Polar Plunge

On February 18, 2012, the anticipated day had finally arrived! 2012 Polar Plunge! Each year, Polar Plunge is put on as a fundraiser to send kiddos from our area to the Special Olympics. South Arkansas Rehab (my work) has won best costume the past two years. This was my first year to be part of the team, and I was amazed at the time and effort that went into planning our costumes for the big event... of course it had to be secretive so the competition wouldn't outdo us!

We gathered at the clinic that Saturday morning to put on our costumes and get ready for the big event. It was a little chilly outside that day, but nothing like running into freezing cold water!!!

All ready to head to the event at the UAM pond

The only hitch in the plans was out Tin Man....he was so good that he couldn't sit down...So this is how we transported him!

Once we arrived at the UAM pond, we registered and waited for things to start. Not much later, the "parade" began, and each team paraded in front of the judges for judging of the costumes. After a few minutes of suspense......South Arkansas Rehab won for the 3rd year running! Yippee!

Seth Oxner, Park Tipton, Kyle Wever, Jennifer Brown, Nat Grubbs (and Toto), Laura Lyon, and Meredith Grubbs

After the costume contest it was time for the real event....getting IN the water. However, since I was already fighting sickness, I humbly bowed out of the event and watched from the sidelines.

At this point they were singing, "We're off to see the wizard!!!"

And the finale...A perfect synchronized turning dive into the freezing cold water!

Such a fun event for a great cause, but can't say that I wish I could've participated...

Valentine's Day

My husband started Valentine's Day by saying, "Now Laura, I'm not sending flowers to your work so don't be upset". However, from previous similar statements, this basically meant that I could expect some flowers! woohooo!.......or not. Valentine's Day was a beautiful day this year. I was working at Sesame School that day, so I enjoyed seeing all the kids excited about their parties. Later when I headed back to the clinic and walked in, I prepared myself to not receive flowers so I wouldn't be let down.... And there were none. No big deal. After the rest of the work day I finished my paperwork and prepared to head home. When I looked at my phone while walking out the door, I saw a message from my sweet husband that said to call on my way home. After considering not calling, but rather surprising him by my arrival (which is what happened with the big proposal) I decided to call. Minutes later I arrived home to the perfect valentine's day treat...... First I heard the romantic music playing... A few more steps and I noticed the beautifully set table.

Following salad and dinner, Brandon brought out dessert!

YES..that is a Ding-Dong and a sliced strawberry, but the combination actually tasted wonderful! And the fact that he came up with all this on his own says alot..

Following dinner we exchanged gifts. I had made him a basket of goodies that included some popcorn, movies, and few other things. Once I opened my gift, I loved the three charms he had gotten for my Pandora bracelet: A rose that will never die, a bible since I'm attempting to read through it this year, and the hearts for Valentine's day.

The three on the left were the new additions

Last but not least, Brandon led me to what we were using for storage....a long-term project that had not been completed. The big surprise was the new vanity, light fixture, and lotion/bath bubble set. The even BIGGER surprise was the the plumber was coming the next day and then my bathroom would be READY! YAY! What a perfect present and surprise! All in all we had a wonderful Valentine's Day, and my husband went all out to make me feel very special and loved.

presents on Valentine's Day

And this is my bathroom all complete! It has been wonderful finally having my very own bathroom and I love my husband for making it happen!

Custom shower curtain I made to accomodate extra tall people like myself

Trying to get a pic of it all, but it is a small space

Birthday Celebrations

After a fun weekend in Fayetteville, I then got to celebrate my birthday with my family on January 25 (Tuesday night) after work. My family went all out as always and kicked a huge birthday dinner of turkey nuggets, mashed potatoes, and several vegggies. My sister made my favorite cake, cookie cake! This year's party was much less exciting than last year, when I set my hair on fire... As you can see, my family opted for the "2" "6" candles, rather than using 26 candles... A true sign that you are getting old! From my family I mostly received money (which was perfect for my upcoming dallas trip) and several very sweet cards. From my sweet husband I was completely surprised when I opened my new Iphone 4!!! I had no idea! He is so thoughtful!

Most importantly though, I enjoyed the time spent with family. It is this that I will treasure the most.

Posing with my cake

DALLAS TRIP

To wrap up my birthday celebrations, it was time to head to Dallas for a long-needed, much-anticipated trip to reunite with my best friends. I took day off work and met up with Nicki in Hope, AR. Then we headed toward Dallas, but stopped for lunch in Texarkana. We then made the rest of the drive and enjoyed every minute to catch up on lost time. Once we made it to Dallas, we found Amber's apartment and then headed out for some shopping until Amber got off work. We found a scrub store near Amber's work where we shopped a little and met up with Amber. Once she arrived, we headed back to her apartment and enjoyed some much-needed girl time!

Friday night we headed out for a little shopping at the mall and ate dinner at P.F. Chang's, YUM! After dinner, we stopped by the grocery store for popcorn and ice cream, and then enjoyed a night in for more girl talk.

Saturday morning we awoke early and got ready for a day of shopping! But before heading out we snapped a few best friend pics!

Oh how I've missed these girls!

Nicki and I with the beautiful view of downtown Dallas in the background

Amber and I

After a long day of shopping (we found some awesome deals), we headed to the nail salon and enjoyed some pampering thanks to Amber! Following this we did a little more shopping at the mall before heading back and freshening up for dinner. We ate dinner at a Mexican restaurant and then headed out on the town for some fun and dancing!

Action shot!

It really doesn't matter what happens when us girls get together, we always have fun! Sunday morning we slept in and then Nicki and I headed back to Arkansas. No length of time would have been enough to catch up for lost time, but we enjoyed every second. It is true that best friends can live hours apart, but pick up right where they left off the second they get together! Hopefully there will be many more girl weekends to come!

Razorback Weekend

I don't believe I've ever heard my husband as excited as he was the day he called to tell me the news... When he finally caught his breath, he shared that he had won 4 tickets to see the razorbacks play at Bud Walton Arena. Though we already had my birthday plans, we were able to shift things around and plan a fun get-a-way weekend.

On Friday after work, Brandon and I, along with Caleb and Janet Lane, loaded up my car and headed north. We didn't make it far before we stopped for dinner in Pine Bluff at Chef Lee's. After that we only stopped once more before arriving in Fayetteville and checking in the hotel for a good night's sleep.

The next morning we awoke early so we could enjoy some time in Fayetteville prior to the game. We had breakfast at Chick-fil-a (my pick!) and then enjoyed some shopping at the mall, Bed,bath, and beyond (also my pick!), and Petco before heading to Bud Walton. Once we found a parking spot, we headed to the arena to find our seats. The game was very exciting, especially since I was the only one that had ever been to a basketball game! Even more, the hogs played awesome and held the lead throughout the entire game, even though it got down to the wire in the last seconds. Also, it was the perfect game for Brandon because it was recruitment weekend and the football team was presented with their Cotton Bowl trophy at halftime.

Our View of the court

My sweet husband and I

Janet and Caleb

Group Pic! Laura, Brandon, Caleb, and Janet

Hogs WIN!!! It came down to the wire, but they held onto the win until the last second!

Following the game, we hit the road back to south Arkansas. To my luck (once again) we stopped to "go to the bathroom" at hobby lobby. Luckily, once we got the boys in the store they enjoyed looking around just as much as Janet and I!! After hobby lobby we headed across the street for some Shake's, which topped off a perfect weekend spent with friends, enjoyed a Razorback win. It doesn't get much better than that!

Ice Skating in Little Rock

One friday night in January we all decided to go on an Ice Skating Trip! We all headed out and first ate at Macaroni Grill in Little Rock before heading to the skating rink.

Dusty and Leah

Dusty found a hockey helmet!

Leah trying to be graceful..

Brandon and Caleb helping Kylie

The hubs and I

Group Picture

Janet, Caleb, Kylie, and Caden Lane, Dusty and Leah Williams, Brandon and Laura Lyon, Tiffany and Derek White

What a fun night!

Our First Christmas

Brandon and I are extremely blessed! I am going to try and do better keeping up with this blog, but for now I'm still playing catch up...

The Christmas season began with getting up the tree... or in my case, all four trees! Bo and I spent a day in Little Rock for her birthday and I bought several Christmas decorations to go with those I already had and those we received as wedding gifts.

The tree in our bedroom was red and gold with antique snowflakes made by my great-grandmothers.

My Peacock tree in the guest room...by far my favorite!

Brandon's favorite, the Razorback tree!

And the largest of all, our main tree in the living room! This tree was also a favorite..it was brown, red, and gold with a few rustic ornaments we purchased on our honeymoon at the Apple Tree Mall

After all the shopping, wrapping, and preparations were made, Christmas time finally arrived. The biggest difference this year was the lack of vacation time....This year Christmas Eve was on Saturday and Christmas on Sunday, so I only got one day off work, Monday, as opposed to my usual 3 weeks! Anyhow, in the short time we had, we had a very Merry and blessed Christmas!

Christmas Eve we at lunch with the Jacks' family in Glendale, enjoying a huge meal and a fun game of dirty santa. That afternoon and evening we spent with my immediate family at my parent's home. We had another nice meal before opening our bajillion presents.. Christmas was definitely different this year, as it is both Leah and I's first married Christmas, but we enjoyed the family time that we had!

Mamaw and Papaw

Bo

Mom with all her gifts

Brandon and dad with all their gifts

Dusty behind all his gifts..mom went overboard!

Papaw and I (during his chemo and radiation treatments)

My sweet hubby and I

Christmas morning Brandon and I exchanged gifts before heading to church. Brandon got me a large upright jewelry case, a Northface coat, and a Pandora bracelet. I gave Brandon a new Putter, shirt, camo tervis tumbler, columbia vest, and lost but not least, a Playstation football game. I have come to regret the last gift, as Brandon continues to enjoy this gift quite often even months after Christmas..

Christmas day Brandon, Mrs. Kathy, and I all exchanged gifts prior to heading to Camden to spend Christmas day with Brandon's dad, Paul Patterson.

All in all we had a very blessed Christmas with family time and most importantly, time in God's house to celebrate the birth of his son.

Honeymoonin with The Lyon's

After a wonderful wedding, Brandon and I pulled onto the highway and let out the largest sigh of relief in my life! It felt so good to be headed off for a week of vacation with my HUSBAND! First stop, the Peabody in Little Rock. Brandon had reserved the Vice Presidential suite, but we got an upgrade to the Presidential suite since it was unoccupied! The pictures don't do the two-story room justice, but it was large!

This is the view from our bedroom! We felt like royalty! There were trap doors that went directly out to the roof. After getting ready in the beautiful bathrooms, we headed downstairs and had a complimentary breakfast at the Capriccio Grill.

Following breakfast, it was off to Missouri!

BIG CEDAR LODGE

Once we arrived at our destination, we spent hours taking in the scenery, cabins, lodges, and all the sights that Big Cedar had to offer. It was beautiful! Big Cedar also left us a welcome gift that was so cute. We loved our "outdoorsy" private cabin and the beautiful view it had to offer. Oh yes, Brandon also spent a little time cleaning the graffiti off of his truck, but did leave "Just Married".

Our gift from Big Cedar

For two days of the trip we spent the entire day at Big Cedar, as it offered several restaurants, mini-golf, coffee shop, carriage ride to see the Christmas lights, and did I mention the B-E-A-utiful scenery! Several nights we rented DVDs and enjoyed some relaxing time at the cabin, which was much-needed after all the wedding stress. I absolutely loved hanging out, taking a bubble bath, or just watching the cozy fire at night in the cabin.

The beautiful scenery during our game of putt-putt

Having fun in the big fish on the mini-golf course

One night we ate at The Worman House, which was the original house on the Big Cedar property

One night before dinner

In front of the Christmas tree at the lodge. This was while we were waiting on our carriage ride! =)

When we weren't at Big Cedar, we spent time in Branson either shopping or watching "shows". While there, we saw "The Legend of Kung Fu", "Dixie Stampede", and "Pierce Arrow". We also enjoyed Ripley's Believe it or not, as well as the Titanic museum. While in Branson we also enjoyed shopping at the Outlet Malls where we got a few early Christmas gifts. We also shopped at the Appletree Mall which is a craft mall/flea market with very neat items for sale. My only disappointment was that Silver Dollar City was closed the entire week we were there to get ready for the Christmas season...very upsetting.

One day we went to Springfield, MO to visit the infamous Bass Pro Shops. Brandon was more excited than any 12-year-old child, but sadly he was very disappointed. While there, we also stopped by my Aunt Julie's work for a quick visit.

Surprisingly, when it was time to come home, Brandon and I were both ready! We agreed that we had a phenomenal honeymoon, but in the end, we were both ready to go to OUR home. So right before leaving we snapped a few last pictures...

Such beautiful scenery...God's creation is amazing!

Once we headed home, we took an alternate route to pick up our new puppy. We heard of the puppies one night during the honeymoon and decided to get one! SO, we headed home by way of Des Arc, AR, where our puppy was born. Once there, Brandon asked my opinion on which puppy to choose, but he ended up getting THE fattest one against my recommendation and reasoned that the fattest one would also be the healthiest one. So, we exchanged money and papers and were headed on our way to Monticello.....for a few minutes at least. Apparently our precious puppy had just eaten a very large meal, and that, combined with his extreme care sickness, equalled 2 episodes of pooping...in the truck. And to make things worse, the second poo was on MY jeans and shoes..... honeymoon over. So after our second roadside stop and cleanup, during which I changed clothes in the truck, precious puppy got a ride in the back of the truck. Thankfully he stayed up near the front of the truck until we could reach Mack's Prairie Wings in Stuttgart to purchase a kennel for him in which he could ride safely. While at Mack's, puppy and I bonded while we frolicked across the parking lot to some nearby grass. It was at that time that I went through several names we had come up with.....but when I said, "Do you want your name to be Mack?" the puppy barked! So Mack it is!

He is very loved!

First vet appointment

And after a long road trip and an attempt at changing my name at the social security office but the office had already closed we FINALLY arrived to our Home Sweet Home.