Christmas Day Festivities

Christmas Day has always been a day that I have been able to get up early with no problem! This year was no exception! I woke up at 4, 6:30, and 7:30 and decided that at 7:30 I could try to get Sam up! Sam was not like me and wanted to sleep until our alarm went off at 8, so I somewhat slept, somewhat just waited until the alarm went off. I shot up out of the bed, got both of us coffee, Sam turned on some Christmas music and our Christmas Day together began. A tradition that Sam and I are going to have on Christmas Day is to pray together as a family before we open presents. (We discussed traditions we would like to have Christmas Eve.) We will have other traditions with kids, but since that is nowhere even near thought, we started our family tradition. We opened our gifts from each other. We both got some great stuff. Sam got me some awesome shoes, a purse, some clothes, board games I asked for, and some movies. I got Sam a steamer, shoes, clothes, movies, and some other stuff. He loved the steamer. I was worried that it would be like getting a vacuum or sewing machine, but he really like it. It was immediately put together. We got ourselves ready and headed out to my parents house to have Christmas Day brunch as a family. We got some great stuff. I got a DS and Sam got Guitar Hero with two guitars so we can play together. We got some clothes too!! After spending some time there, we headed to the hospital to see Sam's grandmother. She fell and broke her hip, so she's been in rehab for over a month. We all gathered in her room and had some family time. Of course, the main entertainment came from Calyn! She is just the cutest kid!

We finished up our Christmas night traveling to my grandparents house for the traditional Christmas Day night celebration! Exhausted Sam and I headed back to the house around 9:30. After a Mountain Dew, the two of us stayed up until 1:30 A.M. playing guitar hero! We are an awesome band in case you were wondering!!! We had a great first Christmas...and made it to every function with our sanity!! Impressive I know!:)

Christmas Eve

To start off our Christmas together, Sam and I went to Gina and Chris' house. (Sam's sister and brother in law for those of you who aren't quite sure who I am talking about!) We had a wonderful Mexican feast. We made our chicken enchilada's and homemade guacamole..thanks Amanda and Steve!! After dinner, we shared some of our memories of Mr. Sam and celebrated his life!! Calyn woke up and soon began the opening of present by a soon to be 1 year old! It was hilarious! We did presents in the wrong order. We gave her the toys first and then when it came to the clothes she was not interested. She got some pretty awesome toys! Nana seemed to have had a blast getting presents for her adorable granddaughter! We got her an Elmo cell phone and an outfit. She loved the cell phone which made me feel awesome! Just to explain the funniness of the event...Calyn would only pull one little piece at a time of the paper and then hand it to the nearest person. She would not continue until that one piece of paper was out of her hand. Crawling around and tape did not go well with her either. She would be on the trail to a different toy and get stopped in her tracks by a piece of tape stuck to her hand! It was so cute! Mrs. Terri, Sarah, and Jake went to a midnight mass in Nashville which by the way was 3 hours long!! I was amazed! Christmas Eve was fabulous and we had a wonderful time with Sam's family!

First Christmas Ornament

but still no tree topper! That's alright though! Our tree is still awesome whether it's got a topper or not! :) While we were in Gatlinburg, Sam and I looked for an ornament that would be the "Our First Christmas" one. We went to the Christmas Village. Wow! That place has all kinds of ornaments or decor that can fit anyone's personality! It was actually slightly overwhelming! There was also a little boy that had a stupid little chicken that made the most annoying noise and around every corner..there he was! That's beside the point though. We looked everywhere for an ornament in that place. Finally, after a second try in the personalizing department we found the ornaments for the "first's". There were several to choose from, but we decided to get one with two snow people in the back of a car. We got it personalized especially for us..well at first it was for Sam and Molly, but it was changed to Holly quickly! :) We now have our first Christmas ornament and we love it! It looks fabulous on our tree!

Gatlinburg Getaway

It seems like every since Sam and I got married we have been going non-stop. Two weeks after we got married I started school, so the chance to getaway was really hard to come by. We decided that we would go to Gatlinburg after I got out of school with John and Lindsey to get a much needed rest from life. I finished up school on Wednesday and Sam took a half day on Thursday and the four of us headed out of town! We had a blast after a little bit of a tough time with our cabin rental company. I'll just say that we will not go back to Sterling Springs Resort nor do we recommend anyone else going. We were placed in 5 different cabins, 4 of which happened within the last 2 weeks. I mean, good grief, we made reservations 2 months early for a reason, but that didn't seem to matter! Anyways, we finally got a cabin that somewhat was what we reserved originally. We ordered pizza, relaxed in a hot tub, and started a Christmas movie our first night there. We spent Friday shopping in Pigeon Forge, which was fun! We might not have gotten anything, but we had fun looking! That's what happens when it's this close to Christmas I guess! We went to Dixie Stampede that night! Our waiter made the experience so much better! He was hilarious! A night at Dixie Stampede is always memorable! You've got to love places that do not supply utensils! And I will add that the South won, even though some competitions were definitely rigged!! In the end, the South Pole was the champion! After dinner we went and looked at lights in Gatlinburg, which was beautiful! Saturday was got up and went to have breakfast at the Pancake Pantry which was delicious! I had chocolate chip pancakes which were fabulous, but fast filling! We walked Gatlinburg and went to the spot where the magic happened for Lindsey and John had a little photo opt and then headed back to the cabin. We spent the rest of the night in watching Christmas movies and hanging out in the hot tub with a lot of pool and air hockey! We headed out Sunday morning and had lunch with my family for my dad's birthday! It was a much needed, very relaxing weekend! Now on to Christmas and then a ski trip in Wyoming thanks to my wonderful, thoughtful Dad! (and Carrier for supplying the trip!)

Babysitting Fun

Amanda and Steve were going to Amanda's work Christmas party in Nashville, so Sam and I kept Emily for them to go. We had a blast! Lindsey and I picked Emily up from her preschool before we went to work. She played the entire time with a little girl named Leslie. Come to find out, they went to preschool together before Leslie started going to the Christian school. Leslie left when she 2 years ago and they started playing like no time had passed! It was too cute! They had to give each other a hug before they left each other! Too too cute! Anyways we picked up Sam from the apartment and started out for our night of fun! We went to each at Chick-Fil-A, which took awhile, but was delicious as always! After we ate, rather fast, we headed down the mall to the movie theater where we took Emily to watch Matagascar 2! We all loved it! She got up at the end of the movie and started dances in the aisle to " I like to move it, move it! I like to move it, move it!" Not a surprise at all, but still funny! When we were walking out, she said, "That was the best movie ever!" which made us feel really good that she liked it! It was a different experience because she really likes to ask questions about movies, which I'm not use to answering! We headed back to the apartment and put in some Christmas classics. We watched "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and "A Year Without Santa Claus". Again some questions, but not as bad as at the theater! :) Emily decided to play hair with the brush she brought with her. She started out working on my hair, but I had way too much static so she went to Sam's hair instead! He loved it! It was like a head massage! (that's his wording) So of course I had to get a picture of the two of them playing beauty shop. She pretended to wash and style his hair! It was really cute! Soon after Amanda called and said she was on her way home, so we left to drop Emioy back off to her! It was a really fun night for all of us!

A Year Has Passed...

A year ago tomorrow will not only mark one year since our engagement, but is also our 5 year dating anniversary! Sam informed me just now that we no longer count this anniversary, but I think it is still fun to keep up with even if we don't do anything special. We now keep up with the married anniversary instead. I still know the dates of the first hand hold, first arm around the shoulder, first missed kiss, first official kiss..Sam says I have way too good of a memory! We were just sitting here talking about our anniversary dates from the past. Year 1: Mazatlan with his cousin Daniel (In Sam's defense, at 6 months he took me to Morton's which was very very very fancy and he had to go to work! lol) Year 2: The Melting Pot with a pink rose waiting at the table (Romantic I know!) Year 3: Spent a Saturday at Gatlinburg Year 4: The Melting Pot and Rockettes (No rose on the table this year...just a ring waiting in the coat pocket!!!) Year 5: Night out with Emily Barrios to see Matagascar 2. It's hard to believe that Sam and I have been together for half a decade! I was a sophomore and he was a senior in high school when it all began on that December 5th night! We have so many memories some good, some bad but all very special. So here is to another year of ups and downs, twists and turns with many more to come! By the way.. I know it's Thursday the 4th, but just pretend that it is really the 5th for this post cause I just wanted to go ahead and blog about it! :)

Amazing Day

Today, Lindsey and I went to a homeless food center in Clarksville called Loaves and Fishes. Lindsey had to go there for a class and not wanting to go alone, I volunteered to tag along. As we were walking in the door, I am not going to lie I was very nervous and scared! We were in line to eat, but were overwhelmed with guilt when we looked around and saw people with 3 or 4 plates of food. We both decided to just find a spot to sit and take everything in. Lindsey did snag some awesome sweet tea! We found a spot and began talking to the people around us. One man asked us if we were excited and ready for Christmas. We both said yes and he replied with "It's just another day!" Wow! That really put me in my place! Christmas is a very exciting time for me with the chance to get to be with family and get a few new things. More importantly it's about our Savior that was welcomed to this world! It is so much more than another day for me, but for him nothing was going to change! He left to go to work for a man, but another man was sitting at the end of the table so we began to talk to him. He asked us if we knew if Austin Peay had a center for people to come and write and share writings. We didn't know because we both spend all of our time in one building only! What fun! We asked him about his writings and he pulled a few from his bag. Let me just say...THEY WERE AWESOME! Several times, both me and Lindsey got teary eyed. It was like we were reading his inner most thoughts. It was so neat, sad, humbling, funny, so many emotions! I can't remember a lot of what he wrote, which really makes me mad! If I would have gone straight to the computer I would still know it. I should written it down! I remember bits and pieces of them though. He said, "Homeless has no race, no creed." and "Finding places to sleep, sometimes an abandoned house. Jealous of a cat or dog because at least they have a home and someone to cuddle." It was such an amazing humbling experience! I am so thankful for the life that I live and the things that I have. It is all taken for granted! Thank you Lindsey for not wanting to go alone so that I got the chance to have such an eye opening experience!

Our First Thanksgiving

Our first Thanksgiving was quite different than both of our Thanksgiving's past. We would normally go to Sam's grandmother's house in Mt. Juliet, but this year we all just wanted to have time to ourselves. Mrs. Terri and Sarah went to Gatlinburg and Gina went to Missouri where Chris's family is from, so Sam and I decided to spend our Thanksgiving together with just the two of us. We spent the entire day being as lazy as humanly possible! We slept in till 9:30.We made some orange rolls. We watched the Titans slaughter the Lions. We finally left the apartment! We went to my parents house where my mom made a delicious dinner! There was so much food! It was really cool though because for years we have always had the same routine on both sides: Sam always goes to his Mt. Juliet grandmothers and I always go to my grandmothers on my dad's side. This year we both did something different. My mom's parents came over and we all sat down to a Thanksgiving dinner feast! We are going to my aunt and uncle's for Thanksgiving with my dad's family on Sunday! Anyways, we had a blast! Sam, Moriah, Libby, and I all went downstairs and rocked out on Rock Band! I was the lead tone deaf singer! It killed me cause I can sing on pitch and I know when I'm not and I was definitely not on pitch! Lindsey, you would have ran out of the room! It was bad, but so much fun! When I actually knew the song, I did pretty good! We all laughed and my grandparents came down for the awesome concert! Sam and I left soon after to start our Christmas decorating, by getting our tree! It was a great lazy very thankful Thanksgiving Day!

The Verdict

Sam generously gave in to our dilema and we have a tree with white lights! This is mostly because he wanted me to be happy, but also because the tree was free and pre-lit with white lights! This was better than paying another $100 for another tree! Those things can be expensive! Anyways, we got the tree from his mom's house Thursday night and decided to go ahead and put it up even though it was 10:30 at night. We made a stop first at Wal-Mart because Sam had a surprise to get me! I waited in the car and when he came back he handed me the 10 Classic Christmas Movies that just came out! It was very very sweet because he knows that I LOVE Christmas movies and music! It will also be great to have in my classroom when I teach! Back to the Christmas tree though! We got back home and had the daunting task of moving around the furniture in our little apartment! The picture is before the furniture move began! We have bigger furniture, so it was daunting because we wanted it all to fit in here and look good because in reality, there was nowhere else for it to go! lol Sam finally discovered a way to have the furniture fit and we both like this set up better than the old set up! We went out yesterday around lunch to get ornaments! The was a task too! There was not much of a selection, but we found some stuff and a few more movies and came back to decorate! We took decorating in small steps! It was fun! The only thing we are missing is the tree topper, but that will come sooner or later! We couldn't find one we really liked! Like I said, the selection was scarce! It was fun picking out our Christmas stuff! The first ornaments that went on our tree were ones that my aunt made us last Christmas, Sam and Holly gingerbread people! I think that it looks adorable! We still need to get an "Our First Christmas" ornament, but I haven't found one that I really liked! I am on the prowl though! Before Christmas, we will have one!

Your Opinion

Friday night, Sam and I went over to hang out at John and Lindsey's. While we were there we were talking about their Christmas tree. That's when Sam and I realized that we haven't ever talked about our preference on tree lights! I never thought it would be an issue! Sam grew up with colored lights and really wants colored lights on our tree. I grew up with white lights and really want white lights for our tree. My thinking is that white can go with any color and that color will stand out. Sam just wants colored lights, the end. So that is where we want your opinion. Who thinks Sam should give in and let me have white lights or I give in and Sam have colored lights? The suggestion of mixing both was already shot down!

Weekend Madness

Do not be fooled by the title of my blog; it was just a very busy weekend not crazy really. Sam and I went to our friend Cody's house to hang out Friday night. We had a great time and good laughs! For example, Cody's long time girlfriend Lindsey and I were cooking and talking and Sam was floating around doing something. Cody had been at the grill working with the hamburgers and hotdogs when we heard a noise. Cody came in the door and into another room. When he came back in he had a fire extinguisher in his hand. He had caught something on fire. We didn't believe it until we saw the flames reflecting on the door! It sounds worse than it was, but it was hilarious! I had never seen a fire extinguisher used before. It smells terrible. We had dinner and Sam and I had brought some movies, so we sat down and watched U571 (I think that's the right number!). It was fun; cold, but fun! Last night, Sam and I and Sarah and Jake (Sam's sister and boyfriend) drove out to Symrna to hang out at their cousins house. It was funny because I asked Sam if he had ever hung out with him before and that was a no. This was a first for everybody and we had a great time! His cousin Kevin smoked some meat. We had BBQ and brisket! It was delicious! We all just sat and talked and watched their two kids. One is crawling and pulling up on stuff, so it became normal for him to fall on his face. Their little girl liked Sam. She shared her popcorn with him and showed him her doll. She wouldn't give me the time of day! We topped the night off with Starbucks! It was a great night! Today and the rest of this week will be devoted to homework! I can tell that the end of the semester is near because everything is due all at once. There's only a few more weeks left! I feel like the little engine that could...I just need to keep telling myself... I Think I Can...I Think I Can!! :)

Our First Halloween

We will be celebrating a lot of firsts this year, but to start off the season of "firsts" (First Thanksgiving, First Christmas, First New Years, First Valentine's Day... You get the idea) we had our first Halloween together last night! We could not decide what in the world we wanted to dress up like, but Sam found that pants that made the decision for us! These pants were hilarious! They were one size too big in the waist and one size to short in length so they made for a great pair of geek pants. These were at his mom's house in his old room...we don't know where they came from really cause no one in that house was ever that size! So Thursday night it was decided, we would be Beauty and the Geek, like the TV show off of MTV. I overemphasized everything; my hair, my makeup, my accessories! I looked awesome I can't lie! :) I was no where near as awesome as Sam though! He had the outfit of the year all thanks to Goodwill. If it wasn't for the old clothes and shoes that people give Goodwill, this outfit could not have been completed! The shirt, the glasses, and the shoes are all thanks to Goodwill. The pants were actually owned! lol We went to Josh and Kim Hampton's and had a great time! We had a bonfire, finger foods, a little game of catch phrase, and a few scary movies here and there. It was so much fun! I think that will need to be an annual event, even if it's not at the same place! It was great to get together with everybody! All in all...it was a great first Halloween!

Friends and Family

This past weekend was quite eventful for the two of us! Friday night we went on a double date with John and Lindsey for a dinner and a movie! We started off waiting 30 minutes for a 20 minute projected time when Lindsey and I look over and see that Chili's in Opry Mills scored a 69 on their health score!!! Everyone take note....DO NOT eat there until you check out their score again! I don't know why it was that low, but quite frankly none of us wanted to find out. We decided that for time and health sake we should just eat in the food court! We ate and went to see Saw V. I DO NOT do blood, gore, and guts at all, so I probably saw about 50% or less of the movie! At one point my ears and eyes were closed! It was alright though; no nightmares at least! We went back and played some Texas hold 'em poker, which again I was no good at! I am told that when you fold and the round is over you do not reveal what cards you had! That was where I had A LOT of difficulty. I lost all my chips because I went all in and lost to something Lindsey had, but I had two kings and they were not good enough if that means anything! The Shrewsburys went down fast to the Mahollands! Lindsey was the grand winner! Saturday we had a relaxing day in! Actually Sam went and golfed while I was suppose to do homework....I fell asleep, so I didn't get anything done! Reading something you're not interested in at all makes falling asleep so much easier! We ran into Cody and Lindsay, Sam's friends from high school, at Walmart, so they came over late Saturday night. Sunday was the highlight of the weekend for the both of us. We went to church and met up with the Barrios' for lunch. The impatient, hungry boys could not possibly wait 20 minutes for O'Charley's so we had to eat Applebee's for lunch. When we turned in our beeper at O'Charley's we were the next one in line which made the move even worse! Sam asked if I would like to see the family on Sunday, so after lunch we made our way to my parents house. It was great to get to spend time with them, even though I had to do my homework that I fell asleep on the day before! It was due by midnight; I had no choice! I had not seen my dad in forever, so it was really great to get to see him! I get to see the rest of everybody every now and then at the school or hanging out with friends, but my dad is never in those places so I really enjoyed my time! We then made a quick stop by the Barrios house to see the baby room updates and then made our way to Sam's household. We sat and talked with Sarah and Mrs. Terri for awhile and then made our way back home! It was a great day!! When I got home there was more homework to be done which kept me up until 11, but it was all worth it! I loved family and friend weekend!

***By the way, the picture is just one that I thought looked "Fallish" even though it was taken in March over spring break! Yeah spring break with sweatshirts with a little snow at the end! It was great!

Life As of Now

So there hasn't been much going on in the Shrewsbury household, but I figured I should do a little update since I haven't blogged in like 2 weeks and I am extremely bored waiting for me next class which is in a little over an hour! We haven't been overly busy which is very surprising! Softball season has come to an end!!! The coed team got 2nd place and the men's team got 4th or something. (I didn't go to that game day!) We have just been relaxing in our little home! We had John and Lindsey come for dinner over my 2 day Fall Break! That was a joke, by the way, when you come back to school to two midterms at the end of the week! I am slightly in the over school phase! This could be from lack of motivation or just the junior year slump! The end just does not seem to be in sight, but I know I should enjoy it while it lasts because that's what everyone tells me to try to do! Well everyone I am trying, but it is very difficult! :) We are getting excited about December because we are going on a little vacay to the mountains with John and Lindsey! We rented an awesome cabin and are counting down the days! Not only does this trip mean vacay, but it means that this semester has come to an end! I am a very positive person can you tell?! :) Ok back to the topic of our lives as of now....we had Sarah, Sam's sister, over last night for dinner which was really nice! She brought us some awesome apple crisp for dessert!! Yum! It won't last long in our house! Exciting news that Amanda and Steve are having a baby girl! After 3 attempts this little thing decided to be cooperative! We are SUPER excited for them!!! So I guess to sum all of this up...we are here and doing our thing! Nothing new to report, but now you have a small glimpse into what we are doing these days! 

Prayer Request

Sam and I received a call tonight with a prayer request. Christian Wilson, junior at Pleasant View Christian School, was diagnosed with leukemia today. They had originally thought that he had mono, but further tests resulted with cancer. I do not know all the details, but from what I have been told they think that they have caught it early. I think they plan on starting chemo as soon as possible. I do not personally know him and I think that Sam knows of him through his brother. He is a very good friend of my sisters and from talking to them he is a pretty awesome person. I know from our experience that the power of prayer is an awesome and powerful thing! Mr. Sam was at our wedding and I really do think that is due to the prayer power! Sam and I would like to ask you to pray for healing, comfort, and strength because the road ahead will not be an easy one!

Kroger vs. Walmart

This is a random, but necessary post so that I can vent a little. Sam and I live behind a Walmart, so of course this is where we do our grocery shopping. Well, a Kroger is just down the road, so Sam and I thought, "Hey, why not try out a different place and see what the difference is!" We had a Kroger plus card so we thought for this past grocery run that we would just go there and see how it was. Let me just say...WE WILL NEVER RETURN!! The prices are so much higher! For example, we get Martha White Blueberry Muffins. Walmart price=$.88 Kroger price=$1.19!! Case in point my friend!! There were more instances than that! I also think it's sad that I've learned the prices at Walmart and I just thought that! Even the generic brand prices were higher! I wanted to just put everything back and go to Walmart! To makes things even worse, we were shopping at 10 o'clock at night so all the registers were closed except for the self checkout! Let me tell you that it is ridiculous to checkout 47 items in the self check out. You cannot put the bags in your cart until your purchase is complete, so that was an added pain! I left that place in the worse mood possible! Sam was right though, we had food and we learned a very valuable lesson! Walmart is where we shall shop! (We want to try out Publix, but that's nowhere around here!) Like I said, this is random but I had to get that out there! :)

First Date Day!

I hope everyone has been enjoying our wedding pictures! I absolutely love them, but I am slightly biased on that! But anyway, last Sunday, Sam and I got to go to the Titans game. We thought about it and realized that it was the first time we had gone out together for something other than food since we got married. We've gone to dinner and been out with friends, but this was our first married date out! We had a blast even though the weatherman gave us a faulty weather forecast! What is new really? (This is Sam's "I'm hot with no sunglasses" face and my "It'll be ok just smile" face!)

We thought that it was going to be a isolated shower low 80's day and the weatherman thought so too! Boy, were we all wrong!! The sun shown bright with hardly any clouds in the sky and we were dressed in tennis shoes, jeans, and a t-shirt! We even had a jacket and a blanket in the car! We were prepared for the not-real cold weather! I will add that Amanda did give us warning to wear shorts and sunscreen, but we chose to be ignore the warning! Lesson learned! We hiked our way up to the 3rd level! We had great seats though! I could see everything, just be sure not to trip cause that would be a very long fall! :) It was a great day! The Titans won and we got to spend the day together!! If there would've only been some clouds!

More Pictures to View

Alright, so now you can see more than just six of our wedding pictures!!! Sam and I, along with my mom, dad, and Regina, went out to the Factory in Franklin to attend a picture viewing! It was so cool! We sat on a couch, tissues in hand, popcorn popped, and lights dimmed ready to view all the wedding pictures. It was pretty emotional, but they are wonderful! It is great to have those pictures to remember forever how important and special that day was for Sam and I beyond just the wedding itself! Hopefully, that makes sense! Krystal, the owner of Mint and Sage, loaded the slideshow of their favorite pics! Again follow the link to the blog and you can see them. On the website, www.mintandsage.com, if you click on view your images, you can find all of our wedding pictures. It is named Sam and Holly of course. It will ask for a pass code which is our wedding date, 080908! You can order pictures from there from what I understand! Hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!

WEDDING PICTURES ARE READY!!

The long awaited arrival of wedding pictures is finally here...kind of! If you follow my link to Mint and Sage's blog, you will be able to view a few of the photographers favorites! I absolutely love them too! Next Wed., we are going to their studio for a photo viewing party to see all of the wedding pictures! Sam and I are really excited..actually I think that I am more excited than he is, but still! I hope all of you enjoy them as much as I do!! When I get the pass code to view all of them I will let you all know!

Where does Emily get it from?

So some of you might be thinking...where does Emily get all of this silliness? The answer is..her father! Steve and Sam have something in common. They can shave in the morning and by 12 o'clock, they have a 5 o'clock shadow. We walk in the apartment last night and Steve shoots straight for the bathroom. You think he just has to go to the bathroom and he might have had to, but I guess while he was in there he got the bright idea to give himself a mustache. Yes...a mustache. This was his look number one.

So that was not enough...even though we were all rolling in the floor. He really looked like a Cheatham countian. He returns to our room and comes out with another look which looked like this This is police officer Steve. I think he even got Sam's razor thing to use as a gun to make the look that much more complete. He made Hitler mustache also before shaving his entire face. I didn't get pictures of the last two looks. By the way, Emily was his photographer. Is anyone suprised? This made my birthday even more memorable.

Drunk off Chocolate

Emily Barrios is the coolest kid you'll ever meet. She can drive you mad or make your sides hurt from laughing about something she's done or sad. Well, last night was no exception. When we got to Shogun's, she announced to everyone listening that we were sorry we were late, but that Amanda missed the turn in. Which might I add, we didn't miss it....we just came in on two wheels! Hahaha not really, but we could have if we would have told her to turn any later! Emily made friends with the chef like always. I don't think the child ever meets a stranger! She was funny there, but once we were at the apartment I think the beginning of the sugar rush was starting. When Lindsey was getting the cake ready, Emily was helping her by licking off the chocolate icing. To eliminate this problem, Lindsey gave her a spatula with chocolate icing! By the time we sat down to eat cake, sugar was going full force! She had chocolate all over her face and at one time she was drinking milk by trying to lap it like a dog. She wasn't trying to be funny though, I really think she had started to become drunk of chocolate! I'm sure that by the time Amanda got her in the car, Emily had started to crash!

So Long Teens!!

Yesterday was my 20th birthday! I am officially out of my teenhood...half way to forty....however you want to think it....I am 20! I had a great birthday! I woke up with Sam and spent some time with him before he had to go to work. He actually was a little late for work because I wanted to open my birthday present. He got my some awesome smelling perfume! I love it and it's in a cool looking bottle which makes it even better! Since I was awake, I decided instead of sitting in the apartment alone, I would go out and shop a little before I had to go to my class. I got some frames and makeup as my gift to myself! After school and work, the Maholland's and the Barrios' met up at our house and we went to Shogun. Emily was the entertainment of the night at Shogun. I've eaten Japanese quite a bit, but this was a great experience when you go with a 4 year old who has no cares in the world! I actually think that Emily was more excited about my birthday than I was! She made sure to tell everyone that it was my birthday! We came back to the house and I opened some more presents and ate some wonderful cake that Lindsey made! Delicious! It was a great night! Too bad I had to run everyone off cause I had an 8 o'clock class! Next year, the birthday is on Friday, so I will not run into this problem again!

One Month

Well, it's been a crazy month, but yesterday was our official one month anniversary! I like to say one down...thousands more to go! We've been extremely busy the past month! Both of us started back to work. I started school. We spent a lot of time with the family. We have softball, football to watch, church; we've really just been busy and that's how to sum it up! It has been great though! I love my new life and husband!

This is one of our engagement pictures that Regina took, but it's small and fuzzy. I don't think I did this one right!

By the way, I'm 20 tomorrow! Woo hoo!!

First Recipe Success!

So last Saturday night, Sam had some of the guys over to watch football. By the way, football will rule our house for the next 20 weeks! I LOVE football these days! We watch highlights in the morning, new games, and then the highlights of those games we just watched at night! I mean really sports are awesome! Okay so I might be slightly sarcastic, but I knew ahead of time that Sam loves sports! Next, we will be watching basketball all the time! I never catch a sports break! Okay so back to the story..I tried to make my famous start from scratch cookies Saturday while his friends were here. Needless to say, they were not the prettiest cookies made! One of the guys thought it was nachos and beef...when it was a mound of chocolate chip cookies! That might explain the look of these cookies! I was irritated, but they taste good and were a hit regardless! Sam had picked out two recipes from our books we were given, so I decided to give one of them a try! Last night I made cheesy chicken enchiladas and they were great! I was so proud! It came from a book titled, "Anyone Can Cook!" I guess the book is right because we both thought it was delicious! It would be even better if someone...cough cough Amanda...would tell me how to do guacamole! :) We are making a book of the recipes that we like, so this will definitely be added! Actually, this is the first one! Woo hoo!

For I Know The Plans I Have For You

I was sitting in the funeral service for my father in law when all of the sudden I had a revelation and I really wanted to share it with everyone. If you know David Simmerman than you know that his favorite verse is Jeremiah 29:11 which reads, "'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope." Well it all became very clear to me that God was preparing us for this day; He knew the plans. It was about 2 years ago when our dear friends, John and Lindsey, came into our lives. Sam and John grew up together, but it wasn't until Lindsey came along that we all hung out. Over the years, a close bond has developed both as couples and as individuals. Around this same time, Sam and I became very close to another couple, Amanda and Steve. They have been our mentors, but most importantly our friends. If I've ever had a question about anything or just needed to chat for a little bit, I don't hesitate to call Amanda. Sam and I are going through a tremendous loss, but God knew that the burden would be too heavy for me to carry alone to be the strength that Sam needs. That is where "the plan" idea comes in. These friendships that we have created in this short time is just what God planned. They are our support. Don't get me wrong, our families and other friends are support for us as well! Today when John and Lindsey walked up to us to give us a hug and let us know they were there for us, we both were teary eyed! It meant so much for them to be there to mourn with us, but to also comfort us!
To continue on with my idea of God's plan, August 9th looked right to Sam and me for a reason. We didn't move our date even though we knew that the length of time with Mr. Sam was uncertain. God knew that we would need each other 24/7 now. This has all been my thoughts over the past week, so I thought that I would share. If it doesn't make sense, I apologize. It's sometimes hard to express your thoughts and make them make sense! To John and Lindsey and Steve and Amanda, thank you so much for your friendship and support! We love you very much and am very blessed to call you our friends! (Lindsey, I know you don't like this pic of us, but it was this or your opera wear! lol)

In Memory Of Sam Shrewsbury Sr.

Samuel Dean Shrewsbury Sr. (July 14, 1954-August 27,2008)

As I said in my first post, Sam's dad has been battling cancer since June. The battle came to a bittersweet end this morning August 27, 2008. He is gone, but he is no longer in pain. This post is to celebrate the time that I have gotten to know my father-in-law. We had to wonderful relationship, in my opinion. I would always tell him how I felt about things and he would always return the favor! I remember one night he told me that he was never disappointed with me because he didn't have expectations of me! I fired back a few months later when he asked if I thought that he was highly intelligent. My answer was that I thought that he was highly intelligent in some areas and in others he thought that he was! Like I said, we had that joking way about us. I would always try to beat him in Scrabble, but I never succeeded. I think that I helped him more than competed with him. He always found a way to build off my words and get like triple letter scores. Another memory that I have of him is from last year when we took a family vacation to Panama City Beach. They came to pick me up and he was complaining about falling down the stairs at his house. Sam and Mrs. Terri were laughing and I was concerned thinking that he fell down many stairs. After backing him up the entire ride to down there, I was finally informed that he only fell down two to three stairs. Needless to say, I joined the other group and no more sympathy came from me! He was always very interested in what I was doing with my life. How was I doing in school, how was work, how is my family, and so on! He made me feel that I could do this education thing, so I will keep that as my motivation to finish school and get my teaching license. I will always remember his stories. He always had a story to tell, especially when we would visit West Virginia. We took many trips down memory lane when we went there. I will always hold those memories close to my heart. Ever since the first time Mr. Sam met me, he called me Holly Rose. After several times of correcting him, letting him know my middle name was Lee, I finally gave it up. The other night Chris, Sam's brother in law, asked Mr. Sam if he had called me Holly Shrewsbury. I loved his answer. He said, "No, no I haven't. She's Holly Rose. That's what I call her." I will always be Holly Rose. Our best memory as a married couple will be from our wedding day. Mr. Sam might have felt horrible, but you couldn't tell. I love that I will be able to remember him as part of the most wonderful day of our lives. Mr. Sam will be greatly greatly missed, but he will not be forgotten. Sam and I appreciate your prayers and support as we are going to be going through a very tough time!

Regina is the Best!...Mo and Lib are too!

The title of this blog says it all! Regina was the best maid of honor ever going above and beyond, but that is how Regina is! She helped me in every way possible! She designed and printed my invitations, came to the rescue when I had a music meltdown, designed my programs, took bridal portraits and engagement pics, planned a great bridal shower and bachelorette party (Lindsey you gets props in that one too!), and did so much more! I cannot thank her enough! Regina, I love you so much and thank you for everything that you do and for being absolutely awesome in everything that you do! I am so blessed to have fantastic sisters! When I was little, I always thought it would be cool to be an only child. I think that many kids have those thoughts when you are part of a large family! I am SO glad that I was not though! It's funny because I never realized how much my sisters meant to me until I got married and don't see them everyday anymore. It's the best of both worlds though because I have three awesome families now! My favorite is my own with Sam and me though! Slightly biased on that one!



The new family!

Honeymoon to Cancun

I told you guys that I would be out of order for a little while, so now I can post about the honeymoon! We went to Cancun, which was amazing! Our wedding night we stayed in the Sheraton Music City. We stopped at Chili's Too and got some food to take with us because we were starving! We both agree that was the best food we have ever had in our lives! I decided that we needed to document the best food ever, so above is a picture of the wonderfulness...mine is the empty aluminum foil.

We were ready for bed after a long, exhausting day of smiling when all the sudden we got a knock on the door telling us it was room service. It was 10 o'clock at night! Why in the world would we have asked for room service was my thinking! Sure enough we did have complimentary room service. They brought us champagne and chocolate covered strawberries. It looked really nice and was a very good idea, but it did not taste very good! Thank you still Sheraton Music City hotel!

So many of you know that my bag was lost during the connecting flight in Charlotte, NC, so when I arrived in Cancun, there was no bad to be found. I cried like a baby, but I really who wouldn't! I had nothing but one change of clothes and one bathing suit! No hair care cause it can't go in a carry on...nothing! It was not the ideal way to start off the honeymoon! 24 hours later...after many use of roaming minutes...my bag arrived at the door of our room! It was great! My attitude completely changed after that one moment!
We loved our hotel. The food wasn't be greatest, but everything else was fantastic! There was daily entertainment at the pool, which Sam and I enjoyed poolside and watching. We took a moment from our sun bathing..me more than Sam...he stayed in the shade due to earlier burning...to take a newly married pic!
So to end this blog about the honeymoon, I thought that I would tell about our final night of entertainment. This was the best way to leave in my opinion! They had a Michael Jackson impersonator as entertainment for Thursday night! It was hilarious, but pretty accurate! He did all the dance moves, including the moon walk! It was just fantastic! I think everyone in the entire hotel was there because it was sooo crowded! Sam and I had to stand on the wall, which really wasn't ideal, but well worth the pain in my feet. This is a picture of the Thiller song!! I dedicate this picture to Libby Jo! I took it just for her! Love you Libs!
Well, then we traveled all day Friday and got back to our own little apartment at 11:30 that night! It was a long day, but was a great honeymoon!...aside from the whole bag ordeal!