Rewind

When I look back over the blog, I realize many of the 2011 posts were about the weekly photo project, recipes, and a recap of what we had been up to lately.  Now that we are almost halfway through 2012 & I'm done with my "blog break", I figured I had some catching up to do (more posts & pics to follow)...

• In January, we found out that our family will grow by two feet in October...AND, my sister is expecting another baby boy the week before us!  It's about to get crazy...
• JNS has been all over the place!  He ran two marathons and bought a bike to start training for triathlons.  When I say this boy can't sit still, I mean it. 
• In March, we took a getaway/spring break trip to Rosemary Beach.  Loved, loved, loved this location and the precious place we stayed. 
• April came and we welcomed Baylor Thomas Smith into the world! So excited for our friends Zach & Katie and their new addition.  :)
• Our friends Jenni & Mike got married on a beautiful day in a gorgeous art gallery - so happy to have been a part of their special day.
• JNS finished his first year of B-school in May, and started his summer internship with MetLife.

The Tube

It's that time of year....all our shows are wrapping up for the season.  I love and hate the anticipation that goes along with building up the story line to only leave you hanging for 4 months until the show returns in the fall.  I'm starting to hear some chatter about which shows won't be returning next season - anything being cancelled that you're bummed about?  Renewed that your thrilled about?  I have a few...

The Scott's must-see-tv list includes:

• Castle
• Revenge
• The Firm
• And as of a few weeks ago, Scandal

As you can see, these are clearly more my picks than John Neal's, but our TV does seem to find it's way to ESPN the majority of the time we're at home...so we don't feel too bad for him.  :)  I love knowing what shows other people watch, so I thought I'd give you some insight into what we like.  (You'll probably be able to pick up pretty quickly that we like shows with a mystery to solve.)   The unfortunate thing about our list of shows is most of these come on at 10PM on weeknights.  On a positive note, the latenight lineup means tv time doesn't take away from dinner, cleaning up, meeting with friends or going for a walk....but it definitely contributes to an ongoing loss of sleep. 

Castle's finale came on last week and it was perfect...not quite as intense as last year's dramatic finale, but definitely left us excited for next season.  If you've been watching for the last few years like we have, you know that we have been waiting a long time to see Castle and Kate finally kiss....

Revenge is going to be a different story...there is so much that happens in this show every week that I have no idea where the season will conclude.  If you haven't been watching, you should go ahead and get over the fact that this is a trashy drama that you think you couldn't possibly get into....rent the first season and watch it this summer.  You will be hooked.  The ridiculousness of the Grayson family lifestyle combined with the calculated & surprising revenge tactics of Emily Thorne are crazy addicting....

The Firm was a show we got into recently and have found ourselves equally gripped with this one....it picks up several years after where the book left off.  Only sad news is, we seem to be one of the few who found this show so exciting.  Just heard this one is getting the ax and won't be back.  Too bad...Josh Lucas is a cutie.

Scandal is a new series that I thought looked stupid when I saw the previews....but I stuck my foot in my mouth after watching the first few minutes of the show one night.  I'm in it for the constant turn of events and shocking details that unfold each week.  If I had to guess...this is the one we won't be watching next season, but who knows, I never thought I'd actually like it in the first place!

I used to love reality tv - The Bachelor, American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, but in the last year or two I've definitely enjoyed more of the drama/sitcom scene.  Who knows...maybe next year I'll flip-flop again, but for now we are enjoying the entertainment "our" shows are providing.  From what I hear, Downton Abbey is the next one to check out...we'll see if I can get pumped about another show, I might be maxed out!

Chop Talk

It's been awhile...but I'm back!

I'm sure you can relate, but I have no idea how May got here!  After the hustle and bustle of the holidays & new year, I tried to make a conscious effort to relax the last few months and not feel the need to photograph, document and write about everything going on...and I think I needed the breather.  Sometimes I struggle with feeling the need to capture events with my camera so we can remember them, but then often I find that I never felt like I was truly "present" when I later flip through the photos.... but I think I had enough of that down time and I'm feeling recharged.  :)

Spring popped in early this year gave Atlanta a lot of warm sunshine and beautiful days.  It quickly shifted into full fledged summer with recent temps hitting the high 80s.  With the heat and the summer flair, I've been especially pumped about Braves season this year.   Growing up I was a HUGE Braves fan....like embarrassingly fanatic.  My sisters always made fun of me (which was probably sisters being sisters....)  But it was a huge part of my childhood...going to games with my Dad, decorating our basement with my collection of posters, tickets and baseball cards, and memorizing stats for the team.  I subscribed to Chop Talk, the Braves monthly magazine, and was crazy excited when mail came for me each month.  :)  My favorite Brave was Chipper.  Maybe it had something to do with him being a rookie when I first got into baseball, but he was so my hero.  Then reality showed up when the drama broke loose in 2008 about him cheating on his wife....and honestly, I was crushed.  I think that was the beginning of me "moving on" from being a huge Braves fan.

Years later, I'm feeling a renewed sense of loyalty to my hometown team, and an excitement for this season.  We were thrilled to get the opportunity to go to opening night at Turner Field in April...the perfect start for a fun-filled season.  I've decided you don't have to be a kid or a guy to love baseball...Go Braves!!!

Merry Anniversary!

 We took a quick trip down to Savannah at the end of Decemeber and enjoyed our short time there so much.   I still cannot believe we were celebrating our 4th wedding anniversary - where is time going??  The old adages of "the older I get, the faster time goes" or "time flies when you're having fun" are totally cheesy, but they really are so true!   I swear I'm going to blink and we'll be retired with 8 grandkids.  Not really....but sort of.

We stayed in a historic hotel called The Planters Inn, strolled through the squares, dropped in and out of stores and up River Street (clearly for a praline). 

We ate some fantastic food....dinner at Local 11Ten (where I had my first ever chicken livers...I was so nervous because it sounds disgusting, however, they were actually pretty tasty), and then a lovely lunch at Soho South Cafe.  Even though it was late December, the weather was gorgeous so we were able to sit on the sidewalk patio for lunch and enjoy being outside.  I'm proud that Georgia has such a beautiful and historic city like Savannah - it was the perfect getaway!

52 Pix - Week 52

Wow....my 52nd weekly photo.  Finally.  :)

This picture came from our trip to Savannah for our anniversary (more pics from this trip later).  We had been to this historic city before, but both felt we hadn't appreciated it nearly as much as we did this time.  The sights really are so beautiful - we loved walking through the squares and seeing so many people out and about.  This picture above was of a large church - the way the sun burst out from the trees and steeple made such a stunning image.  A beautiful picture to end this year long project!

Sing, Choirs of Angels

Last month my friend, Emily, asked me what my favorite Christmas song was.....I thought about it and was overwhelmed with the thought - how can you choose?   O Holy Night has always been a favorite carol...the words describing the story of Jesus birth, the dramatic "fall on your knees" part, the fact that we had this song in our wedding....all in all, it's a true classic.  BUT, as the season continued and I heard more Christmas music than I thought possible....it was clear.  I love O Come All Ye Faithful.  There is something about this song's joyful invitation to sing, come & adore....something about the imagery of a choir of angels singing....something about this being the song they sing in that Christmas Brady Bunch special where Mike Brady gets stuck in the collapsed building and he reappears after the crowd sings this accapella (clearly lead by Carol Brady)....something about it makes it my favorite.  :)

Other favorites from Christmas....

 Baking and decorating cookies with my nieces and my mom!  Mom started this tradition last year with the girls...Hadley gave me the invite this year and I hope we can make it a Williams girls tradition.

Getting to spend extra time with our family....especially the little ones!  They are changing so much.  Hadley has turned into a bonafide little girl with her heels and make-up bag.  Reese is just hilarious.  Hudson...well, he doesn't quite know what to think quite yet...

 Our Christmas Day bonfire with the Scott's....one of my favorite traditions! 

 Our new stockings...hung by the chimney with care.  I love ours on the left, but I think I love Mulligan's most.   We had a "skinny" tree this year!

What a wonderful Christmas vacation!  It comes and goes in a hurry....unless you're enrolled at Emory, of course.  It is truly the gift that keeps on giving....

52 Pix - Week 51

The week before Christmas we had our small group gathering at Alex & Cassie's house.  Between all the travel, family events, weddings, Christmas parties - December was a whirlwind!  It was so nice to get back together with our group, enjoy a meal and of course...take a crazy troll picture.  This took a few tries (but I think fewer than last year)....unfortunately the one where we all turned upright in unison, is the one where a certain goof's turtleneck joined in on the flip.  :)  Community is such an important part of our lives - one of the many things we were thankful for over the holidays!