New Orleans and Engagement......Update Part II

New Orleans was a blast. We rolled the windows down, cranked the stereo up and headed South, stopping in Memphis for a night on Beale Street, and a tour of Graceland, before heading down to New Orleans. Had a ton of fun while we were there….saw a lot of neat stuff, and aside from the heat, enjoyed the town, and walking to see neat stuff……

Rode a Trolley while we were in Memphis, to get to Beale Street……

Awesome area…..bars and jazz clubs and blues music everywhere. People wandering the streets…..right up our alley! Lots of fun!

Dan couldn’t decide…….enjoying some Wet Willie’s frozen concoctions……. (This picture is a spin off of a really old picture of me on the Madam Carroll that Dan LOVES. It’s attached……)

Headed to Graceland the next morning for a tour. And after much coercing of Dan, got him to put the headphones on so he could actually HEAR what was going on during this tour…..

Went to a famous local restaurant to enjoy a Po’ Boy sandwich. Looks disgusting, but was actually REALLY GOOD! J (Dan loves this photo, by the way. Sorry, baby…..)

Enjoyed a seafood bucket for two another day……

And I actually ate my first raw oyster, ever, at a local oyster bar there. (Oooh….the picture gives away the surprise!)

Had margarita’s @ Margaritaville,

Sat by the pool when we should have been working,…..

Went on a gorgeous riverboat cruise at night,….

And lost some money @ Harrah’s…… (Those of you who know Dan well know that while I was taking this photo, he was saying, “Who just lost a bunch of Money to Harrah’s? THIS GUY!”)

But……the most exciting thing of all…….while having some wine @ Ruth Chris one night, alone on their terrace, Dan surprised me with a glowing, sparkling, enormous, gorgeous, beautiful diamond. And asked me to be his wife. J What an exciting time for us both, in a memorable place. I’ll never forget New Orleans, or the fun we had there, or the fact that it symbolizes the beginning of a whole new life for both of us, one we’re excited to death to start together. We’re both lucky to have one another, and can’t imagine that we could be any happier. To answer the questions, no, we’re not sure of a date or location…..but stay tuned for those details as well……

Picture doesn’t do the ring much justice……I’ve heard that it’s much more gorgeous in person…..so again, if you wanna see it, you’ll have to stop by and see us!

So there you have it, friends. Those people right there are two of the happiest people on the planet!

Summer Update Part I

WOW! What a summer it has been. It’s been quite some time since either of us have kept people in the loop as to what’s going on in Dr. C and Saracidal’s world…..so here’s an update:

Spent a good portion of the summer working on the house, in an effort to get it ready to sell. Hopefully, if all goes well, either late this fall or early spring. My dad came down and helped Dan do the siding on the house, but he did the majority of it himself during the day when everyone else is working. We couldn’t have done it without the help of my dad (Thanks, Daddy, you’re the best!), Rick, Mom, Larry, and Marcus (who was a great beer runner for us!). Looks great! Now if we can just sucker someone into buying it. J Not sure where the world will take the two of us, but we’re up for new challenges and excited about opportunities. We’ve been tossing around the idea of starting a practice, so that’s definitely something on the radar for us in the near future.

As you can see, Dan even saddled up with a TRUE tool belt. Although a far cry from a doctor, he makes a pretty cute little construction worker…..and even has the tan lines to prove it!

Pictures don’t do it much justice, so if you wanna see, you will just have to come visit!

Our goal was to have everything finished by the 4th of July, as we had a big party on the 5th. Everything was completed, and looks GREAT! The party was a huge success (thanks to all of you who call us “friends”, and showed up!) We had about 60 people here, and everyone had such a great time. Even late into the night. Brookston fireworks were amazing as usual, and we had a front row seat, right from our back yard.

Also spent some good quality time at the lake this summer, enjoying the boat. Trevor has decided that tubing is the most awesome thing in the world, and likes going there to swim. My parents let him drive the boat sometimes (the pontoon boat, not the speed boat), which is also big fun!
My sister, niece, me, my grandmas and my mom….Memorial Day weekend.
How much does he look like his dad??? What a gorgeous kid…….

Dan and Trevor spent some time this summer doing “fun” stuff….going to the pool, golfing, spending the day in Chicago, etc…..

We spent a day and took ALL the nieces and nephews (WOW! There’s a lot of them!) to the pool……then to Sycamore for ice cream! Everyone had a good time, and it renewed my spirit as to why I love Dan so much. He’s such an amazing Dad, Uncle, Brother, Son, and most of all Fiancee……. I still wonder sometimes how I got so lucky.

I had a great birthweek…..(my birthday is a pretty big deal. I celebrate all week!) and the ending was especially great! Dan spoiled me rotten for a whole week…..card EVERY DAY, surprises in my car, presents in my office at work (that he had to go to a lot of trouble to sneak in our high security building….not to mention involving co-workers and going WAY out of his way), lunch in the park, and a surprise wine and cheese picnic, too! We headed to New Orleans the day after my birthday for a SUPER FUN week…….

(That’s your local veterinarian, folks. Post-hot tub, in just a towel, with a smoke and lambrusco, right from the bottle. Classy!)

Olivia is growing like a weed! She’s in for a big surprise, when baby Gage gets here mid-September. She’s pretty used to being the one and only…….a little spoiled, but cute nonetheless. I must admit that I’m a bit jealous, because she’s pretty much decided that Titi isn’t so great anymore, that she ONLY likes Dan. I’m flattered that she loves him so much, but sometimes wish that the first words out of her mouth when she sees me is something OTHER than “HI TITI! Where’s DAAAANNNN????” Icing on the cake is that Savannah Banana won’t even GO to me, she also only prefers Dan (and her mother!)


I love this……her and her Barbie life vest…..doesn’t she look thrilled?

There she is. Perched up on Uncle Danny’s lap. Reading books. Like always.

Miss Savannah. (This was the day after the infamous Lambrusco night……) He was a little “tired” and decided to take a nap with the baby…..so sweet.

And finally…..our New Orleans trip. Dan was going to Nawlins’ for the AVMA Convention (at least we HEARD that there was an AVMA convention there…..Ha!) and I went to do a little work there, too. We had a great trip…….. I’ll write about the New Orleans pictures, and the Grand Finale of our summer in a separate blog. Part II to come momentarily…….