We took another Atlanta adventure yesterday with our friend Brian and the girls. We walked down to the MARTA station again and took it downtown where we walked to the Georgia Aquarium.
As soon as we walked in we were greeted by HUGE aquariums filled with beautiful fish of all different colors and sizes…as well as tons of people who had the same idea as we did.
The whole place is giant and there are tons of really neat exhibits around every corner. Linsey loved it, but Regan was a bit intimidated by some of the animals.
Even the grown ups were mesmerized by the enormity of the place. 
During the Dolphin Tales exhibit Jason and Brian sort of lost their enjoyment and turned to other things for entertainment. 
All in all it was a great day at the aquarium!
Later in the evening we left the girls with the rest of the family and drove out to Duluth, GA to have dinner at Brian’s dad’s house. Jason has been hearing about his “Famous Green Egg Steak Dinner” and since we were here he decided he HAD to experience it for himself.
It took a bit of traveling to get out there during Atlanta rush hour, but it was well worth it.
Brian’s dad and step mother are amazing people, super friendly and hysterically funny! They made us feel right at home, checked on me multiple times to make sure I had plenty to eat (being the only vegetarian in the group) and told us lots of stories about when Brian and his brothers (he has 4!) were little.
Jason LOVED the steak and we both loved the conversation.
It was really great getting to meet Brian’s father and step mother because Brian has become like family to us in the past couple of years. The girls even refer to him as Uncle Brian!!
He’ll be leaving today to head back to Ft Rucker in Alabama until March to finish his Air Traffic Control schooling and then he BETTER be coming back to St Louis for a bit. It has been decided that the Sparks’ Family has to live in the same city as Brian…no matter where that may be. It just doesn’t feel right without him.
WE LOVE YOU BRIAN!!
2012 Resolutions…
I really don’t like resolutions all that much, but rather enjoy giving myself challenges instead. For 2011 I set a few challenges for myself. I managed to achieve some of them, but not all of them. 
This year I have a different approach and since I will be riding in a car for 11+ hours tomorrow I thought I would get a head start on them today.
I’ve already got one year long challenge set up… The Jane Austen Book Club! If you want to join feel free because it’s always more fun with more people involved.
So far I’ve decided on my January and February challenges, but still need help with the last 10 months of the year.
January – Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred Challenge
February – 100 oz a day challenge (water that is!)
March – undecided
April - undecided
May - 75 miles in a month
June – undecided
July - undecided
August – swim 30 miles in a month
September - undecided
October - run the Rock n Roll half
November - undecided
December - undecided
If you have any suggestions for the months that are still empty leave them in the comment section below and on January 6th I will fill the empty spots and choose a winner of something super awesome (to be determined when I get home!)
Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing. ~ Arundhati Roy
A friend of mine just started a 100 burpee challenge. Though I know you only have a month for a challenge, but I guess you can modify it if interested. He started the challenge within his fitness group that is starting to train for a Spartan. For each day, they are doing that number of burpees.. day 1- 1 burpee day 2- 2 burpees day 3- 3 burpees for a full 100 days and of course on the last day they will finish with doing 100 burpees. Another challenge they are just finishing up is a 1k crunch challenge, by the end of the challenge they were doing 1000 a day after 10 weeks.. “100 crunches everyday and increase by 100 each monday of a new week. In ten weeks we will reach 1000 crunches a day (Insert Dr. Evil laugh here). I suggest you start Monday so that way you have a clear idea of when you started, and you can add 100 exactly a week after starting. The way that I understood it is that you can do any form of ab exercise you want (crunches, v-ups, sit-ups) whichever fits your fitness level.” Do remember that they are doing these challenges are part of training for a Spartan Race.
“There’s a difference between interest and commitment. When you’re interested in doing something, you do it only when it is convenient. When you are committed to something, you accept no excuses; only results!”~Kenneth Blanchard
ahh Im greeting 2012 challenge free and shall CHEER YOU ON on yours.
Another friend is doing a “NO SUGAR” Challenge. GUIDELINES No foods that have added sugar of any kind are allowed.
~No added natural sugars (honey, molasses, stevia, etc.).
~No added refined sugars (sugar, corn syrup, brown sugar).
~No added artificial sweeteners (Truvia, Splenda, Nutrasweet).
Basically, if it has added sugar of any kind (natural or otherwise), do not eat it. This includes any and all artificial sweeteners.
Note: When we say no sugar, we mean no added sugar. There will be naturally occurring sugars in milk and yogurt as well as in fruit. That’s okay. The idea is to give up ADDED sugars. So when you read a nutrition label, look at the actual list of ingredients. NOT the % of sugar per serving (unless you must do so for medical reasons).
[...] fish, a green egg and some resolutions [...]