Let's start with our trip to Atlanta last weekend. It was a fun night with great weather and we did A LOT of walking. I got some blisters...the only downside to the trip. We walked from our hotel (the W) to the Atlanta History Center and back (total of 3 miles).
The only thing we really did at the history center was go through the extensive civil war exhibit. It was full of artifacts from the civil war that were collected mostly by one family. It took awhile to get through the exhibit because there were so many things to look at and read. My prediction that this would be right up Mike's alley was on the money! I didn't take too many pictures but here are a couple things from the exhibit:
The history center had a few other buildings but you need to sign up for tours to see them and Mike didn't want to do that. I'd like to go back and tour Swan House, which I believe is an old plantation. Maybe another time!
Once we got back to the hotel I was tired from walking and we laid down for about an hour. Then it was time to get ready. We wanted to check out the hotel bar, Whiskey Blue, which was up on the roof and got great reviews. We went up for a drink before we left for our dinner reservations, and it was a cool bar. Reminded us of the rooftop bar at The Wit in Chicago for anyone who has been there. Whiskey blue had a cool outdoor seating area with heaters and some cool views. The sky was pretty too :)
Mike with his Gentleman's Jack:
Me with the standard Pinot Grigio:
We took a cab over to Capital Grille for dinner. The food was good, Mike ordered surf and turf and I got a grouper special oscar style. Our waiter was an ex-marine and he gave us all kinds of perks when he heard Mike was in the army. He brought us a free dessert: flour-less chocolate cake which was decadent. Then he brought over a red rose and some chocolate truffles and handed them to Mike to give to me :o) Finally, he comp'ed Mikes drinks and meal!
Somehow I was convinced to walk back from the restaurant instead of getting a cab (a little over a mile) it wasn't a bad walk but it aggravated the blisters that I already had developing :( We stopped into a jazz club/fondue restaurant that was famous in the neighborhood we were in called Dante's Down the Hatch. Inside it was decorated to look like a ship and they had water below with live alligators in it! Unfortunately we didn't hear any jazz because the band was on a break (a long one!) but we had a drink and then headed back to the hotel for a pretty early night.
I'm convinced that Mike planned all the walking around knowing that I'd get blisters and not want to shop for very long...and it worked. We had a huge mall right near our hotel that I wanted to stop in the next day before we headed back to Columbus. Columbus doesn't exactly have superior shopping, and I wanted to stop in the Crate and Barrel and Bloomingdale's at the mall. I only lasted about an hour but I managed to pick out a shirt and dress that were on clearance and a cookie dough scoop at crate and barrel (random, but I've wanted one for awhile).
The rest of the long weekend was pretty relaxing but the weather was bad, lots of rain. Tuesday started the week and it was a crazy one. I babysat baby Nicole for about 10 hours that day (Mike was home by 1:00, which is the usual time for Tuesdays).
Wednesday and Thursday I went with Jessica to an Army Family Team Building (AFTB) Level 1 class. The class was from 9:00-3:30 both days. It was really informative and nice to meet a bunch of other army wives, but all the information we got was kind of overwhelming too. Lots about army benefits and entitlements, customs and courtesies, expectations, community resources, ranks/pay grades, finances, FRGs, and of course ACRONYMS. Do you know how many different sergeants there are? That's ok, I can tell you (they all have acromnyms too, obvi). Sergeant (SGT), Staff Sergeant (SSG), Sergeant First Class (SFC), Master Sergeant (MSG), First Sergeant (1SG), Sergeant Major (SGM), Command Sergeant Major (CSM), and Sergeant Major of the Army (SMA). Oh, and they all have different rank insignia to identify them by. Even Mike admits it took him awhile to get them all straight.
After our "graduation" Thursday I headed over to the football fields to watch Mike's ultimate football game. They lost...for the third week in a row :o( Mike always does great though, I think he caught like 4 touchdown passes! We barbequed after the game, one of the other wives brought steak kabobs which were delicious and we had some hot dogs and brats too. What made Tues-Thurs even busier for me was my 7:00pm tutoring session...I'll be glad when the family moves in March and I don't need to do that anymore. Friday I babysat Nicole again and Mike and I headed to the Loft in Columbus for a small dinner at the bar. We hung out with some friends for the rest of the night.
I'm glad that we've gotten settled in to Columbus and have people to hang out with now. I'm also glad that I've found some jobs and am busy again, although sometimes I wish I wasn't SO busy. The grass is always greener as they say. I am starting to get a little homesick though and can't wait for my little weekend trip to Orland Park in March. I'm even more excited for my parents and possibly Mike's parents to come visit us for Easter!
I hope everyone is having a relaxing weekend!
Love,
Christine
P.S. I almost forgot to mention...while out running errands this morning I happened upon a girl scout cookie table! Nothing better than some samoas and thin mints!! (My butt and hips would not agree)
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