Newbie

This part of my life is full of new beginnings so I thought there is no better time than the present to start a blog so.......here goes nothing!
Blake and I will married 3 weeks from this Saturday, I can't believe the wedding is already here. We were talking the other night how it seems like just last month we were over 100 days away; my how time flies when you are having fun!! Blake is the biggest blessing in my life and I can not wait to marry my best friend.
This past weekend was spent in New Orleans with our dearest and closest friends. Everyone got in on Friday night and we all went to supper at a local New Orleans dive, Port of Call. We (or shall I say I) overindulged in their famous Monsoons but it was totally worth it. After supper we headed to Pat O'Briens to enjoy their famous hurricanes and milk punch. Saturday morning came a bit to early for me but no one was going to let me lay in bed all day (which would not have been uncommon for me!) The ladies hit the streets with a few of the boys about 9 am in search of a breakfast spot. We found the perfect place off of Bourbon Street and recaped the previous evening over omelettes and coffee. After breakfast we wandered around the Quarter before heading back to the hotel and meeting up with all the late risers! The boys headed to Acme Oyster House, Blake's favorite, while the girls tried out one of Mandy's favs, Cafe Maspero. We did some window shopping on our stroll back to the hotel soaking in the beautiful Louisiana sunshine. We headed back to the hotel to begin getting ready for the evening and my sweet friends arranged to have champagne and cake while we were getting ready; it was really sweet. We all meet in the hotel lobby and headed Uptown on the streetcar, Blake and I's favorite thing to do in New Orleans, for a drink at The Columns before supper at Jacques Imos. Supper lasted a little longer than we expected so Saturday night was very low key but still fun none the less. Unfortuantely, Sunday came sooner than we wanted and many of our friends had early flights back home so we were unable to see them before they headed to the airport. Those of us that were still intown headed to Brenann's for Sunday brunch. Brunch was delicious. We shared stories from the weekend and Blake and I were reminded again how blessed we are to have such WONDERFUL friends! Thank you all again for coming. We can't wait to see you all for the wedding weekend!!
Sidenote: I, of course, took no pictures this weekend; as soon as someone emails them to me I will upload a few.

Blake and I stay incredibly busy but we enjoy it and this week/weekend will be no different. We are in a bowling league for the 2nd year and really enjoy it. We play on Wednesday nights for 14 weeks. This year we are playing with my highschool friend, Nicole, and her husband Paxton. Blake and I are not so good so we might not be asked to return next year but we have fun none the less!
The annual Barksdale Airshow is this weekend. Blake was able to score wristbands for the VIP night show on Friday night so I am looking forward to that. They provide supper and a private airshow out on the tarmac at the base.
We are playing in the annual Community Renewal Croquet Classic for the 2nd year this Saturday. Hopefully Blake has been practicing and won't choke on me this year like he did last year (we lost by one wicket!) I'll be sure and upload our picture holding this year's first place trophey (ha!)
Sunday we will head back out to the airshow after church as Blake is a member of the Military Affairs Council and is able to get tickets for free. It is a really fun time with family and friends and to see cool planes do cool things.

As we are rapidly approaching the BIG day, I am constantly reminded of what a true blessing my life is. I have a wonderful family, friends, almost husband, dog and job to name a few. I hope you enjoy the blog as I know I will enjoy sharing our life with all of you!!

cm