Day 4 - Norfolk, VA

Wedding Day! We ate at No Frill restaurant which Kaitlin suggested in Norfolk and it was super tasty! This is the dessert we got to-go, Trey's favorite: Carrot cake!

The ceremony started at 5:30 pm so we drove around during the day and did some sight seeing. Then we came back to the hotel to get ready and we set off to find the church.

This Church was gorgeous outside as well as inside. Breathtaking! (I borrowed a couple of pics from Molly's facebook page because once again, I did not get a picture of the church or a couple of other things. Thanks Molly! :) )

It was a beautiful ceremony and Kaitlin looked perfect - such a glowing and beautiful Bride. I was honored to be there for their special day.

Here they are! The Happy Bride and Groom! (also courtesy of Molly)

This is Molly and Robin Poullath - our new friends!

Here we are at the wedding.

Kaitlin and I

The reception was so much fun! It was held at the naval base and it was beautifully decorated with pretty flower arrangements and her colors: green and chocolate were perfect (don't you just love those color choices?) We met more people at our table and had fun eating yummy food, drinking drinks (gin and tonic for me!) and listening to great music and dancing. It was so much fun to watch all of their families and friends get on the dance floor :)

It was then time for the Bride and Groom to take their exit and we stood outside with our large sparklers in hand as they walked down the lighted path to their limo. Ahhhhh - I LOVE weddings! It was so perfect :)


This is a photo of Kaitlin and I are my Rehearsal Dinner June 29, 2007. This was the first time we had seen each other since Montreat 12 years ago!!!

Day 3 - Norfolk

On Friday we drove to Norfolk, VA where Kaitlin lives and where her wedding would be. On our way, we used the fabulous Garmin and asked it for food suggestions and there were many restaurants on this little street in Lexington, VA. We drove down it and it literally felt (and looked like) a street from the movie Notting Hill with Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant. It was AMAZING and full of history! All of the buildings were so old - yet so cute - and there were little shops and cafes all up and down this road. We randomly picked this place called Bistro on Main and it turned out to be the best meal on our entire trip!

I had the quiche of the day and a yummy salad with goat cheese, fruit, and nuts drizzled in a poppy seed dressing (to die for!) and Trey had the crab cake special which he loved. We shared a slice of key lime pie for dessert and it was the best key lime we have ever had! YUM! :) We were so impressed with the service as well. It was a great experience! The crazy thing is that I am sure there are MANY little towns like this that are all over the US with cute little Bistros that are tucked away for locals and the occasional tourist. We were so glad we stopped there to eat.

We made our way to Norfolk, VA after lunch and we did run into some traffic caused by an accident. Surprisingly, this was the only day on our vacation that we ran into traffic - how lucky is that?

Two pics as we are going over a bridge into Norfolk. Amazing views - so pretty!


This is the Rehearsal Dinner invite for Kaitlin and Ray and I am so upset I did not get a single picture of anyone on Friday evening at the dinner. (what was I thinking?!)

But we had a blast and it was so great to see Kaitlin and meet Ray and her family/friends. How special it was to be there and share this wonderful event with them. They sat at our table and we got to catch up a little during dinner. We also met another great couple: Molly and Robin from the DC area (Northern VA) and they were super sweet and we hit it off immediately. I told the story of how Kaitlin and I met at Montreat, NC when we were in 9-10th grade at a church retreat and we have written snail mail letters ever since - so for around 12 years about once a month or two months we send a letter and write about our lives and ask for prayer requests. It has been an amazing friendship and I am so blessed to have her in my life. :)

Day 2 - Nashville

We ate at our first White Castle and it was quite tasty! They cook their burgers on a bed of onions so they are steamed not grilled. It was pretty interesting because you could see the burgers cooking from a window into the kitchen. They are a lot like Krystal burgers but taste different. And they have crinkle fries which I love!

We went to the Belle Meade Plantation to take a tour and it was neat - we spent a couple of hours there and got some good pics. I just love touring historic homes, it is so neat to learn about the past. This particular plantation was the home of famous racing horses. Some of the best winners (like Seabiscuit) can be traced back to bloodlines of the horses that lived at Belle Meade - how cool is that? ;)

After the tour we drove to Roanoke, VA and stayed at a Doubletree there as well. It was surprisingly nice and very historic. We didn't expect much from Roanoke because it seemed small online - but it was gorgeous and the hotel was so neat! We didn't arrive until late Thursday night, but enjoyed our stay nonetheless. :)

ROAD TRIP!!! First Stop - Nashville, TN

Trey and I just got back from a vacation which was one of the best trips we have ever taken! My dear friend (and longtime penpal) Kaitlin got married this past weekend and we decided to make a road trip vacation since she lives in Norfolk, Virginia and we have never been there before. We borrowed a Radar Detector (ours are broken) and a Garmin from Bruce, rented a car from Enterprise, and set off to Nashville!

These two devices SAVED us on our trip! Mainly the Garmin which is a Godsend - I don't know how we survived before it - it is easily the best invention EVER - and happens to be my new BFF :)

So, on our way to Nashville, of course I needed some Starbucks and we got the little Garmin and asked it where a nearby Starbucks was. It found one and charted a new route for us. Well, it looked like it was very close by (might I add that this was BEFORE we realized that the arrows pointing downward mean you back to backtrack to the location) so we followed its directions. Well, 25 minutes later we are driving down little bitty two lane roads in tiny towns and we went WAY off track. We finally rounded the corner of a Farm and the clouds parted and there it was - Starbucks!! We pulled into the parking lot and raced to the drive-thru and then we saw it... there was nothing on the drive-thru boards. It was completely empty - and closed! We couldn't believe it - hopefully it had just closed a few weeks prior, but still. I was devastated and the only thing we saw was a McDonald's across the street. So - we went in and ordered two McCafe Mochas (they looked at us kinda funny when we ordered Venti, non-fat, no whip mochas) so we got large full fat mochas with whipped cream. Lovely. Anyway, we learned our lesson about the arrows on the Garmin.

The closed Starbucks - Boo

Mickey D's Mocha - not too tasty

We made it to Tennessee!!

We stayed at Doubletree in Nashville our first night which was very nice!

Meghan lives in Nashville now so she picked us up at the hotel and we went to an Italian Dinner downtown and then we walking and ended up at a bar for drinks.

Meghan and I

Yummy Shots! hey, we are on Vacation :)

Trey and I found this crazy large guitar - whoa!

It's ELVIS!

Trey, me, and Meghan

We had so much fun hanging out with Meghan and appreciate her showing us downtown Nashville! A fantastic start to our vacay!

Subiaco Saturday

I have been wanting to visit Subiaco for years and never had the chance until this past Saturday. Vivian is very close to Father Denis (he is the Priest that married Trey and I ) and he lives in Shoal Creek and is the Pastor at St. Scholastica Church. We arrived around 11 am on Saturday to his house and he gave us a tour of his Parish. It has such character and is beautiful. I never got pictures inside, but did take a couple outside.

Father Denis Soerries

St. Scholastica Church

Then, we went to Subiaco to eat lunch and take a tour. It was breathtaking and everything I had always thought it would be! We enjoyed our lunch with Father and he took us around showing us the beautiful Church and surrounding areas. It was very neat because he knows so much information and details that we would have never heard had we been on our own.

Amazing...

After Subiaco, we drove to St. Mary's which has been renovated and it was gorgeous too! St. Mary's is near the Post and Wiederkehr Wineries.

It was a wonderful day filled with such beauty and great company. I am blessed that I have such a good time not only with my Husband, but with my fabulous Mother In Law - how did I get that lucky? :)

We are getting ready to go on our first Road Trip vacation to see Kaitlin get married in Norfolk, Virginia!! We are thrilled and cannot wait to hit the road. We leave Wednesday and get back the following Wednesday. YEA! I will post many pics of all our stops once we return. Enjoy the week!

Who Me? Organized?

Well - I finally did it... I went into the Container Store last weekend for the FIRST time and let me say that it is absolute heaven! I have not allowed myself to even go near the parking lot for fear I would lose total control and buy one of everything in the store (will power HAD to be in full check!) So I left the credit cards at home and made my way to this fabulous store. I probably spent an hour and a half just walking up and down every aisle just oooohing and awwwing at all of the wonderful organizational items. Amazing.


I did allow myself to purchase one item and that was a gift bag organizer which was on SALE! I have been shoving all of my gift bags and tissue paper into the bottom of a closet (totally chaotic) and this was a perfect solution! I rushed home and filled it up and placed it back in the closet - nice, neat, and completely organized. Ahhhhhh what a good feeling.


I mean... who wouldn't LOVE to have this closet???



I also got a mini flag to put outside our house for the summer. I love the colors and it adds to the front of the house.

Please excuse the bare ground - we are in-between planting bushes, flowers, etc.

I just LOVE Spring!!!

Happy Spring!!

Lauren and I went to see Somerset at the Races in Hot Springs on Friday. We had a fun girls trip and ate a late lunch at this Cafe 1217 which was amazing! We both had the chicken salad filled with yummy pineapples, blueberries, strawberries, and a champagne dressing - soo good! They are known for their desserts so of course we had to get a slice of brownie cake with cream cheese icing which was to die for!!


Then, we went shopping on the strip on Central Avenue and we drove to my very favorite shop first which is Essentials. It is a little store that is filled with neat items, collectibles, fun girly things, and rare finds. Very cutsey and I always get something when I am in town. So, we dash across the street to find this...



I almost fell over from complete shock and devastation! This store has been there for years and I couldn't believe the Rent sign was on it and everything was completely moved out! Well, we went on our way and found other shops. We drove to meet Somerset and her family at Jose's Mexican Grill and we ran across a new shopping strip. We drove in and low and behold there was my beloved Essentials Store in perfect condition! I was so happy, and although they were closed for the day, I had peace of mind that they were not taken down by this crazy economy.

We had a yummy Mexican dinner and drove back to LR late Friday night.

Sunday, April 5:

Oh today was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! (A little windy - okay, very windy) but gorgeous nonetheless. Everyone that knows me knows I don't love the outdoors, but I do enjoy it when it is so nice - how can you not? :)

So, now that Spring is here in full force we begun our spring cleaning this weekend which consisted of major dusting, polishing furniture, and cleaning out the garage. Fun times let me tell you! We have also started talking about planting trees, bushes, and flowers. I think I might actually want to get in touch with my Green Thumb side, I gotta dig deep - real deep, and start buying flowers to plant MYSELF! We were at Walmart on Saturday, and I bought two beautiful green pots to go on either side of our front door. Now, I gotta decide what pretty flowers I want to fill them up with - that should be the fun part! I will keep you posted and take pics once that project is complete.

Here is a funny pic of Trey while he is polishing/cleaning our furniture

And then there are the precious doggies - lights of our lives. Soph has actually been better. I did go inspect Chenal Pet Palace for a doggie daycare, but I don't think this will work out for us. Lots of little and big things contribute to our deciding factor that this isnt the right place for her. It is a fabulous little pet place and so cute. The owners were very nice too!

I snapped this pic right before I told her to get down off the table - she knows better :)

For part of our Spring Fever - we have finally decided to purchase a bedspread for our master bedroom!! I am so thrilled about this because we have been going back and forth for a few years on what colors we both like (and can tolerate) and what would look best. We have never agreed on anything comforter or bedspread. One of us will love it, and the other cannot stand it. So, we found this pretty black and white bedspread set that is on SALE for a great price and will look great in our bedroom that has black furniture and a Red accent wall. I am soooo excited!!

One last thing, we used our Recyclable bags at Kroger for the first time today, and did you know you receive a discount for having your own bags? YES! The lady asked me how many we had and I told her 8 bags, she entered something in her register and we got a little discount - how awesome! :)

That wraps up our weekend - is it Monday already??