Always a story...

I swear, we are never short of crazy crap that happens to us....not even going to the movie happens without a story!

Weds night was the 10:00 showing of the Hangover III (which was hilarious, by the way. Not as funny as the first, but funnier than the second. I could just eat Bradley Cooper up, and Zach Galifianakis is probably the funniest man on the planet. LOVE him!), so shortly after midnight, we made our way out to the parking lot. Sam hits the unlock button on her remote and nothing happens. Repeat a few times. She finally unlocks the car using the key, and….the alarm goes off.  Can we get it to cut off? Of course not, the remote wasn’t working. And as a result…the car will not start. Sam pops the hood to at least silence the alarm, and up pulls the police to offer their help.

Sam tries to call John, except you know, it’s 12:15 am and he’s asleep. So a few more tries, and he finally wakes up and groggily tries to comprehend what Samantha is saying, and telling her what she might be able to do, since he thinks the remote battery is dead. And it can’t be a normal battery, can it? Of course not. Paige and I are standing off to the side, of little to no help – since clearly, car alarm extraordinaire I am not! (And we passed time by taking ridiculous pictures in the parking lot) Finally Sam tells John where we were. Since he was a good 35 minutes away, I had all these envisions of us climbing into the back of a police car to take us to my house, which was only a mile away. Sam finally smacks the remote around a little bit and apparently got the last little bit of life out of it and it unlocked the car and started right up. Success!

And now it’s time for some serious vacation time – I’m off to Georgia to the bestie’s house, and tomorrow morning we’re shoving out for Florida! Beaches & Wine all weekend long!

Look out Nashville....

Happy Wednesday! A few days closer to being beach bound - I swear the last few days before vacation take FOREVER to get here. 

The Hangover III hits theaters tomorrow, so Samantha, Paige & I got tickets to the 10:00 showing tonight - we were so stoked we could see it tonight!   

However, the big news of the day is Paige passed her permit test and officially can drive (well you, supervised)! Holy crap   - talk about not being ready for this! I mean, look, it's no secret I'm obsessed with my niece & nephew and have been for the past 15 years. When I briefly moved away, I didn't even last a year since I could not stand being away from those kids. (Okay, Okay..I missed my sissy too!) I don't go very often without seeing those kids, and they are my life... you can give me the "it's not the same as having your own" crap all day long, but I promise you, I love those kids more than life itself and I would die without them. I've watched my sweet Paige blossom into a beautiful young lady, and going from talking to me about barbies and baby dolls to boys, problems at school, going to college and driving. I said it before, but I am so thankful for the close relationships I have with my niece & nephew. I know much of it stems from my close relationship with my sister -- who I usually don't go a day without talking to. But having the relationships I have with the kids has made my life so much richer - I'm so lucky to be their aunt!

I feel old, haha. I'm so proud of the woman she is becoming, but boy oh boy does it make me a total nervous wreck for her to be behind the wheel. I can't drill the whole 'NO TEXTING AND DRIVING' into her head enough.

I was the responsible kid growing up while my sister was the rebellious, never listen to our parents, move in with her  boyfriend at 17, skip tons of school kind of kid. Here's hoping Paige doesn't take even more after her mom ; ) 

Sunday Social...

How does the weekend fly by so quickly?!

I spent the day with my sister, brother in law & kids today.....so John could look over my car and give me the "looks good" for my upcoming trip, do laundry, and lounge around. I'd love to say we had a busy day playing games or something, but in reality, the kids put in Spiderman 2 and my sister and I lounged on the couch together and gossiped. Lazy Sunday indeed.

Annnd, it's Sunday Social time..

1. What is your favorite kind of surprise?

Ones I seriously know NOTHING about -- because if I even have a remote hint, I will find out what's going on. My sister and I used to get our parents to tell us what they got the other one for Christmas, and then we'd tell each other so we'd have zero surprises on Christmas morning.

2. Flowers or chocolate?
chocolate! Preferably mixed with peanut butter :)

3. What is your favorite summertime activity?
It's a tie between road trips with my bestie & pool time at my sisters with the kids. 

4. Do you have any vacations planned this summer?
A ton. Florida this weekend, Lexington for 4th of July, Ohio to visit family at the end of July to start!

5. Favorite summer holiday?
My birthday is in the summer, does that count as a summer holiday?! 

6. What is your dream vacation?
Greece or Paris!

Vacation 1....

Whew, I am late at playing catch up. Wedding editing, and meeting with other brides to view locations for bridal portraits, the church, etc, has kept me so busy!

This week is a week to breathe, and Friday morning I'm heading to Georgia...and then the bestie and I are heading to Pensacola Beach for the weekend! So ready for a weekend away --- with zero plans but sitting on the beach with wine in hand.

And since I'm talking about vacations.....here's some stuff from last month's visit to Baltimore...

One of the best parts of going to Baltimore is seeing this sweet pup! I love Mugsy! 

If you've never been to the Newseum in DC, you must go. Not only is it a "hands on" museum, but it's a "news" museum - it's truly really interesting, and we've gone a few times. This time I was so so excited about the new JFK exhibit, which opened up about a week before I got there. I wasn't even born during that era, but it's so fascinating - and who in the world isn't totally captivated by Jackie Kennedy?! The class, the clothes - amazing!

All the old papers were so incredible...

This entire section on the photography of the Kennedy family & mainly Jackie was incredible. The shots were amazing - and I loved studying Jackie's clothes in each picture!

This picture totally captivated me. It is during the campaign trail, and there's something to be said about how they can sit quietly in a cafe -- when their lives were changed so quickly not long after!

This was so interesting....they had these post it's that they wanted people so write down where they were when they learned JFK had been killed. Next to it was a spot to write down another memory you had --- of a defining news moment in the US. 99% of those were people writing where and how they learned about 9/11.

We also hit Rams Head in Annapolis to see the Desert Rose Band concert. I love Annapolis - it's been almost 10 years since I had the chance to go and really explore it, but I will again eventually. It's one of the most beautiful towns I've ever been in.

This weekend is a lazy weekend -- and trust me, I love those! But I love being gone too. This is why I love spring & summer -- bring on the road trips!

Mother's Day...

We had a great Mother's Day cookout at my sisters today...small with just sis, John, the kids, Mom & her boyfriend. John did the cooking - he does every year - and Paige and I handled dessert. And by handled, I mean Paige baked cookies, and then she & I went to the store and bought pies & cheesecake.

For mom this year, I bought her a ticket to see Loretta Lynn with us in August. Mom loves her, and has seen her tons and tons of times at the Opry - but never seen a full show yet! I keep telling her how great the full shows are, and she wanted to go, but I knew she wouldn't spend almost $70 on a ticket. Not to mention, there's really no better gift for me to give her than a concert ticket - my mom & I had plenty of issues as most mother-daughters do, but it was music we bonded on. She swears I fell in love with Country Music like she and my Granny because they went to an Alabama concert when she was pregnant with me.  I was a country concert goer with my mom when I was only a few years old and never stopped. We traveled to Nashville for Fan Fair together, moved to Nashville and started hitting every TV taping, writers nights - Mom and I were always gone after we moved here, because we were usually at a concert.

My sister STILL complains to this day... "Mom let you skip school all the time or pulled you out early all the time to take you to concerts!"

Keith Urban concert a few years ago....

Kadin, Mom & I 

With my sweet, beautiful Paige. How my niece grew up so quick is beyond me! I'm so thankful for being able to see my sweet babies every week and having watched her grow up into such a young woman. Having a close relationship to her has made my life so much richer.

my babies....I love these kids more than life itself.

After lunch, we watched a movie and Kadin mentioned he wanted to play baseball, so Paige and I offered to go out and play with him. A few minutes later, Mom came out, followed by Sam, Dana, and John. We played for a little over an hour and had so much fun --- Kadin was so thrilled we were all playing at one point he screamed, "THIS IS THE BEST MOTHER'S DAY EVER!" as he ran to a base. 

Everyone had a great time, and Mom loved it -- Mother's Day is always hard on her since Granny died. Paige tickled her today by wearing one of Granny's cardigans & jewelry.

Kadin takes it so seriously, and when he got to bat, he would twirl the bat above his head a very specific way for "good luck" 

When Kadin was little....we would go to Target during the hours Mom worked, and he would always walk the aisles and shout "GRANNY TARGET...." to differentiate her from other people answering to 'Granny'. Today while we played, Kadin started cheering "Lets go Granny, let's go! Let's go Target, Let's go!". He cracks me up! 

Briefly recapping....

It has been a crazy couple weeks, which definitely made me a “bad blogger”! My trip to Baltimore, DC, Annapolis – was jam packed and we had so little down time – and I came home to total craziness at the office!

This past weekend I finally graduated (hooray!), and had to shoot a wedding in the rain – I know I normally LOVE crazy busy weekends and love being away from home, but I think this weekend I’m looking forward to being a little bit lazier. Although – the best part of the week is ‘The Great Gatsby’ hits theaters! Larry and I are heading out to the movies this weekend to see it for sure! 

And, in the midst of all this, George Jones passed away. Since most of you know what a ridiculous love I have for vintage country music, I was broken-hearted to hear of his passing. I’m so thankful I bugged my mom to take me to see him a bunch of times as a kid – and even though we had tickets to see him again this year, it would have been sad to see since he truly was in no shape to be performing. I remember the thrill of seeing him for the first time when I was 11….you just had not lived until you heard “He Stopped Loving Her Today” in PERSON- didn’t even begin to compare to listening it on CD. It’s times like this when I know I live in the right place. Nashville news stations were overloaded with Jones stories, the newspaper covered him on the front page just about every day – and all local channels carried the Memorial Service. It truly warmed my heart to see everyone giving him the tributes he so rightly deserved. Friday morning I went by the cemetery – which I try to do the first week of May every year to pay respects to Tammy Wynette (there are no words to describe how much I loved sweet Tammy!) around her birthday. It felt very odd on the way to stop at George Jones’ grave….very, very odd. We’ve truly lost the living legend – and I worry for the future of country music. If you only know George for “He Stopped Loving Her Today”, take some time to listen to more of his catalog. I promise you won’t be disappointed. 

I’m working on my photos from my vacation to post tomorrow….so I’ll end with three of my very favorite Jones songs. RIP Possum…

 

how sad it is, we now live in a two story house…

 

the only thing I know to say….it’s been a good year for the roses

 

step right up….come on in