Sofa Memories

My husband is sleeping peacefully in our bed.  I praise God he's back home, safe and sound.  I missed him so much while he was gone to work training.  I know all of you army wives must think I'm a big wimp, and maybe I am.  I could have gone and stayed with my parents or grand parents while he was away, but I wanted to be a big girl.  I wanted to try.  Well, it sucks without him around. He leaves a void when he's gone, that's for sure.  I'm happy he's home and I'm happy he's resting.  Apparently his roommate at the hotel had a bit of a snoring problem, so he has some catching up to do.

So, he's sleeping peacefully and I came into what will one day be my closet room.  I came in here to get some pictures of my old sofa from college so that I could put it up for sale on my Facebook page.  I took the pictures...but now I'm just sitting here, leaning into the big cushions and trying to sniff out the way my old apartment used to smell.

My Old Sofa <3

& it's cigarette burn...oops.  I used to smoke inside.  & also, I'm clumsy.

Now, I'm sitting on the sofa postponing uploading these pictures.  It makes me sad to think of a stranger sitting on my sofa.  Even if it's a friend of mine who ends up buying the sofa, you know, we had our last first kiss when I was laying on THIS sofa recovering from strep throat.  I wasn't contagious any more, though.  :)   My point is, letting go of memories is hard.  But the sooner I can clean out this room, the sooner I can turn it into my closet!

This sofa is just so comfortable, so wonderfully scented, and is stuffed full of memories.  I'll be sad to see it go.

Valentine's Day 2012

I hope that all of you had a fantastic Valentine's Day!  Remember yesterday when I told you how excited I was to celebrate our first Valentine's Day as a married couple & how Mr. Robinson made promises of "blowing my mind?"  Well, consider me mind blown.  It was perfect in every single way.  :) 

Source: thebowtielife.tumblr.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Valentine's Day morning started out a little differently from our normal mornings.  Don't worry.  I'm not going there.  All I mean is that my husband has been feeling under the weather for the past few days and was feeling even worse when he woke up yesterday morning.  Poor baby.  I got up and went about my usual morning routine to get ready for work at 9 am.  
I asked my husband when we were going to exchange gifts. I was very excited about the things I'd picked out for him.  :)  He said that he didn't buy me anything.  My face probably fell, but I was honestly fine with that because I knew he had an amazing night planned for us.  I was still excited about giving him the gifts I'd bought and the card I'd made.  I even learned how to draw cartoon penguins for him!  I went upstairs to my craft room to get the gifts I'd stashed and to put the finishing touches on his card.  I sat with him on the sofa, gave him his gifts & card, and he had a card for me as well.  
I made him a card based off of an inside joke we have about penguins on icebergs AND the card I gave him last year, on our first Valentine's Day.  I gave him a really nice travel coffee mug that says "World's Best Husband" on the side - maybe he won't have to use my Victoria's Secret PINK! travel mug anymore.  I also bought him an orange plaid bow tie.  Orange is his favorite color and he's been wanting a bow tie for quite sometime.  The card he gave me was sweet, as always.  :)  We snuggled for a minute, I kissed his snotty  face, and scooted off to work!  
He went to the doctor during the day, and found out he has a sinus infection.  He got some good medicine to start taking.  I tried to talk him into postponing our date, but he was determined to follow through with the mind-blowing plans he'd come up with.  
At the end of the day, I left work to come home and freshen up.  I changed out of my work clothes into something a little more festive.  I put on a dress I bought from Express years ago, but had never worn.  It's black, v-neck in the front and back, banded, and form fitting.  I put on black tights, leopard print heels, and a red sweater.  :)  

He got dressed up in his khaki's, purple shirt, and purple plaid neck tie.  He looked so handsome.

  I touched up my make-up, we put Zombie in his kennel (he chews EVERYTHING if we leave him out), and off we were!  He opened the car door for me, which he always does, but it reminded me of our first date.  I still had no idea what we were doing or where we were going, but I was excited and it the excitement just kept building! 
We drove about 45 minutes over into Pawley's Island, and turned into The Hammock Shops.  I saw the sign for Nosh, a semi-new restaurant I've been to try since it opened!  It's been advertised as an "artful dining" experience and I knew it would be amazing because our wedding planner was the mastermind behind decorating the restaurant!  If you are EVER on the coast of South Carolina, go eat at Nosh!          

We walk into the restaurant and it's absolutely gorgeous.  It felt like an old home, except it was furnished with modern furniture.  John Marshall, our wedding planner, turns everything he touches into gold.  Nosh was no different.  We were taken to our table.  I was so excited to see that our table was in the corner!  I love sitting in the corner - it makes me feel secure and cozy.  On our table was a handwritten card propped up on a napkin and a single red, long stemmed rose.  We sat down.  I red the card and smelled the rose.  I had a feeling that there might be a gift under the napkin, but he told me he didn't get me a gift.  I didn't want to go digging around the table.  You know..."that awkward moment when you've opened a gift and you're digging through the tissue paper looking for the rest of it...only to find out that was it."  Haha.  I didn't want that!  So eventually, Mr. R moved the napkin and revealed a tiny little Pandora box.  I squealed!
New Pandora Charm for Valentine's Day!!!!!  

And he said he didn't get me anything... I love it!  I'm so obsessed with my Pandora bracelet.  I love it because it's almost like a little piece of history.  Each charm is exciting.  I love the way the charms sound when they bump against each other.  I love that each new charm changes the way the bracelet sounds.  :)  

I put my new Valentine's Day charm on the bracelet immediately and we ordered cocktails.  They were strong.  I was buzzed immediately.

A cello player came into the dining room and set up.  Mr. Robinson kept saying it was a violinist, but he wouldn't turn around and look at her.  He said that he just "knows things."  Except it was not a violin.  I was much bigger.  Haha.  It was cello.  She serenaded us (and everyone else) with live music while we ate.  Her music was beautiful.    

We ordered an appetizer.

TRADITIONAL BRUSCHETTA

FRESH FRENCH BREAD GRILLED IN A GARLIC-BASIL RUB, LAYERED WITH ROMA TOMATOES, FRESH BASIL AND MOZZARELLA, DUSTED WITH AGED PECORINO ROMANO CHEESE, THEN TOASTED 

For our entrees, Mr. Robinson had Ravioli.  His meal came with a soup or salad.  He chose the egg drop soup.  

RAVIOLI DELLA CASA
TRI-COLOR, JUMBO RAVIOLI SERVED IN A SWEET BUTTER SAUCE WITH ROMA TOMATOES, FRESH
BABY SPINACH AND PARMESAN CHEESE

I had Mahi-Mahi with garlic mashed potatoes and fresh vegetables.

PESCE FRANCESE

MARKET FRESH FISH LIGHTLY EGG-BATTERED, PAN SAUTEED THEN SERVED IN A CAPER AND LEMON BUTTER

WINE SAUCE

For dessert, we ordered a red velvet cake with cream cheese icing.  It was heart shaped.  We shared it.  John Marshall sent us a complimentary bottle of champagne.  

We took our time eating and savoring every bite.  The food was absolutely amazing.  I was so proud of my husband for trying so many new foods!  He's a very picky eater, and I'm a very adventurous eater.  I was so happy to see him branching out!  

When we were walking out the door, a violinist was coming into the restaurant.  We knew it was violinist because he had a violin.  :)  Mr. Robinson was all excited and said, "See!  I told you there was violinist!"  Yes, but we were leaving.  We had full tummies.  Haha.  He said that he had arranged for the violinist to play our wedding song (God Gave Me You) at our table while we ate.  But we missed him.  That's totally fine.  My husband made such a huge effort for us to have a perfect Valentine's Day plus One-Year-Anniversary of our lives together.  It was perfect, even if all of his plans didn't play out exactly how he had planned.  I felt like the luckiest girl in the restaurant!   

We buckled the champagne up for the long ride home.  :)

And we took a typical "I'm in the car and my wife is wasted" picture, haha. 

Yeah...about that.  Thanks to the half-of-a-cocktail and a glass of champagne.....

I was pretty much drunk.  I kept quacking on the way home.  Do I know why?  Absolutely not.  Haha.

When we got home, we took pictures! 

Why, yes, those are hand drawn penguins. ;)

This was the car that was on the table at the restaurant.  It's John's handwriting - Mr. R just told him what to write, haha. 

This was the card I got in the morning! 

All of our gifts! 

I love you, hunny!  :)  You're the best husband in the whole wide world and I'm the luckiest lady in all the land.  Thank you for a perfect Valentine's Day!  It's been a perfect year! 

 Oh, and he is still sick this morning.  So instead of taking Zombie to work with me like I usually do, I let hubby keep him for snuggles.  They're so cute they give me chest pains.

    

How was your Valentine's Day?! 

Weekend Re-Cap!

Hello!  I can't believe that I actually went 4 days without blogging.  I didn't even log in and check up on my daily reads.  But, I've had a lot going on and I guess sometimes it's okay to take a break.  :)  So...if I'm going to play catch-up this morning, I better get started.
FridayI work a 9-5 job Monday-Friday, so I should have been at work Friday.  I didn't go...because I was at the doctor's office for 5 hours.  I've been in a funk for the past three weeks....headaches, nausea, dizziness, migraines, some flu-like symptoms, constant fatigue, lack of motivation or concentration...and I refused to go to the doctor because none of my symptoms seemed serious.  Until Thursday night when I stood up off the sofa to greet hubby when he got home from work....and I almost fell onto our coffee table.  I realized that my dizziness was starting to affect my balance.  So I took Friday off and went to the doctor.  I probably watch too many episodes of House, because I was absolutely terrified when the doctor I've gone to all my life told me he has no idea what's wrong with me.  They drew blood & tested it for mono - that test came back negative.  They sent off blood to have a CBC done and those results will come today.  I also had a yeast infection so he gave me a prescription to take care of that and I was on my way..
Friday night was our January Date... from the 12 Dates of Christmas I gave Mr. Robinson as part of his Christmas present, but you can read all about that here. (link coming soon!)
SaturdayWe slept in...which never happens...and did not do ANY house work!  :)  Saturday is our designated day to get stuff done, but this Saturday was a vacation from that.  We were just lounging on the sofa's and nothing was on TV so I flipped it to "The Newlywed Game" for a few minutes.  One of the questions to the men was "Even though you already think your wife is perfect, which one of her friends could she take a few tips from on being sexy?"  And they had to answer...haha.  Naturally, I made my husband answer this question and I was pretty sure that I knew what his answer would be.  Sure enough, I was right.  Haha!  He said she's very stylish.  Well...I'm not allowed to shop because I have a closet full of clothes, horrible credit as a result of HUGE shopping trips (I have a bit of a problem with stopping once I start), and we don't really have money for me to be shopping all the time...& she shops ALL. THE. TIME.  So, I did what any girl would do.  I convinced my dear husband to take me shopping! :)  So we dropped precious Zombie off at my parent's house & my husband had arranged for us to drive my daddy's car on our date.

We stopped at Tony's, a local pizza place, on our way because we were starving.  Well...because we were driving daddy's new car that's super nice & clean (quite the opposite of our cars..specifically my car) Mr. Robinson refused to put any left-over pizza in the car.  Tony's had two sizes:  personal pan and large.  What did we do?  We ordered a large & stuffed our faces, determined to eat the entire pizza.  (And yes, I'm still on my diet!  What would make you think otherwise? Haha!)  We almost succeeded...Mr. ate 6 pieces and I ate 4.  We left two pieces behind... but we tried.  
For some reason, as we were walking out of Tony's, my husband blurts out "Mike Jones" in his most thugged-out voice.  Anybody else remember good ol' Mike Jones?  Obviously, we started rapping in the parking lot.  And also in the car.  Eventually, Mike's telephone number came up.  281-330-8004 and I called it to see if it still worked.  I haven't dialed that number since high school, after all.  It didn't.  So I Googled it, obviously.  I found this video.  It's just a few seconds long, watch it.  

Doesn't it just bring back memories?!  :)  What's funny about this is that if you click "Show More" right under the video if you go to YouTube, it reads:
This video has absolutely nothing or possibly something to do with: Airplane, Auto, Boat, Motorcycle, Motor Sport, Train, Animation, Blooper, Improv, Parody, Pranks, Series, Short Film, Sketch, Spoof, Stand-up, Video Blog, Athletics, Business, Communications, Computer Science, Economics, Engineering, Health, Humanities, Language, Math, Media, Medicine, Performing Arts, Physical Science, Social Science, Visual Arts, Advertising, Commercials, Entertainment News, Performing Arts, Short Film, Trailer, TV, Video Game, Web Series, Animation, Anime, Art, Documentary, Experimental, Filmmaker Reel, Interview, Manga, Short Film, Trailer, Tutorial, Federal Government, Grassroots Outreach, Local Government, Nonprofit, Public Service Announcements, Regional Government, State Government, Arts & Crafts, Beauty, Dance, Drink, Finance, Fitness, Fashion, Food, Gardening, Health, Home, Music, Sports, Technology, Alternative, Blues, Classical, Country, Electronic, Folk, Hip-Hop, Indie, Jazz, Pop, R&B, Rap, Religious, Rock, Soul, Unsigned, World Music, Commentary & Analysis, Documentary, Gotcha!, Grassroots Outreach, News, Political Commercial, Advice, Community, Dating, Personals, Random, Video Blog, Wisdom, Aquatic, Bird, Cat, Dog, Hamster, Insect, Rabbit, Reptile, Wildlife, Aviation & Space, Computer, DIY, Electronics, Environment, Gadget, Mechanics, Medicine, Video Game, Action, American Football, Baseball, Basketball, Combat Sports, Extreme, Golf, Hockey, Martial Arts, Motor Sport, Soccer, Sports Talk, Tennis, Track & Field, Water Sport, Winter Sports, Cakes, Wrench, Phones, Books, Printers, Chapstick, Headphones, iPhones, XBOX 360s, PS3s, Nintendo WIIs, voo doo dolls, money, Chicago cubs, girls, AOL, nintendo DS, ESPN, Sportscenter, Youtube, google, jolly ranchers, music, cocoa, diet coke and mentos, jolly ranchers, pepsi, mountain dew, pencils, funny, haha, rediculous, hilarious, chris cocker, soda, skateboarding, tricks, bmx, a restroom, apples, exploding batteries, cool tricks, or glass, or mike jones, rick james, chuck norris, harry potter, paris hilton, perez hilton, angelina jolie, brad pitt, tom cruise, katie holmes, brittney spears, how i met your mother, k-fed, kevin federline, E news, TMZ, bob marley, jessica simpson, alfonso soriano, my brother, texas holdem, poker, napoleon dynomite, the simpsons, budweiser, sweden, soccer, guitar, guitar chords, guitar riffs, upload videos directly from your phone!, michael jackson. 
So, while we were driving down the road on our way to the beach, I read this to Mr. Robinson.  Haha.  Maybe it was a whole lot funnier in real life, which is so incredibly possible, but it was pretty hilarious.  
We also had a completely retarded conversation about how people smile differently.  I kept practicing other smiles all day.  It was driving him a little nuts, which was fun-for-me!  
So anyway, we get to the mall...and....
He bought for him:

He bought for me:

image from Belk.com (this is not me, haha.  I forgot to take a picture of myself in the dress)
Then, we left the mall and decided to watch Contraband.  We had 45 minutes to spare, so we went to LifeWay.  I don't know about y'all, but this was our first trip to LifeWay TOGETHER and we spent a ton of money, haha.  But we bought a lot of good books and I'm excited to read them!  Mr. Robinson got a Tim Tebow book, another book, and a 116 Clique CD.  I got a couple books on marriage and love and God.  So, those will be fun.  :)
Then, we went and watched the movie.  It was really good.  It was one of those movies that I kept catching my breath the whole time I was watching, and then letting out a sigh of relief.  It's an action film...go figure, hubby's favorite... and watching movies in the theater was a nice change from our usual PPV movies. We are at least an hour away from the closest movie theater, so this was a treat!

THEN, we went and picked up Zombie from my parent's, & yes it was necesarry for him to stay with a sitter :)  We gave them their car back, and took my car home.  
While in the car, we had yet another dumb conversation.  I asked him if he'd ever noticed how dogs HAVE to put their noses on the windows when they are looking outside.  He said "I guess."  I proceeded to ask him if he thought it would be funny or cool if people did that too.  He kind of  chuckled.  I clarified that maybe it wouldn't be funny is everybody did it, because then it would just be normal.  So, would if be funny if one out of every five people was a "nose-presser?"  He laughed a little harder.  I asked him if it would be funny if his boss had to get up from her desk and put her nose on the window every time she looked outside.  Then he really laughed.  And then I pushed my face into the window to demonstrate.  Again, probably funnier in real life.  But we just had the best time...I've been stuck in the house for three weeks in my funk.  I had just been feeling aweful.  Maybe I enjoyed myself too much...but we had fun and we laughed and we created even more of our little inside jokes.  I love him and he loves me!  :D  Yay for Marriage!  Haha  
Anyway, we made it home and passed out pretty immediately.  :)  
SundaySunday morning, we went to church.  I was so proud of my husband...last week in the men's Sunday school class, there had been some confusion on the Trinity.  Unfortunately, it's one of the older men in our church who was/is confused.  He doesn't think that God, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost are all one being.  So.. my husband worked hard all week on researching and studying his Bible and preparing notes for this Sunday.  He did his homework and then some.  So he was really excited about Sunday School...he even LEFT me because I wasn't ready in time.  Haha!  :)  I'm usually 15 minutes late...sorry.  I was excited about this Sunday because (1) Mr. Robinson transferred his membership to this church last week so this would be his first Sunday as a member!  That was exciting!  (I'm already a member.)  And (2)  Our brand new interim pastor was preaching!  We have been without a preacher for several months now...our preacher felt called to another church.  So, it was literally THIRST QUENCHING to have a full-time pastor with us until they can find a more permanent minister.  
We went and had dinner with my parents.  My daddy had gotten a meat smoker for Christmas, and smoked a ham for dinner.  YUM-O!  It  was delicious.  They are also cutting back on fattening foods, so it was great to have some delicious food without the regret!  
We ate and lounged around a while...I took a nap.  Then, we got up and went into town for a new Bible Study that started yesterday.  It is at a church in town that is trying to organize a mission trip to Kenya, Africa this summer.  We are praying and seeking His guidance right now, trying to figure out if this trip is for us.  This Bible Study is on hearing God speak, and while it is open to anyone, a lot of the people who are interested in joining the team going to Africa are participating in the study.  We are hoping that this study will help us hear God's voice more clearly in regards to this mission trip...we want to live within His perfect will.  We want to be only in places He desires... whether that be Africa or Korea or India or right here in South Carolina.  So..we have faith that this study will point us in the right direction, and if that direction happens to be Kenya this summer, then we will already have bonded with some of the team.  I think it's going to be a really great study...I hope to learn a lot from it.  There are 5 lessons each week that are to be completed as homework..I'm excited to that with my husband.  That could just be so great for our marriage.. I hosted a pretty big pity-party last week about my fears and concerns regarding this trip.  Again, thank you all who offered kind words in comments and/or e-mails.  Thank you to those who prayed for me...
MondayThen, this morning, one of my Facebook friends posted the most amazing video.  I promise it's worth your time...just watch it.  

Then, once I got to work I found this board on Pinterest.  It's amazing.  Go check it out.. it's all quote's and funny little snips from Friends!

Source: google.com via Monica on Pinterest

    This week, my husband is taking a work-related class about an hour away from our home.  He might be a little grumpy this week from all the driving, but he has such a passion for knowledge.  He just loves learning new things and has such a drive for it, a drive I lack.  Then, Friday he takes his test.  So I'll be doing all I can this week to make our home a pleasant and relaxing environment for him!  Today's his first day!  
Oh, AND, my day started out great because (I've been dieting, remember?) and this morning...I put on a pair of pants that did not fit two weeks ago!  And I'm wearing them...right now....at work.  I lost 7 pounds!  Hip- Hip- Hooray!  :) 
Tonight, we both have our weekly Bible studies!  Sadly, it's the last night for the study I'm participating in.  The study he is doing is much, much longer.  The group I'm in is called For Women Only, and it's been really great.  I hope to do a post on it and what I learned after it's over.  So...coming soon.    
Well, that's a wrap!  We made some pretty great memories this weekend.  :)  What was your weekend like?  Any funny stories or hot dates?  If you wrote a weekend-recap I'd love to check it out, so leave me a link or something.  XOs      

2011: A Year in Review

 
Do y'all know Lauren?  Hands down my favorite blogger.  So...go read her blog.
She encouraged her readers to write a post about the past year.  Since I was not a blogger until October, and this past year was basically the most important year of my entire life...I thought it would be a great little activity!  
ALSO, she linked up with Brooke over at Silver Lining.  She's doing a linky-party for these types of posts!  :)  She is adorable, their engagement pictures are slap-you-in-the-face amazing.  And their love story was super fast - just like mine - and I love that!  :)  

You should totes m'goats go check out these two amazing women and join in on the fun that is remembering a year's worth of smiles, tears, and surviving.  
So, without further adieu, here is what my 2011 looked like.
Please keep in mind that this has been the craziest, busiest, and most full-of-change year in my entire life and I'm going to extraordinarily honest.
All years start with the same day.  (Deep.)  So what was I doing when the ball dropped and it officially became 2011?  I was sitting alone in my one bedroom apartment.  I was hung-over and had been dealing with the most dreadful hangover of my entire life all day.  I partied entirely too hard the day before New Year's.  I snorted pills for the first time.  I was snorting pill after pill after pill, I was smoking pot, I drank an entire bottle of wine, I drank beer, I took shots.  I passed out.  Classy.  All of those toxins in my  body made for one heck of a hangover.  So I sat alone, smoking pot and self-medicating as I watched the ball drop.  I remember feeling lonely.  
January was when Mr. Robinson was trying to woo me.  I was not being very responsive.  However, according to my nifty Facebook timeline, on January 10th I posted a status that I remember wanting him to notice.  It reads, "shouldn't we hold out for the person who doesn't just tolerate our little quirks, but actually kind of likes them?"  It's a How I Met Your Mother quote, and I remember it reminding me of Mr. Robinson.  :)  And come to find out...he did notice it.  And had hoped it was about him.  And it was.
January 23rd was the day I got this tattoo.  Mr. Robinson drew it for me.  We were "just friends" then.  He said that this was the day he knew for sure that he was in love with me. 

In the first week of February, one of oldest and dearest  friends called me Auburn, Alabama (where she attends grad school) in hysterical tears.  Her first boyfriend, a man she dates for several years and was hopelessly in love with, had broken up with her because she had chosen a grad school "too far" away from him.  She was upset.  I made some arrangements with work and traded shifts (I was waiting tables at Ruby Tuesday during this time), hopped in my car, and off to 'Bama I went!  My friend needed me!  

I did a good job of cheering her up and raising her spirits.  The worst part was that this happened right before Valentine's Day, poor dear!  While I was there, I realized that I missed Mr. Robinson.  Weird.  
On February 13, we went on our first date.  :)   He asked me to be his Valentine, but we both had to work on Valentine's Day.  We decided a few days later that Feb. 13th was actually the day we started dating.  Haha, we are dorks.   

Two weeks later, we started talking about marriage and love and foreverness.  And started planning our wedding.
On March 15, he proposed!  And extreme wedding planning began.

On May 12th, we took our engagement portraits at Atalaya Castle.  It's a place that I've been to thousands of times and everyone from around here takes pictures there.  It is still beautiful.  "The Castle" was built as a residence in the 1930's.  It was to be used as the Huntington's winter home.  It is absolutely gorgeous.  Read about it here.  

 

May 23rd was Mr.'s 23rd birthday.  I have him lingerie but he had to hold onto it until we were married.  He kind of hated it...it was a big flop.  I thought he would love it haha.  He thought it was a mean trick.  
In June, I started bartending at Ruby Tuesday's!  It was such a great skill to learn and I had fun learning how to do something new.  Waiting tables had stopped being challenging and had started only being a pain in my rear.  
June 2, I went to Charlotte to see Kenny Chesney with a dear friend of mine.  She has MS and is in her early 30's.  She has three small children.  Her name is Cristine.  We met waiting tables, something she started doing to meet people.  Her MS was not very advanced at all, and I just fell in love with that girl's soul.  We got insanely trashed at the concert...I cried because I knew I was making a memory with someone I would always cherish, and we jumped over baracades to get close enough to touch Kenny.  And we succeeded!

In pop culture news, June 7th was the 18th birthday of the text message.  :)
On June 19th, I went to Mexico for a week with my parents and younger sister.  It was our last vacation as a family of four.  While on the trip, I convinced my mom that dolphins making oinking noises like pigs when they eat.  hahaha 

On July 5th, Casey Anthony was found not guilty.  I was an avid follower to the trial and was very upset by this! 

July 12th was my very first bridal shower!  Mrs. Tammy, my old Sunday School teacher from my days in youth group threw it at her new home.  It was for all of my mom's best friends and my close family members.  We also invited my MIL-to-be.  The type of shower was a pounding, where they brought goods to fill our pantry.  Best. Shower. Ever! So much fun!  

July 13th was my first day not working at Ruby Tuesday and my first day of working (again) at the family business!  I moved out of my apartment in the city, back home with my parents, and started working for the family again!  Whoop Whoop!!  
July 24th, we went to the mountains with the Robinson family!  :)  They go a "Pig Jig" up there every year, and it was my first time going!  So much fun, it was a beautiful place, and his 80 year old Nana drank moonshine.  Haha

July 30:  one of my best friends got married!!! :)  Hooray Brittany!  She's also one of my bridesmaids and I was one of her maids-of-honor (she had two).

The first week in August, my parents took my fiance and I to a Braves game in Atlanta, GA.  To be honest, we did not have a very good trip.  We had tickets to three different games.  We went to see the SF Giants play, that's Mr. Robinson's team.  However...before we left, we had gotten into a huge fight.  I mean, it was the worst fight we had ever had (and still is), and it was also the work fight I'd ever had with anyone.  It was horrible.  We almost ended that week in Atlanta.  I learned such a valuable lesson.... the words we say in anger have the potential to affect our relationship forever.  I learned that because I was on the receiving end of some very hurtful words...I actually ended up giving him the ring back at one point.  I just could not seem to make myself stop reliving the fight.  Every time he opened his mouth, I heard the hurtful words again.  It broke my heart to look at him.  I felt like I could not marry a man I couldn't bare to be around.  We (obviously) worked it all out.  He wouldn't accept no for answer...he promised that his words were only said in anger.  It came to trusting him, forgiving him, and moving on.  It took some time, but after a little while I stopped hearing the words over and over in my head.  And I'm so glad that I did.  This fight taught me a lot.  

August 14th was my bachelorette party!  It was just me, my three bridesmaids, and one of my best friends.  :)  We went to a pottery painting place and painted pottery for our new home!  Then we went out to eat, and to a comedy show!  It was amazing and I cherish the pottery we made!  Each of us made a piece, but I got to keep it all.  :)  I made a cookie jar for our kitchen.  My sister and maid of honor made a decorative plate with bride and groom stick people on it, "The Robinson's" across the top and our wedding date across the bottom.  Brittany made a trivet that says "love."  Lizzy made a vase.  Emily made a ring holder for me, with my new initials on it!  And finally.....we all decided that a little snake figurine would be a perfect thing for my dresser, to always remind me of my bachelorette party.  Lizzy painted the snake skin colored, with a "blue vein" on it's back.  haha Oh, and it was...of course....winking.  

August 27th, my parents had a cookout shower for us at their house on the river.  Everyone from the wedding was invited, but hurricane Irene kept most people away.  We still had fun though, and had the most precious cake! 

September 5th was the day we went on our last date as an engaged couple!

 We applied for our marriage lisence on September 6th!

On September 10, 2011 we became man and wife.
It was the most perfect, precious, intimate day.

September 11-19, we were in St. Maarten on our amazing, fairytale honeymoon! 

{Enter "Real World"}

We got these tattoos on October 1st.

October 13, we went to Scarowinds and I was too scared to ride anything! 

I started this blog on October 27th!

And then November 24 was Thanksgiving... we went to the beach with his family.  His parents had rented a beach house, promised us our own room, and when we got there....put us on the sofa  sleeper while the kids had their own bed.  Mr. Robinson was pretty upset, as he was too long for the bed and it was thin and it had no pillows and it had no comforter and it was in the middle of the living room.  Um...so we left and went and stayed at my family's beach house.  It was the first time Mr. Robinson stood up to his parents for the better good of "us" and "our family."  I was so proud of my man that night!  :)

December 2nd, we went to the Bush concert!  It was so amazing.  Bush is not our favorite band, or even in our joint or separate top 5.  However, we both said it was our favorite show we'd ever seen, hands down.

December 3rd was the Carolina Opry Christmas Show!  It was so great!  :)  We want to go see one Christmas show every year, but with us living close to coast we have so many options.  We decided to go with COCS this year, and even though we absolutely loved it...we are going to try out a different show for Christmas 2012.  It will be our little tradition.

December 5 & 6, our church put on a Live Nativity for the community and surrounding areas.  We participated as townspeople, and ran a "bakery."  I made all kinds of food, other church members donated food, and our little "business" was slammed the entire time.  I had participated in the Live Nativity when I was younger, but it was by force.  Mr. Robinson had never done anything like it.  It was a great experience for us both - a chance to tell the Christmas Story in a totally different way.  We had real animals, and a very realistic town was built, the choir sag the most beautiful songs....It was breathtaking and worshipful in every way.

And then....of course....Christmas.  :)

At Ma and Pa's house, Christmas Eve
Photo by:  Aunt Missy

At Our House, Christmas Eve
Photo by:  Daddy

How did 2011 treat you?