the urban weenies

Molle to Gothenburg - Day 10

2011-08-28T15:18:00.003-04:00

We spent a little extra to have one of the rooms in the main hotel with a view of the water in Molle. I am so glad we did! We have stayed somewhat cheap everywhere else. This hotel also did not have air, so we slept with the window open. It was relaxing to hear the ocean and the rain all night. We slept in a little, since we weren’t in a hurry to get anywhere. We had a buffet breakfast downstairs and then drove around Molle. It was a little chilly/windy to walk too far. We drove by the harbour and then back through the town to the main road.

View from our room this morning

Entrance to the hotel

View of hotel from the harbour

Harbour

Since it was a less stressful driving day, I finally drove! The new car has a lot more power than the civic. We drove into Gothenburg, back to the same hotel we stayed in before we picked up the car last Sunday night. What was supposed to be a stress-free drive turned into a very stressful drive because we got so lost! We could see the hotel, but couldn’t figure out how to get over here because of the crazy way the roads run and the street trams. I think it took us about an hour to finally get to the hotel once we made it into Gothenburg. We missed the turn the first time and were sent across a bridge. We took a tunnel back and then missed our turn a few times. We finally thought we had it, but somehow ended up in a spiral parking deck for the mall. Ah! Once we realized it, we had no choice but to go through the parking deck. It was one of those decks with the tight spiral ramp where you can exit at each floor. To get out, I decided to take the first exit ramp. Wrong decision! It was gated and we had no way to open the gate. Our only choice was to try to turn around and then turn right back up the ramp, but it was a super tight turn with people flying up the ramp and me driving our much larger than a civic new car. Ben jumped out and somehow stopped the cars coming up the ramp while I inched around the turn. I had to back up and then go forward about 4 times. We finally made it out of the deck and then to the hotel right after that. Stressful! I told Ben it was a good thing I was driving because he really would have had a breakdown.

Driving to Gothenburg from Molle. Lots of windmills!

We finally made it to the hotel, checked in, and then went out for lunch and sightsee for a couple of hours. We walked over to the mall area and ate lunch at McDonald’s. We went in a few shops and then walked back to the hotel. Our room here this time is much nicer than the one we had last Sunday night. I think this side has been remodeled. We have been relaxing and preparing to fly back home tomorrow. Ben repacked all of our suitcases and I have been blogging most of the evening. We ate dinner downstairs in the lobby. All of the Volvo OSD people stay here, so we kept trying to guess who was American/picking up a Volvo. We have seen relatively few Americans since we have been in Scandinavia, but they are always easy to spot! Ha! Tomorrow morning we drop the car back off at the Volvo delivery center. Next, a taxi will take us to the airport in Gothenburg. From here, we fly to Copenhagen, then to Chicago, and then finally to Atlanta!

Inside the mall

Gothenburg

Copenhagen to Molle - Day 9

2011-08-28T12:36:00.004-04:00

After taking 2 Benadryl, I slept really well! My legs were still swollen and broken out, but we went out anyway, after a third trip to the Apoteket. Thankfully, we had a different worker each time, otherwise they would have thought we were really crazy. I did some internet research about my hives and discovered I needed to take some Zantac. Once I got some Zantac, the swelling went down and the hives got much better!

We went back to the tourist information shop to get directions for taking transit out to the area where most of the new architecture projects are located. We knew we needed to minimize walking, but their transit system/maps are impossible! We took two different trains and then got out and walked around so Ben could take some pictures. Most of the really cool things we saw are housing projects. They design and build much better housing here! Some of the projects we saw…

This is a gym with interesting color/letter panels.

After touring this area, we rode the train back to the Stroget to do some shopping. We stopped in some department stores and boutiques to look around, but didn’t buy much other than a surprise for Mattie! I also found a stuffed dachshund in a children’s shop that the shopkeeper said a local lady handmade. We stopped in a bakery called Cakes la Glace to get a treat. It was very good but also very busy! Some people sitting next to us asked us if we were from Canada. Ha! I forgot to mention that it rained most of the day and our table neighbors said it has rained a lot this year in Copenhagen.

Illum department store

My handmade dachshund

Cakes la Glace...a little out of focus! I accidentally uploaded the wrong photo and am too lazy to fix it!

After our snack break, we walked back by a beer store so Ben could get some beer to bring home. We walked back to our car, which wasn’t too far away and took off for Molle, which is a coastal Swedish town about a 2-hour drive from Copenhagen. It was a much easier drive than our previous excursions!

Bridge from Denmark to Sweden

We spent the night at the Grand Hotel in Molle, which is situated at the top of the hillside on the harbour. Our room and view were beautiful! We had dinner in the hotel a la carte restaurant Seaside. Our server was really nice, but spoke to us in Swedish. I told her English, please, and she laughed and said “but you look so Swedish!” Ha! Anyway, our dinner was very good. Molle seemed to be a summer resort town for wealthy people from Sweden and Denmark. There were lots of really nice cars and wealthy looking people. After our 2.5 hour dinner, it was time for bed again!

Our hotel is the white building

Hotel room

View of harbour from our room

Copenhagen - Day 8

2011-08-28T11:48:00.004-04:00

We got off the ferry about 9:30 in Copenhagen and drove straight to our hotel without any trouble, which is surprising considering the crazy traffic from cars and bikes. We dropped off our luggage and went to park the car. This parking deck was a much better size than the parking deck in Oslo.

Our hotel room.

We parked the car and first went to the Apoteket to get me some band-aids because I still have the blisters. Actually, only one of the blisters is giving me issues. It is on top of my pinkie toe and is the size of a bean. On top of my toe, meaning I can’t wear any shoes other than flip-flops.

So we got the band-aids and went to tourist information place across the street. We got our maps and Copenhagen cards and went straight to the royal palace for the changing of the guard.

After the changing of the guard we walked over to Nyhavn, an old street with buildings facing the canal. This is where we got on the boat tour.

Once the boat tour started, we realized the tour guide wasn’t speaking English. Hmm. We thought maybe we hopped on the wrong boat, but no, she eventually did speak some English, just not very well! So we had some trouble determining each landmark, but we just took pictures anyway and decided we could figure it out later. We were able to see the opera house, which was not as impressive as the opera house in Oslo! We also saw the little mermaid statue, as Hans Christian Andersen is from Copenhagen.

Nyhavn

Opera House

The Little Mermaid

Following the boat tour we walked to the Stroget, which is the main shopping/pedestrian street for lunch. We ate at a place called Tight, which was ranked #1 of TripAdvisor. Once we got there, it seemed that they had a little campaign to be ranked high on TripAdvisor, as it said it on the sign outside the restaurant. It was a very small restaurant on a little side street, but it was pretty good. I had a hamburger. Again. I think I have had several hamburgers along the way.

After lunch, we walked over to the Dansk Architecture Museum, which was across the water on a different island. Our main interest in Copenhagen was architecture, as they are building lots of new, progressive buildings that Ben wanted to see. We were going to take some form of transit over to the museum, but weren’t able to figure it out, so decided to walk instead. We finally made it there, going against the getting off of work traffic that included hundreds of bikes. Lots and lots of bikes here that will run you over. There is a bike lane, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be bikes on the sidewalk. The museum was small but interesting. They also didn’t have air conditioning. There were models of many of the buildings Ben wanted to see. He was also able to buy a book that catalogued all of the new architecture in Copenhagen that included a map of the buildings.

Lots of bike riders!

Inside Architecture Museum bookstore

By this time, we were hot and tired. Also, I had another lovely problem. HIVES….really bad. They never went away completely from a few days before but now they were really bad. Despite my blister, I had decided to walk around in my Merrell’s because it was slightly chilly, but I also thought they would be more comfortable than flip flops for all of the walking. Bad decision. My legs got hot, because I was wearing jeans and then socks, plus doing so much walking, that hives covered my legs. Not only did I have hives, but the hives were making my legs swell really bad, too. I felt the hives coming back in the morning as we were walking around, and pushed my socks down around my ankles at lunch, but we kept going, which was a mistake. By the time we had walked all the way over to the museum, I was miserable and was having trouble standing on my legs. We knew there was a bus station nearby, but couldn’t figure out which bus to get on to get back to the hotel. Nobody at the bus stop could help us either. We had a transit map, but it did not make sense at all. We finally just got on a bus and hoped it went the right way. It went toward the hotel, so we got off about 5-6 blocks away. We made a second visit to the Apotek for some Benadryl and went back to the hotel. Once we made it there, I felt really sick. Ben wrapped my legs in cold towels and I ended up taking a nap for a couple of hours.

After my nap, my legs felt a little better, so we decided to go over to Tivoli gardens, which was only 2 blocks away. Tivoli is a small amusement park, similar to Six Flags in the middle of the city. It also has a concert hall and an outdoor stage for concerts. We decided to ride one ride, because you have to pay extra for the rides. We rode something similar to It’s a Small World in Disney that went through H.C. Andersen fairytales. We ended up getting to ride it for free because when we walked up to ride it we didn’t realize we had to pay. The guy working the entrance said we could pay with a credit card right before we got on the ride. Once we got down there, we realized they only took European credit cards with a chip, so the girl there told us we could just pay next time. We wandered around here for a little while, watching all of the people. It was a Friday night and there were mostly local people here with kids or watching the concert. We got an ice cream cone for dinner inside the park and then left.

Not for from our hotel was the Mikkeller bar, so we went there next so Ben could get a beer that he can’t get at home. We went back to the hotel after we left Mikkeller. This hotel didn’t have air conditioner either, but we were able to open the windows. We were facing the main street, but we actually slept better with the street noise since that is what we are used to from living on Peachtree for years!

Flam to Oslo - Day 7

2011-08-25T15:50:00.010-04:00

Today we drove from Flam back to Oslo by a faster route. We drove through the longest tunnel in the world at 25 kilometers. The tunnel has these interesting breaks with blue and green lights to simulate sunlight. We have gone through more tunnels on this trip! Through mountains and under water. On the way back in, we passed by the island where the teenagers were killed while at camp a few weeks ago. Once we got back into Oslo, we parked, which included successfully using the on street parking meter machine in a different language, and walked back to the main area around city hall. We had a little time before we needed to get on the ferry, so we went here to get a quick (or not so quick, as it turns out) lunch at McDonalds, go to the bathroom, take a few last pictures, and get Mattie a postcard. They don't quite get the concept of fast-food here. I guess they just figure it's faster than a sit down restaurant? We made it back to the car and made our way to the ferry. We are on the ferry right now headed to Copenhagen for the next 2 days.

Going into longest tunnel in the world.

Tunnel sign

Blue light inside tunnel.

Another tunnel! Goes straight through the mountain.

Another blind curve.

Another town.

Reflection is so pretty!

Sheep in the road. We passed 2 small herds of sheep along the way that included black sheep, and they really were off in the corner alone. I guess the saying is true! I wasn't fast enough to take a picture of them.

Pretty View

Overnight ferry to Copenhagen

Oslo to Flam - Day 6

2011-08-25T14:26:00.009-04:00

On Day 6, we drove from Oslo to Flam, which is in the Hardanger fjord. We took the scenic route so we could see as much as possible of the fjords. The landscape is incredible! The photos don't quite capture the scale of these mountains. I think we may have seen at least 75-100 waterfalls along the way. We stopped in Flam for the night, spending the night in the Flamsbrygga hotel, which is the only hotel in Flam. We also ate dinner in their brewery/pub restaurant, where they brew their own beer. It was a long day of driving! Ben has done all of the driving so far and I have been navigating. Driving through the mountains has required us to use the GearTronic feature, allowing us to change to manual to better drive in the mountains, and I don't know how to drive in manual. We basically drove from 8-8, but it was a lovely drive.

Bathroom/Coke stop. We were shown to the "toalette" upstairs where it appeared they do some sort of gambling related to horses. A bit sketchy, but I think I have been to worse.

Second bathroom stop. There are several picnic/wc rest stops along the historic route we were driving.

Little town

High, curvy, one-lane road

Pretty waterfall. We are standing on top of this waterfall in the photo of us below.

First waterfall of many we saw along the way

Huge waterfall that goes under the bridge

One of the larger towns we passed through on the way to Flam.

We passed many small towns tucked away in the mountains.

Little town along the way

Cherry/plum fields. This region supplies 40% of all fruit produced in Norway.

Cafe in Kinsarvik

Our ferry in the distance

On the ferry to other side of fjord

Church in Kinsarvik

On top of a waterfall

Driving around a curve. Roads are basically one and a half lanes, with blind turns like this one. These people drive FAST and don't even slow down around the curves. It can get a bit hairy when the vehicle zooming around the other side is an 18-wheeler!

Crazy waterfalls

View from our hotel room in Flam

Oslo - Day 5

2011-08-23T16:57:00.006-04:00

It has been a long day of sightseeing, so this is going to be a post with mostly pictures. We walked, and walked, and walked today. I have some nasty blisters to prove it! I also ended up with hives by the end of the day on my legs!

The boat we rode over to the Viking Museum.

Waiting on the boat back to City Hall.

Excavated Viking ship

Oslo Opera House

You can walk up side to the roof of the opera house.

Inside of Opera House

View of Opera House from pedestrian bridge

This building is some sort of teacher's alliance/education related. The glass is covered in letters and numbers.

Frogner Park

Another view of Frogner Park

Crazy high ski jump

Bottom part of ski jump

On the mountain, walking back to train from ski jump.

Swing dancing party in the harbour tonight

Royal Palace

View from top of opera house

View of Oslo from water

Looking down on Oslo

We are headed through the fjords to Flam tomorrow morning.

Gothenburg-Day 4: Car-pick up day!

2011-08-22T17:14:00.002-04:00

Gothenburg – Day 4

Last night we arrived in Gothenburg. After locating our hotel, we walked over to a restaurant we had decided on before coming on the trip called Sense. It had so-so reviews on TripAdvisor, but most of the negativity related to the service, so we decided to go anyway because we didn’t feel like looking for something else. It turned out to be a very nice little restaurant, with great food. Unfortunately, the reviews were correct. Super-slow service! We were there over 2 hours. Our server was very nice, but he was also working in the kitchen. After dinner, we went back to the hotel and got ready for car pick-up day!

Sense - restaurant

We had breakfast in the hotel this morning and then a taxi picked us up at 8 and took us straight to the Volvo delivery center. Once we got there, we went over some paperwork with our delivery agent Emelie, like our insurance while we are here. Then she drove our car out! We were the second delivery of the day. She showed us all the features of the car and how to use them.

Volvo delivery center

After we got our car, we drove it around the “test track,” which was just a little loop in front of the Volvo center. We then drove it over to the Volvo museum, where we got to see the history of Volvo. It was interesting to see all of the old cars. When we finished touring the museum, we headed back to the delivery center, where we were given lunch. Lunch was Swedish meatballs and boiled potatoes. After lunch, we were able to take a factory tour. For the tour, we rode on a tram similar to the ones in the parking lots at Disney World. It was fascinating to see how they made the cars using the assembly line and all of the machines.

XC-60!

After the tour, we got on the road to Oslo, which is about a 3 hour drive. There were several detours we had to take, but we made it to the city ok. Once we got to the city…a different story. There are several long tunnels that have exits in the tunnel. We missed out turn because we lost satellite reception in the tunnel, and turning around isn’t particularly easy. After we went through about 5 different round-abouts two times each, we finally made it to the hotel. We had to park the car in a parking deck a few blocks away, as we thought the hotel we are staying in didn’t have parking.

I’ll update about Oslo tomorrow. For now, I need to sleep. In a room without air conditioning….

Stockholm Day 3

2011-08-21T16:45:00.003-04:00

After a good night of rest, we got up and headed out for more sightseeing. After checking out of the hotel and storing our luggage, we headed back toward Gamla Stan. On the way there, we saw the Royal Palace, Cathedral, and Parliament building. As we were walking up the side of the palace, we noticed a royal military guard. She was fiddling around, but when Ben went to take her picture, she stood straight up and still. Then she decided to do some sort of marching in a line thing with her sword, which was interesting. From here, we wandered around through Gamla Stan a little more. We were looking for breakfast, and found a café that listed cinnamon rolls and appeared to be open, but they weren’t, despite the serving window being open. Instead of waiting, we kept on walking.

We left Gamla Stan and walked over the bridge to Sodermalm, where we found a McDonalds. Not quite to local bakery we were looking for, but we were hungry, so we stopped there and split an egg mcmuffin and a potato cake. After breakfast, we began our Millennium tour by climbing the longest staircase ever. I had to stop and catch my breath a few times. When we made it to the top, there was a really good view of Stockholm. The majority of the stops on the tour were on Sodermalm, which is an island of Stockholm that is very residential and non-touristy. The tour stops included Lisbeth Salander’s old and new apartments, Blomkvist’s apartment, the Millennium offices, and the 7/11 where Salander shopped, as well as some other locations mentioned in the book. After doing the walking tour ourselves, we were glad we didn’t do the guided tour because we were able to stop or wander as we pleased. Sodermalm is beautiful and the views are amazing. Definitely my favorite part of Stockholm.

Royal Palace on right with palace guard in blue. Cathedral on left.

Fiskargatan. Where Salander bought her new apartment.

View of Stockholm from Sodermalm.

Steep cobblestone street in Sodermalm.

Blomkvist's apartment in Sodermalm.

After completing the tour, we zoomed back to Gamla Stan to catch one of the boat tours, except there was some sort of bike race going on all day, so we ended up on the wrong side of the road from the boat ticketing place, so we had to wait for breaks between bikes. Once we finally made it to the ticketing place, we discovered that we had gone to the wrong one for the tour we wanted to take. Darn. So, we gave up on the boat tour. We were tired and hungry, so we walked to this café we saw the day before for lunch.

Following lunch, we walked back to the hotel and grabbed our luggage, and then headed toward the train station for our 3:00 speed train to Gothenburg. The train ride was relaxing. I blogged and downloaded pictures as we rode through the Swedish countryside.

Train station.

View of Sodermalm behind us.

Now we are in Gothenburg. I need to go to bed because tomorrow is a big day! Volvo will pick us up at 8:00 and then we will get our car!! I’ll update again tomorrow (hopefully!).

Observations

2011-08-21T16:17:00.003-04:00

Converse are very popular, as are leggings and tight jeans.

Lots of blond people. Even more blond kids. I fit right in. In fact, I’ve been addressed in Swedish everytime I try to talk to someone. Ben is addressed in English.

There is a 25% tax on all purchases, which is included in advertised prices.

Tipping is not expected, but welcomed. It is not considered rude to not tip. If you do tip, it seems the going rate is about 10%.

Swedish people like to wear jackets. Khaki, trench, and lots of leather jackets, even if it is warm.

We’ve run across a few particularly stinky folks. Ben attributes this to their fondness for jackets in warm weather and apparent disdain for air conditioning.

Swedish people must not be too concerned about making money. Everything opens late and closes early. We saw a store with an hours sign that listed hours for Wednesday-Saturday, but said “sometimes” for Sunday-Tuesday.

The teenagers here seem to like American baseball, or at least wearing American baseball team hats. We’ve seen several LA Dodgers hats, as well as one Braves hat.

See? Tight jeans (tights?) and jackets. Lots of Keds style shoes, too.

Stockholm!

2011-08-21T11:26:00.003-04:00

Day 1 & 2

We left Atlanta around 11:00 and landed in Chicago 2 hours later. Since we had about 4 hours before our next flight, we decided to take a free bus to a local hotel/business area that had a Gino’s East, a Chicago-style pizza place, so we could get one last American meal before we left. We got back to the airport to spend a little time in the SAS lounge, which we got free passes to use from Volvo.

Next we boarded the plane. We were a little disappointed to find that the seats were smaller than we had expected/remembered, as well as close to the back of the plane. It was a looong flight filled with 3 crying babies and some annoying people in front of us, one of whom flipped her hair over the back of her headrest and covered my screen. Hair grosses me out something serious anyway, but she was too much. She also reached back and closed my window when I was trying to look out. We didn’t do much sleeping, but we did play a lot of Tetris. We were both pretty restless by the end of the flight! Interestingly, it never got completely dark. We could always see the sunlight on the horizon.

We arrived in Stockholm at 7:30 am local time, but 1:30 am Atlanta time, so we basically lost a night. Customs and baggage claim were a breeze, surprisingly. We were very glad all of our luggage made it here. We then took the speed train to the city. From the train station, our hotel was only a few blocks away. We dropped our luggage off since we were too early to check-in and set off to check out the city. In the rain. The weather varied between a slow steady rain, mist, and a harder steady rain. We were both glad we made the last minute decision to bring our rain boots!

We headed over to Gamla Stan (old town) to see if we could find some breakfast, which was harder than expected, since most places don’t open before 9 or 10 am. Actually, we were given breakfast on the plane, which consisted of a ham and cheese sandwich with lettuce (Ben doesn’t eat cured ham, and I don’t eat sandwiches for breakfast. Or Lettuce.), greek yogurt (we definitely don’t eat that), and some orange juice. Anyway, we wandered around in the rain, indecisive about where to go. We finally decided on Espresso House, where we had some tasty lattes and a pastry. We walked around a bit longer and attempted to go buy tickets for the guided Millenium walking tour that highlights most of the locations from the Stieg Larsson series. Except when we got the museum to buy the tickets, the girls at the counter said it was sold out. They said we could buy a map and do the tour ourselves, which is what we decided to do. By now, it was almost 12, so we decided to walk back to the tourist center to get maps and other brochures. We were almost there when the bottom dropped out. We were grouchy and it was pouring, so we turned off and headed to the hotel.

Espresso House

Rainy Stockholm

Once we got checked in, we had to wait for out luggage to be brought up. Ben and I were in a bit of a daze and just sitting in the chairs in the dark. When the luggage man showed up, he informed us that you have to put the key in the switch by the door to get the lights to come on. He must have wondered why we were sitting in the dark, but I didn’t even think to turn on the lights. Jetlag, I guess. Anyway, we decided to take a 2 hour nap. I didn’t even feel bad about it because the weather was so nasty. After the nap, we took showers and went out to dinner. We ended up going to this pub around the corner since it was raining called Pickwicke. We had planned to go to another restaurant, but after determining it was farther than we were willing to walk in the rain and a $15-$20 cab ride, changed our minds. Pickwicke wasn’t too bad. Ben had Swedish meatballs and I had lasagna. We also had a waitress that looked very similar to Pippi Longstocking.

After dinner, it had just about stopped raining, so we decided to do some exploring. We walked through the downtown area of Stockholm, where we visited a large department store that was very nice. Ben was not interested, but I definitely was. I am always interested in seeing how other people do their shopping. There was some sort of festival going on and there were lots of people. We were trying to be very careful about pick-pocketers, and once had a sketchy looking guy get too close behind us. He was fortunate he didn’t try to steal something out of my purse because I was watching him and I had my umbrella ready in my right hand to whack him upside the head.

We then headed back to the hotel, where we reorganized our luggage and got ready for the next day. We also watched a little ESPN America, where we got to watch clips from the Braves. We went to bed about 9:15 and woke up at 6:15, a much needed 10 hour rest

That's all for now! I'll be back with day 3 soon!

I meant what I said, and I said what I meant.

2011-01-05T21:25:00.004-05:00

An elephant's faithful, one hundred percent.

Ha! This quote from Horton Hears a Who doesn't really have anything to do with this post other than it is about elephants. Ben and I are small group leaders with the head elephant keeper at the zoo. We asked him if it was possible for us to meet the elephants and he said we could. While we were on vacation from work last week we went to the zoo (which was 1/2 off until 12/31) and met up with our small group friend. We met Kelly the elephant (Tara, the other elephant, was out eating her Christmas tree) and she did some tricks for us. We also got to feed her, which was fun. We put food in our hands and Kelly inhaled it with her trunk and then put it in her mouth. So much fun!

Elephants eat Christmas trees?

Nate showed me her trunk right before I got to feed her.

Kelly showing off her nails.

Kelly waved at us with her trunk. She also answered questions by nodding her head yes or no.

Kelly showing off her mouth. Never seen the inside of an elephant's mouth!

Ben took this picture of the lion and I think it is pretty.

This panda partied a little too much the night before...

This panda was doing all kinds of tricks and showing off. I don't know which one is the boy and which one is the girl.
We haven't been to the zoo in several years, but it was fun! Several of the animals were not on exhibit, so they pretty much need to let you get in for half price since half the animals are not available. Maybe we'll go back in the spring!

back in the saddle again

2010-09-10T20:58:00.009-04:00

I haven't blogged in a long time. A really long time. Not wanting to mess with it mixed with being busy, working, and some laziness/tv watching has led to no blogging. But now I'm back to blogging, even though I'm sure there won't be anyone reading anymore.

This week we went on vacation. It's the first time we have gone on vacation for more than a weekend, and the first time I have taken time off from work since I started. Since we were going to Seaside, we decided to go to Mobile first to see my dad's parents. Since my dad died in 1994, I have seen them twice. Twice in 16 years. So we went to Mobile on Monday, but not without issues. We got about 100 miles out of Mobile and had a flat tire. Did I mention we had the weenies with us? Not to mention a tiny car packed perfectly (thanks to Ben....he loads the car like it is a puzzle - I'm not allowed to help) to the brim. Anyway, we called AAA and they were right out in about 30 minutes. He changed the tire and told us how to get to a tire "center" in Evergreen, which was basically a hole-in-the-wall tire shop in the woods. Of course the nail was in the sidewall (is it ever in the no-you-don't-need-a-new-tire-we-can-just-plug-this-one-right-up tread?) So, I had to buy a new tire. To replace my approximately 3 month old new tire. That doesn't match. With 2 lovely multi-colored paint splats on it. Oh well...they changed it and we were back on the road within an hour.

Yes that is my fan on the side of the road. I travel with my fan now because I can't sleep without it, so it is better for everyone involved if I can get my sleep while we are out of town. Living on Peachtree has ruined normal sleeping habits for me.

We made it to Mobile and went straight to my grandparent's house to see them and my dad's sister. It was good to see them, although somewhat awkward in that distant family, feel like I should be more comfortable around you but definitely am not way. We visited for awhile, went to dinner on the causeway at a seafood place, and then looked through multiple photo albums until we said we had to leave since we still had to drive a couple of hours to get to Seaside and it was after 9:00. It was a good visit and I'm glad we made the effort to see them.

We made it to Seaside about 11:30 and took the weenies for a walk. I'll post more pictures and talk more about our vacation in multiple posts. Otherwise, this would be a mighty long post to read!

weenies in the snow

2010-02-14T21:05:00.003-05:00

We took the weenies out in the snow on Friday evening before it got dark. They have never been in the snow, so we wanted to see how they would react. We figured Eleanor would love it and Cleo would hate it. We were wrong! They both loved it! I think Cleo was actually a little more adventurous than Eleanor. We finally had to drag them back inside because they were shivering from being so wet.

This is the view from our window.

The Margaret Mitchell House

Tenth Street

As much as I hate snow, it was really pretty!

first day = done!

2010-02-08T20:41:00.003-05:00

So...today was the first day of my first real job as a speech-language pathologist. It's a little weird to be a for real therapist instead of being an intern. I have my own patients. I have to sign my own papers (which, by the way, is even more strange since I am now Kristen, M. Ed. CF-SLP), I have to write my own goals. It is a completely different experience! Today I got to see three lovely, grouchy old ladies. As grouchy as they are, they absolutely crack me up! They can't remember anything, but they want me to know that they are fine, they don't need any help, and no, they do not want their hearing or hearing aids checked. Ha!

Essential therapy tool for tomorrow...mini dry erase board! If they can't hear me, hopefully they can see big letters!

post signature

behind the scenes

2010-02-05T22:53:00.007-05:00

Today was my last day of freedom before I start my new (first!) job on Monday. I asked Ben to take half of the day off so we could spend some time together, especially since he has been working so much recently. A few months ago, Ben surprised me with tickets for the Behind the Scenes tour at the Georgia Aquarium. I made us reservations to go on the tour today. It was so much fun! We have been to the aquarium a few times, but the behind the scenes tour gives a totally different perspective. We really did get to go behind the scenes! Fortunately, there were only four people on the tour including us, so it was great. Plus, nasty weather + weekday afternoon = empty aquarium. We got to see the penguins that are waiting for their new environment to be built, the veterinary areas, the water filters/pumps, and the view from the top of the Ocean Voyager exhibit. Ben took lots of pictures!

All of these pumps are just for the Ocean Voyager tank.

This is the view from the top of the Ocean Voyager tank.

We got so close to the whale sharks!

While we were looking at the penguins, the tour guide told us about a penguin video on YouTube. It is so darn cute!

If you have a chance to go on the Behind the Scenes tour, it is definitely worth the extra money. It is a little expensive, but we got our tickets from Half Off Depot, so they were cheaper.

if you have a few minutes...

2010-02-04T08:34:00.003-05:00

You should definitely watch this. It's one of my favorite Andy messages. So good!

Series: Taking Responsibility for Your Life

Message: Embracing Your Response Ability

show us your life - fashion tips

2010-01-30T09:55:00.002-05:00

I have a couple of things that have become staples in my wardrobe this year, so I thought I would share!

1. Cardigans, cardigans, and more cardigans

I love cardigans, especially the ultimate cardigan from Gap. I have it in yellow, grey, and purple. I also have a black and a navy cardigan from LOFT. They are great for mixing and matching with various tops.

2. Ruffled tops

I have bought several tops like this sequin ruffle top from J.Crew to wear under my cardigans.

3. Ruffle dress for spring

I love anything with ruffles. When I saw this dress at J.Crew, I loved it! I love anything with ruffles, and J. Crew has lots of ruffles right now. I bought this dress in grey, which is an in-store only color.

4. Frye boots

My Frye boots are my all-time favorite purchase. They are the melissa button boots. I LOVE these. Thankfully, I found them on sale (slightly!), because they are definitely expensive.

5. For the spring/summer, woven shoes seem to be popular. I really want these from Banana Republic, but I am waiting for a coupon first.

J. Crew is one of my favorite stores now, but it can get expensive. They put things on the website on sale fairly often, but sizes go quickly. I found this blog called J.Crew Aficionada that is great! The lady posts lots of coupon codes, product reviews, and sale announcements often. She also hosts a weekly clothing exchange, so people can trade J. Crew clothing. I have never participated, but it sounds interesting!

cb2

2010-01-29T15:44:00.003-05:00

Several months ago, we heard that cb2 was going to open a store a couple of blocks from our house, but we never saw it. Then I read it in the Atlanta Business Chronicle, but again, there were no signs of the store. As I was driving Ben back to work today from Tech (he was on a panel critiquing grad student work for one of his old professors), I noticed the windows of one of the retail spaces in a new condo building had cb2 paper announcing it's opening in the summer. I am so excited!

*I took the picture with my iPhone while I was driving. And it was raining. Please excuse the poor quality.

happy birthday cleo!

2010-01-25T22:51:00.002-05:00

My sweet, spotted weiner dog is 2 today! I went to Taj Mahound today and picked up doggie cupcakes for Cleo and Eleanor. They loved them! Cleo wore her birthday hat, too. I bought a second one for Eleanor, but when I brought it home I realized it was much bigger than the other, so Eleanor couldn't wear it.

After we got married, I begged Ben for a dog, specifically a weiner dog. When I finally convinced him of our need for a dog, we searched and searched, but couldn't find a female chocolate and tan dapple dachshund anywhere in the Southeast. I gave up and decided we would have to wait a few months. The next day, I came across a website of a lady in Chattanooga. She had a litter of chocolate and tan puppies, and there was one dapple girl. She had a pink bow in her hair and was sitting in a basket. As soon as I saw her, I knew she was mine.

Happy birthday Cleo!

North Point Christmas Opener

2009-12-29T22:54:00.007-05:00

On the Sunday before Christmas, the Christmas Service at Buckhead Church began with a Christmas medley LIVE from all three campuses - North Point, Buckhead, and Browns Bridge. It was quite a production, as the perfomers traded verses between four stages on three campuses. You have to see it to believe it. This all went down live. Check it out!

North Point Christmas Opener

taco mac and roddy jones

2009-12-18T23:52:00.010-05:00

Guess who we ran into last night at Taco Mac across the street? Roddy Jones! He came in to get a take-out order and Ben spotted him. I made Ben go over and talk to him while he waited for his food, and then I went over a few minutes later and took Ben's picture with him. He was so nice! He showed us the ACC Championship watch they got and told us about the rings they will get. He chatted with us for 10-15 minutes and could not have been a nicer guy.

For those wondering who Roddy Jones is, here's a reminder.

2009-12-18T08:21:00.003-05:00

post signature

2009-12-17T22:54:00.005-05:00

how do i do these things?

2009-11-11T10:37:00.003-05:00

Sometimes I do the strangest things. I used to laugh or just get frustrated with my mom because I didn't understand how some things happened to her. Now, I understand.

Several weeks (maybe months?) ago, I was taking my rings off to put on my nightstand. I put my rings on this cute little dachshund ring holder. Beside the bed, we have a fan on the floor because I turn into a furnace once I get in the bed. I have to run the fan year round. Anyway, as I was taking my rings off, I dropped one of them. In the fan! Thankfully, Ben fished it out somehow before the weenies got it.

And, since I haven't posted in a long time, I thought I would put a picture of my sweet weenies!

the weenies are ready

2009-09-26T07:28:00.002-04:00

They are ready for the game today. They have their game day jerzee and hoodie ready to go!

changes in the loft

2009-09-24T22:02:00.004-04:00

As promised, here are some pictures of the updates we have been working on here at the loft. We still have a little more to do, but I think our house is almost how I want it. We painted the entire main living area of the loft, meaning everything but the bathroom. We used a white with gray tint, and I really like it. For the wall behind the bed, I really wanted to do some sort of design. We didn't to paint strips because those are out now, but didn't really know what to do. Ben found a picture of something similar to this online and we really liked it. We picked out the colors and then Ben painted the whole thing by himself. I was nervous about it at first, but now I love it!

We also got a new duvet cover to match the new colors, as tan didn't match anymore. Plus, Eleanor had chewed about 10 holes in the old duvet cover. BIG holes.

I also cleaned off our leaning bookcase a little, so it looks much nicer. Notice the painting of Cleo and Eleanor. Hillary gave this to us for our anniversary and we love it!

This kind of shows the new paint color.

My cleaned off bookshelf! Yay! See the empty cube on the left? That is where I want to put some sort of bowl.

Our house is beginning to look a lot less cluttered, finally! Next project = changing the vanity in the bathroom!

supermarket sweep

2009-09-23T20:34:00.003-04:00

Do y'all remember this show? I remember watching this show everyday after school with Lori. It involved three teams of two people. It came on in the same hour with another show that I don’t remember the name of, but it has something to do with shopping. In the show, the teams answered questions about groceries. Sometimes after the contestants answered with whatever product, they had to run around the store and find the product before the timer ran out. This usually involved the contestant running around the store, up and down the aisles trying to find the box of Lipton onion soup mix with the little supermarket sweep tag on it. Sometimes they found the products, but usually not.

I thought of this show tonight as Ben and I wandered around a different Publix looking for a few items. We (I) decided to run over to West Elm because I am in search of a bowl to place on one of our newly empty shelves. They are having a sale, but of course, the two bowls I like are not on sale. Over dinner we were talking about needing to stop by Publix at some point to pick up a few things for the tailgate on Saturday. So, I suggested that we stop by the Publix in Atlantic Station next to West Elm instead of going to our home Publix. We had a short list of items to pick up. Three of the items were easy to find, but two were not. We had some trouble finding the spices and the foil baking pans. I think we walked up down the ends of the aisles, reading the signs from the ceilings. Finally, we decided to split up. I told Ben to go down one aisle, and then I would go down the next aisle and we could meet up at the end. He must have walked really fast because when I got to the end of the aisle, he was gone, so then I had to find him. He had actually found the foil pans, but of course, they didn’t have the ones we needed. I seriously felt like we were on supermarket sweep. Ben kept saying, “This Publix is weird. They have a bad set up.” I thought they did, too, but maybe we are just used to our Publix.

Well, next time I hear the beep, I’ll think of all the fun I could have on Supermarket Sweep.

i've got a head start...

2009-09-21T21:52:00.004-04:00

...on gathering 2 of every animal for the ark, since I have two weenies. (I know it is supposed to be a male and a female of every animal, but oh well.) Seriously, the rain here has been ridiculous! It has been raining for over a week now. Today it rained so hard on my way home. Actually, it was a major downpour for at least an hour. I was on the third floor of the school this afternoon, and the rain was beating down on the roof so hard that I actually had a kid get scared. I didn't blame him! I was a little freaked out myself. There has been a lot of flooding, so much so that some school systems are closed tomorrow, and the connector was closed this afternoon. It is weird/interesting to think about how we go through periods of drought and periods of flooding, all within a few years. I guess that is how God planned it, but it is interesting to think about.

Anyway, I thought I would post a few pictures of the weenies in the rain. I know I have posted some before, but these are just so cute that I could not resist! They don't like the rain very much at all. If we try to take them out to the dog walk, they just stand on top of our feet so they don't have to touch the wet gravel.

We are going to try to stay inside and dry tomorrow!

*Ben is working on some changes to the blog, so if you stop by and it looks weird, that is why. He is going to start making the backgrounds for me, so he is trying to figure everything out. He also added my signature to my posts! He's such a good husband.

I'm Back!

2009-09-19T15:55:00.002-04:00

Things have been busy, busy, busy for the past few weeks. I started my new internship at an elementary school out in the suburbs, and that wears me out. I absolutely HATE getting up at 6:00 a.m. everyday. It puts me in a grouchy mood first thing in the morning. Working in the schools has been a good experience, but I am not sure it is for me. I like the kids, but speech does not seem to be very important in the schools. Plus, it is really hard to make progress with the kids when I see them for 30 minutes twice per week, along with 4 or 5 other kids. Oh yeah, and they all have different deficits. Ah!

Speaking of being grouchy in the morning, the weenies, particularly Eleanor, have not helped the situation. She wakes up so many times during the night, barking at a noise in the hallway or outside, like a MARTA bus. We are also paranoid because we have new sheets and a new duvet cover set, and we would like to keep them free of holes. Anytime we feel her move we jump up and look under the covers to see what she is doing. Cleo also sleeps on top of my pillows and I end up with one small corner of my pillow. Sometimes I move her, but she just comes back. I can't wait until we have a house and we can leave them in their crates at night to sleep. I think we will sleep much better then!

On another note about the weenies, today we were supposed to go to the Splish Splash Doggie Bash in Piedmont Park. I was super excited about taking the weenies to the park to go swimming. The park renovated the pool this summer and they are in the process of renovating the dog areas as well. As a fundraiser for the dog park, the doggie bash allowed dogs to swim in the pool before they closed it for the year. Anyway, with all the rain, we didn't go. It has been raining all day and we thought it would be too much of a mess. We are sad because we really have been wanting to the weenies swim. We ended up getting an email from the park this afternoon saying that they moved the event to next weekend because of the rain, but we can't go because we will be at the GT game. Oh well! Maybe next year!

We have also been busy with some home improvement projects. We painted the everything in the main room of our loft, including a design on one wall behind the bed. We also cleaned off our bookcase and put some books (textbooks!!) in plastic tubs, which will be put in storage for now (aka, the in-laws basement). We are so glad they have a basement that they let us use as a personal storage area. Their basement is in addition to our packed storage unit in the basement in our building and all of the stuff in my mawmaw's basement. The home projects have kept us busy! I will post some pictures soon of all the changes.

Finally, my aunt Ginger, who has been dealing with cancer for several years, died last weekend. She was in the hospital for a couple of weeks before that. It was a somewhat stressful time for the family, so that also kept us busy. My family has changed so much in the past year!

I never blogged about this, but several of you knew this situation. When mom was in the hospital, Ben and I went to her safe deposit box in search of her will. Long story short, the whole box, as in all of the contents and the box itself, were gone. Missing. The bank had no explanation, as the box had not been drilled. All of the records relating to the box were mysteriously missing. Well, this week, the contents of the box were returned to us. I'm not really sure what was in there before, but somehow I don't feel like we got everything.

at this point, I'm glad we got what we did. Now everything sits on the counter, still in the plastic bag. For some reason, I'm a little sad about it, but I'm not sure why. I don't really want to go through the stuff right now. So it will just sit there for now.

Finally, I have gotten a little bored with eating at home. We always stick with the same meals. With the weather getting colder soon, that will add some meal options into our rotation. We only make soups and roast when it is cold, so that will help. Anyway, Kelly's Korner had a dinner recipe tour, so I am excited about getting some new dinner recipes.

I think that is all for now!

I've reflected on my reflections of my reflections

2009-08-25T22:13:00.003-04:00

For the past few days, I have spent all my non-internship, non-sleeping time completing my program portfolio. My grad program requires us to complete a portfolio instead of taking comps. This thing is HUGE! It is full of many of my assignments, projects, papers, and reports that I have completed while in grad school. There are fourteen different sections, each focused on a different outcome that I should have met while in school. Each outcome requires 2-3 examples of graded work to demonstrate that I have gained the knowledge and skills relating to that outcome. Additionally, each outcome requires a 2-4 page reflection, where I reflect on how I learned the information contained within in the outcome and why it is important to me as a speech-language pathologist. I'm definitely over all of the reflecting.

I finally turned the darn thing in today, so I am finished! Well, finished for now. I'm sure I will get it back with minor "edits" that my professors want me to make. One step closer to graduation in December!

Date Night!

2009-08-21T22:36:00.002-04:00

Ben loves going to the movies. Me, not so much. I like to watch movies, but I hate having to pay ($19!!) for us to go, plus I can get very antsy. I always have to go to the bathroom about 30 minutes into the movie. I generally prefer to wait until I can just rent the movie and pause it whenever I feel like doing so. Ben has really been wanting to go to the movies recently, and I wanted to see Julie & Julia, so we agreed to go tonight.

The movie times were 7:25, which was a bit early for us, or 10:something, which would be way to late for my grandma self. I picked Ben up from work, brought him a change of clothes. We headed over to California Pizza Kitchen at Atlantic Station because I had a 20% coupon. It's not my favorite restaurant, but it is usually a reliable good meal. After dinner we went to the theater at Atlantic Station. We got there a few minutes early, so I spent some time playing pac-man and hangman on my phone. The previews finally started, and there are two movies coming out soon that look good, The Blind Side with Sandra Bullock, and Did You Hear About The Morgans? I'm not sure I would pay $19 to go see them, but they do look good. There were two other previews of movies that seemed pretty disturbing.

Anyway, back to the movie. Just as the movie got started, my nose completely stopped up. As in I couldn't get any air to go in or out. So I became a mouth breather, which is really frustrating. (I seem to have caught a cold from my therapy kids in the first week of my internship. Oh the germs!) The theater we went to is really nice, and they have these seats that rock a little. About half-way through the movie, I feel feet on the back of my chair and then my chair move. I ignored it. Then I felt someone moving their feet around on my chair again, making the chair rock more. I knew there wasn't a kid back there. Then it happened a third time, so I asked Ben to look through the seats behind us to determine if someone had their feet propped up on my chair, and sure enough they did. I was debating whether I should say something, and then you know what? It happened AGAIN! At this point, I turned around and poked my head through the hole between the chairs and politely said "Hey! Can you take your feet off my chair? It's making my chair move," which was then met with blank stares by the guy with the shifty feet and his girlfriend. Hmm...I know, I'm the crazy one. Why wouldn't I want someone's feet constantly moving all over the back of my chair causing my chair to move? I only paid $19, right?

Not long after confronting Mr. Shifty Feet, my nose miraculously cleared up. I could breathe through it again! I think it was a sign. I'm not sure what for, but a sign nonetheless. From then on, everything was pleasant. The movie was very good; Exactly the kind of movie I like to see. After the movie, we went to Kilwin's, where I got a caramel and pecan covered pretzel. It was a sweet end to a good night!

Kim's Shower

2009-08-17T20:04:00.003-04:00

On Saturday, Kim, one of my friends from grad school, had a wedding shower. It was at a cute tea room in Woodstock. It was very girly, just like a wedding shower should be! I went with Kimberly, another friend from grad school. I know, they have the same name. It confuses the heck out of me at times, but I try to always call one of them Kim and one of them Kimberly to keep it straight.

Kim can be quite humorous, and she can make the funniest faces.

How about this funny face? As soon as I took this picture, I looked at it and laughed out loud. (Don't worry - I told her I was putting this on my blog!)

I made her hold up the towels I got her.

This one is just cute.

This photo is Kimberly, Kim, and then me. Please ignore my chunky-munky arms. I thought about having Ben photoshop them so that they would look smaller, but decided against doing so. I never understood why my mom thought she had fat arms (she didn't like to wear sleeveless clothing) until now. I have them as well and now I totally understand.

We were served some kind of berry tea and some little tea pastries and sandwiches. I bypassed the sandwiches in favor of the cute little desserts, obviously not helping the arm situation. I wanted to take pictures of the table and food, but I was a little unsure of how the nice older ladies at my table would respond to that decision. I thought trying to explain the whole blog thing was a little more than I was interested in explaining at the time.

It is fun to go to girly activities like a shower every now and then. She is getting married the weekend before Christmas and I have always wanted to go to a Christmas wedding. I had a great time and can't wait for the wedding!

Seaside...Again!

2009-08-15T22:58:00.006-04:00

I am participating in "Show Us Your Life" over Kelly's Korner again this week, except this time is is all about your favorite vacation spot. It actually started yesterday, so I am a little late, but better late than never, right? We just got back from our favorite vacation spot last week, and I was planning on doing a post anyway, so I thought I would still participate in the blog tour, even if it is a day late.

Our favorite vacation spot is Seaside, which is in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. We absolutely love this place. We went for the first time in May (you can read about that trip here), and decided to go back for our anniversary last weekend. Actually, we got an offer for a free night there, and that is when we decided to go back. Anyway, the beach is gorgeous, we can walk everywhere we need to go, and it is a great family-friendly beach.

The room we stayed in this time is called "Sunnybrook." As much as we liked the last room we stayed in, we liked this one even better. It was a little bigger and it has lots of windows, meaning lots of sunlight, which we like. I got another Vera Bradley bag for free, too! It was on the bed when we checked in.

The beach is just so pretty!

During the summer, movies are shown at the ampitheater on Fridays. "The Truman Show" was the movie of the week while we were there, which was neat because it was filmed in Seaside.

Every evening, we saw TONS of people heading down to the beach to take the classic white and khaki on the beach picture for their Christmas cards/over the fireplace family photo.

We took this picture of the sunset as we were walking back from dinner. The beach houses are so nice. I wish we could afford to live in Seaside!

The sunset on the beach. So pretty!

I can't wait to go back next year!

3-Day Fundraiser Night

2009-08-11T09:59:00.004-04:00

On July 30th, our 3-Day team put together a fundraiser at Chick-fil-A. (You can learn more about why we are doing The 3-Day here.) We have a lot of money to raise before October, over $8,000, and thought that this would be a great way to raise money. The operator at this store was kind enough to agree to give us 10% of the total sales for the specified time of the fundraiser. We also raffled off a couple of gift baskets, donated by my mawmaw and aunt Sandra, as well as one of my mom's friends from high school. The night was a success, and we are closer to meeting our fundraiser goal. Thanks to everyone who came out for dinner to support us! (Oh, and if you would like to donate to the cause, follow the link on the left side of the page.) Here are some pictures from the evening.

What I'm Reading: Everyone Worth Knowing

2009-08-10T17:10:00.009-04:00

I bought this book about a year ago with the intention to read it during my short summer break, but then everything with mom happened and I never got to read it as planned. I've said this before, but I have to force myself to not read during the semester because I end up reading instead of doing school stuff. I took this to the beach with me over the weekend. I bought it because I found on sale for $5 and because it is written by the same author who wrote The Devil Wears Prada. It turned out to be a good beach read. It wasn't really about anything of substance, but I enjoyed it. Basically, this girl goes to college at Emory, takes a banking job in NYC because it will pay the bills, but she ends of hating the job and quits after a few years. Through her uncle's connections as an entertainment writer, she gets a job at a PR firm that deals with all the biggest celebrities and socialites. The book basically details her experiences through her job, including all of the craziness/activities in which the wealthy participate. There were a few things that I was somewhat uncomfortable about, such as drug use, and some sex things that I would rather not read about, but it never got anywhere near anything graphic. The main character doesn't get involved in any of this, just details the participation of those she represents. I'm sure that it is, unfortunately, an accurate representation of the activities of some of the wealthy. Overall, I enjoyed the book. I will probably buy another of her books if I happen to find it on sale.

SHOW US YOUR LIFE - Reception/Honeymoon

2009-08-06T21:50:00.005-04:00

Our wedding reception was at Magnolia Hall in Piedmont Park. Piedmont Park is kind of like the Central Park of Atlanta, just not quite so big. Our ceremony was held on the lawn in front of Magnolia Hall. You can see the last row of chairs from the ceremony in this photo. Magnolia Hall is an old blacksmith's forge that has been converted into a event space.

This was our cake. We got it from Mark at Baker's Man Inc., and we loved it. All the layers were the same, so that they would all get eaten, including the top layer. He made us a replica of the top layer on our first anniversary. The layers were white cake with buttercream frosting. The inside layers were key lime curd with raspberry, and then cream cheese frosting. The dj played "How Sweet It Is" by Marvin Gaye while we cut the cake.

The groom's cake was chocolate with chocolate ganache and chocolate buttercream frosting. This one went quickly at the reception! We actually liked it better than the big cake.

We took dance lessons and learned how to the Foxtrot for our first dance. We danced to the jazzy version of "The Way You Look Tonight" by Frank Sinatra.

These are some extra photos of our wedding party and us that haven't really fit in to any week, so I just included them here. This is the entire wedding party walking across the bridge.

Ben pushing me on the swing in the park.

And the best for last! This is our favorite picture from the wedding. The photographer had us dance in front of the Atlanta skyline.

For our honeymoon, we went to Antigua, and it was fabulous! We stayed at Hermitage Bay, which was recently named to the Conde Nast Hot List. We actually stayed there right when they opened, before it was recognized by Conde Nast, so it was not quite so expensive.

This photo is the view from the spa. Ben loves this picture because of the tree.

This is a photo of the beach. This place was super secluded, and we were often the only people on the beach.

We stayed in a hillside cottage, where we had our own plunge pool. It was so nice! This is the view from out on the water, looking up at the cottages on the hillside.

This is the view from our cottage, as well as our plunge pool.

It also happened to be Carnival while we were there, so we went into town to check it out. It was so much fun, and definitely one of the coolest cultural experiences ever. This photo is of us from where we watched the parade. (When I say parade, it isn't anything like a parade here in America. This thing took HOURS! Like 4 hours at least, sometimes it just stopped moving, and the people in the parade would go into the stores to by cokes as they went by.)

Y'all aren't going to believe this, but these girls were doing the cotton-eyed joe! Haha!
These little girls were in the parade. The girl in the middle was fascinated by my hair. She walked straight up to me while I was watching and just touched my hair. I don't think she had seen/felt white people hair before. She was so sweet!

This photo is of some girls dressed as butterflies. I just thought their costumes were really pretty!

Sorry this post is so long! I hope you enjoyed the pictures. Head over to Kelly's Korner to check out more!

We Made It!

2009-08-06T20:47:00.002-04:00

Nothing ever goes as planned, right? We just got to Seaside this evening and will be here for the weekend. Since I knew we would be traveling, I got my oil changed on Monday at Curry Honda, where I always take my car. (And believe me, I have been there plenty, thanks to being hit THREE times.) I got the oil changed, ran a quick errand, and then headed home. Tuesday I did not drive at all because I stayed at home all day and we walked to Melting Pot for dinner for our anniversary. Wednesday, I decided to run up to Chick-fil-A and grab some lunch in the drive-thru to take back home. I had been doing school work on Wednesday morning and had not taken a shower yet. When I went to get lunch, I figured it didn't matter if my hair was a little greasy and my shirt was my too-big pajama shirt because I was just going through the drive-thru.

Anyway, when it is my turn at the speaker in the drive-thru, I roll down my window and hear a car making a loud noise, so I think to myself "man, someone's car does not sound too good." I worried it was mine for a second, and then decided it must have been the van behind me. I was relieved to hear the sound disappear as I pulled around after placing my order, so I figured it was definitely the van. After I get my food, I pull back out onto the road, a VERY BUSY road, mind you, right in the middle of the lunch hour, and call my MIL to thank her for a card. Well, I get to the light, and as I am talking to her, I hear my car making the noise again, and then it started to shake and make some crazy noises, followed by some loud noise that sounded like something large fell out of my car onto the road. I immediately put on my flashers, and hang up the phone. Then this lady (and by lady, I mean Dara Torres/ Jane of the Jungle style, as she had major arm muscles) knocks on my window, tells me to put my car in neutral and she is going to push it into the parking lot across the street. Meanwhile, I am thinking that of course this happens to me when I have not taken a shower, not even brushed my hair, and I have my pajama tshirt on. I say ok, as the man in the car behind her jumps out, proceeds to block the crazy oncoming traffic so that Jane can push me across the street. Once I got in the parking lot, the nice man had me open the hood, and then he told me that the belt on the alternator had come of, so I needed to have it towed somewhere. The nice people left me then, and I called AAA to come get my car. Thank goodness for AAA! The tow man was there in less than 30 minutes, as was my other MIL to pick me up and take me home. During this 30 minutes, I sat in my car, turned off, and in the sun, meaning I got all nasty sweaty, making me look oh so pretty on top of everything else.

The end of the story is not quite so exciting. AAA towed my car to the dealership for only $35. We were a little stressed about not having the car to drive to the beach today and had made other car plans thinking that my car had some major damage that would cost lots of money and definitely take more than a day to repair. As it turns out, the nice man at Curry Honda called this morning and said that the car was fixed, there was no major damage, and we could come pick it up in 30 minutes. So we head up there, luggage and everything, go in to pick up the car, and do you know what? IT WAS FREE! How great is that?! I'm not sure why it was free, but I don't care.

So we made it to the beach today, despite the craziness with the car. Our room here is very pretty, the beach is gorgeous, and we are looking forward to a relaxing weekend. But we miss our weenies!

I found them!

2009-08-05T22:46:00.002-04:00

Actually, Ben found the pictures on his computer of Cleo and the banana. She is so darn cute!! I just love my Cleo.

My banana after I got it back from her. See all of the teeth marks?

Banana Thieves

2009-08-05T08:59:00.002-04:00

I eat a banana just about every morning for breakfast, along with some yogurt. The weenies don't really get table food, other than fruits and vegetables. (And the occasional dropped potato chip.) I always take the last bite of the banana, break it into two, and then give it to the weenies. They really love bananas. When Cleo was a puppy, I put my banana on the coffee table while I ate my yogurt, and she stole it! The whole banana! I have pictures of it somewhere, but can't find them.

This morning as I peeled my banana, it broke in half. The top half fell on the floor, and Eleanor got it. Cleo was out of reach on the couch, since she doesn't jump down. Eleanor took it behind the couch and I watched her eat the whole thing. At one point, I tried to bend down and pick up the banana from Eleanor, while holding the other half of the banana in my hand. Bad idea! Cleo sneak attacked the other half of the banana, breaking off all but one bite. I had one bite, the weenies had the rest.

Two Years?!

2009-08-04T07:54:00.004-04:00

We have been married for two years today. A lot has happened in those two years, good and bad! In one sense, it has gone by quickly, but in another sense, not so quickly due to all of the things that have happened. I have been in grad school since we got married! And I'm still not done.

We are going to the Melting Pot tonight (with a coupon), so that should be really good. We didn't really do anything last year because of everything going on with mom. This weekend, we are going to Seaside to celebrate.

Happy Anniversary, Ben!

I love our church!

2009-08-02T22:51:00.002-04:00

Today was a great day at church! We started off at the 9:00 service, and the opener was so amazing. We had a guy that sang "Let's Stay Together" and he sounded just like Al Green. Seriously. I turned to Ben and said "That dude can sing." I do love me some oldies/motown, however. Then, they (there was a girl singing backup, too) started singing a song that I don't name the name of, but it had something to do with "join the band." There are three campuses that comprise the church, and each of the campuses were singing the same song, too, with their worship leader. At the SAME TIME. They showed each campus worship leader on the screen while they were singing, so we could see each of the other churches on the screen at the same time. I really don't know how to describe it other than that is was fabulous!

Anyway, then Andy had a great message today. He started by talking about how Buckhead church was recently ranked as the third biggest church in the country by Forbes magazine. (Not in a snooty, hahaha, we are the best way, but moreso as an intro into the rest of the message, which was about his vision for the church.) Anyway, they are doing some really cool stuff. Starting in the next couple of weeks, you can watch the 6:00 service LIVE on your computer. From anywhere. Isn't technology great? They are also doing some sort of small group kind of thing through this as well, which is also great for people who don't live in a community that offers small groups like ours does. If you are interested, you can go here to learn more/watch the services online.

After church, we headed down to UpStreet. Today was our first day as kindergarten small group leaders. We were all excited and ready to meet the kids in our class. So we set up, had everything ready to go, and we waited. And then we waited more. Then other classes started to fill up, but we were still waiting. At 11:02, 2 minutes after the service started, we still had ZERO kids in our class. In fact, we were the only class without any kids. All of the other classes had at least 4 kids. Ben said he felt kind of like the kid on the playground that doesn't get picked to play. I felt similarly. Finally, at 11:05, we had our first kid. They started trickling in after that. As it turned out, out of the 6 kids we had today, only 1 was actually on our roll. We ended up getting all of the kids coming in for their first day that had not yet been assigned to a class. I think our classroom coach (the lady in charge of the room) felt a little sorry for us. I don't blame her, I was feeling sorry for myself at that point! Once we got some kids, we had a lot of fun. We are really looking forward to being small group leaders and getting to love on these kids for the next year.

As the last two of our kids were picked up by their parents, the fire alarm went off in the building. Nobody seemed to be in any hurry, but we picked up our things and got out of there. The firetrucks came and everything, but it didn't appear that there was actually a fire. It was a chaotic end to crazy morning!

Grandma Green's Birthday

2009-08-01T22:04:00.002-04:00

Today is Grandma Green's birthday. To celebrate, we took her to her family's barbecue restaurant, Wallace Barbecue. The food is so darn good there. (On a side note, I didn't eat as much as normal there tonight because I have been having some serious indigestion/heartburn. At least that is what I think the problem is. Mom always had extreme reflux, so I guess I probably will, too.) After dinner, we went back to Grandma Green's house for cake and presents. Ben and I made a red velvet cake for her birthday. Unfortunately, it was not the prettiest thing, but it still tasted really good. This is the third time we have made the cake, and we think we finally got it figured out. We use a modified version of Paula Deen's recipe, and have been tweaking it each time. We figured out what we were doing wrong when we baked the third layer today, so we should have it together for the next time. We had fun eating cake, especially Mattie. She was hyped up on sugar after eating some of the cake, so she was pretty funny. When we left, Ben said that Mattie is funny, but that it is even funnier that we can play with her and go home when we are tired. Kat and Will still have to calm her down!

Happy birthday Grandma Green!

SHOW US YOUR LIFE - Bridesmaids/Flowers/Ceremony

2009-07-30T22:16:00.006-04:00

I am once again participating in Kelly's Korner blog tour this week. This week is bridesmaids, flowers, and the ceremony. There were very few things that I disliked at my wedding. Participating in this blog tour is fun because it gives me a reason to look at these pictures again, which just reminds me how much I love my wedding pictures.

Our wedding was outside, in August, in Atlanta, which means it was HOT!! To help alleviate the extreme heat, we had big tubs of water bottles in ice on the sidewalk before you walked on the lawn for the ceremony. We also knew it was going to be hot, so we decided to make our ceremony really short. It turned out to be about 12 minutes long, which was better for everyone.

A funny note about our wedding ceremony is that the week before our wedding, we got a notice from Piedmont Park that Falcons Fest, as in the Atlanta Falcons, would be occurring in the park on the same day. We were really stressed about it because we knew it would make traffic really bad, which would make people late, and that it meant less parking for our guests. It turned out to not be that big of a deal. However, Falcons Fest involved a stage for live singing performances. I didn't really pay attention at the time, but when we watched our wedding video, we could very clearly hear "Brick House" in the background. Apparently everyone else at our wedding noticed it, too. Oh well!! It is something to laugh at now!

When I first saw my flowers, I was a little disappointed. I thought the bouquets were going to be a little tighter. Looking back at my pictures now, I love them. The colors of the flowers and the size of the bouquets were perfect. The first picture is a close up of the bridesmaids bouquets.

This is me with my bridesmaids, flower girl, and ring bearer just before we walked down the aisle. I love this picture because it shows everyone's personality well.

I also love this picture with my bridesmaids. This is on a really old bridge that you have to cross over to get into the park where our ceremony was held.

Ben with the groomsmen. This is a really good picture of all of the guys.

Ok, this is one of the best pictures from the wedding. My super cute flower girls decided to play in the flower petals that lined the aisle after the ceremony ended. My photographer happened to catch her in the act! I think he actually uses this picture on his business cards now.

Me with my flower girl. This picture is a good close-up of her dress and my bouquet.

This picture shows the back of the bridesmaids dresses. I loved my bridesmaids dresses. I wanted a color that somewhat blended in with the natural background, rather than competed it. They were a pretty tan-ish color, with a cream sash. They were also tea length, which I think is very pretty and stylish.

This was taken during our special ring ceremony thing we came up with that involved passing our rings around between each of our friends and having them say a special short prayer over us/the rings. They all formed a circle right in the middle of the wedding. During this portion, "One Hand, One Heart" from West Side Story was played by our string quartet that provided the music for our ceremony. It was a very unique part of our ceremony, and it was really special to us.

Finally, this is our entire wedding party just after the ceremony. We are all sitting on the steps that are just beside the lawn where the ceremony was held.

I hope you enjoyed my wedding pictures!

A glimpse at life in a few years

2009-07-29T20:43:00.003-04:00

Monday morning I got to watch my niece for a couple of hours while her mama got some things done. Ben and I watched her together several months ago while her parents went to dinner, and things didn't exactly go smoothly. She had not been around us much at that point, so she was a little freaked out.

This time around went much better! She has been around us a good bit since they moved back to Atlanta, so she did really well. Once I brought her inside our house, she took a few minutes to warm back up to Cleo and Eleanor. After that, she was on a roll the rest of the time. I couldn't get her to slow down! I tried to get her to read a book or sing "The Wheels on the Bus," but she apparently had more important things on her agenda, like redecorating. She was particularly interested in the Pottery Barn Kids catalog. She also played with the weenies, inspected our file cart, and looked at a magazine. I had other goals for her, including two word phrases.

She likes to laugh when other people laugh, so here she is laughing because I am laughing.
Inspecting the floor.

This is while she is looking at the Pottery Barn catalog.

It was lots of fun! We are so glad they are back in Atlanta now so that we can spend more time with Mattie.

Speaking of Weenies...

2009-07-26T13:49:00.007-04:00

We are definitely GT fans in our house, as Ben got two degrees from there. He hates all things UGA, as any good GT fan should. There are things that I don't like about UGA, some of their fans in particular, but I don't hate them.

Ben showed me this online article a couple of days ago, and I have not stopped giggling about the whole thing. Look at the picture above. It looks normal at first glance. However, upon further inspection, there is a particular "part" that is a bit more obvious than it should be. Some of the comments on the The Hive were pretty funny, including "Maybe he should change his least favorite physical attribute." Hahaha!

SHOW US YOUR LIFE - Wedding Dress

2009-07-24T07:42:00.003-04:00

Through blog hopping, I have found a nice lady's blog in Arkansas that I like to read. Every Friday she has been doing a home tour. Each week features a new room in the house, and everyone who participates puts pictures of that specific room on their blog and then links it to hers. Although I read many of the blogs relating to the home tour, I never posted my own, mostly because we live in a studio that does not have separate rooms. Now the home tour is over and the topic has changed to Show Us Your Life - Weddings. Every Friday for the next several weeks, the topic will focus on specific details of the wedding. This week is the wedding dress. I decided to participate because, well, I have one of those! I also think it will be fun for me since these few weeks are leading up to our 2 year anniversary.

(As I am typing this, there is a segment on the Today Show about "Waitie Katie" and whether Prince William will propose soon. I bet that will be a heck of a wedding dress!)

Anyway, back to my own dress! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my wedding dress. I searched and tried on so many wedding dresses. Finally, I found the website of a bridal boutique in Virginia Highlands, LaRaine's Bridal Boutique. I figured I probably would not be able to afford anything in there, but wanted to give it a try anyway. I also found a dress on the website that I really liked, as it was completely different from anything I had tried on, but also thought it would be too expensive. So I went with my mom and my grandmother, and discovered that it was definitely not too expensive. The dress on the website was even better in the store, and once I tried it on, I knew that was the one!

This is the back of my dress just before I put it on.

This is one of my favorite pictures from our wedding.
During the ceremony...a side view of the dress.
I had to include my shoes in the post, because they are so fabulous. I am a big Kate Spade fan, so I had to have Kate Spade Wedding Shoes. Here are my shoes with sweet little flower girl's feet.
That is all for today! Check out Kelly's Korner for more dresses.

Speech?! I don't want to give a speech!

2009-07-22T17:17:00.000-04:00

Me: No, you don't have to give a speech, Ms. ___! I said you are going TO speech! To work on your memory?

Patient: Oh! I thought you were taking me to give a speech, but I didn't write one.

My medical internship officially ended last Friday. It was 10 weeks full of working with elderly folks with diagnoses ranging from aphasia secondary to a stroke, to dementia, alzheimer's, and schizophrenia. And I loved every second of it! The conversation above was from one of the first few days of working with one of my most favorite patients. She was full of interesting conversation!

Going into this internship, I was not particularly excited. I had requested to go into a hospital, but what I got was a skilled nursing facility. I was most worried about going to this type of facility and having my patients die on me, which I thought would just be terrible considering the deaths of two family members this year, particularly my mom. Basically, I thought it would be too emotionally draining. Fortunately, (well, unfortunately for her) I only had one patient die, and it happened on my third day before I got too attached to her.

The patients that I was able to work with for therapy were normal people with normal lives. Most were working class folks, so they were stable in the sense that they were able to provide for themselves, but definitely not wealthy. Most had very little education, mostly due a lack of opportunity rather than a lack of ambition, but they had a lot of practical knowledge.

I had three patients in particular with whom I developed a close relationship. It is hard to not become invested in their lives when you see them everyday and the struggles that they must face. I think I may become a little too invested, not in a bad way, but in a way that I really care about them and want to do whatever I can to help them. It seems that the patients are often thought of as just that, another patient to take care of on your list. This is true for the the therapists, nursing, and doctors. It takes no more time to let the patients know that you care about them and are committed to your part in their recovery. My three favorite patients had such interesting life experiences, some good, but most were sad. One of the patients was discharged the week before I left. The other two were still there, and I had a hard time leaving them! One of them cried on my last day, and the other grabbed on to me and said she wasn't going to let me leave. Anyway, I loved these people. I wish I could just adopt them into my family, especially since they both had no family.

I think I get my caring nature for my patients from my mom. She always seemed to find those people who needed someone to be kind to them, and she was that person.

I spent my days laughing at all the crazy things my patients would say, and their funny personalities. Here is a sampling of my favorite patient quotes.

(whispering) "You know there are a lot of people missing legs here. I even saw one lady without an arm!"

Patient: You see that over there? Looks like they put a red light up over there.

Me: That's not a red light, that's a tail light!

Patient: You hear that? It sounds like trees. Wind blowing in trees.

Me: There aren't any trees in here.

Patient: I keep looking around and I don't see any. But I hear trees. You don't hear that?

Me: Ms. ___, that is the air conditioner!

(We were sitting in an office with no windows.)

Patient: My husband did not like me to wake him up. The only time he liked me to wake him up was.....um....was when it was time for him to get up to go to work!

Patient 2: I thought you were going to say sex.

That's all I can think of right now, but there are about 50 more funny conversations like these.

Yay!

2009-07-15T18:52:00.000-04:00

As of today, I am married to a registered architect! We found out today that he passed his final test. No more studying for him for right now!

Bless His Heart

2009-07-08T22:03:00.000-04:00

Remember this guy from Ben's office? The one who rigged the march madness pool? This is his Halloween costume he wore to the office, Supergirl. Not Superwoman, or even Superman (which would make a little more sense), but Supergirl.

Bathroom Renovation: Part 1

2009-07-06T21:24:00.000-04:00

Back in May, Ben and I finally started round one of our bathroom renovation. We have been planning on doing the renovation for about a year now, but things kept coming up that prevented us from carrying out our plans. During that year, we ordered items we wanted for the bathroom as we found them on sale/had a coupon and just let the boxes stack up until we were ready.

Our bathroom contains our laundry area and closet as well. Here are some before pictures:

Our bathroom was painted lime green, which I loved. We just got tired of it because it has been like that for about 3 years now. One of our least favorite parts of the bathroom were the curtains we had to use to cover up our closet. The dogs like to eat the curtains, and it just looked messy.

Round one of the renovation involved painting the bathroom grey, adding a super fabulous closet system from Ikea (with DOORS!), new lighting fixtures (globes from West Elm), new mirror, new shelves over the toilet, and new accessories.

I love this mirror. We happened across it the day after Christmas at Crate and Barrel. It was a $400 mirror, but Ben found this one as a floor model while I was in the bathroom for only $100! I love it! We will be taking this with us when we move.

Also notice the super cool dachshund art on the wall, which we found at Z Gallerie.

Round two of the renovations, which will happen in a few weeks on my break between semesters, will involve removing the light fixture over the mirror and replacing it with a sconce on each side of the mirror. We will also take out the old vanity/sink/faucet and replace them. The new vanity will be Ikea kitchen cabinets, a white vessel sink, and a new brushed nickel faucet. I also plan on changing the fixtures in the shower. My one dilemma is the shower. It is just nasty. No matter what I clean that thing with, it never looks clean. More like just a lighter shade of grey because of all the dirtiness. It would cost WAY too much money to replace it, so I decided I would just have it refinished. For some reason, I was thinking this cost about $200. According to my pricing, it will actually be close to $400, which is a problem. I found a kit online to refinish it yourself that only costs $50. I'm just scared it might make it worse.

That's our bathroom! I will post more pictures after we finish round two.

Weenie Update!

2009-07-05T21:02:00.000-04:00

Cleo can be a grouchy weenie at times. She likes to take both bones so that Eleanor can't have one. When Eleanor gets near her, she growls.

Here she is with two bones. She looks really innocent, but don't let that fool you.

She is being really sweet in this picture.

Crazy Eleanor!

Happy Fourth!

2009-07-05T20:48:00.000-04:00

I know it is now the fifth, but this post is about the fourth. Yesterday evening we went to the Lenox fireworks show. Hillary works for a PR firm that had something to do with the VIP tent at Lenox, so she was able to get us in with her for the evening. It was so nice! We parked at her office across the street, walked straight over to the VIP tent, and then got us some free dinner. The tent had catered food, free drinks, and tables set up with a perfect view of the stage and the fireworks. It was all FREE. We had a really good time!

We Made It

2009-07-04T16:34:00.000-04:00

Ben and I successfully completed our first Peachtree Road Race this morning. We were in the fourth time group, which is pretty good. We started just before 8:00 this morning, so it was still relatively cool. We jogged on and off most of the way, except for at the end. Considering I did ZERO training for this, I am impressed with myself! The best part is that about half of the people walk the whole race, except for the last .2 miles or so, when about 90% of the people start running like they have been running the entire race. I guess they want to finish strong, right? Most of those people looked like they were about to pass out after they crossed the finish line. We are a little disappointed that the shirt is plain white. We were hoping for something a little more exciting! The design on the shirt is nice, however.

Ben's parents came out to watch us, even though we didn't see them as we walked past them. We met them back at our house after the race and went to lunch together at the Vortex. Nothing like a post-race grilled cheese and coke zero!

Anyway, we had lots of fun and hopefully we will do it again next year!

I Picked A Good One!

2009-07-01T20:04:00.000-04:00

This morning on the radio they were talking about Forbes top-paying jobs for women. Guess what was number 9? Speech-language pathologist! I was pretty excited by that, so much so that I had to call Ben and tell him. I think it is a great job, but it is interesting that it made Forbes list. However, the only problem I found is the salary that they report for SLPs. It is a bit high, but SLPs get paid less in this part of the country.

The article is an interesting read as well. You can check it out here. According to the article, a pay-gap still exists, with women earning about 80% of what men earn. I'm surprised that the gap is still as high as 20%.

Anyway, I'm glad I decided to be a SLP! And on that note, I will leave you with a quote from one of my patients.

Me: Can I sit here?

Patient: Anywhere but on my head!

Good Thing!

2009-06-29T22:48:00.000-04:00

It's a good thing we haven't been going to the gym lately! I know this was all over the news today in Atlanta, but in case someone missed it, a parking deck collapsed in Midtown today. Ben and I park in that parking deck when we go to the gym! We could have been squashed. You can read more about the story here.

Heat Rash?

2009-06-28T19:57:00.000-04:00

This morning when I was getting ready Ben noticed that my neck was all broken out. When I looked in the mirror, I told him it looked like heat rash automatically. After thinking about it, what is heat rash? Is that just a southern thing? I'll spare everyone a picture of it, but it sure does itch!

In The News

2009-06-25T21:13:00.001-04:00

There are several things in the news right now that I feel the need to comment on. (I am also bothered that I ended that sentence with a preposition, which is not grammatically correct, but oh well.) I used to love to watch the news. I don't anymore, mostly because Ben doesn't like to watch the news, but I do check ajc.com about 20 times per day. I also have several news apps on my iphone which keep me up to date while I am seeing patients. Anyway, these are my comments.

- Celebrity Deaths: Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, and then Michael Jackson. Death really does come in threes, I guess. Super weird. Sadly, all three of them have been in the news recently for not so positive things. Not really the way you want to go out. Ed McMahon had all of the foreclosure/financial troubles, Farrah's son and longtime boyfriend have been in and out of legal trouble (her son is in jail and wasn't able to be there when she died), and then MJ's molestation/Neverland ranch issues. Hillary and I were discussing how sad we are about MJ earlier this evening, and when I got off the phone Ben asked me why I felt so bad since he was a child molester. I'm not sure if I think he is a molester. I think he is just a weirdo with lots of emotional issues, which I am sure are largely due to his crazy parents. Anyway, I'm sad for all of them, and especially sad for the troubles they encountered late in life.

- Jon & Kate Plus 8: I am especially sad over this situation. I have kind of been frustrated with the show recently because I feel like it is not real anymore, with all of these guest appearances and free things (Emeril, Orange County Choppers, Crooked Houses, etc). The whole divorce thing was not surprising, but it is still sad. It seems like they have just given up! That's a lot to give up on. I hope people leave them alone for awhile so that they can work things out in their lives.

- SC Governor: What the heck?!? All of these cheater politicians!! It seems like such a common occurrence in politics. I know it happens lots with regular people, but these people are supposed to be leaders! I read that his wife has now decided to take him back, and bless her for that, because he is a really rotten person. I guess you never really know what you would do in a particular situation until you face it, but I can't imagine being so kind. I recently watched the Oprah episode where she interviewed Elizabeth Edwards and was shocked to see how she almost defended her cheater-peter husband. She has terminal cancer! Couldn't he just wait until she died?! Seriously.

- Local News - Tech Robberies: The City of Atlanta needs some major changes! The mayor is crappy. She fixed a few potholes, but I am pretty sure that there are more than what we started with at this point, and she ran the city into the ground. 10 robberies in the same area in a month timespan. That is ridiculous! We got gas on that corner where several of the robberies happened on the way to dinner tonight and there are some sketchy folks and no police over there. Somebody needs to get it together!

It's kind of like Oprah, except for all the free stuff

2009-06-15T19:55:00.001-04:00

I have a few new favorite things that I thought I would share with everyone. No particular reason, just something interesting.

- The Little Couple on TLC. I love this show! They are so funny. And normal. We used to really like Jon and Kate Plus 8, but with all the drama, I no longer love it. I still watch it, mostly because it is kind of like the car wreck with some serious injuries that you can't force yourself to turn away from despite the uncomfortableness. (I'm pretty sure that's not a real word, but it fit and I liked it.) Anyway, the wife is a doctor and the husband is in business, and they are both funny.

- This is not really a new favorite, but I love it so much that I thought it was worth mentioning. Benefit Creaseless Cream eye shadow. I love this stuff. I think it is the best eye shadow ever. It stays on all day and doesn't crease on the lid. Plus, it is super easy to put on.

- Boutique shopping. I have recently rediscovered shopping in boutiques. Boutiques have some of the best clothing and jewelry to choose from. Some of my favorites are Boogaloos, Kaleidoscope, and another gift shop boutique called Heliotrope. I also have heard good things about Fabrik, but I have not checked it out yet.

- Izze drinks. These things are basically juice mixed with carbonated water. REALLY good. Yum!

- El Taco. This mexican restaurant is so good. Ben and I have been 3 times in the past 6 weeks or so. We love it!

I think this is it for now. I feel like there are things I am leaving out, but they are not coming to me right now. If I remember them, I will update.

Updates!

2009-06-11T21:53:00.000-04:00

So I know I haven't updated my blog much recently. There just hasn't been much to post here. Although we have been pretty busy, I don't what we have been busy doing. Just busy! Here are some random updates:

- Cleo and Eleanor are still crazy! Eleanor has a new hobby, barking! Anytime she heard something in the hall, someone upstairs, or anything outside, she starts barking. She woke us up at 4:30 this morning barking because she heard the beer trucks unloading down at The Vortex. She also does this new bark/howl thing that is really funny. After she finishes her howl, she keeps her mouth slightly open for a second as if she is still howling. We have also started taking them to the dog walk here to pee instead of taking them outside. Taking them outside has proven to be an issue, since everyone walking by wants to pet them, distracting them from the goal of peeing. The dog walk is a lot of gravel, and Cleo hates it! She hates walking on it. The first couple of times she wouldn't even walk on the gravel. If we set her in it, she would slowly walk to us and try to get all four of her paws on our feet so she didn't have to touch it! She is still al little unsure, but it has proven to generally be successful, at least more than going out in front of the building.

- I am in my internship at the moment at a skilled nursing facility and I love it! I love the old people. They definitely make for an interesting day. I can definitely see myself working in this type of setting once I graduate. I have had somewhat of a hard time getting used to the schedule. I get up at 6:10 now, which means I now have to go to bed earlier. When I get up, so does Eleanor, so Ben has to get up now when I do. Things like this make me wish we had a separate bedroom with a door! I feel bad that Ben has to get up early now just because I do.

- My new favorite thing is the spray-on tan. I went to the tanning bed for a couple of months this year since I was in Kimberly's wedding, and because I didn't want to reflect light in Kimberly's wedding pictures. However, I know the tanning bed is really bad for me. And I need to avoid cancer causing things something serious, especially considering my family history. I tried it once and loved it, so now that's what I do. I have gotten lots of compliments on my tan! The best part is that it makes me look much darker in one visit than a month of the tanning bed.

- Ben and I have an exercising/weight dilemma. We both need to lose weight, as we both are looking increasingly more like chipmunks everyday. Getting up really early, like at 5:00, isn't an option, mostly because that is way too early, but also because I have to take my thyroid medication at least 30 minutes before I eat, and I have to eat before I go to the gym, otherwise I will pass out. Ben doesn't like to go when he gets off of work because the gym is ridiculously crowded, and I don't like to go later, like at 8:00 or 8:30, because it is just too late, and by the time I get home, I have to go to bed. I think I have decided that my solution is going to be to go the gym straight from my internship in the late afternoon. Hopefully that will work. I also ordered Gillian's 30 day shred video from amazon, so I think I will give that a try as well. She says you can lose up to 20 pounds in 30 days, which sounds great to me!

- We are halfway through our bathroom remodel! Eventually I will take some pictures and post them, but it hasn't happened yet. We will finish the bathroom after this internship is over in a few weeks. All we have left is the vanity/sink, a small amount of tiling, adding two more light fixtures, and changing the bathtub fixtures.

- Ben and I will be teaching kindergarten sunday school starting this fall, which we are really excited about.

- Ben's friend from work and his wife recently opened a new restaurant in Midtown. It is SO GOOD! I highly recommend it! Check them out at Noon Midtown.

That's all for now, or at least all that I can think of!

What I'm Reading: Dear John

2009-06-11T21:43:00.000-04:00

Technically, "reading" is not accurate, because I just finished this book last night. I thought I would put it on here anyway. Normally I don't love Nicholas Sparks books, not because they aren't good, but because they are sad. And I don't do sad, especially now. This book was about a girl and a guy and their relationship. They meet while he is on leave from the army. They continue their relationship long-distance while he finishes out his contracted time with the army. There are also a couple of side stories, like his relationship with his dad. I won't give anything away in case someone wants to read it, but it is a little sad and depressing. I think I will read something a little lighter next!!

I think that dress is too small

2009-05-27T18:57:00.000-04:00

I also think that it is probably meant to be worn with some sort of legging or pant. This woman was in front of us at the grocery store last night and I couldn't believe she was wearing this. Her entire bra is showing in the back. Her dress (t-shirt?) was also white. I'm also pretty sure she was not wearing any underwear, because if she was I would have been able to see it through the all the tightness and all the whiteness, which is all a bit risky considering how short it was.

Also, green bean lady is in the background. She was the checker-outer last night.

I never thought I could be so excited over storage

2009-05-27T18:48:00.001-04:00

We remodeled the kitchen about a year ago. After we did it, we realized that we could fit in a horizontal cabinet over the refrigerator on the slanted wall. We finally bought and installed the extra cabinet on Monday. We think it makes the kitchen look more finished. We were able to put all of our wine, margarita, and beer glasses up there since we don't use those as often. Yay for more storage!

They Look A Little Bit Alike

2009-05-27T18:34:00.000-04:00

This past Saturday, Ben and I had lunch with Grandma Green, Grandma and Grandpa Hudgins, and Mattie at the Varsity. Katherine and Will were out of town at a wedding, so they weren't there. From what I understand, several people think Mattie looks like Ben. The first picture is of Ben and me with Mattie. I thought it was cute even though Ben's eyes are closed.

Don't they look alike in the face?

Later Saturday night, I agreed to help out a friend of a friend with a new baby. They live on the 32nd floor of the Four Seasons over on 14th street. I went over there for a few hours to watch their 4 month baby. She slept the whole time, I read a book, and at the end I got $40! This is the view from their balcony, looking south back toward midtown/downtown. It is kind of blurry because I had to turn the flash off, but couldn't keep the camera steady. They have a corner unit, so this is just one of their views.

Seaside

2009-05-25T16:30:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago we went on a mini vacation to Seaside and I am just now putting up some pictures! We really enjoyed our trip even though it rained or was cloudy the whole time we were there. We stayed in a place there called Inn by the Sea by Vera Bradley. I am not a huge Vera Bradley fan, but apparently this is the first and only place decorated by Barbara Bradley that created Vera Bradley.

This is the room we stayed in. It is called "Posies."

Our room was on the second floor of the hotel. This is a picture of the hallway outside our room.

This is a picture of the Inn from the street.

Ben took this picture on the beach of some of the beach front houses during a short sunny moment. It looks like it is really nice in this picture, but looking back out over the ocean it was really dark and rainy.

We decided to rent bikes to ride around and check the entire place out. Once we rented them, I suddenly realized that I had not been on a bike since oh, elementary school. I thought it would be fine because "it's just like riding a bike," except for it is riding a bike, right? The bike was a little large for me because I could barely touch the ground with the edge of my flip flop, but I figured it would be no big deal. I had a lot of trouble riding in a straight line, and ended up kind of riding in a more weave-like fashion. I also had some trouble with turns. And the brakes. (The brakes weren't hand brakes. Instead, you had to push the pedals backwards.) Let's just say I had a few minor crashes, one into a stop sign on a turn, and the other into a parked car when a bug flew on the inside of my sunglasses and distracted me. Thankfully I dropped the bike before it hit the car, so only my body hit the car, and I escaped with only a scrape on my big toe. Following my crash, a lady in a car pulled up, rolled down her window, and asked if I was ok, which was really nice. Oh, and really embarrassing. I think I told I AM FINE! REALLY! like five times and she still just kept sitting there. Oh yeah, when I ran into the parked car (minivan, actually), there was a dad and couple of kids out in the front yard of the house on the other side of the minivan and they got to watch the whole thing. To make it that much worse, I was wearing flip flops and it appeared that the kids were about to go out on bikes and were in the process of putting on shoes, so the dad thought that it was a good time to say "see, that's why you can't wear flip flops." Next time we go here, I think I will stick to walking.

There was a really cool bookstore there, and it happened to be right in front of the Inn where we stayed. They had a good selection considering it was really small. They had an entire Architecture section, which Ben said was better than what he could find at home.

This trailor thing sold huge snow cones that were really good.

We went to this Pizzeria place to eat dinner one night and it was the best food we had while we were there. Actually, the food was really good at all of the places that we ate, but this was my favorite. It had only been open three weeks at that time. The owners went to Italy and got certified in some sort of special pizza technique. Ben and I got broccolini with cheese and white bean something for appetizers and split a prosciutto pizza. It was pretty much the best food I have had a while. We sat at the bar next to this man and woman that were there together (but not together together as far as we could tell). The man was sitting next to me and struck up a conversation with us that ended up being very interesting. He was clearly a very wealthy man, but he was just chatting it up with us. Apparently he lives in Hawaii now, but went to Auburn, and owns a company in the Philippines. He also owns a house in the Highlands that his daughter lives in. He was telling us all about how he was buying up millions of dollars in loans from failing banks. It was all very interesting. Ben and I left and were laughing about thinking "if he only knew where we came from." Also, that we grew up on Hamburger Helper and shopped for clothes at Kmart and Penney's outlet. (Does he even know what Hamburger Helper is?!)

This is the us on the beach the last night we were there.

More Pictures from Kimberly's Wedding

2009-05-21T21:28:00.000-04:00

All the bridesmaids (minus 1) and Kimberly at the rehearsal waiting for instructions.

Ben and me at the rehearsal dinner.

Getting hair and makeup done at the salon. (Obviously this is before the makeup!)

A few of the bridesmaids at the salon with Kimberly.
Kimberly getting ready!

Kimberly's Wedding

2009-05-21T21:17:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks ago we went to my friend Kimberly's wedding in Waycross where she is from. I met her in undergrad and now we are in grad school together. She was one of my bridesmaids and I was one of her bridesmaids. The wedding ceremony was at her church and the reception was a the train depot in downtown Waycross.

This is a picture of the train depot.

This is me walking to the train depot for more pictures after the ceremony. My feet were killing me, so I walked barefoot and carried my shoes.

Ben and me at the reception.

Me with Kimberly and Kim, my friends from school.

They had sparklers for when they left, except mine caught on fire something serious. This little flame does not accurately represent how it caught on fire. See the kid in the background? He and his brother were behind me freaking out about it.

We really enjoyed the wedding. It was my first time being a bridesmaid and I think it went well. I'm glad I finally have a married friend now!

Happy Birthday Mama!

2009-05-18T21:50:00.000-04:00

Sunday, May 17th, would have been my Mama's 53rd birthday. A few people from my family met at the cemetery. It was raining, which was kind of nasty. My aunt Sandra made a really pretty new arrangement for the monument. She also brought balloons for us to write on and let go. Here are a few pictures.

Happy Birthday Mama! I miss you so much. I had a coke icee just for you.

Conehead

2009-05-14T21:32:00.000-04:00

We had Eleanor spayed last Thursday morning after we got back from the beach. We figured she would be a drama queen about it, especially since her middle name is Drama. When we first brought her home she was a little out of it. She had her tail tucked between her legs and her back arched. By Friday, she seemed to be feeling a little better, and by Sunday she was pretty much back to normal. The vet told us to try to keep her from being too active, but Eleanor had different plans. We call her the lean mean fighting machine since she likes to start so many fights with Cleo. Anyway, here she is, Eleanor Drama the lean mean fighting machine weenie with her cone on.

She gets her stitches out tomorrow evening, so she can get rid of the cone then. Cleo also has to get her yearly vaccinations tomorrow evening. That means I get to take both weenies to the vet tomorrow by myself!

Also, please notice how large Eleanor's cone is compared to her body. When we picked her up, they told us they had to give her a cone for a bigger dog because her nose is so long that the small dog cone would not prevent her from getting to her stitches. After one night, we decided that thing was way too huge, so I went back the next morning and got her the small dog cone. Her nose is a little longer than the cone, but not by much, so she can't really get to her stitches.

I'm A Rule Follower

2009-05-13T21:12:00.000-04:00

I'm a rule follower. I believe rules are made for a reason. It makes me uncomfortable to break the rules. If others around me break the rules, I generally feel the need to inform them that they are breaking the rules, which leads me into this story:

During my super crazy finals week, we went to the 2 Dave Matthews Band concerts at the Verizon Wireless Ampitheater in Alpharetta. Normally DMB comes through Atlanta later in the summer and they only play 1 show at Lakewood. This year there were 2 shows, so we went to both. We didn't love the Ampitheater in Alpharetta. It is too far away! It is nice and new, but it is also small. The best thing is their parking. You are assigned a lot to park in with your tickets, and they get people in and out quickly. Anyway, I was hoping that they would be a bit more proactive with policing the weed smoking, as it is quite common at DMB concerts. I have a theory that the weed smoking increases the closer you get to the front.

On the first night, we had seats down in what was called the orchestra section, which was basically the floor sections with seats. We were about halfway back in this section, so pretty close to the front, and we were in the middle of our row. There was a couple sitting to my right, but as the concert started, they moved down a seat for some reason. Anyway, it left a seat between us. As the concert started, two guys and one girl came in on the row in front of us with two other young-middle-aged-ish that were already there. It was clear that these were not there seats, but that some tickets were passed off somehow. One of the guys proceeded to climb over the seats into our row to take the seat next to me. Once he climbed over, he leaned over and yelled into my ear that "IT'S HER BIRTHDAY!" I think that his attempt at explaining why they were sitting in seats, really good seats, that they did not pay for. Meanwhile, I'm thinking that this is ridiculous, if you couldn't/didn't get really good tickets like we did, then go back to your purchased seats, and I DON'T CARE IF IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY! This guy was clearly a Mr. Chatty-chat and kept trying to say things, which I could not hear, so I was forced to ignore him.

Mr. Chatty-chat is on the right in this picture.

The guy in this picture is the one who I believe was passing the tickets to the other people who showed up after the concert started. He looked a lot like Danny from The King of Queens. He also had some of the strangest dance moves I have ever seen.

Anyway, apparently these middle-agers were super cool so they brought their weed with them. The two guys in front of us passed the joint between them, and proceeded to hack and cough something serious. (I had to ask Ben for the term "joint." I was going to call it a weed cigarette.) Clearly these guys were pros. (Ha!) Then they passed the joint to Mr. Chatty-chat next to me. He squatted down (we were standing) to get him a puff and I was thinking "oh no you did not just smoke weed next to me and subject me to weed smoke in my face when that is not even your darn seat!" Again, I'm a rule follower. I was all agitated by this and started to gripe to Ben that I was not going to take that and planned to do something about it. While he was getting his weed puff, I tapped him on the shoulder with my pointer finger a few times. This is our conversation:

Me: Excuse me, you need to get rid of that or I was going to tell the people that worked there because it was not allowed.

Chatty: You're going to go tell?

Me: Umm, yeah! It is not allowed and I don't want to smell it!

Ben: (He felt the need to interject apparently.) At least blow it the other way. (Ben doesn't like a confrontation as usual.)

Me: No don't blow it the other way! Get rid of it! It is not allowed and I don't want to smell it!

Chatty: Ok. (He passes it back to the other middle-aged losers in front of us.)

Chatty: I'm sorry. Thank you for telling me that.

Me: Mm-hmm.

Chatty: Seriously, I don't want to offend anyone.

Me: Mm-hmm.

Chatty: Again, I'm sorry.

Then Chatty decided it would be best to leave, so he crawled up into the next row, and then moved up another row so that he could smoke up there.

These guys were such losers. They were very obviously middle-aged, former frat-boy divorcees that probably had some sort of business job and they just come to the one concert so that can smoke them some weed. Also, based on the smell, they must have bought the weed from some high schooler because it wasn't very strong, but very smokey. (I have learned that the stronger the smell is, the more concentrated and expensive it is, thanks to our weed-happy neighbor down the hall.)

Also, the lady that I mentioned at the beginning (IT'S HER BIRTHDAY!) was there with her boyfriend and judging by her dancing and yelling, she was definitely drunk. Her boyfriend seemed somewhat embarrassed by her.

What I'm Reading: The Shack

2009-05-13T16:41:00.000-04:00

For some time, I have heard a lot of hype about this book, so I have been interested to read it. Although the story did not sound especially interesting to me, I wanted to check it out to see why everyone thought it was so good. We have had a copy for a while, but I have not had time to read it. Last week when we went on our mini vacation, I brought it with me to read.

I had some trouble getting into the book. I know that some books are slow to start, but this one has just been slow all the way through so far. I have read about half of the book. I can't figure out what the hype is all about! I think it is an interesting, modern take on God/trinity and how God reveals himself to people, but it is just a little weird. And drawn out. And generally disappointing. I will finish the book because I don't like to not finish something, but I'm not too excited about it!

Have any of you read this book? What did you think about?

Remember saxophone man?

2009-05-13T16:37:00.000-04:00

Ben and I went to Taco Mac when we got back from the beach last week and guess who was outside? Saxophone man! Ben got 2 pictures on his phone, so they are not the best quality, but I still thought it was funny.

I'm having trouble coming up with a title for this, so you can create your own

2009-05-12T17:14:00.001-04:00

This is old stuff, but I am behind and wanted to show these pictures. A few weeks ago Ben and I went to the GT spring football game. It was a nice day and it was nice to get outside. We went the same Saturday as the Dogwood Festival. Here is a picture from the game.

After the game, we walked over to the Dogwood Festival. On the walk over, we came across this car parked in one of the street parking spaces on West Peachtree. I'm not sure if someone stole this car, wrecked it, and then left it there, or if someone parked their car there and it was hit. Either way, it isn't looking too good! It sat there for a several days before someone moved it. Oh yeah, it had a bright orange parking sticker on it, too.

Finally, we went to the Dogwood Festival. It was a quite a disappointment in my opinion. Ben and I do not enjoy crowds too much, and it was extremely crowded. Crowded with lots of people from the suburbs who don't know where the heck they are at. (Sorry to all you suburbanite readers! Maybe you should move in town and I would no longer hold a bias against you.) Anyway, it was way too crowded, and the crafts were generally unimpressive. We did find a guy selling metal things and found a metal weenie dog that I loved, but did not buy due to the $75 price tag. I just took a picture of it instead. Here are some pictures from that.

I've Been Busy

2009-05-06T21:50:00.000-04:00

The past couple of weeks have been busy. Really busy. We have done A LOT in those few weeks. I had finals, an internship meeting, two Dave Matthews Band concerts, a wedding (in Waycross), and a mini-vacation. I have several new blogposts coming. I skipped the American Idol rundown two weeks in a row because I didn't watch them until a couple of days later, so I decided that there was no need to post about it late.

Eleanor is getting spayed tomorrow, we are going to start our bathroom renovation tomorrow, and I start my internship on Monday. Hopefully I will be able to fit in some blog posts between everything!

Until then, here is a picture of Hannah and Cleo. Hillary kept the weenies while we were gone, so she brought Hannah by with her before we left to get weenie care instructions.

Weenies in the Sunshine

2009-04-25T17:30:00.000-04:00

This week I met a friend for lunch at South City Kitchen. On the walk over, I passed the Federal Reserve and noticed how pretty the grass and flowers were. When Ben got home from his trip yesterday, I told him I wanted to take the weenies over there this morning and take some pictures of them. It was so pretty! These are some of the pictures Ben took.

Something must have smelled something good.

Do we have weenies or rabbits?!

The 3-Day

2009-04-23T20:39:00.000-04:00

Hillary, Kala, and Robbyn are doing the breast cancer 3-day with me in October in honor of mom. We have formed a team but we need a team name. I am hoping everyone can help us pick a name by participating in the poll I set up on the right side of the page.

A little history behind the bird theme. While mom was in the hospital, one of the plants that was sent to her had a fake pink bird in it which was named Pearl, I believe by my cousin Stacey. It was kind of a joke while mom was there. We laughed about it during mom's good moments. She told Ben she was going to give it to him for his birthday. One of her nurses, our favorite nurse she had, really liked the plant with the bird, so mom wanted her to have it. After mom died, we gave the nurse the plant, along with Pearl. Because of Pearl and the humor it brought while mom was in the hospital, I wanted the team name to be reflective of birds somehow.

Anyway, please vote for your favorite! I have a personal favorite, but I will withhold my opinion for now. Also, I will be posting information soon about how you can help our team by donating.

What I'm Reading

2009-04-22T14:34:00.000-04:00

I have decided to add a new topic to the blog. Since I am almost done with school, I can actually read again for fun! Yay! This is where I will post about the books I am reading. In this case, I actually just finished this book, but I figured I would start with this one.

I just finished Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. It was SO GOOD! It is the story of Hosea in the Bible, but set in the 1800s during the gold rush in California. The author tells the story so well. I highly recommend it!

(Thanks for letting me borrow it Rachel!)

American Idol Top 7 (Round 2)

2009-04-21T21:09:00.000-04:00

Disco is the theme tonight. I don't love disco, so we will see how it goes. Two go home tomorrow, so everyone should be at their best this evening.

Lil Rounds - I'm Every Woman

Lil, Lil, Lil...Either you or your stylist is having some trouble with your clothing selections. This jumpsuit thing does nothing for butt; in fact, it makes it look quite large. Also, another hair change, which I am not a fan of. I still don't love her. It was karaoke-ish to me. I really can't believe that she is still here. I know she is frustrated because the judges never really like what she does, but again, I don't think she knows how to be an original, or an "artist." I'm not sure how she can even defend herself at this point. Anyway, I REALLY hope she goes home tomorrow.

Kris Allen - She Works Hard For The Money

Nice explanation of the song choice. (?) I love the percussionists on stage, as well as the guitar. He really changed up this song, and I love it! I think his ability to alter the song to his style shows his musical skill and talent. I think I might even download this on i-Tunes!

Side note - It looks like we are back to all four judges commenting on the performances.

Danny Gokey - September

I like this song. He sang it well. It was a good, average performance to me. It was not bad by any means, but it was not especially memorable either. I do enjoy his dancing, however. It appears that Kara and I agree. I think Simon said it perfectly, there was no "star power" there, nothing that made him special.

Allison Iraheta - Hot Stuff

That's a heck of an outfit. I don't believe I care for it. She can definitely sing and perform well. I didn't love this arrangement of this song, personally. Apparently Randy and I agree. Oh, and Kara!

Adam Lambert - If I Can't Have You

I'm interested to see how he has "tweaked" this one, as he said. He is an amazingly talented singer/artist. I like how he has chosen a good mixture of songs over the course of the season. (Umm, is Paula fake crying?) That was fabulous. I don't want to like him, but he is just so darn good. (Paula just used the word "visceral." I'm surprised that this word is in her vocabulary.)

Matt Giraud - Stayin Alive

He better be awesome tonight if he wants to stay for next week. Hmm....I like this. It fits his JT style well. I really like him, but I'm not sure this was enough to save him. It was not spectacular.

Anoop Desai - Dim The Lights? (I missed the title of the song.)

Oooo....I didn't like that at all. The arrangement was definitely bad. He also missed a couple of notes, including one at the end. I also must say that I like his clothing, but not the shoes. He has scruffiness on his face tonight, which he has not had before. I want him to do well, but that was not great. Did Ryan just make a comment about his eyebrows? Hmm...maybe he read my blog.

My favorite was Kris, with Adam close behind.

Bottom 3:

Matt

Anoop

Lil

It is once again time for sandals, so let's cover the rules

2009-04-17T22:47:00.000-04:00

I came across this oh so fabulous and necessary pledge and decided that it might be a good idea to cover the rules. I'm hoping that none of my faithful blog readers (all 3 of you) would even consider committing shoe sins such as these. Feel free to casually refer those who break the spring shoe pledge to this post, you know, so they can see pictures of the weenies. (Ha!)

The 2009 Spring Shoe Pledge

Every year, we must remind ourselves of the rules. Proper sandal wearing is like riding a bike...one never forgets...however; we must need a brush-up course to keep us current...

As a member of the SHOE DIVA CLUB, I pledge to follow the rules when I wear sandals and other open-toe shoes:

I PROMISE to always wear sandals that fit. My toes will not hang over and touch the ground, nor will my heels spill over the backs. The sides and tops of my feet will not protrude out between the strap. This type of protrusion has been and always will be referred to as "bread-a-rising." Keep bread only in the oven.

I WILL go polish-free or vow to keep the polish fresh, intact and chip-free. I will not cheat and just touch up my big toe. I will sand down any mounds of skin before they turn hard and yellow. I promise not to tape my toenail onto my toe if it should fall off either.

I WILL NOT wear Crocs! Yes, I believe they are unbelievably comfortable, but I will only wear them if I am under 22 years old. Besides, we all know that Crocs and escalators do not mesh well together.

I WILL NOT wear suntan pantyhose with open toe or sandals even if my misinformed girlfriend, coworker, mother or sister tells me the toe seam really will stay under my toes if I tuck it there. Super glue is not an option, either.

If a strap breaks, I WON'T duct-tape, staple, pin, glue or tuck it back into place hoping it will stay put. I will get my shoe fixed or toss it. A shoe cobbler can be on speed dial.

I WILL NOT wear toe rings. Hello, the eighties are calling and they want their toe rings back. And for the good of mankind, I will make a sizeable donation to my charity of choice for every toe ring I currently wear.

PROMISE to throw away any white/off-white sandals that show signs of wear...nothing is worse than dirty white sandals. WHITE is in, just not dirty white. Replace those with miles with new ones.

So Cute

2009-04-17T10:21:00.000-04:00

Last Christmas, my MIL got Cleo a new tshirt. Unfortunately, Cleo's weener chest is a bit large for the shirt. Eleanor's, however, is not. Here is Eleanor in the super cute shirt!

American Idol Top 7

2009-04-15T20:53:00.000-04:00

Quentin Tarantino is there tonight. I think he has been on the show before or something, saying he was a big fan of the show. Does he have some expertise in music? I know he's a brilliant director and all, but I'm not sure that equals brilliant music advisor. But, what do I know? I like Ryan's polka dot tie tonight. Paula, I'm sorry, but I don't believe I would describe you as hot. Only two judges per performance now? That sounds great since it means we don't have to hear Paula every single time. Ok, taking it to the movies!

Allison Iraheta - I Don't Want to Miss A Thing

I don't like the beginning. At all. This is one of those songs that I got really tired of hearing, but I liked it when it came out. I didn't like this at all. It sounded like she was singing it in the wrong key or something. I know the judges liked it, but I did not. I also want to say that she sings with a lot of tension, which is not good for her vocal folds.

Anoop Desai - Everything I do

Quentin, I'm concerned that your are giving him the wrong advice. However, I particularly enjoy this song. Even though I am 23, I listen to B98 a good bit, and I have been known to turn this one up in the car. (I might even sing along, but I don't think I can admit to that.) He sounds good tonight. He hit all of the notes! Even the big, important one. I might have to add him to the ones I would buy a cd from. Maybe. (Also, is he wearing a vest? Or a jacket? Hmm...perplexing...)

Adam Lambert - Born to Be Wild

I'm excited to see this. Wow, I like the beginning. I do not enjoy his eye makeup. He is such a good performer/entertainer! This was cool. The best so far tonight! That last note was ridiculous!! Paula, you are so full of crap. Ben is convinced that she plans out her comments in advance. I'm not so sure.

Matt Giraud - Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman

Also excited to see this one. I like this performance. It suits his style well. He seems so much like Justin Timberlake. It didn't wow me, but it was nice.

Danny Gokey - Endless Love

This song is slightly cheesy to me, but I'm not sure why. Hmm....not feeling this. He seems to be having some trouble hitting the quiet notes at the beginning. Eh. He did pull it together somewhat towards the end.

Kris Allen - Falling Slowly

Oooooo......I like this a lot! He is so darn good. That was a very nice, controlled performance, so Randy, I'm going to have to disagree with you and agree with Kara on this one. This is my favorite performance tonight. And since Lil is next and the last one tonight, I think this will remain my favorite of the night.

Lil Rounds - The Rose

Ok, so maybe she will do better with a little gospel? Long hair this week. I'm not a fan of the constant obvious hair changes. This is sounding a little better than her other performances. Pitch wise, she missed it. A lot. I really believe it is her time to go home. We shall see.

Ok, so I loved Kris tonight. Adam's performance was cool, but not my favorite. Lil should go home.

I am SO glad that they decided to save Matt. I think he deserves to be saved. However, I am irritated that Lil is STILL THERE? What the heck? I think she is no good at this point. I also dislike her attitude!! Anyway, as glad as I am that they saved Matt, he better be the best he has ever been next week or he and Lil both are headed home.

Easter Sunday/Ben's Birthday

2009-04-14T17:55:00.000-04:00

Sunday was kind of a crazy day, since it was Ben's birthday and Easter all on the same day. We got up and went to church with some friends. Then we sat in a parking lot for, oh I don't know, half a day. Once we finally arrived home, we quickly changed, grabbed the weenies, and headed out to Covington to Grandma and Grandpa Hudgins' house. Due to the extreme Easter traffic, we were of course late to Easter lunch. We finally got there and enjoyed a nice lunch. Afterwards, our niece MK participated in her first egg hunt, which was lots of fun.

For Ben's birthday, I made him a caramel cake. He ended up having to help me make the icing because it is quite difficult to make and required two people. Here is a picture of Ben's cake, and Ben with his cake. Notice the slice already cut in the cake. We almost forgot to use my super cool candles that had a flame the same color as the candle.

We also got a few pictures before we left.

This is me, Ben, and baby MK.

Ben and me.

Ben with his sister KK.

Green Bean Lady

2009-04-13T12:47:00.000-04:00

Publix is our grocery store of choice. Several months ago we had an encounter with the check-out lady, and ever since, we have referred to her as green bean lady. I think this may be one of those stories where we think it is funny because we were there, but it is not funny to anyone else, but I will tell it anyway.

We were at Publix in the check-out line and the check-out lady was bagging our groceries because there was no bagger. Just to set the scene, the check-out lady is an older black lady and her name is Fannie. She moves in slow motion and is super sweet. She would scan a few items, bag those few items, and then scan more items. There were several bags already filled sitting on the end of the check-out counter. Towards the end, she scanned our can of green beans and put them in a bag. Then she took them out of the bag and moved them to another bag. Then she scanned a few more items and bagged them. After finishing that, she moved the green beans to another bag. She ended up moving the green beans a couple more times and was visibly frustrated that she could not find the best spot for them. All the while, Ben and I are just standing there watching her. Finally, she found a home for them, but not until after sitting them on the counter and giving a heavy sigh out of frustration. As Ben and I grabbed our bags and began walking out, Ben said "Poor thing, she just couldn't find figure out where to put those green beans!" This caused me to start laughing hysterically because it was so funny.

Anyway, Fannie, aka green bean lady, still works at Publix. This past week we were in her line and Ben got a picture of her.