DAR

I also wanted to share some exciting news of my very own! This week I received my certificate from the Daughters of the American Revolution!!! It is official and I know my grandparents would be so proud! Okay, I am going to geek out on the geneaology for a moment...my ancestor who fought in the American Revolution is Joel Chambliss of North Carolina, this goes back eight generations starting with me, my dad, my grandpa and then five more. Lucky for me I have some wonderful realitives who enjoy researching this kind of information and provided the needed documentation for generations 5-8, I just had to trace back to my great-grandparents. Still this was not an easy task especially considering what all is needed, I could go into some great detail but let's just say birth certificates have not always existed. Okay, enough of tooting my own horn!

Happy Birthday Brandon!

UPDATE
Brandon had a third birthday celebration...Brandon and I went out to eat at Connor's with mom, dad, Lanny and Judy. We had a wonderful time and had a wonderful meal! He might start thinking he is special with all of these birthday celebrations :-)! Love you Brandon and thanks mom and dad!

I know it is a day late, but I just wanted to celebrate Brandon's Birthday one more time! Yesterday Brandon turned 37 years old! We celebrated by having dinner at Rosie's in Huntsville and then we saw Harry Connick Jr in concert at the VBC. It was such a good concert and much more personal than any other concert I have ever attended. He entertained us all with a little New Orleans style jazz, a little "grandpa" music (this is how Harry described it), a little q&a and a lot of laughs. It was more of a variety show. Brandon and I both had a wonderful time! Happy Birthday Sweet Husbandino, I love you!

Everybody's Birthday

On Saturday Brandon and I went to Moulton to celebrate "Everybody's Birthday!" Emily's (sis-in-law) birthday was yesterday, Brandon's is Thursday and Susan's (mom-in-law) is Friday! We had a wonderful time visiting with the family and received some exciting news, Emily is expecting and due in October! The Nix family continues to grow!

Now we are going outside to enjoy the beautiful day!

Balance

This week has been particularly difficult, work has been crazy and a couple of my friends have been dealing with some difficult situations. My daily challenge is a good work/life balance. This week has been heavy on the work side, even though my thoughts have been with Leah and Haley work has demanded all of my attention. I go to bed thinking about work and wake up and the first thing I do is check my work issued BB. Brandon has done most of the cooking and cleaning this week and I am so grateful that he does not mind picking up the pieces. My next thought goes to I can't imagine adding a child to this equation...

Leah and Haley my thoughts and prayers are with y'all.

Haley, I pray that you find peace with whatever decision you and Cameron decide to make. Let your motherly instincts guide you.

Leah, I pray that you recover quickly and that you do not have any setbacks.

So....

I knew I would have a hard time keeping up this whole blog thing. I was never good at keeping a diary and why I thought this would be easier I do not know...it all takes a little effort.

On to other exciting topics. Last weekend my mother and I and about 25 other women from the Scottsboro area attended the Women of Faith Conference in Atlanta. This was a wonderful experience and I am so glad that I was able to share it with my mom. Some of the speakers were therapists who provide a Christian side to therapy, some speakers simply gave their testimony and then there were also musicians. I really enjoyed the message that Patsy Clairmont delivered, it was based on her latest book. Basically it was about Fireflies in our life, some come and stay for awhile and some come and leave quickly, but these fireflies all leave a special place in our heart. She spoke of one special firefly in her life, her friend Carol who recently died of cancer. I think the reason that this message stayed with me is because I cannot imagine losing any of my dear friends especially to a disease that has already taken so many people from my life. It also made me realize that I need to make more of an effort and let more things go. People are much more important than the little things.

Photos to Commemorate the Early Days

My house on Masonic that Brandon power-washed.

The restaurant where Brandon and I ate on our first date.

About Us

Brandon and I met due to the efforts of my good friends Leah and Dennis Fuqua and Brandon's brother Brock. Who knew that after knowing Brock for so many years that I would become part of his family. We had our first date in August of 2007, not your typical date...Brandon power washed my house and then we ate at Stevarino's. He was very sweet he brought me a housewarming gift, candles! After a short "courtship" we became engaged over Veteran's Day Weekend 2007. Then the planning began, I instantly knew where and when I wanted to get married. We were married on October 25, 2008 at Oak Alley Plantation in Vacherie, LA. It was my dream wedding, I have always wanted to be married at this beautiful Southern Plantation...it is reminiscent of Twelve Oaks on Gone with the Wind and it is where Bo and Hope (Days of Our Lives) were married. The home was featured in many other films, but these come to mind first. We bought a house in Cullman, AL in a quiet cul-de-sac neighborhood and are really enjoying making it a home.