First Anniversary

Well it has taken me three days to get this posted...just haven't been able to devote enough time to the 'ole blog...

Steven and I celebrated our first anniversary a few weeks ago in California.

on our way to Cali...

first stop, Oggi's! We were starving and it turned out to be a great place...thanks to yelp :)

the first night, we took a cocktail cruise out of Newport Beach, on what was originally John Wayne's yacht

This is John Wayne's original bedroom on the yacht, and the kid's bunks.

These pictures of Steven are my favorite from the entire trip! They were so nice to let him drive the boat!

We had such a great time on this little cruise, and boy am I glad that I wore pants, because otherwise I would have froze! Finally had to put my sweater on towards the end.

Not sure what was going on, on this boat, but they were definitely have a big party!

First morning at breakfast...next stop Disneyland!

It was real overcast when we got there that morning, so I was almost regretting my decision on not wearing jeans...but by mid day, I was glad I didn't have them one. The weather was absolutely perfect...in the 70's...never broke a sweat! So nice!!

First ride...Space Mountain, of course! The bottom left picture is us standing in line to ride.

Funny story about the picture on the top right of the collage above...we wanted our picture here together, so we stood around for a few minutes, scoping out someone we would ask to take our picture. There's this young Asian girl standing there by herself and Steven asks her if she would like him to take her picture, and she was like, yes, that would be great. So she walks back to get her camera and he asks her to take our picture. She took several of us. So then we thank her and are about to walk away and she asks if she can get a picture with me!! I was getting ready to tell her no thank you, and Steven's like, sure I'll take y'alls picture!! So I go stand next to her and smile...thinking this is so strange but whatever! So if you see a picture of me and some strange girl at Disneyland floating around the internet, just think nothing of it!!

Coming out of the Star Tours ride...it was great!!

Here's another strange one. I just haven't seen this little device before now...but I can tell you it would have to come in handy if you are travelling in a pair and like to have your picture taken together (like me!)

We actually stood in line for a little while to get our picture made with this guy...but I was not going to leave Disney without getting it!

Next day...Los Angeles!!

Well lookie there, Steven found his name on Hollywood Blvd :)

we ended up doing a tour around Hollywood and Beverly Hills and it was a lot of fun...got to see places where all the famous people hang out! Unfortunately, we didn't run into any of them.

Rodeo Drive and no we did not buy anything! I couldn't convince Steven that I needed another Coach purse. I will mention that the store with the blue awning, Bijan, is the most expensive store on Rodeo Drive. Their suits start at $15k and you can shop only by appointment.

We visited the Farmer's Market too and it was a great area with all kind of food options and shopping.

We had lunch at a great little Greek place

Our last day in California, we drove down to Huntington Beach for the day.

All these surfers just hanging out in the ocean, waiting for the perfect wave!

this guy managed to catch one

a few shots from the pier/boardwalk area

that night, our anniversary, Steven surprised me with dinner at Orange Hill Restaurant in Orange, CA

a few photos in the room before we leave...thanks to the tripod!!

I'm not one to take pictures of my food, but this place was all about some presentation, so I couldn't resist!

Isn't that the cutest little bottle of Tabasco sauce??

my chicken (I know...what else would I order??)

Steven's mahi mahi

Both dishes were wonderful!!

our dessert...fabulous!!

this place had the best view of the city...Steven definitely did a fabulous job finding this restaurant!!

one last picture before we leave

We had such a wonderful time in California and absolutely enjoyed the nice weather with no humidity!!

Summer's winding down...

It is so sad to think that this past weekend was one of our last weekends at the lake for the summer. With football just around the corner, preparing for an addition to our family, and various other things, it's going to be busy the next few weeks/months. Looking forward to some very exciting times!

Glad we were able to spend one of our last weekends on the water with all of our family...grandparents (not that they even made it to the pier) aunts, uncles, cousins, and all.

Love how Dad is conveniently leaning over to get out of the picture...

We all got some lovin' on Caleb, my cousin's little boy. Doesn't he look so cute in his Bama outfit? I told him to be sure to save this one, because Fulton would love to borrow this next year.

Outside of a family wedding picture (almost a year ago...where some people weren't looking at the camera), we haven't taken a family picture in a few years. And depsite all of the whining, this turned out to be a fairly decent picture.

Just realized this picture is in the collage above...oh well, you can enjoy it again :)

We also threw Patrick and Amber...the soon to be newlyweds...a little surprise wedding shower. Patrick was mostly excited about the gigantic spoon they received...known to most of us as a spoon rest. He was all smiles when we brought out a tool box for him filled with all kind of "man stuff". I mean, men can only get so excited about dishes.

Congrats to Amber & Patrick!

Sunday was super hot, so most of our time was spent in the water. Caleb loved his first time in the lake too!

Yes, this is sis and bro-in-law! I think they both were a little delirious in this picture.

Baby shower for my nephew

I cannot believe I forgot to post pictures of the baby shower for my soon to be nephew! Kristen's camera had lots more pictures, so be sure to check out her blog for more pictures.

First I must show you these precious items I found on etsy...aren't they so cute? I cannot wait for him to wear this little onesie.

This is what you saw when you walked up to the door to enter the house. I found something similar to this one another blog and sent it to Mom. She was like, I can totally make that...which is exactly why I sent it to her :) This matches Fulton's bedding

Right inside the front door...a glimpse of the food table.

Don't you just love that my bridal portrait and high school senior portraits are just staring back at you in the background?? Kristen's are on the other side of the china cabinet...but were cut off in this picture.

The diaper cake that Mom and I did...we had such a good time making this.

A sweet friend made these adorable cupcakes. I gave her the colors we were using at the shower and she matched the icing and the little chocolates perfectly. Oh and they were delicious too!

These were a last minute idea, but I thought they turned out pretty cute.

Ok, I will admit it, I stole this idea as well. It was just too cute, to not use it.

Each of the hostesses brought a onesie to add to the clothesline.

Me, Kristen, and Mom

Kristen's wonderful assistant that wrote down all of the gifts that day, Katie, Kristen and Sara Katherine

And all of the hostesses! These ladies helped me make this shower so perfect and fun for Kristen and Fulton. We were so sad that Doretta and Denise could not be there...we definitely missed them!

the Rawlins and Monroe sisters...we go way back :)

Fulton is pretty much set on most of the essentials! I absolutely cannot wait to meet this precious one!