Atlanta and Waffles, but not Atlantic Waffles

Well, It's been a little while since our last post...it's been a busy few weeks.

Before school started back, on my last weekend of summer, Jesse surprised me with a trip to Atlanta! We stayed downtown at the Hilton. It was our first trip out of town other than the honeymoon. We had a great view from the room. Here is a picture of one direction we could see.

We tried to find unique little restaurants around town to eat at. There was a HUGE line at this place called The Flying Biscuit like you see at pancake pantry here. We didn't want to wait that long, but we ended up finding another one elsewhere that had a smaller line and decided to try it. It was ok.... but for a place named after their biscuits they sure are hard. Although I guess that would make them better to throw, and "fly..." And of course... we couldn't resist a trip to IKEA. Actually I think that was the reason Jesse chose Atlanta. And of course we can't go there without a fight. I think it's because Jesse knows we are going to leave with more than he thought. And we did! But we finally got the dining chairs and TV stand we've been needing! Now the apartment looks so much more settled, lived in, purposed.

This picture is a little dark, but the tv stand is basically 8 cubes and you can see the dining chairs which are still at a card table because Dad is still working on our dining table, but I saw it the other day and it looks very close to done!!

We also got 2 other chairs since our table is going to be expandable, so we have 6 chairs total. We are keeping the other 2 in the kitchen along a blank wall for a little seating in there.

We also went to the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. It was good, but I would recommend the Chattanooga Aquarium first. The Georgia is supposed to be the largest in the world, but I think that must be by square feet. If you ask me, it should be measured by gallons of water, because it doesn't have too much of that, compared to Chattanooga anyway.

This is the Balooga whale.

Now, the waffles... :) On Labor day we made waffles for breakfast. It was the first time we have used the waffle maker we got as a wedding gift. It has 2 sided plates that make heart shaped waffles on one side and Belgian waffles on the other. So of course we made the heart shaped ones!! :)

I used Grandma's recipe, which I had never made before, and they tasted good, but they were hard. I think I am going to have to adjust my cooking time/temp. And I have to throw this last picture in for Jesse because he just loves these mixing bowls we have:

He thinks they look like baseball helmets because of the lip and the color. :) He's right. But we promise we won't put these on our heads when we cook for guests!!

Other than all this, school has started back which means I am much busier, up earlier, and a little more stressed. More annoyed than stressed though. :)

Jesse's Birthday Week!

Jesse's birthday was yesterday, the 28th. For the past couple years we have been enjoying an idea we stole from Caitlin and Austin: birthday week. :) So we celebrate somehow everyday. We started a little early on Saturday night by going out to eat with both sides of our family. Both sets of parents, us, Matthew, and Ben all went to Mafioza's for dinner. Yum. Then we all came to our apartment where I had a cake ready, yellow of course, Jesse's favorite. Though he allowed chocolate icing for me. :) We used the special glass dessert plates my grandmother June gave us as a wedding gift. They were a wedding give to her 57(ish) years ago! Then we played a little Apples to Apples before everyone left and Jesse and I went out just the two of us.

Then, Sunday was sort of a day off, although there was still cake, because Jesse was working most of the day. But Monday we both had off work, and I planned a special surprise. I made cupcakes Sunday night, but ended up forgetting them for the Monday trip I made them for. :( Oh well. We had them Monday night when we got back from....golfing at Fall Creek Falls! 

I am not that into golfing, but everyone knows Jesse is. Well, I decided that was something he would enjoy doing for his birthday but would never guess that's what I was taking him to do. I didn't tell him a thing beforehand. He always keeps his clubs in his trunk, so I just took his car, added the balls, and packed a lunch! When we got off the interstate just past Cookeville, he saw a sign that said Fall Creek Falls, and I couldn't deny we were going there. There are only so many options that far out. So, we eventually got there and once we were in the park and I was following signs, he noticed we were following all the signs to the golf course, and figured it out. He was really excited! Mission accomplished. So we headed out, played 9 holes, stopped to grab our lunch box, and had lunch during the back 9. We played out the front according to the rules, but then skipped one or two holes in the back, and mostly played scramble. I was just too worn out, and frankly too bad to keep playing correctly!

 But we had a good time. And Jesse had never been to Fall Creek Falls, which I didn't know when I planned the whole thing, so we did a 2 mile hike to one of the falls and back. We decided we should go back soon with bathing suits. There are lots of little "swimming holes" and cascades that we would've gotten in and played for a while, but we didn't have the suits! 

When we got back home we had the cupcakes I intended to bring to the course. I even had candles and matches with me!

See the "2" and "3"? It's backwards from the camera's angle, but he's 23. :)

So then yesterday, the actual birthday, Jesse worked until 3. Then he came home, and I cooked dinner. His favorite, at least of what I can make: chicken parmigiana. Then more cupcakes of course! Then we just had a night in. I'd like to take him to the zoo tomorrow (it's ok, he already knows, and likely doesn't read this anyway) but the forecast has been rainy all week. So we'll see. Maybe Saturday. 

Catch Up

Well, nothing too big going on, just want to catch up about a few things we've been doing. 

We had Jesse's parents over for dinner this past Friday for his mom's birthday. Must've been an interesting birthday. First, we completely burned the meat we were cooking for the spaghetti. Then, when Jesse went to dump the noodles through a strainer, the strainer fell and he dumped an entire box worth of noodles into the sink. Yum. So we had to wait for more noodles to cook. Then, because we don't have a table yet, we ate at the coffee table, 2 on the couch, 2 on the floor. We knew we'd have to do that though. Dad's making us a table, and it is going to be gorgeous when it's done, he's just hit a road block with some of his equipment needed to finish it. Oh, and we had a birthday cake that we managed to pull off without any mishaps.

Jesse is now working full time at the Golf Club as Assistant CaddyMaster. He's just starting but I think he will be much happier being outside again than at a desk. 

Last week, while Jesse was between the two jobs, he had a couple days off, so we decided to spend a whole day together without sitting on the couch. We had breakfast at Pancake Pantry. MM MM. And by the way, Jesse has all this planned out, and I don't have any idea where we are going until we get there. So then we drove and ended up at the Cumberland Science Museum. Well, it's the Adventure Science Museum now I guess, that's just not what I remember about it. :) Turns out, it's not much of what either of us remember about it. :) Not much in there made for anyone over 6 to enjoy. Oh well. Now we know! Then we went to the Gulch and to Urban 

Outfitters. Just looked around a little. I really like what they've done with City Hall. I thought they'd tear it down, but they just renovated a little. Looks nice. Then we had some down time 

before dinner at Sambuca. Jesse's sister, Caitlin has recommended it to us before, and we finally went. It was wonderful. It's a beautiful restaurant, and the seating is unique, big pillows in the booths and things. And the food was wonderful too. I had a big "baseball" steak. That's about the size and shape it was! And Jesse had a pizza. We had some really good appetizers too.

No room for dessert, although it sounded really good. It was a very nice day to have to spend together like this, and I love a good surprise, so it was nice to have surprise plans for the whole day! :)

We have done a little more with the apartment. Jesse hung a shelf, we got some wedding pictures in frames and hung. We FINALLY got a coffee maker! :) Now... we have some work to do on the closets soon. For sure. We are just having to be creative with small spaces as far as closets are concerned.

Oh! We got a book printed of our wedding pictures. I made it on my mac in iPhoto. It came on Friday and I LOVE it! It looks so clean and modern. It is in order so that it's like a timeline through the day. And it's nice to have something to hold and show our pictures now. I finally was able to show everyone at work yesterday.

And I think we're pretty caught up here...

Simplicity Gourmet

Last night we had a small dinner party with both sets of our parents at my parents' house. We won the dinner at one of the bridal conventions we went to when planning the wedding. It was a lot of fun, and a chef comes to your house and cooks everything for you, he buys the food, and he cleans up! He shows you how he cooks everything because he is selling the cookware. It's Simplicity Gourmet brand. Although it is a sales pitch at the end, he wasn't pushy at all. I didn't feel pressured. But the stuff is amazing, and we did buy one individual piece, and mom bought a set! Now we are set up in their referral program where you can earn points and get free pieces! So if anyone is interested in having a free dinner, let me know so I can refer you to our chef!

Paint, Pipes, and Paper (Toilet paper that is)

Well, we have seen a few, um, milestones? this past week. 

First, we found we have a leaky pipe under the kitchen sink. How did we find this? By filling up one side of the sink to the max to let some very dirty cloths soak of course! What does that mean? Max pressure on the pipe, and a very soaked cabinet underneath. Water ran out onto the floor, onto the rug, all over everything in the cabinet. Ugh. So, we just aren't using that side of the sink for now. Maintenance seems to be extremely slow around here. Doesn't Jesse look so excited to be cleaning up?!Second, we painted the bedroom! Although we love the color, we hate to paint. No, it wasn't that terrible. We got it done in a reasonable amount of time with only one gallon of paint, but the problem was the fumes and smell that lasted all night. We decided we didn't want to sleep in there because it was too strong, so we scrunched together on the couch. Not an easy task. Especially when Jesse claims he can't sleep any way except on his back! So after 10 minutes we decided to put up with the smell and went to the bedroom. :)

Now, third, we ran out of toilet paper! And of course no one ever notices they've run out until they need it right? That's all I think we have to say about that!

Also, we've been having issues with storage space since we have a tiny little closet and limited drawer space. Jesse remembered the "Wonder hanger" commercials, and wanted to try it. I was extremely doubtful about the product, but we went to bed bath and beyond anyway and got a pack, and what do you know, we actually do have about double the space now! I was so impressed I had to share a picture of our closet. Before we used the wonder hangers the closet was so packed you couldn't cram one more hanger in it. And we didn't even have enough wonder hangers to put all of our stuff on them, so we are planning to get one more pack, and they hopefully we will have even more space!! Yay!

Emily's Wedding!!

We spent this weekend in Kentucky for Emily's, my college roommate, wedding. The wedding was fabulous! And we had a great time hanging out with her and Joey the day before and the day of the wedding. Unfortunately I forgot my camera at home, but I do have a couple pictures of my bouquet (I was her matron of honor) and of a tall vase with lillies that was one of her centerpieces. It was a gorgeous wedding!! And Emily was sooo beautiful! 

 I hope she gets her pictures soon, and maybe I can post a couple here. We did get the photographer to snap one of Emily, Joey (her new husband!), me, and Jesse. I hope it turns out cute!

Photos!

Yay! Wedding pictures are finished! I only have access to the files online at the moment, which takes a little longer to get onto the blog, so I'll just post some favorites right now. Some of them have gray bars on them while I'm uploading them. I don't know what that's about. That's not how they really are! Promise! To see the rest of the photos, go to tylerandrews.com/caseyandjesse/wedding

Wedding, Jamaica, and the first days back!

Our first blog entry!!

This morning I cooked breakfast for the first time and I decided it made a good time to start the blog! I made banana muffins from a recipe Caitlin sent my way (Jesse's sister). She made it when we visited her in Austin, TX. I added walnuts to half of them for Jesse. I think they turned out well!

Ok, so the days before the wedding were crazy! Getting the guest book finished, the pictures printed, and trying to make lists so as not to forget to bring anything. Well the ink took 3 days to NOT dry in the guest book, the pictures used 4 cartridges of ink, and I forgot my petticoat skirt for my dress and ended up having to buy a new one. Jesse says his biggest worry on the day of the wedding was making up the bed-something that rarely happens. But the wedding went along perfectly! Walking down the aisle with my Dad was like a dream. The lights and the way everyone was arranged around the room. I'd change nothing! And then I saw Jesse! It was a bittersweet moment to go from Dad's arm to Jesse's, of course. Jason's message for us was great. He used a few questions he asked us separately about each other before to craft 

a few stories. It ended up that when he asked us about a funny moment together we told the same story about Jesse falling on a rug in my apartment when telling me it was took slick and someone might fall. Then pictures afterward took unbelievably long, but then we cut cake, danced, talked, and ran out through the bubbles! It was tough to get me in the car with my humongous dress! On the way home we made a stop at Starbucks. The day was just taxing! We needed a caffeine boost. Funny, no one in starbucks seemed like it was anything unordinary at all to see a guy in a tux and a girl in a huge white dress. The cashier looked at us puzzled and said, "Did you just get married or something?" No, we just like to wear this around? Anyway, the next morning our plane left at 6 AM to Jamaica. My mom and dad took us there at 4. Ick. On to Charlotte, NC, then Montego Bay where a bus took us to Ocho Rios to Sandals!

The week was great. Not too hot. Only rained twice for about 30 minutes. We went snorkeling. The reef was beautiful and the fish were so bright!

We also went to Dunn's River Falls for a climb. I thought I might die at times, but it was fun.

Otherwise we just hung out on the beach, at the pool, and ate! We had a honeymooner's breakfast one morning delivered to our room which we had on the patio. The pineapple there was wonderful. It was almost white. Not quite like ours. The banana bread was also great. It was a dark brown. Not what I'm used to making. And last, the orange juice they had was fantastic! It was maybe a little thinner than what we get here, but it made it so smooth!

We got back home this Sunday night after 13 hours of traveling due to layovers and delays. Jesse was not so excited about going back to work, needless to say. Who would be? I wanted to have breakfast for him Monday morning, but since we got back so late I didn't have anything to make! And I didn't have a car Monday, so I couldn't go to the store. Monday night we went to my Grandma and Granddaddy's house for dinner. It was good to see them. Then we did some laundry and headed home! I've been cleaning and organizing and decorating for a few days since I work a few hours in the evenings only. I even hung a mirror! :) (Making Dad proud) Tonight we'll be at the college class at Pegram to see everyone, and I'll be blogging again soon! Probably with less to say then. :)