Move over Cracker Barrel

First of all.. this is my 300th post! Whew I have been one busy bee in the last year huh? Thats almost one a day :)


Anywho... so last night I gave Jenn's recipe for chicken and dumplins a shot and boy were they good! I know it is kindof a lot to say "Move over Cracker Barrel" b/c obviously this is my first attempt, but hey give me a few more times and I may just have it :) I had to have JR and I's favorite veggie from the CB too, and anytime you have pintos you have to cornbread as well. So here you go... a good ole Southern meal straight out of Cracker Barrel ha!

You guys should try it... I never knew dumplins were so easy :)

Cabin with the Walkers

We had an AMAZING weekend at the cabin. The cabin was in western NC near Boone in a town called Bakersville. I will have to say that I have never been that far out there I dont think... not even in Townsend area. :) It was SO relaxing though to be out there and have fellowship with our friends. There were 15 of us and the place was HUGE! We had great food, great games, and great time of just hanging out. We cannot thank the Gardners enough for spoiling us rotten... it was a true blessing :)

JR and I in downtown Boone

The Beej and I

Amy and I

Amy, Natalie and I

the girls shopping

the wonderful spread for dinner- steak and all!

laying around watching movies

playin some risk

Amy, Megan and I being goofy

Molly Cate and Aunt Manna

Happy Birthday Sweetie!

Today is JR's 26th birthday! I love love love celebrating birthdays and especially those who are dear to me. JR is not only my husband but my very best friend. I am so amazed that each day I fall in love with him more and more. We have been together for what seems like such a long time now, but when I think of our future together I know that this is only the beginning. JR is an amazing man who loves me with everything that is within him, even when I do not deserve it. He encourages me when I am down, challenges me when I get complacent, comforts me when I am distressed, and brings true joy to my heart with his smile. I love you so very much my love and hope you have a WONDERFUL day today!

Celebrating the Birthday

JR and I are leaving to go to Bakersville, NC (way out there close to Boone!) today right after work to have a nice relaxing weekend in the mountains with some friends so we decided to go have a Birthday Burger last night at Red Robin with the Graham's and the Todd's. Thank you sweet friends for helping me make JR's birthday special :)

JR and Richmond

Elizabeth and I

Maisy giving JR his card.. notice that it is a "hotdog" because that is her nickname for JR. Christina said she picked it out all by herself :) How cute!

fun with the Red Robbin bird

Lily saying HI to the bird, but not getting too close :)

new bookshelves (and yes they are already full!)

Birthday boy this morning eating his birthday pancakes that his loving wife made. notice the look he is giving me as he said, "are you really taking a picture of my pancakes?" haha thanks for being such a good sport sweetie!

Please pray for Lance

This is Lance Coomer, his sister Constance called me with some bad news yesterday. Lance is in the hospital with pneumonia. He has been there since Friday and has not gotten any better. Please pray for him and that the doctors will be able to find a way to get his strength back as well as a full recovery. He is an amazing guy and I really hate that he is having to feel this bad. We want him better in time to get studying back at UT :) Love ya Lance!

Constance and I

So much fun with the girls!

This weekend was WONDERFUL with the girls! We all got in on Friday night and caught up chatting till about 2am. It was the first time we have ALL been together since graduation so we were so excited that the crew had grown since last year. Katie's house was the perfect place to host.. it is HUGE! (Thanks again Josh and Katie) It was definitely a GIRLY weekend, shopping (well we tried to), watched 27 dresses, got dressed up to go to dinner, had Dirty Santa exchange with lots of fun gifts, and of course took lots of pictures :)

the whole crew

the married girls

katie and I

Crystal and Adrienne

The "posh" girls :)

Katie, Crystal and Jessie

me and tiffany

Classic Jenn Wade reaction when we were "trying" to go shopping but the outlet mall we went into was ALL empty!!! ha

Phi Mu Reunion!

I am so excited that today right after work I will be heading to Chattanooga for our pledge class reunion! We get together at least once a year, and it is on MLK weekend. There will be 10 of us coming from all over to meet up and I cannot wait :) Please pray for me as I travel the 8 hour drive in the crazy weather... and of course that we have a wonderful time together!

Stay tuned for many pictures of our time together....

Michael and Jordan

Last Friday JR and I went out to dinner with the Lewis's. We were so excited to get to spend some time with them, as we had not seen them since before we left for Christmas.

Jordan and I

Michael and JR

and we were even more excited when they told us their good news.... they are PREGNANT!!! It was so funny they way they told us b/c Jordan had called to say that she had a Christmas present for us that she needed to come and give us. Well we all decided to do dinner since we had not seen each other in so long. So as we are driving to dinner I open the "present" and it was a baby's blanket!!!! When I opened it I knew immediately, even though it took a minute to register hahah. JR and I both screamed (and of course there were a few tears too). We could not think of two better people to deserve one of the greatest gifts in the world. We love you guys and cant wait to be Aunt Lindsey and Uncle JR :)

We love Craig's list!

Well it did it for us again.. the good ole Craig's list pulled through for JR's birthday present. All I have heard for the past 3 months was how bad he wanted some bookshelves for his office. Unfortunately once we really started looking for them we found them to be a LOT more expensive than we thought they were going to be.. some $600 or 700! I was SO SO SO happy when I found these on Craig's List just yesterday and for a bargain... $150! Yahoo.. happy early birthday sweetie and thanks again Craig's list :)

Love birds

Who says that dogs cant be in love? Well I certainly know that our two are so in love. Today we caught them on camera doing what they love to do best... spoon while sleeping :) go ahead and say it with me... AWWW How cute! ha

once they saw us they came to the window to say hello :)

Maddie loves to jump up to see us haha

daddy major and momma maddie

Miss Maddie Mae

Old Major Boy

More fun with the sweetest girls I know!!!

Today JR and I got to hang out with Maisy and Lily while Christina and Jay celebrated their 6 year anniversary.

the happy couple with baby boy coming soon!
going on a walk

Lily and Martha

huge maple tree on SEBTS campus

JR climbed up to the top!

the girls watching JR act like a monkey

yummy ice cream after dinner

cutie Lily

Maisy says "Cheese!"

We had such a great time with them as usual. They are both just precious and always just make us laugh. Here is a video of Maisy telling JR that he cant have any ice cream.. I just love her sweet voice :)