Psalm 106:1 Praise the Lord. Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.

Happy Thanksgiving!!! We had a very very blessed holiday, so much to be thankful for...like my parents and Alison & Andy flying in for four days :) It was so nice to have them here, and to show them where we have been living. I cooked my first Thanksgiving meal (it turned out pretty well). This is my cute turkey apron mom brought me (thanks mom).

Here are Mom and Dad sitting out in front of our house, enjoying what is left of the fall foliage. Family portrait :)

Alison...being Alison :)

The family all together to watch USC stomp on Notre Dame...good times!!! (Yes, like the row boat picture this too was staged)

GATORLAND

http://www.gatorland.com/

What trip to Florida would be complete without a trip to Gatorland?? Besides do you really think Andrew would miss any opportunity to see Alligators (remember alligator wedding cake??) Gator Land was actually really cool, there were hundreds of Alligators, I actually touched one, you could watched them jump out of the water and eat, you could feed them and hold one if you wanted. It was a fun trip...Im sure we will be getting a season pass :) Here are some alligators. Here is a BIG Alligator...the caught him in a Florida neighborhood...he had been eating all the dogs (oops)...Gatorland saved him from being hunted and killed :(

The North Carolina State Fair! (notice the Tar Heels blue font I am writing in)

The fair is in town, and we were there!! Andrew has officially wrapped up Gears, and the wrap party was Thursday night...so they gave everyone Friday off!!! We had a really nice time, ate some hot dogs, rode two rides and then decided we are too old for rides (yep..we felt sick).

This is a cup of deep fried Coke...yes...fried coke. (I love the south)

Here Andrew is actually eating the deep fried coke :) It tastes just like sweet funnel cake, they put Coke syrup on top and some whipped cream...its yummy..mmmm

Here is Andrew just being cute :) awww, cute Andrew (I love him.)

Row, Row, Row Your Boat....

No, Ladies and gentleman... your eyes are not deceiving you. That is indeed Andrew and I in a row boat...in the middle of a lake :) And yes, the picture of me rowing is staged, we almost tipped the boat over so I could "look" like I was rowing. I just didnt want a picture of me stitting there eating all the snacks :)

This is at "Bass Lake" it is 5 minutes from our house where you can rent boats and go out and fish. Or in our case...paddle out, eat your yummy snacks and then paddle back :) It really was a beautiful day and we are falling in love with North Carolina.

This is the cute little boat house where you can rent the boats, fish from the dock, or sit in a rocking chair and look at the view.

Just another beautiful fall day in North Carolina!!

Viva Las Vegas!!!

This is my Grandma (Ms. Louise as Andrew calls her). This past weekend I flew to Las Vegas to celebrate my grandma's 80th Birthday, and attend my Aunt Madelyn's wedding!!!! It was a very busy weekend, lots of action crammed into about 30 hours.

I had a great time watching my Grandma try her luck at the slot machines, and it was really nice to see my family :) As usual the only person who actually won anything was my sister :)

Mom and Dad

Ali, Mom and I

My Aunt and her husband Mark :) Me, my cousin Lauren (who is getting married in January), and Alison My sister and I (again I am sitting and Alison is winning)

Andrew at work :)

Here is Andrew at work (Epic Games). They are in the final push getting ready for the game to be wrapped up. Andrew has been working so hard, I am so proud of him. He has gotten such amazing reviews and everyone is really impressed with him. Two days ago he was offered a position on the skeleton team laying out the design for their next game!!! Yeah!!!

Here is the game Gears of War. I don't know if this is the actual cover they are going with...but anyway if you have an X-Box 360- BUY THIS GAME (and you are an adult..this is NOT a game for kids). And if you don't have an X-Box 360 this is a great reason to buy one :) hee hee Anyway I am so proud of Andrew and I just wanted to brag a little ;)

My Birthday :)

So my 27th (yikes) Birthday, came and went. I had a wonderful day- thank you for all the sweet phone calls, emails and cards :) It was really nice to hear from everyone and it meant a lot to me. Andrew made my day so sweet and happy (like everyday), he is working like crazy (more on that later) but he gave me my present first thing in the morning- the beautiful silk drapes I have been eyeing for our living room. They are so pretty!!!! Then he took and extra long lunch so we could find the rods I wanted to hang the drapes with. Then he took me out to a great restaurant The Peak City Grill, and took the rest of the night off so he could spend it with me :) We had a great time and I had a wonderful and blessed Birthday!!! Thanks everyone!

My little sis... :)

This is my little blurb about my sister Alison. As most of you know she is an interior designer...but Im sure that most of you don't know what an AMAZING job she is doing!!! When I went to visit for my Mom's Birthday I was able to drive out to Bakersfield with my sister to look at the first model homes she designed. This is her first project (though not entirely her own from start to finish, that project goes in later this summer). I have to admit I must have underestimated my sister, we looked at the 4 houses she designed and they were BEAUTIFUL!!! Really brilliant, I was so impressed...All those years of not being able to match her clothes properly and now she is a brilliant designer :) I am SOOO PROUD!!!

I wish I had some wonderful pictures to show you of the designs, but I don't :( The picture above is from her "Tap Dance" themed room...She had the bedding , pillows, and sign custom made to go with the room. And there were little dance steps on the floor as well. The pictures do NOT do any of it justice. Trust me...it was fabulous!!

Ok..again this picture is horrible and you can not see how she has designed the pillows, picked the fabrics for the couch, ottoman, window dressings as well as the paint and entire color scheme of the room (and house)!!

This is us at the Rose Bowl Swap Meet, we had to purchase 20 Cowboy hats that Alison is going to use in a "Cowgirl" themed room. I will post pitcures when that room get done in a couple months.

Here is (left to right) Amanda, Aunt Dorothy, Mom, Aunt Kathy, me and Alison. At the Swap Meet- we are wearing some of the cowboy hats we bought for the "Cowgirl" room! Anyway...all I wanted to say is that "Ali...I am SOOO PROUD OF YOU..I love you and I think you are fabulous darling...XOXOX

SURPRISE!!!!

Happy Birthday Mom!!

Last week was my Mom's Birthday (age withheld :) My sister and I have been scheming for two months for me to fly to L.A. and surprise my parents!! It worked...both of my parents were shocked to say the least! I flew in and surprised them on Wednesday night and stayed through Sunday night. It was a wonderful couple of days... Alison took Thursday and Friday off from work so we could spend it with my Mom. We went shopping, got pedicures, went to the Hollywood Bowl, saw the first model homes my sister designed (more to come on that), went to the Rose Bowl Swap meet! It was great!!! Here are some pictures of all of us at the Hollywood Bowl

(my favorite...cause that's where my hunny proposed to me:)

Here are my parents :)

My parents and I on the shuttle to the Bowl.

Our First Visitors!!

We were so excited to have company!!! Our good friends Paul and Lauren flew out to spend some of their summer vacation with us (thank you again P&L :) We had such a great time...Andrew and I felt very blessed to have such kind and thoughtful friends stay with us!

SO with visitors in town I was able to explore some new sights with them. We went to UNC Chapel Hill and the shops on Franklin street. We drove the 8 miles to Duke, went into the cathedral, walked in the Sarah P. Duke gardens. We went shopping in downtown Raleigh. On the weekend we drove to Wrightsville Beach. It was so lovely...beautiful sand and about 80 degree water! I think Lauren would agree that the funniest part of the trip was watching Paul and Andrew live out their rock star dreams playing "Guitar Hero" together for hours :) Pretty darn funny.

Paul and Lauren :) Wrightsville Beach N.C. Paul, representing the N.C. Tarheels! Andrew and I at dinner Andrew and I in our kitchen...yes, I am in my P.J's :)

Our "Guitar Hero's" Paul and Andrew...rockin' out!!! In case you were wondering...yes, those are patio chairs they are sitting on...and yes, they are in our house...the new couch and chairs we ordered so that Paul and Lauren would have a place to sit...will not actually be arriving until mid- August...Fancy that!!! Anyway...it goes without saying...if anyone wants to come visit..you are more than welcome. We would love to have you. I will try and post pictures of our house once we find our camera.

Kisses and hugs...we miss you all :)