what's been going on?

Well, I feel like I have not posted anything in a while and that is mainly because nothing big has happened. Ralphie has been good. He needs a bath desperately, but other than that he has not gotten into any trouble. My parents came to Hattiesburg this past Saturday. We had an invitation stuffing party for Adam's ordination invitations. His ordination is coming up. He will be ordained on June 6th in Memphis. He is very excited and we are excited as well. I haven't been to Memphis in a couple of years. Which is sad because my Goddaughter lives in Memphis.

I had bunko at my house on Monday. We don't play the game anymore, we just eat and catch up. I was looking forward to it, because I don't see this group of friends very often. I decided to cook something light so we had soup and salad. I ruined the eating light by also getting a red velvet cake. I saw it in the grocery store and couldn't resist it. It definitely called my name.

My birthday is 21 days away. I will be 30! I can't believe 30 is knocking on my door. I have tried to ignore the knock, but with every passing day it gets louder and louder. What is worse is for my 30th birthday I want a cleaning lady to do my spring cleaning. I just don't want to do it. I have the time but I definitely don't have the energy. We need a deep clean of the house. I surface clean once a week, especially vacuum b/c Ralphie's shedding is out of control. But the thought of getting on my hands and knees and cleaning is not something I want to do. So not only am I turning 30, but my gift will most likely not be something spectacular like I always thought it would be. My gift will be practical and not romantic. But again, maybe one proof that I am old is that practical can be romantic!


All in all it has been a good week. I am ready for the weekend, but I am always am. Hope you all had a nice week as well.

Pictures

Here are some pictures from Homecoming. I can't believe I don't have that many.



Silhouette Social Club party. These are the women that were in the club when I was there! It was soo good to see them.



McCall (my sweet little in BlackList) and me



Dara and Me at Melanie's shower


Some of my BlackList Line

Homecoming Weekend

I am back from my Columbus weekend. It was MUW's homecoming. Since MUW doesn't have sports, they have always had their homecoming in the spring. I was really looking forward to this weekend because 6 of my best friends were going to be there. We also threw my good friend Melanie a baby shower so the weekend was full of fun activities. I don't have any pictures, because I was never quick enough to get my camera out, luckily my friend Jennifer took plenty and she promised to email them to us. I will post them when I get them from her.

I think this was my favorite homecoming. The seven us relaxed, caught up, and enjoyed each others company so much. When we first graduated college our conversations would be memories of the past. Which is fun to remember the college days, but this visit was about what is going on in our daily lives. I really feel like I caught up and got to know my friends a little better. We will also be close but I think it is important to know a little bit about their daily lives. I don't know, it is hard to write how I felt about the weekend. On the drive home, I was happy I went. I was happy I went to the W and happy I was involved in the clubs I was involved in. I gained such real friendships (not just from my 12 best friends, but from every friend I met there) who accepted me for who I was and who helped me grow into the person I am today. Those friendships are rare and I know how special they are and appreciate them very much.

My memory is definitely not good. I have the hardest time remembering dates and events. It was fun to go to my 4 year social club and sing the club songs and look at the pass downs (I actually had 2 of my passdowns on display). No one from my club family was there and I am not even sure there is anyone in my family tree, but seeing those passdowns that I had in my room as a college student was so much fun. MUW is a small school and our social clubs were small as well. But again seeing those 40 women bond over an organization that has been on campus since the 1950s is very special to me. In fact, that is why I choose to go to school at the W. I loved that social organizations were founded at the school for W girls. Times have definitely changed and even now the school is the midst of controversy, but going to Homecoming and seeing the same joy, laughter, and friendship I had 8-12 years ago in those students eyes was comforting.

the 5th time

Well Ralphie has done it again. He has eaten the sheet rock on the wall by the back door. I did not take a picture, b/c quite honestly I am mad at him. We left him alone for 20 minutes to run an errand last night. We thought he had been so good lately that we would leave him in the kitchen instead of putting him his kennel. Well that was a mistake. He has now lost his privileges and will always be in the kennel when we leave the house. This is Ralphie's 5th time to do this. Owen has already fixed it 3 other times. The 4th time we could hide it but we can't for the 5th incident so Owen will be doing a patch job this weekend. I don't understand it...is he trying to escape or does he just like the taste??

Happy Easter by the way. I have some Easter pictures of my parents visit, but for some reason they are not uploading.

Our first Date

Yesterday April 7 was the date of Owen's and my 1st date four years ago. It is amazing how quickly time goes by. I remember being so nervous on that day 4 years ago. It took me such a long time to pick out an outfit. We went out to eat after work to a resturant downtown. It was a good first date. We talked until they closed the resturant. We would see each other 2 or 3 times a week after that. Owen would take me to a new resturant for every date in the beginning. That of course stopped after the 7th place or so b/c there are only so many resturants in Hattiesburg. Then we would go to our favorites. There is one resturant in Hattiesburg, Walnut Circle Grill downtown that we love! We would go there every Saturday night. They have live music on the weekends and a patio to sit and eat. We used to be one of the only 5 customers there. I guess it was just getting started. One of our favorite memories is sitting there in the summer heat. There was no breeze and no fans at the time (I think they have added fans now). We were so hot, but neither of us would say anything, b/c we enjoyed the company. When they brought our food it made us hotter with the steam of the food. Right after we ate, one of us finally gave in to say it was too hot to stay there. Both of us were sweating. We laugh at that now b/c both of us were being so polite but were suffering from the heat. We were also there the Saturday before Hurrican Katrina. Laughing and joking as if nothing were about to happen. We listened to a band from Mobile that night. The hurricane didn't come until Sunday/Monday...but still we had no idea at the time how much of an impact that storm would have on our Mississippi.

I loved how our relationship started and progressed. It was everything I wanted and expected out of a true relationship. It is hard to remember when the 2 or 3 times a week turned into every day, but it was a smooth transition. I didn't know I would marry Owen on that first date, I was only looking to meet new people since I was so new to Hattiesburg. I had only been there 8 months. However, by the end of the summer, I knew Owen was special and that I wanted him in my life forever. We have a great friendship and a story book love (in my opinion).

We decided to celebrate our 1st date last night. Oh how different a date looks now compared to four years ago. We went to a Japanese resturant in our work clothes. I didn't change clothes, but did freshen up my make up. We were home by 9 pm (and we thought that was late) compared to 1 am on the first date. I would not trade our current life though. I love where we are now.