Polar Vortex - Snow Day Edition

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone is having a great 2014 so far!! 

Mine has been filled with lots of couch days, Netflix, and watching the Today Show every morning. 

And making sure Perry has been warm while we nap ;) 

We are officially on our 5th "snow" day in a row. First it was the snow, then the below zero temps, and now pipes bursting in the schools. All of that together equals 5 days off school. On top of our 2 week winter break. 

I enjoyed the first two snow days last Thursday and Friday! I got to spend an extra day in Columbus with my family after returning from Colorado. The only problem was, I had to drive straight through the snow storm on my way back to Lexington Thursday morning!!

The snow come much earlier than expected. I got on the road about 9 am and drove in it for the next 4 1/2 hours. It usually takes me less than 3 hours to make it from Columbus to Lexington! But, I'm just glad we made it home safely. There were lots of cars that swerved into the median. 

I have enjoyed the extra time to clean up from Christmas, have people over for the National Championship game on Monday, run errands, etc. But I can honestly say, I'm ready to be back at school and back to a set routine!!! 

Here's to hoping I get to see my sweet little kiddos tomorrow. And that it's finally warm enough for them to walk to school in the morning. 

Also, I am hoping to do a recap on our Christmas and Breckenridge trip this week. Lots of stories there ;) 

Happy Wednesday!!!

A Much Needed Snow Day!

I was anticipating this weather all week. 

But I thought a 3 day weekend, followed by a 3 day week and ANOTHER 3 day weekend was too good to be true. 

Luckily, the weather hit at the perfect time to give us a nice icy commute and school officials called school off early this morning. 

 Thankful for my boo, Rachel, for forwarding the text alert, mine didn't come through :( 

I realize it's really not THAT snowy outside....

But, while running across the street to pick up some dry cleaning, I saw a pretty bad accident. 

Lots of black ice out there. There were several accidents on the interstate this morning. So hopefully, calling off school was the right choice :) I just hope it wasn't a "waste" of a snow day. I'm perfectly ok with a snow day here in there, I just hate when we have snow days back to back. Hopefully February won't be too bad. 

Perry had fun running errands with me and hanging out at home. 

We caught up on Laundry, dropped off and picked up dry cleaning, had a pit stop at Starbucks and cleaned the house!!

I should be working on Grad school homework, but I just can't bring myself to do it. Guess I'll have to head to Starbucks and buckle down this weekend!

I'm hoping the roads aren't bad tonight so I can meet my friend for BarreCardio at Sweat. I need an intense workout after splurging on Mexican (and Margaritas!) last night at dinner. 

Hope everyone stays safe and warm with this weather!

Christmas 2012

I hope everyone had a GREAT Christmas and Happy Holiday! 

We traveled the whole state of Kentucky and Ohio, and even through in a visit to Nashville all within 5 days. Busy busy holiday for us! Now it's time to relax and hang out at home for a few days!

On Saturday, we went down to Glasgow to see Ben's family. Ben had just got back from traveling for work LATE Friday night. Poor thing wasn't even home 12 hours before we got on the road Saturday morning. 

Ben's family went to the Western Kentucky - Louisville basketball game in Nashville, so we decided to go and spend the day in Nashville as well. We went to the hospital to visit Ben's family friend who had a bad accident in early December. Luckily, he is doing much better and gets to go home Monday!!!

Sunday, we celebrated Christmas with Ben's side of the family. We went to church and then had "Christmas" lunch. 

 

Perry liked to help everyone open their gifts. And use the ribbons for a bow!

After opening gifts, we went to get some drinks with some friends who were also in town!

Monday morning, we got up early and came back to Lexington to unpack from Glasgow, and pack for Columbus. Quick trip home, and back in the car!

We got to my sisters in time to change and get ready for Christmas Eve dinner at my aunts house! 

  

My sweet little niece was the gift passer outer :) 

Quick picture with the little Elf :)

Annual Sissy antler pic 

Daddio

Mom and I <3

My Uncle had 100 year old bourbon. Obviously a hit with the men in the family!

My sister framed an art piece of mine from 2nd grade! Such a cool gift! 

Family Pic!

We had a great time spending Christmas Eve at my Aunt's house!

Next, it was time for all of the Christmas day activities. 

We woke up early and went to mass. Ben survived Christmas service at the catholic church :)

 Attempted a family picture with Perry, ha!

It was a busy busy day and weekend/week, but we had lots of fun and I'm so glad we were able to spend time with both families! 

Ben drove back Christmas night because he had to work on Wednesday. My mom and I were planning on leaving WEdnesday morning to hit the outlets and Ikea in Cincinnati, and then back to Lexington. Then the snow storm that was supposed to hit changed over to an ICE storm, followed by more snow. The roads were AWFUL so we delayed our departure back to Lexington by one more day. I was perfectly okay with this because it meant I could go to my favorite restaurant, Figlio!

Early birthday drink and gluten free Chicken Diablo. I couldn't ask for a better birthday dinner 3 days early :) 

We left early Thursday morning to head back to Lexington. 

The roads were only bad in Columbus (and getting out of my sisters driveway/alley)! Then once we hit the Interstate, the roads were perfectly clear. Shew, what a trip!

We had a GREAT Christmas but I'm so glad we are back home now and can unpack and unwind :)

I hope everyone had a great Christmas!!!

It's Christmas Time!

I can't believe Christmas is already here!

This year has flown by. 

We had Christmas parties the past two weekends and finally Christmas festivities with family this weekend. Where has December gone?!

Our last day of school was on Tuesday and it was a crazy busy, and fun-filled day! I love seeing the kids so happy when they open their gifts and have holiday parties with their classmates. Not to mention,  how much I loved just seeing their sparkling eyes Monday morning after the horrific events in Connecticut. Makes you appreciate all the little moments in the classroom... 

I have spent the last two days running errands ALL over Lexington doing some last minute Christmas shopping. I LOVE getting gifts for others, but sometimes the stress wears me out of whether or not they will like the gifts!!! That's when I end up going out to buy a gift card. Anyone else love getting gift cards to places you know they will use- like Starbucks! I mean who wouldn't love a Starbucks gift card?!

While I've been busy shopping, Perry's been at daycare. They gave me this picture yesterday when I picked him up and I about died. How precious is this?!?!

(I'm not quite sure where his ears are... ha!)

Beats our picture we had with Santa last weekend... 

I woke up this morning and took Perry out and realized it FINALLY snowed AND was sticking to the ground. I love when it snows, and what a great way to kick off Christmas weekend :)

Our Christmas festivities start tomorrow morning, so I'm off to finish wrapping gifts and meet some friends for a lunch date. My other favorite thing about breaks from school - lunch dates!!! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

I can't believe tomorrow is already Thanksgiving!!

I'm ready for some turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and pie!! Mmmm

My mom has been uber excited to try Gluten Free recipes this year. She has been looking up GF Thanksgiving recipes since September. Not even kidding...

We have enjoyed our mini vacation in Charleston the past few days. 

Here are some pictures from our trip to the beach this afternoon. We FINALLY had a warm, sunny day to enjoy Charleston. 

When we got to Charleston on Saturday, mom surprised me with Pumpkin yogurt. I've been looking for this at the TJ's in Lexington for weeks! So good!!!

 Mr. Perry's been super cuddly lately. Love. 

I'm loving the Christmas decorations and Palm Trees at Towne Centre!

Now we're off to dinner and to watch the UK game against Morehead State tonight. 

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving! 

The Aftermath

The good news is we survived the tornadoes that came through Kentucky on Friday. 

The bad news is some counties in Kentucky were hit really hard. 

My heart aches for the people in West Liberty. They got hit with two tornadoes in three days. On Wednesday an EF-2 hit West Liberty, and just two days later, an EF-3 hit on Friday night. 

You couldn't pay me to be out in my car shooting a video of this tornado. 

In fact, this is a picture I took of our porch when the storm was still miles away from us. 

After I took this picture, Ben, Perry and I took cover in our closet until it was clear to come out.

This picture was around 7:30pm, a few hours after the storm. 

Thank the lord for smartphones! I was following @Kentuckyweather Chris Bailey and LEX18 on facebook, and we had the tv turned WAY up so we could hear what Bill Meck was saying. 

I'm not going to lie, after seeing the clouds, and seeing the meterologists panic, I was a little nervous!

I am so glad we were all at home and safe. Ben was supposed to drive to Indiana for work around 5pm. Luckily, he was allowed to go home mid-afternoon and made it home before the storm hit. He left for Indiana later Friday night. I am so so glad he was able to come home. 

If you want more information on how to help those in need, here is some information from the local news.

After the shock of the tornadoes, we wake up to 4+ inches of snow on the ground Monday morning. I couldn't believe it. our first "real" snow of the season, just 3 days after some of the worst tornadoes Kentucky has seen in years.

I must admit, I didn't mind the snow day and being able to lounge around all morning!!!

I took Perry out to play and he enjoyed every minute of playing in the snow. Love his heart.

Poor thing went to the groomer last week. I was so worried he was going to freeze out there, but he was loving it!

Hope everyone is having a great Monday!

One Year Ago...

It has been exactly ONE YEAR since I got the BEST Valentine's day gift ever!!!!!!!!

Ben and I drove on the 13th to go pick up Perry. I was SO excited!

He has been the best puppy to train and I couldn't love that little fluffy face anymore!

 I can't wait for many more years with this cute guy.

As Ben likes to call it, Perry's the "Valentine's gift that keeps on giving" and I am perfectly OK with that :)

We're heading to get sushi tomorrow night for our Valentine's date and I CANNOT WAIT!!!

I hope everyone has had a great Monday and a great Valentine's Day tomorrow! 

Christmas Recap

I hope everyone had a GREAT Christmas and Happy Holiday! It was a jammed packed trip for us. I'm so glad to be at home and relaxing for a few days!

We were planning on leaving for our first 1/2 of Christmas in Columbus on Thursday after Ben got home from work. I was busy running last minute errands for Ben and my sister. I swear, that's the only bad thing about being off the week before Christmas... Everyone wants you to do their shopping, and gift wrapping and errands! HA!

So Thursdsay afternoon, I get a phone call from Ben saying he was leaving early and would be home soon so we could pack the car. I had everything out by the front door so we could just do a few trips to the car, and hit the road! As I was waiting for Ben to finally get here, I get a phone call.... "My car is acting really strange and the brake and battery light keep blinking.." I seriously didn't think anything of it and just said I'll see him in a little bit and to be careful. Well... his car basically died on the side of the road, literally 1 minute from our house, THANK GOODNESS! He called me saying he was on the side of the street and needed me to steer his car so he could push it... In the pouring rain..... I almost thought he was joking. 

Long story short, we got the car pushed into our parking lot, thanks to a passerby helping us get it over the bump when you first pull in. It was ridiculous. It was raining so hard last Thursday, Ben was still in his work clothes and dress shoes, and here we are pushing his car down the road. Yeah... not a pretty sight!

So, we decided we would wait and call a tow truck in the morning, and delay our trip to Columbus until the next day. Sadz we were missing a night out on Thursday :( but SO THANKFUL it didn't break down on us while we were on the interstate. Oh my word, that would have been awful!!!!

After dropping the car off to the garage, we packed up the car and headed north. Ben finally got a call that it was his alternator and battery. Great timing, huh?!

We actually didn't have bad traffic Friday morning, and made it to the Outlets in time to exchange a gift for Ben's dad, and hit up a few Pre-Christmas sales. And then made it to Columbus by early afternoon. 

Perry met his cousin, Lucy, which is new best friend! 

They loved each other, it was so cute!

Friday night, we celebrated the December birthdays - My dad's on December 20 and my birthday on December 29. It was so nice to see everyone! We had Tommy's Pizza, mmmm. And Graeters Ice Cream pie. I have had a Graeters Pie since I was in elementary school!!! It is a tradition to always get it on birthdays in my family. My dad called me Friday and told me they no longer carry the Grasshopper Pie (Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream). SO SAD! I have had that for my birthday for the last 16 years, at least! 

 b-day cake last year

Instead, my dad just got a vanilla and chocolate/caramel pie. Of course, it was delicious!

Saturday, we were pretty lazy. Ben wasn't feeling up to par (probably from all the bourbon and sprites he had the night before....). We went to my dads for breakfast, and then ran some errands with my sister. Then I cooked some of my favorite dishes for our X-mas Eve dinner!! Cheesy potatoes with corn flakes and a whipped fruit salad. Mmmm

Saturday night we went to my Aunt and Uncles for X-mas Eve. We had so much fun spending time with family in Columbus!

Dad and his girls. The hat from the movie Elf was making its rounds on people haha. 

My niece was the little Elf and helped pass out the gifts. Must have been an exhausting job because she was passed out in the chair an hour later :)

Sunday morning, we left earllllllly for Glasgow. It was a long 5 hours in the car, but luckily there was NO traffic at all, haha. Perry and I slept in the car :)

 

And got to spend Christmas day with Ben's family. 

I am so thankful we were able to spend time with both sides of the family this Christmas. I was sad I didn't get to see my mom though :( She had surgery on her ear last Wednesday and couldn't fly because of it. Hopefully I will see her in February though!! We did skype her using the iPad when we were opening gifts at my dads Saturday morning! It was better than nothing :)

I love having the week off post Christmas. I can't imagine having to work after all the festivities. I'm still trying to get the house in order and all of our gifts put away!

I hope everyone is having a relaxing week!

Ben and I are going to put the new Ice Cream Maker and Jeni's Ice Cream cook book to use tomorrow and attempt the amazing Salty Caramel. I can't wait to see how it turns out!!!!!