holy matrimony!

2 years ago since: Unbelievable.
and Incredible.
Standing up there on May 27, 2007 I could not have even imagined what an amazing man God had planned for me. {I thought I knew, but I'm continually, pleasantly surprised each and every day.} Lucky girl.

We were hoping that the second anniversary was 'wood'. {get it, a giant new home full of...}
But, it's not. It's cotton. oh, well. We're buying couches too. fluffy ones, chocked full of cotton.
Aaron made reservations for two at a cute little place down in the Paseo Arts District, a cute little strip lined with shops, restaurants, and art galleries. The food was incredible, I was expecting good food - but, let's be honest, the price-tag on a lot of fancy schmancy places covers the 'ambiance' but sometimes the menu falls short. Well, if you go and order the Chilean Sea Bass your taste buds will not be disappointed. It was the best meal I can remember in a long time. . .The table was even it's own little private dining area, they had silk curtains giving everyone their own little space. Tres chic. ...It was pricey, yes {but get your $25 gift certificate for $2 at restaurants.com} and you can splurge on the starters, the wine and chocolate cake!
They even brought us a special treat for our anniversary, such gracious hosts!

Highly recommended.

Happy Anniversary to my little goofball of 2 years!

memorial memories.

It was a warm winters’ night…
So already this story can’t be true.

Actually it was a beautiful, breezy memorial day weekend. day-weekend? why do we say that?
Now that Aaron’s no longer buried in the papers or having to spend weekends in the lab, this kid’s got a hold of our social calendar – and he’s wearing me out!
We managed to squeeze in sailing with the Fuller family, the Edmond Jazz & Blues Festival, the movie Angels and Demons, {studying}, hanging out at the pool, cooking out with the Klein family, and an overnight camping trip out in Western Oklahoma!

Ohmystinkinheck.

I’m really behind on my posting, so I’ll let the pictures tell the tale…
Because if you don’t have pictures, it never really happened.

Aaron said I ‘squealed’ when he told me we were going sailing.
It’s true. Up there on my ‘favorite-things-to-do-of-all-time’ list.
My brother and I even went to sailing ‘camp’ for 3 weeks. If I tell you where, you might not speak to me for a few days.
but you’d think we’d know more ‘fundamentals’.
That’s why Aaron & I are doing this next spring.

The Cap’n and his first mates.

sailing into the sunset... Never sailed the blustery Oklahoma wind. A different story than the still lakes of Tennessee.
When we have a sailboat, I want to name it this. Cracked me up.

We also caught a couple acts at the Edmond Blues & Jazz Festival this weekend, what beautiful weather we had! I tried to study that afternoon and had a momentary meltdown. That’s what happens when you work hard and play hard. Sure, it sounds good in theory. But, you’re stinkin’ exhausted.

Aaron’s aunt and uncle invited the whole family to grill out on Sunday afternoon out in the country. We got to play with our ‘first-cousin-once-removed’, little Mckinlee who was, of course, a little doll. We planned to camp out by the pond on some of Aaron’s family’s land. You would be proud of me, someone mentioned the word “rattlesnake” about three times before we set out…and I still went. The grass was so high, I think at first I walked around like I was doing football drills.
We set up camp and quickly broke out the fishing gear. There were 5 campers, us and Melody, her friend Eric, and Aaron's cousin Merlanda. Between all of us, we were hoping to catch our dinner. Only Melody was so lucky.

I was especially motivated {being a hater of hot-dogs}.

Maybe I was simply distracted by this beautiful view.

Aaron had watched a You-Tube video on how to fillet a fish the morning before. no kidding. He actually did a great job. We rubbed some seasoning on it, and grilled up the fresh bass. It was actually really delicious! {So, we're out in the middle of nowhere, but Merlandas Iphone had this photo up on facebook in 3 seconds...not sure how I feel about this technology sometimes.}

enjoying the great outdoors, watching shooting stars, telling ghost stories.

{maybe there's an app for that...}

all s'mores are not created equal.
the next morning we took to helping out with turtle overpopulation... happy campers.

where my musics playing...

When I wait too long to post, I tend to forget the little details.
{that’s half the reason I like to keep this thing, just for my poor, sad little memory.}

So, let’s see. I have a brother…yes… and he graduated from high school…
It’s all coming back to me.

So, I made the lovely drive from Oklahoma to Tennessee to spend a long weekend with the family. A short visit, but isn’t it always? On my first day, we took this cutie pie out for a picnic and afternoon at the park.

Do you know any other one year olds who will sport a pair of shades for 3 hours?
She had a blast on the swings and the slides… such an adventurous, independent little one. I heard her cry maybe once the whole three days. She’s just constantly smiling, talking, laughing...and naturally the center of attention.
It was the highlight of my month to be able to spend so much time with my niece, it’s heartbreaking to be so far away from her {and the rest of my family too… but you guys stay the same. She, on the other hand, is always changing, learning, up to new things all the time…} She’s really a lot of fun. That’s what aunts get to do, be there for the ‘fun part’. I couldn’t quite get her to say my name though. We’ll have to work on that when they come to visit this summer.

I’m sure this kid is bound to walk the commencement stage many more times. {He’s already told me that he plans to be in school until he is 30. Nothing wrong with that, huh Aaron?} Our little brother is going to be a Belmont Bruin next year majoring in Biology with interests in everything from music and cartooning to bioengineering and medicine. {A bruin is a bear, in case you were wondering. Not sure why they don’t just say bear. But, maybe Bruin is more elite…and confusing.}
We’re so excited for you, and so proud of you. And I’m sure you’ll only continue to climb…
Class of 2009.
…two years until my ten-year reunion?!...
Crap. That means one year until I have to start planning it! Argh. I remember having the overanalyzing-foresight of specifically not running for class-officer senior year of high school so I wouldn’t have to do this. they twisted my arm. That’s ok, all of ‘they’ get to be on committees or something.

Surprisingly, I was able to visit with lots of family during my short stint. I had a chance to hang out and grill out @ Dad’s with my aunt & uncle after Lo’s main event, caught up with Mom and Grandma just sitting on the porch swing on Saturday afternoon, spent Saturday night grilling out at the house and playing {winning} poker with the boys & mom. I even took an extra day off of work, so I could stick around Sunday for church and ‘supper’, and squeezed in breakfast with Hannah in Jackson on my drive back to OK.

Sunday afternoon @ Logan's graduation party at church.

Fishing with Jim & Jill in Mama and Papa's backyard.

Riding Leo with the kids... {even I got a turn}

what a lovely sunday afternoon in the country. After 8 years of being away from home, I still haven't gotten used to Sundays in the city.

chased her around for about 20 minutes with my camera. she moves fast.

miss photogenic.FIVE-generation family photo. On the last day, Logan decided he needed a little post-graduation moment of rebellion...

I told someone that my brother had shaved his hair into a mohawk to which they replied "what did your mother think?" ...well, she did it. my punk little brother, ladies and gentleman.

miss ellainey.

quelque chose you missed...

[photo credit: OU Daily]
The Chaloners treated us all to an afternoon of the theat-ah...
at pride rock.

What an outstanding musical... the costumes were pretty remarkable by themselves, and the talented cast just made for such an amazing show. See it if their caravan is rolling through your hometown!It just so happened, that Trae was swinging through town to stay with us that night.

and it just so happened, that there was one extra ticket. Fancy that?

We had a nice little visit, albeit way too short. We're inching closer and closer to becoming homeowners...

We've probably gone by the house much more than their usual buyers.

What can I say, we just can't stay away! For now, we wait...

...Because. They've pushed back our closing date 2-3 weeks to June 15th... {this whole process is full of surprises. they are not usually in our favor.} ...so they can complete the renovation and plumbing to get the master bathroom back to the floorplan seen above, with the separate shower + tub configuration. We're buying a home that had previously been under contract with another buyer who had requested some specific changes to the home, but then it fell through. The awesome master bath is definitely something worth waiting on. ...we're in negotiations now to see how we'll be able to "make it right".

Sunday we had the privilege of celebrating Griffin's baby dedication at church as well as Mother's Day - Sarah's first and Teresa's first grandmother's Day! A growing family... isn't he getting so big already?
This kid's already rolled over on his own! The little over-achiever.

...and, lastly, I have to leave this big kid:

all by his onesies while I head to Tennessee for a few days. He's got a tough couple of weeks with grants, presentations, journal articles... I'm sad to be flying solo {Melody may actually join me though}, but pumped to see my family, see Lo graduate, & play with the other special baby in my life...

so, what's new with you?

...glad we could get together.

someone's turning 1.

Happy Birthday, dear Emma, happy birthday to you! Selfishly, I wanted Emma's birthday party and Logan's high-school graduation to fall on the same weekend, so I wouldn't have to miss it. But, the universe didn't line that up for me. I have lots of posts and pictures to catch up on, but this one just couldn't wait - I just had to post a snapshot of our adorable niece...we're there in spirit! they said she was the life of the party.

...I can't wait to see you next weekend Emma! she's a whole YEAR old now, so she can read this blog, right?

Hard to believe, but yes, this adorable girl {whom I see far less often than I'd like} has been here for a whole year. My how she's changed! Trae was with us last weekend, and telling all about her new tricks - she's walking, of course, and talking {how soon until she can say aunt j?}...full of curiousity {she cleaned out every cabinet of Gigi's last week...Gigi = grandma, my mom}, and even has stopped drinking from a bottle. No more formula, it's all solid foods and sippy cups from here on out.

There's a baby-hog on her way to Tennessee in five days...