Spring

So every time I come to write here, it seems like such a daunting task since I haven’t written in MONTHS. So I won’t even try to bring you up to speed on everything. Too much pressure!

Spring has officially sprung in Atlanta. The pollen is like nothing I have ever seen and the first week my allergies were out of control! They’re finally under control and I am enjoying life again.  We are loving walking up to Piedmont Park every chance we get. I get my dog fix when I go without actually having to own a dog.

My job is going great…still loving it and really enjoy working with the elderly except for last month’s tuberculosis scare… all I have to say is that it’s great to be TB free!  Busy season for J is almost over. I will be so excited to be able to eat dinner with him again.

Yall…I have become….a yogi, a practitioner of yoga. It is SO wonderfully good. I joined a gym that offers a yoga class almost every day and the teachers teach at other yoga studios around town so they’re legit. I had always thought yoga was weird and that I was definitely not flexible enough. Wrong. Not only do you get an hour long session of stretching, it definitely tones as well. My shoulders used to always be so tight from my job but since starting  yoga,  I am almost never tight. It’s really great if you have tight hip flexors too. Ok, done with my yoga testimonial…

Other noteworthy miscellaneous stuff since my last post :

-LA Trip

-Seeing the circus

-Moving down two floors in our building because our upstairs neighbor had night terrors

-Getting to be a Bridesmaid again in one of my best friend’s wedding!

-regular dinners with a great group of girls

– Dekalb farmers market

-Final Four/Macklemore and Ryan Lewis in Centennial Park

-Seeing Mary Poppins at the Fox

-watching J play basketball in the corporate league

-Mom’s visit this past weekend!

I think that about brings us up to speed. Exciting times in Atlanta. J and I are excited for summer with two beach trips planned and a few weddings, not to mention our own anniversary 🙂

-AW

 

The Holiday Season

Hello! It has been a while but we have been BUSY! You know what’s sad? In order to remember what I have been up to, I have to look at my pictures on my phone. So since that seems to be the easiest thing for me to do, allow me to hash out some phone pics!

J and I having dessert at the Sundial! The restaurant on top of the Westin 76 floors up that spins (slowwwwly) so you can see all sides of the city. Our friend came into town so we wanted to take her up there to see our city!

We got a sneak peak drive through the Atlanta Botanical Gardens light festival. We could only go so far but it was fun to see!

J took this picture of me dozing in and out of sleep in front of the fire place at my in-laws house before we headed to Florida for Thanksgiving. The three hours I spent here were utterly BLISSFUL.

O

On Thanksgiving morning we flew out to Tampa/St. Pete to spend Thanksgiving with my family. Our flight got delayed a couple hours so we had to find ways to entertain ourselves at the booming Chattanooga Metropolitan airport.

Dad picked us up when we finally made it and headed to our second annual beach Thanksgiving picnic! I love my brudder!!

It was kind of chilly but the sun felt amazing. Good thing my aunt made me the awesome scarf in this picture! You should check out her Etsy shop…she’s so talented! The model is my hilarious cousin, Stephanie who was also in attendance for Thanksgiving!

Beautiful sunset

We entertained ourselves with puzzles. Please note my cousin’s boyfriend, Eric using binoculars to watch football on the T.V. I love my family.

J picking lemons in the back yard.

Our trip was really great and it was so nice to unwind with my sweet husband and spend lots of quality time with my family. Being at the beach wasn’t all that bad either 🙂

When we got back we got our very first Christmas tree!!!

As you can tell…our Christmas shopping is ALL done! woowoo.

That has been really it lately. This weekend we took it easy and did some chores/ran some errands. We cherish weekends because it’s time we get to just have time with each other. Even grocery shopping on a Saturday afternoon is fun and relaxing.

Speaking of grocery shopping, I have jumped on the gluten-free “bandwagon.” I haven’t been feeling great lately…weird symptoms I’ve never had before like sore/tight muscles, weakness in my arms, and weird numbness/tingling sensations sometimes. Plus I have been just tired lately. DONT worry, I am seeing a doctor on Thursday, but in the meantime, I have been doing a little research and although these things can be symptoms of many different things, having a gluten intolerance or celiac disease can cause these symptoms. The more and more reading I have done about gluten and how prevalent it is in my diet, I decided to cut down to see if my symptoms might go away. My aunt had bad sinuses and joint pain and went gluten/dairy free and she says she feels so much better. I thought I would try giving up gluten and see what happens! This week has been pretty tough and I have been having headaches from withdrawals and have had some pretty serious cravings. But gluten free bread, pizza crust, and brownie mix has been my saving grace! Hopefully next week will be easier! I have heard it gets easier with time, lets hope so! One things I have noticed is more energy, despite the headaches!

I will keep you updated with my gluten-free experiment!

Hope yall are having a wonderful weekend!

-AW

OH i almost forgot! If you notice the date, J and I have been married for 6 months today! BEST day of my life! Love you, J!

Lately

This week I am in training for work which means off at 4 every day! Which finally gives me time to update my poor, neglected blog. 

My job is going great and I am finally starting to feel like I have somewhat of a grip on things. The people I work with are really great so if I ever have a question, which I feel like a have a million every day, they are always so helpful. 

Life outside of work has also picked up and is starting to get busy! We started a marriage class that lasts for 6 weeks through the church we have been attending. There is only one week left but we have enjoyed learning more about each other and meeting other young married/engaged couples in the group. The church we go to also has “house churches” that meet once every two weeks. I think it is like a small group, but we were invited to the young married couples group next week so we are excited to start up with that. 

Tuesdays are typically football nights, however that is coming to an end far too soon! Last night was supposed to be our last game before playoffs but the other team forfeited (SCARED!) So I think next week will start playoffs. Our team is thinking about getting together an indoor volleyball team for the winter season which I am pumped about!

Last week was packed with me studying for my licensing exam that I took on Saturday and PASSED THAT JOKER! I am officially (almost) an LMSW!! If anyone comes across this and is planning to take that test, its hard! Almost all of the questions have multiple correct answers, you just have to pick what you would do first or what is best. Pressing submit to my test, I was truly prepared to see FAIL, but instead I passed with an 80% and I needed 66% to pass. I am SO excited to have that behind me. Onward…

Last week I got a vision exam and my bad eyes have not gotten worse! During the exam they dilated my pupils and I couldn’t see for a good 20 minutes…which is when they had me pick out my new frames. This could have ended in disaster but I think I made the right choice! I really love my new Tory Burch frames!

What do you think? They’re a little bigger than what I am used to but I like them! You can’t tell from the picture but they’re tortoise shell color and have a gold T on the sides at the hinges.

The Doc also sent me home with these bad boys.

 

Hot, I know. The front desk lady gave me that lollypop but im pretty sure it was from Halloween circa 1999. 

Our weekends have been spent traveling to Chatt, getting visitors from Chatt and Birmingham, and this past weekend we finally were able to stay home and relax (well after my test and only until J got sick Saturday night). 

A few weeks ago, we had a baby shower for my expecting sister-in-law! It was so much fun to help set up!

 

 

Love my sisters-in-law!

We’ve also gotten the pleasure of visits from these two precious little people.

 

We have also gotten to explore new yummy places to eat! Two Urban Licks, Lenox Grill sunday brunch, and Marlows are some of the new places we have explored and loved!

 

That’s about all for now! Life has been beautifully busy for us!

-AW

P.s. Still loving our view…

 

Photo Dump

Allow me to update my life in photo form…

J and I joined his company’s co-ed two hand touch football team. We geared up and have had two games so far. We are 0-2 but I am proud to say that we are improving.

We ventured down the street to Mary Mac’s Tea Room, a popular Midtown restaurant. The food was SO good and I was able to get two meals out of it. If you’re ever in Atlanta, I definitely recommend going.

 

I scheduled my social work licensing exam for November 3!!!!!!

As a result, we have been study buddies! J has been studying for the CPA. Can’t wait till its all done!

I got some new art work for my cube, thanks to my wonderful nephew.

Any of yall ever seen the show Small Town Security? Well its based in Ringgold, GA so J and I went to go find the place on our way to Chattanooga one weekend.

Disclaimer: If you haven’t seen this show…I am not telling you to watch it. Its weird and bizarre and frightening at some points…

 

Urgent Care on a Friday night. Verdict. Costochondritis 😦

Ice cream and Jeopardy.

I have been a cooking machine lately and a crowd pleaser this past week was chicken piccata. Recipe found here.

 

This week I had training for work with a lot of people from around the state. I met a lot of fun people and on Wednesday for lunch we headed out to food truck Wednesday right across from the office. This is where I can be found every Wednesday for lunch from now on….

 

There you have it. Our lives lately in a nutshell. If any of you are wondering, we still LOVE being married. I know this may sound cliche, but we really have so much fun together no matter what we’re doing. It could be riding to work, walking to the store, or just talking before bed, I enjoy being around J more and more every day.

Hope yall are having a relaxing weekend! Today we walked down to J’s office so he could scan something in, went down to Buckhead for a little shopping, and have been watching football. And we’re excited to try out a new church tomorrow!

-AW

My first day

I wish I had a picture of me with with my first day of work outfit, my new social worker bag, and lunch and coffee in hand ready to conquer my first day as a social worker but of course I was rushing out the door. One awesome thing was that J and I got to spend some quality time together this morning walking to the Marta, waiting on the Marta, and riding on the Marta together. In true Jared and Angela fashion, even though it was 7:30AM, we had fun together. J is only a stop before mine which is really convenient. He won’t always, or even most of the time, be at the office but I am enjoying his company in the mornings while I can!

riding public transportation makes us feel like real city-slickers

It was a good day and I learned that I have a lot to learn! I am going to try my best to not talk too much about work on this blog, because it was not started for that purpose. Also, the nature of my work is very confidential and I take that seriously!

Probably the best part of my day was when I received an email from J asking if I wanted to join his company’s two-hand touch co-ed football team. My response was a very enthusiastic YES. Within minutes we got an email back saying we were on the team and our first game is NEXT week!

After that news, the only rational thing to do after work today was buy cleats and a ball to practice…

 

We threw the ball a few times in our hallway since its been raining. Hopefully tomorrow after work its sunny so we can go play at Piedmont Park!

Hope your Monday was as exciting as mine was!

-AW

Weekend Update

Good evening! This weekend was a super relaxing one, perfect for the weekend prior to starting my career! I asked Jared if it was ok that I said I was totally excited for Monday to come. He said it was in my case.

Friday morning, I flew back to Atlanta from Charlotte. It was a fun week seeing mom and Kelly but it was great to see J at the airport. We both agree that it is just no fun when one of us is gone. One ridiculous thing that happened at the Charlotte airport was that a lady who was talking on her phone for the entire airport to hear almost walked onto the wrong plane. The man scanning the tickets to board scanned (and must not have looked) and let her through. Seconds later he realized his mistake and the next thing I hear, he is yelling for this woman to come back because this was not her plane. I’m sorry, but if I am about to get on a plane, I am definitely making sure its taking me to the correct place! Looking for your terminal is not the time to be distracted.

Friday night, J and I went grocery shopping since there was not much food left. We were both still a little under the weather so we decided to make a pizza at home and watch TV. One thing you may not know about me is that I LOVE Jeopardy. I mean…love. It comes on twice in Atlanta every night (one rerun and one new) and I always make sure to record it if I can’t be home. Being the sport that he is, J curled up on the couch with me Friday night to catch up on Jeopardy. We couldn’t understand an answer that one guy said so we rewound it but went a little too far. So we re-watched a couple questions and laughed as we yelled out the answers (of which we would have never known if we hadn’t just seen it). I joked about how it would be funny if we recorded an episode and watched it a few times to learn all the answers and had friends over and turned it on and they would be amazed at how smart we are. When I started this statement I immediately regretted it, thinking J would think that was the dumbest idea ever. But he pretty much finished my sentence and we both cracked up at the thought. Nerdiest Friday night ever? Probably.

Saturday morning we went on a mission for Chick-Fila breakfast. Since we’re new to the area, we weren’t sure where the closest one to us was so we did a search. The first three were on-campus at either Emory or Ga State and were not open for breakfast. At that point we decided to just drive to the one in Decatur and we missed breakfast and had to get lunch 😦 We stopped by the library because J was dying to read “No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account on the Mission that Killed Osama Bin Laden.” When we got home, the rest of our day looked like this:

Watching the nail-biting Auburn game

In between the Auburn game and UT/Florida game we headed down to a fall festival on Ponce, where they had a lot of art vendors. We loved checking out the photography and of course, people watching. We grabbed some BBQ from a food truck to take home. The rest of the night entailed watching football. I was exhausted around 10 and went to bed. J stayed up until about 2 reading his book.

Aside from church today, this is where he’s been parked:

cutie

Needless to say, you could hear a pin drop en la casa de Waters. After a nap this afternoon, I made dinner. I made a recipe I found on Pinterest that is supposed to be exactly like Olive Garden’s Pasta e Fagioli. I found it here.

With the onions, garlic, and all of the seasonings, it made our apartment smell SO good. J and I were big fans of this hearty, flavorful soup and we have bucket loads left for lunch this week.

pre-pasta

If you look carefully to the right, you will see a part of my new owl plate that I am obsessed with.

Perks of working at PB. Getting stuff before it goes on the floor

Anyways, that was our fun-filled weekend. Hope you enjoyed yours! Im starting to feel like a kid before their first day of kindergarten! Excited and nervous but mostly excited! Yall have a great week!

-AW

 

 

Charlotte

Greetings from Charlotte!

I flew up here on Sunday to visit my mom for the week before I start my job next week! It has been a fun time here in the Queen City.

Monday we carved out a whole day for shopping. I had a blast with this sassy lady

 

We were gone from 10 AM to 4:30 PM and came home exhausted. We cooked a delicious dinner of parmesan crusted tilapia, glazed carrots, sauteed zucchini and squash, and orzo. It was so yum. We also took Jeter on a walk and this is what he looked like after:

 

Yesterday we got up and ran a few errands including mom going to the DMV to get her North Carolina drivers license. She had to take a test so I quizzed her on the way and she passed! I like to think it was because of my great quizzing skills.

This week I have been working on baby shower invitations for my sister-in-law and it has been a lot of fun being crafty! After lunchtime, my sister Kelly, who also lives in Charlotte came over and helped with those. We made caramel apples and had an early dinner so we could head out to our painting class that evening!

They tasted better than they look

 

We then set out to Wine and Design, a painting studio where you bring wine and they take you step-by-step through a painting. It was so much fun!

Hard work

 

Someone got caught texting during class!

My finished product!

I did this….ok that’s a lie.

It was a lot of fun and I am excited to see what kinds of places like this we have in Atlanta!

Other than that, I have been doing a lot of resting because I have been a little under the weather.

Hopefully all of this will make me feel better! Poor J is sick too so I am eager to get back and make him feel better! Until then, I will continue to enjoy my last two days here in Charlotte!

Happy Wednesday!

-AW

 

 

 

 

 

Labor Day Weekend

So J and I just got back from a fun filled weekend complete with family, friends, and Auburn football.

Our fun started Wednesday when we had our first overnight visitors, J’s brother and sister-in-law, since they were flying out of Atlanta the next morning for a “baby-moon” trip to Mexico. It was wonderful to see them even if it was only for a short while. 

On Friday night we had a friend come in to stay with us for the weekend since Saturday was the Auburn game. We checked out a restaurant that is close by our house that we heard had good crab legs. Well Steam House did not disappoint. The crab legs were rated right up there with the ones we had at the Back Porch in Destin. So good. Saturday morning was an early one for me, as I had a full day of work. It went by fast and when I got home around 4:30, I was greeted by my sweet husband and one of my very best friends growing up, Bryan. He had flown up Saturday morning to spend the weekend with us and go to his very first Auburn game. We hopped on the Marta to the Georgia Dome and walked around and saw lots and lots of friends. The game was a lot of fun even though we lost. We were 6 rows up from the field which was pretty great. 

After the game we were so tired. We got home, we got some grub, and passed out. Sunday morning, after all the boys got up, we packed up and headed to Chattanooga for the rest of the weekend. I love Atlanta, but it was so nice driving there and seeing the mountains and green grass, not to mention family! When we got there we headed downtown and had lunch and it was raining so me being me, suggested that we go to the mall. J and B took it like champs and were great shopping companions. J got me my first pair of Raybans and I am loving them so far. 

When we got home, the boys took a dip in the pool and then we headed over to our friend Brian’s house to see him and his family, including his new nephew! We had a blast spending time with them and I have to brag on Brian’s grilling skills. He cooked some mean burgers for us. 

 

After dinner, we all took turns testing out the Ab Coaster, reading excerpts from the book “stuff white people like” and catching up. There aren’t many things more relaxing and refreshing than spending time with friends that are like family. 

 

It makes me so happy that one of my very best friends has come to love and be loved by my husband and his best friends. 

When we got back to J’s parents house, we chatted with his parents and headed to bed. This morning we took our time waking up and as always, I was the first one up. I love when this happens because it means I get to go downstairs in my jammies and 95 percent of the time, coffee has been brewed and my in-laws are up and expecting me. This morning it was music to my ears when I heard my mother-in-law say “I knew that was our daughter-in-law coming downstairs to have coffee with us!” It’s been the tradition and I love that time with them! It definitely makes me miss my parents but having awesome in-laws sure does make it easier. 

Our plan was to head to the lake for a few hours before we had to head back to Atlanta so B could catch his flight. It was kind of rainy but it was great to go and see family and of course have great food. We headed back around 4, dropped B off at the airport around 6 and waited around to pick up Brandon and Meg at 6:30! It was very convenient! 

Now J and I are curled up on the couch, me writing, and him doing work stuff. Laundry and dishwasher going, and we’re ready to start a new week here in Atlanta. 

Lastly, I am thrilled to announce that I have been offered a social work job! My job search has been going on since March and I have been working at Pottery Barn and nannying since we have been in Atlanta. But September 17th I get to start my big girl job! Its very surreal but I am more than excited. I pray that God will allow me to love my career and just give me the opportunity to love his people through my work. He got me this job and I want to praise and glorify Him by being the hardest working social worker there is 🙂 

Hope yall have a great week!

-AW

Had to share

I know a lot of you have and read “Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young. I had to share today’s devotion because it really spoke to me about how much I need God in every minute of my day.

August 31

“Grow strong in your weakness. Some of My children I’ve gifted with abundant strength and stamina. Others, like you, have received the humble gift of frailty. Your fragility is not a punishment, nor does it indicate lack of faith. On the contrary, weak ones like you must live by faith, depending on Me to get you through the day. I am developing your ability to trust Me, to lean on Me, rather than on your own understanding. Your natural preference is to plan out your day, knowing what will happen when. My preference is for you to depend on Me continually, trusting Me to guide you and strengthen you as needed. This is how you grow strong in your weakness.”

James 4:13-15

Proverbs 3:5

Isaiah 40:28-31

Have a great day!

-AW

P.s. Had to add one of my go to verses, 2 Corinthians 12: 9&10

But he said to m, “My grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in your weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ’s power may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Did you know?

So this wonderful Saturday morning, I got out of bed before J and had my usual cup of coffee. After my glorious hot cup of joe, I got the strong desire and urge to clean. Do you ever feel that way? Once I started, I just couldn’t stop myself. I wiped down the kitchen, sink, table and then moved to the bathroom. I also did some laundry and I realized that our dryer lint trap was disgusting, even after I cleaned out all the surface lint, there was some that just wouldn’t budge. We bought our dryer on craigslist a couple months ago so I am sure it had been there for a while.

I looked up how to clean the lint trap and learned that the dryer sheets create sort of a waxy film and sticks to the mesh of the trap and won’t come off unless you give it a deep clean. If you don’t clean it, the dryer will be less efficient with the energy it uses and could pose as a fire threat. That was enough to convince me to give it a good clean.

1. The first step is to get all the lint off that you can with your hand.

2. Next, take the brush attachment from your vacuum and go over it with that.

3. Next, fill up your kitchen sink with warm water and a dash of dish soap.

4. Next scrub the trap with a soft brush or sponge to get all of the film off and then set it out to dry.

After doing these steps, I have a squeaky clean dryer lint trap and now my dryer will be more energy efficient and safe! This may be something that I should have known but I didn’t, so I wanted to share it with you all 🙂

-AW