FLORIDA!!

I now have some pictures that my brother and Mom took. We are just having way too much fun in the sun!! I am getting the best tan that I possibly can!! So far the weather has been exceptionally beautiful... sunny and in the 80's!! We can not ask for better weather than this.
Or typical vacation day consists of...

... waking at 7:00am for a 2 mile walk on the beach. We walk from the parking lot along the beach, the girls power walk while the guys shark tooth hunt. After the first mile we stop at the Jetty for coffee and conversation. Then we walk the mile back on the road past all the beautiful beach homes!!

... followed by a HUGE breakfast. If nothing else I will have gotten a good 10 pounds back from this trip. LOL!! Can't beat family cooking!!

... then miscellanous house hold chores for about an hour

... back to the beach for more fun in the sun!! And a fight between Mom and the rest of us over the strenght of the suntan lotion needed. We all say 4, she says we need 30. We think she just wants to come back the tannest!

... after the beach we have a HUGE dinner. I think Grandma has a personal goal to make sure no one leaves her house lighter than when they came in. She is completing her goal and then some. But with Grandma's cooking, its not hard at all to get me to eat!! As my Dad would say, I can't put her food on top of my head!!

... finally we follow up the evening with cards!!! Love Eucher & Schafkopf!!

Sometimes there are deviations for naps!! Tomorrow is scheduled to be chilly so we will be replacing beach time with shopping time (always have to hit the outlets)!

I am going to enjoy every last minute of this...

Upper Respiratory Infection

That is what I have. I went to the doctor on Monday and got medication. Then spent the last 3 days on the couch. The nice part... I got to watch a lot of Sex and The City (and Oprah) and slept a ton! Now I have a plane flight at 8pm to FLORIDA!! I can't went to spend the next week with my family!! I am overly excited!

Luckily I don't have to worry too much about getting everyone sick... my dad and brother already are! I don't know if that really is a good thing or not... but I am still excited to see everyone!

The days after...

I had the most wonderful Valentines date... with my friend Lynette!! Kendol had school and Lynette's boyfriend had to work so she and I went to Oceanaire (where her beaux is the Executive Sous Chef) and had a wonderful time.

We didn't make it to the restaurant until almost 10pm an there was still an amazing line!! People without reservations were even trying to get in. Lynette and I laughed at those people. Once we were seated I ordered a martini with olives (my current fav drink) and she ordered hers (caramel apple martini) and we got to chatting and people watching.

Our first course was an appetizer... we were going to have calamari however by 10:15pm they were out. Instead they brought us out shrimp, calamari style and it was wonderful! We ate the entire thing!! I was amazed at how good it tasted!! We then shared a spinach and warm bacon dressing salad... yummy!! For my entry I had scallops with corn ravioli. I was in heaven!! Once again, amazing. Then Lynette's beaux, Chris brought us out dessert. It was the perfect cap to the evening. Chocolate martinis with Crème brûlée, chocolate mouse, chocolate covered strawberries, a petifor with a cute little heart on it, and blackberries with whipped cream. Needless to say I was happy and full. Once the restaurant had died down a bit Chris and Dee stopped by the table and we had a great conversation!!

Then I woke up on Friday. Something doesn't feel right. And I knew it had nothing to do with the night before... I am coming down with... the FLU!! I don't have time for this!! I am going to Florida on Thursday. I took Airborne, all my vitamins and have been drinking tea and orange juice. I woke up this morning and I am dragging!! Its whats going around... sore throat, cough, runny nose, achy, head ache, etc. As soon as my replacement gets to work I am heading home to lay back down. I must feel better soon!! Pray that it goes away!!

HAPPY V-DAY!!!

I thought it was cold here...

until I saw this. These pictures are courtesy of my Mom in Michigan. Needless to say she is ready for our Florida trip next week!! It may not be that cold here (its up to 42 degrees right now) but I have to say I am ready for vacation too!!

Daffodils

It's almost here... even though right now its only 35 degrees!!! SPRING!!! I can't wait!! I love warm weather. I came to work at Buckhead Church this morning to find daffodils at my desk. It was my friend Erinleigh's way of saying thank you for watching her dog Darcy and I have to say I like the way she says thank you!! And the best part... they were from her yard!! When I was there last week they had not bloomed yet. This makes me so excited for spring! Break out the kleenex... time for allergy season!! (Thank the Lord for allergy shots)

Also for Spring, I spent the last 2 days cleaning out and re-arranging my apartment. It's looks so good!! There were only 3 bags that I threw out and 3 bags going to Good Will. It feels so nice to have such a clean place right now!! (Once again, thank the Lord for allergy shots)

Kendol and I went out for Valentines last night and had a blast!! He has school until 10pm on Thursday so we made our own day, which I think was even better... not crowded at all! We went to One Midtown Kitchen and had a fabulous dinner. We split everything which is my favorite way to go. Then we went to see Fools Gold, which was a cute movie. It was a wonderful Valentines date!!

Tonight is SATC (Sex & The City) night and then on Thursday Lynn and I are celebrating Valentines at her beaux's restaurant, Oceanaire. I am excited!!

All I want to do is...

Dance, dance, dance!!! And that is exactly what a couple of friends and I did on Thursday night. And we had a blast!! We went to my old stomping grounds... Masquerade, had a blast.

The only trouble was I decided to go to the gym earlier that day and do both pilates and a combo class including step aerobics, cardio kick boxing, and Latin jam.

Other than that... Kendol took me out for breakfast to the Flying Biscuit on Friday and it was great! After all the working out Thursday night I was starving. And that was just what I needed!!



I can barely walk today. But it was worth it!!

No Work -- for almost a month!!

So, I scheduled two big trips to Venice... one in Florida and one in Italy!! And I can't wait!

I am going to Venice, Florida with my family the last week in February. We will be down there about a week and a half. Complete relaxation. Rejuvenation. A time for family, cards, ocean, beach, and tanning. I am so excited... I can't wait!!

I will come back to Atlanta for about a week before heading over to Venice ITALY!! I can't wait. I have never been that far overseas and one of my New Years Resolutions was that I would go somewhere in Europe. I got a passport a couple years back to go to Angie's wedding in Jamaica but haven't used it since. I will have another stamp on that passport on March 10 -- only 1 month away!!

I will be gone from the 10th to the 27th. When it gets closer to the date I will add the flight numbers for those who may want them. I will also try to keep an update on here of my daily happenings.



In other news I am (almost) official. As long as my references are good I am my small group's new leader! Sue, the single's community group director, really likes where I am on my walk with God and is excited to see me transition into leadership. I am excited for this new opportunity!!

Also, after some complications it looks like Kendol will now be getting a new roomate and will live in Atlantic Station. The original apartment he was going to get fell thru completely so he went a different direction and found a really great roommate. From the looks of it, he will be moving on Monday. He is really excited for this new direction in his life and I am very excited for him as well!

My Best Life Ever

Oprah yesterday was great!! If you were unable to watch I suggest checking it out online because Dr. Oz was on explaining how to live your best life ever. A lot of what they discussed is stuff I already know (eat right, sleep well, take your vitamins, have a passion) but it went a little more specific in the anti-aging direction. One tidbit of advise I took in was to drink green and white tea... a lot if it... every day. Like 4-5 cups. There are so many health benefits to it.

So, this morning I am trying something different. Instead of my morning cup of coffee I am choosing to drink a combo of green and white tea. If you work with me and find that my attitude is not up to par please let me know. I will run to the nearest break room and get my coffee fix :)


And now for the post-cap of my past week:

This past weekend I spent Saturday evening with my friend Ashley. She has moved up to Suwanee, and if you haven't heard of it don't feel left out. Its OTP. I think she is crazy. But don't remind me later that I said that... I *may* be moving OTP. We had dinner at a cute little Mexican restaurant and hung out at her new apartment. Since I hadn't seen her in a while it was great to catch up!

Sunday was the SUPERBOWL. Granted, I am not a huge fan of watching sports but I will when there is a party with free food involved! Portia, a friend from Cbeyond, had a party at her house. Another OTP visit but we had a lot of fun. I talked thru most of the game but watched the last 3 minutes of the game... amazing!! I missed the commercials but from what I hear I didn't miss much.

Monday there was no small group... which was probably good. I was exhausted and I couldn't stay awake. I was in bed by 9:30pm.