Basketball Season in the Bluegrass

Hey y'all! This week/weekend has been a fun one! I started a new rotation, and I am loving it so far! My schedule is much more convenient for me. I'm no longer on an 11:30-7:30 schedule, and I'm liking it so much better!

I tried a new dish for dinner one night last week, and I LOVED it! I got the recipe from Pinterest (of course). Here is a link to the pin, or you can find it and other recipes on my Recipe board here. I substituted the onion for minced onion since Tyler and I don't really like onions but I didn't want to lose the flavor it would add. I also added Lawry's Seasoned Salt to it, which isn't an ingredient on the Pinterest recipe. It was very easy to make and filled us up! I made some cornbread to go with it too. So southern! Also, look how cute this dish is. Ali, Kelly's big sis in sorority, and her mom got me this as a wedding gift. You can't see it, but under that delicious hash mix is a pretty beige swirling pattern on the dish. I love it! They also got me several dip mixes, which I plan to try out soon!

Now on to something a little more interesting than what I cooked for dinner LOL 

Last weekend Ty and I got tickets to the UK game against NJIT. When we made our way to our seats, I was shocked! Our seats were awesome! The game didn't start until 8:00, so I made sure to nap AND have a second cup of coffee that evening to stay awake LOL Here are some pictures from the game.

Did I mention our seats were awesome? 

So this isn't the best picture, but at every UK basketball game, they let off small fireworks inside the arena when they announce the players. They scare me every. single. time. I was able to snap a picture of one of the fireworks, but they are so quick that I wasn't able to get a great picture of them. 

Two important things about this picture: 1) My hair is getting so long! FINALLY! I have been taking Biotin like candy LOL 2) It doesn't look like it here, but poor Tyler was pretty sick at the game. Today he went to the doctor, and he either has bronchitis or walking pneumonia. He got a ton of meds from the doctor, so I hope he starts feeling better soon! I hate seeing him sick. 

Sunday morning, I had my morning coffee with my Scruffy girl on my lap while we ordered our Christmas cards for this year. I'm going to try to learn "modern calligraphy" (look it up on Pinterest y'all!), so when I address cards they will be pretty. The key word in that last statement being try. LOL We will see how it goes!

Since this post was so short, I'll leave you with this sweet picture of my little girl. When I got up from the couch to get ready for church, she flopped over on her back and sat like this for about 5 minutes. I cracked up because she was just chilling out with her little arm propped up. It is no secret that I love this sweet little thing. She's so precious to me!

After a great service at First United, we went to Saul Good with Pastor Mike and several other young couples in the church. Pastor Mike arranged for all of the young couples to meet, and he treated us to lunch. It was great! I thought that was such a nice gesture to help us meet people our age in the church. This isn't a church like back home where everybody knows everybody. There are give or take 300 people that attend every Sunday. We have been going there for over a year, and we had yet to actually meet anyone our age. Thanks to Dr. Powers, we now know several young couples that we can hang out with outside of church. Everyone was so nice and had similar values as Tyler and me. What a blessing to meet these wonderful people! 

I know this post wasn't the most enthralling, but this coming weekend Kelly is coming to stay with me on her Thanksgiving break. Enough said. Y'all know we will come up with something good for my next post! Take care!

Viva Las Vegas

Hey y'all! This last week has been so crazy! As I mentioned in my last post, I went to Las Vegas for the ASCP Conference, a series of lectures prepared for pharmacists to learn about caring for our geriatric population with trade shows exhibiting new products that are on the market. It was a very interesting trip!

I was a little nervous because I would be traveling alone and, well, to be perfectly honest, we all know how my trip went the last time I tried to travel as a self sufficient adult. If you don't know what I'm referring to, read my post "The Spring Break That Broke." Spoiler alert: I missed my flight which caused me to miss my cruise ship which caused me to ruin my and my sister's spring break. Oops. 

I arrived at the airport on time, parked my car, checked my luggage, and patiently waited to board my nonstop flight to Vegas. So far so good!

When I arrived in Vegas, I took an airport shuttle to my hotel and met up with my preceptor. When I checked into my hotel, the lady at the front desk informed me that the room I was supposed to be in was above a night club in the hotel. She told me I would need earplugs to sleep since they blasted club music until 4:00AM. No thank you! Fortunately, she moved me to a quieter section of the hotel. I ended up having a beautiful view of the Las Vegas strip.

This picture is a view of the strip at night when I first arrived.

Here it is again the next morning. I love the mountains in the background. Kind of reminds me of West Virginia. Kind of. (Hey, I'll take what I can get!) LOL

The next couple of days were full of lectures and trade shows. I started my day around 6:00 in the morning with a product theater that offered us breakfast. Then, I would attend lectures on various geriatric based topics. Fortunately, product theaters were set up throughout the day to feed us. I would listen to a lecturer talk about his company's product, and they would feed me. It was a good trade off LOL The food they provided was actually really good!

I tried to take some pictures when I could, but snapping photos during a lecture was a little awkward. That's why selfies in my bathroom mirror seemed like the best option LOL I have to tell y'all, I stuck out like a sore thumb! Nobody else had on pink pants or a pink skirt (or pink anything for that matter.) Oh well. 

Day 1

Day 2

This was the view I had most of my time in Vegas.

This is the room where the first lecture was held. They introduced us to the board members of ASCP and told us all about their plans for the future of pharmacy.

I have to admit that is not coffee in that cup. I found a little cafe inside Paris Hotel that sold hot chocolate. I may or may not have had one every day I was there. They were delicious!

I told y'all they fed us well! LOL I do have one complaint though.. the West Coast only has Pepsi products and unsweetened tea to drink. That just does not work for me. I am a Dr. Pepper/Coke and super sweet tea kind of gal. Not only do I like Coke, I prefer Vanilla Coke or Cherry Coke. I was craving my pop so bad even after just a few days without it. 

After long days of lectures, my preceptor and I were pretty tired. We did go to see two shows during the evenings we were there. The first evening we saw Tony and Tina's Wedding. It was hilarious and so unique. Basically you are a guest at their authentic Italian wedding. The room is set up like a wedding reception, and you watch the ceremony as the couple exchanges their vows. Then, it is time for the reception! We ate from an Italian buffet and even had wedding cake afterwards. The actors and actresses never broke character as they walked around and interacted with all the guests. It was so fun! 

The second evening we saw a show called Menopause the Musical. I know what you're thinking. I've always said I'm an 80 year old woman trapped in a 26 year old body, but this was even a little too far for me. I looked around the theater and saw I was surrounded by older ladies that were absolutely cracking up at this show. The thought ran through my mind that I am a 20-something year old in Las Vegas on Halloween weekend, and what am I doing? - sitting in Menopause the Musical of course! LOL Y'all it was one of those situations that if I didn't laugh I would've cried. I ended up really enjoying the show, but I have to admit that it was a funny/unique/ironic way to spend my last evening in Las Vegas. They don't call me Granny Grimmett for nothing! 

After the show, I took my preceptor to see the fountains at the Bellagio. She had never been to Vegas before, and I really wanted to make sure she saw the fountains. We didn't have a lot of time to tour, but this was a must. It was one of my favorite things to see in Vegas.

A view of the Eiffel Tower from The Bellagio. 

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Going back to Las Vegas made me reminisce on when I went for my senior year spring break trip with some of my best friends. Now THAT was a fun trip! Here are a few pictures from 2011 when I was in Las Vegas with some of the best girls ever!

We went to the pawn shop from the show Pawn Stars and got to meet the cast!

Ashton, my adventurous Little, talked me into riding the ride on the stratosphere. It was so fun and scary at the same time. Rachel and Jill snapped this picture of us as we were going around the outside of the stratosphere. 

This was the evening we watched the fountains at The Bellagio - one of my most favorite experiences of the trip. 

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Las Vegas is fun and all, but there really is no place like home. I missed Tyler SO MUCH. This was the first trip I had gone on alone since we have been married, and it felt like I was missing my right arm. I was so glad to get home to him. 

I left Las Vegas at 4:30AM and landed in Cincinnati at 3:15PM. It was a long day to say the least. I drove an hour and a half back to Lexington, and when I arrived, Ty had a surprise waiting on me. He cleaned the whole house. Y'all I'm talking dusted, vacuumed, and did laundry. He also made me my favorite cheeseburgers on the grill. He is seriously the best. I spent the evening relaxing with him and our little Scruffy girl.

The next day after returning home from Vegas I had to be at Marshall for a meeting. I got to have a quick lunch with my sister and see my family for a bit. It was a long trip with a lot of traveling, but it was totally worth it. I snapped this picture of our capital in Charleston on my way home today. I wish I could say I did this safely, but I can't. I held my phone up to the car window and just kept hitting the camera button hoping I would get a decent picture out of it. LOL Let me say I kept one hand on the wheel and my eyes on the road the entire time. That doesn't make this okay. I swear I don't text and drive! It just felt so good to be back in the mountains of West Virginia and to see all the beautiful fall colors. When I saw our capital from the interstate, it was just so beautiful. I had to capture it!

As y'all can see these last few days have been a whirlwind! I am wrapping up my rotation at Omnicare this week, and next week I will start at Clark Regional. I'm really looking forward to going to a new place with new experiences, but I will miss everyone at Omnicare. I absolutely love all the technicians that I work with there. After this block, I'll be half way finished with my P4 year! It's hard to believe! I hope y'all enjoyed my post about my short and sweet Vegas trip. Take care!

Happy Fall Y'all!

It seems like the time that passes between each of my posts is getting longer and longer. I say this in every post I do, but I am just SO busy! This rotation I am currently on has me working from 11:30-7:30, which is an odd time for me considering I'm used to the 8:00-4:00 or 7:00-3:30 schedule. It is dark when I get home from work in the evenings, so I am ready for bed when I walk through the door at 8:00 (making me even more of a granny than usual LOL).

I am enjoying the fall season though. It is my favorite! I love when it starts cooling down a little because staying inside and being lazy is one of my favorite pastimes (LOL but seriously.....) 

This fall was the first time I got to decorate my and Ty's home for a holiday/season. Let's just say I am already prepping for Christmas decor now! I love it! Here are a few pictures of my decorations.

This is a dessert display that I received at my bridal shower from my sweet friend Jill. It matches all of my dishes. I found a few examples on Pinterest on how to use these for holiday decor. I think I will try to do this again at Christmas time with ornaments and pinecones. You can see some of the pins like this on my Holiday Ideas Board.

This is a set of dishes I've had for several years now. I used them at my old apartment, but I thought they would be perfect to display on a fall table. Ty and I have new dishes we use everyday, so it was nice to put these to good use! I got these at Pier 1 back in 2012, but I believe they still have this line available in stores. 

The fall season has also brought on lots of fun times with friends! Tyler and I have been going to some UK football games or watching them at restaurants with friends. It is great because the husbands watch the game while the girls get to chat. It is so nice to have girl time! My sis-in-law Brooke came up for a weekend to visit her dad, and I absolutely loved having her here! We had lots of laughs that weekend!

Last weekend we went to Keeneland, and it was a blast! The weather was a little dreary, but that didn't stop us from having some fun! I always enjoy going to Keeneland because it really is a one of a kind experience. My favorite part of going to Keeneland is seeing everyone's stylish outfits. Both the ladies and the gents bring their A game! I love it! It was cool and rainy last weekend, so we all bundled up. After the races, we went to Malone's for dinner, and then we headed to our friends' house to watch the UK football game. It was a long day, but it was awesome getting to spend time with friends! 

My favorite thing about Keeneland last weekend was when I got to pet one of the horses. I asked the man standing beside the horse if he cared if I petted it. He said he didn't, so then I asked if the horse would care LOL He laughed and said no. IT WAS SO SOFT! All I could think of the whole time I was petting it was how much my sister would be loving this. The girls and I were headed to the gift shop when we saw a few of the horses standing around outside. People were going up to them and getting pictures with them. I just wanted to love on it for a minute. It was so sweet and gentle, but I was kind of intimated standing beside it. These horses are so big and muscular. It was such an awesome experience! 

Another exciting thing that recently happened was Tyler being selected as a Rising Star in Lexington. We attended a banquet that recognized him and other young leaders in the city. I was so proud! He has achieved so much in such a short amount of time. I can't wait to see what the future holds for us! He is such a caring, honest, and hardworking man. I don't know anyone more deserving!

Most of you know that my cousin Taylor is having us a sweet baby boy this January. To say I am excited would be an extreme understatement. I was so thrilled that I got to be home for her baby shower a few weekends ago. Her theme was forest animals, and all of the decorations were adorable. The food was phenomenal, and I got to savor a piece of NuEra cake. It was so great to see friends and family and get to celebrate such an exciting time in Taylor's life. The four hour drive was totally worth it! We also went to the high school football game to watch my cousin Ross play. It was homecoming, and he is a senior this year. It was bittersweet. As usual, I had a wonderful time at home. If a place could have your heart, southern West Virginia would have mine. 

This was the guestbook for the shower. I had never seen this before, and I thought it was such a cute idea! Everyone left their fingerprint like a leaf on a tree. So cute!

She is so beautiful! 

I was so happy to share this day with both my grandmother and my maw maw. Those ladies mean the world to me, and I love them both so much!

My sister was able to come home for the ballgame, but she had to go back to school before Taylor's shower. We only got to spend a few hours together, and it was not nearly enough time with her. We may or may not have cried a little at this ballgame saying goodbye.

After Taylor's shower, mom and I took Tyler to dinner at Keith's. One evening while Ty and I were trying to figure out what to eat for dinner, I suggested we have hamburgers. He informed me we can't because we don't have any buns. I looked in the pantry and saw we had bread, so I told him I could make an Arlie burger. He looked at me so confused LOL The Arlie burger was served at Arlie Gamble's in Man (owned by Keith's family). Keith's serves different versions of the Arlie burger at his place now, so we had to take Tyler so he could try it. It is simply a hamburger served on toasted bread instead of a hamburger bun. Let's just say after Ty tried it, he is a fan LOL

As you can see, I am keeping busy here in Lexington. My time is spent working, being with friends and family, and a little bit of traveling. Speaking of traveling, I will be heading to Las Vegas for a Consultant Pharmacist Convention soon, so be on the lookout for a post on that! Take care y'all!