surprise! a trip to florida and a newborn photo shoot :)

Hey sista, surprise!

Sister just had a baby January 11, and we all know I was saddened to miss out on the special delivery day. So I came home from work that very day and booked a flight to Florida to go meet my beautiful niece. But I decided to keep it a secret ..until I walked in the door Thursday night to surprise my sis and nieces :) My brother-in-law was able to keep the secret as well, so thanks for helping out!

It was nice to just have time to relax. I started off the trip watching planes take off during sunset while sipping on a Blue Moon. Vacation time is a wonderful time!

And as you can expect, I tried to hit up my favorite places. The places that bring back those nostalgic memories of childhood. You know, the places you spent days and nights at -- the places you knew you were sure to visit after your older sibling's football and lacrosse games when you were little; then continue visiting after your boyfriend's football games and your own lacrosse games in high school; the places you'd go every Sunday after dinner for a sweet little treat with the family. Those places -- they are great, especially when revisiting in adulthood!

oh hey Dad, you gonna share? Yesss! Aw, thanks Dad, you're the best!

Aside from spending time with my husband, spending time with my family is one of my favorite things to do! Friday night was spent with cousins and pizza. I did miss out on seeing some of my other family, but we literally didn't leave the house much at all. We can partially thank the AT&T guy, who spent an entire day installing cable/internet, for that! But time spent in the house with cute babies was nothing to complain about.

I got lunch with my mother-in-law at Bru's Room - where we had our rehearsal dinner - and it was such a beautiful day to sit outside in shorts and a shirt in February while sipping on a beer and enjoying delicious food.

And I spent hours upon hours soaking up some love from sweet little babies. My niece and I exchanged moments of staring, kisses, lovin', and funny faces. I held her in my arms while smelling that soothing little baby scent and lightly running my fingers across her soft little cheeks while telling her how stinkin' cute she is. Oh, how in love with her I am!

Mom, no bows and no clips! It's not happening. "Is there one in my hair? Hmm, is there?! Yup, I got it, haha Mom!"

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You know I couldn't leave without a little newborn/sister photo session!

If you can't tell already, I absolutely love my nieces! And family, and Florida! I've got my fill of baby lovin' til next time :)

Last night I came home to my husband and puppy and spent some quality time with my little family. They give me all the fuel I need until it's time to be with our families again :)

p.s. -- If you're interested in making one of those crochet flower headbands as seen in the newborn photos, check out Hobby Lobby (or any craft store) and purchase a pack of various sizes of crochet flowers. I layered and hot glued multiple flowers together in descending sizes and hot glued an alligator clip to the back of it. Then clipped it to a plain white headband :)

lately...

The ever present gloom that's lingered over us for weeks has me itching for a quick transition into Spring. Hey Mr. Groundhog, please emerge from your burrow to ensure us that Spring is surely on its way. I'd appreciate that :)



In the meantime, I have been un-inspired -- and for me, that's a sad, sad thing. This gloomy winter weather with gray skies, mist-filled air, and cool howling winds has left me lacking any desire to create. I never knew my inspiration could be drawn from weather. I guess I've always been used to decent weather, where regardless of the current season, I know I can be outside when I want. Apparently closed windows, lack of sunshine, and wet grounds is not where I draw my inspiration from and when I realized last week that I've been completely uninspired, I decided that needs to change. I finally went to Hobby Lobby -- it had been a while -- and bought a few things to start creating again. The outdoor photography has been slacking lately as well. Seems as though I need me some nice weather to get back on track.. so please, Mr. Groundhog, abide by my desire!

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Lately, J has been studying like cuh-ray-zee. And my work has fallen into the same category. But it hasn't stopped me on the weekends. Weekends were made for fun! Over the past couple weeks since we've been back in Georgia, we had a date night in Atlanta one night, and I've had nights out with the girls as well. Luckily, suffering from the winter blues in the creation department hasn't stopped my desire to enjoy a little time out on the town.



Fat Matt's still has yet to fail us. BBQ and live blues puts us in the right mood! Especially when followed by beer accompanied by salt and vinegar popcorn at a rustic bar in Little Five Points -- The Porter Beer Bar -- it's highly recommended by J and I!









When days out in Atlanta turn into nights out in Atlanta, I have no room for complaints. Good times with great friends -- definitely no room for complaints! And a little visit from the sister-in-law adds a nice twist in the mix!











And while not venturing out to explore unique hole-in-the-wall establishments, we've reverted back to our guilty-pleasure run-of-the-mill restaurants. Oh, Chili's and Cracker Barrel, you rarely disappoint!













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While cooking at home, we've found a new recipe we greatly enjoy -- Hawaiian Chicken Sandwiches topped with grilled pineapple -- yummy!



Recipe:

• 1 lb. chicken
• 2 tbsp. honey
• 1/3 c. Heinz 57 sauce
  
• pineapple rings
• buns

Place chicken in the crock pot. Mix Heinz 57 with honey and pour over chicken. Put crockpot on high for only a couple hours or low if you have longer. Shred chicken with forks while in crockpot and mix around. Add more sauce in there if you'd like. Meanwhile, grill pineapple rings in a grill pan to your liking. I also grilled the buns a little. Enjoy!

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Best of luck to my husband on his tests tomorrow! And here's to hoping Mr. Groundhog, or should I say Punxsutawney Phil, gives us some good news this week!

Blogaversary & The Barrtique SHOP LAUNCH!

Happy Blogaversary to Becoming the Barr's!

I started 'Becoming the Barr's' exactly one year ago today. And what an adventure it's been for me!
Check out my first post here.

This was started to keep family and friends in the loop after moving out of state for my husband's medical school career, as well as to track our way through the wedding planning phase. I do miss that phase! Wedding planning was wonderful for me - and now we're sticking around the blog world so you can get a peek inside our newlywed life. I do hope you enjoy!

I've learned so much in the blogging world, and have become inspired by all the fellow bloggers. This past year has brought about a new love for writing, photography, baking, decorating, and creating more than I ever have -- and I am thankful for all the joy that this blog has in turn brought to my life. Let's hope for more years of blogging, creativity, and inspiration in all I do -- especially when we move to The W (pronounced The 'Dub-ya')!

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And now for some exciting news ---

The BARRTIQUE has officially been launched.




It's a little etsy shop with personalized goods & handmade accessories.
Check it out, and be sure to tell your friends about The Barrtique.
www.etsy.com/shop/thebarrtique

I have many ideas for this, but all will have to come in due time -- ya know, because I have to work around this boring ole thing called a job ;)

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the one that was supposed to be different...

In my mind, this blog post was supposed to be a bit different than how it's gonna go.

I thought about starting it off by linking to this post so you can remember how much I enjoy Florida now and how much I absolutely love being around family.

I then thought about how I was going to post directly after that link a little something that would go like this..

"We are moving to West Palm in June for J's rotations!!!!!! We'll get to enjoy sunshine, beaches, outdoor restaurants/bars and be around family whenever we want. I'll get to be the aunt who picks up the kids for slumber parties at our place, and bring them to the circus. (Yes, I really thought the circus, haha!) I'll get to be in my nieces lives for the first couple years and whenever J has to leave town, I won't ever be lonely! ...ahh, can't wait!"

That's how it was supposed to go...in my mind.

But, you see, his school has a lottery system for rotation placements. I knew that last year only 9 slots out of 12 in West Palm filled up so I thought we'd be fine. I also didn't think that J would get picked third from last in the lottery. So, instead, we were told where we'll be living for the next 2 years. Where is that place, you ask?

Good ole Warner Robins -- also known as 'Middle Georgia.' Oh, you've never heard of it?! Just so ya know where it is..here ya go :)

My first impression when we pulled off the highway to check it out -- cotton fields and used car lots with shiny garland in abundance. Oh boy... What the heck is this Florida girl going to do when my husband is super busy?!

And it wasn't until just recently that my mind began changing.

We both signed up for this journey together. We knew what we were getting ourselves into (well, for the most part) and we knew the medical school ride wouldn't be an easy one. We knew there would be good times, bad times, miserable times, lonely times, proud times, etc. as well as lots of sacrifices being made. We were excited for this little adventure in life and anxious knowing that we actually had no clue where this journey would take us in a few years. This just so happened to be one of the 'not-so-happy' times in the journey. And while I cried the day I got the text saying "I was picked third from last...see you in Warner Robins," I knew deep down that this would all be okay in 'x' amount of time. And it is. It's okay because I've come to realize that this is just another part of our adventure together..and I guarantee you I will grow to love taking photographs of cotton fields :)

And as our luck would have it, a few short days following this news, I was offered a promotion at work. One I had to turn down -- just a part of the sacrifices being made on this somewhat unique journey. But for every sacrifice I make, J is making one too -- we just have to remind ourselves that we are in this together. The same goes for every marriage -- there are always sacrifices being made in so many different ways...it's all in how we deal with it. I am certainly not experienced in that department nor have I handled everything the way I should have..but I'm learning to accept and appreciate the little things more and more as each day passes.

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So here we are, with less than 5 months of our Atlanta adventure left -- and we are doing everything we can to make the most of it. We had a date night in Atlanta Friday night, and the med school's winter formal Sunday night. A night out with friends came at just the right time.

We started off with fondue at Dante's Down the Hatch

These friends make me realize just how much I am going to miss this moment we are in now.

We continued on at the formal -- at a beautiful rooftop venue in Atlanta.

We ended the evening at an Irish Pub, followed by a 3 am Waffle House trip with friends, and a slumber party at a cute boutique hotel. High School formals all over again :)

Except we are older now..and truly appreciate each and every moment we get like this! And we try to look at life a little differently. Like believing there is a purpose for everything and believing 'Everything happens for a reason' -- I've also learned that this quote is one of those 'easier said than done' kinda things. But it just takes time to believe it.

Although I kept believing this blog post was supposed to be a little bit different, I'm going to simply say -- after a few weeks of dwelling on our less than thrilling news --I believe that everything happens for a reason, and this blog post probably went exactly as it was supposed to.

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So, who's visiting us in Warner Robins..aka The W, as J and I have nicknamed it?!