The Life and Times of The Slavens

Catching Up!

2009-07-23T20:43:00.004-04:00

i finally made a little time to sit down and catch up with my blogging! ha ha, well, i don't think i will ever REALLY catch up, but i will at least write a little about what bud and i have been up to this summer! we have mainly been working on our house we are about to build, getting the quotes, picking out what we want (from floors and cabinets, to paint colors and appliances!), and the longest part has been working with the banks.......but we are FINALLY closing next week and building will begin the first week of august! it seems like i was JUST saying in april that we hoped to begin by june....... unfortunately life does not always fall in the timing we would like ;) but it is all ok and better late than never, right?! we have also taken a trip to orange beach this summer, spent some time with our group of friends we have become so close to, and tried to spend more time with our family. oh yeah! and the boat that i wrote about awhile back? sadly, we decided to sell old "high maintenance"...... we put the proceeds into the house fund ha! we made some great and funny memories with SEVERAL of our friends on that boat by the end though, not just marshall and jules! it has definitely been an eventful summer so far, it has just gone by so fast though!

we are also looking very forward to august! it is gonna be a blast! so in the upcoming month we will 1) begin our new home 2) take a week of vacation 3) celebrate our 2 year wedding anniversary and 4) go to my RCHS 10 year class reunion! looks like we have a busy month ahead, but we are so excited! we are gonna take it easy and stay close to home for our anniversary this year (what with the house and all) but we may visit gatlinburg and pigeon forge for a few days. we are also gonna go to cookeville for a weekend and visit my friend liz and her husband brandon - it will be great to catch up with them and see their new home AND hear brandon sing in his band "jones'n". i have lots of pics from this summer, i just need to make a little extra time to post them! i will put some pics on here at some point ;) i hope everyone is doing well, i have been working ALOT lately, so if you are ever in the big food city come by and say hi!

Cornhole!!!

2009-05-22T23:58:00.003-04:00

our cornhole boards ( drying in the garage ;) )

for those of you who haven't heard of cornhole, it is basically a bean bag game. there are the 2 boards (above) that you set up opposite each other and you have teams on each side that compete against each other trying to get as many points as possible (so many points if the bag goes in, so many if it lands on the board, etc.). when you set them up, there are boards underneath that hold them up at a slant, so getting the bags to actually go in is really much harder than it looks because they slide when they hit the board! if you ever go to any of the ut games, you will see people all over campus playing this at the tailgates! it seems silly, but it is really addictive once you start playing! anyways, i got bud his cornhole game last year for our first wedding anniversary, and he has absolutely loved it! i was so happy to finally get him a gift that was a surprise! i had a man who works for food city make it for me, so it was all white with orange and white bean bags to go with it. anyways, we FINALLY got around to painting it this weekend to prepare for our memorial day festivities!!! that is the cool thing about this game - they all are unique because you can paint them however you want! ours is not COMPLETELY finished, there are still a few touches we want to add to it at a later date, but i am so proud of our paint job thus far! just thought i would share it with you guys!!! hope everyone has a fun and SAFE holiday weekend - happy memorial day!

a close-up of our checkerboard!

An Interesting Sunday Afternoon.........

2009-05-20T22:23:00.004-04:00

ok, so most of you are probably wondering what my crazy husband is doing in this picture....... yep, thats right, he is paddling down the river :) so we decided to get our boat (which, btw, is a classic - a 1988 searay ha!) out for the first time this year on sunday to just take a ride, maybe catch some lunch at a marina, for our good friend julia coley's birthday (her brother marshall was with us for the excitement, too). the boat had been acting up a little towards the end of last summer, so last month we had our boat mechanic to dewinterize it and he also rebuilt the carborator (i am quite sure i didn't spell that right, but hey i'm no mechanic!). so anyways, we set out on sunday thinkin the problem was solved right? wrong. we got about halfway to our destination when it just died completely. did i mention that it was quite overcast and chilly that day, too? i know what you are thinking, we didn't really think the whole boat ride think through did we? well, we knew it wasn't the best conditions, but we just planned on a quick trip, not drifting down the river for hours!

so there we were, not another boat in sight, boat will NOT start. bud called the mechanic and found out that the problem, in fact, was probably electrical and not the carborator, which is exactly what you don't want to hear when stranded in the middle of the water because there is not a thing you can do about it! so we called our good friends and neighbors (who also have a weekend lake home towards that end of the lake) who said "no problem!" and brought their huge fishing boat to pull our boat back down to their lake home. while we were waiting, bud pulled out the paddle cause we had drifted a little too close to the shoreline. he paddled, like, 3 times when the stupid thing broke in half and started floating down the river! just our luck! so our friends ended up showing up and pulling us to their house, and when we got there and bud went to untie our boat, he lost his balance and fell in the lake fully clothed! keep in mind - it was COLD! he then had to dry his clothes in their dryer before we could leave (in one of their cars - they really saved our day!). we finally got to eat our "lunch" we had set out to eat........ at 6:30 pm at cancun's in harriman. what a day!

so, with that story told, i just wanted to say "happy birthday jules! glad we could make it a memorable one!"

Yes, we are still alive........

2009-04-24T14:47:00.001-04:00

march and april have been 2 very crazy months! i know i have alot to catch up on! lets see, what all has happened since i wrote? my brother chancey's baseball season started end of february into the first of march...... he has played really well this year! he is a junior at roane county high school, so he will have one more year to play the sport he has loved with heart and soul since he was so little!!! josie belle was born on march 22nd (summer's baby girl!) - she is the absolute best baby ever! i have never even heard her cry! also, bud and i have been working on our blueprints for our house we are getting ready to build, so that has taken up most of our time! they are almost ready, so hopefully we will be signing our contract with our builder in the next couple of weeks YAY!!! we will hopefully be in a new house by thanksgiving or christmas! we are very blessed :) we celebrated the easter weekend with both mine and bud's family - we were thankful for the beautiful easter weather this year!!! last year was cold and rainy, and it definitely did not feel like easter! what else..... my friend from one of my previous posts (tiffany - at her bachelorette party) finally tied the knot in ripley, mississippi! bud and i were both in the wedding party, so we took a little road trip down there for a few days! great times making more memories with my girls from pharmacy school - i miss all of them TERRIBLY! in the month of april bud, my mom, and my brother chancey ALL celebrated another year of life - isn't that wonderful! i am thankful for every year that all of my family and friends have to celebrate! my life would not be complete without all of them! chancey went to his junior prom on saturday, april 25th at fox den - he and his date hailey looked BEAUTIFUL (and handsome!)! they had a great time and made it home safely! i also want to send a special prayer to the crass family (sam, brooke, and yet to be born baby brylee) - all your friends here in kingston/roane county have been thinking of you all during this hard time, and we know prayers are being answered! continue to keep us updated with everything on your blog! ok, i know that is LOTS of information in one blog, just wanted everyone to know why i haven't been writing lately! i am just gonna have to start making time :)

Birthday Party at the Binghams!

2009-03-29T21:38:00.005-04:00

march 2oth was our friend matthew thacker's birthday-the big 3-0! although his wonderful wife wendi took him on a weekend trip over his birthday weekend, she also had something else up her sleeve for this weekend...... a surprise party! i just love surprise parties, they just make me happy! i guess to me it shows just how much that special someone who planned it cares about you, because it definitely takes a LOT of work to pull off a successful one!

anyways, the shindig took place at the home of wendi's parents, the bingham residence. bud and i had so much fun, and to say matthew was surprised was an understatement! it was a night filled with family, friends, and wonderful food (and homemade cake)! there was also some great live acoustic music towards the end of the night, courtesy of our VERY talented friends :) unfortunately, i forgot my camera as i was running out the door to make it in time (oops!), but i may be able to get ahold of a few pics from our night soon! thank you for the invite wendi-we had a blast!!!

Bachelorette Bash in Tunica!

2009-03-16T22:25:00.017-04:00

this past weekend (march 13-march 15) was one of my very best friend's bachelorette parties! tiffany and i met the very first day of pharmacy school in birmingham, but ironically it turned out she was born and raised in spring city-the town right next to mine! small world! we have grown very close over the years and i know we will always stay that way :) she was in my wedding on august 18, 2007, now i am in her wedding on april 18, 2009 - i know it will be beautiful!

we started off the upcoming wedding festivities with her bachelorette party in tunica, mississippi. it was my first time there, and we stayed at the terrace hotel and spa at harrah's casino. despite the nasty, cold weather we had a blast! i personally did not really gamble (just played the slot machines a few times), but it was fun watching everyone else lose their money! just kiddin. we ate at john binnion's (i think that was the name?) steakhouse the first night and it was EXCELLENT - comparable to fleming's steakhouse. then we ate lunch the following day at paula deen's buffet - the best food i think i have ever eaten! i totally gained weight just from eating there! then that night we ate at a really nice italian restaurant, where i gained more weight! in between eating (i promise we are not pigs!), we did hang out in the casino and we danced a little bit on saturday night. all in all it was a great girls weekend, although it is a VERY long trip to get there! happy bachelorette weekend, tif! i hope you had a blast! we love you!

the bachelorette table we set up in the hotel room to get the weekend started! nothing like chocolate cake and champagne!!!

tif's cake, courtesy of carly harrison (carly's cakes)! thank you so much carly, it was not only beautiful, but tasted AWESOME! (and yes, for those of you who are wondering, the cake did make it UNHARMED from kingston to birmingham to tunica! amazing!)

a champagne toast to marriage! it is wonderful!

the girls riding the harrah's shuttle to the casino

tif playin the slot machine..... pretty sure i could go to jail for taking this pic (or so i was told.....)

our ever-reliable transportation for the weekend! the harrah's shuttle

here we are dancin it up at red door! misty, liz, me, and tiffany. we had a blast!

not the best pic, but this is the casino from our hotel window.

The Fifth!

2009-03-08T17:40:00.009-04:00

some of bud and mine's best friends have had a band called the fifth since we were in high school, and they are awesome! we try to go listen every time they play, and their shows is actually the place where bud and i started seeing each other again after going off to seperate colleges, so the band will always hold a special place in our hearts :) their latest show was at 2 doors down in maryville, so we went to support our fav band! here are a few pics of our night:

bud and i @ 2 doors down

nathan turvey (he sang in our wedding!) and marshall coley. i have known these guys for years! we all graduated together, and bud and nathan were best friends growing up.

another pic of bud and i-we had so much fun!

these are bud's cousins jason and frankie, we were so glad they came with us! we absolutely love them, and were glad they decided to get a babysitter! i think they had a blast, too ;)

well, what can i say, this is just john being john ha ha! this is our good friend john hill, and for some reason he refuses to take a normal picture ;)

and here is the fifth! all the guys are from kingston with the exception of their drummer, shaun. shown here is matthew thacker, nathan turvey, josh craig, and marshall coley. they are awesome ;)

nathan and marshall again. they had a packed house!

if you ever get a chance and want to hear some great music, go watch the fifth! they are a cover band and do mostly rock and alternative songs, but they do switch it up during the shows and do some rap and country covers at times...... but with their own style ;) i just can't brag on them enough!

Honeymoon Memories!

2009-03-01T10:06:00.023-05:00

so, i was going through pictures the other day and started looking at the ones from our honeymoon!!! it brought back great memories, and it is the absolute greatest adventure i (we) have been on to date!!! with that said, i have decided to share a few pics of what we experienced on this adventure with our friends!

pearl harbor

bud and i at pearl harbor

this pic makes me truly proud to be american!

on wakiki beach, reflecting on our wedding the day before!

the sydney opera house from our hotel window at sunrise

in front of the opera house in downtown sydney

bud and i on a boat tour around sydney harbor

and of course, i had to check out an australian pharmacy :) i'm a dork, i know

hangin out with a koala bear- i realized then that this is my animal counterpart because i learned that koalas sleep around 22 hours a day and eat for the other 2........ about like me ha ha

feeding a kangaroo - she was so sweet!

dressed up to eat dinner in new zealand. we ate in this revolving restaurant atop the sky tower in auckland, which is on the north island of new zealand

this was our resort at port douglas (which is north of sydney) in australia

on 4 mile beach in port douglas. we loved this beach because they keep all the resorts to 3 levels or lower so they don't tower above the tree line. it was so much more private and scenic than the beaches in america since it wasn't so commercialized

on a fishing tour on the great barrier reef! i am sad because at this point i am the ONLY one on the boat who has not caught anything. even that preppy chic in the background caught a fish! not fair :(

yeah, so bud caught crabs in australia..... please don't think differently about him now..... ;)

so this was our fishing guide, and i am still amazed at how much he looks like House from the tv show!

bud and i on the great barrier reef

this was one of the most breathtaking things i have ever seen, and it was right outside of our resort window in queenstown, new zealand (on the south island). so natural and beautiful!

here we are in a bar made completely of ice! even the glasses are ice! it is called minus 5, which is fitting because that is how cold it is in there! due to that, you are only allowed to stay a max of 20 minutes, and i was glad! by the time we left i felt like my whole body was frozen, despite the heavy coat and gloves they make you wear

right before we left, see how red our noses are! it was a blast though

as you can see we had a BIG adventure for 2 weeks, and it was so worth it! this is only a FEW of the pics we had, but these kind of hit the highlights of everything. i loved all the places we went, and if i had to pick one place to go back to i don't know if i could! i will say that new zealand was the most beautiful place i have ever seen, and we did see several locations where they filmed the lord of the rings movies. and seeing the opera house was a dream come true, i have always wanted to visit sydney, so that was a blast! this portrays some of our greatest memories as a married couple thus far, and we are so happy we could share them with our friends!

In Memory......

2009-02-23T22:22:00.003-05:00

hey all, it has been awhile since i have been on here, there has been a lot going on in our lives lately. my birthday was friday, february 13 and we went to visit my friend ashley in chattanooga. when we got back, we were preparing for bud's papaw (and one of his very best friends) jb to have surgery to remove a tumor from his lung on tuesday, february 17th. we knew that we would probably not get good news from this, but we were praying hard and remaining hopeful. to make a long story short, they ended up finding cancer in his lungs and lymph nodes, closed him back up, and arranged for papaw and granny to meet with an oncologist the following morning. we went and visited with him that tuesday night of the surgery, and despite the circumstances he seemed in good spirits, even kidding around and giving the nurses a hard time :) that was the last time we saw papaw alive, the following morning he was having trouble breathing and passed away around 7 am. this has been terribly hard on our family, especially on bud. this was not only a papaw to him, but also a best friend and he is absolutely heartbroken. please pray for our family and for bud during this time. i have some great pics of bud and his papaw i plan to post at a later date.

Catching Up on Technology :)

2009-02-09T21:51:00.005-05:00

My New iPod Nano!!!!

ok guys! i FINALLY caught up with the rest of the world and got an ipod!!! i am SUPER excited, bud got it for me this weekend for an early birthday present ;) i got the new ipod nano in black (i went back and forth for a LONG time tryin to decide: black or pink?) and i worked all day today getting it set up and syncing all of my music onto it! i also got a portable set of speakers for it! i wish i had gotten one of these a LONG time ago, but i am so glad to have one now! if anyone has any advice about them please let me know! all who know me know i am not the most technologically advanced person in the world, but i try to catch up ha ha!

The Love Dare

2009-02-04T21:17:00.005-05:00

hi guys! i just wanted to tell all of my friends about a new book i have been reading called the love dare. it is featured in the movie "fireproof" (which i haven't seen, but am going to rent this weekend!), and i am LOVING it so far! basically, this book is a 40 day challenge for husbands and wives to learn about, understand, and practice unconditional love as the Bible teaches us. each day there is a different theme and chapter to read (with references to scripture), then you have a "dare" to complete for that day at the end of each chapter. it starts off with easy dares, and the dares get more challenging as you get further through the book. there is also journal space under each dare to record what you are learning, and how your spouse is responding. i am just in the first week, but i can already see and feel the results in our marriage! this book is for even the strongest of marriages, it really helps you to love your husband/wife to the fullest and makes you appreciate having them to share this life on earth with!!! i hope others will enjoy it as much as i am!!!

Summer's Baby Shower!

2009-01-27T20:32:00.011-05:00

Look at all those pregnant girls-touching my definitely non-pregnant belly! Peer pressure!!!!

Kelly and I

Mr. Cade Thorne (Kelly's little man)

All of Josie's presents!!!

Amy, Me, Summer, and Hayley

Summer's first baby will be arriving soon! We gave her a baby shower for Josephine "Josie" Belle Mattmann on January 18th. We had so much fun! Lots of pregnant girlies running around that shower!!! Her due date is March 29th-we can't wait to meet Josie!

Still Trying to Figure This Out!!!

2009-01-26T11:48:00.005-05:00

Hello all! I am in process of FINALLY setting up our page! I have a feeling it is gonna take me awhile to figure this out!!! I hope to have some pics up soon, and hopefully a cuter page ;)