May, in retrospect, part uno

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

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

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

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

half Cinco de Mayo, half Derby!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

xoxo,

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

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

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

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

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

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

Seriously.

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

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

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

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

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

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

xoxo,

Officially Arizonians!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

Birthday Extravaganza!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

Operation Atlanta Bucket List part 2

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Operation Atlanta Bucket List part 1

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,