Wedding Pictures

So, my dear sweet bother-in-law and his super cute wife were married a million years ago! Well, not really a million, more like 4, but forever is forever, right! Ha!

Anyway, they got married 4 years ago and let's just say they were not totally happy with their wedding pictures. They looked so adorable on their wedding day and we were all so sad that they did not have all the sweetness, love, and bliss captured forever in pictures. Danielle was a great sport about the whole thing and has never really acted like it bothered her too much. Recently though, she had the chance to apply herself and Jeff to be models for a photography workshop and she WON! They got to get all dressed up, Danielle in a wedding dress (I kind of wish that she could have worn hers, but you can't have everything!) and Jeff in a tux. They got to go through the all of the traditional wedding pictures including feeding each other cake! The pictures turned out A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. and I am so happy that they finally get to have some pictures that they love!

So, hop on over to this website and check out Jeff and Danielle! They are so cute, adorable and such good models. If their current careers don't work out... they can always model!!! ;) Love you guys!

http://www.julierobertsphoto.com/jeff&danielle/

love always,

the culprit

I was baking my sweet husband a cake the other night. Just as I was about to ice the cake we had a knock at the door. My friend Tori stopped by to pick something up. I was so excited to see her, as were the puppies, that I got distracted as I was talking to her. I totally forgot about the cake when all of a sudden we heard a noise that sounded like the glass pan ever so gently knocking on the concrete countertops that we have. Sure enough when Andy rounded the corner this is what he found...

I will give you two guess at who the culprit was, and as a hint one of them is still a little too short to reach inside something on the counter. The short one is also to clumsy and no way she could have been that discrete.

After all that, I just iced the cake, munched out piece and all... then gave Andy a piece...

love always,

finger

Andy has been playing flag football for the past few years. Luckily for him, he has not really been hurt, until this year. I was not able to attend many of his games because of my soccer commitments but one Sunday night I got out of soccer practice and thought that I would surprise him and come to the end of his game. Well I got there just as the game was ending (they won!) but I didn't get to see them play. He walked over to me and said, "I think I did something to my finger." I didn't really think much of it because he never really complains about anything and he did not really look like he was in much pain, and he just played 2 games. Apparently the injury had occurred early on in the first game and he didn't want to sit out so he kept on playing.

When we got home he asked me to take another look at it. So with my medical degree in hand, ha, I gently squeezed it and he said that it really hurt. I told him that if he really thought it was bad that he would need to call his dad and go have it x-rayed. I said this knowing that there was no way he was going to do this, because he hates going to the doctor.

So I got a phone call the next day at work. It was Andy and he said that he was on his way to his dad's office for x-rays. I was shocked and asked him if he really thought it was that bad. He did, so he got the x-rays. As it turns out I am glad he went. Not only was it broken, but it was broken in 3 places and his dad thought that he might need surgery. So off to the orthopedic doctor we went. We saw a PA that night and he said that indeed we were probably going to need surgery and set us up with an surgeon for the next day.

The surgeon agreed with everyone else assessment and said that he would need surgery. So surgery was set for the following Monday afternoon. Now, I don't know if any of you have had surgery but if you don't have a morning surgery then the whole day stinks. The same rules apply that you cannot eat or drink after midnight, but instead of having the surgery at 8 am we had to wait to go to the hospital until 1:30! It was a long time.

Here is Andy's hand the morning of the surgery. It is his left ring finger. Luckily he does not wear his wedding ring when he plays flag football so we did not have to have it cut off. You can see his finger is pretty swollen.

Here is a close up of his finger. Pretty gross.

Once we got to the hospital at 1:30 they immediately took Andy back to be prepped for surgery and I thought, this is great we will be home before you know it. Well, not so much. We ended up having to wait and he did not go into surgery until 4:15. It seemed like forever and he was hungry. The only funny part was listening to all of the other people around us that were there. We heard some funny stories!!!

While we waited I took some pictures of Andy. I know you all love the hat in the picture above. The one below is covered in iodine for surgery, but you can kind of see how his finger was a bit rotated and if we had not had it fixed, his fingers would have crossed when he made a fist.

He made it though surgery with flying colors. The doctor came out and told me that the break was even worse than he originally though and instead of the normal 3 screws that he thought he would need, he ended up need to add an additional 4th screw. So Andy now has a lot of hardware in that finger all of which will stay in there forever. Here he is the night he got home. He was a little tired and Monday night football was on.

Here is a post surgery picture. You can see all the screws that the doctor put in. Amazing that they could fit all 4 screws in one joint of his finger.

When we went back to get his stitches out I made him take more pictures. He was excited to finally be out of his cast and knew that he would be able to start moving it.

Warning: the picture below is an up close of his finger once the stitches were removed. It is kind of gross, but not too bad.

Here is the final side-by-side comparison.

Not too bad. He has been working to get all of his movement back. We are hoping that the swelling keeps going down because as you can see from the picture below he has to wear his wedding ring on his right hand. We hope that we will not have to have it resized to fit his new and improved bionic finger!

Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers!!

love always,

*tap-tap*

Is this thing on...

Probably no one reads this anymore since it has been so long since I posted. I have been so busy and I have a lot to bring you up to speed on. I finally downloaded all my pictures to my computer so I plan on doing that in the next few days. Why not today? Well, Andy and I had a super sick puppy last night. Sick from about 5:30ish (well when we realized it anyway) until late last night. We were so worried that we took turns sleeping on the couch with her to make sure she was okay. She looks like she is on the mend, and thank goodness because it was not a fun time in the Broome house. So while I gather myself I wanted to show you what I found in my backyard when I went home for lunch today. Here it is...

What is it you ask? A leg... a doll's leg. I would like to add that we have never bought anything that this might have been attached to and yet somehow it managed to get in the middle of our backyard. I laughed so hard when I found it. I really don't have any words...

love always,

Progress

We are going to call the following photo PROGRESS!

As most of you know Laney can be... well lets call it... passionate.

It has been a hard adjustment for the Lovely Little Laney to have the new puppy around. She is making progress each day. She even lets the puppy lick her face sometimes. Really the only time that Laney hates to have Addie around is when she is tired. She does not want Addie in her sleeping area (read that the area right next to Andy's side of the bed.)

Addie, well, she just wants to be as close to Laney as possible. In the grainy, camera phone picture above they are both on one bed (see progress) chewing their own bones. It was too cute and I wish that I had captured it with our other camera.

One funny thing that they both do is stealing chew toys from each other. When Laney has something that Addie wants, Addie will get right in Laney's face. Laney will growl and snarl and Addie will act like she is Laney is not making a sound. Then when Laney turns her head at us, as if to say, "Mom and Dad will you please help me. She is in my personal space!" Addie moves in and snatches whatever it was Laney had and chews it herself.

Don't you think that Laney is so innocent. She plays on Addie's puppy qualities. If Addie has something she wants. Laney will go find another toy, any toy and take it near Addie. She will drop it so that it make some kind of a sound. This will totally distract Addie from whatever she had and she will jump up and go see what it was that made that sound. Then Laney will take the toy that Addie just left and usually run off.

It is total chaos in out house and at times, but we love it.

Now.. if only we could get one night of interuppted sleep.

love always,

Dreaming...

of being back here, looking and laughing at this.

Please feel free to ask any questions about the above picture. It has a funny story.

love always,

sneak peak

St. John was amazing! I was wonderful, hot, relaxing, tiring, exciting, beautiful and tons of fun!! Here is what we woke up to each day! The view is one that I could totally get used to!

We did some hiking and found ourselves here. Behind us is Africa (if you could see that far)!

Some of us did a little of this.... haha, this is one of my favorites from the week!

This is just a taste, I will be back with more. My schedule has been crazy between work, coaching high school soccer and I am about to start my commentating work again this Sunday! If you ever feel sorry for Andy that is wife is gone all the time and you want to fix him dinner I am sure that he will not turn you down. Haha, just kidding.... sort of...

love always,

baby Broome!

Ha! I got you again! Seriously, I would like to introduce you to the newest member of the Broome Family!

ADDIE short for Addison

(here is the day we picked her up)

Addie is 7.5 week old Chocolate Lab, just like her big sister!
She is too cute for words, and loves to snuggle!

Those eyes just kill me everyday! She plays hard and then completely crashes!

For those of you that are wondering. Her big sister Laney is doing well. She is not too keen on the puppy but the other day at the lake another dog was picking on Addie and Laney growled at the dog. She is a protective big sister but not quite the lovey-dovey type.

As you can see, this is about as close as she lets the puppy get to her at home!

Addie is trying everyday to learn from Laney. Laney has already taught Addie some of her soccer skills. Addie is going to be a soccer star just like her big sister!

I leave you with this last one. Addie has been a wonderful addition to our family. We love her to pieces. She is getting better at sleeping at night and learning to potty outside. She is so full of energy one moment and the next she wants to be cuddled. The cuddles are so worth all the hard work. She is funny and clumsy. Every morning she jumps off the top step of our backyard stairs and face plants. She just gets right back up like nothing happened and does it again the next morning. She is keeping us laughing all the time. Andy is totally smitten with her. He is so patient and understanding and it has been so much fun to watch.

We love this little girl. I am not kidding that she is the cutest puppy around. Let me know if you want to set up a play date!!!!

love always,

A Nashville Wedding

I didn't tell you this before but I flew out of Nashville on my trip to see Kara. So when I returned on that Wednesday from Nashville, I knew that on Saturday I was just going to be turning around and heading right back for an AMAZING wedding reception.

This buddy of mine, Sharon, joined me on the adventure to Nashville, TN to see our good friend and celebrate his wedding. He and his now wife got married the night before at a farm in TN with only their parents present. I really thought about crashing but instead I got all the details when I saw them at the reception.
Here is the OH-SO-HAPPY couple. Jamaal adores Brooke, and I don't blame him. She is so nice. The first time that I met her was at Andy and my wedding. I loved her then and I still love her. I really just love that J loves her so much and that makes me SO happy. Don't you just love his cheesy grin. He did this all night and almost ruined most of my pictures, love you J!

They held the reception behind this old car repair shop- turned blue jean maker. It was really cool. They had a RV pull in that makes the best chicken and fish tacos you have ever had. They were unbelievable.

Then they had another mini-RV that had old fashion popsicles and ice cream. So yummy!

I was so happy to get to see these two and especially Brooke. (When I flew out to CT I stayed the night with J, so we had all ready caught up on everything, but I was dying to see Brooke.) Does she look familiar, well she is a model and sometimes when I turn on my computer she pops up on my screen. She models clothes and it is so fun to play the I-Spot-Brooke-Game!

Here they are again. I just cannot get over how J looks at Brooke. It makes my heart melt!

Me and J! I miss him being in Knoxville!

The wedding reception was amazing and even a little rain could not damper things. They had all sorts of musician play the night away (although he said the marching band that Kelly requested cancelled on him the last min, I am not so sure about that one! Ha) and we laughed and blast. Sharon and I did not get home until about 4am but it was totally worth every min! Jamaal and Brooke, we wish you all the best and a lifetime of happiness! We love you so much and are so lucky to know you!

love always,

Mini-Vacation

Oh my, I have so much to write about. This summer has really gotten away from me and so much is going on. I can't wait to fill you all in. I must start at the beginning and let you know of each little event.

First things first. At the end of July I had the opportunity to travel north a little. I flew in here... But my final destination was really to Connecticut and here...

The Mohegan Sun Area. You guess it, I was going to see this little lady....

I went up there to hang out with Kara and her husband Damien and watch 2 of Kara's games. It was so much fun and so relaxing. Here is a shot of her with her team before the game. Kara is all the way at the end standing next the mascot.

I just love the start of the games and all the hype that goes with them. Here she is running out as a starter!

I was also able to catch a practice. Kara is hates to loose, even when it comes to drills in practice. They did some shooting game and her team won all of them. Are you surprised, you shouldn't be.

One really neat thing we got to do was get to the games really early. They have an area where the family members of the players can go and eat before, during and after the games. Damien and I chose to go and sit on the bench before the games and watch the players warm up. I thought that was really neat and totally surprised that no one told me to move because I was not supposed to be there. I guess since I was with Damien (and everyone loves Damien - he is just so nice!) they just let me do whatever.

One creepy thing happened. The night of the second game (I had been in CT for 3 days) this guy I had never seen before (and neither had Damien) came up to me from behind. He said, "Are you enjoying your visit?" Since I could not see who it was, I just assumed that it was one of the people that work for the Sun, I just replied, "Yes, thanks!" As I turned to see who it was I realized I didn't know him, nor had met him. Damien looked at me and asked, "Who was that?" I said, "I have no idea, you tell me. I thought you knew everyone!" He said, "I have never seen him before in my life! Crazy, fans know everything!!!"

I was so creeped out that when I went to by a Sun shirt with Kara's name on it I immediately put it on so that I had on a different shirt and maybe, just maybe he would not see me. I never saw him again, but it was so creepy!
On another note, Damien got interviewed by a local TV station about how he and Kara moved to CT and what life is like for him and Kara. He is just the sweetest husband and does so much for Kara. He really is perfect for her and I love him for it!!!

One night while I was there we went this restaurant. The Watch Dog. It was so good. D and I got the tuna and it was to die for.

We were lucky enough to be joined by these two. Coach and Mrs. Thibault. It is Kara's coach and his wife. They are some of the nicest people and have really made Kara and Damien feel at home. It was so nice to get to know them better.

The view from the dock behind the restaurant was beautiful. CT is a really pretty place.

Please ignore my hair. It was so humid up there and this is what happens! Ha! I do love these two so much!

I love this girl. She has been an amazing friend for years. I am so glad that we have remained so close. She is so wonderful and an amazing basketball player. We are hoping that she makes the USA team this year so she can represent the US at the World Championships! She did score the most points in the gold medal game at the Olympics - so in my book that should count for something!!!

So the trip was amazing and I had so much fun with Kara! I can't wait to see her again soon!

love always,

It's a....

BOY! Maxwell Thomas Greene arrived on Monday, August 2, 2010! He was 7lbs 14oz and 20.5 in long. He is such a cutie and I am so happy for Gail and Derek. It was not an easy day, but he arrived a perfect bundle of joy! So if you are friends of Derek on facebook, head on over there for more pictures and see the sweet baby! Yay for more babies!!!!

shower

Last weekend I was invited to a baby shower. I was super excited to go because I had yet to meet the mama-to-be and I was dying to meet her. Some of you will recognize the guy in the picture below....

Yep, Derek Greene is not only a husband, but in a few days (yes, days- Gail was 12 days from her due date when this was taken!) he is going to be a very proud Daddy! I am so excited for these two! They have chosen to not find out if they are having a boy or a girl so we will have to wait and see what they are having. My vote is for a girl! Really I only say that because I want Derek to have a girl. Gail is AMAZING and perfect for Derek. She is so nice and I really enjoyed getting to talk with her and share some stories of when Derek was my soccer coach. I can't wait until I see them again and I get to snuggle the newest member of their family!

I will keep everyone posted on when "little Green" make his or her entrance into the world and will try to post some pictures! Yay for babies!!!

love always,

when bugs attack

So a couple of weeks ago Andy and I took a trip up to Norris lake to hang out at his aunt and uncle's lake house. While we were up there Andy was walking down the steps of their dock he looked down and saw a wasp. He said that he was about to tell Uncle Ben that there was a nest when the wasp flew towards him and stung him on his foot. After he got stung he calmly told Uncle Ben about the nest and they sprayed it and that was it. By the time that Andy made it to the house (I was in the house while all of this was going on.) his foot was starting to swell. He didn't complain much at all and when we took another look at it after dinner it was so swollen that I said that it looked like a Fred Flintstones foot and you could see the indention from his flip flops. We gave him some benedryl and we went home. For the next few days when I would ask, Andy is not a complainer (I make up for all of his lack of complaining), he would say that his foot was still swollen and itched. It finally went away and we though that we were done with the wasp incidents. Well that was until Monday.

Andy went out to some job site to work on his bobcat. He called me and again calmly told me that he had gotten stung by another wasp, but this time in his arm. I asked if he was okay and he said yeah, but it is kind of swollen. When he got home, he was not kidding. His arm was swollen and red. Here are some of the pictures that I took on Tuesday night. Remember he was stung on Monday morning so this is well after the worst of it.

I love his face in this one. Not sure what he was looking at.

You can tell that the arm on the right (his left) is a bit bigger than the other one.

Finally got a smile out of him.
Now this one you can really tell how swollen it was.

This one you can kind of tell.

Now take a look at that lump on the outside of his arm.

It was scary, but he lived to tell about it.
I would like to report that he has healed and back to normal.

And thank goodness, I guess we just need to steer clear of a wasps for the rest of the summer. It is also a good thing that he was the one stung. I am not sure that I would have been as calm. I am such a baby about stuff like that.

love always,