MY BIRTHDAY!!!

As I wrote before, Jeremy got me a professional camera for my birthday. He gave it to me a week in advance before my birthday so I could play with it and really because he just wanted me to have it early! I didn't stop him either!!

Well, he really outdid himself for this birthday!! On Saturday, August 16th, I woke up to breakfast in bed Chick-Fil-A style. He said he was going to cook me breakfast but didn't want to cook so he did CFA instead, which I was still happy about. Then, he brought in a new black and white subdress, 2 new white dress shirts, and a new brown skirt he'd bought me. He did a REALLy good job because they all fit just fine and they were really cute!! After that, he told me to be ready by a certain time, which was 10:10. After our road trip down to Woodstock, he dropped me off at Beverly's Day Spa and told me that I was having a massage, a manicure and pedicure, a facial, and that I was also having a spa lunch. Jeremy's sister, Tabitha, was there too with a couple of her friends. We had the same ladies for our massage and facials. I was there for 4 hours and my experience there was so amazing!! What a great way to be pampered. But it wasn't over!!

After Jeremy picked me up, we went home and he, again, told me to be ready by a certain time. We got in the car and drove down to downtown Atlanta. We were a little early for his surprise so we drove around Peachtree Street. Well, I've never been on Peachtree Street before and it was definitely an experience. Let's just say, I was scared. It was like I was in a movie. There were people all over the streets, a lot of people playing chess in the park, people selling things on the side of the road, and we even saw a "vet" in a wheelchair. AND we saw this crazy man with a HUGE tyellow boa constrictor (sp?) like the one Britney Spears had at the VMA's. It was definitely an experience. Jeremy thought it was funny that I was a little nervous. I didn't think it was funny. :o)

Eventually we made it to our destination, which was Agatha's. Agatha's is a mystery dinner theatre in downtown Atlanta. It was a HILARIOUS show! It's an interactive dinner theatre where the audience has speaking parts, roles, and some of us even sang. We all sat in this one room, with walls covered in movie star pictures and movie posters, while the 2 actors played out the scenes by walking around the room. They were so so funny!! We saw at Table 7 and were Bar and Bean. I was Bean and Jeremy was Bar. We were part of the singers. We sat across the table from a young couple celebrating 2 years of dating. They were nice but I can't remember their names. They sang Happy Birthday to the birthday people, which of course included me. The food was excellent as well!! We are definitely looking forward to going back soon!!

After the dinner theatre, we can home to pink and white roses and candles that Tabitha had set up for us. It was a really, really sweet birthday! Jeremy really outdid himself. On Sunday, we went to Sheila and Hugh's house after church for a family birthday party! We had steaks and Sheila did it up right with tons of food, as usual. It was really nice and oh so yummy!

Yesterday, on my actual birthday, I did a whole lot of nothing! I woke up to a school bus and dogs barking but just sat around and slowly got ready. I had lunch at a really cool restaurant in an old train station in downtown Woodstock with my friend, Genevieve! I love Genevieve!! She brought my flowers!! Then, after we stuffed our faces full of yummy food and peanut butter pie, I went shopping. Jeremy also gave me $100 to go shopping with. I got a lot of good new clothes with the money he and his family gave me. I'm looking forward to buying new shoes with the money Mama and Deddy gave me!! When Jeremy got home last night, he walked in with a card and 4 HUGE red California sunflowers!!!! Yeah, he did good!! I got a card from Mama and Deddy in the mail of them singing. I loved my card!!! I had been looking forward to them calling and singing Happy Birthday to me with their harmonies so I was excited that I have it permanently on a card!!

Overall, it was a really, really great and special birthday! Last year, it was an engagement. This year, Jeremy really outdid himself. He really knows how to spoil me! I love and appreciate him so much for always making me feel special and like a princess!! I'm so blessed!!

YAY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!! The big 26!! Pictures will be going up soon!!

New Camera

Jeremy surprised me this weekend with an early birthday present! A Nikon D60 professional camera with an extra lense (it also came with another lense) and lots of other goodies to go with it!! I've always had an interest in doing photography but have never had the tools to really get into it. Now that I have an awesome camera, I'm getting in as much practice as possible. I've been taking pictures all weekend and have hopefully set up a couple of practice sessions with a family and their 3 kids and with another friend of mine. I know a couple of photographers who are already established so I'm hoping I can tag along at some of their shoots and learn from them as well. I've never been so excited and so interested about anything!! I'd love to work my way up to doing professional photography while I am helping raise our kids at home. I'm hoping to get enough sessions and practice under my belt so that I can work up a name for myself and to get a good portfolio going. I absolutely adore doing nature pictures but I would also like to get into portraits, children/babies, families, animals, weddings, parties, and just about everything else. Here are some of the pictures I took this weekend...my first pictures with my new camera!!

Greatest Show

Last night concluded another one of our regular TV shows, the one and only So You Think You Can Dance. We had a lot of favorites this year but the 2 that stood out the most for us were the 2 that made it to the very end, Joshua and Katee. Jeremy was rooting for Joshua and I was for Katee. If you've never seen the show, first of all, you're a complete loser and second, see first reason! Just kiddin'....Jeremy and I remember both Joshua and Katee's auditions from the beginning. We were both impressed with everything about Joshua, the way he moved, his style, his strength, the height we'd get with his jumps, and his overall ability to adapt to ANY dance style and make it look like he's been doing it for years. In reality, he's a B Boy/Popper with no formal training but he executed each dance with such talent and ability. Katee, on the other hand, is very trained and very technical. To put it plain and simple, she's just flat out talented!! Plus, she can make you believe the dance with her emotion and the way she performs the crap out of each dance. It's so much more than just a dance with the pair of them. Funny thing is that they were partners the entire time until the top 10, when all the pairs were split up, but then they were soon reunited when they drew each other's names for partners one week.

The Final 4 came down to Joshua, Katee, Courtney, and Twitch, all of who are incredible dancers!! The Final 2 came down to Joshua and Twitch, eliminating both girls. However, they awarded Katee $50,000 for being the top girl in the competition. They did the same for the top guy, who would also be the winner. When they announced that Katee was no longer in the competition, Jeremy just hooted and hollered. I had to bring him back down to reality because he was happy that MY choice had not won, while I was incredibly disappointed. He was excited that Joshua was still in the running.

When they announced that Joshua had won the competition, you would have thought that Jeremy had just won the $250 million lottery!! He went from laying down to sitting up with his hands in the air like he was riding a roller coaster, just yelling and excited as ever. It made me chuckle a bit that a man who rarely shows a lot of emotion would be so overwhelmed with emotion and excitement!! It was almost as if Jeremy had won the competition! He was so funny!!

I love that my husband likes shows like that because we can enjoy it together. I'm glad I have a husband who doesn't like to come home from work and just sit on the couch and watch SportsCenter. He's such an incredible help, support, and I love that he can watch silly shows like So You Think You Can Dance with me! Nevertheless, we said good-bye to one of the greats of shows last night!! Can't wait for the next season!! American Idol who???

Pictures of Me vs. Mountain

On our way
This was about the only easy thing on this trail!
Me taking one of my million breaks! This was my view looking up! It was pretty with the sun beaming behind it.

LOOK MAMA!!!! WE GOT YOU A ROCK!!!!!
There were lots of butterflies through this one spot!
As Jeremy kept saying..."Almost there!" Tease!!
Look at my baby up on that rock lookin like a stud!!
"Almost there" tease #2 of 10

YES!!!! We made it!! 1 hour and 45 minutes later!! Absolutely beautiful!!


Even after a hard day of hiking, a sprained ankle, and sore muscles, we

still got all cuted up and went to our friends, Matt and Farrah's, wedding. And yes, we

match!!

Me vs. Mountain

Last week, I had an idea for Jeremy and I to go hiking on Saturday. Well, my idea of hiking is walking up a mountain with a comfortable, yet challenging, incline that can give us a workout but also be enjoyable. Evidently, Jeremy had a different idea of what hiking meant because he took me to......Blood Mountain. I mean, the name says it all!! We were freakin' mountain climbing! For a second, I thought I might run into a goat or wild horse somewhere. My heart has never beat as fast as it did on the 1 hour and 45 minute climb up that mountain!! The incline was about the steapest you can imagine and the trail was all rocks and steps going straight up. We were lucky if we were at a level spot for more than a minute. The rest of the way was all up-hill! I mean, within the first 5 minutes of the "hike," I questioned the sanity of my husband! He was a good encourager though! He let me rest as much as I needed to, which was about every 2-5 minutes, and he carried the backpack the whole way!

Although the hike was incredibly difficult, it was worth it to see how beautiful the scenery was at the top! It was a great reward to know that I defeated this stupid mountain and to see miles and miles of mountains at eye level!! We were nearly 5,000ft up! Shortly after a Power Bar and water break, we signed the guest list, which Jeremy signed, "The Cochrans Beotches!" we were on our way back down! I was excited about this part because of course, I thought it wasn't as hard. Well, little did I know that going downhill can be just as difficult as going up but just in a different way! About 1/4 of the way down, my legs started shaking and I couldn't stand still for more than 2 seconds. When we got to about halfway down, Jeremy took a fall and sprained his ankle. He twisted his ankle in both directions and was in so much pain the rest of the way down!

When we finally made it back to the car, after 4 hours of hiking, we were so proud of ourselves. Of course, Jeremy's been on this trail several times and has completed one way in 45 minutes before (show off!). I was just thankful that I didn't give up and that I still had a husband. There were times when I thought I might push him over! ;o) When we got a look at his ankle, it was so swollen! For the rest of the day, we were so tired and hungry! It didn't take much to put us to sleep Saturday night. Unfortunately, Jeremy's ankle still isn't better but I'm enjoying taking care of him and being a good little wife.

Although I'd probably hate myself, I think it'd like to go back and see if I can do better next time, now that I know what to expect! The mountain will not defeat me!!!! I will put pictures up soon! Beautiful scenery!