snow in the southland

almost a week ago, we returned from our trip to atlanta. we had a spectacular time, in spite of frigid temps and snow. yep, snow! here's a condensed overview:

from the window of our landing plane, we could see snowflakes fluttering and we had to ask ourselves if our flight had gotten off-course somehow. there was no mistake, however - snow was falling in atlanta. luckily, our flight landed right before the airport shut down for 3 hours.

my lil bro was gracious enough to put us up and we appreciate him letting us take over part of his beautiful home. you've done well for yourself, buddy, and we're so proud of you!

we spent the first couple of days hanging out with mom - laughing, catching up and reminiscing - then headed down to grandmama and dondon's for more laughter, yummy meals and hours of hand and foot. i'm not much of a game player, but i'm learning to enjoy it and see it as a time to connect with loved ones. dad came over from huntsville, and it was great to see him and spend quality time together. we also got to spend time with uncle jimmy and dana - they are a riot! they reminded us of a younger version of grandmama and dondon!

our adventures took us to decatur saturday morning to meet up with our friend, mary frances and hang out with the other snow gawkers. downtown looked a lot like a snow globe. two days of snow in less than a week - who could've predicted that?!

our trip to atlanta was topped off with a wintry picnic hosted by mom and chris. he even took the role of grillmaster for the entire family despite the temp hovering in the 20s. we had a blast laughing and joking about the crazy things that happen in our lives (like granny getting rear-ended as she waited in a drive-thru and papa's neighbor being thrilled to receive a portable dishwasher he figured he could use when he goes camping) as we enjoyed yummy burgers and hotdogs.

being surrounded by so much love and acceptance was a truly beautiful experience. at times, it's easy to take our families for granted and fail to notice how very important they are in our lives. i'm grateful to have been raised by such wonderful, caring people and i consider myself lucky to have the opportunity to deepen and strengthen those relationships every chance i get.

i'm also thankful for my family's love for mn and acceptance of our relationship. i am truly blessed.

here are some photos – enjoy:

mn, dad, me, dondon and grandmama


dad & me


mn, granny, me and papa


me & mom


me & my "lil" bro


cousin jodi, me, aunt jenny and cousin morgan


aunt sherri & me (i think i'm saying "cheese")


we love and miss y'all very much!

is it really january?

as the post-holiday blues slowly loosen their grip on our emotions, we're emerging from a food-induced coma, the likes of which we've never seen before.

living up to her nickname, my girl was lucky to have two four-day weekends in a row, so we took advantage of the time by baking (we made our BEST cupcakes EVER!), cooking, popping jiffy pop popcorn on the stove (which i'd never done before -- see picture below), movie-watching, people-watching, neighborhood-exploring and enjoying each other's company.

oh, and for the first time in 80 years, it snowed in portland on christmas day! it was so beautiful to watch the flakes lazily fall outside our window!

but now it's back to reality, back to the fitness center, back to the dreaded winter rain, back to working five days a week, back to life as we know it.... thankfully, our trip to atlanta is less than two weeks away, so we're excited about visiting family and friends.

as always, we're sending lots of love and hugs across the miles...the girlz