my love

oh, i'll tell you that I

I love you by and by

I don't know if I'd survive

without a friend like you in my life

Happy 3 Years. 

I am a lucky, lucky girl. 

Golf Tournament for Adam

I love those times in life when you get a glimpse of just how generous and kind people are.  Yesterday was a golf tournament benefitting my precious brother-in-law.  He has so many people that love him and a group of his friends got together and planned a tournament benefitting him.  It was a huge success and so many people came out in support.  Thanks to all for making it happen and for everyone that traveled to play in the tournament!  We are all so appreciative.  Adam is doing great, by the way!  Chemo made him sick for a little while, but he was well enough to play (and do well!) in the tournament yesterday! Praise God!

Here are a few pictures:

They made t-shirts and everything!

Hunter and Michael

Thomas (long lost friend!) and Robert

Me and Trey.  I think I am putting on my t-shirt?!

Me and Adam

Me and Nic-Nic!

perfection.

Seaside with the family.  Perfection.  Can we go back, please? 

By day 2, he loved the sand. 

The sisters.  We wore big earrings as a bikini distraction.  And because Kristen said so. 

sweet mama and daddy

Perfect. 

Cutie.

Before the family portraits on the beach. 

Touristy much? 

The house

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, 

Happy Birthday to my MAMA, Happy Birthday to YOU!

I am so blessed to have you as not only my mom, but as my best friend.  I love you and can't wait to celebrate our birthdays together in Seaside next weekend! 

Love you!

updates.

Hello blog-land.   I have many updates, grab a cup of joe and a chair.  Stay a while. 

1.  Adam:  You may remember that my brother-in-law, Trey's little brother, was diagnosed with cancer a few weeks ago.  This morning Adam, along with Trey and their mom, headed to

 Jackson so Adam could receive Chemo.  I just got a text from Trey and they are still waiting - which is torture, I am sure.  He will be undergoing intensive chemotherapy, which I am told is basically like several rounds of chemo at once.  Hopefully this will be his only round of chemo.  He will be sick for a while, as you can imagine, and was pretty nervous when I saw him around 6:30 this morning.  So, please, keep him in your prayers.  We are told this month could be rough for him. 

Trey and Adam.

2. House: We are in our new (old) house!  We LOVE it!  As you may recall, we lost the new construction home right before closing due to lies by the seller, etc... Well, now we are

 convinced that while that was a totally stressful time, it was divine intervention!  We love our old house in the historical district.  The neighbors are so fabulous.  Our big living room window over looks Mr. and Mrs. Clark.  He is a retired Marine and to say that his yard is immaculate would be an understatement.  It is perfect. We are convinced that he cuts it with scissors while we are at work.  There is something to be said to be surrounded by fabulous neighbors.  Maybe it's because our last home had some rentals on the street and people would come and go.  This neighborhood is full of every type of person!  Young, old, single, retired, families, etc.  I love it.  Our next door neighbor is an adorable family with three young children.  She is a stay at home mom, so I am eager to become fast friends.  I am hoping she can watch Sophie a few days a week.  I think she needs to socialize a little more.  I will let you know how that goes.  For real, I am so happy here and love that people are at home during the day around my house! Again, maybe this is because we were robbed at our last home while we were at work.  More pictures coming soon.  We are still in the long process of moving in, painting, updating appliances, etc. But it is all coming together. I am ready to decorate.

Our back deck with fabulous yard.  We spend a lot of time here.  It is much bigger than this picture shows. Come on over.  We will bar-b-q.

3. Sophie: Sophie loves the new house.  I think this is because the downstairs (really

 just downstair. singular. one stair) den has french doors in it.  She sits on top of the couch all day everyday and just looks out the windows.  While the cute little mailbox on the front porch is one of my favorite parts of the house, Sophie on the other hand, hates this aspect. The mail woman walks in front of the window to the front porch to deliver the mail.  Sophie finds this very disturbing and is eager to show her disgust at the mail lady.  I am hoping this is a passing

 phase and she will grow to love the charm of it all.  In the meantime, I am sure our mail lady hates coming to our home each day. 

Sophie, love her new yard. 

4. Seaside: In exactly one week, my family is heading to Seaside.  I can not wait.  Mama, Daddy, LT, Kris, Rob, Henry, Trey and me. We have never done this!  I am thrilled.  I need a little vacay.  We all need a little vacay.  I plan on doing nothing but playing with Henry on the

 beach, drinking fruity concoctions, reading, eating and sleeping.  Please, do not call me.  I will

 not answer.  

5. P90X: Are you familiar? Trey and I decided a few weeks ago that we are so over "i am happily married and satisfied with the weight I have put on since then" look and ordered this

 extreme workout video.  And when I say extreme, I mean it.  We had to buy equipment and everything.  You do it everyday for an hour to an hour and a half for 90 days.  We are on day 11

 and I am not kidding when I say I can see a difference in both of us.  Trey said if he knew how bad it would hurt the first week he would not have committed to it.  I tend to agree.  But it is so worth it.  I can't wait to see how fit we are after 90 days! Watch out, Jillian and Bob.  Trey and Heather are bringing it. 

Pratically Trey and Heather

6. Baby love: I finally was able to meet Leyton, chunk-of-love, Knight. I love him.  However, I am pretty sure the sequence of pictures pretty much sums up his thoughts towards his first meeting of Aunt Heather. No worries, Leyton.  I am sure our bonding session will go much better at our next meeting.  Nan, it was fabulous seeing you and Jeremy. Finally. Long time coming. Please, for the sake of my husband's well-being, move a little closer to us. 

hi.

lots to post about. New house. News with Adam. Getting Sophie back safe and sound. Seeing Leyton. Buying new shoes. 

And I will get to those things.  But I love lists.  And LT had one I had yet to do.  So I will now. 

1. First thing you wash in the shower? Hair

2. What color is your favorite hoodie? My grey Tripp Lake one. 

3. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again? I think this is a strange question, but yes. 

4. Do you plan outfits? Are you kidding? No.  I plan my outfit everyday as I put them on my body.  Now don't get me wrong. If there is a big occasion, planning takes place.  But everyday? No. I work with all men. ALL men. I could wear the same thing every day and no one would notice. 

5. How are you feeling RIGHT now? chilled

6. Whats the closest thing to you that's red? peppermint 

7. Tell me about the last dream you remember having? I know it involved Chinese children and a zoo.  Afterall, that is what sweet dreams are made of. 

8. Did you meet anybody new today? No

9. What are you craving right now? a vacation. Seaside here I come. 

10. Do you floss? Claire, did you confirm if Barry Herring reads our blogs??

11. What comes to mind when I say cabbage? Nana.  She steams cabbage. It's good. 

12. Are you emotional? I cry every week on the Biggest Loser and I stopped watching American Idol because it hurt my feelings.  

13. Have you ever counted to 1,000? Why the H would anyone count? 

14. Do you bite into your ice cream or just lick it? Bite

15. Do you like your hair? Used to.  Then, if you recall, my blow dryer caught it on fire.  Not fire literally, but smoke and singe. Not it is all nappy. 

16. Do you like yourself? Most of the time. 

17. Would you go out to eat with George W. Bush? I think he would like a Blue Moon with me, yes. 

18. What are you listening to right now? a strange big dog barking

19. Are your parents strict?  I think so.  Then I thought so, but looking back, I think I will be more strict.  Is that possible, LT? T-Mack did give intense lectures. 

20. Would you go sky diving? Only if my mama wanted me to go with her

21. Do you like cottage cheese? yes, but i don't like to look at it or call it by name

22. Have you ever met a celebrity? I am pretty sure most would count 98 degrees circa 1997 as celebrities. 

23. Do you rent movies often? We go on kicks

24. Is there anything sparkly in the room you're in? my ring i guess?

25. How many countries have you visited? USA, Canada, Mexico, Jamaica 

26. Have you made a prank phone call? I wish I could be like Polly Peacock

27. Ever been on a train? at zoos

28. Brown or white eggs? Whichev.  Not so much an egg eater

29. Do you have a cell-phone? Duh

30. Do you use chap stick? sure

31. Do you own a gun? Negative. My husband does, though.  I don't like to talk about it. 

32. Can you use chop sticks? Like a champ.

33. Who are you going to be with tonight? trey and sophie, obviously 

34. Are you too forgiving? TOO forgiving? ummm.. no.  Forgiving? Yes, but I usually speak my peace first. 

35. Ever been in love? Yes

36. What is your best friend(s) doing tomorrow? Trey is actually off work tomorrow. Punk. My sisters and parents are working. They are all my BFFs fo'real. 

37. Ever have cream puffs? Sounds horrible.  General rule is that I don't like white stuff

38. Last time you cried? Last night. Did you watch Biggest Loser? I want to take Jerry home with me. 

39. What was the last question you asked? Can we discuss this tomorrow?

40. Favorite time of the year? Anything but August.  Spring and fall, please.  keep things mild. 

41. Do you have any tattoos? No.

42. Are you sarcastic? Yes.

43. Have you ever seen The Butterfly Effect? No. 

44. Ever walked into a wall? sure

45. Favorite color? red

46. Have you ever slapped someone?  Ummm, yes.  When I was a senior in high school.  It was deserved. 

47. Is your hair curly? just nappy

48. What was the last CD you bought? Do people still buy CDs?

49. Do looks matter? sure. 

50. Could you ever forgive a cheater? Hopefully won't have to.  

51. Is your phone bill sky high?  Do you know Trey? No bills are high

52. Do you like your life right now? pretty fabulous. 

53. Do you sleep with the TV on? We don't have a TV in our room

54. Can you handle the truth? hear it all the time. thank goodness

55. Do you have good vision? yep. 

56. Do you hate or dislike more than 3 people? More than 3? No. 2? YES. But hate is a strong word. 

57. How often do you talk on the phone? just to my fam.  Not a good phone caller. 

58. Who was the last person you held hands with? Trey and Sophie. Yes, she holds hands. 

59. What are you wearing? a green anthropology top (trey picked it out!)and capris

60. What is your favorite animal? dogs. 

61. Where was your default picture taken at? I don't understand. 

62. Can you hula hoop? Naturally

63. Do you have a job? Yes, and I love it

64. What was the most recent thing you bought? shoes

65. Have you ever crawled through a window? yes.

fairy godmothers come to town

Amanda named us Kate's fairy godmothers.  I like it.  I think it will stay. We had the best time last weekend in memphis. The three of us made the trip from south Mississippi to meet our new friend.  It is so wonderful, first of all, to see old friends, but I added a new friend this weekend! I was so happy to meet precious Kate. She is gorgeous.  Lindsey, Tricia and I agree that the pressure is really on to have cute kids in the future.  Thanks alot, Amanda.  

Anyway, lucky for the three fairy godmothers, Amanda left us alone with the babe for a few hours.  She and Luke had weddings to attend and entrusted the three of us to care for precious Kate. 

The moment she left, we knew a photo shoot was in order.  Kate was a really great sport, that is until we tried to make her wear a bonnet for an extended amount of time.  We dressed this child up like a doll.  And when she fell asleep? Well, we put her in props.  It was wonderful.  She slept like, well, a baby after the photo session.  

I have to shout out to Tricia's photography! She took so many pictures.  I resisted from putting them all on here!  She is so fabulous - Check out her stuff here.

So now the goods: the pictures.  She is so precious.  It was love for sure.  And I am pretty sure the feeling is mutual. 

Me and the new mama - my roommate for two years in college. My how times have changed!

We put her in a bonnet and gown. and when she fell asleep - props!! We put her in her Easter basket. ADORABLE.  You're welcome, Amanda. 

And, finally, the creepiest picture ever.  We found three bonnets. There were three fairy godmothers.  It just added up.  Please look at Kate screaming.  Bless her.  I promise we picked her up right after this picture. (only to put her in a basket!)

Thank you, Amanda, for sharing her with us! I loved every minute of it.  Beautiful baby - and beautiful mama! Love you dearly

Wickles. A happy day by any means.

So my not so great week turned out pretty sweet after all.  I was at the Corner Market getting the usuals - bread, cereal, hummus and grapes - when I spotted them. Wickles.  Do you know such a treasure? 

Let me explain. 

In October, Trey and I, along with my fabulous parents, went to Highlands, North Carolina for a little R & R.  There, I discovered a fabulous find at a farmer's market: Wickles.  The most perfect spicy sweet pickle in all the land. 

I thought this to be a rare find, and thus stocked up with a few jar's while on vacation, thinking I would not find this commodity in Mississippi. 

Wrong, friends, wrong.  It is in Mississippi. Hattiesburg,

 to be exact.  When I saw the jar of Wickles looking directly at me, it was a like a light at the end of a dark tunnel.  I have been to the Corner Market how many times? too many to count. Yet, never saw the most perfect form of the cucumber until this week. 

I have since made myself sick off of Wickles.  Trey doesn't like them.  Which is great news for me.  At $7.00 a jar, it is necessary for me to be selfish. 

So go find you some Wickles, you will be glad you did. 

To only add to my shopping pleasure,  Abita Sesonal Strawberry Ale is now is season.  

Wickles and Abita Strawberry.  What a perfect dining experience. 

On the house front, we made offer on house number 4 tonight. Cross your fingers and say a little prayer for us.  And when I say this house is polar opposite of the house we almost bought before the crazies took over, I mean it.  But I love it.  We shall see. 

Gotta go.  In need of some Wickles. 

hippity-hoppity, and a couple of prayer requests!

I love Easter. I am sitting in Clinton with my family, minus LT, who comes tomorrow, and minus Kristen who is on a 48-hour shift at the hostpital (bless her). Ok, so really not the whole family. Today was a great day. the boys - my dad, Trey and Rob - played golf while Nana, mama and I played outside ALL day with Henry. Now it is nice and quiet with most people asleep in the house and Trey, Rob and i are watching movies. Good times. Nice break. Looking forward tomorrow when everyone will go to church (laura is coming into town and kris gets off an hour before church!) and then we will go to Rob's mom and dad's for lunch and an Easter egg hunt. Henry is the only 'child', but I was told there will be money in the eggs - a trick to get the 'adults' involved. I would have done it for jelly bean-filled eggs, but money? Bring it.

I hope you all have a very wonderful Easter and rejoice in the reason for the celebration!

Few other things / prayer requests from the week:

1) I know there are many praying people out there, so I am asking you to please pray for my fabulous brother-in-law, Adam, Trey's little brother. We found out Wednesday that he has cancer, but a very curable kind and we are all so positive. He will be in surgery on Tuesday, so please think of him, if you will. I know he will appreciate it. It is a scary word and there are still a lot of unknowns right now, but we know that the Lord's hand will be on him and he will be just fine!

2) And secondly, and so secondary to the first request, our home situation went from great to bad very quickly! we were supposed to close on our new home on Thursday, but on wednesday about an hour after the news came about Adam, we found out that the sellers/builders of the home we were buying had not been truthful during the process and we lost the house. Basically they were in the middle of a family dispute and while the home was listed as 'new construction', it came out that the title had actually been switched three times between fighting family members, so all the appraisals/warrenties were wrong. Then one brother came forth on Wednesday and said that he still owned the property the house was on, while the other brother owned the house! What?! I am confused. It was a mess. But it is funny that after the news of Adam, this news really didn't affect me much and seemed so minor in comparison.

But I do miss Sophie, who has been living with my parents in S'ville since dogs aren't allowed in the family campus apartments on campus. But we are still very thankful our house sold three weeks ago, thankful for a place to live in the meantime, and very confident we will find something soon! But it is stressful, and my life feels very unorganized living in temp. housing with my belongings in a POD.

But with all the 'news' that came at the end of this week, what a great weekend / celebration this has been. Life is put in perspective during times like this!

HAPPY EASTER!
(and thanks for the prayers)

a new home....a baby is born... and a belated birthday shout

So much to share. Where do I begin? 

First of all, ya-ya had a birthday last week. Sorry for the delayed post, sis.  

Everyone should get to know her.  We had so much fun her b-day weekend.  I just wish I could have stayed for the real birthday.  But lucky for her, our family celebrates birthday months, not days.  So it's cool. 

So here's a birthday post, ya-ya.  I waited to post this because, let's face it, the come down after a birthday can be a real B****.  I am just trying to prolong the celebration.  LYLAS

Secondly, I am an AUNT again!  Well, not by blood, but one of my nearest and dearest gave birth to an absolutely beautiful little girl on March 18th.  I absolutely can not wait to hold this little thing.  

Amanda, you have come a long way from the "show me that smile" dance at 2 am in the KD house.  I can't believe you are a mom!  I mean, I know technically we are old enough for such actions, but it is just so crazy still.   The two years I spent living with Amanda at the KD house were two of the best.  And now....a mother! This is nuts.  

Anyway,  I can't wait to meet this sweet thing.  

Love you, Amanda - and I love you already, sweet Kate!

What a precious family.....

more news - the home front.  We are officially out of our old house!!  We are living on campus in a little apartment for a couple of weeks until we close on our new house.  Sophie can't live with us.  No dogs allowed.  I am sorry, what?!  she is my child.  But nonetheless, she is being spoiled at my parent's house until we move in.  I can't wait! The house is great and we are so excited.  I have tons of pictures, but the camera connector is in the POD in Jackson along with everything else I own.  Luckily the apartment was furnished, so we were able to just m

ove everything into a POD until we move into our new home.  So when I say I feel like my life is totally unorganized, I mean it.  But we are so blessed how this all worked out - the apartment worked out perfectly and literally fell into our laps, we found a new house we love

 in a great neighborhood, and our old house sold and closed with no hick-ups at all! Praise God!  

And, of course, Henry. Here's a picture of the future PGA star. Precious Henry in his "golf hat" that he only wears when playing golf.  Oh how I love this little man. 

 

Our old house closed on the day we were supposed to be in Orlando.  Just our luck.  We were so much looking forward to meeting another precious friend's precious little man for the first time.  The trip had been planned for so long and it just so happened to be at the time we had to close on our home.  Such is life, I suppose.  But now I am more than ever eager to squeeze this little buddy.  Nan, we need to start over on the trip planning.  

I mean, look at this little man.  I just love him. 

I want to just squeeze those legs.  Couldn't you just eat him up?!