a Year & a Half

Mr. GrapeJuice and I will somewhat "celebrate" being married for a year and half during the millisecond between midnight on June 30th {tomorrow} and 12:01 on July 1. And, by celebrate, I mean that I am going to revel in the memories of our wedding while he is sleeping off the many drinks I'm sure he will have tomorrow. {He's golfing, and we're going to a BBQ.} And, how better to update you quickly {since I seriously suck at blogging}, than with pictures. Lots and lots and lots and lots of pictures!!!!

Here are some from our special day on New Year's Eve 2010!
{in case you haven't seen them}

 {my dress}

 {the bridesmaid dresses with the hangers I made them}

 {the necklace my grandmother made me & my shoes with clip on earrings for a little extra sparkle}

{my flowers put together by my mother with the family heirloom wedding handkerchief}

 {me in my dress; one of my fav pics!!}

 {our first look}

 {the girls and I}

 {mr. grapejuice and his merry men ;)}

{the boys messing around}

{our first dance}

 {kissing @ midnight}

{some reception details}

We haven't done much since celebrating our one year anniversary. We went to a wedding in February, and I just have to say that college weddings are a blast!

{us @ the wedding with a couple of college friends}

{matchy matchy us}

 {messing around between group pictures}

 {my big and I}

 {my apartment mates from senior year}

 {dancing like fools}

 {sorority picture with our bigs and littles}

 {with my big again}

 {my twin, my big, and me}

 

{the twin and I}

 {mr. grapejuice doing the worm}

 {breaking it down on the dance floor too!}

We also went on a cruise with the whole family! It was absolutely fun but not much relaxing was had. We ventured to St. Thomas/St. John's, St. Martin/St. Maarten, Barbados, St. Lucia, and St. Kitts. I'll be honest - I didn't take many pictures of the two of us together. I'm obsessed with nature photos! In fact, I think I only have two pictures of us together during the whole vacation. One "professional" from one of the ship's formal nights and one from when we went zip lining in St. Lucia.

{mr. grapejuice}

{mr. grapejuice, rihanna (our guide through the rainforest), and me}

{our professional photo that I edited; a group of our new friends forced us into taking the photo because the poses were absolutely terrible and seriously awkward!!!}

Here's to hoping the future is just as great as the past 18 months of marriage have been!

For Izzy

I don't mean to be a downer on a beautiful Monday, but I just had to share this story. It's quite wordy, but I promise you'll get to see the cutest baby at the end!!!

First, here's a little background:
I attended Belmont Abbey College in NC, and while there, I performed in the theatre.

Last week, I saw a post on facebook from one of my directors and his wife about a former Belmont Abbey student.

Here's what it said {posted on June 18}:
"PRAYERS ARE REQUESTED FOR WYNDI BOSTIC SIFFORD:
This young lady had her first child three weeks ago. The baby, Isabel Virgina, arrived at 30 weeks and at 2 Lb, 3oz. SHE is doing very well. Almost up to 4 pounds!
Wyndi has now suffered a stroke. It happened after going to the ER late last night. She was treated for vertigo, medicated, and sent home.
The doctors are doing everything they know what to do.
Please pray for Wyndi, her husband Daniel, and baby Izzy. . ."

Then, a couple days later, I see this {posted June20}:
"Wyndi passed this evening, surrounded by her families, Debbie and Christopher. Eight people were allowed to be with her at the end. She was an organ donor, and when we were in the waiting room after it was over, about twenty minutes later her husband Dan called us to attention and announced that her kidneys and liver had already been transplanted. From this unspeakable tragedy comes new life, and it was comfortning to know that while we grieved, other families found joy as their loved ones received the gift of life from Wyndi."

And, today, I saw this:
"Please visit http://www.forizzy.org/. It's a tragic story but it doesn't have to have a tragic ending."

Naturally, I headed over to the site to see what it was all about because little miss Izzy is super cute! And, here's what the About Us section has to say:
"The idea for www.ForIzzy.org began June 19, 2012 in a CMC-Main waiting room. Isabel Virginia Sifford, then only a few weeks old, was being treated in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit after being born 10-weeks premature. Her mother, Wyndi Bostic Sifford, a healthy and happy 29-year-old, had days earlier suffered a massive and debilitating stroke that would eventually take her life.
. . .
What We Need From You
Isabel has already been dealt the cruelest blow: she will never know her mother. However, we hope this website will serve as a time capsule of sorts to allow Izzy to know her mom as we did: a caring, kind, and loving woman who cherished her family and friends. We have created a section of the website called "About Wyndi." Post your stories about Wyndi there. Isabel may never meet her mom but when she's old enough to read your posts, she'll know her mom."

The last bit "What We Need From You" nearly broke my heart! It's so honest and so real. If you have a moment today, please check out the site. I promise you'll get to see the cutest little girl!! And, if you have it in your heart, please donate your money, your thoughts, your prayers, or any combination of what you can do to help sweet Izzy and her daddy.

{source :: forizzy.org}

caramel macchiato popsicles {it had to be done}

I'm on summer vacation and am slowly losing my mind! I'm trying to stay as busy as I can, but there's only so much prep work I can do for next school year without feeling overwhelmed. Ugh, such a paradox!

Anywho, in my summer spare time, I have been on facebook, twitter, pinterest, and repeat. I've been painting my nails, trying to find delicious healthy meal options, getting teaching inspiraion, and motivating myself to get in shape. Someone had pinned a picture of Starbucks Frappacino cupcakes then I saw a picture of chocolate chip cookie dough popsicles. Well, that got the wheels in my brain turning, and I decided that someone needed to make Caramel Macchiato popsicles. I scoured the internet trying to find a recipe or something that I could follow so I could make my brainstorm. No such luck! {sad girl.}

So, yesterday, I was out with my mom having girl time, and there was a Starbucks near us. I decided that I wanted a Caramel Macchiato...having been thinking all about them the day before! Not only did I buy one for myself, but I bought a Venti to take home and make into popsicles. Maybe you saw my tweet yesterday?

Well, the husband {mr. grapejuice} had one this morning and said they were a success!!! {insert squeal here} And, now that I've been a good girl today and have made good healthy choices, I'm going to treat myself to one as well! {yummmm}

Seize the Summer!

I have big plans for myself this summer, and I figured I'd post about them on the first official day of summer - TODAY! 

1. As a teacher, I take the summer to review how the past year went and what I can do in the upcoming year to make it better. So, I'll be doing that as well as getting everything ready for my classroom too! {my teaching blog} Even though this pretty much explains me {and every other teacher} to a T!

2. My in-laws visited a week and a half ago, and, obviously, I had to clean my house. Now, my goal is to "keep" it clean. To help with that, I found a great cleaning calendar {here} that I have posted in my kitchen. I want to get a cute frame and hang it on the wall, but this'll do in the meantime. I also bought an iRobot yesterday!!! If you don't have one of these, you are completely missing out. It's completely awesome because I can vacuum and clean somewhere else at the same time. Total score!!

3. I want to get my body healthy and in shape! This means lots of fresh food and plenty of exercise. I'm very comfortable with how I look, and I've pretty much accepted it {except on "girl" days, as I call them, when I feel completely disgusting - you know what I mean}. Mainly, I just want to get the jiggle under control and prepare myself for the Disney Princess Half Marathon in February 2013. {check out my "princess training" tab above!}

 4. I am going to go on vacation to the beach come hell or high water!!! I want to sit/lay on the beach and drink yummy drinks with girl talk and chick lit books. Anybody want to come with?!

5. Last year, my parents put in a pool at their place. So, I'll obviously be there a lot too getting my tan on! I cannot tell you the last time I had a legit tan...probably because I NEVER have! When I went on my cruise this past March, I got a little bit of color and, by going outside for recess nearly the rest of the school year, I managed to maintain it. Now, I've got some great color and am not see through anymore!!!

{sources :: pinterest, mrs. orman's classroom, ebay, pinterest, ebay}

Adventures in Babysitting

If you follow me on twitter or are my friend on facebook, you probably noticed a lot of cuteness going on! Well, my sister's babysitter was out of town on vacation, and, since I'm a teacher and off on summer vacation, she asked me to watch Olivia.

Of course, I said yes!! It was a total no brainer. Spend time with a cute kid? Duh!

I just wanted to post some pictures of all the things we did last week. I'm sure you've seen 'em all by now, but, I wanted to get back into the habit of blogging so I'm starting here! She's a cutie patootie, in my humble opinion, but I might be a little biased since we're related!

 

{she put on her rainboots and watched the world outside as it rained}

 {Olivia and I}

{please excuse my nasty cough and severely ugly face at the end}

{chillin' in Olive Garden waiting for our lunch}

 

{she found a pair of my reading glasses}

 

{munching on some oreos}

 {she refused to let me leave nearly every day}

 {my sister and the little one}

 

{playing with her new toy at McD's}

 

{gettin' her drink on}

 

{eating popcorn with a spoon}

 

{"cleaning" the house}

My sister blogs all about her adventures with Liv if you want to check it out! {Liv.Laugh.Love.} And, how can you say no to such a sweet girl!

A Tourist

{warning :: picture heavy post}

Last week, I become a tourist in my own town.

The inlaws came for a visit and wanted to do some touristy things around town.

So, on Friday, we went to The Grand Ole Opry and did the backstage tour. I'd never done it before, and I've lived in the Nashville area since I was 7! I'm not a big country music fan, but I did enjoy getting to go backstage and on stage! I mostly loved going on stage; it's my favorite place to be in the whole world!! {That's another post for another day though.}

After our tour backstage, we went to The Opryland Hotel. This is a place I've been numerous times. The inlaws have visited too, but they saw it right before the Flood of 2010. So, we ventured over there for drinks and dinner. We ate at the Jack Daniel's restaurant, which was soooooo delicious! I had the ham sliders. I can still taste the cheddar biscuits. YUM!!!

Then, on Saturday, we visited The Hermitage, which is the home of President Andrew Jackson. I'd visited here before and "performed" here too. When I was in 4th grade, the school that I attended {and teach at now} partners with the historic home to let the kids be Junior Docents. We got to dress up in period clothes and stand by an appointed spot on the tour. We then told the visitors all about the spot they were at. I think I told people all about the slave quarters. I remember it being a lot of fun!

 

After visiting The Hermitage, we headed over to my parents' place to hang out at the pool. It was a perfect day to chill and enjoy drinks. We had all planned on going downtown but didn't feel like fighting all the CMA Fest traffic. Instead, we hung out at the pool for the rest of the day.

We didn't do much on Sunday. The boys went golfing, and the girls hung out at the house. {My MIL had homework to do.}

It was a great weekend, and I really enjoyed being a tourist in my own town. Do you do that with your friends and family? I'm always reluctant to at first, but I always enjoy it in the end!