New York–Day 1

Tuesday night I left for Tampa, the first leg of the trip up North. Notice I said I, not we. As in David did not join me. There were some last minute changes/things happened to our plans and unfortunately David could not go with me. Heartbroken, disappointed, angry; mild words to describe the way I felt that he wasn’t going with me – but I was going regardless, and he wouldn't have had it any other way.

I am very grateful to my Dad who drove me to Tampa since I got a late start and he didn’t want me driving there by myself. We got into Tampa around midnight, did a quick catch up with my companions for the trip, David’s friend David & Chloe. (The other couple we planned the trip with). We went to bed almost immediately because we had an early flight in the morning!

Wednesday morning all 4 of us went to the airport, my Dad rented a car and drove home, and Me, David and Chloe were off!

The flight was wonderfully uneventful and we were sooo excited to be heading to the big city!

We arrived around 9:30 and took a life-threatening taxi ride into Times Square where our AMAZING hotel was!

We stayed at the Crowne Plaza, it was right in the heart of Times Square, awesome location!

Our hotel, view from our room.

Bathroom, awesome room.

Check in was not until 3:00, so after dropping off our bags for the hotel to hold, we hit the pavement. Did you know you walk A LOT in New York? Oh my lands we did a ton of walking, but we made up for it with our eating :)

We walked all over 5th avenue. And we saw Grand Central Station, Rockefeller Center, and St. Patrick’s cathedral. Every single place was amazing, breathtaking, etc…we hadn’t planned to ice skate at Rockefeller but we were there, we were on vacation, and how many times are we really going to have the opportunity to skate in NY? Close to nada, so we did it! I am SO glad we did, we had so much fun and made some great memories. We were all a little shaky at first but my the end we got the hang of it. Definitely a memory I’ll never forget.

Central Park, Chloe getting her metro card.

David studying the subway map, ice skating at Rockefeller, Grand Central Terminal.

Times Square!

I just couldn’t get enough of times square, anytime of day you will find it packed with people, and so lively. It’s definitely the city that never sleeps!

Apple Store, Pop Burger Restaurant

We headed back to the hotel around 4 to check in, got settled and then we were off again. We went to a place called Charley O’s right by our hotel for “drinks”. Where I had the first of my many shirley temples. Ya, I’m just not much of a drinker!

After drinks we were off to find a place to eat. We settled on a cozy restaurant called Brickyard. Yum yum!

Dinner at Brickyard: Yum-O!

At this point we’d been up since 4, had about 3 hours of sleep, and I was pooped. Chloe and David headed out for some evening drinks and I headed to a nice warm shower and comfy bed :)

Day 1 = the start of a great trip!

2/15/11

-Friday night was Bunko – I won most Bunkos (4) for the night and took home $35 – CHA!!
-Late Friday night my favorite SIL in the whole world came to visit! Okay, so she’s my only SIL, but she’d be my favorite if I had another ;)
-Remi got to spend lots of time playing with his cousin Bailey
-Saturday Kim & I did a little shopping, well I did since I had some moola to burn! I got two pairs of pants (that fit!) so I’d have more than 2 pairs for our trip
-I wore a black shirt today, which then I usually put my deodorant on second, and I forgot. Oops. Glad it’s not hot out yet!
-Had lunch with my Momma at CFA today. Yum :-)
-In the few weeks we’ve had the house on the market, we’ve had 4 showings and 1 open house. -No offers yet, but we know we’re lucky to be getting this much activity so we are thankful for that
-I get to see snow for the first time, very, very soon!!

Fire in the Hole!!

Last night was week 3 of FSU/CPA. And what were we doing? Well going to the firing range of course!

I didn’t bring my camera, but managed to get a few phone pics for your viewing pleasure.

We met out at Pat Thomas Law Enforcement Academy, and after a very brief set of instructions, we were told to grab our “eyes and ears” aka ear muffs and safety glasses and were each tossed a weapon. Well not exactly, but we grabbed our eyes and ears then patiently waited our turn in line at one of three stations. We each got to shoot a Glock (handgun) and an AR-15 (civilian version of the military kind, i.e. bad to the bone!)

After setting the picture of the lady (I think?) up as our target, it was time to shoot.

Now that’s a side of myself I don’t see too often. Sorry for all those who do!

We were told to aim for the breastbone.

Officer Fender said I got a perfect score! Woot woot. He was the one who taught the RAD class too and has seen be kick some bad guy butt. Shooting was no exception. Except I kicked bad hair lady’s butt, er chest bone.

Mom did okay, but I’m afraid shooting someone in the forearm isn’t going to hinder a bad guy as much as the money shot. That’s okay Mom- that shot in the throat makes up for it!

2/7/11

It’s another dreary day here in North Florida. Bleh, over it!

Yesterday was the perfect temperature and endless blue skies, but it was just a tease before the return to a cold rainy day.

Me and Remington laid outside soaking up the sun while I took phone pictures. Actually I was pouting and took the dog with me, in which I decided I might take a little longer to pout because it was so nice out! Hah!

Tomorrow is supposed to be nice again and I can’t wait. I am missing the sunshine! PS-Me and Nicole are finally having our run date tomorrow. You know, the one I said we were having last week? This darn weather kept throwing us off, but tomorrow is the day!

Last night I went to the Dawkins for a Super Bowl party. There was lots of yummy food, good company and I got to spend some much needed time with my favorite 10 month old! I didn’t take any pictures, (boo!) but I had a great time. I am actually sore today. Tube crawling and almost one year old lifting put a hurting on me! LOL. Thanks again for having me guys :)

Saturday morning was the Godby Baseball Alumni game. The alumni play the current Varsity team once a year. It’s always fun to watch the “old guys” play! David hit a homerun for the third year in a row, so he was pretty excited about that, and it went to his head a little bit! It’s fun because not only do the guys get to visit again, but the girls too! Several of the married couples were bat girls/and ball players in high school, and it’s crazy how we’re now married and some are having kids. Every year there’s another one married or another baby. Lots of fun to catch up and reminisce!

David batting and pitching. He instructed me to note that for this at bat, he had a base hit to right field. There.

Saturday afternoon I went with Renee to her maternity shoot. It was hard to sit back and watch someone else take pictures, I wanted to take some so bad! But her hubby’s Aunt took them and she is a professional, so I guess I had to leave it to her ;)

I had some gift cards left over from Christmas that were burning a hole in my pocket, so Saturday night we went to the mall to do a little shoppin! I got a sweater and scarf from old navy (gosh I LOVE their scarves!) and three new work shirts from Gap. And yes, if you know me, even with a gift card, it was ALL on sale.

We also got Remi a bed. You see, he used to have a bed when he was a puppy, but he couldn’t keep his mouth or teeth off of it. We have the cutest video of him, about 12 weeks old, dragging his HUGE bed all around our apartment with stuffing falling out everywhere from him shredding it. SO wish I could share but I need to get it off the video camera first. Unless it’s already on my computer…I’ll have to check! Anywho, bed had to go bye-bye. Well he has now gotten MUCH better about chewing things, and he sleeps every night on a pile of his blankets. We thought it was time to get him a new bed. The verdict? HE LOVES IT. He snuggles in it so perfectly and just makes you want to eat him up. Gosh I love that dog! Please note the price tag still attached. We left it on at first to make sure he liked it, and haven't removed it yet. lol!

Some things that are getting me through my Monday:

· The Bachelor is on tonight

· Sunny & Cold tomorrow (love it!)

· NYC/Boston literally right around the corner :-)

· New Work Shirts-yay. People probably think I’m so poor, I wear the same thing every week...

· Semi-behaving side bangs (the front blunt bangs didn’t last long) & eek, end of the day on a Monday!

· This lovely lump of fur.

· Firing Range! Wednesday for FSU/CPA. Targets, prepare to meet your maker!!

· Bunko on Friday – I need some WAM* for New York!!

*Walking Around Money

We took Remi in the canoe for the first time today. It was rainy and dreary but fun! He wasn’t too sure about it but he never jumped out or tipped us so that was good!

He wanted out of the canoe, then he was concerned that he wasn’t with us! I’ve got to get the other pictures off my phone of all of us in the canoe :)

Birthdays and DUIs

No, those two are not related!

Today is David’s 25th birthday. Whoa. This number finally hits me as an “adult age”. At age 24, I still feel like a young adult, but 25? That’s a quarter of a century old. Yikes!

This has been a big week for my family. My brother turned 21 February 1st. My parents celebrated their 26th wedding anniversary February 2nd. And today is David’s birthday. We celebrated last weekend so there’s not much birthday related excitement today, poor guy. Fortunately I had to remind him last night that it was his birthday today and so I don’t think he is excited about it as I get about my birthdays!

Anyways, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, David, I love you like a fat kid loves cake! Thanks for being born :-)

(sorry for the quality – phone pic)

Now for a change of topic, last night’s FSU/CPA* was rather boring:/

*Citizen’s Police Academy

The topic: DUIs. I am not one iota interested in drugs or alcohol, so I wasn’t looking forward to this topic. I was hoping to at least see some videos and pictures of gnarly car wrecks or crazy crackheads, but we didn’t. We just sat there for an hour and a half listening to an officer talk about DUIs. I did learn though, a DUI stays on your record for 75 years…yikes! Don’t drink and drive people! Also, don’t do meth. It’s bad for your brain and you will think you have meth bugs and give yourself sores from scratching. Not attractive!

Next week should be more fun because we are going to the range to shoot some weapons. Sweeeeet! I will try to take a few pics!

Thoughts for Tuesday

Well, I’m still at it. Sort of.

The food part has been way iffy over the past few days, but it is what it is. I’m trying to do better (healthier) but I’m having a tough time. I just love foooood.

What I have been doing though is trying to run and a few other exercises every night. Granted it’s not as much as I should be doing, but it’s way more than I was doing. I can’t run for long distances but I can jog/walk pretty well. It’s what is to be expected seeing as I’m a couch potato and all. You gotta work up to it!

I’m already really nervous/anxious about my running date with my friend Nicole that we’ve scheduled for Thursday. Lawd help me. You see Nicole has this great figure and is I’m sure MUCH healthier/more of an exerciser than I am. But she wouldn’t take my lame excuse that I’m “not a runner” and made me agree to at least try and go running with her. We are gonna hit up the trails…wish me luck! I’m looking forward to it though, maybe it’ll give me the kick in the arse that I need.

Sigh.

Oh!!! After much pouting/whining/annoying bribes/etc…about getting my lens, David had us make a detour on the way to the dog park Sunday so I could buy it. Before this though, I was given the “you can’t get everything you want right when you want it…blah blah blah” speech. (Thinks to self, “Why not?”) I finally agreed that yes, he was right and I was going to accept the fact that it’d still be a while before I got it. BUT I made sure he knew I had 15 days to “earn” my lens via selling my old Vera Bradley purses, selling a few decals that had been asked of me, etc…before we go up North. I would be busy doing that stuff, and I might need an advance if I didn’t get enough in time…

:-)

I was SO excited when he changed his mind!! His reason being, “I do NOT want to hear about this lens for the next few weeks, so just buy the dang thing…and you better have a coupon!” SCORE!! Luckily, I planned to do a lot of begging/whining/pleading as of Friday afternoon, so I printed out 3 different Best Buy 10% off coupons to make sure one of them worked IF I was given the opportunity to get it over the weekend. Way to think ahead Tam;)

Here she is. I named her stumpy. Just now. You know because she’s short and round.
I can’t wait for the sun to come out here because it’s been so dreary. I have been taking some pics outside but since I’m trying to avoid my flash like the plague (apparently that’s the key to great pics?) I would like some sunshine. Oh and I’m also trying really hard to stay away from the Auto mode on my camera. Quite the learning experience doing everything manually!

Here’s a few shots I took with my new lens. (Nikon 35mm /1.8)
Erm, my toes match my lens. They're stumpy, just like my Dad's:)

I loooove it so far.

Now I just need to practice, practice, practice.

Anywho, it’s Tuesday and tomorrow is our second, but first “real” citizen’s police academy class. Can’t wait!

Word of the Day: Motivated

It’s no secret, in fact it’s quite obvious. I’m not as “in shape” as I used to be. What is considered “in shape” anyway? I mean round is a shape. Rectangle is a shape. Giant blobs are shapes. Not that I was ever actually in shape to begin with, but I had more of an acceptable pear shape going on instead of my current state of shape…which is “OUT OF”.

David loves to remind me that I’m not as small as I used to be. Thanks babe.

Over Christmas my Grampy told me in regards to Big Momma and her lovely assets, that “there’s acres and acres of it and it’s all mine!”. LOVE that! If only David had the same opinion.

:)

P90X was a dud. I mean seriously, I was over it about after the first week. I’m just not into it and apparently it wasn’t into me. We didn’t click.

It’s time for change. I am down to 3 pairs of jeans that I can wear, but by no means “fit”. It’s a denim wrestle every morning and I pray that the seams won’t bust (again) because that would leave me with only 2 pair. And I have lots of pairs, some that are my very favorites, it just appears they’ve shrunk tremendously. Amazing how that happens, huh?

We are going to New York very soon and I’ve decided I don’t want to be the largest and in chargest on the trip. All the other menfolks wives/girlfriends are petite and beautiful, and well petite is just not a word used to describe me. I mean it’s been a while since we’ve seen our friends and I don’t want them to notice right away that I’ve grown a few sizes since they last saw me! Not to mention too we’ll be walking A LOT and I need to start building stamina so I’m not wheezing after a block and groping for the nearest hot dog stand for a large coke and a wiener as an energy boost.

So what am I doing to fix it? I’m on a strict 250 calorie a day intake based on a liquid only diet, with an occasional 1” piece of celery thrown in for a treat. Oh and I plan to run 14 miles a day.

Me?! 250 a day?! HAHAH!! As if!!

No but really, today I started. I don’t expect to be much smaller by the time we go, because I’ve been procrastinating too long for those types of effects that fast. But I do hope to drop a few lbs. and start getting a little healthier.

Instead of my Chex Chocolate Bar for breakfast or Breyer’s M&M yogurt, I had a Nature Valley Peanut Butter granola thin square. So good! Thanks for gifting them to me Big Momma!

Usually I snack all morning and afternoon on junk food, and eat a big lunch with a coke. Horrible, I know. Hence the way I am.

Today I tried to drink lots and lots of water. As of the time I left work, I drank 72 oz. of water (9 servings) and I had a Clementine for an afternoon snack.

I ate two (I know I only needed one) Whole Grain Lean Pockets for lunch.

Every day on my break I am known as “the girl who sits in the hall and reads her book while everyone else is walking”. Well today, I was the girl trekking around outside for two 15-20 minute intervals. I ran up 6 stories worth of stairs, and jammed out to my ipod.

I also found this great free app for the iPhone called, MyNetDiary. It is very helpful. I can put in all the foods I’ve eaten (it tells me how many calories I consumed), all the exercise I’ve done (it tells me how many calories I burned), take before and after pictures, tells me how many calories I have left to eat that day (based on my goal I entered when I signed up), how many servings of water I’ve had that day and much, much more.

The real test of will power will be dinner. Y’all, I like to eat. No, I LIVE to eat. So this is hard for me. I’m afraid I will blow it all at dinner with 3 helpings of it, but I will try my best. And even if I do eat a little more than I should, at least I’m not doing that AND all the other bad stuff I would have eaten throughout the day.

David and I have a running date tonight…hope I don’t die of extreme over exertion.

Happy (almost) Friday!

PS- If you missed it, see below for the fun Hot-Lanta post!

Hot-Lanta

Saturday morning, very early, myself, Lindsay, Lindsay’s sister Ashley and another bridesmaid Shaila loaded up in Lindsay’s car Addison Acadia (my car’s twin) and headed North. Of course getting there was half the fun, right?

We loaded up the car, set my GPS (Natalia) to our destination and headed out in the frigid temperatures. I deemed myself the co-pilot because I was put in charge of the navigation and was granted shotgun by the back seat riders. (Where I remained the entire trip because me and the pilot worked best together – no offense other riders!)

After a few disagreements on the best way to get there, we traveled through some dark backroads, sketchy neighborhoods and made a few U-turns because Natalia didn’t know what she was doing…we were on the right path to the ATL! Love this pic- shot it in manual and am proud of myself!
Small town, still sleeping.

Our driver. I promise her eyes are open when she's actually driving. It's just she's allergic to the flash;)
Shaila trying unsuccesfully to catch some Zzzz's.

On the way there we passed a gas station/store called Striplings with the slogan that said, "You never sausage a place!" <-- LOVE it!! Oh and this is how we kept ourselves occupied on the drive/trip- Fat Face!! Ashley
Mrs. Theresa
Linds
Shaila
Yours truly!

Lindsay’s first appointment was at 11:30 but we arrived in ATL about 10:30 and dealt with a not so happy hostess who clearly had better things to do than let us check in early to the hotel even though they were told the night before that this would be allowed. Big sis Ashley came in and set her straight and off to our room we went.

Our hotel was pretty neat and we were in quite the room.
The "lounge side of the room". Through that back right door is the "bedroom" area. Swanky!


We could even see a mountain from the hotel!
Lindsay’s momma drove from Pensacola and met us at the hotel and after some freshening up and changing of clothes, we were off again.

Can I just say I do not heart Atlanta traffic?

The first stop was a little disappointing as the dresses were super pricey and nothing just really tickled Lindsay’s fancy. Plus it was a very small shop and all the focus was on the bride-to-be and her reactions of the in house designer’s gowns. Talk about pressure.

We finished up the first appointment quicker than expected and went and got some lunch at Zoe’s Kitchen. The food was pricey and not plentiful enough for me, but my chicken roll-ups were very good.


Me, Linds, Ashley

Cool lights!

After a quick walk across the street to CVS for a restroom break, pack of gummy bears, pack of white chocolate pretzels, pair of gloves and some toothbrushes, we made our way back to the car for the 2:00 appointment. Our next stop was a lot more fun and had a lot more choices. Did I mention that Lindsay is like the most perfectly sized bridal-gown- model-lady? This next shop was a busy place and every time she came out in a dress it seemed everyone stopped, even other brides, to see what she looked like. And might I say, every dress looked so good on her. *jealous* ;)

Our next and final stop was at a really fancy place called Priscilla of Boston.

This is ¾ of the judging panel. There were strict no photo policies everywhere we went, but being the rebel I am, I clearly took out my camera and snapped away rule follower I am, I only snuck a pic or two when the consultant scurried off.

After we were done dress shopping it was getting close to hungry time.

We went back to the hotel to refresh ourselves, and take a break before heading to the much anticipated cheesecake factory! 4/5 of us took advantage of the hotel’s complimentary cocktail hour. I’ll give you one guess as to who opted out…lame-o me who doesn’t care for alcohol didn’t drink even if it was free!

I slipped out of my flats and put on my comfy shoes and fluffy socks and was like a new woman. We’d had a long day on our feet!

By the time we got to the restaurant, there was a 2 hour wait. Yikes! We put in our name and then walked over to the mall next door, where Lindsay found her wedding shoes.

Spikes are in, right?

;)

We played in the Apple store for a little while and burned more time before returning to the restaurant to wait for another 45 minutes or so. Lindsay looks like she just got caught!

After we were finally seated, we were half asleep and starved. We were finally eating at around 10:30 and I know I ate a delicious Crispy Buffalo Chicken Sandwich but dang if I can hardly remember it! I.was.so.tired. But not tired enough to take a few fun pics at the table.
Sisters :)

Including one of this delicious red velvet cheesecake that Lindsay and Ashley were going to split but the whole table ended up eating it. Whoops! So yum!
We left the restaurant to battle the freezing cold temps to the car, and headed to the hotel where we promptly plopped into bed and were out like lights.

Sunday morning we got up at the crack of dawn and jogged three miles, I mean moseyed out of the room at about 10:15 just in time for breakfast. Which was fabulous by the way! This complementary breakfast had an omelet made to order bar that came with pancakes, home fries, sausage and bacon. And for the less cholesterol approach, there was the normal/healthy food bar with the usual fruit loops, bagels, fruit etc…I stayed far away from that section.

We left Atlanta about 11:30 and made the long drive home. We did get to drive through downtown Atlanta though when we were leaving and I was giddy seeing all the big buildings as it was getting me pumped for New York! We even saw the building where Lindsay will be working when she moves there this summer. Very cool!

On the way home we stopped for lunch only a few hours after breakfast. Yes, we’re the fat kids. Mmmm Checkers fries.


Oh and another weird thing, we saw three dead cows hogs unicorns furry beasts oversized animals on the side of a major highway spaced every quarter mile or so. One was pretty much in two pieces…like an animal explosion. Not pretty but I guess that’s life on a farm when you live next to a highway. Eek, poor animals:/

So that’s our girls road trip to the city of hot-lanta. What fun!

Thanks to our ring leader/planner/pilot Lindsay for putting it together and getting us there and back in one piece! I had a blast!!