Parents came to visit!!!!!

I had the most wonderful time with my family in North Carolina!!  I hope you enjoyed the pictures below!!  My parents drove down to see my new office as well as my new apartment and then we were going to drive right back up to N. Carolina.  However, God had different plans.  From the moment we left Buckhead Church it started raining.  We stopped so my dad could put his rain suit on before heading to my house.  We (aka my mom) checked the weather channel and found that there was a huge rain storm coming thru.  So, instead of heading straight north we headed straight to lunch... at R. Thomas!!!  Yumm-o!!  We all shared an appetizer and entrée.  Then my parents got a raspberry chocolate cheese cake (of which I took a bite -- to die for) and a smoothie. I also got a smoothie!  We were soooo full!!

While we were at R. Thomas we sat on a covered patio while it rained outside.  By the time we were ready to leave the rain stop!  Perfect, right?!?!  Nope, we got back to my apartment, turned the weather channel back on, and found that the break would only be temporary.  We had a night full of thunderstorms ahead of us.  So, instead of heading north my dad took a nap and my mom and I did the laundry and chatted.  When my dad got up we went up to the deck and sat outside and waited until the next thunderstorm came in.  When it did we headed back to my apartment and had a light dinner.  After dinner we headed back up to the roof and (from under an awning) we watched the lighting storm act like a good firework festival!!!  We had a great time watching a beautiful light show!!

Due to the events of Thursday, we got up at 6am on Friday and headed to North Carolina.  Shortly after we got outside Atlanta the clouds dissipated and we had a beautifully sunny day!!!  I was able to ride on the back of Dad's Harley for the day.  We went all over Cherokee, North Carolina and drove over to Tennessee and back.  We had a blast!! There are more pictures that my mom, Aunt Linda, and Kelly took -- if I get them you know they will be put on here!

Since it was every ones last day at the cabin, after a wonderful spaghetti dinner everyone packed up.  There was a ton of food that I was able to take home with me since no one else had room to take it home -- the joy of a car I guess!!  We stayed the night in the cabin, had breakfast at the local pancake house, and then each of us headed in a different direction.  I took a few hours to get home by making a few fun stops!  

Once home, I got all the food unpacked, had some lunch, did my laundry, and then met up with Victor at Piedmont Park.  We had fun walking Odin around the park but it was quite humid so we left the park so Victor could show me his new refrigerator.  Its really nice!!

Since I have so  much food we left Victor's house and headed to mine thinking we would eat and then hang out in the pool on the roof.  But, once again God had a different plan.  As we were driving to my place the sky turned from nice and sunny to really dark with a ton of wind and lightning.  By the time we made it to my (thank God) covered parking it was hailing outside!!  We still ate dinner but instead of heading up to the roof we watched the movie Cast Away... and Kedrick joined in the middle of the movie.  It was a lot of fun.  But, if you saw the pictures below of the weather... there were quite a lot of people without power that night as well as a ton of blocked off roads from trees being knocked down and debris everywhere!  

It was a great weekend!!  Followed by a great Sunday (which isn't a weekend day for me)!  I had a great day at work as well as the ability to see an amazing service!  After work, I drove home and headed straight to the roof to get some sun!!  I spent my time going between the pool and the lounge chair!!  After lounging I went to the gym where I ran on the elliptical machine for about an hour before doing some weight training and yoga.  I was told in the fitness challenge that I need to add more weight training to my routine so every other day I am doing this.  After my workout I came back to the apartment for dinner and then went outside for a post-dinner walk.

After another wonderful day at work, I decided to duplicate yesterday.  I relaxed on the roof to catch a few rays of sun before doing a little bit of yoga and having dinner.  After dinner I went for another walk.  Blissful!!  Its about time for me to take a shower!!  LOL!!

As far as the workout, I am trying to reduce my body fat so I can score better on my next check in for the fitness challenge.  I remember watching Oprah one afternoon and hearing that we should be walking about 10,000 steps per day.  I have a pedometer that North Point gave me so I put that on my hip today and check out my typical day's foot count... its right around 5,000.  Adding in my 30 minute walk around the neighborhood its just under 9,000 steps.  Which is perfect!!  That means when I work out I almost double that 10,000 steps.  So, lets see how this works for my ability to drop weight and body fat!!  I'll keep you posted!!