Happy Birthday, Dad!

For my Dad's birthday this year, we went to the Olive Garden up in McKinney, which is one of his favorite restaurants.

We absolutely stuffed ourselves silly. Can't you see the misery on our faces?

For those of you who have never met Lucy, I thought these next two pictures would provide the perfect example of how big a Giant Schnauzer really is. Here is little, sweet Toby sitting up in my mom's lap. Toby is a mini schnauzer.

And here's Lucy, jealous that she wasn't getting all the attention and trying to climb up in my mom's lap. (She wasn't using her good manners.) But see? She really is Giant!Anyway, back to my dad and his birthday. He is SO camera shy.

I mean, he HATES having his picture taken.

Lucy decides to help my dad open his present.

My dad recently got a new surround sound system, and every night he goes downstairs at 8 pm to watch a movie as loud as possible. His favorite thing is when his system makes the windows rattle. So Logan and I got him lots of movies that would be great for watching with suround sound. We gave him: Wanted, The Shining, The Game, Die Hard, Man on Fire, and Seven. Mom - looks like you won't be watching any chick flicks any time soon. :)

And one more of my sweet Lucy. She turns 7 next month. She's getting a pretty grey around the mouth these days!Happy, happy birthday dad! I'm ready to come out and watch more movies in super duper surround sound!

No. Just... No.

Enough said, right?

So Logan got a little lazy on the whole shaving thing for about a week and a half. No big deal. One day he calls me and says that he has a surprise for me. I'm thinking... nice dinner?? Flowers?? Something good! He comes over with his hand over his face, and when he removed it, THIS is what I saw.

Ha-ha, very funny. But if that wasn't bad enough, he said he didn't feel like shaving just then, so I was forced to be seen in public with his face like this! He actually kept that nasty thing for three whole days.

Thankfully - the dirt worm and his chin friends are gone. The 45 year old Cowboy version of Logan has disappeared. (Thank God!)

Dallas Arboretum Bridal Stroll

Last night the Arboretum had their annual Bridal Stroll where vendors set up their products for you to see and taste! As soon as my dad heard the words "food samples", he was automatically in. No further questions asked. Logan was looking forward to the cake samples, and Whitney, my mom and I were excited about all the flowers.

It ended up being different than what I'd expected - the person at the front gate was confused and sent us on the stroll backwards, so we only got halfway through before they informed us we needed to head back to Rosine Hall, but that's okay. I just really enjoyed seeing our venue again with some different things set up. Surprisingly, there were a lot more flowers blooming this time than when we booked in May, so I took more pictures (of course). I really can't wait to see the place with the spring colors in bloom next April!

Here was one of the tables they had set up in Rosine Hall, where our reception will be. I liked the tall floral centerpiece. The vase is clear so you can see the people across from you, and it has a big pop of soft, full flowers sitting on top.

I also liked this shorter arrangement. There were three separate vases full of orange roses. (Is orange in this season? It seemed to be the theme for the night.)

This is the view when you step outside from Rosine Hall onto the patio. Its hard to see in the picture, but between those trees you can see downtown across White Rock Lake. This is the area where our cocktail hour will be.

A flower bed I thought was pretty on Rosine's porch.

Still standing on the back porch, you can see this covered pergola. They have it set up for a wedding reception since that's an option for people with small weddings, but I think that's where we're going to have our bar set up for cocktail hour.

My sweet mom. Love her!

Gil's had a bar set up, and I thought it was pretty. Gil's is who we are going to be using for the catering. The food samples they had last night were amazing - I can't wait for our own tasting!! (Again with the orange... I actually kind of like it on the bar though.)

Those two cones were brought in for extra lighting after it got dark. It looked pretty cool after sunset. (This is still more patio area that we'll have for cocktail hour and during the reception.)

I was so glad Whitney was able to come! She's one of my bridesmaids, and I just love this girl. She's one of the sweetest people I know.

Another view of the pergola. (Can't you just picture it with a bar underneath? Mmmmm...)

Since we did the stroll backwards, the pictures will be backwards too. Oh well. This is the pathway the guests will walk up on the way from the ceremony to the cocktail hour and reception. Pretty, huh.

Everyone will cross over this bridge, which has more flowers on the right, and a small koi pond on the left.

See the koi pond? Tons of fish!

This is Jonsson Color garden, where Logan and I will get married! They had it set up for the bridal stroll for a wedding that is taking place facing the big tree, but our ceremony will be in a different area filled with flowers.

I was SO excited to see our string quartet there playing! I've heard their samples online, but this was my first time to hear them in person. They are amazing. The music only came to a halt when my dad may or may not have yelled over their lovely notes during the climax of Cannon in D, "SHE'S GOT YOU BOOKED!!!" (I love you dad.) He was so embarrassed after he saw how embarrassed I was. But it got the job done - I got to talk to them and finally meet them in person. They really are great. If you need a string quartet, I'd highly recommend them!

My dad, mom and Logan resting on a bench looking out on Jonsson Color Garden.

THIS is where we're getting married. Logan and I will stand in the center of the horse-shoe shape surrounded by friends, family and flowers! It is beautiful there, and like I keep saying, I can't wait to see all the spring colors in bloom.

Awww, just 7 and a half more months!

This is the other side of Jonsson Color Garden, looking back from where Logan and I will be standing. The whole area is literally surrounded by flowers.

A closer view (from the side) of where we'll be.

More beautiful gardens along the path. Maybe a good spot for bridal portraits?

At the end of the stroll, we stopped and saw this pretty sunset over White Rock Lake. We stayed until the end when they had the drawing for prizes offered by different vendors. We didn't win anything, but they kept passing the food samples. (My dad was pleased.) All in all, I had a really good time. I'm setting up my meeting with my Arboretum coordinator in the next couple of weeks so we can plan they official layout for cocktail hour and the reception. I'm also starting some serious research on DJ's, Lighting, and Florists. Just a few more trips out to the money tree, and it'll all be paid for, right?

Jeff's Visit!

I always love it when Jeff comes to visit! He is one of my best friends from college, and is just an easy going kind of guy. He and Logan get along really well too, so now Logan looks forward to Jeff's visits just about as much as I do. :)

Since Jeff was in town Logan and I headed over to Mike and Leanne's to grill out with everyone. Mike did all the work on the grill, and as usual he made some mean burgers. I brought dessert: boston cream pie and chocolate cookies. (Store bought, of course. My cooking skills haven't moved on to mastering desserts just yet.) Mmmm... burgers and dogs.

Lucy smelled all the action and wanted her share. Sorry Lucy. No burgers for you. It was great seeing Jeff - even if it was only for a few hours. I'm ready for that guy to be done with school so he can move back to Texas!

Warning: Not for the faint...

It's gross, and totally unbelievable. Worth it to watch it all the way through. Good luck!


Two Girls One Cyst - Watch more Funny Videos

Lowry Family Vacation

Last week Logan and I met his family in Gulf Shores, Alabama and spent a couple of nice, relaxing days celebrating his father's and Leah's birthdays. Leah turns 21 this month, and Mr. Len turned 21 again... for the 37th time. :)

The airport we flew in to was in Mobile, and it was tiny. Not quite as tiny as the plane though. The plane on the way there seated only 50 people, and on the way back it was even smaller, only seating 37. On both planes the left side had just a single seat per row, and the right side had only 2 seats. Xanax for me? Of course. Once we landed in Mobile, we still had to drive for about an hour and a half to get to Gulf Shores. The car we rented was t-i-n-y, but we got there in one piece. Here's a pic of downtown Mobile from the road.

At one point we got to drive under the water (I think) in a super cool tunnel.

Driving shot.

The next day we waited and waited for the storms to pass so we could go down to the beach. We finally thought they were moving away from us, so we took a chance and headed down to the water. I took this picture from our condo balcony on the way down. That's a lot of rain in the background!

See that clear sky?? The sand on the beach was so fine and soft, and the ocean water was actually pretty warm. We found that we could go out in the water and head left and end up on a more shallow sand bar where we could just hang out on our rafts and not get drowned by the waves... for the most part. The next day Lacie and I were out in the water and the Fire Rescue guy sped over on his jet ski and started telling people to get back on the beach. There were huge stingrays in the water that day. I've never seen people run out of the water so fast! Our first day on the beach didn't last too long. The storm ended up changing directions and headed right over the water. Lightning and all. I love how in this picture you can actually see the storm line in the clouds.

Even though they ruined our beach day, the clouds sure were pretty.

Lacie and Leah came back in and relaxed in the jacuzzi tub.

Lacie did a great job on the birthday brownies! They were delicious.

They served double duty that night and we switched out the candles. 21 for Leah!!

Logan, Lyndsie, Sean (Lyndsie's boyfriend) and Lacie hanging out waiting for dessert in the kitchen.

Mr. Len and Mrs. Lynn relaxing in the living room.

The next day was a perfect beach day. Logan and his dad headed out early in the morning and hung out on the sand bar. They are those two little dots in the picture. (Did I mention how far out that sand bar was??) I don't know what I was thinking, but I put sunscreen on everywhere and completely forgot to put it on my face. We were out there all day, and I was wearing my sunglasses without a care in the world. when we came in that evening and I took my sunglasses off, I had the worst sunburned raccoon eyes I've ever had. Bad Lorin.

Here's Orange Beach from our balcony. And the pool.

Later that night we took the Lowry family Christmas picture down on the beach. (I don't have any pictures of that because I got to be in the picture this year!!) But here's Leah, Lacie, Logan and Lyndsie. I love all the bright colors!

Now plus me!

Awww.

Lyndsie and Sean

The girls and Mrs. Lynn.

Logan and his dad.

Logan's parents.

Logan and me, trying to figure out how far down we can go into the water without the waves completely soaking us.

Soon to be The Lowry's! I'm so blessed.

And my new sisters-in-law. Love them all!