TJ and D

Cohen - 7 weeks old

2012-01-17T21:35:00.007-05:00

So we're finally in the swing of things around here, seeing that I went back to work last week. I wanted to give an update on all things Cohen.

- Cohen is holding his head up now and smiling at us. The coo-ing is just starting too. It is so much fun to see his personality!
- At first Cohen hated belly time, but we are slowly getting to where he will hang out on a mat and boppy for a while. Here's a picture of belly time at about 4 weeks - you can see the difference between this picture and the one above. (much more enjoyable now)- The cloth diapering is going great! (see his cute CD!) We are washing diapers about every other day but it is really no big deal. Our families have really bought into it too, it is so great to have everyone's support! I think Kathy has already washed and folded two loads of CDs! I have officially returned the pink and purple CDs I bought and am getting ready to replace them with a couple more boy-ish colors. I may even purchase an Oh Katy - I've heard good things above them. I will let you know what I think!
- Kathy (TJ's mom) and Lauren (my sister) are keeping Cohen while I am at work. On TJ's days off, of course, he will be keeping Cohen. This past Friday was TJ's first full say with Cohen and he did great! It was difficult to go back to work so soon, but I needed to be at school to get my internship hours completed for my last semester of grad school - so we figured if I have to be at school for my internship, I might as well go to school and teach and get paid! But I cannot deny that I am counting down the days to summer so I can spend every day with this sweet boy.
- Sleep and Cohen ... this has been an adventure! For the first few weeks, Cohen was not a great sleeper. When he's falling asleep, he startles himself and throws his hands in the air. And of course when this happens, he wakes up. Finally we decided to put him into a sleepsack and this has REALLY helped! (We call it the straight jacket!) But it really does keep him from slinging his arms all around. When I went back to work Cohen was sleeping about 3 hours at a time at night, but just this past weekend Cohen started sleeping 4 hours at a time - such a treat! ;)
- We will take Cohen back to the dr. at 2 months but I can already tell he has grown like a weed! As of this week, he is moving into 3 mo. clothes. I plan to keep taking pictures of him in this chair each month so we can watch how he changes over the next 11 months. He is growing so fast!
- I am breastfeeding Cohen and needless to say, that is going well (see picture above.) I am so thankful to have such great friends and family who have really encouraged me in this. My plan is to continue pumping while at school (which will all take place during my internship.) My site supervisor has been so encouraging and that has helped a lot with the back-to-work transition as well.
- Things Cohen likes:

his ABC wall - I catch him staring at it every time we are in his room. I think he could look at this wall for hours. We sing the ABC song constantly (and by we, I mean I.)
funny faces - this is how you get Cohen to smile. He loves for you to talk to him and stick out your tongue. (he will stick out his tongue when your stick out yours - so cute!)
his bouncy chair - my students at Butler got him this chair and it is his favorite place to sit.
his hands - Cohen LOVES his hands. He likes to flap them around and put them up by his face.
bath time - although this was not a favorite at first, Cohen enjoys a bath more and more each night. I cannot wait until he starts splashing water and playing with bath toys!
his changing table - this is where you get the best smiles out of Cohen.

Here's a pic of Cohen on his changing table after a bath - as content as can be! :)

Newborn Portrait Session

2012-01-06T21:39:00.005-05:00

I decided to book Cohen's first portrait session with another photographer, since i had no idea what I would feel like after the delivery and so that I could be in some of the shots. We decided to go with Kristen Hinson Photography. She was amazing! ... A true baby whisperer! :) Here's some of my favorites.

First Bath

2012-01-06T21:30:00.002-05:00

Cohen's cord fell off and we got to give him his first real bath at about a week and a half old. The first bath was an interesting experience. Cohen HATED it. We got the whole thing on video .... with him screaming to the top of his lungs.
We have perfected the bath experience a little since this first run. Thanks to some tips from our friends, we now use a heater to make the room nice and toasty and then pour warm water on him throughout the bath time. Also my mom recommended heating up his towel (in front of the area heater) so that he will be warm afterwards too. This worked beautifully! There's one thing we know ... this boy does not like to be cold!

Coming Home

2012-01-06T21:12:00.004-05:00

We came home from the hospital the Thursday after Cohen was born. It was exciting to introduce our new little addition to Cooper and Little. Cooper was more than excited for us to be home... he has not been by himself at the house for this amount of time ever, so it took a minute to get him to calm down. Once he stopped running around and barking, he finally made his way over to sniff out Cohen. (TJ brought a hospital blanket to the house with Cohen's smell on it the day before.) Our homecoming was emotional and wonderful. It was exciting to finally have our little one in our home. TJ did a great job giving Cohen a tour of the house and introducing him to his room. We had wondered for nine months if a little boy or little girl would enjoy this nursery... Cohen fit the room perfectly! :)

Cohen's first car ride

Here's the gang welcoming the new addition!

Welcome Cohen Tripp

2011-12-20T19:49:00.000-05:00

Sorry it has taken me a while to post about Cohen's arrival ... things have been a little crazy around here!

Cohen Tripp Devine was born three weeks ago today. (Happy 3 Week Birthday Cohen!)
He was born on Nov. 29th 2011. He weighed 8 lb. 9 oz. and was 20.5 in. long.

I thought today would be a good day to post Cohen's birthday story!

So I woke up Nov. 29th around 5:30 am. After using the restroom, I felt a slight trickle that I thought could be my water. I woke TJ up and told him about the trickle and he asked if I was feeling any contractions. To this point in my pregnancy, I had not felt any contractions at all - and this morning was no exception. I really was not sure that my water had broken - after all it was not the gush of water I had imagined it would be. TJ and I decided that we could wait and ask the dr. about the leaking at our appointment that day. Having the feeling that this could be the day, I stayed up and took a shower. We packed the car before our appointment, just in case.

My dr. appointment was at 9:50. They hooked me up to a machine to see if I was contracting and to monitor the heart rate of the baby. The nurses came in and monitored the test periodically - it was about a 20-30 min. test. After the test was over, the nurse said that one thing was for sure - I was not contracting. The doctor came in to check me and at that time we told her about the trickle I felt that morning. She decided to do a test to see if my water had broken. At the same time that she was running the test, she decided to check to see how far along I was. I was 3 cm. At that point she turned around to check on the test and next thing you know a puddle of water started to form on the floor. TJ brought this to the doctor's attention by saying - "Dr. Whitten, what about that..." Dr. Whitten said - that would be your ticket to the hospital, no need to finish the test! Everyone at the dr. office was so excited for us. We gathered up towels for the road and made our way to the car.

On our way to the hospital, we called / texted our family and friends to say that it was time! We also decided to stop and get some food on the way (despite the instructions that were given to us at our labor classes) ... since we had no idea how long this whole process would take. (I still was not feeling ANY contractions.)

We got to the hospital and settled into our room by noon. The dr. decided to start me on pitocin to jump start the labor. It was not until 3:30 or so that I started to feel contractions. Many of you may know, that my plan was to attempt to go as natural as possible for as long as possible. As the contractions got closer together, longer and more intense, I asked everyone just to be as quiet as possible. My way of dealing with the contractions was just to quietly endure the pain. By about 5:00, I looked at TJ and told him that I thought I wanted an epidural. (Which by the way ... TJ and the nurse were both awesome - they asked if I was sure I wanted the epidural and then once I said yes, they were totally on board with the change of plan - this was exactly what I needed at this particular time!) I asked the nurse for the epidural and she checked to see how far along I was. I had made it to 7 cm. (whew!) I got the epidural around 5:30 and within minutes there was a complete change of mood! I was sitting up, laughing, and chatting. I could tell that everyone was relieved with the decision because now they were not forced to tip-toe around while I suffered in pain.

Around 7:00 the nurses checked me again and I was at 10 cm. We waited for the nurses to switch shifts and then around 7:30 we began pushing. (TJ, Mom, Lauren and Kathy were all in the room with me .... they were all such a great support team.) I think we did more laughing than anything while the pushing was going on. The entire experience was much more enjoyable with the epidural! By about 8:15 the doctor joined us and at 8:56 Cohen was born!

The most memorable part of the entire delivery was those last few minutes before the birth. TJ looked over at me and whispered - "Delaney will be here in just a few minutes." We were both THAT convinced that we were having a girl. With that final push, TJ leaned forward to look and said .... "It's a ... boy .... IT'S A BOY!!!" I will never forget the excitement in his voice. We were both surprised! They took Cohen over to be cleaned and weighed. He weighed in at 8 pounds 9 ounces. They brought him over to me for me to meet for the first time. He was precious! The entire moment was perfect!

TJ was so excited that he sent our moms out to tell the dads that it was a boy. TJ did not want to leave our side! Once we finished the first feeding, everyone joined us in the delivery room and we took tons of pictures!

The nurses and our Dr. (Dr. Kalich) at CMC Main were AMAZING! We wouldn't change a thing about the entire day!

Hello and Goodbye Due Date

2011-11-28T07:51:00.004-05:00

NOVEMBER 27th was our due date... it came and went so quickly! I think the typical mother-to-be would be rather bummed about this but honestly I see it as a blessing. I have told everyone at school that my last day would be Nov. 22nd (the Tuesday before Thanksgiving Break) and baby or no baby, I would not be coming back until after maternity leave was up (mid Jan.) It was still strange this morning to lay in bed and watch the clock pass 5:00 am (which is my usual wake up time) and then 6:15ish (the usual leave time) and then 7:15 (school start time.) I found myself thinking about all of the things I have told my sub and some of the things I forgot to tell her - like this one student who still needs to make up a test.... I guess they will figure that out?!? I got out of bed, fed the animals - the usual routine that typically occurs 2 hours earlier - and then sat down to check emails and browse through FB and Pinterest. It just feels really strange to have today off but I am rather excited about it! TJ has the day off too - I think we are going to run some errands and then resume the nesting tradition by cleaning out the spare bedroom closet - which is something we have been saying we needed to get to for months! I have no papers to grade, lessons to plan, papers to write ... that's crazy! I have already closed out the semester with my Monday night professor, so he is definitely not expecting me tonight, even if I have not had the baby (I think he was afraid the entire semester that my water would break during his class.) ... So tonight I may go to a sewing class with mom. Despite the anticipation of meeting our new little one, I am really glad that he/she has given us a little more time just to relax before the big appearance. The only major concern is that at this point in time the baby is just getting bigger (two appointments ago the Dr. was guessing around 8 - 8.5 lbs?!?) - so of course, I don't want him or her to wait around too long. :) We have our next doctors appointment tomorrow morning - we'll see how it goes from there.

A lot of my family has guessed that this baby would be here on Nov. 29th - which is tomorrow. I was born two days past my due date - due April 27th, born on April 29th. PLUS I am one of many in my family born on the 29th! - My dad was born July 29th and my granny on Nov. 29th (tomorrow is her birthday.) So it does make sense that the baby would join the 29th club - I guess we'll have to wait and see!

I thought I would conclude with some more pictures from our maternity shoot. Kristin and Aaron Byrum from Kristin Byrum Photography are responsible for these amazing shots! We could not be happier! The extra cool part is that these shots were taken as part of an Africa mission trip fundraiser. Kristin and Aaron will be traveling to Uganda with e3 ministries in January (I think) .... Please keep them in your prayers as they share the gospel there!

The nursery tour ...

2011-11-19T22:18:00.005-05:00

Here's a shot of the whole nursery. Mom made the bedding for the crib and my Uncle Larry covered the chair for us.

This was an old dresser that we refinished.

I saw this idea on Etsy and then made one of my own!

This was the sign in picture for all of our showers ... guests got to guess if they thought is was a boy (silver thumbprint) or girl (yellow thumbprint). We will add Delaney or Cohen's name at the bottom when she/he arrives.

TJ and Mom made the cornace above the window. TJ built the frame and mom covered it.
This rocking horse was made by my papaw for my nursery in 1983. Mom gave it to us to add to our nursery.

Fun knobs from Hobby Lobby.

This crocheted blanket is very special! ... My mamaw made it in anticipation of her first great grand baby. We found it in a closet after she passed away. (one for my first baby and another for Lauren's first baby)

Fabric rings - Saw this idea on Pinterest. The blank ring will be the baby's first letter initial - but we cannot add it until after the baby is born. Some of these cross stitching rings are from mamaw's stash and have her initials "LB" in them.

The alphabet wall ... first saw this idea online and decided to go out hunting for letters. The first letter I found was the big Q (strange letter to find first) ... The "I" is a ruler ... it says "Kiser School" on the back - did I steal this from Kiser when I was in elementary school? I hope not?!? .... Either way, it has made its way into the collection!

Putting the nursery together was SO much fun. We are really pleased with how it all came together! Now we just need a baby to make it complete! ;) Only 1 week til the due date!

Counting Down the Days

2011-11-15T20:54:00.004-05:00

We cannot believe that we are 38 weeks pregnant! We are due Nov. 27th which is only about a week and a half away. The past nine months have flown by! I think they have gone by so fast because we have been so busy! We are praising God that this has been such an easy pregnancy!
Since it has been such a long time since the last post, I thought I would give some brief updates:

Grad school:
I only have one week of grad school left and two papers to write by December (although I am going to try to get them both done this weekend.) This entire semester has been a blessing! I am taking three class (Internship, Leadership and Advocacy, and Structured Group) I decided this summer that it would be best to go ahead and finish all of my classes before the baby arrives. (with the exception of my second internship class which I cannot take until the Spring) So I was a little nervous about maintaining 3 classes, teaching and a counseling internship, oh ... AND being pregnant. At the beginning of the semester I thought I would have 1 online course and the other two would be face-to-face, but God has blessed me with one of the face-to-face classes becoming predominately online. So I have only had to report to UNCC's campus one time a week (with the exception of only a couple of weeks) This has been so nice late in the pregnancy because I am very tired in the afternoons. So I am almost finished with grad school. Just an internship class and internship in the Spring and then I will be graduating in May! WOOHOO!

School/Teaching:
I finally got a substitute teacher to teach my Civics and AP Psychology classes while I am out on maternity leave. She was officially approved by CMS this week. Yay! I am praising the Lord for this enthusiastic new teacher.... she is going to do great! I have spent the last few weeks trying to compile lesson plans while I am out on maternity leave. I still have several things to do for these to be complete ... hopefully the baby will hold off until after the 22nd so all of this can get finished! My last day teaching will be the 22nd... Even if I don't go on my due date, my plan is to take sick days off until I have the baby. I figured if anything this would be some relaxing time for me before I lives turn to baby care 24/7!

Baby:
We have breezed by the every two week appointments and are now in the weekly appointments. Everything seems to be on track and normal! We will return to the doctor this Friday and then again on Wednesday next week (the we are due that Sunday - wow.) We will deliver at downtown CMC. Daily people ask me if we are ready or am I excited to find out if we have a boy or a girl .... for those few seconds, I freak out and realize how close it is, and then I snap out of it and realize all of the things I need to do before Nov. 27th. Now that it is almost here, I am excited that we do not know if our little one will be a boy or a girl. I am most excited for TJ to go out and announce the gender to our families!

Other exciting things going on:
- We had out maternity pictures taken by Kristin Byrum Photography. I cannot wait to see them! (I will definitely share some when they arrive!) Kristin and her husband Aaron are going on a mission trip in January to Africa. They offered up photo sessions for donations to help raise money for their trip. It was so cool to be able to support them in their mission AND to get some amazing pictures. Kristin and Aaron were awesome! - So friendly and funny.... they were so much fun to work with!

- The nursery is FINISHED! I hope to get some of the random things sitting around cleaned out this weekend and take lots of pictures. Total room tour coming soon!

- We got to spend last weekend at the mountains with TJ's parents and TJ's sister's family. It was great to see everyone and to relax for a bit. I got a lot of work done ... grading papers, editing pictures. We got a second to take pictures of Maddie and Mikey. Man, they are growing up fast. I will try to post pictures of them soon. (I have not had a chance to edit these yet)

Well, that's all for now. More updates coming soon!

Crazy Fall

2011-09-26T21:10:00.004-04:00

Just checking in to give some quick updates ...

- I am surviving this crazy schedule (teaching, counseling, 3 class, photog stuff, along with being pregnant) ... Staying busy has made the past month FLY by. I cannot believe that we are almost to October.
- I have also been planning EGHS's 10 year reunion ... most of the planning is finished - The reunion weekend is coming up Oct. 7-9.
- With the fall season, always comes NC State football. The first game we got to take some friends from church - Brad and Frank. Brad is considering going to NC State ... so we took him up to the campus, gave him a personal Devine tour and then to the Liberty game.
We had great weather for the first game ... the second game however was rainy and gross! Hopefully this weekend's game vs. GA Tech will be better!

Baby updates:
- We are set for cloth diapering... all of the diapers are in along with all of the accessories.
- The baby is moving a lot more these days! It is such a cool feeling - I really have enjoyed being pregnant! I am going to savor these last two months (only two months left, can you believe it?)
- Many have asked about the nursery - I have not forgotten about all of you - I am waiting on the last few finishing touches and for mom to finish the bedding (we have had a series of sewing machine malfunctions) ... I promise, the finished product is coming soon and I will give you a complete picture room tour!
- All of my doctors visits have been great! I passed the gestational diabetes test and the doctors are saying I am right on track and rather "boring" .... which I guess is good when it comes to pregnancy.
- Our maternity photography session and newborn baby sessions have been booked! :) Here's the two photographers we will be using (Kristin Byrum - maternity and Kristen Hinson - Newborn) I am so excited about these! ... They will be the first time we have had another photographer photograph us since our wedding! I am so glad the pressure is off of me and that I can sit back and enjoy these sessions! :)
- We had our first shower this past weekend at Alexis. Our friends and family from home are so amazing! Here's a quick shot from the shower, more to come later, I am sure!

Mom got us this "baby's first Christmas" ornament ... I was always obsessed with my first ornament growing up - It automatically comes to mind as one of my favorite ornaments. I guess this one will be a new favorite on the tree this year :)

Things still to do ASAP!!
- I still have to find a long term sub for my classes ... please help me pray for the right person to come along and that they are enthusiastic about the job.
- I also need to finalize lesson plans - the thought of going into labor early is not something I want to think about... but if it happens, I guess I should be prepared!
- We need to find a pediatrician. Any tips on interviewing a pediatrician?
(I am sure there are a million more ... these are the ones that are on my mind right at this second!)

More updates coming soon ... Just wanted you all to know that we are still alive! ;)

Cloth Diapers

2011-08-19T21:33:00.006-04:00

You have probably looked at the title of this post and thought .... she's crazy! If you have talked to me the past few weeks, I may have mentioned to you my growing interest in the cloth diaper craze. Until recently, I had no idea that the cloth diaper industry had been revolutionized. I knew that cloth diapers were easier than they were for my parents and my parents' parents ... but I really didn't know how easy it has become.

So I guess this is what you may think of when cloth diapers come to mind ... right?

But recently I have realized that cloth diapers have evolved to THIS!

So my interest really started when my friend Megan started talking about experimenting with cloth diapers - mainly using them at home with her daughter Kadence. When Megan showed me the diapers she had ordered... I was amazed! I had no idea that cloth had become so much like regular diapers. So after Megan introduced me to BumGenius... I started doing my research.

Here's my understanding of the positives of cloth (please note - this is just from my research - I am sure that my list will become more refined after experience)

- My number one reason for investigating this was to save some money. Babies are already expensive enough and as soon as I mentioned it to TJ (you all know how cheap he is) he was all for it! (and game for helping clean them too) Once you invest in cloth, the idea is you don't have to spend any money on diapers for the rest of the time your child is in diapers. (see the next point) It is estimated that a cloth diaper family will save $1500 per child.
- Another cool thing is that depending on what style you go with, the diapers grow with the child. For example this bumgenius diaper (pic above) is an all in one diaper and grows with the child from 8 lbs. to 35 lbs. (way cool!)
- Less diaper rash / Less diaper blowouts - these are statements that I have read from blogs. Again - this will have to be tested with time.
- You can use cloth diapers from one kid to the next... as long as you take care of them like the manufacturers suggest.
- It's good for the environment. There are so many statistics about how many diapers fill our landfills each year. Although I do care about the environment - this is not the main reason I researched cloth diapers (I have to be honest), but it is an added bonus!
- There are also tons of reports about what kinds of chemicals are in regular diapers. Again - I do not get all wound up over things like this - I am sure I will feed our kids processed foods, they will have sweets now and then, they will probably drink juice and soda eventually - so the fact that the baby will avoid these chemicals is also a bonus to me - but not a huge selling point.
- Finally they come in really cute patterns and colors - and who doesn't like that?!?

And here's my understanding of the negatives of cloth diapers:

- OK so for me the most obvious is more contact with poop. You have to clean cloth diapers, there's no way around that (unless you want to pay some service to come and take your diapers, clean them and return them ... which defeats our number one reason for looking into cloth.) So I have tried to gather as much info about how to clean a cloth diaper and what this is really like (there are actually youtube videos out there of women cleaning real poop off of diapers.) So after seeing what this part is going to be like... I have to admit, it doesn't seem so bad. Diaper companies even make sprayers that hook into the line of your plumbing and toilet so that there's minimal contact with all the waste. I think this will make it much easier!
- My second major concern was the smell. Ugh! I do not want my house to smell like a diaper! After reading a lot of suggestions, I think this one is going to be trial and error. A good sealing bin, a pail liner, a wet bag, baking soda ... these are all things I have heard manage / get rid of the smell.
- You have to do laundry ever couple of days ... so I do this anyway. I really like doing the laundry ... so it is not a big deal to add in one more load.
- There are special washing instructions and special detergents to use. All of this is required to maintain the absorbancy of the diapers. So while it sounds like a pain at first, I am sure it will become second nature after we get started.
- Major cost upfront - I have figured that cloth is going to cost about $500 to have a substantial supply of diapers (I think we are going to shoot for 24 ... and this price also includes, pail, detergent, liners, sprayer and wet bags)
- We'll have to find a daycare that allows for cloth diapers (we will not have to worry about this until later since our fabulous families have offered to help out with the baby until I finish out the school year)

Here's some of the practical advice that we are going to listen to as well

- I don't think we have to be 100% cloth. I am definitely for incorporating regular diapers into the mix too... for example... when we're shopping, on vacation, etc.
- I may wait a few weeks to start using cloth. This was suggested on several of the sites. (although there are many moms that also use cloth on day 1) Waiting will allow the baby to get on more of a schedule and will allow us to get to know the ins and outs of taking care of a baby without worrying about cloth diapers too.
(So if you planned on showering us with regular diapers ... we would love them and use them! - this was TJ's mom's main concern - "what are people going to buy you if you do cloth diapers?" ... since we are not finding out the sex of the baby, diapers may seem like the most practical gift - and they will most definitely be used!)

So after considering all of the pluses and minuses... I think we are going to go for it. I have also asked our families (who will be helping take care of the baby) what they think and I must admit they were all skeptical at first... but I think they are coming around to the idea!

So thanks to all of you who have offered advice... I look forward to keeping you updated on how it goes! I am hopeful that I will love it! (but a little part of me is scared that we will invest all of this money in cloth and hate it) ... I guess we will not know until we try!

I leave you with some more fun pictures of cloth diapers...

Fuzzi Buz All in Ones

BumGenius Artist Series with Snaps
BumGenius Pocket All in Ones with Velcro

Don't these just make you smile?

Goodbye, Summer!

2011-08-11T22:56:00.003-04:00

So I survived my very last semester of summer classes. I took five classes this summer - technically 4 classes and 1 conference class. I am SO excited to have these classes behind me. I have 2 classes left in my master's program along with a year long internship. I will be taking both of these classes this fall along with doing an internship at Butler. I had originally planned to one class in the fall and one in the spring, however... after considering that I will have a human to take care of in the spring - I thought it would better to only have the internship. So this fall is going to be MADNESS! Class on Mon, Tues (online), and Wed., NC State football games, baby showers, photo shoots, the National Counselor Exam, and finally A BABY! :) I think if we can make it to Nov. we will be great!

I have the Comprehensive Counselor Exam on Monday next week. (the first of three tests that I have to take to be a counselor) After Monday I will officially have 2 days off and then start workdays on Thursday next week. And of course, kids will flood the halls of Butler a week later. Let the madness begin!

Devine Baby Names

2011-08-01T21:10:00.002-04:00

So we thought now is as good a time as any to announce baby names. Since we don't know if it's a boy or a girl, we had to come up with both. So here they are ...

IF IT'S A GIRL.... Delaney Reese

IF IT'S A BOY .... Cohen Tripp

So here's the story behind the names ...

First of all, selecting baby names as a teacher is SO difficult! Every name of every student already comes to mind with a face, a personality and even a grade. This makes the whole process a bit more complicating... But here's how we came up with these names.

Delaney - I first heard this name when a student was writing about her family. All of her siblings had names that started with Ds and Delaney was the name of her youngest sister. I loved the name the second I heard it and it has always been in the back of my mind as a possible baby name. Delaney is from English origin and means "from the alder grove."

Reese - There's no real story behind this name. I really like the name Reese. We do not personally know anyone named Reese but liked the name. Reese is from Welsh origin and means "running or enthusiasm"

Cohen - Picking out a boy name was hard. It seemed like every name I liked, TJ marked off the list. Cohen happened to be name that we both really liked. Cohen is from Hebrew origins and means "priest."

Tripp - OK... so there's definitely a story here. TJ is a "junior," so there was the expectation that we would name our son "Terry Alvin Devine, III." We always said that if we named our baby after TJ we would call him Tripp (as in "the third" or "triple") But I know how the first day of school always works for kids who go by a name different from their given name - The teacher calls out the name on the roster and then lots of time and energy is spent trying to get teachers to call you the name you want to be called rather than your given name.... I go through this every semester with new students. So we decided to honor the idea of TJ's name with the middle name "Tripp." Tripp is from American English and means "the third."

Atlanta on the 4th

2011-07-24T11:26:00.004-04:00

TJ and I took a trip to Atlanta the weekend before July 4th. We found out that the Orioles (TJ's favorite baseball team) were playing the Braves and we both had the weekend off (TJ had the weekend off for work and I had a couple days off from school.) We looked around for a hotel that allowed dogs and found out that Atlanta is a rather dog friendly city. We stayed at Hotel Indigo - an uber-dog-friendly hotel. When we arrived Friday night, they already had dog bowls, a bed and treats set out for Coop. This was our first time taking Cooper to a hotel, so I was a little anxious about leaving him by himself in a strange place with no one around. We rested for a bit in the room and allowed Cooper to get himself acquainted with our room. Then we headed out for the Braves v. Orioles game. Our friends Paul and Abby hooked us up with one of their friends who had tickets that they were not using. So we got our seats for free and they were amazing seats! We were staring right down the 3rd base line, about 15 rows from the front row. Although the O's lost, we had a good time! After the game they had fireworks, which was a nice surprise. When we returned to the hotel, it was clear that Cooper had made himself at home - there was dog hair all over the bed. We took Cooper for an evening walk through downtown Atlanta and called it a night. The next morning we woke up and found a dog-friendly restaurant called Bab's. We sat out on the porch and had a great breakfast before heading home. Cooper was a perfect traveler ... I think he could really get used to this premier treatment.

Hotel Indigo really knows how to treat a pup ... dog bowls, treats and a bed .... that is more like a pillow for Cooper. :)

Gourmet Doggy Treats

"This is the life!"

At the Braves v. Orioles Game

At Bab's Midtown for Breakfast

Oh ... I forgot to mention - Hotel Indigo was reasonably priced and had no pet fee. To get the extra canine treatment it costs $5 which is all given to the Humane Society. The rooms are small but very cute. All of the guests with dogs stay on the same floors so that they do not disturb the non-dog guests. We will definitely stay here again if we go back to Atlanta.

20 weeks

2011-07-13T21:20:00.003-04:00

Well the pregnancy is half over. I really cannot believe it! I thought I would share a little about about the pregnancy thus far for those that I don't talk to on a regular basis and really just for my documentation.

How are you feeling?
These first twenty weeks have really been great! I have not been sick or even nauseous at all (which I am so thankful for!) I have been noticing that I am sleepier earlier. I have fallen asleep to every movie TJ has started after 10:00 since the pregnancy started. The only (minor) complaint would be back pain ... which are always relieved with a boppy maternity pillow and TJ's paralyzing massages.

Run Mama Run!
Since the summer started, I have been running on a pretty regular basis. My doctor told me that since I have been running for such a long time, that I could continue to run throughout the pregnancy until it was no longer comfortable. The first few weeks of summer were really busy - I had three weddings to shoot in six weeks. So I was only running a couple days a week, trying to catch up on school work, photog work, and sleep. Since July and the second summer session started I have been running about three miles most mornings. Now this is a much slower three miles than my pre-pregnancy pace, however - something is better than nothing.

How's the appetite?
Everyone has been asking me if I have had any strange cravings. And really I haven't. The only thing that I have wanted that I really didn't eat pre-pregnancy are spinach leaves. Those that know my eating habits know that I am not usually a fan of salads. Me and lettuce are really not fond of each other. However, I have had the desire for something leafy and green. So I have been enjoying quite a few spinach salads with strawberries and blueberries and raspberry vinaigrette dressing. I have also added a nightly glass of chocolate milk to the menu. But other than that, I have not been craving a lot of strange things.... definitely not pickles and ice cream (gross!) I have noticed that I get full faster and am eating more snacks throughout the day (which all of the baby books recommend.)

Have you felt the baby?
Since about 16 weeks people have been asking if I have felt the baby. To be honest, I really did not know what I was waiting to feel. So many told be it feels like a flutter or gas bubbles. It was not until our 18 week ultrasound that I realized I had been feeling the baby for about a week. After seeing our little one toss and turn (really ... somersaults) I realized that what I was feeling was the baby. I think I was waiting on an elbow to the bladder or something?!? But really it is nothing like that at all. The baby moves a lot at night and I have felt him/her move after drinking caffeine.

Boy or Girl?
So I think we are like the only people in the world who are not finding out if we are having a boy or a girl. People always ask - are you having a boy or a girl? - and of course I follow it by saying.... "we are not going to find out" or "it's going to be a surprise" .... They act like I have just told them I that I am from another planet. Although many are shocked, most everyone follows it up by saying that they wish they would have waited to find out with their own children or that we will be so glad we are not finding out when it is all said and done.

So many are asking WHY?? Really .... there are very few surprises in life these days - I usually know what I am getting for Christmas (because I ask for it / pick it out), we plan our vacations out to the *nth degree, you can even look up spoiler endings to tv shows (which I don't do .... but I know many people who do). Society has done everything possible to eliminate most of the surprises in life. With that being said, if we have then chance to add a huge element of surprise to this pregnancy for us and for our families and friends, then why would we ever pass up that opportunity? Practically not knowing the gender forces us to think gender neutral which I am sure we will appreciate on down the road when there's another baby on the way. When we told my parents that we were expecting, we got into this conversation of knowing the sex. TJ was saying that he did not want to find out and I quickly reported that we would definitely find out what we're having. My dad told us that they did not know the sex with me or my sister and that is was so much fun finding out at the delivery. The more I sat with the idea ... the more I came to appreciate that element of surprise and wanted to experience that too. So here we are ... the 18 week anatomy ultrasound has passed and we were not even tempted to find out the sex!

How are Cooper and Little ... do they know?
I am pretty sure that Cooper and Little have picked up on the changes that are coming. They have noticed the changes in the nursery and we find them hanging out in there a lot... much more than they used to. Cooper will start out sleeping in our room and then by morning he is curled up on the rope rug in the baby's room. I think they realize that we are pregnant. People say that animals can sense things like that. Little tries to sit on my stomach and Cooper will come up and snuggle next to my stomach. I think they are eager to meet their new best friend!

Do your old clothes still fit?
Sadly .... no. Most of my old clothes are not fitting any more. I have three pairs of maternity shorts and a maternity skirt that are worn weekly. I am able to wear a few of my pre-pregnancy shirts but have invested in a few maternity shirts as well. I have started looking for clothes that I can wear to work in the fall. Seeing that my wardrobe has significantly shrunk, I am really having to get use to wearing the same things over and over. I have found a few cute things at the Motherhood store in Concord but have really struggled with finding something other than a solid color cotton shirt to wear. (I am not really fond of all of the elastic / tie back shirts .... but I may just have to suck it up and get use to it the next few months)

Have you picked out names?
Since we don't know if we are having a boy or a girl ... we have to pick out both sets of names. We have a pretty good idea of the names we like. We talked about names on and off for weeks and the fact that we have kind of stopped talking about it makes me think we have decided on names. I think we will wait a little longer to reveal the possible names to the rest of the world. (but don't worry - they're coming .... we aren't going to make you wait for the sex AND the names too)

How's TJ during all of this?
TJ is just as excited as I am about this whole pregnancy thing. I think the shock factor really came when we bought the crib. He walks past the nursery all the time and says ... "uh-there's a crib in there." I think it has finally hit him that we ARE going to have a baby in just a few months. TJ is convinced (maybe just hopeful) that we are having a boy and refers to the baby as "he" all the time (don't worry.... I balance it all out by correcting him with .... "you mean she, right?') TJ is so supportive and really wants me to be comfortable. He has been painting the nursery, re-working the nursery closet, painting furniture, putting together a crib and anything else he can do to make this whole process go smoothly. In a few words... he's been INCREDIBLE!

So I guess those are the 20 week highlights. Pregnancy thus far has been great (with the exception of the ever-increasing weight on the scales) and we look forward to the next 20 weeks! Nov. 27th will be here before we know it!

Operation: Baby Nursery!

2011-07-05T16:53:00.010-04:00

So we have decided to get started on our nursery details. Although we just had our 18 week ultrasound, we decided not to find the baby's sex. So the plan is for everything to be gender neutral. (despite all of the "what?!? .... you're not going to find out what your having"s) So here's the plan ....

First stop was picking the crib color. We went to babies r us to pick out a crib and look at all of the options. We were trying to decide between a dark brown or white crib. The more I checked into the nursery sets, the more I wanted to pick something that was not going to require everything to match. After inspiration from Ohdeedoh room tours (I love this site!!), I decided to go with a more eclectic approach to the nursery. So with this eclectic vision, came a white crib. We found one we liked at Babies r Us and put it on our registry. We also began looking on craigslist and checking out consignment shops for used cribs, hoping that we could find one that was cheaper than the one we registered for. However, just last week we decided to check out USA Baby (per several recommendations from friends.) They had such a huge (and overwhelming) selection and everything was a bit pricey. So of course, in true TJ fashion, we gravitated towards the sale cribs in the center of the store. We found a white crib that had been marked down simply because they had two floor models. So here it is...

The Pali Mantova crib was originally $500+ but we got it for $200! The crib converts to a toddler and full bed. (but I am not so sure we will use it as a full size - I imagine by then we will invest in an entire set of furniture.)

So after I decided on a white crib, It was time to pick colors and bedding. I looked online at bedding for weeks! I just was not excited about a room filled with animals and flowers or cartoons. I think this is something that the baby will grown out of very quickly and that I will get tired of in a month. So ... I started checking out sites like The Baby Bedding Company to find a more sophisticated bedding set. I began exploring more colors than just your typical neutral baby green and yellow. In particular, I fell in love with the idea of a GRAY nursery. Here's the bedding that really began to spark my interest in gray as a nursery color...

However, with funky and different comes mucho dinero! This damask set was going to cost $400+ (yikes!) But it was enough to get the creative juices flowing. Since I couldn't really find any sets that I likes at the baby stores, I started thinking of other options. I called mom up and asked her if she was up for making baby bedding. Of course, she said yes and we set a date to go check out the world of fabric - Mary Jos.

Before we went to Mary Jos I wanted to pick a color pallet that worked with the gray. So here's what I came up with -
The color pallet is going to be mostly gray and white with a hint of yellow and robin's egg blue. The carpet in the nursery is the light brown color at the top and there will also be other natural brown accents in baskets and a rug. Here's the circle rug we picked up at Pottery Barn outlet.
So now that we had a color pallet, it was was time to head off to Mary Jos. Mom and I met at the store and set out on a mission to find fabrics that matched the inspiration. Here's what we found - A damask print that's just the opposite of the one from baby bedding (the most perfect find of the entire trip!!), A cute yellow and white bird print fabric, a simple white and blue stripe fabric and of course some solid grays and yellows to pull it all together. Mom was such a trooper - running from area to area, toting a million bolts of fabric with her. She's the best!
So the plan for the fabrics are- the damask will be the bumpers, the solid gray will be the bed skirt (both of these will have the slightest pit of yellow trim on them), the yellow print is for a chair. Now at this point I knew I wanted to get a chair covered - but I really didn't have a chair yet. (this was another thing we had been looking for on craigslist) .... so we bought enough fabric to cover the type of chair I wanted to find. I am not sure yet how I plan to use the blue stripe - maybe some wall art? pillows? who knows?!?

I also loved the idea of a unique color dresser for the room. We have an old dresser that has already been painted black... one that use to be a part of my bedroom furniture as a kid. So instead of buying a new dresser that matches the crib, the plan is to paint the dresser we already have. I think we are going to paint the dresser the robin's egg blue color! (how exciting!) and replace the hardware with fun glass knobs of some sort.

We also took a trip to IKEA to see what we could find for the nursery (and for additional storage in the house) Here's a few of the things we walked out with... A chair! Here's the chair we got (in the as is section) to be covered with the fun yellow print. My Uncle Larry covers furniture... so mom is going to deliver this to him ASAP!
We also bought two of these bookshelves from Ikea - When we got them home, however, I quickly noticed that Ikea white is not real white. It's more of a cream / off white. So I am not sure if we are going to keep these shelves. I think we are definitely going to take one back and I am going to see what Lowes says about painting the shelf. I thought about painting it true white or a darker gray.

Here's a couple of other Ikea finds...

So this is the plan so far. I figure that we better get most of the details ironed out before school starts since I will be juggling teaching, a counseling internship, two more grad classes, NC State football, oh ... and I guess I shouldn't leave growing a baby off of this list. (whew - I am tired just thinking about the fall!) Guess we better get started! ;-)

Topsail Island

2011-06-20T14:33:00.004-04:00

Well - Our summer has started off great! We spent the week in North Topsail Island with my family and all the dogs (Cooper, my parents' great dane and my sisters toy poodle.) This was our first family+dogs beach experience and it turned out great! We stayed in a cabin on the beach .... cooked dinner at home most nights and spent the days out in the sun. Cooper LOVED the water, needless to say. North Topsail has great leash laws for the beach ... your dog can be off leash when swimming and fetching - which was perfect! Cooper was on his best behavior (most of the time.)

It took just a little while for Cooper to get use to the waves. TJ played with Coop the whole week - Cooper loved fetching his tennis ball in the ocean and going on walks with Zeus and Happy.

In his down time, Cooper discovered what a crab is. He would sit and wait for crabs to come out of the sand and then try to pounce on them. It was hilarious!

One day, Maryann and Delilah came to visit for a few hours. It was great to see them. (Maryann is married to my cousin Shawn - who is in Afghanistan right now) Well, this beach trip was super relaxing ... probably one of our last relaxing beach trips for quite a few years. Here's a belly shot at 17 weeks.

Exciting News

2011-05-29T21:37:00.004-04:00

I am 14 weeks as of today (Sunday, May 29.) We have been holding on to this little secret for quite a while - we have known since 5 weeks. So let's start there...

We have been "trying" for over a year and tracking my basal body temperature was down to a science. TJ always said that he would know I was pregnant before I knew I was pregnant. (and I think he was right...) By the end of March we were starting to get that anxious and curious feeling that this might be the month. So one morning I got up and took a test before school (TJ was dead to the world, asleep in bed) .... My doubting eyes had to do a double take. I could not believe that I was seeing a faint pink line. I came in, woke TJ up and told him the news. Nonchalantly TJ said... I told you so, rolled over and went back to sleep.

In disbelief, I took another test the following morning. (Maybe the test was wrong, the pink line was really light...) But nope, the second test showed the same as the first .... although a little darker than the first time. I scheduled my first OB/GYN appointment for the next week. The doctors confirmed that I really was pregnant at exactly five weeks.

I felt great! A little tired and a few cramps at night, but that was really it. I continued to tell TJ that I didn't feel pregnant. Slowly over the next several weeks we began revealing our little secret to our families and friends. We told a couple of close friends first, with the anticipation of telling both sets of parents at the same time ... during a birthday get-together.

We had planned everything. Our parents were coming over for dinner and then we would have a big reveal. However, Terry and Kathy were coming home from Louisiana and didn't make it in time. SO ... our plans became simplified and we shared it with my parents first. Since we were getting together for my birthday, TJ bought a cake that said "Happy Birthday Mom. " He brought it out and set in on the table. A silent pause, as everyone read the cake. And quickly mom looked up and said - "When are you due?" She ran over and gave me a hug and (of course) started crying. On her way back to her seat she immediately started talking about retirement. Dad and Lauren were as equally excited. It was such a relief to have told them ... I had waited 5 weeks to share this huge secret!!

The next weekend was Mother's Day. We decided to tell TJ's parents on Mother's Day. We got a "Happy Mother's Day Nana" card for Kathy and just knew that this would immediately give it away. That evening, after dinner, we gave Kathy her card. She read over it, said thank you, and set it down beside her. (she didn't get it?!? .... not even a pause?!?) So then TJ began a long line of hints as we opened our birthday presents from Aleshia and Mike. (including, wow, Deanna.... that is NOT going to fit you.) Finally we just had to say it... I said, "Kathy can we start calling you Nana?" Ahh... She got it! (for the record, I think Terry got it long before this and didn't say anything) Kathy was so insistent that I would never get pregnant before being out of grad school that I guess it was not even an option for her. After this we called Aleshia and told her the news... the best part was when Aleshia delivered a fake announcement that she was pregnant too - you should have seen Kathy's face - it was priceless! It was great to finally tell the people that we loved most!

After the we told a few more close friends and then waited for the ultrasound. My doctor's office only gives an ultrasound at 18 weeks - and at 12 weeks if you sign up for the ultrascreen test. So our first ultrasound was at 12 weeks. Honestly I had serious doubts that I was pregnant. For the most part I had felt great the last ten weeks. Not the normal first trimester that you hear about. Until I could actually see the baby - I really did not want to tell a ton of people.

So the ultrasound came on May 17th. It was SO exciting! Here's a couple of the best pictures...

So now that we have proof ... I am more comfortable with sharing our little secret with the world! We are due Nov. 27th. It is the most perfect timing! God is definitely in control of this little surprise! I will have just finished up my fall internship in counseling and will take maternity leave from Dec. to mid-Jan. Then I will start back with second semester and complete my second internship. We praise the Lord for His will and His timing. TJ is super excited (despite the earlier picture) and believe it or not he is "nesting" more than I am. We have been moving furniture around, piling up things for a yard sale and thinking about what we want the baby's room to look like. We will keep you updated regularly on the baby's progress right here on TJ and D.

Lauren's Graduation

2011-05-06T16:42:00.004-04:00

My sweet sister graduated from Prebsy School of Nursing at Queens University yesterday! I am so proud of her! Lauren is now a registered nurse (RN) and graduated with honors! She is going to make such a wonderful nurse because of her love for people and kind-hearted personality. (although I am not sure I want her sticking me ... but that really has nothing to do with her and everything to do with my fear of her seeking revenge from all of the years of treating her like a little sister) CONGRATS LAUREN!

My favorite sister ;)

The whole clan!

Lauren and Dereck

CONGRATS LAUREN!

Spring Break

2011-05-06T15:39:00.009-04:00

We spent this Spring Break RELAXING! .... We had planned at the end of last year to go to Ireland over the break. But sometime mid-semester TJ asked me if I would rather hold off on the Ireland trip and go somewhere that involved more R & R. So we booked our trip to Secrets Maroma Beach in Mexico. (Maroma Beach is half way between Cancun and Playa del Carmen.) The resort was wonderful! It was our first all inclusive experience so it was really nice not to think about finding reasonably priced restaurants. We spent all of our time on the beach. TJ played a lot of volleyball and I did a whole lot of nothing.

TJ played volleyball everyday - sometimes twice a day. The Maroma Beach staff were great and they always had events going throughout the day. Aleshia ... you would be so proud of TJ's volleyball skills.... Most of the time.... haha!

Here's what I did ... I spent hours staring at the gorgeous water, reading and resting! :)

Here's a shot of our swim-out room .... we had our own private pool that we shared with about ten other guests .... but most of the time we were the only ones using the pool! This was a great place to come at the end of the day when we were tired of the beach. One day we ordered room service (which we would never do if it was not all-inclusive) and they walked over and brought our ice cream poolside ... what a treat! :)

A picture from our last night in Maroma.

The weather was great .... but really windy. We got sunburned on the first day... it was so hot! Oh I almost left this out .... The first day we arrived, they told us that the rooms were overbooked and that they would offer us four free nights if we went to a nearby hotel for two nights and then returned to stay at Maroma as planned. TJ could tell that I really wanted to stay put and not move around from hotel to hotel .... so he reluctantly turned down the offer for a free vacation.... I think it KILLED him! The staff were wonderful here!

If you are looking for an all-inclusive vacation - we highly recommend Secrets Maroma Beach!

So it has been a while...

2011-04-03T13:53:00.009-04:00

Wow! I cannot believe that it has been January since I posted on the blog. Sorry for the slackness... we have been crazy busy! TJ has been working on the yard left and right - adding stone around our trees and pergola and our grass is looking more green this year than ever before (at least in the front yard, anyways) This semester I have been completing my practicum in school counseling at Butler during my planning period. So I have had no time at school to get work done (which is probably why this blog has been neglected.) April will be my last month of practicum and then I will get started on a new set of classes in May for first summer session. My first summer session should be pretty low key - my two classes are online and I will only be over at UNCC for one week for a conference. It will be so nice to get a mini-break before things pick back up during second summer session. We have also been busy painting our bedroom and bathroom. So these minor changes have been fun and a nice little change for spring. The photog business has also been keeping me busy. I have had several shoots the past couple of months. I am also looking forward to several weddings this Spring!

Ashley and Jennings

Channing Hope - the newest edition to the Riffle Family

Kadence - our dear friend and neighbors' sweet little girl!

January in a nutshell

2011-02-06T16:01:00.004-05:00

January went by so fast .... TJ was in Burkina Faso for the first week and a half of the new year. TJ went on the trip by himself this year. He had a blast! They held medical clinics and did lot of evangelism. I am so thankful for TJ's willingness to serve the Lord and use his pharmacy knowledge to help others in need. Continue to pray for the new Christians in Burkina.

During the month of January, I quickly jumped back into teaching and grad classes. I am currently taking one class and completing my practicum in school counseling during my planning period. Which means no break all day. I have completed 3 weeks (with 12 more to go! .... but who's counting?) Come this fall I will start my internship in school counseling which will last 2 semesters.

I am spending my weekends getting school work and grading done. Thankfully our weekends this winter / spring are wide open - I am going to need this time to play catch up from the weekdays. The empty weekends have been great for long runs... I am still looking for someone to train with me for a half, and eventually a full, marathon... any takers?

The photog business is going well. This Jan. DDP was featured in the "A Picture is Worth" section of Carolina Bride - with a full page print! :) I was so excited when CB called with the news - It is pretty cool when others recognize your work. CB also featured a DDP wedding on there website. (You can view it by going to www.charlotteobserver.com/carolinabride/galleries and clicking of "Lindsay Andrews to Jeremy Walker") I also put an ad in this issue of CB ... hopefully this will bring in some more business.

Here's the shot CB selected for the magazine. On stands now!! :)

So long 2010

2010-12-31T23:23:00.004-05:00

2010 has been one of the best years of our lives! I thought it would be fun to do a little recap of the past 365 days!

- We rang in 2010 over the Atlantic on our way to Burkina Faso. We delivered medicine and shared the gospel with hundreds!
- In January Maddie and Mikie came to visit and we took them to the circus!
- In March we took some time for home renovations... TJ put in hardwood floors throughout most of the house.
- Over Spring Break we travels to Belgium, Brussels and Amsterdam to celebrate our 5 year anniversary (early)
- We finished up the school year with my 5th successful prom ... we work all year to hold a great celebration for the Juniors and Seniors.
- Dad and I run a couple of local 5Ks
- Summer 2010 I officially began my masters in School Counseling at UNCC. Four classes during each summer session kept me more than busy!
- TJ moves jobs and becomes the pharmacy manager at HT Morrocroft.
- The Summer ends up being pretty busy for the photog business... lots of family, infant, and wedding shoots!
- We spent mini vacations with our families at the mountains and the beach.
- This past summer was also our first attempt at a garden ... this was a lot of fun. Hopefully we will get another try at a garden in 2011!
- Dad retires in July 2010 - the family gains another member - Zeus, the Great Dane!
- We spent our fall shooting weddings and traveling to Raleigh for NC State games.
- I run my second half marathon (and still have the goal of someday running a marathon!)
- We celebrated Christmas early with TJ's family (before Thanksgiving)
- Mom, Lauren and I spend Thanksgiving in NYC and get to enjoy shopping and the Macy's parade.
- The year winds down and I finish up my 9th class of the Masters in School Counseling program. I will begin practicum in the Spring.
- We celebrate Christmas with family and friends.

What a wonderful 2010! ... Most of all we praise God for his provision and love throughout 2010! Thank you for tuning in to the blog this year - we will continue to keep you updated on our lives!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-28T09:18:00.004-05:00

We had a wonderful Christmas! First, we spent the weekend before Thanksgiving with TJ's family in Virginia. We had Christmas so early since the Carey's were in town. It was great to spend the weekend with Maddie, Mikie, Aleshia and Mike.

There's always time for a family photo shoot - here's one of my favs of M & M :)

Christmas weekend was pretty low key. We went to my great Aunt's and Uncle's in Maiden on Christmas Eve, woke up on Christmas morning at our house, TJ's grandparents in Lincolnton Christmas morning for breakfast and my parent's house for Christmas lunch. Everyone is pretty close together so the travel was not bad at all.

Christmas was a little crazy with two big dogs running around my parents house... Zeus, the Great Dane, and Cooper, the English Golden Retriever. Next Christmas Zeus will be twice the size of Cooper.

It seemed like every where we went the snow followed us. :) It started snowing when we were in Lincolnton, then in Stanley, and the snow seemed to follow us to Indian Trail. We got about 3.5-4" of snow. Cooper LOVES the snow! It is so much fun just to watch him run around and play in it! Sunday morning, church was cancelled, and we played with Cooper in the now before TJ had to go to work.

TJ has been working since Christmas Eve (with the exception of Christmas Day) .... His pharmacy partner was stuck at JFK in New York until late last night, due to all of the snow. Finally, starting tomorrow, he will be off for a while :)

The Stocking Saga...

2010-12-20T22:28:00.007-05:00

Warning - Only read this if you are bored ... or need a good laugh!

Well this year we finally broke down to get matching stockings and tree skirt. We ordered some that I have been eyeing for years from Pottery Barn. This should have been a simple transaction but boy we did not know what we were getting in to!

Act 1: We try to order the stockings online, however the PB program would not allow us to correctly monogram TJ's name ... it kept wanting us to put "T.j." - terrible! ... so we called in.

Act 2: TJ talks to a lady on the phone about the stockings, she promises that we can order the stocking with "T.J." if we placed the order through her. But when we get all the way through the manual order process, she finds out that she is wrong. So we order all of the stockings monogrammed except for TJ's - with the intent of having it monogrammed at a local shop to match the others. PB promises to reimburse us for the monogramming.

Act 3: Stockings arrive - two of the three are super off centered. (I forgot to mention ... We also ordered blank stockings for our non-existing children ...) So along with our hidious monogrammed stockings ....the extra stockings we ordered did not come.

Act 4: We return the off center stockings and they promise to re-do them and double check the monogramming. However this will take a week.

Act 5: Spare stockings finally show up.

Act 6: We take TJ's to be monogrammed and take Cooper's for them to try to match.

Act 7: We get a call from PB hat says they ran out of stockings. Our order got pushed to the end of the line since we required an "extra check"... PB guy tells us we can get our stockings in January.

Act 8: We figure out that there are stores with these stockings. 2 spare stockings are ordered from CA ... PB guy says they will be here in a week.

Act 9: In the meantime - we take the spare stockings to the embroidery place.

Act 10: TJ goes to pick up the embroidered stockings ... they look nothing like the original Cooper stocking (they look good - just three sizes bigger font.) Embroidery guy trys to come up with a plan to help us - he embroiders a new Cooper stocking but doesn't charge us. However gives us a bill to send PB to cover the cost of the extra stocking we now need.

Act 11: PB has no clue where the stockings from CA are... they did not arrive on Friday.

Act. 12: PB suggests that we go to North Lake and pick up our own stockings - they will reimburse us for the stockings. (by the way - why did they not ship them from North Lake ... hmm!??)

Act 13: PB keeps their word and reimburses us for all monogramming - seeing that it was same day monogramming, this bill was not cheap!

Act 14: We go to North Lake and pick up our extra blank stockings

Act 15: PB reimubrses us for stockings

Act 16: Stockings from CA show up on our door step ...

What an ordeal - now we have 4 monogrammed stockings and 5 extra stockings ... does this mean 5 children? uh-oh! Should we send these extras back ... or do we deserve to keep them after all of this ... PB still has not contacted us about the extra stcokings... they refunded all of our money for the embroidery and the extra stockings we bought at North Lake.

I was just glad to finally have stockings with our names on them in time for Christmas. We got to enjoy them one week ... I think I will leave them up until Mid-January!

I guess if you made it all the way through this story, you deserve to get to see a picture of these

(now) lovely stockings! :)

NYC for Thanksgiving

2010-12-20T19:53:00.005-05:00

Mom, Lauren and I spent Thanksgiving in New York City. We have been planning this trip for YEARS! When we received the NC State football schedule early this year, we saw that there was not a game the weekend after Thanksgiving. We knew that this was our year (finally!) to go on our trip. We left the Wed. before Thanksgiving, arrived early that morning. We went to the Broadway show Jersey Boys Wed. afternoon. Wed. evening we found the area where the balloons were being inflated for the parade and walked by half of the balloons. Thursday morning we got up super early for the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. We found a front row spot on 42nd and Broadway in Times Square. After waiting in the freezing cold for three hours the parade finally made it to us. The parade was AMAZING! That afternoon we ate Thanksgiving dinner and went to the Rockett's Christmas Spectacular. Friday was filled with shopping (of course) and the Lion King on Broadway. Saturday we continued our shopping (and even made a few returns) and went to ground zero to see the new WTC being built. We had so much fun on our trip!

So here's our spot in Times Square - we got out there about 6:30am however ot really was not early enough to get this great spot. We took our chances and kind of stood out in the road on the corner... hoping that the police would let us stay - AND THEY DID :)

We may not look cold - but by this time we cannot feel our feet! We also really got to know the people around us... we stood and talked to them the whole time. Oddly enough we saw the people right beside us again this same night at the Chrismas Spectacular.

One of the new balloons this year - Kung Fu Panda
In Bryant Park ... watching ice skaters (it was too wet and cold to skate!)

Thanks for an amazing (early) Christmas present mom and dad! I had a blast!

We're still here...

2010-12-16T20:43:00.005-05:00

WOW... the Fall has flown by! I cannot believe that it is already Dec. 16th! I just finished my last graduate school final tonight and am SO GLAD to be finished with school for the fall semester. I have three more days of teaching left at Butler and then I will be in full swing Christmas mode! (I can't wait!) I desperately need a break!

So I want to apologize for my lack of posts the past few months! Things have just been so crazy around here... posting to our blog just seemed to get pushed to the bottom of the to do list week after week. Plus I don't really want the blog to be another "to do" ... I love keep you all updated on our lives and I am glad that I can spend the next couple of weeks updating you on what we have been doing!

For now I will leave you with the Devine Family Christmas Card ... I did take a few minutes to address these and mail them out already... so hopefully many of you have received your print version in your mail box!

I love Christmas cards (making mine and receiving yours!!) ... despite the move towards e-vites and e-cards ... I love the whole Christmas card tradition! The past couple of years I have designed our Christmas cards instead of ordering them through snapfish or tiny prints (which I love!) ... There's something about the whole process - from taking the family shot with Coop and Little to deciding on the perfect shots - that is always so much fun!

I usually pick some shots that represent our year as a whole... this year I selected a picture from our trip to Paris, a shot of us and Coop on Devine Mountain, and then a couple of favorite shots of Cooper and Little... On the back we couldn't help but pick this ridiculous picture of us - Cooper is refusing to be 'normal' - for some reason when all four of us get close for a picture, Cooper always seems to act crazy! Here he is wallowing in the floor and biting TJ's arm... a premier drama King! :)

Looking forward to November

2010-10-23T12:09:00.003-04:00

Today I will finish up my last wedding for the year. I am so thankful for all of the business this year - it was very unexpected, but nice! The month of October has been a long one! With no breaks at school, grad school and lots of photography stuff, I feel like I have not had a chance to breath. November, however, is looking very good! I have taken a couple of days off from school (let's just call them mental health days) so I will have a shorte week every week of November (after factoring in the workdays, Veteran's Day, the days I have taken off, and Thanksgiving.) I am so ready for this!

I will be heading to NYC with mom and Lauren over Thanksgiving. We have been talking about this girls weekend for many years, but it never seems to work out due to the NC State football schedule. I have not been to New York in a while, so I am really looking forward to another visit. We will be seeing the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, a few plays, and doing some Christmas shopping! TJ will be hanging out with Cooper for Thanksgiving.

CRAZY busy ....

2010-09-12T22:01:00.010-04:00

Things around here have been CRAZY! ... I have loved all of the photography business that has come my way in the past couple of months. Here's some of the awesome clients...

We were in Wilmington at the end of July for a wedding and engagement shoot.

Jean and Scottie were married right on Wrightsville Beach - it was a beautiful wedding!

Saturday after the wedding, I took Susan and Travis' engagement portraits in Wilmington. I look forward to shooting their wedding in June (actually on the 25th of June - our 6th anniversary!)

In August, we shot Heather and Shane's wedding in Lincolnton. Their reception was at Vesuvius Vineyards - which is a gorgeous location in Lincolnton!

I also shot Shane and Michelle's wedding at Magnolia Glen in Locust. The weather was gorgeous and the wedding was even more beautiful!

Finley turned 1 year old! We had so much fun with the mirror shoot. I just love this lioness (this is what Becca calls her fabulous, one of a kind hairdo) ;)

Casy and Jeff are due to have Sophie any day now. I am so glad they called for this maternity shoot! This is my first engagement to wedding to baby couple! :) Thanks for your faithfulness Watson family!

I have two more weddings (the next two weekends) and then I guess full swing for Christmas sessions. (I cannot believe we are two months from Christmas!)

In my spare time (this is a joke, it's ok to laugh ... I am laughing right now...) We have been cheering on the wolfpack! Last weekend we spent Fri. night and all day Sat. with Kelli and Mike. I love that we get to see them so much in the fall.

Dad's Retirement Party

2010-09-08T22:09:00.004-04:00

This past Monday we had a small get-together for dad's retirement. Family on mom and dad's sides came to the house (mom and dad's) for a cookout, swimming and cornhole. It was great to see everyone and to hang out - we all haven't been together in quite some time. We are so proud of dad and I know he is enjoying his time off :)

I got to meet Zeus - the newest edition to out family. Zeus is dad's new Great Dane. He is so precious! I can't wait for him to get a little bigger so he and Cooper can really play together.

Coop already has a secret admirer :)

La and Dereck playing cornhole...
Guess where Cooper spent most of his time?
(I love Happy's face in this picture ... it is like he's saying - please don't make me do that!)

Blog neglect

2010-08-31T19:00:00.008-04:00

So I am guilty! I haven't posted in nearly a month! ... the summer quickly came to and end and most of our summer traveling has been in the past month - nothing big, just another beach trip and a trip to the mountains. Everything has kicked into overdrive since school started back. My classes at Butler are great. I am teaching AP Psychology again this year (I did not get to teach this last year) and have realized this past week how much I have missed it. Classes at UNCC have also started back. I am taking three masters classes (theories, ethics, techniques) this semester. So I am at UNCC three nights a week. Tuesday is my night off, which is why I have two seconds to post this tonight. A friend of mine on facebook said that working and going to school is called "the full court press." I think this name fits perfectly. Full court press in basketball is when the defense doesn't give the offense a second to breathe. They start guarding at the opposite end of the court as soon as the ball goes into play. The idea is to wear out the other team and steal the ball. Well, using this analogy I am the offense and classes/ work/ photography business are the defense. I have so much to do and am feeling overwhelmed and tired ... and it is only week 2 - but I guess this is the nature of the press! I knew this was going to be crazy to balance my normal life (teaching, photo bus.) with a master's program... but I may have been a little overconfident (I taught on overconfidence and hindsight bias today in psychology, I should have used myself as an example!) ... so I have decided that part of staying sane this semester is to take time for myself - no matter what "to-do" list I have hanging over my head. I really didn't have time to fix a made-from-scratch meal tonight nor do I really have time to sit down and type this blog post about how busy I am, but I am doing it anyways ... so here's what's new....

- we went to the beach with my parents and sis the week before workdays started back. We stayed at North Beach Condos in North Myrtle Beach... it was an amazing mini vacation - the resort was not crowded and the weather was nice (except for when we tried to take family pics - it was really windy!) Dinners, putt-putt, football of the beach and shopping with the whole family was a blast!

- workdays began Aug. 18 - we had a week to get our classrooms ready. Butler has gone through a lot of changes this year and the transition really has been good. My students have been great thus far.

- This past weekend we went to the mountains to see TJ's mom and dad and spend some time with Aleshia, Mikey and Maddie. I spent most of my time playing with Maddie and keeping her entertained. Did most of my school work on the road trip to and from VA - I sure do miss Maddie and Mikey already! :)

Maddie collected eggs from Mr. Bobby's chicken house - this is Kathy and Terry's neighbor. It was so cute watching Maddie gather the eggs and move them into cartons. Mikey wanted to help and ended up breaking an egg ... it was too funny! I think he thought the egg was a ball.
Maddie was "Nannie's" shadow this weekend. (We are Maddie's Nannie and Parin - the Cajun tradition of Godparents.) She is so sweet, funny and smart - I hate that I do not get to see her more often!

Campfire and roasting marshmallows Sat. night.

Cooper and TJ - Cooper absolutely loves the mountain. - ponds, tons of wildlife smells, trails to run on, and of course ... freedom!

The photog business has also been pretty busy the past month. I have had a couple of weddings (one in Wilmington and one in Lincolnton) in Aug. and one coming up in Sept.

I praise God for this busy time in my life - I know that he will never give us more than we can handle. I am so thankful for TJ's support while I am in school. I can leave him a list a mile long on his days off and he gets everything done for me! We have thoroughly enjoyed our summer, even though it has been low key (aka no world traveling.)

Hopefully it will not be another month before my next post. Gotta get going against the full court press - this water break has been way too long :)

Wilmington

2010-08-06T21:17:00.004-04:00

This past weekend we were in Wilmington for a wedding and an engagement shoot. The wedding was Friday night and the engagement shoot was Saturday morning. Since TJ was off work, we decided to make a weekend of it. We spent the day Saturday on the beach and then went to dinner Sat. night. Before dinner we drove over to Kure Beach in search of these awesome green seaweed covered rocks... thanks for the tip Sara! Sunday morning it was raining so we ended up walking around downtown and then heading over to Oak Island to see TJ's Papaw Sigmon. We took the ferry to Southport... this is where TJ asked me to marry him (on his birthday) April 23, 2004. This is the first time we have been back to the ferry since TJ popped the question - it was great to reminisce. We had a wonderful weekend!

When we were engaged, there was hardly anyone on the ferry... we have no pictures of us together because we were the only ones that got out of our car. This time the ferry was super crowded!

Bella and KC

2010-07-24T21:35:00.004-04:00

Last week I had the honor of photographing Bella, at only a week old. She is so precious and we got some great shots! Bella's mom and dad (Dana and Brian) are in our Sunday school class. Brian plays the guitar, so it I was so excited to incorporate this in a few shots.

Last week we also got to take care of KC, our neighbor's dog while they were out of town. Needless to say, Cooper loved every minute of it!

Watermelon!

2010-07-13T10:27:00.003-04:00

This morning we decided that our watermelon was ready to pick. (Yesterday we picked a cantaloupe and I think we waited a little too long - it is very delicious, but there was one bad place that we had to cut out.) Here's this morning's collection: The cantaloupe we picked yesterday.

Summer is half over :-/ .... A long update

2010-07-09T08:20:00.014-04:00

So the past couple of weeks have been crazy! I have had three weddings in three weeks. I have been trying to stay on top of the editing, because I knew the second summer session would start soon (this week.) Here's a couple of my favs from the weddings...

Rachel and Kevin

Brooke and Brent

Lindsay and Jeremy

All of these weddings were so much fun! I can't wait to start working on their albums!

We spent the fourth of July with the Riffles. We grilled out and then watched fireworks in their neighborhood. The girls were nervous at first, but ended up being so brave throughout the whole event! (with little orange ear plugs and their hands over their ears ... they were so cute!)

Becca, Carly, Matt, Harper, Me, Chloe, and Matt's brother ... TJ is taking the pic
(did I get the girls right, Becca?)

Chloe and I are sitting and watching the fireworks

This week Summer school has started back. I am taking two classes - Counseling Adolescents and Multicultural Counseling. I have class Mon- Thurs. (I know, ridiculous!) Tuesday is the only long day - class is from 1-9 (yawn.) Actually I am making it out to be worse than it is ... my teacher (I have the same one for both classes) is really interesting and at least attempts to get us interacting - which is good! :)

This week we swapped out our air conditioning and heat unit. Our AC and Heat has been pretty finicky since we moved in 4 years ago. Every season there is always something that needs to be fixed. So we have decided to replace it all - since we knew it was coming anyway and so we could stop sinking money into the old unit. So TJ's dad, Terry, has been helping us the past couple of days with the work. Two hot days later - we have cool air (YES!) With some minor roadblocks (Terry stepping through the ceiling, for example) everything went relatively smooth.

A garden update - while Terry was here, he was able to give us some garden tips... one of which was "your corn is ready!" So we picked some of the corn this morning. I am so pumped that we actually have corn! Our corn rows in the garden look really sad - so I was glad to get even one cob. I think it is amazing that ONE SEED produces the entire stalk and corn with hundreds of kernels. God is amazing, isn't he? So sorry for the long update... but I haven't posted in a while and there has been a lot going on here! I can't believe summer is half over. I have already started thinking about stuff for school in the fall (sigh) ... let's just not even talk about it.

Christian Run Playlist

2010-07-02T07:25:00.003-04:00

I have enjoyed this summer so much! One thing I have loved in particular is getting up in the mornings and going on a run with Cooper. I run with an iPod and my Nike + Sportband (which is AWESOME!) I have various play lists set up for my runs in the morning... sometimes it's country music, sometimes it's oldies, Christian music, etc. I like to mix it up, just so the run doesn't get boring - since I run mostly the same route with Cooper. Yesterday morning I put on the Christian play list and as I was running, I realized how much I really love this play list for my runs. I enjoy praising God and running at the same time... Thought I would share the songs I particularly love...

Kirk Franklin - He Reigns
Shane and Shane - The Answer
Kirk Franklin - Looking for You
Jeremy Camp - You're Worthy of My Praise
Third Day - The Sun is Shining
Third Day - Keep on Shining
Jeremy Camp - Beautiful One
Third Day - Creed
Jason Lavik - Following You
Newsboys - Something Beautiful
Big Daddy Weave - The Only One
Toby Mac - Lose My Soul
Shane and Shane - Psalm 118
Toby Mac - Burn for You
Jeremy Camp - Breath

Just curious if any of you have found upbeat Christian songs that you love.... maybe I'll add them to my play list! :)

Cooper's Summer Love

2010-06-30T12:04:00.004-04:00

Cooper has met a summer love .... THE POOL! We have been to mom and dad's pool a couple of times since the summer began and Cooper has loved every moment of it. It is so funny when we pull up in the car, Cooper is so excited that he can hardly contain himself. He jumps out of the car and runs straight to the pool. We are still working on him jumping into the pool but he will play fetch from the steps all day long. Thanks for letting Coop spend time at the pool mom and dad - oh and thanks for cleaning out all the dog hair from the skimmers!!

I think the face says it all...

No running at the pool, Cooper!

Lauren plays with Cooper when we come over too... I love this pic.

Sometimes Cooper gets a little tired and his feet start to drag on the bottom of the pool - so we put noodles under him... Cooper did not seem to mind at all.

FIVE YEARS!

2010-06-23T10:40:00.012-04:00

Today we are celebrating our fifth wedding anniversary - Can you believe that it has already been FIVE years? The past five years have flown by ... and I must say we have enjoyed every minute of it! Over the past five years we have really developed a love for traveling. This is where we've spend the last five anniversaries... (some were not ON our anniversary - but right around the time of our anniversary / in the summer ... we ended up justifying every trip by saying it was, in part, for our anniversary.)

Our honeymoon was in Nevis - we actually did not take a lot of pictures of both of us ... I only had a few to pick from to share with you. This was before I had my digital camera plus there were very few people on the island. Most of the time I felt like we were the only ones there... which was really nice! :) We stayed at the Montpelier Plantation - an old sugar plantation. We would love to go back to Nevis sometime - maybe 10 year anniversary? TJ surprised me with an add on to our honeymoon in New York City ... this was such a treat, even though I was really sick during the end of the trip.

We went to Hawaii late summer after our one year anniversary. This was a trip from my mom and dad (for mine and my sis' graduation) but I really wanted TJ to go with us ... so we said it was a great way to celebrate our first year together! We paid for TJ to go on the trip while mom and dad paid for me and Lauren. We loved Hawaii and WILL be going back sometime ;)

Right after our two year anniversary, we left for Honduras for a month. This was a mission trip / one of TJ's pharmacy rotations. It was great to spend this time together and really focusing on our growth in Christ. This month away from home was challenging but brought us closer together as we shared Jesus with our Honduran friends.

Our third anniversary was spent out west with TJ's mom and dad. We were actually in Yellowstone on our anniversary, horseback riding through Yellowstone. Later in the week we hiked up The Narrows in Zion National Park. This road trip was an experience I will never forget... incredible to say the least
During our fourth anniversary we were in Italy. We traveled with mom and Lauren to Rome, the Amalfi Coast, Florence and Venice. On our anniversary we were serenaded on a gondola ride. Italy is one of the most culturally rich and amazing places on earth!

We took our fifth anniversary trip a little early this year. Knowing that I would be in class over the summer, we decided to take our second trip to Europe over Spring Break. TJ and I traveled to Paris and Amsterdam. We loved Paris and would like to go back sometime... it is truly an enchanting city!

So today, we are treating ourselves to a couples massage at Eden Therapy and Massage and dinner. I love TJ so much - he is an amazing husband! I can't wait for wherever the next 70 years takes us! :)

Mikey is turning 1

2010-06-22T20:40:00.005-04:00

Last week was really busy with school and photog stuff... but we were so glad to take Friday evening off from both to spend it with Mikey and Maddie. Mikey will be one year old in July so we decided to have a little first birthday party in Lincolnton Friday night. It was so great to see M & M and Aleshia!

Riffle Family Summer Shoot

2010-06-16T22:48:00.005-04:00

Another Riffle family shoot this past weekend. We had so much fun! Everyone was due a portrait - Carly and Chloe just turned 5, Harper is getting ready to turn 3, and Finley is 9 months. Although it was really hot, Becca (who by the way, is supermom!) had everything planned out and under control. The kids were swapped in and out between shots and found relief from the heat in the minivan (with a DVD movie and water, of course) I just love this family to death!

A much needed update...

2010-06-09T23:07:00.012-04:00

We are still alive! Sorry it has been three weeks since our last post... things have been really busy around here! So where do I start? Well school is almost out. This really has been one of the best semesters ever. My kids have been great and EOCs went really well. Many of you know I taught all civics this year, due to teacher cuts. Having one prep was really nice, but I missed teaching AP Psych! I found out a couple of weeks ago that I will be teaching Civics and AP Psych next year. I am excited about getting in the AP swing again and I hope to incorporate some new technology (wikis, forums, etc.) in the class.

TJ has been doing great. Today was his last day at HT on Hwy 51/74... He was given the opportunity to apply for a pharmacy manager position at Morrocroft (South Park) and got the job! I am so proud of him, He will be the manager at the busiest HT in Charlotte. Around here, the Morrocroft HT is known as the "Taj Ma-Teeter" because it is so huge.
Just a couple of weeks ago, I started my masters at UNCC. I am getting my masters in School Counseling. Right now I am taking 2 classes and will take two more summer classes second session. Right now I am taking "Play Therapy" and "Intro to School Counseling" My intro class in online and the play therapy class meets twice a week. I will blog a little about what play therapy is later when I have more time... but the class has been amazing (and we are only 2 weeks in.) Since my summer sessions are cramming 15 weeks of material into 5 weeks, I have been really busy! Lot's of reading and homework... back in the student mode!

So a garden update - we got our first cucumber this week and have tons of things growing. I desperately need to spend about 5 hours out at the garden but have not had the time... maybe this Sat. I will have a few hours to fertilize and pull weeds. It has really been raining a lot here, so that has been nice.

DDP Update ... Well when it rains, it pours. The photography work has been steady! Four shoots in the past two weeks - 2 family shoots, a Sr. portrait and a bridal portrait. Here's a little taste of the family and sr. shoots... I have a Riffle family shoot tomorrow and the the end of June / early July will be coming up on 3 weddings :)

Dylan and Claire - Precious 4 mo. old twins

Clyde, Jenn and Katelynn ... TJ and Jennifer are cousins.
We loved hanging out with them for the afternoon.

Jonathan, my cousin, is graduating soon... Congrats Jonathan 2010!

In the garden...

2010-05-19T20:49:00.005-04:00

Meet the growing garden... Almost everything was planted at the same time from little plants (except for the corn and beans.) I planted the "baby corn" about 3 weeks after everything else... just so we would have harvested corn at different times.
Here's a glimpse at the first of our fruits! The strawberry plants I bought were definitely the most mature plants of all the ones we bought. We are finally getting some edible berries... these happen to be the first three that the birds/bugs didn't get to. (see pic below)

Here's what has been happening to the first few strawberries. I wait for them to get a little more ripe and then I come out to pick them and they have been half eaten. Any ideas what is doing this? My best guess are birds?!? Maybe I need a scarecrow!

The tomato, pepper and cucumber plants also have blooms on them...

which means fruits and veggies soon! :)

We lost a few cucumber plants ... I think I planted them a little too early and the cold nights got to them. So I planted some cucumber seeds to replace them and here's what has already come up in about 2 weeks.

Today when I came in from the garden... I found Little relaxing in our tote bag. He's gotta be the coolest cat in the world!

Petapalooza

2010-05-19T20:37:00.004-04:00

This past weekend Dad, Mom, Lauren, Cooper, Happy and I went to the Petapalooza 5K - organized by the Charlotte Humane Society. Dad and I ran the 5K while mom and Lauren walked the doggies. Cooper was a really crazy at first but calmed down as the morning went on. It was fun to see so many dogs and to know we were running for a good cause

The gang (minus mom ... she's taking the pic)

Me and my favorite running partner!
After I finished the run I went back to find dad and finish the run with him - he beat his last 5K time by an entire minute! I am so proud of him! ;)

A wedding and a birthday party!

2010-05-16T22:29:00.004-04:00

This weekend has been pretty busy! Friday and Saturday we spent with Zack and Misty for their wedding. Zack and TJ have been friends since high school and Zack asked TJ to be a groomsman in the wedding. It was great getting to see some old friends. Congrats Misty and Zack!

Today I spent the afternoon with two of my favorite little five year olds. Carly and Chloe, DDP's first clients, turned five today and I was delighted to attend the perfect princess birthday party.

BHS Prom 2010

2010-05-11T16:21:00.007-04:00

So this past weekend was Butler's Prom and as many of you know, I am the Prom Committee (Jr. Board) coordinator (along with my friend, Lindsay, who teaches right beside me.) We had a great group this year and they have worked so hard to pull of this year's big event. I was so excited that the prom theme actually remained a secret throughout the year (we tell them to keep it a secret but usually one or two of them end up telling a friend ... and well, you know how that goes... but this year I really feel like it was a surprise!)

The prom was at Oasis Shrine Temple and we hired Beth Mattos from Creative Events (www.creativeeventscharlotte.com) to help us decorate (this was the first year we worked with Beth... and we are so glad we did!) Beth was incredible! The students loved her, she was so personable and actually cared about the kids likes/dislikes and making this the best prom ever! I have to give her all the credit for making our "Cirque du Soleil" theme come to life... it truly was magical! Here is a little promotional card she created with some great shots of the event...
TJ was such a trooper, as usual. This was our 7th prom together (1 at Lincolnton HS, 2 at East Gaston HS, and 4 at Butler HS...) and he never complains about all of the little things I ask him to do to make the night run smoothly! We had a lot of fun and I always love hearing the great comments from the staff and students. This year we have heard a lot of "best ever" type of comments - I am not sure how we are going to pull off a prom next year that will top this one... but I am always up for the challenge! ;)

A field of wild flowers....

2010-04-28T20:59:00.005-04:00

This week I had a photo shoot with Lilly in a field of wild flowers... This shoot was just a reminder of how much I love Spring. Lilly was so much fun - the perfect subject for such a beautiful backdrop!

Making progress in the garden...

2010-04-25T15:24:00.003-04:00

Last week (Fri. Apr. 16th) we planted most of the garden. We worked all afternoon planting. We bought mostly plants but then got green beans and corn as seeds. Seeing that I have never planted my own garden before... I was a little uncertain if I was even planting the seeds right?!? After talking to several people (mom and dad, granny, our neighbors) I was pretty sure that I was at least planting the seed in the right place (on the top of the row, about 2 inches deep.) This afternoon, we went outside to check on everything (after the good rain yesterday) and found our first sight of corn and beans... yay! I was so excited that the seeds actually sprouted! Now let's just hope that they have corn. The more people I have talked to, the more they say that corn in their garden has never turned out quite right (it would grow, but without corn... or corn cobs but no kernels) ... considering that half of our garden is dedicated to corn - I hope we actually get some corn. Here's some pictures of the very young garden.

Baby corn

From left to right - strawberries, tomatoes, okra, peppers, cucumbers, watermelons, cantaloupe, (back half) corn, (along the fence) green beans, (far end) lettuce.

Our neighbors kids, Luke and Lily, helped me plant all the plants in the garden. They are such good workers in the garden! :)

TJ planted flowers around the pergola this week... to make it a little more inviting

Amsterdam

2010-04-18T20:05:00.004-04:00

We arrived in Amsterdam Wed. night and started bright and early on Thurs. morning. Holland was a beautiful country. We loved the canals and countrysides, tulips, cheese and windmills... although we did not enjoy the apparent drugs, sex and alcohol that came with the city. The museums in Amsterdam were amazing... some of my favorite the whole trip!

Anne Frank Museum - this was one of my favorite stops in Amsterdam. The presentation was incredible... Well worth our early start (we were third in line when they opened!)

Tulip markets... can you believe it 50 tulips for about ten dollars! I think this would be an addiction if I lived in Amsterdam... fresh tulips in every room!

Bikes ruled the city! .... more bikes than people!
The canals glowed at night!

Tulip fields on our way to Lisse

Keukenhof Gardens

In Zaans Schans to see windmills, clog making and cheese farms

Brussels

2010-04-18T19:03:00.003-04:00

We took a train from Paris to Amsterdam and stopped in Brussels, Belgium on the way. Brussels was such a cute city... quaint side streets and great food. It was the perfect place to spend the afternoon!
The Grand Square in Brussels

Flower market in the Grand Square

Love the alley ways and streets!

TJ ordered snails at dinner, since the waiter recommended them... they were really good (I cannot believe we ate them!)

Chocolate shops everywhere!

Paris

2010-04-18T14:36:00.005-04:00

We traveled to Paris and Amsterdam for Spring Break ... this was really a five year anniversary present for both of us. (Since I will be starting grad school this summer, it is not likely that we would be able to take a vacation to celebrate.) Here's some of the highlights of our trip ... there's more pics on FB if you want to see more!

Sunday: Notre Dame, The Orsay Museum (which was fantastic... but no photos inside), A walk down the Champs de Elysee and the Arch de Triumph

Notre Dame

The most photographed gargoyle ... from Notre DameOutside of the Orsay

Arch de Triumph

A view of the Eiffel Tower from the Arch de Triumph

Monday: The Louvre Museum, Pompidou Museum of Modern Art, the Eiffel Tower, Sacre Couer

The Louvre Museum
The Eiffel Tower

Tuesday: Versailles, French Army Museum and Napoleon's Grave, Walking around Paris... enjoying the beauty of Paris at night (our favorite part of the whole trip)

Wednesday we headed to Amsterdam via Brussels .... more pictures to come!

We're starting a garden!

2010-03-28T23:01:00.004-04:00

This weekend we have started a garden. Well... we haven't actually planted anything yet, but we have bought a tiller and broke ground in the back yard. This past Friday TJ found a tiller on Craigslist. We were the first to call about it and went to see it quickly on Friday afternoon. It was just what we were looking for, so we bought it! Saturday we had a yard sale and ended up making the price of the tiller back in our sales... plus a little extra. God really does provide, even when we're not expecting Him to! Saturday afternoon we couldn't wait to put the tiller to work! TJ started tilling while I raked up the grass and roots from the ground. We aren't going to plant anything until mid-April but we thought is was never too soon to start working on the dirt!

TJ and I do not know a lot about gardening, but we both have farmers from our families. My Mamaw and Papaw use to garden when they were alive... some of my most precious memories were in their garden! We use to wake up and ride on the back of the truck over to the garden (it was only a short ways from their house.) We would pick strawberries, corn, beans, tomatoes... you name it, they grew it! I loved "corn day" .... this was the day that our family and friends came together to pick, shuck, cook and freeze the corn. Corn is my absolute favorite vegetable (maybe because it is actually a starch) therefore we must have corn in our first garden. My granny also used to garden (although she doesn't have the strength to garden today I know she would if she could!) ... I have vivid memories of me, Lauren and my cousin, Andy, laughing our hearts out as we helped granny in the garden. We would be in charge of planting the seeds... we would drop 25 seeds in one hole. Granny would have to go behind us and fix everything we did - and she would cackle the whole time too! I think we did more laughing than gardening! Today my mom loves planting a few veggies in her back yard... cucumbers and tomatoes are her specialty! Dad always give her a hard time and says she didn't actually grow those nice looking veggies.... she must have picked them up at the grocery store on her way home. :) Mom is going to come help us when it is time to plant the garden... I am sure she will be full of tricks and tips, as she saw Papaw do this sort of thing her entire life!

TJ's dad grew up farming with his (dad's) grandfather. TJ always heard stories of him working early mornings with the cows. Now Terry is enjoying the farm-life in the mountains in Virginia. Terry and Kathy have had a successful garden for a couple of years... last year bringing in more cucumbers than anyone could eat! This past summer we went up for the week and helped pickle cucumbers - this was hard work but was a lot of fun! We are glad to take Kathy's advice for our new garden (except for how to plant in rows.... she is more of a free/roaming planter) ... she has learned a lot these past few years!

So this year we dedicate our garden to our wonderful families! You can take the Devines out of the country but you can't take the country out of the Devines... so we will plant our little garden here in our city neighborhood. We just hope we are not breaking any homeowners association rules... we have read over the guidelines and I don't think we have violated any rules! We already have several neighbors lined up to help us eat the veggies! (So we are hoping no one will mind!)

Stay tuned this summer... this will be a major blogging topic! I will share everything we learn and hopefully some of you will be inspired from the stories ... maybe this blog will be a good guide for what NOT to do... I am not promising we will have any fruits of our labor, but is sure is worth a try!
Here's the gate that TJ put in last week for easy garden access from the back yard.

Here is Cooper announcing the garden's debut to the neighbors!

The Rug Saga

2010-03-21T18:09:00.004-04:00

Well, we finally decided on a rug for our living room. Ever since we put down the new floors, we have been looking at rugs. Last weekend we went all the way to South Carolina to look at the outlets for a rug and we did not have any luck... we stopped in Target while we were in SC and bought a rug that TJ and I had spotted several weeks ago. (That's right, we went to Gaffney and bought a rug a Target...)

So we bring home the rug and unroll it infront of Coop and Little. Needless to say, Cooper LOVED the rug. He got his bone and sat there for the rest of the evening.... rolling around and rubbing his hair all over the rug. It really made the long trip to SC worth it!

So Monday, TJ and I both went to work... and left Cooper at home, with the new rug. Monday after school, I came home to rug that was folded over with little black wool pieces scattered across the living room. :( Coop had enjoyed the new rug a little too much!! As usual, Coop knows when he does something wrong. All I had to do was point at the rug and Cooper tucked his head back in shame. So I gathered up the rug pieces, got some thread and a needle and sewed the wool back into the rug. It was a small hole, so I was able to fix it.

The next day, Cooper chewed the rug again! :o This time he had just started chewing right before I got home, the rug dripped with fresh drool. He chewed the rug, just along the edge, so again it is not really noticeable... but I KNOW.

I have come to the realization that it is just a rug... and I am so thankful that we did not spend big bucks on the ones at the outlet stores. Cooper has not chewed on the rug since Tuesday... I think it becomes his last resort when we are gone for a long period of time. Maybe the rug chewing was just Coop's way of saying "welcome to our home" or "thanks mom and dad for the new toy." You know... now that I think of it, the way we presented the rug and rolled it out in front of Cooper... maybe it is our fault he started chewing on it... we did present it as a gift Sunday when we brought it home, what else should we have expected?

So this week I am hoping that there is no more rug chewing, but if it happens ... it's just a rug! (maybe if I say it over and over I will begin to believe it.)

DDP latest....Finley is 6 mo.

2010-03-08T17:09:00.003-05:00

This weekend I photographed Finley for her six month shoot. I must say that the Riffle family is very near and dear to us. These are the sweetest, most precious kids and I always love getting snap a few shots of their adorable faces. Finley was a perfect subject this weekend. Here's a peak at the session...

Our Dog Linus

2010-03-05T18:19:00.004-05:00

Sometimes we call Cooper "Linus" ... I am not sure if we have shared this before but Cooper has some strange behaviors. Since he was a little puppy has been attached to blankets. It really does not matter which blanket, if there is one around he will take it as his own. He drags the blanket behind him... all over the house. In the morning when we let him outside he will carry the blanket with him to the door, drop it and then pick it back up when he comes in. When we say it is time for bed each night, Cooper will pick up his blanket and take it to the bedroom. He is so so weird, but it is kinda cute! Here's some pictures of Linus with his favorite blankie.

Carrying the blanket

Usually it gets caught in his (and our) feet when he's carrying it around.

Sleeping with the blankie....

Linus the Mope

As for Little, he's been great!

Oh... and the new floors definitely put Little at an advantage when he is being chased!

Butler Boutique Publicity

2010-03-03T19:05:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow, I will be getting up bright and early to be at the FOX News 18 TV station. They have asked me and my friend Lindsay (from Butler) to come in for a live, in-studio interview about the Butler Boutique. If you recall from last year, I posted some info about donating dresses for a dress shop we had created for Butler students. Well, this is our second year offering the boutique and we are so excited to be opening it up to the public tomorrow afternoon. Watch channel 18 between 6:00 and 6:30 am to see the interview! :)

Devine Renovations....

2010-03-02T20:35:00.008-05:00

Well, this past week TJ worked on his days off to put in our new laminate hardwood floors. We have always wanted hardwoods but didn't want to get rid of the new carpet when we bought the house. So ... we finally broke down and bought hardwoods. Instead of doing the traditional (and really expensive) real hardwoods we decided to go with a laminate hardwood that would last through the scuffs and stains of the next few years (until we are ready to sale this house.) We have been shopping for floors for quite sometime... really, since we bought the house! There are so many decisions to make - hardwood, laminate, bamboo, engineered hardwood, etc. As we shopped we finally settled on a wide plank, auburn colored laminate. I really do love the floors! TJ and our dear friend Matt worked so hard on the floors for three days.... they did an amazing job! Even though we have only been living on these floors for a few days, I can already say that there are things that I love about them and things I didn't expect (not so much bad things, just new things to get used to!)

The great things...

- The clean, sophisticated look... love it!

- GOODBYE PET HAIR! I can see every bit of dog hair and swiffer it right up! .... this is really one of the main reasons we got them now instead of later. Coop's hair is driving me crazy!

- Spills are SO easy to clean up!

- Muddy shoes (and paws) are not a big deal!

- I love watching Cooper slide on the floors, it is too cute!

- I have enjoyed TJ's Risky Business/Tom Cruise moments too!

- Little loves the floors... he rolls around and purrrs right in the center of the living room every night.

Things to get used to...

- They are so loud! I can hear Cooper's every step! (which is not necessarily a bad thing!)

- Cooper needs a rug... we have got to find this dog a rug, I never imagined in a million years he liked the carpet (b/c he always seemed to prefer to lay on the tile...) but now we will catch him wondering into the bedrooms and taking a snooze on the cozy carpet.

- They are kinda cold in the morning.

- I will forever be chasing dust bunnies! ... but it's ok, I am willing to do this instead of pet hair consuming my life!

Oh I forgot to mention that we (TJ) re-tiled the fireplace and spare bathroom while we were at it. We decided to leave carpet in the two spare bedrooms... TJ insisted that the future buyer would want carpet in the bedrooms.... which was ok with me. The guys have been working so hard and it sure has paid off!

Cooper meets Tucker

2010-02-25T17:39:00.003-05:00

So we have had our first dog sitting experience.... and it was interesting, to say the least! We kept "Tucker" ... TJ's friend's Chihuahua / Dotson. Tucker was at our house from Thursday through Tuesday. Cooper and Tucker hit it off very well (see picture above.) .... Really Coop loved Tucker but Tucker did not love Cooper (or TJ... ha!) Cooper was fascinated with Tucker's smallness, I think he thought he was a toy! Don't let Tucker's size fool you ... he was definitely alpha dog of the weekend! Little did not mind Tucker at all... and I was surprised that Little came around as much as he did. Let me also add that walking two dogs (one small and one huge) is a talent! They wanted to go different speeds and in different directions. I am sure that if someone got me on video tape walking Coop and Tuck in the afternoons we would win $10,000 on AFV! It was truly an acrobatic dance with leashes! I enjoyed having Tucker around... he was a great lap dog! I think most of the time though, he was just scared of the new-ness of everything. We finally got him to eat by Friday night... and we learned that he preferred Cooper's dry food to his fancy canned food.... and Cooper did not mind sharing! Tucker did try TJ's patience a few times (I guess if a dog pees on you once you are upset, twice ... furious!... and the fact that it was all one morning as TJ was trying to get to work did not help matters.)

Needless to say we learned a lot from Tucker's visit! :) TJ believes that having experienced Tucker for 5 days we are ready for kids... can a dog teach you THIS much about patience?

Busy as bees...

2010-02-17T20:37:00.003-05:00

We have had a really busy couple of weeks! I have been with my new classes at school for a few weeks now and things are going great. I have really good students and I praise God for them! With such a relaxed few weeks with Christmas, Africa, and Exams ... getting back into the full swing has been tiring! TJ and I have enjoyed the few snowy weekends! We were so glad that Maddie was here to experience the snow during the first week of Feb. and we got a pretty good snow this past weekend! Friday night we went to Lincolnton to meet TJ's family for dinner. On our way down and back we loved seeing the fluffy snow fall and cover the roads! As we were riding down the road, I mentioned to TJ... wouldn't it be cool to get some pictures of a bride in the snow?

So we started putting our heads together and called my friend Lindsay. I am taking pictures of Lindsay's wedding in July, but I was curious if she would be interested in a just-for-fun bridal shoot Saturday morning. Lindsay was up for the fun and even arranged for a neighbor to fix her hair early Sat. morning. We started at the Matthews hospital, then to a small church on Idlewild, then to Francis Beatty Park. It was so much fun and Lindsay was such a trooper! Now... you are going to have to wait until July to see the pictures, I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise by putting them out on the web before her wedding. I am sure we will need to see a little snow on one of those hot July days... the treat will be worth the wait ;)

This week we are now working on some home improvement. TJ, in his "Tim the Tool Man" ways, is going to be putting in hardwood floors this Monday and Tuesday, along with our awesome friend Matt. Tonight we have decided that it would be a good idea to go ahead and switch out the tile around the fireplace. So this has become our (TJ's) evening project... I am just here for the moral support and the sweeping.... Oh and for telling him which tile goes where. :) Before and after photos coming soon!

Big Weekend with the Careys

2010-02-01T19:30:00.005-05:00

Aleshia, Maddie and Mikey were in Indian Trail this past weekend. We had such a great time ... the snow was an unexpected but great surprise! We woke up Sat. morning to a white ground. Maddie was SO excited! We made breakfast and then played in the snow on and off for most of the day.

Cooper pulled Maddie in the sled

I think Maddie and Cooper became best friends this weekend!
And Mikey became more comfortable with Coop each passing day.

This is what each morning looked like... too cute!

The purpose for the weekend visit was to take Maddie to the circus for her birthday. She loved it! We got there early to take some pictures on the main floor.

Christmas Update

2010-01-21T21:19:00.006-05:00

Well we are finally back in the swing of everyday life. Thankfully I returned to a few days of review and exams which equals a pretty easy schedule. TJ and I were supposed to go to the mountains last weekend but the water was frozen and so everyone met up in Lincolnton. It was great to spend time with TJ's mom and dad and the Careys. Here's a couple of pictures of Mikey and Maddie opening presents. Mikey loved the ribbon and wrapping paper.

Maddie loved the presents! :)

Also... I didn't really post any pictures from Christmas, since we were getting ready for our trip. So here's a few of my favorites from the holiday season! First we did our own Devine Christmas in Indian Trail on Christmas morning. It has been fun creating some of our own traditions.

Then we went to TJ's grandparent's house for breakfast.

TJ and his Papaw

Then we spent the rest of the afternoon with my family. First opening presents with mom, dad and Lauren and then Dad's side of the family joined us for dinner.

Dad surprised mom this year with a cruise!! She was SO excited! :)

Dad with Granny

The Boggs Family, McClure Family and Wyant Family

Burkina Faso

2010-01-19T16:22:00.011-05:00

So I finally have a few minutes to tell you a little about our trip. We left Thurs. Dec. 31 from CLT and arrived in New York that afternoon. Thursday evening we flew to Casablanca, Morocco. We arrived in Morocco around 7am on Fri. for a long 12 hour layover. While in Casablanca we were able to take a short tour of the city. We stopped by the ocean and took some time to visit the local market.

Our group from Sardis. (Josh, Kenn, D, TJ, Kim and Angela)

In the market at Casablanca

Fri. evening we returned to the airport for a 9pm flight to Burkina Faso. We arrived in Burkina around 3 am on Sat. to find that six medical trunks and one of our group member's personal bags did not arrive. We were told that if these would arrive they would be in Burkina on Sun. night. We left the airport for a 5 hour drive out into the bush. Finally we arrived at our village, Bolimbar, around 9am on Sat.

We quickly set up our tents and started preparing the clinic for patients. We discovered that we did have enough medical supplies to begin the clinic the following day (Praise the Lord!) As we worked and unpacked it was very evident that drinking water was imperative. TJ and I got dehydrated quickly... along with other group members as well. It only took one small bout of dehydration to realize that drinking water constantly was not an option. We rested for the remainder of Sat. afternoon.

The clinic

Sunday morning TJ and I were asked to share our testimonies at the church service. It was such a blessing to get to share how we came to know Christ. I shared that over the course of my childhood and teenage years I learned that there is a difference between knowing Christ in my head (knowing OF Christ) and knowing Christ in my heart. I challenged the people to examine their hearts and see if they truly have a relationship with Christ. I must admit I was a little nervous about sharing my story with a translator but God worked out the details and gave me clarity of thought throughout the testimony.

That afternoon we began the clinic. TJ (obviously) ran the pharmacy and I got to help out with wound care. I didn't know exactly what my job would entail in wound care but I really just wanted to serve in some capacity and was glad to be assigned there! The clinic was in a small one room building but wound care was outside under a thatched roof. I was so thankful for the shade since it was 90+ degrees everyday.

So everyday pretty much operated the same. Group devotionals with the translators and local church leaders (this by the way was such a special time... I loved getting to study God's Word with these people), church service, clinic from around 9-5 and then dinner and showers. Each day when the clinic shut down for lunch we took about 30 minutes to spend time with the children. I was in charge of crafts and a little mini-lesson each day. I loved getting to know these kids... everyday we had more than a hundred children join us. They thoroughly enjoyed the crafts we made each day. I pray that when they think about the crafts we made they will recall Jesus' love for them!

Praise and worship each morning. Along with a sermon from pastor Kenn.

Many came to know Jesus and accept him. (It's pretty cool that we will get to see these wonderful people in eternity one day!)

Wound careTime with the children (and moms... they loved the crafts too!)
Pharmacy

So this is our trip in a nutshell. There are so many stories and details... maybe little by little I can blog about some of the specific people I met. So many of these people touched my heart... they are beautiful, dedicated, compassionate people. They love to greet you by shaking your hand and carrying your things. Their smiles are contagious (although many of them would not smile in the pictures.) Here's a glimpse at some of my favorite shots from the trip.

Burkina Faso

2010-01-09T23:46:00.002-05:00

We made it home from Burkina Faso, Africa. The mission trip was amazing. We have so much to share... probably a day by day account with pictures (of course.) Thanks for all of your prayers!Stay tuned! :)

Merry Christmas from the Devines

2009-12-22T00:04:00.004-05:00

I love Christmas... it is my favorite time of year! I love everything about it - family, shopping, gift giving, singing, Christmas trees, wrapping presents, great food, and most of all - celebrating the birth of Jesus. It is such a reminder each year of God's love. As we celebrate this Christmas season, I thought I would share a few holiday pictures we have already taken.

Our Christmas Card...

Cooper and Little in front of the Christmas Tree - they are perfect angels by themselves

But when you put them together, this is the result.

I am sure we will have more funny pictures to share... but I couldn't wait to post these! :)

Cooper has been with us for 1 year...

2009-12-13T15:57:00.004-05:00

Cooper officially turned 1 Nov. 7 but it was around this time last year that we brought him home. I feel like he is an indication of how quickly 2009 has flown by! It seems like yesterday we brought him home, teaching him to sit and stay... now he's all grown up. I would say that 2009 has most definitely been the fastest year of my life! I have a feeling they are just going to keep going by faster. Here are some wonderful / funny / crazy things we remember about Cooper's first year...

- Cooper has learned to sit, stay, lay down, roll over, beg, get the newspaper (sometimes) and speak

- He can distinguish his Frisbee from his other toys (which we call chewies)

- Cooper LOVES ponds

- Cooper can dig a hole in the yard faster than you can say "dog bone"

- Cooper will eat toilet paper and tissues ... so we have learned not to leave these lying around the house! He will even grab them from your hand when you aren't paying attention.

- Cooper and Little have become BFF

- Cooper loves peanut butter... and well anything humans eat!

- Cooper knocked down a cup full of pens, chewed about 10 of them, and left a HUGE black stain on the carpet. TJ had used diluted bleach to get it out.

- Sometimes we call Cooper Linus because he drags this blanket around with him... it is his security blanket!

- Cooper has managed to chew all of the plastic ends off of TJ's tennis shoe strings... not my shoes, just TJs

- Cooper is always SO excited when we get home... he always brings us treasures as soon as we walk in the door - the remote, his toys, his blanket, really anything he can find lying around the house.

- When we brought Cooper home, all he would do is SLEEP! He was so lazy, I thought something was wrong with him!

- We have to spell the word walk when we talk about it, other wise Cooper will understand, go get his leash and bug us until we take him. (Hey TJ, are you going to take Cooper for a W-A-L-K?)

- Cooper is the biggest moper we have ever seen... sometimes he mopes around the house, flops down and looks at us with sad puppy eyes, you'd think he was the most deprived dog in the world.

- Cooper has tripled the amount of pet hair lying around our house... we have to vacuum daily and keep an endless stock of lint rollers!

- Cooper loves kids!

- Cooper loves ice cream!

- Cooper is a master at spotting birds and squirrels in the yard. One day he is going to jump through the window after one!

- Cooper always loves a good belly rub!

- Cooper has made so many puppy friends - KC, Mochee, Abel, Angel, Sarah, and then a slew of other neighborhood dog friends ... TJ can keep up with all their names, I cannot!

- Cooper like to go on runs... when he gets tired he plants his feet and will not budge an inch. He is very stubborn. I have to say I am so proud of him... he's up to running 3 miles at a time! :)

- Cooper will pounce on things - toys, socks, people, Little... he's got a great pounce and slide move - you've gotta see it!

- Cooper likes baths.

We have enjoyed Cooper this year... as far as we are concerned, he's the best dog in the world!

A Passport Story...

2009-11-19T18:50:00.003-05:00

So TJ and I desperately needed to send off our passports to the Burkina Faso embassy in DC. We had kind of waited until the last minute to send them off. I got everything together Monday before last... printed the forms, got our money orders, shot records, passports and return envelopes together. Tuesday after I came home from school, I hurried to the post office ... arriving at like 4:55 - 5 minutes until close time. I mailed everything and then was getting into my car and remembered... OH NO, I think I forgot to get TJ to sign the forms. So I ran inside, knocked on the sliding doors - but the workers refused to help me. They refused to look for the package that I had just dropped off (knowing that it contained our passports) and they refused to open the door to talk to me. They told me that it was like finding a needle in a hay stack and if fact, the package was already gone - they had already put it on the truck... even though I had just given it to them 5 minutes ago. I have not ever been so frustrated. I called TJ crying, thinking that I had ruined his chance to get to Burkina. After he calmed me down - he said that it was not a big deal and that we should just pray that the person who grants the visas ignores the fact that there is no signature. So we have been praying that this would not be an issue - and God is so good (and humorous!) Today we got TJ's passport and visa in the mail (mine has not arrived yet) When I opened the mailbox, it was like God was saying... "Deanna, just trust me! I have a plan for you and I am in control." With a sigh of relief, I smiled and thanked God for TJ's visa!

You see, I worry a lot... even though I know I shouldn't. It's times like this that God teaches me that it is so silly to worry because He's in control! If God came to earth, died on the cross and arose from the dead, it is so crazy for me to even think for 5 seconds that he cannot provide the passport we need to go to Burkina! I am so glad that we serve a personal God that loves us and cares about the small stuff!

Deanna Devine Photography this Fall...

2009-11-05T18:22:00.010-05:00

The Fall has been a busy time for DDP (and I have loved every minute of it!) I wanted to share a few of my favorite shots from a few of the events / shoots this Sept. and Oct.

Ashley and Joseph were such a cute couple! Their wedding was at Dennis Vineyards in Locust, NC. The vineyard is beautiful and complimented Ashley and Joseph's precious day!

Sarah and Tim were married the last weekend in Sept. I love their evident joy when they are together! Despite the never-ending rain, Sarah and Tim were absolutely fabulous!

2009-11-05T18:15:00.002-05:00

Weekend before last we went to the mountains. We got to see Maddie and Mikie since they were in town visiting. It was a quick trip to Virginia, but we had fun!

Our Wild and Crazy Pets

2009-10-26T20:31:00.003-04:00

So this year I decided to be the annoying pet owner and get costumes for Little and Cooper. Let me go ahead and say upfront that TJ strongly opposed the costumes for animals idea, but after he saw them in the costumes, I think he kind of likes them! :) So ... here's Coop the Dino and Chicken LittleCooper LOVES his costume! He attacks it (with joy) every time he sees it! The funniest part is that when he wears the costume he has TWO tails... he goes crazy chasing his dino tail! Our friends down the street, David and Megan, gave Cooper his very own pumpkin treat basket. (They got to see the costume first since we were out practicing how to walk in the costume without chasing the tail) Cooper and I will be going to the Fall Festival this Sat. to show off his DINO costume and to monitor the jumpy/inflatable thing?!?Little HATES his costume! He constantly looks up at the chicken and then attacks it (but in a bad way). If I could put into words what he's thinking it would probably be something like "There's a chicken on my head" or "My mom is ridiculous." Either way, he is ultra-cute in the costume ...but we only leave it on for a minimum amount of time since he really prefers not to wear it.

So there you go... Devine Halloween 2009 - I guess dressing up our pets helps us put off having kids a little longer. I love Cooper and Little so much... they are the COOLEST pets in the world!

Busy Fall... We're going to Africa

2009-10-06T15:33:00.004-04:00

Sorry for the lack of updates these past couple of weeks. Between work, classes at UNCC, NC State games and DDP stuff... I have been so busy! I have been taking two post-baccalaureate classes at UNCC this fall and will be applying for the masters program in school counseling. Classes are going well... at least for now! Maybe check back in November when everything is due - I might think otherwise. NC State football schedule has been crazy this season. We had four home games in a row during the month of Sept. and the past two weekends I have had weddings to shoot. (more DDP updates to follow this post)

In the midst of our busy fall, TJ and I have decided to go on a mission trip to Burkina Faso, Africa. Our pastor took this same trip last year and I really wanted to go, but it simply did not work with our schedules. This year, I have asked the school permission to be out the first week back from Christmas break. (This would not be a big deal, but we actually only have one week back then exams... so I will review with my students before Christmas break and then be back in time for their exam.) My dept. chair and asst. principal have been so great about this opportunity - it is amazing how God can simplify things, even when you think something may be impossible! Please pray for our trip and for the people that we will meet. We will be setting up medical clinics daily and use these clinics to spread the gospel! We are so excited!

Cooper's working on a new trick...

2009-09-13T22:10:00.002-04:00

NC State Football

2009-09-13T20:35:00.005-04:00

We have four NC State home games in the month of September. Thursday before last was the kickoff of college football (NCSU v. USC) and boy were we disappointed. The final score of the game was 3 (NC State) to 7 (USC) ... let's just say that this made for a really terrible drive home. This week we attended the NC State vs. Murray State game. We arrived early and tailgated with Kelli and Mike and the Wyants. We grilled steaks and played cornhole. It was great to catch up with everyone! This game was ridiculous. NC State 65 - Murray State 7. We went from not scoring all to scoring every time we had the ball! This was the highest scoring game for NC State since 1919. I am so glad that we have season tickets and that we get to visit Raleigh often each fall!

We're going to be terrible parents....

2009-09-13T20:26:00.005-04:00

This weekend Cooper was outside and decided that it would be a great idea to pull a huge branch off of our Japanese maple tree. When I walked outside and realized what he had done my initial reaction was to laugh. I ran inside and got TJ and he came out to see Cooper... he was prancing around with the branch in his mouth. His prancing turned to hopping and pouncing. He looked so funny and was so proud of his new toy. When we should have been correcting his behavior we encouraged it with our extreme laughter. Next week we may come out and see every branch stripped from the tree. As our laughter died down we mentioned that this is not going to fly when we are parents (of a human) in a few years ... we have a lot to learn! I guess Cooper is glad that he gets to be the guinea pig of our parenting skills.

This is the branch after Cooper ripped all the smaller branches and leaves off of it.

By the way... Little and Cooper are becoming best friends!

Finley Claire - 1 Week

2009-09-05T22:19:00.010-04:00

I spent this morning with the Riffles for Finley's newborn pictures. Taking pictures of a newborn is one of the most precious things I can think of. Finley is one week old and she is beautiful! (I LOVE this sweet little girls head full of hair ...)

At the end of the shoot I wanted to capture this special shot for one of my favorite families in the world... 40 tiny toes!

Finley Claire

2009-08-30T16:54:00.004-04:00

So this weekend TJ and I got to be the babysitters on call for Matt and Becca Riffle. They had arranged for Becca to be induced on Sat. but Finely decided that she did not want to wait until then. Becca called me Friday afternoon and said that she thought the baby would be here that night. Around 11 pm we got THE CALL that her contractions were about a minute and a half apart (wow) so we hurried over so that they could get to the hospital. TJ and I stayed at Matt and Becca's Fri. night to watch the kids and be there when they woke up. Around 12:30 am we got a text message with a picture of the new baby. The kids got up around 6:30 and we got to tell them the news about their new baby sister. It was so great seeing them so excited! We ate breakfast and then played barbies / Mr. Potato Head until Matt could get home to take them to the hospital. Saturday afternoon TJ and I made it over to the hospital to see Becca and to meet Finley. She is so precious!

Back to School

2009-08-23T17:01:00.003-04:00

I cannot believe that the summer is already over! :( I enjoy every minute of my 2 months off. It has been so great to hang out around the house with Cooper and Little all summer, to travel (Italy, Louisiana, Virginia, South Carolina) and to spend some quality time with TJ when he is off.

This past Tuesday workdays started! We have one more workday this week and the students come back on Tuesday. I know that as this week begins I will get back in the swing of things quickly ... but I always wish the summer could last longer.

This year I will only be teaching civics. (No AP Psych) :( Hopefully this is only a temporary thing but it was necessary with the teacher layoffs. I was told at the end of the year that we needed 2 more civics classes and being the only teacher that does not teach all civics, I was the obvious choice. Although I did not put up my AP Psych wall decor this year... I am keeping up my "Wall of Fame" for those students who have earned a 5 on the AP Exam. Students have already stopped by asking if their picture is up on the board yet... so I cannot take this down!

Please pray for the teachers and students as we go back to school!

Shower for Becca

2009-08-23T16:41:00.004-04:00

Sunday we came home from the beach early to get ready for my friend Becca's shower. When we got home TJ had the house clean and already arranged for the shower (he is so wonderful!!) Sarah (Becca's best friend) arrived around 3 and we set up the food, punch, etc.

Becca is having a baby girl (Finley Claire) and I decided that it was a must to shower her with some of the necessities. We invited some friends from church and some of Becca's family. The shower was so much fun .... it was evident that Becca's other kids (Carly, Chloe, and Harper) were super excited about their new sister! Becca is due this Wednesday... keep her and Matt in your prayers!!

TJ snapped this picture of Becca... I am sure she would like for me to include that she is feeding her kids... both plates are not just for her!! :)

A FOUR generations picture...

Beach

2009-08-23T16:29:00.003-04:00

Week before last Mom and I met Lauren in Myrtle Beach. This was kind of a last minute trip but we ended up loving the place that we stayed! (Anderson's Beach Club) Most of our time was spent out on the beach. The weather was touch and go at times but we insisted on getting as much time on the beach as possible. Saturday the sun finally came out! We had a lot of fun and it was a great way to end the summer. TJ stayed back in Indian Trail since he had to work. I did miss him but this worked out well since he took care of Cooper. Next summer we would love to make it to the beach with Cooper!

I did not take a lot of pictures at the beach?!? Here's one of me, mom and Lauren and another of the sunrise Saturday morning...

I don't know who this couple is but they we enjoying the beautiful sunrise.

Logan

2009-08-12T11:10:00.006-04:00

I visited Laura's family weekend before last and captured some shots of her kids... TJ tagged along to help me and ended up catching a lizzard while we were outside. Logan thought this was so cool and was willing to hold the lizzard! I love this shot of Logan!

Kassie and Family

2009-08-12T10:38:00.006-04:00

Kassie asked me take some family portraits just a couple of weeks ago. We decided to take the portraits in Freedom Park... I love this place! It is so beautiful! This is such a great family - the little ones were so precious!

Megan and David's Wedding

2009-08-12T10:13:00.003-04:00

I have known Megan since elementary school and earlier this year Megan and David were looking for a house and ended up buying a house right down the street from us (literally 4 doors down) This past weekend Megan and David were married in Concord. It was great to see Megan and David and so many friends from high school!

The beauty of Devine Mountain...

2009-08-09T19:09:00.005-04:00

Here are some details of Devine Mountain... I loved photographing the treasures of this place!

Cooper at the Mountains

2009-08-09T18:28:00.008-04:00

This spent the last week with Kathy and Terry on (what we like to call) Devine Mountain. Kathy and Terry's land is located near Pearisburg, VA... about 3 hours from Indian Trail. We arrived Sunday night and stayed until Friday. The week was so relaxing! TJ helped his dad with some things around the house and barn ... putting up a new shelves, building a roof for the water shed, raising the deck that was sinking, etc. For Cooper the week was heaven! He spent a lot of his time in ponds and on occasion, chasing cows. Every morning we took the four-wheelers around the property and the dogs (Cooper, Emma and Blondie) followed along for their morning run. There a three ponds around the mountain and every time we turned around Cooper was in the pond. He is a water-loving dog, to say the least. After the morning runs, Cooper and the other dogs stayed around the barn and waited for the next chance to run up the mountain or go to the pond. We played Frisbee and ping pong a lot this past week. Cooper loves chasing ping pong balls once they hit the floor. The tricky part is getting him to drop the balls without busting them. Let's just say by mid-week I had to buy some more ping pong balls. Kathy and I canned pickles, browsed antique stores and baked this week. We celebrated Terry's 50th Birthday a little early and I made him a coconut cake... it turned out (surprisingly) very good!

This was a great vacation ... we look forward to our next visit! Cooper and his Frisbee
The morning run....

Cooling off in the pond

A few sunset pictures

A little family photo (minus Little...)

Cooper loved running through the tall grass ... I think he gained an advanced sense of smell this week!

Cooper posing in front of the zinnias

Cooper, Emma and Blondie (getting all 3 of them to sit still was NOT easy... )

A smooch from Coop (thanks for the trip to the mountains mom!)

Coop and dad!

More pictures from Louisiana

2009-08-09T17:59:00.004-04:00

So here are a couple more pictures from our visit with little Mikie a few weeks ago. It was not until the last day that we realized that TJ and I had not had our picture taken with Mikie... So here are a few from our last day in Louisiana.

Deanna and Mikie

TJ and Mikie

This sign was posted behind a restaurant we ate at on our way home... Maddie is too cute!

TJ, D, Maddie and Mikie

The Carey Crew

DDP

2009-07-29T20:21:00.004-04:00

I love learning (that sounds so nerdy) ... and it has been great to focus on photography this summer! I have been working with photoshop actions and LOVE it! Webinars have become my best friend this summer (that sounds lonely) haha! But it really has been fun to self-teach this summer and explore more in photoshop and album design!

You may (or may not) have noticed that the DDP blog is no longer out there. I have just decided to keep everyone updated on DDP on this blog... instead of keeping up with two blogs. DDP Blog started as an info blog for the business but now with http://www.deannadevine.com/ up and running for a year now I feel confident that that is where my customers get the info they need to decide if they want to hire me. SO ... I may post some DDP updates here on TJ and D.

Just a few weeks ago I shot a great couple Sarah and Tim and son Preston. Such a gorgeous family! We had so much fun in downtown Charlotte and Freedom Park!

Meeting Little Mikie

2009-07-24T13:16:00.008-04:00

This past weekend we went to Louisiana to meet our new nephew, David Michael Carey III. It was so great to relax and hang out with Maddison. Most of the visit was low key... we went to the beach Sunday afternoon and of course, I got a chance to take a couple of pictures of Maddie enjoying the beach.

This was the sunset on the way home from the beach.... breath-taking!

Monday morning we took some time to take some portraits of Maddie and Mikie.

New pictures of the pets...

2009-07-06T16:32:00.003-04:00

Since we have been back form Italy I have been relaxing and hanging out with Cooper and Little. They sleep A LOT... which sometimes makes for a pretty boring day. :) When they are awake, they like to window watch. Cooper and I take at least one walk a day ... we really enjoy our walks.

Another picture

2009-07-04T15:54:00.003-04:00

We have another picture of David Michael Carey III (I keep saying the whole name because Aleshia and Mike are still not sure what they will call him.) Love the cheeks! We can't wait to see this precious little boy!

We have a nephew!!

2009-07-03T15:11:00.003-04:00

Meet David Michael Carey III - our new nephew... 9 lb. 8 oz. 20.5 in. - Aleshia and baby are both doing great after a pretty long day yesterday. She went into the hospital yesterday morning around 3am and by 8pm they decided to do a c-section.

We still have not heard what this little guy is going to be called... Aleshia and Mike are still trying to decide. TJ says that we are going to call him D3. Michael? David? Trey? We will let you know what they decide!

We plan on getting to see this new addition in a couple of weeks... until then we will patiently wait for more pictures to come in!! Mike's sister Melissa has taken over my photography duties since we are not there right now! :(

Italy - June 24th

2009-07-03T14:34:00.003-04:00

Our final full day in Italy ... we woke up to more clouds and I thought it was going to be another full day of the same dreary weather. We visited a glass blowing shop on the island of Murano (aka "murano glass") The demonstration was so neat and then we got to browse through the (very expensive) glass shop. Then by the time we got to Venice, the sun was peeping through the clouds. :) It turned out to be a prefect day in Venice!! We had several hours to shop and tour Venice. We made our way over to Rialto Bridge and browsed through the markets. I bought murano glass jewelry. That afternoon we went to the top of the bell tower in St. Mark's Square. Then we took our scheduled gondola ride. Gus (tour director) worked it out so that TJ and I would be serenaded for our 4th Anniversary. It was so neat to be on the gondolas, traveling through the canals with beautiful Italian music! This was one of my favorite parts of our whole trip! That afternoon we made our way back to Lido and visited the beach. We picked up beautiful sea shells on the beach (the have really great shells here... not like the plain white shells on NC beaches) Then we had our final dinner with the group at a restaurant called Roxy. We ended the evening by walking around the town of Lido.

Thursday we left early in the morning to travel to the hotel (by boat) and flew out of Venice around 11:30 am. We had a 9 hr. flight to NY and then a 5 hour lay over in NY and made our way to Charlotte by 9:30 that evening!

Such a wonderful trip! We praise God for the opportunity to travel here... it has been such a blessing to get to spend this time with one another and to see wonders of Italy. Overall impressions / memories of the trip:

- Italy is BEAUTIFUL! Each region is different and fascinating in its own way!

- I thought I could eat 100% Italian everyday on the trip... by the first 5 days... I really needed a hamburger!

- After 2 weeks away... we were ready to get home... living out of a suitcase from city to city is not easy!

- We are still glad we took the "tour" as our first trip to Europe... but we probably will not take a guided tour again. (we feel confident that we could arrange the activities and navigate our way around the cities... TJ was awesome at this! Plus the less lenient schedule that comes with a guided tour is a downfall...)

- Europe is expensive... food, souvenirs, everything! We did not buy a lot of souvenirs since we spent so much on food. If you are planning a trip to Europe... anticipate spending double what you think)

- We have a new concept of old things... in the US things are old if they are 250 years old. We saw things that date back to 500BC...

Thanks for reading about our trip!!

Italy - June 23rd

2009-07-03T14:19:00.003-04:00

Tuesday morning we got up very early to go to the Academia in Florence to see Michelangelo's David statue. This was such a treat!! I loved the tour through the museum and hearing the details of Michelangelo as an artist. Several of Mich's unfinished statues are also found here. Mich's philosophy of carving statues is that each rock already contained the statue and it was his job to uncover it. Such an interesting viewpoint!! Mich knew the human body as a doctor knows the human body... he understood movement and gravity and that is why his statues are so amazing! David is such an amazing statue... it is evident why it is the most recognizable in the world!

After our visit at the museum we headed to Venice. We stopped in Ravenna where we ate spaghetti and visited a local church with beautiful columns and mosaics. When we arrived in Venice it was raining! :( We took a boat ride through the grand canal and got our first glimpse of St. Mark's Square and St. Mark's basilica. We continued our boat ride to Lido Island ... where our hotel was. I was so upset that it was raining and prayed for good weather on our final day in Italy!

Fields of Sunflowers on our way to Venice! :)
On the boat in Venice

Italy - June 22nd

2009-07-03T14:01:00.003-04:00

Monday we took a walking tour of Florence. This included the basilica and baptistery as well as the Holy Cross church where Michelangelo and Galileo are buried. We also visited the piazza with the copy of the David statue. Then we had a few hours to shop. We spent most of our time in the local leather shops. (Leather is one of the main products found in this area) I bought 2 wide leather belts from a local vendor in the market. That afternoon we met the group and traveled to San Gimignano - a nearby medieval town. This was supposed to be the "Under the Tuscan Sun" tour of the trip but it rained the entire time we were here. This town in so cute... I wish it would have been sunny, the pictures could have been so great without the pouring rain! While we were in San Gimignano we tried some delicious cookies and ice cream from the country's award winning gelato shop. Monday evening we drove into the Chianti Hills and ate dinner at a local vineyard/orchard. Il Lecca had gorgeous grounds and the food was fabulous! On our way home we stopped by an outlook to see a night view of Florence. We LOVED Florence! TJ and I both agree that this was our favorite stop during the trip!

Italy - June 21st

2009-07-02T21:15:00.003-04:00

Sunday we traveled from Maiori to Florence. On our way we stopped at Pompeii ... I had no idea how huge these Roman ruins were.... this city was home to around 2 million people. The roads of this city seem to stretch for miles. Pompeii was buried under the ashes of Mt. Vesuvius after an eruption. We really enjoyed our tour of Pompeii and then made our long journey up "the boot" to Florence. This evening was a whirlwind because as soon as we arrived in Florence we checked into our hotel room (which was the most extravagant hotel we stayed in during the trip... an old palace converted into a hotel) and ran to the train station. We caught a train to Pisa to see the leaning tower. This was not a scheduled excursion with our group but we hated to be this close to the leaning tower and not see it. So we took the hour long train to Pisa and made the 25 minute walk to see the tower. We got there just at sunset. The tower was... definitely leaning/sinking. I am so glad that we made this extra trip to the tower. We spent an hour or so in Pisa and crossed this beautiful bridge on our way back. Stunning view! We purchased our train tickets back to Florence and then had time to grab dinner (at McDonald's ... haha... by this time we were in need of something that did not include pasta or tomatoes)

Italy - June 20th

2009-07-02T20:49:00.003-04:00

Saturday we headed to the towns of Positano and Amalfi. We walked around the towns, shopped, enjoyed the food and gelato. I decided to purchase a linen top in Positano - all of the shops are filled with clothes designed by the locals. The boutiques were so neat! Positano was our favorite stop in our three days on the Amalfi coast.

That evening we returned to Maiori for an wonderful dinner in a Norman Tower. This five star dinner included more courses than I could count... and each course was amazing. I must admit this was one of the best dinners we have ever had. It was an amazing experience.

Italy - June 19th

2009-07-02T20:25:00.003-04:00

Friday morning we left the town of Maiori (where our hotel was) and took a boat to the Island of Capri. Capri is known to be a very upper class vacation spot - and believe you could definitely tell this when we attempted to buy lunch for a reasonable price. The boat ride over to Capri was wonderful ... I was so glad we got to see the Amalfi Coast from the ocean viewpoint. We arrived at Capri around 10 am. TJ, Lauren and I decided that this would be our "day on the beach" .... we it turned out more like a day on the rocks. We found the small beach of Capri and found our own little spot. There was no sand on this beach... only large pebbles! I told Lauren to just pretend it was a stone massage... this was easier said than done. So we layed out on the beach for a couple of hours while mom took the optional excursion to the top of the island (Anacapri) We took the lift/trolley to the town of Capri to find some lunch and one restaurant had soda prices that converted to $7.50 for an 8oz. can of Coke. YIKES... needless to say we did not eat there. We ended up paying a ridiculous amount for two hamburgers and two coca-colas... but it sure was tasty. We walked around the town, home to many upscale shops and boutiques. The small streets were so cute! This was such a neat little place. TJ bought a linen shirt... I thought this was a perfect addition to our very small collection of souvenirs. (we did not buy a lot on our trip because everything was so expensive!) After our window shopping, we returned to the beach to soak up the sun for a couple more hours before returning to Maiori that evening. (I got a little too much sun on the beach this day...)

Italy - June 18th

2009-07-02T19:52:00.003-04:00

Thursday we headed south to the Amalfi Coast. On our way we stopped in Monte Cassino to see the memorial to many of the British soldiers that died in Italy in WWII. The grounds of this memorial were so beautiful! We also stopped at a store in Monte Cassino where mom and I both bought cameo jewelry. Mom bought me a ring and TJ bought me matching earrings. I love them and I hope that they become a special family heirloom!

Then we stopped at Paestum the site of three Greek Temples... some of the most well-preserved Greek temples in the world! That afternoon we arrived on the Amalfi Coast. The views her cannot be captured by photographs. Amalfi is such a gorgeous place and it is known for the infamous Amalfi Drive. We completed this drive in two different sections - part of when we arrived and the other part on Saturday. If you can imagine one hairpin turn after another on the side of a mountain with a sea below... that's the Amalfi Drive. We had to exchange our bus in for a smaller bus just to drive down the coast. Every turn we were so close to the oncoming cars... but we had a great driver and made it to our hotel with no problems!

Our hotel was the biggest disappointment about Amalfi (and probably the trip) The views were magnificent... the hotel was on the sea and we had an ocean front room but the hotel lacked one thing... Air Conditioning! It was so hot here... I think Amalfi could have been my favorite stop of the trip had we had a great hotel.

Italy - June 17th

2009-06-30T11:45:00.004-04:00

Wednesday we headed to Tivoli where we visited an estate with a collection of gardens and fountains. This mansion was beautiful and the gardens and fountains were equally stunning. We have a beautiful view of Rome from this mountain-top town. We ate lunch at a local sandwich shop and we had some really tasty paninis. We headded back to Rome with an afternoon at leisure. We decided to find the St. Peter's in Chains church where Michelangelo's Moses statue is and also there were chains that were thought to have bound Peter when imprisoned in Rome. Froms here we headed to the forum to see some more of ancient Rome. Sad to say we arrived to late and were not able to get into the forum - We were trying to make it just before they closed but coe to find out they close the entry gates an hour before the forum actually closes. So we did not make it in. However we did gaze in from the outside listening to our Rick Steve's podcast. I hate that TJ missed out on this site... he was really looking forward to it. On our way back we got to see the colosseum at sunset which was a treat!

Italy - June 16th

2009-06-29T10:47:00.004-04:00

Tuesday we started the day at the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's Basilica. These were all amazing! Being with a group was great because we walked right in - no waiting in the long lines!! The tours were really helpful to know what you were looking at. The guides used these whisper radios so that they did not have to yell and we did not have to stay right by their sides every step of the day. The museum was so crowded! Of course, TJ did his thing moving from room to room without the group - he insisted on going in all the rooms, so was behind the whole group. We finally made it to the Sistine Chapel to see Michelangelo's ceiling paintings and the Last Judgement painting. These were beautiful!! I did manage to snap a couple of pictures in the Sistine Chapel despite the guards continuously saying "no photo" ... After the museum we went to the basilica - wow! It is huge! We the had an hour or so to get some lunch. I ate pizza (again...) and then we had some time to take some portraits around the huge columns in the square.

After the Vatican we headed to the Colosseum. This was one of the highlights in Rome! We spent the evening on our own and made it back to the Trevi fountain to see it at night. We got some great suset pictures around the Spanish Steps and found an alleyway on the way home to take some fun night photos.

Italy - June 15th

2009-06-29T08:06:00.004-04:00

So we actually left Charlotte on Sunday June 14th and had an overnight flight to Rome. We arrived in Rome Monday morning and headed straight to the hotel. We met our tour director Gus at the Ateno Garden Palace (we decided our first trip to Europe to be with a tour. We chose to travel with Trafalgar.... more about this later) We did not have to meet up with the entire group until 5 pm so we left with our maps to get in some of the must see places. (At this point I realized how great TJ is with a map... I am so glad I did not have to think about where to turn or remembering our route so that we could get home... TJ just takes one look at the map and then does this automatically) So we headed to the Spanish Steps - one place that we knew we wanted to see. We stopped on the way to eat lunch at a pizzaria ... The steps were beautiful! On our way back we stopped by the Trevi Fountain. With all the walking, I began to realize how tired I was... we went back to the hotel and had our meeting with the "family" as Gus called our entire group of 46.

We decided to take one of the optional tours that night through Rome... which took us to the Pantheon, back to the Trevi Fountain and then to Piazza Navona. We arrived at the Pantheon just before it closed... but managed to have a few minutes to go in and look around. It was so dark in the Pantheon ... this became the first time of many that I used my new monopod to capture some of the shots without a flash. Piazza Navona was enchanting at night! There were local artists painting and selling their art, musicians, and lots of outdoor restaurants. Since we had pizza not too long ago, we opted to walk a couple blocks over to one of the best gelato shops in Rome. It was amazing! I have strawberry and mango gelato. YUM! This would be some of the best ice cream we had on the trip... and believe me - we sampled A LOT of gelato!

Italy 2009

2009-06-29T07:59:00.002-04:00

This past Thursday we (Me, TJ, Mom and Lauren) returned from our 11 day vacation in Italy. We had SO much fun. Italy is such a beautiful place and the food is wonderful! We flew into Rome, then traveled south to the Amalfi Coast and then north to Florence and Venice. I want to walk you through our journey with some of my favorite pictures but it will probably take me a few days to get all 11 days posted. If you just can't wait to see all the pictures (or want to see more pictures) check out our photos on facebook!

Hope you enjoy our journey...

Half Marathon

2009-04-22T19:44:00.007-04:00

The start.... 8am Sat. morning.... 1150 half marathon runners (and another 1000+ 10K runners)

This past Saturday I ran the Charlotte RunFest Half Marathon! My goal going into this was just to finish the race (this was my first half marathon). I finished the race in 1hr. and 58 minutes. My ultimate goal is to one day run a marathon, so it was awesome to get one step closer to my goal. TJ, Mom, Dad and Cooper came out to cheer me on... mile 6.5 and 10.5 had long gradual inclines... they were at the 10.5 marker to give me that energy boost I needed to finish. After fighting the traffic they barely got back to the finish line to see me finish. Now for the Thunder Road Marathon in Dec!! .... maybe?!?! :)

Cooper waits for mommy at the 10.5 marker...

Hi Mom and Dad!

The finish.... 13.1 miles later...

Here is TJ... wishing he ran the race with me.... HA! (The medal was given to all that finished the half marathon!!.... woohoo!)

Easter 2009

2009-04-13T20:05:00.005-04:00

Here's a couple pictures from Easter... first we tried to take a "family" picture with Little and Cooper.... that was hilarious!!

Maddie, Aleshia and Mike were in town. They came for dinner on Easter Sunday (along with Kathy and Terry)... here's some pictures of Maddie playing with "Tooper"