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.

The Countdown

     After going to church and running our usual Sunday errands, I crawled onto the couch with my rickety, old iBook G4. I turned on the remainder of the Royal Wedding that I had yet to watch, and peacefully sipped on iced tea. "Only 12 more days," I thought. Yes, 12 more days (school days that is), and your Facebook news feed will be infiltrated by statuses of rejoicing teachers as they celebrate the start of summer.
     This school year has flown by unlike any other. I attribute much of this to changes you inevitably face when you get married and move in together, but also to the continuing celebrations that my family is experiencing. Meghan has 2 wedding showers down and 2 to go. Plus, the bachelorette party is only weeks away. Throw in a pregnant sister in-law and a brother that is graduating from high school and soon moving to College Station...you can say we have been more that busy. However, with all of the busyness, we are extremely blessed. It is such a happy time for our family, and we welcome the excitement and special memories that come along with it all.
     So why I am looking forward to summer? My sweet older sister will be getting married. My older brother will become a father to baby Miles. My little brother will be moving out of the house. As for Jill and I? We will be there when those precious 3 need us.
     ...Only 12 more days.

My Siblings

Happy Birthday, Kyle!

Happy 26th birthday to my sweet Kyle! I love you more than you know!

-Al

Current Favorites

     When I was only 3, I had an addiction to a plastic, gold headband that I affectionately referred to as "my golden treasure." I would wear it all day, and at night, I would place it under my pillow. I remember the horrific day when it broke into two pieces, and my mom and dad had the hot glue gun out to try and cure my broken headband... and my broken heart.

     Well, all good things must come to an end. My golden treasure was eventually thrown away as two broken pieces turned into three, and my mom refused to let me leave the house with a headband that was held together with globs of hot glue and scotch tape.

   Now, my current favorite things will never compare to the significance of that precious headband. However, here is just a few frivolous favorites:

1. Pralinutta- My sister, Jill, introduced this delicious concoction to me. It is basically Nutella, but it only costs $1.99 per jar, and it tastes pretty much the same. Guilty pleasure-eating a big spoonful after dinner for a little dessert. The swirl kind is the best.

     2. Anthropolgie dishtowels- First off, what is there not to like about Anthropolgie? My mom gave me the cutest wedding dishtowels from Anthro at one of my wedding showers. Since then, she has been giving me different dishtowels as gifts. The one below is one of my favorites because it looks exactly like Bailey down to the black eye and black lips.

      3. The Pink Panther- My favorite adult beverage-champagne and grapefruit juice. I first had this at Boom Boom Room in the Heights. They make their's with pink grapefruit juice. We served this at Meghan and Steven's couples shower with white grapefruit juice, and it is so tasty.

     4. Taking walks- The one horrible thing about living in an apartment with a dog is that any time they need to go outside, you're going with them. Although I still hate having to take her out all of the time, I have started to love taking walks after dinner. Bailey's new favorite place to go is on the top floor of our apartment parking garage. While she still has to stay on her leash, she gets to run around like a crazy dog. Plus, you can get a semi-decent view of our part of town.

    5. Reggae music- I never, ever thought I would say that I like reggae music, but it is true. Kyle created this awesome playlist of reggae music for our honeymoon, and now I am obsessed. One of my favorite reggae songs: "Love I" by The Green Band.

Now, I just asked Kyle what he thought are my current favorite things. He said the Oprah Winfrey Network and pretending I understand his insurance terminology. So true. Love him... Slightly surprised he didn't say pimento cheese. Haha.