NOLA, Oxford, and Birmingham

It seems like we are traveling in every direction each free second we get these days.  Whenever Alan has a few days off in a row, we hit the road! Here is a brief recap of our recent "get-away" adventures :) Sorry- It's gonna be a long one...

First, Alan and I went to New Orleans for a few nights to celebrate our 6 month anniversary. We are only 2 1/2 hours away from NOLA and it is such a fun place to visit! So much to do and so much to eat! The weather was perfect and we soaked up every second of our time together. We can't wait to go back again soon!! 

Our lovely hotel

Dinner Night #1- Jacques-Imos. New Orleans style! So yummy!

Cute truck parked in front of the restaurant! 

Late night stop for Beignets! 

Cafe du Monde

Day #2- Full of sight-seeing! Lunch stop at Port of Call. Another delicious meal! 

French Quarter 

With my Love 

Alan's favorite part of the trip. Visit to the WWII Museum. 

Heading out for Dinner night #2

Had to stop for a pic with these guys on Bourbon Street! Didn't know if they were real or not?? 

Dinner at Mr. B's! 

Such a wonderful evening! 

Could've listened to this jazz band all night on Bourbon Street! SO good! 

Brunch at Stanley! HIGHLY recommend this!  

Stopped for a Po-Boy at Johnny's on our way back home! Perfect ending to a wonderful trip! 

We appreciate all the great recommendations (Holly and the Hogans) and will be visiting again real soon to explore New Orleans more.  I think you could visit New Orleans 50 times and NEVER eat at the same place. The choices are endless and they all seem to be so good! My kinda place :) 

The next weekend we headed to Oxford, MS for the Ole Miss vs. Auburn game.  Our dear friends that have become like family to us here in Jackson put on one serious tailgate party and we had a blast!! BIG thanks to the Hogan's for allowing us to crash at your adorable condo and spend the weekend with you all! We don't know what we would do with you :) 

Me, Carly, Elam, and Miss Tully enjoying the tailgate! 

Seems like we are NEVER cheering for the same team :( But we have FUN and that's what matters!  

Ran into this Arab gal and enjoyed sitting with her and Trey during the game!! 

Ole Miss is such a beautiful place and it made me really miss my college days!

Our last stop so far this month was the one and only- Birmingham! Home Sweet Home. This is by far my favorite place to visit because some of my most favorite people in the world live there....and I got to see almost all of them in one weekend so I was one happy girl! I finally got to catch up over a delicious dinner with my best friend from college, Courtney. We always seem to be so busy chatting away that we never remember to get a picture. She is a blessing in my life and it made my month to see her and spend some quality time together.
I also got to go with this little lamb to Boo at the Zoo.....

Most precious lamb in the whole wide world.

Love this!  

She had a ball!  

We missed you Grandaddy!  

She loved the mouse! 

I miss her so much! She is a precious gift from God and I couldn't imagine our lives without her!  You are one loved little girl, Anna Scott Laney! 

While we were in Birmingham, we got to spend some time with Alan's family! Alan's brother, Jeff, is the lead guitarist for Eric Church!! They happened to be playing at the BJCC while we were in town, so Jeff got the entire family backstage passes to the concert! It was so neat to see the "lifestyle of the rich and famous." Eating and sleeping on buses, waking up in a different parking lot each day, and performing for thousands of screaming fans most nights! Crazy and cool, but I don't think I could do it! 

(Pictures taken on iPhone- not the best quality) 

On one of Eric Church's tour buses before the concert! 

The crew with Jeff! 

Eric Church! 

Got to see sweet Megs!!! 

Lovin' life with this guy!

We wrapped up the weekend by celebrating my mother-in-law's and JD's (not to be confused with JB..ha) birthday with some delicious cake!!  It was a perfect way to end a wonderful weekend full of great times with great people! 

Happy Birthday! 

I will try not to wait so long to blog again so my post are not quite this long!! Hope you are enjoying this beautiful fall weather as much as we are. 

Praising God for this life He has given me and loving that He has my life in His hands! 

Be back soon!! 

6 Months Ago.....

April 14, 2012- I stood at the altar and made a vow in front of God, family and friends to love, honor, and cherish Alan Tyler Cease for the rest of my life.....

I feel the most amazing aspect of Marriage is seeing God's love portrayed so beautifully as He so intended.  It is an overwhelming feeling to know that God is using our marriage to mend our hearts to be more like His.  Christ's love for us is unconditional. I didn't really grasp the meaning of that until I became a wife. It's a selfless love. A love that does not change under any circumstance.  I am so thankful that God placed Alan in my life for me to love unconditionally.  I will strive each and every day to love him as Christ loves me.

                            "I have found the one whom my soul loves." Song of Solomon 3:4

Belated Birthday Post

I really do not have a good excuse for my lack of blogging lately. We have been busy with the ordinary chores of life and I have not had time to just sit and focus on the blog. Alan has had a really shouldn't be legal busy month at the hospital and I am trying to soak up every minute with him when he is at home.  Can I brag on my hubby for just a second? This month he is working 15-16 hour shifts in the Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU), multiple days in a row (some days, some nights) and once he enters the hospital he never sits down. Not only is he busy but he is constantly making decisions that mean life or death for his patients. These patients are so so sick, and he is handling the pressure like a champ! I am amazed at his dedication and passion for his patients. He will come home at night after a shift and research medical diagnosis that his patients have to ensure that he is treating them properly. And he NEVER complains about how much he has to work or how tired he his. God has called him to be a Doctor for a reason and I am realizing why more and more each day.  He makes me so proud to be his wife. 

Now on to the purpose of this post, to share our recent Birthday fun! August is a huge month for celebrations.
 August 20th- Mom and Dad's Anniversary
August 23rd- Mr. Cease's Birthday
August 24th- My mom's birthday
August 25th- My birthday
We have so much fun celebrating and it is a great excuse to eat big and have cake multiple days in a row! 

Birthday Celebration #1 was spent at Fleming's Steakhouse (delicious) in Birmingham. It has become a tradition for mom and me to have joint birthday dinners. I love that our birthday's are just one day apart. Since we are almost twins (personality & looks) it only makes sense that we share a birthday! Here are a few pictures of our family birthday dinner.....

Birthday Girls! 

Always a treat to spend time with these two

The girls :)  

My Honey 

This baby loves limes! 

Love my family to pieces!  

Present time!!  

She was just learning how to walk. So cute! 

Birthday Celebration #2 took place at one of our all time favorite places, Lake Martin.  We celebrated mine and Mr. Cease's birthday twice! We had a delicious Mexican Fiesta with The Shaws' on Saturday night and on Sunday, Meghan and JD came down for a cookout and some yummy cake and homemade ice cream!

Mexican Feast 

Birthday Brownie :) 

Last weekend at the lake for the summer :(

Not the best quality...thanks iPhone.

Adorable cake from Olexa's thanks to Lisbeth! (And it tasted just as good as it looks)

Happy Birthday to us! 

More presents :) 

I had a wonderful Birthday and felt so loved all weekend long!  I wish for many, many more in the years to come! 

We have a couple of really exciting events planned next month! October will be a lighter month for Alan and we are taking full advantage of it.  I'll try to keep ya up to date on the fun :)

See ya soon!

Happy Times

Weekends have been quite the highlight in my life lately. I find myself singing "Everybody's workin' for the weekend" throughout the week because our weekends lately have been full of fun!! The past two weekends were extra special because I got to spend some quality time with my wonderful family and some pretty awesome friends. I will try and do a "Weekend Recap" to fill you in on all the happenings....

Two weekends ago, Alan had to work allllll weekend long, so I decided to go home and visit with my family.  My wonderful boss was gracious enough to let me have Friday off and I headed for Sweet Home Alabama Thursday evening. I was able to stop in Birmingham and grab dinner with my best friend, Courtney. We were too busy chatting it up to get a picture but it was a much needed reunion and I could have sat and talked with her for hours. She is such a blessing in my life and I sure do miss not living in the same city as her.  After dinner, I was headed for Arab. I realized on my way home that I hadn't been home since Anna Scott's (my neice) first birthday party back in early May.  That may not seem like a long time to some of you, but for those of you who know me, that is almost unheard of! I spent the weekend with my family and got to have lots of play time with Anna Scott. She is such a fun age right now and I loved seeing how much she had learned in just the two short weeks it had been since I saw her!  We spent the weekend mostly eating and sleeping, what I do best :) We  did throw a little exercising and shopping into the mix as well and it wrapped up to be a fabulous weekend at home. Only thing that was missing was my Hubby.  Here are a few pics from my weekend at home. (These were taken with the i-phone so the quality is not too hot)

Me and the best sister eva!

All dolled up

This lil stinker has stolen my heart.

On my way back to Mississippi, I stopped for some TCBY and got to catch up with my all-time favorite 5th grader! I was Lowery's nanny when I was in college and I fell in absolute love with her. Her parents are wonderful and she is like a little sister to me. She is growing up so fast I can hardly stand it. I loved visiting with her and hearing about her incredible summer. I told her that I live vicariously through her....and I meant it. She is a blessing to me.

This past weekend two of my best friends from home, Megan and Haleigh, and their husbands came and visited Alan and me in good ole Mississippi for the weekend!  A little background info: 
Megan and I have been great friends since high school. She and her husband, Scott, were high school sweethearts so we all have been great friends for many years.  We both moved to Birmingham after high school for college, I attended Samford and she and Scott attended UAB.  Megan and I have personalities that just "click" and I love her sweet, calming spirit. I was in their wedding a few years back, and Megan was in ours this past April. 

Haleigh and I go wayyyy back.  We have been friends since we were preschool age. We lived two houses down from one another growing up and have countless stories of our childhood, both good and bad-ha!  We have had our share of ups and downs throughout the years but have remained great friends.  I am so glad that our friendship is now stronger than ever! She also married an Arab boy, Joseph, and they are just perfect for one another.  

I was so excited the entire week approaching their arrival that I could hardly stand it!! I was in desperate need for some friend time.  The weekend came and went so quickly but we had an absolute blast! We ate several delicious meals, did a little shopping, a little tanning, and a LOT of laughing.  I literally laughed until I cried and it felt so good to just kick back and relax with old friends.  It was one of the best weekends I have had in awhile and I can't wait til we all can hang out again! 

Mine and Haleigh's birthdays are in August and Megan's is in July so we did a little celebrating while they were in town!

Megan, me and Haleigh. Thankful for these two and our friendship!

We took the gang to Keifer's for lunch on Saturday. By their "ooos and ahhhs" during the meal and their clean plates I think that it was a success! 

One of my best college friends (and old roommate) Casey, is living in Jackson to complete her schooling to be a Physician Assistant. She stays super busy and I am so glad that she was able to meet us for lunch!

Just looking at this picture makes me laugh! Such a fun group of friends!

After lunch we hit the pool. Scott decided to do some poolside yoga before showing off on the diving board.

And there he goes....He was the entertainment for the afternoon!

Alan decided to get in on the action. This may or may not have ended in him landing flat on his back :) We all had a good laugh.

Love this!

Before our yummy dinner at Bravo! on Saturday night. 

Thanks to the  Dobbs and Cooleys for taking time out of your busy schedule to come hang out with us for the weekend. We loved having you in our home and can't wait for you to come back!! (Next time, we will make sure that the hot tub isn't on set to 110 degrees and doesn't burn your skin off...haha!) 

This weekend I am going to catch up on sleep and relaxation.  It will be the first weekend since we moved to MS that I will have absolutely nothing to do and I am pretty excited about it! I intend to sleep as late as I want, watch as much TV as I can stand, and clean my house. Sounds fun, huh?  Hope your weekend is just as relaxing and refreshing! 

See ya next time!