And the Award for Best Present Goes To...

...my sweet husband!! :)

Followed by Mom as a close second with my Keurig and Zach's Wii. I was so glad that we actually surprised him this year!

Zach got me an iPhone this year! I have to be honest, I didn't really think I would use it that much. He had mentioned getting me one earlier in the year, but I shot down the idea, thinking A.) that it would be too expensive and B.) that I wouldn't use it near enough to justify the cost. Well, I was wrong. I have been on that thing almost every free minute I have had since I got it! Sad, I know, but it's so much fun!! I haven't even really hooked it up to my iTunes and gone hog-wild yet (which I now can, thanks to my awesome brother Jonathan for the iTunes gift card!)

It is very distracting, especially when it beeps to let me know I have an email or text message. I can always change the settings on that, if I get tired of it. Something tells me I won't for a while though. :) I just wanted to post a few pics that I took with it over the Christmas weekend. I will definitely be posting some others of our white, yes, WHITE, Christmas!! Zach took many with his camera, so their quality will be much better than these. I am impressed with the picture quality of the phone, and the HD video it takes! I have already thoroughly enjoyed the video recorder. Next time you see me, just ask to see the clips I have of Zach playing his new Wii. Very entertaining!! :)

First pic of me & my sweetie with my phone!

This is Daisy & Cosmo asleep on Christmas Eve while Zach was up late playing Wii. I told him they were ready for Santa to come!

My Daisy girl

Daisy in the snow

Cosmo in the snow

Christmas Time Is Here!!

This is my most favorite time of year!! And, for the record, I am DONE with my Christmas shopping! D-O-N-E, DONE!! I finished up on Saturday when Mom, Mamaw, Jonathan and I hit the mall and some other shops. It feels so good to be finished with it. Now, on to the wrapping (my least favorite part)!

Almost forgot to post this: Zach cleaned up the house while I was away shopping on Saturday. I always love to brag on him! When I got home, he had washed and dried ALL the dishes, and started cleaning our guest room. Currently, our guest room is our junk room, but he knocked a big chunk out of the cleaning and organizing on Saturday. As long as it is an "organized mess," it doesn't bother me so badly. Every house has to have a junk/storage room, right?

One of his Christmas gifts arrived at my office this morning, and as I was typing this, a second one of his arrived! I can't wait to give these to him!! I also love receiving things in the mail this time of year! Speaking of, our Christmas cards should arrive at our house either today or tomorrow, so I will have to start addressing them soon. I feel like I'm a little late on them this year, since we have already received so many, but better late than never! I just can't pass up that little tradition. I hope to send a photo card of our little family out every year from now on!

Just wanted to make a quick post about our Children's Choirs Christmas Program last night. It went perfectly!! Each one knew their lines and all the words to the songs. One of the solos even made me cry!! I looked over at Amy (Kinsley) during rehearsal (it was her neice, Jordan Belle, who was singing the solo) and she was crying. So, naturally, I started tearing-up. Amy blamed her pregnancy hormones, but I had no excuse, except for the fact that I'm always a "softie" about things like this. Children are just so precious!! (Notice I didn't say "innocent," just "precious"). :)

I am so thankful to be a part of this wonderful church. I love helping with the kids' choir and I love even more being a part of our adult Sanctuary Choir. I hope everyone can make it to our Christmas concert next Sunday (Dec. 19th), FBCFP, 6:00 PM!

Hopefully my next post will be some pictures of our Christmas decorations. One night this week, I want Zach to take some photos with his camera. Until then, I hope everyone has a great week, and is enjoying the snow!!

Blessed...All Year 'Round (cont.)

This is our little family picture from this year on Thanksgiving Day:

I love this tradition we have of taking pictures at Zach's mom's house. We need to start this at every family gathering we have. I'll post the family pics soon! I only had this one on my computer here at home, because I was going to use it for our Christmas card order (that I'm placing soon...it is now 9:30 PM, so we'll see), but I changed my mind. I wanted one with the two dogs included, so Zach is working on that photo as I type. :)

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, as always, again this year. My days could have been much more enjoyable if I didn't have the cold/sinus problems I have had. I didn't let it get me down on Thursday, but it almost got the best of me on Friday.

We got up on Thursday morning, got ready, and I cooked my green beans for Zach's mom's house. We headed to Chattanooga and enjoyed lunch with them- Zach's mom, Marissa, Ashley, Ella & Bailey. We had a great time visiting. We then headed back home and I began cooking a second round, with more green beans, creamed corn and hashbrown casserole. My family (the whole bunch- Mom, Dad, Jonathan & his girlfriend Amelia, Mamaw Helen, Papaw Hoyt & Mamaw Ruth) came to our house for an early dinner. Yet again, we had too much to eat, but had a great time. We hated to miss Aunt Gail's this year, but we just couldn't make it timewise and because we weren't feeling 100%. I know it wasn't the same there either, without Grandma & without some of the guys. I hope we can make up for it for Christmas!

I woke up at 3:15 on Friday morning. My cold is always worse in the mornings, so it wasn't as easy getting up. I did leave the house early at about 3:55, so I thought I was ok. We did a lot of shopping, but it seemed to me that the deals weren't as great as they were last year. I was glad I went though- I know I would have regretted all year not going. It's only one day out of the year- I can handle it! Later into the morning, I started feeling worse. I think it was the culmination of me being so tired along with the stuffiness in my head. Then came the headache.

When I got home, I crashed. My sweet husband had called me while I was shopping to let me know that he had gotten our tree and wreath, with a little extra added to it for me. Part of me wished I was home so I could have gone with him to enjoy it all, but I would have felt sick either way. I did look at the wreath and tree on my way in when I got home, but went straight to our bedroom & changed into comfy, WARM clothes, and hit the couch.

We had planned on heading straight to Zach's dad's house to watch the Iron Bowl, but I couldn't make it. I wanted Zach to go on. There was no sense in both of us not being able to enjoy the game, and I didn't want him or his dad to watch the game alone. I slept through most of the game. Though now, I'm not so bummed about that. My highlight was when I first woke up from a nap, and saw that the score was 14-0 Bama. That was a wonderful surprise! I went back to sleep and missed a good part of the rest of the first half. I wish I would have slept through most of the second half instead. Oh well!

I will say this...I think it says so much for the state of Alabama as a whole that we could possibly have 2 different teams win the National Championship and have 2 Heisman Trophy winners in 2 consecutive years. That is amazing!

Anyways, after sleeping a good bit on Friday, I finally got a little more done on Saturday.

**Also, let me add- Zach was so cute while I was sick. He kept telling me,"Don't worry about the dishes, babe, I'll take care of them." "I'll clean up the kitchen." He was a sweetie. He did 2 loads of dishes, straightened up the kitchen, and cooked breakfast on Saturday morning. Bless his heart!**

Our beautiful tree was already up and Zach had already put the lights on and ornaments up on Saturday morning. I got up and put out a few of our other decorations, but rested most of the day. Our wreath, as I mentioned earlier, is beautiful this year!! He had the lady at Petal Pushers add holly leaves & berries and pinecones to the wreath, because he knows I don't like a plain wreath. The smell and look of the wreath and the tree are so worth all the work put into getting them to the house and putting them up. I remind myself of this every year!

Sunday was my decorating day. It felt nice to actually get something done. I just hated I couldn't get it all done on Friday like we usually do, but we made it. We stayed home from church (which I hated to do, since it is the First Sunday of Advent & we sang our first Christmas song in the choir), but I got a lot more rest and feel SO much better because of it. I will make a post with some pics of our decorations soon. I absolutely LOVE decorating our house for Christmas. I realize every year that I have bought WAY too much along the way, but I can't make myself get rid of anything. Maybe one day soon when we have our mansion, I will have more room for it all. :)

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Even being sick, I am blessed beyond measure, and have nothing to complain about! God is good!!

Retro

One of my old friends posted some old pictures on Facebook the other day, so I just thought I would share. They are not very flattering, to say the least, but I love how they show the styles back in the day, and they capture our personalities. When I first saw these, I instantly remembered that day.We went to the Tennessee Aquarium that afternoon, and wanted to stop by Desoto State Park (for some reason) on our way back to Fort Payne. We definitely had a diverse group. I don't even really remember one of the girls in the picture, and the guy is Leslie's older brother, Martin. Random group, but we had fun that day. I am so glad that she scanned and posted these little gems. Enjoy (the ugliness)!

Stylin' in my vest. :) 

I cropped this one of myself so you could get a closer look (which very well could be a bad thing). All I can say about this one is: Thank the Lord for highlights, make-up & eyebrow plucking...oh, and growing out bangs! Hehe!

Cute.

I hope you atleast got a good laugh out of these. I hope to post some Thanksgiving pics soon! Zach pulled them up on the computer last night so I could see them, and they're really good!! Can't wait to post them! I'm also planning on him taking some pictures of our Christmas decorations this year, so maybe I can make a post about them soon.

I hope everyone's having a good beginning to the week. I know times are busy right now. They definitely are for us! It seems like every week, there is a rehearsal, a party, something to go to, or somewhere to be. I am actually skipping a party tonight for our Christian Women group. I don't really have an excuse-- I guess it's just laziness. I am going to stop by the store after work, then come home & fix some homemade lasagna for my sweetie instead. :)

Speaking of somwhere to be, say a little prayer for us next Sunday night at about 4:30! We are having our Children's Choirs Christmas Program that night. At rehearsal last night, it seemed like things went really well. ALL the kids knew their lines, and they pretty much have all the words to the songs memorized. It really is a cute little musical, and I can't wait to see it all come together- because it ALWAYS, ALWAYS does!

60th Wedding Anniversary

Today is the 60th Wedding Anniversary of my grandparents, Hoyt & Helen Ashley! 60 years!! I am so thankful to have this example of Christian marriage in my family. I pray that one day, Zach & I can celebrate our 60th Anniversary. Technically, we're coming up on 9 years! :) I just wanted to include a picture of them on my wedding day. I have so many others of them, including one really good one that they just had made for their church's directory, but I would have to scan in all the old ones, so it's just easier to post this one. Happy 60th Anniversary, Mamaw Helen & Papaw Hoyt!!

Happy 90th Birthday, Mamaw Ruth!!

We had a 90th Birthday party for my grandmother Ruth on September 26th at her church. (I hate that the post is so late, but Zach's been working on editing the photos. As wonderfully as they turned out, it was worth the wait!) I cannot tell you how happy I was about the turnout- there were so many family and friends there!! The decorations, food, attendance-- everything was perfect! Mom & I had only been planning this for about a month. We gathered all the decorations, pictures and most of the food ourselves in that short amount of time, but every bit of it was worth it.

My sweet husband was the photographer, and I am so proud of the great job he did. He shot so many unique angles and different takes on each detail. He truly has a gift for this sort of thing. He says his specialty is nature photographs, and that's what he loves most, but these are terrific! I'm hoping he'll want to practice more "people" photos on our little family soon. Christmas time is quickly approaching, you know, so I've had ideas for Christmas card pics on the brain!

We are planning on compiling an album of these to give to her for Christmas. I know she would much rather have that than something for her house or any other gift without meaning. Hope you enjoy the photos- I posted many, because it was too hard to choose my favorites!

Her beautiful (and yummy) cake. Below are shots of the cupcakes and the fruit. 

The fam :)

The beautiful arrangement Mrs. Carolyn did for Mamaw

Me, Mrs. Sue & Dr. Pat, my pastor- I just love them!

This is Mamaw Ruth's favorite picture of her & my granddad. It's my favorite too. It was taken not too long before he passed away.

The photo table, complete with both my & my mom's wedding albums

Close-up of the pictures of me & Jon... I love the one of us in our matching shirts when we were little. :)

  The sign at the entrance of her church

Blessed...All Year 'Round

There is no place I would rather be on Thanksgiving day than at home with our families. Every year I like to look back and think about all the blessings I have. Each year, without fail, I realize I have more than the last. Thank you, God, for your blessings on me!!

Thanksgiving Day- 2008

This was our first "married" Thanksgiving together, but definitely not our first. We have been together for 8 years now! Wow!!

Thanksgiving Day- 2009

The last picture is one of my favorite ones ever of me & Zach.

Hopefully, I will be posting new ones in a few days! I absolutely cannot believe that it's Thanksgiving week already. I think this is my second most favorite week of the year. Christmas week, of course, being first. I hope that everyone has a fun, safe, happy and thankful week!!

Baby Bailey

In October, we went to Chattanooga to see our new niece, Bailey Anne! She was born on the 14th to Zach's sister Marissa and her husband Ashley. I know these are a little late, seeing as how the baby was born over a month ago, but here they are!

 Sweet little close-up

 Uncle Zach & Bailey

Ella, Aunt Ashley & Bailey

(...and I've had my hair done since then! No more root rot) :)

I finally asked Zach to send me these photos that have been in his phone for over a month. It took him about a minute to send them to me, ha! He also uploaded some of Mamaw Ruth's photos, and we're going to get together soon and edit them. As they say, "Better late than never!"

Life is great lately!! I survived our trio on Sunday morning. I didn't just survive, I had a great time doing it! I knew everything was going to be ok when I started up the stage and felt happy. Not nervous, not like I was on the verge of throwing-up, but HAPPY. I even got to watch it, since my sweet Mom recorded it for me. I always say I don't want to watch the recording, but when it's all done, I'm dying to see how I sounded/looked. It's a girl thing, I guess.

Since my last post, Zach's Grandma had had a stroke this past week. She is still at UAB recovering, but I cannot believe how well she is doing under the circumstances. She's definitely a "scrapper," as Zach would say. I took off from work at noon on Friday and Zach & I headed to the hospital. When we walked into her room in NICU, she was talking and laughing. You wouldn't believe she had been through all that she had just a day before. We all hope that she will be back home and back to her old self by next week...which is Thanksgiving, and I CANNOT believe that!!

I am so ready to spend time with family, eat to my heart's content, get up super early and shop 'til I drop, get our Christmas tree, and decorate our house for the season! This is one of my favorite weeks of the year! It starts on Monday with our sanctuary choir's Thanksgiving dinner and early rehearsal for our Christmas program. I'm going to take half the day off from work that day, so that will be nice. We always have a "soup and fixins" dinner, so it's a nice change from turkey & dressing, which (don't get me wrong) I love! Then, we always have a full day on Thursday with about 3 stops. I love it! On Friday morning, I'll wake up at about 3:00 or so and hit the shops with Mom, Deb & I think we'll have a couple more join us this year. I'm also looking forward to the Iron Bowl. We may not win it, but it should be an exciting game.

Today after work, we're headed to a photographer's studio (Moments in Time by Amie Martin) for family portraits. Mom & Dad won a gift certificate for their anniversary last month, so we're taking advantage of it. This will be the first photo of ALL of us as a family, since Zach and I were married. We have plenty of portraits of just the four of us, but none with Zach. I'm looking forward to it...Zach may not be, but I am. :) I just love this time of year! It's busy, but it's always fun.

Youth choir is going very well! The kids are so excited about their Christmas program. We assigned speaking/solo parts this past Sunday, and they're all so excited. I wish that some adults would get as excited about being involved in church as those sweet kids are. We would announce who had a certain speaking part in the play, or who had the next solo in a song, and their little eyes would just light up. Most adults would just gripe and complain. It really makes you think, doesn't it?

Pics Coming SOON...

Quick, go to http://www.dekalbelection.com/. My husband created this!! How awesome is that??!! This isn't the first time he has created a site for real-time, live-feed election results, but it's the biggest one (with local, state and national levels) he's done so far. I posted a link to the site on election night on FB, and so many people posted compliments about it. He entered the results from his "post" at the Dekalb County Courthouse, where the results were also displayed on a big screen for all the candidates present to see. I'm a very proud wife, can you tell? :)

...As for this post title, I am getting tired of making blog posts without any current photos. I really haven't taken many photos with my camera in a while- especially not anything to post about. Zach still has photos on his camera and iPhone both, but we just haven't really found the time to pick out ones we want to post/look at. Laziness, I know. BUT, I have good news! We have scheduled an appointment with a local photographer to have a family portrait done. My mom & dad actually won a free sitting/one 8X10 with her for their recent anniversary, so we're having an entire family portrait done. I mean all of us...Mom, Dad, my brother Jonathan, me & Zach. It will be our first photo ever with ALL of us. I'm excited! And, I have also asked Zach about us taking an afternoon SOON (as in next Sunday, hopefully), and taking some of us. Well, us and our doggies. We have to have some for our Christmas cards, you know! (Zach can't wait!)

As you can see above, we have been busy lately. Him with work, and me with work & choirs. Our trio performance is coming up on the 14th, so my nerves have been a little more jittery lately. :) Just pray that my nerves don't get in the way of what is an absolutely beautiful song!! Our children's choirs have been working away at practicing for our Christmas program. It is so hard to believe that it's time to start on Christmas music now! I love it though! I also found out last night at rehearsal that I am going to get to be in yet another small group in our choir's Christmas chorale! I'm just so blessed to get to be a part of our awesome choir!!

Other than that, I've been having a little fun with shopping lately. See, I disguise a shopping trip as "going to look for Christmas gifts," then end up buying something for myself. Crafty, huh? In all seriousness, I have already bought a few Christmas gifts (thank goodness for an early start), but I have enjoyed snagging a few things for myself or for the house in the process. My newest purchase were some charger plates. This may seem really small, but I have actually been wanting some since last Christmas...ask Zach. I just love what they add to a table. I thought about taking & posting a pic of them and my table setting, but that's just boring.

Instead, I'll leave you with one of my favorite pictures from our wedding reception. I just can't get enough of our wedding pics. Look how stinkin' happy I am!! :)

Fall Is In the Air...

I hope you like the new blog title. I thought of it the other day, and told Zach about it. He thinks I'm a dork, but oh well...I thought it was catchy! :) Just thought I would post a few photos I took yesterday around the house. I LOVE decorating for any holiday. Christmas, of course, is my absolute favorite, but Autumn comes as a close second. This year, I had many new decor items, since the theme of Mamaw Ruth's 90th birthday was Autumn. (Speaking of, hopefully pics from the party will be coming soon. Zach wants to put time into editing them, and we haven't had much of that lately.) When Mom and I were buying decorations for the party, we had our houses in mind. It's always good to reuse/recycle, right?

I really wanted to buy pumpkins for the front porch, since my scarecrow was looking a little sad by himself. I talked Zach into it last Saturday when we made a quick trip to Wal-Mart. I just bought one big one, so it wasn't so bad. He talked me out of getting mums, and I'm glad. They don't last very long at all, even if you take care of them. The first frost, and they're gone. Many of the ones I've seen in town lately are looking sickly already. We can do without.

Hopefully, Zach will take his camera out for some more Fall pictures soon. There are only a few really colorful trees around town this year. Maybe he can take some shots before the leaves start falling. I'll post some if he does!

Things are going very well in the Jones household!! We've just been working away, as always. Choir is running along wonderfully. I said "yes" to the trio with Dr. Roger and Miranda. Any prayers on that will be greatly appreciated! I had prayed for a sign, or just something to let me know if I should or shouldn't do it, and the strangest thing happened. After rehearsal last Wednesday night, Roger asked me to meet with him & Miranda and just "go over" some songs. He had given me a CD last week with three songs to listen to. After listening to all three, I chose my favorite, easily. At practice, he opened up the book, and turned right to my favorite I had picked out to start rehearsal with. He said it was their favorite too. That was my sign. :)

Zach's work has been picking up lately, and he's keeping busy with meetings and advertising too. In his slow times, he's always putting himself out there to pick up new business. I'm so proud of him!!

We also have a new addition to the family- a new niece, Bailey Anne. We went to see her and the family on Saturday. We took lots of pictures, but they're still on Zach's phone. I hope to post them soon! (I see a pattern here of lost pictures on his phone and camera, don't you?) :) We took his mom out to lunch at The Boathouse for her birthday and sat outside to enjoy the gorgeous weather. It was such a beautiful day and we had a great time catching up with family!

Weekend With My Sweetie

...Yes, I realize every weekend is usually a weekend with my sweetie, but we just had a really good one this past weekend. On Friday night, we experimented with something new for dinner. We had bought a sauce mix for lettuce wraps when we went on our anniversary outing to Birmingham and stopped by World Market (we both LOVE that store)! We still have some of the first pieces of furniture, a desk and a Parsons chair, that we bought there two years ago while in the first stages of decorating our house. For the lettuce wrap mixture, we only had to add chicken, chopped onion, carrot and water chestnuts. Easy enough. Zach cooked it (I'm not going to steal his credit), and I got the lettuce wraps ready. Easier said than done. I managed to tear most of the pieces so they were large enough to wrap the mix in. They were yummy! And, I was so excited that we got to use one of my favorite platters for them, that I took a picture. (Cheesy, I know, but I love it when I get to use my favorite pieces of china, and especially since it's not very often because we always just cook for two!) It actually doesn't look that appetizing now that I see the picture, but it was!

After dinner that night, Zach had conceded to watch Four Christmases with me. Usually, we make a deal where he watches a movie I want to see in exchange for me watching one with him. I guess that bill is still due, so I'll be waiting for it. He did enjoy it--even if he says otherwise. I saw him laugh many times, and that's not an easy task for a movie to get him laughing.

On Saturday, we went to his dad's to watch the game and have a yummy lunch of BBQ. I wish I could say the game was awesome and all is well, but most of you know how it went. We were a little bummed about the loss, but as I've heard a million times, the streak had to end sometime. I just hate it had to end with South Carolina, but, we'll get over it. Hopefully the team will be stronger because of it. Roll Tide, anyway!!

Zach's dad left to go hunting at halftime (needless to say, he wasn't thrilled about watching the last half of the game), and Zach and I toughed it out until the end. We headed home after that, freshened up a bit, took Daisy out, then grabbed our food and went "next door", or next door and up the hill, to David & Amy's house. Saturday was David's birthday, and Amy had invited a few of us over for dinner and more football. We had a blast hanging out with everyone there, and enjoyed the food & cake. It's great to have good friends just right up the hill from us.

After church on Sunday morning, we went out to lunch with David & Amy and the boys. The boys are in love with Zach, and I think it's the sweetest thing ever! When their youngest son Connor spotted Zach in Cracker Barrel, he ran up to him and gave him a hug. Zach's going to be such a good daddy someday. :)

Kids' choir was actually cancelled that day because of the church-wide picnic, so I had the afternoon off. We skipped the picnic and relaxed at home. We took a nap, then watched a couple movies. Sounds boring, but it was wonderful!

On Monday night, I skipped our Christian Women meeting and made a much-needed trip to get my hair done. I decided to try someone new, only for the second time ever, and LOVED it!! I went to Ashley Meacham, a girl I graduated from high school with. She did an awesome job on both the color and the cut. I'm still keeping it a lighter blonde, just for something different. I'm thinking about maybe going back darker for the Winter, but we'll see.

All is well with us lately. We're just enjoying the cooler weather and the slight change of color everywhere. I've picked out my favorite trees in town every year, and some of the same ones are already starting to show their colors. The bright, fiery reds are my favorite, followed by the bright gold as a close second. It was really cool this past week, which we loved. I even thought about dragging out the Christmas decorations early! I still think I might atleast bring them up from the basement so they will be ready to go when the time comes. I can never get enough of Christmas time- decorations, music and all!

Tonight is choir rehearsal- more Christmas music! Dr. Roger (our director) asked me about trying out some new songs tonight with him and Miranda for our possible trio. Yikes! Say a little prayer for me! :)

New Vice-President of Kiwanis Club

This Tuesday night was the Kiwanis Club Banquet, and Zach was inducted as the new Vice-President for the upcoming year! So, this post is dedicated to my sweetie, even though I didn't even get a picture of him that night. I don't think he was wanting anymore pictures taken, since they took so many for the newspaper. I am so proud of him for being a part of a great group, and being involved in all their projects. I am really excited about the upcoming year for him, and the next two years to come, since he will be President Elect the next year, then President the following year.

And, since I hate making posts with all text and no photos, I thought I would include this jewel. It's a picture of the bouquet I won as a door prize. I was the first winner, so that's always exciting! These were the table arrangements for the night, so a few of us got to take one home. I loved the arrangements, and I'm even more happy about getting to keep the planter that it's in. I had never seen a flower like the bright blue in the middle, but it's gorgeous how it makes the other flowers "pop."  

Sorry about the brightness of the white flowers with the flash. Zach's camera is a gagillion times better than mine, but I'm not going to drag it out for a nit-picky photo like this one. :)

Anyways, it's been a busy week here. The fair is in town (woo-hoo), but we weren't really planning on going. I was talking to my friend Elizabeth (Carr) about it yesterday though, and how we had a great time when we went together last year (it was me, Zach, Elizabeth & Alan...I think we make a great double-date group!) :) She actually seemed interested in the idea of making a second annual visit this year, so we may do that.

On Monday, we had a "rest night," or well, I had a "rest night." I basically hit the couch with my blanket as soon as I came home & changed clothes, and didn't leave the couch until bedtime. I had had a sinus headache that day, so I wanted to med-up and rest before it got the best of me. (Speaking of, I realized the other day that it's almost October, meaning it's been almost a full year since Zach & I were "near death" with pneumonia. Crazy how time has flown!) Then, on Tuesday, we had the banquet. We made some friends at our table, so that was fun too. Wednesday was dinner at Mom & Dad's for Mamaw Ruth's birthday (Big 9-0...which I promise I'm going to post photos of her shindig soon), then choir practice that night.

At choir rehearsal, our director Roger called me to the "front of the class." He asked me very nicely about being in a trio with him & Miranda. I atleast told him I would consider it, so he's making me a CD with the music. We'll see...I'm not really jumping to get back on the stage, especially in a small group where there are only two female voices, and one of them is mine! But, we'll see... :)

Today is Thursday, and tonight I'm planning on going to the movies with friends. I always enjoy doing that atleast once a month. You've got to have a girls' night every now & then. Tomorrow night is our possible trip to the fair, so all-in-all it's been a busy week with something to do every night. I love weeks like this though! Hope everyone is having a good one!...and Roll Tide this weekend!!

Brittany & Joey's Wedding

This past Saturday, we attended a wedding for the second weekend in a row. We watched (most of) the Alabama game at the house, then had to leave for the wedding...to Zach, that was torture. It turned out well, humorously enough, because we arrived at the parking site and heard radios everywhere tuned in to the game. We were taken to the wedding site, the Reed's back yard, on golf carts, and were seated. It was fairly informal, because there were no ushers to take us to our seats and there were no programs. When we were seated, most everyone around us were already talking about the game. Zach whipped out the iPhone soon enough to get an update on the score. (This does sound a little bad, but everyone around us was curious about how the game was going. My best friend Sheena sat with us, and she was the most curious I think. She had just had to leave Tuscaloosa earlier that morning, and was so sad to miss the game.) Zach updated everyone around us while he periodically checked his phone. After the final score update (and after everyone's nerves were shot), Sheena let out a big "Roll Tide!" It was a fun way to pass the time before the wedding started, anyway.

The wedding, and bride, were absolutely beautiful! It was held in her family's back yard, and Mary, the bride's mother, did most of the decorations herself. There was a chandelier hanging from one of the trees, lights everywhere, and gorgeous table decorations. Like most the of the other weddings we've attended lately, we had another mini-class reunion there. One of our friends, Mattea (who is pregnant with a little boy), traveled all the way from North Carolina with her husband and little girl, Addison. Megan, Heather and April were also there, and we all took some pictures together. We finally were able to drag the beautiful bride away for a few pics. The night ended with her dad singing some Lynyrd Skynyrd songs with the band, so that was fun! :) We had a great time!

Me & my sweetie! Don't we look so happy? And isn't he so handsome?? :)

The girls with the beautiful bride! It was still a little humid from the rain that morning, but our hair held up pretty nicely.

The gang, before we could locate the bride for a pic.

April, me & Sheena...Sheena calls this one, "Rockin' It In Our Black Dresses." :)

I have a few other photos that Heather took, and when she sends them to me, I will try to post some. I know she took one of me & Britt, so I'll post it soon. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Straight From the Dryer...

I remember when I was little, I would LOVE being wrapped up in blankets/towels/sheets straight from the dryer. I noticed soon after I "adopted" Daisy that she did too. There's just something about that warm cozy feeling, especially on cold days. I washed her blankets (yes, she has her own blankets...I would rather her not shed all over my blankets) and her dog bed this weekend, and as soon as I got them out of the dryer, she came running. Cosmo also happened to be in the house at the time. He usually wanders in when we open the back door to the deck to let her out, especially in the Summertime. When I put the zebra blanket on the pillow in the floor, Cosmo hopped on it first. Daisy got a little jealous until I put her bed down for her. I grabbed my camera quickly before they moved and got a few cute pics.

Cos, after I covered him up with the blanket :)

Going to sleep

Daisy girl in her bed

Going to sleep

I actually took this one the night before. We had just let Daisy out, so Cosmo came in for a while. I sat down in the floor to enjoy my new backrest pillow that I bought last week on our B'ham trip. Daisy came over and sat with me. Then, Cos comes over. :)

Sorry to bore you with photos of our "kids." We just enjoy them so much, and they're such a big part of our lives right now. Hope you enjoy the pics!

*****

Lately, we have been busy with many things, not just work. We have caught up on yard work a good bit lately, since Fall is quickly approaching. I also started back to kids' choir this past Sunday. We had a class of all girls- loved it!- and there were about 12 of them! We had a blast singing some new songs, and I love that they are a group (4th-6th grades) that's not too old to do hand motions and dance around to songs. Makes me feel like a kid, and I just love spending time with them!

We also went to a wedding this past Saturday. We watched the majority of the Alabama/Duke game at home (Zach's dad was on a trip, so we missed getting to watch it at his house with him). We got ready and headed to Riverview Camp in Mentone. It was Cassie Hooks' wedding, and it was one of the prettiest I have ever seen! There was a harpist, a small orchestra that played during the wedding, and a really good band that entertained at the reception. They had used so many cute ideas in this wedding! They had a photo booth where they would take your pic, give you a complimentary photo to take home, and place the other photos in an album for Cassie & Gary. Great idea! Zach & I stood in line for it for a while, but decided not to do it. I had my cute heels on that were beginning to grind into my foot. Before the wedding, we had already trekked about a mile to the wedding site...if I would have known this, I would have worn much more comfortable shoes! Needless to say, after we ate & chatted with the bride & her parents, we were ready to go.

I'm really looking forward to the coming weekend! Saturday is my friend Brittany Reed's wedding. I already know of a few friends that are planning on being there, including one that I haven't seen since last Christmas. I CANNOT wait to see everyone!! Then, on Sunday, we are having my grandmother's 90th Birthday shindig! Mom & I have actually put this whole thing together in a little over a month, and I'm really proud of us! We have everything lined up and ready to go, and we plan to decorate the fellowship hall on Thursday night, just so it will be done. My sweet husband is going to be the photographer, so I can't wait to see and post some pics from the day! (I'm also hoping that he'll let me take some shots, so I can get my hands on that camera!) :)

Tonight is our Christian Women meeting at Amy Kinsley's house, so I'm planning on going early since she's just right up the road from me. I know she will need help setting everything up, since we're combining groups with the older women tonight for our program. We had a blast with her and David this past Friday night. We went to the FP Homecoming game together with their two boys. We met a few other couples from church there and all sat together. At half-time, Zach went with the dads and their boys to the concession stand. Coincidentally, each couple had two boys, so there were 6 total. After he came back, I said sarcastically, "We're never having kids now, are we?" He just smiled. :) When we left, we were walking out with Amy & David, crossing the street, and Grayson (the oldest) grabbed his dad's hand, so Connor (the youngest) grabbed Zach's hand. It was so sweet! Amy looked over at me and said, "Aww, maybe you two will have a boy!...But not now, of course!" I just laughed, and told her you never know. As long as it's healthy, it doesn't matter to me what we have.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Our 2nd Anniversary!

We celebrated our Second Wedding Anniversary this past weekend. I took off of work for the past three days (Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday), so we could spend some time together. On Monday, our actual anniversary day, I cleaned house and grocery shopped. It felt good to be a little housewife for the day. At the store, I bought filet mignons, portobello mushrooms and baking potatoes for dinner that night. He grilled the steaks, and I took care of the sauteed baby bellas, stuffed baked potatoes, and one of the last Summer tomatoes I had. 

After dinner, we watched our wedding DVD...for the first time ever! We had actually planned to watch it on our first anniversary, but we stayed overnight in Atlanta and our room didn't have a DVD player. After we got back home from that trip, we weren't really in the mood to watch it, so we saved it for our 2nd. It was so incredibly sweet to watch the happiest day (to date) of our lives. I don't think I made it past the "Seating of the Grandmothers" before I had to pull out the tissues. I am so glad that we were able to capture that day on video to have for our lifetime. It was fun to see us and how we looked on that day, and see all our family and friends that traveled the long way, just for us, on that day.

On Tuesday, we got up early and spent the entire day in Birmingham. Thanks to family, we treated ourselves to shopping (we each bought something we really wanted and a few other things), and a yummy dinner at one of our favorites, Stix. I bought myself a bracelet that I had been wanting for a while. Zach bought an Alabama polo that he had had his eyes on for a while. It felt nice to treat ourselves a little. We had each decided we would spend a little on ourselves as our gifts to each other. We cut loose at dinner. I ordered sushi as an appetizer, and he ordered calamari as his. I absolutely LOVE sushi, but it usually doesn't love me. I am happy to say that this sushi agreed with me. We filled up on fried rice, steak, shrimp and scallops, and veggies, and we even had plenty leftover for lunch the next day.

I am currently spending my Wednesday by catching up on here (it's nice to be away from any and all networking for a few days...and computers too, for that matter). I still have a few things around the house to catch up on, but other than that, I plan to cook another nice dinner for my sweetie tonight, since I will have plenty of time. I'm also planning on going to choir practice tonight- partly because I'm ready to "join the living" in public again, and partly because I am in love with the song we are singing on Sunday. 

Speaking of Sunday, we had a really great Sunday this past weekend. Our childrens' choirs started back up with a Kick-Off Party, complete with pizza and singing. We even got to sing "Father Abraham," my absolute favorite when I was growing up in Sunday School and Vacation Bible School. I love all of our sweet kids, and am so thankful to be part of a church that puts so much emphasis on the childrens' programs to help enrich their lives. I'm thankful to know that someday when we have little ones, they will be a part of and be loved by this wonderful group in our church!

Thanks so much to our wonderful family and sweet friends for your gifts, cards, calls and comments for our Second Anniversary! It's been a great two years- filled with love, laughter, and plenty of adjustments, and we're thankful to get to spend it with you all! As my sweet Mamaw Helen and Papaw Hoyt put in their card to us, "We're proud of both of you. Keep up what you're doing and you can celebrate your 60th someday." (Their 60th Anniversary is coming up on December 1st of this year.) I thank God for examples like this for our marriage.