Thank You!

I won!! I have the best friends and family in the world! If any of you want to listen to my new Dave Barnes cd, you're more than welcome to! Thanks for your help, and thanks Steven for holding a fun contest. Everyone knows there's nothing I love more than a little friendly competition. :)

I'm Addicted...

Here's another digital scrapbook page I created last night.

Digital Scrapping...

Apparently there is this thing out there called "digital scrapbooking." I discovered it a few weeks ago. I have enjoyed scrapbooking, but I have a HUGE passion for graphic designs and things done on the computer, so this is perfect for me. I completed my first digital scrapbook page a few nights ago and am just now getting around to posting it.

I need a favor...

Here's the thing... My friend, Steven is holding some really silly contest on his blog. He's giving away a free Dave Barnes cd, and I want it! But, I need your help to win it.

If you want to help me, click here and then leave a comment telling him that you read about this contest on Elizabeth's blog. If I have the most friends do that, then I'll win it.

Thank you!

I've been out running errands for work all morning. Look at what I found when I walked back into my office. I love you, baby!

Celebrating One Year!

On March 24, 2007, Zach and I were married at 2:00 p.m. at Ridgeway Baptist Church. Today is our first wedding anniversary. We officially celebrated Saturday night, which is a good thing because I forgot Monday was our anniversary and scheduled a somewhat unromantic evening. Zach and I are in the process of getting life insurance on each other, so tonight the nurse is coming over to "inspect" us. We'll be celebrating our 1st anniversary taking blood and performing urine samples. Hee hee... is it bad that I think that it's actually pretty funny?

Nevertheless, Zach planned the PERFECT evening for us this past Saturday. It started when Zach surprised me with a tripod for my camera. I was LONG overdue on getting one. Next, we went downtown to eat crab legs at this great little hole-in-the-wall seafood place. Afterwards, Zach and I went to this CRAZY and somewhat ILLEGAL place to take pictures with my new tripod. My dad showed me this place about a month ago. It's an EXTREMELY old bridge crossing the Mississippi that is used for train and cargo purposes. It has a real rustic feel. I've been talking about that spot ever since, because I thought it would be a GREAT place to take pictures. Zach was such a trooper. The sun was a bit harsher than I would have liked, and we had a brief encounter with a fox and the police (apparently the area is under surveillance). But we ended up getting a few good shots and have had a LOT of laughs telling the story. Of course, I am posting some of those pictures.

Zach, in all seriousness... you're the love of my life. I thank God every day for blessing me with you. You provide me strength in the areas I need it. You compliment me perfectly. You are so strong, God-fearing, hardworking, and wise. Your desire to love me fully is something I will always cherish. Thank you for making this marriage so easy. I'm sure we'll have hard times, but I wouldn't choose to walk through those battles with anyone other than you. I love you so much!! Happy One Year Anniversary!

Practicing with our tripod

I'm not sure why, but I LOVE this picture.

For some reason, there was a bench in the middle of this place.

We call this our American Eagle picture.

Just because I'm a dork...

It is so hard to get a good lighting shot of both Zach and me (in case you haven't noticed, our skin tones are a little different). I need suggestions from my photog girls out there.

Don't worry. We were very careful that no trains were coming

This picture makes me laugh. And no, I'm NOT pregnant. It's the wind, I promise.

For Zach's anniversary gift, I gave him a book I designed on Shutterfly. It is called "Celebrating Him." I also gave him a journal where I can keep letters to him. Thanks, Jennifer, for the idea! It is my goal to write him a letter at least once a month. He gave me the tripod, and a gift card to Archivers. I swear the guy knows the way to my heart! Oh yeah, we also ate our wedding cake on Saturday. We were pretty scared while we were trying it, but it was really delicious!!

I found this on Jaren's blog. It's a website where women can create cartoon versions of themselves. It allows you to dress and accessorize yourself.

Here is my cartoon version of myself. I actually wish I looked like my cartoon version. :) I also created cartoon versions of my mom and sisters too. Lol! So much fun!

Tori: Please note my black shirt, jeans, and red heels. I did that for you. Also, I'm sorry I couldn't get an accurate picture of your dogs, but I'm showing Chandler some love.

Oh yeah, I also need to point out that my fabulous sister-in-law, Jennifer, sells a LOT of personalized items similar to this (note cards, etc.) for an extremely good price. If these cartoon figures are your thing, you need to contact her.

If you're just a nerd like me and want to play, you can design your cartoon by going here.

Me and my pups

Mom with a diet coke in her hand, of course.

Tori.. stylish as always.

Tami with her new layers

Jennifer looking put together and chic

My Celebration Socks...

Easter Eggs and Face Morphing

We got quite a nice surprise last night. Jennifer brought the boys up yesterday afternoon. Mom is on spring break this week, so she has some extra time to hang out with her grandsons. Tori, Lee, Zach, and I went over to Mom and Dad's last night to see them. The highlight of the night... easter egg dying. Can you believe my husband had NEVER dyed easter eggs before??

On a sillier note, I found a website yesterday from a school in the UK designed to experiment with face morphing. You start by downloading a personal picture. It then shows you what you'd look like if you were older, younger, or of a different ethnicity. I decided to try it with some pictures of Zach. SO FUNNY!!! You can play around with it by going here.

The original picture

Zach as a baby

Zach as a child

Zach as an old man

Zach as an East Asian

Zach as a West Asian

Zach as a Caucasian

Weekend with Syd

We had the best time with Sydney this weekend. Zach and I woke up early Saturday morning and drove to Cape Girardeau where we picked up Syd. We spent the night in a hotel there and stayed until Sunday afternoon. Every time we stay in a hotel, we make sure it has an indoor pool so we can take Sydney swimming. Saturday night was so much fun. We went swimming, then put our pajamas on, watched movies in bed and had a pizza delivered to our room. The hotel had free popcorn all night long, so we snuck downstairs for popcorn too. And of course, we HAD to have a dance party on the bed!

It's so hard leaving her! We miss her so much already!!

Rendezvousing with the WMC gang

Krista's birthday isn't until March 17, but she decided to celebrate early with dinner at the Rendezvous. I love getting together with the Channel 5 gang. I really do miss everyone so much! Krista is the best at taking photographs throughout the night, so once again, Krista, thanks for letting me swipe your pictures!

Thank You!

Ok, first of all, THANK YOU so much to everyone who offered up suggestions on how to clean up my closet. You have NO idea how helpful it was. Thanks to the help of Jennifer, Becca, Nicki and Sara, my closet is now completely ORGANIZED!! Becca, those hanging shoe organizers you suggested were PERFECT! I found some at Wal-Mart for $7. And Jennifer, I've made it a priority to wash at least one load of clothes a day! It makes a HUGE difference!

I thought all of you might be interested in what your suggestions helped accomplish! In case you don't remember, here is the BEFORE picture, and a couple others to show you what my closet looks like now. This was actually quite fun. I may get motivated to do the other 4 closets in my house... maybe. :) Thanks again!

Let it Snow...

Almost every family has certain traditions when it snows. When I was a little kid, it was snow cream. So, in my opinion, a snowstorm is not complete until the snow cream is made. Last night was Zach's FIRST snow cream experience, so of course we had to document it!

Meanwhile, our dogs are having a BLAST in the snow. Normally, they don't like cold weather, but we're having a hard time getting them inside. Here's a few pictures we took last night while the snow was still coming down.

There's still PLENTY more pictures to come, but right now, I think I'm going to get the house straightened, start a fire, enjoy a hot cup of coffee, and maybe get some scrapbooking done! If Zach didn't have to drive into work this morning, today would be P-E-R-F-E-C-T!