4 years {dating} anniversary

a brief photo essay in honor of the

4 years

we have been boyfriend & girlfriend:




























I said it was brief.

I didnt lie.

We arent together this week to celebrate.

But they say distance makes the heart grow fonder..

and I think my heart is pretty stinkin fond of that man right now.

where in the world is carmen sandiego

I loved that game.

Currently I have disappeared from Casa de Ackley...

and made my way down to the Great state of Texas

and it looks like I brought the weather with me (even though really if you look at a weather map Texas is sending the weather up there.. its still what everyone who has seen me has said to me so I take full responsibility if it makes others happy) ahhh look at me... such the cold weather expert now.. little ol me who is always freezing isnt even cold when I walk outside. Such a northerner now {i kid}

For those unaware, it was 20-30 degrees and the entire city was pretty much shut down from ice. I dont mind. I prefer it over hot, humid, yuck weather anyway. I should note though in true Texas fashion it was 80 in Texas last week & then 20 this morning.

But.. do you want to know something? Okay. If you insist:

• I have lots to update you on.. and will do that soon.
• This was the best week ever for me to travel because Freeland has 4 test while Im gone.
• This was also the worst week for me to travel because Im missing a lot of things at the same time too. Like Lauren having her baby!!!
• Oh and for those interested Im here traveling for work. That is why I disappeared. But Im mixing things up and also visiting family at the same time. I just like to keep things spicy like that.
• I left all of my toiletries in Erie. Oops.
• The flight(s) here can officially be marked as the most not fun day of traveling in the history of ever for me. (complete with a 2 mile run to catch my flight where I think I almost died and an awesome nose bleed on my last flight that lasted forever
• Did you know the Steelers are in the super bowl? Remind me to discuss this later too..
  

Lastly ... Let it be known .. this is the longest that Freeland and I have ever been apart and its really miserably sad.. and I miss him like crazy.

a year later .. and Happy Birthday Amy!

First of all.. HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMY! Amy is my dear friend who now lives in Colorado. Amy and I also met through Tri Delt at Baylor .. sadly I dont remember exactly what it was that brought our lives together like it did but I know it was somewhere in between one of our bible studies, meetings, or the nights we would meet up to pray in the chapter room that we became such close friends. Whatever the exact moment was that we hit it off - I am so thankful for it because not only do I have some of the most HILARIOUS and OHMYGOSH IMGOINGTOPEEMYPANTS moments with Amy but she is also one of the most incredible friends.

Amy is someone that I know I could call for anything.. any day of the week.. and any hour of the day she would be there. I know if I ever just needed to be honest about something she would be the person to talk to & if I ever wanted someone to just laugh with .. its definitely her! Amy also has such a gift for being able to understand and see the heart of whats really going on in every situation. I also think she has an incredible gift of discernment, wisdom, and compassion.

Amy I love you & I love all the memories we have and that you will always be such a great friend of mine! For example, I love that we snuck you in my room in New York and hid you in my bed! I love that we always make circles when were dancing and that when we talk it always leads to us dying laughing. Love it. Do it. Share it. Work it. And I love that our conversations always get so carried away.. I wont go into all that right now but you know what Im saying! And I love that too! :) I hope you have an incredible birthday! I wish we could be in Colorado with you to celebrate and love on you. Hopefully some day soon we will be! Love, B & Free


And like I said in my little header "a year later"... a year ago today is when I first wrote happy birthday to someone on here. (it was Amy in case there was any confusion) And with that started all of my birthday posts to everyone else. But now its been a year and I have made the executive decision (yes.. I make "Executive" decisions around here.. I am the CEO of this blog apparently so Im allowed to call the shots) to put a pause on the happy birthday posts. I LOVE sharing peoples birthdays with everyone else & I love writing what I love about all of my friends.. but this year Im going to work on mailing birthday cards instead. And If you were someone who just skipped reading on the days I was saying happy birthday - no need to feel guilty.. thats okay. I wont judge you.

So if for any reason its your birthday and you were desperately waiting to see a post from yours truly and dont.. please dont be disappointed. Hopefully there will be a card in the mail instead. Unless I dont know your address... and thats something we can deal with later.

taggggg

Tag you're it.

Man, you people were busy "tagging" over the weekend! Im never good at remembering to do these if people tag me so I figured I better jump on it now or else it wont happen.

Thanks to Mary, my new lovely cousin.. {"new" as in I married Freeland and she is Freeland's cousin.. not new as in I just found out I had one or something} & Kori who I know & love from back in the good ol days of high school.. for tagging me. The rules are...

1. Choose a minimum of 7 blogs that you find brilliant in content or design.
2. Show the 7 winners names and links on your blog, and leave a comment informing them that they were tagged...
3. List at least 10 honest things about yourself.

And in no particular order: 10 HONEST things about myself

1. When I was little and played soccer.. for the Shooting Stars.. I told my family I wanted to quit the team because I hated when my hands got sticky during half time from the oranges they gave us. And I was serious. I wasnt giving up eating the oranges.. I was giving up soccer. Thats probably why I was so athletic the rest of my life too.
   
2. I wear socks ALL the time. Not just any socks... thick winter socks. (unless I have on flip flops.. which is only in the summer) But I have what they like to call Raynauds. ("They" being the people with the letters DR. before their name. Oh and isnt that just perfect that we now live where its 10 degrees!?) Anyway, it is the worst in my poor little toes. Really they are like ice all the time. So in hopes of it not getting worse & my feet not turning crazy colors and hurting really bad - the socks pretty much dont come off. EVER. Use your imagination. :)
3. I only wash my hair when I have to. These days its every other day. And if Im being honest.. what Im really saying is that I only shower every other day. But if Im REALLY being honest.. what Im really saying is that every other day is a step up for me. Back in the day (we wont say what 'back in the day' really means).. I went longer. (Is anyone still following this?) And thats why I knew Freeland & I were perfect for each other & that I had to marry him.. He too has been known for going days without showering. Not that he does it anymore. because that would be gross.. right?
4. I grind my teeth at night. And I dont even know how to do it or what it sounds like but somehow I do it. But hey .. I dont snore.. so Ive got that going for me. And honestly.. since this is all about being honest.. I think I only grind my teeth now when Im stressed out. But you would have to ask freeland to verify that.
   
5. I will return anything. A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G. Doesn't matter how long I had it, if its been used, or if I am only going to get $1.00 back .. if I dont want it anymore .. I will return it. And I have some pretty amazing stories about that. Another time though..
   
6. I cant get in bed without the sheets & the covers fixed and on the bed right. If they arent right I will get out of bed & require the same of Freeland and fix them so they are straight and on and tucked in right before I will get back in. I also refuse to sleep with more than 1 pillow.
   
7. Im a picker. I will pick anything if I can... even if its not on me. GROSS. Yes.. but its true. Again.. ask Freeland. I do it & dont even know that I am.
8. I LOVE rap music. WHAT? ME? RAP? Yes .. and not just your good ol Will Smith Rap song. And lets just say it isnt a rare occasion for Freeland to come home to me with it turned all the way up blasting through our house .. or for him to hear me driving all the way from the end of the street because I have it turned up so loud in my car. I dont apologize for it either. It makes our dance parties more fun.
   
9. I took Swahili in college instead of Spanish in hopes that I would one day go to Africa and use it. But now I forgot how to say everything except Mwalimu. For those non-swahili speaking people who read this blog. Mwalimu is swahili for Teacher.. I think.
10. When I was 16.. my dad graciously bought me a car so I could drive to and from places. And I was really responsible and showed him what I great driver I was going to be and how thankful he was going to be that I was on his insurance plan by wrecking it on the way home from the dealership. After only 30 minutes (at most) of owning it. My dad was so happy.

I tag these 7 people:

Amy Yablonski, Amber, Peter & Anne, Jenna, Meagan, Richmond, Vanessa , Lindsey, Kelly and really everyone else who reads this! Yes.. Im aware I picked more than 7 too.

And also thanks to Paige for tagging me with the "This Blog Measures Up".

Here are the rules:

1. Say one nice thing to the man in your life: Freeland .. you are the cream to my coffee.. the icing to my cupcake.. the cheese to my macaroni.. And... I love you more than reading harry potter at night, more than angelina & brad want to adopt another baby, more than wearing pajamas all day, more than Papa Johns Pizza while were on a diet.. more than Maddie loves to get on the couch.. and even more than Eddie loves food.

You complete me J. Freeland Ackley.

2. List at least 6 ways you measure success in your life.
1. I am successful when I dont eat pizza more than 3 nights a week
2. I am successful when I wake up early and dont go back to bed 30 minutes later
3. I am successful when I walk into Target and dont buy something
4. I am successful when I think before I speak. Or when I just stop talking and listen
5. I am successful when I can actually see the top of my desk (ie: when I have a clean desk)
6. I am successful when I even just think about working out.

3. Assign 5 other blogs this award: all the local people I tag you:

Camille, Sarah Allen, Lauren, Bethany, Christie, and Jamie. Did I miss anyone?

And I feel awful for never posting this tag from Karah & all the other fun Christmas ones every did. I was soo behind. Forgive me. Its not you - its me! :)

Happy Monday.

Freelands Birthday

As you know we recently celebrated Freeland's 27th birthday. I joked around with him all year that he was already pretty much 30. And I may have maybe at one point called him Grandpa. But that's mostly because he isnt really old at all & also because he goes to bed so early these days. Really I dont think he acts, looks, lives, etc. anything like his age.. and I mean that in a good way.

This year he was still on his Christmas break over his birthday. So it made the entire week so much more special. And then it was also white coat ceremony (pictures still to come).. and on top of that David came in town so it was one big celebration.

Not only did David come in town. He also gave Freeland a super fun gift. Which, he shouldn't have done and was incredibly nice of him. I have to say that its such a fun gift too. David had Freeland open his gift a day early so we could all enjoy it the entire time he was here. Here is Freeland opening the gift:

I should preface that I wrapped the gifts for David.. and I just pulled out wrapping paper and bags that I had in our gift wrapping storage box. So dont worry - David didnt actually get Freeland a gift from Victoria's Secret!


Freeland opening the gift. Looks like he loved it & was super shocked


It was an old school Nintendo! Along with Mario Kart!

OhMyGosh .. TheMostPerfectGiftEver

I should preface. Freeland is not a nintendo/wii/gamer whatever you want to call it type of person. Ive never really seen him play or want to play with any of them. Which I honestly LOVE LOVE LOVE about him. Earlier that day before he opened his gift he even told David & I how much he would never want to own any of that stuff and that he was so thankful he didnt. AFTER David already bought him one! Too funny. We just sat there smiling while he gave his opinion on the whole thing.

But this is a whole different ball game. Its old school. So in our book .. thats amazing. And we only own 1 game. So there you have it. (PS - its not that he thinks people are wrong if they do have those game systems & love it.. its just that it would distract him too much from everything else and he already has more hobbies than he can already keep up with .. and he doesn't have the time & we dont have they money for them.. so no offense if you love those games)


david & freeland playing Mario Kart, eating fondue, and hanging out.

I must say we caught on pretty quickly. After all, it was my favorite game back in the day on Super Nintendo.

On his birthday we woke up and had an amazing breakfast {thanks to David} served with lovely drinks.. went to white coat ceremony.. then celebrated with some nuggets from Chick-Fil-A.. and then that night Adam & Camille joined us and we went out to Aoyama for dinner.

Its a yumm-o Hibachi grill where they do this:







We love it. (its also where we went last year on New Years Eve with adam & cam before we lived here)


freeland & david at dinner


adam & his delicious sushi


Freeland opening his gift from Adam & Cam.

It holds all of his flies when he is fly fishing. Not only did they get him that.. Adam also tied TONS of flies for Freeland and put them in there for him so he is all ready to go. It was very thoughtful & perfect for Freeland!


Then our waiter pulled out this guy and thats when I put the camera away.. and just enjoyed the rest of our night. It was so much fun. We all laughed a TON.

And finally .. here are some pictures of Freeland opening his gifts from me & the other cards that we got from our family. {we got them earlier in the week but I made him wait until his birthday to open all of them}



I made it one of my goals to wrap more gifts this year like we do during christmas.. with wrapping paper & bows instead of throwing them in bags.. but Freeland told me not to waste the paper on him and just put them in bags we already had so thats why there are so many bags.

{and lauren .. thats why Freeland wrapped your gifts for your shower in paper and then also put them in a bag.. he wanted to stay true to me wanting to wrap gifts throughout the year!}


opening the gifts


one of them was dominoes since he loves playing .. but apparently we already own a set and I had no idea! Oops! Its okay I got him some other games too.


Here he is opening the vests I got him. He claims he cant "pull them off". I claim different though. And it turns out I was right.. he looks amazing (amazingly HOT) in them!


the last of all the other gifts was his big one. This toy gun. But it was because he said he wanted to get one (to hunt .. possibly). And I wasnt about to pick one out for him. So in the mean time he has this one.. and he also has my permission to get one when he decides which one he wants.



And that is how we celebrated the 27th year of Freelands life. It was the perfect day.

New Years Eve

I guess were only a few days away from Chinese New Year so I dont feel that bad about posting this so late.

On New Years Eve this year we went over to Bill & Christie's house.. also known as the Lee Loft. They were nice enough to host a fabulous evening for everyone. Go over to their blog to see more pictures and all of their awesome decorations that Christie made herself! They really went all out.. It was perfect.

Thank you for having us over! We had such an awesome time .. and Im so thankful you have both become such great friends of ours here in Erie

It was really such a fun night with just friends hanging out. Here are some pictures of all of us celebrating 2008 and welcoming in 2009:

Bill teaching Freeland & Drew how to make your own sushi


The finished product.

Yes they had a sushi bar.. how awesome is that!


some of the other yummy food that we all gorged ourselves on

We also played TONS of games while we waited for midnight:


drew & freeland playing chess


all the boys playing a serious game of dominoes


and all of us playing cranium. Even though I said I had given up on games with large groups of people .. it was fun

and let it be known that the girls dominated

Here are some of the VIP guests that were there:


sierra .. the sweetest dog in the world


little Barret .. the youngest & most adorable guest celebrating new years

And here are all the girls:


I kinda feel like were all sitting as if we dont know each other or something. But really we all love each other!

And as it turns out Cam & I wore pretty much the same outfit.. so our normal photo op was an obvious thing that had to be done:


TWINKIES


this is what always tends to happen when we take pictures.


work it .. I get the feeling little baby Jennings was probably smiling too

And then we all realized it was nearing midnight so we started getting ready..
which means we popped open the bubbly





Freeland decided to be the brave one and crack open this bottle.


I might be lying.. but I think I remember him shaking it. So that explains everyone's reactions in the background


it also explains why this happened

whats new years without champagne spilling everywhere?!

Then the ball started to drop

10 ... 9 ... 8 ... 7 ... 6 ... 5 ... 4 ...



3 ... 2 ... 1 ...



HAPPY NEW YEARS !!!



Should old acquaintances be forgotten, And never brought to mind?
Should old acquaintances be forgotten, And days of long ago! ...



lost more celebrations ..



Can we all just pause for a moment and acknowledge how awesome it was that they set up a balloon drop in their house! It was the perfect touch .. I loved celebrating that way!

Then freeland & I faced the insanely fierce cold weather and made our way home so we could crash. It was such a fun night. Bill & Christie did such an awesome job hosting us! And it was the perfect way to ring in the new year!




Whats New Years Eve without one last kiss ..