAVING about - it is called "No Love", featuring Lil' Wayne - and contains a sample of an older Dance/techno song from the early 90's (I'm talkin' Dance mix USA)  that I'm betting most of Eminem's younger fans have never heard.  For those of you who've heard this particular song (school dances and John Garobedian's Open House Party in the early-mid 1990's), you should enjoy this trip back in time. For those youngins who are loving this song and are wondering "who came UP with that awesome hook?" I present to you, "What is Love" by Haddaway (Aka the "Night at the Roxbury" song.)  Break out your cotton stirrup leggings and slouchy socks, because Here. We. GO!: