Happy Birthday Jeanne

Happy Birthday to my boss, Jeanne. My co-worker, Jen, and I decided we wanted to plan a surprise party for our wonderful boss. Jeanne is always doing things for others, and we figured it was time that she had something done for her. The planning began about 3 weeks ago...by the way, Evite.com is the best website ever to keep things a secret, or to use invitations for anything at all. We invited all of the committees and board members of the Christian Chamber.
Today, she had a meeting scheduled at 11am and everyone was showing up around 12 to the meeting room downstairs in our office. We pulled her out of the meeting and told her we wanted to take her to lunch. We got her downstairs, and when the elevator opened, about 40 of her closest friends were standing there singing "Happy Birthday"!!! It was a perfect surprise. A special thanks to Lea McQuinn for making another fabulous cake!! Jeanne, you are wonderful! We love you and appreciate all that you do!!

THIS IS ALABAMA FOOTBALL

The Crimson Tide jumped to No. 2 in the Associated Press ranking on the strength of a dominating 41-30 victory over Georgia on national television on Saturday night. The No. 2 ranking represents the highest ranking for Alabama since 1993, when the Crimson Tide opened the season at No. 2 and stayed there for seven weeks before a 17-17 tie with Tennessee in Bir­mingham dropped the Tide to No. 4 (Montgomery Advertiser)
So this has been an awesome football for BAMA fans. Even though I am so far away from all of the excitement, I am a true Alabama fan and watch every single game that is on TV. I am so proud of our team. They have had such a hard time these past few years, and we are finally becoming the team we used to be known for. ROLL TIDE!!! These are my BAMA cupcakes for GAMEDAY!

Siesta Key

I am starting to blog all of my latest happenings...this will be the first of about 4 I think.

On September 12-13, Matt and I went to Siesta Key with his mom and dad, and our Gilliam friends from church. The surf was really good, so the boys wanted to go up. I just wanted to tan. We got there around 7pm on Friday and Matt went straight to surf! Afterwards, we all had dinner at a pizza place right across from our hotel.
On Saturday, we surfed all day long. I was having a really hard time getting up at first because the waves were coming one after the other. I was getting beat up. I decided I would take a break, and go hang by the pool. That is always relaxing.
At the end of the day, I decided to give surfing another chance. I got up on my knees several times. I was so happy about that, I didn't even care if I ever got on my feet. After slamming my head into the rocky bottom, sunburn, getting hit in the forehead by my surfboard, and having millions of no-see-um bites, I had a great time. Siesta Key is a favorite place for Matt and I. It is only about an hour away and right on the beach.

Matt & I Have Already Been Married for a YEAR!!!

On Monday, September 8th, Matt and I celbrated our 1 year wedding anniversary. I can't believe that the time has gone by so fast. We have made so many memories, made lots of mistakes, and learned so many new things together. Matt is such an amazing man and I fall more and more in love with him everyday.
I got off of work at 5 and was rushing to get home and take a shower because Matt told me we had to leave the house at 6:30. When I walked in the front door, the lights were low and he had music playing on his computer, our wedding cake's top surrounded by roses, 2 cards, and a long stem rose laying over our wedding album sitting on the kitchen table. There were 12 roses around the cake and they represented how many months we had been married. The long stemmed rose represented the next year to come. He gave me one really goofy card and then one really sweet card. I hurried to get in the shower. I was finally ready at 6:25 and he was anxious to give me my gift. He pulled a mahogany box out of his back pocket and I knew exactly where that box came from...Dunkin's Diamonds. When I opened it up, there was a diamond pendant inside it. The significance behind this is as follows. When I went home in October of 2007 to visit my mom, the diamond in my engagement ring fell out. We had only been married for a month. We couldn't find it, so I had to come back to Florida missing a diamond. My mom found it 2 weeks later and gave it back to me. Thank God our insurance covered my ring, so I already had the diamond replaced, so now I had 2 diamonds. I really wanted my original diamond. He had my 1st diamond put into a pendant to match my engagement ring. When I get a really good picture of it, I will post it.
Anyways, back to our anniversary. He took me to Tokyo Bay in Bonita Springs which is my favorite place EVER!!! It is a Japanese Steakhouse.
We had a table in a quiet corner all to ourselves. We ordered some edamames, which were the best I have ever had. I even ate a little bit of sushi...still not too big of a fan. Our meal was the BOMB!!!

I ordered the Steak and Shrimp combo from the grill and Matt ordered the
Steak and the
Chicken combo.






We were stuffed by the time we left. After dinner, we headed back home and cut our cake. It was still as good as it was on our wedding day!! Great Job Aunt Lea. After that...well, you know! Then we watched The Hills and called it a night. It was such a wonderful night. We are usually so busy that it is hard to find time to just be together. I love you Matty with all my heart. I can't wait for many more years with you baby!!!

Locks of Love

Sooo...I chopped my hair off. It is so stinkin hot in Florida and my hair was WAAAAY to long. I decided to go short for the first time in a long time. I went to a place called Studio RK (which I love by the way) where a girl named Rachel cut my hair. She asked how much I wanted cut, and I pointed to right at my shoulder. She asked if I would be interested in giving it to Locks of Love...I really didn't think I had that much hair to cut off. She pulled my hair back into a ponytail, and CUT THE WHOLE THING OFF. I was a little shocked at first, but then got really excited. She cut off 10.5 inches of hair. I love the new cut and it is way cooler. It will definitely be easier to fix.

Matt and I plus 4 Girls

On Saturday, I was not feeling good all day long. Still trying to get the cold gone, but I am feeling a little better. Matt worked all day. Our friends, Juan and Martha, called and asked if we wanted to meet them at Joe's Crab Shack for dinner. I was a little hesistant, but then I thought that getting out of the house might be a good idea. Juan and Martha have 4 little girls. Alyssa 12, Rosalie 9, Ariana 7, and Jasmine 3. We had a great dinner overlooking the water. After dinner, we all went and walked on the pier. Jazzy wanted to hold Matt's hand and talk to him the whole time. It was the cutest thing.

We went to Cold Stone Creamery to get ice cream. The girls rode with us and asked if they could spend the night at our house. Matt and I didn't have a problem with it, so they asked their mom's permission.

At the house, the girls wanted to pillow fight Matt and play WebKinz. They all needed baths first. While one was taking a bath, the others were playing WebKinz. After they were all done and Matt and I got all of our clothes together for church the next morning, the pillows came out. All the girls claim that they beat Matt. I don't think thats how it went down, but of course Matt and I let them believe that.

It took about an hour to get the girls to stay in bed and fall asleep. They woke up with smiles on their face and got dressed without any fussing to go to church. We had to be there at 7:45, so we all had to be out of the house by 7:15. They were such a blessing. Matt looked at me at the end of the night and said, "I could get used to 4 girls". Of course with the Lynch genes, I don't think that's possible. I am praying for at least one girl. God knows the Lynch's need another girl in the family. We are kinda out numbered aren't we Cissie?

Summer Has Officially Began

Ok...today is such an exciting day for me. My best friend is moving in with Matt and I for the summer. Her name is Cristina and she is going to school at FSU studying Meteorology. She got a summer internship at a local news station here in Ft. Myers, so she is going to be living with us until August.
Last night, Daniel Lynch came home from Ohio for the summer. I am so glad to have him here. There is never a dull moment when he is around.
My summer has officially began. Look for lots of posts with lots of pictures to be part of our summer adventure!!!