Lake George Birthday

For my birthday this year, Nat surprised me with a trip to Lake George in upstate New York. Up until this point, I had never been to upstate New York and everyone always raved about how gorgeous it was so it was must-do on our list. Two birds with one stone. The long weekend included a mountain-top picnic, bed and breakfast, Six Flags (the real driving force behind this destination), hikes, waterfalls, breweries and the list goes on and on! It was so much fun!

Prior to leaving, Nat mapped out our route so that we could stop at a fresh market on our drive to Lake George. We picked up the necessary picnic ingredients and then shortly after that, arrived at our picnic spot. After a short hike to the top, we dined while overlooking all of Lake George. So beautiful!Post picnic.

SIX FLAGS!! I think it's safe to say that I am an amusement park junkie. I literally turn into a 10 year old kid when I enter the park. And even though he doesn't have quite the same reaction as me, Nat is slowing starting to love screaming his head off. While going backwards. And upside down. It was a cloudy day which made for PERFECT conditions in the park. We showed up early so we could be among the first through the doors. Turns out, they opened the park 15 minutes early so by the time most of the people arrived, we were 5 thrill rides in! They also had a water park, which is where Nat turns into the 10 year old. All around, this was a great day!

On the last day, Nat found a great spot where we could hike around Lake George and up to a waterfall. On the left is a picture of the drive up to the hiking spot. It was so nice to drive through these gorgeous woods with our windows down. Definitely something you can easily take for granted when you own a car and live outside of NYC! On the right is our view of Lake George as we hiked around it.



Where's Waldo? He's a crazy one!



I don't have proof of it, but I did go up to where Nat was in the last photo. However, I did not stand under the freezing cold falls. This was enough of my body in the water for me!!



This was our first attempt at a self-pic with my new camera. As you can see, we could totally see ourselves on the screen so instead of staring at the camera lens, we choose to stare at ourselves!!



Second attempt. Just right. :-)

Two Very Important People

I was beyond blessed when Nat came into my life. Nat, by himself, with no awesome family members would have been enough. I, however, happened to hit the in-law family jackpot with the McIntyre's. They not only immediately treated me like family but they naturally felt like family. It's hard for me to even think about a time that they weren't in my life.

And while they are all awesome, it's two very important people that I want to focus on. Lilly and Max, our niece and nephew...here is preview....


I miss them every. single. day. I have officially gone off the deep end when it comes to these two. I save their voice mails (then play them for my roommate who is super understanding of my addiction). Talk in funny voices in front of my entire office when they call (via their mom's cell phone). Constantly tell stories to perfect strangers about their awesomeness. The list could go on and on.

Since moving back to Nashville, it's definitely been a hard adjustment not seeing them. When in NYC, Nat and I made an effort to get to Cape Cod once a month to spend time with them. Now it is particularly hard when Nat gets to visit and I'm not there which is exactly what happened this weekend. He does the best he can to make me feel like I'm there through phone calls and texted pictures but he knows it's not the same (It must be said that this activity only reiterates what an awesome dad he will be, as if I had any doubt!). And, as with everything else in our life, we turn their beautiful love and affection into a competition! haha. Not a real competition, but one where we ask who their favorite is and try to always make sure that person is you! As kids do, their favorites are constantly changing which makes this a fun and acceptable game.

Nat was giving me a hard time before he left for his visit last weekend. Our convo went something like this:

Nat: What if Max doesn't even remember you?
Jenny: Oh, he'll remember me. I'm his favorite. I'm just glad that you're getting some alone time because I am running away with this competition.

As fate would have it, one of my favorite moments from the weekend was when Susie (Nat's sister and their mom) asked Max if he was excited about seeing Uncle Nat to which he loudly proclaimed "Where's Jenny!". Yeah, I rock. I have the love and favoritism of a 2 year old and that is enough for me! ;-)

*This is one of my favorite pictures of Uncle Nat and Lilly. It was taken on the Staten Island Ferry during their NYC visit.

*This kid ALWAYS has the biggest smile on this face.

*Napping on the beach with his Auntie Jenny

Southern NON-APPLE Girl!

I'm willing to bet that 100% of my readers already know this gem of information BUT (I kinda still have to tell it for the sake of my blog transition!) a couple of months ago, Nat and I made a big decision and decided to move back to Nashville! It went kind of like this...

*Jenny gets offered big promotion at work that if she accepts, will require a move back to Nashville.

*Nat is very loving and supportive but also slightly anxious about the future of his ACTING career in MUSIC city!

*As with most things in our lives (little or big), we talk, and talk, and talk, and talk, and then talk a little bit more about the decision. All in all, I think the talking spanned a solid 2-3 months!

*Once the actual offer was made, we already knew what our decision would be and we couldn't be more excited to start our next chapter in Nashville, TN!!

*Nat already has some teaching gigs lined up with a theater here in town and hopes to stay with his agency which just opened an office in Atlanta (4 short hours away). This new move has also ignited talks about opening our own theater company, him writing more plays and us finishing (and by finishing I mean starting!) some of the screen play ideas that I must keep top secret for the time being. ;-)

I am officially back in Nashville and living with one of my best girlfriends. Nat has plans to join me within the next few months and then wedding planning, house hunting and lots of quality time with friends and family is on the schedule!

Now don't panic. My blog is not going anywhere (I can hear major sighs of relief! haha). I'm going to transform it into a journal of sorts about my life, our life, our wedding, our friends, our move and our next chapter. The plan is to write more but that is always the plan and so far, I'm probably scoring a D in that department (actually probably more like a D-). Hang in there!

And because it's the end of Chapter 2 for us, it's probably a good time to look back over our NYC journey...

Yes, I'd love to have my food delivered to your bar.

I love having visitors for a number of reasons. Obviously and most importantly, I love getting to see and spend time with my friends!

But another perk to having people visit is getting to see the city through new eyes again. It's amazing how quickly you just become accustom to your surroundings and what started out as bizarre or unusual or exciting, becomes your new norm. Our friend Luke Sheets was in town for a visit and reminded me of one of these NYC norms last night...

Picture this...you're anywhere else but New York City and you walk into a sports bar to catch your favorite team's game. You sit down at the bar and order a beer. You then proceed to ask the bartender for his binder of to-go menus because you want to order some take out and have it delivered to his bar! He would not only look at you like you were crazy but he might hit you across the head with menu for their food!

This same scenario is something that gets played out in the majority of sports bars and pubs across NYC. When I first moved here, it was such a strange concept to me that you would literally order food from a restaurant down the street and the delivery person would come into the bar to bring your food to you. Now that I've been desensitized to this, it's my new norm. When Luke visited and we went to our favorite gyro place to pick up food to take into the bar, Luke was shocked that it was ok to just bring in your own food. We explained that not only was it ok but they actually encouraged it and provided you with delivery menus in case you didn't bring in your own food!

And just for kicks, here is a picture from Luke's visit in front of our local liquor store...

SLACKER! SLACKER! SLACKER!

Let' s just pretend that it's not really June (because honestly I feel like it should be February) and that I haven't blogged in like a year. Okay. Awesome.

With that out of the way, let's do a quick summary of things that have happened in the last year:

1. (And most important) The MossIntyre's are engaged! The deed went down on Feb. 20. At our best friend's house. On the couch where the first, extremely awkward move, was made. Awwww, memories.

2. Nat booked a play, MacBeth, in St. Louis that ran throughout the month of February. He moved there from Jan-March. While he was playing in St. Louis, I moved back to Nashville and worked from my company's headquarters. Probably the only time in our lives we can say that we had homes in 3 cities.

3. My brother also got engaged to a great girl! Their engagement went down exactly one week to the day before our's did. Yay for Moss family weddings and love and joy and my dad being thrilled that he only had one girl!

4. We took a vacay to Riviera Maya, Mexico with 2 other fabulous couples. For anyone looking to try an all-inclusive vacay, I would HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend the Now Jade Riviera Maya.

5. About a two months ago, Nat found a way to trip so hard over our entertainment center that it broke a piece off and sent our 42" flat screen tv plummeting to its' untimely death via glass coffee table. The glass coffee table left without a scratch and definitely got the last laugh.

6. My company is expanding like crazy. We have a new, awesome space and two new, awesome employees. I love being a part of something from the first stages of growth.

7. I feel kind of like I'm writing a Christmas card right now.

Now that the official slacker post has happened, I feel like we can all move on and talk about much more ridiculous topics. Until next time (which will be VERY soon!)...

XOXO