Boston Day Two!

We woke up this morning ready to put our feet on the street. Before any good adventure you need to be fueled. Jay used an app on his phone and located a breakfast shop close to our hotel. We set off and about 12 minutes later we arrived. It was called Mike and Patty's. It was so yummy, fresh and quaint! We met some nice locals and had a great breakfast!

We jumped on the T and headed to the Sam Adams Brewery! This was a must on Jays list of Boston must dues. I have to say there is so much more to beer than I thought. I have many new wrinkles on my brain. We ended the tour with a taste testing of 4 different beers. We greatly enjoyed our tour and the beverages!

Next stop...meet Courtney (college sorority sister and we both worked at Disney College Program at the same time). She offered to meet up with us at a little pastry shop in town called Mike's Pastry, which was such a coincidence because that was one of the places that we heard that we had to go to, and we all know I was all over that one. We hadn't seen each other in about 9 years. It was great seeing her and meeting her little boy William. We ate out of this world cannoli's! The place was packed with hungry people!

We said our good byes after hugs and headed to the warf. I think Jay and I have walked all over Boston. We saw many beautiful sites and dropped into a couple of shops.

We came back to the hotel for a short bit and them headed to Cambridge! I have to say I love this place! Live music happiness, and great surroundings. We ate at Boarder Cafe. We both enjoyed our tex-mex dishes and both brought half back. We strolled around after dinner to see all the beautiful sites of Cambridge.

We have had a fabulous day and are very thankful! We have half a day left here and we shall gave a couple more adventures!

Way to go Boston Red Sox!

Wow! What a fabulous time we had at the game tonight. We arrived at Fenway 3 hours before the game so we decided we better grab a bite to eat since we hadn't eaten since breakfast.  We decided that we would not eat at any restaurants that we have the opportunity to eat at in Charlotte. We were walking past the ball field and we ran across "Boston Beer Works" it was phenomenal!  We split a Fenway burger and cut fries and for our appetizer we had pretzel nuggets!  All I can say we left happy people!

The game was a blast and it was fun to be in that type of atmosphere!  Everyone cheering, smiles and we even made some new friends..Dave and Karen from California.  They got engaged two days ago...Congratulations, marriage is awesome!

So after a short rain delay the ballgame started back up and the Red Sox won 6 to 4!  We are headed for lala land because our tomorrow adventures start early!

BOSTON OR BUST!!!!

On the plane and ready to take off!!

Jay was so SURPRISED!

Greetings from the Charlotte Douglas International Airport! The birthday surprise was pulled off! I have been planning Jay a surprise trip to Boston to watch his favorite team the Boston Red Sox play! I told him he could have one bookbag and we would share a duffle bag. He woke this morning with a happy heart and was ready to embark on our adventure! When we were getting close to the airport I asked him to close his eyes.  When we parked I gave him a card with a clue. A red scribble + a picture of a sock! He looked at it..He looked at me..he squealed with excitement and said are we really going to Boston?!?!?! I handed him our baseball tickets and the smiles haven't stopped. I am excited for our adventure and so blessed that I get to share it with him. Jay you are an amazing man and so thankful God had it in his plan for us to be husband and wife!

DIY Bathroom Addition!

So we have it down to 2!

We have chosen the color on the left for the half bath downstairs. I am not much for painting, but this room isn't very large! Jay asked what home improvement projects could he do next week while I'm away, so maybe this will be on the list :-) Stay tuned!

2 Years Ago Today.....

Jay asked me to be his WIFE!!!

7/4/2009 - By Jay

How we got engaged

How a first time trip to the Big Apple for Kelly and a return trip for me ended up being the most amazing time of our lives was nothing short of a pure blessing. The idea of the trip was actually spawned by my dear cousin Marcelle getting married in NY, supposedly on the 4th of July. I figured this would be a great trip for Kelly and I so she could see the city and get to meet some family and I would get to return home and reconnect with family that I haven't seen in ages. Well the wedding date got moved back and that opened the door for my plans to move forward.

Kelly will be the first to attest to the fact that I am sneaky, which is great for her because she loves surprises. With the help of my awesome family in NY, my cousin Colin and his wife Billie and daughter Gabby who live in Manhattan and his parents, Uncle Sherman and Aunty Thora we were able to coordinate everything from rides to and from the airport and to Manhattan where Colin and family opened up their doors to us and allowed us to have free reign of the city, which we sure did. All of that was prelude to the main event, the 4th of July.

There is a lot of hidden meaning to what went down on the 4th of July so here is a little taste of why this all went down the way that it did. Kelly loves the 4^th of July, in particular she loves fireworks, and what better time of year to enjoy them than on the 4^th right? Well the first 4^th of July that Kelly and I spent together it rained… hard. There were no fireworks to be seen, we actually ended up going to Wal-Mart and coming back home and watching movies.. The second and probably the more important one is an ongoing disagreement that we have in regards to a fruit tart. On a weekend trip that I took Kelly on to the Biltmore House in Asheville for a Stephen Curtis Chapman concert, we spent the day there prior to the concert and she took me on my first picnic there, it was just a magical time. Well one of the items in the picnic basket was a fruit tart.

Well we were walking through either Sam’s Club in Charlotte or the Fresh Market in Greenville (that is the ongoing debate, we can’t agree on where we saw the tarts) but she spotted the tart and asked me “What does that remind you of?” Well I see RED strawberries, WHITE cream cheese and BLUE blueberries and the first thing that pops into my head was “The 4^th of July!” Yeah, I was wrong. So now anytime that she asks me “What does this remind you of?” regardless of whether I know the answer or not I respond “The 4^th of July!”

So when it came time to propose, I made sure that all of the elements were there. We were going to have a picnic on the Hudson River to watch the fireworks so we went shopping ahead of time at Whole Foods in Columbus Circle for some viddles and I made sure to get a little fruit tart. I of course had the ring on me and my camera to take pictures of the fireworks. After we got done eating the fireworks began and I started taking pictures. Kelly decided to have her desert and after a while I asked her to take some pictures while I got to eat my desert, my little fruit tart. While she was fussing around with the camera trying to make it work, I grabbed the tart out of the bag and the ring out of my pocket and put it in the middle. I came up from behind her and said “Hey baby, take a bite of this.” And in her sweet voice she looked at me and replied “No honey, it’s your desert, you eat it.” I then put it a little closer to her face and said “No, I really want you to have this.” It’s a miracle that she didn’t drop the camera, but that’s replaceable, the look on her face, the reaction, the scream of excitement and the tears that followed, the memories from that can never be replaced. I would gladly give up all of my possessions if that is what it would take to relive that moment, it was priceless!

Birthday Boy!!!

Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to you!
Happy Birthday to my fabulous, wonderful, awesome husband Jay!
Happy Birthday to you!

I have been excited about Jay's birthday all month! I woke up when he left for work and had to have a picture of the birthday boy! He was all smiles and ready for a day at the Fargo. I had a schedule planned out for the day so everything would get accomplished. I had a little set back when I decided to go back to bed and my phone went into airplane mode and the alarm didn't go off! ooops!

I asked Jay if he would celebrate his birthday at a restaurant or would he like a home cooked meal. He chose the home cooked meal. I knew the meat choice would be a meatloaf recipe that my momma gave me and then I would think of the sides. My next question was what kind of dessert would he like. I wasn't sure if he wanted cake since we had the yummy one from Carolina Mountain Bakery but he was positive that he wanted a red velvet with cream cheese icing!

Jay's Birthday Menu:
Meatloaf - Momma's recipe
rice casserole - Leicester Cookbook
squash casserole - Southern Living magazine
glazed carrots
deviled eggs
crescent rolls

When Jay arrived home from work everything was ready! I turned in burn for 3 hours straight!

Before we ate I asked if he would like to open his gifts and he said "Yes!" I always ask him to write me a list of the things he would want. I chose two things off his list and the third present he gets on July 6, 2010! :-)

He was a happy boy with his new Vans!

I love baking and making this recipe makes me think of many things:
*My grandmother - She used to make this cake for Heather and I during the holidays!
*Cupcakes - This is a favorite among the friends!
*Jay - This is one of his favorite cakes.

The candles were lit and the birthday song was heard!

I had forgot I had put the never ending sparkler kind in his cake..oops!

To a Wonderful husband on his 36th birthday!
I love you and here's to many many more birthdays!

Happiness!!!

Fiesta Retirement Celebration!

We are ready to celebrate!

My Uncle Tally has done his time as a fabulous Art teacher

in North Carolina and is now retiring!

For the fiesta we had to have bright tissue paper flowers. So the morning

of the party mom and I had a blast - as you can see! I think mom was running

on little sleep, so the paper flowers will be a memory forever!

My beautiful Cousin Besty - this is a photo we have to take every time we are together. Betsy and her husband Todd live in New York City. We don't get to see each other often but when we do fun is bound to be had!

Betsy is very talented! She made and designed her dads retirement cake. What an amazing job!

The day wouldn't be complete without one Whitlock sibling photo!

Celebrations!

In our family birthdays have always been very special and important! I think its important to celebrate your birthday for at least a month. Since Jay and I have been together I have rubbed this idea off on him as well. Since we were not going to be with mom and dad on Jay's birthday we celebrated a little early!

What a happy birthday boy!

The famous birthday cake....Thank you Carolina Mountain Bakery!

Being a Tourist!

After a week of learning, Jay and I traveled to the mountains! It is always so nice to go home! When we arrived Thursday night momma had a yummy dinner ready and yellow cake with homemade chocolate icing! Yummmo!

We woke up Friday morning refreshed and ready to be tourist! It was so fun walking around downtown Asheville with no agenda just taking it all in!

No, we didn't plan to math! lol

In our walking travels we found these two unique young ladies. They were very still until someone dropped money into their basket and then they would begin to move. It was so cool and they moved with such grace. I know I stood and watched them for a good 5 minutes!

As we walked on Jay noticed this sign.

"Choose A Positive Thought."

I loved it and had to take a picture of it. I am thinking of using this saying in my classroom this coming year.

Jay made him a new friend!

We had a fabulous time in downtown Asheville and are already looking forward
to going back and being tourist!

A Week Of Learning!

What a great 4 days of learning! I was given the opportunity to participate in the North Carolina Teacher Academy READING INTERVENTION WORKSHOP. We learned so much and was able to network with other teachers from and around this area. Here are just a few of the many things we made. I only made one shower curtain activity but will be turning our house into a workshop later in the month!

After tracing this off the original, I stood up and had marker all over my arms and legs!

Two other examples of how to use a shower curtain or table cloth to teach our students!

NoDa Art Crawl and Fun Filled Weekend!

What a fun filled weekend! Charlie and Carolina arrived Friday afternoon and we were so excited to see them.

These two people are pure fabulous! I met Carolina while teaching in Pitt county. We became great friends and she stood beside me on one of the most important days of my life - my wedding day!

NoDa Art Crawl was where we headed Friday night. The streets were full of life! People were singing, dancing, chatting..just having a great time. We new Charlie and Carolina would love Cabo Fish Taco http://www.cabofishtaco.com/menu/charlotte so that's where we made our dinner plans.
We had to wait for just a bit so we decided to stroll down the street to see what was happening.

We stopped to listen to a band and they were from
Asheville!

Our food was fabulous (sorry about the picture) and the company was even better!

Saturday morning we wanted to show Charlie and Carolina one of our favorite spots...

Davidson, NC

This little town is full of happiness! They have a local farmers market, yummy restaurants, friendly people and a college. We chose a great breakfast place called "Toast." http://www.toastcafeonline.com/davidson/index.html
We decided on outside dinning and were greeted with an outdoors air conditioning unit! How excited was I? Very, because it was very warm! They have so many yummy choices but one of my favorite is the peanut butter and banana stuffed french toast! Wholly cow is it fabulous!

Today I chose an omelet, sourdough toast and hash browns (kind of like home fries)

We said our "see ya laters" in Davidson, but can't wait to create more great memories with our fabulous friends!

DIY at the Casa de Coqueran!

With summer here Jay and I have found many fun projects to start and complete! With our wonderful friends coming in this Friday we had a couple of things to accomplish. When we moved in February of 2010 our lovely bushes were not taking over our side walk. Well as time has it they decided to grow and grow! So we decided they needed to be removed and we would replace it with a smaller plant.

That's a man with a happy heart! He loves DIY day!

Next...I grab our candle holders and a can of yellow cream spray paint and went to town. After
1 1/2 cans and a trip to Lowes they turned out beautiful!

After a while Jay and I both were getting cabin fever so we took a small break and ran to Lowes - Jay's favorite store.. and Rita's for an ice cream treat - since we had worked so hard!

This little M&M has been traveling around with me in my purse for awhile! I love bright colors and wanted our downstairs powder room to be painted a beautiful color such as this. So we went to Lowes and picked different paint samples trying to find the best fit. We think we have and will begin painting hopefully soon. Stayed tuned for the finished project!

We treated ourselves to a yummy Rita's treat!!

If you have one of these in your town stop by and have a yummy cool treat!

Hello Summer!

Wow, where has the time gone?  I am sorry that Jay and I have been MIA but we are back and ready to share our summer adventures with you!

Last weekend we helped my mom cater Matt and Sandra Wallace's wedding reception.

The happy new married couple!!!

 It was a beautiful array of color and yummy food.  We hadn't worked as a catering team in a while, but it came back like it was yesterday!  Here are a couple of shots of the bride and groom, the food and of course us working hard (and playing :-)

Heather and I ready to get our serve on!

                                                                  Jay and Daddy had the job of stuffing momma's chicken salad  

                                                          into mini croissants.

Momma and her two girls.

                     Look at my handsome daddy!!

                                       

                                                      My beautiful sister!  We go no where without our jewelry!

It was a fun filled weekend with lots of laughs and wonderful memories.  Jay and I have this thing after a wedding we talk all about it.  One thing we loved that Matt and Sandra did was during their ceremony they knelt at a large wooden cross and their family and friends came up on stage and prayed around them!  I can't think of a better way to start a marriage! Prayer is POWERFUL!!!