Feelin' Lucky!

On the Books for July...

2012-01-11T10:09:00.002-06:00

and we couldn't be happier!

~ still feelin' lucky ~

2011-08-23T10:05:00.004-05:00

3 years has gone by pretty quickly.

So many things have changed, but certainly not the way I feel about him.

Still Feelin' Lucky!

Thank you Lord for our many blessings.

... looking forward to our future!

Introducing...

2011-07-09T15:09:00.001-05:00

The new home of kai, kelli alfreds images

Stay Tuned...

2011-07-08T10:21:00.002-05:00

A change is coming soon to a computer near you!!!!

Our Life in Pictures

2011-05-23T07:26:00.008-05:00

It's been way too long but it has been SO busy since Christmas!I have just a minute to give a quick update.

My mom is doing great! She finished her chemo treatments (triple negative breast cancer) and just finished her drug trial in April. We are so thankful to God for everything He has done!!! Thank you friends for praying for her and for consistently asking about her and being there for our family. You know who you are and we appreciate you SO much. It's times like these that you realize what matters most. I've been blessed with the best friends and family a girl can have.

Matt and I spent a lot of the winter weather hanging out with Abby Gayle in our down time.

Spring brought a family wedding. Matt's cousin Megan was married last weekend and it was so fun. More pictures to come later I hope!

(This shot is from her engagement pictures on Auburn's campus)

(the rehearsal dinner)

My immediate family is expecting a beautiful baby girl Lillian Alise this week!!!

Mary Alise is SO far away in Virginia and I am so sad I can't be there for her birth.

A very exciting thing is happening in June! Our family will be joined by a new Furr Baby!

"Jackson" will be coming to be Abby Gayle's new friend across town! We are anxiously anticipating his arrival from Oklahoma.

He is one of the precious boys below!

Hoping to have more time for updating soon!

Christmas Card 2010

2010-12-29T22:05:00.002-06:00

Thanks again Johanna for our photos!

What a Wonderful Christmas!

2010-12-27T10:19:00.006-06:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Hope your holiday was as great as ours!

We are so thankful for our family and friends this year.

We have enjoyed every minute of family time and still have family left to see!

Thank you to my awesome sister in law Johanna for the family photos!

We love them!

We're still here...

2010-11-08T10:18:00.002-06:00

Just wanted a change of scenery.

We are super busy with life around here.

Matt has taken up chopping firewood in the backyard (I'll post those pics later) and I am having a ball taking pictures every spare minute!

Here's Abby Gayle, waiting on Paul Bunyan to come in from the lumberyard.

Feeling a bit more like myself...

2010-09-09T22:48:00.003-05:00

My house is back in order (had a bit of renovation done in honor of our anniversary), I've shopped (browsed) until I have no interest in going to Target anytime soon (gasp), had awesome family in town, missed the first game of the season for a great party AND got to have some Peggy McKinney Peanut Butter Fudge cake in honor of my mother in law's birthday!

Whew! Maybe I can post birthday party and NEW bathroom pics one day soon- doesn't it seem like that is the only room we update? Until then...

It's been a rough week, but I am still here!

2010-09-02T23:09:00.002-05:00

This is where I am right now, but hoping it will all be worth it!!!!

The Pup Pup

2010-08-11T22:48:00.006-05:00

I couldn't keep looking at the toilets~ although they are so pretty!

This is Pup Pup aka Peanut Pup. I think she came into our lives during my junior year of college.

She wasn't supposed to stay, was going to a great home!

Ha! Thus, the name Pup.

I decided she needed a proper name so I named her Peanut

(bc that is what my Grandpa Griffin used to call me and it started with the same letter as Pup).

No one else calls her Peanut!

SO hard to believe that she is the last of my mama's 5 pups.

She is skittish, protective, loving and my mama's biggest fan.

WE LOVE the PUP PUP!

Copycat

2010-08-05T21:19:00.003-05:00

Well.

I thought that the search for MY gift was over when I found what I found!

Last night I decided to take a last minute trip to the powder room (Matt's restroom in our master bath) and guess what I found????

Apparently he bought himself a matching one!

A Practical Romance

2010-08-02T23:26:00.007-05:00

Wow. Our anniversary is not until the end of the month and my fantastic husband has already presented me with my gift! He was acting really strange, met me at the door and didn't seem to be in any hurry to get to his work out.

All very unlike him.

So when he announced that he had gotten me an unusual anniversary gift I was relieved that something bad hadn't happened.

He gave me no clue other than I would find it when I needed to. Huh?

Happy anniversary to me!

Now...what to get him?!?!

Doesn't it go PERFECTLY with my decor?

Such a thoughtful guy!

I bought this chair last week in Opelika at Angel's for photo shoots and thought it would work just fine in my dressing room!

Not really sure this is my anniversary present, but I really am happy about it. Here is the former piece of porcelain:

I'd say it is an improvement!

A New Era

2010-05-27T11:55:00.005-05:00

I took these this morning and haven't edited them. I just felt like I needed an update so that I wasn't heartbroken everytime I logged on.

So, it's been quite a week. We've been adjusting to the new routine. I must say, I have made it to work earlier lately. I really didn't realize how little time it takes to get Abby Gayle ready for me to leave in the mornings. She is pretty much the same as always, the new routine has been a bit confusing but this baby doesn't know what a depression is. Truthfully, it is because of her breed I believe. "It's all about me!" should be her motto.

Heartbroken

2010-05-19T22:40:00.001-05:00

This is my baby.

XENA.

The love of my life.

(prior to my wonderful husband).

Had to let her go today. I will miss her more than words can express.

I took this Sunday as I was deciding whether or not I should go through with a photo session scheduled with a weather forecast of storms.

Had no idea this would be her last photo ever:

LOVE HER and MISS HER TREMENDOUSLY.

My Little Photo Blog

2010-04-14T12:48:00.003-05:00

A lifelong hobby is becoming an obsession...

Easter Weekend

2010-04-10T09:14:00.012-05:00

I had a great Easter weekend! I drove down to Dothan to visit on Thursday and had a great dinner with some of my favorite people!!!

THEN I went to Wendy's to attend and take pictures of Emme's 2nd birthday party! It was SO CUTE and she is such a mess!

Finally, I drove back home and we attended a wonderful church service at Frazer and a yummy brunch with Matt's family.

WHEW, what a weekend!

The 1 millionth freaking out because there is SNOW post...

2010-02-13T00:04:00.008-06:00

Short and sweet because it's bedtime!

Abby Gayle isn't a fan of having wet feet so the snow wasn't so fun for her~ but she got used to it!

Xena had a rough time on the slippery tile that resulted from wet feet but didn't mind the snow falling a bit! She decided to take a moment to enjoy it and plopped right down in it! Not exactly what I had in mind when I took her out that time!

The "way back" backyard was gorgeous and perfect...

- at least until Matt wrote his name in the snow.

I drove around the neighborhood a bit and ran into some little friends~ I may post those pics later. They were having so much fun throwing snowballs!

I also happened upon the COOLEST snowman ever~ it happened to be in a co-worker's yard so I stopped to check it out up close! It was HUGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How messy will my yard be tomorrow? Good thing we both have rubber boots!

New toys sure do take up a lot of spare time.

2010-01-23T20:23:00.015-06:00

It's been a while. Things have been a bit hectic since Christmas and the last thing I think about doing is blogging when I have a free moment for the computer. And that is due to my Christmas presents!
Last year Matt gave me Photoshop - CS4. This year, his mom gave me a new lens I'd been wanting so bad. So, I've been playing a lot! I've been trying to learn how to really use my camera and I've tackled PS after owning it for a year and not having a CLUE what I was doing!
Anyway...maybe I will get back to blogging soon. ;)
Until then, this is what I'm up to:

Trying to lose weight because I ate too much of this,

Pestering Abby Gayle to be my model since we don't have kiddos,

Wishing that I had taken more time to enjoy this,

Practicing on things like this when I can't find Abby Gayle,

Watching and LOVING lots of this (GO CATS!!!),

Pulling for our Colts while AG sports this,

Wishing I had more models like this,

But still so thankful for this,

RAMMER JAMMER! Championship Bound!

2009-12-07T12:17:00.008-06:00

our view

Matt and I had the most FABULOUS weekend!
We traveled to Atlanta to see our beloved Tide DOMINATE the Gators!
We've been to a lot of football games together and had some great times, but I must say that this one is at the top of the list. When else have we been able to enjoy such a win? Admittedly, I was extremely nervous and didn't breathe easily until the last 3 minutes but it beat the heck out of waiting until the last minute to win! The scoreboard never indicated that there was any question we'd win!
(Unlike the best game of our lives- The Colts/Patriots AFC Championship game when I was unbelievably nauseous at halftime thinking about how much $ I'd spent on Matt's present- TOTALLY worth it in the end!)
It's been an incredible season for us so far- all 3 of our teams (Alabama, Colts and UK Basketball) are undefeated!

via NYT

I must say, I like Tim Tebow. As a person. As an athlete (as incredible as he is) I will admit I was tired of hearing about him. Probably as much as other NFL fans get tired of hearing about Peyton Manning or Tom Brady. But as a person I think he has done an amazing job of putting God first and foremost and I was super impressed (as always) with the class he showed Saturday night in Atlanta in what had to be one of the biggest disappointments of his career. Not to mention the attention God and the Bible receive everytime his name is mentioned!

Back to the subject at hand... Good Luck Ingram!!!!! You've definitely earned the Heisman in our eyes!

via NYT

ROLL TIDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whew, What a Weekend! Great Company, Beautiful Weather and a Near Disaster!

2009-11-16T21:54:00.009-06:00

Matt's dad and Jean came to visit from Indy this weekend. I took a day off last week to get ready, we had a room full of boxes that HAD to be dealt with! After SO much time invested, it paid off! I will upload pics of the guest room eventually. I took 2 days off this past week to spend with the guys and it was a lot of fun. We watched more football than I could imagine possible (ROLL TIDE!) and that is saying A LOT! We ate more than any group should have within a four day time span (Jubilee Seafood, Martins, Filet & Vine, and Dreamland~ not to mention breakfast everyday).

Jean did me the favor of taking some shots for our Christmas cards and I snuck a few in of the guys.

The weather was phenomenal with temps in the 70's during the day and a bit cooler at night. My roses are in full bloom again!

Then the Near Disaster almost ruined EVERYTHING! Abby Gayle and Xena have spent a TON of time outside lately in the nice weather.

They seemed to be fine. So much so that Matt would leave for short periods of time and let them wander freely in the back yard. NOT ANYMORE! As I was inside preparing for dinner Friday night and Matt was grilling he reminded me at about 7 that the dogs had not been fed.

So, I grabbed Abby Gayle and we went to the studio to get supper ready for the girls. Matt had been to the grocery WAY earlier (as in daylight hours) and I truly thought he put Xena up before he left. I didn't think to ask, I just assumed. So, when I opened the door to the studio and she wasn't in there, I was shocked. I went back outside and asked Matt where she was. She normally finds a bush to lay under so I was about to go looking (in the dark) for her but instinct always tells me to look toward the pool first, then I go look for her under the bushes. This time, I looked toward the pool and the cover we put on the pool 2 weeks ago was obviously not right. (Right as in what it looks like below)

I could see pitch black water in the moonlight! I ran screaming toward the pool and found Xena soaking wet and struggling to get out of the water. I don't remember being that scared in a very long time. She is about 14? and is VERY arthritic. She was shaking uncontrollably because she had been working her hips and back legs SO HARD trying to get out of the pool. We have no idea how long she was in there but the water was about 60 degrees. Chaos ensued and Matt ran over and got in the pool and helped me get her out because I couldn't. We rushed to get towels and got her inside in front of the propane heater in the studio. She warmed up eventually and stopped shaking. It's been 3 days and she seems to have recovered well. Good thing she's a lab!

The new rule is that if they are outside without us, they are on the tie-out. No more unsupervised roaming for my babies. And before we have babies (or a baby) we will have a fence around that pool!

We rounded off the weekend with the Colts Patriots game. Whew! Another Near Disaster avoided! Love our Colts!!!

Before and After: The Downstairs Master

2009-10-31T21:05:00.017-05:00

This post (or series of posts, depending on how tired I get) is for the best realtor in the world! Beth Bowman stuck by us through thick and thin! Our home search saga was too topsy turvy to ever post about- good thing I didn't try. By the time we found what we ultimately purchased, Beth had moved to Valdosta (boo) and Tammy Brown Chavers moved in as her relief. What a great save! She was awesome and really made things go smoothly~ love her too!
So anyway, Beth hasn't seen any pictures and she hasn't made it by to visit yet so I promised to post some pics for her.

I'll start with my favorite room, "my" bathroom' Since Matt and I are getting ready for work at the same time every day he has full access to the master bath and I took over the guest bath downstairs.

BEFORE:

I changed out the brass cabinet knobs and installed "diamond cut" glass knobs, hung curtains and a crystal chandelier and added a zebra rug in front of the sink and a white "fur" rug in front of the shower. Matt installed a Mac-Daddy shower head and I got a pretty spa blue shower curtain and used mirrored curtain hangers. My goal had been "Tiffany" blue, but it was hard to find the perfect shade. I also replaced the brass towel and toilet paper rods with a brushed nickel set. I still have some things to do (hang a picture, etc) but I've really enjoyed getting ready in this spacious room compared to the tiny space on Dartmouth.

The sink area:

Wendy gave me a great idea- use our "getting ready" pictures in my "getting ready" room! Loved the idea and took care of it immediately! Now I just need to hang it.

The shower area BEFORE:

And AFTER:

Curtain rings ~Emerald Cut:)

The Downstairs Master (adjacent to bath above) BEFORE:

I am in search of the perfect piece of art for above the bed so it's a bit bare still and there is an extra table in there:

I am also planning on trying to change out the hardware on the furniture from brass to brushed nickel, but for some reason the old holes aren't the new standard so it will be a chore and I've been procrastinating because I am scared!

Doorway BEFORE:

Doorway AFTER:

Can't represent Abby Gayle without representing Xena too!

Since I only have a Wanna Be Photog camera and not the upgrade to a Professional camera (yet) complete with all of the lighting tools that would enable me to shoot at night inside and it still be pretty, I apologize for the poor lighting in my after pics!!

More to come later.

G'night and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Oh what a year!

2009-08-23T20:32:00.002-05:00

I can NOT believe that it has been a year since Matt and I were married!
So much has happened since this time last year. It seems like this weekend was the first one we've spent completely relaxed since the wedding. We stayed at home to celebrate our first anniversary and pretended we were on vacation all weekend. No plans, just go with the flow. We FINALLY got to hang out by the pool and do nothing! We LOVED being able to enjoy our new home!
Here's to another great year!

She's HOME!!!!!!

2009-08-04T15:23:00.004-05:00

My sweet baby Xena is back where she belongs!

She's stiff and has aged a bit but I think she will be just fine with lots of love and attention! She trotted around the yard so much it wore her out.

She loves her new "house", Matt has lovingly agreed to share his studio with Xena!

She has plenty of room to stretch out and investigate. She already brought a nice yucky prize to me!

I'll share pics of her in her new yard as soon as I find time to unpack my camera!

EMERGENCY PRAYERS NEEDED...

2009-07-27T09:57:00.000-05:00

Please Pray for Stellan!

A MUST SEE Wedding Entrance!

2009-07-23T14:40:00.002-05:00

Check this out!
LOVE IT!

CHICAGO

2009-07-21T21:27:00.008-05:00

I just realized tonight that I never posted pictures from Matt's birthday trip to Chicago!
We went at the end of January.
We stayed at the Hard Rock and had such a great time!
It was 4 flippin' degrees when we landed- I am SUCH a Southerner, I thought I was going to DIE!
I layered more than I ever imagined possible and we had a fabulous time!
The highlight (and real reason for the trip) was a Metallica concert for my music loving husband!
WE love all kinds of music but I was really branching out on this trip.
SO MUCH FUN!!!!! I was really nervous about Mosh Pits, etc. but it was a breeze!
3rd row and LOVING it!
We also went to an authentic Blues club and had the best time ever!
I can't wait to go again...in the Summer!

Wishing...

2009-07-15T20:27:00.004-05:00

That Matt wasn't here:

& that we were here:

(our honeymoon villa)

Laying out here:

(on St. Martin's beach)

Or that we could be HERE:

& laying out HERE:

SO EXCITED and I can't stand waiting!!!

Please Pray For Kate!

2009-07-08T11:32:00.001-05:00

I don't know this family but I can't imagine what they are going through.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/mcraekate

http://www.youtube.com/v/ese3zYZ-NA4&hl=en&fs=1

Almost there...

2009-07-03T08:59:00.003-05:00

SOLD!

We FINALLY found somewhere to live!!!

We really haven't talked about the process much because after a 6 month search and quite a few bumps in the road with other houses we were afraid to jinx it; but we are SO EXCITED about having a home of our own again!

WHOHOO!

BUT (and there seems to always be a but) we can't move in until the end of July!

The Day We've Been Waiting For...Outside Shots

2009-06-24T15:25:00.005-05:00

Our first anniversary is quickly approaching so I guess I should hurry up and finish these wedding posts! Here are some more of my favorite outside shots, courtesy of Kim Box!

Well, that is all I can manage today! Almost done!!!!

Happy Birthday Hayes-E-Pooh!!!

2009-06-18T12:40:00.005-05:00

This weekend is my little sister's birthday (she's the middle child).

I decided to give her her own post since she is now living way up in Brunswick, Maine.

We miss her so! She seems to be doing alright though...

Here's to you Pooh!

This is back in the day (she's on the right and Katherine is on the left):

And here we are now (she's first in line):

HAPPY, HAPPY, DAY HAYES!!!

In other news... we are still having a blast at Matt's Mom's. It's been so nice but I know that we will be glad to get back to the normalcy of having our own space. They've been the GREATEST and we really are enjoying it but I miss my Xena SO VERY MUCH!

I picked her up last Sunday for a visit. She seemed a bit mad at me but got over it soon enough. We had some good quality time together before I took her back to the kennel. I brushed her for about an hour- wow was she shedding! I keep meaning to arrange a haircut for her soon. She was not a bit reluctant to get out of the car back at Pike Road Kennel ~ she didn't even look back. She just ran off to see her new friends again! Made me a little sad but I am so glad she loves it out there so much!

I can't wait to see her again!

...and in my mind I was a child...and it felt good!!!

2009-06-06T19:30:00.005-05:00

A weekend at the lake is just what the doctor ordered!

Abby Gayle is experiencing the lake for the first time.

She's not too sure about the water but LOVES all of the activity!

She is fascinated by the ducks~ but not so much that she wants to jump in!!!

Hope you are all having as nice of a weekend as we are!

Moving on, sort of...

2009-06-04T12:26:00.003-05:00

SOLD !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks SO VERY MUCH to Beth Bowman...the BEST, MOST PATIENT realtor ever!

Words can't describe how much she has had to put up with while trying to sell my house.

(In case I am sounding selfish, just in case you don't all know it, Matt refused to call my house home- it was always "your house", not his house. Hopefully now it can be OUR house but I have this sneaking suspicion it will be HIS house!).

We finally closed last Thursday and we have been getting settled in to his mom's house. My precious (and BESTEST FRIEND) Xena is at the best puppy resort (and it is KILLING me) and Abby Gayle is with us. Xena just sheds so much I couldn't add that to the mix when his parents have been so kind to let us crash their empty nest! I miss her terribly and can't wait to go visit!

For now if you need to send me anything (baby shower invites, party invites, MONEY) just email or call and I'll give you our current address!!!

Things are moving pretty quickly on the search for a new home, I will update you all as soon as I can. Hopefully we will all be one big, happy family again soon!!!

Enough Already...

2009-05-14T18:21:00.003-05:00

SO, I was planning on doing a post devoted entirely to our outdoor wedding shots but I just don't have the time right now. We are in the process of selling our little house and it has been the BIGGEST ordeal. Pray we close the 28th. And "then what?" you say... we don't know yet but I'll keep you posted!
Since I don't have the time to do all of our photos in one post, I've decided to do them a little bit at a time.
Hopefully when I get home tonight I can start the first installment...

The FABULOUS Jackie Gaut of Dana's Floral Designs

2009-04-28T10:13:00.004-05:00

I've decided to dedicate this post to the FABULOUS Jackie Gaut!

She made our day so incredible in so many ways.

First things first, she has a new website and it is fantastic!

Go check it out! If you click Portfolio the #1,2,16,20 and 38 pictures contain images from our wedding. Kind of makes a girl feel like a celebrity!

Jackie is the COOLEST chic on Main Street in Prattville and I have no doubt that all of my friends would love her!!!! (Just side note for the Troy girls, she is married to Anna's brother.)

She is SO VERY patient and just the type that you'll feel 100% comfortable with saying "Hey, this is what I like, this is what I don't like, just run with it!" I told her I wanted wreaths, chiffon and shades of fuschia and told her to let her creative juices lead her wherever she wanted to go.

I couldn't have been more pleased! On the day of the wedding (in the hurricane) Jackie spent SO much time making sure things were perfect. She is extremely professional and went above and beyond. Thank you Jackie!!!!

Half Shot

2009-04-09T08:03:00.008-05:00

I am still planning to do an outdoor wedding post but today Jessica Lynn (over at my FAVORITE wedding blog Tying the Knot ) posted about half shots. In the spirit of blogging, I decided to share one I stumbled across while making my parents albums for Christmas.

This one was one of my favorites of me alone but I hated the way my shoulder position made my arms look so I cropped them out. Turned out to be one my favorite shots!

Once I realized how much I loved it, I went a little crazy and made more!!!

That's all for now! Hope everyone is happy and healthy on this beautiful spring day!!!

Congratulations Hayes-e-pooh!!!!

2009-03-16T21:30:00.005-05:00

My beautiful little sister Hayes married her Navy man today!!!

We are SO excited for you and Jay and we can't wait until we can celebrate with you!!!

She's the goofy one on the right... notice I am NOT in this picture! Hee hee!

LOVE YOU Strawberry Shortcake!!!!

The Day We've Been Waiting For, The Reception Part II

2009-03-04T20:47:00.014-06:00

So, after all of the hooplah, it was time to have some fun! We didn't have a full band so there wasn't a whole lot of dancing. I wanted the guys to have something to do while the girls gossiped.

I found a basketball game online and had it set up on the wrap around porch at The Ridge. There was also a Colts mini bean bag toss game (ie. cornhole) and a poker table. I had also planned on a putting green but due to the hurricane it wasn't possible to set it up. I really would have loved to have had more time to play myself!

Some of Matt's best friends enjoying the basketball game:

Matt and I playing a quick game:

You would think that he would have let his new bride win! But OH NO- he is WAY TOO competitive for that!

At the poker table:

My baby sister Katherine ~ she does not have a great poker face!

I believe I said there wouldn't be a whole lot of dancing but I convinced my darling hubby that we HAD to have a first dance. Chad Hall played Lovin' in My Baby's Eyes...

My Dancin' Shoes:

Havin' a Good Time with my girls:

We were so thrilled to have so many friends brave the storm.

LC, Me and JH:

My Sweet Sister Mary Alise and our new brother-in-law Michael:

In addition to all of the games, I thought it would be fun to have a "photo booth". I had a Polaroid camera (graciously on loan from The Law Offices of JTK and Associates) and a box of dress up items (the cigarettes are NOT real but they did have "smoke").

KT Pickle, me and WC:

Looks like TROUBLE!

My mom's girls REALLY enjoyed Dress Up!

One of my favorite moments (even though it seems a lot of people don't do it anymore, it is kind of expected around here)- Note the UK garter- GO CATS!

Matt did SUCH a GREAT JOB!

Leigh Kennedy caught the garter and guess what...

he JUST GOT ENGAGED!

Note his beautiful fiance Stephanie in the black and white to the right:

I think I just wanted to toss the bouquet so that I could have Jackie Gaut make me one to toss!

And then it was time to go.

Off to my surprise honeymoon!

Once again kudos to Kim Box Photography!

The Day We've Been Waiting For...The Reception Part I

2009-02-04T21:44:00.013-06:00

Somehow we made it from the Chapel to the Ridge Club for our reception without getting drenched. Even today I can hear the pine trees at the edge of the woods cracking and falling as we ran into the reception. My wonderful stepfather Noopie escorted me in under an umbrella...all the while wrapping my veil around his leg! Eek!
Everything turned out just fine...

Our guests were greeted with a yummy pomegranate martini.

Peggy McKinney did a fantastic job incorporating the design from our reception invitation into the cake. It tasted even better than it looked!

Our Invitations from Swoozie's:

I wanted Matt's cake to reflect who he is. He's pretty conservative, an Alabama fan and is a drummer. I ordered a custom cake topper reminiscent of the Tide's script A. I also found replica of John Bonham's drums (Led Zeppelin) to display on the cake table. There were also potted pansies courtesy of Jackie in honor of Matt's maternal grandparents- it was their favorite flower.
Matt's only request was a layer of yellow cake with chocolate icing. The cake table (with a houndstooth tablecloth) turned out to be a bit large for the size of the cake but Peggy's bottom layer of peanut butter fudge was the hit of the reception!

He was so surprised by the drums and loved them so much they are now in his law office!

Anticipating August heat and humidity, in addition to the martinis, we served white wine sangria (the Williams-Sonoma mix- it is divine!)

There was also a variety of beer for those not interested in "fruity" drinks. We had some koozies made up that reflected our love of sports: the Colts, the Tide and Roger Federer.

We also served food. Johnny Sullivan of Montgomery Catering and his staff were superb! Thanks to Chef Kelly for his fantastic shrimp and grits, bacon wrapped watermelon rinds and more!

(Note: Although I love how it turned out, I do wish I had listened to Jackie when she advised me to stick with one color- in this case the fuschia- on the table tops. The addition of the green was completely my idea. I just keep thinking about what it would have looked like with solid fuschia in those gorgeous fishbowls!)

Here we are having NO IDEA how to cut a cake! Can you tell???

And here we are REALLY enjoying that layer of Peggy's FAMOUS PB fudge- sure wish I had some right now!

All photos: Kim Box Photography!

ok... that is all I can manage tonight, SO SLEEPY!
More to come later...

Because I Couldn't Wait...

2009-01-06T22:46:00.008-06:00

Have you noticed a theme to my blog?
It's always about waiting...or not waiting.
I really need to work on that virtue called patience.

Today I went to pick out the photos that will go in our album.
It was so hard to decide, Kim's talent made it almost impossible to leave out anything!

You've all read how difficult it was for me to wait for my proofs, and then the 2nd set of proofs, and then the actual disc. (I didn't quite make the deadline for the special Christmas gifts to be delivered by Christmas Eve/Day BUT it did make it more fun to give our gifts after all of the Rush was over...then our parents could focus completely on OUR gift!)
Well, I am here to say that I VOW to wait patiently for our album (I've already been warned that it could be a long wait).
I don't quite have the time to blog our reception tonight but I just couldn't WAIT (believe it or not) to post another of my favorites!

and once again....photo credit goes to the fabulous Kim Box!

The Day We've Been Waiting for...The Ceremony

2008-12-28T11:25:00.054-06:00

Once the chaos of getting dressed had passed, I was more than ready to walk down that short aisle to meet Matt.

Thanks so much Mary Alise for your help coordinating our families in the chapel!!!

Jackie Gaut of Dana's Floral Designs did a great job capturing my vision of the chapel.

Matt and I have both lost grandparents in the last few years (he lost two this year) so I thought it would be nice to have them be a part of the ceremony. We included framed pictures of each of them on the piano at the front of the chapel.

The ceremony was short and sweet- just how Matt needed it to be. We simply exchanged vows and rings and it was official...and over! Matt is SO not into PDA and everyone knows it so we decided in advance instead of a first kiss that we would bump fists (and THEN kiss). Well, that was the plan. Matt decided on his own that it was a serious occasion so it warranted the kiss. So we kissed; the whole time I am saying "hey...what about the fists?" The pictures document it pretty well.

And the audience gave us the expected laugh!

The much awaited presentation of Mr. and Mrs. :

Can you see how thrilled I am????? You can't even tell that we just exchanged vows in the midst of tornado warnings and a tropical storm/hurricane!

Mama and I- her hair is not bad considering the sacrifice she made helping me get in and out of the rain!

Matt and his mom.

Because of the torrential rain, we were obviously limited to the tiny chapel for pictures. After all of the family groups were taken care of, Matt and I stayed for some of just the 2 of us. Here are some of my favorites from the indoor session. (I'll do the outdoor session in a separate post)

Matt looks particularly serious in this one for some reason! Did I mention he is not exactly a fan of having his picture taken?

(Notice the raindrops on his shoulders)

Not a typical pose for us, but with limited options we got a little bit creative.

And finally, we were off to enjoy the reception!!!

Stay tuned!

All photos provided by Kim Box Photography.

The Day I've Been Waiting For...

2008-12-14T14:11:00.011-06:00

I started the day by waking up at the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Montgomery. It is so beautiful and was such a comfortable room. I woke up super early, so excited. I texted Wendy first thing, thinking she would not be up yet. She and Anderson stayed at the hotel too. She responded immediately with a text "How 'bout that train?" Apparently the train across the street is what woke me up at daybreak! It was just as well since Wendy and I (Wendy) have a tendency to be REALLY late for everything and we had massage appointments for 8:00. Kristin met us there and we had the most relaxing start to the day.(Thanks girls...I owe you!)

Overnight, Tropical Storm Faye had made her arrival in the Capital City. It was FLOODING. I had expected her to make an appearance at the wedding so I wasn't tragically upset. Just a little disappointed. It mostly affected my schedule for the day as it was really difficult to drive at lightning speed in torrential rain.

Kristin played driver. We ran to Nails by Elizabeth at East Chase first. Next stop- Van Leez and the incredible Winston. The girls ran to get my rings cleaned as I got my hair done. (They spent a little extra time at the jeweler "playing". They had no intention of me finding out but when they came to Winston's to get me they received a phone call from the jeweler letting them know someone had left their diamond stud in one of the jackets they were trying on...busted!!!) So, after a quick trip back by Cronier's we were on our way to Lake Martin!

I drove the 45 (or so) minute drive because I had too much nervous energy at that point. I think I scared the girls to death. We hurried to Willow Point Villas where my Chanel makeup artist was meeting us. Elizabeth from Chanel did a great job putting up with me! It was a little chaotic by the time we got there so I was all over the place while she was trying to do my makeup.Matt's mom loaned me HER mother's jewelry:

The hairpiece was actually a pin that she wore with the set. She wore it to one of the inaugural celebrations for Eisenhower and when she arrived, Mamie Eisenhower was wearing the same pin! I just love history and to be able to wear a family heirloom with such an interesting background was so meaningful. Thank you Rhea!

The earrings were the kind that screwed on and we had quite a time getting them on.

I tried to put them on by myself, but required help from Mama to put one of them in.This one was so loose and I was really scared of losing one; Mama got a little carried away...
Don't worry, I recovered quickly:
My favorite bottle of Pinot Grigio, Santa Margherita!

Matt was in another part of the villa getting ready. Kim (the photographer) ran next door in time to see him open his wedding gift from me.

I gave him his first pair of cufflinks, a monogrammed sterling oval set from Red Envelope. He loved them!

My favorite from the "getting ready" shots:

and the Dress:

Due to the hurricane, there are no shots of me putting my dress on. I waited until everyone was seated in the chapel (and facing forward) and ran in the back door in my sundress with a Dillard's bag over my head! Mama carried the bagged dress in (and got herself soaked). The Dillard's bag and the weather overall are responsible for the stray strand of hair that DRIVES ME BONKERS in so many of my pictures.

Dressing was a little tricky since it was a ONE ROOM CHAPEL! I dressed in the stairwell to the balcony with Mama's help. Have you ever gotten naked in a sanctuary??? The stairs were only as wide as my dress and we could see the top of Matt's head from where I stood in the stairwell. He was seated in a pew, thank goodness. I was laughing so loud that Mama shushed me. Not exactly the easy, laid back day I had intended to have...but it all worked out!

Up next, the ceremony!

(all photos, except the dress, from the oh so talented: Kim Box Photography)

APRIL, I will have to get you to help me return to the normal background after all of my wedding posts are complete, the solid black just looked better than my pretty background!

Gobble Gobble and ROLL TIDE ROLL !!!

2008-11-30T08:57:00.003-06:00

We had a great Thanksgiving! First, lunch with my family and afterward, dinner with his! If there are an estimated 3,000 calories in a Thanksgiving meal, we had DOUBLE! Yuck! I mean, YUM! I have a LOT of running to do this week.
My mom and my sisters after lunch:

We went to the Alabama/Auburn game yesterday. It was the BEST Iron Bowl EVER!
36-0, the streak is over!!! Now... on to Florida!

GUESS WHAT?!?!?

2008-11-18T12:27:00.006-06:00

PROOFS ARE UP! (the 2nd set)
YAY!!!!!!!

I seriously couldn't be more happy! And it couldn't be at a worse time.

I have a HUGE deadline at work (took a 2 minute break to post this) so I can't PLAY with my pictures right now! I am not posting them until I have the actual negatives because my maneuvering doesn't do Kim the justice she deserves. She did an incredible job!

But I will give you another sneak peek (understanding of course that this image is distorted from my manipulation).

Now I can be happy!

Whew, where did the weekend go?

2008-11-09T18:40:00.008-06:00

Since I don't have any wedding pictures to post, STILL, I'll just bore you with my busy weekend.
I went to an office friend's birthday dinner Friday night. Matt went to Atlanta to our nephew's 2nd birthday party. I stopped at Blockbuster on the way home and rented girly movies that I would otherwise not get to see- P.S. I Love You and What Happens in Vegas (is that the name?). I fell asleep pretty early on in P.S. I Love You but I'd read the book so I wasn't upset that I missed anything and would have to try again Saturday.
I got up pretty early and went to Home Depot. Miss Xena has become quite the wanderer.

She has been disappearing into the woods for 15 minutes at a time. So, tired of arriving late to work in the mornings and freaking out at night, I decided to "build a fence". It's one of those little iron garden fences- she won't put any effort into getting through it- she just needs something to block her way. They didn't have any black ones, just green and pink so I bought some spray paint too. It took me all weekend but it's up. We'll see if it works!

After spending the entire morning spray painting (my glasses lenses, my fingernails, my forehead, etc) and not being anywhere near finished with my "fence", I decided to go watch the UA vs. LSU game at the Henderson's. Wow, was I nervous. I mean, being #1 the week before going into THAT stadium was not exactly what I would call ideal. BUT, they managed to win. ROLL TIDE!!!

On another Bama note, People has a photo of Sara Evans and Eva Longoria (theirs is without Jay) at the game last week. (Most of you probably won't see it in People unless you have a subscription because it has Obama on the cover and you wouldn't have purchased it.) They were wearing #7 Bama jerseys with Mrs. Parker and Mrs. Barker on the back. I have to admit when I saw the email picture floating around last week (see below), I was kind of impressed with being in Bryant Denny with Gabby Solis...but the writers at People are idiots- I mean, do your research PEOPLE! They captioned the photo they used with "sporting Alabama wide receiver Will Oakley's number". OK- maybe it is Oakely's number now, but that isn't exactly why they are wearing the #7 jersey!!! Geez.

Sunday I helped give a baby shower for my friend April. Her little fella's name is Trent. I ordered the cake from Batter Up and was so nervous that it wouldn't look as good as a Cake Designs cake. But they (unlike Cake Designs) did EXACTLY what I asked for; it matched her invitation PERFECTLY and the white cake with cream cheese icing was SO YUMMY! I will definitely use them again!

Beth made the diaper cake centerpiece- isn't it fabulous?

My only regret is that if I had known about that CUTE fabric, I would have had them do the T in baby blue to go with Beth's centerpiece fabric instead of the aqua stripe in the invitation.
Isn't April looking WONDERFUL???

This week will be WORK, WORK, WORK, checking for proofs, and painting the rest of the fence!

Have a great one!!!

P.S. Matt is home safely and Football has taken the TV back! I sure did miss him!

Miraculous

2008-11-02T21:37:00.003-06:00

I just wanted to encourage everyone to read Jay Wolf's journal entry on Katherine's Caring Bridge site from 10.29.08 if you haven't read it yet. I've known from the beginning that her survival was a true modern day miracle, but the details of the surgery confirm it. The link is in my blog list section.
God is so good!

BOO!

2008-11-01T22:17:00.022-05:00

We had a great time at the now annual Halloween bash at the Steen's.

They go all out for this party and it is worth it!

Matt and I went as Colts. He was Receiver #11 Anthony Gonzalez and I was a (much more covered up) Colts Cheerleader.

The food table is probably my favorite part of the decor. There were Eyeballs (Sweet and Sour Meatballs) Bat shaped chicken salad sandwiches, Brains (jello mold), ghosts (white chocolate nutter butters), "finger" cookies and carrots, snakes (ham crossaints) jello shots, and some pregnancy friendly punch (there were quite a few soon to be mommies there).

There were some fabulous costumes. Everyone gets so creative. Elvis and Priscilla came, Mickey and Minnie, The guys from Talladega Nights, "Miss" Talladega (she was preggo) Julian McPhillips- "the People's Lawyer", the Geico Caveman, Snow White, an outlet and a plug, a cartoon character milkshake, a VERY pregnant bride, a pregnant "Miss Elmore County" in a full length gown, the Tooth Fairy, Twister, Jailer and an Elmore County Prisoner.

My favorite couple of the night was Matt's "dear" friend, Jason Head...he came as MATT ALFREDS and Lindsey was Peyton Manning because Matt is his biggest fan! Jason wore a UK hat to symbolize Matt's love for KY basketball over a "bald" cap and he painted a beard. He also carried the Alabama hugger from our wedding since we are Alabama football fans and wore a suit and tie like Matt's wedding suit and tie. His opening line was "Go Cats, Roll Tide, Drink UP...here's my card". (Matt is a DUI defense atty but doesn't ask people to drink up I promise)

I was in tears! Matt handled it well, it was a complete surprise though!

Here is a picture of Matt on our wedding day:

Isn't that hilarious?

We got up this morning (very carefully) and went to Tuscaloosa for the Homecoming game against Arkansas State. A 35-0 victory for the Tide (thank goodness!). And Texas just lost....will we be #1???? Good gracious, if we are I hope our boys just noticed how fast #1 can fall...

Matt and I after the game:

Mama and I:

Still waiting on proofs...

Waiting ... Patiently!

2008-10-19T18:07:00.011-05:00

Still waiting on our reshoot proofs. I must say that this has been a much easier wait (since we have seen our first set of proofs). I haven't had much time to blog lately, I've been working a good bit of overtime.

We've been enjoying the football season so far. The Colts have had a rough start and we thought they turned it around last week and then today's game happens. What the heck is wrong with 'em??? At least the Tide are not breaking our hearts. Yesterday's game against Ole Miss was tough to bear- the 2nd half anyway! Geez.

This was at the first Alabama home game vs. Tulane, not a thriller but it was fun! Matt asked if I was pulling for Georgia when we left the house. I tried to explain, there aren't that many cute options in Crimson.

I finally got some time to take a quick trip to Headland to see some really cute kids...

Emme had her first taste of PEARS while I was there.

Eb decided he had some major work to catch up on Saturday afternoon. He had all of the neighbor kids in tow! (and their Yorkie)

Emme supervised...

Sunday lunch at Cracker Barrel after church. It was such good family time.

I promised a Honeymoon blog not too long ago, and I will get to it eventually...I was sorta waiting until after the final wedding blog to do the honeymoon.

I must also add that my pictures are well worth the wait. Our photographer really is something special and I DO highly recommend her to everyone!!! It's not her fault I don't have much patience. Not too long ago I would have prayed for patience; BUT recently some ladies I was speaking with about praying for patience informed me that I would be asking God for a test in patience if that is what I prayed for. Is that TRUE??? It's hard enough for me to wait for anything as it is...

Sneak Peek

2008-09-12T12:40:00.018-05:00

Well, it's official!

I am now Mrs. Alfreds!!! Yippee!!!

I didn't want to post snapshots, I'd rather wait for the professional photos, but that seems to be taking an eternity to happen! Not to mention that due to Fay, we are having to do Day After shots for the outdoor pictures. Maybe we will have those by Christmas!!!

So...I thought I would post some sneak peeks here to at least update the blog!

This is a shot from our "after rehearsal dinner" (there was no formal rehearsal- who needed one for no wedding party???) given by Matt's parents at Wynlakes. It was beautiful and the food (what little I could eat) was FAB. I was so incredibly NERVOUS because HE was nervous! Otherwise, it would have been a cakewalk!! MR. Big and Carrie didn't do me any favors either- Rhea told me not to go see that movie and I went anyway!

Notice the pearls...I had purchased what I had been told was an authentic pair of 60 inch baroque pearls from ebay for $30!!! The guy at the jewelry store told me they were real freshwater pearls. Which meant they had ridges in them- not ideal but for $30 who could beat it??? I was SO proud.

WELL...my surprisingly romantic fiance who KNEW what I was doing when I purchased what I lovingly referred to as my "Ebay pearls" takes me aside at the dinner and CUTS THEM OFF OF ME with a butcher knife from the kitchen!!! OMG!!! Freaked out! He immediately replaces them with a pair of the most BEE-U-TEE-FUL pair of smooth 60 inch pearls from Cronier's- not ebay!!! What a guy! He has never purchased ANY jewelry for me in the 5 years we have been together (until my ring) KNOWING full well how much I LOVE IT!

Sweet huh? Needless to say, most of my nerves vanished at that point. I mean, would someone that wasn't going to show up at the church do something like that???

Here is a shot of the inside of Children's Harbor Chapel (no outside shots obviously due to the torrential rain-trees were falling). Jackie Gaut from Dana's Floral Design is FABULOUS! Highly recommend her for ANYTHING you need! So creative and such a joy to work with!

Close up of the wreaths (a little fuzzy):

And this is my bouquet:

Best part is...it will look JUST LIKE THIS FOREVER! (another fuzzy)...Which comes in very handy now that I have to redo pictures!!!

On to the Reception...

This is my table of "signature" drinks, Yummy Pomegranate Martinis (thanks for the introduction, Jennifer) :

I must add that the flowers above were from the Rehearsal Dinner and were provided by Al of Al's in Cloverdale. Thanks Rhea!

Up next...YUMMY cakes from Peggy McKinney of McKinney Cakes:

The bride's cake was a recreation of the design on my Swoozies reception invitation.
Didn't she do a great job? And it was OH SO GOOD!

Matt's Cake:

The top layer was his favorite yellow cake and the bottom was the crowd pleaser McKinney peanut butter fudge!!!

Here are the John Bonham replica drums that were on his table:

And finally, the basketball game that I purchased so that the guys would have something fun to do- it was a hit, lines waiting to shoot all night!:

They could also play corn-hole (?), a.k.a. tailgate toss with Matt's new Colt's wooden game and poker if they wanted.

There were also many GREAT photos taken in the make a memory polaroid section:

Anyway...until I get better shots, this is it!!!

Next up...HONEYMOON!

Uno, dos, tres!!

2008-08-20T19:45:00.010-05:00

Hola Amigos!

3 days to go!!!(was that all Spanish up there or a mix of Spanish and French? I took both and tend to mix them since I never mastered either)

Can you believe it?

I can hardly contain myself!

THREE days until I am Mrs. Matt Alfreds!

Woo wee!

ABOUT LAST WEEKEND...

Went to Birmingham this past weekend...

this is how it ended:

Poor Whitney! I sabotaged my own weekend! The five of us took 1 car to Bham. Before we got ready to go out, I decided it would be best to go ahead and blow up my air mattress. It, of course, would not blow up in the room, so I had to go to the car and use the car adapter. WELL, I took Whitney's keys while she was in the shower, ran to the car with Robyn, and attempted to move the car closer to the hotel- so they would not see me blowing up the mattress since we said there would be 4 guests rather than 5! I stuck the key in the ignition, nothing. Tried and tried.

Uh oh, wrong key- it was Whitney's hubby's DODGE key! So, simple enough, I put Whitney's Trailblazer key in...NOTHING! Many attempts later, we read the manual. GUESS WHAT? There was a security function that DISABLES the fuel system if the wrong key is inserted or the ignition is "tampered" with! YES... I single-handedly disabled Whitney's fuel system. Which was SUPPOSED to reset itself after 10 minutes. TWO hours later, locksmith arrives. He is so young that he can't even grow facial hair! He "looks" at the car, proceeds to read the exact section of the manual to us that we have read NUMEROUS times. I let him know we managed to read it ourselves, prior to calling for help. GOH! SO, 2 more hours later we settle for a tow and a cabbie named Bruce! Such a nice guy! We missed dinner at Twenty-six, settled for the hotel bar...

THEN... we went to the Rare Martini courtesy of Mr. Bruce and had a BLAST!

What is it with me and THE BAND????

Whitney's car wasn't towed until Sunday morning-we caught a ride with a couple we knew that just happened to be celebrating their anniversary and had a Tahoe...7 sets of luggage, seven adults, lots of Summit loot and we are on our way home!!!

WOW! I need a vaca- fo sure!

Can't wait to see my peeps Saturday!!!

Tie My Shoes

2008-07-25T15:11:00.003-05:00

DONE!...

I think!

I picked up the shoes and after a 4th trip to Penolia's to have some minor corrective dying they are ready to wear! I hope...depends on what they look like when I get to my car to see how they dried! Here is a sneak peek:

Long time, no post

2008-07-18T12:04:00.007-05:00

Such a delay in posts. All I can say is it has been quite busy around here!

WEDDING UPDATE

The tie dilemma has been resolved. Matt took it upon himself to find one! He got it at The Locker Room- he could not have been more pleased with himself. And I must say, it is absolutely perfect! I made him take a picture of the flowers with him- that did NOT please him, but he actually took it in there once he knew they had a fuschia tie! So proud of him!

By the way, it takes JUST AS MUCH planning to do a small wedding as it does a big one. Not as easy as it looks! I will say I have been pretty successful in cutting out the stress thus far. Ask me again in September how it went in the end!

Anyone know how to lose 10 punds in a month? I SWEAR I could do it in college-what in the world is the problem?!?!

Below are the flowers that the floral designer is using for the wreaths. I will carry a lot of the same but with more fuschia and less orange.

ACTIVITY UPDATE
I just returned from a nice relaxing and fun trip to the beach with a couple of girlfriends. Lots of food, a little sun and great times~ thanks girls!!!
I will post a picture or 2 later- but not all of them!!!
Matt is currently learning a lot at a Continuing Legal Education Seminar at Harvard that they go to every year. Gives me LOTS of time to do wedding stuff...and watch all of the movies he won't! I am going to see Mama Mia with Cousin Megan tonight- can't wait!
He goes to VEGAS next week- someone had better find me something to do!

BABIES
If anyone would like to, Wendy is taking bets ($500) on our first child's arrival. She said things will be in the works this time next year- I took that bet and I will win! Matt's response was that Wendy better be ready to pay up- not respectable to not pay a bet you lose!!! OH- forgot the best part- he said he was taking bets for $1000 that I would be trying to have the conversation with him before this time next year- HA!

What else?
I have errands to run...more later!!!

Tie Options

2008-06-25T11:08:00.003-05:00

Ok- Kristen said go with the $3.75 tie- I tend to agree, but I could never tell Matt it was $3.75. I bought a tie online the other night (see above) but it isn't solid and isn't as formal as a solid but the dots are so small it may still look solid. First thing Matt says is "What brand is it?". A discussion about snobbery and my willingness to wear Target clothes ensues! He says it's about quality. Guess what- it's one night, he will never have to wear it again...but what do I know?

All Tied Up

2008-06-24T13:17:00.002-05:00

Ok- Iam not a good blogger!

I have NO extra time right now and what extra time I have is spent chasing down wedding details. That being said, I need HELP!

I have a very resourceful friend helping me look right now but we are having an awful time trying to find a solid raspberry/fuschia colored silk tie. NOT hot pink- more purpley than that. Here is a link (the raspberry) to something in that color:
http://www.solidcolorneckties.com/index.cfm/fa/subcategories.main/parentcat/9346/subcatid/31208

I would love to find a good quality tie in this color, but don't think I won't try the $3.75 raspberry tie as a last resort!!!

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!!!
THANKS!

Kudos

2008-06-09T09:26:00.001-05:00

THANKS APRIL!!!
The Best Blog designer ever!!!

My First Post!

2008-06-01T11:12:00.001-05:00

Yikes!!! I have never blogged before but thought I would give it a try since everyone else has jumped on the bandwagon! I am not a creative writer so I doubt that anyone will ever pass along my blog as a phenomenal read. But, I will do my best... I will say that I am impressed that this thing has spellcheck. Wonder why so many people don't use it?
So, here goes...

I live in Montgomery and I love it. Never thought I would, but it really is a great place to be for the most part. I am currently working as a staff attorney at a large law firm and I am engaged to Matt, a criminal defense lawyer. I was just telling someone recently that all of my life I have LOVED to argue. Ask anyone in my family; I'd argue with a brick wall is what they used to say. Until Matt. It's really not much fun to argue with someone who never concedes. Quite boring actually... so I just let him win. We have a neighbor and friend who just LOVES to argue with him so I do benefit from observing at times.

We are currently planning a wedding, for the last weekend before football season. I just decided that we had to get it out of the way before the big day...the season opener! I mean, who wants to plan around an Alabama or Auburn home game??? That way the knot will be "tide" by the time we are on our way to the first tailgate...and we can concentrate on what really matters...Alabama football! Can't wait!

Well, it is a beautiful day and I am going to try my best to enjoy it. Hope everyone is having a great week! More later....