The Start of 2023

2023 is starting off great! January has been a fantastic month filled with lots of family, friends, and fun. What a great combination!

Ryan and I were gifted 4 tickets to the Falcons/Bucs game from our friend, Katie Denis. We were so excited that Jeff and Elizabeth could join us! We always love having a Falcons football adventure with them! We were so excited to be at this game because we got to watch Tom Brady play. Granted, none of us like Brady at all given his unbelievable overtime comeback win against us with the Patriots in Super Bowl 51 (not that we're still bitter about that...) BUT there's a reason he's considered one of the greatest of all time. It's cool that we got to see him play live. Not surprisingly, the Falcons lost today's game, but we still had a ton of fun thanks to being with great friends.

Mia sewed the most adorable little red fox! I love him!

Lily has such a great group of friends!

Mia and all the kids at Brylliant Acting Studio have been working so hard over the last month. Right after Little Mermaid finished in early December, they hit the ground running to prepare for the Junior Theater Competition. They decided to go with Matilda Jr. for their 15 minute show. Unfortunately, they didn't win any awards this year, but that's okay; they had a great time acting together!

Mia split the role of Bruce with another actor. He played the speaking role (Bruce is supposed to be a 5 year old little boy after all) while Mia took the singing role. One of the most famous songs from Matilda is Revolting Children which is led by Bruce. It's a fast-paced and difficult song to sing but Mia killed it! 

Later in the month we were all excited to head over to Samford to watch StepSing. This is always such a fun competition! We had so much fun watching the different shows and placing our bets on who was going to win (none of us got it right).

The next morning, Ryan, Lily, and I went on Lily's first official college tour. Ryan and I have so many great memories of being at Samford. It was a ton of fun for us to walk around campus, think about those memories and people, and see all the improvements that have come along since our time there. Samford is still such a gorgeous campus, and it was the perfect day for walking around!

After the tour the three of us decided to have lunch in the caf. They've got so many different options in here now; it's great! I enjoyed a middle eastern meal (schwarma with rice on naan) while Ryan and Lily both had a good cheeseburger and fries.

Before we left, we drove over to West Campus, so I could show Lily the Zeta house and the sorority quad. We lucked out that a lovely young lady let us in the house so I could show her the chapter room, kitchen, and sitting area. I was a little overwhelmed thinking about the friends I made here, and how thankful I am for them. I think I appreciate them more now than I did then; I think I've learned the value of a good friend since then.

We headed on back to Atlanta, rested at home for just a little bit, and then headed downtown. We all went to see Riverdance in it's 25th anniversary show at the Fox. It was so cool! I always love this Irish dancing, and they did not disappoint. They featured other types of dance too including a Spanish flamenco dancer and two tap dancers. The music is always so beautiful too. This was such a fun evening!

Mia has made Lily two awesome pairs of pajama pants. One is a classic black and white plaid while the other supports our Braves. They're so soft and cozy, and I'm amazed that Mia can do this!

It's always nice when Grandpops comes to visit! We enjoyed having him in town for several days this month. One evening, we all had dinner together with my parents at Rumi's Kitchen. It was delicious!

Mia recently acquired a real digital camera from Grandpops, and she's been having fun honing her photography skills. Decker made a sleepy little model one evening.

Ryan and Lily made a little day trip to Buc-cee's one morning. Lily found lots of cute little items including this beaver face straw. We couldn't stop laughing!

Ryan and I celebrated our 21st anniversary this month! It was definitely more low key this year, but we very much enjoyed our dinner out at Marcel's. It was fun to try a new restaurant together, and the food was wonderful. On another evening, we enjoyed the blueberry pie I ordered as a little anniversary present for both of us via Goldbelly from Two Fat Cats.

Mia was excited to order another Blind Date with a Book on Etsy from a seller she likes. It looked so beautiful when it arrived! These are always so much fun!

It's been a busy but fun month to start out 2023!