Happy Memorial Day!

Memorial Day weekend is so important as we remember the loved ones who have served and are serving for us. Jay and I left Friday afternoon right after work for our three hour drive up to Tennessee. We took Jay’s truck for our trip even though we normally take my car. Murphy wasn’t so sure about the extra rumble of the truck, and refused to get up into the captain’s chair. Haley absolutely loved it since she had her whole own chair without Murphy walking all over her.

He spent the majority of the ride in positions similar to this...

We drove through some pretty serious rain storms, but we were determined to get there.

We arrived in Tennessee late Friday night, but mom had a crockpot full of pulled pork, sweet and sour meatballs and deviled eggs waiting for us.

We were also greeted by my parents new puppy.

This is Bentley. He is an English Crème Golden Retriever from this breeder. He is gentle-natured, curious and friendly…everything that a puppy should be. Have I mentioned that he has never met a stranger?

Early Saturday morning, Jay went to play golf at Centennial Golf Club in Oak Ridge while mom, dad and I were still waking up. He teed off right at 6:25 a.m., and was back by 9:30 a.m.

Just as Jay was on his way home from golf, mom was pulling the breakfast casserole out of the oven. She made an egg, sausage and cheese casserole and a hash brown casserole.

After breakfast, we finally got a couple of pictures with both Jay and me. Mom enjoys taking pictures with my camera so she was happy to take a few shots of us outside.

Mom told us that both my grandparents and my parents have pictures with them holding hands so of course we wanted to extend the family tradition. It would be nice to display their pictures next to ours someday.

I think at this point, Jay was saying “Ok, we’re done taking pictures now!”

Remember when I said that last weekend was my dad’s birthday, but we couldn’t make it up for the weekend? We decided to celebrate his birthday along with Mother’s day since we missed celebrating it as well. Jay and I cooked a pork loin, potatoes, salad and ice cream for dessert.

Mom had some decorations in the basement for Memorial day weekend and before we knew it we had a real party!! Mom had a treasure trove of decorations so we were able to celebrate right!

Dad toasted to the blessing of having our family together for the weekend, a great meal and this time to remember our lost soldiers.

We are definitely a camera family.

We bought dad Longaberger mugs for his birthday present. Dad likes them specifically because keep his coffee warm for an extended period of time. I don’t think he knows that they’re called Longaberger because when my mom asked what he wanted he said more of “these cups.”
We knew that we ordered a large-sized cup, but holy cow, these things are huge!!

Mom loves Philosophy products, so I picked up some really rich lotion with a light citrus and summer-y scent called Unconditional Love at Ulta.

My aunt stopped by on Sunday to spend some time with us before we left. Fortunately, we had tons of left overs from the two dinners the nights before. We whipped up another plate of appetizers and warmed the pulled pork and meatballs. We enjoyed ice tea, appetizers and salad, and everyone was free to pick their lunch.

After lunch, Jay and I rested on the sofa and just relaxed! We realized around this point that we hadn’t spent any time in the family room. The only time we spent time inside was to sleep and cook, the rest was spent on the back porch talking, enjoying a cocktail, eating dinner and relaxing on the sofa!

We enjoyed spending time with my family this Memorial Day weekend. We left early Monday morning at 8:00 a.m. to try to beat some of the Memorial Day traffic. Hope you enjoyed your Memorial Day!

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It's a Michigan Thing

This is Superman ice cream and it has been a favorite of mine since I was little. I remember taking bicycle rides with the whole family up to the local ice cream store in our small town and ordering as many scoops as my parents would let me.

Until last night, I didn't realize that it was a Michigan thing. Every time Jay and I went out to get ice cream (which isn't often), I would look for it. So I finally tried google - and there it was - listed as a Michigan specialty. The best way I can describe it is a sweet bubble gum like flavor. Although it looks like sherbert, it is not tart at all.

I found it online here, for a whopping $69.99 for 3 gallons.

If you ever visit Michigan, or live in Michigan, enjoy a scoop of Superman ice cream for me. It's SO delicious! Now I'll have to go hunt down some Blue Moon!! Don't tell me that's a Michigan thing too!! :)

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C is for Chores

Weekends now consist of chores, errands, more chores and then hopefully relaxing. Yesterday was pretty full for us after taking a walk, attending a shower, making a home video for dad and then making dinner. That left today to take care of the house and chores.

We had a million other things that we would rather be doing, including spending the day at Barnes and Noble looking though house plan books.

But we have been discussing our money situation lately, and that we really want to pretend that I'm not making money. We don't want to get in the habit of spending money that we otherwise wouldn't have like taking our car to the car wash, hiring a house keeper or hiring a dog groomer, just because we can. So we decided to stay home and work around the house together today.

We cleaned the house for the 1,000,008th time this month from top to bottom. Jay mowed the lawn while I detailed my car.

Summer is the best time for dog baths outside. No messes in the house and it's so warm, they're dry in an hour. I mentioned that I wanted to give the dogs a bath outside and Jay headed right out there when he was done mowing.

Haley took a little bit more coaxing, but he eventually got her washed too.

You might notice that she's shaking off before he even got the soap on her. :)

And then Jay gave Murphy a rose to bring to me...it kind of worked out that way... He tried to eat it on the way over. :)


Oh the days of being able to hang out in the sun are few and far between now, but I so enjoy spending time outside. We sat out on the porch and soaked in the sun for a good hour. We worked hard today but we're relaxing now that everything is done, and we didn't pay anyone to do it for us. Accomplishment!

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Happy Birthday, Dad

Yesterday was my dad's birthday...I felt a little guilty when he said that all he wanted was to spend the day with family, but I already had plans to attend a lunch shower. It just wasn't enough time to get up there and spend the day with him.

Jay and I decided that we'd go up next weekend for memorial day...and host another birthday party with good food and bring our gifts.

And then I made this reeeeally cheesy video for dad and sent it to him via email.

I love you so much dad, and I am looking forward to seeing you soon!!

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Adopt a Golden Atlanta

Adopt a Golden Atlanta is our favorite charitable organization, for obvious reasons. :) We volunteer when we can and donate as much as possible every year. This year, part of my birthday present from my parents was a donation to the organization. We believe in them that much!!

Last Friday, AGA took in 31 Golden Retrievers. They need forever homes and crates for the ones they are housing...mostly at various Dr. offices around the city. A good portion of the dogs they took in are purebred English Cremes. For those unfamiliar with English Cremes, they are healthier and tend to live longer than the American golden. They cost a little more, but they are a specialty! My parents have been researching English Cremes for a while and are actually picking up their new puppy that they have been waiting on for months from a breeder this weekend! Pictures will be posted as soon as I get them from mom!

If anyone has any extra dog crates or can donate money to AGA, they would really appreciate it.

Here's the link to the orphans, even though only a few of the intakes are posted right now. The English Cremes should be up on the site soon....and they should look similar to the pictures below from this breeder.

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Weekend Errands

I had forgotten how much time we used to spend on the weekends running errands when we were both working, until now. This weekend was spent getting a few more outfits for work, mailing packages, and cleaning the house for a showing.

The pups enjoyed getting out of the house this weekend too.

We started out Saturday looking at potential lots where we might build a house. A couple of months ago, we really fell in love with a unique cape cod in Alpharetta. At the time our realtor advised us against asking for a contingency. He thought we'd get a better deal without one. Knowing that we weren't comfortable taking on two loans, we held back from doing anything. And someone else just closed on the house this Saturday. So now we're back to square one and all possibilities - including building. The owner of the property we looked at had a few lots he was dividing off off his land. When we drove by, he was out walking on the property so sticking my lens out of the window might have seemed a little strange...

This is a side view of the lot that I took as we were driving past. It's an acre deep.

After the drive by we ran into the iphone store. Up to this point, I have been anti-iphone. But Jay had some extra Amex gift cards and really wanted to try them out.

After playing with it for a couple of days, I really love it. It will be great to listen to radio stations at work, surf for houses without the computer and check our accounts on the phone.

I guess I'll be seeing more of this in the future too.... :)

Once our computers get a little older we're also considering getting a mac book. Everyone that we know who has them seem to really like them... oh the joys of working and being able to spend money again!

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