For Keepsies

Baby does what?

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Wed, 16 Nov 2016 18:00:00 +0000

When I was pregnant with the twins, I did some reading/researching. I didn't read as much as I should have most likely but I locked on to some ideas that I wanted to implement with the kids after they were born. One being Baby Led Weaning (BLW). The premise is, you skip the purees and serve the baby whatever you're having off your plate. And then- let them go at it, exploring the textures and allowing them to feed themselves. That way they become more adventurous eaters and develop their self feeding skills as well as regulate how much they want to eat and when. Sounded good in theory, but in reality what was it like?
I asked a couple of friends who'd attempted BLW and got mixed results. One friend who tried it, said she was scared to death of choking every time her daughter put something in her mouth. In fact, she had to do CPR on several occasions. Whoa.
Another friend said she thought about it but knew their daycare wouldn't be on board so she was forced to do purees during the week and out of convenience just continued it on the weekends as well.
A third friend I asked had an AMAZING experience with it. Her little was gnawing on chicken legs at 7 months old! She mentioned she never once had to do CPR at any point. Babies are equipped with a fabulous gag reflex that pretty much forces them to spit out anything thats too big. This gag reflex starts out in the middle of the tongue in babies and then slowly recedes to the back of the tongue as we get older.
There's a big difference between gagging and choking. Don't get me wrong, gagging is super scary and loud. But its perfectly normal and allows the baby to clear his own airway. You only need to intervene if they're silent and can't breathe. This is an awesome infographic thats really helped me know when to panic or not!

I really wanted to do BLW with my kiddos but I had the first time mom jitters so I started out really slow. Giving them a few strips of things like avocado and sweet potato but also smushing them a little first. Looking back I wish I had more confidence in my babes and allowed them to learn it for themselves. I also did some purees with them and sent those with them to daycare.

First bite of Avocado!

Smushed peas

Now they're 9 months old and are champs! I cook all sorts of stuff for them: quinoa, pancakes, frittata, pasta, toast with peanut butter! 9 months is when they start getting their pincer grasp so I can start cutting things up into smaller pieces and not having to worry about if they can pick it up or not.

Leave a little bit of the banana peel on so they can pick it up easier!

BLW doesn't mean you can't give them pureed foods. We eat pureed foods every day such as oatmeal, yogurt, applesauce, etc.! I still offer these foods only I pre-fill spoons for them to feed themselves with. It's messy, but that's life at this point. My word of advice is to strip them down to their diapers to make clean up a little easier. That way you can pretty much hose them off at the end! hah!

blueberry yogurt was a huge hit!

So, thats my experience with a modified BLW. I frequent pinterest for ideas as well as the Wholesome Homemade Baby Food blog. Also, if you're on Facebook, join the group FeedingLittles. Its run by a local dietitian and a speech therapist and its AWESOME. It's really helped me get over my first time mom hesitancies. Let me know if you have any questions on my experience. I'd be happy to oblige. Leave me a comment if you've tried BLW! Until next time!

xoxo,

-Melissa :)

Things, they are a changin'

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Fri, 11 Nov 2016 19:01:00 +0000

Are you there blogland? It's me, Melissa. Not sure if you remember me, but I'm still here! And man, have things changed! Last time we spoke, it was 3 years ago. That was pre-new house and pre-kids! Yeah, you heard that right- we have KIDS now- plural!

I'm not sure when I'm going to find the time to blog but I have high aspirations. So you'll have to bear with me. You see, blogging is a stress reliever of sorts. Gives me a chance to unload so-to-speak. Not to mention, I feel like every person in my field has a blog these days. Not that I'm going to start a nutrition blog, but I might have a post here and there. To keep you on your toes, you know? This blog started out as a chronicle of my married life and I intend it to be that way. And since I'm a dietitian by trade, nutrition posts are bound to sneak in there!

So, let's jump in! I'll give you a 30 second recap of what you missed over the last 3 years:

Hubby and I love Arizona so we decided to stay a little while! He got a new job which allows him to travel, we bought a house in an amazing area- much safer than our last place, I got pregnant- with TWINS, they were born in February of this year, we lost our sweet dog to old age in April, and now here we are!

Aren't they the sweetest? Fast forward 9 months and these little boogers are cruising around the coffee table as we speak! Its amazing how much your heart grows after you have kids. I can't imagine my life without them. They are such joys! Full of laughter and smiles!

Anyway, I'm making this post short and sweet. My goal is to blog once a week. There may be weeks where that doesn't happen and there may be weeks where I blog more than once a week! We're just going to go with the flow! I don't want to be too ambitious, I am a full time mom and a part time dietitian! Leave me a comment to encourage this renewed endeavor and stay tuned till next time!

xoxo,

Melissa :)

An Eventful Week!

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sat, 18 May 2013 02:05:00 +0000

Whew! Its been an eventful week for sure! Started with Sunday- Mother's Day (love you Mom!) and then continued onto Hubby's birthday!! We had so much fun last weekend celebrating with our super fun friends we met here in Phoenix.

Tribute to our favorite show, SUITS! Hubby says he's Harvey.

Fun at Copper Blues with Robin and Saunders!

It's Hubby's Birthday!!

Robin has a painting that gets better with each drink you have...

We had a fun time for sure! Never a dull moment with Saunders and Robin! Can't wait for this weekend too. we have a very busy weekend planned. For our birthdays Hubby and I decided to get ourselves Beach cruiser bicycles!!! You know, the old school looking ones with fenders and bright colors? Tomorrow we're heading all the way out to the East Valley to shop for bikes. Can't wait to show you what we found! :) And for tonight, movie and cookie cake (hubby's birthday cake request)! YUM!
Stay tuned!

XOXO,

Run for the Roses- Arizona style!

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Wed, 08 May 2013 04:52:00 +0000

And they're off! One thing I really miss about Kentucky is the horses; in particular the horse racing. My family and the court they live on always have a Derby party. Ever since I moved away from Kentucky I have continued the tradition at my house (or someone's house).

This year was a little different. Like i've mentioned before, settling into Phoenix has been a little difficult for Hubby and I. We just haven't been able to meet many people. Not finding a good church we fit into has been a big factor as well as the second shift fiasco Hubby had to endure for 6 months.(Yay for being on first shift again!) My work friends all live in the east valley about 30-40 minutes away and not to mention we haven't signed up for cable yet. Having a derby party just wasn't in the cards for us this year. So, we decided to mix it up a little this year!

Phoenix has their own horse track a little north of us called Turf Paradise. Cheesy name and not at all like Keeneland but it was the best we could ask for. They were having their own derby celebration and with the price of admission to the track you got an official derby glass! The glass came empty and I still had to pay for my mint julep but I was a happy girl.

There were local races going on every 30 minutes at the Turf Paradise track and they offered betting for several other tracks including Churchill Downs.

Hubby and our friend Robin in the Grandstand!

I won the first race we put a bet on!


Me and our friend Robin

We had a lot of fun! We bet on both the local races and Churchill Downs race, including the derby. We lost more money than we bet but that's part of the fun right!?

Next year we might have to go to the actual Derby since Hubby's never been... Who wants to join us!?

xoxo,

Welcome back!

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sun, 05 May 2013 23:12:00 +0000

Hello Blogland!
Yep, it's been over 6 months since I last posted. I took a little vacation from blogging.

Ok, ok, an EXTENDED vacation.

Truth be told, I had only planned on taking a small break but then one thing led to another, the holidays came and went and I got bogged down at work. Then the thought of having to go back and re-hash everything for the blog seemed like a daunting task. Honestly though, I've missed blogging! Even though no one reads the blog it's at least a place for me to record the happening of our life so I can go back years from now and read the memories :)

Before I delve into what you've missed, I did want to share a crazy story that happened today.
Hubby and I have been trying to go hiking for several weeks now but things just keep coming up or we get lazy. Well Hubby finally said, "we're going hiking today"- despite my indifferent attitude. Its hot today- 90 degrees but there was a nice breeze and Kane was being a spazz so I caved and got ready to go.

We start our hike and I am not at all enjoying myself. Its spring time here and not quite hot enough to kill the bugs so there are tons of them out with the sole purpose of annoying humans. And they are relentless! You can swat them away and they just come right back buzzing around your face and in your ears. I was already whiny about the heat, the elevation we were climbing and my lack of endurance, the stupid bugs just were icing on the cake.

Just then,I swung my arm at a bug and I hit a Cholla Cactus. Now if you've never seen a cholla cactus (which most of you probably haven't) imagine a short plant with a million stubby cactus branches and inch long spikes covering the entire thing. See the picture below.

Buckthorn Cholla Cactus

Luckily, I only ended up with one giant 2 inch long spike lodged in my hand. These little things aren't poisonous they are just scary looking at this giant porcupine quill sticking out of your hand. Of course I whined about it and babied it. Every time I tried to pull it out, it hurt so I would stop. I must have looked pretty ridiculous.

Hubby stopped at the top of the hill to examine my damaged hand and check to see where we were supposed to be going next. All of the sudden out of the corner of my eye, I see Kane lifting his leg to pee on another cholla cactus. Right then he loses his step and literally SITS in the cactus.

Source

I immediately forget my stupid hand and looked to see Kane's rear-end covered in these spikes- ranging from 2 inches long to a few centimeters long. That poor dog was a champ as Hubby and I immediately delved in to try and pull the 100s of spikes out of his skin and fur. He had them in his pads, in between his toes, under his belly, and all up and down his legs. He was bleeding around a few of the really deep thicker spines. Hubby and I worked on him for a good 15 minutes right there until we could get enough out so Kane could walk safely out of the area to some shade where we pulled out the rest.
I hope he's learned his lesson. No peeing on cacti- no matter how bad you have to go! hahah

In the spirit of time, I think I am going to post about our Derby Day- Arizona Style tomorrow. So, don't forget! Put a reminder in your phone or something. It'll be worth it, I promise!

Until tomorrow,

We will miss you, Jason!

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 17:21:00 +0000

I can't decide what I think about Arizona. Some days I love it and some days I hate it. The weather has been beautiful here, 80s and literally not a cloud in the sky for weeks. Sounds perfect right? Well, I work in the east valley and live in Central Phoenix. I drive east every morning to work and west every evening home.
No clouds.
Bright sunny sun in my eyes For. The. ENTIRE. Drive.
Awesome.

Well, it's been a full two weeks since I started work. Things have been going well so far! I am slowly getting settled in and comfortable with my job tasks. I think I am really going to like it here! I'll definitely keep you posted =)

On a sad note, we said goodbye to my brother in law, Jason, earlier this week. =( He has been battling Leukemia for 3 years. I've known this day would come eventually but it doesn't make it any easier. I didn't know Jason all that well but the times we did spend together were always fun! We will miss you Jason, Rest in Peace.

Kane sure did love Jason!

RIP Jason. We will miss you always.

Jason's memorial will be held Thanksgiving weekend. Jason really wanted to make it to Thanksgiving so it seems appropriate we should wait to have it then. Here is a link to his obituary. Sorry to leave you with such a sad story but our hearts are at peace that Jason is in a better place now, free from pain and suffering. We are happy! Happy he is in heaven with Jesus! Looking forward to seeing the family in November =).

xoxo,

Life as a Trophy Wife

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 18:29:00 +0000

As many of you know, since moving to Arizona, finding the right job has been difficult. So, I’ve spent most of my unemployed months lounging by the pool and eating bon bons….

…..Bahahahah ok ok I can’t keep a straight face while saying that!

There have been NO bon bons.

Haha! All joking aside, there has been some lounging by the pool but mostly just boredom. After the house was unpacked and set up for the most part, I ran out of things to do. I mean even pinterest gets old after awhile, especially when you don’t have the money to do any of the projects I pinned. So what has this girl been doing to keep herself busy??

Well, I’ve done some cooking. I’ve never been that great of a cook in the past- mostly from lack of experience. So, I took this downtime to practice! I have mastered quite a few amazing recipes as well a few doozies.

Spiral Pasta Vegetable Salad

Summer Vegetable Crepes

Corn Chowder

Gazpacho

Asparagus Frittata

Mango Black Bean Quinoa

Roasted Vegetable Stacked Enchilada Casserole

All of the above I HIGHLY recommend. They were delicious! Let me know if you want the recipe for any of them.

I’ve also been trying to learn the manual setting on my new DSLR Nikon. I took an introduction to photography class to try and get a grasp on all the different manual settings. It’s overwhelming at first but I’m still learning how everything works together to create the best picture!

There are several blogs I’ve stumbled across that have photography tutorials and they’ve helped as well! Click the link below the picture to go to the blog.

Digital Photography School Blog

I heart faces blog

My next plan is to take a creative photography class. Thanks to a groupon, I have that already lined up as soon as I get the hang of the shutter speed, aperture and ISO!!

So that's pretty much been my summer!

That's all about to change though. I am hanging up my trophy wife shoes because...

I GOT A JOB! Yep! I have been waiting to tell you all and now I finally can! My first day is Monday. I will be working as the dietitian for a home tube feeding company and I am SUPER pumped! I love tube feeding so I know I am going to love this job. I'll have to keep you posted =)

xoxo,

What I learned about the desert...

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 21:42:00 +0000

Last week Hubby and I visited the Phoenix Desert Botanical Garden. I bought half priced admission Groupons for us with the intent of attending their flashlight garden tour. The flashlight tour sounded really cool because in the desert most of the wild life comes out at night! But, alas, story of our lives, we waited too long and they ended the flashlight tour. So, we decided to wake up early one morning and visit the garden before the heat got too unbearable!

We were pleasantly surprised, the garden was really interesting!

Who knew there were so many different types of cacti!?

Octopus Cactus

Old Man of the Andes Hairy Cactus

Organ Pipe Cactus

I don't remember the name of this one...but it's pretty!

The iconic cacti that we typically see in Western movies is called the Saguaro (pronounced Sah-whar-oh):

The Saguaros are the cacti with the thick stem and multiple arms. The cactus at the bottom of the picture is called a Prickly Pear. You can eat them!

Saguaros are only found at a certain altitude in the Sonoran Desert, which happens to be mostly in Arizona!

This is what a dead Saguaro cactus looks like!

You may or may not be able to see in the pictures, but there are little holes in the cactus's body. They are made by Gila Woodpeckers! The birds peck holes in the bodies of the cacti and build nests inside the cacti to raise their young. The holes are well insulated from heat and cold. Pretty smart!

The garden even went as far as educating us on the first Native Americans that made the Sonoran Desert their home.

Oh! And you know how I've been commenting that there are no squirrels in the desert? I was wrong! There are two types of squirrels that live in the desert: Harris Antelope Squirrels and Round Tailed Ground Squirrels. I actually saw one at the botanical garden too!!! (Kane was super jealous when I told him about it...) I wasn't able to get a picture though, because they are amazingly fast. Here's one I found on the internet:

Harris Antelope Squirrel

They're kinda cute aren't they? Like a cross between a chipmunk and squirrel!

The botanical garden was totally worth the price of my half price admission ticket! I learned a lot. Now I can pretend to know what I am talking about when people debate me about desert trivia. Because that's totally going to happen. People debate about desert trivia all the time, ok?

Until next time,

(Your resident desert expert)

Go Take a Hike!

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 16:45:00 +0000

One of the many joys of living in Arizona is taking advantage of the beautiful mountains surrounding the valley! Recently the weather has been bearable enough to venture out and explore the countryside. And by bearable I mean, less than 100 degrees. Hubby and I attended a few Meetup groups that meet at 6 pm on Monday nights and hike Dreamy Draw Mountain. Meetups are great. They are a bunch of people who have similar interests that meet up together to do or discuss said interest. Check it out on Meetup.com! I am a member of a hiking meetup, a vegetarian meetup, and a young professionals meetup! But I have only ever met up with the hiking group so far. Hiking AZ mountains is FUN! And beautiful... Check it out:

Hubby and I have also ventured out on our own a few times and have taken the dog with us as well:

No, we didn't break the rules and go into the closed area. We were going to, but i chickened out...

View of Phoenix from a mountain top

There's Hubby and Kane! can you see that tiny speck in the picture? Yep! That's them!

Not only is hiking fun, but it's a work out too! Poor Kane had to take an entire recovery day after his morning hike! Even though Hubby was moved to second shift this week (boooooo) I still plan to meet up with the hikers on Monday night by myself. We still have plenty of room if anyone wants to join us!! =) Next time you see me I'll probably have buns and thighs of steel from all this hiking. hahah or maybe not.

xoxo,

What you missed during my blog vacation...

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Thu, 20 Sep 2012 18:28:00 +0000

So, I guess you’ve noticed. I took a little hiatus from blogging… all right, all right, a LONG hiatus! My apologies! I guess I just haven’t been in the mood to blog. Moving to Arizona hasn’t been the greatest thing for my cheerful mindset. We moved away from a lot of things (and people) I loved and adapting to Arizona life has been harder than expected. But none the less, Hubby and I have had a TON of fun, even if it is just the two of us!

Here’s a little of what you missed…

4^th of July

Kane still loves the pool!

We went to Vegas for my dad’s pool tournament

We visited the Hoover Dam

We flew back to Atlanta for an amazing lake weekend with our awesome friends!

We flew BACK to Atlanta again for a wedding

Kane turned 9 years old!

I went to my first major league baseball game (Go Diamondbacks!)

That's pretty much the highlights! But, I'm back to blog land! No more vacations like that again for a while- I promise! Fall is coming and hopefully we'll start to see some milder temperatures. I'm just hoping for less than 100 degrees! Until next time...

xoxo,

(Almost) Home Sweet Home

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 21:56:00 +0000

I have a serious case of summer ADD. I cannot focus on one thing for very long and I end up with 3 projects going on at the same time. At the end of the day, all I have are various messes all over the house. Its frustrating! Apparently, all I needed these past few weeks was motivation.

My dad came to visit us last week and I wanted to make sure I had the house a close to perfect as I could. That means all the boxes had to be unpacked, all the frames had to be hung on the walls, and all my already started house projects needed to be FINISHED. So, I focused and now we are that much closer to having the house exactly the way I want it! (yay!)

But after all that work, I wanted everyone to see it! The likelihood of anyone coming to visit us in this heat is slim to none. SO, I'm posting some of it here for all to see! (double yay!)

Our first project was to install some ceiling fans in our house. I cannot believe this house has been here this long in one of the hottest states in the country and not a single room had a ceiling fan!! Let me tell you what a difference fans have made in our house. I went from waking up in the middle of the night dripping with sweat to sleeping like a baby to the white noise of our ceiling fan. Neither Hubby nor I had ever installed a fan but everyone tells me how easy it is, so I was confident we could do it. After trying to install the fans I see now why fans aren't installed in every room. It was an interesting adventure getting those fans up to say the least... adventure that included trampling around in the attic in 100 degree weather.

Making the hole in the ceiling a little bit bigger...

traipsing around in attic...

finished product!

It works and I'm happy. And not sweaty.

My next project was to recover some particularly awful pillows that came with the couch when Hubby bought it. There are a myriad of pillow cover tutorials online so I chose one of the easiest: the envelope pillow case! (from this super easy tutorial at Rae Gun Ramblings)

I made the striped accent pillows to go behind our already super awesome turquoise ones (target special!).

I love the look of a million fun patterned pillows on the couch but it makes for a crowded seating area when you're trying to use it for just that: sitting. So, I reluctantly stopped at four pillows on the couch instead of 10.

After the pillow project was completed I went to work on a DIY roman shade for our office window. I am super excited about the way it turned out!

It's an honest to goodness working roman shade made from a super cheap mini blind! Of course from a pinterest found tutorial at 365 days to simplicity blog. Loves it!!

Gallery walls are in style right now and since we have so many picture frames I thought it would be a good idea for us. Luckily, we have a giant blank wall in our hallway that would be perfect for a bunch of frames.

Ours is not 100% done yet, I still want to paint a couple of the frames to make it a little more cohesive. If you attempt to make one, I highly recommend following apartment therapy's recommendations on how to create a gallery wall. The tape measure and masking tape will be your best friends!

Our final project was to figure out what we were going to do with the giant blank wall behind our TV. I had the idea back in Atlanta to decorate with old shutters and we had collected a couple there (Of course we brought them with us!). After showing Hubby some pictures of walls decorated with shutters on pinterest, I had him convinced it would look good to put distressed/weathered shutters on the wall behind the TV. We didn't have enough to cover the wall space so I drove around town to ReStores and Goodwills to find some more.

We are still trying to decide if we should paint them a color to stand out a little more from the wall. It's a work in progress but I'm happy with how it's shaping up =)

That's it for now but more projects likely to come...

xoxo,

The best part about May...

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 19:16:00 +0000

May was a crazy, hectic, fun-filled month that ended with a moving trip across the country (see this post for details). I would do it again in a heart beat! Looking back at it all, I have to admit my favorite part of the month was being able to celebrate our one year anniversary with the best husband in the world. =)

On a side note, year old wedding cake really isn't all that bad!! Since I didn't get to eat any of the cake at the actual wedding, this was a real treat! Brown sugar cake with Nutella frosting. Delicious!
I love my husband!
xoxo,

May in Retrospect, part dos

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 18:52:00 +0000

WOW. Where did the time go?? I cannot believe I haven’t posted in so long. Oops. These past couple of months feel a little like summer vacation when I was a kid. I didn’t have anything structured to do and the days just kind of melted away in a blink of an eye! No leads on a job yet. So I have been busying myself with other things like reading (I’m on my 5^th novel), decorating, DIY projects and the stupid internet. I’ve come to find out; I can waste some serious time on the internet.

So here we are again, more about that infamous month: MAY (part dos). I am super excited to show you all my pictures from the cruise but first a shout out to some awesome Atlanta people! Around the middle of May, our small group hosted a baby shower for the expecting members =). The theme was “Little Man” and everything had mustaches on it. It was SO fun!

A snippet of the fun we had in our homemade photo booth!

Don’t we have the best small group ever!? I miss them. (We tried a small group here in Phoenix and it was disastrous. Everyone had at least 30-40 years on us. Sigh)

OK! Now onto our cruise adventure! In honor of our 1 year wedding anniversary, Hubby and I decided to go on a 7 day cruise to the Western Caribbean. It was my first cruise ever and we had a BLAST! The ship stopped 4 times during the trip: Cozumel, Mexico; Belize City, Belize; Roatan Bay, Honduras and Grand Cayman. Only two days at sea.

About to board the ship!


Before dinner on the balcony after our first day at sea.

At our first stop, Cozumel, we decided to hail a cab to take us to a quiet local beach where we could get a drink if we wanted and just lay in the sun. He took us to the awesome tiny little beach with a bar and lounge chairs. It was pretty much empty except for us and an occasional diner. It was awesome!

Our basically private beach and bar service!

Our next stop was to Belize. We spent our honeymoon in Belize last year and the only thing we didn't do then was go cave tubing. So, we had set up an excursion to go cave tubing when we got there. unfortunately due to heavy rains the river was flooded and the park rangers closed the river. So, we went snorkeling and grilled out lobster and chicken on the beach afterwards! Not to mention free rum punch!

after snorkeling on our tiny private island! Literally: a dock, palm trees, a bathroom and a grill. that's it!

Once we got back to the ship dock, we had time to kill before the ship was set to sail. So, we stopped off at a local bar and had our local favorite from the honeymoon: Belikin Beers!!

In Honduras, we had signed up for zip lining and were super excited! There were wires strung up all over the jungle. It was a relatively new set up and everything was very secure (to my relief, especially since this was right after that GA student fell off a homemade zip line and ended up in the hospital).

I highly recommend zip lining! It was exhilarating!! Afterwards they had a little monkey out that could sit on your shoulder.

He really liked my sweaty hair. Honduras is a really beautiful place! Still very natural and underdeveloped.

This is an old boat that got stuck on the coral about 20 years ago.

Roatan Bay, so pretty!

Later that night, we had a formal dinner. I've come to realize I get a little seasick when the boat is over rough waters. The whole trip we were chasing a storm and this night- we found it. Dramamine is your friend! But don't take too much or you won't be able to keep your eyes open. Just trust me on this one...

The next and final stop was the Cayman Islands. It was raining most of the day but when the rain finally let up a little we decided to venture out and go shopping since the Caymans are known for their shopping!

We didn't find anything awesome. Turns out, the Caymans are also expensive! Our last day was a day at sea and we spent most of it enjoying the sun on the deck and reading. I totally understand why people love cruises! There is so much good food, constantly tons of stuff to do, exotic places, the beach, all wrapped up in one cost effective package! I think we might need to try out some more cruises... you know, just to make sure they are all equally as good... ;)

The last big May event that I didn't delve upon was our official 1st anniversary, the day after we got back from the cruise. Just to keep you on your toes, i'll save that for next time =) Until then...

Stay classy,

May, in retrospect, part uno

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 02:51:00 +0000

Heyo! I'm here to fill you in on the happenings of MAY. It may have to be in parts, we'll see how long this post gets. I know you all are busy people and don't have time to read long novels about our life- nor do I want to sit here and write you a novel. SO- let me see where we left off... whoops, looks like there is still a little of April left too since the last thing I blogged about was my birthday!

Let's get started. On my Atlanta bucket list, one of the things I wanted to do was hike the Chattahoochee river with Kane. So for part of my birthday celebrations, Hubs and I took the monster down to the river!

It was perfect weather and we all had a blast. We even packed a picnic! I just wish we had done this more often while we were in Atlanta. I am sure there will be times like this in Phoenix too, as soon as it cools off some.

Derby marks the first Saturday in May, every year. I usually host a Derby party a my house but since Hubby was gone, our friends Laura and Matt volunteered to host it. AND since it was also Cinco de Mayo, we had a Cinco de Derby (Derby de Mayo?) party! Actually, we had such a good time at the party, I didn't remember to take many pictures!! oops. But luckily, I did snap a few before I had any margaritas!

half Cinco de Mayo, half Derby!

My hand painted Derby plate is adorable, but looks even better with my made from scratch horse cookies on it!

Laura was in charge of Cinco de Mayo decorations. Didn't she do an awesome job!? LOVE!

We had an awesome time, a bunch of people came over and we informally bet on the ponies by drawing horse names out of a bucket. The son of our small group leaders won it all! I think he thought he was rich! The pot was worth almost $40!! Hopefully we'll be able to make some cool friends in Phoenix that we can invite to next years party. Otherwise, all of our friends in Atlanta are going to have to fly to Phoenix for the first Saturday in May 2013 ;)

The next significant even in May was Hubby's 30th birthday!! I made him a special little carrot cake with cream cheese frosting and may have gone a little overboard with the presents. What can I say? I really love to see people open gifts!!!

Kane likes to help open presents too. He is eagerly awaiting present opening time in this picture. You should have seen him when we were unpacking from the move. He was ripping paper off everything!

Even Kane got to have some ice cream! Frosty Paws!! Nose lickin' good!

Overall it was a success! The night prior to his actual birthday, we went out with a bunch of our friends to a great little Indian restaurant on Buford Highway. If you know Buford Highway, you KNOW it was good! But, like my milestone birthday, it was slightly overshadowed by the impending move and the fact Hubby was already in Phoenix =(

MAN! May was an eventful month! Lots of pictures and events to share! I think I'm going to break here and leave you in anticipation for part dos! heh heh heh

On a side note, there are NO squirrels in Phoenix. I'm talking zero, zippo not-a-one that I've seen in the 3 weeks that we've been here. Kane has noticed too. His new favorite animal to hate is the pigeon. They come and sit on the telephone wires behind out house and he goes nuts. Barks and barks at them. But they never fly away so eventually he gets bored (or hot) and gives up. ...until he notices them again and the whole scene starts all over again. sigh.

That's all I got! Over and out until next time =)

xoxo,

Hot doesn't even begin to describe it...

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 15:05:00 +0000

So normally I would continue back to where I left off, and fill you in on all the stuff that happened before we left for Arizona i.e. Derby party, Hubby’s Birthday, Our first anniversary, our CRUISE! But, I thought I would first update you on how life is shaping up in good ol' scorching hot Phoenix.

First off, we moved here at the wrong time of year. The three months of summer are the most tortuous time of the year.

I can only stand to be outside if it is before 10 am and my feet are in the pool at all times. Once the cooler morning hours slip away (and by cooler I mean 80-90 degrees) be prepared to move indoors because staying outside (even with your feet in the pool) becomes too unbearable.

Even going out to the mailbox is an ordeal! About half way there the scene suddenly changes to this:

http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Episode_3784

Seriously.

Don’t get me started on the dry air! I can’t drink enough water during the day. I definitely drink more than my 8- 8 oz glasses of water each day and still wake up the next morning with dry mouth and ashy skin.

Having a pool has been awesome. I’m sure we will enjoy it even more when the weather cools down a little. Kane loves the pool too! He ALWAYS wants to get in. He’s learning when it is an appropriate time to get in and when it isn’t- like 10 min before we are going to bed, not a good idea.

But, Kane hasn’t been able to get into the pool at all this past week. Last Friday evening, while on a run with Hubby, he was attacked by another dog. =( Luckily, he came away with only a couple puncture wounds.

Unfortunately, one of the puncture wounds was pretty deep and we thought it best to take him to the 24 hour vet to make sure it didn’t get infected. We waited for-ever to be seen by a vet and it was close to 1 am before we were able to take him home. They had to shave the areas around the wounds and put two staples in each.

We are taking him to get the staples out on Monday. The owner of the dog that attacked Kane is willing to pay for the bill which is good.

Our stuff did come last Thursday night as promised and we have successfully unpacked 90% of it! Once we get everything somewhat where we want it, I’ll post some pictures =) Until then, since we have internet as of this weekend (!!!), I’ll be sure to post about, well, ALL of May! Keep checking back!

xoxo,

Officially Arizonians!

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 22:40:00 +0000

We interrupt this program to bring you a (bit lengthy) update on our crazy lives!

(First let me apologize for being so delayed in my blog postings. I haven’t had internet in 3 weeks, even now I am writing you this from a Dunkin Donuts’s with free wifi!)

Well, we made it! I am officially a fine citizen of Phoenix, Arizona. The movers came and packed up all our stuff early last week. Then Hubby and I did a four day, 1,900+ mile trek across the United States to the sunny state of Arizona.

Our stuff hasn’t made it to our Phoenix house yet and won’t be here until later today. So, Hubby and I have been “urban camping” with our air mattress in an empty house! I managed to convince Hubby to pack a few camping essentials such as a beach lounger and beach towel (for our pool!), a fold up camping chair, bath towels, frying pan, spatula, paper plates, and plasticware. The back of the car was PACKED- barely enough room for the dog!

The drive wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. We passed the time with a couple books on tape and while the scenery had some boring places, there was still quite a bit to see. The first day was pretty typical- a lot of green trees, which I told Hubby to make sure he engrained in his memory because it wasn’t going to be like this in the desert! We crossed over the Mississippi River and through many corn fields until we stopped in Shreveport, Louisiana for the night. One of the biggest challenges was trying to find a hotel that would allow dogs. Luckily, I found a website called www.dogfriendly.com that listed all the dog friendly hotels by state and then by city. Watching Kane in a hotel room was hilarious. He made sure he checked every inch of the room, including the bathtub.

The next day we drove to Dallas to see my older sister and my niece and nephew. We had a blast! She has a really nice house in the burbs with a super cute puppy. I loved catching up and finally seeing the house! The last time I saw them was at our wedding a year ago.

After Dallas, we headed towards Albuquerque, New Mexico. This is where the scenery starts to get different as we trek it through the Midwest!

Keep in mind most of these were taken through the window of a speeding car. There was a lot to see that I didn’t take pictures of too. The world’s largest map of Route 44… The world’s largest petrified tree… Indian casinos abound… the list goes on and on!

Our last stop was Gallup, New Mexico right in the heart of Navajo country. We stayed at this terrible little dog friendly hotel. I don’t recommend it to anyone. Let’s just leave it at that.

The next day we FINALLY we made it to Phoenix! Its amazing how exhausted a car ride can make you! We made it to Target to get some essentials and then crashed and burned on the air mattress!

Since then I’ve been hangin in the empty house with no car, waiting patiently for my husband to come home with dinner. Sounds like the 50s doesn’t it? All should change today though when our stuff is delivered this evening! They decided to come in the evening thinking it would be cooler then. Little do they know- it is usually 100 degrees at 5 pm Arizona time. Well, regardless I’m pumped to have furniture soon! Stay tuned!

Birthday Extravaganza!

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sun, 20 May 2012 15:04:00 +0000

This year, my birthday fell on Easter Sunday. So, Hubby and I decided to celebrate it the Saturday before! We jam packed the day with fun things to do...
First, we started the day with brunch at one of my favorite Atlanta restaurants: The Flying Biscuit.

I had an out of this world egg white omelet with all my favorites in it and a to die for fluffy biscuit. The biscuits are simply amazing. If you haven't had one, stop what you're doing and go there right now.

You can get a 1/2 dozen to go.
You won't be sorry.
seriously.

After that, I had to get my car's emissions checked. Stupid Dekalb county requires it. That's the only depressing thing about your birthday- your car taxes are due!

Hey! Happy Birthday! Pay $200 in car taxes! Baloney.

Next Hubby and I signed up for a Wine Class as part of a groupon I bought a few months back. It was meant to be April's date in Hubby's monthly date present.

The wine class was at a little wine boutique in Midtown. The lady teaching the class was very knowledgeable but she was also a little intense. Still, we learned a lot! For instance, did you know you are supposed to store all left over wine in the fridge? Even red wine!

Once the wine class ended, we headed over to Buckhead Church for a Saturday night Easter service with some of our friends from small group. It was a good message, you should check it out!

After church, we all drove over to The Sound Table for a birthday dinner! It was delicious. It was one of those eclectic places in the middle of Old Forth Ward which should tell you something right there. There were some interesting painting on the wall outside the restaurant...

Right across the street from the Sound Table is this funky little bar called Sister Louisa's Church. I've heard that it's definitely a place you need to go to at least once, just to say you've been. So, after dinner everyone decided to see what it was all about.

Let me tell you, this place is CRAZY. Once you get inside, there are pictures of Jesus and Jesus memorabilia EVERYWHERE. Some of the things were funny and others pretty offensive. They had pews to sit in and choir robes to wear around. They have pipe organ karaoke once a week. It was overwhelming! Hubby and I decided to try out the choir robes...

We had a pretty fun time! We love our small group! I'm really going to miss all of them =( Hopefully we'll make some good friends like them in Phoenix too. Chances are slim any Phoenix friends will be as cool as our Atlanta friends though...

Disclaimer: I know I am like a month or more behind on posting this stuff but I WILL catch up! I promise. Its been pretty hectic around here with our impending move and vacation (woohoo!) So keep checking back as I will update the blog as I can! Stay tuned for pictures of the derby and Hubby's big 3-0 birthday par-tay coming soon!!

Operation Atlanta Bucket List part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Wed, 02 May 2012 21:30:00 +0000

Another thing on my personal Atlanta bucket list was to go to Stone Mountain. Everyone has been telling me I need to go- that its a great place to get exercise by walking around the mountain and you can even hike up the mountain! For those of you who don't know, Stone Mountain is literally a huge mountain made entirely of smooth granite and quartz stone that pops out of nowhere right outside of Atlanta. On one side of the mountain the confederate soldiers: Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and Jefferson Davis are carved into it like Mount Rushmore! Hubby had been there as a kid but it has been years since he'd been so we decided to go one day after work.

So, we packed some sandwiches and water, grabbed Kane and hopped into the car for the 45 minute ride to the mountain.

http://www.bryanf.com/smp/Views.htm

It really is a strange sight to see as you're driving up to it. A giant smooth all rock mountain in the middle of nowhere. Once we got into the park, we headed for the trail to go up the mountain. Unfortunately dogs aren't allowed on that trail so Kane had to wait in the car =( probably a good thing that dogs aren't allowed though... the rock trail was so smooth in areas, I think Kane would have a pretty hard time climbing and would probably slide all the way back down!

see? completely smooth rock trail all the way up the mountain!

Once we got all the way to the top, the view was spectacular! On clear days I am sure you can see for miles! The weather was a little cloudy that day, but we could still get a good view of Atlanta and Buckhead.

view of Atlanta and Buckhead from the top of the mountain. As you can see, there's some pretty mean looking rain clouds threatening Buckhead on the right side of the picture...

After the hike down the mountain, we gathered Kane and headed over to the carved side of the mountain to see a laser show and give the dog some exercise! But, after we got there, the rain that was threatening Buckhead in the above picture decided to come and hang out in the park next. So, the night ended with us racing back to the car trying to beat the rain! Hahah all in all, great time! Now, I can officially cross Stone Mountain off my bucket list!

There's still more to come so keep checking back!
xoxo,

Operation Atlanta Bucket List part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 21:49:00 +0000

This past Christmas, I got Hubby a set of 12 pre-planned, pre-paid dates for us to do- one for each month. It was a fantastic gift that I put a ton of thought into. Most of them were things we had never done before or fun things to do in Atlanta. Well, that all has back fired on me; we now have to cram as many dates as we can in the remaining time we have in Atlanta. (Fortunately a few of the dates we can also do in Phoenix: I will fill you all in on those as they happen!)

So, I went through the dates and picked out the ones that we had to do in Atlanta or that we really wanted to do in Atlanta. The first one was meant to be November's date: A visit to Fernbank Natural History Museum and then coffee in the museum's cafe afterward! Since I didn't know when exactly in November we would be going, I had to include cash for the tickets and coffee in the envelope:

contents of the November date envelope

We had an amazing time! There was SO much to see there!

But the best part was by far the dinosaurs.

The woman at the front desk said it would take us about an hour or so to go through the museum. Boy was she wrong! We stayed until it closed and missed the museum cafe part of our date. =( So, we decided to go and get frozen yogurt instead!

What an awesome date! If you decide to go to Fernbank or any natural history museum for that matter, plan to take a couple hours to go through, not the 1-1 1/2 hours the museum tells you it will take! So much fun and soooo much to see!

More adventures to come!
xoxo,

update on our crazy lives

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:28:00 +0000

Sorry I've been MIA the past few weeks. Hubby and I were crazy busy with moving plans, house hunting trips and trying to cram everything we still wanted to do in Atlanta in the remaining weeks we have.
Hubby is officially in Phoenix now, his first day was this past Monday. He says it's a lot like his last job in Lake Park, GA, only this time he's the AGM! It's a big adjustment for me, first off- he's 3 hours behind me! So, when I'm getting ready for bed, he's getting off work! Secondly, with his desk job, I was used to him being available on his cell any time of day. Now that he's back in the field, he very rarely has time for texting =(. But, he's going to be a great AGM- developing people and such. He's good at that! Here's a picture of where he works. isn't it BIG?

The Home Depot distribution center in Tolleson, AZ

I'm getting more OK with moving to Phoenix. I think having Hubby already there is helping A LOT. And the fact that we found a place to live! If I could only find a job out there too... Everyone keeps telling me how fabulous the weather is going to be...

No humidity! Dry heat! No more frizzy hair!

That would all be fabulous if I suffered from frizzy hair.

But I don't.

I have poker straight, super fine, limp, doesn't-do-anything-ever hair. And when you have that type of hair, you suffer from static electricity. And you know what encourages static?

DRY HEAT.

check out the temperature in Phoenix the other day:

Yeah, its says it was 73 degrees at 10:26 am MY TIME. Let's not forget that means it was 7:26 AM Arizona time. yikes. And let's not forget the mild winter we've had is probably only going to make the summer that much hotter! I'll have to keep you posted when my skin singes off.

Well anyway, there will be more posts following soon documenting our escapades during "Operation Atlanta Bucket List"

Stay tuned!!

xoxo

THIRTY.

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 03:56:00 +0000

Its official, I'm THIRTY. That's going to take a lot of getting used to. It doesn't sound old when I'm referring to someone else's age, but when it's in regards to me: Its OLD. Well, in honor of my birthday, I thought it might be appropriate for you to get to know me a little better!

30 things you may not know about me:
1. my favorite food is artichokes
2. As a kid, I wanted to be a geologist when I grew up.
3. One of my favorite shows on TV right now is "Suits" on USA. Hubby and I LOVE it! I think it comes back on this summer.
4. I can fall asleep just about anywhere
5. I celebrate Christmas in July every year on July 25th.
6. I forgive and forget at the drop of a hat. Drives Hubby nuts sometimes.
7. I can't stand it when someone is a loud chewer. or worse, talks with their mouth full. ugh.
8. I used to wait tables at Rafferty's. I was a terrible server. But now i have a TON of respect for those folks.
9. I'm a good tipper, at least 20% unless you did a crappy job. then you get 15%.
10. I refuse to be my husband's dietitian. It might ruin our marriage.
11. I used to live in Koln, Germany for 1 year when I was 7.
12. I've been camping in the Amazon jungle.
13. I love sushi. Especially the spicy tuna roll. yum.
14. I love to read blogs. I follow waaaaaay too many. I can spend hours on my google reader!
15. one of my favorite candies are Jelly Bellies. I like to eat them one at a time. They say you can make "recipes" by combining a few flavors to make new ones but I think that's a waste. They last longer if you eat them one at a time.
16. My hair is poker straight. It will not do anything for me. If i curl it, 15 minutes later, its straight again.
17. I love Mediterranean food
18. I love Thai food.
19. I like to eat. eating is my favorite.
20. My favorite girl scout cookie flavor is Tag-a-longs
21. I get super stressed out in traffic, especially Atlanta traffic...
22. I've ran (and finished) a 1/2 marathon
23. I fractured my right wrist twice when I was a kid
24. I used to run hurdles on my high school track team.
25. I got detention twice in high school, once for talking during our morning prayer and once for skipping school on senior skip day.
26. My favorite color is kelly green.
27. I have quite a bit of Kentucky pride. One might go as far as saying I bleed BLUE.
28. I had a bunionectomy done on both of my feet- but not at the same time!!
30. I feel deeply guilty if I haven't posted on the blog in a while ...even though my sister is the only person who read it!!

There ya have it! Hopefully you feel a little more acquainted with me. Looks like this celebration of me is just about over... Hope every one had a beautiful Easter!

xoxo,

Valley of the Sun bound

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 02:26:00 +0000

So you may have noticed that my crafting has come to a screeching halt. Or you may have noticed my blog posts have become few and far between... Well, we have some news. Hubby has been offered a job in Phoenix, AZ (aka Valley of the Sun) and we have decided to take it. His start date is April 23rd.

I know. my jaw dropped when I heard that too.

It's so soon!!! I'm not ready to leave Atlanta yet! I was just starting to really like it here!! All these things and more have swam in my head since he was offered the position. Its a great position- a really good career move and we would be fools not to take it. Plus, we're young, no kids (except a furry one) adventurous. And the west coast has been on my to do list for a while. I was just thinking it would be more Oregon than Arizona.

So, as you can imagine, there have been a LOT of other things going on. Not much time for crafting and blogging unfortunately. Isn't it weird how your plans can change at the drop of a hat!? Hubby and I flew out to Phoenix at the end of March to get a feel for the area and to make sure we truly did want to live there. It wasn't so bad! Its actually beautiful in it's own way. Mountains surround the city on all sides and the rest of it is flat and brown.

the mountains are so close! Its a very outdoor-sy city. there is a ton of fun stuff to do.

They have palm trees!! That makes it worthwhile to me. I looove palm trees

I took most of those pictures while we were driving around the city looking for potential areas to live in. Its a very well planned out city. Nothing like Atlanta where everything is piled on top of everything else. The only thing that bothered me was their obsession with the southwestern theme. I want a place to live like our current house! In fact, I want to pick up our entire house and move it there. We are scheduled to go back before Hubby starts work for a house-hunting trip. Fingers crossed we find something awesome!

So, with only 3ish weeks before Hubby starts I have initiated Operation Cram-It-All-In. I took my bucket list, all our groupons and prepaid dates and scheduled them for sometime in the next 2 1/2 weeks. You should see our calendar. Its pretty comical. There is something planned for almost every day. There are a few holes though, so if you're interested in being a part of the operation, just let us know!! We will definitely fit you in =)

Its a bittersweet situation. I don't want to leave everything I've grown to love about Atlanta but I am excited embark on this whirlwind journey to the Valley of the Suns! Wish us luck!!
xoxo,

Kiss me I'm (partially) Irish!

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 20:48:00 +0000

Whew! Finally getting around to our St Patrick's Day Weekend post! We were super excited about St. Patrick's Day this year because we were finally going back to my beloved Savannah for one of the greatest holidays. Savannah is one of the biggest St Patrick's Day celebrations in the nation. This year, it was on a weekend so it was projected to be the biggest celebration the city had ever seen. To boot, it was one of my bestest friend's birthday- whom I hadn't seen in ages and she was coming to celebrate too!!!!! So you can see why I was so excited! We came down with another super fun couple from Atlanta and stayed in a hotel right downtown in a great location!
Our first stop was to Wet Willie's to sample the famous concoction known as the "Call-A-Cab" It was delicious!

Hubby and I decided to share, because that's what obnoxiously cute couples do right?

Darienne and I enjoying the bea-utiful Savannah weather!

Nick makes friends EVERYWHERE.

Later that night we had a birthday dinner for my friend's birthday at one of our favorite restaurants, Cha Bella and then out on the town.

The next morning we had big plans to go to the Rail (one of our favorite bars in Savannah) for their annual free St Patty's day breakfast but after going out the night before and finding out about our hotel's super awesome complimentary hot breakfast bar, we decided to sleep in to get ready for the world renowned parade!

Waiting for the parade to start in front of the beautiful azalea bushes

There's a tradition at the St Patrick's Day Parade to kiss all the Army Cadets with red lipstick on and leave big red smooch marks on their cheeks.

Definitely lots of fun was had. It was an incredibly long parade- 4 hours or so. We left before it ended because we ran out of refreshments. Enough said! After the parade we headed back to the hotel to recharge and refuel before heading out again that night!

Got to hang out with some great friend i miss terribly!

Hubby, donning his best St Patrick's day apparel

Got to hang out with more great (and creepy) friends =) haha jk love ya Paul!

The weekend definitely lived up to our expectations. There were a ton of people there- I am not sure if it was close to a million people like the news projected. We had so much fun, but we missed seeing a lot of other friends in Savannah. I guess that means we'll just have to go back again! Maybe next time I'll get to go to the beach too. Who wants to come with me?!
xoxo

Are You Spartan Tough?

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 02:13:00 +0000

Hubby has been running and training for weeks for the Spartan Race. He was relentless! He ran in the rain, he did sprints, he ran to Krog Street Bridge and back. Finally, the weekend after Hubby and I got back from Granny's 90th Birthday Bash, it was time for the Spartan Race.

If you've never heard of the Spartan race, the Warrior Dash or the Tough Mudder, they are obstacle races and they range in difficulty. This particular Spartan Race is a muddy 3+ mile trail run with approx 15 obstacles through out the race.

Of course I went to watch!! It was pretty incredible to see some of these competitors! At one point in the race, there is a 400 foot crawl through mud under barbed wire. People came out of that with cuts on their back and bloody knees. It was gruesome. Hubby signed up with a bunch of people from work.

look how clean they all are!

aaaaaand drum roll please! Hubby was the first of his work friends to cross the finish line!! Yep, I'm pretty proud! Check out some of the obstacles...

mud crawl action

rope climb

wall scale

Tractor pull

It was a pretty impressive run for those guys and girls in the race. I know I couldn't have done it. Hubby was a hot mess when he finished, FULL of mud!

Luckily for us (and for the car) they had outdoor showers (aka garden hoses on a hook) for the participants to hose off that mud.

Overall we had a fantastic time! Many memories made and a cool Spartan medal to boot!

90th Birthday Bash!

noreply@blogger.com (Melissa) — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 00:33:00 +0000

Yeah, so to say this has been a busy couple of weeks would be an understatement. In the next couple of posts, I'll tell you why! If you're not exhausted for me at the end of the posts- I'll be impressed!

To start, it was Hubby and I's 4 year anniversary of our first date 2 days ago! I know, I know, no one celebrates their engageversary or their first date-iversary after you get married but it's still fun to remember! And its a good excuse to pop open a bottle of wine or have a good meal!

So, where did I leave off last post? Oh yeah, Seaside! After our super fun Seaside adventure, we headed to Sarasota to visit Hubby's folks and then to Sanibel Island, FL for my granny's 90th birthday bash!

We had a blast! the weather was beautiful and the drive wasn't all that bad (total of 9ish hours to get down there). We played games with the in-laws, had some good meals, hung out on the beach some (may have gotten a little overdone in the sun), and lots of fun with my side of the family! Almost all of my cousins and all of my aunts and uncles came down to celebrate Granny's birthday.

We did some shelling on the beach. I only brought home the prettiest.

Hubby and I at the beach

Pelican who wanted to make friends with us

Hubby, me and my mom at dinner

Granny and Hubby chattin' it up. Doesn't she look FAN-tastic for 90!?

Granny's super surprised face after she saw all of the guests at her party!

My sisters!

The party was REALLY fun, there was some sister bonding, some impressive booth jumping by Hubby, and some boogie downing! If you've ever partied with my side of the family, then you know: It's impossible to NOT have a good time!

By the time we got home, we were glad to have Kane back but were already missing the beach and the Florida sun. Going back to work was really hard. Luckily, we had more plans that following weekend to keep us entertained! Stay tuned for the next chapter in our never dull life!

xoxo,