A Blog Update - All About April

 

I honestly cannot believe I did not blog at all in April. Between being a bit busy and also not feeling a lot of motivation to blog...well here I am in May now.

So what's been up with us?

Briana had her spring break the first week of April and we took a short weekend trip to Colorado to start it off. We visited with family and the weather in Denver and Golden was really nice (I will blog about the trip soon)...

We've had some really nice vacations during previous spring breaks...

We've actually taken more vacations during winter, summer and fall breaks. I think it's because spring break can get pretty crowded in certain places - especially Florida. So we usually just opt to staycation in April.

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 For the second half of spring break, Briana spent it visiting my parents, so Doug and I had a few days to ourselves.

One evening while Bri was away, he and I went to a delicious restaurant called Prime 120...

The food was amazing (I had a filet Oscar style). Our waiter was originally from France and was very attentive. We ordered a table side Caesar salad as an appetizer and it was so delish!

Another night Bri was away, we went to one of my favorite restaurants. It is called Frankie's...

Not as fancy as the night before, but still really yummy. I had my fave - rigatoni ala vodka and Doug had lobster ravioli. 

Bri had a wonderful time with my parents and she definitely wasn't ready to go back to school on the following Monday. 

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At the end of April, I had a fun girl's night out with some of my gal pals. You can't go wrong with a skinny margarita...

 

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My parents also introduced me to a fun hot dog place in April that isn't too far from their house. It was really good and there were so many choices.

I decided on a New York dog and a Philly dog...

 

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When spring comes around, that means pollen season in Georgia - and lots of it. Yellow pollen coats everything and it's awful. And the allergies hit as well. But, it's also really pretty when the flowers and trees start to bloom - just wish it would happen without so much pollen...

I always love it when my azaleas and Japanese maple bloom. The maple tree in my front yard had hardly any leaves on it at the beginning of April and now it is completely full. We also have a cardinal couple that has a nest somewhere around the house because we see them flying around all the time.

 I wait until the end of April to clean the thick layer of pollen off my screened porches. There's no point in cleaning them sooner because they just get covered again. It is a big job to clean, but it is so nice when it is done. We honestly don't get to enjoy the porches as much as we would like in March and April because of the nasty pollen.

 Here is my upstairs screened porch (I bought new rugs and new cat perches for the porches)...

Here is the downstairs...

Mei is so happy when they are cleaned because she's allowed to go outside more. I let her out on them for a couple of minutes once in a while during March/April, but I hate to do it because she comes back in with a coat of yellow.

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We celebrated Passover and Easter during the month of April.

I decorated my house for the season of course...

We enjoyed some matzah ball soup and sides during Passover...

Briana colored Easter eggs (a day before Easter - I love that she still wants to do it) and she still requests an Easter basket...

Easter evening, Doug and Briana prepared a rack of lamb, sliced seasoned potatoes and roasted brussel sprouts. The meal was delicious!!!

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My mom celebrated her birthday in April and I sent her these beautiful flowers...

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I finally saw "Spiderman - No Way Home" in our home theater (Doug and Bri had already seen it at the movie theater). I cannot believe I managed to avoid spoilers for so many months. I am giving myself a huge pat on the back for that one. Though I did have a feeling what happened was going to happen...

We've also been watching "Moon Knight" each week. I didn't realize at first that this project isn't really attached to the MCU, but we've still enjoyed it. It's a bit dark, but it's still entertaining...

And I finally convinced Briana to watch "Stranger Things" with me!! I am SO happy!

It's one of my favorite shows. She was worried it was really scary, but after a couple of episodes, she realized it wasn't as scary as she thought it would be. So we've been binge watching it together (I needed a refresher anyway). We have only one episode left to watch and then we will be ready for Season 4!!

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Briana is doing great. She's happy and healthy. She only has 4 weeks of school left. I honestly can't believe it. 

She went to see the school musical with some friends the other day...

She looked really pretty heading to school one day last week...

Teacher appreciation week is the first week in May, and Briana signed up to make an appreciation basket for one of the teachers through the beta club. All of her current teachers were already taken before she was able to even look at the sign up sheet, but she saw that her culinary teacher from last semester wasn't signed up for yet, so she chose her. We put together this basket with some of her teacher's favorite things...

Briana is still practicing driving, though we haven't been practicing nearly enough lately. Briana will have all summer to practice and she is signed up to take the required classroom driving course the week after she gets out of school. She will also be getting some lessons from a local driving school. She can't get her license until August, so we have some time...

She and Doug have also been on a baking kick! They have made biscuits a few times and artisanal white bread - everything has been so good!!!

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Mei is still a mess. No - she awesome but drives me crazy. This winter, all her fur grew back on her arms, legs and belly (that she had overgroomed) and it was awesome to see her all fuzzy again...

The minute she started to shed for the spring, she started overgrooming again. So I know the overgrooming isn't stress related. I have given her antihistamines in the past in case she has allergies - they did absolutely nothing. I just think she just likes to overgroom in the spring and summer months. I've tried it all to get her to stop. I get stressed every year about it, but I have to learn to just accept it. It's difficult though. I don't like her having bald spots!

She and Briana had a snugglefest the other day (pics compliments of Briana)...

I wish she could explain to me why she likes to lick her fur so much...

And also why she thinks laying on a cell phone is comfortable...

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As for Doug and me, life has its ups and downs...

I still battle anxiety (especially health anxiety) every single day. It's a true struggle. Some days I can really push it to the side and some days not so much.

I (we) have some life things going on that adds to my anxiety (that I won't discuss here right now), but let's just say adulting really sucks sometimes.

Doug has been keeping busy with work - and traveling both personally and for business.

I am going out into the world a lot more now - getting back to life. That's a good thing. I have to admit that I still feel super weird going into a store or a restaurant now without a mask on. It became such a normal part of life for me for two whole years and it is strange to accept that I can go places without one. Mask use was never a big deal for me (because it wasn't/isn't a big deal unless you have small children or special needs people in your life). If you ever uttered the words, "I choose not to wear a mask because it's my right not to wear one" - then you really need to check yourself. I will never, ever change my opinion on that.

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 Doug and I will be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary this week. With everything life has thrown us - the good and the bad - we've gotten through it together.

So, that is the update for now. I'll blog about Denver in the not so distant future. Sorry I was gone so long. Be back soon!