Family

Bet you thought I dropped off the face of the earth huh? :)

Thought I would distract you with a few fun pictures from my nephew Bryce's 2nd birthday party while I work on an update on my 30 before 30 list. Time is running out. I might stay 29 for another year.

On a much less depressing note...my sweet, adorable, lovable nephew turned 2! We had a blast at the party...

 My grandfather was there. He's still recovering from surgery. Needless to say it was great to see him there and melted my heart to see him eating lunch with Bryce.

Go ahead Bryce...sneak that frosting before we light the candle. No one's watching!

Blue icing all over...I love the bottom left pic. "Don't move till I wipe you clean!"

Happy day. Happy family. Happy Devon.

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Up and Away!

Have you seen the Disney Pixar Film Up? If you haven't you should run out and rent it today.

Noel and I went and saw Up! when it was in the theater...and we absolutely loved it. In fact, we bought it as soon as it was out on DVD and every time we watch it we are moved to tears. I guess we both have hopes and plans to travel, but since we are both in school that adventure fund is drained pretty quickly just like Carl and Ellie's Paradise Falls fund is depleted again and again by life's misadventures.

In the mean time we are enjoying married life and loving each other's company. I guess we just relate to Carl and Ellie and admire the child-like joy they find in each other and life in general. One thing that Carl and Ellie have in the movie is their "Adventure Book." They dream of going to a place called Paradise Falls and use the book to record their adventures and plans.

Since we saw the movie we've always had our own version of an "Adventure Book" that sits in our living room. Anytime we see a place on TV or hear about a place from a friends, we write it in our book.

We organize it my city so that we can visit some of these places if we happen to be traveling there. Hopefully one day we can check off most adventures and write more about our experiences to complete the pages.

Here's to living life like there's no tomorrow...

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Happy Birthday Mom!

I'll never forget the time we threw you a surprise party and Noel tried to take off his fleece and instead of just the fleece he took his t-shirt off too! Hehehe...I bet that's the only year you've ever had a stripper for your birthday. :) 

I love you mom- you're always there for me and you are truly my best friend. Happy Birthday!

And as a side note- I had to go all the way back to my bridal shower to get a picture of us together...sad day.  Next time I visit you have to get out from behind the camera!!

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Remember when...

Hey hubby...Remember when we left for our honeymoon and before we arrived in FL our tire blew out and we spun around 4 times across 4 lanes of heavy traffic on the interstate and landed facing the right way on the shoulder? Or the time we packed all we had and moved to Wake Forest, NC with no jobs and only about $1,500 to our names? Or the time we went to Asheville and ate at the Early Girl Eatery downtown? Or the time we went on that cruise and won $140 in the casino? I do...and I hope that I never forget the travels that we have had together.

My travel maps are a total knockoff inspiration thanks to Young House Love. (I love those crazy kids!) All it takes are a few frames, printed maps, map pins, and a good memory to recall where you have been. I got my frames at Hobby Lobby- 50% of course. (If you buy anything at Hobby Lobby that's not 50% off you paid too much.) They are actually display frames so they already had a linen backing that I pinned my printed maps to. Easy peezy lemon sqweezy!

The top map is for our world travels (we stick pins in each country or region we visit) and the bottom one is of the US (we stick pins in destination places- not places we have traveled through, sorry- rest stops don't count!). I want us to visit every state and my goal is to try to visit a new state each year. Noel and I both love to travel and have both been all over the US and several places around the world but we decided to only indicate where we have been together. So hopefully in 50 years our maps will be full of pins!

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The 90th Birthday Surprise!

Noel's grandmother, Henrietta Bagwell (aka MamaGran), turned 90 on October 2, 2010. We threw her a huge surprise party at the Rose Garden Inn which was well attended by her wonderful friends and family, not only from Tennessee, but also from Illinois, Florida and several other states. She is a well loved, classy, beautiful woman who deserves all the happiness in the world and I'm so glad we could throw her a birthday bash to remember!

Here are a few highlight from the party...she had no idea until she walked through the door and saw her family from out of state. Her first response was, "What are you doing here?!" :)

One of the projects we did for the party was to display a few of the LIFE magazine covers from the past 90 years. It was amazing to go through the photos and see all that she has seen and experienced since 1920!

I promise...I'll upload better photos later this week. :)

Another project that we did was a map of all her travels. MamaGran has been all over the world so that was exciting to see where she has been in the last 90 years. 

This project actually inspired me to create a smaller version for the travels Noel and I have had and will have in the future. I'll share that with you later this week too. 

And finally....a shameless plug for the Rose Garden Inn. If you are looking for an event center in Clarksville, TN, the Rose Garden Inn is a wonderful venue with good food and nice facilities. Check them out on Facebook.

Hope your 90th year is the best one yet MamaGran!!

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Happy Halloween!

Our tribute to The Office. Does it get any scarier than Dwight Shrute?                                   

Dwight Schrute: "I don't have a lot experience with vampires, but I have hunted warewolves. I shot one once. But by the time I got to it, it had turned back into my neighbor's dog."

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I'm baaaack!

Did you think I went to Mexico and drowned?! I know, I know...it's been waaaay too long since I blogged and my sister totally called me out on it again.

So just to catch you up...here are a few pictures from the cruise. We stopped in Grand Cayman, Isla Roatan, Belize and Cozumel. It was an awesome time with my family- thanks so much to my parents for letting us tag along!

Noel and I at dinner- I think I gained 5 pounds from the awesome food!

Me and my sister, Allison- isn't she beautiful?!

My ugly feet. :) Relaxing on the deck at sunset.

We even went for a zip-line tour in Isla Roatan!

Life is busy with work, grad school, and family. We recently threw a surprise 90th birthday party for Noel's grandmother so I'll update you soon with new pictures and a few projects we had going on for that. I'm also DYING to organize a few closets in the house so maybe I'll have a few organizing posts soon. But for now, I have a Finance mid-term, Marketing paper/presentation and Management presentation all next week. So I'm off to hit the books! Love you all!

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Cruise!

Finals are done and summer classes are less than three weeks away, but only four more days and we will be on our way to the Caribbean. A whole week...sipping margaritas by the pool, reading a good book and enjoying the sunshine. Our flight leaves at an ungodly hour on Sunday morning...but it will be worth it!

 

Noel and I will also be able to celebrate our 4th anniversary while we are on vacation. I am the luckiest woman in the world. Time has flown by since we got married in 2006. We've moved 4 times, lived in 3 different states, pursued 4 different degrees, worked 5 different jobs but it feels as though I just married him yesterday and we are still on our honeymoon. Enjoying this time in our lives...

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An Ice cream WONDERLAND!

On our way home last night my wonderful husband wanted to stop at Yogurt Mountain, a local soft serve frozen yogurt place here in Birmingham. (For the record- I was only going to have fruit for dinner- he made me do it!) This was a first time experience for Noel and I- but definitely not our last!

This place is a magical wonderland of sweets (and a diabetic's nightmare!). As I walked in I noticed that everyone walking out had huge cups of ice cream- and when I say huge I mean overflowing the 16oz cups provided by Yogurt Mountain. I thought, "Gee- I sure hope they have a child's portion- that way too much!" Let me tell you- I had to eat my words. When you go in it is all self serve (pay by the ounce). An entire wall is dedicated to soft serve machines with flavors ranging from your traditional vanilla and chocolate to pomegranate, espresso, peanut butter, banana pudding- you name it and they had it. Then you turn around and another wall is dedicated to the toppings. OH the toppings!! They had every cereal and candy imaginable- even fruit and hot toppings. SO hard not to go overboard. I seriously watched my husband become an excited 10 year old kid again.

We had lots of fun and will definitely be back- after we work off all we ate last night...

Noel's impressive list: Chocolate, peanut butter, and banana pudding yogurt with Twix, Reese's, chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, vanilla wafers, hot caramel sauce, and a bunch of other stuff (I lost count- as I mentioned- he quickly morphed into the excited 10 year old- precious!)

Devon's list: Chocolate, peanut butter and espresso yogurt with Coco Crispies, peanut butter chips and Twix crumbles. YUM.

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Thank God for good friends...

I just spent the last two hours catching up with two of the greatest people on God's green earth. I used to work for Bob and Phyllis at the NC Baptist State Convention. They are missionaries at NAMB and two of the most kind, generous, selfless and encouraging people I know. If only more people had hearts like theirs...

I told Phyllis about my cat's best friend and I thought I might share with you.

Meet Sheep. Yes, Sheep.


While working at the Baptist State Convention, Phyllis gave me a little stuffed sheep. She left it on my keyboard before they went out of town and I knew it was a reminder that God cares for His sheep. Well, when I got home our cat Jasper quickly adopted Sheep. As you can see Sheep is now very well loved, dirty, missing an eye and losing a bit of his stuffing. Jasper carries him around, sleeps with him almost every night and most mornings I find him in or beside the food bowl as if Jasper is trying to feed him his dinner. I have performed "surgery" on sheep several times to sew him back up and even to replace one of his eyes with an X. Sad. I have to admit I was a little ashamed to tell Phyllis that I had let Jasper take over her gift to me, but every time I see Sheep I think of her and I think of how God cares for us...no matter how dirty or beat up we are. We are loved. Be encouraged. :)

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Updates...

It's been awhile so I figured I should post some recent pictures. I finally made it home to hold my nephew- although he is growing so fast I feel like I'm missing it all! Slow down!

Also, we had an unexpected tragedy in our family as my Uncle Tim died suddenly on September 10, 2009. He was probably the most jovial man I ever met and will be greatly missed. Here is a pic of Tim, his wife Diane and his two boys Robert and Ryan. And pics of my family when I went home for the funeral...

Also, Noel and I have taken in a cat named Mr. Ernest Hemingway (soon to be changed if we decide to keep him!). He is a polydactyl cat- meaning he has more toes that normal. :) 22 in all. 6 on each front paw and 5 on each back paw.

Here is a little background info on Hemingway cats:

They were introduced into the U.S primarily via ships in Boston. Sailors valued polydactyls for their extraordinary climbing and hunting abilities and considered them to be extremely good luck when at sea. Polydactyly appears to improve the dexterity of the cat. The extra toes enable the cat to learn and perform feats of manual dexterity generally not observed in other cats, such as opening latches or catching objects with a single paw.

Nobel Prize-winning author Ernest Hemingway was one of the more famous lovers of polydactyl cats, after being first given a six-toed cat by a ship's captain. Upon Hemingway's death in 1961, his former home in Key West, Florida, became a museum and a home for his cats, and it currently houses approximately fifty descendants of his cats (about half of which are polydactyl). Because of his love for these animals, Hemingway cat, or simply Hemingway, is a slang term which has come to describe polydactyls.

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Just a moment to brag...

I was going through some old photos and found one of my favorites. Noel wasn't feeling too well and sacked out on the couch. Jasper decided to snuggle up with him and before I knew it they were both out cold. My two boys...

Also worthy of good brag time- Noel officially begins his first year of law school tomorrow. I don't think I have ever seen him so passionate and excited to follow a course of study and path in life. I am so very proud of him! You may not be able to read it in this pic but the name of the Cumberland School of Law building is Memory Leake Robinson Hall. How ironic!

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Bryce Carter Anderson

Just call me Auntie Devon! Bryce Carter Anderson came screaming into this world at about 6:10pm on Friday August 7, 2009. A big boy weighing 8lbs 14oz and 21 inches long. Noel and I had to leave late Friday night so I haven' t been able to hold him yet- talk about torture! I watched him have his first bath but I can't wait to get back up to Clarksville so I can hold him and welcome him to this world. All my love to my brother and sister-in-law...what a precious family. I'm proud to be a part of it.

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Can't Wait!!

So the first grandchild- my nephew- is due to be born any minute now. My poor sister-in-law is overdue by just a few days but I know they are more than ready to meet their son! His name will be Bryce Carter Anderson- a very grown up name for such an itty bitty boy but he will grow to make his parents (and Aunt!) very proud. I look forward to spoiling him and sending him home to mom and dad (*evil laugh* ah hahahaha). I know Noel is looking forward to being an Uncle as well- we need a baby to oooh and aaaah over for a few years- call it a trial run. :)

Pictures will be posted soon...hope to travel to Clarksvegas to be there for the little miracle.

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