Cane Creek

OK so I guess we will oficially do one more post before we leave for our trip! Yesterday James and I went to Cane Creek with Brian, Melissa, Tara, and Matt where we were able to enjoy a beautiful fall day full of hiking, friendship, and even a little swimming for the pups! After spending a few hours there, Matt and Tara invited us all over for a good ole southern BBQ where Tara even made sure to get some "slaw" for the burgers...funny how soon you learn the southern lingo! We also got to break in their new fire pit and roast some marshmallows...the campfire was accompanied by lots of laughs and even a few camp songs, yep some of us never grow up!



Today James and I also got to go to church and see Matt and Tara become members of our church, what a great day for them! After that we came back home and did some cleaning and packing, oh boy! AJ kept himself busy with one of the pumpkins that Mom bought for my class last time I was in Tennessee...gonna be hard to pry him away from that thing so I can give it to the kids!



Well I must run and finish up the packing for our trip but just thought this weekend was worthy of one more post before we go! Well the pictures wouldn't upload that I wanted to put on so i'll have to try and add them later!

A.J.'s First Grooming!

Well today was a big milestone in AJ's life...we took him to Petsmart for his first official grooming visit. He didn't need to get a hair cut but he got a bath and his ears checked and his toe nails clipped. While going in we made some new friends with a couple that were fans of the Jacksonville Jaguars...always great to meet strangers in Petsmart and invite them over to watch football...haha! Anyways we dropped AJ off and went for a walk to grab dinner while he got worked on. When we picked him up he got a great report and looked like a star! James picked out a nice orange bandanna for him to wear so he could support the UT Vols! Here are a couple pics of his new do and also so pics from him getting his first treat tonight...it was really very entertaining!

AJ taking his first treat!

Trying to dig a hole under the kitchen table and hide it!

Couldn't get it under the table to why not bury it next to the TV?

Well he wasn't successful with digging a hold for the treat so he decided to eat it under the coffee table instead...yum yum!

I also thought that I would include a picture of the flowers that I came home to last weekend. I went with Shelly over to see our family in TN and when I came back it seems that James had gone to Costco and picked me up some purple daisies! Shelly and I had been talking most of the trip back about the wedding and ideas for colors and when I saw the flowers I thought it might be neat to do the colors purple, green, and yellow...what do you think?!?! Oh yeah and as far as the wedding goes it might be a bit of a delay in getting out the save the date cards. We have hit a small bump in the road and are trying to decide what to do about it, to make a long story short we may be switching our date to July 3rd or switching the place we have the reception so just keep both days open for us!

A good inspiration for wedding colors?

Well I hope everyone has a great weekend and James and I are taking off for TN and Michigan on Monday to go visit family and friends and also to go to Kelly's wedding so it may be a bit before we post again but I promise lots of great pics on the next post! Keep in touch and ya'll better start leaving us some comments or we are going to think no one loves us anymore!

A Quick Update

Well looking at everyones blog right now I realize that it has been a while since we have updated ours! Things have been so crazy these past few weeks with James' new job and trying to keep on top of grad school that I guess we have just let the blog slip! Sorry about that! Let's see I am in Tennessee right now visiting family with my cousin Shelly and we have had a nice relaxing time. I got to go yesterday to David's Bridal and try some gowns on for Mom which was a lot of fun. Last night we all ordered pizza for dinner and took it out on a long boat ride with the family which is always interesting! It was great to be able to catch up with everyone again though.

James has been working hard around the house trying to get us caught back up there. He has also been learning as he goes about the joys of report cards and PEPs because we have parent teacher conferences coming up this week. I know it has been stressful for him and a lot to learn but not a day goes by where someone doesn't come up to me at school and tell me how great he is with the kids and what a wonderful fiance I have...and I have to agree that I"m a pretty lucky lady!

We also worked a little on wedding plans this weekend when I was here with my Mom and Shelly. We are going to be getting our save the date cards out soon so keep your eye out for those! I have been so relaxed about the wedding plans but I think it is time to try to get a few things done...maybe I will be inspired after going to Kelly's wedding next month and hopefully will get a few things decided.

Well I guess I will close this off so that I can go get things packed up for Shelly and I to get on the road. I hope everyone is doing well and has a great week! Leave us some comments to let us know how you all are doing!

Booms Day!

The UT stadium is right by the water and makes a great pic from the boat!

Well last weekend for Labor Day we decided to head over to Tennessee for the weekend for their annual Boomsday festival. Boomsday is the celebration that they have in Knoxville every year to kick off the University of Tennessee football season. The whole town is covered in bright orange, oh boy! I know that my favorite part of the weekend every year is getting to see the fireworks display which is the largest in N. America!

Tara, Melissa and I had a great girls weekend that was very relaxing and had fun getting pedicures and doing some shopping...James was also lucky enough to get to ride in the car with us for 5hours so that he could go home and spend the weekend with his family! We had a great time getting to do some swimming and relaxing on Mom and Dad's new boat and of course had to have a few margaritas! James also enjoyed getting to spend some time with his family and see his brother and their family when they were visiting from Mississippi. Here are some of the pics that we took while we were gone.

Melissa and I relaxing in the water while Tara did some relaxing on the dock!

The captains of "Out and About"...Mom & Dad's new pride and joy!

Natalie and Brady enjoying the view from up front!

Don't our toes look great? A pedicure is a necessity during a girls weekend!

Meslissa checking out one of the painted bears downtown...thought it was a cute pic!

New beginnings

I realize we have not posted to our blog in like weeks. Shame on us. Trying to do better.

A lot has happened since we last posted. I am no longer a pusher of the TV. I am with more joy and anticipation the new fourth grade teacher at BHES. Good ole BHES. The school as most of you know is in Monroe. It is not a bad school. It is designated as a school of the arts, alongside being classified as a magnet school for the arts. I am pondering how I might get to participate in the school having such a great honor. Hmmmm, I think the kids should take a photography class, or something like that as an elective or something maybe down the road. Just a thought but may be a good after school thing every once in a while.

It is exciting being the new fourth grade teacher. It is a whole new world. Everything has changed so fast. I look forward to the many joys and challenges that teacher will provide. I do know that i have to work on getting my alarm clock working. It is hard getting up at 5 when all you have known is long retail hours at night.

Anyway that is a good thing though, because I have been able to spend more time with Anna. I look forward to the things we will now be able to do with our extra time together.

Thanks for reading, and checking in.