Visit from the in-laws / birthday catch up!

had's parents and brother came to visit us! We were so excited because we hadn’t seen them in quite a while. TOO long :) They came on a Thursday night because Sherry works on the weekends starting Saturday so they planned on staying until Saturday afternoon. They arrived and we ordered pizza, showed them our beautiful box-filled home, and then just hung out the rest of the night. We got to catch up on a lot of things! Sherry brought pumpkin bread (YUUUMM!) and it was absolutely delish and made me soo ready for fall! Pumpkin bread = Thanksgiving in my brain because that is always my contribution to the dinner haha.

Friday morning we got up and headed to Atlanta! (We love this place, can you tell? ha). We went to the Marietta Diner first, to share our experience that we had the week before. Apparently, the menu changes between lunch and dinner, so it wasn't the HUGE menu we had, but still big enough to confuse ya. We talked up the spanikopita and then found out they don't serve it at lunch haha, of course. BUT everything everyone got was amazing, and we left full and happy :)

After that it was IKEA TIME!! We spent SEVERAL hours in there - Chad and I were looking for a desk and possibly a dresser but we weren't 100% sure. Needless to say after seeing one dresser, finding out it was out of stock, seeing another dresser, thinking maybe it was too expensive, not liking the other dresser we thought we liked, going back to the one that was maybe too expensive, talking about it, figuring it wasn't too expensive since insurance was paying for it anyways, and looking at it for another thirty minutes making a decision. THAT decision then led to "hmm well these bedside tables go perfectly with the dresser...." and then "well look at that bed! That goes with everything too...we need a bed too I believe" haha. So yes, we got the entire set. Dresser, tables, and bed. And we love it :) We haven't set up the bed but the guys put together the dresser and Chad and I put together the bedside tables. They look so great! Can't wait until they aren't surrounded by boxes so we can actually admire them...

That is our bedroom set!! ... just use your imagination to how it is set up haha

We also got a desk for Chad to do all his official business work. It is light wood and has2 drawers to the right of it. Looks wonderful - we got that all set up too! We also got a random spatula that we really did need, but you always have to pick up the random kitchen utensil you pass at the very end of IKEA that you know you can't live without. For us - spatula.

We headed back home and the next morning is when setting up the dresser started. With IKEA it’s not just a put-it-together-yourself store, it’s a try-and-figure-out-what-the-directions-with-no-words-mean-while-trying-to-put-it-together-yourself-and-figure-out-what-this-screw-is-for store. Sherry and I just sat back and watched as the men worked hard ha it looks GREAT! and is still holding up :)

Great visit but so sad to see them go! I can't wait until we can go up there again.
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My birthday was this past week! It went really well, thanks so much for all the wonderful cards and calls! It makes me feel so blessed for all the amazing people I have in my life. Yall are spectacular! Chad just couldn't wait until my actual birthday so the Friday before he gave me my gifts. I got an awesome Auburn shirt that I have been eye-ing for quite a while (bravo remembering that!) and then .... drum roll.... a massage package! AHH! Talk about perfect. I have only had one massage my whole life, and it was right after I got done backpacking Europe so my muscles were completely out of whack. I cannot WAIT to get this done. Now, if that wasn't perfect enough, Chad said he would do the couple package with me if that is what I wanted (sorry Chad if you didn't want to tell the entire world this, but everyone will think it is sweet. its ok). And of COURSE I wanted that. That'll be so cute! Like on the movies when there is a montage of everything the couple does together and there is a 5 second clip of them laying on massage tables on the beach looking into each others eyes (cue the aww)...except without the beach and the whole 'being in a movie' part. So sweet :)
I got lots of very very sweet cards too which I always love to save and just randomly look at. I have a whole box of them...No, I'm not a pack rat like my dad. Hush Mom.

The Friday before my birthday my parents took me out to eat. It was a place called Joe's Italian (are you completely shocked it is Italian? I bet you are). I was excited because they had said how good it was, but it was my first time to get to go. We got there early and got seated quick - we saw Joe sittin outside on a bench. The classic old, heavy-set, Italian man that just looked Italian, you know? SO cute! The entire place was just so cute. Half the people there you could tell were family or related somehow. That Italian look was just promintent in a bunch of them. There was even a little old Italian man playing the accordian! He was in the black and white striped shirt and tilted hat and red scarf - just like in Italy! I kept hearing Italian phrases being shouted too. Ah, my heart melted a little. I got alfredo of course and it was spectacular. Just so creamy and perfect! We got bruschetta as an appetizer that was wonderful, except they put a whole lot of garlic on there that we had to scrape off because it was so intense haha. Chad got some Chicken Parmesan that was one of the best I have ever tasted. Simply delicioso! So we were getting close to being done and one of the waiters comes over to me and is clearing my space, and then kind of pushed the table beside us back and just stood there looking around which I thought was a little strange but didn't think anything of it. He then mumbled "as you can see I'm clearning a space" ... and then all the waiters and waitresses were suddenly in that space forming a semi-circle around me. The guy playing the accordian was right behind me - they all started up and sang happy birthday and then continued to clap and dance to a classic Italian song as my face continued to turn red. They placed a huge piece of chocolate cake in front of me (which I wasn't about to turn down, despite how I was complaining I couldn't eat another bite about 2 seconds earlier). So all but 2 people left, but the ones that remained were 'Mama' and another waiter. Mama then proceeded to dance and then motioned for me to stand up and dance with them both. YIKES! haha But I did it! I clapped and bounced a little to the beat. She then motioned to turn around - I did. Motion to shake my hips - I did. haha it was quite hilarious and everyone in the entire place was clapping around and watching. Had the lights been brighter, you would have been able to see that my face was the color of Chad's tomato sauce on his plate. (...that was not a very good description, but gets the point across I suppose). SO needless to say, it was a memorable, enjoyable evening and I have found my new favorite authentic Italian place!

This past Friday I went shopping with my mom to pick out some boots because I decided to brave up and try that style this year.  We actually found a pair in black and brown that I really liked! I will be showing those off as soon as it gets cool enough to where I'm not sweating at the mere thought of going outside.

This past weekend we took my Dad to his first SEC football game! Auburn vs. Ball State (intense, I know). It was a lot of fun though - it rained almost the entire first half but it wasn't anything unbearable. Chad and I had bought some rain jackets that day just incase - and they were worth every penny, let me tell you. The beginning of the game was a little scary because of how bad we were doing (fumbled in the first 5 seconds) but then, of course, we brought up our game and won it 54-30. Great game! Dad and Kevin both enjoyed it, and it was fun being able to bring them to their first Auburn experience. WAAAAR EAGLE! HEY!

Before we headed down to Auburn we got to go on a shopping spree at Macy's because of a gift card Chad won for work because he broke a sales record! How cool is that? He got 4 new pairs of slacks, 2 new pairs of shoes, a jacket, and we still have a bunch left over. He is blowing everyone away with how well he is doing! I always knew he would be perfect for it :)

Overall life is going great! This week my grandparents (Dad's parents) are stopping by and we get to go to Joe's again! Hooray! No birthday dance this time - and I'm OK with that. This weekend Chad and I were able to get tickets to the Auburn vs. TN game and so we are incredibly pumped about that. Chad's best friend (best man at the wedding) goes to TN so we will get to see him and are excited about that too :)
Upcoming months...I am ALREADY excited about Thanksgiving, and cannot WAIT for Christmas. The minute they start playing the songs on the radio I'm not going to turn it off until December 26th. What I'm even more excited about is getting decorations for fall/winter! I guess we should figure out WHERE we will be living before I get too excited but still. I'm excited.

Picture Time!!

birthday cake from Mom!

Chad and me at Auburn vs. LA Tech

Braves vs. Reds game!

Braves vs. Reds :)

Marietta Diner!!!

Water, Water, EVERYWHERE (continued...)

OK so where did I leave off? Oh yes, suspensfully is where. So here we go.

We had had a week of craziness but finally it was Friday. We had plans for the weekend we were super excited about, and it had been a week since we were out of the flood. Whew. I get to work, doing my job, la-dee-da, and then I get a call from Chad.
Our kitchen was flooded. What? Did you say flooded Cristy? Yes, yes I did. The dishwasher (BRAND NEW DISHWASHER in our BRAND NEW apartment) was broken, and had leaked water all over the kitchen. Lovely. He said it wasn't anything horrible but 'ha-ha' we are flooded again. What luck, right? oh no, that’s not even the worst part...not only had our dishwasher flooded but then our hot water heater broke and our carpet all around that was now soaking wet. Sound familiar? Oh yeah, that happened the WEEK before...


Yep. Chad was sitting in his recliner and all of a sudden heard a trickling noise. He got up to see what it was about and stepped in soggy carpet (I'm getting so sick of that...). The thing had busted and was leaking everywhere. Chad started filling up a frying pan (the only thing close to him to pick up water) and filling it up and dumping it out like a sinking boat. This is when he called me saying "You need to come home. Our apartment is flooding again" and my response was a slight laugh followed by "yeah right" followed by shock followed by anger...and on and on haha.


I leave work, half upset, half laughing at the fact that we are dealing with this again. I called my friend Lauren because we were suppose to meet for lunch, and I said "Ok I'm gonna need to cancel on lunch...our apartment is flooding again" and she had about the same reaction I did. She offered to come to our apartment and see if there was anything we could do because she was already on her way. We all met there and I just laughed. Oh this shall be a great story one day...

The maintenance guy was there fixing/draining/drying everything so we decided to go ahead and go to lunch since we hadn't eaten yet because of all the drama. We went to mellow mushroom and got to hang out with Garrett and Lauren! They were going to look at churches for their wedding (this is the one I'm going to be Married Maid of Honor in...yes, I changed the name. Matron is too old sounding) and so we discussed all their options. Lauren had sheets all organized out with times, prices, places, pro's, con's, etc. Oh the memories :) We did a few things we needed to do and then went back home ...to our apartment. Everything was back in place, or at least looked like it. It had obviously been wet-vac'd but it was STILL soaking wet. Yes. We let out a sigh, looked around at all our boxes, and then packed for our weekend away from it all.
Saturday morning we headed out to go to AUBURN! We had tickets to the first game (vs. LA Tech) and we were staying with my friend Craven at his apt there (his is NOT flooded, don’t worry). We got there and walked around with Craven for a while, went to Tiger Rags (a must...t-shirts, souveniers, etc). I got a T-Shirt because apparently if you sit in the student section, you are supposed to wear orange because of the slogan "All Auburn, All Orange" and I had on a navy Auburn shirt...of course haha. But you know me and t-shirts, I love 'em :)
We went back to Craven's and hung out until game time (actually about 2 hours BEFORE the game, but you have to go early if you want good seats). We went and it was awesome. People were everywhere, pumped up, in their all orange (thank goodness I switched. don't wanna be that girl). The game was amazing. We were yelling all the cheers just like we were true Auburn-goers. Waving our shakers in the air, spelling out A-U-B-U-R-NNNN! Fantastic. We also got to witness the longest play in AU's history. History folks, history. After the game we went back and watched the rest of the Alabama game and then went to the famous Momma Goldberg’s Deli - they've opened a few in Birmingham but there is just nothing like the good ol original. Went back to Craven's and I went to bed (party pooper, I know) and Chad and Craven and his friends stayed up a while longer. The next morning we woke up early (when can I EVER sleep in??) and headed to HOTLANTA again. We had tickets to the Braves game at one and we got there just in time to grab some quick ballpark food (woo hoo!) and take our seats. Now, we walked up to our section, and it was getting filled quickly. The tickets we had for that section were on a 'special' online so EVERYONE had been buying them. We took one look at that section on our left, took one look to the empty section to our right, and had a seat there instead. Turns out that was genius. The left section was PACKED (minus our seats) and our section stayed pretty minimal the whole time. I was even able to stretch out. Wooonderful. The game was a good game to watch, we ended up losing 4-2 but we did see 2 team members collide in outfield which was definitely a first for me. I also saw my first (live) homerun and my first extra base hit. Overall very historical as well! ha. Historical sports weekend in my life for sure.

Side note about baseball the game. I had on a tank top, and had planned on buying a braves t-shirt but couldn’t find one. Anyways I got completely burnt and was miserable sleeping that night haha. My tan line of the scooped neck tank top is hilarious.
After the game we headed to the oh-so-famous Marietta Diner. This place has been raved about by the ingenious food critic, my dad, for quite a while now. Just walking up to the place was impressive. Classic diner look to it. We walked in and got seated quick and then looked at the menu. Now, saying 'menu' doesn't even describe the magnitude of this booklet. Imagine a normal menu, one, maybe two pages, and stick 4 of those together, and that is the ONE menu here at this diner. There is every single type of food you can imagine on there. Breakfast, dinner, desserts, Greek, Italian, burgers, steaks, it goes on and on. Now, being someone who can't even decide what her favorite color is, this was a difficult task for yours truly. I finally decided on the chicken fettuccini alfredo (I really branched out...haha) and Chad got the chicken Florentine. They were both phenomenal!! Ugh...im getting hungry just thinking about it... Before we even got our entrees we got bread and spainikopita which was SO GOOD. Chad almost stole mine from me because he eats so fast and was done with his before I even ate 1/3 of mine.

After that we went to our hotel we had checked into earlier that day (that the apartment complex paid for thank-you!) and decided to rent one of the ridiculously overpriced movies. We rented 'Away We Go' because we had heard it was pretty good. If you have heard this, disregard that and only hear this- that movie was awful. Wouldn't have even been worth renting from a Red Box, let alone paying $14.95 at a hotel. Don't watch it.
Oh yeah, we did take home a piece of cake from the diner. It was called chocolate suicide. Doesn't that just make your mouth water and your heart melt all at once? And it was like 3 times the normal cake size too. No pansy cakes at Marietta Diner, no sir. It was deeelish.


Monday was the day to drive home (aww) but we were going to make a stop at Discover Mills (yay!) which is a HUGE mall with tons of stores in it. However, as we were getting ready to leave the parking lot Chad says "Ok, lets get out of the car" after squishing something on his seat. I can only say I semi-freaked at this thought. Now, I'm going to let you in on a secret if you don't already know this fact about me - I am Deathly afraid of ants. Before you make fun of me, I KNOW this is a completely irrational fear. I know. However, I just can't shake it. They absolutely creep me out. Bleh. Ok back to the story. So Chad had squished one ant, only to find a whole army of them in his truck. We spent the net 30 minutes going inside the hotel, getting a cleaning lady, spraying down the truck, and calming my nerves. I'm itching right now thinking of it...ugh.
OK! On our way to Discover Mills! We spent a few hours (yes, hours) at the mall, replacing some tennis shoes and clothes destroyed by the flood. It was a lot of fun. My hubby is such a trooper. Not only does he not complain (too much) when I'm trying on shirt after shirt after shirt after shirt, to only come out and say none of them worked, but he also is glad when I do find something I've been looking for or something that looks pretty good! AND he likes shoes :) HOORAY! The perfect man! haha It’s just nice to not feel like I'm dragging him around while I try and find something :)


Done with my lunch break again! Still have to update everyone on the WONDERFUL IKEA trip we had with the in-laws! Man I love that place! To be continued ... again ...

Water, Water, EVERYWHERE

Good Grief do I have some catching up to do...here we go

OK. So last week we were surrounded by clean up crews, apt managers, other homeless people as we all tried to figure out what to do. I got home from work and the rest of the day was spent simply sorting out all our options. The apartment complex finally offered us another apartment (AFTER offering everyone else one and ignoring the fact that we had no where to live) and so we took some random essential stuff over to it. Now when we first looked at the apartments this exact one is the one we wanted. (weird? and no we did not flood on purpose just to get this one...) It is a corner one, bottom floor, bigger living room, kitchen, dining room, and 2nd bedroom. Yep, we were pretty excited. SO we moved our bed over so we would at least be able to sleep there that night. The next day we woke up about 6:00 AM. ON A SATURDAY. What happened to sleep-in on Saturday? No idea. So we are up and the cleanup crew/packers/movers were suppose to be starting at 7. It was 7 and no one was there yet - shock. We went and picked up some doughnuts for everyone (here is a doughnut! ... don't break our stuff) and then they came a little later. From then until 11 that night we were moving. Mmhm. ALL DAY LONG. They brought in boxes, tape, packing paper and suddenly started pushing everything in boxes. They started with our room and were just flyin. BOOM there goes the lamp, WHOOSH there go our bathroom goodies...our entire closes was covered in plastic ready to be transported, boxes were being carried out continuously after they would finish. They got done with that room and then almost as soon as the last box was out, the demo crew came in and RIPPED up the carpet, sliced out the walls, and our bedroom suddenly looked like no one had lived there, ever.
Mom and I were trying to help pack everything up but the lady 'in charge' of all of that just seemed to gripe at us every time we did.
"Hey what can I help with?"
"you can pack up the dishes if you want"
"alright" ...(packing dishes)
( a few minutes later) " wait wait wait why are you doing that? you have to write the names of blah blah blah on the boxes and write the box amount on my piece of paper!"
...how in the world was I suppose to know that.

So we basically just stood around looking like idiots turning in circles, maybe picking up a box here and there to look like we were helping haha. We did run stuff back and forth to the new apt (which is a few buildings down) so that was good I suppose. I was SO GLAD she was there though because otherwise I would have felt so ridiculous haha. Thanks for being helpless with me mom :)
We finally got all that over with, everything packed up, everything moved, everything final. And we weren't going to have to pay - hallelujah. WHEW, finally done...so we thought (that always ramps up the suspense, doesn't it?)

Sunday we unpacked forever, and still barely made a dent in all we have left to do. Boxes are stacked EVERYWHERE. We did get most of the living room and kitchen done but as far as anything else goes...well, boxes still dominate.
The rest of the week went quickly. Monday I didn't feel well when I got home - nothing big just exhausted and a tiny (hence the tiny) fever. So that night instead of unpacking we just chilled and watched a movie because I was just so incredibly tired. The next night we unpacked a little but had no motivation. It is just overwhelming. I mean who really gets excited about that? YAY! BOXES! Ok I can understand setting everything up in a brand new house or at least a new place, but to move a few hundred feet down into basically the same layout? Not very exciting. The next night was church, next night after that was 'Chuck Night' (we get together with some people and eat and watch the show Chuck from ABC), and then there was Friday...

(* I wrote this on my lunch break so i will post again when I get home tonight!! haha or maybe I just wanted to keep the suspense growing...its working isn't it...)