Athens

Our weekend in pictures....

Minus the open container citation, Georgia loss, and scorchingly hot weather, we had a fabulous time in Athens and hey, at least one of our teams won.... Roll Tide. :)

Twenty Six

It is hard to believe that I turned 26 on Sunday. In just 4 years am I really going to be THIRTY?? Yikes... that sounds O.L.D. I know it really isn't old, but it just sounds old. Anyways, this year it seems like my birthday was more like a birth'week'. Because I had to work the day before, the day of, and 2 days after my birthday, George and I celebrated last week. We went to a restaurant called Lime in Nashville. It was soooooo good...... and Kelly Clarkson was there! I have never been one of those people who gets super excited to see someone famous, but I have to admit that it was pretty cool. George came and brought me lunch at work on my birthday and he got to meet some of my new coworkers/ friends. My past 2 jobs I felt so lucky to LOVE the people I worked with. I was really nervous about meeting new people and fitting in. I think everybody that starts a new job has a little anxiety about this. Anyways, I have been blessed again with awesome coworkers. My preceptor, Suzanne, made me a birthday cake and fruit tea to celebrate at work. She is so sweet. Yesterday, I opened some birthday boxes my family and George's family sent. I got some really awesome gifts and the sweetest cards!! Thanks to everyone who made my birthday this year such a good one! I cannot wait to see what this next year holds.

Lately

My mom came to visit me and Hank while George was in New Orleans this weekend. We had SUCH a blast!

Friday, my mom and I did one of our absolute FAVORITE things to do.... we drove to this adorable neighborhood/ community (westhaventn.com) and explored for hours and even toured some model homes. This neighborhood is totally my dream... and by dream, I mean I will probably be dreaming for a while! It was so much fun, though. Friday night we dined at a delish Mexican restaurant in downtown Franklin called Sol. We had some awesome margaritas, queso fundido, and a yummy balsamic chicken with peach salsa! Afterwards, we reminisced while watching the wedding video. For those of you that are engaged or maybe just in a relationship, I would highly recommend a wedding videographer when the day comes. Our DVD included highlights, the entire ceremony, and most of the reception. The highlights section was highlights (duh) put to music( http://evolutionvideoinc.com/?p=271). It is such an amazing thing to watch yourself and significant other reciting your vows and it brought back quite a bit of emotions. It is something that we will definitely cherish for a lifetime.

Saturday morning, my mom and I went to the Franklin Farmers Market which is like 5 minutes from our place. This is something that I plan on doing with George every Saturday. It was AMAZING. This market has everything from organic, all natural soaps to jewelry, to local meats and locally grown veggies, pickles, jams, juices, dips, pies, cakes.... you name it... the Franklin Farmers Market has it! We tried a few items... pumpkin butter, olive spread, blackberry jam, sweet pickles, pickled squash, and salsa. We plan on buying a few things each week.... the pumpkin butter and pickled squash were my faves!!

I gave my mom a brief tour of Nashville... we explored a little bit in East Nashville ( the artsy up and coming area ), Green Hills / Vanderbilt area, and downtown. I do not have the best track record in regards to my directionality (is that a word??) ... anywho, I was very proud of myself because A. We did not get lost... B. I was driving my mom's car with her in the passenger seat...C. I was driving through the biggest monsoon I have ever seen; streaks of lightning all around us... totally not my thing! Now I know why Nashville flooded... in like 5 minutes of rain, the streets had turned to rivers. It was insane. After I safely navigated us home, we got some take out PF Changs and planted ourselves on the couch. We watched some episodes of 'Say Yes to the Dress' ( we will always love the wedding stuff) and called it a night. What a great weekend with great company!

Sunday evening, after George got home from his exhausting weekend of work aka fantasy football draft in New Orleans, we walked outside to this....

I love this town.

A pic of 'TLI', George's fantasy football league. Each year, they travel to the city of the previous Super Bowl winner to do their draft. Of course, George is sporting his UGA game day gear. So George!

Sunsets, Ice Cream, and Babies!

Well, it has been a busy 2 weeks to say the least!

Since we have moved to Nashville, we have had some gorgeous sunsets. I don't know if it is the open land or what, but the sky just seems a bit bluer, the stars a bit brighter, and the sunsets more vibrant. What do you think??

This was taken on our walk around our neighborhood with Henry... so refreshing. :)

Well, for those of you who have the pleasure of knowing my husband, you are probably aware that he LOVES ice cream... like not only loves it but obsesses over it. My parents and his parents always make sure to have a tub of it when we go to Atl. Well, my mom decided that it would be fun to buy us an ice cream maker.... George opened this gift and he seriously looked like a 5 year old on Christmas morning. His excitement over this ice cream maker was the cutest thing ever. We tried it out yesterday and besides the loud 30 minute noise scaring Henry (what noise does not scare him, though??), our ice cream experiment was a HUGE success!

The simple ingredients....

Click here to buy your very own!!
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=16638889

We made simple vanilla ice cream and added crushed Butterfinger on top!
YUMMY! (Please excuse Henry's piggie.. self timer does not take the best pics)

The Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker also makes gelato, sorbet, and frozen yogurt and comes complete with a recipe book. I would highly recommend it!

I started working day shift in the NICU this week which has been quite the adjustment. Although waking up at 4:30 am is definitely not my shining moment, I feel so blessed to be back with the babies and I know this is what I was born to do. It amazes me how easily I can fall in love with someone else's baby... I just cannot wait to look into the eyes of my own. :) I am loving my new job thus far and have met some really wonderful, welcoming people. I am so grateful.

George and I celebrated our first week in Nashville at a delicious restaurant, Whiskey Kitchen. Dirty marts (extra dirty), fish and chicken tacos, and the Braves game made for our perfect date night. :)

A quick post and some pics...

The last week has been a bit of a blur to say the least. George took the bar exam Wednesday and Thursday (so glad that is over!), packed ALL day Friday, moved from 7 am Saturday morning to 1 am Sunday morning, unpacked ALL day Sunday, and started a new job today... and so I apologize for the lack of blogging! We were so thankful to have the amazing help of my parents and could NOT have done it without them. Here are some pics of our move~

Out with the old.....

......and in with the new!!!

Den area

Office aka storage aka future nursery :) (George adds... aka Georgia room.. we will see about that!)

Guest Bathroom

Guest Bedroom.. very inviting, right??! Come visit!!

Kitchen

Master Bath

Master Bath

Desk

More of the den...

Will post more pics as we finish the rooms. Although I am not a fan of change, I am LOVING Nashville so far and am so grateful we are finally getting to enjoy married life. Life is so good! :)

Last visits to Knoxville....

This weekend, my sister, Katie, and her boxer pup, Duncan, came to visit us in Knoxville one last time! I do not know who had more fun... me and Kate or the pups! Friday night, we went out with friends for a Mexican dinner and played a few rounds of darts. Saturday, we lounged around and then took the dogs to the park where they had an absolute blast! We cooked a delish dinner that included shrimp with a peanut sauce, hot and sour soup, and fried rice. We finished the night with a little homemade banana pudding and a game of Gin Rummy. What a fun filled weekend! George thanks you, Kate, for keeping me busy! And I will forgive sweet Duncan for eating inhaling my sandwich and punching me in the face in the middle of the night.... after all, he is a 'Boxer'. :)

I was hoping to post some videos from the park of the boys running around, but I am having some technical difficulties with uploading videos to my blog. I will hopefully get them posted soon! Love you Kate and Dunk, and we cannot wait for you to visit us in Nashville!

Hollywood with a touch of twang...

After several weeks of rental website stalking and three long day trips to Nashville....We FINALLY found our new home! Wahoo! I can only imagine how difficult buying a house is going to be. We were really hoping to rent a single-family home with a yard, etc; however, we fell in love with a new development in an awesome location outside of Nashville thanks to our friends, Kelci and Anthony, that will also be living there. It has a very urban feel that reminds me a bit of Atlanta but is surrounded by the beautiful hills and trees of middle Tennessee... so it has both the city and country feel that George and I desired. Visit www.dwellatmcewen.com to check it out! The community is newly developing with plans for a town center, market, and shops. A new Whole Foods is opening just up the street, which is very exciting! It is also just minutes from the adorable downtown Franklin. Unfortunately, I only got a few ‘before’ pics before my camera died…. More to come!

We couldn't be more excited.... and we hope to have lots of visitors!!