Past Celebrations Because I'm an Awful Blogger

So... I get pretty lazy when it comes to uploading pictures off my camera. I'm not a snap and upload person... more of a snap, snap, snap - wait a while - oh yeah, I'm behind on my blog person. So I've missed several events to blog about. Two were so important that I decided that late is better than never.

Event Uno: The 3rd Anniversary (leather)

Jared and I didn't do anything extravagant for our anniversary this year, but it was eventful. Before I retell some of the interesting things that happened, let me preface by saying that this Anniversary really brought things into perspective for me. It isn't what you do on this day or what you get that makes it so special. I'm happy that God put Jared into my life and made us one. Our anniversary was a time for us to reflect on our marriage and be thankful for what God has blessed us with. We've been through a lot this year with job changes, weight changes, medicine issues, an MRI, biopsies and endoscopies, buying a house, etc. Through all of this we've leaned on each other and have grown closer. I look forward to more fun times and will endure the hardships as I know we have a long way to go as we, Lord willing, have the blessing of a long marriage together.

Now onto what happened...

Some note worthy things things that happened (to name a few): We went to Jackson to watch the Pixar movie "Up!". When we got there, our theater looked like it hadn't been swept all day!! It was filthy!!! But that wasn't even the worst. Our movie stopped in the middle and went to those advertisement previews that you see before the movie starts! Then after about 10-15 minutes the movie started back but didn't start where it left off. THEY SKIPPED PART OF IT!!! It was a great movie, but I was so ticked at the theater and managers!! I'm thankful now that Jared is so laid back. He didn't let this get to him and since he was there I didn't hunt down any managers to gripe to...

SOAPBOX WARNING: SKIP AHEAD IF IN A HURRY.

No one even came and apologized. I was so outraged (mainly because we NEVER get to go to the movies!) I really wish there was a better theater to give them some good competition. In Tulsa, this theater wouldn't even last a week!! There are TONS of theaters there and all you really have to do is pick your time of movie and what street you want to be on. They are pretty much all clean places with nice seats, big screens, and good customer service!!

OKAY OFF THE SOAPBOX.

After aforementioned movie, we went to Sakura. Yum Sushi!! We even got the warm towels this time. Things were looking up!

Then it was off to the mall to find something leather-like to give to each other. FYI, Jared and I are trying to stick with the traditional anniversary gifts. The first year was paper, second cotton, and this was leather. Funny thing though, we thought that the third year was the wooden anniversary and had planned to get a porch swing. About two days before I found out that it was the leather anniversary. So that and some miscellaneous finances put a halt on the porch swing for now.

At the mall was this purse store that was having a HUGE sale because it was closing. We went in to browse and I saw a purse that I liked. I didn't do my usual hide the item and go look around to see if there was something better routine. It was getting close to closing time and I just BOUGHT IT!! When in the car, I got it out to put stuff in and one of the snaps fell off!! :o( That was not a happy time. I was upset. Jared was upset. It just wasn't good. We were sitting in Books-a-Million's parking lot when Jared decided he didn't want to look for himself a gift from me. We'd had a tough night.

All was eventually okay of course. Everything looks better after some sleep. We waited until the weekend and were able to exchange my purse for a flawless one :o) Jared found what he wanted online. He's getting a VERY nice leather journal. Sounds boring, but it's super nice and Jared LOVES notebooks! We also found Grumbles a girlfriend while we were at the mall!!

After squealing with joy from finding this new and brighter pig that looked like Grumbles, Jared reminded me of how we needed to be on a budget.... "BUT IT'S 70% OFF I WHINED..." I let it go though because he was right. Later I discovered that he had bought me the pig I wanted behind my back and hid it in the sack that had my purse in it!! I was so thrilled :D

We named Grumble's girlfriend, Truffles. They are dating, will become engaged, and I'm sure will have a wedding... hee hee... I KNOW, I'M WEIRD. There's just something about these stuffed pigs that brings out the child in me.

Event Dos: Jared's Birthday!

Jared is not normal. He does not care for a normal birthday celebration. OR A NORMAL BIRTHDAY CAKE!! His lack of excitement is rather disappointing. The one really exciting thing that happened was that his family came the day before to eat a birthday lunch with him. I was happy that Mom Gott brought an apple pie for Jared. But I was happier that I had not planned to fix one. Instead I made a cheesecake (not pictured). Jared had a really rare Beatles picture back in AL and his family framed this for his present. He bought more stuff online (what a surprise) from me. He got a few checks, and he wanted his present from my parents in March!! (An ESV study bible)

He is weird. But I love him. We don't agree on how we like to celebrate birthdays. I like presents - not gift cards as much. He likes money. I like my presents the day of and will save my cards and try not to ask for things months in advance. (A few days early because family couldn't be with me is okay... I have internal rules) He doesn't care and will get things way early or open things when he receives them. He's also so selfless as to spend his money on me at times!! He doesn't like birthday cake that much and I LOVE IT!! He wanted those store bought cookies instead of cake!!! I made something anyway for him. This was the first year that I only had a card and cheesecake for him because I kept asking what he wanted and he kept stalling because he didn't know. We did go out to eat the weekend before his birthday, because he had class from 5-10p.m. on his birthday. I had girls' nite but was going to skip because I didn't think it fair that I go out to eat and have fun while he had class. He didn't want me to miss this and so I had fun at Rafferty's while he sat in a boring class. I truly have an amazing husband. Very unmaterialistic at times and not caring if things are a certain way. Maybe I can learn to be more like him, but I still like celebrating birthdays and holidays in general.

The Process of Moving Into Our New Home!!

Well, we are finally in Lil' Yellow and I couldn't be happier.  I absolutely love it here!!  I'm so happy to be in and unpacked.  Below is a slide show that I put together for anyone interested.  You should be able to play it at your own pace by using the buttons to pause and go fwd or back.  Also, if you are interested in a slide, click it to make it bigger.  Or you can click the slideshow and view the pictures in my Picasa Web Album.  

We had a lot of help from a ton of family and friends to get in and get situated.  Jared and I are very blessed and fortunate to be able to have this place and all of the furnishings in it.  It will be a little surprising to see everything in the new house if you've seen our apartment before.

That said, we owe almost everything to our family and friends.  Without their generosity, we would not have a house so well filled.  I also appreciate the financial lessons that I picked up from my family.  My papa always told me, "Spend some, Save some, and You'll Always Have some".

But we all must remember that all of our material blessings come from God Almighty and that they are only temporary.  We have a home in heaven that is much better than any home we could ever make here on earth. 

Taking pictures was so fun, that I decided to take you on a virtual tour and make a video.  Warning - I used my trusty digital camera AGAIN and so you might be in for a bumpy view...

Weekend Events

Whew, This weekend was packed full of events for me and Jared.  I was so glad that my body had the energy to last through it all.  Today I'm feeling the overexertion and I've been pretty tired, but I am happy that my medicine seems to be working and that I've had so many good improvements. 

Friday - I had the energy to actually do a ton of housework!!  The Christmas decorations finally got to me and I put them ALL up!!  I also vacuumed, did laundry, rearranged different parts of the house, and reorganized a closet!!  I felt like super Sasha!! :o)

Saturday - Mom Gott and Munner came for a short visit and took us out to lunch.  We had to wait for Eric to get off work so we passed the time by going to Besso's (I had the espresso gelato - yum), window shopping downtown, and hanging out at Freed.  Once Eric was off work we went to Los Portales for a late lunch.  May I just say, I'm so excited that we have this restaurant in Henderson!!! Below are a few pictures of our fun.  They were taken with Jared's iphone.

Munner and Mom Gott look at the bricks in front of the library to see who all they've met or know.  Jared and I find this funny because the bricks have been there forever and they've been on campus numerous times and hadn't seemed interested before.  Munner finally exclaims that it doesn't matter anyway because they're all dead!!  This was funny to me and I laughed really hard.  I hope it doesn't offend anyone that I put that.  You and I know that they are not ALL dead yet...

Mother and Daughter a.k.a. Munner and Mom Gott

Jared and my brother in law - Eric.  Eric does work study in the Library.  I was so glad he was done for the day because it was 2:30 and I was starving!!!  The black poodle is his dog... hee hee.  He'll hate me for telling people that!  Mom Gott brought it for him to see since he can't have it in the dorms.  I thought this picture was sorta picturesque... I like it a lot.

Me - Happy :o)

Sunday - After morning services we enjoyed lunch at Sharon and Clint Kea's house.  It was really good and Jared and I had fun visiting with them and the kids.  I wish I had taken a picture of the event, but I forgot my camera!!  Later we went to a youth fellowship in Corinth, MS for Jared to recruit.  We had worship at 4:00 and then at 5:00 we had a Superbowl Party.  If you didn't watch the Superbowl, the Steelers won.  I was rooting for the Cardinals, because they had never been to a Superbowl before.  They might have won had this player (I'm not good with their names) from the Steelers not made an interception and ran for 100 yds to make a touchdown!!  It was very impressive though and I'm glad that the Steelers guy was given the touchdown (it was reviewed a lot).  Had he ran all that way for nothing without a touchdown, it would have made me sad for him...  but he got it as the second quarter ended.  With the end of half-time, my enthusiasm for the game dwindled and I don't really remember much after that.  Here are some pics of the students that Jared and I met and hung out with.

 

Jared tries to give me his "look" because I took away his iphone to take all these pics... hee hee.. I love it when he tries to act angry! HA!!

Shopped till we dropped

This past weekend was the Gott's annual Christmas Village shopping extravaganza in Birmingham.  I don't have a picture of the enormous shopping area because that wasn't allowed, but it is an all day event bound to make your feet hurt every year if you look at everything!!  This year was a lot of fun and in between all the samples we ate we made a few purchases as well!  Jared, Kara, and I were like little kids, going from booth to booth and trying all the samples from the vendors.  The food is always my favorite part!  We were there from 10:00-4:00ish and we didn't even eat lunch because of all the samples we ate!!

After we finished Christmas Village we went to eat at "Wings".  This was very awkward because the Gott's are Auburn fans.  When we walked in the entire restaurant was full of Alabama fans watching the AL/LSU game!!  Kara had her Auburn sweatshirt on and I felt like we stuck out like a sore thumb!  It was definitely an experience watching everyone get so excited at every little thing Alabama did well or LSU did bad.  We just smiled and laughed at all the hub-bub that went on around us.  (We were the only table that didn't stand up and cheer, clap, or give high-fives every few minutes!)  Smile and nod, smile and nod... poor Kara she got a few stares...

After that we went to the Galleria (mall) to walk around.  The gals decided that we'd like to make Build-a-Bears and the guys agreed that we could make the animals but we'd have to wait on the clothes until another time.  So the above picture is me, Mom Gott (Kim), and Kara with our animals (Floppy, Pookie, and Twilight).  That was a very memorable time and fun moment shared!  :)

The final picture is of Me and Jared before we went into Christmas Village.  I wanted a picture of everyone else, but Mom Gott didn't want to take one because Eric wasn't there.

Sadness - Eric was being responsible and painting XBX's window for Homecoming this week.  If you're in town and drive by check it out!  In my opinion it's the best!! :)  I'll try to get pics of homecoming stuff throughout the week.  I'm hoping that my brother gets to come over from Harding and enjoy the festivities with us!  Hope you have a great week!