A Lovely Life

Yesterday, I started a fun, 10 Day Challenge . Here's Day 2! NINE Loves Justin ...almost 5 years together and I'm more in love with this guy than ever. Family (this does NOT represent all of them!) I forever wish we lived closer to some of the best people I know!! My Bestie There are a MILLION words to describe this lovely lady, but my favorite is BEAUTY! Frank How can you NOT love those ears?! Workin' at Peachtree Bikes 3 Years at this place and the last 6 months have been the craziest!  Thankful to have a job that I love and challenges me. Travel We've been to some beautiful places and have so many more trips planned!  Life is wonderful traveling with people you love. Our Home Our first place together!  We're blessed beyond measure to have a place to call "home". Wine Because, duh. Macaroni and Cheese I think if I had to choose one food to eat for the rest of my life, this would be it....

I was so proud of myself for doing a couple of blogs a week and then I kind of dropped off the Earth for a bit. Sorry about that. We're slowly easing back into "normal" (whatever that means) at work which means I've been able to spend more time at home, on my bike and with my 2 favorites: J & Frank. One big thing we've been project we've been involved in is a complete overhaul of our landscaping. This week marks week #8 of a 3 week project, so I have yet to show you a complete set of before, during and after pictures because we're still in the "during" process.  I'm told that dealing with contractors and their apparent lack of time is normal, but EIGHT weeks? C'mon! It's our first interaction with contractors and we've learned a couple of lessons like: 1. Get EVERYTHING in writing 2. Get CHANGES in writing 3. Explain that for every day they go over their estimated day, we'll be taking $25 off their bill.  (we didn...

Spring is officially here, y'all.  It brings much warmer temperatures, unpredictable weather and LOTS of pollen.  I'm lucky that I'm not one of the people who suffer from terrible pollen allergies, but it seems to get to everyone this time of year.  So much so that I find myself thankful for rainy days that help keep my car clean and my nose a little clearer! We recently started a new landscape project on our ENTIRE yard.  I'll post all about that when it's done!  It's our first big project for the house and something we've talked about since we bought the place.  We're learning lots of lessons in the process including the one where you start a massive project on your house only to have your air conditioner die.  :-/  It is what it is and we're thankful that the weather is nice enough for us to have our windows open while we wait the 5 to 10 days until we can get it fixed.   While we've been focusing on the bigger picture, our back deck w...

My first reaction is to say (and I may or may not have actually said it), "Suck it 2013!".  However, that's super negative of me and while this year was full of challenges, it was also full of some great adventures, laughs and lots of lessons learned! January brought me to California for work where I earned my Body Geometry bicycle fitting certification.  I stepped WAY outside of my comfort zone by taking a class about body bio mechanics, handling bikes in a way I never have before and hanging out in a class that was 99.9% guys except for me.  I learned a lot and felt empowered! While I still have a long way to go, I really enjoy it.   **side note:  if you're interested in a fit for your bike...let me know!** We bought our first home in February.  It was a stressful/exciting/scary adventure for us knowing that we were here to stay and it is ours!  I loved being able to share in the experience with J because owning a home had been a huge goal o...

Since moving into our first house in February, we've really gotten behind on the millions of projects that we wanted to do.  I guess that's what happens when you move in, do weeks of non-stop projects then "take a break" from it all.  Well, our break has lasted most of the Summer and while I've gotten things done here and there, nothing major has been updated. Like our living room.  It's a big, rectangular space and is in serious need of a couple coats of paint, curtains and wall decor.  I've been really trying to make to do lists for each day and my weekends since they help me stay focused and on track.  There is such a sense of accomplishment from crossing everything off my list! So, one of the items on this weekend's list was to paint the back wall of our living room.  It's located behind our little bar and since I know that painting the whole room in one weekend would be too much for my busy schedule, I decided to do it one wall at ...