Our Christmas Tree

Allen and I got our first Christmas Tree together. Growing up in Greenville, there were popup, side of the road, tree sellers. We searched, and searched, and searched but couldn't find one. So we ended up at Wal-Mart. Yes I know, Wal-Mart sucks. I will be the first person to tell you that. But that's where it came from.  In spite of that, I think it turned out great :)

He wanted this one

So we got it

And then we decorated it

And a daytime shot of the tree

And this was before I wrapped all the presents... I may have gone a little overboard this year.

Paige Visits!

Allen was busy all weekend preparing for finals so Paige and I had a girls weekend. Here are the highlights:

Doughnuts for her birthday...

...or were they for the neighborhood cat?

Delicious dinner at Taqueria del Sol

Footie pajamas 

Death by present wrapping

We also went shopping, stayed up late, and ate entirely too much "snow crunch"...  I love my best friend! 

The Final Thanks

22- Thanksgiving. This is my favorite holiday. Perhaps it has something to do with the socially acceptable act of stuffing your face, but mostly I think I like it so much because every sits down and enjoys time together. 

23- Small towns. Did a bit of Black Friday shopping around downtown Brevard. Shop local! 

24- Candles. Today we picked up a 'pine' scented candle. Yum! 

25- Productive Days. I love when I can get up, head to the gym, then work on my to-do list. Grad school application is done. Just waiting on two more references to come in. 

26- Secret Santa. We are playing at work and I received my secret person today. So excited for the presents I have planned!

27- The essentials. I am so thankful to have a warm roof over our heads, clean water, and nourishing food. Sometimes it is easy to overlook those things. 

28- Dance Education. Since it was my last day at Athens Academy I did a huge review class. I cannot believe how much these kids have learned and grown over just eight weeks. I wish I could continue to see what else they are capable of, but I know I am in the right place at Little Prodigies. PS: I'm also thankful for haircuts.

29- My best friend. We had a good heart to heart tonight, but even when we don't talk she is still the best. 

30- Allen. He keeps me grounded, happy, and hopeful. I'm a lucky girl.


I have a lot to be thankful for. 

More Thanks...

See earlier posts about my 30 days of Thanks.




12- My job(s). Each one bring me joy in different ways and I am so grateful for all three. Even though I  have small daily frustrations, there are many people that don't get to have those frustrations. Life could be worse.

13- My new job! So excited to be working full time with Little Prodigies. Love the center, love the other workers, love my boss.

14- My gym. I just started a new gym membership and everyone that signs up during the month of November receives a free session of personal training. So today I got my butt kicked. Maybe it will keep me in gear. 

15- Hand washing and hand sanitizer. One of the crawlers came down with pink eye and it has started to spred. Thanks to that, my hands are now terribly dry from all the hand washing I did. But I would rather need lotion on my hands than ointment on my eyes. 

16- Naps. I love when the kids nap. I love when I can nap. Today I got a great one-hour L-couch nap in before going out with Allen and friends. 

17- Football. I love that it entertains my boyfriend. I love the tailgating. I love the spirit and community. Today I went to my first UGA football game and totally loved it. GO DAWGS! 

18- The Atlanta airport Cell Phone Lot. While waiting for my wonderful cousin and her fiance to arrive, Allen and I spent our time in ATL cell phone lot which has a perfect view of the planes arriving and taking off. What a great idea! 

19- Nature. The four of us (Marisa, Paul, Allen, me) visited the State Botanical Gardens today. Beautiful! Can't wait to go back in the Spring and Summer. 

20- Laughter. We celebrated a close family friend's birthday with a wonderful catered dinner. Lots of laughter fileld the table. It's important to laugh. 

21- Open Hearts and Families. As many of you know, I am with the Pratt's this Thanksgiving. Although it is very hard to be away from my own family, they are making me feel like part of their family. I made rice crispy treats, brownies, and am in charge of the green bean casserole tomorrow. Pressure is on! I hope I don't mess up! 

Full Time Teacher!

I am so excited to announce, for those that do not know, that I have begun a full time teaching job with Little Prodigies. To make a very long story short, there was an opening and I was asked if I was interested. Was I interested? You bet!

So here's the long and short of it... I will be working in the "Monets"room which are the 'crawlers' approximately 8 months - 13 months. Some of them are on baby food, some are on table food, but most of them still drink bottles. They are so sweet. They are giggly, wobbly, and snuggly. I love my students! Each one has such a different personality! 

The official perks of this job:

• 8 am - 5 pm with a 1 hour lunch, five days a week
• Maximum of ten students at a time
• Always two teachers in the room

The unofficial perks of this job:

• Awesome boss and co-workers
• Rocking babies to sleep
• Hand and foot print art projects that parents will look back on and love

Needless to say, I am very excited about this job. So I will leave you with this: my official picture outside the door hanging with the other teachers. 

Mommy Visits

We had a great visit with my mom! She visited in mid-October so I apologize for just now posting about it.

Friday - Mom had a late arrival into the ATL airport. That meant Allen and I got to catch up with our Atlanta friends, Brittney and Sean. We finally got to see their awesome new apartment which is situated in a great neighborhood and Allen got his frozen yogurt fix. We finally made it back to our apartment after 2 AM - much later than mom and my bedtimes. 

Saturday - Mom got the grand tour of Athens. We had lunch at the Athens Bagel Company. Neither Allen nor I had been there yet. Delicious! We stopped next door to check out a great little used books store. For dinner we ate at the Big City Bread Cafe. In case I haven't raved about this restaurant yet, it is amazing. I think it is my favorite place in Athens. I am completely in love with their outside dining area, although it was a little too cold to eat outside when we went. 

Sunday - We picked up lunch from Ike and Jane's. See earlier posts about how delicious their menu is. Then I got to show Mom Athens Academy. She was impressed - as she should be! :) For dinner I made a delicious yet healthy Rachel Ray chicken parmesan. Yum! 

Monday - Allen had class so Mom and I did a little shopping. We went up to the outlets at Commerce. And boy, did we have a haul! Mom and I both got a new sweater and new purses. I picked up my favorite scented candle form Bath and Body works (4 of them). Addison Grace (my newborn niece) will be sporting her new onesies in a few months. And, as per Allen's request, we picked up a pari of "sweet boxers" just for a few laughs. He wore his "lucky duckies" later than week and earned a 100% on a history quiz. Dinner, however, may have been the highlight of the day. I made Melting Pot worth fondue. It was amazing! 

Tuesday - We said goodbye early that morning at the ATL airport. :( Allen and I were both sad to see her go.

We are looking forward to her next visit to the classic city sometime in 2013. Love you Mom! <3

Halloween

Yes, I realize it has been a week an a half since Halloween, but life has been busy so I'll catch up now.

Allen and I haven't had a lot of quality time lately so he surprised me with a yummy dinner from The Fresh Market, greenery, and a Reese's pumpkin. I think I'll keep him around!

Allen and I were invited to a Halloween house party hosted by some people Allen works with. He went as "Where's Waldo?"and I went as "Candy Corn". I sewed my costume based off an idea I saw online. Love how it turned out!

They had a fire pit outside. We both love the smell of a bonfire! 

Giving Thanks...

People have been posting one thing they are thankful for everyday on Facebook. At first I wrote it off as just another fad, but the more I think about it, the more I like it. I think it's really important to show appreciation to the good things in your life... So I'll catch up...

November:

1- Burlesque Aerobics. I love my dance class.

2- Traveling. Even if it was just a 2.5 hour trip, I love spending quality time with Allen.

3- Extended family. A wonderful afternoon spent with the Pratt's in Asheville.

4- Elders. We visited with Allen's Granny today. Although her health is not 100% you can see how much she loves her family and now I'm included in that circle.

5- Just walking babies. One of the kids in the crawlers room just started walking within the past couple days. Love those wobbley steps.

6- Women's suffrage. Not only did large amounts of women vote for President Obama, but several women were voted into major offices.

7- Sunny days. Two days of rain left everyone feeling cooped up. Today, despite the cold, we had sun.

8- Second graders. They are old enough to have some independence, but young enough not to stray too far. It's the perfect age.

9- Art. Subbed for 2nd, 1st, and K art classes. Gosh kids are creative.

10- Cleaning supplies. Vacuuming, dusting, and organizing make me feel so much better.

11- Crockpots. I made a delicious Cream Cheese Chicken for dinner tonight. I love have a flavorful, warm meal without slaving over the stove.

A Love Story

You may remember an earlier post about the neighborhood cat. Well, now there are two... here is their love story:

This is Oscar (the dark one) and Cynthia (the light one)

I put out a bowl of milk for them to drink. Cynthia drank quite a lot while Oscar stood guard.

Allen made a piece offering. He had a fatty part from his steak left over so he tossed it out to them. Oscar couldn't quite figure out what it was, but Cynthia knew it was a gem.

She took the treat and ate it in the garden so she didn't have to share with Oscar. That was okay with him though, since it left the milk bowl free game.

Then Cynthia came back wanting more milk so they shared. Cute! 

I moved the bowl closer to the door so our neighbors wouldn't run in to it. Cynthia wasn't very happy about that. But once I went inside she hoped back up and went at it. She has beautiful blue eyes, not that you can tell from the picture. But she is very skittish  Oscar on the other hand waltzes right into our apartment if the door is left open. Allen isn't thrilled about that.

I hope one or both of them is/are fixed so we didn't have baby kittens running around. Since our apartment complex doesn't allow pets we know they don't belong to anyone that lives here. Perhaps someone feeds them on a daily basis nearby. For now, they can always count on some love and milk from me.

The Pratt Parents Visit

Allen's parents came for their first visit this weekend. We had a great time! They got in Friday afternoon while I was still at work so Allen took them on a driving tour around town. When I got off, we relaxed for a while at our apartment and opened the housewarming / halloween present they had brought us. Just look at all the goodies! Beautiful flowers, wine, a halloween kitchen towel, a jack-o-lantern candy dish, candy corn that was already half gone by the time they left (yum), halloween napkins, pumpkin peeps, and a Georgia football balloon too! If we weren't in the Halloween spirit before, we are now!

While they were here, we tried two new restaurants Allen and I had yet to go to. We had dinner at The Hilltop Grille. Steaks, baked potatoes, crab and artichoke dip, collards, crab cakes! It was delicious. We sat outside on their patio and enjoyed the sunset as we ate our meal. Saturday we had lunch at the Five Star Day Cafe. Several people had told both Allen and me that it was a great place and boy, were they right! Pancakes, grits, chicken fried biscuits, and Western Carolina BBQ. Huge portions and everything was outstanding. My favorite part was chocolate chip muffins we all received with our meals.

Allen took us on a nice tour of his buildings on UGA's campus and took a walk through the Founders Garden. After that I showed off Athens Academy (Allen and previously taken them by Little Prodigies) . We then landed at Washington Farms. Washington Farms is open Spring through Fall. You can pick your own blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, or pumpkins depending on the season. I'll let you assume which one we did... you're right! Pumpkins! We picked out one for us, one for the parents, and one for Allen's Granny. We ended with a trip to Yoforia (Allen's choice, of course!). Everyone enjoyed their frozen yogurt with carefully chosen toppings.

We had such a nice visit! I hope we can see them again soon!

Fall-ing for Athens

Autumn has arrived in Athens! The weather is getting cooler with the night lows in the mid 40's and the highs in the 70's. We've both been wearing jeans and sweatshirts to work. I speak for both of us when I say Fall is the best! We've gotten into the fall spirit in a couple different ways...


#1 - Another plant. Yes, for some reason I have allowed Allen to bring another plant into our apartment. But it is safe to say, I may have been a little excited when I first saw it. It is a Croton Mammy. We have two other Croton family plants so he fits in quite nicely. But as you can see, he his a little large. He is currently residing in our guest room.

#2 - Magic Mesh! I never thought I would own something that I saw advertised on TV, but this was perfect for our back door. Installation was a breeze and we love getting fresh air into the apartment.

#3 - Foooooood. With the weather cooling down, I have been making heartier dinners. For our month-aversary I made stuffed peppers. Allen had never had them before but I think I may have found his new favorite food. He loved it! It was pretty good, if I say so myself. Next time I think I'll add some tomato sauce to make bring it together a little better, but it was quite delicious.

No home football games for a while so we haven't been able to enjoy that aspect of Fall, but otherwise the season is coming along quite nicely. We are excited about the things yet to come!

My Apologies

I have been a terrible blogger the month of September. My apologies to the readers! Want a quick recap? Well, you're still reading so I'll assume you do.

My dress from the last post? A huge success! I was able to wear it that weekend on our trip to Charlotte. I got to visit with my bff Paige, attend the UNC Charlotte Faculty Dance Concert, and enjoy Cook Out. I missed the BBQ sandwiches and hushpuppies!

The next week was my first week at Athens Academy. Both my preschool and my lower school classes are great. The kids are excited and engaged. I am so in love. I mean, look at where I get to teach:

The following weekend was the big UGA vs UT game. Allen's friend from Brevard, Andrew, is a huge Tennessee fan. So of course, he came up for the game. He also brought his roommate. Our Atlanta friends, Sean and Brittney, came up as well. We had a packed house! We ate a two new places:  Al's Beef and Ike & Jane. At Al's Beef I had an Italian Beef sandwich. Yum! At I&J I had a ham and gruyere sandwich with a cup of creamy tomato soup. Yum x2! The bakery at I&J was also to die for! Sean had a peanut butter, banana, and bacon doughnut. Lemon squares the size of your head, cupcakes, cookies, AH! I could have been in a serious sugar coma, but I resisted.

Allen and I are looking forward to a relaxing weekend. It will be the last one for quite some time: his parents visit, my mom visits, his fall break, UGA's Homecoming within the next month! Better catch our breath while we can.

A Hobby

I decided I needed a hobby. Something I am good at (or could be good at), something I enjoyed doing, and something that I didn't want to try to make into a career. I landed on sewing. Now, I have had some experience with sewing. I can make a pretty great blanket that folds up into a pillow. But I am by no means an expert. In spite of that, I decided I wanted to try to make an article of clothing. Here's how it went...

Ole trusty

Getting my pin cushion ready

The middle dress is the goal

The fabric

All cut out

The bodice - check out those darts! :)

The skirt - check out those pleats! 

Skirt all put together

The binding...

The binding on the arm holes and neckline

It's starting to look like a dress.

(((I failed to take a picture of the zipper. This was, hands down, the most challenging part of the dress.)))

Ah! It fits!!.....

...Kinda... Needed to take the bodice in a bit. 

The finished product! The belt ties in a bow but it's hard to see in this picture.

I am so very proud of myself! All and all, it took me about 5 days but not working around the clock. It's not perfect, but I think it's pretty cute. Can't wait to wear it out for the first time this weekend! 

Dancing Again

I know there have been some points in my life when I wanted to quit, give up, and never dance again. I take it all back! I have really been missing dance lately. I haven't been craving any particular style, really. I would even be trilled to have my butt handed to me by Delia's ballet class. However, I haven't found a studio that is in my budget.

BUT

I then I found Classic City Swing. It is a weekend long conference-thing that consists of social dances, lessons, and workshops. Now mind you, I haven't Charleston'ed since sophomore year in Karen's vintage jazz class, but I figured I'd give it a go. The class that really struck my interest was the Burlesque class. I worked up enough gumption to go by myself... and I'm glad I did! I really enjoy the class. It was cardio, fun, and sassy!

At the end of class I thanked the instructor, told her I was new in town, and asked about the dance scene in Athens. She told me that Dance FX (the studio we were at) held the very same class weekly that she just taught. She also told me that she dances with the company The Modern Pin-Ups. They already had auditions for the company, but may be looking for interns. So she gave me her email address and told me to let her know if I had any questions. I've already sent her an email and can't wait to hear back!

Hooray for dancing again! :)

Labor Day Weekend

What a great weekend we had! Tailgating, football, shopping, more plants, and plenty of sleep!

• Saturday: 
• Morning: Allen's program, the College of Environmental Design hosts a tailgate in the Founders Garden on campus. I don't know a whole lot about the garden but it was absolutely beautiful and apparently a really big deal in the Landscape Architecture world. The tailgate was mostly alumni, but a few of Allen's classmates were there. There was free food, which included some yummy pulled pork. They also offered free alcohol. After the tailgate, Allen and a few classmates went to the game. I could have gotten a ticket, but would not have been able to get into the student section, so I decided I didn't want to sit by myself in that big ole stadium. Instead, I went to  the Georgia Theatre. I was tipped off by a former Athenian to go. They project the game and play the radio announcers as the audio. Admission is free and the drinks are decently priced. I enjoyed the environment, but I didn't really like being there by myself so I went home at halftime.
• Afternoon: After the game (which the Dawgs won), Allen, his friend Micah, and I went to a bar and grabbed an early dinner. We had a good time!
• Evening: We ended the night by laying low on the couch and watching - you guessed it - more football. I was happy to be in bed by 10!
• Sunday:
• Morning: Allen and I cooked a yummy breakfast together. I made pancakes and he was in charge of the turkey bacon. Yum!
• Afternoon: I was in the mood to go to the mall. I convinced Allen to go with me. Needless to say, we had a very fruitful trip! Everything we bought was on super sale! My most exciting purchase of the day was a 2 for $22 sale at a store called Alumni Hall. Apparently there are stores all around the country but this one is specifically for UGA apparel. Check out the two awesome t-shirt I picked out. Ignore the bad hair - Allen didn't tell me I looked like a mess before he snapped the pics. 

• Later Afternoon: Then we decided to check out a plant nursery Allen's friend Micah told us about. Thyme After Thyme has been in business for the past 25 years. Unfortunately, the husband from the older couple that runs the place has fallen ill so they are closing at the end of the month. Very sad. Luckily for us, that meant all plants were 50% off! We picked out some really cool ones this time. So we now have five more plants in the house.

The two pictures above are kind of one in the same. This is a papyrus plant. The first picture shows it planted normally. What is really exciting is what the second picture depicts. The stalks can bend when the get too heavy. If you break them off and stick them upside down in water, new papyrus plants will grow. We had two stalks that were bent so they are both in the glass vase. I am so excited about these plants! 

This is called a Purple Heart. The only things really exciting about this plant is that it is purple. 

This guy is in the same family as the Purple Heart. He has purple and green leaves. If he is in the sun he will be more purple; if he is in the shade, he will be more green. I'm excited to see what happens with him. 

This is a type of ginger plant. If we wanted to, we could dig up the roots and cook with them. Way cool! What's neat about this plant is that the leaves grow wrapped up and will eventually open up. Note the wrapped leaf in the foreground. 

And this guy was just a bonus. He is a mint plant. He was free with any purchase. He will die off in the winter, but oh man does he smell good now! Can't want to garnish a dish with him! 

• Sunday (continued):
• Evening: So when we got home we replanted them in terracota pots. I cooked an easy dinner and made some delicious brownies which I am currently enjoying.
  
• Monday (anticipated):
• Tomorrow we plan on being productive. Allen needs to do some work for studio and I need to make sure I have my art project in order. My awesome Mommy sent me pipe cleaners, pom poms, and rhinestones. Only four more days left at Rocky Branch Academy. 

We are both looking forward having a short week ahead. September is shaping up to be a pretty great month so far.