Our Trip to Nauvoo

For the first week of Daniel's three week summer vacation we decided to take a trip to Nauvoo. Daniel had never been and I had been twice, but I was very excited to make the trip together. I love that little town! Our first night there we went to a show called Sunset on the Mississippi. This is a sort of hoe down put on by the young performing and senior missionaries. It had to be moved this year from its original location because of the flooding of the river. (By the way, it's really a miracle because none of the historical sites or homes were damaged by the flooding.) We loved this show! It was so entertaining and we recommend it to anyone visiting Nauvoo. The next morning we did a session in the temple. I can't even begin to describe the beauty of this building. Even the lockers in the dressing rooms are made out of dark wood. It's such a special experience to go through the temple and gain a deeper love and respect for the pioneers and what sacrifice it took to build that temple.

After the temple we began touring the restored homes of Nauvoo. There was so much to learn and see. The senior missionaries gave tours of all the homes and buildings, and they always shared their testimonies at the end of the tour. The spirit is so strong there and the missionaries help you feel the spirit everywhere you go.

Here's Daniel making a rope at the family living center! We also went to Carthage while we were there. This picture is of us standing outside the jail at the bottom of the window that Joseph Smith fell out of when he was shot.

We had a wonderful trip!

Big News!

O.K. this picture is a little old because today marks the day of my 12th week of pregnancy! Yes folks I am pregnant! Daniel and I are so excited. The baby is due on January 29. I'm very excited to have the first trimester over and looking forward to the "golden trimester." My nausea is almost gone, which is wonderful, and I'm excited to buy cute maternity clothes. Everything is going smoothly so far and we're excited for the adventure ahead.

Cowtippers

A few weeks ago we went to dinner with some friends of ours. They had seen this restaurant called Cowtippers and thought it looked cool. So we decided to try it out. When we got there, I thought it looked really fun because you could sit outside under a tree that was practically growing in the middle of the patio. Well, after we met our waiter (who was pretty "femmi") and his "bodyguard" friend who he was training, I started to notice something about the people at the other tables. There were either all guys or all girls sitting together. There were very few guy-girl combinations. We were either at a gay and lesbian restaurant or it was gay/lesbian night! I have to say I felt a little awkward. I had never been in that situation before in my sheltered little life. After a while it was pretty obvious that all of the waiters and waitresses were gay or lesbian as well. We laughed so hard about it on the way out and decided we had to get a picture to document this eventful evening. What an adventure!

Happy Easter!

This Easter I bought a basket for Daniel and I and filled it with our favorite candy. For those of you who don't know, Reese's peanut butter eggs are the best candy in the world and if you haven't tried them, you should. But beware they are very addictive. On Easter morning I hid the basket and made Daniel search the apartment for it. It wasn't very hard to find and it took him about 1 minute to locate the stash of goodies. And I'm very proud of us, we have had pretty good self control and haven't pigged out on the candy yet. But I'm sure the day is coming! I also bought an Easter egg tree this year. It's the cutest thing I have ever seen! It has little orange and yellow baby chick eggs hanging from it. Hopefully you can get an idea from the picture. After church we invited another couple in our ward over for dinner and had a wonderful Easter dinner with them. It was a great first Easter together! I hope all of you had a wonderful Easter celebrating our Savior's resurrection.

She's crafty!

O.K. this may not seem like a big deal to most of you, but for those who know how crafty I am not you will understand how proud I am of myself. This is the story. Daniel and I recently moved into a new apartment, so I wanted to decorate it and make it look really nice. Well, I was looking on the internet for ideas for wall decorations, and I found an awesome idea. It was wall art made from scrapbook paper and styrofoam boards. The whole project was supposed to be very simple and easy to do, so I thought I would give it a try. Well, it actually turned out really great, and I am so proud to have my wall art displayed in our living room! Here is a website that tells you how to make this really cool wall art: http://www.curbly.com/DIY-Maven/posts/3269-Making-Wall-Art-out-of-Styrofoam. The only difference in mine is that I used foam board instead of styrofoam, and I hung it with velcro instead of tacks or nails. It really is quite easy and fun to do. So if you're looking for something unique and different to fill your wall space, definitely give this a try.

Trip to Savannah

For President's Day weekend we decided to take a trip down to Savannah, Georgia. This is a quaint little tourist town where the movie Forrest Gump was filmed. It is the cutest town! We went to the beach, ate at a fabulous seafood restaurant on the river, and browsed through all the shops downtown. We also walked through several of the "squares" in Savannah. They have little parks on almost every block that are called squares. We even visited the famous square where Forrest Gump sat on the bench and said, "Life is like a box of chocolates..." At least we think we did anyway. They all pretty much look the same so it was hard to tell. Anyway, we had a wonderful time in Savannah. We were able to stay with the Sparks who are family friends of Daniel's. They invited us to come back any time and we might just take them up on that!

The temperature was in the 70's while we were there. Just perfect for walking on the beach!

This is River Street, which is where we ate the seafood. Right beside this street is the river or canal where these huge cargo ships came to unload their shipments. It was amazing to see because these boats were ginormous!

Our Honeymoon

We began our honeymoon in Helen, Georgia, which is a little town in north Georgia that is supposed to be a replica of a German town. We stayed in a beautiful cabin just outside of Helen in the mountains. Unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures of the cabin, but trust me it was really nice. We ventured into Helen and ate at a little German restaurant, played putt putt golf at a German themed course, and walked around to all the shops downtown. It was quite the adventure!

After Helen we travelled to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, Tennessee for a few days. We stayed in Pigeon Forge, which should be known as the Pancake House capital of the world because there was one on every corner! While in TN we rode an "aeiral tramway" (that's the official name) that took us up a mountain. It was basically this huge tram that could carry about 100 people up this mountain via a cable. It only swayed a little in the wind so it wasn't too scarry. We also spent Thanksgiving day in Pigeon Forge. We ate Thanksgiving dinner at Cracker Barrel, and I have to admit it was delicious! So for those of you out there who dread cooking that huge turkey every year, try Cracker Barrel! I highly recommend it. After several relaxing days in the mountains, Daniel and I travelled back home to Georgia to begin our married life together.

Our Wedding

The big day took place on November 17, 2007 in the Atlanta, GA temple. It was a beautiful day and we were so glad to have our family and friends there to help us celebrate. Here are a few pictures from that exciting day!

The Reception

Daniel and I love to dance so we decided to have a live band at our reception. We had a blast dancing the night away.

If you're wondering what Daniel's groom's cake is, it's an x-ray. He is in chiropractic school, and we could think of nothing better to represent him than an x-ray of the spine. Not only did it look cool, but it was delicious too!

Our Friends

Daniel and I had so many friends there to support us on our wedding day. Daniel had a friend fly in from Washington, and I had friends fly in from Washington, Utah, Indiana, and California. What dedication! We were so grateful to have our closest friends with us on our special day.