Our Special Day 5.12.12

It's been almost 6 months since we got married! Here is a blog with all the details of our special day.

http://amberwilburnphotography.com/blog/emily-jay-married-eden-garden-state-park-santa-rosa-beach-florida/

2nd Annual Kentucky Colonel's Day at Churchill Downs

Last year I wrote about going to Louisville, KY for the Kentucky Colonel's Day at Churchill Downs. My family decided to make this a tradition and we went again this November. No one left big winners but Michael got his picture with famous jockey Calvin Borel. It was another mini-family reunion with lots of cousins and family friends.

SMU Homecoming / 5-Year Reunion

I have attended SMU Homecoming every year since I graduated and this was to be no exception. In fact this year was even more important. This is my 5-year reunion and I was serving on the reunion committee. The weekend was jam packed. Friday I was on campus all day long attending board meetings. When the long day was over I met Kristen at the hotel where she works and this surprise guest was checking in...PERUNA, SMU's mascot. We were excited to get our picture with him.
Later that evening we went to Megan's house to celebrate her daughter, Tally's 1st birthday. She was dressed as an SMU cheerleader for her "hip hip hooray for SMU" themed party. Tally's party was lots of fun with kids running all over the place and delicious food and drinks for the adults. Tally had a blast but she was not very into the cake.

On Saturday we arrived on campus early to watch the parade. Chi O won 1st place in the float competition and looked as cute as ever! Proud to be a Chi O alum too! :) After the parade we started tailgating and were entertained by SMU alum and country music star Jack Ingram. He played several songs wearing an SMU jersey and telling stories about his time on campus. It was a great Boulevard experience until it started storming and even the game had a 2 hour delay. I got completely soaked trying to run to the car.

Due to the rain delay we didn't get to see any of the game. We had to quickly change and make it to the 5-year reunion party at The Barley House. It was great seeing lots of old friends from the class of 2005. Here we are doing the "sorority squat" pose and Amy being too cool to join in.

On Sunday before heading back to Atlanta I made a visit to see my Chi O big sis, Shauna and her baby Elizabeth. I hadn't met her yet. We had a great time catching up and playing with Elizabeth. She is adorable and was wearing her owl outfit because she is a Chi O legacy :).

Despite the rain my trip to Dallas was awesome as usual. It is always fun to go back to Big D.

Tri-Red Triathlon

Jay and several friends decided to do the Tri-Red Triathlon on Jekyll Island, GA this year. This was Jay's 14th triathlon to complete and despite little training prior to the event he did great. I was not a participant and just went along for the ride. I also was the official photographer for the group and got to snap pictures throughout the race. I can't take credit for Jay's biking picture below though...that came from the real race photographer.

We had such a great weekend and enjoyed one last beach trip before the weather got colder. Jekyll Island was beautiful and hardly anyone was there. We literally had the beach to ourselves one night.

I was so impressed and proud of the group. Everyone did an awesome job. We are hoping to make this an annual trip.

Jay & me at the finish

Jay biking
Car loaded down with bikes - there were 6 on there!

The group before the swim in the ocean

Sunrise and the boys start the swim.

Memorial Day in KY

Slightly out of order but for Memorial Day my mom and I traveled to Kentucky to visit my aunt and grandmother. We spent the weekend at their lake house and enjoyed boat rides and even hosted a party for all their lake friends. During one of our boat trips we took a picnic to a little cove they called the "fern grotto" to eat lunch. It is beautiful there.

Beach Trip

Sorry I've been a bad blogger again...

In early June my family went to Watercolor resort in Florida. We spent an entire week (Saturday-Saturday) and we didn't see a drop of oil anywhere. I absolutely love it there. Life is so relaxed and easy. We spent our days at the beach, the pool, riding bikes, sleeping or going to Happy Hour. We got to celebrate my parent's 30th wedding anniversary and Jay even got to come for a few days. It was a great vacation.

Nashville Flood Trip

On Saturday I joined a group of friends and other Buckhead Church attendees on a one day work trip to Nashville. We met bright in early around 6:30a and left for a long day. We joined a group in a Bellevue neighborhood called Beech Bend. The area was hit hard by the flood. Many homes had over 6 feet of water in them. We helped rip out sheet rock, shovel gravel, pick up trash and remnants left in yards and bag items to be hauled away.

Read more about the trip on the Buckhead Church Blog.

Kentucky Colonels Day at Churchill Downs

This past weekend I made the trip up to Louisville, KY for Kentucky Colonels Day at Churchill Downs. The Kentucky Colonels is a social and philanthropic group. Each year the group hosts the Kentucky Derby Extravaganza and several other social events as well as donating over a million dollars to deserving Kentucky based non-profits.

I was made a Colonel when I was a teenager and it is a tradition in my family. This weekend's event was held on "Millionaire's Row" at Churchill Downs. We spent the day eating, drinking and watching/betting on the horse races. It was a great weekend!

SMU Homecoming

Forgive me for being behind on blog posts again!

Two weekends ago I went to Dallas for SMU Homecoming. I wasn't going to go but ended up getting an incredible flight deal and was able to make the trip for just a little more than $100. I saw lots of friends, ate Tex Mex, met new babies, tailgated, watched the football game and bar hopped. It was such a fun weekend being back on campus.

Here are some pics from the weekend:

SMU wins! 31-28

Kristen, Brittany & me on the Boulevard

Chi O family: Meg, Shauna & me

Me holding Tally Harper

Me holding James Dawson

Hal Hunt Auctions

This weekend I went home to visit my parents and cheer on Bama as they beat Arkansas! On Sunday my mom took me to the Hal Hunt live auction. These are held several times each year and my mom attends each one. This was my first live auction experience and even though I didn't win anything I had a great time. It was fun to hear the live auctioneer, watch who bid on what and see what great deals you can get.
I can't wait to go back to the next one.

If you are ever near West Alabama on the day of an auction be sure to check it out. It is definitely worth the trip. http://www.halhunt.com/auctions.htm

SMU 2-0

On Saturday I traveled to Birmingham to watch SMU take on UAB. We had a great crowd for the road trip and I got to meet up with some old college friends. We think this was the first SMU win we had seen since Fall 2004!

I'm excited for the season. We played a great game and lead the entire time. The final score doesn't reflect the large lead we had until the 3rd quarter. Looking forward to seeing the future of our team under Coach June Jones' lead.

GO MUSTANGS

Labor Free Weekend

I'm headed to Lake Toxaway, NC with a good friend and her family. Looking forward to a relaxing weekend in the mountains.

Whitewater Adventure #2

On Saturday I went back up to the Ocoee River in Tennessee for my 2nd whitewater trip of the summer. We had a group of 11 friends from Atlanta come to celebrate my friend Elizabeth's birthday.

This time we did the Upper & Middle full day trip. We even rafted the section where the 1996 Olympic kayaking events were held. We had 2 boats with excellent guides and we all managed to stay in the rafts even facing class 5 rapids. Here are some pictures:

Paint me a Birmingham

Last week I made a trip to Birmingham to visit my brother in his new stomping grounds. He got a job working at a dentist office as a dental assistant and he is studying for his dental school entrance exam. I'm so proud of him!!

After a tour of his immaculate and beautifully decorated apartment and playing with my nephew-dog Banks we ate dinner in Mountain Brook at Dram. This place is new and oh so cool. It has dark wood walls and ceilings and they serve only southern grown food...mostly from Kentucky and Tennessee. There is also a cool fire pit lounge area outside that will be so fun when the weather gets a little cooler.

I ate the pork tenderloin and grits and highly recommend it. Michael got the Barbecue Burger and fries and then we shared some chocolate meringue pie. It was delicious.

After dinner we met up some of his friends at the Open Door Cafe for some drinks.

The next morning my mom drove up to meet us for a delicious jazz brunch also at the Open Door Cafe. We had wonderful beignets and the live music/atmosphere was awesome.

**Sorry there are no pictures**

I'm baaaaaack!!

Thanks for everyone nudging me to get back into blogging...sorry I left yall hanging. This summer has been very busy and I've been out of town a lot, as you will see.

My grandmother's family got together for a reunion in Gatlinburg, TN. We stayed at a cool 8 bedroom log cabin along a creek and enjoyed the weekend visiting with each other. Here are the ladies of my immediate family (Aunt Jan, Grandmom, Me & Mom).
This is my grandmother with 3 of her siblings (Christine, Loretta & JH). Gatlinburg is an interesting place...definitely don't have the desire to go back soon but there is no shortage of things to do there. We rode the ski lift to the top of the Smoky Mountains, ate a pancake house and...saw Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede Dinner and Show. If you ever find yourself in one of the redneck towns of Gatlinburg, Myrtle Beach or Branson, be sure to take in a show. It is really cheesy but a good time and where else can you CHEER FOR THE CONFEDERATE AND WIN? HAHAHA. You choose to cheer for the North or the South so like any good Alabama girl, I was yellin for the soldier's in grey.

Next up was a trip to Washington D.C. to celebrate our nation's birthday! I started the trip off with a visit to the CNN D.C. bureau where I met some co-workers who I'd only previously spoken with over the phone. I also got a tour of The Situation Room and watch the show from the control room. The studio was actually really small with low ceilings. I was surprised.

I stayed with my good friend and Chi O sorority sister, Ashley Claire. On Friday we went to the AT&T National golf tournament at Congressional Country Club and then to a 4th of July part at the Chevy Chase Club. We had so much fun meeting up with tons of SMU friends. Here we are with Christina and Rawson out in Georgetown. The grand finale was watching the National Mall fireworks from across the Potomac at Christina's parents house. We were right on the water and the view was amazing. I couldn't think of a better way to spend the 4th of July than in DC with good friends.

Vacation Relaxation

The past 9 days I've been gone...sorry for the lack of posts.

I flew home from Austin on Sunday and early Monday morning drove down to Watercolor Resort in Northwest Florida where my parents rented a house for the week. It is located right next to Seaside, FL and just down the road from San Destin, FL. It is truly my favorite place on Earth.

We had the best week just relaxing, enjoying the sunshine, eating some great food and exploring the area. My favorite part was that everyone rides bikes to get around. It was so fun to see my parents and me ride bikes. I hadn't ridden one in probably 15 years. It is definitely something you pick right back up.

I didn't take many pictures because I was truly relaxing the entire week but here is the house we stayed in and also a picture taken from the bar above the main pool looking out onto the Gulf. My mom has more pics so hopefully I can get those from her soon and will post later.

I love it down there so much. My parents want to live there one day, my brother wants to open a dental practice down there when he finishes school & I decided I might just move down there too...guess I better brush up on my bar tending skills.

Texas On My Mind

Last Friday Elizabeth B. and I traveled to Austin, TX to visit our good friend Liz who moved there last fall. As soon as I landed in the airport there was country music blaring on the speakers. What a perfect welcome back to Texas!

Saturday we met up with some of Liz's friends and made the trip down to New Braunfels to float the Comal River. What a blast! We used Rockin R's and were surprised at the rapids the river had. Several of us lost items like flip-flops or sunglasses. After the river trip we changed and went to dinner at The Gristmill. It was like dining in a giant tree house and they had the best margaritas! We also stopped in at Gruene Hall, Texas' Oldest Dance Hall. Here is a picture of our group outside the restaurant and in front of Gruene Hall.
The next day we went to church and then ate some Tex-Mex before flying back to Atlanta.

Kentucky Derby Bound

Tomorrow morning I'm headed north to Louisville, KY for the 135th running of the Kentucky Derby. This will be my 3rd time to see the races in person. I can hardly wait! Both of my parents are from Kentucky and the Derby is a tradition in our family. Even though I've never lived there I still get teary eyed when they start playing "My Old Kentucky Home." I haven't checked the horses or odds yet but I will be placing a bet for sure!

This is a small picture but it's all I could find of my perfect Derby outfit. It is a pinkish/red strapless dress and swing coat featuring rosettes...perfect for the Run for the Roses. It is by Rebecca Taylor. I will be topping it off with a great wide brim black hat and black sandals. I'll definitely post pics when I get back.

This is the official artwork for the 2009 Kentucky Derby. It is by artist Trish Biddle. I have a similar print hanging in my apartment already. This one is fabulous because it actually shows the Churchill Downs Twin Spires in the background. I might have to pic it up when I there. LOVE IT!