my 25th birthday scavenger-hunt-celebration-extravaganza!

Yesterday I turned a quarter-of-a-century old! It's really crazy to think of when I look at it like that. Being 25 feels great so far! I'm so excited about this upcoming year!

Celebrating birthdays is no small matter in this household (examples: one, two, and three). Jonathan and I have so much fun getting to celebrate each other's existence. So, I really shouldn't have been surprised when he had something amazing up his sleeve for yesterday.

We started the day like any other weekday by getting up early to get ready for work. Instead, he let me lay in bed a few minutes later while he put on the coffee. We then sat together and chatted over coffee and he gave me my first gift: a nifty case for my phone. I love it.

When he left for the office, I took my time reading my Bible and snuggling with Max. Jonathan kept texting me asking if I had showered and gotten ready yet, and I was confused as to the rush...afterall, I had plenty of time. Finally, at around 9:10am I got ready to get in the shower...and I found this:

I immediately got excited! It was time for a birthday scavenger hunt! Jonathan is quite the pro at putting on wonderful scavenger hunts. It's one of the elements that made his proposal so amazing. :) But that's another story for another time.

I then got ready in record time and ran down to the garage to get in my car (oh, to clarify...Richard is what we named my car, because it used to be owned by Richard Petty...I'm not joking. His signature is on the car manual...haha)

On my steering wheel, I found a package that contained these amazing lenses for my phone camera (a fisheye lens and a combination macro/wide-angle lens.) They are the coolest EVER!

I also found an envelope containing the next clue: "TARGET. Hermitage. Check-in. Tips. You'll want this." (the lenses).



Okay, you might be confused...so let me explain. The "Check-in" and "Tips" portions of the clue are referring to Foursquare. Jonathan and I love to check-in on Foursquare and earn badges and points and see who can beat who out of mayorships. It's a fun game we like to play together. (Still confused? Here's an explanation.)

When I drove to Target and checked into Foursquare, I found this clue hidden in the Foursquare tips:

I was excited to begin my scavenger hunt!

(and no, I wasn't sitting in the passenger seat of my car...I was using my front-facing lens on my phone, so it's all backwards.) :)

So, I rushed inside and completed of all my tasks (using my amazing new lenses the entire time.)

Let's take a moment to pause and reflect on the awesomeness of that fisheye lens. Seriously...so cool that that image came from my phone's camera!

When my mission was complete and I returned to Richard (my car), I checked under my passenger seat and found this:

It read, "VINTAGE. It's cool. So is Southern Thrift and a photo of something vintage." I was off to our favorite thrift store!

When I arrived, I made sure to check-in and found this clue:

So, I went inside and browsed through all the fun vintage items and snapped a photo of something I found interesting.

Back in the car, I discovered the next clue in the glovebox:

Home Sweet Home! When I got there, I checked in to "Tiffany Zajas Photography" and found this tip:

(One year I gave Jonathan a vintage lunchbox for Christmas with some other goodies inside, as a treasure box of sorts.) Inside the lunch box I found a certificate to buy a camera app for my phone that I've been wanting. Happy Birthday to meeeeee! :)

THEN...Jonathan came home early from work to spend the rest of the day with me! Best gift ever! He pulled out the next clue card...then flipped through the photos I took at Target and found the corresponding image to fill in the blank:

Let's pause and reflect on how creative this photo scavenger hunt idea was. Kudos to husband!

Lunch at Merridee's Breadbasket in downtown Franklin, TN! I'd been wanting to try that place out for a while now.

I got the Reuben and Jonathan ordered the BLT. We were both very pleased with our choices. Mmmmm mmmm good! We will definitely return to that place.

Next stop:

Nope, not fishing. haha...ANTIQUE-ing! Vintage shopping is one of my favorite things to do. So, we walked through downtown Franklin and visited the Franklin Antique Mall.

We found some pretty fun things, so I couldn't help but take lots of photos while we were there...

Walking back to our car, I couldn't help but admire how beautiful downtown Franklin is. It reminds me of the quaint towns you see in old-timey movies. Makes my heart happy!

This guy also makes my heart happy...

Next clue:

Okay, if you remember correctly...while at Target, I was supposed to take a picture of something "Wonderful." Well, I looked and looked for a DVD of "It's a Wonderful Life", but couldn't find it anywhere. So, I ended up photographing some twinkle lights, because I think twinkle lights are pretty wonderful.

It turns out that our next stop was to go and see "It's a Wonderful Life" at the Belcourt Theater here in Nashville! I was beyond excited! "It's a Wonderful Life" is one of my favorite Christmas movies...and to actually get to see it in a theater made me so very happy.

We bought a large Coke, settled into our seats, and watched as Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed lit up the screen.

You can't help but walk away from that movie with a tear in your eye and reflecting on the things that are most important in life. Ah, I love it!

If you ever have a chance to go and see a movie at the Belcourt Theater, please do! They show a variety of old and independent films. And it's full of so much history. Definitely a local business worth supporting!

Next stop:

Or so we thought. It turns out that Mafiaoza's was running some kind of special in their bar last night, so it was PACKED. I'm not a huge fan of crowds or the smell of alcohol...so we opted to go to Mellow Mushroom -- another favorite pizza place! :)

We ordered the Muffeletta bread for an appetizer (delicious cheesy bread with olives...YUM!) and it was soooo good! It's not on the menu, so if you ever go make sure and ask if they have it. And then we got the Philosopher's Pie (My fave! Olive Oil and Garlic base pizza with  grilled Steak, Portobello Mushrooms, Artichoke Hearts, Kalamata Olives, Provolone, Feta, and Mozzarella Cheese. Seriously...so good!) for our main course. You can tell that Jonathan really loves me because he really despises olives (and I love them!)...and both the appetizer and pizza has lots of olives on them. He's so good to me.

Next clue:

There's a coffee shop here in Nashville called the Frothy Monkey, and Jonathan has been telling me about how amazing it is. So, we went and he introduced me to it. :)

I got the Monkey Mocha and it was delicious! It was a mocha with a banana in it! It might sound strange, but it was soooo good. Seriously. Delish!

Okay, piece of randomness for the day. While we were at the antique store earlier in the day, we found a really creepy santa figurine...and I took a picture of it. Then, when we were at Frothy Monkey we saw Christmas cards that were featuring the very same creepy Santa!

How weird is that?

After contemplating on the weirdness of the creepy Santa. Husband and I sat and sipped on our coffee while chatting about life, the future, Christmas, and how thankful we were for each other. It was perfect.

Husband had a couple other small things planned, but by the time we were finished with our coffee it was 9pm and I was tired (guess it comes with being a-quarter-of-a-century-old! ;)...so we went home and snuggled with Max and reflected on the wonderful day we had together.

It really was the most perfect day ever. I am so thankful for such a wonderful husband who makes me feel so special and who loves me unconditionally. There's no one on earth who I'd rather adventure through life with. :)

Also, I can't end this post without thanking everyone who made me feel so loved yesterday...thank you for the gifts, cards, voicemails, texts, Tweets, Facebook comments, and emails wishing me a happy birthday yesterday. I love and appreciate each and every one of you!

Love,

-Tiffany

When We Clicked

Last night marked the five year anniversary of when Jonathan and I hung out for the very first time. As I think back to that night, I remember it as the beginning of an epic story...not much unlike when Bilbo Baggins gave Frodo the ring, when Lucy walked through the wardrobe, or when Luke befriended R2D2 and C3PO. It's the first chapter in a story that is filled with many adventures. :)

Five years ago yesterday was the last day of finals my sophomore year at Lee University. That semester was one of the tougher ones for me, especially due to the fact that I had sprained my ankle and there was a death in my family...and because of those things I also had a lot of make-up work to do. When my last final was complete I was one big ball of exhaustion/relief/and excitement that Christmas break had begun.

That night  me and my friends were ready to just relax and enjoy our newfound freedom from finals. My friend Kristen started calling the rest of our friends and we began to plan what we were going to do that night. When she called our friend Russell, his roommate picked up his phone and answered it for him...so Kristen invited him to hang out with us as well.

That roommate? That was Jonathan.

*dun, dun, DUN!*

We all met up that night in the lobby of Nora Chambers (a girls dorm at Lee). When Jonathan arrived I said hello (we had met in passing a few days earlier in the Student Union so I knew who he was) and I tried to make him feel welcome since he was new to the group. That night we all went to a coffee shop, hung out a friend's apartment, ate at Steak'n Shake, and then went to the midnight premiere of King Kong at the local cheap theater.

Throughout the night we kept managing to sit next to or across from each other (which I don't think was entirely accidental), so we had many chances to talk. I was immediately attracted to him. His dark hair, those hazel eyes, and his big smile made my heart skip a beat. But what really struck me was his fun personality, his maturity, and his evident love for God and ministry.

At the end of the night we all said our goodbyes and Jonathan and I parted with an awkward hug (I've always been a hugger...he, not so much) and a "Have a great Christmas break!"

When I got home that night, I couldn't stop smiling. Even though it was really late, I was still wide awake...so I logged onto Facebook to try and wind down. And that's when I just so happened to stumble upon Jonathan's profile...so I friend requested him.

The next night I got onto my computer and saw "Friend Request Accepted!" I immediately added Jonathan's AIM screen name to my buddy list, and sure enough...there he was...online. So, what else could I do but IM him? What can I say...I don't like to procrastinate. :)

That instant message conversation was the first of many that took place over that Christmas break. Hardly a day went by that we didn't talk to each other over instant messenger. Our conversations ranged from wisdom teeth removals, movie preferences, our families, God, and our hearts to see people's lives changed through ministry.

One month later (January 14th, 2006) we went on our first date (which you can read about here) and officially started our relationship to seek what God's purpose for us might be in marriage.

Fast forward a year and a half to July 27th, 2007...the night before our wedding day. After our rehearsal dinner, Jonathan and I were sitting in his car amazed at the fact that in less than 24 hours we would be married. We exchanged our wedding gifts that night, and Jonathan gave me this:

This book contains all of our instant message conversations from that fateful Christmas break. I recently read through this book again, and am still so amazed at how God brought our lives together. It's amazing what God can do when we allow Him to write our story.

I love you, Jonathan. I'm so glad you walked into my life that night five years ago (and that you didn't think I was a stalker for friend requesting you on Facebook.) :)

-Tiffany

the mcdaniels // family session!

Today I'm so excited to share with you the family photos of the McDaniel family. This family is very dear to me...Shelayne is such a great friend of mine, and she and her husband have raised some of the most precious kiddos in the world! To say I love this family is quite the understatement. :)

We had SO much fun on this session! Here, just see for yourself...