Heartbreaking

This past weekend, Hardy and I went with my mom, stepdad, younger brother Trevor and stepbrother Alex to Dismals Canyon (http://www.dismalscanyon.com/) located in Franklin County, AL (far northwestern part of the state).  We headed to Alabama around 11am on Friday and once we met up with my family, we headed towards Dismals (post on that to come later).  During our trip we passed through Pratt City, AL, Hackleberg, AL and Phil Campbell, AL - all of which were hit by tornado's back in April.  It was amazing yet heartbreaking to see a perfect town one minute, then not even 1mi down the road, nothing but rubble, houses in pieces, tree's twisted and uprooted, clothing, roofing, washers/dryers/hot water heaters all strewn about...people's lives changed forever.

I don't think the following photo's need any explanation, but I wanted to share them with you as I know we're limited to what the news shows us.  These specific photo's are of Phil Campbell and Hackelberg of which were hit by an F5 tornado.  It claimed the lives of 29 people in Hackelberg and 26 in Phil Campbell.

Phil Campbell, AL

Residents of these towns have been and continue to gather what is left of their belongings.  Is it pushed to the edge of the road for later pick up.

It's hard to appreciate such a pretty blue sky behind these remains

Hackleberg, AL

WILW

I'm LOVIN' that we got our first Disney Cruise notice in the mail

I'm LOVIN' how great Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides was.  However, I am NOT Lovin' how expensive it is to go to the movie's these days.

I'm LOVIN' that this weekend is Memorial Day weekend - - hello 3 day's off with serenity!!

Well...that's all I can think of.

For the love of cats!

Saturday night my sister in law, Kristin and I went to Killer Ink in Buford and got paw prints tattooed on our left wrist (the ones I posted about a while ago).

I'm not going to lie, it hurt REALLY bad, but the pain is only temporary. I've probably looked at it a million times since it was finished and love it more every time I think about WHY I wanted it. In fact the lady who did our tattoos was a cat owner herself, so it appeared she wanted to do a good job. I will forever be reminded of our first two fur babies and how much joy they have brought and continue to bring to our lives.

This is for you Tinker Bell & Flower...

Mama loves you, even if you have no idea what this is.

Wedding's Wedding's Wedding's

Love is in the air....

Somehow I managed to take a picture of myself that wasn't half bad...

On Saturday May 14, 2011 our good friends Danny & Shannon (whom we met through the haunted house) got married.  They actually used the same location we did - - Gainesville Marina on Lake Lanier.  It was a beautiful day to get married and they were adorable!!

Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Hart!!

I also got to see my friend Rhiannon.  She is the daughter of Rusty - the mastermind of the haunted house.  She's grown up so much in just the three years I've known her!

___________________________________________________________

Congratulations Heath & Chelsea!!

My nephew Heath (from Hardy's family) has been dating Chelsea for a little under a year and they're expecting a baby boy this July. Heath is planning on enlisting in the Navy after taking the ASFAB in June. Because he's expecting a baby and joining the military, he wanted to make sure he and Chelsea were married before turning in his paperwork so that as a family, they will all receive benefits. I'll admit I along with the rest of the family was taken aback by all of this....we're just now getting used to a new baby coming soon and now they're getting married?!?

Society still frowns upon having children out of wedlock, but it certainly shouldn't be your only reason for getting married. I tried talking with Heath & Chelsea to make sure they were making the right decision, that this is what was best for the baby and them as a couple. They swore they loved each other and felt they were doing it for the right reasons.

The family was informed Monday (yes May 16th) that a shotgun wedding had been planned for Wednesday May 18th. I was speechless, I didn't know what to think or say...I kept pounding questions.

We all showed up to Collins Hill Park around 6:20 to start setting up for the wedding. The food/cake/decorations were all set up under this giant gazebo right on the lake while we awaited guests to arrive. Finally (might I add almost 1hr late Chelsea!!!) the wedding began right off the edge of the lake.

I think overall, it turned out better than expected. Unfortunately some mutual friends of ours didn't show up and they were out a photographer. I decided to step up to the plate and do the best I could with what I had. I was slapping myself for not even bringing my own camera "just because", it's not top of the line or anything but it does take some pretty decent photo's. Unfortunately for the guests who were taking pictures, I fear my fat ass was probably in every one of their photo's. I was trying my best to get all angle's of the ceremony as a photographer would and since the camera I was using didn't have the best zoom feature, I had to get pretty close to the wedding party. I was able to snag a few cute one's during prayer though - - that way no one was bothered by me being all up in the bride/groom's business.

As soon as it was over, I snagged the happy couple to take a few shots together since this day could never be repeated (unless they renew their vows sometime in the future). I think for the limited resources and my lack of experience in photography, I still managed to get some really cute picture's.

She sure makes a cute 7mo pregnant bride ;)

So congratulations Heath & Chelsea Payne. I wish you all the best of luck in your future together and can't wait to meet your little boy.

What do y'all think??  Should I pursue photography? lol

It's been a while since Hardy and I have taken a decent photo together...so this is one from last night

A year old and still delicious!!

For our wedding, instead of the traditional multi-tier wedding cake, we had several small cake's of different flavors baked in bundt pans.  We put flowers in the middle of the cake(s) to display on the guest tables.  We actually didn't even eat our cake on the day of the wedding, things were so hectic it just didn't happen.

Since our cake was small, we froze all of it as a whole.  It was wrapped several times in saran wrap then sealed in a double lock freezer bag.  I put it out to thaw on Sunday May 8th (our 1yr anniversary) and we each had a piece of it.  After the first bite, we both looked at each other and couldn't believe the cake had been in the freezer over a year, it tasted like it was just baked that day!!  The moisture and flavor was still there.

I ended up bringing the rest of the cake to work on Monday and every one thought it was fabulous.  I waited to tell them it was a year old AFTER they enjoyed a piece of it and they were all amazed.

So - THANK YOU Donna for making a delicious cake that withstood a year in the freezer :)

WILW

ZOMBIE'S

You know....the re-animated, living-dead....walking corpses.

Yep, I love em' , I don't really know why.  I've always enjoyed zombie movies.  In fact, I've had the pleasure (if that's what I should call it, ha ha) of playing a zombie in the haunted house, it's quite messy but oh so fun.  I still get scared watching certain movies, but I always go back for more.  Night of the Living Dead, Evil Dead, Return of the Living Dead, Resident Evil, Day of the Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Land of the Dead, Zombieland....the list goes on and on. 

Could you imagine if zombie's were real??  The world would for sure be a SCARY place then.

Whew just looking at these photo's gives me chills!!  I apologize in advance if these photo's produce nightmare's.

Here are some photo's of me as a zombie:

Yaddi Yadda

Not much going on this week....

Heath (Hardy's nephew) & Chelsea are getting married tomorrow - big unexpected event, but I wish them luck and hope they prove every one wrong.  They have a baby due in July.

Pirate's comes out Friday.  Hardy and I plan on seeing it after work - - I can't wait to see more Jack Sparrow!!

Work has been busy busy busy, it is springtime FOR SURE.  If you have a lawn in the Metro-Atlanta, Athens, or Charlotte, NC area - - please check us out!

http://www.kinggreen.com/

The Disney cruise is over 4,000 hours away - can you math wizzes figure that out? ha ha