ATL 2K9

Last weekend, we made the 8+ hour trek to my hometown for some fun with the fam. We stayed busy doing lots of fun things the whole time we were there, so it was a nice break from our small town life!

Thursday when we got it, we headed downtown to meet up with Ryan and Kelly, who were going to grab a drink at a cool bar in Midtown - Whiskey Park. Upon their arrival there, they quickly discovered that it was not a night for the boy/girl couples, so we headed to Whiskey Blue in Buckhead instead. Here's a picture of the place:

Awesome rooftop deck/lounge area overlooking Buckhead

(from Jezebel Magazine)

Billy and I cheaped out and headed back to get some rest and save some dollars, but Kel and Ryan had a nice date evening at the super cool bar :)

Friday, Dad put Billy and Ryan to work doing a little trimming on the backyard arbor.

Then, we headed to the club so the guys could play golf and the girls could relax by the pool and go walking. We had a cocktail overlooking the golf course and were joined by a few of Mom's friends for a birthday dinner in the Troon Grill.

Saturday, we were up way too early so that we could run in the Peachtree Road Race, which was lots of fun. Everyone finished, even though Bryan and Dad decided to start the race at Collier and Peachtree, doing the last 2 or 3 miles :) Then, we headed to the lake for fireworks and some more hang out time with family and friends. The highlight of that time was all of the fun we had watching the dogs playing in the water. Jefferson and Sam LOVED playing together and swam pretty much non-stop the whole time!

Sunday after we got back from the lake, we met Justin and Deborah for dinner at Taco Mac in Virginia Highlands, adding a couple more points to Billy's passport card.

Monday, we relaxed by the pool (dogs swimming and playing non-stop again!) and then met Laura for dinner at Park Tavern later that evening.

Tuesday, I did some job searching, and we all went to trivia at Neighbors in Virginia Highlands that night except for Kel.

Wednesday, I had a job search-related meeting, and then we headed back up here for a very quick trip of 8 hours including a stop at Cookout in Concord, NC (we highly recommend this fastfood place for anyone traveling through NC!).

Yummy!!

So, it was a busy but wonderful time there, and we're excited to go back again before too long! (but we're enjoying our life here too :))

New Windows!!

Billy and I finally broke down and got new windows on our house, figuring that of all the home improvements we want to/could make, we'll definitely see a return on our investment here. Plus, with the 30% tax credit and some unexpected leftover tax $ from 2008, we decided now was the time to do it.

We used Sea-Thru Windows, a local company, and were really impressed with their professionalism, quality, and speed! They came to our house around 9AM yesterday and were completely finished by around 3PM. I was thinking it would be a two-day job, so we were super excited about how quickly they got everything done.

Here are some before & after pics...

Front Before

Front After

(the newly painted black front door is more noticeable too - thanks BC!)

Closeup of the new windows

Living Room Before

Living Room After

We even let Jefferson go partially outside through the window to watch some neighbors walking by before bedtime...he loves the new windows too!

(we were on the 1st floor, of course :))

We are both so excited about the windows and slept with them open and the fans on last night...yay for saving on utilities and being able to enjoy the lack of humidity we're currently having here!!

Family Time

This past weekend, we had lots of family time with the Chorey side of the family, so that was fun! We went to a Tides game on Friday night with Billy's immediate family, and then spent time with the extended family on Saturday. Sunday included a trip to Busch Gardens with Hunter, Mika, and Kendall...we always love BG!

Jefferson's stately arrival to the cookout :)

The whole Chorey fam (minus Christy)

This weekend, we're heading to ATL to visit my family and some of our friends as well. We have a busy but fun weekend planned with lots of hangout time, the Peachtree Road Race, a trip to the lake, and some other fun Atlanta activities (maybe even a little job searching :)). I'll post pictures next week! Happy 4th of July!!