Cuz it's her birthday...

Happy Birthday Alexis!!


(on new year's eve in 2007, rockin' our bangs)

This is my gorgeous, stylish, fantastically red-headed friend, Alexis Anderson.
And it's her BIRTHDAY!! If she lived nearby, I'd make her cupcakes and sing her a song...

But, she's in Little Rock, so I'll share my love here, with all of you, in the blog world.

Alexis and I met through our sorority, Tridelta, by being in the same pledge class. Alexis is also from Marion, so she's been friends with Keith even before I met either one of them.
We hit it off immediately and spent lots of time between class together out on the front porch of the 'Delta Shelta' on Maple Street. We grew to be great friends and she means so much to me. I don't get to see her enough, but no matter how time passes or what changes, we still have a blast together.

She's also started a blog about her shopaholic adventuresome life, Confessions of a Shopaholic. Maybe she'll post more often now that I've announced it here..... :)

I love this Lexy Chik and wish her the best birthday ever!!! And hereby crown her my Friend of the Week!

(As promised, below are a few pics of us from college. It seems like we were dressed up in costumes or in formals a lot!)


Freshman year formal


Alexis, Molly and I in the Deltas


I guess lacy, silky tops were popular that year!!


Saloon girls!


Thug life party

I had a nice walk down memory lane looking for these pics. I love you, Alexis!

I'm feelin' patriotic...

I feel a party coming on.... Hello 4th of July!!



We've made the wonderful decision to stay in town this year and we're having some friends over to celebrate. We'll do some grillin' out and shoot some fireworks. After all, we can do that out here in tha countreee.

Everything red and blue is catching my eye right now..
I'm not sure what we'll be eating, but don't these look appetizing and festive?


Berry Cakes with Cinnamon Whipped Cream


A classic, beautiful flag cake


Martha Stewart's adorable flag cupcakes

She has an entire gallery of red, white and blue desserts, view it here.


Hello, gorgeous. I have cupcake envy.


Another fab Martha creation- Red, White, and Blue Parfaits. Cute- but I don't plan to go to that much trouble!


Now, I am LOVING these!! They look pretty easy...
Either way, my dessert will involve blueberries and strawberries, two of my favorite things!!

I've already set out all of my red, white and blue things...


Mom sent me home with a bag full of patriotic loot. She did an event at work for Memorial Day and had all these leftover goodies! I can't wait to decorate with it and celebrate Independence Day!!



I'll be sure to take lots of pics and show you how it turns out :)

Summer Wedding #4

We heart weddings.

It's a good thing, too, because we go to a lot of them! I think we're in the middle of that 3-5 year stretch where everybody we know gets married. Oh, the fun! What's better than watching a sweet ceremony and then having a big party afterwards?

Anywhoodle, on Saturday we went to our 4th wedding of the 09 summer season and had a blast. It was our friend Tyler Pierce and his bride Jordan McReynold's celebration and tons of our great friends were there. The ceremony was at Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church (where we got married) and it gave me warm, fuzzy feelings being back there and hearing that organ! Their reception was at the Clinton Library and had a beautiful view of downtown Little Rock and the river.


My beautiful friend, Whitney Grounds!


With Whitney and Lauren. Where's Joanna?


Keith and Payton Smith


Two handsome guys! Keith and Matt Imhoff


My California girl, Emili Jack, from Sweet Tea Magnolia.


A (blurry) shot of the view from the Presidential Library.


We are pros at this "wedding guest" thing.
Congrats Jordan & Tyler!!

We can't wait for the next one in July: Kelli & Beau! We got to talk to them for a while about their upcoming wedding. Beau made me smile when he said. "So, really, what's it like being married? Is it so awesome?"

Yes, my friend. It is!

Summer Reading

Oh, how I love books.

There's just nuttin' like a good novel, especially one you can't put down! I think reading is so important and fun- like an adventure. gahh, doesn't that sound like a poster from your elementary school library?
And while I haven't always been an avid reader and haven't read near the amount of books I'd like to, I would love to share some faves with you...almost all of which have come as recommendations from my mom.


Read this. Just do it.
It is, quite possibly, one of my favorite books. Ever. Learn more about it here.



Great book! It's from the perspective of an autistic boy. Everyone should read this!


Nicholas Sparks. Oh, how I am a sucker for your stories.


This is an old member of Oprah's book club. And for good reason. Very thought provoking.


Nice classic summer read.
A baby is left on the front steps of a plantation. Sweet story of the events that unfold!


And then there's the books that became movies. Doesn't everyone know that the book is ALWAYS, 100% of the time, a zillion times better than the movie? If you like these films, read 'da book (if you haven't already)!


Yes, I am guilty of being a Twilight fan. So easy to read, sucks you right in (like my vampire reference?). I'm on team Edward, though I think Jacob is darn good lookin' on the big screen. New Moon comes out November 20 and I will be seeing it on opening night :) This is one book series I will read again, for sure.

I haven't gotten into the Harry Potter series yet. But, I think I'm long overdue to read those. What do you think? Should I?



Fabulous movie. Fabulous book. A ladies' favorite. Duh on this one :)


This is an older book that was made into a pretty sweet movie with Natalie Portman and Ashley Judd. Again, book is much better!


Ever see the movie Simon Birch from a while back? It was based off this excellent book. Another must read. John Irving is a great writer.


And here's my most recent to finish:


I loved this. Guys would like this a lot, too. Wonderful, spiritual story of a boy from India whose family operates a zoo. The family decides to move to Canada and sell the animals to other zoos. Mid route on a cargo ship across the Pacific with the animals, the ship sinks....leaving the boy alone on a life raft with a bengal tiger. Have I captured your interest yet?

And on to what I'm reading now... My Sister's Keeper.
I've only been reading it for 2-3 days and have almost finished.

This has been made into a movie that's being released this weekend. I'm sure it will be great, and will make me cry :)

If you like to read, please tell me about some of your favorites!!!!
Oh, and here's where I keep all posts about books.

Happy summer reading!

One year later

One year later. I can't believe it! I know this post is a day late, but let's walk down memory lane for a bit. Will you indulge me?

One year ago, I woke up the happiest girl in the world.



I spent the day with my best friends lounging and getting ready.



I anxiously awaited marrying my groom! He couldn't wait either...



I had my something old, new, borrowed, and blue...



One year ago, I was the bride I had been dreaming about being since I was little...



We were surrounded with people we love and adore



Our closest friends and families were there to witness the biggest day of our lives...



And one year ago, the moment we'd waited for had finally come!
We were Mr and Mrs :)



One year ago, I danced the sweetest dance with my dad. I'll never forget his contagious happiness that day, too. (Happy Father's Day, Dad. I love you!)



We enjoyed the cake and champagne....

One year ago, we left as "just married" newlyweds.

And one year later...we still feel just married :)


We're thankful for the blessings we've had this first year and pray for many more years of wonderful marriage!
Here are a few pics from our celebration at the beach:



We had beautiful weather and enjoyed every second!



In fact, the weather was so good that no matter how much sunscreen we applied, we got burnt. In the above picture, you can see the strings on the back of my top-- at the end of that day I had an exact white mark of where they were tied in a bow. Everything else was hot pink. Though hilarious, it was painful! I guess SPF 45 isn't strong enough these days!



Special anniversary dinner out at Marina Cafe in Destin.

Then we had champagne and cake....

The top layer was strawberry and believe it or not, one year later, it was fabulous! We even had leftover grooms cake and it was great, too. I think we both said it over and over again how surprised we were that it wasn't awful!

One year later, the best part of the day was watching our entire wedding ceremony DVD. It was so special hearing us say the vows again- we both teared up! After all, those promises we made are the most important things of that day. Not the cake, champagne, gifts or photos. But, the vows. They still give me chills :)

Happy anniversary, Keith! I hope to celebrate 5, 10, 20, 50 more years!

We're out

At last. Vacation is here! We are so ready to start relaxing and doing nothing in the sun.
No emails, no stress, no to-do list, no agenda. Everybody needs time like this!

We're headin' out very early in the morning, or at least that's the plan right now.

I've got all the goodies ready:


This bottle of champagne has had that note on it for one whole year. I remember going to pick out our wedding champagne with my sister, she's an expert!


Our cake is inside this container. My mom took the liberty to decorate it while we were on our honeymoon. Pretty cute Jan-y!!


Of course, I strategically pack things in the most tropical bags and baskets we have :) We've gotten in the spirit around here...

And we have our priorities right : margarita mix, straws, and chips and salsa!

I think I'll be a new woman after this trip. I can't tell ya how much we need this little excursion!

We're takin' the laptop so we can upload pictures, so I'll probably make a post or two :) Much love to our readers! - The Joneses