its almost time....

got these photos here, here, and here

Be thinking about us as we sail the seas and lounge on the beaches :) We're leaving when Bliss gets out of work and wont be back till we're ready....or have to go back to work :)

babies babies everywhere!!

In the past month some friends and I have thrown baby showers for two of my best friends. We had a great time at both showers. I wanted to show you all the super cute cupcakes we made for both of them.







That list pic is of the 2 mom's to be. Ashley, on the left, is due December 4th and is going to have a little boy named Everett Lee. Jen is having a girl, Morgan Marie, and is due November 20th. I'm so excited for both of them!!!

Besides them, my supervisor is having a baby mid December, my sister is due mid January, my friend An is due with twin at the end of January and last but not least, a friend Rebecca is having her second baby at the end of March. Good lord!! I can't wait to meet them all!!

I don't live near my sister or An, but the other are right near by and I can't wait to love on their little ones!!!

She's still kicking my ass

This past weekend, well 2 weekends ago now, Mom and Jeff came to visit. I was great to see them! I got my butt kicked.

Mom likes to have projects when she comes to visit. I suggested she brought up her pressure washer and we redo the iron work on my porch. She didn't think that would be enough so I offered that if we have more time, we can work on the flower bed the runs the length of my front yard. The ended up getting here later then planned so not long after they arrived, Jeff and Bliss went to a Braves game on Saturday night. Jeff wore his Ray's shirt very proudly :) Mom and I started on the front porch then went to eat and ran to walmart. Sunday not only did we finish presure washing the porch but we cleaned out my flower bed. We cleaned out 10ish trash bags, 1 trash can and 3 truck fulls of dead bushes and crap. My poor yard. I know that this was a necassary step, but its not pretty right now. AND it kicked my ass.

That night I made Indian Dosas for this month's Daring Kitchen challenge. I wasn't sure if Bliss would like it so I wanted to make it for more then just us. You know what? We all loved it. It was great!

The next day we grabbed some lunch then Mom and Jeff left. Its too bad that I don't get to see them more, but its probably best Mom didn't stay any longer to work me. I think my body would have revolted against me.

YAY!!!

As you may remember, for our honeymoon Bliss and I went up to north GA and Chattanooga for about a week. We had a great time but it wasn't what most people would call a typical honeymoon. Hell the first night we were there, we went camping and it was so cold we both slept in long johns. Not so romantic. Regardless, we had a wonderful time.


see my blue long johns and Bliss' winter hat?


it was beautiful...just cold as hell



Because it wasn't what we had always dreamed our honeymoon would be...like a trip to Europe or Asia or anywhere that we have to fly to that isn't in the southeast United States...we have been planning that we would go on a rather big trip for our one year anniversary. We seriously talked about a few places (Curaçao, St. Lucia or Europe) but in the end realized that we still don't have a ton of money. The savings plan that we had originally planned gave way to having pay bills. We would be able to afford to go to these places, but not have the kind of trip you want to have when there. We want to be able to do stuff and eat good food and drink the night away and not have to watch every penny.

SO...after lots of long talks and looking at prices for tickets and our work schedules, we decided to go on a cruise! I know its not nearly as exotic as those other places but we get out of Macon, we go to 2 other countries, we get to eat all we want and since the price is right, we will be able to do some excursions and drink our frilly drinks with all the little umbrellas that we want :)

We'll be heading down to my mom and Jeff's house on Friday, Oct 23rd after work. Saturday we'll be departing from Tampa. Since its so close to Mom's house, she's going to bring us so we don't have to pay to park our car! YAY! Sunday, our actual anniversary is a day at sea. They know its our anniversary so we'll see if they do anything fancy for us. Monday we go do Grand Cayman Tuesday Cozumel, Wednesday is another day at sea and Thursday we get back to Tampa! We thought that 5 day would be better then 7 since the 7 day cruises get back in to port on Sunday and we would have to drive home and go to work the next day. This way, we can go home and have a few days or stay there for a night or 2 and visit.

We're very excited!!! Can't wait to get to this:


Picture Ninja

Bliss' Birthday

Yesterday was Bliss' 27th birthday. I got up in the morning and made him some cinnamon rolls for breakfast then started on the cake. It was such a good cake. It was a brownie base with chocolate mousse then chocolate cake and all topped off with chocolate ganache. Here is the recipe. I also make some vanilla ice cream to try to balance out the over load of chocolate. It was so yummy, VERY RICH, but yummy.

We went out to dinner then back to our house with some friends. Nothing super exciting, but it was a great night.

Happy Birthday Bliss!!!!









There is supposed to be a photo of him right here, but hes too busy playing a game and me uploading a photo from the server is messing with his game, so I can't. Just imagine him I guess....

Its been awhile

There isn't much going on in our lives right now. The best I can come up with is that we bought some bikes over the weekend! We've been on a couple bike rides in to the trails in the park near our house and my butt hurts to prove it.

We've been wanting to get some for awhile. We even registered for some for the wedding. We got some money for them but ended up spending it on our honeymoon. Anyways, since Bliss' birthday is the weekend, we decided to buy bikes and to make them our birthday gifts for the year. We just got some cheap ones at Walmart but they do the job.


Oh! Since its been so long I didn't realize that I hadn't talked about the 4th of July! We went back to Louisiana for the long weekend. I got sick on the way down so we stopped just north of Mobile for the night instead of driving all the way.

The first night there we went to a restaurant that is famous for its thin catfish. Its like they filleted the fillets. I'm not a huge catfish fan but it was pretty good. Bliss really seemed to like it. I had stuffed flounder. It was really good but I still wasn't 100% from the night before so that put a damper on my eating.

For the 4th, we went over to Bliss' cousin Erin's house and hung out with her family and eat some good food. She has 4 beautiful kids that were running all over the place trying to get the attention of the new people. Super cute :) When it came closer to their bed time, we went out side for the kids to do sparklers and some pop-its.

Our last night, we went in to MS and hit up the casino. Bliss and I spent the night there since we were already 1 1/2 hrs closer to home. We had never had the breakfast buffet at the casino, but it was good. We're definitely going to have to hit that again some time.


I really think that's it. We're just working. We trying to plan a trip for our anniversary but we'll see how that goes. I'll let you know.

some sad news

I'm sorry to tell everyone that Bliss' father, John, died this Saturday. Here is a copy of his obituary.

We left Friday afternoon and got to Louisiana around 12:30. We went straight to the hospital and saw Johnny. He was sedated but Bliss got to spend a little time with him and talk to the nurse about what was going on. We went to Bliss' grandmothers house for the night but got a call the next morning from his mother saying that we needed to get back to the hospital soon. When we got there, there were lots of Johnny family around. We all got to say our goodbyes then we left the room so that Bliss and his mother could be with Johnny. The doctors did everything they could for him but there was just too much going wrong. Just before noon, Johnny died.

That afternoon we went to the funeral home to get everything planned. There is SO much ridiculous stuff that people can do/buy for their dead loved ones...Bliss' cousin Erin and I were just amazed and we walked though the display area. Anyway, in with all the paperwork, Vicki had to sign something giving permission to remove John's defibrillator. Now he just got this back in December and it cost $110,000 for the hardware...not putting it in, just the device. Bliss was amazed by the cost since it really is just a battery. His phone is way more impressive and cost $199. So, as Vicki is signing this form, she explains that Bliss is a computer geek and asked the funeral director if they can have it. We all start to laugh...the poor funeral director turned bright red and laughed nervously, not knowing how to react this crazy ass family. He asked and turns out we were able to have it! We assumed that we would get it when we got the ashes in 2-3 days, but just a few min after we finished all the paperwork and planning, he gave it to us. Here it is!!!




On Sunday we ran a few errands and went though a bunch of photos looking for some good ones of Johnny. He was such a good looking man and had a great life. It was obvious in the photos that he really loved Vicki and Bliss; and even though I'm a damn yankee who came down and stole his good southern boy, I know he loved me too.

We had the memorial service on Monday morning. Bliss' cousin Erin sung, his Uncle Jack talked about Johnny's life, then another relative Kent sang to close. So many people showed up, it was wonderful. Most everyone went back to Bliss' grandmothers house after. I made a comment to Bliss about how there was so much food. His response was "This is the South, that's how we mourn". Too funny. I love that I married a man that can make jokes where there isn't anything reason to be funny. After everyone left, we went back to the house, changed and left for the casino! Johnny loved going to the casino and Vicki didn't want to be in the house so it seemed like the thing to do.

Tuesday Bliss helped out his mother doing some stuff around the house, then we did another of Johnny's favorite things, we went to Poncho's - an all you can eat Mexican restaurant.

We left today before lunch and got home uneventfully. I know it was very hard for Bliss to leave his mom, but she has so much support there, I know she will be just fine. That's about it...our extended weekend in a nut shell.



We love and miss you Johnny.

For 20 years we've been friends!!

Over Memorial day weekend, I went down to FL to see my mom and Julie. Julie is one of my bestest and oldest friends. We've known each since 1st grade but became bff's in 3rd. 20 effing years. It makes me feel old when I can very easily remember 20 years ago.

Anyway, I went to hang. Julie and I went out on Sat night. We went to a bar in Spring Hill and had a GREAT time. Ladies drink for free till 11 so we dumped a few back...then drank a little more :) Since we talked about how we had known each other for so long before we went out that night, Julie kept telling everyone that we've been friends for 20 years. Also, she kept telling me that my hair looked cute...like every 15 min she said it. She fixed it so it did look a hell of a lot better that usual.

Here's a pic of us all ready to go.




I really need to hang out with her more....

Way down upon the Swanee River

About a month ago, I was really missing my mom so I suggested we meet in the middle and have a little camping trip! The 5.5 hr drive between our houses is just too much for a weekend. We went to Swanee River State Park in North Florida. Unfortunately, the river was quickly rising so we weren't able to rent canoes. We did a little light hiking and tried to see some sites.

Here is the "balancing rock"...the river is so high, its just a rock in the water.



And here are some steps in to the water :)



The Jourdans



Jeff working on the fire



Mom on a hike



And me on a tree out over the river...I just knew I was going to fall in



The state was worried that the river would flood the road out so they were evacuating everyone Sunday morning. We got up nice and early, packed up, had breakfast at Huddle House then headed home. Since we got up early, once we got home, we unpacked the car and laid around the rest of the day.

I had a great time with my mom and Jeff and hope that we can do this again soon!!

Its all gone

I chopped my hair off, well, 9 inches of it :) I was trying to find a pic of me showing how long it was, but I can't fine anything super recent.

So here is one from the beginning of December so just picture it with a few more inches.



Here is me now! I know its not a great pic, but I forgot to take one the day Tracy cut and fixed it.



Bliss said it was like having a whole new wife :)

so much to catch up on....

***Just a forewarning, this may be a little lengthy***

There have been a few things going on in our lives that I was planning on writing about, but never got the time. So here goes!!

March 1...It snowed in Macon!!! I know that I would always go home for Christmas when I was in college so I missed a cold month each year, but I have only seen it snow once since I moved down here. That was December 2000 as I was getting on my plane in Macon to fly home. Now it has snowed in Atlanta and North GA, but never as far down as here. I truly did enjoy it :) The dogs didn't know what to make of it, it was funny watching them. Bliss was making fun of me because I started singing Christmas songs...I guess it’s just been ingrained in my head that when it starts to snow, Christmas is coming. I know I'm a few months late. Sadly enough, I was in more of a Christmas mood in March then I was in December. Here are a few pics of the day. I know it’s not a lot of snow, but gas prices went up and some schools canceled school the next day.





I am moving again at work. It’s a lateral move...really the same thing, just a little different. I will be working on the Michigan team so only handling MI calls. MI is a very strange state when it comes to insurance. Lots of people think that they live in a state that is no-fault but that is just concerning med bills. MI really is a no-fault state and because of that, there is TONS of weird stuff that go along with it. Anyway, I'm excited. I'm going to start there next week.

Bliss got a new job!! He is super excited and so am I!! Its more in the line of what he wants to do and where he wants his career to go. He will be working for Northrop Grumman doing IT stuff. The office is still in Warner Robins near the base where he works now, so it’s still a bit of a drive, BUT he won’t have to travel anymore!!!! YAY!!!! And as if all that wasn't good enough, he'll be making more money. Bring home the bacon, Baby!!

Last but certainly no least, my dad and Susan came to visit us! They were in FL for vacation, so they came up on Friday and stayed till Sunday. Daddy likes carrot cake so I made one from scratch. It was my first try, but I think it was pretty damn good. We went to the GA Aquarium on Sat and had a great time. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get both Sat and Sun off so I had to work Sun night. I always love it when people come to visit, but when I only get to see them like once a year, it’s really hard when they leave. Hopefully I'll be able to get up to Maine this year and see everyone. Here are a few pics of our visit.









I'm off to get some errands done. Hope everyone is doing well!

Things are getting back to normal

We got our check from the insurance company and have bought most of our replacement stuff. All we need now is the mount for the tv and we'll be set. We are taking a few more precautions now to make sure this doesn't happen again, but trying to not let it effect our lives too much.

Right now, I'm laying on the couch after just browsing around the web for 2 hours (I had a lot to catch up on!) and Bliss is in his office playing World of Warcraft...yup, things are defiantly back to normal and I like it!!

4 months as a Mr. & Mrs.

Today is the big 4 month mark. Most of the time I'm surprised at how fast time is passing since we got married, but today, I can't believe its only been 4 months!!



Funny little side note, Bliss has this pic on his desk in a frame that says:

under new management
just ask my wife

Thanks for the great frame Jamie :)

Can't find your phone, huh?

I was talking to the lady that is selling the neighbors house about our little incident yesterday. She went on her way and I went on mine, then about an hour later, she came over and gave us a cell phone that she found. There is a street that goes behind our house and she found it back there. Maybe its a coincident, maybe not; but based on the calls, it looks like they lost the phone around 2:10. This is important because, from what we can tell, they broke in to our house around 2:00. I hope this is the mother fucker, because as I send in my previous post:

I want to kick someone.

we were robbed :(

Bliss got home from work Friday afternoon and found that some of Macon's finest citizens had been in our house. They took our tv, 4 computers, some jewelry, the xbox 360, some clothes, bliss' monitor and keyboard, some money and apparently they were thirsty because they took the cases of coke and beer that we had in our fridge. In the process, they broke lots of stuff. It appears that they pulled the tv off the wall and dropped it so I'm sure that's working well now. I would post some pics of my house, but they took my camera too.

Anyway, we have changed the locks and made our homeowner claim. Now I just need to get over this "some sob was in my house going though my shit" feeling.

I just want to kick someone.

I'm a good dog mom

Bliss has been bitching to me lately that I have been baking too much and its making us fat. What does he expect when I got a kitchenaid for our wedding?? Anyway, I saw this recipe for dog treats on a blog that I read and thought it was a good compromise. I get to bake, Bliss and I don't fat, and Radley and Luna love me!! Its a winning situation any way you look at it!!


I made them in little flower shapes :)


Can you see Luna's tongue sticking out? She's such a pig.


Radley stole one out of my hand while I was trying to get a picture. Bliss thinks Radley is the good dog...my ass he is.

Bliss is on his way home from Utah right now. I got a text about an hour ago that he landed so he should be here soon!

I start my new work schedule this weekend. For awhile I've had Fridays and Saturdays off. I've really enjoyed work Sun - Thurs 1-9 but now that I'm moving to CSR2, I'm low man on the totem pole. I'll be working Mon, Tues, Wed, Fri 11-7 and Sat 1-9. Boo. I'm happy about the 11-7 but not happy at all about Saturday. I asked for Sunday daytime and got Saturday night. What kind of crap is that? Anyway, tomorrow is my first day. YAY!

its starting out to be a shitty day....

Bliss woke me up at 5 this morning to give me kiss goodbye. He left for Utah and will be there till Friday. It’s not a long trip so that’s good. About 5 hours later, as I was stretched across the whole bed, I was awoken from a peaceful sleep to Gizmo hacking up a hairball....or so I thought. I wish it was a hairball. A short minute later, the smell of shit. Great. I looked over the side of my bed and found 4-6 little piles of poop and/or vomit. Really? She couldn't have done this on a day when Bliss was home and could clean it up? So I get up, get the stuff to clean up the poop/puke and walk around my house finding her little gifts trying not to vomit myself. Then I clean out her litter box and open all my windows. As I'm opening the window, I see she had all kinds of nastiness in her butt fur so that means a bath. Now some of you don't know Gizmo, but she isn't a super nice cat. She's loving but on her terms, not yours. Needless to say, giving her a bath was not her terms. Now my house smells like shit, my cat hates me, and my husband isn't here. It’s going to be a great day.

Just an update

Well I did it. I passed my final in training today so I can be a CSR2 now! Tomorrow is my last day of class then I go back to my old section for a week then move to a CSR2 section. I'm excited. I'm hoping it wont be long till I get promoted again and get out of the call center for good.

Bliss is leaving Tuesday for Utah till Friday. He hasn't had to travel since before the wedding and I've liked having him home. At least its just for a few nights.

That's about it. Our lives are really pretty boring right now. Hope all is well with everyone else!!

They are done!!

Our thank you notes that is. YAY! I know it has been too long since our wedding (75 days!) to still be doing thank you notes but as I said in a previous post, life has been CRAZY! We are so thankful for all the gifts that we got and for all the help that everyone gave. We are truly lucky people to have such wonderful family and friends.

I'm still in training for CSR 2 and have another week of that. I do like working days. I love being in training so that I get to work 8-4 but then when I go back to working nights, its that much harder. I've been working nights for close to 2 years now and I'm over it. Damn that night dif and its tempting ways.

Bliss is headed out of town again. He's going to Utah again but just from Tues till Friday so its not too bad. Thats in 2 weeks.

That's it. I'm proud of us for *finally* getting our cards done! :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I hope everyone had a great time last night!! Bliss and I hung out with some friends and had a great time. He wished me luck for the first full year I'm going to be married to him...I thought that was sweet :)

We wish everyone a happy, healthy, safe, exciting, fulfilling, loving 2009!