Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day weekend has been WONDERFUL! I feel like there's a dearth of pictures to show it, but I guess I'm out of practice taking pictures now, since my camera was getting repaired. My cousin Thomas called me Thursday night and wanted to come stay with us with 2 friends. I had an exhausting week, and wasn't really looking forward to it (no offense if you're reading this, Thomas) but it ended up being really fun. Thomas is really great and a very courteous house guest! He did the dishes and even bought us dinner! We had a family BBQ hosted by Chase and Cait to celebrate Traci's birthday and saw a lot of family. It was really fun and YUMMY FOOD! Here's birthday girl, taken from Cait's blog:

And here's Thomas. He is very tall.

In other news, it's been really hot this weekend... so hot that if you left a birthday candle in Neal's car for an hour, it would look like this:

Oops! We were going to do something big and exciting on Monday, but instead ending up organizing and cleaning. It was actually really nice! Neal made this pancake and was offended I couldn't tell what it was:

Any guesses as to what this is supposed to be?

Anniversary Weekend

Neal and I went on a little weekend getaway for our Anniversary. We went to Luray, Virginia to see this:

And also this:

The first picture is Luray Caverns. It was INCREDIBLE!!!!


Neal had already been, but it was my first time and I loved it! We stayed in a little Bed and Breakfast that night so we could fully enjoy Shenandoah National Park. We did two hikes and it was absolutely gorgeous scenery! One hike was to a viewpoint and the other to a 70 foot waterfall. SO GORGEOUS! It was an amazing weekend. We decided to buy a year pass to the Shenandoahs, so if you want to go with us, let me know!





Neal got a little sweaty carrying the backpack, as you can see! In other news, I got my camera back! It was being repaired, and I sorely missed it! Here's a happy Hannah to have her camera back:

And here's our excited faces on the way to see "The Last Five Years"

It was AMAZING! I love, love, LOVED it, and so did Neal. The Jamie was AMAZING and the Cathy was pretty good. I care more about the male lead sounding good, so I was happy! Life is very good for us! We hope you are all doing well. Our next big trip is here:

That's right, a beach house in Puerto Penasco, Mexico, baby! CAN'T WAIT!!!! I'm excited for the beach, of course, and also exciting to be with my entire family! Last time we were together was here:

But that doesn't count because I was distracted! Oh, and I'm off for the summer on June 15th... coming right up! :) :) :)

ONE YEAR and counting!!!

Today is our one year anniversary. We spent the weekend in Luray, Virginia which was FABULOUS but I'll post about that later. Just know that this:

was the best thing that ever happened to me. There's not a day that goes by that I'm not grateful for May 16, 2009. I love you, Neal! And thanks for finally warming up to the idea of marrying me!

My birthday!

My dad always says if someone forgets your birthday, if your fault, and I totally agree. Because of this, I tend to get a lot of attention on my birthday, and I love it!!! I was pretty nervous about being sick, since I went home from work early on Monday and felt MISERABLE all day. Luckily, Heaven smiled on me and I slept really well Monday night and woke up feeling great!!! (My faith in prayer is slowly renewing after the whole lost stocking fiasco). Neal and I had both taken the day off-- best idea ever!!!
Of course I wanted to open my presents the minute I woke up, so I did! I was so thrilled by all my gifts. My siblings had all sent gifts to the house, as well as my parents (we're pretty big on birthday spoiling in my family)! Neal got me the absolute most thoughtful gifts ever... exhibit A:

For the past YEAR I have been disappointed that Panera has apparently discontinued my favorite salad. It's the one with pears, feta, walnuts and dried cherries with a cherry vinaigrette. As you can see, Neal went to Panera and asked them everything that goes into the salad and dressing, and went out and bought all the ingredients. Also, he got me tulips!!!! :)

Here I am, in all my morning bed-head glory, so excited about the presents!

Then Neal made me a delicious breakfast of homemade Tapioca Pudding, fresh strawberries, and toast (white bread toast, no less!!!)

Then we went for a lovely walk and relaxed. Well, I relaxed and Neal cleaned the house. We then did TaeBo, and as you might imagine, Neal took it pretty seriously! We went to Cheesecake Factory for a late lunch/early dinner and had Chicken Madeira--- YUMMY! We didn't even get cheesecake because I wanted a different birthday dessert. Then, Neal took me to "Sur la Table" (LOVE IT!) and let me pick out a few kitchen things. Then we went home and Neal made brownies from scratch and homemade ice cream (sour cream vanilla-- AMAZING) and cut up some fresh strawberries. Then, Neal surprised me with the most thoughtful present in the history of thoughtful presents... tickets to go see "The Last Five Years!" I was SHOCKED and totally thrilled. Last summer when we went to Ohio, I made Neal listen to the all the music and told him the story. It's actually a really cool idea-- it's a musical about a relationship (a five year one... get it?) The woman's first song is after the divorce, and the man's first song is right after they first met. The meet up in the middle for their wedding and sing a duet at the end about saying goodbye-- she's saying goodbye after their first date, he's saying goodbye after their divorce-- it's AMAZING! Anyway, so last August we listened to it on our roadtrip and I told Neal I have always wanted to see it. I had NO idea it was even in town--Neal looked into it all my himself and bought the tickets. We're going on May 22 and I CAN'T WAIT!!!!! So that gives Neal enough bonus points to never get me a present again, but don't tell him! ;)

Cali and Josh came over for dessert, along with the cute Piper who PEED RIGHT ON OUR FLOOR but she's still pretty darn cute.



All and all, it was an absolutely AMAZING birthday, one of my best ever, and I'm so grateful for Neal, and for my wonderfully thoughtful family and friends! I am such a lucky girl!!!!

Current Obsessions...

First, as usual, Neal. And I really like the shirt I'm wearing.
Bracelet my Mom got me for my birthday a few years ago. I get comments on it almost every time I wear it! Thanks, Mom!
LOVE tulips, LOVE purple, LOVE putting tulips on our tulip embroidered table runner! (Thanks, Shelley!!!!)
LOVE Taylor's kids.....

LOVE Cali's kid....

LOVE these shoes! I bought them in France over 5 years ago and basically forgot about them. I wore them on Tuesday and got about 15 compliments. Thanks, France!

LOVE these! Although, when I was looking for this picture on the internet, it was in an article entitled "25 diet-busting food you should never eat"... good thing I don't believe in dieting..... or foods you should never eat... moving on.

Jean-Yves Thibaudet. We saw him perform last night at the Kennedy Center with the National Symphony Orchestra (he's a pianist) and he is INCREDIBLE! He performed Ravel's "Concerto for the Left Hand" and it was one of the most impressive things I have ever scene. Although this isn't him, you can click here to see this concerto being performed--it's AMAZING!

And lastly, I'm obsessed with the fact that Neal and I have almost been married for a YEAR! We are celebrating our anniversary by staying in a little Bed and Breakfast in Luray, VA. We'll also check out Luray Caverns and Shenandoah National Park. Can't wait!!!