Here's to you Major Cherry

Last Friday my oldest brother made Major!! My parents we able to fly to Westpoint, NY and be there for the ceremony along with my cousin Gary. We are all so proud of him and thankful for what he does. He is such a humble person, a great role model, and an amazing father and husband.

"There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, learning from failure." Colin Powell AMEN!

NYC Pictures Continued

Doing the Tom Green Stare (HAHA)

Karaoke in the big apple

Tavern on the Green

Clint Black (we both live in Nashville) :o)

Tom Green

Amy with Khloe Kardashian

Having drinks at the Plaza (Thanks Gary)

Gary, Andy, and I at Tao

Jimmy Choo's for this trip ;o)

New York City 2008

Wall Street

The View from the Empire State Building at Night

The Famous "Plaza Hotel"

"Serendipity" yummy...

Me, Amy, and Linda

So this year was another wonderful time in my favorite city. I flew into West Point, NY to see my brother's family the first few days and then took the train into the city. I stayed with the girls in the city and then went back to Don's house for the remainder of the trip. Highlights of the trip: Loved seeing Don, Jamie, Jack, and Mae, had drinks at the Plaza with Gary and Andy (amazing), Shopped of course, and got to be on the new season of Celebrity Apprentice. I LOVE NYC!!

I want to be apart of it New York New York!!!

Next Tuesday I am taking my annual trip to the big apple. I started going to NYC when I was in the fifth grade. I immediately fell in love with the city. I have always had family there and now my brother's family lives in Westpoint, NY. That being said I plan to go for the next three years alot more than once a year. In graduate school I met one of my VERY BEST FRIENDS Miss Amy Love talking about this fabulous place. Once we had our big girl jobs we decided to go once a year together. Last year was the first of many to come. Next Tuesday night I will arrive at Don's house and stay with them for a few days and then meet Amy in the city. Here are some of my favorite pictures from last years trip!!!

All the girls out to dinner in the "meat packing district"

Amy and I with our first big shoe purchase!!

At Andy and Gary's Apartment

At hotel Gansevoort overlooking the city

Time Sqaure of course

It's football time in TENNESSEE!!

Titans vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

It's my favorite time of year for many reasons. I love the weather, the changing of the leaves, bugs going away, hoodies, holidays, and last but not least FOOTBALL!!! This year Mike and I got season tickets to the Titans and a parking pass. We have a big tailgate every game. I grew up a University of Tennessee fan and was never into the NFL. That is all changing this year. I now get to watch football two days a week and for both my Tennessee teams. I also remain hopeful for MTSU and ASU. They are never on television so it is harder to get into the games. Since we live in Murfreesboro we do attend the blue raider games at home. I hope you enjoy the pictures. There will be more to come after each team.

I Miss Mani!

This is dedicated to our baby Mani who we had to give away this week. It has been very bittersweet. Mani is our third ACD that Mike got in Florida last August. He was the sweetest and most cuddly Cattle dog ever. While in Florida he was run over and we believe had brain damage from the accident. It has always taken him alot longer than the other two to learn anything especially house breaking him. We have tried to avoid this for a long time now, but with our new house and no fence it wasn't fair to him. He wasn't able to come in because he would tear the hard wood floors up and pee everywhere. So his life had come down to being in the kennel in the garage. We played and ran with him in the evenings, but I just hate having a dog live like that. Disciplining him never phased him. If you know the other two dogs then you know how good they are. While there were some annoying things, Mani had the best personality and never met a stranger. Mike and I have both been really upset about this, but know he will be much happier in his new home on 15 acres. Right now I am just feeling like I just gave up, but we have tried. So here is to Mani the sweetest Cattle dog ever. We will always miss and love you.

OUR NEW HOUSE!!!!!

Many of you guys no how long Mike and I have been searching for our first house. Well, we had taken a break for the past few months due to alot of frustration. In the mean time Mike told me that I should go and look for a new car because a house would be a while. I was at a car dealership waiting on Mike when the salesman told me about these neighborhoods right off the interstate. We told them we would think about the car over the weekend and get back to them on Monday. On Sunday we found this beautiful house. This was the first house that both of us loved and it was affordable. The yard is 0.6 of an acre which is another great thing especially for our dogs. Most houses we were looking at had tiny yards. Everything about this house is us. We close August 22, 2008 and then we will be moving in asap. I am sooo excited to decorate and make it ours. It's a brand new home and we are so blessed that it all worked out. I have prayed often that we would find the right house. It was definitely a God thing :o). Big thanks to my parents for helping us with everything and the car salesman (haha). He was pretty bummed that he didn't sell a car. I can't wait for everyone to come and see it. I will post more pictures once we get settled in. Below is a picture of our Formal Dining room.

Our Beautiful Niece and Handsome Nephews

I love being an Aunt and wanted to show off why. Being an Aunt is the best because you can spoil them rotten and send them back home. It's also a good form of birth control! :o)

This is ADORABLE Mae Cherry "Miss Blue Eyes"

Handsome Big Brother Jack Cherry (my buddy)

My new Super Cute twin nephews Gavin and Owen. I have know idea how to tell them apart.

Handsome Kieran McConnell the big brother to the twins. He is the sweetest child.

PICKWICK LAKE

This weekend was a lot of fun. We went to one of my favorite places Pickwick Lake. I have been going to Pickwick since I was three years old. It is to me a place of so many memories, a get away from the world, and where I met my crazy husband. My parents have always had a boat there and in 2003 they finally purchased our cabin after MANY years of looking. When out on the lake you will find my friends and I either at the waterfall or Panther cove. This weekend Mike and Connor joined the Pickwick Parrothead club and we attempted to do a treasure hunt on the lake. We never completed it, but the journey was eventful. Once off the lake we usually try and make it to the local Freddy T's Beachclub (see pics below).

"Life's more fun when breaking the rules"

Happy Birthday America!!!

Mike's friends Dave and Justin came in for the 4th weekend!! We all went down town Friday and Saturday night. As usual we went to one of our favorites WannaBe's and between the whole crew we sang LOTS of songs. I believe this picture is when they sang "Don't stop BELIEVING!" We are not always that good, but we sure put on a great stage performance. For example: notice my hubby in the upper right hand corner (air guitar). Mike and I sang of course "JACKSON". Some of the others were Save a horse ride a cowboy, Pickin wildflowers, and the list goes on. It's never a dull moment with these guys!! This was from Saturday night at Second Fiddle. We HEART Nashville!!!

My Post wedding Hair

I have had lots of people ask about my post wedding haircut, so here it is! Mike and I went to visit his parents Father's Day weekend. This was a picture taken at MiNu. It is one of my favorite places to eat in Washington DC. It is located in the Georgetown area and it's a very different restaurant. They have belly dancers that go around performing for each table. There is also a bird cage you can eat in. (sounds strange, but it's really neat) Anyways now back to my new haircut. As many of you know I was not expecting Mike to propose when he did and was supposed to chop my hair off the very next weekend. I told him after the proposal that I was so glad he did it before I cut my hair and of course he didn't get why. So needless to say I was soooo ready to cut my hair off after the wedding. I cut it off 3 days after the honeymoon. Mike likes it both ways, but I think he likes it better short because it doesn't take me as long to get ready. If you are in the Nashville area and need a place to go here is my salon: http://rodneymitchellsalon.com/. I have been to both in the past, but since moving back to Nashville I have only been going to Jenni in the village. She is GREAT!! This is Jenni and I on my wedding day. She of course did my hair and Jana did my makeup. Thank you ladies!!!

Real Estate Curse >:o(

Mike and I have been looking for our first home for several months. We really wanted to be outside of Nashville or in Franklin. That was until we found this house plan in Murfreesboro. The location of this subdivision is 5 minutes from the interstate and it's a really nice area. It is a European cottage style. I LOVE cottages!! If you have ever been to Murfreesboro you know that the worst thing about it is the TRAFFIC, so location to the interstate is worth lots. We put a contract down on this house and lot, well what do you know the owner of the lot sold it days before without telling the agent or builder. ahhhhhh we have had the craziest things happen in this whole adventure. I want to give up, but you really can't with this one. We are going back today to see if we can find another lot we like or can live with because this will not be our home forever. Say a prayer folks!