Ah, spring

Despite his ridiculous working schedule, my sweet husband still made time to surprise me with flowers one night last week. He handles a 14-hour workday with a much better attitude than I :)

Spring is here!!!!! Despite Walker and I both having to work on Saturday, we were still able to enjoy the glorious weather that graced B'ham this weekend. Guess who else enjoyed it? (I am aware I post an unhealthy number of photos of little Bella, but blogs are more fun with pictures and this is the only little Fain to photograph these days :) ).

This evening we cooked up a low country crab & shrimp boil (sans corn, b/c you know how I feel about veggies). Good food and good company is the most restful way to prepare for another busy week! I was going to take a picture of our delicious spread but I was too hungry so I ate it instead...

Another one bites the dust...

We had a blast in Dothan this weekend celebrating Riley & Caroline's wedding weekend. It was so wonderful to reunite with so may of our closest friends all in one place to celebrate such a special time. Walker was busy most of the weekend with groomsmen activities, but lucky for me, their wives are pretty awesome and I feel confident that we had just as much fun as they did! Nothing says happy wedding day like pre-game cheese dip and margs (and maybe some covert stalking of a certain blogger we love?)...

I was pretty poor photographer for the weekend, but swiped some of Brooke Glassford's photos (with her permission of course) so whoever reads this could see the beautiful and happy couple!

(Angie, Katherine, and Leslie - so sad we never got one of the six of us!)

Random Monday Post

My feet loved these so much,

they convinced me to get these.

If one pair is good, isn't two better? I think so.

[This is what happens to our blog when my life is consumed by surgery and Walker's by corporate tax (eww, I prefer the former)].

This weekend we will get to unite with many of our Auburn friends to celebrate Riley and Caroline's wedding in Dothan, hurrah for a weekend of fun!

AND, in a few short weeks we will be staying here...

And (if it's reputation holds up) laughing here...

                          

And cheering on America's favorite team (still a Brave's fan at heart) here...

                          

We are certainly attempting to enjoy and be thankful for each of these busy and educational days in our lives, but will surely be grateful when life slows down a bit!

To make you laugh...

The people and stories from hospitals just can't be made up. A couple of examples...

Parents these days choose some of the most interesting names to impose upon their children. My favorite thus far? "La-a" (pronounced "La-dash-a"). Clever isn't it?

And from the ER trauma service... A man was rushed to the hospital after an accident. In a wreck? Struck by a car? Fall down a flight of stairs? Slip on some ice? Victim of assault? No no my friends. The "risky behavior" that led to his accident was lawn mower racing. That's right folks. He soups up riding lawn mowers and races them against other enthusiasts. Apparently his most recent remodel left him with a ride that was too fast for him to handle, ending in chaos, destruction, and injury...

And finally, please take the time to watch Claire's recent video of Lucy eating an Elmo cookie. I only hope my future children are half as funny and entertaining as this little one!

Turning Two

A certain niece of ours celebrated a big birthday today...

All of her mom's siblings came in town to celebrate...

She was uncertain about the cake at first so mom helped...

She wanted nothing to do with the party hat so her doggy cousin stepped up to the plate...

                         

Baby sister got lots of attention too...

                         

Yes, her eyes really are that blue...

Aunt Lele got her bubbles and Uncle Walker showed her how to use them...

Oh how she loved the bubbles...

Baby sister got a kiss...

And Bella is always a crowd favorite...

So fun reuniting!

Ah, Vacation

It took some convincing and a steal of a deal on a flight, but my budget-savvy husband finally agreed that a vacation was in order. That's right folks, come April we are headed to the Windy City! Any tips from those who have vacationed here before?

A Pioneer Woman Valentine's Day

I decided to cook for our Valentine's celebration this weekend, and thanks to the Pioneer Woman and her to-die-for recipes, I'd say it was quite a hit!

For appetizers we had cream-cheese stuffed jalapenos wrapped in bacon.

The main course included shrimp penne in a tomato cream sauce and garlic cheese bread.

For the most important part of any meal (dessert of course), I made baked fudge served with vanilla ice cream. Man-oh-man this stuff is ridiculously mouthwateringly good. I can't vouch for it's healthiness, but even Walker (who is quite the food critic when it comes to new recipes) was speechless when it came to describing this stuff. It is equally as delicious left over... just pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds and enjoy this tiny chocolatey piece of heaven!

If only I had the time, budget, and energy to cook like this every day...

(for the technically-challenged, just click on the above links to be taken straight to her recipes)