I am going to start a series on my blog. Apparently this is something bloggers do. I was going to pick a specific day for this series but my schedule does not allow for that so it's just going to be posted randomly.
I am going to call the series "I Believe" and it will feature anything that comes to mind that I believe in. For this first post, I believe in... a food revolution.
There's a new show coming to ABC on March 26 that I am SUPER excited about! It's Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. Jamie Oliver is a world-renowned celebrity British television chef who has written several books and made countless television appearences. He has already made a significant effort in Britain to overhaul school lunch programs to create more balanced meals for kids and is now focusing his efforts on America. Here is a description of the show from his website:
In the series, Jamie heads to Huntington, West Virginia - which has been called the unhealthiest city in America -- to start his new cooking initiative. He hopes to help get Huntington off that list and start a chain reaction of positive change across the country. Jamie says, "The time is right for people to rediscover the sense of pride, satisfaction and fun you can get from cooking for the people you love. There's an incredible community in Huntington, and I want this experience to be a celebration of what we can achieve when people come together. I want to prove that turning around the epidemic of obesity and bad health doesn't have to be boring or dull in the slightest. Wonderful stories will unfold in Huntington, and hopefully this will inspire the rest of the States."
I commend Jamie for his efforts to restore a system of healthy eating in our country. We have become so deluded by the faux food products that line our grocery store aisles. I'm not a total crazy when it comes to eating healthy but I do believe that what we are eating is affecting our health as a nation and a world and there's no reason to ignore that.
Also, and in accordance with this topic, I finished Jillian Michael's Mastering Your Metabolism last month and it blew my mind. Jillian is one of the trainers from The Biggest Loser. It's hard for me to explain the book without sounding crazy so I recommend you just read it for yourself. She talks a lot about our hormones, what they (are supposed to) do and how certain chemicals found in foods, plastics and water affect our hormones and essentially our weight and health. She consults several endocrynologists to credit her research and it was just very interesting to me. It might change the way you buy groceries. It did for me!
If you are pregnant for the first time, or a new mom, my friend Cassie is doing an "Oh Baby!" series of posts on her blog to give new mommies advice about everything from what to bring with you to the hospital to tips on decorating your nursery! I have A LOT of friends having babies now and I personally have found Cassie's advice to be rather helpful (for MUCH future reference) so I thought a few of my friends might benefit from her wisdom also!
This week Cassie asked everyone to add links to her blog about baby shower ideas. I don't know why I never posted about our shower for Brittany Gauntt but I was actually really surprised when I went back through my posts and her shower wasn't on here! So, here are pictures from our green and pink breakfast-themed shower for baby Anna Grace...who is now a 1-year-old!
Brittany LOVES breakfast so we did a breakfast themed spread with bagels and cream cheese, grits, grapefruit, fruit kabobs, breakfast casseroles and probably other things but it's been over a year so I don't remember anymore. :)
I made the diaper cake which was super easy with instructions I found online. (Just Google "How to make a diaper cake" and hundreds of instructional websites and videos will pop up). The hardest part was finding all-white diapers! I had to open 3 bags of diapers in Walmart just to find some without Elmo or Dora stamped all over them!
More decor on the tables. This was SO EASY but so pretty!
The sign-in book and invitation, which was designed by The Quill Pen.
This was the yogurt bar...my favorite! We had fruit and granola to mix in with strawberry yogurt!
More decor and food: Pink Frosted Donuts from Coppell's Donut Palace (the BEST), pink Hersey Kisses and Pizzelle cookies. We used Christmas ornaments to fill apothecary jars and filled the largest jar with water and floating rubber duckies!
We served Strawberry Milk (Brittany's favorite), Orange Juice and Cranberry Juice in clear containers with pink labels.
We used Mint Julep cups to serve the ice water because several of the hostesses owned more than one set of the same kind. One of the best tips I can give about planning showers is to figure out what each of your hostesses own and use it!
We also used pretty antique tea cups to serve hot chocolate, tea, coffee and cider.
One of the hostesses found cute little baby girl ornaments and trinkets so we decorated her Christmas tree with them and put all the gifts underneath!
As Brittany opened her gifts we hung the outfits on the mantle of the fireplace on baby hangers so the guests could see them.
This was one of the gifts given to Anna Grace and I thought it was the cutest thing I have ever seen in my entire life. I am crossing my fingers for a daughter just so she (I) can have one of these!
I don't have a great picture with all the hostesses, but for the record the shower was held at the home of Melissa Fox and was hosted by Melissa, Ann Marie Tennison, Anna Smith, Annie Gasparro and yours truly!
I started this post a LONG time ago when I originally posted about how Preston and I met and fell in love. At our small group the other night we played the Newlywed Game and then we all shared how we got engaged because one of the couples in our group just got engaged last weekend! So I forgot about this post until now because I needed Preston to write this one with me and you know how difficult it is for me to get him to write on this thing. There are always two stories to one engagement and most of the time, the guy has the better story. I believe this to be the case in our story and so we will tell it together because each of us tells our side better than the other.
We'll start in November of 2006 the week of my (Shelbi's) cousin's wedding:
Preston: I had obviously never been wedding ring shopping before so I walked in to the first place I saw and was greeted by the store owner. He sat me down and gave me a 'Diamonds 101' seminar which actually was pretty interesting. After 'Intro to Diamonds' he wanted to help me find the right diamond for Shelbi. To find just the right diamond, I was told, he needed to know stuff about her. So he starts asking me questions, and at this point I am ready to leave, but I oblige. "What color hair does she have?" "How tall is she?" "What is her eye color?" "What is her skin complexion?" - To which I reply, "...What?" Then he asks, "This may sound weird, but does she wear a lot of straight lines on her clothes or a lot of shapes?" I had never really thought about it before so I said... "Shapes." And at that point he felt like he knew Shelbi well enough to pick out the perfect ring for her and he showed me three of the ugliest rings I'd ever seen. So I said, I was planning on going to go look around at other stores but that I would probably be back. My definition of "probably" was "probably not".
The next stop on my quest was Benold's Jewelers, a family owned diamond store in Austin. I knew that I wanted a lot of bang for my buck so I wanted a ring that just had one diamond, rather than a center diamond with baguettes on the side. So I was able to narrow my search down to the ring that I wanted and then moved on to picking out the actual diamond. I looked at all different shapes and sizes and finally found the cut I liked - the Princess cut. Finally I had the makings for an engagement ring. As an insurance policy, I gave my Dad a call and had him come up to the store to make sure I wasn't getting hoodwinked into something like spending a chunk of money on a cubic zirconium -- and he may or may not have helped with the financing (don't tell Shelbi).
So now that I had the ring, the hard part began... asking Steve for permission.
We had been through Jon and Renee's wedding ceremony and I knew that I had wanted to ask Steve if I could marry Shelbi, but couldn't figure out how I was going to get him off by himself. As we were sitting at the table he got up and walked out of the room and I quickly jumped up and ran after him, knowing that this was my only opportunity. Turns out he was running out to the car to get something and I caught him in the parking lot and ran over to him. I started by asking if we could set up a time to go to lunch because there was something I wanted to talk to him about. He said "I have time right now." I wasn't exactly expecting to have the conversation right then and there but I didn't exactly have a choice. So, stammering, I finally said, "I was wondering if I could have your permission to marry Shelbi." His response was, "Absolutely! What can I do, do you need any money?" (Whew!) We talked for a second longer and then decided we would figure everything out later, we didn't want everyone to get suspicious of why we were taking so long, so I ran back inside and sat back down next to Shelbi.
Shelbi: I just remember thinking Preston was taking a very long time in the bathroom and I was a little peeved because I thought he was just trying to avoid having to dance at the reception. As soon as I decided to go find him he was back. I remember asking him why he took so long but must have become distracted because I didn't pry too much.
Somewhere in between Thanksgiving and Christmas I asked Preston if he had a ring account. I had heard someone else talking about a guy who had a ring account to save money for the ring that he would eventually buy for his wife. Preston said he did not have a ring account and he wasn't even saving for a ring. I was disappointed but didn't say anything. I can't remember if this was the same conversation or later, but I also remember discussing how difficult it would be for us to get engaged before the school year was out. I was President of Kojies and Preston wasVice President and Sing Song director for GSP so we both expected our lives to be fairly busy in the Spring semester of our Senior year, thus making planning a wedding too difficult.
Then in December of 2006 I went to Austin to exchange Christmas gifts with Preston and hang out with his family. When we exchanged gifts, I had bought Preston an entire outfit: shoes, a new button down shirt and a blazer. He bought me a scarf and hat. As soon as we opened our gifts, I will admit, I was a little disappointed BUT I gave him the benefit of the doubt because we hadn't really discussed how much we were going to spend on each and other and I was aware of the fact that I have a tendency to go a little (or a lot) overboard when it comes to gift-giving. Preston mentioned something about feeling bad about not getting me more, but of course I told him it was fine. Little did I know...
Preston: When I showed my mom what I had gotten Shelbi - the matching hat and scarf - she had the same reaction Shelbi did, "So what else did you get?" At the time I couldn't tell my Mom that I had gotten an engagement ring because I wanted to keep it a secret. She started telling me about a fairly inexpensive diamond necklace that she saw one day and that I really should go look at it; my mom told me later the thought had crossed her mind that Shelbi might dump me after getting my (beautiful) scarf and hat.
So after seeing the distress that my present - or lack there of - was causing my Mom I showed her my real Christmas present for Shelbi. That of course, calmed her nerves a bit. Later that evening, at dinner, I showed the rest of my family the ring. Knowing that Shelbi was going to be coming to Austin the next day I gave strict instructions not to even hint at a ring of any kind.
We made it through the weekend without any slip ups about the ring and we headed back to Abilene where I stuck the ring in a little 'cash box' that required a combination to open; and that is where it stayed for about a month before Christmas break.
In Austin for Christmas before we got engaged. Preston is wearing the outfit I gave him. :)
Shelbi: Then Preston came with my family skiing in Winter Park, Colorado. On the first full day we were there, December 29, 2006, Preston asked if I wanted to go to dinner with him that night. I remember being surprised that he would plan something like that but assumed he was just trying to make up for our Christmas gift exchange.
Preston: I had gone into town and made reservation for dinner early in the day. Then we were outside playing in the snow and I thought this would be a perfect time to ask her to marry me. So I went inside, put the ring in my pocket and headed out just in case the opportunity presented itself. As soon as I thought I was ready, Morgan came outside and started playing with us so I decided to wait.
Playing in the snow earlier in the day. For the record, I am wearing the hat he gave me. :)
Shelbi: Then that night, Julie had made Chicken Spaghetti and chocolate chip cookies for dessert, BOTH of which Preston loves. I told Preston we should just stay home and eat out another night but he INSISTED that we go out. That's when things started to get a little fishy. Preston had chosen a fondue restaurant, which is my favorite, but we didn't actually get to have fondue because the fondue dining room was full. The meal was still awesome but Preston hardly ate anything...and I noticed immediately. He just said he wasn't really hungry. He also spent half of dinner text messaging which made me very curious.
Preston: The text messages (and phone call) were from Steve. He was across the street trying to set up for the big moment and wasn't sure if he was in the right spot; he also asked if it was ok if the whole family came to watch - I had a feeling that the whole family was coming no matter what I said.
Shelbi: By this point I knew something was going on but just didn't know what. I thought maybe he was surprising me with a carriage ride afterward so I decided to start trying to figure out what was going on. I asked Preston who was texting him and he said it was my dad. I asked him what he wanted and he said Cameron was looking for his keys. I told him that didn't make any sense and Preston just shrugged. Preston is a horrible liar so at this point I made a plan. As we were walking out of the restaurant, he put his arm around me and I slipped my hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He must have not felt me grab it because then I started going through his phone and he still did nothing to stop me.
Preston: I had strategically placed Shelbi on my left side because I had the ring in my right jacket pocket. So as I was focused on making sure she didn't notice the ring in my pocket, I had forgotten about my phone in my left jacket pocket. (This was, as a matter of fact, the jacket that Shelbi had gotten me for Christmas - she was not wearing my matching scarf and hat) I was very distracted walking out of the restaurant because I knew that I was going to be proposing in the next five minutes, so when I saw her holding my phone I didn't even think about the text messages.
Shelbi: To my dismay, Preston had deleted the text messages but it wasn't until I said something that he realized I had his phone. He freaked out and grabbed it from me. I laughed a little and as we walked outside fully expecting to see a horse and carriage greeting us at the front door (which is ridiculous because I came up with this out of nowhere) but of course, there was no horse and carriage. We walked to the car but before we got in Preston said he had something for me. "This was it!" I thought. I knew he'd been keeping something from me! He handed me a small rectangle box and said he'd felt bad about our Christmas gift exchange so he'd gone out and bought me another gift. I told him he didn't have to do that and he said he knew but that he wanted me to wait to open it until we walked across the street. I think I was a little resistant but he was finally able to get me to the stop where he wanted to propose. On our way we walked by Trey's truck. I told Preston it looked like Trey's truck and he just said "Don't worry about it". We walked up to a pavilion with a fire lit underneath and when we were close enough to the fire he told me I could go ahead and open the box. I can't even remember what was going through my head at this point but when I opened the box there was a Bible inside with my new name "Shelbi Rampy" written on the front cover. I remember dropping the lid to the box as Preston knelt down on one knee. He told me he knew that I had said most girls don't remember all the sweet things guys say when they propose so he said he'd tell me all those sweet things later so I'd remember. And then he asked me to marry him. I think I said "seriously?" first and then I said yes.
About 2 minutes later the car alarm to Trey's truck started going off. Apparently mom and Trey were trying to video the engagement when someone (we still don't know who) set off the car alarm. They weren't sure if Preston had proposed or not yet so they thought they might have ruined it. I just thought they were excited and had set off the alarm on purpose. Luckily we have the audio from the whole thing...and it is hilarious.
The entire family came out from their hiding places and greeted us with congratulations. Then my cousin Chanea called from Dallas to let us know that Saddam Hussein had been executed. So we will always remember the day we got engaged as the day a tyrant was put to death.
Dad hiding behind a car during the engagement.
We're engaged! And I'm crying...
(We're standing in front of my brother's truck which I recognized on our way to the engagement site and also where my mom and brother hid and set off the car alarm.)
The spot where Preston proposed.
Hugging Granny and Granddad right after the engagement.
Checking out the ring.
The Whole Fam
The Bling
CHEESY engagement reinactment the next day.
Engagement pictures in the snow.
Skiing with the ring on.
And if this post weren't long enough already...
Preston proposed during Christmas Break...December 29, 2006 to be exact. This meant that other than telling a few best friends, I had to keep my engagement a secret until I was able to participate in my Pass The Candle, our sorority's engagement ceremony, once school started up again a couple weeks later. Keeping the engagement secret was nearly impossible, especially since I had to keep my ring hidden even though all I wanted to do was wear it non stop. I went back to school a week early to attend a mandatory week of meetings for Social Club Presidents and almost had a heart attack when one of Preston's friends came up and whispered, "Congratulations". He had found out through a crazy train of events and I knew it was only a matter of time before everyone found out. The Kojies knew there was going to be a Pass the Candle on the first day of school and that four Kojies had gotten engaged over the break. No one knew which four so I continually had to try to deceive my sorority sisters into believing that one of those four was not me. To make matters worse, the first day of school ended up being a snow day and we had to postpone the Pass the Candle to the next night. You would think one day wouldn't be that big of a deal since I'd already kept it a secret for two weeks but since everybody was back at school now the buzz about who was engaged was incessant. Luckily we did make it to the Pass the Candle without everybody figuring out who was engaged. Per tradition, the fiance' of the engaged Kojie writes a letter to his bride-to-be which is read before the Kojies figure out who is engaged. This was Preston's letter to Ko Jo Kai. It's sweet but false on many levels as discussed in my post about How We Met And Fell In Love. :)
1/15/07
To the Women of Ko Jo Kai:
I met my fiancé for the first time at an Intramural basketball game; we were introduced through a mutual friend. The next night, I saw her sitting in the gym with an open seat next to her and so I sat down by her, she then turned to me and introduced herself saying, “I don’t think we’ve ever met before.” That certainly wasn’t what I was expecting when I sat down, and it definitely wasn’t a confidence booster.
Our rocky introductions only led to more misunderstandings shortly after. We were sitting in the car one time just talking and she was explaining how she doesn’t understand ‘why boys think you like them when you are only trying to be nice’. She then went on to say, about three or four times, that she and I were only friends and nothing else. Well, I got the hint. And from that night on, I decided I would show her who was boss and I vowed never to like her… ever. Well, slowly but surely I kept questioning my decision not to ever like her and I would try come up with reasons not to get involved with her, despite our close friendship. It seemed that each time I tried to make the list of reasons not to date her, the list kept getting shorter and shorter. Eventually, I could not come up with one good reason not to date this beautiful girl and I cracked under the pressure. There wasn’t anything else I could do to stay away from her, I finally gave in… and it was the greatest decision of my life.
Despite my stubbornness to try to prove a point to her, God brought us together. I only wished I would have allowed it to happen sooner. I have cherished every day we get to spend together and I love kissing her and holding her in my arms. Although we are total opposites, we work perfectly together. She is amazing in all the ways that I seem to fall short. She has been an incredible blessing in my life and a steadying positive force. She makes me want to be a better Christian, a better boyfriend and a better man. I was happy to call her a friend, proud to call her my girlfriend, and I will be honored to someday call her my wife. I believe that for whatever reason, God has given me someone I don’t deserve and I will do my best to be a good steward of God’s gracious gift.
I L♥VE Valentine's Day and have ALWAYS loved it even when I've been single. A lot of people hate it and I think they are weird. So many people get so frustrated into thinking it's a day "just for couples" or "created by Hallmark." To these people I say GET OVER IT! Who cares if it boosts commercialism and gift card sales? (At this point in our economy we should be THANKING Hallmark!) To me, this particular holiday is a great reminder to all of us of the people we love in our lives! The day isn't just about your spouse or significant other, it's also about your faith, family and friends! It's about love and love comes in many forms. I can't imagine how anyone can hate a day about love. And come on, who could possibly hate an excuse for a party?!
So first we celebrated Valentine's with friends...
On Wednesday we had a Valentine's Party with our small group and played the Newlywed Game. Preston and I got second place but I have to admit that I am a constant participant in the Newlywed Game and therefore am always prepared. What I mean is, whenever we watch any form of this game played on TV or at a party or shower, I always tell Preston what my answer would be and then I make him answer the questions also. With that said, I have also noticed that every time I watch this game played, it is always the couple who has been married the longest that loses...the newlyweds ALWAYS take the prize. Our small group Newlywed Game was no exception. We were beat by The Williams who have been married for a little less than a year and The Smiths, who have been married for 6 years, took last place. My theory is that married people know SO much about each other that sometimes it's hard to answer questions such as "What is your husband's most annoying habit?" A newlywed couple might answer this question easily because they think there is only one thing their partner does that is annoying (silly newlyweds)! Experienced couples know each other well enough to have discovered their partners have several annoying habits. Let me just tell you that this game was hilarious!
On Valentine's Day Eve we hung out with some friends and went to dinner at Chuy's and then to see the movie Valentine's Day at the Inwood Theaterscreening lounge. For the record, the movie is basically the American version of the British Love Actually, which is one of my favorite movies ever despite some of its inappropriate content. Valentine's Day was cute, but not as good as Love Actually. Afterward we went over to Brittany and Aaron Gauntt's house and played a few games together before heading home.
The next morning we spent some quality time with family. We went to late service at The Branch and met up with my brother and sister for lunch at La Madeline. (Mom and dad and were in Abilene watching Cameron play baseball).
Now, Preston and I decided we did not want to spend a lot of money to celebrate Valentine's so we decided not to go out for dinner or to the spa or to a hotel. In fact, we were a bit spontaneous on Valentine's Day and didn't really make any plans.
After lunch we decided to go to Whole Foods and each pick out a dessert for dinner that night. Their bakery is incredible. I picked a Chocolate Mousse Cake topped with a chocolate covered strawberry. Preston picked his fav: Creme Brulee.
For dinner we decided to picnic in our living room and order out for Chinese while watching Love Actually. Preston had never seen it so I insisted. :) Plus I own the movie so it was free! The greatest part about the whole night? All we paid for was our food! And we have to eat right? Everything else I just started pulling out of drawers and setting on the floor. One of the best tips I can give as a party planner is to use what you already have! Get creative with your vases, tablecloths, pillows, etc. to transform your own living room into something fun! I don't know if we would have found a restaurant as fun as this...
On the menu: Chinese food, sparkling grape juice (we're not big wine fans but it's fun to use the glasses!) and the next two pictures are our desserts...
My Chocolate Mousse Cake
Preston's Creme Brulee
This is the card I gave Preston for Valentine's. I've actually had this card since last year before our 2nd anniversary but I forgot I had bought it and gave him a different card. So then I was just going to wait until this year's anniversary to give it to him but decided on Friday to go ahead and give it to him for Valentine's when he could NOT find his brown pullover after searching his entire closet and I stepped in to help and found it in 2.5 seconds. I love a good funny card..especially when it's relevant. :)
So we had a great Valentine's and really enjoyed the simplicity of the company of those we love. I hope you had a great day too and if not, remember, Valentine's Day doesn't have to be about candy, flowers and expensive dates because everybody is loved by somebody...
And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.
Little did I know that putting up a "Let it Snow" banner on my blog would really make it happen. Yesterday and today have been so great! I can't tell you how much I love to watch the snow fall. It's just so peaceful and a great reminder of God's presence in everything.
Preston has the day off today and I am supposed to go in to work at 7pm but I'm crossing my fingers that that doesn't happen. This morning we went across the creek to my aunt and uncle's house and had a snowball fight (you can thank Hunt Bonneau for the title of my post...I know you are all surprised). Here are a few pictures from yesterday and today:
Our house
I got in my car to head to work yesterday morning and tried to turn on my windshield wipers. They were like "seriously?" I ended up just grabbing a towel and pushing the snow off.
Wish we could live here forever...
Ella didn't have any snow clothes but she was DYING to play in it so this is what we came up with. Notice how Preston straight-jacketed her in.
We've definitely got a future in the baby designer clothes business.
And now for the snowball fight. It was basically our family against my cousin and her high school friends. Our strategy: We would pick a person on their team to "pick on". Then we'd send someone from our team to sneak up behind that person and tackle them so we could all move in and pummel the "chosen one" with snowballs. Pretty sure we won the fight. By the time we left we had pushed the high schoolers all the way to the other end of the field. I ended up putting the camera away and joining the fight but Kendra took hundreds of pictures that I will try to add to this post as soon as she puts them on Facebook.
The battlefield
Todd, Hunt and Preston
Chaos.
And then Ella helped Aunt Kelly make biscuits...
Happy Snow Day! Anyone who's up for a snow fight today or tomorrow come on over! We've got plenty of it!
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