The countdown has begun...

to February 23, my birhtday. I love my birthday. Poor Lee. I really started counting down a month ago. He makes fun of me all the time because I make the whole month of February "my birthday." And he's so sweet, he puts up with me. Anyway, I don't love it because of the presents or parties or anything. I haven't done anything exciting for my birthday for years. Last year we ate at Soulshine...just me and Lee. I guess I like it because it's just my day! Last year Lee looked all over for an ice cream cake and finally found one at Marble Slab. So he called to order it and told them to put "Happy Birthday, Jess." And this is what we got! It was hilarious, and we're still laughing about it. Who knows what we'll do this year? We've talked about a few options, but it's still too early to make definite plans. I'll probably be so tired I'll want to just come home and go to bed!

It's Grease Lightning!

This weekend was Rankin County's Junior Miss program. This is my second year to help with the program. I like it because I believe in what the program stands for. Girls are judged on physical fitness, talent, interview, scholastics, and self-expression, which is the onstage interview question, and are awarded scholarship money. There are no bathing suits, and it's really not about how pretty anyone is on the outside. See now how I was involved? I was Jackson County's Junior Miss in 1998, so I enjoy giving back to the program. I made so many great friends at the state program, and I still run into people all the time I met there. Of course, since I'm involved, I manage to drag Lee in the middle. He didn't mind too much last year, so I knew he would help this year. I did not know, however, until the day before the program, that he was going to have to dress "in costume!" The theme this year was Grease, and the directors decided that the backstage guys needed to wear the white tshirt and jeans and black shoes. I knew Lee would not be happy about this, but he reluctantly put on the goods. He was in charge of getting the piano out on the stage along with Smith Boykin and Jason Kackley. They did a GREAT job, and the girls loved them being in the wings. They made for lots of good laughs! What sweet guys...

After the program, we went to an engagement party in Bridgewater for our friends Kara Servov and Brady Davis. Kara is in grad school with me at MC, but she's also from Ocean Springs. We got to the party kinda late, but we had a really good time.

So it was a long weekend. We seemed to cram a lot of stuff in a little time. We went to church this morning and both came home and took a nap before going to small group tonite. What a fun weekend!

A Reunion of Sorts...

Lee and I had the greatest time tonight. We went to eat at Mellow Mushroom with Henderson and Rebecca Jones. Lee and Henderson graduated from high school together and have seen each other sparingly since graduation. We did get to go to Henderson and Rebecca's wedding. Rebecca is from Houston, Texas, so we went to the wedding and then stayed with my parents. Anyway, we had such a good time. It was fun to listen to Lee and Henderson catch up and reminisce and solve the world's problems. Rebecca is wonderful, and it was fun to have a partner in eye-rolling as Lee and Henderson went on and on about how perfect Pontotoc is! And we found out that they love to play games!! We're so excited as we are game fanatics! We're already making plans to get together for a round of Cranium. We're so glad that they live close and that we have new old friends!

Back in Starkvegas...

Lee and I are in Starkville this weekend. He had a House Corp. meeting at the Kappa Sig house, so we decided to come up for the basketball game today. Then, at the last minute, Commissioner Hall invited us to stay in his condo in Browning Creek for the weekend. Of course, we took him up on that. And it couldn't have come at a better time. Things have been just nuts. So I turned my big project in Thursday night, and we left on Friday. The condo is soooo nice. We want to live there! We ate with Benjamin, Lee's brother, last night and went back and watched tv. I'm sitting in the new bookstore on campus right now while Lee's in his meeting. It is amazing! The whole campus looks really good. We hated all the construction while we were here, but it was worth it. It looks like a pretty college campus now...very inviting. (I hope it will invite Lia!) We are still going to the basketball game this afternoon. Who knows what we'll do tonite?! Probably go to bed early! These pictures are of the Halls' condo. It's so cute. They were created with the feel of the Neshoba County Fair. The one we're staying in is the yellow one.

Our Finished Masterpiece!

I picked up the pottery we painted at Fat Cats last week, but I didn't want to put it on the blog before Alyssa could see it. She's seen it, so....here it is! It turned out so cute but completely different than I thought it would look. I expected it to be real soft, pastel colors. Instead it's bright and deep. The greatest thing is that Alyssa got some Homer Laughlin Fiestaware in Shamrock green, and it matches exactly! It's going to look great. The only problem is that the first person who drops a piece of that stuff may lose his or her life!!

And the Wedding...

Was pink. Everything. Was. Pink. It was almost hilarious. The invitations, the bridesmaids' dresses, Alyssa's dress had a pink bow, as did the programs, the flowers were pink, the cake, the tablecloths, we even had pink lemonade! Guests could make a bag of pink candies on their way out the door! Obviously, that is Alyssa's favorite color, so when they asked her what color she wanted something to be, she always said, "Pink!" I must say I was a little nervous, but it turned out to be beautiful. We had a really fun time, and everything turned out perfect. My mom and Lanette and I did walk into the church Saturday morning to see the flowers all out of order...and the florist was gone! We were a little panicked. They were all there, but it looked like a jungle! Never fear, Shanna to the rescue. The florist came back and fixed everything, and it was great. The ceremony was really sweet. A guy who used to be in Sam's youth group but is older now created a video for them that was just like the beginning of The Wedding Story. It was so cute. The photographer, Kathy Stephens, was wonderful. She was so sweet but really knew how to take charge. I'm anxious to see what the pictures look like.
The reception was fabulous. I was most impressed with the cakes by The Cake Diva (she's a Coast implant!!! Yippee!). Alyssa knew exactly what she wanted, but we were all surprised by how perfect they were. Sam and Alyssa stayed for a few hours and then left. They had the cutest car and the sweetest little driver. It's an older couple who owns this car, and they love doing weddings. They had a basket full of drinks and snacks for Sam and Alyssa. They were just so sweet! They took Alyssa and Sam to the Fairview Inn where they stayed in the Hayloft Honeymoon Suite (how funny!). It was really nice. The nicest thing was that they were at their hotel by 5pm and didn't have to be ready until 9am the next morning. I mean, Lee and I got to New Orleans after midnite and were sooo exhausted!
Meanwhile, we went back to the hotel with all the food left over. We took it all downstairs and called everyone who was there for the wedding and had them come down and eat. It was really fun to just hang out with everyone (mostly family and close friends) and laugh. After a while, we started inviting anyone walking through the lobby to come eat. It was hilarious. We did get rid of most of the food, though! Lee and I stayed at the hotel that night with my family.
Sunday morning, Lee and I picked Alyssa and Sam up and took them to the airport to catch their flight to Mexico. They are in Playa del Carmen at this great resort. They have a Casita, and it sounds really nice. There's a lazy river that goes around the resort, and they get to take two steps out of their room and get in the lazy river and ride it around until they want to get out! How neat! We are so, so jealous and can't wait to pick them up on Saturday to hear all their stories. Sam makes fun of me all the time because I have a blog, but Alyssa called yesterday to tell me about their snorkeling experience and said that Sam keeps saying, "Oh yeah. This picture is definitely going on the blog." So I'll be posting some pictures of that, too!

The Wedding Day

Rehearsal and Dinner at the Capital Club

The rehearsal went off without any problems, thanks to Shanna. Things were quick and easy, and we had a fun time anticipating the next day. Then Sam's family hosted a beautiful dinner at the Capital Club downtown. It was so pretty and so nice. The food was really good, and we were all able to stand up and say a few words about or to Alyssa and Sam. Once again, Lee made everyone cry with his toast. He always does such a good job, while I ramble about absolutely nothing until I feel like it's time to sit down. After the dinner, Lee went home, and I went back to the hotel with my mom and dad and Alyssa and Lia to spend the night with the girls for the last time. I don't know why we always say "for the last time." We said it before my wedding, too, and we still stay together all the time. Tradition, I guess. But it was fun regardless. See the album below if you want to see all the pictures.

Rehearsal and the Capital Club

The Fun Brunch

After a really busy week, we took a break on Friday and went to Fat Cat Ceramics on Old Fannin to paint some pottery with all the girls and laugh and have some fun. We also gave Alyssa some fun gifts to take with her to Mexico. My aunt got all of this together, and we had some great food from Three Sisters and a Mixer. Alyssa picked out the colors she liked and some pieces to paint. We each picked out piece and got to work. Her mother-in-law made the cute plate with the bride and bridesmaids on it that we all signed before we left. It was really fun and was a great time for Alyssa to relax and enjoy the day.

If you want to see all the photos, click the album below. Warning: there are a lot!

Fat Cats Brunch