Plans for travel, a puppy, a home

Harrison and I have been busy lately making all sorts of plans.  We've always wanted to take a trip to Europe together, and we're finally going to go very soon! We began our plans by consulting with a travel agent, but it quickly became apparent that she wasn't going to be very much help. Because of this, we took on the giant responsibility of coming up with a 15 day trip to France, Austria, and Germany! I have to say that I'm quite proud of the plans that we've come up with. I'll be sure to post photos of our adventures once we return.

After getting back from our vacation, we are finally going to get a pug puppy! Anyone that knows me is well aware of my love of pugs. I have wanted a pug for 10+ years or so, but the timing was never right. In 2004, Harrison put made a deposit on a pug puppy for me. At that time, he was just about to leave for nearly five months to hike the Appalachian Trail, and he didn't want me to feel lonely. I was thrilled that he wanted to do this for me, but my dad felt that it was too big of a responsibility for me to handle. As a sophomore in college with a crazy schedule, he was right, although I didn't admit it at the time. I never would've had the time to properly take care of a dog. For that reason, we've continued to hold of on getting a dog until now. We finally feel like our lives have settled down a bit and we can take on the responsibility. I found a very nice, reputable pug breeder (Angie's Kennels) two hours from Auburn. Last Friday I went to Chapman AL and met the breeder, inspected the kennel situation, and played with a bunch of adorable four week old pugs! The breeder, Angie, was very kind and knowledgeable about the breed, and the kennel was very clean and comfortable inside. After meeting the sire/father (General Beauregard Lee) and the dam/mother (Layla), I got a chance to get acquainted with the litter. All EIGHT puppies looked very healthy, but I quickly chose one that caught my attention due to her personality and light fawn color. Here she is:

In other news, Harrison and I found a new place to rent. Our current place is okay, but we would really like to have a little more space in a private home (rather than a townhouse that we're in currently). We are planning on building our own home, but that's a couple of years away, so we'll continue to rent until that time comes. I love that this home has some character. It was built in the 50's and has hardwood floors throughout, high ceilings, picture rail crown moulding, and a fireplace. It's located about a block from Harrison's work and is pretty close to Auburn University. We might do some tailgating this year in our front yard (home is located on Samford Avenue)! The current renters are a couple of bachelors in their mid-twenties that have lived there for several years. They haven't kept the yard very groomed, but we plan on doing so!

It's hard to see since a tree branch is obstructing, but there is a sun room over the garage: 

Easter brings abundant blessings...

I've been running behind on posts lately, but I felt the need to share some special Easter moments and photos. My family always tries to get together for Easter Sunday. Two years ago we celebrated Easter at my sister's home and Nate and Kellye announced that they were pregnant that day.

We were thrilled for them! Several months later, Paige Audrey Cunningham was born!

Here's a photo of Paige on my lap in February 2011:

On April 8th, 2011 (one day before Nate and Kellye's 6th wedding anniversary), I got a phone call that my precious niece was being rushed to the hospital. She'd been struggling with acid reflux issues and was referred to a gastroenterologist. He decided to do an X-ray to be sure everthing looked okay and realized that her heart was taking up the majority of her chest cavity. She was diagnosed with idiopathic (no known cause) dilated cardiomyopathy (enlarged heart), and the odds were against her. Her condition stabilized for a while and then progressively worsened to the point that she'd need a heart transplant to survive. After many prayers and a very short wait on the heart transplant list, Paige received a new heart and new lease on life on September 30, 2011, thanks to an incredibly special, anonymous family.

Paige, a couple of weeks before transplant (10 mos old):

BEST DAY EVER! September 30, 2011...Paige's flag is flown outside of the hospital after having received a new heart during the wee morning hours:

What a trouper!

Paige became a big sister to identical twins, Ella Claire and Avery Ann on January 6, 2012. It's incredible what changes a year can bring!

My family still got together on Easter last year, but we met up at the hospital. Here's a photo of Paige on Easter last year (late April), in the garden at The Children's Hospital of Atlanta. She wasn't quite 6 months old:

Here is Paige (17 mos) with 3 month old Ella (on the left) & Avery, Easter 2012:

My parents vacation to China was planned just a few days after Easter this year, so instead of meeting up for Easter, we got together for Palm Sunday. Nate and Kellye couldn't join us because they were finally getting to have a nice wedding anniversary to themselves.

For Easter, Harrison and I went to Mass at our church in Auburn (St. Michael's). We spent the afternoon at his parents home with family and friends:

My mother-in-law and father-in-law, Esther and Perry:

Here are some of the photos from Palm Sunday at Aileen's house in Newnan, GA:

Blake and Ryan Swartz

Hailey Swartz

If you can't read her shirt, it says, "If you think I'm cute, you should see my Aunt." Andrews sister gave it to her, but works for all three of us :-)

Hope that you all had a great Easter; there's so much to be thankful for!

Bieber Fever!

There is a beautiful 8-year-old girl in Cleveland fighting for her life right now. Her name is Erin Catherine Potter and her cancer (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia) is back for the third time. She is the daughter of good friends of my close friend, Renee, who grew up in Cleveland. Renee made me aware of this little girl's fight with cancer and her wish to meet The Biebs. Yep, Erin has the Bieber Fever!

She and her family have been trying for quite awhile to get his attention to grant her wish, but so far their attempts have gone unnoticed. Through the use of social media making strangers aware of her wish, they hope that extra attention will be enough to grab Justin Bieber's attention. I hope this has grabbed your attention. If it has, and you're a blogger and/or on facebook, I ask you to write up a brief blog (maybe even as small as copying and pasting the link with her picture below) and join The Facebook Event for her. It's not really an event. You just click on 'attend,' and you've help spread awareness!

http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/cleveland_metro/8-year-old-cleveland-girl-with-cancer-for-third-time-wishes-to-meet-justin-bieber

fun with babies and shotguns... separately of course!

The Saturday before last, Harrison and I visited with my family in Marietta for an early celebration of my mom's birthday. Aileen's family celebrated the night before in Newnan, so we missed seeing them in Marietta. The twins are growing fast! Avery weighed in at 8lb14oz and Ella was 8lbs that day. Each of us took turns passing around babies, including Baby Paige. She's a toddler now, although she'll probably always be 'Baby Paige' to all of us. She is so much fun! She squeals, cackles, and growls like a tiger - such a personality! Here are a few recent photos of the Cunningham girls:

AVERY:

 AVERY:

ELLA:

 ELLA:

Recently, Harrison and a few of his teacher friends went hunting on Harrison's family's land in Beauregard (small community 10 minutes outside of downtown Auburn). Drew killed a buck and they all split up the meat, so our freezer is packed full of venison. This past Sunday, we decided to have a cook out and day of fun with his teacher friends and their wives (Bo & Molly, Drew & Lori) on the land. We shot clay pigeons and fired pistols for hours before sitting down to a fantastic meal of venison burgers, broccoli slaw, pasta salad, deviled eggs, and Bloody Marys. When it got dark, we just sat around and chatted for a while under the clear, beautiful sky illuminated by countless stars and the big, bright moon. Nights like that make me remember that big city life is not for me.

A hobby that we share in common:

Bo, Drew, and I playing 'Bump.' Harrison took a break from shooting to toss the clays for us.

Mardi Gras, New Orleans

Last weekend was SO much fun! I've been to New Orleans many times, but I've never been for Mardi Gras. Our friend, Joey, invited us to stay with his aunt and uncle that live near New Orleans, so we took him up on his offer. We've stayed with Aunt Nanny and Uncle Bert a few times before for New Year's. They are very sweet and generous to let us all crash at their place.

We all piled into a Suburban on Friday afternoon and had a fun six hour road trip. Chris flew in from Phoenix for the weekend, and he and his fiance, Logan, joined us as well as Erin, Joey's girlfriend.

On Saturday we grabbed lunch from the Come Back Inn - red beans and rice, and a muffaletta to go. New Orleans' food is so good! Afterward we headed  uptown to the parade route and to meet up with the other part of our group that had driven in separately. We joined them at the RV that we all chipped in to rent for the weekend. For 12 of us, we each paid $60 to have the RV from Friday night through Monday. That might've been the best $60 I've ever spent! I'll elaborate on that in a minute.

Me, Logan, Erin

We walked down to the parade-watching spot that Nanny and bert had staked out for all of us at the corner of Orleans Ave. and North Carrollton Ave. Joey told me that standing at corners along the parade routes are the best places to be. The floats have to slow down to turn, so there's more time to get beads from the floats.

Here's a picture of us at out parade spot. It's not very flattering, but it's the only one I have of us from the weekend. It's so hard to make him get in pictures!

In the background, you can see ladders on the ground. I had no idea that people bring out tons of ladders to get up higher to get more beads!  Here's a photo of Harrison, Joey, and Chris:

Rain was threatening all day, so we went back to our RV that was parked close by for a few hours of playing cards and watching the weather channel. The eye of a massive thunderstom was going to be on top of New Orleans right around the 5:30 start-time of the parade. We headed back to our spot around 5 and then came the DRENCHING rain! My jeans were soaked almost instantly! Figuring that the parade would be cancelled because the storm didn't show any signs of letting up, we sought shelter again in the RV. After trying to dry off a bit, we heard that the parade started on time and the rain was down to a drizzle. A few of us decided to venture back out and at least stay to watch 20 minutes of the parade. I'm so glad we didn't throw in the towel! Endymion was so much fun that I completely forgot that I was soaked. The floats were very beautiful and elaborate!

I ended up with a massive amount of beads! All I had to do was yell, put out my hand, and try to make eye contact with some of the throwers! Contrary to popular belief (what I had imagined prior to this trip), women aren't usually 'flashing' along the popular parade routes. I'm sure it happens, but none of us witnessed that all weekend. The environment is actually pretty family friendly. I think all of the raunchy stuff happens on Bourbon Street and down in the French Quarter. We didn't even go to that area once on our trip, and I didn't miss it at all. I enjoy that area, I just don't want to get close to it during Mardi Gras! 

We got home around 10 or so, and most of us decided to crash for the evening. Harrison, Chris, John, and Kenny weren't ready for the night to end, so they went to some bars near Tulane.

On Sunday, we all went out for brunch at The Cheesecake Bistro. The food was very good...crawfish ravioli and Peach Bellini! Afterward, we dropped Harrison off at the D-Day Museum. In the past, everytime he went to New Orleans he planned to visit the museum. Each time, it never worked out for one reason or another. He was so excited to finally get to tour the museum, even though he knew it meant that he'd have to walk three miles when he was finished to meet us at the Bacchus parade!

We met up with everyone at the RV, which was parked in a new location for the Sunday afternoon parade, Bacchus. It was on St. Charles Street, which has the longest stretch of beautifully unique mansions that I've ever seen. Our RV was perched right in front of what might as well have been a castle.

In addition to providing shelter from the rain, it was nice to have a place to takes breaks from the chaos outside. The main reason we rented it was to have a place to use the bathroom all weekend. Many people rent port-a-potties since it's near impossible to find bathrooms. Many establishments require that you buy a drink before you can use their restrooms. There are some areas with public port-a-potties, but by the time you've finished standing in line you've missed a chunk of the parade!

There she is!

We hopped on a trolley and rode past all of the beautiful mansions, Tulane, and Loyola. We ended up at a bar, Cooter Brown's, where we drank a beer and ordered some good New Orleans pub grub. Again, I opted for the muffaletta, which is our favorite sandwich ever! I saved some for Harrison since I knew he'd be hungry after his long walk back.

Here's the gang, minus Harrison and me (the photographer):

Erin, Joey

Logan, Chris

Jameson, Katie

Laura (kind of hidden), Kenny

Beth, John

We found Harrison back at the RV. He thoroughly enjoyed his three hours at the museum and wished he'd had more time there. We headed out to Bacchus but arrived late and missed seeing Will Farrell as the Grand Marshall. We didn't have a great spot to watch, but some very nice ladies let me and Laura stand on their ladders for a little while.

After the parade, we went back to Cooter Brown's for a while. From there we went to a lively dive bar called F&M's and then arrived back at Nanny and Bert's at 2am. I keep forgetting I'm not in college anymore.

On Monday, we went to brunch with Nanny and Bert and then we were on our way back home. Somehow, Harrison, Joey, and I caught a second wind and went straight to Niffer's for our usual Monday night trivia! I definitely paid for the fun weekend on Tuesday when I had to get up for work!