Stormy the Cat

My cat Stormy is notorious for getting under the covers in the bed and just about any blanket, towel, or comforter she can find. The above picture is her snuggled under the covers after I had changed our sheets a couple weeks ago. For whatever reason, she loves to jump on the bed while, not after, I am changing the sheets and making the bed. Often she will simply make herself at home under the covers for a good while after the bed has been made. I think her reasoning is that she wants to beat her sister cat, Marina, to the newly changed linens so they will smell like her, and she has "claimed her turf". She is quite competitive!




Here is the perfect example of her need to "participate" when I change our sheets. Look at her when I started changing our sheets this past weekend. To my surprise, she invaded the bed while I turned our featherbed. (Yes, I am a bed snob. We have a featherbed and an egg crate. It is quite hard to get out of bed in mornings sometimes...most of the time...) So I finished arranging the featherbed and began putting on the sheets, etc. so that I could finish the task. She stayed right in that spot until I had even the comforter over her. She is one wacky cat!

Adventures with Cliff and Ellie

Cliff and I decided to take some time out of our lives for a little outdoor fun. After watching countless episodes of Georgia Outdoors and Georgia Traveler highlighting our destination, we made our way up to Northwest Georgia to Cloudland Canyon State Park. Who ever knew Georgia had canyons?!

This huge canyon started life being carved out by a creek, which winds its way along the bottom. Wind, rain, and other forces also made contributions to carving out these walls. It's amazing how a little bit of water can make such a big impact over time. Being out there reminded me how the big things in life are often accomplished in small steps. We are not who God envisions us to be overnight, but only after His prodding and guidance can we look back and understand the vast work that has been accomplished.

Unfortunately for my metaphor, I don't have this marvelous picture of the creek running through the bottom of the canyon. Due to Georgia's extreme drought, the creek and accompanying waterfalls were dry. Plus, it would be too depressing to post a picture of a dry waterfall anyhow. That just looks sad.

Although our hike to the falls was not the high point of our day, we did hike the Western Rim Loop trail which follows the perimeter of the canyon and provides views from every angle. During the fall, we hope to return so that we can see the canyon draped in color.

In addition, we discovered the park is relatively close to Chattanooga, so we may consider incorporating some of those activities into our next trip up to the canyon.

As an aside, several days ago we also found a very cool nature center heading toward Macon. It's called Dauset Nature Center and has tons of trails, gardens, and animals. If you have kids, it is definitely a place able to be enjoyed by the whole family. Plus, it's free! (They suggest a donation, though.)

Welcome Back Cliff!

Last Wednesday evening, I was very pleased to find an exhausted Cliff at the airport waiting to go home. I intended to post pics of our reunion at the airport, but I don't think he would appreciate it if I posted pics of him with half-opened, bloodshot eyes. He had been traveling for over 24 hours straight as he departed Singapore, changed planes in Shanghai, and then flew directly home to Atlanta. The crazy part of it all was that all of his travel technically occurred in less than one day due to crossing over the international dateline. He left Singapore on Wednesday morning and got back to Atlanta Wednesday evening!

Instead of celebrating his homecoming on Wednesday, we celebrated it Friday night with a freshly baked coconut cake. Yum yum! I felt like I had to redeem myself from the cake I made for his birthday, which fell apart when I transferred it from the pan to the wire rack to cool. Although cumbly, it still tasted fabulous!

Here we are with happy faces and full stomachs after dinner and digging into that cake.

Happy Birthday Stacey!

My long time friend, Stacey, celebrated her birthday over the Independence Day holiday, so we had a girls' night out at Maggiano's in Buckhead to mark the occasion. From left to right, the pic shows Stacey, myself, and our friend Jossi. Jossi was home visiting her family for the holiday. Normally she lives in northern Mississippi outside of Memphis, TN.

Happy Fourth of July!

As many other Atlantans do on the Fourth of July, I drag myself out of bed before the sun rises to make my way down to Lenox Square for the start of the Peachtree Road Race. This is my 8th Peachtree (a little tradition I have for myself), and every year I have so much fun running down Peachtree past the different neighborhoods and shopping centers. The energy from the cheering crowds and the blarring music from the various bands along the route make the 6.2 mile journey go by all too quickly. The above is a pic of my group (Group 7) as we line up for the start at Lenox. The American flag is a signal for the start line. Run Ellie run!

Just a glimpse of your 55,000 closest friends as they work their way down Peachtree. This shot was taken after crossing over the I-85 bridge running toward the Woodruff Arts Center and Midtown, which is between miles four and five. Thanks Stace for getting this pic for me!

The happy runner after the finish toting the all important Peachtree Road Race T-shirt bag! Normally Cliff would be my sidekick in this picture, but he was on a business trip to Asia during this time. :( My friend Stacey came with me to cheer me on at the finish line. Then, it was back to the house for some well-deserved hot dogs, baked beans, and mac-n-cheese!

Farewell to UGA VI

For those of you who do not follow the news concerning the Bulldog Nation, we recently lost our beloved mascot UGA VI. This lovable pup was the one who watched over the football games Cliff and I attended while at the University of Georgia. An English bulldog, he lived nearly 10 years, which is amazing for his breed. Known as the number one mascot in college sports, he was buried on the grounds at Sanford Stadium yesterday. UGA VI, you will be greatly missed!

In the Beginning...

After about 11 months of toying with the idea of actually creating a blog, I decided to take the plunge. A lot has happened over the past year, and I regret not getting started sooner. But, there is no time like the present, so let me catch you up to speed. In August 2007, Cliff (the guy in the pic with me) and I FINALLY got married after 5 years of dating. Upon returning from our honeymoon in Key West (where the above pics were taken), we immediately started a renovation on our home. Consequently, we purchased the house I grew up in from my mother, and we started the process of undoing 20 years of neglect and wear on the house. Being true to my attempt at morphing into Wonder Woman, I also juggled full-time work and graduate school at this time as well.

At the start of our marriage, I had two semesters of grad school left, which presented several challenges to us newlyweds. Trying to figure out time-management among a job, school work, renovations, time together, and the activities of daily living was stressful at times. Luckily that era was short-lived, and now I am a graduate of Georgia State's Robinson College of Business with my Master's of Science degree. Since my schedule has opened up quite a bit since graduation, I discovered my urge to begin writing again was very strong. (For those of you who don't know, I was quite a little journalist several years back.)

I chose the name "Building Up Burton" for our blog because, to me, no other name seemed fitting. Cliff and I are building many things in our lives right now, such as our new marriage and our new (yet old) house. Cliff builds neighborhoods and houses while I help build retirement nest eggs. I just could not ignore the obvious. So I hope that you enjoy our blog. I know this post was a little short, but there will be more soon.