a new project

The idea of documenting an entire year of your life through pictures is nothing new...the whole project 365 thing has been around for a while. I've really been wanting to do this, especially as Noah is growing and changing every day.

So I've started a separate blog called {365} moments that I'll be *hopefully* starting tomorrow to do it! I'm really excited, and so hope that I'll be able to keep up with everything. I think it'll be fun to come up with new picture ideas every day and to see how different our lives are one year from now. I'll still be doing tot school and such here though!

Feel free to pop over to the new blog...or not. I'm doing this one just for us:)

my hubby rocks:)

I don't really listen to "popular" music. Typically, my music of choice is praise/worship, Christian kind of music. I don't really think there is anything wrong with listening to music that isn't "Christian"...I just tend to not like mainstream music very much.

The one exception to this is John Mayer....and its a BIG exception! I have loved John Mayer since his first album years ago, and I have wanted to see him in concert for forever. His tours haven't really come to my area, though, so I've been out of luck.

Until my oh-so-sweet hubby happened to see about a week ago that he was coming to Greensboro, NC (about 1.5-2 hours away) on March 15. And being the amazing man he is, surprised me with tickets!

We had a wonderful evening together, just the two of us...and about 12,000 other Mayer fans:)

(I have video, but I can't get it to load on my computer)

My hubby was quite skeptical about going...he isn't John Mayer's biggest fan. But he truly had a great time. I know this because he put all of my John Mayer music on his iPod this morning:)

Michael Franti & Spearhead was with John Mayer on this tour. Neither my hubby or I had a clue who they were. I didn't take any pictures of them, but he was quite energetic. But not bad....just not our style of music (we're not into reagae...sorry I can't spell!). He seemed to be a very nice guy and went into the crowd to see & dance with a disabled child, and even invited the other kids in the audience to dance on stage with him.

The only downside to the night was the umm...not-so-shy couple next to us that spent the evening groping and dancing on each other. They really made us uncomfortable after a while, but we did our best to ignore them. Our section also seemed to be completely full of high school girls. So if the music didn't make us deaf, their screaming and shrieking definitely did. But I won't complain...we had great seats and could see really well.

Really, I thought that John Mayer was amazing. I was a little nervous about how the whole experience would be since I've only ever been to Christian music concerts before, but I really did enjoy myself. And even if you don't like him, you have to admit that he is an incredible musician. He was super entertaining and funny too. The show really did exceed my expectations!

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So, my point of sharing this was:

#1)record the memory for later, and

#2)take time to do fun stuff with just your spouse.

So often I get caught up in trying to be a good mommy, a good nursing student, and all my other responsibilities that being a good wife can fall by the wayside. But taking the time to do things alone with my hubby and focus on our relationship needs to be a priority if I want all of my other roles to be fulfilled too!

Take time this week to do something alone with your husband....your husband will thank you, your children will thank you, and YOU will thank you:)

a great BIG thank you:)

I'm a little behind in posting about this, so my apologies! I feel quite honored to have been awarded the Lemonade Stand award by Susan of Chasing Marcus and Angela of Confessions of a Non-Domestic Housewife. This award is given for showing "great attitude and gratitude." Thank you both...I appreciate your kindness so very much! And I love your blogs:)

Since it seems like this one has been floating around everywhere lately, I'm not going to pass it to anyone in particular. I always hate having to choose people for things...but for this one, I honestly think every blog I read shows amazing attitude! I think that being a mom and caring for your children, helping them to grow and learn, is one of the hardest (but most rewarding!) jobs women can have. So we all deserve an award like this in my opinion:)

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I was also awarded the Happy 101 award by Cassie of Southern Domestic Goddess. I appreciate your kindness as well, and always love to get ideas from all you do with you little man too:)

For this award, you are to list 10 things that make you happy, then tag another 10 people. So here are 10 things that make me happy:

1. My two boys...the hubby & Noah:)

2. The new year...I love the feeling of anticipation, making changes, and all that:)

3. Noah feeling better!

4. Vacations! Especially our up-coming one to Disney...May 13th is getting closer and closer!!

5. Noah's kisses....nice and sloppy, just how I like them:)

6. Tot school:) I'm particularly excited about this week..all about winter and snowmen!

7. My "quiet" time.

8. Noah going to bed at 8:00 the last two nights in a row! Jimmy and I actually got some time to ourselves.

9. A clean, freshly organized house.

10. Finally going to Ikea for the first time yesterday. I'm not really into the modern style, but I was most impressed. Plus, Noah got a new dresser and some new tot school tools:)

And I'd like to pass this along to:

Chasing Marcus

Confessions of a Non-Domestic Housewife

Rogers' Family Blog

Fifth Street Academy

My Family My Forever

Momma's Playground

April Showers

And Baby Makes Five

Boy Blessings

Wilson Ramblings

snow day:)

Snow days are rare in our area, so we get awfully excited when the white stuff falls! (please excuse the wet lens!)

It really added that missing touch to our Christmas decorations...

Even Noah's castle looked festive!

Noah, however, was not such a fan when we went out Friday afternoon for his first *real* snow day...

The cold and wet didn't quite agree with him it seemed..and please pardon his makeshift snow-proof shoes. We don't have snow boots for him, so we put some plastic baggies over his tennis shoes. Laugh, but it worked!

But by Saturday evening, when our yard had a chance to freeze over again, Noah had LOTS of fun being slid around by Daddy!

If only the snow would last until Christmas...much of it has already melted. At least it helped get us a little more in the Christmas mood:)

ahh..sweet snowfall:)

Please don't ridicule me if you are a yankee...which I say with fondness as my sister-in-law is from MI:) But snow doesn't fall too often around here, so when the forecast calls for a few inches, it is an occasion to stock up on milk and bread! Just look at this glorious sight..

The Weather Channel is calling for snow until noon tomorrow, with heavy snow overnight for a total of up to a foot or more! AND looking ahead to Christmas...there is a chance of snow showers?!?! Be still my heart...I may actually have a white Christmas. Thank you, dear God, for small blessings:)

So I'm sitting back and enjoying the sights while Noah naps and Jimmy is at work until 3:00. Hopefully this really will lay so Noah can go out later and enjoy some playtime. And just so you don't worry about us, I DID go stock up last night, so we're throughly prepared to be snowed in:)

thank you alexander fleming...

Noah says "I *heart* penicillin!!"....well, actually Noah *hearts* amoxicillin, but its basically the same thing..

After 9 days of guesswork about why Noah was still feeling cruddy, still had no appetite, and STILL had a fever (off and on), he was finally diagnosed with a serious double ear infection. ugh! Its a long story about why it took so long to get an actual diagnosis on him, and in our pediatrician's defense, things actually did start out as viral....but let's just say I will never waste my time in an ER where you have to ASK to have your child's ears even looked at during a physician's assessment unless Noah has a detached limb!

But I do have to say, I LOVE our pediatrician's office...they really are wonderful! And Noah is feeling much better now...back to his silly, funny little ways:) Just in time for lots of Christmas fun!

**and just in case you didn't know, alexander fleming discovered penicillin, hence my title:)

on my mind...

This week tends to be a bittersweet one for me, so I've had a lot on my mind...

Mine and Jimmy's second anniversary was on Tuesday, the 20th:)

That's definitely the sweet part!

I had some beautiful flowers delivered to me Tuesday afternoon after he went to work, and we went to eat at Kobe's (a Japanese steakhouse) on Wednesday night. Usually we go to the beach for the weekend at my aunt's condo, but he has been working overtime this week while another manager is getting married themselves. But we still had a nice anniversary this year, just more low key:)

The bitter part of this week is missing my Pawpaw. His birthday was on Wednesday, the 21st, and he passed away two years ago tomorrow (Oct. 24). Yes, that was only four days after our wedding, but his death was incredibly unexpected. We were very close, and I miss his so much...especially this week...

Of course, I do have this little stinker to cheer me up:)

giveaway loot:)

As part of 1+1+1=1's 1000 Subscriber Celebration, Carisa gave away a BrainyBaby dvd. And we won! I was super excited for Noah to try their Animals dvd, especially since no stores around us seem to carry BrainyBaby products.

The dvd came in the mail this week...Noah was quite excited to watch it:)

Noah doesn't watch tv or dvds very often...the only thing he will actually sit still to watch is his massive Thomas the Tank Engine collection (he's apparently so over Imagination Movers now:) ). But he watches these very passively and tends to fall asleep after about 20 minutes.

So imagine my surprise and delight when Noah sat still and watched the entire Animals dvd, pointing/talking to the different animals and kids and clapping along to the songs?! He was just as engaged when we watched it again today:)

One thing I really like that they actually have narration/facts to go along with naming the images rather than only naming things. I think because of that the video will grow with him as he gets older and more knowledgeable.

I am definitely adding some other BrainyBaby products to Noah's Christmas List:) And thank you again, Carisa, for hosting all of those great giveaways and introducing us to some awesome new companies!!!

an award:)

A great BIG thank you to Mama Kenz Studio for sharing this award with me! I usually don't mess with award stuff, but since this was sent my way, I'll gladly accept it (but won't pass on...it just gets to be too much when you start with the award stuff, you know?).

So....

I aboslutely love visiting MacKenzie...she blows me away with her businesses (Chic & Savvy Mamas and Hope for Healing), her "greenness" :), and her generosity. I have won two..yes TWO..giveaways from her! I use my SleepyWrap with Noah all the time (I need to take some pictures!). He LOVES riding in it, especially when we're out shopping. And I cannot wait to receive Blue Like Playdough! I know I'm going to love it.

MacKenzie also has two adorable boys. And she's a pretty cool mommy..so I'm a fan:)

Anyway..I'm supposed to share seven things I love, so here goes..

1. Jesus - even though it feels a bit superficial put Him on an actual list, the fact that He is number one goes without saying!

2. My guys - Jimmy and Noah...they make my world happy:)

3. Music - my tastes are as wide as they come, but lately I've been jamming to the Imagination Movers...isn't mommy-hood great:)

4. Decorating and gardening - I'm an HGTV nut!

5. Books - though I don't read as much as I'd like.

6. Sundrop - I feel so sorry for you if you don't live in NC:)

7. Photography - I know nothing about it, and I'd love to learn when I have some time, but in the meantime, I'll just fill my memory card with regular old shots of our family:)

Thank you for the award, MacKenzie!! I'm so glad we've connected through blogging:)

show us your life - wedding reception & honeymoon

For today's Show Us Your Life from Kelly's Korner, we're sharing our wedding reception and honeymoon pictures!

***Let me go back a minute and say that I live in a small town. So my wedding was by no means elaborate! We kept it simple, and while I do love big and fancy weddings, that's just not me. So it all works out...simple wedding in a small town for a simple girl:)

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We had our reception at a place in our downtown called Club Cola. As you can see on the sign, it is a place for receptions...not like a night club or anything! That would be quite frowned upon in our little neck of the woods:)

A very close friend of our family owns this place, and he and his son also collect antique vending and soda machines...the museum they have for their huge collection is located in the same building as the banquet hall. They even have a few of the working machines inside the banquet hall. They had them stocked for us and provided the dimes too! So we got to drink soda at the wedding out of the old-fashioned glass bottles:)

The building used to be an old mill that they had converted. So everything is exposed...brickwork and ductwork, and the original wood floors were restored as well. Its a very neat place, and it was cool to have our reception in a place with such history from our little town:)

Here you can see one of our table settings...birdcages (and some had lanterns) with candles and leaves.

Here is our food table. My mom made the centerpiece! It is GORGEOUS! She still uses it at her home in the fall...lucky her!

We had a buffet-style finger-foods reception since it was early in the afternoon.

Here is our cake...it looks really tiny in this picture, but it really wasn't that small.

Cutting it..

And sharing our first dance:)

This is probably my favorite picture from our whole wedding:)

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Now onto our honeymoon!

We actually took two honeymoons....a short weekend at the beach right after our wedding (can't find any pictures!), and then our big honeymoon to Disney World the week before Christmas.

Yes, I wore wedding ears. And while you may laugh, we got TONS of free stuff! Like a $60 snow-globe for my niece for Christmas...FREE! And lots of free Fast Passes and such. Sometimes, it pays to look silly:)

So yeah...we wore some ears..

Took some pictures with some characters..

And enjoyed all of the pretty Christmas decorations throughout Disney:)

We had an amazing time! But I won't bore you with the 500+ pictures I took that week:)

I know a lot of people would rather go to someplace tropical or exotic or at least less crowded than Disney World. But Disney just fits me and Jimmy...we're just giant kids, and had more fun and made more memories in that week than we probably would have in a month at Hawaii! And we can't wait to take Noah..and are really hoping to next year some time!

And afterall...what's more of a fairy tale than having Snow White herself (in the middle of the Spectromagic Parade, no less!) wish you congratulations on being newlyweds:)

show us your life - wedding party & flowers

For today's "Show Us Your Life" from Kelly's Korner, we're sharing photos of our wedding party and flowers. If you missed my post from last Friday about my wedding dress, you can see that here. Again, I know this is different than my usual posts, but without the wedding, we wouldn't have Noah:) So onto the pictures (and again, I apologize for the photographer's logo across most of the pictures...I have very few personal digital pictures from our wedding!).

First, I'll share my flowers/decorations from the ceremony...

A full shot of the sanctuary...I really wanted an outdoor wedding, but I was too nervous about inclement weather. And renting tents and such for a 250+ guest list was way too pricey...oh well! That's what happens when you have a big family, I guess! So anyway, we got married at the church we attend - Ebenezer United Methodist. My mom grew up attending this church, and I moved my membership several years ago from the church I attended growing up.

Regardless, I think we made the olive green and brown of my church work nicely:) Oh, and our wedding was October 20, 2007...I don't think I've mentioned that yet. Oops!! :) But anyway, I had wanted a fall wedding for forever..fall is my very favorite season. So we really did it up right, with tons of pumpkins, leaves, gourds, cornucopias, wheat and all that. I wish I had more pictures of the decorations, but I'll just share what I've got.

Here is the alter and such..

And closer up...while we used a rental company and a florist, my mom created all of the silk flower decorations like this on the alter. She is VERY talented:)

I have a few more shots of the decorations at the reception, but those are for next week:)

We had a really wonderful florist! We only used fresh flowers for the bouquets, boutineers (spelling?!?), and pew markers. Here is a close-up of my bouquet...these are called chocolate roses. I LOVED the color:)

I'm not sure if you can see the pew markers in the first picture I shared...but we used paper cones filled with nandina leaves and some kind of berries to designate the pews for our immediate family/wedding party. You'll see the other flowers other pictures..

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Now onto the wedding party..

These two were officially the cutest people in attendance:)

My niece, Abby, was 3 1/2 at the time, and my nephew, Peyton, was 5 1/2. They sure did ham it up for the camera! Obviously that runs in the family (hint hint...Noah Allen:)! )

I love my individual pictures I took with Abby..

And Peyton..even if his jacket sleeves were too long:)

Great picture with my dad...he looked so handsome that day!

And my mom was absolutely beautiful!

Our moms' (and grandmothers') corsages were very pretty as well. I forget what all they were made up of, but I think they were similar to the bridesmaids' bouquets (up next).

Me and my bridesmaids...from the left - my niece Ellen, me, my best friend Alison, my niece Danielle, and Abby down below.

Their bouquets used circus roses (I think that's the name) and various leaves and berries. They were very pretty too. And I LOVED their dresses! I know its a joke that bridesmaids dresses are always horrible, but I really loved theirs and would have happily worn one too:)

Jimmy and his groomsmen..from the left - his good friend Jesse, Jimmy, my dad (in wheelchair), Peyton, then my brothers Weston and Shannan. Their boutineers used the circus roses as well.

We wanted to keep our actual wedding party small, so my other closest friends (I'll show them in the reception pictures...their picture for this post got deleted somehow) served other functions in the wedding, and my sisters-in-law acted as our wedding directors on the day of. Otherwise if I had used all of the people I really wanted, we would have had eight sets of bridesmaids and groomsmen! So we compromised.

Here Jimmy and I are with his stepmom..

And with his mom..

Here is a shot of my parents, my brothers, and myself. Both of my brothers actually walked me down the aisle..we were all too nervous of the logistics involved with a narrow aisle, my dad's wheelchair, and my dress! But my dad still waited for me at the front to give me away and all:)

And this is a shot of Jimmy and me with my parents, brothers, and grandparents...Mimi and Pawpaw (standing), and my Mawmaw in the wheelchair (she had a fractured ankle at the time).

I absolutely cherish these photos even more since my Pawpaw passed away unexpectedly five days after the wedding...I miss him so very much.

And finally, one last group shot of the wedding party.

I hope you've enjoyed seeing all of these so far, and I'm excited to share reception pictures next week!