Happy Anniversary to Us!

Some brides enjoy the hours before their wedding relaxing at the spa, getting a pedicure, or having a nice, dainty, girly, classy lunch.

However, as a girl who is uncomfortable with all things spa/pedicure/relaxing, I chose instead to spend the hours before my own wedding, exactly one year ago today, by insisting that my friends run an early morning (which was REALLY early for some of us who chose to have a little too much fun at the bar party the night before... but I won't name any names... like my Italian Stallion...)









... as I was saying, an early morning Big Day 5K with me around Georgia Tech's campus, having a post-race snack at Starbucks, playing the "Name That State Capital!" game (yes, I am a nerd), and then heading over to Moe's for an overstuffed burrito lunch.









And some brides relish in taking that first trip to the bridal salon, spending hours, if not days, weeks, or months pouring over bridal magazines, looking for that perfect dress, anticipating that magical moment in which she steps out of the dressing room, white-dress clad, and her female relatives cry since she looks so beautiful.

However, as someone who despises shopping (especially with, no offense, my mom), I took great pleasure in going to jcrew.com one afternoon and ordering the white version of the $99 dress that Rosalie had originally picked out to wear to my wedding. I told her she could wear the same one in a different color, but she decided against it and looked hot anyway.

Did I mention I wore flip flops? The whole time?



And some ladies enjoy obsessing over every detail of their "big day," retaining complete control over the planning of their nuptials. I, however, made a list of everything that needed to be accomplished by June 6. I handled the cake, playlist and hotel arrangements. Dave handled EVERYTHING else: invitations, food, transportation for our guests, venue arrangements, and anything else I wanted. It was the only way I could get married and finish a dissertation at the same time.

Even for a skeptic like myself, who thought there was no way I'd enjoy my wedding day as much as everyone/all the media messages said I should or would, and who had spent the past year of my life writing pretty critical pieces about the wedding industry as a whole, I loved it. It was one of the best days of my life. Our friends and family showed up, supported us, drank beer, ate barbecue, joined me in eating the cake right off the pedestal, and danced on the bar at the end of the night. Some of them even became Facebook friends. All of them were incredibly awesome and made the night unbelievable.

Today is a celebration not only of the super fun day we had on June 6, 2009, but also of our friends and family who have been super supportive of us ever since the beginning. As Christy said in her sermon, all of our friends had high hopes that we would work out in the end, and everyone has done some amount of work to see us make it happen. We are forever thankful for all of you for helping us make it!

To celebrate, we have a ritual that we decided upon at some point during our honeymoon. We:

ate barbecue from Dave Poe's BBQ, the restaurant that catered Team Dawmilam Beerfest/Wedding (that macaroni is amazing, primarily because it's drenched in butter... good thing I did a triathlon right before consuming this meal)

ordered a replica wedding cake from Gabriel's Desserts. Why freeze part of your cake when you can pay $20 and order a smaller, fresh version every year? No brainer to me.

and are going to consume a few SweetWaters this afternoon.




We exchanged presents, following the tradition of "paper" for the first anniversary:

I got... post-it notes (really, I LOVE getting post-its and office supplies) and super cute stationery! Can't wait to get it monogrammed!

I got Dave a vintage map of Hawaii. It's hard to buy a paper item for someone who doesn't really use paper, ever.

Happy Anniversary to us! Next update will be later this week from Panama City Beach for our summer vacation with Casey & Tommy!

Catching Up

It's been a super busy 3 months since leaving Auckland, but the adventures haven't stopped for Team Dawmilam! What have we been up to? Well...

the weekend after we returned home from Auckland, I ran my first half marathon! When Lindsey (friend from Auburn), Steve (Rosalie's husband, friend from Vermont/Michigan/Kentucky/Indiana), and I signed up for it, we knew that the weather could be sunny, mild, and beautiful - like it was the day before the race - or rainy, cold, and miserable - which is what we got on race day! The temperature was about 45 degrees, and it was raining. We did the half anyway, in really good time. Can you say, bad asses?


After the race, we stuffed ourselves with brunch at my favorite brunch restaurant in Lexington, Doodle's. Mmmm, beignets! French press coffee! And an omelette!

Still at a caloric deficit, Lindsey and I ate half a big giant bag of Jelly Belly's on the way home, stopped at Dairy Queen outside of Chattanooga, and had Super Dave pick us up a Mellow Mushroom pizza that was waiting on us when we got to Casa Dawmilam. And I used "I just ran a half marathon" as an excuse for the rest of the week to eat literally whatever I wanted (like the rest of the box of chocolate cake doughnuts from Magee's). Granted, I was so sore I could barely walk the next few days... but still. It was fun once it was over, at least for all the yummy food! Plus, it was great to be in beautiful Lexington again, as well as see some very dear friends that I miss, like, whoa.




How did I miss pictures with Alyssa, Jim & Jennifer?! Oh well. I miss y'all too and was glad to spend time with you that weekend.


Our friends have had big birthdays this year (it's the year to turn 30 and 40 apparently), so we've done fun birthday parties for Meredith (no pictures, unfortunately, of her fun 30's themed party at Provino's), Kevin's 40th



and Jason's 30th (surprise party!)




Lindsey, Meredith and I went to Memphis for the Southern States Communication Association conference where we presented a panel about social media in the classroom with two other awesome/fun colleagues, Jennifer, from Eastern Kentucky, and Elizabeth, from Georgia State (who knows more than anyone else I know about Twitter)



that's me with Emmett Winn, who was the Duck Master for the day at the Peabody, and also the person who brought me to Auburn.

and then we had fun together out on Beale Street!


Rosalie came to visit... we saw Bon Jovi, went to our favorite local comedy club, and got haircuts!








The next weekend, we hosted a dinner party, which gave me an excuse to get new plates and dining room decor!


Then, I went to Allison's baby shower in Birmingham (I think she's having a girl... a little ADPi legacy)

it was great to see my ADPi sisters and catch up with them. You know you're true friends when you can go months without seeing each other, but pick right back up where you left off without missing a beat!




LOST, our favorite television show of all time, had its series finale, and we celebrated with a LOST watching party at the Swan Station, I mean, our house. Everyone dressed up like a LOST character, and all the food had something to do with the show (think I went a little overboard?)


And I've spent this week freaking out about the amount of free time I've had, working on my summer class, and getting geared up for my second triathlon tomorrow at Lake Lanier!

This summer, I hope to update this blog a little more regularly. Team Dawmilam has lots of fun travels and adventures in store... and hopefully we'll have fun stories to share too!