Why growing up really isn't so bad

I have said this before, but some of my fondest childhood memories were spent at my grandparents lake house. This past weekend (Memorial Day), James and I spent the weekend there with my Grandma and family.

I have sometimes looked back on my childhood days with sadness that those days are over. I miss those carefree days of childhood where the biggest problem I had was what bathing suit I was going to wear that day (well that and my finger almost falling off ;)). I hate the fact that my Grandmama's siblings are now all gone and their children/grandchildren are not all as close as we used to be.

But something happened this weekend, that really opened my eyes. We were outside after dinner, playing cornhole, ladder golf, and throwing the football. My little cousin Brooke had brought her radio out and we were listening to music and dancing around acting silly. I started to realize something in all the fun and laughter - I am starting the new generation with my family. My mom and her siblings have now taken the place of my Grandmama's siblings. Pretty soon, James and I will be starting a family of our own and our children will take my place. My dad and uncle were out there playing right along with us, so clearly they will be the next "Papa" of our family.

While growing up definitely means change, I am learning that this change is going to be great. I cannot wait to see my children experience the lake house and life in this big, crazy, wonderful family of ours.

What is your favorite BOYS NAME, GIRLS NAME, FOOD, and DRINK?!

Name (for a boy and girl)...

It used to be Jackson for a boy and Brooklyn for a girl. But now that we are actually at the point where we are thinking about having kids, the game has changed. I still like those names but I am wondering if there is something else out there. So before I am even pregnant, we are having the name discussion. Who knows, our kids may be named Jackson and Brooklyn but they may not...stay tuned! :)

Food

Well, I like all of it!! But my absolute favorite is my Grandma's fried chicken. I like fried chicken from other places, but my Grandma's is the absolute best! I am very blessed to have a Grandma that at almost 85 years old still cooks fried chicken for anyone of her kids or grandkids anytime they ask. She definitely shows her love through the kitchen, and we are all lucky to have such a woman in our lives.

Drink

Without a doubt - Diet Pepsi. Not a diet soda, specifically Diet Pepsi. I have recently given up soda's in my quest to be healthier and I CRAVE a Diet Pepsi all the time. I allow myself to have one every now and then because I love it so much. It is the truth when they say you can be addicted to soda's!!

I know I have been very slack on these lately but I hope to get better and finish this list before too long! :)

Love Other's Box

Two posts in one day?! After taking a month long hiatus this is a treat!

I wanted to share with you something that my friend and former coworker is doing, it was just announced today. It simply amazing and I am so excited for her launch.

Please go check out her blog post for today! It is a great idea and no one deserves it more than her! :) 

Thanks! 

Planning Our Disney Vacation - Part 2

At 180 days from  the start of your trip, guests staying at a Disney Resort can book dining reservations for the whole week you are there. Knowing there were some pretty special places we wanted to eat, we wanted to go ahead and get these booked right away. James has never been to Disney and I wanted to eat at places I hadn't before, but with all the choices, that was not going to be a problem!

The first thing we had to do was decide what park we were going to and when. We decided to skip Animal Kingdom this year. We are already going to the NC Zoo sometime this summer, and with all that we wanted to do in Disney (and have some downtime too), we decided that will be a park for another trip. We also chose not to pay the extra money for a park-hopper pass (where you can visit multiple parks in one day) so that meant we had to eat at the park we chose for that day, or a nearby resort. That is another great thing about the Disney Dining Plan, not only are the park restaurants included, but all resort restaurants are too! NOTE: Some are "signature" dining and require two table service meals, but if you plan correctly its totally doable.

I have mentioned before that dining begins the day you arrive, and ends at midnight the day you leave. We plan to leave super early and we plan to be in Disney by mid-afternoon and we figured we would just find a resort with a quick service meal available, and maybe ride the monorail around the parks. For this we chose the Contempo Cafe in the Contemporary Resort. I am so excited to show James this resort, because the monorail goes through this hotel! My Papa had always said he would take us back to Disney and the next time we'd stay there. One of these days I will stay there!!

Sunday we will be at Magic Kingdom. My favorite of all the parks. I am so excited to see the new Fantasy Land! In fact, we will be eating at Be Our Guest Restaurant for lunch. This is in Belle's castle. For dinner, we will be eating at Tony's Town Square Restaurant for 2 reasons. 1) Its our anniversary and Lady in the Tramp has lots of memories for us 2) the porch of Tony's is prime viewing spot for the Main Street Electrical Parade.

Monday we will be at Sea World. I know that some "Disney Fanatics" think that a trip to Sea World is a waste of time. But James and I both love visiting anywhere with sea animals and plus there is a whole penguin experience (I am obsessed with penguins). So we will eat breakfast at the hotel (quick service) and dinner at Captains Grille and the Yacht and Beach Club Resort. This was James' pick. He loves a good steak and he saw this restaurant as one of the choices. It will be a first for both of us so I am excited to check it out!

Tuesday we will be at Hollywood Studios. Not sure what our quick service / lunch will be but we are doing the Fantasmic Dining Package so that we will have prime seats for the Fantasmic Evening Show. Our dinner reservations are at Mama Melrose, an American Italian Restaurant. The last time I was at Hollywood Studios we were too busy to eat anywhere so this will be a treat!

Wednesday is Epcot and we don't have any reservations that day. This is because when I called, the person on the phone got the dates confused and our reservation for the Rose and Crown Pub and Dining Room did not take. We chose this place because you can sit outside and have a great view of Illuminations, Epcot's firework show (see a pattern here ;)) When I called to get this fixed, I was told there were no more reservations but if I went and explained at the front desk what happened, they would be sure to seat us, as we were only a party of 2.

Thursday is our rest day. And I think we will need it!! We will be attending Mickey's Backyard BBQ at the Fort Wilderness Resort that evening. This meal requires 2 table service meals per person, but since we aren't eating a table service meal on Saturday, we should be fine.

Friday we are going to the Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party (read about that here). We will get to the park at 4pm that day, and have reservations at Cinderella's Royal Palace at 515 pm. This also is 2 table service meals per person, but since we leave the next day we will only eat a quick service that day. We will probably resort hop in the afternoon to find a place to eat for lunch.

Saturday we are leaving :( Again, we might resort hop one last time, eat at our hotel, or in Downtown Disney.

I will be sure to write reviews on all the places we go and eat once we get back. I can't believe we still have 5 more months to wait :(

Life Happens...recap of the past month!!

I realized today that it has been over a month since I have even logged into this blog, let alone wrote anything!

When I started this blog I was sure I would write all the time. And I did. I was sure I would have ideas of what I wanted to say. I still do. But what I didn't factor in was LIFE. And how crazy, beautiful, and BUSY it was!

So what have I been doing over the last month?! Take a look...

 Enjoying the weather with my pup

 FINALLY getting our yard to a decent state!

 Dates with the cutest niece ever! 

 Relay for Life

 Happy Birthday to ME!! 

 Tried a duck face...it didn't work! 

Porch sitting and reading with my pup

So I am going to really REALLY try to write more. But life isn't slowing down anytime soon. The summer concert season starts next weekend, then we have more birthday's, Mother's/Father's Day, and more weddings. I am trying to soak it all in because it goes by WAY too fast.