a taste of downtown

one week and counting left at t.g.b.g and i couldn't be more excited--unless of course, i just had like one day left. though i have really enjoyed the atmosphere and the people, i have not enjoyed the lack of busyness...and i'm really looking forward to having some time off to catch up with some people, and to start packing for our next big journey in life--across the u.s.! it has been really neat to be downtown everyday. other than the rush hour traffic issues when you are coming or going, downtown is a delightful little place. i used to be one of those people that was terrified to go downtown-hello, people get shot there! but actually, there are some very safe, nice places to visit. we have found some wonderful dining places which i thought i'd share with anyone who might be interested in broadening their horizons...in setting aside their qualms, and heading out to experience Birmingham!

1. betolla: located at 2901 2nd avenue south, this delightful little restaurant makes you feel as if you've stepped out of alabama and into a small town in italy. if you are in the mood for a salad, sandwich or the best pizza you've ever tasted...then betolla is the place for you. everything seems to consist of basic ingredients like fresh lettuce (and none of that romaine!), homemade bread and yummy-in-your-tummy mozzerella cheese (that big fat buffalo kind). whatever it is you chose to eat here, you will no doubt walk away feeling healthy and satisfied, because it's just that kind of place. did i mention that they have this great big stone oven in which they bake their bread (the SAME bread is used for the pizzas, sandwiches and desserts; and it's AMAZING!)??! also, fresh basil is sprinkled on just about everything right before it's delivered to your table. and speaking of tables, the chairs/boothes are the coziest i've ever experienced in a restaurant setting!

2. urban standard: located at 2320 2nd avenue north, this is the most quaint coffee shop ever! though i've mentioned it before, it's worth mentioning again. it's a great spot to head over to for breakfast, lunch or an afternoon of studying. they have scones that honestly melt in your mouth (and i usually don't even care for crusty old scones, but these are far from the ones you've had before-i assure you!). they are so good that i haven't even tried any of their other breakfast-y things because i just can't NOT get one of these! for lunch, they have a very simple menu-two different sandwiches, a soup, and a salad are offered each day of the week. they also offer delicious sides of broccoli (with a touch of garlicy-ness), orzo, and kettle-cooked potato chips. and their coffee, oh my goodness!! if you have it there, it comes out in a cup looking like this: and it tastes BETTER than it looks! need i say more?! (if you want to read more about this place, read this!!)

those are, by far, my two favorites... other places come to mind, but they just fail in comparrison, so i won't even write about them for now! if you get a chance, i really encourage you to come on down and try them out...you will NOT leave disappointed, i assure you!

panama city...here we come!!!

well in 14 minutes, my vacation will officially begin!! and tomorrow morning, not too bright or too early (mainly because ryan has to go into work for a bit), we will hit the road! hopefully we will come back rested and tan!!! :)

B-E-A-U-tiful day!

i just got back from a delightful lunch which we got to enjoy basking in the rays of the sun! it is such a nice day outside...sunny and like 80! i cannot wait for the beach on wednesday-i'm hoping the weather will be similar to today! hopefully it's nice for dan and magen today down there!!! :)

we had a fun, but busy, weekend! one of my favorite parts: celebrating my grandma-in-law's 92nd birthday! all of the family got together and we went to eat at shogun...and really spent some sweet time together! ryan's family is just the best and i absolutely love the time we get to spend with them, though i wish it could be more often! we found out some BIG news: we are going to be an uncle and an aunt!! ryan's sister, christina, and her husband, kris, are going to be having their first baby!! we are SO excited!! :) ryan totally ruined the news though--christina rode with ryan and i to shogun,. as we went on our way, she said, "i have something i need to tell you guys.." and before she could even finish her sentence, my silly husband said, "you're pregnant!!" and she said, really surprised, "Umm, yes, actually-who told you?!" then it was ryan who was really surprised-he just blurted that out for the shock factor, i think (and because, he says, he figured that HAD to be it)... we really are just thrilled for them! i am a little sad, though, i admit, that we are going to be so far away during the pregnancy! at least with technology these days, there is the hope of seeing LOTS of pictures along the way!! :) i did, for a fleeting moment, think about trying to talk ryan into us having a baby-so the kiddos could grow up together and be BEST cousins... but alas, he read my mind and stopped me before i started-hahahaha! ;)

we watched a lot of final four basketball (men's and women's) this weekend, which was a TON of fun! i really love watching basketball...it's just a quick moving, interesting game. i especially love to watch the lady vols play. last year, by some crazy happenings, i was able to get some tickets to watch them play the alabama women's team-which was SWEET! i was hoping to see them play again this year..but not a chance! they played LSU last night in an exciting game! it was really slow getting started-the two teams together had scored less than 40 points at the half! but, the end was one of those hold-your-breath kind of a games! and thankfully, the vols pulled out the big "W"! i did feel a little bad for lsu, though...who has made the final four for 5 years in a row now, yet not gotten their big W! :\ but...yay go lady vols! pat summit is just amazing...a good coach who knows what she's talking about truly can make all the difference, in my opinion!

that's all for now...

my latest project

the first "hank" of yarn turned into a massive knot that i spent like seriously 3 or 4 hours trying to undo. and then, my sweet precious husband spend more time on top of that...and no luck. we ended up pretty much just tossing it out.

once i got my second hank of yarn into a nice, knotless ball..i began my project (a lacey scarf). here's the progress so far...VERY slowly!

in like 3 years, maybe, mine should look like this, hopefully:

....

i am drinking my coffee this morning BLACK, no cream, no sugar, no nothing...just coffee! and i have been all week. for those of you who know me well, you know that this is a HUGE deal...it's taken me a long time to get here. i used to be ms. "have-a-little-coffee-with-my-cream-and-sugar." then, i decided to stop putting sugar in it, because it's just not great for you...and after much thought, i decided to start trying it straight-up. it's just so much better for you that way... i will admit sometimes i still put a little fat free half and half in it, but not much!! pretty crazy...

so, it's friday and i'm so happy! now that i'm a working girl, i really enjoy the weekends a lot more than i used to (not that i didn't used to enjoy them, but now i REALLY do!)! and...next wednesday, we are heading to the beach! ryan and i realized this week that we are not even sure what beach we are going to. when dan and magen invited us, we were like "we're in!" we didn't even ask where! LOL the beach is the beach! and we LOVE it!!! i cannot wait! :)

speaking of work (a second ago), as i mentioned, i turned in my notice. just wanted to throw out there that they are looking for my replacement now. so, if you know anyone who's looking for a full time job, please send them our way (the garrison barrett group). i very much enjoy the people i work with and the relaxed atmosphere of the company. the pay and benefits are wonderful! the job gets a little boring some times, there's not TONS to do-but some people really like that! :)

you know it's been a long day when...

you can't stop staring at the clock starting around 4:50...just watching the minutes go by-ever so sloooowwwwwly! Like they say, a watched clock doesn't change...or at least it doesn't seem like it.

Shelter from the storm

this morning i was struck by the sweetness of a particular fella in my life and reminded of the sweetness of God. i am terrified of bad weather...it totally freaks me out. doesn't matter if i'm in my car, standing out in the middle of the weather, or sitting safely in my casa, or even sitting in the middle of a sturdy storm shelter (though i've never actually been in one of those during a storm...). anyway, in the wee hours of the morning, the weather got NASTY at our house. i awoke to a loud booming and really bright lightning that was almost nonstop for about 20 minutes. i blurted out, "oh, i'm scared!" ryan, who must have woken up to the loud noise to, or my loud mouth-grabbed me and rolled me over him to the "safe" side of the bed. (the side i was sleeping on was very near our glass door leading out to our porch) he then held me near as the storm raged on outside. and as i thought about what a sweet gesture that was and about how safe it made me feel (when, really, let's be honest-if a tornado tore our roof off or a tree feel right into our wall, it would probably hurt both of us pretty bad-not just the one closest to the door...)...i got this picture in my head (or maybe more an idea) of my sweet husband with his arms wrapped around me, "protecting" me from the storm...and then our sweet heavenly Father with his large arms (even though maybe he doesn't have actual arms, just stay with me...) wrapped around both ryan and i, keeping us safe. and not just from the bad weather going on outside, but from the storms of life that we have been battling in lately. sometimes life really is a lot like that storm that was raging outside this morning-and a lot of times we don't get to sit in the shelter of our nice, cool casas...sometimes we stand out there as the storm beats down on us-sometimes really hard. but you know, what a comfort it is to know that God has not left us during these times. there's the country song in my head for some reason, even though i'm usually not even a fan of that genre of music... i haven't a clue who sings it or even the rest of the words, but somewhere in the chorus, she sings "God is great, but sometimes life ain't good. and when i pray, it doesn't always turn out like i think it should..." isn't that the truth? but it's a good thing...good thing i'm not in control like so often i want to be! what a terrible mess i'd make of things...