Playing Catch Up

The past month is a blur of travel, work, hanging out with friends & family, etc.  I was lucky enough to go to the beach twice and both weekends were awesome.  It's pretty cool that generous people open up their beach condos to strays like me.  Yes, I'm a stray.  I tag along with family and friends to anything that they do.  Everyone graciously includes me and I try to fit in and/or make myself useful.

Here are some pics to give you a little idea of what's been going on with me lately....

Chick fil A now serves chocolate chip cookies.  The first one that I had was delicious - perfectly cooked and a little warm.  The second one, not as good and the edges were too crispy.  The third one, good but not as good as the first.  Yes, I have had three over the past month.  Don't judge....

Relaxing afternoons on the beach....

Margaritaville in Panama City Beach.  Striking a pose with Emma. 

A taco shell made from nacho cheese Doritos.  I love the cute phrases on the packaging of the sauces. 

After an eventful dinner, we may not ever be able to return to the Taco Bell in Alabaster. 

Saw this in the parking lot at my office after work one day.  Weird.....

Scraped my knee....

Spent time with my favorite boys!  Am I getting shorter or is Noah getting taller?

Went to a work celebration dinner and got a new dress for the occasion.

Anna and Emma at their Aunt Chelsea's wedding.  So cute and it was such a fun wedding. 

It has been just over 6 months since my life got turned upside down.  It's hard to believe it's been that long - though, sometimes it seems like it was years ago.  SO much has happened and changed.  I'm still working through everything and trying to make sure that I'm taking care of myself.  I'm allowing myself to be a little selfish.  Also, I'm saying "yes" a lot.  I don't turn down many offers/invitations/opportunities.  Most of the time, it's fun things that help me stay busy.  I'm making new friends and doing fun things.  I definitely still have some things to work through and still take steps back occasionally, but progress is being made.  Prayers are still greatly appreciated! 

Whew - now that I'm caught up, maybe I can keep up and not get so behind again!

Fun Times in Memphis

I went to Memphis a couple of weekends ago with my friend, Emily.  Emily lives in Little Rock, so Memphis was a good place for us to meet each other for a girls' weekend.  I took off 1/2 a day that Friday afternoon and detoured through Muscle Shoals to have a late lunch with a friend that I haven't seen in years.  It was great to see him and meet his two sweet girls.  We had a delicious lunch at a place that serves fried cornbread.  Enough said!

Emily and I both made our way to Memphis and met up at the downtown hotel we booked through Hotwire.  It was nice enough, but nothing special.  The only room they had was a king, so I'm glad we are really good friends and have actually shared a bed on previous trips.  I think we shared the room pretty well and didn't get in each other's way.  I'm hoping that I never actually tried to snuggle with her.....

Memphis is a city that is near and dear to my heart.  I've had many enjoyable trips there and this one was no different.  We tried a few places to eat that I've never had:  Local, Flight, and The Majestic.  All were delicious.  No trip to Memphis would be complete without a few ribs and a sausage & cheese plate from Rendezvous (for me anyway).  Emily and I ate well for sure!  We shopped a little, talked a lot, and saw the movie Hunger Games, which is very good (book and movie). 

I was sad to leave Emily, but will see her again very soon at the beach in June!  Here's is our one picture from the weekend:

Cheers to a girls weekend with a fabulous friend!  Love you, Em!

Easter 2012

I decided to spend Easter at home in Lineville with my family.  It was a tough decision because I love the Easter services at my church (Trinity) so much.  I was able to attend Trinity's Maundy Thursday service and Friday's Service of Darkness.  These are two of my favorite services, though I found myself not being able to fully get into them.  Some things are just no longer the same.  I'm hoping this is only temporary. 

On Saturday, I made my way home to my parent's house.  I spent some time with my mom, dad, granddad, great aunt and cousin.  Then, the fun started.  I went to a cookout and egg hunt at my sister's church.  Noah gave me a running & jumping hug when I got there and Jonah practically ignored me.  I joined in a game of kickball and was quickly reminded of why I haven't played kickball since 6th grade.  I was very happy when a 5-year old came along to take my place.  No doubt that he played better than me anyway.  The hamburgers and hotdogs were delicious.  I missed most of the egg hunt because I was watching Brandi and another girl, Amanda, practice for their special performance at the Easter church service.  They sang "How Great Thou Art" and it was beautiful.  If you have not had the pleasure of listening to my sister sing, which I'm sure you haven't because she doesn't do it often enough, you are missing out.  Brandi has such a beautiful voice. 

Once we got home, we colored a few Easter eggs then went to bed early so that we could make it to 6 am sunrise service.  Yes, 6 am.  No, the sun is not up at that time.  Here's a few things that Jonah said early that morning:  It's still nighttime; Jack's is open; Easter isn't about hunting, it's about God; We don't even go to Brotherhood this early.  My thoughts exactly, Jonah.  It was a nice sunrise service held outside around the crosses.  Then, we all went inside for breakfast before the 8 am service.  Brandi and Amanda's performance got a standing ovation.  Everyone loved it.  I'm so glad I got to be there for it. 

We made it home before the normal time that we would have even been going to church!  Everyone napped then we headed over to lunch at my parent's.  There was tons of food and more egg hunting.  We even had a little game of egg toss - with cooked eggs.  I would not do that with uncooked eggs with a 9 or 5 year old.  "Toss" is a concept that's lost in them.  Yes, it got a little messy and the adults made us stop.  We continued the fun and egg hunting (not tossing) at the Amason family gathering complete with homemade peach ice cream. 

It was a fabulous Easter weekend with beautiful weather and a loving family.  The Easter Bunny even brought me a coffee mug and some notepads.  The mugs says "When I Get Tired of Shopping, I Stop and Try on Shoes" and the notepads are various sizes/designs with "D" on them.  Thank you Easter Bunny!!

Spring Break 2012

No, I haven't been on spring break - but it definitely feels like it.  The past couple of weeks have given me serious spring fever.  Week before last, I went to a conference for work in Hollywood, FL.  Even though it was for work, I called it Spring Break! 

It's the third time that I've been to the same conference (previously held in Orlando and San Francisco), so I felt like a veteran when I showed up this year (one person referred to me as the "queen of NAREIT" to which I responded "where's my tiara?").  I'm beginning to see the same people every year and make new friends every year.  Though it's long days of classes/sessions, the evenings are always lots of fun.  The conference is heavily sponsored, which means the food and drink and entertainment is always awesome.  Since we were so close to Miami, there were outings to South Beach.  It seems like every place was cooler than the next.  The weather was great and I had an even better travel companion.  Another girl from my office, Alison, went to the conference, too.  She and I had a little too much just the right amount of fun!  We were there for 3 nights and I may or may not have gotten less than 10 hours of sleep.  Hydration was key.  The fancy bottles of Voss water and little bottles of Pellegrino really helped.  Maybe a little coffee, too.  The conference is a great place to learn new things, meet new people, and make industry contacts.  Don't you just love how I called it "industry?"  It's really just taxes.  Not too exciting!

You know I don't take a lot of pictures, but here are a few. 

The intent of this one was to show my new necklace (clearance rack at Gus Mayer) to my sister, but turned out to be an OK picture. 

Alison and Cassie (could it be any more close-up??  hazard of taking a picture of yourself)

My new yellow shoes - won't they look so much better with a little tan?

And there you have it, the only evidence of Cassie's 2012 spring break.  Next year, the conference is in La Quinta, CA.  I hear it's super nice and I can't wait!

Juicing Update

I am still alive and well.  The juice fast was actually great.  So great that I've still had it two meals a day the past couple of days.  I really do plan to continue it for breakfast, though I will add more fruit.  This delicious juice was discovered at Whole Foods on Saturday (and I've had it twice since.  Whole Foods juice = replacement habit for Starbucks caramel macchiato). 

It's called Green Giant and contains:  kale, spinach, swiss chard, cucumbers, apple, lemon, and ginger.  It's really good.  They serve it icey cold, but not on ice which somehow makes it taste better.  It's still pretty shocking that I have actually enjoyed the juicing.  Maybe I just psyched myself up for it so much that I have made my brain think I love it.  Who knows.  Either way, I'm hooked.  Finally, a healthy habit!  : )

Juice. It's What's for Dinner.

My super cool roommates got a juicer with all the trimmings (i.e. vegetables & fruits) and decided we should do a juice fast.  Of course, I jumped on the bandwagon.  I think it will be a good detox.  Time to get all of the bad stuff (thoughts, food, people, etc) out of Cassie! 

We have juiced many things including:  carrots, apples, celery, spinach, kale, ginger, parsley, strawberries, tomatoes and cucumbers.  We have a few more things that we haven't tried yet - beets, cabbage, and cilantro.  Most of our juices consist of any/all of the above.  The juices are mostly vegetables with a little fruit tossed in to help with the taste.  We have fresh juice at home for breakfast and dinner, but drink low sodium V8 for lunch. 

Here's what it looks like pre-juicer: 

And post-juicer....

Yes, it's a very unpretty, unappetizing shade of green.  The trick is to serve it over ice and drink it with a straw.  Quickly.  We're adults and just have to realize that everything isn't going to taste like chocolate ice cream and Hershey kisses.  It honestly doesn't taste that bad.  If the juice has cucumber in it, I really only taste that.  I like a little tomato in mine, but one of the roommates doesn't so we don't included it every time. 

We are now at the end of Day 3 and I'm still alive.  Someone check on me in a couple days, OK?  :) 

2012 Beach Trip #1

I love it that it's only March 5th and I've already been to the beach this year.  Such a lucky girl!  I went to Orange Beach, AL with my friends/current roommates Heather, Emma, Anna, and Ella.  Also, Heather's mom (Myra), niece (Baileigh), and aunt (Vera).  It's Aunt Vera's condo.  Myra and Vera went down on Thursday evening and the rest of us joined them on Friday evening.  We loaded up the Suburban after work on Friday and hit the road.  It was kind of a long drive.  The girls were so tired because they missed their naps that day, but I think they were too cranky to sleep.  We all slept well once we got there.  Saturday was raining, so we had Duck's Diner and outlet shopping.  We love Duck's!  Their breakfast is awesome.  I had delicious french toast.  Just the fuel we needed for shopping!  We shopped and shopped, but still didn't manage to make it to all the stores.  There's always next time.  Emma and Anna got lots of cool clothes at the Gap outlet.  They put on a fashion show for us in the dressing room.  I'm sure all the other patrons enjoyed the show as well.  Baileigh got lots of cool clothes, too.  She will be putting on a fashion show at school all week! 

After a long day of shopping, Heather, Baileigh, Emma, and I enjoyed a delicious dinner at Cosmo's.  The others stayed back at the condo and had a tea party.  Cosmo's had been on my list of places to try at the beach, and it did not disappoint.  I had seabass, risotto, and asparagus.  Yum!  On Sunday, we swam in the indoor pool and went to the beach.  The indoor pool was nice and warm, but the beach was cold.  If it had not been so windy, we might have been OK to stay longer.  We played for a little while.  The water was a little icey, so I only went into my ankles.  The sun felt great! 

The one and only picture that I took this weekend.  I love it.  I hope it's the first of many!