Chocolate and Crawfish

March has been a slow month in the Smith household, with only a few highlights. Craig and I attended the Mobile Chocolate Festival at the end of February. For those of you that know me, you know this would be my heaven. To be honest with you, I expected to enter the event down a waterslide of chocolate syrup into a pool of hot fudge while being showered in chocolate chips. I was considerably disappointed that this was not the case. There were few actual chocolate vendors, and even fewer vendors that gave out samples of their products. Thankfully, it was for a good cause though. Most goodies had to be purchased, and I ended up with a massive chocolate and caramel apple. However, my favorite was definitely the chocolate martini. I would have snuck back several more times to this booth, but alas, I was on call.

Craig and I attended the Corey Smith concert at the Soul Kitchen in downtown Mobile on March 2nd. This was an anniversary gift for Craig and certainly was not my choice in music. He loves this dude though, so I thought it would be a nice outing for us. Besides… the multiple alcoholic beverages made it more tolerable on my end. It was a good night.

Mid-March we finally decided to put one of our excellent wedding presents to use for the first time. Craig’s sister, Wendy, gave us a crawfish boiler and accessories, and Craig finally decided to go for it. We had a bonfire and boiled crawfish with all the fixings that turned out pretty darn good for the first go around. Craig was so proud of himself.

We worked our schedules out so that we could have a three day weekend off together for travelling to Memphis to visit Craig’s best friend, Robert, his wife, Holly, and their newborn, Seth. Come to find out, they had already planned a trip down here that very weekend. In true form, Craig and I procrastinated and had to rush to clean up the disaster area that is our home the day before our friends arrived. Of course we didn’t finish, but I had to check out early the next morning (gosh, I sure hated that…) to attend an old friend’s baby shower. Yeah, I know. Another one bites the dust. The shower was held at Phoenicia’s Gourmet in downtown Ocean Springs on Saturday morning for breakfast. I put my crafty diaper cakes skills to use and created another great elephant themed cake. The venue was excellent, the food was great, and Kathryn looked good as a prego. Still, I can’t get over the fact that she is gonna be a mommy. I thought she was going to be the one that would hold out like me. Nonetheless, little Cooper Ellis is already much loved. I headed back to Daphne for our crawfish boil with the Johnsons. This batch turned out even better, and the company was excellent. And an added plus for Craig, he got his baby fix for the month.

  

Last blog, I talked about planning a vacation. Well, we have the next one planned out and booked. But, I am going to leave you hanging because I’m tired of writing for right now. I guess you’ll just have to check back in with me in a few days to find out the details. We are SUPER excited!

Cheers!
Tara

Wat up Dawg?!?

Another Month Gone By

I haven't been as diligent with keeping my blog updated as I was when I was on hiatus. I have to admit, I really miss being able to live my life doing what I needed to do for myself. But, as a grown up with large financial responsibilities, you can't live that life (or at least I can't). As far as thrilling trips and events goes, nothing notable has happened since my last blog. However, my family suffered a significant and unexpected loss. It was my first real loss of a loved one, my uncle Paul. My aunts and uncles have always made themselves important in my life. They are always there for me in more ways than one. It has been very tough, and I have encountered many emotions throughout this time. But I do know one thing, he is in a much better place now. He was a good man. Please pray for my Mimi and Poppy. My heart hurts, but I can't imagine the pain from the loss of a child.

Tina, Drew, Tristan, Craig and I traveled to Jackson, Mississippi to visit Mindi, Joey and Everett at the end of January. It was Tristan and Everett's first time meeting each other. Stephanie, Michael and Madison came to visit as well, so there were a house full of mommies, daddies and babies - less Craig and I, and boy did I hear it. I'm getting used to it though and just shrug it off. It will likely happen one day, just not right now. The kids played and showed off their milestones while the adults held good conversation. Joey made some great burgers that Craig is still talking about. It was a nice trip just to step back and appreciate great friends and company. I miss being able to hang out with these folks, and it is always tough to say goodbye since we all live a good distance apart. But, I know we will always find time to meet up and who knows, maybe one day we'll all have a condo or cabin to go to as a yearly trip for all of us.

 

 

 

Currently, Craig and I are discussing our next vacation. We have a family one planned in June already (Williamsburg, Virginia), but we want to do something for just the two of us as well. We really liked our cruise last January and are strongly considering that option. Other places we have talked about are the Florida Keys, Gatlinburg (both of which we have free place to stay), Niagara Falls/Canada, or traveling abroad although Craig does not like that option. We have the means somewhat (thanks to our tax return), but we just need the place. As far as in the near future, we are trying to find a weekend to go to Memphis to visit some friends and their newborn. Hopefully, Craig and I will be able to work out our schedules to where we both have the same weekend off. We also have a concert coming up this weekend. I bought Craig tickets to see Corey Smith, one of his favorites, for our ten year together anniversary. Yes, ten years! Can you believe it?! 

Cheers!

Tara

 

Laurence Paul Williams

June 10, 1957 - January 17, 2013



End a Year, Begin a Year

The Smith family had a wonderful Christmas. Craig and I both had to work on Christmas Eve, but we were able to travel to Mississippi that evening. We piled up the kids, minus Junebug, which I felt really awful about. When I was telling her "goodbye," she ran up the stairs and gave me a "how could you" stare. I felt bad but didn't want to hang around long enough for her to accept my apology. We dropped the doggies off at my parents and headed to Craig's parents house to stay the night. Craig helped to prepare the Christmas Eve breakfast and was very pleased with himself the next morning when everyone was stuffing their faces with "breakfast quiche." He has since made it again and it turned out just as good without his mother's watchful eye.

 

 

After breakfast, we headed over to my parent's house. We got to say hello to my dad (he was working) and then went to my Mimi's and Poppy's for lunch. As always, the food was amazing. Everyone helped just like during Thanksgiving. Mimi made an apple cake that was an old family recipe. I've never had it before and it was the first time I had seen her make it.  I did miss the Blueberry Crunch that she normally makes but I was pleasantly surprised how good this new cake tasted. Definitely something I will request again. After lunch, we all just hung around and socialized. It was good catching up with everyone. I haven't been around as much this past month due to the new job. A few hours later everyone was ready for seconds and after everyone was finished, we opened gifts.

We left for Craig's house once again, this time with puppies in tow. They were super excited to see Maggie (Craig's parents' dog) and very upset when we had to put them up in the boat house. It was pretty stormy which made it worse. We went over to Craig's Mamaw's for the Cumbest get together and ate the family's traditional shrimp gumbo and potato salad. I was miserably full, but I guess the feelings were not the same for Craig. He was able to shovel in a second helping while I was in my food coma. We opened gifts and shared conversation. I only get to see them usually once a year and all the kids have grown so much since last year. We went up the road back to Craig's parents to open more gifts. As in previous years, I was very blessed. I can honestly say that I have some of the best in-laws in the world. They have always treated me as if I was just another member of the family.

We had to wait for the storm to pass and didn't get home till 11 and had to unload the very full car. Unfortunately, we both had to work the next day, so we didn't get to play with all of our toys. A few days later, the fur babies got to unwrap their gifts from Santa. Apparently, he visits the pets a couple of days after Christmas. They had such as good time unwrapping the presents. Check out the videos of them. Super Cute!

 

 

 

New Year's was pretty low key for us. We had to work New Year's Eve (imagine that...). We were invited to a party in Ocean Springs but decided to stay in because I wasn't feeling very well. Yeah, the life of an adult is super exciting.... So far, the new year has treated us well. We are both healthy and employed and very blessed to have each other. Our ten year anniversary (our first date) was on January 9th. I can't believe we've been together that long. We celebrated by going to dinner on the causeway at my favorite restaurant, Felix's. I highly recommend eating there if you are ever traveling across the bay. It was delicious, and the staff made it a very special night for both of us. I also want to say thanks to three guests that have stayed at our home these past few weekends. Robert, Tiffany, and Davo. We had a blast with y'all. Thanks for the company! We are looking forward to a very prosperous 2013. Happy New Years everyone. May you be healthy, wealthy, and happy!

Cheers!
Tara

Our 10 year Dinner Date

Anniversary Lilies

As I Wait

Today is the end of the world. Well, not so far. I woke up this morning as Craig was leaving for work. I asked him, “are we still alive?” “Yes, Tara…” I’m glad I have today off so that I can spend time with my fur babies though. As I am waiting to meet my maker, I will post the pictures from Bellingrath for your viewing pleasure.

We went to Bellingrath Gardens with Tina, Drew, Tristan and Allison the first weekend of December after decorating our house. Bellingrath is the home of an insanely rich guy. He wanted to please his wife so he surrounded it with a giant garden. These folks are long gone now and the gardens are open for public viewing. During the holidays, thousands of lights are put up for viewing. Craig and I went last year for the first time. We enjoyed it, so I think it may become a tradition for us.

Cheers!
Tara