Friday Favorites: New Job Edition

Hi everyone! Today I'm linking up with  Erika, Narci and Andrea for Friday Favorites! 

Friends, I just have one Friday Favorite to share with you this week, but it's a good one: I GOT A NEW JOB!! Whoop whoop! Time to celebrate. After working in Financial Aid at my Alma Mater for the past 5+ years, I decided it was time for a career change. During my time in FA I learned so much, and definitely realized my passion for Higher Education, but was starting to feel like I had reached maximum grown in my position. That, combined with my MBA I earned in 2016, combined with the new mom chaos, I was ready for something different.

All of that led me to my new job, as a PROFESSOR! Yep, you can call me Professor F :) This academic year I'll be teaching Business Administration courses at a local jr. college, and I am SO EXCITED! I have gotten a good feel of the business side of higher ed, and now I'm excited to test the waters of the academic side of things. 

Perks to new job: 

• new challenges/learning for myself
• more interaction with students
• something different everyday
• new adventures each semester
• flexibility, which will hopefully allow for more work/home balance
• work from home most Fridays 
• limited summer schedule
• more quality time with that sweetie pictured below

Today marks the end of my first full week here, and next week is my first week of classes! 

So all that being said, my new gig is my FAVORITE thing going on this week, and I'm excited to update you guys on how its going as the semester progresses.

This weekend is Lee's and my 6th wedding anniversary, and we're taking a family get away to Lake Barkley. Lee and I have done this several times for our anniversary, but this will be our first time as a family of 3. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Liam enjoys it. I hope you all have a great weekend!! 

Daytona Beach 2018 Days 1 & 2

Last week we took our first vacation as a family of 3! This was Liam's very first vacation. We kept it simple and headed for the beach. Our local airport does a quick, direct flight to Orlando Sanford airport, so we figured that would be great choice for Liam's first flight since it's just under 2 hours, and then we rented a car and drove to Daytona Beach, which is about a 40 min drive from the airport.

Day 1
Liam did great on the airplane. We gave him a bottle during take of and the landing to help with his ears popping. He cried a little during the landing, but just a few wimpers. We played with him and gave him snacks on the plane. We also downloaded his favorite show, Little Baby Bum on our iPad to keep him occupied for a few min as well.

Once we landed in Daytona, we got our bags and car and headed towards the beach! The hotel we stayed at was called the Nautilus Inn, and we loved it. It's nothing super fancy, but its right on the beach, clean, family-friendly, and all of the hotel rooms have a kitchenette (microwave, full fridge, small sink, oven, stove and some cabinet storage). This was great for washing bottles, etc.

We checked into our hotel, dropped off our stuff, and headed to the pier for some dinner. We grabbed a quick personal pizza, ate, walked around briefly and headed back to our hotel. We walked on the beach for a few min, and Liam was IN LOVE. We headed back to the room to put Liam to bed, and I had a grocery delivery scheduled from Publix, so we took care of that and headed to bed ourselves.

Day 2 was Independence Day! We knew everything would be busy, so we headed to the beach early, around 10am. We figured out this week that Liam has about a 2 hour beach span and then he starts fussing. So around lunch time we came in and Liam took a nap, while Lee and I ate lunch in the room. Liam slept for just barely over 2 hours, so Lee and I took a nap ourselves, caught up on some emails, and enjoyed the balcony view.

When we all woke up it was time to get ourselves ready and head for dinner. We chose to eat at Aunt's Catfish, and it was great. I would definitely recommend it. This was our favorite food of the trip.

Waiting for our table outside Aunt's Catfish

They had a small little playground for kids to play on while waiting, and a big dock to walk out on and enjoy the view

View from the dock at Aunt's Catfish

I had a frozen cocktail with dinner, YUM! 

The food at Aunt's Catfish was so good! I don't have pics of my salad plate, but they had a HUGE salad bar with both hot and cold items. You could totally make a meal out of this if you wanted. I chose the "Pick 2" option on their menu with coconut shrimp and clamp strips, and my meal came with two sides. I chose a baked potato and the salad bar. ALL of the meals come with a cinnamon roll, and they are DELICIOUS! I was too full to eat mine, so I took it to go and ate it for breakfast the next morning. Even the next day it was so good.

After eating Aunt's Catfish, we headed back to our hotel and went for an evening walk on the beach, Liam's favorite vacation past time, and then we watched a few fireworks from our balcony.

We watched fireworks in our jammies from the balcony! Look how intrigued Liam was with the fireworks! 

The fireworks were loud outside, so we put noise cancelling headphones on him. He tried to pull them off, but once he started watching the fireworks, he was distracted enough to keep them on. Thankfully, the fireworks didn't bother us while we were inside sleeping!

Check out my next post to read about the next 2 days of our trip!

*The link above is an affiliate link. Thanks for supporting my blog! 

Weekend Recap: T Swift Edition

Friends, I am so exhausted this Monday morning! Give me ALL the coffee! This past weekend was totally worth it, though. Read all about it! 

Friday was kind of a drag... our AC went out, and it was 85 degrees in our casa when we got home, YUCK! So Liam and I spent most of our evening playing in the basement, since it's so much cooler down there than upstairs. Lee called the AC repair, and they came out and got it fixed! I was so thankful!! I had been a little nervous that they may need to order a part or something, and if that's the case, our house might've stayed hot for a few days, OR we'd have to pay an arm and a leg to rush order, etc. So thankfully, it got fixed, and our casa is all cooled down now. After the AC people left, Lee went and picked up some taco rice bowls from Hot Head Burrito, and we called it a night. 

On Saturday, Liam and I hung around the house and cleaned up and what not while Lee ran some errands. Saturday afternoon, my brother, his gf, and my niece showed up. We took my niece and headed to Louisville, KY, and my brother and his gf stayed at our house with Liam. 

Let me just start by telling you that this concert was in an open stadium where U of L hosts football games, and it was HOT! Like high 90's, heat advisory kind of hot. On our way to Louisville we rocked out to T Swift and got ourselves pumped up for the concert. Once we got to town, we grabbed a quick dinner at Chick Fil A. 

This girl LOVES her some Chick Fil A. 

After dinner we headed to the show! The openers were Charli XCX and Camilla Cabello. Next came Queen Tay, and she put on an AWESOME show. Think fireworks, confetti, flames, fountains, props, costume changes, and of course some really great music. The concert was quite a production. We had so much fun dancing, singing, and sweating haha. 

We were HOT, but having so much fun together. 

T Swift is that tiny little woman on stage, haha. Thank goodness for those screens so we could see her! 

Everyone at the show got a bracelet that lit up differently for each song, etc. It was so cool! 

We made it home late, told my bro and his gf all about the show, and then crashed. Sunday we got up and had breakfast with my family. My step-mom came over and us girls went to Starbucks for some coffee and got pedicures! We stopped at Sonic on our way back for lunch, and then everyone headed home. Lee, Liam, and I spent the rest of our Sunday cleaning up from the weekend and starting to pack for vacation. 

Love her so much! 

Time to get pampered! 

This little guy was so sleepy but wouldn't go to bed, so I wore him in my baby carrier, and got some kitchen cleaning done. 

We'll be headed to Daytona Beach, Florida for vacation soon, and we are SO EXCITED! This will be Mr. Liam's first airplane, first time to the beach, and our first vacation as a family of 3. I can't wait to tell you all about it when we get back. Happy Monday, everyone! 

Weekend Recap: Date Night Edition!

Hello everyone! Its Friday, and I'm just now re-capping last weekend... some weeks just work out that way, right? Just go with it... ;)!  Here's a recap of our weekend: I took the day off work last Friday and gave myself a 3 day weekend. Why can't all weekends be 3 days long?!

Friday morning, a friend and her 2 sons came over for a couple of hours to play, and it was great to have some girl chat. Liam and I hung around the house the rest of the afternoon. I held him and snuggled through BOTH of his naps, and we got all packed up for the rest of our weekend. Then Friday night, we ran some errands: A stop at Target, some dinner to-go, and we headed home. It was a nice quiet day/evening with my cutie. Lee left for Nashville for a conference straight from work on Friday, so Liam and I were flying solo the first part of the weekend.

We played outside on our swing... 

...and we played inside with Elmo! 

Saturday morning, we got up and got ourselves ready. My MIL came over to pick up Mr. Liam, and I headed for Nashville. This was my first time leaving Liam over night, and I was really nervous, BUT I did great, and didn't even let myself cry. Liam LOVES his gma, and he got so excited when she walked through the door on Saturday, so that made me feel better about leaving him.

Once I got to Nashville, Lee and I dropped my stuff in the room and headed to the pool. We ordered a frozen drink, took a nap in the lounge chairs by the pool, and it was glorious. That evening we had dinner with the conference, and they provided tickets to the Grand Ole' Opry. We had never been before and we really enjoyed it.

Pool side with a frozen, fruity drink. Much needed R & R. 

The conference was hosted at the Gaylord Opryland Resort. If you've never been here, I highly recommend going. It is so pretty! We stayed here for our babymoon, and have just gone there to walk around other times we've been in Nashville, and it is enjoyable both ways. We got to stay there this past weekend, so on Sunday, we got up and had breakfast at one of the restaurants there and then spent a little time walking around looking at all of the flowers, went into a few shops, and picked up some souvenirs for our babysitters.

My love and I all dressed up for a night out. 

Artwork like this was outside of the Grand Ole Opry.  I posed with Keith Urban...

... and Lee posed with Dolly. 

After our breakfast and walking around the hotel on Sunday, we packed up and headed home to love on that baby of ours! It was so nice to get some one on one time with Lee, and although we drove separate to Nashville, we ended up talking on the phone with each other for an hour on our way home.

We spent the rest of Sunday playing with Liam, unpacking, and getting ready for the week. Our first couples getaway post baby was a short one, but we had a great time together, and I survived leaving Liam over night.  He must've played hard with grandma and grandpa, because he fell asleep around 6:40 pm on Sunday night, and woke once through the night for a bottle, and went back to sleep until 5:00 am Monday morning! Talk about a sleepy baby!

Family snuggles on Sunday with our sleepy boy. 

We had fun in Nashville, but we sure did miss this sweet face! 

So now that I've recapped last weekend, it's Friday, and I'm so excited about another great weekend planned! We are taking my niece to see Taylor Swift in concert tomorrow, and my little guy is going to spend the evening with my brother and his girlfriend. It'll be a kid swap for us! My nephew is MIA from us this weekend bc he's going to a friends's house for a sleepover, so we'll miss him, but I have no doubt he'll be having plenty of fun with out us. Hopefully next week I can tell you about our weekend sooner! Happy Friday, my friends!

Father's Day Weekend

Happy Monday! This past weekend was Father's Day! It was so nice to see both of our families, and also to celebrate Lee's first Father's Day. I have very few pics from the weekend, but I still want to make note of our celebration, so someday I can look back on this and remember how we celebrated Lee's first Father's Day.

Friday  night we went to my niece's dance recital! We got mixed up on times, and got there late, but just in time to see her dance. Liam fell asleep on our way there, so we watched a few more dances after hers and snuck out. We were able to say goodbye and snap a pic with her in costume, and we grabbed some Chinese take out on our way home.

Saturday, Lee did dominated some yard work, and Liam and I ran errands to pick up a few groceries and Father's Day gifts. Once we got home, I whipped up a dessert, and we headed to my dad and smom's house. That night we had ribs for dinner, visited my dad's new grocery store (He bought a new building and is moving his store to the larger location. Grand opening this week... so excited!), and then we came home and all the dads opened gifts. Sunday morning we visited, Lee and Liam took a nap together and I packed up our stuff, and we headed for home.

My niece, Layla, is not too cool yet for selfies with her Aunt. 

Liam was not too excited about a selfie with mom and dad. 

Uncle J always up for some baby Liam lovins.

Liam needed a nap, but was not loving the pack n play, so we put him in my parents' bed... safety first!! 

.

Once we got home, Liam and I took Lee to lunch at McAlister's, and then to get ice cream at Milk & Sugar. Liam napped while we had ice cream, so it was so nice that Lee and I got to have adult conversation while we ate, which doesn't happen very often.

Key Lime and Lemon Meringue ice cream for our favorite guy. 

How cute are these Copy + Paste shirts that Lee got for Father's Day?

Liam is so excited to match his daddy! 

After lunch we came home and whipped up some stuffed peppers, and headed to my in-laws river camp for dinner. We grilled out with my in-laws, played a brief game of cards, and then we made our way home to get Mr. Liam out of the heat.

We had a great Father's Day weekend celebrating some of our favorite men.