How the West was won! :)

War Eagle!!! :) We had a very exciting win over the Georgia Bulldogs this past Saturday. On to the SEC Championship in Atlanta in December!

Brad and I threw a tailgate party for our family and friends. It was a great time until the end of the game. :) It was quite a theatrical game and a good time was had by all. Even more exciting is that Brad and I placed a bet on the game and guess what...I won!!! ;) I won a weekend in Auburn including dinner at Amsterdam Cafe (my all-time AU favorite)!!! :) WAR EAGLE!!!!

Lovely Isle of Palm

What better way to conquer the cooling Fall temperatures than to head to the beach! Brad and I spent a wonderful, relaxing weekend at Isle of Palm (just outside of Charleston, SC) with his Mom, Aunt, and Grandfather.

Brad and I wasted no time! Upon arriving at our house we went straight to the beach where we spent the afternoon basking in the beautiful 70+ degree weather (in October!). I was so tired and jet-lagged from traveling from the West Coast the day before that I actually fell asleep in a beach chair for a relaxing nap. Then we went for an awesome walk up and down the shore... We walked to the pier (above) ...

We also saw sunset approaching (above). There is just nothing that compares to the beach (especially at sunset)!
Love this guy! ;) Such a perfect weekend!

How about that for a sunset!?! It totally reminds me of the sunset at the beginning (or was it the end?) of "The Notebook". ;)

Before heading back to Atlanta at the end of the perfect weekend we had a delicious lunch on the water. I absolutely LOVED Isle of Palm and cannot wait to go back soon! =)

West Coast Adventure

Making a road trip out West has always been on my Bucket List and I finally got to check it off! =) I had a conference in Las Vegas for a few days and appointments in California the following week. I chose to drive from Las Vegas to California instead of fly and I'm SO glad I did!

Let me preface this by saying the day I made this trek was the day of the Auburn vs LSU game. Make no mistake, I made sure my rental car had satelite radio so I could stay tuned in during my drive. What an exciting game and perfect way to pass time driving through the beautiful desert. The above picture was my view for the first couple of hours. To some it may be really boring, but when this isn't your typical terrain it's absolutely beautiful! ;)

It was me, my Auburn Tigers, and a long, open road all the way to Cali! =)


I was so enthralled with the scenery! I seriously stopped 5 or 6 times along the way to take pictures. Life's about the journey...not the destination, right? ;)

Upon arriving in San Diego I jumped right into the Chapman's annual Halloween Party. What a party it was!!! A fabulous DJ, Haunted House, tasty treats and mai tai's! It was quite an event and I was thrilled to be a part of it this year. Ellis was a skeleton. You can tell in our picture above he got a little tired of his costume, but kept sporting the white face paint. =)

Aidan partied his little heart out. =) With all the excitement, he couldn't make it past the couch.

After a fabulous visit with family in San Diego, it was off to the OC for a week of work...

I drove up on Sunday afternoon so I was able to take in some of Newport Beach before the busy week began. It was such a picture-perfect Cali beach town...sunshine, sandy beaches, and surfers everywhere. I have to admit...I'm a little afraid of deep ocean water, but watching these surfers made me want to give surfing a try. =)

I couldn't resist capturing this adorable pink beach house. So unique! I'm sure it's neighbor's think so too. ;)

While I was on the West Coast, Lauren was busy having her Hollywood moment on the East Coast. ;) Jenn's been in Atlanta filming a movie and to celebrate wrapping up the filming of her movie she and her entourage came into eat at Lauren's restaurtant, Nava. This picture has been all over the Atlanta news. So exciting! =)

Auburn's #1!!!!!!!!!

War Eagle!!! The latest BCS rankings came out tonight and Auburn is officially on TOP!!! We jumped from #4 to #1 and it feels AMAZING!! I have never been so excited and proud all at the same time. Auburn is truly one of the most amazing places and those of you that are a part of the Auburn family know exactly what I mean. ;) The love and pride for Auburn and Auburn Football runs so deep! Just listen to the words in our creed:

_______________________________________

Auburn Creed

I believe that this is a pracical world and that I can count only on what I earn.

Therefore, I belive in work, hard work.

I believe in education, which gives me the knowledge to work wisely and trains my mind and my hands to work skillfully.

I believe in honesty and truthfullness, without which I cannot win the respect and confidence of my fellow men.

I believe in a sound mind, in a sound body and a spirit that is not afraid, and in clean sports that develop these qualities.

I believe in obedience to law because in protects the rights of all.

I believe in the human touch, which cultivates sympathy with my fellow men an mutual helpfulness and brings happiness for all.

I believe in my Country, because it is a land of freedom and because it is my own home, and that I can best serve that country by "doing justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with my God."

And because Auburn men and women believe in these things, I BELIEVE IN AUBURN AND LOVE IT!!!!!

_______________________________________________

Nothing says it better. ;) We still have some challenging games ahead (UGA and Alabama), but I believe the strength, dedication and skill is very much a part of our Tigers! We're so blessed to have made it to #1 today and here's to seeing that we see it through to the Championship! WAR EAGLE!!! =)

MoOoOoOve Over Arkansas!!!

What better way to spend a Saturday in the Fall - watching Auburn Football dominate with an old college roomie and fabulous friend, Katie, and her adorable new baby boy. :)

We cheered Auburn on to an exciting and beautiful 65-43 victory over Arkansas!! Whew!! What a game!!

I tried my best to teach Bailey his first two words - "War Eagle" - but no luck (yet). At 4 months it may have been too soon...maybe next time. =) It was so great to visit Katie, Brandon and Bailey. We even played a little dress-up with the precious baby boy...

This is Bailey SUPER EXCITED about the Auburn game. ;) WAR EAGLE!!!

Bailey has the new Chick-fil-a ad... "Drink milk, but eat more chicken". =)

Time flies when you're having FUN!!!

It's amazing how true that phrase really is! I'm ashamed that it's been over 4 months since my last post! I have to get better at this! :) It's been an exciting 4 months with many EXCITING updates to share so get ready!

June was spent traveling, traveling and can you guess what else?? Yep, more traveling. =) Las Vegas, San Francisco, LA, Denver, and more! My travels included a stop at our home office on Cape Cod for a team building fishing trip. You know fishing is not my strong suit, but I gave it my best...

And found SUCCESS!!! A shark to be exact!!! I'm going to be totally honest...I never thought I had it in me to have the guts to a.) bait a fishing line with a LIVE EEL, b.) catch a shark and c.) hold the shark on the line before throwing it back. SUCH A RUSH!!!

July was filled with fun in the HOT southern sun. I ran my 2nd annual Peachtree Road Race. Such a PERFECT 4th of July tradition. =) After running the reace, we enjoyed a perfect summer day with good friends including brunch, backyard fun and fireworks. God bless America! =)









July also included a fun trip to NYC to visit two of my favorites, Jeff and Chris. Believe it or not, this was my first time to New York in the summer and I must say....it sure beats the winters in New York! :)

August brought the ring of wedding bells. Hil and Josh tied the knot at the end of the month in Jackson, AL. It was a picture perfect wedding weekend for the precious couple. ;)









So great to be with so many amazing friends!

There's really no better way to spend a Fall weekend in Atlanta than in the North Georgia Mountains. Which is exactly what we did in September. Brad and I met Rachel and Ben in Blue Ride for a perfectly relaxing weekend surrounded by God's Fall beauty...complete with football, apple picking and s'more cooking! =)

Me and the "Mom-to-be" picking all types of apples at Mercier's apple orchard. Half a peck of apples to be exact. =)

I got a little artsy while picking apples. Thought it was a cool shot. :) Life is afterall about stopping to enjoy the scenerly, right??

Hiking up Amicalola Falls was also on the agenda for our mountain weekend...

Althought it was still quite hot for Fall, it was BEAUTIFUL!

So many stairs...the price of beauty, I suppose. It was SO worth it when we reached the top! =)











Hello God. ;)

Giving my photography skills another shot... ;)

"Winter is an etching,

spring a watercolor,

summer an oil painting,

and autumn a mosaic of them all."
~Stanley Horowitz

In the past few months I've also met someone super special. Brad and I were set up on a blind date by a mutual friend and what do you know?? It totally worked. ;)

October kicked off with Lauren's 24th birthday! We had a fun girls afternoon at Pure Taqueria watching football and drinking margaritas. Happy birthday Sis! ;)

Finally bringing us to the present, was my most recent trip to Seattle, WA. Seattle was by far one of the coolest US cities I've ever been. It has a culture unlike any other and amazing beauty. The people of Seattle put southerners and southern hospitality to shame...I've never met friendlier people in my life.

First stop on my Seattle trip: Pike Place Fish Market...home of the famous FISH! book, where you're bound to see the workers tossing fish amongst eachother. The excitement and postive vibe was absolutely incredible and truly inspiring. :)

Pike Place Market is not, however, only fish. It has the most beautiful, stunning produce, flowers and artwork I have EVER seen! Take this fruit stand, for example. They were handing out samples of the juiciest apples I have ever tasted.

A second produce stand with delicious brussel sprouts! Even the lizards are into the fabulous produce. :)

Pikes Place Market also contained the most amazing assortment of flowers I've ever seen. Absolutely breath-taking! Half of these flower I had never seen before in my life!

Peppers galore! Have you ever seen something as colorful and gorgeous!? I'm sure they'd make you're mouth hot as fire, but they're pretty to look at. :)

And of course there's Seattle's hometown gem: Starbucks! This four-man band made this Starbucks a classic. Did I mention how cool the culture is in Seattle?!? ;)

This shot was taken coming into Seattle on the ferry. Definitely felt like I was on an episode of "Grey's Anatomy". :)


As you can see there's been a lot of excitement over the past 4 months. I apologize for being the worst blogger in America! I promise to try and update more often. =)

Love is in the air ;)

We had the honor of traveling to Evansville, IN (our old hometown) last weekend to be a part of beautiful wedding weekend for Patty and Ryan. Such a precious couple and the weekend could not have been more perfect. They had a gorgeous ceremony at their church and needless to say there wasn't a dry eye in the church when Patty's brother, John, escorted her down the aisle...
This wedding was perfect in every way. Congratulations Patty & Ryan! :)

This is the whole gang...John, Susan, Patty, me, Ryan and Lauren. It was SO great to see everyone! Hard to believe we've known eacother for 20+ years!!! ;) It's just crazy how time flies! It feels like just yesterday that we were little kids bundled up and laying in our old front yard at Christmas time singing Christmas songs around our decorated tree. ;)

Sunday morning we drove to New Harmony, IN and met Grandma, Uncle Ron & Aunt Marty for brunch. It was so nice to visit with them. We ate a fabulous brunch and then walked around historic New Harmony and the open-air church - so gorgeous! The perfect end to a perfect weekend shared with long-time friends and family. :)

Jet Setting :)

So I've realized I'm actually really bad at keeping up with this blog. So to bring everyone up to speed on the past couple of months I've still been traveling like crazy! Since my last post, I've been to San Diego, Los Angeles, Montreal, and Toronto. A few highlights... Toasting with Kevin & Keri as the sun sets over Del Mar, CA. In love with California! :) A trip to Cali wouldn't be complete without seeing these two. ;)
Good Morning Wine Country!!! Gorgeous Temecula!Laguna Beach

I feel so blessed to be able to travel to such INCREDIBLE places and really get to see the world! This summer is full of exciting adventures as well...Las Vegas, Denver, and more! More exciting updates and stories to come. I promise to get better at updating. :)

R & R in Hilton Head

After all the traveling I've been doing with work lately, I got to take a nice trip to Hilton Head for some good rest & relaxation last week. The weather was perfect all week - 75 degrees and sunny. We rode bikes all week, ate at fantastic restaurants, watched the Masters, and spent plenty of time in the sun at the beach as you can see... ;)

It was another PERFECT week in Hilton Head!