Peace of Mind, Body and Soul

Yikes! 10 months already

2010-04-09T12:11:00.000-04:00

5 months.......where in the world did the time go? Working, Alexis, Jason, friends, life. Repeat. Some updated pictures of my Potato:

My sweet pea just loves Target! When ever she is in this store she is as happy as can be - there are so many isles to look at and so many lights. She likes to put her feet up on the bar as she rides shot gun in the cart.

Potatoes One Piece bathing suit from her Great Aunt Judy - she will be wearing this at the beach this summer. Minus the socks.

Peanut talking on the back porch. Mid yell - I told Jason this is now his life. One wife and one daughter who will do all of the talking. He was scared for a minute then realized he still has the power to tune us both out.

Finally, my little Easter bunny. I could just explode with love looking at this picture! She is so great and some how a very calm child. She is 10 months and already telling us what she will and won't do. The real BOSS has arrived. No matter how independant you are I Love you Poots!

CONSUMED.......

2009-11-03T13:53:00.008-05:00

By everything - work. motherhood. wife. friend. As much as I can get stressed out I LOVE every minute of it.

Alexis is 5 months old - 4 months gestationaly. She was sort of sleeping through the night but as of two weeks ago she decided she is going to wake up every night around 1:00am and then 3:00am. We get up, change her diaper and stick a passifier in her mouth. For the most part she goes right back to sleep. I have been racking my brain to find an answer as to why this is happening. What am I doing wrong? What am I missing? Is she teathing? Is she going through separation anxiety? Is she just waking up because she is a baby? I started reading more books and going online after hearing comments like these made by other parents:

"You don't have your baby on a schedule"? This statement always makes me laugh inside - like we have commited some horrible crime.

No, we do not have a strict schedule. Both her father and I work full time and we would like more than 1 hour with our daughter (who is hilarious) at night. She gets tired around 8:30/9:00 so we go by that. Other wise, no. No real schedule.

My Pea Pod at her first Halloween!

"You need to let her cry it out" "I let my baby cry till she/he throws up"....(obviously exaggerated but this statement was made)

Um, I don't think so. We are going to (hopefully) be blessed with two or three children and I am going to enjoy every minute while they are little and make sure they feel as comforted as possible. This is not to say there will not be any discipline in our house - time outs will be plenty I'm sure. After all, she is the child of Jason and Jennifer Taylor - we are no saints...
But there will be no crying it out in our house.

Sweet Pea Pod and Handsome Daddy Trick or Treating!

Here is my bean letting us know she is mad at that Pumpkin Patch - a little funny and so cute!

Bean is looking at me like, why in the world are you making me pose again? I thought I was going to get ready for bed. And mom, my outfit does not match!

After all of this searching for "the answer" I finally got it. There. is. no. answer. I can stop comparing my parenting style to others, I can stop comparing our child's sleep habits to other children and I can stop feeling like I am missing something.

Beans first spend the night with The Dingo and Grandpa George - what fun they had!

Look at these happy pictures! We are good parents and we love our bean more than life itself. I know I will get knocked off track every once in a while but I think I'm getting the hang of this. It turns out that I don't need to worry about what other parents are doing with their kids. Just focus on my own (and her no absolute answers) and everything will be good to go.

Bean a/k/a Pea Pod a/k/a Alexis in a vegie strainer and Mommy at Halloween with the Lynch's!

Pumpkin Patch day....who in the world could resist this little face? Not Me!

Life doesn't get better than this.

Check Up Month Two

2009-09-27T21:55:00.013-04:00

This week Alexis has her 11 week Gestational/17 week Birth check up. I am having some trouble with this phrase: "She should be". As in holding her head up, rolling over and what ever else she should be doing at three months. I think she should be letting her little body do what it wants to do. Even if it is not what she is "supposed" to be doing. We will see what the Dr. says she should be doing ;)

Alexis, no matter what you do mommy and daddy are very proud of you.

Alexis noticed her mobile. For the first time this week -

And found it hilarious.

She is also trying to sit up!

She has been trying this little trick for a couple of weeks now.

What is she NOT doing?

Rolling over. She has no interest - but she sure does love to snuggle. I'm glad she learned how to do that :)

Time

2009-09-24T15:42:00.004-04:00

Today for the first time in a long time I am missing my time to read fun blogs, recipes, runnning and relaxing.

I am also missing this little potato........

Who wouldn't?

My love of Food

2009-09-17T14:45:00.005-04:00

Fish Stick - this is my nick name since I was in 6th grade. I actually gave it to myself - I have it 21 years later and love it.

Tater Tot - that is what we called Alexis when she was in my tummy. Well, first it was Lima Bean and then Natalie dubbed her Tater Tot. Get it - Fish Sticks and Tater Tot? Jason is the Sauce....we are a happy fried family.

Bean - this is what I called Alexis after she was born and I still call her today

Potato or Sweet Potato - this is what I just started calling Alexis

Who knows what it will be next........She's just so yummy!

Jen. Weimer. Taylor.

2009-09-14T15:32:00.003-04:00

I am thinking most if not all new moms go through this - Where did I go? Am I going to return? Who am I now?
Yes, I'm a wife and mother but inside, who am I?

Every day I feel as thought I am going through motions much like if I were a robot. Morning Motion - go to work; Afternoon Motion - pick up sweet Alexis Grace whom I miss so, so much during the day; Evening Motion - make sure Alexis is learning, make up for the time I was not able to be with her and make sure things are ready for tomorrow. Oh yea, try really hard not to be tired and irritated with everyone/thing except my sweet Alexis.

I used to be Single Jen Weimer or just Weimer. I loved this girl - she was a bit wild and really had no direction and felt lost most of the time. Still, I was okay with this - it meant I got to meet some really cool people that accepted me for the lost soul I was (who are still my friends) and make some of the best memories I will ever have.

Then I was Married Jen Weimer Taylor. I loved this girl even more - I had more confidence in myself and I married the best man ever. And once again I was blessed to meet someone who accepted me for me - the entire crazy, sometimes confused but 99% of the time know what I like and don't like person. This married girl understood where she was going most of the time. She loved her friends and loved running. That is all she needed - family, friends, running. She was lucky enough to like her job as well.

Now I am a mother - a wife and a mother. This is something I have wanted my entire life - I am someone who has known since she was six years old that being a wife and a mother is what I am supposed to be. Its what I wanted to be. I'm not supposed to be a career driven person - I don't care. I like work because it makes me feel apart of something and I feel like I can contribute to my families well being but I could leave it in a second. I love being married - especially to Jason. He makes me laugh like no other and I don't know anyone else in the world who could love me as much as he does.

Being a mom - this is so new. I am in love with being a mom and I love Alexis Grace so much I could have a bunch more! But this girl is lost. Again.
I have no issues about how I am raising my daughter or her future. I have nothing but positive thoughts about my daughter. Its me. I have lost myself. Or rather I can't find my new self. I am not confused about working and being a full time mom - its what I have to do right now. No big deal.
But is this new me going to be fun and are my friends going to accept this new me? Are they going to like the new not so wild me? Am I going to like her? I like to think I am going to have fun no matter what I do but I'm just not used to this new girl. I am sure I will embrace her sooner rather than later but in the mean time I am feeling a little lost. Kind of like walking in the dark. I'm bound to stumble on something that makes sense; I'm just not sure when.

I welcome this new girl and whatever she may bring.

My New Sundays

2009-09-14T11:39:00.006-04:00

I might have failed a little at keeping a journal of my child's life so far but there is one (of many I think) where I excel. Cooking - my family is going to be well fed. Sunday I cooked for 4 and 1/2 hours! I made a spinach lasagna, pasta figoli, 2 meat loafs and a roast with a mushroom gravy. Why so much food? Since I am working full time and being a mom full time there is not much room for extra stuff during the week. Especially since Jason has a second job and works three nights a week. Good thing I love to cook. Its relaxing for me - well, the first two hours are. I'm pretty much over the last two.....

I hope I can keep this up - not the cooking for 4 hours on Sunday but cook at least one or two meals each Sunday. That way I can get our freezer filled with some variety!

LOVE

2009-09-11T15:15:00.004-04:00

I am so in love with that Alexis Grace its ridiculous! She is getting so big and I just can't keep up. I had full intentions of keeping track of her growth by day, then I thought maybe per week which turned into every month.........and of course I have failed at all of those. Since I started back to work full time I have NO Time for anything. I get up or rather Alexis gets me up, I take her to Emily's house then I'm off to work. I pick Alexis up, hopefully go for a run or to the park, then get home to start Alexis's new routine: Bath, feed, play, sleep. Granted it does not go this smoothly - Bath is always great, Feed is usually great, Play is awesome but sleep.....hhmmm....sometimes sleep doesn't take place for hours. And then I want to sleep! I know, this will happen soon.

I can't wait until one day I will be working part time - then I won't feel like I am missing out on so much. I miss her so much during the day.

This was taken Sept 1st

Hey! Its Me, ALEXIS GRACE!

2009-06-02T09:16:00.007-04:00

May 31st. I have six weeks to go until I am supposed to deliver Alexis Grace who is due on July 9th. Friday May 29th is my mom's birthday and since we were all working we decided to celebrate her birthday Sunday May 31st pool side at my parents neighborhood pool. Sunday morning I ran some errands to make sure my mom and I had all of the essential pool items....Magazines (people, us weekly, etc), Check. Doughnut raft so I could lay belly down in the pool and let my back get some sun, Check. Sun screen for our face and dark tanning oil for the rest, Check. Fruit, crackers and other snacks, Check. Non alcoholic drink for me and beer for Jason and mom, Check. I went home to get Jason so we could drive up to Cartersville.
The drive takes 45 - 50 minutes - its not bad, but too long to get anywhere in a hurry.

Jason and I arrived around 3:00 pm. I had been waiting 6 months to wear the cutest maternity bathing suit ever! I couldn't wait. I love summer time and I love the pool. Once we got to the pool (which is only 5 houses from my parents house but because its down a nice size hill and we had so many rafts and bags we drove) we set up our little space. Lounge chairs, table, magazines, etc. I wanted to wait until I was good and hot before I got in because the water was still pretty chilly.

I read my magazines for about 20 - 30 minutes then got in. I jumped on my raft and with in 5 minutes I was off of it. I felt a horrible pain - not labor pain but something sudden in the lower section of my stomach. Did I smash my baby's head? I was so worried but Jason said there was no way I could do that. I was still so worried I had done something to the baby - then I thought maybe it was the cold water - maybe the baby was freezing or maybe I laid on her the wrong way. I decided to just stand in the water for a minute but I was still uncomfortable. I got out of the water and I was holding my stomach. My mom asked me if I was okay and I said "yea, I'm fine. I think I am having those Braxton Hicks contractions again. I read they would get more noticeable as time went on and I got closer to giving birth".

So, I layed down on the lawn chair and picked up a magazine. After about 5 or 10 minutes I felt this liquid leaking out of my body - I though to myself, Oh my God. I can't believe I am peeing in my pants! I am in public and I am peeing in my pants! What are people going to think? Sure I am pregnant but really. This is ridiculous. Then it stopped. Whew! That would have been embarrassing if I had to get up and leak the entire way to the bathroom. I'm not 90!

I continued to read my magazines and talk to my mom and Jason. I was still getting the Braxton Hicks but I was so used to those because I had been getting them since my 4th month of pregnancy I thought nothing of it. Just some discomfort.

But then it happened again - about 10 minutes later. This slow leak of liquid. What in the world is going on with me! I leaned over and asked Jason if there was a puddle under my chair and he said "yes, but just a small one. No one will know". I told him I was so embarrassed and he said to sit on a towel that it would stop in a second. It stopped. For a few minutes......I was also still getting those Braxton Hicks contractions which were getting a little closer together. Then the slow leak was back. I decided to ask mom "Are Braxton Hicks supposed to be close together"? She looked at me with this very odd facial expression and asked me "is anything else happening"? I said "well, I can't stop peeing". Her face got even more odd looking and she said "Do you think your water broke"? I said (very calmly actually) "No. there is no way". Its too early".

She suggested I go to the bathroom and make sure - so I went and there wasn't any blood but there was a strange mucus consistency. Not a lot but I know I had not had that before. Although I had no idea what it was so I didn't think anything of it. (Jason and I had not had a birthing class yet and I wasn't that far into reading what to expect)

I walked back to the chair and told her I wasn't sure what was going on - so we decided to calmly get up and drive back home to call my Dr. My mom told Jason that she thought my water broke and Jason literally turned WHITE! I watched him as he packed up and he did not look well - looking back it is quite funny as he moved in slow motion and disbelief......

In the 10 steps it took to get to our car I was really feeling these Braxton Hicks and I started to cry. I was also not sure what in the world was going on. Yes, I still didn't understand that I was in labor... I know you are thinking - uh...are you that dumb? Well, apparently I am. ;)

Anyway, we got back to the house which is 5 houses from the pool and by this time I was feeling even more pressure and I was really crying now. We called the on call Dr. (I was supposed to deliver at Piedmont in Atlanta) and she suggested I go to Cartersville Medical Center to get checked out and then make the decision to drive to Atlanta or stay put. So the 4 of us pile in the car - my dad was driving and my mom was timing the "Braxton Hicks"...... 4:24 pm/30 sec; 4:26 pm/20 sec; 4:29 pm/30 sec; 4:31 pm/30 sec; 4:33....I was crying and in quite a bit of pain while Jason was sitting next to me white as a ghost and talking to my stomach saying "don't worry Alexis, its not time yet. Its not time to come out yet". He said this multiple times and I wanted to scream - it was not comforting at all.

We arrived at Cartersville Medical Center in about 10 minutes. I was in a lot of pain at this point and a little worried. We had not taken a birthing class so I had no idea what to expect. My mom ran in the hospital to get a wheel chair. Jason took me up to the delivery floor while my mom checked us in. When Jason and I were in the elevator he still kept telling Alexis that it wasn't time and I yelled "Quit saying that! It is time!" And that phrase was never heard again.

The nurse had me in a delivery bed by 4:45 pm. She took a swab of my "pee" and sure enough my water had broken and I was not having Braxton Hicks but LABOR PAINS. I was 3 - 4 centimeters dilated. The nurse had me sign the paperwork for an epidural but 15 minutes later told us there was not time for ANY medication. I asked her why she was saying that and to not say it again but she said sorry, there isn't any time. You are 9 - 10 centimeters dilated. You are having this baby now. The TWO Doctors they called to come to the hospital didn't even get there in time for Alexis's arrival. A lot more went on but it would take me days to go into detail but you get the gist.

Everything happened so fast and I was so nervous I had both Jason and my mom stay in the delivery room. Alexis Grace was born at 5:50 pm. Total Labor and Active Labor time: 1 hour and 45 minutes. Alexis Grace was on a mission to meet the world. 4 lbs 11 oz and 17 inches long. My little bean was here.

She came out and Screamed! I remember everyone sighed with relief and I remember thinking it was odd. I was relieved it was over but because that meant the pain would go away. Why was everyone else relieved? Were they just excited like I was? You could literally hear the room breath again. I got a couple of pictures with her then they took her out of the room. Turns out everyone was excited to hear her scream since she was six weeks early. That thought never even entered my mind. I never once thought she wouldn't be okay. It was a little while before a nurse came back in and told us they were going to have to send her to a NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) center right away. She was not able to breathe on her own. We were confused and scared. I just gave birth and now I didn't get to see my baby. All of the happiness was gone. In 20 minutes our room went from complete happiness to complete anguish. Jason and I did get to see her right before she was taken to Northside Hospital. I will never forget the faces of the 5 men and women who came to pick her up. I will never forget the room where I had to say good bye to my new baby. I will never forget the incubator they were going to put her in for the trip to Northside and I will never forget how it broke my heart. I will never forget how Jason and I were there for each other and how quiet our room was that night.

We checked out of Cartersville at 10:00 am the next morning. I was in perfect condition for someone who just gave birth. I am most certain that was because of two things: the mid-wife who delivered Alexis Grace and God looking out for our new family. I am so thankful for May 31st, for my family, the Cartersville Staff, the Northside Staff and most of all for Alexis Grace having such a strong soul and such determination.

These pictures are Alexis's first days at the Northside NICU.

Me, my brother Peter and Dad with Alexis and her second set of breathing tubes.

Alexis Grace with her first breathing tube.

Alexis Grace graduated to a smaller breathing tube with daddy!

She is SO CUTE!!!!! I love you Alexis Grace!! I love you Jason Taylor!!
To be continued.....

Miss Horton Hears A Who?

2009-05-18T13:50:00.005-04:00

This weekend was so busy and productive! Friday we went to a friends wedding and it was so fun. It was a Persian wedding so there were some pretty cool dances and really neat traditions that I have never seen before. Everyone looked so pretty and those Persian women are the most beautiful women ever! Seriously, how do they stay looking so young? The Bride and Groom looked like they belonged with the beautiful people in Hollywood. We wish them a life time of happiness!

Saturday was my nephews birthday - Harrison turned 2 and he partied with 50+ of his closest friends. He is so cute!

After the birthday party Jason and Anders worked on the third bedroom that we are finishing up - they got the tile done in the bathroom, the sink is in and the toilet is working! Jason has hired two men to help him finish the rest so hopefully we will have a finished product by Sunday. I'll post before and after picts when its done. While the men were working on the room my mom and I put up some Elfa shelves in our closet which is in between the garage and the third almost finished bedroom. As my mom told the guys - they could not have all of the fun -

Truth be told, she did all of the work. I sat on the stairs and read directions to her, got her water, diet coke, whatever she needed.

Thanks for all of your help mom!!! The shelves are awesome!

I know you are wondering why the title of this post is Miss Horton Hears A Who? when all I am doing is talking about the "tasks" that were accomplished but I'm getting to it!

Sunday - Sarah and Wes came over so Sarah could paint Miss Horton on Alexis's wall. It turned out SO CUTE!!! She looks awesome! Unfortunately, my camera phone did not take the clearest picture but you get the gist - Sarah is such a good artist.

Thanks Sarah!!! We love Miss Horton and we know Alexis will too!

Crafts!

2009-05-04T21:35:00.004-04:00

A friend of mine asked me to come over so we could make some onsies for little Alexis Grace. I said sure but thought what do you mean make onsies? She told me to purchase some onsies and just bring them over. Well, she had purchased some iron-on flowers and cute tutu looking ribbon. Here is what she meant by making onseis! So CUTE!

this one has iron-ons with puffy paint. I finally put it together tonight. how cute!

Here is our first onsie with a tutu.

here is the second one - they get better and better as we went along. I am so lucky to have such crafty friends!

Here is the last one - Love this one!
Even Jason said they were so cute - his little Alexis!

Here is Alexis around 28 weeks - wow! I swear I don't look at myself and think I look that big.

Then we have Alexis at 29 weeks! Good lord is she getting big! haa.ahaa!!!

We can't wait to meet her.

Only 3 more months to go!

2009-03-30T13:57:00.004-04:00

In a couple of days it will be April which means only 3 more months to go and from what I hear those are going to be even harder than the second trimester. Its okay. I can handle it. I know I can. I'm not saying there won't be any tears or frustrations or questions about what the hell is happening to my body NOW but I will live. Is it obvious I am talking myself through this?

**Side Note** I hope everyone that ran the GA ING yesterday had a wonderful race! I am so jealous you ran like gazelles and had what I consider good running weather. So far all of my peeps had awesome times! I'll see you all next year :)

**End Side Note**

While pregnancy is a wonderful miracle there are so many things women don't talk about and I now understand why. I won't go into those details but frankly, I'm over leaking, not sleeping, crying, feeling alone even when I'm not and now I'm missing my feet. Oh feet. Who knew I would actually miss my feet? I can't see those cute flats I purchased and they are totally worth seeing.

Thankfully all of those feelings go away as soon as I feel Girl Tot move. I am so excited little Alexis is growing like a weed, kicking, punching and moving all of the time. When she is silent I yell into my belly, give it a little jiggle and ask "where are you? what are you doing"? Jason thinks I'm nuts but I miss her when she is quiet. I have already imagined what her personality will be like. I think she will be strong willed, opinionated and super smart with a wicked sense of humor. Okay, so I may be a little biased but I can dream. She's mine!

Look at Girl Tot working at 26 weeks! She's so busy...

Girl Tot's Room

2009-03-16T14:18:00.006-04:00

Here are some web pictures of the things Girl Tot will have in her room:

Here is the Glider she will eat and sleep in. Jason and I tested out several gliders and this one was perfect for us - we both fit in it. That is very important since Jason is 6'2 and I am 5'1. The one in the picture is white but we will have a cream cover and no foot rest.

Here are the sheets that we registered for - light pink and sage green french rose....so cute for such a cute girl tot!

Last but not least here is the crib that my mom and Jason's mom purchased for us. This was their grandmother gift and we couldn't be more excited!!!!! It is so beautiful and girl tot will have this bed until she goes away to college so yea again! It looks so comfy, don't you just want to get in it?

In the next couple of months Sarah will come over to paint Horton on the wall! I can't wait to see how that turns out. It will be so Fantastic!

Preggers Update....

2009-03-14T15:21:00.010-04:00

Well, this has been a LONG time coming.....Jason and I don't have many pictures of me pregnant so we took some last week. I am hoping this is not a sign of the future blogging posts but right now I'm just so tired after work and the thought of using my brain to write on the blog is even more exhausting. I am having trouble finding things to write about - I know I can write about being pregnant but since I signed up on FaceBook I talk about it there, at home and at work. Even the most excited pregnant woman needs to talk about things other than being pregnant. Maybe I'm just an odd preggers - don't get me wrong, I am SUPER excited about the baby. I just don't feel the need to talk about it all. of. the. time.

Today I'm ready to post - I'm home sick (again) but so far its not as bad as last time. This one started in my chest and just a little bit of a stuffed nose. Hopefully this is all it will be. Oh please, oh please, oh please pregnant Gods....let this be it. Its hard enough not sleeping any more. Not that I slept well before I was pregnant but that was different. I can be so exhausted and still not sleep because my belly is growing and its a little heavier than what I'm used to.

Insert - I love Jason so much. He brings me lunch, fills my water bottles, changes the cat box, makes dinner the majority of the time, gives back rubs, feet rubs, anything I ask. He is the BEST husband ever and he Never complains. He is also VERY excited we are having a little girl. Besides my dad I don't think there will be a better father in the world. I love him so much sometimes I don't know what to do! :) Insert over.

Here are some pictures of the Girl Tot's progress:

Girl Tot at 21 weeks

Girl Tot and I eating Ice Cream Sundays......at 23 weeks. So good!

Still eating while Jason takes what he thinks are hilarious pictures of me, girl tot and the ice cream Sunday......

Girl Tot from the side at 23 weeks. She's getting so big! This is why I don't think I am going to carry through July 9th. I think Girl Tot is coming the last week of June or the first week of July.

Noodling Anyone?

2009-01-26T13:46:00.007-05:00

If you are a Vegan don't read this. If you are a Vegan, you should know I love meat and completely support hunting. And guns.

(I am laughing so hard right now - I sound so tough)

On to my point.......

So my girlfriend Carren and I have been emailing this morning and I asked her about her weekend - she goes hunting with her dad and other family members on the weekends and they ride 4 wheelers, drink, hang out, etc. I asked her if she was able to shoot anything this weekend which eventually led me to inquire about Noodling! I asked Carren if she was going to start Noodling. Well she did not know what Noodling was - I was quite surprised. If you know me, you know that I know little bits about lots of stuff and mainly its because I surround myself with people that are very bright so I am always learning. If you know Carren, you know she is like a freaking sponge that absorbs all information she hears, sees and reads.

I am quite excited that I am going to teach Carren about this sport - especially since it has to do with some form of hunting. I am not a hunter - I will happily eat the hunted but not go hunting. I will happily ride a 4 wheeler, camp, shoot guns and cook hunted things but never, ever will I go hunting. I should also let you know that My grandfather hunted, my uncles hunt, my father hunts and I have many friends that hunt so I respect the hunter and the hunted.

I keep getting side tracked - Noodling Catfish:

Most noodling takes place in shallow water. If the water is over your head, it can be difficult or even impossible to wrestle a fish to the surface. Noodlers search for likely catfish hideouts -- inside submerged logs, fallen trees, under rocks or in mud banks. Catfish make their nests where they feel safe. During spawning season, which occurs in spring and summer when the water temperature rises to about 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21 degrees Celsius), you're likely to find catfish in their nests because they seldom abandon their eggs.

Here are two guys noodling in the afternoon...........

And the chicks noodle too!

I am completely fascinated by this form of Noodling........I think all of those hunters I know need to start noodling! But be careful - I hear you can lose a limb.........

2009-01-25T16:58:00.002-05:00

Here are some updated picts of Tater Tot

Tater Tot at 16 weeks. Getting bigger! No, Nat, its not 20 weeks yet. I can't wait though! I will give an exact date after my update on Tuesday.

Here is Jason kissing Tater Tot! So cute......I love that Jason.

This one has nothing to do with Tater Tot - I received a promotion at work last week and I'm quite excited!

**A Side Note - Jason is a jerk-face for making me believe I killed his fish.

Back to my promotion - I worked very hard for this and hopefully I'll be able to keep it up. I know I will be able to keep up the hard work I just hope I can keep up with the brokers. I work for 4 of them now and so far so good! They are all nice to work with but once the volume gets going for each of them I will really have to manage my time well.

Tater Tot Moves ~ 1/12/09

2009-01-12T18:01:00.005-05:00

I felt Tater Tot for the first time today - I was in the hallway of a down town Government building waiting to be called for Jury Duty. And when they say "flutter" they are pretty accurate. To me it felt more like I was rolling down a hill and got a funny feeling in my stomach for a quick minute. And it happened more than once! Oh Tater Tot, we can't wait to meet you.

LB Other Wise Known as Tater Tot.....

2009-01-10T13:45:00.004-05:00

Here is LB in December of 08 - about 2 1/2 months along

This picture is quite amusing - barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen!

Here is LB now - 14 weeks and 2 days!

Can't wait to find out what LB AKA Tater Tot is at 20 weeks!

Father to Be

2009-01-04T12:23:00.008-05:00

Here are the many faces of the father to be our little bean gets to look forward to meeting:

The Chef.....

The Dancer........

The Graduate with his masters.....

The relaxed version of Jason

The Valentine....

The bearded man...

And my favorite, Bootstache..........

I love you Jason!

Time to Celebrate a New Year

2009-01-02T13:40:00.002-05:00

Well, since I have not blogged since October of 08 I guess its finally time. Jason and I have a lot to celebrate in 2009 - even though I am not quite ready for this new year. I'm not exactly sure why but I think it has to do with my industry and the market but that is all boring stuff and what ever happens will happen and we will get through it.

Lets get back to the celebrating..........we are expecting again! This time I am having a healthy pregnancy and I am 13 weeks. Only one more week until the 2nd trimester and so far its been a great ride. Well, minus those few weeks I was quite bitchy for no reason but all of the books I have been reading and friends I have been talking to say its normal. Whew! I didn't even like being around myself! I am feeling really good now and the only real changes besides my stomach are I eat a lot more and sleep a lot more. Nothing bad about those things! We are calling the baby LB - Little Bean and her/his heart is nice and strong. We've heard the heart beat 4 times and each time its like a little dose of fun and scary reality. We are so excited!!

Starting next week we start the search for Day Care............this stresses me out a little but I think it will be fun? I'm trying to keeping a positive attitude. My girlfriends have given me some good places to start - I have to say its very nice having girlfriends that already have kids. They are FULL of great information!

New Year resolutions? I'm not sure I have many - really I haven't even thought about it. My resolutions are pretty much the same every year. Be a better person, give more of my time to others, work harder and work on communication with my husband so my marriage stays strong. That's about it.

I do hope Tyler (old high school friend) has a great delivery. She is due with her third this month!

I hope everyone had a wonderful 2009! I love you all, hugs and kisses!
Jen

Ekiden

2008-10-27T10:13:00.004-04:00

This was my second year running Ekiden. An Ekiden (駅伝), usually referred to as a marathon relay in English, is a long-distance relay, road race.

The term originated in Japan. The first ekiden race was sponsored by the Yomiuri Shimbun in 1917, and was run over three days between the old Japanese capital of Kyoto and the modern capital of Tokyo, a distance of 508 km, to celebrate the anniversary of the moving of the capital to Tokyo.

Its such a fun race! We run in Piedmont Park - It starts at the park on 10th and Charles Allen. You run out of the park and turn right onto 10th, then right onto Peachtree, right onto Piedmont, right onto Monroe and then back into the park off of 10th. Its a circle around the park and is just shy of 26.2 miles. Its a great way to hang out with friends, meet new people, eat good food and drink.

Stacey G, Karen M and me after the race

Me, Karen (Stacey G's SIL), Karen, Stacey G

Karen running to the finish!

Me, Stacey G right after our run

Me running to hand off the yellow ribbon thing.

N.A.S.C.A.R.

2008-10-27T10:01:00.002-04:00

Yeah Jimmy! So, Jimmy Johnson came in 2nd place yesterday - what was the race? I couldn't tell you. I do know it was held at Atlanta Speedway and this is my 6th or 7th race with C-Dawg and her Family.

I am not your typical Nascar fan. I understand why people LOVE Nascar and how devoted the fans are but my main reason for going it to hang out with Carren and her family. It never bothers me who wins or loses as long as a good time has been had. I love walking around with the Stacks and watching them get excited about their drivers. I love the people watching and nine times out of ten everyone at the Nascar Race is very nice and they are there just to have a good time. There is beer, corn dogs, cigarettes and black tar from the tires. What more could you ask for on a sunny Sunday afternoon?

Thanks for asking us to go Carren!!! We loved it!!!

I'm a boring poster........

2008-10-09T11:45:00.003-04:00

So, I just turned 32. I am only writing this post so you don't have to look at the last one........I will write another one very soon.

THANK YOU FOR ALL OF THE HAPPY BIRTHDAY WISHES!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU GUYS!!

XOXO,
Stick

A.D.U.L.T.

2008-09-25T15:14:00.004-04:00

Being an adult just sucks sometimes - even when you don't really have room to complain..... Good thing I'm running today.

Sundays

2008-09-17T20:33:00.012-04:00

How much fun can you have on a Sunday?............look at these crazy fools!

Jason and Carren getting dinner ready

Dancin' fools!

Um.........really? Is this necessary?

Hope you have yourself a fantastic Sunday soon!

Taking Time

2008-09-17T20:33:00.006-04:00

Taking time to paint. What a novel idea. Relax, think about what you are painting, what do you want it to say? It turns out that Artists are onto something when they take weeks, months or sometimes years when painting a masterpiece. I am learning there is a process to oil painting. Part I - start with a lot of turpentine and a little paint. Let dry in between and think about the piece over and over. Part II - a little heavier with the paint and again, let dry and think about the piece before starting Part III - almost all paint and no turpentine. Yep, its a layering thing, a thinking thing, a connecting thing.

Here is a painting I am working on by process of drawing then using a lot of turpentine (in my case turpenoid) and a little paint.

Oil Painting for the Novice

2008-09-09T10:44:00.005-04:00

Guess what's going to happen October 14th? That's right. Oil Painting for the Novice. Yea hooo!!! I can't wait. Its my birthday gift from Jason and I am sure you are wondering what this novice will be learning.......

After this course I am supposed to be able to do the following:

Translate three dimensional objects to the canvas
Create your own compositions
Give depth and form to your work

I am going to try to visit more art gallery's - I went on line yesterday and printed out Gallery's in ATL. There is so much to read and study I don't even know where to begin. I read artist bios yesterday and everyone has a very interesting take on how they established their techniques. I figure if I keep trying to learn about different procedures and take classes I will eventually have my own technique. I need to learn how to relax and not get so uptight about it too - I am a thinker and that is not always good. I need to learn how to let my mind go.

It's Getting Dark!!!

2008-09-08T09:26:00.004-04:00

We are getting so close to losing daylight saving time until spring that I have been trying to get everything I can do outside done. I have been riding my bike, playing golf and running. I am feeling like I will be trapped soon - you know, by the dark! I hate it when it gets dark so early. I drive to work and its dark. I drive home from work and its dark. YUCK!!!!

Getting dark earlier also means I will have to start going to the, I don't even want to say it........
G. Y. M. .......ick.

I don't love the gym - I mean I am glad to be a member so I can go but I don't want to have to go. I love being outside. I am an outside person! I love to have all windows in the house open at all times and I love to camp (which I never get to do). I need to start hiking - that is the closest I think I will get to camping if Jason is involved. I could go hiking and bring my tent - I'll just set up for the day........haa.aha!!
I love to walk around barefoot too. When I was a kid I NEVER and I mean NEVER wore shoes. Ringworm? Had it multiple times. Who cares! It's just a little dirt. Our neighbors would ask my sister and I if our parents made enough money to purchase us shoes - that's how little I wore shoes. Obviously they were kidding and it always made me laugh.

The weekend before last I was busy from 7:00 am until 6:00 pm -And everything was outside! It was pretty much my most relaxing weekend day I could have imagined (besides being at the beach). Now, I know to some that does not sound relaxing but I got to do what I wanted to do - nothing was forced. Aaaaahhhhh......

On another note, Natalie has challenged us to get our most awkward photos out from childhood. I am going to look at picts this week and I can say for Certain I will beat her, but I don't remember feeling awkward. Which could explain a lot......You are going to die laughing.

Six Unspectacular Quirks

2008-08-19T13:48:00.004-04:00

This post is for Leigh. Here are my Six Unspectacular Quirks:

1. I can climb a door frame with out any help.

2. I can write backwards and in reverse - at least I think I can so we'll go with that.

3. I can't go into someones house with out noticing ALL of their UN-Even pictures hanging on the wall. Sometimes I even correct some of them. I know, I'm nuts and please don't feel uncomfortable when you have me over for those of you reading this. Really - its a disease and I'm a freak.

4. I have a quirk-like way of never shutting up. Is that a quirk or really just an annoyance? Don't answer that.......

5. I can eat more than my husband - when we first got married I used to have little competitions with him in my mind. Who could eat more? I almost always won and the best part is he never knew he was competing until one night I think we were talking about how much I do eat. Again, you don't have to remind me how much of a freak I am.

6. I can't think of a sixth one. I am sure other people can come up with one of my quirks or annoyances better than I can. Really I think I am just writing a blog about how annoying I can be. HAaaa!!

Best Husband, Best Weekend

2008-08-18T14:01:00.002-04:00

This weekend was awesome! Friday, after I got my ass handed to me at work I got home and told Jason I was not cooking dinner. He said okay I'm not that hungry any way. I was WAY hungry because I don't skip meals........I'm what they call a healthy eater. Anyway, I said I was going to Nuevo Laredo and Jason said he didn't want to go there so I got mad and said I was going somewhere, just not here (at home). I went upstairs to get some jeans on and out of my work clothes and when I got back downstairs I told him I would go to Six Fee Under if he wanted. That way I had company while eating and he wouldn't feel whatever it is he feels when I mention Nuevo Laredo. So, off we went.

When we got there it was packed with everyone wanting to sit on the roof (which is where their out door seating is). It was such a nice night out and if the wait was not an hour and a half we would have been enjoying it with everyone else. Instead we opted for the bar which had plenty of open seats and lots of tv's to watch Michael Phelps swim to victory. We ate appetizers and drank beer all night. We had the best time and Jason made me laugh so hard I cried! It was pretty cool when Michael Phelps won his race - the entire restaurant went crazy with cheers.

Saturday, I was supposed to run but didn't because I didn't want to get up at the crack of dawn after drinking those delicious beers. I did get up early though - I was helping a friend while she was out of town. I went into work for a little bit then home to take a nap. We were invited to an Obama party by one of Jason's co-workers. It was a lot of fun and I got to meet a few of the people Jason works/worked with. They are so nice and they love my husband! I also gave Jason's cell number to someone I thought was a friend of his (this is also after a couple glasses of wine) but turns out it was a sales pitch! haa.ahaa!!! Jason said why didn't you make up a number?! I said because I thought she was your friend - then I laughed so hard because I kept imagining this lady calling Jason trying to get him to purchase this special web phone. He hates those calls! haa.ahaaa!!!

After the Obama P A R T A Y, we met some friends at the Taco Mac off of Peachtree. I never want to go to another Taco Mac after being in that one - its so clean and HUGE! I loved it. We watched the swimming event again. And once again, when Michael Phelps won the entire place went nuts! It was great. I also learned (again) that when I don't run all weekend and I drink, my legs get REAL upset. They want to party all night long and go dancing or do something that requires a lot of energy. Jason, not so much. He said you should go running in our neighborhood and I said, are you karazy?! No. Instead I worked on a gift for Jason and pounded some water. If I was going to be up there was no need to be dehydrated. I was up until 2:00 am making that gift! I totally slept in on Sunday.

Thanks for a great weekend babe.

Hello Jen. Here's Your Ass

2008-08-15T15:52:00.004-04:00

Come onnnn....get haaaappy!!!

So. Friday at work I got my ass handed to me by this loan I was working on. A. R. They suck. Never buy one from their corporate office. They do not cooperate with anyone and made the entire process so difficult. Really. I did not like my job at all on Friday because of those A. R. bastards. Thankfully it was not so annoying the thought of changing my career entered my mind.
I worked on a loan last year that was so horrible because the buyer was a psycho freak and I thought about quiting on more than one occasion with that loan. That was the only time I was truly going to quit my job because life is too short to work with people who are completely out of their marbles. And I mean out of their marbles in a bad way - not like "Girl, you're crazy" or "You're out of your freakin mind". I mean this guy lost his shit.

Thankfully his loan died! And I don't have to work with that guy again. As soon as his loan died, I did a happy dance and decided my job was not so bad after all.

The roller coaster continues.........

Hello Art!

2008-08-07T22:09:00.005-04:00

Here are a couple of more paintings I painted tonight. I am really into ORANGE.......Its such a good color!

This is both of them - they are quite small but good colors.

Here is the little chick! It looks like a 5 year old did it here, but in person, it looks like folk art. Perfect for a kitchen.

This one just has different colors in it. I really like it - these are way better in person.

These are my brushes. I will be asking for more in October and December..........."wink. wink."

Oh! Look what popped up here. Some paints by Gamblin. I think I will get some more of those as well. Ohhhhhh....what pretty colors.

Masterpiece # 2

2008-08-04T22:38:00.004-04:00

Once again, it has taken me quite a while to blog. I was assigned to another broker at work which is good but I am really busy and work later than usual. I also just got back from the super fun family vacation in where else, but Hilton Head! It will take me a while to get the pictures uploaded mainly because there are 130 of them......and I need to sift through to pick out the best ones of course. In the mean time you can take a look at my most recent painting.

I do have to say I like this one in person better - it doesn't look as choppy.

I really enjoy learning how the brushes work, how they land on the canvas what marks they leave behind. The colors are tricky but I learned to put the light colors on first and dark goes on top - although you can blend the colors back to the lighter shade if you really need to. Although sometimes if you blend too much you get grey. I need more colors, more brushes and canvas oh my! That's right, I said More colors, more brushes and canvas oh my!

ING Race Photos

2008-07-07T20:42:00.004-04:00

My number for ING - I had a great run!

John, Cindy and me before Jason took off to watch the start.

Oooh, la,laaaa.....Craig and Stacey - they are so cute!

Greg, Craig and Stacey - good friends from running club.

Craig and I after the run. I look horrible but I feel great.

Funny Family Pictures

2008-07-07T20:22:00.005-04:00

These are some funny pictures from my dad's surprise birthday party earlier this year. It was a lot of fun.

I'll start this off with Allison, my sister. She's the craziest of the bunch. HA!!

This is a good picture of everyone.

The four stooges.............

Rae - she will be so happy this picture is on the web.

Then there's me. I make my parents so proud.

Ah, Peter. Always up for some good eatin'.

Random Entries

2008-07-07T20:05:00.002-04:00

This is Harrison and Heather. Our sister-in-law and nephew. Unfortunately Adam was out of town this week but Harrison and Heather came over to hang out with Jason, his dad, Annie and me back in June. Harrison is a little over year and he is as cute as can be.

He is trying to pat his head and rub his belly at the same time - Uncle Jason is going to be a great influence on him.......

He's hilarious - laughing away.

This has nothing to do with Harrison's visit but I didn't want to make a separate post with 1 piece of art. This is my first piece - its small but the point of this exercise was to get a feel for the brushes and see what happens when you mix the different colors. I don't have the primary colors yet but those will come later. For now I will just use what I have. See that easel? That's the one Leigh gave me.

House Decorating - A Work in Progress

2008-07-07T19:24:00.007-04:00

Here is our bedroom - there is not much to look at right now because this will be the last room to get finished in the house. But I love my, I mean our bed. Please excuse the mess.

Here is one corner of the guest room. Look how clean it is. I cleaned this room out on Sunday - I feel so refreshed. No Cats allowed in this room so if any kids or people stay over they will be kitty hair free!

Here is another angle. Look at the pretty table I added. See how cute? That picture above the table is me. Sally (lala) painted it when I was little. I have some more art that I would like to hang but I need to get it re-framed. My aunt Judy made a really cool piece of art for me when I graduated high school but the frame is now 13 years old so a new one would make it look updated and refreshed.

Jason painted our white plastic table and chairs on the back porch this weekend. I love it! He's not quite done. We also got some pretty red seat cushions at Target! It will look good!

Here is my version of an herb garden. Cilantro, Parsley, Basil. Its sitting on a new table we purchased last weekend. The porch is looking better and better!

Oh yeah, here is the pantry door Jason hung for me. Uh, Love it!!

Here is the butterfly I hung above the kitchen sink. She's so pretty.

Here is one of the tables I Gold Leafed this weekend. Its a work in progress. I am going to get some bronze to mix in there as well. It is a lot of fun though! I figure if I really mess it up, I can just sand it. I got this idea from a table Sally made for Sarah - its on Sarah's side porch and it's so cute.

Here is the new mirror in the living room. It adds so much to the room too. Still a work in progress but it does look good.

Close up of the mirror.

Last but not least, my flower pot and little stand. They are so pretty and add so much color! So far I have managed to keep them alive for two weeks!

4 Years

2008-07-03T09:48:00.003-04:00

Sunday the 6th will be my 4 year anniversary with my company and I have accomplished a lot in those 4 years. I have never been with any company more than a year and a half so this is pretty cool. When I started I had no idea what I was doing and the best thing my first boss did was to throw me into the mix and it was sink or swim. Well, it's safe to say I swam and fought through the rough parts and here I am. I learned about conduits, loan quotes, LLC's, LLP's, Trusts, Single Entities, NNN Properties and Sale/Leasebacks. I learned about each state and their individual requirements for surveys, new entities and how to get a certificate to operate that new entity (and the cost). The best part is I will never know it all and that's what keeps me coming back to this crazy world day after day. There is always something to conquer and there is always a deadline. I never consider myself a competitive person but really, I think I am. I compete all of the time - I love the thrill and in my world that is a closed loan and a satisfied borrower. I love the emotional roller coaster I ride day in and day out. I think it's a sickness........

Besides accomplishing things at work I experienced other things as well. I ran my first 1/2 marathon........and then 4 more. My sister moved to Boston and we have grown closer with our brother. I have had some friendships dissipate and re-kindled old ones with some really great people. I have made new friendships that I hope to keep forever. I got married and learned how to accept another family as my own. I purchased a house with Jason and we were able to furnish it which is really great! We also went through a rough patch which made us grow stronger together. That rough patch also led me to enter the art world and now I am trying to craft the art of drawing & painting. Are you seeing the same pattern I see? I seem to keep choosing paths that I will never completely figure out but they will always challenge me. I do have a sickness.....mmmmmwwwwuuuuaaaahhhhh!!!! (evil laugh)

I dare say I have a fantastic life and I am one of the luckiest people I know. Life is good.

Oh how long its been............

2008-06-27T10:23:00.002-04:00

Since I last posted. And I am afraid I don't have much to post today either - there has been a lot going on, I just have not had time to write it all down. I have been slammed at work (which is awesome) but now that I have work, I don't get to email or write at work..........
So, I will find time tomorrow or Sunday to write about the shenanigans I have been getting into! Only because I know you have been dying to hear what I have been up to...........

Oh yeah, I am in favor of Nat's new nick name..................Fishwife.

I am also running Peachtree - Chris, you need to come down and run with us. Because as we all know it is not about the running but the drinking and eating afterwards!
And that wall. You will knock it down - don't sweat it. Love Ya!

Surprises

2008-06-09T11:19:00.006-04:00

Last week was a lot of fun. Jason's dad and his wife Annie were in town so we have been on the go all week/end long. We went to a baseball game, dinner, cook outs, etc and it's been a blast. We go to see a lot of Harrison which was pretty fun. He is so cute! He crawls all over the place and talks a little.

Friday night we ate at On The Border in Alpharetta and Jason & I got home around 9:00. We cleaned the house up a little then sat on the couch to veg out. As we were talking and watching TV I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. It was a package. Hmmm.....I didn't order anything. "Jason, did you order something?" "No?" "What is it?! Oh Wait! Leigh said she sent me something earlier in the week but we have been so busy I forgot about it." I couldn't imagine what she sent me. I didn't do anything to deserve a gift. ha.ahaa!!

The outside of the box said JoAnns..........I opened it and Jason and I were both speechless. Leigh bought me an art Easel!!!! So I can start painting with my oils! I couldn't believe it. It is one of the best gifts I have ever received. I am always blown away by my friends. They are so kind and supportive. I still can't believe it - I took it out right away, put it together, figured out how all of the parts worked and just stared at it. It is so awesome!
How did I get so lucky to have such nice friends? Seriously. All of my friends are so thoughtful and selfless.

Thank you Leigh. I am in love with the Art Easel.

Thank you to all of my friends. For being friends with me.

Hugs and Kisses!

Hello Summer. Its Jen

2008-06-04T09:52:00.004-04:00

Good lord. I just looked at the weather forecast for the next few days and apparently we are done with spring. I am supposed to run at least 5 miles today and the high is 91. Wish me luck. Since summer is in full swing for GA does that mean the pollen will be gone? I hope so. This also means pool weather......when you don't have kids you have a lot of time for yourself and that means you can go to the pool whenever you want. Jason and I are going to work on our savage tans all summer. We are going to be so hot........

See us? Being hot? ;)

Savage................

Good Friends

2008-05-30T13:47:00.009-04:00

Carrena. She is one of my best friends. I have some of the greatest friends in the world and she is one of them. Besides Sarah, I have known Carren the longest. We met at our friend Chris Barnes house when we were all single, well, Carren was dating Jon, but she was not married so she was single and we partied until all hours of the night. Or morning.......Carren and I did not become friends right away. It was like two cute dogs sniffing each other out (I know, fantastic scenario) - I was totally in her territory as she had been friends with Chris for a very long time and I was pretty new to the group. Well, new as far as Carren was concerned. I think I had been hanging out with Chris for a while before I actually met this person they referred to as Carren. And I was terrified of Carren because everyone kept saying how tough she was and she didn't take any one's crap. Well, I did not want to meet this person because I am usually into people who are funny, light hearted and love to hang out!

One afternoon I was hanging out with Chris's cousin Missy - Missy was a free spirit and invited anyone she met to be her friend. I think Carren asked Missy to a Falcon's football game and Missy then invited me. I said okay, but I was totally nervous. Carren picked Missy and I up at Chris's house and off we went. I would like to say I was quiet but really, I don't think I am ever really quiet but I know I was hesitant. Carren seemed like she was a take charge kind of person and I did not want to mess with her. First we stopped by Subway to get sandwiches - which was also connected to a gas station. Now, this goes against everything I believe in but I needed cigarettes so it was a good idea at the time and again, I was not in charge so I went along. I even remember what I ordered - a meatball sub. I had the hardest time swallowing that thing. I hate food that is connected to a gas station unless it comes in a tightly sealed package. I was asked to write the gas station/subway was not Carren's idea........

Anyway, I have no idea what we talked about but I was allowed to smoke in her car which was pretty cool. haa.aha!! I don't even remember the game but I remember having a great time and thinking to myself, you know, this Carren is not so bad. She is funny and laughs a lot. And laughs out loud which is even better. She is also pretty smart - she retains information like a sponge. I was glad to learn she was not so tough after all. She's a strong person and has a big heart.

We hung out a few more times and ended up getting along so well - we laughed at all of the same stupid stuff and I could get as crazy as I wanted and she was still my friend the next day. When I say I got crazy, I mean I would drink beer with our friends, laugh out loud, ran from the cops........another story for another time.........said funny & obnoxious things all night or whatever came to my mind and she never judged. I am pretty sure she didn't know what to think but I never felt bad - we just laughed about it the next day. Thanks for laughing with me CDawg!

Looking forward to summer

2008-05-29T13:43:00.004-04:00

Last night was the last night of my art class until fall. I knew I would be bummed but I had no idea I would be sad. I was literally sad when I left last night. I will miss talking with my other class mates and oddly enough I will miss my instructor. I really liked him. I liked that he gave us a little history about what we were learning and even things we were not learning. He was fun to talk to. You could ask him 1 question and he would talk for 20 minutes, then end up on a completely different topic! On a positive note - at least I can say I will miss my class rather than I couldn't wait until it was over!
This will give me a chance to get back to running on Wednesday nights with my friends and get some more mileage in so maybe I will run another 1/2 by the end of the summer.
I will continue to draw and I am going to start Oil Painting. Very excited about that too. Sarah, I will most likely be calling you for art discussions and pointers. So, get ready sista! Aren't you so excited?! HA!

Another thing to look forward to is The Weimer-Taylor-Calamari Beach Trip!!! We are going to the beach at the end of July and having what I call a "Cone-Off". Rae had Allison send an email out about it today:

**A side note for my sister - she sounds just like my mom in this email......
Hello my siblings and non-siblings,
I have received special orders for our Birthday/Father's Day/Mother's Day party at the beach in July. Mom would like to have a "make your own ice cream cone contest" that will be judged by Trudy and her husband (drawing a blank on his name). Anyway, here are the tasks........

Jennifer -determine rules of the game
Jason - supply the winning prize
Paul/Allison/Peter-to determine themes. Themes will not be handed out until the day of the game.
You will go to Publix to buy "props" for cones. One rule mom has is that we are only allowed to use props that are edible! No extras! hahahahahah
Jennifer-am I missing anything?

Yeah, this is going to be a Griswold's Beach Trip...........much like everything else we do. But as odd and silly as we are we have fun and more importantly there will be drinks involved. Rae loves a good margarita on the beach.

Art Class

2008-05-22T10:52:00.007-04:00

Last night was my second to last art class until I can find another one in the fall. I am totally bummed it is coming to an end. I love this class so much! There were only 4 of us last night which was pretty cool because I missed the week before and those of us that had missed a class were able to catch up. Three of us needed to catch up on some things so the instructor went around helping each of us. I got a lot out of last nights class - I missed the cross hatching class. Man! Is this hard. I was telling Guy, the instructor, how heavy handed i was and some of the other students said they were as well. Guy was explaining that it takes a lot of practice to use a delicate hand so the cross hatching does not look like large patches. If you get it down it can look really cool but most of my work last night looked like blocks of cross hatching and instead of giving my figures dimension and shape like it should they looked like figures with dents....HA!!

I told Guy I was going to miss being in a class with others because I learned so much from them. My first two classes I compared my work to the other students and it was not until I was comfortable in my third class that I was able to look at other pieces of work and actually learn from them. I noticed that every student looked at the same object in totally different ways. Their view of shadow was completely different than mine which was cool because I could take that point of view and try to apply it to what I was drawing. I love the constant learning.

I am looking forward to the fall when I can find a painting class and add to my collection.......I think I will look for an oils class. I would like to try sculpture and nudes after that.

Beach Pictures

2008-05-20T22:36:00.012-04:00

Here are some pictures from the beach!

Todd and Jason chilling out at the table

Jason enjoying a swim

Emma and Jaimee waiving to Todd. They are so cute.

Todd. Too cool for his own good.

Me.

A picture from the pool looking at the beach.

Emma Pants!

Last but not least, and I am sure Emma will wish bad things on me when she is older, but here is Emma NOT wanting to go home. She was having too much fun at the pool. Hilarious!

For Chris and Nat

2008-05-20T14:42:00.007-04:00

Well, there's really not much to write about the Bon Jovi concert - it was a great concert but we did not see all of the big-hair and tight jeans that we were hoping for. Turns out Bon Jovi has grown with the times and his music is a lot softer which kind of sucks but whatever. He did play the following songs which I totally rocked out to:

Blaze of Glory

Bad Medicine

Livin' on a Prayer

You Give Love a Bad Name

J.B.J. still Rocks hard and Richie Sambora sang a solo which was pretty funny. He looks rode hard and put up wet - that guy needs a few days, months at rehab or some place out of the sun. He is going to look as good as Keith Richards pretty soon.

We tried to take pictures with our camera phone but those suck so as usual I don't have picts.

Hopefully for Christmas I will get a NEW CAMERA hint, hint. One that is small and starts with the letter CA and ends with NON.

Sorry this post stinks but but I hope you enjoy the pictures below....

Which is your favorite?

Time Flies

2008-05-20T11:05:00.005-04:00

Its been so long since I last posted I don't even know where to begin. I guess I could start with the beginning of the month.....

The first two weeks of May were pretty busy. I am working on a loan which is great so I am busy at work! Last week Jason and I went to the beach for our anniversary. Our actual anniversary is April 15th but when we went last year it was still a bit chilly so we decided to wait a month and turns out that was a good decision. It was warm and sunny all week/weekend long. We got to the beach Wed evening around 7:00 pm. We stopped at the liquor store and grocery store thinking we had enough time to get some shopping done before we went to the condo, unpacked then go to dinner. Wrong. All restaurants close at 9:00 pm near the condo so by the time we went to eat, nothing but Publix was open and I was not happy about that. Jason said he would cook dinner but that did not make me very happy either. I wanted to feel like I was on vacation damn it and cooking at home was not the answer! Oh well, once I was done throwing a fit Jason made dinner and all was good. We watched some tv then went to bed.

I woke up pretty early Thursday morning - the air conditioning guy had to fix something and he was knocking at the door around 8:30 am. I got up, let him in and made some coffee. It was such a good feeling to wake up while it was quiet (jason was still sleeping) and drink coffee on the patio. The patio faces a pond and there are always fish jumping, turtles swimming and we even saw a gross black snake. I worked for a little bit then went to see when Jason was going to get up. We went for a run and we were going to ride the bikes but the his bike had a flat tire so we hit the beach instead. We laid in the sun for a while, watched the water, read our magazines & books then went for a walk. The water was not too bad but the tide was rough so we didn't actually get in the ocean.

Thursday night we went to dinner in St. Augustine. We ate at Saltwater Cowboys which was interesting to say the least. I would describe Saltwater Cowboys is a rickety old house that has been turned into a restaurant. The description on line states the following: Cowboys interior is reminiscent of a turn-of-the-century fish camp with handmade willow twig furniture, old wooden floors, rusted tin ceilings with gator and snake skins hanging on the walls. Either way, it's old but cute.

The hostess asked us if we would like to sit inside or out? Outside of course! She walked us through the dinning room to the deck outside that faces the marsh on the inter coastal. There was a nice breeze and the sun was starting to set so it was very relaxing. As we sat down on our plastic chairs (like the ones we have at our house but these were green) I noticed a cat just below us sitting in the sun. He was surrounded by oyster shells (hundreds of them) and some trash which odd. Then we noticed another cat and another and a few others! They were all orange so we knew they were related. There were about 6 to 8 cats laying down or playing right next to us! They we cute. Well most of them were cute. Some of them needed major repairs. They would jump up on the porch and walk or zoom past your table - really you didn't want them touching you because they were living in filth but still some of them looked pretty well groomed for scrounge kitties. Jason tried to feed one and I think it must have swatted at him because I saw Jason jump......haa.haa!!

As we were eating our dinner someone came out to the porch and threw a bunch of cooked shrimp tails over the deck and they landed right next to us. So all of the cats were now trying to get a piece of those tasty morsels. The cats were so close I could have reached out and touched them. A little weird but funny. Jason and I still enjoyed our dinner and just laughed at where we were eating. As we were finishing our meals I noticed something moving in the marsh. I thought it was another cat, but not so much. It was a Raccoon!!! And it was not cute at all. It just came out of the water so it's butt was wet. The waiter said it's name was Stevette. I guess there are two of them. Steve and Stevette. Anyway Stevette kept walking closer to the deck and it totally freaked me out. I did not want to get rabies on my vacation! There was nothing between me and that raccoon and I did not like it. Stevette eventually walked toward the back of the porch which was fine with me.

I don't think I could ever describe the scenery enough to do it justice but it was an experience we will never forget.

Friday I went for a run. I walked 1/2 and ran the other 1/2. It was so humid and it felt like I was carrying a wet blanket the entire time. I was happy when I finished though. Jason and I hung out at the beach and pool all afternoon. That night we drove to the Flagler Fish Market - the food there is soooo delicious!! Its so fresh and the people that work there are super nice. We purchased some scallops and shrimp & took them home to make pasta and seafood. It was so good and I personally think way better than the meal we had the night before. Granted, I did have some tasty hush puppies Thursday night but you really can't compare those to the best scallops in the world. Or Universe for that matter.

Anyway, around 10:30 pm our friends Todd and Jaimee got to the condo. They brought their 1 1/2 year old daughter Emma with them but she was sleeping. Todd, Jaimee & Emma live in Tampa so we don't get to see them that much. It was really great they were able to come and hang out. Saturday we all headed to the pool swam around, laid out and drank some beers. Around 1:30 or so Emma took a long nap which gave us a chance to have some adult time and eat some lunch. When she woke up we went to the beach then back to the pool for a little bit longer. Emma is talking up a storm - she repeated everything a 100 times and it was pretty damn funny. She would also try to talk in complete sentences but the only thing that comes out is "blah, blee blah, blah blah blah"? Then she smiles really big and shows you whatever is in her hand or points to something and repeats. Dolly, dolly, dolly, dolly, dolly, shoe, shoe, shoe, etc.....It was a great weekend! We can't wait to do it again!

I will post pictures tomorrow - something was messed up with Picasa this morning so I couldn't download them.

Nat's Run Followed by Good Beer in Nashville

2008-04-30T14:49:00.006-04:00

As Chris and I were trying to find a good place to watch Natalie finish/run by to take some good picts Chris received a text from her. It was something like "Sick but finishing". We were worried.

A. that means she was not having a good run and there was not going to be a pr.
B. it could mean she would be in a bad mood when she finished.
C. we did not know if she was with Charlie and we didn't want her to be alone, not feeling well in the middle of a full marathon.
(not in that order)

As we waited for her to run in this gave me a chance to ask Chris these questions for about 15 minutes: "is that her"? "is that Charlie"? "is that her"? "is that him"? (tall guy in red shirt) HAA..ahaaa!!! Poor Chris.......when he meets Jason they will have a lot to talk about. ;)
Much to our surprise when Natalie finished she looked great! And she was in a good mood! Yeah!!! We were all happy! She stretched, we took some funny picts (again, Chris and Nats blog) then went home.

Let the beer start flowing.....................
We went home, got dressed and walked over to a local hang out of Chris and Jay's. 3 Crow Bar. There were lots of runners and Preston + wife met us. We hung out with them for a while and when they left the three of us proceeded to the bar. We got to meet some of Chris's friends and they were super nice. Chris proceeded to drink 100 beers while I had 5 or so and Nat had 6? Who knows - What I mostly remember is that Chris drank his weight in beer. Am I exaggerating? Maybe a little but it was hilarious to watch his face when he read the receipt. We also walked over to an art store where Jay purchased a beautiful painting for Chris. While we were walking to the art store (which is across the street from the bar) Natalie and I noticed a huge sign with a big hot dog and it said something about a wiener. We thought that was hilarious so we took pictures with it.

I think it was dark when we left 3 Crow. We went back to Chris and Jay's house to get ready for dinner. While we were at the house I decided that we needed some Vodka.............I made a horrible drink that Natalie and I actually drank. It consisted of warm juice and a large splash of Vodka......mmmmm......so tasty......I can't remember who thought we should do the airplane but I am almost 100% positive it was me. So Nat and I took turns being the airplane. We are pretty much a mess at this point - meaning we didn't care how we looked. After a lot of horrible dancing, talking and taking pictures and saving them to Jay's cell phone we went to dinner where things calmed down a lot. Food is always a good idea. And good food is even better. When we got home I think it took me all of 1.2 seconds to fall asleep once my head hit the pillow.

I had so much fun on Saturday even with the embarrassing video which is really not that embarrassing but I was d.r.u.n.k. So. Much. Fun!

Sunday we got up and I felt fine! We decided to go for a run - really it went like this: Natalie and Chris were going to go for a run so I tagged along and I did a run/walk while they ran 4 miles. Nat ran it in 30 minutes and I think Chris ran it in 33 minutes. They are both fast. It was so pretty outside and it was nice to be enjoying the weather before the nasty rain came in. After our run we ate lunch at the restaurant then Chris drove us to look at the naked statue that we ran past during the race and never noticed. Then we were on our way back to Atlanta.

I just want to thank Chris and Jay again for your hospitality. I can't wait to see you at Christmas!! Nat, thank you for inviting me on this trip - I hope we can do it again next year with Pookie and if Allison starts running 1/2's her too.

LOVE YOU BITCHES! XOXOXO
Stick

Race Day

2008-04-30T10:59:00.005-04:00

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!!!!!!!!! Oh my gosh, what is that? It's Natalie's alarm. It's 4:20 already? Nope. It's 4:10! Natalie was afraid her alarm would not go off so she set two. She got up and I turned my alarm off that was set for 4:20 as well in case Natalie's did not go off. Then I went back to sleep.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP.................!!!! What is that noise? Is that the house alarm? Did Natalie set the house alarm off? Oh no, the louder alarm is going to sound off at any minute......BEEP! BEEP......! Wait, it's still the same noise. What is going on? Stumble out of bed, run into the wall, open door and ask "Natalie! What is that Noise?! Is that the coffee machine? Can you make it stop? What is that"? Nat says - "I think it's the alarm in our room. Chris set that alarm in case mine did not go work".

O.M.G. I Pick up alarm and give it to Natalie while making the statement "I hate this house". I go back to bed for another 10 minutes then realize I need to get up. It's now 4:30.

Once I was up I was exhausted and not super chipper. I was still nervous about my race. I have never run a race by myself and I was not sure who I was going to turn to if I hit a wall. To Nat's credit, through all of my worrying she made me laugh the entire time and that was nice.

7:00 am the race starts. I am corral 19 so I don't start for another 45 minutes. I heard the gun go off and immediately hoped that nat, preston and charlie have a great run. I am not sure what time I started but I was ready. My only goal for this run was to beat 2:20:00 which was my last 1/2 time for ING Atl. I started out quicker than I normally do and found myself running with the 2:15 pace group. I was comforted by this because I knew I could keep up with them for a little bit and they seemed to keep me going. It was faster than I have been running for a long time but it felt good. I did not see a sign for mile 1 but noticed mile 3 because there were mats. Then I did not see a sign until mile 6 and I had to use the bathroom at this point but didn't want to lose the pace group. So I kept telling myself I would stop at the next set of port-a-potties. Well, we didn't get to the next set until mile 8 and I had to go. I jumped off and said my good buys to the 2:15ers. I was totally sad but told myself that I had run a really good 8 miles.

Thankfully there was not a long line and I was able to pee pretty quickly. I jumped back into the sea of runners and started again. This time I was running faster than I was before but I was in search of those 2:15ers!!! Where is that pace sign - I wasn't gone that long. I know I can find them. Where are they? Well, I never found them again and I walked through my water stops because I kept pushing myself to catch up with them. Next thing I know, I am splitting off from the Marathoners at mile Marker 11. Oh my gosh, it's mile 11 - this is fantastic. I am definitely feeling the run now and have to keep listening to the same song over and over because it is pushing me through every hill and keeping my mind positive. (I am blocked from you tube at work other wise I would post the video)

Now I am just intent on finishing. I keep pushing and my legs are getting tired. I must have listened to Matchbox 20 about 100 times. Mile marker 12.......I am getting closer! Mile marker 13 and I can see the left turn for the .1! There are a lot of people cheering and I push a little more - the finish is right around the corner. I was surprised though - I almost always have a sprint left in me but this time I did not look for it. I was still sad I could not find the 2:15 pace group and I was sure I failed myself so what was the point in sprinting? There was no way I did better than my last race. So, I kept running minus the sprint and finished. I was very happy to be done and very happy Natalie convinced me to run with my cell phone. I was able to call Chris so we could meet up. Chris had been tracking us on his IPhone - he said I was pretty consistent. You kept a 10 or so minute mile the entire time". I asked what my time was (convinced it was worse) and he said "You ran a 2:13:--; that's great". I did???? I was sooo excited! I shaved 7 minutes off of my last 1/2!

I told Chris I kept looking for the 2:15 pace group and never found them - he said it was because I passed them! All of my worries went away and I was instantly relaxed.

Nat's run to be continued................

The ladies of Nashville Continued.....

2008-04-30T09:54:00.002-04:00

Friday night we went to Chris and Jays restaurant German Town Cafe. We were also meeting Charlie, one of Nat's blogger/marathon friends. Charlie is from Virginia and he is super nice! He has a great sense of humor as well. He kept up with the three crazies all during dinner.

So, I just read Charlie's blog and he totally called me FISHSTICK(S)! I laughed out loud!!! haa.haaa!!! Charlie's awesome.

This was my favorite part on Friday - before we sat down for dinner Charlie, Natalie, Chris and I were at the bar enjoying a beverage and chatting. Out of no where this guy (Preston) comes up to Natalie and says "excuse me, but are you Natalie"? Chris and I look at each other with a little fear and sheer amazement. Fear because, Natalie has a following? This is going to go straight to her head. Amazement because, Natalie has a following? This is GREAT! Turns out Preston runs marathons and reads Nat's blog. He hung out with us for about 20 minutes then went back to his table. He's a very nice guy.

Dinner was FABULOUS!!! I highly recommend you go to German Town Cafe if you are in Nashville. The chef is incredible.

After dinner we went home, got ready and went to bed. Well, Chris and Jay were sleeping but not so much me or Nat or her entire family. Except Pookie. I am sure Pookie was sound asleep.
Carmella, Natalie's daughter, ended up throwing up that night at Meme's house. Meme is Nat's sister in law. Carmella was staying with Meme and Pat (meme's husband) while Beau was at Lala's (nats mom) house. Natalie got a call from someone and she sounded worried so I jumped up and said if you need to go home we can. Nat said no, its fine - there is nothing I can do. Carmella got sick but she is sleeping now. For the next however long it lasted Natalie kept receiving phone calls and she would tell them not to call her as she had a race the next morning and Carmella was sleeping. Then she would make a phone call to whoever and at the end of every phone call she would say "don't call me back, I have a race to run in the morning. Call Ryan" Then Ryan called and Natalie said "don't call me I have to get up in 3 hours". Then Nat called Ryan back and said "don't call me I have to get up soon" - then she proceeded to talk to Ryan while entering the room, then leaving the room, then entering, then leaving and again saying "don't call me I have to get up soon". click.

I felt bad for her because I knew she wanted to make sure Carmella was okay but she was also 4 hours away and Carmella was sleeping. I think Carmella sleeping gave her some comfort. At least I hoped it did. But it was hilarious listening to her tell everyone not to call her back.

Race Day to be continued.................

The ladies of Nashville

2008-04-29T12:47:00.002-04:00

Friday the 25th Nat and I set out for Nashville. I picked her up around 11:00 and I still needed coffee and gas. I was not having a great morning to begin with and I was nervous about my run and meeting Chris, who Nat has known since High School but has not seen in 15 years so I really didn't know much about him. Chris and his partner were nice enough to let us stay with them all weekend and I was a little nervous about this too. What if they thought I was annoying? Too this or too that? I would be stuck all weekend having to pretend. And you always want to be on your best behavior and not offend people when you first meet them, especially if they are letting you stay in their home. I am not a mean person but I don't have much of a filter either. Thankfully all of my worries turned out to be just that - Chris and Jay are hilarious and most gracious.

Anyway, Nat and I went to the gas station so I could fill up - she was telling me where to go from her house to the gas station because I couldn't get my barrings. As we were leaving the gas stating she continued to explain to me where to drive and I snapped at her but not because I was mad at her. I was completely on edge about the weekend so I would like to say I am sorry for snapping at you Nat.

Once I got my coffee that I didn't order..............stupid story......we got onto 75N and it turned out to be a really good drive. Nat talked most of the way but I was looking forward to that as I didn't have anything new to talk about. We got lost once we got into TN but only for a minute. The highway was totally confusing but we kept going in a circle and ended up finding downtown Nashville! We parked - which was a horrible experience - we kept circling and it was very confusing and packed with the extra 30,000 + people downtown. Anyway, we found a parking spot and it happened at a perfect time. Nat and I were quite hungry and getting grumpy.

We walked over to the building where we were supposed to pick up our packets and it was pretty crowded. Once we got our numbers I was going to look for a shirt because I thought I forgot to pack one but then I got even hungrier and my blood sugar was dropping and Nat said she was getting hungrier as well so we walked around looking for food instead. The first isle we found clumps of peanut butter something and those were pretty tasty. The second isle had something else with peanut butter but it was not that good. The third aisle had the best tasting pickles in the world. I could have eaten the whole jar which was really a tub. I didn't care - I was starving and they were delicious.

Nat sent Chris a text to tell him we were done and he was already on his way. As we were waiting outside I kept asking Nat if she thought "that was him". "Do you think that's him"? "Is that him"? "What about that guy"? "Is that him"? She had no idea so we proceed to wait outside. Nat took a picture of this man and his little dog that was dressed in pink......hhhmmm....yeah, his dog was dressed in a pink outfit. We thought it was hilarious so I leaned back while she secretly took a picture of it. After this we walked inside the expo to see if Chris was in there and with in 2 minutes he found us.

We walked through down town Nashville and went to some restaurant. It was good - I had a salmon Cesar salad and scarfed it down! After lunch we walked to my car and then went to Chris's house. His house is beautiful. I hope Nat got some picts.
All picts are on Nat and Chris's blogs. They too have hilarious re-caps of the weekend. This version is to be continued......

Team Hoyt

2008-04-28T11:24:00.002-04:00

So, I was talking to my co-worker this morning and he was telling me about his cousin who was going to compete in the Iowa Triathlon this summer. We were discussing how quickly his cousin wanted to finish and then ended up talking about this man who carried his son through triathlons but my co-worker could not remember his name. We googled for a minute and then found Team Hoyt. This is such an amazing story.

Dick and Rick Hoyt are a father-and-son team from Massachusetts who together compete in marathon races. And if they’re not in a marathon they are in a triathlon - a combination of 26.2 miles of running, 112 miles of bicycling, and 2.4 miles of swimming.

I highly suggest you check out the website. It is very inspiring.

I will post about the Best Nashville Trip ever a little later.

Five Oldies but Goodies in Athens!

2008-04-24T14:05:00.018-04:00

Here are the pictures of Athens Friday night.

This is at the beginning of the night and our first bar. The four-some:
Allison (sis) Paul (boyfriend) Sarah (best friend) Scott (Sarah's husband)

Here is Allison, Me & Paul at dinner

Here is a good shot of Allison and I

Here is Sarah, Scott and Me at the second bar.

Look at the love birds....... Still second bar

Here is the Grooms brother Lee (left) and their brother in law. We kept them out all night! They were good sports - especially to continue to hang out with us as you will see....

Here is a group of us at Boars Head - the bar where we met the Groom and his crew.

Here is Sarah and I - not sure what bar but its at 1:45 in the morning so it really doesn't matter...We both look so alert.......

This is Allison and Paul - I think they are either yelling (yahooo!) or laughing......and I am pretty sure I was next.......

I like to be the best at the Yahoooo's! Do you see brother in law looking at me like I am a crazy? HA!!

This is Paul riding in the back of Scott's truck the next morning. It was raining (more like spitting). Paul decided to start to unbutton his shirt...........

And here Paul is riding around in the back of the truck with his shirt flapping in the wind. Unfortunately we don't have a picture with him holding his head and his arms back. It was hilarious!

Thanks again for the good memories.

Charcoal...........

2008-04-24T13:37:00.002-04:00

I went to art class again last night and LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!! We started drawing with charcoal. A 2B Crayon to be exact. I finally understood what the instructor meant by positive light and negative light - well, I grasped what he was saying with regard to shadow. Only 4 people showed last night so it was pretty cool. It was a much more relaxed class. It also helped to know that other students were kind of in the same situation as I am with some of the drawing techniques so I felt much more at ease.

I love charcoal because it's messy and you don't have to be so exact like when using the pencil. I left with black fingers and I need to cut my nails (which I am not super happy about) but it will be easier to hold the charcoal. I also learned that there are two kinds of grades. H & B : H deals with sharpness and B deals with heaviness of the lead. Do I have this backwards? Oh well, this is what I remember. Now I am supposed to purchase some sort of Fastener spray so my charcoal drawings don't smudge all over the place. I am also going to get one of those erasers that are mushy. You know, you can twist them, break them apart and keep using them until they are dirty.

So, it was a good night with being art. I would also like to say Thank you to Lala for her advise. It was very helpful.

Love ya! Stick.

Exercise

2008-04-23T12:14:00.002-04:00

Okay, now I have heard or read about STREAKING three times this week. I just told Jason we need to start streaking. If you are not familiar with streaking its 30 minutes of exercise each day and it can be running, lifting weights, walking, ab work out........any type of exercise every day for 30 minutes. I figure if you have someone to do it with you then you can stay motivated. And now that I have put it out there for the world to read, I think this will motivate me as well. Then again I also like to commit to things without thinking them through and once I am in it I think.....oh crap. So, we will see what happens but I am going to try!

You can also see Pam and Nat's blogs to learn more.

Hoochies!

2008-04-22T13:30:00.003-04:00

I joined the Chattahoochee Road Runners Club in Marietta a few months ago. The club supports all people from shorter distance walkers/runners to long distance runners. Its a fun group with a lot of very nice people. The third Monday of every month there is a meeting at the Mellow Mushroom off of Windy Hill. Last night we got to listen to and meet Ultramarathoner Scott Ludwig. Scott has run and finished 136 marathons, 686 races and run over 110,000 miles. Better yet, he has also completed the Western States 100 Miler (trail running) and the 135 mile Badwater Ultramarathon from Death Valley to Mount Whitney. (which is only held in July) If you have a chance definitely check out the Badwater web site. This race is amazing. After listening to Scott speak about Badwater it made you want to go out and run 100 miles! Also, If you are interested he founded the Darkside Running Club dedicated to ultramarathon runners.

The farthest I have fun so far is 13.1 miles. I am going to run my 5th 1/2 this weekend:
1. Big Sur 1/2 in Monetery Bay (oct. 2005)
2. Atlanta Thanksgiving 1/2 (nov. 2005)
3. ING Atlanta 1/2 (mar. 2007)
4. ING Atlanta 1/2 (mar. 2008)
5. will be the Nashville 1/2 (apr. 2008)

I have never had the urge to run more than a 1/2 marathon until last night. I am still pretty keen on not running a full marathon but I would like to see if I can run 15 miles. So, my goal for this summer is to complete 15 miles and I guess I will see how I feel after that.

Weekend Warrior

2008-04-21T16:41:00.008-04:00

So, my sister Allison and her boyfriend Paul came into town this weekend. They flew in Thursday night and my parents drove down to our house for dinner. We ate, drank some wine and everyone talked over each other. It was a fun time. Friday morning I got to work late because my sister and I decided we needed to drink some coffee and chat. Jason was already at work and Paul was still sleeping. That afternoon Paul and Allison took me to lunch at Atl Bread Co. We were laughing about how Allison and Paul were not going to be sober at all in Athens. Allison said "oh, we are not going to drink that much because we have the wedding Saturday afternoon and Sarah has to get up Sat morning so she can get back to ATL". Paul and I died laughing and said no way are Allison and Sarah going to hang out and stay sober.......We were right.

I should say they were not alone. Friday night I had planned on going to a movie with my friend Leigh while Jason and his man friends were going to the Braves Game. This is Leigh mid dance move at our house one night. She loves to get down.....

After lunch Allison said she would like me to go to Athens with them and Paul said I should go too. I went back and forth with my decision, called Jason to see what he thought then finally decided on joining Allison, Paul, Sarah and her husband Scott for a crazy night in Athens. I was stupid enough to think I would also be getting up early Sat morning to make it back to Alpharetta in time to hang out with my other friend Carren. Carren said I was not going to make
but I was like, oh I will. don't worry about it.

I should be smarter than this by now but I'm not. So I drive up to Athens Friday night to meet the crew for dinner and we dine at Harry Bissets - it was good with exception to Allisons Ashtray filled black-eyed peas. Those were the most disgusting things ever. I won't go into why but they were. There was not a lot of drinking at dinner so everyone was still pretty calm. We went to some bar that I cannot remember the name of but I remember partying in it a long time ago. I order a Guinness and a water. Very adult of me, I know. As I am about 1/2 way through my Guinness I see this row of cups on the bar. I count: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Hmmmm, there are 5 of us. This can't be right, it's our first bar. I ask Scott (Sarah's husband), "What are those"? "Who is going to drink those"? With a huge grin on his face he says "Jagger bombs and we are".........Crap.

We continue with our night going to one more bar before we meet up with the Groom to be, Eric. My family lived next door to Eric and his from the time I was 2 until we all went to college. The age range of kids for both family's are middle 40's down to 29 so there are a lot of good memories. When we got to Boars Head (I think that was the name of the bar) everyone was there - Groom, all grooms men and their dates, father of the bride and all men in the family on the grooms side. There was a bridesmaid there who was escorted out by the father of the bride - she just had a little too much fun; we have all been there. And I will say it was reported that she looked amazing the next day. Rock on sister!

The rest of the night is kind of a blur - there was a lot of laughing, a lot of yelling (as in yahoooo!) and lots of candid shots! I fell a time or two but it was because of this hidden step right in front of the bathroom. It was not my fault. Unless you knew it was there it came out of no where! Anyway, it was a great night and Saturday when I woke up I remembered why I don't hang out with Sarah, Allison, Paul and Scott when Allison is home.........they are crazy! But I do want to thank them for everything and all of the fun! Paul and Scott are hilarious. I can't wait to post the picts of the night and the morning after. I should also thank Jason for taking my phone call at 2:45 in the morning. Oh yeah, and the ones at 2:46, 2:47 and 2:48.....what can I say, I love my husband.

Thanks again for a fun weekend! Love you and miss you!

Good or Really Good

2008-04-17T11:16:00.003-04:00

I went to my second drawing class last night. I am officially discouraged but I will keep trying hard and see it through. I know I am not the worst artist in the world but I am not where I think I should be. For me this is not good. (The whole Libra/Balance thing comes into play here) While I am also not the most competitive person in the world, I secretly want to be really good at everything I try. Therefore I sort of compete in Everything. On the flip side I am not a sore loser! I can easily move on and laugh at myself. I think its how most people work. Example: I want to feel good about my body so I run but at the same time I don't want to kill myself over it so I will settle for accepting or trying to accept what I look like. But, when I feel my attempts have a sub-average outcome I completely fall apart inside. I feel like I have failed myself.

I also know that I need to keep trying and things take time. I have no issues with the try, try & try again method. Since I was a kid I have tried, tried and tried again with reading, math, science, social studies.....shall I go on? I guess life is a try, try & try again deal so I am 150% positive I am not alone. I understand I will not be the best at everything and I don't expect to be but I want to be good. Really good.

Jason says I am too hard on myself but I feel that if you are okay with just being okay then you are not trying hard enough. Right? This rule does not apply to everything but almost everything. Who knows. My brain hurts now and I am sure yours does too. I torture myself like this on a regular basis. I know I am not alone either - I have read other blogs............

Sorry, I will get back to art class. I bet you thought this would never happen......Anyway, as I entered art class last night I was very happy with myself because I found time to practice Tuesday night. I practiced drawing a glass water picture and a wooden pedestal. I practiced seeing how the light hit the objects and I tried to relax and just draw. So my confidence is up. We start class and our instructor is talking about Perspective. He mentioned some paintings and 1 point perspective. We start drawing and I find myself getting antsy because my brain can't quite slow down. I really don't even think my brain can wrap itself around that concept but whatever. The instructor walks around the room and looks at what people are doing - he then asks "did anyone practice"? Almost everyone says yes or nods. He holds up one guys practice page.................while it is no glass picture, it is a pair of running shoes with legs crossed and it looked pretty difficult to draw. What's worse is you can tell exactly what it is! Oh this guy is good and yes, I am very excited for him.

Next the instructor walks over to this lady and he holds up her rendition of an African musical instrument with great line drawing, shadow, light, etc. She is really good too! Then for some reason I feel the need to look around the room (this is like if you were on a bridge that is 500,000 feet off of the ground and someone says "don't look down" but you do anyway). Same outcome. Discouragement sets in instantly. This is where I am with drawing. I know it will take some time and I am still enjoying it but now I am enjoying it because its a challenge - relaxing has gone out the window.

Sally (Lala) may be on to something - clay. I will try clay in the fall. I am not going to give up on art. I will keep trying different things. If I can climb rocks in Vedauwoo, I can be art.

Just so people don't get the wrong idea about my feelings on my self-worth I know I am good at my job and I know there is always room to improve but that makes me happy because I know I will continue to learn new skills and my brain will continue to think. I am good at running and I could be better if I really wanted to - it comes naturally to me. I am good at taking care of people and I have a big heart. I know I am a good person.

Emory Continuning Education

2008-04-10T12:20:00.003-04:00

I started my art class last night and everyone in my class learned a few things about me...........Here is the play by play (will post picts later)
I left work and because it is spring break in my area traffic was a lot lighter than usual so I was at the campus an hour early. I decided to go to Starbucks and call Jason. Jason made Tuna Casserole while I was in class.........delicious! Anyway, I went to class and there was only 1 other person there so we were chatting and it turns out he is very artistic and wanted to take this class for fun. He works with computers and this class is a way he can get away from all of that. Then another gentleman entered - he is an attorney who is going to retire and is also taking this class for fun. I can't wait to start - the instructor enters in and out of the room several times. He seems pretty nice but he has not said anything yet.
Some time goes by and other students trickle in - only 1/2 of the class attends this week and two people are late because of traffic or they got lost. The instructor asked everyone to introduce themselves, explain what we do for a living and if we have any art background. Only two people had art experience so I thought to myself this is not so intimidating.

The instructor starts instructing and places a few objects on the table - a mug and a small tea pot or something like that. We are to follow the LINES of one of the objects very slowly with our eyes. Then do it again. We are now supposed to follow the lines and draw what we see (our pencils moving at the same speed of our eyes). This does not seem hard but it is. I can't seem to slow down enough to get it right. What am I doing wrong? Slow down I keep telling myself and finally I get to a speed (which is still not slow enough) but it works for the time being.

The instructor goes around looking at each persons drawing - although you really can't call it a drawing at this point but I digress. We are each doing well. I am very happy with this because this means I am doing it correctly. This is very important because I want to do everything CORRECTLY. I am a task oriented person and a very organized one at that. We move onto lighting. He places a larger more detailed teapot on the table - We are supposed to continue drawing these objects and follow the lines but this time we are supposed to outline where the light hits the object. "Don't draw too small" the instructor says. He said people tend to feel self-conscience when they are doing something new and in the instance of art they start to draw small in case they make a mistake or is looks wrong. He said you need to relax, just follow the lines and use your entire page.

As we are drawing these objects I feel myself get more and more uptight and stressed out - I look around and other people are getting so much more out of these little objects than I am. Does this mean I am so closed off to things and can't get my mind to think outside of the box? Do I only see the surface? Surely I can be an out of the box thinker, I can accept things that are not traditional. OR CAN'T I? UH! I am filled with panic that I am not as open minded as I thought I was and just as I start to lose sight that this is an art class and supposed to be fun, the instructor comes around and says to me (in front of everyone) "YOU NEED TO RELAX! You are showing everyone through your lines you don't know what you are doing". He might as well have been yelling this through a megaphone as far as I was concerned. He was not being mean at all but it was completely humiliating. Then he through out "you are never going to get it right. there is no such thing as getting it right in art so you need to relax or get through what ever other issues you have." Laugh, Laugh......

I am mortified and want to hide under the table but I laugh with him to show I am a good sport and EVERYONE can tell how uncomfortable I am. I never knew art could be so stressful. Very quickly, I took what he said and do my best to apply it to what I am doing at that moment. So, I start a fresh page, start drawing the table scene again and this time keep in mind to "Be Relaxed" Don't worry about messing it up. And what happens? The instructor walks by and says "that is much better"! and goes on to say some other things but I forget that part because all I needed at that point was something positive. I am excited to go back and I am excited to keep trying until I feel I have given it everything I have. I like the instructor very much and I have to keep in mind this is a completely new world I dove into but it will be a lot of fun. And apparently emotional but that's cool. I feel everyone should try something completely foreign from their own comfort zone.

Nashville

2008-04-09T11:49:00.003-04:00

So, at the end of the month I am going to run the Nashville 1/2 marathon http://www.cmmarathon.com/home.html with some friends. I am driving to Nashville with Nat and we are going to meet my friend Stacey. Sarah is not going because Wes's Twilight bike race is the same night. GOOD LUCK WES!! Below is my rendition of Wes. What a good looking biker. You know, the more I think about it those art classes won't be challenging at all.......

All of the hotels near the start seemed to be booked so we are (thankfully) staying with Nat's friend who she has known for years. I say thankfully because this race was not the cheapest but it includes a concert, medal, t-shirt and a beer?

I am hoping to run at 2:20 or less (secretly less but we will see) - the course doesn't look too hilly. At least not any hillier than downtown ATL. Wish me luck!

After my art class tonight I will post what I learned. Crosshatching anyone?

Pollen..........

2008-04-09T11:08:00.004-04:00

O.M.G. I have never been affected by Pollen before but after I ran yesterday it about took me out. First Jason got hit with it the other day and while he was suffering I felt bad for him but I was also thinking oh how lucky am I; Pollen doesn't bother me......

That is not the case any more. The pollen about took me out last night and this morning. Damn the sucky yellow snow. Spring in GA is beautiful and I love flowers but now I am re-thinking those pretty peace makers and appreciating the rain more and more.

I found a couple of tips on line to keep your house as pollen free as you can get it (courtesy of UGA horticulture program).

1. turning on a humidifier will help make the particulates fall out of the air and give you cleaner air inside your home
2. air filters on heating and cooling systems can help - make sure you air filters are clean

It also said by the end of April the worst of the pollen should be over because Trees won't be shedding any more. Oak, Pine & Birch are the culprits for now. Good luck breathing people!

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to deal with the pollen? Are there good drugs to take?

ART

2008-04-01T11:31:00.007-04:00

I signed up for a Beginning Drawing class at Emory Continuing Ed and it starts next week! Its every Wednesday for two months so it does conflict with my running on Wed nights but that's okay I will just switch running to Tuesday or Thursday nights. The description for this class states:

Take a methodical approach to traditional drawing techniques under personal guidance of this experienced instructor as your work becomes a direct channel for your own self-expression. So, I am going to learn how to self-express! I feel I already know how to self-express but now not only will I be able to self-express through talking but I will be able to draw it too! Haaa..ahaa!! Jason is so lucky to have a wife that is such a diverse self-expresser......

Instructor: Guy Robinson; Supply List: a medium-sized pad of newsprint paper, a few sheets of grey paper and black paper, an ebony pencil, both black and white 2-B conte crayons.

After completing this course I should be able to do the following:

Experience the basic techniques and methods necessary to confidently continue with more advanced classes
Develop your work on your own and have, in general, a greater ability to observe and analyze visually - Jason feels I should be able to draw the cats; we discussed drawing *Littleboy with an eye patch.
Have a great deal of fun pursuing your artistic skills

This is what will be covered in the class:

Line drawing
Light and shadow
Cross hatching - I learned I will be shadowing with this technique
A brief introduction to drawing human form
Perspective - This should be interesting since my perspective on everything is usually very odd..........This is where my mom would insert "Jennifer, you are just creative"
Composition

*Littleboy - he is our large main coon kitty.........."oh littleboy" He's so sweet but afraid of everything. Wouldn't he be so handsome with an eye patch?! "Aaaaarr matey, purrr, kitty, purrrr"

Results

2008-03-31T16:36:00.002-04:00

I love the ING 1/2. It's my favorite race!! I wanted to make 2:20 and my final time was 2:20:24. So I am happy - it's not the fastest but it is a good pace and I don't feel like I am going to die at the end. Natalie ran 3:38 for the full and Sarah ran 1:50 for the 1/2. They are so fast!! They make me want to run faster and I could - so far my best 1/2 time is 1:56 at Big Sur in Monterey Bay. That run was awesome - its along the ocean.........oooohhhh.......pretty.......

Anyway, they make me want to do better but then I think about having to change my diet, losing the weight and then I say no thanks. I will try for a 9 minute mile instead. That would be faster but not killing myself. That is a good goal. I don't have pictures but those will be posted tomorrow. You can also check out Nat's blog - she should post some picts today/tomorrow.

Oh yeah, good luck with the interview tomorrow Nat! I will write more later - I am going to purchase some curtains for the kitchen and finish painting the inside of my house. We have a busy week. :)

S.I.N.U.S........................

2008-03-28T11:55:00.004-04:00

Gimme an S!

S....

Gimme an I!

I....

Gimme an N!

N....

Gimme a U!

U....

Gimme an S!

S....

What's that spell??? "SINUS"!

Yep, I have a sinus cold. A big ol' stupid, stupid sinus cold and I am supposed to run my 1/2 marathon this weekend. GA ING 1/2. I have been waiting for this run for months and I have been very good about running and enjoying it. Not overdoing it, not loathing the practice runs but enjoying every minute of it!!! AND now I am sick! I am so mad I could kick the dog if I had one. Uh.

My head feels like it is going to explode, my jaw is sore and I forgot all of my medicine at home. Mucinex and something else that Jason swears by. I always forget the name but I guess it is working. I don't feel as bad as I could. I just checked the weather report too and it is now saying no rain for Sunday but just cold!! That is good news!

We are going to the Race Packet Pick Up tomorrow. My bib number is 19086 and I think my name will say Fishstick! Sarah is in the 1300's and Nat is in the 700's. Good luck to Nat on a PR!

Wish us luck!

It's Time To Retire

2008-03-19T10:30:00.003-04:00

I wear clothes until they can be worn no more. Usually I wear them until they are so faded you can not tell what the original color was, until they have lost their stretch, or they just look bad. But yesterday was an all time low............or should I say and all time record......

Yesterday I wore cute black pants a nice chocolate brown short sleeve top and my black sweater/cardigan that I can wear over anything that goes with black - it's cold in my office and since this sweater/cardigan is a quarter sleeve it's perfect. Anyway, I was in the bathroom and as I was raising my arms to move my hair before I washed my hands what do you think I found?

I found some nice sized wholes in the elbows of my sleeves!!!! I literally wore through the sweater/cardigan. Looks like it's time to retire the old clothes and get some new ones......Jason suggested I get a few new items......

Grammar and a Tornado

2008-03-17T14:50:00.009-04:00

I like to go back and read some of my posts to make sure I don't have a ton of misspelled words because I am a horrible speller............turns out I should also be looking for grammar errors, run-ons and completely incorrect sentences! I don't even know if that sentence makes sense!

I was actually always an A/B student in English all through college. That is scary. So, I would like to apologize in advance for the horrible grammar in my blog. I have this image of my husband and Natalie cringing as they read the paragraphs of nonsense.........I am not even going to mention what my dad would be thinking. I would be getting a grammar course over the phone.

Tornado anyone?

We were just finishing up eating and getting ready to watch the second bball game when we noticed the yucky weather. At first it was raining and lightening which is no big deal. Then we noticed it was raining sideways and it looked like the wind was picking up.....everyone was just like oh it's a thunder-storm. Then pieces of siding from a building went flying by and we knew this was a little bigger than a just thunderstorm and everyone rushed toward the bball court.

The people inside and the bball players did not know what was going on yet. It didn't take long though - Once the bball players stopped playing and stared up at the ceiling the crowd got the hint. Part of the ceiling was flying through the air and the score board was bouncing up and down. We heard a window break and there was a universal gasp. Dome employees had everyone get into the gym area near the court and they did not let us leave until a second tornado whipped through the area and the weather announcement said nothing else was going to happen (at least in our area).

Jason and I walked around downtown for a few minutes looking at all of the damage. It was very strange - it felt like we were in a movie. There was a ton of damage and you could literally see the path of the tornado. I have never seen anything like that before and hopefully I will not see it again.

Here is a picture I took with my camera phone. You can't really tell but the front of this building was very badly damaged. There is a restaurant under the sign and the entire front wall is gone.

Happy ST. Patrick's Day!!!!

Sparkly Things Make Me Smile

2008-03-13T11:40:00.006-04:00

So, this morning I made an appointment with our jeweler - he is so much fun! I rang the bell and they let me in. Matt (the jeweler) greeted me with a smile and we walked into the "lab" area...It's so much fun in that "lab". That is where they make the jewelry and hold the finished products. Anyway, we went into the room where they meet with clients and there are the most beautiful cases filled with rings and necklaces. There was a guy in the room changing the cases and sitting on the table next to him was a tray with these huge rings.
Matt said "Try them on while I drop your rings off to get cleaned" With eyes as big as saucers I say "OKAY"! He starts to laugh because I am staring at them and as he walks out the door he casually says "yeah, those rings are worth $3 - $4 million dollars".........and the door closes. Gulp.

They were the most beautiful rings I have ever seen - I never thought I would be the type of person to really enjoy the beauty of diamonds. Turns out I do.

What a fun morning people!

Defeasance or Yield Maintenance?

2008-03-12T14:15:00.003-04:00

So, this is what I am working on today....................Defeasance or Yield Maintenance.

Defeasance is the process of changing the collateral of a loan from real estate to bonds backed by the government of the United States. In the process, the loan is assumed by a new entity (Successor Borrower). Defeasance is better for the lender than yeield maintenance in that it addresses the issue of duration.

Yield Maintenance is a calculation that protects the lender against a Delcine in interest rates. In the event of a decline in rates, the borrower would likely want to prepay the existing loan in order to refinance at a lower rate.

Defeasance does not change anything about the cash inflow to the lender's account. Defeasance is more expensive for the borrower as well. Nothing is free in Real Estate and Cheap is a realitive term.

I am supposed to write up some information on both of these terms. Mainly explaining Defeasance - so far I have 3 pages of information. It's a lot to take in.

Also - I am reviewing Cap Rates - the equation: = Pro Forma NOI/Actual Purchase Price

= $1,820,000/$30,000,000 = 6.07% Cap Rate

A lower cap rate is good because that means the risk is not that high - the higher the cap rate, the greater the risk. Look at the Bonds Chart below - ohhhh.......charts..........It's small isn't it? It gets bigger if you click on it.

Girls Night

2008-03-12T10:31:00.003-04:00

So, last night I met Sarah and Natalie for dinner and drinks at Ceviche in Historic Roswell. They are so much fun - they truly don't care about anything else when they are together and it is hilarious. I had a pomegranate margarita, Nat had a frozen margarita and Sarah had the mojito with rum. I loved mine and since they ordered two I can only assume they loved theirs as well. I ordered another one as well but did not finish it - I always forget I only like to drink one margarita because they always end up getting too sweet. Anyway, we moved onto another bar and I had my beloved Guinness..........We laughed about old stories of when we were little, talked a little bit about family, Sally's new hair cut that she loved but will hate today, exercising and I think that was about it. Natalie did tell us some funny stories about her kids - those are always entertaining.

During one of our conversations I made the comment about one of Nat's friends Tara and her blog - "what's up with Tara not keeping up her blog" or something to that affect. And Natalie said "what's up with you not posting on peace of mind body and soul.................."! "Ah"! She found me out. ;) So, I am going to try harder to post more. No matter how boring my life is. I felt like if I didn't have anything going on then I should not post but no more! I am going to post at least once a week!

As I am writing I can hear our Production Manager giving another broker my contact information. It looks like I am about to start working with someone new. I hope he is going to be nice. Most people in my industry are pretty arrogant and real ass holes. It will be nice to work though - it's been pretty slow this year because of the market. Speaking of the market, I just paid $3.18/gal for gas! Jason said it was going to go up. I feel bad for those with SUV's........ChaChing! Okay, so I just looked up ChaChing to make sure I spelled it correctly and this is what I found:

ChaChing - slang for money
Cha-Ching - slang for "I just bitch slapped that ho, and got my 4 G's. "Cha-Ching"!

haa..ahaaa!!!!!! I love slang.
Peace out.

Sunday, Sunday.......lalaaa....la.la..la..la.la.....laaa

2008-02-10T09:42:00.000-05:00

It's a nice quiet Sunday at the Weimer-Taylor house. Jason just got done making pancakes and while I am reading other blogs and writing my own, he is reading the paper. We were supposed to go to church this morning but we didn't make it. I did not feel well last night and the last thing I requested is that we play it (church) by ear in the morning. I was tired this morning but I'm not sure why - we didn't go to bed late and we did not have anyone over last night. Anyway, I got in the shower and by the time I was done Jason was awake and he said "are we going to church"? "I would have gotten up if I knew we were going". For some reason I feel people should be reading my mind and know what I am thinking by my moves but this does not happen and as usual, I forget that. a lot.
So, we decided we did not have enough time to go and we will attend next week. I feel kind of bad though - I did not even get up to go running yesterday morning. I was lazy all weekend! What is my problem? Oh well - I will start fresh on Monday.
i have some more random thoughts this morning. 1. I wish I was a morning person but I am not. I will get up if I know other people are expecting me or there is just something I have to do but other than that..........I won't move. I hate that. I can so easily talk myself out of getting up early. I always think, I will get up early when we have kids or when I am older. I am 31. I should be in a groove by now. 2. I am going to my mother in laws house today to make some curtains for our kitchen! I can't wait - she is so good at sewing. Jason said I could purchase a curtain rod today if we finish.....yea hooo!!! I am finally getting curtains in the kitchen. Slowly but surely our house will come together. 3. I went to the Opera with my mom on Friday. It was so much fun - we saw Cold Sassy Tree at the Cobb Enerty Center for performing arts. http://www.cobbenergycentre.com/. Cold Sassy Tree is a book - a best seller that is based on a town in GA now know as Covington. This was not my favorite Opera but the orchestra was sooooo good. That is always my favorite part. I am going to start volunteering there on Sundays (as long as they accept my application). It's such a great way to see some shows for free!! Sure, I will have to wear a uniform but who cares - I get to see the arts which is something I absolutely love.

Good-By 2007

2008-01-30T15:51:00.000-05:00

December and January have been a little tough. I am hoping February brings a lot more sunshine and clearer thoughts. I started training for the ING 1/2 marathon last week. My schedule is below and I hope I am able to stay focused. I would like to run it in 2:10 - about a 10 minute mile; enough to feel good about my time but not enough to kill myself and completely change all of my regular habits. I joined a new running club www.crrclub.org and I am back on track with a regular running schedule.

Goal Weeks Total Mileage
1/28 - 20
2/24 - 24
2/11 - 23
2/18 - 27
2/25 - 24
3/10 - 21
3/17 - 15
3/24 - 10
3/30 - ING 1/2 !!!!

I made some other Goals for 2008 and hope I can keep at least 1/2 of them. I won't bore you with my work goals as those change throughout the year. But with my personal life I would like to volunteer at least two times in 2008 to help other people (I know some of you are saying, two times? what is that? I do that in a week). Well, you are better than I am - last year I helped with Habitat for Humanity once and I would like to add on each year.
With regard to my marriage I am going to try to have more patients, continue to work on communication, try to say more positive things and continue to work on thinking more positively.
With regard to our house I would like to finish painting the entire inside, organize all kitchen cabinets and tackle some of the other rooms. We would also like to start a family sometime this year but that goal will be kept a secret until we are ready to share.

Good luck keeping your goals for 2008!

Moving On

2008-01-18T11:53:00.001-05:00

It's been quite some time since the last blog but I have not wanted to write about our Miscarriage. We have been dealing with it for a while and I just want to get past it. I had D & C Surgery and all went well. The pre-surgery cocktail they give you is fantastic! Although I cried again as soon as I couldn't feel anything and then I was out. The only thing I remember is a tube being placed in my nose with cold, fresh, clean oxygen..............that was quite nice.

I had my two week post surgery check-up and that went well. The Dr. said we should not get pregnant until I have had two periods because every time you get pregnant you have a 15 to 20 percent chance to miscarry and if we don't wait the chance is grater. I am not mentally prepared to go through this again. It just sucks. Everyone has been so helpful and comforting and we truly appreciate it. Our friends and family have given us shoulders to cry on and space when we needed it. We couldn't be more lucky to have so many great people in our lives.

I am moving on as best as I can. I ran for the first time last Saturday at the river and this turned out to be very emotional. I was going to run three miles as I had not run in a few weeks and i like to start out slowly. I started out relaxed, listening to my music and enjoying the run. About 1/2 way into mile 1 A Cold Play song came on and I started to cry. Not sobbing like when I finished, but I was overwhelmed with sadness. Once I got myself together and came up on mile two I hit an incline where it was sun, sun, sunny and I felt great again. I picked up a little speed, basked in the sun and happy thoughts were all I had. I finished the run and felt great. I started to stretch and people watch as I usually do and noticed all of these families. Again, I was overwhelmed with emotion - not the kind you can keep in until you get home but the kind where I could not control myself and I was just crying. I cried all the way to my car, with red eyes and a runny nose. I had so many tears I almost ran into a car...........I ended up crying all of the way to Walmart (which is about a 15 minute drive). Once I talked to Jason I felt better but was a little embarrassed. I hope that does not happen again - the sadness I can handle but the sudden outburst is a little much.

As for this week - everything is going well and I am feeling much better. I am starting to feel "normal" again. Jason and I are going to finish painting the kitchen and 1/2 bath and we have dinner Friday and Sat with friends! I am looking forward to a great weekend.

Waiting

2007-12-19T15:17:00.000-05:00

I went to the Dr. today and they confirmed we were pregnant with twins. That would have been so great but there will be plenty of more chances. I had another sonogram and the one sac they are trying to determine if it is good or bad grew from Friday the 14th but still no heart beat.
Instead of making a rash decision and go straight into surgery the Dr. is going to have me get one more sonogram Wednesday afternoon (the 27th) so they can make a confident decision.

I am sad but not as much as yesterday - i think my hormones are a little out of whack too. My body still says I am pregnant and technically I am but it does not look good. My mind is a little tired as well - if this pregnancy turns out to be okay does this set the precedence for the pregnancy? Will it be this difficult? I guess I should not start asking questions just yet - we don't even know what direction we are going in. So, if (which the Dr. is still betting the pregnancy is not good) this sac is bad then i will have surgery on Thursday or Friday of next week. At least I will get to heal during the New Year holiday and be rested for work. Yippee for me! (I am allowed to wallow in self pity for 1 second)

Better Days

2007-12-18T15:43:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we received a call from the actual Dr. and not Assistant Pat which never means good news. Turns out she did not have cheery news to spread. We lost the pregnancy. We are very sad and know that it is a good thing my body aborted something it was not supposed to have and I know we will be able to have kids in the future but that does not change the fact that we are sad. Being sad makes you tired - I did not want to get out of bed today to go see the Dr. either.
We got to the Dr. office this morning and could tell they were preparing us for bad news. We sat outside the Doctor's office while she prepared her notes with the nurse then called us in. She showed us there were definitely 2 sacs and 1 is definitely not good. They are 99.99% sure the other one is bad too but I have to go get another sonogram tomorrow AM so we can be 100% sure before I make an appointment for surgery.
I have to be put to sleep and I am scared. I have never been scared for surgery before or really getting anything like this done. Sure, I get nervous but not scared. I have never been put under before and I do not react to medication well. I have a very sensitive system so I don't take pain medication or even cold medication for that matter. I am an Advil person or it will go away on it's own.
I know it will be okay and I have a very good Dr. but I am just dreading this. The surgery will only take about 30 minutes and then Jason will drive me home and I will sleep. We are not sure when the surgery will be but hopefully it will be by the end of this week or right after x-mas.

What a Week it is going to be

2007-12-10T10:22:00.000-05:00

This is the start of a fantastic week! Tonight we are going to finish up Christmas shopping, sending out Christmas cards and clean some bathrooms. Tomorrow I am going to freak out about getting things ready for a party we are going to have on Saturday. Wednesday I am going to our work (girls secret Santa gift exchange) at our office managers house. She is such a great party host and sooooo creative. Jason will be going to the hockey game with his brother Adam and some of Adams clients and Allison and Paul are coming home. Thursday we are going to wake up early and go to Kennesaw College to watch my most awesome and smart husband graduate with his Masters at 10:00 am. Then it's off to lunch to celebrate some more!

Friday I am going to be freaking out again because the party is the next day - I will be cooking, running around and trying to hang out with my sister and her boyfriend before they go out with her friends. Crap, I need an outfit for Saturday so I guess I will do that too. Saturday I will wake up and run around again cleaning up last minute stuff and then try to be a most cordial host for the big graduation party at 4:00 until whenever. Although my whenever may be a little earlier than most as I get tired pretty easily these days. I don't think that will last too much longer though :)

Yea! What a Fantastic Week!

Feeling A Little Better

2007-12-07T09:53:00.000-05:00

Good news. I talked to Pat this morning and she gave me some good news. My blood level is 7237. She said I am trucking a long. The sonogram nurse scared me the other day by telling us that cramping is not good at all and my light bleeding is not good either. Well, Pat said that cramping for your first pregnancy is very normal and almost everyone has it because the uterus has not been stretched before. She also said that very light bleeding is okay but we will monitor it so I am in good shape for now. Jason and I have another sonogram appointment Friday the 14th so I think we will be able to relax more once we get to that. Hopefully I am just not as far along as we thought. :)
I am having dinner with some girlfriends tonight and it will suck not being able to tell them but I would rather wait. Jason has the day off today and for the next few Fridays! Lucky dog.......
I think he is going to check out a kitty door for our door to the third bedroom. It would be awesome if we can get it installed this weekend. How nice would it be to not have to look at that litter box? I'll tell you - super freakin nice.

Now for the most exciting news of the month................................
Jason is graduating with his Masters in Writing Thursday December 13th at 10:00 am. I am so proud of him and he is so excited. My family will be there and his mom and Andy will be there as well. Jason has worked so hard (5 years) to get where he is. He started his Masters Program, got married, purchased a house, became a dad and now he is graduating! A lot has happened in those 5 years. Jason. You're the bomb.com................haa.ahaa!! I love you!

Fat Face

Worried

2007-12-05T11:53:00.000-05:00

Well, today we had our first ultrasound of the baby. They couldn't really tell us anything so we are waiting. again. until tomorrow.
The nurse found two sacs. She thinks 1 might be blood or a sac that will eventually go away and she thinks the other could be the baby although it was really small so we have to go back next week for another look. They had to take more blood to make sure my blood count is moving up and we will find that out tomorrow. If it goes down that will not be good so I am worried. I would cry if I were not at work. Jason assured me that everything will work out even if it is not this time. Jason said he will be really sad if we don't get good news but we will be okay even if it takes 100 times. He is being very supportive and strong. I did not expect that support so soon. It is very nice and very comforting. I honestly thought he would clam up and I would be on my own until he came around. It makes me feel better knowing what he is thinking too. Jason if you are reading this - thank you for your support and I love you. I knew when I married Jason it was the best thing I would ever do. I am reminded a lot that it was.

Fat Face.

My Siblings

2007-11-30T11:39:00.001-05:00

Here is a picture of me, Jason and the New Aunt and Uncle to be. My sister Allison and brother Peter. I will have to look for pictures of Paul, Allison's life partner and Jason's brother Adam and his wife Heather.

This picture was taken on my parents back porch. There are some other ones but we are still waiting to get copies of them. My mom wanted some good family pictures while my brother (who lives in Co) and sister (who lives in Boston) were home at the same time.

Oh Happy Days

2007-11-30T11:24:00.000-05:00

I received a call last night from the Dr. Office. Pat called and said "well, you are very pregnant"! Your blood count went from 386 to 2400. I know the other day I thought it would be around 6100 but I was off on the math. My blood count is supposed to double every 2.5 days not 2 so I would have been close.

She said I have progressed a lot and they think I am further along than originally thought. Instead of a couple of weeks pregnant she thinks I am closer to 6 - 8 weeks pregnant! That means we could have conceived the beginning of October which would mean the baby could be born in the month of July! I have always wanted a summer baby! ;)

I read on line if I am 7 weeks then the baby is the size of a blueberry and it is already developing her arms and legs. Crazy.

Jason and I have an ultrasound scheduled for Wednesday the 5th at 9:00 am. I am very excited to see what we hear. I hope it is healthy and strong. Pat said once they hear the heart beat the chances of a miscarriage lessen which is really good news. I hope there is a picture - granted it may be the size of a pea but it would still be exciting.

If I am 7 weeks this is what is going on:

Best Thanksgiving Yet

2007-11-28T10:15:00.000-05:00

Last week was Thanksgiving. It was the best Thanksgiving yet. Monday was a normal day - I worked on a closing and other than that it was pretty slow because everyone was on holiday mode. Our borrowers were already starting to go out of town along with the brokers and lenders. All in all a relaxing day at work.
Tuesday was another good day at work. Even slower than Monday. I left work at 3:05 for a Dr. Appointment at 4:00. I hit some holiday traffic and for about 10 minutes I cursed the Atlanta drivers. Man, do people who live in Atlanta (you notice I did not write people from Atlanta) do not know how to drive. It was a beautiful sunny day and 1 cop had pulled over 1 car. I am sure for speeding but God forbid people keep moving and ignore what was going on..........People. please get a life or find a hobby and QUIT RUBBERNECKING!!!!!! You are making the rest of us on the highway miserable. I digress..................

I made the appointment with 4 minutes to spare. I signed in and realized I was the last patient. Everyone was in a super good mood because of the holiday. It was nice.
Assistant Pat called me back. I weighed in, she asked me some questions then I sat down so she could take some blood. She pricked my finger and we laughed at everything as usual. (I always laugh there) Pat is awesome.

I went into the exam room and waited for the Dr. Dr. Cook knocked on the door and came in. We went over a few things and we were talking about why I was there. I was there because I have not had my period for a few months and I was getting worried I was not ovulating. We were talking and I told her that my breasts were sore and I had some cramping for about two weeks. She said "have you been taking pregnancy tests"? I said "no, we quit doing that a while ago because I was going to go broke buying so many" (we both laughed)
Then she asked "did Pat test you"? I said "Not that I am aware of but I did not tell Pat about all of my symptoms". She called Pat in and asked her to run a test so we could rule it out for sure. Pat left and after about 5 minutes she came back in holding up a pregnancy test and said "well, there is a reason you are feeling the way you do"! "You're pregnant"!
I screamed and yelled "WHAT"?! Then I teared up for about two seconds then started to laugh. All three of us were very excited and I then I had an out of body experience. I knew they were talking to me and I knew what they were saying but it was like I was watching myself go through all of this. Very Weird and Very Exciting.
I was instantly happy and couldn't wait to tell Jason.

I called Jason when I was done and he asked how the appointment went and I said "oh it was good. Nothing new to report. Same ole stuff - they will get back to me tomorrow". It's a good thing I was on the phone because I was smiling so big I can't believe he did not hear it through the phone! I went straight to Eckerds (now Rite Aid) and purchased a card that was blank on the inside. I went home and taped the pregnancy test to the inside and wrote: Congratulations! You're a daddy! I put it away and waited for Jason to come home. He came home and I could barely hold a straight face. I was going to wait to give him the card but couldn't. I said " here is an early birthday gift" He was excited and said oh thank you. He opened it and stopped breathing for a second then said "Are you Fucking kidding me"?! I said "nope" (with a huge grin on my face) then said (screaming) "I know"! "It's so weird"! "I can't believe it"!!! All he could muster was "it's going to take me a little bit to work through this but I am excited". Then he left the room. About an hour later he was really excited and kissed my stomach. I love that Jason.

We made the phone calls on Wed once we had final confirmation from the blood work. Everyone (that we have told) is so excited. :)

Today I had another Dr. Appointment to make sure my blood count is moving in the correct direction. As of last Tuesday it was 386 and it should double every two days so I guesstimated I will be around 6100-6200 tomorrow. Keeping my fingers crossed.

P.S. I hope it's a girl.

Best Weekend

2007-10-29T16:28:00.001-04:00

We visited our friends Jaimee, Todd and Emma this weekend. We had so much fun and Emma is the most hilarious kid I have ever met. I was a nanny for about 12 years and I worked with the best families ever and those kids were so good and sweet but none quite as funny and sweet as Emma Pants. She gives kisses and hugs and just makes you laugh all day long.

Jaimee and Todd just moved back to FLA a few months ago and they moved into their new house about 3 weeks ago. It is so cute. Jaimee has done a great job with the decorating. Jason and I had a room that was set up like we were in a hotel. There was bottled water with some glasses that were turned upside down on a nice little napkin, some crackers, Godiva chocolate drinks with Godiva chocolate cookies.......it was great. Our bed was made up really nice with some new sheets and a comforter set.

Emma's bedroom is totally cute too - Emma likes to pull her drawers open, pull out all of her clothes and then bring them out into the living area. It is so funny! I guess if you are her mom and have to clean that up on a regular basis it's not that funny but to us it was so cute. ;)
They have a nice back yard that is fenced in so the alligators cannot get them and a beautiful pond they can look out at. It is a very peaceful neighborhood and they are in a cold-a-sack so it's even better.

We went to the beach on Friday and watched the sun set, drank some wine and ate some snacks. It was fun to watch Emma play in the sand and walk around. She is walking and talking up a storm. Saturday it was pretty yucky out side and I don't think I left the house once. We watched football, drank and then Todd and Jaimee's friends came over. They were all nice and fun to hang out with. Todd and Jaimee seem very happy in FLA and we are very happy to have a fun place to visit. It was a great relaxing trip.

Random

2007-10-24T11:24:00.000-04:00

I have a break at work today so I can blog.............................a lot has happened in the last month. Sarah got married and it was a BEAUTIFUL wedding. She was a beautiful bride and I will say the bridal party looked pretty damn good too. We danced all night and there are some great pictures to prove it. Jason was caught singing in one picture. His mouth is wide open and I think he was playing the air guitar...........What a fun wedding! We wish the new happy couple all of the best.

Work has been super busy, Jason and I have been entertaining & my sister and brother came home to visit which has been a lot of fun. My sister had some trouble with AirTran but I think we got her straightened out. She had a short trip and I miss her terribly. My brother is still in town - he is training with Ted Montana's Grill. I am so proud of him as he has come a long way to get where he is and he is happy. I am very glad to see him happy.
Although, I think my sister and I still completely overwhelm him but he will get used to it in time. Jason has!

I will be able to post pictures of my family when people email them to me.

This weekend Jason and I are going to FLA to see our friends Todd, Jaimee and little Emma Pants! Emma turned 1 in Sept so we are going to celebrate a little late. We are so excited to see them. Yesterday my sister and I went to the store to purchase Emma a birthday gift. Well, turns out that you can spend a bunch of money in Baby's R Us - you just can't help yourself. Kids clothes are so funny! We purchased Emma little brown pants with some tops to match.

This is Todd and Emma and below that is Jaimee and Emma - cutest beach bums ever.

Then we went over the the boys section to get my nephew a little Christmas Gift! Harrison got little blue pants with a cute blue and brown button down. He will be so cute for his 1st Christmas. Harrison is our nephew and we don't see him much or really have any pictures of him but I think his parents are very busy. They both work full time and my brother-in-law travels so I don't think they have time to send stuff out. We will see them at the annual early Thanksgiving dinner in a few weekends so that will be fun. Jason and I are trying to start a family but it's only been two months so I am sure it will happen when it's time. Sometimes I am super excited and sometimes I am super nervous. Jason is not nervous at all but I think that is because nothing has happened yet - usually this sort of thing would make him bug out a little as this will increase our expenses. But, things will work out as they always do for us. Bumpy roads and all.

Jason's Aunt Sharon came in town too! She was so much fun to hang out with. She and her husband live in or near Orange County, CA and their daughter lives in Chicago. They are a fun family.

I have no idea what is going on with the spacing of these Pict's.

Bachelorette Party

2007-09-13T16:37:00.001-04:00

Here are some pictures (backwards in order) from Sarah's Bachelorette Party!

This is me and Sarah - towards the end of the night.........oh so hammered Sarah is..........

This is me and Natalie - she is pretending to make out with me. This is one of like 20 pictures she took........it was quite hilarious.

This is Sarah, Ray, Nat, me and Abba (AKA Fernando) when we first got to the club. We were upstairs in the VIP section. Although I am not really sure what the VIP section really got us but constantly looking around for our friends and going up and down stairs a lot.......

This is Capt. Morgan - Sarah and Abba's friend

Abba - Everyone got to take a picture wearing Sarah's Bride to Be Sash......it was great.

I was going to bring back kung fu fighting if I won Miss Bride to be America.

This is the bride to be at the restaurant - we (after many drinks) finally convinced the bride to wear something for about 1 minute that night. She said she would not wear anything bride like and she meant it. Everyone else on the other hand totally wanted to wear it!

This is the crew at the Restaurant, Fuego - awesome food and great atmosphere - service, not so hot. Crew, very hot.

Blah........

2007-09-12T14:04:00.001-04:00

It is Wednesday and I am ready to be done with work. It's cloudy and cool (for GA) and only 2:00 pm and I have 3.5 hours left. I downloaded Book 5, chapters 1 and 2 of Harry Potter on my Nano. I can't wait to go running after work so I can start listening to it. My friend Leigh gave me Book 5 and 6 on CD. Book 4 was so good and YES, I know I am very far behind because the last book is already out but I take my own time. I am still reading We Are The Mulvanies off of the opra book list from 2000. What a miserable book - it's sad and a slow read but now it has become a joke between my husband and I so I can't bring myself to finish it. Maybe I will just read 1 page year.

Last weekend was a busy one - Jason and I got cable, Internet, phone and a new bed! They are all great - especially the new bed!!! I also had Sarah's bachelorette party. That was a lot of fun but a little too much to drink by all so the night ended around 1:00 am and my brother-in-law was nice enough to come and pick me up. Jason was supposed to be my ride but he had too much to drink so he stayed at home with our sister-in-law and chatted. When I got home they too were pretty saucy....haaa.......haaaa!! The weekend was good but not much to report.

Oldest Friends

2007-09-06T17:19:00.000-04:00

Today my mom sent me some pictures of a wedding shower we threw my oldest friend Sarah. We have been friends since we were in diapers and used to be neighbors. Sarah and her family moved when she was in elementary school and I was crushed. Who else was so fun and care free? Turns out not many people. Sarah is getting married to Wes Parrish on Sept. 29, 2007. They are a great couple and I am sure they will have a long happy life together. Sarah is a completely free spirit, a friend to all and is a very talented artist.

Here is me, Sarah, her sister Natalie and their mom Sally at my wedding.

They crack me up. As you can see Sally is wearing a napkin that was made into a hat.......Those hats have been around for a long time. When I graduated high school (in 1995) I moved to Athens, GA. Sarah came to visit me one weekend and I had not lived there long so I did not know the area very well. If anyone I know is reading this they know I have no sense of direction and those who have been to Athens know that Athens is not a large place. Anyway, Sarah and I ended up making sailor hats out of the many maps my dad used to make me carry in my car. We found a Dunkin Donuts that was probably 1 mile from the apartment I lived in and it took us about two hours to get home.........So, the home made hats have been around for a long time.

Here is a picture of me, Sarah and Sarah's friend Mel at Sarah and Wes's engagement party in Statesboro, GA.

We had so much fun - this was after many, many, many, many, many..............shots. See my trying to sign my bill? haaaa...haaaa!!!

Uh....Three Months Later

2007-09-04T13:55:00.000-04:00

Well, it's been three months since my last blog. I thought I was going to have so much time to blog then all of a sudden I was slammed at work and super busy with the closing of my new house. I closed three very hard loans on Friday August 31 which is the worst day/date to close any loan. Friday and the last day of a month - awful. First of all if you don't close your loan on Friday the borrower will have to pay interest for Sat and Sun but since this was a three day weekend we really needed to get our loans closed. I got a call from my boss (on accident) after I left the office Friday - he was telling me how our regional manager, my boss and his partner along with some agents were taking shots of Bushmills.....you close a hard loan, you get to take a shot of Bushmills. That's how we roll.

My husband Jason and I closed on our first house on Tuesday August 21. It was a stressful but most exciting day! The week before we closed the market decided to take a turn for the worst and that added a little stress to our closing. Then Tuesday our wire did not go through until 5:00 pm that evening so we signed our documents at 10:30 am and got to look at the keys to our new house then they were put back into an envelope until the wire hit. I was in tears by 2:00 that afternoon because we had not heard anything. We understand we are very lucky to have a house and we worked our asses off saving for this house, buying furniture and paying off debt but going through that stress made it much much sweeter. Now we really understand how great we have it. We are so grateful for all of the help our families have given us and for the Fantastic house warming gifts! ;)

Jason and I have never been happier. We are closer as a couple and I think it 's because we are both so proud of each other. We kind of have a new found respect for each other - not that it wasn't there to begin with but it's just different. It's awesome. Once we get the internet I will post some pictures of the house and furniture. Next blog: our First Painting Purchase.........and Return.

Love the Blog

2007-06-08T11:21:00.000-04:00

I love blogging. I asked my family for pictures of themselves so I can introduce them everyone. Although, they have no idea why - you see, I have not told anyone (except Jason) about my blog because I would like to have a few entries completed before the unveiling.....

While I wait for pictures I will introduce myself a little more. I love running, cooking, laughing, anything outdoors and believe it or not working. I feel like work gives me a purpose. I think if Jason and I were millionaires other things would give me purpose but for now, it's work. With the running I can shed stress, meet new people, feel good about myself and I feel like I belong to a community of really dedicated athletes. I am not as dedicated as my fellow runners but I am okay with that. Sometimes I wish I were but it's just not in my genes. My parents are active people but not to the point they have to do it and the Weimers are easily swayed from exercise. It takes a lot of mental work for me to keep running sometimes - but other times I can't wait. I am a true Libra. Balance, I am forever searching for balance.

As for cooking - Love everything about it. I love to eat and to try new recipes. Jason and I cook a lot because we choose not to go out that much (not that I wouldn't love that too). It takes a lot of money to go out to eat and if we did, we may not be able to do some of the other things we love so much. So, we cook a lot and it is very satisfying to sit down to a meal that you created and even more so when that meal is oh so tasty!

Laughing - I should not have to explain that one. But I really don't think people laugh enough. Life is so serious for some and I feel they are missing out on so much. I laugh all of the time including very inappropriate times. I won't go into that because some people may be offended but I know those who know me are laughing right now...... ;)

Outdoor activities - I love camping, hiking, rock climbing, walking, you name it. You would think I am oh so physically fit with all of the active things I like to do but I am not. I am average. Swimming I could do without. I love the lake but the ocean, not so much. I love the beach but I am afraid of the water. I respect that the wild life in the ocean is much bigger than me. I am always amazed when people are attacked by sharks then go on killing sprees. HELLO! YOU WERE THE ONE SWIMMING IN THE SHARKS TERRITORY! Be aware of your surroundings people. Enough about that. I think that is enough of an introduction for a little while.

I am going to an engagement party this weekend. It is going to be in Statesboro, GA and I am going with Sarah (oldest friend) and her sister Natalie. They are so much fun and the last time I was with them all night we were celebrating Natalie's Batchelorette party. Can't show you the pictures but I will leave you with this.....Swinging Richards. nuff said.

How does this stuff work?

2007-06-07T17:16:00.000-04:00

I am trying to learn how to post a picture for my debut.....So, this post is a test run. I am going to use one of my wedding pictures. Okay, since you asked.......I will post two pictures so you can also see a glimpse of my hottie husband. ;)

This is right after we got married.

This is self explanatory....

Virgin Blogger

2007-06-07T15:51:00.000-04:00

This is my first Blog. I am quite excited as I am now going to belong to new group of people. I belong to a running club and that is a lot of fun so I figured why not blog? Everyone seems to love getting their message out whether it be political, helping others or just to have an outlet to share their stories. I can blog at work, at home and while visiting other places! This is great.

I have been married for 1 year and 2 months. My husband, Jason, is tall, handsome and has a wicked sense of humor. He makes me laugh like no other. He gets along great with my family and I get along great with his. I have a sister Allison who lives with her boyfriend, Paul, in Boston. They are a great couple and I hope they get married one day but if not at least remain friends. We love Paul. My brother Peter lives in Colorado Springs but hopes to move back to Denver. He is in the Springs because of work but does not love it there - military town. Not that he does not like the military, it just makes for a different kind of living I guess. My parents, Rae and George live in GA not too far from Jason and I and they are the greatest - we do not see them that much because they live the life of rock stars.

Jason and I are going to purchase our first house August 21st (we are the one in the middle with the diamond window). We are so excited we can hardly stand it. It is a townhouse in the city - Finally, I will be in the city. I have wanted to move to the city for ever and besides getting married to Jason, nothing has ever felt so right.