Our last three weeks in Jacksonville have been absolutely amazing. We have such a wonderful family and so many great friends who we are going to miss dearly - AND WHO BETTER COME TO VISIT US A LOT!! We also got to visit some of our favorite Jacksonville Restaurants and places to go before we leave as well... Here is an overview of the past couple of weeks:
We had dinner last Tuesday night with Winnie, Alan, Emily and Spencer. We went to Barbara Jean's Restaurant out in Ponte Vedra. There truly is nothing better than eating wonderfully Southern food with some very good friends. Winnie grew up at First Baptist with us - but is slightly older (wink, wink) and so we did not really get to meet her until we went to the Newlywed class at FBC. We met Winnie and her husband Alan in the class and became instant friends. They are such a sweet couple and we have loved getting to know them and their beautiful baby girl Clara. We also met Spencer and Emily in the class. They came into our small group late last year. They are such energetic and fun people to be around - and even better... THEY ARE TEXANS. Since a lot of my family still lives in Texas, it is fun to talk about cool things to do and see there with them. We are planning to make the trip to Dallas this year for Christmas so we may get to make a short detour to Waco to say "hello" to the Capertons.
The whole gang at Babara Jean's
Just the girls - Winnie, me and Emily
Last Wednesday night we had dinner with some my very best friends from Interior Design at UF. Paula, Jackie, Liz and I all ended up in Jacksonville after school (well Liz followed last year as she just could not stand to be apart from us) and now I am breaking up the group. No worries though - we have already made plans to meet back up in _________ (insert cool city of choice) in a few years and open our own boutique. Of course, as we are all type "A" Planner personalities, we all already have our jobs lined up for us - Liz is the purchasing agent as she has the best style, Paula will be the display and floor designer, Jackie will be the daycare manager for all of our kids in the back room and I will be the business manager (scary huh?) We went to Mimi's Cafe for dinner - mmmm good!! Jackie's fiance Billy was able to come with us too - Josh was very relieved that he had another guy to talk to as our "design talk" can get a little carried away sometimes. Side note - one of our many trips back to Florida will be to go to Jackie and Billy's wedding next April. (I am so excited for you guys!!)
On Thursday night we hung out with Adam and his fiance Tyler. We ate at the new Mellow Mushroom at the beach. Adam was one of Josh's roommates and very good "buds" at UF - he was also a groomsmen in our wedding. Our FIRST trip back to Jax will be in October to go to their wedding. Josh is in the wedding and we are so excited for them! We love hanging out with Adam and Tyler - they make such a great couple and we are so excited to see how God is going to use them and their marriage for His glory. Side note - Adam actually came on a family vacation with us 3 summers ago to England. Long story short, that trip was amazing.
On Friday night we went over to Josh's Grandparents house for dinner with Josh's entire family. It was so good to be able to see everyone before we have to leave. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family who truly cares about us and supports us as we make this transition to Birmingham. We ate lots of great food all prepared by Josh's Grandma, Mom and Aunts. We closed out the night with a good card game of Capitalism which has become the new family favorite.
Mom and Melissa
Aunt Lisa, Josh and Me
Family Group Shot
Josh and Joey
On Saturday afternoon I had lunch with my friends Kelli and Zayna. We went to PF Chang's - it was delicious! It was so great to be able to catch up with my long time friends before we left. Both Kelli and Zayna went to highschool and college with me. They are definitely the kind of friends I will have for a lifetime. Definitely be praying for my friend Kelli, she has a great job possibility coming up for a teaching position here in Jax. Just pray that everything will work!!
On Saturday night we went out to the Party Barn at the Dorminey's house (Winnie's parents). Winnie, Alan and Mr. & Mrs. Dorminey threw a wonderful party for our Sunday School class. It was a going away party for us and our good friends Tama and Stuart who are also moving away so that he can go back to school. Tama and Stuart are moving back to Kentucky (where they are originally from) so that Stuart can get an engineering degree from UK. We are very excited about a possible trip to visit them for the UF vs UK football game this fall!! Very exciting!! The party at the Barn was amazing - the Dorminey's truly out did themselves with all of the wonderful food that they made!! Mr. Dorminey should seriously open a BBQ restaurant - it is some of the best I have ever had.
Lots of our really good friends came to the Party at the Barn including our good friends Steven and Laura Hunter who came up from Gainesville just for the party. Steven was another one of Josh's roommates at Florida and we absolutely love to hang out with both of them. Their place is our home away from home in Gville during football season or "just need to go hang out with the Hunters" season. Laura is a fabulous cook and makes everything from scratch - we can all take a lesson from her! Steven is getting his doctorate in Physical Therapy now at UF and so Josh makes it a point to somehow trick or coherce his way into getting a massage every time we see them.
Ben and Jess also came to the party on Saturday.... even though it was BEN'S BIRTHDAY!! They are such great friends of ours... they are actually the REAL reason we are moving to Birmingham. Since they both grew up in the HAM, they have talked about it so much that we just felt like it was time that we experience it for ourselves. They both graduated from University of Alabama and then Ben went to UAB and did the same program that Josh is about to do (Master's in Health Administration.) They have been such a great insight to us for places to go and things to do in the city as well as a great contact for Josh to have to navigate through the program. We are really going to miss them - especially during this football season - it was great to have good SEC rival fans/alumni to watch games with. No worries though, I know they will be visiting us a lot. (I mean I guess they will have to go see their families when they are there too... but we like to think that they are coming to see us.) UF vs UA at the SEC CHAMPIONSHIP 2009 IN ATLANTA!! WE'LL MEET YOU THERE!!
On Sunday night we had dinner and watched a movie with our good friends Eric and Cassie. We have known Eric and Cassie for a long time - they both went to my highschool (although Eric is slightly older and Cassie is a year younger.) We always love watching movies at their house - they appreciate and critique movies similar to us. We were glad to be able to go over to their house one last time before we left. We will miss them!! (Thank you guys, please make sure you come to visit!)On Monday night we went out to Rita's Italian Ice for one last "see you soon" meeting with Ben, Jess, Alan, Winnie, Clara, Emily, Spencer (and Bailey and Lola.) We brought Molly and had a doggie play-date/ goodbye get-together with some of our best friends. It was a lot of fun... Rita's even brought out doogie treats for all of the pups. Lola proceeded to eat hers in one bite, cup and all - I guess this needs to be added to the "Things Lola has Eaten" list?On Tuesday night... (yes, that's right, one full week of good-bye celebrations and we still have three days left before we leave) we had dessert at my Mom's house with all of my family. My mom made a fabulous dessert that is actually an adaption of a recipe from Josh's Mom - Dump Cake (but instead of Cherries, she used Apples.) Josh and I have always loved this dessert when his mom makes it and now my Mom's family loves it too! I think it will become a request at all gatherings from now on. It was so good to see everyone one more time before we leave, but we know that we will see you very soon! Jason and Morgan's wedding is in five and a half weeks and we will meet you in east Alabama!! We love all of you and will see you very soon!
Me and Mom
The whole family
Gabriel and Molly playing
Josh and Molly
Me and Aunt Lala
That about does it for the goodbye dinners, meals, celebrations, parties, meetings, get-togethers, etc. We are going to miss everyone so much and will be waiting for each of you to come and visit very soon!! WE LOVE YOU!
P.S. I will supplement with pictures ASAP... I left the cord to my camera in a box that is now in BIRMINGHAM with everything else I own!! Check back later...
We finished up the weekend at the Birmingham Gator Alumni season opener BBQ. It was great to meet some fellow Gator alumni who are now residing in the Ham. Their token phrase is "Birmingham Gator Club - JAWS OF STEEL." Kinda cheesy, but very original, I love it! (For anyone who does not know... back in the day Birmingham was a "Steel" town with tons of manufacturing plants downtown.)
We finished up the weekend at the Birmingham Gator Alumni season opener BBQ. It was great to meet some fellow Gator alumni who are now residing in the Ham. Their token phrase is "Birmingham Gator Club - JAWS OF STEEL." Kinda cheesy, but very original, I love it! (For anyone who does not know... back in the day Birmingham was a "Steel" town with tons of manufacturing plants downtown.)
