St. Pattys Day {RE-Cap} + some

Can somebody PLEASE tell me

where in the world is Carmen San Diego?

Ha! kidding...

really PLEASE tell me why is it that my {followers} is not showing up.

I've done everything I know to do.

You can find me on my knees begging for your help. 

Until then. It's time to play MAJOR ketchup.

iPhone Style:

be ready for picture overload.

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St. Pattys Day Eve -

We piled up in the family {14 passenger} van as one of Aaron's co-workers

drove us down to Savannah to drop all nine of us off & to pick us up.

Wasn't bad for $30 a couple!

Yay for safe driving!

We had dinner at

Moon River Brewing Company - delicious but craZy busy.

In moments like this {above} is the only time my hubby

gets anxiety. 

 Uhhh, duh - I gotta get the first beer of the weekend!

Just a small, very small glimpse of the partying downtown

City Market! I met so many people from everywhere that night.

{yes, I am the person who talks to random people asking them where they are from in the beer line, that's me!}

After karaoke, dancing, & lots of drinking,

We ended our night at Wild Wings - where they had a heavy rock band...

that was insane loud.

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St. Pattys Day 12'

{took several pictures with my actual camera that I've yet to upload.}

Can you believe out of ALL the drinking I was doing,

I never ever ever ever ONCE drank a green beer.

I don't know how I feel about that.

I'm kinda ticked.

First St. Patricks Day, married!

It was an AWESOME day.

Started out with our first Wet Willie Drink at 9am...

and then face painting....

My bestie Kristie is a teacher, therefore she brought her

face paint from class down to the parade to paint shamrocks - my hubby thought he'd

join in because he was ticked to death over this shamrock (& she talked him into a mustache, hilarious}. After seeing a few {5+} of his art work, I was quite impressed.

The hubster & a very very old/great friend of his, JP.

I love seeing these two together - Aaron gets SO excited. Can't ya tell by the

hand on the hip? {he's pretty lit}

... & again showing this craZy amaZing fun side along with my

second Mom, Mrs. Wanda - my best friends Momma. They were on a roll!

Walking down to see my family on the other side....

Remember the other day when I mentioned having like the smallest ounce of

baby fever... yeah, well it's moments & pictures like this that get me.

♥

... better said as the smokn' hott Georgia heat.

Rachel and in the blaring sun visiting my Momma, sister & her family down

the road from where we were. They agreed to share our spot next year - way too hott.

I have a lot of favorite people in my life, but these two by far hit the top!

I couldn't do it without either of them! ♥ My heart.

Grandma and Chloe, my niece...

sweating to death. No joke. Almost heat stroke... in March.

Minutes after this picture, we headed back to the Oak Trees....

... and instead of normal people we thought it would be great to walk with one

of the Irish families {IN THE PARADE} - it was hilarious. We got weird looks, however

by that time the enormous family was pretty tired and we were just getting started...

we had the crowd going! :)

It was a must-stop-right-now, please take a picture with me

moment!

These ladies reminded me of my bachelorette party, Madd Hatter Style!

Yep, that's me drinking beer out of a straw &

then a small shot-like drink in my other hand that a friend Nic, made for me.

It tasted just.like apple pie, De-LISH! 

Kristie & Candice chill-axing!

About 5 minutes before this moment, I had little Lacey on my

shoulders. Rachel {her Momma} clearly stated, "Jess, you do not have to do that. Holding a child on your shoulders is not for woman, it's a mans job."

Yeah, well I was {Mrs. Jess aka Mrs. Awesome} and Lacey couldn't see...

so I did it. It wasn't minutes before I was dying but wouldn't say a thing.

Jon saved me. It took me 1.5 days to realize why the heck my body was hurting SO very

bad. I thought I was just getting old and couldn't drink that like anymore.

#truestory. - definitely a mans job.

And that's all I got for St. Pattys Day photos.

We ended the day at Jalapenos filling our tummies!

Great day!

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A little bit of where I come from:

small town. one stop light in the whole town. everyone knows everyone.

My new mantel look, SOOO please with it!

-Thanks to Caitlin from my hometown!

You can find her here -----> blog  website  etsy

Her store is called, Embellish Boutique

It's springtime. I'm in love.

Even though I've recently moved my bird feeder to the dogwood tree behind it,

I still love this picture. It was taken on my front porch.

Is this not beautiful? I can look at it all day long.

A few pictures I captured of Aaron's family Plantation:

a woppn' 130 acres :: what used to be a campground many years ago.

It's where we call home.

the pecan trees.

pond #1:

this is what he did as a kid. seriously.

fishing is his passion.

Pond #1

Love this picture♥

Pond #2

+

pond #2 - once of my favorite places to be.

One of the many family members homes that live on the property. 

that would be me. collecting the fish as we walk around the pond.  :)

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Random nights of Yahtzee.

Aaron bragging on {ALL} his Yahtzee skills.

Candice finally getting her first Yahtzee!

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Mommas birthday gathering

{post coming soon}

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First timers!

{posts coming soon w/ recipes}

Stuffed Artichokes -amazing!

Banana Pudding {yum!}

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A night at the ballpark.

Me & my mini-me, Addyson.

AKA my niece - Maybe not today but she is a spittn' image of me when I was

a little girl. && yes, I too have natural red hair.

They didn't win, however Ashlyn had the best play of the night! :)

I was a proud Aunt♥

The End.

tie-dying goes wrong.

Okay, so Aaron and I are on a CO-Ed Kickball league -

SO.MUCH.FUN!

Our team colors are Grey, Black & Pink. Fun right?

Well after our first game I saw so much fun in the uniform accessories...

I thought Tie-Dyed socks are a must have!

Sunday was our second game {we won, yay!} but I never made my socks.

I had Pink & Black ribbon in my hair {felt like a cheerleader again} & my Victoria

Secret knee high PINK knee high socks.  Some of the other ladies had regular socks dyed baby pink - CUTE!

Yesterday, I was on a mission. My girlfriend {Rachel} & her daughter {Lacey} were coming over for dinner & to help with this mission.

I bought this kit with the colors Grey, Black, & Pink. I also bought two packs of

knee high white socks maybe thinking Aaron would like a pair. I also bought plain black in case he didn't.

First, let me brag.

I walked in the house to see dinner fully cooked

 {Stir Fry with Teriyaki Chicken over Rice} & the table fully set for four. Gosh, I love my husband. He even had four glasses in the fridge filled with Ice just waiting....

Isn't he wonderful? Yes!

Okay, so immediately after dinner Aaron headed out to his shed &

I put on a movie for Lacey {she plays SO great by herself}& Rachel and I started this mission.

We noticed there were two pairs in each pack. YES!!!

Okay, so I chose to go with the tie-dye look of the t-shirt on the front of the box up there.

Yeah, the violet & pink one - cute right... for socks?

We banded all the pairs & finding the instructions to say...

"works better if material is damp"

whoops.

So we stuck them under the faucet and wa-laaa...

only I think this is where we went wrong.

The hubby came in & decided to snap a few shot of our mess

with the phone camera {reason why it's so blurry}

Yes, I'm cheesy and wore my {tie-dyed} t-shirt for moral support.

Before we started with color... we discussed

how it all works. I was kinda nervous

It didn't take long to finish - I wrapped them up as the instructions said so

and let them sit. It called for 6-8 hours so I figured it would be fine to sleep on it

and it would be REALLY soaked good by morning.

We cleaned up & joined Aaron & Lacey fishing.... for memory cards..

My phone died. I took a lot more pictures with my regular camera

but I didn't upload them. Sorry.

Rachel & Lacey both filled their boats...

Mine & Aaron's sank.

We stink.

I was up and ready to see my socks this morning...

so excited.

The instructions call to rinse in warm water & to wash in hot water

with little soap a few times before washing them with anything else.

So after my bath this morning, I ran my tub half way back up and .....

... You're laughing. I know.

the worst tie-dyed job EVER.

I was so sad and confused and disappointed.

What happened? Really? They look purple.

They were pretty wet still this morning so I kind of feel we should have never

"damped" them. May we should have but never have ran them under a sink.

Tonight, I'm going to try to work with what I got and see if any miracles

can be pulled out of this mess.  If it doesn't work again - I figured I can just wear the black socks & attach a pink bow on the front of them or something...

Any ideas to what happened? Or what I should do again?

Priceless. Period.

... So yesterday was my business trip to Atlanta.

I'll make this short. I'm exhausted. I want to go home. I want to sleep.

sorry.
anyway.
back to my point.

Somewhere between 8am - 6pm, one of the several classes I was in a corporate leader

entered this video into her lesson. We all fell in love as you will too. Definitely something we all could watch daily.

... Only if I could dance on my bathroom counter like this.

Moral of her point: We must stop beating ourselves up & learn to love what we see when we look at ourselves in the mirror. Have a positive attitude on who we are look past the imperfection.

What is perfection? I've never been able to define it myself. Can you?

FIVE positive things to say about  myself: 

I like my hair .

I like my back. Clearly I do not see it in the mirror but when or if I do, I like what I see.

I like my curves. On most days

I like the shape & color of my eyes.  They've always been a good judge of character or actions.  I can always count on them.

I like my freckles.  They are a unique part of me.

What are the things you like when you see yourself in the mirror? Do you often tell yourself - point it out - say it out loud?

 Or do you find yourself seeing only the things you do not like? Well quit.

Start seeing your beauty for what it is.

Be more like Jessica { the girl in the video }.

Beautiful

Heard this song for the first time this week.
It hit home.

Where I'm at in Life...

Some things can never be unseen. Memories are lost everyday. And small moments aren't captured. For me? There is nothing like talking about old times. I can do it all day, everyday, with anybody.

So here it is.

This is where I am at in Life;

Date: July 22, 2011

My Initials: JLA

Age: 26

Size: Medium [top], 5/6 [bottom], 8 [shoe]

Friday Nights: Cookouts & Cards with friends, Cornhole with Family, Date Nights with the lover.

Hair Style: Long. Blonde. Long. Too Long.

Favorite place to dine out: Jalapenos [Order, The Gringa]

Favorite Outfit: Dresses or my red romper

Love Life: Very much in love with Aaron. He aggravates the tar out of me

lately, at the same time... I never stop smiling. He makes me so happy.

Home Life: It's really great. A little stressful because everything is just out of the normal with the wedding.

* There isn't a corner in our house where there isn't clutter.

I threw a fit. Yes, a throw down fit last night about this particular issue. It's driving me crazy. The wedding has my house turned upside down.

* For so many years, I worked really long hours and two jobs at a time.

I'm completely smitten by my extra time at home with Aaron and by myself.

TV shows: American Idol. Swamp People. The Bachelor/Bachelorette. Animal Planet. 

Extra time: Wedding. Snuggled up on the couch.

What excites me: *The Wedding *Planning the wedding *Our new vegetables chopper *Our new waffle maker *The new one cup coffee/tea/hot cocoa/espresso machine sitting on our counter. *My new frying pans that sit fly and not wobble.. yay! *ALL the cleaning supplies received from the showers. [Yes, an excellent gift. Enough to last us about two years] *Another excellent gift; spice rack, a basket full of all... ALL spices or add ins.

 A moment I never want to forget: Aaron getting pissy

[remember, he never yells or raises his for at me... EVER. I've never seen it.]

when putting together all the storage cabinets, the futon, or the [my eyebrows are raised] storage shelf that goes over the toilet... yeah, he threw it across the living room and yelled "this is a piece of crap!!!". I was mortified. my response, "Whoa, totally uncalled for. You are acting insane."


Life is so good right now.
Not perfect, but right where we want to be!

A Whole Lotta Nothin...Well, maybe everything!



Geez Louise, Life has been so wonderful here lately, however it's been b.u.s.y!

First I want to apologize to everyone for my lack of response lately. If you have commented on my posts, and I have not responded I am terribly sorry. I really need to get my phone set up where it notifies me when I get an email. Any suggestions as to how I can do that? Or do I need to take it to Verizon!

I also want to apologize for all my wedding posts. I know it's exciting to me, however it may or may not be as exciting to you. It's a must have though. I want to jot everything down that I can, because this is a one time experience and it's a true dream of mine. So, if I bored you, I am sorry... but I'm doing this for me! :)

Okay, now that I am done with my apology's!

Here is what has been happening in my life these days....

...Blogging World

*I'm in the middle of getting a blog makeover! Yay! I'm so excited about it!

*I hit 300 followers early this week!

*Have been a horrible commenter & replying to comments, I'm sorry!

...Wedding Planning

* First Cake tasting on the 17th.

* We meet with our Officiant on the 26th

* First makeup trial on March 3rd.

*Booked my Photographer FINALLY!

*We booked all our rentals this Tuesday.

*Trying to decide on Jewelry but don't wanna spend a whole lot.

*I picked Aaron's ring out! Yay!

*Bought everything for my hair/veil. Super excited to start that project!

*My dress is in, however I don't have time to go see it until next week. Boo!

*Working on centerpieces and table arrangements. [seems to be my fav. part]

*Discussing Flowers - [Not my favorite part]

*Realized I want my ceremony more fussing than I thought I did.

*Trying to find invitations [Nothing is popping out to me]

*Our Save the Dates came in on February 1st. Mailed them out on the 3rd.

*Working hard on DIY projects for the wedding.

*Picking the perfect music

*Honeymoon... UGH! We can NOT decide. Finally we believe we've found our destination, however it's not 110% picked out.

*Trying to figure out what I want for my cake.

*Engagement party coming up next weekend!

...Life in General

*Feeling more in love than I've ever been!

 *Finally got over being Sick. Yuck!

* Biggest Loser competition is great, however it's been expensive!

*Work is busy, good thing!

*Did my Taxes through turbo tax the second week of January, however still haven't received it. NOTE: When you do your taxes through Turbo tax, make sure submit it! HA! It took me until this week to finally realize something was up!

*My Grandpa = Not good! 4 heart attacks in a month & a weeks time! He's fighting so hard, however he is still in his right mind! My heart aches for him!

*Had Dinner with one of my best childhood friends last night! 3 HOURS! It was wonderful.

*Haven't been sleeping very well. SOOOO much on my mind!

*More baby talk... Still don't think I'm 110% ready!

*Birthday Bashes and Baby Showers!

*Have been a slacker housewife/girlfriend/fiance' - FINALLY cleaned my entire house last Sunday! Thank goodness!

*Have I mentioned my Mom is the most amazing woman ever? Life would really suck without her. She's so wonderful!

*The Bachelor = I'm hooked! Yesterday, I went back and watched the first few episodes that I missed... It was great! I did not know Brad was a Bachelor prior to this season. I learned more about him and LOVE him even more!

*Valentines Day is ... MONDAY! Aaron and I are leaving this evening for Santee Cooper, SC. He has property on the lake up there. JUST.THE.TWO.OF.US! I informed him I did not want anything for VDAY since so much love & attention has been on us with the wedding. Spending the weekend with him in a place that HE LOVES is exactly what I wanted. Hopefully the weather won't be TOO TOO cold so we can do some fishing! I.CAN'T.WAIT!!!

Wishes everyone a wonderful weekend filled with Love & Happiness!

got my apron on...

a cheap bottle of wine, homemade meal in the oven & my man is on the way home! It's date night! Ohhhh yeahhh!
Life can't get much better than this! Life is good today! Happy Monday everyone!