Friday Favorites!

1) Another short week - I am SO grateful this was a short work week for me. It has been a tough one, so it's really a blessing that I didn't have to be there the first 2 days.

2) Exercise - We typically get up at 5:30 for work. I woke up at 5:00 Thursday morning. 30 minutes is not enough time for me to fall back to sleep. I would typically lay there and get tired and cranky just before the alarm clock goes off. This time I decided to get up and exercise. I was just going to do some pilates, but Bailey got up with me so I decided to take her running instead. I put her backpack on her and she carried my keys and phone for me. I think she actually likes wearing it. It has been over 3 months since I've been running, so it wasn't a great run, but it was better than nothing. We ran sprints rather than "long" (like a mile...haha) distance. This way Bailey actually gets a chance to stretch her legs and run. When I run at my normal pace she just gets to trot a little, which is just a tease for her.

3) Last Meeting - I've had to attend weekly planning meetings after work for an event that is coming up this weekend for the last couple of months. One late night a week doesn't seem like a lot, but if Josh plays basketball on Mondays and ultimate frisbee on Tuesdays, that only leaves 2 or 3 week nights that we get to spend together depending on which night my meeting falls. Let's just say I'm SO glad I just had the last one this week. I will be so glad to be back at my normal routine next week.

4) Visiting family - After Atlanta, we went back to NC to spend some time with our family. We were originally going to stay there from Saturday to Monday morning, but we decided to take an extra day off work and leave Tuesday morning instead. I'm SO glad we did. We got to spend extra time with our families and we didn't hit any traffic on the way back home. 

5) New faucet - We finally bought a new kitchen faucet! We just have the standard builders faucet right now and I don't like it at all. I don't like not having a sprayer either. We have a very busy weekend coming up, but hopefully we can get it installed at some point.

Football Kickoff...ATL Style!

We headed down to Atlanta Thursday morning to kick off football season! We made it to our hotel a little before 1 and got checked in. We arrived around the same time as the Martins! It was really great to see them. They surprised Josh with a mini fridge for his Birthday :-). We picked up Burgess from the airport and made our way into Atlanta to get ready for the SweetWater tour. We heard it through the grapevine that it was going to be ridiculously crowded and we would need to get there really early or we may not get in. The tour started at 5:30, so we got there around 3:30. NO ONE was there yet. We took a couple pictures and asked about what we could do before the tour and we decided on a bar nearby. We reserved our parking spot and went to find the place. We would have liked to have toured Terrapin while we were down too, but their tour times were around the same time as SweetWater's, and they're located in Athens, so it didn't work out. We decided to try some Terrapin brews at the bar instead. One of them came with a free glass, so it was almost like we got a tour anyway :-). Josh and I split a Pimento Cheese Burger with bacon mac and cheese. YUM! We made our way back over to SweetWater. You could get a small glass to sample the beers for free, or you could pay $10 for a pint glass and 6 "5 oz" samples. The samples they were pouring for us were more like 8 or 9 oz. Extremely generous! I did taste them all, and I didn't dislike any of them, although there were 1 or 2 I wasn't crazy about. Since I was driving, I gave my least favorite ones and my last ticket away. The tour itself was OK. Their equipment was extremely impressive and our guide was really nice, but it would have been nicer if the guide was someone more involved in the brewing process. Being homebrewers, we were curious about a couple things and she wasn't able to answer our questions. She knew the basics about their beers and a couple random facts, but we wanted to know more than that. Haha. We had a great time and I'm really glad we got to do this while we were in town.

Pretty scenery in front of the brewery.

We decided to go back to the hotel and take the MARTA downtown after the tour. We were hoping to find a local pub or something along those lines. No such luck. We asked our shuttle driver about places to go on the way to the MARTA stop. He lead us straight to the super-touristy area, so there were just commercial places like Hard Rock Cafe and Hooter's. No thanks. We finally decided on a place, but none of us were impressed. After it was all said and done, we all decided it would have been better to order pizza in. At least now we know where we don't want to go the next time we're in Atlanta!

We got up Friday morning to get ready for the game! We needed to go get breakfast/lunch and pick up tailgating supplies. We ate at Church's then went out to pick up a cooler, beer and snacks. Once we got back to the hotel, we packed everything up and went to catch the shuttle to the MARTA. We waited for what seemed like forever! After a ride that felt like forever and a walk that felt like it was longer than it really was, we were finally at our tailgating destination! We met up with some old friends, played some tailgating games and listened to tailgating music. It was great! It was also extremely HOT! We were tailgating on asphalt and it is SO much hotter than the grass or dirt we're used to tailgating on. I decided to find a couple other friends that were there. Come to find out, one of them had been right across from us all day! Tailgating came to an end too fast as always, but we were all ready to go to the game. 

 Just the ladies!

 We found Adam! I can't believe we tailgated right next to this guy for like an hour before we realized it!

 Love the grill!

The hubby and I with Burgess.

I won't lie, it was very nice watching the game in an air conditioned environment! The Georgia Dome is really nice and with it being as large as it is, you really forget you're not outside. The game was NOT a good start to the season, but we still had a good time. We really played horribly. I was disappointed in some guys I had high expectations for. I had high hopes overall and I was a big baby about us throwing the game away.

During the game, a Tennessee fan fell from the top level and died. Things like this really put life into perspective. Yes, my football team lost, but I'm happy and healthy. I have a great family and wonderful friends. I have a wonderful home and a great job. I have absolutely nothing at all to complain about.

There's always next week...or at least next season ;-)

GO PACK!!!

Friday Favorites!

1) Furniture - We FINALLY got new living room furniture! We took advantage of  Labor Day sale and ordered a new couch and love seat set last weekend. We were having a hard time finding something that would fit up our narrow stairs and I was starting to think we would never find anything we liked. We found some reclining sets that came apart and they fit perfectly! They were just delivered Wednesday and we left shortly after, so I haven't had a chance to enjoy them, but I'm still very excited to have them! 

2) Bay Window - Our pre-construction meeting was also this past Wednesday. Thompson Creek will be coming to fix it on the 19th! I'm SO ready to have this little project out of the way.

3) Short Week - I only worked 2.5 days last week! The past few weeks have flown by and they've been really busy, so the short week was more than welcome.

4) SweetWater - We did the SweetWater tour Thursday. We had a really great time and I'm SO glad we got to do it. 

5) FOOTBALL - I'm SO excited for football season to finally be here! It wasn't a great start, but it's a start nonetheless. 

Friday Favorites

1) Productive Saturday - Josh cleaned the carpet in the room that needed it most, our living room. It was starting to look a bit dingy in front of the couch (where we have most of our meals). Now, it looks new again! While Josh worked on carpets, I worked on painting the half bath. I didn't get far with this since I realized I would need to prime AFTER I started painting. That's what I get for trying to take a shortcut I guess. I did clean out the foyer and coat closet thoroughly (hasn't been done in a while). While I had all the shoes out of the coat closet, I painted the board that is in there. I hope to make some shelving for shoes soon, so they aren't just thrown in there.

2) Nikki's Birthday Party - We went to a friend's birthday party Saturday evening. Nikki is the first friend I made after we moved up here, so it's always nice to see her. I wish we got to hang out more! Anyway, we had lots of fun at her party. We haven't been to their house in a while and they've done a lot with it since we have. It motivated me to start working on our house again. We've slacked off until a couple weeks ago.

3) Bay Window - Our bay window leaks sometimes. We think it's due to some rotted wood and some issues with the place where the siding meets the wood on the front of the window. We have been wanting to get this repaired for a long time, but we've been putting it off because we thought it was going to be ridiculously expensive. We finally decided to suck it up and get a quote. We are going to be getting the rotted wood replaced and the entire bay window will be capped so we don't have to worry about any further water damage or painting it ever again. It has a double lifetiem warranty, so that means it will be covered through us and the next homeowners, so it should increase the value of our home. Yay! The quote we initially got was less than we expected, but we didn't go for it just yet. They called me again late last week to tell me there were additional discounts available, so it's even cheaper. We have an appointment for them to come out and measure next week, so hopefully it will be done in the next few weeks! We're not 100% sure this will fix the leaking issue (it could be the windows themselves, but we think it's coming in where the siding and wood meet), but it needed to be done anyway. The sooner we get this fixed the better. The quote we have is less than half what we expected to pay. Of course, if they find any additional rot or any damage below the rotted wood, that will increase.

4) Fishing - Josh and I took a charter boat out on the bay Sunday afternoon. We went to Chesapeake Beach, which is a little less than an hour from home. There was a pretty good chance of rain, but our Groupon expires this coming Sunday, so we felt like we had to chance it. I'm SO glad we did. It did drizzle a little, but not enough to bother us at all. I've never actually participated in fishing and I didn't really think I was going to have a good time. Thank goodness I was wrong! We both had a blast! We only caught Spot, but we still had fun. It would have been awesome to catch some Rockfish, but we went a little late in the season for that. I baited my own hooks and took my own fish off, so I was really proud of myself. The only thing I wouldn't do is cutbait. I know it's just a fish, but I just don't have the heart to chop his head off and cut him up. I let Josh do that. We were hoping to catch something bigger than spot this way, but we didn't have any luck. A couple people around us caught some Flounder (YUM!), but they were too small to keep. Apparently there are usually people at the docks to clean the fish for $.50 a piece, but they weren't there when we got off our boat. Josh cleaned them when we got home. It definitely would have been worth a few bucks to get them cleaned! We still had a great time and I would like to do it again.

5) Pretty Little Liars - I wanted to watch this show when it first came out, but Josh was never interested. I started watching it several weeks ago on nights he plays basketball and Saturday mornings before he wakes up. I've really gotten into it and it's probably my favorite show right now. I should be able to catch up by the time next season starts :-).

6) Sookie Books - I've been reading the Sookie Stackhouse novels on and off for the past few months. The first few were pretty good, but I didn't really get what all the fuss was about. After book 4 they got MUCH better and I love them now! I'm flying through them now :-) Thanks Anna!

7) Netflix - We were actually thinking about canceling Netflix soon. It's been a while since they've had any good movies on there. Well, we were browsing last night and there are LOTS of new movies and some more shows. I guess we'll be keeping it! 

Marshall Wedding Recap

So, as Brittany and Lee celebrate their 1 month anniversary, I'm finally posting pics from the wedding day! Saturday, I got up bright and early to get ready with the ladies. We went to the reception site to set up the canty bar first, then we were off to breakfast!

 After breakfast at Western Sizzlin. Yum!

After breakfast, we went to get our hair and makeup done.

 Getting my hair done. This lady was FAST!

Next, we were off to the church to get ready and take pictures

 Dresses with shoes! 

The hangers Brittany made for us. So cute!

I was steaming Brittany's veil before the ceremony and I found a chair with Brittany on it! I couldn't help myself with this pic. So cute :-)


The ceremony was absolutely beautiful!

 We went to the reception site to take some fun outdoor pictures. I can't wait to see these! I don't have any on my own camera.


After taking pictures, we went in to do our intros and get the party started! Guess who backed into a light at the DJ booth and knocked it over during the dances...this girl. It's OK though, it was a low light and I don't think anybody noticed :-). After the dances, we went to our tables and waited to be released to the buffet table. The majority of the bridal party was at our table and we had a blast together. I wondered around and caught up with a few people I haven't seen in a while.

Table 2 was pretty awesome!

LOVE this cake stand

The hubby and I

Kasi and I!


We danced the rest of the night away. We had such a great time. We did the fun dances I already know (Cupid Shuffle and Copperhead Row) and I learned a new one...the Womble. It was funny, because out of everyone on the floor, 1 girl knew it, so we had about 20 people trying to learn it from her.

I helped Brittany get changed into her super cute getaway dress and we watched the sparkler exit. The happy couple made their way to Asheville and we went back to the lodge for the after party.

We were expecting a power outage around 11pm. We were excited that we didn't lose power until around 12! We all had flashlights, so we turned them on and continued the festivities. I found out Lee's brother participated in the same study abroad program I did, so we reminisced about our summers in Australia for a good while. They went to most of the same places and met a lot of the same people we did, so it was a lot of fun comparing experiences! Josh went to bed a little earlier than me since he was going to be driving home early Sunday morning. When I finally got to our room, I realized how much I appreciate light and running water. I tried to brush my teeth in the dark, I didn't want to turn on my flashlight because I was scared I would wake Josh, and without water (this genius forgot to fill up our water bottles before we lost power). That was interesting. When we got up the next morning, I had gotten toothpaste all over the place. Haha.

Playing Catchup

It's been quite a while since I've posted...again. Things have been ridiculously busy, but that's good, right? We've done quite a few little house projects, like fix the garbage disposal (SO thankful for that...THANKS HUBBY!) and start cleaning the carpets. We've decided to attack the carpet one room at a time this time, so the whole house isn't wet at the same time. We've been arranging for some bigger projects too. I'll post more about those as they come up. Work has been busier, and I just haven't wanted to sit in front of a computer any longer when I get home. I've had meetings after work, so I'm getting home later some nights. Like I said, it's been crazy busy!

Anyway, I'll post about some of the hilights since I've posted last...

We went to our first brew party. This is the first time we've brewed with anybody else since we've started brewing ourselves. The guys we visited have been brewing for about 7 years I think, so it was really nice to watch them and see their setup. They keg their beers and they brew all grain, both things we would like to start doing in the near future. We got a great all grain idea from them that should save us quite a bit of money. They grow some of their own hops, which I think is awesome! I would love to do this some day when we have more space. We could possibly grow 1 or 2 varieties right now, but we don't have the space for more. The guy's house we brewed at has an awesome basement with a huge utility room he plans to turn into a bar. I think it will look great when it's all done! His friend lives just a couple houses over, so we went to check out his basement. His bar is AWESOME! I can't wait to have something like it some day.

The day after the brew party, I went clothes shopping. It was tax free weekend, so I decided to go search for some good deals. I didn't buy a lot, but I did get a great deal on a dress I'll be wearing to a bachelorette party next month (originally $60, I spent $11 - Score!), that was probably my best find.

Along those same lines, Harris Teeter had Super Double coupons, up to $2, last weekend. I got up really early Saturday morning to take advantage. I brought my $252 bill down to $126! I stocked up on laundry detergent, Ziplock bags, toothpaste, mouthwash, dish detergent and a couple other things. I stocked our freezer with meats and got some snack foods, tons of cheese and lunch meats, some fresh produce, yogurt and milk. If you can't tell, I get excited when I save us money.

We're finally motivated to paint our master bedroom! The problem...we can't agree on a color. I want to do grey so we can easily change linens and change the look of the room. Josh is tired of grey and he wants a color, but he doesn't know what color he wants. Our bedding is white and green and our bathroom is green, so I think going green would be a bit much. I'm really stuck. I want to find something we both like, but in this area, I think it might be a bit tough to do.

We're also ready to finish our half bath! I started painting it this past weekend, just to discover that I will definitely need to prime it first. I plan on priming early this weekend and hopefully painting later in the weekend. Then we'll just need to caulk, paint the trim and put the hardware back up. This "little" project has taken us forever, so it will be really nice to get it out of the way!

Friday Favorites!

So, I think I may never catch up on my posts! Maybe I'll just be a sporadic poster. 

1) Promotion - We went out for a lunch meeting today, which was nice, but I found out I got promoted, which was VERY nice! I'm very excited and I'm looking forward to seeing where I go with the company. I'm still very sure I made the right decision when I left my old job in April.

2) Bailey - I love our silly pup. She brings so much joy to my life every day and she's so smart! She's making steady progress with learning to put her toys away (we still have a long way to go, but it's a difficult trick and it will pay off!) and we're working on her retrieving things for us too. I left a pack of crackers at the bottom of the stairs earlier in the week and after a few tries I was able to get her to bring them up to me! Josh has also been getting her to bring the newspaper upstairs to me on some mornings. 

3) Camp - This one is directly related to Bailey, but it deserves its own number. She's been super energetic lately since she's not getting as much play time (it's been extremely hot the past few weeks), so we were glad to take her to camp this week. She was exhausted! I had a meeting and didn't get home until late, plus we wanted to watch some of the Olympics so we were up a little later than usual. Bailey was ready for bed and she won't go upstairs to bed by herself, so she just looked at us, went to the stairs and sat down to wait for us to come to bed. She usually only does this if one of us is already upstairs and she's waiting on the other. This time she was just telling us it was time to go to bed. So cute! 

4) Olympics - I don't get REALLY into the Olympics, but I do enjoy them. I love watching gymnastics and I'm thrilled that our ladies have done so well! Way to go Team USA and Gabby! Our women haven't won a team gold since '96. Dominique Moceanu, my favorite gymnast growing up, was on that team. I always wanted to be in gymnastics and I would hop around the living room floor while acting like I was a gymnast. Haha. Silly kids.

2) Carboy Deal - I randomly went to Goodwill earlier in the week. While I was there I found a glass carboy for $8! It came with some of the siphoning equipment and a huge bottle brush too. I wasn't sure how big it was when I bought it, but I know that even the 5 gallon carboys run $30+, so I jumped on the deal. It turned out to be 5 gallons. It will be perfect for racking!