Growing Up

I heard a quote once that says something along the lines of, "your friends are the family you get to choose". I would agree with this statement although I feel like I should follow that up with the fact that I love my family - and wouldn't choose any other even if I had the chance. I am so blessed to have the best of both. You've already met some of my favorite people; others you'll get to meet soon.

My best friend, Julie, and I grew up in church together. Our moms are best friends, so it's only natural that we would be. She's seen me at my best and at my worst. Looking back, I can't remember a time when she wasn't a part of my life. She is one of the most loyal people I know and we've shared every emotion under the sun with each other. She met her match when she married David - they are truly a couple I admire and love to hang out with. In November of 2007, their family expanded when they welcomed my beautiful "niece", Ashley Ryan. I will never forget the night Julie called to tell me she was pregnant - I was SO excited for them and couldn't wait to meet this baby. Over night it seems, Ashley Ryan has gone from a newborn to a 14-month old "little girl" whose laugh will just melt your heart. Julie called me a couple of weeks ago to tell me that AR was carrying my picture around the house - as if her "Auntie" didn't LOVE to hear that! So, without further ado, meet the Smiths - David, Julie, and Ashley Ryan.

(I stole this picture from Julie's blog)










I look rough in this picture! I drove from ATL straight to Julie's driveway soon after they came home from the hospital. I couldn't wait to get my hands on that baby...seems like yesterday.

And here she is at 14 months - I could just eat her and her lollipop hat!

He's Just Not That Into You...

Kate and I met our friend, Kelsey, yesterday afternoon to go see the hottest new movie that was released on Friday - "He's Just Not That Into You". I read the book when it first came out and could totally identify with most of it. The movie, to me, was just as good as the book. It's a hard pill to swallow to think that a guy you like really isn't into you - a pill that I've swallowed on more than one occasion. I tend to over-analyze everything like Gennifer Goodwin did in the movie - she might just be my new BFF!

I don't understand why the work week can go by so slowly and the weekends (especially warm, sunny ones) can be over in the blink of an eye. Saturday morning I was up at 5:45 trying to mentally prepare myself to run 6.2 miles. I started the race with my friends Calvin and Austin - I didn't finish with them because they were (much) faster than me. I finished in 1:02 but was pleased with that time. When we got out of the car Saturday morning it was 31 degrees...and the race was on the Chattahoochee River which made it feel even colder. I should have worn gloves because my hands were numb when we started running. The course was not laid out well. We had to turn around twice and at mile 5 there were two hills that almost killed me. Oh well, at least it's good practice for the half marathon.

I'll close here since I'm work and probably shouldn't be blogging anyway. Have a wonderful week!

Finally Friday!

How great would it be if every day were Friday? There is nothing like the feeling of knowing that in less than 8 hours, you're done with work for 2 full days.

It's been somewhat of a busy week which is the reason why I haven't posted in a few days. My sweet roommate has been fighting the flu since Monday night and that poor girl has been SICK! I prayed all week that I wouldn't catch it and so far, so good. I hate feeling helpless and knowing there's nothing you can do to make the situation (any situation, for that matter) different. I wanted so bad to do something to help her get well but short of force feeding her soup and Sprite, I was at a loss.

Wednesday night I had my first small group meeting. To be honest, it didn't go as well as I was hoping it would. I think I'm just going to take the next few days to try and figure out a Plan B. I want to get involved and meet new people, but it's hard not to compare the old with the new. I had a fantastic small group in Jackson and we all came from different walks of life with different stories and each person added a new flavor. This just seemed very different so I'm not sure it's for me.

Tomorrow morning I'm running a 10K (6.2 miles) called the Chattahoochee Challenge. The course is supposed to be FLAT so hopefully it won't be too bad. According to my training schedule, I'm supposed to run 6 miles tomorrow anyway so it will be a perfect run to stay on schedule.

Sunday afternoon, I think a few friends and I are going to see "He's Just Not That Into You". They called and asked me to star in the movie, but I kindly declined - ha! I think it will be super cute and I'm sure I'll be able to relate to it in more ways than one. Some days it's very easy for me to think that I'll be the last person on Earth to get married, but I know Mr. Wonderful is out there...somewhere.

The great news that I've been dying to tell for the past 6 weeks is that another one of my best friends, Amy, is pregnant!! While I was home over Christmas, I decided to drive an hour south and spend the night with her because her husband (Morgan) was out of town for the night (he's a pilot). I, being the bad friend that I am, had not been to Amy and Morgan's house since they moved to McComb in November of 2006 (yes, you read that correctly) so I decided that while I was home over Christmas would be the perfect time. When I got there Amy said (first thing), "Come here and let me show you my favorite Christmas present". I knew that she had racked up on clothes at her in-laws, so I'm totally expecting her to pull out a great sweater or a new pair of jeans. Instead of going towards her closet though she goes to the bathroom - dumb me is STILL not getting it - and pulls out a pregnancy stick with two lines on it!!! I grabbed the stick from her to make sure it was positive (since I'm sure she would have shown me a negative test) and started screaming! She had her second doctor's appointment yesterday and the baby's heartrate was 174...yay! She is 10 weeks today. With all of my best friends who have gotten pregnant - and those to come - it feels like their child is part mine because I love their Mommas so much. This is Amy and Morgan...how cute is that baby going to be???

This is a little late (sorry Lex), but another one of my best friends, Lexie, ran her first half marathon last Sunday in New Orleans and finished in 2:24!! I am so proud of her and knew she could do it. Her husband, Josh, is a runner and Lexie is always at the finish line waiting for him. This time they got to run together and I know he was very proud of her. Lexie and I email almost daily and she has been such an encouragement to me to keep going to the gym, even on the days when it's the last thing I want to do. We talked earlier this week and tentatively decided to do our first half marathon together in June...in Mississippi...can you say "hot"??? Lexie beat my first half marathon time by 2 minutes, so being the competitive person that I am - I'm going to have to step it up in the half marathon next month! Congratulations Lexie on your huge accomplishment!! Here's a picture of Josh and Lexie from last summer...love them!

See, I told you it's been a busy week! I'm looking forward to a warm, relaxing weekend! TGIF!!!

Uptown Girl

My daddy loves oldies music. When I was little he had a green Chevrolet pickup and I would stand next to him as he drove (probably not very safe) and we would listen to his oldies. To this day, I know more oldies songs than any other 27 year old that I know. One of the songs that I will always remember us singing (and dancing to) is "Uptown Girl" by Billy Joel. My favorite part was the "Whoa-oa-oa-oa-oa-oa-oa...". When I decided to start this blog, I knew it would have to come up with a name for it. I chose Uptown Girl because it's a sentimental reminder of my daddy and because living in Hotlanta is a little more "uptown" than MS (although MS is home and always will be).

Yesterday was a great day. The sermon at church was about balancing your life. With the economy being in a state of shambles, it is important to save more and spend less if possible. Andy Stanley is a great speaker and I always enjoy hearing him. He talked about how dissatisfied we (as Americans) have become with what we already have. His visual aide was an older model television (not a flat screen). He talked about how we are constantly buying new products that come out just because it's the latest and "best" thing - not because what we already have is broken and needs to be replaced. He even mentioned shopping in general, which is one of my absolute favorite past times but not necessary.

After church, my best friend, Kate, and I cooked several appetizers to take to her boyfriend's house to watch the Superbowl. I won't lie and pretend I'm an NFL fan because I'm not. I love to watch SEC football (specifically MS State when they're winning - which, let's face it, isn't all that often) but I know nothing about any of the teams in the NFL. I knew that the Pittsburgh Steelers were playing - thanks to several Steeler fans that are my friends on Facebook, but I didn't even know who they were playing against (Arizona Cardinals) until yesterday....and I sure didn't know who to cheer for! Oh well! It was a good game and we had fun stuffing our faces all night.

Happy Anniversary...and Rush

Happy Anniversary to my best friend, Lee, and her husband Clint. They've been married 5 years today!! Lee and I have been friends since the 4th grade. We grew up playing soccer and softball together and were basically inseparable on the weekends. We lived together our freshman year of college and had so much fun. Lee and Clint started dating our junior year of HIGH SCHOOL which means that technically, they've been together 11 years! Clint is hilarious and I can't imagine Lee with anyone else. I was Lee's maid of honor and not only was it an honor to be in her wedding - it's an honor to be her best friend. Here's a picture of the cute couple (and that PRECIOUS baby is my beautiful "niece", Ella Grace) - I love ya'll!













I'm training for my second half marathon...yikes! The race is March 29th. I'm following the same training schedule that I used last year and today I had to run 5 miles. It was SO cold this morning and it was a hard run. During the week, I run on a treadmill in our gym at work. Running on a treadmill is boring but it's (fairly) easy for me because I set the incline to 0.0. On the weekends I run outside where unfortunately, the incline is never set to 0.0. Not to mention, this is Atlanta and traffic is a nightmare. I almost got hit by some guy who was in such a hurry to order his sausage mcgriddle that he almost ran over me! Lucky for him, my running buddy wouldn't allow for me to stop and give him a piece of my mind.

And this cutie pa-tootie is my running buddy, Georgia. She's actually my best friend Kate's dog, but I claim her (most days) as my own. She's a 2 and a half year old boxer and she has NO idea that she's not human. "Spoiled" just isn't the word for her...she is a mess!

February will be three years since I've lived in Atlanta. I can't believe it. Some days it seems like I just got here and others feel like I've been here for ten. When I first moved here, I knew it was important to get plugged into a church and meet some new people but no one could have prepared me for how difficult that would be. I visited several churches and finally found one that reminds me a lot of my church in Mississippi. It was difficult to get plugged in though because they didn't have Sunday School - you just came and listened to the sermon and left. I sat on one of the back rows and was one of the first ones out the door when it was over. Over time it became more difficult for me to go at all. I decided 2009 would be different. Last Sunday during the announcements they said that tonight would be a small group "kick off". This was my chance to get plugged in...and I wasn't going to miss it. I was terrified to go by myself. Everything in the minutes leading up to my arrival made me question if this was REALLY what I needed/wanted to do. I was delayed actually getting inside by 20 minutes due to parking issues (gotta love ATL) but finally made it. It was awkward and somewhat intimidating to "mingle" which is what we were told to do. I heard someone say, "I feel like I'm going through rush" and I totally agreed. You just want to stand up in a chair and scream, "pick me - please, pick me". I finally found a group of 6 girls that are close to my age and we seemed to "mingle" well. Our first meeting is Wednesday night at 7. I'm looking forward to it and now that rush is over, I think it's going to be a great group.

First Attempt

I'm not a writer and won't pretend to be. I've been reading other people's blogs for almost a year now and am totally intrigued by the idea of documenting everyday things that are so often forgotten. From what I've learned, a blog is where you share your thoughts, concerns, and life with those you know and even those you don't. So, here goes...