This weekend, we had some visitors! My mom, along with her two sisters Donna and Paula and her good friend Barbara came to Birmingham to see me. It could not have been a nicer weekend, and we had so much fun. I don't think that any other foursome could laugh as much as these women do and be so crazy - so Michael and I fittingly call them the Ya Ya's! I can't tell you all the juicy details of this weekend without causing embarrassment to the Ya Ya sisterhood, but a stopped up toilet, a curious security guard, and a stack of napkins will remind all of us how much we laughed this weekend. I am so glad they came with my mom because she seemed really happy! I miss getting to see her and my family all the time, but at least I know she is enjoying life and is being kept in good company.
Here is a pic of the Ya Ya's at the Vulcan statue in Homewood - this is where it all went downhill for my mom (second from the right) who could not stop laughing!
Three sisters, my mom Johna on the right with Donna and Paula
In between laughs, we calmed down to take a picture together.
My! What a long neck you have mom!
My mom laughing hysterically in the Vulcan Musuem...this was right before the security guard walked over to see what in the heck she was doing! We ate a lot of course! On Saturday, we went to the Fish Market downtown. After a day of shopping on Sunday, we ate at Chuy's Mexican Restaurant. After dinner, my aunt Paula made Chocolate Lava Cakes with Nutella in the middle. It was delicious...but my diet started on Monday!
I'm sad the Ya Ya's are gone! But I had a great time with them, and can't wait to see what our next adventure has in store for us!
Valentine's Day is not one of my favorite holidays, and Michael and I don't make a big deal out of it, but it is nice to show a little more love on Valentine's Day I guess! This was our 7th Valentine's Day together, and the only two V Days I remember are last year's because I blogged about it and can look it up and our first V Day together because it was a little disastrous! I may be unsentimental, but I bet Michael can't remember either! Not to be too cheesy, but I truly believe that we have such a fun relationship and are such good partners that we celebrate our marriage every single day! It amazes me to this day that this boy and girl below are still together and happier than ever, and I don't need Valentine's Day to make me honor our relationship. But to those of you who ooh and awe over this day, I hope all of your expectations come true and you are enjoying the Valentine's Day of your dreams! We did celebrate Valentine's Day yesterday by spending the afternoon at the park, and then we made dinner last night. Michael made the most sinful Texas Sheet Cake, and I made his new favorite dish, Shrimp Pad Thai. We love Thai food, and I have never been able to make it at home and have it taste anywhere near what it tastes like in our favorite restaurants. I came across a new recipe about a month ago that called for ketchup in it! I was very skeptical, but everyone who had tried it swore by it on the site. I made it in January, and we were elated with how great it turned out. Michael asked me to make it again last night, and it didn't disappoint! To show my love to all of you on Valentine's Day, here is the link to this amazing and easy pad thai recipe. If you love Thai food, you will love this. It calls for fish sauce, and you probably won't find it at Wal-Mart. Try Publix, Kroger, or your local Asian market. You can't skip out on the fish sauce. Here is the link to this great recipe! Enjoy! Cooking Light Shrimp Pad Thai
Last night, Birmingham got a little bit of the snow that all of our friends and family received earlier in Arkansas. We only got 2 inches or so, but hey, we are in Alabama, so snow is a rare occasion! Around 9 pm, we went outside to play, and Michael built a big snowman! Scarlett just ran around the entire time trying to eat the snow. It was a lot of fun playing in the snow, but just getting it one time is enough for me! It is so cold tonight, and I am more than ready for spring. Just as long as it snows once, and only once, a year, that's perfect for me!
Michael rolling his first snowball for the bottom of his snowman!
I decided to pitch in and help! It was so heavy, I could barely push it!
Michael and Scarlett with the ugly, leaning snowman with no face!
The snow melted pretty quickly, but it was beautiful looking out of our kitchen window.
I cannot believe it's Monday night already! This weekend flew by like always! We were pretty busy on Saturday and Sunday, so I feel like I'm just now winding down. On Friday, I did not check out Glee or a classic book like I said I would. In fact, my weekend library selection took a complete 180 from what I had originally intended. Friday afternoon, as the library closed, I walked out with The Tudors, Season 1 and Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover! We watched two episodes of The Tudors on Friday night, but I didn't get into it like I thought. I really hoped I would, but like Michael said, it reminded him of a drawn out series based on The Other Boleyn Girl. I didn't get into the series, but I definitely liked King Henry VIII (though something tells me he looked nothing like that in real life!) Yesterday, we both started diving into The Total Money Makeover. Dave Ramsey warns you that the book will make you feel uncomfortable, and it will change your life. Three chapters in, and we were both feeling very uncomfortable! Trust me, I felt the need for a makeover instantly. This is a great book, and we both can't put it down. Right now, in fact, Michael is sitting beside me reading away. I hope we will put to use many, if not all, of the great tools Dave Ramsey offers.
On Saturday, Michael and I volunteered at our church's Dream Center. We helped with a group called "Cooking for A Cause" who serves lunch once a month to families in need living in the Woodlawn area of Birmingham. It was really rewarding, and I am glad we volunteered together! Saturday afternoon, I feel like we spent hours cleaning house. I think I have decided that when we actually decide to buy our home, smaller is better! There's less to clean! Saturday night, we hung out with some of our friends, and we literally spent hours battling each other in dance offs with our friends Jessica and Jim's new Kinect Xbox game! I was scared to get up and dance in front of everyone, but once I battled for the first time, I was hooked! You should have seen Michael busting a move! If you haven't experienced the Xbox Kinect, you will love it. It pretty much puts the Wii to shame!
Yesterday, we got kicked out of our house early in the morning for a showing, so we grabbed some Starbucks and took Scarlett to the park. Yesterday was the first sunny day we have had since last weekend it seems, so it was nice to get outside though it was still cold. Yesterday afternoon, my friend Jamie had her baby shower for Elijah. It was the first time I have gone to a "tea" baby shower, and it was really neat. A tea is a come and go shower where you give your gift to the hostess and they unwrap the gift and display it. It was neat because Jamie got to mingle with everyone who came to the shower, and no one had to wait around to watch her open each gift (which would have taken forever because she had more than 50 it seemed)! I thought it was fun to get to walk around and see all the gifts displayed. I left the shower wondering to myself, "Do babies really need all of that stuff?" I didn't know what half of the gifts were used for!
Last night was the Super Bowl (who cares?)! Michael and I stayed home and watched the game a little while, but it was boring. I didn't really even pay attention to many of the commercials except for one. I absolutely adored the Volkswagen commercial with the little boy dressed like Darth Vader. It was precious! If you missed it, click on the video below. I promise you will love it! Finally, the Super Bowl came to an end, and the best part of my night finally arrived. Glee!!!! I love this show, and it was a pretty great episode. It was a great ending to an all-in-all great weekend!
This weekend was glorious! It was 72 degrees on Saturday, and there was no cloud in the sky. So...what did I do? I went to the library! I know what you are thinking...dorky huh? I haven't stepped foot in a public library since I was a little girl visiting Laman Library in North Little Rock, AR. I can barely remember the experience at Laman Library, but I do vividly remember the school libraries I visited quite often at St. Joseph's and at St. Mary's when I was in pre-school and in elementary school. I can still close my eyes and picture the layout of both places. There weren't any computers back then, just shelves of books, desks butted up against each other, and a few tables. They were such small places! I can still smell the musty books and old leather. The library at St. Joseph's didn't have carpet, and it always smelled like pine cleaner as I'm sure the nuns waxed the floors nearly every day! My favorite memory of the library as a child is going to the book fairs that were held at school. Extra temporary shelves were brought in and so many new and shiny books with the most colorful illustrated covers were on display! My parents always gave me money to purchase a few books, and I remember being so excited while in deep turmoil because I could not decide between the zillion books I wanted to read! I don't know why I love books so much. I always have and always will. I'm not biased towards any genre except I don't particularly like romance novels at the checkout counter of Wal-Mart. I will admit, though, for a while I wasn't reading much at all. Most of my time was spent in front of the tv or with a magazine. In an effort to get back to what I loved so much, I made a resolution to read more this year. I also thought it would be awesome to take a trip to the library for the first time in years. On Saturday afternoon, I became the proud owner of a Pelham Library Card! And now...I'm overwelmed with choices, and I don't know what to check out. I didn't even think about the possibility of checking out cd's, dvd's, and audio books! WOW! The first book I checked out was 1,000 Places to See Before You Die (USA & Canada). Saturday night, Michael and I kept turning the pages happily pointing out the places we've already seen, which was maybe 45 out of 1,000! Tonight, I am going to swing by after work and pick up a classic novel, and on Friday, I'm going to check out the first season of Glee and watch it all over again this weekend. I love the library!
In a last minute decision on Friday afternoon, Michael and I decided to pack up and head to the beach this past weekend. So much has been going on in our lives lately, and we both wanted to get away. We both needed to enjoy a weekend to ourselves away from the day to day stuff that has been bogging us down at home! It was the perfect weekend to go to the beach with highs in the upper 50's and sunny skies both days; though it was still pretty chilly in the mornings, it was quite comfortable sitting in the sand. I am so grateful that Michael and I are able to pack up and travel whenever we want. We are very very lucky! Though I was glad to get away with Michael, I was most excited about taking Scarlett to the beach! This was her second trip to the ocean, and it is so entertaining to watch her run towards the water chasing her ball and dig through the sand! She definitely makes life so much fun. Scarlett looking out of the window Saturday morning begging to go play! Her first leap into the water! So excited! We had the entire beach to ourselves! Our tiny beach house called "Splash." Scarlett being a daddy's girl! Time to quit taking pictures of Scarlett and take one of ourselves! I love this picture of Scarlett scattering the birds! Now it's my turn to take a picture with my baby! View from our deck at sunset...so unbelievably peaceful! When are we going back?
It's been one month since we began working on the house, and it has been 5 days since we moved in and staged the house. A sign was put in the yard yesterday, which makes me a little sad because I don't want to move so soon again, but it's gotta be sold! I'm really proud of the changes that have been made. The house looks wonderful! It looks so much better in person, but here are some pictures I took this morning to mark the one month anniversary from when the changes began. For the before pictures click here! The outside got a good cleanup and power washing. All the brass lights and fixtures were changed and the railings leading up to the front door were painted black. ! This is the basement that used to be dark blue. We staged it as a bedroom/livingroom -an updated version of how it was when Michael's bedroom was the basement years ago. Our backsplash...I love it! The dining room went from bright red to simple and neutral. All of the light fixtures and anything brass was changed to nickel. Our kitchen is my favorite room! It used to be brigh red and tin! We replaced the old electric stove with a gas stove Our beatiful view from the kitchen...I love how it opens into the living room! Our living room with a view of the 2 acres behind us. The office space View from the top of our stairs with the new light fixture Light and peaceful master bedroom Grown up guest room attached to the jack and jill bathroom Jack and Jill bathroom with espresso painted cabinets Children's guest room attached to the jack and jill bath Michael's half of the master bath with amazing view...no more mannequin colored cabinets and no more brass! The house needs to sell, so I want to enjoy the limited time we have. My favorite part is the wooded neighborhood. We see deer everyday and I love the huge creek in our backyard. Yesterday, Scarlett and I watched 10 deer on our walk...sure beats apartment living!
Okay...I know I am 3 days late on writing my first post of 2011! I honestly meant to write on January 1, but with the crazy weekend we had, there was no way!!! We officially moved into the new place on Sunday after two full days of scrubbing things I thought I would never scrub - I don't even scrub my own toilets - we finally moved in but are nowhere close to getting settled in. I wish we could call it our home, but a sign will be going up in the yard very soon, so it's not really ours, but I will enjoy all the space while I can. I can't wait for all of you to see pictures of what we have done. I'll take some once everything is in place hopefully this weekend.
My new year started with chaos, chaos, chaos, but I hope these past few days are not foreshadowing the year to come. 2010 was a great year for me, though it was difficult at times, it was much better than 2009. 2010 seemed like it was a bad year for many of my facebook friends, and I hope that 2011 will be better for all of them! 2010 was a year of growth for me. A lot of things happened in a very short period of time, and though I had some tough hills to climb, I think I came out alright!
Among many things in 2010, we moved for the fifth time in 5 years....our move this weekend was our sixth! I guess we like change! We moved to a great city, and though the job I thought I would love has not worked out for the best, I have made many great friends and have found a wonderful church. I have grown more spiritually in the latter part of 2010 than I have in the past 10 years! Our move to Birmingham has been so great for our marriage, and I hope Michael will agree! We have leaned on each other a lot lately and have grown spiritually together. I love him so much! He has been supportive of me through some of my unhappiest times in 2010, and I have grown so much from it, and I think I am finally learning the value of being happy with me and learning to love the simple things! A simple life is a good life! I have also grown leaps and bounds with mangaging my anxiety in 2010, and I conquered my fear of flying that miraculously appeared in 2008! In fact, I don't really even feel nervous about flying to New York in May!
I hope 2011 will be even better. My only resolution this year is to live by the quote:
"Life is not a dress rehearsal!"
This is it, ladies and gentlemen! This is the only life I have been given, and it is my time to love life and live each day to the fullest by loving God, loving myself, loving others, and loving what I do! This is my only chance!
I pray that everyone of you have a blessed 2011!!!
Three sisters, my mom Johna on the right with Donna and Paula
In between laughs, we calmed down to take a picture together. 
My mom laughing hysterically in the Vulcan Musuem...this was right before the security guard walked over to see what in the heck she was doing! 
We ate a lot of course! On Saturday, we went to the Fish Market downtown. After a day of shopping on Sunday, we ate at Chuy's Mexican Restaurant. After dinner, my aunt Paula made Chocolate Lava Cakes with Nutella in the middle. It was delicious...but my diet started on Monday! 
I'm sad the Ya Ya's are gone! But I had a great time with them, and can't wait to see what our next adventure has in store for us! 
