Sunday, November 29, 2009

Oh Christmas Tree!

Here's a quick look at our Christmas Tree. It needs a little bit more work, but I'm so glad it is up finally. It means Christmas is really here!
One of the ornaments I hand painted this year-a South Carolina Palmetto and Crescent Moon. I love my state!

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Thankful

This year I have many blessings to be thankful for:

Marrying my best friend this year!
A great family.
My new family that has welcomed me with open arms.



The Best friends a girl could ask for!

My cameras, so that I can photograph weddings and catch snapshots of all of our friends and adventures!
Always having more than enough food on the table.
Living in the South and getting to enjoy beautiful weather for the better part of the year.


The ability to be able to travel with my family and friends to amazing places like:
Key West, FL
St. Augustine, FL
An awesome job that allows me to tell everyone why my city (Augusta GA) is so wonderful and gives me the opportunity to travel to cool places like Indianapolis every once in a while.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Excited!

I can't wait to see these guys tomorrow in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
It is one of my favorite things about Turkey Day and the official start of the Christmas season!
I hope everyone has a fabulous and blessed Thanksgiving.

Wordless Wednesday

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Fakesgiving Preview


Fakesgiving 2009 was a success! I'm still exhausted from all the cooking, eating and catching up with old friends. Here's a quick look at the bird from Saturday night. Meet Burt the Turkey!

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Indianapolis Part 2

Our second day in Indianapolis was great! Carrie and I had the morning to ourselves to check out downtown and see what we could find. First was a delicious breakfast at Einstein Bagels. We actually have an Einstein down the street from my house, but I never tried it before and was pleasantly surprised.
The egg sandwich on challah bread was so delicious!Next we headed out to check out the visitor center at White River State Park (we always check them out wherever we go, since we're in tourism and like to see how other folks do it). The visitor center was really helpful and told us that the NCAA Hall of Champions was just on the other side of the park. This was terrific news, since we are both huge sports fans, especially football. The downstairs was basically a hall of trophies and other memorabilia, but the upstairs was more interactive. You got to play a portion of each NCAA sport, and try your hand at being a referee for different sports. The whole place was really cool!
Our hotel was right across the street from the capitol, which was really pretty.
The weather was gorgeous the entire time we were visiting!
The rest of the afternoon we had several classes and lots of learning. Afterwards, we went to supper at the Weber Grill. We weren't sure what it was all about at first, but we learned that most of the dishes are made on Weber charcoal grills (like the one you have in your very own backyard!).
I'm not sure how this restaurant would go over in the south, since everyone has their own grill but the food was phenomenal. We tried the Weber sampler, which was basically 'plate of meat' and it did not disappoint.
The mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes and roast corn on the cob we tried for sides was pretty good too! By the end of the night we were stuffed and completely satisfied and our walk back to the hotel kept us from completely passing out from full bellies and happiness!

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Cooking up a Storm!

This week has been crazy busy at work and at home. There's a lot of new things going on in the office, so I've been a little slammed. At home we're gearing up for Fakesgiving weekend 2009, which is sure to be a success! Here's the poundcake I made for our work's Thanksgiving/Fakesgiving lunch today. It turned out really buttery and delicious!
I'm also still regularly cooking at home, too! Here's our delicious chicken enchiladas from last night. Mmmmm...melty cheese!
Alright, back to the grind! I've got to get back to straightening up and cleaning the house for guests this weekend. I'm so glad it's Thursday already!

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Monday, November 16, 2009

Indianapolis Part 1

I just got back from a fantastic trip to Indianapolis last week. I was up there for work and learned a ton of new stuff about tourism. Yay for learning!
Our first night we arrived in the Indianapolis airport, which is beautiful, to find the coolest vending machine I've ever seen. No worries about makeup emergencies, Sephora's got you covered!We took the shuttle into downtown to check into our hotel and it was awesome. You can't beat $7 a pop for nearly direct service from the airport. I think it only took us about 20 minutes to get there and it was a lot cleaner and roomier than a cab. Plus we got to check out some sites on the way.
After we checked in we were starving, so we headed down the street to the Rock Bottom Brewery. The beer was great and the pizza was delicious! It was a quite a long day with all the traveling, bad weather and airport delays in Atlanta so we were all ready for a good night's rest. All in all it was a great start to our trip and Indianapolis did not disappoint on our first night!

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Back from Indy

I arrived back in Augusta from Indianapolis last night around 9:30, and I was exhausted! I think it was a combination of walking around exploring the city, learning a ton for about 3 days, having a great time, and the exhaustion of traveling. I've got a lot of catching up to do this weekend, laundry, a little bit of housekeeping and errands, and a bunch of exercise on my to do list, since we enjoyed such great food the entire time we were in Indiana. Then it's right back to work on Monday and preparing for Fakesgiving 2009!
I'll have a full post with photos and an Indianapolis wrap-up soon. We had a really great time in the Midwest.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Christmas Already?

There are Christmas trees in downtown Augusta already! Isn't this a little earlier than usual?I can't say that I really mind stores putting up decorations to by and presents out early though. The longer I can shop and enjoy the season, the better!

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Fall Skies

I wish the sky was this blue every day! Fall is breaking us such beautiful weather in Augusta this year!
Lake Thurmond at Clarks Hill
(Photo by Moi)

Monday, November 2, 2009

Halloween Weekend WrapUp

Halloween Weekend 2009 was pretty fun. It is really starting to feel like fall! Friday when I came home from work we got started working on our pumpkin. Once he was all carved we decided to name him Fred. Everyone meet Fred! (He is supposed to look surprised.)Here he is getting used to his new spot on the front porch.
This was our first Halloween in the neighborhood, so we weren't really sure if we were going to have many trick or treaters. I didn't know if it was the kind of neighborhood where people only trick or treated at houses they knew or if it was a free for all.
We spent Saturday morning cleaning house. Ran a few errands and came back home in time to watch Florida beat Georgia! (Thank goodness, since South Carolina decided not to show up to the Tennessee game.) We went out to a Pre-Grand Opening Party at Cheddar's (a new restaurant in town), and it was pretty good. Of course the service was great because it is new, but I wasn't anticipating the ridiculously huge portions. Seriously, our dessert was a slice of chocolate cake the size of my head! We left a little bit of candy out on the porch. It was all gone when we came back, so I only had a few pieces left to hand out to the last trick or treaters.
Then it was time for Spooky Movie Fest '09! We watched the new Halloween (really scary!) and the Amityville Horror (Hello, Ryan Reynolds!). Even Fred was scared!
I hope everyone had a Happy Halloween!