Surprise Visitor

So tonight I had a surprise visitor come to the apartment. I was sitting around waiting for Chris to come home when I got a phone call from our long lost friend Brian Schilling. He was outside of our apartment, but wasn't sure if anyone was home ( I had all the lights off....you know conserving energy). I haven't seen Brian since February when the group of us went out for dinner ( see that blog here). Chris has seen him a few times since then at work and such, but we definitely had not seen (nor heard) from him in FOREVER.
I guess it wasn't a total surprise since we had been texting Brian last night and some today. He got himself a new puppy and sent us some pictures! Too CUTE!!!
Well anyway.... Just wanted to share!! Come visit again soon Brian!!

Esther and Brian at our wedding reception!

Knoxville Trip

This past weekend Christopher and I drove to Knoxville to meet up with his brother and parents. We had been talking about getting up to Knoxville to visit Matt since we moved in October, but we just had not made it up there yet. Friday night we went to Soccer Taco for dinner. It was super yummy! We also went by and saw Matt's room. We were quite impressed with the way him and his roommate had the room set up and it was so nice and clean! Matt lives in a building where my friend Nick is an RD. So Chris and I went down and met up with Nick. I hadn't seen him in so long!! It was great to get to catch up a little bit, but we must go visit again so we can hang out with Nick some more!

Saturday Matt's fraternity had a parents/family breakfast. We all got to eat breakfast with Matt and meet some of his fraternity brothers. Matt also gave us a tour of the house. Neither Chris nor I had ever been in fraternity house (Yeah I know we must have been SUPER cool in college), so it was nice to see the "inside" and Matt has really enjoyed his time with his new "brothers" so it was nice to meet some of them too. That afternoon I went out with my Mother In Law (who I love dearly) shopping. It was really nice to get to spend some time with Mom E. and chit chat. The boys went to UT's Orange and White game. The weather was not really cooperating with us and it was super chilly so they only stayed until after the alumni halftime game. Me and Mom E. met up with the boys back at the fraternity house for a grill out before heading back to the hotel. 

Since we were in Knoxville I called up my cousin Kristen and we were able to meet up for dinner Saturday night. Chris and I met her and Micah for dinner at Texas Roadhouse. 

Me and Kristen after dinner. 

It was really good to get to see her (it had been a really long time) and get to meet Micah. Dinner wasn't too bad either. 

Micah, Kristen, Me and Chris at Texas Roadhouse.

On Sunday we got up and met up with Matt to hang out with him before we left. We went down to the river walk to hang out and enjoy the sunshine that had finally decided to come out.

Matt, Chris, and I at the river walk. 

Brothers. 

Dad E., Matt, and Mom E. at the river walk. 

After we left the river walk, Mom and Dad E. headed back to Memphis and Chris and I went to McKays with Matt. It was AMAZING! Chris and I cant wait to go back! If you have never been are in visiting or in the Knoxville area you must go.Check out their website:  http://www.mckaybooks.com/ . Chris and I are already making our lists of movies we want to look for when we go back. We found "Waking Ned Devine" while we were there and we were super thrilled. I think this is one of our favorite "just kicked back" movies. After we left McKays we went and picked up Kaitlyn and headed downtown to Cafe 4. I have heard they have some AMAZING mac and cheese.....and if you know anything about me I LOVE LOVE LOVE mac and cheese. Unfortunately on Sundays they have a brunch menu with NO MAC AND CHEESE! So Cafe 4 is still on our list of places to try. Chris got their lobster and bacon flatbread and it was DELICIOUS!

After lunch Chris and I  (and Opus too) headed back to Huntsville. It was a great weekend trip! We can't wait to get back to Knoxville again. Hopefully next time we will be able to see Jonathan and Megan when we are there next. 

We now leave you with a picture of Opus chilling in the backseat of the car with his MSU hat! He felt he needed to represent while we were in Volunteer Country.

Opus 

The Last Three Weeks.

Well its been about three weeks since I last updated the blog! SORRY!! Unfortunately I haven't been doing anything too exciting with my time so I really don't have a reason for not blogging. Since our busy spring break we took a few weekends of just rest and enjoyed just being around each other and being in our apartment. Here is some of our updates. 

I learned how to effectively use our scanner and managed to upload several "old school" pictures onto my facebook page. I loved getting relive some of those times. I am very lucky to have had such a wonderful childhood and teenage years! Here are a few: 

Playing at my grandparents house with all of my cousins!

Me and my cousin Jonny playing with a baby squirrel we found.
Got to love the curlers in the hair. 

One of MANY dance pictures. This one is of me and my friend Hollie!

Me and Christopher at his Sr. Prom!

Also during that time our dear sweet family dog, Tootsie, passed away. She was getting old and just passed away in her sleep one afternoon. She was the sweetest dog I have ever met, and it was weird being home and not hearing her bark when we came up to the door. She was a very very sweet dog and will be missed. 

Sweet Tootsie!

So last Monday I went to Memphis. I was going to be working downtown for that weekend, and I went to Memphis early to spend some time with the family. On Tuesday my daddy was off work so I got to spend the whole day with him. Then on Wednesday my mom, who was heading to Indiana to visit her sweet friend Iris, stayed in Memphis to attend a funeral for her boss' mother. This means I got to spend the day with my momma and hang out with my Nonna and Memaw. Along with Jennifer and her little girls and miss Chloe. 

Here is a picture of me with the three little girls!

Girls Left to Right:
Amelia, Ellie, and Chloe

Sweet little Ellie really wants to come to "Chris' house". When she thought that I was getting ready to head to "Chris' house" she got up really quickly and asked my Nonna to get her dressed so she could come with me! Ellie also had an accident while I was over there and managed to pee in my flip flop. She got so upset when I got ready to leave and was getting ready to put my shoes on. She kept saying " I pee in your flop Lissy! I pee in your flop!". While I didnt care to much for the pee in my flop! I love that little girl! She is so sweet!!

Really I love all three of those little girls! Ellie is just the more animated one so she is the one I get the stories from! I also got to go by and see my Nanny and my aunt Judie and Uncle Bobby. It was really good to spend some time with them, since I dont get to see them very often. I also was able to go have dinner with my friend Hollie (in the dance picture above) with her sweet son Mathis, and the next little one on the way!! It was a great time to catch and spend some sweet time with an old friend. 

Chris got to come into Memphis on Friday and we got to spend some time with his family too! His brother Matthew came into town late Friday and we got to visit with him some on Saturday.  Also his cousins Jonathan and Megan came into town from Knoxville so we got to spend two evenings hanging out with them as well! It is always so much fun getting to visit with family!

On Friday night/ Saturday morning my allergies decided to act up and at this point I believe they may have flared into the workings of a sinus infection! YUCK! I havent not been feeling well the past few days and my head is so congested I dont feel like doing much of anything! Hopefully this will past soon since we have plans to visit Knoxville this weekend!

On Tuesday morning we had my great uncle Charles funeral. He was great man and will be truly missed. It was amazing to see the number of people that came to the funeral. I was also able to see family that I hadn't seen in awhile. Such a bittersweet time. 

Well tonight we have BOOTCAMP! It was great to be back on Tuesday since I miss an entire week last week! After bootcamp tonight we may try to go to the Huntsville Stars baseball game!! That is if I am feeling up to it....fingers crossed!!

To Charles.

This past weekend one of my great uncles went to be with Jesus. In the last 10 or so years I have come to know Charles and I have learned to realize how great a man he was. He will be terribly missed.
While reading his obituary( http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Charles-Heinz&lc=2230&pid=150122161&mid=4627997&locale=en-US )  I learned that Charles was the 2nd artist to record with Stax Records. Pretty cool huh? I thought so! Its crazy how much you can learn about someone once they have moved on. I found this song of his on YouTube.

I couldnt believe that was Charles! I mean Charles was known for his voice and that man could sing his heart out, but I didnt realize that he had recorded a "pop" song in the late 50s early 60s. It was just a really cool thing for me to find.

If you had ever heard Charles sing in church, than you may be familar with the song "The Anchor Holds" I remember riding in the car with my mom and listening to him sing this song on cassette tape over and over. Even at a young age I thought this song was very special. However the song that will always remind me of Charles and that I will always get goosebumps listening to is "I Bowed On My Knees and Cried Holy". The last few nights I have heard him singing that song over and over in my head. They choose to let Charles do the music at his own funeral and they ended the funeral with that song. As I sat there and listened to him singing those words about entering Heaven I just kept thinking that is what he is doing at this moment. Needless to say I got chills and goosebumps through the entire song.

If you have never heard song I have put the lyrics below. I am working on getting a copy of Charles singing the song and once I get it I will post it as well.

"I dreamed of a city called Glory,
So bright and so fair.
When I entered that gate I cried, "Holy"
The angels all met me there:
They carried me from mansion to mansion,
And oh what sights I saw.
But I said, " I want to see Jesus,
He's the One who died for all."

Then I bowed on my knees and cried,
"Holy, Holy, Holy."
Then I clapped my hands and sang, "Glory,
Glory to the Son of God."
I sang Glory to the Son of God.

I thought as I entered that city,
My loved ones all knew me well.
They showed me the streets of Heaven;
Each scenes to numerous to tell.

I saw Abraham, Issac, and Jacob,
Mark, Luke, and Timothy.
But I said, " I want to see Jesus,
For He's the One who died for me."

Then I bowed on my knees and cried, 

"Holy, Holy, Holy."

Then I clapped my hands and sang, "Glory,

Glory, Glory"

Then I clapped my hands and sang, "Glory,

Glory to the Son of God."

I sang "Glory to the Son of God".

If you have never heard the song it is amazing! And it was the perfect song to end Charles' funeral since he was in Heaven singing "Glory" to his Lord.

SPRING BREAK!

This has been a super busy week for the Edwards household....but lots of fun!

It started last Saturday. Calvin came into town and Chris and I got to go eat Indian with him and do some running around! After Calvin left to head back to MS, Chris and I headed to Stephen and Kristen's to grill out some hamburgers and watch a movie! We love just hanging out with friends and we really enjoy getting together with Stephen and Kristen. :)

Sunday I got to go have lunch with a friend from MSU that lives in the Huntsville area, Allison. I havent seen Allison in what seems like forever. After a little confusion with time change/eating place being closed/change of meeting time/etc....we finally made it to Firehouse Subs (YUM) and had a good time catching up! We will have to get together with the boys soon!

Sunday after lunch I got back to the apartment and Ronda and Joe had already made into town! We got to go running around with them to the usual places (target and bridgestreet)and then went to I HEART Sushi to get some dinner. They left Monday afternoon...but hopefully they will come back to visit with us again very soon!

Joe, Ronda, and Me 

Our attempt at a group shot.

Then Monday night Amelia came to visit! Oh and since it was 3.14 (march 14th) we made PIE for PI day!!!

Cherry Pie and Strawberry Pie

On Tuesday Amelia and went running around (to Target, David's Bridal -to try on bridesmaid dresses, and Costco) to just hang out before going to Bridgestreet to see HANSON! Yes HANSON! It was a free concert and it was AMAZING!

Me and Amelia @ the Hanson concert

Issac Hanson

Taylor Hanson

Zac Hanson

It was a short little shindig but we had a BLAST! I cant wait for them to come back to Huntsville to see them again! Love Love Love them!!!

So on Wednesday Amelia and I went and had a late lunch at Rosie's....yum yum yummy!!!! Then my mom and the three youngest siblings came into town! Amelia headed back to Starkville and me and the fam walked around the apartment complex stopping by the sand volleyball court for about an hour or so. After Chris got home we went to Costco and then headed home for dinner :) Thursday we went to the St. Patty's Day parade and to the Huntsville Depot. We got to learn a lot about Huntsville history and see some trains and things as well!

Mom and Daniel on a caboose.

Thursday night Chris and I went to bootcamp (which killed me) and then came home. Mom had cooked dinner and Chris made himself some "green" beer to celebrate. 

Chris with his green beer

Friday me and fam went to the Space Center. We spent ALL day there. We got to hear Fred Haise (Apollo 13) speak since he just happened to be in town. Mom, Anna, and Daniel rode the Space Shot several times, and Bekah joined them for the G-force. Daniel was not a fan of the G-force, but him and Anna were back in the game for the Rock Climbing wall. They also rode a bike simulator for a moon buggy and mom joined them in that too! We all did the traveling exhibit which was CSI: the Experience and had a great time looking at clues, solving the murder, and putting the report together. By the time we finished with CSI they were closing up for the day (like I said we spent ALL day there)...so we headed home where we spent the night watching a CSI marathon (which just happened to be on) and ordered pizza!

Daniel, Anna, and Mom on the Space Shot

Bekah and Mom watching Anna and Daniel on the rock climbing wall

Anna, Daniel and Bekah outside of the Space Center

Saturday morning Chris and I went to bootcamp and then headed to Adrienne's house to see her and her baby belly with Katie.....before heading home. When we got in Chris decided to take a nap and me and the family decided to go explore downtown Huntsville. We went to Big Springs Park and then walked around the Historic Twickenham District. The kiddos found the children fountain thing where they got to run around in water spewing up form the ground. (they got soaking wet).....then we headed back to the car, but not before finding a tree that they wanted to climb. Only problem none of them could get up in it by themselves so my poor sore arms had to literally pick up each of them to get them in the tree. But the picture turned out cute!

In the tree.

When we got back to the apartment we sat around for a little bit then got everything together for the cookout. We cooked out by the sand volleyball court and had HUGE hamburgers, chips, homemade macaroni salad, and delicious s'mores!

Me, mom, anna, and bekah at the cook out.

Daniel and Chris grilling

Our huge hamburgers

Me and Daniel with S'mores.

With Chris and his s'more

Mom and Bekah with their s'mores

We also attempted to play some sand volleyball...but that only lasted a little while since it got dark out. Today we got up and went to church. After lunch mom and the kiddos head home! Hope they had as much fun as we did!

Well that was our week! This week I hope the weather is as nice as it was this past week so I can go sit around outside and read my new book! Chris and I are looking forward to a relaxing night of not much at all going on!!

Trip to see Johnnie!

So this past weekend we went to Montgomery to see Johnnie.....it was a great day trip (minus the gross rain). We got to go hang out with not only Johnnie, but also Greyson and Evan and Deborah. We got to go eat some yummy seafood, go bowling, and then go eat BBQ. It was a very busy day (with the 6hr can ride and all), but it was really great to get to see everyone. I only took photos at the bowling alley so here you go...also I didnt take very many pictures of the group as a whole :(

JOHNNIE!!!!

Greyson and me ....this yellow wall is really not attractive.

Evan and Deborah!

My cutie!

We are an exciting group!

Greyson is a great bowler! See how interested everyone is!

Johnnie and Christopher

Love this kid!

So that was this past weekend! We are gearing up for a super busy Spring time....lots of visitors and lots of traveling are in our near future (hopefully)!!! As for today....HAPPY BIRTHDAY KRISTEN!!! I got to go spend a birthday lunch with Kristen and sweet baby Kaylie today! It was great!!!

Coming up next......HANSON next Tuesday and Amelia coming to visit too! Also the fam (minus dad and Ted) will be coming to visit us for Spring Break! Woo Hoo!!!!! 

Christopher and I are enjoying life and loving the great time we get to spend together!!!

 I LOVE my husband!!

Whats on your mind?

Hmm....
Today I have just been reflecting on the last few years. I have had some really amazing times and awesome people have been in my life. Just some photos for things I have been thinking about....These are in NO particular order and really just kinda in a really crazy order, but that is how my thought process goes...

This is Tootsie. Tootsie is the Lyons family dog. I love this dog she is the SWEETEST thing in the world.

This is my Masters graduating class! We were a quite close group of people! Loves these guys!!!

Dante, Jen K, Me, Nick, Kylie, Melissa S, Jen H

This is me with my BFF Holly and my newest BFF Katie. They are fabulous.

These are some of the amazing RDs I worked with...
David, Dante, Mickey, Me, Jen K

I love these people! I wouldnt have made it through my first year of grad school without them.

Dante, Jen K, David (notice a trend in names?)

Two VERY VERY special people to me!!

Love you ALI and JESS!!!

Great voice, amazing personality, beautiful person! 

Bridget You Rock!

Two girls I couldn't live without! :)

Eileen and Amelia

If she reads this I hope she doesnt hate me for putting this photo up but I love her and I miss seeing her every day!

Me and Nicki 

Hurst Hall RA Staff (minus Blair)

By far one of the best staffs ever created!

Paul, Me, Brent, Christi, Matt, and RC

He is like a brother to me! Love you Dante!

These two girls have been great since my first year at MSU.

Me, Cindy, and Holly 

Camden Lee Hill

I love this child!

My brothers and sisters...some of the best ever created!

Chris and Matt...again I am so blessed to have the most amazing brothers and sisters (including my in-law!)

Speaking of family! I love all of these guys too!!

My little Jaime!! I need to get a new picture with you and your belly bump! 

Love you!

Paul Hopper and Jimmy Johnson!!

I hope he doesn't kill me for posting a picture of him....but Chris and I love Calvin to pieces!!!

Trips with friends to places like Virginia...

Jen K, Dante, and Amelia

The cutest bulldog fan ever! Sweet little Ellie!

Friends in Huntsville who are extremely awesome!
This picture doesn't include the newest addition Kaylie but I adore her too!

Kristen, Esther, Me, Chris, Stephen, Brian, Elaine

More awesomely BFFs in the Huntsville/Austin area!

Adrienne, Me, Katie, Adrienne, and Holly :)

Opus Edwards

The coolest penguin around!

Some of the coolest girls in Starkville!

Ronda, Me, Bobbie Jo, Laura, Hannah

More Starkville greats! Oh and of course outdoor free concerts!

Jason, Jessica, Chris, Me, Amelia, Jared, and Nick

Again Camden Hill...He is great and his parents are AWESOME!

Not only does this beautiful little girl have some great parents, but she is absolutely adorable! 

Bella I love you and your mom (cindy) and dad (ross)

As I refer to them...Chris' boys

HANSON!!! Who I get to see very very soon!! :)

We LOVE LOVE LOVE MSU!!! Go State!!

Well that definetly is not an exclusive list.....I feel like my mind has been going 1000 miles per hour the last few days! I am so thankful and so blessed that I have had some amazing people in my life. To end this post of 100 pictures I am going to post some more pictures (its only fitting)....

Here are some photos of my and my love (Christopher)

In South Carolina several years ago....its time to go back :)

Chris and I freshman year @ MSU

Honeymoon in Cancun!

Wedding Day June 3, 2010

The night we got engaged!

Before I left for Austin