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

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! 

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.

 

St. Simon's Island

We snuck away for Memorial Day weekend this past weekend and it was a very nice getaway! We rented a condo near the King and Prince Resort and shared it with my brother and Drew’s brother (plus their wives of course). Our friends Scott and Laurie were also at SSI for the weekend and they spent a lot of time with us too! We got a great deal on the condo, especially considering it was Memorial Day weekend; I wouldn't mind renting it again in the future! The weather was fantastic (sunny and high 80’s --perfect beach weather!). Us gals spent most of our days on the beach, the guys went golfing on Saturday and toughed it out with us all day Sunday. We brought a ton of food down with us and only ate about a 1/3 of it; imagine that. We ate out every night (@ the Red Barn, Crab Trap and Gnat’s Landing – Gnat’s was my favorite). I’m not sure why I didn't really take any pictures, but here are a few:

Drew and his bother playing corn-hole.

Outside of the Crab Trap (great chicken fingers by the way!)

.... yep that is it for pictures! 

Spring Pictures!

I hosted my first mini-photography-sessions on March 16th and 17th. I had 16 children participate, which was wayyyyy  to many looking back! I also did not realize how much time I was going to need to edit the pictures. I ended up taking over 1,500 pictures! Obviously I did not edit anywhere close to that figure. Here are some of my favorites (I'll add more latter -- I only have on SD card with me right now).

10 Obsessions

It has been a while since I’ve posted about random topics, most of my post as of late have been catching up on events in my life. So here are a list of my current top 10 obsessions (some of which are new obsessions others are old ones that have just been revived).

1.    Low Carb Strawberry Cheesecake. After I finished writing a paper on Sunday I decided to reward myself with something delicious, instead of driving to the closest Dairy Queen I decided that I would make a cheesecake so I could enjoy it for several days. I have basically ate nothing but Cheesecake since Sunday. I made it with splenda and almond meal crust, so I really don’t feel that guilty about it!

2.  Gelish nail polish. This is a revived obsession, unfortunately I just don’t have enough time to get manicures on the regular! I made time to get one for my birthday 3 weeks ago and my nails still look great (no damaging acrylic either!).

3.  Yoga and Heavy Bag Training (translation: punching bag madness). I found a DVD at Target a while back that had several beginner yoga routines, one of which was a night time wind down routine. I have been doing it in the evenings off and on for the past 2 weeks and I think it honestly has helped me sleep better. I also received a punching bag and gloves for my birthday that we hung out in Drew’s shop. It really is a lot of fun especially after I took the time to do some research and  figured out what I should be doing, plus it’s a really fast workout!

4.  Summer time. Daylight savings time has arrived which means that warmer weather is right around the corner. No additional explanation required.

5.  Urban Decay De-Slick. This was also a birthday present and is a great product (I haven’t used it prior to getting it for my bday). After I put my face on in the mornings I lightly mist this over my face and it helps my foundation stay put all day. I’m not sure about the cost but its available at Sephora and Ulta. 

6.  Iced Coffee. Man that stuff is good! This is also a revived obsession since it hasn’t been as cold outside as of late.

7. Springtime flowers and plants. I made a trip to Home Depot this past weekend and bought all the flowers and plants I needed to replant my big planters for the gate and my pots on the porch. This year I am determined to make sure they survive through the entire summer! (Or at least longer than they did last year!).

 8. Ebay. I don’t normally shop on ebay (not like I do on Amazon at least) but since I downloaded an app on my phone I have been doing some serious stalking of a whole array of different items. I also enjoy finding strange and unusual items on ebay and just watching to see how much they sell for which has only reinforced my belief that there are more crazy people in this world than sane. 

9. Photography. I am getting excited about doing me first round of spring mini-sessions this weekend. Will post pictures next week (hopefully). 

10. Downton Abbey. This is a show that comes on BBC America about a family in England based in pre-WWI era. It’s a drama that claims to be historically accurate about the period. My favorite character just died and I’m not too happy about that, hopefully I will stick with it though. I find myself talking with a British accent and wishing I had a house fully of maids, butlers and cooks after I watch the episodes! Drew has yet to respond to my bell ringing…….. rude. 

LAS VEGAS!

We have been back from Las Vegas for almost 2 & a 1/2 weeks now and I'm just now getting around to writing about it. We had an awesome time and I think we stay just long enough (to spend more money than we planned on spending and eating more than we should have!). Oops! We stayed at Caesars Palace again but this time we stayed in the Palace Towers which were almost identical to the other towers (I think these rooms for just a little bit larger though). Here are a few pictures of our room:

We also went and saw The Beatles: Love Cirque du Soleil show at the Mirage on our first night and it was truly amazing! That was my first Cirque show and I was blown away by how great it was produced and executed. The only thing I wish we would have done differently was going to the earlier 7:30 showing versus the 9:30 showing because we were all dragging by the end of it! They wouldn't allow photography inside but here are a few we snuck in! Ha!

Of course we gambled some too (playing blackjack and penny slots for the most part). My biggest win on the slot machines was $120! We walked across the street to play blackjack at the Flamingo because it was less crowded and the tables were much cheaper! I forget how much fun it can be when you're not losing all your money! We also tried playing craps for the first time and that game was just that ((crap))!

Of course we tried a ton of different restaurants my favorite restaurant was this little chocolate dessert place near our elevators literally everything was chocolate! My least favorite restaurant was Gordon Ramsay's Pub and Grill I thought the food was horrible but that is also because I'm not a fan of European style food; chicken fingers for this gal please!

Serendipity 

I also made a trip to the spa one day while the guys were out gallivanting. It was a beautiful spa but I can't say that it was worth the price of the services; yowza! Drew and Mr. David also went and drove sports cars at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on our last full day there ((Drew's Valentine's Day present)). Mr. David drove a white Porsche and Drew drove a Red Ferrari. They both enjoyed it and Mrs. Cheryl and I listen to them talk about it for the rest of the day! Here are few pictures for

Great trip, great weather, great family... GREAT time! 

Photo Updates

We have had (mostly) remarkable weather for this time of the year these past 2 weeks or so and have even ventured into the 80 degree realm on a day or two! Yessssss! I for one think it should be 90 and sunny year round but very few others share this sentiment with me. Anyway, on to the pictures... I was able to get together with Catherine and Amanda on Tuesday evening of last week to take pictures of their sweet daughters. Both Savanna and Emma decided that they were going to be serious models for the shoot though! We managed to get one smile out of each, but we sounded like a group of idiots in the process! "Are you going to smile for us? Awww smile for us! Smile for mama! Be a sweet girl! Sssmmmiiilllleeeeee!" 

 I also took pictures of my nephew on Saturday because he is 18 months old now! Wowza! I have been taking his pictures for a little over a year now at different milestones and it is so neat to look back on the pictures and see how much he has changed in such a short period of time. 

Here are a few of my favorites: 

Savanna (3 months old)
(This was actually the first one I took of her on Tuesday so I thought this was going to be an session and we would get lots of smiles!)

But boy were we wrong! She stuck her tongue out at us and that was it for facial expressions for the day! How cute was this though?!

Most of the pictures looked more like this though:

She is adorable either way! We are hoping for a better performance when she turns 6 months old! :)

Savanna is the baby that was cooking during these pictures: Catherine and Lee

Emma - 4 Months Old

She was such a little doll; this was kind of a smile, right?!

 

Here are her proud parents, Robert and Amanda. (Still no smile from Emma!) 

Lastly, here are 18 month pictures 

We had no issues getting laughs or smiles out of this guy though! 

Again, all smiles! 

This was my favorite picture we took that day! 

Drew's Shop

After what seems like an eternity of building this shop we are finally nearing completions. I am soooo excited about the completion for several different reasons but my main excitement is to finally get the garage cleaned out! We have been maneuvering around a giant lawnmower parked between our cars since last summer.

Here is the exterior. The roll-up doors should be installed later this week. (Emphasis on should).

Here are the interior walls; smooth plywood. 

Brigham's Pictures

I meant to post these pictures last week but got sidetracked as usual. Courtney brought Brigham to the house 2 weekends ago so that i could take a few 3 month pictures for her. He is getting sooooo big and the weather was great (warm enough for gnats to harass us!). Here are a few of my favorite pictures:

Sitting up like a big boy! 

Enjoying some sugar from his mommy.

Happy that the pictures are almost over :)

Man Shop Update

Here is a picture from yesterday of the progress on Drew' shop. It is moving along... slowly. The roof is finished and the electrical on the inside is basically complete. We still have to finish the tin on the exterior walls, install the roll-up doors, insulate interior then finish the interior walls and pour the cement pad on the front. Now that I think of it, ignore what I said int he post below about it being finished in 2 weeks!

January Catch Up

Well we are already half way through January and this is the first opportunity I have had to post a few things in a while. They say time flies when you are having fun... apparently time also flies when you are working all the time!

Here are a few highlights from the past couple of weeks:

Drew and I went to San Francisco in 2007; we went for a wedding but spent a few days touring the area and went to Napa Valley as well. One of the wineries we toured was Viansa Winery. We bought a few bottles of wine and had them shipped to us (one of which we have saved for the past 5 years). We finally decided that we would open it and try it out to see if it had actually improved with age. I had wrapped the bottle up several years ago so that we didn't accidentally open it (and it worked!). What didn't work however was the cork. Dang it! Half way through opening the bottle it broke off so we just went at it with a knife 'til we made a hole big enough to pour through.  I think the flavor got a little more 'smokey' with time in addition to the small shards of cork it wasn't half bad!

Viansa Winery in 2007

Zifandel bottled in 2005

My poor Annabelle had to have dental surgery last week. I was petrified.  Actually, I think petrified isn't a realistic description of exactly how scared I was for her. Fortunately everything turned out fine and my sweet little baby is feeling much better (less 12 teeth). She is however disappointed that her mouth is healing up and she isn't getting hot dogs for dinner anymore! 

Annabelle doing what she does best..

Leaving Dr. Ford's office.. Poor baby was still doped up. 

Drew and I decided to do something really low key for New Years versus years past. We actually didn't nail down any concrete plans until New Years Eve. We ended up heading over to two of our good friend's house (Gaines and Kathryn) and met up with a few other friends there. We enjoyed spending time with friends and we were actually back home and in the bed around 12:30! Win! 

Happy New Years! 

I had full intentions of getting a group shot at Christmas of my family and Drew's family, I even pulled my tripod out and got it set up. I decided before everyone got there to put the tripod and camera in the side bedroom so that it would not get knocked over in the madness. Well... I forgot all about it and never got a picture.:(  Drew and I did get a family photo earlier in the day:

Christmas Eve 2012

The shop is coming along nicely! I am optimistic that it will be completed in the next two weeks. I will add a separate blog post later this week with pictures and a full update. Drew is very excited about the progress on his "Man Shop".

Last week Blythe Elementary School called up to our office and asked if we had any volunteers that wanted to come and read for Book Day or Reading Day (something like that). Of course Lori and I jumped at the opportunity to go! I read a book called the Stray Dog to a group of 3rd graders. The book started out sad but ended happy! After finishing the story all the kids had to tell me stories about their pets including a few traumatic incidents... yikes! 

Reading is F-U-N

We nailed down final trip details for our Las Vegas getaway next month! We have the flights and hotel booked now and we are really excited to go! Drew's parents are accompanying us on this trip and we are really excited to get away with them on a real vacation (it is much overdue). We are staying a Caesars Palace again this time. Yippie! 

2009

Today is also Justin's 29th birthday! I can't believe he is only a year away from 30.. which means I'm getting a lot closer to 30 too. Eeek! ;) 

Happy Birthday!