Eleven Years and We are Still Smiling!!

March 29, 1997 was a memorable day for us!! We exchanged vows in the Asbury Chapel of Highland Park Baptist Church, said "I do," and became Mr. and Mrs. Brian Walker. Wow!! What a life-changing day! We slipped away after the reception and Mr. Larry Oats took pictures of us at the Chattanooga Choo-choo! We are still enjoying the ride!!

How we thank the Lord for bringing us together. We have had a wonderful time these last eleven years. God truly has been good to us. We are looking forward to many more years together.

Happy Easter!

We hope that you have had a blessed Easter! What a thrill to celebrate the day that Christ arose. Our services at church today were such a blessing. We had lunch with the Walker family and took a few pictures. Then my battery ran out. So you can see us in our "Easter outfits" on the side bar. This is Brian and his mom!

I have also updated a picture of our bedroom. We finally have a new comforter and accessories. I just have to find the right arrangement for the wall. Grandma Carlson's hope chest is at the foot of our bed. Grandpa gave it to her instead of an engagement ring. Her initials are engraved on the front "EL."

This week is our school play -- "Good morning, Miss Dove." It is such a classic story about a teacher who is strict and old-fashion! I love it! I will post pictures of the cast and scenes as the week progresses.

Finally I am excited about our 11th anniversary that we will celebrate on Saturday -- March 29. What a joyous occasion! Again, I'll say more about that later in the week. Once this play is over, I will be able to resume a normal life (hopefully). Next week is spring break! Praise the Lord!

Mast General Store

This old general store is sooo neat. It is in the middle of nowhere. You don't think you will ever find it and then there it is. There are so many nooks and crannies to explore. We loved drinking an old fashioned soda in the little bottles and eating peanut brittle as a treat. Grandma Cutlan made the best peanut brittle. Our treat wasn't as good as Grandma's, but it did remind me of her. She would have loved this store!!

It was very cold in the Boone, NC area so I enjoyed the warm pot belly stove after my snack.

This is the outside of the store. Actually I took this picture when we stopped for the first time last year. Brian loved the thick wool socks he got last year, so he really stock-piled them this year.

Blowing Rock, North Carolina

After we left Rocky Mount, we spent a few days in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. We had stayed overnight last year and realized we should have planned for more time. My parents had been several times and told us we would really like it. I was especially excited when we arrived and saw there was snow!! Brian wasn't as thrilled. We stayed in a quaint little lodge. When we pulled up Brian kindly began to question what kind of a place it was. Everything looked smaller than it had on the internet. Imagine that! But once we got settled in we both began to appreciate the authentic cozy atmosphere of our lodgings, the town and the opportunity to relax.

Yeah!! I was able to have a little snow for the (after)holiday celebration!! Here I am in my favorite pink sweatsuit and fuzzy scarf that I wear all of the time!! Love it! This was the view from our "little cabin in the woods."

And here is a picture of our "little cabin in the woods." Yes, this was about the extent of the room. Wow! It was very small, but very cozy!

Celebrating with the Carlsons

We went to my parents' house in Rocky Mount for New Year's and had our Christmas celebration a few days late. I have quite a few pictures from our trip, so I thought I would post them in increments. Then I can give more details about our wonderful time with our family. What fun it was to see Kirk. The "kids" have a tradition of opening our stocking gifts after everything else, so here we were about to dive into the stockings. Kirk has had a tough time in the 2 weeks since this picture was taken. He had surgery for a kidney stone followed by much pain and uncertainty in the aftermath of the surgery. Thankfully his pain has finally begun to subside and he returned to work yesterday. Praise the Lord!

Mom and I having coffee at Books-A-Million while shopping at the mall in Rocky Mount!

Pop got all decked out for the Wisconsin vs. Tennessee game on New Year's Day! What fun to have such rivalry all under one roof. The funny thing is -- I forgot who won! See, obviously it meant a lot to me!! I'll continue to post pictures and stories of our trip. When I can do it in small increments like this, it doesn't seem like such a daunting task!

Merry Christmas!!

Uncle Brian entertained the nephews while waiting for Christmas Eve dinner.

Grandma Cutlan and Mom helped me collect Spode Christmas dishes for many years. Now I love to serve my Christmas dinner on these special dishes. Both of my grandmas and my mom were such excellent examples of hosting memorable Christmas celebrations. My hope is that my nephews will always have fond memories of Christmas Eve at Aunt Kristy's and Uncle Brian's.

We have had a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! Everyone came to our house on Christmas Eve and I did the Carlson family traditional dinner -- Grandma Carlson's "Beef Straganof." The first year we were married and I wasn't able to go home for Christmas, I cried on Christmas Eve when I realized my family was having the traditional dinner and I wasn't there. It was that year that I decided I would start my own traditional and make the dinner myself for the Walker family. I thinking they are finally starting to get used to such a unique dish! We had a festive time; everyone enjoyed the evening.

Christmas Day was quite relaxing. We opened our gifts from each other this morning and then went to my in-laws for dinner around 1:00 p.m. The Walker Christmas is quite chaotic with 6 little boys, but lots of fun! We are tired but what fun to spend the day with loved ones. We hope you have had a wonderful day as well.

Tomorrow Brian has to go to work. I'm going to go with him and work on my final exams and grades. My goal is to have everything done by the time we leave for North Carolina on Friday!! I will post more pictures tomorrow. Now it is time for bed!

Sorry! I've Been Kind of Busy!

We are almost done with school!! Yeah!! We had a Christmas program last night and a Christmas breakfast this morning!! One of the activities this morning was a "Teacher Wrapping Contest." My class succeed in immobilizing me, but did not strategize as to how to do it creatively and win the contest. I guess the thought of incapacitating me was so exciting they forgot to devise a plan first! Well, it was fun and a special time for the students to realize their teachers really care! Sometimes I think they wonder if we are just around to make life challenging! We have three more days of exams and then--freedom!!

I am printing my Christmas letter, applying the mailing labels, making chocolate covered pretzels for goodie bags, fine-tuning exams and loving the Christmas bustle. Hope all is going well with you!