gone country

Last Saturday morning started a little brighter and earlier than I usually prefer, but those are the kinds of sacrifices you make for friends like these:

The Moores

Although the very fact that they dared to move a zillion miles away last April did make me question what kind of friends they were...I'd say that spending the weekend down in the country with them has led me to forgive them for that act of desertion. I can now look at it as not so much 'losing friends' and more like 'gaining a pet-friendly b&b that also serves lunch and dinner (FOR FREE) and has delightfully entertaining hosts'. I'm just a glass-half-full kinda girl.

That last paragraph didn't even make sense, but let's not focus on that. Let's just move on.

So we drove down to Brooklet (basically Statesboro...except even MORE cotton fields) on Saturday in the rain. Did I mention we took Lola? Yeah, she's not such a fan of riding in the car. I glanced over my shoulder every few minutes to see something like this:

"Mom, HOW could you do this to me? You KNOW I don't like driving long distances. Can't you hear my incessant whining?? Doesn't that stir your heart even a little?"

Yes, I hear you. I just have a heart of steel.

Sometimes she'd mix things up and go torture her dad. We can see he's just as moved by her antics as I am.

Anyway, the long drive was worth it because eventually we got there. Amanda had a delicious lunch ready for us (being 9 months pregnant just can't stop that girl) and we spent the afternoon enjoying tours of their house and city, including an exclusive after-hours behind-the-scene tour of Marshall's clinic (he's a vet). That was pretty sweet. Except that the scale there LIES. Don't worry, I was SO INCREDIBLY TRAUMATIZED by the number that appeared on the screen when I stood on the scale that the first thing I did when I got back to Athens was drive to Target and buy a scale just so I could prove to myself that the one at the vet office was wrong. And it was. By seven pounds. Luckily I was able to block out the memory of that horrid number on the scale for the rest of the weekend...or it might have ruined all the eatin' that was about to commence. And that would have been a tragedy.

For dinner we enjoyed Marshall's famous (to us) homemade pizza. When they lived in Athens, eating homemade pizza with the Moores was practically my religion. It happened at least twice a month. So every time we get together now, it's pretty much a requirement. On Saturday we stuck to 2 BBQ pizzas and one margherita (sp?).

Yes, there were only 4 of us eating. And this is all that was left. What can I say...I didn't want to be rude or insult the chef!

Throughout dinner we brainstormed the best way to build our dessert pizza. Matt definitely contributed the clincher idea-- cover the (homemade) dough in PEANUT BUTTER (like pizza sauce). That took it to the next level. On top of the peanut butter we sprinkled generous handfuls of chocolate chips, toffee chips, and pecans. It was pretty much out of this world.

Pioneer Woman, eat your heart out.

And no, there was none of that left over. :)

On Sunday we had a great morning attending the Savannah Vineyard. It was a lot of fun and the worship was freakin awesome. It was well worth the 50-minute drive...especially since there were a boatload of delicious cookies and breads to enjoy during the service! As you can see, we practically starved all weekend.

After church we ate at the Distillery. It was delicious. It was also home to one of the most beautiful and fun ladies restrooms Amanda and I have ever experienced. Normally I'm not tempted to do a photo shoot in a public restroom. This place proved to be the exception.



In addition to being just beautiful (exposed brick, ornate mirrors, awesome sink spout-thingies), it housed one of the most INTENSE hand dryers known to mankind. As in, when you put your hands underneath it it makes all your skin incredibly distorted. Totally weird. We did take lots of pictures of our distorted hand-skin, but I will spare you from looking at them. I think you just had to be there.

After lunch we got some fresh air and light exercise (haha) checking out River Street. Oh yeah, we also ate fresh pralines. I'm sure this is shocking to you since we're such light eaters.

My companions for the day

My companion (for life) and myself

Umm...things got a little silly.

For the rest of the afternoon we just enjoyed slothing around and watching the dogs play. Oh, and chasing Lola all around the neighborhood when she escaped out of the backyard. Eventually the boys decided to make a fire. Amanda and I enjoyed it with them for about 10 minutes. Then the boys enjoyed it for another 3 hours.

So we went inside and goofed off, looked at cookbooks, played guitar, and cooked a HEALTHY dinner (vegetarian stir fry! with fried rice! and salad!!). That way we felt less guilty later when we watched the Golden Globes and had (virgin) Hoedowns. These are another tradion...a true Hoedown is a blend of (cold) coffee, ice cream, chocolate syrup, and Kahlua, blended up like a milkshake. YUM. This time we subbed in toffee chips for the Kahlua and it was a worthy addition.

On Monday we slept in, ate some cinnamon rolls for breakfast, and headed back home. It was strange leaving, knowing that the next time we see them they will have a baby!! Oh how the times are a-changin'.

We got home in time to still have a productive afternoon...you know, buy a scale at Target, go grocery shopping, go running, weigh yourself a few (thousand) times and regret eating those last 12 pieces of pizza and such...make a new commitment to healthy eating and good exercise habits...the usual. :)

Work today was a little more boring than usual, coming off such a fun weekend. But I'm excited about the rest of the week-- our DirectTV with DVR (hello, welcome to the 21st century, me!) will be hooked up tomorrow and then the weekend is only 2 more days away!

If you made it all the way through this post (and you're not Amanda or Marshall, haha) then you deserve a prize. But just so that I know that I'm giving a really GOOD prize, do tell me...

If you could have an all-expenses-paid trip for your family (kids too, if you want to bring them along...but then, maybe you don't!!) and another couple/family...for one week...where would it be?

You never know, I could win the lottery tomorrow...and this might be good information for me to know! (Although it might help if I played the lottery...)