The Honeymoon!

Well I wanted to come back and update real quick with a few pictures from our "mini honeymoon" that we took right after our wedding. We started our first day as husband and wife by getting up Sunday morning and getting all of our wedding gear back on so we could go take some pictures on the beach (we were unable to take them Saturday because of the thunderstorm that was rolling in). After that we went to visit both our families and say good-bye and headed off to Beaufort, SC for two nights. We enjoyed spending time in downtown Beaufort and stayed in a private cottage at a bed and breakfast that James found. We also spent the day Monday driving around to some of the near by islands and went to Hunting State Park and relaxed on the beach!

Our champagne that was waiting for us in our hotel room! We are going to save it for our year anniversary to eat with frozen wedding cake! Yum!

A picture of our cottage that we stayed in when in Beaufort.

A sailboat that we saw in the water downtown...James wanted to get a good picture for his brother!

The lighthouse at Hunting State Park

James and I on the beach!

A cool picture that James took when we were going on a boardwalk in the marshes...it had just rained so it made for a good photo opportunity!

Tuesday we left Beaufort and drove to Charleston to spend the day there. We definitely both enjoyed our time there and look forward to coming back to spend more time there soon. We went to the marketplace, rainbow row, battery park, and to a local restaurant that was reccomended. As you can see from the pictures James somehow convinced me to wear matching shirts while we were there that say "United We Ride"! Though I was not sold on the idea at first it ended up being kind of fun and we had lots of people ask us about them so that got us some extra attention as well! During our few hours in the city we also got talked into going to one of those time share presentations where yes, we were able to stay strong and turn it down! We did however get six free tickets to use the next time we are there so we thought that was worth it!

Me in Battery Park

James trying to lift a cannon ball...use those muscles babe!

Now we are back in good ole Monroe and have been working hard on getting our house back in order with all of our wonderful new things that we have gotten. We are excited to see everything come together. We are also heading back to the world of BHES and have spent the last two days there getting our classrooms in order and ready for the kids to come back in a week and a half. We have a week long workshop next week so we need to get everything we can together this week to lighten the load after sitting in class for 7 1/2 hours! Hopefully the workshop will be beneficial though and help us to become the best teachers we can be for our new students! I guess that is all from me for now, we will update with more pictures of the wedding (yes Laura i'll put a full length picture of my dress just for you) when we get them back!

Our new sign that hangs on our mailbox at our house...thanks Kelly & Justin!

The Browns!

Well yes it's official we are finally married and we had a GREAT time down at Jekyll with all of our closest family and friends, it was a once in a lifetime chance to get to take a trip with that many people! One thing that I think James and I both realized on this trip is how lucky we are to have such amazing people in our lives. I can't tell you how many people came together to help to make sure that this past weekend was a success and we are truly thankful for each one of them.

A picture of the sign lettings us know that we made it to our destination!

Our rehearsal dinner was absolutely awesome and James and his family did a great job finding some of the "World's Greatest BBQ" for us to enjoy on the 4th of July! We also got to see some fireworks from the beach that night which was pretty fun as well.

A picture of the ladies being thugs with our great new hair styles...good looking wedding party, don't ya think?

I had to get a picture with Sally "The Rev" who married us and did a wonderful job with our ceremony. James and I feel relly blessed to have had her as a part of our day.

Just hanging out and enjoying the night with my new husband! I don't think either of us got tired of getting pictures taken that night so we would have many to remember it by! It's funny because in a way I feel no different now that we are married but on the other hand there is just this sense of comfort in knowing that I will always have James in my life no matter what! I have to say though that it has felt kinda weird to hear him refer to me as his wife the last few days but i'm glad to know he enjoys calling me that!

Well I guess that's all for now...we will update again soon with pictures from our trip after the wedding and with more pictures of our day after we get them from Matt our wonderful photographer!

How sweet it is to be loved by you!

As many of you know we are starting our journey down to Jekyll Island, Ga tomorrow morning. I thought it would be neat to take a few moments and take you on a journey with us through the past few years. This will be just a quick snapshot.

We appreciate all our family and friends who have been along with us for this journey. Buckle your virtual seat belts and please keep feet and hands inside the ride at all times.

This picture was taken the first time I came out to Charlotte. This was our first Easter as an item. This was also the first time that she told me that she loved me. For those of you who do not know she did this event quite well. She broke the words up in a different language and hid them all over the house for me to find. This picture above was taken at the Botanical gardens here in town.This picture was of us during our first New Year's Eve celebration. This was taken at a restaurant called the Butcher Shop in downtown Knoxville. It was great food and great time. Yes, I do believe I got a kiss at midnight. Lucky me:)

This is the first ring I ever gave her. Isn't it pretty! I think she was speechless and overcome with happy emotions at this moment!

See, I told you that she loved me! That was one powerful olive. Never underestimate the power of true love!

This is of course the house that we bought! Buying a house was such a great journey. It is a lot of work but something that I both think that we would not have traded the experiences we gained from this for anything.

This of course is the newest addition in our family! He has brought so much joy and fun into our lives. We do love him dearly. This was the poor fella when he lost his manhood. He was the lucky winner of a nice bright shiny cone!

This is a picture I took of Jekyll Island's Club Hotel. It is a beautiful place full of history and beauty! The picture does not do it justice.

This last picture is of Faith Chapel. This is where we will be getting married at on Saturday. We hope to see a lot of you there. Remember if you could not make it to the wedding we are having a celebration here on the 19th. You are definitely welcome.

A Quick Update!

Here are a few pictures to show some of the fun things that we did while we were in Tennessee for the past week and a half. Thanks to everyone who has sent us thoughts, prayers, and wishes for the wedding on here over the last few days and weeks...we truly appreciate it and hope to see you all either at the wedding or at our BBQ on July 19th!

My cousin Brady and I hanging out by the lake!

James and Brennan taking a break from their "noodle war" in the lake!

Who knew the simple task of getting on gloves could take so much hot air? We are getting ready to do some tye dying with the kids and surprisingly enough it turned out pretty well!

A picture of our cake from the shower that James's Mom & Aunt threw us while we were in town!

My wonderful Mom & I at the shower!

James's cousin Tammy showing off our new door mat...probably one of my favorite gifts from the shower!

Two Weeks & Counting!

Yep that's right it's officially only TWO WEEKS until we get married!  Part of me feels like that is plenty of time to get things done and the other part of me knows that it is going to FLY by!  Especially with having to work half days all week next week with our "Kindergarten Boot Camp" I know it is going to be here before we know it!

We have been having a great time in Tennessee for the last 10 days getting some last minute things done for the wedding and also just spending some quality time with our families.  Last weekend on the 14th we celebrated the birthdays in James's family by having a good ole southern BBQ at their house.  We also spent some time on the lake with Michael and Sidney (James's brother and his wife) and with Brady and Brennan, not to mention the fabulous tye dying that we did with them as well!  

Today James's Mom and his Aunt threw us our 2nd wedding shower at a local church and we had a great time.  It was nice to be able to meet some new people in his family along with meeting some of his Mom's friends that live in the area.  We got some really nice things off our registry and most importantly got to spend some quality time with loved ones!

Tomorrow we head back home to NC to finish things up the last week and a half before we leave for the wedding.  As I said earlier I know that this time that is coming up is going to just fly by along with the time while we are in Jekyll and I know that it all will not go as planned but whatever happens the most important part is that we get to spend time with family and friends and you can't get any better then that!

Schools out for Summer!!!!!

Friday was our last day of school with the kids. The first thing that popped into my mind when I woke up on Friday was the song "Schools out for Summer." Surviving your first year of teaching is a milestone I was told. It is one that I can definitely agree with now. Coming into the school year midway through the year has to be one of the hardest things to do. This year was full of ups and downs. There were definitely more ups than downs. The year was very rewarding, and I am looking forward to starting from day one in third grade next year.
Anna I know had a great last day of school with Beach day. It sounded like the kids had a blast it.

We have a few work days left to go, and then its off to Tennessee for a while. Birthdays abound while we are there. My birthday is on the 14th as is my twins of course, along with my moms. My dads and his sister's bday is on the 13th. That all adds up to a lot of cake and icecream over the next little bit. YUM!

Hope everyone has a great break and a great safe Summer. More posts to come. We can't wait until we see all of you at the wedding.

The Time Is Getting Near...

Gotta love a sunset in the mountains...just one of the many amazing things that God does to show us the beauty of the world!

Well yes as everyone keeps reminding me we are just about a month away from the big day...WAHOO! We are getting excited and to be honest I'm just sick of waiting and ready for it to be here. I went for my 2nd fitting on my dress today and that definitely gave me that "wow" feeling in knowing that the time is close!

While we wait we are definitely kept from being bored by all the things we have going on at school. Thursday is our field day and on Friday we are having a beach day in Kindergarten where the kids get to play a bunch of water games and such so that should be a good time and wear them out pretty well! It is really neat to see how far some of the students have come, especially given the way that they came in to K. Seems like if we let them that the kids would be able to run the class on their own (and some of them try to on a daily basis!) Even though many people talk about how much pressure is put on Kindergarten students it is great for me to be able to still get to see their innocence. Just today one of our students brought in pictures of his dogs and was telling us how one of his dogs can be mean some times and they have to "smack him" to which one of my little girls replied "well if he's mean and you don't like him then you should just sell him in a yard sale or somethin!" Gotta love the minds of kids!

As many of you know James and I have also been doing a lot of traveling lately including a camping trip to the beach with Molly & Matt and also a trip to the mountains that James to me on for my birthday! We had a great time on both trips and feel really blessed to be able to get away like that, especially with gas prices and all going up I think our trips are going to be minimal here the rest of the year! Here are a few pictures I thought you all would enjoy from those trips!

Setting up a tent on an incredibly windy day...not so easy but who needs guys when the girls can do it!

Molly & Matt on the beach with their dog Tacori

James & I sitting by our JEG in the sand that I drew...awww! OK 10 points if you can tell me what JEG means!!

James and I on our trip to the mountains at the top of Chimney Rock...we did it!

The view from Chimney Rock...it was BEAUTIFUL!

James doing some creative photography with my ring...thought it turned out pretty cool!

A.J. and I were ready for a nap after a long weekend!