Fall Break

October has been super busy, with both girls gearing up for competition season.  We haven't been back to Memphis to visit since Christmas,  so the girls and I left Thursday night after school to go visit friends and family.

Thursday night we got in town about 7:30 and went to mom's house.   The girls were do excited to be there and just ran around the house like crazy.  Friday was a day filled with old friends.   Aubrey had a bff in Memphis who has called several times to see if we were coming to visit anytime.   I dropped Aubrey off at Jessa's house and they spent the entire day playing at the zoo.  So fun!

Madelyn and I did a little shopping, then I dropped her off with Nana so I could catch up with old friends.   I had a long lunch with my dear friend Joey, then went to FedEx to visit my former colleagues and friends.   It was so good to see everyone again!
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Me with Bridget, Noki and Adam

The girls decorating cupcakes at Nana's

The girls and I went to visit Granny in the nursing home that afternoon.   It's always difficult to see Granny in her current condition,  but we love her so much and the girls always ask about her.

After dinner with Nana and PawPaw we went to my best friend,  Emily's house.  The girls and her boys were so happy to see each other and ran around all night.  I can't even explain how much I love and miss this sweet family!

I love Mason's pose in this pic.  So funny!!

Saturday morning the girls woke up pretty early and we ate breakfast with Nana and PawPaw.  Then we headed out again to go see my sweet friend, Erin and meet her newest son.  We weren't able to stay very long and I didn't even get any pictures.  But it's always so much fun to see her :-)

We made it to Mimi and Poppie's house around lunchtime and headed out on a mission to get Halloween costumes.  Aubrey knew she wanted to be Spider Girl but Madelyn had no idea what she wanted.  She didn't like anything that I said was "cute" and finally decided on a Broken Doll costume.  She thought it was a little creepy but not too scary.  We went home, got dressed and headed out to eh Zoo Boo.  There are so many things that I love about middle Tennessee, but the zoo here is nothing compared to the Memphis Zoo.  We really have missed it and were so glad to be back.  it was so much fun riding rides, trick or treating and just hanging out.

Dressed and ready to go!

They sure love their Mimi!

We even got Poppie in a picture!

Madelyn thought the mummy was hilarious!

Being silly late at night after the zoo.  Aubrey always wants us to take selfies!

Sunday was busy as well.  While we were driving into town, Gisele called and asked of the girls would be interested in going to the Orpheum to see Cinderella.  They've never been to a musical like that before, so I knew they would love it.  We relaxed all morning then headed out to the mall to get some new clothes for the show.  I think we spent 3 hours in the children's department at Dillard's, bu both girls finally found outfits that they loved.  We headed downtown around 4:30 and walked to Kooky Canuck's to eat dinner.  The show was absolutely incredible, and we loved every minute of it!!

Pretty girls....

Excited for the show to start!!!  Aubrey has been begging for "fake" glasses and was happy to finally get some!

Fall Break really just flew by.  That was the last weekend before competition season starts, so the madness has just begun!!!  

Fun Stuff

Goodness,  we are always so busy that I haven't had time for anything!   The last few weeks have been fun.  Last Tuesday night I was able to go to the Ryman to see my all-time favorite group,  the Indigo Girls,  perform.  What made it even better is that I was able to go with 2 of my favorite people, Marta and Mary Ann.  We really enjoyed the show,  and had a lot of fun!!  But it took me the rest of the week to recover .

Last weekend was busy, as usual.   We got up Saturday morning to go watch some friends at a school cheer competition at Ravenwood High School.   Straight from there was Madelyn's conditioning class, then cheerleading for the Blaze in the rain!  Aubrey went to the American Girl store and a sleepover with her friend Julia from cheer.  Madelyn and I headed to Gallatin to watch some friends in a gymnastics meet.   We didn't get home until midnight!

Here are some pictures of the week.  I'm hoping this weekend will be much more calm!!

The girls and I at the Ryman!!

Indigo Girls!!!!!!

Madelyn and her buddies.  They all did incredibly well!  There's Macie, Emma Kate, Lily Catherine and Raegan.

Julia and Aubrey

Sweet girls

Center Hill Lake

Since moving to middle Tennessee,  I have a new happy place.  When Amanda and Houston invite us to the lake,  I know we are in store for a day of fun and relaxation.  Some of my best memories ad a kid are on Lake Ouachita with my aunt and uncle.   I love that we are creating similar memories with the girls.

Labor Day weekend we hung out on the lake all day, not getting home until after 11:00.  Clint and Houston wake boarded together,  the kids went tubing and I relaxed safely in the boat :)

The lake is definitely Clint's happy place!!!

Happy kiddos

It was really fun watching the boys wake board together!!

Miss Sassy pants!

The girls are ALL about taking selfies these days :)

Finally headed home after an exhausting day!

V-O-L-S Go Vols Go!!!!

After being out of town and missing Clint and the girls,  it was nice to have a long weekend for Labor Day.  When we found out that UT'S season opener was going to be played at Nissan Stadium here in Nashville we had no reason not to go!

Amanda and Houston  (and Huddie,  of course) came by Saturday around noon and we all piled into the Expedition to head downtown for some tailgating fun.  We had wings, snacks, drinks and everything.   We found a place to park, set up our test and chairs and really enjoyed the excitement.  The girls have never been to a UT game, and they were loving all the orange!

About 5 minutes before we wanted to walk to the stadium a rain shower came out of nowhere.   Actually the rain felt nice to cool us off.  It was HOT.

Houston was able to find us dome great tickets so we had an awesome view of the Power T and all the pre-game fun.  Aubrey didn't know what to do with herself, she was so excited!

The kids did awesome,  despite the oppressive hest in the first quarter.   By the second quarter,  Amanda took all 3 kids to the shade and into an air-conditioned Titans store in the stadium to cool off.  There was no complaints,  but you could tell the poor kiddos were melting. 

We enjoyed watching the Pride of the Southland band perform at halftime,  but we're disappointed that the cheerleaders didn't come out and do anything.   We were at the opposite end of the field and couldn't see them during the game, so Aubrey was sad they didn't perform.  A few minutes into the 3rd quarter Clint and I took the girls for snacks.  We were gone a while, so we fully expected the 3rd quarter to be almost over when we walked back to our seats.  Instead we learned there was a weather delay!!  Apparently there was lightning within 8 miles of the stadium so they had to stop the game.  The weather looked clear, but the delay lasted over an hour!!!!  Again,  the kids never complained once and when the play resumed the sun had started to go down and the weather was beautiful!  

It was such a fun day and an awesome experience for the girls!  We've decided that we want to try to go to the UT versus Vanderbilt game each year to start a new tradition.

Here are the pics from the day....

Keep Portland Weird!

Once a year, the Association of Healthcare Internal Auditors (AHIA) holds a conference.   This year the conference was in Portland,  Oregon.   I was pretty excited for a change of scenery and have never been to the Pacific Northwest. 

My co-worker April and I left bright and early on Sunday morning for a 7:30am flight.  We made it to the gate just in time and took off for Denver, Colorado.  When we got to Denver around 9:30 local time, we had time to wander the airport and have a fabulous brunch.  Even the restaurants at the airport served local, farm-fresh food.  Then we boarded another plane for Portland.

High above the clouds....

The view from my hotel room....

When talking to people before our trip, the one thing we heard from everyone was how fabulous the food was.  We asked our cab driver for his recommendations, and he absolutely did not steer us wrong.  Sunday night we went to a local restaurant called Tasty N Alder.  O.M.G.  The food was divine!!  We shared some wagyu skirt steak, cedar plank salmon, skillet corn cake and sauteed swiss chard and kale.  SO GOOD!!!

It was a long day of traveling, so we were in our hotel rooms pretty early.  It's funny how I always dream of a quiet relaxing evening alone, but all I could think about while there was how much I missed Clint and the girls.   

We ate at more local restaurants, including divine stuffed salmon and crab cakes at a place called Jake's Famous Crawfish and heavenly Vietnamese at a tiny local favorite called LucLac.  Each evening we walked to dinner and explored downtown.  Portland was a really fun city, but I would have really loved to be able to explore the mountains nearby instead of staying in the city center.

Funny little things we found while exploring.  I texted this to Clint to see if he thought it would be a good souvenir for the girls.

One of my favorite spots is a bookstore called Powell's.  It's literally an entire city block,  Instead of each genre having it's own section in the store, There was a color coded room for each genre.  Also, the store sold used and new books.  It was really a cool spot!  We also did the tourist spot called Voodoo Donuts.  I'm not a huge fan of donuts, but ordered a fritter called the Memphis Mafia.  It's a donut made with banana pudding batter and covered in chocolate and peanut butter.  I ate one bite to try it and threw the rest out.  it was good, just way too much sugar for my blood!

Powell's book store

Who knew enough people still wore Dr. Marten's to need a place this big??  Then I started looking around, and people in Portland definitely wore them!!

The bike lanes downtown were really cool.  the were huge, green and in the middle of the one-way streets.

Tuesday morning April and i did a 5k that was sponsored by the conference.  It was early (we started at 6am), but we were so glad we got up and did it.  The path took us down to the river and over a bridge.  It was beautiful watching the sun come up!

My dinner at LucLac - One of the best meals I've ever had!!

VooDoo Donuts

By Wednesday I was definitely ready to get back to my family.  We had class that morning, then loaded up for the airport to catch a 12:00 noon flight.  We had to stop in Oakland, CA to pick up more passengers, then landed in Las Vegas for a layover.  April had never been to Vegas, so we talked about playing the slot machines while we were there.  It's so funny how the second you step off the plane you can gamble.

By the time we got to Vegas, we grabbed a quick dinner and sat at our gate.  About 20 minutes before we were to board the plane, April convinced me to go try our luck at the slots.  Anyone who knows me knows I'm not a big gambler, but I knew Clint would be disappointed if I didn't at least play some.  We found the closest dollar slot machine and I put in a $20.  I was un-enthusiastically pulling the handle to place my bets when I realized I was only playing one line.  No one EVER wins by betting one line.  I told myself when I played down to $15 I would bet 5 lines, increasing my bet to $5 per pull.  I was so lost in my thoughts, I didn't even notice on my 5th bet when the "Wheel Of Fortune" rang out.  April asked what that meant, and I explained that I got to spin the wheel.  As the wheel spun, I noticed the highest amount on it was $1,000, which was right next to $15.  I waited for the wheel to stop and it did - on the $1,000!!!!  I immediately cashed out and walked away with $1,015.  Not bad for started with $20!!  

This was the view sitting at our gate waiting to board the plane.

The Memphis Mafia.  This thing had to weigh 3 pounds.

The flight from Vegas was soooooo long and we didn't land in Nashville until after 11:00, getting home at midnight.  It was a fun trip for sure, and I'm sure by next year I will be ready for the next conference.  However, for now I'm thankful to be home with my crazy crew :)