Happy Birthday Beth!!

Well, I don't have much time because we're in the middle of a big youth group event right now—and I should have done this earlier...

But today is our (kirsten's) cousin, Beth's, birthday.


Beth is beautiful and sweet and talented and smart and a wonderful mother of two precious boys.



She's also so refreshing to talk to and has very much a calming affect—which I love.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BETH!!! you deserve a much longer post

Happy Birthday Drew!

With the possible exception of our good friend Dan, no one loves and appreciates our now infamous Birthday posts as much as Drew Hill...

That's why it gives me great pleasure to announce that today is Drew Hill's big day!

So I thought as a favor to Drew, in lieu of a Birthday post I would just list off the complete roster of the National Champion North Carolina Tar Heels...

1	Marcus Ginyard	G-F	6-5	220	Senior	Alexandria, VA
2	Marc Campbell	G	5-11	175	Junior	Wilmington, NC
4	Bobby Frasor	G	6-3	210	Senior	Blue Island, IL
5	Ty Lawson	G	5-11	195	Junior	Clinton, MD
11	Larry Drew II	G	6-1	180	Freshman	Encino, CA
13	Will Graves	G-F	6-6	245	Sophomore	Greensboro, NC
14	Danny Green	G-F	6-6	210	Senior	North Babylon, NY
15	J.B. Tanner	G	6-0	185	Senior	Hendersonville, NC
21	Deon Thompson	F	6-8	245	Junior	Torrance, CA
22	Wayne Ellington	G	6-4	200	Junior	Wynnewood, PA
24	Justin Watts	G	6-4	205	Freshman	Durham, NC
30	Jack Wooten	G	6-2	190	Senior	Burlington, NC
32	Ed Davis	F	6-10	215	Freshman	Richmond, VA
35	Patrick Moody	F	6-4	195	Senior	Asheville, NC
40	Mike Copeland	F	6-7	235	Senior	Winston-Salem, NC
44	Tyler Zeller	F	7-0	220	Freshman	Washington, IN
50	Tyler Hansbrough	F	6-9	250	Senior	Poplar Bluff, MO

Happy Birthday Drew!



Ok, I do have to say that Drew is a great guy, and if you are one of the 4 people I know that have never met him, you are missing out. He a man that I admire in too many ways to list, and is soon to be a dad! Hope you have a great birthday friend.

Happy Birthday Uncle Steve!!

Today is our (Daniel's) Uncle Steve's birthday! That's an important distinction to make because since we got married we each have the pleasure of having two Uncle Steves! How lucky can one couple get! But this Steve in question is Daniel's dad's brother Steve Monroe...and TODAY is his birthday!!!

Uncle Steve has played a major role in my life. I have vivid memories of him driving a car backwards down the road (I can't even remember the circumstances...but Matt will back me up. It happened). He, along with my dad and their dad combined to show me how to properly yell at the television during sporting events. And probably most importantly, Uncle Steve was one of the people early in life that pointed me in the right direction. I strayed over the years from the straight and narrow path that he put me on, but eventually, I found my way back to the way he showed me at a young age. Of course I'm talking about the University of Georgia. I have many fond memories of Saturdays in Athens (the greatest time and place combination this world has to offer) with Uncle Steve.



In addition to being a great Uncle, Steve is also a great dad, and a pretty good granddad these days! Kirsten and I have always felt so loved and supported by him and his family!

So Happy Birthday Uncle Steve! Hope it is great!

day-late anniversary post

Well, yesterday was our anniversary...and my dad emailed me saying he expected to see "candlelight dinner" pictures on here—would pictures of middle schoolers suffice? because that's what we did last night :)

but we did have a fabulous brunch together and spent all day together (at daniel's office) and got to eat dinner at one of our new favorite restaurants (por que no) after youth group...and most of all we are going to the coast for a few days!! yay!! (i refuse to call it the beach since it would conjur up ideas in our Georgian readers' minds of destin and the such...and this is very, very different :) ....)

but in thinking about our past year yesterday (which is typically of our anniversaries or birthdays or new years or christmases—we sort of try not to, but we end up asking each other all sorts of silly questions. like daniel asked me while we were getting ready yesterday morning what clothes that we were wearing did we own when we got married. turned out all his clothes he owned when we got married...and none of mine...)

ANYWAY, so in thinking about our past year yesterday, here are some things we came up with that we did/that happened (no promises on the order)


we lived with the monroes (sr.)

nickel lived with my parents

i made a dress and a shirt that i wear pretty frequently

we went to shannon's graduation from college

we went to north gwinnett high school's graduation

matt and kim moved to oregon

daniel was unemployed

i went from working full time to part time for southcomm

i started designing websites

i cut bangs into my hair

we looked heavily at moving to north carolina



we moved to oregon...make that packed everything deemed necessary into our tiny corolla and drove across the country with no real prospect of a job, just a sense that it was what we were supposed to be doing

we started a blog

we lived with matt and kim

the monroes (sr) came to visit

laura belle visited from seattle for the first time

daniel got a job!

we (mostly i) picked fruit, went to the farmers market for our groceries, and watched movies in parks (okay, that was always both of us)...and so many more things that we had been dreaming about portland

we went camping with matt and kim and went on the longest hike we have to date

we (have) met/got(ten) to know (best we can tell) about 200 new people

we got an apartment in portland...on a street with a number nonetheless

we flew back to atlanta, packed up everything deemed unneccessary (but now neccessary), picked up our puppy, and drove a uhaul and the element back across the country
we started the fall with a new youth group

we (have) tried desperately to keep in touch with people in georgia

elizabeth moved to seattle

we walked to dinners, coffees, gelattos, parks, and the grocery store—all from our apartment

we fell (have fallen) in love with several, several, several middle and high schoolers in gresham, troutdale and corbett, oregon

we went to a lot of volleyball games


daniel turned 26

we bought kayaks

we went to a pumpkin patch, got a pumkin, and had our first oregon halloween (zero trick-or-treaters, but friends over for dinner and a movie)

kirsten turned 25

bulldog football grossly dissapointed



i designed leslie's wedding invitations

we flew to texas for thanksgiving

we flew to colorado and stood by as leslie and steve got married

we found out that drew and natalie are pregnant!!

we had a youth group christmas party snowed out

we flew home for christmas

we missed the greater portland area's "blizzard of '93" (except that it was the "snowstorm of 2008")

we had an awesome christamas with people we missed dearly (and ate our share of chick fil a)

we saw our stephanie and michael's new home

we met jessica's new boyfriend

we returned to oregon

we had a completely uneventful new years eve

we bought snowboards

we went snowboarding...and fell...alot

kim got a job with the blazers

the monroes came and visited and we went out to the mountain—we both got better at snowboarding (me a tiny bit, daniel a lot)

jessica got engaged

i went on a women's retreat

i (have) designed (/am in the process of designing) 28 websites through a freelance company (woah...)

we went to hawaii for a week

i started helping out with communications for the church

we met laura belle's new boyfriend

we went to (our second) play that involved youth group kids



what else? can you think of anything? small or significant—anything. just add it in the comments!!

Happy Birthday Jessica!!!

Today is our (Daniel's) cousin, Jessica's, birthday!

Jessica is wonderfully sweet, and gives so much of her time, energy and efforts to all those around her. She's beautiful, kind and caring, an awesome mom, and still newly engaged! Congrats again!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JESSICA!!! hope it's wonderful!