One Year

A year ago yesterday I brought this guy home and I have loved every minute of it. He follows me everywhere I go and loves to cuddle. I couldn't have picked out a better dog!

Love you Tackle!

Welcome to My New Home

Guess what? I am a homeowner!!!! Ha. Can you believe it because I sure can't!

Earlier this month my landlord told me that she had decided to retire and move back into her house. She wasn't coming back until she sold her house in Missouri which gave me some time. I got kind of freaked out when she told me because I was planning on living in that house for another year. So I discussed it with Ryan and we decided it was time for me to buy my first house. This is also the house that Ryan and I will live in when we get married.

We started the search and let me tell ya it was not a fun experience. Ryan and I have very different tastes of what we want but eventually we were able to agree on something and I couldn't be more excited.

We found a BRAND NEW home in Farmington with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. It also has a 2-car garage, covered patio, walk-in closets and granite countertops.

The inspection was yesterday and there were only a few minor things that needed to be fixed. I am scheduled to close on May 19th and then start moving in that weekend!

Below are a few pictures but it is hard to tell anything since all the rooms are empty. I will share more pics when I move it.

I can't wait for everybody to come and visit me in my new home!

The front with Ryan and our Realtor Jay (who by the way is awesome! If you are looking for an agent in NWA, I'll give you his contat info)

Kitchen - The thing I might be most excited about is the dishwasher since I haven't had one for the past year! I plan on adding cabinet pulls to all the cabinets and drawers

2nd bathroom

Walk-In Master closet - There is actually 2 closest in the master suite but the other is not walk-in

Laundry Room - The door you see on the left is a linen closet with floor to ceiling shelving

Need Somebody to Mow Your Lawn?

A Perfect Analogy for Me

Recently my boss Michael and I were having a very in-depth and philosophical conversation. He was throwing out all sorts of analogies (if you know Michael you will know this is one of his trademarks) and discussing the broader picture of our agency. When he got to my role in the group, he came up with a perfect analogy. He said:

"You are the only person here that I can tell this to who will understand what I mean and not get offended by it. Meredith, you are the lineman of our team."

I just kind of giggled because I knew exactly what he meant. He meant that the linemen are the teammates that do all the work but get none of the credit for it. The game would also not be possible without the linemen protecting the QB and running backs.

Dad always says that the key to football lies in the linemen.

Yesterday, Michael and I were having another conversation and he went back to that analogy by saying:

"I have thought about this some more and have decided you are our center. Do you realize that the center is the only player that is guaranteed to touch the ball every play? You are definitely our center because you know all that is going on."

Needless to say I was flattered by Michael's compliments. And he was right, I would be the only girl who would have understood that compliment.

Happy Birthday Coach!

If you see my Dad today, be sure to tell him happy birthday. My Dad is one of my best friends and he is the best Dad a girl could ever have. I dare anybody to tell me they have a better one :)

I am just like my Dad, both in looks and in personality and we share a lot of the same interests. My Dad is just an all-around GREAT guy!!

Dear Daddy,

I love you so much and hope you have a wonderful day!

Aaron and Alena

Some more of our friends got engaged last weekend and I am so excited for them! Aaron is from Rogers and grew up with Ryan. They both also went to Hendrix together. I met Alena through Aaron ,obviously, and she has been my Bachleor buddy in Fayetteville. We got together every week to watch to see who Jake would pick (Boo Viena!).

Aaron, Alena, Ryan and I hang out a lot so I was super excited when Aaron told me about his plan for the proposal. Well being the girls that we are, Alena and I talked about her future engagement every chance we were together - when was it going to be? how was he going to ask? etc. Aaron finally called me up and told me his plans but he wanted me to convince her that is was going to be on Saturday, not Friday like he was planning. So I worked my magic and got her to believe it would happen Saturday night so she was completely shocked when she came home and saw notes all over the house on Friday night.

After he proposed a big group of us went over to their house to celebrate. We had a great time and you could tell Alena had been crying happy tears for the past couple of hours.

Congrats Aaron and Alena!

She's Getting Married

The Happy Couple

I am so excited to announce that last week Zach popped the question and Collin said yes!!! When I had 2 missed calls and a text message from Collin that said "Call me IMMEDIATELY," I knew that she had some exciting news to share. The story is super sweet but I will let her tell it to you. The proposal is perfect timing because Zach and Collin are moving to Fayetteville so I will get to help her with all of the planning. :)

Zach and Collin,

I couldn't be happier for yall and I can't wait until the wedding.

Mer 1 and Mer 2 are like 2 peas in a pod

Love you!

Just Call Me a Pro

The majority of my Easter Sunday was spent on Beaver Lake fishing with Ryan, his dad and his brother. I hadn't been fishing in years so I was super excited. I even had a brand new fishing pole. "perfecting my cast"

We were out for about 3.5 hours and I didnt' catch anything until the last hour. Everybody else was catching them like crazy. The boys said I was just "perfecting my cast." Finally, I caught not one, not two, but THREE white bass all in about 30 minutes time! Ryan and his dad said the second fish I caught was the biggest male white bass they had ever seen. I didn't win the award for the most fish caught but I sure did for the biggest.

Finally, I caught my first fish of the day

Ryan helping me bring him in

Here is my second catch, THE BIG ONE

And the last catch of the day

Overall we had a great time on the lake and I can't wait to go back. And luckily, Ryan's dad captured all of my catches with his camera.

P.S. No fish were hurt during this filming. All fish caught were promptly released.

April Fools on Me

This year I got played twice! The first I have to say was very cruel. My cousins Amy and Jerry thought it would be hilarious to tell their family that they were expecting for the third time. And they used their precious little angels in their scheme telling us that they were "so excited to have a new little brother or sister." Thursday morning I got this picture in my email. Amy and Jerry - yall just wait. It will come back around.

The second time came at work. All the AEs and Acct Managers were in a meeting and when we came out, our assistants had done this in our offices.

That is my chair underneath the miles of brown paper and packaging tape. It took me a good 10 minutes to get it off. Now the assistants live in daily fear because they know we are plotting our revenge.