The Brimer's [bry-mer]

Beautiful Baby Shower and Samantha Visit

2009-12-08T12:12:00.000-05:00

Several weekend ago I went to a gorgeous baby shower for a co-worker. She is having twins (a boy and a girl) and for those of you that don't know she is also the one who's house recently flooded here in Atlanta. I was really happy for her that she had a great turn out! After the shower my best friend from college, Samantha came in for a quick visit. Unfortunatly I didn't get any pictures but we had a great time shopping and going to dinner with a couple of my girlfriends here in Atlanta!

Happy Halloween!

2009-12-08T11:44:00.000-05:00

I'll be honest, I'm pretty happy we had a low key Halloween. We didn't really want to spend the money so we just stayed in and actually my mom and his parents came to Atlanta that Saturday night...it was pretty spontaneous! I still had to buy Dozer a costume though and carve a pumpkin so we did!

We decided to carve this pumpkin face because we thought it looked like somone that was about to get married. Excited with a smile but also feeling a little crazy and overwhelmed!

See the resemblance ;)

Poor Dozer wanted to get to the pumpkin so bad, he sat under the table and kept looking at it through the glass.

We thought since Dozer like to get in trouble around the house we'd make him an inmate

Mikey and Candace Visit ATL

2009-12-08T11:34:00.000-05:00

The weekend after our shower Mikey (Josh's best man) and Candace came to visit us in Atlanta. We never get to spend couples time with them because it's always in Knoxville when we are with a bunch of other people. It was also Mikey's birthday so it was a perfect weekend for them to come down. We just hung out at the house on Friday night, watched football on Saturday and took him to a comedy show on Saturday night. We had a great time with them as usual!

Josh is wearing the yellow tobogin Candace got Mikey

Birthday hugs for the birthday boy!

Couples Shower

2009-12-08T11:29:00.000-05:00

Yes is was a long time ago but I'm sure everyone can relate...it's been SO busy lately!! Here are pics from a really fun night back in October. Our best friends Hayley and Travis hosted it at their house and about 30 of our friends came. We had a blast!

Me with my best friends

The bride and groom, Josh being goofy as usual

Josh was very entertaining while opening gifts

Me with my matrons!

Josh and I with his sisters

5 Years with a Wonderful Company!

2009-10-20T20:34:00.006-04:00

Last week I had the honor of attending Josh's Staff Recognition Ceremony for 5 years of service at CFA. It was a beautiful ceremony in the atrium at the corporate office. Seriously, I couldn't believe the how nice this was. We are so blessed that Josh has the opportunity to work for such an amazing company. The pics are a little blurry because I turned my flash off, I didn't want to be that girl :)
Josh was the first person to be called, he's standing in line here waiting.
Dan Cathy giving him his pin.
After having our picture taken with Truitt and Dan Cathy we walked into an amazing ballroom. Everything was SO beautiful, I couldn't believe it.

Our table centerpiece

I'm so proud of you Josh! Congrats on five years of hard work and many accomplishments. I know this is just the beginning!

2009-10-20T20:19:00.003-04:00

Well I must say I thoroughly enjoyed our favorite football weekend of the year! Josh on the other hand...not so much! We had a great time at the game this year. Despite the weather we got up early and went to tailgate for our most anticipated football game of the season. Our seats were great and we had a wonderful. I can't believe it's the only game I've been to all year :(
Me and my mom

Halftime, Josh discouraged, me excited!!
My brother and mom
Jason and Meredith

GO VOLS
Josh pouting :(
Jason's roommate Dominick and his girlfriend Christine, they both went to UGA and came in town for the game with Jason :)

Josh isn't a fan of this picture but I love it! Dozer says GO VOLS!

Meeting sweet EJ

2009-10-20T20:12:00.004-04:00

A couple of weeks ago our sweet friends, LeeAnne and Craig invited us over for dinner to celebrate our engagement and meet their new baby boy, EJ. We had a great time hanging out with them and eating a delicious meal prepared by a new mother nonetheless. Thank you all for a great time!
Josh being goofy for the camera..I love it!
Me and EJ
The Holman's

Result of a bulldog tailgating

2009-10-20T20:07:00.002-04:00

I meant to post this on the last one but forgot. He was SO sleep that night. He has not slept that hard in a long time. Of course Mommy had to cover him up and tuck him in.

Dozer's 1st Georgia game

2009-10-20T18:59:00.002-04:00

A couple of weekends ago we took Dozer to his very first Georgia game in Athens. Josh and I were going to meet some friends for the LSU game but decided at the last minute we didn't want to spend the money on tickets and didn't want to leave Dozer here alone for most of the day....so that resulted in taking him to a town where he is a genuine celebrity. We had so much fun showing him off, other than me being concerned about the heat. He was SO patient with everyone wanting to pet him and take pictures with him. It was a great experience and we were so proud to take him.

We saw a little girl puppy, she was precious and wanted to play with Dozer SO bad!
I think this is so cute!

Brimer Family Vacation!

2009-10-20T18:43:00.002-04:00

A little behind as usual but anways at the end of September we took our annual Brimer family vacation to Garden City. There were 12 of of this year and we had a great time. We basically relaxed by the ocean during the day, ate great and hung out as a group at night. What more could you ask for. Thank you Brimer's for another wonderful vacation!

We had a crab in our pool so Josh came to the rescue one day, Bella didn't want the crab to get her.
Our pet crab that Josh's dad took back out to the ocean.
Bella wanted to burry her Daddy
She had so much fun in the sand and chasing birds.

Labor Day/Birthday

2009-09-24T22:34:00.004-04:00

Labor Day weekend Mom and all of the Brimer's came to visit us in Atlanta. We just hung out on Friday night. The above picture is when Josh picked Dozer up like this to love on him and Bella wanted to do the same.

On Saturday we watched football all day, then Chelsey made us a delicious halibut dinner for my b-day celebration. Jason and Meredith also came over. Mer worked on my makeup for the wedding hence why I have so much on in the picture below. It was Dozer's birthday too so he got to open his present.
Cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory, YUM-O
Everyone singing :)
On Sunday I got to go to my first NASCAR race. I've been dying to go so I could say I experienced it and it was SO much fun! Just the kids-Me, Josh, Chelsey, Erin and Daniel went. We got there early to tailgate with the crowd and it was a really fun experience.
Atlanta Motor Speedway
I love Carl Edwards but sadly he went out early in the race.
Don't I look happy to be there?
This was also Josh's first race. We had so much fun!

Celebrating!

2009-09-24T21:53:00.008-04:00

Wow, do I have some catching up to. We have been so busy lately but having so much fun. I would love to tell you every little detail but a summary will have to do for now :) This is also out of order, it takes too much time to get everything just perfect. The above picture was 2 weeks after we got engaged, we went home to Knoxville to celebrate with everyone. I also found my dress that weekend! This is Josh and I with his little sister Chelsey, a bridesmaid.

That Saturday night in Knoxville Josh and I went to eat a celebratory dinner with Dad and Robin and went back to their house for some good quality "visiting" oh and wedding planning ;)
Friday on the way to Knoxville we stopped in Athens, TN to see Josh's mom and his grandparents. His grandmother was at home recovering from brain surgery. We got to show them our engagment album and celebrate with Bev!

The weekend after I got engaged my Mom and best friends, Erin and Hayley (also Matrons of Honor), drove to Atlanta to celebrate with us and do some fun wedding stuff in ATL. This is us after hugging and them looking at my ring!
Mom came on Friday night so we got some good quality Mother/Daughter time in! Again, looking at my ring :)
I love this picture! I couldn't wait to get out there and give her a hug. I think she was excited too, she didn't even bring any of the stuff from her car.
The week after getting engaged some of my girlfriends in Atlanta had me over for a little dinner. This is Brie, I known her since we worked together 4.5 years ago.
Morgan and Anna hosted the dinner. I have known them since college from UGA.

We have had so much fun celebrating with everyone and are overwhelmed by all of the love and support from everyone. We are so happy and so blessed.

Check out our wedding website. It's pretty simple since we aren't doing the traditional wedding but it's still fun and has some details.

http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/JoshBrimer&AshleyCrabtree

Bling Bling Luncheon!

2009-09-13T18:58:00.005-04:00

Did I mention I have THE BEST friends in the world! Well I do! The day after I got engaged my childhood friends mothers were getting manicures when they started talking about Josh and I. They have know us both since elementary school and of course were so excited to hear the good news. They ended up throwing a luncheon for my mom and I at The Creamery. It was SO sweet of them to go out of their way to help my mom and I celebrate this special time. We've all waited for this day for a long time and it meant the world to me that wanted to celebrate with me! The above pictures are my childhood friends.

My mom and I with the hostesses
Bride-to-be and Mother-of-the-Bride
My grandmother, Anut Tia and sweety pie Hailey came as well!
Me and Robin!
Robin looking at my ring :)
Getting my new scrapbook for all my showers and events...I LOVE scrapbooks, can you tell.
Robin got my mom and I the cutest shirts! They are for "beach brides" can you tell how much I LOVE it :) Thank you again Robin...I can't wait to where it on my wedding day!
Josh's sister Erin and sweet Bella Boo. Erin is the reason I posted so many pictures...she was nice enought to come and document all of it for me.
Yummy Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Sherbert and Thumbprint cookes, SO good!
The beautiful table Bunnie and Angie decorated

The gift table, thank you everyone for everything but mostly for bringing so my JOY to my life!

We're Engaged!

2009-08-24T14:35:00.003-04:00

Yes, that's right, after 9 1/2 years Josh popped the question and I gladly said yes! He is so worth the wait and we are so excited about officially spending the rest of our lives together. So excited in fact we have planned a destination wedding to St. Thomas in January!!!! We will be getting married on our 10 year anniversary!

I love him so much! Thank you Josh for all that you do and for such a special engagement! I love you!

Catching Up!

2009-08-10T10:24:00.010-04:00

Sorry it's been so long but here's a quick update of the past few weeks. Things have slowed down so Josh and I have had some time to spend with our friends here in Atlanta and relax a little. The weekend after Hayley and Travis came we just had a relaxing weekend with dinner at home on Friday, Josh golfed with Jason and his roommates on Saturday then we met up with all of them for dinner later that night. We've been able to to go to the pool on Sunday's too which nice! The next weekend we left Atlanta on Saturday morning and drove to Johnson City, TN for the HUGE Brimer family reunion. They are all a little spread out so they make it a point for everyone to get together once a year. It's always a great time with that many Brimers, everyone is so unique and there is never a dull moment.

The first few pictures were taken by Josh's sister Erin with her new fancy camera.
I love this one.

And this one (Josh and his dad)

And this one (Bella)

girls watching the boys play football

cousins and uncles playing football

cousin Linda singing opera at Mamaw's request.

sweet Bella posing for the camera. She saw it and just walked up and said "Cheese"

Bella singing "Jesus loves me" and "Old McDonald"...so cute!

One of the families are all musically talented so they had a friend from Dollywood come place the banjo, fiddle and guitar. This is him and Josh's aunt singing some gospel music.

There were 42 people there and we were missing 4 cousins and a couple of others. These pictures aren't the best, there were 14 people snapping cameras and the sun in our eyes.

Mamaw Darlene and her 6 children (Josh's Dad is top row, far right)

Erin, Daniel and Bella get their own family picture now!

Bob's family

The Floridians

Bob's youngest sister, Donna-her son is a pro motorcross racer so we don't usually get to see him...this was a treat this year and that is his girlfriend.

The musically talented family. Sara is missing because she is traveling the world with Swingle Singers. If you haven't heard of them check out their site and listen to some of their music, it's all a capella and so beautiful!

http://www.swinglesingers.com/

George's family minus Wesley (in Afghanistan) and Joel (fire fighter training

All the grandkids-21 total

We had a great time, great food, 6 wonderful families!

On August 2nd Josh had his 5 year anniversary at Chick-fil-a. In October they will have a formal celebration for all the milestone anniversary's (I get to go and I'm so excited) and this is the Bio that will be printed in the book. I'm so proud of him and we are so blessed he gets to be apart of such an amazing company! Congrats on 5 years of hard work and dedication Josh!

Josh Brimer
Information Security and Network Analyst

As a kid growing up in Knoxville, Tennessee all Josh Brimer really knew about Chick-fil-A was that he loved the food. Later, as a student at the University of Georgia, Josh realized that in addition to great food, Chick-fil-A also had a fantastic IT Department. “I worked as an intern in the summer of 2003, but after graduation I didn’t have any firm offers,” he recalls. Just as he was about to pack his bags and head back to Knoxville, Josh got the call about a new opening in IT.
For the last five years, Josh has been happily plugging away at various IT projects, not the least of which was the credit card rollout in 2004. “That’s all I worked on my first two years here,” he says. Today he keeps Chick-fil-A connected to the Internet, but also continues project work such as implementing the new phone system and designing the network for the Oakmont buildings.
While Josh says he loves working with the “all-stars in the field of IT,” what he really loves about Chick-fil-A is the spirit of the company. One day, after inviting his grandmother to lunch at the home office, Truett himself exhibited the grace that makes Josh so proud to work here. “He was hosting a group of businessmen in the Atrium, but as soon as he saw my grandmother he came right over to introduce himself and ask how her day was going. It still blows my mind and she still talks about it to this day!” Josh says he remains humbled by the servant spirit inherent to the company – and it keeps him focused on the Christian values by which he was raised. “My job is to keep people connected to the Internet, but I know my real purpose – and Chick-fil-A allows me to be true to that.”
Words of Wisdom: Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:5-6 (KJV)

I've also started a supper club with some girlfriends here in Atlanta. We wanted to start small and will add some more as we go along so. I hosted the first on this past Wednesday and it turned out great. It was just Brie, Morgan and Morgan's roommate Anna that I know from UGA. I have to brag on Josh because he cooked everything while we hung out and even cleaned up afterwards. He spoils me and the fetuchinni carbonera he made was delicious! Thanks babe, your the best. I didn't get any pictures but we are going to try to do one once a month so I'll get some pics.

When we went to the Braves game with Hayley and Travis a couple of weekends ago we ran into one of our dear friends, Courtney! He hadn't seen her in so long. Josh was friends with her in college and she dated another one of our friends for a long time so we had many great time during college. Anyways, we've done the typical let's get together exchanges over facebook for awhile but nothing ever came of it (no excuse but we live 45 minutes apart) so when we saw each other and realized how much we missed each other we made it a point to get together. Her and her fiance (whom we hadn't met) came down this past Friday. We just grilled out at the house and sat on the porch people watching. They live in a small suburb outside of Atlanta so they enjoyed the eclectic mix of people that walk thru Midtown! We had a great time, Josh and Josh ( yes, that's her fiances name) really hit it off and kept us laughing most of the night. It's so great to get together with old friends and just get right back to where you left off!

Ok and last but not least on Saturday morning I got up and went to volunteer at a local boutique here in Atlanta. I received an email to help donate clothes for needy girls in Atlanta that couldn't afford to go back to school shopping this year and it just tugged at my heart. I can remember how exciting it was to go back to school shopping with my mom and it just broke my heart that some girls don't get to enjoy that. So anyways, I emailed about how I could get involved and ended up going the day of to help be a personal shopper. It was so much fun and very rewarding to see them smiling and giving you hugs because you just made going back to school a little easier! Here is a link to the news coverage. I am in it briefly so keep your eyes peeled for the blond with a ponytail smiling really big!

http://www.cbsatlanta.com/video/20330988/index.html

We finished the weekend off with date night, dinner at our favorite...Real Chow Baby, then to see Funny People and went to the pool with Jason and Morgan on Sunday! I have to tell this story, the other movie I was wanting to see was Ugly Truth, so when we walked up to the counter I said 2 for Ugly People. It was really funny!

Going to Miami this weekend with our friends Daniel and Christy. It was kind of spontaneous but flights were SO cheap so off we go, stayed tuned for pictures next week!

Geez, sorry this post was so long...I'm just rambling away! Have a great week everyone!

Weekend with the Tipton's

2009-07-21T13:59:00.007-04:00

Josh and I had the honor of being the first people to host Hayley and Travis as husband and wife this past weekend! Travis is a big Mets fan so when he found out months ago that they were playing in ATL he ordered tickets! It's also the first time Hayley's been down since I moved into the house so that was exciting too! Thank you Mom for helping me make it look so good. Friday we took them to another one of our favorite resturants, Noche, in VA Highlands. Tapas are always a good time and SO yummy at this place. Saturday we had a brief outing at the pool then off to the game. Umm, can you all believe the weather this weekend, we couldn't have asked for anything better! Anyways, the game was interesting...Travis is an obnoxious Mets fan and Josh is an obnoxious Braves fan so you can imagine Hayley and I trying to hide under the seats the whole time. It was all in good fun and entertaining none the less. Unfortunately the Braves lost but we were happy for Travis since this was his first trip to Turner field. Afterwards we took them to one of Atlanta's famous landmarks, The Varsity, for some really greasy (said with a z) burgers and dogs. You always realize how much you miss people when they come visit in ATL as opposed to seeing them briefly back home. When they come here you get to spend some really great quality time and make some great memories! Come back soon Tipton's!

The Tipton's at Noche

Dozer got some great exercise in this weekend with Josh and Travis combined, this is him drinking water while laying down.

Travis sat this way most of the game, very intense!

Love these two!

This was actually my first time at the Varsity and I've lived here 4 years. Josh never took me because of an experience he had there before...honestly now I know why ;)

Josh trying to be creative with photography but this is Hayley's favorite buliding in ATL and the one you used to be able to see from the balcony of my 1st apt...good times!

Josh and Travis always goofing off. They have so much energy and made us laugh all weekend!

Love the hat Josh!

Some cathing up to do!

2009-07-21T13:36:00.003-04:00

Sorry I'm a little behind on posting but things have been a little hectic lately! So to catch you up...the weekend after 4th of July my Mom came to stay with us. Josh was going home that Saturday for Chelsey's birthday so I needed someone to come keep me company :)

She got in on Thursday night and we made a casserole with some fresh veggies from her garden and grilled pork chops. Friday afternoon Mom and I spent some time in VA Highlands going to all the little shops there. It was a different trip for me because usually Mom and I are literally shopping but on this trip we were just looking :( Stupid economy! We still had a great time and I hadn't taken her to that part of town before so we just enjoyed the day together. Josh stayed in ATL Friday night and treated us to a nice dinner. We took Mom to one of our favorite resturants, TWO Urban Licks! It's so yummy, we've been several times and always love what we get. Josh left early Sat morning and Mom and I got and and "summer cleaned" the entire day! Have I ever told you how wonderful my mom is? I know most of you know that already but she worked all day helping me get my house cleaned. We had been traveling so much I sort of neglected it and it really needed it. Don't get me wrong, I helped all day too but it was much more detailed because of mom. That night we enjoyed a quick visit from Jason and Meredith, some pizza and a movie. It was an all around great weekend, fun yet productive. Thank you again Mom for all that you do!!
Josh and I at TWO

Our yummy appetizer, not sure why I took a picture of this :)

The fabulous lighting at TWO, one of my favorite parts, and the back wall opens up to the outside and overlooks the city skyline....NICE!

The famous grill/rotisserie area

Mom and I stuffed from our yummy dinner!

Sorry, I didn't take any pics of us cleaning...I know...it's a shame ;)

Happy 2nd Birthday Bella!

2009-07-09T10:03:00.003-04:00

Sunday was Bella's 2nd Birthday! We celebrated at Bounce House and I just don't understand were kids get all of that energy. She didn't stop the whole time she was there, running from one station to the next. I also didn't realize how hard it was going to be to take pictures with a digital camera that has a long delay when taking pics. I tried thought and got a few funny ones of Josh acting like a kid again, only just to entertain Bella of course, not because he thought it was fun ;)
That's Josh and Bella coming down the slide, does't he look graceful. I think it was on this course where he accidentally punched himself in the mouth :)

That's Bella coming down the slide, she wanted to do everything "my self", good for her!

I literally had to run after her and catch her to get this pic. Look how hot and sweaty Josh is. This is after he got out of the bouncy one where the kids where pelting him with balls.

Happy Birthday Sweet Bella!

A surprise 4th of July Wedding

2009-07-09T09:46:00.004-04:00

That's right, I attended my first surprise wedding this weekend! Josh and I got to the lake on Wednesday night and Thursday morning Erin (his older sister) told us that her and Daniel were getting married on Friday! They didn't tell anyone before hand! Erin has never wanted a big wedding, didn't want to go thru the stress of planning and all the cost that was invloved so they decided to have a very simple wedding on Daniel's parents house boat. We were planning to take the house boat anyways with all of the family and friends to go watch fireworks so they just thought this was the perfect time. Everyone was going to be there anyways, the backdrop being a beautiful sunset and fireworks to end with! This has been a long time coming, they have been together for 8 years so after everyone got past the shock of the surprise they were all so excited for them. It was very simple and so very sweet! Congrats Erin and Daniel!

Here are a few pics!

I think this is so cute!

I caught the bouquet again...actually Erin just handed it to me :)

Paula (the Brimer's best friends), my Mom and Josh's Mom

Hayley's Wedding Weekend

2009-06-30T10:59:00.005-04:00

This past weekend was Hayley's wedding weekend. I left town on Thursday morning and drove straight to the farm where it was being held. That evening they had a little get together at their place since 8 groomsmen were coming in from out of state. It was a great time to get to meet the guys I was about to spend the next couple of days with. For those of you that don't know Hayley and I have been best friends since 6th grade and I was her Maid of Honor so this was a very special weekend for me. Everything was beautiful, she did a great job of basically planning this whole weekend herself. It was hot but once we got going we didn't care, we just wanted to be there to celebrate with her and Travis! Enjoy the pics!
Friday morning we all went to get our nails done, compliments of Hayley. She has been going to this same nail salon since high school.

Then she treated us to lunch at Litton's. Yum-O!!

Later that night was rehearsal dinner. It was held on the farm where the wedding was and Hayley's Dad, along with another guy cooked steaks to order with twice baked potatoes and salad. It was very laid back on the large patio overlooking the farm and mountains. Just Perfect!

This is Josh and I at dinner, he drove straight there from ATL. I think the camera setting got switched so it's a little dark :(

Saturday morning Erin and I were up bright and early to be back at the farm to get our hair done. I have so say that Hayley's hair was the most beautiful wedding hair I've ever seen. So looked gorgeous!

The ceremony was out on the lawn with the beautiful view in the background and the reception was under a tent on the other side of the lawn. The band was awesome, the bbq was delicious, and everything was so much fun!

Just Married!

I was so happy that my Dad and Robin came!

First Dance!

Father/Daughter Dance

My mom, Carrie's mom, Erin mom...don't they all look beautiful!

Me and my Mom!

My best friends...Max, Erin, Hayley, Me and Carrie

Giving my speech, I think Hayley liked it...she cried!

Josh and I, look at the view!

I caught the bouquet ;)

Happy Birthday Jason!

2009-06-30T10:57:00.002-04:00

This past Friday was Jason's birthday. Unfortunately I wasn't able to celebrate this weekend with him since it was Hayley's wedding but he came over last Tuesday. I made him dinner and an ice cream sundae. We will celebrate this weekend in Knoxville with Mom and Meredith so that makes me feel better. I hope you had a wonderful birthday Jason, love you!

Josh and Ashley Weekend

2009-06-30T10:49:00.003-04:00

Two weekends ago Josh and I spend a nice relaxing weekend in ATL by ourselves. Friday we cooked dinner in, watched movies and were quite lazy (which was the point). Saturday we went to the drive-in for date night. We packed sandwiches, cucumber salad, strawberries and watched UP. It was a great weekend and I'm looking forward to another one just like it! The braves game that got rained out was resceduled for that Monday, Jason couldn't get off work early enough so he was nice enough to let Josh and I go. Thank you Jason, we had a great time!

Josh eating at the drive-in

Our view from our seats at the Braves game

Brimer Family Visit

2009-06-16T15:29:00.004-04:00

This past weekend we had the enitre Brimer clan come visit us in ATL. This included Josh's parents, 2 sisters, Daniel, Orin and Bella. We had a great time with everyone. Friday night Me, Josh, Chels, Erin and Bella went out to dinner while the rest of the group was traveling. Saturday while Josh, Bob, Chels and Orin went golfing the rest of us took Bella to the park. They had a farmers market, playground, and lots of Dogs (she loves Dogs) for Bella to enjoy! And boy does she LOVE Dozer!!!! That's all you heard all weekend...Dozie...Dozie tome ere. Josh's sister Erin took most of the pics this weekend so when she sends them to me I'll post more. She has a new awesome camera and has been taking some classes so she got some really good ones of everyone! Saturday night after all taking naps we grilled steaks and ate a delicious birthday meal for Bob. We had a great time as usual and loved getting to spend so much time with everyone (a plus when people visit us in ATL as opposed to us coming to Knoxville)!

I love how this picture turned out!
Bella loved queso dip!

And the swing

The ice cream cake torte I made for Bob's birthday. Bella calls him Doodle :)

Quick trip to Knoxville

2009-06-16T15:02:00.002-04:00

2 weekends ago I made a quick trip to K-town. I left early Saturday morning and drove straight to Lenoir City to see my cousin finish his 65 mile bike ride. He's been training this past year and he did great finishing in 4 hours which was his goal. I did manage to get a great farmers tan while standing out there waiting on him :) After that it was off to meet Dad for lunch at Red Robin. We had a great time catching up and I always wish there was more time in a weekend because after that is was off to run some errands for my Maid of Honor duties then to dinner with Mom and my friend Carrie who's recently moved back to Knoxville! Then Sunday was Hayley's bridal shower at the church. She had a great turn out and got some really great gifts!

Rusty just after crossing the finish line

His fan club

Carrie, Me and Erin and the shower

Maid of Honor, Bride, Matron of Honor

Bridesmaids-Laura (cousin), me, Haylye, Erin and Piper (Hayley's little sister) *missing is the grooms best friend from New York.

Hayley opening the Lenox platter mom and I got her!

Our Luck!

2009-06-16T14:46:00.002-04:00

So my brother is a huge Yankees fan and in order to secure Yankee's/Braves tickets he ended up buying a flex plan which got him tickets to some other games. So he chose the Cubs series which got off to a great start. Tuesday and Wednesday games both went into extra innings so we were excited to go to this game (Thursday). Well it started pouring on our way there and didn't let up the entire time. We decided to go on in at one point, we were already there, and we spent $30 on chicken fingers and fries just to eat at the ballpark that we frequent. Oh well, we still had a great time and Jason gets to exchange the tickets for another game so all is good. Just another night at the ballpark!

So cute!

2009-06-02T14:35:00.002-04:00

I was just emailed this picture of my cousins adorable little girl, Hailey! Isn't she so sweet? Dad, doesn't she look like Whitney when she was a baby! Ok now I feel normal in the blogging world since I just blogged about a baby ;)

Have a great rest of the week!

Minor Obsession

2009-06-02T11:08:00.008-04:00

Just as a reminder this is what the "flower bed" (if you want to call it that) looked like when I moved in.

Working in the flower bed has become somewhat of a minor obsession of ours. On Sunday after getting Jason moved we decided to continue the process of sprucing up the flower bed. Me, Mom and Josh took a quick trip to Home Depot and had it done in no time. This first pic was taken awhile back before we evened out the money grass and planted seed in front of it where it was bare. Take a look at it all coming together now. It's a process but we are very pleased.

Before
After- We have GRASS!

I love hydrangas so I potted one

This one is along the sidewalk over in the shade surrounded by daylillies donated by mom.

Fern and Toppsy Turvy

Gardenia blooming, azaleas, lillies, hostas, begonias....I love it!!!

I didn't get pics of this but we have a small bed of lillies, mom donated the bulbs since she had so many and she even planted up a tomoto and green pepper plant in pots. We have lots going on and I love it! I'll update later if everything lives in this GA heat!

Moving Weekend

2009-06-02T10:37:00.005-04:00

I have to admit this weekend was a little bittersweet for me. When Jason moved in with me 9 months ago I don't think any of us thought it would be as long and as fun as it ended up being. The intention was for him to get settled in ATL and be able to figure out the best living situation before jumping the gun. Well that is exactly what happened so as sad as I am to see him go, I'm really happy for him that he's found a great house, in a great location with guys from work that he has lots in common with. Jason, I'm so proud of you and your accomplishments in your job and your drive to make something of yourself in a new environment. Thank you for being a great roommate (most of the time) and making the past 9 months of getting settled into the house so much fun. I'm really going to miss you, even though you only live 15 minutes away :)

For those of you that don't know, Jason is my younger brother.

So anyways, I have Friday's off now and Meredith was in town to help so Friday we spent all day running errands and getting all the stuff that he needed, all the while Mom was pulling a Uhaul from Knoxville to Atlanta all by herself. Way to go MOM!! Once she got into town the 3 of us went to clean. How come when you rent a place they always say it's move in ready, and when you get there it's clearly not...I guess we have diferent views on what is "clean". Anyway, it wasn't gross just a lot of surface cleaning. All of the guys-Jason, Josh, Jesse and Dominick got off work and came over to get the heavy stuff unloaded. It went pretty quickly with that many guys. Overall it was a pretty easy move and I really like the house. Hope these pictures can give you an idea.
Sorry, I forgot to flip this once so look sideways, the kitchen...completely redone.

Great backyard, Jason loves the wall

Jason ended up taking the master bedroom so he is the only one with the bathroom in his room, this is his

Obviously Jason's room with the power T, the other guys are from Georgia and Auburn, that should be interesting

Upstairs living room, keep in mind that they aren't completely unpacked although I wouldn't be surprised if it still looked the same next time I'm there.

Other view of upstairs living room looking into the dining area. That is a fireplace in the middle.

Downstairs living room, this pic really doesn't do it justice. It's a large room with a wet bar, fireplace and a HUGE laundry room off to the side.

Hayley's Bachelorette Weekend in Vegas!

2009-05-26T16:24:00.002-04:00

Just got back from a quick weekend in Vegas. Actually I got back Sunday evening but anyways we had a blast as usual. I arrived a few hours before everyone else and spent time getting the room decorated. I have to thank my extremely thoughtful boyfriend for the room. You see, I REALLY wanted to upgrade to a "GO" room at the Flamingo because it was white and pink and just perfect for a bachelorette weekend as opposed to a dull, dark, regular room at an old hotel. My plan all along was to see if there were any upgrades upon my arrival but Josh was ahead of me. He was in Vegas all last week for an IT conference and on his last day (the day before I arrived) he went by the flamingo and paid for our upgrade because he knew how important it was to me. I cannot tell you my level of excitement when he told me and then when the room was completely decorated, I started crying because everything was just perfect, THANK YOU JOSH! See below
The girls got in early evening and we spent the next few hours getting ready and having a mini lingerie shower. For dinner we took her to KOI, a sushi resturant that was delicious and at Planet Hollywood, one of my favorite casino's (very young and hip feel). This picture below was taken before dinner at Planet Hollywood.

On Saturday we rented a cabana out by the pool. If you have the extra money cabana's are the way to go. I personally wouldn't be able to spend that much time outside in 100 degree weather but then you also get great service, a TV, a comfortable place to sit and of course get to feel special. Because of this we were able to spend the entire day outside which was relaxing and so fun!

That evening we did a quick and casual dinner at Jimmy Buffets Margaritaville since it was at our hotel. Then off to show the Wynn hotel to the girls. It's a fabulous hotel that everyone must go see if you haven't. I must stay there the next time I go to Vegas, it's amazing. This is Hayley and I at dinner.

Viva Las Vegas!

Matt and Allison Wedding

2009-05-20T09:04:00.003-04:00

Matt is Jason's childhood friend and was his college roommate. This past weekend Mom and I attended the wedding and Jason was obviously a groomsman. The ceremony was at the church we grew up in (only in the new large sanctuary) and the reception was at Holston Hills Country Club. I can't believe all these little guys that used to run around my mom's house are grown up and getting married. Yet again, something that makes me feel older. Anyways we had a great time. Allison is precious, she is so petite and a very sweet girl. We are so happy for them both. Here are some pics.
Brother and Sister

Jason and Meredith

Jason and Matt

Mom and Jason

Me and Matt

There were SO many people there, I think they invited 400 so it was hard to get pics, this is one of the cute ones though.

Interesting Numbers

2009-05-18T12:01:00.004-04:00

Of the 26 weekends from Jan 1-June 27th...

Josh and I have traveled 13 of those weekends, had 8 weekends with visitors in Atlanta and 5 weekends in Atlanta to spend time alone. Now I'm not complaining because each of those weekends have been special and we've made great memories and enjoyed the time with family and friends but is this normal? Do you all travel that much and have so little time to just "be at home"? I'm just curious if it's because we live away from where we grew up or if your late 20's are just a busy time with lots of events and such.

No wonder my car is always in the shop :)

Stay tuned for pics from Jason's best friends wedding and it's off to Vegas this weekend for Hayley's Bachelorette Weekend, fun times!

Hilton Head Vacay!

2009-05-11T16:16:00.006-04:00

We just got back from a wondeful week in Hilton Head. My boss let us stay in her condo again this year and we had such a great time. We even got to take Dozer!!!! He has never been to the beach before and we don't usually get to take him on trips so this was an extra special treat! Relaxation was the theme for this trip and we did just that, laying out at the beach, eating dinner in most nights and just taking it easy!
Dozer ready to head to the beach!

I love this picture, his first time on sand!

I love this one too, not his first time on sand :)

Our family footprints

Daddy going with him to check out the ocean

Yuck!

Sunset at dinner over the intercoastal waterway

Our one night out for seafood. We didn't go out much because we didn't want to leave Dozer

Walking around the shops

I've always wanted to do professional pics with Dozer but couldn't justify the cost so I decided to do them ourselves. Mommy and Dozer in the dunes.

I love this one!

Daddy and Dozer in the dunes.

Our family

Grilling out one night.

Beach life is rough :)

On Friday our friends Daniel and Christy came from Statesboro to spend some time with us. On Saturday we went down to the crowded part of the beach only to feel old :) Lots of college students.

Having lunch at the beach.

I already want to go back!

Girls Weekend in Nashville

2009-05-11T16:00:00.003-04:00

The first weekend of May I took a quick trip to Nashville to see my college best friend and roommate, and to hang out with other girls we went to college with. It was great to see everyone and I got to meet Samantha and Jamie's new dog, Palmer...he's so sweet!
At dinner

Me, Carrie, Aftin, Calle and Samantha having a great time at dinner despite the rainy night.

Palmer, he's a goldendoodle :)

Saturday morning Aftin was sweet enough to host a brunch at her house 3 doors down from Samantha's. She invited some other local Nashville KD's that we haven't seen in awhile. It was a great time to catch up and eat delicious food (crepes and french toast)

I told the girls I wouldn't post this on facebook but I didn't say I wouldn't on my blog ;)

Life is too short!

2009-04-28T15:23:00.003-04:00

On Saturday our friend Kris was killed in a motorcycle accident. We knew Kris through our best friend Mikey, he is the lead singer and guitarist in Mikey's band. While we were lucky to have met and made some memories with such a nice guy we weren't near as close to him as Mikey was. They have been in this band together for 5 years so I'm sure you can imagine the friendship they have built throughout the years. This band meant everything to Mikey and he's unfortunately had to suffer the loss of 2 other best friends in his life. So this blog is to ask for your prayers for Kris's family and Mikey as they grieve this sudden tragic loss. Kris will be missed by so many people!

New Nephew and Couples Shower

2009-04-28T15:07:00.005-04:00

We had a great weekend yet a depressing (another post) weekend in Knoxville. On Saturday I was able to meet Brock, my new nephew. I know most of you that read this blog not only know this but are related to him as well. However, for those of you that are not aware Darby had Brock on Wednesday. He weighed 9lb 11oz and is just adorable. I love that when I met him he was already on a polo and shorts. So handsome! Darby you looked amazing and I really appreciate you all letting me come by to see him!
Glad to have a boy in the family!

So sweet!

Later that night we kicked off Hayley and Travis's wedding festivities with a couples shower at Erin's.

Bride and Groom

Matron, Bride and Maid

Travis got tools!

Josh and I got them their first set of dishes, I think Hayley was excited well and Travis too!

My handsome date!

Festival Filled Weekend

2009-04-28T14:59:00.003-04:00

Two weekends ago was our last weekend in Atlanta until June. We really took advantage of the warm weather and the location of our house by walking to the Dogwood Festival at Piedmont Park. We went Friday evening and Saturday afternoon. We love going to events like that, live music, all sorts of street vendors and lots of people.
In our matching black

Bev we took this for you. It's little doggy areas, we thought you might want one for the house boat :)

Easter Weekend

2009-04-17T10:08:00.006-04:00

We had a great Easter weekend getting to spend time with our family and friends. Friday night on the way in we stopped to have dinner with Dad and Robin at Bonefish, Yum-o! It was great to get to spend some time with them!

Check out Josh's awesome hat Dad got him, but don't let his GA friends see. He just so happened to be wearing the orange shirt too :)

After dinner we went by to see Bella boo. She was dying Easter eggs and wanted uncle Josh to join in on the fun.

She saw my camera and crawled in my lap and said "cheese" so I took this picture and really like the way it turned out!

Saturday morning Josh went to play golf and my friend Erin brought her gorgeous wedding album over. I really can't describe how beautiful this album is. Anyways, we left about 1:30 to attend a wedding in Townsend. Jordan is a childhood friend of Josh and I've been friends with him since high school. Jordan was also my college buddy. We went to almost all of the UT games together and he attended most of my sorority events with me if Josh's couldn't make it home. We don't get to see him that much anyone but he will always be a great friend of ours. They are a very outdoorsy couple, they met rock climbing and are always hiking or camping or doing something outside. This wedding certainly fit them as a couple. Ceremony in the woods, rustic cabin feel for the reception and blue grass music. We had a great time with old friends and wish Jordan and Lindsay the best. They are currently on a 6 month honeymoon. 4 days in Hawaii, then flying to CA and hiking the PCT to Canada. Better them than me :)

Jordan watching his bride arrive in the horse and carriage

Mr. and Mrs. Mynatt

Mom and I after the ceremony. Mom and Jordan are also very close. He has been her handyman for the past 5 years at least, if not longer. It means so much to me that he is always willing to run over and help mom with stuff around the house.

Josh and I

All these guys grew up together.

Finally got a moment with the bride and groom

Blowing bubbles for the staged exit

I think she looks gorgeous here, this is during the staged exit.

Robin, look what purse I'm carrying :)

After the wedding we went to spend more time with Bella. Can't get enough of her :)

Reading to uncle Josh.

On Easter Sunday, Josh's sister Chelsey dressed up as the Easter Bunny at her work so the Brimer family went to Brunch at her restaurant while I went to my Grandparents for a delicious lunch! I let Josh borrow my camera since he was with Bella.

Josh came to pick us up at my grandparents so we got a quick picture before we got in the car to head back to Atlanta. I wish we didn't have to travel on that beautiful Easter Sunday but at least we were able to be at home with our families even if it was for a short period of time. We hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!

SURPRISE!

2009-04-09T09:15:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday Josh! You might ask, did Josh turn 30? Everyone else has asked but I said you don't have to turn 30 to have a surprise party, special people have a surprise party on thier 27th birthday! Josh never makes a big deal out of his birthday so I decided to do it for him. At the last minute (2 weeks prior) I decided to have a party with all of our friends at my Mom's in Knoxville. Somehow I pulled it off and he had no idea, at least that what he tells me. About 30 people came and we had a wonderful time all getting together to celebrate Josh! Here are 2 of my favorite pics! Hope you had a great weekend, this weekend we will be back in Knoxville for our friends wedding and Easter!
Leading him to the backyard where everyone was waiting.

I love this face, it makes me think of a little kid saying ooooh!

As Bella would say, "Happy to you"!

Beautiful Weekend!

2009-03-23T09:32:00.004-04:00

We had a wonderful weekend and really enjoyed the beautiful weather. Friday night Josh and I just stayed in, he bought dinner at Whole Foods (yum) and he grilled him a steak, me salmon and veggies. I was asleep by 10:30 and I have to admit that it felt great! So Saturday when I woke up at 7:45 I was ready to go! Our friend Morgan was in town (and is moving to Atlanta April 1st!!!!!) so she came over and we walked 5+ blocks to have lunch by the park. It was such a beautiful day and we really enjoyed walking through the park and neighborhood! After lunch Chelsey got into town so for dinner we went to Taco Mac to eat their delicious wings and watch some March Madness. Sunday was another great day so after Chels packed up to head to Knoxville Josh and I got inspired to work in the yard. It was productive and we can't wait to see the results. We hope you enjoyed this beautiful weather like we did!
Me and Morgan at the park

Me and Josh

Me and Chels at Taco Mac

Me and Josh

This is the flower bed before. We cut our monkey grass back a while back and the unevenness of the outline of the bed absolutely drove me crazy...so....we dug all that up and made it even, then dug up some extra around the side and filled in some spaces. I can't wait to see what it when it all grows out. Josh has become quite the gardener and wanted some more color so we replaced a couple of dead things with Azaleas. I planted some bulbs my mom gave me and last but not least we put some seed, soil and straw and all that jazz down where there was dirt in the yard. We are not experts but we used what we had and we really hope it grows some grass. Either way it can't look any worse than it already does.

Here is Josh working, the only thing you can really see if that the monkey grass is more even in the right corner. The rest you will have to wait for. I will post some more pictures later if we have success. Note* Where Josh is standing is where we put the seed and hope to have more grass.

Long Lost and New Friends

2009-03-19T13:21:00.002-04:00

This past weekend our college friends Daniel and Keith (not pictured) came to visit us in Atlanta for a night. They brought along their new girlfriends, Christy and Ryan. We had a great time just hanging out at the house, we cooked out, played some Wii and some cards! It was great to see Daniel, I hadn't seen him since new years in Vegas and Josh had only seen him one time since then. Saturday night, Chelsey (Josh's little sister) stopped by to stay the night on her way to spring break in Orlando. We had a fun time with her as usual, we took her to eat sushi then back to the house to hang out. She is coming back by this weekend on her way home so we will get to spend more time with her then. ALSO, I cut my hair!!! I cut about 5-6 inches (well a professional did, don't worry) off and I love it. It was getting so long and unhealthy. It's a little longer in front than in the back and I have bangs again. I really like the cut for spring and summer. I haven't taken a good picture of it yet so hopefully I will get one this weekend and I'll post some.

Me with the girlfriends

Josh and Daniel, UGA friends!

Trip to Knoxville

2009-03-17T12:37:00.002-04:00

The next weekend we took a much needed trip to Knoxville. We hadn't been home since Christmas! We didn't get in till late on Friday so didn't do much but I spent Saturday afternoon with Mom, shopping and getting nails done while Josh went golfing with his family. Then Saturday night we had a cookout at the Brimers with his whole family, my mom, brother, all of the dogs and of course BELLA! We were so excited to get to see her and how much she had grown. She is so fun to be around and just so happy all of the time! It's even better when she acts excited to see you even though it's been awhile. After she went to bed we could hear her in the monitor saying Ash and Josh. We also brought Dozer over with us and she just loves to follow him around and give him kisses. We had a great time with our family and a wonderful meal. After dinner we went to my best friends condo. Several of our friends all met over there and we spent the rest of the night hanging out with them. Then Sunday we had brunch with Josh's sister Chelsey (she had to work Sat so could come to the cook out) and made a too quick trip by Dad and Robins (I promise we will spend more time together next time we come). I haven't been the best picture taker here lately so these are the only ones I took that weekend. We had a wonderful time at home and look forward to our next trip home.

Snow Day

2009-03-17T12:26:00.002-04:00

The weekend after our relaxing one Josh's parents came to ATL to help us with the front yard. It turned out to not be the best weekend for that because of all the rain. We did manage to eat well, relax and get some good visiting time in though (I didn't take any pictures :( Well when they were leaving on Sunday it just started snowing and it snowed throughout the day. We couldn't believe how much and also couldn't believe that we've had a snow day 2 years in a row. Dozer was excited again, he loves to eat the snow and chase snow balls. We didn't stay out in it very long but did get to enjoy it some.
This is after we came in and he is really wanting to go back out and play.

Eating snow

Josh and Jason had a snow ball fight

Some catching up to do...

2009-02-27T09:13:00.008-05:00

Here's what's been going on the past couple of weeks. Josh left for CFA's annual seminar in Long Beach, CA on February 12th. He had to go earlier than most people to help set up all the network stuff so he was gone for a week! Since it was Valentine's weekend and he would be gone, I decided to invite my Mom down for a girls weekend and we had a great time!

Dozer smelling Josh's suitcase and getting curious. He always knows when we are leaving and he will not leave your side for fear of being left. It's so sad and almost makes you not want to go anywhere.

I think this is when he figured out Josh was packing, he just sat by the suitcase with his sad face. Daddy sad that he leaving for a week!

I let Josh take my camera to seminar but I forgot to send the charger with him and it died right after taking only one picture. This is the EXPO, basically it's where all of the departments in corporate set up and the operators of the CFA stores come by to ask questions, give feedback, etc. I've never seen pics of this before and was surprised and how modern it is, very cool and I can't wait to be able to go experience it for myself :)

Mom got into town on Thursday and I took the day off on Friday. Unfortunately I had a 4 hour dentist appt but then got to go relax with a facial at Aveda! I also got inspired by Tara and the Nester to work on some window treatments for the house. I, like the Nester, live in a rental and didn't want to spend too much money so I told Mom all about it and we decided to make window treatments. Little did I know it would turn into such a big project. I am obviously not very craft, which I already knew, but just validated it once again. We worked ALL weekend, made about 8 different trips to different stores, stayed up till all hours of the night but in the end we hung treatments on 12 windows and created my own little cabana. I must say I'm very happy with the outcome, I didn't spend very much money at all considering how many windows and it really makes the place seem warmer. I have to say thank you mom for hanging in there with me. I am not a very patient person so I learned some great lessons on patience from her that weekend. I could not and would not have finished this project without you Mom, so thank you!!!!!

We did manage to have some fun that weekend too. We went to Brio for Italian on Friday night after getting treated to facials that day. Then on Saturday I took her to this great little bakery right up the street for her to pick out some Valentine treats, that's what you see above, YUM!

Kitchen before

Kitchen after. This was actually the easiest, 6 yards of fabric for $6, hemmed with hem tape on the sides. I have a print, and dishtowels with this color in it and it really compliments the cabinets too! I love how this room turned out!

Random window in kitchen

Dining room/mixed use room :) before

After, please don't mind the tape. I forgot to take a final after picture and didn't realize it until now :) Obviously the masking tape is not part of the treatment. Did I mention how hard and time consuming these were, no sew, no rods, just fabric that cost $1 a yard and a cute beaded tassel :)

Living room before

Living room afterwardsFront porch cabana, I just love this...you'll have to come over and porch sit with us!

I hung sheers in the master bedroom too but am not done playing with them yet so I'll post pics of them later.

So after that weekend Mom went home and Josh got back into town on Thursday. Me, Dozer and Jason were all glad to have him back. We didn't do anything last weekend but relax so I don't have any pictures except for the following depressing ones. Just when the 3 of us were having a nice relaxing weekend Jason walked to the neighborhood convenience store and realized that his car had been broken into. They shattered his window with a rock, stole his new GPS system and his XM Radio. It's just sickening to me that people steal from others, I just don't understand it. Here are some pics we took, and this time I won't say enjoy.

Glass all over the road

and all in the car, that is the rock in the floor board

more glass.

Well that should catch you up. Josh's parents are coming in this weekend so we are looking forward to spending time with them. Have a great weekend!

Josh and Ashley Weekend

2009-02-11T09:17:00.003-05:00

This weekend Josh and I didn't have any guests in town so we got to spend some great alone time! We went golfing and to a really nice dinner. We finally got to use the gift card my boss gave me that we didn't get to use when Josh was sick. I'm really glad we got to spend this time together since he is leaving on Thursday for a WHOLE WEEK! Thanks for a fun weekend babe!
At the Capital Grille

Recent Dozer Pics

2009-02-02T13:56:00.004-05:00

His new favorite nap spot, on the porch

And new favorite place to chew on his toy

This is how he took a nap on Josh the other day

I love this one, and he's not showing his teeth, his chops get stuck behind them sometimes :)

His tounge is sticking out while he is asleep and it's touching the couch. He's so silly!

Love this view!

Sleepy bear!

Wearing Mommy's scarf

Superbowl

2009-02-02T13:25:00.003-05:00

Last night our friends LeeAnn and Craig had people over to their new house for the superbowl. They had ribs and burgers and all kinds of good stuff. We had lots of fun meeting new people and watching the game.

Me and LeeAnn

Dad and Robin Visit

2009-02-02T11:44:00.003-05:00

This weekend Dad and Robin came to Atlanta to visit us. On Friday night I made dinner for everyone and then we went to the Fernbank Museum to watch Cirque de Solei on the IMAX screen. On Saturday we took them to one of our favorite places for brunch, Highland Bakery and then just hung out at the house all day enjoying the beautiful weather and the company. Satruday night we had a real nice and yummy dinner at South City Kitchen and then back to the house to hang out. On Sunday we took them to our other favorite place for brunch which has now become one of Dad's favorite places for brunch :)

We had a wonderful time getting to spend the weekend with you both, thank you for making the drive down here to see us!
Robin and the dogs enjoying the porch

Doggie playground in out front yard

At IMAX

Mountain Getaway

2009-02-02T10:49:00.003-05:00

Two weekends ago the Brimer's treated us to a wonderful weekend in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Josh's parents, his sisters and their significants, Bella and 5 dogs all came. We had a great time just relaxing, eating well, playing games, taking a trip to Blue Ridge, and hanging out with Bella Boo. The cabin was beautiful and had plenty of room for all of us. Thank you Brimers for an awesome weekend!
Dozer relaxing by the fire

Me, Daniel and Orin

Josh with his siblings

Bella

Theater room

Our Massive Cabin!

Celine Dion Concert

2009-01-18T19:50:00.003-05:00

If you don't already know, Celine Dion has been my favorite singer since I was a little girl. So when I found out she was coming to Atlanta, Mom and I got tickets right away (last Jan). She is so fun to see in concert, in high school Mom took me to Nashville to see her and then we saw her in Vegas also. I think she is just beautiful and has the sweetest personality. Well of course don't forget the most amazing voice. This is mom and I right before we left. Josh was sweet enough to take us even though he wasn't feeling well.

I loved all of her different outfits and shoes!

Thanks for going to the concert with me Mom, I know you love her just as much as I do so I know if wasn't a burden for you but thank you for making the drive and going, it was so much fun!

9 Years

2009-01-16T12:42:00.003-05:00

Update: We didn't end up going to dinner this weekend, poor Josh has been real sick all weekend and we didn't want to go to a fancy dinner and him not be able to enjoy it. We still had a great time, Mom made Josh some potato soup for dinner and we had a whole foods meal, so good! We laid around on the couch with Josh and watched a movie and some home videos. Didn't get many pics since we were just bumming around but I'll make a good picture when we finally go to dinner.

These are the beautiful flowers and vase/pitcher that were waiting for me when I got home from work on Friday. The previous weekend we had gone to a restaurant where they had these massive pitchers, they were beautiful and hand-made. I made quite a big deal out of them and I guess Josh was listening because he went and bought me one! I got him some New Balances but didn't take pictures.
This is poor Josh with my mom's headband on to relieve sinus pressure, his Zicam nasal swabs and tissue with Vic's. Bless his heart!

Today marks 9 years that Josh and I have been loving each other. It's hard to think back 9 years ago and picture what we were like then, we have changed so much! I am so thankful for Josh and the relationship we have. He makes me happy everyday and I truely believe him when he tells me that is his #1 goal. He is my best friend, my listener, my uplifter, my trip companion, my dogs daddy, and so much more, he is my favorite! I'm really looking forward to the many years ahead and more wonderful memories. Thank you for loving me Josh and allowing me to love you!

I'll update later with some pictures. Randomly last week my boss gave me a $100 gift certificate to a really nice resturant here in Atlanta. What perfect timing! Josh is unfortunatly sick though so we may post-pone our dinner so that he can enjoy it more. Regardless we will celebrate 9 years! Mom is also in town and we are going to Celine Dion tomorrow night and I am SO excited. Should be a wonderful weekend!

Starting a New Year

2009-01-16T10:39:00.004-05:00

Well we've been staying somewhat busy since the New Years. Work is thankfully busy for the 3 of us. We've been watching lots of football, I've gone to dinner with 2 girlfriends I didn't get to see over Christmas, we've gotten all of the decorations down, gifts put away, laundry caught up and just getting ready for what seems like another busy year! I'm all caught up now so should be blogging a little more regularly! Happy New Year everyone!

Shout out to Bev, 1 because her birthday was January 7th and 2 because she got me a "grabby" for Christmas. Here I am using it and it works really well. I was very excited, and so was Dozer because there was food in those bags!

Josh and I out with our friend Morgan. We don't get to see her that often as she lives in Savannah now but she was in Atlanta interviewing so hopefully she will be making the move to Atlanta soon, I would love that!!!

New Years Eve

2009-01-16T09:13:00.005-05:00

This New Years Eve we decided to do it a little different. Josh and I usually travel with friends but we've had such a busy year we just wanted to relax. We rented a small cozy cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains and the best part was that my Mom and brother got to come. Because we travel I never get to spend my Mom's birthday with her (Jan1) so it was special for all of us to be able to celebrate New Years and her birthday. Josh made dinner for us, he made baked potatoes, brocolli casserole and marinated the steaks, Jason cooked them. Mom and I just got to sit around and relax. We played a little guitar hero, watched the ball drop, sat by the fire and made dough boys, and had a wonderful time.
The cabin A-Frame of Mind

The view from the back of the cabin

Master

Guest

Living room from loft

Dining from loft

Mom's smushed birthday cake

The party crew, did I mention Dozer got to come, a pet friendly cabin was our number one priority

Ball drop

Jason had a goal of not making a serious face in any of the pictures, he succeeded.

They had these really cool lanterns, we were all pretty impressed by them and they came in handy.

Making dough boys, let me explain. This is a Brimer family tradition that I've finally been introduced too (we aren't around camp fires that often). Basically you find the perfect size stick, big enough to create a hole in the middle of dough. You take bisquit dough and wrap it around the stick then use the coals, not the flame, to cook the dough. It is a slow process but very much worth it. Once the dough has risen and is good and brown you pull it off the stick then use squeeze butter and jelly to fill the hole and voila! It is a very delicious treat that everyone must try.

Mom and I staying warm by the fire

Josh was Mr. Fire in the mountains, he took it very seriously and loved every minute of it. He would hike off and look for perfect firewood and put a lot of effort into making sure we had a good fire going the whole time.

However, it was hard to keep a pile of firewood around because Dozer LOVES playing with sticks. He always has but he's not usually around this many sticks at once and he was so funny to watch. Dozer def enjoyed his time in the mountains.

playing with sticks

still playing with sticks, well this is a huge log

This pretty much sums up the weekend, relaxing and cozy! If you can't tell he's curled up in a tiny chair. We aren't sure why he jumped up here and not on the couch but he was too cute to move.

Christmas with the Crabtree's

2009-01-15T17:13:00.001-05:00

And last but not least, we got together with my Dad's side of the family on Sunday before heading back to Atlanta. It was so great to see each of them because it had been way too long. Unfortunately we didn't get to see them last Christmas so this gathering was much needed.

Christmas with Dad and Robin

2009-01-15T17:06:00.004-05:00

On Saturday after Christmas we had our traditional Christmas at Dad's. It was really special this year because we got to spend it with Lacy, Jeremy and Kiley too.
Kiley playing in her new swing and literally everyone standing around watching, so funny!

Josh and I

Me, Jason and Dad

Dad and Robin

All the kids, I love this picture!!

Christmas with the Barnett's

2009-01-15T17:01:00.002-05:00

The day after Christmas we went down to Athens, TN to have Christmas with Josh's Mom's side of the family. I know it doesn't look like it in these picture but there were almost 40 people there. His cousin Shelly made a delicious dinner and we had a great time watching all of the kids open gifts. Here is Bella working on one of hers.

She got some pants and put them on her head :)

Me and Josh

Josh's sweet grandparents.

Christmas Day/Night

2009-01-15T16:43:00.005-05:00

On Christmas Day we went to my Mom's parents. My cousin Whitney had her new born baby there, Baby Hailey, so she was obviously the hit of the party. Here I am with both of them.

My Mom and Aunt got Hailey her little bouncer seat so this is me, Jason, Whitney putting it together while Josh read instructions in Spanish.

Finished product, how many cousins does it take to put this together???

The best part, yummy food!

Baby Hailey enjoying her new seat

That night my poor brother had to drive back to Atlanta because he had to work the next day but my sweet mom went with him so he didn't have to be alone. That left me stuck at home on Christmas night by myself. What better way to cheer yourself up than have some friends over so that's what I did. Me, Chels and Lindsey at my mom's

Josh, Dr Rob and Drummer Mikey eating all of our leftovers.

Christmas Morning

2009-01-15T10:01:00.005-05:00

On Christmas morning I woke up bright and early and went to Josh's sisters house to see Bella. I love this picture of her with her hands on her back just soaking in all the gifts.

She walked right past the expensive hard to put together kitchen to the $15 pop up tent :)

She was having so much fun on her tricycle

She was more excited at times about Dozer than Santa gifts.

She wanted to give Dozer kisses

After a quick trip there I went back to Mom's for our traditional Christmas of gifts and breakfast. Once a year she makes this delicious breakfast casserole that we LOVE! This is her picture frames we got her, there is another one.

Mom excited about her Vera Bradley tote!

Me excited about my North Face fuzzy fleece

Jason excited about his blue-tooth

Dozer excited about his "blue guy"

Josh came over later in the morning and we exchanged gifts with him but I'm not sure why I don't have pictures, I think they are on Mom's camera.

Christmas Eve

2009-01-08T15:27:00.005-05:00

We actually got home really late the night before Christmas Eve. Mom was helping us unload the car when she saw towels (the tissue paper had come out and luggage was blocking the gift bag). She asked us why we brought our towels home....well Mom we didn't, they are your Christmas gift. So Mom got an early Christmas gift.

So then she had to give us one, flannel pj's for Christmas morning. Yes, we are in our 20's and no I don't care that I get new pair of pj's every Christmas :)

On Christmas Eve I went to eat lunch with Dad, Robin, Jason, Darby, Stan, Mimi and Ray. We had a great lunch at Lakeside Tavern. Poor Josh had to work.

Later that evening I went to Josh's sisters house for a Brimer Christmas Eve. This year Josh and I got Bella a sink. When we went to the beach this summer she played in the sink forever and just loved the water. I also remember when I worked at the daycare that the 2 year olds had this water station that they LOVED to play in. Well it was a big hit for Bella!

Uncle Josh showing her what she got.

She thought it was to take a bath and got in as soon as we opened it.

Then started stripping off her clothes before there was any water in it

So we let her play in it like a bath. She was so smart too, already figuring out how to turn it on and off.

She drank so much of it....

She finally got out and played with it they way your supposed to...it was so much fun to watch!

Josh and I happy with our gift to little Miss Bella!

Christmas with my 2 favorite guys!!

2009-01-08T13:59:00.003-05:00

One night we went to Atlantic Station to watch it snow (Fake snow done at AS during the Holidays at 7:00). It just so happened to be the Monday night that was SO bitter cold. Well sure enough it never snowed after we stood outside and waited 15-20 minutes. We went to get something to eat and the boys made fun of me when I asked for a window table...I wanted to see it snow!!!! Oh well, maybe next year!

We had a mini Christmas at home one night. I filled thier stockings with little random things and made a home cooked meal (which I basically do every night) and we watched a Christmas movie!

I love my boys!

Christmas Party Weekend-Part 2

2009-01-08T11:20:00.003-05:00

The weekend before Christmas Josh and I went home for some more Christmas parties. On Friday night I got together with my childhood girlfriends at Hayley's new condo. My mom made her famous baked spaghetti (my mom has made this for us many times growing up and in college) and we had a great time just catching up with each other and talking about Hayley's wedding. We got to see her beautiful veil and her shoes. On Saturday I went to see her actual dress but I'm obviously not going to post that picture. It's gorgeous and perfect for an outdoor summer wedding. Mom and I did some shopping on Saturday as well and made some Christmas candy that I know some of you hopefully enjoyed! Josh and I were supposed to go to a couples party on Saturday but because of some events that happened Friday night with a large group of our friends we decided we would rather spend time with our families than be apart of chaos so we went to Bonefish with my Mom and Josh's parents. Later that night we went to see our best friend Mikey's band play. It was a fun, quick weekend spent with special people.

Erin and I. She still has her extensions in from her wedding, I'm jealous!

Max and I, she didn't get to stay as long as we wanted because she was flying out to spend Christmas with her family in Texas.

The girls (Max, Erin, Me, Carrie, Hayley), I didn't mean to get the couch in it. I wish you could see Hayley's 10ft live tree that her and Travis cut themselves. It was gorgeous!

Making some Christmas candy, and eating it too

At dinner with our families. The girl in the back is Josh's cousin, she was in town (she lives in Athens, TN) doing some shopping so she came to eat with us.

Christmas Party Weekend-Part 1

2008-12-15T16:41:00.002-05:00

Friday a girl I work with threw a party at her adorable townhouse. We went there and had a great time meeting new people and hanging out with my work friends. Then Saturday night was my work Christmas party at the boss's house like usual. We again had fun, they made a great dinner and we did the Chinese Christmas gift exchange. They were very generous as far as gifts this year and I just feel so blessed to even have a job right now. I love my little work family!

Brooke and I at the work party.

The girls with Kay and Gary

Kelli, Brooke and I at Kelli's party.

Josh was with me both nights like a trooper but I didn't get any pictures. This is really all the pictures I took all weekend, I'm not sure why...I must be sick or something.

Thank you Josh for coming to all my work functions with me :)

1 down 4 to go...

2008-12-10T08:52:00.003-05:00

Last night Josh and I attended CFA's IT Christmas Party. It was held at Anthony's Fine Dining, an old historic house that is now used for events like this. Dinner was great and we had a fun time but the best part was.....he won an award!!!!! (see below)
Anthony's-I just got this pic off the website but of course last night it was decorated for Christmas.

I made Jason take a picture after we got home, I didn't want to be the only blogger loser at the party taking pictures so I have none from there.

So excited about his award!!!! Let me explain. Every year the CIO does these award. There are categories that stay the same and then there are awards created just for that year. What's cute is that he makes every award in his garage by hand to represent the achievement and presents them at the Christmas party.

This year Josh played a major role in getting all new voice over phone systems set up. He was part of the network side of it. Well this year this award was created because it was a huge project and a very successful one. To explain the award, the dinosaur represents the "old" phone system that was 18 years old. Then the CFA cow (Josh) is using the rolled up phone users manaual to fight off the dino. I thought it was real cute and clever. So congrats Josh, I'm very proud of you and so happy that you were recognized for your accomplishment!!!

Catch up...

2008-12-03T16:28:00.008-05:00

So here is what we've been doing lately. The weekend after our friends came in, my Mom came to stay. Trips to Atlanta mean even more to my mom now that Jason is here too. We had pretty relaxing weekend, decorating for Chirstmas, shopping at Garden Ridge and going to a Thrashers Hockey game. Thanks for coming to stay with us mom and for cooking and cleaning while you were here too ;)

At the Thrashers game

I love this sequence of pictures. We got everything done and I asked Josh if he would put the star on the tree so this is him doing just that.

Then here I am fixing it...hehehe...look at his face :). It's got to be perfect right??

And here we are glad to have the house decorated.

We didn't actually put these up that weekend. Josh wanted to surprise me when I got home on Sunday from Thanksgiving but he ended with a stomach virus so while Josh was laid up in bed his dad hung these for us. Thank you Bob, that was so sweet of you and it looks very festive. Sorry the picture isn't better.

Here is the tree. I wish you could see all of the color on it because I just don't think this picture does it justice but we love it! I think I want to get a bigger one next year :)

The kitchen is decorated with all of my blue snowman stuff to match the Christmas china Karen got me years ago. One day I will have a dining room to put all of that in but until then...

Here is Josh's man tree. It has Georgia Bulldog ornaments and other sports stuff.

I finally have some place to string garland. Yay!

And I finally have a mantle, even better Yay!

Moving on to the next weekend which was Thanksgiving. Jason and I went to Knoxville while Josh stayed in Atlanta to hang out with his family. We got home on Wednesday night and stayed pretty busy from there on out. We went to my Grandparents on Thursday and had the delicious tradional feast. Later that night we helped my mom put up her decorations since she was such a big help to us. Friday Mom and I did our traditional "black Friday" shopping. I haven't been shopping in Knoxville in years!! Friday afternoon we had lunch and Dad and Robin's and I got to see my Granny that I don't get to see often. We had a great time catching up and laughing at old stories. Friday night I went to Erin's to see all of Hayley's wedding progress and just to hang out with the girls (this is where I start getting tired since Mom and I got up at 3:45am to shop). Saturday was a pretty lazy day. We were going to go to the game but the weather was gross so we opted not to. It was so sad to watch Fulmer that night. I don't care what people say, I'm going to miss him :(. Overall it was a great time at home and I think I gained 10 pounds. Here are some pics.

I got almost all of my shopping done in one morning. THANK YOU BELK! The only person I didn't get was Mom and that's because she was with me. It was a very successful day!

Mom and I at her parents on Thanksgiving day.

My sweet Granny. We also celebrated her birthday at Dad's on Friday.

Posing with Granny

Jason and I with Robin. I look like I just ate a whole turkey in this picture.

Well that's about it for now. I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving. I know I have so much to be thankful for right now!!

Boys Weekend

2008-12-02T12:54:00.004-05:00

I thought you would like this one of Josh, he's wearing Dozer's jersey.

Well I'm really behind on blogging. We've had to lay several people off at my company so I've been a little busier than usual. Three weekends ago our best guy friends came in town, Travis and Mikey. We have all been friends since middle school and we always have a blast together. We didn't do a whole lot, weent out for tapas on Saturday night and just hung out the rest of the time. Here are some pics. I promise I'll get updated soon. I have pics from my mom's visit to ATL, Christmas decoations, the joys of having large trees full of leaves over your yard, Thanksgiving and more. Stay tuned!

Me and the boys-Josh, Me, Travis, and Mikey.

Tagged by Lacy

2008-11-26T12:52:00.002-05:00

This one is for fun. Go to your 4th picture folder and then the 4th picture in the folder. Write 4 things about the picture and then tag 4 other people.
1) This was taken in a Jeep Wrangler while Josh and I are driving through the Grand Canyon in February of 07.
2) It was snowing and freezing outside. I never would have imagined weather like that in the Grand Canyon and I did not come prepared!
3) These are our sandiwches that were also freezing from being in the car so I put them on the dash and turned the heater on high to warm them up.
4)We had so much fun on that trip getting to see different parts of the country and just driving, driving,driving. We still managed to have fun even though we got there at sunrise but didn't get to see the sun rise since a huge snow storm was blowing though. I would love to go back but def during warmer weather :)

Now I tag Courtney, Rachel, Kate and Stephanie...

Recent Dozer Pics

2008-11-11T16:09:00.003-05:00

We love our sweet bear!!
All wrapped up because Daddy and Uncle Jason won't turn the heat up because they are too cheap ;)

Playing on his new favorite spot-the chase lounge

Sleeping in the bed under the covers

Go Dawgs!

I just love this picture. I think he looks so goofy for some reason. This is his favorite thing to do at my mom's. Sit in front of the heater. Who would have thought a bulldog would like to sit this close to a heater. He will lay down in front of it and go to sleep too. He's so funny!

Chicago-my first business trip

2008-11-11T15:54:00.003-05:00

We got home from the wedding on Sunday and had 2 days to re-coup before heading to Chicago. I went for a SHRM conference and I feel like I learned some really great things. Everyone was so nice and of course I got to see a little of the city. Josh went with me and we had a great time in the evenings when I wasn't in class. It was a quick trip but enjoyable. Now we are back home and don't have anything planned for the next 2 weekends. Unless of course Hayley calls and wants to go wedding dress shopping :)

Going to class

Hotel Lobby-Palmer House Hilton

Walking in the city

Josh and I at Lawrey's. We treated ourselves to a nice prime rib dinner.

This is what the guy comes by in to cut your steak. You tell him the temperature and cut and he cuts it right there by your table. Everything was delicious!

Eating deep dish pizza at Pizzeria Uno-one of the oldest in Chicago.

On the 96th floor of the Hancock building checking out the lights.

What a view

And Finally-The Wedding

2008-11-11T10:32:00.004-05:00

So the wedding was held at Butterfly Gap in Maryville. What a beautiful place in the fall. We got ready in a cabin, took pictures around a man-made lake with the gorgeous leaves all around us. Everything is very modern for a place like that. Lots of windows and the reception hall has walls that open. Very cool place and very nice people that run it. Here are some of my favorties. Sorry they aren't in order, you know how blogger works.
Cake cutting

Right before the big moment-best friends.

All of the bridesmaids with Erin

Reception room. Erin and Casey saw each other before the ceremony so that is all of us peeking out of the windows while they have their private moment :)

Our friend from ETSU did all of the decoration-Lacy you remember Rachel right? She's pregnant too. I wish I had gotten a picture of her.

Right after the wedding ceremony-I love this picture

Ceremony site-it was gorgeous!

Childhood friends-Hayley, Max, Carrie and me

First dance and a little emotional

Me and my beautiful mom

Erin and her 2nd mom

Josh and Erin

Josh dancing with my mom

Speech time-I was so nervous but everyone said I did good. I even made people laugh :)

I will email you all the link to the professional pictures when I get them. I'm really excited to see them, I think they will be gorgous with all of the trees and leaves.

So I had one week off to not think about weddings. Hayley called last night and has set a date for June 27th in Knoxville. I am going to be the Maid of Honor with Erin as the Matron. I'm very honored and can't wait for the big day. Lots to do and plan. I will keep you posted.

Erin's Wedding-Getting Ready

2008-11-11T10:22:00.004-05:00

Erin right after putting her dress on...glowing!

Me right after getting my hair done

Putting her makeup on

Getting our nails done on Friday after the luncheon.

The best part about this picture is that the speech I had planned talked about a memory from when Erin and I were 11 years old. We were singing "I will always love you" as loud as we can when Erin sang out of tune (she doesn't have the best voice). It is a memory that we laugh about still to this day. Well as we were sitting there drying our nails that song came on and we started laughing and singing like Erin did so long ago. I was so excited but then again also thinking that she will never believe me when I say I've been planning my speech with that memory for months. She did!!

Erin's Wedding-Rehearsal Dinner

2008-11-10T16:16:00.005-05:00

The rehearsal dinner was at Copper Cellar on the Strip (I hadn't been there in forever). We had a fun time with the masks, and the food was great.
Bride & Groom

Erin and her co-maids of honor

All of the Bridesmaids

Me and my handsome date (of course I didn't get one of us in mask :( )

But I did at least capture Josh's creepy mask.

Erin's Wedding-Bridesmaid Luncheon

2008-11-10T16:09:00.002-05:00

The Bridesmaid Luncheon was held at The Orangery. It was a great meal and fun time. Her mom did the charm cake. I got the tiara and everyone said it's because I'm next :). Erin got us adorable COACH clutches, each with a different color trying to match our style. Then we all got matching flip flops to wear at the reception, and gift certificates for our hair and nails. A VERY nice gift bag!!!

Erin's Mom gave her her late Granny's ring that had been re-done. Erin was very close with her Granny so it was an emotional moment. The ring was beautiful too!

Brimer Family Vacation

2008-11-04T10:25:00.005-05:00

We had a great family vacation last week! The Brimer's treated us to a week in Garden City, SC. We had a beach house right on the ocean. It had a huge open living room/kitchen area, a large screened in back porch and a pool (although it was a little too cool for it). We had a wonderful time relaxing, eating well, playing with Bella, golfing and going to the beach. Here a some of the pictures!

Chelsey bought us the great neon shirts for the family picture...we were styling!!

Brimer's

The pumpkin we carved Bella-it says Bella BOO!

Josh teaching Bella to carve a pumpkin

On the golf course

Josh's parents

Out to dinner...it was so yummy!

Bella loving the beach

sitting in Aunt Ash's chair and reading her book

playing with her Ma-Ma

Our house

chasing birds

loving the wet sand

Playing with her Uncle Josh

talking on the phone

bathtime!

Thank you for a wonderful vacation Brimer's. We had a blast and can't wait till next year!!

Flowers & Masks

2008-11-04T10:19:00.004-05:00

Erin's rehearsal dinner was a Masquerade Party since it was on Halloween so we had to buy masks. Here we are having a little fun with it.

Well, actually Dozer wasn't having all that much fun :)

Shaggy?

My favorite

These are the beautiful flowers Josh sent me on Friday to kick off our vacation...he's so sweet!!! I took them all the way to the beach and back to knoxville so I could enjoy them :)

VIP Party

2008-11-04T10:09:00.004-05:00

Last Thursday I went to the VIP party. It was a lot of fun and a neat experience. There were no celebrities...just an interesting mix of people all dressed up. We arrived at the church and a bus shuttled everyone to the mansion. It was a very modern mansion and after walking through the gorgeous pool area and downstairs past a waterfall you made it to the party room. I also saw Josh's old college roommate and that was fun!!

That's the waterfall behind us.

Private VIP Party

2008-10-20T12:54:00.003-04:00

My friend Brie works for an upscale Atlanta magazine. She works in the Ad sales division and because of that she has come in concact with some pretty cool companies. She called me last week to invite me to a party that she had been invited to. It's hosted by a PR firm and one of their clients is one of Brie's clients which is how this came about. They won't disclose the location of the party until 2 days prior because it's so private, but Brie does know it's at a mansion in Buckhead. The lady that she knows that invited her said that people were flying in for it and promised a good time ;) (We are hoping she meant celebrities)!! Anyways, I'm pretty excited. Of course it's dressy and I just think it will be an experience that I'm not sure I'll ever get to have again so I can't wait! I'm not sure what the rules will be on taking pictures but hopefully their won't be any and I can take lots to show you. Stay tuned to this post later this week!

Recent Dozer Pictures

2008-10-20T12:40:00.003-04:00

Dozer asleep sitting up. This is after traveling from Atlanta, staying up until 3am, getting up at 7am and being in the middle of a garage sale all day long. He was a sleepy bear!
Finally laid down
Snuggling with his mommy
Bella giving Dozer kisses
Bella got a new life size goofy and Dozer wanted to play too

I know you can't see what he's sitting on but it's the chase lounger. It's his new favorite spot in the new house. He loves to play with his toys on it when we get home from work and this night we were playing cards at the kitchen table. I guess he wanted to be in the room with us but still be lazy so he climbed up on the lounger and got comfy.
A bowling ball is a great toy for a bulldog. He loved chasing it around and we loved that he couldn't chew into it!
Like this one that lasted only 2 minutes.
He's the best! We love him SO much!

Garage Sale, Couples Shower, Baby Shower

2008-10-20T12:14:00.006-04:00

As you can tell from the title I had a pretty busy weekend. We didn't get in until late on Friday night since Jason had to work until 7:00. Once we got home we both helped Mom finish some last minute stuff for her garage sale the next morning. In bed around 3:00am and up at 7:00am. The garage sale went pretty well. Not as successful as last years but every little bit helps. KARM is going to love my mom!! Even though we sold quite a bit we still had tons left over. After the garage sale and a quick nap Josh and I went to Erin & Casey's couples shower at the Koontz's. We had a great time there visiting with our friends and celebrating Erin & Casey. 2 of Erin's Bridesmaids hosted it and did a great job with all of the mexican food! I can't believe they get married in 2 weeks! On Sunday Mom and I helped out with and attended my cousins baby shower. It was in Lenior City and she got some really great stuff. She is due November 24th and is having a girl, Hailey. Well that about sums up the weekend. I have a crazy busy week this week. Quarterly Madness on Tuesday with work, friends over for dinner on Wednesday, a really cool private VIP party on Thursday (I will tell you about it later :) and then off to the beach on Saturday. Lots going on and lots of fun!!! Hope you have a great week!

Mom made $550!!! I made this Ice Cream Sandwich Torte to celebrate the success.

Going through some old stuff. Dad, do you remember this coat?

Jason a little too excited about his old toy.

Josh and I got Erin & Casey the bedding for their guest room.
Me and the Bride
The Bride and her Maids
Bride & Groom
Josh & Erin. They have been friends since elementary school. The were Sonny & Cher in a play when they were little...isn't that cute!

Mom and I at the baby shower
Me and Whitney
Me and my grandmother
Party crashers! Josh and Jason picked me up at the shower to head back to Atlanta and they decided to come in and take advantage of the food. Smart guys!

TN/GA Weekend

2008-10-15T17:10:00.005-04:00

We had a great weekend, the Brimer's all got in late Friday night. Bella quickly got acquainted with every corner of the house. She had to have a bath shortly after getting there b/c she decided to make the old fireplace her little hideout and well let's just say she was covered with soot. It was pretty funny. Dozer did so well with her. Not that I thought he wouldn't but you just never know and this is the first time he's been around her walking. He was very patient and let her give him kisses on the forehead all weekend. I know...I'm a bad aunt for not getting pics of that. Anyways, me, Josh, Jason, Meredith, Daniel and Erin all took off pretty early to Athens. There we met up with some of our friends from back home that we don't get to see very often. We tailgaited for several hours then went to the game. Turns out our friends were literally right behind us!! Josh of course was thrilled with the outcome of the game. We all headed back to Atlanta where we just hung out with Josh's parents the rest of the night. On Sunday our handyman Daniel installed a fan in the living room and a motion detector outside on the porch. Handywomen Bev also helped me fix the guest bed that HAD a really bad squeeky problem. It sure is nice to have family around :) Thanks for coming to visit Brimers, thank you Erin and Daniel for the tickets to the game and thank you Bella for making me laugh all weekend.

Bella loved our Tennessee & Georgia bears. I thought it was fitting for the weekend

No rivalry here
Isn't he sweet!

Happy Fall!

2008-10-09T14:24:00.002-04:00

This past weekend was a Josh and Ashley weekend. We have something going on from now until the 2nd weekend in November so it was very much appreciated! Friday night we just stayed in, cooked a yummy dinner and watched movies! Saturday we worked around the house some more getting the last of our important projects done before our guests this weekend. I painted the front door and stoop...it was pretty bad. We did a little more yard work and of course decorated for Fall. We got a great deal on these mums at Home Depot...$3.50!!

This weekend is one of our favorite weekends of the year. I'm not sure why since it's one in which Josh and I are not on the same team but it's all in good fun. Josh's sister Erin got us 4 tickets to the UT/GA game so we are going with her and Daniel and Jason and Meredith got their own awesome tickets on the 2nd row!!! Josh's parents are also coming to Atlanta. Bella is coming down as well so his parents will stay in Atlanta on Saturday to watch her while we go to the game. It should be a fun weekend!

My camera has been acting funny lately so I apologize for the blurriness. We put up the tiki torches for this weekend but they aren't always up.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Erin's Shower & Bachelorette Night

2008-10-08T09:44:00.003-04:00

Two weekends ago was Erin's BIG Saturday. It kicked off her wedding festivities. That afternoon she had a beautiful shower at her moms best friends and that night Hayley and I threw her a Bachelorette/Lingerie Shower at Hayley's. It was a great weekend and Erin got some really great stuff. Thank you to my mom for helping prepare lots of food for the party!

These are sandals for the bride and groom that say "Just Married" when you walk in the sand.
The group minus the mom's and aunts who are taking the pictures.

Happy 35th Anniversary

2008-10-08T09:22:00.002-04:00

This year is my company's 35th Anniversary. I've been heading up this project so I wanted to show you. We wanted to do something for our long standing clients but of course didn't want to spend too much money. So I came up with this. It's a cute little box with a cupcake inside, the tag had our logo that says "Celebrating 35 Years". Then on the back the girls wrote..."Celebrate with us". 150 of these have been hand delivered. We've gotten great response so I think it went over well! Yay! The bakery we used was Chocolate Pink and everything they make is delicious!!

Uncle Jason

2008-10-08T09:11:00.002-04:00

Well Dozer is pretty happy that his Uncle Jason is his new roommate. He has loved Jason since the first time they met. I was really nervous just because we hadn't introduced Dozer to many people yet so we didn't know how he would do. The first night he jumped up on the couch and laid his head on Jason's shoulder...they have been big buds since.

This is an everyday occurrence, I get home and Dozer is laying all over Jason with his head right in his face. I don't know what it is but he just loves to be close to him.

Jason is doing well, loving his job...most of the time. This week he is working 8:30pm to 5:30am and is not too happy about it. That's the only thing that bothers him I guess is the schedule changes every week. He's getting a lot of experience though and is liking the people he works with. He sometimes has to do rookie work but hey...that's part of it.

Funny story. He text me one day and said "I've been mopping for the past 4 hours" Well when he text me it was so late that he should have been home from work for about 4 hours. So I was like "Wow, you must be really bored but thank you". He replied with, "No, I mopped at work for 4 hours".

Kitchen and Bathrooms

2008-09-22T13:34:00.002-04:00

Well I didn't have to do too much to these rooms so there are no before pics. I just had to scrub them down pretty good and buy stuff to match the interesting wall colors but that's about it.
Jason's Bathroom
Master Bathroom-I promise the curtain isn't that shiny in person
Main part of the kitchen. Yes, I even have freshly baked brownies on the stove. :)

Somewhat Lazy Weekend!

2008-09-22T12:56:00.002-04:00

Well Josh and I had the weekend to ourselves...Jason went home for the game. I didn't feel too well on Friday night (24 hour bug) so we just laid around and watched a lot of movies....Maid of Honorwas one...it was so cute! Then Saturday I had to run some errands and Josh decided to build Dozer a gate. We had been looking and the few baby gates we found that were long enough were like $100 so we decided to make one for $30. It has hinges on it so we can fold it up and scoot it to the side but this way Dozer can sit out on the porch with us and we don't have to worry about him wandering off. Although this picture below clearly shows he's not much of a wanderer (pre-gate). Of course we watched football the rest of the day on Saturday, which ended up not being that fun. Sunday we ran some more errands, got Josh some shoes, and we ate lunch at Chili's. Living in the city makes me miss places like Chili's, Olive Garden, Ruby Tuesday's and Applebees. They just aren't prominent like back home. We would have to drive to the suburbs to eat at one but they do have a new Chili's pretty close by so we went and I really enjoyed it!

I'm hosting Erin's Bachelorette Party this weekend so I'm going to have a busy week and weekend. It's going to be so much fun though and I'm really looking forward to it.

Have a great week!
Dozer laying on the stairs pre-gate
After gate, I don;t think he looks very happy.
Dozer and I decided to put on our GA jersey's after that terrible TN game. I know I'm a traitor...but c'mon!!

Bye Braves

2008-09-22T12:51:00.001-04:00

This weekend was the last set of home Braves games so on Thursday me, Josh and Jason decided to go see one last game for the season.

Jason's 1st Braves games as an Atlantan.

Getting better

2008-09-18T11:10:00.002-04:00

It's hard to believe this is healing...when it looks worse.

The Weekend

2008-09-16T13:28:00.002-04:00

We didn't do that much this weekend and we were totally ok with that. I worked around the house ALOT again. I painted the front door from the inside and the frame...it was pretty bad. I forgot to take a before and after picture...sorry! We watched some football, Meredith surprised us with a visit on Saturday, and Josh played flag football on Sunday. Unfortunately he came back home limping. He went to the Dr yesterday because it was pretty swollen and luckily it was just a severe sprain and not a fracture. Hope you have a great week. Josh and I are looking forward to a Josh and Ashley weekend. We haven't had one of those in awhile!!
Poor Josh. Jason got new shoes and Josh got a new bandage.

Before and After-Outside

2008-09-11T09:21:00.004-04:00

You might not be able to tell in the pictures as much but it does look 10x's better outside than it did. Neighbor's have stopped and told us how much better the place looks even.

Before

After-gardening, painting, decorations.
Before
After-thanks to Josh's moms hard work this is what the flower bed looks like now, an actual flower bed.

As you can see we still need some work on the yard. We are going to check pricing on sod or something and if it's not too costly we may take that route. It's a work in progress!