Shoot the Hooch, Wings and Classic Rock, and PA

Two weekends ago we finally went on our float down the Chattahoochee River. We bought river floating tubes and loaded into a friend's truck and were on our way! The water was freezing, but it was so good to finally be back on a river and in the middle of nature. We were on the float for about 3 and 1/2 hours and stopped along the way on a beach to warm up (from the cold water) and drink a few beers. There were many others doing the same thing we were doing, and our group of friends already has another trip scheduled! Unfortunately, I will miss this trip because I will be in PA for my grandfather's 75th birthday party.

This past weekend, Ben found a very nice event in Marietta. It was a wing and rock fest. There were classic rock cover bands all afternoon playing on a stage in the middle of the square in Marietta (north of Atlanta) and about 15 different wing vendors. It was a beautiful sunny day, and we had a great time eating wings with our friends. Meanwhile, we are still hanging out by the pool when it isn't raining with a passing shower, and just spending time with the pups.

As I mentioned earlier, I am going home to PA for this upcoming weekend. It will be a very quick visit, I always wish they were longer... I arrive late Friday evening, and leave Sunday around dinner time. Just enough time for the birthday party for my grandpa Schirmer and to spend a day with my mom. I'm excited to go to the birthday bash because every member of the Schirmer side will be there! Also, it doesn't hurt that dad is breaking out the kayaks at the lake (where the birthday party is) :o) . I'm sad to be leaving behind Ben and my two pups, but I know that they will have fun without me, Ben will be busy shooting the Hooch, and the pups will keep busy playing. The weekend will be here and over before we know it!

PA here I come <3

East ATL Beerfest

This past weekend I went to my very first beerfest! Below, are some pictures of our friends down here in ATL. We went with JP, Melissa, John, Will, and Chad. Ben met them from GT and a few of them work together. We kinda joined their group and we have been having great fun! This is the same group of people that we go to ABC brewery with most Fridays for happy hour. The beerfest was outside at a park in east ATL, we had great weather, no rain, but a little humid. Overall, it was a good experience, I would def. go again! Then today, we hung out with the same group of people at our pool. It was about ninety degrees and not a cloud in the sky- perfect pool weather.

Work is going well, my boss is helping me to take more of a leadership roll to help the new employees learn how to do their best in the facility. Things are quite stressful at times regarding rehabs relationship with the nursing department, but people in respected positions are trying to help the situation get better. Ben is enjoying his job, and actually has off for Memorial day :o)

This Saturday we are going to Shoot the Hooch. We are floating down the Chatahoochee river on intertubes with the same group of friends as the beerfest. We are going about 6 miles and should take about 4 hours. I'm very excited to finally get back on a river... even if it is only a float :o)

Enjoy some pictures below of the beerfest at the park. Love and miss you all.

Ben's Graduation!!

This weekend Ben graduated from Georgia Tech with his masters in Chemistry! His family (mom, dad, brother, and grandparents) came down on Thursday and spent the weekend in Atlanta. We had a great weekend! It started Friday by going to the GA Aquarium, then to Ben's graduation Friday night. It was a very nice ceremony and the key note speaker was Steven Chu, the Secretary of Energy. Saturday we went to The Fabulous Fox Theater to see Mary Poppins and Saturday night we went back to tech to see their baseball team play. The play was fantastic and we had great weather for the game! Then Sunday we went to breakfast for mother's day and said fair well to everyone.
It is always such a whirlwind when we have visitors and they are gone before we know it. Ben was happy to graduate and have it be official even though he has been done since the fall semester. It was nice to have a formal celebration of his wonderful accomplishment! It was also very nice to see Ben's family, I miss everyone terribly, and their short visit helped give me that "family fix". Enjoy some pictures below, there are more posted on Facebook.

We have very busy weekends coming up but I will try to keep you all posted :o)

April in the ATL

Aren't our little puppies adorable!? Ben had them under the commands of sit and stay. They couldn't be getting along any better. They play together, sleep together, and sit by the window and watch together. We officially took down her crate today because we haven't used it in over a week. She got fixed last Friday and was a little woozy the first two days but now she back to normal. We have to take her back to the vet's office sometime this week to get her stitches out. We have been taking both of them to happy hour at ABC Brewery and hang out outside and they get lots of attention :o)

This work week was typical for both of us and this weekend is time for relaxation! Next weekend I have to work Sunday because the following week the Smith family is coming for Ben's graduation! We are both very excited to see everyone and show them around.

In addition to a normal work week, we got to see the Phillies play the Braves! And... the Phillies won! We had club level seats, which we would get again, we had a great view and the fans up there were a nicer to us outcasts :o) We are taking Flat Stanley around with us, so he came to the game as well! Flat Stanley is a project that a lot of elementary school children have, he is a cut out of a boy and travels in the mail to places far away from home. Ben's cousin Jake made him and we are showing him around Atlanta. We are having lots of fun with him.



The weather has been great, lots of pollen, and a few thunderstorms but it is almsot pool season and we are very excited for that. It's getting warmer down here in ATL, spring has officially sprung :o)

Happy Easter!

It is much different celebrating Easter down here in GA. For one, the weather is MUCH warmer- it feels about mid-high 80s and is sunny. I also didn't get to go to church for the first Easter, in I don't know how long. Instead, I watched it online. The past 4 or 5 weeks I have watched a church service online every sunday at 11:00. It is a church that Ben's mom heard of from her church at home, so she took me, and I loved it. The only problem is that it takes so long to fight traffic and what not, since it is in the heart of Buckhead. So I choose to watch it online instead, same service, but less time and more convenient. Ben and I decided to make peanut butter eggs from scratch, boy did they turn out yummy! I also made a ham for Ben and I for dinner, it turned out ok, nothing like a homemade meal made from the ones you love. I miss my family terribly today, but know that it will only make it that much better when I do see them.

Ben loves his job and is fitting in very well. He comes home happy every day, and is starting to take more independence in his duties. I just finished working toward my certification to use modalities (heat, ice, electrical stimulation, ultrasound etc) to promote healing. So, overall- everything is going well!

Love and miss you all, enjoy some more pictures below :o)







in the process of making our eggs!


The finished product... mmm

1st week with Annabelle

The first week went very smoothly with Annabelle! The first night was a piece of cake, but the second was another story. She started crying at 2:00am and then again at 3:45am, this time crying for an hour and 45 minutes!! At that point, since I wasn't sleeping anyway, I decided to get up and let her out. The next night she fell asleep and woke at about 5:00am at which time I tried a pointer a co-worker of mine gave me. I went in the office, told her "No!" and waited for her to be quite, then said "good girl" after a few hits on the top of her crate, she got the idea (she is a very quick learner). And the rest is history, if she starts whimpering (normally about 15 minutes before my alarm goes off) we go in and tell her "no" and she is quiet until we come and get her. The potty training is a piece of cake, she doesn't tell us when she has to go, but she goes the same time we take Wrigley and she is fine! She also has the hang of walking on the leash already :o) Next, are the commands sit and stay. So wish us luck and I'll be sure to update you about how it is going! Her and Wrigley play together all the time, snuggle, and truly enjoy each other's company. Here are some pictures to enjoy :o)


Making lovies at eachother :o)


They did this all on their own in the morning before Ben went to work


zonked out


snoozing after dinner

Paint and a new puppy!

I apologize for not posting for almost two weeks, but once you read all that we have done, you will understand why I couldn't post! We had a wonderful weekend visit from Ben's parents and his brother Brad. It is always fantastic to have visitors down here. Once they left we went into full swing of getting back to business. The next day we went to look at a puppy, Wrigley needs a play partner more than anything, it was a brother and sister (named Jack and Jill). They were abandonded on the side of a road and picked up and brought to a rescue foster home. They are a Corgi Jack Russell Terrier mix (aka Cojack). We immediately liked Jill over Jack and decided to get her! But before bringing her home, we desperately needed to paint our condo. We decided on brown alpaca for the living room, and a deep brown for the bottom of the chair rail in the dinning room. Last, we chose lemon grass for the office. It turned out great! Here are some pictures to show you the transformation:












Then we had a week to prepare for our puppy. We decided on the name Annabelle. We picked up all our supplies through out the week and picked her up Saturday morning. Her and Wrigley met for a second time when we picked her up and played in their yard before returning home. She was a little tense at first on the car ride home but then relaxed in my lap. Her and Wrigley couldn't be playing better, she lets him make the calls and is already learning good behaviors from him. She hasn't chewed anything other than toys yet, and only had two tiny piddle accidents (only because she couldn't hold it anymore) and finished when we took her outside. She is a quick learner and napped for an hour in our room on her pillow after the 6am feeding and bathroom break. She quietly wimpered for less than 5 minutes last night after being put in her crate for the night. Hopefully things will continue to go smoothly today and the rest of the week, I will keep you updated! Oh, she is 5 months (we're making her birthday the same as mine) and weighs 15lbs :o) Here are some pictures of her first day with us:

most of them are of them playing... go figure :o)





checking things out...



sleeping next to momma



nothing but puppy pudge



cuddling :o)