This Love Stuff...SIMPLE???

Is it truly possible that staying up until the early morning hours discussing "our future" and "our fears and worries"....would make me wake up so much more in love this morning? I'm not sure...but it happened! I know what I want and I know what I am getting....he makes that very easy for me!

Blue-Eyed Miracle!

You always hear people say that "everything happens for a reason" and that "God only gives people what they can handle." But seriously....do bad things happen for a Reason? To show us something or teach us something???? Perhaps!


In a few short months (8.5) God has used the life of Leah Helen to teach us about FAITH! To show us that GOD is in control...we are not!


A while back I wrote about a good friend of mine and her daughter Leah who was born with a neck tumor. The thing is, I don't think any of us (the extended support system) knew the magnitude of the tumor! The tumor was about 1/3 of Leah's body weight at birth...huge!! But aside from the unimaginable details, what we celebrated this weekend was Leah's life! Her amazing story of fighting and thriving. As a special education teacher, I am soooooo impressed by Leah's development! She is so strong and doing everything (even ahead on a few) that a baby her age should do! My friend Laurie has been an awesome mom to both Matthew and Leah! You can tell just by seeing the light in her eyes and in Leah's smile. Laurie's husband Mike is in the military and he was away getting his job and their new home in St. Louis set up!

Praise God for this Blue-Eyed Miracle!!
"For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of Him." 1 Samuel 1:27

6 Months

I have been dating JC for 6 months and I can hardly believe that much time has passed! Not that 6 months is a really long time, but when I think we are only 6 more months away from repeating "firsts"...it is crazy! I still feel just as strongly about him as I did on day one! Our relationship is now growing into that deep friendship that you must have with the person you choose to spend the rest of your life with! I'm learning that sometimes life gets in the way of everything being "peaches and cream" and that we just have to work through it! I am so in love with this man (just look at the smile on my face) and cannot wait to have 666,666 more months with him! Tonight is the first night in our new house! YAY!


For our 6th month anniversary he took me to Bone Fish Grill! It was great....AND he even ordered champagne for us!!!! Awwwwwwwwwwwww (twinkle in my eye)!

Missy's Twins

I'm not sure if you remember, but my friend Missy had twins, Michael and Henry on April 14. They are absolutely fabulous and beautiful! Since I like to play photographer...I went to Missy's on Tuesday and we attempted to get some pictures for her to use as their birth announcement! I think we did pretty good! Also, I love taking the monthly photos of babies with some animal and a sign as they grow up....we did that too!!

And then before I left...I needed my picture with the boys also!

Top 2 Tuesday

Top 2 things you want to do before you die!

Of course I want to save the world and make life fabulous for all kids with disabilities...I want to be debt free (student loans) and many pounds lighter.....BUT...I'm going to list my "Top 2 Doables" before I die!

1. Go to New York City at Thanksgiving or Christmas time!! I have only been there once in the summer...but I want to feel that feeling I get when I watch Christmas movies taking place in New York City.

2. Take a vacation to the Caribbean and just RELAX!! Every vacation I have fortunately taken (thanks to my parents) has always been so jam packed!! I just want to float in an infinity pool and enjoy the views!

The Real Meaning of....

..."Catching the bouquet and garter"!!!!!!!

It is no secret that JC and I hope to get married someday!!! Soooo....you can imagine my excitement when I caught the bouquet and he caught the garter!!! Maybe sooner than later!

Birmingham Weekend!!

I love that JC is such a trooper!! He spent his entire weekend with me and my friends (his now) in Birmingham...from where he had to fly out on Sunday afternoon for work on Monday!! I love him and his "get along with everyone" personality! I think we compliment each other well!




The Weekend.....we headed up on Friday for a wedding and stayed with my best friend Shelley and her husband Jim. We had such a great time being with them. I have always dreamed of having those friendships as couples....it was perfect.
The wedding was Josh and Meghan's. The story of Meghan and Josh meeting is one worth being told. You see....Meghan and I were college roommates during undergrad from 1999-2001 at Auburn University. Shelley (best friend) and I were in the same undergrad program in special education. Shelley and Meghan did not know each other. Shelley and I were "school friends" in that we didn't really hang out together. SO....I graduated in 2001 and moved back to Mobile losing touch with both Shelley and Meghan.
NOW...fast forward to 2006. I went back to Auburn to get my PhD in special education and guess who showed up to do the exact same thing at the exact same time???? Shelley!! So there we were.....and of course created the most awesome friendship....so much that she will (one day) be my matron of honor at my wedding! Now Shelley had just started dating a guy(now married), JIM, who lived in Birmingham with his roommate and best friend since childhood, JOSH!!

Meghan....I ran into Meghan's mom at a football game in Auburn one weekend and a few weeks later met up with Meghan in the exact same spot!! We started talking and hanging out every now and then.One weekend we (Shelley and I) were in Birmingham to celebrate my 29th birthday (2008). Since we were in Birmingham, I decided to invite Meghan. AND....she met Josh and a week later Josh called her to set up a date!!!

They got MARRIED Saturday! (2010)

The Baileys (Jim's Brother and his family).
Richard and Marcel have the most wonderful girls ever!!! I have gotten to know them by spending weekends at Lake Martin with all of them. We have already made plans for JC, Savanna, and I to go up this summer!!

Girls Night!!

Every month we have all made a promise to try and get together!! We are a group of high school friends who have remained the best of friends for a long time. Among our group, lives are changing daily with dating, marriage, babies, jobs, and just life in general! It is fun to get together and remember our younger days! This past week we had dinner at Ashland Midtown Pub and then headed over to Taste to enjoy some wine on the porch!

Favorite Children's Books

Favorite Children's Books

Just a few of my All Time Favorites!!

The House

It has just occurred to me that I keep showing pictures of the inside of the house, but I haven't shown the outside!! I am a sucker for curb appeal....and this house really got me!

My Mom!!

As I was typing in this title...it was funny that I noticed I have written a few other posts called "My Mom!"
My mom's birthday was Friday and then of course Mother's day was Sunday!! We did our best to not let her feel shorted in any way! She went to the beach with her friends on Friday, so we waited to take her to dinner on Saturday. We went to Mikata's, a hibachi grill!! It was awesome and she loved it! Our chef was actually great and very entertaining!

The Entire Group (minus Heather-Mitchell's girlfriend)
Me and JC
Stephen (brother) and his fiance Mary
Just a few dinner clips....sushi and mom's rice cake!

For Mother's Day we went over to my Aunt's house in Mississippi! My mom wanted to be with her mom (90) and I wanted to be with my mom!! It was a great day!

3 Year Old Super Hero Birthday

On Saturday, Hudson (my cousin's youngest boy) had his birthday party! He was having a Batman themed party so when I asked Anna what I could get him, I discovered he loved dressing up!!! So mom and I got him a Batman costume and a Flash costume! He Loved them! I may try to get costumes for all little ones from now one! After all... who doesn't enjoy dressing up!

Just check out that excitement on his face!

Of Course there was a costume change!My Godson Hiram!