Happy Anniversary E!

For real this time...

Well, today is mine and E's fourth anniversary. We normally don't do much for celebrations. Maybe have a speial dinner or something low key like that. Even Christmas and Birthdays are like that too. If we need stuff, we just get it throughout the year. But this year, E went out of his way as a anniversary/congratulations we're having a baby present and bought me a kitchenaid stand mixer. And it's red!! If you missed this post, click here for the back story!!

For the past few weeks, E has been eying this compressor and nail gun at Home Depot. Those things are expensive!! I have been trying to put him off and put him off to no avail. I have even had friends that have offered to borrow theirs but E is always afraid he will break it and then have to buy them another one. I don't blame him for that. So when we wen tto Home Depot this weekend, I made sure to take a subtle interest in which one he wanted. I figured out what he needed and was planning on going to the store last night and getting it for him, however, he started working around the house this weekend and really needed it. So I broke down and told him what I was planning on getting him for our anniversary and that we could go and get it if he really needed it. He said "Yeah, I knew you were going to get it for me. You took an interest and asked questions about the pnuematic nail gun!!! You never do that!!"

So we went Sunday and I let him pick out the stuff he wanted and a new utility light (??? somehow that ended up in the buggy at checkout time) So Happy Anniversary E! I love you more today than I did 4 years ago and I am super excited about all of the next steps we are planning to take together. Me, Sweet Pea and Maggie appreciate the way you take care of us.

The Night of Many Surprises

I have two friends from my old days when I worked across campus. We were all working under the same regime and we were all miserable beyond words. Well, we have all since moved on to greener pastures but still hang out and have lunch together 3-4 times a week. There's actually alot more of us but only 3 of us eat lunch together. Andrea (Andrea Unplugged)and Taylor are my lunch bunch. They have been dating for 4 and a half years. Well, Taylor set up an elaborate night for Andrea and a few of her friends. There was a fancy dinner and wine tasting at the top of the library here on campus and all of the walls are windows look out onto the city from the top floor. It's really beautiful up there. But at the end of the night, they raffle off bottles of wine. The contest was "a little" rigged for one of the bottles. They bought a special bottle of sparkling wine for Taylor and tied Andrea's engagement ring to the bow on the bottle. So when he won, he untied the bow and announced to the whole room how much he loved her and then asked her to marry him. It was so great! She didn't have a clue. We had all been planning this for weeks. Here are al few pics from the other night:

This is Andrea and Taylor.

Me and Andrea realized that we have been good friends for over a year and have no pictures to prove it...until now!

Cherrye from My Bella Vita was in town from Italy for a visit by chance when the whole thing went down. She actually won one of the raffle prizes.

Here is Taylor popping the big question.

Since I am not drinking these days, I didn't want to be rude, so I let them fill may glasses with all the different wines they were trying. At the end of the night I couldn't move because I had 10 full glasses of wine in front of me. They came around with 2 extra glasses after this picture was taken. But the ice water was good, as was the dark chocolate on the table and the spinach dip at the food bar.

Holiday Cheer...WooHoo

Well, Friday, the last day of work before Christmas break, is FINALLY here. For the next two weeks, no more getting up at 5am, no more ironing clothes, no more watching the clock. Just me, E, and my little Magpie enjoying the holiday season with friends and family. Sleeping in, Papa's pancakes, Pam's Christmas Quiche, Nanny's stuffed mushrooms, and all of the goodies that we all bring from home because we have to GOT to get all of those sweets out of our house or we will gain 15 pounds.

We so look forward to spending time with everyone. Especially Ashley and Justin. Ashley just graduated from Saint Leo's University with her MBA last week. Congrats!!! And Justin just came home from his first tour as Executive Officer on his new boat. Ash was in Key West with me and she has been my running partner and motivation for the past year (even though the first words out of her mouth when we start lacing up our running shoes are "I am just not motivated today!"). She is my race partner, my excuse to go home early from a night downtown with the girls, the only other CG wife left without kids like me, and my sounding board for all things Coast Guard and job related. As a Central Florida girl, she now lives in Pascagoula. She called the other night and said "I just can't get used to this southern cooking. Fried okra??? What the heck is that?"
**Me and Ash going fabulously stag with all of the other wives at the CG Ball last year.







Of course, we look forward to visiting with all of our close family. That's a given!!! But since we saw most all of you last weekend at the wedding...

Oh well, this is my last blog entry until the new year. So, Merry Christmas to you all from me, E and Maggie. May the new year bring great surprises and unexpected blessings!

Since I hate blogging with no pics...here are a few more wedding pics I recieved this week.

**My mom's side of the family/where I get half of all of my good looks









**My cousins Jonathan, Kimberly and Laurel all decked out!!












**E and I dancing the night away with Nanny and Papa. I don't think I have ever slow danced before since I have been such a good Baptist girl all my life. So E was kind enough to teach me the basics.

**The life of the party...Brit, Stacey, Laurel and Will.

**The first time we have gotten all dressed up in a long time...(my husband looks "NICE" in a coat and tie)

Wedding Days are Here Again

Well, my cousin Jonathan and his brand new wife Tara got married on Saturday. Such a beautiful wedding. I was so ready to go home though. After crying on Thursday before we left for job related reason, I cried on Friday at the rehearsal dinner because of a “through the years” powerpoint presentation with pictures of the two of them growing up and all of the family and then the beautiful speech Tara gave about Jonathan (since he also graduated from Southern Miss this weekend too). My mom looked at me afterwards and said “I am so glad you didn’t have one of those at your wedding. Tara’s mom is a wreck now.”

Then the crying started again on Saturday evening during the seating of the mothers and grandmothers. They all walked down the aisle crying, sat down in their seats, and immediately reached for their purses and tissues. The bridesmaids came in with tear stained dresses. During the ceremony, my grandfather read a letter that he had written Jonathan on the day he baptized him as a child. Then after the lighting of the unity candle, they passed out flowers, hugs and kisses to all of their parents and grandparents. The tears just flowed. I really regretted not buying a bag of tissues.

I got home on Sunday night and started putting together a casserole for dinner the next night. After crying everyday for the past 3 days, I just couldn’t handle crying a fourth. When it came time to chop up 2 cups of onion, I dug into my gym bag, found my swim goggles, attached them to my face and then went back to cooking. I know I looked like a complete moron, but there wasn’t a trace of a tear. E just stared at me when I walked back to the kitchen. I said “What?” He said “Cutting onions?” I nodded and continued walking through to the kitchen. Is it widespread crazy when he knows how my mind works?

Congratulations Jonathan and Tara! Good luck in everything!

**Jonathan, Tara, and my sister Blake. (sorry Tara, bad pic but it was the only I had of you from the wedding)

**Me and E enjoying the scrumptious spread of food.