Holiday Fun

The past week has been busy and so much fun! Chris and I were in Destin with my family for a week and while there, we celebrated our first anniversary as well as Christmas with my family. The weather in Destin was warm, but unfortunately the fog was so bad we were only able to enjoy the beach twice (once in sweatshirts and the next in bathing suits!) We enjoyed being able to relax, eat and sleep all week long. Saturday morning we all left Destin and stayed at our house in Sharpsburg for the weekend. Saturday night we celebrated Christmas with my grandfather and his wife, Sunday morning was Christmas with my grandmother and Sunday night was Christmas with my mom's side of the family. All of the cousins from GA/FL were there as well as significant others. There were 23 total, I believe. It is always so much fun when all of us are able to get together- I'm afraid those times are going to be few and far between the older we get.

Christmas with my family

Christopher got a Wii from my parents!

Making our first gingerbread house ever

The entire family (minus Jessi- the photographer! and Nana, David and Papa) at Nana's Christmas Cantata

Family photo before opening gifts.

All the girls... I don't know what I would do without them!

My cousin Jessi and her sweet baby boy, Eliah

We were also able to see the Campbells and the Humbles for a short time while in PTC. We miss you guys so much!

We are now at Ed and Cheryl's in Douglasville and will be celebrating Christmas with their family on Christmas Eve and on Christmas morning the six of us and Piper (the puppy) will drive up to Baltimore, MD to spend the weekend with Chris' grandparents, Nanna and Poppop. His cousins will drive up from DC on Saturday. It's going to be a fun weekend!

Merry Christmas and we love you all!

One Year Anniversary!

Today, Chris and I are celebrating our first anniversary! We cannot believe how fast this year went. There have been many firsts throughout this year such as; first home, first mission trip as a married couple, my first job and so much more. We have been so blessed during our first year of marriage and have had such a wonderful time experiencing marriage.

Last week we went to Helen, GA to celebrate our anniversary and though the weather was not bright and sunny, we still had a great time walking around the town and enjoying our time together. The rain finally stopped on Thursday afternoon and we were able to go on a hike that led to a waterfall. The two nights we spent in Helen was relaxing and a great way to celebrate our anniversary.

We are now in Destin, Fl spending the week with my parents and sister. Tonight Chris and I are going to dinner at Commanders Palace for our anniversary. We are really looking forward to a night of remembering our wedding day. Again, we would like to thank all of you who were a part of our wedding. You all mean so much to us and we love you!

A busy few weeks.

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind for us. Some of my co-workers took Chris and I out for dinner as a going away party on November 24th. We went to a Mexican restaurant (our favorite!) and had a wonderful time just eating and hanging out with everyone. Thank you all for everything you have done for me!

That following Wednesday, Chris and I drove the long 8 hour drive to Destin, Florida for Thanksgiving with my family and the Bowers. We got there around 1am on Thanksgiving day and after saying a quick hello to those who were still awake we finally were able to get some sleep. Our Thanksgiving meal was absolutely delicious - thanks mom and Aunt Sheri! They always work so hard for the family. The girls always have a tradition of being at the stores at 4am on Friday morning to start the shopping, but things were a little different this year. We learned that the outlet mall was opening at 10pm on the night of Thanksgiving and so we decided to shop from 10pm till 3am then go home and sleep till 7am and shop again till noon on black Friday. Yes, I know you think we are crazy, but it is such a fun tradition for all of the girls to spend time together and shop! :) We also celebrated Christmas with the Bowers and enjoyed about 8 hours of football on Saturday. We left on Sunday to go back to Augusta and what should have taken us 8 hours took us 10. Chris and I had such a great time and hated to leave, but knew that the next week was going to be just as busy- if not more.

This past weekend Chris and I finally moved from Augusta to Douglasville. Any free time that we had throughout the last week was spent packing boxes and let me tell ya: it is amazing the amount of "stuff" you can accumulate in such a small living space! Chris' parents drove to Augusta Friday afternoon with Justin and Adriane's dog, Piper, to help us move. We loaded most of the boxes into their van and all of our hang up clothes in Chris' 4-runner. That night a group of about 20 of us went to Vallarta's Mexican restaurant for dinner since that would be the last time most of Chris' classmates will be in Augusta until graduation. Saturday morning a group of friends came over to help us load the u-haul and it was a huge help. The house was empty within 50 minutes! Thank you all for you help!

It has been a bitter-sweet past few weeks but know that the things ahead are very exciting as well!

Charleston, SC

This past weekend I went to Charleston to visit my sweet friends Courtney (highschool friend)and Jess (she is in Chris' PT class). Courtney has lived in Charleston for almost a year now and Jess is there for 16 weeks for her clinical rotation. Melissa Johnson (another highschool friend)was also in town for the weekend! It was so great to go to Charleston again and to catch up with these wonderful girls!

Ireland Pumpkin Carving 2008

My sweet husband surprised me with a pumpkin to carve!!! I love him so much!

Our home

We are moving in less than 6 weeks, so I thought it would be nice to show you all our first home together! It really has been perfect for us and I have to admit that I am starting to get a little emotional when I think about leaving. We really are going to miss it!

Bye Bye "Blondie"

I've done it again... changed my hair color. I am thinking I like it better dark, but we'll see how long I can go without changing it again! lol! Any thoughts?

A WEEKEND IN THE WILDERNESS

We spent this past weekend backpacking through the woods along the GA/SC border along the Chatooga river. There were 12 of us total and we hiked over 14 miles throughout the weekend. I am so incredibly sore today and am glad to have the day off, but feel bad for Chris and the others who are workng all day. We left Augusta on Friday night around 8:30 and began our 3 hour journey to the mountains. We met up with the other half of our group and set up camp in the little gravel parking lot at the trail head. We ate smores around the campfire and finally went to bed around 1:30am. The next morning we woke up around 8:45 and Chris already had a fire going- Thanks babe! His cousin Andy showed up about 15 minutes later while we were all eating breakfast and packing things up. We were so glad to have Andy join us! He lives less than an hour and a half from the trail head so he was able to sleep comfortably on Friday night before meeting us on Saturday. We hiked about 7 1/4 miles on Saturday and set up camp along the river. Chris and I ate our dinner on the rocks by the river - it was beautiful! The 12 of us sat around the campfire roasting marshmellows the rest of the night and went to be around 9pm. Sunday morning we woke up in 38 degree weather and didn't waste much time packing up and hitting the trail once again. I absolutely loved hiking along the river and seeing the beautiful foliage surrounding us. The yellow, red and orange leaves were incredible! Thankfully we made it through the weekend with only one minor injury: Tim rolled his ankle on Saturday during our hike, but after wrapping it for the hike back on Sunday he was ok. Keep him in your prayers for quick healing! Below are just a few pictures from our weekend in the wilderness!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

September 26th was Christopher's 25th birthday! He is officially a quarter of a century old... This past year has been a fun filled year with getting married, finishing classes and starting clinic and this next year has a lot in store for him as well. As many of you know, we will be leaving Augusta in December (where we will be residing with different family members throughout the entire month) then moving to Birmingham in January. I am so excited I can hardly contain myself!! Chris is going to be in a neuro clinic in Birmingham for 12 weeks, so his brother and sister-in-law have so graciously offered a place for us to stay. We are truly looking forward to living with Justin and Adriane and finally getting to spend time with them! After the 12 weeks are up, Chris will be going to Washington D.C for a four week clinic at Walter Reed where he will be working with the amputees from war. Then, the day will finally arrive when Chris will graduate from MCG and be finished with school for the first time in 19 years-- what an accomplishment! All of that to say, this 25th year for Chris will be filled with lots of fun and adventure, change and excitement.

His birthday celebration started on Friday night as soon as his parents arrived from Douglasville. The four of us went to Boll Weevil for dinner and then to the Cirque de la Symphony. The Augusta Symphony played a number of pieces while different acts such as a contortionist, jugglers and the strong men performed for us. We had so much fun and really enjoyed doing something different here in Augusta. After the symphony, we went back to Boll Weevil for dessert. We had 24 desserts to choose from and they were excellent! That night Chris opened his presents....

As I've mentioned before, Chris and Paul coach and upward flag football team through our church. Saturday they had a game and won!! It was so exciting! (It also brought back the good ole days when Ed took pictures of Chris playing ball growing up...he was out there snapping away at Chris and Paul coaching- he loved it!)