My Best Friend's Wedding

Remember that movie? "Before I put on my make-up, I say a little prayer for you! Forever, Forever you'll stay in my heart...." OK music montage over. Anyway, my best friend Amanda, who was also in my wedding (see below) got married! 



Getting her hair did for my wedding (she's going to kill me).

The wedding weekend started Friday with the bridesmaid luncheon. We had a wonderful, laid back lunch at a local resturaunt, Girlfriends. Amanda gave each of us the signature wedding flip-flops made by Aunt Becky and Beverly and a button-down shirt with our initials on them. 

Allie, the flower girl & entertainer, and I at the Bridesmaid Luncheon

The bride and I




The crew with their Bridesmaid's gifts

After having lunch we went to get our toes and nails done for the BIG day. I guess I should tell my funny/embarassing story that happend to me while we were there. I was sitting in one of the pedicure chairs talking to my friend Kaley while her toes dried. As we were talking we noticed that the chair next to mine was overflowing with water. As Kaley tried to get the attention of the girl getting her toes done I got up from my chair and totally missed the step down from the platform where the chairs sit. As I wave my arms in the hair I manage to grab the chairs that the people sit in while giving the pedicures. However I did not realize until I grabbed it that it had wheels on them. So you know what happens next; the chair rolls as do I. I feel flat on my face! Everyone in the place died laughing! Thank goodness most of the people in the place were with us and that I only have a few brusies on my knees and arms from my fall. Did I mention I am kind of a clutz?

After all our toes are pink and my face was no longer red from embarrassement we got ready for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.


Katie, Darrell, Josh, and I at the Rehearsal Dinner




Heath and Amanda listening to his dad's speech.

After hours of getting beautiful and taking lots of pictures Amanda and Heath's time had come. It was a beautiful ceremony and I was so happy to be apart of their special day. I wish them nothing but luck in their marriage. Being married is a wonderful thing because you always have your best friend by your side.

We looked good! :)

The Bride and I.



My handsome hubby and I.



CMA Fest 2012

We're back! We had an amazing, hot, awesome, memory filled, no injuries, great time! Yes it was extremely hot, but I made sure to stay hydrated at all times. I think I drank about 10 gallons of water during our trip! I also think I walked about 10 miles while in Nashville. But it was all worth it!

Here's how our days were spent. Concerts started around 10:00 in the morning, however with a group of 10 we never got there before 11:30. There were several stages around downtown Nashville, but we mostly stayed at the Riverfront Stage (below).

Each concert lasted about 30 minutes so we got to see a lot of artists during the day. Most of the artists that played during the day were just starting out (Lee Brice, Jerrod Niemann, David Nail, Glorianna, etc.), or were big at one time (Jo Dee Messena, Sawyer Brown, Neil McCoy). These concerts were great because they played their most popular songs and then maybe 1 or 2 songs I didn't know. They also did cover songs or songs from other artists they helped write. For example Lee Brice wrote Crazy Girl, but the Eli Young Band are the ones with the song out. The only complaint was the heat! It was soo toasty out, but I had expected that and dressed accordingly. I also had to make sure that I wore tube tops because my best friend gets married this weekend and I couldn't have any tan lines!

At night, concerts were held at LP Field (where the Tenn. Titans play). These usually started around 7:00, but again with 10 people trying to get ready and out the door we usually didn't arrive until 8-ish. Which this was OK because we didn't really want to see the first act each night; let's just say we weren't old enough to enjoy those artists. I think I stood the entire night. I also think I sang and danced the whole time too. I love music and I love concerts, so I enjoyed myself thoroughly!

I recommend CMA Fest to anyone who likes Country Music. You get to see popular artists and also artists that are just starting out. I hope to return next year.






Stay tuned because my best friend gets married this weekend. Yayyayaya!!

Road Trip!

Tomorrow the Fryers will make the trip to the home of Country Music... Nashville, TN! We will be attending CMA Music Fest. Go here and check it out. I love music festivals, so I jumped at the chance to go. It's going to be H-O-T (and I don't mean all the country music stars we are going to see)! I will make sure to give you all a wrap up of our week when we return!

Mud Mania

So back in October I started this work out group with some of the ladies I teach with. We meet about 4 days a week and our "trainer" (I say this lightly because he may look intimidating, but he's the nicest guy you'll meet) is a former Alabama football player that now coaches at our school. I have definitely noticed a difference since starting; I'm stronger, my endurance has changed, I sleep better and just all around healthier. Now I'm not saying I'm an extreme health freak because I am a Southern Lady and I love me some food, but I am eating more fruit and veggies.

Anyway a couple of months ago a friend of mine told me about this race that was happening in Auburn called Mud Mania. It's like an obstacle course/ 5K. So one night at workouts I mentioned it to one of the girls in my group and she was all pumped about signing up. So after talking to the other girls we decided we would train and check it off our Bucket Lists. We trained for a couple of months working on our arm strength, running massive hills, and other out of control workouts.

The last weekend in March was the race, so we all piled in a 15 passenger van with our neon pink t-shirts (thanks to a lovely friend whose husbands has a t-shirt business) and bandannas and headed for Auburn. We didn't really know what to expect, we had read the description of the each obstacle on the website, but I had to see it with my own two eyes to fully understand what I had gotten myself into. The day before the race it had come a huge rain storm so everything was nice and muddy for us. We checked in and "fellowshipped" before the race started. There were a couple people that had gotten injured in races before ours which made us a little nervous. They even had to close one of the obstacles down because people kept getting hurt...yikes!

So the time came for our race and boy were we pumped! The first obstacle was to run through a pond (that by the way is in the middle of a cow pasture) filled with Lord knows, but we trucked through laughing the whole time. I think that was the theme of the whole run, laughter, because we did A LOT of that! The mud was horrible! It was so bad that there was no way you could run; it was so slippery that you would start to run and you would bust it! There was one point where you had to run against the current of a small creek. However because of the rain the night before this creek was more like a rapid! I was so thankful for those awful leg workouts we were pushed to do.

I completed the race with all my limbs and none of them hurt. I had a great time and I even got a medal for completing it. I recommend this to anyone who wants a good laugh and a good time. Below are some pictures from the race!

 Just trying to survive!

 My only injury-the bruise this guy's knee gave me coming down the slip-n-slide!

 The youngins' before the race!

 We weren't so clean afterwards, but we still looked cute!

 Enjoying the van ride to Auburn; getting our hair braided and telling stories!

The lovely ladies in the back of the bus!

Guess Who's Back? Back Again!

Yes it's true I'm making a comeback (for the 3rd, or maybe 4th time) in the blogging world! Blogging is tough stuff when you're as busy as Josh and I. There has been a lot of funny school stories, traveling, McAbee softball games, attempts at being crafty, and other shenanigans!

My goal this summer is to become a better blogger, housekeeper, crafter, organized teacher, and chef! I hope I can semi-accomplish this list....we'll see!

Happy Birthday Colt!

Sorry it has taken me so long to blog again, but I've been super busy. I know you are all dying to know how my lovely Chinese student is doing. Well we are making progress. Our teaching assistant has taken him under her wing. He still calls us "teacher," but we found out that in China they address their teacher with their first name followed by "teacher." So we're used to it now. He is so funny and you can't help but laugh at some of the things he does and says. He tells me everyday if the lunch we are having is "China's food." Then he tells us thank you at the end of every school day. I catch myself always looking for him and starting panic when I do not see him right away. Let's just say he keeps us 2nd grade teachers on our toes.

So back to the title of my post, last weekend Josh and I went to Phenix City to celebrate Colt's first birthday. If you don't know Katie and I have been friends all our lives. Our mothers were friends, our fathers were friends, so of course our children will be friends. I am still amazed that we are at an age now that we are having our own children's birthdays!!! Christmas was the last time we were in town, so it was good to catch up with friends! I look forward to many more of these birthday parties. We're all grown up now!!!




The Russell's trying to get Colt to dig into his cake.





The birthday boy with his cake. Such a cutie!!




Did I mention it was Katie's birthday too. Happy Birthday Katie and Colt!!

Welcome to America!

Oh the joys of being a school teacher. The school I teach at has a partnership with the Mercedes Benz plant in nearby Vance, AL. Because of this we get a lot of German families that come over to work for Mercedes and their children attend TA. These children are for the most part sweet, polite, smart children. There are a few that have a special place in my heart. They are so happy to be here in America that they want to learn and do and visit America as much as possible. The families go on the best vacations and have great stories and photographs from their trips. Oh did I mention they love to give their teachers German Chocolate?!?! It is delicious!

However this post is not about my sweet little Von Trap German students. No, in fact this is a story about our new Chinese student. Yes, Chinese. There is a small group of families that have come to America for work reasons and their children are attending TA for the time they are here. When the students come to America they are given an "American" name. It is interesting how they come up with these names. I think they pick names that apply to their personalities. Anyway our student arrived on Monday and he was quite....for about the first 10 minutes. He has one tone when he talks.....VERY LOUD. Yes I know what you are saying, "Meagan you are VERY LOUD!" No it is worse. He does not know any of our names, so we are addressed as "TEACHER! TEACHER!" "TEACHER TEACHER I NEED WATER." "TEACHER TEACHER YOU MUST TELL ME THE WORDS! I DO NOT KNOW WHAT THIS IS!!" All day long it is like this. At first yes you chuckle because I know this is probably stressful for him to be in a strange country, not knowing anyone or anything. However after you have heard that from 7:45 to 3:00 it starts to drive you a little bananas. And speaking of bananas he cannot sit still at lunch. He just gets up walks around and sits, talks, eats, where and what he wants. The first day he got behind the serving line at school and tried to serve himself before the lunch lady could. Because in his country he serves himself at lunch time. Today he wanted to eat off the teacher's salad bar. So what did he do? He walked his little self over there and started to serve himself. "TEACHER TEACHER I DON'T UNDERSTAND I WANT TO EAT THIS." It is hard to enjoy your lunch when he is getting up every 3 minutes. However the whole time I am secretly laughing at how funny we look running around a lunch room chasing a little kid.

I have to keep telling myself, "He is new, in a foreign place. He'll get the hang of it." I say this SEVERAL times a day. So when you say your prayers tonight please say a prayer for the 2nd grade teachers at Tuscaloosa Academy. Pray for patience and that we can get him to learn our names instead of "TEACHER! TEACHER!"