Happy Birthday Neil!

Dear Neil,

You mean the world to me! I can hardly believe we met when you were just 25 ;)

Here is the picture that started it all! I used to pull up this picture almost every day and dream of you messaging me :) I didn't know then just what incredible qualities you have!

Like a wonderful sense of fashion,

or how you make me feel so safe and content.

You have an incredible sense of humor and you are a great sport! You always know how to make me smile :)

I think you are the best boy in the entire world.

I count myself lucky to be called your girl,

and I know I will feel that way everyday for the rest of my life.

I love you Neil, and I hope that you have a WONDERFUL birthday:)

love, Julieann

p.s. you make me smile :)

2 Years

Happy Anniversary sweet Neil!
It is hard to believe we have been married for two whole years :)
I have loved every minute of our life together.
Thank you for making my dreams come true!

Today I...

Today I (from last Thursday):

-took a homeless man to Kum & Go

-made a bottle cap into a magnet

-made a Brazilian Lemonade out of limes
(http://www.ourbestbites.com/2008/05/brazilian-lemonade.html)

- picked out a baby name

- decided we were never having kids

- decided we were definitely having kids....someday

- had a Mexican fiesta

- slow danced with my husband

- watched three episodes of Andy Griffith

- turned on the glorious attic fan to cool the house down and pulled in allergens, then turned off the attic fan and turned on the air filter on HIGH to remove the allergens.

- listened to the rain

Rainy Spring Day

I don’t know about your neck of the woods, but it has been pretty rainy here in Springfield.
Sometimes it feels like winter went straight back to fall. Remember last fall when we were planting and planting?


(My Parents and Lori helping us plant the pansies they bought us last fall)
(Me and Neil planting bulbs and crepe myrtles)Here is our pretty little garden last fall


And here is the springtime explosion!Just some spring pictures to warm up your day!

Playing Catch (Up)

Here is a quick recap of the last couple months!

In March Neil's parents came to visit for spring break. We had a wonderful time, as usual!

(you wouldn't believe the time we had getting this picture, people kept walking into the shot, and the sun kept attacking us through the blinds)

(spring decorations)

In April we had a wonderful Easter party for the "orphans"

(that is friends who aren't going home for the holiday)(Isn't her dress adorable? Beth made it!)

Neil got licensed to be a minister.
Our small group threw a surprise baby shower for the Mason's!
Colt Mason was born April 27th.
Master Kimberly (MS, CCC-SLP) graduated with her Masters!
What a wonderful start to spring!

Bliss

I'd like to share a couple pictures with you that make me blissfully happy :) They are just random pictures from over the years that always make me smile, every time I see them!

Neil and Marty at Bass Pro posing like a polar bear! I couldn't get my camara to take this picture so I kept having to take it over and over, probably 3 times at least! And people would just stop and look at these crazy boys acting like bears! I had to coerce them to keep posing so I could get this awesome shot!

Neil and I on our honeymoon at the Riviera Maya in Mexico. Our waiter offered to take our picture and then gave us these awesome hats to wear!

Me and two of my best friends Amanda and Kimberly in Taos, New Mexico. We are trying to make the same face as that Indian Statue :)

This is me and incredible Emily, (aka Captain Slow Jack) one of my Sunday School students from OKC.

Me and my father in law. I believe the correct caption for this photo should be "let's jump when we take this picture!" LOL I'm laughing right now!! and Neil just said "you are a messy girl! I can hardly do anything with all this laughing" See, I'm not lying when I say that these pictures make me happy!

A ping pong tournament, see how competitive my mom is? Karen is all sweet and doesn't realize she is playing with a hard core partner! Well, maybe Karen is growling a little bit!

Here is my sweet bee boo, Bryce! I love this picture, see his soft cheeks!

I hope at least one of these photos brought you a grin!

P.S. there is also a great one of my dad with with two fully loaded waterguns that keeps coming to mind, but alas I do not have it on my computer! Those of you who have seen it can think of it and smile :)

Pizza Making

This week I decided to try my hand at Pizza making. I was inspired by Karen who gave me this recipe.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/jays-signature-pizza-crust/detail.aspx


Neil was working on an outdoor project (pictures to come) so I thought it was a good night for a late dinner. I had so much fun making the dough! It was my first time working with yeast and it was so exciting to me to watch it rise. The dough took a lot more flour than I was expecting, but I had so much fun kneading it together. It was like playdough!

Here is my dough after it had risen for 1 hour. It is more than double the size that it started! Neil was excited about this creative dinner because he used to work at a pizza place in college. I stood back so he could show me his skills :)
Here he is punching out the air bubbles from the middle, but saving the bubbles in the crust so that it would puff up. I was worried that George might get polluted with flour so I took precautions!now comes the fancy part!

It was huge! and Num Yummy! See how it covers up all four ranges on our stove? We used a ton of toppings, pepperoni, artichoke hearts, pinapple, mushrooms, red onions and green chilis! If you are looking for a fun dinner at home I would highly recommend this recipe.
(note: don't use spaghetti sauce instead of pizza sauce, and buy enough pizza cheese that you don't have to resort to Mexican fiesta cheese! Just two things I will know to do differently next time!)