Today is July 26, 2010

Do you know what this means? Chad and I have been married for a whole month! We went for a swim yesterday evening and as we were swimming around he looked at me and said, "I can't believe we made it this long!" haha I laughed at him and said I know, look at your hair! We have been together going on 7 years. It will be 7 years on February 25th. A silly hairdo is not going to scare me away. It was my idea in the first place, I just didn't know if he would go through with it. But, knowing Chad he wont turn an opportunity up like that. It has been a wonderful month together. It is fun to look back at the pictures. Chad's mom and I looked at them together recently and cant believe how perfect everything was. We are going to the beach this weekend and I have a surprise; we put an album together for them. I know she will cherish it. I also have all of the pictures on cds so that she can't pick and chose certain ones she would like to have. I hope to do something special for my mom too. I think she was ready for a break from wedding planning, really from anything wedding. It's a lot of work. It's been a month! I can't believe it.

T Minus 8 days

A week from today we will get to escape for a short weekend at the beach. Chad's whole family is leaving for the beach this week. We took off so much time for the wedding and the honeymoon so we will only be able to go on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I won't argue because I feel blessed to just have the short time that we will be there. I am excited to look for seashells because in Key West there were none. :( I am an expert shell seeker and it's hard to go to a beach with absolutely none. I imagine I will have plenty of pictures, especially of his family's reaction to his new "look." hmmm... :P

Mommy's Little Monster

It is July 20th. Can anyone believe that? This means that Charlie is 10 months old, wowee! He is my little monster and everyday he tells me that he wants a sister named Lucy, hmmm? Am I ready for number 2? Egh... Maybe when he is 2. He has grown up so much; no more chewing, no more wanting to go out every hour on the hour, we're over the puppy visits at the vet, he's becoming a big boy. I think he is just about 45lbs which I would be more than happy to have a 50lb bulldog. I don't know if I can take him running and dive bombing me if he gets over 50lbs. He has been staying at 45lbs for the past few weeks but Chad says he won't really be full grown until he's about 2 years old. He is still so small compared to Bailey so Chad and I call him our little package. Sometimes I will go in the living room and he will be snuggled up to Chad and he will say, "look at my little package" (not in a vulgar way, get your mind out of the gutter). Here are some cute pictures I just took, just a couple of minutes ago. :)

Highland Games

"Oh there's sober men and plenty, and drunkards barely twenty, there are men of over ninety that have never yet kissed a girl but give me a ramblin' rover, Fae Orkney down to Dover, we will roam the country over and together we'll face the world..."
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I haven't really had much time to blog lately. Life has set in this summer; seems like once something is over with there is something else to anticipate. Chad and I love the life we are living and wouldn't change anything we have done together thus far. It is very nice to get away for the weekend and when we went to the Highland Games it was the perfect getaway.

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There are no real words to describe the feeling at the Highland Games. It is almost like you step into a different time, a different country, a different world. First things first, you have to ride an old school bus up the side of Grandfather Mountain to get to the "Meadow." Once you step foot off the bus many smells reach your nose; some good, some not so good. The first smell was the smell of a burning fire because there were hundreds of people camping. It was an interesting site to see because you have to walk through the campground to get to the gates. Almost everyone was in a kilt or some form of traditional Scottish attire. The temperature was wonderful; it was in the upper sixties when we got there. When you get through the gates you begin to smell breakfast. There were breakfast biscuits or traditional favorites like Scottish eggs (Chad's new favorite breakfast item). The next thing I remember was hearing all the bagpipes playing the Scottish anthem of sorts.

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The view was amazing and you could almost hear the music echoing off the mountains. When you see the playing fields, it's almost like a huge football field, only they are not playing football. Around the field is a track, then around the track are all the tents which house the "Clans." All of the traditional Scottish names you think you would see, were there, MacArthur, Graham, Wallace, Mackay(Shannon, does James spell his name like that?), MacDougall, Munroe, Ramsay, along with many others. It was really nice because there was a constant breeze which sent all the Scottish flags flying, it was so neat.

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We hope to visit the Highland Games in Laurinburg in the beginning of October and Chad's parents hope to join us. I think Chad and I will be all decked out in Scottish garb when we go. I will make sure and let you know about it and post some pictures, it should be a sight to see.

Micro-cotton Towels

Chad and I have actually had time to sort through almost all of our wedding gifts this week, Charlie too. He feels the need to be a part of everything to do with the pile of wedding gifts. We got everything we could have ever needed. The coolest thing that I pulled out to use today wasn't bought off of our registry; Biltmore Micro-cotton Towels. We avoided registering for overly priced items like some of the Biltmore items because we know how everyone is trying to scrunch their spending. These towels are $14.00 a piece regularly; we received 4, including hand towels and wash cloths. These towels are amazing!! If you are in need of new towels you need to check these out! Or, you ladies that I know who are getting married, you need to register for these, and Lori, your kitty party, register for these! They dry fast and they dry your body fast. When you are all done they aren't heavy with water; strangest thing. Pretty awesome. You may think this is a silly reason to blog, but I am so happy about these towels. They were meant for us. Thanks to Frankie and Elaine! You read my "wish I could have all Biltmore stuff" imaginary registry. Especially now that I hear Biltmore merchandise will be non- existent in a few short months.

Adventures of Mr. and Mrs. Brown

I cannot tell you how many amazingly fun adventures we have been on since our honeymoon! I think there are more than the fingers on my hand. We have been on the adventures of fixing Chad's car, the adventures of the English bulldog (Charlie has an upper respiratory infection, yay!), the adventures of renting a car, the adventures of going back to school, the adventures of my dad throwing his back out (he is stuck upstairs, I am a little scared), and the adventures of Hallmark Ornaments. Is there a rule that says when you go on vacation that when you come back you have to go through hell? I need a vacation after my vacation! It has been a rough week.

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We were able to go to the Highland Games this past Saturday and Chad and I are official Graham Clan Members, yay! Chad was so excited to hear about his ancestors and we brought home lots of information for him to read too. We have an official Graham genealogist now that can help us trace back to specific relatives and know specific dates. I keep wondering when things will slow down but it doesn't look like they are going to anytime soon.

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We have made our Christmas plans. Last night we chose which cruise we are going on. We leave on December 11th for 6 days. We are leaving from Charleston and we have 2 days in separate cities in the Bahamas and 1 full day in Key West, and a couple days at sea. We are so excited. We are posting a map of the world in our front room (office, spare bedroom) of all the places we have been and all the places we still want to go. We are planning a big trip in the Spring of 2012 because I graduate in the Winter of 2011 so we are all going to celebrate in Scotland and Ireland. So far we have a group of 7 people going. We look forward to that trip everyday, and our savings keep growing little by little. Between now and then we will settle with smaller more affordable trips, like our cruise in December.

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I will leave you with a couple of fun pictures of Chad and I in Key West, smile. :) Also check out the few I put on our slideshow from our parasailing adventure.

Highland Games

Our first day trip adventure as Mr. and Mrs. Chad Brown. We are headed to Grandfather Mountain Saturday for the Scottish Highland Games. Chad has been researching his family tree the past 6 months and it turns out the Graham Clan will be there tomorrow. Chad is the first born Graham in his line in North Carolina. The other Graham's migrated to the Virginias many many years ago from Scotland. He is so excited to learn more tomorrow. Ancestry used to be a hard thing to find out and expensive, but not now. I hope to share many pictures and bring back lots of info. Stay tuned. :)

Sex on Fire

This was a song that I just learned of on our Honeymoon. I am not referring to any activities that happened during our honeymoon. This song will forever be stuck in our head when we think of our honeymoon because it was blaring on the radio when we went up parasailing. It was awesome. Here is a great picture that Chad and I love and hope to have it framed on the wall very soon. We had so much fun together and it was so nice to get away from EVERYTHING! By everything, I mean everything, no bills, no harping family members, no responsibilities. The only responsibilities we had were to each other and it was the best feeling in the world!

Send Me on My Way

Our Wedding day... hmmmm, smile. It was an amazing weekend to say the least. There was stress and there were tears but at the end of the day when everyone had left, Chad and I were married and it was the happiest day of our life! I have chosen a few select pictures that make us smile, from rehearsal to posing for the camera before the wedding. Please enjoy! :)
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The rehearsal. There were a lot of laughs at the rehearsal because none of us really knew what we were doing. They kept looking to me for answers, "Well, how do you want it Beth?" I have no idea? This picture on the left is priceless and it caused my dad to stutter when Pastor Scott said, "Who gives this woman...?" Our faces are priceless, apparently Chad is about to pee in his pants, Chad's dad Mike is leaning over laughing, well... you see my face, and my dad, haha. Good Times. Now the picture on the right I posted so you could see Chad's lovely boutonniere. I figured if I had to carry that silly bouquet he needed something too. :)

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Here is a picture of my hair which turned out better than I ever could have imagined. It also took a little longer than we expected which pushed everything back which then put everyone in a frenzy. It did take about an hour to get all of those silly bobby pins out too. But it was worth it. :) On the right, one of my favorite pictures of Chad, his parents, and I. All smiles, all happy! :) I don't know what we would do without them. I think I saw a couple of tears in Chad and his dad's eyes when I made it up to the gazebo.

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Here's a lovely photo of my parents and us. The sun in my dad's eyes. And my sister's and I on the right. I think the dresses were perfect, the flowers were perfect, I wouldn't have it any other way. :) How about some actual wedding pictures?

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I would like to post one more picture, of all the boys. I want to send a special thank you to my cousin Daniel and Dylan for standing in for Chad's brothers. We appreciate you guys going out getting a outfit and being a part of our ceremony. That's all I am going to say about that. :)

The photo on the right, coming down the aisle, tears and all. Eyes on Chad, eyes on Chad, eyes on Chad. Smile. :)

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And... We're married!

This was a very brief journal of photos but I hoped you enjoyed it. We had a blast! Now we are Mr. and Mrs. Chad reminds me every night. :)

Back to North Carolina, Back to Life

I can't say whether or not I am happy or sad to be home but I can say that I am happy to see my babies. I can't wait to share stories with my friends, and I am looking forward to going through all of our wedding pictures. I guess you could say I am happy to be back but I already miss The Keys.

I am also very happy to go see Eclipse. Ofcourse it had to come out while we were on our honeymoon! I think we have a pretty big group that wants to go, it should be interesting.

These next few days are going go be rough getting back into the groove of things but I hope to post some pictures for you, wedding and honeymoon. Keep an eye out, I will have some posted soon. : ) Have a Great Weekend!

Relax, Slow Down

Today I realized something, do you ever think you are living your life in fast-forward speed? Chad and I were relaxing in the pool today and we have observed some strange people. Today I think we met the fastest person. She practically told everyone in the pool her life story in 30 seconds. She is from New York, hmm? Most people we have met are from up North. She is 38 years old but not married to the man she is vacationing with. She is "pretty much" an attorney, or so she thinks. She is in school to be a paralegal? Hmmm? She also wants the wrinkles removed from her cleavage, it makes her look "old." hmm? There are 4 pools at our hotel so Chad and I moved over with the "older" people because they were more our speed. Since Chad and I have been here we have realized that most people who live in Key West live relaxed, slow-moving kind of lives. They enjoy the dinner they are eating, or the drink they are drinking, they don't rush to your table with the check; they don't rush at all. This woman we met today was all about rushing. Soak up the moment you are living in right now, relax.

Good Morning Key West

Rise and Shine! This morning we are headed to Duval Street, Mallory Square, Ernest Hemingway's House, and the Key West Lighhouse. We decided we would check-out on Friday so we have time to explore the gulf coast; this will be our last full day at Parrot Key. We've gots lots of fun planned between now and 8:00 tonight. We are also going to the sunset celebration at Mallory Square tonight.

We will be home in a couple of days. I miss my babies. I call to ask about Jack and Charles just about every other day. I can't wait to see them both, I especially can't wait to see my Charles. I miss having him in the bed with me because he is so affectionate. It won't be long and he will fill the nook between Chad and I. : )