So this is late. Adam's birthday was last Monday!! The big 2-4....or as I like to say, officially in his mid 20s. Last Sunday, we celebrated at his family's house - Adam and Nathan share the same birthday, so we killed two birds with one stone.

I think I've made it pretty clear that I don't cook, but for some reason I always decide to make the hardest things for Adam. (You may recall the eggs benedict I made him for our anniversary?) So for his birthday I decided to make cheese fondue! We got a fondue maker (which I later found out was just a small bowl to hold the fondue) for our wedding, but have never used it. I got kind of creative when it came to what we were going to dip... zucchini, jalapenos, four cheese ravioli, bread, brats, tater tots and pizza rolls. SO delicious and SO unhealthy - our favorite. :)

Since his mom had made him a delish red velvet cake, he decided he only wanted a cookie cake from me. This actually turned out to be the best thing ever since I was still cooking the fondue/sweating profusely when Adam got home from practice. I never would have had time to make a cake!

The day also happened to be the best day EVER since he found out he got the supply teaching job at Lassiter!!!!!!!! Talk about the best birthday!!

We decided to celebrate his birthday this past weekend so our friends could join us. Adam's favorite day is St. Patty's Day, and since he couldn't come celebrate with us in Savannah I found a fun Irish bar called Johnnie MacCracken's for us to go to on Saturday night. It was such a super fun night, and we were so glad our friends were able to make it! Somehow I didn't snap one picture of Adam that night, but it's probably because he was too busy running around like a crazy person with Kirklan, his friend from school who came down to celebrate. 

But here are some other shots from the night...

Such a fun night with some of our favorite people!!

SIDE NOTE: Saturday also happened to be Mitchell's prom, so of course Adam and I had to crash the picture party. He looked so handsome!

Slainte to Savannah!

This past weekend was St. Patty's Day! And for the first time in years, it fell on a Saturday. When the ladies at work found out it was going to be on a weekend we decided we had to attend. And don't judge us for securing our hotel a year in advance, because we did. They said this weekend in Savannah was supposed to be the biggest St. Patty's Celebration in the world. They were expecting 1 million people at the parade - and if I had to guess, they hit it.

We all took Friday off work and headed down to Savannah bright and early to beat traffic. I guess we did the right thing because when we arrived at 1:30 there was zero traffic and we were able to breeze through check in at the hotel. IT WAS AMAZING. All credit goes to Sarah for making us leave so early.

Savannah has this amazing thing called an open container law (which I think every city should instate). So when we arrived to our hotel, we poured ourselves a drink and walked around the city.... WITH A DRINK IN OUR HANDS!

We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott and I highly recommend it. We could walk everywhere and we had a cute little balcony that overlooked (you guessed it) a courtyard. After walking around on Friday afternoon we took advantage of the heated hotel pool - the weather was absolutely perfect. Sunny in the mid-high 70s. Yes, please!

Friday night we met up with Sarah's college friend, Lindzi, and her husband, Jeb, for dinner at this cute place called Belford's. Here's the ATL group in front of the restaurant.

After dinner we finished off the night with some canolis at Corleone's - yum!

The next morning we were up bright and early for ST. PATTY'S DAY!!! We were up by 9 and drinking by 10 - being true Irish people, right?

Adam had a doubleheader on Saturday, so he wasn't able to come with us to Savannah. :( I was super sad because it's his favorite holiday, and Savannah was just so amazing. But he was there in spirit!! Here we are posing...

Vann wasn't able to come with us, either. She's too busy becoming a super smart doctor! But we saved a spot for her.

The parade started at 10, and we walked over to meet up with Lindzi and Jeb again. We were able to watch the parade from, in my opinion, the best spot. Thanks to them, we were able to watch the whole thing from the porch of the Spanish Moss Inn. Did I mention how amazing the weather was?? IT WAS AMAZING!!!!!!!

I took SO many pictures the entire weekend, but here's just a sneak peek...

Parade!

Hens!

Budweiser Clydesdales!

Watching the parade from the Spanish Moss Inn.

So apparently there's a tradition where women are supposed to wear red lipstick and run into the parade and kiss people? Well, we weren't aware of this tradition so we did not have any red lipstick. However, after a few drinks we decided it was our American duty to run out and annoy the servicemen in the parade. This is probably my favorite picture of the trip....here we are harassing the NYPD. They loved it.

After the parade was pure chaos. I have never seen so much traffic in my life. The entire city was sitting in gridlock traffic from the time the parade ended at 3pm, and it was still that bad when we were going back to the hotel around midnight. Lucky for us, we got to walk past everyone and feel bad for them because we could walk everywhere. :)

In front of a green fountain!

After the parade, we headed back to the pool and the rest of our day consisted of pool, food and dancing. Such a fun trip!

Thank you for a wonderful weekend, Savannah! I can't wait to come visit you again!

I'm totally OK with this weather...

This winter has been insane  - but in a ridiculously good way! I think I've only pulled out my big jacket like five times, and I am loving it. This past weekend, the weather was absolutely amazing - sunny in the mid 60s. Yes, please!

Saturday was my B-E-A-Utiful mother's birthday! She spent the day relaxing (her favorite past time), and then we all went to a delish dinner at Bocado. I've always heard amazing things about this restaurant, and it's constantly named one of the best in Atlanta. Although the food was great, I wasn't too impressed with the service or the atmosphere. BUT we had a great group, and it was super fun anyway! 

The gang's all here!

Mom, Dad and Mitchy

Happy birthday, pretty lady!

Cake? For me?!

Sunday was equally beautiful as Saturday, so Adam and I took advantage of it! I started the day with a 6 mile run (still training for the half marathon), and then we went to the grocery story so we could grill out. We spent the rest of the afternoon sitting in the backyard reading (me) and getting antsy (Adam). 

Adam can never really enjoy the outdoors - he always has to be doing something. So while I was relaxing, he decided to pull out his fishing pole and go fishing with Ruthie. In our backyard. That has no type of water source.

Here's my adorably weird husband and Ruthie....well, fishing?

And here's the two lovebirds, again. They really are best friends - I'm kind of jealous.

So there's a little peek into our beautiful, relaxing weekend! Sundays are now my favorite, because it's the one day a week Adam has no baseball, so we get to spend the whole day together.

Atlanta's Top Tweeps

Last Friday, I received the news that I had been as one of Atlanta's Top Tweeps by 11alive News (Atlanta's NBC affiliate). They choose 11 top tweeters from Atlanta every month, and I was lucky enough to be included in February's line up! You can read my semi-awkward questionnaire by clicking here, and you can read the full story here.

They had a cute little reception at Genki in Virginia-Highland last night, so the MLT hens, Jared and Xavier came with me and we turned it into a fun little night out. 

One of the other top tweeps was Tripp Crosby, and I was pretty excited to meet him. I'm a big fan of his video "Sh*t Nobody Says" and his website Reluctant Runners. Here we are...tweeting away!

And here's me with my award in front of the step and repeat....without the repeat.

And another...

I have to include this picture. Xavier was so concerned about his lapel making it into the shot that he completely cut out Kelly. Too funny!

Thank you, 11alive! Next time, make sure Chesley makes an appearance. :)

Reunited in Charlotte

Two of my very best friends from college live in Charlotte, NC and I have never been, which is pretty crazy. I was beyond excited to finally visit the Queen City and play with Anna and Natalie - it had been 6 months since I last saw Anna and almost a year since I've seen Natalie.

I arrived Friday evening, and our first stop was the Charlotte Checkers game. They're a minor league hockey team, and I was shocked at how crowded it was. I'm pretty sure this was my first (semi) pro hockey game, and even though I'm not really into the sport we got to witness a pretty brutal fight - so that was fun!

After the game, we went to BlackFinn Saloon for dinner and drinks with some other friends.

Saturday morning we woke up, got brunch and then went shopping. Princess Natalie was a little worn out, and decided to sleep through some of our stops.

Natalie had to go to Shelby, NC for her brother's birthday dinner, so Anna and I continued to shop then came home for a nap where I got to watch CABLE TV! I have missed Bravo so much. After pulling ourselves together, we went to get a quick manicure and then grabbed dinner with Matt Melvin at Paco's Tacos. It was delish!

How amazing does the Firestarter look? I am a sucker for anything jalapeno-related, but my disgust for tequila overpowers my love for jalapenos. I'm sure if I drank tequila this would have been amazing.

After dinner, we met up with Natalie at Angry Ale's and Andrew Blair's, which are their go-to bars, and I was excited to finally get to partake. Warning: We took a lot of pictures last night, so get ready. And I'm not even including all of them.

Mel is the best bartender at Angry Ale's. And so famous.

Typical.

And what's a Saturday night without a late-night trip to McDonald's? Here's our awesome cab driver, Gibril. Can't you tell he loved us?

It was seriously one of the best weekends, ever. We always have so much fun together, and I wish we all lived in the same city! Actually, that would probably be very dangerous. But still! Can't wait for our next rendezvous.

40 days & 40 nights

Wednesday marked the beginning of Lent, which I have participated in since I can remember. And as long as I can remember, I've always given up some type of food: candy, meat, fried foods, flamin' hot cheetos, snack foods, chips and salsa, etc. Adam never participates because he said that girls only do it to provide some will power so they can lose weight. Of course, when he first told me this I got super offended and told him that was not why I did it. But eventually I realized he was right (I hate don't like when he's right). Is there really anything we can do on earth that even comes close to what Jesus did? Nope.

So this year I decided to use Lent as an opportunity to try to change a habit I don't like about myself. I used to pride myself on never 'hating' anyone because I thought the word was just so final and harsh. However, since I started working I realized that 'hate' is now a main word in my vocabulary. I say it. A lot. And I hate don't like it.

From now until Easter I will be making a conscious effort to STOP using the word 'hate' forever! And so far it's SUPER hard.

Wish me luck!

Grandpa Blumenkamp's Funeral

Disclaimer: I have had this blog drafted since we returned from St. Louis a week and a half ago. I really wanted to include some of the bible verses from the funeral, among other things, but now I can't remember. So here's what I can remember from the weekend we spent celebrating his life.

On Wednesday, February 8 we received the news that Adam's grandpa had passed away. We knew it was coming, but didn't know it would happen to fast. He hasn't been well for quite some time, and was ready to head home to Heaven. Adam was able to call and say goodbye to him the week before, which was very special.

We arrived in St. Louis that Saturday afternoon, and were able to spend the remainder of the day visiting with family. I wanted to help with dinner, so Debbie put me in charge of the salad (because who can honestly mess up a salad?). All I had to do was mix two types of lettuce, add Provel cheese (we are in St. Louis) and black olives. Leave it up to me to cut my finger open with the black olives. It wasn't a bad cut, but leave it to me to cut myself while making a salad.

While it was a sad occasion that the whole family was together, it was wonderful to see everyone. Grandma was surrounded by the people who love her and Grandpa the most. The visitation occurred after church on Sunday, and it was unreal how many people showed up to lend their support to Grandma and the rest of the family. The line was literally out the door for hours! It was so amazing to see how many lives he truly touched.

The funeral took place on Monday morning, and many of his grandchildren spoke or sang in his honor. Adam wrote something for the Reflection portion of the funeral service, and just about ripped everyone's heart out. It was so touching, and straight from the heart.

We attended the burial at Jackson Barracks National Cemetery, and it was so moving. I had never been to a military burial, and was surprised to see how much they do for every service man or woman when they pass. They played taps, performed a gun salute, and there were two Marines on hand to fold the flag and give it to Grandma. It really was so beautiful.

We will all miss him, but are glad he is out of pain and hanging out with the big guy upstairs. Prayers for Grandma would be much appreciated as she transitions to life without Grandpa (physically) around anymore.

We love you!