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!!

Happy 234th Birthday America!

George and I enjoyed a very relaxing fourth of July this year. We had a wonderful day at the pool...

and then cheered on the Braves and grilled some delicious burgers with friends. I made this special drink from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food....Blackberry and Peach Muddle. I was hoping the blackberries would appear blue and the peaches would appear red to make it patriotic. Did not exactly work, but tasted great! ;)

2 thin slices peach, 3 blackberries, 2 large mint springs, 1 1/2 tsp. honey, 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice ... mix together and mash gently with the back of a spoon until the fruit releases juices. Add 1/4 cup bourbon, 2 thin slices peach, and 3 blackberries. Fill glass with ice and top with seltzer (I used Sprite and added the lemons).

Thanks to Charlie and Angie's wedding gift, I was able to use fresh mint from our herb garden!

We decided to just watch fireworks from our balcony and actually had a pretty good view! Happy Birthday America!

Praying for Patience

Patience: noun; an ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay

Patience is something that I have struggled with my whole life. I think I am a very patient person in my career, but in my day to day life not so much. I just wish I had a fast forward button now and then... nothing wrong with that, right? Anyways....

This is a weird time for George and me....it seems our lives as newlyweds is sort of 'on hold' right now as George is studying for the BAR exam at the end of July, and I am trying to find a place for us to live in Nashville and finish up work in Knoxville... oh, and pack, of course. George takes the BAR July 28th and 29th, and we have to be out of our current home July 30th at noon! It should be interesting!

I so admire George's work ethic and determination.....it actually amazes me. I listened in on one of his review lectures today for a minute, and I just about fell asleep. One word- torture! A few of the words I picked up on: proxy, speculation, defendant, transaction....blah, blah, blah! I do not know how he does it, but I am so proud of him for his drive to succeed. I find myself wanting to hang out, do things together, and just enjoy each other's company. I am doing my best to keep myself busy as to not distract him. So for now, I pray for patience to get us through these next couple of weeks.

As for me.... I think I have been on every rental website known to man at least 30 times in one day. I find myself obsessing over it... like waking up in the middle of the night just to get on my computer and see if anything new has been posted. Ugh, I am so over it. It has been a 'planners' worst nightmare! And planner I am! I like to know everything in advance. We are actually both very schedule oriented people. So, the fact that we do not know where we are going to live in just one short MONTH is pretty agonizing. It is hard, too, because I have such specific requests (granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, open floor plan, backyard, etc). I have to remind myself that this is not going to be our dream home.... just a rental until we learn where we want to buy. We are headed to Nashville Monday to check out some places... wish us luck! But for now, I will continue to pray for patience!

July 30th cannot come soon enough!

Another fun weekend in ATL

This past weekend we traveled back to Atlanta to celebrate the marriage of our dear friends, Katie and Kyle. The wedding was fabulous and we are so thrilled for the happy couple!

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Kyle Sharpe!

Beautiful ceremony at the Atrium at Chateau Elan

Me and Laura with the stunning bride!

Sunday, we had the pleasure of attending a cookout/ pool party to celebrate Aunt Bess's 90th Birthday, and we had such a blast! Thanks Ellenda and Milton for a wonderful celebration.

The Green Girls!

The Green Boys!

Mr. and Mrs. Green :)

Melanie made a delicious strawberry cake!

Happy 90th Birthday Aunt Bess!

Father's Day

I am trying my best to keep up with all the important events, but I am not doing a very good job! Unfortunately, I spent Father's Day sleeping and preparing for my long night of work. However, I did think about my Dad, my Father-In-Law and of course the father of our future children, my husband. I just love calling George my husband. Anyways, George is going to be the most amazing father to our children one day.... but for now he is the amazing dad to this little guy....

Thank you Daddy for always taking me out and feeding me every day! I love hopping in bed with you at night and sleeping right in between you and Mommy. Love, Hank

Happy Father's Day to my husband, Dad, and George Sr. I am so thankful for each of you!

Anniversaries!

My In-Laws celebrated their 28th Anniversary this past weekend and my parents will be celebrating their 30th Anniversary tomorrow in the Virgin Islands. In this day and age, it seems that long lasting marriages are few and far between, so George and I feel truly blessed to have such wonderful examples of abiding love from our parents! Happy Anniversaries!