Never Too Late...

Forgot to post the Easter pictures, so here they are.  We celebrated Easter with my parents.  They joined us for service at our church followed by Easter Lunch at our house!  It was a great day with the folks and Willie got lots of attention especially from his Granddad!

Spring Time!

Spring brings beautiful flowers, great weather, and happiness!  My favorite time of the year is Fall with Spring being second!  This year, the pollen has been full force so have we.  With the beautiful weather, it allows for great days of working in the yard.  Over the past week, we bagged 76 bags of leaves and ivy from the side yards of the house.  If you have ever been to my house, the outside needs a lot of love and we finally have the time to get it the love it needs.  With my surgery this past Fall, I could not do anything in the yard and law school consumed all of Russ' time so an already overgrown yard over grew even more!  Dad has come over to assist us in the ivy removal process, he cleared/pulled up all the ivy on the side of the house with the bedrooms.  This was a complete jungle.  We then proceeded to the front  yard and pulled all the ivy on the side of the house and trimmed all the trees, we can actually talk to our neighbors and see them!  For a while, I was feeling like Home Improvement's neighbor Wilson where you could only see the top of their faces.  Also, when you drive down the street you can see the side of the house!!!  I had no idea, we had so much yard.  Almost a year ago we had a side driveway poured on the side of the house. This literally was a jungle, over grown trees (bushes), ivy everywhere, you could not see the side of the house nor our neighbors.  The driveway helped clear some of it but this past weekend we completely removed all the ivy and bushes, I saw sunlight coming down!! 

 You can see the neighbor's  house now!

We also had some trees removed last week, we had those darn sweet gum trees.  These trees are not good for anything but being a pain in the butt.  Willie loved to chew on the sweet gum balls but I don't think that was ideal for him.  They hurt to walk on, you could hardly rake them, basically they are pointless and useless.  When Russ mows the yard, I can't be in the back since one time he hit one with the mower and it nailed me in the chest.  Needless to say, we quickly got those removed this past week.  They came and removed three sweet gums, one pine, and what we thought was a tree but they said it was an overgrown bush!  We now have sunlight in our backyard, extra yard on the side of the house, and a nice driveway on the other side.  Our next step is to build a deck/patio complete with a firepit, paint the house (brick included), and build a shed!  We have our work cut out for us the next couple of months! 

Russ taking a picture of the house that we are going to paint our house after.

Oh yes, I can't forget my Mom's help.  She came over and helped me plant flowers in my pots for the front of the house while I prepared the white benches Russ' Grandfather gave us.  What used to be somewhat white and rust are now pure white and sparkling!  I never thought I say this, but I really do like working in the yard, you see results instantly!!!

Benches Before and After

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#