B is for...

...Bunco!!!

Once a month, I have a girls' night out to play bunco! We recently decided to change things up with a different theme to bunco night every month. March Bunco was a pajama party.

Puppysitting

My sister and brother-in-law left town yesterday and won't be getting back until later tonight, so we are keeping Trinket and Sage!

A is for...

Well, it appears that I have been sucked in by the alphabet posts.


A is for...

Anderson's! That's us! He is Steven. I am Emily. We went to the same high school, but we didn't actually meet until after he had graduated. (I'll save that for another post.) We met at a high school football game in September of 2003. I was 16, and he was 3 months shy of 20. Six months later, and I knew he was the one I would marry. He took a little longer to figure it out. :-) We got married on December 14, 2007 (Steven's 24th birthday) with a beautiful ceremony and lots of friends and family there to celebrate with us.

Now we are settling into our not-so-typical married life. I am a full-time student, earning my bachelor's in Digital Media & Design. I only have 2 more semesters! Yay! I also work part-time, and I am in training to be a Domestic Goddess. (Not going so great right now. School is getting in the way.) Steven is a lineman for an electrical contractor. He works on the road several days each week, so we don't see each other everyday like most newlyweds. Right now, his schedule is 9 on, 5 off. In about 2 weeks it will be changing. Is this hard? Yes, but it is also rather normal to us. We lived about an hour and a half away from each other when we met. Only about a 12 or 14 months of our relationship have we actually lived in the same town without him working on the road, and those months were in 7 or 8 month increments.


Animals! We have lots of them, 4 to be exact. We have five if you count the extra cat that had to go live with my parents. We have three dogs and a cat. We don't need anymore. Please do not ask us to take in a stray. For that matter, don't even mention having seen a cute one. We both love animals! We can't say no to pitiful looking little animals. :-)

Thirteen Thursday

**UPDATE**
So far, I have finished #'s 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, & 13!

Happy Thursday!

I'm hoping my list sticks in my head after I type it and I actually accomplish everything.

Thirteen Things I Need to do Today/This Weekend:

1. mop my kitchen
2. drop photo cd off at Amy's
3. pay electric bill
4. wash sheets
5. vacuum hall/living room
6. work on term project for Multimedia Productions class (Due April 25!)
7. e-mail my jewelry order to Ashley
8. dust
9. pay truck payment
10. mop both bathrooms
11. buy more flea/tick medication for the dogs
12. fold the towels in the dryer
13. Go to class. :-(

Things Minnie Pearl Has Eaten/Destroyed

As most of you can tell by now, I'm slightly obsessive about lists. I make random lists for everything. Here is another one I've been thinking about lately. I guess I've been thinking about it because I'm subconsciously worried that Minnie will fall back into her eating-everything-in-sight mode.

- 2 phone chargers
- 2 pairs of athletic shoes
- throw pillows (at least 4; ugly ones thankfully)
- carpet
- 2 bed pillows
- lamp cord (She only did that once. I think she learned that lesson the hard way.)
- baseboards
- recipe box
- address book
- the bottom lining of our box springs
- pajama pants
- Christmas card
- water bowl
- wallpaper
- a pumice stone

I'm sure there is more, but that's all I can think of at the moment. Not to mention, I told Steven 3 weeks after getting her she needed a crate because she is a chewer. He ignored that idea. Well, after all of this stuff is gone ...he says she needs a crate! Really? You think?

Tag!

I've been tagged by my friend Amy, and I'm supposed to list 7 random things about myself then "tag" 6 of my friends to do the same thing. So, here are my 7!

1. I listen to Christmas music year-round. At this moment, I'm listening to Baby, It's Cold Outside by Jessica Simpson/Nick Lachey

2. I like to cook pasta because I know if there are leftovers, Steven will not eat them when he gets home.

3. I'm really emotional. Happy, sad, mad, ecstatic - it doesn't matter, you can bet my reaction will be crying.

4. I am somewhat of a procrastinator.

5. I have a pretty bad case of scoliosis. They caught it too late for a brace to do any good, and because of this my hips are visibly uneven.

6. I am terrified of canoeing. I had one really bad experience and don't ever plan to do it again. Tubing, however, is a different story. (Am I the only one that finds it a bit strange that I would rather have my butt in river water that is ice cold and filled with who knows what, than being in a boat?)

7. I like fishing. Yes, I bait my own hook too!

There are my seven; now I'm passing it on.

1. Lauren
2. Dolli
3. Marilyn
4. Courtney
5. Sheri
6. Nikki

Ten Things Tuesday

Thankful is one thing I seem to be a lot lately. These are a few of the things I'm thankful for today.


1. My husband's sense of humor. If it weren't for that, he wouldn't be married to me. That's what enables him to deal with me. :-)

2. My Minnie Pearl and Emerald snuggling up next to me, one on each side, every morning as soon as we wake up.

3. Not having my 9:30 class this morning!

4. Having brunch with friends in the middle of the week. I'm going to Cracker Barrel with Lauren and Ashley this morning, and I can't wait!

5. Late night/early morning giggling and squealing on the phone with a good friend about her recent engagement. Those are some of the greatest phone calls ever.

6. iTunes. It provides me with unending music for my entire day.

7. Napping puppies. This is very cute, and it allows me to breath and realize that for the next 30 minutes, nothing will be destroyed in my house. :-)

8. My wake up calls from Steven.

9. My BlackBerry calendar - I would be lost without my daily schedule.

10. the invention of the telephone - This is the only way my husband and I communicate for 16 days each month.

Emerald & Minnie Pearl

Sisters & Best Friends

13 Thursday

13 things about me and my family...

1. I like fast food. I don't just eat it because it is cheap or convenient. I actually like it.

2. I have taken more than 5000 photos in the last 12 months.

3. People that are always "sick" drive me bananas. When they are actually sick I don't feel sorry for them; it makes me want to laugh. Yeah, that's not very nice.

4. I am addicted to my BlackBerry.

5. I get irritated everytime someone is talking about weddings and says, "Well you don't really need a lot of decorations for the ceremony. You are only there for about 30 minutes." Hello! That is where all of your formal pictures are usually taken, the ceremony photos ARE important, and what about the video? Besides, I'm pretty sure the ceremony is the most important part of the day. Maybe I was a crazy bridezilla, but my ceremony decor was just as important as my reception decorations. My ceremony photos are some of my favorites now.

6. I was a bridezilla. (I apologize to all of those that witnessed a fit. (-: )

7. I love muffins.

8. I have absolutely no athletic ability. I can't even bowl. I'm a decent swimmer, does that count?

9. I would love to live on a lake. I don't think I'll ever convince Steven though.

10. Steven gets excited about little boy stuff. If we have to pick out a baby gift for a boy, he insists on going shopping for it with me. It's really cute.

11. My sister and I fought like boys when we were little. We didn't bother with name-calling.

12. My dad is the king of annoying punishments. Forget spanking - thumping them works much better. :-) We got knee spats in the car, thumped on the head or ear, and once even had to write a paper! Apparently annoyances get the idea over quicker than pain.

13. Steven and I refer to our dogs as our "girls." He is their "Daddy," and I am their "Mommy."

My New Toy!

Yes! I got it! I got a lovely Canon 40D. My shiny new camera! I am in love. :-) I got it last Saturday, and I took over 500 pictures that day! Oh, and did I mention that I love, love, love, love my husband? Well, I do. He is a wonderful man. I promised him he gets the next big toy.

Post #70! Jill

This is my kitty, Jill. She was a gift from my parents for my 9th birthday. She was a demon kitty for the first 8 or 9 years. Now that she is 14 years old, she is a lot calmer. However, due to behavior issues she has to live with my parents. (It was that or Steven was going to eventually kill her. Finding cat pee on important things, such as new wedding gifts, on the kitchen counter is never good.) She is a much happier kitty now that she has a whole house to herself. She still does not play well with others though. Oh, and she doesn't like strangers - pretty much just my dad, mom, Steven, and me.

A Story for Amy

The other day Steven and I were driving around town running errands. We started discussing kids. Part of the conversation went as follows.

Steven: "I hope we have a little boy so I can dress him up in little suits and ties and khakis."
Emily: "Okay. You do realize that won't be cheap, right? So you can't complain when I buy expensive dresses for the girls."
Steven: "Yeah, so? I don't care."
Emily: "You're going to be just as bad as me when it comes to shopping for our kids, aren't you?"
Steven: "Not the girls. I'll let you do that. I just want a little boy, so I can pick out really cute stuff for him. I want him to be the boy version of Emma, Eva, and Ella. I want my kids to be cute like that."


Amy, my husband is a fan of your kids. :-)

What I Love on Wednesday

After reading Ualla's latest post, I thought I'd make a list of my own this Wednesday. However, I'll do the opposite - Things I Love.


I love:

1. When babies reach out for me to hold them
2. The way my husband gets excited about little boys' dress clothes
3. That Emma and Eva Grace want to do things like me (This also serves as a reminder to keep myself in check. Little eyes are watching.)
4. The way Emerald squeaks her toy and drops it at my feet to throw for her
5. My husband and I laugh together and at ourselves
6. My hair is a unique color - naturally
7. Little kids' squeaky shoes
8. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream
9. I have my own house. Never in a million years did I expect to be married and have my own home by the age of 21. We are truly blessed.
10. My husband will spend $6 trying to win me a cheap toy out of a game machine, and never regrets it when he doesn't win it.

My Husband Would Be Proud

I have a short break between classes today, and I'm wishing I was at home...


*I can't believe I'm going to say this*

...playing Guitar Hero III. :-)

Our Engagement

I realized when I was backing things up on my external hard drive that I never posted this video on here. Here you go.

For those of you that don't know the story behind the video -
I made Steven swear over a year before he proposed that there would be a camera present. Otherwise, I would say no. (just kidding) Well, he did better and had my mom get it on video. As for crying when I saw my ring, we had just had a conversation early that afternoon about rings, and he pretty much told me I wasn't getting that ring because it was too expensive. Well, he was a liar! He already had it, and had it stashed at my parents' house!

Thirteen Thursday - BFF Memories

Thirteen Thursday with Lauren! Lauren and I have been best friends since the second grade, so picking just 13 memories was not easy. I went with thirteen that had the cutest pictures.

1.

This was Lauren's 8th birthday. We had known each other for about 10 months then. Check out the (not-so) awesome outfits! haha

2.


This was third grade. I have absolutely no idea what we were doing, or why we put those goofy teddy bear stickers on this scrapbook page.

3.



Winter 1997 - that would have been when we were in 5th grade? We built a huge snowman. We couldn't even pick up the middle snowball. We had to have Lauren's mom help us.

4.



8th Grade - Our last year to go Trick or Treating

5.


Florida 2002 - We were trying to surf in the pool. It didn't work too well. :-)

6.



Two or three weeks after returning from Florida we headed to Galveston, Texas.
We made lots of memories on that trip. We spent our days on the beach and shopping, met a guy who snuck over from another hotel to use our pool, and were informed by another (rather intoxicated) hotel guest that there was a "giant rat" beside the hot tub.

7.



Valentine's Day 2004 - We both spent too much money on gifts for our boyfriends, so we decided to go 'shopping' in each other's closets for an outfit to wear on our dates. This was the only good picture in the series. We were laughing too much through the other 8 or 10.

8.




Junior Prom - 2004

9.



Grand Opening Day at The Mall at Turtle Creek
We each had an hour break between classes and made a mad dash for the mall. We both managed to do some shopping and get back in time for our next class.

10.



This is how we entertain ourselves at Bryan's house - with a digital camera.

11.


Our "Dinner Party" in our dorm room

12.


My family bridal shower

13.




My wedding!

Lauren was the BEST maid of honor EVER! She tried on some really hideous dresses, was helpful with the decorating (thank you!), didn't complain, ignored my bridezilla moments, and was there on time with a smile. Oh, and she cried with me right after the ceremony because we're mushy like that. :0) I love you, Lauren!

Works for Me Wednesday

Dryer Sheets! These little dudes have many uses beyond the obvious. My favorite use for them? Dusting! Yes, you read that right. They work great on electronics. They get rid of the static that makes the electronics collect dust in the first place, reducing the number of times you have to dust. Plus, they actually collect the dust (not just pretend to like some so called "dust cleaners.") They also work wonders on lamp shades. No more annoying vacuum attachments.

I'm such a wannabe-housewife nerd.

The Monday Meme - Spring Forward

List 3 things you like about Spring.
1. Flowers
2. My birthday
3. Spring Break

List 3 things you hate about Spring.
1. allergies
2. allergies
3. flooding

Do you set your clocks forward in the spring? Do you think it is a good idea?
yes, I don't really care.

Do you have any allergies in the spring? Do you take an allergy medications?
Yes. Yes.

What are you looking forward to the most this spring?
School being over at the beginning of May.

Today I'm thanking God for...

Today, I am thanking God for my friends. I am so blessed to have so many great women as friends. I have friends that I have known since elementary school, friends I've met in college, friends in my church family, and even friends that I have met randomly through the years. He brought each and every one of them into my life, and for that I am thankful.

Last night was the monthly Bunco meeting, and when I got home I was wide awake and wound up from all the laughing we had done. We started late, ended late, and laughed the whole time. It was fabulously fun.

Here's a photo I came across a few days ago of myself, Holly, and Ashley on our way to the bowling alley for Ashley's bachelorette party. We sure had a lot of fun that night.

Thirteen Thursday

A few of the blogs I read have started participating in Thirteen Thursday, making a list of confessions. Amy's list is rather comical. While I realize today is Friday, not Thursday, I figured I would join in anyway. Maybe next week's will actually get posted on Thursday, or maybe not. :-)

My 13 Confessions

1. My office used to be my bedroom. It looks like I just moved in. It is a complete disaster all the time. I have boxes and boxes of photos, random craft supplies, mat board, and scrapbooking supplies piled up everywhere.

2. I can't wait to (someday) be pregnant so that I will be off kitty-litter duty for almost a year. That in itself is worth 1,000 toddler tantrums.

3. I rarely cook, and when I do, it is usually just for myself. When Steven is home, he usually does the cooking.

4. I stink at eating healthy. The only healthy thing about my diet is that I rarely drink sodas.

5. I made sure my nails were painted everyday after Steven returned from Oklahoma in February of 2007 because I hoped he would be proposing soon, and I wanted my nails to look good in the first pictures of my ring.

6. I'm a bit OCD about my closet. My clothes are arranged by article, color, and sleeve length. Only plastic hangers allowed. Spare hangers go on the left end of the bottom bar. I even remove all the spare hangers from Steven's closet because they bug me when I hang up his clean clothes.

7. I broke a glass insert on my coffee table at the beginning of last summer. I haven't had another one made yet. I even called around to find someone to do it, and haven't bothered yet.

8. On more than one occasion I have completely pushed my husband out of bed in my sleep. Once even on our honeymoon when we were sleeping in a king size bed. Oops.

9. Steven and I were asleep before 9 o'clock 3 out of 5 nights on our honeymoon. The other two nights we weren't only because we didn't get to the hotel until after 9.

10. I have successfully talked Steven into getting me a Mustang convertible as my next car - even if we have a kid.

11. I have tried, unsuccessfully, to convince my husband to buy pink household appliances. So far I have only acquired a pink KitchenAid Mixer and teapot. I would love a pink washer and dryer though.

12. We only make our bed right before we have company or when we wash the sheets.

13. We watch Hannah Montana most Saturday mornings.

Is there anything they WON'T eat?

I just realized I'm rather behind on posting my photos...

A couple of weeks ago, Steven and I decided to buy the dogs some more toys (as if they don't have enough). I saw a little squeakie hamburger and had to have it because years ago we had gotten one for my last cocker spaniel, Maggie and she loved it. I thought the girls would like it, too. We bought that and a squeakie pizza slice. Apparently toys in the shape of food are not a good idea for my dogs. They don't know the difference.

Here is Emerald, proudly displaying her work. Notice the large hole in the end of the toy.



They were demolished in less than 10 minutes. They broke the pizza squeaker in less than two minutes, and then Emerald decided to eat the toy. When we realized she was actually eating it, in the trash it went. She moved on to the hamburger. The squeaker has been broken, but she has yet to eat it. We'll see how long it lasts.

Flashback Friday #1 pt.2

I bought Jelly Shoes! Not just any jellies either. They are pink ones with the criss-cross pattern. (Thanks to my good friend Courtney, I found them at Kohl's.)

I had a pair almost identical to them when I was younger, but I have yet to come up with a photo of me wearing them. I'll keep looking though. Jelly shoes are one thing I didn't not expect to see again, and certainly didn't expect to be wearing them at the age of 21. They are just too cute, though. I couldn't resist.

Flashback Friday #1

While thinking about the shoes I bought yesterday, I got an idea. Fridays will now be Flashback Fridays. I'll post something from my childhood. I actually have two for today.

The first is this photo. It cracked me up because my husband is always telling me that it wouldn't matter if we had a California King sized bed - I would take up 4/5 of it. :-) According to this photo, I learned that early.

Easter Weekend

Happy Easter!

We had a great Easter weekend. It was very busy, but also very fun. Friday we spent the afternoon just hanging out together. Steven got home really late on Thursday, and I had to work Friday morning, so it was really our first chance to see each other. Friday night we had dinner with our friends, Justin & Courtney.

Saturday morning we were lazy and laid in bed watching Bee Movie (which is really cute!). Saturday afternoon was spent shopping (Yay!) and at the church Easter Egg Hunt. The kids were so cute! We each bought new clothes for Easter, and I got the beautiful ring I've had my eye on since before Christmas. That night we had dinner with some more friends, and we had planned on going to play Glo Putt-Putt, but it wasn't there anymore! :-( Instead we went to Blockbuster and bought a few movies and went home to get ready for Sunday morning.

After church on Sunday we headed to Trumann to visit with family over lunch.
We hope everyone had a great weekend!

More photos from the church egg hunt can be found on our church blog.


Church Egg Hunt


My new ring!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today was my 21st birthday.
It started out pretty good, got kinda bad, and then got good again.

This morning, I got to sleep in and be lazy a little because I didn't have to be at work until 12:00. I only got to sleep in about 30 minutes though, thanks to my dogs. Work was pretty slow. Then, Steven called to say he had no idea how he's getting home tomorrow because of all the roads being closed, and when he does get home our "weekend away" are canceled due to the same thing. Urg. Oh well, maybe next year.

Tonight, I went to church then out to eat with some of my church family. I love my church family. Dinner definitely cheered me up, especially Emma and Eva Grace. When they first got there, they each gave me a sucker and told me, "Happy birthday." That just made my day. Those little girls are so sweet.

I also got to have a talk with my friend, Jennica. She goes to Harding, so we don't see each other too much during the school year, and I really miss her. She's great. I love her bunches.

This is one smart little girl.

17-month-old who can read

Pi Day & Internation Ask a Question Day

Apparently every single day of the year is a holiday somewhere.

Today is:

Pi Day and International Ask a Question Day. I am celebrating both.
For Pi (3.14) Day: I had a round pizza for dinner. Does that count as a "pie"?
For International Ask a Question Day: "What is tomorrow's holiday?"

Ways to ruin a proposal

Airport security probably felt pretty stupid after ruining this guy's moment.

Read the story HERE.

Woman caught flying with bones?

She just wanted to bury her brother in Italy, but I don't think this would have ended quite so well in America. Germans sure don't seem to mind if you want to transport a body in your luggage though! :-)


Read about it HERE.

More quotes

Here are a few more that make me giggle.


"I'm only doing this because I think my TA's hot."-Shana, putting on makeup


"Don't read me the directions; just tell me what to do!" -Lauren


Me: "Um, I think you...nevermind."
Steven: "What?"
Me: "Nothing."
Steven: "What were you going to say?"
Me: "Nothing. Really."
Steven: "Yes you were. What were you gonna say?"
Me: "Nothing. You'll laugh at me."
Steven: "Probably will, but tell me anyway."
Me: "No. Ok...For a second I thought...you were driving on the wrong side of the road."
Steven: (after laughing for a couple of minutes) Good thing I'm driving.


Random guy at the bowling alley: "So who's getting married?"
Ashley, Holly, & Me: "We are!"
Guy: "Huh?!"
haha, I'm pretty sure for a second he thought we meant to each other.

God sure can surprise me

A poll I saw online earlier just got me thinking about God's plan for my life and how he brought Steven into my life.

It will be 7 years this fall since I was in the 9th grade. I really don't remember a lot of things about that year, but here are a few of the things I do remember.

That was the year:

• I reconnected with Heather. We were best friends in kindergarten, but we lost touch in elementary school when I moved to Westside. That summer we picked up right where we left off, and I don't know how I ever lived without her.
• I discovered seniors. haha
• "Ladies and Gentlemen, you are now freshman in high school..." We got that speech everyday.
  
• I learned how to "burp" a car.
• I learned way more than a freshman should have, in a biology class of 18 or 19 girls and 2 guys.
• I learned to be a good, over-involved student to get out of class. (However, I did not perfect this until my senior year when I'm pretty sure I missed at least one class a week for all but 3 or 4 weeks of the school year.)
  

Had someone come up to me when I was a freshman in high school, on the night of the homecoming football game and told me that I was watching my future husband out there on the field and I would be dating him two years from then, I would have laughed or just thought they were crazy. I probably couldn't have even told you Steven's name. All I knew about him was that he was a cute senior, he took art, and he was a friend of the Campbell twins. Never in a million years would I have thought that I would marry him.

God sure pulled that one out of left field. :-) I'm glad He knew what needed to happen though.

I'm never too old to be a kid

Every once in a while I have to take a moment and do something silly, just to be a kid again. (If you catch yourself laughing or making fun of me for it, you need to do it more often. That means you are too uptight, and getting too old.)

A few days ago I read this post from Amy's blog. On my way home tonight it popped into my head and got me thinking about when I was a kid how much I liked to dress myself, just like Eva Grace.

My mom actually caught me standing on a chair next to my chest of drawers one morning holding my socks up to my shirt to make sure they matched before dressing for preschool. I can actually remember doing that, too. :-) However, I also remember how I had a pair of shoes, watermelon print Keds to be exact, (Oh yes, I was a child of the '80s!) that I always insisted on wearing on the wrong feet. I can remember telling people that tried to help me correct the mistake, "Oh, but they are more comfortable this way."

That got me thinking, again. (Can you tell I'm easily sidetracked?) Was it really more comfortable, or was that the 'never-ever-admit-I-am-wrong' gene kicking in really early? (Yes, I promise that is a gene. They just haven't figured out which one it is yet.) So, I decided to do an experiment. Before I got out of my car to get my mail tonight, I slipped off my shoes and switched them around. Yes, they really were more comfortable that way, and it was fun to be a kid again even if it was just for a few minutes while I got my mail and drove up my driveway. :-)

My Photography Blog

As most of you know, I am hoping to launch my own photography business this year. To inspire myself (and to later boost my business), I have started a blog just for my photography.

Anderson Photography

Another photo

Here is one of my latest favorite photos.

They used to be...

Look how cute they both were! What happened? Well, they are both still cute...

My dogs used to both be so little, cute, and sweet.


Emerald is still little and cute, but she now has an attitude. She literally turned her nose up to a little girl in the vet's office! I was so embarrassed. She is very sweet to me, but she has no interest in cuddling with anyone except me. She is incredibly jealous, too. Steven is not supposed to give me any attention when she is around. She doesn't like to share her mommy.


Minnie is NOT little anymore. She's actually rather large.
She is still sweet and loves everyone, but she is a terror. She eats anything and everything that she knows she shouldn't. Electrical things and fabric things seem to be her favorites. If we forget to shut the bedroom door at night, you can guarantee that my kitchen rug will be wadded up at the foot of the bed in the morning. Thank goodness it was only $4.00 at Target.

Snow, please?

Please? Can we have some snow? I would really like to be able to play in it tomorrow. :-)

Quotes From My Life

This is a collection of funny quotes from my life that I like to read from time to time for a giggle.


While I'm ranting about Steven making me mad about something....
Mom:Emily, don't be so mean to him
Dad:That boy should have ran when he had the chance...
Me:That's his fault! I tried to tell him I was mean, but he wouldn't listen!


Whitney:(Talking about Steven and I) Sis, you guys could do a tv show. You need to do another Newlyweds.

"I wouldn't trade you for all the chickens in Arkansas." -my daddy

Mom: "Emily, what are you doing?"
Me: "I'm scratching his head."
Steven: "It feels good."
Dad: "She's organizing cootie races!"

"Do you think it's like a requirement that if you have a thing down here, you have to have a black toilet?"
-Lauren, talking about the bathrooms in the buildings downtown

"because my facebook says so..."
-Lauren...apparently Facebook is the new rule book for life

Michael: "Man, Jessica Simpson is on tv! She's hot!"
Steven: "Man,that's my girlfriend with blond hair. She thinks just like her!"

Steven: Woah, Miss Andretti!
Me: What? I'm only going 60?
Steven: Okay, but I was referring to the speed at which you reached 60!

Steven: Slow down, Miss Andretti! I'm slidin' all over the place back here!
Me: Well, if you had on your seatbelt, you wouldn't have that problem. Would you?
Mike: You've gotta lean into the curves with her, man.
Steven: Hang on, man. She's qualifying for NASCAR.

(Steven swerves the car across the road and back.)
Me: WOAH! WHAT THE? WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR?
Steven: (nonchalantly) There was a bug.

(While watching The Notebook)
the movie: "Well, that's what we do. We fight. You tell me when I'm being an arrogant son of a bitch, and i tell you when you are being a pain in the ass. Which you are 99 percent of the time. I'm not afraid to hurt your feelings. You have like a two second rebound rate and your back doing the NEXT pain in the ass thing."
Steven: Sound familar?
Me: Shut up.

Me: "Babe! Don't put the horsie on upside down!"
Steven: "Sweetie! It's ON your tire! When you start your car...it's going to TURN!"

Steven: (Gives me a 'you didn't just say that' look) Geez, Jessica! I really know how Nick Lachey feels...
Me: Shut up! I can't help it!


"I'm not woo-hoo'n him!" -Lauren


"They put my cat on anti-depressants!" -Emily H.


Lauren: "I don't have any tennis shoes that tie."
Mom: "Yeah! That's a good idea. You should take him!"


"We got a defective dog." - Steven


Me: "At least I can say those were intentional, well-thought out purchases. I don't think you can say that for your $300 ticket!"
Dad: "Son, I hate to say she's right, but I think she has a point there."

Just a Picture

Here's a picture from Saturday.

Maybe we should start a petting zoo?

We are well on our way to living in a zoo!
When we had to give Jill to my parents, we said, "No more animals." Well, Halloween rolled around, and Minnie Pearl entered our lives. She is a handful, so once again we vowed, "No more animals!" God sure has a funny sense of humor. He knows we are just too soft hearted to turn away a neglected animal.
Friday morning I fed Biscuit just before I left for work, like always. Just as I finished pouring food in his bowl I saw a flash of yellow run across our driveway. I assumed it was Biscuit and called to him. Then he came around from the other side of the house. 'Hmmmm....'
Then from the other side of the house came this little guy!

He had no collar and obviously hadn't eaten in a few days! I felt awful, but I had just given Biscuit the last of the dog food. I called Steven on my way to work to tell him about the visitor, thinking he'd tell me to make him leave. All he said was, "Feed him!" I promised I'd buy more dog food on my way home and feed him if he was still there, and he was.

In the 2 days he has been here, he has gone from a timid, overly hungry stray with his tail almost always tucked to an overly excited puppy with a big smile and a wagging tail! He gets along great with the other dogs, too.

He still needs a name...

Biscuit + Emerald + Minnie Pearl + Roush + puppy = our personal petting zoo
($.50 admission, haha. We have to feed them somehow!) :-)

New Blog- A Must Read!

Adventures of Eva Grace
This blog is guaranteed to be a great one!
Eva Grace, the smiley little blonde flower girl in my wedding, is now the star of her own blog! If you know her, you know what to expect. If you don't know Grace, well, you are in for a lot of smiling and laughing. She is simultaneously one of the sweetest children I know and the by far the biggest ham. Only one post is up so far, but I'm sure many more are to come. There is never a dull moment with Eva Grace.

Phone + Snow = : (

Well, the pink razr is no more. I dropped it yesterday when I was outside with my dogs and didn't find it for a couple of hours. It still works, but the screen is just black, so if I don't call you back I'm not being mean! Thankfully we were already planning to get me a new phone this month. Sadly, I'm pretty sure I still have to wait a couple of more weeks.

Our Pro-pics!

We finally got our wedding photos back, and they are WELL worth the wait! I love them! In all, there are almost 1300 images. I'll only post a few here. Right now I'm going through the process of trying to decide which ones to order, what sizes, photo books, book sizes, etc.

2007 in Review

I found this idea on another blog and thought it was a great way to reflect on the last 12 months of my life.

January:
Waited week after week for an egagement ring. We had already started planning our wedding without telling anyone, so I was a nervous wreck, knowing it was coming but not when or how.

February:
Steven was in Oklahoma working a storm. I was at home, still waiting on that ring. I spent Valentine's Day with the girls.

March:
I finally got my ring! I also turned 20.
We went to Missouri to celebrate Hanna's 1st birthday.

April:
Began the really crazy process of wedding planning.
Booked our locations.
Engagement photo session

May:
Kicked off my summer break with more wedding planning and a trip to Georgia.

June:
Got my puppy, Emerald!

July:
Spent the month trying to organize/clean our house, and I don't remember much about the month.

August:
Bridal portrait session and back to school!
Wedding planning got even crazier.

September:
Celebrated my sister's birthday.

October:
Celebrated Halloween a little too much. Steven suffered a small injury due to the celebrations.
I had my family bridal shower.
We got our puppy, Minnie Pearl.

November:
Celebrated Thanksgiving in Lake City and Jonesboro.

Attended Ashley's wedding in Little Rock.

December:
We got married!
We honeymooned in Nashville.
We also celebrated our first Christmas together as husband and wife.

I could get used to this.

I came home to find that my car fits in the garage!!!! This may not seem like a big deal to most, but for those that have seen my garage, you know that my husband was busting his rear all afternoon to get it that clean in a day.

Also, our new mailbox was installed, and he had cleaned out our freezer that is under the garage.

Oh, he was also cooking dinner. 

Well it didn't take long,

for me to become obsessed with editing our wedding photos!

Steven's New Job!

Steven got a new job!

As of January 16, he will be working for Pike Electric. He'll still be working out of town, but his schedule will be different. It will be 8-9 days on and 5 days off, so he'll only be home every other weekend. It will be a bit of an adjustment, but he'll actually be spending more time at home than he is now. Starting this Friday, he will be home until the following Wednesday. We are hoping to get our garage cleaned out and/or paint the kitchen. We'll just have to see which one actuallly happens.

I don't know if he realizes it or not, but I can bet he's going to have a project for every 5 days he's home for the next month or so because he'll be at home during the day when I'm at class/work.

Our First Pro Photos!

Last night, our photographer (Tim Rand) e-mailed me three of our photos! Now I can't wait to see the rest!

Married 2 weeks!

This was Steven's first week back at work since the wedding. I was supposed to go with him, but plans changed. Monday and Tuesday I was having pretty bad stomach pains, so he decided to leave me here with Mom & Dad so I could go to the doctor. I went on Wednesday, and so far they think I have ulcers. It's probably hereditary, and stress caused it to flair up. Stress? Why would I be stressed? lol With the help of the medication I am feeling better now. Still not perfect, but hopefully by Sunday or Monday the symptoms will be gone. I feel like I'm about 80 years old now, taking all these medications.

I got some of my wedding photos developed today! That was pretty exciting.

I also got a sewing machine! A Brother BC-1000. I saw it at Target before Christmas, but it was too expensive. I went back today, just to look again, and it was on clearance! Yay! I bought it, and could hardly wait to try it out. I still don't really know what I'm doing, but I really like it.

The trip home...

was uneventful until we reached Marion. I pulled my rings off to put some lotion in my hand, and dropped my wedding band in the car. We weren't able to find it until we got home. Steven had to take the console completely apart. remove the passenger seat, and pull the carpet up to find it! 

Our Wedding!

I was partially right when I said nothing would go wrong that day because it already had. Nothing went terribly wrong for Steven and I, but I'm pretty sure everyone helping with our day didn't have much fun. It probably doesn't help that I think all the stuff that went wrong is incredibly funny. 

First, we got to the reception site Thursday evening to decorate, only to be told that we couldn't. After my mom showed up, they seemed to remember our deal about giving us a key. 

Later we found out the place had issues with mice! The ovens didn't work too well either. One of our dishes cooked at 500 degrees for over 4 hours and wasn't burned at all! Actually it was just done. Thankfully, they were able to take the dishes to someone's house in Trumann to finish cooking. The electricity kept going out on them in the kitchen, too. 

Also, Justin's plane broke down, so he had to drive in from Little Rock. That made him late to come take the picture for Courtney to put on our cake. He then had to take it to Wal-Mart to be developed only to discover their machine wasn't working, and apparently getting customer service in Wal-Mart at Trumann isn't easy. 

It did rain, but it held off until we were walking into the bed & breakfast that night. The next day we had a rainy drive to Nashville. The hotel there was great. I would definitely recommend Hotel Preston. However, our floor was a "scratch & sniff" according to Steven. Everyday it had a different smell - everything from coffee to cleaning products to unidentifiable food smells, Chinese maybe? Also, assorted whiskey glasses and coffee pots could be found in the hallway, outside other rooms. I thought they were from room service, but Steven thinks they were statues because the cleaning people didn't take them away very quickly. 

We went to the Nashville zoo one day. That was a lot of fun. We were the only people there for the first hour and a half. They have an AWESOME playground there. 

Soon to be a Wife!

I'm getting married in 3 days, and it still doesn't seem real. I keep thinking it's going to hit me, but the closer it gets, the less real it seems. Mom asked Steven the other day, "So, are you excited?" He just looked at her and asked, "About what?" Haha! It was pretty funny, but I know how he feels. We're both so preoccupied with other things lately that we really haven't sat down and thought, 'oh I'm getting married this week.'

I'm really trying not to be Bridezilla this week. I know last week Steven wanted to lock me in a closet. I still have a 2 page long To DO list, but I'm not too worried about it. Most of it is small things that will only take 30 minutes or so. Also, tomorrow will be my last day of work for the week, and I'm only working 8-12. That means I'll have plenty of time to finish everything. I guess most of my stress was coming from finals, but now that they are finished, everything is great! Actually, I still have to turn in a paper, but I'm going to do that in just a few minutes.

I'm going to pick up my dress tomorrow!!!!! I can't wait! I talked to Michelle last night, right after she finished steaming it. Yay! It made me feel better to know that it was done well before the time I'm supposed to pick it up. I'm also picking up Steven's tuxedo tomorrow. I hope everything is right with it. Surely it will be.

11 Days Left

It's been a very busy weekend, with lots of non-wedding related and wedding related activities. Thankfully, the To Do list is getting shorter.

Done:

marriage license

finished wreaths

designed favor labels

confirmed honeymoon reservations

aisle decorations

Steven's wedding band

Picked up arch

With less than 2 weeks to go, it is definitely starting to sink in. I'm really excited, but nervous at the same time. I've started having crazy dreams. It's usually non-wedding related, but then something wedding related sneaks in. I'm really afraid that I'm going to forget something important that day, like my jewelry or shoes, luggage, or Steven's gift. The moment I look forward to the most, is the moment when I am sitting at the church and realize that I have not forgotten anything, that I have everything I will need for the day there with me. Let's hope that happens.

Oh, and on a happy note - only 2 more weeks of work! Then I will be off for the rest of December! Yay!