THE Donation Monday

If you are a Georgia fan, then you know that today is the deadline to make a donation to the William C. Hartman Jr. Fund --- aka the pass to the almighty football tickets. This is our first year making a donation. It makes me a little nervous to think that we just plopped down SEVERAL hundred dollars as a donation just so that we MIGHT be able to buy 2010 season tickets. Since this is our first year donating - we will probably not get them. But, at least we can write off 80%.

I guess new tires for the Civic will be pushed back to a March expense......

Valentine's Day Recap

Friday around lunch time it started snowing. I didn't really think much of the snow because the high for Saturday was 40. Well, at 2:30 the office cleared out. I stuck around til 3:30 so that the rush of traffic would hopefully be over. I was wrong. I didn't get home until 6:30. Yes - that's correct. I left work early and still had a THREE hour commute. Ugh. Needless to say we didn't make it out to Athens to the Gymdogs meet. We spent Friday night hanging out and just vegged out. This is a picture of our neighborhood as I was pulling in at 6:30.

And, this is what our house looked like at 10-ish on Saturday.

Once we battled the sheet of ice on our driveway, we headed down to Atlanta to begin our Valentine's 'staycation'. We checked in at the Westin in Buckhead and then headed to the World of Coke.

At the end of the tour, we got to taste Coke products from around the world. Some were good. And, some were nasty. As we were on our way out there was a "have a coke on us" --- so we got two cokes in glass bottles. Which, I think is the best way to have a coke. In a COLD glass bottle.

Mike surprised me with reservations at the Atlanta Fish Market for dinner. It was amazing! We split the Crab Chowder and an order of Oyster sampler as an appetizer and then I got the Parmsean Crusted Salmon. Every bite was better than the one before. We decided that we would grab dessert somewhere else and randomly ended up at Prime in Lenox Mall. It was probably the most un-romantic setting. They sat us at a high top table overlooking the escalator. Super.

This morning we walked over to Dantanas and Mike had a bloody mary (they are known for having a good Bloody Mary bar) and then we decided that we wanted some really good breakfast food. So, we headed on over to Highland Bakery. We split the French Toast and it was soooooooooooo good. It was definitely worth the hour wait.

This afternoon, we make a quick trip up to the outlet mall and picked up a few things. I got some new shirts from Gap and Mikey got some new running shoes.

We are finishing up our night watching The Hangover and having our Coke's.

It was a great, relaxing weekend. I have the best Valentine. :)

Short on Time

Almost every morning I tell myself "Michelle - update your blog tonight" but it never seems to happen. So, I just thought I'd put it out there that I have been a terrible blogger...and I really want to get better.

There are a few things that deserve their own posts - but I can at least summarize them here, right?

• I have made some progress with my 2010 goals. I already ran 1 5k. I've been trying to keep a log of how many miles I run each day and as of yesterday I have completed 77 miles this year. I can tell my body is becoming more conditioned because I can run further without walking and when I slow down - I am able to catch my breath must faster.
• I have completed my first book of 2010 (only 8 more to go!). I read Same Kind of Different as Me. It was really good. It's such a good book that I already gave it to another friend to read. I hope she likes it just as much as I did. If you are interested in borrowing it, let me know! I'm happy to share! :) I'm still working on Praise Habit...but my next book will probably be So Long, Insecurities. Which leads me to my next point....
• I am EXCITED to say that I have a ticket to see Beth Moore in April. I am very EXCITED about this. :) I am supposed to post an EXCITED picture but Mike told me I was acting weird...so I didn't get a good picture.
• AND...yesterday I got a letter in the mail. Not just any letter. A letter from a little 8 year old boy. He told me what his favorite color was (blue). He told me his favorite things to do (play with little cars). He told me that his eye color (light brown). And he drew me a picture. If you guessed that the letter came from Yefri; you're right. It was by far the highlight of my day. I have displayed his drawing proudly on my fridge. :)

I guess those are the things that I've really wanted to blog about. Hopefully, I will get in a post on Sunday to document our Valentines Day adventure.

I've just been 'threatened' that I'm going to be left by myself downstairs...which I hate. So, I guess that's all for now.

Happy Wednesday!

The Realization of Age

I am not a morning person. I usually hit the snooze button 3-4 times every single morning. I shuffle my feet to the bathroom, squeeze my eyes real tight and flip on the light switch. Turn the shower on to get the hot water a flowin and then check the scale to see if I've lost any lb's.

But, this morning - the schedule was mixed up. And usually, I don't do well with changes in my daily routine. But this morning, Mike got up first and I got to sleep in an extra 15 minutes. This made me happy.

I'm not sure what triggered my thoughts on age this morning - maybe it was that extra 15 minutes of shut eye - but I started thinking of numbers. I'm 25 going on 26. Does that mean I'm an adult now? Sometimes I forget that. I have a college degree. I'm married. I have a house. I work full time. And, I deal with HOA issues. Yep, I'm pretty sure that means that I'm 'old and responsible' now. But, like I said - sometimes I forget that.

Sometimes, I forget that I've been out of high school for 8 years. In fact, it wasn't until last night that it really hit me that my sister will soon be graduating from high school too. I remember riding to the hospital to meet my new baby sister back in 1992. It seems like forever ago and yet it seems like it was yesterday.

A lot of my friends are married. And, a few of them have kids. At first, my thought was "Oh my gosh! That's awesome!" and then maybe a for a split second I would think to myself "Geez! But we're so young!" And that's when I started piecing together that I'm not as 'young' as I thought. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying at 25 is old - but it is certainly a mile marker. When my Mom was my age, she had a 2 year old (me). I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only person who has ever compared my time line to their parent's time line (or their friends' for that matter). One of my best friends has always 'obsessed' over age - and I always reminded her that it's JUST a number. Not a big deal at all. Don't dread birthdays - celebrate them. But, this morning - just for a split second I think I felt that feeling. The oh my gosh! I'M ALMOST 26!?!?!?!?!

And then I realized that there are much bigger problems to worry about in the world. So many people in Haiti will never make it to 25. Some will not make it to tomorrow. And that, put everything back into perspective.

Does anyone else have to remind themselves of their age? Sometimes, I wonder if I will still feel this way when I'm 50.

Sip & See

Here are just a few pictures from Nat's Sip & See.

Another Day - Another Bird

Last year I had some issues with birds building their nest's on my front porch. It as though my bird troubles are not too far gone.

The other day I was driving home from the gym and I hit two birds. I felt so bad but then told myself, "Michelle, it's OK. Maybe they were going for a Romeo and Juliet exit." I also thought it was a little strange that I didn't see any feathers fly up. Anyways, by the time I got home I had already forgotten about the incident.

The story then progresses to Monday. I get in my car. I drive to work. I back into my parking spot at work. Then...as I am walking to my car at the end of the day, I see something in the grill of Patty (Patty is a Pilot). I get a little closer and then I realize...It's the bird from the other day! I have been driving around with a DEAD bird in the front of my car. Here are a few pictures for proof.





So I call Mike and I am laughing hysterically at this point...because this is such a typical thing to happen to me. Mike had to pull the poor birdie out of my car with a Target bag. I realize this is not a very good picture but he was NOT being very patient and had zero interest in waiting for me to get the perfect picture for my blog. Given that it was in the 20's that night, I guess I don't blame him. But next time.......just kidding. I hope there isn't a next time.

I hope I don't have any other bird issues in 2010, although I have a feeling that won't be the case.

2010 Goals

Below are a list of things that I would like to accomplish in the year of 2010. I hope to re-visit this post at the end of the year to see if I've actually accomplished them.

• Get new bedroom furniture


• Get new dining room furniture


• Have a party with all our friends over (since no one has been to our house because it's been empty! I've been too embarrassed to have people over only to have them stand to watch TV). Or at least a few get togethers.


• Get Mike a new car


• Visit Montana (I've several years delinquent on this one)


• Run 6 5k's


• Run 2 10k's


• Run the Missoula Half Marathon with Natalie


• Visit Glacier National Park


• Start saving for a hypothetical child (because my friend's are having babies and I'm learning real quick those babies are NOT cheap!)


• Start using coupons more often


• Take at least 2 long weekend vacations with the hubby


• Eat less Happy Meals


• Put crown moulding in our house


• Read 9 books


• Take the GMAT


• Apply to Grad School

I think that is a pretty challenging list, not to mention it just sounds expensive. Maybe I should add one more.

• Win the lottery