embrace the camera! march 10, 2011

yesterday i was blessed with a day off from work and a visit from my brother!

it was such a great and beauuuutiful day!

grayson is home from tenessee on spring break, and he was kind enough to make the trip down to houston to visit his sister! :)

we went to canes,

we went to the ZOO and saw the most adorable baby giraffe!

we saw cranes, and flamingos,

and a red panda, and fighting rhinos...

[these aren't real rhinos, but they look just the same!]

this is grayson hanging out with an american alligator.

if you squint with your magnifying glass, you can see the baby giraffe sitting down on the ground next to the two grown up giraffes. just a baby, only 7 feet tall....ahh!

and, of course, we saw the elephants.

how stinking cool is that?

when i was walking around yesterday, looking at the monkeys, and birds, and frogs, and fish, and snakes,

[yes, i walked through the snake exhibit,,,,,,eeeek!!]

 i was so blown away with how creative our Savior is. 

who else would be able to come up with so many different types of so many different animals?

and how gracious he is for sharing his creation with us.

he's a pretty great God.

p.s. you should check out grayson's tumbler, andddddddd watch this super awesome video of him.

he's a pretty talented guy. 

i taught him everything he knows. :)

[[embrace the camera]]

you know you wanna! :)

life made lovely: march 7, 2011

the other day while meandering my way through target, i came across a set of magnetic letters.

you know the kind i'm talking about right?

the super cheap plastic ones with the barely magnetic magnet on the back?

the ones that are in  
bright happy colors
that you'd use to spell out words and messages to your mom while she was making dinner?

[am i the only one who did that??]

well i found some of those on the clearance racks, 

and let me tell you,

i snatched those suckers right up!

although i probably should have spent the extra $1 and gotten magnets that are actually strong enough to hold up things on my fridge, 

i'm very glad i threw practicality to the wind,

because yesterday i found this:

and that is why my life is lovely. : )

splendid sunday! :) march 6, 2011

last week, i made my first [[splendid sunday]] post.

however, according to my lovely and logical boyfriend bryce,

a tradition isn't really a tradition until it's been done twice.

so here's to the start of a tradition! :)

[[maybe once i figure out how the whole button thing works, you can join me!]]

since this past weekend was so incredible, and so full of splendid things, i'm going to dedicate this splendid sunday list to my birthday weekend!

[1] if you're ever in need of a yummy, cheap reasonably affordable bottle of wine, may i recommend the central market foodie wines??

[2] sex and the city 2.  yes, i know i've talked about SATC in practically every post, but for real.  it's the perfect movie to watch while folding laundry and cleaning your apartment. i just love their relationship, the way the girls are so supportive and real with each other.  oooo realness. but that's another post in itself. o, and did i mention the shoes? eeeeeeek!

[3] red velvet cake + cheesecake = the perfect combo. 

red velvet cake on your birthday is a tradition in the akerly household, and when you can't have it homemade from mama's kitchen, the cheesecake factory is a great second.

i've been talking about the cheesecake factory for weeks, and my sweet boy caught the hint! it was so yummy! 

this is one of those times i'm grateful i'm in love with a boy who could give or take sweets.
i'm eating the leftovers as we speak.

[4] i am the proud owner of a beautiful new dress, full of pockets and zippers! i love me a dress with some pockets, and when i received this sweet gift from bryce, i was so excited! i wish i had gotten a full length photo of the dress, but this will have to do! mrs. chastain raised a very sweet and stylish boy! :)

[5] bowling is really under-rated.  ever since wii-sports came out, i feel like real-life bowling has gotten stuck in the corner and labeled lame. 

so, since my friends and i are the complete opposite of lame, we decided to get our bowl on!
let me introduce you to my sweet friends in the photo below:
mallory
one of my best friends from middle school
sarah mullis
she and i are the result of a blind date.  a blind friend date to be precise!
connie
i'm so glad God is the planner and not me, because if it weren't for college dorm life, i may not have ever met this sweet lady, and that would have been a huge tragedy! 

we made that bowling alley look good.  

we don't discriminate, we bowl in all colors.

ok, now that i've talked your ear off about myself and my splendid weekend, what are you grateful for on this splendid sunday?