What's been going on...

Well, I can't start every post apologizing for not posting so I will just try to update with what's been going on in the past month.....

I had a really fun, yet surprisingly tiring 6 weeks nannying for the two boys. We did lots of cool things that I haven't done in a long time, including the zoo, the aquarium, and Fernbank (hadn't been there since our wedding!). I've also been tutoring a rising 2nd grade girl who lives near us and that finished today.

I've been enjoying having my weekends much more free this summer and seeing friends and family more than usual. I've done some work on my syllabi and things for the program I coordinate this summer, along with some work for my dissertation research that will start this August. However, I am definitely slacking on school related work and so I will be in for a shock in August.

We leave for our trip to California soon and I am really looking forward to seeing some of Northern California for the first time for about 5 days. We'll celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary in Sonoma (exciting!) We'll also be in Southern California for about 5 days which will be filled with family visits and hitting all of the usual food/beverage spots that are a must. I'll be sure to post pictures of the trip when we get back.

Celebrations

Needless to say, I've been very lax with this blog. It's turned out to be a much busier summer than I expected. Last week has been particularly busy. So, I forgot to wish my awesome husband a happy birthday on here. I hope he had a wonderful day (and weekend celebrating). I know that I am very grateful to have him celebrating another year.

Today is Father's Day and I am sending lots of well wishes to all the fathers out there. We went to Sun in My Belly for a yummy brunch today with my parents and sister, then took a family trip to the nearby farmer's market.

I don't know where the time is going...weekends are especially busy. But, I promise to update this blog with more pictures and goings on soon.

Orlando

Last week, I went to Orlando for 3 days/2 nights to visit my good friend Cathy, who lives in Alaska and was in Orlando to visit her parents and sister. Since it's tough to get up to Alaska, it worked out great to be able to see Cathy and her family- especially her awesome kids Blue and Berkeley. We made it to Disney two afternoons- Animal Kingdom and Universal studios, but it rained pretty much the whole time so it made for short trips. It was still so great to spend time with all of them and to love on the kids. Cathy and I made it out alone two times- for a movie (Ghosts of Girlfriends Past- I don't recommend it!) and to get pedicures as an early birthday present for Cathy.

Berkeley is starting to walk and I captured some good video of her doing so. Here is just one, but I'll post more soon. Cathy and Blue are in the background. You can see how attached Berkeley is to her mommy- she is going through some separation anxiety and pretty much wants to be as close to Cathy as possible at every minute! Luckily, I still got some hugs and kisses in:)

Home stuff

For those of you that haven't been to visit our house lately, we've been slowly but surely pulling some of the decorating together. So, I thought I'd share some photos I took if you aren't going to be visiting us anytime soon.....

We recently bought 2 rugs at Target (both on sale- there are good deals out there!) for our study/office and the dining room. We also had a sign made by a local artist (she makes them for many of the different neighborhoods in Atlanta) for our 'hood, Ormewood Park. A few weeks ago, we went to the nearby Inman Park Festival where we fell in love with a really cool table made out of reclaimed wood. All of this local artist's work is using old pieces or reclaimed wood and we really hope to be able to buy more of this furniture. We put the table in our TV room and it inspired us to bring a little blue into the brown and green room, so we got these cool pillows and window treatments from Target. I have to say that I am constantly impressed with Matt's taste (although he'll kill me for saying that) and he really had the 'vision' for the room:)

When we bought this house with no window treatments I never thought that getting those would be such a pain...but it is! When we went back to get more of the roller shades we got from Home Depot for the bedroom and bathroom the week we moved in, we found they were discontinued. Because our windows are all random sizes, there's no easy (maybe the word I'm thinking of is inexpensive) solution and most pre-made window treatments are not right. But, we've finally added some cafe curtains in a couple of rooms that we are happy with.

I took these photos when I was taking photos of the front and back yard to apply for a show on HGTV...Yes, I am determined to get some free professional help for these overwhelming outdoor tasks! The yard is really a whole blog in itself, but I have to give Matt credit for putting in so much more of the time and energy into trying to whip the yard into shape. We'd like to have some sort of patio in the back so that we can sit and grill, but we're still trying to figure out how to do this. I sent in the application a week ago, so cross your fingers we get some help and we're on TV!!!

Happy Mother's Day!

....To all the moms out there and especially my mom, mom-in-law, and grandmothers. Sorry this is a day late- our internet is out at home until Thursday (and has been since last Friday). Not fun for someone so used to using it any time they wish.

Love you all!

Can't use jet lag as an excuse forever....

But I wish I could! Sorry for my lack of posting; I am just really tired and when not working, trying to avoid the computer for long periods. I hope that by now, if you are reading this you have received my two photo albums on China by email. Things are back to normal, which means that I have piles of things to grade and organize, especially now that it's the end of the semester. Around May 8 I will be finished (am working graduation), so then it will be time to get back to work on my dissertation which I have been neglecting basically since the day I defended my prospectus (as in, haven't even looked at any of the papers since early March). I am hoping to tutor some this summer and will be a nanny for a professor in my department who I work with. She's got two boys and lives close by- it should be fun as well as a good way to keep me busy this summer. I've also got a 3 day trip to Orlando to meet my friend Cathy there to visit with her and her 2 kids, since her parents live there. I can't wait to go to DW with the kids!

What else has been going on? Mmmm.... spending time with Matt, catching up with friends and family, TV, seeing Shira who is visiting from Denver this week, trying to eat healthy, and hitting the Inman Park festival where we found a great side table (will post pics soon!). This week should be busy. The weather is getting warm- as in hot, in a real hurry (forget the 70s- it went straight to the 80s).

Here are a few more videos from China....Enjoy!

Will you take some videos for now?

Since I still can't really form a complete sentence, hopefully some videos will speak for themselves when I'm asked "How was China?" or "Tell me all about China"....I am trying to create photo albums and will be sending those out very soon.