party like it's 1999!!

My 10 year class reunion was held July 31-August 1st in Water Valley. It was so much fun!! I have to brag on myself a little since I planned it. Everyone seemed to have a wonderful time. It was so good seeing all my classmates...some that I haven't seen since graduation. We had a great turnout and no one wanted to leave. Rob was such a great supportive husband. He helped me make and set up a slideshow, PLUS he took lots of pictures for me..so many that we actually forget to get one of us:( So much has happened in each of our lives the past 10 years. It's funny how once we get all together it's like we have never been apart. I never thought I would say this, but I actually am looking forward planning our 15 year reunion.

Water Valley High School Class of 1999

even Matt McQueen came...all the way from Africa!

crash

About 2 months ago, Rob and I talked about backing up our computer because we have so many important things on it...photos, addresses, all of Rob's money budget things... Then we got busy traveling throughout the summer and working on house plans. So you can imagine how upset we were when our computer CRASHED yesterday morning! Rob heard it making some awful sounds and then it wouldn't boot up. After talking to his brother Mark on the phone, we are afraid there may be no hope of recovering all our files. Rob is going to San Antonio (for a conference) this weekend with our hard drive to see if Mark can recover anything. Oh..I forgot to mention that my laptop crashed before Christmas last year. FYI...both computers were bought in 2003 and were DELLs. I am typing this now b/c Rob brought home his work laptop. I am very sad that I have potentially lost all my great pictures and my whole address book. I guess the only good thing that has come out of this is that I don't have to give my receipts to Rob this week:)

**UPDATE** Mark was able to recover all our stuff from the hard drive. Praise the LORD!!

The Blind Side

Christmas of 2007 when Rob and I were in San Antonio, I picked up the book, "The Blind Side" at one of our trips to Barnes and Noble. On the cover of the book was a football player standing facing away from the camera. I thought that the jersery he had on looked like an Ole Miss jersery so I picked it up to investigate. I clearly know my Ole Miss football because I was right. It was an Ole Miss jersey, and on top of that it was an Ole Miss football player. I immeditately started reading the book in the store and 2 days later (after I bought the book), I was finished. I LOVE reading books that I can relate to somehow, but I not only related to this story because Michael Oher played football at Ole Miss. I also related to this story because I see students in Jackson Public Schools that are just like him...students that grow up in the worse way possibly, get involved in bad things, make horrible grades, and are every teacher's nightmare. I will even go further to say that it isn't always completely their parents fault. So many children get labeled as "stupid" and are put into the, "He will never succeed" category. The worst part of it is that teachers don't even take the time to do their own job and teach them. The poor students fall further and further behind causing them to have behavior problems and get involved with drugs, gangs, etc. This story will melt your heart!! It's definitely a rags to riches story. If you haven't heard of Michael Oher, then come football season, watch the tv on SUNDAY'S. I suggest you buy the book before the movie comes out...b/c the book is full of information that I'm sure couldn't be fit into the movie. Here is the trailer for the movie that is to be released in November. Enjoy.

Colorado

On July 18th (my birthday) - July 23rd, Joy and I went to Colorado with my parents and their longtime friends the Caldwells. I wish Rob could have come to see how beautiful it was. We flew into Denver and rented a Suburban to fit 8 for when Lloyd and his girlfriend Alyssa joined us. From the airport we drove to Estes Park (where Lloyd lives) where we stayed 2 nights. The first night we went for my birthday dinner to eat at Baldpate Inn. They have the world's largest key collection and I posted a picture of one of their most famous keys. The next day we went to the Rocky Mountain National Park to see where Lloyd works and go on his Tundra hike. It was truly amazing to see God's beauty around us as we explored the park. Actually, the whole trip was full of beautiful scenery. On Monday we loaded up the Suburban and headed south to Durango. It was an all day drive with parts of the highway being the scariest I've ever traveled on. Tuesday morning, we went rafting and then drove to Silverton where we took the train back to Durango that afternoon. On Wednesday, we went to Mesa Verde and explored the Cliff Dwellings...which was my favorite part of the trip!! Enjoy my photos.

Happy Birthday to me

I turned 28 on July 18th. The day before, I got together with the girls to celebrate. We also celebrated Carol Anne's birthday which was on the 16th. We had lunch at one of my favorite restaurants in Jackson...Bon Ami. We also got some great news from Valerie. She is expecting her 2nd child!!! We are so excited for Valerie, Glen, and Amelia. Banks entertained us throughout lunch and kept us laughing with his cute facial expressions. He is precious! Thanks girls for a great birthday lunch and the wonderful presents! We now have 2 years to plan our big 30th birthday cruise!

updates

Hey everyone! I have been slow getting my posts out lately, and still don't have much for you now. I've been very busy working on house plans, planning my class reunion, and traveling. After this weekend, I promise I'll get some pics out of what's been going on with us lately!! Have a great weekend.

Our 2nd Anniversary

Today is our 2 year anniversary. Rob of course had to work, but he still has made the day extra special for me. When I woke up, I had a sweet card on the table and later I found beautiful flowers on the porch. We are going to eat tonight at my favorite restaurant, Amerigos. I can't believe how fast 2 years has flown by. Nothing makes me happier than being Rob's wife and sharing our life together. He brings me more happiness and joy than I could have ever hoped for. I love you Rob!! Here are a "few" of my favorite pics from our wedding day...plus a pic of my flowers.

my anniversary flowers!

Gulf Shores

Joy, Stephanie, and I went to Gulf Shores last Thursday-Sunday. We had a much needed stress- free relaxing weekend. We stayed at The Beach Club and it was great. We were worried, b/c we waited so long to find a place to stay. Thanks to Steph for finding such a great place for us. Our condo was so cute! We stayed at the beach all day Friday and Saturday and just went to our room for lunch.

the wave hit us right as the picture was taken

eating at LuLu's

day 2 at the beach

The view from our balcony!back in Jackson...

4th of July

We went to Carol Anne and Daniel's house in Lake Caroline for the 4th. It was so great being there with my best friends. Ashley Hood came and stayed with us for the weekend. We had a great time catching up. Amelia and Banks have gotten so big and it was fun to watch them "play" together.

dancing, dancing, dancing!!

San Francisco

Here are pictures from our trip to San Francisco and Napa Valley. I have become definitely my mother's child, b/c after I uploaded all the pics I realized that we took over 700 pictures. Don't worry..I didn't post that many, but there are quite a few...Enjoy!