Birmingham Zoo

Labor Day 2014 we visited the Birmingham Zoo for the first time since my mom and Trevor moved there in 2006.  It's affordable and clean and the animals look happy. The food isn't terrible either.

This time Mimi (my mom) bought some nectar and we walked through the Lorikeet exhibit...the birds kind of freaked me out.  If I reached out to grab one, that's my doing, but with them flapping and flying all around it was a little intense.  They loved Mimi of course because she had the goods.

Persephone tried to pet one and it nipped her so she was done after that haha.  They were very pretty though, I loved their coloring.

From there we went to see the sea lions.

It took forever, but I got a photo of one coming out of the water

with Persephone nearby and you can see she wasn't even looking...

I can't remember what birds these were..but they had very bumpy bills

I don't think I've ever seen a Kookaburra, but we did this time!

I can't remember what she and Pops were checking out...

I don't know why, but I just love this photo of her

I made sure my mom took this picture on my good side

Flamingos are pretty, but they STINK

On one of my many trips to Animal Kingdom I remember them 

telling us that Flamingos get their color from their diet!

This 34yr old elephants name is Bulwagi.

He broke his right tusk as an infant and like adult teeth, it will never grow back.

They actually got him from Disney's Animal Kingdom!

Persephone LOVED the carousel.  

We bought three tickets thinking Hardy and I would both need one, turns out we didn't.  As long as you stand up the child can use the ticket.  So we let her have three rides.  

She was a total trip...acting like Miss USA or something 

with her charming smile and wave.

15 years

Fifteen years ago today (err tonight rather) I met Hardy at a Methods of Mayhem concert.  I've written about how we met several times so I won't bore you with that info again...

So we've literally known each other for half of my life.  This seems so crazy.  If you had asked me in 2000 what I would be doing 15yrs from then...I don't have a clue what my answer would have been.  I might have said I would be married to Taylor Hanson....we all see that didn't happen (but he did marry a brunette from Georgia....)   I may have also said I would be designing websites, because at the time that was my favorite class.  At the time, I lived in Lawrenceville with my mom and younger brother, Trevor.  I still remember that address in fact...and my home phone #.

I'm so thankful we met one another.  I knew in my heart it was love at first sight.  I've been made fun of for it a million and one times...but look at us - how could you not agree with me?  In some weird screwed up way, this is my Cinderella story and I'll happily take it.

We have been through many ups and downs, a break up or two...but somehow managed to keep what we have alive.  Now we have Persephone and I wouldn't trade any of it for anything.  I love you Hardy, here's to another 15yrs!!

I took to BuzzFeed to find/remember some things from the year 2000.

AIM (AOL instant messenger)

Kazaa - forget Napster...this was so much easier to use.

I don't know how many CD's I burned using this, but it was A LOT

Total Request Live w/ Carson Daly

Limp Bizkit, but totatlly the hottie front man Fred Durst duh

Jelly bracelets...I think between both wrists I had close to 100

The tv show Trading Spaces

Ty was a total babe then....

 

The Osbournes

A gallon of gas was approx $1.26

According to The People History, these are popular movies from 2000

• How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
• Cast Away
• Mission: Impossible II
• Gladiator
• What Women Want
• The Perfect Storm
• Meet the Parents
• X-Men
• Scary Movie
• What Lies Beneath
• Gladiator
• Erin Brockovich
• Billy Elliot 

These were the popular musicians

• Lenny Kravitz
• Blink-182
• U2
• All Saints
• N Sync
• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Madonna
• Faith Hill
• Dandy Warhols
• Oasis
• Bon Jovi
• Robbie Williams
• Kylie Minogue
• Ronan Keating
• Santana
• Manic Street Preachers
• Britney Spears
• Robbie Williams
• Craig David
• The Eurythmics
• R.E.M.
• Pink
• Coldplay

Wordless Wednesday

April 2013

We bought a mower

Having only lived in a townhouse, we had the luxury of not much outside maintenance.  Lawn care was included in our HOA dues.  We've been in our new house a month and even though it's bermuda and it's dormant it was still left pretty tall by the previous owners. 

We bit the bullet this weekend and bought a Craftsman push mower....and I was the one who mowed!!  I actually enjoyed it.  I think in high school I mowed our lawn in Lawrenceville one time so I could go see Hardy.  I don't remember hating it.  So when we got home, I offered to mow the lawn!

No joke, the grass although dormant is probably 4" tall.  So I cut about 1" off this weekend and I'll do it again, maybe more this coming weekend.  We were really considering hiring someone to mow it for us, but when you think about paying someone $50-$75/week or even biweekly it's A LOT more expensive than just buying the mower yourself.

This is what we got from ACE Hardware

Craftsman 140cc

It still looks tall, but it looks a little more manicured than it had.  Here's to many more warm evenings of cutting the grass...

Break up song

Most mornings on our way to work we listen to 99.7 (Q100).  We love The Bert Show!  This morning they were listing off their break up song lists.

Kristin named off Someone Like You by Adele.  Bert mentioned Nothing Compares 2 U by Sinead O'Conner.  Both songs I LOVE.  Then Hardy asked me what was my breakup song.  I laughed and rolled my eyes because umm...he's the only boyfriend I've ever had.  Although we did break up twice...still.

The first time we broke up, I dumped him to go on a date with a guy from high school, then we got back together.  I didn't have a breakup song for that.  But later that year he dumped me VIA AIM (aol instant messenger) - total loser move.  And we were broken up about 6mos.

I had a few songs..

Seeding Red by Unwritten Law

Ex-Girlfriend by No Doubt

I also of course listened to "our songs" at my lowest points.  Which were an interesting combination of Marilyn Manson, Guns N Roses and Randy Travis hahaha..

Last Day on Earth (acoustic) by Marilyn Manson

Don't Cry (alternative version) by Guns N Roses

Forever and Ever, Amen by Randy Travis

For some reason the video for Randy Travis wasn't "sharable" whatevs...here's a direct link to this old time favorite

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgJXbIP83A8


What were YOUR break up songs? 

Home Sweet Home

Goodbye Flowery Branch....Hello Braselton!

The sellers of the house we bought in Braselton had actually moved out about 2 weeks prior to closing and were kind enough to let us occupy the home 2 days prior to closing since all of the paperwork was good to go.  Wednesday Feb 18^th we started moving stuff in after work.  With the help from Hardy’s parents and my brother and sister in law we were able to get all of the beds and major furniture moved in one night.  We actually spent our first night there too!  

With the move we decided to transition Persephone into a “big girl bed.”  Hardy’s Dad put together one of the spare full size beds we had.  I had to lay with her while she fell asleep and she slept alone until about 3am but then I joined her because she was crying.  The next day we both had to work so it was after 5pm that we were able to pack/move again.  I went ahead and took Persephone to the new house and left Hardy and his parents at the old house.  I hated not helping (honestly), but we didn’t want to confuse P by going back and forth.  Hardy called in the help of one of his friends/coworkers and they truly busted ass to get the truck loaded.  It took them less than 30min to unload the truck into the garage…I was fascinated!

We both took off Friday originally when we signed the sales agreement in January.  And I’m so glad we did.  There were a few things we still needed to clear out of the house (trash and Goodwill donations.)  Hardy’s Dad helped us take a few loads off.  I scheduled to have the carpets cleaned that morning at 10:30am and I had to be there to let them in.  I would just like to say this was one of the most expensive “fixes” we had to do in preparation of the sale of our home but the carpets looked AMAZING afterward.  Seriously they looked brand new…no stains anywhere and you could barely even tell furniture had been in certain areas.  We used Susan Simmons 770-868-7284 and would definitely call on her again.  Luckily with our new house we don’t have as much carpet…but it was worth it.

We finished up at the old place around 1:30pm on Friday.  Closing was at 3:30pm for Flowery Branch and 4:45pm for Braselton.  I would say of the entire process closing was the least stressful.  You don’t have to sign as much paperwork when you’re selling as you do when you’re buying, but we had to do both anyway.  Maybe I’m weird, but I always liked signing my name…I mean what girl didn’t try and perfect her signature a million times in high school?

***I want to brag on our realtor really quick - Mary Ferguson.  She did AMAZING!  She knew how strict we were with our budget.  She knew there wasn't much of a profit margin on our sale so we needed as close to asking as possible.  She was patient with all my text messages, questions and complaints!  More than that, she felt like a friend.  Someone I could talk to even if I weren't trying to buy/sell.  If we ever found ourselves in a position to move again (hopefully not soon) we will most certainly use her.  She even left this sweet gift for us....

 

The only hiccup in the entire moving process is getting some dang internet.  We were originally scheduled for an installation on Tuesday 2/24 with Comcast, but I cxled it because neither of us could really take off again so quickly.  They were supposed to come out that Saturday, 2/28 but at 2:30 called to say they didn’t have any home security technicians in our area and would have to reschedule.  I told them forget the home security and just give us some internet.  So he told me someone would be out by 8pm.  5 o’clock rolls around and they call back to tell us the technician is stuck at his previous appointment and no one will be out today period.  I got so mad and told them to forget it all.   

Nearly 2 weeks in and still no internet (they're scheduled to come out Wednesday 3/4 now...we shall see.)  I dread what our cell phone bill might look like.  We’re trying to use it sparingly of course, but it’s hard.  With my Mom and Phillips help we hung up some photos/decor to make it feel more like home.  

Here's what our living room looks like

Sorry no fancy house tour like my friend Emily hahaha.  We still have some sorting and organizing to do, but for now the kitchen, living room, dining and Persephone's room are all good.

We LOVE LOVE LOVE having the ranch.  Everything is so much more convenient.  We can let Persephone roam freely without worrying about her going up/down stairs.  We can have two or three different tasks going on and still function near one another.  I'm so excited and thankful!  We've even already had a neighbor bring us some "welcome" cupcakes!