A Glimpse Inside Our Pub Crawl

Musical Mondays: PUB CRAWL!

Hosted by Jori and Diane

Saturday was an epic adventure I'll tell stories about for years to come.

I was invited by some friends of mine on a PUB CRAWL. For those of you who don’t know what that is – it is pretty much bar hopping on a grand scale. Our festivities started at 11:00 a.m. Did you know that bars were open at 11:00 a.m.? I didn’t. Rules of the crawl state that someone must have a drink at each bar visited. We all started having our own beer at each place but quickly realized we would need to share if we wanted to survive in one piece.

Along the crawl we visited some very obscure places – one of which I had to call Lucas and tell him I love him just in case I didn’t come out. After I got over the initial shock of the event, I was whole-heartedly invested in its success. And a success it was. We visited 25 bars in one day! We could have kept going, but I had a husband to return home to and others had events already scheduled for the evening.

I want to thank my friends - including all my new friends I met along the way - for taking me in and showing me how to do a pub crawl right. It was a thrilling experience!

And now for the music -

Between bars we were jamming out to some really good music – The Avett Brothers. I’ve had several friends tell me about these guys and finally checked them out. They have some seriously stellar music. Check them out.

This is one of my favorites -

Shame
by The Avett Brothers




The girls hosting Musical Mondays are having a giveaway this month. Each post you submit for Musical Mondays during the month of May enters you into a contest for one of two gift cards to Amazon and iTunes. Go check them out for all the full details. If you participate, be sure to tell them I sent you. :)

Thirsy Thursday

Yes, every Thursday home game our local baseball team has Thirsty Thursdays - $2 beer - to draw people to the games. The Rookie's girlfriend (Yay! The Rookie has a girlfriend. I can tell you it has been a long time since he has had one of those. I mean a long time.) gets free tickets from work and another guy in our group gets some tickets, too. So that means free entry (I like anything free) and cheap beer. You really can't beat that, folks!

Last night had to be one of the most epic Thirsty Thursday that I've ever been to. Unfortunately, Lucas was on his way back from a business trip so missed all the action, but there were about 12 of us there to enjoy everything local baseball has to offer..... which may or may not have included some woman telling us we were good looking kids, too bad we were going to hell. Wow. We told her we'd see her next Thursday. Haha! A legendary night at the ballpark, indeed.

On a side note, our persistence paid off and we finally got #10 to give Tammy a ball....
After the game, she got his autograph....
.... and his number. Work it, girl!

My Wednesday Nights...

(Yes, Lucas is wearing a motorcycle helmet. No Lucas does not now - nor will he ever - own or drive a motorcycle.)

Every week, our tight group of friends goes to eat Mexican on Wednesday nights. We have coined these our "family dinners", with Lucas and I and our rambunctious 'sons'. Kyle (bottom right) is the problem child and always misses out. But he is leaving us soon for a job in Boston, so he decided he would return to the family for the last few weeks.

This week we all watched Lucas play soccer after work (where he scored a goal - Go Lucas!) then headed over to the restaurant. Over dinner - we discuss work, life, and of course - girls. There are serious moments and there are hilarious moments. We are there to support (or harass) each other through them all. But nothing leaves the table. Everything discussed stays 'within the family'.

I love having these boys around. They are so much fun and truly good friends! Kyle, we are going to miss you!

Another One Bites the Dust

(a symbolic 'pouring out' picture as two of my boys - Rookie and O.B. (top right) - are entering 'relationships')

A look at the past two years...

I have missed a few days of blogging. I've been working hard, organizing pre-reqs for school, and finalizing our immigration paperwork. I am finally finished! I have to get one more signature tonight and then I'm sending it out tomorrow.

While gathering evidence, I had to get pictures of Lucas and I together over the past 2 years. I made a collage of pictures for each month that has passed since our initial interview. There are some good memories here so I thought I would share with you.

(Click on image to enlarge, if you wish)

We bought tickets to an Atlanta Braves game for my parents and grandparents for Father's Day. Fun family trip!

4th of July, Six Flags after our immigration interview, celebrating Lucas's Green Card, and a camping and canoe trip with our friends and parents.

NYC to visit friends and go to the US Open

We bought our first home!

Big local concert and the home renovations begin...

Friends visit from NYC then Thanksgiving vacation to the beach with family

Lucas's birthday and our first Christmas in our home

New Years Celebrations and a New Car!

Celebrating 1 Year

Anniversary Cruise

Summer treats after tennis and soccer

10K and family picture with Rafa, our newest family addition

Kegball (so much fun) and canoe and camping trip with friends

4th of July, Hair Cuts, and new baby cousin

Camping with friends, fun work event, and Rafa's graduation

babysitting

The Real Angel and Demons ;)

Thanksgiving Beach trip with parents and grandparents

Marathon and Colombia

More Colombia

New Years in Colombia, Nashville with friends, and date night

2 years of wedded bliss celebrated in Cabo

Davis Cup tennis, picnics, and family portraits

more picnics, Easter, and fun times with friends

Good bbq and a baseball game

I know Lucas and I have shared a lot of good times together. But looking through our first years of marriage, it is obvious that we are very lucky. From exotic vacations to spur-of-the-moment ice cream runs, I relish everything that life has brought. I am looking forward to the moments and images we'll capture together over the next year for our big immigration submission... but more so looking forward to spending the rest of forever with my soul mate.

Department of Homeland Security,
you can't fake a love like this.

Me Gusta Cinco de Mayo

We started off at our favorite Mexican restaurant with friends, but it was way too noisy, way too many drunk people, and too few servers to handle the huge crowd (old age is apparently turning me into a prude). So we visited a little while then set off to have an enjoyable dinner - just the two of us.

We passed by a few other crowded Mexican restaurants before finding the perfect place to celebrate Cinco de Mayo.

We had a quiet corner booth where we could talk, laugh, and enjoy the drink specials.

Lucas made a weird face for the picture... so I am cutting him out and encouraging him to look normal in future pics.

And for some big news in our world......

Not only were we celebrating Cinco de Mayo, we were celebrating my acceptance into the MBA program at a local university!!!!


I have already started to get my pre-reqs in order (As I am a Liberal Arts girl entering the Business world - and they apparently think I have a lot to catch up on). I am hoping to get these taken care of during the summer and start my actual courses in August. So keep your fingers crossed that in 2 years I'll have my Masters in Business Administration!

What I Just Bought....

Do you know what that means? I am repainting our kitchen cabinets. We have almost all of the painting done. Next I am going to apply a little 'technique' and see how it comes out. Then I (or really Lucas) will add these beauties and we'll have brand new (like new - but really old) kitchen cabinets!!

I can't wait to see the finished results myself and share them with you. I've also got a master bedroom re-design to finish up and show you. We've been quite busy lately.