26.

Last weekend was my birthday and I turned 26. Yay. And thanks to my great family and friends, I celebrated for an entire week. The weekend before, Cole and I went to LR (and Hot Springs) and I was able to celebrate with my entire family - and eat my weight in good food and birthday cake. The weekend of my birthday, I celebrated with my friends in Fayetteville.

Below is Kim, Katie and me at z330 in Fayetteville.


Then, on my actual birthday Cole and I took a day trip to Branson to shop and eat. But, not before Cole surprised me with a red leather bag for my laptop, a rain guard/sunroof visor for my car - which he installed himself, and brand new floor mats. This is very exciting to me because when I got my car, the floor mats were the only thing I didn't like - they were pretty stained. And in Branson we found a Macaroni Grill on The Landing, which was a good end to my birthday.

U of A Tradition: The Senior Walk

As many in Arkansas know, when you graduate from the U of A your name gets added to the Senior Walk. Mine has probably been up for about a year now? But I had yet to go and find it. This weekend Sarah P and I made our way to campus to find each of our names for one last pat on the back on our completed college education. Thank you Kalen and Matt for being such lovely photographers.

Below are Sarah and I hovered over my name: Jennifer B G James. I'm not sure if my four names would have all made it.


Below is Sarah happily posing in front of her name.

Bikes, Blues and BBQ Weekend

Bikes, Blues and BBQ Fest was in Fayetteville this weekend, and true to form it was a weekend of fun. Every time I walked out my front door - day or night - I could hear the constant hum of motorcycles everywhere! Also a bonus this weekend was Sarah's visit from (West) Memphis.

Kim, Sarah, Katie and I hanging out at Jose's Friday night.


Sarah and I having fun at Busters.


Maybe this isn't our best picture ever, but I had to post a picture of our oh-so-fun brunch at our favorite - Common Grounds.

Oklahoma's Test Scores Better Go Up

In hopes of finding something fun and different to do on a Saturday afternoon, we ventured on over to West Siloam Springs, OK to the casino. Kim, Joe, Liz, Chad, Cole and I arrived around 5 that afternoon and stayed for an eventful four hours.

In little ole Oklahoma you must "ante up" each time you bet - each time you must pay $.50 - and it goes to the Oklahoma schools. Well, I did my part and contributed quite enough, as did everyone else. I won't call anyone out on what losers half the group was, but I will say Chad and Kim were definitely the big winners of the weekend!

It was a fun day - now the next couple of days will be realizing that my money is gone, gone, gone.

Hogs-a-palooza

The first Little Rock Razorback game was this weekend and it was kicked off in true Hog style. Again, Dad had his tailgating spot, and again we all showed up to join in the fun. The game would have been a "good game" if it had been against an SEC rival and not Louisiana Monroe (huh?), but it was just a little ridiculous that it came down to literally the last minute as we scored and won by one point! I didn't go to the game, but Kim and I held down the forts just fine and had just as much fun. Plus, we got a new cooler out of it!

Will and me at our spot. It's always SO GREAT to see the boys. They're constantly growing and changing, but they're always sweet.


Mom and Morie came out and had a ball - even Mom! :-)


It's my version of My Two Dads. Dad is manning the grill of course, and Morie is keeping him company.


Spencer and me - and his big red hat he purchased for $6. Spencer saw Jermain Taylor again tailgating. Last year, he actually hung out with him for a little bit. Will and I have decided he's a JT magnet.


Kim and I watching over the place while everyone went to the game.

Razorbacks! All kinds of Razorbacks!

The very first game day weekend brought a lot of fun tailgating, good friends, a disappointing game (sorry if you disagree) and a sighting of JERMAIN TAYLOR!

Friday night consisted of pre-partying with Katie, Elise, Liz and crew that lasted until the wee hours - I haven't had that much fun on a Friday in a while! Then came game day - and tailgating started at about 2 in the afternoon. Even though Katie thought we were getting out way too late! :-) Tailgating was fun and all over the place - and by the time the game started at 6, I'm pretty sure we all had our hair stuck to our skin and our make-up sweating down our faces. Wow it was hot. Seats for the game were good - thanks Michele - but the Hogs, not so much. We won yes, but we should have obliterated the Western Illinois Leathernecks and that was not so much the case.

Sunday consisted of hanging with the pups and seeing Mama Mia with Kim and Liz. It was good - DON'T take your male significant other. And we were the youngest people in the theater.

Going back to Jermain. Saturday night his pimped out, black Rolls-Royce just pulled up right behind Stir and Busters and parked on the curb. When I realized Jermaine was getting out of it, I flipped. I'm not a boxing fan - but I am a Jermain Taylor fan, and I have never missed him fight. I think he's fantastic and gorgeous and fantastic again! And he was so sweet. I asked if I could take a picture with him, he just smiled and yes "sure." I also of course decided to profess my love. Then he went into Stir, but not before I got a picture.


Kim and I post game and post tailgate at Busters Saturday night.


Kim, Elise and her two sisters, Erica and Jessica, and me.

I am exhausted!

This weekend was jam-packed, and I mean jam-packed! But it was jam-packed with lots of fun! Kate, Kyle and their dog Abby came in town from St. Louis to visit and stayed with me. And the fun began Friday night around 10 and didn't stop until Sunday afternoon - and then I crashed and took a 2 1/2 hour nap. Much needed.

So, what all did we do? Well, if you're friends with Cole and me, you've heard us talk about Fast Lane. The Lokomotion/Chuck E Cheese for adults/Dave & Busters all rolled into one in Northwest Arkansas. That was Friday night. We played games, played laser tag, ate fried pickles and bowled all night long. And I have to throw in - I bowled a 181! I wish I had taken a picture! Then we all went back to my house and had a big sleep over. So much fun!

Kate and I discovering Dance Dance Revolution - who knew it was so fun?


Kate enjoying her 150 tickets from the Deal or No Deal game. This proved to be a very popular game among us.


Bo and Bailey hamming it up in the bowling alley - AKA Cosmo's Corner.


Cole working his magic. This is also a good picture of the bowling alley - there are big screens behind the lanes constantly playing music videos.


Saturday night was wedding time. Marlena Sweeney, a friend from college and a great fellow debater, married Michael Bond - coincidentally enough he's my boss Michele's brother. The wedding was at St. Raphael's Catholic Church in Springdale. Cole and I made it through the hour-long full Catholic mass complete with communion. The reception was at the Towne Center on the square. I saw a lot of old debate friends and my former debate coaches Leah and Keith Peterson.
Leah, Emily Story and I at the reception.


And Sunday was all about Fantasy Football drafting - next post.

"And the days went by like paper in the wind. Everything changed, then changed again. It's hard to find a friend. It's hard to find a friend."

The last couple of weeks have been a little different for me. This year I've had three good friends move away from me for good. Not to mention, I'm still not over Sarah P moving back to Memphis! I'm happy for them because they're moving on to big and better things but I miss them so much! It has been a little lonely and I'm adjusting...I guess.

First Kate, who just finished getting her masters in Hospital Administration at UAMS, and Kyle moved to St. Louis at the beginning of the summer. Kate is starting her fellowship at the Barnes Jewish Hospital. This summer my family went to St. Louis while my grandmother was in town and I got to see Kate. I can't wait to go again.

And Elise! Elise who just got engaged and we have to help plan her wedding from SO far away! Elise and Ricky just moved - like last week - to New Orleans. This is good in that we have a free place to stay when we want to go to NOLA! Elise and Ricky moved so that Ricky can begin his four years in dental school. Then hopefully they will move back!

And a couple weeks before Elise and Ricky moved Nick and Amanda moved to Enterprise, AL (nice!) so that Nick could attend Flight School.

But, on a brighter note, Katie and Ehren moved back from Dallas to finish their last year in law school. They also got engaged - and job offers to Baker Botts Law Firm in Dallas! Alas, they will be moving at the end of next summer - after their lovely destination wedding, of course.

I miss my friends!

Aaron and Keyna's Wedding Weekend!

This weekend we all traveled down to Ft. Smith for Aaron and Keyna's wedding. There was a pretty big gang of us and we all stayed at the Holiday Inn and hung out at some Ft. Smith "hot spots" (ha!). We had a really good weekend - it's always fun to have lots of friends together having a good time.

Below is a picture of part of the group with the bride and groom. About seven more are MIA from this picture.


Here is a picture of Kate, Elise and me right before the ceremony.

The Busiest Weekend Ever!

This weekend was one of the busiest but it was a lot of fun. Friday Mikey and I drove down to Little Rock and Spencer, Will and I went to eat at the Rumba Room downtown in the River Market. Below is a picture of Will and me - Spencer didn't want his picture taken. But that's okay, I haven't posted a picture of Will yet since he's always out of town! :-)


Saturday morning Mom, Morie, Joseph and I went to the airport and picked up my grandmother from Brasil - Vovo. That's Portuguese for grandmother. Below is a picture of Vovo and Morie with our Czech beer we were tasting. Both Mom and Morie and Dad and Paige are getting exchange students from the Czech Republic this fall. How exciting! Just what I need - more teenage boys in the house when I go home. Just kidding!


After I spent time with my family in Little Rock, I drove back to Fayetteville Saturday evening for Elise's birthday celebration - and ENGAGEMENT! Ricky proposed to her that afternoon and we double celebrated that night. Congratulations you two! Below is a picture of the two of us at Lulu's for her birthday dinner. It was very good - I loved the patio! One of the best in Fayetteville for sure. Patios are very important.


Then, Sunday morning Kate Jones and I drove back to Little Rock. After I spent more time with my grandmother, I drove down to Hot Springs to meet Cole and his family for his niece Bella's first birthday party! She was so cute and had a great time. Below is a picture of Bella and Cole. She's really loving her Uncle Cole and he adores her. They were really cute. The party was a lot of fun and the cake was so yummy - it was Dora-themed. After we rested, Cole and I drove back to Fayetteville that night. A lot of driving but I had a lot of fun this past weekend.

Here for the Beer!

Dad and his team - Here for the Beer - participated in the Memphis in May BBQ contest for the fourth time year and WON 3rd PLACE - again! Cole, Joe, Kim and I all went to Memphis to cheer on his team and also met Sarah P there. For those of you who don't know Sarah P, she was my roommate throughout college and is from West Memphis and her dad competes in BBQ Fest as well.

We had such a good time! We got there on Friday and hung out all evening and Saturday as well. Dad and his team submitted their ribs entry early Saturday afternoon. After that you wait for the judges's golf cart to come by - they only stop at the top three tents. As the golf cart was approaching our tent Dad refused to look and finally I started yelling at him "Dad, it's you. It's really you!" After the judges leave we had about 20 minutes to get our tent ready for the judges return to sample the ribs. We ended up winning 3rd place overall and tying for 2nd in the blind tasting. This is the second year Dad's team has won - in 2005 they won 3rd place overall and 1st in the blind tasting.

Below is a picture of Dad, Paige and I with our BBQ Fest neighbor at the Friday night party.

Cole, Kim, Joe, Sarah and I at Silky's on Beale Street Friday night.

Dad and I on Saturday waiting for the golf cart to come by!

Dad and his teammates in front of their "Here for the Beer" banner.

Uncle Mike flew into LR on Friday night and on Saturday he drove Nanny and her friend Patsy to Memphis to see Dad's team. Below is a picture of them leaving the tent on their chariot - or a golf cart.

That time of year again - Wedding Time!

Yay! It's wedding time again. Saturday night we went to Stacey and Jarrod's wedding. The ceremony was held in Prairie Grove and the reception was in the Garden Room at the Ozark Smokehouse on Dickson Street in Fayetteville. It was a really nice evening and we had lots of fun, especially since Cole and I were actually out together. This doesn't happen all that often as he works a lot on the weekend and when he doesn't we like to have date nights. Lots of his friends were in town for the weekend and we met Kim and Joe out later, so of course we had a blast!

Above is a picture of Cole and me outside of the Garden Room during the reception.

Forget Showers, April Brings Friends Together!

April has been a social month! I know I'm a little late on posting this (and I don't have great pictures) but we've had a couple birthday celebrations this month as well as an engagement. This, in turn, has resulted in a couple nights out with friends. Happy Birthday to Amanda and Ricky and congratulations to Erin and Manny!

Below are a couple of pictures from our fun nights out this month - and the summer has just begun!