Ella Grace is almost here....

If you did not already know that my sister-in-law, Tori, is about to have baby I am telling you now :)  She and Rush already have one precious little girl, Olivia who is almost 3. 

I met Olivia in May.  This picture is one of the first times I met her.  She is a mess!! I love her.  On this up-coming Wednesday Olivia will be a big sister to Ella Grace Letson.  I am so excited to be able to take the day off and be there.  It will be a time for family and celebration.  I am on picture duty for the hubs.  He absolutely adores Olivia and wishes more than anything he could be here for the birth of his newest niece. 

I wanted to post a few pictures of our niece, Olivia, with family because come Wednesday it will be Olivia and Ella Grace: sisters :)

The Month of January...

Well January has officially come and gone now.  It started out incredibly awesome with New Years.  Emmylou (or Emmy or Lou as I like to call her) came to spend 4 days with me and Jared.  My parents were gone to Atlanta and Nashville to have some fun so the three of us hung out.  We went to Elise's one night and hung out with her, Alex, Cameron (her brother), and his friend Tyler.  Of course the most important person there was Hazel...the sweetest baby ever born.

She basically slept and smiled the whole time we were there.

On MLK weekend I got to go to New Orleans for Casey's Bachelorette party.  One, I am not in 18 anymore so the constant "Bourbon Street" thing is pretty hard for this old lady.  Two, I do not get to see Casey enough.  We went to grad school together for a year and half and made a religion out of front lawn talks, Monday night dance parties, and walking around Auburn.  I am SOOO ready for her wedding at the Naval Academy chapel on March the 20th. 

Oh...and on our last day we went to eat at Brennans for brunch.  It was amazing!  Their famous bananas' foster is pretty much my choice of dessert now.  The funny thing was...I made the reservation for us and they had little a little place card on the table with my new married name on it.  It is still very strange to see it or hear it.  It makes me happy...ha!

One CRAZY month!!

Well I am so sorry for how long it has been.  The last time I posted was the day I started this blog while in Italy with Joey.  There has been a lot of event over the past month, so I will probably make this several entries. 

I will give you the run down of the list of things since the day of the wedding:

1.  Went to Italy to spend 10 days with Joey.

2.  We spent 4 incredible days in one of the villages making of Cinque Terre; Corneglia.  It was our first Thanksgiving together and amazing.  We ate amazing food, drank local wine and champagne, explored the town while making friends with some locals, drank my weight in coffee, hiked to a neighboring town, went free climbing (quite the adventure), and shot some excellent photography.  It was an incredibly romantic trip. We hiked down to a rock beach and then lost the trail and had to free-climb back to the trail.

YAY me... I am so glad Joey loves to the same things!!

3. Upon my return to the states I finished my internship at Morris Avenue Intermediate School in Opelika, turned in all of my work for my Master's of Collaborative Special Education at Auburn, and moved back to Birmingham. That chain of events made for one exhausting week!

4. The week I left Italy begun the countdown of the time Joey and I will be apart.  I have received more support, kind words, and prayers than I ever imagined possible. God is good!

5. I started my new job in Mountain Brook City Schools the following Monday.  I am so excited about this adventure I am beginning.  The school, students, teachers, and administration are more than ideal.

          

AND LAST NOT BUT LEAST...

6. Christmas holidays happened.  It has been an awesome month just very busy!

I promise to get better about updating this blog for my friends, family, and especially for you Joey. :)

***This picture was saying goodbye at the airport in Venice---I look rough!***

Thanksgiving in Italy with my HUSBAND :)

So today it is Wednesday the 25th and Joey and I are leaving for Cinque Terre this afternoon to spend 3 nights and 4 days together before I go home on Sunday.  Cinque Terre is an area on the coast of Italy that is made up of a few small towns connected by walking trails.  We are taking the train, and I am so excited!!  I will take lots of pictures!!

This Thanksgiving holiday is our first as a married couple and will be our only until next Christmas, so we are trying to make memories.  We decided not to try and make our first disaster of a holiday meal this time and just opt for beautiful views, hiking, window shopping, and good Italian food. 

I am enjoying being together right now, and trying to soak in every little detail before he puts me on the plane Sunday and then he goes to Afghanistan.  I know he will be ok and do incredible things while he is there, but I will miss him tremendously!  So after Sunday, I will be filling up my schedule with a ridiculous amount of work and activities to keep me busy so the time will pass.  But before that happens I am having the best time of my life with my husband in a romantic country!  I will put up pictures when I get home, and I hope everyone we love has a blessed and amazing Thanksgiving!!

Getting Married and Why I am doing this!!

Well I am a newlywed and got married on November 14, 2009 in Birmingham.  I married the most amazing man, Joey Snowden, and had my dream wedding.  We were surrounded by our best friends and wonderful family while saying our vows under the stars in a candlelit ceremony at the Historical Tutwiler Hotel.  Since the wedding I have joined Joey in Vicenza, Italy for 10 days before he deploys for a year long assignment in Afghanistan.  It is not ideal to spend the first year of marriage apart- one of us teaching in Alabama while the other is fighting a war in the middle east- but it is what it is and I have never been more proud of another person in my life.

I have decided to write a blog...I know, I know I said I NEVER WOULD... but it is for Joey.  He has told me that when guys are overseas they feel like they miss out on the events with their family.  Since Joey's brother is coming home soon, his sister is having a new baby in February, I start teaching in my first special education job and finish my masters in a few weeks, and so many more exciting things happen this year; I need to give him a way to experience these things.  That being said...if you are part of our family our friends and you have news or prayers or anything at all you want to keep Joey informed about let me know AND send me pictures!!  Also...if you want his address downrange just email and of course I will send it to you.