Meet Samson

Last Wednesday, we went out on a dinner date with Daniel and Jessica and Ryan and Celeste. We LOVE Daniel and Jessica and spend a lot of time playing Spoons, Cups, grilling out, and "doing life" with them through our amazing Small Group! And although we've spent time in the same circles as Ryan and Celeste - we've just recently had the opportunity to get to know them better! Celeste has an enormous heart for travel and Missions (which means we have a lot to talk about) and Ryan never fails to make me laugh ("Well, Hello!" he said during a FitLab workout recently, when he discovered his newly built biceps for the first(?) time)! It was kind of funny, too, because all four of them are currently in the FitLab program so they all felt like I was judging their food choices all night. They kept asking if they were hanging out with "Trainer Amy" or "Friend Amy"! ;-)

As an aside I have to brag on them all a little bit...I'm so proud of them! Daniel, who started first, has lost 40 pounds since the end of June, Jessica and Ryan are both around 16+lbs each and still going, and Celeste just got started but I'm sure is going to have a lot of success!

All three couples piled in my car and headed up to Atlanta to Nuevo Laredo Cantina, home of the Mexican brisket (DW's fav). Although it's what you might call a hole-in-the-wall, it's one of the Top 10 Mexican Restaurants in Atlanta. It's got great atmosphere, excellent chips and salsa, and an entree called Mexican Brisket that's too die for. To be honest, the rest of the entrees pretty much pale in comparison and are a little overpriced for what you are getting - in my humble opinion - but we still love it.

Jessica and I...

The Newlyweds: Ryan and Celeste...

Daniel, DW, and Ryan...

...and while I'm speaking of restaurants, can I just tell you how ESTATIC I was that DW and I were able to stop at Taziki's in Birmingham on our way through to his hometown football game on Friday night? My love for this place has as much to do with falling in love with DW (during our almost-daily lunch dates) as it does with the amazing food! It's probably one of my top 5 favorite places to eat!

DW capturing my happiness...

D-dubs loves it, too!

My personal favorite...the greek chicken rollups!

And last but not least, here is one of the main reasons I've been so busy...meet our latest "Foster" child, Samson. It's been raining since we found him so excuse the messy floor:

He's a lab mix (he looks mostly lab) that DW and I picked up out at his grandmother's house. People love to dump out puppies on the highway out there in the country and then they end up getting either run over or taken to the pound. Dusty and I are always suckers for black labs (especially) and have a pretty good track record for finding good homes for our "projects". We named him Samson because when we first took him home, he had several "hot spots" where he'd chewed his hair off. Plus, he's extremely strong and has enormous paws...so add the size, strength, and the hair issues and we thought the name Samson was only fitting! ;-)

We've been kennel training him, have him housebroken, he knows how to "sit", "get in your bed", "kennel up", "lay down", "go outside", "let's go downstairs", and, of course, "No!" (he hears this a lot!). He is extremely calm for his age, isn't a chewer (which isn't normal for a lab puppy) and is SUPER sweet and cuddly...so if you know of anyone looking for a (free) sweet little lab in the Atlanta/Auburn/Birmingham area...let us know! And hurry! We are falling in love and even I can't deal with THREE indoor/outdoor labs!!!