WELCOME TO THE SOUTH!

We had such a fun weekend with family in town!!!!!!! I don't think I can overstate that! We loved every second that Tom and Katie were here.  We had a blast showing them around the city we love and showing them all the things that we love about Alabama.  Also, family is the best. We love having big families with lots of fun siblings.  It was so so great to spend some quality time with them...thanks for such a fun visit T & K!!!! We love you lots! (And Alabama misses you so you should come back soon!) ;) We did so many things while they were here that there is not enough time to elaborate on it all BUT here are some of the pictures that we took during their visit!

First stop: Bass Pro Shop (duh!) and guess who was there.....SANTA!!!! (I KNOW HIM!!)  And the best part? Free pics! He was a quality Santa too! He looked at G and exclaimed, "Well I haven't seen you since you were 5! You didn't get the truck you wanted that year because you were naughty!" And when we asked for a picture, he insisted we sit on his lap.  haha. Then Santa told me to tell G that he needs to be extra good and listen to his wife or he won't get any presents this year! What a good Santa! :) 

^^ Santa specifically told Katie to stand up so he could take this pic with Tom.  hahaha ^^

We went to the Civil Rights Institute which was really great! I encourage everyone to go to it.  It is especially interesting because Birmingham was so involved in this part of our Nation's history. This is the 16th Street Baptist Church pictured above and below.  History sometimes breaks my heart but it's so important that we learn about it.  

^^ People didn't think they were brothers and I'm like

 are you kidding me, they look like twins! ^^

^^ The view of Birmingham from the Vulcan! 

We sure do love this city. ^^

^^ We somehow didn't take a pic of the Vulcan,

 but here is its foot in comparison to these guys! ^^

^^ A truly Southern meal at Niki's West. This place is amazing!!!Pictured: catfish (with the best tartar sauce ever!), fried green tomatoes, greens, sweet potatoes and cornbread. GET IN MA BELLY!!! Oh and don't forget to try some banana pudding...it's the best that I've had in Alabama yet!  ^^

^^ We went and explored Sloss Furnaces.  It's an awesome place! 

It would have been cool to see this in full swing back in the day! ^^

^^ Bye bye Tom.... parts of it were kind of eerie...

but of course the boys wanted to go exploring! ^^

^^ Gordy made us walk down into this huge tunnel that was dripping with water and super scary!! And when he jumped at us, you bet that Katie and I screamed and clung to each other! haha^^

^^We went to Tom's first parade! They do Christmas parades here and I absolutely love it!! 

My favorite part is when they throw ice cream sandwiches off of the fire trucks. We are not ashamed to jump up and down for some candy, that's for sure! ^^

^^ Beignets!!!! So good! ^^

And then this happened and the boys left. They had a fun day despite not shooting anything! Katie and I took a tour of the Arlington Antebellum Home and Gardens.  This house is from pre-civil war era and was beautiful! My favorite was the square piano! We did some window shopping and had some quality girl time.  I loved having a sister around!!

^^ We also felt like kids ringing the bell! haha. People thought we were sisters and I was like I'm toooootally okay with that because Katie's the cutest! ^^

It was such a fabulous weekend...one for the books! We can't wait for more visits in the future from T and K (and their soonish to arrive little baby)! We love you guys mucho! Can't wait CAN'T WAIT for Christmas when we will see even more of our families!!!

TWO YEARS

On November 17th, Gordy and I celebrated two years of marriage!!!  It's a little hard to believe that we have already been married two years! Time seriously flies when you are with the one you love. Our anniversary was on a Monday, and we both had work and school, so we decided to celebrate simply.  It was such a good day.  I honestly was beaming all day just thinking about the man that I get to call my husband.  He is so wonderful! 

The Saturday prior, we went to the temple and participated in some sealings.  We were able to reminisce on our special day when we were sealed for eternity.  So many memories and feelings came back to me in the temple which made this experience all the sweeter! I cannot express enough gratitude and love for our Heavenly Father who allows us to be connected to our loved ones in the life to come.  Our temple sealing is one of our greatest blessings! 

After a fancy dinner of quesadillas and red pepper and tomato soup (it's not pathetic if that's what you both feel like right???), we reminisced.  We reminisced over the slide show that Gordy proposed with.  It was so cute to re-read some of the texts we sent each other while dating!  We looked at all of our wedding pictures and watched our wedding video which brought back even more memories.  I looked over at G while watching the video and realized that we both had the biggest smiles on our faces! November 17, 2012 was seriously the perfect day! Then we talked about love and life and dreams and goals and marriage and each other.  Sometimes I think my heart will burst because I feel so much love for this man of mine.  

I believe in marriage.  I believe in celebrating it!  I love that Gordy and I get to work together each day and that we share everything--our good, bad, hard, happy, and funny moments.  I have had a few friends ask me over the past few years what the best part about marriage is.  I have tried to explain to them how I have never known more happiness or felt more complete.  The feelings that come when Gordy and I set goals together, see our dreams come true together, and work through hard situations together are unparalleled by anything I've experienced before.  I have never found as great of joy and completeness by myself.  I truly believe that God ordained marriage for our happiness and benefit.  I love how President Eyring put it when talking about his wife...

"Most remarkable to me has been the fulfillment of the hope I felt the day I met my wife.  I have become a better person as I have loved and lived with her.  We have been complementary beyond anything I could have imagined.  Her capacity to nurture others grew in me as we became one.  My capacity to plan, direct, and lead in our family grew in her as we became united in marriage.  I realize now that we grew together into one--slowly lifting and shaping each other, year by year.  As we absorbed strength from each other, it did not diminish our personal gifts.

Our differences combined as if they were designed to create a better whole.  Rather than dividing us, our differences bound us together.  Above all, our unique abilities allowed us to become partners with God in creating human life.  The happiness that came from our becoming one build faith in our children and grandchildren that marriage could be a continuing source of satisfaction for them and their families."

I love that we get to celebrate our marriage close to the Thanksgiving holiday when we are extra mindful of the blessings that we have.  Without a doubt, Gordy is one of my greatest blessings! I feel so incredibly honored and lucky to be with this man forever.  He makes every day wonderful!!!

Thank you, Gordy, for making these two years the happiest years of my life yet! Thank you for choosing me, complimenting me, and working together each day with me.  I love you!

Love, your darling

Here are some links that articulate my beliefs about marriage and that have inspired me lately...enjoy THIS (which is where the quote above is from), THIS, and THIS. 

ALL HALLOWS' EVE

The whole day I had the song, "This is Halloween, this is Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!" stuck in my head.  (And then after writing Halloween so many times it started to look funny so I had to double check it.) We had been talking for weeks about what we were going to dress up as, and luckily we decided on the 29th! Honestly, Gordy's beard inspired this costume.  Thanks for looking like a hairy wolf somewhat naturally babe! ;) And thanks for loving the idea of wearing a grandma dress.  My husband is the best!

My mom always made our costumes and I loved that growing up! I want to carry on that tradition and honestly had a blast creating these costumes.  My mom's creative side has definitely rubbed off on me..thanks mom! I forgot to take some pics of G's costume in progress, but just know there was faux fur EVERYWHERE.  

Here are some detail shots of the finished products.  We thought it was hilarious when people didn't recognize G (which was everyone). And we may have fake trick-or-treated our friends with my hood pulled over my face (shown below) so they really had no idea who we were.  We finished the night off making carmeled apples with friends while enjoying some candy and watching World War Z.  It was such a fun holiday!