Keeping up with the Sell's

Mercier Orchards

2011-10-06T02:12:00.014-04:00

Last year, after traveling home from a friend's wedding, we discovered Mercier Orchards. We literally just past right by it, and decided to stop. It's a huge orchard in Blue Ridge, and they grow different fruits during the seasons and have u-pick, where you can go out in the fields and pick your own fruit. They also have a country store that includes tons of homemade fried pies-my favorite, cakes, bread, fudge, all kinds of jellies, jams, apple cider, and lots of other goodies.

Right now it is apple season, so we decided to go back up this year with Kayden. Last year we didn't have time to pick ourselves and just picked up some apples in their country store.

So it was nice to be able to get the full experience and pick this year and also take Kayden. We rode a tractor out in the fields where it dropped us off, and you were free to pick whatever apples were there. It was nice because they told you to try any apples while you were out in the field, for free. So we were able to try several different kinds we had not heard of, and also see which we liked best, to take home. Hopefully we will go back next year and make this a yearly tradition.

Tractor Ride

Headed to the fields

Mom and Kayden out in the fields

Happy girl

Kayden picking apples and ready to eat one with all of those teeth

Kayden and Daddy picking apples

family shot

Beautiful view of the orchard

back after way too long

2011-10-06T02:08:00.004-04:00

So, I have been telling myself to update the blog for months now, but life is busy.

But I have decided to try and blog once a day, to get caught up on the last 10 months :), and at least cover the main stuff that happened.

I'm gonna start with some recent stuff and go back and fill in older post. Not sure if anyone even reads this since I stopped for so long, but it will be a good journal for me to look back and see what all we were doing.

so, bear with me while i catch up....

Zoo Atlanta

2011-09-28T10:00:00.006-04:00

Kayden and I went with our playgroup to the Atlanta Zoo. We had been to the Birmingham Zoo, but not the one here. I have only been once myself and it was years ago. There was a Groupon a couple of months back for half off tickets, so we bought a few, and turns out the group had planned an outing to go. We got to see the baby giraffe, but the baby panda and new tiger cubs were not out, so hopefully next time. It was nice because it was not crowded at all, so plenty of room to stroll through the exhibits.

Matt, Kayden and I will go back with the other tickets, sometime in the next couple of months before it gets cold, and have a family day.

Ready to head in

Mama and new baby giraffe

All of the kids

Kayden loves to pet animals, just like her mama

Kayden and the pig weren't too interested in each other

Checking out the panda

Flamingo's

Kayden and her buddy Carter

Kayden

2011-02-09T14:01:00.002-05:00

just testing something out

The Nursery

2010-10-30T09:10:00.001-04:00

I had thought about how I would decorate the nursery for a long time. Even before we found out we were expecting I would see pictures of other people's nurseries and get ideas. Since our wedding I have had a love for pink and green. Growing up my favorite color was purple, but once I started planning our wedding and registering I kept picking out green things, so I guess that is a close second to purple.

So when Matt and I found out we were having a girl I knew I wanted to do a pink and green theme. We kept going back and forth on whether to paint the room a light pink or green. After going back and forth we decided we didn't want it to be so much pink, so we would paint it a light green and have lots of pink accents. I searched online and in many baby stores to find the bedding.

I had seen a nursery done with bedding from Pottery Barn Kids, and I remembered it being different shades of pinks and greens with some white as well. I searched their site and found that they still carried the bedding and decided that was the one I really liked.

We went to look for baby furniture within the first couple of weeks after finding out the gender. With the pink and green color scheme I thought white/off white furniture would go really well.

After going to 4-5 baby furniture stores in the area we ended up back at the first place that we looked, and purchased the set that we originally looked at.

We had an old glider and ottoman we had bought at a garage sale, and as a gift to us Matt's parents had it re-covered with brand new cushions. The glider was ready just in time for my Atlanta shower and I used it to sit in and open my gifts. We had a white bookshelf that was in our guest room and got paint to match the antique white furniture, and painted it so it would fit in well. After adding wall decals above the dresser, and many other accessories the nursery was finished! We were very pleased with the final result.

Sandra and Seth's Wedding

2010-10-03T08:59:00.000-04:00

Sandra and Seth were married on October, 2, 2010 at Ridge Valley Farms in Maryville, TN. They had an outdoor ceremony under a pretty white gazebo and the weather was perfect. The place they were married was so pretty and the reception was held in this indoor converted barn and had huge windows throughout. It was all very pretty and the colors were green, navy and yellow, something different that I had not seen before.

One of the things that Matt and I thought was so cool was the groom's cake. Now Matt and I have been to about 30+ weddings together and seen so many different styles of cakes, but Seth's grooms cake was definitely the most creative. Seth and Sandra are veterinarian's and Seth works with pigs. So his cake was a pig cake with red velvet in the center!

After the wedding Sandra and Seth enjoyed a honeymoon in Costa Rica!

catching up

2010-10-02T08:04:00.004-04:00

So it's been oh about 8 months or so since i have added anything to the blog, and I figured I would try to get caught up on some things.

here is a list of things that I'll try to catch up on:

Snow

Auburn visit with Roomies

Small Group annual get together

NYC!

Oh yeah, and We're Expecting!!

Dusty's wedding

Beach Trip

Indy Trip

Courtney's wedding

Sandra's wedding

and All things baby...

Courtney and Stephen's Wedding

2010-08-22T18:00:00.000-04:00

Courtney and Stephen were married on August 21, 2010, at Callenwolde, in Atlanta. It is a tudor style mansion, that is a fine arts center, and a very pretty location for their wedding.

The colors were deep red and purples, and had an Italian theme as Courtney has a love for Italy.

It was fun for the 4 of us- old college roommates- to all be back together again. Our other Auburn friend Lauren came as well, so that was nice for all us to get to hang out and catch up.

The food was great and lots of dancing at the reception. After the wedding Stephen and Courtney headed to where else- Italy, for their honeymoon.

Half Way Mark

2010-07-20T08:51:00.001-04:00

I reached the half way mark, 20 weeks! Here are some pictures of me during this second trimester. This was definitely the best trimester as I was feeling very good and not in the uncomfortable phase. I really grew a lot between week 15-20, as you can see in the pictures.

Megan and Wes' Wedding

2010-07-06T18:00:00.000-04:00

Over 4th of July Matt and I headed up to Indianapolis, for Matt's cousin Megan's wedding. We headed up a couple of days before the wedding which allowed for some extra time to hang out with Matt's extended family.

We don't get to see Matt's extended family very much so it was nice to have everyone together.

It was quite rare as every member of his moms family was able to be there, including all 16 cousins and little cousin Lauren. I am not sure if we have all been together at one time, since Matt and I started dating.

The rehearsal dinner was held at the home of a friend of the family, in their backyard, which sits right on a lake with gorgeous landscaping. It was very laid back and all of the family was invited.

Megan and Wes were married at the Indianapolis Children's Museum, which made for a very neat venue. They had a large ballroom type setting and this even allowed for the guest to walk around and look at some of the displays, including this huge blown-glass sculpture.

It was a fun time and a good trip.

It's a Girl!

2010-06-26T18:00:00.003-04:00

Matt and I decided we wanted to try to find out the gender of the baby a little earlier than we would at my dr.'s office. They will not do the gender ultrasound until 20 weeks, so we decided it would be neat to have a 3D/4D ultrasound done. I had seen pictures of those types of ultrasounds and some where when the baby came out he/she looked almost exactly like the ultrasound had shown. I found a place where we could have the u/s done and they would also allow family members in the room, and I thought that would be really neat to have them there.

My parents and Matt's parents and sister went along with us.
We had talked about first just the two of us being in the room, when we found out the gender, then having our families come in and find out. The nurse started the u/s and searching for about 15 min. but the babies was so low and turned over where all you could see was a great shot of the spine. She said she wasn't sure if she would be able to find out or not. So we decided to go ahead and bring our families in at that point, and she would keep looking. After much pushing and moving on my belly she was able to see what she needed to see. We finally heard the words, "It's a girl! " My guess had been right, it was mother's intuition.
After we found out pink gifts were already waiting to be given, from our families. Her first of many pink outfits. We went out to eat afterwards to celebrate.
Little did they know we had the name already picked out and we had typed it up and hidden it in an envelope. We revealed the name and everyone was excited to find out. It was a great day!

Meredith's baby shower

2010-06-14T22:00:00.002-04:00

Myself, my mother-in-law Pam, and sister-in-law Alison flew up to Michigan for Matt's cousin Meredith's baby shower. We don't get to see Matt's extended family much so it was nice to be together for a little while. What was neat was that there were 4 of us in the family that were all pregnant at the same time. Two due in August, one in November and me in December.

Here are some pictures from the shower:

Watch Me Grow!

2010-06-05T22:54:00.006-04:00

The first trimester flew by and I wasn't too sick, thank goodness! The first couple of weeks after we found out I didn't feel great, and was nauseous off and on throughout the day. By the end of the first trimester I felt back to normal and the bump was really starting to grow.

Beach Trip

2010-06-04T22:30:00.001-04:00

Over Memorial Day we took our annual trip to Panama City Beach. It is a yearly tradition for our family. We have been going ever since Tyler and I were very little. This was also Kayden's first beach trip- well sort of :)

We had a great time just relaxing and sittin' on the beach. We had our usual dinner out and a round of putt putt- also a tradition of ours. This year we made it down to Captain Anderson's marina and watched the boats come in from their daily fishing trips, and unload their catch.

It was a good trip and I can't wait for next year to bring Kayden to the beach for the first time!

Goin' to the Chapel

2010-05-16T21:23:00.000-04:00

Dusty and Brian got married on May 15th at Rosewood. Rosewood is a big antebellum type home, with very pretty grounds. They got married in the outdoor space under the canopy and everything turned out so nice.

It was a fun day spent getting ready and hanging out with Dusty and the other bridesmaids. Dusty had someone come to do our make-up which was a nice treat.

We took pictures before the ceremony and there were so many great spots for outdoor pictures.

The reception was great with lots of good food, and a fun time hanging out with our old group and catching up. After the reception it was off to St. Lucia for the newlyweds!

Wedding Festivities

2010-04-18T18:03:00.000-04:00

April was a busy month for wedding festivities. Dusty had her bridal tea and bachelorette party both in April. It was fun to get together with the girls and have some time to hang out and catch up. The night of the bachelorette party I shared the news that I was pregnant. It was fun to have my closest friends together to be able to tell them at the same time. It just happened to work out well that we were all going to be together for the party the same weekend that we started sharing the news with extended family and friends.

Surprise!

2010-04-11T17:05:00.004-04:00

Matt and I got the best news of our lives on April 9, 2010.

We had just returned home from our trip to NYC the day before.

The last couple of days of the trip I had felt sort of strange, but didn't really suspect anything.

I was feeling a little bit nauseous and if I didn't eat right when I got hungry then I felt worse.

Again, I didn't think too much about it. We went to bed pretty early, as Matt was going with his dad to the Master's the next day. He was also feeling a little under the weather due to allergies caused by the full fledged onset of spring.

I woke up about 5:00 in the morning, and something in my head told me to take a pregnancy test. I had one at home and went and found it and took it. Matt was still sound asleep in the bed and had no idea.

I waited the few minutes and couldn't believe what I saw when I picked up the test, it was positive, I was pregnant!

I really did not believe it at first, and thought it must be a false positive. I decided I had to wake Matt up to have him take a look at it to confirm. Poor guy had taken allergy meds and was so out of it. I took him in the bathroom, showed him the test and asked him if I was reading it right. He was still half asleep, gave this big grin and gave me a hug. He could barely keep his eyes open and headed back to bed. Not the most fun, creative way to tell him, but i just couldn't wait until later in the morning. I got up when the store opened and went and bought another test to confirm, and again positive!

When Matt woke up we were both still trying to let it sink in. I called the Dr. to see if I could be seen that day, and we were in luck, they had an opening. We went to the Dr. and they did a test and the Dr. decided to do an ultrasound. Wow, what a moment, he scrolled over the tiny little spot on the screen, and said "there's your baby!", I was about 6 1/2 weeks along.

We were excited, surprised and every other emotion you feel in that moment. We couldn't wait to share the news with our families!

NYC!

2010-04-10T21:21:00.021-04:00

Matt and I have discussed and said this is the best trip we have taken together, with the exception of Jamaica.

Neither of us had ever been to NYC before, and had always wanted to go. After seeing much of NYC in various movies and hearing stories of other people who had been, I knew I wanted to go someday. We decided to go over Matt's spring break and planned the trip in just a couple of months.

I had a long list of all of the sites I wanted to see, so we planned out the days so we could try to fit in as much as we could. We were able to see all of the big landmarks and most things on our list. It was an incredible trip with so many lasting memories. It was a trip we will not soon forget.

Little did we know that we would get a big surprise when we got back. :)

Snow 2010

2010-02-12T13:42:00.012-05:00

At the beginning of 2010 we had snow several times. Once in January, and in February we got several inches of snow. Macie loved playing in the snow and we took her out on several walks.

When it snowed in Feb. we ventured down to the Greenway to take a walk. It was so pretty with all of the trees covered in sparkly white crystals.

Here are some pictures from the January snow:

and the snow in February:

Small Group Reunion

2010-01-24T18:16:00.001-05:00

Matt and I joined our first small group, through Northpoint Community Church, back in August of 2006. We had just been married about a month and wanted to find a way to get connected and meet other couples in the area.

We joined a group of 6 other couples and our friendship has continued throughout the years.

Each year we get together with this group and everyone brings their families and we just hang out and catch up. Its fun to see how the kids all change from year to year.

Each year our group also seems to grow as couples add to their families.

We started out with only 2 of the couples having kids, and between them 3 kids, now we are at 7 kids, with another little one on the way. Can't wait to see if there are anymore new additions by next year.

Auburn Roomie Reunion

2010-01-10T14:16:00.003-05:00

In January, myself and my old college roommates- Sandra, Courtney, Carrie ventured down to the loveliest village on the plains, Auburn.

Carrie had been in Mobile staying with her parents for a while, and the Sandra was living in Atlanta at the time, doing her internship. With Courtney and I both in Atlanta too, we decided to all travel down to Auburn and meet up for the weekend.

We walked around campus reminiscing and taking pictures, and hung out in our hotel room a good bit. We also got to meet up with our other Auburn friend Lauren, and we all went out to eat at "Cock of the Walk", a small little rest. that serves up seafood. It was nice to all be together again.

Here are a few pictures from the trip:

Sandra and I

The ladies of apt. 531

Samford Hall

Courtney, Carrie and Sandra

Carrie and Courtney

and to all a goodnight.."

2009-12-26T01:21:00.008-05:00

It's a little after Christmas now, but I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas spending time with friends and family, and celebrating the birth of Jesus!

We are spending a few days with the Sell's. We went to the Christmas Eve service last night with Matt's family, have had a nice Christmas day. We exchanged gifts, had a nice Christmas dinner, played some Wii and just hung out. It was nice just to do much of nothing all day and just hang out and relax.

We will head to B'ham in a few days as well, and spend some time with my family.

Hard to believe in a week it will be 2010! Can't wait to see what is in store.

Christmas morning

our little present

Macie posing in front of the tree

Family picture

Our Christmas decorations

our tree

Family Picture in Front of the tree

Spending time in B'ham

Posing with Tyler, Megan, and Bear

opening our gift from Tyler and Megan

mom and dad posing

me and Tyler

Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!

Giving Thanks

2009-11-26T20:09:00.006-05:00

Today we celebrate all we are thankful for! I am so thankful for our wonderful families, friends, good health, a home to provide shelter, jobs, freedom, the men and woman fighting for our country and so many other blessings, that we don't deserve.

Let us not only remember how thankful we are on this day, but every day of the year.
Sometimes its hard not to get caught up in the everday things of life, and really think aboutall of the blessings that we are given.
So, on today and every day, let's try to remember even the smalls things, that make us thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here are some pictures from our Thanksgiving at my aunt's house.

Hanging out with my little cousins

Playing with the leaves

Everyone say Cheese!

Our fall decor

3rd Anniversary!

2009-07-23T13:03:00.006-04:00

Yesterday Matt and I celebrated out third anniversary! I can't believe its been 3 years since we got married. Everything goes by so fast!
We have gotten to experience alot in this third year, and I can't wait to see whats in store for the next year.Some of the things we have done this year:

-Went to Disney World the day after we celebrated our 2nd anniversary.
- Purchased a new car. After driving the same car since I was 16 I said goodbye to the Sentra and got a Nissan Altima.- Matt's dad's family came down and we had them over to our house for the first time, to celebrate Christmas with them before heading to B'ham to celebrate Christmas with my family.
-Matt completed his 4th year of teaching.
-I celebrated my second anniversary with Merial.- We attended my cousins wedding in B'ham.
- Traveled to Las Vegas over Spring Break. My first time to go!
- Traveled to Michigan in June, for Matt's cousins wedding.- Went to the beach with my family over the 4th, our yearly tradition.

Our trip to Las Vegas was an early anniversary celebration, so for our official anniversary last night we went out to eat at one of our favorite rest., Stoney River, who by the way has the best rolls in the world! We rented a movie afterwards and then headed to bed to get ready for work the next day.
Here is a picture of us from our wedding day 3 years ago:

and us on our third anniversary:

Coming soon, another post on couponing, a belated post on Vegas, and house updates.

Kate minus Jon and the 8

2009-04-23T08:59:00.000-04:00

About a month ago some friends and I went to see Kate Gosselin speak at Roswell United Methodist Church.

Tickets were just $5 for balcony and since I have been following the show for a while now I really wanted to hear her speak in person.

My neighbor Kelly and I rode together and met up with friends from my small grup Nicole and Jennifer as well as Nicole's friend Allison. We ate some dinner and then headed to the church.

It was pretty crowded although the church was fairly large, but suprisingly it did not completely fill up, there were still spots in the balcony.

Many of us were wondering what she was going to speak about esp. since recent rumors have been circulating about Jon and Kate separating.

Some pictures came out recently of Jon at a bar with some college students while he was away at his mom's taking care of her. Since then the media has been speculating all sorts of things and still is I think.

So we were all curious if she would mention this at all, which turns out she didn't.

Mainly she spoke of "their story" from when she and Jon meet, having the twins and finding out they were having sextuplets and she also answered some questions about the show.

She shared how her faith has always been a part of their story and leaning on God for strength through the trying times and the good times.

Afterwards she signed autographs and signed copies of her book. Kelly and I decided to wait out the line and I got my book signed. It was very quick but we got to speak to her for just a moment as she was signing and we also got to get some up close pictures while we were waiting in line as well.

Here are some pictures from the event.

Home improvements

2009-04-23T08:30:00.000-04:00

There are always little things I think of that I would like to do to our house, I guess that is never ending.

I have a list of things that I at some point I would like to do in regards to decorating/changing some things up.

One thing I have wanted to do for a long time is paint our breakfast nook.
I thought about this soon after we moved in, just to give the living room/breakfast area a little something.

Our living room and breakfast area flow together and it would take so much to paint our entire living room, but the breakfast nook is a pretty small area, so I thought it wouldn't be too hard to paint it.

We searched out colors and bought three small sample sizes of different shades of red.
Originally I thought I wanted to do a tan/beige, just a little darker than the color of our walls now, but after thinking about it more and with my mom's thoughts as well I wanted to do something with more color to make it stand out.
So I started looking at reds.

After trying out three small sections on the wall we picked the red that we liked the best.

Now, note to anyone wanting to do red, b/c it is so dark and bold if you start with a white wall you must first do a coat of primer and then most likely 2 coats of the red.

Thank goodness it was a small space b/c an entire red room could take quite a while with doing three coats.

I think it turned out good and we even found some cheap art from Old Time Pottery to complete the look. I also picked up some fake lemons and red apples to use as the centerpeice and replace the green apples I had before.

Here is the completed project:

Several things to post about and couponing!

2009-04-21T14:30:00.000-04:00

So, I realize again it has been over a month since I have written.
I have several things to post about from the last month or so.

Several things in upcoming post include:
A home improvement
Kate Gosselin
Family wedding
Our trip to Vegas!
My new obsession, couponing!!

I want to also change up my background but that will have to wait until I am at home seeing as how my computer at work is giving me trouble in doing this.

Because this is fresh on my mind today and I am very excited about this, I wanted to blog about my new hobby:

Couponing!

After reading many other blogs about couponing and all of the money that people save, I have started to pay more attentions to the weekly coupons and sale ads.
Not that we haven't used coupons in the past, but there really is a art to getting the most out of your coupons and getting the most savings.

For the last several weeks Matt and I both have been looking over the ads to see what's on sale and also collecting the weekly coupons.

We try to find the things that we use on a normal basis first, and then always check out the BOGO items at Publix.

Typically the two stores we shop at are Publix and Walmart.
Generally we shop at Walmart for most things b/c it is cheaper than Publix for things we typically use.
We go to Publix for the BOGO items b/c this makes items even cheaper than Walmart at times, and when buying produce and meat.
The great bonus to the BOGO items are that you don't have to purchase two items to get the price, you can purchase one item and get the half off price, which is great.
Latley we have started checking out Kroger b/c they run lots of great sale's as well.

So to the couponing..

There are two sites that I really like that are dedicated to coupoining/saving money:
couponmom.com
southernsavers.com

Couponmom.com has many links on the site and updates its coupons weekly. You can print them out and there are usually 6-7 pages of coupons. There are some silly coupons mixed in, but most are very useful.

Southern Savers.com is a website that list the weekly ads for Publix, Kroger, CVS, etc.
For example, with Publix it list all of the BOGO offers for the week and then out beside the item on sale it gives a printable coupon.

Sometimes it will refer back to a coupon from a previous weeks coupon circular from the paper, so to take full advantage you have to keep all of the coupons from previous weeks, of course until they expire. I file mine in our file cabinet and have a separate hanging folder for each week, then just toss the ones I haven't used when they expire and that frees up a folder for the next weeks.

There are many other sites out there these are just two that I like.

So on to my best week ever in couponing:

So we shopped at Publix and Walmart this week.
I wrote down all of the BOGO offers that I wanted to check out and then made my list for Walmart to get all of the other items needed:

My grand total at Walmart before coupons was $77.25, my total after using coupons was $64.56!I saved roughly $13 by using coupons, and these were all items that we use.

Some of the best deals I got were:

Italian Dressing- $.08! , had $1.50 off coupon
V8 Fusion- typically $2.98- $2 coupon made it $.98!
A second V8 coupon for $1 off, making it $3 for 2 bottles of V8 Fusion, and its great for you!
A free pack of gum
Trop50- Tropicana OJ with 50% less sugar- usually $2.98, with coupon $1.98.
2 cans of Pringles- $3, with coupon $2 for both
$1.10 total off of two boxes of Hefty zip bags
Poptarts- 2 boxes for $2.64 with $1 off coupon
Carpi Sun- box of 10 pouches- $.87 with $1 off coupon.

Those are just a few of the items saved on.

At Publix we got some more great deals too. I saved $6.75 in coupons and $11.64 on the BOGO items.
Here are just a few items purchased:

A free bag of Fresh Express Salad with the purchase of a Sargento Salad Finishers. Then if you mail in a rebate you end up getting the bag of finishers for free! So a total of $6.19 in free items.

Yoplait Kids Yogurt- 6 pack- BOGO which puts it at $1.40 for one, then a $1.50 off coupon makes it free with $.10 overage!
So they paid me to buy it! Even though it's kids its normal flavors and just the right amount for what I like.

3 boxes of Mueller's Pasta- BOGO item- with $1 off 3 box coupon it made them $.65 ea.

2 boxes Quaker Granola Bars- BOGO item, usually $2.99 ea, with coupon $2.25 for both, so roughly $1.12 a piece

So I spent $90.56 and saved $31.45. This is at least 2 weeks worth of groceries minus little things we will have to pick up here and there.

So as you can tell I am very excited about the coupon game, and trying to save some money, casue I mean, who can't afford to save money.
I have also realized I am officially an old married lady now. :)

It's been a long time....

2009-03-12T11:05:00.000-04:00

So I just realized I haven't posted anything in about two months.
I like to look at other people's blogs, but I just forget to update mine.

So, not too much new going on the past couple of months.
It must be baby central as we have two friends who have had babies in the last week and another due in just a few weeks.

Our friends Robbie and Lindsay had their baby last week, a big healthy baby boy, Herreson, 10 lb., 4 oz.!

My good friend April had her baby on Tuesday, a boy, Charlie, 7 lb. 11 0z.

So I guess springtime is the time for lots of babies to be born.

Things have been pretty routine for us. Both just working and doing things on the weekends.

I celebrated my two year anniversary with Merial back in Feb. I can't believe it has been two years since I started, the time surely has flown by.

In other upcoming things for March:

Matt's b'day is tomorrow, the 13th! A Friday the 13th b'day!
I got his present a couple of weeks ago and I can't wait to give it to him, he is gonna love it.
I can't say what it is, in case he read this, which he won't, he probably doesn't even remember about my blog, :), but just in case.

March 20th I am going to see Kate, http://tlc.discovery.com/tv/jon-and-kate/jon-and-kate.html.
I am interested to see what she talks about. Jon was supposed to be coming with her but for some reason can not come now.
But I think it will be neat to see her in person and see how she is versus on TV.

March 28th is my cousin's wedding in B'ham. I am looking forward to seeing lots of my family that I have not seen since my wedding.
You know we have to go to at least one wedding a year. :) This year we just have two and I think that will be it. I think this will be wedding #25 or 26 for us, seriously, we have been too a ton!

I think they may finally be slowing down as this is the least amount of weddings we have been to in one year, since Matt and I met. Last year it was 5!

So that's about it for the month of March.
My mom is coming into town tomorrow, for the weekend, so that will be nice. My dad is going out of town so she is coming to stay so she won't be home alone.

I will try to be better about updating more frequently, although who even reads the blog anyway. :)

99 Things...

2009-01-16T16:43:00.000-05:00

My friend Jenna, over at http://atlantalovings.com, tagged me to see what all I have done.
Technically I'm supposed to tag someone, so I'm tagging all of you. You copy the list and bold the things you've actually done. Leave me a link in the comments if you do it so I can come by and read all about the things you've done!

Here are the things I have done:

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain.
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29 Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33 Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41 Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45 Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain5
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie- does my husband count? :)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60 Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason
64 Donated blood, platelets, or plasma

65. Gone sky diving
66 Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67 Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79 Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Reflecting on 2008

2009-01-05T15:36:00.000-05:00

So, 2008 has come and gone.
Alot has happened in 2008, some big things, some small things. Overall it was a great year.
I wanted to look back on 2008, and reflect on some of the events that took place, in no particular order.

1. The biggest thing I would have to say, that happened in 2008, was buying my new car. It has been great so far and I actually enjoy my ride to work alot more, in a more reliable, faster car. :)

2.I hit my one year mark with Merial in Feb. and I am now headed towards two years.

3. Matt started his fourth year of teaching, that is hard for me to believe.

4. Matt and I went to Disney World, for our 2 year anniversary, with two other couples.
It was wonderful! I already want to go back.

5. Matt and I went with my family to the beach, over the 4th of July. It was a great trip.

6. We went to Michigan with Matt's family over Memorial Day, to attend his cousin's wedding.
We don't get to see his family as often, since they are up North, so this was nice. Plus it was my first time to be in Michigan, in the summer. It was nice to get to experience summertime there, at his Aunt and Uncle's lake house.

7. Matt and I celebrated the one year anniversary of being in our house, as well as one year anniversary of adopting Macie, our sweet puppy dog.

8. We also attended a total of 4 weddings, which were all very nice. This is actually down from our usual 5-6 weddings a year. :)

9. Last, but not least, we had a great Thanksgiving with the Sell's and a great Christmas with my family.

I can't wait to see what 2009 has in store for us!

I will post a follow up Christmas post soon, as well as a post with Goals/Resolutions for 2009.

We Wish you a Merry Christmas........

2008-12-15T11:30:00.000-05:00

Christmas time is one of my favorite times during the year.

Spending time with friends and family, and celebrating the birth of Christ- it's such a great holiday.

Not to mention all of the other fun things that come along with it, decorating the tree, yummy homemade goodies, getting fun surprises for others, and all of the other fun stuff that comes with it.

I love going to the Christmas eve service with my family, seeing family and friends, that we might not see as often, and just celebrating the season, and all it means.

Sometimes it is so hard not to get caught up in all that is going to, and forget the true meaning.

The true meaning that we celebrate Christmas to celebrate Christ birth, and what he has done for us.

I am speaking right back to myself on this one as well, as I know sometimes I get way too caught up too, and I need to make sure and put the real reason as first and foremost in my mind.

One thing I really enjoy doing is decorating our tree/house for the holidays.

My favorite decoration this year, is my Auburn tree. Matt and I both went to Auburn, so it is something we hold close to our hearts.

I started thinking about doing an Auburn tree after the last couple of years when we have received several Auburn ornaments as gifts.

So this year I decided I wanted to do a small tree all Auburn themed.

We found some orange lights right after Halloween and Blue lights when all of the Christmas stuff was out in stores.

I also found some navy blue and orange balls that were perfect.

Below are some other pics of our house all decorated for the holidays.

This is our main Christmas tree in our living room. I really wish there was a window at the front of the house where we could put it, so people could actually see it, besides us :)

Matt's mom gave me the "S" to go on the wreath. I think it is really cute.

My mom gave me these angels, I think they are so pretty in the yard, they show up better during the day.

Here is our dining room and bannister decorated. I don't ever get to use my Christmas China, b/c we are always gone, so I like to at least set it out during the holidays, so I can enjoy it.

It was given to us as a wedding gift.

New Car

2008-12-15T10:34:00.000-05:00

Well, after driving my Sentra for 10 years I finally got a new car! It's a Nissan Altima.

I have had the Sentra-my current car- since I was 16 year's old! My parents got it for me for Christmas, right after I had turned 16, and it has been such a great car!

I will miss it and all of the memories it holds.

Matt and I plan to donate my old car to a very worthy charity in our area, called

"No longer Bound."

This organization is a recovery program for men struggling with different types of addictions.

They take cars that are donated and they men actually work on them, as part of the program, and I believe some of the cars are also given to the men as well, to help them get back on their feet.

So I feel like it is going to a really great cause.

So without further ado I will post some pics of the new car below.

New Look for the Blog

2008-11-26T12:09:00.001-05:00

So, I figured it was about time I updated my blog and gave it a more exciting background.
I know it isn't Thanksgiving until tomorrow, and I am all about celebrating one holiday at a time, but I figured if I picked a Thanksgiving theme today, I would just have to turn around and change it in a couple of days.
So I went ahead and picked out a Christmas background.

I am new with the backgrounds and all, so hopefully I will get better at it and change it up more often now.

On that note, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I hope everyone has safe travels and a day filled with family, food and thankfulness for all of the blessings we have!

Catching Up

2008-11-07T12:14:00.000-05:00

So I realized that it has been about two months since I have written. You would think since I am at a computer all day I would update more often. So I will try to get better about it.

I never posted about our trip to Disney World this summer, so I wanted to catch up on that first.

It was an awesome trip! I had only been once when I was about 3 years old, so of course I didn't remember a thing, not to mention how much it has changed since then.

We visited all four main parks, and Blizzard Beach, the water park.

It really is a magical place, coming from a big kid. :)

I really liked all of the parks, for different reasons, but my favorite would have to tie with Hollywood Studios, formerly MGM, and of course Magic Kingdom.

Being an animal lover I of coursed loved Animal Kingdom, but we didn't get to spend as much time there.

As far as Magic Kingdom goes, walking into the entrance and starting down Main Street, you immediately see Cinderalla's Castle, it was awesome! I think I could have stayed there and taken pics all day of that Castle. I can see how any kid would love to go to Disney, or adult for that matter.

Here we are in front of Cinderella's Castle. Definitely my favorite part of Disney! We went to the fireworks show at the Castle one night, it was awesome!

Here is a picture from my other favorite park, Hollywood Studios. We had to get that typical hat picture, like the rest of the world. This park had the best thrill rides. Rock-in-Rollercoaster rocks! :)

Here is a pic with Lilo and Stitch at the Animal Kindgom. Animal Kindgom had my favorite ride of all the parks, Expedition Everest. It is a rollercoaster that takes you through a giant mountain. This man made mountain is so large we could even see it from the water park.

If you go you have to try this out, I think it's the best. Imagine going upside-down and backwards in the dark, yeah, I told ya it was awesome.

So, if you are planning a trip to Disney, do your research, it has alot to offer. We bought a Disney planning guide and it was great! It had some many good tips and advice. They are always updating and adding new things to the park, so there is something new to see all the time.

I would go again in a minute. Hopefully one day we will get to go back!

Tagged, 7 things you didn't know about me

2008-08-14T21:10:00.000-04:00

So, my friend Jenna, at atlantalovings.com, tagged me to tell 7 things you didn't know about me.

This is the first time I have been tagged before in blogging, exciting! So hopefully someone actually reads this stuff sometimes.

1. I have been skydiving, loved it!

2. I am a total neat freak, always have been, I get it from my dad. I drive my husband crazy sometimes.

3. I have had my current car since I was 16, first and only one, although it is on it's last leg I'm afraid.

4. I have a bad habit about being late, although this isn't really a secret to many, but maybe so people who are reading this, I have gotten better though, my husband would agree.

5. I always wanted to be in the circus when I was little, I wanted to do the trapeze.

6. I have had dogs, cats, bunnies, fish,a frog, hermit crabs, a turtle, hamsters and mice as pets.

Needless to say my family loves animals.

7. I had my first kiss when I was 13, and once I kissed a boy and my dad was watching and I had no idea, I was so embarrassed!

Whew! Ok, so maybe you knew some and didn't know others, but there ya go!

And I finally blogged after like 3 weeks.

Still to come, the Disney blog.......

Mickey and our Anniversary

2008-07-22T11:51:00.000-04:00

Today Matt and I celebrate our second anniversary!! It is so hard to believe it has been 2 years since we said our vows. It really has flown by!

We have gotten to experience so much in these past two years, buying a house, getting our dog Macie, several trips, too many weddings to count, and an awesome small group!

I can't wait to see what God has in store as we enter into our third year of marriage!

On that note, in honor of our anniversary we are leaving tomorrow for Disney!!

I am so excited! I have only been once and I was about 3-4 years old, so the only thing I vaguely remember is, "It's a small world"

We are leaving tomorrow and will come back next Monday.

Matt's parents are dogsitting/housesitting, for us, so that is so nice, so we don't have to board Macie and someone is there keeping an eye on our house.

Milestones

2008-07-08T19:07:00.000-04:00

So, since I left off last week I wanted to pick back up on the milestone part of the post.

July is a busy month for milestones.

Last Monday,June 30th was the one year mark of Matt and I closing on our house. What an awesome day, and also the most "grown up" thing we had both ever done, at the same time

It was a great feeling and I still feel so blessed each day to have our house.

Yesterday, July 7th, was one year mark of when Matt and I moved in. With lots of help from our awesome small group friends and our families, we moved into our first home. It was such a busy day, but a great day.

This year was much different on July 7th, as we were coming home from the beach, but that's for another post.

Tomorrow, July 9th, is the one year mark of when we got our baby, well not literally, but it's one year ago that we got our puppy Macie. Althought now she isn't much of a puppy, she's about 50 lb., but she is such a sweet girl.

We love her so much and I wouldn't trade anything for her, through everything she has been through in this first year, being so sick and a ton of vet bills, we would do it all again because we know she was meant to be with us.

And last but most importantly, July 22, we will celebrate our second anniversary! I can't believe it has been almost two years since we got married, it sounds cliche,. but it has gone by so fast!

We have grown so much together and gotten to experience so much in these past two years, I look forward to see what the next year has in store.

Missed post, milestones, and Mickey Mouse!

2008-07-01T12:18:00.000-04:00

Missed Post:

So, beyond missing the Father's Day post I haven't posted in quite a while, to give updates with what is going on in our lives.

The beginning of June we got to enjoy an awesome weekend at the lake, wiht some of our Small Groups friends. We really missed those that weren't able to come and I hope we can do it again with the whole group.

We went in honor of Ryan's 30 b'day and it was a suprise to him, which was fun.

We stayed at his parent's house, on Lake Thurmond, just over the S.C border. Also my first time in S.C., hard to believe, I know. :)

We had a great time hanging out, swimming, spending time on the boat, skiing, wakeboarding ,etc. We all left a little crispy and worn out, but it was so much fun.

Here are some pics of from the weekend, courtesy of Nicole.

Happy Belated Father's Day!

2008-07-01T11:32:00.000-04:00

So, I just realized I haven't posted in almost a month. I don't really know why, b/c generally I have some free time throughtout hte day and I sit at a computer all day.

but nontheless, I have been slacking. I missed posting for Father's Day.

So I want to say a Happy Belated Father's Day to my dad, also to Matt's dad as well.

We spent Father's Day with Matt's Dad, b/c we spent Mother's Day with my family.

But I did send my dad a card and giftcard, so he would get it by Father's Day.

He is such a great dad, I have never met anyone so dedicated to his work and staying late and doing extra things at work, just to make sure the job gets done.

He has always been a great handyman and can fix and build just about anything.

One thing that comes to mind alot is something he did for my wedding.

He made these awesome, "structures", as we called them, for my wedding reception, I will post a pic for you to see what they are.

He spent so many hours putting these together for the big day, and they turned out wonderful.

I could go on and on about how great a dad he is.

Dad, you're the best!

Here are two shots, one with the lights and one with the lights off, to see the full effect.

These were huge PVC pipes for the circular base, with strings of Christmas lights running up to the top, and all meeting together attached to a giant ring, there was a huge one that hung over the food table and little ones hanging over the smaller tables.

We also wrapped the base in tulle, to cover the pipes.

The pictures don't do justice, they were so much prettier in person.

Lesson re-learned from Marta

2008-06-04T16:07:00.000-04:00

Matt and I decided to try and save money and take Marta to the airport, so we didn't have to park our cars there. Some wonderful people in our Small Group, thanks Loving's and Tabor's, volunteered to drive us to and form the station, so we didn't have to pay to leave our car there either.

So, on our way back home riding Marta, I realized why I don't really love public transportation.Matt and I got on and sat right down, close to the door. We were sitting on seats that ran parallel to Marta, so we were facing the other side of the bus.We were at the end of a row that was forward facing, so we had seats that were almost touching ours. So we are chatting, minding our own business, and this man comes and sits in those seats that are so close to us, his leg is almost touching mine, he is that close. Mind you, this man got on, sat right next to someone, when there were plenty of seats, and then moved further back in the bus, then came to sit by us. So he was very ancy, and I had already noticed this, which made me a little uncomfortable already. when ppl act strange on Marta, it makes me nervous b/c you just never know what is up.

So he immediately starts talking and I feel like I should at least be polite.So he starts asking us if we are from the area, where we came from, we had our luggage, etc. So I did most of the talking, not sure why, but now I wish Matt had. I nodded a bunch, did this funny laugh and basically whatever else to make sure this man didn't think I was being rude, b/c I had no idea what he could have been up too or why he sat right by us. So this chit chat continued and he proceeded to tell me he had just come back from overseas, with some branch of the military. Which he had no bags with him and he wasn't dressed in uniform, so I now find this hard to believe. So he keeps asking questions, and finally we get to his stop.

He stands up, leaves and mutters something, like "Have a good one", on his way out.so, whew he was gone, but then immediately I look over at Matt and with these big eyes, he say's "Honey", because of how much I was talking to the man and telling him, i.e, what I do, that we were from ATL, etc. Although I never told him the name of my work or anything specific at all, like that. I said, "Next time I am going to let you do all the talking." But I felt uncomfortable, and knew this guy would know that, if I sat there quiet and didn't respond to anything he asked.

But after he left I realized that our names were on our luggage tags, with a phone number on one, but it's a cell, so that didn't bother me. But the fact that he could have looked at the name and found out where we lived or who knows what. So then I got worried and kept asking Matt if he thought the man noticed it. Matt was re-assuring and said he probably hadn't even been able to read them very well.

Needless to say, my lesson learned from Marta is to be careful at how much information you give to strangers, as if I didn't know this, but needed to be reminded. Especially in this day and age you just never know what someone is up to, and it might be nothing, but you just can't take a chance.

Our trip and lessons learned on Marta

2008-06-04T15:21:00.000-04:00

So, Matt and I had a great trip to Michigan, over Memorial Day. The wedding was so nice and we got to visit with lots of family on his mom's side. The time we spent at Matt's aunt/uncle's was alot of fun as well. They live on a lake so we spent lots of time on their boat cruising the lake. It was so warm and sunny the whole time we were there, about 80 on Sunday and Monday! Very different from the last time I was there in Dec.!
I definitely got my first sun burn of the season, but I did wear sunscreen, don't doubt that, probably not enough though. Warning: Plug on sunscreen to follow
I try to be very diligent about wearing sunscreen b/c my mom has had several skin cancers (benign) removed, and I don't want to risk it. She has always, well with us, been a stickler about wearing sunscreen, and I am thankful for that b/c I have seen how much damage the sun can do. She says she wishes it was stressed more when she was a teen/young adult, but back then teens lived to lay out and get fried and have nice tans.
So there's my two sense on sunscreen.

So we went out on the boat several times and even caught our dinner one night! We went fishing and caught about 40 BlueGill and some Crappie. Matt's uncle, cleaned and fried it up, it was so good! I have never fished and actually had it for dinner!

We just hung out, slept in and relaxed alot.
It was a nice mini vacation.

I will post some pics once I get those on the computer.

Our last wedding of the summer and pictures from last post..

2008-05-23T09:48:00.000-04:00

So, today we leave for our last wedding of the summer.

We did find out our neighbor's are engaged, so we might have one more this year. So I can't say it's our last one of the year yet, b/c I am not sure. :)

But we are flying up today for Matt's cousin's wedding in Farminghton Hills, MI.

The wedding is tomorrow and then we are staying until Tuesday to have time to visit with some of his other family. We are going to be staying with his aunt and uncle, who live on a lake in Fenton, MI, this is about an hour north of Ann Arbor and the Univeristy of Michigan.

I was talking to Matt about how different it will be this time, going up norht, because the other two times I have been, were both during Dec., during Christmas time, so it was freezing and snowing.

So this will be fun to be up there when it is warm and get to enjoy the lake, when it isn't froze.

I will post some a pic from our time in Michigan this past Christmas, and then some when we get back, just to see how different it is.

Here are is a pic from Dec. of us standing on the frozen lake.

So from my last post, I mentioned posting some pics of my family to honor them for MOther's Day and their b'day's last week.

So, here ya go...

Happy Belated Mother's Day and Birthdays

2008-05-16T11:51:00.000-04:00

So, I meant to write this on Monday, the day after, but late Happy Mother's Day to my mom, and all of the mom's out there.
Mom's hold a special place in our hearts and I know mine does.
She is the greatest mom and does so much for our family, I could write about her all day.

Also, late Happy Birthday to my Dad- Wed.- 14th, and my Brother- yesterday-15th, he turned 21! I can't believe it.
Of course I meant to post those yesterday, but never got around to it.

Matt and I celebrated with them last weekend, since we coulnt' be there on their acutal b'day.
I will add some pics of my family on the next post.

Have a nice weekend everyone!

Weddings and more

2008-05-05T18:50:00.000-04:00

So, Matt and I have just entered a busy month for us.
This is our wedding month and we are no stranger to weddings of all shapes and sizes.
We are bound to have at least one wedding every summer.

Since Matt and I started dating in April 2004- we have been to 21, count it, 21 weddings together, that is an average of about 5 weddings per year!

Last summer we had one wedding each month, June, July and August, and all were out of town at least 5-6 hours away.

So needless to say, with those, moving into our first house and getting a puppy, we were very busy people last summer.

This was at my college roomate, Carrie's wedding. The three of us in green and Carrie and all roomed together senior year. What a blast!

This was at my best friend's wedding last August, I was Matron of Honor.

So each year I think the weddings will decrease b/c eventually everyone we know will be married. :), but they are still going strong. I am just waiting to for the babies to start soon. :)
but I do really love going to weddings b/c it always reminds me of our wedding, and you get to experience so many different types of ceremonies, food, etc., and support those you love.

So our weddings for this year are May 16th and 17th- in two different places, and one wedding May 23- in Michigan, so the next few weekends will be busy ones. but at least they are all together.

So for April and May, count it

4 Birthday's

3 Weddings

2 Mother's Day

1 Graduation

Whew, But hey, June looks pretty calm, for now.

I am that person

2008-05-02T10:39:00.000-04:00

So, yesterday I had quite an experience as I headed to the Dr.'s office. I had never been to this Dr. before or been in the area at all. Therefore I wasn't quite sure where I was going.
I had gotten the directions from the receptionist, and it seemed pretty easy. Exit off at this exit, turn left and the office was less than 1/2 mile on the right. Simple enough. Well I failed to ask if it was medical type complex, or in an area with several suites or what. So I am riding along and I realize I have probably gone too far, so I turn off to the left into a neighborhood.

So, you know those times you have been riding along and see someone coming at you, the wrong direction on a one way or just on the wrong side of the rode. usually older people or people from another town, well that was me.

As I pull out and make a right onto this semi-busy two lane, I hear someone honk at me, still not realizing I was going the wrong way on a one way!, I kept going for at least a couple more seconds and when a car was coming directly at me and had to swerve into the other lane, I finally realize what was going on. I sort of yell out loud in the car, and turn left very quickly into a parking lot. So after it really sinks in what just happened, I first thank the Lord I didn't have a wreck and second bust out laughing at myself, for at least 5 min.

So, after I make the block and got back going in the correct direction and I finally found the Dr.

So, next time I see someone going the wrong way, I won't be so quick to laugh, b/c I know how they feel.

Where to start...

2008-04-30T14:15:00.000-04:00

So, after reading many other blogs and with some convincing from a friend, thanks Jenna!, I have decided to start a blog.

Now most blogs that I read are very intersting and all jazzed up with tons of pics, videos and whatnot, but I can't promise mine will be that intersting, at least not all of the time or to start off with.

So I was thinking of what to post first. I think I will start with something that means alot to me and Matt, our puppy Macie. Well actually she just turned 1 about two weeks ago, but technically I think that dogs are puppies even up until about 2 years old. At least she still acts like a puppy alot, even if she isn't technically still considered one. Just last night she kept going into our room and finding all sorts of things to try to chew up. I had to take away my ziploc with my eye drops in it, and also some chapstick she had gotten. I can't tell you how many things she has chewed up. thankfully nothing too expesive or sentimental, but some that have caused a big headache.

but nonetheless we love our "puppy" so much and our lives wouldn't be the same without her.

One thing I really about having Macie, is how much Matt adores her. Matt grew up with 2 cats, that his family had for about 15-16 years, but he never had a dog, before now. I grew up with 4 dogs, with my parents still having 2 of those, so I have always had a love for dogs as well as just about every other animal.

But I love to watch Matt and Macie play. He has the biggest smile on his face, well most of the time :), and constantly tells her how cute she is. He loves taking her on afternoon walks after school, before I have gotten home. He even has become so much of a softy wiht her that she is not only allowed upstairs most of the time, but she even gets on the bed, which I never thought he would allow.

So I thought I would make this my first post and even try out posting my first pics of Macie.

From 2 months to a year old, we couldn't live without her.

She is our "child" for now.