Country Roads Take Me Home

After almost a year of living outside of WV, I am happy to say I am officially home! The moving process itself was absolutely terrible, but now that it is over, I am so glad we did it! For almost a month, Tyler and I lived apart. He lived in WV while I stayed in Kentucky to finish up rotations. To say I missed living with him would be a huge understatement. I'd like to think he missed living with me too LOL I have spent the last few weeks packing everything up into boxes for the big move. Last Thursday, my last day of pharmacy school rotations, I drove to WV to our new condo. After Ty got off of work on Friday, we headed to Lexington. Saturday morning bright and early we got up to get the UHAUL before the moving company came to the house. I distinctly remember Tyler complaining about my recommendation for the big truck (26 feet long). (Sidenote: We had this same discussion regarding the storage unit and the outcome was strikingly similar to this.. but that is a story for another time LOL) He thought we could've gone with a smaller one. Then again, he didn't pack everything up into bags and boxes to see just how much stuff we really have LOL Around 9:00 that morning, the movers arrived, and we began packing everything into the UHAUL. Fast forward to about 3:00PM where we encounter problem number one: The UHAUL is completely full. Nothing else will fit. NOTHING. Remember when Tyler was acting like I was silly for requesting the largest UHAUL they had? Yea, me too. Unfortunately, we still had office furniture, a bedroom suite, and several more boxes to pack up. I could feel the anxiety creeping in! Tyler called around to make arrangements for another UHAUL that we could hook to my car. In comes problem number two: my new car doesn't have a hitch on it, and Mercedes was going to charge an outrageous amount to put one on. I'm kind of glad we didn't go this route because I don't think a hitch would be very aesthetically pleasing on my car LOL Tyler's mom, Rhonda, completely rescued us. She agreed to drive all the way to Charleston and back (6 hours round trip) and pull the UHAUL with her SUV. Since we had another moving company meeting us in WV to help carry all the furniture into our new place, we figured it was best for Tyler to go on and take the big UHAUL. That way they could be unloading that truck while we finished up in Lexington. Tyler left, so it was up to Rhonda and me to make sure everything else fit in the second UHAUL. It was a close fit (VERY close), but we made it work! We had to do a lot of rearranging and taking things out of the UHAUL to put them into our vehicles. We ended up going through a basket of towels and clothes that was in my car to get sheets to lay over the wood furniture. Rhonda was digging through the clothes basket when we heard a beeping noise. I saw the lights flash on the mirrors of my car. It was locked. I didn't have my keys on me, and my purse was inside the car along with my phone. INCOMING: Problem number three LOL For a brief moment, I was convinced I had locked my keys in my car. Rhonda frantically gets out her phone to call the local dealership to see if they can help us. I start digging through anything and everything looking for my keys. Something shiny caught my eye under the clothes basket: the Kate Spade keychain Rhonda had given me for Christmas one year. The keys were under the laundry basket! Praise The Lord! When we were digging for the sheets, we must've locked the car by accidentally pressing the button. Whew! Around 4:30PM we had everything packed up and ready to hit the road. Three long hours later, we arrived in WV. Little did I know, our day of moving had only just begun! 

Scruffy helping her momma pack up in Lexington

Tyler and the UHAUL that he thought would be too big...

Rhonda and I arrived around 7:30 that evening to pure chaos LOL Tyler and the movers had already moved in a lot of the furniture, and of course I asked them to rearrange almost everything once I got there LOL Poor Tyler. He really does put up with so much. Three hours and a Gino's pizza later, we had everything carried up to the condo. As I looked around me, I started to panic. Bags and boxes were EVERYWHERE. Our furniture wasn't fitting properly in bedrooms. I couldn't find half of my clothes. As a very type A/OCD/organized individual, I didn't know how much more of this I could take. So what does a girl in distress do? That's right.. Call daddy! He assured me everything would be okay, and first thing in the morning he would come to my house and help Tyler put our bedroom and office furniture together. I already felt somewhat relieved. Around 11:00 that night, we found ourselves at our storage unit putting up everything that wouldn't fit in our condo. The word exhausted didn't even begin to cover how we were feeling at that point. When we got back to the house, we got cleaned up then passed out. I felt like that was the best sleep I had ever had. At 6:30 the next morning I was awake, bright eyed and bushy tailed LOL I let Ty sleep while I went through boxes and tried to organize a few things. When he woke up a couple of hours later he couldn't believe the progress I had made. He said it was like Santa's Workshop, and I was a little Elf LOL I could feel the anxiousness subsiding with every item I put away. What a relief! 

Since we are now officially WV residents, we decided to find a country club in the area to join. Berry Hills was the natural choice for us: my parents are members there, it is where we had our wedding, and our very close family friends, The Tomblin's, are also members there. Sunday afternoon we decided to take a break from unpacking and drive to the country club for dinner. It felt so good to get out of the house and enjoy the beautiful weather! After we ate, we drove the golf cart around to get a good look at the course. It made my heart happy to know I am finally home!

Our view of the golf course and pool at dinner 

This week has been much less chaotic than last week! I attended a couple of review sessions at school and got to see several of my pharmacy school buddies. I missed them all so much! Also, I got to have lunch with my mom and sister, which was wonderful! My grandmother also came to Charleston to visit me. We shopped, had lunch, and she came to see my new place. I have made plans to see several of my friends in the next few days as well. As you can tell, I am happy to be back close to my family! I can't thank Tyler enough for the sacrifices he has made to bring me home. He is the best husband in the world, and I am so thankful God sent him to me!

Probably the one thing we both missed more than anything while living apart was home cooked meals. I didn't have them because I didn't want to cook just for myself, and Tyler didn't have them because I wasn't there to cook for him LOL As soon as I got everything unpacked, I headed to the grocery store. I was like a mad woman. I bought so much food! We haven't eaten out all week, and we have loved every minute of it. I made fresh squeezed lemonade and a strawberry trifle with vanilla pudding and angel food cake. We've also had tacos and buffalo chicken wraps. This weekend I have BIG plans: bacon and fried potatoes for breakfast and a pinto bean dinner with all the fixins': kraut and kielbasa, fried potatoes, cornbread, and greens. I can't wait!! 

Getting ready to make fresh squeezed lemonade - It was delicious! 

Taco Night!

The next few weeks are going to be full of exciting things! Next week is my last week as a pharmacy student. It has been eight long years getting my doctorate, but I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel! Monday through Wednesday I will be attending review sessions for my upcoming board exam, and Thursday is our graduation. WOW! It is hard to believe! The following week I'll be going on a girl's beach trip with my mom and sister. Even if I have to study while I'm there, I am still excited to go! Studying on a beach beats studying anywhere else! I will try to do a quick blog post on our trip when I can. I have made myself a strict study schedule that will begin as soon as I graduate, so I will be very busy the next few weeks with preparing for the NAPLEX and MPJE. Everyone please say a prayer for my classmates and me as we prepare for this exam! I will also try to upload a few pictures of our new condo. I still need to hang up curtains and a few pictures, so after I get that finished, I'll do a quick post on it! Until then, here are a few pictures of our patio and views from where we live. Until next time.. Take care y'all!  

My mom got me a Gardenia. I hope I can keep it alive! They smell so good and blossom into beautiful white flowers.

Country roads take me home

To the place I belong

West Virginia, Mountain Mama

Take me home country roads

This and That

Since the wedding and honeymoon, I have been enjoying married life. I am currently doing my rotations for my fourth and final year of pharmacy school. I am loving it so far! I have met so many wonderful people at my rotation sites, and I am learning a lot. Since I didn't blog for awhile because I wanted to wait on my wedding pictures to come in, I figured my next post should be a short round up of a few exciting things that have happened since the wedding. I am finally getting my life back to normal - well, my new normal. 

1. I cooked. Now that I am married, I have a newfound interest in being a homemaker. I have been cooking ever since I started living on my own a few years ago, but now that I'm married, I actually enjoy it! I love trying to make new things. Sometimes the stuff I make turns out great, and sometimes it doesn't. Hey, it's a work in progress! 

This dinner was delicious! I made pork chops, baked beans, glazed carrots, cornbread, and brown sugar and cinnamon baked peaches with vanilla ice cream for dessert. So good! The recipe for the pork chops can be found on my pinterest "Recipes" board. 

I love flavored teas. As long as it is sweet, I will drink it. I found a recipe for peach flavored tea, so I decided to try it. Y'all.. YUM! It was phenomenal. Tyler isn't a huge fan of peaches, so he didn't care too much for it. More for me! Isn't this pitcher the cutest? My sweet aunt Michelle bought this for me. I love it, and it matches my dishes perfectly! 

I let these peaches simmer in sugar water for about 30 minutes, filtered out the peaches, and poured the mixture into the tea pitcher. Refrigerate and enjoy! 

I made this meal one evening when I was homesick. It is one of my family's favorite meals to enjoy together. My Nanny cans hot kraut, and it is phenomenal. It is maybe my favorite food ever. I didn't have any of her kraut, so I improvised and made my own. She puts banana peppers in hers to give it a kick. Nobody will ever can kraut as good as Nanny, but my makeshift kraut was pretty good in a pinch! We also had pinto beans, mustard greens, and fried potatoes. It was a good southern home cooked meal!  

This dish was SO easy to make. I found the recipe on pinterest which also can be found on my "Recipes" board. I used Prego Alfredo sauce for this one. Usually I make my own Alfredo sauce homemade, but I was exhausted after work and wanted something quick. I thawed out frozen spinach and mixed that with artichokes. I sprinkled that with some garlic and mixed in the sauce and noodles. Then, I added some Italian blend cheese on the top and baked it for about 20 minutes until the cheese was melted and gooey. It was so good! 

2. I spent time with friends at my sorority sister's wedding. Bree had a destination wedding, but she had a reception in the Huntington area for friends and family. It was like a mini sorority reunion. I loved getting to catch up with the girls, and Bree looked so beautiful! I wish I would have taken pictures of this event. The only picture I have is one that Ashton took on her phone and sent to me. That just means I was having too much fun to be taking pictures!!

3. I attended an Eagles concert with my mom. Guys, she was so excited for this. We had to listen to Eagles songs, watch documentaries, and hear stories about them for a solid two weeks leading up to the concert. It was all she could talk about. I recall one time she was singing an Eagles song to us, and she grabbed her arm and exclaimed, "I just gave my own self chills!" LOL She was loving life seeing them live! Unfortunately, they requested no photos or videos during the concert, so I have two pictures that we quickly took right before the show began. I loved getting to do something with my mom that meant so much to her!

I also talked her into staying Sunday for church. We had lunch at a local Italian restaurant before she headed home. I loved having her in Lex with me!

4. I got a new car! If you read my last blog post, you know I started having car trouble on the way home from the wedding. We just knew it was going to be expensive to fix because the engine light was on, and it was saying something about traction control. Surprisingly, when I took it to the Cadillac dealership, they were able to fix it for a very reasonable price. Just when we thought our problem was solved, the air conditioning started going out. We decided my car was on its last leg. We were worried we would start pouring money into repairs and end up putting more in than it was worth. I had put over 150,000 miles on that thing. It was a beautiful car, and I was sad to see it go. However, crawling into this new beautiful car helped ease the pain of parting with my old car. I told Ty that if I was a car, I would be this one! Tyler facilitated this entire thing. He went to the dealership several times to make sure I got exactly what I wanted. He takes good care of me!

5. I celebrated my birthday. I recently turned 26, and my family and I celebrated in Northern Kentucky together. My dad and Tyler played in a golf tournament up there, so my mom and I tagged along so we could all be together on my birthday weekend. My poor sister was sick with strep throat, so she didn't come. Mom and I had a blast shopping while the guys played golf. My dad and his partner, Chippy, ended up in the play off. Mom, Ty, and I followed him on the golf course and cheered him on. They ended up coming in second. In my opinion, they deserved first! LOL On one hole, Dad made a really good shot, and before I realized what I was doing or where I was, I let out a big cheer. My mom and I started cracking up! I forgot you have to be quiet on a golf course.. oops! Looks like I may need to tone down my inner cheerleader and practice my golf clap!

I love him! Look how cute!

I put my birthday money to good use! My JuJu called me while I was in the Lilly store shopping. She asked what I was doing, and when I told her where I was, she said, "Courtney, you are addicted to that stuff."  LOL Guilty as charged! My friend Tamus said it best when she said being a Lilly lover is a lifestyle. It is more than clothes y'all!! 

I had to work Friday, so I met my parents and Ty in NKY Friday evening. Ty sent me these beautiful flowers to work as a surprise! Everyone loved them!

6. I ate smores in the city. Ty and I love smores, and we found a restaurant in Lex that had smores on their dessert menu. You can imagine our surprise when they brought this out to our table. We got to roast our own marshmallows and everything! It tasted (almost) as good as a real back-yard campfire smore! This is the city version of making smores y'all! 

7. I met friends for dinner. I know no one in Lexington. Okay, okay.. I know Tyler and a couple of people that I have met recently through Tyler, SO you can imagine how excited I was to meet up with some girls in my pharmacy school class one evening for dinner. We talked, laughed, and shared so many good stories. We talked about everything from fall decorations and hair cuts to pharmacy rotations and the latest nail colors. I forgot how much I missed "girl talk." So glad we got the chance to hang out!

8. My sister cut her hair. Okay, I know this isn't something that I did, but I couldn't make this list and leave this out. How cute is she?! Kelly has always had long hair, and she had BEAUTIFUL long hair. The longer my hair gets, the thinner it gets (thank you Jesus for hair extensions). Kelly's hair was always so thick and shiny. When she mentioned cutting it, we were all hesitant, our dad especially. He dared her to cut it. In true Kelly fashion, she did it anyway, and it looks awesome. She went all out on the first attempt and cut her hair from midway down her back to above her shoulders. I think it makes her look so mature and classy. I also think it makes her look like our mother! I found two pictures of Kel in the same dress - one with long hair and one with short. She is beautiful in both, but she is rockin' the short hair y'all! 

9. My best friend got married. Again, another thing I didn't do, but there is no way I could do this post without including Lauren's big day. Everything was perfect from start to finish and was completely "Lauren." The color scheme was ivory and gold, and it was stunning. She treated the bridal party like queens all day! She had us matching shirts made to get ready in and cute totes with our names embroidered on it. She had Panera catered for breakfast and Subway catered for lunch. Two girls came to do everyone's make up too which was a special treat. We took bridal party pictures at my house, so that was fun having all the girls running around taking pictures while the boys hung out in our basement. The decorations at the church and reception took my breath away. The cake table was the most fabulous thing I've ever seen, and the dinner that was served was phenomenal. She really thought of everything. I can't say enough good things about her big day. I know how much time and effort goes into celebrating a new marriage, so I can appreciate everything she did to pull this off.  Lauren had an awesome celebration and treated all of her guests like royalty! Everyone had a great time, but the entire day remained about Lauren and Josh, which I loved! You could see nothing but happiness when you looked at them! I am so thankful my friend found someone that I know will treat her right and love her unconditionally! That makes ME happy!

Here is a picture of some of us at the rehearsal dinner!

Right before this picture, I had just ran from the church to Lauren's house to get the rings, marriage license, and her garter. I made a quick pit stop to zip Terri's dress up before I ran back to the church! Talk about finishing up last minute to-dos before the big event! 

She looks stunning. I remember one year in high school Lauren wore a beautiful white dress to prom. I don't think I ever told her this, but I always thought she looked so gorgeous in that dress. It made me think how beautiful she would be one day in a wedding gown. When she did her reveal to the bridesmaids and I saw her for the first time fully ready, she surpassed any expectations I had. I couldn't believe my eyes. She was literally glowing. She looked perfect. 

These little turkeys kept us entertained the whole day. My mom has an especially funny video of them arguing over who got to keep Lauren's bridal bouquet. There was almost an incident with the cake table, but luckily Nancy and Tamus saved the day. They are too cute for their own good!

10. I spent time with friends and family in WV. If you know me, you know there are few things I enjoy more than spending time with the people I love. Since I moved away, any time I get to spend back home is something I treasure. On Labor Day weekend, my mom hosted a cookout at our house, and it was a blast. So many of our friends and family came to visit, and they all got to officially meet Tyler if they hadn't already. I loved getting to spend time with everyone just laughing and talking (and enjoying some good southern BBQ thanks to my uncle!) 

That same weekend I also attended the Marshall season opener. We went to my friend Lauren's family's tailgate, and it was a blast! It was so good to take Tyler to my old stompin' grounds. It was an extremely hot and long day, but The Herd pulled off a win! 

The following weekend I traveled back to WV for yet another visit (hey, you don't have to twist my arm to go home! LOL) I had a quick lunch date with my sweet momma, and we almost cried when we said goodbye (I may or may not have shed a tear on my way back to Lex that evening). Then I headed to my friend Jill's mom's house to celebrate baby Chase's first birthday! He is such a beautiful baby! I remember going to the hospital the day after he was born to see him, and here we are a year later now. Time flies! 

Jill informed everyone it was time to watch Chase eat his cake, but y'all I was not expecting that sweet thing to walk into the room wearing this! It was a huge hit! Everyone loved it! His party was Mickey themed, and Jill found this little pants and tie set for him to wear during the cake smash. I have never seen anything cuter in all my life! 

This post was a little random, but I just wanted to share what I have been up to lately since I haven't blogged in awhile. I have been busy with rotations and just life in general. I am loving married life. It is fun to spend every day with your best friend! I do miss my friends and family back home, but as you can see, I am still able to see them often. Before, I took my visits with them for granted, but now that I am four hours away, I cherish any time at all that I get to spend with them. I am lucky to live in a beautiful city like Lexington, but there is no place like home! I hope y'all enjoyed this post. I will try to be a more faithful blogger and start doing weekly posts again!