Daddy's Day

Yesterday was T's first father's day.

I'm sure it wasn't exactly what he wanted.

There was no nap.
No expensive meal.
No extravagant gift.

But there was time with his wife and son who love him very much.

And so, I'm sure if you ask him, it was perfect!

T,

Thank you for being such an amazing husband and father (to both boys!!!), for working hard so I can stay home with W, and for making life so much fun,

We love you,
A, W and D

jones beach

leaving...

the hospital!!!

hospital love

out of bed

he's out of the bed and in to the chair!

he made it

surgery is over and they got all the tumor!!!

praise God!

surgery is here

he's gone back to surgery. it's just a waiting game now.

a lovely walk

not only did we have a semi-normal date night, we also had a lovely walk.

just the two of us.

talking. walking. dreaming about the future.

hand in hand.

at last

thank God for facetime

finally got to see T!!! 

i just love that man. 

cushing's what?

if you're anything like me, you're probably wondering what cushing's disease is.

it's a little hard to explain.

i found that these websites have offered the most clear explanation of what it is, where it comes from and how to treat it.

if you feel so inclined you can read about it yourself here...

PubMed

US Department of Health

sick. sicker. sickest.

this post has been a long time coming.

it's one of those you never think about having to post and then, suddenly, you're there.

posting about sickness.

the truth is, T is pretty sick.

about eight weeks ago he started feeling really tired. his joints were aching, headaches, personality changes and no appetite were just a few of his many symptoms.

he spent a few weeks trying to just "snap out of it".

when that didn't work we made an appointment with a new doctor here in louisville.

they took some blood, ran some tests and basically told us nothing.

when they referred him to a specialist here and they couldn't see him until september, we knew we were going to have take action ourselves.

T started doing some research. we had his mom come up from dallas. on thursday july 26th, the two of them headed to NYC to have some tests done and figure out what was going on in his body.

a few days later he was diagnosed with Cushing's disease.

a few days after that, they did an MRI and found a tumor on his pituitary gland in his brain.

and that's where we are.

brain surgery.

i'm flying up there next friday and he will have the surgery on the 14th.

while i'm not sure where life is taking us from here, i am sure that the Lord is good and He has plans for us that we cannot possibly understand. so we will pray, we will think positive thoughts and we will try to keep our friends and family updated as much as we can.

i'll be posting here about T's illness, surgery and recovery.

thanks for your continued support and prayers.

we really are so lucky to have the family and friends we have!

good luck.

Source: google.com via Jode on Pinterest

good luck to T today.

it's his first day at his new job.

he's starting with the Frazier Museum in louisville and i couldn't be more proud.

dal and i sure will miss him over the next few weeks until we find a place to move and can move too. 

t,

good luck today.

can't wait to hear all about it.

we love you and we'll miss you.

i keep telling dallas it's only for a few days/weeks. but he's still mad.

love,

ash

wishes: engagement photos

we had our engagement photo session two weeks ago.

it was gorgeous outside.

the sun was shinning.

80 degrees.

slight breeze.

we drove out to keeneland with the dog and met our photographer Tracy D.

here are a few of my favorites..

whatcha think?

i'm so thrilled with all of them. and we had so much fun.

oh, and how handsome is our pup. best lookin' lab around, imjustsayin!

too bad you won't be able to see the picture we picked for the save the date.

all in good time my friends, all in good time.

party time

as mentioned on my friday's fabulousness last week, T and i were super excited (and beyond blessed!) to have an engagement party thrown for us by my wonderful aunt and uncle in louisville. i thought i'd share some of my fav pics of the night!

my girls, well minus tara and kb.

me and T 

my bestie and matron of honor. what you can't see is her adorable baby belly!

photo booth action

fam pic, minus jarred.

T and his bro. i swear they look just alike but he doesn't think so.

he's not really going to stab me!

my step-dad surprised me!

baby bro. aka schwab.

brookie and tara.

he really was going to stab the cake!

but i made sure he didn't. isn't that what having a wife is all about? making sure their husbands don't do stupid things? well, i'll be really good at that. haha!


it really was such a great night. most of our friends and family made great efforts to be there. some came from far, new york and colorado and some not too far but they were all there for the two of us and we couldn't be for thankful.

of course it wouldn't have been such a great night without my aunt and uncle (and sweet b) who put everything together and said some very sweet things about the T and i.

we had a great time and by the feel of my hangover the next day, i'd say the wedding won't be anything less! 

7 years

seven years ago, it all started right here.

and now, tonight, we're celebrating our engagement with our friends and family.

and in just over 7 months we'll be husband and wife. 

i love you T.

love, 

ash

conversations with T

i'm going to start something new, conversations with T. because let's face it people, we are a funny kind, the two of us and you should probably know about it.

• ME: You know I'm funny, right?
• T: Yeah, I guess you're funny for a girl.
• ME: What? You mean you're funnier just because you're a guy.
• T: Well, yeah, guys are way funnier than girls are.
• ME: No way. I'm way funnier than you.
• T: Um, no you're not.
• ME: Say I'm funnier than you.
• T: No.
• ME: Say it.
• T: No.
• ME: Just admit that I'm funnier than you. You know you want to.
• T: Alright, you're funnier than me. But, I'm only saying that so you'll shut up about it.
• ME: Ok. All that matters is that you said it.

and now it's written down, on the internet for all to see and know. i win.

• T: Do you know what the back of your knee is called?
• ME: Um.... (while looking it up on google)
• ME: Well crap, I can't find it on google so I'm going to go with knee pit?
• T: Wow. That's wrong, but wow.

and now you know how dumb i am. oh by the way, (because i know you're looking it up right this moment) there is no name for that body part. only one that's not named. bam.

• T: I will love you forever if you go get me a new hole punch.
• ME: Don't you love me forever anyway?
• T: Yeah but it would be even more.
• ME: Nah, but I'll go with you.
• T: Ok, but you're not going to get as much love as if you'd gone and gotten it for me.
• ME: I think I can deal with that.

true love, right there.

him

i love him.

T's birthday

pics from T's birthday: better late than never right?

 lots of presents for the birthday boy!

loved his card that dallas picked out and signed himself ;)

couldn't believe dallas got him almonds and venom (an energy drink). dogs know best the way to a man's heart is food and tons of caffeine.  

i know it's fuzzy but i love the thrill in his face. not staged at all! ha.

new shirt. plaid of course. probably making an appearance in our engagement photos soon.

loved it so much he changed in to it before dinner.

cheesecake birthday cake.

it was a great day for a 26th birthday with my fav guy. we celebrated with a nice dinner out with the terry's and then came home early for cheesecake and bed. lame. we're old and it was a monday night. we did however have a glass of wine, watch out!

wishes: december must dos

every year i have a list of things i must do during the month of december. sometimes i don't always get through it all but i try really hard. this year, T must also do these things with me. i'm sure he's hating it but he's so sweet he'll never say! 

1. christmas movies. my list includes all the harry potters, just friends, the grinch, a christmas carol, polar express, little women, charlie brown, love actually, you've got mail, a christmas story, it's a wonderful life, elf and the family stone.

Source: google.com via Anna on Pinterest

2. visit family on christmas eve and day. 

3. christmas lights. we must go see light somewhere. anywhere as long as their twinkling!

Source: socyberty.com via Sorcha on Pinterest

4. play christmas music every day. 

5. baking. i don't care if it's cookies, chocolate covered pretzels, cakes, muffins, peppermint bark, etc. as long as it's decorated and smells heavenly. and has sugar, duh.

Source: flickr.com via Tarevale on Pinterest

6. craft. sew. craft. sew. 

7. decorate the house. although we started the weekend before thanksgiving this year, oops. i wish my house looked like this...

Source: bhg.com via Dana on Pinterest

8. wrap the presents in the most beautiful way possible. 

9. drink as much hot chocolate as possible.

Source: shine.yahoo.com via Aubrey on Pinterest

10. read christmas books with liv and lilly. 

11. make dallas wear his puffer vest.

12. play in the snow. 

13. celebrate myra's birthday.

14. turn the heat on. 

15. go see the nutcracker. ballet. on ice. play form. i've seen it all and i love it!

Source: google.co.za via Collette on Pinterest

16. make awesome NYE plans. 

 wow, that's a lot of stuff. and i just know i'm missing some. how's your december looking? any special traditions you want to share?