dresses and boys

Hello folks...hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend with friends and family. We were fortunate enough to have family come up to see us this year, along with some furry friends (Sadie, Rudy, and a foster pup, Kevin.....yes, Kevin.) My Mom, twin sis, Allie, and youngest brother, Logan were up for the weekend and it was a lot of fun, although it was very busy trying to get Allie ready for her wedding in August. We went dress shopping at this great wedding gown boutique in Jasper, Al called Diane's Formal Affair. At first I was like, "Al, why are we going to Jasper for a wedding dress?" And I soon found out why...they were so professional from the time we stepped in the door from the time we left....WITH HER DRESS! It's beautiful and I can't wait to see her walk down the isle with it on. We had a great time shopping, and I even tried a couple dresses on just for fun! It totally made me want to marry Sam again so I could wear one of those dresses....but one wedding will suffice.

Her's a peek at one from the previous weekend's shopping experience...but I don't have a picture of the real thing... but take my word for it...it's gorgeous!

Well, right now...I'm officially out numbered in the Brown house. My little brother, Logan, is staying with us for two weeks to get out of Dothan and to give my sweet Mom a break from her daily routine. I've been a little nervous about having my 15 yr old brother here, but so far it's been good, thanks to much prayer, and a great husband who sacrifices a lot of his time to invest in his. We are trying not to be "parents" but encourage some semblance of responsibility. We are limiting tv time and strictly enforcing one caffeinated beverage a day. So far, so good.

On a completely unrelated note....I'm missing my dad right now who is in the midst of an excursion abroad to China with my other brother, Austin, for his Senior Class trip. He's been there since last Tuesday and we've skyped a couple of times, but it's not the same as the usual call every few days. I can't wait to see his pictures and hear how his trip has been. I know the food has been rough for them both (it was for me too.) but they love the people, and have had a great time so far.

Here's a peek from a karate tournament they went to the other day:

So. cool.

North Carolina Gettaway

In preparation for starting my new job on Monday, Sam and I decided to take a little road trip to Raleigh, NC to see his brother, Jon and wife, Melissa, and the newest little blessing to Brown Clan, Parker Brown. He just turned 5 months old. It was a long drive, but well worth the time, even though my SIL had to go out of town on Thursday for a preplanned beach trip with some of her friends. Although a little out numbered by the boys in the house, I was able to give the brothers some much needed time to themselves, and I got the better end of the deal, more time with little man.

Unfortunately about an hour into the drive up to NC, I realized that in my sleep walk to the car at about 6:45 a.m, that I had totally forgotten to grab our camera...so I don't really have any noteworthy pictures from this recent trip to share. But, I will say it was a kind of enjoyable to just be in the moments and not have to worry about capturing all the sweet faces that Parker made or all the silly things that my husband and his brother found themselves doing. I do have plenty of lovely mental images, rest assured.

I feel like every time I talk about Parker, all I can say is, "he is such a happy baby!" I've been around my share of babies, and seen some good ones, but he's created a whole new level. Call me partial, but I'm serious. Of all the little "moments" we had together over the last few days, my favorite by far was when we were going back to the car on Friday after walking around downtown Raleigh. We had just finished dinner and Parker had been such a trooper to put up with our somewhat aimless sight-seeing, and I knew he was getting tired. Instead of putting him in his stroller to hike to the car, I just carried him in my arms and it seemed like he just melted in them...and as I cradled him in my arms, I would walk a few steps, and I'd lift him up and then swoop my arms down, giving him that eerie falling sensation, only to be reciprocated every time by the sound of his hilarious laughter! I loved it. He loved it. I was amazed at how content he was to be thrown around in my arms, without a fear in the world that I would drop him. I felt in that moment like he reminded me of how the Lord wants us to be in His arms....totally secure. Unafraid that He will drop us when life hands us ups and downs. Easier sad than done for me more often than not...but how neat that God would use little Parker to remind me of that.

On a lighter note, we got back to our place yesterday afternoon after driving for a good 8.5 hours with a very large couch in the back of our truck that Jon and Melissa were gracious to give us, only to find out that our new, free couch wouldn't fit in the bonus room we had planned for it go in for the last week. Needless to say I was a "little" perturbed about the whole situation and poor Sam had to listen to my stubborn ramblings about how awful this was and that it was completely messing up my "design plan" for our small living room. Enter my type-A personality. Sorry Sam that you had to be my verbal "punching bag" again.

The couch now sits awkwardly in the middle of our narrow living room about 12 inches from our dining table. {deep breathes} no visitors please.

In all serious, I'm a thankful for a free couch, just looking forward to it one day being in the right spot.

Ok. One more thing, please pray for my sweet husband and his boss as they are on the road to a conference in Illinois this week. I do tend to get a little nervous about him being out of town, but after looking up about ten verses on "anxiety" and the pointlessness of it in view of how big our God is, I am doing a little better than earlier.

Happy Mother's Day!

Sam and I had plans this weekend and couldn't make it home to see this lovely lady for Mother's day. I was a little sad, and even frustrated that I didn't get her card in the mail 'till Friday...ugh. But I know that she'll receive it with just as much appreciation, even if a little tardy.

I know I don't say this as much as I should to her, but I thank God that He has given me such a great Mom...and one that has sacrificed so much of her time to invest in mine. She is not only a mother, but a best friend. We joke around sometimes that we are like "twins" because so many of the things we do and think are the alike...I told her that "it's good to have a clone in the world that knows exactly what you're thinking when you need someone to talk to!" She's also one of the strongest, most sensitive women I know, and carries with her such a beautiful combination of spiritual and physical beauty, it just lights up the room. I am so thankful that the Lord has allowed her to walk with me through this first year and half of marriage, and have been sad that mom never got to do that with her mother.

I only hope that I can be half the mother she has been to my kids one day. I have been blessed with a wonderful example, and look forward to when she can walk me through raising my babies down the road. {she is going to spoil them rotten.}

To all of you mama's out there....thank you.

humble musings

My sweet nephew, Parker

Hello blog world. I have returned after somewhat of a long absence. I've decided I'm officially going through "blog remorse" if there is such a thing. I started blogging a few years ago and loved it. And then stopped for a while, and decided to start again before the hubs and I got married, and then I was introduced to some "professional" bloggers, found here, here, and here, and then I got into this funk, and couldn't find the motivation to write anymore.

I don't mean to be daisy downer here, but I found myself thinking these sad thoughts: Why should I even attempt to write about my life when I'm obviously not as gifted as these other girls...{who have been blogging way longer}. Or, " I don't really have a very interesting life right now, " or "my blog doesn't look as good, blah blah blah." Until it finally dawned on me: I don't have to blog if I don't want to, but I want to. And I'm not going to do myself any favors by comparing my life to others. The Lord gives us all different gifts to be used for His Glory. I'm encouraged by these other ladies who use their blogs to do just that. And by thinking that my life isn't as important does me no good.

so...i'm going to attempt to change things up a little and not play by the rules. I'm gonna write when I want to, even if several weeks go by, and i'm going to do my best to not compare myself to others. My goal is that the Lord would be honored by my humble musings about life, and continue to show me how He's working in me, and our marriage. I hope to be an encouragement to you.

Have room for this guy?

Folks....it's been a while, I know. Sadly I'm coming back with some sad news. Sam and I have decided that we need to find Samson a new and better home. With our work schedules, and our tiny place and no yard...we feel that Samson is not living to his fullest potential. We would love to find him a new home where he would have plenty of space to run around in a back yard, and not have to go to a dog park with unfamiliar dogs. He's been a great pet, and is so affectionate with people, which is a huge blessing considering his background.

Samson is a rescued Great Dane and because of that we don't know exactly how he was treated by his first owners. Because of this, Samson needs special attention and owners who will take special care of him. He has had all his shots & vaccines, and has been neutered. He has also been on heart-worm prevention and flee treatment the whole time we've had him.

A little more background on Samson: He was born somewhere in Auburn. We do know that he was abandoned by the time he was about a year and half old, and fortunately was taken in by one of my old professors at Auburn. She and her husband rehabilitated him from a scrawny 90 lbs to the 150 lbs we took him at. He's been through so much and deserves a great home where he can preferably be the main pet. He's been fine around children ever since we've had him, but we feel he would do best around bigger kids or no kids at all. Because Samson is a protector at heart...(ya'll he really tries to protect me from other dogs by getting in between me and another dog I'm trying to pet!) he has had a couple incidents with other aggressive dogs. This is important to know if you're wanting a dog who you can take to the park and just not worry about it. That would NOT be this dog.

Samson is not aggressive until provoked by other aggressive dogs. Therefore, he does best socializing with dogs that are NOT dominant or aggressive dogs. This is also the reason why we feel he would do best in a place with a big back yard, so that he would not have to go to the park. I want to be honest, that has been one of our only set backs....HE IS OTHERWISE A GREAT DOG!

If you or anyone you know might be interested in knowing more about Samson....PLEASE let me know! You can email me at weg86@mac.com! Know that we will be very selective about this process to ensure that Samson gets the best home that we can find!

i gotta a sweet one...

yes...i am talking about my husband:) Ya'll our 1st anniversary is tomorrow and I can't believe it!! It's already been a year!?! It's flown by in so many ways...and I'm so thankful to have such a godly man partner with me everyday the way he does. He sent me these gorgeous flowers yesterday.

He didn't tell me he was sending flowers, he just said expect someone around lunch, so I took that as "people are coming to visit" and I quickly cleaned up the apartment for about two hours...and then after waiting another two hours for this mystery person (i was hoping it would be my mom:), at 1 a nice old man knocks on the door and hands me some flowers;) Haha....oh well, at least the house was clean for a while and i have pretty flowers! It's been tough the last few days because Sam has been away at a conference in Ohio since Wednesday and i have been here, just me and Samson. Sam should be home soon though!

a weekend in white

This weekend we decided to take a trip up to Knoxville, TN to visit Sam's Granddad and his wife Mrs. Nancy. I wasn't too excited about the five hour drive up there, but as soon as we got there, I was so glad we came. Minus feeling like we had stepped back into the 70's (seriously, I don't think anything has been redone since the 1970's), we had a great time. Sam's Granddad is hilarious and Mrs. Nancy, although, in her later years, acts like she just got out of college. She is a hoot, and so much fun to be around! Other than a pretty bad cold for me, we had a lot of fun visiting with everyone. We were even awaken to this beautiful site on Saturday morning...I was mesmerized:)

snow was piled up on the car about two or three inches.
some very pretty leaves covered in the snow.
the front yard all covered in pretty white snow.

looking over the fence into the back of the yard.

sam gearing up to throw a snow ball at me.

sam's lovely snowman creation.

yes...i was there too.

Granddad Kingsley is not in the least bit intimidated by the cold weather.

two great guys.
Me and the hubby.

More pictures to come. The snowman story is one to share. Fortunately Sam walked away without a broken back.