This Coulda Been Me...

On my way in to work this morning, I was reminded of God's goodness and protection. You see, this image could have very well been me.



There was a car in front of me that decided to come to a complete and total stop on I-495, otherwise known as the Capital Beltway. Even though I will never know why she decided to slam on brakes to decrease her 65+ speed, it really doesn't even matter. What does matter is that He made a way. He stopped my car as well as the car behind me from slamming into one another. He cleared paths so that we could maneuver around and avoid a potentially fatal accident...

Do you know what I was doing at that time?? On the phone (hands-free, of course) with Mr. CB. At that moment, I realized how BOTH of our lives could have changed in the blink of an eye.

So, I encourage you to take a moment today (and everyday), to reflect on the goodness of God (or your higher power). Think of all of the incidents you've walked away from without a scratch...and say thank you...

How We Met: Friends Really Do Make GREAT Lovers

Mr. CB and I met randomly in Athens, GA in 2002 . We were both out and about downtown hanging with our friends. Just so happened that one of his friends is just a bit of a show-off and my bestfriend (prior to hubby) is the same. We attended rival colleges for undergrad, and are apart of a brother/sister fraternity/sorority. So this night that the loud mouths run into one another, I noticed him instantly, but was rather shy. He also says the same of me. His friend, on the other hand, was not shy at all and asked for my number. Even though I wasn't interested, I gave it to him anyway. This friend would call and ask me out, but I would never go. Of course Mr. CB, being a good friend of this guy, had to hear about it. Finally, Mr. CB gathered enough nerve to ask me out. Of course, I said yes. Because we were both rather timid people, we ended up being friends.

Fast forward five years. After a rather nice friendship - we could talk to one another about ANYTHING (inclusive of others that we dated) - we went shopping for his birthday. He was throwing a lavish bash at a popular Atlanta night club and wanted to look like the "birthday boy." He invited me along, and I was happy to go. At this point, I had completed my research, defended my dissertation and graduated; so, many of the distractions that I previously had were gone. Little did I know that a shopping trip would change my life. Because this wasn't a "date" , things just kinda flowed naturally. I went along sans my usual makeup and pumps (can you guess which sorority I belong to?), and he dressed down as well. I have NEVER had so much fun on a non-date in my life. We left around noon and didn't return until after midnite. The turning point in our relationship happened on the ride home. He touched my knee. It wasn't anything mannish, but at this point I knew. I knew that the man of my dreams had been under my nose all along. When he touched my knee then (and even now), I got butterflies in my stomach. The rest, my dears, is history...

Photo Sharing Cards

Here are the photo sharing cards (courtesy of Vistaprint) that we will include in our guests "Thank You" cards. I believe that some of the best shots are candid, and I would absolutely HATE to miss out on those! Soooooo, we're asking all of our guests to upload their pics to an online picture hosting site...

Dancing Shoes, Anyone?

Because I have been that woman with the killer heels still trying to par-tay, we've decided to provide "dancing shoes" for our guests.


Don't worry, the presentation will be MUCH better, I'm just having a lazy day. I have a black wicker basket to display these beauties. Flip flops courtesy of the Dollar Tree.

The verbage to go along will read something like this:

Average Elegant wedding for family & friends:
$32,000
Wedding Photographs Commemorating the Occasion:
$3,000
Deluxe Two-Week honeymoon accomodations in the Grand Cayman Islands:
$8,500
The Newlyweds providing you with dancing shoes to “bust a move”:
PRICELESS

Weekend Recap: What Did YOU Do?

So, today is Mr. CB's birthday - HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABE! To celebrate, I whisked him off for a weekend of his favorite things in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Namely me and me...what were you expecting? :)

Prior to our departure, he had no idea what I had planned for him. I had left clues, but he hadn't pin pointed one particular destination.

We arrived at the Courtyard by Marriot in Norfolk late on Friday night. I had planned for a visit to a lounge for drinks. Once we checked in, we both had SLEEP on the brain.

We awoke refreshed on Saturday morning and got dressed for breakfast. After we finished, around 10:30 AM, guess what we did? ANOTHER nap! Yep. Not ashamed at all. About an hour and a half later, we took a ride out to the ocean front and just strolled up the beach. After soon growing tired of that, we took a trip to Lynnhaven Mall. Here I found the cutest bracelet for our big day, and that was the ONLY purchase either of us made. Then it was time for what you ask?? Another nap.

We headed back to our hotel and took an afternoon siesta. This must have been a much-needed weekend getaway so much so that we slept through the alarm.

Mr. CB is quite the entertainment, music and comedy buff. I often joke that he is an encyclopedia of totally random knowledge. Did anyone know that Michael Jackson is of the Jehovah's Witness religious persuasion? I digress...

Mr. CB had never been to a live comedy show, but he had always taped the Def Comedy Jams, Showtime at the Apollos, etc. to be able to watch and watch again. I decided, what better than a relaxing weekend of no computers, no wedding planning, no deadlines AND his first visit to a comedy show? It just so happened to work out that we were able to see a somewhat major comedian...Eddie Griffin.
And guess what?!?!?!? We arrived at the comedy club just early enough to get the last two seats that were front row center!!!! Wasn't sure if this was a blessing or a curse since Eddie is known to base his act on the audience. Luckily, there was a much more "interesting" gentleman sitting directly behind us - or maybe he could see the fear in my eyes? He poked fun at EVERYONE on the front row - except Mr CB and me!!! YAY!!!!

After the show, we headed back out to the ocean to walk along it and enjoy the sounds of the waves...and headed back to our room for you guessed it - sleep...

Pretty please don't forget to leave a comment and share what you did with your weekend!