Our Christmas Tree Adventure

Now that Thanksgiving is over, it's now time to hunt for the great Christmas Tree! This year we decided we would start are own tradition by going out and getting our Christmas Tree on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

Last year we went out and cut our own tree down from a Christmas Tree Farm and decided that we would do that again this year.

It was raining out but we decided to go ahead as planned and get our tree no matter how wet or how dirty we would get. The good news is that we would not have to worry about getting wet or dirty as when we arrived there was a large closed sign on the gate stating they were closed due to the weather.

We were still determined to get our tree so we chose to go with the good ole trusty standby.....we went to our local Lowes store where we purchased our Christmas Tree.....a Frazier Fur!

It's so beautiful as it stands nearly 8 foot tall in our living room. It has yet to be decorated as we decided to wait until tomorrow to put all the decorations on the tree so it would have time for the limbs to settle into place from being tied for shipping.

This years tree is going to be as beautiful as ever!

Our First Thanksgiving as Husband & Wife

Our first Thanksgiving as Husband and Wife!

For me the day started off at 5:15 am as I had to be at work at 6 am. My beautiful bride on the other hand got to sleep in late this morning.

I was able to get off work a little early so we could start our Thanksgiving day together.

We started out cooking.....we made rice and gravy, creamed corn, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, dressing and ham. We also had rools along with pumpkin pie and key lime pie.

We were able to sit down just after 2 pm to eat our wonderful meal that was so very delicious! We laid around the house for about an hour before Christa came up with a wonderful suggestion.....Lets put up the inside Christmas decorations.

After a short trip to Wal-Mart we returned home to put up all of our inside decorations. The only thing left to put in the house is the Christmas tree that we will be getting on Saturday. The house looks so beautiful....Yipee!

I would have to say that our first Thanksgiving together went really great! I am looking forward to many, many more!

Christa's 1st UGA (University of Georgia) Experience

I forgot to mention Christa's 1st University of Georgia experience that occurred back on April 5, 2008.

It was UGA's annual Spring Game at historic Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia. We went with some friends and went up early and tailgated in the parking deck (cooking hotdogs) before heading over to the stadium.

Before going into the stadium we walked over to the UGA Book Store (you can purchase anything to do with UGA here). We got in the stadium a few minutes before kickoff and sat in the club section (the covered area of the stadium) as it was lightly raining at the start of the game.

The game was between the UGA team (1st string vs 2nd string). There was about 35,000 people in the stands (the stadium holds 98,500). It may not have been a real game but Christa seemed to enjoy her first taste of the UGA Life. Go Dawgs!

A Surprise Father's Day Visit

Fathers Day 2008 was a special day for Christa and her dad.

The Friday before Fathers Day Christa, Jacob and I flew to Minnesota for a surprise Fathers Day visit.

We arrived late into Minneapolis and took a cab to the hotel we were staying at for the night. We got up the next morning and drove over to Christa's sisters house for a visit before going on to Christa's dads house.

We left Linda's house around 11:00 am and Christa had a surprise in store for me. She took me to the Little House on the Prairie museum and to see Plum Creek in Walnut Grove, Minnesota. I was thrilled to finally get to visit those two places. We left there about 1:00 pm and made a stop by the the cemetary to visit Christa's moms grave. It was an honor for me to finally get the chance to visit her. We then drove to Christa's dads house arriving a little after 3:00 pm.

Christa's dad was working in his shop so he didn't see us when we arrived so we were able to sneak up to the door and Christa gave him the shock of his life as he turned around and Christa said "Hi dad." He was so happy to see her! We had a wonderful two day visit with him.

"Happy Fathers Day Dad"

Our First Trip as Husband & Wife

In May 2008 we took our first offical trip as husband and wife to Chattanooga, Tennessee. The mountains on the way up were so beautiful and peaceful.

We spent three nights there exploring the city as this was Christa's first visit to Chattanooga. We took a walk along the Tennessee River, went down in the caves of Raccoon Mountain and Ruby Falls. The falls were so beautiful.

We rode the Incline down the mountain and then back up and took a stroll through Rock City Gardens.......Christa's favorite. We visited Point Park (a part of the Lookout Mountain Battleground from the Civil War). It sits on top of Lookout Mountain with awesome views of Chattanooga and the Tennessee River!

This was definitely a wonderful weekend trip!

Married Day 4: Going Home

Just when the fun was starting it was now time to go home.

We had a wonderful time in Minnesota.

We had it all this weekend....A Great Wedding, cold weather, snow, ice fishing, snow tubing and most important we were with family.

Minnesota will always hold a special place in our hearts forever, not only because we were married there but it's where Christa was born and it's the place that jump started our relationship to what it is today! Thanks Minnesota!

Married Day 3: Ice Fishing Experience

Married Day 3: We drove to Gaylord to visit Christa's dad since he was unable to attend the wedding, he was home recovering from recent surgery. It was great to see and visit with him as always!

We left Gaylord around 2:00 pm and drove to Lake Waconia where we met Chuck and Linda and Christa's brother Kevin at 3:00 pm for our first, well my first, Ice Fishing Adventure!

It was very cold out on the lake, temperatures in the 20's and the wind blowing swiftly but we had two ice fishing houses that kept us warm and comfortable. We cooked out and ate supper on the lake, which was frozen solid.

We were out there for about five and a half hours and caught only one fish between us all and I was the one to catch it. This was truly an awesome experience that I hope we can make a yearly family outing.

Thanks Kevin for making this an awesome time and a wonderful experience for the kids and I and a special thanks to my wife Christa for suggesting we do this!

Married Day 2: Our Snow Tubing Adventure

Married Day 2: We spent the afternoon at Linda's house visiting until nightfall when we left to go snow tubing at Buck Hill.

We arrived about 7:15 pm and spent two hours tubing down the runs (in the photo). This was a first for me and it was awesome. The weather was clear and very cold, as it always is in Minnesota in the winter.

Jayme, my oldest son, was the only one that did not go snow tubing but instead tried his hand at snow boarding and did a good job being his first time doing it. When the night was over we all were wishing we could turn back clock and do it all over again.

Awesome Wedding Reception, Thanks Linda!!!!

Our wedding reception was awesome! Christa's sister, Linda, did a wonderful job putting it all together at her house. The decorations were so beautiful and the sign Linda's husband Chuck made for us was an added surprise!

It read "Congratulations Jimbo and Christa, February 1, 2008".

After the reception Christa and I drove to the Embassy Suites Hotel on American Blvd in Bloomington where we spent our wedding night.

The hotel surprised us by having a bottle of Champagne on ice and Chocolate Covered Strawberries delivered to our room. We let the champagne chill on ice as we checked out the hotel.

Once back in the room we filled up the hot tub with bubbles and sat there enjoying a glass of Champagne and feeding each other the chocolate covered strawberries as we remanenced about our wedding day. Today was the best day of mine and Christa's life.

Thanks Linda for helping make our wedding day very special!

Our Wedding Finally Arrived

This has been a long time coming but thank God we finally get the chance!

The rehersal is over and it's time for our BIG Event.... OUR WEDDING!

You couldn't have asked for a better wedding! The minister was awesone, the boys stood with there hands in their pockets and Christa's sister forgot her flowers and had to run get them has Christa was getting ready to walk down the isle. It was a good ole relaxed hometown wedding.

After the service we had our photos taken and then it was off to the middle of the Mall of America for the Minnesota Tradition, Just Married, Roller Coaster Ride. I don't believe we could have planned a better wedding than this one. It was AWESOME!!!! I love you Christa!

FINALLY! Our Wedding Day, YIPEE!

I wouldn't call this your normal wedding day itinerary but then again we wanted our day to be special and different from anyone else's.

It started out with an early wake up call.....4:30 am. With one excited to travel, one still tired, one a little nervous about the days activities and the other excited about everything, we managed to leave the house at 5:30 am for the Atlanta Airport.

Our flight took off from Atlanta, Georgia at 8:30 am and we arrived in Minnespolis, Minnesota at 9:46 am. With the temperatures in the mid-teens the boys never knew it from all the excitement from seeing snow.

We went to Christa's sisters house and we visited while the kids played outside in the snow until it was time to leave for the ceremony. We left for the Mall of America at 2:00 pm and arrived just in time for our 2:30 pm rehersal at the Chapel of Love. The clock is counting down and it's almost time!

Our First MAGICAL Trip Together

Christa and I made our very first trip together to the Mountains, August 16-19, 2007. It was a trip that I made many times with my parents growing up and now I was getting the chance to share my special place with the one I cherish with all my heart!

We left early enough that I timed it just right arriving in Dillard, Georgia at lunch time, where I treated Christa to the best food in the country, The Dillard House restrauant! It was awesome as always!! We made stops at the Tullulah George in North Georgia and Cherokee, North Carolina before traveling over the Great Smokey Mountains to Gatlinburg, Tennessee!

We arrived in Gatlinburg mid afternoon and checked into our hotel before hitting the streets and seeing the sights. We listened to musicians along the street playing mountain music and checked out the crafts at the annual crafts fair. We rode the scenic chairlift and tried our turn at ice skating. We even took a hike up to Clingmans Dome.

On our way home we made a special, mid-afternoon, stop in Dillard, Georgia to have dinner at the Dillard House restrauant one more time. The weekend was truly wonderful and very romantic. This was truly a special trip that the magic did not stop when we arrived home.

I knew the time was perfect driving home. We were standing in the dining room of my house when I gave Christa a present. It was a glass keep sake engraved with a saying that ended with a saying "Will You Marry Me"? When Christa finished reading, she looked up at me with shocked and thats when I got down on my knee and held a ring up and asked Christa to marry me.......she said YES!

Gatlinburg, Tennessee and August 19th will forever hold a special place in our hearts!

The Greatest News A Person Can Receive

The greatest news on earth was given to me in early May 2007. Christa told me that she would be coming for a visit in June and that she wanted my help in finding her an apartment because she was moving here July 1st.

YIPEE! Christa and I are going to be together!

The Happiest day in my life was the day I saw Christa pull into the driveway driving the moving truck. I knew at that moment that a new chapter, a chapter that had been missing in my life, was about to begin. I knew it would be a chapter in my life that I would look forward to writing!

Welcome to Georgia Christa!

Christa's 1st Real Visit to Macon

Christa's first real visit to Macon to visit me came in January 2007. She arrived around lunch time on Thursday the 19th in Atlanta, where I met her at the airport when she arrived.

I was so excited that she was here because I was finally going to get the chance to show her around the city that I lived in. The visit also marked the first time that she met my two sons.

We spent the week together seeing a few sights around town and the moment that really meant alot to me was when she wanted to go visit my parents graves at the cemetary. Christa bought some artificial flowers and we went out to the cemetary and placed them on their graves. That one moment touched my heart more than any other moment had before in my life.

When the week was over I was sad to see Christa go. The drive to the airport, which always seemed to take forever before, seemed so short this time around. I can say the drive home seemed to take forever but I knew it was only because Christa wasn't with me. I have come to believe that when your sharing time with the one that means the most to you that time really flies by.

All the way home I couldn't do anything but think about our next visit together!

The Reunion of All Reunions

The reunion of all reunions happened on November 14, 2006 when I flew to Boston, Massachusetts arriving there around mid-morning. When I arrived at Christa's house I parked around the corner, near the beach, so she couldn't see me first, making sure that when we saw each other it would be at the same time.

I walked up the block quickly hoping not to be seen by Christa if she was looking out the window. I knocked on the door and shortly after that opened the door and WOW, there she was, standing there in person! I couldn't believe it, after five years we were standing there looking at one another face to face again.

I stepped inside the doorway and we gave each other the biggest hug two people could ever give. It felt so wonderful holding her in my arms again after so many years that after we finished hugging we embraced and shared another magical and romantic first kiss. We both knew at that moment this was the start of a new beginning for us.

During our visit we did so many wonderful things. We walked the L & M Street beach at night wading into the water, took a Trolley Tour of downtown Boston, took a relaxing stroll around Castle Island in South Boston and even took turns cooking one another dinner. We couldn't have asked for a better reunion.....it was awesome!

Getting To Know One Another Again?

We spent the next few weeks getting to know each other again.....it was actually getting caught up on what the other has done the past few years because we already knew each other. We learned during our daily talks that our feelings for one another had never changed. I remember Christa telling me that she wanted to tell me something but she wanted to tell me the next time that we saw each other in person.

In mid October we decided it was time for us to see each other again. We decided that I would travel to see her and that our reunion would be November 14 - 18, 2006 in Boston, Massachusetts. The really strange thing about this visit was that just fours months ago, June 2006, my two sons and I had just visited Boston for two days during our three week east coast driving trip we took seeing the country.

I had no idea that Christa lived there and our sight seeing itinerary brought us within a few miles of her house. Here's the strange part.....I got lost in downtown Boston looking for Paul Revere's home. I spent an hour trying to find it and kept going in circles as returning to where I started from. I told my sons that we were getting out of Boston and I was never coming back there? Well, guess what? I am going back!

A few weeks before I was to leave for Boston Christa told me that she couldn't wait any longer to tell me what she wanted to tell me. I asked her what it was and again she told me that she really wanted to wait to tell me face to face but couldn't wait any longer. I asked her to go ahead and tell me what it was and then there was those words in that sweet, sexy voice saying "I LOVE YOU". Oh, my heart melted with joy and happiness.....Oh the words I had dreamed of wanting to hear Christa tell me for so long! I immediately told her that I loved her too!

Oh was I ready for our reunion!

The Surprise of a Life Time!

Friday, September 15, 2006 I received the shock of my life tonight! I was just getting home around midnight from picking my oldest son up from school, he had just returned from an out of town football game.

As I walked into the house the home phone was ringing. I was on my cell phone talking to a buddy of mine and made the statement "What stupid sales person is calling my house at midnight."

I decided to let the answering machine get the call. I pushed the button on the answering machine to hear the message and all I heards was "Hi Jimbo, it's Christa...I thought I would give you a once in a lifetime call" and the machine cut off.

Before the message could stop playing I was jumping across the bed grabbing the telephone and calling the number back that the call came from! All I got was an answering machine in return? I left a message and could only hope that she would get it and call me again? I was very lucky that night because Christa called me back just minutes after I left a message on her phone.

Our conversation started out casual as neither one of us knew what to really say to the other as it had been over two and a half years since we last really talked. We ended up talking until 4:30 am in the morning. Once we opened up to each other we started talking about the feelings that we used to have for one another years before. In my heart those feelings were still there and alive and kicking. I finally had to tell Christa that I still felt the same way about her that I always had.

Our four and a half hour conversation was one conversation that I would not forget. I remember getting into bed and laying there thinking about all we talked about and wondering if this would be the start of another great run for us?

I can say it was hard to sleep the rest of the night from thinking about Christa.

Several More Visits Before Going Seperate Ways

Between May and June of 2001 I made several more trips to minnesota to visit Christa. I was able to visit several days before by birthday in late May. On my last morning Christa had stopped by the store and bought me a small bakery item that had a candle on top which represented a birthday cake and had bought me a few birthday presents. It was so sweet of her to do that for me!

Between my last visit to Minnesota in mid June, Christa and I somehow allowed distance to come between us. I thought about her so much and I never stopped loving her even though we had almost completely stopped talking to one another.

Christa and I did talk a few times between 2002 and 2004 before the conversations completely stopped all together. It was really a hard time because I missed her so much and for 20 years I knew in my heart that she was the one I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

There was no way of knowing what the future held for us or if there would ever be a future between us, only time would tell.

Christa's First Visit to Georgia

(April 26-29, 2001) Christa's first visit to Georgia to see me came in the spring of 2001 when she traveled south with her sister Linda, who attended a conference in Atlanta. I traveled to Atlanta on Thursday and picked them up upon there arrival at the airport.

I was so excited to see Christa and really excited to have the chance to show her around Macon and Atlanta. We took in the sights of Centennial Olympic Park, CNN and Oakland Cemetary. We visited the Atlanta Zoo and took a nap under a shade tree in Grant Park next to the zoo. We drove to Macon where we visited with my mom before driving to High Falls (above photo) where we had a picnic lunch.

Our last night together (Saturday) I took Christa and Linda to Stone Mountain where we spent the evening and saw the Laser Show.

Sunday morning was sad...our time together was almost over. The day started out at Krispy Kreme and then the long drive to the airport. When it was time for Christa to board the plane, it was a time that we didn't want to happen. We hugged and kissed and said we loved one another and said good-bye. My heart started hurting when Christa walked through the door, heading down the gangway and got out of sight.

I missed her so much!

The Beginning of Something Wonderful

Christa and I spent the next four months building a wonderful relationship!

We shared so many wonderful moments together right from the start. If you have never experienced Minnesota in the winter it's a must you do? The temperatures were in the minus digits for lows and in the teens for highs while I was there in February. We didn't care because we were together.

One of the first things we did together was go out to Lake Calhoun (pictured above) and we walked a good distance around the lake in the cold, snowy weather. I had never seen a frozen lake before in my life until now. Christa took me to Lake Nakomis where we were able to walk out onto the frozen lake, that was an experience itself and i'm glad I was able to share a first for me with Christa.

Another place in Minnesota that holds a special place in my heart is the Minnesota Zoo. We spent several hours there in the winter of 2001, it was so beautiful as the grounds were covered with snow. It's so amazing how much a romantic wintery atmosphere can add to a relationship.

Minnesota will forever be in my heart!