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!!!