Happy Late Birthday Mason!!!!

Spring doesn't officially begin for another 3 weeks or so, but I guess you could say it's already "springing" here in Columbus.  The past few days we have enjoyed beautiful, fairly warm weather, which makes us even more ready to get February behind us so that we can enjoy the outdoors again.  Those who know me know that I do not at all consider myself "outdoorsy".  I don't particularly like to be a "part" of nature (i.e. hiking, fishing, working in the yard) but I do like to passively observe nature (i.e. walking, sitting on a boat, sitting in the yard).  We have slowly, but surely, started spending more time outdoors as the weather gets warmer, and will probably continue until it becomes way too warm, which hopefully won't be 'til late June.

I will start the recap of the last couple of weeks with an update on Chris.  He passed his first couple tests and has about 4 more weeks to go of academics.  He has been studying a good bit, but most of his activities so far have been for physical preparations to start flying.  For instance, he experienced low oxygen to determine what symptoms he has so that if he ever has low oxygen while flying he will be able to pick up on those (Everyone is a little different.  Some people get giggly.  His hands get tingly.).  He has been spun around in chairs to simulate what the g-forces will feel like on his body, he has had some physical tests done and had to perform his physical fitness test.  Here is a picture of him getting fitted in his oxygen mask:

This morning he had to go in at 5 so that they could practice shooting flares in the dark.  We have really enjoyed meeting the other guys in his class.  We have already had a couple of class parties and we have both really enjoyed getting to know everyone.  There was a cookout last Monday, then we bowled Friday and had an afterparty.  I'm looking forward to the bonfire that Autumn and I are throwing in the cul-de-sac between our houses in a couple of weeks, and for the St. Patty's day party that Chris and I are throwing.  Good times ahead!

This past week was incredibly busy for me.  I have been going to Birmingham every week for a month now, so sometimes things at home get a little overwhelming when I have so much to juggle.  It's not entirely new for me.  I know that no matter how hard I try not to be, I am a perpetually busy person.  If I have free time, one way or the other I fill it...even when I don't mean to! Last week we had the class cookout Monday, then I had modeling practice for the fashion show.  Tuesday was the wine tasting.  The guys couldn't commit to going because it was supposed to start at 6 and their schedules said that they wouldn't be out til 6:30.  It turned out that they got out early and the wine tasting started late...it's too bad, because I know Chris would have loved it...but since we had to RSVP in advance, it was a girls-only event.

Casey, Jaime, Autumn, me and Emilee (all spouses) after the tasting.

On Wednesday through Thursday I went to Birmingham to work.  I had to be back by 6 for the mandatory dress rehearsal for the fashion show.  I was so exhausted and overwhelmed when I got back at 5:45 because I was tired from working, the house needed cleaning, I had no idea what to make for dinner and I knew modeling practice would probably last way too long.  At 7:30, it wasn't over, but I told the girl in charge that I had been working out of town and I just had to go home and get some things ready for my parents and sister to come visit over the weekend.  We had already practiced a couple of times, so it was fine for me to leave (turns out I probably could have used the extra practice, but I'll get to that later!)

When I got home, my sweet hubby had already made dinner, and since the weather was fantastic, he had set it all out (complete with candlelight) and had it waiting when I got home.  Seared tuna, sweet potatoes, and rice...and the fact that I didn't have to make it made it taste even better!!

Isn't he dreamy??? :)

Friday was the day of the show.  I was actually pretty nervous since I've never been in a fashion show before! I just knew I was going to trip and fall on the runway...I didn't.  However...I don't think I have a future in modeling, I will just put it that way.  What we were supposed to do was pose at the back of the runway, walk to the front, pose, turn around and walk back, pose, and walk off the stage.  I had this purse I was supposed to be showing off.  After doing the first pose with the purse hanging off my wrist, I was going to throw it onto my shoulder to walk down the runway...well...(haha)....instead of throwing it onto my shoulder, I somehow managed to just throw it completely over my shoulder, behind me, and onto the floor! It was actually pretty funny, but it would have been funnier if it happened to someone else and not me!! In cheerleading I learned that when you mess up, to just keep going! So I walked to the front of the runway, posed (laughing a little the whole time but trying not to laugh too much!)...then when I got back to where I dropped the purse, I just picked it up and posed with it "show and tell" style.  My sister has the whole thing on video...all I can say is...1) I don't think my modeling career is going anywhere and 2) I will not be carrying a purse in the fashion show that I (unfortunately) already signed up for in April!  They are actually selling videos of the entire show to people, which just about makes me want to die, because if anyone actually purchased one then they can watch me drop my purse over and over again haha.  Oh well...that's life...at least it made for a funny story.

I was glad that my parents and sister got to come for the fashion show.  On Saturday, we all went thrifting/cheap store shopping (there are lots of those in Columbus).  We went back to Dirt Cheap and dug through the piles of junk to find some pretty good stuff, like a scale and a silent fan.  We went to the Columbus Riverwalk Park after lunch.  I have been there to run on the running trail before, but I didn't realize how nice of a park it was besides the trail.  There is a really cool old bridge that is open to the public (it's a lawsuit waiting to happen with the holes and rusted rails, but it was still pretty neat), and also a lot of areas for picnics. 

I did a little cooking for dinner... a recipe I found on pinterest for Mexican Stuffed Shells. 

The weather here was simply beautiful on Sunday.  Chris studied some and found that he was already well-prepared for the test he had coming up today, so had a little dog party in our yard complete with champagne and human company as well.  Truly the perfect definition of a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Here are Mason and Dubs later in the evening, completely passed out while Autumn and I watched the Oscars and Chris and Jon worked on their latest batch of beer:

Well, as the title of this post suggests, our wittle baby turned one.  He's growing up so fast!  We feel like pretty bad parents though because we didn't even know when his birthday was until today! During the move, we kind of lost Mason's papers.  That was okay, registering his papers wasn't that big of a deal to us. Except for his birthday was on them! We realized a couple of weeks ago that his birthday was coming up because we knew he was born in February, but didn't remember when.  Today it occurred to me to search my old emails for my correspondence with the breeder, and email her to see if she could tell me when his birthday was.  She responded to me with lots of good information about his birthday, shot dates, where I could go to register him since we lost his papers...she asked to see some pictures of him, which I shared with her, and she also sent me this picture of Mason's daddy so that we could see what his coat may eventually look like!

Isn't he handsome? A little lighter colored than Mason is right now, but I can certainly see the resemblance, as he has a longer snout, like Mason, and looks to be a little bigger, too. 

Anyway, it turns out that Mason's birthday was February 11...I am kind of sad that I missed the opportunity to throw him a little doggie birthday party (yes, I really will look for any excuse to have a party).  I probably would have made him some kind of cake out of rawhide and dogfood.  However, I thought about it and decided that when you're Mason, you get treated like it's your birthday every single day, haha.  And considering as Mason has no idea that he had a birthday, I guess I won't let the guilt get to me too much. 

Here is a (low quality) video from last week of Mason totally exhausted after an intense session of fetch with his favorite ball...I have never seen a dog love anything more than Mason loves that ball!

Tomorrow I head back to Birmingham for a couple of days of work...I will be back in Columbus Friday and then am turning right back around to head to New Orleans for the race! I am so excited about it and just wish that Chris were able to come cheer me on, but his training schedule just won't allow for it. Our little group of girls will have an absolute blast, though, I'm sure, and I can't wait!!

Long Weekend in Nashville

Happy late Columbus Day, everyone...this morning Chris and I found ourselves wondering who thought up the idea of a 2 day weekend when a 3 day weekend is so much better! Not only do you get an extra day for the weekend, but then you have to wait one less day for the NEXT weekend.  I would gladly work four 10-hour days if I could have 3 days off, and think about how much more efficient it would be for gas and electricity at work.  I will try not to get off on a tangent, but if the 3-day weekend ever comes up for vote, I think we know where I will stand.

Last night we got back from an awesome weekend trip to Nashville with our friends, Meredith and Ryan King.  Meredith and I lived together in college and were sorority sisters, and she sang at our wedding.  She and Ryan got married in December and live in Birmingham.  There is a lot to do in Nashville.  I have been before, but last time I went with a group for Steeplechase (a horse race) and did not really explore very much.  This time, we did a lot of exploring and had a lot of fun.  We left on Friday.  My boss gave me a half day off work, so we were able to get out of town and meet Meredith and Ryan in Birmingham around dinner time.  Birmingham is on the way to Nashville for us, so it really worked out perfectly for us to carpool. We got to Nashville around 9 and went out to explore the downtown area, where we went to a dueling piano bar.  After spending the long weekend in Nashville, I have no questions as to why it is referred to as "music city"...there are bands and singers EVERYWHERE trying to "make it".  That lifestyle is extremely intriguing to me because I guess I am just too "type A"/accountant-like to just drop everything and move somewhere to try to get discovered.  I have a lot of respect for people who do that and I'm glad they do, because we wouldn't have all the amazing country stars that I love if they didn't!

Dueling Pianos

Saturday, we went on a "Redneck Comedy Tour" that I found online.  I'm not sure how much we actually saw on it, but we laughed a lot. The people doing the tour were extremely hilarious and made jokes that we repeated to each other all weekend.  After that, we went to a sports bar/grill to watch the game with the Nashville Auburn Club.  Marc, one of Chris' groomsmen who lives in Nashville now, met up with us and brought a couple of his friends so we had a nice group to watch the game with.  Unfortunately, the outcome of the game was not what we wanted (I hate playing Arkansas!), but at least we didn't have to suffer through it with non-Auburn fans.

Among many other things, we drove by the CMT building on our tour. 

Here is a picture of the camouflage tour bus! So redneck haha!

Watching the Auburn game

Funny dogs we saw out and about in downtown Nashville!

After this, we headed back out onto the town, this time with the larger group that we watched the game with.  Chris and I stayed out later than we have in a very long time, and possibly later than we EVER will again (although we are still too young to rule it out entirely!)...of course, being in Nashville, I had to sing some karaoke, which I must admit is a little more intimidating when I just like to sing karaoke for fun and all the other people singing it were taking it really seriously (I guess they were part of the "making it" crowd).  However, I think karaoke is supposed to be fun and funny so I didn't really care about everyone else, I bet I was more entertaining even if I wasn't as good (haha). Then, Marc took us to this Greek restaurant that was amazing and if I ever go back to Nashville, there is no way I am missing it! It would have been nice if the other patrons were more agreeable (there were some Auburn-haters there), but overall it was awesome.

Singing "Before He Cheats" by Carrie Underwood

Sunday was probably my favorite day, because it was the most relaxed.  We started out by going to Belle Meade plantation, which is this historic old pre-Civil War plantation.  They make wine and have a gift shop there, too.  We mainly went for the wine tasting, since I don't think any of us have the appreciation for historical stuff that we probably should have.  It was really pretty, though, and they had some great stuff in the gift shop, too.  Both couples bought a bottle of their muscadine wine, but they also had some other interesting varietals such as blackberry.  They didn't actually grow the grapes on the plantation, which was a little disappointing, but they did provide a free tasting. It is a non-profit winery, which I found interesting.  They also had a restaurant on the plantation where we ate lunch.

Afterwards, we went to Arrington Vineyards which, in hindsight, we probably would have spent the entire afternoon at if we would have known what it was going to be like.  It was really large, had an amazing view, and live music. Also, it was REALLY popular and we didn't get to do a tasting because the wait was 3 hours and by the time we got there, they were only open for another 2.5.  Since we couldn't do the tasting, each couple just bought some wine, so we still got to try two different kinds.  The weather was amazing, and so was the view.  They also launched a hot air balloon while we were there.  Next time we go back, I definitely think we will revisit Arrington, and hopefully come early enough to do the tasting.
 

After we did that, it was time the most highly anticipated activity that we had planned (at least for me), which was going to the Bluebird Café for the evening.  The Bluebird Café is a really famous "listening room" in Nashville where Garth Brooks, Taylor Swift, and a bunch of other country artists have been discovered.  It is really small and only seats 100 people, so you have to get there early if you hope to get a seat.  We got there just in time to get a pretty good table.  The first show was an up-an-coming artist named Brian Mackey.  He was really good.  Meredith and I met him, and he was also really nice and I will probably be downloading some of his songs.  Afterwards was the part I was really excited about, which was "open mic".  To do open mic, you have to have your name drawn from a hat AND audition, then if you get chosen, you can play 3 original songs.  We didn't stay the whole time...by the time we waited in line an hour early, then listened to the first show (which was an hour), then there was a 30 minute break, then the next show...plus you can't talk (they emphasize the LISTENING part of listening room)...we were ready to move on by about 9:00 so we left a little early, but we stayed for half of open mic and saw a pretty good variety of performers.  Some were a little...hmmm, shall I say, depressing for my taste, but a couple were really great performers.  They were all very talented, but I can only listen to so many slow sappy songs at a time.  If I lived in Nashville, I'm sure I would visit there a lot.  I really want to bring my sister Jessica to Nashville because I know she could outperform some of the people I saw!

Brian Mackey

A list of all the names who performed, in case any of them ever "make it big" we can say that we saw them in the very beginning!

We found Nashville to be a really entertaining and beautiful city.  It is really clean and there is lots of green space.  I'm sure there are some bad parts, but for a fairly large city, I really didn't see anything "sketchy".  Well, I take that back...I didn't see anything that made me fear for my safety, but there did seem to quite the congregation of, for lack of a better word, weirdos in Nashville this weekend.  First, on Saturday, they were holding something called the "zombie walk", which consisted of hundreds of very strange looking people dressing up like zombies and marching around the city with makeup that looked like they were dead bleeding people.  It was a little strange, to say the least.  There were whole families marching in it.  First of all, I think 40 is a little old to be doing that, and second of all, I feel bad for those children who are basically doomed to be strange because their parents make them dress up like bleeding dead people when they are like 8 years old.  Call me judgemental, I don't really care.  I don't think I will be letting my future children participate, and if I do, I will not be participating with them! Then, on Sunday afternoon, we witnessed this group of people dressed up like medieval people having some kind of strange war in a public park with these huge homemade swords and weapons.  They were taking it very seriously.  And it wasn't an act that they were putting on for other people's entertainment, it was some kind of game they were playing with eachother.  Again, these people are at least our age, so I am still trying to figure out why you would want to do that.  I guess there are some things I will never understand! I'm sure they would think I am weird, too, so I guess we will just follow the old adage "live and let live" and not concern ourselves.  In a way, I am glad that strange people like them exist because we did find them very entertaining this weekend.

No that's not a movie, it's real people doing a medieval war!

The annual Nashville zombie walk...

Overall, the trip was nothing but fun for Chris and me (except for maybe the Auburn loss), and I definitely think we will eventually plan another weekend trip back to Nashville.  This weekend we are heading to Auburn for the Florida game and Chris' 25th Birthday! Hopefully this will be a win, I'm sure that would be a great birthday present.  As much fun as I had in Nashville this weekend, I really missed spending Hannah's and Lauren's birthdays with them (Hannah is the 8th and Lauren's is the 10th) but I am hoping I will get to see them this weekend! Then we will be spending a weekend at home before going back to Auburn for the Ole Miss game.

There's not much other news going on, but Chris and Jon did bottle their beer this past week.  Now it has to wait another few weeks before it will be ready.  Here are some pictures:

A month of road trips comes to an end...

I have taken a couple of weeks off from blogging, since our weekend road trips managed to make us feel a little in over our heads last week at home...the laundry has piled up, along with the dust in the house, and we are actually looking forward to a quiet weekend at home to get on top of everything. This blog is kind of long since there is two weeks of stuff in it...so buckle down, here goes...

Two weeks ago, we went to the Auburn home game to see the last of our 17-victory winning streak.  This weekend was extra special for me, because I got to spend some time with Hannah and Tori, who both moved away from Auburn like I did, so I feel like my visits with them are way too few and far between.  Tori is a forensic accountant at a big firm in Atlanta, and Hannah teaches 6th grade in south Alabama. It's too bad that the game had to be at 11:00 because it made it nearly impossible to plan a tailgate.  We had a small tailgate...the atmosphere for morning games just isn't as exciting as night games since there are much fewer tailgaters on campus.  However, the important thing is spending time with friends, and so it was awesome that I had some brief time to do that. Sara even managed to swing by for a couple of hours, which really said a lot considering that she has been through hell the past few weeks with her mother being hospitalized...not to mention she even got a ticket on the way to the tailgate! I definitely wish I could have extended my time with Sara, Tori, Hannah, and Lauren x a million (I wonder if any of them are interested in moving to Columbus?) But I feel very lucky that no matter where our lives take us, at least we will always have Auburn in common to bring us together whether it's because of a football game or family!

Girls Picture! Sara is in her scrubs because she came straight from the hospital after her night shift just to see us...what a trooper!

Tired boys at the tailgate after the game

Saturday evening, I went to Lauren's house where we enjoyed time with a partial assembly of the old crew (Lauren, Chase, Hannah, and Aaron), then Chris and I went to a party where we visited with Dusty, Marc, and other friends of his.

Chris' grandparents on Tammy's side, Lavada and Bob (also known as Granny and Granbob) were visiting town for Granbob's birthday.  It's always wonderful to visit with family, especially those you don't see very often, and we really enjoyed the time we got to spend with them. Then, on Sunday, we had lunch with my family, including my grandmother, since it was Grandparent's Day.  After lunch, we went to Martin and Virginia's house, and were able to spend some time with them, as well as Chris' dad and Lisa, before heading home.  As you can probably see, this weekend (just like all weekends in Auburn it seems!) was very busy trying to visit with everyone, and I can definitely say I have been getting a taste of what it must have been like for Chris when he visited from the Academy...busy busy busy trying to see as much as possible of everyone we can fit in...the good kind of busy, but still verrrry busy!

Thank goodness we won the game, or else I would never have lived it down at work on Monday in Starkville.  On the way out of town on Sunday, we had to stop by Big Blue Bookstore and stock up on Auburn stuff.  This, of course, included a new ensemble for Mason:

 In honor of grandparents day, we sent this picture to all of our parents (because Mason is their grandog).  I'm sure they will all treasure his baby pictures forever! :)

We are so proud of Mason, by the way...he has learned the commands "sit" and "down".  We want to teach him to stay (that is a hard one) and I am determined to teach him how to roll over and stand up on two feet.  He can hold his balance on two feet for a long time, sometimes as long as 10 seconds, but he only does it randomly, not on command. So we are going to try to get him to walk around on two legs, we think it would be very amusing.

Sometimes it seems like my blog is just an excuse for me to talk about our dog and post a million pictures of him that I'm sure no one finds as interesting as me.  When I am a mom (which, don't worry, is in the extreme distant future!!) I will probably be the most annoying mom ever who carries a photo album in her purse and brags about her kids all the time.  If our children are half as cute as our precious wittle Mason, I have no doubt that everyone around me will be sick of hearing about them.  But anyway...here is another adorable picture of Mason and Dubs hanging out in Mason's lair, eating their bones together.  This was a rare instance when we got Mason to chew only his own bone.  Mason doesn't like to share...I'm afraid he gets that from his mommy...and whenever he plays with other dogs, he always feels that he should get both his own toy, and the other dog's. Dubs continues to grow exponentially, so I'm not sure how much longer he will fit under our kitchen table.

Thursday night, we decided to have Jon, Autumn, and Dubs over to watch the MSU vs. LSU game.  Since it was an SEC event, I decided it was a great opportunity to use all the Auburn serving pieces I have collected over the years.  We grilled some chicken and veggies, and I made some Paula Deen specialties that included a Bleu Cheese Roasted Potato Salad (delishhhh!) and Fried Beer Battered Asparagus with a lemon dipping sauce.  The fried asparagus turned out okay, but I think I could do better next time.  That's only the second time I've fried anything, and the first time I've fried asparagus so there was probably some room for improvement.

Our patio really has a lot of ambiance ever since we added these citronella lanterns.  We have enjoyed spending time out there so much, and plan to do even more work on it.  This includes possibly rigging up some kind of stereo for out there, getting an outdoor rug, and some low maintenance plants that won't die when they come under my care taking. One addition that we are super excited about is the navy blue Auburn fire pit that Tammy and Greg gave us last weekend as a housewarming gift (you can see it in the left corner).  We are going to go get some sand to fill it with this weekend when we are at home, and are looking forward to using it next week! The weather has really been cooling down, so it will be perfect! 

Poor Mason just can't stand to be in when we are out!

This potato salad recipe from Paula Deen's website was easy and sooo yummy!

Those who know me know my weakness for anything festive, so I will continue to look for excuses to use my Auburn stuff, even if Auburn is not even playing. I'm so excited that October is nearing, because I get to decorate our home for Halloween!!

This weekend we attended the away game, and were fortunate that my parents provided us with tickets and a hotel.  I was so excited to get to see my friend/bridesmaid Maryann's parents (although I wish she and her husband would have been there!) and we had an awesome time at the game until we lost.  Even then, we found the opposing teams' fans to be very gracious, almost as nice as Auburn fans (if that is possible).  Personally, I kind of knew that our winning streak would come to an end sometime in the near future (if you can "know" those kinds of things)...I had hoped it would be later in the season, but Chris and I are not fair-weather fans and a season that doesn't compare to last years still won't keep us from wanting to attend just as many games to show our support.

Doing a little pregaming...the weather was way colder than I expected, so I had to buy that jacket/wrap that morning after we came to campus.  Then I liked it so much I wore it to dinner that night and home the next day!

Our trip home was unexpectedly eventful.  On the way home we made two unplanned stops.  First, we stopped at a winery called "Chateu Elan" that we saw a random billboard for on the interstate.  We spent over an hour here and had a lot of fun tasting some rather unusual wines.  We bought two bottles of Peach Muscadine wine.  I had never had muscadine wine before...I wouldn't say it's my favorite, but I always like to try something new.  It is super-sweet and quite inexpensive. 

Chris posing with our Muscadine wine, next to the part of the vineyard where they grow the muscadine grapes.

 When we finally got hungry again after eating all the crackers at the wine tasting, we were near a favorite restaurant of mine in Phipps Plaza, Atlanta, called Twist.  When I was living in Atlanta interning, my roommates (Tori and Rachel) and I frequented this place because it was always "happening" (can't think of a better word to describe it) and they have fantastic sushi, which we have been craving since moving to Columbus.  Last time I ate there with my mom and Sara, there was some kind of up-and-coming boy band serenading the customers on the patio.  I had never heard of them, but I looked them up online and I guess they are quite popular with the tween age group.  Well this time, Chris and I sat right next to DJ Drama...maybe not the most famous of celebs, but definitely one that if you haven't heard of him, you have probably heard one of the songs that he arranged. The managers gave him some kind of special on his and his date's meal...I'm pretty sure that was his Maserati parked out front of the restaurant, so why they thought he needed a special price, I don't know, but we certainly did not get one!

Our last pit stop was at Publix in Tuscaloosa...even though I was rather irritated that the cashier there knew less about Publix's coupon policy than I do, I am proud to say that I spent $38 on this weeks groceries and saved $57.  I am going to miss Publix while we are staying in Columbus the next few weeks!

The worst thing about traveling this weekend was that we had to board Mason for the first time! This made me feel extremely guilty because I am afraid he thought we were leaving him at the pound.  When Chris picked him up from the boarder this morning, he sent me this picture in a text message with the caption "Mason is making himself at home already"

Well, I reckon that's about it for the past couple of weeks.  Apparently yesterday's Garfield comic reminded Chris of this blog:

 That is probably the reaction I get on my blog, but at least it's fun for me to get on here and share some pictures and let everyone know how much we miss them when we are away...so I at least know one person is getting enjoyment out of it! :) We are really looking forward to our weekend at home, but we have loved doing all this traveling and plan to pick it back up in a few weeks.  We are excited a visit from my parents for my dad's birthday in a couple of weeks, and then a trip to Nashville the week after that..then, back to Auburn for the Florida game (and Chris' birthday weekend...25 years old!) Even though travel is exhausting, we really feel like that's what being young newlyweds is all about...there is nothing holding us back from having new adventures as often as possible, and we are so fortunate that we have jobs that allow us to afford a little spontaneity. As hard as it is to show up at work on Monday after a fantastic weekend, remembering that makes it a little easier!