RAISING THE LITTLE BARR'S

spontaneity took over

CharleneComment
Nothin' like a little spontaneous trip to be reminded of our old days. I couldn't tell you how many times our spontaneity led us on new adventures. Quickly packing and hopping in the car to venture somewhere our little minds schemed up last minute was always something I looked forward to when we had the time.

When J received a text message Friday morning from a family friend asking if we were interested in staying in their Walhalla, SC cabin and going to the FSU vs Clemson game with them, he instantly responded with something like "wish we could..but I've gotta study" as one would expect to hear from J. Then he told me about it. Bad move?! I got excited thinking he could really go, he responded with "haha, I wish!" and then he noticed the aw-man-what-a-let-down tone in me and started thinking. "Well, I think we can probably make this work!" ..I felt bad, but I guess spontaneity took over both of us.

I always try to support him, his study habits, and this somewhat different lifestyle we've signed up for together. It's not easy to just get in the car and venture off together every weekend anymore - and I'm okay with that. There are a lot of sacrifices being made, but in the end it's about pulling our sacrifices together and making the most out of things. He decided we should go ....and promised it wasn't just due to my selfish reaction (and well, this was for a football game, and he is a guy, so I believed him!)

I quickly baked while waiting for him to come home, we packed last minute, and were on our way. Just like the old days - a spontaneous trip and some Seminole football - yesss!
fsu cookies

A short hour later, we got off the highway at Exit 1 in South Carolina and drove for another half hour...to what seemed like the middle of nowhere. It was pitch black out, we turned onto the tiniest little road, and kept driving..in the woods. 'Where are we?!' We pulled up to this house - except it was DARK - so it looked nothing like this! We caught up with the Kobans in their beautiful SC cabin, drank a little, and enjoyed the most normal-just-like-the-old-days evening we've had in a while. We both agreed; we needed that.
Walhalla, SC cabin

Saturday was full of hanging out, tailgating, cheering on our Noles, and enjoying the company...
seminoles
clemson tiger tail
FSU vs. Clemson tailgating
Koban's

We even decided to act like college students again...why not?! Shot-gunning beers...tailgating at its finest :)
shotgunning
shotgunning

We were definitely in the minority as we sat in the midst of the brightest sea of orange we've ever seen. We lost 35-30, but we were still proud of our Noles :) and it was definitely fun..
FSU vs Clemson

The sacrifice was worth it to J, the spontaneity was worth it to me, and the time together was worth it to both of us :)
FSU game

Thank you to the Koban's for the generous hospitality, and for making this spontaneous weekend a fun one for us :)

summer as newlyweds

Charlene1 Comment

The sweet smell of summer officially lingers off in two days. Months of cool weather, colored leaves and warm fires await us; while the hot sun, bright skies, and beach days of 2011 will become fond memories for people of all ages to look back on while yearning to create more next summer.

For us, the summer of 2011 brought the deepest love we've ever felt for each other, beautiful memories we surely won't forget, and the start of our lives together as husband and wife. It was our summer as newlyweds. Looking back 4 months ago, we were knee deep - scratch that - neck deep in wedding jargon. We were excited beyond belief for what was to come. We had the summer ahead of us, which included our wedding, our honeymoon, and quality time with family and friends. While we started our lives together 9 1/2 years ago, we knew this summer was the start of our lives together as a family - to include memories and traditions that we'll continue to do/make our whole lives through. This past summer for us was unforgettable.

Finally, the summer recap as I promised:

There was that whole wedding thing. And honeymoon thing. You know, no big deal - only the most AMAZING things we have gone through together yet :)
beach wedding
secrets maroma beach honeymoon

Then that post-honeymoon thing...where we soaked up the sun, fun, and had bonding time with family and friends in South Florida. Newlyweds.. :)
post honeymoon

There was a trip to Tallahassee to reminisce on all the beer-drinking, cheap-eating, late-night-partying, awesomely stupid days we had together + the football games, classes, and residences we shared together. There was time spent with our favorite friends there, along with their precious baby girl - a smart little reader :)
rachel reading
Brown bear, brown bear, what do you see?

We eventually made our way back to Georgia, where it was time to relax and enjoy while having NO wedding planning to consume our time, minds, or destroy our house with endless projects! (Well, they ended, and now I miss them! But I think I'll manage...)

There were game nights, beer nights, friend/family nights, even a trip to the Varsity thrown in between...
summer days

...days of 'Just Dance'-ing and delicious home-made frozen drinks (we had to test out all the new wedding gifts) ...
friends

dog days...
dog sleeping

painting days...
paint

and trips to the Chattahoochee river (only a 10 minute drive away)...
chattahoochee river
chattahoochee river
chattahoochee

a trip to Pensacola for Jason & Chiaki's wedding..(more newlyweds!)
jason & chiaki's wedding

a crab boil with friends..
crab boil

random dinners with friends...
dinners

our very own made-up pretzel and beer tour of Atlanta...
pretzel and beer in atlanta
pretzel and beer in atlanta

town center days...
suwanee town center
suwanee town center
(apparently, they play frisbee with their feet...?)
more trips to the river...
chattahoochee river
we watched teens jump off the bridge and realized how old we are because we thought they were kinda stupid..
chattahoochee river
grizz spent his 4th birthday party here with canine friends...
chattahoochee river

there were bbq days...
bbq

suwanee beer fest...
suwanee beer fest

camping trip in NC...
nantahala outdoor center camping

brunch days...
front page news brunch

concert nights...
suwanee town center concert
suwanee town center concert

....and so much more!

There were numerous moments we'd love to have captured, but were too spontaneous for a camera...and moments like that are wonderful. I was thankful to spend so much time with our family and friends.. and our time together with just each other was something we'll always remember.

It was the summer we were married - our summer as newlyweds <3

hakuna matata

Charlene3 Comments
The Lion King 3D was just released in theaters this past weekend, after the first one was released in 1994! That's a longgg time for my favorite movie to be in hiding.
lion king poster

I didn't just like The Lion King, I was obsessed...and if you knew me, you knew that about me. Oh yes, I surely do have a warm spot in my heart for the story that won me over with it's brave talking lions and musically talented meercat/warthog duo (you know, the ones who could clear the Savannah after every meal!)

My grandma took me to see The Lion King when I was 7 years old; I even remember which theater it was, of course. I know she said something like "well that was a great picture wasn't it?!" (because grandparents call movies 'pictures') and I remember thinking that it was the best movie I had ever seen in my long 7 year life. Shortly after, I had The Lion King everything - shirts, duffel bag, bowl, plate, cup, backpack, keychains, statues, etc. But my favorite - my absolute favorite (and if you're in my family, you know what's comin') - was my Simba! I carried my stuffed animal Simba around knowing he could ease all my childhood worries - Hakuna Matata - it means no worries!

So the first time J and I went to NYC together a couple years ago, you best believe we saw The Lion King on Broadway. Plus, we got 2 for 1 tickets, so we really had to.
lion king on broadway
lion king on broadway

Shortly after that, I got a surprising package in the mail. How stinkin' cute is this..?!
lion king package
It was from my grandma, with a note that read:
August 27, 1997
Dear Charlene,
During my last "clean out Charlene's dresser drawers,"
I came upon this Lion King shirt. I wasn't quite certain if you would miss it
but I decided to "steal it, wrap and preserve it" and when you opened it up many years later,
remember how much you especially were caught up in the "Lion King" craze.
Happy Memories!!
Love,
Grandma

Thanks, Grandma! I sure do remember how caught up in the craze I was. With the shirt she sent, there was also the soundtrack cassette tape. I remember listening to that in our room at night - Catherine and I would tip-toe around during Scar's "Be Prepared" song and somehow always get caught by Krissy (and get laughed at.) Oh, the days! "Happy Memories" was right..I do love the Lion King!

It is finally (after years of waiting) being released on DVD & Blu-Ray next month. Pretty sure we all know I will be buying a copy - for me AND my nieces - because I think they'll love the brave talking lions and musically talented meercat/warthog duo just as much as I did! :)

hakunamatata

jumping into fall

Charlene3 Comments
Spending time with my husband for about one hour each day this week has left me scrambling for projects to consume my time. I made a pledge to myself (sounds so serious, eh?) that I will not lethargically sit around watching TV when I get off of work. So instead, I devised a plan; a plan I may not always follow, but try to live by lately - create anything that comes to mind, scheme up ways to make my small and dreamy near-future plans/hopes actually happen, enjoy the weather outside with Pup, clean, and go grocery shopping. Somehow I ended up letting routine Publix trips into my daily schedule. They pretty much know me there, and it seems that every single time my sister calls me, I find myself shamefully muttering "just leaving Publix..." She calls it my second home. I'd say it's right there on the same level as Hobby Lobby, my third home.

fall air
My first home is my favorite though. I sure do love this windows-open time of year :)

With fall right around the corner, I can already smell it. I smell the pumpkin spiced candles, the aroma of fall meals and beers, and it leaves me itching to drag our fall decorations from their respective areas of hibernation. Yes, it's too soon; yes, I know that fall has not even technically begun(8 more days!); and yes, I am one of those people who likes to jump-start the holidays. Oh well :)

You see this wreath? This oh-so-beautiful, yet oh-so-expensive wreath?



Well, I'd love to buy it, and maybe one day I'll be able to! But for now, this med school couple can't afford $100 for a wreath from Williams Sonoma (and if you know me, you know I'd never want to pay that anyway!) So, to my third home I went (you know, Hobby Lobby) and spent $16 to buy supplies for my own version.

Ta-da....
fall wreath
It sure isn't perfect, but I still like the way this messy, imperfect version came out!

I wasn't going to leave it hanging. I swear I was going to wait until September 23rd, but J so nicely said I should leave it and then we pointed out 2 of our neighbors with fall decorations up already. I guess it's okay to start fall early if we are outside of Florida..?! ;) We'll pretend!

I've also been into creating subway art lately. If you're not sure, google image your heart out! I'm thinking of making a sign for each holiday..we'll see when the time comes.
fall subway art

Here is our mantle so far..(I am not done!)...and this is the burlap banner I made the other day. I have recently gained a new love for burlap :)
fall mantle



And for those of you asking how I made the burlap flowers from this post, here you go:

diy burlap flowers
diy burlap flowers

  1. Cut a strip of burlap
  2. Fold it in half
  3. Roll it up just a little
  4. Put a dab of glue to keep it rolled (I used Liquid Stitch, but a hot glue gun will work)
  5. Twist the hanging piece of burlap
  6. Roll the twisted piece around (dab glue on after several twists)
  7. Glue the end piece towards the bottom
  8. Cut a circle that will fit on the bottom
  9. Glue to bottom
  10. This is how the bottom should look
burlap flowers