I am officially obsessed.......maybe a year too late??

I found this blog, In this wonderful life, through my friend Vonda over at her fabulous blog, Sole Matters.  I got to reading, In this wonderful life, while Aaron was napping one afternoon, and spent 3 hours on my laptop unable to peel my eyes away from this blog and this couple's journey from pregnancy to birth.  Sadly, their son, Cohen, passed away not long after birth from heart complications.  I have been amazed at this couple, and their grace and strength in dealing with this incredible loss.  The author of the blog, Megan Marshall, defines the kind of person that I aspire to be, and it is so uplifting to read about such an incredible person.  

Anyhow, I was catching up on their blog today, and ran across this entry.  I have been looking for a necklace with Aaron's name and birthstone to wear, and have been unable to find anything that I'm just madly in love with.......until today.  This blog entry featured an artist on Etsy, juliethefishdesigns and her lovely designs. From today until Saturday, the 31st, if you purchase anything from juliethefishdesigns, 30% of the profit will go to the Marshall family through Cohen's Memorial Trust.  Needless to say, I headed over to juliethefish immediately to see the kind of jewelry she sold.  I made this purchase just a few minute ago, and I am so unbelievably excited!!  Of course, it has Aaron's name and birthstone and it's 18 inches.  I cannot wait to get this little gem in the mail!  After making this purchase, I decided to browse other little "shops" on Etsy, and can I just say that I am now officially obsessed??!!  Where have I been??  Let the shopping begin!

Oh, and I have to give Sole Matters another shout-out, too!  Not only does Vonda's blog lead to other great blogs, but her blog is so unbelievably fun to read.  She's a cutie-patootie, living a fun and exciting life in the ATL, and some day's I just want to step in her fabulous shoes, and live a day in her fantastic life.  If you're not reading,  go check her out- she's too much fun!

Ciao!!

I'm ashamed to say.......I'm out of wine!

The other night I had a seriously creepy dream.  Adam and myself were in a desert somewhere and we were with a group of people.  We were looking at all of this exotic wildlife; elephants, camels, etc.  All of a sudden there was a huge "BOOM" and everything turned white.  About that time someone screamed, "it's an atomic bomb!" and sure enough there was a huge mushroom cloud looming over us.  All I could think to do was hug Adam as tightly as possible.  Then, it was over.  I woke up totally freaked out.  Later that morning, with the dream still haunting me after 2 cups of coffee, I decided to look up the meaning on the A-Z Dream Dictionary.  Basically the dictionary said that I was experiencing some "strong hostility and rage."  I told Adam and he said that wasn't true, but I got to thinking that maybe I am experiencing some hostility and rage.  Not that I don't love my life; I've been blessed with a beautiful son whom I absolutely adore, I have a great husband who loves me and puts up with a lot of sh*t at times, an awesome family, and great friends.  But, as with most people, things do piss me off, some more than others.  This is definitely one of those nights where things are pissing me off.  I'm out of wine (what am I thinking??), and need to vent.  Here goes:

• Facebook is seriously wearing me out.  Some of the people on there annoy the hell out of me.  Some days I really want to deactivate my account.  Too bad I won't.
• I'm so sick of selfish people.  Why do I feel that I am constantly the one that's there for everyone else, and feel like there's only a handful of people that are there for me?  Over it!  
• Also, if I call you, write you an email, send you a text, or etc. to show you that I care and am thinking about you, I expect some sort of reply back.  Even if it's only a text to say thank you.  What happened to manners, people??  Even the days that I don't feel like responding to a phone call, email, text, facebook comment, etc., I always do because it's just rude not to.  
• Also, if I am contacting you wanting to offer you my business (AKA $$), and you still can't call me back, that's just lazy.  Won't be calling you again!
• And one last thing: Just because I'm somebody's mother does not automatically make me boring or not worthy of a good time.  You know who you are!

That's all.  Thanks for putting up with me tonight.  Off to enjoy a glass of OJ minus the Vodka because I'm out of that, too!   

Catching Up

I cannot believe summer is almost over.  Where did the time go??  It seems like just yesterday I was as huge as a hot air balloon seriously anticipating the arrival of summer; now, my son is 4 months old and I can see the end of pool weather drawing near.  Can I tell you a secret?  I'm not so sad about it.  Honestly, I've had my fill of the hot and sticky, the mosquito bites, and the upper-lip sweat.  Just sayin'!  There's something about fall that's just a little magical.  Maybe it's college football; trust me, I'm not one of the girls screaming at the TV with the guys about a "line of scrimmage;" I'm way more interested in finding the perfect red/black ensemble, and partaking in the buffalo chicken dip and pigs in a blanket.  Maybe it's the cooler weather and less-frizzy hair days.  Or maybe it's simply the fact that Christmas is just right around the corner, and who doesn't love presents and spiked egg nog?  Looking forward to sharing my favorite time of year with Aaron.  I hope he finds it as magical as I do.

This weekend is already busy and I'm already exhausted just thinking about it.  Tonight is dinner with friends/kids.  Nice and low-key.  Tomorrow is going to be a bulldozer.  Griffin, my hometown, is throwing their welcome home ceremony for the troops, followed by a luncheon for the soldier's families.  After that, Adam, Aaron, and myself are hopping back in the car to hurry back home for Adam's parents annual Bolingbroke Southern Jam celebration.  It's like a much smaller ATL version of "Big Day Out."  There's bands, food, and beer (although you gotta bring your own refreshing beverage).  All of the money goes to a charity, and it's just a lot of fun!  Last year during the jam, I was 6 weeks pregnant, nauseated, and so not enjoying myself.  Here's to a much better time this year!

What are your plans this weekend?

Beach Trip 2010

Hope everyone had a fantastic 4th and enjoyed their long weekend!  We spent the beautiful day floating around Adam's parents pool, beer and fruity drinks in hand.  Aaron only made it about 30 minutes before passing out in his blue car float ( I know the feeling, baby).

                                                                                       


We stuffed ourselves with hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, dips, pasta salads, veggies, and a Boston Butt for dinner.  Whew!  I'm stuffed just thinking about it!  Now back to the real world of health and fitness......

Before I share some pictures of our family vacation to St. Simons, I have to ask: Are you a Bethany Frankel fan ( Real Housewives of NYC)?  I personally love her!  Last year, I bought her first book, Naturally Thin: Unleash Your Skinny Girl, and I enjoyed her whole motto of not dieting.  Basically, in the book she points out that the most important thing in life is to be healthy.  Some of her chapters and phrases include: Check yourself before you wreck yourself, Treat your food intake like you would treat your bank account, Taste everything, eat nothing, and etc.  Anyhow, it's a great book, and instead of telling you how to diet and what to eat, she tells you how to eat without depriving yourself of life's greatest luxury- delicious food!  Being such a huge fan of hers, and needing to do something other than watching my food intake to lose these last 15 Lbs of baby weight, I purchased her yoga DVD: Body By Bethenny with Bethenny Frankel













 I'm super excited to get this DVD, and really start working on losing this extra poundage.  Having a baby is one of God's greatest gifts, but your body after wards (unless you're Giselle), is not so great!


Now, onto some fun stuff!  My parents, my sister, Adam, Aaron, and myself just got back from a relaxing vacay in St. Simons.  Although the weather was not the greatest (mostly overcast the whole time we were there), we were lucky enough to stay in a fabulous house in Sea Island in a subdivision called the Island Club.  Here's a couple of pictures:

                                                                                                                            

Loved our pool and hot tub!







Here are a few pics of us at the beach and pool:

                                                                                                        

     We had a wonderful time!  Looking forward to family vacation 2011!