July 4th Weekend

We had quite a busy weekend for the 4th of July. Scott and I both had the day off on Friday. I spent the morning and early afternoon preparing food to take to Daddy and Stephanie's for a party they had on the 4th. Scott went and played disc golf with some friends and then did some work around the house for me. That evening, we went to a birthday party for our good friend Zach at Zach and Lauren's new house. It was a lot of fun and the food was really good.

The party at Daddy and Stephanie's was a lot of fun as well. They have a nice pool in their backyard. We ate and swam and visited. There were people from our family and from Stephanie's family there. I had made a decision to not count points on Saturday, so I made some things I wanted to have for the day. I made 2 different kinds of brownies and a big batch of kicked up pimiento cheese (there was so much of this actually that I took some of it with me to Zach's party). After we swam and ate and visited all day, we had about an hour before dark inside then we went out front and had some fun fireworks. We did fireworks for about an hour before we shot off the grand finale. We drove home tired, but happy. I'll include a slide show of pictures from the weekend.

4th of July Weekend

The 4th of July weekend was a very busy weekend for us! We attended a surprise 30th birthday party for our friend and small group leader, Zach. The party was at his in-laws' house, which is always a fun place to be! There were lots of Zach's friends and family there and we really enjoyed ourselves. Scott and I brought fireworks and stayed until it got dark and did fireworks with Karen, Bob, Zach, Lauren, Andy, and Caitlin. I think everyone had a good time!

Then, on Saturday, we went to visit with Meme for a little while and then to Daddy and Stephanie's house for a 4th of July celebration. We had barbecue (they ordered some special for me without that sauce), pasta salad, deviled eggs, and all kinds of other good stuff. We had a lot of fun. We were too tired to stay for fireworks in addition to the fact that we didn't want to be out that late and be too tired for church the next day. I took some pictures with my camera, but not very many. However, I am sure that Stephanie wondered who took so many pictures with her camera when she downloaded them! Heehee. I saw her camera sitting out while she was upstairs, so I took it upon myself to take pictures with it. I hope some of them turned out good! (I think I even took at least one picture of myself!)

Meme seems to be doing about the same. She seems less like her old self and more like someone that isn't all together. She didn't complain as much about us not coming to see her very often, but she did say that she eats the same thing all the time and does the same ole' thing every day. So, it seems like she has less than her usual spark. My great-great aunt Annie Lou is also there and it seems like she doesn't even recognize us any more, which is sad. I also found out that I have some other further-removed relative there at the nursing home that I had never met.

So, over all the weekend was a lot of fun and we were still pretty tired on Sunday. But, I was still able to pay attention to the preaching, so that's good. Right, Chris?!

Josh and Callie's Wedding

Last Saturday, my good friend Callie got married to her fiance Josh. I had the honor of being a bridesmaid in the wedding along with Callie's cousins and my good friends Lauren and Caitlin. Our friend Alison was a junior bridesmaid and Hadassah and Deborah were flower girls. Josh's side of the party were his dad, who was his best man, Callie's brother Dan, our friend Tyler from church who also goes to Pharmacy School at Mercer with Josh, and Josh's friend Tommy from school. It was such a fun time! All day Friday and Saturday were spent preparing for the wedding. We had a bridal breakfast for the ladies at Mittie's Tea Room in Alpharetta on Friday morning. I rode in the car with Lauren and Caitlin and their mom Karen and their grandmother Mimi. That was really fun. After that, we headed over to the church, Pleasant Hill Presbyterian Church, to help decorate the fellowship hall for the reception, directly followed by the rehearsal. Karen made these beautiful runners for all the tables. The regular tables had brown runners with a pink L (for Leab) and Josh and Callie's table and the cake tables had pink runners with an L surrounded by a J and a C. After we all knew what we were supposed to do, we headed down the road to On The Border for a yummy lunch. Then, we all went down to the nail place where we got our nails done. Lauren and I just got manicures but I believe everyone else got manicures and pedicures. There were 8 of us there in total. Scott was a huge help as he helped Dan (Callie's brother) and Phil (Callie's dad) move tables from our church to this church, set them up, and then put chairs out around them! Whew! He worked hard! Lauren, Caitlin, and I all stayed at Zach and Lauren's on Friday night (Zach stayed at Andy's so we'd all have a place to sleep). My friend Maggie gave Callie and I spray tans on Friday night so we'd be tan for the big day! Thanks Maggie! It was fun to hang out with Maggie for a little while. While Cathy and I waited for Callie to get her spray tan, she and I got to chat with Andrew, which is always fun and interesting!

Just as a funny note, before the rehearsal started, we had fun taking some goofy pictures. I heard "Marcy, please don't put this picture on your blog" more than once. Hee hee. It's funny that we live in a world where you say things like that. We did get some really cute pictures!

On Saturday, we had to be at the hair place in Roswell by 8! Oh, it was so much fun hanging out together at the hair place. On the way, we stopped by Starbucks and guess who was there: Cathy and Callie! Yeah, we were all a little too excited and I am sure the folks at the Starbucks were glad that we weren't there long! Oh well. After that, we grabbed a quick lunch at Fuddruckers and went back to Lauren's to wait for time to be at the church.

Once we got to the church, it was kind of crazy until time for pictures, but we got everything done and we all looked beautiful! The wedding ceremony was beautiful. The food at the reception was great, as was the cake! We all had so much fun talking and dancing!

Here's the backs of our dresses. They were really pretty! We had them bustled so they wouldn't get stepped all over at the reception and so that we could dance. We also attached our straps for the reception.

Here is a picture of all of us ladies together. Scott came early to get some good pictures.

Here is the entire bridal party.

I enjoyed getting to spend time with Alison and her mom Dena, which I don't get to go very much. Callie has been so busy with wedding and moving plans that we haven't seen her as much as we are used to, so it was fun to have two days of Callie-time. I also think that Lauren, Caitlin, and I all really enjoyed our time together.

Mi Vida Loca

I have finally recovered from the weekend, I think! It was a crazy one.

It all started on Friday morning. Our Controller's birthday was Monday(6/23), but we knew he wouldn't be there then, so the CFO asked us to all wear black. Little did we know that he had had this sign made that said "Lordy, Lordy Dexter is 40" and bought a helium tank and black balloons! Claire, our assistant controller, had also left us a bunch of stuff to decorate his office with, but we were planning to wait and do it on Monday because she had been on vacation and we wanted her to be able to see it. But, when our CFO started decorating with his stuff, we figured, we shouldn't drag it out on him, so we went to town! It was crazy how much stuff Claire had bought. His office was well decorate as was the entrance to our floor coming in from the lobby with the sign from our CFO. Then, we had cake that afternoon. Have you ever seen a cake with 40 candles on it and a fairly tall man walk in with an inflatable walker and blow them all out (well, all but 3, but come on, that's a lot!)? Well, it's humorous!

I also got some work done on Friday, believe it or not...

Well, I had all my stuff ready for the BIG event on Friday, Callie's bachelorette party!! A group of us girls met up at Lauren and Zach's and got all dressed up and drove downtown (I guess it was really midtown where we were) and ate at Shout. Then, we came back and had a super yummy dessert made by Lauren and let Callie open her gifts from us. Some people went home and some stayed the night. It was a LOT of fun! I have an album on Facebook. Girls, I promise I'll email pictures or pass a disk around of all of the pics soon!

Callie had gotten a call that Lauren, Caitlin, Alison, and my bridesmaids' dresses were in at the dress store in Lilburn on Friday. Lauren and Caitlin really only had time to go on Saturday morning and really, I don't know when else I could have gone, so I got up and had breakfast with Lauren and Caitlin and then drove home, took a quick shower, then turned around and headed for the dress store! The dresses are beautiful! I'll send pictures to Callie and let her decide if she wants to post those pictures or make you all wait for the wedding!

No, you aren't reading the wrong blog, this is a super-cute picture of Eli I took on Friday night before we went out. We dropped Eli off with Chris and Jennifer before we went to the restaurant (thanks Chris and Jennifer). Eli was really happy to see all of us!! I just couldn't help but post this. (Yes, Maggie, I will email these to you!)

As most people know, Shana and Josh Stringer are moving to Louisville, KY to attend Southern Seminary (the best seminary in the world according to Pastor Lee). Saturday afternoon, the Lucases, some close friends of Josh and Shana's, helped Dean and Judy throw a going-away party for them at Dean and Judy's house in Talmo, GA (like, up near Gainesville). So, while I was getting fitted, my wonderful husband made the pasta salad that we were going to take. I had time to get home from the dress store, eat a little something for lunch, and put on some make up before Scott and I packed ourselves up and headed to Talmo. I was about to fall asleep in the car on the way up to Talmo, but knew Scott would not be happy if I did. But, once we got there and I started talking with everyone and then we all started playing jump rope, I got a second wind. I really think that Dean and Judy bought those games for the kids...and we let them play some, but mostly we jump roped with the big jump ropes and let the kids play wiffle ball and draw with sidewalk chalk... It was a lot of fun. Andrew and Quinn both did really good jumping rope. Nehemiah was great at it! Several people tried to do double dutch, but no one was exactly successful. The closest was Maggie, who jumped three times, I think.

Okay...that was Saturday...

Sunday was Josh and Shana's last Sunday at church and they got up and Josh talked and made us all cry. Then, our small group went out to lunch together. We are truly blessed to have such a great church family. We love our church family!

I think that reality is finally beginning to set in that Josh and Shana are really leaving. I am happy for them and I feel like this is where they should be, but I am sad in a really selfish way because we are going to miss them! I am also excited, because Shana has been working at Fresh Market and has had strange hours. Now, she will get an office job in KY and we can talk on the phone on our way home every day again like we used to. I know we'll stay close, but I'll miss them...and Bogie and Zoe too...

So, that's why I am tired. I know Scott is too. Scott has really been studying hard for his Cisco exams. Please be praying for those. He seems to really be interested in this stuff.

The next several weeks promise to be busy. This coming Saturday, we are throwing a shower for Wendy (my sister) and Paul who are getting married on 8/8/08. Then, on July 5, we are going to my dad's for a July 4th party and we are going to visit with Meme while we are there. July 12 is Callie's wedding (my, it is very close now!), so the 11th and 12th will be full or wedding preparations! Then, July 13th I have a shower to attend for a college friend in Canton after church!

Whew! I feel tired again. I am going to bed. Have a great night!! If you are expecting pictures from me, hopefully I will email them soon.

Laser Show

Friday night, we went to the Laser Show at Stone Mountain for a Family Fun Night with Christ Church of Metro Atlanta. It was a lot of fun. The Laser Show is a lot different this year for the 25th Anniversary of the Laser Show, you should go see it. And, if you have never been to Stone Mountain, plan to make a day or two of it. There is so much to do!

Here are some pictures from before the show. We ate and talked and the kids played. It was a lot of fun and good fellowship.

Birth Announcement

My friends Emily and Travis from college have just given birth to their second son! Little Walker Bowden was born this past Saturday. He weighed in a a whopping 7 lb 12 oz and 20 3/4 inches! I know that this doesn't sound big to most people, but Emily and Travis are small people and their first son, Will, was just a little over 6 lbs! He is really precious! Just look at this little cutie! I talked to Emily yesterday and she is doing pretty well, all things considered! Please pray for this family as they get used to having a new baby at home and as Emily recovers.




Just a side note...I have no idea why the picture have that strange white border on the right and bottom, but I did download the pictures from the webmail from work, so I guess something was lost in the translation. I'll fix them tomorrow probably.

Founder's Day

I am kind of behind on my posts. Scott's fraternity has their Founder's Day every year at the end of April. Founder's Day is kind of like their homecoming. This year was a lot of fun. On Friday night, we went to Mary Mac's Tea Room for dinner and then on Saturday, there was a Lady's Tea while the guys had their alumni meeting and then we had a Chick-fil-A lunch followed by a GT Baseball game. It was a lot of fun to see everyone. A lot of people travel a long way for Founder's Day. Here is a slide show of the pictures. If you see a picture you want me to email to you, let me know and I'll send it over!

My Surprise!

My birthday is this coming Friday (April 18). So, last Wednesday night at our ladies' Bible study, the girls surprised me with a birthday brownie on Lauren's special Happy Birthday plate with a candle and the birthday song and a big bag full of scrapbooking goodies, complete with a homemade card! I was so surprised and excited! I have the best friends ever!

Above is a picture of my loot, excluding Maxwell. I just couldn't get him to go away, so he was incorporated into the picture!

Super Bowl Sunday

Last Sunday was the Super Bowl. The Giants played the Patriots. As most of you know, I have very few opinions on sports, unless you are giving me a choice to watch them or not. However, Scott was rooting for the Patriots because he wanted them to have a perfect season. We go to our friends' Rob and Cheryl's house each year for their annual Super Bowl party. Cheryl and some of the other ladies wanted the Giants to win because 1) they were tired of hearing all about the Patriots and how great they were and 2) they are the underdog champions. So, I couldn't really hear a lot of the commercials because it was kind of loud, so I plan to watch them on the internet some time soon. But, mainly I like going to be social and to have an excuse to eat lots of different foods. Every year so far, I have made my mint brownies and last year I started also making spinach rollups as well. I am about to post the recipes to both of those. Mmmm.

Maggie's Shower

In January, Lauren, Shana, Maggie's mom Vena, Maggie's friend Adrienne, and I threw Maggie and Eli a baby shower at Vena's house. We had a full nacho bar and of course my margarita punch (nonalcoholic, in case you were wondering). I really enjoyed it. I know you will all be surprised, but I took a ton of pictures. Maggie was a very gracious gift receiver and it was so much fun to watch her open all her gifts. Andrew was there and behaved really well, as always. It was a lot of fun to finally meet some of the people that Maggie is the closest to that we didn't already know. I am including some of my favorite pictures from the night.






Andrew spent a lot of the night upstairs watching a movie. The movie sounded very exciting. Andrew is always ready to smile for the camera though!









Here is Maggie showing off the cool burp cloths Shana gave her. I just thought that this was a really good picture of Maggie!

This was my most sought-after picture all night. Jennifer was trying to avoid me so that I would not take her picture. She would "suddenly" need to refill her drink or something every time I would try to take a picture of the group she was standing around. I had visions of tackling her, but luckily, Lauren held her still for me. Look at those beautiful smiles!

Here's the star of the show! Isn't Eli so cute!

I think that these pictures speak for themselves. They are just really good pictures of some beautiful ladies that I love a lot! (And Eli, too.)

Lauren had to take several pictures before this one turned out like it did. I kept blinking every time my camera flashed! Also, I thought I was holding Eli up so that you could see him better, but most of the pictures turned out looking like I was letting him hang like a rag doll. I promise that he was securely in my arms, Maggie!

This picture was of the "big" gift and Maggie's reaction to it - do you see her clapping? Her mom and dad (and I think Aunt Nellie was in on this, too) gave her this super cool high chair.

This is a disclaimer that I have no idea why this post looks like it does. I tried to fit more pictures into a smaller space, but I don't think it worked out for me. I'll try to do better some other time.

Gwinnett Gladiators

A couple of weekends ago, Scott and I went to a Gwinnett Gladiators game with Callie, Amy, and Josh. It was the annual "Teddy Bear Toss" for the Gladiators. This means that when the Gladiators scored their first goal, everyone who brought a stuffed animal got to throw it out onto the ice. The stuffed animals were given to a local charity. It was a lot of fun. The Gladiators lost, but it was still a good game. It was amazing to see how many stuffed animals were thrown onto the ice. I got to throw the little bear we brought, but I am not a very good throw...it hit some guy on the front row and he threw it over for me. Thanks, Callie, for inviting us!

Here is a little snippit of what it looked like during the "Teddy Bear Toss".

Blogger's Choice Awards

So, as you will see there are a few new things over to the left. Jennifer nominated my blog for "Best Photography Blog"! Thanks Jennifer! Scott has nominated our blog for all the others. Other blogs that I know have been nominated for things are Jordan Family Happenings, Another Day...Another Opportunity, Callie Michelle, and Shadburns-R-Us. It's fun to go and see all the other blogs that have been nominated. If you sign up with a user name, you have to wait for them to send you an email, which may end up in your trash folder, before you can vote. Happy Voting!

Scott's Birthday Celebration

Last Saturday (Dec. 1), we had some friends over to celebrate Scott's birthday. We had a potluck dinner and everything was delicious. Scott and I made Dr. Pepper Tenderloin, which is a recipe out of my Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine. We ate, talked, and ended up playing Wii. I think we all had a good time! Below are the pictures.

An Early Thanksgiving

Last Sunday night we went to the Stringer's for a "small group" Thanksgiving dinner. We had a great time and got to sample everyone's best recipes!