casting my cares

Throwback Thursday

2012-02-09T16:46:00.000-05:00

My favorite place to eat in college was a Mexican restaurant called Los Portales. I ate there about 2-3 times a week, at least, I'd say. It was yummy, not to mention cheap & quick - everything a college student needs.

Not only did I eat there A LOT, I celebrated 5 out of the 6 birthdays I had in college there (yes, I was in college for 6 years, but I got two degrees, so get off my back!).

At "Los" (that's what we called it, which I realize really just means "the") when it's your birthday, they bring out a sombrero and a sopapilla with ice cream and sing a very slow, Spanish version of a birthday song...then they thump you on the top of the hat at the end of the song.

I'm very excited to say that I'll get to taste Los again this weekend....maybe, I'll tell them it's my birthday!

European Adventure Recap - Sunset Along the Seine - Part 2

2012-02-08T10:30:00.004-05:00

A European Adventure Recap? Why not!?

Ok, so it's been over two years since Shannon and I went on our European Backpacking Adventure, but for archiving's sake (and because I want to), I'm bound and determined to finish blogging about it!

If you'd like to catch up on other posts from our trip to Europe - Click Here.

Sunday October 25, 2009

Paris, France

Last we left, we were in Paris, walking along the Seine towards the Eiffel Tower while the sun set, here's part two of those pictures.

I'm so glad we went to Paris in the fall, it's my favorite season and I think that made everything even more beautiful to me. I'll let the next few pictures speak for themselves, as there isn't much more to share than just the beauty of the colors, silhouettes and the sunset.

We finally made it around a bend where we we had an unobstructed view of the Eiffel Tower. I love the sky and the lights and the Tower all so shimmery in these next few shots.

See that glass-topped building sticking up above the trees on the right? It's Le Grand Palais or The Grand Palace.

Here's a closer shot - it sits just on the other side of the Pont Alexander III - The Alexander III Bridge (the white columns with gold statues on top are actually part of the bridge, but you can see the Grand Palais' glass roof beyond on the right).

The Grand Palace was built circa 1897. It was used as a hospital during World War I, occupied by the Nazi's during World War II and was attacked by tanks during the Liberation of Paris in 1944. It has been and is currently used as a museum. It also is currently used as an exhibition hall and houses a "major police station in the basement." (source)

"The competition to choose the architect was fierce and controversial, and ultimately resulted in the contract being awarded to a group of four architects...each with a separate area of responsibility. The main space...was constructed with an iron, steel and glass barrel-vaulted roof, making it the last of the large transparent structures...that were necessary for large gatherings of people before the age of electricity." (source)

Me, Myself and I

2012-02-07T15:46:00.000-05:00

So, the other day, I had a little conversation with Myself.

It went something like this:

Myself said to I, "I, you write really looong blogposts."

To which I replied, "Yes, but I want people to get the whole story with as many details as possible."

Myself: "Yes, but if you blogged more frequently, maybe you could share just as much, but spread it out over a few posts so as not to ~~exasperate~~ over-load your reader(s)."

I: "Well, you have a good point there."

Myself: "Ok, I, repeat after me.....I promise..."

I: "I promise..."

Myself: "...to write shorter blogposts..."

I: "...to write shorter blogposts..."

Myself: "...and to be more diligent..."

I: "...and to be more diligent..."

Myself: "...at blogging more frequently..."

I: "...at blogging more frequently..."

Myself: "...so one blogpost..."

I: "...so one blogpost...

Myself: "...doesn't take up the entire length of my blog page..."

I: "...doesn't take up the entire length of my blog page..."

Myself: "...and to buy Myself some really expensive camera lenses."

I: "...and to buy Myself some really expensive...Hey!"

Ok, so maybe I've been spending too much time inside - is it Summer yet???

Engage-a-versary

2012-02-06T14:57:00.000-05:00

Today is a very special day - It's my Engage-a-versary!

One year ago, Brandon proposed and I said Yes! Because I love the story so much, I thought I'd re-share it, so click here to read about Our Engagement.

2012 - The YoFS

2012-02-03T13:58:00.000-05:00

2012 is going to be the YoFS! (The Year of Finishing Stuff!)

Each New Year, instead of making resolutions, I like to come up with a theme for the year....seems that having a theme to live by is more encouraging than a list of things not to do. So, this year is the YoFS.

I have waaay too many projects that are mid-way done. Below is a list of things I've started (some I even started years ago!) but never finished for one reason or another (can you say A.D.D. and/or Procrastination? - I even procrastinated on writing this post!!). Not to mention that I like to help other people get things done too, so there's a list projects I've started and a list of projects I've helped other people start.

So, here's my goals for 2012 - The YoFS! (the ones that are marked out are done - yes, I've already accomplished some things this year!):

My Projects:
-Put pictures in frames around house (Hallway, Office, Living Room, ~~Bedroom~~). We currently have frames hanging on the walls, but most either don't have pictures in them or the picture inside is landscape while the frame is portrait, etc...
-~~Organize the book shelves in our Living Room~~
-Sort through Facebook Friends and put folks into "Groups" (and maybe purge my friend list?)
-Complete unfinished quilting project (name of project withheld because it's a present!)
-Break out my Cricut & "Sure Cuts A Lot" program and make cards with all the paper/card stock I've accumulated over the years
-Scrapbook the rest of my college years (mostly from Graduate year: 2003-2004)
-Make 3-4 photo books and thereby use the Groupons I purchased that expire in February 2012
-Make stuff from all the felt/fabric/yarn stock I have
-Scan all photos, negatives & memorabilia from the years 2004-2011
-Blog the rest of our ~~Wedding~~, ~~Honeymoon~~ & ~~post wedding stuff~~
-Blog the rest of mine & Shannon's European Adventure 2009 (preferably before we hit the 3 year anniversary of that trip in October)
-Cover couch throw pillows with new fabric that I've already purchased
-Recipe Cards - transfer recipes from magazine clippings to actual cards that fit into my recipe box
-Update Google contacts with addresses, email addresses, birthdays, anniversaries, pictures, etc...of everyone in my phone/contact list.
-Read the 4 books I've started (I'm such a *slow* reader!!)
-Edit DVD's that Brandon is making from my VHS tapes from High School Band, etc...
-Make shortcuts within my computer folder system for pictures (this probably make no sense to anyone but me and my organized chaos and I don't feel like providing a lengthy explanation, but I wanted to add it to the list in hopes that I can later cross it off, sorry for my vague-ness)
-Consistently do my Throwback Thursday posts
-Keep my blog more current, instead of posting something months after the fact
-Catch up on blogs in my blog reader. Between my computer crashing, our Month o' Travel and then the Holidays, I haven't read many of the blogs I usually keep up with, including friends' blogs.

Helping with Other People's Projects:
-Sand re-patched walls/ceiling in play room at my parents house, trace all the existing "Peanuts" characters and repaint the entire room, then add the Peanuts characters (and some other murals?) back on the re-painted walls
-Scan pictures from the Baby Shower for my first niece (born in 2003, yikes!) to give to my sister-in-law
-Hang the hammock I bought for my Dad almost 3 years ago in Honduras
-Help my Mamaw put some pictures back on her walls since repainting her bedroom (in October of 2010!)
-Help my mom organize all her pictures into boxes/albums
-Complete cleaning out process of my parents basement. We finished phase 1, now on to phase 2.

Throwback Thursday

2012-02-02T21:41:00.000-05:00

Around this time back in 2009, Shannon and I took a trip to Las Vegas. You know, we're such party girls, that it was on the top of our list. ;) Seriously though - we had a blast and while Vegas isn't Family Friendly by any means, even conservative Christians like us could enjoy some of what it offers.

We walked around the hotels and casinos enjoying the interior & exterior architecture.....

Ate lots of yummy food and desserts (several times from Monte Carlo's awesome buffet)......

Went on a helicopter ride to the Grand Canyon where we had lunch on the bottom of the canyon.....

We drove to the Hoover Dam.......

And even enjoyed a Chris Tomlin concert from the 6th row! And met his drummer, Travis Nunn, after the concert.

I'm currently making a photobook of this trip on mixbook.com, so I thought it fitting for my Throwback Thursday.

New Years Eve

2012-01-30T20:53:00.002-05:00

This year for New Years Eve, we took a road trip to Cincinnati and met Mike & Shannon to ring in the New Year!

After checking into our really nice hotel......

.....we went to one of the most awesome places on the face of the earth - IKEA!!!

Here, our funny husbands try out some of the merchandise - Mike tested out one of the beds (too short for him!), while Brandon took charge in an office set up.

We had fun! We didn't buy a lot (according to Brandon, I only have 9 square inches left in our place to put anything), but we had a great time - even ate in the cafeteria there for lunch (Swedish meatballs = Yummy in my Tummy).

Love this sign there (not actual size).

After IKEA, we all got bundled up to spend most of the evening outside. We went to downtown Cinncinati's "Fountain Square" area.

They had set up a temporary Ice Skating Rink!

Skating was so much fun!

After Ice Skating, we put our names in at a nearby restaurant, but had to wait about an hour & a half before being seated, so we walked around, enjoying the surrounding festivities, Christmas lights & watching a couple wedding receptions through the windows at nearby hotels.

We also saw this sweet ride - although, the color is a little "Green Goblin" for my taste.

After strolling around and trying to keep warm outside, it was finally our turn to eat. We ate at Rock Bottom.

One big reason I wanted to eat here is because of these:

Ball-park style pretzel appetizers with queso dip. They are SO GOOD!

After dinner, we found a spot near the big Christmas tree to count down the New Year and watch the fire works that they were setting off downtown.

Happy New Year!!!

Catching Up - October, November & December

2012-01-29T19:32:00.000-05:00

In an effort to catch up on months worth of blogging.....I'm doing three "Catching Up" posts.

This is the last installment -

If you missed the first two, click here for the first and here for the second.

Click on any picture to enlarge.

October 1, 2011 - We went to celebrate my niece's Birthday, which I've already blogged about - click here to see 4 year old Boo with her birthday cake.

October 7-9, 2011 - Camping with Kim & Billy (Brandon's Sister and Brother-in-Law) - blogged about this already too - click here to see photos from our fun weekend.

October 12, 2011 - Keeneland Outing with Brandon's work folks. We got to hang out in this awesome tent, eat some awesome food (and dessert!) and watch the races.

Our table included a couple other couples....the two guys are Brandon's co-workers.

The Paddock (left) and the place where the horses enter the track (right)

I came out ahead and quit.

October 15-16, 2011 - Trip to Ohio to visit Brian & Emily and their family. This has already been blogged too - click here.

October 22-29, 2011 - Our Colonial Williamsburg Vacation! Here's a sampling of photos from that trip...

We made the 9ish hour drive to Williamsburg, VA all in one day.

This was our cute "apartment" for the week. My brother and sister-in-law gifted us a week of their Time Share as a wedding present, so we picked Williamsburg to visit. This particular Time Share had four units in each building. The units were awesome.....complete with kitchen, living room and dining room and separate bedroom with a great bathroom (including huge tub and separate shower and stacked washer/dryer).

Me and Pocahontas....I am 1/16 American Indian, after all.

Do we look Colonial? Ben Franklin would enjoy our stylish glasses, I'm sure.

We saw lots of Colonial architecture in Colonial Williamsburg, imagine that.

And we got to see lots of Colonial trades. I've only posted a few below. But there were lots and it was very neat to see.

Cooks (left) and Apothecary (right)

The Wig Maker

Our favorite was the Joiner (kind of like a furniture maker).

We toured the Jail.

And Brandon got picked to help out with the demonstration of the Mortar firing.

Don't you love Brandon's back pack?

Yeah, it was mine, but he was sweet enough to carry around for me.

Next stop: Jamestown. We toured a couple sail boats....

And met a smelly pirate....

And got to see how the first American settlers lived.

On another day, we toured a local Brewery.

And snuck in some kisses on a pier.

My birthday happened to be during our vacation, so I woke to find my sweet man cooking breakfast and presents on the table.

We got dressed up that evening and went to an Italian place for dinner.

The last day we were there, we went to Norfolk and toured a Battleship - it was cool!

We also got to visit Brandon's cousin, Emily, her husband, Ryan, and their 4 kiddos who live nearby (sadly, I took no pictures while we were there!). We had such a great time with them. And such a great vacation!

October 30, 2011 - The day after we got back from vacation was Brandon's birthday (our b-days are 3 days apart). This time, he woke to breakfast and presents!

Then later that afternoon, our parents came in to celebrate our birthdays as well. My Mom brought a cake for me (with yummy homemade chocolate icing) which is what I typically have for my birthday and Brandon's Mom brought him a homemade Pumpkin Pie, which is what he usually has on his birthday.

I went the next week to visit my Grandparents in D-ville and my Granny surprised me with this gift - she did a painting of my second house! I love it.

October 30, 2011 - Fire Truck Invasion - One night, out of nowhere, the building across the street from our apartment was literally surrounded by fire trucks (there were about 6-7 of them!). We have no idea what was up....they were there about 45 minutes, going into each room of the apartment with a flash light until one by one the fire trucks started leaving without doing anything else. Our best guess is that someone reported a gas leak?

October 31, 2011 - Trick or Treat! We passed out candy this year (this was a first for me, I've always been out of town or at a church function). We got the good stuff too.....just in case no one came and we had to eat it all ourselves. We had several stop by though.

November 11, 2011 - Granny's Art Hop - My Granny participates in her small towns' Art Hops.

She sells paintings, note cards with photos of her paintings on the front and hand-painted ornaments.

Brandon and I came in town for the Hop and Mike & Shannon came too and surprised her. Also pictured is my Grandpa.

My Aunt Nancy came out in support as well and she and Granny got to go look at the rest of the Hop together.

November 11, 2011 - This wasn't a trip Brandon and I went on, but I still wanted to mention it. Our parents went on vacation to Gatlinburg together!! I know this isn't the norm for In-Laws and we're so absolutely blessed that our parents not only get along, but will take a vacation together! Aren't they all so cute? We asked them if they would leave as In-Laws, but come back as Out-Laws. ;) You never know what they'll get into when they're together.

November 16, 2011 - Surprise Date Night to the Indoor Gun Range. Brandon planned this Date Night and I was nervous but excited to shoot a gun for the first time ever.

November 18, 2011 - I went to the Ville to meet up with The Girls.....I miss them all so much and hate that I don't get to see them as often....but we sure have fun when we get together!

We ate dinner at The North End Cafe

Then had dessert at Sweet Surrender - YUM!

November 23, 2011 - This was one crazy day of travel! But, all in an effort for me to make it to my nephew's first birthday party (it would have been a hard one to miss!). So, we came up with a crazy plan for me to be able to go. The birthday party was going to be held out of town, about 4 hours away from me and about 2 and a half from my parents. Well, Brandon had to work and couldn't attend (the party was on a Weds. afternoon, the day before Thanksgiving), so he took me to meet up with my Dad in a town that's between us and the Ville (closer to us though, so I'm thankful my Dad had taken the day off and could come and pick me up).

My Dad and I enjoyed breakfast at Cracker Barrel and then made the trek back towards the Ville while we waited for my Mom to get off work (she had to work 7-11 that day). It was good quality time with my Daddy. We headed over to the mall and looked around and actually got a good amount of Christmas shopping done, then went to have dessert at a local bakery. By that time, my Mom was off, so we picked her up and we all headed for the party.

Doesn't 'The Chief' (which is what my nephew will now be nick-named on the blog) look cute in his party hat?

He's such a little Sweetie!

He wasn't sure what to think of playing in his Smash Cake at first.....

....but once he got the hang of it, he pulverized it!

I was SO GLAD to get to go to the party and so thankful to my parents and Brandon to go through some rigamarole to get me there!

After the party, we took a different route home, because Brandon and I were heading to his parents house in C-ville that night to spend Thanksgiving with them. So after work, Brandon drove about 2 and a half hours to meet us in a town that was between the Ville and C-ville and between where we were coming from at the party and the Ville. Then we drove about an hour from there to his parents and my parents drove about 45 minutes from there to home.

November 23-25, 2011 - Thanksgiving in C-ville

Below: Justin (nephew), Kim (sister-in-law), me and Brandon awaiting the yummy food we were about to devour!

Then, of course, after eating all that turkey - it was nap time!

And then we had a fun game of Hand & Foot - this is almost a must when we go to C-ville!

November 25, 2011 - The day after Thanksgiving, Brandon's dad took us all to an outdoor shooting range.

Maybe because I had practiced a couple weeks earlier on our date or maybe because I had beginner's luck, I did pretty well. Brandon's dad was even calling my 'Annie Oakley!'

Of course, I had to let the others play too. ;)

November 26, 2011 - Our friends, Leo & Sheila got married!

We had spent a lot of time with them recently as Brandon was teaching them some ballrooms steps for their first married dance together. They did great!

December 2, 2011 - Ice Skating with Mark & Anne - what a blast!

December 8, 2011 - Our wall-mates at the duplex put up outdoor Christmas lights and we put up candles in our front windows.

Here's a closer view of our side (the lights the neighbors put up changed colors too!)

And then a shot from the inside at our place:

December 9, 2011 - We decided to do picture cards this year for Christmas since we had several Mixbook.com Groupons we had bought. So, we set up the tri-pod.....

....and here's what we came up with:

(Back)

December 17, 2011 - Christmas celebration with Brandon's mom's family.

Justin was ready for the food! He sat there patiently, spoon in hand (it's a clear spoon - can you see it?), while waiting on everyone to arrive.

Finally, time to eat!

Ok, technically this picture was taken in November, but I thought it would be good to include here as it's almost all of Brandon's Mom's siblings/spouses:

Back row L-R: Aunt Sandra, Uncle Dennis & Aunt Cindy, Brandon's Dad, Jimmy

Middle Row L-R: Aunt Pam, Mammaw, Aunt Tina & Uncle Dale

Front: Brandon's Mom, Beverley

December 20, 2011 - My first UK Game! UK is Brandon's Alma Mater (twice) but I'd never been to a basketball game there before.....I still bleed Navy & Gold (Go Racers!) and Red (Go Cards!) over bleeding UK Blue, but I'll definitely cheer for them if they aren't playing My Teams.

I also realized that I don't own anything exactly UK Blue, so I settled for a slightly different shade....oh well!

December 23-24, 2011 - The day before Christmas Eve, we loaded up the car & drove to C-ville where Brandon's parents live. We spent that night with them and stayed through the next afternoon (Christmas Eve) and celebrated with Brandon's parents and his sister's family.

Here's all of us in front of the Christmas tree:

We enjoyed a great lunch (including Bev's famous tuna/pimiento loaf) and then opened presents.

Brandon's parents got us tickets for a dinner cruise - how cool!

Kim & Billy's dog normally doesn't like Brandon, but he tolerated him for Christmas.

These two pictures make me laugh too! Not sure what Jimmy was saying in his crazy-eyed picture....and the reindeer and I are both doing our best Fire Marshal Bill impressions.

We had a great time! Wish we could have stayed longer.

Around 3:30, we left Brandon's parents and stopped by his Mammaw's on the way out of town for a quick visit.

After visiting Brandon's Mammaw, we then headed to L-ville to my Mamaw's house for Christmas Eve evening with my Dad's family. Here's the group shot of us all:

A few of my cousins kiddos:

My sweet cousin Jen and her hubby, Joe.

It's time for presents! Everyone waited patiently as my cousin Jamie (right) passed them all out.

Then the mass-opening began....

My Mamaw was very surprised (and happy) to receive a book we had made her from our wedding pictures:

Later that evening we had a rousing game of "Chicken Foot" dominoes.

And just for fun's sake, pictured below is my cousin, Jamie, with his dog, Seven, who apparently likes to held like a child - cracks me up!

Christmas Eve night, Brandon and I stayed the night with my parents.

December 25, 2011 - Christmas Day - we woke up at my Mom & Dad's house. Brandon and my Dad went for an early morning run, while my Mom and I had coffee and chatted. Then we all had a nice breakfast together.

Breakfast was super yummy and my Dad gave my Mom her first Christmas present (we were all waiting to exchange presents until my Brother's family arrived later in the week, but Dad wanted her to have this one before that). Her got her a new digital camera!

After breakfast, we loaded up and drove to D-ville to celebrate with my Mom's family.

My Granny always make a lovely spread of finger foods.

The newest member of our family being held by my cousin's son, T, having her toe's pinched by her Grandpa, my Uncle Rob, is my cousin Matthew's baby:

After much passing around of the new baby and catching up with each other, we all converged in the Living Room (left) and Foyer (right) to open presents.

My Granny & Grandpa gave Brandon and I a new address book (with family addresses already listed) and my Granny did a painting of me from the wedding (she's still putting some finishing touches on it, so I'll post it after it's done).

Brandon and I made an address yard sign for Granny & Grandpa. Here he is displaying it to Granny who was coming back down the hallway - I think he likes it! (I disguised the #'s for safety's sake).

My Mom also got a painting from Granny...and my Dad is being a Ham, as per his usual.

My beautiful cousin, Olivia with some of her presents:

And "Katie, the back board." She was nice enough to hold the trash bag for all the wrapping paper and my Dad and Uncles/Cousins were ~~mean~~ sneaky enough to bank paper wads off her into the bag.

I don't really know what was happening in this picture, but it makes me laugh. Inside that tin was a cake and it looks like Brandon is eye-ing it....but that my Mom might not be willing to share it.

After traveling 2 hours from L-ville to D-ville Christmas Day, Brandon and I drove about 45 minutes to our own home on Christmas Night.

We exchanged presents with each other that night before heading to bed after a long, but fun day.

December 26-28, 2011 - The Day after Christmas, we did laundry and re-packed and then drove back to L-ville to my parents house to be in town while my Brother's family was in town. We spent two nights and three days, enjoying good quality time together.

Here's our Family Shot for Christmas 2011, plus the Silly Family Shot:

We all sat down together on the afternoon of the 27th and Dad read the story of Jesus' birth in Luke.

Then we exchanged presents....

Isn't The Chief so cute???

The Kiddos got their new "Uncle Brandon" a gift card for his Kindle and printed it at home and colored it too!

My Mom got my Dad a Kindle too - now all the men in our family each have one.

Almost as if on cue - it began to snow! Love the looks on everybody's faces as they watch.

That evening, we enjoyed a Dance Performance in the basement by my nieces, complete with "Christmas with the Rat Pack" music, multiple costume and prop changes.....

....and Barbie back-up dancers:

The Tank and Brandon were the "Light Guys." The girls would say, "Lights On!" or Lights Off!" before running back and forth between "back stage" between each dance.

Another fun occurrence while Brad's family was in town, were several games of Battleship. I love this sequence below as Brandon helped The Tank defeat my Dad (of course my Dad usually lets The Tank win at anything they play together!)

What a great time of travels and family gatherings! We went to 3 different cities (one of them twice) in a matter of 6 days, attending 5 different gatherings with a grand total of about 8.5 hours in the car. Shoo whee! We wouldn't have missed a single thing though - what a great first married Christmas together!

Throwback Thursday

2012-01-26T11:41:00.001-05:00

So, I've confessed before that I was a Band Geek, (but I'm not ashamed!)

I also took Piano Lessons growing up.

Here I am with my first piano teacher, circa 1987 - first/second grade (I only took from her for about a year):

(Don't you love that my sunglasses are hanging from my neck, whilst wearing a fancy dress?)

And with my second teacher, circa 1993 - 7th grade (I took from her for about 9 years, until my Sr. Year of High School):

My mom and I love to sit down and play fun duets like 'Heart & Soul' together too. She took piano lessons as a kid as well:

Catching Up - July, August, September

2012-01-19T20:13:00.000-05:00

In an effort to catch up on months worth of blogging.....I'm doing three "Catching Up" posts.

If you missed the first one, click here.

July 4, 2011 - Brandon and I went to visit my best friend and college roomie, Alisha, her husband, Scott, and their son The Beave. I've visited them every 4th of July for about 6 years or so now. This was the first one Brandon got to attend.

July 9, 2011 - My friend in the Ville, Lindsey was getting married, so Brandon and I made a trip back to my hometown for the big event.

Wish this picture hadn't been blurry....

July 14, 2011 - Thursday Night Live Downtown Lex. We enjoyed live bands, pizza and I even had a crepe with Nutella.....Mmmm.

July 16. 2011 - Brandon and I met my parents for a Reds Game

We again had fun with the panoramic setting on our new camera.....

*Love* this one!

July 19, 2011 - My friend from the Ville (who used to live in Colorado), Suzanne and her daughter, Little H came in for a visit. We hung out, went to eat at Qdoba and went to the Mall.

August 4, 2011 - My Dad's 60th Birthday

It was a very Red Sox themed celebration.

August 6, 2011 - Mike, Shannon & Jenn came in to see our place for the first time and we also celebrated Shannon's birthday which was in July. We all went out to eat at Johnny Carino's and then came back to our place for dessert.

Below is a video/link to us lighting a candle on Shannon's cake that was supposed to play "Happy Birthday" but was so old that it just chimed randomly a couple times instead. So, we sang to her instead (the video cracks me up though!)

August 13, 2011 - Brandon and I tackled our first home improvement project together (as a married couple). I had bought these theater seats on craigslist before we were married, but they sat in the garage, unused for about a year until we moved them to Lex with all my other stuff when we got married. We decided they'd make great porch furniture, so we wanted to refinish and seal them so they could survive the elements. Here's the before:

First step - Sanding.

2nd: We taped newspaper over all the wooden parts...

3rd: Spray painted the metal with a Rustoleum outdoor paint.

4th: Stained/sealed the base...

...and then the chairs.

And Voila! Here's the after:

August 13, 2011 - Our good friends, Mark & Anne, invited us over to celebrate Mark's Birthday. We played cards - Hand & Foot.

Then had a yummy and too cute cake that Anne made. Mark is a big Superman Fan.

August 21, 2011 - My mom's family gathered at my Uncle Roy & Aunt Sue's house to celebrate my Granny's Birthday

And again.....fun with the panoramic setting....

L-R: Uncle Rob, My Mom, Granny, Grandpa, Aunt Nancy & Aunt Sue

August 22, 2011 - Brandon and I went to a Legends Game - a local minor league baseball team.

I taught him how to keep score.

And we laughed at the usher pictured below.....

....who looked very similar to the Legends mascot:

August 26, 2011 - Brandon's co-worker, Mike, and his wife hosted a Cookout.....here we are at the cookout.....

....complete with volleyball at sunset....

....and a jumpy/slide for the kids! (I secretly wanted to take a turn)

September 2, 2011 - Labor Day Weekend in C-ville to visit Brandon's parents. When we arrived, we took our things upstairs to the room where we stay. Surrounding the bed were these 5 tiny Adirondack chairs, each with their own tables. I said to Brandon "Is this a hint for grand kids??" We headed back downstairs where his dad waited, snickering when we entered the room. He's such a stinker! He had made these chairs to be sold in a yard sale (see below) and thought it'd be funny to put them in our room in the meantime.

On Labor Day, Brandon's folks invited both sides of their extended families over for a cook-out. We all had a fun time and there were plenty of kids to pass around and play with, not to mention yummy barbecue and potato salad.

September 10, 2011 - Neighborhood Yard Sale at my parents house. This is an annual event and is a huge deal in the neighborhood. The streets are packed with people & cars all day long.

And the neighbors across from my parents even set up a Food Stand!

We had a house full for the Yard Sale too. My parents, Brandon and I, Brandon's parents (who brought the Adirondack chairs from above, along with other stuff), My brother, his wife and their 4 kids! We were literally sleeping in every nook and cranny of the house where we could be!

Goose, ever the little entrepreneur, hand-made lots of different items and set a table up to sell them too. She made Paper Dolls, Sewing Kits and Bookmarks, among other things.

Following suit, Tank had a table of items to sell too.

It's always a fun time at the Yard Sale!

September 21, 2011 - Get Together at my cousin Jen's.

Brandon had to go on a business trip, and since it was the first time we would be apart since being married, I took advantage of the time by visiting some family. My Mamaw and I went to my cousin Jennifer's house to play games with her and her girls. Back in 2006, we started getting together about once a month or so, alternating to each others houses. Although it doesn't happen every month any more, we do still get together as much as we can.

We always try to get a group shot, but this night we forgot to get it before the girls went to bed, so it was just Jen, Mamaw and Me.

And Jen *always* takes a funny one or two. ;)

Throwback Thursday

2012-01-19T15:15:00.000-05:00

Another quick Throwback - Me in 6th grade, circa 1991. ($10 says I'm wearing stirrup pants!) My school did "Spring Pictures" - did any body else's do that? We had regular school pictures in the fall, but in the spring, they would do more than a headshot and they brought in props. Maybe it was just a way to make more money? Either way, in 6th grade, it was cool to sit in a wicker chair, hold a teddy bear and get your picture made.

Catching Up - April, May & June

2012-01-13T08:46:00.003-05:00

In an effort to catch up on months worth of blogging.....I'm doing three "Catching Up" posts.

I feel like I started to slack off of blogging around the time we got engaged (understandably so). I did catch up a little bit here (at least for the time between February {when we got engaged} and May {when we got married} - which was mainly just a lot of wedding planning/house packing). But these next few "Catching Up" posts will cover the rest (for the most part). Of course there were lots of things we/I did that there aren't pictures of, but these posts will highlight quite a bit of 2011 from April to December.

With all that said.....here goes "Catching Up - April, May & June"

April 7, 2011 - Reds Game with the Fam. Unfortunately this was a weekday, so Brandon had to work and couldn't make it. I, of course, was unemployed, my parents were off from work and my brother's kids were all on Spring Break and thus they were in town. Thinking about it now, I realized this was probably the last thing we all did as a family while we all still had the same last name.

April 12, 2011 - We found Shannon's Dress for the wedding. (Yes, with only 44 days before the wedding, we I had one Matron of Honor dress and one color finally picked out)

April 15, 2011 - My Granny's Art Opening - her very own exhibit!

All the family & friends that came out to support my Granny (minus a few, actually - there was a great turnout!)

April 20, 2011 - Visited Lish and we found her dress for the wedding. (36 days before the wedding, I finally had both Matron of Honor dresses and both colors - yay!)

Me and The Beave.....her cute little boy.

May 9, 2011 - Girls Night Out to celebrate Gina & Jenn's Birthdays at Chuy's
(L-R: Shannon, Gina, Jenn & Me)

Then back to my house (Last time to hang out there before I moved) and yummy cupcakes for dessert thanks to Shannon.

May 13, 2011 - My nephew's Kindergarten Graduation

May 21, 2011 - The Beave's First Birthday (Alisha's Son)

Love the look on his face in this one below.

May 23, 2011 - Moving Day!!! Loaded everything into a U-Haul, drove an hour and a half and unloaded it at Brandon's (soon to be "our") place with the help of our sweet parents (my parents had officially helped me move 4 times in the last two years at this point - God bless them!).

May 28, 2011 - Our Wedding Day, yes, but also 4 days before my niece's birthday, so I quickly gave her her gifts (pillows I had made for her bedroom & some cool corn husk flowers I had gotten in Honduras - she loves stuff from other countries). I gave these to her in the tent after I changed out of my wedding dress and before we went running through the birdseed send-off.

May 29, 2011 - Although Brandon and I were off on our Honeymoon and didn't get to attend it, there was a little birthday shindig for my niece the day after the wedding. One cool thing about her birthday party - her birthday cake was a left-over part of one of our wedding cakes!

June 4, 2011 - The day after getting back from our Honeymoon, we had both sets of our parents in and we opened our massive mound of wedding gifts.

We both opened the same card at the same time from two different people - mine had more money in it. ;)

I'm in love with my Kitchen Aid stand mixer!!!

Collage including our wedding invitation handmade by my former co-workers wife.

Beautiful hand-crocheted blanket made by a very special friend and extraordinary lady, Tammy.

Gifts all the way from India, from Tyler & Arpitha.

Special painting from my Granny, resembling the table decorations we used at the wedding.

June 7, 2011 - We closed on my house in the Ville, said goodbye to the place we first fell in love and drove the rest of my our belongings back home to Lex with us (see behind us to the bed of the pick-up full of junk?).

June 15, 2011 - Date Night - Thor 3D

June 26, 2011 - My friend Kori's Baby Shower

Well there ya have it, three months of my life in a nutshell. There will be two more "Catching Up" posts and hopefully I'll keep my blog a little more current from then on out (save for the European Adventure posts that I hope to finish too)

Throwback Thursday

2012-01-12T16:06:00.000-05:00

Today's Throwback is from June 28, 2011. Our One Month Anniversary.

I woke to find a sweet card and a sweet Kit-Kat from my sweet husband (I *love* that he gives me candy bars as presents!)

We decided to eat the cake topper from our wedding on our one month instead of one year for a couple reasons....1.) We wanted to enjoy it - it might not taste great by the time a year had rolled around.....and 2.) We really needed the freezer room. Cooking for 2 means there lots of left-overs and we needed a place to keep those, so eating the cake seemed like a great way to free up some space in there.

It froze very well for that month and was still in pretty great condition when we unwrapped it.

Cutting it....

YUM. Strawberry! We honestly weren't sure which flavor we ended up with since this wasn't the topper from our "main cake." And let me tell you, it was dee-lish!

My husband tells me almost weekly, that I'm crazy....not sure where he gets that from...?

Our Honeymoon

2012-01-11T17:24:00.001-05:00

So in the last wedding blogpost, we had just left our reception and were headed out for our Honeymoon:

We were heading to Gatlinburg, TN ultimately, but not wanting to make the 5 hour drive the night of the wedding, we had made reservations at a Marriott in Lex for that night instead.

While Brandon checked into the hotel, I was outside taking more pictures of our car. "Smoky" is the name of Brandon's car (which is cute, since we were heading to the Smoky Mountains).

Funny story: this mini van of kids pulled up while I was standing out there taking pictures of our car. Their van windows were also written on - something about a basketball tournament and and "Go Johnny!" or "Go #5!" Several kids jumped out of the van and were heading into the hotel lobby when one kid looked at me and said, "Congratulations on your wedding!" To which I replied without hesitation, "Good luck at your basketball tournament!" Then I chuckled to myself.

Here's the beautiful room where we stayed.....

....complete with a Murphy Bed! Strange, I know.....

....but the lady at the front desk considered this the best room they have, because of this great attached balcony (see below). And when she found out we were Honeymooners, she specifically gave us this room. It's actually part of a suite, but can be closed off from the other part of the suite and used as a regular room when the Murphy Bed is pulled out.

Then later, the same lady at the front desk had champagne and chocolate-dipped strawberries sent up to our room, compliments of the hotel - the strawberries were YUMM-Y! The champagne....I didn't really care for....but it was the first time I'd ever tasted it....I think I was expecting something sweeter.

The next morning (Sunday, May 29) we got up and checked out of the hotel and started the drive to Gatlinburg.

About 5 hours later (and after stopping at Kroger in Sevierville to stock up on groceries), we arrived at our cute little cabin for the week. It's actually in Pigeon Forge and it's named Dreamweaver. The front doesn't do justice to how nice a cabin it is and how beautiful the view was.

Entering the front door, you walk into the kitchen, which has a dining area with table for 4.....

......and the living room is separated by a half wall, complete with fire place (which wasn't operational that time of year - bummer) and a flat-screen TV. That doorway to the right of the fireplace leads to the bedroom and bathroom.

Here's looking from the other side of the room. That doorway on the left goes into the game room where there's a pool table, dart board and a second bathroom. That small door on the right, behind the table & chairs, conceals the washer/dryer combo.

Here's the bedroom, furnished with a King-size bed, of which, I apparently seemed to hog each night. There was a TV in here too, a full bath and a nice sized closet.

Looking at the other side of the room, you see the awesome whirlpool tub, the door leading to the deck/balcony, the door leading back to the living room and the other side of the double-sided fire place.

These windows/door line the living room wall and look out over the deck/balcony to our glorious view.

I could have sat out there all day!

Since we had traveled and grocery shopped and unloaded our car and settled in for the week, we stayed in that night and enjoyed a Kroger take & bake pizza (one of our faves!). We came prepared with an arsenal of movies (I brought many chick flicks that involved weddings to torture Brandon with, since there was nothing he could do now - he's stuck with me and my movies for the rest of his life!)

We also enjoyed the gorgeous sunset and remarked at how beautiful and fun our wedding was and how we can't believe we've been blessed so much!

I can't remember if it was this particular day or not, but at some point, friends started posting pictures on facebook from our wedding and so that was so fun to get to see!

The next morning (Monday May 30), we slept in and then enjoyed breakfast on the deck. The weather was great all week....it got pretty warm here and there, but the mornings were cooler and bearable.

We kept catching glimpses of each others rings and it would give us that giddy feeling again (well, Brandon's ring more than mine, since I had already been wearing an engagement ring for a while). It was so fun to look down and see his ring shinning in the sun and have it really set in - we're MARRIED!!

After a bit of lazing around, we got ready and went into Pigeon Forge to explore. We quickly found this pretty River Walk area and took off down the paved path, listening to the river (or what really seemed more like a creek?) rushing nearby.

We were really enjoying ourselves too, until we happened upon this sign (see it on the left?)....

....here's a closer view:

Lovely. And they actually encourage people to walk along this river???? And unfortunately we saw some kids playing it in (with their mother there). They were on the other side of the river though, where some apartments backed up to it....maybe there wasn't a sign on that side? Yuck.

We ventured from the River Walk to this Christmas themed "village" of shops and restaurants (all the while saying how Brandon's mom would love it there - she loves all things Christmas). We purchased the "Just Married" ornament I mentioned in this post at one of the shops here. They personalized it while we waited.

Here's Brandon with Mrs. Claus.

We walked around several other places too and also ate at Cracker Barrel that day, but before too long, we were ready to head back to the cabin for more movies and snuggle time....not to mention the sunset!

Tuesday, May 31, we set out early for an all-day trek through Gatlinburg's shops and attractions.

My family used to visit Gatlinburg every year when I was a kid, but Brandon had never been. It turned out to be the perfect Honeymoon spot for us....the "just right" balance of things to do and still have time together at the cabin. After all, we had been a long-distance couple all of our dating life, so just getting to be together non-stop was Honeymoon enough for us! But still, Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge and the surrounding areas provided plenty of things to do, but not so much that you feel like you're missing out if you don't see everything.

Anywho, we did a lot of window shopping at quaint places like this row of shops.....

.....and one of the attractions we took advantage of was the "Star Cars Museum." We had purchased a Groupon for it sometime before the wedding (yeah, we like a good deal!) and we actually both really enjoyed it.

This museum is home to many automobiles used in movies, TV and even some that just had famous owners.

Here's the first Bat-Mobile:

And one of my favorites, Herbie - The Love Bug.

Na-ne-nah-nah-ne-ne-nah-ne-nah-nah-naaaah-nah!

(Dukes of Hazard horn sound - anyone get that?)

I loved this Flintstones Car (featured in the movie). And I love Brandon's expression/pose even more.

(Kudos to you if you noticed he took his shoes off for that shot, you know, to make it more authentic.)

As you wind through the museum, you come to a little theatre that plays a movie about the guy who created the museum and about some of the cars there. I thought the little bench seats and drive-in speakers were a great touch.

Does this look familiar to anyone??

Yes. That's right. It's one of the DeLoreans from Back to the Future.

Complete with Time Circuits...

.....and a Flux Capacitor!!!

Heading on down the way, we came upon Sheriff Andy Taylor's squad car (and I thought of my Daddy who is a huge Andy Griffith Show fan).

They also had Barney's motorcycle and side car.

One of Brandon's favorites was, of course, K.I.T. from Knight Rider.

After the Star Cars tour, we grabbed a nearby park bench and ate the PB&J's we packed for lunch (I told you we're thrifty!).

Then we caught a ride on the Sky Lift!

Don't look down!

Since Brandon was nice enough to buy me a new iPhone 4 as a wedding present, I purchased him a new digital camera since his was on the fritz. We discovered the "panoramic" feature that it has and got this great from shot from the top of the Sky Lift.

After riding the lift back down, we did some more window shopping at some cute shops....

...when we happened upon this little gem: The Donut Friar. We split a creme-filled long john - one of my absolute favorite donuts. YUM.

Then we headed back to the cabin before dark (seriously, our cabin was up a crazy, twisty, turny, hilly road - but what Gatlinburg cabin isn't, I guess). We didn't want to miss a sunset from our deck.

Brandon made dinner that night....that's right, teaching him early. ;)

Wednesday (June 1), we had an all-day cabin day. We lounged around and had a movie-marathon. It worked out well that we had planned a lazy day for Wednesday, because it turned out I didn't feel well all day - nothing major, just blah. I quickly recovered though.

Thursday (June 2), we got up and out early again and headed over to Cade's Cove, a valley area with several preserved homesteads from yesteryear.

On the drive over, we stopped at this place for a great photo op (I used to have a pretend "Mel's Diner" in my basement growing up).

One thing that attracted us to Cade's Cove, was that we could rent bikes there and ride the loop around to each place on their self-guided tour.

Here's an example of a homestead in Cade's Cove that had been preserved extremely well. I think these were all built in the 1700-1800's, but I don't know exact dates.

And here's a church that also sat in the valley and was a stop on the tour.

The photo below was Brandon's idea, but I can't say I minded. This is inside the church. We asked some other folks on the tour to take the picture and said "We're on our Honeymoon" before puckering up in front of the camera for them....they understood and thought we were cute.

Here, we're playing with our camera's panoramic feature again, during a rest from biking. Brandon ran around behind me as I took the picture, so he could be in both sides. He's such a nut.

Being in the valley with the surrounding mountains and sun-shiny skies lended us to some really pretty scenery pictures.

The deer there were very tame. Here you see one right along the road.

And at one point, we came up on a little traffic jam (you could drive to each stop on the tour as well as bike). We soon discovered what all the fuss was about - a black bear!

There was a park ranger nearby hurrying everyone along and trying to make sure we all knew which way to run should the bear come at us. She was a pretty safe distance away though (I say she, because this was a Momma Bear - bystanders were telling us that had just seen her cubs too). I was slightly worried that if she came our way, there would be now way we could outrun her on the bikes we rented - they had no gears!. But, not to worry, she soon scampered into the forest and the traffic jam subsided.

Speaking of our biking - I was having a really rough time on the hills! I'm so out of shape and with no gears, it was all woman-power to get up a not-so-steep incline. Needless to say, I was huffing and puffing, as caught here in this photo by my adoring husband.

After a day of biking at Cade's Cove, it was back to the cabin for more movies and one last sunset from our deck.

Friday (June 3), we packed up our stuff, loaded the car and headed out. We wanted a few days at home before Brandon headed back to work. Plus we had a lot to do to dig pathways through all the stuff at our apartment (my stuff got moved there a little before the wedding and was everywhere!). So, we said goodbye to Gatlinburg and made the 5 hour trek back home.

On the way, we made a pit-stop at Cumberland Falls in southeastern Kentucky.

Known as "Little Niagara," it didn't disappoint and was a nice diversion from the road.

After that break (and some ice cream), we were finally back Home. And yes, I *did* make him carry me over the threshold! :)

Our Gatlinburg Honeymoon was the perfect way to start our married life together. After a crazed (but at the same time simply wonderful!) 4 months of wedding planning, house selling & stuff packing, we needed to rest and just be together and that's exactly what we got.

Mr. & Mrs. !!!!!! - Part 8 - The Send Off

2012-01-06T11:57:00.000-05:00

Our Wedding: The Send-Off!

If you missed the previous wedding posts, click here.

This is it - the last installment of my posts recapping our wedding ceremony & reception.

For our send-off, we each changed into a different outfit. We chose this for several reasons, the biggest being the fact that we didn't have to figure out what to do with my wedding dress and Brandon's tux once we left the reception. Also, I always liked seeing pictures of my parents in their "going away" outfit after their wedding and thought it was nostalgic to do the same (not to mention not having to stuff my wedding dress into the car!).

Here's my parents when they left their reception on May 24, 1975:

And here's us, about leave ours on May 28, 2011:

One last shot of some great, great friends before Brandon and I headed out.

Jenn, Shannon, me and Gina.

Then we headed out from the tent...

....where our guests waited with bird seed (courtesy of my Mamaw, who wrapped each packet in tulle herself).....

....and we proceeded to get pelted (with love) by our well-wishing friends and family:

And when I say pelted - I mean *pelted*!

Needless to say, we ended up with birdseed everywhere....

The kids that attended the wedding especially liked to toss the bird seed at us (see the cute blonde kid making sure to hit us?). And I love this story that Brian's wife, Emily, (Brian was Brandon's Groomsman) shared about her kids and the bird seed at our wedding (it's at the end of her post).

When we came out of the tent and ran through the haze of bird seed, I wasn't sure where my family would be, but I wanted to make sure to say goodbye and hug them (I did *not* want to pull a "Father of the Bride" moment where I didn't get to say bye!)

Luckily, my family was at the end of the bird-seed throwers on one side & Brandon's family was at the end on the other side - perfect!

I doled out hugs, thanks and smiles.....while Brandon did the same.

Then we hopped in the car to leave (notice Brandon knocking some of the bird seed out of his hair? We found traces of it in the car for weeks.)

The picture below was really important to me to get and our Photog did not disappoint! My parents and my brother have a shot from the car at their weddings too and I really wanted the same one.

Here's my parents in 1975:

And my brother and his wife in 1999:

I gave my mom a frame with all three pictures for her birthday. It was special.

Back to our wedding......

The night before our wedding, I happened to ask Brandon if he thought Mark and Brian (Best Man & Groomsman) were going to decorate our car when we left. He shook his head no. I said "What? I've been waiting all my life to drive away in a car that says 'Just Married'." Well, not to disappoint me, he said "I'll take care of it." Apparently he gave the guys the idea or at the very least the 'ok' to decorate the car (or maybe they were going to anyway?) and here's the results:

Holllywood is a nickname that Brandon has had for years...not sure where it came form though, I should ask him that!

Sugarbear is a nickname that Brandon calls me from time to time....mainly in written form, as in emails or cards.

And, as I always pictured - "Just Married!!!"

The fact that they coordinated the writing colors with the wedding colors? Bonus! ;) (It's the little things that mean the most in my book).

We drove away through the picturesque tree-lined drive...

....and our family & friends waved goodbye.

YAY!!!!!!!! We couldn't have been more excited that we were finally and actually married!!!!

What was the first thing we did as a married couple? Why, stop at Wendy's on the way out of town, of course!

I loved the number of people who honked and waved or fist pumped or gave us a thumbs up or something as if to celebrate with us from their car as they passed by. We left the writing on the car all week during our Honeymoon to Gatlinburg too and actually saw several other "Just Married" cars there as well.

Mr. and Mrs!

How crazy and wonderful and weird and awesome it was the first time I got to call Brandon my 'Husband' out loud to someone. The Lord provided me with a man that my mind couldn't have even dreamed up. Brandon amazes me every day with the love he shows me, the safety he provides for my feelings & emotions, the grace he extends to me and the fun and laughter we share on a regular basis.

Thanks to all who were a part of our day, in every way, shape and form!!! (even if you weren't mentioned here on my blog - because I don't have any pictures of you from that day? - you know who you are!)

To give credit where credit is due, the majority of the above photos were courtesy of jhendersonstudios.com. The rest are from friends and family.

Throwback Thursday

2012-01-05T13:23:00.000-05:00

Today's Throwback Thursday isn't too far of a throwback - it's from July of this year. But, I needed something quick as I'm busy with other things today.....so for your enjoyment, a video of my silly husband at Kroger. He's so much fun and this marriage thing is so much fun with him - even when we're just grocery shopping.

Mr. & Mrs. !!!!!! - Part 7 - Reception - Friends & Family

2012-01-04T17:47:00.002-05:00

The last post about our Wedding Reception: Friends & Family

(Only one more wedding post - The Send-Off, coming soon!)

If you missed the previous wedding posts, click here.

The following pictures aren't in much of an order - they go back and forth between family & friends who were at our wedding reception. I wish I had a picture of every single person who was there, but we sure covered a lot of folks by asking everyone to send us the pictures they took, combined with our photographer's pics. Of course, to keep this blog post from getting even more crazy long than I already make them, I didn't include every picture I could have, just the highlights.

First up is my Matron of Honor, Alisha, her husband Scott and their adorable son, "The Beave" (he earned that nickname after continuously biting the railing on his crib, which coincidentally, I used to do as a baby as well).

This is "The Beave" with his grandparents (Alisha's parents), Cotton & Mary Ann. Love them!!

My cousin Jennifer (who did a reading at the wedding) and her husband, Joe.

Jennifer and her two daughters.

Jennifer's older sister (and my cousin), Brandy, with her husband, Derek and their two kiddos.

Friends of mine from my church in the Ville, Liz, Al, Jamie (my right-hand gal at the wedding) and Jenn.

And another shot of just Al & Jamie. I met Al at a Starbucks in the Ville and invited him to my Sunday School class. I met Jamie when she started attending my Sunday School class. As you can guess, they met in our Sunday School class. :)

This is Alex & Katy. I've known them both since around the time our mutual friends Kori & Wes were getting married in 2005.

Katy & Jenn (our greeter/program passer-outer, etc...)

Cassie & her mom, Eddie Lee. I've never *not* known them. They are from my home church. Eddie Lee was my 'Girls in Action' leader when I was a kid, she also heads up the Kids Camp there every year (I attended that camp as a kid and then served as a counselor as an adult) and she still serves as the Children's Director at that church to this day. Cassie was in my group when I was a leader several years in a row for 'Disciple Now Weekend' for the Youth Group and has also been a co-counselor at the Kids Camp. She just entered the Peace Corps and is a great photographer.

This is Shannon's Dad, Garry. He lovingly refers to me as his "Other Daughter." I moved in with Shannon for about 8 months after I sold my first house and he, along with his wife, Barbara, treated me as their own. He even surprised me one time by replacing the broken side mirror on my car (that I had all but torn off on a mailbox!).

This is my Uncle Eddie (my Dad's brother - who drove his golf cart around at the wedding for us) and his daughter, my cousin, Jennifer.

From left-right, my Uncle Jeff, Uncle Eddie, Mamaw and my Dad. My Dad is the oldest of the three brothers.

Uncle Ed and two of his granddaughters (Jennifer's girls).

On the left is my cousin Lee's son and on the right is my nephew.

My nephew with my mom.

My Granny, reviewing the great pictures she took that day.

Sitting across from my Granny were my Mamaw (far left) and her sisters-in-law (my late Papaw's sisters), Betty (middle left) & Violet (middle right - Violet passed away just a couple months after the wedding). On the far right is Violet's daughter (my Dad's cousin), Patti.

Here, my Dad talks with Patti & Betty.

My cousin, Jamie (who was an Usher at the wedding), and his girlfriend, Heather. (In the background, you see Jamie's Dad, my Uncle Jeff).

My Matron of Honor, Shannon, and her nephew.....trying to steal kisses from him!

And her niece.....love that her niece matched not only the wedding colors, but the flowers too!

Brandon's cousin's wife, Laurie, and her twin girls, being played with by Brandon's Mammaw (his mom's mom).

Another shot of Mammaw with one of the twins.

Me hugging Margaret, my friend from church and fellow MSU Alum. That's her husband Forrest in the background on the left. In the background on the right are Brandon's friends (and now mine too) Leo & Sheila who just got married over Thanksgiving.

My mom and her older sister, my Aunt Sue.

My mom's younger sister, my Aunt Nancy, and her sons, Benjamin (left) and Gavin (right).

Benjamin and myself (he wouldn't dance with me at the reception! Little Stinker).

Gavin and I

One of my mom's friends, Sharon, and her husband, Kerry. I worked with them a few years ago to draw plans for their new kitchen.

Brandon's friend from work, Larry, and his wife, Roxanna. Brandon has house-sat for them several times too and they have two cute dogs that will go retrieve the newspaper from the mailbox.

My friends, Jennifer (left) & Lindsay (right). I know them both from church, although I met them at different times and at different churches. We all ended up at the same church in the end though. Jennifer, I also knew of from college, but didn't really hang out with her until after College when I met back up with her in the Ville.

Me & Bekah. She's a wise-beyond-her age college gal that I became friends with and mentored when she was in high school and attending my home church. She's in college now.

Brandon and his Aunts, Gwen (left) and Sharry (center).

My friend, Suzannah's husband, Tim, and their daughter. I've known Tim & Suzzanah since they were high school sweethearts in our church's youth group. But they were a few years ahead of me. It wasn't until after I came back from college that I got to know Suzannah better and she and I have since been to several scrapbook retreats together.

And another shot of their daughter - isn't her dress too cute?

This is one of my really good friends, Christy. We first met when we both worked for (and shared an office at) a construction company in 2004. She now owns her own business (she's an architect) and hopefully one day I'll get to work for her. She lost her husband Jim last December to cancer and I'm amazed every time I see her at her strength through it all. She's seriously the big sister I never had. She just gets me and we have such a great time together.

And these are all girls I worked with at the construction company. Left-right: Leigh Ann, Deanna, Connie, me, Crystal and Christy. We had such great times together working there. We did 'secret sister' all through the year giving each other small gifts, we shared many lunches and even more laughs, we created and encouraged each other to loose weight in the "Skinny Babes Club," and we even had our own secret club with secret nicknames - we were the lone females among throngs of men at the construction company so we had to keep ourselves entertained and sane! Although only 3 of the girls still work for the construction company, we still get together for lunch and/or the occasional celebration every few months. Love these girls!! Not pictured are April and Laura (you were missed!!).

And below on the left is Richard. He was in the same department with Christy and I at the Construction Company. That is his typical look towards me. ;) I know deep down in there he loves me dearly, but just puts up this front. Love you Riiiiichaaaard! (He's one of few who reads my blog - gotta give a shout out!).

Below are Brandon with his cousin, Tara, her husband, Greg and their little boy.

Tyler was a reader at our wedding. He and his wife, Arpitha, along with their daughter, happened to be in the States for a couple months from India during the time of our wedding. Brandon got to go to India in 2008 to be a part of their wedding, so we took advantage of the rare opportunity of Tyler being in country and asked him to be part of our wedding too.

Jason & Gaylene are friends of mine from church as well (well, I knew Jason from church when he was living in the Ville and first met Gaylene at their wedding). I attended their wedding in October of 2009 and they were so nice to come in from Indiana (where they live now) to attend ours.

I love this picture of Brandon's sister, Kim. She's such a sweetheart and so much fun. I swear she can make anybody laugh.

Sitting across from her at the reception was Jimmy (her and Brandon's dad). I like this picture of him too. He's very ~~corny~~ witty too. ;)

The picture below is more of me, I guess, but in the background is Chal, the pastor of the Hispanic church where Brandon and I volunteer.

And I just couldn't help but include this photo of my sweet man. Sigh. He is so adorable.

Me, talking with my Uncle Eddie and his wife, Brenda.

This picture makes me laugh every time - love me some Gina Bug and we always have a good time together! She took some great photos at our wedding too.

My friend, Suzanne and I. Ive' known her since our Youth Group days at my home church and I also visited her and her husband twice when they lived in Colorado (once with Brandon). She and her husband, Joel, moved back to the Ville when they found out they were expecting. Their daughter, Little H, was only a month or so old at our wedding - her first! ;)

My mom and one of her oldest friends, Alycea (old as in long-term, not age). My mom has known her since grade school and they were even college roommates. Alycea was on the double date when my mom met my dad for the first time (Alycea and then boyfriend, Donnie, set my parents up on a blind date).

Side note: The timeline of our engagement and marriage was similar to my parents timeline. They started dating in May 1974, got engaged about nine months later on February 14, 1975 and married just shy of 4 months later on May 24, 1975. Brandon and I started dating May of 2010, got engaged about nine months later on February 6, 2011 and married just shy of four months later on May 28, 2011. Cool, huh? :)

My cute friend, Kori and her soon-to-be-delivered little bundle. Kori is another church friend that I've known since around 2004. She and her mom attended my wedding (her hubby was sleeping off a night of Police duty). I was in her wedding in 2005. It was hard not include certain friends in the wedding, especially since I had been in theirs, but our efforts to keep things small and simple meant less Bridesmaids and Groomsmen. I think she was ok with that though. She had better things to look forward to. ;)

My sweet friends, Michael and Jennifer with their daughter. I was blown away that they came in all the way from Florida for our wedding! I knew it would be hard for them to make it (not to mention a big expense), so I was so happy when Jenn told me they were coming that I cried! It made my day and made our wedding even that much more special.

I've known them since before they were a couple. I got to know Michael at church (and knew of him before that from High School). I first met Jenn when she and I played on the same softball team at my church (she attended a different church, but played on our church's team). She eventually started going to my church and sparks flew between she and Michael. I was in their wedding as well and again felt the dilemma of what to do about her being a bridesmaid. But ultimately, I'm just glad she and her sweet family could be there. :)

The guys in this picture are all from Brandon's Life Group and two of the gals are from mine. Of course, I didn't know any of them at the wedding, but I've since become friends with all of them since moving to Lex and am so glad they're part of my life now. From left-right: Tom, Heather & Brian, Larry & Jennifer and Chris & Jacque.

I love this picture of me and my cousins, Jamie & Jennifer. I love these two so much and count them as friends too. I'm so glad we all still make an effort to get together with each other and hang out.

This picture was right before we were about to change and leave from the reception. Brandon's Aunt captured this shot of us with his parents.

So that's it for our reception - time to head out for the Honeymoon! Check back in a day or two for the fun send-off we had!

To give credit where credit is due, the majority of the above photos were courtesy of jhendersonstudios.com. The rest are from friends and family.

Mr. & Mrs. !!!!!! - Part 6 - Reception - Cakes & Toasts

2011-12-18T19:53:00.000-05:00

More of our Wedding Reception: The Cakes and Toasts

If you missed the previous wedding posts, click here.

The main cake was the centerpiece our of reception. Not only did it sit between the barn and the tent, where everyone had to walk by, but it showcased the awesome talents of one of my best friends, and Matron of Honor, Alisha.

I gave her full leeway on the design of all three of our cakes (we had this main cake and two smaller cakes on the dessert table). I provided a couple of pictures of things I liked and gave her some general guidelines, but otherwise I said "Surprise me!"

She did such a fantastic job!! Her creations were the highlight of our dessert-only reception! I loved how they all coordinated, but were very unique on their own (remember how I mentioned that with the table decor here?)

Did I mention the cakes (all three) were her (and her hubby's) wedding gift to us?? She wouldn't even let me pay for supplies!! And then she drove them all from 2 and a half hours away, set them all up and still fulfilled all her Matron of Honor duties without skipping a beat.

Here's a close-up of the detail on the main cake - it's soooo cute and sooooo perfect!!

The two smaller cakes (and when I say smaller, they were still good-sized cakes, just smaller than the main cake), sat on the dessert table.

Aren't they too cute??

I couldn't have imagined anything better!!!

Right before we were gonna cut into it....

Isn't it cute how our pose below looks similar to the cake topper? It wasn't on purpose, our photog just happened to catch it. Speaking of the cake topper, it was a gift from my Granny & Grandpa at one of our wedding showers. Surprisingly, my mom had a smaller one that was exactly the same and since I wasn't sure which one would fit the cake proportionally (since I didn't know what the cakes would be like exactly), we brought both to the wedding and one ended up on the cake, while the other sat next to the cake on the table. A little odd, I guess, to have two cake toppers there, but I thought it was kinda cute.

Time to cut....

Nope, no cake-shoving-into-my-face-messing-up-my-make-up from my sweet man.

And even though I gestured at first like I was going to get him good......

I didn't.

Then it was time for the toasts. Shannon represented my Matrons of Honor and gave hers. It was really touching, her toast was actually a letter she had written to me and printed on blue paper, that was my something blue. She spoke of trips we'd gone on together, the similar paths our lives have taken and just being single gals together waiting (and being patient) for the Lord to provide husbands for us.

Then Mark, the Best Man, gave his. It was sweet and funny. Mark talked about what a genuine guy Brandon is and how there's no one quite like him. I couldn't agree more and I try to remind Brandon often just how exceptional he is.

Then it was time for that intertwined-arm-sipping thing.... (they don't teach you this wedding stuff anywhere)

.....Brandon spilled a bit of his sparkling grape juice in the process. Good thing it was the "white" kind and mostly clear so as not to stain his tux vest....or my dress!

Our cakes were two different flavors - chocolate with butter cream icing and strawberry with cream cheese icing. They were SO yummy!

And a shot of our fun turquoise napkins with silver writing.

To give credit where credit is due, the majority of the above photos were courtesy of jhendersonstudios.com. The rest are from friends and family.

We made sure that someone filled a large tupperware container full of cakes and desserts for us to take on the honeymoon since the bites of cake we fed each other when we cut the cake were the only tastes we got of anything at the reception.

Two more wedding posts to go - thanks for reading about our special day!!!

Throwback Thursday

2011-12-15T13:59:00.000-05:00

Always a Bridesmaid.....at least I was until May 28, 2011!

For today's Throwback Thursday, I thought I'd share about the 7, yes 7 (!) times I was a Bridesmaid. Even though friends have joked with me, I was no where close to the "27 Dresses" movie. It was truly a joy and such an honor each time I got to stand beside someone as they entered into the covenant of marriage.

The first time I had the honor was June 19, 1999. It was for my brother, Brad's, wedding.

Then on September 7, 2002, I stood up with my "Best Cousin Forever," Jennifer.

And on November 19, 2005, it was my friend from church, Kori.

Katie, my friend since childhood, got married on June 10, 2006

Then I got to be Maid of Honor for the first time for my best friend and college roomie, Alisha

on September 30, 2006

Next up was another friend from church, Jenn, on May 19, 2007

And most recently I got to be Maid of Honor for my best friend (yes, I have 2!) and travel buddy, Shannon on November 6, 2010.

Not necessarily in the Bridesmaid category, but a close sister are the two times I got to be a Flower Girl.

The first time was for some folks at church (honestly can't remember their names). They didn't have any kids in their families, so they asked my mom if I could be their Flower Girl - cool! This is circa 1985.

And then in April of 1989 (I should probably know the date, but I don't), my Uncle Jeff got married and I was a Flower Girl at his wedding.

Mr. & Mrs. !!!!!! - Part 5 - Reception - Intro & Dancing

2011-12-14T11:33:00.001-05:00

I have blogging A.D.D. I need to focus! I have so much I want to blog about and I want to get it all out of my head. I was hoping to blog every day in November and actually within hours of telling my friend about that goal, my computer crashed and burned and completely ruined that plan. Oh well.

With that said - here's the next Wedding Recap:

Our Intro to the Reception and First Dance as a Married Couple!

If you missed the previous wedding posts, click here.

Our Reception was held in an old barn on the same property where our outdoor wedding took place. We rented a large tent and placed it directly next to the opening of the barn.

Here's a floor plan I made for the reception (click the picture for a larger view if you'd like to see the labels).

The large rectangle represents the barn walls. We placed tables & chairs inside the barn (down both side and the middle) for people to sit and the dance floor is the open dashed square in the middle. The two round tables at the far right side of the barn were for the DJ (well, we didn't really have a DJ, we had a friend of Brandon's do a few announcements and run the music - since neither one of us are too fond of DJ's).

The square on the left side of the floor plan attached to the barn is the tent. The snake-like tables on the left side of the tent are the dessert/beverage tables (we had a dessert-only reception). The three small round circles at the upper right of the tent were taller tables with pictures of Brandon & I together and one of each of us at around 5 years of age. The rectangle at the lower right end of the tent was for gifts. Finally, the round circle that sits at the opening between the barn and tent is the main cake table.

Maybe a few pictures will help?

This is looking into the barn from the tent. The white/yellow/turquoise globes were right over the dance floor.

This picture is looking from the far side of the dance floor back towards the tent/barn opening:

A closer look at the area over the dance floor. Some of the globe things light up, while others don't and some are in the shape of pom-pom like flowers:

This shot is also taken from the tent looking into the barn, showing more of the rafters in the barn:

I *loved* the simplicity, whimsy and contrast of the pom-pom/globes/lights against the rustic barn:

There was a girl that got married the weekend before us at the barn and put up the cute white twinkle lights (she left them for us to use too although that was our plan as well). So thankful for the time she saved us on this part of the decorating. I think is was the perfect touch:

The tables were all decorated similarly, but randomly. My mother-in-law, my mom and my mom's sweet friends said they had a hard time with my request for the table decorations to be "random," but I think they did a great job! Here you can see ribbon going down the center of a table:

And here are several versions of the table decorations which included but were not limited to: mason jars (both blue and clear) with/without ribbon with either yellow disbud(s) and/or white daisies and/or a small candle votive and/or a yellow place mat or white doily (you get the picture, right? Random.):

We chose daisies because both our parents had daisies at their wedding....plus they really set off the theme of the wedding: Simplicity. The yellow disbuds were the perfect pair for the daisies along with the blue mason jars to compliment our wedding colors:

I *love* the way it turned out and that everything wasn't completely matchy-matchy. I like things to coordinate, but I like them to be different from each other too.....and they pulled off the perfect balance for me.

Our wedding favors were about 5 or 6 different pictures of us with our new address labeled on the back:

This is the dessert table (remember the snake-like table from the floor plan?):

Not only did we have a main wedding cake, but we had two smaller ones as well (pictured above).

We had several different dessert options aside from cake too....brownies and eclairs:

Cheesecake bites in a variety of flavors:

The buttermints my Granny made (in the shape of daisies):

We also had cream puffs and white wedding balls (also courtesy of my Granny).

The dessert table was decorated with small diamond-like confetti and a simple yellow B&M......you know for Brandon & Melanie.

Here's the three taller tables in the tent with pictures of Brandon and I:

Jenn will probably kill me for putting this one on here, but it's another angle of those tall tables in relation to the barn (but don't you love Jenn's pose?)

Our guest book was actually a picture book too:

Okay, moving on to the actual reception......

Here we are outside the tent waiting to be announced for the first time in public as Mr. and Mrs.!

Then it's Go-Time

We went straight to the dance floor for our first married dance

For those that don't know, Brandon is a very accomplished Ballroom dancer. He once was part of a Ballroom team and competed in competitions.

Our first dance was a Foxtrot to Frank Sinatra's version of "The Way You Look Tonight." This song was actually playing at the restaurant right after we got engaged, so it was just the perfect choice.

After our first dance, we decided to surprise our guests and have a little fun, so we danced the Hustle next to the song "You Should Be Dancing" by the Bee Gees.

We had a little improv before starting the Hustle....

......and I "went fishing" for Brandon:

Reeling him in!

Then we started hustling

The Ballroom Hustle is a very twirly dance. It's very easy and super fun!

.....And it should not beconfused with this hustle - click here.

Brandon is SO MUCH fun to dance with! He is such a good leader and makes me look good (if you have a good leader, it's easy to follow!)

Once that dance was done, we did what was called a "Snowball Dance." Brandon and I started the dance, but then we split off and found another person to dance with....after dancing for a moment, the four of us split off and found someone else to dance with....and so on and so on until there's a big group dancing.

First up, we grabbed my friends Katy and Alex (who like to Swing Dance)

Then Katy grabbed my cousin Lee

And so on and so on....

My nephew, Tank, and I dancing:

He loved to spin, although he really only spun his arm around, not his body - it was funny!

My Mom and Tank:

My sister-in-law's step-mom and my niece, Boo:

Mike & Shannon:

Brandon's friends and their kids:

Then it was my turn to dance with my Daddy. We danced to "You Are My Sunshine" (Bing Crosby's version). This is a song that my Daddy sang to me many, many times growing up.

To give credit where credit is due, the majority of the above photos were courtesy of jhendersonstudios.com. The rest are from friends and family.

Throwback Thursday

2011-12-08T23:06:00.000-05:00

Our Christmas tree is decorated with funky ornaments from our past.....well, mainly *my* ornaments, as this is the first regular-sized Christmas tree Brandon has ever had at his own place (his mom puts one in almost every room, but somehow the Christmas tree bug didn't get passed to him).

His mom did get this tree for him last year, which he jokes has *the* ornament for it:

Anywho, each ornament on our tree has significance, represents a person, place or thing and just makes me nostalgic. So for today's Throwback Thursday, I thought it'd be fun to share some of these.

The very first ornament we placed on our tree was one we got on our
Honeymoon in Gatlinburg (May/June 2011):

We purchased this one on our trip to Chicago (Feb. 2011), when we got engaged:

And this one is from our most recent vacation to Colonial Williamsburg (Oct. 2011):

Also in October of this year we visited Brandon's friends and their daughter and I made this together....it's not really an ornament, but I made it into one:

Last October, Brandon and I went to visit his Aunt & Uncle in North Carolina. I went a little ornament crazy on that trip. This is a fishing boat from Beaufort, NC:

The Lighthouse at Cape Lookout at the south part of the Outer Banks:

And one more from that trip - Korner's Folly - this really cool house in Kernersville, NC:

In August of 2010, Brandon and I went to visit Suzanne, a friend that I grew up with in Youth Group, and her husband, Joel, in Denver, CO - they took us to several places around the Denver area and we went camping too. This ornament is from Breckenridge, CO and is part of a tree that was killed by the Emerald Ash Borer Beetle.

Before I met and married Brandon, I used to take all my trips with Shannon. In May of 2007, we went to Atlanta, GA and nearby Stone Mountain:

In May of 2008, we went to Fripp Island, SC - we love Fripp! And I love this ornament - Santa riding a couple dolphins.....I mean Santa needs a vacation too, right?

In February of 2009, Shannon and I went out west to Las Vegas, NV. We also visited the Hoover Dam, saw a Chris Tomlin concert and took a helicopter to the floor of the Grand Canyon where we had lunch:

In June of 2009, I went to Honduras for the first time for a mission trip. Shannon was a seasoned mission-tripper there and showed me the ropes. This ornament is from a little shop in one of the towns:

Then we went on our European Adventure in October of 2009 (where I also celebrated my 30th Birthday). My favorite spot on that trip was Paris:

But I also enjoyed London. "Mind The Gap" is announced repeatedly when you're waiting for the "Tube" (subway), reminding you not to step in the empty space between the platform and the train:

This ornament was a gift from Shannon for being a part of her wedding in November 2010:

Alisha gave me this ornament back in college. You can't see from here, but he has a very long carrot nose:

Alisha also gave me this little guy in college. Well, actually he's not all that little - although he's an ornament, he's too heavy for our little tree, so I use him to decorate otherwise:

Another item from Lish is this snow ball. You can throw him into something and he's says several different phrases. We used to scare each other with this thing....and now I just scare Brandon with it:

For several years in a row (from around 2002-2006), my Momma and I would travel to Ft. Myers, FL for a Mother/Daughter getaway. This is from nearby Sanibel Island where we always went to the beach on those trips:

In July 2007, my parents, my brother and his family (only 2 kids at that point) and I all went to Cooperstown, NY to the Baseball Hall of Fame Induction. Along with about 70,000 other people, we watched Cal Ripken and Tony Gwynn enter Baseball History:

Then in October of 2008, my parents and I went on a fun, whirlwind 4 day trip to Baltimore, New York City & Boston to tour Major League Ball Parks (we saw Camden Yards, the Old Yankee Stadium - and the outside of the new one in construction, and Fenway Park):

Speaking of baseball.....if you can't tell, I come from a baseball family. My tree wouldn't be complete without a couple of these:

My Granny, who is a very talented artist, painted this barn for Brandon on his birthday this year - it's reminiscent of the barn that our wedding reception was held:

Granny also painted this one:

And this one (the paint is swirled on the inside of this one):

My Alma Mater - I graduated in 2003 & 2004 from MSU - GO RACERS!

My cousin, Katie, and I used to put on ballet performances for our family to the music from the Nutcracker. We charged admission and everything. She sent me a set of Nutcracker ornaments when we were in middle school. They always remind me of those fun times:

Growing up, a sweet lady named Flora lived across the street from us. She loved making Christmas crafts. I made these with her as a kid:

My great grandmother inspired me to make this reindeer candy cane. I actually still have one that she made (she passed away in 1998). It's getting pretty raggedy, but I still put it on the tree.

My entrepreneurial niece, Goose, made these items and sold them in her "store" to me (and several other family members:

And Tank followed suit and made this:

My Aunt Nancy gave me this to commemorate all the work I out into my first house:

This is me in kindergarten, in an ornament I made that year....and a ginger bread ornament I made then too:

Then there's those ornaments that have been around since the 70's....

Of course, I do have a couple normal/modern ornaments too:

Oh - and Brandon does have *one* ornament on our tree:

O Christmas Tree - 2011

2011-12-02T11:05:00.001-05:00

Our tree is up!

We put on some Christmas tunes last night and decorated the tree. Since our home is rather ~~tight~~ cozy, we had to rearrange a couple things in the living room to find a spot for it. It's nestled between a couch and a love seat, in front of a bookcase (where an end table usually goes)....but hey, it's in there and I love the twinkly glow!

You may remember that Brandon helped me put the same tree up last year at *my* house. We were talking about all the milestones and changes in the last year. Just this year alone, we got engaged and married...and just celebrated 6 months of marriage already! It's crazy how fast a year can go by, but also crazy how long ago some things can feel. We got engaged about 10 months ago, but it feels like it was much longer ago than that!