Dance Party

Just a little grilling out and dance party.

Quiet Night at Home?!?

Two weeks before their big day, Helen & Jeff came up for a weekend visit. Saturday consisted of sitting by the pool all day, sippin' on gin & juice (actually, it was rum) then we had our little cook out party. Whenever Dramy (Amy), Drocotor (Matt), Drunkle (Jeff) and Ellen (Helen) get together, fun is sure to follow. We had an amazing meal, thanks to the dudes, and after dinner we had a small dance party in our apartment. Sorry to all of our neighbors below and beside us! The two of them will be back in August, and we couldn't be more excited. Lots of love!

Congrats!

Congratulations Garrison! I, along with the rest of our family, are so incredibly proud of you.
You have so much to look forward to and my prayer is that you will continue to ask God to lead you in the path that is meant to be your life.

I love you and couldn't be happier for you!
Good luck to you always.

Garrison Turned 22!

Baby Brother, Garrison James, turned 22 last week on SSI. Matt and I drove down from ATL that afternoon, and had a fun birthday party at Bennie's Red Barn. Had a great group of folks who came to celebrate, and we all had such a nice time! HAPPY BIRTHDAY BROTHER BEAR!
And yes, I will continue to call you that even though you're 22 now!

I remember the day he was born like it was yesterday, seriously...first of all, when we found out Mom and Dad were pregnant again, Jess, Sissy and I ran away for a few minutes - all the way down tho the end of our neighborhood. Hilarious. It was just too many Spearman's to deal with. Overload. Thinking back, I can hardly believe Mom & Dad had three kids, and one on the way, by the time they were exactly my age. Wow. How did they do it?!?
Then, the day he was born -- his gender being a surprise of course, I made Dad take me to the mall for a gift. Not for the newborn, for myself. Some things have changed, some have not. :)

Garrison is an awesome young man and I'm proud to be your big(gest) sister!

My nephew was here this weekend, and everything about it was perfect, minus the fact that he had to leave! He completely makes life so much better, and made Matt and I both even more ready for one of our own.
He got here Friday night, we had dinner, took a bath (that guy could stay in the tub for HOURS!) and then we crashed, as it was late. Matt stayed in our guest room so that I could sleep with Joey in the bed. I didn't want him to wake up being scared here and not know where he was. So, Saturday AM we got up, Sissy came over with Chic-fil-a for breakfast, and we headed to the Atlanta Zoo! It was so fantastic. We met Dad there, or Pops as he's more known for now.

The animals were hilarious (lots of mating rituals appeared to be going on, guess it's that time of year?!) and we especially loved seeing Willie B. Junior. He was hysterical. Gorillas are such brilliant creatures and I firmly believe WBJ was looking up at us thinking "What are those crazy people doing just watching me sit in a puddle of water? They need to get a life!" --- he clapped for us one time, and as we watched him eat his onion, one layer at a time, he was just looking at us thinking something...not sure what he was thinking, but I'm sure we looked pretty dumb to him. Saw the panda bears, snakes, turtles, elephants, and meerkats, who are too funny as well. All in all, a great day. I'll never forget it, and I do hope that Joey will remember it too!

After dinner at Tin Lizzy's, where Sissy works, we came home and Baby J and I went to our pool for a bit, we splashed some and then came in for yet another bath where he could play with his souveniers from the zoo....all the animals you can imagine, we got him. After the bath we played a serious game of hide and seek. My favorite part of it all was that he told me exactly where to hide when he was the seeker, as he called himself. What a fun personality! Whereever does he get it?!?

It was such a great day and weekend. Jess has done such an awesome job with him and he's truly a joy! Can't wait to see him again soon!

Whoopppeee!

Matt & I are celebrating our one year anniversary today! Hard to believe it's been a year already - it's gone by so fast. And it's been such a great, wonderful twelve months! Full of awesome memories, burnt dinners, late night chats, fun weekends with each other, and friends & family. I couldn't ask for anything more.

We went to a Braves game today - unfortunately they didn't win but we had fabulous seats and only got a little burn on our legs....painfully hot! Then we came home and went to Whole Foods and got some stuff to have for dinner, we're grilling out and hanging out at home.

All in all, a perfect anniversary weekend and I look forward to many many more with my very best friend! It just keeps getting better!

And yes, to all my friends, I DID put my wedding dress on this afternoon and hung out for a few minutes. I put it away though, I promise!

Moms Rock!

I have lost my zest for blogging. I feel terrible about this fact, as I pretty much made several of my friends begin their blogs which they so religiously do. And then I realized, they blog so much because they have really fun, interesting, sometimes hilarious stories about their children. I read about five blogs every day, sometimes checking those same five more than once per day. I do hope the Jarvis' return to London after their trip to Italy soon so I can see her holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa. That being said, as I was sitting here about to comment on another blog, I thought I would write about what I was thinking about, big surprise. And my thoughts took me to Mothers Day this Sunday!

http://http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Day_%28United_States%29

Happy Mothers Day to all the fabulous Mommies out there! I'd like to give a shout out to the coolest Moms I know, first and foremost, obviously goes to my sweet Mom. I love you, and I am so thankful that I was blessed with a Mom like you....such a selfless, humble and beautiful person. You're the best. Secondly, to my amazing sister. Not only are you my sister, but you're my best friend (shared title with Sissy, of course) but you're an absolutely wonderful Mom to the coolest little guy in the world. I'm so proud of you and you and Mom are both huge inspirations to me! I'll need loads of tips.
Next, to Matt's mom for raising such a perfectly perfect & wonderful man....this is my first Mothers Day with a Mother-in-Law, and I could never have asked or prayed for a better one. You're a special person and I love you !

Now...I won't go into deets for all the rest, but I want to say hello to the following...and I hope each of you (a) have saved maternity clothes for me; (b) have saved pregnancy books for me; (c) are ready for my calls in the middle of the night or day when I'm freaking out when Matt & I have our own little monkey; and (d) know how much I love you!

Ashley, Catherine, Jenn, Shannon, Kate, Beth, Sarah....have a great Mothers Day weekend!

One thing I forgot to mention...

My arm is broken from our ski trip. I fell, but didn't realize that I had injured myself like this! See, Dad, my threshold for pain is high. Yeah right! I made an appointment at the Doc, and he did x-rays and it is indeed a "non displaced radial neck fracture" on my right arm. I hate to say it's getting worse on a daily basis rather than better. Having only one working arm has (a) made us eat out almost every night since we got back as I can't cook with one arm; and (b) made me realize yet again to not take health for granted!

Last weekend I went home for my sister in law's engagement party, and had a ball! Saw my sister, my Mom, Dad, brother, some friends, and most importantly I saw my nephew! He gets cuter every single day, he really does. I adore him. I gave him a tshirt from Whistler and he got upset and said he wanted a big truck instead. It was funny. Note to self: don't buy a three year old little boy, who likes to play in the dirt and ride tractors, a tshirt and expect a grand reaction. One will be disappointed! Who cares, though, all it made me do was buy him something else that he liked: A dragon!

Less Is More...

I just realized that my blog about Canada was entirely too long. I'm sorry for all of you who probably started reading it, and then quickly got bored. I was just so excited and wanted to share the details of our trip! I need to remember, though, that not everyone cares about it as much as I do.
Well, I'm off to go shopping now to find some shoes for the party Saturday night.

North (Western) Exposure!!!

We're back! Canada was absolutely amazing, the most gorgeous sights I've ever seen in my life. Matt and I had SO MUCH fun together! Flying there, we turned off our phones and really didn't turn them back on until we got back to Atlanta, other than the occasional text picture I would send some of my family. It was so pretty, the mountains were full of snow, the air was cool, but not freezing. The first day we arrived we were pretty tired, had a quick bite to eat at the base of Whistler, went and stocked up on some wine, beer & a bit of food which we never ate. Our room was a one bedroom suite, plenty of room, spectacular views, and daily maid service which was a nice surprise. On the second day we awoke early and went to the gym for a quick workout, had a bowl of cereal, and my stomach in knots, we walked down to get our boards and rental equipment. Yep, I wore a helmet and wrist guards the whole time. I love helmets! So we walked to Blackcomb which is the mountain directly beside Whistler, and I arrived for my lesson. Matt walked with me and stayed with me until our lesson started. First things first, I have never snowboarded in my life. Matt used to live on a ski resort in Cali and snowboarded daily for over two months. He is good. Need I say more? My teacher, Dave, and my two classmates, Robin & Lisa, started to buckle our shoes, and I kissed Matt and said I'd meet him during my lunch break at noon. And off we went. All the way to the escalator in the snow. I don't know how many of you reading this has ever snowboarded, but the hardest thing for me to learn to do was walk with one foot while the other foot was buckled in, all the while dragging my board along with me. Well, it didn't go quite as planned. I knocked a few two year olds over, and finally got onto the chairlift, and lets just say that after riding the lift and trying to board off, I stuck to the gondolas the duration of the vacay. Long first day, the lesson was good but I quickly learned that once you get off, getting back on the next day I forgot each and every thing I was taught! Especially on the days we would say to ourselves, "perhaps a bit less apres tomorrow?" which never really happened!

So Tuesday Matt was my guide, and he was exceptional. Totally patient and reassuring, and he was so good at explaining things like, hook it, link it, don't wedge it, and when all else fails, don't fall on your arms, fall on your bum. Watching him he made it look SO easy, he would do the falling leaf, then link it, then go over a mogul, and then turn around to see what progress I had made. One day, after riding the gondola to the Green "Olympic Run" a conversation took place much like this:

Matt: "Are you ready, babe?"
Amy: "Yep, I'm good to go"
Matt: "Ok follow me this way"

Amy: "But I can't get up"
-at which time Matt would come over to me and literally pull me up...

Matt: "Ok, we're going to go down the mountain together, lead with your right foot"

-at which time I am so disoriented that I can't tell my right from my left

Amy: (falls down and starts crying) "I CANNOT DO THIS I HATE THIS I JUST WANT TO WALK DOWN THIS THING"
Matt: (laughing, sort of not knowing if I'm crying through my goggles or laughing?!?) (Answer to that: she is truly crying, sobbing really...) "Hon, you're fine, you've got it. Just link a turn!"

Amy: "I CANNOT (bleeping) link anything"

Matt: "Ok, I'll see you at the base"

-at which time skiers and boarders are flying past me, Matt is flying down the hill and I think to myself, I can do this, I can do this....there is a small child my nephews age just cruising down this thing singing at the top of his lungs...

So I got up and did the falling leaf all the way down. I was just glad I made it.

After that first day my entire body was sore from using muscles I didn't know existed. It was quickly forgotten about after a dip in the hot tub, some wine and a fantastic dinner! I won't go into details on every day we were there because that would take entirely too long. But the bottom line is this: our second honeymoon was perfect. The weather, the food, the snow, the snowboarding, the hotel, the staff, and most of all the company I was in...it was all wonderful! I felt so blessed to be there with Matt and have zero distractions!

And finally, Matt taught me how to link a turn. I think he was more excited than me! We will absolutely be going boarding again and I hope it's sooner rather than later! I'm hooked!

I don't know why the pictures are posting so dang small. Sorry for that, if anyone is reading this and would like for me to send more pictures just leave a comment or send an email letting me know!

Much love to ya!

We're Leavin', on a Jet Plane

Finally, our much anticipated journey to Canada is upon us. Leaving at 8 AM, we have a day full of traveling tomorrow. We are so excited! We will get there by 12:30 tomorrow afternoon, and after being picked up from the airport by the hotel, we have a beautiful two hour drive on the Sea to Sky Highway, as I've been told they call this stretch of road from Vancouver. Matt and I are all packed, we've gotten it all in our suitcases. Amazingly enough, as it's so much harder to pack for this sort of trip than a beach vacation...so much more to pack in order to stay warm! In any regard, we are not taking our laptop, we are turning off all cell phones and pagers, and for the next six days we are going to be by ourselves, enjoying the snow, the food, and most of all, simply enjoying each other! I shall write when I return, complete with fun stories and pictures. Have a great week everyone! And by everyone, I mean Jenn, and Sarah because I feel that they are the only ones reading!
Lots of love!

Blog much!??!

Ok, so I know I haven't written in ages, I wish I had more time to update this blog. Reading all of my friends blogs' who have children running around, whether it's one or two or three, makes me feel guilty that all I have is a rented apartment and a darling husband, and I don't blog as much as I should. I do want you girls who read this blog to know that reading your blogs makes my day...seeing the pictures of your babies, and reading about the trials, tribulations, and rewards of being a Mommy makes me cry, literally. It is very exciting to read and see how the little ones are growing. I love you all, and the babies! Even the ones I have yet to meet, but hope to soon.

Currently Matt is in the red chair in our living room, I am sitting on the loveseat and he is watching GPB - a story about Mark Twain. Yikes, what does the precious man see in me? I don't know much about Mark Twain, except the obvious like Tom Sawyer and Huck Fin, (Glynn Academy!) and my husband watches this stuff with such interest it makes me feel like I should? Should I? I went to Hemingway's house once in Key West, all I remember about that visit were all the cats, though. Oh, and the margaritas. Come to think of it, I really recall the margaritas more than the cats....but I do know I was there!

Anyway, all Matt & I are thinking about this week is our ski trip coming up soon. This time next week we'll be at our destination! We are really really excited. Since I've never been snowboarding, only skiing, and I was not good at that, I've decided to dedicate my efforts to learning how to snowboard. Online today, Matt signed me up for my lessons and rented our boards. We went and bought boots for ourselves on Saturday. So even though I've yet to "board, dude" I am well equipped to look like a pro out there. Mind you, my intentions of this trip so far have been to (1) go out of town with my hubby on nice, private vacation; (2) turn off any and all cell phones/pagers; (3) sleep in, have a late breakfast and lunch, and drink a Bloody Mary with the above; (4) look like a snow bunny....and now it has turned into hoping and praying that neither of us breaks any bones. Excited? Yes. Nervous? A little? Ready to get there? Absolutely!

SO, needless to say, I am going to be packing all week for our "second honeymoon" - I still can't believe it has almost been a year for us. Several of our friends are celebrating their one year anniversary too. The year of 2006 will always be one of my absolute favorite years of all times - so many of our dearest besties got married too, and it's one we'll never forget!

Although, I'm sure of it....the best is yet to come!!

Happy Heart Day!

In Roman mythology, Cupid is the god of love.....
I personally feel (like many others) that you should celebrate your love for others 365 days a year, and not just on February 14th. That being said, I still secretly think the idea of this particular holiday has the best of intentions. Husbands send their wives flowers to their office, usually causing extreme jealousy from her coworkers, wives send their husbands cookies or balloons to their office, much to their embarassment, Moms and Dads still feel the need to send a card or at least a balloon to their children.

I grew up in a family that says "I love you" at the drop of a hat, and that is absolutely not an exaggeration. We say it ALL THE TIME! I love it! And even though we say it nonstop, it still means a lot to hear it, and to say it. And for those families who perhaps don't say it often, I think today is a great day for them, because there are some people in the world who may not hear it as often as they like, so today I am happy because maybe someone is hearing the words that they so need to hear.

Matt and I are happily celebrating our first Valentines together as a married couple. He was on call last night, so today he got home from the hospital at 2, and I picked him up shortly after that for a Doctors appointment. He is now in our guest room sleeping, and I'll be waking him up in a few hours so we can have dinner, and watch a few TV shows together. Mythbusters, and LOST. Our night is exactly how we would want it, and we are doing nothing out of the ordinary for each other just because of what today is - even though, for dessert, I've made chocolate covered strawberries. Ok, Ok, I'm a sucker for a little bit of romance and perhaps today IS special after all!

Happy Valentines Day Everyone!