Happy Birthday Daddy!

Happy Birthday to my Daddy! The picture above really describes exactly what he loves to do. He loves to just sit on the beach and "realize" as he says. He loves to listen to the waves.
This is Kelly, Daddy, Mama, Russell and me at our rehearsal dinner. I love my daddy so much. He is the best daddy ever. I know I have mentioned this before, but he is so passionate in everything he does. He works so hard at his job. He is so good to mama and all of his family, he is a dedicated deacon at church, ...wow there are so many things to list, I just can't list them all. Daddy I love you so much! Happy Birthday! Love, Meredith

Weekend

Since we didn't get to move on Saturday, Russell and I decided to have a very low key weekend. Friday night, we got Gusano's pizza-very good pizza! We also rented the movie, Baby Mama. It really is a cute movie. It was really hilarious too!
Saturday morning we went to the promenade and bought 2 wonderful candles. We both love Yankee Candle and love their Fall scents. Fall Festival is burning in our apartment right now and it is sooo superb!
And we also got Cinnamon and Sugar candle. It smells great too! We went to church this morning and it was really good. We sang wonderful songs like "In Christ Alone" and "Shout to the Lord." So now, we are about to start another busy week! Hope ya'll have a great one!

Wedding Pictures from September 8th 2007

Quite a few bloggers are participating in posting their wedding pics and I, of course had to jump in on the fun! HA! Ya'll, I absolutely ADORE weddings. I mean, I think I had our wedding planned (as far as colors, some flowers) by the time I was ......oh I don't know...I just know I have always known what I wanted for our wedding! Here are many pictures! I hope ya'll enjoy! The picture above is my cousin, Ann Marie putting my necklace on.
My mom helping me with my veil. This veil was worn by her and my sister, Kelly.
I thought this was a sweet picture of my cousins, Emily (a bridesmaid) and Camylle (a flower girl). Emily lives here in NWA and Camylle lives in Washington D.C.
I love this picture. This was taken before the wedding.

Peeking around the door! This is Lauren (my niece) and Caleigh.

Me with my mama and daddy
Me with Kelly and Lauren
This was taken after the wedding but this is the wedding party!

So sweet

Birdseed was EVERYWHERE!!!

Russell and I have been happily married now for a little over a year. The year just flew by. We really had a dream wedding. Our parents really helped make that happen. Thank you for coming to see some of our wedding pictures!

Modeling, Fall, and Moving on Saturday?.....Maybe not!

Today has been busy but good. Today I met my friend Paige at lunch. We went to Johnny Carino's-one of my favorites (really ANY Italian is!). We had so much fun and had a great visit. Also, we are both Mary Kay star consultants. Last quarter, star consultants celebrated w/ a luau. I posted pics of that in May. So this time we are all going to be "models!" HA! I could never be a real model of course but each "star" gets to go to Cato and pick out an outfit to model for Tuesday nights fashion show. It's really just for fun. So Paige and I picked out our outfits together. I will post about that later!

The weather here has been absolutely marvelous!!! No, no beautiful Fall leaves yet, but it sure does feel like Fall right now! Okay now, about moving....we can't move on Saturday! The builder won't have everything done and paperwork won't be done until next week! So, alas, our plans were shifted! Oh well! That's how things happen. The positive thing about not moving until next week is we have MORE TIME to box everything up!

So I hope you all have a great week!!!

Movin' On

Saturday is the big moving day! I hate to admit this, but I haven't really packed...one...thing. I know! I am going to start tonight. To be honest, I don't even know how to get started! CRAZY! I mean, I know ya'll have some "quick moving tips". So please let me know when you comment! I know...get boxes, but I am more concerned about packing the fragile things. Anyway, ya'll can just tell me what you did and that would help!

September 11th

Today it has been 7 years. I cannot believe it. I remember the day it happened. I was a counselor's aide for 1st period in high school. There was always a tv in the side room in the counselor's office. The tv was on at the time. I am pretty sure it was around 8:30 a.m or 9. Then we overheard them talking on the news about what happened. We were all sooo shocked and sad. During the rest of the school day, we watched our tv's in our classrooms.

A few years ago, Lisa Beamer wrote this book, Let's Roll! It is so good. I remember when I read it, I couldn't put the book down. It told the true story about her husband, Todd Beamer. He was a hero on one of the planes. He was also a great Christian. So if ya'll haven't read this book, go read it.

Again, I still can't believe it. Even now I am speechless. God Bless America!

To Teach is to Touch a Life Forever

This morning I went to a substitute teacher orientation. I decided to start substituting this year! I will work for the Bentonville School District! Go Tigers! We learned so much today. The orientation/training went from 8 to 2:30 today so it was long. My mama has been a teacher forever and my sister, Kelly is a teacher also. So I have basically grown up around teaching! It's so rewarding. In the past, I have worked at pre-schools, taught Sunday School and all. My mama has a cute pillow at her house that reads, "To teach is to touch a life forever." I think that is so neat. So I am so excited. I am mainly going t substitute for 3yrs to 6th grade. We are still packing! ha!

The Story of the Veil

My mama wore this veil when she and daddy got married. Kelly also wore this veil and really wanted what we call, "the poof" made from her veil. It was the style!!! So I definitely wanted to wear the veil for my wedding. This is Lauren wearing the veil. Mama, Kelly and I played around one day when I was engaged. She had so much fun. So I did wear it without the poof!
This is a fun picture we took
And here is Lauren again with another flower girl, Caleigh. I thought it was such a precious picture!

It is really cooling down here in NWA. It's wonderful weather. Tomorrow I am going to a substitute orientation for training. I will start subbing soon probably this month. And we are moving in less than 2 weeks!

Our 1 Year Wedding Anniversary!!!

Today is such a special day! Russell and I got married on September 8, 2007. Today is our one year anniversary! I remember sooo much about that day. When I think of our wedding day here is what I think of: wonderful friends and family helping me calm my nerves in the morning, wonderful brides brunch with my bridesmaids, pink and brown roses and white lilies, pink hypericum berries (can ya'll tell I LOVE flowers?!!), thinking about Russell and how I couldn't wait til those wedding bells chimed at 5 p.m., my beautiful and handsome wedding party, sharp looking ring bearer who is also the best nephew ever-Logan, and my niece Lauren who is the best niece ever. She was the flower girl and so were Caleigh and Camylle. They loooked precious. Most of all, I remember walking down the aisle with Daddy and seeing Russell. It was so special. I remember looking at Mama too when I almost got to Russell.
Here is the wedding party! Russell and I love all of these special people so much We were so honored to have them be a part of the wedding.
And here we are-one year later! We are So happy and we know God has blessed us so much. Today was special. We still are working on the house so I did that today and so it's coming together!
These are our cards and I made an anniversary quiz for Russell and gave him M&M Premiums. Our anniversary gift to each other is the house. But Russell and I are going to Branson this weekend also.

Tonight, we went to Ruth's Chris Steak House to celebrate. Oh my goodness it was SO good!! So as a "tradition," we are watching our wedding dvd now and looking at pictures. So I say to my sister, Kelly, "Are you surprised?!" Because ever since she got married (13 years ago) I have LOVED watching her wedding video. I still love it to this day! Hey-weddings are one of my favorite things! :) So Russell, when you read this,I wish you a very special and happy anniversary. Thank you for being wonderful you! I Love You!

P.S. I may post a couple wedding stories later this week! :)

Barbeque Chicken from the Blonde Cookbook and going to Camden

I promised ya'll that I would post this recipe so here it is! I got this from the "Any Blonde Can Cook" Cookbook! It is soo funny and has bunches of recipes in it. Here is one of my favorites. And it seems that every recipe I post is chicken! Hey-I was raised this way! My family LOOVES chicken!!

Barbeque Chicken

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4-6 bacon strips (one piece of bacon per chicken breast)
1 9 oz bottle honey barbeque sauce
8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Line 9x13 baking dish with foil, overlapping enough to cover chicken.
Place chicken in dish and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Cover each chicken with bacon strips.
Top with barbeque sauce and cover with foil.
Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes.
Broil last 10 minutes until bacon is crisp.
Top chicken with cheese and broil until melts.

That's it! It's as simple as that, ya'll! I like to serve this with green beans and crescent rolls. I am so sorry there is no picture but I am telling you-it is a winner everytime with this recipe! So ya'll get cooking!!! You won't regret making this recipe!!!

Russell and I are headed to South Arkansas again and we will get to visit with our families. So we will be back Sunday! Hope ya'll have a GREAT weekend!!! Make that recipe!!! :)

Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do!......Choir!

Last night was choir practice at church, like every Wednesday. I got SO excited because first of all, we sang just awesome songs. Also, we even started practicing a little Christmas music!!!! Some music is from Michael W. Smith-one of my VERY favorite artists. It is from his former Christmas cd. And ya'll---the music is BEAUTIFUL!!!!!! It was a little hard practicing it at first because hey-it was the first time we practiced it. But I am sure that by December, it will be perfect! Last year was when Russell and I were visiting FBC Bentonville and saw one of the Christmas concerts. I think it was the candle light service. Now this year I will be part of Hanging of the Green, and other Christmas services. I love choir. It is just a wonderful opportunity to be a part of it. Every person in choir gives their absolute best and it's special to know we are all giving our best. And our Worship Leader, Bro. Ken is so awesome also. I just wanted to share my excitement with yall about our choir!

Fireproof

Two years ago, a wonderful movie came out in theaters. It was Facing the Giants. What an AWESOME movie! It is a Christian movie that has a wonderful lesson to it. So from the creators of Facing the Giants, comes....
Fireproof! I am sooo looking forward to this movie. This focuses on marriage and how God says marriage should be. I cannot wait to see this movie. It will be great!