25th Birthday Celebrations

When people ask how my Thanksgiving was and I say, "Great!  We celebrated my birthday!" They usually respond with a, "Oh man, you had to share it with Thanksgiving??"  Actually, I don't mind at all.  It's a great excuse to spread it out as long as possible, and I felt celebrated for about ten days instead of just one!

It started Saturday before Thanksgiving--I went out with SMoo, Lyndsy and Claire to Kona Grill at Northpark.

{Me and Lyndsy}

{Surprise Red Velvet Double-Layer Cupcake!}

{Claire & SMoo}

Then we all headed back to my house to watch the Baylor game.  The Bears beat OU, and it was SO EXCITING!!!  We were all on our feet and yelling at the TV.  Hilarious, but true.

Wednesday night we celebrated at my parents' house.  It was just the five of us (plus Bella) and was the first time we'd all been together since the wedding.  It was a relaxing night together and lots of fun!  Dad grilled steaks, and we had baked potatoes, salad, grilled veggies and yummy rolls.  

Me and Mom--she made sure my presents were wrapped.  Apparently, I'd made a comment about how the Paulsons don't typically use bags, so she wanted to make sure I had things to unwrap like they do it!  :-)  

{Bella and the Birthday Girl}

{Brother, Bella and the Birthday Girl}  

(Sorry...too much alliteration??)

I had no other photo of Dad that night, but just wanted to note that he was there!

We typically are very careful about not mixing holidays around here.  (Mom's b-day is December 21.)  I was a little confused about the Christmas wrap but didn't say anything.  Turns out, it was for Adam... Santa just came a little early.

I had no idea what was inside, but he unwrapped a stocking that looked shockingly like the rest of the Dixons' that have hung on our mantle for the past 24 years.

Mom borrowed my sewing machine and made this stocking.  She will be the first to admit that she doesn't know how to sew, but that's not the case!  Adam and I were both really touched by this sweet gesture, and I was equally impressed with Mom's sewing and cross-stitching abilities!

Thursday morning, my actual birthday, I woke up smiling more than usual.  I was especially excited to share this day with AMP.  (Last year, he had to work on my actual birthday, so it was quite a treat to have him around!)

He made a pancake breakfast for us in his jammers.

We sat in the dining room so we could watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on our TV.  It's one of my most favorite traditions, and I was so excited about it!  Adam sat and watched it with me--a first for him. 

I don't know if you can spot them, but in this photo, there are four notes in envelopes.  They were hidden all over the house (and I mean, all over!), filled with coupons for a Starbucks breakfast date and a Sonic Lunch date (a true gift from AMP, my non-fast-food-eating husband!), and all these things he loves about me.  There were over 25 notes, and I was literally finding them around the house for days.  It was so sweet!

We went over to the Flaggs' to celebrate Thanksgiving with a late lunch, and celebrated even more there. Photos to come!

Wedding Weekend: Rehearsal Dinner

I was just flipping through our Rehearsal Dinner photos and one of our wedding songs came on my iTunes.  Before I even realized it, I had tears in my eyes, remembering all the sweet things people said about us.  I am so glad we were able to capture it on video, and I can't wait to watch it.

There were so many kind words spoken that night.  Many about love, about friendship and our friends' views on our relationship.  Most everyone commented how they were shocked that I'd started running, and many, if not most of our friends, mentioned how they were a bit unsure about us meeting at a bar and two-stepping...even if it was a church-sponsored event.  Eventually, when the our friends actually met and spent time with us, they realized that we weren't crazy.  And we are so glad, because we could not embark on this journey of marriage with out the support of our family and friends!

Here are a few highlights...

Before Adam and I arrived, "Shady" was on the menu.  They changed it and I had no idea until the ride home.  Hilarious!

Mike and Norene were great hosts.  We had such a great evening!

Bride & Groom

We were so into the story...

We opted to have our best man and maid of honor toasts during this dinner instead of the wedding reception.  It made it really special to have it just be our closest friends hearing their words.  

We laughed a lot.  Especially me, of course, but that's not surprising.  I love looking in the background and seeing everyone else's faces, too.

Yes, this was me, most of the night.

SMoo also gave a great MOH toast.  She pretty much outdid herself as the Maid of Honor!  She was always planning things, asking what I needed, and was always there to listen.  Love her!

A sweet brotherly moment.

Mom talked about how disciplined Adam is about eating well.  She's noticed that his only weakness are the M&Ms at my parents' house that comes from a special dispenser.  Adam is always sure to refill them when he comes over, but she wanted him to have his own.  The M&Ms say "Adam and Shay" on it.  Such a thoughtful gift!

Papa got up there to give a toast and concluded it by singing, "When you wish upon a star."

It was one of the most precious moments of the entire evening.  I think about it often, and it always makes me smile.

Norene read a great quote to us about marriage, and then when we got home from Hawaii, we had a "Welcome Home" gift.  It was a beautiful framed picture of a bride and groom's backs, holding hands, and the quote that she read was printed at the bottom.  So thoughtful!

Hugs all around.

Adam and I got up and said thank you to our parents, our brothers, the rest of our family and our friends.  I was so thankful to be able to stand up there and tell everyone how much they mean to us.

Sarah & Troy

Giving SMoo the rings, and checking mine out.  I'd had my engagement ring and wedding band soldered together earlier that week.  I'd tried themon several times together while we were engaged (much to Adam's chagrin!), and they just kept turning every which way.  I had them put together, and Adam's stipulation was that I wouldn't wear it until our wedding day.  :-)  I gave the rings to SMoo so that we wouldn't have to worry about them.  Best decision.

Our names on the Maggiano's sign before we left.  Just a few more hours and we'd be married!

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Baylor Homecoming, Bella Style

Baylor Homecoming was a highlight of the Fall, as usual.  It was my quickest one yet, but I still got there.  Twenty-two years and counting!  I rode down with my parents Friday afternoon, and if you know them, you know that Miss Bella came along, too!

{Bella does Baylor}

{Cute parents and pup}

{Bella and the Bear}

I hopped around from various activities on Friday night.  I've never done that, and it was quite nice.  I was feeling pretty un-focused as I'd just had a crazy week at work on top of moving, so it was nice to go wherever my little heart desired.  

I stopped in at Pigskin to see the Deltas perform,

then over to hear my old BRH choir sing for a bit at Singspiration 

and then to the bonfire!

{Green and Gold fireworks!}

I met up with Amanda and Megan and their hubbies, and we had a great time catching up.  The fire was HUGE and quite warm.  We stopped for Starbucks first while waiting for everything to get under way.  Of course now that we're gone, they put one in the library on campus.  Maybe I would've gone more...

Probably not.  :-)

{Annual Dad/Daughter bonfire pic}

{Cuzzies.}

Saturday morning, we made it for the end of the parade, just in time to see our peeps.  (The floats are really cool, but I was just focused on friends this year, especially!)

{Me and Lyndsy}

I wonder if some day we will look back at this and question why we wore such large sunglasses.  But I know it is because we are so in style.  Duh.

{Bella and Dad are Baylor-ed out in BU jackets and hankies}

{Papa, me and Bella}

Papa and Jonita came down to see Anna in Pigskin.  They stopped by First Baptist's gym to say hello before heading to the 2 p.m. show.  They made it earlier since the game ended up being on TV later that night.  

{Laura, Papa, Me, Mom & Bella}

Nearly a complete family photo.  (Yes, T-roy still comes home for BU Homecoming.  Love it.)  Adam was working part of the weekend, and I was there for such a short time, it would've been a lot of driving for not a lot of Baylor-ing.  So next year, we have already requested time off that weekend!  Woohoo!

{BSB friends--me, Allison and Madeleine, Rebecca and Leah}

It was a quick weekend, but lots of fun.  I'm so thankful for yet another year of memories and time to catch up with friends!

Our nest :: And why we call it Narnia

I've been more than a little hesitant to post a photo of our house.  Why, you ask?  Well, because the front looked very much like this:

 

In fact, it did look like this up until a few days ago.  Adam and I went on a date night to Macaroni Grill, where we wrote on the table and prioritized all our many projects we'd like to get accomplished around the house.  He was quite surprised that at the top of my list was the yard!  (Good thing we talked about it, right??) 

We've had quite a few friends come to visit, and the question we often receive is, "How do we get to the front door?"  We call it Narnia because it was like a forest you had to get through in order to find it.  I'd been waiting on a little name for our house, and I think that just fits perfectly.  :-)

After FOURTEEN bags of leaves and a pile of brush like this...

We've ended up with this as our final product--just in time to put Christmas lights out front!  We worked together three hours on Sunday afternoon, and then Adam worked yesterday for a couple more, and I went out to help bag even more leaves for about an hour.  So between the two of us, we worked about 10 hours on the yard!  It was fun to do together, and I think too, it helps to have such a visible change for all of our work.  We can now see our front door and step out on our porch and see up and down the street.  We love it!