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.

ATCO Embroidery...Feeding My Monogramming Obsession, One Item At A Time

I know this shop has been in Fort Payne for a while now, but I have been visiting it more often lately. For my birthday in January, my mother-in-law got me the cutest bag! It was a black and white damask design, which is always a winner in my book, and it had plenty of room- ideal for an overnight trip. I took the bag to the shop the following week, and asked the lady's (Barbara's) opinion. She gave me all kinds of ideas on fonts and colors. I knew I wanted my 3 initials, but she let me look through the book of options for as long as I wanted. I wanted a bright color to make the initials pop, and I think we succeeded.

(These pictures were taken with my camera, so it doesn't really do the colors justice. I had my camera handy because I have been taking several pics of things to put on eBay lately, so I just took these at that time.)

I got to carry the bag to our Couple's Retreat a few months ago. It was perfect for the one-night stay!

I just stopped by the shop again last week to pick up my latest item. Zach and I had spent last Saturday exploring the "World's Longest Yard Sale" (yee haw!), and I actually found something I had been looking for for a while. I found a cute small shoulder bag- perfect for one of our future trips to Disney. It was also black & white (it's another obsession of mine, I know). I just wanted an "A" on the front in hot pink. Once again, it turned out perfectly!

I definitely have her in mind to use for some of the people on my Christmas gifts list (which, of course, has yet to be made...I'm not that organized, you know!) Hope everyone likes monogrammed things as much as I do!

Aside from that, things are peachy here. We have had a little chaos going on around the house- our garage door is being uncooperative again, then we just discovered a small leak in our master bathroom this morning. It's always nice to wake up to that faint trickling water sound. We've had this problem in our guest bath before, so it's not a big deal (thank the Lord!) My handyman husband is going to work on it today. That would be awesome if he can fix it, so let's hope so! I've always heard, "When it rains, it pours," so I guess it's just a part of life for things to seem to go wrong all at once. We'll deal with it though, just like everything else. :)

Wednesday night choir rehearsal has started back, and it's better than ever. I'm so excited to get into Fall and enjoy new songs. Our childrens' choirs will be starting back in September, so I'm pumped about that too! Since LaRae is not helping this year, Miranda Chambers will be helping me with our group. I loved it so much last year, I couldn't give it up just because LaRae wouldn't be there. I'm excited about all the new things we'll get into this year!

We're really looking forward to this next weekend too. We are driving to Chattanooga for Zach's sister's baby shower (Baby Girl #2!), with our friends David & Amy. We girls will go to the shower while the guys hang out together. We plan to go out to dinner after the shower, so it looks like a really good weekend is in the making!