the preacher and me: July 2015

Sunday, July 26, 2015

November & December 2014

November started the road to craziness...

Work started to pick up and there was always something going on. I was very thankful for all of my new responsibilities, but I started to question whether I was cut out for my job. I did get to go to Florida for a divisional meeting and the best part about it was that our meeting was held right across from Disney World. We didn't get to go to Disney, but we did get to spend a night in downtown Disney.

I took this picture for my family because me, my Mom, and my sister had our silhouettes done when we went to Disney back in the day. I think we even have us on video getting this done, too! Gotta love Dad and the video camera!

Goofy's for Jennifer because that is her favorite...

Frozen for Addie Mae...

And rice krispies for Jon...

I even brought him a little one back...

I ended up decorating for Christmas in the middle of November because I knew that December was going to be a crazy month....

This is our main tree...

My cupcake tree...

Our stockings and pink couch...

Anna's nativity...

China cabinet...

Stove area...

We went home for Thanksgiving and it was a great time spent with family!

We got to see Ethan play basketball...

Enjoyed dinner with both sides of the family...

Played some games...

Went shopping on Black Friday...

Watched some football...

Jon and Ethan went squirrel hunting!

Jon and I celebrated seven years of being together and we wanted to go to Maxpatch where he asked me to be his girlfriend, but unfortunately the road to get up the mountain was all snowy, so we took a picture in the middle of the icy road!

We got back to Wake Forest and December flew by. We went and looked at Christmas lights...

These are my very favorite!!

My job became very stressful and we ended up not getting to spend Christmas Day with our families. It was one of the hardest things that we have ever had to do. We really tried to make the most of it, but it was really, really terrible not being with the ones you love on such a special day.

We ended up getting to go home the day after Christmas...

Just imagine that I'm in this picture below...I missed the sibling picture last year...

I don't have any pictures of our festivities with my family because both of my parents were getting over the flu when we celebrated. Here is a picture of me, Jon, and my sister...

We also got to celebrate with the Harbin side...

I made Ma some fish earrings! Aren't they lovely!?!

We also made Frozen cupcakes...

We really enjoyed time at home with family, but missing Christmas and having to deal with the stresses of work really made me consider my job. I ended up taking a long weekend off from work when I got back and Jon and I spent some time thinking through things AND eating cheesecake!

More to come soon,

Katie

My very first Duke game!

A dream came true in November 2014. I finally got to go to a Duke basketball game!! Words cannot express to you the level of excitement that I had. As I've grown older, the way I handle my excitement and happiness has turned into me crying. Jon is having a hard time with my coping mechanism now, but he's just going to have to deal with it. I cry happy tears!!!

Here is us on our way to our seats (yes, I took pictures of the hallways!)...

And here it is in all of its glory...

So, so happy! And yes, we're sitting three rows from the top....and yes, this was an exhibition game.....and yes, before the game started, I looked at Jon and said, do you think Coach K will be here or do you think he'll let an assistant coach do his job today?! Hahaha!! The things that came out of my mouth this day were ridiculous!!

Oh, and please notice that Jon is wearing blue---granted it is his silly Duck Dynasty shirt, but it's not a Tarheel blue!! Whoo hoo!!

Here are some pictures from the game...

Once the game was over, we went down on the court to take some pictures...

This is me sitting in Coach K's seat. I had to politely ask a group of guy's to get out of my way because I needed to sit there and share some butt sweat with the one and only! Hahaha!!

We had an AMAZING day and I'm so thankful to Jon for getting us tickets to go!

If you ever get the chance to go to a Duke game, GO!

I am still a Tennessee girl,
Katie

Saturday, July 25, 2015

Still talking about last year...

Hi there,

I'm still talking about July of last year! Let me share our adventures with you....

Last July, Jon went on a mission trip to Nicaragua, and I flew to Nashville for training for a new job that I took all in the same week. We had a long week and a half apart and we were glad to be reunited. Here's a picture of us from the golf course when we both got home. We were happy to be spending some good time together...

The very next day after this was Sunday. My parents have always said that one day they were just going to show up on our door step one day and by-golly, they did on this Sunday!!! Jon and I were sitting in our living room in our PJ's when we heard a knock at the door. I took off running upstairs to avoid whoever was at the door. Once I got upstairs, I went and looked out the window to see who was at the door and I saw my Dad. I almost fell in the floor right there because I couldn't believe it was him!! I quickly changed out of my pajamas and came running down the stairs to see them. I was so overjoyed that I fell straight on my rear and slid down a few steps. Thankfully, I popped right back up with no injuries and gave them both big hugs! What can I say? I was extremely excited to see them! We had the BEST Sunday! My parents came to church with us and then we went out to lunch to one of our favorite restaurants...

Shuckers!!!

It was the best!!! I typically miss our family the most on the weekends and this was just wonderful getting to see them! Little did I know, my parents had been out in Wilmington for a few days and they were traveling back home when they came by to see us. Who knew?!?!

We also had more Saturdays playing golf...

I got to try Pinkberry for the first time and I was so excited about it....it was delish!

We went on our yearly beach trip on Labor Day weekend...

We love stopping at Cracker Barrell when we travel because we never get to eat at them and we LOVE Cracker Barrell!

We played some putt-putt...

Jon found a crab on the course...

I got to spend lots of quality time with this cutie...

and we made our amazing sand castle that we always do....

and we spent lots of time in the lazy river...

We also went deep-sea fishing. I've been before, but this time was a little rockier than the last. I almost tossed my cookies several times on this trip. Not so sure I'll be going back...