One Year Stronger!

July 14, 2013 – Our one year anniversary!  In some ways, it’s hard to believe that we’ve been married a whole year, and in others, it seems like this has been our life forever!  I have to say it has been the best year, yet, and I can’t wait to see what the future years have in store.

Because Patrick and I just got back from a 2 week vacation (that I plan to recap soon…right after I FINALLY finish the wedding/honeymoon posts! Ha!), we were pretty tired and busy all day unpacking and doing laundry.  SO, how does a married couple who has spent wayyyy too much money on their travels and is wayyyy too tired to do something uber romantic celebrate 1 year of wedded bliss?  Why they head to Jim ‘N Nicks, of course! 

As you may remember, Jim ‘N Nicks catered our wedding reception and since everyone raved about the delicious food, we decided that would be the perfect way to celebrate.  Can I just say that It. Was. Delicious.  In fact, it was so fun and yummy that we decided to celebrate there every year…So, Jim ‘N Nicks, don’t go closing down on us anytime soon or anything…Ha!

Anyway, we came home had the dreaded year-old wedding cake as dessert and to be honest, it was really yummy, too…not quite as good as I remember it a year ago, but still tasty none-the-less. 

All-in-all, it was an excellent anniversary!  I can’t wait to finish up the wedding/honeymoon posts and tell you all about our most recent West Coast trip, but in the meantime, this jet lag is killing me…think I might go hit the sack for the evening!  Good night all!  Have a great week!

Wedding–First Dances

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I’m back with more wedding posts!  I know…you’re shocked!  Ha!  Today, I’m reliving the kickoff to the reception, which was the introduction of the bridal party, our first dance, the father/daughter dance, and the mother/son dance.  All were very special moments for Patrick and me. 

We started off the reception by introducing the wedding party and having them enter to the song “I’ve Got a Feeling” by The Black Eyed Peas.  I know, it’s a little cliché, but it’s one of my favorite songs and one of those songs that every time I hear it, I am immediately taken back to the early days of our relationship!

Next, it was time for our first dance, which was one of my very favorite parts of our wedding day!  We started out dancing to “Marry Me” by Train, then after the first verse, the music scratched and jumped to “DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love” by Usher.  Patrick and I (along with our MOH and Best Man) had been scheming for quite some time to surprise everyone with a choreographed dance.  Since being a very young girl, dancing has been my favorite thing ever, so I couldn’t think of a better way to kick off the best day of my life than dancing with some of my favorite people!  Check out a few pics and also the video that was captured of the dance.

First Dance, Usher Style

Next up, it was time for the Father/Daughter dance.  I can remember being much younger and dancing with my dad at weddings (because my mom HATES dancing and would never dance with him) and this time was pretty much like all the others…except this time it was MY wedding, which made me it much more special!  We danced to “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong.

And, finally, it was time for Patrick to do a dance with his mom!  She was really looking forward to this part, and I think she really enjoyed it.  They danced to “A Mother’s Song”  by T. Carter Music.

One last thing, because our DJ is a rockstar, a Nashville blogging bride, Ashley’s Bride Guide, decided to do a feature on first dances and custom wedding tracks and we got to be the featured couple.  Here is the link if anyone wants to check it out!

http://ashleysbrideguide.com/the_wedding_scoop/article/custom-first-dance-song-dj-photobooth-nashville-wedding-reception-rocketown/

Weekend Update!

Long time, no see…I apologize for my lack of posts lately…do you ever have those times in your life that are so draining (both emotionally AND physically) that you just can’t muster up the energy to do anything that isn’t absolutely necessary?  Well, that was my week last week.  Don’t worry…nothing tragic was going on…just a lot on my mind and a lot going on both personally and professionally, and I just needed to take some time for me!  So, without further ado, here’s what last weekend was all about…

Nikki (a friend that Alysia and I used to work with) was in town for the weekend and the three of us met up on Friday night for some after work drinks.  It was so fun to get to spend time with them…reminded me of the good ole days when we were all meeting up on the reg!

Saturday, after thinking it was going to rain all morning, I finally decided to just take the risk and head to the pool…it ended up being a great day for soaking up some rays…four hours and a mean sunburn later, I was officially baked!  That evening, Patrick and I had a little date night.  We headed to The Sushi Train for dinner, then to Trader Joe’s, then to get some froyo!  It was a great night!  We both liked The Sushi Train, but neither of us thought the sushi was amazing!  Still, it was a cool concept and a lot of fun.  That evening, we came home and tortured Zoey with some treats we had picked up at Trader Joe’s!  This is one of my favorite tricks of hers…she would sit still for hours if we made her waiting for us to tell her she can have that treat!

On Sunday morning, after sleeping in, Patrick and I finished up the front yard project we started on Memorial Day weekend.  It feels good to have all those bushes gone…now we just have to figure out what’s going to go in their place! That evening, Patrick and I headed to church at Crosspoint and then to Chuy’s for dinner.

This weekend was equally as wonderful!  Friday night, we had dinner with Jason and Amanda at Shabu Shabu House.  For those who have never eaten Shabu Shabu, it’s like The Melting Pot for Asian food.  We had a great time!  The food was really good and the company was even better.On Saturday, I ran about 985 errands and then it was time to head to the Gooch’s Annual Pool Party.  Apparently, this was the 7th year of this awesome shin-dig, and this year may have been the best year, yet!  It was so fun to relax by the pool with some of my favorite people. 

Sunday was spent laying in bed too late, watching Crosspoint Church on TV because we were too tired to get dressed and go to the actual service, and some laying by the pool that afternoon.  That evening, I cooked dinner and we just relaxed and prepped for the week.

I hope all of you had a wonderful weekend as well!  Cheers to a great week, too!

After Pics

As you may remember, despite the fact that there was a huge drought and it was record high temps for about 3 weeks leading up to our wedding, the week before our wedding AND our wedding day was both fairly mild AND really rainy.  However, after the wedding and all of the family photos, somehow, the rain stopped for about 15 minutes and Patrick and I headed outside with our photographers to try to get at least a FEW decent pictures outdoors together. 

These pictures are some of my most favorite Patrick and I have ever made together.  Something about those moments really helped finally calm my nerves from the stresses of the entire day and really allowed me to relax and enjoy being Mrs. Sun.  Take a look for yourself.

This last pic was taken at Rocketown inside the skate park that inhabits the other side of the building!  The guys in there were so fun!  They loved skating for the sake of being on camera!

Stay tuned for all the reception fun one day next week!

What I’m Loving Wednesday!

Happy Wednesday!  I hope you all are having a wonderful week!  Here’s what I’m loving today:

1.  Short work weeks!  And, yes, there is a theme here…last week I was loving 3 day weekends…since that has come and gone, I choose to focus on the fact that I get another weekend in 4 work days instead of 5!

2.  Vacation Planning!  It’s official…Patrick and I have picked our summer vacation.  We will be flying to Los Angeles, renting a car, and making our way up the coast up to Seattle over a period of 2 weeks!  Our stops along the way include Los Angeles, Fresno (Patrick’s dad, stepmom, and sister live here), San Francisco, Napa, Redwood National Forest, Portland, and Seattle.  Needless to say, I can’t wait!  Now, we just need to book hotel rooms in each of these cities!

3.  Dinner with Old Friends!  I found out today that my friend, Nikki is going to be in town this weekend visiting from Nebraska, and she asked Alysia and me to meet her for happy hour on Friday!  I am so looking forward to a little bit of girl time…just like the good ole days when she and her husband, Mark lived here!

4.  Turkey Pepperoni!  I know this is a very strange thing to LOVE, but I really do…even more than regular pepperoni!  And I can eat 15 of them for only 1 Weight Watcher point!  Now THAT’S my kinda snack!

5.  And finally, I’m always loving my beau and my Zo!

Weekend Update!

I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend!  We certainly did at our house!  After work on Friday, I treated myself to a summertime pedicure.  It was just what the doctor ordered and extremely relaxing!  I love the color:  OPI’s Red My Fortune Cookie!

After a Saturday morning workout, I headed to the pool for the first time this season…and man, was it wonderful!  Since last summer was filled with lots of wedding activity, I decided this summer is going to be the summer of the pool!  Here’s to spending a lot more time doing a lot more of this:

That evening we took in a Nashville Sounds game with Chase and friends!  We had a great time, and even stayed for the fireworks after the game!

On Sunday morning, Patrick and I tried out a new church.  We had heard many great things about Crosspoint and even though I’m not really used to non-traditional church services, since I was raised in a very traditional Methodist church, I was very pleasantly surprised!  I definitely think we will be heading back to another church service soon! 

After church, we headed over to East Nashville for a yummy lunch at Nuvo Burrito and then hopped on our bikes and took an 8 mile bike ride over to the Shelby Bottoms Greenway and back to 5 Points.  I have to say that this was one of the most fun things I have done in a long time!  Was it exhausting?  Absolutely!  But we had such a great time and were really able to spend some QT together!

That evening, we headed over to Clay and Amber’s beautiful, new house for a cookout!  It was a great way to end the day and was also great to catch up with friends!

On Monday morning, I was back at the gym for another Zumba class, then Patrick and I spent a few hours in the front yard chopping down some massive bushes in front of our house!  When I say “we” I really mean that Patrick chopped down the bushes, and I carried stuff away and did whatever he told me!  These bushes are so flippin’ big that I SWEAR they look more like trees!  We will both be so glad when they are gone!  I think it will make the house look so pretty!  And, yes, I could kick myself that I forgot to take a before shot…oh, well, I’ll definitely post after pics once we get mulch laid and flowers planted…

After that, it was back to the pool for some more relaxation and sunbathing.  That evening, Patrick grilled out fish tacos, corn on the cob, and zucchini and squash.  It was delicious!  Oh, and I MAY have had tried the Crystal Light Margaritas…they are OK…I wouldn’t give them 5 stars or anything, but let’s face it…low calorie drinks usually don’t result in tasty drinks, no?

Well, that was it for the Suns’…I think we need a vacation weekend from our vacation weekend, but alas, work is calling and it’s not going to do itself.  Here’s to a nice productive week!  Happy Tuesday everyone!