1 year! (part 2)

Y'all.  I've got some news to share...but I wanted to finish this post first.  So you'll have to wait.

If you missed part 1, you can catch it here.

We kept on celebrating our anniversary all the way up in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  It was absolutely beautiful.  We found a great deal on a sweet little inn and had a nice, romancy time.

road trip!

Our room

A little hiking before dinner...

Our view from dinner

Anything with onion rings, mashed potatoes, and gravy...count me in!

Curt's dinner....duck I think?

Curt's dessert...really yummy sorbet

Our wedding cake made the trip up from Virginia.  Surprisingly, it was really yummy!  I never got to have any on our wedding day so I don't really have anything to compare it to...

The inn where we stayed

We heard about a place nearby where you can take a gondola ride up to the top of a mountain and hike around.  It was a clear, beautiful day...couldn't have been more perfect!  I hadn't been on a gondola ride since I went to Switzerland in high school.  The mountain was quite a bit smaller, but otherwise it was just as awesome.

View from the gondola...going up the mountain

View of Mt. Washington from the top

Ummm is this the Sound of Music or what??

Gondola!

We were sad to leave, but hope to go back and camp with some friends once the leaves start changing.  For those of you in this area, definitely plan a trip!  It's beautiful!

Back down south, y'all.

After Rebecca and Pete's wedding, we got to spend a little time at home.  It was great to be able to spend more than just a weekend with my family.  We also were able to make a quick trip down to Camp Willow Run to see some of my favorite people - the Harris family!  I worked at CWR for 4 years and they really adopted me as one of their own.  I am thankful that I got to spend one of my 4 summers nannying for their 3 sweet boys.  I love them a lot and was so happy to visit!  Unfortunately I didn't take too many pictures of the weekend....we were just having too much fun!  Here are a few from Camp:

Thad...I can't believe how BIG he's gotten!

Eli wakeboarding

Eli and Curt

Thad on the kneeboard

Even Curt got out and tried the kneeboard....it was hilarious.

We also got to celebrate my mom's birthday while we were home.  Happy Birthday, Mom!  We love you so much!

Garden update

You may remember wayyyyyyy back when I started my garden.  If not, you can check it out here.

Welp, I decided it's time for an update.  The garden has actually turned out to be SO much more work than I ever thought.  I had all these great pictures in my mind of a beautiful garden that produced hundreds of juicy tomatoes, herbs, green beans, and peppers all by itself.  I thought I had done the hard part when I tilled the soil and planted everything.

Boy was I wrong.  As it turns out, you actually have to water the garden every day.  You also have to pull out the weeds, otherwise your garden turns into an overgrown mess where you can't tell the weeds from the herbs (not that that happened...).  Also you have to fight off an army of mosquitoes every time you go out to water or weed....which hinders the process of both dramatically.

The good news is that by the grace of God we produced ONE good tomato.  We ate it.  It was glorious.  We also got about 10 green beans.  We were so excited that we just ate them raw.  They were okay.

Our massive harvest

Salt and pepper makes everything better

We ate our prize tomato with some twice-baked potatoes from a local farm stand.  We felt so cool and earthy walking over to the farm stand to get the other half of our dinner.  Then we went to pay and the guy said, "That'll be $2.50."  For two potatoes?  Seriously?  Sorry local farm stand guy...we won't be visiting you again.  You're potatoes are too rich for our blood.

Rebecca and Pete got married! (part 2)

Aaaand we're back.  With the update on Rebecca and Pete's wedding....the wedding day!

Their wedding was amazingly beautiful out at The Mill at Fine Creek, just outside Richmond.  The food was yummy, the band kept the dance floor full all night, and I got to hang out with some of my favorite people.  Thanks again to Rebecca and Pete for including us in your special day.  We had so much fun and we wish you lots of love and happiness in your new marriage.  It's like I always say....marriage is the jam!!

SUCH a beautiful bride!

love them!

father/daughter dance....I thought this picture was so sweet

Mac giving his speech

heyyy-ooohh who's that good-lookin' guy??

My sister and brother-in-law

 

My sweet mom and dad

Dancing the night away

Mary and Carrie

The girls and Mole

Thanks again to the Janney family for such a fun weekend.  We love ya'll tons!

Rebecca and Pete got married! (part 1)

Rebecca and I have known each other, literally, since we were born.  Our parents have been best friends since high school and our families have been going to the beach together every year since before we were born.

 Rebecca and I at my 7th b-day party.

 

We've also been going to the beach with the Sanyours, another couple my parents have been best friends with since high school.  Their daughter, Molly, and I were born on the same day.  Our dad's had a bet about who would be born first and her dad still hasn't paid up (c'mon Frank!).   I'm not making this up, people.  We all go to the beach every year and now (with spouses and children combined) have a total of about 500 people when we all get together.  We get together on Thanksgiving and Christmas...We're like family, we love each other, and we all have ridiculous nicknames for each other:  Eyeballs, Mole, Cheese, Lina, Lays...just to name a few. 

Molly and I when we were tiny.  Also, big shout out to Mole for supplying many of the pictures in this blog post and part 2. Thanks!!

This past weekend Rebecca married her best friend, Pete and we had an awesome time.  My mom (the most amazing hostess everrr) hosted the bridesmaid luncheon.  Watermelon and feta salad, plum sangria, sweet potato ham biscuits, and shrimp salad were a few of the delicious menu items.

She also made all the flower arrangements herself.

Shrimp salad

Sweet potato ham biscuits...sooooo good and they were heart-shaped!

The sweet bride and her bridesmaids

  

Pete comes from a large Italian family and for their rehearsal dinner, they had HOMEMADE Italian food and wine, a reggae band, and LOTS of people that love them dearly.  

The bride and groom!

Mole and I

love my tall guy!

The dads...I think Frank is strangling my dad in this pic

The dads and daughters.  They wanted to re-enact the "inner tube" (see below...sorry Molly and Rebecca!) picture we used to take at the beach every year.  It doesn't quite translate.

 Ridiculousness...

The Janney Fam and Pete

The moms and daughters

 Whew...this is getting long.  To be continued...