Reason

Work is really busy for us right now (ok so maybe its been like that since we got married), and we usually only see each other on the weekend. Not ideal but like I keep saying, this is the season of life we are in so we will embrace it...and have a breakdown once in a while!

Mike and I use a google calendar (nerd alert) so we can know where the other will be during any particular week. When we found out that we might cross each other in the airport, we decided to make a date out of it!

So today, as I was getting off a plane and Mike was going through security to get on one. Convenient, huh??


As Mike was walking over to me, I noticed his suitcase looked a little odd. Being the loving and supportive wife that I am, I instantly started laughing. Mike's suitcase handle broke on our last trip and he "forgot" we had another one he could use. For some reason, he thought it was a good idea to bring the broken one! Bless my husband...he looked so funny trying to wheel that suitcase around.


After I got in some good laughs, we popped on over to Ruby Tuesday and had a nice lunch together! Now we are in different states again but will meet up in Charlotte for what looks like a friend filled weekend!

Happy travels!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Hot and Dry

I spent all last week in sunny Arizona where the temperature was 105+ everyday! That doesn't really work well when you are wearing a business suit and have frizzy hair. I looked like a hot mess most of the week but managed to have a great time. We worked hard all week, but managed to work in some fun.

There is a resort there called the Sanctuary that has the perfect location on Camelback Mountain and an amazing restaurant called Elements. (if I knew how to add a link on my phone, I would).
We might have visited this spot a few times during our trip to enjoy dinner, drinks and the beautiful views.












All in all, the trip went really well. I got back to Knoxville at midnight on Friday and was so happy to see my husband (that's him if you forgot)!!


We got to spend the whole weekend together and didn't have any set plans...it was heaven! At church on Sunday, Mike spotted "Joe, the BBQ man " in the parking lot and made a beeline. Mike took a tour of his huge smoker/oven/trailer thing and talked his ear off. I didn't think we were ever going to leave. Joe and his dad built and welded this entire thing and mike is already drawing one he wants to have made. Yeah, keep dreaming husband!





Anyways, that's the update for now. I'm currently in Boston soaking up the gorgeous weather and trying to stay sane.

Have a fantastic week!!

Ps- thanks Emily M. for showing me how to blog on my iPhone!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Don't Mess with Texas

I took a quick trip to Austin, Texas last week for work and tried to see as much of the city as possible. A few friends recommended eating at Chuy's and experiencing 6th street. Sixth St was first on my list. It was near my offices downtown so I headed that way for lunch and a drink at the end of the day- Success!

Chuy's was next on my list and it didn't turn out so well. My friend, Ryan, told me I had to go to Chuy's and I promised to text her from the bar. Well, I went there one night and the wait was around 5 YEARS...fail! I was about to eat the hostess because I was slowly dying of hunger.

I then stumbled upon this little gem and my night turned around. I am a sucker for cupcakes and had to experience one made in an airstream. Come to find out, there are 3 more of these beauties around the Austin area. The cupcake was pretty good, not the best, but the experience was totally worth it.

The trip ended as quickly as it began but I was glad I got a little taste of Texas.

Fat Albert

Mike and I love to try new restaurants but always venture back to our "normal spots" out of habit. I usually stick to the same items on the menu because I know I will like it. Yes, I can be very boring!
A few weeks ago, Mike and I tried a new spot called Silver Spoon. The food was pretty good, I got a salad and I think Mike got something involving chicken. When the waitress asked if we wanted dessert, we realized we had left our willpower at home and made our selection. When our dessert arrived, I almost asked the table beside us if they wanted to split it.
Let me describe this goodness..."The S'more Sundae- Graham cracker crumbs with heaping scoops of vanilla ice cream, toasted marshmallow, chocolate syrup, Reese's peanut butter cups and whip cream." My apologies if you just gained weight from reading the description! I highly recommend this dessert if you are ever at Sliver Spoon. But please call me first and I'll come by and take a few bites! For the record, we ate less than half of it but it was worth every single calorie.

Friend filled weekend

We had a great weekend in Knoxille hanging out with some sweet friends!

Friday night, we had a "date night" with 2 of my favorite couples. We went to a Mexican restaurant, ate on the patio, enjoyed live music and had such a good night getting to know these couples even deeper.
Saturday Mike woke up early to golf while I hit the gym and did a little shopping. I was out shopping when Mike called and said Erica & Alan had 2 extra tickets if we wanted to come to the UT game. We jumped at the chance, got ready and headed downtown to meet at their tailgate.

An SEC tailgate was new to me so I wasn't sure what to expect....but boy was I blown away. These people know how to tailgate!!! Erica & Alan had the best tailgate spot right next to the stadium, TV's and satellites in the back of cars, gourmet food, millions of fans and everyone looked amazing in their orange outfits.
It was great hanging out with this sweet couple before heading in to experience our first UT game! 107,000 fans was new to me, but quite an adrenaline rush! We're looking forward to our next UT game when they play Georgia! Thanks Alan & Erica for the tickets and a great weekend getting to hang out!

Hawaii part II

Since I know you have all been on pins and needles, here's the rest of our little vacation...

We woke up early Tuesday morning to hike the Kalalau Trail along the Napoli Coast. One word- GORGEOUS!! Everyone told us it was a pretty strenuous hike and to be very careful of the mud and wet rocks. They were all right! When we were done, I had slipped around a few times, my shoes were completely covered in mud, along with most of my clothes, we were drenched in sweat but it was well worth it!
After the hike, we rewarded ourselves with some famous Bubba Burgers and fries (yes, I ate one as well). We spent the rest of the day relaxing at the beautiful Tunnels Beach. We cleaned up later that evening and enjoyed a night out on the town!

Wednesday was a very lazy day for us as we were a little sore from the long hike. We slept in, had the best brunch of my entire life, snorkeled and relaxed by the hotel pool and beach for the rest of the day. There's some amazing snorkeling at our hotel so we decided to take full advantage. Mike had never been snorkeling before so I was in charge of "teaching" him. Let's just say that I'm not the best teacher and we didn't snorkel together for very long! I really wanted to take a picture of us in our snorkeling attire, but decided it might break the camera. That evening we got ready and headed out to the patio bar. Every Wednesday they have a champagne ceremony and toast right before sunset. We snagged some great seats, met some new friends and enjoyed watching the sunset. We ended the day with a yummy dinner right by the Kilauea Lighthouse.Thursday was the day I was looking forward to the entire trip...helicopter day! We worked out then headed to the airport for our helicopter tour. We arrived early (of course), got weighed in (hated it) and were told we could drive around until our tour left. We drove down to the old harbor on the edge of the island to explore and take a few pictures. We made it back just in time to make friends with our tour-mates and pilot. The pilot seated everyone in the helicopter based on our weight and I scored the best seat!!! I wish I could say it was because I was the lightest, but I think that God just knew how many pictures I was about to take. For an hour, we flew over every inch of the island while hearing the island facts and history. I snapped as many pictures as I could and this is one memory I won't soon forget.
We explored a few more towns, ate the biggest burrito of my life before heading back to hotel beach for the rest of the afternoon. That evening we ate our last dinner in Hanalei and bought a few souvenirs to remember the trip.

Friday was D day...or this is what I called it because the depression started creeping in. We woke up, had another delicious breakfast, then headed to the pool to lay out and drink away our sorrows for the rest of the day. In the late afternoon, we showered, checked out and said goodbye to the hotel. We stopped for dinner in Kappa before consuming the largest shaved ice known to man. After we stuffed ourselves silly, headed to the airport to begin the long journey home.We made it back to TN late Saturday night and were both exhausted. Sunday was spent unpacking, doing laundry and grocery shopping. Sleep has been a bit of a struggle this week and our bodies have not adjusted yet. I have become a night owl and can't fall asleep until after midnight...TERRIBLE!!!

This week at work has been stressful for both of us but it has made us that much more thankful for the opportunity to get away for a long vacation together!! We're now ready for the work craziness to begin again!

Hawaiian Lessons

Since I learned a lot of new things in Kauai, I thought it would be nice to give each of you some Hawaiian education...

1) Everyone drives REALLY slow (like 30 miles per hr) on the island. It was hard to slow down at first, but we picked up on the slow pace of life quickly.2) Friendly- everyone on the island is so nice and open. If your lunch/dinner table has extra seats, you might just find some random people seated at your table. More friends!!
3) Roosters are all over the island! You hear them before you seem then and they are in the most random locations. BUT, they are not the state bird :)
4) Most locals choose to ride bikes instead of use their car. They tend to put as much as they can (including their furry friends) on their bikes. Dogs like bike rides too!5) Portion control- their idea is a little different than mine. Maybe because everyone there has a rockin' tan body and they don't care about portions. this was my small burrito...
6) Shaved ice is the dessert of choice and very good. They make EVERY flavor known to man, so don't be grossed out. I only took a picture of 1/6 of the flavors.7) Potato chip &chocolate candy bar is a favorite treat...and actually pretty good.The biggest lesson we learned from Hawaii...we need to slow down and just relax! We are always on the go and don't spend enough time together. Obviously, that made our "2nd year of marriage" goal list!

Hawaii Part I

We just got back from a wonderful vacation in Hawaii where we had the perfect mix of adventure and relaxation. I took a ton of pictures, so be prepared for an annoying amount below! I'm going to recap our trip in 2 posts so I don't leave out any details for our memory book.

Friday morning, we woke up bright and early to begin our journey to Hawaii. After 11+hours of flying, we land in Kauai, picked up our wrangler (Mike was in heaven) and drove the 40 minutes to our hotel in Princeville. When we pulled into the hotel, we were greeted with champagne, lei's, bottled water and escorted to registration. The bellhop gave us a tutorial about the hotel and led us to our room. I was blown away when we walked in...the room was huge and gorgeous! Mike had arranged for fresh flowers, chocolate covered strawberries and a bottle of wine. The wine was from 2007 which Mike reminded me was the year we met for the first time- so sweet!! After a few pictures, I was ready to crawl in bed and get some sleep.The morning came quickly and I was awake at 5:30am asking Mike if we could go watch the sunrise. We got dressed, made coffee and walked along the beach enjoying the quiet morning.
We then put on our hiking clothes and headed to Queens Bath which a few friends recommended. After exploring Queens Bath and trying not to get pulled out to sea, we headed into the town of Hanalei to experience the local Farmer's Market. We sampled lots of local fruits & favorites and managed to buy some treats of our own. By that time, we were ready to head back to the hotel, eat lunch and relax on the beach for the day.

Sunday we were up before the birds again so we could start officially celebrating our ONE year anniversary! We thought about running in our "race to the altar" shirts, but decided we were lazy and went for a bike ride instead. We rocked those beach cruisers for a good 6 miles before I decided it was time for coffee. The rest of the day was spent soaking up the sun and making friends by the pool. We got dolled up that evening to head to dinner at a local favorite, The Hanalei Dolphin Restaurant. We spent the evening reminiscing about our wedding, the past year and making new goals for this next year of marriage.

Monday morning we decided to see the whole island and boy did we ever! We rode with the top down on the jeep and I could not wipe the smile off Mike's face the entire day. (I have a feeling we might be the proud owners of another wrangler very soon) We explored the Waimea Canyon (the grand canyon of the pacific), ate lunch and shopped around Koloa, explored a few different beaches on the south and east shores, then headed back to the hotel for the evening. Since we are such an exciting couple, we decided to order pizza and a movie! As a side note- we met a couple at the Waimea Canyon and they were celebrating their 48th wedding anniversary. We shared the same anniversary and they were gracious enough to give us some great marriage advice. They were so fun and full of life...we were tempted to jump in their car and spend the rest of the trip together.Stay tuned for part II soon...and another obnoxious amount of pictures!