Early Turkey Dinner

I've had a turkey from last year that Kroger gave to their employees (don't worry, the sell by date was in 2011) that we finally decided to make. Eric and I both didn't have to work and had the entire day to figure out how to make a turkey and make all the other dishes to go with it.

I'm not going to lie...I think the turkey turned out pretty well for it being our first time to make a turkey.

It was slightly dry and I don't know why really, but I am going to blame the ancient oven in our apartment! Ha!

To go with the turkey I made my mom's sweet potato casserole, baked corn and dressing. Allison made the mashed potatoes and gingerbread cake. Delicious!

Here's my handsome hubs with the turkey.

And the two of us.

4 years later...

Next Friday, the 19th, will be 4 years after my precious mom passed. Sometimes it doesn't even seem possible that it's been four years, but other times it seems like eternity since I've talked to her or hugged her. What hurts me most is all of the things she has missed or will miss. She and Dad always stressed the importance of college; she wasn't here to see me walk across that stage. I watched she and Dad have the most loving marriage, and she wasn't able to "give me away" with my dad. I've always seen weddings as a special time between the bride and her mother. Unfortunately I wasn't able to share all of those special moments with Mom. I wish she were able to see her grandkids - to love them and spoil them rotten.

I'm not bitter. At times I still am not able to give one good reason why things turned out the way they did, but I do not blame anyone - not her, myself or God. All I know and can live by is her life and example. She was a special mother, wife, sister and friend. I pray that I can make her proud and love others the way she did.

Nashville Ghost Tour

The Kroger Pharmacy crew had a night out on the town. We began at Los Cebollas in Madison for some yummy Mexican food. Then, we all headed to downtown Nashville for our Ghost Tour. We started off at the Hermitage Hotel to hear about the ghost haunting the top floor.

We were then taken to the State Capitol and told to look in the tower to look for Andrew Jackson's wife. I took lots of pictures and watched the tower the whole time but I did not see Mrs. Jackson.

We were taken to the tomb of James K. Polk next to the Capitol. Lots of orbs there!

Our next stop was a Catholic church (St. Mary's, I believe) where they had hidden a soldier's body from being ransacked during the Civil War. They say the body is still there in the church.

This is the church's door. The bottom bright spot is from the flash on my camera, but the top one is "unexplainable".

Our second to last stop was in Printer's Alley. It was the Rainbow Room. Skull Schulman, the owner, was murdered one night in that club to later be found by a cigarette salesman that routinely came to Printer's Alley. The Rainbow Room is now closed and serves as a storage place for the nearby bars which employees have had creepy experiences when going to fetch some supplies.

The final stop was the Ryman Auditorium. It was formally a church giving a reason for the pews. Tom Ryman is said to still haunt the Auditorium to make certain the shows are moral. There have been many other ghosts and incidents reported in the Ryman.

Busy Weekends

We've been on the go for the past few weekends. First weekend we went to Paducah for Eric's birthday. His mom says everyone's birthday falls on Sundays since it's the best day to get the whole family together. The next weekend, I had to work. Then, we traveled to Indiana for my cousin's wedding. It was so nice to see the family.

Last weekend, we were in Memphis to see Wicked at the Orpheum.

But we were also able to catch the Lee's (Mr. Lee is our elder who married us) hayride. We had a great time. There was hot apple cider, marshmellows, chili, hot dogs, and of course the hayride and good company. 

This coming weekend we're doing the Nashville Ghost Tour with my Kroger Pharmacy crew. Pictures to follow!

Happy Birthday, Eric!

Wednesday, Sept. 29, was Eric's 24th birthday. He's really old. I like the fact that he's older than me even if it's only 7 months older. :)

We celebrated by going shopping to spend our Bed Bath & Beyond gift card. We were going to get another set of our flatware. We only have one 5-piece setting. I use the little fork and little spoon and Eric uses the big fork and big spoon. We share the knife. Ha. (We do have other forks, spoons and knives in case you were worried). We ended up buying a lovely chocolate brown quilt set for the bedroom. I'm really excited. It should be here by Tuesday.

Then, we went to Genghis Grill. We always go there for birthdays. It was where he took me for our first date. It's always so yummy!

We came back and his best friend and best man, Mark, came over to celebrate with some cake and ice cream and Chocolate Eclair Cake (Eric's favorite dessert that I make). With 24 candles, I thought the fire alarm was going to go off.

Mr. and Mrs.

After 4 years of dating, Eric and I tied the knot. The wedding day was perfect and was everything I had wished for.

We had all of our wonderful friends as our wedding party with only one unfortunate event...Hurricane Earl. My best friend since middle school, Renee, got stuck in NJ because of expected high winds, etc. and they canceled most flights out of Newark. I missed her terribly and was looking forward to seeing her (it had been 5 years), but Mother Nature had other plans.

Our photographers were fantastic and captured all the right moments. The pictures are everything and more than I could ask for. Check them out: http://twogirlsandacameraphotography.blogspot.com/

The cakes...I chose Miss Muff'n in Germantown to do the cakes. They were semi affordable and had perfected the art of smooth buttercream icing. It looked like fondant. It was a four tiered cake and every tier had a different cake and filling...perfect. I had bought an "H" for a cake topper, but the day of the wedding I couldn't find it. I found it two days ago in a box. With extra flowers, the caterers and church ladies made a make-shift cake topper. The cake was simply designed, delicious and beautiful.

The flowers... Holliday Flowers was my final choice. They were professional and the flowers were stunning.

Everything was perfect. I'm excited to be married to my best friend and to start our journey together.