Only Grandchild

Can you tell that Thelma is an only grand-dog???

All 3 of them were trying to get her to pose and sit still for a photo-op.

Good girl - Thelma Bennett

They will make grandparents someday!

Saunders/Blackburn Wedding

We LOVE BB! And obviously we love D so when BB asked her the BIG question and she said, "Yes," we couldn't be happier! The party was so much fun but unfortunately my camera died as we were leaving mom's house and I was having so much living in the moment. 

Uncle Jim worked hard helping with the invitations! :)

In the backyard. 

with Mom

with Uncle Les

In the front yard before we left for the wedding.

The wedding itself was beautiful on the water in Destin, FL at The Inn at Crystal Beach. We dined on classic New Orleans cuisine at 790 on the Gulf and danced the night away. It was fun to see everyone and see how quickly some of the babies have grown. Weddings are an awesome celebration of love and each time we go to one, we quietly renew our own commitment. 

Lesson Learned - Fridgpocalyse

Something in the house finally stopped working right which we knew was bound to happen at some point so what did I do? PANIC. After over a year of living here we've had to fix a few doors, learn to edge, repair garbage disposal, ripped up carpet, and some minor other things but there is no way we knew how to repair a fridge.

The day after the Super Bowl our fridge just stopped working and we came home from work to find water all over the floor. In my panic rush, I called the first people I found after a Google search and then made the mistake of paying them up front. I should have known I was making a huge mistake when the guy that came to work on our fridge looked like Anthony's little brother Drew with skinny jeans and all (no uniform, nametag, or anything). After a two weeks, we finally got it fixed... sort of. It isn't keeping my ice cream cold enough but it will have to do for now. Next time, we are calling Sears. 

Most of that ended up tossed or given away. The food storage prepper in me cringed through the process. 

Trash bags full of ice as an attempt to keep things cool but it didn't work

Doing what we could to keep the water off the floor. 

Birthday Fun

For our birthday, we went to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner (can you tell we've been dieting?) and went up to Lunar Mini Golf in the Regency Square Mall. It was super sad seeing the mall so empty but we had tons of fun and got to enjoy lots of singing phone calls. 

The outfit I got for my birthday - I treated myself.

My cube decorated for my birthday

Made with love and forethought. Very appreciative.

Compliments of Sarah Walls - Baker Extraordinaire

1 Gallon+

I made it to a major milestone in February! I hit the 1 gallon plus mark for blood donations with The Blood Alliance and I was able to donate double reds for the first time because my iron count finally wasn't below where it needed to be (it is typically around the 12.5 range and I was in the 15+ range!). I have donated more lifetime and included a picture from my first donation from almost 7 years ago. My cousin Tim took me so I could get a free BYU t-shirt and he was up for his next donation too.

Summer 2007 in Provo, UT

Donating blood is a safe practice that can save up to 3 lives per donation. It is something small that you can do to bless other's lives and doesn't hurt or take long (less than 1 hour or so). So many people can't donate either because of their own illnesses or other limitations so you have to qualify for it. If I think about it, I donated at least 11 pints which amounts to 33 lives which is so cool.

Most donation centers also store data for you as well so you can monitor some of your vitals. For example, in an effort to improve my overall health, I have been working out more. I started donating blood with this group in the fall of 2011 and my cholesterol count has gone from 177 to 142 during that time which is one way below the surface that I can see changes in my blood from good eating and exercise. Some centers even offer rewards points or hold drawings for free cars and other big prizes.

Just getting started on the double red machine - There are no needle pictures. Just pictures of the machine but if you don't like blood, I'd just jump straight to the next post. 

In the middle of the separation process. The machines are so smart and even though double red donations take a little longer, they do use a smaller needle... and the phlebotomists always give you great sodas/juices and snacks. When you leave, they also tell you to eat really good meals and to not exercise. I'd say check AND check! :)

The machine is filling the 2 right bags with red blood cells only so it is separating the white blood cells and platelets out giving me back a Na mixture that will keep me from losing energy. This donation type can only be done every 4 months.

If you are interested in donating but are a little nervous about it or have questions, please don't hesitate to ask. I'd be more than happy to go with you too... just not until I am eligible again in June.

Love to be in Love

Anthony spoiled me for Valentine's Day as every man should spoil his woman! After 2 years of marriage and almost 5 years of dating, we are still madly in love and a little crazy together. Marriage is not easy. It is real hard and requires a lot of work which includes being selfless, putting your ego aside, working together, and having to compromise but every second of it is worth it. 

So Anthony, when you read this please know that I will always keep falling in love with you. You are the man I have always dreamed of, the handsome prince I get to show off, and better than any Disney fairy tale out there. I love you.

I got roses! For dinner, we went to Indian food and then came home for a night in front of the tv.

A fire in the fireplace - so romantic!

And the bulb from Aunt Margie blossomed all at the same time. 

Dog Gone Fun

Looking at pictures from 2013 looks like we have had some dog gone fun! So after going out to dinner at Sweet Tomatoes in Orange Park, I saw the dog track and decided let's stop in. So we placed a couple of bets and won close to $17!!! With raking in that big dough, we decided to play it safe and head for home where...

...you can see we ended up snuggling on the couch and watching The Lady and the Tramp. I'd like to say Thelma picked the movie but it was just on Disney and we thought it was funny how Thelma reacted to it.

Lap dog much? She's too lazy to even walk a track but her knee is all healed so if she wanted to, she could.

Lady and The Tramp (our lady tramp watching the movie)

Hot January?

We had some unseasonably warm weather this January so when Anthony needed new running shoes, we headed toward the beach for some great prices at Academy Sports and then a fun day in the sun. It wasn't warm enough to swim or even just wear our suits but we did snag a few photos.

I literally had to stare directly into the sun but it was nice to see it!

He is so good looking but never wants to pose for pictures! Glad when I can get some.

Beach Wedding - They looked like they dropped some serious cash on their duds!

Web.com Christmas Party

This was the first year that we sent Christmas Cards and the family response was great! Everyone seemed to love the personal touch in the digital age and I included a link to the blog which I have done a horrible job of keeping updated so I will be posting quite a few in quick secession here.

The following picture are from Anthony's work Christmas Party with Web.com. They sponsor a mini league golf tour which used to be the Nationwide Tour. The food was great, entertainment was rockin', the giveways were amazing, and it was overall a wonderful time!

In front of the house before we left... no photographer but you can see the Christmas lights on the house.

Just imagine all of the famous golfers that walked under those lights. Pretty cool!

I had to get my pose on!

They took our pictures by those trees when we walked in and had them printed out for when we left. 

Only bummer was that they were giving away Flat Screen TVs, I-pads, Kindles, X-Box 360s, Laptops, Tablets, Cruises with PTO, and Trips to Europe with PTO but it sure was fun to watch the winners. Who knows!? Maybe we will win something wonderful next year!