Catch Up with the Campbells

In this day and age of technology, why not take advantage of it? Since a large portion of our family and friends live in different cities, we thought this would be a perfect way to share our photos, adventures, and daily comedic lives with the public. Enjoy Catching Up with the Campbells.

3.21.2011

Want to feel better about your bracket? READ THIS!

So, it's safe to say for the past week, our TV has been on CBS, TNT, TBS, & Tru TV watching the craziness that is MARCH MADNESS! And what MaDnEsS it has been. I swear I don't remember there being THIS many BUZZER BEATERS, am I wrong?

I'm not complaining about our TV being tuned to basketball (since it has been so exciting), but the thing that IS getting old is the red X's on my bracket!!! I say this every year, but next year I'm choosing teams by the color or team mascot I like better :) I promise I would have a better chance if i choose by one of those options.

Either way, I thought it would be hilarious to let you see the marked up piece of paper that is known as my bracket. I currently only have 30 correct out of 48. Not good. 

But then again, who has a lot right any year? I think Jay Bilas said it correctly when he said, "Anyone who thinks they can predict college basketball games is an idiot." 


So here is my idiotic bracket. I'd love to see how your bracket is looking... 
(mainly so I don't feel as bad about mine - ha!)


And just one more comment while we are on this whole college basketball thing. 

GO CATS!!!!!! Beat Ohio State!!!!!
(oh yes - if the CATS continue to win, I really could care less about this whole bracket thing)

Gotta love March Madness.....

2.24.2011

Half 2 Fight Hunger


As many of you may have heard, I have started training for a half-marathon, the Derby Festival Half Marathon on April 30, 2011! This time, though, I wanted to do something for others at the same time that I was getting myself healthy again. 

Last year, Brad & I volunteered at an event they were having at our church, Southland Christian Church, called "Feed My Starving Children". The church body came together in 2 hour shifts for a week and packed over 1 million meals to be sent to hungry children across the world. This charity really struck a chord with me, because I, like many of you, have truly never known 'hunger'. We take so much for granted here in the US, yet children in other countries have to wonder where their next meal will come from. It is something I can not even fathom.



These children need our help - so, for the next 2 months of my half-marathon training, I will be raising as much money as possible  for this deserving organization.

My goal is to raise $3,000 by the race on April 30, 2011.

I have a fundraising website for "Half 2 Fight Hunger"! So, you can easily pay by credit card at this site, or if you don't feel comfortable doing that, you can send me a check in the mail, OR I'll personally come pick it up from your house! At my fundraising website, you can also see how far your money will go in saving the life of a child.

I hope all of you will help me in this Fight Against Hunger. Together we can make a difference.
For more information on Feed My Starving Children, go to http://www.fmsc.org/

Also, if you would like to run the Derby Festival Half Marathon with me or join me in raising money for this great cause, I would love some company!

Blessed are those who are generous, because they feed the poor.
- Proverbs 22:9

2.17.2011

A look back at 2010...

I didn't think it was true what your Grandma & Grandpa used to tell you, "As you get older, every year goes by faster". I had no idea how true that statement actually was. 2010 flew by. Literally. I think I am going to blame most of it on the fact that we were basically wishing Jan-June away, counting the days til our wedding day.  Even after that, I feel like I blinked and it was 2011.

Brad & I were chatting yesterday about what a BIG year 2010 was for us. So we thought it would be fun to take a look back...


January, February and March were a blur, since we were heavy into wedding planning, I was making frequent trips to Ft. Thomas, picking out and sending invitations, deciding on bridesmaid dresses, picking out menu items... the list goes on forever.  Although it was a lot of work, Mom, Brad and I had fun planning all of the details of the Weber/Campbell wedding.


Our only pit stop from wedding planning was a nice little trip to St. Louis where I finally got to visit the Gateway Arch.  Let it be known that our original purpose for the trip was to watch Brad's brother play baseball... in February!  It takes a lot of sports dedication to become a Campbell and this trip was good practice.


April was a busy month, it was wedding shower month.  There was one in Madisonville and one in Fort Thomas.  So many gifts to open and so little time.  It felt like half of the month was spent hauling gifts back home, but I'm not complaining.  We are very blessed to have such generous families.  In addition to the wedding gifts, I received a present of a different kind.  I was finally released from the bondage that were my braces.  You could no longer call me Brace Face.


Me & Jamie, my cousin and maid of honor at the first of my wedding showers :) Many say we still look like twins - I take that as a complement. Love you Jam!


(Below) Admiring the double wedding ring pattern that Brad's Grandmother hand quilted. 
How talented is she!

May was filled with last minute details for the wedding, "hair practice" appointments (oh - yes, hair practice), printing ceremony programs and trying to think about how we were going to pull it all off without a hitch. Finally, the big day came on June 5, 2010 and we found out that no matter how much we had planned, the day was going to turn out PERFECT anyway. Truly to anyone getting married, my advice is always, "I'm telling you, it will turn out perfect anyway - you have all your FAVORITE people in one room, how could it not be the best day of your life?"









Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the wedding. Although it was really rough to decide on these 4:






The wedding day was quite a blur, I felt like I was really nervous before the ceremony began, and then I blinked and we were dancing our Last Dance. It was very bittersweet, realizing that the day you have dreamed of your whole life is coming to an end. But it was truly the most amazing day of my life.

It wasn't but a few hours later and we were on a plane to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico!
A beautiful honeymoon suite awaited us at Secrets Capri for 6 days, & 7 nights. We were absolutely stunned when we got to the resort, it was so beautiful and they had made it so special for us. There was a sign on the door that said "Honeymoon Suite" and even those towels folded into swans on the bed.  It was so impressive. We had room service 24 hrs. a day and unlimited food at the restaurants, as you can see, we lived like kings for the week.



While we were there, we decided since we may never be back to this area, we would travel 3 hours inland to Chichen Itza. Chichen Itza is one of the largest archaeological cities of the Mayan civilization and it was recently selected as on the of the New Wonders of the World. It was so interesting learning about the Mayan culture, about their astrology, their sacrificial rituals (crazy - i know) and the multiple gods they believed in. Here are a few pictures from our adventure at Chichen Itza and at the watering hole we stopped at on the way home (which was breathtaking - and it took your breath away, literally, when you jumped in b/c it was so COLD compared to the 90 degree weather we were used to).





We ended the honeymoon on a very romantic note, a private dinner on the beach. It was really beautiful, just a touch windy (as you can see me holding onto my dress from flying up and Brad's hair blowing the wind), but it is something neither of us will ever forget.


After the honeymoon, the next month really consisted of lots of rest and relaxation. No more wedding planning ;) Now we could focus on spending time with our adorable kitties and making our house a home.


After resting up a few months, we were back on the move in September when my college friend, Lisa, got married and had her reception in Chicago! I found out that Brad had never been to Chicago, so we were determined to make the weekend as touristy as possible :)

We had a blast! Here are a few pictures of us in Chi-town, of us standing on the new Sky Deck in the Sears Tower or now as it is called The Willis Tower (so scary!) and us at a Cubs game - one of Brad's items he could cross off on his "bucket list".




As winter began, we started getting a little less adventurous and only ventured out in the cold when it was absolutely necessary - like a UK WILDCATS FOOTBALL GAME. The Campbell clan and myself and Bailey planned to attend a game, but little did we know that it would be one of the coldest of the season (I'm really not sure that is true, but it sure felt like it).

Although it was a bit cold at the game, we still had a great time, and managed to dress as identical twins. ha ha. priceless.

Columbia Kentucky jackets, anyone?



Lastly, our final adventure of the year came when we decided to go with my parents to St. Petersburg, FL for a week after Christmas, because as many of you know, it is always an adventure with the Webers :) ha ha. No, but in all seriousness, our vacation after Christmas was perfect 'refueling' time and we finally had some quality time with family (which is our favorite way to spend our time).

Oh, yeah. I guess i forgot to mention that we WENT TO DISNEY WORLD!!!!! :) (Well technically Epcot and Animal Kingdom)


That was the icing on the cake for 2010, we got to be BIG KIDS for a day. No matter how old you are, Disney World is still the coolest place on earth.



2010 was quite an amazing year for us. Thanks for remembering the great memories with us. We look forward to making many more with you in 2011.

I wonder what blessings 2011 will bring...

Jeremiah 29:11 
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."



1.30.2011

Cincinnati Reds Caravan

Today, the Cincinnati Reds Caravan came to Lexington, so we thought we thought we'd head on over to Rupp Arena and see if we could get an autograph or two. We come down the escalator and see this:


Needless to say, there are significantly more dedicated Reds fans in Lexington than what I accounted for. So, even though the panel was pretty impressive, we opted not to stand in line for a couple of hours.

For those of you who don't know, from left to right that's Yasmani Grandal (first round draft pick), Jay Bruce, Tom Browning (in the camo hat), unknown guy, Joe Morgan, Bob Castellini (owner) and Walt Jockety (GM).

So Jenny and I registered to win opening day tickets, grabbed a couple of pocket schedules took some pictures and called it a day. Pretty underwhelming caravan to be honest.

1.28.2011

Welcome

Isn't it funny how, now-a-days, everybody thinks they can be a writer? All you have to do is go online, sign up for one of these free blogs and away you go. The problem for most people is that their goal is to make money off of it. Thus, they feel like they need to be entertaining or funny, when in reality, they are neither... and have bad grammar.

But what if one could use this technology for something... well... useful? Jenny and I (mostly Jenny) came up with the idea of starting a blog about fun things that we spend our time doing. There are updates to the house, adventures with the cats, and it seems like we're always traveling somewhere. All of these things make for stories and pictures that we want to share with everyone. The problem, in our eyes, is that there are a lot of family and friends that we don't get to see or to whom we don't speak nearly enough. By the time we do connect, all of these little stories have long been forgotten.

So that brings us here. We went online, signed up for this free blog and away we're going. Feel free to tag along. At the bottom of every post there is a link that says "comments". If you click on that, you can write us a message. You can use that to respond to something we posted or just to say "hey". We'd love to catch up with you.