Luck O' the Irish

This weekend was the 30th annual Hal and Mal's St. Patrick's Day Parade in downtown Jackson. This is by far the best thing about living in Jackson, and this year we actually rode on a float in the parade and HAD A BLAST!

I don't think you realize exactly how huge that parade is until you see it from that perspective. There were people EVERYWHERE and the parade route seemed to go on forever.

It made for a very long day, but we made some new friends, saw some old friends, and just thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. Happy St. Paddy's Day!

SIX YEARS

Derek and I celebrated our sixth wedding anniversary this weekend, and what a perfect weekend it was!

We started the weekend with our second 5K on Saturday, this time the Jackson Young Lawyers' Legal Beagle run that went through our neighborhood. Derek set a PR (personal record, in runners' speak - HA!) of 28 minutes, and I actually set a PR of 44:02, which was 11 minutes faster than the first one I walked back in September. I actually ran a few spurts of this race, so I was quite proud of myself. :)

Saturday evening we went for some pre-dinner drinks at Julep before our anniversary dinner at Parlor Market. What a great night! We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and rounded the night off with more champagne and some wine that we brought back from Italy back at home.

Sunday we took it pretty easy with the exception of a wonderful 90-minute couple's massage. We really celebrated in style!

So, to Derek, happy anniversary, my love. I have enjoyed every minute of these six years with you and look forward to many, many more.

Springtime?

I apologize for being a bad blogger. I'm falling behind on my New Year's resolution to keep you up-to-date with all things Grey. Haha!

There just hasn't been anything too incredibly exciting to write about lately. A couple of weekends ago I helped host a baby shower for our friend Jennifer Lynne in Vicksburg. It was fun to see all our Vicksburg friends and love on Baby Lynlee who will be here in mid-April.

We've been spending a lot of time around crawfish lately... two weekends in a row, as a matter of fact. First at the Crawdad Hole with our friends Katherine and Paul (who we went to visit in D.C. a few months ago), and then at a crawfish boil this past weekend.

In true sprintime fashion, the pollen is everywhere and has had me sick as a dog the past week. My sinuses and allergies are DYING. I'm just suffering through with the help of some allergy medicine and Nyquil.

So, with crawfish and pollen abounding, it must be spring, right? Well I, for one, do not consider the seasons to TRULY change until the arrival of a special springtime treat...

I'm told by my "sources" that it should be arriving in central Mississippi in the next week or so. So, until that glorious day arrives, I'll just hang out here with the pollen and crawfish.

I'm so heartbroken...

My celebrity boyfriend was King of Bacchus this year at Mardi Gras. If you know me, you know how much it totally broke my heart that I missed seeing him. I almost cried when I found out.

We've been on an every-other-year Mardi Gras schedule since we first got married. We usually go with our friends Keever and Bobby who live down there and know how to do it right. The last time we went was 2010, a week after the Saints won the Super Bowl. That was pretty cool, to say the least.

We missed our scheduled year this time since we just got back from Vail the Monday before we'd need to leave for New Orleans on Friday. That would be too much.

BUT had I realized a little earlier that I could have had the opportunity to be T-H-I-S close to Will Ferrell, I might would have arranged it. Opportunity missed. I will survive... with a broken heart, but I'll survive.

COLORADO!

Last week Derek and I took a much-appreciated vacation to Colorado to visit our friends Jennifer and Matt and do some skiing. This is our second visit to the Denver area, the first one being when I first started blogging back in 2008. My, how time flies! :)

We flew in to Denver Wednesday night, spent some time at Matt and Jenn's fabulous new house then drove over to Vail early Friday morning for the weekend. On Friday Jennifer and I spent some quality time drinking mimosas in the snow at the bottom of the mountain and catching up while the rest of our group skied. It was so gorgeous.

Friday night we stayed in at our condo since we had gotten up so early that morning and were pretty worn out. We ordered a pizza and spent some time in the outdoor hot tub while the snow really came down. It was amazing... really one of those "remember everything about this" moments.

Saturday I wandered around the ski village while everyone else went up on the mountain. I was looking forward to some "me" time on this trip, and I enjoyed every minute of it. After we met for lunch Derek and I spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the area.

Saturday night was our "night out" in Vail Village. First of all, the Teva Winter Games were going on while we were there, so we were fortunate enough to catch some really cool snow competitions and live music.
We had an AMAZING dinner at Flame Restaurant inside the Four Seasons Hotel at Vail Village and then ended up in this cool little corner tavern in the village for some after-dinner drinks.
On Sunday we left Vail and stopped at Copper Mountain so Derek and I could do some tubing. That was a lot of fun, too, and something I wasn't actually scared to do. Ha!
All in all it really was an amazing vacation, and I'd say it ranks up there as one of the best we've taken. We even have talked about moving there! It was great to see Jennifer and Matt and spend some time as snow bunnies. I could definitely get used to that lifestyle, that's for sure. :)

Healthy

We have turned over a new leaf in the Grey household. We are going to be healthier and more active in 2012!

Derek's already been on this kick, but I just hopped on the bandwagon last week. We're cooking healthier (thanks to Pinterest) and eating less, drinking more water, the whole nine yards...

Last week I went to Pilates three times, and while that may not sound like much that's a lot for me! AND I went up and down a total of 760 stairs in our parking garage last week when I normally would just take the elevator.

I'm telling you this so I can hold myself accountable. In six days I lost four pounds. I'm happy with that!

So, here's to a happier, healthier me this year. I think a change like this can only mean good things to come.

Note to Self

Nine years ago today I started dating the man who would eventually become my husband. It just happened, and it was the last thing I was looking for at the time. And I clearly am very blessed today because of that. Looking back I see that it was all part of "the plan." Maybe not my plan at the time, but God's plan for my life.

I just need to be reminded that the best things in life often "just happen." It's all part of a plan that's way bigger than mine.

Sorry for being so vague, but I just had a moment of clarity today, and I thought writing about it would help me remember.

So, note to self: You have oh so very much to be thankful for, and if things don't happen exactly as you planned they would, so what?

I once heard that if you want to make God laugh just tell him your plans. He usually has something bigger and better in mind. I certainly won't challenge that.