Fun-Filled Family Weekend

The one big bad negative about living in Madison, MS is that me and Alan are, what we consider, far away from our families. I am five hours away from my parents and three and a half hours away from my sister, her husband and my niece. We are also three and a half hours away from Alan's family. For some, this may not seem that far away at all. However, considering we have never been further than an hour and fifteen minutes away from our immediate family members and have lived in the same city as most of them our entire lives, it is quite a change for us. So when weekends like this past one happen, I am in hog heaven! My mom, dad, sister and niece, Anna Scott, came to the pretty little city of Madison, MS to visit for the weekend. We missed Scott, my sister's husband who had to work, but I am sure Mary Catherine will bring him to visit very soon. Here is a recap of our fun-filled weekend!  

They arrived Thursday night to a meal cooked by yours truly!! It was my first attempt to cook for my family (besides Alan). I was so nervous and slaved in the kitchen for two days straight trying to make sure every last ingredient was perfect.  They cleaned their plates and couldn't stop talking about how impressed they were with the food. Either they were being truthful and it was really good, or they love me too much to tell me it wasn't :) 
On the menu:  Garlic Parmesan Crusted Chicken, made from scratch Mac & Cheese, Green Beans, and a Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie topped with Ice Cream for dessert. (I give pinterest all of the credit.)

During dinner, Anna Scott decided to explore the den area and found the "balls" on my coffee table to be quite entertaining. So much so, that she decided to tear one up! She got off easy because she is just way to precious to get upset at her. We took pictures of the mess she made instead! 

On Friday, I had a tennis lesson at the country club. I scheduled it for Friday, so that Anna Scott, and of course Mom and Mary Catherine, could watch me play. I knew that she would love it since her favorite thing to say and play with is "BALL!" She was happy as a lark in the 98 degree weather watching me play. I can't wait to start teaching her lessons! 

We went to the Pizza Shak for dinner on Friday night. Alan and I had never been there but we heard it was a must to try in Jackson. And let me tell you, we did not leave disappointed. It was some of the best pizza we have ever tasted!

When we got home from dinner, someone discovered the putting green in our back-yard. She LOVED it!

"Ball" Heaven

Mary Catherine, Dad and I went for an enjoyable run on Saturday morning. This has started to become a tradition when the three of us are together and I really enjoy this special time. After our run we showered and headed out to do a little shopping and grab some delicious lunch and ice cream! There is a Cold Stone Creamery right around the corner from our house. Although this sounds like a great thing, when you love ice cream as much and Alan and I do it can be quite dangerous. We are going to have to limit ourselves to how many times (per week) we stop by for a scoop.

Before they left Saturday evening I knew that we just had to take Anna Scott to the park near our house. It's called Strawberry Patch Park and is such a cute area. It was a play ground for kids,  a walking trail and a pond. We visited with the ducks and Anna Scott got to swing, one of her favorite things to do!!

We had such a wonderful weekend!  It was so nice to for everyone to be in the same place for a couple of days (missing Scott, of course!).  The hardest thing about this move for me is feeling like I am missing watching Anna Scott grow up. At her age, she is doing new things every day and not being close to her breaks my heart.  I loved watching her do all the new things she has learned since I last saw her.  My favorite thing is hearing her sweet little voice say "ball" and then grin from ear-to-ear! I am so grateful that my family makes the sacrifices they do, despite their busy, busy schedules, to visit me and allow me to get my "family fix."  Even though we don't get to see each other as often as we would like, it sure does make the times that we get to see each other so memorable and special.  There is nothing quite like family, and I am so blessed with mine!!

Unfortunatly, cleaning house, laundry, and a trip to the grocery store are calling my name. 

Happy Sunday! 

June Wrap-up: Beach, Lake, the Move, and Memphis

To say that I have been busy the past few weeks would be huge understatement. And the fact that I have been without internet service (or TV) for the past TWO weeks has put a huge hold on things such as blogging. But as of today we finally have internet access (still no TV) and I am ready to hit the ground "blogging." I will try to wrap up the happenings of June in one post. Please bare with me, it's gonna be a long one! 

Mid-June the Stewart, Cease and Laney crew headed to the beach for a week.  Our trip consisted mostly of eating, sleeping, shopping, jogging, swimming, tanning, and did I say eating? We had an absolute blast. It is a rare occurrence for all members of my family to be in the same place at the same time due to our crazy busy schedules, so we soaked this week up. We laughed until we cried and I cherished every moment. 

What would I do without him?

Wonderful Parents

Miss Priss was ready to hit the beach! She LOVED it!

Girls, Girls, Girls

Aunt Allison loves this baby! 

 Once the beach trip ended we headed back to Alabama and spent a relaxing weekend at the lake with Alan's parents.  The Ceases treated us to a delicious meal at our favorite spot on the lake- Springhouse. This is where we ate the night that Alan proposed and it will always have a special place in my heart, not to mention they have the best shrimp and grits in the south!

 After our weekend at the lake we were off to Birmingham for a week of all work and no play.  The time had come for us to pack up our Birmingham home and head to Madison, Mississippi. Alan is completing his residency in Emergency Medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) in Jackson, MS.  We will be spending the next four years here in Mississippi. We have been here for two weeks now and I can already tell that we are going to love it. We are living in a adorable sub-division in Madsion, MS, a super cute area about 10 miles north of Jackson.  Both of use are actually working in Jackson.  Alan of course is at the UMMC and my office is only one mile down the road! I am working for a Surgical Breast Oncologist as his Nurse Practitioner. I am so excited about my new job (more on that later).

With mixed emotions and much excitement we managed to load up all of our "stuff" onto a massive U-Haul truck, travel 3 1/2 hours to Mississippi, and unload the U-Haul in a days work.  Of course, that would not have been possible without help from our wonderful family and friends. We thank you! 

Noone I would rather begin this journey with other than this guy.

I would have packed up this bundle of joy if her Mamma and Daddy would have let me.

This was on closing day and is a tad blurry but welcome to our new home! We love it!

*Home Sweet Home*  We accept visitors any time!! I will be posting more pictures of the house soon so stay tuned.

 :)

 Last but not least, this past week I was sent to Memphis for four days to train for my new job.  I was extra excited about this work trip because I got to stay with one of my best friends from college.  She works as a nurse at St. Jude and graciously opened up her adorable condo for me to come crash for the week. Robin and I were sorority sisters and nursing classmates at Samford.  She was a bridesmaid in our wedding and I loved getting to spend a week with her! It felt like the good ole' days and we loved it! 

Robin took me to Jerry's Sno Cones in Memphis. A must if you are visiting the city. They were delicious, especially in 104 degree weather!

It just so happened that Lady A was in town while I was visiting. We had a wonderful evening sitting on a blanket, singing along to this amazing band.  If you haven't heard Lady Antebellum live, I recommend you do so. It  was a perfect ending to a wonderful week with this sweet friend.