Goals

August Goals
1. Buy a new basil plant. Pass! I also bought a rosemary plant. I wasn't really thinking when I bought them the weekend before we went to the beach for 4 days...luckily our neighbors were kind enough to plant-sit for us!
2. Apply for a new position at work (if it becomes available….) Met! I was referring to the Team Leader position which as you know, became available :)
3. Brush Bailey’s hair every (other) day. She has started to shed for some reason. I don't think I brushed it every other day....I probably averaged every 4 days. She's still shedding :/ I think we're going to switch her food again.
4. Finish A Thousand Splendid Suns Pass! This was a really good book....but it didn't really pick up until about halfway through. After it got interesting I couldn't put it down!
5. Open a Roth IRA I still have 2 more days!! This will be done by the 31st :)
6. Decide if we’re flying or driving to Pittsburgh in November for Jay’s wedding…..and buy our plane tickets if we decide on flying! Pretty sure we're going to drive. If an awesome flight price jumps off the computer screen at me then we might fly but we're 90% leaning toward driving.

September Goals
1. Dry some of my basil for the winter
2. Start a new blog series for September...Recipe of the week
3. Be at work by 7:45 4/5 days of the week
4. NOT get the swine flu from work
5. NOT gain 5 pounds (or more) from eating dips and snacks every Saturday while watching football

Roth IRA

Decisions, decisions. I've been wanting to open a Roth IRA for some time now, but there's always been other things to put money toward. Not that there's not other things to save for now (house, baby, moving, paying off student loans, etc), but it's to the point where we can afford to put a little more away and quite frankly, we really should be putting more away now to reap the benefits of compounding interest.


I spent a couple hours one night researching top investment firms and looking up their minimum initial and monthly contributions, account fees, and other services they offer. I currently have a 401K with Fidelity, so I would like to spread out our retirement investments just in case something unforeseeable happens to one particular company. However, I will most likely rollover my current 401K when I change jobs (whenever that may be) and it will likely be with a different company than Fidelity.


I've narrowed it down to 2-3 companies, I just need to call to confirm a few things and will hopefully have one set up by the end of the month!

Note to self....

....buy a lake house. Today we went to Lake Mitchell for the day. One of the rehab physicians that I work with invited our department to their lake house for a fun day of boating, floating, skiing, and eating. The weather was BEAUTIFUL, it felt like a fall day in Alabama (read: NOT 90 degrees). It was so relaxing out there. I got my lake fix for the summer since it's been about 2 years since I've been to our family reunion which is on the lake in the Poconos. It was so nice today we were actually able to sit on the balcony and watch the sun set and not melt in the heat. I would write more about this past week but I currently have a little 4 legged creature poking her nose at my leg to give her some attention! Enjoy the pics.

Second Annual Orange Beach Trip with Friends!

Last Wednesday evening after work Tom, our friend Stacy, and I loaded up the car and set out for Orange Beach, AL. We arrived super late Wednesday night, but conditions were perfect for sitting on the balcony overlooking the ocean, enjoying a corona with a lime, and watching Perseids, the meteor shower that happened to take place the same night we arrived. It wasn't anything tooooo spectacular, but we did see a handful of shooting stars. Still pretty awesome to be at the beach, drinking a corona, overlooking the ocean, watching shooting stars :)

We spent all day Thursday relaxing on the beach, frolicking in the ocean, and trying to avoid the tens of thousands (exaggeration) of GIANT (at least 12-inch diameter - not an exaggeration) jellyfish! There were seriously a lot. We could see them while we were swimming in the ocean and people were catching them constantly in these big nets, and then burying them in sand to kill them. Thankfully none of us got stung. For dinner that night we had crablegs, yum, my favorite.

We spent all day Friday chillaxing on the beach as well until the rest of our crew (Brian, Anne, & Kelly) arrived. Chef Brian cooked us up an awesome shrimp boil for dinner and we enjoyed some Hurricanes (some stronger than others....Stacy!!!) before heading to our main attraction of the night, the Florabama.

The Florabama is this totally ridiculous bar right on the Florida/Alabama border. It would normally not be my scene but they serve this awesome drink called a Bushwhacker which is kind of like an alcoholic frosty. Two bushwhackers and some frolicking on the beach later, we headed back to the condo for some more ridiculousness and good times.

Saturday we all headed down to the beach, but there were some storms brewing off in the distance so it wasn't quite as relaxing to just lay on the beach. Tom hung out in the ocean for a while - I joined him briefly but the waves were bigger than the past couple days (still not as big as the atlantic ocean, but tiresome none the less). Eventually we all transitioned to the pool and that proved to be quite enjoyable.

Saturday evening we swung by the outlets in Foley for a little shopping and then Chef Brian cooked us an awesome southern dinner complete with a fish fry, cheese grits, and onion rings.

We came home relatively early on Sunday to pick Bailey up from her favorite place ever. (She's so pretty in that pic!) On her report card (yes, our dog gets a "report card" at her boarding place), it says "Bailey had a fun day chasing everyone around the yard."

Awesomeness updates

We're back from the beach! We had a great time and I promise I'll update more about it later. I wanted to give you a quick update on all things awesome from last week:

Awesome thing #1 The Poison, Def Leppard, and Cheap Trick concert was POSTPONED! Apparently a family member of one of the band members passed away so they cancelled the concert. They are going to reschedule it but I'm not sure when it will be.

Awesome thing #2 I got promoted to Inpatient PT Team Leader at work!!! Last month our coordinator stepped down leaving her position open, so our current Team Leader applied and was offered the coordinator position. So that left our Team Leader position open. I applied and interviewed, and then was offered the position on Wednesday. I'm really excited and look forward to this opportunity!!

Awesome thing #3 Second Annual Orange Beach Trip with friends was a HUGE success! I'll post about it more tomorrow or Tuesday. We had a blast and it was a very relaxing vacation.

Possibly the best week ever!

Yes, this week (specifically Tuesday night through Sunday) could be possibly the best week ever.

Awesome thing #1:
Tonight my awesome friend Paige invited me to go see Def Leppard, Cheap Trick, and POISON (for free)! We are definitely doing it up 80's style!

Awesome thing #2:
Wednesday (hopefully) I should find out about awesome thing #2. You'll hear about it if the news is good, but I'm not going to count my chickens before they hatch.

Awesome thing #3:
Wednesday night we leave for our 2nd Annual Orange Beach Trip with friends!!! I can't wait!! 3 full days of lounging on the sugar white beaches with the turquoise water right beyond our toes......and a beverage with a lime or a tiny umbrella in hand!

On becoming a vegetarian......

....well, just for a few days. Let's just say I haven't been eating the healthiest lately. So with yummy fresh summer veggies going on sale this week I decided to eat just veggies for the next few days. (With the exception of the top sirloin steak that we are grilling tonight at Stacy's, of course!) What does my vegetarian menu look like, you ask? I'll tell you. Lunch is going to consist of big healthy salads Monday and Tuesday and a veggie burger topped with basil and tomato on Wednesday. Dinner will be Farmer's Market Squash Saute and possibly a variant of this recipe from Sara. Except without the eggplant because I don't like eggplant. At least I don't think I do. Actually, I'm not sure if I've ever had eggplant. Also, I will be making a variation on this recipe for baked stuffed tomatoes. Yum. I only need recipes to get me through Wednesday because come Thursday we'll be shifting gears and eating only seafood.................can you guess why?

Baby Thomas!

No, not our baby Thomas! My cousing Todd and his sweet wife Jeni had their first baby, a boy, last Tuesday, July 28th at 6:51 am. Thomas David was 7 pounds, 14 ounces and 21 inches long. Here are some pictures I stole from their I-nursery :) The PT in me loves that he is already loving being on his tummy!

Where to even begin???

Apparently I lied. I thought our lives were going to slow down temporarily but I was wrong. But that's okay, it's not a bad thing. Let's go in chronological order...since I'm kind of obsessive and need to do this that way.

Last Wednesday night our friend Stacy hosted Game Night. This was the first Game Night that Tom and I both were able to attend (first one he was out of town, second one I was out of town). Bailey was once again fascinated with all of Casper's toys and Tom and I learned a new game. I forget the name of it, so I will call it the Tetris game because that's what it looked like. I lost :(

Friday night we went to Southern Summer Night at the Vulcan. It was a benefit for Hands on Birmingham, a volunteer group. We had a good time hanging out with some friends and sampled some Olde Towne brews. It was fun to get all dressed up and spend time with everyone.

Saturday morning we picked up Mom and Dad from the airport and drove out to Atlanta to visit Dad's friend from work and his family. We had a blast. Their house was amazing and they were awesome hosts. The weather was slightly cooler than it was in Birmingham so that was nice too. We had a good time visiting with their family and their adorable pet, Piglet. (All of Piglet's teeth have fallen out so her tongue just hangs out the side of her mouth....so cute!) Sunday afternoon we raced back to Birmingham to pick up Bailey from her favorite place ever so she could meet her grandparents. Unfortunately there was a big accident and we sat in the middle of I-20 for about an hour. (Everyone was out of their cars walking around, one guy even zipped by on a skateboard). Thankfully we have good friends like Kelly and Stacy who went to pick up Bailey and brought her back to see her buddy Casper until we could swing by and get her. Monday Tom dropped my parents off at the airport and that marked the end of our fun (busy) weekend!