Merry Christmas from the McDaniels!

Happy Belated Anniversary to Us!

Our first anniversary has come and gone. Actually, it was a week ago today (Monday). We thoroughly enjoyed our anniversary evening -- very relaxed. We ordered our favorite, Outback take-out. Shawn even surprised me with Marble Slab ice cream for dessert! Yummy!

Traditionally, the gift for the first anniversary should be some sort of paper. I was proud we both took on the task. I bought Shawn one share of MGM stock. (The significance of MGM is that we stayed at the MGM Grand on our honeymoon in Vegas!) The stock (certificate) will be matted and framed....the FedEx man hasn't delivered it yet. Oops!
Shawn gave me a gift certificate to Healing Touch Day Spa for and hour-long massage, manicure and pedicure. I was quick to make my appointment ASAP! So, I had a fabulous morning of pampering at the spa this past Saturday! Loved it!

On Tuesday (one day late), we ate the top of our wedding cake. *Disclaimer: we meant to eat it on Monday night, but forgot to thaw it out! Another oops!* Despite what most people say -- it was awesome!

Here's to many more anniversaries!

Update!

So, the word on the street is that everyone is tired of looking at the turtles on our blog. I don't blame you one bit!

Things have been pretty busy at our house. We got back from vacation about two weeks ago. We went to Atlanta for a few days and then on to Savannah to finish out our trip. While in Atlanta, we saw our favorite group the Dave Matthews Band. We had great seats. Little did we know that we needed to take into account Atlanta's 5:00p.m. traffic while trying to get to the show. The traffic was insane. We survived and are very thankful that all we really have to deal with is Hardy Street! Anyways, we also went to Stone Mountain. It was Shawn's first time to see it. It is still amazing for me to see it...no matter how many times I have been. We were able to drive by my mom's old house. She lived in the city of Stone Mountain when she was a teenager. It was pretty cool to check out her old running grounds!

After two nights in Atlanta we went on to Savannah. It was absolutely beautiful. It only rained once and that was the last night we were there. We went on four different tours...two history tours and two ghost tours(two of which we on a horse-drawn carriage). I am still shocked I agreed to go on the ghost tours. I'm a scaredy cat when it comes to things like that. I really enjoyed them, though. It is amazing how much history is in Savannah. We saw many of the Forrest Gump landmarks and other famous places while there. It would be absolutely impossible to actually list all of the things we saw!

The day before we headed home, we drove out to Tybee Island. I think that was the first time we both saw the Atlantic Ocean. While on the island, we went to Fort Pulaski. There was even an alligator swimming in the moat!.

While we were on vacation, Shawn's chest was bothering him pretty bad on his left side. It hurt him to look over his shoulder while driving, to sneeze and to take a deep breath (not all at once). The day after we got home, I made him (I'm mean!) go to Immediate Care to get it checked out. They did x-rays and the whole 9 yards. Turns out he had pleurisy! There really isn't much they could do about it. He just had to keep taking anti-inflammatories. It finally cleared up earlier last week. Thank goodness!

** Y'all wanted pictures, so y'all got pictures! Enjoy!

The Turtle

I walked outside this morning(by morning i mean 1 o'clock) to let the dogs out, and Gus found this turtle...which he hates. It looked like it might be laying some eggs, so i took some pictures of it to send to my brother-in-law, Chris, who studies gopher turtles, to see what kind of turtle it is. They turned out pretty good....

Doghouse/suite

The dogs now have an outside cozy abode along with their inside cozy abode. A couple of weeks ago, Shawn decided to undertake the project of building a doghouse serving as shelter during hot summers and shelter during stormy weather. Though there were definitely some lessons learned through the process, Shawn did an excellent job! Kudos Shawn! Now, I just need to paint it...give it a little flair as some would say!

a.ka. "Betsy" Crocker

Well, I have officially baked my first dish as a married woman! Hootie hoo! As most of you know, I am not the most seasoned chef. I decided today at work that I wanted to bake something "different" with our abundant blueberries from the backyard. It is called a Blueberry Bubble Loaf (loaf is such an ugly word, by the way). I twisted the recipe up a bit and it turned out well. It is loaded with blueberries, brown sugar, biscuits and BUTTER!! I was even brave enough to send some of it to work with Shawn to share with the guys. Aren't I sweet?

Glorioso lily

So of you may or may not have heard us question this strange plant in our back yard. At the beginning of spring this year, a strange "creature" began to emerge from the ground. We watched it and watched it. We were thinking at first it was one of those weird weeds, but then we began to think otherwise. It has been such fun watching it grow into a beautiful flower. Aunt Jean told us a few weeks ago it was a Glorioso Lily. So, I had to Google it that night and find out as much as I could about this lily. Apparently, it is pretty rare and not very tempermental....that's my kind of plant. Hope y'all will enjoy the pics!