Celebrating One Year!

As I wrote about yesterday, this weekend we celebrated our one year anniversary.  We kept our celebrations fairly low-key yesterday since we are going on an anniversary trip next weekend. 

We have been going 90 to nothing for the past few weeks so we decided would sleep in on Sunday and just have a lazy day - we slept late, then went and had a late breakfast at The Arcade on South Main. After breakfast we headed out east to get our wedding cake from my aunt's freezer. She had graciously been storing it for us for the past year.

That afternoon we just treated the day like a normal Sunday afternoon and did some laundry, and projects around the house. We watched a movie and played with the dog, and Ben surprised me with two little happys. We had agreed that we would wait and give each other our gifts on our trip next weekend, so it was a fun little surprise to get these little gifts. He gave me the DVD combo-pack of Father of the Bride, and Father of the Bride, part two. I love those movies and did not have them - love it! He also gave me the new Weight Watchers cookbook. He made sure to preface the gift by saying "Don't take this as me saying you're fat, I just thought you'd like it since you're doing weight watchers right now" - haha, he knows me too well. 

Later that night we went back out and had a nice dinner at Automatic Slims - mmm it was delicious! Ben had scallops and I had the salmon.

 

After dinner we went and had a drink at the Peabody Hotel, then came home to see if the cake was going to be edible....

 

 

 

And surprisingly, it was really good! So kudos to my aunt for doing an awesome job freezing it! It tasted exactly the way it did one year ago! 

And one more picture, just because I think he's so cute :) 

One year ago today

On this day, last year, Ben and I got married. Wow, where does time go? It honestly feels like we have only been married six months, MAX! I guess it's true what they say - time flies when you're having fun!

 

This first year of marriage has been fun, challenging, exciting, and vast array of other emotions. God has been so good to us and provided for us over and over again. My job situation has changed several times in our one year of marriage, and money has been tight from time to time, but God never fails! Right when I would start worrying or wondering what was next, God would open a door and drop exactly what we needed right into our laps.  He truly is SO GOOD! I'm honestly thankful for the challenges we experiences this year, because it forced us to draw closer and rely on each other, and the Lord.

We have spent time decorating our home and getting just like I want we like it, we have traveled, celebrated with friends as they got married, celebrated with friends as they had babies,  had arguments about where we would spend the holidays, celebrated birthdays, found a church home that we love, and spent time thinking and dreaming about future and what all is to come in the next 60 years of our lives.

 

I am so blessed to have married you, Ben. You are my knight in shining armor, my sun when the skies are cloudy - you are what makes my days complete.  Thank you for loving me when I'm not easy to love and for giving me the reality checks I so often need.  Thank you for standing beside me and encouraging me in all that I do. You're an amazing husband and I'm so thankful for you.  I'm looking forward to a lifetime of joy and happiness, with you - my husband. 

Happy Birthday KayKay!

This past weekend I went home to Alabama to celebrate my mom's birthday. This was the first year in many years that all the kids have been able to come home for either of my parent's birthdays - when we are all together things get loud and busy, but that's exactly how I like things! Ben wasn't able to come home with me because I stayed until Monday and he had to work. My 14 year old cousin, MM, went with me so I didn't have to make the six hour drive by myself.

We got in late Friday night, and by the time we woke up Saturday morning everyone had made it to town.  First thing that morning we had a big breakfast, then we went outside to enjoy the amazing 70 degree weather!

The boys went out and did a little target practice

While the girls played on the swing and talked. I love how N, my nephew, pretends to be shy :) 

After that we went down to the park for a picnic. The boys played with some remote control boats, while the girls enjoyed the warm sun.

That night, we all went to a resturant in town and had a birthday dinner for mom. My SIL, D, and I went to a little early and dressed up the tables with candles and flowers - mom said it was one of the best birthdays she had in a long time - it was nice to have everyone all together. 

 

 

Happy Birthday, Mom! We love you!

Happy Valentine's.... a little late

Well, I know I'm two days late posting about Valentine's but I thought better late than never, huh?

Neither Ben nor I are very big into Valentine's, but in the past we've usually done the whole dinner, flowers, cards, candy, gifts, etc. This year, with our Anniversary two weeks later we decided to keep it really simple.  We had plans to go to a friends for dinner and such, but I came home from work Monday and I was getting really sick. All I wanted to do was put on my pj's and lay on the couch.  Ben was super sweet and got take out for us for dinner - he tried to make it a little special, even as he forced Gatorade down my throat.

Since we were keeping things simple I had a few cards hiding around for Ben to find throughout the day, I made him cupcakes, and I gave him a book of coupons for things like "One night of uninterrupted control of the TV remote" etc...  I had great plans of making chocolate covered strawberries, but I only got as far as washing the strawberries before I had to go lay down. Sorry, honey!

Ben gave me a few cards (and even got one for me from Mosby!), some candy and he bought me this mirror I've been wanting for sometime - I love it so much and cannot wait to get it hung!

We got a few other valentine "happies" from our parents - we are so blessed! 

I'm sorry don't have any pictures of our day, I just didn't have it in me to grab the camera.  I hope you all had a very special love day :)

"Your hair needs it's own Zip Code!"

Last night a friend of ours threw a little party. He called this party "Whiskey and Windsuits." This friend loves to throw costume parties and this one was certainly a blast! I don't drink whiskey but I can certainly rock a windsuit!

After scouring a friends closet we came up with some pretty awesome outfits - then, way too much blush, eye shadow, a can of hairspray and a few hours in hot rollers later, we were ready to party!

He had this party in his basement, just as I can imagine a party back in the day may have taken place!

We danced to some great 80's music... footloose!

Some of these pictures crack me up, because they look like we are straight out of 1992!

well, minus my addidas workout pants - those were Ben's from high school. I couldn't find any windsuit pants to match my jacket.

Of course Ben wore orange - are we surprised?  Yea, I didn't think so

We all decided that while windsuits really are so comfy and warm - flattering they are not! It's funny though how you put someone in a costume and they start acting crazy!

Down at the Bark Park

Ben and I are silly.  If you know us, this does not come to any surprise to you. One thing we have gotten into the habit of is taking songs and changing the words to fit our lives. The most common topic is about Mosby and how bad he is, haha.  So for Ben's birthday he asked that one of his gifts be that I write, sing, and record a song for him. Let me just say that I am not a singer. I love to sing, but that doesn't mean I'm good at it.  I will spare you all the aggony of having to hear me sing - but here are the lyrics to Ben's birthday song

Down At the Bark Park 

*to the tune of "Down on the Boardwalk"

Oh when the pup is board

And he's getting on our nerves,

We load him up in the car

And we try to keep in still.

Down at the bark park

Under the trees

Throwing a ball with Mosby

Is where I'll be

Down at the bark park

Mosby's having fun

Down at the bark park

Staying out in the sun

Down at the bark park

Please don't let him bite

Down at the bark park

Although we know he might.

Down at the bark park, bark park.

And there ya have it! :)

A little Chip Chat

I thought since I haven't really blogged in a few days I would just do a run down of what we have been up to in the Chip house.

• Memphis Grizzlies Vs. .... I have no idea
• We have gone to a few Grizz games in the last week or so. Since we live so close to the FedEx Forum and one of our good friends works for the Grizzlies, tickets are pretty easy to come by and it's an easy night out on the town. It's always nice just to get out of the house on a weeknight and spend some time with my honey

• Thesis
• ugh. Yea, that pretty much sums up how I feel about that! A few years ago I decided I wanted to go to Graduate school. It's been a great experience and I've really enjoyed it. Yes, it's been a lot of really hard work and sleepless nights, but it's been very rewarding at the same time. But now that I'm in my final semester (Praise the Lord, Hallelujah!) I have to write the dreaded thesis. Luckily the professor I'm working with is great and is really guiding me through this process, but that still doesn't take away from the fact that I have to do all the research and write this bad boy. This and work consume the vast majortity of my time!  I'm sure this won't be the last that I write about it! 

•  Mosby
• Mosby is our dog. While I have mixed feelings on a daily basis of whether or not I like him (don't tell him I said that), for the most part I enjoy having him around (don't tell him I said that either).  One of our favorite things to do with Mosby is take him to the dog park so we do that quite often. I even wrote a song for Ben for his birthday about the dog park.... I'll save that for another day. 

•  Weight Watchers and Gym
• Since I'm trying to kick my butt into gear I've been spending 4-5 afternoons at week at the gym

• De-bachelorizing 
• I've been slowly making changes to the house to give it a little more of my personality. I'm writing a post in my head about this so it will come when I get things more complete. 

•  Subbing
• My new job is a Tuesday-Friday job. It's great. I love it.  I enjoy having Mondays to get things done around the house that I didn't do on the weekend. But I've been picking up a few subbing jobs at the school on Mondays when I can to just add a little extra to the budget. 

 So that's a pretty good glimpse into our no-so exciting life :) But at least now you have an idea of where I'm hiding when I'm not here.  Have a great week! 

A little Christmas...A little Valentines

Christmas and Valentines - what do these two holidays have in common?


oh, you're right - not a lot. BUT I have two things I want to show you so I just combined them to one post. You're welcome.

First up we have Christmas cards. I love Christmas cards. I love sending them and most of all I love receiving them. I love having them displayed at Christmas and looking at them when I walk by.  Well, once Christmas is over what is one to do with all the cards that people send? I love any and all cards, but my favorites are the photo cards and I hate to throw them away when Christmas is over. So this year I decided that I would start a scrapbook of Christmas cards to keep over the years. I don't scrapbook on a regular basis so I didn't really have a good way to keep up with our card either. 

I just bought a basic red scrapbook at the ole trusty Hobby Lobby (And of course I waited until it was 50% off because you're crazy if you buy anything full price there!) and some cute Christmas-y paper, and away I went

On the first page I put the year, which I cut out with my Cricut, and then put our Christmas card. I thought this would be a fun way to start off each years cards!

On the next few pages I just placed the cards from friends on the pages. I think this will be fun to look back over the pages as the years go by and see how everyone has grown and changed. Cute, right?

What do you do you with your cards every year?

And now on to Valentines......

First let it be said that I do not like most things valentines related.
Hearts: Thanks, but no thanks!
Red Roses: I'll pass
Teddy Bears: Um, nope!
Candy: Okay, sure - I'll take that! :) 
So  I usually don't do much in the valentines decorating, but I like to keep something festive on our door so I made a wreath. It seemed a lot cuter in my head and I probably won't keep this and use it again next year, but I'm not completely unsatisfied with it. 

Do you decorate for Valentines? What do you do?