St. George Island

what is all this sand-stuff and why is it on my face?!

By the last week of my summer break I had finally convinced Byron that we should take a weekend beach trip.  After looking at different places on the gulf and Atlantic, we decided on St. George Island -- an island with beaches {and pretty much everything else!} that are dog friendly.  We packed up the truck before there were any signs of the rising sun, and with Bridget and Mook we headed toward the sandy shores.

Upon our arrival we immediately walked to the beach.  The pups were more than entertaining to watch.  When I was in college I took Bridget to the beach, and I knew she wasn't wild about the water, but she loved digging in the sand.  Mook on the other hand, had never been before.  He was really confused about the waves, the salty water, and how to dig sand {seriously -- he used his nose!!}

For the entirety of our trip the pups went everywhere with us, even to dinner!  They loved being included, but exhausted is an understatement of how they looked by the time we began our trip home!

sunrise walk

taking a walk on the beach after dinner

Day 2 on the beach -- the pups were dragging.

beach super model 

I'm so hot but the water keeps trying to attack me.

dinner at Harry A's with the pups

crab legs & mahi-mahi tacos
pina coladas & margaritas

At dinner, we noticed there was a special on crab legs, so of course we ordered it.  I haven't eaten seafood until just recently, so when our waitress delivered our food to the table I expected Byron to take the lead and demonstrate how to eat the meat, but as she sat the food down, Byron slid it my way expecting for me to do the same!  Needless to say, neither of us knew what we were doing, but I think we managed along alright without any instruction.  Be warned: if you're the next people to eat crab with us, there is a great possibility we'll embarrass you!

one last morning walk on the beach, mimosas in hand, yum.

Although Byron and I spend many weekends at the lake and other places, this was the first weekend since last summer we've spent away 'just us.'  I can't believe it's been so long.  Having a few days alone, without the distractions of our everyday lives, chores, the internet, etc., we were able to really focus on each other.  We had some great conversations, shared lots of laughter, ate crab for the first time, and were able to relax completely.  I'm not any sort of a marriage expert by any means, but I would recommend taking time to get away with your other half [more often than once a year].  We will be taking another weekend getaway soon, I hope!

we made it a year!

Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
1 Corinthians 13:7

How has a year already passed since Byron and I got married?  When we talk about our first year of marriage, in some ways it's like we've been married much longer than that, and in others it seems as though we were saying our vows just yesterday.  We've had a crazy 365 days and it's funny to think about all that's changed for us in that time.

Our first year of marriage was busy, filled with the uncertainty of jobs, and provided us countless opportunities for us to trust that the Lord had something greater in store for us.  Byron and I have grown closer and stronger than we were a year ago as we've supported and encouraged each other in difficulties, prayed through the ups and downs, and praised God for the wonderful blessings we've received.  

I've been blessed with one of the best man in the world to call my husband.  A man who loves me when I'm completely undeserving and better than I've ever dreamt.  Someone with an uncanny ability to make me laugh when a smile hadn't surfaced all day.  He writes sweet notes with Scripture and hides them in my lunchbox.  How did I ever get lucky enough the snag this guy? 

Our anniversary began with a brunch of strawberry french toast and cafe au laits.  And bacon.  Of course there was bacon.  Byron surprised me with a new wakeboard vest -- I'm a lucky girl!

We went to Three Blind Mice for dinner, of course.  We discussed quite a few other places, but no where else is as perfect for us as Three Blind Mice.  Not everyone can go back to the place they celebrated their marriage for each anniversary, so why not take advantage of that?!  Not the mention, it's our favorite place anyway!

We sipped on celebratory champagne after dinner, then shared a slice of our original wedding cake, which had made itself quite comfortable for the past year in my parents' freezer!  Surprisingly, the cake was incredible.  Seriously, you never would've known it'd been frozen. Sugar Kneads gave us a top layer of our wedding cake as an anniversary gift.  They say, "Who wants to eat year-old cake?" [but they must not have tasted their own!] Naturally we wrapped the cake from our wedding back up and put it back in the freezer til next year!

The rain stopped long enough for us to make it to dinner.

This is the fresh cake...but the one from the freezer doesn't look too different!

I thank God every day for blessing me with such an incredible husband and I look forward to many, many more years together!

Byron turns 25

I'm not sure what Byron and I were thinking when we got married in May!  As if it weren't busy enough already with Mother's Day, Byron's birthday, the end of the school year, and Memorial Day we thought we'd add an anniversary into the mix!  That being said - in the midst of all the craziness, Byron's birthday was Thursday!  When we were planning the wedding, Byron always joked [and still does] that his birthday will be forgotten since our anniversary is only 3 days after, so I gave my best effort to make his birthday special.  This year, because I love him so much, we celebrated for 2 days!

We celebrated his birthday [on his birthday] with dinner with his parents and Nick followed by some red velvet cupcakes.  Yum!  After his first full day being a quarter of a century old, we got dressed up and went to a fancy steak dinner {no pictures, whoops!}.  

Happy 25th, Byron!  Wishing you a wonderful year with many blessings!

hops, grapes, & blue skies

On our third day in San Diego we went to the Stone Brewery.  This wasn't one of the things we'd planned before flying out to California, but I'm glad we had time in our schedule.  In case you didn't know, Byron loves beer, and the hoppier the better!  I'm pretty sure this was one of his favorite thing we did there!

Byron brought home 2 liters of Stone IPA.

The San Diego area has tons of microbreweries, including Pizza Port in Oceanside, where we ate some of the most delicious pizza I've ever had.  [Pizza is my favorite food and I don't say that about just any pizza.  Seriously, it was that good.]

In addition to the abundance of breweries, there are also lots of wineries around San Diego.  On our fourth day we drove to Temecula for a vineyard tour and wine tasting at Danza Del Sol.  Byron discovered his new favorite wine: Orange Muscat.  After about 10 tastings of wine [whoa!], we sat outside enjoying the beautiful weather and some local garlic goat cheese.

Notice our cheese knife!  haha

We went back into Oceanside for dinner at Ruby's, a diner on the very end of the pier.  It was neat to have dinner at the very end of such a long pier.  We ate our dinner as the sun set over the ocean.

The skies in San Diego are always perfectly blue and cloudless!  You couldn't ask for better weather!

Giraffes, Kayaking, Caves, & Sea Lions

For my Spring Break last week, Byron and I decided to take a trip to the west coast to visit Byron's brother and his wife.  I'd never been to California before, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but we had an awesome time!  It was such a blessing to spend a week with Travis and Leanne and to experience southern California with them.

We took an early flight to San Diego and as soon as we landed we headed straight to the zoo.  We spent 5 hours there and still didn't see the whole zoo...It was huge!!

We were at the airport in Atlanta early enough to
watch the sunrise from our gate before boarding.

Oh, how I love these animals.

Top Left: African Elephant
Top Right: Only the best animal ever.  Seeing them in person made me really miss Africa.
Bottom Right: Asian Elephant
Bottom Right: Koala (Byron made the most perfect sound effect for this guy.)

We left the zoo and stopped at Hodad's for some delicious hamburgers and milkshakes for dinner.  It was delicious.  I wish I'd taked pictures.  The best hamburger I've ever had.

Sunday morning we headed into La Jolla to kayak around the seven caves.  The water was freezing!  Byron and I shared a kayak, and it was a much more enjoyable outing than our honeymoon kayaking trip since I wasn't sinking!!  As we kayaked, sea lions would swim past us.  It was awesome.  I love seeing animals in their natural habitats!  Dr. Seuss owned an oceanfront house in La Jolla -- pretty cool, right?

We were supposed to be able to go into the caves, but the water was too rough :(

Once we turned in our wetsuits, we spent the rest of the afternoon walking around La Jolla.  Overlooking the cliffs we could see a group of sunning sea lions.

We climbed through a little cave to get here.  Of course Byron had to climb the rocks!

We ate dinner at Brockton Villa. [I loved eating outside so often!]  The food was delicious, and luckily the restaurant gives recipe for their Coast Toast, which was insane -- so good. 

We walked down into a cave after dinner.  In the 1920s a man, whose house was atop the caves, decided to dig through his floors and into the caves to make a tourist attraction {it worked, obviously} and charged people to walk the steps down.  It was also used to smuggle in alcohol during prohibition.  Sneaky, sneaky.

of course, Byron had to play on the rocks in the cave!

This little sea lion hopped up on the rocks to look at us . . . maybe he thought we'd give him food?
Silly pup, we cleaned our plates!

I loved La Jolla.  It's a great coastal city with cute restaurants and magnificent views.  Definitely a great start to our trip!

difficult times

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him . . .

the Lord loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones.

Psalms 37:7&28

Every now and then it feels like the odds are anything but in my favor.  Unfortunately that is now.  I feel like I've got jabs coming at me from multiple directions and it's all I can do to make it home at the end of the day.  [Quite literally -- traffic has been horrendous this week, doubling my commute time] It's been a rough few days to say the least, [Don't worry, I'm finished whining.] but I am so thankful for my husband.  

At the end of long days that leave me feeling defeated, I get to walk in the door to be greeted by my best friend.  He goes out of his way to love me and take care of me, cleans the kitchen and gets dinner started while I sit in the parking lot the Holcomb Bridge becomes at five o'clock.  In the mornings he wakes up early to prepare my coffee and write me sweet notes.  He never opposes cuddling on the couch smooshed between the dogs and graciously lets me fall asleep on his lap in the midst of grading papers.  

There's no one else I'd rather come home to [shhhhh...don't tell Bridget!], and although fancy dinners and vacations are nice, this is what I like most about being married.  I have someone who's on my side all the time and loves me better than anyone when I need it most. 

Sometimes it's hard to understand what God's got in store, especially in the midst of trials.  His plans are unfathomably better than my own [being married to such an incredible man is a constant reminder of that].  I've been blessed more than I deserve and I'm especially thankful for my husband, who does all that he can to encourage me.  The Lord doesn't give us anything we can't handle, and since things seem to be getting more and more difficult, I couldn't be more thankful for him to bless me with Byron as my husband.

thankful for a good sale

Here I sit as my husband tediously works on our taxes.  And what am I doing?  Honestly, I'm shopping online.  Hahaha.  Oh, how ironic.  But keep your mean thoughts to yourself -- I haven't bought anything . . . [yet] . . . Which brings me to my Thankful Thursday post.  It's a great day to be thankful for:

- Byron. My husband is the greatest [for countless reasons].  Today he came home from work and immediately got busy filing our taxes.  Man I love him. :)

- A good sale.  Loft has the best sales. [Not too mention I love shopping there, anyway!]  Yesterday I was out on a mission [I needed something to wear for Cupid's Undie Run on Saturday -- duh!] and walked into Loft to find some pretty awesome deals.

2 sweaters + 1 top = $30.08 

Total Savings: $148

- Ice Skates & Hot Chocolate.  Byron and I had a Wednesday night date to Park Tavern for some ice skating and hot chocolate.  He's much better than I am at skating, but we had such a great night filled with lots of laughter.

Welcoming the Weekend

As I let the pups out this morning and breathed in the brisk air, glad it wasn't going to be another wet day, it occurred to me that sometimes all it takes is a little, or a lotta, rain to remind you to be thankful for the simple ways God blesses us.

Come to worship Him 

with thankful hearts and songs of praise.

Psalm 95:2

After a week like this week, it's nice to be able to sit at home with my sweet husband [and a nice glass of Chianti] to write a blog post relax and enjoy each other's company.  And, for the first time, we're sharing a bottle of wine!!  I know what you're thinking, it's not because I'm a stingy Wine-o, but our taste buds never agree -- he loves scotch, hoppy-hoppy-hoppy IPAs, and sweet wines, while I like full-bodied, dry red wines, heffeweisens, and tequila.  But this bottle is a good compromise -- Finallyyyy!!

Querceto 2006 Chianti Classico

Earlier today as I was running some errands I snagged these great Le Creuset dishes. [I love a good sale!!]  Before I'd even paid for them I was already deciding what I wanted to cook in them tonight.  I really wanted Spinach Artichoke Dip, but wasn't able to make it to the grocery [the vacuum was literally calling my name], so I decided to save that for another day and create something with the ingredients we had at home.  And that something just happened to be one of our favorite dishes: bacon wrapped pork chops with apples and onions.  Delish.

Aren't these dishes wonderful!?
[I'll post this recipe soon!]

With full bellies we've cuddled up on the couch with Mook and Bridget to happily welcome the weekend.

Happy Friday!

a very merry Christmas

I'm feeling overwhelmed with joy after this Christmas season.  Byron and I have had a crazy few days running from house to house with our pups and presents and food, but spending time with our families and friends has been an incredible blessing.  

My cousins Katie & Lindsey

Our Christmas celebrations began with my extended family on Sunday with a Christmas lunch and some time around the Christmas tree at my Grandparents' house.  With already-full bellies we arrived to Byron's parents' for dinner and tree decorating.  All of Byron's brothers were in town this Christmas -- it was wonderful!!

Byron's parents & brothers

Decorating the tree

On Monday, my brothers and Mom joined Byron and me at Grace for the Christmas Eve service.  The sermon was Christ centered [reading Luke 2] and the music was powerful.  I loved more than anything, that it was mostly a worship service -- what else should it be on Christmas Eve?!  After church, Byron and I headed to his parents' for dinner, presents, and A Christmas Story. 

Christmas Eve

Byron's gifts!

We had our first Christmas morning as a married couple bright and early.  In fact, we had to wake the puppies up with their stockings -- Mook immediately began chewing on his candy cane bones, but Bridget just sniffed at them and went right back to sleep!  Byron and I had a wonderful time opening our presents to each other, sitting in our own living room, in front of our tree, wearing Christmas PJs.  Before heading to my parents', we were able to cuddle up on the couch to drink a cup of coffee, and watch some of The Grinch.  

wakeboard vest on & attaching his new bindings!

At my parents' we ate breakfast, unwrapped gifts, watch a non-Christmas movie, and ate dinner before going back to Byron's parents' for a little more time with his family before heading home to finish The Grinch and read the Christmas Story together.

We had an incredible first Christmas as Mr. & Mrs. with our families and look forward to many, many more! 

it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

my sweet Christmas pup. 

and Mook -- such a stud.

Although I'm sad to see the beautiful colors of fall piled on the ground, leaving their trees bare as the cold weather sweeps in, I am incredibly excited for the Christmas season.  Last weekend we made a trip up to the Kinsey Family Farm to pick out our Christmas tree, where we enjoyed the beautiful scenery and some hot boiled peanuts -- gotta love Christmas in the south!  

Each Thanksgiving my Grandmama gives us Christmas ornaments.  Since we haven't gotten the ornaments from our parents yet, these are the first 'memory' ornaments on our tree this year.  I couldn't be more pleased with our stockings -- I love them.   They're huge, so I'm going to need a lot of coal to fill Byron's!  

I know, I know, Christmas isn't all about gifts and Santa and decorations and all the things commercials and stores advertise it to be.  I know.  [There will be a post on this later]  Now that that's been clarified, let me say, I really enjoy giving Christmas gifts!  I have completed about half of my shopping and as of last night, we have presents under the tree!

The first wrapped present [for Byron]

Byron and I are ecstatic to celebrate our first Christmas together with our pups and our families.  We tried to do a family picture in front of the tree, but all we got was a compilation of photos capturing . . . this bliss we call life.

Happy December!!