Friends are AWE-SOME!

I spent this past weekend in Philadelphia, PA with my best friend in the whole world! More commonly known as Kallie, KT or way back in the day Daniel's sister (hehe).  What'd we do, you ask?  Nothing of great importance... Got our nails done, ate some tasty meals, watch movies/tv, saw some random exhibits and ate some tasty meals (oops already said that).


But this nothing of great importance is what makes friends, you know the real ones, so AWE-SOME! Being able to visit someone for the first time in 10 months and picking up right where we left off; it's great to know there's people out there who "just gets you"!  

And for those of you that are in on the story...

How to: Survive being married to a professional student

It's not tricky really - you have have to keep the end goal in mind... and a least you're not the one actually doing the school work.


As most of you know my husband has been in dental school the last 4 years (And yes, I take credit for the 2.25 years that we were only dating) and is currently at the beginning of 3 years of Orthodontic school, which means I have and will have a lot of time to myself.  (There's only so much studying you can help with when you only understand half of what he's talking about.) Therefore, I have found a fool proof way of entertaining myself to survive the loneliness. 


1. Find a hobby
    Currently in the market for a new one myself... Crochet, Needle point, actually
    scrapbooking all the pictures I take?  We'll see.
2. Read a multiple books. 
     I highly recommend "The Help" and "Alice I Have Been" Plus anything that comes in a
     series... it's just easier to decide what to read next.
3. Get a dog
     As you can tell my the puppies have provided endless hours of entertainment for me.
     (You think teaching them to roll was easy?)
4. Watch an endless amount of chick-flicks
     Because you can without whining and you know you want to!
5. Take a nap
     Admit it you're tired when you get home from work.

So there you have it... 5 simple steps to leave your husband alone while he studies. Good luck!

So easily entertained...

By our dogs!  We've spent the last few weeks teaching the pups to "roll" and I must say I'm very proud that they've mastered it!  Here's a quick video.  Enjoy!

It's been a while.

But I have no excuses - part lazy and part busy.  Here's a quick recap of the last few weeks.... Swimming with the kiddos. Chase & Angela's Wedding. Work trip to Vegas. Steve back to school. Golf. New car. Birthday celebrations. 

Your Average, Typical Thursday Night...

Starts out with me getting home from work late (blame it on deadlines and travel) and Steve opening a bottle of wine.  We've chosen to re-visit our trip to Italy this summer and sip on a Chianti Colli Senesi, which happens to be my new favorite wine, it's just delicious or maybe I just think of watching the Tuscan sunset while drinking it... either way it's bomb.com. (Yes, I said bomb.com) Dinner consists of a fresh salad, made with our UK CSA veggies and pesto pasta made with my home grown basil. Don'tcha just love summer, heat humidity and fresh veggies!

And exciting as dinner was it only gets better. Later we've got a cut a mat out of Wendy's ear and pack for an out of town wedding this weekend.  I tell you what, we've got to slow down!! I kid - It's nice to have a relaxing night at home.

Our First Anniversary...

Was amazing, but first let me apologize for almost missing a week.  So sorry about that, it's just been extra busy, returning from a weekend get-away at the beach, to take a few minutes to share. I shall do so now...

We snuck (not really everyone who would listen to me knew we were going) away to the familiar shores of St. Pete's Beach, Florida. My family spent several weeks of our summer down there when I was growing up, but I haven't been in about a decade; it was nice to see (and eat at) all my favorite places.  It was a brilliantly uneventful and relaxing weekend.  We literally just sat by the pool for 3 days and wandered down Gulf Blvd. to grab some seafood every now and then.  Is there any thing better in life?  Just relaxing with your best friend/ best husband in the world for a few days... I think not!

It also gave me time to reflect on our short, but blissful marriage.  You know they say (one day I'll figure out who "they" is) that the first year of marriage is the hardest... Don't get me wrong we've had our fair share of discussions and disagreements, but if that's as hard as it's going to get, then I think we're in pretty good shape! I'm not trying to brag, but I truly believe (and thank God everyday!) that Steve and I are some of the lucky ones out there, that just happen to find their soul mate or at least that one person on earth you can communicate openly and honestly with.  I'm proud of us for making the effort everyday to tell each other how much we love each other and (yes mom) never go to bed angry with one another... Now we just have to keep it up for the next 50 or 60 years!  Go us!

Here's a picture from the beach... We were too lazy to take actual pictures so the iPhone photo will just have to do.

I spent the weekend with my in-laws...

And while most people would dread this, I actually looked forward to it and had an amusing weekend!

Steve was off at a bachelor party and rather than be stuck in Lexington all weekend by myself I spent Friday and Saturday just hangin' with Jim & Anne (Poppi & Nini, Dad & Mom???? - Still trying to decide what to call them... maybe by our second anniversary?!). And it's great to know you can totally be yourself around anyone, but especially relieving when you can be yourself around your in-laws.  

Any-who, it was a fairly uneventful weekend - just pizza on Friday with Julie, Scott and the boy, then shopping during the day Saturday and dinner and a movie Saturday evening.  Yes, that's right I went on your typical date with with my in-laws... I think Steve's okay with it though. And P.S. go see Horrible Bosses, it's hysterical! 

I mean, how lucky am I that I can go see a (raunchy) movie with my in-laws and live to tell about it!  I don't mean to rub it in, but it really was a great weekend... I just wish everyone could have a understanding and fun relationship with their in-laws.  (Feel free to share your stories, good or bad, here.) 

Next weekend... We're off to Florida, St. Pete Beach to be exact for a romantic weekend get away.  Can't you believe it's already time to celebrate on first anniversary?  I also feel extremely blessed to be married to my best friend and love of my life, but that's for another post. 

Check out a few quick snap-shots from the weekend - and the beautiful flowers my hubby sent to work today!

Wendy relaxing on Nini's floor... like a frog, of course.

Ryan taking a quick shopping break.

Stopped by Drew's game. Nice hit, but he was out...

From my thoughtful, wonderful husband!

 And P.S. If you have an iPhone get they Instagram app for your phone to fancy-up your pictures! If free and it's fabulous!

Twins are a good idea... for a weekend!

Maybe I'm crazy, maybe it's because I've had a few days of rest to recover or maybe it's because my cousin has mutant babies that don't cry, but... what's the big deal about twins?  Everyone says they're so hard and tiring... They're not difficult -- you just need two sets of hands or an energizer battery strapped to your back!

How beautiful?

In all seriousness, I had a great weekend helping my mother take care of Ava & Maddie (my closest cousin's twins). It was a busy, educational and lovable (they're good snugglers) experience and I hope I have at least two just like them - just not at the same time.  The only thing we were missing was Brooks (aka the Brookster), who was enjoying his Mom & Dad solo time in DisneyWorld. FYI - he is the cutest and funniest three year old I know, but I'm a little biased, he is my godson after all. Check out how cute he is!

Freakin' adorable, right?

But, back to the girls and a few lessons I picked up over the weekend. One, nap time is always a good time; two, milk from a bottle is just plain better than milk from a sippy cup and three, wear a tutu swimsuit while you still can!

What a fun weekend! Thanks for letting us borrow them Jules and Brion... And even if we don't have our own yet, at least we know we look good with a couple of babies!

El Lake!

Every have one of those places that no matter rain or shine it's still a good time?  Well, that's the lake for us.  To clarify it's Lake Norris in Tennessee... Sharps Chapel is the little village.

And it seems like no matter we (puppies included) always have fun, which was what happened this past weekend.  We went down expecting to spend the weekend with our brother and sister-in-laws; doing a little boating and some skiing, maybe have an adult beverage or two... But what we got was a weekend of "chance" (more like 100%) thunderstorms and 3 hour naps!  (See, I told it was a good time now matter what.  When was the last time you took a 3 hour nap?) 

We did a few glorious hours of sunshine and took the pups for a boat ride... Oh how they love the wind in their face!

Princess Wendy

Woody & cousin Scarlet

Can't wait to go back!

  

Pardon the Interruption...

But life got in the way as we returned from Europe, but I'll give you a quick update of the whole trip.  Most of you know by now, that we spent 6 days in Tuscany, 2 days in Florence and 3 day in Munich Germany. Here's a quick visual re-cap for ya!

  

Plus a day trip to Neuschwanstein Castle, 

aka Sleeping Beauty's Castle or the Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang Castle.

But... it's always good to get home.

Arriving and Siena

8 to 10 hours on a plane or in an airport, with only about 2 hours of sleep is no fun.  No one need me to tell them this, but I must include it.  And it makes arriving to the country and catching your first glimps of the Tuscan hill sides all that much more amazing.

And however amazing the view might seem... the food and wine is just as breath taking.

We began our second day in Siena a little late... we slept until noon to catch up from the night before. Parking seems to be a problem in general, but we managed and made our way to the Pizza del Campo.  This huge area was great for people watch and gelato eating.

We also spent some time in the Siena Duomo and I can tell ya these Italians know a thing or two about art and marble carving!

We wrapped our day up with some dinner - bruschetta, ravioli and chianti senesa back in the pizza and then had a short drive back to the Il Borgehtto.  That's all for now, ciao e buena cera!

The Kids

We have none of our own currently, but we've got several we can borrow on a need-to basis!  Meet our seven nieces and nephews and our favorite cousins...

Almost all of them... Caroline, Brooks, Ryan, Alex, Drew, Ava,  Vivian, Jimmy, Mark, Darby, Logan, Tatum and Trevor.
Just missing Ava & Maddie