I love hanging out with my man, BUT...

...nothing compares to fun times with my favorite girls!

Our friends Russ and Brittany Dunlap arrived in Nashville (from Atlanta) on Friday... and I was so extremely happy to see them. It was our first face-to-face with the Dunlaps since Jon and I got married... so the visit was much needed and long overdue!

Since we're all old and married and rarely leave our houses, we decided to "get crazy" and go out for the night. And by "get crazy" I really mean we stayed up past 10:00 p.m. Wild!

After a fab dinner at Germantown Cafe, the Collins, Dunlaps and our single friend Paul headed to Flying Saucer for a few beers. And by "a few beers" I really mean a lot of beers.

It was kind of like we were young again - except we found ourselves annoyed with typical bar behavior we once thought was acceptable. You know - crappy service, cigarette smoke, over flowing toilets in the bathroom. The nastiness of nightlife. Ew! Regardless, it was a super fun night.


Brittany and me at Flying Saucer in Nashville

This morning, Brittany and I woke from beer-induced, coma-like slumbers so we could spend the day with the latest bride-to-be of our group, Miss Sheryl Lynn. The three of us shopped for bridesmaids dresses for Sheryl's June 20 wedding. Our bride was happy when we found pretty clover green dresses to perfectly accentuate her gown. Success!

After the bridesmaids dress extravaganza, the three of us ate lunch and talked. And talked. And talked. And talked. It was wonderful... and exactly what I needed. I wish I could have girly days with my favorite girls more often!


Brittany, Sheryl and me after our successful day of wedding planning fun.

90 Day Review

That's right, our marriage hits the three month mark tomorrow... And naturally that means it's time for our 90 day performance review. =)

Here we go...

Ratings:
5=Exceeds Requirements for the Position
4=Exceeds Requirements on a Consistent Basis
3=Performs Requirements in a Satisfactory Manner
2=Some Improvement Needed
1=Must Improve Performance Immediately

Knowledge
Jonathan: 5
Melinda: 5

We may be rookies in the marriage game, but when it comes to knowledge of each other, we're experts. I guess it comes from our many years of experience in the relationship department.

Shows competence in his or her duties
Jonathan: 5
Melinda: 5

Jonathan and I both exceed expectations when it comes to our individual contributions to our marriage. He cooks. I clean. He takes out the trash. I do laundry. So far, so good.

Able to work independently
Jonathan: N/A
Melinda: N/A

Previous experience proves we're both capable of surviving on our own... But obviously we're better together.

Able to identify problems and develop solutions
Jonathan: 5
Melinda: 3

Let's face it: men are problem solvers. Women, on the other hand, don't always want to solve problems... but we definitely like to talk about them. A lot. Jonathan is an expert problem solver. He's very rational. I have some work to do.

Dependability
Jonathan: 5
Melinda: 5

We're there for each other.
No. Matter. What.

Committed to excellence on the job
Jonathan: 5
Melinda: 5

Our marriage will not only last... It will be fantastic. Someday our grandchildren will look to us as role models for their own relationships. That, in my opinion, is the definition of a successful life and marriage.

Organizational Ability
Jonathan: 5
Melinda: 5

Some of you have heard me refer to our budget initiative meetings. We have pie charts, people. Enough said.

Sets goals to accomplish daily/weekly/monthly tasks
Jonathan: 5
Melinda: 5

We have a bucket list. It's long. And lofty. But we intend to cross off every single item. It's gonna be great.

Summary
The first 90 days of marriage were great... and we expect the awesomeness of being old married people will only continue. It's good stuff...

Nora Grace

This past Friday morning (January 23) I was awakened by the familiar sound of my cell phone. It wasn’t my alarm. Instead it was four little beeps indicating I had received a new text message. It was approximately 6:30 a.m. and our good friend Chris texted to inform Jonathan and me that:

“Nora is on her way!!!!!!!!!!”

A few hours later I received a photo in my Gmail inbox.

Precious.

Nora, of course, is Chris and his wife Regina’s bouncing baby girl.

Jonathan and I feel like we’re Nora’s unofficial aunt and uncle… mostly because we’ve known Chris for years. Our friendship goes way back – all the way to middle school. Then Regina joined our group about five years ago when she and Chris started dating. I’ve mentioned them before, in a post about their Las Vegas wedding last summer.

It’s incredible see so many of our friends becoming parents these days, although it’s hard to accept that we’re already at the age of parenthood. It seems like middle school wasn’t that long ago! I guess we’re getting old.

We’re so excited for Chris and Regina, and we cannot wait to meet baby Nora in person!

2009: The year of the movie (well… so far)

Apparently I like to hibernate during the winter months. Literally.

I wake up each morning, go to work, come home, put on the warmest PJs in my closet, wrap myself in a blanket and sit still until the next day when I repeat the process. Call me a homebody… even anti-social… but lately there is nothing I enjoy more than just being at home.

My laziness has led to a significant amount of quality time with our awesome new television and our sweet satellite service package. We’ve watched a lot of movies lately.

I am Legend. The Pursuit of Happyness. The Bucket List . You, Me and Dupree. Superbad. Juno. The Patriot. The Godfather trilogy.

When we leave the house, it’s usually to buy groceries and pick up/return movies at Blockbuster. We’ve rented Tropic Thunder, Pineapple Express, Burn After Reading, I’m Not There and Righteous Kill just to name a few.

SO, if the average picture show is approximately two hours… Then Jonathan and I have already spent 30 hours or more watching movies this year. For us, it’s a little excessive.

Is 2009 the year of the movie? I think it’s too soon to tell. Maybe our recent trend is just a side effect of winter. That’s it: we’re just cold!

OR, perhaps we’re evolving… into… DUM, DUM, DUM…

… Married People.

The hibernation ends tonight. Jonathan and I will venture out of our cozy little cave into a public place where we will have a pajama-free, TV-tray-free, couch-free date night.

We’re going to the movies, and I’m quite happy about it.

Blogger's Block

The unthinkable has happened. I have nothing to say.

We're already 13 days into the new year, and surely there's plenty to blog about. Jonathan cooked an amazing New Year's Day dinner... I mean, UH-mazing. My friend Sheryl asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding. Tim "The Toolbag" Tebow led the Florida Gators to a national championship. We got together with a good group of Nashville friends to watch the Titans choke in the NFL play-off game. Bruce and the boys continue to struggle on defense. I got summoned to jury duty in Washington County (even though I haven't been a Washington County resident for almost a year). After the jury duty drama I finally got a new driver's license to reflect my new last name. I cooked dinner for my husband five nights in a row (big accomplishment for me). Our marriage announcement made headlines in Knoxville. OK, it didn't make headlines, but it made the "Marriage Announcements" section of the local newspaper. We are famous though. Here's proof (notice the photo on the far right). Yep. Famous.

So... 2009 has already been fairly eventful. There's lots of bloggable stuff going on, yet I cannot seem to engage my creativity long enough to type up a few blurbs here and there. I guess it's a bad case of Blogger's Block.