"Honey-Do" Couples Shower!

Saturday night, my sister and her husband (who introduced me and Scott), along with my mom and step-dad, were so sweet to host a couple's shower in my and Scott's honor! We had so much fun hanging out with so many close friends and family! The food and cakes were AWESOME (catered by Homeplate Cooking), my Mom's cheesecakes were an absolute hit, the koozies were super cute, the decorations were perfect and the fellowship was wonderful! Scott and I felt so honored at so many people's sweet gestures and well wishes as we embark on our lives together!

My sister sent out invitations that gave each guest a different "Honey-Do" request, such as:

Honey, let's...

 take a nap,

have a dinner party,

have game night,

do yard work,

do laundry,

clean house,

have a picnic.

We got so many wonderful gifts! Picnic baskets, wine, wine goblets, a blanket, laundry supplies, cleaning supplies, sheets, towels, home improvement store gift cards, serving ware, and so much more! And, my mom, step-dad, sister, and bro-in-law thought it would be good to take "Game Night" to the next level.....our family is now the proud owner of a Nintendo Wii! It's so funny because I've never had any gaming system since the original NES, so this will be a new one for us! My sister's family has one and they love it, so we can't wait to start family tournaments!

Thank you all for making that night so special for us!!

Lindsey's Work Wedding Shower

On August 19th, my accounting firm, along with my co-workers, were so gracious to throw me and Scott a wedding shower! We received so many wonderful gifts: Foam mattress cover, 4-piece set of luggage, set of sheets, a few pans, a set of Henckels knives, Calphalon serving-ware, New Orleans Saints Tumbler, oven mitts and kitchen towels, and a gift card to Bed Bath & Beyond!! I have so many generous and thoughtful co-workers who made the shower so special for us!

Engagement Pictures

A few weeks ago, Scott and I dressed up and headed to Montevallo to take some Engagement pictures. It was BEYOND hot (as you might can tell from our hair!), but we had fun! We started out at the back of the American Village property, then headed over to the University of Montevallo and took pictures on the side walks, by the President's Home, and at the Lake. Mark Parker of Mark's Brides is the amazing photographer behind these photos! He is very talented and we look forward to working with him for our wedding! Check out his website HERE!

Below are a few that we like!

Happy July 4th – In August!

Better late than never, right? Bare with me…

Our family had one of the best July 4th weekends that I can ever remember having. I think the best part is that it fell on a Sunday and we had the following Monday off! We had the pleasure of having both Haley (4) and her cousin, McKenzie (6) the entire holiday weekend. So, I had a sneak peak of what it is like to have two girls. Boys, boys, boys! :)

On Saturday night, we went to the firework show put on in Veterans Park in Alabaster. It was sponsored by Kingwood Christian Church and it was wonderful! There was a ton of free stuff for the kids to do, a movie displayed at dark, and the fireworks were incredible! Unfortunately, no pictures.

On Sunday, we ate some barbecue and loaded up the kids to head out to a true Patriotic venue – American Village! We ended up missing most of the kids activities and thought we would make it to walk around and catch fireworks at dusk. Well, come 9:45pm, still no fireworks. They had a oldies cover band playing. They were actually pretty good, but when you have two whiny children who wanted to know where the fireworks were, we didn’t get to enjoy them and really wanted them to stop singing! We ended up picking an AMAZING seat…about 100 yards away from where they were being shot off. It was so cool! So loud..but so cool! The kids were laughing so hard because it felt like we were being invaded by fireworks!

There are some awesome places in Birmingham to catch fireworks if fighting the traffic downtown isn’t for you!

It was also great to spend some time at a place that is so special to me and Scott! The next event at American Village will be the wedding of someone you might know…..

A Trip to the Bayou

Two weekends ago, Scott and I took a quick trip to Baton Rouge, LA to visit with some of his Dad's side of the family, as well as buy LSU merchandise. Seriously!

As soon as we got into town, we headed straight for the campus!

Mike the Tiger (The Fifth) has a new cage on campus (right by the stadium), so we went to visit him!

Come on Mike, you won't even say "hello" to your biggest corndog fan? He really wasn't up for visiting because Baton Rouge was suffering from an extreme heat wave.

We headed to find some LSU merchandise! Scott was desperate to find a new sticker for his truck and I was ever-so-kind to find Haley a pretty cute seer-sucker LSU dress. I mean, I GUESS I'll let Scott have ONE Tiger cub!!

Scott was on the search for a Fleur-di-lis. OF COURSE, he had to pick the most obnoxious one out...EYE OF THE TIGER!

I mean, come on. I like a pretty, black, gold, or silver one...but Eye of the Tiger? Ha!

Scott's cousin was so gracious to host us for the weekend! We met him at a little hole-in-the-wall bar/restaurant called, "Sammy's". Now, for the Birmingham locals, when he told us to meet him at "Sammy's", I was a bit concerned. See, Birmingham has an oh-so-famous "gentleman's club", by the same name. So, when we rolled up and saw bars on the windows, we peeked in the window, and to our pleasure it resembled the "Cheers" type of establishment!

Wow!!! Sammy's Grill was incredible! Check the link out HERE! The homemade fried cheese...YUM! And I could have drank their house salad dressing....Parmesan Vinaigrette!!! Oh man...I mean, I tried to buy this recipe! It was SO good, that Scott and I went back for dinner that night!

We also ventured over to a little sports bar not far from the new baseball stadium called "Walk-Ons". Check it out HERE! We didn't eat, but we were able to watch some Alabama baseball (YES!!) and enjoy talking. Scott even discovered his new drink of choice..

..Rumple Minze.

If you like drinking peppermint Colgate, this one is for you!

We also went by the Mall of Louisiana to browse some more! I was tickled when I found these....

...Bahaha. (1) At least they know they smell like corndogs and (2) I LOVE that LSU fans have a great rivalry with Alabama! RTR!!!

We ended the trip by going back to see Mike the Tiger and much to Scott's liking..he was up!

Cool random fact about Mike the Tiger - one of my Dad's nurses when he was in the hospital trained 2 former Mike the Tigers! Small world!

I must say, Baton Rouge is a cool town! They have some incredible houses and great shopping! And of course, great eating! I also enjoyed watching Scott get so happy to be in a town he loves for so many reasons! We are looking forward to going back for some Alabama vs. LSU football and baseball games in the future! And, I'm looking forward to sporting some Crimson in the Bayou!!

Happy Memorial Day 2010!

Happy Memorial Day Friends!! I hope you all spent lots of time with family and remembering the true meaning of the special holiday!

Scott and I decided to get out and visit with his Mom and Step-Dad! They live in Jemison, which isn't far from Clanton, which isn't far from the..

We decided to load up and go get some...

..peach ice cream...

...peach turnovers..

...peaches and strawberries too! And I never can visit Scott's family without getting a bag full of his step-dad's Boiled Peanuts! DELICIOUS!!! (I wonder if you can have boiled peanuts at a wedding reception....)

We had a great time visiting with Scott's family and Scott even enjoyed getting to see a bus full of Tennessee Titan's cheerleaders on their way back from a camp..

(I opted not to look like a complete weirdo and snap pictures of these girls. I mean, the little redneck boys throwing stuff at them were traumatizing enough, I'm sure!)

We picked up Miss Haley and started to grill out!

Scott did an excellent job manning the grill!

We ate hamburgers, grilled corn..

..mixed fruit..

..and Parmesan new potatoes!

I think it was a success! Scott was so impressed with his grilling skills that he told me we are eating something grilled tonight and tomorrow! Woohoo! FINALLY!

And who doesn't finish up any good holiday without.....

..a holistic ear wax candle!!

Scott has wanted to try this because he heard from some other people how the treatment really helps! Haley was really amused...she kept saying, "I can't wait to see Daddy burn his ear!" 

I was really concerned about catching the couch on fire! It wasn't as exhilarating as I thought it would be, but entertainment, none-the-less!

Bottega Cafe - 2 Thumbs Up!

Saturday evening, Scott and I were in the mood to try something different and possibly sit outside. So, I hit Google and found a list of places you could eat outside! I had never been to Bottega or Bottega Cafe, so we were excited to venture that way for an early dinner!

We didn't opt to eat outside ( I think because the inside was so pretty!)

I don't eat any seafood, so the menu options are usually fairly limited at nice restaurants! But, we lucked up on this appetizer!

Homemade chips with a charred onion dip! YUM! If you like Barber's French Onion Dip, you'll love this!! (I hate to compare Bottega to Barber's, very different but both good in their own respects!)

I have to be honest, I looked the menu up before I came and knew we HAD to come when I saw this on the menu...

Cafe Macaroni & Cheese with a salad! YES PLEASE! The pasta was penne with three cheeses! The salad was simply greens tossed in their vinaigrette! DID THEY CREATE THIS FOR ME? I could go back everyday and eat this!! AWESOME!

Scott will eat just about anything, so he opted for...

The Pork cutlet sandwich. This came with a "green tomato mostarda, arugula, and caramelized onion". It came with some more of the delicious homemade chips!! I took a bite and loved the pork!

Scott and I NORMALLY do not get dessert (unless he is stalling trying to propose to me!)... but we couldn't pass up dessert after how great everything else was.

Strawberry Cake - featuring Alabama grown strawberries! AWESOME! The sauce was to die for! Scott and I had NO trouble finishing that off!

We were also very impressed with the price! I would have thought with an appetizer, two entrees, and dessert, we would have racked up a ticket. But, all that was $41! I think that's just about as expensive as Zaxby's!

Click here to learn more about Bottega and Bottega Cafe! I am so glad we ventured out and tried something new! We cannot wait to go back again!

I'm in Love with a Corndog!

Scott and I took in A LOT of baseball over the long weekend! We were excited to see LSU and Alabama both go undefeated throughout the SEC Tournament and face off on Sunday!

Sunday morning started out VERY rainy, so we weren't even sure that the game would go on as scheduled. Well, it did! There were a TON of people there..so many that we weren't even able to use our reserved parking spot. So, we hopped on the shuttle...

There ended up being two rain delays! We came back after the first, but ended up missing the last of the game. We found ourselves in the Publix parking lot listening to the last inning! It was such a great game! Bama came back and tied up the game in the 9th, sending it to 11 innings.

LSU came back and won it! It was a great game, despite the outcome!

And yes, I'm in love with a big ole' Corndog!!!!!

(For those of you that don't know the Corndog story...http://www.trackemtigers.com/2008/9/17/615889/it-s-still-true-lsu-fans-s)

And for those of you that want to hate on me for pulling for LSU baseball when they aren't playing Bama....one word..Mikey...

Looking forward to more games next year! The tournament is up for bid and I hope Hoover doesn't lose it! It's great entertainment right in our own backyard! 

Scott desperately needs your opinion...

Ok, Scott asked that I poll the audience. Scott really wants a pair of the Sketchers Shape Up shoes....I'll save my opinion of them... What do YOU think about these shoes?

What do you think of these shoes?

 
 

Weekend Recap!

So, unlike my glory days, my weekends are no longer spent sleeping in until 1pm, eating breakfast, and snoozing until 3pm. Here is my weekend recap, be envious:


Friday night - I was so excited to go and order my wedding bands!! Scott is so sweet to buy me two of them: one for the wedding and one for my birthday that is two days before the wedding! One of my Dad's very close friends owns the jewelry store where Scott has bought my rings. Dad delivered to him for 20+ years, so I thought it was very appropriate when I saw this pull up...

I love you too Daddy! I'm glad you approve of these rings too! :) (See, Dad was secretly involved in approving of my engagement ring too!)

And of course, I do what most 24-yr-olds do on Friday night.. GROCERY SHOP!! See, I'm not your average grocery shopper. I consider grocery shopping a mission, one which I prepare for about an hour to conquer! I'm happy to report I spent $72 and my bottom line savings was $68! Not to shabby!

Saturday: Haley had a league tournament Saturday. She played in games earlier on in the week that determined her team's seed. They played single elimination, and sadly (kinda..), they lost by one. See, I'm sad they lost, but I was glad not to have to spend all day at the ballpark! The last game was definitely bittersweet! Afterwards, Scott and I went and picked out his wedding ring! I'm glad to see all of these little odds and ends begin to start tying up! I'm glad he opted out of the diamonds and excess bling!

During the afternoon, Scott just so happened to start driving towards my sister's house...not to spend time with my sweet, adorable nephews, he wanted to play her Mother's Day present..the Wii. I took a nap while he...

..hit a few rounds of golf...and...

..boxed like Evander Holyfield.

After all that excitement, we wanted to eat where we could sit outside, so we headed to The Depot and enjoyed watching the waterfall!

We then rented two movies:

(1) Law Abiding Citizen - 1 1/2 thumbs up! It was a great plot, very intense and thought-provoking. But, a little gory for me!

(2) The Time Traveler's Wife - I will admit, I rented this because of the girl who plays in The Notebook....awful! Don't waste your money!

Sunday - I have to confess, I've been fighting a cold so I didn't make it to church. I slept in and later, we went to Scott's nephew's birthday party! It was great until the rain came in! But the kids had fun in this...

It was a fun weekend! Happy Monday to each of you! Hope the week goes by fast and you are feeling a little bit of summer wherever you are...We sure are!!

Accounting For This Life: What do you and your family do now that the weather is warming up?