Bringin' Home the Bacon & Major Mess Makin'

I got the cutest text from Brian the other day while he was at work. Totally melted. Can you see why I love this guy so much? I didn't plan on sharing it, and am still kinda hesitant. I'm more of a personal person with displays of affection, but I needed a picture to go with the post (which is going to be pretty ooey gooey by my standards anyway)...and it IS pretty cute. :)

Every morning the alarm goes off way too early, and Brian jumps into the daily grind of getting ready for work. He's really cute about tip-toeing around the apartment in his attempt to not wake me up until he gives me a little goodbye smoocharooni. Sometimes I get scolded because I can't resist jumping out of bed and running to the door when I hear him putting on his shoes. Sadly, none of my lame attempts at persuading him to stay home ever work ("What if I get kidnapped?" :) ) , and somewhere between 7:30 and 8:00 every morning he's on a shuttle, bound for the metro, bound for downtown D.C, to save the world one computer audit at a time. :) Ok...so maybe he's not flying around like superman fighting crime, but seriously...he's my hero! (It's cheesy, I know, but true. Sorry Bri...you're going to be embarrassed, but I can't help that you're so stinkin' awesome.) I can't even describe how much I appreciate the fact that he works so hard to support us, and allows me to stay home. With some of the weird health stuff I've got going on, the extra sleep and slower pace has been a blessing. And even better, I get to take care of the house. I'm definitely not going to go so far as to say I love laundry, and cleaning (I'm not crazy, afterall...well...not super crazy anyway)... but I do love being able to do it while Brian's at work so when he gets home we can play. And I LOVE being able to whip up yummy things in the kitchen. Having time to cook and experiment with new recipes has been sooooooo much fun! And so.......messy? This Friday it was my turn to plan date night, and I decided on an indoor Fall Festival since it was raining outside. I was going to have homemade chicken noodle soup, with homemade bread sticks and noodles all ready when Brian got home, and then we'd watch Hocus Pocus with some yummy carmel apples. Weeellllllll...the meal turned out to be a bit more of a project than I'd bargained on, and Brian walked in to find the kitchen looking like...well...here's the picture:

To top it off, I couldn't find Hocus Pocus anywhere...so we spent the night cleaning up my mess and playing Scrabble. But I couldn't have enjoyed it more.

Anyway, thanks Bri for all you do. I really appreciate it. And I promise that if you keep bringin' home the bacon, I'll keep mess makin'. Deal? :)

Happy Fall!

My mom tells the story like this: "Your dad really wanted you girls to have middle names...I didn't think you needed them, so I told him to come up with one for you. He walked into the hospital room one day after I'd had you, and said, 'What about Amber Autumn?' I have no idea where it came from, but thought it was cute and agreed..." I like to tell the story like this: "Dad, you're a genius! How did you know me that well before I could even walk, talk or coo?" Seriously...fall makes me CRAZY! This is my very favorite time of year. I love the crisp feeling in the air, the spicy smell of fall candles, the changing colors, the idea of cozy nights wrapped up in a blanket with apple cider, the little kids in costumes...you get the idea. Lucky for me, Brian loves it too. I once dated a guy who told me fall was morbid. "Everything is dying, and winter is right around the corner. So, you dig death, eh?" WHAT?!! Needless to say, that relationship bit the dust, and I'm so happy to be with a guy who can appreciate the best nature has to offer. Granted, when he thinks fall, his first thought is about that first outing to a football stadium, but still... :)

We did a little celebrating of fall this weekend--I had a baby shower to go to Saturday morning, and when I returned Brian had a picnic all packed. Cute, right? He took me to Great Falls Park, and we enjoyed an afternoon of hiking wooded trails in the crispy weather. The water falls that give the park its name are beautiful, and the ruins of Matildaville (the little town that existed along the river in the early 19th century) are so cool! I think my favorite part was that feeling of being in the mountains, though. Ok...so we weren't really in the mountains, we were down in a gorge, but you could've fooled me. :) It was the perfect activity for our first "fally" Saturday...thanks Bri! And Happy Fall to everyone!!! If you come across us, and I'm jumping around singing, or twirling, or pointing at every tree I see, don't be scared...it's really not my fault...it's the season!

Auntie Amber

So, I mentioned that last weekend we were in South Carolina hanging out with Brian's family. But I forgot to tell you about the exciting epiphany I had while we were there: I AM AN AUNT!!! That is new and unusual for me, since I'm the oldest in my family. Woo hoo! So exciting! Especially since the two neices I inherited are quite possibly the cutest little girls EVER. Sienna, the oldest, let me have a "hair party" with her while we were there...we came up with quite the funky do. It was a blast. Then there's little Miya, who ran around saying, "Go Diego, go!" and tempting me with her oh-so-squeezable cheeks. :) I tell you, these girls are too cute for their own good, and boy do me and Brian love them!

To Sienna and Miya, a big kiss from Uncle Bri Bri and Auntie Amber! :) And to Alisha and Matthew, a big thanks for letting us stay with you--we had a great time!

Playful Cockiness

It's official... I have been initiated into the crazy world of the Gamecocks! Brian's parents were nice enough to fly us to South Carolina for the weekend (thank you Larry and Danna!!!), where we had a fun time hanging out with Brian's entire family, and went to my first Gamecocks football game. Yep...that's me in the Cocks shirt. I must admit, although I never thought I'd own a shirt with a rooster on it, the game was a lot of fun. The cocks took on the #2 team in the nation, the Georgia Bulldogs. The funniest part of the whole experience had to be during the opening prayer (yes...I'm sure a lightening bolt is headed my way). The reverend was giving quite a nice little prayer...until he said, "Please bless us with DOG-ged determination in life, and a playful COCK-iness in all we do..." Hmm... I guess an Amen is in order. :) ANYWAY, despite a valiant effort, the cocks ended up losing by one touchdown. It was ugly towards the end, but Brian handled it remarkably well.....he just got really, really, really quiet. I kept thinking it was the calm before the storm, but the storm never came. Nice restraint Bri! :) Despite the loss, and the unbelievable heat and humidity (yes...I'm a sweatball in the picture....sooooooooo attractive), I had a great time with my boy.

Until next time, wishing playful cockiness to you all! :)

The Honeymoon--ITALY!!

I have to admit--I am spoiled. Brian planned a two week Italian honeymoon, and it was incredible. I've always dreamed of going, and getting to go with him was an added bonus!

We went to Rome, Florence, The Cinque Terre, Venice and Lake Como, and saw Pisa and Bellagio along the way. It was amazing... I found myself thinking I was in Disneyland or something, because things that surreal just don't exist in real life!!

Rome started out a bit rocky: an overnight flight, lost luggage, a credit card that got eaten, a "lost" passport ("Bri, where's my passport?" "I don't know...you have it." "No...I gave it to you..." "Uh...." No worries...we found it right before we reached the front of the line.)... but honestly, who can complain about ANYTHING when you're in Italy? We had the time of our lives.

Here's some of our favorite pictures.

Wedding Snapshots

May 13, 2008
What an awesome day!
Thanks again to everyone who took and shared snapshots!



And if you're interested in seeing my photographer's pictures, click the link below. The password is "amberandbrian". The gallery will only be up until 9/21/2008, but I'd love for you to browse until then if you'd like! He did an awesome job...I couldn't be happier!

http://www.galleryphotography.com/pickpic3/gallery/jump.php

Red, Red Everywhere!

So, those of you who know me are probably wondering what's with the background (ok...you probably have better things to wonder about, but humor me :)). I'm really not a red person. So, why was I searching for a red backdrop? I could give lots of reasons: Red was my favorite color when I was a youngster (now it's yellow). Red is the color I turn whenever I'm put on the spot in front of a group of strangers...or whenever I say something silly in front of any group...or pretty much whenever I say ANYTHING to ANY group (yes, I have a blushing problem...embarassing). Red is the color of blood, blood = vampires, vampires = Twilight, Twilight = WHOO HOO! Ok, so I'm not one of those obsessed fans, but I DID love the series and I needed another red reason. ANYWAY, none of these red reasons would adequately describe why I chose the backdrop, though. :) What does? Hmmmm...are you sure you want to know? Positive? Ok, ok, if you're going to grovel... I know you're just dying to know, so here goes... :)

The Real Reasons Behind the Red:

1-I'm obsessed with my apartment, which is in the process of being totally decked out in red, black and pale yellow. Yes, it seems like I eat, sleep and breathe decorating...and I'm loving it! But I might have become a little bit obessed with the color scheme. I'm not sure it's healthy really. But hey...now we have a matching blog... :)


2-Brian is obsessed with SC football. Yes. Obsessed. And it's fall football season. And we've never been more in shape in our lives because we spend hours in the gym so he can watch the games on cable. And I'm not allowed to wear orange because it's their rival's color. And their mascot is a gamecock (yeah...a gamecock...as far as I can figure that's a fancy name for a rooster...) And their color is red. Wait...I apologize... "garnet". Their color is "garnet". Soooooooooo...here's the way I see it--do the blog in red (er, "garnet"...if he asks, this blog is "garnet") and he'll be much more likely to completely overlook all the embarassing and candid stories I plan on posting about him. :) I love you baby! Go cocks!

3-The Stars. Let's face it... me and Brian are counting a lot of lucky stars lately. And wishing on stars a lot less. We feel so blessed and are just...happy! Hopefully this blog will let you see a glimpse of that happiness... I think I'll back track, and post some pictures of the wedding and honeymoon, so if you're interested they'll be up soon. (Thanks to Kristy and Mel and Alisha for the pictures...of the wedding...not the honeymoon...that would just be weird. :) We're so glad to have them!)

Anyway, that's all for now. The rest of the posts will be shorter. Thanks for reading. Send us links to your blogs! We're excited to hear all about your little slice of heaven!

Hi there!

After lots of persuasion from friends, and sisters and weird people in the grocery store (ok...maybe not) we finally have a blog! I guess everyone is doing it these days, and it DOES seem like a fun way to keep people updated on this crazy life...so TA DUH!!!!! Thanks for all the motivation--it's been really fun so far, and we're excited to link up to all of your blogs and keep in touch!