I have a new nephew!

Welcome to the world, Nolan Hamilton!

Born November 11, 2012 at 3:11am
10 lbs. 9 oz.

Alan's Surprise Birthday Bash

After two whole months of planning, the surprise party that I tried so hard to keep a secret, went off without a hitch!

The Saturday before Alan's birthday was a beautiful fall day with puffy white clouds dotting the sky. After a lazy and somewhat slow moving morning, I got my butt in gear and started running the miscellaneous errands I had left for last minute. First stop was to the Sugar Shack, where I picked one delicious pumpkin birthday cake and twelve mouth-watering cupcakes in various flavors. Next stop was Target to get the plates, napkins, etc that are required for eating delicious birthday cake. The final stop was the bowling alley to drop everything off for later that evening.

Alan spent the morning hanging out with his buddy, Nathan, fixing the light in his car, and then came over to the condo to hang out before "meeting my parents for family dinner." This is what I had been telling him for the past two months. You see, my family is one of the rare kinds that actually gets along and enjoys hanging out with each other and every so often, we'll meet for a family dinner to spend an evening with good company and good food and catching up with each other. So its not out of the ordinary for me to tell Alan that we have a family dinner on the calendar. In this instance, I told him we were meeting my parents at a restaurant nearby.

We left to go to "family dinner" and literally almost ran into one of our friends in the parking lot of the restaurant (Alan claims he didn't see him, but seriously, he walked straight in front of the car). We walked into the restaurant and I think that's when Alan realized the table with the birthday balloons was filled with our friends. His smile was huge and he said "Whats going on?" at which point everyone said "Surprise!"
We had a great time at dinner hanging out with everyone and enjoying delicious food (gator bites, shrimp and  grits, rabbit enchiladas, etc) and sampling from the extensive beer menu.

Before dinner, I had placed a pair of socks in front of Alan, telling him there was one more surprise and before I could even get the words out, he said "We're going bowling?!!?"

After dinner, we all carpooled to the bowling alley where the birthday cake and cupcakes were waiting for us. I was so happy all the surprises went off without a hitch. We all had such a great time and Alan was totally surprised.

Wedding Weekend- Amanda and Matt

A few weekends ago, my two good friends, Amanda and Matt, got married. It was a great celebration and a fantastic time had by all. The ceremony and reception was hosted at Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, a Gothic-Tudor style mansion in the middle of Druid Hills. The ceremony was situated in the front hall and the bridal party entered by way of the grand staircase. It was very elegant. The cocktail hour was on the back porch which perfectly coordinated with the amazing weather we were having that day. The reception was full of food and, of course, lots of dancing. It was a lovely evening which ended with Matt and Amanda running through rows of sparklers held by the guests.

Courtney and I waiting for the ceremony to begin

Me and the boys at the cocktail hour

Me and the girls at the cocktail hour

Hanging out at the reception

Hanging out at the reception

The Bride and Groom

I Love the Zoo!

Alan's company picnic was at the Atlanta Zoo a few weeks ago and we had a blast! It definitely is high on the list of great dates. We got there early in the morning and took our merry time meandering through all the exhibits. I kept changing my mind on which was my favorite because they are all so interesting.

After the lunch/announcements for Alan's work, we ended up running into his old friend, Becca. She works as a zoo keeper and was very sweet to show us around behind the scenes. She even let us feed Cecil, the cassowary who looked like a raptor with his razor talons and loves grapes. I'm not going to lie, he was a little intimidating and I was a little nervous that he might bite my fingers off. 

I can't wait to go back again. 

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yesterday, I turned the big 2-5! I am so blessed to have such loving friends and family. My birthday celebration, which has lasted a few days, has been so much fun!

I kicked off my birthday week with dinner on Saturday with a bunch of my close friends. We went to Tap in midtown and had a delicious dinner. My new friends, Stephen and Ali, gave me two beautiful scarves. And my friend, Tara, gave me a dazzling necklace. Everyone was in great spirits despite the rainy weather.

We ended dinner and walked across the street to Shout, where we had a drink, learned "the wobble", and met up with a few more people. Before long, we left Shout and endured the drizzle to end up at CosmoLava, getting a little lost along the way. We danced the night away and I had a fabulous time!

Sunday was a lazy day. My good friends, Sarah and Robert, hosted a Super Bowl party that night which was a lot of fun. I didn't really care about the game so much but I really enjoyed getting to see my friends again.

Monday, I went to my first bible study at my new church, Sardis United Methodist. I truly enjoyed the company of the women in the group and they are all incredibly supportive even though I was new. I look forward to growing in my faith along with this wonderful group.

On Tuesday, I met Ali at Hot Yoga. She did such a great job for it being her first time and even said she would come back and try it again, which is more than I did my first time. I have a love-hate relationship with hot yoga. When I do well, I love it and get a great sense of peace and accomplishment. But when I don't prepare enough and feel the overwhelming effects of the heat,

which is about 3 out of 5 times, I dislike it and debate ever going back. This Tuesday, I felt great.

Wednesday was my birthday day! Chaise, my friend and co-worker, brought in homemade chocolate chocolate cupcakes and a bunch of us went out to lunch to celebrate. The people that I work with really make my job a happy place to be. Everyone was coming over and wishing me happy birthday. After work, I met my boyfriend, sister, b-i-l, and nephew for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Alan brought me a beautiful bouquet of birthday flowers. The whole day was filled with happiness and I feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family who went out of their way to make me feel loved.

25 is going to be a great year!

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I am having so much fun decorating my new home for Christmas. I have a real Fraiser Fir in my living room and my tiny aqua tree from years past. All the little hand-me-down decorations make it feel so warm and cozy.

I'm a Homeowner!!

HGTV makes it look so simple. You find three houses you like, you pick one, and by the end of commercial break it's yours. The actual home buying process is a little bit longer, a little bit more complicated, and a lot more emotionally draining.

In my path to home-ownership, I looked at a ton of places, varying from nice and out of my budget to just creepy, small, and unlivable. I put in offers on three different properties. Negotiated on prices. Got emotionally invested, heart-broken, super-excited and finally just relieved to have the keys. It is a process that I do not want to do for at least another 5 to 7 years.

But after all that, I finally have a place of my own. Somewhere that I can paint and hang my pictures without thinking what the landlord will care about it. I don't have to save big bags or boxes for the day my rent is up and I have to move. I can just settle and make it my home.

I have some big plans for my new place. I owe a huge thank you to my most amazing parents for helping me out this whole time and for giving up their weekend to help me paint and get everything set up before I move in. My aunt Cin surprised me on Saturday with paint brush in hand and even came back on Sunday to help pick up furniture. She is awesome!! My bf also pitched in bringing his box of tools and even went on a much needed caffeine run for us all. Greyson decided he wanted to help paint the wall with his face and then watched conveniently from my lap. It was a very busy weekend and a great way to kick-off my new adventure of being a homeowner.