Austin Trip Departure Day :(

We finally slept in a bit and got ready, packed and headed to the airport. My mom dropped us off and we said our sad goodbyes. Well now we are back to the real world. Got into Richmond around dinner time and ate at California Pizza Kitchen, walked around Dick’s and then went to Kyle’s to pick up Abby!! Then we went home unpacked and went to sleep in our bed with Abby! :)

Austin Trip Day 3

We woke up early again and went to church, then breakfast at Austin Java, it was pretty good. Then we headed out of town to San Antonio to see the Riverwalk, the Alamo and some of the city. They had plenty of restaurants especially Mexican to choose from. Cotton would love the array of Mexican food. One place called Rita’s and we thought of Cotton. San Antonio was nice, but not as impressive as Austin; Austin is just a neat place and has so many quaint areas. After our walk around there we headed back to Austin drove around so Ryan could see the UT stadium and their ugly exterior of the UT basketball arena; that was neat to see though. Then we headed to the Hilton Bar and met one of my mom’s neighbors and soon after we left for Guerro’s a great Mexican Restaurant. The ambiance was pretty cool. And the area near there was so cute too! There’s a hotel called The San Jose where many famous people go; it is very well known, so I took a picture of course. Then we finally got back to my mom’s house and went straight to bed.

Austin Trip Day 2

We woke up early and got ready to head downtown for a tour of the city. Instead of riding in a bus, trolley or buggy, we got to ride on a Segway! Totally a really fun experience! We loved every bit of it! I want one of those now :) If you haven’t had the chance to ride one, do it. It is fun! D.C. is one other city which offers tours on them; you should look into it. After our Segway tour, we went to a place called Wahoo’s they have the best fish tacos and other tacos too. But my mom and I had to try the fish one’s it was a fun place, but Ryan especially liked the name since UVA Cavaliers are also called “Wahoo’s” for their nickname. Then we walked around another area of downtown and headed home. Once we got home we changed and went to a neat Upscale outdoor mall called The Domain. We didn’t see any reason to spend money, but we just looked around more for scenery. After walking around, we went to eat at a restaurant there called North. It was good Italian food! Afterwards we went home, watched a movie and then hit the bed.

The Start of our Austin Trip 2008

Ryan and I woke up at 4:30AM to leave for our flight in Richmond for Texas. We got into Austin around 12:30 and then my mom took us to lunch along the Second Street District Downtown. Then we walked around for a bit to walk off some of our lunch ;) Not too long after we went home and took about an hour or so nap. After our nap we ate a quick snack at my mom’s and then headed to a comedy show called Esther’s Follies. It was my second time and Ryan’s first. We really enjoyed it and had a few good laughs. If anyone goes to Austin, I would totally recommend them to see it.

Today is another regular work day, but instead of heading home for lunch, Ryan has his bible study lunch and then I am meeting Sarah to catch up for lunch. Then we will head home and get Abby’s things together change and take Abby over to Kyle’s so he can watch her for the weekend. Tonight we will be going to a FCA fundraising dinner and then come home and hit the bed. We have to leave our house no later than 4:30AM tomorrow for our 7:30AM flight out of Richmond to Texas! I am looking forward to a mini trip! Excited to see my mom and just relax :) Well I hope all of you have a fabulous weekend and I will blog some more sometime next week when I return from our trip.

Ryan and I had our regular work day, then I came home and walked Abby around the neighborhood and then started cooking dinner. Ryan mowed the grass while I was cooking. After dinner we had to do laundry, iron, and pack for our Austin trip on Friday. Something new, I have tried to begin my workouts in the morning at the AFC since in a month or so I will no longer have WS as a gym to workout in. I have begun getting up when Ryan does and go workout at the AFC and then come home and get ready for work. Depending on what time I will start work with my new job, I will try and workout in the mornings. I feel much better for the day then after work on nice days I can still go take Abby for a walk before Ryan is home and then make dinner. It makes for a better day overall. Hopefully I can continue this habit even though I struggle to wake up early.

Doggy Yappy Hour

After my exciting news and after work, I headed home to change and take Abby for a walk to the downtown mall with Erin and Nikki (my neighbors) and their pups (Layla, a puggle, and Manny, a golden retriever) We walked to the downtown mall to go to Siips Wine and Champagne Bar (http://www.siipswine.com/) for Doggy Yappy Hour. We sat on the patio enjoyed a glass of wine or so and had a few appetizers while the pups drank water from the Siips water bowls and enjoyed some yummy Sammy snacks treats from Siips Owner, George. Abby of course indulged in it all! Poor Nikki got pooed on by a bird and then her dog Manny decided to chew threw his leash, so thank goodness CVS was two steps from our table. Nikki ran in there to get a new leash for Manny and of course before long he chewed thru that one too. He kept us laughing that is for sure; we really enjoyed ourselves. During all of this Ryan was out playing softball at Piedmont where it was supposedly very cold and the wind was pretty intense. Abby and I were better off on the downtown mall this night. After our fun Nikki’s husband, Gene, came and picked all three of us up and the pooches in the SUV. That was a fun trip home. :)

The BIG News...

I officially accepted a new job! I will now be an executive assistant to two managing directors at a company near the downtown mall. I will be in a hot spot :) I am looking forward to a new and exciting adventure. At the same time, I am sad to leave my current company and everyone I have worked with for the last 3 to 4 years. My current bosses are great and so understanding. You don’t realize how much you are truly liked and how much people will miss you until you say you are leaving. However, I am not leaving for a month, as I only felt that was fair to my current employer. I will end this job on May 13th and start my new one on May 14th.

Work Out Day and Church!

We woke up late which was nice! Then we had some lunch at home. After an hour or so of our food digesting we decided to go on a jog to the AFC. Once we got there we played some indoor basketball which was fun (my arms hurt the next day from that) and then Ryan was my personal trainer. He showed me a few things with weights. After spending lots of our time there, we headed back to the house ending with another jog. It felt great! Then we showered and hurried to Lowes to pick up a few items and then straight to church. After church we went home and had Salmon for dinner. Yum, I love cooking Salmon! After dinner I did some laundry and we just chilled and watched our shows on our big screen; Ryan worked a big in the garage trying to get it slightly more organized with the few things we bought at Lowes. Before we knew it, it was bedtime.

Outdoors All Day! :)

I woke up early to meet Maddie and Joshua James at 9am to do a 2 mile “walk for life” which was a Christian organization supporting pro-life for the pregnancy centers of central VA. Joshua James loved the balloons and the walk, his favorite though was the praise and worship music put on by the lifeteen band from St. Thomas Aquinas. It was a fun event to attend. Afterwards, I headed home to see Ryan and we got ready to go to the spring game at the stadium. We stayed for almost the whole thing. It was such a beautiful day! Then we came back home and I took a short nap and then got ready again to go to the Lacrosse game which was more packed than the spring game. We stayed till about half-time and then we headed back home to pick up Abby and went to the downtown mall to eat dinner out on the patio of Millers to celebrate my … well you will have to stay tuned. Abby behaved herself which was nice!

Guad :)

Ryan and I had a regular work day, worked out and then since it was such a beautiful day we went to meet Michael at Gaud and had some Mexican on the outside patio. Once we finished dinner we headed to McGrady’s to meet up with a couple other guys. We hung out there for a bit and then headed home to chill and then hit the bed.

Boring...

Ryan and I had a regular work day, came home and ate some tacos and then headed to Sams Club for a much needed run. After that we came home and pretty much hit the bed.

Joshua James' 2nd Birthday!

Ryan left work around 3pm with Shooter to attend a Nationals game. This day was Joshua James’ 2nd birthday! So, I went up to Madison to have dinner with Maddie, Josh, Maddie’s mom and Joshua James. It was a wonderful meal and Joshua James was such so cute. He is a true sweetie pie! I love when I get to spend some time with them. After his birthday celebration I went home and did some things around the house talked with my mom and then went to bed with Abby. Ryan didn’t make it home till probably around 1AM or so. I was sound asleep!

Softball :(

Ryan’s softball game ended up being cancelled. It had rained most of the weekend prior, so I guess there were some puddles? He was not too happy, but at least we got to spend time with one another.

My New Project

My new project is to try and train Abby to become a Therapy Dog. I bought this manual from the Delta Society http://www.deltasociety.org/ to learn more on Therapy Dogs, training etc. I have also contacted a private trainer in town. I will get Abby more private training lessons. And my goal is for her to become certified and pass and then I can take her volunteering with me to see sick patients or visit the elderly. I think she would like it. If for some reason she doesn’t pass at least she will still be better dog and even more behaved than she is now. And if anything I will have learned something from it and would like to train our second dog, in years to come to be the Therapy Dog. My goal is to have well behaved and manner canines. I love Abby, but I do know she has some things she could work on as I am sure we all do ;) Well, I will keep you all posted as to how this goes. I am sure it will be a slow process, but I am looking forward to the adventure; I know it will be a lot of work.

First Weekend of April

Friday the 4th, Ryan and I had our regular routine and after working out we came home and had dinner, watched some TV (a few hours of the Dog Whisperer on National Geographic – my favorite along with some HGTV) and then hit the bed. Saturday, we woke up, showered and hung out for a little before I went to volunteer for the first time at the Women’s Place in UVA’s Hospital. I shadowed a 2nd year from UVA who is looking into studying medicine or pharmacy. She was very sweet and showed me what it is we are supposed to do to help in the Women’s place. First we had to see if anything needed to be stocked and it looked as though the nurses or previous volunteers had already taken care of it. Then we found any of the newborn bed/carts which were empty to be cleaned. We cleaned four of them. And I got a tour of the floor and then we were able to knock on the doors to see if the mothers needed anything drinks or snack etc. All seemed to be good. Supposedly this was a very slow day with only two newborns in the nursery and two rooms occupied; I am hoping it will pick up more in the summer. I was able to be in the nursery most of the time as that is where I was getting the beds ready for newborns. The babies are so tiny and cute. I am not used to seeing a 1 day or hours old baby. I did enjoy my first day. I will be shadowing again this Saturday the 12th and I am looking forward to it. It puts a smile on my face to be there. After my volunteer work, Ryan, Abby and I went on a jog around the neighborhoods; it felt good to get a quick workout in. Then we got showered and ready to head to Gordonsville. We went to Michael & Katie’s House and chatted and then headed to a nice dinner with them and each of their parents. Ryan and I had a filet mignon and it was very tasty! Katie and I then split a dessert of cheesecake mouse with strawberries and aww that was so delicious; we were in love! Following dinner we headed back to their house and all chatted and watched the last game of the final four with Kansas beating UNC. I of course was excited because I WON my bracket pool I was in; yea for me! Ryan and I win now some extra cash, so that was very exhilarating! I am psyched :) After the nice long day, Ryan and I headed home and hit the bed.

Sunday the 6th, we woke up and went to church then grabbed some Bodo’s breakfast sandwiches and went home to eat them. Ryan then had to rush to get ready to play golf with Shooter and another buddy. They played on a cold, drizzly day. I stayed in with Abby watched some TV, went over and chatted with one of our neighbors for a bit and then came back, took a little nap with Abby and then made dinner for Ryan’s arrival. We had dinner together and watched our Sunday night shows. Then we hit the bed for the start of a new work week.

Monday the 7th, was just another normal day. We worked, had lunch at home, worked again, worked-out, ate dinner together at home and watched most of the final basketball game before we hit the bed again. Today is another normal day, but was even tougher for me to get up for work. I was sooo sleepy. After work, I will get a quick workout in and then head home to eat dinner (our chili will be cooking all day in the crock pot, so dinner will be ready). Then Ryan has to get ready for his softball game. Abby and I think it is still too cold to make it to this one, maybe next week. His game is at 8, so I will be hanging out with Abby during that time.

Last Weekend of March / 1st of April

Thursday, March 27th I had book/wine club and this month it was hosted by Erin (my neighbor and friend up the street), so I didn’t have far to go. Of course when you get a group of girls together for dinner and wine we talk about anything and everything. The main topic for this evening was babies and come to find out I caused Erin to spill the beans and she told us she was pregnant. She had literally just found out and hadn’t even told her parents or in-laws yet. She went to the doctors the following day to find out how far along she was and she was 8 weeks. So exciting, now for the next few months we have our book to discuss plus Erin’s baby. We were all so happy for her and cannot wait to see her progress! Anyways after all of that great news we did get to discuss our last sad book and select another. Our new book is Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer. Hopefully I will be able to read this one with ease, plus it is shorter, so maybe I will have time to see the movie too before our next get-together. During this evening Ryan stayed home with Abby and got some additional work done. He was able to spend quality time to himself.

Friday, March 28th Ryan and I went about our days as usual going to work and then working out afterwards. Once we got home Ryan said he wanted to go to dinner with me instead of eating in. He wanted to get out since he had a long week. Work is tough and stressful on him now. So the two of us tried a new restaurant on the Corner, we went to Three. It was very good. We enjoyed our time together. After dinner we headed home to hang out with Abby and then went to bed after the NCAA basketball games finished. We slept in the next morning.

Saturday, March 29th, after waking up a little later than we should have, I vacuumed the house and tried to tidy up while Ryan mowed the lawn. Then we showered to get ready for Lisa and Dave’s arrival. They were coming in town for just the day and night to stay with us and go to Sarah’s going away party at Capps’ House. We went to lunch with them when they arrived and caught up on all the good news. Lisa is 3 months pregnant too. So we had a lot to talk about with that. We are really excited for Lisa and Dave! Lisa of course was our designated driver. ;) She is so cute and I know will be a great mom! They just moved closer to us into Maryland. So hopefully we will now get to see each other more since they are no longer in NYC. Well I do have some photos of the party. We enjoyed ourselves and loved being able to spend time with Dave and Lisa.

I also have a few ultrasound pictures of baby Maloney. So cute.

Oh and I believe I forgot to mention in the last entry that Renee and Chris are expecting as well. We found out the evening of March 24th. She is 8 weeks pregnant as well meaning we will God willing see our new baby cousin during our Correa Christmas. We are excited. So fun with all the great news!

Sunday, March 30th Kendra’s 25th Birthday! Yea! Happy Birthday Kendra! We woke up early to go to breakfast with Lisa and Dave at The Nook. Then they left and we went back home to vedge and nap after a long night. I napped for about an hour and then left to meet Maddie and Sara (she was in town from Wilmington) so we could catch up. Then they came back to the house. Sara hadn’t seen it yet. Josh and Joshua James came to pick up Maddie from my home so I got to see baby Joshua James too. He is a cutie and so sweet. Then Sara had to head back traveling and Josh, Maddie and Joshua James left too. Not too long after Ryan and I had dinner at home, watched some TV shows and I scrapbooked a little more and then headed to bed after an adventurous weekend.
This past Monday and Tuesday we were back to our regular routines with work, workout and dinner at home and tonight will be the same. Tuesday the 1st of April, Kyle found out he got his summer job. He will be working for UVA, so gets to stay in Charlottesville. I love having him in town and I know Abby is happy too; she loves him soo much! This means Kyle will be able to spend more time with Ryan and I and he will be 21!!! YEA! Tomorrow, Thursday April 3rd Ryan is being treated to a nice dinner with his co-workers for putting up with the craziness at work. No spouses were invited to this dinner, so I will miss Ryan, but maybe I can get some more scrapbooking done (sometimes it seems never ending). We are not sure what our weekend plans are yet, but I will be back on blogging I am sure sometime next week. Until then, I hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week!