so here's what's been happening....
pat's cousin laura turned 21. naturally, we wanted to do something extra special for her big birthday, so where better to spend your 21st than in spring break capital, panama city beach??! i happily asked for an entire 7 days off work (i need the r&r), and pat is on vacation month, so it worked out perfectly. we all rented her a penthouse overlooking the gulf, and drove down on saturday july 9th. we tore up pcb until the 16th, 2 days before pat and i's 2nd wedding anni. a lot of celebrating went down.
the view of the beach from the penthouse.
in good, classy fun, pat and i constructed and decorated a "shot board" for lu's birthday!
(pat did the "engineering" of getting the shot glasses to stay on)
of course, a lot of long beach days. i love being on the beach for breakfast, and not leaving until time to shower for dinner. the best feeling in the world. this is me, laura, and eme.
eme, laura, me, and pat. this picture makes me smile.
we drove past a beach store one morning, and patrick decided he couldn't live without a shamu float for the beach. here is joshua, shamu, and pat. obviously, my husband doesn't get to have a lot of fun.
pineapple willy's. a MUST in pcb.
another MUST in pcb is to "fit in" with the locals and vacationers by creating your own airbrushed attire. pat and i designed these for laura and joshua.
needless to say, a good time was had by all, and it was a LONG ride back home, but worth every single minute.
on the 18th of july, patrick craig and i celebrated our 2nd anniversary as husband and wife. looking back on the last 2 years, it seems like such a long time! i know people usually say "time flies by" and it does, but i look back and i always see myself with pat-- not only in the last couple years. of course the wedding was an absolute blast, the honeymoon, amazing, but life with my husband is indescribable. i can be moody, difficult, selfish, insecure, and all those other weird things that guys never understand about women, and he's right there. right with me. always beside me. always loving me. in this world of "what's going to happen next" mentalities, it's priceless to have someone you will always come home to. always hug. always kiss. always love. always count on. no questions asked. he is that and so much more. i am beyond-words, thankful.
for our anniversary, patrick had polished our engraved champagne glasses (in all his spare time), and planted sunflowers for me by the fence outside (our wedding flower, and the flower that always reminds me of my grandparents). he claims i didn't even notice... but i did. then, he almost verbal accosted the weedeater guy that completely demolished the small stems popping up, even after pat made a very clear sign that there were flower growing there, not weeds. oh, our life together. i love this man.
that weekend, in celebration of our anniversary, my birthday, the mullen's anniversary, and claire's coming-up birthday, we all went to nashville for the weekend. corey and claire are our very best friends, and we have a blast when we're together. claire loves nashville, though she had never been, and considers it something to "mark off her bucket list." she's like me in the way that any place where you can slap on some boots, a dress, and find some good music is a good time. nashville is exactly that and more. we all went to the grand ole opry, where diamond rio and josh turner were headlining that night, along with some old country greats that i've never heard of but fell in love anyway. we got live bands in the many bars up and down broadway to sing to me for my birthday. corey peed in a urinal next to billy currington. music city, tennessee.
"hollywood with a touch of twang"
27, so far, is not that bad. it's still life and it's still fun. i have an amazing family, and amazing friends. though in saying 27, i can almost hear myself saying 3-0... but i'm not even going there.
