A Day at the Zoo

Joel and I spent the day in Birmingham a couple weeks ago. After working EVERY Saturday for 4 months, I wanted to get out of Huntsville and do something fun. So, when I woke up on my first Saturday not to work I looked at Joel and said, "Let's go to the zoo today!" I know random...but you have to understand how much I LOVE the zoo. I think the only way I got him to agree to go by telling him that he could see the alligators and that we would eat at the Cheesecake Factory on our way home. Here are some fun pictures that we took:

It was kinda funny that day because you don't see many young couples walking around the zoo without kids. I think we were the biggest kids there. We were more excited to see some the animals than the all the little kids were :)

There is the update...not much else going on around here!

6 MONTHS OF MARITAL BLISS...

Now that we have been married for 6 months, I guess I should catch everyone up on what has been going on in our life. First off, our wedding was absolutely a fairy tale. Everything was exactly how I had always dreamed my wedding would be. Here are a couple pictures from our wonderful day...

We left the next day for Cancun, Mexico for a week. It was the best week just spending time together and laying out by the pool. Joel got so burned on the first day that he had to sit in the shade for the rest of the trip. We went snorkling out on the coral reef one day..it was amazing! One day we decided to venture away from the resort and we got a a city bus (it was only $1 to ride). We told them to take us to a flea market. The bus driver took us into the main city of Cancun (out of the hotel zone) and we did not see a flea market anywhere. We were lost for about an hour just walking around trying to find another bus to take us back. Joel kept trying to act like he wasn't scared for our lives, but now he says that he really was. I mean we pretty much just screamed "tourist honeymooner"! But we made it back and we never left the resort again. Enjoy the pictures...

I guess being married was a little too much for Joel and he ended up having heart surgery at the end of December. He had started having problems with his heart racing and feeling like he was going to pass out a couple weeks before the wedding. He went to the doctor and they told him to just take it easy and come back after the honeymoon. Well, it didn't get any better so we were off to Birmingham for surgery after Christmas. He recovered really quickly and is now 100%. The surgery fixed the problem.

Now that I have caught up up to 2008 this is what has been going on...Life has been pretty normal with the exception of the dreaded tax season and 10 hour work days for me. Joel has been the best husband a girl could ever ask for during the past 4 stressful months. I would come home to a clean house and dinner most nights. But then the great laundry room renovation occurred...we had the the idea to make our laundry room a little bit bigger since it is the main entryway that we use coming in from our garage. It turned into a HUGE project and I learned a lot about my hubby's construction abilities. My man can do everything from knocking out walls, sheet rocking, electrical work, tiling. You name it he can do it!

Well, I believe that is it. Sorry it is such a long post...I'll try and keep it updated more often!

Have a good weekend!

Almost Here!

Well, as you can tell from my countdown Joel and I have 4 days left until we are married. I can't believe it! We were talking the other night about how surreal it is. We have been looking forward to this day for so long now (since I was like 4) and we can't believe that it is finally here. Just a little update on what we have been doing...Friday night we worked on assembling our programs for the wedding (who knew it would take so long to punch 500 holes and tie ribbons through them). I had my bridesmaids luncheon on Saturday morning at Emma's Tea Room. It was so nice and girly...I loved it (Thanks Mrs Berry)! After that Joel and I went to the church and did a run through of the ceremony with our wedding coordinator. Later that night we decided to turn our phones off and just go on a date and not do anything wedding. I cannot tell you how wonderful it was. It was so nice to just spend time together. We have tried to stay really calm this week and just get everything done, 1 task at a time. Sunday we spent the day cleaning the house and washing all the clothes so that we can start packing and on Monday we finished tying all the ribbons on the programs. So I guess the rest of the week will consist of packing for our fabulous honeymoon to Cancun and decorating the church for my (our) fairy tale wedding.

Next time I write I will be Mrs. Joel Essner and I will post several pictures of the wedding and honeymoon!!

Almost Here!

BREAKING NEWS...

Well, in case you were wondering...my hubby to be is now an official Alabama resident and is EMPLOYED!!! Thank you for all of your prayers and encouragement. He got the call back from Huntsville Utilities last Thursday and he will start on Monday. This is such a blessing to our new family. In my opinion it is the PERFECT job for him. He will be the line clearance planner, basically the guy that drives around and tells you that that gorgeous 100 year old tree you have in your yard will have to be cut down becuase it hangs over a power line.

Let the fun begin...

Sorry it has been forever since I posted, but Joel and I have been so busy! We have had 3 showers so far and we are amazed at how blessed we are to have friends that love us so much. Our first shower was my lingerie shower a couple weeks ago. I got such cute and sassy stuff, along with some really awkward moments :) About 2 weeks ago we had a couples shower in Nashville given by Joel's brother and sister-in-law and some other really close friends. They did a shrimp boil with potatoes and corn and of course Frank's special homemade ice cream. We got some really great things along with a gas grill (which we survived putting it together...I tend to get a little, well VERY, bossy when it comes to instructions). This past weekend we had a home and garden shower given by some wonderful couples from church. We had a great turnout and lots of fun. I love to go sit in the guest room at the house and play in all of our new goodies!!

Well, Joel has finally started making the move to Huntsville. He brought a load down last weekend and he is bringing the rest on Thursday. I cannot believe that in 3 days he will be living here for good. We have never lived in the same city much less the same state, so it is going to be a huge adjustment for both of us (I even have to move back in with mama and daddy, since he is getting the house for the next 6 weeks). But I could not be happier.

Right now we ask that you keep Joel high on your prayer list. He is waiting to hear back from a job with Huntsville Utilities that would be such a great opportunity for him. Our prayer is that if this is not the job for him that God will open another door of opportunity for us.

Well, I guess that is about it for now. We will be headed to the lake this weekend for Labor Day. It will be our 1 year anniversary and where better to spend it than where we met!!

(Sorry no pictures, I lost my camera cord. I'll post as soon as I find it!!)

A Weekend to Remember...Or Not!!

Last weekend Joel and I along with Jon, Laura, and Jay went down to Atlanta for a fun, relaxing weekend. The main purpose of going down there was for the wedding of one of Joel and Jon's friends from high school Friday night. Since we were going to be in Atlanta for weekend, Joel and I decided to get Six Flags tickets and go to Stone Mountain (which never happened...keep reading). Ok, so Friday night we went to the wedding which was nice and Joel got to talk with a lot of his friends from Atlanta. Well Saturday morning we met up with some of our friends from Nashville to start our FUN weekend. We went to Six Flags, which was fun except for the ridiculous lines and the scorching heat. Pretty sure that we only rode 4, maybe 5 rides, the entire day...we were there from 9:30 -4:00...next time we will definitely break down and pay $45 for one of those fast pass things. After leaving we went back and got cleaned up to go to dinner and then to see the light show at Stone Mountain. To make a long story short...we ate at Steak and Ale that night. I used to LOVE that place when it was in Huntsville so I was really excited to eat there again. However, before we left the restaurant Keri and I started feeling pretty bad and Joel kept telling me how pale I looked. So me, Joel, Matt, and Keri went back to the hotel to watch whatever old movies come on TV on a Saturday night and never made it to Stone Mountain (which was actually what I was looking forward to the most about the whole weekend). About 11:30 that night Joel started getting violently sick (I now know what for better or for worse means). At about 3:30 he was so severely dehydrated that I had to take him to the ER. I was so scared. I felt so helpless...I didn't have a car there, I had no idea where we were...we just relied on the navigation system to take us to the closet hospital. They ended up giving him 2 bags of fluid and other medicine and then sent us home about 3 hours later, where he slept basically the rest of the day.
So that was our FUN, RELAXING weekend went! Obviously, if we are going to take a trip we are going to do it right. I just hope the trip to Cancun in 2 months doesn't turn out like this!!