A Weekend with Annie...

My sister, Annie, is currently applying to various Speech-Language Pathology graduate programs across the country. She called me a few weeks ago to inform me that Georgia State University wanted to interview her, so could she stay with us?

Um.....yes.

Best. Weekend. Ever.

We started out at a great indoor play place called Catch Air.

Because Jordan had to work the previous Saturday and Sunday, he was able to take Friday off while Annie was here. The timing was perfect. We got all dressed up and then headed downtown Friday morning.

We were so excited to show Annie the Georgia Aquarium.

These crazy looking creatures are Sea Dragons. They just may be my favorite.

Who says you can't discipline your child on-the-go. You can find a corner anywhere.

After the aquarium we walked over to the Olympic park. The weather was a balmy 65 degrees, so it was the perfect day to eat lunch in the park. We found this little treasure right in the park.

Check out this cool city that I live near. I'm falling more in love with Atlanta every day.

One of the best parts of living in Atlanta is the abundance of great restaurants. On Friday night we ate at South City Kitchen, a gourmet Southern restaurant. So dang good. We had the boiled (aka bol'd) peanuts for an appetizer and they were fantastic. I'm loving me some Southern grub.

The next day (Saturday) we took Annie to Senoia. Senoia is the small town south of Atlanta that has all the great antiques/home decor stores. We ate at the good old 'redneck gourmet'.

Their fried green tomatos are bangin'.

Many movies have been filmed in Senoia including the new 'Footloose'. Annie was thrilled.

That night we went to dinner at SoHo with Haley and Aaron and then came back and made our current dessert of choice. When we were on our Mediterranean cruise, our favorite drink was called the chococo banana (or as Jordan calls it, the choco mono). It is a frozen, blended drink made with chocolate, coconut, and banana. Jordan and I have since figured out how to make them at home and indulge ourselves often. The kids were loving their choco monos.

On Monday we spent the day at the Atlanta Zoo. On the way home from the zoo we dropped Annie off at the airport. I was so sad to see her go. Annie is easily one of my very best friends. The kids were tuckered out after a great weekend.

Love you Annie!

V-Day....

Valentine's Day. What a hyped up holiday.

The truth is, for me Valentine's Day is more about love than romance.

Yesterday started out like any other day. Both Lucy and I had been up in the night with colds, so we slept in. We didn't do much celebrating until Jordan got home.

The best part of the day was when Jordan got home at 6:00. So normal. So nice.

He had stopped on the way home and had flowers for each of us. Lucy was so excited that she wouldn't put her flower down. She was still holding it this morning.

I had big plans to make a nice dinner, but just wasn't feeling well, so Jordan suggested we order pizza.

Nothing says love like Papa John's.

Honestly, it was a lot of fun to sit around our little table and eat dinner as a family.

After dinner, we did Face Time with both sets of parents so they could watch Lucy open the Valentine's parcels they had sent.

Might as well have been Christmas!

As you can see, Lucy's flower never made it in water.

After dinner, we made Valentine's sugar cookies.

Sneaky Jordan bought me a brand new iPhone. I was completely surprised.

I managed to surprise Jordan with some new Sperry's. Please don't calculate the discrepancy in cost between our gifts. I guess Jordan is just nicer than I am.

Hope you were able to spend the day with someone you love.

Daddy-Daughter Date...

When Jordan walked in the door at 7:00 tonight, it was like Christmas morning. Lucy, who just doesn't understand why Daddy has to work until 10:30 every night, was thrilled to see him. Imagine her pure joy when Daddy suggested, "Let's go on a date Bug. Just you and me."

Bliss.

Crafty???

For as long as I can remember I have vehemently proclaimed that I am not "crafty". To me crafts were things my mom made in relief society such as those lame potpourri dolls with dangling legs, or ugly dried flower wreaths. Since owning my own home, my view on "crafting" has changed. I now see crafting as an opportunity to make beautiful things for my home at a much lower cost. I was ecstatic when I received this sewing machine from my mother-in-law for Christmas.

It has stayed in the box due to the chaos of the move. The other day I opened it up and started pulling all the various parts and accessories out of the box. I realized I was WAY out of my league considering I had no idea what ANYTHING was. Overwhelmed, I stuffed everything back in the box for another day. Haley, my cousin's wife who I live close to, got wind of this and invited me over for a little tutorial. She showed me how to turn on the machine, thread a bobbin, change the stitches, etc. Armed with this knowledge I was ready to take on my first sewing project. I had to go to JoAnn's to pick up a few necessary items, and then it was go time.

I decided to make burpcloths out of cloth diapers for my cousin and his wife who just had a baby girl. I was given several of these when Lucy was born and LOVED them. My first attempt wasn't very pretty, but I definitely got better as I went. What do you think?

I've caught the bug. Onto the next project!

The Atlanta Zoo....

Lucy and I spent the day at the Atlanta Zoo with Haley and the twins. I'm starting to see the beginnings of cousin love. :) I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

What a fearsome lion!

A Day with Natalie...

My mom always said that she believes Heaven will be the ability to maintain all the friendships that we wish we could here on Earth. I must second this assertion. Nothing brings me more happiness than spending the day with someone I love. Last Friday I drove East to Athens, Georgia to spend the day with Natalie Findlay. Natalie and I met in an aerobics dance class at BYU. We became fast friends and the next year decided to be roommates. The last time I saw Natalie was six years ago, so it was wonderful to catch up with her. She drove me to downtown Athens, home of the Georgia Bulldogs. What a cool place! I love college towns. We ate at a great Thai place and then Natalie took us to a small, free zoo. There were black bears, alligators, and bald eagles. Here is Natalie with her cute son, Joshua.

Thanks Natalie! It was great.