Me & My Sweettea

A tribute to a rotten night's sleep

2012-01-20T06:26:00.000-08:00

It was one of those ill-timed nights where as soon as I got cozy in bed and started to drift off to sleep- Henry started to stir and needed to nurse. And unfortunately, after a few more wakings, say4/4:30am, I was completely unable to go back to sleep because Drew was sawing some serious logs (and not the gentle, rhythmic snoring that I can sleep through, but the abrupt, choppy, snorting kind of snoring that makes me want to kick him out of bed) and because I've picked up Henry's cold and my nose refused to stop running and my throat to stop aching- I threw in the towel as I resigned to the fact that I would not be getting any more precious sleep. So there I was: irritated and miserable and trying to decide if I should amplify my torture by going into the next room and getting some grading done since sleep was out of the question.

And then, probably due to the fact that I was fantasizing about sleeping somewhere far far away from these two ridiculous sleep-blocking Mitchell boys that I should be careful what I wish for. I don't really want to be without Andrew and Henry; they're my sunshine. Suddenly it dawned on me- these aren't problems, they're blessings! The fact that Andrew is sleeping next to me means he made it home safely from the next county where his basketball game was held and his snoring means that air is traveling in and out of his lungs- God has given us at least one more night together. And Henry's frequent nursing due to his cold means he is building up the antibodies that will make his body strong and resilient against future germs. And the fact that I can still curl my larger body around his tiny one to comfort him is not a constant- there are only a fixed number of days that I will be able to do that- why would I want to ruin one of them by focusing only on the difficulties?

So off I went to work today with all of the ingredients for a terrible day: sore throat, sniffles, and bleary-eyes but I had so much pep in my step because I realized that I am one blessed little lady and God is good to me.

I wish I could say that I always maintain such sharp perspective, but I really don't. I frequently look at the problem and not the solution. I often forget to consider that my "problems" very well might be someone else's dream scenarios. But today was a step in the right direction.

It later dawned on me that today marks exactly 5 years since Andrew proposed to me- a night which I always refer to as one of the best- if not the best- in my whole life. I can still feel what it was like to lay on the couch in Andrew's parents' front room in his arms, a roaring wood fire making the room so toasty, looking my ring over and over. We replayed the proposal over and over, laughing at Andrew's nerves and at my complete inability to forsee what was coming. We did a little fantasizing about the wedding and eventually fell asleep together. I remember waking up the next day and wondering if I had just had the most amazing dream or if it was all real. Looking at my fourth finger gave me the answer.

Since I'm somehow the only technologically-stunted individual of my generation and I don't know how to embed a YouTube video, you'll have to follow the link if you want to see the proposal.

http://youtu.be/TrW0-zWOSC8

So how did last night compare to the best night of my life? I suppose no night will ever measure up to 1/20/07, but even if every night is as frustrating as last night, I suppose I'm still living the dream that was set into motion 5 years ago today.

I love you, Andrew

Splish splash

2012-01-15T14:35:00.000-08:00

A reflection on maternity leave/parenthood

2011-12-29T17:20:00.000-08:00

Well, here we are- on the precipice of returning to work and the culmination of my two and a half months of maternity leave. I have very mixed feelings about the return to work- I am so excited to see my colleagues again (Hilary, I missed you!), to be intellectually stimulated and to help contribute to our family once again. But I am also very sad to be handing Henry off to a stranger (and fortunately, also his Noni) where he will be fed from bottles and not see my face for 8 hour stretches. The longest we've ever been apart was for 3 hours when I had to submit my fall grades at the beginning of December. I can't help but wonder- will he recognize my face when I pick him up? Will he miss me? I hope so.

It's amazing how becoming a parent has helped Andrew and me assess our own strengths and weaknesses- and how it has challenged us in many ways.

For instance, Andrew has always told me that he wishes he had more patience and that he thinks that it is one of my strengths; I never really thought much of it until I saw it put into practice with Henry. There have been many mornings about 5am when I was bouncing Henry back and forth in what felt like a state of 70% sleep/30% awake for as long as it took for Henry to pass through his digestive troubles.

On the other hand, Drew is completely at ease with a restaurant full of people staring at us when Henry is screaming bloody murder and I completely tense up and want to go bounce him or nurse him somewhere far, far away from judging eyes. Andrew is right, of course- who cares what others think- but for me, as a mother, I'm still trying to build up my confidence in my parenting capabilities and I like doing so without an audience. I still giggle at Andrew's story of trying to go to the restroom with Henry in his arms... there was recollection of Drew scooting through the men's room with his jeans around his knees- trying to get Henry to the changing table so he could have both hands to buckle his belt again (something he didn't really think all the way through when he unbuckled it!) But he came out of that men's room beaming at his first silly fathering mishap, and that's the best way to get through these new, unfamiliar challenges. I must admit, I'm much harder on myself when I do something clunky, and I should work on reacting more like Drew does.

As I might've mentioned, Henry and I moved into the nursery after a few failed attempts to get through the night (and subsequent day) as a family sleeping in the same room. Andrew's days during the football season were sometimes 15+ hours and getting woken up every hour and a half was just not helpful to making it through such long days. But those weeks in the nursery ended up being a very special time for Henry and me. I would put on the same playlist of piano music (and some instrumentals from Little Women) that I used during Henry's labor and birth, and in the dim light of the lamp we would pray and thank God for our safe and beautiful delivery and then sleep-nurse-sleep-nurse, sometimes repeated 7 or 8 times throughout the night until Henry would give me the long, arched stretches that would signal our night was over and our day had begun. I think back to his disheveled hair and his cheeks all pink from the pressure of sleep and I wonder how time can move so slowly yet so quickly all at once. As my friend Alisha told me, with a newborn, the days are long but the time is short- isn't that the truth.

Henry one morning in the nursery

I can't say that I would like to go back and relive the difficulty that accompanies sleep deprivation (and I'm really only getting about 3 hour stretches at most, still), but the memories of the nights in the nursery will forever be a little treasure for me to carry forward into the story of me and my son.

And, those of you who know me well know how much I cherish a good night's sleep and a long, uniterrupted nap- both of which have eluded me since Henry's birth- but I'm learning that being a parent means learning self-sacrifice of which many of us (me especially) have not experienced much at all. I think it is especially difficult for women like me, who have our first child in our late 20s or 30s and have had 3 decades worth of practice of living with our own wills dictating our every move- to have to set aside much of the freedom (at least for awhile) that we are so used to. I never thought I was taking the following things for granted: hopping in the car to run a quick errand, making a sandwich and eating it without interruption, sometimes even having enough time to shampoo my hair!

Life was much easier without Henry, but it was also significantly less rich. I can't wait to see how else having Henry in our lives will deepen our characters and will provide us with more unbuckled pants stories. And I keep trying to remind myself, going back to work doesn't mean my time with my baby is over, just that it will change and, like everything else, we will adjust.

Henry's 8th week: New traditions?

2011-12-09T13:02:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in a previous post, we want to start putting up outside lights during the Thanksgiving break, but really, that will probably end up being a father and son tradition. So I decided that a nice tradition to start- that I could be more involved in- is contributing to Toys for Tots. I'd like Henry to pick out a toy he wants for Christmas and we'll donate it. Obviously, in the beginning, he won't be mature enough to handle giving away his new toy, so we'll probably buy two, but I want him to be joyful in giving to others- and I want him to be thankful for all we have. This year, I picked a train toy (yep!) and my little bear slept through the donation, but there will be many more years for him to place the toy in the pile.

So I initially got my camera out to capture this freshy-bathed babe (in a towel purchased by his Daddy of course)...

But it turned out to be a photo shoot of Henry and his new best friend. Lady has recently decided that this little intruder might be all right after all, and really likes being near Henry, so she popped in the pic unexpectedly to give him a kiss!

She is also very attentive to his cries- she runs right over to lick him and then looks at me as if to say, "He needs our help and licking's not working!"
I love Henry's expression- c'mon Lady, we're in the middle of a photo shoot!

It's amazing how much changes in 8 weeks! Henry is so much more alert and has really increased the baby babble. He makes coos and goos at us and at his toys, and he is really starting to hold his head up on his own. If I have him facing my chest, he'll push off and want to hold his head independent from me and look around.

Other than that, we've really been enjoying the coziness of the Christmas season. We decorated the tree as a family and yesterday we made gingerbread men.

Even as I'm enjoying all of this, I am also starting to mourn the fact that I will be going back to work soon. I love the people I work with and I need to go back, but it will be so hard to give up having Henry 24 hours a day. He's been constantly with me (including the interior) since last January, and I finally understand why moms cry when their children go off to Kindergarten- the bond between parent and child is one that will probably never cease to amaze me. Watch La Vita e Bella if you have any doubt.

Henry: weeks 4-7

2011-12-01T13:36:00.000-08:00

I know most of you don't care about Henry's little developments, but there are some very important grandparents on the west coast, and these blogs are created with them in mind.

* * *
Little H has had a busy month!

Henry finally started to take the pacifier in week 5 or so... thank goodness!

Henry started to fill out about this time, and when we went in to the doctor at 1 month, he had just gone through a big growth spurt. I said to the nurse who was weighing him, "I hope he is at least 8.4... that would be a great rate of growth" and she said, "Mama, he's 9.8!" I made her zero out the scale and do it again because I didn't believe her! Here are some 1 month pictures:

Smiles! Henry's smiles went from really short, fleeting, "I'm content" smiles to really long, reactive smiles. He first smiled responsively at Drew, then the next day he did it to me, and now I can get him to smile pretty easily if his eyes are locked on mine. He also loves smiling at his toys (well, for the first 30 minutes, then he seems to get frustrated with them!)

I had to include this "like father, like son" picture. Everyone on Facebook has seen it- but it hasn't lost its charm for me... they had no idea their arms were in the exact same positions!

In other developments, Henry shed most of his dark hair (except for this silly little patch at the back) and the little bit that's left seems to be a light brown color. His eyebrows are still a strawberry blonde color- so we're at a loss to predict what his hair will look like when it actually grows longer. His eyes are still blue at 7 weeks, but we won't know for sure if they will stay blue for a couple more months.

Henry also had his first Thanksgiving! We were able to share it with my folks and my sister-in-law's family, the Morgans. It was a lovely, relaxing day!

In his special outfit- Daddy's favorite!

With Uncle To and Aunt Mo

With Noni and Pawpaw

My favorite kind of butterball :)

Drew and I have never done outside lights since we've been married, and we decided that maybe we should start that tradition now that Henry is here.

Mama is not a fan of seeing Daddy on the angled roof... I just need to go inside and not watch these things.

Henry and Drew laying on his truck, admiring their work

And of course, some kisses for good measure!

And Henry joined our brigade to the Christmas tree farm this year!

I love this beautiful picture of my handsome men!

Next year, he'll be much more into picking the tree!

Hmmm... which one should we get?

Found a good one!

As we enter week 8, Henry is on the verge of giggles. He has solitary "hehs" and "goos" that clearly denote excitement and glee, all he needs to do is put them together in a longer string! He seems to spend a long time each day interacting with his toys. Today, he grabbed a part of his toy and put it in his mouth (uh-oh... time to be vigilant). He is advancing so much during tummy time, too. During two sessions, he kicked off and twisted his bottom half into the air, in an attempt to roll from front to back, and he can lift his head for several seconds at a time, even though he doesn't push up very far off his chest.

* * *

We sure do love our little guy and each little Henry smile produces amplified smiled in his parents :) Ok, I'm pooped. Don't expect me to keep this up when works starts again!

A picture-perfect autumn week

2011-11-06T11:25:00.000-08:00

Henry had his first holiday last week- Halloween! Of course he slept through the pictures...

...and through the beautiful autumn walk

He also met his Uncle Toby and Aunt Monica for the first time!

They already love him to pieces!

A picture with Pawpaw

This was our first family picture, and Drew had come straight home from coaching, so he's not too thrilled with out it turned out! Don't worry- there will be many more where that came from

But he loves his baby boy so much

As does his mama

The main development last week was with his hands; he started grabbing my hair and holding it tight in his fists, and will sort of bat at a toy with his hand if it's close enough.

And since he's currently sleeping... I'm going to try and grab a nap, too!

Henry's second week

2011-10-29T09:51:00.001-07:00

What happened during Henry's second week?

-Noni and I gave him his first bath (now that the cord is off)... and he seemed to like it!

-Upon further examination of Henry's features, Drew and I discovered that Henry might have some goofy little ears! Andrew's ears are large- mine are small but they stick out- and it seems like Henry's ears are starting to poke out a little. Andrew's response: "oh well, he'll find someone who loves everything about him, including his ears. After all, you and I found each other!"

-Henry met his first baby friend, Charlotte (and her mama), this week- and although we took pictures, the memory card wasn't in the camera! Boo! We'll try again soon :)

-I decided that Henry's messy bed head hair is the cutest thing in the world

-Henry had his 2 week checkup and needed to be back at his birthweight- 6.12, and he was a little over 7.5, so his weight gain is going well (And it's no wonder, he's feeding every hour and a half...)

-Henry had three new visitors- Jenny, Hilary and Sierra- who brought delicious meals over for us! A huge thanks to Hilary for setting up the Meal Train... I am so thankful I haven't had to cook! And after waiting almost a whole week, Pawpaw got a chance to see his grandson again.

Two funny moments from this week:

During tummy time, Henry successfully turned his head from one side to the other, but not without lots of struggle that produced lots and lots of baby farts!

Even after I tried so hard to cover his penis during the diaper change at the doctor's office, Henry waited until I was almost finished and moved my hand to let the wee wee spray all over the doctor's table. He soaked that paper lining!

A beautiful moment from this week:

Drew had his two boys, Henry in one arm, and Sawyer in the other, and I joined them on the couch. Lady came over and, wanting join her pack but not seeing any space, had to get creative. She jumped on the couch from the back, and carved out a little nook behind the couch cushion- something she's never done before. Hey- if you want to fit five bodies one couch, sacrifices must be made! But it's the first time the five of us have been "together" in any sense. I loved it.

Henry's first week/ Grandma Mitchell's visit

2011-10-23T10:20:00.000-07:00

Henry had his first long-distance visitor this week. Grandma Mitchell wasn't schedule to arrive until today (10 days after his birth), but simply couldn't wait to meet him. So she booked a crazy, last-minute ticket (that included four planes each way!) just so she could meet her grandson right away. She spent tireless days cooking, cleaning, and, of course, helping with Henry. I've never known anyone to be so enthusiastic about changing a diaper- Grandmas are a special breed :) She got to be there for Henry's homecoming/ his introduction to the dogs, his first trip to the pediatric office and his umbilical cord falling off. It pains us that the Mitchell grandparents are so far away, but we will find ways to stay close through pictures and Skype. We miss you already, Mom, and we love you!

What I learned about Henry this week:

Well, it was his first week, so the obvious answer is "everything," but here are some highlights:

-Nothing in the world beats his newborn smell. I never really knew what people meant when they talked about a "newborn smell"- babies are still just humans, right? But it's amazing how strong and distinctive his smell is- especially to Drew and me, I imagine. I hope it's not like new car smell that fades way too fast!

-His hands and feet are disporpotionately large! We obviously know where this comes from, but I'm still not sure if it correlates to height.

-He forms sweet little smiles even though he doesn't yet know what they mean. At this point, it doesn't matter... it's just an awesome preview of what's to come.

-He sneezes just like his Dad. Andrew always sneezes multiple times in a row (I, alas, am a single-sneezer) and Henry is a multi-sneezer! It's fun to discover traits beyond just the empirical.

-He and the dogs will coexist in harmony. They are really interested in sniffing him, but always keep a gentle distance.
A beautiful moment from this week:

In the early days when Henry and I weren't getting the best latch for feeding, Drew came and sat behind us in bed to lend a helping hand. I know what you're thinking: how many adults does it take to feed an infant? Well, let's just say, four hands were helpful at the beginning. So there we are, this brand new family of three, all working together to try and get Henry fed. It was really beautiful.

Henry's birth

2011-10-17T19:23:00.000-07:00

I've noticed that the story of Henry's birth takes me a long time to tell, so I thought I'd write it down here and those who care can read it, and those who don't can be spared all of the miniscule details. I think it takes me a long time to tell because everything was such a blur that day and retelling it helps me remember some of the details.

* * *

I delivered Henry without any pain medication. It feels so surreal to write that! I was always undecided about getting an epidural, but Drew and I were pretty convinced that I would end up with one, considering what a wimp I am when it comes to pain. But with the incredible help from Drew and Lindsey the awesome labor doula (and my mom in early labor), I was able to push through the pain and deliver Henry naturally.

* * *

On Thursday morning (10/13) I woke up with what I thought were more Braxton Hicks, but these seemed to be a little extra painful. But I'd had a false alarm two days before, so I didn't get too excited because I'd been wrong on Tuesday. However, the contractions seemed to keep going and so I called my mom over to time them while I tried to go back to sleep. They were erratic, but certainly not going anywhere. The pups were right with me in bed as the contractions started to increase in intensity and I started having to do deep breathing through them. I noticed that the pain seemed to be more in my back that in my stomach (which is called back labor and it's awful!), so I jumped in the tub to try and ease the pain a little . My mom was advised to push on my tailbone really hard when the contraction started to help ease the pressure a little bit, but it was about this point that we decided to get the car packed up with the hospital bags and get checked out in triage (Drew was still at work). I ended up having to wait in the waiting room for probably 45 minutes before even being put in a gown- so I was bent over in the corner with my mom pushing as hard as she could on my tailbone... all in front of strangers. I did not like that one bit. Once I was finally checked in triage, I was about 4 cm dilated and was admitted. Drew and Lindsey arrived and took over for my mom and we were moved to the labor and delivery ward.

* * *

The next six or so hours are kind of a blur. My pain was far too intense to be able to talk through, so every time I'd feel a contraction start- I'd say "push" and either Drew or Lindsey (bless their hearts and their sore, aching hands) would push on my tailbone and my hips to try and help me get through the contraction, and I wouldn't be able to say anything else. I'd just breathe deeply and do my best to find ways to mentally cope with the pain. I went back and forth from doing this in the tub to a standing position, leaning over an exercise ball. It was at some point, deep into the fifth or sixth hour that I had two nasty bouts of doubt. I remember starting to cry between two contractions, telling Drew and Lindsey that I just couldn't go any further. Lindsey, in her sweet, encouraging way, and Drew in his firm, direct way, both wouldn't let me give up. They told me I was doing it and that I would just take it one contraction at a time. Not long after this point, the midwife told me she would check me and would break my water to get things moving along. I was 8 cm and entering transition.

* * *

Then comes the really intense part- the breaking of the waters kicked things into high gear in terms of both intensity and pain. Rather than breathe deeply through this part, I was (in my mind) screaming my head off, but Drew describes the noise as a low, gutteral "animal" noise. An incredibly unpleasant part of transition was that with each contraction, my whole body would dry heave about four times from the pressure. I'm not sure exactly when transition ends and the "pushing" phase begins, but before long, the incredible pain and pressure I felt down there was actually bringing Henry along and I started to feel encouraged as the midwife started setting up her delivery equipment. As the true pushing started, Drew started to become so animated and excited (he'd had a couple of trying moments of exhuastion in the process, as well). He was telling me how great I was doing and that our baby was coming. Drew and the midwife said they saw the top of his head- specifically that he had lots of dark hair (whose baby is in there?! I wondered) and it took probably 15 minutes to push the head out. With the final push of the head, the whole body followed at once and Henry Lawrence Mitchell made his arrival at 12:49 am on 10/14. I think that means I had about 7 hours of early labor, 9-10 hours of active labor, and only about 1 hour of transition and pushing. Drew cut the cord and I held my sweet boy for the first time! Ultimately, all of the pain and struggle brought Henry to us and I felt an incredible sense of accomplishment for making it all the way through. I'm certain I couldn't have done it without Drew and Lindsey and I can't ignore how much they did for me physically, pushing on me with every contraction. Would I do it again without medicine? Ask me again when the memory of the pain has faded a little bit.

* * *

So, there it is. I told you it was long, and thanks for letting me share. It's good for me to recount the events of that night because it will forever be one of the most important days in my life. Thanks be to God for giving us strength in trials.

Baby boy... your room is ready!

2011-10-12T09:48:00.000-07:00

Little one, many people have contributed to your nursery with gifts and handmade items to show you how much you are loved. Maybe you should come on out here and see for yourself!

Here's where I'll sleep on maternity leave, so we don't wake up your Daddy seven times a night. Grandma Mitchell sent you this little doggie pillow, because she knows you will be a dog lover. Noni Isaac sewed the green pillow for you, and believe it or not, I sewed the one with the white button on it.

One of your Daddy's favorite songs- and also good advice for your Mommy.

One of my favorite elements in the room- the green glider! This was your grandparents' (Isaac) gift to the nursery, which Noni then recovered in green fabric.

Had to squeeze in a train or two, since I love them

You'll have lots to look at from your crib!

But don't look too closely at the yarn-wrapped letters... they didn't come out exactly as I'd planned...

(And we'll have a first initial soon!)

This beautiful quilt was made by your great Aunt Liz

Here's where you get your tushie wiped... pretty exciting, right?

A closer look: Uncle Toby drew a whole series of pictures of our little family, and I had to frame one.

Last, but certainly not least, Noni made you this amazing quilt with letters and shapes! Maybe it will help you learn the alphabet one day

I'll do my best to keep the riffraff out... but no promises!

Now, all we need is you! And I can't wait until Grandma Mitchell can come out and see everything in person

Non-maternity, maternity photos

2011-10-11T15:47:00.001-07:00

Because I'm not sure how many times I'll go through pregnancy (maybe once more? If it were up to Drew, it would be at least two more times!), I decided it was worth documenting the belly. Now, I am not a fan of the bare-belly, black and white preggo photos taken in a studio (please don't take offense if that is your thing; they just weren't for me) and I wanted to just get some pics of what our growing family looked like without the expected emphasis on the belly. So here we are with our practice babies, at about 8 months pregnant:

This is the beautiful field in our neighborhood

And even the pups got a little time in the limelight :)

It's funny to look back and think about Henry being in there, now that I know so much more about him!

We found the train tracks as we were walking the photographers to their car and had to get a few shots there. It's funny that we always end up on/near trains for out pictures, even though we've never planned it that way. But it's serendipitous because I love trains!

Showered with love!

2011-09-16T17:02:00.000-07:00

At some point, when I get on my work computer, I'll post the shower pics of the great surprise lunch/shower Natalie threw me in July.

But for now, here's some pictures of the shower held at my mom's house from late August

My mom worked very hard on all of the little details

My friend, colleague and Toby's mother-in-law, Ursula, prepared the most delicious spread! Here she is getting the chocolate fondue station ready... yum.

And she gave me this cute little bouquet made up of little baby clothes to loook like roses.

Some other little details...

But the BEST surprise of all was my sister-in-law Monica's surprise visit from Texas! She flew in that day and out the next morning- all to be a part of Baby M's shower. What a sweet sacrifice! Love you, Mo!

The guests dutifully playing along with the games

And Baby M made out like a little bandit!

He's got a nice little library of books started- thanks, English faculty!!

And here he is!

Thanks to everyone involved for making me feel so loved and for spoiling the little guy already :)

A song for baby

2011-09-01T11:15:00.000-07:00

Before I was pregnant, I used to hear this song and the lyrics would always make me think about future children for me and Andrew. I know it's actually a love song from a man to his future lady, but the sentiment rings the same: when the time is right, we'll meet the person who will become part of our family- someone we never knew we could do without.

So now that I am expecting the newest member of our family, this song resonates even more with me, and has sort of become the anthem for our little baby. Here are some lyrics that feel like they could be about Baby Mitchell:

"Wherever you are, whenever it's right,
You'll come out of nowhere and into my life"

"Baby, your love is going to change me"

"I promise you, kid, to give so much more than I get,
I just haven't met you yet."

We should be meeting him in about 6 weeks! And once he's old enough to dance with Mama, we can still have it be "our" song.

Have a listen!

Doggie DIY

2011-07-20T13:22:00.000-07:00

So when I was browsing the web for ideas for the nursery, I came across the following framed picture from Green Frog Art, and I LOVED the aesthetic- especially because we are using a lot of pops of that kelly green around the nursery (well, and I love dogs- have I ever mentioned that?)

...and then I saw the price tag- $160. Whoops. Not going to work. So I started browsing some other items on their site and saw the following pic, which was in a series of four: nap, tickle, sing, and I can't remember the last one. I thought the idea of a little verb above a dog was cute, because it could easily translate to things babies would also do.

But, each picture was listed at $100, so the series was $400 total. Neither of these paintings was reasonable for our budget. So I had to get crafty! I decided that I could try and blend what I loved about each picture and create something on my own at a fraction of the cost. Here's how they turned out:

I paid a few bucks for the three doggie stencils (the bone I had to freehand) and I already had the painting supplies, so the only real cost was the frames. It was really hard to get a pic of all four without getting the glare from the glass, but you get the idea:

For obvious reasons, my favorite is the beagle!

Here's one of my two muses:

And no, we're not doing a doggie-themed room- we're not doing any theme. Instead, we're doing more of a color story. I'm really excited to post pics of the crafts my mom has been working on, but I think I'll wait until the room is a little more finished. Don't come too early, Baby Boy Mitchell, we've got a lot left to do!

Growing, growing, growing!

2011-05-17T06:20:00.000-07:00

Here are the three prego ladies from TCC's CH division at around 18 weeks, 21 or 22 weeks, and Hilary is obviously about to pop! I think she is at 35 or 36 weeks, so she'll be meeting the little one very soon! This was taken last week at Hilary's baby shower.

And although I like to blame the stretchy dress for making me look like I'm further along than the lovely Shelly next to me (when I'm actually 3 weeks behind)- there is no denying that Baby Mitchell is growing!

* * *

I've been noticing the baby kicks for a couple weeks now, although it took me awhile to figure out what they were! Now I can predict when the kicks will come- when I sit down at a computer after breakfast or lunch and when I'm falling asleep at night or just waking up in the morning. I just really want Andrew to be able to feel them on the outside and I know we're still a few weeks away from that.

* * *

Hopefully we will have some big news at the end of this week!

...and baby makes three

2011-05-04T18:21:00.000-07:00

I haven't had a chance to breathe- let alone blog- since the onset of the Spring semester of my 2nd full year of teaching college. Okay, I am being a little dramatic, but this was certainly the most challenging semester I've ever been faced with. And that was due in part to our wonderful (albeit surprising) news that we can expect a little one this October! Unfortunately my first trimester was pretty miserable (morning sickness), but now that I am in the second trimester, I am feeling MUCH better. I've only taken a couple profile shots to track the bump growth, but here is a picture from my birthday when I was about 15 weeks along:

And here I am at almost 17 weeks:

This is the month when the little one starts to grow like a weed! So in another two weeks I should expect an even bigger bump- right around the time we learn if the nugget is a boy or a girl.

Oh, and all the Indians gear was a surprise from Drew for our tentative trip to Tampa to see Jason play (he may not be playing for the Indians due to an injury) but we're Donald fans no matter what! Although the boys' size jersey probably won't fit much longer because as Andrew says to me "You're growing by the day!"

The Adorable Stillwell Family

2011-03-20T16:30:00.000-07:00

So when I got my camera, I told Hilary that I would learn more about it and once I got better at taking photos, I would snap some shots of their super-cute family. Well, it's been over 3 months since I made that promise, and have I learned anything about photography in that time? No. Haven't even cracked the Canon booklet...sigh. But the Stillwells are such a fun and lovely family, I really didn't need any talent to capture their beauty.

* * *

We had a lot of fun at Dorothy B. Oven Park today. Here are some of my favorites:

Some kisses!

For Daddy

And Mommy, too

I can't get over how beautiful this kid is!

Whoops the dress got a little wet. Time for a wardrobe change!

"I'm not sure how I feel about this baby..."

Sierra is a nature girl already!

And a few shots of Mom & Dad

And we even had time for a little treat afterward:

Thanks for being patient with me, folks!

They gave her a camera?!

2010-12-27T14:24:00.001-08:00

So I've been waiting 3/4 of 2010 for my new DSLR camera and on Christmas, I got it! Now, let me preface this post by saying I know nothing about photography. I hope to take a class sometime to learn all about the crazy features on this camera in hopes of getting better...

...but for now, I just sort play with the dials and buttons and snap snap away and hope for the best! Can anyone give me any photography tips?

* * *

Here are some pics from Christmas day- and yes, there are a lot of dog pics, but let's face it- they are more tolerant of me snapping away in their faces than humans are.

This is Elgar- he's very sophisticated

Bailey is my parents' beagle. She is 8.

Love when these two play together

After photographing Lady, I am even more convinced she should be a doggie model- she really does seem to pose

These next pics aren't particularly good in quality, but they are too cute to pass up posting.

And a little Sawyer series

A sleeping puppy is a good puppy.

One golden afternoon

2010-10-02T17:27:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I take my camera places and I don't pull it out once. Other times, I leave my camera at home and regret it. Every now and again, photo ops align with the proximity of my camera, and I feel like the shots I snap are almost as good as the moments in which I'm taking them. This was the case today.

* * *

Let me back up a little. A lot has happened since my last post, and although much of it is not worth posting, Drew's new career as a high school teacher and coach began late August. While he is so thankful to have work, he (and I) had no idea he would be working 75-80 hours a week, including Sundays. So Saturdays have become very precious to us- and today was no exception. After we finished our errands for the day, we decided to grab two beers, two of our favorite pups, and walk over to the park down the street from our new house. The air has finally cooled and the light was really lovely as it was setting- so we ran around the field and snapped away (Drew did the bulk of this).

No more captions necessary.

Happy Fall, everyone.

We can be losers together

2010-07-28T15:59:00.000-07:00

Check another U.S. city off the list- Austin!

2010-06-06T19:04:00.000-07:00

Last week, I had a conference in Austin, TX, and decided to drag Drew along for good measure. Aside from the conference itself, we got a chance to see brother and sister, experience the nightlife in Austin and bond a little bit with my co-workers.

* * *

Starting off the trip at the Cedar Door

Chicken, jalapenos, cheese deep-fried then wrapped in baccon and dipped in hot sauce

We checked out 6th- which is a little like Garnet Ave. meets Bourbon street- but fun nonetheless. Here is the Thirsty Nickel

Look who I ran into!

Almost Charlie's Angels (If I weren't barking orders at photographer Drew)

Co-workers Noel pictured on L and Brandie on R

Cute couple Dave and Brandie

After the conference sessions (yes I did work, I just didn't take pictures of it!), we went to the Congress St. bridge to see the bats. But they are too pregnant to fly or something

Group shot

The Stillwell family at the sponsored dinner

And I got a chance to see Mandy! I miss that infectious laugh soooo much. It's good to see the people who will just pick up right where you left off.

And the last night we went out to the Salt Lick and had a huge family-style BBQ dinner. It's a good thing because we brought some family along (sister-in-law Monica)

cute little Sierra

And our last night took us to 4th street (a much more mature scene- little bars with great live music). This is the Ginger Man- 81 beers on tap... yes, please

At Six (Mandy tells me this is Lance Armstrong's bar)

Good stuff. Next stop- Tahoe!

On the road again

2010-06-03T18:24:00.000-07:00

Willie Nelson can't wait to get on the road again- and apparently, neither could we. It was just 10 months ago that my mom and I drove from San Diego to Tallahassee, but I found myself on the all too familiar I-10 when Drew and I decided we couldn't wait any longer to get his truck out east. So we thanked Drew's parents for taking care of Big Red in our absence, and set out from Exeter, CA.

* * *

Last trip, I made sure to get a postcard from each state and sent them all to Drew along the way. This trip, we played the "capture the state welcome sign" game. We couldn't pull over to take the pic, and we didn't use maps or navigation to try and anticipate the state sign (but having been cross-country on numerous occasions, I was pretty good at remembering which little towns were on the borders). We got them all!

* * *

Oh, Arizona, you still have a little piece of my heart

New Mexico: the land of enchantment. Hmmm. I'll refer to Toby on this one.

Really, Texas? I could make a comment about your obsession with everything being "bigger" but this is a family blog.

Everything's a little fuzzy in Louisiana.

The mighty Mississip. It reads: birthplace of America's music. Praytell, what kind of music would that be? I have a feeling the answer involves spoons and washboards.

Obviously a selling point for the position of Governor of Alabama

And here we are... the Sunshine State. Although I'm pretty sure Arizona and New Mexico feel slightly jilted by that slogan.

The pups welcoming us (and Big Red) home

Hopefully I'll get around to posting pictures of our last two trips on here soon- soonish.

2 years and counting...

2010-05-26T05:14:00.000-07:00

Andrew and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary on Monday

Snapped a couple pics before we headed out

(I wore my hair up for Drew and he helped pick out my dress)

And because we are traveling out of state 3 times in only a few weeks, we decided to stay in town and do something simple. We ate breakfast out (my favorite), went bowling (we took a bowling class together in college, and let's just say our scores didn't reflect any such thing!) and went to the Hotel Duval for a leisurely dinner and drinks on the rooftop lounge (pictured). It was a great day start to finish

Earlier in May, we were at Drew's parents' house and spent some time at the same arch under which we said our vows. I knew, when picking the location of our wedding, that it would be special to be able to visit the place of our wedding for years to come. One day, we can show our kids where their parents got married.

* * *

The Moms aren't going to like this picture, but I love it. I hope we get a similar picture when we are old and wrinkly- it will mean that we have spent a lifetime being silly together

My heart has had to grow to fit 7 years of love for Andrew into it.

Matty in Tally!

2010-04-18T12:04:00.000-07:00

Drew and I were met with a nice surprise on Friday afternoon when Matt called and asked if he could drive down from Georgia with his Army buddy and spend the weekend with us! Although they got in very late Friday night (rather, Saturday morning) and had to leave early Sunday, we did get one full day of fun with them.

* * *

Matt and Sawyer became buddies

When deciding where to go for breakfast, we remembered that Uncle Karl has been trying to get us to experience Cracker Barrel. So we did.

And to get the full Cracker Barrel experience, we rocked away our bellies full of grits and biscuts on the porch- another important lesson in how to be a Southerner.

The fellas wanted to get some frisbee golf time in, so we headed over to Tom Brown Park.

The dogs came, too. No surprise there
The rest of the evening was spent in the Midtown area of Tallahassee, as sort of an early birthday celebration for me.

Thanks for coming, brother. We love having visitors!

Last post on the dogs for awhile, I promise!

2010-04-04T17:36:00.000-07:00

They have just been so happy lately and I had to share these pictures because they make me smile

* * *

You haven't seen a happy dog until you've seen Lady in the car

We took them to the greenway this weekend and let them run around

I had to crop it to Sawyer running. Now that is some serious tongue and ear action!

They're even cute when they're being lazy (Sawyer was getting tired from the trek and got a little respite in Drew's arms)

Thanks for putting up with so many doggie pictures!

Whoops

2010-03-27T08:21:00.000-07:00

A friend just pointed out to me that my blog was not enabled for comments from the general public. Here I am welcoming comments on my blogs and I didn't even grant you all the ability to do so. How very inhospitable of me - I must not have learned the true ways of the South yet.

I think I fixed the comment block, so once again, I invite you to comment as much as you like on our blog, and I will try to keep up my end of the bargain by posting more often. Mea Culpa-

Fresh Air! Another perk of having dogs

2010-03-21T11:07:00.001-07:00

Although I spent most of my Spring Break in my office trying to catch up, I did get a chance to get some fresh air with these three:

This is Lake Ella which is about a mile from our house

We logged some patio time in the evenings

Yep, Sawyer still loves the lap
And for some reason Lady really likes beer and wine. Don't worry, we are looking into a 12-step program for her

And we even carved out a day for a beach trip!

Lady now knows that whn we get in the gold car, we are going on some kind of adventure (I use this term loosely). She doesn't care which seat she rides in, she just jumps in and starts whining impatiently

Although we can get to the coast in about 30 minutes from Tallahassee, the beaches are better on St. George Island which is about 2 hours away

We hoped the dogs would like splashing around in the tide,

but they were pretty terrified of the water

We got them extended leashes and tied them to a stake so they would have a bit more room for exploring. I wish we could let them totally off-leash, but they are neither courteous of other people's personal space, nor aware that birds can fly further than they can run

Nap time
He uses his cuteness against me

A little jog on the beach

Eventually we let Sawyer run loose a bit because, unlike Lady, he is good about coming back when we call him
Chasing after birds on the beach was the highlight of his entire puppyhood
A, A, S & L wishing you a Happy Spring!

I love my family every day, which includes Feb. 14th

2010-02-19T14:30:00.000-08:00

The celebration of Valentine's Day is just a touch over-hyped in our culture, wouldn't you say? Every year, we hear stories of single people rebelling against the date and/or wallowing in chocolate-covered self-pity. But Valentine's Day doesn't have to mean just a celebration of romantic love- it can be any expression of love- familial love or even the love between friends (and yes, puppy love is included).

* * *
My favorite childhood memory of Valentine's Day (aside from a decorated Kleenex box full of sugary candy) was seeing a special Valentine's novelty- some candy or a stuffed bear with a heart- sitting at my place at the breakfast table. My mom gave us a treat to add a little extra love to our day. So, now that I have a little family of my own (do dogs a family make?) the love was expressed in puppy kisses on this day:

Sometimes they kiss each other, which is a nice break from when they spar like little wolves on the living room floor

But their favorite thing is to attack our faces with those little dog-food flavored tongues (yum)

Aside from the puppy love, Drew and I did get a chance to go to dinner and finish off the night with a nightcap:

A delightful evening

So let me use this arbitrary holiday post to say: I love you, Andrew, Mom & Dad Isaac, Mom & Dad Mitchell, To & Mo, Matt, Leah, Lizard, family out East, family out West, friends close and friends far, and of course, our pretty girl, Lady Bug and our little man, Sawyer.

Dressing Up Baby

2010-01-29T07:14:00.000-08:00

Dogs are supposed to be graceful, outdoorsy creatures that can detect the scent of a squirrel long-gone and dig holes in the ground with amazing quickness. I never thought I would be the person that dressed them up in human clothes. And then I met Sawyer. While Lady fits the previous description of a dog, Sawyer seems to fit the description of a human toddler. He wants to be held all day, every day- and belly up, which is very unusual for dogs. He shivers and shivers indoors at the first sign of cool weather, while Lady is outside exploring. And while Lady gets all riled up at the dog barking on tv, Sawyer rolls over indifferently, wondering when his next belly scratch is coming. Dressing him up started with the idea of the dog snuggie in an attempt to keep him warm, but then we realized how funny it is that he seems so natural in these little outfits.

* * *

So, sorry buddy, if the human clothes fit...

Now, don't get too worried, I'm not going to be that person that puts him in a tiny Burberry coat to try and make some sort of skewed fashion statement. We mainly do it to get a laugh and then take it off him, but he may have a Halloween costme next year!

If we took a holiday...

2010-01-18T07:16:00.000-08:00

...It would be so nice! Hopefully, that Madonna song is now stuck in your head. Well, since it's January 18th, I figured I should probably get around to doing a holiday post sometime soon. The holidays this year were all about spending time with the family we don't get to see on a regular basis.

It all started with Thanksgiving in Tallahassee. Just a quiet day with Mom, Dad, Me and Drew and Toby and Monica (in from Austin) and three beagles. We pretty much just played with the pups, watched football and ate. A much more peaceful Thanksgiving than the "Orphan" Thanksgivings we would throw in San Diego.
I'm not sure where the pictures from this day are, probably on my parents' cameras. But here is a cute one of my bro and sis:

Early December, we took a little family trip to the Havana Christmas Tree Farm. The pups were in new-scent heaven- this might be the only picture with their noses off the ground.

The pictures don't show that it was raining. My feet are sinking into the wet ground here. Sawyer is the only one allowed off the leash because he will come when called.

We needed a small tree this year, for both money and doggie purposes (we put it on a small table away from paws). We found a good one, and Drew sawed it off in about 30 seconds- this was my first time cutting down a fresh tree.

The girls, after we got the tree all decorated.

I never posted the card we actually used. Here it is, Merry Christmas!

Unfortunately, Drew and I got sick about two or three days before Christmas Day, so we missed the Candlelight Christmas Eve service and were still feeling rotten on Christmas. No pictures on my camera from that day.
* * *

Somehow, we still managed to get ourselves on a plane on the 26th to go visit our California family. Must be love. We had the best airport welcome, ever!

For our West coast family Christmas, we went to Clovis and the boys played in the annual Extreme Croquet tournament

The winner this year was Sammy. He is very proud of the new Chevron with his name on it

Elizabeth, with her cheerleading plaque

This year, we did something special for Drew's Grandma (pictured). We all contributed an object the represented a memory with her to a bowl of blessings. Here, Jane is reading her message to her Mom, and Grandma is modeling the cape Jane made for her!

I think we're trying not to cry.

The rest of the week was spent playing with Drew's cousins (and Nate)

We went to see Avatar in 3D. Fun experience,

but I'll let someone else comment on the movie itself- I'm too picky, I guess.We took a family trip to the Clay Cafe to paint

We each did a tile that will get fired (the colors will get much deeper) and will be put into a mural to mark our 09 Christmas together

On New Year's Eve, Curt and Jane took us all out for a fancy dinner at The Vintage Press

Then, we dressed down and headed over to Leah's boyfriends house for a bonfire

We are a "special" family in all senses of the word

Happy New Year! I have a feeling it's going to be a great one!

Clothes made with love

2010-01-10T14:25:00.000-08:00

My beautiful friend Tina Fransson (pictured with husband, Johan) has recently begun to sew custom-made clothes, inspired by the love of God.

A snippet from her bio:

"God gave each and every one of us gifts. Some can sing, others are kind, some are good listeners....I believe one of the gifts he gave me is the passion to make clothes for others. At this point in my life, it feels like this is something God wants me to do. So my purpose for now is to love others and to spread the word of Jesus Christ and his love to all who buy my clothes and let everyone know that they are loved!"

I must be loved, because I received one of the first (if not the first) dress made by Tina. She let me design it myself (because I always have an idea for a dress in mind and can never quite find what I'm looking for) and she did the bateau-neck, party dress exactly as I had imagined it!

* * *

Because it was the inaugural run, Tina cut up an old bridesmaid dress for the fabric and did all of the construction before she had her dress form or any of her patterns- and look at how lovely it turned out! I was so impressed with her work that I decided to get some pictures of me in it to showcase her talent. Drew took the pictures in our yard last Saturday:

I guess someone felt left out:

So Sawyer got in on the pictures, too

I am so embarrassed to post this one, but the dress looks so nice from this angle. This was in response to Andrew saying, "Do something. Anything. Put your hands on your hips and strike a pose." He was right; it's better to be ridiculous than awkward and bland!

Tina did such gorgeous detail on the back:

On Facebook, she has been referring to her project as "Ta Ta Tina," so here's a little logo I put together (in the prehistoric "paint" feature of my computer!)

If you or any other fashion-forward ladies you know want a custom-made piece, check out Tina's website:

http://www.wix.com/tfransson/custom

She charges just a little over materials and shipping (if you live outside of the San Diego area), and does more than just dresses. Here is a recent jacket she did:

Tina, thanks for letting me be part of your mission to spread His love! And thank you for my darling dress!

A Recessed 2009 brings a Resourceful 2010

2010-01-03T14:20:00.000-08:00

Since I can't do a holiday post until Drew finishes tinkering with our computer,

I thought I'd take a moment to talk about my interminable struggle: affording the things I want on the budget we've got!

Here's the want:

~Vintage-inspired with darling little gemstones~

I have been eyeing these pumps all holiday season,

but they refuse to budge from their $100+ price tag.

So I had to work with what I've got:

I never wear these ruby red heels because of the wonky bow:

So I stepped outside the box for a moment- and into JoAnne Fabrics- and was able to find some black gemstones and arrange them in place of the ugly bow. The shoes even happen to have a black heel, so it worked out well:

So I've got my fashion fix for the time being, and I'm able to wear the heels I've been ignoring. Way to go, 2010 Addi!

If only the rest of our nation's economic problems could be solved by a little hot glue...

Christmas Card Outtakes

2009-12-12T21:52:00.001-08:00

For our Christmas card this year, we wanted to include our new four-legged pals. However, I did not anticipate having so much trouble getting two wound-up puppies to cooperate for the photo. (I even had to completely ditch my puppy-in-a-stocking idea because they would kick their little legs which made it impossible to slide them inside!)

* * *
So, for your enjoyment, here is what we went through to try and get a pic of the four of us
* * *
At first they would jump out

Then they refused to stand up

Then we'd get Lady to stand up and Sawyer would sit down in the box

I don't even know what's going on here

Almost... just face the front!

But eventually we got some good ones

Merry Christmas from Andrew, Adelaide, Sawyer and Lady!

N.O.L.A

2009-11-29T11:18:00.001-08:00

Francesco decided that for his 30th birthday he wanted to go to New Orleans and do it up big. We are sure glad he did! Here are some (okay, a lot) of pictures from our vaca-reunion with some great San Diego folk. (All of these pictures are courtesy of Natalie and Desiree because our camera was having problems- I even included a couple from the night before our arrival, just because they are cute)

* * *

Birthday boy and sis

Andrew missed him

I miss her!

First item on the agenda: eat some alligator

After dinner, we stopped at Coyote Ugly. Here is the whole gang:

The bartender taught us a stompAnd, of course, we had to visit Bourbon street
Cute Bourbon street pic:
Then, off to Karaoke! Natalie and Desiree are shakin it to Beyonce's single ladies (even though they aren't really single- but I was still excluded from the dance)

The birthday boy busted out some moves.

(My MJ moonwalk was not captured on camera... fortunately)

This was actually not my idea (it was my wayward husbands') but I embraced it:

fun, fun, fun

cute couple!

The original Forrest Gump park bench suit? We tourists like to think so

Drew, and some of the others, had never been to New Orleans before. So we checked out all the main stops like Jackson Square:

And, of course, had a beignet at Cafe du Monde

Some of us had the full beignet experience

On Saturday, we took a trolley to the Garden District

Lots of little shops and historic homes with N'awlins style wrought iron

and porches with Southern columns

Saturday night was the birthday celebration. We went to a restaurant-- blanking on the name-- something to do with Wolfgang Puck?? Anyway, it was yummy

Desiree and I shared some turtle soup:

My favorite guy

That night, we took off our beads and masks and decided to venture over to Frenchman street to see what the locals do for fun. We found a great jazz/blues band called Tuba Skinny :

We then found some street music and the fellas had to jive also, see?

Thanks for the great memories!

Just an old sweet song keeps Georgia on my mind

2009-11-15T10:42:00.000-08:00

On Veteran's Day and the day following, Andrew's brother, Matt, finished boot camp for the Army. Some of his loved ones were able to make the trek to Georgia to come celebrate his achievement (Drew and I are just a few hours drive from Columbus).

Pulling into Sand Hill, a divsion of Fort Benning:

Private First Class Mitchell

The first ceremony (the day I could be there) was an introduction to the soldiers and drill sergeants, recognition of special awards, and the soldiers recieved their black berets.

Proud Andrew

Mom and Grandma

Matt's girlfriend, Claire

Proud sister-in-law (the pics of me and Matt must be on his Mom's camera)

We got to tour the camp and watch some Army drills. I was more interested in the bright trees

Something to do with rifles:

I'm not sure I was supposed to take a picture of this:

Drew stayed for the Thursday official graduation ceremony, but left the camera in th hotel. If I get any of those pictures, I'll upload them here or on Facebook.

* * *

Matt is already at his next post in Augusta, Georgia, where he will begin training in microwaves (not the appliance, but similar technology).

* * *

Matt, we miss you, love you and are so proud of you!

Andrew and the Pups: A Love Story

2009-11-07T19:33:00.000-08:00

"There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face." ~Ben Williams

"Whoever said you can't buy happiness forgot little puppies." ~Gene Hill

"If you can look at a dog and not feel vicarious excitement and affection, you must be a cat." ~Unknown

"There is no faith which has never yet been broken, except that of a truly faithful dog."

~Konrad Lorenz

"The more one gets to know of men, the more one values dogs."

~Alphonse Toussenel

"Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole" ~Roger Caras

Drew in D.C.

2009-10-19T17:32:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, Drew flew to D.C. to play in a flag football tournament with some of his old San Diego teammates. Here are the Bolts:

My Uncle Jeff, Aunt Barbara, and cousin Julia live in the area and got to see Andrew in action. Uncle Jeff took many great pics of the game and Andrew's plays.

....made the catch for a touchdown!

Drew told me that he had so much fun playing in all of the games.

The Bolts beat out 18 teams to make it to the championship game and lost the tournament by one stinkin' point! Second place:

Drew and some of the guys got to go on a special White House tour because they knew someone on the inside. Here they are outside of Obama's digs:

The fellas had a couple days to tour all the important stops:

Drew also got a chance to have dinner with more members on my side of the family in Maryland. I just wish I could have gone with him!

Time for a heart to heart

2009-10-13T15:27:00.001-07:00

Silly blog titles aside, I can't go on posting until I have relayed a very big event that occurred in our lives. My Dad just survived what was essentially a failing heart, after being rushed to the hospital for an emergency surgery to have a pacemaker installed in his chest. It was one of the scariest moments of my life; after numerous attempts to reach my parents on the phone, my fears were confirmed when I arrived at an empty house. Fortunately, my worst fear wasn't confirmed, because the doctors were able to treat this problem in time, and my Dad should be able to resume a normal life with the miraculous device in his chest. And miraculous is exactly how my Dad describes this event (much more eloquently than I am) on his blog:

http://economicsandcompassion.blogspot.com/2009/10/so-how-was-your-weekend-mark-or-other.html

I love my Dad so much and will treasure the blessing that God gave us: many memories to come.

Here he is in one of my favorite recent memories- our trip to San Francisco for New Year's:

We love you, Dad

A special message...

2009-10-10T16:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Fall!

from Lady

and Sawyer

The two furry additions to the Mitchell family

2009-10-03T18:00:00.001-07:00

Well, in a strange turn of events, we did not get the puppy from our recent post. Drew had picked the littlest one and there was not enough milk for her. Needless to say, she didn't make it. I got the news at work and was feeling very sad, when God's closed door/open window plan took affect. After I told my Mom the news, my Dad had happened to read about 12 beagle puppies in the paper that very morning. So we paid a little visit and fell in love with a little reddish girl. We didn't expect our minds to quickly change from one pup to two, but after watching the little ones play together, we knew we needed another. So Drew left it up to me to choose another little girl to bring home. But I found a cute little boy instead!

This is Sawyer. Andrew calls him a "Mama's Boy," but in truth, he loves to be held by anyone.

I don't think we have a good picture of Lady. At first, we didn't want to use the name Lady again, so we tossed around names like Ginger and Mabel. But when she came home, she immediately went to the bathroom on the puppy mat and just has this polished way about her. We couldn't see her as anything but a little Lady. I don't think you can tell from the pictures, but she has pretty green eyes.

Sawyer in the time-out box

Fact: Lady loves to sleep. Anywhere.

Especially on feet, I guess

The puppies have two beds, but usually sleep together in one.

They sure are a handful, but their cuteness compensates for it! And yes, this is fair warning that Drew and I will probably take lots of pictures of them because they just make us smile so much!

DIY saves a lot of dough (Subtitle: why my parents are awesome)

2009-09-14T18:10:00.000-07:00

Dressers made of real wood and not wood veneer are expensive.

These two are over $1000. each. Who can afford this?

Answer: not us.

So we had to get creative. Inspired by my Dad's recent refurbishment of an end table, we set out to find one man's trash to make it a treasure. Many antique and secondhand shops later, I stumbled upon a large, real wood dresser that was in desperate need of some love and attention (only $49!).

I forgot to get a good picture of the problematic spots. There was some water damage, and the top of the dresser was pretty fargone. So staining was not an option because we were replacing some parts with other pieces of wood.
* * *
We removed the ugly hardware:

Sanded, sanded, sanded.

We wood-puttied the holes left from the old hardware and any other blemishes, and my Dad affixed a thin piece of birch to the top- making it functional again.

* * *

To finish the piece, we picked out a nice off-white color (to coordinate with the bedding). And painted it and some wooden knobs (only about $1 each at Lowes) in a light robin's egg as an accent color. Here is the finished piece:

After releasing my inner DIYer, I wanted to start on another project! For this one, I tapped into my MDIH (Mom Does It Herself) for my next project :)

This toile pillow is $120.00.

We found a sale on toile that made the cost of fabric used for one large pillow about $6.00. (We already had the pillows laying around.) My Mom sewed each in about 5 minutes flat. I should have timed her. We are also going to make some curtains for the same room out of toile.

So the house is coming along, bit by bit. I hope to get some actual room shots soon- but the next post will likely be on our puppy. Or is it puppies? We'll just have to wait and see!

Drew's first weekend in town

2009-09-13T06:25:00.000-07:00

After many weeks, Drew finally arrived here in Florida! It didn't take him long to figure out Southern living:

Fishing after church

I say "after church" to explain why I am casting a line in a dress and cardigan.

Drew got a chance to check out the house we will be renting; he started on some painting and projects, so there's not much to show right now except the back yard. We've got a little deck and planty of fenced space for our new puppy:

Speaking of, here is our puppy at 3 weeks. Her name is Lady Mae Mitchell- Drew came up with the middle name- we figured she was born in the South and needed to be named accordingly!

She is teeny-tiny right now. We can't take her home for another 4 weeks.

Drew knew right away that the one with the white nose would be ours. I'm glad he was there, because I would have taken all four home. But he picked a pretty darn cute one, didn't he?

And on Labor Day, we went to the FSU football game against Miami. In a nutshell, it was nuts (I'm such a loser). Now I know what people from Tallahassee do for fun!

A family of Garnet and Gold

The "Marching Chiefs" are apparently one of the best in the nation-

some of my students are involved.

I'm happy to report that Drew has already made a best friend. She has four paws and is pleasantly plump. She has taken such a liking to Drew that she pretty much follows him everywhere:

Next up: Projects for the House

She's done it again

2009-08-27T16:47:00.001-07:00

This is my cute and talented friend Natalie. She is an awesome photographer- you may remember a post I did about our beautiful engagement photos.

So here's why she is awesome: TCC was taking photos of all the new faculty for a brochure they put out each year, but the photo shoot was scheduled for June, and I was still living in San Diego. The pictures were to be taken in front of "greenery"

Natalie saved me from what might've been a botched photoshop disaster

by coming over and snapping some photos of me behind our townhome. The quality of her photos were even better than those of the TCC photographer!

I'm so lucky to know her.

Oh, and she even caters to difficult people:

Check out some of her other beautiful pictures on her blog:

http://nataliemariephoto.blogspot.com/

...which she promises to update soon!

Love you Nat!

Life at the Lake

2009-08-23T13:40:00.000-07:00

Every weekend, my parents (and now, I) drive about 20 minutes out of Tallahassee to the small town of Havana. My parents have a house out there on Lake Tallavana, and it is such a wonderful, relaxing place to be. This is the view from the front yard and my Dad's little boat.

Aside from boating or fishing (I cast my first line today!) there is sleeping in the hammock...

... or playing with this pretty girl. Pretty much any non-stressful activites, and we all need a little of that these days.

Espanish moss:

On Sundays, we go into the town to attend church and have lunch.

It's certainly got that small-town charm, with lots of little antique shops:

I can't wait for Andrew to come out here and fish with us!

Transitioning

2009-08-20T16:07:00.001-07:00

Boy, a lot has happened in the last couple of weeks. I had to bid farewell to California, my home, and my husband and I set off for an abrupt new life chapter. This picture was taken in the final minutes before my departure:

...packed the car full of clothes and dishes, and kissed Andrew goodbye:

We took our time driving, so we could visit some dear friends in Tucson (of course I forgot to take pics) and so we could linger in Austin, where Toby and Monica reside. Gotta love this shirt:

Toby made a delicious fried catfish dinner, and Monica made this delightful raspberry streudel:

I loved this roadside peach stand we found in Texas:

After witnessing the countryside getting greener and greener (and muggier) we finally crossed into my new home state:

We made it! And without makeup or access to a comb apparently. Gulp.

One of my favorite things about living at my parent's house is this little face:

The first day at my new job was overwhelming to say the least, and when I got home, brimming with emotion, these were waiting for me from my favorite guy. I cried, but that was a given, wasn't it?

I signed the lease to our new place last week, and will start on some house projects this weekend. More pictures to follow!

Last San Diego Post... for now, not forever

2009-08-12T17:01:00.001-07:00

My last week in San Diego was a busy one. For my birthday present, Natalie took me to see Wicked downtown. It was amaaaaaaaazing (to get my tone, sing that word in a high note).

Natalie and I made a special guest appearance at downtwon Johnny Brown'a before the show. Miss this girl already!

Then, as our third an final installment in the anniversary series, I got Drew tickets to see the comedian Jim Gaffigan. Our good friends Nate and Mindy came along and we were literally holding our sides to keep them from splitting open! "Does Meat ever ask about me?"

While we were at the show, we spotted Dave Rickers, Andrew's favorite morning radio show host. Dave was super nice and we even chatted a bit about our upcoming move. Drew was starstruck, no doubt about it. So we got a picture of the two of them:

Humphrey's by the Bay was a great outdoor venue

When we got home, silliness involving a wig ensued:

Banjo Bill

Daisy Mae

Church Lady

Unce Rico

Oh so many good times at Nate's. AND he keep Gushers specially on hand for me when I visit... which won't be for awhile now- tear.

I dropped the ball

2009-08-06T10:40:00.000-07:00

So I promised my fellow Facebookians that I would do a post with more pictures from our going away gathering. But in the hustle and bustle of saying goodbye to San Diego and my friends and packing up everything I could into my car, I didn't finish uploading the pictures. There are some people I missed including-- like T. Wilson, sorry mate! If the impossible happens and Andrew takes time out of his hectic schedule to find and e-mail the rest of the pictures, then I will add them here.

* * *
Andrew and I decided a night on the San Diego harbor would blend our farewell to the Pacific Ocean as well as the city. So after a quick stop at Uno's we (Matt's girlfriend, Claire, pictured) hopped on a trolley:

We went to Andrew's place of work, the Fish Market, and sat on the deck with our drinks and some amazingly fresh seafood. Raw oysters are a given, here.

Francesco (L) and Richard (R) and I go back at least 7 years. Richard was taking the bar exam only three days after this picture, but he still made it out! Such a good pal...

Some friends from the Master's program who couldn't make the farewell tea (or weren't invited- because they have a Y chromosome). L to R: Shannon, Nicole and Adam. Nicole and Adam are currently moving to my hometown- Tucson :)

To the left of me sits Matt, Andrew's older brother who was on temporary leave from the army due to leg fractures. We were so happy to see him during his break! Then there's Claire, me, Kim with daughter Isabella "Izzie" and her Dad, Josh.

Then we walked down Harbor Drive to the Elephant and Castle Pub. One of the only low-key places in downtown during Comic-Con. L to R: Josh, then some Croc people: Bob, me, Natalie (one of my bridesmaids), Joe and an honorary Croc member, Heather.

Here we have me, Andrew, his awful moustache, our Swedish friend Johan, his wife Tina (from Andrew's hometown) and their Swedish visitor (I've blanked on her name).

One of the best couples- Brian and Sagi Jones.

...and tomfoolery. Here is my friend Joanna who I met the minute I walked into the SDSU dorms 8 years ago. We are still close :)

Well I am going to miss him, too!

A fun night recapping some great times in America's Finest City!
I will miss each and every one of you... tear.

Anniversary Present

2009-07-29T10:59:00.000-07:00

Traditionally, for a first wedding anniversary, the gift is paper. I thought I was being clever in giving Andrew tickets to see one of our favorite comedians, but it turned out he had the same "clever" idea. He got us tickets to see the musical "Fiddler on the Roof" performed downtown at the Civic Center. Not only did we both give paper gifts, but we turned our anniversary into three fun nights instead of just one!

We had dinner at a Greek restaurant downtown because it was a throwback to our honeymoon
(I had moussaka again) :

Speaking of our honeymoon, we bought this dress in the San Francisco portion of our trip. It is really fun to wear because the bottom swish-swish-swishes. Please ignore my undone hair! We flew in that day from our week long trip at Mt. Hermon and our bags were lost. (but now they're found)

The best part of the night (as you facebook people already know) was, unbeknownst to us, the lead of Tevye was actually played by Topol, the same actor from the motion picture! We were just amazed by how spot-on this guy was and then saw the playbill at intermission. I was so excited and the production was truly amazing.

Topol is now 74, but still has plenty of vigor during the musical numbers. He does look a little trimmer, though:

Thanks, handsome, for the great present! We were singing "Tradition"; "If I were a rich man" and "Wonder of wonder, miracle of miracles" for probably two days after the show.

Stevie!

2009-07-24T10:38:00.000-07:00

Early July, Stevie (a high school friend from Tucson) and her boyfriend Chris came to San Diego for their summer vacation. Drew and I were fortunate enough to be included on their itinerary! We went to dinner at the Barefoot Bar and Grill in Paradise Point and headed over to Miller's Field for the rest of the night. It was so fun getting to know Chris a little bit better and catching up with Stevie (I feel like when we get together, no matter how long it has been, we just pick up right where we left off!)

I can't find the picture of me and Andrew, and I think we forgot to get Chris in a picture (or he cleverly dodged getting it taken) but take my word that they were there! Drew and Chris have fantasy football in common, which in guy land is quite enough to be friends- I wish we only lived closer to these two :( Anyways, it was a great night and I will get to see Stevie and Chris again next weekend during my cross-country trek to Florida. Love you!

The Del Mar County Fair!

2009-07-19T10:25:00.000-07:00

Blogger or my cursor is acting up so I apologize for the strange spacing here. A couple of weeks ago, Drew asked me spur-of-the-moment if I wanted to go to the fair instead of have dinner at home. I am all about getting out and about in San Diego right now, so of course I was on board! The above picture is of a little piglet that had just performed a lengthy dive into an 8 foot trough and was being warmed in a blanket. Andrew thought it was just the cutest little thing and paid the 5 bucks to hold it for a picture!

* * *

This was a gigantic horse... no, it is not just the angle of the camera.

Look at 6'3" Andrew next to it:

The little racing piglets! The prize was Oreo cookies for the fastest- never knew little piggies liked oreos...

* * *

We saw this sign and had to give it a go:

This is what a deep fried S'more looks like- deliciosity.
* * *

Aside from the pig races, we played carnival games, rode the sky buckets and went down the gigantic potato sack slide. Oh, and of course we ate as much fried food as our hearts could possibly handle! Sometimes the spontaneous nights are just as fun- if not more- than the planned ones.

Andrew's Football League

2009-06-04T10:05:00.000-07:00

Andrew's flag football team, The Ball Hawks, took the championship title!

Here are some pictures of Drew in action:

He filled in as QB for awhile

...but he prefers to play receiver

Congrats on the win!

Our big move to Florida

2009-05-29T11:39:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, the biggest news currently in our lives is our upcoming move to Tallahassee, Florida. My parents live there, and it was my Dad who informed me of a full-time teaching position open at Tallahassee Community College (full-time positions are extremely hard to come by in San Diego). So I interviewed, and was offered the position! We are very blessed to have work in this economy, but we will also be very sad to leave our friends and memories in San Diego. Nevertheless, we are trying to think positively about the new chapter of our lives. So here is a little about the city of Tallahassee:

It is the capital of Florida

It is known as a college town, hosting Florida State University, Florida A & M, and of course, my new employer, TCC (pictured)

It has beautiful canopy roads, created by the overhanging spanish moss

It has historic homes and buildings with the Southern-style porches and columns

... and lakes, of course! This is the lake next to the beautiful Maclay Gardens

Here are the Gardens:

Here are a few pictures from when we were in town for my brother's wedding. Here were are in my Dad's boat out at their lake house.

I took this picture of an alligator on a swamp boat tour in the county of Wakulla

...and a manatee!

We invite you all to come visit us. There is more than enough room to house visitors and we would just love having some familiar faces around!

One Year Anniversary with new pictures

2009-05-27T16:31:00.000-07:00

Hello all! Long time no see. I'm hoping to start blogging regularly again. I doubt I will actually go back through six months of pictures and completely catch everyone up, but you never know! At the very least, here is how we kicked off our summer vacation: the celebration of our one-year anniversary!

Andrew took the reigns on the planning and surprised me with a beautiful downtown San Diego day. We had fish tacos on the waterfront for lunch, relaxed by a rooftop pool in the afternoon and went on a three hour dinner cruise through the harbor. It was the perfect way to celebrate and enjoy this amazing city that we are about to leave. Here are some pics:

Our dinner vessel

The only shot of the two of us together

I needed his jacket pretty early in the evening... it was chilly!

It was Memorial Day, so here's a patriotic shot for you all!

More wind!

At our table

Cheers!

The downtown lights were beautiful at night

The pool at the hotel Se

Drew enjoying the warm water

Me enjoying the sunshine

The classic Donald grin

What a great day! Lets hope we have 64 more anniversaries!

What we've been up to

2009-03-14T12:04:00.000-07:00

We are buried in books. Andrew and I have only two months left until our Master's Exam, and we are just reading reading reading. I thought I'd explain why I didn't even get through the holiday posts, and how our many (ha!) blog followers will have to wait until summer for catching up. But really, there's not much to tell except what Thoreau, Dickinson and Faulkner have to say.

Holiday Season Part 1

2009-01-11T21:09:00.001-08:00

Sorry it's been so long since our last post...
the end of the semester and traveling are not helpful to blogging.

Here's a belated post about the first part of our holiday season.

* * *

We went to Drew's Grandma's house in Fresno for a delicious Thanksgiving meal, lots of family and of course the second annual extreme croquet tournament!

My sister Leah and little Abigail

Drew playing with Nathan

As many of you know, I can not wait very long after Thanksgiving to get my tree.. I think it was three days this year. So I took Joanna to the local tree lot- she had never been to one before- and we had a little too much fun picking one out!

The I went over to my friend Michelle's house to make gingerbread shacks and mansions (I say that with bitterness, does it surprise you that the one in the middle is not mine?) Actually it was a lot of fun and mine is on the left if you care...

Drew putting on the tree's finishing touch

Well, almost finishing... I can always find things that need tweaking!

Natalie came over and we made delicious sugar cookies from scratch!

We even learned how to make homemade frosting... here's the result!

Andrew being silly rather than helpful (and wearing two kinds of plaid??!!)

A little non-holiday celebrating of Parris's birthday (black hat)

We went to East Village Tavern downntown for some ritzy high-class bowling

I think I am confusing bowling with figure skating

... so Andrew took me figure skating!

On Coronado island, the Hotel Del has "skating by the sea"

Not sure why this one makes him laugh... ok yes I do, I'm a huge doofus

... but he skates with his tongue out so it takes one to know one

Look ma! One leg!

Stay Tuned for Holiday Season Part 2!

...oh and P.S....

2008-11-23T17:02:00.000-08:00

I just snapped this as they were leaving for the Chargers/Colts Game and I thought it was cute how happy they are to see each other (Matt and Jake live 6 hours north).

Love these guys... that's all.

Harvest Party 2008/ Pictures of our place

2008-11-18T17:54:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our home!

I finally got around to snapping some pictures of our place.

* * *
If you look carefully, you can see the ugly tile that has bunches of flowers on it! Not our first choice in countertop decor.

Here's the Master bedroom... those aren't giant spots on the wall just some weird reflection from my camera.

My rudimentary painting of a lady in a big gown to go with our shower curtain.

Dining

Wine Bar

Hearth

...and the participants in the 5th annual Harvest Party!

Back L-R: Tina, Joanna, Kasey, Emma, Lindsay, Nicole

Front: Natalie, Shannon, Yours Truly, Michelle

Tina carved me into a pumpkin!

Gettin warm by the fire with Kasey :)

About as fall as it gets around our neighborhood.

I thought this tree was kinda pretty

The Ramos Wedding

2008-11-08T18:18:00.000-08:00

Drew and I were working on picking out photos for our wedding album today, when it dawned on me... I still hadn't posted pics from Brooke and Jerrod's September wedding. I was waiting for the professional ones to come out without the copyright stamp on them, but I don't know how long that will be so I'll just post the ones I have so far.

* * *

Brooke and Jerrod were married on September 26, 2008 at the Darlington House here in San Diego. It was incredible to see all of Brooke's hard work come together in such a beautiful event. She planned everything down to the tiniest detail- including the corner-stamped programs! The night was so elegant, and it is always a treat to watch two of our friends take their vows. I've included a mix of my poor-quality snapshots and my favorites from their photographers' blog. Even though they now live far far away, we cherish all of our fond memories of them! Congrats you two!

The ceremony

Darin as my escort

The handsome groom

The absolutely beautiful bride

Laughing with the girls!

Some of the attendees during cocktail hour.

The newly married couple

Dinnertime with some good friends

the cake cutting

...and the sendoff! I just love Jerrod's expression here!

If we get more of the good photos, I'll put them up!

My Mom's Visit/ Our Julian Trip

2008-10-28T17:09:00.000-07:00

My Mom came to visit a couple weekends ago because, well, she loves us! Not that my Dad doesn't love us too, but he's not a big flyer. Anyhow, I thought it was the perfect opportunity to visit the apple orchards of Julian.

Yes, I sometimes skip, sometimes frolic, what have you.

A not-so-scary scarecrow

Look at that old rusty gem... and

how about that truck?

At first we were only picking the normal sized apples, but then I decided that these little ones were pretty cute and would make adorable mini caramel apples!

I wonder why he's so interested in my left hand...

The apple don't fall too far from the tree :)

Pumpkin Time! Drew was designated pumpkin carrier.

Mama and Drew in the little corn maze

And we also went to Drew's restaurant to enjoy some crab.

(awful picture of me, but it shows how much I love her)

She relished the chance to capture me in a bib.

We love you, Mom!

Our engagement picture photographer

2008-10-14T18:29:00.000-07:00

Our good friend and budding photographer, Natalie Valine, has finally started a blog to share her great work (see the link on the left column for Natalie Marie Photography). Natalie did our engagement photos in March 2007 at Balboa Park, which we used for our save-the-date, our newspaper announcement and our wedding website.

So if you know anyone looking for beautiful, affordable pictures in the San Diego area... send 'em her way!

A rose by any other name...

2008-10-07T14:56:00.000-07:00

I just found out that there is a breed of rose named the Adelaide D'Orleans. Looks like my fame has spread from the Austrailian city to the Guys and Dolls musical and finally has made its mark on horticulture. Now, if I can only get that Adelaide statue erected, I will have arrived.

* * *

They are quite pretty, aren't they?

A night at the theatre

2008-10-05T15:11:00.000-07:00

Swell Season

2008-10-05T12:32:00.000-07:00

On Friday night, after a long day of work, Shannon, Jamie and I stayed on campus to see The Swell Season play at SDSU's open air theatre. They are better known as the musicians from the movie Once, Marketa Irglova and Glen Hansard. Here is a tiny clip of their most famous song, "Falling Slowly," which is very poorly recorded from my camera, but is the testament to how good they sounded live.

It was nice and cool outside (finallly!) and we treated ourselves to some salted caramel hot chocolates- which sound kind of sketch but are really good.

Our new digs

2008-09-21T14:53:00.000-07:00

...or at least the ouside. We're still working away on getting things settled inside but we're making progress!

* * *

The townhome complex

Here's the top half, I couldn't get the bottom because of the surrounding fence.

Our front walkway

Our red rooftop view

Ahhh to entertain... can't wait!

Update

2008-09-13T21:36:00.000-07:00

We are up to our elbows in cardboard boxes.

Pictures to follow.

Oh Mexico... sounds so sweet with the sun sinkin' low

2008-08-22T21:24:00.001-07:00

We had the wonderful experience of going to Rosarito, Mexico a couple weeks ago to celebrate the marriage of Nikki Marshall and Ryan Jauregui. The weather was so warm, and our hotel had the most incredible view of the ocean. We turned the event into a whole weekend getaway, and we had so much fun! Thanks, Jaureguis and cheers!

* * *

The first night we went to Puerto Nuevo for some delicious langosta.

Aqui esta mi langosta de amor:

The Enrique Crew

Not sure what "poker" is in Spanish, but money spends the same

Relaxing on the wedding day

Best Man Jones with the Groom's father

A little dip in the infinity pool

Cabana girls

Nate doing what looks like a dance move... maybe a full-body dry heave...

... and it's wedding time!

Here she comes!

The ceremony was so fitting... lighthearted but really touching.

The waves were crashing so loudly, it was just lovely.

Parris, Katie, Boston, Bobby, and Sonja (sp??)

Ryan and Drew showing off the bling!

Steph, Kayla, Beautiful Bride, Mandy, and Me

Some quality time with Sagi

Reunited with my girls (Sorry Nik and Jaud if you get a mini photo shoot in the middle of your wedding photos... really... who do we think we are?)

Viva Los Novios!

The naught boys at table 16

Let the dancing begin!

He saved a couple dances for me when he wasn't performing the splits

... and I think it's safe to say that we are at the end of the night!

Brooke's Bridal Shower

2008-08-22T20:23:00.000-07:00

On August 2nd, Brooke's two San Diego bridesmaids (me and Cindy) showered her with food, drinks, and of course, wedding presents! Joanna was gracious enough to let us use her great place:

Cindy cookin' up some absolutely sensational food!

The mimosa bar

The eats... main dishes compliments of Chef Cindy, sweets provided by yours truly

Brooke loves birds, so I sort of went with a bird, nest and cage theme.

Brooke's shower memory book that I made for everyone to sign

The three bridesketeers... that was dumb.

schwag!!!

Joanna, Kasey and Cindy

Kaitlyn and Natalie won the two games and got bird-themed prizes

A shower is not complete without humiliating games!

The bubble gum game (note the lovebirds' cage in the background!)

Not so fun is it??!! (Brooke made me do this at my shower)

Kasey and Brooke holding the fans I made with Brooke's initials on them

Me and Brooke playing with the lovebirds

The worker bees... thinking we are funny (we are not).

Our Wedding Slideshow

2008-08-05T14:38:00.000-07:00

I am so glad that Drew talked me into having a slideshow at our wedding, and I was absolutely floored to see the final result that my brother put together. Toby did an incredible job! We periodically sit down together and watch it, and somehow it "gets us everytime" to use Andrew's words. The part that always "gets" us (meaning the water works), is the proposal video that Toby somehow spliced in... I am so thankful that we have that moment recorded. Anyhow, thank you so much, Tobe we just love it!

* * *

Here is my favorite baby pic of Drew:

Here is Drew's favorite of me:

Aint no party like a Holy Ghost party!

2008-07-27T17:16:00.001-07:00

For Brooke's 29th birthday, and last one in San Diego :( , we headed downtown to the House of Blues for the world famous Gospel Brunch. They served up some delicious Southern-style dishes, such as fried chicken, cheese grits, biscuts n gravy, jambalaya, and bread pudding- mmmm! After we stuffed ourselves, a purple-robed Gospel choir got us on our feet- and even gpt Brooke onstage for a special birthday dance! A good time was had by all, Happy Birthday Brooke!

Things will be great when you're downtown!

Just waitin on the birthday girl (and Darin) to arrive!

A very kind gesture by Kasey!

Addi and Brooke

... and the dancing begins! Joe does not look entirely convinced!

Think they're having fun?

Steak, Austin, Queso

"They're gonna make me do what??!!"

Natalie waving her prayer napkin and being supercute.

Don't mess with these dancers

Brooke looking thoroughly embarrassed onstage.

lerdies.

... and Brooke got just what she wanted for her birthday... a mostly naked Comicon nerd.

In Memoriam

2008-07-21T22:16:00.000-07:00

Dennis Sherod: Beloved Father, Husband and Friend

Tonight we attended a memorial service for Dennis Sherod (those of you reading this will probably know him as Francesco's father) and I just wanted to say a few words about it. The service was held at sunset at the Torrey Pines Golf Pavilion, and was a truly wonderful remembrance of a life taken too soon. Although I only met Dennis briefly once or twice, the words spoken by Silvia, Desiree, Franc, and others clearly gave testament to his wonderful character. The family remembered to offer some of his favorite things (root beer, boston baked beans, etc.) and the night ended with a beautiful slideshow of the family. The mix of fondly humorous stories with poignant and touching ones mirror the way he will be remembered on into the future.

* * *

Silvia, Franc, and Desiree: our hearts go out to you in this time of sorrow. May your sadness eventually wane into peace. Psalm 23:1.

Pat and Kaitlyn's Big Day

2008-07-21T00:40:00.000-07:00

July 20, 2008
The Prado in Balboa Park

* * *

What a great wedding! The weather was absolutely perfect... San Diego at its finest. Andrew and I had so much fun seeing two of our close friends join the married club. Here is Pat walking his mother down the aisle.

Kaitlyn walked down with both of her parents which was a sweet touch.

Doesn't she look stunning?

Here is the pronouncement. The couple's recessional was an untraditional choice, "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz which was whimsical and ever so fitting.

Natalie's second role as bridesmaid... she gave a very heartfelt toast.

The cake cutting...

... and the sampling

Greg and Tiffany pretending that they've never seen a cake before. They convinced me!

Sorry if you are tired of kissing photos... I'm not

3 beers, 3 cheers

A little special aiming and Natalie got the bouquet!

Mert and Drew put a little show on for us at the end.

What a great night. We love you guys

The Wedding: The Ceremony and Traditions

2008-06-27T17:34:00.000-07:00

You are invited

to share in our Wedding

which took place on

May 24, 2008

in Exeter, CA

At the home of the groom's parents

Our wedding day was so wonderful, and we have many people to thank for it, but mainly, we have to thank our parents. The Mitchells worked so hard on their yard during our year-and-a-half engagement to make it a dream to get married in. My parents helped plan so much of it from across the country, and then when the day came, my Mom was running around making sure everything was ready. Thanks to Brooke and my bridesmaids for all of their wonderful help, and to everyone else for making it an unforgettable event.

* * *

Getting ready with the ladies

Leah is putting my necklace on me

My Grandma is giving me her sapphire engagement ring. It fulfilled by something old, borrowed and blue and was a nice memory of my Grandfather. (Note the lace gloves that she wore "because Andrew likes them"... too precious!)

Brooke giving a warm-up toast.

Here I am in front of the living room window.

I could see out this window to the ceremony site and watch everything finally come together.

A series of me and my bridesmaids

(there are many more pics of the girls because they've shown more interest in getting these pictures)

The excited bride

The calm and collected groom

The groomsman looking oh-so sharp

This may not be the most flattering picture of me,

but I just couldn't resist the expressions on our faces

Thank goodness I have such good friends to come and fill up my side of the chairs!

The walk down the aisle was the most overwhelming part.

Love you, Dad.

My Dad gaining a son

Saying our vows

I had a request to post the vows that we said. Drew and I created our own distinct vows but with many similarities, so here is what we chose:

"I, Andrew, in faith, honesty and love

Take you, Addi, to be my wedded wife,

I will care for you,

honor, and protect you

from this day forward

I will love you in sickness as in health

In poverty as in wealth

in sorrow as in joy

and will be true to you

by God’s grace.

Trusting in him,

so long as we both shall live.
.
I pray we might grow together

Into the likeness of Jesus Christ

Our lord and savior.

With this vow, I seal my love to you Addi."

* * *

"I, Addi, in faith, honesty and love

Take you, Andrew, to be my wedded husband.

To have and to hold,

from this day forward.

I pledge to you my life

As a loving and faithful wife.

To share with you

God’s plan for our lives

Together united in Christ.

I will love you in sickness as in health

In poverty as in wealth

In sorrow as in joy

And will be true to you

by God’s grace

Trusting in him

So long as we both shall live

With this vow, I seal my love to you Andrew."

* * *

Our first kiss as husband and wife. I love this picture.

After the ceremony, we went on a private fifteen minute carriage ride to catch our breath and take some pictures.

The rings!

Our great wedding party

We broke it down early.

The ladies stealing my husband for a pic

Me and the guys

Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell

Two of the three men I love most in the world (Toby isn't pictured)

The whole Mitchell clan!

We needed a grand entrance into the tent

Our first dance was to David Gray's "This Year's Love" because it has been our song for years. Before we even began dating, Andrew told me that there was a song with my name in it. As it turns out, he is not saying anything close to "Adelaide" but it really does sound like it. Here we are, laughing because the song was so long!

For those of you who don't know, Adam used our words to compose his amazing song. He had us each write a paragraph or poem about the other, which we couldn't see, and sent it to him a few months before the wedding. So while the rest of you heard a lovely song, Andrew and I heard our own words beautifully woven together and sung by someone very close to us. It was one of the best moments of the evening! We love you, Adam.

Onto the cake cutting

The nice and gentle tasting that probably disappointed a lot of people.

My father and I danced to "The Way You Look Tonight" at my brother's wedding last year, and then proceeded to listen to all 800 versions of this song until we found the perfect one. We chose the Michael Buble version because my Dad liked the steady beat and I preferred his voice greatly to Rod Stewart's!

* * *
Also note the red converse sneakers ... my Dad's favorite.

The Wedding: Fun Stuff

2008-06-18T11:37:00.000-07:00

We danced the night away

You know those brides that are so preoccupied that they never make it onto the dance floor? I was not one of them! (A little bit softer now...)

Ben and Mert

Look at how cute these four are:

Ladies love lavender, don't they, P?

L to R: Vu, Parris, Kaitlyn, Joe, Brooke, Pat, Darin

Croc Candid

I adore these two:

Ryan's Walk/Amazing dance move

Quck Quiz: How many odd couples can you find?

My Dad lighting a celebratory stogie

The fellas

Steak and myself

The Next to be married!

Followed by:

And then...?

"The Devil Went Down to Georgia" Stomp

Quick stop for a refreshment and photo op

Drew dancing with 7-year-old Ethan who tore it up!

Here he is having a dance-off with Kahana

The Croc Crew!
(If you are in this pic, don't print this one out, you will be receiving one of much better quality)

Big 'ol smiles

Tossing the bouquet

Time for the garter toss!

I have never seen guys so pumped to catch the garter before

Darin caught it!

The candlelight send-off: Going...

Going... (with a quick stop to get a kiss from Jones)

Gone!

What an incredible night!

Rehearsal: Friday, May 23rd

2008-06-08T20:17:00.000-07:00

The groom and the M.O.G.

Wow... is it here already??!!

Nicole and Monica

My bridemaids practicing looking pretty

The Remmers: Marty, Georgia (flower girl), Sarah

Grace and Brooke

Grandma Colleen with a front-row seat!

The procession begins with Nate and Elizabeth

(note the mini faux-quets I made)

Sam and Kayla

Uncle Ted and Mandy (easy now...)

Adam and Leah

Kevin and Grace

Jake and Natalie

Best Man Matt with M.O.H. Brooke

Dad walking me down... so exciting!

Nathan Williams (ring bearer) and the ladies

Practicing the Vows

The fellas

yay! we are fake-pronounced husband and wife!

Abby and Georgia practicing

Nathan and Ethan with the pillows my mom hand-made

Andrew handing out presents at the rehearsal dinner
Leather belts with the guys' last names etched in them

Me handing out the pearl bracelets I created for the gals

Catching up with the friends who had arrived at the one bar in Exeter

The Stag Saloon

who knew "Jessie's girl" whipped Ryan into a dancing frenzy?

Richard and Drew

Oges and Ads

geez... what am I getting married or something? I'm in every picture...

just one ridiculous family

can't wait for tomorrow!

Before the big day: Preparations

2008-06-08T19:25:00.001-07:00

Welcome to Exeter: small town charm

As part of the small town experience we just had to paint our own water tower!

Brooke and I primed it the night before (on a whim)

and this is 7:30 on Friday morning:

Jane did the A+ A, I did the date, and Drew did the detailing

The finished product

The porta-potty delivery did not go exactly as planned!

The early stage of the tent

The Moms putting up the archway... love those two!

Onto the chair setup:

hmmm how is this going to work?

My dad was the mastermind of figuring out how the chairs would be arranged
background- Monica and Toby Isaac (my bro and sis) and Nicole (cousin)

Grandma Carroll takes a stop in the orange groves