occupy d.c.

i can't believe i haven't blogged about the trip jp and i took to washington, d.c. two months ago.

well, i can believe it, but it still makes me feel slack.

it was an amazing trip.  jp and i went alone - no baby - and while we missed her SO much, we had so much fun together.  i haven't been to d.c. since 9th grade, and jp, while he was born there, hasn't been back since he was a baby.

we arrived on thursday, and since we were staying in arlington, va. we decided to go ahead and visit arlington national cemetery.   this place truly takes your breath away.  

 it is very sobering to look at the graves of all of those who gave their lives for our country.

 and you absolutely cannot visit there without watching the changing of the guards.

 it is amazing how precise they are.  i could sit there all day and watch them.

 i think this summed it up perfectly.

the next day we ventured into downtown, and one of the first things we saw were the 'occupy d.c.' people.  it was quite the site!

i really can't believe that people are living there!

our next stop was the white house...

complete with secret service on the roof!

there was something going on out on the front lawn, but we couldn't see who was out there.

the washington monument was amazing, but we couldn't get close because it was closed due to the recent earthquakes in virginia.

the WWII memorial was one of the places i absolutely had to visit.

it too was amazing.

and to top it off, there was an honor flight from oregon there visiting.
it was amazing to see these special people have the opportunity to visit a memorial created in their honor.

we finished our day with a visit to the lincoln memorial,

the vietnam wall,

and finally the capital.

we even took a picture of the two of us:)

our last day we visited alexandria, va.
we went to a section known as 'old town' that is full of little shops and restaurants.
we just walked around, but it was a great end to our trip.

there was even a man set up outside a restaurant playing the water glasses.





























our trip was wonderful.  we couldn't fit it all in, but we made it everywhere we wanted to go.  i definitely want to go back when becca is older so she can experience all of this with us.

there's no place like church

I'm again putting two 'I'm thankful for..' posts into one:)
And since I'm the author of this blog, I can do that!
Right?

(picture courtesy of Spencer Strickland's Facebook page)
This picture represents both of the things I'm thankful for tonight (and last night.)
The first thing I'm thankful for is our church.
I can't begin to describe how much this church/church family has done/is doing for us.  I look forward to Sundays and Wednesdays because I get to worship at this place with some of the most important people in my life.
The second thing I'm thankful for is our new minister and his sweet wife and baby girl.  Our last minister was A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.  There's no other way to describe it.  I was devastated when he moved, but totally understood his reasons.  With that being said, I was a little 'down and out' about finding another minister.  I wasn't sure how anyone would replace Mickey.  
Well, once again, God had a plan.  Last Sunday, we welcomed our new minister, Spencer.  He has been an answer to many, many prayers.  I also happen to LOVE his wife and sweet baby girl.  I know that they will do wonderful things at our church!  

so this is way harder than i thought it would be

yesterday, i was (and still am) thankful for my in-laws.
they are like second parents to me, and they certainly love becca:)

and i realized after i spent the last 30 minutes looking for pictures of BOTH of them with becca, that i need to get more pictures of becca with her grandmomma and papaw:)
side note:  becca has renamed them both.  grandmomma is now known as 'memaw' and papaw has become 'pepaw'.  this totally makes me laugh, and we have no idea where she came up this!


today, i am thankful for all of our veterans.  i cannot begin to grasp the enormity of all the sacrifices made, but i certainly am appreciative that i am an American!

day 9

tonight i'm thankful for my mom - becca's gg.

from the time she found out we were expecting a baby, she was over the moon!

 and her love for this little 'pumpkin' has only grown.

 it's amazing how much joy one person can bring a family.

 

 gg totally spoils this little girl:)

she spends every second she can with her.

she never misses a holiday (or an excuse to buy her something)

and she definitely never misses a photo op with her 'sugar plum'

so thank you gg for being so wonderful.  becca and i love you and appreciate you more than you'll ever know:)

thankful times 2

So, I'm going to cheat a little bit.  For my dedicated blog readers (insert laugh here), I'm sure you ALL noticed that I didn't post my day 7 'thankful' post last night.  I could give you some really good excuse, but it really just boils down to I was tired and didn't have time.  
The way I'm going to remedy that - make tonight's post count as two.
How am I going to do that you may ask?
Well, it's easy.  Tonight I'm thankful for both of my sweet dogs.
Jack and Grace are our black labs.  Jack will 13 this weekend, and Grace will be 6 this weekend.  Yes, they were both born within a day of each other - November 13th and November 14th, but I can't remember who was born which day.  I could walk upstairs and check, but that would require way too much energy, so we'll chalk it up to the fact that I'm a slack mommy and we'll leave it at that:)

This picture was taken a few years ago, but we'll pretend that we all still look the same:)
These two dogs are so sweet.  They are a very important part of our family, and in fact are treated more like humans than dogs.  Their official purpose is to hunt (mainly ducks and dove), but none the less, they hold a very special place in our hearts!
So tonight (and last night) I am very thankful for these sweet pups.  They have brought us a lot of joy, and I hope to have many, many more years with our fur babies!

day 6

today, i'm thankful for nat - the wonderful woman who watches our sweet girl while we are at work.

from the first day i went back to work, i knew becca was in good hands.

becca absolutely loves nat.  in fact, most days she doesn't want to leave.

and nothing makes this mommy happier than to know that becca loves her so much!

day 5:
today i'm thankful for becca's cousins.  she loves them all very much!

whether they live here...

one state away....

or all the way across the atlantic ocean!
i'm thankful for these relationships, and i pray that they will continue to grow as she does.

forever friends

on this day, i'm thankful for the friendship these two already share.

maybe it's because they've known each other since becca was born,

or because these mommies are such great friends,

















or because they've watched football games together.






















It may have something to do with the fact that they've tested out 4-wheelers together at bass pro,
















shared special moments like boo at the zoo,















had fun cheering on the gamecocks,














or for the simple fact that they can see past each others differences.















maybe it's because they've vacationed together,















or shared kisses on the beach,





















or because pj's and bed head don't matter to them.






















whatever it is, these two love each other and love spending time together.  it doesn't matter how often they see each other, they are always excited to play together again.
i'm thankful that becca has already experienced the joy of a true friend.
and just as a side note, if and when they get married, they're going to have THE best slideshow ever!
i'm just saying...