roadtrippin' down south

Last weekend Andrew and I drove from Minnesota down to Atlanta. We of course arranged our trip around food and friends! 

our last glimpse of the Spring that had finally come to our MN apt

We left early to have Chicago style pizza for lunch and have dinner in Louisville, KY for BBQ. 

Ribs at Mark's Feed Store in KY

The next day we stopped in Nashville for lunch with Marisa! It was such a blast to catch over lunch at Fido before making it to Atlanta. 

Once in good ole' GA, we got to see Andrew's parents and enjoy the warm weather.  His family had a Southern food feast for us and it was amazing.  We love spending time with his Mimi and family especially while enjoying pecan pie (my favorite!), a roast, macaroni and cheese, fried okra, green beans, salads, biscuits, and sweet tea.  We also played some golf with his parents...and yeah.  I've never played before.  That's why all I'm always in the cart from the pictures :)

a view from the cart

everyone putting

I got to swing by Ga. Tech and around some of my favorite spots in Atlanta.  

We also sold our 4Runner while down here and recently bought a new car. Woo hoo! We needed 4 wheel drive for the MN winter and wanted to shave some miles off.  While waiting- no joke- 10 hours at the car dealership, I stopped into Hobby Lobby twice.  It was next door and the visits were several hours apart and I was at the end of my waiting-on-the-hubs-to-negotiate-at-the-dealership rope.  Here are some of the fun things I saw and restrained myself from buying: 

they had tons of unique knobs!

I thought these twine ones were great

a lot of these reminded me of anthropologie

I thought these would be cute in a barn or outdoor area

these could be fun as mail sorters

ha. andrew and my dad would laugh with this one

they had tons of party supplies and these mustaches seem to be super trendy

cute mini journals!

thought this was a cool set of drawers

a whole NASCAR section...

 and John Deere fabric = we're back in the South

week in a nutshell

"Help! I'm in a nutshell! Help!" Name that movie.

Ok, so no one else really watched Austin Powers? Yeah, I know.  It's just one of the only movie quotes I really know.  Which says a lot about how much (or really, shows how little) of a movie person I am.

This was a "limbo" week.  Transitional from campus to summer, but not fully either. The campus we're on is still not done (!!!) so though students are preparing for finals this week, we're already starting to mentally skip out.  And with lots of all day staff meetings this week, our team has pretty much transitioned almost fully to summer things.  Thus, we're in limbo.

my last "on campus" lunch of the semester- visiting one of my girls while working. She'd kill me for this, but she wears the uniform well

We leave next week for Georgia, which I am super excited about.  Plus it got cold again this week and I am ready to get the heck out of this place for a few months.

There were several highlights this week though and partly from the beautiful, warm (not too hot) weather we had most of the time.

Perk of working weird hours and for an unconventional job: as part of our staff evalutaion and planning day, our area team went to the Twins game! It wasn't sunny, but it felt AMAZING! Jeans and tank top warm, no sweating, no goosebumps kind of weather.  We had a staff meeting in the morning then left around lunch to head to the game.  The food at the game was so good too! And my sweet hubby bought a frozen lemonade for me.  Now, you've got to understand the power of this.  It. is. my. favorite. ever. I love these things!  And it was the only thing my parents would ever let my sister and I get at Braves games.  So it was always considered a seriously special treat.  So even after we got meals at the game, Andrew bought one for us to share and I was near giddy the rest of the game.  I think he got tired of me thanking him for it.

walking into the new and beautiful stadium near the light rail

 who's that coming down the track?! ok, wrong game. wrong team.  But my hubby looks really cute :)

right side

 left side

 Hubs at the game

Needless to say the game was a welcome variation of my day!

Andrew and I also went on a quick date earlier this week to the local Barnes and Noble.  We shared a decaf mocha...and while Andrew devoured a Cheesecake Factory chocolate cheesecake, I throughly enjoyed my vanilla buttercream cupcake! Dessert is one thing neither of us compromise on.

yum!

mocha + civil war reading

While Andrew thumbed through a Civil War "a pictorial history" book I found some fun design books to peruse.  I'm thankful we can do stuff like this together.

Saw this and made me question...are we related to this guy?! 

And now we've shifted to packing mode.  Our living room has a pile of sheets, towels, cooking basics, and cleaning supplies for out stint in SC with our ministry (we live in a janky hotel for the summer while helping train students for how to grow in their relationships with Christ).

And I'll leave you with one of the beautiful sunsets this week:

This was pre-tornado and thunderstorms craziness later this week.  

aaaand were off

The lull of our lives has come to a halt and we're back to a busier season.  We've been wrapping up things on campus but also starting to plan for the summer with a few other fun things mixed in.

Since returning from Charlotte, I've really been grateful for a flexible schedule where I can read, and do a few more things around the house (including cleaning, which I hadn't really done in a while...). But now we're planning and gearing up for our student summer project down in South Carolina.  We head out in a week and a half.

Last weekend we had a retreat for our student leadership and it was a blast.  I love getting to spend time with those girls!

This week a good friend, Caroline, from my hometown who went to my high school and was in my sorority in college came to visit!  She came with her husband, John, and mother-in-law, but they weren't here to see me.  They're moving up to Minneapolis!! So BEYOND excited!!  Anyway, I got to spend the day with those three and show them around the city. As I drove them around it reminded me of the fun things about Mpls that I love:

1. Good restaurans: such as Damico & Sons
2. Fun coffee shops: Cupcake, Wilde Roast, etc.
3. Cute shops: Grand Ave, 50th & France, Uptown
4. Beautiful lakes everywhere
5. Lots of art: museums everywhere, especially the sculpture garden
6. Farmer's Market- which is officially open.  I got to go Saturday morning and loved it!

It was a blast to show them around, describe Midwestern culture, but also be able to relate not just to the South generally, but our exact town, college, and sorority.  It was a very welcome colliding of worlds. 

Since then we've had a party or event everyday too.  Cinco de Mayo with students, summer project preparation/info session and 2 going away parties for a staff friend, Laura, moving to Thailand.  I've been in charge or helping plan for food for all of them.  Needless to say I'm wiped.  Plus tasks are not my thang. I did enjoy spending time with people there, but a long to-do list wears me out.

Here are some shots from the pinata at the Cinco de Mayo party:

it was a nice day, but still a little chilly

wow do i swing like a girl

Molly, Rachel and me getting a share of the good pinata candy

We're also cramming in time with friends and supporters up in MN before we leave so most of our evenings are planned out. 

Soon enough though we'll be in Georgia getting to spend time with our families.  Can't wait! ...And Mom, wish we could've been there to say "Happy Mother's Day" in person, but know I love you!