Showered With Love

There's nothing like having all of your closest girlfriends in one room at the same time. I felt nothing but love on Sunday, January 15th, as we celebrated the arrival of Elijah in the cutest little bakery in Fort Mill, South Carolina. My sister, Nickie, did an amazing job organizing and prepping a beautiful afternoon for my friends and family to enjoy. One of my best friends, Sairy, was also by her side helping her when needed. They pulled off a great shower that left me and the bump exhausted but filled with love.

I started off the shower chatting and welcoming everyone to Z Bakery, a quaint little house turned pastry shop, in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. After our bellies were full, my sister tested our nursery rhyme knowledge with a quiz that ended in a prize to the highest score, of course. I failed but I did make her sing a few rhymes, just for the heck of it.

Nickie wasn't done testing our baby knowledge as she had one more quiz where we matched the name of candy bars to birth terms. It was a clever and fun quiz that I didn't pass but had fun playing anyways.

My sister then put everyone to work as she led my girls into the game room where everyone decorated blocks for Elijah to play with in the future and write diaper memos for Jeremy and I to chuckle at during those late night blowouts. She also had a few more games for people to enjoy where they guessed how many hershey kisses were in a bottle and a "price is right" type game on baby products that I, fortunately, got to keep!

Time was running out, so we moved on to opening gifts. I got some great gifts that were thoughtful and will be well-used down the road!

I can't thank everyone enough for their love and support during this time. Elijah is so lucky to be surrounded by strong, beautiful women that will keep him grounded. And I am one lucky mama-to-be!

New Year. New Baby. New Goals.

It's 2017. A new year means new goals and with a baby quickly approaching his due date, a lot of changes are coming my (and our) way. I'm keeping my goals minimal so I can actually attempt to reach them.

1. Have baby. Pretty self explanatory. We are praying for a safe, "easy-as-possible" delivery.

2. Don't freak out while having baby. This is a major one for me. To calm me down in the process of giving birth, I was told opening up my hips and exercising will help. I ordered a workout dvd that has exercises for each month. I totally missed 7 of the 9 months, but I aim to do this 45 minute workout at least 4 days a week to help prepare my body for childbirth.

3. Pay off student loan. This is a carry over from last year. Unfortunately, I didn't meet the goal but hopefully this year I can! I'm so close!

4. Frames. You all know by now that I love me some photos. Framing them and putting them on display, however, is the issue. I've got one more custom frame to get done and then my picture-loving heart will be at peace.

5. Publish book(s). Every year I publish all of our blog posts. I would love to have 2016 printed by June. Jeremy has also written a children's book. I may be bias, but I absolutely love it and think it has great potential. I would love to have his book published by the end of the year so we can share it with Elijah each night.

Alright 2017, I'm excited for you but don't be too hard on me.

The Best of 2016

2016 was a whirlwind. We traveled, made a baby and sadly, said goodbye to Apollo. Here are our top 10 moments of 2016 in no particular order (except for #1).

Elijah
We have a kid on the way. Crazy. March 2nd is the date. Will he arrive early or late?

Apollo
After 8 years of awesome companionship, we sadly had to say goodbye to the best dog ever. It's amazing how much a dog (or any pet) can become such a part of your family, but when we sit back and think about all of the happy, proud, and hilarious moments we shared, it makes sense he was included in all of our family photos. Although the house is a bit cleaner now, we miss him every day.

Aloha, Hawaii
We took the longest plane ride of our lives to get to the beautiful islands of Hawaii but it was well worth it. We spent the majority of our time in Oahu but also gave the Big Island a visit for a day. We relaxed, luau'd, and enjoyed Hawaii's rich history and incredible weather!

San Diego
Jeremy surprised Asha with a tip to San Diego for her 30th birthday. We whale watched, relaxed on La Jolla beach, visited San Diego Zoo and ate our faces off. San Diego is definitely our kind of city.

Keep Pounding
Every now and then you just get lucky. This past summer, Jeremy won a social media contest to be a "Panther for a Day." The contest was presented by Miller Lite and the Carolina Panthers gave him VIP access at 2 days of training camp. Autographs, pictures, suite life, and lots of swag made for a memorable summer for Jeremy and his favorite NFL team. (Too bad the season didn't go as planned, but it's all good, we'll be back in 2017.)

Johnnyswim
Asha randomly bought tickets to a show one Friday night and it ended up being our new favorite musicians of 2016! A husband/wife duo won us over with their sweet melodies and similar personalities to us. We're pretty sure we would be friends with them.

Guts. Glory. Ram.
Pretty much every boy loves trucks. Including Jeremy. After searching and searching, he finally found the right truck (for the right price) - 2012 Ram 1500. If it's good enough for Thomas Davis and Greg Olsen, then it's good enough for Jeremy.

Race Series
Asha completed a 22-mile race series throughout the year, all while pregnant. Beast mode!

National Parks
We had the pleasure of visiting two more National Parks this year. Joshua Tree wow'd us with it's large rocks and desert features. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park had us ooing and ahhing over the fire that was ready to erupt below.

Kualoa Ranch
Who wouldn't want to visit the movie site of Jurassic Park (among many others)?! Kualoa Ranch in Oahu, Hawaii was our favorite spot. We had a thrilling ride through the ranch on ATV's which made the experience like no other. We'll never forget the wild boars crossing our way, Asha almost flipping over and the beautiful views of the ocean below.

Cheers to a new year!