Exciting Changes... Positive Outcomes

It's been awhile since I've blogged, and thanks to a friend (Living.Learning.Loving) who recently asked me to guest blog for her, I feel guilty for writing for other blogs and not continuing my own (haha), so I thought I would recap the last couple of months and why I have been so distracted.

First big day at training

The big change: I have a new job! To be honest, the opportunity literally came out of nowhere, I applied, got interviewed, and got it. While it was not a part of the plan I initially had for my life after leaving my other job (I had actually planned on going to school full-time with a potential Graduate Assistantship), it was a blessing in disguse from God and it was the first time in a long time that I actually felt spoken to on a decision I had to make. It was like the series of events leading up to it all happened so the opportunity could position itself just perfectly for me to take it on. IT WAS MEANT TO BE, and because I knew that, I have taken it and ran with it.

Congrats flowers from hub when passed my big work exam
With all that said, the past couple of months, I have been completely consumed with my new career. I am now a pharmaceutical sales rep for Arbor Pharmaceticals. While the new job has been the most exciting thing to happen in my life since Tres and I got married, it has also been the most time-consuming and hard working I have been since then. I went through nearly a month of traning - at home for a week and two weeks in Atlanta, and as of two weeks ago, they set me free to shower doctors with the positives of our awesome products. No home office, no bosses, no new colleage friends - just me all alone running my own little business in North Memphis. The first week was the most nerve racked I have been since college cheerleading tryouts circa 2002. And to add it it, I was lost and confused half of the week... where am I driving? Who am I looking for? Am I saying all the right things? Am I doing what they trained me ovr 3 weeks to do? SCARY and LOST does not even describe it, but when week 2 came around, I felt like I had done the job all along. Learning something new is always going to be difficult, but you have to believe you can do it. And remember, time makes everything better. This coming week will be week 3 for me, and I am starting to feel like I'm completely in my element!

And no celebration complete without champagne!

Ok, so what else has been going on? TRAVEL and FUN. Whether it's going on or in the works, me and Tres are always taking the time to visit new places and do new things. Since I last blogged here's what our weekends have been like:

Destin

Work had to be done here in Destin, but we always find time for a little bit of fun and FOOD of course. Check out our fun pictures from the weekend:

Memphis and Atlanta

Tres jumped on a plane to Atlanta for a wedding to hang out with his best guy friends. I had planned to go, but when my girls called and said they could all make it to Memphis the same weekend (this never happens... we are all always too busy), I stayed in Memphis to show them a good time. We had a great brunch on Saturday at mine and Tres favorite spot Local, hip hopped around the city and Beale Street all day, and went to dinner at Itta Bena. And the best part of the weekend was Sara surprising us, telling us the exciting news she had been hoping for: She's preganant!!!!!





Louisville - Kentucky Derby

This was honest to goodness one of the best weekends I've had in a long time, and there's a story behind it. Ok, so after I got this job my luck felt out of control. It was just the little things that kept happening that Tres and I were like, why is all this fantastic stuff happening to me?!?!?! Ok, so when we went to the Derby, Tres was like it'd be funny if your horse wins!
So, to add to the story, I tell Tres often and bug him about my dream vacation to South Africa. Since I can remember I have wanted to go there, and I always tell Tres we never have to go on another vacation ever again if we can just go to South Africa (he knows that's not true, which is probably why we haven't gone... haha). Ok, so the night before the Derby we are hanging out with our friend, Dan, and he tells me that his sister just got back from a trip to South Africa. I start freaking out, and Tres told him, "you should have never told her that." I make it worse by asking him to pull pics up on Facebook of her trip, and torture myself by dreaming even more of a vacation there. Tres had just been in Orlando for work the week before, and while looking at the pictures, Tres says, "I was just at Animal Kingdom in Disney World and those pictures look like they came from the safari ride." He was being funny, giving me a hard time, of course. :)

To wrap this story up (I promise there's a point), we get to the Derby and there's a horse named Animal Kingdom!!!! I say, OMG Tres, I am betting on that horse, and if he wins you HAVE to take me to South Africa very soon. The horse was low on rankings and it winning was a shot in the dark. Well, if you watched the Derby, you know how this story ends: THE HORSE WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Animal Kingdom, MY HORSE, won!!!! So I guess in next year or two... or maybe more (haha), you all will be reading a post from me in South Africa. Hehe :)


New Orleans

Tres grandmother turned 90 YEARS OLD last month, and we traveled to NOLA for her HUGE, black tie birthday celebration. I was in Atlanta for training and had not seen my sweet husband in a week and could not wait to get on a flight to New Orleans for the event. The only catch was, I had to fly back to Atlanta for more training after the party, so I literally touched down in New Orleans for under 24 hours and had to fly back to Atlanta right after. Most exhausting two days of my life, but being at such an important family event and seeing my husband for just a few hours was so worth it!





Austin

My sweet, beautiful cousin graduated high school in Austin and I would not have missed it for the world. She is like the sis I never had. I can remember holding her in my arms as a skwormy 9 year old when she was born, and seeing her as a grown woman graduating high school was such a special time in life. I am so proud of her, and I cannot even begin to express the fun I had with "my gals" (the ladies of my family) in Austin! My mom, grandma, aunt, and cousin had the best time together... read more about them here. This was also a quick trip, as I was only there a day and a half and had to head back home to prepare for the first week of my job, but another family event I wouldn't have missed for the world!!!




Germany
Italy
Austria
Switzerland

TO BE CONTINUED... We leave in 4 days!!!!!

To say the least, we are very busy, but as it has been, especially since the day I met my sweet husband, life is also very grand!!! More posts to come! Thanks for the little push to start blogging again, Nicole!

Southern Weddings Blog Chose Us!!!!

Time has been a-flyin', and we have been busy bees. Nothing out of the ordinary... as far as travel, full weekends, work responsibilities, graduate school (for me), and fun with friends and family. But there have been a few VERY NEW AND EXCITING changes in our life totally worth logging and sharing in this on-going love diary.

As of yesterday, I promised I would write a blog post to catch everyone up, as I have once again been a slacker. I seriously sat down to write it, but then got distracted with work and changed my mind. But the reason for this post is a BIG ONE!!! So I had no choice but to write it today... haha :)

It amazes me how so many of you guys whip posts out like crazy. You guys rock!!!! So thank you all who give me and others something to read daily and/or weekly. I wish I wasn't so ADD and could sit down to do so more than once a month :)
Ok, so this post comes to you quickly because I have started a new job (one of the many new things in our life that have changed and been exciting that I will blog about later), and am swamped!!! I have taken on a position as a Pharmaceutical Sales Rep, and for the last 2 weeks, I have been studying my little behind off to master the BIG test I have coming up on Friday. I swear, I get done with graduate school for the semester (4.0... whoop whoop, and more studying happens... just can't get away from HARD WORK :). Anyway am terrified of this test and hope the outcome is good or I'm in big trouble :)

Secondly, and what this post is really about (I do that so often... mean to write about one thing and then get started on a whole new subject.... prob wouldn't happen if I would blog more often... :) Anyway, here goes:

WE WERE CHOSEN TO BE IN SOUTHERN
WEDDINGS BLOG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In case you can't tell, I am beyond thrilled. And if that isn't exciting enough, we were ALSO chosen to be in the upcoming issue of Southern Bride magazine!!!!! AHHHHHH!!!!!

I am telling you... the hard work definitely paid off for that wedding. And while I am STILL so glad it's over (never would want to be a bride again.... ever), I am so glad we went full-force and did everything we wanted for it!!! A VERY VERY VERY special thanks to THE BEST PHOTOGRAPHERS IN THE WORLD... Armosa Studios. You guys ARE the only reason we got chosen!!! Thank yall so much for not only being as talented and wonderful to work with but also becoming new friends! Also a big thanks to Southern Oaks Plantation. Without their beautiful venue and extra special staff, and pure PERFECTION of a venue, the wedding day would not have been as glamorous. Every bride out there should go to New Orleans just for YOUR VENUE!!!

Without further ado... here is our featured wedding in Southern Weddings:

Part I :
http://iloveswmag.com/2011/05/11/real-wedding-andrea-tres-part-i/

Part II:
http://iloveswmag.com/2011/05/11/real-wedding-andrea-tres-part-ii/

Bermuda... The Honeymoon I Forgot to Mention

In the cab... We made it!!!

Holy goodness gracious!!! All these posts, and I just realized I ever even blogged about our honeymoon in Bermuda. Wowzers… not sure how that one slipped by me! Ok, nearly 6 months later, but here were some of the highlights of the trip: • We had a great dinner every night we were there. I mean, leave it to me to get us well-fed, but we did not miss out on a good meal while there! If you ever go to Bermuda, I suggest Baracuda in Hamilton (best meal we had the entire trip) and King Henry VIII (great atmosphere… very old school, dinner and dancing).

What we woke up to

Other side of patio

• Our first day we walked, and walked, and WALKED! Did I mention we walked?! Ha! The cool thing about Bermuda is, it’s not your typical “tropical Caribbean island.” It’s very British (accents, driving on the wrong side of the road, the whole shebang) and there’s more to do adventure-wise than just laying and having drinks by the pool all day. We found several beaches, including the famous Horseshoe Bay. We stopped and had a few patio drinks along the way. After one drink stop, we found this random, salient forest with vines to swing from. I don’t know if anyone else knows that place is there, but we had lots of fun playing in it. Finally, when I started getting fussy, we finally caught a cab. I bet money we walked 10 miles on this day. So much fun though!

Pink sand... beautiful

Swizzle Time!!!

• That first night we had dinner at the hotel and went back to our room with a bottle of wine, sat on our balcony and listened to tunes, laughing and talking for hours. This is why I married my husband. Just me and him, all by ourselves, have the best time together!

Dinner

Drinks on the Patio after din

• Day 2 was St. George’s… may have been the best little town on the entire island! I felt like we were in London walking the streets, and there was plenty to see, do, and explore. We got off the beaten path and discovered an unfinished church. It was so beautiful and like nothing I have ever seen. After more walking we cracked open a bottle of Santa Margarita from our backpack and did more exploring. I’m pretty sure it’s not legal to walk the streets of Bermuda drinking wine, but we certainly did it… haha!

• Before I go more into day 2, I need to talk about how nice the people are in Bermuda. Look, you will hear people say that about almost every place they visit, but I swear, if they call anywhere aside from Bermuda “the nicest people on the planet,” they have never been to Bermuda!!! This may sound extra-creepy, and it’s nothing we have ever in our lives done before, but we hitch-hiked nearly 5 times on this trip… And no, we never stuck our thumb out. There were plenty of cabs, we were not desperate. People would see us walking, drive up, and offer us rides. It was really weird at first, but everyone was so nice, and by the end of the trip, we had taken so many rides with strangers, we didn’t think twice about it!

Unfinished Church and St. George's

• One more thing on Day 2…. It POURED!!! I mean completely drenched me to where I was “drowned rat” style. We didn’t have an umbrella, so we ran into an ice cream shop, had a bite to eat, and asked the lady working if we could have a garbage bag or something to cover up with. She comes out with an umbrella. SHE GAVE IT TO US!!! Seriously, these are the people of Bermuda. I have been a lot of places – a lot of places with extra-nice people – and I have never experienced anything like this!!! After this experience, we headed to The Caves... a great sightseeer in Bermuda!

CAVES!

• Day 3 was golf!!! We played at The Southampton Princess, and I have never seen a course so beautiful. Of all 18 holes, there was a view of the ocean. The best part was, we got there extra-early, and with it being low-season, we pretty much had the entire course to ourselves. It was a golf game to remember and our second favorite day the entire week!

POOL TIME!

• Day 4 we hung out at the Dockyard, another area of Bermuda. We started the day off with a tennis game, had lunch, did some exploring, layed on the beach, then ended the day with another bottle of Santa Margarita and King Henry VIII.

LOSER

WINNER

• Day 5… BEST DAY OF THE ENTIRE VACATION!!!!! It was our last day, so we rented a boat and took it out on the open ocean. It was so relaxing just having me and Tres together on our sweet little boat. We stopped at a tiny island for a picnic – one of the most fun things we have ever done together. After lunch, we went shipwreck sightseeing. Bermuda is known for their shipwrecks because of all of coral close to land. It was really cool to see, as one we saw sank in the 1800’s!

• It was sad to say goodbye, as I’m sure every honeymoon is. We enjoyed every aspect of Bermuda. The food was great, the people were amazing, and the activities were entertaining! Also, nothing beat our awesome hotel, Cambridge Beaches. It was secluded, quiet, and our suite had the most amazing view! I highly recommend it!

Beautiful room!

• Last things to point out about Bermuda… THE PINK SAND!!! It’s beautiful and you will never see anything so exceptional! And…. THE SWIZZLE!!! It’s the island’s signature drink, and we had a bundle of them while there. It’s a must-try!