Rock N Roll Half Marathon

Lets roll back to 17 weeks ago when we started this little endeavor… Sam and I agreed that “wouldn’t it be fun if we trained and ran a half marathon together?!!!??” Well, the weekend has come and gone.  We signed up for this race over 2 months ago and the it’s already over. It seems like just yesterday we ran our first miles together and now it’s all over.  It’s amazing how months of training and planning can be gone in only a few short hours.  (can’t imagine how a wedding feels!!!)

About a week ago, Sam and I made the collective decision that it would be best if he did not run the race. Why?!!?? About 4 weeks ago, we ran 7 miles together. (half way there!!!) and things were going great for us. Sam felt a “pop” in the bottom of his foot and it sent shooting pains up his leg for the next few days.  As he hobbled around, I forced him to go to the doctor to get it x-rayed. The doctor confirmed that Sam had an overuse injury in his foot where the Achilles meets the arch. The more he ran, the worse it got. Finally he took a week off and it started to heal. Then it was time for our next 5k race and he gave it a shot. No-go. Shouldn’t have done it. He was right back where he started with the pain and hobbling. He took two weeks off and ran again, and the same result happened. Neither of us wanted him to do any more damage to his foot.  So, I found someone at work to buy his number / spot in the race so it wasn’t a total loss for him. (the race was sold out over a month ago so spots were highly sought after!) We decided it was for the best.

Sam wasn’t off the hook so easily. This weekend was my homecoming game at GSU and he already committed to me to come down for the race.  Running or not, he was going to come with me and be my  #1 fan.  Friday afternoon came and we both left work early.  We headed down in all the traffic to Savannah.  Apparently the roads in Savannah aren’t equipped to handle an additional 24,000 runners, plus their coaches and race volunteers.  After fighting traffic we finally got our bib numbers from the Expo and we exchanged Sam’s with the friend of mine from work who was going to be running in Sam’s place and headed to David and Paige’s house to play with Zachary spend time with them.  Lights out at 9:00pm. Don’t mind if I do.

The nerves in my stomach kept coming up and Sam gracefully kept calming me down and telling me that I WAS prepared and I COULD do this. 13 miles? N.B.D.   6:45 rolled around too early.  Sam happily volunteered to drive and drop me off at the start line.   I met up with the peeps from work and we bonded over our five hour energy’s and protein bars on our walk to the start line. 45 degrees with a 30 mph wind shield = frozen daiquiri (I wish!).. or just a frozen KATIE. For those of you who don’t know, the Rock N Roll Marathon series is known for being super fun.  Their theme is to have a band play a live concert at every mile marker.  Pretty cool concept, eh? We started the race and you could see the shedding of sweat shirts, old long sleeve t-shirts and other over coat paraphernalia lining the course as runners got warmer.

I had my usual Pit-bull station on Pandora jamming in my ears and I got into a good stride for the first 3 miles. I was feeling good. Then the wind kept screeching through my sweat soaked shirt and chilling my muscles all the way to my joints and core.  I could feel my body tense up and strain on every step I took. The miles seemed to get longer. Where is the next band? Where is that next mile marker?? Where is the WATER?!!  I’m not sure what happened, but for about 3 straight miles (mile 4,5,6) the water stations ran out of water and Gatorade. I was so thirsty by the time I got to mile 7! Sam and I planned that he would be at mile  8 or 9 so I was getting excited to smooch him and get a pump of energy and keep on running to the finish line. Miles 8,9 and 10 came and went and I still didn’t see him.  He called me around mile 10.5 to give me a little pep talk.  Some cop wouldn’t let them out of the neighborhood (the marathon course went right through David and Paige’s neighborhood!) and they were having difficulty getting to the mile marker before me. So, NBD, I powered through and tried to pick up the pace.  One foot in front of the other. Let’s do this. I kept praying that god would just carry me to the end. [Apparently, He was busy answering other more important prayers, so I had to run them. ]  For almost all of mile 11 and most of mile 12 I really didn’t think I was going to make it.  My hips and ankles were killing me.  I couldn’t stay warm and I wanted to cry.  The only thing that kept me going was knowing that I had the most supportive boyfriend and brother and sister in law waiting to give me a huge hug at the end. And a metal of course. So, I put my head down, turned up the tunes, and pretended I couldn’t feel my legs and finished the damn thing.

I crossed the finish line at 2 hours, 35 minutes, and 23 seconds.  BOOM.

25 minutes faster than the Disney Princess Half Marathon and YEAYAAAAA that’s a baller time!! I must be cocky for a second and admit that I am so proud of myself! GO ME! My hard work and dedication has paid off.  Today, I sit at my desk, with sore muscles and sore joints and just think to myself, “yes. I did it. Again!” I couldn’t have made it without the support of Sam. I know it.  He was my driving force over the last few months. He had faith in me the whole time and knew that I could crush my last time, and I did.

So, after the race, as quickly and my sore body could take us, we got back to David and Paige’s house and I showered and we headed to Kyoto for lunch. GIANT ORDER OF FOOD PLEASE GET IN MY STOMACH. Can you say starves??? Yep. so delish. We packed up the car and headed to Statesboro.  We missed almost the first quarter of the homecoming game, but we got to sit on the grass and watch the rest! GATA EAGLES!  We won! Boo-yea!  Sam and I went to one of my friend’s houses for the rest of the afternoon and hung out and played drinking games to celebrate. C.O.L.L.E.G.E. We all got dressed and headed to the one and only good bar in the boro, retrievers. We had ourselves a grand ol time; got to see lots of good peeps!!!

It was a Marathon of a weekend (Literally and figuratively)that took months of careful planning and tons of training. And I couldn’t be more thankful for the best boyfriend to be there to love and support me every step of the way!! (literally!)  And a special thanks for all those who have supported me and run with me and encouraged me. You make me want to be better!!!!!!!!

Live the Life You Love

“Live the Life You Love”— we seem to be doing just that! Sam and I have been talking for months and months about going to see an ND football game. He (and everyone else) kept telling me that being AT a Notre Dame football game was a truly “religious experience” . Football? Religious experience? C’mon! Alright alright, let’s do it.  So, We had been keeping an eye on flights and hotel costs over the last several months and finally the week before the designated trip weekend, Sam told me there would be almost no way that we could fly. The flights were looming around $300 a pop and I don’t know about you, but I don’t have an extra $300 layin around.. so…we decided to drive. For those of you who don’t know, I absolutely cannot stand traveling in the car for long periods of time. The trips back and forth between ATL and the boro were painful enough, and this trip was 10+hours. Oucheemama! Oh well.. If we wanted to go, this was our only option. So… LETS DO IT. Sam also advised that the tickets (if found for face value) would be about $90 a pop. Eeeeek! LUCKILY Sam is awesome and found tickets fo’ FREE!!!!! OK so we HAD to go now! What started out as almost a $1000 trip quickly turned into a $400 trip (after gas and food and booze, duh).   

The weekend was finally here!!!!!!! We both left work early and headed up to Indiana. “Now sit down shut up and here we go”. We played so many road games and talked and talked and talked and talked and ate snacks and talked and stopped for dinner and talked. FINALLY we got to the hotel around midnight. Literally crashed into bed and woke up at 6AM to get back on the road.  We stayed about an hour outside of South Bend because it was $300 cheaper. Heck yea! So we drove straight to the liquor store, bought of tail gating treasures and headed to breakfast at Nick’s Patio. YUM. Remember this house crescent? Yep I bet you do. I know I remember it from the last trip we made to ND in April. And, yes, I ate the entire thing.  

We needed a good base for drinking, duh. After we stuffed out, we headed over to tailgate and met up with Stretch and his parents. Then over the course of the next 5 hours college friends came and went. It was so fun to get to know some of sam’s friends from his college days! I heard sooo many stories!  

We left tailgate and headed to the exact opposite end of campus to partake in watching the changing of the guard as well as the band warm up. Both were extremely cool traditions! There were SO MANY PEOPLE on campus! A campus built for 8,000 had over 90,000 people on it. And not one person was on the grass.  Just imagine that many people trying to weave in and out of each other on solely the side walk. Yea. Craziness.   We then stumbled to the game, scanned our tickets, and found our seats.

There’s a two hour period in which we don’t really need to go into…. *insert cheesy hold music *

ANDDDDD we’re back! The 2^nd half of the game was incredible. We had pretty decent seats (they were free so they were the best seats in the house!) The Irish scored the most points scored in the ND stadium since 1995 so being a part of that was incredible.  The game was unlike any other college game I’d ever experienced. Not that I have too many to go off of, but still. It was just football. The fans were there to be fans. No one was obnoxious and in your face cursing (ahem…UGA fans) and no one was throwing bottles and chanting F** YOU! (ahem Michigan fans..) everyone was there to have fun and enjoy good ol fashion football. The marching band was gigantic (as it should be!) and played awesome songs. Every student in the student section was wearing the same shirt which was pretty cool and they were all very active in their dances / chants / participation in the game and songs. It was really awesome to be a part of that!  I always wanted to be a part of a game like that and a college like this. After the game was over not one person moved. The marching band played the ND Alma Mater.  Both football teams turned, took their helmets off and listened to the band play as the entire stadium linked arms and sang. It was amazing. It was almost like a closing prayer in church.

After the game we went to one of Sam’s favorite restaurants in South Bend and got one of their famous burgers. MM mm!! Then headed back to the hotel and crashed into the most amazing bed ever.

Sunday morning we slept in (thankfully) and had a delish / famous SB breakfast and got back on the road.

My overall impression of my first Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football Game:

So…. When can we do this again?!?!

The ATL Battle of the Burgers 2011

Every year there is an epic battle. “ A battle?” You might ask yourself. We aren’t in medieval times… this isn’t Europe… and what could possibly be so epic about it? WELL, my friends, this is …

THE BATTLE OF THE BURGERZZZzZZZZzzZZZ

 (please note: zz’s were added for dramatic effect)

Sam brought this crazy/great/awesome/glorious idea to the table about 8 months ago.  I told him that yes, 100% I was in and wanted to attend. It looked delicious! So what IS the battle of the burgers you might ask? Every year, 20+ venders get together and bring their best / newest/ most creative burger concoction to  dook it out for “top dog”.  Winner gets bragging rights until next year’s battle.  All the proceeds go to charities in Atlanta, too!  So this year, whoever is incharge decided it would be a really super idea to have a battle of the burgers 5k before the actual battle. Since sam and I are currently training for the half marathon, we needed another race to get used pumped up so heck why not this one!? It seemed to be a good way to earn our burger eating rights. Eric (my BIL: brother in law) and I had a bet going (He hadn’t run since June and I have been up to my neck in running shoes and sports bras…literally!) to see who could win. (please also note that his in seem comes up to my rib cage….not joking… he’s a skinny giant) Welp, if he won I had to pay him $25 and if I won he had to pay me $45 since he was slightly at a physical advantage due to the long ass legs. When we signed up for the race there were advertisements to tell you that you could build your burger throughout the course and you had to try and finish it before you got to the finish line. This seemed pretty cool! I kind of wanted to try to do it. I was a little weary about running with a bun and a meat patty, but hey, why not? It could be cool, right? Well we got to the first burger building station around the .5 mile marker and it was pieces of laminated paper that look like buns. LAME. Forget that! Next…. As we were approaching the 3 mile marker, Eric was about 100 yards ahead of me. I could see him ahead of me the hole race. He kindly turned around, came back to me, and jogged next to me. We crossed the finish line together. 

He paid me $45 and I paid him $25. Hellz yea!  So…NOW it was timeeee… 

LET THE REAL BATTLE BEGIN!

This year there were about 25 venders that took part in the battle. When we walked in we were given  one ticket. This was our golden ticket to vote for our favorite burger after we tasted them all. Ok so I’m thinking we get to literally get a bite size piece on a tooth pic. Noooppeee wrong. Each restaurant was giving out either ¼ of a full size burger OR a very generous slider made to taste like their regular size burger.  Some were REALLY amazing. Some were less than good. Some had mac and cheese stuffed inside them (yep that's right) some had potato chips. Each one so different. Each one so tasty. Each one so filling.

So let you eyes feast on these babies:

Needless to say, after we all tried these bad boys, we literally could. Not. Move. Sam and I went home and proceeded to watch football and not move for the rest of the day: burger induced food coma.

And I’m ok with it

Taking on 13.1 ...again.

With only 8 weeks left to train, I thought I would update you all on the progress of “The Adventures of Sam & Katie: Taking on 13.1”. We have been following Hal Higdon’s schedule for a Novice Half Marathon. For those of you who don’t know, this is Sam’s first half marathon and my 2nd. I ran the Princess Half Marathon in Disney in February with my lovely sister, Rosemary and 2 of our other friends. (We DOMINATED!) I ran it in 2:57:31. That’s right around 13 minute miles. In the running world, that’s on the slower to average pace, but decent considering this was my first race. My goal for that race was to finish and not die. This time around I’d really love, love, love to finish in under 2:45:00.

[That is the abbreviated version. We extended it by 6 weeks to include training up to a 5k, as well as having an 11 and 12 mile run at the end.]


Sam and I have been running 3 -4 days a week and cross training / lifting weights 2 days a week with 1 rest day (hello favorite-day-Friday!) We have been not really “calorie counting” per say, but we have been watching what we eat. We dine out less often, drink less beer than usual, and hardly ever eat fries with our meals. Usually, we’ll do sides like broccoli or steamed veggies. We really enjoy cooking at home together. Sharing that time in the kitchen and at the dinner table together is very important to us and we try to make room for it in our busy lives at least once a week. As a result, we both are getting more physically fit and are feeling much healthier! We have just made a few minor adjustments to our daily lives and eating habits that seem to be going a long way. Sam has also been known to pull the “will that help you run a half marathon???” phrase out on me… (just one cookie won’t hurt…right?? Right?!?!)

The first 8 weeks of our training was just getting into better shape. Sam ran his first 5k race on Thursday night! This was very exciting! (for me at least hehe!) I personally love 5k’s and this one was special to me for multiple reasons. It is an annual race hosted by Kaiser Permente. Every year, they host the 2nd largest race in all of Georgia. They have live bands and tons of tents set up for companies to “rent” for the evening. The venue? Turner field! How cool is that! So our company rented out a tent and we had about 40 participants from my office to go to the race. (sam and other significant others included) we had tons of food, drinks, and post race beers. (perfect recover drink. Duh) Unfortunately, this race is known as one of the hardest courses in GA. It’s a big loop that starts at the Olympic rings by Turner Field and ends at the rings. Somehow its almost all uphill…. Rude! That being said, I didn’t run as fast as I would have liked, but Sam did awesome! Woohoo! Race #1 CHECK!

The next 8 weeks are dedicated to putting out heads down and really focusing on getting in the longer mile runs on the weekends. Now we are really getting into the meat of the training and it’s really important that we focus and don’t give up. Its NOW that makes or breaks you. Now is the time that most people either give up or become champions. We have the dedication and determination to push through the hard workouts and the tough 7,8,9, 10 + mile runs and get the 13.1 medal! We can’t just talk about it; we have to BE about it!

Rock-N-Roll Race

Savannah, GA

November 5, 2011

13.1 miles

Katie Goal: 2:45:00

Sam Goal: finish alive

BRING IT ON!!

Moving on Up! err... out

Most of you know I was the proud 3rd roommate to the wonderful Tom and Kelly. As the youngest, it was my duty to move back home after graduating from college and pester them with my day-to-day meaningless problems and ask dad to buy me blue doritos and turkey from the grocery store so I didn't have to go.  Well ladies and gentleman, "the time is come" for me to become a truer and true real life adult on my own. The 4th Bank of Dad has closed and I packed up my closet and moved out. Luckily, all my boxes from college were still packed and I could just transfer them from my parents to the new place.   I signed a lease with two girlies and on August 1 I was on my own! My parents were practically doing the peepee dance with joy to get me out of the house. The last time I moved out, they sold the house we had been living in for 8 years and moved. This time, I didn't even have my shower stuff out of the bathroom yet and they rearranged all the furnititure in the upstairs and made my room into an official very fancy guest room. The week that I was to move out, my old next door neighbors asked me to house / dog sit for them. They don't exactly live right next door anymore. Part of the deal was that I stay at their house (free foooood!!!!! side note: they have 3 little girls so they have tons of heatlhy snacks gushers!!) So carefully juggling my schedule between work and taking out the dog, on Aug 1, I moved all my stuff into the A.P.T with the help of my loving brother, his truck, his girlfriend, my amazing boyfriend, and my wonderful parental units. After it was all said and done I was literally jumping for joy to have my own place! "woohoo!!! oh wait i can't stay here tonight...or tomorrow..." 7 nights later I could actually sleep in my own apartment in which i was now paying for. NBD. All that matters is that i'm on my own!

What an amazing feeling especially knowing that this time last year I was working as Sweet N Sassy (also known as sam's worst nightmare) and I was completely dependent on my parents. I had plently of student loans I hadn't even pretended to start paying off yet and I was giving my dad all the money i could  afford each month for my car payment. Literally couldn't afford anything because of the minimum wage job I had.  [Thanks economy for crashing and making school budget cuts cut my content area out of high schools. glad i got a 4 year degree in it] THANKFULLY my high school friend Hannah came to the rescue and told me about the opening at her company (my current job now) and I applied and was offered the job. big girl job!!! With the help of God and everyone around me, I am where I am now: On my own, Student loan free, and 3 car payments away from being debt free.

I can't believe it myself. Literally. 

It has been such a joy to come home to my two FEMALE roommates (sorry eric and arden, loved living with you guys in college but this girl's gotta have girl roommates again) and we can just chat and drink wine and cut up on the porch about life and boys and relationships and work. it really is a joy. I finally feel like an adult. I'm self sufficient and I finally feel responsible for myself fully. Its quite an amazing feeling! I'm loving it the new apt and my new roomies!

Come and stop by to drink wine see the place! You might not want to leave. Just saying...

Just doing our part to help the world.. one pair of shoes at a time.

Listen up boys.. It's not what you think.  We are just looking out for the economy.  It's a little known fact that girls like shoes. We have a zillion pairs that we keep in our closets and carefully plan outfits around them.  Like my dad says to me each morning as I carefully clunk...clunk...clunk...down the stairs, "Your outfit is just the accessory to your shoes." That being the case, shoes can run out closets and our wallets.  If we see someone with a great pair of pumps that are better and newer and prettier than the old "go-to" ones we have, you better believe we will be counting down the minutes until we can get to the nearest DSW (with preferred member rewards card in hand, duh). Shoes shopping for women can be exhilarating, fun, enjoyable, relaxing, a social event, a game, etc etc. It's what completes your whole ensemble. It can bring a "ehhh semi-ok" outfit to "damn girl you FINE" outfit. So clearly, we need to keep a revolving door of fabulous shoes in our closet. So ladies, the next time your man asks you that nagging question, "why do you have so many shoes?!?!" you can simply answer with this rationalization....

Today I was not in a great mood. I went to DSW and I hunted and hunted the sale rack and found these great pair of Steve Maden pumps.  Seeing the sticker price after I did my model run-way walk down the aisle, I immediately got giggly with excitement and just had to have them.  Obviously, that improved my mood. Mood can lead to an increase in self-esteem.  If you feel good about yourself and have high self-esteem, that has been known to lead to fewer illnesses. The more terrible you feel from an illness, the more likely it is that you will call into work sick, or leave work early / come in late. That can put extra strain on your team.  Also, this decreases overall client satisfaction as you are not there to assist with their time sensitive needs.  If you are not at work because you are sick, your team has extra work to complete for your clients.  With this extra work comes more responsibilities and more stress. More stress can lead to a decrease in accuracy and some details may be over looked. If these details are over looked then your clients may become dissatisfied with your company.  If your clients are dissatisfied for long enough, they may end up leaving. Fewer clients can lead to the company making cuts in positions which then can lead to more people going home without a job to return to on Monday. This will then in turn make these jobless families spend less money.  If families spend less, then other businesses begin to suffer and thus creating a downward spiral in the over all economy.  So, today, I'm glad I purchased that pair of pumps that helped improve my mood and my self esteem; which lead to my over all good health; which then made me be able to go to work and help my team to give my clients the customer service they need and pay for so they remain clients in our company so that we continue to have jobs to offer our employees so that those employee families will spend money in the economy to keep our economy thriving.


So boys...We are just trying to do out part to help the world.

Freshman Year (of life)

Being just a few weeks away from the conclusion of my Freshman year of real life, I thought I'd do a brief break down of how this year has gone.

 

Since you are my dedicated reader, you know that my life has gone from college to moving home, to getting a big-girl job, and becoming a responsible and productive member of society.  Mary Beth and I were on our usual Sunday date (Sam was included this time!) and we were briefly discussing what this year has been like for us.  We each went through a number of personal changes which brought about some serious growth in our lives.  We were discussing how things for many 'freshman' go. Here's the general theme we came up with:

 

Freshman year of REAL life is all about becoming a BETTER version of YOU.

This can be explored through a variety of ways in which to only better yourself from the college version of you. 

 

The college version of you may look a lot like this:
-sorority / college / fraternity tshirt (ketchup or various other stains may or may not be included) always
-running shorts or yoga pants-- jeans if it was colder outside (ripped / frayed at the bottom)
-hair in a messy bun / pony tail placed discheveledly somewhere on the top of your head
-over the shoulder bag big enough for books. no designer purse. ever.
-running shoes/ boat shoes, flip flops or some type of comfortable strap sandal depending on the season
-no make up...ehh..maybe a little mascara if you woke up early
-stressed look on your face because of that term paper you have been putting on that's due in 14 hours or various other over load of projects your professors decided to give you that take forever and a day and no one in your assigned "group" is willing to help you
-the pantry and fridge have left over McDonald's, frozen pizza, easy mac, Ramon noodles, kool-aid (all flavors), coffee, napkins and forks from the dining hall and plastic everything.
-your finances consist of finding change in the bottom of your sock drawer/ under your couch so you can get a chicken biscuit from chick fil a on Saturday morning to get rid of your hang over, waiting on a refund check from the school (thank you hope scholarship) so you can go to the bar buy your books, and having $8.65 or less in your bank account...pretty much all the time.
-the "good" beer is bud light- upgrade from natty, Busch, and keystone.
-the only exercise you get is to go to and from class
-you love staying out late / getting drunk / loud music / going to a shitty bar/ dancing with random people at shitty bars / waking up and counting the wrist bands on your wrist meant you had an awesome time
-you don't have a bed time
-you don't have a wake up time (your sleeping hours are all kinds of screwed up as there is no regular schedule)
-you sleep in until wee hours of the afternoon on Saturday and Sunday
-Sunday is your "catch up day" for all the homework you should have done on Thursday but instead went to the bar
-you get 3 months in the summer, 3 weeks in the winter and 1 week in the spring to do nothing...and you do...nothing.

Graduation day +1 you get over the fact that college is over, move away from school, and begin your real life. you realize that you no longer have 3 weeks off for Christmas break and 3 months off for summer and 1 week in the spring to do absolutely nothing but bask in the sun and drink bud light. however, you trade it for:

 

10 days paid vacation and 10 personal days a year help you tremendously mentally and emotionally. regular hours at work help to stimulate you mind during those hours and you aren't all over the place going cray cray and stressing out. regular sleeping hours - welcome to having a bed time again! this also helps improve your over all health. it makes you skin look better, your hair softer, you can focus better and be productive the next day. it's really quite wonderful. PAY DAYS are the best days which help you have become responsible and financially stable enough to pay your bills each month and have some what of an income to do so. good beer and hobbies like home brewing are good for the soul. reading quality books that no one forces you to do so or write some bullshit paper on is amazing and also helps improve your vocabulary, mental capacity, and imagination. I've realized that weekend days are all mine to do absolutely nothing. it's about going to decent bars / nice bars that  make your week nights relaxing and an enjoyable place to get away from work. you wear heels / dress shoes most days of the week. you look forward to "jeans day" at work. Freshman year of life is all about eating healthy, cooking healthy, and having more in your fridge then left over McDonald's.  it's about taking care of yourself emotionally and getting your life back onto the track you want to be on. for me, it was getting myself back in line with God. I started to go to church again, pray more often, and i even joined a weekly bible study. these things help to focus my life better and gain emotional strength to go the distance needed. you also realize your body starts to slow down physically and your metabolism isn't as fast as it once was in high school so you must get it together. for me, i joined a gym and set a goal to run a half marathon...look who accomplished that one in February :) boom. your freshman year of life is about realizing what real friendships are and who your real friends are. real friends are just boozing going to the bar type of people who aren't there when you need them the most. they are people you can count on day in and day out to build you up, support you, love you for who you are, give you the facts straight up, and won't leave when times get rough. you shed relationships that you don't need and don't want and aren't good for you. It's about finding something to do with your life and pursuing your career actively. That stressed look on your face is from work that will earn you more money if you do it well.  It's about learning how to contribute to society productively. it's about discovering how to live in a city as an adult. it's about becoming a professional (ward robe included). and for some, it's about finding love. real love. forever love. it's about being able to say good bye to relationships that weren't right for you and move on. it's about becoming truly independent and a man/woman able to stand on his / her own two feet. it's about pursuing dreams. it's about realizing your weaknesses and making conscious decisions to better yourself. what ever way you need to do it to better yourself you do it. whether it's from self-help books, talking to your mom, talking to your dog, watching Oprah, going to church, joining a club, getting a hobby, or finding real love; we all do things during this year that will contribute to building the person  and adult you will remain.

 

Freshman year of REAL life is all about becoming a BETTER version of YOU.

 

With that being said, Callie and I (and Facebook friends) came up with the following list:

 

YOU KNOW YOU ARE IN YOUR 20's WHEN:

 

1. Social Activities are Photography classes, not mixers.
2. You get excited about $2 well drinks. You get more excited that it will cost you less money, not ONLY because they are $2 but because you can only drink 4, instead of 8- like college.
3. You have a hobby that does not include drinking.
4. You are on some sort of intramurals sports team for people that have graduated college.
5. You would love to have kids one day, but you would be scared shitless if that day was tomorrow.
6. You have completed 2 or more DIY home-improvement projects.
7. You have to call in sick on a Monday because you drank a handle of Jager on Sunday.You went to work on Tuesday and you didn't feel better until Wednesday.
8.You get excited when they card you for cigarettes or alcohol.
9. You have 3 or more wedding invitations on your fridge.
10. You say something and then immediately after say "oh my God that just sounded like my Mother/Father."
11. You think 21 year olds look more like high schoolers.
12. You read for pleasure.
13. You wake up in your own bed more often than not.
14. Your bank account now has more allocations than "beer" and "food".
15. You do laundry once a week, or own "Dry Clean Only" clothing items.
16.You're tired by the end of "Dancing with the Stars".
17. You actually watch "Dancing with the Stars".
18. When you get pumped that you secretly squeezed one more 2 year cell phone contract out of your Dad.
19. You have crows feet and gray hair that you SWEAR weren't there 2 days ago...
20. When you see your college friends once a year, instead of once a day.
21. You can't skip work on a rainy day and get the notes from someone else.
22. If you're not making wedding plans, you're the odd man out.
23. Its no longer acceptable to wear sweatpants in public for more than 2 hours.
24. You get super stoked about Casual Friday.
25.You have more silverware/cooking related items in your kitchen than plastic cups and beer mugs.
26. Your "night out" starts at 7:30 pm, not 11pm.
27. All it would take to make you happy on any given day is a facewash headband and 3 glasses of red wine.
28. The last top 40 song you heard was "Bedrock".
29. When Happy Hour is the Best Hour.
30. And Finally, You know you're in your mid20s when.... 30 doesn't seem old.

THE Chicago && THE South Bend

4 Months ago, Sam asked me to be his date to a college roommate's wedding.  "Sure! Sounds fun" I told him. Later on, he told me that it was going to be held not only on the campus of the university he attended, but in the Basilica on the university's campus. What!? Ok, so let me get this straight...we've known each other for HOW LONG and you want to whisk me away for a weekend?! "Done and DONE" I told him. So we had been discussing and planning this little weekend get-away for the last four months and I think we got the biggest bang for our buck...

THURSDAY:

I hurriedly left work at 12:00:01 pm and arrived at Sam's house packed an ready to head to the air port.  We calmly drove to the air port, parked, checked in, checked out bags, and moseyed on over to the Delta Sky Club. (as you will find out more and more, sam is kind of a big deal and he gets special treatment almost anywhere we go. hows that for B.A.M.F?) in the lounge, we sip on our free booze and eat the tasty treats provided and stumbled over to our gate. The flight was only an hour and a half so while i napped sam was doing other awesome things for our trip (ie, making dinner reservations via his computer / air card..etc etc) So we arrive in Chicago and we pick up the rental car. Now...sam has traveled once or twice so he knows all the tricks in almost every city in almost every state of the US. That being the case, he knew that the Hertz rental car was right outside of the airport doors and ever other car rental business was quite a ways to walk. Where do you think we got the car from? Also, please note that because sam is a baller, we got this rental car for chizzzeap! Instead of taking the car to the hotel and parking it for a mere $60 a night, we left it at the air port and took the train to our hotel. (Thank God for decent public transportation in a big city...ATL take notes please) We go through the revolving doors into the most elaborate and extravagant hotel lobby i've ever been in in my entire life. Palmer Hilton Hotel? Yes, please. As we were checking in the matradee behind the counter told sam that we had been upgraded to the "executive suite". Our exclusive executive elevators were separate from all other floors and we were provided with 24 hour snacks and drinks in the executive lounge. Also, our room had 2 bathrooms. count em. not 1, but 2 bathrooms. his and hers. LADIES, CAN I GET AN AMEN!? We freshened up and proceeded to walk around the city of Chicago for 2 hours until our dinner reservations at Rockit Bar.  We saw all kinds of classics in the city: The Bean, Trump Tower, Chicago Theater, etc etc

Well....walking made us thirsty. So we stopped in a some little Mexican cantina for a margarita and some chips and guac. We posted up at the bar and scarfed down our drinks.  We then stumbled over to THE rockit bar. This adorable little restaurant was slammed full of people anxiously waiting to get a table. Thank god sam's a rock star and we had reservations. table for 2?! yep! We sat down in our quaint little booth and we had the most outstanding server. He was really on his game. We ordered the "rockit pockets" for an appetizer (yes we just ate quac but hey...we're in the chicago) which are

chopped steak, american cheese, sauteed onions, in a crispy wrap. Delish! then we decided to share the Rockit Burger which is kobe beef, melted brie, fried shallots, medjool date aioli, red onion on a brioche bun served with the best damn sweet potato fries you will ever put in your mouth. literally. the best. ALSO we ordered a side of their famous mac and cheese. oh em gee. heaven.  We then rolled ourselves to a cab and go up to our suite and passed out , went into a food coma, feel asleep.

FRIDAY

The next morning we ate our fancy executive breakfast in the hotel, showered and picked up the rental car from the air port, after of course, walking around the city some more. (*side note, it was raining and my jeans got wet... HAD to buy a new pair....right?!)  THEN we ate at the world famous, food network recognized, UNO pizzeria. I HAD to have chicago style pizza before we left. DUH! So we ordered the smallest deep dish pizza we could and only ate half of it. YUMMM I LOVE THIS PIZZA! what's not to love? cheese? goooood.

We drove the boring scenic drive to south bend and checked into our hotel. I was super anxious to see the campus so we headed over to Notre Dame and walked around the campus for about 2 hours. That was the speed tour. We saw all the dorms, the bookstore, the grotto, the library, and the stadium. The campus had an extremely different feel to it.  Something was different. You could just feel the presence of God as you walked around.

The Gratto: Exibit A of Holyness

It was very refreshing to be on a campus that didn't seem to be surrounded by boozing or partying to other 'college' things, but about excelling in learning to produce well educated members of society that will one day run our country (all the while having a blast). I loved every second of being on the campus.  The architeture was impecible and the people were friendly.  It was so different than any other campus. You could feel the pride in every student you walked by. You could feel the joy of them that they were there..attending one of the most difficult universites to get into.  You could feel the traditions. It was unlike anything I'd ever experienced!  I'm so happy to know that Sam was a part of something that great!  We then went into the book store so I could deck out my life with ND apparel.  The bookstore mind you was 2 stories... I got a shirt, a cup and a sticker for my car! (look who's the best girlfriend NOW!!!)

The bookstore

Then we freshened up and headed over to Stretch's house (i dont actually know his real name...everyone just  calls him stretch). We were welcomed by a group of 7 guys and 1 girl who handed us 40's and told us to catch up. So we started chugging as sam was catching up with all his old college friends / roommates. I was getting to know everyone and these guys seemed to be a real stand up group! I was really treated like a lady and well respected. It felt good to be around such a well- groomed group of gentleman!  A couple of rounds of beer pong later, I finished my first 40 and kept drinking. We figured it was time to head over to the 'welcome reception'. We piled up and headed to the hotel that we were staying at which also happened to be where the welcome reception, reception, and send off reception were taking place. How convenient! We socialized and sam caught up with more buddies from college and introduced me to more and more people. (please note i could not tell you these peoples names if my life depeneded on it. i did find that a good rule of thumb for notre dame grades are matthew and mark... go figure!) The welcome reception was complete with PIZZA. perfect to go with my 40 and other booze. I got to know some of these guys and was really enjoying my time in the bend! We planned on going out with a bunch of people to a shitty college great local bar. I wanted to put my jacket in the hotel room and change shoes before we went out so sam and i headed up to the room; once arrived, i came out of the bathroom and sam was face down on the bed snooring. welp. there  goes our night out! It was quite alright. I was pooped from the 6 miles we had walked that day in the chicago and on the campus.

SATURDAY:

We woke miracerously without a hang over but still before anyone attending the wedding even thought about moving so we headed over to a GEM in south bend: Nick's patio. If you haven't heard, this place is 24 hours and if an Ihop and denny's had a baby, this would be the illigitamate child. We didn't need menus as sam knew what we'd be ordering; the house croissant of coure! I wanted mine with sausage instead of ham. Ok so picture this... GIGANTIC croissant fILLED to the brim with cheesy scrambled eggs, and as much ham / sausage you can fit in to counteract the bread /eggs served over a mountain of pan fried hash browns. AMAZEBALLS. I ate almost the entire thing (with a side of bacon of course) and proceeded to have my 3rd food baby of the trip.

Yep. That's real.

We eventually made it back to Stretch's house and watched part of wedding crashers (only appropriate for a wedding day) and then eventually showered and got gussied up for the wedding. Sam put on his brand spankin new suit and was looking SHARRRRP! mmm mmm that boy! We met up with some buddies and headed over to the bascillica for the wedding. Sam purposefully did not take me into the church on our tour of the campus so that i'd be stunned when we walked in for the wedding. and right he was! this place was gorgeous! The wedding was beautiful and the bride looked stunning. All the groomsmen were handsome and everyone looked wonderful.

 

Now...PARTY TIME! we had about an hour and a half before the cocktail hour and reception began so we headed to some local pub decked out in ND get up to grab one of sam's favorite burgers and some bud light. can i get a hell yea?! 3 buckets of beer later, we headed over to the cocktail hour and reception. We drank, we laughed, we ate, we danced the night away. We look ridiculous pictures in the photo booth and enjoyed every minute of the night. Even when the fire marshall came in to make us leave because "the fog machine set off the fire detector", sam and stretch started chanting the fight song so it made it all the better. I know have many many Zahm hall songs stuck in my head so let me know if you'd like to hear one.

SUNDAY

We had to check out of the hotel and head downstairs for the send off reception. After we got some energy back from the gallon of coffee we drank, we socialized more with more of sam's buddies and said our good byes. These people seemed like my friends now! I feel like I'm apart of the ND tradition and yes, it's official. I'm an ND girlfriend. They made me feel welcome and apart of everything. You'd thought I'd known them for 9 years too. We got back to the air port, dropped off the rental car, checked our bags and sat in the terminal to reminise about the weekend. I think it's pretty stinkin cool to go on a 4 day vacation with your boyfriend and 1) not fight, 2) not hate each other after 3) know boundaries, spacial/ personal space issues and respect them and be able to work well together and 4) talk about your next trip together while still on a trip.

I can't wait to do it all again!

Princess Katherine Runs 13.1

AAAAATTTTENNNTTTIIIOONNN Ladies and Gentleman, boys and girls! We proudly present to you, the finest Princess in all the land, Princess Katherine!!!! She proudly dominated 13.1 miles through Disney's Magic Kingdom and Epcot!!!!

I never thought I'd be able to say, I DID IT, I DID IT, I DID IT!!!! Over the course of the last 4 months, Rosemary and Elizabeth and I rigorously trained for the Disney Princess Half Marathon. We started our training schedule with our long runs being 4 miles and our short runs being 2 miles. The last week of our training our short run was 6 miles and our long run was 10 miles.  All along the way, we had good runs and bad runs and terrible runs and great runs.  We cried, we cheered, we pushed each other to put on those tennis shoes and get out there to get those miles in. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my partners along with my personal ChEAR squad for all the support over the months. Elizabeth and Roe, you guys really helped me get through these runs and get in my workouts when I had absolutely not motivation to get my butt off the couch. There is no way I could have ever trained for something like this with out you! THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING!

The week came for the race and as you read before, I was scared out of my mind.  The thoughts of not being able to cross the finish line raced through my head day in and day out.  We finally had our last chance workout and we packed up the car and headed down to Orlando to meet up with Cait and Amanda (who actually road tripped with us!) The hotel we stayed in was GORGEOUS (thanks to the Marriott hook up from cait's aunt!). The two bedroom suite was very comfortable for the 5 of us and we enjoyed being able to cook our own "carb load up" dinner the night before the race in the well stocked kitchen. So, here's how the weekend went:

Friday: 6:00 am wake up call.

Amanda, Elizabeth and I packed up the car and road tripped down the FLORIDA!!! With a few stops and naps along the way, we checked into the hotel and headed over to the race expo to pick up our bib numbers and D-tags. After taking pictures with our personal Disney prince escorts, we headed out to the pool to relax and soak up some sun before meeting up with cait and roe. We got dressed and headed over to Downtown Disney and had a little romantic evening strolling the streets and had a healthy dinner in some restaurant where E about got into a fight with the hostess. (she needs a Disney princess make over to get that stank off her face).  Bed time was 10 as we had an early bird day the next day!

Saturday: 7:30 am wake up call

Amanda, Elizabeth and I got dressed and went to Panera bread for some form of bacon on bread concoction for breakfast and proceeded to prance our way to the Magic Kingdom. After Space Mountain, the Motor Speed Way, and the Carosell of Progress were all under our belts, we met up with Cait and Roe after the went to the expo to get their bib numbers and d-tags. We ate the "worlds famous" hot dogs (YUM!) for lunch and proceeded to make our way through the rest of the magic kingdom ending with the parade :) Got to see all my princesses for realzzski! We headed over to the grocery store around 4 and loaded up with pasta, salad, and fried chicken tenders for dinner. After we were all sufficiently stuffed with carbs, we put our race numbers on our professionally personalized tshirts (thanks to ROE!), put our dtags on our shoes and hit the hay by 8:30 sharp.

Sunday: 3:00 am wake up call

Some would say that waking up at 3:00 am is the middle of the night...for us..it was RACE TIME. The time had come to put on those glass slippers and get our miles in. We trekked over to the parking lot and we were filed into the rows by the Disney volunteers who had been there since 1. Unfortunately, the closest parking spot was 1.5 miles away from the starting line so we booked it over there. The fairy god mother announced the 3-2-1 GOOOO!!! complete with fire works for each corral that took off through the start line.  I was the last group to start (45 mins after the first group........) and I was booking it. Passing people 1 by 1 and taking them downnnn. And then here they come...mile one...mile two...mile three...slowly but surely I'm getting in each mile. My feet and legs were killing me around mile 5 and i thought i was going to have to walk. Instead I turned up the music and blasted through more people. At each mile they had a billboard with the mile marker and the time clock along with some Disney character in full battle array. It was so motivating to see all the people out cheering us on! 17,000 people ran from the highway, through the parking lot, up through  Disney's main street, through the princess castle, out to the parking lot, on the high way, through the parking lot, through Epcot and out to the highway to cross that giant purple FINISH line and get their half marathon medal. Once I passed that mile 11 marker I was booking it. 2 miles left? NO PROBLEM. My legs were numb at this point and I was already 2.5 hours in. Lets just finish the damn thing. I picked up my speed and just booked it to the  finish line.  Once I saw that 13 mile marker, I started to bawl my eyes out. Am I about to finish this thing? Holy shit! I  raised my fits in utter relief that it was over and pure accomplishment and pride. I DID THE DAMN THING! BOOOOOM!!!  I was proudly presented with my medal, a banana, and power bar, and a huge Gatorade. VICTORY! I then collapsed into the parking lot only to be greeted by Roe and Cait (who finished a solid 45 mins before me) with high fives all around.  We waited anxiously to see if Amanda (who broke her wrist) and Elizabeth (who sprained her ankle) were going to be able to finish or not. Their goal was to get to the princess castle (the 6 mile marker) and that was it. Did they get their? Nope. THEY FINISHED THE ENTIRE THING! YEA BABY! How's that for pushing it to the max!?! 5 smelly sweaty salty girls piled into the car and forcefully walked up the stairs to the condo and collapsed onto the beds after stuffing our faces in the most delish huge publix subs of our lives. After the much much much needed nap and showers, we headed over to Epcot to eat and drink our way through the countries. And I believe we were successful. Thank you. I hobbled from country to country and enjoyed each satisfactory and well deserved treat. Bed time? 9:45...amen.

Monday: 8:00  am wake up call thank god

After a wondermous undisturbed night sleep, we all packed it up and moved it out. I went to the pool to do nothing except soak up sun and read my book and all the other girls went to MGM for their 3 day park pass. 1:00 pm and we dropped roe and amanda off at the air port and E and I drove home in the worst rainstorm. ever. 8 hours later we pulled up and Sam and Eric greeted their women with high cheers and big hugs for the accomplishments :)

I can't believe I ran 13.1 miles.....

5 Days until the half marathon...

5 Days away from the half a marathon and I literally have knots in my stomach. Can I finish? I've only gotten to 10 miles before... I know that seems like a lot, but that means that I have 3 MORE miles after that grouling 10 I did on Saturday.  I literally couldn't get off the living room floor for 20 minutes after that run.  I'm super nervous about this.  I just want to cross the finish line.  And in reality, I just want that 13.1 bumper sticker. Yep....that's right... this chick is THAT externally motivated. Thank you.  I think that with the help my cheering squad (elizabeth and rosemary) who will be running the race with me, the three of us can push each other to crawl our way over the finish line.  God is gonna have to help me out with this one... Its going to be ther toughest thing I've literally EVER done.

Would I believe You when You would say

Your hand will guide my every way
Will I receive the words You say
Every moment of every day

Well I will walk by faith
Oh even when I cannot see it
Well because this broken road
Prepares Your will for me
Help me to win my endless fears
You've been so faithful for all my years
With the one breath You make me
Your grace covers all I do
Yeah, yeah , yeah, yeah, yeah

Well I will walk by faith
Oh even when I cannot see it
Well because this broken road
Prepares Your will for me

Well I'm broken, but I still see Your face
Well You've spoken, pouring Your words of grace
Well I will walk by faith
Oh even when I cannot see it
Well because this broken road
Prepares Your will for me

Well I will walk by faith
Oh even when I cannot see it
Well because this broken road
Prepares Your will for me

Well Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Well Hallelujah, Hallelujah
(I will walk by faith, I will walk by faith
I will walk by faith, I will walk by faith)
Well Hallelujah, Hallelujah
Well Hallelujah, Hallelujah


God, please give me strength to cross that finish line.  I'm going to have to dig deep and crawl if I have to.  Through my blood, sweat and tears, I WILL cross that finish line; hands raised high and God carrying me the last 3 miles...  I'm gonna need all the help I can get.

5 Days... and counting.

Love is in the Air

Valentine's Day is usually spent on February 14 with a loved one or many good friends to celebrate the love that you have for one another. Usually it's just one day and then that's it.  The fun was had, the dinner was eaten and then back to normal life.  This year however, things were a little different for miss ktc.  2 months into this romance novel sam and I have, he told me a few weeks ago that he would be in Muskogee, Oklahoma for Valentine's Day.  If that doesn't scream romance, I'm not sure what does.  Feeling terrible about traveling for work on this day, he promised and promised that he would make it up to. And well.. let's just say if this is how he makes things up to me I'm gonna keep him around for more than a hot minute...

Let's start on Friday at lunch time. I'm sitting in my cube, looking fabulous of course, getting some work done and eating my lunch, when I get a call from the front desk / security desk to tell me I have something waiting for me and I need to come pick it up. For those of you who don't know, I was recently made a full-time associate at my company, and with that comes a new badge so I can have full access to the building (including the gym!) and it no longer says "CONTRACTOR" in bright red letters for all to see on it.  That being the case, I have been in contact with the security desk to get the new badge made and have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of it. So, I moised on down to the desk thinking that I'm going to pick up my badge.  The desk, by the way, is on the complete opposite side of the building.  It takes maybe 3-5 minutes to walk down there, depending on your pace and how many people you say hi to along the way because to get from my desk there I pass every other person in the office.  I pushed through the door to get to the security desk and found a gigantic PRO-FLOWERS box  and a delivery man waiting for my signature.  I get the box and walk all the way back to my desk.  With every eye on me in the building and cheeks red as roses, I opened the box to find a note from Sam saying, "This isn't a delivery mix up.  We're celebrating Valentine's WEEKEND, not just the day.  This should be a nice start.... PS. tell callie to chill out. - Love you! Sam"  My First thought? OMG!!!!!!!!!!!! My next thought? THESE FLOWERS ARE GORGEOUS! He sent me a bouquet of red and purple tulips. They finished blossoming today (on Vday!) and they are stunning. Seriously. So, for the rest of the day I absolutely could not concentrate on anything work related.  It went a little like this, "Oh, yes I can get that over to you as soon as.....I wonder how sam got the address here....possible. That should be no problem......He's so great to me.... Thank you for the inquiry regarding the........hmmm i can't wait to see him tonight...." and so on, you get the point ;)

As soon as I counted down the minutes and seconds until I could log out at work, I drove over to Elizabeth's house to hang out for a few minutes until Sam returned to his house from the air port. We discussed the little gift I left for Sam on his kitchen table and I anxiously awaited his response from my sneaky treat.  I got the text of appreciation for the sugar and I immediately met him at his house to floor it to dinner as we were both starving.  Before we embarked on our first meal together in a week, he gladly gave me my carefully selected gift.  This absolutely STUNNING coach bag:

Also, he told me before I opened it that in the bottom on the bag, he got me diamonds.  In my shocked stooper, I quickly unwrapped the purse and dug to the bottom to find a hot pink deck of cards, which is when he said, "baby every deck of cards is loaded with diamonds!" haha!!! PERFECT!!!!

Where was our destination? Sam is always the best at picking places / food to eat.  Let's be honest. Our true love in the relationship is food.  We floored it over to the Cheesecake Factory and stuffed our lovey dovey faces with fried mac and cheese and the turkey club sandwich.  We didn't need dessert. Duh. I made him red velvet cup cakes with cream cheese icing :)  After the lovely dinner, we said our good nights and parted ways, only anticipating the rest of the weekend to come!

Saturday morning, I woke up WAY too early to meet Elizabeth and Rosemary for our 10k race along the Chattahoochee. We parked the car in the lot that was the closest to the race start line (A MILE AWAY) and we trotted over in the 30 degree weather. Our professional cheer captain cheered us on and took pictures of us racing as me and Roe DOMINATED the 6.2 miles.  After the race, we stuffed our cold faces with home made french toast and bacon and french pressed coffee. Can you say... MMMMMM...

After a quick shower, I packed up my bag and headed over to the Sherman's.  They were out of town and asked me to watch their dog and stay at the house.  A short nap and a chapter of Wild at Heart (finally finished!) later, Sam showed up with a full costume ready to go to MONSTER JAM!!! If you haven't seen then already, you can check out our redneck attire on facebook.

The entire group was a walking contradiction.  We tailgated out the back of sam's BMW with four loko's and mike's hard PUNCH!.  Sam sported a camo jacket with a f-hoodie (fake hoodie) layered over a flannel shirt and a waffle shirt, and polo jeans and ridiculous designer cow boy boots. and for the record...his Chevy hat also had a bottle opener on it. I sported a "pull my finger" shirt layered under a demin vest with jorts, purple tights and cowboy boots with my new coach purse. Everyone's outfits were EQUALLY awesome!!! We proceeded to get hammered with our natural light bottles as we ate our publix subs. we then stumbled over to the DOME to fit right in with the crowd and watch MMMAAAMAAAMAAAMONSTER JAAAAAM!!!!  Probably one of the most entertaining nights I've attended in a long long time.Every redneck south of the mason Dixon line was in tow and we fit in the with locals as well as all the alpharetta kids who dressed up like hillbillies just like us. and that's what calliebaker calls, "SCHMERFECT!"  After the JAM was over, we all went out to Fred's. Yup. Dressed like this. Please and thank you!

Sunday morning, Sam and I met at church to attend our weekly mass together.  I met Mary Beth for brunch at the flying biscuit after. (DELISH!) and then ventured home to lay in my bed for no less than 2 hours. Sam came over to play cards for a little while before we headed down town for our "actual" valentine's day night out.  He wouldn't tell me where we were going as it was a surprise.  We are driving all over the place and we finally arrived at this place I literally had no idea existed let alone where it was located. We drove up, got out, gave the valet the keys and walked into TWO Urban Licks. Can you say... BLISS. The decor was so sophisticated and funky, yet classy and modern.  I absolutely fell in love with this place. It sat probably 150 easily, and half of the restaurant walls were garage doors that they would open up in the spring and fall.  They made their own 'infusions' (read: hunch punch gone classy, as the waiter proceeded to tell us they would mess us up). Ah-Maze- ING. We were surrounded by couples and parties all celebrating their relationships. It was wonderful to have great conversation and spend quality one on one time with my man while stuffing my face with the most delicious mac and cheese i've literally ever eaten in my entire life...ever.  After we were fat and happy, Sam decided we weren't going to get dessert there. No, he had another surprise for me. We headed over to another part of down town atlanta, enjoying the  city scenery all along the way and we arrived at Restaurant Eugene.  I'm not sure if you know, but it's ranked as one of the top 5 best restaurants in all of atlanta. uhmm... yep. We go in a the atmosphere of this restaurant is absolutely divine. low lighting, soft music, outstandingly over the top staff. it seats probably no more than 30-50 at at time. We sat at the bar and looked through the exquisite menu to pick out the perfect dessert beverage to go along with our one of a kind chocolate caramel ganosh (spelling.....?) dessert. I have never met a bartender who took more pride and care in the drinks he made.  He knew his craft and he was outstanding at it. Every detail of this experience was lavish. It felt like we were royalty and some how old friends of every staff member at this place. We sipped our drinks and slowly enjoyed every bite of the dessert. 

So, Valentine's DAY? No no. Valentine's WEEKEND.  He certainly made up for the fact that he could not be here on the actual night.  He's proving to me that I am important to him and I am a priority in his life.  Not only did he move his flight out until Monday instead of his usual Sunday flight out so that we could spend the evening together, he stayed out way past when he should have in order to get adequate sleep for his busy work week. I have absolutely never been treated this way in any relationship I've ever been in.  I cherish every moment that i'm with him! I appreciate every single thing he does for me. It's like he read a book on how to make me happy or something.  He pays attention to details about me and does little things that he knows will make me happy.   Loving someone is a conscious choice and he makes it very clear to me that he is choosing to show me just how much he loves me. Every day is a new adventure and we grow to care and like each other more and more :]

Well done, Samuel.  Well done.