Happy 5 Year Anniversary!

Friday, June 22nd we celebrated our 5-year anniversary. I can't believe we have been married half of a decade! Crazy! This year we decided to make it extra special, and we both did some fun things for each other. Here's a tour of the weekend, complete with pics...(some of them are fuzzy or blurry b/c I had to take a pic of a pic with my camera--no scanner in our house!)

It all started with the Anniversary cake. If you have been reading our blog, you have probably figured out by now that we are foodies. I love to cook, and we love to eat! We LOVED our wedding cake--it was made by a woman who makes all of her cakes in her home, and they are incredible. So, every year since we have been back here, I order a sample cake (a small 2-layer 6 incher) for our anniversary and we eat it all week long. Adam especially loves it, since his favorite cake is white-on-white. The cute thing is, even though I do this for him every year, he still forgets, so it is always a surprise!


Friday we left for downtown to stay in the hotel we stayed in the first day we were married, the Four Seasons. I remember walking into the room on our wedding day, and they had a plate full of goodies on which they had written "Congratulations!" This time we walked in, and they had this waiting for us...

I loved that is said "Happy Anniversary"...I take such joy in the fact that we have such a beautiful history together now, and we can look back on all of our memories as a married couple.

But I'm getting off topic...after we checked in and I ate a ton of this chocolate, we went and had dinner at Brennen's, a nice New Orleans style restaurant.

Some of my favorite things about the hotel were the fact that they turned down your bed for you in the evening, and the HUGE breakfast they bring to your room (once again, food...I know, it is kind of sad!) I loved the breakfast so much that Adam took a pic of me eating it 5 years ago, and we had to take a pic of me eating it now...it was just as delicious!

Then...

Now...

Funny how my hair is fixed and I look awake in the first pic, but 5 years later I look like I couldn't care less. How things change in 5 years!

In the lobby of the hotel with my sweetie

We also got our fill of movies...we saw Oceans 13 on Friday, and watched Spiderman 3 in the Imax theatre on Saturday. We rarely go to movies in the theatres, so we went all out for a double feature.

I am so thankful for the gift of marriage, and grateful for God's grace in giving us these 5 years. Who knows what He has in store for the next 5, but if they are anything like the last, what a blessing that will be!

We also saw my bubba (brother, Jeff) this weekend, and I will post pics of our visit soon!

Father's Day and A Piece of Pie

First, let me start with a story about the pie. Last Father's Day I made my dad his favorite pie--Lemon Meringue. It was a Paula Deen recipe and it tasted great...but it came apart as I served it and formed puddles of yellow on everyone's plates. Not very appetizing. My dad said it was the best pie he had ever had and thanked me over and over again...one of the many reasons I adore my father. Anyways, this year I thought I would give it another shot, and voila! It worked! I used a recipe from The Joy Of Cooking (an incredible cook book I highly recommend) and it actually set up! Adam took a pic of it because he knew how excited I was. My dad, once again, said it was the best pie he had ever had. I'm convinced he would have said that if it was burnt, tasteless or soupy again...but I'll say again, one of the many reasons I love him! Pics from our time with my fam last weekend...

Digging into the pie!


Snuggling with Dad





My beautiful, wonderful Mom

My adorable hub! (I just had to throw one in there of Adam!)

I love celebrating Father's Day, because it is such a great excuse to make a fuss over my dad. He is one of the most selfless and caring people I know. Some of the reasons I am crazy about my father...

• He loves Jesus with all his heart and partnered with my mom in raising us in the the Truth.
• He adores my mother, and she adores him. They share an incredible love and connection with each other, grounded in Jesus. They still hold hands in church, sneak a kiss in the kitchen, and enjoy just having fun together...I am so thankful for their example of commitment and love.
• He was the perfect dad of a little girl...he always reminded me that he loved me, and complimented me often. I am thankful that he made me feel so special, even at times when I absolutely hated the way I looked. (Can we say junior high? Amen?!?!)
• He is one of the quietest people I know, but not without a purpose. He is always observing and taking things in...and at just the right moment, he will say something insightful or funny.
• He is a snuggler. Some of my best memories with my dad are spent sitting on the couch, just holding his hand. When I was little, I had MAJOR fears of monsters in the closet, and he would sleep with me until I fell asleep. Most of the time he fell asleep first!
• He is a great example of a godly man. I have him to thank for the husband I have today, if that makes sense. Because of my dad's example, I knew it was possible to have a man who loved God and would be faithful to his family. And God brought Adam into my life!
• He can do a stinkin' awesome impression of Bullwinkle! Hey, Rocky...

Dad, my list could go on forever. You are truly amazing, and I thank God for all you are in my life. I love you!

Weekend With The Fam

A couple of weekends ago Adam's brother, Neal and his family came and visited us. We had a blast! Our two nephews could not be more precious...Sam is 4 and a half, and Gabe is 2. Here's some pics of our time with them...

Here we are playing the guitar and drum with Gabe at our house. He loved playing the instruments!

Pool time at Mimi's!

The brothers

The sisters (in-law)

We had a great time with them and were sad to see them go. Since they live in Nashville, we usually see them twice a year, and we always have a blast! It was especially fun having them stay with us for the first time...I loved waking up in the morning to the sound of my precious nephews. They have the sweetest little voices! I also had a great time with my sister-in-law, Lindsay. I'm so thankful for her friendship...we are so similar in our styles and even in many ways our personalities, but just enough different to click. It is so easy to be around her...she is such an encourager and fun person to be with. It's funny with how different the guys are, and yet they picked two girls who are very similar. I guess they just have great taste, heehee!

Paint Update

We are on day 7 of painting and counting...I can't begin to express how tired I am of the sight of unfinished walls, paint brushes, drop cloths and paint cans! I am so ready to be done. We have just a few walls left. Every spare moment away from the church has been spent edging and rolling, edging and rolling, and we are almost there. Unfortunately this comprised our entire last week, so no fun news, but I still plan on posting on our weekend with the fam.
Ok, back to the paint...

Check This Out!

A guy I knew in middle school and high school is starring in this new show on ABC! His name is Matthew Bomer, and he is the character Jay, on the far left. We have been watching the show for 2 weeks now, and it comes on every Wednesday night. I'm pretty sure it is just an ABC summer miniseries. How fun! Matt and I went to the same church growing up (his dad is still en elder there, really sweet family) and were in some musicals together in highschool. He was a fun guy with extraordinary talent (all the girls in drama were ga-ga over him), and all of us are freaking out to see that he has gotten his big break! On last week's show, he was in a pretty cool fight scene, and all I could think was, "WOW! He is actually in a sweet fight scene on national television!!" Kind of surreal. Anyways, if you like suspenseful shows, check Traveler out, and root for Matt with us!

Paint Paranoia

I am preparing to paint my living room, entry and hallways all one color tomorrow. I get so stinkin' nervous about painting! I have a really light yellow kitchen I love, and a blue dining room I adore, but I think this room makes me especially nervous b/c it is bigger and will take a LOT more work. I know it is time b/c I am so tired of the cream walls, but the idea of colored paint everywhere just kind of overwhelms me. I will post pics of the results when we are done. It has taken me 3 days to just pick the color (we have settled on a very neutral brown called Cafe au Lait from Restoration Hardware--we will just do a color match) and now tomorrow morning I will slap it up on the walls. My dear friend Kristi is coming to help so I can get a lot done before the weekend. Whew, I'm nervous! Ok, I'm going to stop babbling and start taping for tomorrow.

We had a special weekend with family--I'll post pics and details soon! Off we go to paint!

Congrats, Kelly and Josh!

Our dear friends Kelly and Josh have welcomed baby Patriot into the world. What a wonderful blessing for an amazing couple. He was 4 weeks early and is currently in the nursery so they can monitor his breathing, so please pray for Patriot's health and Josh and Kelly's sanity. They are wonderful friends--please lift them up this week as they adjust, a month early, to parenthood! You can read more about them at Kelly's blog--see my link to the right!