We found a house!

Front of house:
Our favorite room with a view of the Lafayette River:

View from our backyard:

The backyard which beckons for a hammock & a fishing pole:

We just returned from a tiring but successful journey to Norfolk, VA. We were on a search for a house for John's 1 year fellowship position. Looking at rental property in general was a bit discouraging in the beginning because the properties just aren't kept up as well. BUT, then we found this awesome house on the water that was a perfect match for us! There is water EVERYWHERE in this city, and it's not hard to be far from it. We hoped to be near it, but never dreamed we'd have it in our backyard! We feel blessed. I think John is already bidding on canoes and kayaks on ebay! We hope many of you will come visit us soon!

When are you moving?

Thought I might answer this frequently asked question. . . .

I am quickly finding out that making a cross-country move is not easy. We sold our house (YEAH!!!) a few weeks ago, and John & I are off to Norfolk, VA this week to begin (and end) our house hunting quest. For those who are REALLY out of touch, John finishes his 5 year Urology residency at the end of June. It has been a long road, and we are about to make it a bit longer still. He has been accepted into a 1 year fellowship position with Urology of Virginia to specialize in Robotic & Laparoscopic Surgery. We move at the end of June to begin this next endeavor. Since our time there will be so short, we will gladly rent. One goal is to try to get something big enough to host visitors easily! We feel STARVED for visitors and look forward to visits from relatives and friends.

Bookings for 2008 visitors will begin shortly.

Vacation in Florida

Here are a few pictures from our trip. If you'd like to see even MORE, then click here.

Faces

It is Mother's Day, and I thought I would take this time to show off my kiddos. We just got back last night from a week in Santa Rosa Beach, FL (more pictures to follow). We had a fantastic week of playing, resting, eating and enjoying life together. One thing that I wanted to "accomplish" during our week of vacation was take portraits of my kids. There is great value in capturing the candid moments of life, but I think there is value too in portraits because you can fully capture and remember the way your children looked in a particular moment in time. I don't want to forget Henry's handful of freckles on his nose or the certain shade of blue in Bradley's eyes. These pictures (and 497 others) will be priceless in a few years. . . .

Bradley turns 2

On Miss Bradley's birthday, we celebrated her with good friends here in Memphis. The idea was to enjoy the awesome spring weather and do all of Bradley's favorite things: play outside, blow bubbles, eat cupcakes, play outside, have people over, and PLAY OUTSIDE. . . . but, it was terribly rainy all day, so we sadly had to move the party indoors. We had a good time despite the dreary weather. I can't believe my baby is TWO!

32

For my birthday this year, we took a trip to Oxford, MS -- a quaint, Southern, college town bit over an hour from Memphis. They had a Double Decker Arts Festival that I thought would be fun to take part in as a family. We had a great time walking around looking at local art, listening to music, painting, and eating Southern fair food (which included homemade ice cream sandwiches and gumbo). It was a great birthday. My family treated me well. That evening John got a babysitter and we headed out to a nice dinner. . . . .and the grocery store to shop for Bradley's birthday party the following day. In case you don't know, Bradley's birthday is the day after mine (4/27), and I have officially decided that from here on out, her birthday parties will be BEFORE mine so that I can REALLY enjoy my day. =)

Friday night before my birthday, my sweet friends Tish & Sarah took me out for a night on the town:

This is the town square in Oxford where the Double Decker Festival was:

Welcome to the bloggin' world!

For my 32nd birthday this year, I have decided to start a blog. Why now? Well, I'll tell ya. 1) I think it will be an easy way to keep in touch with our dear friends in Memphis and around the country who we don't get to see very often. 2) I need an outlet for publishing pictures since my photography "business" is about to end (because we are moving and probably won't have much business in a new place). and 3) Even though I'm getting older, I think there is a lot of youth in trying new things!

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