Friday, December 27, 2013

Year in review...the highlights!


2013 was a pretty great year for the B-unit crew! We traveled, saw some live shows, celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary and worked...a lot! 

In April, we celebrated 1 fabulous year of marriage by traveling to...where else? Fabulous Las Vegas, NV! 
There we saw all the sights and sounds and fell in love with the place! We did a tour of the Hoover Dam, as well! 
We stayed at Treasure Island which gave us a pretty great view of and access to "the Strip."
We learned pretty quickly how to use the public transportation system and made our way to historic downtown Vegas! 
But of course, 3 days was not nearly enough time to see EVERYthing we wanted...
So we decided to go back for spring break 2014! :)

In May, I graduated with a 2nd masters degree from Harding University! This time in Early Childhood Education. 

Later...in June...we traveled to the Moore, Oklahoma area to work as volunteers with an organization helping with the clean up efforts following a devastating tornado. (See the June 2013 posts for more info and pics). 

In September, we traveled to the Midwest for my friend, Megan's wedding. This took us to Chicago, to Indiana and back to Chicago in about 3 days! 
More pics in the September 2013 post! 

In October, Jason once again worked as the AR State Fair photographer for the full 10 days of the fair. This was his 7th year! Most nights, I was home alone, but some nights I'd join him for dinner at the fair...fried goodness on a stick...yum. One night I bought my family out with me 
My parents only came because they wanted to see Johnny Gill...

Later in the month, we once again participated in our church's annual Trunk or Treat...only we had to move everything inside due to rain, so it was more like Pew or Treat :). This year we dressed as Mayhem (from Allstate) and Jake (from State Farm)...

We also attended our alma mater's homecoming festivities! I ran in the HU Bison Stampede and we went to the alumi association tailgate and then to the football game...well part of the football game. I'm not going to lie, my main attraction was the tailgate. We did walk around campus, of course and take stereotypical campus pics, since we didnt attend Harding at the same time, we have to create these moments now :) Like this one on a Harding swing. 

November bought some concert action!! We saw P!nk at Verizon Arena. I've loved P!nk since her first release back in the late 90s. Jason wasn't as familiar with her, but after I downloaded a few of her songs to listen to he agreed that it should be a good show...and it was!! 
We were equally impressed with her abs!!! So jealous! 

We also attended Jason's annual photographers convention in Eureka Springs. We stopped by the Buffalo River on the way...it was my first time to actually see that river, despite numerous invitations to go...
And I finally got to visit the famous Thorncrown Chapel

Later in November the US Capitol Christmas tree made a stop at Bass Pro in Little Rock on its way to DC. We got to view the tree and sign a banner that covered the trailer

After thanksgiving lunch in Russellville, we took the opportunity to update our family photo...
Before heading back to Little Rock to have Thanksgiving dinner and some shopping with the rest of the family! 

And then came December...
We visited Motley Tree Farm to find a Christmas tree 

I celebrated my 31st birthday with family with dinner at Benihana 

Then, on Friday December 13, two days after my birthday, we received the biggest news/surprise of our lives. One simple word on a piece of plastic would change our lives forever...for the better...

(Excuse the pregnancy test pic...I swore to never post one, so I cropped it to make it a little more decent)

We were thrilled to be able to share the news with our family and close friends in time for Christmas! 

On December 30 (5 years to the day that Jason and I first met), our pregnancy was confirmed and we were given a due date of August 22, 2014!!! The woman in me is so excited--the teacher in me is freaking out because that will most likely be the first week of school!! The teacher mom in me is worried because that's only a few days after the kindergarten cutoff date!!  Ahhhh!!

Either way, what an incredible blessing! One that neither of us takes lightly. We understand fully the extreme responsibility and honor that has been given to us. We have the most amazing support group/village and so many people praying for us! 

God has been so good to us this year! 
We have faith that he will continue to bless us in the new year to come! Happy New Year!!! 
























Monday, October 21, 2013

Indy/Chi-town adventure

My friend, Megan, got married...in Indiana. Couldn't really think of anything to do in Indiana, other than the wedding, so we decided to throw in a quick trip to Chicago (2 hrs away). We arrived in Chicago on Friday morning 
Then rented a car....
Grabbed lunch...
Almost hit a pole...clearly we didn't see this sign first...
then started our 2 hour journey to Crawfordsville, IN...

Then came wedding day...
  Wedding day 9/28/13
After the wedding...tired and getting rested for the next day's road trip to Chicago! 
Almost there!
City skyline coming into view!
We made it! After dropping off the rental car and catching an airport shuttle, we headed to our hotel. We stayed at the Club Quarters on the 9th floor...which meant the other buildings around us were very tall 
Very tall...

The rooms were sectioned off into little pod like things...
And had a see-through bathroom door. Good thing we love each other :-)
Very tiny room...but perfect for 1 night and just 2 people.
And instead of just a plain ice machine, they had fill your own water bottle stations on each floor. Very useful!

After exploring our hotel, we set off on foot to explore downtown Chicago! Of course, we HAD to stop by the Museum of Contemporary Photography...
Then to Grant Park
That's Buckingham Fountain in the background.
Then we moved on to Lake Michigan...but I wasn't getting as close as Jason decided to...

I was told that no trip to Chicago is complete without the L and Garrett's popcorn...so we made sure we took care of both of those things...

Then as we decided to find Willis Tower...
As we walked, and took pics of buildings... Jason convinced me to go to the TOP!!!
It's a really tall building...

AHHHH!!!
I came this far...might as well...
I'm 1,353 feet in the air, standing on 1.5" thick glass.... :-/
I did it! Then it was time to head to dinner at Hard Rock. 
On our way I spotted this iconic sign! 
After dinner and walking back to our hotel (27 Chicago blocks total)...we crashed!

The next day, we checked out and caught our shuttle back to the airport to head home. But not before having a genuine Chicago dog from Gold Coast.

It was a quick trip...but it was another good adventure to add to our list :-)