Happy Anniversary today to the Man of my Dreams.  {yes, I too just gagged a little.}

Hard to believe 3 years has flown by this quick!!

It’s very exciting to think that in just about a month we are going to become a family of three!

You are an amazing husband and I know you are going to be an amazing father too!

love you very much.. Mrs. DvBii

Can you believe 1 year ago today Boots and Totty.com posted its very 1st blog entry! It was quite a boring entry if I do say so myself, but none the less it has gotten me where I am today!

So here is the breakdown of what B&T.com has accomplished in the past 365 Days.

{in no particular order}

1. We showcased over 18 pairs of shoes in the Shoe of the Month Club.

2. We showed how to build a raised garden, how to install an in ground sprinkler system, and how to attempt to grow grass.

3. Also showed how to collect and recycle rainwater and how to install energy efficient windows.

4. Don’t forget we also renovated our Bathroom, Basement, and Kitchen.

5. And gave face-lifts to our Guest Room, Master Bedroom, Living Room and Dining Room.

6. We also had Mr. Sanders refinish our Hardwood Floors.

7. Let’s not forget all the holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries.

8. Gave Target plenty of free publicity.

9. Gotten some free publicity ourselves.

10. And continue to search for the Best Burger in Richmond!

With a grand total of 151 posts in 35 categories, I’d say it was a pretty busy year!!  BIG THANKS to the the 16,681 visits to the site and the 352 people that published comments.

It’s a nice treat to read them and know that you guys enjoy my silly stories!

Now that is was Official..

It was time to go on our Honeymoon!!

Mr.vB and I picked Little Dix Bay in the British Virgin Islands and couldn’t have been more pleased.

The entire resort was wrapped around a crescent shaped beach.

Our home away from home for a week was this cute little bungalow literally steps from the water.

Our days consisted of floating in the clear blue water…

Having cocktails..

and then doing them both simultaneously.

We also fit in some time at the spa,

some time in the pool…

and some time getting dressed up to go eat!

We also made some dear friends that celebrate the same Wedding Anniversary as we do!

{We made a deal with Jenn and Bob that we would all return to LDB for our 5 year anniversary!  How awesome is that?!}

Our last night on the resort we were treated to dinner on the beach.

By the time we had dinner it was so dark that our waiter scared us every time he came to our table!

We were all very sad to leave.. but knowing that we would be back in 5 {short} years made it a little easier!

It’s hard to believe it’s been 2 years since Mr. vB and I tied the knot!  It seems just like yesterday!  Here’s a walk down memory lane.

(I apologize in advance for the grainy photos.  I spent longer than I would like to admit scanning them onto my computer.  We had a great photographer, Sarah Hazelgrove, but at the time she did not upload her digital photos.  We only have paper copies.)

It was the year of the white track suit- what can I say?  At least mine had my cool new initials on it!

Here is the vB Family Crest which was a key part in many aspects of our celebration.  We had these custom flags made, as well as used it on our invitations, and Guest Welcome Boxes.

Me and my ladies…

Mr.vB and his men…

Both of these photos crack me up because Mr.vB and I were SO NERVOUS!!!  I couldn’t even look at the camera.

Our Ceremony was held at St. Joseph’s Villa in Richmond, VA.

This is my FAVORITE photo that Sarah took!  It was as we were leaving the Church and headed to the Reception!

Our Reception was held at The Main Street Train Station in Downtown Richmond.

It’s still a working train-station with trains arriving even during Wedding Receptions!  My mom joked that she would let each train passenger have one cocktail and then she was going to push them on their way!

Mr.vB surprised me with these awesome Custom made Converse.  He had them made in our wedding colors and I loved the “Just Married” tag-line.

Introducing for the First time.. Mr. and Mrs. vB!!

Our First dance was to Paul Simon’s Late in the Evening.  We took dance lessons as we really wanted to wow the crowd!

Apparently we didn’t warn the photographer that we were going to do the DEATH DROP at the end of our number.

We had also planned for the wedding party to grab the fake instruments that we had laid out by the dance floor and start dancing around at the end of our First Dance.  If you have ever heard Late in the Evening, you know how perfect it was!

We created a candy bar for our guests instead of handing out favors.  Each guest got a cute little take out box and filled it to their heart’s content.

Mr. vB and I left our fun filled evening with guests lining the front stairs of the station waving sparklers!  It was such a great send off!

Next stop- Little Dix Bay- British Virgin Islands!

Mr. vB and I snuck away this weekend for an early Anniversary Celebration.  Have you guys ever been to Irvington, VA?  No offense to it, but if you blink too long you might miss it.  Surprisingly nestled right on one of its many creeks is a 5 Star Resort called THE TIDES INN. It was a very quick visit, but W-O-W! From start to finish it was amazing!

When we checked in, the front desk clerk told us that we had a note waiting for us.

(nice spelling of our last name, eh? )

We also found out that we had been upgraded to a suite overlooking the creek.

And we were in Room 213 nonetheless. (2=2nd Anniversary, 13= day we got married)

When we opened the door we were greeted with…

and these..

What a view!!

Once we got over the shock of our amazing digs, we decided to venture out.

Gotta love the self-timer.

I think these corkscrews might be Guinness World Record Worthy.

Before long it was time to head back! Cocktail hour was calling our name!

So the way dinner worked was that we had a server come up from the restaurant and take our order for each course of dinner.  We started with some cocktails and appetizers.

Then we each had a yummy salad.

The entrees were fabulous! I had the crab-cakes and Mr. vB had the Filet.

We ended the meal with a brownie sundae topped with whip cream! YUMMO!  It didn’t last long enough for any photos- Sorry!

It was such a nice treat being able to eat in the room vs. the restaurant.  Mr. vB and I loved watching the sun set and the boats coming in and out of the marina.

Many thanks to my Mums and Daddio for the special treat! It was such a great surprise!  And many thanks to the Tides Inn for making our anniversary getaway so memorable!

Do any of you guys follow the rules when it comes to Anniversary gifts?  And what I mean by rules is the “traditional” vs “modern” anniversary gift list.  Here is an abbreviated version I found on Wikapedia:

The reason I ask is because my 2nd Anniversary is right around the corner.  I always like to be extra creative with my gifts and after checking the LIST, I knew I was going to have my work cut out for me.

So the Traditional 2nd year gift is Cotton.  I mean who came up with this list? The owners of Bed Bath and Beyond? I was totally stumped.  Cotton?  All that came to mind was clothing, towels, a bath robe?

I was recently at my neighbor Karen’s house and was ooh-ing and aah-ing over a painting of her dogs that her God-Mother Dianne had done for her.  And then it came to me!  I have always wanted to have that kind of painting done of OUR dogs!!  And the big twist was to see if Dianne could use a COTTON canvas! I ran home and called her immediately.  She loved my idea of incorporating the cotton and she said to send on some photos and she would get started!

Here are some of the picture’s I sent to her.  Having never met my boys I thought she would need a few personality shots.

It was SO hard to get the boys side by side in a “cute”pose.  They were totally against it.  But Dianne made it work!

Here is the finished product!

I love how she really captured their personalities!

Boots

Bailey

I was so exicited about how it turned out, I just couldn’t wait until the 13th to give it to Mr.vB.

If any of you are looking to have a portrait done I would HIGHLY recommend Dianne!  Drop me an email and I will send you her contact info!

October is one of my favorite months!  Cool weather, pumpkins, and anniversaries!!

Mr. vB and I will be celebrating our 2nd Wedding Anniversary in just a few days!

And in honor of it, these made their way onto the mantle.

Aren’t they cute?  I picked them up on sale at a Floral Shop in Roanoke, VA called Flora Bella.

They normally hang out in my office year round- but I love to show them off downstairs from October til the xmas decorations need to come out!

I am currently working on a post to recap the wedding fun Mr.vB and I had 2 years ago.. stay tuned!