Thank's Mr. Mailman

I may have a mini addiction to online shopping. I think it's something about browsing the internet before going to bed and finding things that you "just can't live without". My latest obsession/ search was for a cute camera strap. I never really noticed camera straps online or in person until I started looking for one. Once I started looking I saw them everywhere. I finally made my decision late Sunday night and purchased a lovely strap titled "Lauren" from Capturing Couture. It's part of their "Boho" collection.

Today I came home from work and saw this....

Little did I know the box would contain a CD

The fabulous strap

It's already on my Nikon and I love it!

Pardon my clothing attire- I'm waiting on Hubs to get home and head to the gym. I am glad I purchased this strap from this specific online retailer. They really exceeded my expectations with the fabric and detail. The strap is a velvet texture and was really easy to put on my camera. It also has a soft padding on the inside to help keep it comfortable on my neck. Now maybe Brent won't steal the camera since it's a bit "girly". By the way, I'm listening to the cd as I'm writing this and it's pretty catchy- very singer, songwriter-ish. I searched Etsy and a few other online retailers and the price of this specific strap was competitive with all the others I found. They accept paypal which made the transaction super easy as welll. If you're looking for a new strap you should check them out. 

Family Night

Tonight we celebrated Brent's youngest brother's birthday with a family meal. No family get together is complete without a little board game action. Tonight, they chose to play Blurt!

Good for me because I'm on the Blurt! all-star team. I'm currently on a 2 game winning streak (sidenote: 50 game LOSING streak on W.W.F.) I'd never seen or heard of it until Moriah drug it out last game night. The link up top gives great instructions on how to play. Including a head to head matchup for when two pegs land on the same block, never knew that! Happy Early Birthday Justin- Next time we will let you win on your birthday!

Brent all disguised up... Got to love embarrassing photos!

New Flickr Album

To see all the pictures from Justin & Jennifer's wedding please visit our flickr account. This blog will one day be more than a photo album, I promise! Pictures make me happy though. If I could quit my job and roam around taking pictures of interesting places & people I'd be thrilled. But hey, a 8-4:30 isn't too bad either. Hope everyone has a great Tuesday night. I'm a little lost without LOST. I guess that's just one less thing holding me back from hitting the gym with Brent. Got to love couples gym night followed by a Subway dinner.

Mexican Fiesta Rehearsal Dinner

Part 3 of the wedding weekend blog: The Rehearsal & Rehearsal Dinner. I loved taking pictures at Moriah & Michael's rehearsal but being in this wedding left me unable to take any pictures of this rehearsal. Kelsey (a groomsman's wife) took a few of Justin & Jennifer with my camera while we were all learning how the ceremony would go down.

The Happy Bride & her Itinerary 

"Is this over yet?"

After the rehearsal we went to the Thomas's church for a Mexican Fiesta. 

  

I think everyone had a great time eating and wearing sombreros. Justin did not want to put one on so Jennifer arranged a sneak attack and threw it on his head. It was pretty funny when it all went down.

Jenn's Bridal Luncheon

Jennifer had her Bridal Luncheon at Bernie's on Main Street. It was a huge success. Luncheons usually have dainty girly foods that are pretty but not filling. Not Jenn's, she let us order whatever we'd like and IT WAS GOOD. I think half the party had a grilled chicken sandwich with half fries/ half onion rings. How dainty is that? Regardless it was delicious and a good time was had by all. Here are a few pictures:

Moriah, Becky, Jennifer, Myself, Amy & Kate 

Mrs. Melinda & Her 3 New Daughter-in-laws

Jennifer had each bridesmaid pull a charm from the cake. Of course I ended up with "The old lady who had so many kids she didn't know what to do..but didn't live in a shoe" something along those lines. Brent was thrilled...

Thank You Michael & Justin for picking amazing sister-in-laws for me!

Justin & Jennifer -Sneak Peak-

I do not have time to upload and edit all the pictures from the "Justin & Jennifer Wedding Weekend". We are about to head to North Alabama to celebrate the rest of our Memorial Day Weekend with my side of the family. I couldn't leave home without posting a couple of images from this beautiful day. More to come, I promise. Enjoy!

The chapel at American Village

The Bridesmaid Bouquets

Beautiful Bride

Rockstars about to leave for their honeymoon 

9 Months Ago today it was OUR turn

Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Justin Lane Thomas. You were a beautiful couple and I can't wait to post more pictures from your entire weekend. Thank you for including this old married couple in your festivities. Have a wonderful time in Seaside!

I hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend. Maybe if we all do a "go away" rain dance we will see some sun on the lake tomorrow. 

A Cookin' Husband

That's what I had last night. He found a recipe in the Birmingham News last weekend and got to it. He purchased all his ingredients on his own at the grocery store last Sunday and treated me to mashed potato heaven. Yes, I'm too lazy to type the recipe out so here it is:

They were really good. It was a different flavor due to the pepper, onion and celery being mixed in.

Finished Product

There are only two of us here so we definitely had leftovers. I think it'd be a great dish to take to a family get-together. I'll make sure to let Brent cook they are sure to be delicious.

My handsome chef.. refusing the photo-op

chef's little helper...aka vacuum cleaner

Now to tonight, is anyone else bummed about how boring this American Idol finale is? I think the show has lived past it's prime. I have enjoyed all the Simon flashbacks but I wish they'd focused a bit more on Lee & Crystal. The winner hasn't been announced yet and I honestly don't mind who wins. Both appear to be stand-up honest people who deserve a shot at a career. Lee is my favorite though. I know they can both make it with or without wining the "Idol" crown. Who'd a thought they both auditioned 2 days after our wedding? They've been doing this since then? That is a long time. 

Just think, since then we've visited where it's all going down tonight

and while we were there we saw a really awesome sign...

Just announced: Lee Dewyze!!!! Hip Hip Hooray!!!!

my husband called that one too... Goodnight all.

Catching Up

This past weekend at the lake was FUN. I had no idea I would laugh so much at a group of girls I hardly knew before entering the "cabin". When I say cabin I mean Monster of a lake house. It was beautiful. I wish I could afford a place like that to spend summers with all those that I love and enjoy being around. I will post some pics (that I took with my crappy phone camera) of the cabin one day soon. My cousin Ana is getting married on June 19th. My sisters and I are both in the wedding.

(These pictures were swiped off Facebook. I forgot to take a camera)

The Bridesmaids (minus Meagan) in front of the fountain & flowerbed

Us surrounding the Bride

Modeling our new towel wraps, Thanks Ana! 

(bathing suits are underneath)

As you know, Emily spent the weekend with us. I woke up Monday morning and wondered where she was. I forgot she wasn't asleep in our guest room. She and I hit up the shops Thursday afternoon. We found some great deals at TJ Maxx, New York & Company, Belk, Express & Old Navy. Brent almost had a panic attack when we walked in at half past eight. We'd been out and about since 3:15. (No damage to my bank account was done though- I kept the tab under $80 and even bought someone a gift. ) We had dinner at Kobe. I swear I'd eat Japanese food every day if Brent let me. Charlie was sad when his "Auntie Em" as he calls her left. He laid in front of the fireplace and pouted for an hour while I napped. Staying up late at the lake on Friday night wore me out. I just now feel like I've recovered. 

Hanging out before she left

Charlie knows how to strike a pose

Life will not slow down in the next few days. We've got our 3rd and final Thomas family wedding this Saturday. I can't wait. I hope everyone has a great Wednesday. Be sure to come back tomorrow for pictures of the dinner Brent's in the kitchen slaving over tonight... should be ineresting!

Mini-Me is coming to visit!

My sister is on her week long vacation from the bank. She works (pretty much full-time) and goes to school online/ and in person. She has grown up so much in the past year. Needless to say she's developed an interest in shopping....just like me! The best part of this new found passion she has is that she wants ME to help her. How happy am I? (Sidenote: most of the shopping happens when my Memaw & G'Ma get together and let me pick things out for her since she's always at work) Good news is that my work has been insane this week and I've had to go in an hour early each day. I am going to skip out of there at 3 tomorrow and meet my sis for some afternoon browsing, a good dinner out then probably stay up late chit chatting. What else are sisters for? In honor of my sister deciding to spend 3 of her vacation nights with me I think I'll post some pictures and take you down memory lane...

we slept all night in this bathtub

Halloween 1993

Exploring the birthplace of Elvis

Family Beach trip 2008

Christmas 2008

Maid of Honor

Needless to say I can hardly contain my excitement. I have to work on Friday but after that we are heading to the lake for our cousin's bachelorette/ lingerie shower. I'm glad that I get a chance to hang out with Emily (my sister) because it seems like the 4 year age difference always kept us at different places in our lives. When I went to college she started high school. When I graduated college she started...Now we both have big girl jobs (kudos to her for working all the time too) and have more to talk about. Faith, Family and Charlie. Kidding about Charlie but she SURE loves my boy. I'll be sure to post pictures from our adventure together. And Brent, I promise I won't go crazy in TJMaxx... just an item or two :)

Check out her blog: (she never writes but it's super cute)

Tim McGraw Concert

The concert was great. I'm not going to lie.. I was a little skeptical beforehand. The last outdoor country concert we went to didn't live up to the hype (Kenny Chesney). It was fine but did not come close to putting on a show like Dave Matthew's did a few months before. However, Tim McGraw rocked it out. We had a great time. I bought the tickets for Brent for Valentine's Day. He had a good time... Mexican food, Music and a night out. Can't beat that.

I took a suggestion from Life with a Lab and bought a new book (Love the One You're With) at Costco today. I've already read a few chapters. I hope to finish it soon and knock off 1 book from my 101 in 1001 list. Off to prepare for tomorrow... work, work, work - Have a happy Monday!