America's Next Top Model

Well, we always knew Howard was a headliner...

Today our pup had his 15 seconds of fame on Jacksonville's Times Union website. A few weeks ago Howard was asked by an adorable family friend to "model" for a Jax Humane Society fundraiser held by a local optometrist. Howard obliged (only when incentivized by a Wendy's go-wrap)and Chris made an excellent "stage dad" as he tried to keep Howboy's focus toward the camera. I think he looks pretty handsome...I also think maybe it's time to get this dog back on a diet- look at those rolls! Needless to say, the whole thing was just hilarious.

And, btw- Howard's glasses are Dior! HA!

Check him out here!

Working Man

so, ashley gets married. we get to have a big party. then she gets a vacation!

i'm just a teeny bit jealous. sunny puerto rico sounds a whole lot better than freezing/raining jacksonville. i know they're having a blast being puerto rican... but i miss those two! the office just hasn't been the same this week without ash here. howard has been holding it down as office pup which is always a big help. but, man do i ever miss my old lady friend!

to help relieve my ash-sickness, Mom left the Walkman here one day while she had lunch with her girlfriends. we decided that since he's been around 4 months now, it's high time Walker earns his keep! here are a few shots of the little working man

as we discussed sales, budgeting and ways to improve efficiency



and then there he is being the cutest thing to ever sit in my office chair.



too bad frame the [date] isn't currently hiring....

done, done and done.

well, that's it folks. all three (john) wilbanks kids are officially married off. ashley and kyle's weekend was pure perfection and they looked so happy and in loooooove. i had the BEST time and hope that you all did, too. there was an incredible group of family and friends present to celebrate the jensens and of course, to dance the night away. we are so thankful for our amazing family, wonderful friends and the best church family out there- thanks to you all for reminding us of how blessed we truly are. here is the link to the gorgeous slideshow of pictures shot by the very talented kara and jeremy pennington.

don't those two look amazing?!

what a happy, happy day.

we're getting married again!

Well, we're less than 2 weeks away from Ashley and Kyle's big day. Everyone keeps asking me if it's weird that baby sister is getting married. And nope, it's actually not even a little bit weird. We love Kyle. He has been around forever, he knows how crazy we all are and he still wants to marry us. :)

Wedding round 3 for the Wilbanks fam hasn't been that stressful overall, but recently with ftd, the house, the wedding and the holidays...it has been a bit...hectic. These are all great things and we're thankful for each and every one, but needless to say the to-do lists have no end in sight and we're all a little overwhelmed!

To get us all in wedding mode, I wanted to post a few of Ashley's dress pics. Please, don't think I would steal her thunder by posting the ACTUAL dress- these are just a few runners up. It's crazy how different they all are from each other and how different they are from the dress she chose. Ash would look good in a paper bag, she looks just beautiful in the dresses below and just wait til you see the real thing!


this dress catered to her wistful/ethereal personality



this is her traditional ballroom bride personality



and finally her cupcake/life of party personality- so, adorable!


Stay tuned to see which dress personality she settled on....

Anyway, I promise I'll try harder not to be such a blase' blogger. Things really have been insane- promise, promise.

Season's Greetings

I really can't even begin to understand how it's already late December. I think this has been the fastest year of all my years. Time is flying on by which means it's almost time for Christmas which also means it's almost time for Christmas cards- yay! I love to send Christmas cards, I love to get Christmas cards and I love to think of new ways to torture my dog to get a good Christmas card cover shot. Poor Howard has had a rough year with the surgery, our homelessness and dealing with the overtake of his domain by noisy construction men. Nice moms might take pity on a pup under such stress- oh well! We've been brainstorming to see what treasured holiday icon Howard should represent this year and we've been reminiscing about the hilarious shoot from last Christmas. We have learned from last year when we made the novice mistake of introducing Howard to his costume prior to the shoot which was a TERRIBLE idea. Howard does not like wearing things, and for some reason he's especially fussy about wreaths. As you can see below Howard was not impressed...but thankfully he's not above cheap bribery. Howard has no problem compromising his dignity for a few slices of Kraft singles.




ps- no idea what appendage injury necessitated the dangling bandaid.

Ingenuity

Even though we're chained to the ftd desk these days, at least we have a good view. Again, as spotted through our office window... These guys always keep us guessing. Clever workerperson pictured here has clearly had one too many greasy construction lunches and has opted to instead travel to jobsites armed with personal microwave and frozen lean cuisine. HA! He had to unplug the saws to set up his little lunch station and yes, he did adhere to the two minute advised cooling period.

Dot Dot and Don

My Grandmother is in town to meet Walker. :) Dot Dot is Momma's mom and she has lived in Greer, South Carolina her entire life. It was so great to have her just a few minutes away while I was at Furman and I've missed her since I became a Floridian again. My mom's Dad, Papa Bill, died the day before Ashley was born and Dot Dot lived on her own as a single lady for quite a few years. In 2004, she reconnected with a high school sweetheart and recent widower named Don. Let me just tell you, that ever since their April 2005 wedding our Dot Dot has been happier than we have ever seen her. Those two are like puppy love extreme AND now Dot Dot, who was too nervous to even drive to Jville alone to see us, has now traveled to Europe, to Canada and all across the US with her cute hubby. We just love Don.
He is a great story teller, a great listener, an AWESOME addition to our family and he is so so good to Dot Dot. Her life began again at age 73 and we really couldn't be more thankful that those two have each other.