David and Diana's Wedding

It is always so much fun to celebrate at a wedding! Brendan and I have gone to our fair share of weddings but, his weekend was a first for both of us. We attended our first Jewish wedding which is completley different than anything we had experienced before. We had a total blast but for our liver's sake, I hope it's awhile before we attend another one :)

The wedding of David(Brendan's buddy from high school) and Diana was at the Georgian Terrace in downtown Atlanta across from the Fox Theatre. Brendan was a groomsman, so in addition to attending the super fun wedding, we also attended the rehersal dinner. Thanks to Ellen for capturing the weekend with her camera. Bren and I are awful about remembering to take pictures, especially asking for shots of the 2 of us so I can say I finally have a new profile picture that doesn't involve our wedding from 2 years ago :)

Rehersal Dinner @ La Baraonda! Super yummy and lots of Pinot Noir :)

Bren with the groom, David at the rehersal dinner. 

Ellen and I. Notice my red face, the result of too much pinot noir. 

Left to Right
John, Hubs, Matt, and Caldwell. 

Best friends! John and Brendan after the rehersal dinner. 

The result of too much pinot the night before :(

The lovely ladies!
Diane, me, Meg and Ellen sneak a quick pic before the ceremony

My handsome hubby and I! I love this picture, thanks Ellen!

We got a picture with the Bride!

Boys with the Groom!

A rough start to 2013...

Hey Yall,

I had been contemplating blogging about January or debating if I should just ignore the fact that January 2013 was quite possibly one of the worst months in the Bakers' (albeit short) history.

After going back and forth in my mind, I decided that ignoring the month of January also meant I would be ignoring all the prayers, well wishes and love that surrounded us in a very tough month. Before I go any further please know that I will never ever be able to say thank you enough to those that laughed, cried, loved,  and prayed for my family during December and January. 

Without rambling too much longer January was a rough patch for the Bakers. We lost my Grandma Nall on January 19th. It was hard to lose my Grandma but, I know in my heart that she is very happy to be reunited with her husband and oldest son. 

Also just days before my Grandma passed away, our dear friend Caldwell Robinson's grandfather passed away. Mr. Glenn was the smartest man I have ever met and incredibly creative. He loved Brendan as if he was one of his many grandchildren.

In addition to losing Mr. Glenn and my grandma, my hubby 2 other deaths to cope with. The gentlemen that passed away were pivotal in Brendan's baseball career and I know that when he suits up later this Spring Coach Devore and the other man, who's name escapes me, will be on the forefront of his mind. 

Needless to say both Brendan and I were thankful to see the morning hours of February 1st and leave January behind. February will be fun with 2 weddings of dear friends and a Pat Green concert!

Reviewing 2012 and a pledge for 2013

Hey Yall, 

I am officially the worst blogger on the planet. I log onto blogger to catch up with everyone I follow on a weekly basis but I haven't posted in FOREVER. 

For my faithful followers, THANK YOU for sticking with me. I have said it before but, my goal is to post monthly in 2013. 

Hopefully the Bakers life will be interesting enough to blog about on a monthly basis. For those of you who are interested, I am going to do a quick month by month summary of 2012, which all together was a fabulous year and I cannot believe it's already 2013! Forgive the wordiness of the post and lack of pictures. I will do better in my future posts=)

January 

January started off with a bang and a new business venture for me. I had been contemplating for some time and finally took the plunge with Stella&Dot. I had an amazing launch and successfully started off 2012 with several parties on the calendar. January also started with a bang for B, but not in such a great way. 

As many of you know or don't know B is a State Certified Residential Real Property Appraiser. In simple terms, he's one of the best in the state and yes I'm bragging that my hubby rocks! Anyway, back to why his January started with a bang and not such a good one. Part of being an appraiser means that he spends a LOT of time in the car and doesn't always get oil changes when he should. Let this story be a lesson to us all to keep up with oil changes. Long story short, B gunned it to get thru a light on New Years Eve and heard a not so very good noise from his beloved Camry's engine. As it turns out his engine was totally destroyed and needed to be replaced or rebuilt. Due to the car's age(it was a 2000) we elected to have it rebuilt and cost us a pretty penny none the less. 

February 

Not a very exciting month at the Bakers but we celebrated our 4th Valentines' together complete with Ferguson's filets. I have to do small sales plug here for Ferguson's meat market. They are located out just passed where 400N ends and I promise it's worth the haul to go there for your meats. Their filets are amazing and melt in your mouth. Their bratwursts are the ones that B and I serve every year at our annual kick off party and they are always a huge hit. Check them out at http://fergusonsmeatmarket.com/ I promise you will be glad you did!

March 

March was a bittersweet month at the Bakers. We planned to venture to Las Vegas for my spring break but as you may recall reading, January was a pricey month for the Bakers. Rebuilding B's engine in his car as well as my decision to sell Stella&Dot jewlery meant that the Vegas money was gone. Despite a hopeful beginning trip to the airport ended in bitter disappointment that we would not be able to unload our tickets and get a refund. Alas, a lesson learned in being a grown up, life is not always fair.

April 

April brought about sunshine and fun times for the Bakers. After an expensive not so great March, April was a welcomed change! April is always a fun month for us because we take part in the Inman Park Festival. Thanks to our fabulous photographers and cousins, (www.ptproofs.com) we were able to volunteer at beer truck with a prime location then drink free beer and walk around the festival the rest of the day. Another sales plug but a worthy one, if you are looking for a photographer for your wedding check Sandra and Greg Scott at Picture This.  Yall they are the BEST photographers in Atlanta, perhaps the USA, and no I'm not just saying that because we are cuzins:)

May 

May was an exciting month for the Bakers and Lamberths alike. 

My baby sister, who's not really a baby but very much a D.V.M now graduated from the University of Georgia's Veterinary Medicine program on May 5th. That's right, my sister is officially Dr. Olivia C. Lamberth, D.V.M. She is practicing at Powers Ferry Animal Hospital and rocking it.

May also brought about B's 30th birthday and my 28th. Yes, we share our birthday, May 16th, a blessing and a curse at the same time:) Since it was a "big" birthday for B, we decided to travel to our favorite city, CHARLESTON for the weekend. Thanks to Frank Harris, our beloved Silver Dollar bartender and friend, we had too much to drink on our birthday and a killer hangover to begin our next year of life. We also enjoyed an amazing birthday dinner at Peninsula Grill. It was in my top 5 of meals I have had! I even ate a bite or 3 of shrimp and yall know how much I detest shrimp!

June 

June brought about some welcomed changes for the Bakers. 

The highlights of June included Huey Lewis' 6th birthday,  accepting a job to return The Preschool , spending a week with the Metzner girls and began another summer of full time nannying for the Birkels. I began June by spending a week with precious Ella and Finley as their parents vacationed in the Caribbean. The girls and I spent lots of time at the pool, Monkey Joes, HippoHop, and watching WildKrats. The girls are adorable and growing so quickly, it's hard to believe Ella will be 5 in May!!!  I was blessed to spend my summer with all 3 Birkel children, Fenn who was a little over 1 year old, Charlsie(9) and MaryMac(11). We had a fun summer full of pool time, playing mini golf, baking and lots of other fun times.

June would not be June without a wedding and what a wedding we attended! We spent a lovely weekend up at Lake Toxaway celebrating one of B's best friends and his beautiful bride! His bride, Diane has become one of my dearest friends and I am so thankful we got to be a part of celebrating Diane and Caldwell. 

July 

Much like June, I spent most of my days with the Birkel Bunch and evenings at the Ted. July was not a great month for me personally as I had my first car accident. That's right, my perfect and unblemished record no longer exists. I ran int the back of someone on Roswell Road as I was leaving the Birkels house. Luckily or unluckily, the brunt of the damage was done to my car, but I was left sore for a few weeks. Not fun and not an event I want to repeat, EVER!

August 

August came in a hurry as I anticipated returning to The Preschool and a little time at the beach. B graciously took an entire week off from work(well most of the time except the time spent on a training call) and took me to Panama City. It rained pretty much the entire week and made it impossible to get a tan but, it was great to get away from the hustle bustle of Atlanta. 

August ended with another wedding celebration. This time we celebrated B's neighbor from growing up, Chris Romano. Chris and his wife Christina also just recently announced(in January) that their family would grow by 2 feet in May!

September 

Ah the beginning of our favorite season in the Baker household, UGA football season!!

We hosted our annual cookout to kick off the season and watched UGA destroy Mizzou. We grilled bratwursts and cooked a large amount of buffalo chicken dip, as our closest friends and family joined us in celebrating a SEC victory.

September also brought about the beginning of a new school year and precious new little ones to work their way into my heart forever. I am blessed with 2 of the cutest, if not THE cutest classes of 2 year olds to ever enter the The Preschool! I am doubly blessed because I am Finley's teacher. Yes, that's right not only did I get to teach Ella Metzner but, I get to teach her little sister too! What's not to love!!

October 

October was a pretty great month for the Bakers. Despite the Braves losing AGAIN in the play in game, we cheered our hardest and loudest but didn't throw garbage on the field with the rest of the Ted. We cheered louder at the end of the month when UGA defeated UF for the 2nd year in a row. We like to think that our beloved cousin, CatNall is the reason behind UGA winning 2 years in a row and hope she will watch the game with us for years to come!

In October, we also walked in our 5th JDRF Walk for The Cure along side B's awesome family and look forward to continuing the tradition this year as well. 

The last highlight of October was celebrating David and Diana's engagement. 2013 is jam packed with weddings and David and Diana's is the first one!  David is a high school buddy of B's and we look forward to celebrating them on February 16th!

November

As the Lexus commercial says, Make it a December to Remember. Well my sweet, amazing thoughtful Hubs made my November one to remember! Since the Camry incident in January, we had been contemplating on when would be a good time to ditch the Camry and get B a new car. After a lot of discussion, and B's web searching, we determined that it would be best for B to take on my car, which gets 24mpg and somehow I convinced B I needed a bigger car. No, we are not pregnant but one day we will be and I wanted to be prepared. We actually struck gold and found an amazing deal on a LexusGX after searching tirelessly for a 4Runner. We had agreed on a 4Runner because it was bigger but not that much bigger plus Huey could ride in the way back. One day, casually I mentioned in passing that if we had lots of extra money, I would love to drive a LexusGX. As my luck would have it, or purely divine intervention, B found an affordable 2005 LexusGX. We quickly jumped on the deal, traded in the Camry and I now happily drive a LexusGX!!!

December

As if November did not bring enough excitement with a new car, we topped off and ended the year with our 2 year anniversary

. As you may or may not now, B loves to travel. His favorite gift is an experience, not an item. Lucky for me as his wife, I get to join on his trips, well most of the time anyway. For our 2 year anniversary, we took the most amazing and wonderful trip to NYC.  It was a whirlwind trip with lots of walking and delicious food. I will devote my next blog entry to detailing our trip complete with pictures but for now, I will end this post. 

2012 was a wonderful year full of ups, downs and blessings. I cannot believe it went so quickly and I am eagerly anticipating 2013!!

Thanks for reading!

Until next time....

Cheers!

The Bakers are moving...

Hi Friends!


Hopefully that title didn't cause too much heart failure for any of you but grabbed your attention enough to read this post:)


It's true, we are moving but not out of Georgia. After a wonderful year in Alpharetta(well Milton really), we have decided to pack it up and head back to Sandy Springs. As you know from my previous post, I have accepted a job at SMES which is in Dunwoody-Sandy Springs. After lots of talking, discussing and house hunting, B and I have decided to go back to the area where we grew up. My early morning commute will now only be 15-20 minutes instead of an hour plus. We are really excited about our new place.


How did we find our new place? Well after looking at Craigslist for what seemed like a bizillion(okay not THAT many but it was a lot) we found a listing for a "charming ranch in Sandy Springs".  Without prior approval from B, I emailed the listing to find out more information. A sweet lady from Coke emailed me back and sent pictures and offered a 2 year lease, which was exactly what we were looking for. When I saw the landlord worked for Coke, I thought maybe just maybe SB(the dad for the family I nanny for) would know her or know someone who did. Turns out this lady worked for Steve when he first got to Coke! Without even looking at the house in person, I had convinced myself this house was meant to be!!! Luckily after looking at it in person and meeting with Mary, B agreed with me. We are signing the lease today!


So now that leaves the not so fun part, packing boxes. Fortunately and unfortunately we are leaving next week for a destination wedding/vacation for a week so I get to procrastinate a little but, once we get back it's full steam ahead. Once we get back from Utah and LV, pre-planning and packing will all begin with a bang.


So with a happy heart and a little anxiety with all that needs to get done before September 1, I am happy to say the Bakers are returning to Sandy Springs!


Cheers!

Catching up

Hi Friends,


I apologize for the lapse in blogging. I am sure all my faithful readers are all just holding your breath in suspense and hoping for some crazy exciting news from the Bakers. I'm not sure if the last 3 and half to 4 months have been crazy or exciting but, definitely busy.


In March, when I last posted my goal was to give up Facebook to provide more time for myself to blog and more time to connect with friends on the phone and text. Well, I only half succeeded in my goal.  I spent more time on the phone but did not post a single blog.


Also in March, Brendan and I ventured to Orlando for Braves' spring training. We got to see a great game where Hudson shut out the Mets. Beating the Mets is great, shutting them out is AMAZING! To top off a great game, I convinced B to stick around after the game so I could try to get some autographs. After standing around for a few minutes(which seemed like FOREVER) this really tall kid with his socks tucked into his pants old school style walked to the crowd and started signing baseballs. I was bummed because I had no idea who he was.  Then poor guy, when he pointed at me I begrudgingly tossed him my baseball with no enthusiasm and hardly a smile. After he tossed it back, I turned around to B who had a humongous smile on his face. He exclaimed, "Linds you got Johnny Venters autograph! He's one of my favorites!" Well in that case SCORE!!!! A great game and a clutch autograph, how could the day possibly get any better.  

After getting the autograph we headed back to our resort to get ready for a fun night on in downtown Orlando. Liv and Cat joined us as we ventured to Hard Rock Cafe for dinner and then had a blast at the Pat O'Brien's piano bar. It was a fun long weekend and the weather had me longing for summer upon our return.

March continued to be a good month for the Bakers when we returned home from Orlando. On the last day of March, we purchased a new car! I had been angling for an SUV since B and I married but B's research had not convinced him that buying one would be such a great idea with  gas prices on the rise. Lucky for me I have a husband who does lots of research and we ended up buying a brand new Nissan Rogue! I have never driven an SUV more than 2-3 times and I'm hooked.  I love this car and love the gas mileage even more! What's not to love about averaging 28mpg and have the spaciousness of an SUV!

March was a super exciting month but, April did not disappoint. After finding out that The Preschool would not be adding more days to my current schedule, I was left in quite a pickle. Do I stay put and hope for more days or do I take on the daunting task of sending out my resume to schools? I picked the latter and circulated my resume for the 3rd year in a row. I felt like the hobo of teachers, 2 schools in 2 years, who's going to want to hire me? Luckily(and a special thanks to my p arentswho showed me the importance of making contacts wherever you go) I received an email from SMES saying that indeed there were openings and my resume would be passed along to the principal who would be in touch. After what seemed like an endless amount of time(reality 2 weeks), I received an email requesting me to interview with the principal. This interview was about as informal and nervewracking(crazy combo I know) as they come. I had been in this position before and all I could think about was how I had been in this position before and been disappointed. Thankfully my luck changed with this interview as the principal told me about the "many opportunties" and toted me around the school. I left the interview feeling really good and with a promise of an email with instructions on when to contact the Head of School.

As April drew to a close, my spirits began to fade in regards to SMES but, I was excited about MAY! May means birthdays, school wrapping up, and this year the arrival of Fenn and a beautiful wedding for my friend Lea! 

May turned out to be a fabulous month. The beginning of the month brought about a new job for fall! That's right all my wishing, hoping, praying came thru and I was offered a job at SMES. Beginning in August, I will be teaching kindergarten at SMES! Praise God for a full time with benefits, 5 day a week job! The job also works out so that I can continue to nanny for the Birkels. My day ends at 2:15 and the girls get out of school at 2:25. The scheduling could not possibly be more perfect.

May continued to be a great month my friend Lea got married on the 14th. She was a beautiful bride and had fabulous photographers. The fabulous photographers http://sandraandgreg.blogspot.com/ also captured B and I's wedding in December.  The 14th was an extra special day not only did Lea get married but the Birkels welcomed Stephen "Fenn" Michael Birkel III on this day as well. He is absolutely precious, just like his big sisters! 

He's much bigger and even cuter now, but he's a shot from his birthday!

The following Saturday, B and I belatedly celebrated our 29th(his 1st!) and 27th(mine) birthdays. What better way to celebrate a birthday than going to Chastain to watch Paul Simon put on a FABULOUS show!

As May wrapped up so did my year at The Preschool. It was a bittersweet goodbye because I had some of the most fabulous kiddos, parents and co-teacher a girl could ask for! I also loved the directors and office staff as well as the other teachers at the school. Despite being one of the youngest on staff by at least 4+ years, they opened their hearts and arms to this newbie. It was tough to say goodbye but I am super stoked about my new gig at SMES.

June has started off with a bang as I took on the role of a somewhat single(notice I said somewhat because I had lots of help from B and good friends C&C) parent. The  Metzners entrusted me to take care of their 2 sweet girls for 5 days as they ventured off to Aruba. It was a challenging but fun week. Despite some set backs with teething, I think overall the week went really well. We spent a lot with water(water tables, pools, sprinklers, the whole bit), eating pink ice cream and popsicles. Basically just plain having fun! Thank you Metzners for letting me love on your girls!

June was also a big month because on the 11th, B and I celebrated 6 months of marital bliss! Can't believe we've already been married for 6 months, it sure has flown by!

As June wraps up we are looking forward to a lake weekend to celebrate the 4th of July and our trip to Vegas and Park City for a wedding.

Well that about wraps up what's been going on with the Bakers. Hopefully the next entry won't be 3 months from now or as legnthy! Thanks for reading!

A time to reflect and reconnect...bye bye Facebook...for now at least

Greetings!


 It has been almost 2 months since I posted and I am clearly the world's worst blogger. Life in the Baker household has been very VERY busy for the last 2 months. I have picked up 2 new additional part time jobs, as if nannying 5 days and teaching 2 days a week didn't keep me busy enough, I decided that I would take on another 3 day teaching job at a different school and hostess 4 shifts a week at a local restaurant. 


Also in other big news or at least for me..I have given up Facebook for Lent. 
After some inspiration from a friend who deactivated from Facebook, followed by what was meant to be a friendly jab from someone I love dearly, and a lot of inward reflection, I have chosen to bid farewell to Facebook during the season of Lent. I realized I spent more time consumed with OTHER people's pictures and not taking my own. I was more interested in what other people were doing and experiencing and not living my life and enjoying my experiences. It hit me like a ton of bricks that I was all of a sudden back in middle school. 

It's only day 6 and I have 34 more to go....

Fortunately I have found without Facebook, I have more real conversations in person and on the phone. Not texting but actual talking and good quality conversation. There's a lot less, "Oh did you see on Facebook..." or "Oh my gosh did you see that picture of..." Am I bummed that I missing photographs from several weddings over the course of the next month and half, absolutely! I do also realize they will be on Facebook when and if I return and I realize relationships with people is more important than a relationship with their Facebook page.

Here's to reflecting and reconnecting and hopefully more blogs!

Snowpocalypse 2k11

Hey Ya'll!
I'm a bit late posting about the snow that shut down Atlanta 2 weeks ago but alas a late recap is better than no recap at all. 

On Saturday, I convinced Brendan to go grocery shopping with me. The forecast was calling for a snow/ice storm to hit Atlanta on Sunday afternoon and I wanted to be prepared. Walmart was a zoo but we managed to stock up on all the necessary things as well as some goodies(beer and Oreos). In true Atlanta weather fashion, the snow did not show up Sunday afternoon as scheduled and I was beginning to get anxious. However by about 8pm, the snow started falling and the schools started closing. (little did I know that we would be out of school all week). As soon as Fulton County said they were closed, our quiet chill  Sunday turned into a Sunday Funday as I busted out the bourbon and whiskey from our liquor cabinet. 

On Tuesday, I woke up to the sight of more snow than I had seen since 1993. Our driveway was a sheet of ice and our yard was covered.

Our house in the snow. Notice the tire tracks in the driveway, we ventured to Target on Tuesday to get more oreos and PBR. 

After talking to friends and family,plus watching the Weather Channel, I would estimate Atlanta and the surrounding areas were dumped with on average of 6 inches of snow plus another inch of ice. 

After Tuesday, I was ready for the snow to melt and get back to work. Huey, on the other hand, in true Saint Bernard fashion, loved the snow. 

Then Thursday arrived and even Huey was ready for the snow and ice to go away. I snapped these pictures of him on the couch. Following each picture, Huey let out a very long and drawn out sigh. He's such a goof!

Huey loves to snuggle on our new couch from Pottery Barn. He's an even bigger fan of our new fleecy pillows.

Okay Mom, 4 days of ice is enough, either make it snow more or make the ice melt!  I'm ready to go outside and play!

Fortunately on Thursday, I was able to get out of the house and go visit my parents in Sandy Springs. Luckily B had a baseball meeting so I was able to tag along in the car and make a trip to my parents. Per the request of my mom who was craving red meat, I stopped at  and picked up some burgers for us to enjoy for dinner. 

The weekend of Snowpocalypse was probably the most fun minus the awful Falcons loss. I won't go into Saturday night because that was a bust in so many ways.The good news for the weekend though was that  Uncle Rob came in town for the market at the Apparel Mart so on Sunday, my mom, B and I hit up the Mart to check out Century's new showroom and take a look at other vendors.

To end the weekend, Mom, Dad and URob came up to Milton to treat B and I to dinner at our favorite: 

If you have not eaten there and live in Atlanta, you must go. They have the best garlic rolls and Italian food! The rolls are delicious and I could make a meal out just eating the rolls! 

Well that about does it for my recap of Snowpocalypse 2k11. Here's to hoping bright blue skies and sunny weather is headed our way soon!