This was the view out of our hotel window last weekend:
Any guesses as to where we were?
Photo Friday - Stow Away
This past Monday, Caly and I helped Alan pack up and head out for a long 3 week trip to France. Let's just say, packing for a trip that long plus the "toys" he took for weekend snowboarding, took just about all the energy we had. Eventually Caly gave up and decided he better find himself a spot before there were none left.
This past Monday, Caly and I helped Alan pack up and head out for a long 3 week trip to France. Let's just say, packing for a trip that long plus the "toys" he took for weekend snowboarding, took just about all the energy we had. Eventually Caly gave up and decided he better find himself a spot before there were none left.
Can't say that I hadn't thought about trying the same thing!
Needless to say, his plan didn't work and he's stuck here with me. We're missing Alan, but staying busy!
Things, they are a'chagin
Needless to say all three of us are thrilled with the recent changes and are settling in to our new routine.
Recently things have changed a bit in the Reed house. I left my job at Lectra after being offered a position with a company in the recruiting and staffing industry.
Now I know, every new job comes with changes, but this one might be a little more change than most, and most of them I am uber excited about!
This job means new opportunities to stretch my skills and develop new ones. More creativity and less corporate guidelines, something I have been longing for.
It means a new set of coworkers and a new boss. All of which I have to say I have already fallen in love with!
It also means that Alan and I no longer work together, no longer sitting two offices apart. Which, if he was ever actually in the office, would be a negative. But since he's not, it's ok.
And...it means that I now get to work from home, only going in to the office for meetings and presentations. I LOVE working from home and it makes our lives much easier for my schedule to be flexible when Alan is traveling all the time.
However, sometimes it's hard to work when your office mate demands an arrangement like this:
This job means new opportunities to stretch my skills and develop new ones. More creativity and less corporate guidelines, something I have been longing for.
It means a new set of coworkers and a new boss. All of which I have to say I have already fallen in love with!
It also means that Alan and I no longer work together, no longer sitting two offices apart. Which, if he was ever actually in the office, would be a negative. But since he's not, it's ok.
And...it means that I now get to work from home, only going in to the office for meetings and presentations. I LOVE working from home and it makes our lives much easier for my schedule to be flexible when Alan is traveling all the time.
However, sometimes it's hard to work when your office mate demands an arrangement like this:
Needless to say all three of us are thrilled with the recent changes and are settling in to our new routine.
Why blog?
The other day I was having a conversation with a friend about blogging. She's a writer and just recently started blogging. We were discussing how so many people blog now, the "why's" behind it and what it really means. Personally I love the fact that so many people blog. I think so few people really write on a regular basis that it's nice for everyone to "stretch" that part of their brain and put their thoughts on "paper".
I thought about that conversation long after it was over and it made me wonder, why do I blog?
When we started blogging (in 2006) it was something that no one really did. Not many people knew about blogging and when I would tell someone "it's on our blog" or "you can see the pics on our blog", I usually got a funny look or a confused "uh, ok" in response. Blogging sites were very basic and archaic, offering very little creativity.
Originally I blogged as a way to communicate to our family and friends. Alan and I have moved a good bit in the past 8 years, and before the days of Facebook, sharing information wasn't quite as easy. So, I put all of our news in one place and sent out the link. That way, wherever we were, our family and friends could check in and see what we were up to.
A lot has changed in the past 8 years. We are more settled now and things like Facebook and Twitter mean that sharing information and staying connected is easier than ever, however we still blog. Well, I blog. In the beginning Alan contributed here and there. He doesn't contribute anymore but he gives me ideas and seems to routinely read the blog (probably to make sure his latest race pics are up!).
So why do I continue to blog when I could just post on Social Media? I blog because I love to write. At work I write, pretty much all day every day. I write so much that some days I feel like my brain hurts from finding the words and putting it all together so many times. However at work I write with constraints. I write about software or design, I write about machines and advancements, I write about people making announcements about software and machines. In other words, I write about what people tell me to write about. My writing gets scrutinized and edited by numerous people in various countries. The French corporate office corrects my English and I have to convince them (every time) that my use of the English language is correct, even if the French translation doesn't seem to be.
But, when I blog, I get to just write. I write about what I want to, things/people/events that are important to me. I can vent, be sarcastic and make jokes (even if they are only funny to me). I can incorporate photos that speak louder than my words can. Blogging is my writing and no one gets to make any changes! It's a form of expression, but it also serves as a type of scrapbook of our lives. Some days I scroll back through the previous posts and it's like taking a walk down memory lane.
So, I blog because it's a form of expression, it lets me write like I love to and it stores all of our memories in one place.
One day something new will come along and take the place of blogging. And I will probably keep blogging regardless. I'll get those confused responses again when I tell people I blog. It will just be like old times!
The other day I was having a conversation with a friend about blogging. She's a writer and just recently started blogging. We were discussing how so many people blog now, the "why's" behind it and what it really means. Personally I love the fact that so many people blog. I think so few people really write on a regular basis that it's nice for everyone to "stretch" that part of their brain and put their thoughts on "paper".
I thought about that conversation long after it was over and it made me wonder, why do I blog?
When we started blogging (in 2006) it was something that no one really did. Not many people knew about blogging and when I would tell someone "it's on our blog" or "you can see the pics on our blog", I usually got a funny look or a confused "uh, ok" in response. Blogging sites were very basic and archaic, offering very little creativity.
Originally I blogged as a way to communicate to our family and friends. Alan and I have moved a good bit in the past 8 years, and before the days of Facebook, sharing information wasn't quite as easy. So, I put all of our news in one place and sent out the link. That way, wherever we were, our family and friends could check in and see what we were up to.
A lot has changed in the past 8 years. We are more settled now and things like Facebook and Twitter mean that sharing information and staying connected is easier than ever, however we still blog. Well, I blog. In the beginning Alan contributed here and there. He doesn't contribute anymore but he gives me ideas and seems to routinely read the blog (probably to make sure his latest race pics are up!).
So why do I continue to blog when I could just post on Social Media? I blog because I love to write. At work I write, pretty much all day every day. I write so much that some days I feel like my brain hurts from finding the words and putting it all together so many times. However at work I write with constraints. I write about software or design, I write about machines and advancements, I write about people making announcements about software and machines. In other words, I write about what people tell me to write about. My writing gets scrutinized and edited by numerous people in various countries. The French corporate office corrects my English and I have to convince them (every time) that my use of the English language is correct, even if the French translation doesn't seem to be.
But, when I blog, I get to just write. I write about what I want to, things/people/events that are important to me. I can vent, be sarcastic and make jokes (even if they are only funny to me). I can incorporate photos that speak louder than my words can. Blogging is my writing and no one gets to make any changes! It's a form of expression, but it also serves as a type of scrapbook of our lives. Some days I scroll back through the previous posts and it's like taking a walk down memory lane.
So, I blog because it's a form of expression, it lets me write like I love to and it stores all of our memories in one place.
One day something new will come along and take the place of blogging. And I will probably keep blogging regardless. I'll get those confused responses again when I tell people I blog. It will just be like old times!
New Year's, Savannah Style
Last year Alan and I had more than two weeks off work at the end of the year. We spent a lot of time relaxing, eating out and sleeping in. We also conquered a lot of those items on the to do list that we never seem to have time for. So, by the time New Years came around, we were ready for some fun and we were looking for somewhere warm! We had talked about Florida but as we kept watching the weather we realized we were going to have to go all the way to the Keys to get anything warmer than what we were expecting in Atlanta. And, as much as we love the Keys, we weren't looking at a trip that was long enough to let us to head that far south. So, Friday morning we woke up, and as we were enjoying our coffee and the morning news, we noticed that the weather on the GA coast was 10 degrees warmer than ATL. Alan made a few calls about hotel rooms, we threw stuff in suitcases and headed to Savannah!
It was in the mid 70's the whole weekend and we took advantage of every minute of warm sunshine.
We perused River St, shopped on Broughton, strolled through the beautiful architecture that is everywhere and enjoyed all the food and drink that Savannah has to offfer! We even rang in the NY at City Market.
Hanging out on River St.
However, the highlight of the trip was the way we spent NYE day. We rented a kayak and headed out to spend the afternoon on the water.
The fresh air and sunshine were certainly relaxing.
And it was the perfect way to send out 2011.
Holiday Wrap-up
As with every year, our Christmas was jam packed.
The festivities start off Christmas Eve with the Reed clan attending Mass.
Then it's off to MaMa and Papa's (Terry's parents) house for Christmas with everyone who can attend from that side of the family. Next it's back to Alan's parents house for family Christmas, which is kicked off with the traditional tequila shot! During the hours of opening presents, modeling them and getting good laughs out of creativity, we always have a good time.
This year we spent the night with the Reed's and first thing Christmas morning we headed over to see my Mom.
After some coffee we got down to exchanging gifts. Then it was time for some serious cooking! This year Mom made a completely Gluten free lunch and it was delicious! I attempted to make Creme Brulee, since it is the only Gluten free dessert that I know I like. However it was not nearly the success that Moms meal was! Oh well. By that point we were all stuffed anyway and didn't want anything but a nap!
That afternoon we headed over to Grandma Fisher (my dad's mother) and also my Aunt Donna, who was visiting from Houston. We spent the afternoon chatting, viewing the neighborhood Gingerbread houses and letting Grandma open her presents. Let me tell you between the puzzles, the sudoku books and the crossword puzzle books that woman is going to be busy for months!
By then it was time to head back to Alan's parents. We used to get both of our familys together on Christmas night and see a movie but things have changed and so this year we decided to do something a little different, we went bowling. It sounded like a good idea and we figured we would just see how it went. 2 games later and about an hour playing arcade games and it had been a great night.
Next we made a quick stop to see Susan and Travis's new house and then it was back to Alan's parents house to get some sleep.
The next morning we visited The Baileys, friends of our who had a baby on Thanksgiving Day and then we hit the road back to ATL.
It was a whirlwind Christmas but it feels normal to us!
A Nutcrackin Good Time
We have now lived in Midtown Atlanta for just over 4 years. Every winter the Atlanta Ballet performs the NutCracker at the Fox Theater, which is exactly 2 1/2 blocks from our front door. Every year Alan says, "we should really go see the Nutcracker" and every year the show ends without us having gone. However, not this year!
During our December hiatus from work, I surprised Alan with tickets to the Nutcracker. We had dinner at the Melting Pot, which is also another closeby place (half a block) that we had yet to visit, and then headed over for the magic that is the Fox Theater at Christmas.
Everything from the set to the performance was perfect and we had a wonderful time. And while I couldn't use a flash I was able to get a few shots that give you an idea of how beautiful it was.
We're so glad we broke tradition this year and made it to the show!
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