March Date

The First Date of Christmas :  January Date The Second Date of Christmas:   February Date

The Third Date of Christmas

This date is sort of a month-long date.  I gave him a book of coupons, all of which expire on March 31, 2012.  He procrastinated and waited until the last minute to use up all of the coupons, so for most of the month it felt like there was no March Date.

March 17, 2012

The first coupon he used was picking me out an outfit to wear.  Basically, when redeeming the coupon, I had to wear whatever he told me to wear.  It gave him a lot of power, he could have made me wear my wedding dress to the grocery store or a winter coat to the swimming pool.  However, he did the man thing, and one Saturday when I got out of the shower, there was the coupon and one of my little naught outfits laying on the bed.  Haha!  No pictures.. 

March 22, 2012

"Good for a night of us watching sports & drinking cold beer!" 

So we watched some spring training game.  I didn't drink any beer.  Ew.  And we've been out of wine, so..it was a dry party for me.  I didn't mind.  I just blogged.  And made him pose for pictures.  :) 

 

And then things got complicated.  There is a band called Sequoyah Prep School.  My husband is obsessed with them.  No, you haven't heard of them.  They are still a small band, but my husband knows the band members from high school or maybe college, and I do dig their music.  Don't take my word for it, hear for yourself!  This is my favorite song of theirs..so far.

So anyway, that's them and they are from Florence, SC but live in Charleston, SC and played a show in Charleston on March 30th.  It was $10 to get in and my husband wanted to go.  Except...his wanting to go and informing me that we ARE going has ruined our April Date.  Which was...going to see Sequoyah Prep School in concert.  Haha.. so I gave him the April Date Envelope on March 26th and extended the coupons expiration date to April 30th.  In a way, the March Date becomes the April Date and the April Date becomes the March Date.  Hmm....so we'll pick up next month with the coupons.  :)

After we got to Charleston, we ate a small Mexican restaurant downtown.  It was cool.  My latest favorite drink is a strawberry vodkarita.  I don't do tequila very well and I don't really care for the flavor.  So, replace the tequila with vodka.  :)  As y'all know, I'm a light weight these days and can't have a drink without catching a buzz.  Did that stop me from ordering more drinks once we got to the concert?  No...

I may have drank a little too much...

The concert was fun.  Mr. Robinson knew the singer from the band, and I got to meet him.  They aren't really big,but I think that it's only a matter of time before they make it.  We had a good time.  I wish I had felt a little better...all of the alcohol had me not feeling so hot.  And the girls dancing all over each other had me thinking that maybe I've outgrown bars full of college kids.  It was bittersweet...but my husband was happy as a clam.  He's a music lover, and I have feeling that loving him will keep me young.  =)

Can't wait to share the coupon details with y'all next month! 

Robinson Babies

I am not pregnant.  Or at least, not to my knowledge at this time.  We aren't trying, so I'd be very surprised if we were!  But...unbeknownst to my husband...I have a little tiny bit of baby fever.  I blame it on all of the cute pregnant pictures on Pinterest and Facebook.  So many of my friends are getting pregnant and having babies....

It's hard to keep yourself from doing things like this:

"Daddy gives Mommy a very special hug and....."

Medium Skin Toned Baby Boy                 Light Skin Toned Baby Boy

Medium Skin Toned Baby Girl                    Light Skin Toned Baby Girl

Um...and so that's what our kids would/will look like.  Haha.  Why don't they have eyebrows?  All four of them have my eyes, though.  =)   I'm a little confused by the bunny suit on #4.    

I just wasn't happy...so I used different "parent" pictures.  And let the baby-maker-morpher "surprise me" on gender and skin tone.  

 So....it's funny that two of these babes have red hair.  Neither of us have red hair, but the hubby does have a mostly red beard when he grows it out.  They have my eyes...and this last one has my natural bushman eyebrows.  Not sure about the big, flat nose and the little tiny mouth.

TRUTH:  Even though I ocassionally catch the fever, we won't be having babies any time soon.  Maybe never.  We haven't totally decided.  But if we did, I'd be willing to bed that they'd be cuter than these critters.  =)  Don't you agree?!  Well...I guess the last one isn't that bad.  She'd need a nose job later in life...anyway.

To create your own babes...click here!

11's

This is how it goes…

• You must post the rules
• Post 11 fun facts about yourself
• Answer the 11 questions that the tagger posted for you & then create 11 questions to ask the people you’ve tagged
• Tag 11 people and link them in your post
• Let them know you have tagged them.

Meg's Questions!   


(1)  Who was the hottest/cutest teacher you ever had.

I've never had a hot teacher...but I've gone to schools who always had hot teachers/coaches.  I think I had the biggest crush on a man we called Coach Mezz - although he never taught me.


(2) What’s the strangest talent you have?

I don't have too many talents in the first place.  I asked Mr. Robinson, and he said that I style my own hair in weird ways...like the sock bun, haha.  So...sure?


(3)  What was the last thing you ever got grounded for/in trouble for with your parents?
Ummm....that would be, teaching my little sister how to buy marijuana.  I wasn't grounded because I wasn't living at home.  I was punished though...I wasn't being a very good big sister.  I regret it all the time... that was the day my parents cut me off and I had to drop out of college.  :/  It was a darker time in my life.  Moving on..


(4)  Which shoe do you put on first?
My left shoe!  But I'm right handed... ta da


(5)  What’s your favorite condiment?
It used to be bbq sauce but my husband converted me.  I'm a ketchup-addict, now. 


(6)  What’s the last book you read?
The Bible - I try to read it every morning.  The last fictional book I read was Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers.  It was an absolutely amazing book that I recommend to everyone!  :)


(7)  How long is your typical shower/morning routine?
It varies...Usually about an hour...if I stretch it our or if I'm doing something fancy, it's about 2 hours.  If I wake up late, it is possible for me to get ready in 30 minutes or less.  I don't advertise that, though.  


(8)  What do you plan to do for your next birthday?
Cry.  I'll be 24.  I don't want to talk about it.  Haha, kidding.  Kind of.  I don't know!  It's in December, so we'll have to see.  It's in the hubby's hands!  All I know...I better get lucky.  ;) 


(9)  What is your go-to, never fails, always delicious dinner dish you make when you're cooking for others?
If I'm having people over for dinner, Italian food.  Anything Italian...I make a delicious homemade basketti sauce ;)  However, if I'm cooking food at home and taking it somewhere...like to an event at church, spicy chicken nuggets.  Across the board, I'm known for my red velvet cupcakes, though!  (Recipes under the [Create] tab up top!)


(10)  Do you prefer to wear your hair up or down?
I prefer to wear it down, but I rarely do.  It's so dang long and thick..it takes so long to style down, so it's usually in a braid or ponytail or bun.. 


(11)  If someone gave you $100 right now, what would you buy with it?
Nothing.  I'd save it.  Or spend it on bills.  Boring answer, I know.  Haha.  

Now...y'all have to answer my questions!
I'm going to be lazy and just tag the people whose buttons I have on my side bar.  ;)
Which means I'm tagging 13 of y'all and not "11" like the rules clearly stated.
What-evs!  Love it or leave it. 

So, lovers, you're tagged =)
(And btw...
if you don't follow these AWESOME bloggers, you should start!
Or at least pay them a visit.
Also, look for a post featuring them soon!)

Please answer the following questions, bosom-buddies!

1.  Is your blog on Twitter ~ why or why not?  

2.  Tell us one thing that you where once able to do, but now feel like you're too old to do it or too old to pull it off.

3.  What is your most common or favorite day dream?  

4.  Do you have any good broken-bones stories?  Tell, tell! 

5.  Name one aspect of yourself that embarrasses you.  For example...I have a HUGE appetite and it embarrasses me, haha.  How 'bout you?

6.  Do you have any tattoos?  Piercings?  

7.  Tell me about your fingernails.... painted?  natural?  are you obsessed with fake nails like I am?  Shellac?

8.  How is God using you or working in your life right now?

9.  What is something you should be able to do easily but can't?  (That's a weird question, so I'll elaborate.  I struggle with telling time on a non-digital clock or watch and I also don't know anything about the planets.  I don't know their names or their order or anything about moons....I had a death in the family during the 3rd grade and we had to travel.  I missed those lessons and never took it upon myself to learn/practice those things).

10.  What's your go-to breakfast meal?

11.  What's your favorite way to relax?

So, there's my answers, taggees, and questions!  =)  Enjoy!  Thanks for taggin' me, Megan!

The Newlywed Life: Filing Taxes

Many would say that Mr. Robinson and I married young.  I was 22, he was 23.  In many ways, we were both adults.  In many other ways, we were still "kids."  We never really experienced complete independence from our parents until we got hitched.  For example, neither of us have ever filed our own taxes.  Ever.  Both of us were in college and our parents had always taken care of things.   
Now, here we are...all grown up...married & clueless.

Okay, okay...we aren't completely grown up...but we are still married & clueless.  :)
  I was mildly terrified of filing taxes this year.  You see, I waited tables for the majority of 2011 and I'll be the first to tell you that I did not even come close to claiming all of the tips I made.  The less money I "claimed" in tips, the more money I got to keep.  Money I worked my butt off for, I might add.  (My behavior wasn't honest, it wasn't Christian-like, and if I was still waiting tables I would conduct myself entirely different.)  With a slightly guilty conscience, I was obviously a little bit nervous about a possible audit in our future.
Another scary thing....There are so many choices when it comes to filing taxes.  It's a little ridiculous how many choices there are, if you ask me.  I thought I'd share with y'all how The Robinson's went about filing taxes and why.  

1. We filed together because based on our financial situation, it would save us money.  Do the research and determine what will be most beneficial to you and your spouse - filing together or filing separately.  I was also very inclined for us to file together because I felt like it was the Biblically correct thing to do.  Call me crazy, but I feel like when God said a married couple is one, He meant in all areas.  Not only in certain areas or in all areas except.... you know what I'm saying?  Also, when Mary was pregnant with Jesus, her and Joseph went to be taxed.  They went together.  Mr. Robinson didn't so much agree with my Biblical reasoning, and that's okay.  We did the research and determined that we needed to file together.  Advice:  Do the research.  There are so many options out there, figure out what option works best for you.  We all want to get money back!  So Google it, ask an accountant for free advice, talk to parents and/or grandparents... 
2. We decided to have a professional tax accountant do our taxes for us instead of doing them on our own.  Like I said, we have no experience with this whole "filing taxes" thing.  We are still wet behind the ears.  I'm lucky enough to work for the family business and we already had a trusted accountant.  His private company handled our taxes this year.
3. We turned in everything.  Just to be sure.  Our W2's (we each had two), the tithes and offerings report from church, receipts from the Goodwill donations we made (even the separate donations we made before we were married), etc.  We turned in everything.  

Filing taxes can be stressful.  We certainly argued about the best thing to do and the best way to do it.  What we learned (and we are not experts by ANY means) is to do your research!  What works for your parents might not work for you.  Ask around, do internet searches, and be prepared to stay confused.  I'd (personally) recommend hiring a professional to save yourself a headache AND professionals can check both options (filing jointly or separately) and tell you which way will save money!
We just found out yesterday that we got $2,000 back!  Whoop, Whoop!! 
I hope this helps!  How'd you survive tax season?         
Don't forget to sign up for the blogger meet - up planned for October.  Click Here for details!  We'd LOVE to have you!  

Vacation 2012 {Photo Overload!}

After months and months of heavy prayer (and lots of searching), my husband got a new job!  We were so excited, but decided to take a week's vacation together before he put in his two week's notice with his current job.  You see....his current job comes with two weeks paid vacation while his new job is 100% commission and comes with no paid vacation.  When he changed jobs, he'd lose his two weeks off.  And since I have two weeks paid vacation, my two weeks would have been useless if I couldn't spend them with my husband.  So....you guessed it.  Vacation 2012:  February 29 - March 7.  Enjoy the photographs from our fabulous 7 days off from work, peppered with some shots of my husband's "vacation beard."  Any pictures where one of my eyes look a little lazy....yeah, that means I've been drinking.  Haha.  =)

Day 1

I dragged my poor, innocent husband to the Dermatologist.  He didn't want to go...he actually refused to be seen although he said he would go with me.  I had found what appeared to be an irregular mole.  I threatened not to go if he didn't go, and since he was worried about my mole....we both went.  Happy Day One of Vacation.  =)  My grandparents have a house at the beach, so we decided we'd stay there after our Dermatologist appointments.  We acted like tourists, I showed my husband around an area that long ago stole my heart, caught a buzz over lunch... and we had a perfect first day off of work.

Day 2

We slept in...and woke up at 9 am.  :)  Neither of us can really sleep in anymore.  We walked around the community that my grandparent's beach house is in to get some fresh, salty air.  There are some really huge houses going up in that neighborhood... I can't imagine what the owners must do for a living to building or living in homes that size in this economy.  We had a delightful and relaxing morning at the beach before coming home.  Mr rocked out in the (pink) man cave (it was my bedroom growing up) for a while, and then we cleaned up and started to get dinner ready - we had the new preacher and his wife over for chicken parmigiana, green beans & new potatoes, with Texas Toast.

 

Day 3

These plans were already in place before we decided to take a week off from work.  My dad bought front row tickets to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey The Greatest Show on Earth {Circus} in Charleston!  My parents, my sister and her boyfriend, myself and Mr. Robinson made a day of it - stopping for Pizza along the way, getting to the circus early to have plenty of time to stock up on cotton candy & funnel cakes, walked around the mall for a bit after the show (I bought a new Bible!), and went out to eat at Sesame Burgers & Beer after the show.  They are known for having one of the best burgers in Charleston, not to mention a pretty intense list of beers on tap (but we kept it a family friendly outing).  

Day 4

It was a Sunday.  We went to Sunday School, Worship Service, Bible Study, Decipleship Training, and Worship Service Again.  =)  No pictures, sorry!

Day 5

It was off to Ashville, NC bright and early!  We made a few random stops along the way.  Mr. Robinson showed me the first house he ever lived in, in Columbia.  We stopped at a random park on the side of the road to stretch our legs and pose for pictures in a chimney.  We checked into The Renaissance Hotel in downtown Ashville (the view was gorgeous and had some pretty cool decor in the lobby), and then had dinner at Barley's Tap Room.  Great pizza, lots of beer choices.  My husband got hammered and road a pig.

Day 6

This was seriously my most favorite day of our vacation!  =)  We had breakfast at the hotel restaurant and then spent the morning checking out the shops down town.  My husband even enjoyed the antique stores ~ although they were way outside our price range!  It was so much fun walking around and window shopping.  The weather was perfect!  After we'd looked at everything, we went to The Biltmore House.  I'd never been before, and it was absolutely amazing.  No pictures were allowed inside, but we did take some pictures while we were outside.  We toured the house, ate at a restaurant on the estate, went to the winery and wine tasting, and then hit the road and headed to Greenville, SC!  When we got to Greenville, we walked around and saw the town.  It was crowded but the streets were all lit up and very beautiful.

Day 7:

We woke up and had a surprisingly good breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express we stayed at the night before.  After we stuffed our faces (we were only people eating breakfast!), we checked out and headed to the Greenville Zoo!  We loved it!  =)  Mr. R has been wanting to take me to the zoo since our beginning, and we never got around to it until now!  At the entrance, after we paid admission, we were each given a token.  We could choose which species our token would help save!  It was such a sweet sentiment and idea - we were both thrilled.  We had the best time looking at all the animals and fantasizing about having exotic pets.  Mr. favored the giraffes, while I was pretty obsessed with the black swan and polish hens.  We got to watch them train the lions with syringes full of goat's milk, which was pretty cool!  The zoo took a little over an hour to walk, since it was small, so after we finished we hit the road and headed home.  We were able to stop by and visit his parents for an hour or so, then we picked up Zombie from my parent's house....and then we headed home and passed out.  

March 8th, we returned back to work.  Mr. took one last photo of "The Vacation Beard," and we made sad faces over going back to work....but we really did have a perfect vacation!

On our first day back to work, "Day 8" if you will, my husband put in his two weeks notice, and it went over well!  For that, we were thankful.  We were hoping and praying for the best, but were prepared for the worst.  We knew that there was a possibility that he would get sent home or "let go" on the spot.  But, it didn't happen!  Hooray!

On our vacation, we were able to take back roads for most of our trip, we only argued once and it was about the Bible (haha), and we were able to see and explore parts of American that we hadn't seen before!  Most importantly, we relaxed and bonded.  We made memories.  =)  Here's to rest of our lives and all of the adventures we'll have, babe.