Whirwind Wedding Weekend

After my fun family time down at Rockbridge, I picked up Doug from the airport to begin our official wedding weekend. Doug's good friend Pat was getting married in Kansas City and Doug was a groomsman in the wedding.

Friday night was a fun rehearsal dinner down on the Plaza. So fun to catch up with so many friends and even Doug's parents who came in for the event.

Saturday, was fun with lunch with friends and shopping with Mom on the plaza. The wedding was beautiful - Pat and Amy are a great couple and we were so happy to celebrate with them. A fun night, followed by brunch with our parents the next day. A very full few days, but so much fun to see so many friends and family back home. Congrats to Pat & Amy!

Rehearsal Dinner with the entire group

The guys

The girls showing off our dance moves

With my date at the end of the night

Rockbridge Fishing Trip

Our usual lodge

Love this picture of my mom and sister-in-law Niki

The Mill

Aaron reeling in a fish by the dam

My 3.67 lb trout

My family has been going down to Southern Missouri for 19 years for our Annual Fishing Trip. Such a great tradition and I was so happy to make it back this year. By far, our biggest group ever, along with the biggest fish we've ever caught (Grandpa John with an impressive 7+pounder!) With this trip and this group - it just keeps getting better and better. Such a fun time with my big Slayman family - can't wait for #20 next year!

Memorial Day Weekend

We were so excited to welcome our friend Christen to Durham for Memorial Day weekend. Christen drove all the way from Louisville - and we were so happy to have her!

Friday night, we grilled and had dinner on the patio - catching up for hours was our first order of business. Saturday, Doug was working so Christen and I took in some local sites, shopped, sampled some local North Carolina BBQ and had such a great time just hanging out. We met Doug at our local favorite The Federal for some beers and great eats.

Sunday, we woke up early to head to the beach - along with our friend Chad. We got to Carolina Beach right at noon - just as the clouds cleared to reveal the PERFECT beach day. We paid dearly for the 5 hours we spent on the beach - all of us were burnt in one matter or another - but it was TOTALLY worth it.

Dinner and drinks in our favorite place - Wilmington and then a late night drive back home - what a day, what a visit - Christen come back soon!

My hubby playing football with the Pier in the background - I'm a lucky gal!

With Christen at our favorite Wilmington outdoor barDoug & Chad in WilmingtonBeautiful boardwalk in Wilmington

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all of our favorite moms out there! Hope everyone had a great day. As always, we were sorry that we couldn't spend the day with Doug's and my mom, but we are excited to see them in a few weeks.

I was also thinking about so many of our friends who are celebrating their first Mother's Day this year! It's been a fun year - seeing so many friends begin their families. Wishing them a very special Mother's Day.

Speaking of parenting, I felt like a bad dog mom today. Willie keeps licking his paws so much that they begin to bleed. It got so bad this weekend that Doug made Willie a sock cast. Isn't his face so sad? We think he has allergies. Any suggestions besides benadryl and covering up the spot that he is licking?

Cardinals and DC Weekend

In what has become a tradition, Doug & I traveled to Washington DC last weekend to visit the Moses family and see the Cardinals take on the Nationals. Two years ago the game was in August and the hottest day of my life, so a May trip to DC was very exciting. We could see the last of the Cherry Blossoms, see how much Parker has grown, visit with our good friends & see some beautiful DC sites.

We started out our Saturday with lunch downtown and then heading to the new Nationals Ballpark. Unfortunately the Cardinals could not pull out a victory for us - but Doug did come very close to catching a ball pitched into the stands from the left fielder. But somehow a five-year-old was too quick - leaving Doug with no baseball - but a bump on the head from the effort. (The ball didn't hit him, he hit the concrete.)

After the game, we stopped by the Capital for a quick photo and then spent a great deal of time exploring Arlington National Cemetery. Such a beautiful, moving place to visit. We also stopped by the National Cathedral on our way to Georgetown for dinner - evidently just missing the Obamas who were having a date night in the area.

On Sunday, Doug & I left early - meeting my cousin David for lunch on our way out of town and sneaking in our first trip to IKEA. Such a fun trip! We are so lucky to such a short trip away from our friends Justin & Holly - plus they are such great tour guides of the DC area!

PS Can you tell the photos that were taken with my iPhone & Holly's super fancy CLR camera? For a hint, look at the red color in our shirts. So jealous!

At Lunch

The whole group
In front of the Nationals Stadium

Doug shows off his injury

On top of the hill at Arlington

The CapitalThe National Cathedral

Mountain Weekend

Well, we've been talking about it forever & it finally rolled around. Since we met our friends here in Durham, we have been talking about renting a mountain cabin so the guys could go fishing. It was pretty amazing with everyone's crazy schedules, but we found a weekend that everybody could go. We rented a log cabin in Boone- which was only a three hour drive and so beautiful. The guys could walk to the stream and the girls went shopping and just chilled out. We had the best weather - 80 degrees during the day, 60 degrees at night (perfect hot tub weather!) We had a great time hanging out, cooking and enjoying a weekend away.

On Sunday, Doug & I drove from Boone to Blowing Rock - checking out the cute downtown and beautiful mountain views on the way home. Such a fun weekend! Can't wait to go back!

Doug fishing on the Watuga - all the guys caught fish!

Gretchen & Michael

Tim & Alicia

Trisha & Justin

Doug & me

The rib eating contest

Trisha was ready!

View of Grandfather Mountain from Blowing Rock

Our pack dog Willie

At blowing rock

With Willie

Chi Town

I had a great opportunity with my work to take an intense training course in Chicago two weeks ago. It was a long three days but I did manage to sneak in a quick dinner with my friends Sarah & Nora. We worked together when I lived in Chicago. It was so nice to catch up and be back in the city!

At the new Millennium Park

My old work building on Michigan Ave.

Michigan Ave from our conference room