Packed couple of weeks

The last couple of weeks have flown by in the Gill house!  Where do I start?

Mardi Gras came and went in a blur.  We didn't go to nearly as many parades this year as we typically do.  We were busy with work then headed out of town for the final weekend.  But we did get a little Mardi Gras fix to tide us over until next year.  The first parade we went to was over in Daphne.  Our friends Steve & Leslie invited us to go with them (she grew up across the bay).  We had a good time, but it's definitely a little more low-key than the Mobile parades.

We went to the La'She's parade and ball and of course, had a blast!  Both my cousin & Leslie are in this organization and they have been hitting me up to join.  So who knows, maybe next year I'll be a member.  This one is on a Tuesday night so it's tough to stay out all night and get up for work the next morning these days, but hey, Mardi Gras only comes once a year!  We caught the parade on front end, walked down to Steve's hotel to hang out for a bit, then caught the end of the parade.  Rather than sit through callouts, we went to dinner downtown, then headed in for the party.

classic throw at Mobile Mardi Gras

with Leslie & Darla

me and Sean showing off our Auburn bling

selfie

with the hubs in the main ballroom

Later that week, we flew out to Austin for my niece, Zoe's first birthday.  It's always fun to spend time with them.  Saturday, we had her birthday party at the house.

of course Nana is always happy to stand and hold Zoe's snacks for her

my brother, Chris, and Zoe

she was really not too sure about the whole cake thing - so much for a "smash cake!"

I showed Elijah how to take pictures on my phone and he was obsessed.  Took some pretty cool pictures though.  Through the eyes of a child...

That night the grandparents kept the kids, for Chris, Emily, Cameron & I to go out together.  We chose a trendy restaurant near UT, the Salty Sow.  While waiting for our table, we walked down to a coffee shop/bar and all laughed that we were too old/not cool enough to be there.  Oh well!  :)  We had a good time kid-free and enjoyed the restaurant.

my new fav - the old fashioned

Most of our trip was spent hanging around the house and lots of eating out.

amazing bbq - a must visit in Austin

this has to be one of my most favorite pictures ever.  Can't wait to show her this one when she gets older!

that's an aquarium - in an old tv

I did do a little shopping while I was out there, partly out of necessity.  When I picked up my suitcase at the Austin airport, it had a huge hole in it.  So lucky my clothes didn't fall out!!  I've been looking for a new one, but now I had to find one within a few days.  FYI most of the large suitcases sold at TJMaxx and Marshalls are oversized.  Finally, found one at the outlets.  I also picked up a few things at the Banana Republic Outlet and found a new Mardi Gras dress on the clearance rack at Dillards.

I introduced Elijah to the world of selfies.  Not sure he fully gets it at 5 but he does love to see himself on the camera!

We flew back on Fat Tuesday.  I was little nervous about making it home because the weather had been so nuts.  It was 80 degrees on Saturday then 35 the next day.  Some of the roads in Austin were frozen and school was delayed the morning we flew out, and Nashville, our connection, had some snow.  Thankfully, we got home without a single delay.  We did have a several hour layover in Nashville, where we camped out at a bar so Cameron could get his beer fix.  This year for Lent, Cameron has decided to give up beer and I have given up pasta.  Cameron actually suggested this one for me and I didn't think it would be THAT hard.  Let me tell you, I eat a lot of pasta and never realized it.  Like every single Lean Cuisine I take to work!  It has definitely been a challenge.

my last meal at an Italian Restaurant Monday night

We had a short work week then geared up for another busy weekend last week - chili cookoff, hosting a baby shower, and friends from Nashville in town.  Yep.  My good friend from college, Holly, was coming down from Nashville with her boyfriend Thomas to go to a wedding.  They arrived Saturday morning and we went straight to the cookoff.  The American Cancer Society puts on a chili cookoff each spring in Mobile.  Cameron's company participates and he loves helping cook.  It's a pretty big event.

We hung out for a while, tasted chili, and listened to music, then had to head out - Holly to the wedding, me to a baby shower.  Darla and I were helping a few other girls co-host a baby shower for our friend, Sara.  The shower was a success, but I failed to take any pictures!

Since Holly & Thomas  weren't  leaving until Monday morning, we had all day Sunday to hang out.  We headed out to the causeway for lunch on the back deck of the Blue Gill.  It was a gorgeous day!  We spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on our porch while Cameron smoked ribs for our dinner.  It really was a great day, perfect intro to Spring!

This week has been a busy work week with the perfect lazy weekend that I needed to unwind from the last couple weeks.  It's been rainy so Cameron and I have just laid around the house, but sometimes you really need a weekend like that!

101 Things in 1001 Days

I'm a to-do list kind of girl.  I live by the Wunderlist app on my iphone, but of course I still like a traditional handwritten list because I like the satisfaction of crossing something off the list.  One of the lists in my Wunderlist, is a bucket list - things I'd like to do, places I'd like to go, etc.  Frankly, it gets ignored most of the time.  The craziness of daily life and getting the things that need to get done usually gets in the way.  So when I read about the 101 things in 1001 days list over at Design Darling, I thought it was a great idea.  It's somewhere between a bucket list and to-do list for those things you always say you'll do, but never quite get around to it.  1001 days is about 2.75 years so that should be plenty of time for me to accomplish these things if I stick with it.

Personal:
1. Attend a Jimmy Buffett concert - one of those concerts I think is a must do and who knows how many more years he will your. Cameron has already been 3 times but I've never been
2. Attend a Mumford & Sons concert - one of my favorite bands right now. We tried to go last year but our tickets fell through
3. Be confirmed in the Episcopal church - I was raised southern Baptist but have been attending the Episcopal church since meeting Cameron and think it's about time I finally officially join
4. Join a Mardi Gras association - A friend and my cousin have both been hitting me up to join the LaShe's and said I was going to do it last year and just never did

5. Ride in a mardi gras parade - kinda goes along with #4
6. Learn how to drive and dock the boat - I've really been working on my driving but don't even attempt to let me dock it!

7. Have a baby - yes, Mom and Dottie, you can stop waiting on pins and needles. We plan to expand our family soon if God blesses us
8. Read 20 books - I know it seems like I should read more and I really used to but baby steps here...
9. Watch 5 classic movies - haven't decided which ones but you know those old classics like Casablanca and Roman Holiday. That's what I'm talking about
10. Go a week without hitting snooze - this is going to be so tough. I am NOT a morning person
11. Be on time every day for a week - again kinda goes along with #10
12. Eat at 20 new restaurants - we tend to eat at the same places all the time and really need to branch out
13. Learn how to tie a tie - classic skill for every woman
14. Watch an outdoor movie
15. Order from a food truck
16. Go to the Fairhope Brewery - local place we keep talking about going to and just never seem to make it
17. organize all my contacts and addresses
18. Host a NYE party - we always want to do something fun but don't want to do the huge cover charge parties downtown
19. Sign up for a CSA box - I keep wanting to do this to help us break out of our vegetable rut
20. Take a dance class - I took dance for years and would love to take an adult class
21. Do the art walk downtown - this is a monthly thing in downtown Mobile
22. Blog twice a week for at least 3 months
23. Organize all those pages I've torn out of magazines
24. Have my wedding rings inspected and cleaned - looking overdue
25. See the sea turtles hatch at the beach
26. Date night with cameron every month
27. Get life insurance for both Cameron & I
28. Write our wills/living wills
29. Take the dogs to the dog park once a month
30. Go to the ballet - like I mentioned with #20, I used to dance and love to see the ballet but rarely go
31. See a movie at the Crescent Theater - a vintage movie theater in downtown Mobile
32. Unplug from all electronics for 24 hours
33. Have the nephews over for a sleepover
34. Send 5 care packages for no reason

35. Mail 15 handwritten notes - because who doesn't love snail mail?

36. Read Jesus Calling (daily devotional)
37. Walk the boardwalk in Spanish Fort - it runs down along the marsh and I drive over it 3 times a week on my way to work and think about how I want to walk it one day
38. Plan a roommate reunion tailgate - it's been almost 9 years since we graduated and it's long overdue. Megan just moved back from China so there are no excuses! 

Hobbies:
39. Cook 101 new recipes
40. Take a cooking lesson
41. Get my scrapbooks up to date - I'm so far behind and would love to be caught up before #7 happens!
42. Take photoshop lessons - I've been working on my picture skills but would like to be able to edit them as well
43. Complete 30 Pinterest projects - because anyone who is on Pinterest knows what it's like to pin those great ideas and never actually complete them!
44. Take sewing classes - I've learned to somewhat operate a sewing machine and sew a straight line but I'd like to get better

45. Sew first children's outfit - see with #44
46. Paint canvas for above fireplace - I have been envisioning an impressionist style marsh painting and every one I find is overpriced so I'm going to try my hand at painting. It may be a fail but I'm going to try
47. Buy a Le Creuset French oven - I've wanted one for a while but never wanted to bite the bullet
48. Make 10 new cocktails - I see so many great drink recipes but I always stick to easy old favorites so it's time to branch out
49. Make a t-shirt quilt with all my old sorority tshirts
50. Complete a picture a day challenge for 1 month
51. Make Christmas stockings

Career:
52. Start a notebook to keep vet magazine articles organized
53. Attend a rounds session on VIN once a month for a year - VIN is our online veterinary message board
54. Catch up on reading the huge stack of vet journals

Financial:
55. Go one month without shopping, only buy necessities - this is something I really need to do
56. Pay off 50% of my  remaining student loans
57. Save $10 for each goal accomplished
58. Pay off Cameron's truck loan
59. Pay off our boat loan

Fashion:
60. Scrutinize my closet and only keep what I love
61. Find the perfect black pumps - my old ones have seen better days and have really started to hurt
62. Find the perfect little black dress - cause everyone needs one
63. Find the perfect eyeliner - with my oily skin eye makeup tends to run and smudge
64. Find the perfect mascara - see #64


Health & Fitness:
65. Run a 10k
66. Have a green smoothie every day for 2 weeks
67. Accomplish a 60 second plank - I know lots of you ladies can do this but this weakling can't!
68. Go to the dentist - it's been way too long
69. Complete the Jilian Michaels 30 day shred - love this DVD but I've never actually completed the whole thing for a full 30 days
70. Drink 8 glasses of water for 2 weeks
71. Eat the recommended amount of vegetables for a week
72. Floss everyday for 30 days - I hate flossing but I know I should do it

73. Run before work 3 times a week for at least a month
74. Complete a squat challenge
75. Take something for lunch besides lean cuisine once a week for 3 months


Home:
76. Style the bookshelves in our house - they've been in an in between state for a too long
77. Purge the house of everything we don't use or love
78. Update the gallery wall in the hallway
79. Redo the guest bathroom
80. Make headboard for guestroom
81. Find an armoire for craft storage
82. Repaint fence
83. Paint closet
84. Paint laundry room
85. Repaint the kitchen cabinets
86. Refinish chest of drawers
87. Find a new coffee table
88. Redo master bedroom

Travel:
89. Take a weekend trip to NOLA - we live so close, it's silly we don't go more often
90. Hawaii - this trip is actually already in the works
91. Go camping - I haven't been real camping since high school with my family
92. Charleston - it's where I grew up but after my parents moved away, we just never seem to make it back unless it's for an "event" so I want us to go and just enjoy the city
93. Seaside - we've been talking about going here for a while. Again so close to us
94. Huntsville - one of my very good friend from vet school lives there and I have yet to make it up there to meet her new baby
95. Nashville - we've been multiple times but a trip is long overdue to visit all of our friends living there
96. Sanibel - seashell hoarder. 'Nuff said
97. Appilachicola - just one of those places we would like to go. Oh and we both love oysters
98. Antiquing with mom - usually my mom and I cram in some antique time on family trips but I would love for us to take a whole day or even weekend to do this
99. Kayak trip - we did all day kayak trips a lot when we were in Auburn. Now Cameron is in to kayak fishing and it just doesn't have the same appeal to me so my kayak sits unused a lot and I want to change that

100. Atlanta - another good friend lived there and I've been promising a visit

101. Girls trip - I think a good ole girls trip is in order

I'm officially starting this list today March 1, 2014 and it ends in 1001 days on November 25, 2016.  Wish me luck!