TAILGATE TIME

It's almost that time of year again and we are getting ready.  On my vacation and with the help of a friend, Ryan and I have our own cornhole boards.  We have already tried them out and they are so fun.  We kept with our family them of "House Divided" and painted the cornholes the same way.  So, anytime you're looking for an afternoon of fun, come on over for some cornhole!!!

More River Fun

Well, Ryan caught his "big one" at the river!  Of course, all of our adventures come with a story.  I'm not sure what our lives would be like without some sort of funny or not-so-funny detail. 

Ryan and I got up that Saturday morning to see nothing but blue skies and calm waters as we ate our breakfast and packed the boat to go fishing.  It was a beautiful day, but extrememly hot!!!  We headed across the river and fished and then decided to try a different spot. By this point, we had a nice trout in the boat (caught by me :)).  After fishing some time, and with me catching a nice flounder that you see in the picture, we saw some fish breaking in another spot.  So we headed over and started casting.  I caught another really nice trout and Ryan was catching smaller drum.  Well, then it happened.  Ryan had a really nice fish on.  I grabbed the net and was leaning over the boat.  Ryan was still reeling and as the fish came to the top of the water, it came off.  I was able to get a glimpse of the fish, and he was HUGE!  I went for it with the net and got him!!!!!!  We jumped, hollared, and gave high-fives because it was such a big flounder and we thought he was gone.  Mr. Flounder measured around 23 inches and weighed in at 4.1 pounds.  Ryan says that's the biggest one he's ever caught... or did I catch it?????  That's the question. hahahaha! Of course, Ryan says he brought him to the boat.  :)  

We had such a great time together fishing.  I truly cherish these great times with my husband when it's just he and I together in the stillness of a hot summer day.  I only look forward to many more of these times as the years go by.

Mama June's visit

Ryan's mom came to visit us for a whole month!  How blessed are we???  We are here in front of our new grill that she helped us pick out.  We enjoyed an evening of margarita's and steaks.  We miss you and are looking forward to seeing you at Christmas!!!

Mr. and Mrs. Derek Sanderson, Jr

It's official!  Derek and Ann tied the knot on August 1, 2009.  YAY!!! 

Viva Las Vegas and Grand Canyon

The Weavers and the Smiths journeyed to Las Vegas, NV and the Grand Canyon for my 30th birthday and the Kyle and Kimberly's wedding anniversary.  We stayed at the Luxor in Las Vegas and took a day trip the the Grand Canyon.  Ryan has been to Las Vegas, but this was his first time seeing the Grand Canyon.  It was absolutely beautiful.  We had a wonderful time.  We were completely exhausted when we returned, but it was worth it!

Got-em-on Tourny

We fished our first tournament of the year in Takin' Chances this past weekend in Wilmington. We started out at 4 am and came in around 5pm. It was a long day. This is a King Mackeral Tournament that Ryan and Russell fish every year they can. This year the team consisted of Me, Ryan, Russell, and Greg. With anti-seasickness meds on board, I was ready.

There were moderately rough seas that a.m. as we headed out to our first fishing spot. We had a few get off and caught some small kings. We moved on to other spots throughout the day and ended up keeping one small king, two Mahi, and one spanish. It was a long and tiresome day, and unfortunately we were unable to way in "the big one".

Greg and I tested out the bean bags and they were great for catching naps in the sun. Despite the meds, Greg and I didn't feel so good during the trip. We were happy to come in and announced that this was probably our last tournament. :( There were lots of laughs and stories afterwards. Thank you to Ryan and Russell for all the hard work during the tournament and Greg and I slept off our meds.

Pickin' Strawberries

I could not believe my ears when Ryan said he had never picked strawberries!!! And he loves strawberry shortcake!!! I was happy to show him the ropes on pickin' strawberries. We were in a bit of a rush because I was on call for the hospital and was a little stretched on distance from the strawberry patch to the hospital. We had a great time and it was such a beautiful day!!!

Although it was probably no big deal to Ryan, but I have so many memories of going to the strawberry field and picking my own. Well, I had to capture the memory of today of his first visit to the strawberry fields!

Visit from Mama June

I am definitely trying to get use to this blogging thing and I'm way behind. I have been very lazy about taking pictures, but now that the weather is warm I am doing better.

We had some beautiful weather while Ryan's mom was in town so we took her out for her first ride on Takin' Chances. We had a little delay getting started that morning due to my truck getting broken into, however, that didn't stop us!

The water was a little choppy, but it was so nice to be out on the water. We are looking forward to creating many more memories on Takin' Chances and catching lots of fish!

We had lots of fun while you were in town, Mom June, and can't wait for your return. We love you and miss you!

Holiday Time

This posting is a little behind being that we just rang in the New Year. However, I really wanted to post our first Christmas together. Ryan and I spent our first married Christmas together mostly in a car. I got off work at 3 o'clock on Christmas eve, came home and finished wrapping presents and then we were off to Greenville. Mom cooked an awesome Christmas Eve supper and then we opened presents with Grandma Jean and John.

Christmas morning came and Derek, Ann, Ryan, and myself enjoyed the excitement as my parents opened their Blu-ray player. We finally surprised them good on Christmas. We shoved down some sausage balls and headed to Kinston to visit Grandma Thelma. After visiting her for a few hours, we came back to Raleigh to visit Ryan's family.

So, we opened presents with the Weavers and had another delicious meal and finally made it home. So, as a family (Cooper included), we opened all of our gifts at 9:30pm. Whew! We were tired! And here is our family photo in front of our tree after all the presents were opened. We had a wonderful, busy, Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Our Paradise

Ryan and I got married on October 25, 2008 and was the happiest day of our lives! For those that do not know, Ryan and I met two years ago while he was waiting to have surgery on his knee. He asked me out for dinner and the rest is history. God's work is everywhere! Even in Ryan's time of pain and my misery in school, God led us to each other.






Here are a few pictures of our wonderful honeymoon in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. We golfed, swam, snorkeled, sailed, ate a lot, and relaxed. We had such a fun time in our little paradise. For now, we are still living in Cary and are currently looking for our future house in the Knightdale area. A shorter drive to Greenville would make a lot of people happy!

ECU and NCSU

We are both looking forward to our favorite college football teams going to bowls. Ryan and I don't exactly agree on who is the best college football team. I am a die hard Pirate and Ryan loves the Wolfpack. So, we compromise by tailgating with Pirates for most home games and watching all the NCSU football games on TV. Sounds fair, right? We are both excited to watch our teams and thank goodness they are not playing each other. Here is a picture of us tailgating at this year's rival game.

This is our first Christmas as newlyweds! We put up our very first Christmas tree in our little apartment. Of course, we took pictures and can't wait for Christmas day!