Tennessee

Jason and I went to Gatlinburg, TN for our anniversary. We went to the Ripley's Aquarium. That place is so awesome. This blog is going to be full of pictures and there are still so many things I'm not putting on here because a blog can only be so long. If you've never been here it is well worth the trip. It's just so cool.

Here is Jason trying to touch a sting ray... or is it a manta ray? Or are they the same thing? I really have no idea. Perhaps I'd better look it up. I can't find the answer. The website just says a ray. Helpful? Not so much. :)Here I am touching a horseshoe crab. This was a t-shirt in the gift shop. I wish we had bought it because it's just so funny.

Here is a shark. This was a really awesome part of the aquarium. You get on this moving sidewalk and it takes you through the shark lagoon. The sharks and fish are swimming on both sides of you as well as above you.......thank goodness for thick glass.
I don't know if you can see this little guy but if you look inside that little cave on the left you can see a little fish. It was just so funny because it looked like he was hiding from the sharks.....come to think of it, he probably was. :)
Here is a sea turtle which I just love. They are so cool.
Oooh Baracuda

This is the Old Mill. The building in the back is actually a restaurant. We were going to eat there but the wait was too long. It's pretty though.

Jason and I want to go back someday when we have more time and more money. There are so many things to do in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. We also went on the sky lift that takes you up the mountain. So yeah, I recommend going there someday if these things are at all interesting to you. It's awesome.

Holy Birthday Batman

Today is my brother Aaron's birthday. He has been living with us since September 2007 and yesterday we brought him back to live with our parents in Salem, MO. He is going to get ready to put his mission papers in and prepare for his mission. He and Jason keep talking about how much they love Batman so when I went to the store today and saw the Batman candle I thought it would be funny to put it on his cake. This inspired me to create a whole Batman cake. I should scan some mission pictures of cakes my companions and I made. Sister Wilde and I made a Spongebob Squarepants cake (he was of course a missionary) and Sister Duncan and I made a cowboy cake. Good times! Jason just informed me that I'm getting off topic.....which is only partly true because I am after all talking about cake. Yummy cake. :) Anyway, back to the birthday - well actually that's really all there is to say about it. Here are some pictures of the masterpiece.

Here is the finished product.

Aaron, of course.

Me, Aaron, and Jason showing off our black tongues.

3 Years!

Jason and I have been married for 3 years! Well....almost anyway. I was going to post wedding pictures a long time ago but decided to wait for our anniversary. I thought you could share our joy by seeing us all decked out as a princess and a prophet (as my adorable nephew Zach - who was 4 at the time - called us. It was too cute. He looked at me and lovingly and seriously said, "You're a princess" and then he called Jason a prophet. Too cute.) So here are some pictures of us on our wedding day, August 5, 2005.

This would be me of course. Compliments of the ever talented sister of mine, Amy. Debbie, a friend of the family we've known for years and years, did my hair.

This was taken right after we left the temple. I don't know why all these pictures are so small. We are cute though aren't we. :)

You've got to take a picture by the fountain in front of the temple. It's like a rule.
This is another one of Amy's pictures. That is the St. Louis, MO temple in the background.

These are Jason's sisters Serena (who was sealed to her husband and son just days before our wedding - it was a good week), Becky, and Liz. Jason could get used to this treatment.

A good friend of the family, Felicia, made our cake for us. It was beautiful and seriously the best tasting wedding cake I have ever tasted.

Amy took this one too. Since it is a good picture and weddings are one of the only times it's acceptable to post kissing pictures (not that I want any other kissing pictures posted), I seal this blog with a kiss. :)

It's freaky growing up.

Jason and I are growing up. I don't feel ready to be grown up yet. I mean seriously I'm only 29. :) Anyway we put an offer on a house. No it's not any of the two we previously were looking at. That second house was already contracted. The first one I loved so much and wanted it just as much but it was a little small and since it was completely redone it was already at top value so down the road the resale wouldn't be good. The moral of this story is I had to abandon my hopes for the pretty wonderful house. It was sad but we found a house that is bigger and we really like it. The house sits on an acre of land and the backyard is huge and fenced in. This will be great for our dog Tessa. We got a call this morning from our realtor saying they had accepted our offer. Now all we need to do is go to the bank tomorrow and apply for the loan which we should get and then we need to sign the papers. We are excited to get this house. It's going to be wonderful. It is really kind of freaky though since it's such a big thing to do. We don't have a bad feeling about it or anything. We are really excited but it just makes us such an .......adult. :) The internet doesn't have any pictures of the inside of the house but here is one of the front of the house. I'll post more once we move in. If all goes well we will close on the house near the end of September. Yay! I spent a lot of time trying to decide what colors to paint the walls. This is so exciting to me. I love color on the walls. I'm so excited. Hopefully nothing falls through because this is so .....yes you guessed it.....exciting. :)