It was a weekend full of celebration. We LOVED having so much family in town. Now, after 20 straight years of schooling it's time to put on my big girl pants and head into the real world. It's a degree with zero eternal significance, but it feels pretty darn good in the moment :)
Now all that's left is packing, a trip to the beach, and figuring out how the heck I am going to emotionally handle saying goodbye to a city I love and the people that have been my rocks the past 4 years. A sappy but sincere "I-love-my-friends" post will come soon I'm sure, but suffice to say that combined with all of the other changes ahead are taking me on an emotional roller coaster. So thankful my best friend(s) (Bella included of course) are on this ride with me!

That's right. 2 blog posts in one day. Mainly I just don't want to start packing, and this is a (sort of) legitimate reason to procrastinate.

This past weekend we headed down to the FL panhandle for the 2nd Annual Southern Gentleman's Beach Trip (a self-named group of best friends from Auburn that allow their significant others to be a part of their planned activities).
These boys are such an entertaining group, and I love that they include their female counterparts in on the fun.
I have never seen the Gulf's water this crystal-clear, and the weather was absolutely perfect.
We entertained ourselves with cornhole, excellent food, talk of the Royal Wedding (even the boys got involved on that one), dancing to Bieber at the Red Bar, people-watching at Bud & Alley's, a disturbing $40 bet, a questionable comment to a stranger that was the source of relentless jokes for the remainder for the trip... I could go on. It was a blast and flew by way too quickly.
This group vacations together splendidly. We missed those unable to attend this year (shout out to the Beasley's and David & Anna), but continued the tradition of all-out fun they helped initiate at last year's first annual. Thanks Seagrove for another perfect SG weekend!

Med School Prom
Formally known as the Aesculapian Ball, to med students it's just 20th grade prom, and a fun excuse to get together with friends and dance.
What was originally intended to be a low-key pre-prom get-together with friends at our house magically transformed into a piano karaoke party thanks to online sheet music and the musical stylings of one Megan B.
I took plenty of video, but unfortunately the voices we thought were musically genius at the time are actually pretty rough sounding on video, so those will remain private :) Cap off the evening with an 80s-cover band and it made for a night to remember!

Easter
The next morning we headed to Montgomery to celebrate Easter with family. It was a quick but wonderful trip home. I took a couple of pictures on my phone, but otherwise left my camera in its case.
Lele took this one and more from the weekend can be found here.

Cincinnati
A couple of days later we packed up and headed to our new home city. We flew out the evening that the storms hit, and it was hands down the most turbulent and uncomfortable flight either of us have ever experienced. Again, only phone photos from this trip, but here's a brief recap.
Our new skyline. Search for Mexican. Walker's new office building. Graeter's (x2, and maybe I wanted a 3rd visit), YUM.
Sunset on the river. Famous ribs (thanks Griesheimer's!). Our first Reds game, where conveniently, the song of the game made us think of home (it's much more fun and less annoying to hear it when you are several states away).
It was a wonderful trip (and Walker's first visit) and left us feeling excited and reassured about our decision. Leaving Birmingham will be bittersweet, but we are ready for our upcoming adventure! And yes, we found a place to live!

Storms
It was difficult to take in the images we were seeing on television of our home state. We are so grateful that our friends and family were all safe and suffered minimal damage, but it was heart-breaking to hear of all those who were much less fortunate. Below are some photos I took on my phone of Pratt City, an area just northwest of Birmingham that was hit especially hard. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the storm victims and their long road of recovery ahead.

Next up, our trip to the FL panhandle for the 2nd Annual Southern Gentleman's Beach Weekend, and this weekend (drumroll please) GRADUATION!

(Again, flashback several weeks...)

We love this place. On this particular trip our time here was brief (and cloudy and rainy), but it was the perfect way to end a perfect vacation.
We spent the afternoon along this beach with a wonderful (albeit foggy) view of the Golden Gate Bridge. For the few hours we were there it was cloudy but the rain held off and the temperature was perfect.