Have you got a little Captain in you?

I thought this pic was hilarious! Marcus & Kerry went hunting this past weekend & posed for this picture. They are two peas in a pod, it was so good to see Kerry & Landon (Kerry's nephew).

As you can see the boys had a good time...so it still has to be asked: Have YOU got a little Captain in you?

Eating Cake....

There are moments when we retrace our steps, when we meet an obstacle and wonder how we got to that point. Curveballs are what most people call them. Those bumps in the road of life that we laugh about years down the road. But the first moments we encounter those bumps are not so funny. We seem to look up & down, to react at first rather than inspect. We flip out or calmly sit & leave the world for a second. Our minds don't want to face the challenge, they prefered traveling along life's highway with cruise control & barely breaking for the stop signs. But oh when one of those walls springs from the ground, looms over us with such disdain & creates shadows in what was a bright open day we find ourselves a bit scattered. Then our thoughts collect & we retrace. We retrace steps, motions, thoughts, intentions, whatever piece to the puzzle we feel is important we clambor through it. I have frantically searched my mind & memory on multiple occasions. Asking myself "How did this happen? Why did this happen?" I am the queen of constant bubbly personality, but the darkness enfolds even me a good deal of the time. That moment of confusion about the path is one that I do not enjoy, but for some reason over the past 7 years I have truly begun to embrace a philosophy: "no matter what path I took to get to this very moment, I am here for a reason. I need only to breathe, to look around, & find purpose in my next step."
That is not exactly the most comforting or even the best outlook sometimes, but I stay true to it just the same. I know that I may have made mistakes & those mistakes were in some ways really horrible; but the fact that I am now alive, able to have another moment makes the lesson from the mistakes so worth it. Imparting that 'wisdom' to others is daunting to say the least. There is one particular person in my life who tends to really dwell on hard times, to beat himself up when he makes a mistake, sometimes beating himself up to where he loses sight of the lesson, but focuses on his negligence instead. There are many times that the mistake is much more minor than he thought & then there are times where that mistake made such an impact that it weighs on his mind to this day. It hurts my heart to see him torture himself with some things, it is not a trait I envy at all. My easier going outlook seems idealistic & fantastical to someone of his downtrodden tendencies. I guess we balance each other, he is the realist - to a fault, I am the idealist - to a fault. We work well in a great many situations, but on this topic it can be very trying to my psyche. I want to help to be uplifting - he may think that I don't understand the consequences, that my light hearted response is too light, too naive - that isn't true. I know the bad side, the possibility of a harmful outcome, but I also know that if the worst does occur one of us has to be hopeful. It is a scary job to be the one who sees faith & hope in everything, but if it helps him make it through the hard times, then my job is like eating cake - sweet of course and you always remember how good it is....

Presents - Presents - PRESENTS!!!

Okay, Tracy fussed at me for not listing in detail what we got for Christmas so here goes:
From Marcus-
Diamond & Amethyst ring - GORGEOUS!! It is white gold, very vintage-art deco setting with cutouts & pave diamonds. The Amethyst is emerald cut about 2.5 carats (if you had to measure in carats).
DVDs - Because I Said So, Catch & Release, Jeff Dunham's Spark of Insanity (he is a hilarious comic)
Games for Wii - Mario Galaxy
Gift Cards - Ann Taylor Loft & Target
From the Parents (both sides)-
Beautiful blouse
Pots & Pans (we never got any for the wedding & it took me forever to pick out a set I liked)
Earrings, Necklace
Money
From family (drew names - Erica got mine) -
Pier 1 Imports gift card
Bath & Body Works stuff
From Friends & Co-Workers-
Flemings Gift Card
Ruth Chris Gift Card
Cypress Inn Gift Card
Olive Garden Gift Card
Barnes & Noble Gift Card
Visa Gift Card
Target Gift Card
Suncoast Gift Card
Ann Taylor Loft Gift Card
Bow Regards Gift Certificate
Some specialty alcohol
Photo Album

Okay so for any of you that know that I do a huge shopping trip for my birthday, well lets just say I have the gift card area covered this year! :) Christmas was very nice, but crazy hectic. Falling on a Tuesday this year was awful. We drove to Camden Christmas Eve, spent time with Marcus' family, then drove to my parents, spent the night and all day with them.
For the first time ever, I felt like Christmas still has yet to come. I miss the days of being able to spend the before days with my mom - baking, shopping, etc. It really bothers me that I was not able to figure out a way to do that this year! I will definitely take that into consideration with my holiday-day usage at work next year!
Anyway, we did enjoy every moment we got to spend with everyone! We are back at work tomorrow...yuck. But I am counting down to my BIRTHDAY WEEK!!!!! WOOHOO!!!

An Early Christmas...

Well this morning was mine & Marcus' Christmas. We had not really planned to have Christmas so early this year, but due to company coming & traveling to Camden, it was the only day we would have that is just us... So we opened presents! I got so many beautiful & fun things! Marcus does such a good job every year of knowing me so well (now I know I do give him a 'gift book' to select from, but he does choose a few things on his own too). I found him some great gifts, things he had listed & things he was surprised about. Mostly we spent the morning eating cinnamon rolls, curled up on the couch talking & playing with Peanut. I cooked an elaborate spread for lunch (not traditional mind you): Home Fried Chicken, Corn Casserole, Rice & Gravy, Green Beans, Salad & rolls. YUM!!! We really just had a nice very quiet day...This evening we went out to Outback with JR & Fran for dinner. It was so good to see them, they both look great. I always enjoy being in their company. Marcus & Jr can be apart for long periods of time & when they see each other, they slip right back into their comfort zones. It is nice to see Marcus with one of those friends. They are the best type of friend we can have.

Well, the new week is beginning... so much to do in the last days before Christmas. Pray for good traffic, good weather, & great traditions...

Friday & Saturday

Well, yesterday & today was a rumbling rush of activities... Friday night we went up to Birmingham to shop & enjoy a good meal. We of course went to World Market - yum! Now Saturday night was quite a bit of fun. Marcus' friend Alix had a Christmas party at her house, everyone was ever so nice & there was a good bit of laughter which always makes the day a treat. The food was amazing, Alix out did herself! Yummy goodies of all kinds, loads of recipes that I need to get from her. :)

Schedules at the holidays... WHAT IS THAT??

okay here I am - December 10, 2007. Now we are 14 days from Christmas, schedules for activities are pretty much made. We factored in some down time just for us, set up the families for the days we will be visiting, work & try to keep our sanity. Yeah all that typed looks nice, but the reality is the holidays have a tendency to make their own schedules. Kind of like that saying "if you want to see if God has a sense of humor, tell him your plans & hear the laughter". This past fall has been such a whirlwind. We have worked quite hard to make sure we slow down. Yeah - we have failed thus far :)
So this coming up weekend - our supposed "calm" weekend-we are swamped. Friday evening we have plans in Birmingham - dinner & to finish Christmas shopping. Saturday morning I will be baking - holiday goodies for neighbors & a few friends. Evening - dinner with friends. Sunday, oh Sunday - right now it sits upon the cusp of being a lazy day. Cross your fingers my friends, cross your fingers. As for the holiday schedule well that was quite simple to begin with but due to work schedules & travel schedules this Christmas will be quite different than what I am used to... hopefully I will keep a portion of my sanity, at least enough of it so that I don't open the door in my underwear (REFERENCE: In the Land of Women on DVD - grandma rocks!)

The BIRTHDAY WEEK!!!

Woo hoo! It is here... the Birthday week. For those unfamiliar this is how birthday week works:


Definition of Birthday Week – one entire 7 day week, the birthday boy/girl does not have to do ANY chores, is allowed to choose the complete menus of his/her choice for each day (take out is included), gets a gift each day, no nagging or fighting, & are basically treated as a king/queen.


We started this years ago when we were dating. Course when you don't live together it basically means you get a gift a day & taken out to eat or have some special snack. Marriage & cohabitation make it a very intense week at least for the non-birthday goer. The funny thing is, we love it. You know that your week will come so doing those things for the other person is not laborous, not demanding, just fun. Plus the whole of the week is really what we should do any way: no nagging/fighting, treat each other like kings & queens. The gifts each day can range from a back rub, to a DVD or to just going out of your way to do something that the other normally does & take that one thing off their to do list for them.

This year has been nice. Marcus has had some specific dinners requested so I have been hard at work on those, the chores are not bad either (you know I love to clean). This weekend the family came up to see the birthday boy... two great meals & lots of love from everyone. It was very nice, I think Marcus had a good two days (a bit more hectic than he expected, but still good days). He is 28. crazy, huh?

Weekend Activities

Well Saturday December 1st was another concert evening (we are really racking up a large number of concerts this year). The usual gang - Eric, Mindy, Marcus & myself. We saw Gary Allan & Keith Urban at the BJCC. It was unreal. Gary Allan was a bit intoxicated so his 45 minute performace was a bit peppered. Keith Urban on the other hand began around 9:10 p.m. and played until midnight. I have liked his music before, but after watching him play his instruments, hearing his voice sound just like a CD, and the way he enjoys performing, I really like his music so much more now. His set up was awesome almost intimate at times. For a performer to make it seem like only 1/3 of the audience is there due to attention to detail and acoustic performances is impressive. NO major fancy lighting, just band, big screen & the music. He even jumped off the stage & wandered into the audience (to the utter dismay of his body guards), dedicated a song to his wife, & played alone at the piano. Oh by the way, he is also HOT! lol. Probably one of the most attractive men I have seen in real life. (I hope you enjoy the pics...)

On sunday, 12-2, we had the Agee Christmas/Thanksgiving bash in Arlington, Alabama. It was interesting. This year we did it in a church, a bit colder & not as family-warm as usual. Even though there are so many of us, being crammed into a house is a better setting (BTW usually about 80-120 of us are together for Christmas & Thanksgiving). We ended up with nice gifts (we play Dirty Santa) I got a Vera Bradley umbrella, Marcus got a Craftsman Shop Vac. Seeing grandma Agee is always the best part. She is such a sweet woman, how she has survived this growing family, well who knows! :)