Happy Birthday, Rookie!

Great Party!

Mine, All Mine!

It's Shiny and New....

(dress pocket hanging out... not some weird growth on my hip like it looks like)

and Blue!

My New laptop - so that I can blog and
do school work to my heart's content...
wherever I want!!!

Boring Little Update

I know, I know... I have been absent. I have had a rough couple of weeks getting adjusted to school again. So much work crammed into such a short amount of time!! But I am coping as best I can!

Nothing too exciting has been going on around here. But I promise we have some fun and exciting things I'll be able to share with you soon - including bathroom renovations, a quick trip to Nashville with our good friends, and a birthday blowout for The Rookie.

Until then... I'll share some photos of a concert that I went to along with a few friends about a month or so ago. It was held outdoors at the mouth of these awesome caves (that later became our shelter when the rain came pouring down)!

Check Us Out @ NEWLYWEDS!

Hello to everyone coming over from NEWLYWEDS!

We are the featured couple today on Jenna's Meet the Newlyweds segment!

We've been married for over two years now, but I still feel like a Newlywed! :)

I am usually a very regular blogger, but this week has been a wild one and blogging has fallen off quite drastically. Hopefully things will slow down a bit and my blogging will pick back up soon. Blogging is my tool to reflect on what is going on in our lives, and I desperately need it now.

Several of my regulars have asked about my mom, so I thought I'd give you a quick update. The previous diagnosis of immunodeficiency disorder - while it may be correct - did in no way help her situation. So we are still looking for answers on why she is so sick and how we can make her better. But good news - we went to Vanderbilt on Tuesday to see a specialist. He has pinpointed the problem in her nose and sinuses. She will have surgery in August and hopefully put an end to all this crazy sickness. Her new doctor there is crazy smart and feels confident he can take care of her problems. Thank you!

Also going on in our lives right now - a major bathroom renovation. The shower pan in our master bathroom shower was leaking so now we have to take out all of the tile. So we are completely renovating our shower with new tile and fixtures (and plumbing), replacing our toilet, replacing our sink and faucet, replacing all the fixtures in the bathroom, and freshening it up with a nice coat of paint (color still undetermined). Then, I think we'll need new blinds and window treatments. Why not?

If you didn't think that was enough - I'm currently enrolled in my first semester of graduate school. I'll be taking two courses a semester so I can finish my MBA in about a year! However, I didn't take into consideration that summer courses cover the same material in half the time. So my first semester of school includes two courses with 16 weeks of material crammed into 8. Oh, and I am getting all the hard stuff out of the way first. So that 8 weeks is crammed full of Accounting and Finance! Blah!

So now I have to get back to my Finance. I have so much work due by Midnight tonight and still haven't finished. Oh, yea.... and I have to work, too!

Sorry, enough moaning and complaining. But we have lots of exciting things going on!

Welcome to our crazy life!

Crazy Eights

I got tagged with EIGHTS by Aubrey over at The Fam Five!!

Here are The Rules!

Link the person who tagged me.
Complete the lists of 8.
Tag 8 other people (and let them know they've been tagged!)

8 Things I Am Looking Forward To:
1. Camping this weekend!
2. A new computer in my near future
3. My Birthday ~ I'll turn 25 next month
4. Our Master Bathroom Renovations
5. Hanging another diploma on my wall ~ MBA, here I come!
6. Baby Shower for Landon I'm hosting next month!
7. CMA Fest on Sunday ~ I won 2 tickets but I gotta find someone who likes country music to go with me. Anyone interested?
8. Going to Vandy with my mom on Tuesday so we can finally figure out what is going on with her!

8 Things I Did Yesterday:
1. Visited my mom at the hospital.
2. Brought her flowers for my parents' 26th Anniversary. Awesome!
3. Worked ~ crazy busy!
4. Blogged.
5. Completed questions for my Newlyweds feature (next week)
6. Played some tennis. Went 3 sets. Took 2 1/2 hours. It was fun and drama-free.
7. Had Mexican with the husband.
8. Cuddled with the husband and puppy.

8 Things I Wish I Could Do:
1. Live a life of luxury and leisure (that probably covers everything else)...
2. Travel all the time
3. Have a pretty new iMac at home
4. Sing..... in tune
5. Buy expensive shoes.... and watches.... and purses....
6. Live in my dream house without having a nightmare mortgage... (one day)
7. Teletransport anywhere I want to go.... no driving, no traffic, no commute time
8. Stay forever young.

8 Shows I Watch:
1. Greys Anatomy
2. Desperate Housewives
3. Brothers and Sisters
4. Private Practice
5. Anything on HGTV
6. The Daily Show with John Stewart
7. Late Night with Conan
8. How I Met Your Mother

8 Favorite Fruits...NOT from cans!:
1. Strawberries
2. Watermelon
3. Apples
4. Pineapple
5. Oranges
6. Grapes
7. Grapefruit
8. Nectarines

8 Places I'd Like to Travel:
1. Barcelona, Spain
2. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
3. France
4. Grand Canyon
5. Mt. Rushmore
6. Cartagena, Colombia
7. Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
8. .... anyplace tropical

8 Places I've Lived:
1. my childhood home
2. my freshman dorm
3. my first apartment ~ with 2 roomies
4. our rental home ~ with 2 roomies
5. another rental home ~ with 4 roomies (I lived in the dining room. True story.)
6. my childhood home.... for a few more months until....
7. our first apartment as husband and wife
8. and finally our first home

8 People I've Tagged:
1. Cassie at Southern Domestic Goddess
2. Rachel at Grasping for Objectivity in My Subjective Life
3. Kelley at K&A Peck
4. Ashley at La Familia Rosales
5. Jenna at Quirkie Birds
6. Angie at The Arthur Clan
7. Sherry at WepRuminations
8. Katy at WhatKatyDid

Now - if you'd like - tell me all about your eights.

Tennis Mama Drama

Lucas and I are playing mixed doubles together this year. It is so much fun and we are enjoying playing together! For those of you who do not know, my husband is a tennis rock star. I'm pretty good I think, but he is crazy South American prodigy child good. So together we make an awesome team.

Last night we played a strong team. I was so excited to play them because I knew it would be a close match, but I had a feeling we would come out on top. People, let me tell you - I was playing crazy good! I was keeping the ball in play, hitting winners, first serves in, winning service games at 'love' (meaning they weren't winning points off my serve), returning balls that I didn't think I could. It was a great night for me. I did make a few errors and double faulted once - but for the most part I was on fire. Lucas struggled a bit through a few games but was playing good, as usual.

The team we played doesn't lose much and apparently haven't quite grasped how to handle yourself when losing. And here is where the drama begins. We play on clay courts. When the ball lands, it leaves a mark. You can tell whether the ball was in or out. I was running for a short dropshot and couldn't make it. Lucas walked over and called the ball out based on the mark. This got the other lady in a tizzy. She was not happy about that call at all.

A couple of games later, Lucas called another ball wide that WAS wide. She flips out again! Mumbling LOUDLY that the lines must be out. A few games later, she hits what should have been an easy overhead into the net. She screams loudly: "I'm so worried about not getting it close to the lines that I'm missing this easy shit!"

The situation continues for the rest of the match. Loud cursing. Racket throwing. Evil stares.

Let me just say - my husband would not cheat. He has the most demure manor of any person I know. Second of all, he does not care enough about a local tennis league match (or anything else for that matter) to cheat. Third, he is so good that he does not have to cheat. I think most people recognize all these things about Lucas. On top of that, I witnessed all of the calls he made and they were good calls.
This woman really cannot handle losing. It cannot be that she was outmatched - she has to come up with any excuse possible for why she lost. Oh - and she did lose. 6-4, 6-3. Our post-match handshakes (standard tennis ritual of sportsmanship) was met with weak wrists, mumbled cursing, and looks away.

After the match she proceeded to walk up to every person who would listen and tell them what a lieing cheater Lucas is. LUCAS! Can you believe that?!? I can - from her. This is like standard operating procedure for her. She is full of shit. I hope everyone knows that. She is. We stayed to watch the deciding match for our team. Our team ended up losing in a third-set deciding match. This lady gets up and looks at the people watching saying "KARMA!", "KARMA!", "KARMA!". WHAT?!?!? Is this lady crazy?!? She must be!
Here is what gets me: this lady is nearly twice my age. She has three children - all of which play tennis and are pretty good. Is this the example she sets for them? I am deeply embarassed for her. What a pathetic existence! Please! I'm 24 and do not act this way. Get over yourself, lady. We beat you, fair and square. You are a loser ~ not because you lost in a silly tennis match, but because you have no manners, respect, or class. A classless loser.

Because I have class, I did not say anything. But she certainly was testing me. I am still considering saying something to her next time I see her. Her behavior was totally unacceptable. If I hear her say one more demeaning thing about my husband I certainly will say something. The anger is boiling up inside. SO - I hope she learns to keep her big mouth shut... maybe she can find some more appropriate manner of releasing her emotions.... say.... blogging?

What I'm Reading Now...

Ever feel like this?I am having one of those days...

when the only thing that could make it better is one of these....

...and maybe one of these....with a good one of these...

...but alas, here I am...

Yea. I would not consider Accounting a good read.

And ANOTHER Bachelorette!

Last weekend in the midst of all the other wedding bliss I had the opportunity to go to another bachelorette party for one of my good friends from high school - Courtney! We had such an awesome time!

See - Courtney was already having a good time when I arrived!

Notice the Long Island Iced Tea and empty glasses?

Courtney was bedazzled in all the finest of bachelorette attire!

So we hit the dance floor and did our best to cut loose before the big day!

What a fun group of girls!! I really enjoyed our girls night out!!!

This weekend we were able to attend her beautiful wedding! Unfortunately, my camera wasn't charged so I missed getting some pictures. I'll make sure to get some off of FB and show you how gorgeous it all was! The flowers were unbelievably beautiful! And her dress! Girls - her dress!! It was lacy and looked like it had all this hand-beading on it. It looked so vintage and glamorous!! The food was awesome! The church was full of family and friends. It was nice reconnecting with old friends! Best part of the day - Bro. Ron (our wedding pastor, too!) threw in an Obama 'Yes We Can!' reference in the ceremony. I know she appreciated it!

Until I get you some wedding photos, here is a gorgeous engagement photo of the happy couple!

Congratulations, Courtney and Jacob!!

...and I promise no more weddings for a while. Haha!

A Toast to the Bride and Groom!

The wedding was a huge success! And, of course, Shelby was a beautiful bride! She and Brad have waited a long time for this wedding day of their dreams. I am so happy that everything turned out just perfect for them. They will no doubt have a long, happy life together! Now, I have to start working on them to move back home! Arizona is a long way from here!

First, a few shots from the professional on the big day:

All photos copyright Saguaro Shadows Photography

And some photos from us common folk...

Good luck to the Bride and Groom on all life's adventures that are coming your way! We love you!

Our Last Night with the Bride-to-Be...

I'm telling you - this girl went all out for her big day. And everything leading up to the wedding was beautiful and grand.

For the rehearsal, we started off at The Westin to practice for the big day. Then, they rented a bus and drove us to our beautiful park downtown (you know - the one where Lucas and I always do our lunches together).

On the bus

Waiting for us at the park was a huge white tent set up by the pond. They had strung up photos of Shelby and Brad from their childhood to present day. We all enjoyed looking through the old memories together!


Then, some good Southern BBQ was just calling our name!

...and sweet tea, of course!

But the best part about the evening was seeing the happy couple together...

photo courtesy of Saguaro Shadows photography

and spending time with dear friends.


Oh, and the presents were nice, too! :)

Beautiful necklace and earrings!