End of an Era

Our neighbors put their house on the market this week. I knew this day would come eventually, but it still makes me very sad.

We really lucked up when we moved to Jackson. This couple is about our age, got married about six months before we did, and we immediately hit it off.

We were with them when they first suspected they might be pregnant, then minutes after a test confirmed it, then hours after Brady came home from the hospital. Brady's first steps were (coincidentally) towards Derek, and now he clearly loves his Aunt Wizzie and Uncle Durka. He's like a little Dennis the Menace and will be walking over to visit us on his own pretty soon.

In the past five years we've run (I use that term that very, very loosely) a neighborhood association together, recovered from a tornado together, celebrated three 30th birthdays together, rung in four new years together, and spent thousands of hours drinking beer on the back deck together. I can't neglect to mention that they're also our built-in dog sitters when we're out of town, too. It's the perfect relationship. :)

It's been a great five years, and I can't blame them for moving. If our next neighbors are even half as cool as they are, we'll be alright.

Another GORGEOUS Spring Weekend

There goes another beautiful spring weekend in the books, folks. What a great few days to rest and relax!

Friday night we met some friends at Tico's steakhouse for a surprise 30th birthday party for our friend, Trey. That was actually our first time to go there, and we absolutely loved it! Great food and a great time!

Happy Dirty 30, Trey!
Saturday we went out on the reservoir with our friends Claire and Jeremy. They just bought a boat last week, and we were invited on the maiden voyage. What a fun time! The weather was gorgeous, the water a little rough, but it was a great afternoon out on the water.

We'd been itching to get on a boat for the first time this year and get some good sun! Um, mission accomplished, that's for sure.

We spent Sunday relaxing at the house, which was just as nice as the rest of the great weekend. That was weekend #1 of four in a row with no plans, and we enjoyed every minute of it. :)

Beautiful Easter Weekend

I know I'm a few days late, but I didn't want to miss recapping our wonderful Easter weekend. It started by taking a few hours off work on Friday and riding down to Hattiesburg with the top off the new Jeep. It was a BEAUTIFUL day and a thoroughly enjoyable road trip.

So, here's where it gets interesting... we were sitting around the firepit in my parents' backyard Friday night minding our own business when a giant owl swooped down and tried to grab their precious little dog, Ponji. (At least that's what we suspect. The owl did swoop down and drop something on the deck then made a sharp left turn and landed on a tree branch.) Um, SCARY!

The incident will now be forever referred to as "The Owl Adventure at 13 Leaf Lane." There was also a huge, full moon on Friday. I was spooked.

Saturday was gorgeous and we enjoyed a lovely shrimp boil at my granny's house. The food was great, and the Easter Bunny was very kind to us... Jelly Bellies, cash, and Abita Strawberry. :)

When we got back to Jackson Saturday afternoon we met some friends at Pelican Cove out on the reservoir to listen to the band, have a cold beverage, and watch the sun set over the Rez. What a nice day!
Sunday we went to Vicksburg for a good Easter dinner and egg hunt with Frances. She was actually old enough this year to get excited about finding the eggs. So cute!
It was just a great spring weekend with family and friends. The weather was perfect, and the company even better.

(Oh, and we got a brand new A/C unit last week. It's fantastic. You can practically see frost inside at 70 degrees. I'm in heaven.)

Good Times

We had a great weekend... went out to the lake Saturday morning for a big crawfish boil celebrating Katie and Neil's anniversary along with a few other couples. It was a great time!

We actually were in "Chillville" at Lake Albermarle, about 20 miles north of Eagle Lake. If I had cell phone service I would have loved to have checked in on Facebook at Chillville. Oh well... kind of in the middle of nowhere.

They had 400 pounds of crawfish, 100 pounds of shrimp and live music from the Patrick Smith Band. So much fun! We had some good quality Grey family time. :)

We came back early yesterday and spent the day working around the house. We planted our spring flowers, restained the front and carport doors, did some grocery shopping, all that kind of fun stuff.

The only downside is having to do it in a HOT house. Our air conditioning unit has to be replaced, and while it's been bearable for the most part, yesterday was a balmy 80 degrees inside our abode. Talk about almost miserable... it doesn't make for the best night of sleep, that's for sure. It could always be worse, I know, but this girl is ready to have a cool house again. :(

Wonderful Weekend

What a nice spring weekend! I headed to Hattiesburg for a short visit with my parents and a little girl time with some friends. We went to the USM baseball game (my first ever game, isn't that sad?) and then out for some drinks to catch up with more friends. Good times!
But the even bigger fun of the weekend was getting Derek a new car! He got a 2012 Jeep Wrangler Sahara Unlimited. It's 4-door, black with tan leather interior, and just so super nice. It was so exciting! We went to brunch and then rode out to the reservoir via the Natchez Trace to feel the wind in our hair with the top off. It's going to be a great vehicle to have!

We also went to the Museum of Natural History and then to see The Hunger Games (I forgot to mention that I read the entire first book of the series this weekend, too!) The movie was GREAT! It was absolutely the most productive Sunday I've had in a looooong time. I didn't take my usual Sunday afternoon nap, and it was actually really nice to just enjoy the day together.

I love nice spring weekends, and this one was absolutely perfect. I hope for a few more before it gets too hot!

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.