Three Year Throwback

March 29th, 2008 - March 29th, 2011 = today is our 3 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!

I am so unbelievably happy and beyond blessed to be able to call Andrew Harris mine. I cannot believe that three years have passed since we have started dating during senior year at St. Joe. So much has happened in the past 3 years! I took the time today to look through some of my old pictures and it was so good to take a trip back down memory lane. Here are a few throwbacks..



Senior Prom 2008 - what a handsome date he was :)



This picture is from a weekend that I will never forget. We were seniors in high school and we came up and stayed with Andrew's brother and his fiance, now wife, Laura for Super Bulldog Weekend. This is the weekend that we started dating! A couple of months later, we both started school at MSU together!

This was after we had been dating for a few months. This was August 8th, 2008 - James and Laura's wedding!

 Since we have been dating, James and Laura have gotten married, and so have Allie and Brandon.  Matthew and Allyson had John, and James and Laura had Stelling. Andrew's family has totally adopted me as part of their family and I am so happy that I got to be a part of all of these special occasions. Andrew is part of our family now too and we are just so blessed to have such great families who love and support us!

This was at "My Tie", our first Chi O date party. Fun fun night, one of the many occasions where we danced the night away...one of our favorite things to do together!

Another date party freshman year...oh, the memories of Freshman year!

This was on our one year anniversary. We took a weekend trip to Memphis and toured St. Jude, went to the zoo, and saw a Mavericks game. This is our anniversary dinner at the Melting Pot. I will never forget that anniversary...we were so excited....one year was a big deal!

Over these past 3 years, I have become an official triathlon girlfriend. I am Andrew's cheerleader and #1 fan! And I do a pretty darn good job at it, if I do say so myself. This is us at Andrew's first half Ironman in New Orleans, April 2010. We will be going back to NOLA in two weeks for his second half Iron! So proud of him!!

This was at the beach when we went with Andrew's brothers and their wives. I will never forget that beach trip. I am so thankful for Matthew and Allyson and James and Laura who have all treated me like a member of the family since the very start!

Goofing off...what we do best!! Andrew's sense of humor is one of the things that I love most about him. He keeps me laughing ALL of the time.

Puppy parents :) Having this little "baby" has brought us so much joy and has brought us closer...nothing like sharing responsibilites of cleaning up tee tee accidents......sooo romantic :)

One of the many weekends spent tailgating and enjoying MSU football! Lots of priceless memories from MSU.

I could literally post a thousand pictures and try and go through all our memories...but no pictures or words can really capture the love that Andrew and I share. (I warned you that this blog would be cheesy!! I wasnt kidding!)

I prayed for years and years, starting when I was very young, that God would prepare the perfect man for me. I have always felt that my prayers were answered the day that Andrew came into my life. I thank God for Andrew each day, usually numerous times a day. I love him more and more each day. He is without a doubt my best friend. He is the first one I call when I am excited or upset, and he is my rock. God has given us these three wonderful years so far, and I cant wait to see what is in store for our future!

I love you Andrew! Happy Anniversary!!!

P.S. - The next post will be about Andrew's 21st birthday triathlon...details and pictures will hopefully make it up a little later this week! He did such a great job! The website is still up for donations.



Magnificent March

ALLIE AND BRANDON ARE MARRIED!!!

As of 7:55pm on March 12, 2011, Mr. and Mrs. Stringer are man and wife!!

My sister is now "Mrs. Allie Stringer"...and she has a HUSBAND!! I just cant wrap my mind around it!

I could not be happier for Allie and Brandon. We could not have chosen a better man for her and I am glad to call him my brother in law!

The wedding weekend was a BLAST to say the least. We had wayyyy to much fun. Here is a little picture recap of some of the weekend happenings.

St. Peter's Cathedral in downtown Jackson where the wedding ceremony took place.

On Friday, all of the girls got treated to mani's and pedi's at Aqua the Day Spa in Renaissance.

My mom's two sisters, Sharon and Becky, got to come in from Texas for the weekend. They got to spend the day at the spa with us. It was such a treat to have them here for the long weekend!

Mom and Dad before the wedding rehearsal outside of Smith Park.
Allie and I can only hope that our marriages will turn out as good as our parents has...they are going strong at 32 years of marriage! They are such great examples for us.

One of my favorite pictures of the weekend! It will probably be our Christmas card :)

The beautiful bride to be before the rehearsal.

Our family at the rehearsal dinner. Look how happy we all are!!

Allie and Brandon at the rehearsal dinner!

My handsome date!!

Here are some pictures from the actual wedding day, but I don't have many. I dont have a single one from the reception because I tend to miss out on a lot of action when I have my camera in hand, so I chose to leave it back in the hotel room so I wouldnt miss out on any fun. More pictures from the ceremony and reception will come when we get them back from the photographer.

Allie's pretty cake!! I didn't have any, but everyone said it was so yummy! 

The precious topper that went on the groom's cake. Look at the detail! That is Brandon's bulldog, Hank, and a small replication on his actual grill!!

Those are just a few of my favorite shots from the weekend. Trust me, I have about two hundred more and I could go on and on about the wedding for days. I have to brag on my sister. She was bridal perfection. She looked stunning and flawless. She was calm and peaceful and so cool and collected. I really cannot imagine a more perfect bride. Everything came together so nicely without a hitch. Friends and family came from all over to celebrate with us. We danced all night long, and my parents even stayed up until 5am if that gives you any indication of how much fun we had!

I was so honored to be able to stand next to my sister on the altar while she said her vows to the man that she loves with all of her heart. There is no doubt in my mind that she and Brandon were made for eachother and that they will spend a long happy life together forever! The newlyweds spent their honeymoon in San Antonio and they had a blast!! They are now back home and back to work, but happy as ever!

While the newlyweds were off on their trip, Andrew, Cosmo, and I took a trip of our own! We packed our bags and drove for about 12 hours, all the way to North Carolina for the week! Andrew's brother and sister in law, Matthew and Allyson, opened their home to us for the week and we got to spend great time with them and their precious two year old, John. They live in Wilmington, right on the North Carolina coast, which is such a neat town, and we had a great time exploring downtown and the beaches!

This is on the Cape Fear River. We had lunch at a restaurant called Elijah's that was right off the water.

This is the Oceanic on Wrightsville Beach. Matthew and Allyson took us here to celebrate Andrew's birthday early and to congratualte me for getting accepted into OT school (I found out while we were in NC!)

Outside of the Oceanic on Wrightsville beach

Playing around at Carolina beach. John and Cosmo were not afraid to get in the water, but it was wayyy to chilly for me!

This is at Hugh McRae park in Wilmington. It is so beautiful and there is so much to look at and do...and it was dog friendly :)

Cosmo definitely enjoyed the beach. Or maybe she just enjoys anything that has to do with a tennis ball?

Looking at the USS North Carolina from across the Cape Fear River

Good ole quality time at Matthew and Allyson's house. We had the most fun just hanging out with them at home! The boys are making brownies in this picture...HA! We visited, cooked, played The Office trivia game, watched tv, and just hung out. It was great to be able to relax and catch up with them!

What is cuter than a little boy in underwear playing in the ocean???
Keep in mind that this water is literally freezing. He went from jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt all the way down to just his underwear! We had such a fun time and lots of laughs while watching this little naked boy play "chase" with the waves.

Well, that is pretty much a recap of our spring break! I am so thankful for all of our friends and family who made the wedding so special, and I cannot thank Matthew and Allyson enough for letting us come visit.

Hope you all had a great spring break.....now its back to the grind. Happy Monday!!

21-21-21

If you are reading this, then you probably know my wonderful boyfriend Andrew. I am going to assume that some of you don't know him, just so I can brag about him a little bit. Andrew and I graduated from St. Joe together and we are high school sweethearts. We started dating our senior year of high school, and here we are, still together in our Junior year at MSU. We will be celebrating our three year anniversary at the end of this month. Andrew is such an admirable individual. He always wears a smile and has a laugh that is simply infectious! One of his many passions is being a triathlete. Andrew has been participating in triathalons since the summer before we came to MSU. For the longest time, he has wanted to do a race on his 21st birthday. Once we looked at the calendar and saw that his birthday fell in the middle of the week and it isnt really tri-season yet, he came up with his own idea of what he was going to do. The idea of 21-21-21 was born. He decided that on his 21st birthday, he would swim 2.1 miles, bike 21 miles, and run 21 miles. What a cool idea...a 21 themed triathalon on his 21st birthday.

Not too long after Andrew came up with the 21-21-21 idea, he had another idea. Why would he go out and do this daunting day's worth of activities just for himself when he could offer it up for the benefit of a charity? David Goggins, a Navy SEAL and a professional triathlete came to Andrew's mind. David Goggins competes to raise money for a special charity called the Special Operations Warrior Foundation which provides money to the children of fallen special operations soldiers so that they can go to college. It did not take much for Andrew to decide that this would be the perfect charity for him to donate his efforts to. After talking to the SOWF, he found out that he could set up a donation website where friends and family could go to support Andrew and the SOWF.

In the past 3 days, over $600 has been donated.

As you can see, many people are very proud of the unique task that Andrew has before him and it seems that everyone has been eager to support him and such as wonderful cause as the SOWF.

I encourage you to go to Andrew's site, read about the SOWF, and read Andrew's personal message. He would appreciate any kind of support you can give, whether it be monetary or prayerful support. You can donate any amount of money and no amount is too small. Andrew's total mileage for the triathalon will be 44.1 miles, so if you wanted to pledge 50 cents for every mile, you could donate $22.05. Or $1 per mile, etc. You have the option to donate any amount.

Here is the link to his page: http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/andrewharris/special-operations-warrior-foundation

Here are a few pictures of Andrew "in action" in past activities.

He is sure not to disappoint. I hope you will take the time to visit Andrew's page and support him and the SOWF in some way!

Have a terrific weekend!

Long time no blog! I'm trying to think of what all has happened since last time I posted...

- we had a Chi O date party... "Holidays" themed. Andrew and I went as "birthdays". Realllly fun. The band was this group of black guys called Az Izz. I have already decided that I am going to have them play at my wedding...they are ridiculously fun!

- I had my interview for OT school at UMC. It went well, I think. The more I think about it, the worse I feel and the more nervous I get. So I am trying not to think about it for now. A letter should be coming sometime by the end of next week. I'll bet that I have a few gray hairs before then!

- Andrew and I went home last weekend and did lots of fun stuff.
1. We helped his brother James and his wife Laura move into their first HOME! They bought the cutest house wayyy out in Florence. It is so nice and spacious and I am just so happy for them! Cant wait to go back and see it once everything is unpacked.
2. My sister had a lingerie shower/bachelorette party! She got lots of scandalous lingerie "things". I, however, chose to get her a big robe. I mean, come on, its my sister. I just dont want to think about......you know. So I stayed conservative and got her an article of clothing that will keep her very covered up. Sorry, Brandon! :)
After she opened her gifts, we went to Julep for dinner and drinks. Somehow, we ended up at Shucker's which was quite an interesting experience. It was great to see Allie have a lot of fun with all of her girlfriends!

- I am SUPER stressed about school. I have 3 tests, a lab quiz, and two lab reports next week. How do teachers expect me to do all of that the week before spring break, much less the week before my sisters wedding??? The last thing I want to think about is school. I am in over my head in physics. It will be the death of me.

My weekend will be spent studying and writing lab reports. I am just hoping and praying that everything passes quickly so I can get on home to all of the fun wedding festivities that we have planned and then on to North Carolina for spring break!

This was a total venting session. So sorry! (But I do feel a little better now!)