Westerly Platinum

One of the great things about getting married is all the gifts people shower you with as their sign of love and excitement about your marriage.  It is probably one of the few times in your life you will get to replace all your old cheap stuff with nice matching things!  Russ and I both had just graduated from college when we got married, so we had cheap stuff or nothing at all.  In today's marriages, not very many people register for formal china.  There is nothing wrong if you do or don't do it, it is simply up to the couple.

I grew up where we ate on the nice china for all the major holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter).  We would have over 25 people at Christmas and still had to eat on the china, paper plates were not allowed.  My Granny had three different sets, my mom had two sets, my Grandmother had a set, and everyone I knew in the family had their own set.  When Granny passed away, my Mom got a lot of my Granny's china and crystal.  I think that's where I got my love for china and crystal from.  Now, I am not as big of a fan of silver like Mom and Granny since you have to polish it all the time.  My favorite is crystal, it can be used for all kinds of things.

When it came time to register, I had to make an important decision, what kind of formal china was I going to register for.  I knew this would take me a while, as I wanted something that said my style and hopefully would not go out of style in 30 years.  After looking at over 50 different of patterns, I had it narrowed down to three.  All were with with some type of silver on them.  I brought Russ along to help me make the final decision, he knocked out one right away saying it was too girly so we were down to two.  He could not make a decision, we thought about price and we finally decided on one and called in the expert to approve our final decision...Jacki aka Mom!  She agreed with our decision, so we knew we were good to go.  Lenox Westerly Platinum it is!  Then it was on to the stemware (Lenox Firelight), this was not a hard choice at all and it matched our china!  Plus it coordinates with Mom's in case I inherit hers :) 

A lot of people, could not believe we were registering for formal china, but it was something I wanted.  I wanted a set that I could use for the big meals with the family later down the line.  We may only use it a couple of times a year but it will hopefully create memories for our kids as well.  Also, it will provide as nice dishes for dinner parties when all the attornies in town (haha).

Well, it has been two and a half years and the china has patiently sat in storage containers in the laundry room and it got its first debut on Easter!  Since Mom and Dad come to church with us on Easter, I thought I would host Easter lunch this year.  That meant, I provided the meal and all the tableware!  I was so excited, I pulled out all the dishes, matching serving pieces, cleaned the sterling silverware that was Russ' Grandmothers and cleaned it, and completed the table with the new white placemats.  We took the table from casual to formal just like that (excuse the paper napkins, we realized we didn't have cloth ones just before lunch)!  Not only did we have a great meal and company but it was nice using all the wonderful wedding gifts and saying do you remember who gave us this.

Second Time is the Charm

Six months ago, I had to have surgery on a cyst in my lower back.  Well, after five months of trying to get it to heal the doctor decided it was best to do the surgery again since nothing was working to get it to heal.  I was not happy with the news but the doctor knows best.  I had surgery again in early March, well five weeks later...I AM HEALED!  I had a doctor's appointment on Thursday, April 15th (exactly six months from my first surgery), and the doctor said the magic words  "Well you know where to find me if you need me, but I hope I don't have to see you again.  You are healed!"  I was so excited, I called Mom and Russ and sent messages to friends. 

I can finally sit in a chair without hurting, lay on the couch, sleep on my back, and bend!  Now it only took 6 months, 2 surgeries, over 550 badges, 6 rolls of tape, countless doctor visits, and tons of money, but I am HEALED!

To celebrate being healed, I worked in my yard the past two weekends none stop.  I have not been able to do yard work since my first surgery and boy did it feel good to be out there again. Now I can go on walks with Russ and Willie!

I'm a slacker!

I know, I know, it has been way too long since I have blogged. I think about doing it everyday but when I sit down to write I think of 100 other things to do instead or I will forget what to blog about. When I take a shower I often write my blog in my head, then I go to blog and the words do not come to me anymore. I know, none of these are good excuses but I promise to try harder.

Let's see where did I leave off....

Our new addition to the family has been the center of our lives (I know you all are thinking, that's no surprise). Willie has doubled in size since we got him three months ago, don't worry he is still cute! Right now, he is teething so he is chewing everything in site, including our wall! That's right, he decided to chew the sheet rock and window seal. We try to keep him occupied with toys to prevent that. He has also gone through two beds already and his current one does not have the stuffing in it since he decided to pull all of that out for us. Other than that, he is a great dog! Willie is crate trained, loves the backyard (including digging tons of holes), and tells us when he needs to go outside.

We have also taken him on a road trip to visit Russ' family in Hendersonville. Neither one of us knew really what to do with a dog in the car, so we fed him, packed all his toys, and crate and headed to Tennessee. Within the first ten miles, Willie threw up twice! So he sat in my lap the rest of the trip. He had a great time getting LOTS of attention and scaring Boomer. A couple of weekends later he went to spend the weekend with his Grandparents' House. He had a great time playing with Dad (especially licking his ears) and leaving surprised on Mom's rug since he decided that if he doesn't have ivy he won't go to the bathroom. They still enjoyed his company though! Mom even calls and asks about Willie, so you know she really likes him!

I guess that is enough about the dog! Like I said he is the center of our lives, and brings such joy to all of us when he is behaving :)

Love at First Sight

Russ has been whining to me over the past year that we needed to get a dog. I consistently said "NO!"but for Christmas this year I decided to finally give in and let us get a dog. I wrapped up dog toys and a card saying that when we get back from all our trips we can go pick out a dog for us.

I told Melinda that we were looking at getting a dog so she went on to Pet Finder to show me all the cute dogs that needed homes. She sent me a couple of emails with different dogs, little did she know that would end up being the new addition to our family.

We completed all our trips MLK weekend so I thought we should look for dogs the following weekend. On the following Thursday and Friday, I looked on Pet Finder, found a couple of dogs, and contacted the people. Russ and I decided we wanted a lab mix like Bud (my family dog) and Russ preferred a male puppy. I found one dog that was born on 10/21 (Russ' birthday) that was a black lab and his name was Sparky (Russ' childhood dog)...we thought this was really ironic. I emailed the foster parent but she was located in Savannah. Meanwhile, I had gotten a response on Lovey's Puppies (http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=15360295) and made arrangements to go visit them on Saturday. Russ was very tempted to drive to Savannah but we decided we would look around the area this weekend and if we didn't find anything we would go next weekend to look at Sparky.

Saturday morning came and we got ready to go look at dogs, not really set on having to get one that weekend. Laura told us she would be at PetsMart in Duluth so we could see Lovey's Puppies. I thought I knew where I was going and we got to the place. It was a Petco so I thought the lady had gotten them mixed up. Who would have a Petco and PetsMart on the same street 1/4 mile away from each other? We went to Petco and asked about the puppies and they had no idea but thought I was talking about this other lady who wasn't there yet. We waited around and they showed up with golden retriever puppies. They were cute and very quiet but we did not want a dog that large. I finally got onto the internet and saw that she was at the PetsMart just up the road. We hopped in the car and went to see the puppies.

Russ and I walked to the back to the adoption area and there he was! This cute little puppy sleeping in a crate. We went up to him and stuck our finger in and he didn't lick but perked up, so far so good! We took him out and he was so quiet, and did not bark, make a noise, or bite. I was sold! We asked the rescue agency questions about the Mom and decided he was the dog for us. While the agency filled out the paper work, Russ and I went around the store buying all the things you need for a dog. All we had were way-too-big toys and a UT collar that Rachel gave us for our wedding. We bought him a crate, food, treats, toys, shampoo, and leash. They finalized the paper work and he was officially ours!
On our way home, we were trying to figure out a name for him. We had talked about naming our dog Neyland when we got a dog but Avery and Jason got a new puppy in December and named their dog that. We came up with Willie, Patches, Rusty, and Taylor. We decided on Willie! So you are probably asking why we named him Willie. Well, Russ' Grandfather that he adores and looks up to's name is William so we talked about using that for a kid's name down the road. We then realized that one of good friends name is Will and would think we named our kid after him, so we opted for our dog! Yes everyone, our dog is named after our good friend William Taylor Blackburn. Ironically, Will introduced us in college and is basically a brother to me. So Will, your name will continue...you have a nephew!
We didn't tell my parents we were looking for dogs. They did know Russ got one for Christmas, but didn't know when we would get one. We brought Willie home and gave him a bath and let him play in the backyard, and then headed out to my parents house for dinner. We showed up with Willie in our arms and they feel in love with him at first sight as well! Mom even held him!
Willie is adjusting to life with us really well. We are crate training him and soon hope to do obedience training. He has already gone to the vet and got a good check-up and had all the nurses and doctors hovering over him, he is pretty cute!

We officially have a new member of our family and he has quickly become the center of our lives. I am honestly not a big dog person, but Willie has me holding him, petting him, playing with him, and find myself liking to come home to hang out. Sometimes if he is a good dog that night, he lays on my chest at night on the couch and we fall asleep together until Russ gets home from night class!He turns 16 weeks old next week so he can begin playing with other dogs. Our first adventure will be to Hendersonville to visit Russ' family. Our neighbors got a puppy that is two weeks older than Willie so soon they can have play dates! Overall, Willie is a great dog besides his puppy nipping stage :) Also, friends are very important to me so I thought it was great how they were a part of us getting a dog. Rachel provided the collar, Melinda found him on Pet Finder, and Willie is named after Will, what a great story Willie has!

The Big Apple

Outside our Hotel

This past year has been a rough year...losing important people in my life, Russ' life being taken over by law school,Bud was put to sleep, my Grandparents aren't doing well, my surgery, and many more things, I was ready for a new year.

Thankfully, this year we decided to do something different to bring in the new year...NEW YORK CITY! Kara and Aunt Jill decided to go to NYC back in September and began planning their trip. After hearing them talk about it, I realized it was too good of a trip to pass up so I joined them. Later, Russ decided he wanted to go as well since he has not been. Next thing we know, all of our are in the airport waiting for our flight to New York.

We stayed at the Time Square Hilton, which was very close to everything! I am not going to bore you with every detail on what we did, so here is what we did each day. I highly recommend the New York City Pass if you are going to see lots of attractions. You get to skip all the lines, a separate place to redeem it for a ticket, and do not have to worry about paying for it once you get there! We were typical tourist who hit up all the local attractions and went to Time Square for New Year's Eve! I fell in love with the Big Apple and can't wait to go back when it is not as cold!

Day 1 (December 30th):
- Left for NYC
- Checked into the Hotel
- Ate lunch at McDonald's
- Headed down the streets of NYC
- Explored Macy's (all 8 floors)
- Ate at Uncle Jack's Steakhouse (best steaks ever...well second to my Uncle Jack's)
- Rockefeller Center (Christmas Tree)
- Christmas Lights and Window Displays

Day 2 (December 31st):
- Ate Breakfast
- Headed to Carnegie Hall
- Central Park in the SNOW (it felt like I was in a snow globe or some one's Christmas village)
- Carnegie Deli for delicious cheesecake
- Radio City Music Hall Tour
- Bundled up for the long night
- Last meal of 2009 - McDonald's
- Headed for Time Square for the Ball Drop
- Stood for 8 hours in one place
- Brought in the New Year!

Day 3 (January 1):
- Breakfast and Coffee
- Wax Museum
- Lunch for NY Pizza in an old church
- Top of the Rock
- China Town (Kara bought a Louis Vuitton purse)
- Little Italy
- Queens to visit my cousin Lee (great meal, cheesecake, and visit)
Day 4 (January 2):
- Circe Line City Cruise (saw Statue of Liberty)
- Met up with Calvin
- Lunch
- The Met (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
- Drinks with Calvin
- Dinner with Calvin and Alayna at Room Service (great Thai)
- Saw the play Mary Poppins
- Empire State BuildingDay 5 (January 3):
- New York Bagels for Breakfast
- Wall Street
- Ground Zero
- Headed back to Atlanta


For all the New York pictures, click here: http://picasaweb.google.com/brittanywdunlap/NewYorkCity#

Pictures! Pictures! Pictures!

To follow up from my extremely long catch up blog, here are the pictures from Thanksgiving Day to Christmas in Florida.

Holiday Craziness

I know it has been a while since I last blogged but hopefully with a new year and new routines I will be able to update more. Things have been very hectic around the Dunlap household the past three months but it looks like things are finally slowing down or at least becoming the norm.

We had a great holiday season with our friends and family. It was filled with tons and tons of travel but all very fun trips. After all the trips, I am glad to say it is good to be home! Since I have not updated since Thanksgiving I will pick up there.

Before Russ and I got married, we talked about how we would do the holidays. We agreed that we were rotate them so we spent equal time between the families. We started off with our first Thanksgiving with Russ' family in Hendersonville then Christmas with my family in Salem, VA. The weekend before Christmas we drove to TN to celebrate with his family. This year we rotated the order, we spent Thanksgiving in Atlanta with my family (Dad, Mom, Kara, and Aunt Jill) then went to Tampa for Christmas with Russ' family.

Thanksgiving was a hard one this year, it was our first holiday without our Uncle Jack. Thanks for family and wonderful neighbors we celebrated Thanksgiving together over a nice meal and enjoyed each others company. Usually that night Mom, Kara, Aunt Jill, and I go to Wal-Mart. I have no idea how that tradition started but it did. We have done that for years, well this year we decided to do something different. We stayed up until midnight so we could go to the North GA Outlets. We drove up there and five miles before we got the outlets it was bumper to bumper traffic, who would have known this many people would be out shopping. Once we finally got the outlets, we had to drive around to find a place to park. Mom dropped us off while she tried to find a spot, people were parking across GA 400 and running across the highway, others were parking on the sidewalks and hills...it was a mad house! We tried to go to some of the stores but there were lines, yes that rights, LINES! The Coach Store had an eight hour wait to get inside. Once we realize this was ridiculous, we decided to leave. It was 3:00 so we had Breakfast at Waffle House then headed to Belk for their opening at 4:00. We were all getting extremely grumpy so decided to head home and sleep until noon. We woke up ate lunch and headed out for more shopping. This time we hit up the areas around my house and got back around 11 PM. That's right everyone we literally shopped til we dropped! We did it again on Saturday :)

The month of December was full of travels, holiday celebrations, and exams. Russ had exams the first two weeks of December so I planned a business trip to Indiana the first week of December. I do that so I stay out of his hair so he can get some studying in. Russ had a hard semester with writing his note for Law Review, working on his brief for Moot Court on top of all of his classes. It paid off though, we got his grades last week and he got straight A's!!!! I hope our children have his smarts but my common sense :)

We had a couple of holiday parties to attend, one with my company at our President's house, which a lot of fun. We had a get together with our friends from church and attended the annual Christmas Cantata. We also had time to go to the Falcons/Saints game! This was Russ' first Falcon's game and I have not been to one since 1995.

The weekend before Christmas we drove to Huntsville to celebrate with my Mom's side of the family. Aunt Jill had her first family get together at her newly renovated home! It is gorgeous and I am so glad she is able to have her dream home. It was so good to spend the weekend with Aunt Jill and all my cousins. Saturday night we went to the Christmas Village with my little cousins, it was nice to see Santa, make gingerbread cookies, see Christmas lights, and see the joy on all the kids' faces. Sunday, the entire family got together and had another wonderful meal together. We all got along and no major fights happened. For those of you who are family or know my family, this is a rare :) I am so glad that even after our Granny being gone and the hard times our family have been through the past two years that we are all able to get together and have a good time. I really miss not having my family closer.

We spend Christmas in Florida this year. Darren and Mary moved to Florida in August so all of us went down there to see them. We actually stayed at a beach very close to Clearwater and enjoyed a condo overlooking the ocean. I thought it was funny, my family was in Salem with 18 inches of snow and I was on the beach! Mary works for Disney so we went to Disney on Wednesday. I have not been to Disney since I was four so I do not remember much. All I remember is the Dumbo Ride, dinner with Cinderella, and Mickey's Birthday Bash. It was a different experience this time. Since everyone else has been to Disney a lot, they let me pick which park to spend the day in. I chose Magic Kingdom since that is where the castle is and thought I could experience the "true" Disney. It was all decorated for Christmas and they had some great parades. We left at 6:30 AM and didn't get home until 1:30 AM, it was a very busy day but great to see Disney and be with the family. Thursday we saw where Darren goes to school and the area. Grandma and Grandpa Dunlap joined us for Christmas Eve and Christmas,w which was great to see them! Friday, we opened gifts then headed over to Darren and Mary's apartment in Brandon, FL. The highlight of our Christmas was that Russ got a puppy! Ok, maybe not an actual puppy but he got toys and a card saying when we get back we can begin looking for one! We had a great time in Florida with Russ's family. I will have to stay it was very tough not being with my family for Christmas or seeing my Grandparents but that is one part of marriage, compromise! We were able to celebrate Christmas with Mom, Dad, and Kara the Sunday after Christmas.

We did have some sad news during this joyous time. One of my Mom's good friends and neighbor passed away. Mrs. Dianne passed away on Christmas Day, so please continue to have her family in your prayers as it was a very tragic accident. We attended her visitation and funeral in Griffin. Kara and I grew up with her two girls, as we both are the same ages. Mrs. Dianne and her girls were our first friends when we moved to Lawrenceville. She always helped with decorations for our house and a week before she passed away made me a Christmas decoration with my house. That stocking will mean so much more to me than just a stocking decoration now, it will be a part of her with us. She was such a wonderful friend and neighbor!

Russ and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary this past December. We ate at Dominick's which is where we had our rehearsal dinner then I went back to work! We didn't exchange gifts or do anything elaborate as we were heading for New York City the following day and that was our Christmas and Anniversary gifts for each other.

New York was a blast! We went with Aunt Jill and Kara. None of us have been to NYC before besides Kara so we did all the tourist stuff! Our main reason of going was to do New Year's Eve in Time Square. I will have a whole seperate entry on our NYC trip.

So after this long blog and random updates, I am on track to blog about 2010! We have already had a busy 2010 but in a good way! I hope all of you had a wonderful holiday season with all the ones you loved and remember to tell those you love or care about how much they mean to you!

For some reason it won't let me upload pictures to this post, so see the following post for all the fun pictures of our travels in December.