Magic City Memories

Some of Tara's bridesmaids: Julie Johnston, Claire Machamer, me and Blake Rhodes

Tara, the beaming bride to be, and me.


One of my dear friends from college, Tara Stewart, had a wedding shower in Birmingham this past weekend. I thought it would be the perfect time for a roadtrip. I was so busy having fun, that I only took two pictures (above). Jason decided to stay behind and do yard work and clean the house for me...bless his heart!! I took off Saturday afternoon and made the 3 hour trek to Bham. I picked up Lesley Hutchison, my BF from childhood/high school and we headed to Cocina Superior for a great dinner!! We were able to meet up w/ Catherine, Ashley and Kari (fellow Alpha Gammers) and their husbands. It was so good to see them. It seems like time has just stood still and we were able to pick up where we left off.

I spent Saturday night at Lesley's house. I had the best time spending time with her and her two precious daughters, Leighton (3) and Kennedy (almost 1). They are about the two cutest girls I know and of course Lesley always has them dressed to a tee. Her husband, Jason, was sweet enough to keep them to let Lesley have some girl time Saturday night. Lesley and I had great time catching up and staying up late chatting....just like we were in 4th grade again :)

On Sunday I managed to squeeze in some family time. My cousin Lauren and her husband, Mike treated me to lunch at Cheesecake Factory, which was great!! Their daughter, McKenzie turned 4 in April and she is a doll. Full of life and personality. It just seems like yesterday I was going to see her after she was born at Brookwood. She is growing up so fast and is a precious child. I know Lauren and Mike are enjoying every mintue with her. I wish I got to see them more; it was a great visit.

I finally wrapped up the whirlwind weekend and headed to Homewood for the shower Sunday after lunch. It was so good to see Tara. We have not seen each other in FOREVER!! Jason and I actually met through Tara. She and Dustin Fowler (Jason's law school roommate) started dating back in the summer of 06. Tara invited me over one Friday night to see her new house in Ross Bridge and Dustin had invited Jason over. Well, the rest is history and Jason and I have been inseparable since then. Somehow we managed to make it to the altar about 3 years earlier than the couple who set us up...... oh well.

Tara and Dustin are finally tying the knot on August 21st!! She lived in Bham for quite sometime while he was beginning his law practice in Dothan. They spent many weekends keeping 1-65 and 231 hot. I know they are so thankful to be in the same city now and to start their new lives together. She is going to make a beautiful bride and great wife.

The wedding shower was a lot of fun. It was nice to see familiar faces from Auburn and Bham. Blake (Dickert) Rhodes another pledge sister of mine hosted it. She is so creative and her house is precious!! It was a busy two days, but so great to take a trip down memory lane. I lived in Birmingham for 4 years after college and loved every mintue of it.

My life right now reminds me of that old Girl Scout song......"Make new friends and keep the old....one is silver and the other is gold"......as cheesy as it sounds it is true. I love seeing my old friends from college/high school, but feel blessed to make new ones as well. They are all so dear to me!!

Fine 29, Birthday weekend!!

Our family :)

I always enjoy when my parent's come to visit. I'm very thankful for them both!

They have always made my birthday's special :)


Just relaxing

Jason enjoying Rock Band and Mom waiting her turn.

My sweet husband cooked and cleaned on my b-day. This is actually not a rare sight.

I don't mind cooking, but he really enjoys it. I hate to admit it, but he is probably better

in the kitchen than I am.

Showing off my gifts from Jason.... a new Coach purse and the new Laura Bush book.

I definitely don't feel like I should be 29 years old!! Wow, where has the time gone? I still feel like I'm about 20-21. Although I may feel like that, lets hope I've matured some since then (ha). When I started thinking about my twenties, they have held some of the most important and memorable moments in my life---college graduation, career decisions, meeting my husband, marriage, best friend's marriages, births of friend's babies, moves- Auburn, Bham, Montgomery and now Mississippi. It has been a pretty busy past 9 years!

I started off my b-day celebration on Thursday, 6/10 (the day of my actual b-day) with lunch w/ some sweet girfriends at Kosciusko's finest restaurant....El Rodeo A.K.A. "The Mexican Restaurant". As far as dining here, there isn't much to choose from here, but I will say I'm a huge fan of El Rodeo. We had a great time of food and fellowship. They also feted me with cute gifts from Josephine's gift shop. It is one of my fav shops on Kosy's square! I feel exteremely blessed that these girls have "taken me under their wing". They have all been great!

The night of my b-day Jason grilled some fabulous steaks at home. He was in Jackson for work that day and was able to swing by Fresh Market and pick up the steaks and all the fixin's. Being the sweet husband he is, he cooked, cleaned and wouldn't let me lift a finger that day.

B-day's are even better when they continue on through the weekend. My parents came in town Friday afternoon. Since they had been in the car for 4 hrs and we both had a long week, we weren't up for driving to Jackson, so we went to the local BBQ joint, Frenchie's. For your Southern Living readers, this restaurant was featured in their April issue, along with the town of Kosciusko.

We had a great time spending time with them. After dinner we came back to the house and played some Rock Band (haha). Mom and I mastered the drums w/ the song "Every Rose Has Its Thorn", while Jason prefered Everclear's "Santa Monica". Dad chose to be a specator only :) My mom and I also love to play Scrabble and got 2 games in on Friday night and one on Saturday. Saturday morning I prepared brunch for everyone. I love brunch food!! Before my parents left Saturday we made a trip to River Bridge. This is a gas station/feed store/ boutique (only in Kosciusko). It is the only place I know where you can fill up your car with gas, buy lunch meat, tobacco, feed, $200 pair of designer jeans and cute clothes. Mom and I both found a cute pair of flip flops :) She still cant' believe I buy clothes in a gas station now (ha).

After my parents headed back for Bama, Jason and I headed down the Natchez Trace to finish up the b-day weekend. We both had a craving for pasta, so we chose to dine at Amerigo. We did a little shopping and made our last stop at Fresh Market where we loaded up on food for Sunday dinner and got a few goodies this week.

It was a great weekend, not just b/c it was my b-day, but I was able to spend it w/ family and friends!! It was also fun to get those happy b-day cards, vm's, texts and emails from those friends I dont' get to see as much as I'd like.

Hope 30 is as great as 29!!

Why are we making memories in Mississippi??

Finally decided to join the blog world :) Many of you know about our recent move to Mississippi, but for those who don't, here is glimpse of the last year and our journey here. I promise my other post won't be this long................

Majority of my life has gone by my plans: great childhood/family/friends, college at Auburn, get married, etc. I always thought I'd be somewhere w/in a 1-2 hour radius of my family. Well, MY plans got thrown out of the window this year and I've also learned it isn't all about ME. This last year has really taught me to rely on God and trust his plan for my life. Jeremiah 29:11 is one of my favorite verses now :)

Our sweet little life as newly weds was moving right along in Montgomery, AL. Loved our house, friends, church, jobs, being close to family and Auburn :) I was definitely in my comfort zone. Unfortunately the Colonial Bank fiasco took me out of my "comfort zone" totally!

We had known for quite some time that a move and job change could be in our future. With Jason's position w/in Colonial he was aware of what may become, but hopeful for the best. I'm so thankful he was aware, b/c we were not blindsided and I had been preparing myself for these changes. Although we were nervous, we felt confident God would provide for us.

After BB&T bought Colonial out in August 2009, Jason was blessed with an opportunity to move to Winston-Salem, NC to work at their headquarters. We felt very fortunate b/c only 4 from a department of 20 were even offered a job. So we thought okay...lets do it...Winston-Salem is an awesome place. We had some great friends moving there as well with the bank. The only down fall was a long drive home.

A week later, Jason comes home and tells me about an awesome opportunity w/ M&F (Merchant's and Farmers) in Kosciusko, MS. I'm thinking he has lost his mind. There is no way I'm moving there!! The more and more he talked with the bank, it sounded like the perfect fit. He agreed to come visit & interview. Of course I tagged along to check it out. I was shocked that a bank of that size was even based in a town the size of Kosciusko. For my Alabama friends this town would remind you of maybe Scottsboro or Demopolis ?? When we arrived we were pleasantly suprised..the town was so charming, a quaint town square, and the people were so gracious...it was like a modern day Mayberry.

The opportunity was too awesome to turn down. It was a great move for his career and would provide a great lifestyle for our family. So after much prayer, thought and sleepless nights Jason turned down the job with BB&T and took the plunge and accepted a job with M&F, where he is the Credit Review Director/Manager. He has been here since December 2009 and I moved over mid-January of this year. We are enjoying our new town and life. Of course I miss things about Montgomery and our life there, but we have been extremely blessed. Jason loves his job, we found a great house, great friends and are thankful to have each other....what more can you ask for?? We are loooking forward to making many memories here :)