Memorial Day Weekend

We had a fantastic friend and family filled Memorial Day weekend. The festivities kicked off with a BBQ pot-luck at our sweet friends Becky and Mike's house. Mike smoked delicious pork and chicken and everyone else brought sides. Becky made homemade ice-cream to complete the meal, it was perfection.

the ladies...

 the gents...

Monday, we grilled out with Alan's family and ended the night with Banana's Foster. If you haven't ever made this you should definitely try because:

1) It is delicious

2) It is so much fun to make!

 igniting the liquor...

 the finished product

Here is the recipe if you want to attempt!

• ¼ cup butter
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 4 ripe bananas, peeled and split length-wise
• cinnamon
• ½ cup white rum
• ¼ cup banana liquor
• vanilla ice cream

Melt butter and brown sugar in pan. Add bananas and sauté turning bananas over after about 5 minutes until tender. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Pour in rum and banana liquor. Ignite and remove from heat and baste until flame burns out. Serve with ice cream and enjoy!

Oh STL I miss you...

So one of my friends emailed me today because her sister is moving to Saint Louis this week and she wanted to have a few recommendations of various things since they know nothing about the city. While I loved reminiscing and suggesting things to do, places to go, and areas to explore, it made me miss this city SO MUCH! Our time spent there was so precious to me and the friendships made... priceless! With all that being said, Alan and I decided just last night to plan a little getaway visit to STL this summer right after the 4th of July and I literally cannot wait! Let the countdown begin!

Memphis in May

This weekend we went to Memphis to witness our friends, Mary Elizabeth and Alan, get married!  They are both friends of ours from college and we had a wonderful time celebrating with them and reuniting with friends.  Here we are with the happy couple!

Wishing them off to honeymoon in Hawaii

After the wedding, Alan and I headed downtown to BBQ Fest

BBQ Fest is part of "Memphis in May" month-long festivities

We wandered around the tents, enjoyed the people watching, and even picked up some samples of BBQ sauce. One of them was called "Moore's Marinade" so we know that one's gotta be good :)

After that we decided to stay downtown and eat at...

 We had the cheese and sausage appetizer and split a full slab of ribs. It was finger-lickin' good!

We got to stay with Alan's sweet grandmother, Nonnie, during our time in Memphis and it was wonderful catching up with her, but it always seems our time together is never quite long enough.  We went to church with her on Sunday and then hit the road after lunch.  I am a little sad that the weekend is over, but I guess such is life...

Is it really Monday?!

I can't believe I am already back at work, this past weekend has flown by!  Let me recap:

Saturday events began with Leighton's 1st birthday party.  We love spending time with Nicole and David who have been good friends to us and had a great time celebrating their sweet girl today.  Nicole outdid herself with all of the beautiful decorations and yummy treats, it was so much fun!

That night, Rachel and Colin came back to Knoxville from JC and Elizabeth and Patrick came in town too from Nashville.  We went over to my parents' house and all got to hear about "the proposal" and enjoy dinner together.  There will be so much fun planning over the next year, I can't wait!

Sunday was Mother's Day so we all went to church and then headed back to my parents' house for lunch. 

We also had a photographer come by the house later that afternoon to take pictures of our whole family since it isn't often we are all together.  Rachel and Colin also managed to get a mini-engagement session which was perfect too!  I will post some of the photos once we get them...

Engaged!!!

I am thrilled to announce the engagement of my little (well not so little anymore) brother Colin and his ever to sweet now bride-to-be, Rachel!  I couldn't think of anyone more perfect for him and I am so happy for them both! Colin has been at Camp Pendleton-San Diego for the past 4 months and he flew to Knoxville today, drove to Johnson City, surprised Rachel, popped the question, and she said YES!  Best part about it is that he has 10 days of leave so we get to spend the next week and a half with them. Oh happy day!

Sweet Relief

I am happy to say that all of the data on our external hard drive was able to be recovered!  We took it to Data Man and the nicest guy named Paul Major recovered all of our stuff.  If ever you have computer troubles, you should definitely go to him, he was great and so super friendly!  I know this all may seem trivial, but I am one happy girl and you can be sure this has been a lesson learned! :)

Bets & Brides

Saturday was packed with several events to make for a fantastic weekend!  We went over to some friends' house for a derby social and let me tell you... Lori & David know how to throw a party!  We had so much fun catching up with friends we haven't seen since college, it was great!  We placed our bet on Union Rags and although he didn't win the derby for us, Alan and I still had a fabulous time.

Later that night we went to Christie & Grant's wedding.  Grant was a friend of Alan's in law school and it was so special to witness them tying the knot!  So happy for this sweet couple! 

JLK Rose Gala

Last night Alan and I had a fabulous time at the Rose Gala with Maggie & Ben.  The Gala is JLK's end-of-the-year last hurrah before summer break.  The "Derby" theme is always a big hit: we love finding cute hats and the guys always love sporting their seersucker.  From the mint juleps to the live auction, the evening was definitely one for the books!  Our bet is on Union Rags in the race tomorrow!

One Year

It's hard to believe it's been a year since Alan and I moved back to Knoxville from Saint Louis!  I can't even begin to tell you where the time has gone...  We have managed to cross a few things off our "Get Settled" list at this point: 

• Successfully start new jobs
• Join Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church
• Erica - get involved with Junior League
• Alan -get involved with KBA
• Join a Bible Study
• Buy UT Football Season Tickets
• Erica - get involved with a Girls Night
• Alan - join Young Professionals of Knoxville

There are still a few things on the list, but hey... it's a start!