Lilypie Second Birthday tickers

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Gulf Shores 2009

My Mom, Mimi, and I went on a trip to Gulf Shores, AL back in March 2002.
We had such a wonderful time and Mom has been wanting to plan a time to go again. So we finally did! My mom planned a wonderful 5 day trip for the three of us. It was a nice little getaway and very relaxing weekend. We shopped, ate, and went to the pool. Can't get much better than that! On the way we stopped at this farmer's market called "Burris's Farm Market". If anyone (of the very few people who read my blog) ever makes the drive to Gulf Shores you definitely need to stop at this place and grab a dessert! They have an amazing ice cream shop/ bakery in the back. One of my mom's good friends had always told her to stop there, but she never has until this go around. My milkshake was well worth the extra hour we added to our drive to get to our final destination! It took about a hour because we also looked around and bought a few goodies to bring home.




Welcome to The Beach Club Resort! I don't know why exactly it says Gulf Shores on the rug, but the resort is actually West of Gulf Shores in Fort Morgan. It was really nice here because it is a little more out of the way and secluded. Therefore, it was more calm, quiet, and relaxing. Although some of that could have had to do with it was the week most schools had started which made it the perfect week to go!



We arrived at the resort on Thursday evening. We had so much stuff! I couldn't
believe how much stuff we needed (or didn't need, but brought anyways)
for a five day trip. We were cracking up getting onto the elevator! We could barely fit!
Believe it or not, the only thing that is mine is the pink suitcase and that
little beach bag with a towel that's on the top of the grocery cart. The rest was
Mom's and Mimi's.


Our super cute condo. Mom did a great job picking out the perfect "girls weekend" condo! I especially loved the striped chair in the living room and the dining area.




These are the beautiful views from our balcony that welcomed us when we arrived inside of our condo. My favorite part of beach trips...being able to open the curtains every morning and see this. The resort has four towers and each tower has its own pool. The main pool in the second picture was the bigger prettier one so that is
where we went.



We sat out on the balcony the night we got there and someone thought they would
welcome us with a fireworks show on the beach! I guess they knew we were coming!
We would think they were finished and walk inside and then we would hear them again so we would run back out. This went on for at least 30 minutes. Haha. It's not
every day you can sit on the balcony and watch fireworks over the ocean!



On Friday we relaxed, ate lunch at the condo, went to the pool, and took a
walk along the beach. The weather forecast kept saying it was going to rain
the rest of the time we were there, so we tried to take advantage of the sun.
Of course it didn't rain...




Friday night we were pretty tired from being in the sun. So we decided to head out to Gulf Shores to find an Italian restaurant we had eaten at the last time the 3 of us had come here back in March of 2002. Luckily, we found it! We thought we would watch a movie when we got back to to the condo, but instead attempted to use the self timer on my camera to get some pictures of the 3 of us. For the most part they didn't turn out so bad! My Mimi was styling that night in her red shirt, navy and white striped flared pants with the cutest read shoes on! I told her if I had seen those shoes in
store I would have bought some for me!


On Saturday for lunch, before a LONG day of outlet shopping, we ate at Lulu's! It has a fun environment and is a very touristy type of place to go eat. But they had pretty good food and really cute T-shirts!



On Sunday night, our last night, we ate at a nice restaurant located at the resort. I had a very yummy filet and Mom and Mimi had seafood! The beach is behind us but because of the lighting on the porch it didn't show up.


Thanks for the fun weekend Mom! We now have more good memories!


Wednesday, August 19, 2009

With this ring, I thee wed...

My parents celebrated 30 years of marriage on Monday. They are so special to me and have provided me with such a wonderful example of how marriage should be. I feel lucky to be a part of such an amazing Christian family. My brother and I are who we are today because God has always been and is the center of their lives. Because of their love and commitment to each other and our family, He is also the center of ours. I am so proud of them and want to wish them another wonderful 30 years! Thanks Mom and Dad. I love you!


Wedding Day 2005

Cinque Terre 2009

Florence 2009

Saturday, August 8, 2009

From Texas to Tennessee

We were so excited to get to see some of our best friends, Neal and Cindy, twice in one summer! (We made a trip to Fort Worth in May to spend time with them and family.) Last weekend, Neal and Cindy came up to Nashvegas from Fort Worth for a long weekend visit. They also came to see us the weekend of my birthday last July, so we did a lot of the Nashville sight seeing then. This time the trip was more of a relaxing, shopping, eating weekend. If there is one thing both of us like it's good eating! When we go to TX we have our Mexican restaurants we have to eat at. Now when they come here they have their favorites too. But we also love taking them to new places we have found or they didn't get to try last summer. Other than that we played lots of games, went swimming, and Neal and Brantley played video games while Cindy and I did lots of shopping. It was wonderful having my shopping buddy around! We had such a good time and already miss having them around. I didn't get very many pics, but here are a few to sum up the weekend. There's nothing like spending time with good friends from the past, but it's sad to say good-bye.

Waiting the usual hour and a half to eat at The Loveless



Still waiting to eat...

The boys enjoying the pool.


What the boys do best...(while the girls go shopping!)


Cindy and Me (along with Peyton, Penny, and Bella)


"The better part of one's life consists of his friendships."
- Abraham Lincoln

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

And the blogging begins...

After all the time I have spent looking at other people's blogs, I figure it's about time I start my own. Brantley always tells me I need to get a hobby. While he considers his hobby video games, I consider all of my hobbies to be expensive (shopping, decorating, etc.), so he says they don't count. I may have now found my new hobby...blogging! A couple of exciting things have happened this month. Brantley got a new car (well, new to us) and we went on a fun weekend getaway! Over the 4th of July weekend, my wonderful husband surprised me with a birthday trip to Chicago. I have never been to Chicago, so I didn't have a good idea of what to expect. All I knew is we were staying in a nice hotel right off of The Magnificent Mile and I was going to get to go shopping! I didn't realize how huge the city was going to actually be. There is so much to do there! It was such a fun trip and after eating lots of good food, doing some sight seeing, and more shopping than B would have liked, we left ready to go back for another visit sometime. It is the perfect weekend getaway! Thanks Brantley! Here are some pics from our trip and of B's new car. Enjoy!



Our first car to buy on our own! (car buying=NOT FUN)



Waiting at the Nashville airport while our flight was delayed. Gotta love the iPhone!



Mmmmm...Giordano's!



The only store Brantley actually cared to go to.
(And it was right across the street from our hotel!)




Where we ate before heading to see the fireworks show.



Walking to Millenium Park



A really cool water area for kids (or I guess grown-ups too).
There were 2 huge video screens on either side that changed pics as the water shot out.




Thousands of people everywhere!



Waiting on the fireworks to start.



One of the only decent pics I was able to get of the fireworks.



Wrigley Field



Enjoying some delicious Potbelly milkshakes before Blue Man Group!



Brantley is so proud of this picture! We discovered that night at dinner Mr. Blue Man left behind some of his blueness on B's red shirt!



Navy Pier



Enjoying our ride on the ferris wheel!



Cookie break...probably the best cookie I've ever had. Thanks Hershey's Store!



View from our hotel room. That's Michigan Ave. down there and on the corner
is a huge Crate and Barrel!




Our hotel "The Avenue"