Wonderful Weekends

SOOO! The last couple of weekends have been amazing! Now some may say that I'm currently living one giant weekend as I'm not going into work. They would be WRONG! Can I get an "Amen" from the stay at home moms? Totally a difference. But the last two weekends were definitely what weekends were made for. 

Last Friday was our 5th anniversary. Obviously we couldn't do much, but I'm pleased to say that we did celebrate. We're five for five on our commitment to celebrate our anniversary each year. This year we decided that each of us could use some time to relax, so Sam went to play a round of golf and I got a massage and a facial. Golf is Sam's happy place... He LOVES it, but it's like the most expensive hobby ever, so he rarely gets to play. I LOVE massages, but that's definitely a luxury thing for me... my last one was for our second anniversary, three years ago. While we were out for the day, Sam's mom kept Little Man for us. That afternoon we picked him up and went over to my mom's. She kindly offered to watch him for the night, so we went out to dinner at Bonefish and then spent the night at Chateau Elan. Chateau Elan is literally across the street from my mom's subdivision, so we were approximately three minutes away. It was nice to be close enough that I could relax, but separate enough that we could enjoy each other and celebrate five years together. It wasn't the most glamorous anniversary, but I'm really proud that we found a way to keep our promise for another year. I don't have any photos though, so you'll have to just trust me that it happened. 

On Saturday, the day after our anniversary my mom hosted a baby shower for us. It was really wonderful! She worked really hard on decorations, and the house was BEAUTIFUL! It was a really special day for our family and family friends to come meet Garrison and shower our family with love. 

Mom thoroughly enjoyed making a gazillion tissue paper flowers

The beautiful spread

Our one any only interest flop… Mom's goal were those tulle balloons you see
everywhere. FYI… they don't float. Like at all. So some gold spray paint to the rescue.

Sam had present duty for approximately one gift before he vacated the seat of honor

Happy little Greavu family

Mom was really wise (and awesome) and used items that I wanted
for his nursery for the shower decorations. This little
elephant will now take up residence in the nursery.

Sunday was Easter and Garrison's first time at church. We decided to take him to Waumba Land (preschool) as a packed auditorium and a screaming baby sounds awful. 

When you can't hunt Easter eggs, Easter is kind of a snooze.

He got the royal treatment complete with VIP stickers, an "Athens, I love You" onesie, and a sticker to celebrate his first time in Waumba Land. 

I wanted one of him awake, but first days at church are exhausting.

I think I was a good bit more excited about his first day in Waumba, as he pretty much snoozed. For me, this was a very long awaited day. I've served in the preschool ministry since August of 2012. I've watched hundreds of pregnant bellies and baby carriers walk past my door every Sunday for years. But even more, every Sunday for years, I've checked myself in only to have the parent pickup sticker print. Sunday after Sunday, I've simply thrown that part away, but no longer. 

I'll be needing that parent pickup sticker now!

It was a really incredible weekend. One filled with long awaited dreams come true, redemption, and lots of celebrations! It was also pretty crazy to think that this time next year we'll have a one year old to celebrate Easter with. Still surreal to think that this is my life. 

Yesterday my sweet friends here in Athens through me a second baby shower. These ladies have been some of my biggest supporters and cheerleaders over the last few years. In a lot of ways, Garrison is the fruits of their labor as they have spent countless hours in prayer for our family. It was so special to get to celebrate with them and introduce him to the answer to their prayers.

Beautiful (and delicious) cupcakes by my friend, Laura.
Notice that she wrote a bazillion nicknames for Garrison.

The beautiful spread of food. My friend, Danielle, has
THE BEST house. Seriously. Add that she and her husband are
great cooks, and well, they could sell tickets to be friends with them.

Some of the beautiful decorations that the girls came up with…
don't be jealous, my friend Kristin is a ridiculously
popular interior designer.

The remaining Athenian members of my original small group…
love these girls to pieces!

Current small group (minus one). So thankful for each of these ladies!

These weekends have been so special! I wasn't sure if I'd ever get to have a baby shower… kind of a always the bridesmaid, never the bride, type of deal. But now I've had TWO and they were both so special! And while it makes for a rough first few weeks, it's pretty awesome to have your baby with you at the baby shower. We're so, so thankful for the outpouring of love and gifts we've received since bringing Garrison home. He's going to be one well dressed  and well read little dude. 

Too Tired to Party

Today is the first day in a while that I am super thankful to  not  have a job. Why, you might ask. Because I'm exhausted. I feel like a tornado blew through my weekend. What happened, you ask. A bachelorette party plus a baby's first birthday party. Here's how my weekend kicked off:

My loooonnnnnggggg time friend is finally (sorry girl) getting married to the love of her life. I thought Sam took his sweet time… But it is all working out beautifully for them. They will graduate in June with super respectable degrees on opposite ends of the country… she'll be a Physician's Assistant and he'll have a PhD in nanometals (something super smarty pants). I met Emily in the third grade when I moved to a new school system. In the fourth grade we were in the same class and we've been friends ever since. She's the kind of friend who I can go months with out talking to, but when we talk it's like nothing's changed.

Back to this weekend. She's in PA school at Wake Forest in Winston Salem, NC, so Friday I set out for what should have been about a 4.5 hour trip north. And this is where the drama begins. I was cruising along quite nicely until I reached North Carolina. Apparently Charlotte equates itself with Atlanta because that is seriously what the traffic was like. It took me an hour to get from one side of Charlotte to the other… bluh. I was starting to panic that I was going to be late. I began running possible scenarios through my head. I decided if I was late, I'd skip going to her house to freshen up and simply meet up at the bar. I'd be slumming, but maybe I could at least fix my makeup in the bathroom. Traffic opened up and Apple Maps informed me that I could expect to be there 5 minutes late. Not too bad. I figured I could make up 5 minutes. Just as I was reaching maximum cruising speed, I crested a hill to see gridlock. I slammed on my breaks to prevent one of those 2 bazillion car accidents you always hear about. At this time it was 4:45. I'd already been in the car for 4 hours. I should have been just outside of Winston Salem, but I was still 50 miles away. Long story short, Interstate 85 was closed. It took me over an hour to go from one exit to the next at which point I finally learned of the closed status and bailed. I backtracked, found another route, and managed to arrive about 8 o'clock.

I never drive. Never. I've been with Sam forever and since practically day one, he insisted on driving. So I was already really nervous about driving all the way to Winston Salem by myself. I fall asleep in the car in about 30 minutes on road trips. I knew it was going to be a long day. In addition, I am terrible at directions. I get lost in my hometown all the time. I learn one way to get somewhere. If I'm on the wrong side of town from my starting point, I've been known to drive all the way to the start of my "starting point" to get to my destination rather than risk getting lost by finding a new way. The detour added another layer of stress entirely. The whole time I kept thinking "what the heck did people do before iPhones and GPS?" How awful.

Regardless, I made it. And right as the girls were ordering dinner too. Score. I was starving and I hadn't stopped to pee since Clemson, 5 hours and a diet coke ago. Dinner was lovely. All of Emily's bridesmaids are super nice and I met a score of her PA friends as well. Slightly overwhelming for this introvert, but I managed. And I of course didn't take a single picture the entire weekend, so I'm stealing a couple from Facebook as evidence that I was in fact there. We ate at a really cute restaurant with pretty tasty food called Jeffrey Adams on Fourth downtown.

Emily and I along with Kristi,
another bridesmaid who traversed and survived I-85

My favorite moment of the evening was when our waiter delivered a brownie sundae to Emily with congratulations and well wishes. His comment was "it's kind of like the opposite of your birthday". Huh? So getting married is kind of like death? Thanks for the encouragement mister waiter man. Good news, the third anniversary is approaching for me, and well, I'm still alive.

Emily and her Deathday Treat

Sadly, my bachelorette weekend had to come to a close early as I had a special little person's birthday to get back for. Saturday morning I enjoyed a scrumptious brunch prepared by Emily's PA friends and then I headed back down I-85 for home. Luckily, this time I made it in 4 hours and 15 minutes, with a stop for gas and refreshments. Uneventful and lovely… my kind of road trip. 

Heads up friends, if you're not in the mood to deal with lots of photos 

of a 1 year old in all of her glory, jump ship now.

The rest of the weekend was devoted to a special little girl who turned one one Saturday, my niece Alexis. We had lots of friends and family over to celebrate her special day. She decided to sleep through most of it. She takes after her aunt, she's not too much of a party girl. But she eventually woke up and enjoyed opening a few presents and smashing some cake.

It's my party, and I'll sleep if I want to

Post nap happy face

Sweet family- she's really good at opening presents

she loved her bear from her great-grandmother

Time to smash some cake

So ladylike

"Why's everybody staring at me?"

Pretty tasty

So sweet… she just wants to share with mommy

The aftermath

Post bath and after everyone went home,
she was up for a few more pictures

A little milk after all that cake

Needless to say, after two parties, in two separate states, I'm a little beat. Add to that the whole daylight savings mess and well, I'm in need of a day to recuperate. But I'm thrilled to have been a part of both parties. Emily, I'm honored to stand beside you on your wedding day and I can't wait to see you walk down the aisle. Alexis, Aunt Amanda loves you sweet girl. Someday you'll love me too and be willing to document these special days with a picture with your auntie. Stop growing sweet girl, you're getting too big.