{well hello 2013}

Well Hello 2013!

 

Hey there little blog…miss me? Bad Katie…**slap on the wrist**.

 

I know it has been ages since I’ve updated this sweet little blog of mine. My only excuse is that I’ve been busier these past few months than I was at the same time last year (minus the wedding and moving). Going back to work will do that to you ; )

 

One of my resolutions for this year is to keep up with this blog and not let everyday distractions keep me away.

 

Speaking of resolutions…I do have a few….

 

This year I hope to:

 

Eat healthier—that means more veggies!

 

Exercise my whole being more—isn’t that on everyone’s list?

 

Spend more time outdoors—and become one with nature…or something like that.

 

Blog, blog, blog away—at least once a week.

 

Take more pictures—especially now that I have a fancy new camera.

 

Craft more—and hopefully learn to sew.

 

Read more—I watch too much TV as it is.

 

Cook a whole lot more—goodbye GoWaiter!

 

Pursue Plan A!!

 

Volunteer my time at least once a month.

 

Find new ways to feed my organizing addiction.

 

Take more opportunities to show the ones I love that I appreciate them.

 

Tackle new challenges and discover new experiences to enrich my life.

 

Let go.

 

That about sums it up. For now.

 

What’s on your resolution list? Or are you forgoing this tradition this year? Either way…as long as you’re happy : )

 

Until…soon I hope!

 

(like the new signature?)

{happy fourth!}

{image source}

 

I just wanted to take a little moment to say thank you to those who have fought and continue to fight for our freedoms.

Cheers to America!

 

Love,

Mrs. E

{memorial day weekend funsies}

I know Memorial Day was sooo two weeks ago, but I never got to share all of the fun adventures we had that weekend. Some dear friends and family came into town to celebrate the holiday. It was so much fun to have them here---we hardly slept!

We started the weekend with a trip to Turner Field for Jesse’s and my first Braves game. We had a blast! Our friends are true Braves fans so it was no wonder that they were able to find some awesome ticket deals. We purchased the family ticket plan which came out to $82 a couple and included parking, a $10 gas card, a souvenir brochure book, hotdog, large drink, and excellent seats in the most shaded part of the park. What a steal! It was a particularly hot day so it was nice to be out of the sun.

 

 

 

During the game the section next to us initiated the wave and after a few trial and errors, they got the entire stadium involved. It must’ve created some magic because one of the Braves hit a home run and everyone in the stadium won a free Moe’s burrito! So fun!

At some point Home Depot sponsored a tool run which was tons of fun to watch (probably not as fun for the guys in costume). Baseball games are always fun to watch but my favorite moments are the mini games, kiss cams, and trivia spots.

 

What a great game! We are happy that we got to share that first with our friends.

 

After the game we went home, changed, then headed back out for a yummy dinner at Yardhouse. The weather was so nice that we sat out on the patio. Yardhouse is very cool; I’ve been there a few times and have always had a great experience. My first visit to Yardhouse was in LA---they had the best happy hours. The one in Atlanta is fairly new and located over in Atlantic Station. They are a taphouse so you can expect a wide beer selection. They also have some specialty cocktails which are delish---my favorite is the Pineapple Express. The boys each decided to go for the yard glass which is awkward to drink out of. Let’s play a game shall we?

Haha. That was fun.

 

 

On Sunday another one of our friends joined us and we spent the day out in the yard playing cornhole and enjoying a few cool drinks. It made for such a relaxing afternoon.

 

 

That evening, Jesse’s sister and her husband arrived and our group was complete! We went out to find some food---which was incredibly difficult to locate. We learned that despite the fact it was a holiday weekend, things still close early on Sundays in A-town. Boo! It kind of foiled our plan for a fun food crawl. It was okay in the end as we ended up at Felinis Pizza. We couldn’t complain, the pizza was great and the beer even better! It was a very chill evening and the perfect opportunity for everyone to chat and get to know each other.

Remember how I said that I love to make brunch for our overnight guests? Monday I woke up early and went all out on brunch. I was hoping that everyone would stay asleep a little longer so I could surprise them, but they decided to be early birds and come down to watch the magic happen. I felt like I was taunting them as I put stuff out on the table. The good smells wafting out of the kitchen didn’t help either. Everyone seemed to dig in happily when it was all finished and returned for seconds of their favorites. I was so distracted by the goodness going into my belly that I forgot to take pictures of everyone eating. I’m sure they didn’t mind.

Oh what a fun weekend! Nothing is better than spending time with the people nearest and dearest to you.

{easter camp trip}

{our little group}

This post is a little overdue…but ahh, here it is J

To celebrate this Easter we headed up to Lake Hartwell, SC with our family and friends for a mini camp trip. Jesse and I haven’t gone camping in over a year so this was a real treat for us. Usually we really rough it, but our friends introduced us to a new form of camping---glamping. For those of you who don’t know what that is, it is basically just fancy camping. No long hikes into a campsite in the middle of nowhere, no digging holes for, well you know…, no hanging food in trees in order to avoid attracting unwanted visitors. No this camp trip was like a mini-vacation---we were really spoiled. The bathrooms (with showers) were only a few steps away, we had electricity and running water at our site, and our friends had an oven, yes an oven!, in which we cooked most of our meals very efficiently. It was quite relaxing and allowed us to spend less time on the menial tasks and more time enjoying each other’s company---which is really what you want to do on Easter weekend. I don’t know if Jesse and I will camp like this very often (afterall we do like the solitude that those rustic campsites provide), but I think we will definitely try it again! This was also my parent’s first camping trip (which they were very excited about), so glamping was definitely the ideal way to introduce them to the wilderness…haha.

{the pups packed up and ready to go}

We arrived Friday night and stayed until Sunday morning. Friday was pretty laid back as we just got everything set-up and made dinner. Saturday was more of an active day. We woke up bright and early (7 am early…ack!), started a nice fire, and cooked up some breakfast burritos. After we filled our bellies, we parted ways to enjoy a few different activities. Some of our group went to check-out the Easter egg hunt hosted by the park, while a couple others went fishing. Dad Ellis and I went on a 7 1/2 mile bike ride around Tugaloo State Park (where we were staying) to check out our surroundings and burn off those breakfast calories.

{sasha waking up jesse…he wasn’t too happy about that}

{haha}

{the morning crew}

{starting a fire}

{gentlemen}

{lubs}

{my pops and me}

We all met up around lunchtime and shared our adventures from the day. Afterwards, I took a little siesta in Jesse’s hammock whilst listening to some Eric Hutchinson (I did get up at 7 am afterall). Jesse, his brother, my parent’s, and our friends headed back over to the lake for a little walk. Dad Ellis took in some sunshine while reading his daily paper. Such a perfect afternoon.

{soaking in my vitamin d}

{my hubs}

{comfy?}

{gathered catepillars; anyone know what kind they are?}

Dinner on Saturday was untra delicious. We made thanksgiving foil packets---herb roasted turkey breast, stuffing, & gravy. We had fire roasted corn and cranberry sauce on the side---yum-my! For dessert, our friend Mark made a blackforest cobbler in his dutch oven. It was incredibly good! That night we gathered around the fire, roasted a few marshmallows, and shared stories. No scary ones unfortunately---maybe next time.

{sooo good}

{jesse with hus super cool swedish torch}

{take 1}

{take 2…much better}

{now that’s a fire!}

Sunday was pretty easy. We had a very nice breakfast and cleaned up our campsite. We didn’t leave before going on one last adventure however. Have you ever heard of geocaching? It’s kind of like treasure hunting. There are geocaches hidden all over…even in large cities, and you have to follow map coordinates or clues to find them. There is also a really cool app that shows you the gps location. Once you find the geocache, you can take the treasure you find (left by the previous discoverer) as long as you replace it with something. That way the geocache stays active. We figured out there was one close to our campsite so we decided to go and check it out. We had to hike up a hill, and search around a bit, until finally we found it casually hidden under a pile of logs. It was very exciting to pry open the box and see what treasures were hidden inside (which surprisingly there were several). We even got to log our names into a little book to document we had found it. We followed the rules and left our own treasure behind---a cracker challenge…hehe.

{on our way to the geocache…it was so nice out}

{the hike up}

{the pups were excited}

{we found it!}

{official rules}

{so many treasures, so hard to choose}

{the log book}

{our geocache contribution}

{the cracker challenge}

{returning the geocache}

{our reward}

What a lovely camp trip. We had such a great time with such wonderful company. I can’t wait until our next camping adventure! Maybe we will do more geocaching.

So long for now,

The Mrs.