Weekend To Chattanooga

Last weekend John and I went to Chattanooga for Cash's 4th Birthday and Baby M'leigh's Christening. Cash's party was a lot of fun. Emily and Kurt rented at blow up jumper thing that was a huge hit with all the kids. I wish I had gotten some pictures of it!

As you can see from the pics, Dissy looked ADORABLE on Sunday. She's also quite a talented little girl to be able to pick her nose and suck her thumb at the same time : ). The christening was really, really sweet. She ended up not wanting to go to the preacher at all which was both funny and predictable, however once she was back in her mama's arms she was just fine. The picture below is of her and John bonding. This was about as much love as she was willing to give him all weekend so I most definitely had to document it. She is THE most precious thing and I'm so glad we got to spend some time with her and the rest of John's family (minus the Mader's).

Our First House!!!!!!

This will be our new home when we move to Winston-Salem! We could not be happier or more excited!!!!!!! We close May 21st, but because my last day of work is May 28th, we won't move officially in it until June. Here is the tour in pictures....

Front View of House

The Front Porch

The Kitchen

(My favorite part is the table to the right because the owner before turned the extra granite from the counter tops into a table for the built in benches in the kitchen.)

The Den

(This is the room you walk into when you walk in the front door)

The Bathroom

It has 3 bedrooms and one bath. We are turning the front bedroom into an office, but our guest room will always be open to out of town guests, who I really hope will come and visit!!!!!

Camping

Easter weekend the entire Lucas family went camping at Oak Mountain State Park. Some enjoyed it more than others, but everyone had a great time. We roasted marshmellows, made smores, and sat and laughed around the campfire. Even though everyone will probably stick to the annual Seaside beach trip as their main family vacation, it was still a lot of fun!!!! Here are some of our memories:

Brian, Brian, and Kurt Hanging Around the Campfire

John holding Tamez

All the Grandchildren with Doc and Boose

Baby M'Leigh and Boose

Amy, M'Leigh, Emily, Me, Reese and Boose

Spring Break Guests

Last week my Mom and Allie came to Birmingham and stayed at the Lucas house from Sunday through Friday. We had so much fun!!! Mom and I got to walk together almost every morning while Allie rode her bike with us. Within a week they became regulars at Yogurt Mountain, lovers of Leah's clothing store, and haters of 280 traffic. Allie, or "Allie Rainbow" as some of the Lucas kids like to call her, probably had the most fun of all though. She loved getting to spend the night with Reese, ride her bike with Emmie, play with Merell, and of course camp with them all. However, while Allie was having fun with the kids, Mom basically turned into a college girl. Above is the proof where you can see the pictures of us out at Rojo last Thursday. She is so wild that after Rojo she wanted to party hop over to O'henery's, and she still wasn't done after that. To prove her college girl ways even more, she went back and spent the night with Erin at her dorm room!!!! I mean I couldn't keep up the girl : ). Even though we really missed Elizabeth and our Dad, having Mom and Allie here in Birmingham for that long was too short and such a treat.

Match Day etc...

This pic is us from Match Day holding up our official paper stating we were going to Wake Forest University! Match Day was the most nerve wracking yet exciting thing I have ever been too. It seemed like at least 100 students were called up on stage to read their letter of residency acceptance before John's name was finally called. He thought it would be funny to put his hand over his mouth like he was a little disappointed before he got on stage to speak. (ha. ha.) I'll never forget the feelings of relief and excitement when he said Wake Forest!!!

After the ceremony us, Amy, M'leigh, Luke, and Mrs. Lucas went and ate barbeque provided by the school for all the med students and their families. It was a lot of fun being with them to celebrate.

Later in the afternoon of Match Day we spontaneously decided to go ahead

and drive to Spartanburg. We wanted to do this so the next day we could get up early and drive to Winston-Salem to find a place to live! Looking for houses was SO MUCH FUN. Now doing the paper work with the realtor was a different story, but the actual looking part was a blast. Luckily John is not as ADD as I am and the paper part didn't make him as stir crazy as it made me. We saw some of the cutest, most charming houses in one of the older sections of Winston-Salem called Ardmore. We found one we really liked a lot so we will just have to see what happens!

Last night Erin, E.A., and Hayden came over to eat chili beans and hang out. John was on his way back from Cookville, TN and since he wasn't home I greatly enjoyed their company. As many of you know, I do not do well being downtown in our condo by myself. This picture is a perfect representation of me and Poochie. Me loving on her and her being busy ignoring me. Just wait, once I've moved she won't be able to talk to me ENOUGH.....at least this is what I keep telling myself : )

Drumroll Please............

We are going to WAKE FOREST!!!!!!!

Pics and details coming soon : )

No Thinking or Blinking

Too much thinking is not always a good thing. After trying to think of inexpensive "Birmingham-esque" things to do, we couldn't really come up with any, so we kind of just gave up on the idea. The funny thing is, as I look back on our weekend, it was PACKED with wonderful things that we could only do in Birmingham. For example:

• Saturday morning I met M'Leigh for an intense session at Pure Barre. It was really hard to get up and make the 9:30 class on the day I get to sleep in, but knowing I had to meet her kept me motivated. Having a workout partner who enjoys it as much as she does is definitely something only Birmingham can offer. Working out and obsessing over Pure Barre with her is something I will be so incredibly sad to leave.
• Later that afternoon John and I went and met the always fun Mader Family at Rojo. It was so great seeing the kids and getting to catch up and hear about their up coming camping adventure. Nobody can make you laugh like Amy can : ). I'm pretty sure leaving John's family and all of our friends will be the hardest thing to do when we move. Only in Birmingham could we get to go to the delicious restaurant Rojo AND get to visit with the Mader's all at the same time.
• Sunday we went our church, Dawson Memorial Baptist. I am proud to say we were not late, which was a big victory of ours considering it was a time change Sunday. However, I cannot take any credit for that because John tricked me and told me all morning it was a lot later than it really was. Going to our Sunday School class and getting to listen to Dr. Fenton every week is definitely only a privilege we get to experience in Birmingham.

Just looking back on one weekend I was able to see that so many of the habits we have and things we love to do are very Birmingham exclusive. Things like living in the same city as John's family or getting to go to a great church every Sunday are simple but wonderful things we have always been able to do. It seems like just yesterday I was moving to Birmingham and meeting John, and now we are married and fixing to move so he can become a practicing doctor somewhere. Ok, I know this is terribly corny of me but like the Kenny Chesney song says, "Don't Blink." Life in Birmingham has gone by so fast! I can't dwell on everything I will be leaving though, because I would obviously go into a great depression. Instead I have got to think about all the fun and exciting things we have ahead of us, and of course remember all the awesome memories we have already made. Today is the LAST day we will not know where we will be spending the next three years of our life together. It is bittersweet, but mainly sweet. We have had such a blessed life here with John's family and our friends that I most certainly have nothing to be sad about, just really thankful : )

P.S. Can't wait till the next post where I will be writing about our new living destination!!!!!!!