Happy Birthday John

Today is John's birthday! Seeing as the sweet hubbie had to work on his birthday, he decided yesterday was his birthday instead! I believe his exact words when we woke up yesterday were "Let's celebrate my birthday today-Today is now my birthday" ok. So I told him to hold tight and I then put my behind into gear and decked out our kitchen and wrapped his gift (all while the big one was still on its way via UPS). So we enjoyed opening gifts and we finished up his 7 days of things that I love about him. I got him a Taylor Made golf glove and a Taylor Made driver (that still hadn't arrived at this point). Being the creative person that I am, I had to act quick about the driver. So I pulled up the shipping status on my laptop and had it on the table so he could see it. He was so excited! He couldn't wait for it to get here! We then went in the front yard and hit a few gold balls around with his new glove all while gazing down the road waiting anxiously for UPS. John wanted to do something special for his "birthday day" so I got together a couple of movie tickets and told him to get ready for lunch and a matinee! He was very excited while all very nervous to leave the house knowing his driver would arrive with noone here. So we left and saw Rocker and enjoyed some yummy food together. It was so nice to spend a whole day with him! We really enoyed ourselves. After the movie, we practically speed walked back to the car because he was so anxious to get home to see his other gift. Sure enough once we got there it was right under our carport, safe and sound! He was so excited while he was opening it. He just couldn't wait to see what it looked like. So needless to say, we hit golfballs for a long time, ate dinner, and headed to the ballfield for a double header softball game. After we got home we finished a movie that we had left over from the previous night which John proclaimed "movie night". Movie night was also apart of his birthday week.

This morning (actual birthday) I made his yummy breakfast in bed. Now, the birthday hubbie is at work and I'm left with many things to get accomplished today! 1.clean 2.lunch with 7th grade girls 3.work 4.spend time w/ Boober who will be returning from NYC today. 5.cook birthday dinner for the birthday hubbie.

The girls come tomorrow for us to keep. For my last weekend of official summer, I'd say it's going to be pretty eventful!

Watermelon

My parents came over last night after John and I got settled in after work. They brought a watermelon and we ate it on the front porch. It was very relaxing. Afterwards we, as usual, walked to the horses and fed them a little watermelon treat! I was a bit worried that they may be allergic? But they seemed to really enjoy it! Let me tell you, horses eating watermelon is very gross. But the men enjoyed it while mom and I stood back and took it all in! Afterwards we watched a bit of the olympics while we talked and visited. We had a wonderful visit with them. I love my parents so much! It was great to see them again!

I have a very busy next several days. I'm babysitting some girls overnight at our home. We are having a "movie night" and yes, John will be off so he will be joining in. And honestly, we are both pretty excited about this! All amongst the madness of babysitting we will have to find time to most importantly spend as much time with John as possible Saturday,decorate, cook, and finish off John's birthday party. I'm trying to remain calm here. Those of you who don't know me as well as others need to know that I am one very huge party planner. I believe I get to thank my mom for this one. Let me take you back to my middle school years- every year was themed and each year got better.Events are big and perfect and I love topping everything I do. John has thoroughly enjoyed his birthday week so far! I told him every holiday in this house will be extravegant and I think he is just loving his birthday week so far. Little does the hubbie know that there are even more suprises to come as the week draws to a close! Love you babe!

This time last year, this is what I did for his birthday. Took him to Cheescake Factory, and bought him a lot of clothes and made him a cake. We're doing things a bit different this year!

Also, in the last post I failed to mention the meaning of the title"New Friends". John and I spent time with our new neighbors house. It's nice to have them here because we are the only neighbors who are around the same age.

Dinner And New Friends

Johns family came over tonight for dinner and games. We had beef stew and cornbread with cupcakes for dessert. While John and the guys played bocci ball, Andrea and I went through some yummy cookbooks and made recipe cards for my recipe box. The box is getting pretty full! I just love recipes! Any of our blogger readers please feel free to comment us a recipe here and there that you love. Chances are we will love it too! Another thing we love is spending time with family. John's family is great and we really enjoyed spending time with them tonight.

John and I were looking back at what we were doing this time last year. Take a look! We were getting engaged! And getting a new Jeep of course!

Landscaping

John was off today so we woke up bright and early with a list of things to do together. We first enjoyed our usual morning coffee on the porch.

On a side note, I always set up coffee the night before and set out our coffee cups. If he works it's one polka dotted cup with one to-go cup. On the days he's off they are what we call polka-dotted days! I just love polka dotted coffee cup days! So anyways, we were sitting there and decided to get a new look for our landscaping. We planted our geraniums that were previously in the pots and decided to get some more white geraniums and greenery to pot. We also cleaned out the weeds. It was getting kind of bad. So here are the before and the afters!

I had to work today until 6. When I came home John had cleaned up around outside, and did some cleaning on the inside of the house. So tomorrow all I have to do is laundry! He is just the best. We had a yummy dinner tonight. Steak, mac and cheese, peas, and corn from my brothers garden. Yum-o! He goes back to work tomorrow so I will begin my mission for his birthday party decor. It's going to be amazing!

Nostalgic? Thankful!

Topic of corn husking today was what do you think that really means? So a question to you...what does that mean? John worked today so I spent time with my family. I haven't been there is a long time and I can't even remember the last time I saw my nephews. Today was wonderful. We ate lunch, shucked corn, Bryce and I enjoyed a fun photo shoot, Granny shared fun memories about her and grandaddy, and oh yeah..more corn. We really enjoyed our time together as a family. I love them so much. There was a beautiful sunset today that was greeting me on my way back home and it made me think of several things I am thankful for.

Before I begin on those, let me say that the wedding was beautiful! Holly was beautiful and Sam was so handsome, and everything was perfect for them. It was such a peaceful day!

One: My amazing husband. Here we are in our best friends' wedding. We are so thankful for them.

Two: God. How Big and how great is our God!

Three: My family. Here we all are shucking away. I brushed...worms are disqusting!

Four: My oldest nephew, Bryce. Starting Kindergarten next week and full of energy. My Sunshine, and my pride and joy.

Five: My youngest nephew, Adam. 4 months old today, this precious miracle lights me up everytime he looks at me this way. This picture was her idea!

Six: My Granny. She turned me on to eating corn right out of the shuck today.

Would You Look At That!

It was a deer. Well, not just a deer, about four of them. And all of them were bucks. This amazed my "dear" husband very late last night. So much that I was directed not to speak a word for a few minutes because I could "scare them away". After watching them for a while outside he couldn't get enough so I found him here, looking out our kitchen window. What a sight! Sometimes the things that he does just makes me smile. He makes life so interesting sometimes.

Switching gears, today was my last day of class! It's been a long dreadful, difficult one, so I'm glad it's over. I am, however, extrememly thankful that I took this class. It has helped me in many areas of my life in the present and most certainly for the future.

Also on the radar in the Maholland home- 4 more days till the Claud-Shrewsbury wedding. We are going to pick up the tux tonight then scurry home so I can study for finals and such.

One Last Whirl With The Girls

Last night was a perfect bachelorette party. All the girls met up and began the night be decorating our vehicle. It was transformed into one cool girly expedition. We all piled in and headed to the Old Spaghetti Factory. We all enjoyed some fine Italian and headed to Boundr'y for dessert and fun gifts! Turns out, Eddie George was dining there that evening too! He and his family, we think, were actually right behind us. Our table was amazing! We ate outside in a vined in type room surrounded by huge fire torches. Our table was big and round, enough for us all the fit, and it had a big fire in the middle of it. We were all amazed by the atmosphere! And the dessert was incredible! All in all, we had a wonderful night all together, and I think the Bachelorette was very pleased herself!

A Special Prayer

Today was such a blessing for me. John worked and I got to go back to work! I have been off for over a month because of school and the wedding. It was so nice to see everyone. I enjoy my job. It's such an easy job and working with children blesses me everyday.

Later, I knew Holly needed a wedding break. So we hit the pool and laid out. It was so relaxing. for both of us. We unwound from a long day. Later, Mom and Dad picked me up and we headed to get them all set up with Verizon Wireless. We got the greatest deal. We were all three very excited about how amazing our sales rep was and our deal was incredible. We shopped for the Bride-to-be and ate at Zaxby's for dinner.

Tomorrow is the big weekend before the wedding. My house will be bachelorette central for make-up, party dresses and hair. We will head out looking mighty fabulous tomorrow night! Pictures to come!

As most of you know, Holly and Sam are very special people to me and John. We recently found out that Sam's father was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He has fought a great fight and has had many amazing people lifting him and his family in prayers. Tonight, John and I ask you to pray more. We were informed tonight that the cancer is more serious and cemo is not an option anymore. As Christians, we do not know God's plan for anyone's life. But, we do know the power of prayer. Each day is a gift from God. Please pray for the Shrewsbury family.

A New Hobbie

John and I have taken up a new hobbie. Golf is something both of us have enjoyed but we've never taken initiative to do it. Yesterday we ventured to Nevada Bob's (a golf store in Nashville) to pick me out some golf clubs. John has a set for him already and he also has an old woman's set that I will use for now. For Christmas we decided that golf clubs may be one of my gifts. We found a great deal on a whole set of clubs and a bag. And, here's the best part, they are silver and pink. I am very happy with that! Also while we were there we purchased a golf glove for me and this very large golf net. Instead of paying to go to the driving range, we thought it would be smart to have the luxury of hitting golf balls in our own back yard. So we set it all up yesterday and had a ball. John enjoyed it more than me. My first few balls I hit didn't even hit the net, they by passed it about 5 yards to the right or left of the stupid thing. I got frusterated and left John to himself. After I did a bit on my homework I decided to give it another try and did a little better.

I can give one big sigh of relief for my summer classes being almost over! Only 4 more days of actual class then I have one final at school and one online. I will be very happy when it is over!

About the crockpot dinner #3..it was ok but we weren't to fond of the strange plum flavor for chicken. Tonight in the crockpot...dinner #4 beef stew, yum!

This weekend is our best friends Holly and Sam's bachelor and bachelorette weekend. John and I were both in charge of the weekend and we were determined to make it perfect for the both of them. Holly and the girls are going to The Old Spaghetti Factory to enjoy dinner together then to the Boundr'y for dessert and gifts! I can only imagine and also know all that Holly is going through this week. I know for me that the week before the wedding was the most frazzled and disoriented I had ever been in my life. It's been a lot of fun helping Holly with everything and we are looking forward to seeing how beautiful and perfect their wedding day will be next weekend. Holly & Sam, all the best and a lifetime full of love to you both. you are both very special to us, we are so blessed to have your friendship, and know that we love you two very much.

Video

We got our wedding video today. Let's just say it is amazing. It's just perfect, more than we could have ever imagined possible in a wedding video. It's simply beautiful. All of my pictures are now framed and around our home. There are a few that need to be hung but that's John's job. He enjoys doing that.

Update on our last crockpot meal: Chicken and Stuffing. It was really good and reminded me of Thanksgiving. John loved it and took the leftovers for lunch yesterday. All his co-workers will be jealous I'm sure, because it was a success. Tonight I'm making Chick Mu-Shiu. I have no idea how this will taste. It was even harder to prepare and so we'll see how it turns out.

I only have two more weeks left of summer classes and then I start my job again. I have really missed working, but actually really enjoyed being a housewife. I love cooking, cleaning, and making sure our house is a home. I have enjoyed it so much.

Let me brag...I am so blessed to have a husband that helps me so much around the house. He knows that I am no supposed to do everything myself and understands that when I get tired, he steps in and helps.

This afternoon I asked the Hines girls to come over and have a movie and junk food afternoon. We watched the wedding video and then watched Hairspray. What a fun movie! It's one of those movies I always wanted to see but haven't gotten a chance or even though about renting. We had a wonderful time together. We made chocolate chip cookies, ate candy, chatted, and enjoyed each others company. Those girls are so special to me. Today was their last day in the Children's ministry. I can't believe it! They are so dear to my heart and wish them all the best as they begin a new phase in their church.

Taking A Stroll

Every day I walk up and down our road. It's just the most perfect road to walk on and it is so peacful. John has started walking with me on his days off. The other day we noticed that our neighbors have horses so we welcomed ourselves to calling them over to us and we fed them apples. Our landlord has the most amazing green Grannysmith apples. They are too good. We thought we would share the yummy with the horses. John and the brown horse have developed quite the relationship now. It seems a bit obvious in their picture together!

A Few Of Our Favorites!

We just think our wedding pictures are so perfect; they are just what we wanted, so we had to share some more! Enjoy! And vote: Which ones are frame worthy? That's my assignment this weekend!

What's happening in the kitchen tonight? First of all SUCCESS on fried squash! After 2 times of scars and burns I finally had a successful fried squash night third time charm! So on for tonight...Crock pot dinner # 3! Chicken and stuffing! I'll let you know how it turns out!

Wedding Pictures

Visit www.pictage.com/475597 to see our pictures from the best day of our lives. It's where our lives began as one. Here's one of our favorites! Copyright of Jodi Richfield Photography. Please do not copy.

Life So Far

Marriage has been such a blast. We just celebrated beeing married for 1 month. I can't believe it has been a month already. We were so excited that John took me out to a movie. We saw Dark Knight. We really enjoyed ourselves. We have really enjoyed being together and growing our new family with each other. It has been so much fun.
This picture is a collage I created of my 6th grade girls Sunday school class. Their last Sunday is this Sunday then they are off to the youth group. This last Sunday is a very big deal for them because it is their last Sunday in the children's ministry so I plan to make their last one a very exciting celebration.
This week has been mid-term week for me for my July classes. It has been really tough and I can't even believe it's time for tests yet. I take both of them today. I will be glad when they are over.

A Little Birdie Told Me

Last night I decided to attempt frying squash just like my granny. So I called my dad for a few quick questions and I was on my way. John doesn't like squash so while I was experimenting he was making his own dinner. Apparently I got the oil a bit too hot in the skillet and once I added the aquash to the skillet it splatted all over my wrists and my arms. So, little to say, it was my first cooking disaster...with wounds. But it's ok, i will eventually prevail and figure out how to do this.

Today I went to the grocery store. Before I left John and I looked through a cookbook to figure out what dinners we wanted for the week. We made a list, and I send him off to work and I cleaned the house and went to the store. I stuff for three crockpot meals this week, stuff for banana bread and the usual grocery's. I was pleased to know that I haven't completely lost my touch. I made banana bread and it was a great success. Besides burning my thigh on the stove..how? I don't know. But the bread tastes great besides my kitchen battle wounds.

Earlier today I was in our living room and all of a sudden a huge bang hit our front door. After I about jumped out of my pants I looked out the window and realized that it was just a bird and he flew to our birdbath and joined his friends. Look at all the birds in the bath! I just filled it up tonight and they love fresh water in there. Isn't God's creation just beautiful!

Chick Flick Night

Tonight I have a few friends coming over for a chick flick night. With John working till late occasionaly we thought it would be something for me to look forward to every once in a while. I went to Bed Bath and Beyond today to use a few more gift cards and got curtains for our bedroom, candles, some kitchen towels, and a room diffuser. Afterwards I visited with my grandparents for a while then got a few movies for tonight (Little Black Book and Raising Helen) then got some grocery's. That is one thing that I don't care so much about is grocery shopping without John. It's really not fun without him. When we go together we make it an event and we actually enjoy doing it. We figure well, if we're spending this much money on grocery's why not try to enjoy it right? I want to apologize for the stranger font color. I am working on it!

Confused

Alright, so last night after some deep research I came across the world of digital scrapbooking. First of all, great idea! Second, I don't understand! I can't find a free program to do all of this. I want it mainly for our bloglayout. If there is a site out there that any of you know about let us know! Because we want our blog to be up to date and just perfect for our viewers!

Our Mom's Should Be Proud

Hey good lookin', whatcha got cookin? John and I cooked one amazing meal together tonight. He grilled porkchops with rice in the middle, and I cooked macaroni and cheese, garlic cheese potatoes, sauteed mushrooms with home made cheese sauce, and peas. It was so fun cooking together and then sitting down to a nice romantic candle lit dinner. Of course, I turned on some music to make everything a bit more romantic. We enjoyed our dinner together. It's something we try to do as often as we can becuase when he works we don't get to eat dinner together. It is something that is extrememly important to us. It's a time where we turn off the world and enjoy one another. My horrid death class has Friday's off thank goodness or I don't know how I would deal with talking about death 5 days out of a week for two straight hours. Shoo...it's difficult! At this moment John is reading and I am still working on thank you notes. It's taking me forever. I know, I know, you will get them soon. John does back to work tomorrow so I plan on spending some quality time with my grandparents and venturing to Bed Bath and Beyond for a little bit more gift card spending. Any suggestions on something that we still need? Question of the night: What is one thing that John and I need that you think that we just can not live without? We are looking forward to your answers!

A Super Wayne Newton Weekend

Last weekend my friend Boober turn 21. For her birthday her parents bought her, them, and I tickets to see Wayne Newton at Harrah's in Metropolis. While there we and her parents enjoyed lunch in the historic town in Paducah, I ate oysters for the first time (which I regreted the next day), we saw Wayne Newton, got to stand beside one GIANT superman, and never quite grasped why people enjoy slot machines and gambling. We had such an enjoyable time and Wayne was quite charming if I do say so myself!
I started my summer courses on Monday and it will definately keep me busy and on my toes. I am enjoying them so far and we are staying possitive about them. Why are you trying to stay so possitive you ask? Well my campus class is entitled "DEath, Dieing, and Bereavment" and well, it's two hours of complete sadness pretty much but it will be worth it once it's over and I know it will be of help in my future.

The Fourth

Happy fourth of July everyone! Today I slept in a while and cleaned up around the house. Tonight was our traditional family fourth dinner, kickball, and fireworks. My aunt Beth's neighbors have amazing fireworks everyyear that last well over 30 minutes and we enjoy them as a family every year! This year Beth asked me to make a certain cake. Holly, the August bride, came over to visit for a while yesterday and she was a great assistant in the kitchen. Though she says that she would eat the topping more than help, she was a great helper! The cake turned out great, pretty and VERY yummy! That is one thing that I have learned that I love to do is cook! yah! I'm so glad, and I think John is too!
My friend Jenny, her parents and I are leaving tomorrow for a short weekend to see Wayne Newton for her birthday. They invited me along and I told her sure! why not!? More to come on that!
I begin my summer classes on Monday and they end the first of August. I'm looking forward to have a little routine in my days now! It will keep me busy! And I just love to be busy!

New Do With Skunk On The Side

On our honeymoon I told John that I was going to try something new. I'm one of those poeple who goes to restaurants and orders the same thing everytime. Well, with a new life I decided to try new things! So our entire honeymoon I ate different stuff when we ate out. And it was fun! Throughout the whole wedding planning process I was anxiously awaiting to try my something new with my hair. I have had the same long hair ever since high school and it was just getting boring for me. I hae never really done anything drastic with my hair or ever colored it. So John and I decided that we would go for it. On our honeymoon I called and made an appt. He was off yesterday and went with me for the drastic change. He ran erronds for the most part of the process and hung out towards the end. We both agree that it was a great desicion and we both love my hair very much! Especially me! I've never looked forward to fixing my hair everyday. It's cute short and fun!
Last night John and I ate dinner at our best friends Holly and Sam's apartment. I made a cake and was very thrilled to get to show it off on one of my new cake stands. Supper was great and their apartment is just too cute! We enjoyed the movie The Gaurdian and their amazingly large and HD tv. John and I was quite amazed! Once we pulled up at our house we noticed that something had gotten into our trash can outside...again. Not looking forward to cleaning up the trash we made our way into our house. As we got closer to the can we realized that the rodent was still in the can. I flipped out and ran back into the car and turned on the headlights. John jumped into our boat under the carport and got his bow and arrow. (LOL!) As we both awaited for a long 10 minutes in our spots there was no sign of the rodent. Finally I had the bright idea of knocking the can over with a golf club. So I delevered the club and scurried back into the car where it was safe! Eventually John knocked over the can and much to our surprise it was not a opossum, it was not a racoon, it was not a rat, it WAS a SKUNK! John flipped and immediatly started looking at me with the "shh" sign mouthing" don't move" for if I did HE would be the one to get sprayed because I was safe! Finally the nasty little thing mosied on around the front of the house and John escaped the boat to hunt it down. Finally, after chasing it slowly around the house, he killed it with the arrow...right in the face. I did not see this and did not want to see this. But I know it happened because I was watching him from inside the house with his bow, and I smelled the evidence afterwards. It was a pretty funny and eventful late night at the Maholland house if we do say so ourselves. This morning John woke up and said "I need to get my arrow back" and left on a big search for the skunk. He never found it so maybe, now, somewhere outthere is a skunk with an arrow through its head. But he deserved it!