The Fickle Pickle

I had such a good day today. I got to spend the day with my Mom. We went to a baby shower for one of my high school friends Brittany. She lives in Winston-Salem, N.C. now and made a trip back to ATL. so we could celebrate with her as she awaits the arrival of a baby boy. The shower was at "The Fickle Pickle" near the Roswell Square--it was such a neat place with really good food-(they had fried pickles) (check out the website- http://www.ficklepicklecafe.com/). It was so nice to see a bunch of the girls (and their Moms) from high school (Walton Raiders)!!! After the shower we headed to Marietta to visit Jill and Jonathan and meet their new baby boy "Hudson Michael". He was such a cutie! It was a FABULOUS day catching up with good friends.

The Simple Pleasures of Centerville, Indiana

What a WONDERFUL visit I had in Indiana over the weekend!!! I got to visit Grandma Rhodes, Aunt Connie, and Uncle Bob. First we got to visit "Larry" a camel that a local family has. He gets so excited when you pull up to visit him--he dances, gives you kisses, and will even suck your thumb!!! He is so sweet--I love Larry! Aunt Connie and Uncle Bob showed me their evening routine of riding the golf carts to a favorite spot to catch the sunset over the fields (in Indiana there are corn fields and soybean fields everywhere). There is a local man that makes pottery--Scott Schafer-- we went to visit his gallery and there was a note on the door that said "I had to be gone for awhile--if you see anything you like, leave your money on the counter"--I LOVE THAT!!! The honor system. Small towns are special! I got 2 coffee mugs. Got to spend the afternoon visiting with Grandma and Aunt Jerrie. They are sisters and they grew up at the family farm in Indiana "Westcott Place Farm". Aunt Connie and Uncle Bob just got a sweet, new dog that they rescued named "Chocolate Chip". The big tree in the front yard at the farm got trimmed while I was there and we moved all the branches to the bonfire pile. I learned a lesson about Rental Cars--- don't do the "gas option" that they give you if you aren't going to use a full tank of gas. I was a sucker and fell for it and paid for a whole tank of gas on top of the rental car price and I only drove 92 miles-- so, Uncle Bob and AJ helped try to siphon out the gas--but it didn't work. Total Bill for rental car that I was only in for an hour and a half= $144!!!! You live and you learn!!! On Saturday we drove to celebrate with our dear family friends the Mawbeys. It was Basil Mawbey's Retirement Party from coaching basketball. We met the Mawbey's when my dad and Basil coached together for years and then won the State Championship in 1983 (which is HUGE in Indiana!). The Mawbeys are Basil, Eileen, Leah, Dawn, Chrissy, and Cary. Now all the kids are married and have kids of their own--so it was SO GREAT to hang out with them and catch up. I was sad because Brandon, Mom, and Cappie were suppose to be there for the weekend too--but they were flying standby and the flights were booked. It was fantastic to spend time with family and friends and be back home again in Indiana.

Welcome Back to the South

We headed across highway 20 to Birmingham to visit the Adams this weekend. They just made the big move from NYC. We got to meet their sweet, new baby girl..."Elizabeth Anne"!!!!!!!!!

Bands and Babies

Friday night we got to go listen to Dale Hicks (Christian and Becky's brother in law) play guitar at Wild Wing Cafe. He is so good-- he plays all the songs you love and want to sing along to. We spent the night at the Noble's and Hank loved every minute of it-- he played with his buddies Cole an Lily!!! We got to stop by Sarah and Ed's to meet Sarah's sister that was visiting from Canada and see how much their little boy Will has grown. Then, went to Elizabeth's beautiful baby shower at the Ritz in Buckhead-- it was fancy and fun.

Can't Believe it is already AUGUST

July was a wonderful month. To start it all off Brandon and I ran the Peachtree Road Race (a family tradition) with my Mom and Kelli. We ate 4th of July lunch with Mom, Cappie, and the Crim's at "The Bluebird" (Mom and Cappie's cute house in College Park). We got to eat a special 4th of July dinner at NAVA with some friends----YUM!!!!!! That was the first time I had ever been there--I would highly recommend it. I got a refreshing mojito to drink, we shared lobster soft tacos for appetizer, and grouper for dinner!!!! We had a fabulous view of the fireworks from the Benich's condo in Buckhead. The weekend after the 4th was a great time too--a bunch of friends came up to spend time by the lake. Just like us, our friends are dog lovers-- almost everyone brought a dog--I think at final count we had 11 dogs swimming in the lake that day!!! Brandon and I got to take a trip down to Sandestin for a few days-- it was really nice--we soaked up every bit of the beach that we could. It was hard to leave. We got to see Jill and Alan Pulfrey and eat dinner together at the Red Bar because they were vacationing at the same time we were. Later in the month we got to have my Nursing School 6 Year Reunion at the Braves Game-- it was so much fun to catch up with all the girls and their families!!! Mrs. Larson and Lana came down from Chattanooga and had a "girls night" with me and my Mom at the "Bluebird" at the end of July-- we went to see Mama Mia (the next morning our moms came in singing and dancing to wake us up!!), played tennis, ate at Nuevo Larado (sp?), and went shopping. It is hard to believe that July has come and gone and it is already AUGUST!!! Most Schools start next week--WOW!!!

No Dogs On The Furniture

We have tried to keep Hank off of the furniture-- he stays off of everything except this chair--he has claimed it as his own. How can you argue with this face???