Girl's Weekend Extravaganza...

Last weekend our small group got together for a fun guys/girls weekend! While the men when camping, the girls partied it up at my house for a few days. The fun started Friday when we had a Mexican fiesta night with chicken tacos and margaritas. After dinner and some chit chat we Lauren, Erin, and I played Glee Karaoke on the Wii. It was so much fun! Later that night we watched "Life As We Know It" before going to sleep "girl scout style" as Erin called, where Erin and I slept on the air mattress and Lauren slept on the couch. Saturday morning we woke up and made a yummy breakfast of waffles and fruit and then split up for a while mid morning. We all met back up, including Kristie, in the evening and headed to Alpharetta for a little Just For Giggles (like Sip-n-Strokes) painting. We all painted an owl, which was somewhat applicable to most, being alumni of KSU. We had a blast! Erin and I went very against our inner being and painted with different colors than the instructor...it was tough not following the rules, and I do believe that I will listen next time lol. After painting, we went to a late sushi dinner at Kurshiro. It. Was. HILARIOUS!!! There was a group of five 50+-year-olds who had had quite a bit to drink...they were trashed. I tried so hard to take a video but it's just too shaky to really see the goodness. I mean, they were dancing with the servers and up against the bar...it was terrible. But, like a train wreck, we just couldn't look away. To end our dinner, the restaurant played Jump On It, where Erin decided she would get out of the booth and ride the pony. It got a lot of cheers, especially from our drunk friends. Oh, and Erin was stone cold sober...that's why I love her. We rode home singing loudly to 90's hits then parted ways with Kristie while Erin and Lauren spent the night again. Sunday morning we had a some delicious monkey bread together and spent the morning in our pj's waiting for our husbands to come home. It was a FANTASTIC weekend that I hope will soon be repeated!

Lauren singing her heart out

Saturday Breakfast

Although Chester is a blur...the boys had a slumber party with Erin's dog too.

Getting ready to paint

Our owls...

Ten on Tuesday...

Lovingly borrowed from Erin's blog...

1. Any vacations you are looking forward to this summer?
YES!! We are looking forward to our annual trip to the beach with Greg's family (even though our time might be cut shorter than usual), and we are also looking forward to our vacation in August!!! We went back and forth on several places, but we finally decided where we are going for our big vacation this year...

Adventura Spa Palace in Riviera Maya, Mexico!!! (thanks for the recommendation Kristin!)

We CANNOT wait =)

2. What is your favorite article of summer clothing (shoes are included)?
Flip flops...I don't really dig any other summer clothes since they show off the ghostly white legs and jiggly arms lol

3. What is your favorite summer drink (alcoholic or non)?
Pina Colada's (virgin or not) and sweet tea

4. Do you tan or burn?
I usually tan, but I have to get a good burn once before I tan the rest of the summer.

5. Any goals you are working toward this summer?
A few =) One being to lose weight, unless I have an excuse not to =)

6. What is your favorite summertime food?
Watermelon! I love to eat watermelon outside on a summer day!

7. What song most says “summer” to you?
"In the Summertime" by Mungo Jerry. This song also says "middle school" because my dad and I would listen and sing to this song on the way to school in mornings.

8. Any home improvement goals planned for this summer?
Declutter!!! Our closets are outrageous!

9. What is one thing you hate to see at the beach?
Seaweed...eww.

10. Did you ever go to a summer camp?
Yes, and I cried at first, but eventually loved it!

My Birthday Round 2...

On my actual birthday, Greg was VERY sick with a terrible stomach virus. So, it put a hitch in our plans for the day. He was pitiful and I hated to see him so miserable. We ended up spending about 4 hours in the doctor's office while he got two bags of IV fluids...no fun. Cindy was sweet and brought us some chicken soup, so at least I didn't have to cook =) Well, this Saturday we made everything up! We had dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Flip and then went to a MarriedLife Live conference at Buckhead church. It was wonderful! The speakers were great. Even though there was nothing super new that we learned, it's always nice to have a little refresher course. The music was also phenomenal...one of the guys sang one of my favorite songs by Train- "If It's Love" and it was AWESOME! After the conference we went to grab dessert at the Cheesecake Factory to take home. After several minutes of going back and forth between my two favorite cheesecake choices, I finally picked on (banana cream..soo yummy), and went to the bathroom while Greg ordered our dessert. When we got home I saw that there were 3 pieces of cheesecake! He got both of my favorite choices since I had such a hard time deciding (and I wonder why I've gained so much weight)! So sweet =) We watched a cute movie while enjoying some of our dessert. For gifts, Greg got me new bedding for our bed which I DESPERATELY wanted and a Polar Fitness watch, which is SAWEET!!! It was a fantastic night, and a great way to celebrate my birthday! I loved every minute!

My 23rd Birthday...

This is late...I know. For some reason I have become quite lazy when it comes to blogging, but better late than never =)

Last Saturday we went over to Cindy and Thomas' to celebrate mine and Greg's birthdays. Cindy made a delicious meal, as usual, of BBQ, mac-n-cheese, sausage balls, baked beans, and fantastic banana pudding and apple pie for dessert! Sooo good =) After stuffing ourselves, we opened our birthday gifts. I got a beautiful pink sweater from the Joneses and a gorgeous Pandora bracelet with a dog charm, a heart charm, and a flip flop charm from Cindy and Thomas...LOVE IT! Greg got a really nice dress shirt from the Joneses and the convertible camping pants he's been wanting from his parents. It was a wonderful night spent with everyone! Thanks so much for my gifts!

Beautiful...

If I could go back in time to our awesome wedding, I would most definitely have this song involved somehow...I. LOVE. IT!!!





Here are the lyrics...

Forever can never be long enough for me
Feel like I've had long enough with you
Forget the world now we won't let them see
But there's one thing left to do

Now that the weight has lifted
Love has surely shifted my way
Marry Me
Today and every day
Marry Me
If I ever get the nerve to say
Hello in this cafe
Say you will
Mm-hmm
Say you will
Mm-hmm

Together can never be close enough for me
Feel like I am close enough to you
You wear white and I'll wear out the words I love
And you're beautiful
Now that the wait is over
And love and has finally shown her my way
Marry me
Today and every day
Marry me
If I ever get the nerve to say hello in this cafe
Say you will
Mm-hmm
Say you will
Mm-hmm

Promise me
You'll always be
Happy by my side
I promise to
Sing to you
When all the music dies

And marry me
Today and everyday
Marry me
If I ever get the nerve to say hello in this cafe
Say you will
Mm-hmm
Say you will
Marry me
Mm-hmm

So sweet =)

Greg's 26th Birthday...

The Handsome Birthday Man

Last Sunday we celebrated my sweet husband's 26th birthday! It couldn't have started out any better, waking up in a cozy cabin and then going to get a birthday breakfast at the Donut Friar in Gatlinburg. We hit the road to go pick up our boys and when we arrived at his parents house, Cindy had made some delicious chili for lunch and had surprise cupcakes for the both of us (mine didn't say happy birthday)...sweet! They also gave him a very nice sweater and brown corduroy pants.

We had a nice visit with his parents before heading home with our two pups! When we got home, I headed out to Harry's Farmers Market to get some things for dinner. Upon request, we were doubling up on steaks this weekend (neither one of us eat very much red meat, but Greg does love a good steak), so even though we had a steak dinner on Saturday night, he wanted his birthday meal cooked by me to be steak too. SO, we had filet mignon, cornmeal fried onion rings, and sauteed wild mushrooms (all recipes courtesy of Ina Garten/Barefoot Contessa). It was very yummy, but a little too salty for my taste...but, I followed the recipes completely, however, next time I'll back off a bit on the salt! I don't have a picture of dessert, but Greg does not really care for birthday cake, so he asked for something that we wouldn't have a ton of leftovers on, so I made Nutella Wontons...these truly, will make you want to slap your own face. SOOOO good! And they're so fast to make and it's nice because you can make as many or as few as you would like. Seriously. Try them TODAY! For Greg's gifts, I got him a new auxillary cable to hook up his iPhone in the car (since I broke the last one), and the new Cross Breed Deluxe gun holster that he wanted for his new gun. It was a fun birthday and I hope that we have so many more to celebrate together! I, of course, had to tease him about being an old man now since he's on the other side of 25 and I'm still a baby at 22 (soon to be 23)! But I love this "old" man more than anything =)

Happy Birthday my love!

Ten on Tuesday...

Here on the Ten on Tuesday questions from Roots and Rings

1. Do you decorate for Valentine’s day?
Pssh...I barely had time to decorate for Christmas! Perhaps I'll feel differently, when I have kids.

2. Does your desktop have a picture or computer graphic? Is it organized?
Picture of me and my love taken by Erin =)

3. Do you use a paper planner, electric planner or no planner at all?
Paper, dry-erase, and electric. It's a bit intense. And yes, things are color coded and some events even have pictures =) You'll also be happy to know that filling out my planner in school and all through college was one of my favorite beginning of the semester tasks!

4. Do you change purses or bags often or stick with a good thing?
I'm terrible about this. I usually just stick with whatever I've been using until I get a new purse. Which someone gives me because I am not a fan of purse shopping. I have a dilemma this year because I was given 2 purses!

5. What’s your favorite YouTube Video?
It won't let me embed the video, but it's Bon Qui Qui at Burger King...LOVE.IT.

6. Do you use Turbo Tax or a real person to pay your taxes?
Both, I have a real person- Greg, and he uses Turbo Tax.

7. How many states have you set foot (or tire) in? Which ones?

Hmm... a bunch!

31 states!

8. How many countries have you been in? Which ones?
Mexico and Italy

9. How many pillows are in your house? (Sleeping or decorative)

I don't no...15ish?

10. How cold is too cold for flip flops?
It's never too cold for flip flops.