Under Construction...

It is time for a blogger facelift. Sam and I have been married for over a year and the picture above does not exactly portray our daily lives. I promise this won't take long. Just be patient with me and my lack of blogger-editing skills. :)

Hey Y'all, It's Me Again!

Well I guess I haven't blogged in a while. Okay, it's just been embarassingly way too long! You've missed a few things so let me catch you up...

Kendall turned 25 years old on 09.12.10! I just love her so much and miss her tons. We got to see each other a couple of weekends ago when I was in my neck of the woods, Arkansas! I went home to do lots of celebrating...

Speaking of celebrating, going home to see my family is always a reason to celebrate! Casa Mexicana is our Friday night restaurant ever since I can remember. PS, the first picture is NOT from Casa. Me and Brit were just havin' a little fun in the costume store.

GO HOGS...or maybe not. We lost to a higher ranked team, but losing in the SEC is always a big deal. You never want to lose.

ME AND MY SISTERS!

Another reason to celebrate: my nieces birthdays! Elli turned 3 in October and Aspen will be 4 in November. I also got to see and hold Tate. He is Lana and Jim's little boy. Remember, Lana is Chris' twin sister and Jim is her husband. Jim and Lana have two brautiful sweet children, Bella and Tate.

 Brandlyn was the hostess with the mostess! She did the cupcakes herself while Chris handled the table spread. Team Frensley was armed and ready for a fabulous birthday celebration!

My very good friend, Allison, married the love of her life, Dusty Johnson. Everything was beautiful: the bride and grrom, all my high school friends, the wedding, and the reception!

Now, here is the highlight of my evening - me and my Lauren Kay. I just love her. She beat Leukemia just a few months ago, and trust me, she is still a handful! We always have a lot of fun together and we never take life too serious...or at all serious.

A Birthday Wish

Dear Dad,

For your 51st birthday, I wish you two simple things: a perfect 12-0 Razorback football season followed by a BCS National Championship. (It's not that much to ask for, Hogs.) WOO PIG SOOOIE!

I sure do wish I could tailgate with y'all at the first game of the season, but I am definitely there in spirit and I will be callin' those Hogs from Indiana til I am razorback red in the face. And then I'll call 'em some more. I love you, Dad, and I hope you have a great birthday!

I am blessed with the most wonderful father, who also happens to be my Person of the Week. He taught me how to work hard for what I want and always stand up for what I believe. Thanks Dad for being so great to me and your less favorite offspring (my siblings). We love you so much! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

28 and Lookin' Great

KISS THE BIRTHDAY GIRL!

Brandlyn, my tiny big sister, turned 28 years old today, and I am devoting this blog and the glorious title of 'Person of the Week' to her. She is a very hardworking mother of three, a wonderful wife, and one of my best friends. We are very much alike, but also very different. We've always had a close relationship, and you never ever have to "wonder what we're thinking". We'll tell ya! You could say we bond through our sass.

From helping me choose my own outfits to teaching me how to shave my legs and apply makeup, she has taught me so many things over the past 25 years of  my life. I have so many stories about her. But then again she has so many about me, so I better keep it G-rated.

She is a great older sister to me, Brittany, and Ryan. I hate this picture, but somehow we've managed to go a year and a half without taking a sibling photo. No worries, I'll be there in October with camera in hand!

She loves her family and would do anything to make sure they are safe and happy. She also goes out of her way to make us feel special. Like for example, somehow she always knows when I am having a rough day. She is a very busy woman, but she has some sort of sixth sense when it comes to knowing when I need her. I love her for that.

She is a great mom to these three adorable children (Aspen, Hunter, and Elli).

She is a loving wife to the love of her life, Chris. I love this picture of the two lovebirds in Hawaii.

She is FUN! (keeping it G-rated)

...and so tiny. Seriously, how did she have three kids?

Most of all she works hard to be great in every role of her life: mom, wife, sister, daughter, friend, back stage dance mom, cook, nurse, maid, chauffeur, office manager everything...I get tired just thinking about it! But she is the best big tiny sister anyone could ask for, and I thank God for her each day.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRANDY!

Damsel in Distress

"Chirp. Chirp." said the garage.
"Wait a minute, a garage doesn't chirp," I thought to myself.
"Creeeeeeek." I opened the door to the garage and the chirping subsided. I also realized that we need to put some WD-40 on the door hinges so I jotted it down on the "Honey Do List".
I shut the door.

"Chirp. Chirp." said something inside the garage.
I opened the door and this ferocious beady-eyed beast appeared.

I had a bird in my garage. Yes, a bird. I left the garage door open for an hour and it just stayed there. Until, like a rabbid beast, it flew to the opposite end and perched itself above Sam's lawn tools.

I was a prisoner in my own home, and clearly The Beast wasn't the least bit concerned about the errands I needed to run.

So I called Sam to tell him all about it. No sympathy there. He said "just get a broom or a rake and try to get it down."

HA! Right.

And then I reminded him who he married. And I don't mean that in a snobby I'm better than that kind-of way. I mean that I reminded him of how terrified I am of the wildlife up here in the north. Remember the Canadian Goose that wouldn't let me get in my car?! No more birds for me, thanks.

So I called my mother-in-law, who very sweetly tracked down my father-in-law to come resue me from The Beast. And I documented my rescuer in action.

"THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!"

Come to find out, "The Beast" was actually a baby Cardinal. It flew right to his parents as soon as he got out of the garage.

Happy One Year!

Wow, I cannot believe we have been married for one year. My how time flies! One year ago on August 15th, Sam and I were enjoying every moment of the most important day of our lives: our wedding day. To celebrate this momentous anniversary, we decided to take a trip back to where it all began: Chicago. Chicago was the first place Sam told me that he loved me and it was also the place where Sam asked me to marry him. We couldn't think of anywhere we would rather celebrate our first anniversary.

 The river was right outside our hotel. Beautiful view!

 And this should look familiar. This is where Sam proposed to me on New Year's Eve (Dec. '08). We had never seen it in the summer, and this time the fountain was not frozen.

 I love the stained glass windows and green ivy.

 We got all dressed up and had dinner at Hugo's Frog Bar & Fish House. They have the most amazing food, wine, and specialty cocktail selection. After our night out on the town, we headed back to the Hyatt for champagne and wedding cake.

But first...who's up for a little mirrored elevator photo montage?!

And finally we turned the flash off...

Now let's get to that champagne, shall we?

So the cake tasted...lemony. We did not have lemon cake at our wedding. Perplexing, isn't it?

On day two of our anniversary trip, we decided to go to Shedd's Aquarium. We love aquariums and this was one was the best of the best! We got to see animals from the Caribbean Reef, the Amazon, the Pacific Northwest coast, and the Indo-Pacific Reef. I took about 100 pictures at this place and here are a few of my favorites.

The sea otters were our favorite! They just play around all day long without a care in the world.

I found Nemo!

The sand snakes were very cool too!

We found out that I could not live in the Amazon. I'm sure you are shocked. The sign says that after only three weeks, the waters rise above 5 feet!