Aspen, Colorado

Drew and I took our first trip to Aspen in January.  Neither one of us went out there with big expectations of being great skiers (I had only snow skied one day in NC before this trip). Much to our surprise we were great (for begginers!). We were both in awe over the size of these mountains, it felt like the ski lifts were never going to make it to the top! We skied at Buttermilk Mountain (which was my favorite) and Snowmass. We didn't ski Aspen Mountain because it was definitely not for begginers! We spent our first day skiing the green trails (begginers) and the rest if the time we were on the blue trails (novice). We had one mishap though, we got off the trail we were following and ended up on a double black diamond course. We took our skis off and slid down on our butts! There was no way we were going to get down that trail on our skis! Also, these mountains were so big they had bars and lodges to stop at on your way down! There was a bar on the very top of Snowmass Mountain, so you would go in and have a drink (or 2) and then have to ski back down the mountain (not smart!).

We stayed in downtown Aspen at the Hyatt and it was so cozy and nice, the outdoor pool was heated and all the rooms had large fire places. We spent a lot of our time in the evenings walking around and exploring the shops and art galleries. Aspen is a very swanky town though, I didn't see any attractions for children either. The food was hit-or-miss in my oppionion.. There is a lot of European influence in Aspen so the food was really ritzy (ummm can I get some chicken fingers please!).

We will definitely go back to Aspen to ski!

Top of Snowmass Mountain

On the lift at Buttermilk

Sleigh ride!

Downtown Aspen

8 Month Catch-Up

I am a blog-slacker. Everytime I get caught up I swear I'm not going to slack off again, and I do, so I won't make that promise again! Here are some highlights from the past EIGHT months!
  
1. We were blessed with the birth of another niece! My sister-in-law, Kristin had a baby girl in March. She made her appearance rather quickly into the world much to everyone’s surprise, especially her parents! She is beautiful, healthy and (in my opinion) looks exactly like her big brother when he as a baby! 

2. My Gma Bev has made great improvements in her battle with breast cancer since receiving treatment in Atlanta Cancer Treatment Center of America.  Her overall health has improved and more importantly, she feels so much better! Praise  the LORD!

From Key West... ;)

3. Drew and I traveled to Aspen and Key West since my last post. I will have to post about these trips in greater detail later! We had a great time on both trips though and are planning our next trip to Colorado already (well, in our minds at least). ..

4. I had neck surgery in March to repair a ruptured disc in my neck that was causing severe pain down my right arm. Fortunately the doctor who performed the surgery did an amazing job and I feel so much better; I’m not 100% pain free yet, but we’re working on that!

first day home, notice the nurse (unnecessarily) shaved my hair - it's now growing into a rat-tail circa 1990. 

First day back at work with my fancy foam necklace! 

5. Drew bought a new toy.. a Jeep.. Although I was very reluctant in the beginning as to why we needed another vehicle, I must say it’s pretty darn fun to drive. Side note: It has a manual transmission; when we test drove it the first time Drew stalled out, I didn't.. I just felt that that was an important piece of information to share. ;) 

The in-laws driving us around :)

6. Both if my sweet nephews are another year older! It's so sad how quickly the time is flying by.. Their moms both did a great job on their birthday parties!

7. Three of my girlfriends are pregnant! Lori is due in February, Kathryn in March and Caroline in April! It's going to be a busy spring next year! 

Sweet Sadie

 Sadie made her arrival into this world early Halloween morning! L&D took a long time, not sure if it was as long as Parker’s birth, but it was a looooooooong time!   Sadie is 7 weeks old now and looks remarkably similar to Parker as a baby. She has a wonderful temperament and rarely cries, or at least I rarely see her cry! Parker loves being a big brother to her and tries to be as helpful as possible. I asked him the other day if I could take Sadie home with me and he said “No! That’s MY baby Sadie!”
I've got high hopes that Sadie will want to be a snuggler! (Parker would rarely indulge us long enough to get a good snuggle out of him; he still doesn't want to sit still long enough to snuggle!).

Casino Night in Wboro

Friday night the Downtown Development Authority hosted it's second annual Casino Night fund raiser. This was the first time Drew and I attended and it ending up being a lot more fun than I was expecting it to be! The theme was Great Gatsby and your ticket price included 25,000 dollars in fake money to play with. We played roulette first and lost terribly, then played blackjack and turned our luck around. They also had auction items and Kathryn won a Waynesboro themed gift basket! I'm not sure who catered but everything I tried was delicious, especially these mini BLT bites!

I'm Backkkkkkkkkkk

Obviously I've been on a little bit of a blogging hiatus but hopefully I will get back on track now. 

Here are the highlights since my last post:

1. I FINISHED MY MASTER’S DEGREE! I just recently had it framed. It now hangs proudly under my undergraduate degree in my home office.

2. We went to Maui! BEST. VACATION. EVER. 
Drew and I had convinced ourselves by the end that we would just stay; he would become a fishing guide and I would be a bartender… My favorite activity was our hike along the Waihee Trail. Absolutely breathtaking! Drew’s favorite activity was golfing at the Four Seasons on Lanai. If you are ever thinking of a trip to Hawaii I would definitely recommend Maui over any of the other islands. We will definitely be back!

At the Drums of the Pacific Luau

Golfing on Lanai

Hiking the Waihee Trail

3. Drew and Kathryn’s Birthday! They are birthday twins! We ate at The Good Day Café in celebration. We also celebrated earlier in the week with a delicious dinner at my bother-in-law’s house (Drew and his brother’s bday are only separated by a week (and 6 years)). 

4. Bird Dog Breakaway and the Color Run! Kathryn and I recently completed both of these 5K’s. I’m not going to say that I enjoy running now, but I don’t hate it (anymore!). We finished the Bird Dog Breakaway in 33 minutes and the Color Run in 29 minutes. We were thrilled with our time at the Color Run (I had a sinus infection, Kathryn forgot her headphones and we didn't warm up). It was a lot of fun though! Kathryn has a much better description of it here: Kathryn's Blog, Click here!

Bird Dog Breakaway in Waynesboro

After the Color Run

5. GSU vs. The Citadel
We finally made it to a football game! The weather was wonderful and the Eagles won, of course! 

6. I finally found a unique way to store a few of the trinkets from my wedding. Mrs. Cheryl gifted me a handkerchief from her wedding that I pinned under my gown. My mother had this tiny bagged made out of her wedding dress and one of my father's USMC bars was pinned inside (this was also pinned under my dress).  I have had both of these items in my fireproof safe since the wedding but I have always wanted to display them. They are now beautifully displayed on the shelves in my living room. 

Old Barn Wood Shadow Box (via etsy, duh!)

7. Kim’s is ridiculously beautiful when pregnant (and not pregnant, obviously!). Here are a few pics I took last week:

8. My other sister-in-law just found out last week that they are having a girl! I know they were thrilled to find this out, plus it is so much more fun to shop for a girl! My Etsy addiction is getting out of hand.

 IT'S A GIRL!

9. This past weekend Ansley, Lori and I went to HHI for a mini-getaway. We went to the outlets, which were a bust by-the-way. After that we spent the rest of the day hanging out, eating, bar hopping and finally ended up at the XO Lounge at the resort. We forgot to take a group picture though.. But here is a picture from college… you get the idea! 

Bathroom Re-do

Here are a few pictures of our master bathroom update! We discovered that the grout in our master shower was leaking so we were forced to remove some of the tile to investigate. Fortunately the water damage was not terrible, but it definitely needed to be fixed. I have had the desire to remove the exterior tile for some time now because it I felt it made the bathroom appear too dark. Anyway, ripping out the tile was very messy (but fun!) so we decided we would go ahead with a mini-bathroom overhaul. We added bead board to the exterior shower wall (and added it to all of the other bathroom walls). The bead board needs one more coat of paint that I will get around to doing one day in the future! We also added new countertops (we originally just used left over tile when we first moved in). The granite came from Stoneworks of Augusta and I felt their prices were reasonable. I painted the light fixtures black-ish to match the new faucets/cabinet knobs and added a small chandelier over the bath tub. I think the bathroom looks much brighter and cleaner with the updates!

During the demo

Shower before and after

Tub area before and after 

My sink/vanity area before/after

Walls by our closets before/after

Another Adventure

Drew and I are gearing up for another travel adventure next month! We decided in May that we wanted to take a trip this fall to celebrate MBA accomplishments but we had no idea where we wanted to go. We thought about it and decided between going back to Costa Rica, Key West or doing something a little more low key like going to Denver. When it came down to booking our trip we weren't sold on any of those locations (although I would go back to Costa Rica in a heartbeat!). We ended up deciding on Hawaii, more specifically the island of Maui! We are soooo excited! I am not excited about the 20+ hours it will take us to get there though! We are flying out of Atlanta to Honolulu then taking an “island hopper” to Maui. Pray for us and this tiny airplane!

We are flying into Kahului and driving to Ka’anapali. Drew is stoked that I rented a jeep wrangler (typical tourist car!). He has always wanted a Jeep!

We decided to rent a condo in Ka’anapali versus staying in a hotel. We wanted to stay somewhere that was less crowded that the big resorts on Maui so we rented a 1 bedroom condo at the Honua Kai Resort.

The countdown clock has started.. we are less than a month away! We are staying in Maui for ALMOST a week! Can you believe that?? Usually 4 days is my max, but when it takes 20 hours to travel somewhere I’ll make an exception!

… More to come! 

July run-down

Wow! It has been over a month since my last post! Seems like I just wrote about Has Lina last week! Here is what has been going on since my last post:

We went to HHI for the 4^th of July! It was a lot of fun! We stayed in Folly Field. The traffic was terrible on the island though! We went shopping, spent time on the beach and ate ….a lot! Drew, my mom and brother even played a round of golf together at Indigo Run.

Mama and Parker

There were a bunch of birthdays this month too! Our nephew turned 2! Here is opening his Harley Davidson BIG wheel from Aunt Bean and Uncle Drew! I LOVED my big wheel as a kid and I hope he enjoys this one just as much!

Kim turned 27 this month too! I forgot to take a picture at dinner (we went to Myabis!) so her is a picture from a Kenny Chesney concert we attended in 2009! That was such a fun night!

My mother-in-law also had a birthday! I took a picture of her at the Mexican restaurant in a ridiculously large sombrero that I will decline to post… for now! ;) Here is a picture of us from 2007, I believe this was our first picture together!

Last Saturday was Caroline’s 30^th birthday! We went to Augusta to celebrate.. Beamies for dinner! Here is a picture of the girls before we headed out (by the way, this is Caroline’s front porch on their BEAUTIFUL new house!)

We have also started a few upgrades on our house! The bathroom was out of necessity (the tile grout was leaking (ughhhh!)) and we had the kitchen back-splash tiled too. The bathroom is almost finished (we decided to replace the countertops and then we added bead board to the walls since we had a mess on our hands anyway!).

Kitchen before and after!

tile coming down

mid-crazy-mess that was the bathroom. 

Drew and I have also been working out together in preparation for our upcoming trip! I will post about that soon.. But back to working out, I purchased a polar watch and heart rate monitor and I'll admit it’s pretty impressive (and keeps me motivated!). Among other things, it tracks your calories burned based on your heart rate during the workout (granted you have to wear a small strap around your rib cage while you work out and that can be a little uncomfortable at times.  I got mine on Amazon, of course.

We have also had a couple lazy afternoons too!  

The sun!! 

Has-Lina

              
Earlier this week Drew and I were watching something on the Discovery Channel/NatGeo before bed (our go-to channels when there isn't much on TV).  Anyway, back to Has-Lina, a Christian Child Fund commercial came on and inspired us to want to sponsor a child in an underdeveloped nation. I signed us up to sponsor a little girl the next day. Her name is Has-Lina (goes by Lina) and she lives in the Svay Angk Community of Cambodia. She is 12 years old and loves school, especially mathematics. I would like to encourage everyone to sponsor a child through CCF if you are interested. You can pay on a month-to-month basis, quarterly or once per year.  The cost to sponsor a child is only $28/month which is basically the cost of a manicure or a trip to the Mexican restaurant. Here is the link if you are interested: www.childfund.org. I wrote my first letter to her this morning and I am excited to receive a response (which will take a few weeks to be delivered to her and translated) but I will share with you once she writes back. 

Has-Lina, 12 y/o

 

Point "A" is Svay Angk which is about 80 miles from the capital.

Lazy Summer Catch-Up

So far it has been a lazy summer for us (although summer does not officially begin until this Friday). We have been staying in more than usual and I must say it is nice to go all weekend without having to put any makeup on. We need to stay home more often! Drew has been playing more golf lately and I've been torturing myself at the gym after work a few days a week; other than that it has just been work and home, work and home. Here are the highlights from the past couple of weeks:

1. It’s a GIRL!

We found out last weekend that J&K are expecting a girl this fall! I was convinced it was going to be a boy but “boy” was I wrong! We are all thrilled to be receiving a baby girl into our family. I don’t believe I mentioned this yet but J&K asked Drew and me to be the godparent’s of P and Baby #2. Such an honor that was! As far as I know they have not decided on a name for baby girl yet but they need to do so quickly so I can feed my etsy addiction!

Kim and Parker after the confetti drop!

Me, Kim & Courtney; my 2 oldest friends.

Here is my first purchase for baby girl! 60 hair bows!!
Let's hope she isn't bald 'til age 2 like I was!

 

2. DONE. WITH. CLASSES. FOREVER…. Or a while at least.

I finished my LAST class for my MBA program on the 10^th! I am thrilled to be finished with classes and now the only thing left to complete is my MBA project. I am about a 1/3 of the way finished with the project and have until September 30^th to submit it. I’d like to think I can get it turned in early, but if my past performance is any indication I’ll be rushing to finish at the bitter end! I would like to think that I am officially finished with higher education, but getting my PhD is pretty tempting. Dr. Bean – I like it!  

check!

3. Mama’s birthday! The 9^th was Mama’s birthday! She turned 49? … Yes, let’s go with 49. We had a mellow evening; Chinese food and birthday cake! I’m pretty sure we were all sick afterwards from eating too much.

 blowing out candles before "wopening" gma's presents.

 

4. Effective today I am offically a part-time reduced hours employee. It will be a while until I can consider myself an actual part-time employee especially with the increased workload businesses now face with the implementation of the Obamacare Affordable Healthcare Act (ACA) in January. I went to an ACA seminar last Friday and I am genuinely frightened for the vast majorities of small businesses. This "Affordable" act is going to sink far too many businesses than benefit the individuals who already receive free healthcare need access to insurance. ... Okay, off my soap box.