Operation Atlanta Bucket List part 1

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

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

contents of the November date envelope

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

 But the best part was by far the dinosaurs.

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

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

More adventures to come!
xoxo,

update on our crazy lives

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

The Home Depot distribution center in Tolleson, AZ

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

No humidity! Dry heat! No more frizzy hair!

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

But I don't.

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

DRY HEAT.

check out the temperature in Phoenix the other day:

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

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

Stay tuned!!

xoxo

THIRTY.

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

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


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


xoxo,

Valley of the Sun bound

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kiss me I'm (partially) Irish!

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

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

Darienne and I enjoying the bea-utiful Savannah weather!

Nick makes friends EVERYWHERE.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hubby, donning his best St Patrick's day apparel

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

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

Are You Spartan Tough?

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

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

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

look how clean they all are!

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

mud crawl action

rope climb

wall scale

Tractor pull

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

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

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

90th Birthday Bash!

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

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

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

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

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

Hubby and I at the beach

Pelican who wanted to make friends with us

Hubby, me and my mom at dinner

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

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

My sisters!

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

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

xoxo,