The Summer of Us

This summer has been so busy and it seems like Griff and I are constantly on the go. We've been doing lots of stuff together - so I dubbing it the summer of us. Here's a sample of what we've been up to:

• A week long trip to Flagstaff, AZ - rented a house with 13 other family members and made day trips to Sedona, the Grand Canyon, the Painted Desert, Meteor Crater.
• Cooking classes - with the chef from one of my favorite restaurants in Atlanta, NAVA, a canning class, and a class from the people who run the CSA we belong to (Moore's Farm), and more are scheduled for the next few months.
• Photography class - learning to use our new Nikon D60 with a class taught by Angela Wilson at Showcase photography.
• A trip to New Orleans - where we walked a ton and ate some of the best meals of our life, seriously (we ate twice at Cuvee it was that good and once at Emeril's Delmonico)
• Softball - we have joined a softball team which originated with some friends that Griff works with .
• Training - we're running the Disney half marathon in January and started from scratch.

Besides that, we've had a few cookouts, seen some great plays at the Fox (including The Color Purple - one of my new favorites) and basically have been pretty much on the go all summer. It's been really wonderful getting to spend a lot of time with my husband doing things we both enjoy.

Seriously, It's an Epidemic

I found out yesterday another one of my best friends is pregnant with her first child! I am SO excited for her. Jenny and I have been friends since first grade and even though we don't see each other as often as I would like, it's always easy to pick up right where we left off. There's something so reassuring being around someone who has known you practically forever and knows your family and your past. And I am so excited that she's going to be a mom!

Last Friday the first of the our friend's 2008 babies were born. Our neighbors and good friends had a sweet baby boy. He is simply beautiful.

Even though Griff and I aren't quite ready to be parents yet, it is so much fun to be around all these kids and to see my friends going through such an amazing time in their lives.

Busy, Busy

It's crazy how the first few months of the year we seemed to have nothing really going on, we spent our weekends being lazy. Now, all of a sudden, we're in the midst of nonstop activity! Last Friday we had dinner with some good friends at Wahoo! in Decatur, one of my favorite restaurants. They have the best outside area and great food. We spent Saturday with my parents - they were celebrating their 39th wedding anniversary. Griff and I made a great dinner for our immediate family and our surrogate family, the Normans. On Sunday, we went to Griff's parents for Easter dinner.

We have couple baby showers planned for each of the next 2 weekends at our house - one for my roommate from college, Jessica and Paul, and another for our neighbors and good friends, the Fosters. We're so excited about celebrating these great occasions with them and all our friends. And of course we love to entertain! The following weekend, we'll be having the 3rd annual family yard sale and I can't wait to clear all the junk out of our house!

So, we've been busy getting the house ready and making plans and finding all that junk over the last few weeks. I'm so glad the time changed early this year, it just seems so much easier to get things done after work when it's nice and sunny out!

Reality Check

I posted at the beginning of the year that one of our goals is to completely pay off our credit card debt. We've done pretty well with sticking to a budget lately and have been able to save some money towards our debt. Last week, Griff decided to get a jump on our taxes and we were both shocked to discover we owe significantly more than we expected. While we knew we would owe some, due a consulting job Griff had on the side, we owe about 5 times what we thought, and most of it is due to our regular jobs not taking out enough. Not a good surprise. We've made plans to see an accountant next week and we're hoping maybe she can find a little bit of savings for us and more importantly make sure we're ready for next year.

At the end of it all, it's money we owe and it just means we got back too much last year. So I'm not upset, I just wish we had been better prepared. It's frustrating to be getting ahead with the credit card and suddenly need to divert money to a huge tax bill. The good thing is that we proved to ourselves we can save money and we have a good budget to help us get ahead.

Decluttering

Lately I have been really on a mission to declutter our house. We have SO many things and it seems like we don't use most of what we have. I honestly have boxes of "stuff" that I have carried with me since college that I have never even really unpacked. It's time to go through everything and get rid of the things that we can't or don't use and hopefully pass them on to someone who can and will use them. I truly think that will help us appreciate more the things we have.

Last night I finally got around to watching an Oprah episode that I tivoed several weeks ago. It was about clutter and how it affects your health. It was actually pretty eye opening and I agree that there is a connection. I don't necessarily think clutter makes you unhealthy, but I think they're both symptoms of the same cause. The main thing that I took away from the show is that when you're weighed down with too many things and too much stuff, you can't fully appreciate and honor all the things that you have.

Griff and I started last weekend, cleaning out our bedroom closet, which we had barely been able to walk through lately. We both got rid of a lot of clothing that we haven't worn in at least the last year. I had 2 and a half big garbage bags full and he had 1 and a half. It's amazing to think of the amount of money spent on the clothes in those bags, but we are giving them to organizations who hopefully will be able to provide them to people in need.

For all the other "things" we come across that we are going to get rid of, they're going into a huge pile for the 3rd annual family yard sale which we'll host in the next few months. It's a family affair, with Griff's parents and sisters bringing stuff literally by the vanload and this year my parents are getting in the act too. I actually have a lot of fun at the sale, everyone comes over to help out and we get to spend a lot of time visiting together. The money this year will go towards our family vacation in Arizona that we'll be taking in June. We've rented a huge house and there will be 14 of us heading out west for a week (including both sets of parents and at least 3 of the nieces/nephews).

I'm looking forward to clearing out and getting organized - one closet down, the rest of the house to go! I'd like to take pictures along the way and I'll share them here.

In the Water

I found out today another of my good friends is pregnant! I am so excited for her and her husband. This is the 3rd pregnancy of close friends in the last few months. And it's all of their first babies. It's a very exciting time and I guess we all knew it was coming sooner or later. There have been a few babies born to our friends in the last couple of years (hi Nikki!), but so far no widespread child epidemic. Now that we're 30, I know it's going to continue.

We're just not quite ready to be part of it yet. We're still getting over the shock of raising a puppy. And, we have a few things left to do - I know if we wait for the exact 'right' time it will never happen, but we have a few specific things we want to accomplish first. Of course, I know it's not all up to us. My friend Carrie sent out an email today to let everyone she had not been able to contact in person know the great news. As she put it - "Surprised? So are we!" I thought that was hilarious and it did remind me that there are no guarantees!

Congratulations to all my friends that are embarking on the journey of parenthood!

Resolved

So I've thought about my New Year's Resolutions. Yes, it's January 4th, but sometimes it takes me a while to make decisions. Actually, these really weren't that difficult to come up with, I've just been a little lazy at actually writing them down. I am really pretty content with my life. But, there are always things that can be improved and these are my goals that will help make 2008 a fabulous year...

Improve Diet - Not go on a diet, but be more aware and careful about what I eat. I know what's healthy and if I can eat that 90% of the time, I'll be doing well. Whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, lean protein, dairy, healthy fats. It's not rocket science but sometimes it seems way out of reach.
Increase Exercise - Again, not rocket science. When I move more, I feel better and that makes me want to move even more. I miss my BodyPump and BodyFlow classes at the gym. I miss being able to run. We're planning on running the Disney Half Marathon next January with Griff's sister and her husband. It's too early to start training specifically for that, but I am going to start training to run a 5K again. And get back to my classes at the gym.
See Friends More - I'm blessed with great friends, both mine and those I've met through Griff. I'm horrible at staying in touch and making plans. That needs to change. I can't take the people who mean the most to me for granted. Specifically, I will make plans with friends I don't see often at least once a month. That doesn't seem like much, but it's not happening now and I need to start somewhere.
Pay Off Debt - For some reason we've allowed our credit card debt to grow. We shouldn't have any. We will focus on paying that off first and then work on the cars. Dave Ramsey would be proud.

Those are the big ones. Griff and I are both focused on all of these, which will make it so much easier to accomplish. These will also help us achieve some longer term resolutions we've set for ourselves. Here's to a great 0-8!