There is no place like home!

Greg and I are looking forward to a much needed trip home.  We will be getting up SUPER early on Wednesday (yes, I'm 'that' person who likes to be on the road at 5 am), and a not so short 10 hours later we hope to be pulling into my parent's driveway in Tuscaloosa!  We will spend 2 days in Tuscaloosa, and then venture over to Childersburg for 2 days. 

Things we are looking forward to:
- Seeing our family!
- Dreamland BBQ
- Lots of hugs and kisses!
- Mugshots
- Seeing some good friends
- Jim 'n Nicks BBQ
- Relaxing
- Laughing with our families
- Spending some quality time together in the car (20+ hours over the course of the weekend)
- Depalmas

As you can probably see, among how happy we will be to see and spend time with our family...  Food is a trending topic in things we are looking forward to.  Greg has been in serious BBQ withdrawal (it's just not the same here in NC).  I'm pretty sure that if he wasn't in a weight loss competition at work then he would want to eat Dreamland and Jim 'n Nicks for every meal!  HA! 

Although I am completely excited about going home, I would be lying to say that I'm not nervous about going to my home in Tuscaloosa.  It has been 44 days since an ugly EF4 tornado tore through Alabama, cutting right through the heart of Tuscaloosa.  I haven't talked about this on the blog because I haven't really had to deal with it.  I remember watching James Spann on the live-feed in our apartment that night.  I sat horrified as they showed the tornado in Tuscaloosa  I just kept saying, "oh. my. God."  I am SO thankful that my parents and their home was not affected.  I am also thankful that my friends and their families were safe, although many faced a total loss or extreme damage to their homes.  I remember watching news and looking through pictures the next day.  I just sobbed.  Everyone says that nothing prepares you for seeing it in person, and I'm positive that they are 100% correct.  I think a good portion of the drive next Wednesday I will be mentally preparing myself to see what has happened to my hometown.  It will, no doubt, be hard to face. 

Greg and I have been really terrible about documenting our lives by taking pictures.  We have recently decided that we are going to try to take more pictures, so we that can remember things that we do.  We are going to try to take a bunch of pictures during our trip home.  SO, I hope that I am able to do a post after the trip and show you guys all that we did. 

Our Wedding, part 3

Once I finally arrived at the church, Greg and I took all of our pictures together.  I had originally wanted to drive out to the North River Yacht Club (where the reception was being held) to do some pictures because it's right on the river and I thought that we could get some beautiful pictures.  But, since I was 30 minutes late and we had a ton of pictures to take... we decided against driving out there.

After we did all of our pictures, we started with the bridal party and then the families.  Everyone was was right on time (which made for a very happy bride) for pictures, and everyone looked fantastic!

My bridesmaids and matron of honor.  I know everyone thinks that they have the best and most supportive bridesmaids, but I really had the best.  :-)

 I picked this one of Greg and his groomsmen because it just makes me laugh! 

 The whole wedding party: bridesmaids, groomsmen, and ushers

 Fisher family!

 Barrow family!

After we finished pictures, we went our different ways.  Greg and the groomsmen went to their room (where they had a TV, so that they could watch Duke basketball), and we went to the bridal room.  I was starving.  Luckily, we my mom had brought us some snacks.  I think everyone just hung out and relaxed before the ceremony (I know that's what I did, but I can't speak for everyone- ha).  Bob, our wonderful photographer, ran around snapping pictures here and there.  Here are some more pre-ceremony pictures.

I love this picture of Greg and his Dad.

This is dad putting a sixpence in my shoe for good luck.  This is actually the same one that my mom had in her shoe on their wedding day.

When Mary got married (December 2008) she had each bridesmaid carry a bouquet of different flowers, and then her bouquet was made up of all those different flowers.  I loved that idea so much that I stole it (with her permission).  Her mom said something to us the day of her wedding about how each of us carried different flowers because we are all different, and Mary's bouquet combined all of those because we all played different supportive roles in her life (of course it was much more eloquent and I can't exactly remember what was said but it was very special and made most of us cry). 

Here is mom giving me one last smooch on the cheek before the ceremony started.

Don't you worry...  We totally had a dance party before we lined up for the ceremony.  I love love love this picture!

Greg's dad did most of our ceremony.  It was really special for us.  The guys were helping him get his robe on after he had walked Linda down the aisle and lit the unity candle. 

RIGHT before we walked down the aisle.  Actually, the wedding director rang a bell for the chiming of the hour that was right behind us (the organ bell was broken).  It was SO loud.  I kept imagining that scene from Steel Magnolias when she has to nudge her dad when the pastor asked who gave her to be married because he couldn't hear.  ha!

Our Wedding Weekend, part 2

Originally I thought that I would be able to blog the wedding in two parts, but as I pulled pictures that I wanted to share with everyone I realized that it would have to split into three-four parts.  I don't want to have overwhelmingly long posts.

I also realize that it has been forever since I posted Our Wedding Weekend, part 1, so if you missed it be sure to check it out!

I woke up on Saturday, December 19, 2009 so happy.  I knew that the day that Greg and I had been waiting for was finally here!  All the hard work that we (and of course my Mom) had been doing for the past year and a half was going to be worth it all.  I hopped out of bed to a silent house.  We had a house full of people so I was pretty surprised to be the first one up (although, now that I think about it... that isn't actually surprising).  Mom, dad, Betsy, and Jordan were all sleeping.  I went ahead and got the coffee brewing, and then I hopped in the shower.

We had to meet all the girls at the salon at 9 (I think).  I was cool, calm, and collected which is exactly how I wanted to feel the morning of our wedding.  I had talked to myself for months about how if something wasn't done by that morning then it wasn't going to happen.  No need to sweat that stuff because no one would even know it was missing (except for me and mom).

We finally got everything loaded up in the car and headed to the salon!  I feel really lucky to have a close relationship with my hair stylist.  I actually worked for her at PH Balance Salon in Tuscaloosa, AL.  Kim and Lisa were amazing!  They did everyone's hair for our big day...  And we had muffins, fruit, and mimosas!  Here are some shots of everyone getting made over at the salon:

 Kim is amazing!  I still go to her to get my hair cut even though I live 10 hours away!  If you live in Tuscaloosa and are looking for a fabulous hair stylist then you have to check out PH Balance Salon!

 My wonderful bridesmaids and my sister-in-law!

I absolutely love this picture.  Mom seeing me for the first time with my hair and make-up done.  (note: She hates this picture because she doesn't have her make up on yet, but I still really love it)

This was right after I got my dress on.  We are only 30 minutes late for pictures with Greg.  No biggie.

This is also one of my favorites.  Mom said, "You can still back out if you want to." I'm laughing because it's absurd, I was completely ready to marry Greg, and she would have DIED if I had called it off.  

We were 30 minutes late meeting Greg and the church for our pictures.  Mary drove me to the church which was only a bout 4 blocks away.  She sat in the car with me while Bob, our fantastic photographer, and our wedding coordinator got Greg ready for our first meeting.  I was so excited to see him!  I couldn't wait to see his reaction to my dress because it was nothing like he had thought it would be.  

Greg as he patiently waited for me to arrive.

Our meeting!  I said, "surpise!"  

By the way, we got married at Christmas because it has been my dream since I was old enough to dream about weddings.  I love the church at Christmas time.  

The church was so beautiful.

  It was freezing outside, and I felt like we were out there forever.  Being really cold was totally worth it because now we have really pretty pictures of us in front of the church.  

I think that I've put enough in this entry.  I have a really hard time picking just a few pictures from the wedding album to share, so I think I will have to do our wedding in 3-4 parts.  I don't want to over do it with a million pictures in one entry. 

I'll try and post the next entry sooner rather than later.  Love! 

Our crazy and fun-filled weekend

Hello all!

Sorry that I haven't updated lately.  We have been really busy, but we decided last week that we wanted to have a really good weekend.  We had a lot of fun, but there was some craziness added in on Friday afternoon.

I got home from work on Friday, and was looking forward to having some 'me time' because Greg was golfing.  I let the dogs out, and then we were going to snuggle up on the couch and watch Private Practice. Well, about half way through the episode I realized that Hershee was acting strange.  She jumped on the couch and was shaking (which she does sometimes when she has an accident in the house).  So, I looked around but I didn't find anything.  Then I noticed that not only was she shaking, but she was walking funny.  I thought maybe she had dislocated her hip from jumping off of the couch, but I finally decided that wasn't it.  I took her outside (I'm panic-stricken at this point) and she can barley walk, she kept falling over because she wouldn't put pressure on her right side.  I'm tried calling Greg over and over, but I couldn't get him.  Then Hershee just lays on her side, panting and shaking and then she had about 20 seconds of what seemed to be convulsions.  I was a basket case.  The convulsions stopped and then she got up and took a poop and then she walked about 20 feet and vomited.  Then she was perfectly fine, like nothing had ever happened!  She was fine and I was very distraught.  I got in touch with my Dad who calmed me down, and reassured me that everything was going to be okay.  I am hoping that it was a one time thing since she has never done anything like that in her 7 year life.  But if it happens again, I'm going to video tape it and then take her to our vet.

After that I was spent.  I did not want to do anything!  I was so glad that we had left-overs to eat for dinner and that we could just lay on the couch and relax.  Of course Greg called as soon as he got my panic-stricken message.  He did feel really bad that I had not been able to get in touch with him.

Saturday we had been planning on going to William B. Umstead State Park which is about 15 minutes from our house.  I really wanted to go out and hike one of the trails and let the dogs play in the water.  So, after a really lazy morning we packing a picnic and headed to the state park.  It was a really gorgeous day with no chance of rain for the first time in about 6 days.  The dogs had a blast.  We did a 2.5 mile hike, and then we walked around until we found some shallow water that the babies could play in.  We took some video, and I'll post it when I get home tonight.

We headed home, and got ready because we were picking the baby up from Kate and Mark, taking her home, and putting her to bed.  We just made a little date out of it.  We made spaghetti for dinner and really enjoyed some quality time together after I got the baby to sleep.

Sunday morning we were pretty lazy.  We did get the laundry going pretty early which is always a good thing.  Greg played some Tiger Woods on the Wii, and then I wanted to do this Yoga DVD that we got. So, we moved the ottoman and both got enough room to do yoga.  We probably did 30-35 minutes of the DVD.  It was really hard, but I really enjoy doing yoga.  Greg had a harder time because he tried to do every pose and exercise in the most advanced way.  We did enjoy it though.  I'm hurting all over today!

Sunday afternoon we went over to a friend's apartment and had a kind of pool party.  The only problem was their pool wasn't open yet, so everyone just hung out around the pool, laid out, and ate.  I was surprised that the pool was not open yet, and they actually had staff monitoring to make sure that no one got in (which I thought was bizarre).  I'm not sure what the huge deal was.

Overall I would say that we did end up having a good weekend despite Hershee's 'episode' on Friday afternoon.  I'm very thankful that she is okay.  I hope that everyone has a fantastic week!

Thank you, IRS!

Greg and I have been discussing what we would do with our tax return for months.  We debated about just putting it away in savings, buying bicycles, buying living room furniture, fund our honeymoon do-over, etc.  Well....  we had been furniture shopping a few time and found a sectional at Rooms to Go that we were in love with.  It was so comfortable!  We found it in February, and I have been thinking about it ever since then.  So, last week when I checked their website to stare at it for a while and it wasn't there...  I was DISTRAUGHT!  I told Greg that we had to go to the store immediately and order it because if we missed our chance because we couldn't make a decision I would be so sad.

Well......... we rushed over to Rooms to Go and the saleswoman that we had met with the previous times that we had visited walked up as we lounged on the couch.  She laughed and asked if we were ready to actually order it this time.  We were!

Now, Rooms to Go does the whole buy the room thing. The more pieces that you buy from the room the bigger the discount you get on each individual piece.  I really hated the chair that came with the couch, so we asked if we could substitute a different chair.  She asked her manager and she said that we could if it was a Cindy Crawford chair, so we began walking around the store sitting in all the chairs.  We found one!  I'm actually shocked that Greg agreed to it (it's kind of girly).

We are going to be the proud new owners of brand new living room furniture!  I'm so excited because everything that we've owned has been hand-me-downs from our wonderful family.  We are so thankful to have furniture that we got for free, but we are super excited about owning furniture that we love and picked out ourselves.  We will be donating our old couch and chair to a charity that is giving it to tornado victims here in the Raleigh- Durham area.  Hopefully someone will love it as much as we have for the past 4 years.

....... drum roll.........  Here it is!

I am not crazy about the throw pillows that come with it, but we are going to order pillows that match the chair in a few months.  We are getting the sectional and the ottoman.

Here is the chair!  I told you it was girly, but it's super comfortable!  

Relaxing Weekend

We have had an insanely busy couple of weeks with the start of baseballs season, and the Bulls first home stand.  The week before the Bulls had their first home game Greg was working like crazy, he was staying at work until 9:00-11:00 pm!  So, we were both really excited with this home stand coming to an end on Friday.

Greg didn't have to work the game on Friday, so we had planned on going to the game and then going out with a few of the people that he works with afterwards.  The game was supposed to start at 7:05, and so I was going to go home and we would just go to the game together.  Well, we got some crazy rainy weather late that afternoon.  I got home, we cooked dinner, and we waited to hear what time the game would start.  Now, if you know me, you know that I'm not really a late night person.  I like going to bed early, and getting up early.  As we approached 9:00 pm I began to ask if we really wanted to go.  BUT Greg insisted.  They pulled the tarp off the field, we headed to the stadium and the game started at 9:05.  Not only did the game start late, but I felt like it was going SO SLOW.

We headed over to a bar that over looks the field and watched the end of the game with one of Greg's co-workers, and once the game was over we headed to a different bar where we were meeting everyone.  It was a lot of fun.  Everyone was unwinding, and I got to meet and interact with a few of his co-workers that I've wanted to get to know.  We rarely go out, so this was a treat!

Saturday slept in, and Greg really wanted to go to Joseph A. Bank because they were having a good sale, and my brother and sister in law gave him a gift card for Christmas.  We went and he decided to get a charcoal pin-stripped suit and a red paisley tie that he has wanted for a few months.  After that we went by some furniture stores because we are looking at buying a new couch and chair.  We have our eyes set on something, but we are trying to make sure it's a good price and that we can't find something we like better.

We stopped and got a RedBox on the way home.  We got The King's Speech.  I think that we both really liked it.  We also grilled burgers for dinner.

Sunday we didn't really do much.  We spent the afternoon at the pool (where we both got pretty sunburned, Greg is much worse than me).  The we went and got another movie!  We got The Kids Are Alright.  I was really disappointed.  I have pretty high expectations for films that are nominated for best picture, and to be honest...  I don't know how it go put into the same category as The Fighter and The King's Speech (the only two that we have seen that were nominated, but we are working our way down the list- I'm dying to see Black Swan).

All in all it was a wonderfully relaxing weekend, and I'm glad that Greg got to kick back.  He's been working really hard, so he needed some time off.  I hope you guys had a great weekend!

Pineapple Chicken Salad Pitas

Kate and Mark gave me some recipes that they wanted me to cook this week.  I am pretty sure that Kate got it out of a magazine that said to buy a 7 lb. chicken, roast it the first night, and then use it over a few days to make several different meals.  A 7 lb. chicken is pretty big for just two meals (which is what I was going to make), so I decided to look for a healthier version of chicken salad to make that we can all have for lunch.  I found this recipe on Cooking Light's web-site.  I thought it sounded good, and I don't care for celery so I was super excited to find a recipe without celery.

Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups of chopped chicken breast (mine was roasted, but you could easily boil a couple of chicken breasts)
- 1/2 cup shredded carrots
- 1/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted
- 1/3 cup light mayonnaise (I used less than that)
- 1/2 finely chopped green onions
- 1/2 cup plain fat-free yogurt (I thought that this was in the fridge, but it wasn't!  I used a little light sour cream instead)
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 (8 oz) can of crushed pineapple in juice (drained, but I didn't worry about getting every drop out)
- 4 whole wheat pitas
- 8 Romaine lettuce leaves

Combine the first 11 ingredients in a large bowl, stirring well.  Cut the pita in half, put in a piece of lettuce, and then some of the chicken salad.



The only problem that I had was that I couldn't get the pita to open up.  I just cut the half in half again and made I guess a flatbread sandwich.  It is really good.  Interesting flavor combination.  You should totally give it a try if you aren't crazy about traditional chicken salad.