Fall is just about the best time of year. It's the season for college football, NFL football, Thanksgiving, white chili, pumpkin carving, the beginnings of college basketball, need I say more?
There is nothing better than the crisp feeling of the air as it starts to get chilly... which is like the end of November for Alabama, playing some corn hole outside, grilling out on a Saturday and never leaving your spot on the couch as you mindlessly watch game after game after game, while yelling "War Eagle" or "Role Tide" depending on who we are watching it with. Matthew and I have found we can adapt easily.
Not too many people appreciate our UK attire down here, not to mention that in Alabama pro football does not exist, if it's not college, it's a waste of time. I spend countless Mondays gleaning the paper for any piece of info about the Titans, which is definitely a waste of time. If there's anything in the Sports page about them, it's about a paragraph, right underneath an article a page long on what Nick Saban ate for dinner.
Regardless, fall is the best. Here are the things I am particularly looking forward to this year:
1. UK- Vandy game in Nash (thanks Dad!) 2. Getting to see Bobby Flay do a cooking demonstration in Lex ( yes it's true) 3. My 23rd birthday (although as I get older, birthdays are getting a lot less exciting) 4. Possibly going to an Alabama game in Tuscaloosa. 5. My Fall Break girl's trip with all of my best friends... cannot wait 6. Finishing my 3rd semester of nursing school!! 7. Thanksgiving- the BEST holiday 8. The return of all our TV shows. Who can't wait to see what happens on Grey's? Not to mention that Jim and Pam are pregnant on The Office! 9. The Blink 182 concert we're attending :) 10. and my favorite: the leaves changing color
So avid readers of this blog should know that Frasier is our favorite show. What we haven't told you is that as our relationship (mine and Matthew's) grew, so did my love for Frasier and Niles Crane. Matthew grew up watching this show a lot, maybe because J and M share some commonalities with the Crane boys. I, however, never knew about this TV gem until my parents started watching it, and I made fun of them for liking such a weird show. Little did I know... Matthew and I started watching Season 1 almost since Day 1 of our relationship. Whenever he was in Nashville, we would watch a couple of episodes, and every time I went to Bham I brought the DVD's with me. A lot of Saturday afternoons were spent having picnics in front of the TV and taking a half hour trip to Cafe Nervosa in rainy Seattle.
We finished the series a couple of weeks after we were married, and it felt like we had closed a chapter of our lives by losing our friends in the Crane clan. It will always evoke special memories for the two of us.
While there are several clips/episodes that are our favorites, unfortunately Youtube does not have most of them. However, we were able to find one of the classic Frasier moments.
I promised a post about the beach...I forgot, but I was "gently" reminded by my father that I hadn't fulfilled my promise. I will allow the week to be recapped by photos. Cause, at the beach, things are just blissfully boring.
I will say that I was tickled pink at the prospect of being able to read anything I wanted for pleasure as opposed to school. My favorite book of the week was Mockingbird, which is a biography of Harper Lee. If you know me, you know that To Kill a Mockingbird is my all-time favorite book, so I was excited about reading this biography. If you love her novel, I think you will like this book about her. It turns out that the novel was loosely based on her own childhood, and the character of Atticus Finch was modeled after her own father. She is a very interesting character to say the least, and I must confess that I thought she was dead until I read this book about her! Before you judge me, know that she has shyed away from the limelight pretty much since her book was published in 1960. I loved learning more about the woman who gave us such a compelling story of tolerance and justice with the moral lesson that "you will never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it".
We celebrated Matthew's birthday while we were there!
Little Buddy just started at David Lipscomb and he looked so cute in his uniform so I had to put up a picture!
I will leave you with the last line of the book that still gives me chill bumps when I read it... " He would be there all night, and he would be there when Jem waked up in the morning"
Happy Monday to all! 3rd semester starts tomorrow!
Today is my sweet husband's 26th birthday! Congratulations baby on making it these 26 years! May the next 26 be even better.
I tried to surprise Matthew this morning and make him breakfast in bed. Unfortunately, I married a very intuitive man, and he figured out my plan the night before. Bummer. Regardless, I dutifully set the alarm early (8:15 am :) to get up to make him sausage, eggs (fried of course), bacon, and his grandmother's Honey Bun cake that is just to die for. Matthew said I baked it exactly right, but you can never be sure if he's just saying it to spare my feelings:) I thought it was good!
Thanking me for breakfast.
Unfortunately, Matthew has this thing called a "job". So he had to leave to go pretend to work, although I am aware that most of his afternoons are spent doing the crossword with his boss! So...I became a busy little bee around the apartment. It's tiring being a stay-at-home mom...and I don't even have the mom part yet! I headed to Wal-Mart to get all the "fixins" for dinner, came home, prepped for dinner, made a homemade carrot cake, made homemade icing for the cake, cleaned the apartment, stuck in laundry, started packing, iced the cake, ran 4 miles, showered, cleaned some more, did more laundry, finished packing, etc... I know, you're just exhausted thinking about it. I honestly was more tired when I sat down today than I am when I finish a shift at the hospital! So thank you to my mother who has done this many more years than me.
So, I may be a little cheezy when it comes to birthdays. I decorated the apartment with streamers, balloons, and a Happy Birthday sign. No, I am not married to a small child, but on the account that we were not doing gifts this year to save money, I thought his birthday deserved a little extra pizazz, thanks to the Dollar Tree! I know that I am not very creative, but I should definitely deserve an A for effort and thoughtfulness! (Speaking of A... my Pharmacology professor wrapped one up and served it to me on a silver platter, considering that my average for the class was a 89.3. It's possible I may forgive her now for making me miss Katherine's wedding festivities, or I may name my first born child in her honor, Youngshook Hardison anyone?).
Even Lexi got Daddy a card.
Matthew and I made authentic Mexican fish tacos for his birthday dinner tonight. I-N-C-R-E-D-I-B-L-E. I felt like I was at Baja... without running into at least 5 Lipscomb people while I ate them. We were amazed at how good the recipe was, thank you Food Network. I am now so full that I may never eat again, at least until we cut into that carrot cake in 30 minutes!
yum.
Again... Happy Birthday Matthew. I am so blessed to have you in my life.
Alas, I almost forgot. I am beaming with pride and joy to tell you all that last night I beat Matthew in Scrabble. Take a look at that score. I slaughtered him. It's not like I'm competitive or anything :)
It was wedding weekend last weekend for the Smith side of the family as Matthew and I headed to Cincinnati for my cousin Katherine's wedding. I have already discussed how my professor wouldn't let me miss class to make it to all the pre-wedding festivities, so Matthew and I had to get flights instead in order to make it to the wedding on time.
Unfortunately, a direct flight to Cinci is about as expensive as small flat screen TV. Thankfully, my benefactor of a father gave us his Southwest miles to use, but unfortunately, Southwest doesn't fly into Cinci, so we had to fly into Louisville instead. Matthew's parents wonderfully agreed to meet us in Louisville to give us a car that we could drive to Cinci, so that after the wedding we could drive back to Lexington Saturday night, wake up early Sunday morning for his parents to drive us back to the Louisville airport to catch our flight... Whirlwind. These are the places we were in a 40 hour time span... Birmingham, Louisville, Cinci, Lexington, Louisville, Birmingham. This is why I feel like my head is about to explode. I am exhausted.
Back to the wedding. It was absolutely beautiful. Katherine made the most gorgeous bride. She had the most amazing all lace dress, which is nothing like she thought she would get for her wedding dress. 6 months ago she wanted a full princess gown... it's funny how a lot of girls end up with something completely different than they thought! Her sweet dad, Uncle Grady, did the ceremony (he is the minister at the Northeast COC in Cinci), and he did a wonderful job. Here is something I wrote for Katherine for her rehearsal dinner in case they had people stand up to say something. I wanted to post it, because it never got read, and I think it accurately describes how much Katherine means to me....
Katherine,
There are so many things that I can say about you.I have known you since you were born, and I have had the joy of growing up with you as “cousins”.My childhood would have definitely been a lot more boring had it not been for growing up with you and Andrew, and I’m so glad that our parents have been best friends for so many years.One of my favorite memories is playing forts with Ashley and Andrew, and how they would gang up on us and always pick to be together so that they could always win!Or, how you and I are the ones that actually put the sheet under that infamous lamp, but Andrew is technically the one that broke it and had to pay.Or staying up late over Thanksgiving to sing AlanisMorisette songs while keeping Ashley up until all hours of the night…. There are many more, but they all just remind me of how thankful I am for you in my life.
Katherine you are so vibrant and full of life.I’m so jealous of how you view life as such an adventure as though you have never lived a dull moment.I hope that you will keep this same spirit as you continue on in your life with Ben, because marriage should be an adventure too.
You are a greatest listener.I always loved spending the night with you and sharing our deepest, darkest secrets.You always knew that I just needed to get things off my chest, and would let me rant and rave for hours.
You are sweet and kind.You would do anything for anybody, even if it meant giving the shirt of your own back.You would always call me just to see how my week was going or to check in…and it always seemed to be on a day when I needed somebody to ask.
My prayer for you and Ben is this (since I’m such an expert on marriage):That you will be in prayer daily together, because there is nothing better for a relationship than praying with your spouse.That you will be supportive of one another through everything…even when you don’t feel like it.And that you will just have fun, because marriage should be fun, and you should wake up every morning looking forward to what that day is going to bring.
I love you so much.I am so happy for you, and you will always be in my prayers.
Ann
She was so beautiful! Her something borrowed were the earrings I wore at our wedding.
Thankfully I got to walk with Andrew.
Back to the wedding... The reception was a blast. There was a head table where the whole wedding party sat. I had never been in a wedding where this was the case, and I for sure felt awkward eating knowing people were looking at me. Uncle Grady and Andrew got out on the dance floor to show off their amazing dance skills...while my own father displayed his spot on version of the White Man's Overbite. Katherine was very frugal and ordered her flowers from Costco and had family put together the arrangements, and they looked fantastic, and they saved LOTS of money. She was completely laid back, kept her cool, and just seemed to enjoy the day, which is what every bride should do! Regardless of the fact that she had lost at least 5 pounds the week of because she forgot to eat... I am also guilty of this. It wasn't on purpose...you are just busy!
Ashley and Keela trying to avoid the bouquet toss.
The Five kids!
Keela.. one of my new favorite people. LOVE HER!
We thoroughly enjoyed our time there, as short as it was. After the reception we drove back to Lexington to Matthew's parents house to enjoy a fabulous home cooked meal and laid back hangout time... while enjoying some Stephen Colbert clips from his show the Colbert Report. So funny. Wish we could have had more time in Lextown, looking forward to seeing D and S for an extended time this fall... maybe for the UK- AL football game perhaps?!
We are now back from the beach... I will post about our trip either tomorrow or Monday. Matthew is experiencing some PVSD (Post Vacation Stress Disorder). I took him out to get Mexican tonight to smooth over the transition of being back in the "real world". Let's all hope he feels like getting up for work Monday!
Lexi is super glad that momma and daddy are back home, and she no longer has to stay at her version of Motel 6... the boarders. Ok. Maybe her momma is more glad that she is safely home where she belongs. I will admit that I made Matthew call the vet to make sure she was doing well while we were gone. I'm just a concerned parent!
You can only tell if you know her...But this is Lexi's "I'm so glad I'm home" face :)
It cannot get here soon enough.
