catching up - november

addison had her picture taken at school // i met keith bulluck before a titans game (and took shots with him. woo!) // addison saw santa at home depot // she then built something (what, i can't remember) // haley and i ran 5 miles on thanksgiving morning (and came in 2nd and 3rd in our age group!!) // addison and my mom ran a 5k that morning (addison got to lounge for part in her stroller but ran some too)

that was about all the excitement for november. well, not ALL. because addison turned 5!!!

catching up - september & october

let's try this again. almost 6 months since i last blogged. oops. i'm going to do some posts just to catch up on lost time. then maybe (hopefully) i'll keep up with blogging from now on.

september:
we go to workshops at home depot and lowes once a month for addison to build things. we go pretty regularly and addison has accumulated a nice collection of useless cute crafts.

i took addison to see beauty and the beast at TPAC at the end of september. it was so good and addison and i both loved it! she did really well and got really into it. i can't wait to take her to more plays (we also went to the nutcracker before christmas - her first time).

october:
i LOVE disney on ice. i think i get equally as excited as addison (maybe even more). addison dressed in her tutu skirt and wore her tiara. her and gigi split a funnel cake (they both LOVE them), and chris and i got to be adults and drink a couple beers. they really are smart for selling beer at the kids things.

halloween!! i kept with my tradition and made addison's costume. she wanted to be tangled, naturally. i got the little crochet top and tulle from etsy. i found a costume that i really liked and thought i could make and i went for it. i think it turned out super cute! it wasn't really all that difficult (once i actually did it. i'm a terrible procrastinator). addison loved it, which is really all that matters.

we went to a halloween party where i wore my dorothy costume from when i was like 7 (thanks mom for making it!). i put out halloween candy at my cube and decorated at work (halloween hello kitty!! i may have a problem). we went to the zoo for their halloween thing again and had lots of fun. addison always gets a kick out of going there and riding the hayride and the spooky carousel. and the candy, of course. she posed with gigi's skeleton flamingos (gigi loves flamingos, if you didn't know). on halloween, addison got sick at school. she ended up missing her school party but felt better later in the day. the weather was supposed to be nasty so we went to city hall for their trick or treating thing and then addison handed out candy all night. i think she likes handing out candy more than going to get candy (she gets to hand it out AND snack on it at the same time - win win).

and some random from october. addison being herself and jumping on her bed. and in her 3d glasses from when we got to go see free birds (for free!) before it came out in the theater.

coming up: november, december, january, and other fun things that happened. woo!

the fair! the fair!

we love the fair. we took addison for the first time last year and had so much fun, so i knew i wanted to do it again this year.

we went on a sunday - the weather was perfect {aside from the rain right at the end} and we all got our hands stamped so we could get unlimited rides. addison definitely got the most out of her stamp. my mom and i probably just broke even, but it was much better than having to deal with tickets and such.

addison was big enough {and more adventurous enough} to want to do some other rides. we rode the tilt-a-whirl {or whatever it was called} two times in a row. she was a little scared at first, but after the first time, she ran back in line {and tried to cut some people} because she wanted to ride it again. i'm glad i hadn't had any fair food before that ride because it probably would've made a second appearance.

addison has decided to call the ferris wheel the merry-go-round. luckily we still knew what she was talking about. they had a smaller one that we rode right when we got there, and a big one that we rode towards the end. i'm not going to lie - i was a little scared. not so much before, but when we were on it - no thank you. but we survived. and it was fun. and most importantly, addison loved it.

and of course we got some fair food. my mom loves funnel cakes, so she and addison split one of those. i thought i should try some other fried food that you can only get at the fair {i got a fried snickers last year}, so i got fried reese's. oh. my. god. so good. i don't know if i'll want to try something different next year.

we also got roasted corn right before we left. i'm going to just say we broke even with that and the fried food {even though the corn was dipped in butter}.

i'm already ready to go back next year. who knew i would be so excited about the fair?

beach vaca

my mom, addison, and i went to the beach a couple months ago. we went to the same place my mom and i went last summer. lucky for us, the beach trip with addison this year was much less sea-weedy, which meant we spent a lot more time on the beach.


i went on a couple morning runs on the beach.
we had a bunch of fun in the sand.
addison was braver than me and wanted to go far out in the ocean.
we ate at some yummy places.
we went putt putting {addison did much better this year. she even hit a hole in one!}
addison got to put a stingray and touch a snake.
we went to a movie on a rainy day.
we made friends.
and my mom wrote a note in the sand to addison that we could see from the room.

it was a really fun trip. i'm already looking forward to our next trip to the beach {and wishing it would happen soon}.

lately

addison went to the beach with her dad last week. she was gone the entire week. so i had a whole week of no work or addison. i missed her a bunch {but it was kind of nice having me time}. while she was gone, i went to the pool and studied for the next part of the CPA exam i take. relaxing time with a side of being a grown up. oh well. at least i'm not a ghost anymore!

also while she was gone, my mom and i did something we had been talking about doing for a while. we got tattoos! it was the first for both of us. my mom got the symbol for hakuna matata above her right ankle. i wanted to get something for addison but that i could add to if i ever have more kids. so i got her birthday in roman numerals on my right side. i kind of love it. a lot. whenever i see it i have to do a double take because i can't believe i did it. and i kinda like looking at it.

remember when i got hooded? and finished grad school? i finally went by school and picked up my diploma. it feels so official now! NO MORE SCHOOL! i think it will really hit me when summer school starts, and especially when school starts back this fall.

my friends and i are newly obsessed with the game ellen degeneres created called "heads up". i love ellen and pretty much anything she does, so it should've been a given that i would love her game. my friends and i played it this weekend and had so much fun. we even played it at a bar. we may have gotten weird looks but we didn't notice because we were having so much fun.

addison came back late saturday night and i picked her up sunday morning. after i stopped to get her some welcome home donuts. we played at home and ran some errands. and got one of my favorite summer treats - icees! i always get coke and cherry mixed. and i make sure to put cherry on top. i have a feeling we'll be getting a lot of those this summer.

well if that wasn't random, i don't know what is. but that's what's been going on lately. addison has swim lessons this week and has been a rock star. she's so different that the first year she went. i'll update on that at the end of the week :)

mother's day weekend

mother's day weekend started on friday with muffins with mom at addison's school. it was raining that morning and addison has been obsessed with umbrellas lately, so i let her use one to walk to the car.

saturday we had a couple graduation parties to go to. addison was super excited to see everyone.

addison got me a card and painted me a mug for mother's day. i'm a big coffee drinker now, so the mug is perfect. i love it!!

we had a big day with my mom on mother's day. the three of us went to brunch and then went to lion king at TPAC.

it was addison's first time to something like that and she did great! we watched lion king the night before to get her ready for seeing it. she was so into it at the theater! she sat on the edge of her seat and would talk to me about lots of the things that happened.

it was definitely a lot of fun! it's amazing to see how they can make people into animals. and i love all the songs! beauty and the beast will be there this fall, so i'm thinking i'll take addison to see that. i love going to these things just as much as she does. maybe even more.

happy birthday, gigi!

i don't know what addison and i would do without you. i'm so lucky to have you as my mom. thank you for your support and for everything you do.

i hope you have a wonderful birthday!

train ride with santa

saturday morning we got up bright and early to go on a train ride with santa.

my mom heard about it and thought it would be fun for all of us to go. i thought it sounded fun too, so we got tickets and went!

it was definitely worth it. i don't really know what i expected, but addison had a blast on her first train ride. and she got to see santa too!


we were on the last car, which meant that we got to see santa first as he worked his way up to the front of the train.


the ride was about 2 hours long. addison brought some money because she wanted to buy a snack. she decided on oreos. she did get a little antsy towards the end and wanted to get up and move around some. but even so, she was great! and it was a lot of fun.

they have an easter train ride in the spring that has an easter egg hunt. i think we're going to have to do that one too!

the color run

sunday i did the color run.

along with thousands of other people.

my mom's friend started a team, so her, my friend amy, and i all signed up.

we've been looking forward to it since we signed up this summer.

amy and i may have had a little fun the night before, but we were still up for the race. we had our white on and were ready to get colored!

i don't think i realized how many people were actually doing the race until we got there. we ended in the 11th group to go. so people were done before we even started.

amy and i ran most of the way. we just walked through the color places so we could get as much color as possible.

and i think we did pretty well!!

my mom and one of her friends ran and walked the whole thing, so we met up after.

we hung around to throw our color packets that we got {which resulted in us getting even more color all over us}. and then we headed out.

i don't really know what i expected the color stuff to be, but it was just dyed corn starch. so it wasn't wet and nasty. but if it did get wet {like sweaty wet}, it kind of got caked on. which was kind of gross.

we went to lunch after, unwashed. i'm sure we looked weird {and dirty}, but there were a lot of other people out from the race so we weren't the only ones.

it was honestly a blast. it didn't seem like a 5k at all. if they ever come back, i'll definitely do it again. and i'll take addison.

if it comes to where you live, do it!!!

pumpkin patch

last weekend we went to the pumpkin patch. the same one we've gone to for the past two years.

addison had a blast, like in the past. and she didn't want to leave. surprise surprise.

it was a little {lot} warmer than i thought it was going to be. luckily, addison was wearing a jacket so she just took that off. not so much for me and my mom. we were pretty toasty. it was still fun though :)

we had to go on a hayride to get our free pumpkins. in the past, they just had the pumpkins out in the main area. but this year they had them a little ways away so you had to go on the hayride. they also had a new pumpkin shooter thing. addison and i did that. not well. but it was fun! i'm sure the guy who was working the thing was laughing at me.

now i just need to make addison's halloween costume and decorate and carve some pumpkins. yay halloween!!

disney on ice

last sunday we went to see disney on ice.

it was our second time to go. the first time was about a year ago i guess. i honestly don't really remember.

what i do remember from last time is that i loved it more than i thought i would. i actually didn't think i'd even enjoy it. but i was completely wrong. it was all about princesses and i was pretty much in disney heaven. right along with addison.

needless to say, i was pretty pumped about going again. probably just as excited as addison.

she dressed up in a tutu and tiara. she looked super cute!!

this time, we steered away from all of the food with little toys and just got addison a little mermaid t-shirt.

this time was a little different than last time. mickey and minnie were the hosts {as usual}. but there were only a few different, longer, parts. there was cars, little mermaid, tinkerbell, and toy story 3.

personally, i would have rather just seen princesses. but i guess repeating what they did last year would have been kind of silly.

addison LOVED it though.

the entire time, she kept asking what was next. and at the end, she continued to ask. and when we kept telling her it was over, she started to cry. she wanted more.

it was one of those times when she was upset and crying, and my mom, chris, and i were all laughing. ha. poor girl.

all in all, we had a great time. we'll definitely go back next year. and i'll be super excited if they do princesses again :)

fun times at the fair

monday night we ventured out to the wilson county fair.

i can't remember the last time i went to a fair.

i was supposed to have class that night, but it was cancelled. so we took that opportunity to go!

i don't really know what i expected.

and let me tell you -- i seriously had more fun than i ever could have imagined.

the rides at the fair are kind of pricey. it cost 3 tickets for the rides that addison could ride, and even more for adult rides. and each ticket was $1. so ya, a little steep. my mom thought it would be best if we just got addison's hand stamped, which cost $20, and it let her ride all the rides as many times as she wanted. and it was definitely worth it!


the fair had 4 of the same sort of ride, just different vehicles. they all went around in circles. there was a car, boat, motorcycle, and 4-wheeler. addison rode those at least 2 times each.

addison was so excited because there would be horses at the fair. she kept asking if she could ride one. she didn't get to ride any {although there were ponies at a different part of the fair, but she didn't ride those either because she had ridden ponies twice!! the day before}.

there was also a cow that addison kept trying to make moo. some man walked up beside her to see the cow and she asked him if he could make the cow moo. he, too, was unsuccessful.

when we got addison's hand stamped, the man asked why my mom and i weren't getting out hands stamped. we said that we didn't really plan on riding any rides, and that unless it was free, we weren't going to get it. and then he tried to be all sneaky and stamped my hand for free. score!

i'm not really a fair ride person. i'd prefer the rides that stay in one place and aren't capable of being packed up and moved. it just feels a little safer that way, ya know? so the stamp may have been a slight waste on me, but it did allow me to ride a couple rides with addison for free.

and i got to ride pretty much the only adult fair ride i'll ride. how many times can i say ride in a sentence? apparently at least 3. oh well. it's the swing ride. i love swinging. not the adult creepy swinging {gross!}, but the kid swinging like at the park. the swing ride was right by where addison's rides were. and i rode it!! fo free.

i rode with addison on the guerrilla spinny ride. such fun. there were 2 other little boys in there with us. their dad just dropped them off in there and left. they were cute and nice, though, so it was all good. and i spun us around a bunch. i may have gotten a little dizzy. maybe.

we also rode the elephant flying ride. this ride was probably as close to real fair rides as i'll get. if i hadn't been in there with addison, i'm pretty sure she would've fallen out. good thing i was there! she had fun though, so it was worth it.

can you tell it's a fake smile? oh well. i still like it :)

we also rode the carousel a few times. i felt like i was going to fall down while standing next to addison. but i didn't {go me!}.

gigi mainly wanted to go to the fair to get a funnel cake. she may say that she wanted to take addison, but i'm convinced it was mainly for the funnel cake :) she did share with addison, which was very kind of her.

and i indulged in the fair food and got a fried snickers. yes, fried snickers. and it was delicious. i kind of wish i had gotten a fried twinkie. but that will be on the menu at the next fair. addison didn't want any of mine, so i got it all to myself. and i ate every bite!

things we did at the fair that aren't pictured:

watched little piggies race. funny and entertaining. and the pigs got a treat after. win win.

the petting zoo. all of the animals were caged it, so it wasn't like a walk around and pet the animals. but you could stick your hand in and pet them. they had llamas {or emus. i don't really know the difference}, cows, camels {!!!}, goats, and turtles {they were very unexciting. but really, a turtle in a petting zoo?}. a goat bit addison's finger. but she was offering it like food, so what are ya gonna do? she was fine. i laughed.

the fair was a blast. it's a fabulous place to people watch and eat terribly unhealthy food. and there are tons of things for kids {and adults!} to do.

if you live in the area, you should definitely go. i think saturday is the last day, so get going!!

has anyone gone to the wilson county fair this year? or a fair around where you live?

beach vacation

my mom and i took a trip to the beach last week.

we headed down to daytona on saturday morning and came home friday.

i don't think addison even missed us. she got to spend lots of time with her daddy and papa and mimi. but she was really happy to see us when we got back!! and i was even more happy to see her :)

it stormed pretty much every afternoon/evening that we were there. that was ok, though, because we had gotten enough beach time in by the time it started to storm. and beach storms are always fun to watch {at least as much fun as a storm can be for a girl that's scared of storms}.

we had a great, relaxing time. i read 3 books while we were there. unfortunately, my kindle messed up and the screen went out on the top, so i read the last 2 books on my phone.

we walked to the pier, i had the most amazing grilled cheese {provolone and spinach. yum!}, and we had an awesome red velvet cookie with ice cream.

i got to facetime with addison. she wasn't too interested at the time, so it didn't last long. but it was nice to see her face!!

our last day there, we had lunch at the dancing avocado kitchen before we headed out. if you know me, you know that i LOVE avocados. like, i would marry an avocado. but then i would probably go to jail for murdering my spouse because i would totally eat it. anywho, i love avocados. and the restaurant was delicious.

we left the beach on thursday and went up georgia to do some shopping. we stayed in macon thursday night and then got up and went to atlanta friday morning. we hit up ikea and h&m. those stores rock my face off. i just wish we had them closer. oh well. i racked up at h&m. and when i move out, i'll be hitting up ikea for lots of fun home things!

i had a blast on my vacation with my mom. it was nice to get away and relax before getting back to the grind of school. and it's always nice to come home with a tan! but i'm so glad to be home with my girl :)

the beach part 2

our second day at the beach was pretty much just like the first.

we mainly hung out by the pool. did a lot of jumping in and rolling over, and playing on the float.



we didn't really do much on the beach. we went for a bit, but we didn't take any of addison's toys. and of course she used a plastic cup as a toy and probably would've stayed there for hours. it was pretty funny.


i was taking addison up to the room so she could rest, and seriously, as soon as we started leaving the pool area, they announced that they were doing face paintings.

so, of course, we had to go get in line. luckily we were one of the first in line, but it still took quite a while. addison wanted a butterfly on her cheek, but they said her face looked kind of burnt so they put it on her hand instead. and it was promptly washed off in her bath right afterwards {not on purpose, of course}.


it stormed that afternoon. lucky for us, it was the only time it stormed while we were there. the storm didn't last long, but it did make the power in our hotel go out a couple of times.

we ordered pizza for dinner that night. my friend jenna suggested hungry howie's. i had passed one on my morning runs, and we tried it out. we thought it would be an easy dinner, and we knew we wanted to be back in time for the movie that night, so that's what we decided on. it was delicious! thanks jenna :)

and the reason we wanted to watch the movie was because...it was the little mermaid! seriously my favorite disney movie.

i don't have any pictures of them, but i was totally in love with the hotel's piña coladas. they were so yummy. i had at least 1 a day. i need to figure out how to make them at home.


we headed home early monday morning. we told the beach goodbye and hit up the waffle house across the street before we headed out.

i don't think i mentioned it, but when we left friday, addison did awesome. we were planning on leaving around 6, so i was going to get her up a little after 5. i was getting dressed and finishing some packing that morning, and i heard a thud. followed by a little cry. addison had fallen out of bed. and she woke up in the best mood ever. it was perfect timing! and on the way to the beach, she took one nap. and it was 45 minutes. and she still did awesome on the trip and all that day.

on the way home, she was still awesome. but the girl was worn out. she passed out 5 minutes into the trip home, and seriously slept 75% of the way.

i'm so glad we got to take a little trip to the beach. it was a much needed getaway, and i had really been wanting to take addison to the beach. thanks gigi for taking us!!!

i can't wait to take another beach trip! hopefully the ocean will be more cooperating so we can actually get in and play. but even if it isn't, we'll still have tons of fun!