My new hobby

This year I got one of the best Christmas presents ever.... a KitchenAid Mixer!  Yay!  I love it!!!!  I have taken up a new hobby in the past month.  I really enjoy decorating cakes.  I'm not that good at it, but it is fun to try and be a little creative.  Matt seems to have gotten all of the creative juices in our family, so I like being able to do something a little artistic.  Haha.  I guess as long as they are as good as what you get by stopping by Bloom on the way to the party, my family will keep letting me make them.  Haha!  Maybe one day I will get good enough to sell them...but probably not...haha.  Anyway, I want to thank Mom and Dad and Ma and Papa for one of the greatest gifts ever!

Did you know that Willy Wonka lived in Detroit?

In September, several of us on staff went to Granger, IN for the Innovate Conference. On the way, we had a layover in Detroit. Of course, the gate where we landed and the gate where we needed to be for our next flight were on opposite sides of the airport. But this time....that was a great thing! Because had it not been for our trek across Michigan...I mean the Detroit airport...we would have never gotten to take the magical ride through the Willy Wonka factory. Did you ever see that movie? The original? That wondrous magical boat ride was pretty creepy stuff when you were a kid wasn't it? Well, if you are walking through a normal airport in the US and happen upon a tunnel, much like that in Wonka's factory, it can be kind of creepy as an adult. And then you just stand on the moving sidewalk and take it all in and it becomes kind of fun! Kudos to Marshall for going back and trying to capture it on tape...but really...you just have to be there. I'm pretty sure someone tried to lick the wallpaper on the way out!

PS-The video gets really good at 51 seconds!

Willy Wonka's Wonderous Boat Ride

In case you never saw the original

For the lastest information on the Tigers....

Ange's Top Ten List

Oprah does it.... Dave does it..... So why not.....

Angela's Top Ten Lists:

My top ten books of all time.....



10. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis (7 books)
9. The Newpointe 911 Series by Terri Blackstock (5 books)
8. Uncommon Heroes Series by Dee Henderson (3 books)
7. The List by Robert Whitlow
6. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
5. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
4. The O'Malley Family Series by Dee Henderson (7 books)
3. Safely Home by Randy Alcorn
2. Deadline by Randy Alcorn
1. The Bible (how can you possibly find anything better....it was written by God)

My top ten songs of all time.....



10. For Every Mountain by Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir
9. Out of the Woods by Nickel Creek
8. Taking My Time by Susan Ashton
7. There is a Line by Susan Ashton
6. Dancin', Shaggin' on the Boulevard by Alabama
5. Sunshine by Billy Miles
4. Fast Car by Tracy Chapman
3. Won't That Be Fine by Ginny Owens
2. Stay (I Missed You) by Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories
1. Gotta Get Back by Shelby Lynne

My top ten coffee shops in Greenville.... see if you can find the pattern


10. Starbucks at Greenville Memorial
9. Starbucks in Targetl
8. Coffee Underground
7. Starbucks on East North Street
6. Starbucks on Woodruff
5. Starbucks Downtown
4. Starbucks on Fairview Road
3. Starbucks on Wade Hampton
2. Starbucks on Pelham
1. Starbucks on Haywood

My top ten favorite clothing stores in town....


10. Gap
9. Dress Barn
8. Mr. Knickerbocker
7. Banana Republic (only during a BIG sale)
6. Macy's
5. Kohl's
4. Steve & Barry's
3. Old Navy
2. Target
1. Belk

My top ten favorite restaurants in town....


10. Little Pigs
9. Red Lobster
8. Red Robin
7. Zaxby's
6. Arizona Steak House
5. Coffee Underground....mmm...the Turkey/Granny Smith Apple Sandwich
4. Thaicoon
3. P.F. Chang's
2. Carrabba's Italian Rastaurant
1. Molina's Mexican Restaurant

My top ten favorite shops in town....
10. This N' That
9. Ten Thousand Villages
8. TWIGS
7. Tuesday Morning
6. Hallmark
5. Pink Azalea
4. Handpicked
3. The Shops at Provence etc.
2. Kendall's
1. Swoozie's

It's A Tough Life!

I came to work this morning a little nervous about the comments that I would get about the newest addition to my closet. Before I got out of the car, I knew that Robbie would make some kind of joke about my choices hurting his eyes and that dad would probably just shake his head and say nothing, but I never expected such disdain for one simple outfit. It started with Cindy. She was nice enough, but I think the word she used was "interesting" and then she threw in something about fitting in with college students to make me feel better. Next was Ben, followed by Robbie, and even David Nabors got in on the action. I believe it was Taylor Swift that he compared me to (and it wasn't a compliment...haha.) But the final blow came from the depths of the Sr. pastor's office, when he said, "That is THE ugliest outfit you have EVER worn." Now you may think that at this point in the day I am depressed, but there is one thing that you are forgeting.... I'm not working with the most fashion forward group of men to ever live. I work with Ralph Carter, not Ralph Lauren. So I am holding my head high and assuming (regardless of how erroneously it may be) that I am at the top of my fashion game.
By the way, here is what the editor of Style~Heart or Hate had to say about this pic of Jordan Sparks...
"I will admit that I HATED this trend back around 2001 when it first popped up. But now I can't get enough of it. Babydoll dresses, tight dresses, mini-dresses all look GREAT over jeans. The key is in the length of the dress. The dress shouldn't be longer then your knees and the jeans can be cropped or full length, it depends on the look you're going for."

All I have to say is... "2001!!!!"

Oh, and for those of you who don't know the staff well, we all really love each other and have fun giving each other a hard time. If my clothes are all they make fun of...I'm getting off pretty easy!

The Mount Rushmore of China

When I went to China in 2002 I was so bummed that I flew that far and didn't get to see the Great Wall of China. Isn't it supposed to be one of the 7 wonders of the world? So I was really excited when I heard that my next trip to China would include a visit to the Great Wall. Two weeks ago I began a bus ride from my hotel just outside of Tiananmen Square up to the Great Wall. It was a longer bus ride than I expected. We finally got there and I was so sad to see all of the t-shirt vendors and people yelling "Hey Lady, do you want some chopsticks?" Like everything else in the world, they have turned this into a money making deal. It is hard to enjoy the beauty when there is a monorail going up the side of the thing. Oh well, we bought our tickets and jumped on the monorail. When we got up there it was pretty. We walked up to the top of the wall and took a few steps and a few pictures and then it hit me....yep that's what I thought it would look like. The anticipation was so much greater than the actual experience. I immediately thought of the summer after my junior year of college when my family drove for hours across South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore. We finally got there and stood at the observation deck for about 30 seconds and then looked at each other and got back in the car. It looked like the postcards we had all seen. It was quite the disappointment. I don't know what we were expecting then. I don't know what I was expecting at the Great Wall. Wouldn't it be so much cooler if you had never seen pictures of these places and then stumbled upon them. Even if you had always heard about them, but had never seen them. That would be so cool. Well one thing that I had never heard about did happen that day. You can take the monorail back down or you can luge down. I was a little terrified, but I determined that something about this experience was going to be exciting and memorable. So I got on the little sled and down the Great Wall I luged. How awesome is that!