Exciting/Stressful/Busy/Draining Week!

It's official...for the first time since I really started blogging, I feel like a TERRIBLE blogger!  I haven't posted anything since Monday night, and I totally missed my Thankful Thursday this week...Thursday posts are one of my favorites, and I really don't like missing them, but I guess everyone is entitled to an off week every now and then.  =)  I thought I'd take this opportunity to catch everyone up on what's been going on in mine and my friends' lives this week:

• As I mentioned in a couple of posts recently, I spent last weekend in Knoxville visiting my parents...my mom and I did lots of shopping, and I spent lots of time with their dog, Peppermint.  On Saturday night, I had dinner with Andi and heard all about her honeymoon, which was very fun...however, I learned one important thing...if you ever go to Hawaii, NEVER EVER do the bike ride down the mountain.  =)  I also went to church with the fam which is always fun since there are TONS of people there that I am close to and I love to catch up with them!  I finished the trip off with lunch at one of my Knoxville favs with my mom, dad, and brother.
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  Another exciting event of last weekend is that Kathleen and Mickey got engaged!  For those that don't know, Kat is my BFF from grad school and she just so happens to be engaged to Mickey who is one of Patrick's good friends from college!  Should be tons of fun seeing their wedding come together next year!  Congrats guys!  =)

Please excuse the pale skin/tired look on my face...this picture was taken about 2 weeks before April 15!

• Monday night was my Fantasy Football draft for my all girls league!  It was so much fun to draft with all the girls.  I somehow doubt there was as much trash talking as the boys league, but it was still lots of fun!
• Also, on Monday night, my mom convinced me to walk a half-marathon with her in November.  Even though that seems soooooo long from now to me, it really is only 11 weeks away.  Therefore, I had to start training on Tuesday morning!  I guess that's one way to do it...commit before you have time to change your mind.  =)
• On Wednesday, I went back to Knoxville for an accounting recruiting event called Meet the Firms (yes...CPAs are that cool).  It is always a fun trip to head back to my alma mater (the University of Tennessee) for this event, but it is also VERY tiring!  It really wears me out so much that it takes me a day or 2 to recover.
• Thursday was a VERY happy day for me, because it was the day that I FINALLY got to see my beau after 3 long weeks of him being out of the country.  We celebrated by heading to the Tennessee Titans last preseason game (tickets courtesy of the CPA firm I work for).  It was a great time and the perfect way to celebrate him being back in the country! 

Both of us were pretty happy to see each other!  =)

It was great to see Reca and Aimee in line for the concession stand!  And special thanks to Reca for loaning us money...the credit card machine was broken!  YIKES!

My favorite Titans player -- #31 Cortland Finnegan

My second favorite Titans player -- #10 Vince Young

Well, besides working hard to try to finish all of my tax returns that are due by September 15, that's about all that's been going on in my life!  It's been really, really busy, but as you can probably tell about me, that's the way I like it!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Labor Day weekend!  Get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather and the final hoorah before Summer is officially over.  =( 

Wonderful Wedding Weekend

As promised, here are the details of Andi's wedding this past weekend.  The wedding festivities began on Friday evening with the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.  Not having been in many weddings, it always amazes me what goes into planning a wedding.  However, Andi had everything figured out and somehow managed to organize 8 bridesmaids, 8 groomsman, 8 ushers, and a whole lot of family members.  She should go into wedding planning because it ran like a well oiled machine!  After running through the ceremony a couple of times, it was time to head downtown to this place for dinner!

For those that aren't from Knoxville, Calhoun's on the River is a staple in that town known for its delicious ribs.  They also have a banquet room upstairs with a beautiful view that is often used for parties.  The dinner was very nice and the food was delicious!  Andi had put together a slide show and SEVERAL friends and family offered toasts to the couple...heck, after a couple glasses of wine even I got brave enough to give a small speech!  It was a great evening of celebrating the soon-to-be-married couple.  Here are a few pics:

Patrick and I enjoying the view from the balcony.

Me with both the Bride and Groom

After the rehearsal dinner, Patrick and I headed to my parents' house where we got in some quality time with this special girl:

It never ceases to amaze me how crazy I am about my parents' dog!  She is the smartest, funniest, sweetest dog EVER...in my opinion, anyway.  =)

On Saturday morning, I woke up extra early because in the middle of the night I had a moment of panic when I remembered that my dress needed to be ironed.  After trying and trying to iron my dress, the massive wrinkles WERE NOT coming out!!!!!  Thank goodness for my mother because she agreed to take my dress to be steamed so that I would not be late to my hair appointment.  After a small mix-up at the hair salon (imagine me looking like Annie...yeah, the red headed, curly haired little girl in the movie...minus the red hair), everyone's hair and make-up looked wonderful and it was time to head to the church. 

Saturday afternoon was spent wrapping up last minute details and taking pictures before the wedding started at 6:00.  It was a beautiful wedding and Andi looked AMAZING!!!!!  Here are a few pics:

Andi and I before the ceremony

Ginger and I waiting for the wedding to begin

Patrick and me...doesn't he look handsome?  =)

Bride and Groom as they head to the reception

After taking a few pictures at the World's Fair Park, it was time for the reception to begin!!!!!  Soon after the DJ started playing, everyone was dancing and no one really stopped until the Convention Center kicked us out at the end of the evening!  =)  The cakes were beautiful and delicious and the drinks were flowing!  It was a VERY fun evening!  Plus, I was able to catch up with people I haven't seen in years!  Nothing is better than that!

My mom and me...don't we look alike!  =)

Patrick with my mom and dad

Patrick got to meet Heather, Elizabeth, and Greg!!!!!  It was great for me to catch up with them, too!

The Groom's cake...notice the Alabama Groom and the Tennessee Bride...LOVE it!

After the lights were turned on at the wedding venue (signaling that it was time for us to get out), several of us decided to head out and have a few drinks!  After realizing that I left my ID in my mom's car, Patrick and I worked some magic to get me into the bar only to stay just an hour and then decide we were wayyyyyy too tired to be out drinking!  Instead we decided that some late night pizza was a much better idea!

All-in-all, it was a wonderful weekend, with a beautiful wedding, an even prettier bride, a fun reception, some much needed family time, and a nice weekend with my beau.  =)  Couldn't have been better! 

Andi and Rob, have a great time on your honeymoon and I can't wait to see you when you get back!  Congrats again!

Thankful Thursday!

So...Traci-Girl at Then I Got to Thinking has a great Thursday post called "Thankful Thursday," so I decided to join her and start my own Thankful Thursday post (Yes, I know you are wondering if I have any original ideas for blogging, but bear with me...I'm new at this).  =) Anyway, I LOVE this idea...blogging about something I am thankful for every week will really help keep my positive attitude right through the weekend!  Here goes nothing...

This Thursday, I am thankful for...

MY MOTHER!!!!!

It's a little hard to see her in this pic, but it's the most recent one I have...obviously, she's the one on the left.

My mom is one of my best friends...she's the one I talk to EVERY day on the phone, she's the one who always listens to my problems, and she's the one who always listens to my accomplishments.  I always know these things, but this week I was REALLY reminded of how fabulous she is.  See, when I was a young child, she read the Ramona Quimby books to me.  Well, yesterday, she drove to Nashville so she and I could go see the movie Ramona and Beezus together.  We went to dinner with Patrick beforehand, and then we went to see the movie.  We both LOVED it, and it reminded us of 20 years ago.  Afterward, we came back to my house and sat out on the back porch for over an hour just chatting and laughing and having a great time.  It's times like this that I wish we lived in the same town...however, if that was the case, we wouldn't appreciate these moments nearly as much!

MAS

Paintings, Budgets, and Galas, Oh My!

For the last several weeks, I have been soooooo excited because I was looking forward to last Wednesday when my mom came to town to cash in her Mother's Day gift (a Gift Certificate to Paint + Canvas).  We arrived at the location only to find out we were the only people signed up for the class.  Because the teacher is so wonderful, she informed us we could scan the wall and pick another picture if we liked.  We found one we both loved and got to work.  I was so proud of my mom for her first painting; she did an excellent job and LOVED it!  I am so mad that I forgot to take a picture of our paintings, because they looked really cool!

My weekend was really busy.  Friday night was spent meeting to prepare the budget for the 2010-2011 Fiscal year of the Nashville Junior Chamber.  I will be giving up my Treasurer duties as of July 1, and becoming an elected Board Member.  While I have enjoyed keeping up with the money of the NJC for the last 2 years, I am excited to venture into my new position!

Saturday night was the Nashville Junior Chamber Gala!  This is a night to celebrate all members and recognize the ones who have stood out during the year.  Stacy and Andrew hosted us for a pre-party beforehand, and then we hopped in a cab and headed downtown. 

Patrick and I posing for the camera.

These guys sure do clean up well!  And congrats to Chase for winning Board Member of the Year.

Stacy, Rachel and I -- Cab Buddies

Congrats to Casey for winning the Sherry Glover Award

All of the new Board Members (minus Nini) -- So glad to be serving with these ladies!

Dancing the night away, as usual!

The famous Boxing Game -- Patrick was sooooo good!

After waking up Sunday and surprisingly NOT having a hangover, we decided to head to grab Sunday Brunch at a place neither of us had been, Copper Kettle.  We loved it and definitely recommend it for a nice tasty breakfast in Nashville.  After that, we drove to the Hill Center in Green Hills and walked around a little bit.  After that, it was time to head to our final kickball game of the Spring season.  It was sooooooo HOT, but we managed to pull out a win, so that was great!  We ended the weekend with a nice dinner at Chili's with Kat and Mickey!  A nice end to another CRAZY-BUSY weekend!

MAS

30th Birthday!

Well, I have to say that even though I had great intentions with writing a blog, I haven't been the most diligent.  Therefore, I have made it my personal mission to try to write 1 blog per week (and also to work out more often...we shall see how that goes)  =). 

Since this blog started partly because I turned 30, I suppose that's the best place for me to start.  My 30th Birthday was honestly one of the best days of my life, to date.  It started out the same way it does every year, with a phone call from my amazing mother!  She always says that she is so proud of me and that she prays for me and thanks God for me everyday.  How could you not be happy when your b-day starts out like that?  =)  I arrived at work that morning to a decorated office and plenty of goodies for everyone to share.

After working a half day, I headed home to put the final touches on everything for my party that evening.  It was supposed to be at the trendy cabana at Werthan Lofts, but alas there was a ginormous thunderstorm that came through about 2 hours before the event.  Therefore, we moved the party to my house.  It was a great time!  All of my closest friends came, including some great friends from Knoxville and my brother and sister, who I never seem to get to spend enough time with:

SOOOOO glad that Andi and Rob drove in from Knoxville!!!!!

Elaine and Ken also made it to town!

Super happy to be celebrating with this guy in my life!!!  =)

Several other great friends who attended the party.

Once the party started to die down, several of us (much to Patrick and Mickey's protests) headed downtown to mine and Kathleen's favorite country bar, The Stage!  Since both of our boyfriends are extremely anti-Country music, neither of us feel like we get enough of this place anymore.  I think we both were secretly looking forward to this part of the night more than anything else.

Daniel and Laura enjoyed their night out in Nash-Vegas!

So glad Alysia and Kevana joined us! (Rumor has it these lovely ladies were quite popular at The Stage!)

Thanks for being such a great BFF, Kat!!!

Looks like Patrick had fun despite his cries that he HATES country music.  =)

The next morning, Patrick and I had breakfast with my brother and sister before they headed back to Knoxville, THEN he surprised me with a trip horseback riding.  It was amazing, and such a fun way to spend a Saturday afternoon:

We had a great time, but needless to say, it rained and we were SOAKED!!!!!

We finished the evening off with a wonderful dinner at The Palm...I had never been there before so we decided to splurge!  What a wonderful Birthday!  I can't wait to see what the next year holds!!!!!

MAS