Father Memories

Since I was my normal self and loafed around the house on Thursday instead of doing a blog post, I missed out on getting to do a Father's Day post.

Well, better late than never they always say right?

I won't get all sappy and junk on the blog, but I know my dad loves me and only wants what's best for me.  He's an awesome dad (even to his new puppy, Rosie), even though he did, in fact, spoil the crap out of me and my sister.

He's a great person and an awesome dad, so what better way to celebrate with some awesome old pictures?

I don't know why I do this sometimes; I know that he has way more embarrassing pictures of me than I have of him.

One day, I know he's just going to put them all on the internet.  I'm waiting for it.

Anyway, love you dad!  Hope you had a happy father's day!

Sisterly Love

Last weekend I flew up to Pennsylvania to visit my mom and sister who I hadn't seen in forever.  I went by myself, which sometimes, I will admit, I enjoy more so I can focus my time and attention on just being around family.

I flew in Thursday night; my first flight took me to Chicago, and then onto Philadelphia.  I didn't get to my mom's house until around two in the morning.  Needless to say I was exhausted, and my dinner of pizza and a cheeseburger didn't help the cause.  Neither did those two beers or vodka drink.

The only thing awesome about flying at night is how exhausted I was; it was pretty easy to fall asleep on the plane and keep it that way through both of the flights.

Friday was spent shopping around, eating Mexican and then having happy hour at Chili's...

My Juney-boo having a margarita thing... I don't know.  She said it was delicious.

Saturday we spent in Lititz, PA, where I spent too much money on Wilbur's candy.  We stopped at a British pub for a snack, and then headed back to the house.  We went to a really awesome place, Speckled Hen, in downtown Reading for dinner, but I didn't want to bust the iphone out and ruin family dinner, so I didn't.  Trust me though; if for some reason you find yourself in downtown Reading, PA, definitely check it out.

Sunday was a family dinner, complete with aunt, uncle and grandma.  We drank, ate spaghetti, and watched The Family Stone.  Some awesome outtakes of me and Juney in the midst of our drinking.  She'll kill me for putting these up here, but hey, she lives about twelve hours away, so I think I'm good.

I totally have old lady neck in most of these pictures, but I love them.  I also tried to talk her out of that vest she's wearing, but to no avail.  It was really cute.

It ended up being an awesome visit.  I was actually sad that I had to leave.  I spent that entire Monday on planes and in airports, flying from Philly to Orlando and then finally to Birmingham.  

My takeaway from that weekend?  Probably should visit more often.

Three Great Things

Last week at work was kind of a whirl wind.

I lost my work husband theFriday before, and last week was my first real week without him.  I honestly didn't know how hard it was going to be without him there.  And I know that sounds weird, like, hey Laura, he was just a co-worker.  But it was more than that.  We'd spent every weekday together, and some weekend days together; talking about our families, learning about each other, bitching about our jobs.  And then that abruptly ends, so yeah a girl is going to cry at work.  Maybe more than once.  Maybe like three times.

Don't judge.

I'm an emotional human being.  I've accepted it.  

So there were a few things last week I needed to make sure I survived last week.

One was dinner with my girlfriend, Caitlin, at Cocina Superior where we gorged on El Chango's, guac, and enchiladas.

Last week, I also won an award at work:  The Extra Mile Award.  Which was pretty nice, especially when they handed me $100 cash in my hand!

It's a little blurry ---sorry, I was trying not to be too obvious when I was snapping the picture.  Hey, I'm allowed to be a little proud of my award.

Or bribe...either way, I still got $100.

Then, since the blog hasn't seen enough of my sweet sweet Stell-dog, I mean just look at this face!!!  How can you hate?!

This is pretty much the look I get when I take too many pictures of her.  It's like, "Mom, please leave me alone and let me lay on Daddy in peace, please!!"

She never gets it though.

I don't give in to dog demands.  

Well, sometimes.

Gulf Love

By the time this posts, I'll be in Key West.  Can I just tell you that that is pretty much the only reason why I've made it through this horrific work week? 

 

We spent our Sunday on the beach; the weather was beautiful, and we thought, why the heck not?  So we drove down to Gulf Coast, got ourselves some cheap ass little margarita drinks, and parked our booties on our towels in the sand.  The yellow flag was up, so that pretty much nullified me going more than two feet out.  My crazy hubs went way far out, and said the cross current was pretty strong, but then proceeded to go out onto the sand bar anyway.

 

He's a total water baby. 

 

But the beach tends to make everything better.  As do those little margarita drinks, some happy Jack Johnson and a soft beach towel. 

 

 

I was thinking that I was brave enough to post a full body in a swimsuit, but hell no.  I'm not.  You always see those girls that are full of body confidence walking on the beach, and damn it I want some of it.  Maybe I'll have some courage later on. 

 

In the meantime, just as another FYI, a day (or even 3 hours) on a beach can cure pretty much any ailment.  Trust me on this one.

 



#tbt; Friends Before Love

Sorry about the short hiatus; I was training in Cedar Rapids for my new job.  Same work place; just a promotion!  I know; less than two years, and two promotions at this place.

 

Then there's Penske, where it took three years for one.  Anyway, that's where I've been all week, and with my forgetfulness, I forgot to bring my iPad, so no blog posts.

 

But here we are at throw-back Thursday again, and since I missed my hubby so much, I wanted to put old pictures of us on here, PRE-dating in Birmingham (well except for one).  I usually like to start out B and mine's story by telling everyone that I did not like him.

 

We worked together at Ruby Tuesday, and I honestly thought he was the cockiest person I'd met.  But he became good friends with my then best friend, so we were sort of forced to hang out together.  I had obviously gotten over my hatred in the following pictures...

 

 

1.  From one of our Ruby's parties...oh there were quite a few.

2.  Cassie's Halloween party.  Obviously B was way too cool to dress up . Even I could afford the $6 black cat kit at Wal-Mart.

3.  The very first picture that I have of B and I together.  I, for some reason, loved that dorky pink belt I was wearing.

4.  Lastly, this is one after we started dating at an AU football game.  Yes, my hair was that blonde, and yes, B still had bangs.

 

All in all it's been a great trip; next month makes four years.

 

It was hard to be away from him so much this week, and today was the only day we had together all week.  Tomorrow he's off to NOLA, and I'm off to KC.  At least this weekend won't be spent in a corn field.

 

 

 

 

 



Jesse's 35th Birthday Party

Once or twice, I've brought up our decompression sessions that my co-workers and I sometimes have on a Friday night.

We do this mainly to keep ourselves sane; it's pretty much just a giant bitching session.  We talk about all the crap that went on during the week, talk about people that we work with, how we wish we could change what's going on, etc.  

This past Friday was a little different; it was Jesse's birthday!  We were all planning on going to Avondale Brewery to celebrate, but the crazy Alabama weather took a turn for the colder, and we ended up celebrating at Jesse's with a cookout and bonfire.  

There was also some Dance Dance Revolution: befriend Ingy, she has the whole thing on video.  I'm pretty sure the birthday boy beat me pretty bad.

Jesse is famous for his Mexican flag shot; which is actually pretty yummy.

We ended the night with s'mores and cocktails on the back porch; maybe one too many cocktails.  I will say this again and again about my coworkers; without them, this job would be mostly unbearable.  They are truly what get me through every day.  I have made some valuable friendships, that I think will stick with me for awhile. 

Valentine's Done Right..

I am aware that I am late in posting these pictures.  I mean, I could have done it on Friday, but no.  I didn't want to, so you get it now.

B did a great job for Valentine's Day.  He pretty much always does.  As you know, the boy can cook.  First he surprised me with some goodies from The Naked Art Gallery.

 

 A cute little fridge magnet made from a bottle top and a picture of some graffiti with a cute twist.  All of these are courtesy of local Birmingham artists and things I was currently coveting.  

Snuggling with my furry Valentine...

Really yummy steak (cooked medium rare, delish!) from Publix topped with a shrimp alfredo sauce.  With the best garlic bread on earth and broccoli...

And for dessert...

The cupcake on the left is the Grapico cupcake.  I have talked about this thing, and I finally got it!!  And it was sooo worth the wait.  And the one on the right is the Hunka Hunka Burning Love.  Banana cupcake with peanut butter frosting topped with bacon pieces . It does not get any better than this you guys.

B didn't make out too bad either.  Although I did lose his card ( I'm pretty sure I took it into work, and then it just disappeared), he did get these...

Collar stays with a sweet reminder that he is awesome.  I figured during rough days or tough interviews or what not, he could always use a reminder...

It was great to celebrate with a good meal, a bottle of wine and settling into Big Bang Theory when all was said and done.  I do love that guy, that's for sure.