Summer is officially HERE!

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

I love summertime for too many reasons. We get to play outside. My skin doesn't get all itchy and irritated like it does in the winter (overshare?). I don't have to wear sassy pants to work - dresses galore! And of course, it's my birthday season. So many things to love about this glorious season!

Last week I worked the Taste of the Nation Palm Beach event. My first event with Share Our Strength! I love, love, loved every second of it! It's so much different than what I was doing, but MLT definitely prepared me for anything that was thrown at me. (Seriously, everyone needs to work in an agency. I couldn't have asked for a better first job!)

The event was held at the Cohen Pavillion at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach on Wednesday, June 20. Here's the room before... and after set up!


Here I am with two of the other Share Our Strength-ers at the event. Yes, we got to wear snazzy head radios. Jealous?



We went to this fun little place called The Wine Dive after the event on Wednesday night. Love the chalk paint!


I stayed at the DoubleTree in Miami, and here is a view of South Beach (?) from the pool. Not the prettiest day...

This past weekend we got hit with real-life summer weather. Helllllo 90s! We also got to spend time with some of my favorite people from college! Emily's mom lives in Canton, GA and was throwing a huge 50th birthday bash, so of course we all had to partake. As always, I took way too many pictures.









HAD to get some pool time in on Saturday!


Hilda's 50th Birthday Bash!


Some cute guy I picked up. :)



Lucky guy! (Don't mind the red eye...eeek!)


Adam has been busy up at the baseball field most days (do I sound like a broken record, yet?). I am so very glad he found something that he absolutely LOVES! And he'll also be coaching Softball in the fall.

He's also gearing up to start taking classes towards his Masters in the fall. He'll be attending Kennesaw State, and will eventually graduate with his Masters in Secondary Math Education. Such a wiz! He'll start by taking Calculus1 this fall followed by Calculus 2 in the spring and Calculus 3 in the summer - and this all has to be done before he even starts his Masters program! I think this is God's way of testing my patience, for sure!


Anyway, that's all that's been going on at the Baker residence. Pretty exciting stuff, huh?

Father's Day...among other things.

Monday, June 18, 2012

If you know me, you know I have a love-hate relationship with Mexican food. I love it so much I can't stop once I've started, and then I have to be rolled out of the restaurant. I've finally come to accept the fact that I will never be able to control myself when there are chips and salsa in front of me. Period. Anyway, on Wednesday I met up with some friends at Pozole in the Highlands. $3 margs and $1 tacos? SOLD! It was a fun time catching up and, of course, I ate myself silly.


On Friday night, Adam and I attended a Pinterest Party at Alysa's. Ok - so maybe I made that phrase up, but it suits the occasion. We all brought something delicious that we found on Pinterest. Guess what? It was Mexican themed - so of course I Adam made this yummy salsa and some queso. Alysa also just rescued this little fur ball. At the time, his name was Simba, but she has since renamed him Conan. Adam decided to use him as a dumbbell - a barely 1 pound dumbbell.


Sunday was Father's Day! I am seriously the luckiest girl ever - I have the world's best daddy and father-in-law. I really lucked out.

We had a wonderful lunch at the Bakers, where we discussed our trip to ITALY next summer!! Still can't believe it's only a year away! Beyond excited.

After lunch, we headed over to my parents' house for the rest of the afternoon. My dad wanted professional pictures made for his birthday, so he should have known he was going to get a lot of the printed versions for Father's Day!


I also had this video made from a local improv group, Dad's Garage. I saw they were doing a fundraiser on Twitter, and decided to go for it. They sent me a short questionnaire and went from there. I was pretty impressed with how it turned out! You can view it here.

Love you, Daddy!


And I will leave you with this adorable picture of the two best friends in the world...


P.S. Happy First Anniversary to my beautiful sister-in-law, Meagan, and her hubs, Nathan!

New Beginnings!

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

I think this is the longest I've gone without posting, and I have to admit I am very impressed with myself. It wasn't even that long! (Or I could be totally wrong.)

I am so excited to announce that I officially have a new job! It's actually been official for a few weeks, but I started yesterday so there's no turning back now.

You hear about those people who quit their jobs to do something they're really passionate about, and (being the kind of envious person I am) I thought "If they can do it, so can I!" I put a lot of thought, tears and confusion into my decision - and finally decided I wanted to pursue something in the non-profit sector. It sounds cliche, but at the end of the day I want to be doing something that matters. Something that when I go home at night I know I put 110% into making the world a better place. And something that, when we have kids, I feel confident knowing I'm working my hardest to help better their future.

I heard about this opportunity through a friend, and the more I learned about the organization the more I fell in love with it. After various rounds of interviews, I finally found out I GOT IT! And the timing could not have been more perfect - it was the Thursday before Memorial Day and I had Friday off. (Memorial Day was a huge celebration weekend in my family - which you can learn about here and here - and this was just another celebration to pile on!)

I am the new Southeast Regional Coordinator for Share Our Strength! They're We're working to end childhood hunger in America by connecting kids with the nutritious food they need to ensure they lead healthy, active lives. It is such a fabulous organization and I still have to pinch myself to believe that I am a part of it! I will be working on the Culinary Events team and my responsibilities will revolve around assisting the rest of the Southeast team with everything related to the various culinary fundraising events we put on. I encourage you to look around their website and check it out.

As you can tell, I am so very happy and blessed to have this opportunity. I could not be more thankful for His timing!
 
FREE BLOGGER TEMPLATE BY DESIGNER BLOGS