From One Sunday with Mom, to the Other Sunday... With the other Mom

Things never seem to slow down with us. Last Sunday after Kara told me to go fly a kite, we made our way down to visit the Natics and hang out with Kara's Mom. Kara's Mom offered to take us to dinner. Naturally we couldn't refuse.

We made our way over to the Avenues and Kara made up her mind that we could go to Jim N Nicks. Great BBQ and even better, they have great Beer Specials on Sunday nights. Can't beat that right? After a great dinner, I made my way back down to the city as I had to be at work at my normal time.

Tuesday wound up being a special day as it was my Mom's (number deleted for my own safety) Birthday! To celebrate this we decided to go to McCormick and Schmick's. I've heard so much about this place from everybody but never got to go, so now here was my chance. Being a Native of New England when it's supposed to be great seafood you never turn it down.

Earlier in the day while Kara and I were exploring Kennesaw and all it had to offer on a Saturday (quit laughing people), we made a stop in to Hobby Lobby so Kara could get her Creative On with the gift below. All stemming from (no pun intended) my Mom talking about her love of Grape Tootsie Roll Pops. As you can see, Kara loves to take an idea and run with it. Well done!

Speaking of well done, now comes the Epic Fail of our Waitress for my Mom's Dinner. Our waitress reminded me of Kerri Kenny from the beginning. For those of you who don't know that name, she was on the shows "The State" and "Reno 911".

All night she was busting her ass to make sure that we were kept happy. She even made a blonde joke at the beginning of the night about herself; little did we know it might become true. The time comes around for dessert and Marsha and my Mom decided they wanted Coffee. No big deal as the wait staff normally offers dessert and coffee. The first time around... The Coffee wasn't hot. So Kerri (as she'll be known from here on out) says

"I'll go brew a fresh pot right now"

She comes back about 15 minutes later and while trying to rush to get everything on the table... 2 cups of coffee fall on Kara. Now that wasn't even the worst part. When you brew a fresh cup of coffee you'd expect it to be hot unless you order it "iced". Now Kara did jump up in shock, but I was quick to notice that she calmed down fairly quickly which lead me to believe the Coffee once again was not hot.

Finally Kerri comes back and successfully gets the coffee to my Mom and Marsha. She then turns and says to Kara "I've taken your dessert off of the tab"

Really??? The Dessert??? Most times when this happens, the person's entire meal is free. But it turns out that Kerri decided not to tell her Manager. Well to make a long story short (too late), Kara had a talk with the Manager and we have a gift card coming our way. Because of this we will make sure to go to the one Downtown at CNN instead of the one at Perimeter.

With the exception of the Coffee incident, the evening was great as it was the first Birthday my Mom has really enjoyed in 3 years. I would recommend McCormick and Schmicks but if your waitress looks like this woman...

get placed in another section.

Today had Kara continuing her shopping with her Mom and Alisha, while I had to brave the office post DST. As I have 30 minutes left in my shift so far things have been good. We hope you have had a great week.

Take Care Everyone and See You Soon!

Lin... Why Don't You Go Fly A Kite!!! (And Other Recent Photo Opps)

So I did with Kara's Little Brother Paul...

My Future Car...

Busy Busy Weekend (End Of February)

If you haven't noticed by now, one thing that We definately don't know how to do is sit still. So with that being said once again Kara and I were on the go again this weekend. After a long week we got the chance to hang out with a lot of people we haven't seen in awhile.

Iron Horse Tavern: A few weeks ago my friend Michael sent me a calendar invite to keep Friday night open. Originally it was going to be a reunion of a bunch of us that used to work at CareerBuilder.com. Michael started off organizing the event great, but in the end it only wound up being a few people. To be honest, I was perfectly ok with that. I've also learned never to trust Google Maps in giving me directions to give to Kara. (That's a story for another time).

Saturday in All It's Glory

Unfortunately Saturday, Kara had to work in the morning. I got up and decided to get myself breakfast cause I was going to have a very busy day. I had a few ideas that I've been kicking around for potential side projects I've wanted to persue so I started to plan those out. From there, I went to softball practice. Our team is going to be sponsored by a Bar in Norcross called Medlock Tavern. So last season was the last of Congenital Hercules. After practice it was the event that I had been waiting for all month...

Winter Beer Carnival: Doesn't that just sound fun?

Unfortunately the event sold out quicker than everybody expected. Neil, Bobby, and Dan were supposed to join us as well but due to the event selling out, they weren't able to get tickets. They took a trip to a brewery out in South Carolina. While we missed them we still had a great time. The carnival was in a somewhat small area, but was still a lot a fun. There were beers from all over the south east, carnival games (Pop a shot basketball... Rolka - 26 Worm - 57, thanks to Michael Maday's words of encouragement "Don't you dare disgrace your race by losing to a white boy" when we were tied at 20... He's such a motivator), great food... Oh yeah, and Beer! The A great time was had by all and I can't wait to do it again.

Some Pics from the Event: This is the result when your friend tells you to "Smile" and they forget they have beer in their hands...

But we got ourselves together...

And if nothing else... We learned that the ladies love Bobby B!


Angie's Birthday: Later that night we went over Kara's friend Angie to celebrate her birthday. I wasn't much fun that night as I had been oversearved earlier in the day (Again... a story for another time... maybe) we got to see the Men's 4 Man Bobsled Team win their gold medal as well. It was our first time to Angie's place and I know Kara is in love with it. I do have to agree that it is beautiful.

It was a long day and an extremely fun one as well.

Sunday in North Georgia: Originally we had planed to check out Sambuca Jazz Cafe for dinner this night. I'm glad we didn't. Kara mentioned earlier in the week that Ann & Paul invited us up for dinner. While I got up and decided to do some laundry Kara got a text message asking when we'd be up there. Turns out that they wanted to take a ride to Ellijay to a Cajun Restaurant for lunch. It was great! We also got to walk around a little bit too and see some of the "local flair" of North GA.

I know that its 2010 but somethings have to be posted when you see them. I put up a twitpic of this and the common question was "How Come You Didn't Say Anything" Well... Remember The Chapelle Show and When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong???

After Elijay We went back to the Raygors for a great dinner. We were joined by Neil, Alisha, and P Diddy.

The weekends always fly by too fast. Unfortunately even though we had a great weekend they always go by too quickly. I know that March is going to be a quick month before the worldwind that is going to be our April.

We hope that your weekend was great as well.

Trip to to Pittsburgh

FOR SOME REASON THIS SITE IS NOT ALLOWING ME TO MOVE THE PICTURES ONCE I HAVE ADDED THEM... I WILL TRY TO FIGURE IT OUT TOMORROW AND GET SOME PICTURES UP

This past weekend was my cousin Denae's bridal shower and my mom and I had planned on going up to attend, however we were unsure how we were going to get there. At first we entertained the idea of driving the 8 hours because tickets were so expensive, however Alisha found some pretty cheep last minute tickets and booked us 3. She was originally not going to go so she decided to keep it a secret and surprise everyone.

So off we went on the big jet in the sky. Preston did very well on the trip up there, he hardly cried and slept most of the way there. He even got his first pair of wings. So exciting!

Saturday was the actual shower so we rushed to get there as we hit unforeseen traffic coming thru the tunnel. We made it to Denunzio's in enough time for Alisha to make her grand entrance. The shower was being held on the enclosed porch and we were worried Grandma would see us walking in. Good thing she was sitting on the other side of the room because she never saw us and was SO excited she couldn't stop crying. She almost had me crying to see her so happy. Preston is the first grandchild on either side of our family and everyone has been dying to meet him.

The rest of the shower went great. There was about 50 plus people who joined us to celebrate Denae's up coming wedding. It was a sit down lunch and each table had their own cake. Everything was so yummy. While Denae opened her gift's we all played games for a chance to win one of 10 themed baskets or $5 gift cards to numerous places. It was a great time and Denae got so many good gifts to stock her kitchen and house in Tampa.

After the shower we went to my Grandmothers house to surprise my Grandfather. He was just as happy as my Grandma just without the tears. Seeing all the untouched snow in my Grandma's back yard, Alisha couldn't contain her self and quickly reformed back to a little kid. She got dressed in what looked liked the Maid of the Mist water proof suit's at Niagara Falls and headed out to play in the snow. She had a blast and I had a blast taking pictures.

After Alisha was done playing in the snow I headed to T-Mobile as my cell phone was not charging. Apparently one of the prongs was broken and it wasn't able to connect to the charger. (this is the SECOND time this has happened with my blackberry). I was available for an upgrade so instead of placing the insurance claim, paying the $100 deductible and waiting 3 days for the new phone, I decided to go ahead and purchase a new phone. I have been frustrated with the Blackberry since the day I got it and I decided to go with the T-Mobile Dash 3g. Before the Blackberry I had numerous Sidekicks and was always, ALWAYS, pleased with the phone. The new Dash is windows based but has a lot of the features the Blackberry does. Wish me luck.

That night we decided to go to my FAVORITE place for dinner, Jioio's. This is the best PIZZA hands down EVER! For some reason Alisha doesn't care for it, crazy child, but then again she doesn't really like pizza at all. The pizza was as good as I remembered but the service was not so good. But I guess that's what you get when you leave a bunch of teenagers to run the store.

That night I think we all passed out from exhaustion. Pdiddy slept 8 hours then fell back asleep for another 2 hours. GOOOOOOO PDIDDY! They even let me sleep till almost 1030am! It felt great. After we were all showered and dressed Alisha and I took my mom to meet a few of her friends for brunch and to show her Grandson off. I left Alisha there with them for a bit and went back to T-Mobile to ask a few questions about my phone. Once I picked Alisha up we headed over to my friend Tasha's house to visit her and her son Edward. He is getting so BIG and so adorable.

After visiting with her we headed back to my Grandparents so they could get some more time in with Preston. Angie stopped by and brought Preston a cute outfit before we all headed to Hoss's for a late lunch/early dinner. Hoss's is probably the only semi buffet I will actually eat at. There food is darn good!

After we all had our tummies full and said our good bye's we headed to the Pittsburgh airport to come back to Georgia. We thought we would have enough time to visit with Denae at the airport as we were on the same flight back to Atlanta, however the stupid plane decided to board early. Grrr what a mess, we got on and got our seats but still had to wait on the people that didn't know they were boarding early. At this point Preston had pooped and Alisha went to change him before we took off. Something either spooked him or the diaper cream irritated him because once he left the bathroom he cried and cried for at least 20 minutes. I know the people on the plane were cursing the fact that we were on their plane.

Once he settled down the rest of the ride went smooth until we arrived at the Atlanta Airport. Since we took off early and landed early our gate was not ready and we had to sit on the Tarmac for 20 or so minutes in the hot plane until they found us a gate. We were so happy to finally be off the plane, however that just meant I had to lug the 2 suite cases, diaper bag and purse thru the Atlanta Airport. I felt like a valet the whole weekend. Who knew you had to take so much stuff when traveling with a baby. I should say when traveling with Alisha and a Baby. Princes just carried the baby while mom and I struggled thru the airports, what a spoiled brat.

We had a great time on our short trip up north and I can't wait to do it all over again in April. Thank goodness this time we will have 2 men to help with all the luggage!

All you need is love...

Since the last time we updated we actually had a first in our relationship...

Our First Valentine’s Day (Yes we are that sappy)


So what did we do you ask? Well our wonderful weekend started with Snowmageddon in Atlanta. Yes that's right we got a whole 3 inches of snow in Metro Atlanta.



While we're happy for the mid Atlantic states being done with their snow, but when Atlanta freaks out about snow, it's the greatest of all time... Just saying...



That Friday turned in to a work from home day for me (oh yeah, this is a Lin post by the way), while Kara made her way down to work before the snow started. So much for spending the entire weekend together but we can still figure this out...

Saturday saw the final days of me cleaning my old apartment. I actually met up with Brent and Michelle to help Brent move his stuff down to their new place in the Midtown/SoNo/Va Highlands area (depending on where you are coming from to get there). It's a nice place and I look forward to visiting once they have the place officially set up. It appears to be in a great area.

Later in the afternoon I finally did meet up with Kara. We decided to go to Ted's as Kara was working her MOD shift. Bobby B. did decide to join us for the dinner. While at dinner a classic case of the difference between Lin and Kara came out.

Being the more "Laid Back" one (Yeah I said it Boo!... Love you) it appeared that the Meatloaf I ordered was going to be a little late. Bobby and Kara's steaks came out which was no big deal to me. Then our waitress came out and asked if I wanted to order something different. I don't know about you all, but that never seems to be a good sign when that happens. Jokingly I told our waitress that I still wanted my meatloaf but we could talk about a free dessert. Kara on the other hand I think was ready to start something with somebody. That's my Boo from the SoNo District. They Gangsta!

The thing to remember was I think they were having a bad night. The manager comped my whole meal. Can't beat that right?

Sunday... The official day. The day you've been waiting to hear about. We started off with Kara going to work in the morning. But not before giving me my gift. It appears somebody pays more attention to my Twitter Feed than I expected. I said a week or two before after walking the mall on my lunch breaks that I wanted a Kangol hat. This of course lead to her teasing me about one of those Fuzzy ones which I said No, I was thinking more of a Baseball Cap. Sure enough she got me one that was a plaid pattern which I thought was perfect!

The night before after bringing Bobby home, Kara didn't want to stop at her place. I did everything in my power to make sure that Kara went into her apartment to see the roses I hid there for her. She told me a horror story about having flowers delivered to a hotel so I figured not to risk it. The next morning I also delivered her card to the desk along with a CD I made for her. She claimed it was sweet. I made sure to throw a few songs in there that hopefully made her laugh as well.

Once Kara finished work it was time for the big celebration. What the day was all about...

We went to My Mom's to celebrate My Sister's Birthday!!! As you can see, this weekend was clearly not about us :-)

To be fair, My Sister Kristin's birthday is January 29th. Unfortunately we lost a close friend of the family 2 days before so Kristin spent her birthday at a Funeral. So we took this Sunday to have a few people over to celebrate my Sister's 33rd Birthday.

Kara did go back to the Hotel that night as there was more Snow in the forecast for that Monday. Of course, did it snow? No. Of course Tuesday Morning was a different story. But Anyway...

So now comes the big question... Lin... Where did you take Kara for Valentine's Day?

Answer... Back in Mid January I made reservations at this Restaurant called Veni Vidi Vici. This is a restaurant which is a part of the Buckhead Life Group in Atlanta which is known for really great food and atmosphere. I've been to the Atlanta Fish Market a few times for Family Events. I've been to Pricci, and to a few events catered by The Buckhead Diner as well. Being right in Midtown Atlanta, I figured that this would be a no brainer right???

Really? Has anything else on this post gone according to a typical plan? Don't get me wrong, the company was great, our service was great as well. The food was not as great as we hoped. Definitely a popular place, but both of us expected more. I don't think we'll be making reservations here again anytime soon, but I still believe in the Buckhead Life Group.

So that has been our past week. Kara is currently back home in Pittsburgh for Denae's Wedding Shower and visiting some Friends and Family. By now I hope the surprise is out that Alisha brought P. Diddy with her.

So I'm living the Bachelor Lifestyle again this weekend and as you can see it's off to a wild start.

I hope everybody is doing well, and we look forward to keeping you updated again soon.

Slumber Parties, Chicken Wings and FootBall Things

This weekend was supposed to be a lazy weekend for Lin and I but you know we can never seem to sit still!

Friday night I worked until 8pm as we had a large group of Cheerleaders check into the hotel for Cheersport. Once I got off of work I headed up to Cumming to join the girls for a birthday party/Slumber Party at Nicki's. Nicki, Kristin, Tracy and Kelly were all there when I arrived. We had a blast that night playing games, drinking Champagne and celebrating Nicki's Birthday.

Since Jeff was in Florida she had invited us to stay the night, however both Kelly and Kristen began to miss their beds (or men) and decided to head home late that night so we all decided to call it a night. I had such a blast, thank you Nicki for inviting me. All of you girls rock!

Saturday mom said she was going to make Ham Loaf for dinner and coaxed me in to staying for it. For those of you who don't know Ham Loaf is like a meat loaf only it is made with a mixture of Ham and Pork. You cook it like a meat loaf but then drizzle this mixture of Brown Sugar and Vinegar on in the end. So yummy I am almost drooling over here.

Lin had decided Friday he was just going to relax and play PlayStation in bed and he did just that. Saturday was supposed to be a lazy day for him as well however once he heard mention of Ham Loaf he decided to make his way up to Alisha's for Dinner as well.

I definitely got in my much needed Pdiddy time, I miss him so much when I am at home during the week. He seems to miss me a lot also seeing as he spits up on me every chance he gets. It's funny, when he is done eating and needs to burp Alisha gives him to Grandma and he burps, when Grandma hands him off to me he spits up on me. My shirt from Saturday night was not pretty.

Later on that evening Mike, Aubree and Kaitlin came over so Alisha and Aubree could make Super Bowl shirts for themselves and the babies. They did a wonderful job! The shirts came out so nice. Bobby even made his way over for a few beers before the guys decided to go "Pick up" wings. In our men's mind going to "Pick Up" food means order it, have a few beers, eat the food then come home an hour or so later. Needless to say they were in a bit of trouble. Shame on you Lin and Neil for dragging poor Mike and Bobby into your web.

Since the boys got back so late Lin and I decided to spend the night at the Natic's on Saturday and woke up Sunday morning with a craving for breakfast. Lin had suggested going to The Original Pancake House again but Neil had heard about this bagel dinner off of exit 12 called BB's Bagels. We all decide to head there to see what the hype was all about.

Once we got there Neil and Alisha realized they had been there before with some of Neils family. They were Uber excited because they had such wonderful food the last time they had been there. Let me tell you, they had every reason to be excited. The food was AMAZING and came with so much that you could barely eat half of your meal. They even had unique cream cheese; carrot cake, kit kat, chocolate sunday and yes those were all cream cheeses. Their home made corn beef hash was the best I have ever eaten. I totally suggest if you are up by exit 12 before 2pm you check the place out. You won't be disappointed.

After we ate Nicki stoped by on her way home from church so her and Lin could catch up a bit and for her to try the amazing food I had been texting her all morning about :) Once we were all stuffed Lin, my mom and I headed to Lin's mom's house to watch the football game while Alisha, Neil and Preston headed off to the Daily's Super Bowl Party. (Nicki had to get home because Jeff was coming home that night)

The rest of the night went well. My mom and I enjoyed catching up with Linda and Lin enjoyed watching the game. I think the team he was pulling for won? Who knows.. All I know is a made it through my FIRST Football season with Lin. WHOOOOO HOOOOO GO KARA!

Having a Little Fun....

I decided to have a little fun the other night....Isn't Preston so cute

Where in the World Are Kara and Lin?

Happy February Everybody! I (Lin) know that we have been major slackers in January. I also know that I was informed that the update needs to happen soon cause Kara decided to play the guilt trip card and pulled her Grandma in and saying that she loves my updates. (I already can't wait to meet her Grandparents in April when we go to Pittsburgh for the weekend. All Braves, Auburn, and Bears garb will stay at home that weekend (another story for another time))

So where have Kara and Lin been? Let's just recap January as a whole...

The Great Atlanta Snow of 2010: With Kara growing up in Pittsburgh and myself growing up outside of Boston. Snow has never really been a big deal due to the fact we got it all the time. Down here, it's a little different.

We got a whopping 2 inches of total snow fall (maybe after accumulation). Most of us growing up away from Georgia laugh at this, but things actually got dicey. Georgia does not prepare for things like this due to the fact that Snow and Roads icing over maybe happens once or twice a year. Here is a view from my deck of what used to be my apartment...

Medieval Times: The Saturday after the Snow Storm we made a trip to Medieval Times. This is something Kara and I have been wanting to do for awhile. So the two of us, got Bobby B, and Dana and drove up Lawerceville and meet up with Brent and Michelle who decided to join us as well. If you have never been, it is definately an experience. Not quite like the Cable Guy like I was hoping but it was still great.



We were sitting in the Blue Section so of course we cheered on the Blue Knight. The Green Knight was the sworn enemy but Kara had fun messing with the younger girl as we were right next to the Yellow Section. Overall the Equal Opportunity Knight (AKA The Black and White Knight) was the Winner. The Food was Excellent, so was the Entertainment and Company.



The Busiest Weekend Ever: The Weekend of the 15th was extremely busy for us. Originally we were going to go to Gatlinburg for Kara's birthday this weekend (I know her Birthday was back in December, but like I said... We were busy) We decided to save a little money and stick around in town. What a weekend though, My Car was probably thinking what the heck are you doing to me! Here is the rundown...

• Fun and Games with the NeSmiths: We ventured up to Cumming for another great evening in with the NeSmiths. Again they made an awesome dinner and there were more friends over. After Dinner we had a great game of Apples to Apples. If you have never played the game, it can get interesting depending on who you have playing. Poor Kara started showing signs of Fun Poisoning.
  
  
• Taco Mac: Before getting back to Neil and Alisha's we decided to stop at Taco Mac. This pushed poor Kara over the top. The great news is, I'm finally a Pledge in Brewmaster University. We got to celebrate this with Neil and Bobby C. Poor Kara wasn't in great shape though. It's ok Boo... I still love you.
  


• Cheesburger In Paradise: Because poor Kara was still feeling the effects of her "Fun Poisoning" I ventured down to Perimiter on Sunday to go to Cheesburger in Paradise with the Dorin Family. Little Patrick has been growing like a weed and he has become quite the flirt as he flexed his game on the waitress. Another great place if you haven't been. Pluse anything by Auburn's most famous Drop Out can't be beat right? Exactly!


• Happy Birthday Paul!: Now before dinner with the NeSmiths on Saturday we went to Rice to Celebrate "Little" Paul's 6th Birthday. After Cheeseburger in Paradise, I drove back up to Dawsonville to meet up with Kara and her Family to celebrate Little Paul's birthday. "Big" Paul (Kara's Dad) made his homemade pizza for the Celebration which can't be beat. Kara and I got him a remote controled Escalade. I did have fun searching for things in the Toy Department, and a few things that I thought about getting him however I knew some of the things would probably get me banned from the Raygor house. Maybe the Drum set will be next year.

Lin and his Hawks Games: The past two Friday Nights I have been to see the Atlanta Hawks play. Last Friday it was against the Charlotte Bobcats and this past weekend against my Hometown Boston Celtics. Both Games I've had excellent seats so I thank both Rolka and my Cousin Mark for the Tickets. The Hawks have a great team this season and have been improving the past few years. It's great that there are 2 teams in the city that are great. Now if the Braves can get back on Track this year and the Thrashers could be consistent, Atlanta could be an up and coming Sports Town.

Meanwhile in Kara's World: Kara spent the weekend up in Cumming last weekend with her sisters Danielle and Alisha and of course Neil and her Mom. She got to go Shopping and also got her dress for Denae's wedding. I won't post pictures now but she looks great in it. This past weekend she went to Gordon Biersch with Neil, Alisha, "P. Diddy", and Bobby C. I was almost a little jealous I missed out on that, however she brought more glasses home so it's almost like I was there.

At Least One Of Us Got To Relax: Kara said this weekend that she was just going to relax and didn't want to do much. It was good cause she needed a break. Me on the other hand, pretty much finished moving out of my apartment. I got a Van from U-Haul and my Friend Eric and got the stuff out of my apartment. Dropped off the Armoir I'll be using at my Mom's and brought the rest to storage. Eric and I had lunch and talked all things sports with Woodstock locals at Buffalos while Kara... Sat on the couch and watched Fox Reality TV. Once I returned everything and came back, Kara says "Let's go get the other 2 tires for my car" and we got to Discount Tire just in time cause the place got packed. This quick trip for tires turned into, lets get Kara's car serviced, run a few errands, and go play with Kristin's cat as well. I was beat so after all of this I told Kara she could make dinner as I was running all day.

Later that night we took in the moving Taking Woodstock. Seeing Dimitri Martin was in it, I thought it would be hilarious. Not really but if you are into the Music from that time and the story of Woodstock, I would reccomend it.

Yesterday I started unpacking my room as I've officially moved. I finally got to check out the Original Pancake House as well. I can't believe I haven't been there before. The place was awesome!

We finally wound up ending the day celebrating my Sisters 33rd Birthday with dinner at Aspen Steakhouse. I have joked with Kara that we have become aspiring foodies over the course of the month.

January has had it's ups and downs, while we had to watch Diddy suffer through some stomach issues and the passing of Ms. Wilma on my Family's side. We are still very confident that this year is bringing great things our way. (Well I am while Kara is going to keep complaining that things aren't happening fast enough)

I know I made the promise last time but I will stick to it that this will be updated more often.

Under Construction

Ladies and Gentleman, I know you have been waiting for a blog update from Kara and Lin. Fact of the matter is... Kara and Lin have been waiting for a blog update from Kara and Lin. Amongst all the finger pointing over who's turn it is to update, pictures to download from cameras, and other things, the one update that we have for you at the moment is this...

Like Tiffany Thiessen... Kara and Lin are busy.

Update coming before the end of the day on the 1st. I (Lin) Promise!

Happy New Year!!!

Ok so we're a tad bit late with that. Much like the Titanic in Ghostbusters 2... Better late than never right???

The New Year has brought new hopes and dreams for everybody including Kara and I. Some we will share as we go others we will have to wait till certain things happen. We promise now that both of us have functioning computers we will keep you up to date more often than this past hiatus...

So down to business... What have Lin and Kara been doing???

Gordon Biersch: Each year I have a tradition with my friends from High School in

Atlanta that we get together for dinner. We start planning around December 1st and normally around the 20th we decide on a place. Gordon Biersch was this year’s winner. My Best Friend in Georgia Brent actually recommended it which to me was hilarious because at one time he swore that he would never drink beer, now he's suggesting breweries to enjoy... My Job is done. The food was good... The Beer was great! The company of course couldn't be beat! And they let me keep the Glass!!!

New Year’s Weekend: Seeing I'm moving out of my apartment... Ok Seeing I've been back and forth between my Mom's and Kara's apartment since she moved in, my official roommates decided that we should try to do one last party at our building. Funny thing... Nobody showed up and the sad thing was, I don't think Kara, Brent, or his girlfriend Michelle was upset. Our 3rd roommate did decide to go to another party with a friend. I did see her come in when I was on my way out to watch the Auburn game. Make your own conclusions but I think she had a good time.

That night we had dinner with my Mom and Sister at "The Real Chow Baby" which has become one of our favorite restaurants. It was a great way to start the New Year off right.

Saturday saw us going up to Cumming to Visit the Natic family and Kara's Mom. Only this time the Men went out and played some Football instead of watching it on TV. I think the group consensus is that we were all too old to be running around like the College Kids and don't get paid enough to be in the same condition as the Pros. Yours truly threw a couple of Touchdown Passes so I was happy. I don't expect to make the pros anytime soon, but I'm sure with my performance I could have started for a couple of teams this year.

While the football game was going on, Kara was out shopping with her Mom. I guess there are a few outlets not too far from there. Hmmm... Go Figure. Not to mention Titi Kara had to get her P. Diddy Fix...

Saturday Night we went to the NeSmith's to enjoy a game night. Both Nicki and Jeff made an awesome dinner. We broke out the games and Nicki and my competitive sides took over. Call it the good old fashion rivalry that stems from Nicki going to that red school that loves hounds tooth in Tuscaloosa and me being an alumni of Auburn University. As you can see below when it became time for the Boys vs. Girls in Taboo, my boo can get competitive with the best of them.

But we made up at the end.

No weekend in North Georgia is complete without stopping by The Raygors. Kara's Dad was back in town since the family is not moving anymore. He and I enjoyed the Steelers vs. Dolphins game. Much to Kara's shagrin. Unfortunately this was the game that we saw Pat White take a huge hit and was knocked out of the game. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal, however Pat is a good friend of Kara's cousin Denae's Fiancee Mike. How good of a friend? Mike was one of the offensive lineman along the hut hut line that helped to protect Pat in college. Denae did tell us later that Pat was ok.

After a delicious dinner cooked by Paul (Kara's Dad), we made our way back towards the city. The holiday season was now truly complete.

The past week we have stayed low key. Both of us got back in to the full swing of things at work while I had to start packing up my things for my big move towards the end of the month with Mom.

We hope the New Year had treated you all well and that 2010 brings much joy and happiness to you and your family.

Take care and next time we'll tell you all about Weathergeddon 2010 in Atlanta and Medieval Times.

Soooooo......

We are definitely OVERDUE for an update...sorry I didn't have my computer this past week and Lin's just came in the mail!

PLEASE STAND BY

Ahhh the joy's of an Emergency Room the day after Christmas

First and foremost, YES I am ok, Alive and Kicking. :)

I had been having some serious abdomen pain which started Christmas Eve night and continued thru Christmas day. I was barley able to eat the wonderful Christmas Dinner my mom cooked for all of us. I was supposed to help, but the pain was all I could focus on. Sorry Mom.

I have come to have a HIGH tolerance for pain through out the years and have been able to put a smile on my face and make it though it, but I knew something was wrong Christmas Night when I couldn't eat and had a hard time walking without pain. I was so thankful that the medication I took before going to bed helped me sleep thru the night.

Saturday morning was a different story. When I woke up I was barely able to walk down the stairs. My mom then suggested that I go to the ER as it could be a number of things including my Appendix. So away we went.

The ER was FULL of people, I had never seen it so busy. Luckily we got back into a room quickly and the doctors ran their full spectrum of tests. After 5 hours in the ER the doctor came to tell me that it wasn't my appendix (phewwww) but instead a cyst on my ovary had ruptured (OUCH). Now I have had cysts rupture before but NEVER had they been this painful.

I am just happy it wasn't something worse :)

Peace on Earth and Goodwill Towards Doctors

Twas the day after Christmas and all through the Natic house, Lin is updating the Blog, while Kara is at Northside in the Emergency Room... More on that in a bit...


It's been a little while since our last post. So with that I think I'll update on a few things that has been happening starting with the most recent...


Baby Preston: P Diddy is home and doing well with Mom and Dad. In fact he's sleeping on the other side of the room. One of his favorite hobbies. Rumor has it that Titi Kara was holding him at one point and Mom and Dad snuck off to grab a nap. Smart move Mom and Dad... Smart Move.


Lin's Car Accident: The day before Preston was born I finally got my car back. My dealings with Safeco Insurance have been less than pleasurable. This has taught me more about negotiations and patience than I ever thought I'd learn. Right now I am fighting over the diminished value of my car, however the process is going a whole lot slower than I thought. I'm on the verge of working with a service that can help me get the money I deserve.

Having a Doctor on Call 24-7: Kara lately has been having issues with her blood pressure. A few of us keep teasing her that she is an old lady at 29. Unfortunately the Meds she has been taking has been causing other issues with her body. This morning her Mom brought her to the emergency room due to issues with her Appendix. I'm currently waiting back at Alisha and Neil's to hear back about her status.

Outside of health issues, our first Christmas together was excellent in seeing both of our families and friends and both of us making trips to the Jewelry store. Kara bought me a brand new Fossil Watch and I got her started with a Pandora Bracelet with a few charms.

I just got a text from Kara talking about how they are poking and wiring her currently. I'll let her update everything soon.

I hope that Santa was good to you all, and your Holiday season has been all you hoped for a more. If I don't get to update before hand, Have a blessed New Year!

Preston Michael Natic

Whew it was a LOOOOOONNNNNNGGGGGG day yesterday.

But it was well worth it in the end.

As I stated in the last blog we arrived at Northside Wednesday morning around 7am. They had given Alisha the Pitocin at 6am and expected her to deliver by mid afternoon. Little did they realize that Preston was not giving up the fight that easily.

By 6pm, yes I said that right 6pm she was still only dilated 1cm. The doctor said he was going to go to his office and work on some paper work and would return to check her again around 9pm. A bunch of Alisha's friends came to visit between those 3 hours and did a great job of keeping us busy.

Around 9pm the nurse came to check on Alisha found that she was now dilated 9cm and 80%effaced but Preston had not made his way any further down the birthing canal. The Nurse attempted to put her into different positions in attempt to coax him down. The first was the Frog position and the second we called the Dog Peeing position.

Around 10pm the doctor came in and decided since Preston hadn't moved and that Alisha's Pelvic was too narrow, it was time to prep for a C-Section. We packed up her room and they would move her to another room after birth, and headed out to the waiting room to "wait" it out. With about 40lbs of luggage and 8 plus people we took up a whole section of the waiting are.

We got the news that Preston was born at 11:05pm. He was 6lb 6oz and 20 inches long, mommy and baby did well during surgery and even daddy was able to stomach taking pictures over the sheet as Preston was coming out of mommy stomach.

Around 130am we were able to go back to

Alisha's Post Partum room. Andrea and

I decorated her hospital door and the inside of the room.

We waited another hour and half to two hours before they brought Preston to see us. He was so precious and sooooo tiny. All of my bothers and sisters have been over 8lbs when born so I don't remember ever holding a baby this small. Alisha actually let everyone hold him and then we all said good bye and headed for home and bed.

I probably got to bed around 4am but it was sooooo worth it!

Congrats Alisha and Neil! Preston is PERFECT!

Hospital Update "Preston Come on Out of There"

So Alisha got the call Tuesday night telling her to be at North Side Perimeter Hospital between 7:30pm and 8pm.

Lin and I headed to Cheesecake Factory at Perimeter Mall to let them get checked in and situated. Once we were done we headed to the hospital for a quick visit. We found out that they did not plan on giving Alisha the Pitocin to start her Labor until the next morning at 6am.

At that point it was pretty late so I took my mom to my hotel and got her checked into her room. I then went home and finished up some last minute things for the next day then headed to bed.


I woke up at 545am and got ready to pick mom up at the hospital at 7am.
We hit Dunkin Donuts then came to the hospital.

It is now 1pm and still not much going on. The doctor broke her water around around 11am but not much has gone on since then... I have a feeling it is going to be a VERY long day.

I will keep everyone updated.

Or you can check Neil and Alisha's Blog here: http://www.neilnatic.com/

My Birthday Weekend

This past weekend was my birthday weekend and I decided to start it off at my Local Bar where everyone knows my name "MidTown Tavern." I hadn't been there in a long time and since Lin went without me last weekend I was anxious to get there and see everyone.

I had to pick up my dad that night at the Airport around 7pm and take him up to Exit 11 to meet up with Anne and the Kids. I left my house early to stop and get gas, but he arrived early and I headed strait to the airport without getting gas. Once Dad made it thru the busy airport and out to the car I told him we needed to stop for gas. He looked at my gas gage and said we would be able to make it to Exit 11 and then I could get gas up there. As we passed Exit 9 my gas light came one. Once I dropped him off at Wild Wings I headed to the BP station up the road. I was so afraid I was going to have to push my car at this point. As I got to the pump I realized I had left my wallet sitting next to my Laptop all the way back in the city. Thank goodness my dad was right down the street and had some cash to save my night.

Dana, Bobby, Angie and myself made it to the Tavern right after Lin arrived from his work Christmas Party at 300 Atlanta. (300 is an upscale bowling alley on 285 by Peachtree Industrial.) Check it out here http://www.3hundred.com/atlanta.html

I had a blast at the Tavern that night. Everyone had a good time singing Karaoke and so many people decided to join us. I wasn't the only person celebrating my birthday, Friday happened to be Dana Munson Birthday and she came by after her birthday dinner and birthday Margarita's. Thank you also to Maloof, Emma, Brent and Michelle for driving ITP to help me celebrate.


Around Midnight Lin decided to "Embarrass" me by getting on stage and dedicating a song to me. For some reason he chose to sing "You lost that loving feeling". Thanks babe but I haven't. LOL but it was cute and the whole bar got up and sung it with him as they pushed me closer and closer to the stage. Once he was done I turned around and had a beautiful cake and a few presents waiting for me. Thanks Lambie for remembering the WONDERFUL Publix cake Bobby got me last year for my birthday and arranging it again this year.

Saturday I got up and headed to the Nail Dynasty for Pedicures and Girl talk with Angie, Dana and Abby . We had a blast, it was so nice to be pampered for the day. If you are ever in town and need your nails done you really need to call Lisa and set up an appointment. Dana and I have been going to her for over 2 years now and we have never been disappointed. (Thanks Lisa for the $10 gift certificate)

After Pedicures and Girl talk I went back home to find Lin had bought me a GORGEOUS bouquet of roses for my birthday and a funny but oh so true card.

We then got dressed and headed up to visit his mother in Marietta. We had hoped she would be able to join us for dinner that evening but she wasn't feeling well so we just went and spent a little time with her.

We had dinner reservations at Maggiano's at 8pm at Perimeter. We met Alisha, Neil and my mother as Maggiano's is our favorite Italian place and we had so much to celebrate, My Birthday, Neil's Birthday, a Brand New Car for the Natic's and Alisha having Preston soon. As usual the food was amazing the service was good but the management couldn't seem to figure out how to use the $10 coupon Neil brought with him.

After dinner we headed over to CheeseCake Factory for desert. MMMMM it was so yummy. I had the Banana Cheese Cake and boy was it amazing.

Sunday we headed up to Anne and Dad's house for dinner then took Dad to the airport so he could head back down to Florida.

I truly enjoyed my Birthday Weekend! A BIG thanks to everyone who helped me celebrate this weekend, it made turning 29 a little easier.

Car Update #2

Finally I've gotten somewhere. I have learned the hard way (what other way is there to learn a lesson) that Safeco Insurance is as shady as they come. After speaking with my Collision Shop when the Adjuster finally came out to inspect the additional damanage (and me calling into the call center to politely chew out the rep on the phone with me). I've learned the following that will probably apply to all insurance companies in Georgia that aren't yours...

1) By Law: It's not required for the insurance company to give the estimate or approve Original Engineered Manufactured Parts (AKA OEM Parts) for the company your car was made by. I mean cause Heaven Forbid that my 2009 Altima that had barely over 10K miles on it would recieve that.

2) By Law: They don't have to claim liability either. Yes even with a copy of a Police report the Insurance Company of the driver at Fault can say "Screw You, it's still your fault" which really to me sounds like they are telling the Police that they are incompitent when writing a Police Report. Hmmm... I wonder if I could say that on my next speeding ticket.

So I've decided that seeing Safeco wants to do this kind of stuff, I hope they at least make good on the Diminished Value of My car seeing that they don't want to use Nissan Parts.

If all goes well, The technician working on my car said I should have it back by Wednesday at the latest. One thing I will say. The G6 has grown on me. Peppy little car, but it's not my Mamba!

One Night in Bankok...

Ok maybe not, I am being forced to talk about about my weekend seeing Kara had a wonderful time bonding with her Mother driving from Pittsburgh to Cumming. Ok not forced... more like "(Explative Deleted) you better talk about what happened up there or else you're back on punishment" So I shall... (Just playing Boo)

Friday - Friday had My old Pal Rolka and I going to the Hawks Game where they were playing the Knicks which with how well "My" Atlanta Hawks are doing (as they say in the commercials) should have been a cake walk. Nope... The Hawks lost the game. It wasn't a complete loss though, my roommate Leslie was running an event for Southern Poly the school she works for (Go Running Hornets!) and got us in along with passes for a free beer (nothing wrong with that).


The seats were good. We had an obnoxious Knicks fan in front of us who was probably the definition of a Douche Bag. Luckily we had drunken Hawks Fans behind us so we knew if nothing else we were going to have a good time. Unfortunately one of the Hawks Stars got ejected in the 2nd Quarter for some BS, I think there was mob ties into it if you asked a former shamed ref. Just sayin...

After the game, I took Rolka around some of the Local Places in SONO. I told him about the "Bum Bot" at this bar O'Terrills but unfortunately the owner wasn't there. I found a video just for you Rolk... Here you go



We also stopped in for some oke at Midtown Tavern. At this point I was in trouble for hanging out at "Kara's Bar" with "Kara's Friends" without... You Guessed it "Kara" Good times were had by all I must say.

Saturday - So after my liver allowed me to get up, I was on my way to meet Neil, his brother Dan, and their cousin Bobby to head to Athens for one last Hurrah because Neil has his son "P Diddy" (as I will call him) on the way. So Preggo (as Neil calls his wife... With her permission of course) allowed us all to go out and have a good time. Which really means you're only allowed 5 minutes of fun, but we knew we were going to get in trouble anyway so away we went to the following places...

Terrapin - To all my friends who went to UGA... Shame on you for not introducing me to this place sooner. Great Beer and lots of Tickets for said great beer makes Lin a Happy Camper. This also begun the night of Random Women attacking Neil. First off some Girl started yelling at Neil and Bobby after they weren't even talking to her, then came the Globe which we will get to in a moment.

Copper Creek - This is where we decided to grab dinner. I forgot how much I love college towns. Good Food, more good beer, and Very Cheap! So Cheap that Dan threw his beer on Bobby. Ok so that was an accident, but it was the moment that we decided that Dan would definately drive back.

The Globe - This is now the trifecta of places I've never been. Now for some reason I always wind up running into people I know in Athens, either from High School, or even better somebody I went to Auburn with. Bobby and I were talking at the bar and Dan was making fun of a Girl in a Tim Tebag jersey. I looked over and said "I know her..." Bobby didn't believe me till she came up and said "War Eagle" to me. Turns out it was this girl I knew Amber who I met through my Friend Jack. Small world huh? Dan and Neil and this point are all "WTF???" So after catching up and we joined her table with her friends where Neil decided to Bless her Jersey, although Florida got Stomped earlier that night. The highlight was when this guy walked in and Neil said "I'd rather wear that guy's sweater than a Tebow jersey" and...


By this point in the night... Prego was posting messages on Facebook along with her sister that we needed to come... We were grounded... etc.

Sure enough the night ended with us heading back to The Natic Residence early Sunday Morning. It was a great time and I know Neil had fun as well. The ladies might disagree with how much fun we had, but it could be worse... We could have spent the night down town.

My "short" trip to Pittsburgh and other happenings of this past weekend

A few months ago my mom decided she wanted to move to Georgia since Alisha was pregnant and to be closer to us. In less than a months time she had an offer on her house. (Who knew it would happen so fast, especially in this economy) 2 months later she was all packed up and ready for the move to Georgia.

I didn't want her driving 12 hours here all by herself so I offered to ride/drive with her. So I packed my bag and headed to the airport Friday night after work (thanks Dana for driving me there). I got to the airport pretty early and decided to grab a bite to eat at TGI Friday's. I hadn't been there in so long but I love there Sesame Jack Chicken Strips but to my surprise they were no longer on the menu. I don't know if the menu is different because they are located inside an airport but I was seriously disappointed.

Our flight got in early as we caught a tail wind and it only ended up taking us an hour to get there. Mom was waiting for me in baggage claim and once we got back into Greensburg we stoped to see Chrisy, Shawn and Paige's new house. It was so nice, so much charm and attention to detail. I had brought Christmas presents for Paige and we stayed around for her to open them. Since she was up past her bedtime she had what I would call the shortest temper tantrum know to man but that was still my cue to get going.
We spent the night at my grandparents house that night and visited with them and my aunt and uncle before we got going in the morning. We ended up leaving a little later than I expected but it was great to visit with everyone and I got a great care package from grandma full of cookies and Jioio's pizza.

I got a chance to stop at my FAVORITE gas station "SHEETZ" before we got on the road. This place is seriously the super bowl of gas stations. They have everything you could ever want. Made to order food, do it yourself milk shakes, 20+ fountain drinks, the old fashion Slurpee's and so so much else. Oh and they have gas too.

It took us a little longer than 11 hours to get to Alisha's house due to the 3 hour snow storm we had to drive 45 mph thru and the numerous pee stops I had to make. We stopped at Cracker Barrel for dinner and got a chance to stretch our legs while we shopped a little bit.

I actually drove the whole way and we ended up reaching Alisha and Neils house around 1030pm. Neil, Lin, Bobby and Dan went to Athens so we stayed up chatting till they made it home. (WAY later then they should have come home, 2am)

Sunday was a lazy day for me. Lin had to go to work at 2pm so he left around 1230 or 1 and mom and Alisha left not too long after that to go to Target and Publix. Neil and I stayed at the house watching Hoarders (love that show). Once the women got back we started to make Hard Tack Candy (a northern tradition). The first batch which we made Cherry flavored but it didn't turn out well and we had to throw it away. Alisha underestimated the amount of work it took to make the candy and it took us till 7pm to finish. Not only did it take forever but it created a HUGE mess.

After dinner mom, Alisha, Neil and Envy drove me back to the city. It was a good but long weekend! I can't wait till next weekend.

ENVY BEING LAZY