Happy Hallowween!

For Halloween this year we had some friends over for snacks, drinks, and a scary movie. We watched Vacancy. It was not a good movie! The best part of the night was that everyone brought their dogs dressed for the occasion. Here are some pics:

Amber and Adam with their pups Wedge and Maggie

Ivan and Erin with their dog Eddie who was Yoda

Riley doing a trick for a tortilla chip with her ladybug antlers on

Happy Halloween

Amber and Me just hanging out doing the exact same pose!

Amber made these fabulous spider cupcakes. She is the cupcake queen!

Erin (other Erin) made these awesome lychee eyeball martinis. Don't they look disgusting?

The boys enjoying their martinis

Erin, Amber and Erin

I am up way too late!

Its about midnight and I can't sleep! Paul is out of town all week and I have such a hard time sleeping when he is gone. So, I decided to get some stuff done. Including decorating my table for the fall! What do you think? Dressing tables is one of my favorite things to do when I plan events and love doing it at home as well! Goodnight, I am off to conquer.

I've been blog tagged!

My sister-in-law tagged my bog! I guess this means I have to say 6 random things about me and then tag some of you! Here is goes:

1. I was once chased by a moose in Winter Park while sleeping under the stars. The 2 other girls that were with me at some point in the middle of the night got up and went back to our cabin. And I woke up alone to the sound of an animal drinking by the lake next to me. I jumped up and started running and the moose came after me! But I outran that darn moose and am alive to tell the story :)

2. I love to play golf. In high school I played on varsity. Not because I was any good, but because any girl who joined the team automatically played varsity. But I learned the sport and love it. Although I don't have many other girls to play with so don't get out much.

3. I have always had a fascination with the Cello. As a kid I always wanted to play and still long to learn. This is one of my goals for the near future. Hold me to it y'all! (I know, I live in Georgia now, I can say y'all)

4. I was born 6 weeks premature. I wasn't supposed to live past 3 days old. But the crazy thing was I was still 7lbs! I would have been 11lbs if I went full term! I am a little worried about having kids. Can this be my excuse as to why we aren't having kids yet?!?! Since I seem to be bugged a lot about this (I am not pointing any fingers though).

5. Once I got to sit in first class (Thanks Brent Hanlon for giving me your free upgrade :)) But what was crazy was I ended up sitting next to Left Eye from the group TLC (whom I loved in high school!"don't go chasin waterfalls, please stick to the..." oh sorry) on a flight to Honduras. I had no idea who she was at first and then we started to curtious airplane chat. She ended up passing away that week in a car crash while in Honduras. Very sad.

6. And....I married my high school sweetheart and first love. Both Paul and I knew 100% without a doubt that we were going to marry each other when we were 18. People definatly thought we were crazy. And we waited to make sure we weren't crazy. But so far so good :)

There we go. 6 random facts that I bet a lot of you didn't know! Tag your it, Amber Rasmusen, Katie Lew, Joelle Tuner and Kristi Gage!

Erin

Grandparents came to town!

Sorry it has been a while. And I owe you guys a rafting post and a post about when my mama came to town. Things have been a little crazy!

So, my grandparents from Denver made Paul and I a little visit this last week. We had a lot of fun going to Savannah, eating lots of yummy food and seeing some new Atlanta sights! Here are some pics:

Some cool Spanish hanging moss that hangs all over the trees here in the south. I think it makes things look really spooky!

Me hanging out with a cardboard cut out of Paula Dean at her store in Savannah. I love Paula Dean!

Grandma and Grandpa hanging out at the cemetery we toured

These are all the headstones that soldiers during the civil war knocked over and moved around. And so they put them all on this wall because nobody knows where they should go.

Some cool stained glass at one of the churches we toured.

Grandpa, Gradma and Paul at Pitty Pats Porch. This is a like a super old school Atlanta tourist "must do" which the whole resturant is based on Gone With the Wind.

Paul holding his sweet menu that is a fan like the little southern belle he is.

Grandma and Grandpa at The Crab Shack.

It was pirate weekend in Savannah.

Hanging out at the freezing cold, windy beach

A bummer of a day.

I went to work today like any other day. But got a call from my boss saying he needed to talk to me and starting freaking out about what I could possibly be in trouble for. He sat me down and let me know that I will no longer be working for Badda Bing as of October 9th. And it all basically boils down to money. He said that hands down I have been the best employee he has ever had, which was very flattering, but said he was feeling the crunch and just can no longer afford to pay me. I was stocked but also understand how hard it is to run a small business and how much it takes to stay afloat. His kids are a little older now and so his wife will continue my job. I defiantly have very mixed emotions. I understand his decision but now feel totally lost as to what to do and just bummed out! We just got out of debt (which praise God we are) and started to put some money away for emergencies and a down payment. But know without my income, it will be a little harder to save and my small business is anything but a full-time income. All this to say, God is good and so faithful and will take care of me. But, please be praying that Paul and I figure out what is next. Whether that is me taking another full-time job (in the hopes I find one) and dropping event planning or really pushing my business and maybe do something on the side to supplement. I just don't know what is going to happen. But, I trust in my God who is so much bigger than me. I will keep you all updated but please keep us both in your prayers and thoughts through this time of change and uncertainty.

We talked to Dave Ramsey!

So, as you all know from an e-mail we sent out as well as our past blog, we recently paid off all of our debt. As you can tell, we are a little excited and proud of the goal we accomplished. Sorry if it has been a little much. After this blog, we are done. Promise. But, now we feel it is official that we got to talk to Dave! When Paul and I started the Total Money Makeover, we started listening to his radio talk show. On Fridays, people call in and shout over the phone that they are debt free and tell a little bit of their story. Paul and I talked about how cool it would be to call when we finally finished paying off our debt to celebrate with Dave Ramsey himself. So, we called and called and called. The first time we called we got on hold but then 1 hour into us holding on the line, my phone died. Then we tried another 2 weeks in a row but nobody ever answered the phone. I finally was able to leave a message on one occasion with our information. On Thursday I got a phone call from someone at the Dave Ramsey television show asking if we wanted to talk to Dave over the phone for his show the following day. So, Friday morning, they called us and we able to tell Dave our story and shout to the world that we were debt free. And then it aired Friday night. Here is the video!

We’re Debt Free!

Erin and I like many recent college grads thought we “earned” a life style. Right after college we got jobs, financed two new cars and a house but didn’t have a budget, and paid the minimum amount on our student loans. After moving to Atlanta in May of 2006 we had problem after problem and solved most of them by using our credit card. By the end of 2006 we had maxed out our credit card and knew something had to change.

We read the Total Money Make-Over by Dave Ramsey (this sounds like a mini advertisement… sorry) and got on a plan for our 2007 New Year’s resolution. After selling off a car and getting on a realistic budget (Thanks to Erin our little accountant) we were ready to start paying off some debt. And last month Erin and I paid off the last of our $42K debt! We now drive two paid for cars, no credits cards or student loans. We are able to save like we should. This has been one of the best things that Erin and I have done for our marriage. If you are looking for something to do to relieve stress from your relationship this is a great place to start.

Thanks to everyone for the encouragement along our way!

Sorry it has been so long!

Well, I think this is the longest break we have taken from blogging in a while. We just got back from a fabulous trip to Durango. It was filled with lots of fresh air, outdoors and good friends and family. We were there for 9 days which was great. We were both in need of a break for our work. Here are so pics of all the fun!


Mark and Ashley's dog being cute at the top of the mountain!


My sexy mountain climber!


A Salamander Mark and Paul saw on a hike up La Plata Canyon.









Paul loves being outdoors!


Mark and Paul enjoying a beer at a local pub in Durango.


Awe, cute sister in laws!


Bar hoping in D town like the good old days.







Paul and I went camping in Ophir, CO. And we had to go over this pass to get there. It was sweet.


We also spent a night at the nuddie springs in Ouray and got our favorite cookie from Mouse's chocolates and coffee. They take all their leftover chocolate from day and mix it into cookie dough to make a scrap cookie. Yummo!




Paul and I visiting our alma mater









The Marley's (our cousins) all drove out to visit. This is a little hike we did.

A lack of anything exciting!

I have to apologize for the lack of posts. Paul and I have been working like dogs and it really hasn't been all that exciting. Some more posts are soon to come. We leave Saturday for a week vacation to Colorado for a little R and R and some well missed outdoor activities! Take Care!

Peachtree Road Race 2008

Erin and I ran our first race together. We completed the annual Atlanta 4th of July tradition of the Peachtree Road Race. It was a crazy race with over 57,000 people running down Peachtree Street between Buckhead and Midtown. Our numbers were 72667 and 72666 so we ended up in the twice to last heat. We didn’t get to the starting line until an hour and 4 mins into the race. Because of the number of people in the race it attracts a lot of advertising while you race. From radio station pumping music into the streets to the local priest who sprinkled Holy Water on runners and everything in between. This provided some great entertainment during the 6 mile race. All in all this was an awesome experience. It was a lot of fun to run a race down a historic street in Atlanta and also to do a race with my little running wife!

Good job babe cannot wait till next year!