What We've Been Up To {Some Snapshots}

I know what you're thinking....

Hello??? Anybody there???

Believe me, I hear ya & I recognize it's been quiet at Simply Suz lately. Don't you worry, I do have an excellent excuse -- we have been traveling (including a major out-of-state move) or hosting family 6 of the past 7 weekends. To top it off, the weekends prior to our marathon travel-stretch we were packing, preparing for our move, & saying goodbye to our NC friends! Needless to say, I am exhausted both physically & emotionally & have not had any time or energy for blogging!

Here are some snapshots of where we've been & what we've been up to the past couple of months....expect full feature blog posts on (most) of these happenings in the coming weeks!

Weekend of May 14th...
I did a photo-shoot for my super-cute, super-sweet, preggo girlfriend, Lori, & her hubby Dave. Lori is due at the end of the month, so hopefully I'll get around to sharing some of her darling photos before her little man arrives!
I also enjoyed a special treat that week at a work... a team getaway.... sailing in New Bern, NC!

Weekend of May 21st....
We headed north to New Jersey for my beautiful cousin, Sara's wedding. We were joined by (most of) the Lohuis fam (Mark...you were missed!). Hannah had on her dancing shoes, so she managed to keep us on our toes!
Weekend of May 28th (a.k.a. Memorial Day Weekend)....
We flew out west to Wichita, Kansas for brother Tom & sister Caroline's wedding. It was a McA-filled weekend!

I'll be sure to fill you in much more on that, including the darling rehearsal dinner Mom & Dad McA orchestrated!

Weekend of June 4th...
After saying goodbye to our good friends in NC, we hit the road & headed south to Florida! My gracious folks helped us unpack a truck-load-o-stuff into our new home.

Weekend of June 11th...
We enjoyed a mini-weekend-getaway with my family in Orlando. We lounged by the pool, grilled out, made a pit-stop at Ikea to get some home essentials & enjoyed quality Florida fam time.

Weekend of June 18th...
We took a traveling-breather & worked on settling into our new place. We also managed to take a break from all of the unpacking to celebrate our 4th anniversary on June 23rd!

Weekend of June 25th...
Katie, Matt & Hannah came to visit us in Gainesville! Katie gave us a great tour of her alma-mater & we chased around our adorable niece all weekend.

Weekend of July 2nd...
We headed home to Vero & spent the Fourth of July weekend with Mom & Dad Lo, Katie, Matt, Hannah & Grandma. We hit the beach, enjoyed pool time, hung some crown molding (technically that wasn't a "we" activity...Matt helped the-other-Matt with that), rearranged my folk's furniture & set up their sound system (okay, the Matts did that, too), ate lots of hot dogs (I'll claim that), watched the fireworks, & enjoyed Matt's favorite holiday!

Visit Simply Suz in the upcoming weeks months (I'm just being honest here) to get more details on all of this fun stuff & a few additional adventures planned before Matt starts dental school in August! Please be patient, it may take me awhile, as we have no plans of slowing down anytime soon!

Happy Birthday to my NEW sister.... Caroline!

The McAndrew Wives :)

Just eleven days ago, I gained another sister. Sure, she's technically an "in-law" but in the McAndrew fam, we drop those details! I adore (sweet) Caroline, feel blessed to now call her a sister-in-law, & am so excited for many many years of great family memories ahead. Happy 25th Birthday, Care!  We hope you have a wonderful day! Love, Suz (& Matt, too!)

Married! Congrats Tom & Care!

We had a blast Memorial Day weekend in Wichita, Kansas celebrating with Tom & Caroline as they tied the knot! I plan on sharing a bunch of photos & giving a full recap of their big day (& all the wedding festivities) after we get settled in Florida (we move tomorrow!), but in the interim, I wanted to share a few links to my photo albums, especially for family & friends who may be interested. Mom & Dad McA + wedding party .... this is for you!

Photos...

Caroline's Bridal Luncheon

Wedding Rehearsal

Rehearsal Dinner BBQ

Getting Ready

Wedding Day

A couple of important notes....

*I lost steam (& time!) as I sorted through these photos so you'll notice a TON of duplicates, especially in the wedding album (hence, 28 pages of photos in that Smugmug album...oops). I wanted to share these ASAP instead of waiting until I had time to sort & delete! My apologies for photo-overload! I will pare down once we're settled in Florida.

*If you are in any of the photos & want to save a copy, just click on the photo you'd like to download in Smugmug, select the size ("original" will likely be the largest & the best resolution), & then click "save photo" or the file folder icon.

Photo of the Week: Sara

We are in the throws of moving so I won't be blogging much the next couple of weeks, but I absolutely could not resist sharing a couple photos of my gorgeous cousin, Sara, who tied the knot with Andrew this weekend in NJ.

We were fortunate enough to be able to steal away some time to make the trip north, & had a great time with our big extended family. I'll share some more photos later... probably in mid-June when I get around to blogging about a host of other things... including Lori's maternity shoot... hopefully I'll beat the baby on that one! Congrats Sara & Andrew!

Wedding season is certainly upon us! In just a few days, Matt's brother Tommy will be marrying the love-of-his-life, Caroline! Congratulations also to Caitlin & Mike (Cait is a Vero friend) and Katie & Matt (Katie is Matt's cousin) who also got hitched this past weekend. Wish we could of been at all of those weddings (Florida, Minnesota & New Jersey).... but alas, we haven't figured out how to be in 3 places at once! Darn!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Happy Birthday to Dad Lo who turns 57 today!
(Dad's looking good for a 57 year old grandpa! Truth be told, this photo was when taken when he was a young 53 year old whippersnapper with no grandbabies yet...just a daughter about to get married...)

But seriously.... my dad is a pretty awesome guy. Everybody - & I mean everyone - respects him and the person that he is. He is honest, trustworthy, hardworking, steady, faithful & selfless. Dad also has a reputation for being a planner (where did you think I got it from?!) & has been know to work out the behind-the-scenes details more than once.

Maybe it's because he's the oldest of four, but he also cares incredibly well for everyone in his life - his wife, kids, grandchild (please...if you don't click on any other links...click on this one & this one!), his mom, sons-in-law, siblings, friends, coworkers - and asks for very little in return. Most importantly, my dad loves the Lord & taught us (primarily by example) of what it looks like to be a humble servant of God.

Dad, I hope you have a wonderful birthday! I can't wait to give you in-person (instead of virtual) birthday wishes in just a week! We love you!

Love, 

SJ & Matt, too!

Happy Mother's Day!

We love moms.

You already know how much we love our moms (you can read about mine & Matt's in the blog archive).... so in celebration of Mother's Day, instead of a lengthy post recounting their lovely qualities (hopefully they already know how we feel about them!), I'm just going to share some favorite photos of my favorite moms! Each one of these ladies holds a special place in our heart today.   

Happy Mother's Day to Momma Lo, Momma Mac, Grandma Shirlee, Grandma Gerry, Margot, Katie, Aunt Beth, Aunt Nancy, Aunt Becky, Lori, Shann, Nicole, Carol & Stacy! We love you & are so thankful for you today!!!

Psst... 2 of our good friends are also celebrating birthdays today...scroll to the bottom to find out who!

On the left: 3 generations of Lohuis ladies: my mom (Nana), my niece (Hannah) & my sister (Katie or "Momma" to Hannah!)

 .......

One of my favorite mom-memories: Mom helping me put on my wedding dress [June 2007]

I adore my mother-in-law, affectionately just "mom" to me (I'm lucky to have 2 moms!) [June 2007]

My big sister, Katie, is such a great mom. [November 2010]

Grandma Gerry & I have always been close. I love her to pieces. [June 2007]

Grandma Shirlee holds a special place in our heart, too! [June 2007]

Did I mention we love my mom? [June 2010]

Katie & her girl, Hannah. Aren't they beautiful? [June 2010]

We're also so thankful for Margot today! [June 2007]
 

This photo just melts my heart. Matt loves his momma. [June 2007]

I'm lucky to have Aunt Beth & Aunt Nancy as godmothers! [June 2007]

It's impossible not to love our Aunt Becky... she's a gem. [June 2007]

Another all-time favorite photo of my mom... getting down at our wedding! Momma has moves! [June 2007]

Stacy and her sweet girls (minus their new addition!) [June 2007]

Grandmas :) [June 2007]

Hannah & Nana are best buds, can't you tell? [November 2010]

Heidi & her boys. [September 2007]

I miss my Champaign-mom, Carol. She took such good care of me (& everybody else!) [June 2007]

Liam is oh-so-lucky to have Nicole as a mommy. [November 2010]

...As are Belle & Graysie to call Shann their mom. [March 2011]

I'd be remiss without celebrating mom-to-be, Lori (& one of my favorite NC friends)! I have no doubt that she will be an amazing mother! Her little guy is blessed (so is pup, Rylee)! [March 2011]

Not only is today Mother's Day, but 2 special people are also celebrating their birthdays today! 
Happy Birthday, Mary & Mike!!!!! We love you guys & hope you both have very special days!!!!

I spy Marclar (hint: peaking in the left-hand corner) [June 2007]

"M" is for Mike & Mary. 2 great friends celebrating their birthdays today! [July 2010]

I'm telling you, it's impossible not to love this girl. [June 2007]

Jenny & I are lucky to be married to these dudes. [July 2010]

[I have to give credit where credit is due: Our gorgeous wedding photos were taken by the talented Scarlett Lillian... and our dear friend, Liz Fay is responsible for the photo of Mary! The rest were taken by yours truly! Thanks for stopping by!]

Happy Birthday, Momma Lo!

Happy birthday to my sweet mom who turns 57 today!
(She looks pretty great for a grandma, am I right?!?!)

I am so very blessed to have an incredibly close relationship with my mom (we are two peas in a pod), which has strengthened in the 8 years I've been far from home. We gab on the phone almost daily (Matt tells me we're pros at just shooting the breeze), & I can't tell you how ecstatic I am that we'll be close enough to catch up in person more often! That means I can celebrate her bday in Vero next year! Yippeee!!!

My mom grew up with 3 brothers so she is a tough lady. She has the uncanny ability to calm my girly anxieties, while simultaneously keeping me in check when I'm overreacting. Tomboy tendencies aside, she is also an amazingly caring, prayerful, faithful women of God, who has taught me so much about being a Christ-following wife. To top it off, she's got the "Nana" role down pat. If there is a grandma gene, I'm pretty sure she has it! Hannah adores her Nana (what's not to love?!)

Mom, I hope you know how much you are loved today!!!! Have a wonderful birthday! .... can't wait to see you very soon!
We love you!
Suz & Matt


P.S. I'll be back soon with more celebrations of Mom & Dad in the next couple of months. Mom's birthday is shortly followed by Mother's Day, then Dad's birthday, then their Anniversary, & then Father's Day! Whew.... Hallmark is making a killing off of us in the next month!

My hubby is 26 years old today!

To celebrate Matt's 26th, we're going dancing. I've raved before on Matt's mad dancing skills, which (among other reasons) made me swoon for him, & this weekend we're headed to one of our favorite dancing venues.... a wedding! Our college friend & former YL leader, John, is getting married to a sweet Southern lady in North Carolina this weekend. So we get to reunite with some of our all-time favorite people, celebrate John & Cara's nuptials & bust a move while we're at it. We also get to test out our new wheels (read my little post script below) en route to the wedding. Saturday can't come soon enough. Tonight, for Matt's actual birthday, we're going to go out for a birthday dinner, skype with Hannah, open presents & then dig into the yummy carrot cake I made, an annual treat for my man. Carrot cake = Matt's love language. Birthdays are fun. So is my husband. I'm a lucky lady. (BTW - doesn't he look handsome in the photo above? Snapped that last weekend on UNC's campus. It was gettting pretty dark so the color file was a tad bit grainy, but I love it in sepia.)

P.S. The blog has been pretty "light" content-wise recently. Lots of pictures, but not much copy. That's because we're super busy at the McA house. We bought a car this week (we've been shopping for awhile), listed our Jeep the same day & got a ton of bites, celebrated St. Patty's Day in true McAndrew fashion, been sucked in (willingly) to March Madness & will ring in Matt's 26th bday & John & Cara's wedding this weekend! Whew! We're pooped!!!! I'll be back to blog when life slows down. I actually have a darling post up my sleep (pending the subject's permission to post her photos) & a couple of other things to share. Until then.... Happy Spring! and more importantly, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HONEY!

Guess who I got to see???

(Psst...miss my last post? Here's a sneak peak of our new home. I'll share interiors in June once we move in!).

Between apartment appointments & getting to know our new hometown, I also had time while in the Sunshine State to visit with my favorite Floridians: Mom, Dad, Grandma, Katie & Hannah! After wrapping up our apartment search in G-ville, Mom & I met the rest of the fam (minus the Matts and Mark) halfway in Orlando.

Hannah naturally stole the show (as she should!) by demonstrating all of the new things she's learned to her Aunt Suz. She can now run (or "Go! Go! Go!"), walk backwards, dance (twirl AND dip), play the air violin & conduct the orchestra (taking after DaDa on that one), talk on the phone (though that's been a favorite pasttime of hers for awhile), play hide-and-seek (she gets seeking, still working on hiding) & laugh on command (seriously, that's the cutest). [Sorry for my overuse of parentheses....the details are just too fun to leave out!]

She's a darn good communicator, as well. Not only does she communicate via sign language (for words like please, thank you, food, more, etc), she also has a whole lotta words & names in her arsenal. We had such a good time playing, reading books & snuggling. She was very confused as to why I was there without Uncle Matt (or as she calls him "Du Du" short for "Dude"). We made a little video to show off her new tricks to him! Maybe the Hannah show will show up here on the blog sometime... It's pretty cute. Brace yourself for a lot more Hannah blogging come June.... she's only going to be 3 hours away! That makes me one happy aunt.

Success!

Since our travel schedule wasn't nearly hectic enough the past couple of months, I squeezed in a last minute trip to Florida to look for housing last week. On Thursday morning, I flew to Orlando, got picked up by my sweet mom, & then looked at a ton of condos, townhomes & apartments in our soon-to-be new hometown of Gainesville. We saw our fair share of duds, but thankfully, we also spotted a few winners.

We've settled on this beauty for our new home. A few things that I love about this place: (1) We'll be only the second tenants in our unit (which happens to be the top floor in the photo below); (2) It's completely tiled (yay for no more nasty apartment carpet!); (3) It has a huge office in addition to 2 bedrooms; (4) It has a separate dining room that will fit our big table (almost every other place had a living/dining combo); (5) It's far away enough from campus that we won't be living in undergrad central, but also close enough for Matt to bike or take the bus to the dental school; (6) It occupies the entire top floor, which means we get screened in porches on both ends of our apartment & because it has a really open floor plan for the living/dining/office/kitchen, we can open up & enjoy a nice cross-breeze (when it's not 1000 degrees in Gainesville).

All-in-all I'm excited to move in (in June), relieved to have a place to live, & most of all thankful for my excellent partner-in-crime (Mom) who willingly chauffeured me around Gainesville & gave me her honest opinion about each place we walked in to.  Thanks, Mom!

XOXO

Sending hugs & kisses to the ones I love this Valentine's Day! (Especially this one).

 ....and if you don't have someone to kiss tonight, remember you may have to kiss a few frogs before you meet your prince! (Not sure why my prince is kissing a frog...but that's a blog post for another time!)  Happy Valentine's Day!