Happy 2nd Anniversary Erin & Nick and Kevin & Bree!!

Two years ago I was at UCA, watching my cousin marry her best friend.

Even though it was hot and humid, I would do it all over again and again. :) It really was fun, from all us girls helping Nick plan the proposal at the homecoming game and engagement party to planning the wedding with Erin (including finding this location) to throwing her bachelorette party to reaching the big day.

Happy second anniversary, Erin and Nick! May each year increase in happiness for the both of you. :) I love you!!

It's pretty awesome you guys were high school sweethearts!!

Also, a very happy second anniversary to Kevin and Bree! We forgot to tell you, but there's a card in the mail with your names on it! (Zach was in their wedding on the same day. :)

Here is Kevin and Bree (in red) at our reception last December. They also loved our Lego cake!

Here are some pictures of Erin and I over the years:

Erin is just six months younger than me, and look how much more hair I had!

Gotta love a mullet!

my high school graduation from Bryant

graduation from UCA (I have pictures of both of Erin's graduations, but they're not on my computer.)

Erin's bachelorette party at Michaelangelo's

Emily and Philip's wedding

our reception

I'm now a Southern Cake Lady

May 30, 2010

LOOK AT WHAT I MADE!!

Josh planned a surprise birthday party for Erin and his friend Nathan, and Beverly asked me to help her make the cakes for them. I jumped at the opportunity to learn a bit more, especially since she's taken all the Hobby Lobby courses and surpassed them!

This is Erin and Nathan blowing out their "unity candle." (We didn't use candles on the cake because it would ruin them!)

She began by showing me how make the daisies and leaves out of gum paste, so on Friday and Saturday I made little daisies and medium daisies and all the leaves.

Then Saturday after Beverly baked the cakes, she showed me how to make the buttercream icing and color it and thin it and cover the cakes with a "crumb coat" and then ice them, all the while smoothing it out. (It is a PAIN to ice a daisy-shaped cake! :)

Sunday morning I got up before church and edged the cake with alternating daisies and make the bunch of flowers in the middle as the flower center and wrote "Happy Birthday Erin!" and piped the star edging.
I can't believe I wrote her name so prettily and neatly in cursive! AND I LOVED adding the little daisy and leaf on her name. It just makes me so happy.

I had no idea that I was going to end up being the sole decorator of Erin's cake! It wasn't perfect by any means, but I am very proud of my first "professional" cake. :)

Happy (early) birthday, Erin! I hope you liked your daisy cake. :)

For Nathan's cake, I iced the chocolate cake in white icing, and Beverly piped on a black mesh cage on the sides and placed a fondant fight glove on top. (Nathan is really into the UFC game. I learned sooo much designing this cake!) Finally, I added the words. I think he was impressed, too.

Zach is sooo impressed with my mad cake-making skills. He thought my daisies were purchased at the grocery store and said it was beautiful. Many people at the party said it was too pretty to eat!!

It's so much fun to make silly faces with my husby. This was my favorite of the night!

German Red Cabbage

[photo courtesy http://howard-family.org/germanfood.htm]

May 29, 2010

We went to the Brau Haus tonight.
Bobby got red cabbage with his sauerbraten (roast beef), and I tried it because I couldn't remember if I had before. I was SURE I had, even though I tend to HATE red cabbage and have only started liking sauerkraut again recently, so I thought maybe I had avoided it after all.

I had.
You know what is in German red cabbage?
Cloves.
Zach had said it tasted like Christmas. (He also says that about gin and cranberry juice, but that is more like watered-down summer slush. ;)~
But German red cabbage does!
Weird.
My tongue went all numb like it did when Ashley Shackelford bought those clove candies on the Jonathan Swift ferry to England and I took A LOT.
Cloves do that, even in German red cabbage.
AND I didn't dislike it. :)

One Year Ago Today...

A year ago Zach came home from his two-week study abroad trip to China. That was the LONGEST day, and it did NOT help that his plane was late AND I got a parking ticket. We were so excited to see one another that he swept me off my feet and spun me around. It's still one of my favorite memories. :)

(This was actually taken the morning he let, but I think it helps recreate the scene...)

We only got to talk to each other once when he was away, and it was awkward (as are most of our phone conversations *lol*), and his trip was so jam-packed, he didn't get to email regularly. But I lived for those emails. When I got one, I would read it over and over. I would check my email first thing in the morning to see if he had sent me one, and I would stay up late in case he could only get to a computer then. It made me feel like an incredibly old-fashioned lover pouring over love letters from half-way 'round the world. Every now and then I pull them out, and it makes me so incredibly happy to know he was planning for our future all that spring and into summer, including while on his trip.

I was so happy to see him, but I was also nervous. We only had a week until I was leaving for a three-week study abroad trip in England, and he was starting his internship that Monday after his return. I just wanted to spend all of our time together, and I wanted it to be stress-free. Time and distance changes relationships (not always negatively), but I was afraid we were going to have to readjust despite having only been apart for a total of five weeks. A LOT can change in a few days...

At the time of my birthday, I really thought he was going to propose. A week before my birthday, he had presented me with a "magic box," explaining that each day I would have to say the magic words and the box would open to reveal a gift. I thought that each present would increase in value (I don't mean in monetary value either, thankyouverymuch)--I mean I thought that, on my birthday, I would get an engagement ring. At this point, we had talked about our future, and he was WAY TOO CALM regarding the fact that we would graduate in a year and perhaps be separated--as if he knew we wouldn't.

(I don't think he gave the gifts in any set order; they were presented rather randomly.)

When he came home from China, I didn't want to let him go! When I was in England the following week, I loved being there, but I wished he had been with me and I thought constantly of our future--including getting married. (And I was certain he would propose upon my return. ;)

AG Kirsten...and as many versions of strawberry shortcake as there are Americans

[photo courtesy http://e.joz3d.net/pages/Pamphlets.html]

Today I went over to Momo's for lunch and had strawberries and angel food cake (topped with a dollop of Cool Whip!) for dessert.

It makes me think of American Girl Kirsten Larson, who celebrated her birthday along the same lines, and is the doll I always associate with deep dark winters and sunny summer days. She was a farm child, after all.
(I just HAD to find a picture of the doll with the birthday party set, and it would have been nice to find one with Kirsten's kittens because Momo has a cat. I was lucky to stumble across a website that features Pleasant Company's old newsletters, so this photo made a perfect recapitulation of everything I'm discussing in this post.)

[photo courtesy http://agplaythings.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=kirsten&action=display&thread=4473]

I love strawberries on cake. We used to buy those sponge cake rounds and cut up the strawberries, adding a little sugar so that they became syrupy and pouring them over the cakes. YUMMY!(I've decided I like Cool Whip on desserts, including Jell-O, and Reddi Whip on ice cream and hot beverages, like cocoa.)

Strawberries are some of my favorite fruits, along with peaches and melons. (I really can't pick ONE favorite!) I think these are my favorites because there is nothing like fresh fruit in the summer, all sun-ripened and lush. I remember picking berries and peaches when I was little and LOVED it. There is nothing like a sweet strawberry or a plump and juicy peach...and nothing beats a Hope watermelon, I've heard. :)

Paula Deen's Cobbler

Tonight Dan came over to swim, and Beverly made fried catfish, fried potatoes, green beans, and hushpuppies. I made blackberry cobbler for dessert.

Nothing beats Paula Deen's recipe...even when you cut the sugar and butter down!

(I just wish I had remembered to put my leftover blackberries on top to make it pretty. ;)~

From Shopping to McClard's

Today we shopped for eleven-ish (11!) hours, and Zach and I could hardly keep up. I mean, seriously, I thought I could handle serious shopping. (So totally wrong. ;)

We were still shopping when dinner arrived. So we ate out, and Zach finally got his McClard's he has been craving for weeks and weeks. *lol* It is featured in 1000 Places to See Before You Die, so we can check that one off...multiple times. (I'm still waiting to go there on Wednesday, the only day they serve BBQ chicken.)

Afterward, he had to take a nap. (Here he prepares for said nap by connecting his ear buds to his iPhone to make music.)

Front Porch Sittin'

May 24, 2010

Gonna be doing a lot more of this this summer.
I sure did miss rocking chairs and front porches and swings. :)

Asthma Woes

[photo courtesy http://www.chrisbabies.com/a-complete-guide-to-asthma-medication/]

May 23, 2010

a hate-hate relationship
asthma: I hate it.
asthma: It hates me.

I can't breathe very well today.
I think my inhaler is expired, to top it off. :I

no ocupado

May 22, 2010

Zach rigged up an "Occupied" sign since we didn't have one on our door; Brian translated it into Spanish.

As soon as I woke up, I started packing and cleaning because it was Moving Day. :(

I was sad, not to leave Baridon, but because I HATE, LOATH, and DESPISE moving. I believe this is my fifteenth (15!!!) time to move in seven years.

Zach and I really felt like we had got a lot done and didn't have a lot of stuff. We were wrong on both accounts.

(bookshelf before)
This was the first thing I packed up. My books, once compiled, are probably the biggest thing I own.

bookshelf after

His parents saved us. They are moving pros. Three vehicles and a U-Haul trailer stuffed to the gills, we moved to Hot Springs. We put most of our stuff into storage today, where it will remain until we move again. Le sigh.

our first official home

view from the door of the empty living room

our very small kitchen made bigger by being emptied

no longer where we hang our knickers :)
(That would be a post-colonial poetry pun.)

Thanks, guys, for helping us! We're so lucky to have a place to stay with you guys...moreover, a place that is almost big as our apartment was. *lol* The last thing I moved was the wedding cake we're saving for our first anniversary. As we forget to pack it in the cooler, I placed it in two garbage bags that I filled with what ice was left in our freezer and kept it at my feet on the ride home. :)

wedding cake pre-garbage bags

The Jones-Francis Nuptials

May 21, 2010

the couple at our reception right after they got engaged :)

I couldn't pass up commemorating the Jones-Francis nuptials with a couple of photos. Friday night we sent them off in style at The Saucer.

It truly was the highlight of our week. :)

Zach took this photo of me with the now newly-married couple on our Spring Break trip to Memphis in 2009. Such a crazy trip--we couldn't communicate with anyone. This is at Silky's, not The Saucer, where we celebrated last night, but it will do.

(Like Friday night, sometimes I'm not in the mood to take photos...)

Zach and Whitney creeping behind Brian at our pre-wedding celebration at The Saucer (Sept. 18, 2009)

Brian and Zach's bromance at The Saucer in Memphis Spring Break 09

Whitney and I at what now could be called the Jones-Francis, Holland-Solomon, Byrd-Pharr cookout July 09

You guys have been great friends to us, and, if it had not been for the two of you meeting, Zach and I may have never met either. You definitely are a match made in England (which, we might as well face it, is HEAVEN on Earth). :) We are just tickled pink that you two are now married!!

(We can't wait to see you again. We will miss you guys so much, but we promise to come conquer another town's Saucer near you!!!)

Zach's really going to miss doing this!

Mama's Mother's Day Lunch at Mimi's

Today Zach and I met my mama at Mimi's for her belated Mother's Day lunch/my birthday lunch. (She works A LOT.)

I had another great salad; I have really been on a salad kick lately. (healthier food = happier) I had the Balsamic Chicken and Pistachio salad with had baby greens, tomatoes, feta cheese, dried cranberries, fresh strawberries, and the obvious ingredients from the title. It was so yummy, and I'm actually eating the leftovers right now. :)

She had already given me my birthday present at graduation, but we held off on her Mother's Day because we thought we were going to see her sooner than this. :I

She loved her present, but she really loved the card, and I have to say, that I totally understand. It had blue hydrangeas on it (my favorite) and butterflies, and I got so darn excited getting to buy "From the both of us" cards. *lol* Everyone thinks I am really talented in the card sentiment area, but Zach also wrote something really sweet. :)

[I really wanted to get "From your daughter and son-in-law" and "From your son and daughter-in-law" cards, both those were a tad more expensive. :]

We had a great time, even though we were all exhausted, and I actually napped on the way to the restaurant. I was a little grumpikins this morning. (Sorry, Zach.) Thankfully my mood improved as the day went on, and when we got back from Toys 'R Us and Gordmans, we took a nap!

I love you, Mama! You're the best Mama!!


{This is seriously the best photo we got. We are not looking our best, although I like how my mama and I sorta match, and Zach has his patent no-smile smile. :}

What's the story?

So, I started reading this book today, and this flight stub fell out. (I bought this book at Goodwill a million years ago, and never got around to reading it.)

Much like stumbling across messages written in "gently read" books or reading Post Secret every Sunday, I loved finding something like this. :)

Delta: "Why dream about a weekend getaway when it can be a reality?"

I imagined what one George Miller did on his trip: Was it for business? Personal? Did he come "home," bearing his father, like Drew (Orlando Bloom) in Elizabethtown? Was he going to his daughter's wedding? To visit a friend? To see his mother? Who accompanied him? His wife? His children? An acquaintance? His mistress? His partner...in more than one sense? Is he Mormon? Protestant or Catholic? Or does ole' George check the box next to the church in which he was brought up, but now only attends on serious holidays, at christenings, for funerals and weddings alone, like a modern British man? Does he speak with a Texan drawl? Did Mr. Miller have a Coca-Cola Classic on the flight?

Most importantly...did he have window seat?

Happy 1st Anniversary, Em-Em and Phil-Phil!

Today I had Holly's with Em-Em! (I actually didn't eat that much. :)

It was so great getting to see her before we head out of town. She has had a big year, finishing most of her classes for grad school and gearing up for clinicals, AND she and Phil-Phil bought a house!

With some people, it doesn't seem like a day has gone by, and it's so easy to reconnect with them. :) I only wish we could have chatted even longer! I miss seeing her and Philip every day, along with Erin, Nick, and Rose. :(

Em-Em and Phil-Phil are celebrating their first anniversary this weekend, and so I wanted to post a picture from their wedding. Oh, happy day! Congratulations, Robertson's! I love you!

(Zach didn't get to come to the wedding because he was in China-land. I was a little disappointed because I was so excited to have a date, instead of being "the fifth wheel." *lol* Thankfully Rose and Monica and I went as each other's dates. :)

Here are some pictures from over the years:

Halloween 06: Pregnant Homecoming Queen, Pirate Wench, Pirate & Fairy

Halloween 07: Whore, Phantom of the Opera's Christine, America's Next Top Model & Pirate Wench

celebrating Emily and Erin's November birthdays at the newly-opened Ruby Tuesday

Emily and I on my graduation day 2008

Emily and I on her graduation day 2009

the ladies at Em-Em and Phil-Phil's rehearsal dinner 2009

Omicron sisters on our game night 2010