Pictures! (Or, I'm Back!!)

Finally! I'm posting pictures from like 3 weeks ago ... a few of these you may have already seen, but I can't remember what I've posted and what I haven't, so you'll just get to look at them again. Quick recap: Mark left on Saturday, Kelly came on Monday. Tuesday we went to Samford to take books back and make pictures. These are at Samford...

Then we came back to the house to make ice cream and start our ravioli adventure.

Ice cream! It was delish!

(obviously.)

Later that afternoon, we started making mushroom ravioli. It took 3 hours. It was a long process.

Kelly kneads the pasta dough...

Spooning the pasta onto the rolled dough...

The finished product. It was pretty freakin' good.

On Wednesday, we went to the Birmingham Museum of Art.

It was pretty fun, and we got some good pictures, but man it was FREEZING in that place.

So we escaped outside to the sculpture garden...

Where Kelly got eaten by a cloud. Sad day.

I snatched her back, and that night we got to see Colton. (Much to Kelly's delight.)

The next day, we went to Sno-Biz.

We love Sno-Biz.

That night we went out to eat with the amazing Laura Echerd at Firebird's. It was SO yummy.

We dressed up for the occasion. Because who doesn't love dressing up?

Friday was a busy day. We cooked up a storm that morning, and Kelly incinerated some bacon in my microwave. It was impressive. We were going to Colton's later that afternoon, so we made cookies for his family.

Peanut butter cup cookies, to be exact.

Oh, yum.

Then we went to this petting-zoo-type place at Oak Mtn. State Park.

The animals were very, very friendly.

And they had the cutest baby donkey in the whole wide world.

Honestly, don't you just want to lay down and cuddle with him?

Kelly made friends with this goat. And then he stepped on her foot. Oh well.

Then we went and saw Toy Story 3 with Colton. I can't say enough good things about that movie. It was wonderful, and I cried like a baby.

And then I had to work the weekend, which was sad. And on Monday, Kelly and I left early in the morning and I went to meet my hubby at the airport!

So, now you're all up to date on pictures. I will soon finish my current roll, and then you'll get to see life on Hannah's farm, and hopefully some adorable pictures of Kelly and Colton if I can get them to comply today.

Happy Monday, everybody! I'm off to freeze some tomatoes :)

I'm Back!!

I'm a pretty terrible blogger. I've not posted in forever, and I'm way behind on everybody else's blogs as well.

We're in Griffin right now. I decided on Saturday that I was going to go with Mark's family to pick him up from the airport, so I drove down on Monday morning (right after Kelly left.) I know I've got a lot to get caught up on with her visit, but I've just been enjoying my hubby's company the last few days. On Monday evening, in a terrible storm, his mom and I went to the airport, and I surprised him :) They almost got diverted to Birmingham because of the weather, which would have been funny but sort of terrible, but luckily they were just a little bit late. So we've been hanging out with his family and friends the last couple of days. It was good timing, because we've had some car issues, so we're getting them fixed while we're here and have a place to stay.

Hopefully I'll be able to finish catching up on all of Kelly's and my fun soon, but for right now, I'm just happy to be with Mark again :)

A sad and a happy

I'm feeling blank this afternoon. Not in a bad way... I'm just not sure what to write. My life has been so boring lately ... well, not to me, but probably boring to everyone else. I love my routine. I love spending so much time in the kitchen. I love playing housewife during the week. I've even *gasp* taken great satisfaction in washing the dishes lately.

But there's not that much to blog about, right now. I'm usually one of those people who wants to DO something all the time. This occasionally poses a problem with Mark, because he says that you can't do something ALL time time. I disagree. Usually, I go-go-go. I guess lately, what I've been DOING is cooking :) It works out nicely for both of us.

I do have one thing that I'm pretty excited about (and not, at the same time), which is coming up pretty soon. Mark will be chaperoning an overseas mission trip with his brother's youth group next week. That's right, I said chaperoning. My husband, in charge of teenagers. What a scary thing to think about!! (J/k, baby, if you're reading this!)

That's the part I'm not super excited about, because I can't go. This will be the longest we've been apart since before we got married, and since it's overseas, we'll have very little contact with each other. Boo hiss. How very lonely, and not fun.

Enter: my sister! She's coming to stay with me most of the time that Mark is gone, and I am SO excited about it! We've made grand plans (per usual) that involve lots and lots and lots of cooking delicious foods, going fun places, and generally prancing around and having a merry old time. I can't wait to see her again ... I just wish Mark wasn't going to be gone :(

(P.S. A shameless plug for my sister - she's just posted a recipe for Paula Deen's cheesecake bars ... it looks delightful, plus there's the added bonus of seeing the widely-feared vanilla monster!)

Hope you guys had a great Wednesday!

Happy day

Pictures will come later, but last night was a success! We had lots of fun, and we looked pretty, and the food and company were good!

And now, the main order of business:

Three years ago today, I married my very best friend. It was honestly the happiest day of my life, up to this point in time. (I figure having children might possibly trump the wedding eventually...)

We've been through some really great times in the last 3 years ... and also some really hard times. But our mutual love and respect for each other (and lots and lots of blessings from God) have carried us through, and we are blessed and happy and still in love :) Life is so good with Mark. I love him so much.

Happy Anniversary, my sweetheart!

I can't believe it's already Wednesday...

Happy Wednesday to everybody! I don't know about you guys, but this week has flown by already - probably because I worked extra on Monday.

Mark and I have been trying a new exercise adventure - it's not very adventurous, really, but hopefully we'll actually continue to do this one. We've started walking every morning. (Well, every morning that I don't have to work...) I figure we do about 2-2.5 miles each time, so it's a decent amount of walking... I'd rather do a lot farther, but Mark doesn't seem to want to. Hopefully tomorrow we can do a much more strenuous trail at Oak Mtn.

After we got back from our walk this morning, I headed straight into the kitchen to try my hand at quiche for brunch/lunch today... We'll see how it goes. I am quite ashamed to admit that I did not try to make my own crust (the lack of food processor is a definite hindrance to making pie crust), but instead used store-bought refrigerated crust, which cracked and did not quite fill up my 9.5-inch pie pans. (WHY do they make pie pans 9.5 inches when pie crust recipes and store-bought crust CLEARLY say it's meant for a 9-inch pan?? I will never understand this.) So some of the quiche mixture seeped over the top of the crust, and it won't be very pretty. I'm hoping that it will taste good, at least... I guess we'll find out in about 40 minutes.

Now, I'm off to hit the shower while the quiches bake and maybe start a load of laundry (or finish doing the dishes) before it's time to eat.

Hope everybody has a lovely hump day!

Birthday Recap

Today is Elissa's last day here with me :( So sad.

(We've already planned a Nashville trip for me and a visit to Chattanooga for both of us, though... We like to plot. We're like Lucy and Ethel. Or Lucy and Lucy, as Lissa's boyfriend likes to say...)

Anywho...

My birthday (days) in pictures!!


March 23rd: I turned 25!

We went to lunch with Andy and Suzie at Surin West - SO yummy! Here's me and Mark outside the restaurant after lunch


Mark had to go back to the library and do some reading/work, and we all headed home to eat cake. Yummy! It was a strawberry cake with cream cheese icing. (I changed shirts, because it was hot.)

Looking cheesy...


We finally got patio chairs! Now we can eat outside!


Andy and Suzie


Me and my BFF :)


Then Lissa and I headed into downtown Homewood to wander and look around. She might kill me for posting this picture, but I don't care :)


One of the places we went was Penzy's - an AMAZING spice store. If you have one in your area, you should totally check it out. I got some curry powder, some spice du provence, and some AMAZING cocoa powder. Like, God might serve it in heaven. Or make things with it. Or something. Next on my list to get there: extracts! Double strength vanilla (I DIE), almond, orange, lemon, oh my yummy goodness...



And then, that night (curses to me for not making pictures - do you guys ever do that? Not make pictures, because you're too busy actually DOING whatever you're doing to get your camera, then totally, totally regret it later?)... Matthew (Lissa's boyfriend) came over and we ate dinner together. Lissa and I made yummy pasta - we dubbed it April's Birthday Pasta, per Matthew's request for a name. It was angel hair pasta, asparagus, mushrooms, grilled chicken, and sundried tomatoes in a white wine cream sauce (complete with garlic and my new spice du provence!)

We ate outside. By candlelight. On my gorgeous patio table. With Frank Sinatra playing in the background. It seemed like something out of a movie. It was perfect.

WHY DID I NOT TAKE PICTURES OF THIS????

Anyway, nothing I can do about it now, so moving on.

My birthday presents from Mark came a day late. TOTALLY worth the wait. A pretty, breezy, precious sundress from J. Crew - quintessential summer!


And a close-up of the lovely fabric. I love it! It's so pretty!


And - I finally have some cute black flip-flops! (That actually go with the dress quite well.) Aren't they cute? Thank you, dear husband, for feeding my new J. Crew addiction :)


Our plan was to go see Alice in Wonderland in 3D. That kind of didn't happen... because we shopped all day long!!

(I think I might be able to get away with posting this picture because it's worse of me than of Lissa.... squinty squinty!)


I totally said "Screw you!" to winter and wore a sweet cotton-knit sundress. And it was perfect. Perfect sun, perfect weather, perfect company :)

I bought another one of those favorite-ever bras from VS. And some jewelry from Charming Charlie's, which may or may not become my new cheap jewelry obsession... And then we went on an intense search to find Elissa a spring dress to wear on her date with the boy.

After much searching, we finally found one (PERFECT - white seersucker, looked amazing on her) only to realize that there was a tear in the seam. The nice lady (rather talkative with a rather annoying voice, but hey, if she's helpful...) gave Lissa a discount on the cute sweater she found to wear with it, and found another store close-by which had 2 of those same dresses in her size.

So I headed home to eat, and Lissa ran out and picked the other dress up.

She got home, and it wouldn't zip. Absolutely. would. not. zip. The same dress in the same size at the other store fit PERFECTLY and zipped with no problem. The new dress was mislabeled. And Matthew was on his way. Elissa had NO other appropriate clothes...

So, in a frantic scurry, I called Matthew and told him that we were having a wardrobe crisis, that Lissa had to leave and fix it and she would be back. She dashed out the door, and was leaving as Matthew pulled in. He is a good sport (I think he thinks we're funny) and she came back a little later in her cute pretty new dress (this one fit - thank GOD they had another) and looked adorable! Crisis averted!

Aren't they cute?


My friend is so pretty!


Yay for friends!


So today, I'm not sure what we'll do. I want to go to Cantina since we didn't get to go on Monday night, and I'm sad that Lissa has to leave :( But what a good birthday it has been! And, to make it even better, next week my best friend from college, Kristine, is coming to visit! Happy day! I love my friends :)

(And my sweet, sweet hubby who I get to see all the time. So glad at least he's not far away from me!)

Birthday #1

Be warned: this post is really picture-heavy!

Last night was my first birthday party/celebration of this year (I know, I sound really spoiled, having like 4 or so...) with my parents, my grandma, Mark, my sister, and her boyfriend Colton. It was so much fun!!

Kelly and Colton came over that evening after their classes were done. We talked and looked at Ninny's old pictures from the 1940's and 50's. Very cool.


My mom made me a really fabulous birthday cake, as always, and we had poppyseed chicken and green beans for dinner. Yummy! (That's strawberry buttercream icing on the cake - my favorite!)


I love my family. We laugh a lot :)


My mom very graciously did not put all 25 candles on the cake, just 7 ... two on top and five on bottom. She handed Colton (who is a really great photographer) her camera and he took pictures all evening, cause he's awesome like that.


the Birthday Girl! (a week early...)


After our cake festivities, it was time for presents. I opened the little box, and it had some buttons in it (so it would rattle - my mother thinks of everything) and a note, saying that I would be playing Ninny's favorite game - Wheel of Fortune! - to find clues that would lead me to my present.


We do creative celebrations :)


Playing the game... I started out sort of slowly, but then did pretty well


The three phrases I had to solve ended up saying: "Three boxes, in plain view, in the storage closet."


So into the storage closet I went, followed by my posse.


After looking at all the WRONG boxes, I finally found the right ones...


And was so, so surprised by my present!!


Back story: when Mark and I registered for china, we registered in Birmingham. A lot of our wedding guests lived in Chattanooga (where the wedding was held), and unfortunately the stores in Chattanooga did not carry the pattern that we picked out. You can see it here. Although my mom asked, the stores wouldn't order any ahead - they wanted to wait for people to place the order. And the people from my church who WOULD have bought the china were all little old ladies who didn't want to order it - they wanted to be able to put their hands and eyes on it and buy it straight from the store.

Anyway, long story short, we got a grand total of 3 place settings, plus a saucer. Not very helpful for entertaining...

So. Around Christmas, my mom and I were shopping around this neat home goods consignment boutique near my parents' house. And they had this GORGEOUS set of china - a complete set. For cheap cheap. (I mean, as an 8 place-setting of china goes...) It was ivory china, with this pretty black design around the borders - very classy looking. And I made the comment to my mom that I would love to someday be able to have a complete set of china like that.

Little did I know, she talked to my family that night, and they all pitched in, and she went back the next day and bought the whole thing for my birthday.


Amazing!!


My mom is the best :) What an awesome birthday present for my 25th birthday!!


Here's a picture of what it looks like - I can't get the picture to turn around the right way, but this is one of the serving pieces with the salt and pepper shakers. Isn't it so pretty? I ended up with 8 dinner plates, 8 salad plates, 8 soup bowls, 12 saucers, 10 cups, a large round serving platter, a large serving bowl, this little oblong serving plate, a butter dish, a soup tureen, a sugar bowl, a gravy boat, and the salt and pepper shakers. Seriously, fantastically awesome. I love it!!



And THEN, as if that wasn't good enough - Kelly gave me her present :) I love having artsy family members/friends, because neither Mark or I are very good at drawing/painting/photog-ing/etc, etc. I get a lot of really cool presents from Kelly, because she's poor, it's less expensive to make stuff, and she's amazing.


So she did me this cool pastel (Art Deco? or something?) drawing of me and Mark from a picture I made of us, and wrote some creative and funny things about us above it. I can't wait to put it in a poster frame and figure out where I'm going to put it :)


Some of the descriptions up close :)


The upper part of it, where you can read it - so funny :) And, Colton helped!


They are so, so precious. It makes me happy :)


And then, me and Kelly and Colton and my mom played a rousing game of Taboo, at which my mom and I were pretty much crushed by Kelly and Colton :) We're usually pretty good, but they were just on a roll last night - they're on the same wavelength :) Also makes me happy!

So, I consider phase 1 of my 25th birthday to be a complete success! I was so, so surprised by the china. Now I just need a china cabinet to put it in! I love getting to spend time with my family - we are so very good at loving and laughing and celebrating, and it is so much fun.

Tonight, Mark is taking me out on a date in Chattanooga - I'm getting dressed up, so hopefully I can post a picture or two on here. Then tomorrow, we're heading to Dayton to double-date with Kelly and Colton at a Mexican place, and Kelly and I are going to trade dresses. We'll head back to Chattanooga for dinner, then head home. And next week: Elissa comes!!

My life is so good. I'm such a lucky girl :)