Caps and Gowns

Hello friends and the rest of the blog world! I apologize for being away for a bit, but we have been SUPER-CRAZY-BUSY since moving back! Let me catch you up:

Thursday May 12th

My sister, Maggie, graduated from UT with a Masters in Accounting. I am super proud of my smart and beautiful sister who has also already taken the CPA exam and has a job with Crow Horwath that starts in September.

Friday May 20th

My wonderful husband, Alan, graduated from Washington University in Saint Louis with a Masters in Tax Law. It was quite possibly the quickest road-trip we have ever taken, but totally worth it to celebrate this huge accomplishment. Woo Hoo! I am so excited he is finally done! Alan also has a job which he will start this coming Monday at Stone & Hinds law firm in Knoxville. I wonder if dual incomes means an increased shopping allowance for me...hmmm!

We ate dinner the night before Alan's graduation at Annie Gunn's which is a wonderful restaurant in Chesterfield

the all-campus graduation ceremony was held in Brookings Quadrangle-it was beautiful!

all the faculty sat under the pavilion where the speakers addressed everyone from

Alan walking in with his classmates

After the all-campus graduation ceremony, we headed over to the law school where there was a smaller ceremony for just the law school graduates

the law school graduation took place under a beautiful tent on the lawn in front of the law school

all the law school graduates

so proud of my smart husband!

Alan calls Katie (who wasn't able to make the trip) and tells her he is done!

Saturday May 21st

My sister, Christa, graduated from West High School. Wow did this ever bring back some memories! I am so proud of and excited for Christa about going to UT this fall. She has so much to look forward to! Oh college how I miss you!

the arrow points to Christa receiving her diploma from the Principal

the fam

Christa and her fun crazy friends...love them!

Christa with "Colin" who is at Marine bootcamp right now and couldn't be here in person, ha!

the fam again...plus Colin!

Weekend with Family

This past weekend Alan's family came up to St. Louis to visit. The crisp fall weather could not have been better or the company sweeter...life is good!

Everyone got here on Friday, and we started the weekend off by going to dinner at Blueberry Hill in the Loop. Blueberry Hill is one of those landmark places you just have to take people to when they visit St. Louis. Everyone enjoyed onion rings, burgers, and of course, toasted ravioli!

Saturday morning, we began the day with breakfast at our house and then headed down to the Cardinals baseball game. Alan's family really enjoyed walking around and looking at everything as this was their first visit to the new Busch Stadium. Today was also Stand Up for Stan Day, and at the end of the 7th inning, Stan Musial was driven around the field waving to all the fans! After barely scraping by with a win, we rushed home to watch the end of the UT vs. LSU game. What a disappointment! UT "won" and then "lost" in a matter of minutes. But the Vols loss did not keep us from enjoying the rest of the day! Alan and I took his family on a tour of Wash U and then stopped to get "concrete" at Ted Drewes! Yum!

Sunday morning, we went to the early service at our church, Kirk of the Hills, and then came back to our house to eat chili before the Cardinals game. Then, we headed to the game and since it was Fan Appreciation Day, we each got a voucher for a game next year! I'm already looking forward to going! One of Alan's friends, Michael McKenry, who he played baseball with at Farragut was actually just called up to play with the Rockies, (the team the Cardinals were playing this weekend) and played catcher for the whole game today! Alan went down to the bull pen before the game to say Hi! It was a beautiful day today and we sat in the bleacher section which was a lot of fun! During the 7th inning stretch, Alan and I actually made it on the Jumbo Tron as we sang "Take Me Out To The Ball Game"! With our family here with us and the Cardinals winning again today, it was the perfect end to a really fun weekend!

Meet Me in St. Louis!

After 8 hours, 4 states, and 1 big truck, Alan and I have now officially moved!

We hit the road early Saturday morning with my parents (thanks so much Mom & Dad!) and got into St. Louis mid-afternoon. We are living in an apartment complex called the Villas at Brentwood. The Brentwood community is about 10 minutes west of Downtown, and about 10 minutes south of Wash U. It's a pretty urban area with lots of shopping and eateries. It will hopefully be a fun area to explore. We unpacked the truck and then my parents took us out to eat at the Buffalo Brewing Co. The rest of the weekend was spent unpacking. On Monday, I started work at U.S. Cellular as a Sales Manager. The store that I'm working at is in High Ridge, MO which is about 30 minutes southwest from where we live. The associates there are very friendly and easy-going and I think it will be a pretty easy transition. My parents took us out to eat that night at Carmine's Steakhouse downtown and then we walked around the riverfront and the Arch. Tuesday my parents headed home and Alan and I tried to get into some type of routine. While I've been working, Alan has been setting up our utilities, cable, etc. and getting us settled in. He has also done fun things like signing us up for library cards and running in Forest Park. We're enjoying the city so far. There is so much to do and see! Miss y'all!