Oh, yes we did.

A few weeks ago, we somehow came across the fact that we'd been married for 99 days. I jokingly told Matt that we should have a 100 days party like in kindergarten. He, uncharacteristically, didn't even play along with the idea... and thus inspired me to tease him with an actual celebration.

When Matt came home the next day, he was greeted by this poster (made with 100 marshmallows, of course) and an entire itinerary for the evening. Luckily for him, it was a rainy day without anything else to do than have a party for 2.

Matt laughed for about ten minutes straight upon seeing the poster, and we continued to laugh at ourselves throughout the rest of the night as we celebrated our first 100 days of marital bliss. We kicked off the evening with dinner at our favorite southern BBQ restaurant in nearby Prattville.

Jim 'N Nick's is incredibly delicious, thanks mostly to its signature BBQ sauce. Their lemon cream pie is also a must.

After dinner, we headed home to our hotel room to continue the celebration.

Remember the "friendship mix" you made 100 days into kindergarten? Yep, this is our "love mix." (If we'd been in our real home, I would've also purchased a "love fern" ala "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days." Just because I enjoy being ridiculous.)

I'd also counted out 100 Hershey's Kisses earlier that day (because, seriously, what else do you do in a hotel room during a tropical storm?). We used them to play a little 5-minute game where we came up with 100 things we love about each other. Some of them were sentimental and sweet, such as me loving how Matt, on days when he has to be out of the room at an early hour, will get completely ready with the lights off so he doesn't interrupt my sleep until he comes to kiss me goodbye. But most of them were silly things and inside jokes that had us rolling on the floor laughing.

You know what, though? Even though it was a cheesy game that we were playing as a joke, it was neat to spend even just that short amount of time sharing what we love about each other and laughing together.

I don't think you can ever do those two things too much.

Rootin' for the home team

You've gotta love a late summer evening at a minor league ball game...

especially when it's free! We recently cheered on the AA Montgomery Biscuits in their last home game, which happened to come with free fireworks, free tickets (thanks to random season ticket holder #73), and free ice cream (thanks to the nice grandpa worker who took a liking to me).

Oh, and free posters, too! Nothing like winning one-of-a-kind hotel room artwork at the local minor league baseball game. (Remember it hanging behind Matt in his birthday pictures? Yeah, we do what we can.)
All pricetags aside, we (us + Shaun & Amber) very much enjoyed the visiting team's batting skills and the Biscuits 9th-inning rally. Also the awfully entertaining local cheers: e.g. "Go ... (continue to pause awkwardly for 10 seconds) ... Bis-cuits?"

Maybe you had to be there.

Our Wedding, Part III: Bridals & Groomals

Did any other brides else feel extremely awkward with the idea of taking hundreds of "wedding" pictures of just yourself? I was all for the whole groomal concept... if only it didn't require sacrificing the traditional not-seeing-the-bride/dress-before-the-wedding ritual. The solution? I took regular bridals before the wedding for the mommas and the poppas and groomals afterward for, well, us.

See, we didn't want all of our official wedding pictures--coming out of the temple, with our families, etc.--to scream "military" on the off-chance that we don't stay with the Air Force for very long. (Hence Matt wearing the classic black suit for that occasion.) At the same time, though, the military is a big part of our lives and the Air Force tux (ironically called "mess dress") is so timeless and meaningful that we still wanted to have a few pictures with it at the temple. Groomals fulfilled that need quite nicely.

Pre-wedding bridals by McKenzie (our wedding photographer):

Post-wedding groomals by Laci (our sister-in-law):

White sands in the gulf shores

Our dear Mikey Bear is at pilot school in Pensacola, Florida (lucky duck)...
which is conveniently just 2.5 hours away from Montgomery (lucky us!).
So, of course, we headed down a couple weekends ago to visit Mike and the sunny skies, sugary white sands & clear blue water in the gulf shores.

I love California beaches, but it sure was nice to swim in warm ocean water for once!

Matt & Mike were back to their usual antics and had a blast goofing around together.

They make me laugh.

And wiser, too

My cute husband is officially another year older! We celebrated Matt's birthday last weekend with cake, cookies, ice cream and friends in our little Alabama hotel room.

It was a good time :-)

Oh, and since he gets the more detailed message in person all the time, let's just suffice it to say that I sure love him! He's my favorite person. EVER.

My Baby Niece!

Newborn baby girls just don't come any cuter than this!

Natasha Jessie Darowski was born yesterday and we can't get over how beautiful she is. In fact, her 2.5-year-old Uncle Gabe astutely observed that "She's as cute as me!" Which is saying a lot, you know :-)

War Eagle. I mean, welcome to the S.E.C.

Well, ya'll, I guess we won't be cheering for the Crimson Tide anytime soon.

Matt and I officially declared our loyalties in the infamous Alabama vs. Auburn rivalry by masquerading as hard-core Auburn fans when the Tigers took on Mississippi State last weekend. It was our first live S.E.C experience, and we were not disappointed!

In true football fan fashion, we (Matt, me, Shaun & Amber) arrived on campus 4.5 hours prior to kickoff. Literally every open space within a 3-mile radius of Jordan Hare Stadium had been taken over by tailgaters! This sign seemed to communicate the feelings shared by every Auburn fan:

"Priorities: God, Family, USA, Auburn Football."

Two hours before kickoff, everyone gathered on the streets for the Tiger Walk -- an awesome tradition where about 20,000(!) fans welcome the team to the stadium.

Come game time, Jordan Hare was rocking with 87,000 fans decked out in orange & blue. (Even the girly girls were wearing blue & orange sundresses.) Check out the full stands and everyone cheering--and this is during the PREgame!
Needless to say, it was an AWESOME game atmosphere full of great football teams, fans and traditions. Of course, the biggest tradition at Auburn is the battle cry "War Eagle." Not only is it the unofficial motto found in the fight song and on orange t-shirts everywhere, but War Eagle is their end-all, be-all substitute for everyday phrases such as "Go Auburn," "Yeah Tigers," "Hello, how are you?," and "Hope you have a lovely evening." Seriously.

It's also used as their kickoff cheer (best I've ever heard):

As for the game itself, Auburn gave quite the performance with a rather convincing win (49-24. War Eagle). Not surprising considering that their new offensive coordinator is the same mastermind who shocked my own Cougars at Tulsa 2 years ago. And they have former BYU assistant coach Jeff Grimes coaching the O-line. Go figure.After the game, traffic was full of frat boys, soccer moms, and old men alike declaring War Eagle again and again in honor of the victory. We decided to get in on the action, of course, and didn't let a single person or open car window go by without bonding through the battle cry. This continued all the way to the Wendy's by the freeway. We ordered 4 Frosty's, she gave us the total, and Shaun replied, "Alright. War Eagle." Then we pulled up to the window, paid our money, and took our Frosty's... which were only half full!?

"Roll Tide," the Wendy's worker explained.

And THAT, my friends, is S.E.C. football.

Our Wedding, Part II: Wasatch Room

Our dinner was held that evening on the tenth floor of the
Joseph Smith Memorial Building in the beautiful Wasatch Room,

which has incredible views of both the city and the mountains.

A few of the details:

(My bouquet was wrapped with a handkerchief my dad's grandmother made for me,
and accented by a gorgeous brooch that belonged to my mom's grandmother.)

(Each table was named after a place that was meaningful to our courtship.
The seating chart led to the tables, and then each guest had a personal note as their place card.)

(The Wasatch Room has a large alcove near the entrance, which we used to display
our parents' and grandparents' wedding pictures.)

Our lovely guests after dinner:

The groom singing to the bride:
(Check out the pretty view behind him!)

Cutting the cake:

Dancing with my dad:

Our first dance:

Last but not least--the Arch of Sabers:
(A military officer tradition that symbolizes safe passage in married life for the couple.)

***The iconic picture of the Arch of Sabers is of the kiss with the last set of swords crossed in front of the couple. Our photographer didn't catch it, so if any of you did, PLEASE let me know! You'll be my hero forever :-)***