Celebrating Love and Friendship

Grant and I celebrated four years of marriage this past Thursday and had a very nice dinner at Flemmings. I highly recommend this restaurant for a special occasion. They even handed us a box of their homemade chocolate truffles at the end of the meal for a gift and they were delicious! It's hard to believe it has been four years. This picture is from our honeymoon and has always been a favorite of mine. Thanks for four great years, sweet husband. Here's to many more!


The day after our anniversary, I headed to Heber Springs (again!) for a different, and much needed celebration with friends. We have been trying to plan a small trip for more than 5 years now and thanks to Bubba and Debbie Edwards, this trip was quite inexpensive! Me, along with 4 of my lifelong friends from high school/college spent a relaxing weekend at the lake in a beautiful mansion!

Back of the house... simply gorgeous!

We threw Emily a small surprise shower on Saturday (yes, in our swimsuit attire!) and topped it off with Muddy's cupcakes. There's nothing like those sweet buttercream treats!

We even spent a little time with sweet Nora

And a lot of time on the boat!

We had the choice of our own room, but chose the "bunk room" instead. And why not, right? Who doesn't love reverting back to the slumber party years where laughter is uncontrollable, secrets are told and random games like "Name as many people as you can from our graduating class of 2000" are played (I'll have you know, we made it to 88/98 people before peeking at the annual!)

Emily's house in Bald Knob (short Eryn :) who returned to Memphis early). The weekend just wasn't long enough!

And now, off to the lake again tomorrow!

Game on

I don't know how it happened, but somehow Grant and I found ourselves engaged in the Belizean favorite, game of "Slaps" tonight.

Yes, this game dates back to the ages, as seen in this picture of Jonathan Jerkins and Grant Burke in Belize. Possibly 1997?
(Excuse the quality. We don't have a scanner)

For those of you unfamiliar with this game, let me explain. It involves two people standing face-to-face with hands positioned in a "stop" fashion, ready to slap hands together in hopes of throwing one's opponent of his/her feet and thus, becoming victorious. I might add that in the past, this has turned into " Ok, best of three" or "best of ten". When I was in Belize, this game would last forever.

And in tonight's match-up, let it be known that I dominated. But because I was victorious SO many times, Grant thought I might be cheating. Thus, our debate of the rules.

So the questions I pose to all you who love Belize and this game are:

1. What if one person loses his/her balance and begins to fall forward, but feet have not left the ground and one's opponent moves first. Who's out? (Grant votes the one who initiated movement first).
2. Is one disqualified for reaching forward with all his/her might and accidentally pushing the chest vs the person's hands even though the opponent still moved his/her feet first?
3. Is there a rule stated, " You are pushing too hard." (because this was Grant's comment each time he fell.)
4. What exactly are the formal rules, if any?
5. And really, how many of you think I cheated? Come on... I'm stronger than I look right?

So, if you could shed some light on the rules, that would be great because I think this will become a new game in the Burke house.

On a different note, make your way over to 6660 Poplar Ave(corner of Poplar and Kirby) to the newly renovated Kroger for some great deals and free stuff like :
-Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries for $1.50 each
-California cherries for $2.88 lb.
-USDA choice boneless ribeye steaks for $5.97lb ( We had one tonight and it was great! One is enough for two people with sides)
-Beautiful flowers at various low prices.

And the best part: Free items (about 7) to the first 200 people each day between 4pm and 6pm. Also, just by using your Kroger card, you are automatically entered to win a gift card for $500, $750 and $1000. Given away June 13th, 20th, 27th and July 4th. Good luck!