Thankful!

So yesterday was my birthday...and I had a great one! To start off, my co-worker Beverly put balloons on my door at work with a sweet card, and then a few of my co-workers and I went to lunch at one of the best restaurants (in my opinion), Joel's. It is a home-cooking, Southern food, kinda restaurant and let me tell you if you're ever in Birmingham at lunchtime or never been there, you gotta try it out!

I then left work early (hey, it was my birthday!) and went to shop a little bit. My father-in-law and step-mother in-law got me a gift certificate to one of my favorite shops, Charming Charlies (thank you, thank you!). So I felt the urge to go shop a little, and that's exactly what I did! Got some really cute jewelry, but you know how it goes--when you got money to spend, you can't find anything! Needless to say, I will be visiting Charming Charlies again since that gift card is burning a hole in my pocket.

Later, several friends met Matt and I at a restaurant called Billy's (just noticed a pattern of going places with people's names) and sat on the patio outside and had great dinner and drinks. It was a blast! My friend Ang B. and I attempted to talk our significant others into going dancing later but they declined so we headed home after dinner.

It was a great birthday and it just made me realize how great of friends and family members I have. So thankful to have you all in my life!

This weekend we're off to Atlanta to visit my family and see a few friends. Can't wait!

I need a vacation.

I know, I know what you're thinking (all 2 of you readers out there). You just had a vacation! But really, something about this time of year makes me itching to be outside and not work. Is it just me, or do you feel that way too? Even though we just got back from Nashville, I am still longing for days off work, spent in the sun, preferably by a pool or beach. Perhaps it is because I was playing hooky on Friday and got a little taste of the freedom of not working that I am now having such a strong desire not to be working, and to be off on a vacation. Well, we are going to Atlanta this weekend, so that could count as a mini-vacation, right?! Too bad the weather looks like it's going to rain on Saturday, so my chances of being by a pool are not looking good, but a girl can still hope, right?

I think part of the fun of a vacation is the excitement leading up to the trip. We are planning on going to such and such, and then planning the trip and things you want to do, buying outfits and clothes for the trip, and all that other exciting stuff that leads up to taking a vacation. I know last year before we were getting married in Jamaica, I had a countdown timer of the number of days leading up to the trip.

We are actually going on a cruise in June with four of our close friends. We leave out of Jacksonville, Florida and are going to go to Key West and the Bahamas--neither of which I've been to. So I guess I can use that trip as my motivation to make it through work every day and know that I do have a fun trip in tropical weather coming up very soon! I know, I really shouldn't be complaining! Life is good.

Nashvegas!

Wow!! What a great weekend we have had! We just got back from going to Nashville, which was a blast!! We arrived around 3pm Friday afternoon, checked in to our hotel and then headed downtown. We made the mistake of thinking it was a close walk and it ended up being pretty far from our hotel, but we made it after a long, hot, walk. We first went to a neat bar named Rippy's, which had an upstairs outdoor seating area and we just hung out there for a little bit. It was really neat, with a great atmosphere.

We then headed to Tootsies, which apparently is a Nashville staple, and well recommended by everyone. It was pretty neat, but can get really crowded!

We then ate at Jakes BBQ which was fantastic!! Definitely try their BBQ if you are ever in Nashville. After eating, we checked out the Wild Horse Saloon which was pretty neat.

After that we called it a night.

Saturday, we went to brunch at Hillsboro Village which is a really neat little area with different shops and restaurants. We planned to eat at the famous Pancake Pantry, but apparently we weren't the only ones with that idea in mind.

That line went all the way around the other side of the building! We decided to not wait and ate at Jackson's, which we have here in Birmingham also, but is always good. We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around downtown sightseeing and shopping. Saturday night we went to eat at Amerigo's which was amazing! We then headed downtown to Broadway to go out for our last night.

Overall, we had a great weekend, and I loved Nashville! It was so nice to get away with my sweet hubby and spend some time together. It really is a beautiful city and I can't wait to go back again!

Monday already?!

I can't believe its Monday already. I feel like I spend all week looking forward to the weekend and when it gets here it goes by so quickly! As mom says, I should stop wishing my life away, but I can't help but look forward to the weekends!

We had a great weekend. Friday some of our best friends, Matt and Angela, purchased their first home! I joined Angela Friday afternoon for a quick tour of the house and had a glass of champagne with her and Matt to celebrate their new home. Later, (my) Matt and I joined them at their old apartment and helped to move them into their new house. Luckily, the home is less than 1 mile away from their old apartment so it wasn't bad at all! It is such a cute, nice house and I am so excited for them to be first time homeowners! Congrats Matt and Angela!

Saturday we had beautiful weather here in Birmingham. My friend Phoenix and I went and played tennis in the morning, went to lunch, visited briefly with her father (who made us some awesome Strawberry shortcake), and sat outside late afternoon while drinking a few glasses of wine. We went to dinner with our friends Amanda and Mitch that night and then joined a few more friends at Buffalo Wild Wings for a bit.

Sunday was a busy day as well! We went to the grocery store, cleaned house, and I worked out.

Overall we had a great, busy weekend. This weekend we are going to be in Nashville, which I've never been to. Matt recently went to Nashville with his work and loved it. So, we decided to plan a quick weekend trip there, to get away and spend some time together-- while also checking out a fun, new place. I can't wait! If you have ever been there and have any recommendations for places we need to go to, eat at, shop at, etc., let me know!

I got an IPhone, I got an IPhone...

I got an IPhone, hey, hey, hey, hey! So I am finally joining the rest of the world and got a technologically savvy phone. In fact, in case you couldn't tell by the title of this post. I got an IPhone!











My sweet husband Matt got me an iPhone for an early birthday present and I gotta admit, I'm addicted! I just don't know how, for so long, I got by without this amazing piece of technology! I've got access to my email, facebook, the Internet, music, and so much more right at my fingertips. It's so weird to think back and realize how far we've come in so few years. Just a little over ten years ago, practically no one had a cell phone! Now we have this thing that does so much and keeps you connected to the world. How did we survive without cell phones?



On the other hand though, along with having access to so much at my fingertips, I must remember to not get sucked into it and not be present for my life! I have already found myself playing on the phone or checking my email while I should be doing other things--you know, like carrying on a conversation (oops!), at dinner, or doing that thing called work. I do notice as a society we have become less personal such as sending an email instead of picking up the phone. Nothing can take the place of being actually present in a conversation and in life in general!




*On a side note I have recently been hearing a lot about Oprah's "No Phone Zone" petition. She is advocating for others to agree to not text and/or talk on the phone while driving. I am terrible at talking while driving and have been known to text some in the car as well, but I really think she's onto something. While I may not (yet) feel completely able to cut off talking on the phone while driving, I will definitely stop texting while driving. You are not only putting yourself at risk, but others as well. Think about it and check out her petition if you get a chance.

www.oprah.com/packages/no-phone-zone.html

Family is Forever

So as I sit here on my couch on this lovely Saturday night (don't be jealous, I live such a wild life these days), I think about the upcoming Easter holiday and just how lucky I am. I was invited today by my friend Phoenix to attend her family get together/early Easter party. Over the years I have been lucky enough to get to know Phoenix's family and they are great. Really, they are great! They are such a close knit family who makes everyone feel welcome, whether related or not. They are really laid back and fun, having the infamous egg toss (unfortunately for Phoenix I am not so great at egg tossing so our team didn't do so well), cooking out, and just spending time together. Thinking about how lucky Phoenix is to have such a great family I can't help but miss my family who are all mostly in Atlanta, probably getting ready for their big Easter festivities tomorrow.

To be honest, and I don't mean to brag, I really have the best family ever. If I need anything, I mean anything, my family is there. I have the most supportive and loving family members I know that no matter what happens to me I will always have them there to stand by me. It is so unfortunate to me to see others who don't have families with whom they can't call at any time in the night (shout out to my mom who I have called many a times during the late hours of night to talk about very important topics such as how I suck at bowling--true story), they can't go to for advice or help, or just to spend an afternoon playing games like egg toss with. I have to remind myself how blessed I am that I have that and need to always remember to count those blessings. Family is forever. Really and truly, when life gets hard and times get tough, who do you turn to? Family. Simple as that. Friends may come and go, and luckily I have awesome friends as well, but the truth is family is blood. Blood is forever. So I'm going to remember how great my family is and how much they helped to shape me into the person that I am today and count my blessings that I have them.

Happy Easter!!

Here we go!!

Well, here we go! My first attempt at a blog. or blogspot. or whatever its called. So a little about me I guess, to start off with. I am a twenty-something (I always like that phrase, very vague, you see) year old girl who has been married *almost* one year to a wonderful guy named Matt (pretty sure you will hear about him alot). We live in Pinson, Alabama which is a suburb of Birmingham. We have two sweet fur children, named Gracie and Max. I work at a psychiatric hospital as a therapist/counselor for adolescents. Whew, is it a crazy but fun job! (Im sure there will be more stories to come from that!)



Soo, what makes you want to start a blog Jess?, you ask. Well, good question. I enjoy talking, alot. and writing. Plus, I'm away from many of my close family and some friends (-->they mostly live in Atlanta, Ga, where I'm originally from) so why not create a blog? I love reading others' blogs, just was never sure If I could do one of my own. Well, hell! Why not try it?! If I bore you to death, then you don't have to read. If I entertain you some or give you some insight into my life and whats been going on, then great! I am so blessed to have such wonderful family members and friends and I at times take advantage of that and don't keep in touch as much as I should or would like to. So here's to me trying to be a better friend/family member and hoping this will keep us in touch more often! So I hope you may join me on this journey following my life on this blog! Please feel free to give me feedback or comments!



***Disclaimer- I am NO GOOD at computer stuff so please bear with me on trying to be technologically savvy. I will try to do some research (I am obsessed with researching stuff-some of you know this) to make sure my blog is updated with pics, videos (oh wow, not sure if I can do that!), and anything else to make my page fun and interesting to check out!