When stadiums expansions make you feel old

So this is the brand new South Endzone expansion of Bryant-Denny Stadium (photo courtesy of Hoar Construction). It is beautiful and majestic and pristine, and I can't wait to see it up close and personal on game day. As an Alabama fan, this psyches you out of your mind because it's bigger and better and puts us among the largest sports facilities in the world. This taste of expansion makes you salivate for even more space for football glory - almost enough to pay a law student to look though pages and pages of state laws, codes, and regulations to figure out a legal way to move that dang cemetery to make way for a plaza....but I digress.

As new as it is, the South Endzone makes me feel crazy old. Why? Because these pictures are suddenly old....outdated...antiquated...relics...antiques...from times past.




They were taken only four years ago when we had our engagement photos shot in Tuscaloosa. Now, none of this exists, replaced by something new and better.

All of the sudden, we've joined the ranks of the "remember whens..."

I can here us now, telling our future kids, "When I went to school, that was just a sidewalk..." or "When I went to school, we walked to class cause we didn't have those fancy Crimson buses to ride in... or "When I went to school, that dorm was just a field of grass..."

Funny thing is we could actually say all those things now (sans the children we don't have to say them to) and many more.

The campus and community have changed so much since we graduated - all in better ways. More dorms, more shopping, more restaurants, more national championships. I'm not complaining. I'm just saying, makes a girl feel a little old.

SI Cover

Much to Celebrate

This past week the Lord has blessed us with much to celebrate. When I thought back to all the things that have made us laugh, and smile, and fill with joy this week I found myself so thankful for the blessings God provides in family, friends, marriage, spouses, new babies....I could go on and one. Here's my attempt to chronicle our joy.

My best friend got ENGAGED last Friday night to a wonderful man who I have yet to meet in person but who Robert and I already love.

Julia was my maid of honor and is, for all practical purposes, the sister I never had. She was my roommate for two years in college in the SAME room. Let's just say we're about as tight as friends come. She has loved me through thick and thin, pre-Robert and as a married women, with tough love and courage to say what I needed to hear even though she knew I wouldn't like it. She has loved me over literally pounds of TCBY yogurt that got us through four years in college. She is the kind of friend who borrows your car, happens to accidentally hit a mailbox, tells you about it, and you just laugh - because it's Julia and its just a car. (True story; I was actually surprised at how laid back my OCD self was about the whole incident.) This sweet, precious friend is getting married! We are so thrilled for Julia and Joshua and how the Lord will use them as man and wife to advance his Kingdom. We cannot wait for the big day - yet to be determined - in possibly Denver??? Can you say Colorado here we come? Love you Jules and so excited for you guys!

After the big engagement news, we had a wonderful weekend with Robert's sister, Liz, and her husband, Mike, who drove down to Birmingham from Lexington for the weekend. I really think impromptu visits are some of the best. It was so good to be able to catch up with them and enjoy the small things you take for granted when you live close - like good conversations over meals. We didn't take very many pics but I did manage to snap a few.


I am actually very thankful for Liz and Mike's willingness to help us with everyday life. Mike and Robert did some pretty heavy manual labor on Friday and took out the gazillion-year-old, could-I-really-be-more-hideous concrete planters on our back patio. Here's the before pics for those of you who don't remember.


And here's the post demo pics. What you don't see is the hours of labor and sweat in insane Alabama heat that Mike and Robert put in to haul all that rubble to the front of the house for Homewood Sanitation to pick-up. (Thank you Mike!) Let's just say there's good things to come if our home renos/re-landscaping adventures don't get the best of us. But more on that later...


We also celebrated the wedding of a dear friend from college in Tuscaloosa on Saturday. The bride's father actually had an unexpected stroke the Monday before the wedding and wasn't able to attend. Her younger sister walked her down the aisle, and her mother was so strong sitting on that second row representing the family without her husband by her side. That's just not how you picture your daughter's wedding. Fortunately, the dad is doing well and will make a full recovery with therapy and over time. At his insistence, the wedding went on. It was such a reminder of what's important in life - not the dress or the flowers or things going as planned but having the people in your life that you love and, at the end of the day, being married to the man God has picked to be your spouse.

I also loved this wedding because it was such a sweet time of reunion with some of our best friends from college. (Think roommates, groomsmen and bridesmaids, the friends that last despite distance or time.) It was so good to see them all and catch up on life.




Speaking of life, these two precious ladies are growing new ones in their tummies! Anne is expecting baby Maggie McKay Riley in November and Amy is expecting Baby Bogue in February. More details to come from an upcoming baby shower/it's-literally-raining-babies blog post (with pics from Anne's recent shower). Then there's Megan due in November with Annie and sweet Leigh (both college roommates) due with Baby Prickett in February. Elizabeth H. could have baby Wilson any day now - and that' just girls from college. We've also got a handful of precious ladies at church expecting kiddos, including one couple expecting twins! Let's just say we've got some fun times coming down the pipeline and lots more reasons to celebrate.

And, I'm also thankful for this man, who celebrated 28 years on Tuesday, the same day we celebrated the birth of our newest nephew, Stephen "Tate" Cannon (see link for blog post with precious newborn pics). I am so blessed to have Robert as my husband. He certainly embodies the role of a godly spouse, preparing me for heaven as he works for my sanctification as well as his own. He is so forgiving and constantly shows me the love of Christ. As my parents would tell you, I am married to a good man, and God is faithful.

I forgot to take pics, but Wednesday night was our second book club meeting. More in a coming post about this adventure, but suffice it to say I am so thankful for the new girlfriends God has put in my life recently. These ladies have been such a blessing, and I haven't laughed so hard over Pat Conroy, Charleston aristocracy, a glass of wine, and crazy life stories in ages.

This coming weekend we again celebrate marriage. I'm throwing a bridal shower at work for a dear friend getting married in September, and later we travel to Huntsville for the wedding of a good friend from college.

So, yes, there is much to celebrate. And we are filled with joy.

Stephen "Tate" Cannon

Baby Tate is here and adorable. I can't wait to hold this sweet little guy in a month when we travel up to SC to visit the family over Labor Day. I stole these amazing pics taken by the talented Aron Cannon (who is also an aunt to this sweet kiddo) from facebook, but do so with a shameless plug for her and her husband's amazing photography (www.cmsmithportraits.com/). So thankful they captured the memories for us! Robert couldn't be more excited that his newest nephew shares his birthday. We are so thankful for this new addition to the family.

Baby T is Here!

Meet our newest nephew - born on Robert's birthday!

Vacation

There's nothing quite like a vacation. I can't believe we've already been back from our annual beach trip with my family for nearly three weeks. We had such a relaxing time in Destin at what has become our favorite condo. The pool area is amazing, though we were fortunate to also have several beautiful days on the beach - with no oil in sight. The whole crew was there: mom and dad, Kyle, Alison, and Isabella, Dave and Shelby, and Ryan and his friend, Nick, who was part of the family by the end of the week.

I was proud of how many pics I managed to take during the week. I was also proud of how well I let myself relax. I finished Pat Conroy's South of Broad (which I'm reading for my book club; more details in another post but, yes, I said book club, and it's turned out to be one of my best ideas to date. Not lame at all, and I was actually pretty worried about it being a total bust. But I digress...) I also nearly finished Dan Brown's Deception Point. Nearly two books in one week is pretty much a record for me. So we all rested, napped, read, napped, ate, napped, ate again...It was the best.

This year, each "couple" had one night to prepare dinner. This was a great idea of my mom, and really made the whole week easier on everyone. We ate at our favorite dinner spot, The Wharf, one night, and also watched the fireworks over the bay. It may have been the first time in my life I haven't spent the 4th of July in Birmingham, but it turned out to be a great week to travel. We did a Thursday to Thursday schedule which gave us a nice, long weekend to recover before the first Monday back at work. Pure genius, and sure beats traveling on a Sunday.

I've uploaded a few pics from our trip in random order below. One you'll recognize as the new blog pic of Robert and me. I'm actually not wearing a speck of make-up in that photo, and I posted it as the bog pic for all the world to see. Who's says vacations aren't freeing?

With my sweet brothers before the fireworks show.

I think we all spent most of our time, day and night, on that balcony. We were on the 11th floor and had a beautiful view of the ocean.

Daddy and Isabella in her cute patriotic swimsuit.

The night we all dressed up for dinner. Managed to get several group shots. The rest are at the end of the post.

Goofing around at the outlets. We are all pretty big shoppers, especially the boys in my family; we can divide and conquer outlets for the best sales. I actually got a great pair of banana republic linen pants and a cute top. Then I scored some new Nike Shox tennis shoes which I love. Robert got some new tennis shoes and some cleats.


Playing in the water and sand with "Aunt Nana" and "Mister Mark"



Ladder ball was a big hit. Lots of fun on the beach. We also played some mean paddle ball matches.




Alison and Kyle



David's famous back flip.

Group photo. This one turned out really well. Poor Isabella had an ear infection and wasn't having the best night but shortly thereafter was back to her perky self after her antibiotics kicked in.





We realized on day two that Robert's cousins were going to be in Destin the same week we were. We met up with them on night and had the best time catching up. I can't believe how much they have all grown. They have a precious family.


And we actually paid to have these birds put on us. None of the boys volunteered. Speaking of the boys...


And somehow it turned into a tummy fest. David gets the award for most likely to be asked, "When's your baby due?"