Snow welcome...

Me with our cute lil snowwoman! Haley & I at Oysterfest with Midtown in the background! :)

Yep, so my first weekend in ATL consisted of the lovely snowfall that we in the South actually got. So Friday the snow fell hard as I drove home from work a lil early. But I couldn't be snowed in without some of my favorite girls, what fun would that be? So I went over to Haley & Ali's. Haley and I then opened a bottle of wine and headed out to frolick in the snow. If y'all know me at all you know that cold weather doesn't bother me too much and i LOVE LOVE LOVE snow!!! It makes me so happy, I think mainly b/c it reminds me of snowskiing with my family which i love doing! So Haley & I had snowball fights, scared a few neighbors, made a snowman and of course I had to make a snowangel!!! Holla!! :)

So I made it safely home that night. But then attempted to venture out to the bank Saturday morning. The roads seemed fine and there were tons of people on the road, didn't think that much of it. But was keepin' it simple and short when I went out. Well...I was coming up to a red light and braked, as one usually does for that color. And eeekk!!! NO BRAKES! Hit a lovely icy patch! and there was nothing i could do but hit the guy who was already stopped at the light. (shed your tears here for me!!! ) Not only that but on my hurry out the door I left my phone on the kitchen table. So here I am first weekend in new city, wreck I couldn't prevent, no cell and of course I don't have anyone's phone number memorized! Needless to say I had a bit of a small breakdown but luckily I hit a really nice man who was from South Carolina. He calmed me down and helpe me realized that's why we have insurance. The police was anything but nice and said he had too many wrecks to write reports for and gave us papers to fill out for insurance and then left us in his slushy dust. Boo ATL police! Just both damaged bumpers both drivable, mine got the lesser end of the deal so that's nice! Just annoying insurance stuff to deal with now.

So I came home down in the dumps and annoyed wanting to sulk in my bed. But Haley called and reminded me of the Oysterfest I needed to get showered for! Decided to not let the icy patch win and got ready. Haley, me and 2 other girls went to this huge Oysterfest that was an all day thing. It was so packed but so much fun! So many new faces and kinda exciting that I didn't know any of them...kinda scary at the same time though! ha! But many cute boys for sure, always comforting! :) We pretty much closed 'fest down that night. Great dancing and met a few new friends. All in all exciting first officially outting as an Atlantian!

What a weekend! Emotions galore but know these things happen and I'll roll with the punches...good ones and bad ones!

Overdue...in ATL

My cake that said "Don't Go" on it! haha! Loved it!
Well needless to say since my last blog my life has been a whirlwind! Not only did I have to find a place to live but also had to throw 2 showers for my best friends, pack up my life in Bham and begin a whole new chapter in Atlanta! I don't even know what angle to begin this at....

Briefly, have to say that Haley & Christos finally headed back to their island home but before they got off we had a lovely wine and cheese party for them. It was at her parents house which only seems approriate for the Hogan family. Plus I know most of the guest have always felt at home there! :) Sara, her BFF from college, did an amazing job with mine and other girls assistance, setting up of all the cheese and wine. I mean top-notch quality shower for sure! We had a great time visiting with old friends and talking about what else...Greece! I CAN'T wait for the wedding!!! Then my Jeanne is having a baby, gosh I always wondered what day I'd actually say those words b/c if you know Jeanne you know she's always loved and wanted kiddos! We had a great guy/girl shower at Laura's! Perfect amout of folks, if we'd had any more we might not have fit! So exciting to celebrate something so big in someone's life you've known for so many years and been through so much with!! I love you Jeanne Celeste and I can't wait for Averitt to get here!

Now...to life changes....so luckily Vol knew of a girl who had a potential place so I came over 1 day to ATL to see her place and another friend of a friends place. Luckily they were both great in every aspect but in the end I went with Vol's friend. I forgot just how annoying and tedious packing can be and how much crap I have! Finally get mostly packed and plan to move Saturday. Well, rewind 2 days before....had a lil going away dinner with some friends at Pablo's. Well low and behold on Friday my stomach felt horrible...details spared this equalled stomach bug!!!! Not pretty at all people! Deathly horrible! Come to find out 4 others from that night got it the same day! Therefore, my body was in no condition to move on Saturday...Sunday it was.

Mom, Dad and Matthew (BIL) moved me (brooke stayed w/ Sawyer) to ATL. The move went well for the most part. I did little except point where to put things, since I still felt yuck. I really didn't ever get too sad, I think I was more excited about what was all about to happen! I'm sure it'll hit me one day! ha! The new job so far is good...I mean there is A LOT to learn and remember and it's extremely overwhelming at some moments but i know once I do these things over weeks time, it'll get better. But the days fly by I'm so busy, which is more than I can say for the Eye Bank. No facebook or gmail checking time at all, which is fine and probably good for my brain! haha! It's a small company but everyone there is really sweet. It's fairly close (ATL standards) to my house so that's nice. So for now, it's good, overwhelming but good! The roomies are great, both super sweet and clean! God has provided in many ways for this move to occur so I can only hope I stay on a good path for many good things to continue!

My first weekend here update to follow...of course some drama but also some fun, stay tuned...it's definitely bed time!!

J-O-B!!!

Well in case you haven't all heard by now I finally got a job!!! YAY! However, it is in Atlanta! I know, kinda sad that I'm leaving Birmingham but also very excited about a new city with new opportunities. And obviously, if things don't work out or if I decide I don't like it for whatever reason at least it's close enough to come back! But let's hope it works out for my sanity sake! haha! The job is as a marketing assistant for one of my college friends company she used to work at, therefore, she's able to put in a good word for me and give me the scoop on the office. I think they totally trust her so hopefully she didn't build me up too much and they don't have too high of expectations! ha! I hope I even remember how to work! To be honest after working at the laid back Eye Bank and being off for almost year it's gonna be a big shock. So please pray that I grasp all the new things I have to learn, I'm kinda freaked out about that.

I start Feb. 8th, so I'm still hunting down a place to live and hope to get settled in before the first day job stress! Not to mention getting around in ATL will be a big learning curve of it's own. I was thinking yesterday how many short-cuts I know in Bham and how many roads I could drive with my eyes closed and how I won't know a thing in ATL. But then again that's part of the adventure I guess...maybe that's why God gave us GPS devices...i'll have to check into that for sure! But once I get settled in the door will always be open to friends for trips & weekend excursions to Atlanta. And they have tons of family friendly things to do there, so I expect you all to come at least once if anything for the shopping at IKEA!!! :)

Thanks for all the prayers, thoughts, job suggestions and love over the past year! Without my friends I wouldn't have made it that's for sure! I still will be making very little money but as you all know I'm good at living off nothing, so hopefully I'll survive the jungle of ATL! Please keep me in your prayers as I give this a whirl. I know God allowed this opportunity for reason and I just hope I can make the most of it through a good new job, meeting new people, discovering a new city and not missing the comforts of my very routine life in Bham! Gosh, now that I'm moving I realize what a routine I'm in! I hope I can do this!! :) Will miss you all lots!!!!!!!

Iraq, next place to visit?

Haha! Ok I'm definitely not going to Iraq but just thought it would catch your attention. Because I wanna give a shout out to our military today on here. As many of you may know, my dear friend Stephen Elrod has been deployed to Baghdad, Iraq for 6 months. He left at the beginning of December, missing the holiday season with his family & friends. Stephen is a pilot with Delta. He originally was in the Air Force but then got out. Then, couple years later joined Alabama's National Guard since he had spare time as a pilot and needed some extra income. Therefore...he got chosen to head off to defend our country from these crazy, mean spirited people out there.

For the first time I'm actually paying attention when the news says: "another bombing in Iraq with 3 US military dead". I think we hear that so often that we take it for granted that these are husbands, fathers, brothers, sister, mothers, and friends whose lives are gone forever. So just wanted to ask that y'all pray for Stephen, his fiance, family and friends. And of course all the other military out there. I feel only an itty bitty bit of what these families feel every day!

I'm hoping to get a fun package together for Stephen next month so if you wanna add a card or something to it, let me know! I know they all absolutely love any mail! Today I put together a picture collage from some past fun trips &times we've had and actually hand wrote a letter to send him (haven't done that since like high school i think!ha!) this month. He did get to meet a celeb out there at least, Anna Kournakova came for a visist, I'm sure all the guys were drooling! haha! I've attached that picture and another one of us! Thanks for the prayers! And GOD BLESS AMERICA!!! :) I trusted him enough to fly in this teeny tiny plane with him to Savannah!Crazy!

Fab Weekend!

me dying laughing at one of Christos many falls

Haley & me in our cool skating kicks

So usually January is pretty slow without much excitment going on but I have a feeling this one is gonna be different, especially if it's anything like this weekend! Friday kicked off my weekend of fun with Haley and Christos. He, of course living on a tiny Greek island all his life, had never been roller skating! So that was on the to-do list while he was here. I met them at Skates 280 that afternoon and it was so much fun! I seriously haven't felt so childlike for an extended period of time like I did that day! We had the old school 4-wheel-rollerskates and Christo just couldn't grasp the concept of how to skate. And Haley and I realized it's kinda hard to explain too! He busted many, many hilarious times! And even though I never busted I had some close calls of slipping a bit. We suprisingly realized that rollerblades were gonna be easier on him. He finally started to pick up on the concept of how to skate. But I'm not kidding you it was hilarious!!! Luckily there weren't too many other people there so we pretty much had the rink to ourselves. Haley and I tried every way to pull him along & teach though! Also, may I add there is just something kinda freeing about skating, maybe it is b/c it takes you back to your childhood, carefree days. But once you get going and the wind in your air a bit (ha!) it's super, super fun! Not to mentioned we definitely played Skeetball and Airhockey while we were there and even got enough tickets to get each of us a prize! haha! After that we went to see It's Complicated, which was sooo much funnier than I had expected. Needless to say lots of calories burned by laughing Friday and that's my kind of work out! :)

Saturday, of course, was great to. So glad Lauren & Kevin are back in America so we can throw baby Brooks a shower. Lauren got so many good presents, the food was great, Ross Bridge was so nice and loved seeing faces I haven't seen in a while! That night we also got together at Lauren's house. She made dinner for us all and we had a group of about 10 of us sitting around the table for hours covering everything from babies (of course :) ) to blog stalking to best pair of jeans to shopping websites!! Haha! Great girls night with wine and good friends! Loved it! Sunday Haley had a wedding tea, which was a usual tea, except for the fact that it kinda hit me that she's really getting married!! ahhh!! I can't believe it! I might be the biggest mess at her wedding, seriously someone come play in Greece with me for it! I'll need the support!

Hope this week is as great! Thanks to all you out there who made it fabulous! xoxo!

Ring, Ring...Hello it's 2010!

So the year 2009 was completely nothing at all what I thought it would be. Getting laid off and living in Greece for 4 months being the majority of the unexpected! ha! But I wouldn't change a thing and know that God's got plans for me on His time, not mine. I'm patiently waiting and 100% fine with where I am in life. (on most days,ha!) So thinking ahead to 2010 I have no freakin' clue what to expect or imagine. But I do have some things I'd like to get done. And to be honest I try to set daily and monthly goals so a new year is even more reason to put my hopes out there. Not gonna lie, like most everyone, I suffer from too many lofty goals but we'll see...I got nothing but time right now,so why not put them out in the universe and see where I can run with them! Maybe letting all you know will help me feel more embarrased if I don't accomplish them! ha! And if you're interested in joining me in any of these goals-let me know! 2 is always better than one...i mean look how successful Noah's ark was! :)

Goals:

1. the obvious one for all-Lose 10lbs- Greek food & then returning to American food was the death of me...not gonna lie the biggest I've ever been (believe me the scales tell me that part)
2. Get a J-O-B!!! preferably in my current PR/marketing field but by some point in the year i'll take whatever i can get
3. Travel to a new city/country-some might think I've traveled enough but I'll never say that b/c it's my favorite thing to spend money on! Some have shoes, I have airplane tickets! And since I've gotta go back for Haley's wedding fingers crossed I can travel somehwere then while I'm across the pond.
4. Work to improve my relationship with God-always a daily struggle to put Him #1 in my life without getting distracted.
5. (double duty one):Watch less TV- which equals more reading, volunteering, keeping in touch with friends!
6. Cook at home more- I really do enjoying cooking it's just a matter of sitting down and actually choosing what to cook, going to the store, etc...Who wants to come over for dinner?
7. Increase my networking- yes, I know a lot of people but I wanna know more!!! More organizations to join, new faces, more awkward first conversations, i gotta do it...it'll make me a better person, I know! and could help out #4 and #2...hell maybe even #3, #5 and #6!

Alright so I've bored you all enough! Now i'm off to indeed.com my new favorite job searching site! And to see why the snow stopped coming down...dang it! I just love to sit and watch it!

Blog for Missed Month!

So it's been nearly a month since my last blog...slacker!!! I know! So I'm gonna give ya a lil bulleted version of my last month:

• We had mouse in our house, now if i had blogged about this it would've been highly enteraining for all i'm sure but since I was so busy, you all get the shortened version. One night a mouse scurried by me on the couch...MK & I flipped out, were standing on tables and countertops. We realized we must get traps. We set them horribly incorrect & the mouse got a full belly licking all the peanut butter off and not getting caught. Dad reset the traps, within hrs. MK came home to TWO dead mice BOTH IN MY ROOM! Disgusting!! Came back to room w/Dad after being out of town and another scurries in front of us!! Needless to say total of FOUR mice were all caught in my room! Now i know mice are small and I shouldn't be scared of them but let me tell you, not so easily said when 4 are hanging out in your room, pooping on your floor and belongings. After a few tears, lots of screams, stress, lots of cleaning and many sleepless nights, I'm slowly becoming ok in my room! I did sleep with MK for nearly a week during this whole debacle! YUCK! I hope all the Stuart Littles are now finally gone!
• Took a last minute trip to Atlanta as a true tourist. Haley wanted to show Christo the city. So we went to the World of Coke, (which I love b/c I love Coke!) Aquariam (a tad disappointed not as good as I'd heard), CNN tour (really cool since hadn't seen since 8th grade, ha!) and got to see my favorite ATL friends! Beth was nice enough to let us all shack up and I think Christo really enjoyed the big city. He even took a picture of the traffic! haha! They don't see that type of traffic on an island in Greece!
• Developed a new case of Excema,which is pretty much just an annoying rashy skin problem that can drive you crazy. I used to only have this on my eyelids and ears and now have developed it on my legs and stomach. It comes and goes and I think flames up when I'm stressed and I think the mice and joblessness helped that no doubt! So if you see my scratching myself oddly that's why. Got some lotion but it only helps about 75% of the time.
• Great Christmas with the family-so blessed to have my grandparents still around and the rest of my family members! Every holiday with them is precious for sure! And so happy to be unemployed and have lots of time off to celebrate! Of course Sawyer was fun to have around but still figuring the Christmas thing out. I ate way, way too much! Got lots of clothes and some basics for Christmas. My favorite was my B-I-L's personal stocking he made for me this year b/c all i kept sayin i wanted was deodrant and vitamins for Xmas since I was poor. So that's exactly what he filled my stocking with toothpaste, slim-jim, 3 things of deodrant &vitamins!! Hilarious!

I hope y'all had a fabulous holiday season. And I'm already started working on a new blog about my NEW YEAR and possible resolutions and the road ahead! Love to all!