week 22: saying goodbyes.

our four years in sweet home birmy have come to a close.  it's been an incredible four years of ups & downs & beginnings & endings.  blakey learned how to be an excellent physician.  i learned how to be a pasty chef & actually love my job.  we learned how to live in a city we knew nothing about.  we learned to make friends, truly amazing lifelong friends.  & we even learned how to be husband & wife.

the biggest life lessons i learned while in birmingham:

1. be selfish with your marriage.  learn to put your spouse & your marriage first before all of the other things that are in your life - work, friends, even other family.  it might sound rude, but it's so important to start there & learn to live out your life together.  i will point out a very wise thing my father-in-law said to me before blake & i got married: when marrying a doctor, you have to be ok with coming in second.  you are always his first priority, but you are going to come in second sometimes.  this is also a good thing to remember.

2. find an amazing group of married friends with similar beliefs about marriage.  i cannot tell you how lucky & blessed we were to find these amazing friends.  not only because they are each awesome but because we all understood how important our spouses were to each other.  it made it even easier to put our marriages first.

3. marriage is a choice.  a wise friend of ours once told me that the key to a good marriage is to wake up each day & choose your spouse.  sometimes it's easy & sometimes it's hard.  but it's always a choice.

4. even if you love your job, it's ok to love home more.  i always wanted a job that i looked forward to going to on monday mornings.  after having my dream job for the last three years, if you asked me if i'd rather be at work or at home, i'd choose home every time.  & you know what, that's ok.

5. please don't ever say "i don't have time" or "i don't have a choice".  you have time.  you get to choose how to spend your time.  & you have a choice.  just because you don't like your options, it doesn't mean you don't have a choice.  

four years ago, i never would've dreamed it would be so hard to leave birmingham.  this city with its beautiful trees & hills, its cool summer nights, its amazing food, its southern hospitality, & its incredible people.  birmy, you've been good to us.  

& because you know i couldn't leave this city we love without having a "final meal" {& telling you about it} - our last meal was at saw's.  a pulled pork baker with lots of delicious saw's sauce & the best fried okra there is.  technically, we ate our "final" saw's meal at least six or seven times, including twice in the last week. each one was absolutely incredible.

"you get a strange feeling when you're about to leave a place.  

like you'll not only miss the people you love 

but you'll miss the person you are now 

at this time & place 

because you'll never be this way ever again."

love love,

kjp.

week 21: blakey is finished!!!!

oh my goodness, blakey is finished with residency.  four years of extremely hard work & play.  four years of learning & growing & teaching & baby catching.  i am so proud of the man, doctor, & husband he's become.

to honor this great group of outgoing chiefs, we had an evening filled with dinner & dancing at the country club.  all eight chiefs were accepted to a fellowship program in his/her specialty, an impressive achievement.  well done, y'all.  well done.

it is so bittersweet to say goodbye to this place that has had such a part in turning blakey into the man he has become.  they've supported him & they've supported me so well over these years.  we could not have asked for more.  

{we're going to miss you, boone,

& your amazing tennessee orange.}

happy pre-father's day, love!  you are going to be an excellent dad.

love love,

kjp.

week 19: my final week at urban.

week 19 meant my last week at my beloved baking job.  urban standard became my home away from home in birmy.  i started working there in only our second month in alabama, when i knew almost no one in the state.  over the years, blake & i met so many friends at the shop and felt much more at home.  after graduating from pastry school, i was enabled to create my dream job.  i could not be more grateful for the experience.

saying goodbyes are always hard.  saying goodbye to your dream job when 19 weeks pregnant - oh my goodness, so many tears!

over my last week, i made so many of my favorite treats, customers' favorite treats, & a few fancy things i had been wanting to try.  but my last day was purely selfish with my favorite espresso donuts, my favorite chocolate chip orange zest cookies, & my favorite spicy mexican chocolate cake bites. blakey & i even shared one a piece.  & they were delicious :)

with all of the goodbyes were also many hugs, so many kind words, two beautiful flower bouquets, fun photos of me baking, & more fun gifts.  helen even taught me how to make her amazing banana pudding!  y'all have to try it.  ask me.  i'll make it for you.

goodness gracious, y'all are the best.  four of the best years of my life with so much learning & experiencing & loving.  urban, you are so going to be missed.

love love,

kjp.

celebrating 13 weeks with the vandaveers in birmy!

13 weeks!  the second trimester has arrived & i've welcomed it with open arms.  i'm feeling much better, like i could conquer the world even!  my appetite has returned to a normal schedule, not eating every hour or two.  my biggest cravings are still orange juice & v8 juice.  so random, but i'll certainly take it.  & naps are still my most beloved afternoon activity.  but conquer the world after those naps i can!

to celebrate these 13 weeks, the vandaveers came to visit us in birmy!!  it was little man's first time to our neck of the woods out of the womb.  {julie byrd & little aveer were here when she was 7 months pregnant, almost 2 years ago.}  we ate some amazing food {moe's & saw's, of course}, played at parks & the museum & watched choo choos {malcolm's favorite}, & celebrated easter together!  it was a wonderful & so loved weekend.

 {a sunrise swing date}

 {all 4 fellas on a trip to the park}

little man celebrated his 2nd easter with us!  we made a huge feast with our favorite pioneer woman spicy dr pepper pulled pork, super cheesy potatoes, corn casserole {you know, for a "vegetable"}, spinach & kale wontons {julie's idea of easter food}, coconut cupcakes, & carrot cake cake bites!  little man got an easter basket full of eggs & bubbles & stickers & an easter book & an easter lamb.  he was pretty pumped about the bubbles.  & then he had his first easter egg hunt!  with stickers & bandaids abound.

 {cheers!}

{or boom! if you're blakey}

{a little frat guy in the making}

{love you, julie byrd!} 

happy 13 weeks & happy easter & happy weekend with the vandaveers!

love love,

kjp.

b is for bennett!

elyse & matt are having a baby boy!!  bennett david rogers is so loved by his family & this wonderful group of friends.  we cannot wait to meet you!

to celebrate this anticipated little boy, we threw a baby shower!  we enjoyed a blue theme with bleu cheese, apple, & caramelized red onion dip with blue corn chips, purple potato salad, moe's wings with bleu cheese dip, & blueberry cupcakes with honey cream cheese frosting.  we toasted with champagne & alcohol-free champagne with blueberries, blackberry mint water, & of course the father-to-be's favorite, miller lite.

it was an afternoon full of love, joy, laughs, & so much to celebrate.  congratulations, elyse & matt!  we are going to love that little baby boy of yours.

love love,

kjp.

the wonderful mcgowan christmas party 2013.

our favorite birmy christmas party was an incredible day of joy & happiness.  the mcgowans hosted all of us for a delicious southern brunch, amazing football, tasty holiday treats, & so much fun.  the southern meal shined with chicken & waffles, mini pigs in a blanket, pulled pork sliders, & pimento cheese.  we watched an unbelievable sooner win at bedlam & the entertaining big 12 championship & sec championship.  & we thoroughly enjoyed the holiday with these truly wonderful friends.

 {my beautiful friends}

 {our festive holiday attire}

 {our handsome gentlemen}

{blake & ogden in pure joy after sabering a bottle of champagne open.

well done, fellas.  well done.

we are so proud of you.}

a very merry christmas celebration indeed.  so much love for these people.

love love,

kjp.

giving thanks 2013.

thanksgiving 2013 was a huge, incredibly delicious, & amazingly fun success!  blakey, tanky, & i joined amy, ogden, & lola at their home for a fabulous day of celebrating.  very sadly, the rogers came down with a horrible stomach bug & quarantined themselves.  they were very missed.  but we persevered through, found all of the missing ingredients, & even had delicious alternative dishes.  our traditional day of thanks with the mcgs - a birmingham tradition we will certainly miss & always look back upon with the fondest of memories.

{ogden's brined & fried turkey - incredible.}

{TL: surprisingly tasty store-bought, pre-frozen dressing.

TR: amy's perfect traditional green bean casserole.

BL: my herbed, cheesed, & mashed potatoes.

BR: my jalapeño creamed corn.}

 {amy's gorgeous pumpkin pie!}

 {& my thanksgiving tradition - grandma's pecan pie.}

somehow we did not take a single photo of humans on this thanksgiving.  but just know - we looked adorable & festive & happy & young & like we didn't eat 1,000 times more food than necessary &… :)

tank & his girlfriend lola had almost as much fun as we did.  while lola & i napped in front of the fire & the others watch lots & lots of football, tank destroyed a kong toy & went to town with the squeaky ball.  please oh please enjoy the video above.  

giving thanks always.  especially today.

love love,

kjp.

a weekend of celebrations.

blakey had two days full of celebrations this weekend!  first up on friday night, we joined the mcgowans in a evening to celebrate their signed contract for ogden's anesthesia job next year!  after multiple great offers & much discussion, amy & ogden have decided to move to their home town of san angelo, texas next year.  & we are so incredibly proud of & happy for them & their exciting future.

as the mcgowans & porters do, we enjoyed a fantastic meal with delicious food, tasty beverages, & fabulous friends.  we began at dave's pub for a cozy pre-dinner brew.  & then went to chez fonfon for incredible burgers, mussels, & fries.  a wonderful birmy evening.

on saturday, we had an afternoon of fun at the rogers' for matt's 30th birthday!  a bonfire, football on tv, the pups playing for hours, & more wonderful friends.  matt smoked some incredible chicken & ribs.  elyse made a very tasty boudin dip & pecan pie.  & then we went old school for campfire s'mores.  a very good 30th birthday celebration indeed.

so many good friends & so many good things to celebrate.  congratulations, mcgs!  happy birthday, matt!  & we will certainly continue to celebrate elyse & baby rogers!

love love,

kjp.

thankful thursday - a carbon leaf date.

this week, blakey & i got to see "our band" in concert!!  blakey introduced me to carbon leaf in college when he decided i needed to learn more about music.  because, confession, i know pretty much nothing about music.

{the first album he gave me was the rolling stones.  yes, i had heard of them, but i couldn't have named a single song.  turns out - i don't love the stones.  i know i know.  you think i am wrong.  & that's ok.  but i still don't really like them.}

carbon leaf was his second attempt.  & it was a huge success!  i listened to "life less ordinary" & "what about everything?" every single morning on my way to my internship in the summer of 2006.  every single morning.  & carbon leaf will forever remind me of that summer & my love.  

fabulous show.  fabulous memories.  fabulous date night with the byrds.  

i hope you can think of something today for which you are thankful.

love love,

kjp.