Aly had the twins last night and all are healthy! What a miracle! The boys - at under 3 lbs a piece - are in the NICU and still need prayers but I'm estatic for her and Justin. They have been waiting SO long for a family and I know they were impatient to hold them in their arms. While the circumstances weren't perfect, I overjoyed they've got two sweet little men in this world!!! Again, if you want to read more you can read Aly's blog by clicking here.  She is a woman who I love and admire about as much humanly possible.  She's tenacious and has never lost hope in her dream of becoming a mommy even when things looked bleak.  I admit, I'm not that strong.  I've had several moments in my own journey where I've lost my hope.  Alyson is also an incredibly godly woman and I am SO unbelievably blessed that DW and I joined their small group 5 years ago for the brief time we lived in Texas.  Our mutual struggle and heartache gave wings to an amazing friendship!

Sweet baby Jackson

Oh my, how this picture just wrenches my heart.  You can see SO many emotions in Aly's face...love and worry all at once...makes me cry! But I'm SO thankful God answered this earnest prayer of her heart. 

Aly & Will

Please...I really do try not to ask much...just say a quick prayer for this family!

Little of this, Little of that...

First and foremost, my friend, Alyson, has been on my heart the last several days and I'd like to ask you to say a prayer for her, her husband, and her unborn twin boys.  After losing her first son, Jonathan, at 23 weeks a couple years ago due to an incompetent cervix, she's gone through multiple treatments, chemical pregnancies, and heartaches before God blessed her and Justin with twin boys.  They are currently at 28 weeks and the cerclage she had put in to make sure her incompetent cervix didn't cause any problems in future pregnancies either ended up failing or breaking or something along those lines.  It's pretty much unheard of for one to fail, but she's in the hospital on complete bed rest, hoping and praying that the boys will stay in utero as long as possible so they can continue to grow.  They are hoping that her water won't break for a while longer and I'm asking God for a miracle for this family. It's hard because I love them and don't want them to suffer this heartache. You can check out her blog for more info here. 

On a lighter note, DW has recently gotten into watching cop shows because we can't find anything better to do, I guess.  He's got me interested in Bait Car because it's absolutely ridiculous to me that people can be that dumb.  Currently, he's watching Campus PD and laughing at dumb college students.  I think there is something wrong with me...I always feel sorry for the people that get busted or get in trouble with the cops.  Don't get me wrong, they SHOULD get in trouble. DW thinks its hilarious - and disturbing - that I feel bad for the criminals.  I just always think they must have deep issues if they feel the need to hijack a car or stick drugs in their butt crack. HA!

This weekend I'm going to Memphis to see Bartee, my BFF.  DW is staying here so he can go watch AU football's opening weekend and I'm stoked for some quality time.  It's been too long. 

I just realized that I forgot one story about DW that happened this weekend in Greenville that I meant to tell.  I called him "Big Head" in front of Brandon's wife, Jill, and she looked at him and said, "Why do you call him that? He doesn't seem like he's got a big head or anything to me."  DW and I both laughed because even though he's not a tall guy by any means, he's got an enormous noggin.  Even six-foot-four Brandon said this weekend said, "I've got a big head...there's no way you have a bigger head than me" and then DW tried on his hat and it looked like a kids hat perched on his head.  We all got to laughing because he told the story about how in pee wee football all the kids wore a white helmet and Dusty had to have a high school helmet, which was red.  He said he felt really cool back in the day...after all, he was rocking a high school helmet in pee wee.  In fact, when DW and I were dating, I went home to one of his high school football games and someone walked up to him and yelled, "Headie!!!"  I was like, "What did he call you?"  DW told me this story about how he was in high school, one of the guys in the locker room put his helmet on and was like, "Maaaannnn! You have got a big head.  You're like Headie.  Headie Murphy."  The name stuck and every now and then, we bust out the Headie Murphy story for a good laugh.

Yea, soooooo... 

Explorers At Heart...

This past weekend, DW and I went to visit a friend of mine from high school and his wife in Greenville, SC.  We finally made the time to go and I'm SO glad we did.  I loved their town! I had no clue what a hidden treasure it is and, of course, you can't beat spending time with people you've got history with! Brandon and I have known one another since high school so he's one of the only "long term" friendships I've got, if you will, since I grew up a military brat.  And it's awesome because his wife, Jill, and I get along and he and DW also get along great, which is awesome because you never know how blending past and present is going to go.

Brandon and I have a kinda funny relationship.  He loved to pick on me growing up and still does...I thought we'd grown out of him sticking his finger up my nose, but nope..it happened this weekend.  We've had our moments in our friendship...one time in college, when I was attending a small Baptist University, he pulled me across his lap and spanked me in from of about 2,000 people.  I struggled to get away, which only made him more thrilled and when I stood up, I was crimson red from embarrassment and furious.  I didn't speak to him for about a year.  But when you've got history, you've got history...and great friendships make it through time and distance...and having your nosed picked and even miserably embarrassing moments.   

On Friday night, we piddled around downtown and ate at a place called Chicora Alley.  It was such a neat place and you had to walk up an old stairwell between the buildings to get into the restaurant.

Chicora Alley
(photo courtesy of their website)

Let me tell you, it's an odd, odd combination of foods that are just so, so right.  We had nachos that had mango on them...and gag if you will, it was ridiculously amazing.  It's like Mexican meets Caribbean and it was crazy good.  After dinner, we walked the streets of downtown so that Brandon and Jill could show us the great little restored building, Falls Park, and all that Greenville has to offer.  I was literally blown away.  I felt like I was at an enormous resort or something and couldn't help but shake my head in amazement as I watched the young kids running through the fountain and rolling on the grassy picnic spots as parents laid around on blankets on the lawn, snapping pictures, talking, and hanging out with friends doing the same.

Restaurants w/ patios lined the streets

...and I loved this old mill they were getting set up for a wedding!

On Saturday morning, we went to eat breakfast at Underground Coffee, which had great coffee and extremely cool ambiance but the server was definitely missing a few of her marbles.  She never came back to refill our coffee after the initial cup and I got my food about 30 minutes after Brandon and DW (Jill is a resident at the hospital and was working)...and it was completely not what I ordered.  I'll give it another try because I don't believe in going off first impressions, but wow...not a great first experience.  Afterward, we walked over to the local Farmer's Market and spent some time looking around.     

Downtown Farmer's Market

Shortly after, we hopped in the car and took the dogs to the Dog Park at Cleveland Park before heading up to DuPont State Forest so Brandon could show us the view.

Tattooed Rock

DW & Brandon

Brandon showing DW the amazing view...love these two!

On the way down the mountain, we stopped at an old "haunted" bridge that was made in the 1820's, which I think is ridiculously cool.  Something there from that long ago when people travelled on horses and by wagon like Robin Hood.  I love stuff like this!

State Road Bridge built in 1820's

Apparently, it is haunted by the people who were hung there long ago.  I don't mind the story in the daylight but you won't catch me there at night.  Story or not...I don't like the dark anyway. 

Passage under the bridge

Playing

Passing through

We also stopped at an out of the way BBQ place (SO good!) and shopped through antique stores that lined the streets.  Of course, that was my idea...not the boys.  :-)

Hubba Hubba BBQ

After that, we went home to clean up and rest for a bit before we went out for dinner and to the minor league baseball game.  We went to some mexican restaurant downtown (can't remember the name) and then headed to the game.  When we were walking in, I handed my i.d. to an older man at the gate because he was putting "over 21" bands on people.  When I handed him mine, he looked at me and told me matter of factly that it was my older sister's id.  I fell in love immediately. 

DW & I

Brandon & DW

The guys were nice enough to humor me for pics for the ol' blog but then as the mascot is passing by, Brandon snatched the camera out of my hand and waved the mascot over.  Will you take a picture with my friend? he says.  She LOVES you!  He went on to ask "it" to get really, really close because I was SUCH a huge fan.  Next thing I know, the sweaty smelly frog has his arms wrapped all around me.  Nice, Brandon. 

Me & My new BFF

After the game, we went to some little patio restaurant where we met up with some of Brandon's friends and hung out for a couple hours talking and laughing.  We also ended up doing an infommercial for some rubber band that makes you stronger and have better stretches.  It was pretty hilarious...just wanted to include it so I didn't forget!

On Sunday morning, Jill came home after 24+ of work at the hospital...and somehow managed to join us for breakfast.  We spent a little bit of time trading memories and stories while we ate and then hit the road for home! How she manages to look so gorgeous with no makeup and no sleep...I'll never know.  I'm jealous! ;-)

Brandon & Jill

All in all, a great weekend and I hope to go back very soon!  Love you, B!

Sam I Am...

More musings from life-in-real-time...my inside thoughts are running on overdrive the last couple days. 

I walked through the living room yesterday and saw DW standing at the back door, looking outside, chuckling to himself.  "What are you laughing at?" I say.  His simple reply: "Sam."  I looked out the window to see this:

Laying out...

I couldn't help but laugh, too, because we think its so weird that his legs can do that!  It's like two paws are growing out of his butt.  DW started scrambling for the camera, hoping Samson wouldn't move before we could get a picture of the way he always sits.

I'm sure it's crazy to people who haven't had pets...and even probably people who have had pets...how much I love these pups, I bet.  But to me, there is something so pure about the kind of love they give...never self-seeking, always aware of the emotions of others, they never, ever hold a grudge, they forgive wrongs against them almost immediately, they are always happy to see you, their eyes spill over with love and affection...I could go on!  I admire those qualities.  I just think how much better of a wife I could be to DW if I could exhibit half of those qualities on a daily basis.  

I'm such a visual person, such a feeler that I find God speaks to me in every-day-ordinary-things more than I find Him in other places.  I rarely get the "big reveal".  It's usually just quiet things that I feel is a private conversation between God and I.  I'm very Jack-and-Jill-went-up-the-hill in my faith.  He uses things like my dogs and windstorms or a combination of dogs and windstorms to teach me sometimes.  It's deeper than that, obviously, but I want to believe like a child, see the world like a child...and then use my gifts like the adult I am.  For example?  Back to the I-wish-I-were-more-like-my-dog-scenario...

Forgiveness.   Yesterday's post got me thinking a bit more about this.

Sam has an accident in the bedroom and I get upset with him, tell him to "kennel up" and when he does get inside, I slam the kennel door closed, smack the top of the kennel for emphasis and yell, "Bad boy!"  As I'm walking out, I flick the light to the basement on and off, on and off, and then walk out and slam the door...again, with the emphasis.  I'm dramatic like that.  :-)  Once I'm back upstairs, I realize that it wasn't Sam that did it at all, it was Tucker. I walk back downstairs, let him out, and even though I just banged on his kennel, yelled at him for something he didn't even do, and turned the lights on and off and slammed the door on him...I hear thump thump thump.  His tail is banging against the sides of the kennel and he's actually happy to see me.  

New scenario (this requires a bit of imagination but welcome to my weirdo brain)...just read it a lot faster this time:

DW has an accident in the bedroom and I get upset with him, tell him to "kennel up" and, when he does get inside, I slam the kennel door closed, smack the top of the kennel for emphasis and yell, "Bad boy!" As I'm walking out, I flick the light to the basement on and off, on and off, and then walk out and slam the door...again, with the emphasis. I'm dramatic like that. :-) Once I'm back upstairs, I realize that it wasn't DW that did it at all, it was Tucker. I walk back in, let him out, and even though I just banged on his kennel, yelled at him for something he didn't even do, and turned the lights on and off on him and slammed the door on him...I definitely don't hear the proverbial thump thump thump. For one, obviously, he doesn't have a tail.  For two, I hurt his pride, mistreated him for something he didn't even do, I probably didn't handle my anger that great...and human nature is that we are slower to forgive and that we tend to harbor wrongs against us.  

Not so with Sam...it's instant forgiveness because of his very nature.  He loves me as much after that scenario as he did before that and it will never enter his mind again.  He will never hold it against me, he will never judge me for how I handled a situation, he will never fault me.  He forgives my every wrong against him and he has no expectation for me to be perfect.  He will forgive me a 100 times over because He loves me. 

It is truly my belief that God's love, His nature...is much like that.  Too often I catch myself thinking of God as having a nature like me and I believe that couldn't be further from the truth.  I'm called to have a nature like Him. I am made in His image but I often think of my own flaws like anger, unforgiveness, emotional distance and expect them to be qualities He would manifest.  No matter what happens or what we do, if I approach Him and I am truly sorry for those actions (even if I have to do it over and over with the same thing), He's ready to forgive me.  Instantly - no matter what we have done - we only have to ask and it's like it never happened.  

Now, that's some good Jack-and-Jill Bible truth right there. 

Backing up, DW is pretty good about instant forgiveness as well.  Me, not so much.  I used to smolder for days at small slights.  I used to abandon friendships completely for big wrongs - because I used to think it was easier to never get hurt again than to risk it.  (Not to say there aren't toxic people that you should remove from your life. But I believe even in those situations I will choose not to harbor bitterness in my heart toward them.)  Oh man, how God has changed me in the last several years. 

I want to react to someone the way they react to me but an old Bible verse comes to mind: A kind word turns away wrath.

I want to speak to someone the way they spoke to me but something my Mom used to say stirs in my spirit: You can't control others.  The only person you can control...the only person you can change...is you.  

I want to walk away from a friendship because I am so so so afraid of vulnerability.  DW's counsel from when we were new friends rings in my ears: if you don't let someone authentically know you, then you won't be able to experience someone authentically loving you, either.  

I sit here on the couch, typing because its a bit like therapy and an old hymn comes to mind from when my feet still barely reached past the end of the pew: Oh how He loves you, Oh how He loves me...Oh how He loves you and me.  And, yup, all this started with looking out the window at a dog.  It's just the way my mind works.  I never said I wasn't a little bit weird. 

 

Randoms

Random facts for my life-in-real time journal aka my blog:

- My curling iron recently broke into 27 pieces.  Nothing happened, it just decided to go on strike after 5 years on the job.  I miss it, but a chi curling iron isn't in my budget right now...so I guess crazy hair it is.  Oh how I miss thee, Curl Down. 

- When we went hiking this weekend, I noticed that Tucker (my 12 year old Lab) tried to keep up with Samson (my 1.5-2 year old ish Lab) during the hike.  When Cooper was around, Tucker used to do his own thing while Samson and Cooper hung out, but I realized we are all starting to adjust finally and Sam and Tuck might even like each other now. Ugh, I still can't even think about her without crying.  Every stinking time.  I wonder if I'll ever be able to think of her without reacting like this. 

- FitLab is growing, praise the Lord.  And I do mean, praise the Lord seriously, not just as some phrase.  I really feel like He's blessed our desire to help others.  I can't believe how different my life looks from just a little over 2 years ago.  I love our company, I love the clients that I get to work with...it just blesses me more every day.  I had a client email me this morning to let me know she hit a goal of 35 pounds she's lost so far.  That's literally like losing 35 softballs off your body!!!  Think of carrying that around with you all day!  It wasn't without discipline, hard work, and a LOT of heart...and food logging (ha!)...but wow, it was such a proud moment for me for HER!  It makes me want to cry to think of how her first goal was just to be able to sit at her desk and cross her legs and/or to be able to get down on the floor with her grandchildren.  How dramatically different is her life today?!  

Another HUGE FitLab blessing is Celia, someone we recently hired to help teach classes and to grow the business.  She joined our bible study/small group several months ago and the second I met her, I had a quickening in my spirit that she may be an answer to a prayer I'd been praying. I'd been asking God to lead me to a specific someone to help, someone who was equal parts tough and sweet, disciplined but could understand people who couldn't be disciplined sometimes, someone who had a passion for fitness...someone willing to grow as we grew.  Celia expressed an interest in FitLab from day one but she had a job and wasn't in the position, she thought, to change careers.  Well, little did she or I know that soon she'd lose her job and come on as a team member with us.  Her story is AMAZING. She's lost almost 100 pounds since her sophomore year of high school.  Check out her bio by clicking here.   No client could EVER say she "doesn't understand" or that it's "too hard"...she's been there!  Besides being an inspiration, she is absolutely stunning - inside and out!

- It seems like everyone around me is getting pregnant.  It's like they're all drinking out of some fountain I'm not.  ha!  Somehow I'm still shocked at how insensitive some people are about delivering this information when they know people around them are struggling...but then I'm even more shocked with myself that I haven't gotten used to the fact that people who get pregnant easily don't understand and will never understand and can't possibly realize how insensitive it sometimes comes across.  It's a problem in me that I'm still working on and learning to grow through - and I'm having to learn to forgive even when people don't know how much it hurts sometimes.  I think one of the hardest times to forgive is when people unintentionally offend  or disappoint you.  And this has to do with infertility and a million other situations, too. You have to forgive without them knowing you've done the forgiving and sometimes t's too easy to let resentment take root. That is one thing  I won't ever allow myself to be or become.  Bitter.  That is such an ugly word and it only hurts the person living with the bitterness.  I will not go there.  I will thank God every day for today...whatever today looks like. 

- One thing I've noticed is that now that blogging has become so popular and there are so many "features" meant to make reading convenient, it's somehow made the connections that you feel with people disappear to some degree.  While the reading is easier, some of those very things have made commenting harder...word verification, the fact you have to click out of reader, click comment, click, click, click a million times to do anything.  I feel like it's made this blogging journey a little more isolated, which isn't really the initial intention of beginning a blog.  It's to connect.  I've found myself commenting in my head far more than I take the time to click click click to comment legitimately.  Kinda sad, really.

Anyway, enough for the day...

Weekend Adventures...

DW and I had a busy weekend.  On Friday night we met Adam and Lyndsey over in Newnan for pizza and then we went next door to a coffee shop for iced coffee, as it is a million degrees right now in Georgia and no one should drink hot coffee.  After we'd been sitting there for a few minutes, the owner dimmed the lights to let us know it was time to leave.  At 9:00 p.m.  On Friday.  Parrrty animals.  We had a blast hanging out and after we'd gotten done eating, I held and played with ALM for a bit.  She's at the age where she is finally learning to be affectionate and so when she fixated on my face and then leaned in for a big, wet open mouthed baby-kiss, I cracked up.  And I was done-so...my heart was stolen. 

On Saturday morning, DW and Adam met for man-time.  They both like to fish and, well, to my knowledge I don't...so it was perfect.  I slept in and enjoyed a lazy morning on my own.  After lunch, DW took me on a date to see The Switch, which was an absolutely adorable movie.  I LOVED it.  I probably cried five times...and I loved that it was equal parts funny, sad, sentimental, witty, and romantic.  It was also clean...which I was happy about...but it probably means it will get bad reviews because without sex and cussing how could a movie possibly be good these days?  But I digress...

We went straight from the movie to our friends, the Wards, house to celebrate Jackson's 2nd birthday...and then straight from there to have dinner with Celia and Leroy.  Celia is now my co-worker at FitLab and is an amazing friend.  While it's a bit scary mixing friendship and business, I'm willing to take that risk.  I feel like we both have our hearts and heads in the right place! 

Leroy is a trained culinary-grad from Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in New York and he is a-mazing!  When they said they wanted to cook for us, how could we possibly turn them down?!  Leroy and his sous chef (Celia) cooked pork loin with apple chutney as well as risotto and steamed spinach for the sides.  Reee-dic.  It was so good...and it was definitely $25 a plate good...at least, Le'roy.  ;-)

Pork w/apple chutney, risotto, & steamed spinach...dang!

After dinner, even though I claimed to be completely remedial at anything but Pounce, Spoons, and Go Fish, the three others decided that I should be able to pick up on Spades.  Either they explained well or I caught on better than I thought, but it wasn't that hard and it was lots of fun.  We are turning into card-junkies, I guess.

Celia & Chef Leroy

Leroy also owns a concrete and driveway business in metro Atlanta called Concrete By Design and was featured in Southern Living magazine not too long ago.  Thought I'd throw that out there...this guy is good at everything.

DW and I enjoying the good eats

On Sunday, we took the dogs and headed up to North Georgia to the Blue Ridge Mountains to go hiking.  We ended up at Carter Lake, which we've done before and we like it.  The dogs can run off leash and get their energy out, swim, and we can walk and talk and relax.  Somehow one of my butt cheeks got sore from our hike yesterday.  Only my left one...which I find rather strange. 

On our way up there, it was a hot mess.  DW's computer quit working, our navigation couldn't find our spot, and we were generally not on the same page about where we were headed.  Add to it that I'm pumped full of hormones at the moment and the car ride got a little tense. What's wrong with you?! DW asks. "Hormones." I exclaim. "Ugh, don't I know it!" he replies, grinning. "Yea", I retort, "well, you try living with them." He pauses and looks at me out of the corner of his eyes before saying with a smirk, "Oh, trust me, I do." Touché DW, Touche. ;)  Shortly after, we both said our apologies and started over.  I knew we were fine when I asked for a clean slate, DW granted it, and I leaned over and said, "Seal it with a kiss then."  When he grinned, I knew we were out of the woods.

Speaking of the woods, it wasn't too far down the path when DW says to me, "Ummmmmm, I think I'd feel a lot better if I popped you really hard on the butt right now."  I look down and he's swinging the stick that we use to sling the tennis ball for the dogs.  "Ok then, I agree, thinking he's kidding, go ahead and do it."  Whack!  I blinked in surprise but laughed when I saw him cracking up.  I rolled my eyes when he says to me, Now. Would you feel better if you hit me in the face?"  Maybe, I reply, but I didn't do it.  ;-)

We ended up having a good Sunday and the dogs were absolutely exhausted when we got home.  I would post pictures, but it would be just more pictures of the dogs and I look like a chipmunk right now because I'm taking a medicine that gives me what I like to refer to as fat fatty fertility face. I look like a chipmunk.  So anyway, it was a good weekend and I have to stop writing now because the other side effect of the medicine besides fat fatty fertility face is that my eyes have a headache 24/7.  It's time for this girl to go to bed.    

Gone to the Dogs...

If there is one thing that will severely handicap my blogging, it's having a broken camera. About this time last year, I took my camera to a youth event and it took it's last breath. Since then I've purchased about (not kidding) 6 different cameras and taken them all back within a few days because they just weren't "the one". I'm picky about things like this.

Well, when our friends, Jason and Diana, came into town a few weeks ago, it was love at first "click". Jason had gotten her a Canon 50D for her mother's day gift and she told me she wished more than anything that she'd broken down and gotten one sooner. I started doing my research and then decided that I was just going to bite the bullet and get myself one. After all, my blogging habit has been suffering.  And because of that, so has our memories that we keep listed here. 

I never take the retail price on anything so when I went into the store I bought the camera from, I told the lady I had some money to spend somewhere - today - and that I wanted to see what the best offer her manager would give me. About that time, DW strolled the other direction. He doesn't mind that I'm a bargainer what-so-ever, he just doesn't want to be within 100 feet while I'm doing it. lol  Still, when I bought it for $300 cheaper than the listed price, he was a happy man. 

So, of course, the first thing I had to do after getting it was do a test drive on my new favorite toy!  We decided to load the dogs up and take them over to the lake to get a little energy out and give me a chance to see if I could get my million dollar shot.  I must say, not that interesting for everyone else...loads of fun for me.

The second it caught a cute picture of Samson, who is not photographically inclined...I was hooked.  Sam is the most precious dog and has the sweetest facial expression but the second a camera comes out, he gets the "dumb eyes".  Not anymore...

We got the dogs ready and put on their life jackets so they can follow along behind us when we're kayaking...

Samson loaded up

Sweet Samson

King Tuck

Tucker didn't want to jump in his jacket, so DW had to walk over and offer a little assistance...while he was doing it, Sam couldn't help but try to squeeze in a little quality time.  And my heart jumped a little as I looked through the camera lense and felt an immense sense of gratitude that this happy, simple life is mine. 

Love this scruffy face

Surprise!

About that time, DW was working on getting the kayaks loaded on the car and the dogs watched attentively, waiting for it to be time to go and get their swim on. 

Waiting patiently

As soon as we got there, Sam hit the water wide open.  Me, I just stared at how beautifully the camera was able to capture the water.  It literally looks like you could reach out and touch it, doesn't it?! And think about if I actually knew what I was doing! :-)

Wide open

DW & Kid

Checking it all out

Letting Kid & Krista try out the kayaks

And to my complete and utter dismay, there was a lady there with rescue puppies.  I wanted to take all of them home.  Wouldn't you?

Is there anything cuter?

Precious lil girl

I'm a sucker for puppy breath!

Finally, Tucker had had enough and was ready to go home.  He has a unique ability to communicate very clearly what he wants.  See:

Let's go...enough pictures already!

The END

Fox (Bros.) & Friends...

On Friday night, our friends the McCormicks and McCurrys went with us up to Fox Brothers BBQ, one of my favorite places in Atlanta. These two families are comprised of some of the most real, genuine, fun people you'll ever meet and I'm so happy that I can call them all my friends. 

Celeste, Amy, and Lyndsey

Ryan, DW, and Adam

Adam & Lyndsey

Ryan & Celeste

I'm not big on fried food, but the fried jalapenos and fried pickles are reee-diculous and the jalapeno cornbread is something you can't even describe how good it is. It's just a must try. Fox Bros is located in the Candler Park area, which I just love. The old homes there are just full of character and, with a little TLC, could be one of the coolest neighborhoods, I think.

Once we were all appropriately miserable, we walked several blocks to where the car was parked and, all being similar personality types, talked about which homes we loved, what we could do with them to update them, and weighed the benefits of suburban vs. city life.  Easy access to incredible food fell into both the plus and minus category.

DW and I

And if I weren't miserable enough, whenever I'm in Atlanta, I get this insatiable urge for frozen yogurt. There really isn't a single one in the area I live in, although I'm not sure how that's possible since they're popping up every where. Ryan was nice enough to chauffeur all of us over to Yoforia - where we went from miserable straight into the "food coma" category. If it's possible to wake up with a "food hangover", I'm quite sure I did.

On Saturday afternoon, Jessica picked me up and we headed over to a mutual friend's baby shower.  Baby showers used to be tough on me and I felt the need to avoid them, but I was fairly surprised to realize yesterday that I don't feel that way anymore.  I'm just thankful for the joy that my friends are able to experience.   
 

Jessica and I

The mama-to-be and I

Leslie is having her second baby soon and recently found out she's having a boy. She already has an adorable little girl who is going to be a great big sister...and what a perfect way to round out their family with one of each!  If I'd had a better picture, I so wouldn't have posted that one of me.  I don't know about anyone else who is here locally, but this humidity is literally impossible on the hair.   

The food was fantastic and I couldn't do it any justice with the pictures I took but the table of food was set up beautifully.  The hostess did an amazing job!

Baby Blue Thumbprint cookies

And the petit fours, or whatever the heck they're called, had the tiniest little baby booties on them.  They were absolutely adorable.  I felt bad eating them they were so cute!

Petit whatevers

After the shower, the weather really started getting to me.  I know it may sound strange but my mood often closely resembles the weather.  A overcast, rainy day makes me feeling a little bit overcast and it's always good for me to keep myself occupied and thinking positive thoughts. I wasn't sure how they'd feel about seeing us for a 2nd night in a row, but I called Lyndsey and Adam to see if they wanted to order pizza and play Pounce.  Thankfully, they did and we had an absolute blast!  Laughter is just what the doctor ordered!

First we hit Mighty Joes pizza...

Mighty Joe's pizza

Lyndsey, ALM, and Adam

DW and I

Took lots of pictures of Addison...

Sweet face

Snuggle baby

Busy baby

And then headed home to Adam & Lyndsey's to play Pounce...yes, again.  We are addicted. 

As the night wore on, we all got a little slap happy.  We determined that DW is the "Pounce stalker"...because the second you've laid your card down, DW has already slapped his next card on top of it.  We decided that Adam missed his calling as a radio dj due to his deep radio voice and his never ending ability to turn every statement into a line from a tv movie or song.  And...Lyndsey infamously busted out her slow motion "running man arms" every time she made a good play.  Good times, good times.

And now...the perfect finale to every weekend.  What is...a Sunday afternoon nap.