I'm going to Miami...and banemoomeeomee

I'm so excited vacation starts TOMORROW MORNING for me!! Miami...here I come!

Luckily for Kelly and I, it's Spa Month in Miami, so we're going to a fancy spa and having a girls day full of manicures, pedicures and facials...I CANNOT WAIT!



After our spa visit, we WILL be hitting up every Zara in town...my absolute favorite store! (And my favorite to go to with Kelly)

My dad is actually arranging this whole vacation, and because he's not so much for spas we told him to pick something adventurous for all of us to do...

And this is what he chose...

I seriously am SO excited!! We're taking an airboat ride through the Everglades to see the Gators and other crazy animals...I'll take lots of pictures where I'm sure we'll be screaming/freaking out smiling and having the time of our lives :)

I'll keep you all updated while I'm there!

As long as this thing doesn't eat me...

YIKES!

Can I please have her?

I just ran across this picture, and I'd really like to have her as my own...or one that looks just like her.

Dreaming of DVF Days

I caught up with my old boss at Diane von Furstenberg yesterday because she is going to be in Miami for DVF's Fall Trunk Show, and I told her that my sister will be coming to the event. She was so incredibly sweet and generous, and it made me miss my job with great nostalgia.

I literally couldn't sleep a wink last night. I woke Blake up, told him I wanted us to move to New York and I wasn't taking "No" for an answer...

He laughed and rolled over...

Instead of sweetly dreaming in my sleep, I was dreaming and making myself unable to sleep. There are some days that I think to myself, "why didn't I just try to get a job there and stay up there?! Every day of my job was so exciting! I miss NY-take me back!" And then I remember my little outdoorsy husband who gets claustrophobic in downtown Greenville, much less New York City and I have to remember that I wouldn't trade being married to him for anything in the world, no not even Ms. von Furstenberg...if she would even have me.

So instead, I'll dedicate this shrine blog post to one of my favorite ladies...Diane von Furstenberg

During my time that I interned at her headquarters in New York, my great friend from Alabama, Erin Haase, and I made friends with Diane's assistant, and she let us do all kinds of fun stuff. We worked very hard almost every day of our internship...to the point I would go straight to bed after dinner because of exhaustion, but it was Christmas time so towards the end she would call us up and say "Girls! I need wrappers...who wants to come wrap Diane's Christmas presents?!" Ummm...ME!! These aren't stocking stuffers, people...these are gifts to Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, Anderson Cooper, Barbara Walters, Martha Stewart, Marc Jacobs and 94 of her other closest friends. I remember going through the names and it was like opening up a treasure box. I kept thinking...I can't believe I'm addressing this letter to Nicole Kidman who is going to open up the box I packed and pull out the sunglasses I wrapped! Fun stuff for a girl born in Greenville, SC...

So here is where I wrapped Diane's presents in her GORGEOUS office on the 5th floor of her building...

And here is the building I worked in...

And here was the view I looked out of when I got to listen to Diane talk to the production group about what the Fall 2009 Collection would look like. Yeah...internships are the best...I'd scrub floors to be there now.

The second floor (below) where we spent a lot of our time

And here is what Kel (my sister) will actually be seeing tomorrow at noon as I day dream about DVF while people scream at me about why their claim wasn't paid...ahhh yes...the good days are upon me.

Have fun Kel, and take notes! :) Hope to see you soon, Diane...

Surprise!

First of all...viewer discretion is advised seeing as I had to surprise my husband with his one year anniversary gift as soon as he got out of the shower, but his reaction was so cute I wanted to share. So...pretend there's a bathing suit on under there...

Originally Blake and I decided that we weren't going to do gifts this year, but somehow we both thought we'd be surprising the other and we BOTH bought gifts...we can't help ourselves, we both love giving (and getting!) gifts.

So here is how I surprised Blake with his...


I cut out about 10 "1's" and wrote a memory on it and what I was thinking at the time. For instance..."The first time you kissed me, The first time you told me you loved me, ect. I made a trail from the bathroom to the living room, but I started the trail out with "The first time you took me camping," and here's why...


You may not be able to see in the above picture, so see below :) He's been talking about getting a new pack since our wedding, and I was going to get him one then as my wedding gift to him, but then it got down to the week of the wedding, I thought, "surely I'll die from jitters," and everything else left my brain that week.



At the end of the trail I ended with "Our first year together," and I was so happy he didn't rush through reading them to get to the present...


Like a kid in a candy store...

Looking good, hunnie

He's like a child on Christmas...which means I couldn't have been happier with my purchase :)

Sadly on our anniversary when we got all dolled up and went on our fancy date, this was the only picture I managed to take. We had about a 3 hour dinner full of amazing conversation about the past, our future goals, things we've done well, things we've done not so well, ect. Our pastor and good friend who married us challenged us to always have this conversation on your anniversary. We took his advice and it made for such a fun night!

After dinner we made a stop by Marble Slab...here's my cute husband all dressed up

The next day (our actual Anniversary) we went to the river to let the dogs play while we hung out. Teddy had the time of his life...

He had a nice long bath after this one...

I told Blake I think Anniversaries might be better than Christmas'...and that is saying A LOT coming from me! We had the absolute best anniversary weekend, and I can't wait for many more to come!

One amazing Year with an even more amazing husband!

I cannot even begin to describe how blessed I feel every single day to be married to my husband. There are so many times that I think to myself, I wish the world could see what he's doing right now...like when he stops to not just say hello to a homeless man, but makes sure he is taken care of, fed and talked to like a real person for more than 10 minutes, or when he's at work with 95 year olds who cry in their room because they are so depressed and he goes out and buys them their favorite meal or a fishing pole because that is the only thing they can tell him that they ever really loved to do...and then 10 minutes later don't remember anything about his loving act or the fact that they were sad because they have alzheimers. Or when there is a man who no one will go see because he's so mean in the nursing home, and Blake walks straight in his room without reservations every single day, gets to know him and then prays with him to accept the Lord at age 92. The man to this day will only talk to Blake and no one else. I kid him all the time that he is Patch Adams, but the truth is all he cares about is giving people joy and love with the most capacity he has, and it is the most beautiful thing in the world.

It is such a reminder to me of how Jesus loves me and everyone in the world. I don't think Blake ever even tries to do those things, in fact, if I weren't there to see it myself he would probably
never tell me, but the Lord has just made him with "a heart of gold" as I like to always say to him :)

Not only does Blake love other people well, he also loves me in an incredible way. He is the most patient, kind, gentle, thoughtful and loving husband. He is so much more than I could have ever imagined for my life, and there are so many times I ask God, "why did you give me someone that I so don't deserve?" I am overwhelmed so many times with love for him, but more importantly with love for the Lord because of his amazing gift in giving me Blake.

Since day one he has brought out the best in me. He has made me more laid-back and more compassionate. I've learned about the value of being genuine with people through him and the importance of laughing at yourself on a regular basis. He is everything that I am not. He is humble, hilarious and adventurous, yet he pushes me to be those things every day.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures of our year together. I cannot wait for the years to come and the new memories we will make together. I cannot wait to see how he grows and the things I continue to learn through him. I cannot wait to see him become a father to our children one day if the Lord blesses us with them, and how much fun we'll have all over again together with them. Thank you, Blake for all that you do, for all that you give to me and for all that you are. I love you to Heaven and back! :)








And a few from our 2 1/2 years together

It's been an amazing year! Thank you for all the memories, Blake!

My one year anniversary gift!!

My Precious husband came home the day before we left for our 4th of July weekend and told me to close my eyes because he had a surprise for me. In our house normally a surprise means a pack of chicklets or Bubble Tape, so you can imagine my surprise when all of a sudden I felt a light little chain hit my neck!

In my head I was thinking "Oh my gosh!! Is this real?! I hope he didn't get me something we could afford, say like out of the 25 cent machine...I hope it's real!!"

He told me to open my eyes, so I did and ran to the mirror and about fell on the floor!! It was a necklace that I couldn't stop talking about a couple of weeks ago, but I never thought he heard me say anything about it!

I love cross necklaces, but I could never find one that I actually liked on, but when I saw this one I thought it was the most perfect, dainty little thing!

Neither one of us can keep a gift in our possession for more that 12 hours before we have to give it to the other so when it was delivered that day he said he couldn't wait until July 11th (our anniversary) to give it to me. It made for a PERFECT surprise to go with a perfect year together!! I've always said I love gifts with meaning so I am so excited that I will always be able to look at this and think of our first year together!

Here it is on...look hard :)

I'd like another 4th of July, please

Isn't it so sad when you get back from a vacation?! I felt like the whole time I was hanging on to the days thinking "okay, it's Saturday which means I still have Saturday, Sunday and Monday"...and so on.

Well to recap our weekend, I'll start by saying every trip is as good as the people that go on it, and in our case that made it AMAZING! We ate homemade pizzas, pancakes and bacon every morning for breakfast, desserts all throughout the day and chips, crackers, bread and whatever else was sitting out at all times in between hiding under the umbrella baking in the sun, tubing, wake-boarding and letting our dogs children enjoy the water and the view...I guess I should say every trip is as good as the people that go on it AND the food that you bring! I'm a firm believer in that.

So when Blake's family told us they were buying a lake house in January thoughts of endless lake days with our future babies and good memories that last a lifetime danced through my head...and I'm happy to say this is where those memories will be made...

This marked our first official trip since they renovated the house inside, and I can tell you that it is the most cozy, beautiful and charming house inside! Blake's parents have a gift of making things beautiful, and this house is no exception. I absolutely cannot wait to go back a hundred times!

We were so excited to be able to spend time with these people for the weekend also...they make everything fun...and FUNNY ( I think I laughed at everything that came out of Nikki's mouth this weekend!)

(Brent, his girlfriend Nikki and their SON (as they call him), Brewsky)


(Kyle, who is Blake and Brent's best friend from growing up, his girlfriend Lindsey who we LOVE!!! and the child Kyle wishes he could call his own, but I wouldn't allow because he's mine, Teddy!)

As promised I did get a spray tan so I wouldn't hurt your eyes when you saw me in pictures, however, a spray tan cannot deceive me...can you guess which one I used (and used the entire bottle within the first day?!!) Skin safety first, people!!!! :)

Sharon (Blake's mom who I am so Blessed to call my (most amazing, wonderful, perfect) mother-in-law pulled out an old recipe she had for homemade pizzas, and let me just tell you that normally I HATE homemade pizzas (bad sauce, tasteless crust, WHY DIDN'T WE JUST ORDER PIZZA HUT?!!...you get my drift), but these were OUT OF THIS WORLD GOOD!! Seriously! Every person there gobbled them up and went back for more. I'll get the recipe from her and post it sometime...AMAZING!

Besides the food...here is where we spent our time...

Taking boat rides all throughout the day

Teaching my child how to swim at an early age so he'll never drown

Enjoying THIS view...oh man, it makes my heart palpitate with love...

And watching my precious husband and the other boys wakeboard...(I'm just glad this is not one of those things he pushed, insisted gently asked me to do)

So until next time, thank you for the long weekend, America...you're the greatest!