A mile of stones

It’s been a week of milestones for the Akridges. (Well, if you count 3 as a “week of milestones.”)

Dear Grandmother celebrated her 78th birthday on Sunday, just cause for a Bailey family shindig at my uncle’s “barn.” Some of the highlights included Grammama’s older sister getting to come, a DVD of family pictures, my first time playing Rock Band and, of course, good food.

Here's Grammama and her sweet sister, Christine.
Aren't they cute?!

Gunter makes fun of me for standing with my hands clasped.
Notice where I get it from.

My brother/nurse-on-call likes to check my growth progress.

Here's the whole family: (left to right) Benjamin and his girlfriend Amber, Gunter, me, Cousin Nicki, Aunt Pam, Cousin Courtney, Dear Grandmother, Courtney's boyfriend Danny, uncle's wife Lucy, Uncle Charles (pronounced Chahls), Mama and Daddy.

On Monday, we paid off our student loan. Goodbye and good riddance, Sallie Mae! That might not seem like a big deal to anyone else, but it felt so good to no longer have that hanging over our heads! We’d really been looking forward to that very last payment in our rearview mirror. Dave Ramsey would be so proud! …At least of that part of our finances...

Last but not least, yesterday was our 3rd wedding anniversary. It seems like we’ve been married for a lot longer than 3 years, but not in a bad way. If I could go back in time, I’d give my life away to this man over and over again without hesitation. I told him that, too. I knew he was an extraordinary and admirable man when I married him, but the longer we’re together, the better he gets.

As for the rest of the week, we’re working on finishing an Israel paper, getting the house in some semblance of order, making a short beach trip, catching up on my Baby Bargains book and getting together for my brother’s birthday on Saturday. Oh, and cleaning the remnants of the Outback out of the back of Gunter’s vehicle.