The Oldest City in Georgia

I had three days off so we took a quick trip to Savannah since it's only 4 hours away. We arrived in Savannah just in time to get in line for lunch at The Wilkes House. It's southern family style dining at its best. You sit around a big dinner table with 9 other guests and feast on about 30 different dishes that will have you thinking it's Thanksgiving day! It was well worth the 1.5 hour wait! Unfortunately it came a monsoon the  rest of the day so we hung out in our room at the Bed and Breakfast Inn until it was time for dinner. Since it was my birthday, we decided to do something a little special and headed to The Olde Pink House for a southern fine dining experience. The restaurant is an 18th century mansion and you eat in one of the many rooms of the house. There is a piano bar downstairs and supposedly the place is haunted. I love a good ghost story! It was a really fun and special birthday dinner! 

Tuesday, we headed to Tybee Island. On the way, we stopped at Wormsloe plantation where we drove down the mile and a half long driveway lined with towering oak trees. It was breathtaking. Our pictures are beautiful, but they did not do it justice. 

Then, we visited the Bonaventure Cemetery.  I love strolling through old cemeteries and trying to find the oldest tombstone. 

After lunch on Tybee Island we swam and hung out on the beach for a few hours. One of my favorite things we did on our trip was the dolphin tour. The dolphins like to swim behind the shrimp boats to catch free food so Captain Mike started some boat tours that run the same time as the shrimp boats. We saw at least 8 or 9 dolphins including a little baby!! It was so much fun!! I loved the boat ride! 

That night and all day Wednesday we explored Savannah's historic district. We tried to see as many of the squares as we could. It really is a beautiful city. Allan found an old toy store that he liked and we enjoyed Leopold's ice cream not once, but two times! We sat in the park and listened to a guy play the violin. We had the best food at Vic's on River where we were lucky enough to get a window seat. We splurged on warm pralines. We visited the SCAD art museum and said hello to the waving girl by the river. 

Savannah was the perfect location for a weekend get away and I hope we get to go back soon! Happy Summer!!

Year Five

I honestly cannot believe that we have been married for five years! The years have gone by so quickly, they are almost like a blur in my memory! This year especially.. I feel like we just moved to Athens a month ago and we've almost been here for an entire year! 

We've never been on an "anniversary trip" before, so this year we decided to go somewhere to celebrate. Tallulah Falls is less than an hour and a half from Athens and we had been wanting to go for awhile now. We hiked the entire Tallulah Gorge (5.5 miles?) from top to bottom. It was beautiful! Parts of the hike were a little strenuous, but in a fun way (like using your entire body to climb boulders and cross rivers, etc). Once you get to the bottom of the gorge, you can slide off of these huge rocks into a pool of water. A lot of kids were doing it and it looked so appealing, so I went for it even though I didn't have my bathing suit. There was a 90% chance that I was going to slip and get soaked crossing the river (like 3 other people we watched) so I figured I might as well go ahead and get wet doing what I what I wanted. 

That night, we had dinner at our hotel (Lake Rabun Hotel and Restaurant). The chef is a "farm to table" chef, so all of the food comes from local farmers.  The filet mignon was phenomenal.  I can't even tell you how great breakfast was the next morning! We loved our entire experience at Lake Rabun. 

Saturday morning we did an 8-line zipline course. Neither of us had ever done a real zipline before so it was really fun and exciting! I even went upside down on one of the lines! 

Afterwards, we drove through the "German Alpine city" of Helen. It was really cool to see,  but definitely a tourist trap and slightly cheesy. We visited Anna Ruby Falls and got some great pictures of the double waterfalls. We went to the Old Sautee store on the way and looked all of the fun, old stuff and had lunch. We stopped at a farmers' market on the side of the street on our way back to Athens. It was a great little getaway. We've pretty much decided that we will be going back at least once a year while we live here! 

Happy Anniversary to my sweet husband who I love very much and am very proud of!

Down by the Riverside

We have recently discovered trails behind our house that lead to the Oconee River. This has quickly become one of our favorite pastimes. Daisy is in love and acts like a wild animal when we let her off the leash to run free in the woods and tromp around in the water.  Some very nice person hung a hammock for everyone to enjoy. It's the perfect place to get a group of friends together and grill hotdogs and marshmallows as the sun sets.  Now that we have discovered this little gem, we are even more happy with the location of our home! 

Mississippi History

After Craig's graduation in Oxford we headed south to Jackson for a few days. One of the days we took a little trip to Port Gibson with my parents. I've always wanted to see the ruins of Windsor in person ever since I saw photographs of them in Ken Murphy's Mississippi Photography book. Windsor was built in the 1800's and survived the Civil War, but later burned due to an accidental fire. The columns and some ironwork were the only things to survive the fire. The area is completely deserted, but the columns are so beautiful! They really are one of Mississippi's hidden treasures. 

Next, we headed to Rodney, MS (per Julianne's recommendation). Again, another hidden treasure of MS. Isn't it odd that I have never heard of Rodney and it was 3 votes away from being the state capitol of MS?! Today, it is a real ghost town filled with abandoned buildings like this really cool church. 

Can you see the cannon ball stuck in the bricks above the middle window? Seriously, this place is enchanting. After making a huge deal about how cool it was my brother says, "Yeah.. that's where my deer camp is.  I've seen it a million times." Wha??? Share the wealth Danny Boy!!  Read about Rodney here and see what you think!!

http://www.southpoint.com/states/ms/rodney.htm

Craig's Graduation

My youngest brother Craig graduated from Ole Miss with a bachelor's degree in accounting.  We are all very proud of him.  Our entire family got together in Oxford for the occasion.  Graduation, lunch on the Square, and a baseball game.  It was a busy, but fun day of celebrating.  Congratulations, Craig!

Roller Derby

Wanna know a really fun sport to watch?  Ladies roller derby.  Seriously.. most entertaining sport ever.  I could totally see myself doing something like this if I wasn't scared of getting hurt.  Those ladies are hardcore.  It wasn't quiet as violent as I pictured, but there was definitely a lot of pushing, shoving, and falling.  The team in Athens is really good.  They put a whoopin' on the other team.  Fun times!

Double Decker 2013

If there is one weekend of the year that we will definitely make the long drive to Oxford, it is Double Decker weekend.  We LOVE Double Decker.  Art, music, food, and friends all in the best little city in MS- what could be better?  Julianne and Chris came up and we all stayed with Lindsey.  Nate boiled some shrimp and we celebrated Lindsey's birthday.  Saturday was so much fun.  Allan knows just about everybody in Oxford since he grew up there and has lived there his whole life.  It was great running into folks and catching up.  Allan had a painting or two and some new prints at Southside.  We got to see Allan's family and made a few purchases.  This year's loot included hand made letter-press cards that say, "Bless your heart!", two pieces of pottery, a really cute print, and a couple of t-shirts.  We had AJAX for dinner and Bottle Tree for breakfast making it a pretty solid weekend! 

Can't wait til next year!

I don't know about you, but I'm feelin' 22!!

For Christmas, Allan got me tickets to Taylor Swift's Red Tour in Atlanta.  Judge if you must, but I think she is fabulous!!  Obviously, I'm not the only person that thinks this!  Her music is just so fun and catchy!  She is so humble and appreciative of her fans.  She writes her own music and I love her style!  She is a wonderful role model for young people and puts on a really great show.  Her concerts draw a crowd of all ages.  Yes, there are a lot of screaming young girls, but we were completely surrounded by people our age, couples, older women, daughters my age with their mothers, etc.  The show was phenomenal.  The details were amazing.  The critics have given the tour rave reviews and for good reason.  I had the BEST time and if I could go again I totally would. 

Perfection!

Her stage was shaped like a human heart- very cool!

Reunited!

The first weekend in April, I took a trip to the coast of MS for a little reunion with some of my best friends from pharmacy school.  It had been way too long since I had seen them, so the weekend was much needed!  Mikki's wedding was the main event of the weekend.  It was absolutely beautiful and it was so great to see everyone from school and how they are doing now.  Shopping, walks on the beach, and long dinners of catching up solidified the weekend as being pretty great.  I miss everyone so much and it is really hard to believe that we graduated a year ago! 

A walk on the beach with Pooja and AK

All of the pharmacists with the beautiful bride!

Tunes and Balloons

Every year, as part of the annual Cherry Blossom Festival, Macon, GA has an event called Tunes and Balloons.  I haven't been to a hot air balloon festival since middle school.  My family went to one in Jackson and I remember it being so magical when all of the balloons were fired up and glowing at the same time.  So, of course I wanted to go to this event since Macon is not too far from Athens.  Unfortunately, it was an extremely windy day which made firing up all of the balloons around a large crowd of people slightly dangerous.  So, instead of getting to see 10-15 balloons all lit up, we only got to see three.  The day was still really fun and I'm glad we got to go! Aren't they beautiful?

Wedding Weekend

It's a rainy day here in Athens.  I have the day off and it feels like a good time to finally update the blog.  I  suppose I'll pick up where I left off!

The first weekend in March, Daniel and Megan got married!  I can't believe it has already been over 3 months.  The wedding was beautiful and our church at home was almost filled to capacity with people there to celebrate the joyous occasion.  Daniel and Megan have dated off and on since high school and both our family and hers have been rooting for their relationship from the beginning.  Megan is the kind of girl every sister wants for her brother.  She is so kind and sweet; responsible, yet fun; and will be a great wife and mother (and aunt to future little Innman children).  Needless to say we were all thrilled on their special day.  Welcome to the family, sweet Megan!

Megan and her sister, Erin

Daniel, Craig, Chance, Allan, and myself

One happy groom!

Pooja and Laura Visit

At the end of February, Pooja and Laura came to visit!  I was so excited to see their lovely faces!  It had been way too long.  Seeing my buddies is the only thing I miss about being in school!  We started off the weekend by staying up way too late chatting (not surprising).  We shopped till we dropped at the outlet mall in Commerce.  Allan took us to an art show downtown and then taught us how to make sushi.  We took a little trip to Atlanta where we saw the Bodies exhibit, the Coke museum, and the aquarium.  It was such a fun weekend with good friends and exactly what I needed to break up the monotony of work, work, work.

Ghost Stories

I've been a busy little bee lately.  I've been working some major overtime hours the last two months.  I'm not complaining though, because it is definitely a blessing.  I am, however, relieved that my work schedule is starting to look a little more normal.  Here's a little story about one of the more interesting places that I worked in January.  I never have to travel too far for work, but another district was desperate for some help so I volunteered to work four days out of town.  The city I traveled to was Americus, GA.  I stayed in the Windsor Hotel located downtown.  It is a Victorian style hotel that was built in 1892 and is absolutely beautiful.  I was so excited to stay there until the wee hours of the morning rolled around.  The hotel is home to a very popular bar that produces a lot of noise that would keep a person who had to be up at 8am to work a 14 hour shift awake.  So, in the middle of the night I get on my phone to see what time this bar might be closing to find out if I may or may not be able to go to sleep anytime soon and I find this!  Needless to say I was a little freaked out.  I obviously survived the trip, but I don't think I could ever stay there alone again!  Allan and I may make a trip at some point to stay a night.  Ghost stories are more fun when you are not alone!

MLK Day

This morning we did some volunteer work with friends from church for MLK Day of Service. We went to a local elementary school and cleared brush and limbs in the woods nearby. The kids play there and it serves the community after school hours as a place to walk trails and such. After, we had lunch with Stacey and Brandon at Stuffed Burger- YUM! We got a good walk in with Miss Daisy and I got the house cleaned and did 4 loads of laundry (after 4.5 years of marriage, I still don't understand how 2 people can create so much dirty laundry). It was a successful day off! Tomorrow will be spent doing all the things I've been avoiding like getting a new tag and title for the new car, gathering tax information, and trying to figure out all of my 401K and insurance stuff since I'm finally eligible. Blah.. Grown up stuff is boring. I'd rather do more Pinterest projects.. Pictures to come!

That's all that matters

This afternoon we saw Les Miserables.  I LOVED the movie.  Anne Hathaway's performance of "I dreamed a dream" was phenomenal.  I may have shed a few tears.  I really thought Allan would like the movie since he was slightly obsessed with Phantom of the Opera, but when we left and I was done talking about how much I liked it, I asked what him what he thought and he said, "as long as you liked it, that's all that matters".
 

New Car!!!

I got a new car!  It's a 2012 Hyundai Santa Fe.  I've been driving it for almost a week now and I love it!  Getting a new car was so exciting, but it was sad to see the good ole Bonneville go.  It was my mom's car first and I drove it for 8 years.  Unfortunately it was starting to have some problems so it was time to move on!  We got this beauty at the Carmax in Norcross, GA.  If you are on the market for a new vehicle check out Carmax- best "no haggle" car shopping experience ever!

OBSESSED

I love this album!  I was a huge fan of Phillip Phillips during his season of American Idol.  He was the only person I've every voted for on the show, so I was thrilled when he won.  I loved the song they wrote for him on the show and I was hoping that his album would be great and it really really is.  He wrote/co-wrote 8 of the 12 songs.  I personally think he is a very talented singer and songwriter.  I've been listening to this album in the car since Christmas and I just can't stop!  If you haven't already, check it out!

Let's Catch Up!

Wow.  I can't believe it's been almost two and half months since I last posted.  I feel like I'm resettling back into normal life since I started my job with Rite Aid at the end of October.  Those first 3 months after moving to Athens were just weird.  It was hard to commit to anything or plan anything ahead of time because of the off chance that I would maybe start working.  The uncertainty of how long our savings would have to last made it difficult to ever spend any money on anything.  So, now that we've been here for five months life is starting to feel normal.  I feel like we actually LIVE here now.  Allan is gearing up to start the spring semester tomorrow after a few weeks off for winter break.  I've been working a lot and am really enjoying it.  We've made some friends and we feel really good about spending the next two and half years here.  So, what's been going on?

Lindsey and Nate came to visit!  We showed them Athens and had a great time at the UGA/Ole Miss game even though we lost.  It was such a fun weekend and we were really glad they got to come.  We loved seeing Julia and Scotty, too!  It was like a mini Ole Miss reunion. 

The Lamar Dodd School of Art had an open house and the different programs each had a theme for their floor.  The painters chose the Dood Ranch and all dressed up like characters from the wild west.  It was fun to see all the work Allan and his classmates have done over the semester. 

I joined a Bible study to meet more people.  We finished the book "Love Does", by Bob Goff.  The book was light and funny, but very challenging.  All of the stories are real stories from his life.  He and I are completely different people and some of the things he does I would never do, but I guess that's where the challenge was...  to think about situations differently and take more chances. 

Natalie, Andrew, and Ava spent two nights with us on their way to and from MS.  Ava is the cutest baby in the whole world and I wish we could see those sweet cheeks more often!  I can't believe she is already 1!

We had our first "orphan" Thanksgiving.  I had to work the whole week, so we couldn't make it back home to MS.  We missed seeing our families, but we made the most of it.  We made some good food that our mommas would've made and had our own little celebration.

We celebrated Allan's 30th birthday in Atlanta.  We saw the Bodies Exhibit, visited The High Museum of Art, and wanted to go ice skating in Centennial Olympic Park, but the rink was much smaller and crowded that I had imagined so we went the World of Coca-Cola instead.  It was our first day trip to Atlanta and we had a great time.  Atlanta is a great city to live close to, but I don't think I could handle the traffic on a daily basis.
 
We kicked off the Christmas season with the Christmas parade downtown.  The theme was a Charlie Brown Christmas and it was cool to see all of the floats.  Other Christmas festivities included a baking party with some friends and a concert at the Classic Center in downtown Athens.  The Athens symphony and chorus give a free concert every year and it was phenomenal.  This will definitely be a yearly tradition for us.

  
My parents came to see us for a few days the week before Christmas since my mom was on break from nursing school.  We did some Christmas shopping and showed them Athens.  We went to the aquarium Atlanta one afternoon and had a great time.  I'm glad they were able to come and see where we live. Allan's twin sister, Allison and her husband, Max, also stopped by after a trip to Atlanta to check out Athens.  Hopefully next time they can stay longer!

By some Christmas miracle I had 6 days off in a row the week of Christmas so we got to go home to MS for a few days!  We spent some time with my family in Byram and then headed to Oxford.  We got to play with Chance and Benjamin.  We got to see my dad's side of the family and all of their kiddos.  We got to go to FBC Byram and see some of the best people in the world.  We shot guns and watched Christmas movies.  It was really great to spend time with our families and get recharged. 

2013 is here!  In true pharmacy world fashion, the first week of the year has been absolutely terrible with changes in insurance policies and deductibles that have to be met, but eventually things will get back to normal and I won't be completely and utterly exhausted when I leave work at night.  This weekend I've been nursing a cold and haven't done much at all but watch television.  Yesterday Ole Miss won the Compass Bowl!  This was the best season we've had in awhile and I'm prouder than ever to be a Rebel!  We've also been catching up on season 2 of Downton Abbey.  Season 3 starts tonight and I can't wait!  There is still hope for Mary and Matthew! 

I have to start doing this more often.  I like being able to look back on everything that has happened over the year.  Sometimes I can barely remember what I did a few days ago much less a few months ago.  Obviously, I've left out some details of the last few months, but these were the highlights.  I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and that your year has gotten of to a good start!