27th Birthday!

A little over a week ago, I celebrated my 27th birthday with my husband J, my Dad, and my brother, A. We had a really nice dinner at a seafood restaurant in a nice hotel close to where our home is. We had a wonderful weekend visiting with family!

My Dad and brother came down the Friday before with gifts from my family! I was so happy to receive more of our wedding china & crystal, a wonderful photo album, and some additional goodies including MUCH appreciated money!! I also received a wonderful card and present from my in-laws a few days prior!

ALSO, this past weekend J and I got some additional time to celebrate my birthday with just the two of us. We went and had a nice lunch and J then took my shopping! He's such a nice hubby to shop with! We picked out a pair of jeans, two tops, and and a nice sweater jacket to go over tops when it gets cold this season.

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Some of my family, my husband, and I at the restaurant. We had a wonderful dinner!



We all walked around the hotel after dinner. We came to a spot that we thought looked like a perfect engagement location. We decided to act one out! That's how we roll!=)

Tomorrow's my birthday!

Tomorrow is my 27th birthday! I am celebrating by going to a nice dinner with my hubby and a few of my family members.

Just so this post is not all about me, here is a funny picture of my dance instructor in a tree in our backyard. My hubby, J, and some of our friends decided to try to make a zip line one night while we had a small get-together at our home.

No, it wasn't successful.....but it sure was funny! (Can you see him right by the rope?)

Oh, to be there again...

So this time last year, J and I were still on our honeymoon! We went on a cruise to Nassau and Key West. We ate some good food, got some sun, and had some neat experiences on our excursions!

We did some really cool things on our honeymoon. I'll have to say that my FAVORITE was getting to get in the water and play with dolphins! I had waited my whole life to do that! Unfortunately, the only picture we have from that is in a frame in our office. We weren't allowed to take cameras in, but they had a photographer on staff that took a picture of us.

Here are some of my favorite honeymoon pictures...

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Hanging out at a beach in Nassau...



We had a blast parasailing in Key West!




Out on the town in Key West...




Here is a picture of formal night on the cruise! This is actually one of my favorite pictures of us!

Fun with Facial Hair

So J comes home and wants to shave off his beard. He wanted me to do it and here's what happened.

So...here are the pictures and my ever-so-hilarious captions!

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Country J

Killer J

Crazy Chainsaw J

"Hello my name is Carlos"

"Hi, I'm Fred and I like cats!"

Clean Shaven J

Our very first wedding anniversary!

J and I celebrated our very first wedding anniversary yesterday! Here are a few pictures of our very first anniversary weekend!

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On the Saturday morning before our anniversary, J and I had just unwrapped the top layer of our wedding cake! We set it out in the fridge for 36 hours then set it out in room temperature for 5 hours......results of the taste test are below!

J discovered his present earlier than planned. (It was too big or I would have hidden it better!) He really did ask for a chalk  board! He wanted to be able to draw out his ideas before he carved them. He's very much into woodworking.

J asked me what I wanted for our anniversary. I told him I would like for him to pick out a nice perfume for me. He did a wonderful job! He got me a wonderful set of perfume and lotions!=)

After our wedding, I had my wedding dress, veil, garter, and ring bearer pillow professionally cleaned and preserved in a museum quality preservation box. I was instructed to take it out of the box once a year to let it air out. We decided to take it out on the day of our anniversary and make it an annual tradition to do it on our anniversary. It was so special getting to see it again!

After we put my dress in its box for another year, we decided to go outside, take a nice walk, and enjoy the weather. The day was as beautiful as it was on our wedding day! The weather was sunny with a few clouds, and the temperature was warm, but not too hot. There was also a nice breeze that made it a perfect day to go on a walk! We walked down to a friends house and hung out for a little while before returning home to take a short rest before dinner.

J had made reservations for us to eat dinner at The Melting Pot for our anniversary. We had a wonderful time and really enjoyed our dinner! 

When we got to out table, these flowers were waiting on me! J had them delivered to our table before we arrived. They are GORGEOUS!

After dinner, we came home to watch our wedding video and enjoy some treats: chocolate covered strawberries, champagne, and...the top layer of our WEDDING CAKE!!! It was so wonderful getting to watch the video and relive our wedding day!

After one year of being frozen, our cake thawed out nicely and tasted just as good as it did on our wedding day! We were so excited that it tasted so yummy!

Overall, we had a WONDERFUL first anniversary! We looked forward to a lifetime of anniversaries to come!

As that day approaches...

Our first wedding anniversary is only two days away! I can't believe it has almost been a YEAR!

Let week, I posted pictures from some of our wedding showers. Below are some of my favorite candid shots taken by some of our friends and family. Two of our friends, and one of my sister-in-laws, took the below pictures.

You can also see some of the professional shots in my very first blog by scrolling down the right side of this page and clicking "Wedding." It's the post at the very bottom in that category.

Thanks again to Mom and Dad for a wonderful wedding day!

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My friend Jimmy took this picture as we were walking down the aisle. I was so excited that he did! When we returned from the honeymoon, I logged onto Facebook and I saw he had posted some candid shots from the wedding. This was the very first picture I saw from the wedding! I was so excited! I love his sweet smile, my hair and veil blowing back, and that fabulous bouquet of Calla Lilllie's!



My lovely Sister-in-law, Lauren took this picture of us eating cake. J had just given me a huge mouthful! You can see I'm trying to chew! Our photographer has a great picture of me giving him a kiss right after this! It was sweet!



Here, I am about to throw the bouquet off the balcony of where we had our reception. You can't really see it very well, but it's a sweet picture because he's giving me a kiss!




This is a group of some of my closest friends in the world! I love this picture!




J's friend Erin took this picture shortly before we left to go on our honeymoon! It's such a sweet picture! I love his smile here and we both look so happy!

Showers of memories!

So, our first wedding anniversary is fast approaching! This whole year I have been thinking back to what I was doing last year. I had such fond memories of when we got engaged, our showers, and all of the events leading up to our wedding. Such a great time! We truly have wonderful friends and family who wanted to bless us!
So, I thought I might post a few pictures of some of of the showers!

My husband, then fiance, took this picture right before our guests arrived! Wonderful shower! I loved my little black and white dress!



Here is a picture of my lingerie shower. We had a casual shower at home with bridesmaids, close friends, and family. My outfit was awesome!=)