Hard Workin’ Man

It’s been a quiet weekend around the Abraham house.  Josh and his assistants have worked SUPER hard at the field, putting up a new fence.

Friday afternoon they had some help pulling up the old fence posts from this guy:

Then they got new posts set and the black rubber coated fencing on

Then the red plastic protector things (I don’t know the technical term)

and finally the double gate!

The new fence looks wonderful and gives the field such a updated, clean, 2012 look!

They begin practice on Wednesday!

 

Ins and Outs of January

Earlier in the week I was blog browsing, and I read Amanda’s blog about the real life person behind the computer screen.  It made me think and reflect on how so many times we show the good times, clean house, cute outfits, and other trivial aspects of life.  Yes of course, we want to show happy times on the blogs because no one wants to read a sad, depressing blog post all the time, but sometimes those are necessary, as to not be deceitful.

Monday I was at home and so I cleaned out two closets that have been a “catch-all” space for the last 4 years.  It was a bit scary some of the things found in those closets

like this hotel box from our wedding weekend in June of 2008. 3.5 years later- it got thrown away.

I’ve always been a fan of containers, a box, a tub, a bag- I love.  But in the past month, it has become SO VERY apparent in multiple ways that life isn’t always pretty and neatly packaged in a cool container, and facing that isn’t fun.  Of course that’s a fact of life that we all know, but when it hits you square in the jaw- dealing with it just plain stinks.

January is a month I ALWAYS dread. The holidays are over, decorations come down, family time decreases, our calendar becomes open, and most saddening- the days are short, dark, and usually cold. Oh and- it’s the month before baseball practice starts.

January will not get me down, I will make the best of it and keep myself busy- even if I have to create things to occupy myself, like cleaning out closets.

Now, for the happy things that have brought smiles and laughs this January!

Lunch date with Margie to celebrate our upcoming birthdays.

A night out with Mary Katherine, Claire, Mary Peyton, Sarah Beth, Abby, and Allyson to the Miss Vicksburg pageant.

A crock pot dinner of roast and potatoes with this cutie-

which resulted in a discovery that I can’t cook rice- unless it’s the boil-in-a-bag kind!

and……. plans for a visit with my Mom!

Tomorrow is the 100th Day of School and it’s sure to be full of great activities.

Do You Shellac?

When it comes time to get dressed up and go to a fancy event, or if I’m just having a day where I need a stress relief, I’ve always loved a manicure.

You see, the problem with a regular old manicure is that my nail polish is usually chipped within 2 hours of leaving the salon.

ENTER: gel polish.

There are many different brands of gel polish, and I’ve tried lots!

The original gel polish was made CND and is called SHELLAC.

Gel polishes are put on your natural nails and use a base coat, color coat, and top coat, all cured for around 1 minute underneath a UV light.

When you leave the salon- the polish is very hard, and completely dry. No sitting around waiting for nails to dry, no chance of smudging those perfectly painted nails, and most importantly, it doesn’t chip.

In my experience, the polish generally lasts about 10 days to 2 weeks before it begins to peel a little around the edges.  These results may not be typical, as I do use an INSANE amount of hand sanitizer each day at school.

Try it next time- ask for gel polish, as some salons use other brands of gel besides Shellac.  You will be pleased.

30

Last week Josh turned 30! 

I tried to plan a surprise party for him- but all the guys were going to be hunting during the weekend so we decided that Monday night would be perfect for the National Championship game. Our friends Buddy & India have a great house for entertaining- so I asked if we could have the party there.  They were so gracious to host everyone- and Josh was SUPER surprised.

I walked out holding the cake and everyone (including Josh) started singing Happy Birthday- then when I walked up to him with the cake- he was soooo confused!

He covered his face and turned 29 shades of red.

It was a great gathering- and I can’t believe that no one spilled the beans.

Thank you to Buddy and India for hosting yet another wonderful party.

Music City Bowl and New Year’s Eve

This is a long post with LOTS of pictures, but we had so much fun in Nashville, I couldn’t leave anything out.

Last week Josh and I headed to the Music City with Jase and Whitney, and we met Mr. Jimmy & Mrs. Patti there.  We stayed near Vanderbilt, and could see their stadium from our balcony.

Thursday night we went to the Wildhorse Saloon for the MSU Bulldog Party.  The Pom Squad and both cheerleading squads, as well as Bully, came to lead the crowd in some MSU cheers.Jase and WhitneyMe and my precious hubsMrs. Patti and 2 of her boys.  Jim was in Las Vegas so he was having fun too- just not with us.

Mrs. Patti and her girls.

Mr. Jimmy & the boys

Sandy & Jessica came and met us-it was super fun to catch up and hang out with them.

Friday was a day of leisure-shopping and sipping until game time.  The downtown area was PACKED with MSU fans, with a Wake Forest fan here and there.  The street was closed off and there were people EVERYWHERE.We got to the stadium almost 2 hours before the game startedbut we were glad that we got to see the men jump from the plane and deploy their parachutes to bring in the game ball.

After the game we went to Rippy’s to eat dinner and this guy and his band were playing! He loved Saunders and Jase.Our table was RIGHT by the door and everyone put their trash on our table as they were leaving! We were so grossed out.Saturday morning we got up and headed to Downtown Franklin to eat.  Looking for a place to eat that was a locally owned establishment lead us to Dotson’s Restaurant.

This was the first thing we saw when we walked in------ HUGE meringue.  The food was divine and if you are ever in that area- this is a MUST.  Later we headed for a little shopping.  The guys did this while we shopped.

Then it was back to the hotel for some rest and showers before we headed to Bound’ry for dinner. 

Whitney’s sister, Kelly and her husband Gaston, joined us for dinner!

While we were snapping photos in the lobby- we ran into this guy! It was soooooooooo good to see Wesley.  I can’t believe it’s been 4 years since Josh coached him.Then is was on to the restaurant where we had a little bit of a wait- so we passed the time visiting with Jordan and Saunders.

Then it was dinner time! The menu- WOW. I had seabass and it was TO.DIE.FOR.

After dinner we moved outside around a fire pit in the center of a table.  It was a cold night, but the fire pit made it nice and we had a wonderful time ringing in the new year!

Now we are back in the ‘Burg starting the semester and looking forward to all the wonderful things this new year will bring!

Cheers to 2012