New Camera

My parents got us THIS for Christmas this year. (THANKS!!!!!) I was so excited and surprised as I had only half mentioned I wanted one to my mom many months ago. She'd been plotting this for months and getting information from all our family members that have them. My dad used to have his own dark room and I've always wanted to learn more about photography. Now, I have no excuse because I have the perfect camera to start out on. I've got lots to learn and need to do it before Cason arrives!

Yesterday, I met Suz, Luke and Hudson for lunch and took a few pictures. It's amazing what this camera can do on its own (I sure had nothing to do with it)... and of course cute subjects like these two make it even more fun!

It felt like home

Over Memorial Day weekend, Ryan and I flew to Nashville for my dear friend Ross's wedding.
The wedding was beautiful and the reception was a blast. It was great to have the gang from Murrah back together again. Not much had changed!

As I left the reception tears welled up in my eyes. I exchanged hugs and "I Love You's" with Ross, his parents, Ann and Taylor. Something just hit me about how much I do love those people, how much we had been through together and how hard it was to leave them all again. We don't see each other much since we all live in different cities but when we do, its just like old times. They are my family. The friends I was always myself with, the friends that always made me laugh. Their families opened their homes to me on soooo many occasions (as my family did for them.) And oh, the stories we have shared. I think it just hit me how hard it is to "grow up", to move away from home, to leave the people who lived through the events of my life that made me ... me. Its part of life... we move away, we get jobs, we get married... but man, do I miss you guys. Ah... I'm crying again.

Back to the wedding... Here are the few pictures I did take. As I said, it was a beautiful wedding. The food was great. The cake was awesome and the band played all night.


Ryan and Ann at the Kids Table. He really fit in that chair! :)
Ross playing a couple of songs (with his band, Telephant)
Congratulations Ross and Mandy!

New Years! A 10 year flashback.

10 years ago, we all started singing the famous Prince song "Party like it's 1999".  We didn't care that it was really about the New Years of 1999 - 2000.  It was finally 1999!  I was a senior in high school and we thought we were too cool being the last class of the 1900's.    

Lots have happened since that New Years Eve 1998 - 1999.  A random list...

• I've graduated from High School, College and Grad School.  
  
• I met Ryan.
  
• I've moved SEVERAL times - Bryan, College Station(2 moves), Houston, The Woodlands.  
  
• We've lost grandparents in both our families.
• I gained an adorable niece, Helmi!
  
• Ryan and I got married.  
  
• We've been through 3 heated presidential elections (Bush/Gore, Bush/Kerry, Obama/McCain).
• Jennifer Anniston and Brad Pitt got married... and divorced.  
• We've seen the country attacked on 9/11 followed by the start of two wars.  
• I read all 7 Harry Potter books. 
• I got a job.
• We've watched the economy sink into a recession.  
  
• Friends and Sex and the City went off the air.
  
• American Idol, The Bachelor, tons of other terrible reality TV and Lost came into our TVs.
  
• I made some great new friends here in Texas.
  
• I started a blog.
• I learned I love Keifer's (don't know what took me so long).
• MTV stopped playing music.

And then some things stay the same:

• My family rocks.
  
• I still talk a lot... and I still talk too loud.
  
• Sweet Tea is the best drink on the planet.
  
• I'm proud to be an American and think its the "best country ever" (cue Radio Shack "best gifts ever" music). 
  
• The Real World is still on MTV.
• Shawshank Redemption is still one of the "best movies ever".
• Mississippi State still sucks at football but I love them regardless (I'll be saying that in 2019, and 2029, and 2039....)
• I have wonderful friends, new and old. 
• A little piece of me still wants to be a teacher.
• An teeny tiny piece of me wants to be a cheerleading coach. (OK, that has changed slightly--10 years ago, it was a big piece).
• We still drive our cars on streets... no hoverboards or flying cars yet!

So, that's my quick reflection on the past 10 years.  I'm happy with the direction my life has taken me, one I never imagined in 1999.  

New Years Eve 1998-1999, if I am not mistaken, was celebrated at one of my brother's friends houses.  I think it was one of the first years James and I started going to the same parties... when our circles of friends started to mesh.   And as I look back its weird to think that not one person that I celebrated with 10 years ago was part of my celebration this year.  For Ryan, this, I am sure, is not the case.  I don't know if he specifically remembers that New Years, but I'd bet money that one or two of his friends celebrated with him in 1998/1999 and 2008/2009.  It's interesting where our lives take us.

New Years Eve 2008-2009 was spent on Galveston Island.  This year we went to Suz's family beach house.  Her house suffered damage in the lower level and they lost their boat and jet ski's during Ike.  But, the house was still structurally sound and is livable again.  More about post-Ike Galveston in another post.

I won't give a detailed play by play of the night... here are some pictures.

We lit a fire in the fire pit and roasted marshmallows for s'mores.

We sat by the fire off and on during the night.  We kept feeding the fire with a dead palm so there was tons of smoke. 

Ryan stopped on his way down to buy fireworks.  And did he buy fireworks.  Everyone agreed to chip in so he bought a lot.  He really was in heaven!  The assorted pack had some of the old favorites... sparkler, roman candles and snap-pops. 
When midnight hit, we toasted with champagne and took a few pictures.  
And then the boys put on a fireworks show.  I don't think boys ever grow out of loving fire and things that explode.  They set up all the fireworks in the neighbors driveway and had it all planned out.  It was quite the display... until one fell over and shot right at us... luckily everyone survived.  The girls, we stuck to our sparklers!
I had to include these pictures of the dogs because at one point we had 5 dogs at the house.  I never got a picture of one of the dogs, and you can see Milo and Scooter in the group shot above.  This is Lucy who had a hurt paw and Bailey guarding the door.  
It was a fun night with no driving!  Thanks Suz and Brandon!

This post got way longer than I anticipated.  So, I'll leave my ramblings about seeing Galveston for the first time after Ike to a separate post.  

 

I hope you have a happy 2009 and when you look back at the last 10 years, the good times out-weigh the rough times.  I can't wait to see what the next 10 years bring... I just hope they don't go by too fast.