Today = Me-Not-Thinking Day

Well, like most work days, I like to go home for lunch. Home is just a hop, skip and jump from the office and I like to give Joey, my cat, some mid-day attention. Today, I went home for some lunch, chillaxed on the couch for a while before getting ready. When it was time to go, I put my shoes on, grabbed the purse and headed out.

About 15 minutes later, while at work, I looked down to discover two different shoes! Today was jeans day and I was wearing some gray flip flops...after lunch, I was wearing a gray and brown flip flop! Needless to say, I've been trying to stay in my cube as much as possible. When I do have to walk somewhere, I've made it a point to give direct eye contact so they won't look down.

I'm only 25 and my mind is already starting to slip!  

PS: The Grippos and other box of chips are for our snack bar at work that I restock...I do not keep stock piles of food in my cube for myself :)

USA Weekend

My long weekend started off with my boss walking by me on Friday saying that I could leave whenever I wanted to. How awesome is that! I had to wrap up a few things and then headed out around 2:15 to hang out with my mom for a bit and go to spin class with her. That night was date night and Stu took me to Cheddars and to see Bad Teacher. The movie was funny but seemed like it could really offend some people.

Saturday, we celebrated my cousin Austin's 18th birthday. I cannot believe I'm 8 years older than an 18 year old nor can I believe she's 18! For her birthday, we went down to Camp on the KY in Nonesuch, KY for some cornhole, food, cake and presents. That night, Stu and I went to the tail end of Red, White and Boom at the ballpark (I hate calling it the Whitaker Bank Park...will always be Applebee's Park to me). We had a lot fun watching Craig Morgan (the last act) and watching the fireworks. I was hoping for a bigger fireworks show now that it's legal to buy the "good stuff" in Kentucky this year.

Sunday, I was able to sleep in. Stu and I registered for the Bluegrass 10,000 and headed to the pool to meet up with his brother and friend. It felt like we were on vacation between the scenery, poolside DJ, etc. After the pool we headed to 608 at Southland Christian Church and got some pizza afterwards (probably not the best carb load before a race). Stu and I decided to hit up the Lexington Philharmonic after dinner. They were playing outside at Gratz Park. Definately a different crowd from Red, White and Boom. The music sounded amazing and it was so neat to walk by all the people/vendors.

Monday started early! Stu was supposed to come pick me up around 6:15. I apparently do not tolerate alarm clocks when I'm still in deep sleep and turned off my 5:30 alarm to wake up, on my own, at 5:55. Yikes! Stu was early too and I hurried as fast as I could. The race went great. Perfect weather for a July morning. My favorite part (aside from the finish line) was getting to walk by all the vendors the next day. Ramsey's was handing out free grilled corn too!

After the race, we went home to shower/relax for a bit. After lunch we went to Starbucks where we decided it was time for a change...we went back to my house and I buzzed Stu's hair off. You could tell he was nervous but he looks SOOO good with his hair buzzed...who would of known! Here are the before/after pictures:


Before



After

The weekend ended with a cookout at Stu's family's house. It was yummy and they were all shocked at his new hairdo!

I also freaked out today when I saw an article about commas from Oxford University. Now, I don't consider myself a grammar nerd by any means. I'm sure there are typos all over my blog. But this seriously disappointed me! Click to read the article. Anyhoo, I hope everyone had a great long weekend, got to see some fireworks, grill out and most importantly remember our troops.

Lake Wedowee

Well, it's almost been a full week since I've been back from vacation and I'm finally going to write it all down (or type it all out).

Wedowee is a little ol' town in Alabama. By little, I mean no-stoplight little. The kind where you walk into an antique shop and see a cart of used stuffed animals, a dirty bird cage with bird included, and some furniture...not knowing if you stepped into a store or someone's house (true story). The best restaurant in town is connected to the gas station, and a walmart, a decent restaurant, or civilization is around 45 minutes away. Doesn't that sound like the perfect vacation?

What Wedowee has that most cities do not have is a gorgeous 200+ mile lake called Lake Wedowee. Pretty lake houses, boats, wilderness, and a silence that is unattainable in the city. My mom picked an amazing little lake house. We found out that it had previously been just a boathouse/shack where this man would go fishing all the time. When his wife decided she wanted to come down and stay too, she took it upon herself to renovate the whole house into a fashionably simple lake house. The first floor has three walls of windows so you can see out onto the lake. This is where the kitchen, living, and dining area are. Downstairs, there's a master bedroom and another room with a bonus room attached. Outside, there's a dock as well as an outdoor covered patio. The dock is two stories and has places to layout on top. An all around fantastic place to stay.


Lake House

 

Dock on Lake Wedowee



Outdoor Patio

 Our first bit of "real fun" happened because of the NBA playoffs. Since our TV wasn't working properly when we got there (they fixed it that Monday), Stu called the owners to see where we could go to watch the game. To our surprise the owner, Matt, invited us over to his house...not only to watch the game, but to enjoy a fish fry with the fish he'd caught that day! The food was amazing, with even better company. The night ended with us deciding if we should take the bobcat (that his son accidentally trapped and killed) and lay it on my parents' doorstep to find the next morning or not. We declined the offer. You're welcome, Mom.



Fish Fry


Matt's son suggested that we go to the state park. So, on Monday, we headed to Cheaha State Park while my parents got lost :)  Cheaha (pronounced like YEE-HAW!) is surrounded by the Talladega National Forests and has the highest point in Alabama. The best part about this park is their restaurant. Not the food, but the location. The restaurant is made of all big stone rocks and gives you that "earthy" feel. It's set on the side of a mountain where you can look out huge floor to ceiling windows. The view was gorgeous! The trails were ok, but mainly there for people staying at the resort so parking was hard to find.

Going from one extreme to the other, Stu and I decided to take a couple days and visit Atlanta, GA where Stu lived for a year. He did a great job showing me around town. We went to Taco Mac to eat lunch, the Georgia Aquarium, dinner at Tavern at Phipps with Stu's life coach/mentor (which was amazing!), and drinks at this cute place in northern ATL. That night we slept at my friend Emily's apartment. The next day we went to the Flying Biscuit Cafe (also amazing), took my first trip to IKEA, and then to SweetWater Brewery for some local beer! We had done so many fun things with such great people in those two days. We also looked forward to going back to laid-back mode at the lake for the rest of the week.

Sweetwater Brewery

One part about the lake that we had to learn through experience was that the fish like to nibble. We started off swimming by the dock until the little fishies starting biting Rick's nipples, and Stu's side. It wasn't until dinner with Matt that we learned to go out about 30 feet from the dock to swim. We were always a little paranoid, but that never stopped us from swimming and chasing each other.

Stu trying to catch me...keyword: TRYING

A La Lucie

My surprise was a la lucie. If you haven't heard of it before, it's because there's only one...in the heart of downtown Lexington. From their extravagant menu of rabit, chicken phyllo, lamb shank, bourbon/tabasco pork chops, and more, all the way to the animal print and pink accent decor, a la lucie is definately a hidden gem in Lexington.

Stu made reservations for 8 (I was super impressed by the planning) and we sat outside. Great conversation, great scenery (especially getting to watch little kids in the fountains), and most importantly, great company.

Vacation in 2 days! Cannot wait for it to begin!

All About Expectations

Like any new relationship, there is a lot to learn about someone. Some things you pick up over time, some things you learn on your own, some things are pointed out to you to remember. This past weekend was a great learning experience for Stu and I...All about expectations, assumptions, and respect.

Stu usually works on Saturdays. So, when I texted him about going out on a double date with me later that night, I knew it was spur of the moment. After saying yes, I got the details and left him a voice mail, also adding in that I think he should wear a button up collared shirt and kahki pants (which looks amazing on him). He called back around 5 (date was at 8:00) to tell me he was going to the pool with a friend. He assured me that they'd be leaving at 6:30 which would give him time to go home, shower, change, and pick me up. Now, Stu is typically late which has caused some slight friction in the past mind you. Well, I get ahold of him at 7:10 to find that he's just now leaving. I naturally assume that he's still going home to shower and change.

So to my astonishment, I hear a knock at my door at 7:35. It's Stu...unshowered, in a polo and kahki shorts (polo being 2 sizes too small since he borrowed the clean shirt from his friend). In Stu's mind, he looks presentable and is not only on time but has made the effort of being early. I, on the otherhand, was furious that he didn't shower and change like he assured me he'd do.

Long story short, I learned to not me so negative. He learned to communicate to me when plans change.

What happened next? Well, the very next day, Stu called me and asked if he could take me out on a really nice date where we both get dressed up! He wanted me to understand that it wasn't that he didn't want to dress really nice that night, he just didn't have time. Tonight's the date and I'm excited. Yay for wonderful boyfriends.

Bad Day Blues

So yesterday was the worst day I've had in a really long time. I think when something goes wrong at the beginning of the day, it makes the rest of the day feel horrible.

I had my orthodontist appointment at 7:15. Usually these appointments last around 30-45 minutes. Well, it all started when my ortho. gave directions to one of the girls to separate my permanent retainer from my front two teeth. She proceeded to separate my retainer from all on my teeth. After the ortho. yelled at her for doing it wrong (which almost made her cry) he gave her new directions. When he came back, he discovered, that she messed those directions up to in which he took over. While putting my retainer back on, he was tightening my front two teeth together with some metal pincher like instrument.

The instrument slipped, immediate pain, started bleeding, and started crying. All while he's trying to fix my teeth. I couldn't close my mouth and could hardly breathe through my nose. By the time I was done, it was 9:45...TWO HOURS LATER! Worst morning ever.

Well, as my crappy day continued, I decided to drain out one of our fridges in our department. I started by moving all of the cokes in that fridge to the two other mini fridges we have. It was a tight fit and I seemed to be doing great. That was until one of the cans rolled out of the fridge, burst open and went all over my pants and the floor. Now, you may laugh at that and I do now. But at the time, I felt like I could cry.

So yeah...here's to a better tomorrow!

Memorial Day Weekend 2011

WOW...Last weekend was a busy blast!

My weekend started off like any weekend, going to the Zac Brown Band concert in Louisville. It was a blast and I was finally able to see the new YUM! Center Stadium. Even better than that, our hotel was across the street.

On Saturday, it was off to my grandparent's birthday celebration/annual yardsale. We grilled out some fabulous hamburgers and had the most unusual "birthday cake", sweet potato casserole! Requested by Granny.

Another cookout followed. At this one, I ended up chasing this little girl around the yard, stepped in some dog poo (which is just great) and said little girl poured her coke on me. Now that's what a cookout is all about!

On Sunday, I succeeded in cycling 50 miles. The ride is called the Horsey Hundred and it is fantastic. They have mapped out rides on Saturday and Sunday ranging between 30-100 miles. While on the ride, you come across rest stops every 15-25 miles. These rest stops are the bomb! They're loaded with water, powerade, fruit, sandwiches, chips, granola bars, etc. Then, after the ride, they have a huge lunch laid out for the participants. Since we started late, most of the stuff was gone...however, I had the best pimento cheese sandwich ever. Dad and my stepmom decided on doing the 30 miler and my boyfriend, Stu, and I opted for the 50.

Stu and I...almost done!

My dad and I after the ride

You would think that would conclude my weekend...but NOOOOO. On Memorial Day, Stu and I decided to do Bike Lexington with my mom and stepdad. Bike Lexington is a family friendly 10 mile bike ride that starts downtown. Before and after the event, there's vendors, food, music, and a lot of fun. Since Stu's bike isn't fixed yet, my dad was kind enough to let him use his. Well, when we got downtown, we realized that he had a flat tire. We ended up putting the bikes up and enjoying the activities. We got to make smoothies (and lemonade) peddling on a bike (the blender is attached to the bike so when you peddle, the blender starts up). My friend has always told me about doing that at the farmers market and it was fun to finally get the chance to give it a spin!

Well, that concluded my weekend. I have a lot to be thankful for.