Summer Fun

We had a very relaxing 4 day weekend which was much needed! We spent the weekend at home so we were able to visit with some friends and get some things done around the house. Not to mention the following things (in no particular order)...

We did lots of this...

Enjoyed way too much of this...

And celebrated by watching this...

I hope you enjoyed your holiday weekend!

Captain Ocoee

Last weekend, Ben and I went whitewater rafting with 2 of my good friends from college and their husbands. After receiving the invite to go, I was terrified really excited when Ben agreed that we should participate in this very dangerous exhilerating activity. After signing my rights away (including my right to live) I was pretty much convinced that I would have at least 1 bodily injury and/or emotional injury to hold over my husband's head report. The pre-rafting safety course only confirmed this when the instructor mentioned things like what to do if you get caught in a hydraulic. I mean talk about a comforting mental image. And while I was very jealous that the other groups had very athletic looking guides skeptical of our old, crusty guide, Dickie (aka Captain Ocoee), he quite possibly saved my life. There was a point early on in our trip where I was headed straight into the gushing rapid and he reached over and grabbed me by my life jacket and pulled me back into our raft. Thanks again Dickie for keeping us all safe! Since I am alive and able to write this post, I can now say that the trip was a lot of fun!

Pre-rafting picture of the group

Me, Lindsey, & Raney

Some pictures to prove that I actually went action shots

Sigh of relief, we survived!

Thanks again Raney & Keith for inviting us!

What Did You Expect?

Ben and I are starting this marriage conference at our church, What did you expect? Redeeming the realities of your marriage. I can honestly say that marriage has been better than I expected. I thank God often for blessing me with Ben. Other than my relationship with the Lord, he is most important to me. I can't imagine what a different person I would be today had it not been for him in my life. The Lord has used him to lead and guide, challenge and grow me. He is an amazing leader of our home...and as a wife, such peace comes from knowing that your husband is seeking the Lord in everything!

The Queen City

I have been dying to go to Charlotte and visit my good friend Amanda, so when the opportunity presented itself I immediately booked my flight. I went for a quick weekend trip and cannot even put into words how much fun it was! First off, Charlotte. Is. Amazing. It reminded me of a mix of Atlanta (good shopping/restaurants) and Nashville (pretty southern estates). Amanda is one of those friends regardless of how much time passes between seeing each other or talking, we immediately pick back up where we left off. Apparently we were having so much fun talking and catching up, we didn't have time to take a picture of us! We had a full day on Saturday of eating, shopping, more shopping, going to the movies, and last but not least more eating. What more could a girl want?

One of the many places we went shopping at....I mean seriously?

Dean and Deluca :)

Thanks for having me Amanda & Joe-- I can't wait to come back and visit-- maybe next time it will be to move there :)

   

A weekend in Chatty!

After being out of town 5 out of the past 6 weekends, we were both really looking forward to staying here this weekend. We had quite a busy weekend, here are some of the highlights:

We celebrated the marriage of our friends Allison & Blake. We have met them through our small group at church and have really enjoyed getting to know them and watching their relationship progress from dating to now husband and wife!

The bride in her cute "getaway" dress

Some of our small group with the bride

Girls from Bible Study

Saturday night, Ben surprised me by taking me to my favorite restaurant in the Chattanooga area. Actually, it may be one of my favorites period. The food and service are awesome but the best part is you can bring your own wine (no corking fee)! The only downside is it's on the top of Lookout Mountain, which means you have to eventually drive down the mountain to get home.

After dinner, we drove through Cloudland Canyon State Park since we were really close. This is somewhere I've been wanting to go hike and after seeing it I am even more excited about going back. The views were breathtaking!

The weekend ended with a party for Ben's grandmother, who is now a published author! She was a professional storyteller and it has always been her dream to have one of her books published. She chose to publish her book about the women of the bible first. She is already making plans to publish more. It has been really good for her to stay busy and she is enjoying every minute of it! So, Ben's mother hosted a book signing party for her at their house. She had so many dear friends that came out to show their support!

On a side note, her publisher told her she was their only client who did not have an e-mail account. Therefore, all of the drafts/revisions were sent via snail mail :) Ben had to explain to her many times the importance of having a website to promote her book.

There is never a dull moment...even weekends when you stay at home!

Happy Anniversary

We actually started our celebration a little early. We were able to spend 5 days in WaterColor back in May. It was absolutely perfect and everything we had hoped it would be-- relaxing and fun. WaterColor is really special to us because that is where we took our engagement pictures last year. Every year since we have been dating (2006), we have visited the WaterColor/Seaside area....but this was my first time (Ben's second) to actually stay in a WaterColor home and I loved it. We both agree it's our favorite place to go! We are looking forward to vacationing there for many years to come. Here are some pictures of the adorable house we rented.

After leaving WaterColor, we headed over to Point Clear to stay at The Grand Hotel. This is where we stayed on our wedding night, so it was really fun to go back and reminisce. We even ate dinner at Felix's Fish Camp which is where had dinner the Sunday night before flying out to St. Thomas on Monday.

So, needless to say, this past weekend (our actual anniversary) was pretty low-key. We celebrated on Friday night by enjoying a delicious meal on our china and eating year-old wedding cake. Ben grilled steaks and I prepared the salad and twice baked potatoes (thanks to Fresh Market). It was perfect! Oh, and the wedding cake was surprisingly not that bad...it still had a great flavor, just a little dry :)

The rest of our weekend was spent in Birmingham seeing friends and family. We attended a wedding of a good family friend of mine. The ceremony was at Reid Chapel and was absolutely beautiful. My parents came in town for the event, so we got to see them 2 weekends in a row! We left the reception early to go to a wedding shower for one of Ben's old co-workers and good friends. Steve was so sweet and came to our wedding by himself as he was living in Atlanta at the time. We are looking forward to his upcoming wedding in August as I absolutely adore his bride-to-be. We ended the weekend with lunch on Sunday with some dear friends of ours, Charlie & Hollie. I can't tell you how blessed we feel to be surrounded by such amazing friends and family.

But the best part of my weekend (besides celebrating 1 year of marriage) was getting to see my sweet friend Sarah who lives in Atlanta now. It is such a small world because Sarah's husband is good friends with Steve also......so they came in town for the shower! I had been looking forward to seeing her for weeks and the visit did not disappoint! I don't think we stopped talking the entire 2 hours. Ben said we weren't even making words because we were talking so fast. Sarah is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of friend. She has been such a blessing in my life! I keep praying that one day we will live in the same city again....but until then thank goodness for gmail and lots of "free" time at work. Miss you Sarah!

We have another wedding this weekend......this makes 3 weekends in a row! Do you think it's wedding season?!  

And we're off!

After moving into our house, Ben and I quickly realized that we needed lots of furniture. At least one weekend a month is usually devoted to furniture and antique shopping. Whenever we travel to see family and friends, we always make it a point to do some furniture shopping while we are there. This past weekend we made our biggest purchase thus far....dining room chairs! Who knew how expensive chairs could be?! Ben's sweet grandmother gave us her antique dining room table and china cabinet which we are so grateful for. However, we have been staring at this table since October and have yet to find any chairs that we liked. I'm glad we waited as long as we did, because I love the chairs we found, but it has been very difficult to meet friends when you can't invite anyone over for dinner!

BEFORE

So, where did we end up finding these chairs (after 8 months of searching)...in an antique store in Mobile. So, Mingle Moving Company made a trip to Mobile this past weekend to pick up our dining room chairs. It was a memorable trip to say the least in the "chester the molester" van.  Hopefully, when we make our next furniture purchase it won't be 800 miles away! Poor Ben had to drive the whole trip because anyone who knows my driving record knows it probably would have been a costly trip if I had tried to drive the panel van (drive with your mirrors...whats that all about?).

AFTER

Next items on the wish list are window treatments, artwork, and a more elegant chandelier :)

Last but not least. One other very important thing came back with us.......the top of our wedding cake. Thanks to my parents for storing it in their deep freezer for the past year. We will find out if it is still edible in less than a week!

Hopefully, it will be as yummy as I remember....