It's not so bad. Right?

There are some things in life that I refuse to do.  One of those things, is to pay a pet deposit at an apartment for a cat.  I'm mean really, cats don't generally pee on things, chew on things, scratch, smell - all those things that apartments are afraid will happen if you have a dog.  A dog.  Not a cat.

Sticking to my guns, we didn't pay a pet deposit when we got our cats last Christmas. 

Little did I know, we didn't get any ordinary cats.  These cats chew on things and scratch at the carpet.....  a lot.  I mean a lot.

It will be quite obvious when we move out that we had animals.  I have a sneaking suspicion that they'll notice the carpet....... and charge me the pet deposit.   Is it really that bad?  I mean, just because you can see the subfloor doesn't mean anything.

Why, Hello Mr. U-Haul. Old Friend.

And here we go again.  Boxes, tape, cleaning, packing, lifting - all the joys of moving.  This will make the 4th city we've lived in - in the past 2 years.  Tampa.  Greensboro.  Raleigh.  Atlanta.

I'm actually not complaining.  We're quite excited about the move and will finally get to buy a house!  (New Year's Resolution - check).  TB has a great new job and I have a new position with the same company.  And this may actually mean that we'll be able to eat a dinner together on a weeknight!  Wow, that hasn't happened since........well........ a while.

Since ATL is close to where I'm from, I'm so excited to show TB all the fun things to do in the city.  The Coke Museum, the Zoo, Stone Mountain, the Braves, Centennial Park, Piedmont Park....  We might seem like tourists for the first few months, but what better way to get to know your new city?

I must say that I am a little concerned about how TB will handle the traffic.  He tends to have a slight case of the road rages.  OK, so maybe a major case of them.  Hmmmm, but you know I may be able to make this road rage work to my advantage..            

I'm thinking this may actually help my case of purchasing a home in the city and not in the burbs. 

Burbs = lots of traffic

Non Burbs = a cute little bungallo in the city with original hardwood floors and details, a large front porch, walking distance to neighborhood shops and eateries and NO traffic

Hmmm.  Sounds like a plan... I think I might like this move...

"You don't like cake? Oh. You don't like cake."

As February is drawing to a close, I suppose I should catch everyone up on an important event that happened at the beginning of the month (bad blogger - I know). 

TB had a rather important birthday, and true to my traditions - I had to call a lot of attention to his birthday and do my very best to embarrass him. 

We decided to make a little weekend trip back to Tampa for the annual pirate festival of Gasparilla.  Since a good number of our friends still live there and this was the weekend before his birthday, I thought that Friday evening would be the perfect time to celebrate.  And no celebration would be complete without........

Matching party shirts!  And not just any matching party shirts, but party shirts with a classic picture of TB's dance moves (he's obviously figured out how to make circles with his butt).   I got so excited about this shirt and the awesome picture, that I couldn't stop there.  I also decided to have a cake made with the picture printed on it.....

Perhaps sometimes I should check my excitement.  During the celebration, I asked TB why he wasn't eating the cake.  I mean, afterall, I did get it with mocha filling, his favorite flavor.  He then burst my bubble and politely reminded me that he doesn't like cake.

Oh.

I knew that.  But totally forgot.  Bad. Wife.  Darn that excitement.

Regardless of the cake incident, it was a fabulous time and great to catch up with all of our friends!

Happy Birthday TB!

(The cake that I shouldn't have bought....)

(Jeffy is obviously excited about Gasparilla the next day)

(The attendees)

(Our wedding re-inactment, although I don't think we actually did this at the wedding)

All You Do is Make Circles with your Butt

All of us have natural talents.  Unfortunately, I do not have one particular talent that I would like to just have a smidgen of talent in.

Dancing. 

In fact, not only do I NOT have a natural gift for dancing - I am absolutely, terribly, horribly awful at dancing.  My own husband, who just a short while ago swore to love me no matter what, will walk away from me on a dance floor.  And not only walk away, but actually laugh at me.  Laugh.  It must be worse than I thought.

Although, dancing is not my forte, I do occasionally give this whole dancing thing a go, particularly when I've had a few cocktails.  Over the years, I've tried some different moves, but none of them seem to be the magic trick. 

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine, GG, who is a natural dancer, gave me a tip on how to find some moves.  According to GG, all you have to do is make circles with your butt. 

Hmmm.  Let me think on this for a moment.

Keep the torso still, bend the knees, move the feet and make circles with your butt. 

Hmmmmmmm.  O.K.

Pretend like there is a piece of glass behind you and you are drawing circles on the glass with your butt.  Really?  Is that all there is to it?  I can do this.  Right?

I will diligently practice this in front of my mirror and bring out this move the next time I see you all.  Cross your fingers.  And don't laugh.

In the mean time, I'll leave you with some pretty pics of my recent trip to Puerto Rico (where I picked up this little tid-bit) with my friend GG.  It's January and gross outside.  Maybe these will make everyone happy!

Look Before you Drink

A few weeks ago, we made the trip up to Richmond, VA (RVA - remember this abbreviation, I have another post in the works about the RVA) for our friends Matt and Kate's engagement party.  As usual, the weekend started out with a long Friday night, an entertaining day at David's place and another great celebration on Saturday.

Although the celebration was great and we can't wait for the wedding, another very important event occured that weekend. While at the party, we all learned a great lesson through our dear friend Wolf.

As I think about it, this lesson should be one of those great lessons that our parents taught us when we were little like, "Look before you cross the street" or "Think before you speak".  This experience by Wolf left such a lasting impression in all of us, that I will be sure to always follow this great rule.  Now - on to the story....

A group of us were catching up, hanging out and not really paying much attention to anything in particular.  All of the sudden, we look up and our friend Wolf is spitting his drink back out.  (Keep in mind, we're at a pretty nice place, at a pretty nice party, put on my Matt's pretty nice parents.)  Due to the escapades the night before, we immediately thought that the weekend was just catching back up to Wolf.  Then he starts sputtering, speaking nonsense, turning a bit green and pointing to a napkin on the table.  On this napkin we see a chewed piece of gum.  A piece of gum that Wolf had just spit out.  A piece of gum that had been put in Wolf's drink.  A piece of gum that he had almost swallowed with the last swig of his drink.  A piece of gum.  That. Was. Not. Wolf's. 

Ewwwww.

Someone actually chewed a piece of gum.  With their own spit.  Then dropped it in Wolf's drink.  For him to find.

Ewwwww.
And that brings us to the lesson of always looking before you drink.

(By the way, no one ever fessed up to chewing the gum or dropping it in Wolf's drink - if it's you, time to own up to the gum)

The Wolf Sandwich

I'm the worst photographer ever - I didn't even get a picture of Matt and Kate together..... so this is Megan, me and Kate.  Getting into trouble and Kate wants no part of it.  Obviously.

And now, Matt - without Kate (sorry guys!).  Showing his excited face about getting married!

All the boys.  Or at least most of them.

I couldn't resist.  I liked this picture :)

The Year of the Llama

"Officially" 2010 is the year of the tiger, but in the TB household, 2010 will be the year of the llama. This keeps in line with the theme of our goals for the year. Have I confused you? Let me explain.



As we began 2010, I can't help but be apprehensive.  2008 and 2009 were jam packed with life changing events, vacations, planning, anxiety with all the changes but it all resulted in tons of fun.  Our lives seem to be slowing down in certain ways and as anxiety ridden I was with all the changes, I'm not sure how I feel about no changes.  As TB and I have been feeling out this marriage thing, we came up with a few joint goals for the coming year.  Call them resolutions if you want.  I prefer goals.

Now back to the llama theme.

I know a lot about llamas, but that story is for a whole different blog post.  Anyway, llamas remind me of home

 Which brings us to 2010 goal #1:

- Find home: Whether we buy an actual home or are still nomads, we want to find "home".  Find a city/town and dwelling that we both agree upon, make it feel comfortable, unpack all those awesome wedding presents, decorate etc- all the things that make a home "home".  I've always wanted one of those really cute little address embossers, but have never had a permanent address to put on one....   No pressure.  I'm just saying.


And back to the llama again.

I'll always remember my dad saying that he decided to buy llamas and he enjoys hanging out with the llamas because they are "peaceful"  animals.

Which brings us to 2010 goal #2:
-  Settling in (finding peace) with all the recent life changes and enjoying everything the past few years has brought us:  Starting new TB family traditions, finding a job that we (he) enjoys, less work travel and more weekday TV dinners, less stress with all the unexpected changes we're sure to come across, realizing that being fit and healthy can still happen at the ripe old age of 30 and sitting back to enjoy everyone else's crazy life changes!

Here's to a happy 2010!!  I'll leave you with an image of TB happily enjoying the peace and home of the llama farm:

"The Wedding" Means: Hello and Goodbye

As I wrap up our wedding recap, I'll leave you all with a photo of us on our first day in New Orleans and then the last image of our reception. Don't worry, it's not a goodbye for good - the blog will continue!