Friendship Friday

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions.
Small people always do that,
but the really great make you feel that you too can become great.
~ Mark Twain ~


Did someone ever tell you that you are the company you keep? I remember growing up and my mom would tell me not to hang out with certain girls at my junior high. I recall thinking she was crazy and these were the coolest people in the world! These were the girls that were mean, but you would rather be friends with them than against them. Then there came that moment of realization (usually when something bad happened) and you had that "ohhhhh, I know what she meant" moment. Its nuts what life experiences will do, because those moments are more recognizable now, but the "ah ha!" moment is still the same.


When I was in certain classes, organizations, social settings, etc I was confined to the people in those groups. I stayed and hung out with them more out of convenience and not that I actually enjoyed their company. It may be just me, but the novelty of those situations does not appeal to me anymore. It's harder to make friends when you are not in forced social situations. It's also easier to let go of friendships as you begin to realize they were great company at one point of your life and now they (and you) have moved on.


I am to the point now where I want a close and small group of great friends and not a large group of mediocre relationships. I want to surround myself with people that bring out the best in everyone. I want to be near people with a positive out-look and avoid those who only see doom-and-gloom. In turn, I want to be that type of person to my friends. Thanks for reading and I hope you can be a good great friend to someone today. I know I will try!


Have a great Friday!

Wedding

Hey blog followers! Jonathan and are have been busy already this week as we prepare to have a weekend of house guests! We have been working in the yard the last two nights, hanging pictures, and recovering from a weekend of dancing and wedding-bliss.

My best friend from elementary school got married this weekend in North Alabama. Erin was the first friend I made when I moved to Alabama in 8th grade. We went to separate schools for highschool, but remained close friends. She and I have the type of friendship that might go sometime without speaking, but when we do talk we pick right up where we left off. I am blessed to have her friendship and know she's always there for me. I have met some great girls through Erin's wedding festivities and even got reunited with some old ones.

It was a gorgeous wedding with great food, drinks, socializing, and of course, dancing! Jonathan and I love to cut a rug. My favorite part of the evening was when Jonathan led the crowd in a "Jersey Shore fist pump" (there was no house music playing). Even my mother started fist pumping the air... she didn't know why everyone was doing it, but it was an easy move she could follow. ;)


That was my song


Trying to make "Blue Steel" pose from Zoolander


Erin and Avery, the happy couple...later he jumped on stage and serenaded Erin with "Purple Rain"... hysterical!


My friends Kate, Sarah, and me... we were all in flipflops or barefoot by this picture


Me and my parents! They were a lot of fun and kept the hubs company during the wedding festivities

We have three more weddings in the next six weeks and I am looking forward to each of them. I am in one more, and another one is my cousin's wedding in Wisconsin. Jonathan has never been there before so it will be fun to take pictures and report on how he does with my Midwestern family. Do you think he can pull off seersucker suit in Wisconsin in May?

Missed y'all!

Tidbits

Here ye here ye! I am alive! Thank you for your sweet words and laughs with me as I slowly crawled out of that funk. I have been laughing with Jonathan about how miserable the past couple of days have been. I feel like a new woman y'all! The toilet brush SOS will go down in our book of, "weird things I do, but sound smart right now" list.

I thought in this post I would try and share a little more about myself and random tidbits that may help you understand my quirkiness.

1) I am the oldest of four children and have three awesome brothers... ages 23, 20, and 14. (Yes, 14 and he was the best surprise our family ever had!) With that being said, I have to filter the things I say. It's hard not to share everything when you grew up with all brothers!

2) My family moved around a bit (non-military) but I was primiarily raised in Southern Illinois. The coolest place we ever lived was Brasschaat, Belgium (1990-1992). We moved to North Alabama when I was 13 and I hated disliked the state for a very long time. (Can't say that now!)

3) My biggest fear is falling. I'm not afraid of heights as long as I know there's no way I can fall off something. Is that the same thing? I don't know, but gravity hurts either way.

4) I've attended private schools my entire life, except for college. I even went to a boarding school for highschool, but only lived there my freshman and sophomore years. I didn't do anything wrong, but my parents wanted us to have the same education they received. They sacrificed a lot for my brothers and me.

5) I went to Auburn University (where I met the hubs) and majored in marketing at the college of business. Why did I pick that major? This may seem dumb, but I liked that it was well-rounded. I still wonder what my dad thought when I told him I like having a well-rounded degree!

6) My guilty pleasure is watching Real Houswives. My favorite season was Orange County. Probably because it's so unreal for me to imagine that women like that in Alabama. I just love it.

7) Biggest flaw (because we all have them) is that I am impatient. I think everyone has to work on it, but I am anal and OCD. I like everything done my way and I do struggle when it comes to waiting on others. I am always battling with letting go of the small things, which is a real challenge for me.

8) Lastly, my husband and I have been together for five years and married for one and a half. He's my best friend. I mean, we can drive eachother crazy, but most of the time we are cutting up and being "chatty Kathy's". He's the bomb :)

Those are so random, but that's me in a nutshell. I hope to write tomorrow, but I am heading to a wedding in North Alabama in the afternoon. My parents are coming and I am sure they will get some pictures of Team Nelson and our awesome dance moves!



Have a great Thursday!

Worst Feeling in the World

Hey fellow bloggers! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. We had gorgeous weather here in Alabama and it was one of the most pleasant Easter's I can remember. Jonathan and I left Friday afternoon to head to my in-laws, who live on the water. We spent a lot of our Saturday on the pier trying to get a little sun. I was not going to bust out the swimsuit, but I rolled up my t-shirt and threw on some shorts. I cannot wait to start wearing dresses to work!

Shortly after we got home last night I started to not feel well.  I don't know if you have ever had food poisoning, but I have never been so violently ill in my life. Jonathan told me to yell if I needed something. So sometime around 11pm I yelled three times for him, no answer. I then grabbed the toilet bowl brush and started banging it on the bathroom sink. I am not sure what I was accomplishing, but we laughed about it this morning as if I was trying to Morse code my SOS. Thank goodness for cell phones, because I called him from the other side of the house, which worked and he came running. I love that he took such good care of me last night and called all day to see what I needed. Is it silly that I love him more after a night like that and seeing him love and care for me?

It's been almost a whole day and I am still feeling rough.  I did manage a few Ritz Crackers, half a bowl of chicken noodle soup. Mainly I have been sustaining myself with Sprite today.

I hope your Easter Sunday ended up better than mine!!!

Below are a few shots selected from our weekend on Fish River pre-illness.  Enjoy!!!


Jonathan helping hide eggs at his Aunt and Uncle's house... he was pretty pleased when hiding an egg on Blackie, their lab.


I love how the adults jump in and show the children how it's done.


This was our flower girl, Abby. She whipped Jonathan into shape and had him running all over the yard with her basket. You'll notice her right arm is in a cast. If you ask her what happened she'll tell you in the sweetest Southern drawl that she, "tripped on her own two feets." So dang cute!


My in-laws laughing at Jonathan getting bossed around.


Abby pouting when her mom (Jonathan's cousin) told her she should give some candy to Jonathan for all the help and hard work he offered.


Nelson Easter picture (one of the few times of year Jonathan can wear seersucker)

Sacrifices

I slept in this morning until 7:30, made my coffee, then stepped outside to enjoy it while throwing the ball to Dax. I used to do that a lot when I lived in Mobile and I miss that quiet time. Just to sit on the front step in my slippers and sip coffee was an excellent start to what will be a great weekend.

I'm not sure if you remember that I gave up sweets, cokes, and anything with chocolate in for Lent, but I plan on indulging come Sunday. I think that in sacrificing something I enjoy so much made me think of Jesus' sacrifices a lot more. I originally gave up sweets out of competition and curiosity. You see, my fourteen year old brother has been able to give it up the last two years and I have always struggled quit with the simplest of sacrifices. Don't judge me when I decided to give it a go and give it all up cold turkey, because my lil bro had me beat. But I am surprised with how much I admire what my brother could do and how much the temptation made me think of Christ throughout these 40 days. Everytime I saw a sweet (being that I sit outside of test kitchens at work) I immediately thought of Christ's sacrifice. Mine was so small in comparison, but I honestly can say this is the first Lent I have thought about His sacrifices everyday. I feel like this might be the first Easter where I really felt the most connection to the true meaning of Easter. Is that crazy or what?

This morning after my time of reflection I had to paint. When I said I had to... I really had to... my Father-in-Law asked me to do a painting for a non-profit (that I can't remember the name to) auction. We are seeing them this weekend and I said I would have it done by then. Does time ever escape you and then you turn around and are like, "oh crap?!?" That was me two days ago! Here's what I whipped out...



I hope they get something for the piece and I feel bad that I didn't put more time into. Oh, well it's simple and peeps will be drinking wine at the event, so there you go. haha

Have a wonderful weekend and Happy Easter!

Lamp Project

Hey friends! My project is finally done and I am so eager to share the results with you. A while back do you remember the bright gold, dusty, hand-me-down lamps I had in my garage? Jonathan kept trying to take them to Goodwill, but I am so glad I resisted. It really took an afternoon for me to buckle down and say, "I have to get this done...TODAY".

The process worked like this...
*Cleaned lamps and tape/cover cords

*Apply one coat of Kilz (If this is not a staple in your home, get some... I'm just saying)

*It dries quickly so I was able to apply small/light layers of high-gloss spray paint (layer it so you don't get yucky drip marks)

*I had a coupon and giftcard to Pottery Barn, so I was able to buy the small linen lampshades for nothing!

*I also replaced the thingy (what's it called that hold the lampshade to the lamp?) well, I replaced it for a couple bucks too

And voila!

Y'all I am not going to lie when I made Jonathan come look at it three times.
Have a wonderful week and be safe if you are traveling for Easter!

Savannah

I moved my Friday cleaning to tonight, which is why it took me a little while to hop on the computer. I can't tell you how great the baked chicken and salad for dinner tasted after a weekend of eating out! I have never been to Savannah, Georgia and fell in love at first site. If you have never been it's a lovely city on the water with so much Southern charm, amazing architecture, and gorgeous trees. The entire time we walked in and out of the little shops I wondered why I have never been there before.









We ate at the Lady & Sons Restaurant aka Paula Deen and Sons. The food was wonderful and almost everyone that eats there orders the buffet, which is a variety of Southern fried comfort foods. I had to be different and order the chicken pot pie. ;)





I also loved loved loved a shop called The Paris Market. It is a gorgeous store and cafe that has a variety of old and new. {Even old things look new in this place.} I could have look there for hours and probably not seen everything.

It was such a wonderful weekend and so much to do. There were haunted tours, carriage rides, wine tastings, water cruises, cooking classes, and so much more. I really hated to leave, but think that Jonathan and I may take a trip there one day soon.