Yes, I'm Engaged!

Hey Jammas, sorry it's taken me so long to get the word out to everyone. It's been a crazy two weeks! Let me properly share: Mark proposed on January 18--I'm getting married!!!!

The proposal itself was a total surprise. I mean, we'd talked about it and I knew it was coming at some point, but I thought it would be this summer. Instead, we're getting married this summer! May 24 in a private ceremony on the beach:0

I can't even begin to express how excited I am! I have shifted into over drive and have completed in two weeks what most people tell me took them months to do! Oh, well, Mark and I are ready to be married. We're also looking at houses and planning a honeymoon.

Finally. The last Jamma is getting married. This is cause for celebration! Ha. In all seriousness, God has richly blessed us and both of us know that we're each other's answered prayer. Mark was most definitely worth waiting on.

Love you all!
KB

ATTN: KLB

All right, Kassi Leanne (sp?) Brown.  It is time for some pictures.  I would like to request a good hand shot, as well as a story about how it happened.

Chop Chop.

XO

Friends

I got this in an email, and I know it's gooby, but it really reminded me of us. We all know that we don't all get to see each other or even talk to each other very often. And we feel closer to some than others. And some of us feel like others just aren't interested in remaining friends anymore. But the truth is that we are all in very different phases and places in our lives, and it is impossible for it to be exactly the same way it was from 1998-2002. In reading this, I found myself placing each of your names with a certain part, and I wanted to thank you all for being there for me, whether it was for just a few minutes or the rest of my life. My life would not be the same today if it weren't for each and every one of you! Enjoy!

"When I was little, I used to believe in the concept of one best friend, And then I became a woman. And then I found out that if you allow your heart to open up, God would show you the best in many friends. One friend is needed when you're going through things with your man. Another friend is needed when you're going through things with your mom. Another will sit beside you in the bleachers as you delight in your childrenand their activities. Another when you want to shop, share, heal, hurt, joke, or just be. One friend will say, 'Let's cry together,' Another, 'Let's fight together,' Another, 'Let's walk away together.' One friend will meet your spiritual need, Another, your shoe fetish, Another, your love for movies, Another will be with you in your season of confusion, Another will be your clarifier, Another, the wind beneath your wings. But whatever their assignment in your life, on whatever the occasion, On whatever the day, or wherever you need them to meet you with their gymshoes on and hair pulled back, or to hold you back from making a completefool of yourself Those are your best friends. It may all be wrapped up in one woman, But for many, it's wrapped up in several.. One from 7th grade, One from high school, Several from the college years, a couple from old jobs, On some days your mother, On some days your neighbor, On others, your sisters, And on some days, your daughters. So, whether they've been your friend for 20 minutes or 20 years, love them just the same!"

A new baby Anchor Man arrives!

Grayson Rhodes Davis is here! Check out my blog for a better description and story!

Preggers/Not Preggers

After checking Libby's blog this morning, I had to make a list.

Have child and/or pregnant:
Crissie
Kendy
Haley
Jessica
Libby

No children (yet):
Anisa
Meggan
Kassi
Christi
Megan
Penny
Jennie
Emily
Cooper

I don't know about all of you, but about once a week, I stumble upon an "I'm pregnant!" blog post. I needed to make the list so I didn't feel behind. :)

And I bet one of you on the no children list is probably pregnant and waiting to post. ;)

I think it's so nice that we all get to become "aunts" many times over. It is so much fun watching everyone's families grow and follow the life changes. I know that all of you will be great parents.

Congrats, Libs!

Love to you all.

A Lesson in Jamma History

"Shut UP!"

I could hear you all collectively saying this in my mind when I pulled it out of the box.

Today I've been unpacking some boxes, including a few that my parents have been storing at their house since May 2002. I've been out of town so much lately that I still have not finished getting the house together. Sucks, but it has to get done!

You all know the feeling when you are unpacking and you come across something that either A. you have completely forgotten about or B. you have wondered where it was for a long time but just could not put your hands on it. Well option B happend to me about an hour ago.

Imagine my surpirse when out of a box comes this:

I was so freaking excited! I have wondered where this little piece of history has been for so long. Don't get me wrong. I don't lose sleep over this or anything, but every once in a while it would cross my mind, and it bugged the heck out of me that I couldn't find it. Well, here it is in all it's Jamma glory. "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" (That, my friends, was the sound of angels singing, for those of you with no imagination that couldn't figure it out.)

This is the single item from which we derived the name of our amazing group of friends. The Jammas! We found these little, no, BIG 80's sleep shirts while rummaging around in the office at the Derge (That is the nickname of the DG house at State, for anyone out there who has no idea what I'm talking about...and no, I don't know if that is the correct spelling. It probably has never been put in print before. So, maybe that's another piece of history. I digress.)

Since it was a pajama shirt we, probably with too much discussion, shortened the name to jamma. I don't clearly remember the details, but I'm positive that some of us snatched them up and modeled them for some time, and the others of us rolled on the floor laughing in true Jamma style. Somewhere in the chaos that ensued we decided that The Jammas would be the name that we would go by forevermore.

While I could not afford to pay a supermodel to don this for our photoshoot, I did find a novice who told me she would do it for free. Sorry, she's not very well trained, but she's all I could afford:

And that, my dears, is a lesson in Jamma history!

P.S. Thank Libby for the precious new desing of the blog! She did a great job!

eliza kate has some BIG news. . .

The Ogg Blog

ok- so the ogg blog has begun...never thought i would start this...don't really get it...i want mine to be cute but don't know how...imagine that...

So You Think You Can Blog

Just wanted to let you all know, for what it's worth, I've started a blog for me & Michael. You may have run across it already in the past few months, but I haven't really told anyone about it because I wanted it to be cuter (I know this is not a word) before I posted. I'm seeing that this is not going to happen any time soon, so go ahead and check it out. The link is on the left. If you haven any pointers on how to do a cute background and all that jazz, let me know. I'd like the Jamma blog to get a facelift, as well.

Hope you are all having a great week! It was so good to see most of you this past weekend at Beebs' wedding!!

Libby, we're all looking for that contract....

best wishes!!!

i know your wedding will be beautiful, beebs! i wish i could be with you and the rest of the jammas this weekend!


love kendy

OMAHA

go state!!! and go russ sneed!!! the jammas are cheering for you!!!!

love, kendy

A long time ago

This is my third birthday party. Can you guess who the little girl in pigtails is?

Huntsville!

Bert and I had a great time seeing Meggan and Wesley this weekend. My cousin was having a graduation party and it just so happened it was in Huntsville. It was so great to see Meggan and meet Wesley. Their house is so cute!

Nothing like some Jamma time...

New House!!

Well, we are on our way to getting a new house! This may be a surprise to some of you, since I haven't really said much about it, but it has been an extremely fast-moving process!! It all started last Tuesday when I called a friend to ask about a builder (we were thinking about building). Well, she told me about this house and how the builder really needed to sell it. Turns out he is going to buy our house and renovate it to re-sell, so we don't even have to do any work to it or try to sell it. He gave us a GREAT offer on our house, and a great deal on this one! This is probably the best luck we've ever had! Our soon-to-be new house is in Bainbridge subdivision in Madison County. I think we'll have a Canton address. It is such a cute neighborhood...it has a website if you want to check it out. www.bainbridgemadison.com If everything goes smoothly, we'll be closing by the end of the week and moving over the weekend. Whirlwind!! Some pics of the house are below. They don't do it justice, though. It is so much better looking in person, so you will all have to come visit!

The house!

Dining room

Den

Kitchen

Kitchen

Office

Part of the master bath

Future Anchorman!

How is everyone? We are doing great at home. A baby is a lot more work than I thought, though! It is all worth it to see him grow and change. I miss hearing about yall and your lives. I think everyone should post an update. I need things to read at home all day. It will be like an adult conversation! Haley, I hope you are feeling better.

The Twin

So, I was online this morning and got another message from the person I was speaking of in yesterday's post.

"Weird. I must have a twin with the same name," he said.

Huh.

All of a sudden, I clicked on the person's profile picture and what do I see?

NOT an old Sigma Chi from State. No siree. I have no effing clue who this person is. However, they are my Facebook "friend" now. It just so happened that there is someone else out there with the same exact (not so common) name. They look just the same in the small picture until you have access to their profile.

I thought this was pretty hilarious considering I felt like total crap yesterday. Y'all know how sensitive I am.

Ah, my ego is back in tact. :)

"I really hate to say this, but I have no idea who you are"

So......my Jamma bubble was bursted today. I mean, how could anyone forget us? ;)

I know some of you are on Facebook and others aren't, so I will give a quick explanation. Facebook is this giant online community and basically you ask other people to be your "friends" and you send messages (public or more like emailing) to people. It's like a level below traditional emailing, so you can say hey to people you wouldn't email, call, etc. And you can just have short conversations back and forth. You can also see what people are doing now, so it's neat to see what's going on with people you would usually have no clue what happened to.

ANYWAY, I was going to class the other day, and I saw this Sigma Chi that used to go to State. He was one year younger than us, and we all totally knew him. So, I got on Facebook a few days later and said that I thought I saw him, and was he going to school here. Luckily, I sent him a message that was of the private variety...meaning I would not be humiliated in public, except now I am telling everyone.

His response to my message?

"I really hate to say this, but I have no idea who you are."

Ouch.

And the thing is, I had this fleeting thought that maybe he didn't remember me. But then, I thought I was just being silly.

What a shattered ego I have today.

Taylor

We are all doing great. I posted more pictures on our blog. Talk to you soon.

Cheddar Cheese Grits

OK, so this weekend I was in Destin with my sister and her friends for her bachelorette party. One of the girls is an intern at Southern Progress in the test kitchen (I'd weigh 1000 pounds if that were my job). She made breakfast for everyone on Saturday morning, and this is the recipe for the Cheddar Cheese Grits Casserole that was sooooo delicious. Mind you, I don't even like grits, and I couldn't get enough of this. Enjoy!

Southern Living
Cheddar Cheese Grits Casserole (43388.1)Prep: 15 min., Cook: 10 min., Bake: 40 min.
4 cups milk
1/4 cup butter
1 cup uncooked quick-cooking grits
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Garnish: parsley sprigs Bring milk just to a boil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat; gradually whisk in butter and grits. Reduce heat, and simmer, whisking constantly, 5 to 7 minutes or until grits are done. Remove from heat.Stir in egg and next 3 ingredients. Pour into a lightly greased 11- x 7-inch baking dish. Sprinkle evenly with grated Parmesan cheese.Bake, covered, at 350° for 35 to 40 minutes or until mixture is set. Serve immediately. Garnish, if desired.

don't try this take 2

today's "don't try this" was inspired by a trip to target this morning......

DON'T TRY ON SWIM SUITS!

we're headed to the beach in a couple of weeks and i thought i would look for a new swim suit....i though surely my body was in better shape over a year and a half after giving birth as opposed to last summer....(when i still should have been skinnier than i was, but that is a whole other subject)

so i found this really cute tankini.....not even a skimpy 2 piece, mind you,.....a very cute, modest, mommy tankini.....

so i tried on the top and i thought "ok....pretty cute.....this isn't so bad"
but then the bottoms went on......i still feel a little bit sick from what i saw in the mirror....i am just making myself feel better by saying that i had just chosen a size too small in the bottoms....although i could not bring myself to getting the size up.....

eliza kate was in the dressing room with me and when i asked her what she thought about mommy's swim suit, she started laughing....

i'm serious.....