A Roll in the Dirt

Gosh, the weather has been sooo nice the past two days! I think it's going to be one of those years where we skip seasons. It's going to hop from Winter to Summer! Right now I'm really looking forward to warmer weather, but not quite ready for the blazing heat of summer. 

Emma has really been enjoying the nice weather too! We've stayed at the dog park for a really long time the past two days because it's so pretty out! We're starting to make friends with the regulars and I'm learning a lot about Savannah and dogs from my conversations there. It's interesting how some dogs gel better together than others. Emma has made really good friends with with one dog in particular, Pork Chop. She is almost one year old and loves to run with Emma. Emma has also taught Chops (Chops for short) to dig... Chop's mom, Teresa, isn't too happy about that. They also share the same pink, polka dot collar. They're meant to be friends!

The warmer days have made for lots of thirsty puppies!

Spencer hanging out in one of the holes Emma had just started to dig

Pork Chop digging thanks to Emma teaching her how

Chops drinks with one foot in the bowl, haha... these are the things that make me love dogs. 

Look at Chops and Emma, they're doing exactly the same thing!

So looking forward to the weekend! My parents and their dogs, Bailey and Luke, are coming to visit and my mom and the pups are going to walk in the Dog Lovers Walk with me Saturday morning! 

Smoking Hot Valentines Day

My flowers and Oscar

Every morning Miguel wakes up at five something and takes a shower first thing. Emma and I sleep in until he's done with his shower and then start our day. Valentines day morning Emma and I were sleeping in enjoying being all warm and snuggly in our beds. We were woken up and immediately jumped out of our skins. We had the gentle awakening from the smoke alarm going off. I jumped up and ran out into the kitchen, which was filled with smoke - re the smoking hot Valentines day.. Miguel was making me breakfast! He was so sweet. He made me eggs, bacon, coffee in a French press, and gluten free pancakes! He also had 24 beautiful tulips (my favorite flowers) and a little bear named Oscar. 

Having breakfast made for me was the perfect Valentines Day gift! But my day got even sweeter later in the day when Miguel made up an excuse for me to look under the  computer key board where I found gluten free, dairy free chocolates! Poor Miguel said it was tough finding chocolates that I could eat. He is the best! I love kind surprises!

The surprise I found under the key board!

In fact, I'm eating some of that chocolate right now. 

Num, num, num!

For dinner Miguel and I met at Jazz'd Tapas Bar in downtown Savannah. We really love this place. It's underground and has a really cool atmosphere. We were able to enjoy a free meal thanks to a Christmas gift from my sister and brother-in-law! Thanks guys! We got tapas for two. I had the black bean soup while Miguel had a salad. That was followed by spinach dip, crab cakes, lamb, and scallops. For desert Miguel had bread pudding and I had a flourless chocolate cake! Yummy! I was full after the soup!

Jazz'd Tapas Bar
source

After dinner we came home where I gave Miguel his Valentines Day surprise. I made him strawberry cupcakes and had a present made for him a couple weeks ago. I had taken Miguel's Georgia Tech track jersey and a picture of him racing and had it framed for him. He had told me a couple of times that he wanted to have that done and I thought this was a good opportunity to give him what he wanted. I told him it is the start to his man cave!

I have such a wonderful, great husband. I love him so very much and am so blessed that he loves me too! I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with Miguel and many more Valentines Days to come!

In a very sad, disappointed note, we found out this morning that we didn't get the house we put on offer on. I'm really sad. =( It's hard to  try to believe that God has something better for us. I believe that is true, but it just doesn't feel that way right now. 

Sleeping Beauty

This past weekend Miguel and I drove up to Atlanta to go to the ballet with my in-laws. Going to the ballet is so much fun for me and it's one of the things I miss most about not living in Atlanta any more. Miguel's parents are so generous and used to buy season tickets and take us. So when his mom, Teresa, mentioned she was thinking about buying tickets to Sleeping Beauty, we jumped on the chance to go with!

Sea Food Tower

This time was unique because Miguel's brothers, Andy and Adrian, and their girlfriends, Leah and Kristyn, came with us. It was fun going in a big group and I enjoy spending time with the family. One of my favorite parts about going to the ballet with the Amadors is going out to dinner before hand. This weekend we went to Rays on the River. Yummy! Some of the highlights were the sea food tower appetizer, my delicious filet, and Miguel's two pound whole fish! The Restaurant was really, really busy. That's what you get for going to a nice restaurant on Valentines Day weekend. In fact, we were the only party that was larger than two people. It was fun to see so many people dressed up and in love. The romantic atmosphere helped set the mood for our night, and that was fun.

View looking out onto the Chatahoochee River

Rays on the River

I don't think this picture acurately shows the scale of Miguel's plate. It was more like a platter and the fish even still hung off the edge. I don't know how Miguel can eat appetizers, have cocktails, two glasses of wine and that whole fish! I wish I had a guy's stomach!

After dinner we headed over to the ballet. The Atlanta Ballet performs at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center. It's beautiful! I love the Fox Theater, where the ballet used to perform, but the Cobb Energy Center is much more fitting and better suited for large audiences. It really is amazing. The Atlanta Ballet Orchestra also gets to perform with the ballet now which is an added bonus!

Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center

Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center

We hit some snags when we got to the ballet. Teresa had ordered eight tickets but at will call we only received six. Obviously that was a problem. After standing in the cold for a while they ended up providing us with two free tickets to fix their mistake. However, when we got to our seats we discovered that the two free tickets were not only not beside the rest of our seats they were two seats that weren't even together. My father-in-law was not okay with this, none of us were, but he fixed the problem immediately and ended up getting four seats together. Phew! Previously, we have been seated on the main level and always in the same seats, because of the season tickets. This performance we were seated in the first level mezzanine. It was actually really enjoyable. From the balcony you can't appreciate the costumes or performers' make-up as well as you could seated below, but you can appreciate the ballet as a whole a little bit better. It was also really fun for me to be able to look down into the orchestra pit!

Atlanta Ballet Orchestra Pit

The ballet itself was beautiful. I love watching dancers dance! It wasn't one of my favorite ever though. My favorites to date are Romeo and Juliet, Dracula, Don Quiote, and Atlanta Ballet's Vivaldi's Four Seasons Fusion performance. There wasn't much story to Sleeping Beauty and it felt like a lot of 'filler' dances. I'm not really sure how to describe it. I think that was one of the reasons I enjoyed being able to see into the orchestra pit so much. Whenever I got a little distracted I would watch the conductor or the musicians play and clean their instruments. I admire both dancers and musicians, they both posses skills I would love to excel at but I have no talent in what so ever.

Kristine Necessary and Jacob Bush as Princess Aurora and Prince Desiré

Kristine Necessary

This particular ballet was really special to members of the Atlanta Ballet and it's many patrons and fans. This was ballerina, Kristine Necessary, who danced the part of Princess Aurora, last performance. She is retiring at only age 28. Which isn't that uncommon in the dancing world I suppose though. At the end of the ballet, when all the performers come out for their final bow, and Kristine took her last bow, all the members of the orchestra threw roses on stage and people came out from the behind the stage like ants out of an ant hill to shower Kristine with roses and flowers. It was really touching. None of the other dancers took their bows, it was all focused on Kristine. The audience gave a standing ovation. It was a goose bump moment. I'm really happy I witnessed it.

Kristine Necessary during the final bow.
She could hardly hold all the flowers!

It was such a fun weekend! Miguel and I are so blessed to have such great, generous families. We cherish time spent with them even more now that we live in different cities. This month is especially fun for us because it is filled with visits to Atlanta to see family and family and friends coming to visit us!  Happiness!

The group minus the parents: Miguel, me, Kristyn, Adrian, Leah, and Andy