Mississippi to Atlanta via Birmingham

Last Wednesday I headed south to pick up my nephew, and made a few stops along they way. Wednesday I went to Spanish Fort to stay with my sweet friend from high school Courtney. We had so much fun catching up! I almost never make it over to that area which means I rarely get to see Court. I LOVED IT!

Thursday I headed over to Mississip. I hit ALL my favorite spots. I started with lunch at Manhattan Grill! It was AMAZ as always. Then a stop by Realizations and Lee Tracy (had to get a little shopping in). Thursday night I had dinner at Scranton's with more sweet high school friends Ashley and Brandi. It is crazy to see how our lives have changed in the past 14 years (I know I am dating myself). I love these girls, and when I am with them I feel so myself. It makes me so happy!!!

I spent the night with my brother and his family Thursday, and it was great to catch up with the fam too. My niece, McKenzie has changed to much in the past year, she had really opened up from the shy little girl she was. Not to mention she is absolutely beautiful! Wish I had a pic. Friday morning I played with Kenzie and Drew (nephew), then we headed to my all time fav for lunch, Edd's!!! If you are ever in Pascagoula or surrounding area you MUST go to Edd's. Best chili cheese burger EVER! After all that shopping, visiting, and shopping, Drew and I headed back to Bham. He told me his favorite food is fried rice, so Rick and I took him to P.F. Chang's Friday night then we rested for our big weekend in Atlanta. Saturday we woke up and headed to Atl, checked into the hotel, walked around the city for a while, hit up Rick's fav place, Taco Mac for pre-game wings, then it was time to get ready for the Braves game. Drew is a very talented baseball player, and LOVES MLB. So Rick and I being the super cool aunt and uncle we are took him to his first MLB game! We had great seats and he loved it.

Sunday was Six Flags day! It was sweltering hot, but SO MUCH FUN!!! This was Rick's first trip to Six Flags, and he may have enjoyed it more than 15 year old Drew.

Doesn't he look just like me? I can not believe he is so big!! He was born when I was in 11th grade, and it makes feel so old that he is 15 now and going to my high school.

Rick and I really enjoyed spending the weekend with Drew. He is a GREAT kid, very polite, thankful, and absolutely beautiful! We had so much fun with him, and are so proud he is our nephew. Needless to say I had a much needed week of great family, great friends, and great food! This all made my heart happy!!!

Catching up with Mississip friends

2 weeks ago I went to Missisip for the weekend to catch up with some of my girlfriends, my family, exchange some wedding gifts, and pick up my new Walter Anderson painting Rick bought me for Christmas. Friday night I stayed in Hattiesburg with Chirissy. We met Bonnie & Taylor for a drink @ Cork. B & T both have 2 little girls that keep them pretty so getting to actually sit down and catch up was FABULOUS!!! Chrissy as always was an amazing host. I LOVE hotel FANCY!

Saturday, I headed to the coast to celebrate my bestie Traic's birthday. It's crazy how many birthdays we have celebrated together. I love her!

After dinner at Manhattan Grill, we headed to the Beau Rivage. It was such a fun night. I also got to catch up with my old friend Leigh.

Sunday I spent the night with my brother and his family. Monday it was back to Bham. It was an exhausting, beautiful, fun, fabulous weekend! GREAT to see everyone. Rick and I will be back for Mardi Gras.

Ole Miss vs Auburn 2010

Rick and I headed to Oxford, MS Friday after work to see his #1 Auburn Tigers, play my very unranked Ole Miss Rebel Bears. As you can imagine, Rick's team came out with the victory, but luckily as an Ole Miss fan we don't let these things get to us too much. We had an AMAZING time, it made me realize how much I LOVE OXFORD!!!! If you have never been, I STRONGLY suggest if your team ever plays in Oxford, that you make the trip. Our fabulous friend Martin, invited us to come stay with his family, and go to the game with them. The Millettes are the best host ever!!!! They cooked us breakfast, lat us watch the game with them in their end zone suite (the Archie & Eli were 2 suites down from us, I love the Mannings!), and put us up for the weekend, not to mention they provided us with perfect weather. Here are a few pics from this fabulous weekend!

1st thing we ran into on the way to the grove was a Rebel Bear.

We also ran into Angela, a family friend from the coast.

LOVED this REBEL pumpkin.

Lindsey, Martin, and the McKibbins in the grove.

The 3D halftime show.

Rick and the only other Auburn fan in the Suite, celebrating after the game.

Thank you Sam, Lynne, Martin, and Lindsey for a PERFECT weekend! HOTTY TODDY!

Will & Lacey

Rick and I are heading to Hattiesburg this weekend for our sweet friends Will & Lacey's wedding weekend! Looking forward to celebrating with this fabulous couple. CONGRATS FRIENDS see you in a few hours!!!

OUR WEDDING!!!

This was the most AMAZING, PERFECT, WONDERFUL, FABULOUS, SWEET, SPECIAL, UNBELIEVABLE DAY OF OUR LIVES!!! Rick and I are SO blessed to have been surrounded by so much love and support on such a special day. All of our friends and family from near and far, beautiful weather, and the man of my dreams, what more could I ask for? We had 13 bridesmaids, 13 groomsmen, 2 flower girls, 1 ring bearer, and 5 ushers. Just a small intimate affair, right? Ok, not really, but I wouldn't have changed a thing!! I seriously can not express in words how amazing this day was, and at the end of the day Rick and I are married. I am such a lucky girl! If you want to see the photographer's pictures click here. Thanks to all who worked so hard to make our day so perfect, my mom, Mrs. Maureen, Angie, all of my mom's friends, and so many more I am sure I have left out. None of it would have been possible without you all! Most of all THANK YOU RICK, for making me the happiest girl in the world!

The Rehearsal Dinner

Our rehearsal dinner was SO much fun!!! We had buses to take all our guest from the Beau Rivage in Biloxi, to Scranton's in Pascagoula. This was the first bus with the wedding party and dates.

After a quick stop for an actual rehearsal, we were off to Scranton's. I grew up going to Scranton's at least once a week. One of our close family friends/ one of my mom's best friends from high school owns Scranton's. My mom also was there accountant most of my life. Lots of memories there, so it was only appropriate to have the dinner there, not to mention I had to show the out of towners my ole stomping ground. Scranton's building was the fire dept, court house, and police dept back in the day, so its a pretty neat building, not to mention the food was AMAZING!
We decided to invite all out of town guest, the wedding party (plus dates), and everyone involved in the actual wedding, so we had a large dinner. 120 to be exact. I wasn't sure how it would all work out, but it was PERFECT! Seriously, so much fun. It was fun, casual, and we were surrounded by the most important people in our lives. Lots of hilarious, sweet, kind, fabulous speeches, here are a few comments about a few:
1. There was a top 10 list about me, loved it.
2. One speech started with: I was a 1 man wolf pack until I met Rick.
3. LOTS of talk about Rick's high school vehicle.
4. A VERY sweet one by my step-dad about how glad he was that we came into his life.
5. Another from one of my high school friends saying how glad they were that my step dad came into our lives as well, because we had LOTS of parties at my house when my mom was in Little Rock. Actually he said it was the best thing that happened to our high school. Lots of applause from the rest of my high school friends.
6. Lots of talk of Rick running into things.
7. One about a National Geographic show about an antelope getting attacked by an alligator on one end and lion on the other end, this some how related to marriage.
8. Last but not least, a really sweet speech from Rick that ended with, "And that's about it."
There were lots more, we were crying we were laughing so hard. We have AMAZING friends and family!!!!!
Here I am with a few bridesmaids, Traci, Fancy, and Taylor.
And a crew of our Bham friends.
I forgot to mention that my very talented friend Sam, created a slide show of pics from mine and Rick's entire lives. I cannot express to you how fabulous this was! When I get the cd from Sam, I will try to put that on here, because it was really AWESOME. Rick and I also introduced everyone to our wedding party, just so they would all know each other, and how we all know each other. After that, Rick's dad decided to intro all his friends from college. IT WAS HILARIOUS!!! Rick looked at me and said "What is John doing?" He was just having so much fun, he totally forgot to intro his brothers that came from Virginia and South Carolina. The entire night was just SO much fun. I wish we could have a rehearsal dinner every year! After all that perfectness it was back on the buses and back to the Beau. Rick and I had a BLAST!!!!
If you want to see the rest of the pics click here.

Let the Wedding Weekend begin!

After our night in Meridian, MS, we drove straight to the Beau Rivage, dropped off all our stuff (LOTS OF STUFF! We couldn't even see out of the windows in the car), and headed to the airport to pick up Rick's college roommate Eric and his fabulous wife Rachel. Rick talked about "the Erics" all the time, and I had never met either of the Erics before the weekend, and was pretty pumped to meet these people that meant so much to Rick. Rachel and I had become besties on facebook, so I was beyond thrilled to FINALLY meet my new bestie! Rachel and Eric came all the way from Appleton, Wisconsin to be there with us for 4 days in Biloxi, were the first to book a room, and the first to book flights, I knew I would love this couple! Below are the famous Eric & Rachel.

Aren't they adorable??? I LOVE THEM, and can't wait to see them again soon. We took them to one of the Biloxi staples, the Old Biloxi Schooner for lunch, and caught up, then it was back to the Beau to unload again, then Rick & Eric headed back to the airport to pick up the other Eric. The other Eric is the other college roommate I had yet to meet. Rick, Eric, Eric, and James all lived together at Auburn, and oh the stories they tell. Below is a pic of the 4 of them back together 10 years later.
They were like little kids, so excited to see each other. I was super excited to meet Eric H., but we were sad his wife couldn't make the trip. She stayed home with their 3 kids for football games, back to school, etc. AMY WE MISSED YOU! They live in Cape Coral, FL, by the way. All of Rick's roommates were groomsmen in our wedding as they were all 4 in each other's weddings. They are quite the crew, and it was so fun to see them all together again reminiscing about the good ole days on the plains. To the Erics and Rachel, thank you SO much for coming so far to be there for Rick and me, you have NO IDEA what it meant to us!
Here are Traci, Rachel, and me at eight75 in the Beau.

Our sweet friends Kristen and Brad also made it down from Hattiesburg to get the weekend started early, as you can see Traci, Kristen, and me below.

We had quite the crew on Thursday night, Matthew, Jordan (who came from NYC to be a part of our wedding), Walker & Heather (it was H's birthday!), James & Abnous, Beth & Kyle, Charles & Jennifer all made it down. The few of us that were there in time for dinner went to my dad's (now my step-mom's) restaurant Manhattan Grill. It was so nice to have all these new friends of mine in a place that meant so much to my dad. The dinner was EXCELLENT as always, as was the company. It was a PERFECT way to start off the weekend. Then it was back to the Beau to meet up with the late arrivals at eight75. We had a FABULOUS night, and were so thrilled to have so many amazing friends there to celebrate with us on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, the place I love so much. THANK YOU ALL for a weekend we will NEVER FORGET! We are so blessed!

OK, so I had to put this pic on here because it cracked me up when Rachel sent it to me. Apparently, Rach was trying to find something in her purse, but had too much stuff in there. So I helped her out. All the stuff in my hands, and the sunglasses are from her purse. I LOVE IT!

Mississippi Marriage License

Let me just say getting a Mississippi marriage license while living in Alabama is no easy task. First, Rick and I had to go to the Birmingham health department to have a blood test. Yes, I said a blood test in 2010. I think Mississip is one of the only states that still requires this, and while you may think it is to be sure we are not cousins, it is actually a syphilis test. Is this not the craziest thing you have ever heard? Two weeks later our results came in as "non reactive" so I guess we passed? Then the fun part, we drove to Meridian, MS on a Tuesday night (because it is the closest MS city to Bham), had to get a room, wake up bright and early go to the Meridian Health Dept, to have our blood results verified by the state of Mississippi. As you can see from the picture, Rick was super excited about this. He was seriously asleep in the health department.

We got there at 7:30am, and were about 10th in line. After waiting about 1 1/2 hrs, they called us into a booth, only to tell us "the lady that does that aint here today, you will have to come back another day." WHAT!? I immediately start crying, as the reason we did it this was is I have no vacation time left and had to get back to work ASAP. I told the girl with tears streaming down my face in total panic since we were 2 weeks out from the wedding, we can't come back. I explained it to her, and she said "well I can try to do it, please don't cry." She brought us back a form that literally had 4 blanks she had to fill in, our names, and our current addresses. Now seriously, only 1 lady in that office can do this? On to our next stop, the Lauderdale County Circuit Clerk's office. Filled out a few forms, this took about 3 minutes, and we were done! Well, not actually done, but close. You have to wait 72 hours, then come back to pick up the actual marriage license. SUPER! So the Wednesday before our wedding, after a 3 day work trip for Rick, a 9pm arrival at Bham airport, loading the car (to the rim!), and a 2 hour drive, we were in yet another hotel in Meridian, MS at 1am. Finally the Thursday before the wedding, we wake up bright and early, head to the court house and pick up our official marriage license!!! YAY!!! Then it was off to the Beau Rivage to get the wedding weekend started!

Mississippi Gulf Coast Shower

Some of my bridesmaids and a couple of my friends parents hosted Rick and me a shower on the coast last weekend, and it was perfect! I know I always say that, but it really was. I was surrounded by tons of people that have known me the most of my life, some since the day I was born. I get so emotional about all things from my home town and childhood, because they all mean so much to me. These people, every single one of them, made me who I am today. The best part of it all, is they all love Rick too! We were literally showered with love last weekend, and I couldn't imagine anything better. Thanks to all that went out of your way to be there for us, especially those that hosted this amazing shower. Once again, Rick and I are SO BLESSED to have such wonderful people in our lives.

Rick and I with my sweet friend since 1st grade, Amanda.
Traci, my MOH, and Martin who I am pretty sure is on the Candice & Rick wedding shower tour.

Rick & me with my brother & sis-in-law.

May adorable parents flew down from Little Rock to be there.

These girls are have been my best friends since I can remember. I just ADORE them all! Oh, and I think Kristen is on the shower tour with Martin.

Our first wedding shower!

5 of my bridesmaids (and husbands) hosted Rick and I a wedding shower last weekend in Hattiesburg, and we had SO MUCH FUN!!! The location, the food, drinks, friends, it was PERFECT! There is nothing like have all these people that have meant so much to me for so long, totally welcome Rick in to the crew. It seemed like they had known him for years. It just made me so happy. Rick and I talked about how much fun we had on the way back to Bham and how lucky we are to have all these people who care so much about us in our lives. Thanks to all who traveled to be there, those that hosted, and those that came to be a part of our first shower. WE LOVE YOU!

Here we are with our host: Bonnie, Kelly, Chrissy aka "Fancy", Kristen, and Taylor.

Us with all the guys.

And the girls.

Don't we look like we had fun?

These are my friends from Goula: Martin, Kristen, Allison, and Aaron.

IP after party

After the wedding last weekend, we headed to the IP Casino where we were all staying to meet up with the crew. Good times were had by all!

Got to see my sweet maid of honor Traci and my friend Anastasia.
My fabulous fiance' and lifetime best friend are so funny together. They love to pick on each other, it means they like each other, I think? This makes me so happy!!!

Willis-Ashbaker Wedding

Last weekend we went to our friends Tom & Rachael's wedding in Pascagoula. Tom and I graduated high school together, and Rach and I have known each other since we were kids, and they both live in Bham now. This wedding was BEAUTIFUL! There were TONS of people there, one of which was my adorable mom!

And one of my best friends Aaron and his wife April. Funny note, Aaron and I were in preschool together at the same church where Tom & Rach were married. We sat together at the wedding and I thought my mom was going to cry. She said "I could just picture you and Aaron up there holding hands in the Christmas program when yall were 4." I am very lucky to have such an awesome life long friend.

You knew I had to toss in one if Ricky Bobby and me.

Oh, and my big teddy bear of a friend, Tanner! We were really good friends in college, and he just so happened to marry Rachael's sister. Tan and Katherine just had a little boy that looks JUST LIKE TANNER! It was so great to see him, and he reminded Rick that I was always just one of the guys. I am sure Rick was thrilled to hear that. LOVE IT!

I failed to get a picture of the bride and groom due to the large number of people there, so this is all I've got! The photographer did take one of RB and me with the happy couple so when I get that I will add that.

It was an awesome wedding, and great to see all the smiling faces of Goula. I LOVED catching up with all my friends parents too, they are such sweeties! Every time I see them they say, you know you and Rick can stay with us anytime. Just so sweet! Now the newlyweds are in the Dominican Republic at the same resort where RB and I got engaged!! CONGRATS ASHBAKERS!

Summer & Jon's wedding

Last weekend we went to the Mississippi Gulf Coast for my sweet step-sisters wedding, and what a weekend! We stayed at the Beau Rivage, crawfish boil for the rehearsal dinner, good friends, new friends, family, wedding, beautiful weather, beautiful bride, FABULOUS WEEKEND WITH A FABULOUS COUPLE!!!

The happy, beautiful couple.
Ceremony in the backyard, PERFECT!
My georgous sister.

My Love!

Most of the bridesmaids in our yellow dresses.