Introducing: Puppy Love

Hey y'all! I know, I know. I suck at blogging regularly. It's one of my New Year's Resolutions to be better about it, though, so hang in there with me! Things have been INCREDIBLY busy. NTP got a job, lost the job (agency lost some big clients and had to make cutbacks - last one in, first one out kind of thing so keep him in your prayers please!), had a great Thanksgiving with the family in LaGrange, planned and threw an awesome, if I do say so myself, office Christmas party (for 200 guests), managed to make it home for Christmas after a wreck on the way to the airport (bummer, I know), and survived the remaining days of 2011 with... wait for it... a PUPPY!!!!

Yep, that sweet little face you see is my new little man, Mason. We named him Mason Rhett because it kind of looks like he has a dark mustache, just like Mr. Butler. :) He's a sable cockapoo, half cocker spaniel half poodle, and we love him. The bestie would tell you that I have my pulling out my hair moments because he's definitely a handful (thanks for listening to all my whining Ky), but the sweet cuddly moments make all the peeing on my carpet and biting my brand new J.Crew sweater worth it.

Here's some more photos of the little nugget. Bear with me, they're iPhone photos so they're not the best quality ever, and we don't have very many because we're too busy trying to keep him from eating everything in sight. But more to come, I promise! And if any of you have any awesome training tips we'd be more than happy to hear them! The potty training is going pretty well. It's the biting that we're struggling with right now. And when we say "NO!" he seems to think we mean "Oh that was so fun, keep jumping at momma's face and biting her hair!" Sooo yeah. Help please.

Hope everyone is doing well and that your New Years' Resolutions stick!

War Eagle Weekend

So this past weekend I had an awesome girls' weekend with my momma. She's an Auburn alum and I've been a lifelong fan (although I do bleed garnet and gold) so we thought it would be fun to go to a game together. Turns out her old roommate from AU has season tickets (the good kind with free food) so we got some great seats. Here's a few of my favorite pics from the game. Check out that Auburn sunset!



And the night was made even better by a great win for the Tigers (and FSU). We stayed at my grandparents' house in LaGrange on the farm and I got to eat at some of my favorite LaGrange comfort food, see my grandma at the nursing home, and get a ride around the farm with my daddy. The leaves were all bright oranges, yellows, and reds and it was just so gorgeous. Now I'm looking forward to heading back for Thanksgiving and doing some target practice. :)

Hope everyone had a great weekend and are almost halfway through a great week!

Good News & Good Friends

It's been busy, busy, busy as usual, but I'm so happy to update y'all on a few things. First off, NICK GOT THE JOB HE WANTED! Champagne for everyone! Well, we had champagne. Y'all can celebrate as you see fit. Second, I got the results back from my last girly doctor's visit and everything is back to normal! Double yay! Third, saw another doctor yesterday about some ridges I have on my fingernails and she thinks I just have a simple circulatory problem (no autoimmune diseases - but she's doing another blood test just in case it's something hereditary - momma has the ridges too) and that I just need to keep my hands warm! She turned the AC wayyy down in my examining room and sure enough the tips of my fingers turned blue. I never noticed it before, but I HAVE noticed my hands are always cold. Now we know why. So she told me to stop stressing (I think I've heard that before...) and lay off the coffee. Ummm... we'll think about that one. So anyway, GOD IS GOOD!

Now on to my fabulous weekend with my two besties, Ky and CBK. We had a BLAST going to the FSU vs. Maryland game, watching FSU kick butt, then going shopping and out for margaritas, obvs. Here's a breakdown of the weekend.



Hope everyone else had a fabulous weekend as well! I'm trying to catch up on all of your posts! Be patient with me!

Love, hugs, good news and good friends...

WDE Weekend

Back when NTP and I decided to move back to the South from California I resolved to go to as many FSU and Auburn games as possible. So far this season we've been to two FSU games (headed back to Tally again this weekend!) and went to the Auburn vs. UF game this past weekend. We obviously had to meet up with a few of our favorite twitter friends and indulge in some amazing tailgate food!

The weather was perfect, the tailgate was right across the street from Samford Hall, the food was AMAZING (_grits pulled pork sammies are off the chain!), and Auburn won! War eagle! Now I just have to recover from last week so I can get ready for girls' weekend with my two besties in Thomasville/Tallahassee this weekend!

Anyway, here's a few of my favorite photos from the weekend. :) Please excuse our boys. They're out of control.



Love, hugs, and WDE!

GA Official

Sorry I haven't posted in over a month (Ahh!), but I've been super busy with my wonderful new job (woohoo!), moving into my fantastic apartment in Sandy Springs, and becoming an official resident of Atlanta, Georgia!! I'm so incredibly thrilled with how everything is falling into place for me. I truly feel God has led me right where I need to be and I'm so thankful. Now we're just hoping that NTP finds the perfect job very soon. Your prayers would be greatly appreciated!

I promise to catch up on all of your blog posts ASAP. I've missed y'all!

Love, hugs, and new beginnings...

A Porch's Story

For those that don't know this, we have a large farm here in West Georgia. About 700 acres of hay, cattle, a granite quarry, a small kitchen garden, and about 22 rental properties. So as you can imagine, there's no lack of things to do. I don't weigh enough to operate the tractor to bale hay so lately I've been working on the rental houses. One of which was my great-grandparent's house, built in 1900 by my Great Grandpa, fondly referred to as Daddy Cooley (James Brinkley Cooley). And like any 111 year old house it has its issues. A few cracks in the doors (all original) and unfortunately the last renters didn't treat it as well as it deserved. Let's just say I gagged when I walked in for the first time. (Think non-pottytrained animals and pests.)

Anyway, I've been put in charge of turning the house around and getting it ready to rent again. And wouldn't ya know it, we already have renters ready to move in August first! So between replacing the floors, cleaning, and completely renovating the porch, I'm a busy girl. The porch has been my favorite and most time-consuming because porches just hold so much meaning. So much happens on a Southern porch. It's simply a part of life here and this porch has always been special to me. It has seen many births, deaths, marriages, parties, cookouts, and even served as a bedroom for Daddy Cooley before AC found its way to LaGrange. Yep, he slept on the porch. It served as a place to shell butterbeans, shuck corn, tell exaggerated stories, pull pranks, and watch the sun set while rocking in a handmade rocking chair. It's where Mama Cooley rang the bronze dinner bell her momma used and where the "kid table", made of plywood on top of sawhorses sat every Sunday. My grandmother was born in this house and my grandfather proposed to her on the steps of this porch that's seen it all. It still has it's original wood and banisters and I've seen so many pictures of my mom as a little girl sitting on the steps grinning and holding a different animal in each picture. Oh, and the clothesline out back is still the same one that my momma's pony ran under and knocked her off with when she was about 8. So needless to say, I love this porch and I love this house. And I hope I do it justice.

Bridal Shower! (As Promised!)

Look at me on top of things! I've been running around like a crazy person getting things ready for the meeting with the recruiter tomorrow and I just received another e-mail seconds ago informing me that a recruiter is also reviewing my resume for a position at Emory! Sweet! I plan on staying in GA for about two weeks so I don't have to drive back and forth over and over. So if any of you lovely ladies are in LaGrange, HOLLA! Momma and I also plan on making a trip over to her alma mater, Auburn, (WAR EAGLE!) for the day sometime while we're up there. I'll be sure to post pics from Toomer's. :) But without further ado, here are some of my favorite pics from the bridal shower we hosted last weekend! I literally made all the decorations, favors, and a majority of the food. It was a blast. I should totes do it for a living. Who wants a party planner!? Ok I'm done rambling. Enjoy! (P.S. Not posting a ton of pics of the guests because I don't really know many of them. Respecting some privacy.)







The lovely bride with her sister and mother.

Hope y'all are having a wonderful week so far! I'll try my best to keep y'all posted on interview/job updates. I have a feeling something is going to come up very soon! Feeling oddly calm... but I'll take it!