I really wish I had more interesting things going on in my life to blog about! Lately, though, not much has been happening, and I don't think this weekend is going to be much more exciting.

I spent yesterday afternoon at the dentist. I cracked a tooth awhile ago and this week I've had a horrible toothache, so I scheduled an appointment. They decided it was best to pull the tooth, which then led to a 3 1/2 hour ordeal. It took multiple rounds of novocaine and numbing cream, 2 doctors, and a dental assistant to get the darn tooth out! They finally got it removed, and I can't even begin to describe the pain I'm in. I've been in bed since about 6 last night, surrounded by my pain pills, antibiotics, gauze, and an ice pack for my face. Blah. The doctor said I will be feeling pretty crappy for at least a few days. I'm sure the few days of pain is going to be worth it to not have to deal with toothaches anymore, but currently it's hard to focus on that.

Tomorrow we are taking Will's dad and sister to look at 2 of the condos we like. We are getting close to making a decision and are curious to get a couple outside opinions. Hopefully we'll decide which one we like best soon and get moving, literally!

Hope everyone has a less painful, more exciting weekend! The meds are kicking in, I'm off to sleep again.

Thankful

It is almost starting to feel like Spring! The weather has definitely been milder the past few days, and flowers are starting to pop up in our yard...which is surprising. I didn't know this yard was capable of having flowers.

This weekend marks the one year anniversary of Shaughn's accident. It still scares me to think about how close we came to losing him. I am thankful everyday for the guardian angels who watched over him that night. And I am extremely thankful that his neck is completely healed- no paralysis for our Shaughn-man! Just wanted to take a second and thank everyone again for their thoughts during Shaughn's rough time last year. The prayers definitely worked! He is doing well in Houston, taking classes and hopefully feeling settled and at home. I'm excited to get down there soon for a visit- I still haven't seen Andy's townhouse!

Will has to work all weekend, so I don't have much planned. I followed through with my goal of getting a library card, so every Saturday for the past few weeks I've borrowed a few books to read during the week. I forgot how much I enjoy reading! I pretty much have been devouring each book in about a day. Again, I'm always looking for suggestions if anyone has a favorite. I have no idea what to get when I'm there. I just walk up and down the aisles looking for a title or cover to jump out at me. It seems I'm drawn to two types- fluffy British romantic comedy books (Think Bridget Jones' Diary) or historical books. I am trying to read an even amount of fluff and true stories...that way my brain won't turn to mush, at least not completely.

Another goal I've kept up with is returning to the live music scene! Last week Will and I went to see Eric Hutchinson, who as usual, was fantastically entertaining. Sunday night we are going to see Joshua Radin. He is another favorite of mine. I fell in love with his music a few years ago, and he's touring right now to support a new album. I'm looking forward to hearing his new stuff live. It feels so great to be seeing concerts again. I'm glad I have started paying better attention to who is coming to town!

I took Will to a Predators game on Tuesday for his birthday present. We had a great time! I have only been to a couple other professional hockey games before Tuesday, but I was very impressed with Nashville's between-periods entertainment. While the zambonis were re-icing the rink, they had figure skaters dancing around while a live band entertained the crowd. It was awesome! I should expect nothing less, though, being in music city. After 6 months we are finally starting to feel like Nashville is home. But we are still looking forward to getting out of this basement!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Happy Birthday Will!

Lots of birthdays lately! Today Will turns 29. We celebrated last night at Kobes, a Japanese steakhouse, with Will's dad, sister Cari and her boyfriend Curtis. We've been trying to go there with Cari and Curtis since we moved to Nashville, so it was nice to finally get to go! After dinner we enjoyed Will's funfetti cake for dessert. Isn't it nice to know that funfetti cakes are great, at any age? :)




Look at all that smoke from blowing out his candles!

I'm so happy to have Will around. He makes me laugh everyday..sometimes at him, but most of the time with him. I LOVE his adventurous spirit. He and I have had the opportunity to travel together a lot, and our list of places we'd like to visit keeps growing. I love that he values his family the same way I value mine. We're both happy to be closer to our loved ones, even if we don't see them as often as we'd like. I hope you have a very happy birthday, Will! I know that you really want a house for your birthday, so here's hoping that happens very soon!

Here are some of my favorite pictures of the birthday boy:






















At the Guinness factory in Dublin. This picture still cracks me up every time I look at it!



















Bartending at The Field in Kilkenny, Ireland. The owner of the bar pulled him back there to pour his first pint.




















Walking near The Organ at Giant's Causeway.
















I just love his face in this picture!














At the Rockies NLCS game shortly after we moved to Denver














Our infamous Cubs/Cards rivalry















Moving from Chicago to Denver. Everyone loves a trucker's hat and Slim Jims when you're on the open road!














ARRRR!! Pirates in coconut bras at Jimmy Buffett in Vegas















Just one mushy one...because I like it! Kylemore Abbey in Ireland

Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday, and as usual, she is working...but I hope she takes a few minutes to enjoy herself. It really is too bad that her birthday falls during tax season. It's always hard for her to relax from January to April. In honor of her birthday, I just wanted to share some of the things I love about her.

My mom is probably the busiest and most driven person I have ever met. Some days it really annoys me, especially when I see her stressed. I just want her to RELAX!! But most of the time, I am impressed and very proud of her. I have always sworn by the fact that Mom isn't happy unless she has 10 things going on. She wears many, many hats. How many people do you know that can juggle 4 different jobs- freelance writer/tax preparer/Taxpayer Advocacy Panel member/Chamber of Commerce employee- how does she find time to do all these jobs simultaneously?!

Mom and I have a very close relationship that has grown over the years. I know I can call her anytime and she's available to give advice (even if it's not what I want to hear) or just to listen. She is the first person I want to call when I have news, no matter how big or small. I value her opinion greatly. That's not to say we haven't had our differences...we can fight like the best of them! There have been days where I'm ready to rip her head off, and I am positive she would say the same about me. We may not talk for a couple days...or even weeks, but things always go back to normal. We always start talking again as if nothing happened. Mom, I hope you know that no matter what, no matter how many times we fight and say things we don't mean, you are one of my best friends and I love you dearly. I love that she has turned into a friend and not just a mom.

I am grateful for the fact that she pushes all her kids to be better people. She has always believed in me, no matter what...and she helps me out in whatever ways she can. I can count on her to proofread anything...and as a result, have it sound 10 times better than it started. She has a true gift with words. I wish I was as clever! And I can recall many late nights with her, whether it was making a prom dress for me, or helping me scrapbook. She sees the fun side of things, and is always up for a good time. She can talk to anyone, and often lights up the room with her stories. Mom is definitely hard to ignore!

She has pushed me to explore the world, both with hosting exchange students as well as giving me the opportunity to study and travel abroad. I attribute my love of travel to her. Like me, Mom is always up for a trip...be it a short drive or an overseas adventure. We have traveled all over the world together, from mountains to oceans to big cities, Paris to Dublin to Santiago. And I have truly enjoyed every place we've been together- mostly because she loves exploring and adventure. She is game to try anything, and I am happy I take after her in that respect! I'm looking to traveling abroad with her again sometime.

So here's to you on your birthday, Mom! I love you!

Some pictures that highlight Mom's adventurous spirit:

Roses!

I have the sweetest boyfriend! After asking me the night before if he had to get me flowers for Valentine's Day (to which my answer was, of course, no...especially when we are trying to save up for a home!), guess what showed up at our door? A vase full of beautiful roses. I am normally not that into Valentine's Day, but any day you get flowers delivered to you is an OK day by me! Though, they almost didn't make it inside- I don't like to open my door to strangers when I'm alone in the apartment. Good thing the delivery driver had my phone number! :) Thank you so much, Will! I love the flowers, and I love you, too!






On a completely different note, I had some fun the other night decorating snickerdoodles with leftover frosting from the cookie cake I made for the Super Bowl party a couple weekends ago. I don't see cake (or cookie) decorating in my future, but I thought I'd post a pic of them here to demonstrate my ever-improving baking abilities. Maybe next time I will try to bake something more impressive- like a souffle! But probably not, seeing as I don't really like the texture.

As you can probably tell from some of the phrases on the cookies- I am not the best at picking words or phrases to use. 'Hello!', 'Yo', and 'Don't eat me' aren't really that common. But it's the best I could think of at the time!

House Hunting

Last Sunday Will and I took advantage of the gorgeous weather and went house hunting! Well, really condo hunting. We checked out several condos right downtown. They. Were. Awesome. After looking at a couple highrises, we are pretty excited to live in one. They have such great ammenities (like 24 fitness centers, "party rooms", 24 hour concierge, and swimming/grilling decks) and most of the places we looked at have amazing views. Highrises are a new concept in Nashville, so these places are brand new developments, and the developers are eager to get their units sold! This means some great deals are out there. We are leaning more toward condos at the moment, mainly because we think it would be fun to live right downtown while we are young and have no "extras" to worry about. And in 5 years or so, we can move on to a house and (hopefully) use our condo as a rental property. We are getting very, very excited to move, and looking at places has made it all that much more real! We are starting to see the urgency of moving on the places we like, too. 2 of the units we really liked are already under contract. I'll be sure to keep you posted- hopefully we'll be moving sooooooon!

Hello! Not much to blog about lately, but some good news!

After several months of taking quick, cold showers due to the small amount of hot water we had, we finally replaced the heating elements and low and behold- we have hot water! Glorious, wonderful hot water. I no longer have to decide whether to wash my hair or shave my legs...I can do both in the same shower!

I know I complain about this apartment a lot. It's really not that bad of a place (minus the leaking when it rains hard), but being able to take a nice long, hot shower makes it sooo much better. In all honesty, I'm pretty proud of the work we've done to get the place into the shape it is. It's not perfect, but definitely presentable. Maybe someday soon we'll put doors on the bathroom!