2014 Easter Weekend & More

Even though I haven't posted in a long time, I knew I couldn't pass up typing my annual Easter blog post. Zach & I always take a family photo on Easter Sunday, with the exception of last year when we were both at home sick on Easter Sunday. 

We took that photo one week later though. 

Here is our photo from this year, continuing the tradition...

I love to look back on our photos from each year! 

This year, to make that easier, I created a collage...

I love to see how we've changed from year to year. My hair color & length changes constantly, while Zach just gets more handsome with each year. :)

We have been busy lately with a lot of different activities, as well as work. Zach is incredibly busy with work right now. That means I don't see him as much as I would like, but we are very blessed that he is so busy.

A couple of weekends ago, we went to a couple's shower for one of my sweet friends from high school. I helped to host, so we got there early. We had a wonderful night catching up with friends, and celebrating Meg & Andrew's upcoming wedding!

Me & my sweet high school friends...

Me & my sweetie...

Also, on that same weekend, Zach & I went to our first antiques auction. Now I think we're hooked! There is another one coming up this weekend, and we're planning to be there. Who knows what treasure we might discover!

The company that runs the auctions have them planned for the first & third Sunday afternoons of each month, and once you're assigned a number, you keep it for the duration. 

Maybe 218 will be our lucky number!!

After the auction, I had to head home to get ready for our choir concert that night. We had a well-known composer, Ken Medema, meet with us that weekend. He led our choir with many of his own songs. He was a talent on the piano also, especially since he is legally blind. It is amazing how God can take someone like him & show us all that no matter what problems we have, He can still turn them into something wonderful.

Our church's youth choir also joined us for the concert. 

I love the look of the full choir loft!

Pray for our church, First Baptist of FP, if you think of us over the weekend. This Sunday is our pastor's last Sunday. He is retiring, so there will be huge hole left in our church. Pray for our congregation also as we begin the search for our new pastor, and our journey with our new pastor once he is appointed. 

Lots of changes happening, but that's what life is all about!

Let's Play Catch-Up...

... like, 5 months' worth of catching up. I recently realized I had not hit the "Publish" button in a little over 5 months now. Not necessarily a bad thing. Life has been busy- and wonderful- lately, and lots of things take priority over a small, meaningless blog. But I do want to take the time to update (mainly for myself & my few readers) on what has gone on these past months since my last post on Mom's wedding.

So, here goes a month-by-month run-down
of our "exciting" lives :) ...

-September-

September actually was rather exciting for us. We enjoyed our annual Disney Anniversary trip- this time, for our FIFTH Wedding Anniversary! Still can't believe we've been married five years now! As they say, time flies!

This trip was my favorite, because my sweetie surprised me with an awesome anniversary dinner. He had a custom-made menu created just for us, along with a private viewing of Epcot's fireworks show, Illuminations. The food & the attentiveness of our private waiting staff was impeccable, and it meant so much to me that he would go to all the trouble of planning the dinner just to surprise me. 

Coming home from Walt Disney World wasn't as bad, because we had tickets to an Alabama home game (first home game of the season!) that following week. Our seats were some of the closest you can get, and the entire experience- tail-gating included- was awesome! Very proud of the Tide this season, and hope next season will be even better!

-October-

This is a minuscule event in the grand scheme of things, but I needed a pic for October... ha. It really was a big deal for me... I had my hair dyed chocolate brown- no highlights, which I've had continuously since high school. Truth be told, I always had light blonde hair growing up, then it got darker as I got older. It is now a dirty blonde/light brunette naturally, but I am still loving the chocolate that was put in.  

-November-

A simple pic for November, even though the month itself isn't simple. We enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving this year, and it was nice to have a new addition to our table, my new step-dad. :)

-December-

Right before Christmas, Zach & I had a nice long weekend get-away to Buckhead, where we've been once before. We stayed at the St. Regis again, which is out-of-this-world! For the winter season, they transform their swimming pool area into a winter wonderland-esque ice skating rink, which we happily took advantage of. 

We enjoyed a yummy dinner at our favorite restaurant in the area, Chops. It was amazing!

And, of course, you can't forget Christmas. This marked our TWELFTH Christmas together, which is unbelievable to me. 
We are very blessed!

-January-

January has been great so far. I was blessed to celebrate my 29th Birthday the same week as my granddad celebrated his 83rd! We had a family dinner at Top O' the River. Yum- turnip greens!! I also had a good family dinner at Zach's mom's with his family to celebrate. I always love family get-togethers. :)

It's a little sad to see 5 quick months all rolled up into one post, but I didn't want to miss the important things that have happened since my break. I hope to post soon, but I really have enjoyed the break. We'll see!

Memorial Day Weekend '13

We just had a very relaxing, fun, long weekend. It is always easy to forget the reason why you are able to enjoy a day off, but that's something you cannot overlook. I am so thankful for the ones who have fought & sacrificed so that we can enjoy our freedoms.

We were very blessed to have absolutely beautiful weather the entire weekend!! I did get a lot of work done inside the house, but I mainly left that for when it was dark outside. I got a nice little sun tan burn, laying out on our deck two of the afternoons.

My sweetie & I went to church on Sunday morning, then he went to play golf. He was sweet enough to invite me to go ride around in the cart with him. :)

On one of the afternoons, I went out to the back deck to clean our patio furniture. I usually just use the water hose & a Magic Eraser to do this, and it works like a charm. The only problem is that when I start to unravel the water hose, two little babies come running toward me, wanting to play. :)

I am more than happy to oblige. After a few minutes of playing, with just a few intervals of cleaning mixed in, they were both soaked & loving it.

I have been taking advantage of the gorgeous weather lately, not just over the long weekend, but on afternoons when I get home from work too. Daisy girl & I have been jogging around our neighborhood. I am loving it, because we both get exercise, and we have great company while doing it.

(I am resolved to the fact that she will not look at the camera.)

She LOVES rolling in the grass. Zach's favorite is when she picks a high spot in our backyard & rolls all the way down the hill.
Silly girl.

She was also my little buddy while I was laying out on our deck. She loves sunbathing as much as her momma, unfortunately.

On a more serious note, just wanted to write a little update on real life, mainly for my own benefit. I don't like to post on really personal things on the blog, because I want it to be a "happy" place for me. But, life isn't all about happiness, so I have to include a little shot of reality when necessary.

My grandfather just recently found out that he has a small cancerous area on his bladder. We praise the Lord that it was caught very early. Treatment options have been discussed, and they will proceed with those in a few weeks. I ask for your prayers for him as he deals with this, and for my grandmother & mom, along with our whole family, as we support him through this. He is one of the few men left in my life, and I love that man dearly.

Speaking of the wonderful men in my life, please also pray for my father-in-law. He is now scheduled to have a kidney transplant in a few weeks. His sister, our Aunt Gail, has selflessly agreed to donate a kidney- she was a perfect match- and we will be forever grateful to her for that. Please pray for both of them as they endure these surgeries, and the following weeks as they adjust to life after.

We are so thankful that things have fallen into place the way they have! There will always be negative things coming your way, but you can almost always still see the light at the end of the tunnel. We know that God is good, and He knows best. 

Crimson Caravan- 5/9/2013

Zach & I were blessed to have the chance to go to the Crimson Caravan that was (surprisingly) held in our hometown last night. Wow! We had a great time! We really enjoyed listening to Coach Saban speak, and getting to spend time with Zach's dad. Listening to him speak in person, and watching clips of his locker room speeches, along with game highlights, makes me so ready for football season!! 

The only thing that would have made the night better was if my Dad was here to attend it with us!

Roll Tide, Dad!!

I hope you all have a great Mother's Day weekend! I know we are ready to celebrate our wonderful moms!!

Buckhead Mini Getaway- St. Regis

My sweetie & I just had a mini vacay in Buckhead, GA (ATL area). We absolutely LOVED it!! It was just a quick trip, mostly for relaxation, and some time away from home. With Zach working from home in his office, he never really gets much of an escape. We both really enjoyed our time away- him maybe a little more than me. 

We went all out & stayed at the St. Regis Atlanta. It was absolutely beautiful, and we felt pampered the entire time. Zach enjoyed a massage at the spa (which is not my thing), but we shopped on Sunday (which is definitely my thing)! We had some great meals... pics of food below (yes, I was a nerd & took photos of our fancy food while there).

I took a lot more photos than I first thought, once we got home and started looking through them. 

Here are a few I narrowed down...

-Pics of Us-

Me & my sweetie about to go out to eat...

Again, about to go eat :) ...

At Chops, after dinner... yum! (Just realized all pics of us revolve around eating.)

- The Decor-

Our hotel...

This is the chandelier at the entrance that I wanted to pack in my suitcase and take home with me...

The decor of the entire hotel- my favorite area being the front lobby shown here- was simple, but elegant...and bonus, there was mercury glass everywhere! Ahh...

Upstairs was the hotel restaurant where we had our breakfast...

I was in love with the mirrored doors of the elevator!

The pool area...

The terrace, perfect for a wedding...

The gorgeous poolside fountain...

Again, showing the decor was simple, but beautiful...

-The Room-

Our bathroom...

...and the TV in our bathroom mirror... wow...

Our phone/control system in our room, complete with Zach's name... fancy schmancy :)

Chops, our restaurant...

-The Food-

My breakfast- smoked salmon & cream cheese bagel. I could start every morning out like this!

Zach's dinner, filet & lobster tail & lobster mashed potatoes...

My dinner, filet & creamed spinach...

We laughed at Zach's fancy drawn butter... you know, just like I serve it at home :)

Tahitian vanilla creme brûlée- it wasn't yummy at all... ha! 

Ahi tuna sandwich with homemade potato chips...

My view for most of the day on Saturday. I gave myself a mani & pedi, then sat back in the chaise lounge & relaxed. No cleaning, cooking, or laundry to do, and no little doggies nipping at my heels. :)

We both felt relaxed after we got home. We have both been busy with many things lately- Zach, especially with work, since he hasn't had two consecutive days off since the first of the year! It was nice just to escape for a little while. 

Now, if we can just have this trip tide us over until our "Annual Anniversary trip" to Disney!! We'll see how that goes...