Our Story!

July 4, 1996 Our First Summer!!!


On Kelly's blog she is doing a post on how you met your sweetie!! So I thought I might share! I am not as great a story teller as Clint, but this is how it went down, according to me!
1995- Senior Year- I get a job at Cobb Theaters Brook Highland 10 Cinemas! That December I met my other half!! Clint walks in and literally there are explosions all around!! Electricity! Chemistry! There were fireworks!! I felt alive~ When we met my heart started beating, blood pumping, I took my first breath! Clint was so cute~ the best looking guy to ever enter my world! He was/is funny, fun, kind, cool, a christian, responsible, smart... and the list goes on and on! The day I met Clint, I was changed, I was hooked there was NO going back! Never in my life did I want anything more than him, he was THE one!! We dated for 3 1/2 years before we married, but our first summer together was a dream, a fairy tale... we worked together, went swimming, saw bands, road trips, watched movies, hiked, canoed... a truly magical time! When we weren't together I missed him- all day long he was always on my mind and during the night I dreamed about him! I always wanted him around! I couldn't get enough of him (and I still can't)! I felt more like myself when I met him than I ever had before~ I know that sounds weird to need some else to be yourself~ but it's because he is part of me! Every day I thank God for my best friend, my true love!

Tiny Dancer!

A couple of weeks ago Francie got her costumes for her dance recital!! I think they are adorable, she looks so cute in them!! It has been so great for her to have dance this year~ She loves it!! I really think it has helped her balance and coordination, plus she loves her teacher and she has made some really sweet friends! It won't be long til this class will end! :( I know she will miss dance so much during the summer, but we hopefully can pick it back up in the fall!





















I am interested in seeing how Francie does at her recital!! She is a little ham (like her daddy) so I am hoping that she will show off and not get embarrassed or shy on stage! I thought I'd share a couple of pics of her costumes (dandelion is the ballet costume and blue bird is the tap costume)!! I'm also throwing in a hilarious pic of me in my costume (a belly dancer- not exactly the best costume for chunky little five year old)! I had measles so my cheeks are extra chubby!! Ha!

Prom!

Last Friday, one of my best friends, Angie, called and asked me to take some pictures of her son (her camera had broke)! :( He was going to prom that night and he and his date would be at the botanical gardens with some friends! Well I met her~ I have taken pictures of her oldest sons 2 proms, so it was neat to take these, too, of Andrew! Angie has four HANDSOME sons! ***It's easy to take great pictures when you have beautiful scenery, beautiful people in beautiful clothes on a beautiful night!!*** I had so much fun!! Andrew and his date looked so great!! My least favorite part was that I felt so old! I mean when I met Angie, Andrew was 9 or 10!! So to take prom pics of him when he is 17 makes me feel like an oldie olson!! Just thought I'd share a few~ they came out so good~ I was happy!! (If I could ever find the Photoshop my dad gave me a couple of years ago they would be better)!


















This is my prom picture!! Can it be 15 years ago?

The Rock Show

Music has always been important to me. Silena has always been important to me. Therefore, it was no accident that within months of the beginning of our relationship I took Silena to her first club show. Friends, rock is a beautiful gift and I firmly believe that it is most fully enjoyed in small clubs with no more than 2,000 of your closest friends. (or people you barely know, whatever) In the fall of 1996 I took my sweetheart to see Cracker and Wilco at the Five Points Music Hall. (R.I.P) We got to be in the front row as Jeff Tweedy of Wilco fell off the stage as he tried to kick in his distortion on "So Misunderstood." We got to watch as David Lowery of Cracker managed to make some dude in the audience so mad that he took off his newly purchased Cracker t-shirt and threw it on the stage in disgust. Needless to say, it was a great introduction into the world of club shows for Silena and since then we have made many great memories as we built the live soundtrack for our relationship. Sebadoh. Hum. Swervedriver. Polvo. Yo La Tengo. Mary Lou Lord (solo at the mighty Nick!). Robbie Fulks. Dwight Yoakam. Willie Nelson. Johnny Cash! (that's right friends, on his final tour ever at beautiful Chastain Park in Atlanta by candlelight and under the starlight with the rednecks, hillbillies, frat boys, yuppies, and mohawk sporting punks!) Beck. The Cardigans. Atari Teenage Riot. Junior Brown. (Like 6 times!) Charlie Robison. Les Savy Fav. (Dude hung from the ceiling like a bat and had his mutton chops shaved on stage while singing...while singing!!!) Modest Mouse. (With Graham in late May in beautiful Athens, Georgia with a gourmet meal in our bellies as we strolled beneath the mighty oaks of UGA before heading for the famous 40 Watt Club.) Drive By Truckers. (Alabama's own at the mighty Nick several times and the beautiful Alabama Theater twice.) Lucero. Andrew Bird! Los Campesinos. (authors of the most epic song title ever: "This is How You Spell Ha! Ha! Ha! I Destroyed the Hopes and Dreams of a Generation of Feaux Romantics") Titus Andronicus. Bon Iver. (the only word I can use to describe that show is...you know what? There are no words to describe how beautiful that show was.) All those years and most of the aforementioned shows were witnessed in Atlanta and Athens, Georgia. Now that we are old(ish) and responsible(ish) bands I love are coming to Birmingham. Every once in a while a show works out perfectly like it did on Saturday night. It's no secret that Silena is a complete "Twihard." (I can't believe I just used that term...) Her favorite track off the New Moon soundtrack is by a band called "Band of Skulls." (What else would they be called?) One of my favorite new bands is called the Whigs, from Athens. (Where else would they be from?) Well, friends, both bands played at Workplay on Saturday in a co-headlining show! It was unbelievable! Despite a somewhat meager crowd, both bands did their best to rock our faces off. It was an all ages show so we got to be the creepy old people there, but we didn't care. I was with my sweetie and my ears were ringing. That, friends was living. I have a video to show you which I'll attach at a later date. For now enjoy Silena's photos below. Rock on... The Whigs... Band of Skulls...

Better Late Than Never!

We have had technical difficulties this week, so my "Easter Memories" title got scratched for this title!!

Easter has always been one of my favorite holidays~ first for the meaning~ how could I live a single day without His amazing grace! Next, probably because we always got new clothes and shoes!! Third, CANDY!! Plus, it doesn't hurt that it is spring!! This year was a perfect Easter the weather was absolutely gorgeous! Beautiful! Some years we have rainy, cold Easters~ never as fun and enjoyable as the sunny, warm ones!!
We made some sweet memories this year!! The night before Easter, we dyed Easter eggs and made Resurrection Rolls (very fun and tasty)!! The next morning we ate candy that the Easter Bunny had brought us for breakfast, went to Sunday School and church, then went to my aunt's house for lunch and an Easter egg hunt!! It's always great to visit with everyone~ it's pretty sad we only see some of them once a year and others only twice!! We all had a great time though!! Hope you had some pretty special times too!

The Old Rugged Cross

On a hill far away
Stood an old rugged cross;
The emblem of suffering and shame.
And I love that old cross
Where the dearest and best,
For a world of lost sinners was slain.

So I'll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it some day for a crown.

Oh, that old rugged cross,
So despised by the world,
Has a wondrous attraction for me;
For the dear Lamb of God,
Left His glory above,
To bear it to dark Calvary.

To the old rugged cross I will ever be true,
It's shame and reproach gladly bear,
Then He'll call me some day
To my home far away,
Where His glory forever I'll share.

So I'll cherish the old rugged cross,
Till my trophies at last I lay down;
I will cling to the old rugged cross,
And exchange it some day for a crown.


"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16