Happy Birthday Adam!

Adam turned 26 on January 24th. Happy Birthday! We had a great weekend together. Remember quality time girl? It was awesome. We had a football get together at our house on Sunday afternoon/night. Adam loves football and his buddies, so it was a great way to celebrate. We had about 20 people in and out. I think he felt very loved. Thanks everyone for coming! I made tacos and a few appetizers for during the games. Adam requested Carrot Cake. We are still eating it!


On Saturday night we went to Rathbun's Steak in Cabbagetown. Whoa was it good. Adam went to Ruth's Chris a while ago with my cousins Jeff and Jenn. He thought no steak was going to be as good as that. Well this rivaled it apparently. Not the company, Jenn and Jeff if you read this, just the food. We had an appetizer, steaks, and desserts. It was Adam's birthday present from my parents. Thanks Mom and Dad!

This is us before we left for the restaurant. We couldn't get Colby out of the picture. Yes mom, I did wear my cute boots. You just can't see them in this picture.

Happy Birthday to the love of my life!

Bring It

I have been hesitant to write this post because I thought it would bring finality to the fact that I AM running this half marathon. Putting it in the blog world keeps me much more accountable than I would like to be. But, I am registered and it's official. March 21st. We're going to have a crowd. Those running from my fam are: Rachel, Chris, Dad, Adam, Aunt Jenny, and me. Andrew is a maybe, Uncle Mitch and Mom will be cheering. Adam and I are up to 6 miles and feeling pretty good. Knock on wood. Hopefully we will increase our mileage again today. I'll keep you updated on our progress. I'm excited for a fun weekend with my family in Atlanta. I just have to get trained enough that I can function after the race. I'm not asking to feel good. Just as if I can talk properly.

Stone Mountain

Adam and I had a very fun day today. We had breakfast together then went hiking at Stone Mountain Park. It was not my first trip there. Christy and her Mamaw took me during college and Adam and I ran there one time about 5 years ago. In case you don't live in Atlanta, it's a very odd literally stone mountain right outside of Atlanta. You might be wondering what the heck it is. For you:

• Who are the three men on the Carving on the mountain?
  The Memorial Carving depicts three Confederate heroes of the Civil War: Confederate President Jefferson Davis, General Robert E. Lee and Lt. General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson
• How big/tall is the mountain? How big is the Carving?
  The mountain is 825 feet tall and covers 583 acres. The top of the mountain is 1,683 feet above sea level.
  The entire carved surface of the Memorial Carving measures three acres, larger than a football field. The carving of the three men towers 400 feet above the ground, measures 90 by 190 feet, and is recessed 42 feet into the mountain. The deepest point of the carving is at Lee's elbow, which is 12 feet to the mountain's surface.

Yep, it's random. But we knew we had to climb to the top of it at some point while we live in Atlanta. The whole hike up was rock. I was surprised by that but looking back it was a little stupid to assume otherwise. This is us at the top but you can't tell from the picture. It was foggy at the top so the view was a little cloudy, but it's still very pretty up there. Wonderful day of quality time...my love language.

My fave

I LOVE Caribou coffee! Thanks to my brother-in-law Andrew and Adam, I will be having coffee on them for a long time. Thank you boys! And Rachel gave me this cute coffee sleeve. I have a couple more I will show you at a later date. They make me happy. Hoho mint mocha for me please! Yes I know Christmas is over but you can indeed still get the holiday drinks. Fabulous.

needtobreathe

This fall I kept hearing about the band needtobreathe. First from Rachel, then Jill's blog, then MckMama, then just in conversations. I am at leader at K-life and last night Dustin played this song after his talk. We're focusing on Hebrews 11:1 this year. It's funny because I had been listening to the song all day already. Get the CD. I love it and have listened to it in my car since about October, with the exception of some sporadic Christmas music. I have another favorite song but I will share it later. So here it is, "Lay 'em down":

Come down to the river
Come and let yourself in
Make good on a promise
To never hurt again
If you're lost and lonely
You're Broken down
Bring all of your troubles
Come lay 'em down

All you sinners
And the weak at heart
All you helpless
On the boulevards
Wherever you are now
Whatever evil you've found
Bring all of your troubles
And come lay 'em down

We're all tied to the same old failing
Finding shelter in things we know
We're all dirty like corrupted small towns
We'll bring our troubles
We'll bring our troubles
Lay 'em down

All you rich men
And the high above
All of those with and without love
All you burdened broken down
Bring all of your troubles
Come lay 'em down

ND

Dad and I had a wonderful time in North Dakota. It was COLD, but we survived and lived to tell about it. Frigid is a way of life there. Everyone has automatic starts on their cars and you go from warm car to garage to warm house or restaurant or where ever you may be headed. We got to see all kinds of family. It was a relaxing trip. My grandparents are doing wonderfully. They will be 94 next month. Pretty unbelievable. When they retired they saved for about 20 years. Well, they have been going strong for about 20 more years than they anticipated. They hold a very special place in my heart. I have lots of pictures of them, but for some reason they look old in the pictures and I know they would not appreciate them being shared. :) They look wonderful in real life. Grandma was telling us it is hard for them to believe they will be 94. She said she feels 70. I hope I feel the same way if I ever make it that long!

We spent a lot of time at Villa Maria where they live. We usually went twice a day. We also got to spend some good quality time with my aunt Sue and uncle John. Sue and I went to 2 classes at her gym. Thanks Sue! My cousins and other aunt and uncle live there too and we had a great time seeing them. The picture is dad with my cousin Greg's youngest, Johanna. Dad is very proud she would come to him as she is very attached to her mother. He for sure wanted a picture to prove it. We got her smiling but dad's eyes were closed. Typical. She did really think dad was funny though. Despite the -30 degrees, we had a great time. Thanks for letting us come! We miss you guys already!

Gas Rebate Drama

Anyone who knows me well knows I have only been getting gas at BP since September. The reason for that is I have been OBSESSED with this gas card rebate program we got with our cruise. Adam booked our cruise via a solicitor about a year ago. We got all these extras thrown in including a $300 gas card. They presented it as if they will just send you a card when you book your cruise. Well let me tell you, this thing has been the bane of my existence for quite some time. My mom has taught me to be assertive and not just quit because people think you will never do it. Oh no. We could not redeem it until after our cruise was over. I called about 9 numbers before I finally got someone who knew about this card. Well, they sent me to a website where you log info and all these small numbers of original cruise info. Who still has this stuff? Anyway, I did. Within two weeks, we had to get something in the mail, fill out more stuff, send a copy of Adam's drivers license, car insurance, and plate numbers. And a check for $9.95. Again, time limits of when it has to be in. The website said we didn't do something right and we were out even though my check cleared. Huh, I thought they never got it? I convinced a guy they must have gotten it if they felt they could cash the check. So we updated our profile to allow us to begin. Then you wait 2 months before you can start collecting receipts. We learn we get one $25 gas card every month for $150 of gas spent. So we collected all our receipts, cannot be under $150 for a month or you lose. Miss one month and it's over. Also, you can't have 2 receipts dated the same day. And do that for 12 months. Honestly? I thought we were going to be the only people in our right minds to do all this for $25, but I was determined. So, we turned in our first receipts in November then we waited to allotted 2 weeks to check our status. Office closed for Christmas break. Typical. We have a time limit people! I have checked and called several times to find nothing. Then tonight, this...

"Please be advised that My Free Travel will be unable to honor any rebates redeemed on or after December 1, 2009. This is due to an extremely high response rate to the program. The responses received have far exceeded numbers anticipated by our projections and this has resulted in a shortage of funds to meet required payments. We will continue to attempt payment for any qualified rebates that have been submitted prior to December 1, 2009."

Are you freaking kidding me???? And I sent them $10 and never received a single gift card!!! Seriously, at least 25 hours of my life down the drain. For what, to pay them???? This will not be the end of the story.

What makes my work day

1. Daybreak Caribou coffee. We use our Cuisanart coffee maker which I have mentioned before. I adore it. This makes going out the door early on a cold morning a little more bearable.

2. Danskos. It took me a while to give in to these ugly shoes but I can't even describe what a difference it makes on my leg soreness after standing for 12 hours a day a couple of days in a row. I wear them every day I work and really feel it if I don't.

3. Cherry Chapstick. I don't know what is different about it but it is my go to chapstick. No competition. I think I have had at least one tube on me at all times since high school. It's better than the rest.

Off to ND

Partly Cloudy
High
-5°F

I headed to North Dakota today! Yep, that weather is right..the high today is -5. Holy! I will get to spend time though with some of my favorite people in the whole world!