A Tale of Two Siblings

Tale 1: Meghan

     Well, she's married. On Sunday, Meghan got married in the most perfect, most special, and most Meghan wedding possible. Meghan and Steven met in kindergarten, started dating in July 2009, got engaged in January 2010, and married June 2011. For the both of them, it has been a long time coming. From the rehearsal dinner to the bridesmaid brunch to the wedding, it was an emotional weekend. When you come from a family of 5 close-knit siblings, it is pretty much impossible to not shed a few happy tears when one of us experiences something so monumental (or in my case, thousands of happy tears).

     There are infinite things that I loved about Meghan's wedding day, but for me, Meghan, Jill, and my mom, the wedding was a product of days spent planning, discussing, creating, celebrating, searching, shopping, and relentlessly thinking about June 26th. The wedding planning was a journey. It was a time for family to celebrate. And, we are so happy that all of the work resulted in a day that represented Meghan and Steven perfectly.

(One of my favorite things about the wedding...her student's singing "Going to the Chapel" and "You Raise Me Up" at the ceremony. It was so sweet.)


Tale 2: Christian

     On Wednesday, me, my mom, and Christian woke up extra early and made a road trip to College Station to register Christian at Blinn College. It didn't become real until yesterday that Christian, the baby of the family, is going to college.

     We rolled into the parking lot 45 minutes early. For once in our lives, we were the first people there. We checked in at the orientation table, and waited for the presentation to start. (Sitting in the lecture hall with 50 incoming freshman made me so nervous. I loved college, but I would never go back to freshman year... too stressful). After hearing 3 motivational/not-so-motivational speeches, Christian was shipped off for testing and my mom and I were shipped off for a parent meeting shopping.

     Dowtown Bryan provided us with a pretty nice afternoon. Lunch at Madden's, shopping at Antique stores, and checking out a few rooms at the La Salle Hotel was one of the most relaxing afternoons we've had since weeks before the wedding. The afternoon continued to go well when we arrived back at Blinn to meet up with Christian. He did very well on his tests, and we proceeded to sign him up for his first 15 hours of college (bring on the tears). Next followed a tour of his dorm, more shopping, and dinner at La Bodega.

     It wasn't too shabby of a day in College Station... Gig'em.

Summer Reading: Book 1

In my mind, summer is synonymous with reading. I usually have no requirements as to what I read. Mostly, I read books that have been recommended to me or books that are about to be a movie. I would like to read more traditional lit, but most of my books are easy reads and might not classify as good literature. Nonetheless...

Book #1: The Help

This was suggested by several people, but I give Kyle most of the credit. When I started reading it, I had no idea that is was going to be a movie. When I was reading it, I thought that it was perfectly written to be turned in to a movie. I also thought that Skeeter should be played by Emma Stone. Well, what do ya know? It is coming to theaters in August, and Skeeter will be played by Emma Stone. (I LOVE Emma Stone)! I loved this book. It is written from the perspective of 3 different women during the civil rights era. You will love/hate all of the characters, and the plot is different than anything I have read/seen. Go read it! :)

I should be done with my next book in a few days. :)

June

The past 2 weeks since the 2:30 bell rang have been fabulous. My summer vaca started with Christian's graduation from Cy-Creek followed by Meghan's relaxing/fun/silly bachelorette party in Dallas. After that, I have engaged in what I do best- sleeping until 9, reading too much, kickin' it with Bailey, and going to my mom's.

    We are of course in the midst of last minute wedding details and planning as Meghan's wedding is a week and a half away. However, around our household, we are almost burned out on "wedding talk." I got engaged in June 2009, so between me and Kyle and Meghan and Steven (and throw in the MILLIONS of weddings we have gone to ;) we are ready for "wedding season" to come to an end. But, with that all being said, Meghan's wedding will be fabulous! For her bachelorette party, we decided on a spa day. We went to the Gaylord Texan in Dallas because it has a spa, pools, and restaurants. Plus, we got a really awesome deal (look up the Girls Getaway Package).

    We woke up super early on Sunday morning, and we arrived at the hotel and immediately went to our spa appointments. After our massages and pedis, we went to the lazy river, grabbed a margarita, and floated along for a couple hours. We headed back to the room, enjoyed some chocolate martinis and cheese (free with our GGP :) and got ready for dinner. The girls and I planned some ridiculously cheesy games, so after dinner we got into our jammies and played games. We are a pretty dorky tame bunch, so we had a lot of fun doing a good, old-fashioned scavenger hunt and granny-panty decorating contest. (I have left out those pictures. But believe me, it was good, clean fun:)!

Christian and all the boys

Christian and all the girls

Christian and the siblings

All for the grads

The Bride



Pregnant Anna getting a pedi

   
   

     

Bailey's Skateboard

Bailey's absolute favorite thing to do at my mom's house is to play with her skateboard. Bailey views her skateboard as the ultimate chew toy. Once she gets a hold of her board, you would think it was a rag doll by the way she flings and tosses it around the driveway. However, when she puts her mind to it and uses the skateboard for its intended purpose, well, I think she couldn't do anything cuter.

Bailey in action.



A worn out, happy girl.