Riley Family Comes to GA!!

My family lives in VA, so it is always a special treat when any of them are able to come down south for a visit! This trip my Mom, Dad & little brother John Russell came down for a couple of days at Easter.

The first night they were here we grilled out and my aunt, uncle & cousin came over to visit.  We all sat around the fire, drank wine and reminisced about old times! ha ha  It was a blast!

The next day was Easter so we went to church and then we rented some bikes and rode on the silver comet trail.  Bryce & I have lived in Atlanta for 6 years and we have never set foot on the trail.  Which now I don't know why because it was beautiful and we are defiantely going to repeat soon!

One of the major benefits of having family visit is free labor! Hahaha just kiding!!  While they were all here, they were such troopers and helped us out with our next home project... a front yard with actual grass and no huge piles of dirt! (As many of you may have seen recently we have had a huge pile of dirt in the front yard for FOREVER) Yes, it is finally gone!



All Tilled Up!



Getting Started!



While all the boys were working on the yard, my mom helped me plant some new flowers in my garden. It is no secret that I did not inherit my Mom's green thumb so while she was here we went to the store and picked out some flowers and got them planted :) She also brought me a lemon tree that came from my grandfather's tree! So special to have something to remember him by!

The new flowers in my garden! :)

Other side of the garden

These are some of the flowers we planted :)

 

 

 

My Dad loves Bentley and it is obvious he feels the same way :) hehe

The last night, we took them out to eat at one of Bryce & I's favorite spots "Uncle Julio's"  They have amazing homemade tortillas and the food is always amazing!  They also have the best margarita's we have had yet in Atlanta :)  Dinner was wonderful yet bitter sweet because I knew they would be leaving the next morning! :(  The visit was so wonderful and I miss them already!

My amazing parents who have been together over 30 years! What a great example of a Godly couple!! Love you both!!











I LOVE MY FAMILY!! and can't wait until they come to visit again!! :)



Easter Bunny Bryce :)

For Easter every year Bryce dresses up like the Easter Bunny for our friends neighborhood egg hunt :) It is always a good time to hang out and participate in the fun :)  Some of the kids absolutely love him and others are TERRIFIED of him! Haha its so fun to watch the reactions!  It was also so fun to see all of the Easter Outfits! So Cute!!!  Here are some of the pics from the day!

Every year our friend Robbie is able to find the Easter Bunny on the way to the egg hunt and give him a lift in the golf cart! :)  He always has great timing ;-) hehe

 



This is the "Before" shot...it was a little late as you can see the kids are already on the hunt! :)

This is the "After" shot... the funny thing is clearing all of these eggs took the span of about 1 minute!
 It was seriously like a wave!

 

 

Hustle for Russell!!! :)

Bryce & I are walking in the "Energy for Life" walk next Saturday to support the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation!  Our team name is Hustle for Russell if you would like to join us next Saturday!!  This walk is so very important to us because all of the funds that are raised help find a cure for the disease that affects my little brother, John Russell!  His specific type affects his eyes, ears and heart.  He was diagnosed as a young child and is now 16 and the best young man that I know! That is a little weird to call him a young man but that is exactly what he is, so grown up!  No longer my 'little' brother anymore, I recently found out he is about as tall as I am!!  He is amazingly sweet and genuine and honestly the BEST one of all of us kids!  Sorry Gayle & Adrianne but its the truth! hehe  He loves his family (especially his neices and nephew :) ), waterskiing, video games and his new pet Max :) If you can't tell, I just love him to pieces!!

Many people don't know what this horrible disease is but it basically occurs when there is a defect in the body's powerhouse. The Mitochondria fails to produce enough energy and the result is organ system failure.  Imagine a major city with half of its power plants shut down.  the same thing happens in the affected person's body.  The brain may be impaired , they may lose vision or hearing, the heart may be weakened, and they may have eating and digestive issues.  The symptoms range from mild to severe for each affected person.  The disease is unfortunately fatal and currently there is no cure :( 

LET'S CHANGE THAT!!!  Join us as we walk for John Russell!!!

We would love for everyone to get involved in any way possible! Whether that is to join us that day for the walk or to offer support through a donation, we would love to have all of our family and friends involved!!

Click Here for more information about the walk or for donations!!

And So It Begins...

Our house has been a constant work in progress which I know is all houses but being that ours was built in 1960, it needs a little more TLC than most. I am so looking forward to the day when all of our projects are done but for right now we are starting the phases :)

The first project was expanding the doorway between the kitchen & dining room to open the space up a little and make it seem more flowing.  Here are some pics from the process...

These are the before shots:

Demolition!! My favorite part :)

Since this wall was a load bearing wall and we were removing part of the supports we had to add a longer header to the top of the doorway.  So, on either side of the doorway we built temporary supports to help spread out the load.  Definately did not want the roof to come caving in!

 This is a picture to show everyone what the horrible paneling looked like before Bryce moved in and we painted it so it didn't look like a dungeon!! HA

All ready for mud & sanding!  Old doorway = 2.5feet     New Doorway = 4.0 feet

 Safety first... and so that dust doesn't get EVERYWHERE!! HA We all glean our own lessons! hehe

Wait... is he smiling?? haha since it was about midnight when we took this picture, it seemed REALLY funny at the time! :)

Of course there will be more projects to come but this was a great start!! :)

Bentley

  
Last weekend Bentley had his annual check up on Saturday morning.  Well Bryce had to work so I got up and took him. As many of you know Saturday morning are sacred for me... I sleep in...LATE!  So, this was a little interesting but it turned out great :)  This is also pretty abnormal because I have only taken him to the vet once and it was right after we got him when he was having all of his stomach issues.  I have been avoiding it because I know it probably wouldn't be fun for him especially since he has to get shots at his check ups!  So I always make Bryce be the bad guy :) hehe Anyway, Bentley did great and was given a complete clean bill of health!

One of the things I specifically asked the vet was to try and nail down how old he was.  Since he is a rescue the organization we got him from wasn't sure how old he was.  Well, the vet couldn't really tell us either! HA oh well we are going to stick with our estimate of 4 and we have decided to give him the birthday of when we got him so his birthday is now August 6th :)

Another reason I have always avoided taking him is because I am the type person that when I go to the doctor or someone I love goes to the doctor, I always picture the worst situations and work myself into a tizzy worrying about it! So of course with Bentley having had heartworms before, I always worry a little more when it is time for this test. However, all of my worries were for nothing!  He is a healthy 72lb lab and was such a good boy at the vet he even got a treat from her! :) Im sure she gives it to all of the dogs she sees but Im going to pretend it is because he was so well behaved! HAHA :)  Below are some recent pics I have taken of him.

Work

One of the main things I have been doing lately is work work aaaannnnddd more work! HA It seems like every time I seem to think I have a handle on things and am in a pretty good groove, BAMB something happens and the best laid plans go poof!  Oh well such is life and I am thankful to be employeed and have that pay check deposit every couple of weeks :)

Another thing I am loving right now is the great places I get to travel to!  Sometimes it can get old pretty fast being away from home so much but then again I see views like the ones below and it makes me feel a little better! These were from a recent trip to Florida for a conference in sunny St.Petersberg Beach.  Unfortunatley we didn't have much time for the beach but I took a break from the trade show and went out and got some shots. It was B-E-A-UTIFUL!

 This picture I took while I was driving...I know it probably wasn't the safest move but it was such a pretty scene that I had to risk it :)  Part of my territory is Alabama and I love driving the back roads rather than the highways because it always seems this pretty!

This unfortunately was not one of the pleasant experiences of my travels! HA Yes the picture below is a shot of my plane cabin!  Most of the time I drive wherever I need to go but on this trip I was on the way to Texas soooo the plane was the only option.  The flight went pretty well until the landing when all of a sudden a piece of the cabin FELL OFF the ceiling!!??  I know right, makes you feel reallly safe!  Eventhough I have been flying since I was pretty young and this type thing has NEVER happened before, I still felt a little unsettled by this!!  Thankfully we were landing so when they put the brakes on the piece went forward and not back because I was sitting when I took this pic... soooo haha probably would have been SMACKED in the face!

Another great thing about traveling is the food! :)  I get to experience all kinds of yummy local restaurants which I love!  On one of my most recent trips to Alabama, one of my agents wanted to go to one of their favorite places for lunch.  They serve Louisiana style Po-Boys.  It was in the little run down building which kind of scared me at first but it was absolutely amazing!

 Probably the best one I have ever had :) 

When I am not taking agents out to lunch or dinner, I typically fall back on my favorites, one of them being Vietnamese Pho (Pictured below)! All I can say is YUM!  It is a very simple soup style dish but ohhh so good... I think it is the noodles that make it! 

Catch Up!

Well, as it would seem I am not so good at keeping up with blogging! Sorry it has been awhile!  A lot has happened though, so there will be a few after this one to help me catch up!  :)
The first exciting thing to share happened a few weeks ago up in Ohio!  Bryce's parents Greg & Robin were honored at their church as the "Sweetheart Couple Of The Year"  It was a great chance to go up to Ohio and spend the weekend and share this special honor with the family!  Below is the group shot :)  Congrats Greg & Robin!  We Love You!

The best part of the weekend though was getting to hold and cuddle with my sweet new neice Claire.  (No offence family but she is pretty darn cute! :) hehe)  I would literally jump at any chance to hold her!She is such a snuggle bug and I loved being able to spend some time with her since we live so far away!

The picture is a little grainy because I forgot my camera so we used Bryce's phone.

 

I must say I have a pretty awesome in-law family! :)  This is one lucky girl!

Puzzles!

I love puzzles! Any size and any type of picture! :) In my opinion the harder and more complicated the better. I love the hunt of finding just the right piece to go in just the right spot. Sometimes it can be completely frustrating but the reward when you get a piece set and ultimately the finished product FAR out weighs the slight insanity that comes with "the hunt".
So, this weekend I finally had a weekend to relax and literally do NOTHING! haha If you are around Bryce & I for any length of time you will know that this rarely happens! Needless to say I was pumped!
To celebrate this exciting "nothingness" I decided to try out a puzzle I have had since well before Bryce & I got married.
It was a 1,000 piece puzzle and had all kinds of fun colors and different parts to the picture to make it interesting.
I know this probably is completely lame and boring to most people but I love figuring how things work! Puzzles totally feed this! It took me a couple of days (with having to take some breaks to go to work on Monday and Tuesday uggghhh haha) to complete but here is a picture of the final product.

This is a picture of the box that shows what it was supposed to look like...what I was working toward :)

Another part to my nothingness weekend was my ability to feed another obsession... crime shows! As you probably figured out this feeds the same need as my puzzles...figuring things out. Trying to guess who the bad guy is! haha So, there I was this past weekend in my pj's, completing my puzzle and watching my crime shows all day long. Ahhhhhhhh (insert content sigh here) one happy girl!

Welcome to the Blogging World!

So for a while now I have been following quite a few blogs! It has become my daily ritual to read through what is going on in my friends lives... I absolutely love it!!! It gives me a glimpse into their daily lives that I wouldn't be able to see other wise!
However, the other side of that is that they have all been telling me that I need to start a blog. I didn't think I had much to write but thought it would be fun to post some pictures and the traveling adventures we seem to find ourselves in :) Especially since the majority of our family is out of state.
So... this is my attempt at blogging. Haha Bear with me as I attempt this new hobby! Enjoy!


This is one of my favorite pictures of my baby Bentley! It personifies his personality completely...Always Happy yet ALWAYS Curious and open to check out new things! "Whats is that thing you are sticking in my face...looks fun!!??"