My recap of the most wonderful weekend of our life! Part 1

So here it goes...... Most of our family and friends arrived in Nashville on Thursday night. That night we had everyone over for a cookout at our house in Murfreesboro, TN. Friday the guys had fun in Nashville and the girls got pedicures and manicures. Everyone was supposed to be at the rehearsal at 5:30. I totally forgot about that being in the middle of rush hour, so all that being said only 5 people made it. At this point we decided we would wing it because weddings really are not that complicated. Our wonderful rehearsal dinner was at Stoney River Steakhouse in Franklin, TN. Mike and I LOVE LOVE this place. We enjoyed great food, drinks, and lots of touching toasts from family and friends. The two that stick out in my head are Mike and Justin's toast. Justin "I would like to thank Mariellen for having such hot friends and best wishes to you both." If you know him that is definitely something he would say. After dinner my sweet bridesmaids and friends had me a lingerie shower. There were lots of great memories shared and of course tears were shed by all. We finally went to bed to get some sleep for the big day. Our wedding ceremony was out side, so for an entire year I prayed for nice weather. In the middle of the night I was woken up by thunder and immediately started praying for God to move that rain out of here. Here are some pictures from the dinner taken by my sister-in-law Maura McConnell. She also did our engagement pictures.

It's a new year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

So we rang in 2009 as husband and wife at BB Kings in downtown Nashville. The night started at Past Perfect for dinner and our best friend Conner joined us. We really didn't have any plans after that except to have a good time. Some friends we hadn't seen in a long time randomly invited us to BB Kings. It was a great time and I would definitely recommend it to friends next year.

In February we attended Scott and Katherine's wedding at Riverwood Mansion in Nashville. It was a big reunion with old friends. We all stayed at Opryland hotel and good times were had by all. My favorite memory of the weekend was when Mike jumped in the river inside of Opryland hotel and ran around in it. It was one of the funniest things I have seen in a long time. The water was so dirty it ate the glue off the bottom of his shoes. HAHA He keeps life interesting that's for sure. This is our prom picture from the wedding!

In March we held the first annual Bar Golf event with friends downtown. We all dressed up in cheezy golf attire and played 18 holes. (well Mike quit at 15) I wish you could see Mike's outfit better in this picture it was a good one. There was lots of dancing and karaoke at many bars. I believe Conner won the game.

We have 3 days before the big 1 year!!!

A Tennessee Christmas in 2008

There is nothing like Tennessee Christmas. This one was especially special because it was the first time in over 2 years my entire family was together because my brother Don had been in Iraq for the past 15 months. We had so much to be thankful for in 2008 and lots of love to share. 2008 was my most memorable year: Don got home safely from Iraq, Gina and Adam got engaged, Mike and I got married, and we bought a house. This was the first time that Mike had spent Christmas with the Cherrys. We played the Wii, rode four wheelers and loved on our Jack and Mae. I absolutely LOVE the Holidays!!!

Murfreesboro Tornado April 10, 2009

As many of you know a tornado blew through Murfreesboro, TN this past Friday. It started in our community Blackman about a mile from our neighborhood. God was definitely looking out for me and my family. We were minutes from being right in the middle of it in our car. We did not have any damage. Please pray for all the people that did lose everything, the families that lost loved ones, city officials, and all rescue personnel. It has been so neat to see everyone here in Murfreesboro come together to help each other. We went to check on a friend's house where we knew the tornado had touched down and neighbors were immediately out checking on one another and covering roofs. This first video I found on you tube shows the devastation and was done so beautifully. Two lives were lost and this is in memory of the mother and baby.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_vboJmpx6w
This is the tribute video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YIq54tOxyQ
This is a video of the actual tornado.

Fall 2008

September 2008

Mike and I bought season tickets to the Tennessee Titans this past year. We had the best time and it was an amazing season. Each game we had a big tailgate with lots of friends. I believe my favorite game was when we beat the STEELERS! I hope we can do it again this year.

October 2008

In October we went with a large group of couples to the Smokey Mountains and stayed in a cabin for the weekend. This picture is from the hardest hike of my life. It was pretty much straight up a moutain and I honestly didn't know if I would make it. The temperature went from 55 degrees to 32 at the top. The guys rocked climbed to the very tip top and the ladies waved from the bottom of the rock :o).

November 2008

Mike and I have to rotate holidays each year because his family lives in the Washington D.C. area. I LOVE going up there. This year we spent Thanksgiving with my wonderful in laws. I really am lucky to have married into such a great family. This picture is when we took the nephews to the Natural History Smithsonian. It was an adventure with these wild boys and a lot of fun.

Meet Ringo Rigby!!

RINGO RIGBY

Yes, we are the crazy dog people! For Mike's first anniversary present I got him a red heeler puppy. He came with "papers" which goes along with the traditional wedding anniversary present guide. Ringo just turned 8 weeks and is a great puppy. It was meant to be once our blue heeler Sydney started loving him. We have had other dogs in the past and she didn't really care for them. She is being so sweet to Ringo and they play constantly. He got his name from the black ring at the base of his tail. I told Mike this is it on dogs for the next 25 plus years since this breed is the longest living dog in the world. The record I believe is 35. That is so crazy to think about having a dog that long. Mike and I will ALWAYS have a dog that's for sure! I can't imagine not having one.

Sweet Summertime

Pickwick Lake of Course!

July 2008

This picture is from one our fun filled weekends at the place where we first met "Pickwick." From the looks of the picture I believe we were at Freddy T's. Mike and I met at the BP grocery store in Counce, TN March of 2004. My girlfriends and I were checking out and Mike and Trevor were behind us. The guys ask us if we were going to party cove and I just looked at them and said we will be at the waterfall. I would have never guessed that he would one day be my husband. Both groups of guys and girls hung out the whole weekend and at one point Mike looked at me and said "Girl with those curls I think I could marry you.." and he did 4 years later :o)

August 2008

This picture was taken at my good friend Ashley N. Brown's welcome home to Nashville party. Mike and I had been out on the fishing boat all day. This was the day that we decided if our house did not workout then we were moving to and exotic island or Australia for at least a year. We were so serious about this. (just ask my BFF Mica)