November 4, 2013

The last couple of months have been pretty normal.  Work, home, repeat.

We went camping over the summer to Hot Springs with some friends and the dogs (and humans) loved it.  We hiked up to Max Patch  and the views were absolutely breathtaking. In total we had 4 dogs and they loved the wide open spaces.  We have been keeping Kooper for our good friend's but she is getting ready to be returned to them in a couple of weeks.  I'm sure she is ready to be back with her real family although I'm not sure how Abby will react.  They have been together since July 4th so I'm sure it will be an adjustment for both of them.

Last week we went to New Orleans for J's 40th bday.  Originally Chris wasn't going to go but I'm glad he was able to get the time off work.  NOLA is not some place I would want to be by myself.  Granted there was a big group but it's not the same.  Here is a group shot of our Halloween costume.  Yes, we went as the Care Bears.  It was a lot of fun and somewhere out there we are probably on some else's FB since people were taking pictures of us the entire night.  Side note that we actually did make these!

During the days we recouped and ate some fantastic food.  My favorite being a dish from Palace Cafe. The specific pork dish that I got reminded me of dad's home cooking and nothing has come close to that.  On top of that Chris and I split a piece of Crabcake cheescake.  It was to die for!

We also hung around Jackson Square and saw some really good artwork and a piece.  I wish we had bought more so maybe next time.  Here is a pic on the grounds of the church on Jackson Square.

The music in the city is fantastic and we found ourselves wishing we had more time to take it all in.  Our last night there we did a haunted tour in the French Quarter and learned some interesting facts about the city.  That was probably a highlight of the trip.

In a couple of weeks we are heading to take Freddy back to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital for some more heart tests.  Over the summer he had a couple of spells with his heart that put him in the hospital on a couple different occasions.  Chris took him to Vanderbilt the first time in August and when they left his house there was a police escort!  Loudon loves Freddy Ray!  This time around the Dr. is wanting to try and re-create the episode under a controlled environment to see if they can target what exactly is causing them.  We will be there overnight so hoping for a good outcome.

Hard to believe but the holiday's are here again.  I went shopping over the weekend and there was Christmas music playing!  I guess I forgot that at Goody's we started Christmas music on November 1.
I really don't miss working retail this time of year.

Time to Play Catch UP

I have stepped  away a few months from blogging because, well, nothing really interesting is going on that I felt was blog worthy.  I just happened to be on my desktop looking through some random photos and realized that I really need to start to keep up with writing again.  If anything to help me remember stuff since I'm notorious for forgetting the details (I blame my fall in 2007). 

So for starters Chris and I are just about to wrap up our 60 day Insanity challenge.  We had to take a brief detour while Chris recovers from yet another eye surgery.  This time to remove a cataract that was caused from his Retinal detachment surgery a couple years ago.  As of today he says he's able to see things a little clearer so that's a plus.  So like I said we are about to wrap this crazy workout up and it's been a great eye opener for us as well as a lifestyle change.  We are way more conscience about what we are eating, how much we are eating and how often.  I was worried at first that it was going to take a toll on our budget but it's not been that bad.  I have really liked cooking new recipes (some not so great!) and I'm always looking for the next best, and easy, recipe.  To date Chris has dropped about 15 and I'm down about 6.  I can tell that I have lost several inches and my clothes are fitting better.  When we finish this up we are going to start another Beach Body program - ChaLean.  It's working with weights which will be a nice change of pace from Shaun T and his crazy Max Cardio Circuit!  

A is just a few weeks out from graduating high school and moving on to college land.  I know she will do great!  She has me looking up some photos of her and I together and it's amazing how quickly time has flown by.  Amazing how a few short years ago we were still living under the same roof and I was braiding her hair for church.  I love that kid! 

Our Godson is almost 14 months and keeping his mom and dad very busy.  We kept for a few hours last weekend and had fun reading and playing.  He has learned a few signs so all of a sudden he stopped what he was doing and did the sign for "eat".  I was pretty impressed.

Mother's day is this weekend so I think we are getting the mom's together for a cook out provided it doesn't rain. We have had a ton of rain lately and I'm about over it! 

Well, I guess that's all for now.  I'll write more when I can. 

January 2013

Welcome to 2013!

I'm trying to pick up from the last time I posted.  Let's see.. We closed on the house and moved to Lenoir City in June and love being on this side of town.

I am still working at In10sity and the job is keeping me very busy.  I am our representative for EWI and have enjoyed being a part of a great organization.  I have met some great people and looking forward to getting more involved this year. 

We had a great Thanksgiving and Christmas and spent it with our good friends and family so that was a lot of fun.  I have really enjoyed being in the kitchen and it was nice to cook for everyone.
We spent NYE at Shaun and Jen's along with some other friends.  Pretty low key but that's the way I like things.

We had Abby a little birthday party a couple of weeks ago to celebrate her 5th birthday.  We had our good friend Emily at Confectionista's Kitchen make the dog friendly cake and it was a hit. 
I have some pictures somewhere so I'll try to post those up.

I don't really like making resolutions for the new years but I do have a few goals I would like to meet this year.  One of them would be to get back on the FPU bandwagon and see a real difference in 6 months.  I also want to pick up more crafty/kitchen related hobbies.  I've recently become a Pinterest fan and have started a collection of ideas.

Happy New Year! Here's to making 2013 the best one yet.