Brad and Meredith

I am borrowing this survey from a friend's sister in law's blog.

When is your "engagement" anniversary: October 5, 2007
When is your "marriage" anniversary: April 5, 2008
How long have you known your spouse: It will be four years in July
How long did you date before you were engaged:A little over two years
Where did you meet your spouse for the first time? When I was walked to the Singles Sunday School Class at Chestnut Grove
What is your spouse's full name? Bradley Dwayne Dillard
Do you have any children? No
How many? We want 2
Do you have any house pets? No, but some of us want one
Do you own a house or rent? Own
Do you live in a country or town/city? Well I live in a country ( the USA) and within that country I live in a suburb
What is one of your favorite activities together: Watching movies, going to trivia, bowling
Do you have a favorite vacation spot? Out of the places we have been together I loved Disney the most....it was our honeymoon.
How many siblings (including in-laws) do you have? 1 sister, 2 Brother-in-laws, 1 sister-in-laws
What church do you attend? Chestnut Grove
Is this the church you were married in? Yes, where we met and where we got married
What town is your current address at? Loganville
Do you work or stay at home? Work
Where did you go on your honeymoon? Disney World, stayed in the Port Orleans Riverside and went to all the parks
Who drives when you go out together? Brad for the most part
How long have you been together? almost 4 years
How long did you know each other before you started dating? About 2 weeks
Who asked who out? He asked me out
How old are each of you? He's 31 and I'm 28
Whose siblings do you see the most? His though I am seeing more of my sister lately
Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?not getting too busy to spend quality time together
Did you go to the same school? No
Are you from the same home town? Same home county
Who is smarter? me! just kidding
Who is more sensitive? Me , really
Where do you eat out most as a couple? Zaxby's? Macaroni Grille?
Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? Caribbean
Who has the craziest exes? I definitely do
Who has the worse temper? We both do at times but they don't show often
Who does the cooking? I do.
Who is more social? Me
Who is the neat-freak? If only one of us were enough to keep the house clean 100% of the time
Who is more stubborn? depends
Who hogs the bed? I have been told I do
Who wakes up earlier? on weekdays we wake up at the same time but Brad gets up much earlier on the weekends
Where was your first date? Sing along with our church and two other churches in the community and dinner at Ruby Tuesdays
Who has the bigger family? Brad's parents had more siblings....they also do more with extended family
Do you get flowers often? Maybe three times in four years.
How do you spend the holidays? With famly

Baby Shower

This past weekend I helped throw a baby shower for my favorite cousin Nancy. We are only a year apart and are both teachers. She is definitely one of my best friends and she is the first Griswold grandchild to have a baby. Currently, Nancy and her husband live in Phoenix, AZ but have traveled back East to spend time with both my uncle and aunt as well as Josh's parents. Everyone is so excited about the newest baby girl who will be making her arrival in late September. One thing's for sure - after this shower, Baby Hartgrove will be well-dressed.

The 145 Diaper Diaper Cake.....Made by My Aunt Joyce

Nancy and Me

High School "Reunion"

Having graduated from high school in 1999, it was time for a high school reunion. The Class of 1999 Parkview Panthers reunited this past Saturday. However, the most relevant and important parts of that graduating class to me were not going to be present so we, my two best friends from high school Jennifer and Becky and myself, scheduled our own reunion for tonight. We met at a Cuban American bistro called Mojito's in downtown Norcross, just a block or less from where Jennifer and I took our dates for Senior Homecoming. It was the first time that we all three had been together in three years. Becky and I both headed for Rome, Georgia when we left Parkview - me for Shorter and she for Berry. Therefore, freshman year we were very close but Jennifer left us for North Carolina. Then I transferred to UGA and Becky and I didnt see each other as much but Jennifer transferred to UGA. We saw each other once or twice. But it was time to come back together again. It felt good to see each other and share how we were doing. We found ourselves to all look the same as we did in high school and working successful jobs. Jennifer just got married and lives in Norcross. Becky lives in Decatur.

It was fun to reminisce on our times together. We were in Chorus all four years of high school. Two years in a row we won the best friendship award at the end of year banquet for Chorus. We passed a notebook between ourselves in the halls of Parkview to write notes in to keep ourselves in the classes we didn't have together. We had a set Friday ritual that involved going to Mellow Mushroom and ordering the very same pizza, picking a movie out at Blockbuster, going to someone's house with the movie and Reese's Pieces and falling asleep to South Park. We had good times on Chorus trips to Asheville, Monday afternoons at Chick-fil-a, singing at Baccalaureate and so much more.

We plan to make getting together a monthly thing. Next month we will head to Decatur ( I love Decatur) and then they will venture deep into the suburbs to see me in Loganville.

Summer School ....Yay and Nay

So this time last week I was at Myrtle Beach, with my toes in the water and playing paddle ball with my aunt. Today I am at my fourth day of working at summer school to earn hours for my counseling internship. While I do enjoy the counseling and think it is some very good experience, I really do miss the summer joys of sleeping in, watching silly AM television, seeing friends and just relaxing. I have to keep reminding myself that this internship will get me within 80 hours of being done with the requirement and graduating. I will finally have my Masters. YAY!!!! I hope to get those 80 hours by December even though I have up until March to fulfill the internship requirement. That would be awesome....to feel like I have accomplished something and to get the increased pay.

First Port of the Cruise : Labadee, Haiti

The first port our cruise took us to was Labadee, Haiti. Royal Caribbean is the only cruise line that goes there and it is a private portion of the island as there is a lot of political unrest in Haiti as a whole. I would say that Haiti was my favorite port. I liked how it was the least commercialized. We also had chosen to go on a cruise that went to Haiti so we could do an excursion that was offered there. We rode the longest zipline in the world. Over the ocean and it was awesome. I would recommend Haiti to anyone.

Dragon's Breath Rock - It is shaped like the silhouette of a dragon and you can hear it "breathing" while you are on top of it

On the Open Air Vehicle Getting Ready to Go Up to the Zipline

Me Towards the End of the Zipline

In Haiti With The Boat in the Background

Dressed for Dinner

Fido and our New Towel Animal for the Evening , Peanut

What a Great Day

I just sent home my two best friends from a visit at my house. It was the first time both Jennifer and Sarah had seen my house. They were very complimentary. It was nice to have them in my area and let them enjoy the places I go.....most importantly it was nice to catch up and chat it up. Talking about the cruise, families, issues and summer was great fun. We had a nutritious lunch at Doc Green's and then shopped for little Emma Grace before chasing our healthy lunch with a healthy portion of ice cream from Cold Stone. Before having them hit the road for parts both north and south of here, I made them subjects for pictures. I am posting both of them because Sarah liked one and Jen liked the other. I can't wait to see them again this summer. My life seems more complete when we get together.

First Day at Sea

The first day at sea involved a lot of resting and checking out the boat. It was also our first formal dinner. See pictures below from the first formal night and of our first towel animal.

Our Towel Dog Fido

Back from the Cruise, Back to Vacation

We got back from our cruise last night and I have a lot to post but I will just do it a little at a time. It is weird to come back and not have to go back to work but it is a weird I can get used to. I have been very lazy this morning. I am starting to get it together though and have washed two loads of laundry, done step aerobics and unloaded the dishwasher. I am about to make a grocery list and head to the grocery store. This week we are going to do mostly salads for dinner. It is in reaction to our eating on the cruise but also great timing because my Kraft Food and Family Magazine came before the cruise. The magazine featured a lot of different salads. So here we go with that this week.

Here's a few pictures of the beginning of the cruise. When we got to our stateroom, I was very touched that my husband had ordered a cake to celebrate my Masters coursework being done and me being a third of the way through my internship. It was very sweet and made me have that warm fuzzy feeling for him very intensely.We also participated in a safety drill and went to dinner among other fun things.

The Happy Cruisers with the Celebratory Cake

The Safety Drill

Our First Dinner