This is My Life: February 2011

Friday, February 11, 2011

One Year, Take Three

Hello September!
Randy arrived home from San Diego on Sept. 11th (not my favorite day). I honestly can't remember September very well. I think R's parents came to visit (or maybe we went there??). Who knows.

October is the month of all things pumpkin. To begin the month, I started making pumpkin pancakes! We also decided (with our neighbors) to work on the vacant lot that sits next to our house..the lot is very overgrown and ivy, etc likes to grow over the fence into our yard.

1st batch of pumpkin pancakes


the clearing begins!

October was also the month we decided to work on the kitchen. We picked a color for the walls and also planned to work on the cabinets. R's fam came for a weekend visit, and we also celebrated the day we got engaged by going to eat in Destin.

Aww, we got engaged on this day, 2009

Hello, colors! yes, we finally chose one

Big L, Mama Judy, Me and Lisa

beautiful water..too cold to get in all the way

R's fam, minus his brother


R and little sis, Lisa

Our current boat was pretty small, and during October, we acquired R's late grandfather's old boat. It's much larger than our former boat and we're looking forward to taking it out in the Gulf..that is, once it's running! I also planted some new flowers by our mailbox and the butterflies loved them. Looking forward to having them come up again in the spring/summer!

We, or, I finished painting the kitchen, and then moved on to the cabinets. B/c of the nature of the wood, I had to strip all the cabinets and then prime them, and then paint them. It was quite an ordeal, especially when it was 80 something degrees outside and I was scrubbing away on cabinets!!

Old, ugly cabinets

New kitchen color!


New kitchen cabinet color! So pretty

I also had two firsts in October: a hickie, and a pumpkin party for my Bible study group.

Yep, there it is


the girls that brought and carved pumpkins

The last day of October was Halloween and even though we live in a cul-de-sac, I was determined to give out candy. So, I sat in a chair and waited......R joined me later.

In November, Randy's brother Ryan, wife Morgan, and nephew Taylor came to visit. I wish I could tell you how warm it was, but it was freezing!! We took Taylor to a fall festival at Pier Park, and despite the cold, he had a blast. He even fell asleep before we left!


Happy Fall

To end the month, I finished the cabinets, and then it was Thanksgiving at the Whiteheads! R and I decided to brave the crowds and the cold/rain, and head out on Black Friday. We found some great buys, and actually had fun.

separating the cornish hens from their bones

r and baby t


Me, R, Mama Judy, Lisa, Morgan

R had surgery in November, and my mom came to visit and keep me company while R recovered. She also helped us get decorations ready for the 5th Annual Elf Party which was the 1st weekend in December.

By the first weekend in December, we had our backyard decked out in lights, candy canes, and our back house filled with snow and snowflakes. That Friday night, we attended our Sunday School classes' Cmas Party..theme: 80's tacky Cmas sweater. I bought sweatshirts at Goodwill, and then decorated R's so he would have a better chance of winning a prize. Needless to say, he was pretty tacky!!

We actually watched Elf at this past yr's party, and I was decked out in an Elf costume. Yep, $46 later, I was transformed and R loved it.

ss cmas party


ss class

making a mess! decorating for cmas

with friends mark and anna

candy cane path


front door of the back house

R turned 30 on Dec. 8th, so we celebrated at Bonefish. We also drove back and forth to Mobile a few times to get bricks for the porch and pathways we wanted to make in our backyard. Let's just say that didn't turn out the way we'd planned, but it's worked out in the end.

R got the flu the week before Christmas! Yep, perfect timing, and was out of work all week. Being the nice wife that I am, I let him have our bedroom, and I slept in my former twin bed for a few nights. Thankfully, tamiflu does it's thing, b/c I never got the flu.

You guys know what happens at the end of December..that's right, Cmas and a whole lot of driving. We drove to Mobile on Cmas Eve, and left Cmas Day for Augusta. We spent a few days in Augusta where it happened to snow the day after Cmas! Pretty cool. We got back to PCB on the 30th and spent our New Yrs Eve in pajamas (bed at 10:30!).

my new stocking at the Whiteheads

with nephew Taylor

snow in augusta!


after cmas catch up time with friend christel


new yrs eve and pajamas

We started the New Year off right by working on the patio. That's when we figured out that the bricks we brought from Mobile wouldn't work. Ooops. That meant going to Lowe's and spending $450 on brick pavers and then another $200 on a retaining wall. Other than attend a wedding and a fabulous birthday party, we worked on the patio and brick walkways non-stop. Our hard work is paying off..it looks great!

I did forget to mention one semi-important detail about January. Auburn won the nation championship game..obviously a big deal here since R has two degrees from AU.

Now to pics of our patio and walkways:

To start February off right, I'm teaching an outdoor water aerobics class to snowbirds, and R shaved off his beard. You might think that's not a big deal, but when you've seen your husband with facial hair for 3 months, he looks totally different when it's gone!


he hasn't killed anyone yet, but he sure looks like someone who would!

In closing, I am sure that three blogs could not possibly describe my entire first year of marriage and all the events that took place. I'm looking forward to many more years, and maybe fewer house renovations! Happy First Anniversary Babes

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

One Year, Take Two...

My friend Christel and her friend Jennifer came down to celebrate Christel's birthday. Fortunately, that Saturday provided great weather so we took the boat out to Shell Island.

Randy's parents and sister came to visit us the very next weekend (hello guest house). While Big L and Randy got up at 6 am to go fishing, the ladies headed to the beach!
That Sat. night, we all took a stroll around Pier Park.

Me, Randy, and Sis Lisa

The next weekend was Memorial Day weekend, and we planned an Aloha party for our friend Greg G. He moved to Hawaii the next week. R had that Monday off work, so we did what any couple who lives at the beach would do..fish and enjoy the beautiful Gulf waters.

Greg always makes me look so small!

fishing on Lake Powell

R drives the Gheenoe like a crazy man!

So beautiful at Camp Helen!

Relax and try not to get eaten by sharks

In June, R made me go fishing. It's not exactly my favorite activity, but he is my favorite guy, so I went.

R caught a baby shark

My big catch was a whole lot of seaweed

Since I am the paint warden of the home, I decided June would be a great month to paint the living room and hallway. This took forever as we had to choose from 5 colors, and then wipe the baseboards and walls and then tape and then paint the walls and baseboards. Fortunately, R's friend Curtis and his brother came for a weekend and they helped finish the first coat! (many thanks)

We also took a warm honeymoon trip to an all inclusive resort in Cancun, Mexico for our honeymoon. Yes, we had two honeymoons but I can assure you we enjoyed the second one more than the first.

The Royal beds..in our Royal robes and slippers! haha

Beautiful sunset before dinner

last night in Cancun..dinner was excellent!

My cousin Lydia got married in June, so R and I flew up to our nation's capital for the big event! We even took a day to see something we'd never seen before...Arlington National Cemetery. We didn't bring the tripod with us, so the only picture we have together is from the hotel..sad!

Beautiful bride and cousin

Yep, that's us in the hotel room

The last weekend in June, Randy's friends Gabriel and Rashel came to visit. Of course, we took the boat out. We were fortunate to see a school of dolphins near Shell Island. This was also during the oil spill in the Gulf. We were so lucky that the oil never reached us. The second picture is when they started preparing the waters for oil. (a little late, I might add)

Gabriel and Rashel


adding pylons to get ready for oil

In July, friends Kevin and Tracy and baby Wyatt came for their anniversary. It rained all week, and I really felt bad that they were couped up in our guest house. Lucky for me, I was able to spend some time catching up with them since R was out of town for work. We also had a visit from my aunt and my three young cousins..and their dog. That was also the week R had a colonoscopy and endoscopy..needless to say, it was a crazy week. The only pic I have from the fam's visit is a pic of my youngest cousin, Daelyn.

July was also the month of the dirt/new concrete driveways. We had to have dump truck loads of dirt brought in to our backyard to prepare it for the sod we are going to put in this year. We also had the dirt brought in before the concrete as we didn't want newly constructed concrete broken.

the broken circle needed some fixin'

future home of new concrete!

some of our backyard dirt

our new beautiful parking pads!


so much better than parking in dirt!!

For free chick fil a day, I made shirts for R and I to wear. I thought they were pretty cute! We also has a mishap with our bed. The picture you will see is a 10 inch hump. (long story). Thankfully, we purchased a new bed and were able to replace the damaged mattress with a new one (now in the bedroom in the guest house)

One night, we met up with Randy's friends Taylor and Amanda who were staying in Destin for a week. We ate dinner and then played around at Baytown Wharf.

The final event in July was Mark and Anna's wedding in Statesboro. Mark and Anna are our friends who encouraged us to meet, so of course we were there to celebrate their big day. R won a one night stay at a hotel in downtown Savannah, so we stayed there the night before the wedding.

stairs in Savannah

R and Mark

finally, a picture of us!

For 5 weeks, R had to take a training in Coronado, CA. Lucky for me, I got to visit for 18 days and enjoy exploring all that San Diego and the surrounding areas had to offer. We had a blast (but it was cold!). We visited the zoo, took a trolley tour, bought bikes and rode them around, saw the seals at La Jolla, visited Dr.David Jeremiah's church twice, and ate at the Cheesecake Factory six times. There are so many things we did, I could do on for a while..so to spare you...look at these pics. :)

The first weekend I was there, we drove to Bakersfield to visit my family and see one of R's late grandfather's dearest friends, Mr. Bob and his wife Dee.