Obsessed

I'm obsessed with taking McKennon's picture. Why is that? I just can't stop. I'm a proud proud aunt, that's for sure. What a cutie!

Laundry

Okay. I would drastically change my mind about laundry if I had a room this big and beautiful to do it in! Wouldn't you?! This is the color of our guest bedroom/best color on earth. It's such a happy bright place. I LOVE THIS ROOM!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks Jen!

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I love you

If you plan to plant some flowers this weekend, dig up some dirt, wash the car, slice some watermelon, challenge your 4th cousin to a tennis match on the Wii, have a BBQ, or just go to a movie, make sure you don't forget to call up people that are important to you and remind them super-quick, "Hey, I love you." It will take two minutes.

Make it a priority. No one is ever promised tomorrow.

I've always thought I was pretty healthy, but according to this U.S. height/weight chart that I saw today, evidently I need to lose 32lbs! That seems like a lot. I guess I'll be doing that starting today. Project number #634.

Wedding pictures

First of all, credit needs to be given where credit is due. Neely let me tag along with her on this last wedding (and had WAY too much fun hanging out with her BY the way). I simply came along and took some photos of my own, wanting to hang with her and learn, and well...I just love the girl. These are all my shots, but she definitely ruled supreme (in an awesome way, of course). I mean seriously--look at that hair. You can get more information at www.neelyjacobson.com.

VIDEO-Andrea & Evan are engaged!

Some of our great friends Andrea and Evan got engaged on Monday night! Watch it below! Yet again, you are wonderful Jonathan. You just happen to be there at all those great moments. :)

Andrea+Evan | The Engagement from Jonathan Meisner on Vimeo.

Dance Party (Meisner Style)

So, we had a dance party with our good friends Lewis and Stacey. What's necessary at a truely good party you ask? Lots of people, programmable lights, a disco ball, a fog machine, DJ puppykisses, some twins, glow sticks, and maybe a smoothie bar? As always, see the video in a larger version here.

In my search for a job, I guess there are times when I get discouraged and lose heart. In this, I have to remember that it's not me who plans out my life. Sure, I try my best to get those interviews, call people, and work hard every day, but it's not about me. It's about God. Jonathan reminded me today that the only way that I can fail is if I give up. That would be a tragedy now wouldn't it? Perhaps the job coming along someday isn't the one I planned on or hoped for. Maybe it is something completely different, but God knows my heart, and he knows what I need before I ask. That's some pretty sweet news to my ears on a rainy Wednesday.

It's been a week. An unexpected week (hourly), but it is going slightly downhill today. I can't write about something awesome, something really pretty that I found, or post a picture that you just have to see. I probably can't make you laugh, tell you a funny joke, or encourage you as much as I normally could. It's been a day. It's okay to have those. I don't usually blog about them, but seeing as I'm a real person, today, it just seemed okay. And that's all.

Wedding Trailer

My husband made another new wedding trailer. I LOVE IT. He still impresses me. Check it out! Or...see it bigger here.

Encouragement

Is there anyone in your life that you really appreciate, that did something you really admire, or maybe just needs a little boost of encouragement? Maybe this is the week that you should pick up a pen and send a handwritten note to someone that you care about, appreciate, or admire. I got one of those notes this week and it MADE my whole week! Share the love! It'll only take you 5 minutes and it will probably make that person's day.
(photo found here)

Anniversary Date!

Some dates are sweet, some are thoughtful, some creative. The one Jonathan created last night was memorable in all of those categories! I can honestly say that I try never to have preconcieved ideas or expectations on dates because I never want to hold Jonathan up to some imaginary bar of excellence or put him in a box. That's why all of the following was just a little extra sweet. It was totally unexpected.

So, Jonathan started off our anniversary by bringing me these beautiful bright daisies. Funny story--I used to hate flowers. Well, not loathe them, but I guess I was the weird girl that didn't want to recieve a gift that would just die in a week. My, how times have changed!! I'm not sure how I was so idiotic or silly but I truly do love flowers! I would almost rather get fresh flowers than groceries! They are bright, cheerful, and make the whole room just seem a lot better. Anyway...they were pretty. After the flowers, which were lovely and would have been plenty, Jonathan brought out a big silver bagged stuffed with paper. In it was a large white purse ("gody" he called it) with a huge buckle on the front (which is why he was sure that I would love it). In it I found a few of my favorite things: an adorable scarf with a collection of sweet patterns on it, a 1lb. bag of Dunkin Donuts coffee beans, mint mojito gum, and a trendy little necklace! Well...surprise to me! But no, there's more...



He said, "Okay, so this is what we're going to do..."

Jonathan has always been thoughtful, and for those of you that know him pretty well, you'd probably agree that he's creative to the core. Last night, those two qualities had triplets. He pulled out nine cards. Three of them were labeled appetizer, three labeled dinner, and three labeled dessert. For each set of three cards, one said old, one said new, and one said blue. He explained that we were now going to embark on a progressive dinner where we would go somewhere different for each course: appetizer, meal, and dessert. So, I was going to have to pick old, new, or blue for each course without knowing what the options were and I wasn't allowed to change my mind after I opened the card (but they were all awesome anyway). My curiosity just about killed me (as always) but I decided that I wanted to go with the new theme, even though I could have mixed it up. So, for round one we went to...

#1 Sushi Neko! Um...yum! What a sacrifice for poor Jonathan who doesn't even love Sushi! He knew I did though, which makes it extra sweet, and we found something that we both loved. If you don't know what to get, try the Lifesaver Roll. It was an A+ for sure. Man, the atmosphere in the restaurant is amazing!










#2 Red Rock. We got to sit outside on the patio overlooking the lake and it was timed so perfectly that we got our food just as the sun was setting. We had our own little musician who sang "Michelle my Bell" which was just the cherry on the sundae. Besides that, of course, the food was great. What else did you expect? :)








#3 Pop's! I had never been there and it was such a fun new experience. Jonathan got a Dr. Pepper and I got my favorite, Cream Soda, but I did branch out and try a different kind at least. This one was made with Cane Sugar and Hawaiian Vanilla. It was the bomb.com.






The best part of the night was at the end when I asked Jonathan, "Why did you do all of this? I mean, you really took the time out of your busy schedule to plan all of this and it means so much to me!"

His response? "I wanted to love you extravagantly tonight. You deserve it."

Bam. Best night ever. Sweetest husband in the world. How did I get so lucky?

Swagger Wagon

This video WILL rock your world. I want this minivan...somehow.

To Jonathan...

To my very best friend on our three year anniversary...







Jonathan, life with you is easy.



Sometimes I look through old pictures and I think to myself, when that happened we had the best life ever. And then we live a few more months and I think no, this is better. And even today, I'd tell you that we have the best life in the world! God keeps blessing us beyond our own dreams and is giving us more than we ever asked, expected, or imagined. You know how we said 2010 just felt like it was going to be an awesome year? It's gone beyond already. God just doesn't disappoint does he?! He gave me you, and that was enough for my whole lifetime. I love you Jonathan! Lets plan a skydiving trip when we're 50!

Happy 3 Years Jonathan!!

Tomorrow I will have had three wonderful years of marriage with this wonderful man. He says he looks homeless in this picture, but that's nothing a haircut and an ironed shirt can't fix. Whatever he may think, I think he's handsome any day of the week. I love you Jonathan. You're my favorite comedian in the world!

Things I want in my kitchen.

From a SodaStream carbonator (yes, it makes homemade soda!) to a baby cookbook (someday), an amazing braising baste, or some squishy squashy bowls, I'm not sure there are more fun kitchen utensils in one store. Welcome to Williams-Sonoma! www.williams-sonoma.com

See, I was thinking, if you need some pump-me-up-about-cooking magic, just head into that store and get yourself a gadget. I bet you'll want to go home right away to test it out!

Nashville Flood Video

Sometimes in life, disaster happens unexpectedly. I bet these residents didn't realize when they woke up on May 1st that in the next 24 hours they would receive the most recorded rain of all time in Middle Tennessee. This video shows just a glimpse of the disaster of what happened in Nashville and the surrounding areas when the dam the held the river water back overflowed from May 1st-May 2nd, 2010. Lets pray for them and help them however and whenever we can. If the video has trouble loading, you can watch it HERE.

Cooking!

I can't wait to go shopping, put all the neat little ingredients away into my cabinet, and work on little masterpieces throughout the week. It's exhilarating. I love looking for random ingredients in the grocery store and then making something beautiful out of flour, a smashed banana, some chopped dates, a drop of lemon juice, or even a cup of sour milk.

This week's recipe plan:

Main Dishes

Chicken and Rice

Mexican Rollups

Muesli (breakfast!)

Dill Salmon

Bierocks

Sides

Fruit and Yogurt Salad

Strawberry Spinach Salad

Jello Salad (the possibilities are endless)

Grilled Asparagus

Sweet Potato casserole

Desserts

Blackberry Sorbet

Pumpkin Fluff and apples

Oatmeal PB cookies

Chocolate almond pudding

Happy cooking to you all!!