Happy Anniversary!

Sunday was mine and Josh's 1 year anniversary. I can't believe it has been a year! It feels like yesterday I was getting ready for the best day of my life! A lot has happened in our first year of marriage: we moved twice (Troy to Birmingham, Birmingham to Tuscaloosa), we bought a house, 2 new cars, and we both got "grown-up" jobs. I have enjoyed every minute of it. I love waking up and seeing Josh beside me. I love the way we make each other laugh and how silly we are together and how we are just as crazy about each other as we were when we first starting dating. I assume that Josh would say all the same about me :)

First thing Saturday morning Josh wanted to open presents!

I got Josh tickets to the Falcons vs. Cardinals game!
Josh got me a diamond cross necklace!! It's soo pretty!!

We decided for our 1 year anniversary we would spend it at the Birmingham Zoo (we don't have to go far to have a good time)!

Josh feeding the flamingos at the zoo. It was super weird to have them eat out of your hand!

Afterwards we went to dinner and did a little shopping. It was nice to spend the day together with no itinerary and enjoy each other's company.

Then we had 1 year old wedding cake!! It tasted better than it looked! As delish as I remembered! :)

I think I'll keep him for another year! I love married life! :)

A Year Ago...

This time a year ago Josh and I were getting ready to graduate from Troy. Boy has time flown by! I feel like it was just yesterday I was preparing to become an adult and a wife! I have learned a lot in this past year as a "grown-up." I've learned that reading a textbook and taking a test doesn't compare to what I have experienced in this past year. I have learned more about teaching in this past year then I did in all my years at Troy. Now I know what some of you might say, "You must have not paid attention," or "Maybe you should have studied more." But on the contrary, I did study (most of the time :)) and I did pay attention. Still a textbook is nothing like seeing an autistic child in action, or trying to read with a child that reads on a beginning 1st grade level while in the 2nd grade. I am amazed at what children go through at home and how the best meal they will receive is the 2 they get at school. I have learned to work on Patience. I didn't realize how little I had, and how quickly I had to fix that.

Now, I have to admit, there are days where I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to still be in college. In the mornings when the alarm goes off at 5:50 and nights when I don't go to bed until 10:30 because I am grading papers. When I see pictures on Facebook of KD events and fun things happening on week nights; I wish, maybe just for a few minutes, that I could go back. However, I realize that that is part of growing up. Don't get me wrong I love "grown-up" fun, but I would love to sleep in some mornings.

I love my husband, I love my job, I just all around love my life. I thought I would just look back at the past year and reminisce about all that I have learned about life.

The Unknown Fryer

Some of you may know, while others may not, but there is a Fryer that isn't as popular as Shadow & Bouncer. His name is Mr. T, and he is a red ear Slider turtle. Ok here's the back story of Mr. T: Last Memorial Day Weekend while we were in Florida I decided I wanted a "class pet." So as we were leaving we stopped in one of those Souvenir shops and I spotted this turtle tank. For $10 you got a turtle and a jar of food. As we were getting our turtle I asked the sales girl how long do they usually live. Sadly only a month or two I was told. So I assumed that my turtle wouldn't make it through the summer. Lo and behold it has been almost a year and he is still kicking!! When I first got him he fit in the palm of my hand. Now he is about the size of my whole hand!!! I wish I had taken a picture of him when I first got him to show his growth, but I didn't think he would live as long as he has.

This is turtle today! We have a love/hate relationship, see how his head is has gone back into it's shell. He never wants to play!! :(

This is turtle's home. He only sits on the floating rock when he thinks no one is around. As soon as someone walks into the kitchen he slides off (I told you, love/hate relationship).

Correction

My husband informed me that I should have said "No Hitter" instead of "shut Out." I apologize to all of you avid baseball fans!

Take Me Out To The Ballgame!

This weekend Josh and I made a trip to "Hotlanta" to spend some time with friends. Our first stop: Dave & Busters!! You will never guess what happened, the first game I played I hit the Jackpot and won myself 1,000 tickets! Yes on my first try, can you say AWESOME!! (Picture of with my winnings below)

After acting like little children at Dave & Busters we made our way to the Braves game. If you don't know Josh is a HUGE Braves fan (I spend many nights watching the games).

Sadly, the Braves lost! :( However on the bright side we did witness a shut-out!! So I can scratch that off my "Bucket List." Josh wasn't as happy about the shut-out!

We had a great time with friends we don't get to see often.

Sping is in the air!

Yes it's that wonderful time of year again...Spring!! I love the warm weather and all the flowers blooming! This weekend Josh's parents came and brought us some patio furniture! Yay! The patio is almost complete! All we need it some tiki lights and a TV hanging in the corner and we will be set! Josh and I have enjoyed sitting out on our patio, playing with dogs, and enjoying the sun on our faces!! :) I look forward to many more wonderful, Spring moments!

Home Improvements

This weekend my grandparents and parents came to visit Josh and me. This was the first time my Daddy Gene & Gran have seen our new home. They didn't come empty handed either. My Daddy Gene built a mantel for our fireplace! He did an AWESOME job!























Another "Home Improvement" we had planned was to extend the patio out more in our backyard. So Josh & my step dad got up early Saturday morning and started pouring concrete in the wind and rain. Here's a few pictures I took throughout the process.

Josh worked so hard & he is very proud of the work he & Scott did! I helped too! Well I did what I could (which means I didn't do a lot) However it's the thought that counts!

Here's the finished product! We are soo excited about this!!! Bring on the warm weather!

Here's the family signature! The pups even put their paws in the concrete to make it official :)
We would LOVE visitors this Spring and Summer to test out our new patio!