::last weekend, according to my iPhone::

I know it's officially "this weekend," but I wanted to share a few iPhone photos from last weekend. One of my college roommates, "Tate," came to visit from Texas. We had so much fun catching up, enjoying a girls night painting at Spirited Art, and reminiscing our college days at Tiger Tunes. My brother, and his cute girlfriend, (bottom right) were both in Tiger Tunes (hence the exterminator costume) making homecoming a little more special this year.

To top off our fun weekend, we got to take Elliott to his first birthday party for his BFF, Paisley.  Brooke did such a good job decorating for her "Very Hungry Caterpillar" themed party. (I wish I had taken more pictures.) It's hard to believe it has been a year since we were anxiously awaiting Paisley's arrival in the hospital waiting room. It has been fun to watch her grow from a tiny baby into a beautiful little girl this year.

I'm looking forward to another fun filled weekend starting in a few hours. We're headed out of town for the Razorback game in NWA, and leaving Elliott behind (for the first time!) with his Pia and Poppy. Hope your weekend is grand!

My Birthday Weekend.

Sunday I celebrated my 27th birthday.  We had a pretty low key weekend since Elliott is still pretty demanding, but my friends and family managed to make me feel special.  On Friday, my Mom came and stayed with Elliott so I could go do some birthday shopping and redeem my Christmas present: a massage at Massage Envy.  I hit up Target and Anthropologie for a new "post baby" wardrobe.  It feels so good to be out of the same few maternity outfits, and back in normal clothes.  We used this "Mother's day out" as a trail run for Mom and Elliott since I go back to work Wednesday and she'll be keeping him 3 days a week until April when he starts daycare.  It was a success, he ate expressed breast milk from a bottle, and I practiced pumping in the car (since there will be no good place for me to do it when I'm at work).  I feel confident that he'll be just fine without me come Wednesday.

Other birthday highlights include Tate coming in town from Texas to meet Elliott and celebrate with me, having pizza and Laura's homemade pumpkin chocolate chip pie with friends at our house on Friday night, and dinner and cupcakes with my family tonight.  I got lots of calls, gifts, cards, facebook well wishes and Twitter shout outs.  I am so very blessed!

Gary's Birthday Weekend.

We had a fun weekend for 2 reasons:

1. because it was Gary's birthday
2. because Tate and Jesse came to visit

Friday evening the McKee's arrived from Texas, and we went to dinner with about 20 of our friends at US Pizza Company for Gary's 27th birthday.  After dinner, we all came back to our house for dessert.  I decided to bake for once, and made Gary a double chocolate cake and spice cake cup cakes with vanilla icing.  I'm so thankful we have so many friends in our lives who came to celebrate Gary's 27 years of life with us.



Gary's birthday cake and cup cakes.



He's the big 2-7 now.



"The 3 Amigas" at Gary's Birthday dinner.

 

"The Musugames" at US Pizza Co.



Some of our Epoch Church friends at Gary's Birthday dinner.

On Saturday morning, Laura and I got to do the girl's hair in the Breeding/Cunnighman wedding.  What a pleasure to help with this wedding!  All of the girls were laid back, and we had a great time being a part of Stacy's big day.  I also got to do Tate's hair at work Saturday mornning.  We did fresh color and cut her some rockin' bangs.

After work, Tate, Jesse, Gary, and I drove to Benton for Stacy Breeding and Clay Cunningham's wedding.  The ceremony was beautiful, followed by a fun reception with food and dancing at the Clear Channel Metroplex in Little Rock. 



Me with the stunning bride.



Tate and I at the Cunnigham wedding reception.

Me and Gary.

Tate and Jesse.

Following the wedding, the four of us met Laura and Caleb for drinks at Union. We had a great time getting caught up on each other's lives and laughing about some old college memories.

Sunday was Gary's actual birthday.  We woke up and went to brunch at Boscos with Tate and Jesse before they began their journey back to Dallas.  When we got home, we were worn out, so we enjoyed a long Sunday afternoon nap, followed by a birthday dinner with my parents at Outback.

Here's to good friends and another year of life for my wonderful husband, Gary.

First Name: Tater, Last Name: Tot.

Friday evening Tate, one of my college roommates, came to visit from Texas.  Tate was one of my closest friends at OBU.  She, Laura and I were the 3 Amiga's.  With 5 hours between us, we don't get to talk near enough, so it was wonderful for Laura and I to get to spend an entire weekend with her. 

Our reunion highlights included:

-Attending a wine tasting party at my parent's house.

-Catching up over "chicken and waffles" at The Union.

-Showing Tate the salon's new location and giving her a cut and color.

-Antiquing at "Blue Suede Shoes" in Bryant.

-Flying Burrito.

-Dessert at Grant and Kim's for Grant's birthday.

-Making hair clips with the yoyo's we bought at "Blue Suede Shoes"

-Sleeping in till 11am.

-Showing Tate the Old Mill.

      

      

      

In other news, Gary is finally home for good after his trips to Gatlinberg, TN and Atlanta, GA.  A week and a half without him was rough.  It made me realize how much his presence effects my mood for the better.  Being alone in our house for that long was making me feel down.  When he arrived home for good early Saturday morning, I felt a wave of happiness come over me.  I guess it's true what they say: "absence makes the heart grow fonder."

A Wonderful Weekend!

This weekend has been great! I got to spend time with two of my favorite OBU friends, Laura and Tate (although not at the same time). Friday night I went over to Laura and Caleb's house, and Laura and I cooked dinner. We made Mexican for dinner. Then for dessert we made a cheesecake! It all turned out wonderful, we were so proud. We intended to share and copy recipes from each other, but we were having so much fun just relaxing, that we never got around to that.

Saturday after work, Tate came in town! We met up and had dinner at Flying Burrito in the River Market. After dinner, we headed over to the Taylor Swift concert! She put on an amazing show! Tate spent the night and we got Cinnamon rolls from McDonald's like we use to do in college. I miss those days, and that girl so much!

Today I went to church with my mom. Gary and I started visiting New Life church. We love it. I feel like we have found the place God wants us to be. Gary was in Dallas for the weekend visiting his friends for Stephen's Bachelor party weekend and Dad was at his last day of Real Estate school, so mom came to visit too. If you are looking for a church home, I would encourage you to check them out. God is doing some really great things. Tonight we went back for their fall women's event. Priscilla Shirer was the speaker. She is awesome! She spoke on Ephesians 3:20-21 and how we serve a God who can do so much more than we can imagine. I left feeling so encouraged.

Today I ran 5 miles. Well, I say ran... I walked a lot. Gary and I have been running after the sun goes down, when the temps are in the 70s. Today I attempted to run mid afternoon, and it was hot. 91 to be exact. The heat killed me! I was feeling discouraged, but I did manage to finish in right at an hour. Only 5 minutes past my goal of finishing in 55 minutes. I won't be attempting my long runs mid afternoon anymore.

Tomorrow is a big day for me... deep breath.

Blah, blah, blah...

So, I've been slacking on the blog lately. I guess sometimes my life is too boring to blog. However, I did get some exciting news yesterday. We have a new massage therapist lined up to begin work at the salon when we make our big move! He is an excellent therapist, highly trained. AND he will be offering laser hair removal. I'm excited to see our business grow! We will be moved and operating out of our new location Dec.1. I hope to have the lease signed by next week, so be on the look out for the big reveal!

We have had a pretty slow week. I have been cleaning out our closets, taking things to Goodwill, and putting random things on ebay. (If you're interested in a Nikon D100 6.1 mega pixel digital camera or some retired beanie babies, you should look up katherinej2004 on ebay!) Work has been really irregular the past few weeks. I guess everyone is still trying to get back in their regular routines now that summer has come to a close. I'm looking forward to things picking back up soon. Gary on the other hand has been a selling machine the past few weeks. He sold $40,000 today alone! I am so proud of him!

Tate is coming in town this weekend! She has invited me to go to the Taylor Swift concert with her and her mom, so I'm really looking forward to the weekend. We haven't seen each other in too long! Lucky for me we get to spend the next 3 weekends together!

So, all the good TV shows are back on! We caught up on Melrose Place, 90210, and Glee tonight. They are all getting so good! But, the show I am looking most forward to this week is Vampire Diaries. It is so addicting. What about you, my loyal followers? What shows are you hooked on this season?