Monday, May 30, 2011

12 days...

yep....we only have 12 days until the wedding
wow!
I can't believe it's getting so close now
our dining room is wedding central and filled with purple, blue
starfish and shells
wedding programs
lanterns..........so much stuff
and we have to get everything boxed up to take down to the beach

this coming Sunday 7 of our out of town family will arrive
and I think I'm as excited about that as I am about the wedding
can't wait to see our family!!
and then on Wed 2 more family members will arrive
and it's like Christmas!!
Then we'll leave for the beach on Thursday morning.......
and have a blast!!
I can't wait until I can share pictures with everyone

later......



Saturday, May 21, 2011

32 years....

32 years ago on May 19th
I married my best friend
I don't think I realized at the time that he was my best friend
we had fun together like friends
we were in love
we knew we always wanted to be together
so the natural next step was to get married

we wed in the church I grew up in
and though simple compared to weddings today
it was beautiful
I felt like a princess

and through the years we have moved 3 times
we have raised 3 children
we have been through so much happiness together
and with each year together, we became closer
we fall even more in love, even though I didn't think that possible
so on March 17th when Johnny suffered a stroke
I'm not going to lie....I though I was losing my best friend

thankfully, he is making a full recovery
and we are making plans
figuring out what we want for the next 32 years

Happy Anniversary babe....love you!



later.......


Tuesday, May 17, 2011

License to wed....

Besides meeting with florist, DJ's, etc.....Jacquelyn and Bucky
had to get their marriage license.
It's good for 60 days so they're in good shape there

here they are getting ready to go in and fill out the paper work!!


and here they are filling out the papers....


and here they are all ready for June 11th!!


want to know why it's blurry....because I already had tears in my eyes!!

later....

Betty Boop...

Johnny loves Betty Boop
and last year when we were at the beach, he found a 3 ft
Betty Boop
she was cute and sassy!
all dressed up in her Marilyn Monroe dress
and her cute lace panties

she was sitting outside of an antique store but the asking
price was a little too steep

So this year, we thought we would just stop by there again
you know, out of curosity
and she wasn't there!

we went inside and Johnny asked them if they had sold her
and they had not! For no particular reason they had put her in the back and she was sitting on top of their vault.


Johnny really wanted her...he wanted to add her to the pool room
soooo, we asked
and yes, they were ok with selling her and at a very fair price
they said they felt like it was meant to be that she go home with us
since one year later we had come back looking for her!

so here she is, laying in the backseat....


and here she is getting all cleaned up for her ride to Richmond


isn't she cute!

later....

Monday, May 16, 2011

At the beach....

We traveled back down to the Outer Banks on Wed
for more wedding appointments
Jacquelyn, Bucky and Lynne didn't come until Thursday night late
so during the day, Johnny and I wandered around our most fav
place on earth!

and look what we found...a raccoon!!
I took this picture from the car
I thought at first it was a cat but when he heard us, he got up and turned toward us
I was scrambling to grab my camera
see, always good to have your camera handy!


later...

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Corn salsa.....

here is your recipe of the summer!
so fresh tasting....you will love this
and as with all recipes, I change them up just a little

2 ears of corn, cooked and scraped from the cob
(I also will use a bag of frozen corn)
2 tomatoes, chopped
(right now I use cherry tomatoes halved as they have more flavor)
small purple onion, chopped
one red bell pepper, chopped
(I use red, orange and yellow)
2 jalepenos, chopped
1 small can fire roasted chiles
(I chop these up a little)
juice from 2 limes
(I also use a spoon and try to scrape out as much of the lime as I can)
1 whole bunch of cilantro, chopped
olive oil

throw it all together, mix and put in the frig for at least an hour before serving
the olive oil, I just don't know how much to tell you here as I just pour it on
if I had to guess, maybe a 1/4 cup for this recipe
I doubled this recipe so I used more
this is just so fresh and yummy
the lime juice mixed with the cilantro...mmmm, good stuff
I bought the pita chips at the grocery store and they were
excellent served with this
I should have taken a picture....it's so colorful
if you make this, let me know how you liked it
later...........

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

New kind of potato salad........

I love good old fashion potato salad with Dukes mayo!
But...
we all need to eat a little healthier so here's a twist on tater salad!
since I started making this one, I don't care to go back to the mayo drenched taters!!

1 pound baby red potatoes, halved
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
3 scallions, thinly sliced
1/3 cup black olives, halved
1/3 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 large lemon zested
( zested the whole lemon plus add the juice from it)
kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

boil your potatoes until tender then drain and set aside to cool

In a serving bowl, mix together all of the ingredients above.
Then fold in your potatoes.
Put in the frig for at least one hour before serving.
the recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of capers, rinsed and drained
since Johnny is on a low sodium diet and a few of the kids do not like capers
I left that out.
I love capers so probably really good with them but it's fine without
I hope you enjoy this recipe
it may make you give up mayo drenched tater salad! haha

later.........

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Love....

Love our precious grandson Maddox
and I think he is loving this cupcake!!


later.......

Monday, May 9, 2011

My flower garden....

we have been getting a fair amount of rain
and my flowers are loving it!


my favorite....the peonies!
they are huge this year and so beautiful








later......

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Bella Boo....

Jake and I were in the kitchen getting things ready for the cookout
on Saturday when all of a sudden
we heard a crash from the den
we knew that Bella Boo had to be involved
and yes, she had been running through the house and when
she ran behind the sofa, she caught ahold of the lamp cord
and knocked it over
it knocked the lampshade loose and then the end of the lamp
went through the shade!
Guess I know what I'll be shopping for this week


later....


Saturday, May 7, 2011

Graduation....

Today we had a graduation cookout for Jacquelyn's good friend Melissa
Melissa is graduating from the Univ of Richmond tomorrow
and her family flew in from Texas for the event
So we hosted a cook out in her honor
here are just a few photos.........I'm sad that I didn't even take that many

Johnny was down at the river with our brother in law so Jake took
over the grilling duties
and he did a great job!


here's Melissa opening some of her gifts

Bella Boo loved all of the extra attention


and of course there were a few games of corn hole

that's it......like I said, just didn't take many pictures
I will be posting later a new recipe I tried
a really tasty corn salsa!

later.....

Friday, May 6, 2011

Happy Birthday.....

I can't believe it but my baby is 23 years old today!
my youngest, my son, my baby....
wow

Happy Birthday Jake
you're an awesome son and your dad and I are so proud of you
keep moving forward
don't look back
keep your dreams alive

WE LOVE YOU


later....


Monday, May 2, 2011

One day....

One day.....
I'll be back to posting on my blog on a regular basis

One day....
I'll be taking more pictures and searching for more photo classes

One day....
I'll read, cook and clean instead of googling
ribbons, pails, wedding fabrics, flowers, cardstock

One day....
my little girl is going to be married, actually, in less than 6 weeks

One day....
our life will go back to normal
but in the mean time....we are enjoying this and I can't wait
to be able to share all of the details with all of you

So postings will be very limited now that we are in the home stretch!

but I'll try to get a few in once in awhile

later......