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Sunday, January 8, 2012

Our Honeymoon (Part II)

I know I know, it's been forever since I wrote about the honeymoon and said I would finish... let's see how good my memory is.

For part one, visit this blog: Our Amazing Honeymoon

The third stop on our trip was Mahogany Bay, Isle Rotan in Honduras.  This part of the trip, we had scheduled a Snub adventure.



Snuba combines what is easy about snorkeling with the experience of breathing underwater like scuba.  Dave had done it before and that's all he had talked about and said he wanted to do it again, so we did... a bunch of us actually took the on the adventure together. 
Jeff, Mandy, Bobby, Dave, Chaunte, Mike, Ryan & Allison
It was so awesome.  You have an oxygen tank floating above the water with airlines that go about 50 feet deep. I had some trouble getting deep the water though cause my weigh belt wasn't heavy enough so one of the instructors had to help me halfway through to add more weight then I went straight to the bottom.  The place we went to has a photographer and took some awesome pictures for us....




After our Snuba adventure, we headed back to the main part of the island and checked out some of the bars before heading back to the ship.



Our fourth and final stop was Grand Cayman, a place we've been before. It's actually the place we told his mom we got engaged! 
One of my favorite pictures from our honeymoon
Here, once again, we didn't have any plans. We just decided to do some shopping, walking around, eating and of course, drinking.
Kelly, Susanne, Chaunte' & Debbie (My Moms!)
 No stop could be complete without going to Margaritaville -- This one has a pool and waterslide inside... pretty awesome.



During our stop at Margaritaville, Dave disappeared for a while and I admit, I got really upset because I was waiting on him to order food.  I was starving!! He was gone for about 30 minutes and then I saw him come back to a different table with some of the other group with us and he hung out there for a while.  I was so frustrated... at that point, I just decided to order.  Dave finally came to the table, and had a surprise for me.  Before going to the restaurant, we had stopped in the Pandora jewelry store for his mom.  I fell in love with their charm bracelets... and really wanted one but Dave had left his credit card on the ship and we had to tender to get to the island, so it was pretty much impossible to get back to the ship in time.  Dave and Kelly had actually snuck down to the store, and bough me a bracelet!




Our final day on the ship was much like our first full day... relaxing by the pool, buying last minute gifts, more putt putt and checking out the finale show, which one of our friends got to be apart of.  We had such a great time and hated to see it come to and end.  Now that's it's January 2012, we are already making plans for our next trip to sea! 


Saturday, January 7, 2012

Happy 2012!

Happy New Year! It's already 2012... seriously, where is the time going? I've already been out of college for 4 years, let alone this year will be 9 since I graduated high school!  Whoa! And it doesn't help that my birthday is next week.

Anyway, Dave and I had a very low key New Years Eve.  We hung out with our friends Brandon and Kim, who recently got engaged.  We grabbed dinner at a pretty new burger joint before heading to check out the Stingrays hockey game. Even though the guys lost, we still had a great time! 





After the game, we decided to check out a new bar in North Charleston, Big Horns.  We thought it would be packed but it really wasn't bad.  We had a great time... the bar supplied us with party favors and champagne for a midnight toast. 

Kim & Brandon




Instead of making New Years Resolutions, Dave and I came up with a list of things we want to do this year: This is what we've come up with so far:
  • Buy A House
  • Miranda Lambert concert with Kim & Brandon
  • USC vs Clemson baseball game in Charlestn
  • Attend a USC baseball game in Columbia
  • Go back to Atlanta for a Braves game
  • Chic-Fil-A Kickoff weekend in Atlanta for Tennessee Game
  • Visit my mom in Kentucky
  • Weekend visit to Asheville, NC and The Biltmore
  • Carolina football games with Stee & Josh
Here's to a great year with great friends and family in 2012!

Friday, December 30, 2011

2011: The Year In Review

It's hard to believe tomorrow is the last day of 2011.  This year has had it's ups and downs, people have come in and go in my life , but overall, 2011 has been a great year.

I figured my last blog of the year could be a reflection of big events that have taken place throughout the year.

As always the year started with my birthday along with so many other friends celebrating their birth.
We had people over for game night and had a lot of fun.

26th Birthday

Shortly after that day, my "nephew"  was born. My friends Melissa gave birth to Reid.  He's the cutest kids I've ever seen and I'm not saying that just because he's my nephew, he really is!


Reid Lewis

In February, my friend Josh G. received orders for deployment. Dave and I were lucky enough to be in Columbia they day he flew out and were able to see him off along with my mom, our friends Krystle & Joe and Josh's fiancĂ©, Stee. 
Me with Josh & Stee

My friend & sorority sister Prissy got married as well that same weekend. I got to reconnect with a lot of girls I hadn't talked in since graduation, so it was opportunity to see some many faces! Congrats again to them, they are so cute and such a sweet couple!

Andy & Prissy (Photo Courtesy: J.Kay Bryan)


March & April were full of events related to the wedding. The ladies at the church in Columbia that I grew up at hosted a bridal shower for me.  It was such a fun time. I was really glad that one of my bridesmaids, Amanda and my future in-laws were able to make it since it was during the middle of the week. 
Church Bridal Shower


Christie, Melissa & Tracy also host another bridal shower/bachelorette party for me at the clubhouse at our apartment complex.  We had an awesome time, with lots of laughs. 
Bridal Shower/ Bachelorette Party

Melissa, Christie & Tracy
May of course was the best month of the entire year.. it's the month I married buy best friend and became a Turner. We also went on our 7 day honeymoon cruise. 




You can see more pictures from the wedding here and some other pictures from the honeymoon here.  ( I know, I never finished blogging about the cruise... one day....) 

In June, we took things slow, trying to get back to normal life and get our place in order after being invaded with wedding gifts.  I did host my first ever lia sophia jewelry part with my friend Heike. Us girls had a great time trying on jewelry and of course, spending money!
Heike with lia sophia
We celebrated the 4th of July with some friends and family out in Mount Pleasant and caught the fireworks show on the Isle of Palms.  

August and September were pretty busy.  I got a chance to finally see Hootie & The Blowfish in concert for the first time. It was great to see Darius and the band get back together and play in their hometown. 



I also worked with a non-profit for a while and met a great person that I have now become good friends with.  Even though we no longer are apart of that organization, we are hoping that in 2012 we can create a new one to give back to our military. Susan is such an inspiration and I'm so glad to have met her!

With Susan on 9/11

My grandparents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this year.  They were on a read trip to Texas over their anniversary, so they decided to have a vow renewal ceremony in October at our home church.  About 40 people showed up to show their love and support.



In November, Dave & I got the chance to go to the Florida vs. USC football in Columbia.  Our friend Josh got to come home early from deployment and got tickets.  We sat in the end zone -- great seats -- and it was the perfect game to go to! It was homecoming so I got a chance to see a bunch of friends who were in town for the game.
Josh & Dave



Thanksgiving we spent in Columbia with family.  My mom & stepdad came down from Kentucky and Dave's family came up from Augusta.  
The weekend after Thanksgiving, Dave had to leave for El Paso, Texas for a month of training for work, leaving me back in Charleston by myself.  Boy, that was the longest month of my life.

During December, my best friend married her best friend in a small ceremony! Suzanne & Matt got married on the 17th in Athens, Georgia.  They are the sweetest couple and are perfect for each other! I'm so happy they found one another. 

Suzanne & Matt

Dave happend to return the same day I was in Athens for Suzanne's wedding, meaning he got to come home a week early and we'd be able to spend more time with his mom for Christmas.  We spent 4 nights in Augusta. On Christmas day, my grandparents and uncle came down to exchange gifts and have dinner.  We had a great time. 

The Baxter-Brown-Dasher-Turner Family!

Our First Christmas


Those are just some of the highlights of the year. I'm really looking forward to what's in store for 2012! 
From our family to yours, Happy New Year!

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Pinterest Finds

So by now, you've probably realized I'm loving Pinterest! I have found so many recipes, DIY projects, and gift ideas on the website, I worked on so many of them while Dave was on travel for work earlier this month.

I wanted to share some of my favorites recipes that I haven't taken time myself to capture pictures of or write up. With just about every recipe, I have done something a little different to make it my own.












Pulled Chicken Crescents














Death By Oreo Cupcakes




















Honey Glazed Chicken & Bacon Bites




















Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Hope We Can Be Together...

It seems like just yesterday I was posting that I was a married woman -- but it's been 6 months already.  It's so hard to believe!  The time has flown by so quickly but I couldn't be any happier.














For our 6 month anniversary -- my wonderful husband sent flowers and chocolates to work.  Everyone thought they were beautiful...














 but it's the card that had everyone laughing..














"The last six months has been wonderful being with you.  Hope we can be together the rest of our lives."

Hope??? Dave says the lady at the florist was older and asked him multiple times what he wanted the card to say, but apparently she misunderstood.  We spent the evening at dinner with some friends who just got engaged.  Congrats to Kim & Brandon!!

Now that we've made it past the 6 months mark and through Thanksgiving, Dave is off in Texas working through Christmas. It sucks to be alone but he's making great money while on travel.  I look forward to getting to pick him in Atlanta and spend Christmas with his mom in Augusta.

While we are talking mushy love...  I wanted to share some of my favorite pictures from our wedding.  Judy Kay put so much time into editing our photos.. I can't thank her enough.  She had over 2,700 pictures from our wedding.... I can only imagine.  She sent us a disk with just over 2,100!!































































































Like I said-- these are just a few!