New Addition to our Household

This little guy!The Nester was having a ' Perfectly Beautiful' Tassel Sale and I scored big time! I am working on gathering items for a zebra room that I am planning for the future. This is going to work great!

I also wanted this little guy but he was scooped up before I got him. Oh, well.

Thank you, Nester!

Easter... and a few other happenings

We celebrated Easter as we usually do - with a family lunch at my grandparents.

I love them...
Them, too...
And a family shot of us (with a sneak peak of some Easter goodies)...
I got to play with Karson (probably one of my favorite things to do)...

Secret: If you hold the dog and the baby at the same time
there is no barking or crying. An Easter miracle!

My grandparents keep him twice a week and he is in love with them...

The Easter Bunny was good to us this year.

Rafa is getting a little help with his present. He got a new collar and some treats.
Lucas scored big time - hat, shirt, candy, overalls. Yes - OVERALLS! They are hilarious!
And I did very well if I do say so myself: candy, jewelry, new purse, and some Tevas! I love my Tevas!

See my purse there on the ground. It is super cute!
Here is a better shot of it since I am carrying it today.

One last family photo with our little bunny...


And a couple random photos from this weekend:

The happy, old married couple out Friday night with friends

We had a special treat Saturday night. We stayed at Chris and Aida's, grilled out, and helped paint the nursery for Baby Landon!

I forgot to take pictures of the painting but got a few pics while taking down the tape...
Even the dogs get in on the action...

Hope your Easter weekend was filled with lots of fun, too!

Musical Mondays: Embarrassing Confession

Hosted by Jori and Diane

This week's theme is "The song I am embarrassed to admit that I LOVE". Well, for me - it is more of a genre..... the booty music genre. That's right, ladies. I like to shake it to some good tunes. Unfortunately, the songs that tend to be best for the booty are not what I would consider 'classy' music choices to say the least.
I like listening to my booty music not only when I am dancing but other times as well - getting ready for a fun night out, relaxing with friends on the weekends, driving in my car and making other people stare as I get my groove on in the driver's seat, doing house work....

I don't really care much for the lyrics. I just like the beat. So I listen, sing, dance along to powerful artists such as Young Jeezy, Soulja Boy, T-Pain, MIMS....... Yea. Classy.

Lucas is not a fan of my eclectic taste in music.... from my love of country to my rap repertoire. But he is most embarrassed by my booty music.... or my dancing... I'm sure that's not it... gotta be the music.

Here is just a taste to get you moving on your Monday....

Back That Thang Up
by Juvenile

Shake That Laffy Taffy
by D4L

Pop, Lock and Drop It
by Baby Huey

One Year

Well, it seems my blog and I have come to a pinnacle moment: one year together.

In the beginning, I wasn't sure how successful we would be or what exactly we were getting ourselves into. We had a rocky start - talking about the weather or other random nothings. But eventually I adjusted to life in the blogosphere: venting, creating, bragging, celebrating,traveling, and discovering new passions. We shared it together and made a lot of new friends along the way.

Yes, it seems this blog of mine and I will make it after all. There are many more changes coming in our future but through them all we hope to grow stronger and continue to meet lots of cool new people along the way.

I had hoped to unveil a brand new blog (still the same ole blog with a new name, home, and design) to mark this occasion, but I am far from ready for that. Instead, I'll announce my new blog name and cross my fingers that when the day comes to make that switch you will all follow me. Without further ado, I present to you the future of this little blog:

South Meets South:
When a Southern Girl falls in love
with a South American Man

I had already thought about this name when Jen @ Buried with Children suggested it, too. So I owe her a small token of my appreciation and will try to come up with something shortly. Thanks, Jen!

And thank you for listening,

Ashley

Picnics in the Park ARE BACK!!

Spring is almost here! The weathermen are reporting we received our last frost (hopefully) last night and warmer weather is headed our way. Today is a beautiful, sunny day with temperatures in the upper 60s (and climbing). We celebrated by reinstating our Picnics in the Park!

Lucas poses with my highly-coveted antique picnic basket

Lucas surprised me with a pineapple the other day
(no flowers, no candy, no lingerie.... a pineapple). I do love pineapple.

And a few pics of us...

And now that I have my camera handy, here is that photo of me with some of the junk food from Saturday night...

Looking forward to many more picnics this spring!!

Junk Food Frenzy!!

Saturday we had a great Junk Food Party to celebrate my new smile and all the things I can eat with it now. We look for any reason to have a good time.

As with any good party, there was birthday cake. This all stems from my marathon party (told you we look for any reason). Brandon ordered a "Congrats on running 26.2" cake. He picked it up without looking at it (such a man). When we opened up to celebrate it said "Happy Birthday Ashley". Haha! Okay. So, we have another birthday cake to celebrate the new smile! I told Brandon I should get a "Congrats on 26.2" cake for my birthday in July.... just to mix it up.


We also had lots of other junk food: Snickers, Twizzlers, Sour Gummi Worms, Chewy Jolly Ranchers, Popcorn, Cupcakes, Cheesecake, and my favorite of the night - Crunch & Munch, caramel covered popcorn with nuts.... so good. I took a photo with the all the junk but left my camera in the car so maybe I'll show you on another day.

There were various games - including some Wii action.


Showing off my new smile with Justin and James...


Brandon trying his best...


Nicole was already having a great night by the time we got there....


And, my photogenic husband....

Musical Mondays: Why I'm Smiling

Hosted by Jori and Diane

(I'm sorry. This is supposed to be a theme week. Our theme this week is: Chicks That Rock. But I've already written this post so I'm going to go ahead and stick with it. Just so you know, some chicks that I think totally rock: Dixie Chicks, Miranda Lambert, and Sheryl Crow. You know what else? I'm rocking a new smile. So I guess I'm a chick that rocks, too! Just don't listen to me when I get a hold of the mic in Wii Rock Band. Hehe!)

BEFORE:(Very ugly. I'm very embarassed of this. From some angles it looks like I am missing some bottom teeth. Gross! My top teeth weren't too bad but they have dramatically improved, as well.)

AFTER:(Yeah. Much better.)

So I have my retainer now. The first retainer Dr. Dickson made did not fit right. The plastic or the mold or something was wrong. I thought all weekend that wearing this retainer was just going to be awful. But he met me at his new office on Sunday to give me a new retainer. It is worlds better. Wearing this retainer is still a bit awkward but I'm getting used to it already. A mouth full of clear plastic is much better than a mouth full of metal... and it is only for 3 months.

Thank you, Dr. Dickson, for my new smile.
I love it!

We had a junk food party Saturday night. So much fun! Pictures to come later (I have to go steal them off of Brandon's FB page).

When You're Smiling
by Louie Prima