Olympus Camera Showing Off

I mentioned in my Hippie Wedding in Helen, GA post that my little Olympus camera was the culprit of 642 pictures taken at Laura & Justin Smith's wedding. I wanted to post a couple more of my favorite shots. I'm proud of my Olympus. It did me well.

A few of these I just love because they are great photos of some of the people I adore. Others I like because they show off some great aspects of the awesome wedding.

Above, one of the beautiful flowers Anna put together for the flower bouquets. Lillies and roses. She did a great job with the bouquets.

Above is a shot during the actual ceremony. You see the bridesmaids are closest to me, then the bride is there with her brother, Drew, ready to give her away. Past them are the groomsmen looking on.

Above is the exquisite bride just minutes before she walks out to see her soon to be husband for the first time that day.

Above is a detail shot of Laura's beautiful dress. Her mother in law made it for her. Look at that rock on her finger too! Bling. Bling. The dress was so simple, yet had such detail when you looked on more closely. The peace sign in the middle was a great addition too. BEAUTIFUL!

Above is the mother of the bride and Laura's oldest sister, Anna - also a bridesmaid. A great shot caught at the cabin before we headed off for the ceremony.

Above, Laura and Bubba (brother, Drew). Love this one... the bride and the man that gave her away. Awesome stuff.

Above is a good shot I got of Laura and her bridesmaids (minus one). At this point everyone is enjoying themselves during the wedding reception.

Above, Mary and her brother Drew. I caught this one right after the ceremony ended. One of my favorites.

Not too shabby for a smaller camera, by my book. The Olympus FE-130 definitely caught some quality moments during the wedding preparations, ceremony, and reception. I'm a fan of pictures, can't get enough of them. Thanks little Olympus for your big work! Had to show you off today!

Hippie Wedding in Helen, GA

This past weekend, I spent Thursday thru Sunday in an interesting place called Helen, GA. Until this time, I had never been to such a place. We drove through Chattanooga and then headed towards and through all sorts of scenic highways. On the drive in, we even drove right along side the Ocoee river for a time. It was awesome. Up and down and through the mountains and finally Helen, GA opened up into view.

And this is what we saw...

Told ya Helen is an interesting place. Bavarian style all around. I hear this place is packed during the busy seasons, but we shared the Helen experience on the off season. It was somewhat of a ghost town... a funny, Wizard of Oz like oddness. Interesting is the best word.

I made this trip with my dear friend Mary to be a part of her little sister's wedding. Laura was getting married and I wasn't going to miss it! Mary and her family are like an extension of my own. I love them and wouldn't miss this wedding for the world.

But as my headline exposes, I was not going to just any type of wedding... I knew I was going to Laura's wedding - a hippie wedding. And I was not disappointed one bit. This wedding had Laura's name and personality written all over it. It was beautiful because of that! Absolutely beautiful and fun because it was Laura's!

I became the makeshift photographer for the wedding, and walked away from the event with 642 photos to share with the bride, groom, and their families. The photos actually turned out really good. I was nervous about it because I didn't bring our awesome Canon that automatically makes me look good and has great zooming potential. Instead, I only had my fit in the pocket size Olympus, but that Olympus camera rocked it out!

Below is a shot of the actual ceremony taking place.


Here is one of the shots I took of the bridesmaids and the bride. I love this one because I caught Laura's laugh and smile. The premise of the shot here is that the ladies show off their wedding shoes - uggs!


The bride had her own uggs... see them to the left, they were not plain jane and just a simple color like the bridesmaids'. Instead, Laura's proudly stated: PEACE, LOVE, and HAPPINESS!








Below is an adorable shot I got of the bride and groom (Justin) before they cut their cake. See the peace sign cake topper! Too cute!


And last but not least, here is a good shot of the BEAUTIFUL bride and me.


It was a great trip. A wonderful 4 day adventure with Mary and her family.
Congrats Justin and Laura! You guys are a beautiful couple. I hope you had as much fun at your wedding and reception, as the people you asked to share the day with you had! Good times! Thank you for allowing me to be a part of it all! Congrats and I wish you guys MANY MANY years of bliss.

Have to Admit

So I've denied this fact for the last two years... always replying when people ask me about my TV watching that I was never much of a TV watcher until I began to date, became engaged, and married my hubby. This is all true. I wasn't much of a TV watcher until Kelly McGugan came into my life. Sure, I had a show here or there that I would follow, but that was maybe one show per season. Or if I was bored out of my mind, I'd watch whatever was on at that time. Often, I just enjoyed the TV on in the background while I read a book instead. But then my hubby came into my life and all of that changed.


I guess I should just admit it now, and fully accept the fact that I AM A TV JUNKIE. Yep, like it or not, it's true. My ridiculous list of "followed" tv shows is too extensive for me to even think about denying that fact. The hubby and I both enjoy following a show together. Discussing the characters, debating the happenings of the show, the twists, the turns, we eat it up - and I enjoy it. Thanks to TeVo, we record everything and watch things when we want to. Sometimes multiple episodes of something in a row, or just one quick show and back to our daily lives, but watch we do!

Here are the shows we follow:
(I'm leaving out the ones that my hubby follows alone like 90210, cough, cough, or Smallville)

• LOST
• American Idol
• Fringe
• Life
• The Office (new one for us)
• Heroes
• Big Brother (depending the season)
• Survivor (depending the season)
• Apprentice (depending the season)
  

Here are the shows I wish I followed:
(but I just catch them when I randomly do and can)

• House
• Dexter
• Jon & Kate Plus 8
• Law & Order anything
• HGTV anything (esp like Design on a Dime)
  

We used to have a couple others, but we've dropped them as they've become annoying or repetitive. Case in point, Prison Break. We followed that for two seasons or so, and by season three (or whatever is currently underway), after the first couple episodes we were like "forget this". Never seemed to get anyway, always new obstacles once they passed one. Got annoying.

Needless to say, with the above evidence, it's impossible for me to say otherwise.
I admit it, I am a TV Junkie!

Kodi's Surgery

As planned, I took Kodi to the vet Thursday morning before I headed out of town for the rest of the week and weekend. The ACL surgery was planned for Thursday. I didn't think much of it... believing I'd waltz right into the vet and lovingly hand over my pup without a worry. However, I was quickly proved wrong about the ease of letting my baby go.

As soon as I pulled into the parking lot of the Gentle Care Animal Hospital, Kodi stood up in the back seat and started to whimper. The dog has only been to this vet twice in his entire life, so suprisingly by trip three, he KNEW where he was and obviously he didn't want to be there. Nonetheless, I was a trooper and casually (with great energy, Cesar Millan style) walked Kodi into the vet with confidence. It was great until the technician came to "take" Kodi with her. She placed the rope leash around his neck and then it started...

I looked down at my baby, and his back legs began to shake dramatically! I pet him for a quick second and told him it would all be okay, but as I saw his legs continue to shake, my eyes welled up with tears. Then it happened... the tech began to try to lead him away from me and back to the door where he'd officially enter the vet and be in their possession... Kodi resisted and began to try to get back to me. His legs started pushing off away from the tech as hard as he could, pulling her a bit towards me. I lost it... my baby wanted to be with me (was what went through my mind)! The tech looked up at me and said, "m'am, sometimes they do better when you leave." So I asked if they needed anything else from me, and walked out the door.

As soon as I hit the fresh air, I seriously lost it. I boo-hoo'd and jumped into my car where I watched Kodi struggle to get away from the tech again, until he finally gave up and walked with her like the good boy he is. Man that hurt... I sat in the car for a few minutes trying to collect myself for the drive home. That hurt. I KNEW he'd be fine. I KNEW Dr. Blackburn and his staff would take great care of him! BUT, I didn't want to leave our baby. It was hard.

Later that day, I left for GA and did not return until last night. Turns out the vet (with our permission) rescheduled Kodi's surgery from Thursday to Friday. So instead of my hubby picking Kodi Bear up on Saturday while I was out of town... Kodi has been at the vet since I left him there Thursday morning. We get to pick him up today! The doctor called Kelly on Friday to let him know that Kodi had made it safely through the surgery. The ACL repair was done, but the doctor unfortunately saw quite a bit of arthritis already building up in the joint. I asked my hubby what that meant, and he said it meant that at a later date we'd have to deal with Kodi's arthritis and how it'll affect him. But for now, everything is okay.

I can't wait to see our baby. I'm worried how frail he'll look, but I know he's a trooper and will do great. One day at a time... the recovery time begins.

UPDATE: 7:45pm, Monday - Kodi is HOME! He is hanging out in the office where we have made him a "recovery room". Complete with a new bed and his own bowl of water and food (when it's time to eat of course). He's supposed to move minimally, so the smaller space is important. He looks great. His knee has a nasty looking 4 inch+ incision in it, but I know he'll recover in time. Glad to have my baby home!

Cubicle = Happy Place

Making my cubicle a happy place, one black & white, 8.5 x 11, printed picture at a time. Pictures make me smile.

The Answer to This Jacked Up City: Redemption 2009

In yesterday's blog post, after seeing that Memphis ranked #2 in Forbes magazines as the Most Miserable City, I asked the question:

When is Memphis going to turn around and try to do something about it's continual bad rankings in any negative national poll?

After thinking about that some more last night, I realized the answer. The only way something dramatic is going to change in Memphis, TN is if the Lord gets involved and flips this city upside down! If people pray for this city and call on the name of our Lord for change and revival!

And then I remembered, ahhh, a revival is coming to Memphis. A women's revival. A FREE Event with an awesome speaker coming our way: Priscilla Shirer. I cannot wait!

Below is a flyer about the event. All Memphian ladies (and men) share this will fellow ladies you know! The more gals we have at this FREE event, calling on the Father to show us a better way for the city of Memphis, the better it will be. We can bring about change in Memphis, change for the Lord and change for our future and current children in this place. The world will be watching as our God does something miraculous in a city that was ranked #2 in the Most Miserable City category. I can't wait for the event.

When: March 27-28th
Where: Memphis, TN - Cook Convention Center
Website: http://redemption2009.com/

Redemption Flier09

Publish at Scribd or explore others: bible wow

My friend, Myia shared this song with me after she read this post. What a fitting song for this. Thanks Myia.

Memphis Blues: #2 Most Miserable City

Wow, there is nothing better to excite city pride than to find your city ranked in Forbes magazine as the #2 Most Miserable City. Man that's embarrassing.

Forbes magazine calculated the top most miserable cities within the US "by looking at the 150 largest metropolitan statistical areas in the U.S., which meant those with a population of at least 378,000." Forbes "ranked those metros on nine factors: commute times, corruption, pro sports teams, Superfund sites, taxes (both income and sales), unemployment, violent crime and weather."

Once the calculations were in, Memphis, TN ranked #2 in the most miserable cities. The article pinpoints Memphis quickly by saying:

Memphis Blues

Sandwiched between Stockton and Chicago is Memphis, Tenn. The home of FedEx has an incredibly high rate of violent crimes, with only Detroit faring worse. The 1,218 violent crimes per 100,000 residents is more than twice the rate in the New York City metro area. The city's sales tax and rate of government employees committing crimes also fall within the 10 highest in the U.S. Pro sports has been a mess in Memphis in recent years as well. The city's lone major franchise, the Memphis Grizzlies, has lost 74% of its games during the past three years, the worst in the NBA.

It just makes you want to eww and ahhh after our city, doesn't it? Wow.

When is Memphis going to turn around and try to do something about it's continual bad rankings in any negative national poll? It seems like every time I turn around Memphis gets it's name on a negative poll.... most deaths, most car jackings, most negative things ever. I want to be passionate and supportive about the city I live in, but man it is sometimes hard!

Amazing Act by Brother In Law!

This afternoon I received an email from my hubby. The body of the email read:

This is what I found when I drove up to the house

And attached to the email were these two pictures:


My brother in law ROCKS! Kelly had mentioned to his brother, Kevin, that Kodi was having surgery on his ACL coming up, and we'd like to figure out how to make a ramp for him to get in and out of the house. See... during Kodi's rehab time after the surgery, he is unable to go up and down stairs. You can only come in and out of our house by going up and down stairs in the front, or up and down the deck in the back... so we were in trouble for this need.

We figured Kevin could help us figure out how to make a ramp or something for Kodi. And then today, when Kelly came home from his day of multi-tasking, the above is waiting for us!

What a blessing! Thank you Kevin! We thank you, and Kodi thanks you!

My boys together above.
Kodi got professionally groomed. All they could do after our damage (trying to groom him ourselves) is to shear him. He's still adorable, just needs a tan like his mom and dad!

Cup of Joe is Necessary...

Yep, I'm one of those... for a day at work morning, I must have my necessary cup of Joe or at least some hot tea to get the morning going! It seems the morning is not officially jump started until I sip that hot beverage packed with caffeine to really get my mind and my day moving.

Is that considered an addiction? You would think with this need of mine, a cup of coffee or tea would be the first thing to hit my lips every morning. Maybe brewing a pot at home each day or something... but that's really not the case. I am a "drink a glass of water first" kind of girl. Unless I have at least one glass of water in my belly in the mornings before my caffeine liquid intake, I get a tummy ache. So my glass of water is the first thing I drink each day... usually on the way to work.

So my mornings consist of one of two scenarios:

1. We make me a pot of coffee at home. My hubby or I make my mug to go with all the fixings, and a cup of water to take too. I drink the cup of water on the way to work, and usually finish right before I arrive to the office, when I start to sip on my delicious cup of joe.

2. No coffee is made at home. I make a cup of water for the ride to work, and make myself either a cup of coffee or tea once I arrive at the office.

As you can see, either way, I have a glass of water and a cup of coffee/tea for my morning intake each day. Yum... I love caffeine.

Taking Care of our 1st Born

Believe it or not, a dog can tear his ACL... and that unfortunately is exactly what has happened to our Kodi Bear.

For a few months now, Kodi has had a limp. At first it did not worry us, because he has had a limp for a day or two before and it's always gone away. But this limp never ended... constantly we saw him keeping weight off his left back leg, hobbling to get up off the floor, not allowing me to lift his right leg when wanting to clean off his paws. The odd thing was, he continued to lay on his left side. We finally decided he was obviously being bothered by something in his left leg, and we took Kodi to the vet a couple Friday's ago.

The news was not pretty, but it was at least something we could treat for him. The vet told us he had torn his ACL and surgery would be the necessary way to go. We were told that without the ACL repair, Kodi would have increased onset of arthritis. Repairing the ACL would not keep him from having arthritis one day, but it would help with the early onset of the arthritis. In addition, they stressed that the longer Kodi went without an ACL repair, the rest of his body would be carrying the load, as he would do his best to keep pressure off the injured area.

A little dumbfounded and concerned at the price tag associated with the ACL surgery for a dog, and not knowing the surgeon the vet would refer us too, we searched for someone to give us a second opinion and quote. Thankfully our friends, The Yopp's have a great vet they were confident to suggest to us. Dr. Blackburn at the Gentle Care Animal Hospital saw Kodi on Friday (Feb. 6th) for a consultation and confirmed the he does in fact have a torn ACL. On Monday, we took him back to get some x-rays so that Dr. Blackburn could take a good look at Kodi's knees and hips prior to opening him up for surgery.

The good news is that Kodi is overall a healthy pup. I feel so much more confident about what is going on with Kodi now that we've seen Dr. Blackburn and gotten a second opinion. Kodi does have a torn ACL, a little onset of arthritis around where the injury has occurred (probably due to our delay in getting him seen sooner), but the doctor could see little to no hip dysplasia. That's a great blessing, because we worried about the hip dysplasia.

According to Wikepedia,

Hip dysplasia is an abnormal formation of the hip socket that, in its more severe form, can eventually cause crippling lameness and painful arthritis of the joints. It is a polygenic trait, that is affected by environmental factors in the production of the final phenotype. It can be found in many animals and occasionally in humans, but is most commonly associated with dogs, and is common in many dog breeds, particularly the larger breeds.

Hip dysplasia is one of the most studied veterinary conditions in dogs, and the most common single cause of arthritis of the hips.

So, we can deal with an ACL tear. We got an "easier to handle" financial quote from Dr. Blackburn, and will be able to get Kodi back to putting weight on that left leg after the surgery and three months or so of rehab. We just want our first born fur baby taken care of!!!

From the sounds of it all, the rehab and recovery time is going to be the most difficult part for us all. Kodi will spend 2 days at the vet counting the day of the surgery and a day of recovery. Then the work at home begins. We will have to keep Kodi separated from Dexter for the entire time. I do not think Kodi or Dexter will understand this. It will take lots of work. They cannot play together, Kodi cannot go up or down steps, which means we'll have to make a ramp for him to get in and out of our house to use the bathroom. He must lay low and rest for a couple months. We will have to help ensure that he does not run, jump, or anything that might reverse all the work that will be done in the surgery. All of this will have to be done, all the while spending time with both Kodi and Dexter. They're our current children... we don't want to neglect them, especially our pup that has recently gone through surgery. (Yes, I'm sure this mentality about our dogs will change once children come along. Everyone tells us that. But currently, these are our children.)

Surgery date set for Thursday, February 19th.

Nashville Travels

As planned, we traveled to Nashville this weekend. The weather was absolutely amazing while we were there. (I hear Memphis had fabulous weather too!) We enjoyed the temps from 60-75 degrees and soaked up the time with family and friends.

Although we originally planned on traveling to Nashville on Saturday morning, we changed our arrangements and headed out of Memphis at 8pm Friday. We arrived at the Kee's (my sister's new last name) at 11pm. Robin and Brent were waiting up for us and we visited just enough to say hi and still get to sleep before midnight.

The weekend was great! It was graciously low key and we enjoyed the time with my Robin, Brent, and Maeby (Dexter's sister, but our niece). We filled our Pancake Pantry obsession, by standing in line for an hour on Saturday morning to finally eat Kelly's favorite blueberry pancakes and my desired Sugar and Spice pancakes. I'm pretty sure all four of us were satisfied after we left the restaurant. Yum Yum!

Saturday evening, we had a dinner potluck style with some friends, hosted by Robin and Brent. My hubby borrowed Brent's grill to cook us some awesome pork tenderloin. Robin made some delicious dessert and the most amazing salad I've ever had at someone's house (my mouth waters just thinking about the taste of that Celebration Salad!), and the friends that joined us brought along bread, rice, and more desserts to meet all our sweet tooth needs. We had a great time.

Sunday consisted of the Green Hills Church 1 year anniversary, some lunch, and visiting with Robin, Brent, and Maeby a bit more before we traveled back home. It really was a nice trip, I'm glad we went! For some reason I wasn't in a picture taking mood over the weekend, but I forced myself to get a few shots on Sunday before we headed out.

Below is my compilation of the Kee Family.
There is an awesome shot of Robin & Brent together, and then my attempts to get a full family shot... and finally a winning result of the entire family.

Below is the one group shot.
I look like an absolute chunky monkey in the face, double chin trying to show and all, but I really like it of everyone else.

And last but not least is a compilation of the sisters.
Robin and I got a few shots together, as you can see, and I threw in one shot from Christmas (where I'm wearing red) to even up the box design I had going here.

Looking Forward To...

The weekend is just around the corner... T-minus 4 hours and counting and it truly begins. I'll be off work (on my lunch break now), and my hubby and I will be able to start our weekend. I'm looking forward to it!

Tonight we're headed to celebrate some friends' birthdays and look forward to the fellowship that will be involved with that time. In addition to the birthday celebrations, we will clean house and pack for the weekend journey to NashVegas, TN that will begin in the morning. Thankfully our dear friend EM will stay at the house and hangout with our fur babies while we're away for a day or two. They'll be in good hands with The Office loving lady. So we're excited to get away for a quick trip.

In Nashville, we'll visit and stay with my middle sis, Robin and her hubby, Brent. Oh, and we also get to hang with their fur baby, Maeby, who is actually Dexter's sister. We're excited to see them. It's been since Christmas time, I believe, since we've enjoyed their company... so the trip is overdue. In addition to hanging out with our sis and bro, we also get to visit with our friends, Mike and Tabitha. It'll be great to see them too and we will go to their church Sunday morning to celebrate the Green Hills Church one year anniversary.

Should be a great weekend. I'm thoroughly looking forward to it. I'm sure many pictures and stories are to come.

9 Words Women Use

I'm not fully sure what I think about EVERYTHING written here, but I thought it was cute nonetheless AND wanted to get some feedback from both women & men.

True in full? Not True? True in part? What do you think?

NINE WORDS WOMEN USE

(1) Fine: This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up.

(2) Five Minutes: If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.

(3) Nothing: This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually end in fine.

(4) Go Ahead: This is a dare, not permission. Don't Do It!

(5) Loud Sigh: This is actually a word, but is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing. (Refer back to # 3 for the meaning of nothing.)

(6) That's Okay: This is one of the most dangerous statements a women can make to a man. That's okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.

(7) Thanks: A woman is thanking you, do not question, or faint. Just say you're welcome. (I want to add in a clause here - This is true, unless she says 'Thanks a lot' - that is PURE sarcasm and she is not thanking you at all. DO NOT say 'you're welcome'; that will bring on a 'whatever').

(8) Whatever: Is a woman's way of saying sc*ew YOU!

(9) Don't worry about it, I got it: Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking 'What's wrong?' For the woman's response refer to # 3.

Let the debates begin...

Slacker

Okay, so I'm WAY behind on my homework for the Anointed Transformed Redeemed study that I'm doing through the Women's Ministry at church. I don't know what my deal is. I usually go on Monday nights, and so far I've had everything completed in time for our session. However, this week due to the church's Girls Night Out event (which I didn't attend because it was Bunko night for me - that's another story), they pushed our study back to Thursday night. This gave me even more time to work on my five days of homework.

I must have subconsciously thought, "wow... that's extra days, I don't have to do it today. Or the next day, or the next, or the next..." Because now, without even realizing I did it, I'm only 2.5 days into week three of the study, when I'm supposed to be finished with all 5 days of week three by Thursday evening. And THEN, I have to be complete with all 5 days of week four by the Monday after that. What was I thinking or doing?

I'll have to crank some homework out tonight... just gotta find the focus and discipline to get started again. Grrr.

Operation Ryan Adams has been compromised!

In the latter parts of today, my hubby's gmail tagline read:

Operation Ryan Adams has been compromised!

In order for you to understand this statement, I have a story to tell... imagine that!

Kelly and my 2nd wedding anniversary is around the corner. We will celebrate our 2nd anniversary on March 17th, otherwise known as St. Patrick's Day. See, I gave him an easy way to remember "the day", ha ha. Anyway, as our anniversary quickly approaches, my hubby let me know a few days ago that I was not allowed to check our credit union account. He told me that he had purchased something that was a surprise for me, and I was unable to view the statement until our anniversary passed. I agreed to this and looked forward to my surprise.

Early this morning, I received an email from one of our good buddies (a few others were on the list too) stating that Ryan Adam's was coming to Memphis on March 18th. The email provided links to the Ryan Adam's website and venue website, and he inquired if anyone was interested in going. I quickly forwarded the email to my hubby (who was also on the original email) and said:

hey handsome, do you want to check out pricing for this to see if it's a possibility around our anniversary time?

That was at 8:15am. At 1:55pm, I received this email reply from my hubby, as he arrived home from work to view his emails:

Ehhhh...got to love my friends....
That was your surprise that I asked you not to look at the bank account for. I've already bought tickets...
Grrr

Although I'm bummed for my man to not have his surprise any longer, now I'm totally pumped for the event. Kelly took me to my first Ryan Adam's experience a year or so ago at the Germantown Performing Arts Center. It was an experience, and I really enjoyed it. My hubby's hope was that I would not find out about Ryan coming to town and he could keep it a secret until we pulled into the venue for the event on March 18th. Such a sweet idea, and although I know he wishes he could have kept it from me until the day of... I'M PUMPED for what's to come! And will continue to be excited for the next month as I look forward to the event! Yay! Good gift from my man!!! He's a keeper in more ways than one!

Back to Monday...

A busy weekend indeed, but an enjoyable one nonetheless!

From the very start, we hit the ground running... Friday arrived and after work, both the hubby and I went our separate, active ways. Kelly had a guys night. He was treated to the AC/DC concert by his buddy, where he and two other guys went together and rocked out (thankfully wearing the earplugs I supplied them for the show). While my hubby was reliving the 70s, 80s, 90s, and today with his fellow comrades, I took a different approach to my Friday night. First, I was treated to WolfRiver Cafe by my folks, and enjoyed dinner with them and my aunt & uncle. We had a great time and great eats. I had fried everything! Fried pickles, fried catfish, French fries, and some apple cobbler ala mode to top it off. It was delicious, and "healthy". uhh, but good nonetheless. Then I made my way to church for the free showing of the movie, Fireproof. If you have not seen this movie AND you're married - it's a must see! I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it reminded me of how easy it is to become focused on ME throughout my marriage and how detrimental that can be. I'm glad I went to the show.

On Saturday, we enjoyed a morning of leisurely activity, knowing that once we started, the end would not be until late. So I made a Perkins run for some yummy muffins... we watched some TV, and enjoyed our couch for as long as we could. Finally, we jumped up and got moving: cleaned house, did laundry, balanced the checkbook, paid bills, etc. until it was time to leave. The rest of the afternoon included many social to do's: a friend's 1 year old party, seeing the movie Taken (we really enjoyed it!), surprising our friend Ryan for his 30th birthday, and ending the night by watching the UFC pay-per-view until midnight. Ryan's surprise birthday dinner, hosted by his wonderful party planner wife, Brittany, was awesome! Good eats, good people, great time. We enjoyed every bit of it at Owen Brennan's for almost 3 hours. Thanks for the invite Britt! Below is the one picture I took all night.

We woke on Sunday and were absolutely exhausted. Instead of making our way, as usual, to Sunday School and Church, we took a morning to rest and allow Kelly to catch up on some school reading. As much as I enjoyed hanging with my hubby during that time, it's amazing how much we miss church & Sunday School when we don't make it there! We do not get to see those Sunday School folks that we're constantly getting to know and enjoy more as we go... and we miss Pastor Ernie preaching the word. I can't wait to listen to Ernie's message online - he started a marriage series that he's teaching throughout February. The rest of Sunday afternoon for us consisted of grocery shopping, cooking eats for the Super Bowl party, walking the dogs, and a little last minute laundry. We made our way to our Super Bowl destination (The Yopp's - Great party guys!) about 430 and hung out until about 1030pm. We were so happy to see our puppies and pillows once we returned. A busy weekend indeed, but an enjoyable one nonetheless!