When You Wish Upon A Star...

Today we volunteered with Hands on Charlotte as part of the Disney Give a Day, Get a Day program.  I've probably been saying for the last 5 or 6 years that I want to go to Disney World.  And with Susan and Mike (Barrett's mom and stepdad) living in Florida, I thought I was getting closer to actually being able to go. Then...thank you Disney!  They started a program this year that gives you a free day pass to a Disney World theme park if you give a day of service in your community.

We hooked up with Hands on Charlotte, part of the national Hands On Network, and worked on clearing a space at a local elementary school for an outdoor science lab.  Basically, we completely demolished the school's courtyard to make way for new gardens and projects from each grade level.  We cleared out bushes, took down trellises, and dug up roots.  It was a beautiful day outside and we actually had a good time!

We are so looking forward to our trip to Florida in May!  Can't wait to visit the Happiest Place on Earth!

Beech Mountain

I got to go up to Beech Mountain this past weekend to do a little snowboarding and hang out with my good friend Doug. It was a blast! They had just gotten 20 inches of new snow but it was already cleared off the roads so no problem getting up to Beech. Once we got to the house we had to shovel some snow just to get the cars off the street - which is a lot harder than you think if you have never had to clear snow before. Doug had two of his friends plus they all brought along dogs (which I wasn't aware of or maybe I would had Buddy come along). We hung around the house and watched the Olympics before deciding to try our hand at bobsledding down the ice covered roads behind the house. I ended up in a snow bank and ripped my pants but it might have been the best sledding I have ever done.

Next day it took a while to get everyone up and moving but we got to the slope early enough to get a couple of good runs and then it started to get crowded. The conditions were great. They couldn't blow snow because it was about 45-50 degrees and with all the recent snow they had all the slopes open plus no ice anywhere. I was worried, since I haven't been in two years, that it would take a while to get back into it but it was like riding a bike you never forget. We stayed until they kicked us off and headed back to the house to get ready for the night. We lucked out and they actually had a band playing up on the mountain at the only local bar. So the trip was a lot of fun and I am glad I went but now I am getting sick so I might be paying for it the next few days.

Here's a couple of photos from the weekend.

-Barrett

Good Day, Sunshine!

Thank goodness for sunshine!

It was a beautiful day here in Charlotte - and pretty much everywhere else too I think! I was in serious need of some warmth and sunlight. Barrett enjoyed the day on Beech Mountain, snowboarding with friends. What a weirdo, right? It finally warms up and he heads to Boone where there was about 20 inches of new snow this week!

Buddy and I enoyed part of the day on walks. We went for 4 today which is at least twice as many as normal. :-) The first warm/sunny day always makes Buddy pretty excited. He even got to play with a friend in the neighborhood! I also got a little early spring cleaning done...windows open, music on...it was time to get out of the winter funk!

Hope everyone is enjoying the sunshine as much as we are!

And the Greatest of these is Love...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today we celebrate our love for all the special people in our lives...family, friends, and pets. :-) We're taking it low key (considering our anniversary is in three weeks!). Barrett made yummy pancakes this morning. Heart and flower shaped ones at that! We enjoyed Dominican coffee (brought home from our honeymoon) in our new his and hers coffee mugs. Then we did our taxes. Fun. Later - we got in the kitchen and worked on making spaghetti and meatballs (my mom's recipe). We started doing that about 4 or 5 years ago...and we thought, "Why not make it our little Valentine's tradition?" So, we did! We hit up the Redbox and rented Love Happens and had some wine on the couch, in our PJs, with Buddy. Breakfast and dinner at home, a cheesy romantic comedy, some good wine...what more do you need?!

We hope your day is as special as ours is. We love you!
XOXO

Our new coffee cups. :-)

Happy Valentine's Day from Buddy!

Barrett slaving over a hot griddle.

Heart-shaped pancakes

Flower-shaped pancakes.

Not a Weight-Watchers friendly breakfast...but delicious!

Our yummy spaghetti dinner...also not WW friendly. :-)

Dessert, wine, and a movie. Perfect end to a perfect day.

2010 - Getting Things Started on the Right Foot

I know...it's been almost 4 months since we last posted where we are in life. I have excuses - good ones too I think! But - let's just start the year off on the right foot. One of our New Years resolutions was to be better about updating our blog - letting our friends and family that we don't see often enough stay updated on our little family. We promise to update on a regular basis, even we we really don't have exciting things to talk about. So, I guess we promise to bore you with random details and happenings. Excited yet? :-)

So...what's new since October?

Jamaica was great! Travis and Anna both looked amazing and the resort was just as beautiful. We had a blast on a catamaran tour - climbing Dunn's River Falls and snorkeling. It was too short of a trip, but we are so thankful to have been able to go. Anna and Travis will have wonderful memories of their wedding, and we will have such special memories of our first birthdays old married folks. Thanks for getting married there guys! :-) I've posted a couple of pictures from the trip...Matt - we'll email you the rest so you can live vicariously through us.

On the Catamaran to Dunn's River Falls

Our first splash in!

Slide off the back of the boat.

Me and the Beautiful Bride

With the Crawfords!

Barrett's Birthday Breakfast

November was relatively low key. We spent a great weekend in Richmond with Matt and Lora following the ECU/Va Tech game. Buddy had a blast with their dog Cody, and we had a blast with our best friends. We spent Thanksgiving at our house...again. One day, Barrett's really going to get some time off around the holidays and we'll visit family. Until then, we're happy to take care of our friends. :-) We're also lucky that Jeff and Cindy (Barrett's dad and stepmom) live so close and that Rachel and Bubba aren't against making the trip to Charlotte. December brought busy holiday weekends and our First Annual Tacky Christmas Sweater Party! Our friends went all out and really took the Tacky theme to the limits! Here's a picture or two to give you a taste...
 

Looking Good.

Barrett and the guys...Yes, this was their idea.

Rebecca and the girls from work.

We spent Christmas at home. Susan and Mike came into town a few days before Christmas. Matt, Jenna, and Landon came in Christmas Day. We were so happy to be able to spend Christmas with family this year! Jeff and Cindy came over Christmas night and we had a great Christmas dinner and lots of fun. Having a baby (well, I guess Landon's not really a baby anymore!) in the house was tons of fun! As most kids do, I think he was into the boxes and paper more than the gifts!

For New Years, we headed to the deep south and spent some time with my family in Louisiana and Mississippi. New Years Eve was a blast! We had a bonfire at my mom's in MS...Barrett kicked my butt in darts, we roasted marshmallows and hotdogs, and sang at the top of our lungs to every song that came on the radio. The neighbors the next day said we appeared to have "had a really good time." We did. :-) Then, we headed west a bit more to LA. It was COLD which was a bit of a change of pace...we're talking temps in the teens! Who knew we should have packed big winter coats? We got to eat good food (A LOT of it) and I even learned how to shoot a handgun. I felt pretty hardcore. :-)

At the end of January, Barrett and I celebrated 8 amazing years being together. We can't believe it's been so long! We count our blessings each day for each other.

So, now here we are, 2 months in to 2010. We hope you all have started the new year off with a bang.

Talk with you soon...we promise!