New Appreciation for A/C

On Monday I came home from work and walked into my house to feel a wall of hot and humid air. The house was 83 degrees...the air conditioning was obviously broken. My first thought was maybe we hadn't changed the filter in a while...so I ran to Ace and got a new filter...that didn't fix it. I immediately called the home warranty company and scheduled a service request. I was told that the next available appointment to get our unit serviced was Wednesday afternoon...which was not ideal since we were supposed to have company spend the night Tuesday...Sorry Tiffany and Bella!!

I spent the night on Monday at my parents' house. Grant chose to stay at our house...in the heat. I don't know how he did it. I woke up Monday morning and went to the Y...and guess what...their air conditioning was out too! It was a miserable work out! I showered and got ready in my old bathroom...where I used to get ready in high school. It definitely brought back memories!!

I went to work Tuesday and spent the night in Savannah Tuesday night. Grant slept at my parents' house. He couldn't stand the heat one more night. Savannah was AMAZING! I loved the hotel I stayed at: the Mansion on Forsyth Park. I also had the best bread pudding at Belford's.

I was able to meet the A/C repairman around 5P on Wednesday. He fixed it in 20 minutes...He is my hero!

UCF Move-in Day!

Yesterday Grant and I went to UCF to help my youngest brother, Zack, move into his Freshman dorm. Zack enjoyed showing us around his campus and college town. When we arrived Zack checked in at the area office and got his keys. It brought back tons of memories of when I was an RA and GHD at UF, checking in the newest class of Gators each fall! The day the dorms opened in the fall was always one of my favorite days of the school year. It was always crazy busy, but I loved every minute of it!

Zack took us to his dorm room. He is staying in Sumter Hall. He has one roommate and shares a bathroom with another two guys. It is set up similar to Hall 95...or the Springs...in Gainesville. Apparently this is one of the oldest dorms at UCF, which makes all of the dorms in Gainesville seem archaic!

Moving in Zack was far easier than when I moved in. Me, my Mom, Tess, Grant and Zack each took in one load of stuff and we were done! An added benefit was that Zack's room was on the first floor. So easy! I remember moving into Jennings and having to wait in line to use the service elevator - one elevator for the entire building!

After we moved Zack's stuff in we went to a local restaurant for lunch. Zack was excited to share some of the local food with us. El Corral was good. I got a chicken sandwich and broiled yucca. We also got a side of plantains...Yum! After lunch we headed to the local Super Wal-Mart...the traffic just getting to Wal-Mart was insane! I thought maybe there was an accident, but the back up was from the left turn lane into the Wal-Mart parking lot! Crazy!!!

Of course when we got to Wal-Mart it started raining...my Mom was nice enough to drop us all off at the front while she went to park. Wal-Mart was PACKED with UCF students! We picked up a few necessities for Zack and checked out rather quickly.

On the way back to campus we stopped at Jeremiah's Italian Ice. This place was AWESOME! It's like Rita's, but times 10! After we all enjoyed our gelatis we went back to campus and toured the the rec center. This place is amazing as is, but they're doing construction and by the end of the semester the rec center will probably at least double in size!! There was also an amazing pool!! I think this rec center is the main reason so many kids want to go to UCF!

We dropped Zack off at Sumter Hall and hit the road to get back to Jacksonville.

The whole day brought back memories of UF. It is crazy to think that 10 years ago I moved into Jennings 1 freshman year. Since then I have been friends with so many of the girls on that floor.

I met my husband through a friend on that floor, Mandy. I was a bridesmaid in Mandy's wedding and her in mine.

I became great friends with my random roommate, Erin. We each stood up for each other in our weddings and now both live in Jacksonville! Yay!

I've gone to San Diego to visit Kayla and I cannot wait to meet her baby!

I see Kellie, one of my RAs, when I go down to Fort Myers. Her daughters are adorable and she is such an amazing Mom! All of us girls on Jennings 1 knew she would be!

HOTM: I love Emily Giffin

My favorite author is Emily Giffin. She has written several AMAZING books and I have read each and every one of them at least once. My favorite are Something Borrowed and Something Blue. Something Borrowed is being made into a movie starring Kate Hudson and Gennifer Goodwin set to be released into theaters next summer. I CANNOT wait to see it!

I was at the beach a few months back, reading Emily Giffin's newest book, Heart of the Matter. I decided to snap a quick photo to post on facebook.

I tagged Emily Giffin in the photo (I'm friends with her on Facebook). Later I noticed a comment from her on my photo!! I was so excited. Grant thought I was being ridicules...but it made my day.

I emailed my photo to Emily as she asked and here it is on her website!

First Clem Family Reunion

Last weekend we got together with Grant's parents and his two brothers and their families. It was a blast! We all met at Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia. The resort was really pretty. There were a ton of different gardens, a couple golf courses, a lake and a couple pools. The scenery was beautiful, but the weather was HOT! I think this resort would be the most beautiful in the fall when all of the trees are all different colors...I can only imagine what it must look like then!

Grant and I arrived late Thursday night. We went to bed and met up with everyone early Friday morning. We all met at the butterfly garden and then went for a hike around the grounds. We were able to catch the birds of prey show and find the Discovery Center where we enjoyed a little air conditioning! We did a little geocaching. We grabbed lunch at Subway before heading to the pool. The pool was a nice relief from the heat and humidity.

That night we ventured to downtown Pine Mountain. We checked out one of the antique stores before heading to San Marcos for dinner. San Marcos was one of the few restaurants in the little town...the only Mexican restaurant and, apparently, quite the place to be on a Friday night. The food was good, but the highlight was the dessert.

We all headed to Sage's after dinner for ice cream. We were lucky we got there when we did because they closed at 8P! The shop was super cute! After dinner we all met back up at the hotel lobby to play dominoes. I had brought a garden gnome for the winner of the game with the idea that each year the winner will take home the gnome and bring it back the next year decorated. I love starting traditions! Eddie won a highly contest game of dominoes. I am looking forward to see how he decorates his gnome!

On Saturday we met early to take family photos by the chapel at Callaway Gardens. It wasn't too hot since we met at 8:30. The spot Ed found for our family photos was really pretty.

After we took photos we all went to the vegetable gardens. It was SO hot and there was little shade. I wondered how some of these plants survi\ved the harsh Georgia summers!

After the vegetable garden we all went to lunch at the Whistling Pig BBQ, Randy's choice. It was really tasty! After lunch Sue and I decided to check out the shops downtown. We didn't get anything, but it was fun to check it all out.

That afternoon we went to the pool again and then got ready for our last dinner together. We picked the Country Kitchen. The Country Kitchen is a lot like Cracker Barrel. It was good and definitely filling. After dinner Ed, Cari, Randy, Meredith and Brenna headed back to South Carolina.

After they left the rest of us went to the hotel lobby and played Phase 10, which I dominated. While we were playing all of the locals met up at our hotel lobby to do karoke. They were all pretty good!

We all headed back home on Sunday morning. Grant and I made a pit stop at Lane's Southern Orchard where we ate cobbler and snuck into the peach orchard to take some photos. They do a corn maze in October, so we'll definitely be back!

All in all, it was a wonderful long weekend. I LOVED seeing everyone and I look forward to doing it again!!