Paula Deen Sighting

So yesterday, I'm in Home Goods just looking around. In the past, I've been guilty of frequenting Home Goods multiple times per week, but of course that's in the past ;). So I'm just minding my own, when I sense someone walk up beside me; I turn to look and this is what I see....

Very nonchalantly I return to what I was looking at, then turn for a double take. I think to myself "That's Paula Deen, it must be." Then I think "No way, why would she be in Home Goods?" "That woman's too skinny to be her."

Then, in a split second all my suspicions were confirmed, and She opened her mouth! It was definitely her!

So I've never really been one to gawk over famous people (not that she's all that famous), so I don't ask for a picture, don't ask for an autograph, I don't even say "Hi". But, I do follow her around for a few minutes, very inconspicuously (I hope) to see what all she's buying.

Immediately I pull out the phone and call my mom. Of course, no answer, because like most people, she's at work. But, I'm itching to tell somebody, so I call Hubs. Disappointingly, he is not as excited about this as I am. So I continue shopping and so does she. By this point more and more people begin to notice and ask for pictures with her. Let me add that she was super patient and sweet to everyone! She even bought a high-tech butter baster that someone insisted she needed. Ha!

Fast forward to time to check out. I find myself 2 people behind her in the check out line. During the 5 minutes of checking out it manages to come a torrential downpour (remember my last post about rain in Savannah!). Of course no one brought an umbrella in the store with them, because it is 92 and sunny out. So we are all just sitting outside under the overhang waiting for the rain to stop.

Well, not Mrs. Paula Deen. She says "Screw this" (literally that's what she said), takes a plastic bag puts it over her head and runs out to her car. A few minutes later here she comes around the corner in her Mercedes with a cigarette hanging out of her mouth, to pick up her friend and load their goodies. She misjudges her turn and hits the curb so hard, I'm surprised she didn't have a blow out. All in all, I'm really glad I "ran into her" it turned out to be a pretty entertaining experience. Now I can mark "meeting Paula Deen" off my Savannah to-do list!

Just for fun, 2 years ago on Halloween, I was a PT student doing my clinical rotations. At the rehab hospital where I was training, all the therapist dressed up and we had a party for the patients. I dressed up as Paula and had prepared recipes that I gave to all my patients. Everyone said I made a good Paula, but I was a little too thin. Ha!

Tonight I actually cooked dinner! Gasp. And, let me say I probably won't be cooking again anytime soon. Don't get me wrong, it turned out great. But, I made a huge mess, I was sweatin' up a storm and I spent just as much money as we would have if we'd gone out to eat and shared (which is what we do). Not to mention, we will probably throw half of the left overs away because that is also what we (usually) do :) We have been craving Italian food Carrabba's lately, but didn't want to dish out the dough. So I made this lasagna from Pioneer Woman. It turned out to be a very good alternative to Carrabba's, Hubs loved it and Finley did too :)

Savannah Storms and Other Randoms

Since we've been in Savannah, it has rained a lot. OK, maybe not a lot, but a whole heck of a lot more than it did the last few months in Texas. I guess it makes sense though, considering we practically moved in on the 1st day of hurricane season. So far it has been what I call good rain - mostly at night, perfect for sleeping - clearing off the next day and not interfering with my beach trips ;) (I say that jokingly, I know any rain is good rain, especially considering the droughts and fires affecting lots of the country!)

Anyway, the other night it was storming and lightening, just like it has done several times since we've been here, so no big deal. But then...we heard a very loud pop....which I was convinced was a gun shot (I have been paranoid about the crime ever since we moved here). Hubs said it was a limb and sure enough, we opened the front door to not just a limb down, but half of our huge sweet gum tree lying in the yard. I couldn't get a good picture that night, but here is what it looked like the next day.



Obviously, we were extremely lucky that it missed the house. It did manage to knock my flag down and bend one of the metal handrails, but other than that no big deal! The big limb/tree also managed to miss the cars, but another smaller limb fell on Drew's car, luckily not mine!!



So here in Savannah, all of the trees belong to the city and they are responsible for clean-up. Apparently, there were several trees down in the area, because they didn't get to ours until 6 pm the next day. Sadly, after they cleaned up the mess, the sent someone over to inspect the tree and they determined that it needed to be removed....


This is an old tree with it's limbs reaching almost across the street, so it's sad that just like that it will be gone. Now I don't know much anything about trees, but it seems like it would live for many more years, just the way it is. Oh well...

On a happier note... I am soooo glad they have Blue Bell in Savannah. I have been loving this recently! Not only the tasty goodness, but it makes me think of Brenham, my old job, and Texas, which all 3 of those make me smile.



Last, but certainly not least...I am really missing these babies right now!! I miss my whole family, but knowing that the next time I see these 3 they will be so incredibly different, just really hurts my heart!



Hope you've had a happy Monday!

Eastbound and Down

So, I've taken a pretty long absence from blogging to say the least. It's not that life's been boring, I just haven't felt up to documenting it. But, now that we are living in Savannah, I've decided that I want to start blogging again. Mainly so that we can recall this time in our lives, and have pictures and stories to remember it by, but also so that family/friends can keep up with us won't forget about us. Ha!

So, ask our family...we move a lot. But this move was the hardest one by far! Maybe it had something to do with the fact that it took 3 full days of loading and driving, or that it was 1100 miles, or that Drew was driving a huge truck pulling a car trailer and I was following. By the end of it, I was wishing we would have just paid the $6000 to have it done for us....ok maybe not...I don't care where I have to move, I will never pay that much to watch someone move my stuff while thinking to myself "I would do it this way". Ha! Either way I know I don't want to do it again for let's say 28 months or so ;)

Believe it or not, I didn't procrastinate, and actually began packing 6 weeks prior to move date. So, most of our stuff was already boxed up which made "loading" the easy part. While unpacking I must have forgot that it took me 6 weeks to get all the crap packed, because I was annoyed/frustrated/mad when 5 days after moving in it still looked like a tornado inside. Anyway, here is a picture of the truck half way loaded.
I had really been wanting new living room furniture, luckily Hubs agreed this would be a good time to get rid of it and lighten our load :) So we sold the old in College Station, and I bought new once we got to Savannah (I will post on the house later). Here we are pulling out about an hour behind schedule, or in Drew's words "off like a herd of turtles." Ha!

We made it all of 45 miles to Conroe when the check engine light came on in the truck, so we stopped and called Penske which took another 30 minutes. Anyway, we put oil in the truck and were on our way again. Luckily after that it was smooth sailing! My view the entire trip behind a truck with no cruise control...grrr

We decided to stop for the night around 11 in Crestview, FL. Since we had the dogs with us and were only going to be at the hotel for roughly 7 hours I thought we could stay in a cheaper hotel. Weellll, this hotel was shady for multiple reasons, but the icing on the cake was when Drew took the dogs to the bathroom and stepped over a ledge and onto a hobo. Needless to say, we packed up and went down the road to a little nicer place!

We finally made it to Savannah around 4 the next day and then the real fun began...unpacking and organizing. I'll leave you with these cute pics of Jax & Finley traveling, and our old bungalow in one of the historic neighborhoods in Savannah, Also, everyone has been asking how we like it here. So far, we like it, but there are 3 things we are really missing: MEXICAN FOOD!, good barbecue and live music!

I'm Back!!!

So I warned you when I started this blog that I didn't know how often it would be updated. Well, here it is almost 2 months later, and I am finally writing again! Not sure if I have any readers, but if you are still out there, especially after this long hiatus, thank you!!! So this is what has been going on in my life over the past 2 months...

First and foremost, I graduated from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio with a Doctor of Physical Therapy!

Alison, Mom, Drew and Me at the Banquet the night before graduation.



So excited that my family drove all the way to San Antonio to be there for my special day!

I presented my 3 years worth of research over the question: In people with Alzheimer's Disease, can aerobic exercise decrease the rate of decline in cognition or actually improve cognition when compared to no exercise?

I went on a 4 night cruise to Cozumel with 3 of the best friends anyone could ask for. I don't think I could have made it through PT school without these girls!

I went to a gorgeous wedding of another good friend from PT school in Columbus, TX

We moved to a new house in College Station (sorry, no picture for that). I am so happy to be back in this town, it will always hold a special place in my heart!!!

And last, but certainly not least, I've been studying for the National PT Board Exam, that I have to pass before I can start my job that I wrote about in the last post. I'm hoping to take it at the end of June/beginning of July, but I'm not sure if I will be ready by then....I guess we will see

I guess you have to grow up sometime!?!

Well, I guess now I am what you would call an official, authentic, real life grown up!! That's right people, I accepted my first real JOB this week!! I feel great about my decision, and am really excited about the 'new road' I will soon begin. Don't get me wrong, these past 3 years of PT school have been a full time job. But, there is just something about knowing that FINALLY everything you have been working for and towards is becoming a reality.

I feel extremely blessed to have recieved multiple jobs offers, especially in these current economic times. As many of you know there are multiple settings you can work in as a physical therapist, which are really all very different from one another. There is outpatient orthopedics, which is your mom and pop type clinic that now-a-days are on every corner. You can work in hospitals providing acute physical therapy. You can work with kids in outpatient practices or in school settings. You can work with strictly neurological patients, including spinal cord injury, stroke, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, traumatic brain injury, ALS and many other conditions. You can work in home health, where you provide physical therapy in the patient's home. You can work with strictly geriatrics or elderly people. Anyway, you get my point, there are lots of options!

Both in school and on clinical rotations, I fell in love with neurological rehab specifically in the geriatric population. If you've known me for any time at all, you know that I love "old people". I love and respect their lives that they've lived and have yet to live. I am passionate about giving them the health care that they need and deserve, and not just writing them off because they are "old". Anyway, with that said, after much deliberation, I decided on a job at a skilled nursing facility in Bryan/College Station!! Now....If only I can finish my last 4 projects, graduate in May, and pass the National board exam in June....I will be on to bigger and better things! (That last sentence sounds so easy on paper)

Hill Country Getaway

For Christmas, my sister Alison gave my mom a "coupon" for a weekend retreat in Fredericksburg for all the girls to enjoy. Finally, this last weekend all of our schedules coincided and we were able to cash in on our trip! It really is a rare day when we can all escape from our lives at the same time. With that said it wasn't a very long weekend, but still very relaxing and fun!

Alison did not get off work until noon on Friday, so when she got off we headed to Fredericksburg from Temple. We decided to take the scenic route (through Marble Falls and Johnson City) in hopes of seeing some spring flowers along the way. We saw a few patches here and there but they definitely aren't in full bloom yet. We stopped at Whittington's in Johnson City to get some delicious homemade beef jerky!

Most all of the shops on the Main Street close around 5, so when when we finally got into town, it was too late to shop. So we took our stuff to our incredibly cute B&B called Aunt Violet's Cabin, and then drove up and down the main street to plan our Saturday so that we could maximize our time.

Overall, we had a great time. I didn't purchase too much because I really don't need any home decor. I did get a few things with birds on them to add to my current bird fetish. Hopefully with these new additions my bird obsession will be satisfied, for a while at least =)! We ate at Fredericksburg Bakery for breakfast and got some things to go as well =). For lunch we ate a Rather Sweet Bakery, it was wonderful! On our way out of town we stopped at Wildseed Farms, but again the flowers were not really in bloom yet. Here are some pictures from the weekend.

On Saturday night, I met Drew and some friends in Austin for a friend's birthday celebration. We had a great time hanging out and celebrating!! I don't have any pictures to show for it, but trust me it was fun!

Thought I'd give this a try...

After blog stalking for many months, I have finally given in and created my very own blog. I can't make any promises as to how much it will be updated, considering I am trying to finish school, get my first real job, and travel back and forth from San Antonio to College Station to see my husband on the weekends!! I also have no disgustingly cute/beautiful babies to display (maybe one day), but I do however have two precious pups that every now and then might, just might, get treated like children.

Happy Reading!!