Minnesota and North Dakota

Jeff and Adam on a boat ride

Uncle Rachel enjoying the scenery (that's what the girls call her :))

I know we look exactly alike

Ellie and Lolo

We had a fabulous trip to Minnesota and North Dakota! Our first stop was to see my cousins and their girls in Minneapolis. We played and played. They have this really cool blow up slide with water for their back yard. I know Adam was tempted the entire time to run and jump on it. I could see it in his eyes. Wish we had one of those when we were little. Next we headed to the lake for some time with all the Stephens. I love the lake and the people I'm surrounded by. It is so beautiful and truly one of my favorite places.

1st Anniversay

Adam cooked me breakfast and got me flowers while I was still sleeping.


Wow, it has been a fabulous year. Adam and I celebrated our anniversary at Pasta da Pulcinella in Midtown. We drank a bottle of wine from our wedding and reminisced about our last year. I look forward to many more!

The Dogs like Rachel

Don't they look comfortable???

Proud? or Sick?

My dog, the squirrel killer. You can’t see super well in this picture but he has his prize in his mouth. Running from Adam. No way Adam was taking it from him. So proud.

Oh the life

People are so funny. Today I am working. A rather large lady was bringing a prescription to drop off. She had never been here before so I asked her to fill out a patient profile. I am not kidding the lady draped herself over the entire counter. Keep in mind it as at least 3 ft x 2 ft. Maybe bigger. Does she know sick people come to the pharmacy every day and use the same pen and counter space with all their germs? And why does she feel the need to lay down on it? Sick.

My ankles are sore.

Happy Anniversary Hike


My ankles are sore. Yep, you read that right. Adam and I went on a hike on Tuesday. More on that later. Yesterday, I had sore ankles. My ankles must be out of shape. I didn’t even know ankles could be in shape. I’m telling you now, they can. All I can think of is that it is stabilizer muscles around the ankle. Both are equally sore. They do not feel better if they are rubbed. I can’t touch the soreness. So, conclusion: my ankles are out of shape.


The hike was wonderful. We drove to Blood Mountain in Blairsville, GA, in the North GA mountains. Our hike was part of the Appalachian Trail, or the AT, for all you hiking enthusiasts. I’m a poser. It was about 4 miles round trip and really pretty. Lots of it was in the woods, but they opened up throughout the hike to views of the mountain range. It’s amazing to me that mountains are so close to me. We didn’t have that in Texas. I’m not knocking TX, for the record. I still much prefer Texas, but this is an added bonus of living in the Southeast for now. ☺

One Year

One year ago today I married my best friend

One year ago today I committed my life to you forever

One year ago today I made the best decision of my life


Adam I love you more every day.

Esther...again

I know I have mentioned this before, but I LOVE my Esther bible study. I really encourage everyone to do it. It is honestly my favorite Bible study I have ever done. I have learned SO much in it. About the story of Esther and how it applies to my life. This was from my lesson I did yesterday, and it really struck a chord with me. My friend Susan who I am doing it with, called yesterday and had done the exact same day and just said how wonderful it was. I love it.

Basically the lesson is about Esther’s call “for such a time as this” called to be a Jewish queen. Beth Moore says,

“Drama doesn’t get much better than Esther. As I made my petitions for God’s help in wrapping up this chapter, my mind swam with thoughts of royal intrigue. For whatever reasons, my eyes also cased the morning’s entries in my prayer journal as if the were lessons of amusing contrast.

This is no Queen Esther. This is a middle aged woman who pulled a load of underwear out of the dryer this morning. As I stared at my hand written requests across the page, I was suddenly stricken with the beauty of simplicity.
I’d written things like Keep Keith safe when he travels to TX and thank you from protecting Jackson when he fell down the stairs. (She gives more examples.) Lord, please help me to not be so sad about Sunny. This may seem small if you don’t have pets but a few days ago I said good by to my dog, my constant shadow of 16 years. It didn’t make the evening news, but it nearly broke my heart. Perhaps you offered a few petitions to God recently that seemed equally unimpressive by global standards.

This is the stuff of ordinary life. We have trash to take out. Bills to pay. Mortgages to meet. Make no mistake. Extraordinary things happen around us continually. We just don’t always recognize them. The thought occurs to me afresh that great lives don’t always seem great while we’re living them. They may seem embarressingly regular. Seeking to be extraordinary isn’t the answer because great lives are never achieved by making greatness the goal.”

That line really strikes me. I like it. Such a good reminder. Susan, I’m looking forward to our next video!