An Affair….

I have to apologize to blog world for being absent lately….

I have a new addiction: “Pinterest”

I can’t even begin to explain what the website is all about so just click below and you will be hooked (so hooked that you may want to finish this blog before clicking it bc if not you may never return to finish the blog!)

Click here to see my site

In other news…. As I mentioned last week Billy and Angela came and went and came and went again!

Unfortunately, I had to work and didn’t get to see them as much as I would have liked on their first go round in Atlanta….. but fortunately Mom and Dad rushed over when they heard B and Ang were coming to town so I left my blogging duties to mama!  She text me this picture while I was at work just before dropping them off at the airport!

Thanks mama!

I also need to mention the meal daddy whipped us up the night him and mom arrived from Biloxi…… fresh shrimp and crab straight from Biloxi of course!

So we had a feast of crabcakes and PoBoys!

It was amazing and speaking of food…

The highlight of my weekend was using our Groupon for Japanese food across the street from us with Andy and Rachel!!

So good every time and it never fails!

The reason that was my “highlight” of the whole weekend was because the rest of my weekend was pretty shabby to say the least….Alex put in about 20 hours at work between Saturday and Sunday and….. yeah well lets just move on shall we?!?!?!

Tuesday night B and Angela arrived back in Atlanta from their amazing trip to St. Thomas just in time for dinner! I know Billy has his favorites as far as restaurants go in Atlanta (similar to my hotspots of Statesboro) so usually I try not to pick the restaurants when he’s here but that night I felt the urge to say “There’s Ethiopian around the corner from here” (probably because I knew I had already had dinner and wouldn’t be eating), regardless, he jumped at the opportunity!

This picture does not do the pretty colors at “Enat” justice which reminds me of HOW EXCITED I AM to be getting a new “fancy” phone tomorrow!

Is it sad that the single most important thing to be about a new phone is the camera?

Anyway, before they left I ATTEMPTED to have Angela replace the peppercorns my pepper grinder…….

Who knew a soon to be doctor, an engineer and a math and computer genius put together could not figure that damn thing out!!!

Oh well, I let them escape this time!!

They made their way to mom and dads for gun time and moms cooking before Monday comes when Angela starts Med School!!!

Speaking of Monday, the dreaded time is approaching quickly…. It’s official Alex leaves Monday for Mexico and I could not be more sad!!

Thankfully mama is once again coming to my rescue to stay with me and the dogs until he returns in (hopefully) no more than 2 weeks! My new phone is also supposed to help us get through it with video chat and google talk….. we will see!

Thank goodness I found a new addiction to keep me busy while he’s gone (Pinterest)!!

Going Home and Daddy’s Birthday!

Happy Birthday Daddy (even though it was Monday)!!!!

Wow is it really already Thursday!?!?!

We had a great and busy week and weekend, we went home for daddy’s birthday and to see Lauren and Grams one last time before mom and dad finally returned them to Mississippi!

I know it must have been just awful for daddy since him and Lauren are tied together at the hip (and he was quoted on his birthday telling me that Lauren has worked harder helping him the month she was here than Tara and I combined in our whole life!)

Your Welcome Daddy, I do what I can and take payments in cash only! ;)

So daddy’s birthday was filled with food from mama’s kitchen and it could not have been better!!! Alex finally finished the last of her leftovers last night, potato salad, baked beans and baked chicken!

The woman was blessed with a gift, too bad that gift leaves her living in the kitchen the entire time we are home for breakfast, lunch and dinner but we love it!!!

Guess who her side kick was….

That’s right, Tucker Jones himself!

I know I have mentioned he has become quite the hungry little boy lately, we aren’t sure what’s up with that but he is worse than Milly, seriously!!

This is what daddy’s Birthday dinner looked like….

Every time I turned around there he was!!

Let’s also note that this does not slow Milly down, just gives her a bit of competition!!

After dinner Mom and I made some amazing (get ready): Peanut butter, Chocolate chip, Oatmeal, Reeses Pieces, and walnut cookies!

When I brought one to Grams and told her what they were she said “Oh I don’t know which kind I want”

Ha So let me just tell you that this is all wrapped up in one cookie!!

Here’s the link by Betty Crocker of course!

Click here for recipe

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Then it was time for presents and besides giving daddy his wonderful presents we picked out Alex came up with the best way to give it to him!!!

Yup, I was in the box!!

No worries he still got his grill :)

I think the funniest part was hiding from Tucker in the box and letting him find me- “Mr. Bodyguard” was so upset and panicking when he couldn’t find me, I wish mom and Alex had video taped his search, eventually Milly’s little nose popped into the box trying to nudge it up and let me out!!

Then Tuck got soooo excited as if he found me!

That’s my boy!

We also spent Saturday at Alex’s mom’s house which Lauren loved!

I was in charge of golf cart rides which got much more interesting for Lauren and I after we got mom away from the candy jar and into the backseat of the golf cart with daddy- let’s just say she does not trust me and she doesn’t do woods!!!

It was so nice to visit with Uncle Karl who was in town from Nantucket while we were there and Adam was actually having a really good day which was the highlight of out trip –seeing him happy and talkative- even if just for that day!

That night we had to get our El Som fix ofcourse and Cara and Tina were able to join us in Statesboro… Oh how I miss those girls!!

(Pic coming as soon as i find the cord for little camera)

Our life is a bit chaotic everytime we go out of town and come back, it takes at least 2 days to unpack and clean up….

So Monday night I saw this taking place of where Tucker and Milly’s dog leashes usually go….

  computer cords…..

I starred at it and thought about it for a minute and then it hit me, “omg Alex didn’t know where the leashes were this morning when he took them out!!”
Ha The boy knows how to improvise I guess! 

Last random note before I go …

Look what came in the mail the other day!!!

Yesterday, I also got my letter stating all of my information was submitted and I can now sign up to sit for my licensure… to bad I’m scared to and haven’t cracked a book yet!!

Wouldn’t you rather me be a faithful blogger than to study for my licensure anyway!?!?

Also I am SO excited because Billy and Angela are coming to visit me today because their FLIGHT to ST.THOMAS leaves from Atlanta Friday!!

Yup, they are taking a last minute trip before Angela starts Med School this August and I couldn’t be more jealous happy for them!

I must go now so that I can practice crumbling into the tiniest ball to fit in their suitcase before they get here and stuff my belly with some good Soul Vegetarian of course!!

Grams and Laurens Visit to Georgia

… and more importantly to Atlanta to see us!

Alex and I were not the only excited ones to see them…

Why do my dogs “back it up” to everyone!?!?!

… And have you ever seen cuter facial expressions?

Tucker hasn’t either, he just loves his sissy to death!

Mom and I decided this weekend TJ needs to be in like a happy dog contest… he has always been a happy dog but lately he is just head over heels!!

It may be his new hair cut? Whatever it is cracks me up, Alex and I can sit in the den and hear him in the back bedroom talking up a storm to himself!

Mom and I asked Tucker all weekend if he wanted to go look at Christmas lights and took turns singing Christmas carols to him (we have an on going joke that every morning Tucker wakes up he is so happy as if it’s Christmas every day to him…)!

I’m pretty sure Lauren thought she must have landed at the crazy house…. umm yup!

Although Grams and Lauren were only here for a short visit (that I worked most of) Mom and I were able to take Grams on a girls date to The Cheesecake Factory and to get her hair done…

Grams may say “that’s fine” or “it doesn’t matter” to every question in the book but when you start talking cheesecake that woman has got an opinion!

I tried talking up the sugar free cheesecakes and she was not having that nor was she sharing mom and I’s cheesecake!

Oh how I love you for that Grams!!

Then Lauren and I joined the boys at the Braves game!

Lauren is quite the athelete herself, especially in softball! She is not one to brag but Alex and I were prying her open with questions and found out she was the second best at her high school as a FRESHMAN!

Go Lauren (think Georgia or Georgia Southern please :) !!)

In other important news did I mention after a month of being back at my old job I finally got a desk?!?!?!?!

You have no idea how big this is…

“Homelessness” is pretty common among clinicians here so we just hop around carrying everything we own in a bag…. but not anymore!! I have a place to call home!

Ohh the luxuries of working for the government!

It looks like this weekend Lou and I will be traveling down to Statesboro to celebrate daddys birthday (attempting to at least), since last week we tried but Lou ended up having to work a Saturday so we cancelled….

I will be so happy when his Mexico trip is over with… even though i’m dreading it like crazy!! He promises work will slow down then… I will believe it when I see it!!

All I know is that I want my Lou back and if his work doesn’t get this deadline over with it may get ugly with me and his boss :)

I did mention Ana and I went to Claires while she was here a few weeks ago right…. ;)

(Hints the fake glasses I have wanted since about 6th grade…) Don’t hate!

Is it to Late too say Happy 4th?

Well I’m going to try it out anyway:

HAPPY 4th OF JULY EVERYONE!!

I have obviously been away from technology (thank goodness) for the 4th but am happy to be back with a few moments to myself to report back  on our second, FABULOUS trip to the Clark Hill for the 4th with fabulous company… thanks to Josh’s wonderful family for having us again :)

The only requirement was for us to bring something sweet… besides myself Lou, of course ;)

I was so excited with this news because I knew just what to make…

Click here for Dulce De Leche recipe

Here’s a few more pics of this salivating master piece including Alex coming home only to dip the outer edges I cut off into the caramel… guess who had a tummy ache that night:

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There were many other versions of how to make this that I can’t wait to try, especially the cheesecake praline and toffee bars one!

On to our trip:

Does it surprise you that Lou felt the need to bring every bit of his toys? Nope, me either.

It also didn’t surprise me that we got there super late….similar to last year :(

But how could I complain after waking up to the sound of this cute little bug yelling “JennyLouuuuu wake uppppp”!!

The same wake up call as last year and I couldn’t have asked for anything better!

Speaking of waking up, can we talk about our sleeping arrangements:

That would be Lou and I’s tent in the far right corner (look very closely)… and the massive one straight ahead fit EVERYONE else (3 air mattresses) not to mention a freaking air conditioner that allowed me the privilege of hearing Renee and Stephanie complain about being COLD.

You poor things.

Anyway, besides Kaileys wake up call, we also woke up to the smell of Mrs. Georgette and Mr. Eric making eggs, bacon and cheese grits… mmm, mmm, mmm!

So we scarfed it down along with my caramel bars (although I hadn’t planned on them being a breakfast option?) and then loaded up the boats, made sandwiches and headed to the beach!

(the picture above may be the only time Mrs. Georgette sat down the entire weekend- LOVE YOU!)

Lets move on to the lake shall we!

   Day 1 : Little did I know this would be almost the only day that I was ALL about water sports! Probably because the night before (when we arrived) was the only night we didn’t drink ourselves to sleep….

It’s not fun to be thrown off a tube or jet ski after a full night of drinking the night before :)

Kailey held this dead fish for about 30 minutes, no one knows how she found it but she was intrigued (and in case anyone doesn’t know 30 minutes is a long time for a kid to hold something in water!)

Papa is PROUD of anything Kailey does :)

as are the rest of us…..

Hey Stinkster, it’s lunch and cookie time :) 

  This is what the beach chairs look like at lunch time: empty!

Oh Joe, Stop being so romantic….

The picture above was taken way earlier into day one than you would think….. and this big fella had a lot to do with it!

   Just an FYI, Renee and Josh’s family are either the largest 2 families in Statesboro or the most likely to be at Clarke hill during July 4th…. I swear, we not only had a family reunion (upon accident after getting there and seeing how many Thompsons were there) but ran into pieces of them on the lake all weekend!

Which is extremely bizarre for Alex and I to comprehend since we have to drive a minimum of 9 hours to see any of our family members…

I’m not sure how this woman does it but by the time we got back to the camper Mrs. Georgette was already peeling potatoes for dinner…. and had recruited Stephanie to help!

So Lauren, Renee and I ran off to find a shower house that Mr. Eric had totally talked up…. after getting lost and seeing they all looked the same and were all busy we decided to just pick one…. apparently it was the one he talked up?

On a good note it fit all 3 of us and had good water pressure which is a rare form in bath houses!

Luckily we got back just in time for “Show time” starring Josh Whitfield and Joe’s bike…..

(notice the black truck behind him: they waited to load their boat until after he went because they just “had to see this” they also video taped him….)

 

We are pretty sure he got some hits on his head and You Tube!

Yay Josh!

Back to the food… we were all super excited about dinner that every night which allowed us to equate helping with getting it in our bellies faster!

 

others waited and entertained Kay bug….

Which was includes teaching Kailey how to use my “big girl camera”!

The pics below may be the only 2 not of boobs that Kailey shot  :) GO Kay!

By then it was time for me to be entertained….. so Steph put a BEAUTIFUL braid in my hair that made me feel the need to get a haircut appt. ASAP after seeing this!

Ew- but yayyy for dinner time!

  

…and yayyy for 8 layer cakes!

Let the drinking games begin!

I believe this was the night Alex opted out of the guys fishing trip (to sleep off Mrs. Georgettes good southern cooking) that lasted about 5 hours only for them to come home empty handed… so they allowed us to come on board to play drinking games with them on the water!

Only after some pretty “convincing” text messages from Stephanie Renee and Lauren….. of course!

Thankfully that night came to a successfully drunk ending and we woke up early ready to do it all over again!

Kailey woke up painting seashells and ready to hit the water!

The “choo choo” and “Jump to Lou” entertained her until Mrs. Georgettes huge family reunion feast was ready back at the camp site!

The boys did a little trade off with entertaining Kay bug….

Time to eat!

Highlights of the meal: POTATO SALAD!

Not to eat and run or anything but the water was calling us! 

Have i mentioned yet that I love these girls!?!?

….well I do!

And I know I don’t need to mention my love for this little cutie but he’s not so bad himself either ;)

Lou was pumped and ready on our second day to try out his wake board for the first time since last year on the fourth!

  Yayyy Lou!

…such the little ladies man!

Our fun was quickly interrupted when Lauren and I started spotting clouds and lightening that quickly turned into a massive storm!

Our storm plan was to “grab the drinks and head for the tent”!!  

No complaints here!

It ended up getting pretty bad though, so we made a run for it but unlike Stephanie I managed to down my amazing Margarita before taking off (thanks Joe)!

Home Safe!

Do not hate: Kay and I had some pretty wild hair (and I had some nice coon eyes)….

No worries here though, nothing a pair of sunglasses can’t fix :)

Thankfully we all made it back to shore safely to enjoy another night of drinking games and me, Stephanie and our men stayed up hours past the rest of the crew to enjoy a long walk with Lous night vision in attempts to make my dizzies go away:)

“More walking please”

Our last day was amazing and patriotic of course :)

Ok, not really any more “patriotic” than the rest of the weekend (fyi: we did have red, white and blue tablecloths all weekend) but leave it to me to wear my most patriotic bathing suit on the actual 4th of July :)

We had a blast and similar to last year did not want this trip to end! Especially after seeing the woman who “does it all” do even more by trying her luck on the skis and wake board!!

She was amazing on the ski’s and although she didn’t master the wake board she was the closest to getting up on it out of Josh and his cousins :)

What a great way to spend the 4th of July yet again this year! I know I try to turn every vacation into a yearly trip but honestly, I would love to see this as something we do every year with our own children in the future!

It’s an amazing tradition Josh’s family has given to him and Erica to grow up with and that him and Renee have passed down to Kailey….

We love ya’ll all and are so honored to be a part of your very special Fourth at Clark Hill.

Happy [belated] Fourth of July everyone!