The Bowens: 2008

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

O Christmas Tree!

Don't you just love Christmas decorations! I got into the decorating mood one afternoon when I got in from work. This is what we ended up with...

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Three posts in a week has got to be a record for me! A friend from back home, Brittany, tagged me. (At least I assumed it was me, you may have meant another Jill :).) Anywho, I am supposed to go to my FOURTH picture folder and post the FOURTH picture and tell you FOUR things about it. So here goes...

1) This is me and the hubby waiting for Thanksgiving lunch at my Grandma's this year.
2) We were getting restless because it was taking so long to start the feasting.
3) Seth says that his goofiness has rubbed off on me even more since we got married. :)
4) I was very thankful that my wonderful husband gave up his family Thanksgiving so we could go to Henderson!

Okay...so many of my blog buddies have already done this...so, I'm gonna have to cheat and just tag two: Julie and Lori! Have fun!!

Monday, December 1, 2008

Turkey for Everyone!!

Well, Seth and I made the trip to Henderson again this year for Thanksgiving. It was so nice be able to visit with all the family in one place! Usually when we visit, we spend the whole time driving from house to house visiting everyone. We had PLENTY to eat, as you can see!

And this was just our FIRST of three meals! Both of my grandma's cooked while we were in Henderson, then we also got leftovers from Seth's grandma back in Huntsville! We're gonna have to go on a diet to make up for the past week!!

We also got to meet the newest member of our family, Luke Barrett Wilson! FINALLY! He is an absolute sweetie! He was so good Thanksgiving, even with everyone passing him around every ten minutes! Here are a few pictures of Luke!

(Luke with his mommy and daddy)

(with his favoritest cousin...me!)

Eli is ONE!!!

Seth's nephew, Eli "Chuck" Norris, turned one a couple weeks ago. He has reached the stage where he has such a personality! So he was hilarious at his party. (The sugar rush from the icing may have also had something to do with his hyperactive-ness that night!)

Seth helped him open his gifts. I think Seth had just as much fun with the toys as Eli did!

Uncle Seth ALSO gave Eli a sneak taste of cupcake before he got a whole one to devour on his own. Here are a few pictures.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Proof....

You know it's fall when:

1) You get to put up cute fall decorations.

2) Your pretty green backyard is blanketed by TONS of

leaves....primarily because you never rake. :)

3) Your bathroom looks like a disaster zone.

Yes, that's right! It's home renovation time again! Fall is our designated time for doing work on the house, since Seth coaches ball in the spring. So Saturday, Seth, with the help of his dad and brothers, completely ripped out one of our bathrooms. Goodbye pink tile and carpet!! (Yes, the people before us had carpet in the bathroom!) Stay posted for before and after pictures!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

7 Things...

So I’ve seen this on a bunch of different blogs and thought that it would be fun to do….especially since I’m sick of the reports I’m working on. This will provide a much needed break! :) Enjoy!

7 Things I Want To Do Before I Die

*Travel to various places in Europe*

*Have kids (definitely not today, but sometime :))*

*Visit all Major League Baseball stadiums (Seth and I are working on this one.)*

*Make a difference in someone else’s life*

*See the battleship my granddad served on in WWII*

*Learn to decorate really pretty cakes*
*Take Seth to New York (We didn’t get to go this summer like we planned…I don’t think Seth thought about the fact that by proposing he was giving up his chance to see the old Yankees Stadium for a wedding. I’ll definitely have to make that one up to him!)*

7 Things I Can Do

*Make a mean banana pudding, or so I’m told*

*Travel to new places*
*Get extremely excited about Christmas!*

*Be Indecisive*

*Ride rollercoasters*

*Take plenty of pictures (so I can remember things when I’m old and senile!)*

*Scrapbooking*

7 Things I Can Not Do

*Touch a fish…gives me the creeps just thinking about it*

*Sleep without a fan or humidifier on for noise*

*Play an instrument*

*Watch a scary movie without covering up my eyes the whole time*

*Be patient around bad drivers*

*Exercise regularly*

*Remember simple things (probably due to a lack of paying attention)*

7 Things That Attracted Me To My Hubby

*Christian, first and foremost*

*Georgeous blue eyes*

*Sense of Humor*

*Generous*

*Laid Back*

*Athletic*

*Will travel with me! (as long as a baseball stadium is visited along the way)*

7 Things I Say Most Often

*Are you kidding me?*

*Seriously.*

*You are retarded. (usually to Seth)*

*Good grief!*

*Whaaaat?!*

*Huh.*

*I’m hungry!*

7 Celebrity Crushes

*Christian Bale*

*Brad Pitt*

*Tom Welling*

*Jared Padalecki*

*Jensen Ackles*

*Eric Dane*

*Justin Timberlake*

Friday, October 17, 2008

It's A Boy!!!!

My aunt Brandi (the next to youngest of my mom's siblings) and her hubbie Mark welcomed their first baby into the world at 1:15 this morning!! Luke Barrett...okay, I am not too sure of the spelling of the name but if this is wrong I'll let you know. Anywho this is huge for our family since we haven't had a baby around in almost seventeen years! This is the only picture I have of him so far, and it came via cell phone so it's not great quality. But I can tell he is precious! Mommy, Daddy and Luke are all doing well! I'll post more pictures as soon as I get them!!

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

DC

Last week, I had a training class in DC....my first time to go there. So, my mom, who loves all that historical stuff, went with me and in the afternoons we were able to do some sightseeing. We saw quite a bit in the little bit of time that we had. Here are just a few pictures from the trip. Enjoy!

Supreme Court Building, the tiny dot there is me. :) The size of the buildings and the tiny details on each of them were amazing!

This would be my mom in front of the Capitol Building. We didn't have time to get a ticket and tour the inside.

The White House....when I zoomed in with my camera, we could see the security on the roof.

Mount Vernon, home of George Washington. It was beautiful!

Arlington National Cemetery

The Eternal Flame and burial place of JFK , along with his wife and kids.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Me and ole Honest Abe, he's quite ginormous!

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Oh The Places To Go!!

So, after my last post I started thinking about the places that I would love to travel to. Although, in Seth's words, I would be happy going anywhere from Italy to South Dakota...there are a few places that are at the top of my list. And wouldn't you know, most are outside of the US. :) Might as well dream big!

#1: Paris

#2: Rome

#3: Venice

#4: Austrailia

#5: Yellowstone National Park

Ahhhh....someday! :)

Friday, September 5, 2008

Favorite Places

As you may or may not know, I absolutely LOVE to travel! While Seth and I were going through things to put in the yard sale last week, I came across a picture from when I went to Guyana on a mission trip in high school. It got me thinking about all the places God has blessed me with the opportunity to visit. Sooo, I thought I would share some of my favorite places! Here it goes....

1) Kaieteur Falls / Baganara Island (Guyana, South America)

I was able to visit this magnificent place while on the mission trip that I mentioned earlier. The last day of our trip, we were allowed to do some sightseeing. So part of our group decided to go to the falls that we had heard so much about. We hopped into the little, and I mean little, six seater airplanes and set off on our journey. After many bumps and scares in the little plane, we landed in a random field that they called an airstrip. We then hiked through some of the most beautiful forests to the waterfall. The sight was amazing...not just because of the waterfall, but because of the surroundings. There were no touristy things, no guardrails, no souvenier shops....just us and God's beautiful creation. Breathtaking! We were able to crawl to the edge of the cliff and look straight down the waterfall. No words can express the wonder and awe that I felt. Later that day, we were flown over to Baganara Island. It had a small "resort" where we spent the rest of the day relaxing, sitting in the hammocks on the porch of the hut, just watching the waves roll in. One of the best experiences of my life!

2) Mammoth Caves (Kentucky)

This was the senior trip for the youth group at my home congregation right before I graduated. Although crawling through the TINY holes and up the random cave walls was pretty exhilirating, it was nothing compared to what happened halfway through the exploration. When we reached the deepest, darkest part of the cave, our tour guide asked us to all sit quietly and turn off our lights. True darkness. Then some of the youth decided that it would be neat to sing a couple church songs...with the okay of our guide, we began....quietly of course, we didn't want any cave-ins!! The way the voices echoed off the walls of the cave was the most beautiful sound I have ever heard. The other people in our tour group were so moved they asked our group to sing some more, as they just sat and listened, moved by the sound and the words. Very special experience!

3) New York City

I don't have any inspirational or moving stories to go along with this one, I just LOVE visiting this place! It is so different from small town country life! Although I would never want to live there, it is fun to see something new and different from what you are used to. And there is sooo much to see and do!

4) The Grand Canyon

We drove out west once when we were younger. One of the few things I remember about the trip was the Grand Canyon. It was sooo huge and beautiful! I would love to go back out west and visit again. Maybe I can drag Seth out there sometime! :)

5) St. Louis

This was the first big trip that Seth and I took together. He is a Cardinals fan and had never been to a game up there. So for his birthday, I got him tickets and we headed out. It was a great trip! We stayed with a friend, went to a game, saw some sights...great fun!

6) Knoxville

Although my poor Vols have been struggling the past few years, I still love them. There is nothing like a beautiful fall Saturday, sitting on the hill in Knoxville watching the band march proudly down the street to the stadium. It still gives me chills everytime!

Have you traveled anywhere that you absolutely loved?!? I'm up for suggestions for the next trip I drag Seth on!! :)