The Favorite Son

Another weekend. Another trip.
This week Craig and I went to my hometown, Florence, AL for two wedding showers for my brother Luke and his fiance, Laura. We arrived on Friday night and spent the evening hanging out with my family and of course playing games. The game of choice was Monopoly Deal. It's a card game version of Monopoly that is much shorter, so I like it better than the original game. Saturday morning we had brunch, ran some errands, and relaxed at the house. The festivities began Saturday night with a family shower. The shower was hosted by three of my cousins and their wives. The food was amazing! It was so good to see a lot of my Grandma's family that I don't see very often. One of my cousins, I will keep his identity anonymous, said that it's worth getting divorce and remarried just to have another family shower. Below, are some pictures from the evening.

Today, was a very busy day at Stony Point, my home congregation. The day started with class taught by my father, followed by worship, a fellowship meal, an afternoon service led by the young men, and last another shower. Well, some of you may be wondering why I titled my entry "The Favorite Son." During the morning announcements, one of our elders was talking about my brother Luke. He referred to him as "Everyone's Favorite Son." That's my brother. Everyone loves him! It was so funny, though, because we are always talking about who is the favorite child in my family. On most days, my family would admit it was me. (Ha! Ha!) Luke was excited he could be the favorite today. Oh well, it was another great shower with lots of fun presents. The two have been very blessed by family and friends.Luke is an amazing brother and a wonderful friend. Laura, we are excited to have you become part of the family. We wish you all the love and happiness as you begin your lives together. Proud of you boo!!

A Birthday Celebration

Saturday was one of my best friends birthday, so of course, we had to celebrate!! Melissa and I have been friends since the first day of Kindergarten. She was the brave one, and I was the one in tears. Our teacher introduced us on the playground, and the rest is history. We survived elementary, middle, and high school together. She has been by my side through it all. She is always there for me, and we can talk about anything. Since we graduated high school, we have not lived n the same city, and I miss the everyday moments we use to share. She is one of the strongest people I know, and I admire her love for the Lord.

We met at Casa for lunch, which is a great Mexican place. Another highlight to our lunch was having Elizabeth there too. Elizabeth and I have been friends since first grade, so she is another very special friend. Our close bond started that year when we did everything we could to avoid rest time. We would fake headaches by hitting our heads on our cubbies. She too has been with me through everything. She is one of the most thoughtful friends I have.

Since we all live in different cities, it's rare for us to be together. It was so fun to have lunch and hang out at Melissa's with some of my closest friends. Melissa, I hope you had a wonderful birthday. You deserve the best!! I only wish Mary Brook and Codi could have been there to celebrate with us. Then, the day would have been complete.

Well, I guess I will join the blogging world. Hopefully, this will help us keep up better with everyone. This year will be an exciting one full of lots of BIG decisions, so this blog will also serve as a way to keep everyone informed about where we plan to go next. Hope you enjoy reading about our journey!!

St. Louis

Friday night, Craig and I decided to take a road trip to St. Louis. We left Memphis at 9:00 on Saturday morning. We stopped for breakfast at McDonald's and arrived in St. Louis around noon. We walked around Union Station and ate lunch at Quizno's. After lunch, we went to the St. Louis Zoo. The best part was that it was free!! We love the Memphis Zoo and think it's amazing, so we were unsure how the St. Louis Zoo would compare. It was a great zoo, and we had a wonderful time. Our next free event was the Anheuser Busch Brewery Tour. The tour lasted an hour. Did you know 1 out of every 2 beers sold in the U.S. comes from that brewery? That was one of the many interesting facts we learned. Our last event, and the real reason the trip was made, was the Cardinals Baseball game. If you know me, you know, I hate baseball. However, I love my husband, so I agreed to go to the game. The stadium is beautiful and a very neat place. Craig was so happy and was like a little kid the whole night. The home team won, and I'll admit, I enjoyed the game. We spent the night in Fester, which is about 30 minutes outside of St. Louis. We finished our quick trip with a stop at Lambert's Cafe in Sikeston for lunch. Lambert's is the home of the throwed rolls, and a place I recommend everyone visit. We arrived back home at 2:00 p.m. today. Our getaway was so much fun, and we are planning another trip soon!!