The Time My Sister Had to Settle for Me...

Everyone has stories from their wedding. I got married in early January so we had ordered 250 white poinsettias from our florist. We mostly used candles so the poinsettias were the only floral influence. 3 days before the wedding we received a call from the florist that in a complete misunderstanding in their warehouse, all of our poinsettias had been discarded. They though they were an "over order" during the holidays. That's code for, "We threw them away. Oops!"

In my sister's case, she was scheduled to take her bridal portraits but rain ruined the weekend. She was re-scheduled for the following weekend but sadly, my Papa passed away. With the wedding a mere month away and us traveling to Dallas for the service we knew time was running out. She decided to forfeit portraits. Mom and I knew that she wanted photos but with her living in Dallas, her photographer in Austin, and time running out we needed to think outside the box.

Specifically, we thought outside the photographer box. We were already in Dallas for Papa's services so we called my dad, asked him to pack up Kristen's dress, "Do you have the dress? The Veil? Her belt? Shoes? Ok, her jewelry is in the little box...."

In a miracle of all miracles, Big Daddy came through big time and made it to Dallas with every single piece of the bridal puzzle! We took Kristen to Turtle Creek, I pretended to know what I was doing, and we took approximately 1 million photos in an effort to get just one that could possibly be used. They are certainly not professional, but when you have a subject as pretty as Kristen it's easy to get a few that work! Here's the beautiful bride...

A Beautiful Break...

We needed a break. We've had sadness and really "big girl" problems lately. The pain of losing my Papa (which trumps all), the ongoing pain of failed pregnancy attempts, and general life "stresses" have weighed heavy. While we cannot escape the reality of life, which is sometimes really tough, we decided to escape the reality of our routine for a few days. It was glorious!

My mom, my Nana and I decided to go to California to visit my brother. Three weeks ago we threw around the idea of going to California and within hours my mom had looked at Taylor's baseball schedule, realized we could go visit him and be there for Breast Cancer awareness night, and we decided it had to be done. We left last Wednesday with a loose plan, a LOT of luggage (we should be shot with the amount of clothing we took!!), smiles on our faces and camera in hand. We came home broke, full, exhausted, and with a new favorite dessert...have you ever had a Pizzookie from BJ's?? If not, go get one. You'll thank me (actually, my brother) later.

We took a breathtaking drive to Big Sur, had ocean view lunches, took pictures on the beach, watched the bag piper at Pebble Beach ~ Spanish Bay, watched the Rangers play the Giants at AT&T Park, Mom outbid a crazy lady for Taylor's pink jersey and was honored as a survivor at breast cancer awareness night, we had a blast spending time with my brother, he treated me to a mint mojito coffee (delish!!), and we enjoyed every moment together. I am so blessed to have such amazing women in my life who love me so. Here are a few 25 pictures from our trip...

 My beautiful Nana (Teeny) and Mother

 Nana's such a beach babe! Sand and sun are her "happy place".

 A lady tried to bid on my brother's jersey at the very last minute and mom was standing there to make sure she won. The lady started to write and mom said, "I'm his mother! Can you please let me win??" The lady looked at her and said, "Fine." Haha!

 This is why we call her "Teeny". :) 6'5" vs. 5'2".

 Giants vs my Texas Rangers!! Gorgeous stadium! I can't believe these views from the upper deck.

What a treat to spend time with my mom and Nana. It was priceless. Sadly, we were one chick short....my sister couldn't take off again so soon after her honeymoon. I guess we'll have to plan another trip when the whole gang can go. :) XOXO

Bachelorette Fun!

First of all, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your comments and emails of prayer, concern and encouragement for my family. We were blessed with a wonderful husband, father, and grandfather in my Papa and his absence is very hard, but we are so thankful for your friendship, love and support. I wasn't able to email all of you who commented back because some weren't tied to an email, but just know it means a lot to me. So thank you!

Among the sadness of losing my Papa we are in the midst of a very joyous time as well. My sister is getting married in a few short weeks and the days and weeks are filled with much excitement and many to-do's. It is a precious time and a time I hope Kristen can enjoy, cherish, and feel celebrated.

This weekend we celebrated bachelorette style! She's gotten cookie sheets, Kitchen Aid Mixers (yes, mixers plural! How in the world?? Lucky Duck!) dishes and serving platters. It was time for lingerie. So we headed out to the Anderson's most fabulous lake house for a weekend of friends, relaxation, wine, food, laughs, and more food. It was just what the doctor ordered!

I had a blast with her sweet friends and I think we accomplished what we set out to do...show the bride a good time!

The beautiful bride and her entourage.

Sister pic! Isn't it amazing how much we look alike? (HA!)

Sweet friends who traveled from all over to celebrate with her!

We had to document some of the good stuff! Gifts and red velvet cake balls. Yes please!

Girlfriend loves her friends and she loves a good brunch. So we decided to treat her to a surprise breakfast with all of her NYC favorites! When she lived in New York she had her brunch favorites, so her former NYC roomie and I concocted a few goodies and it all turned out delicious! The menu consisted of Magnolia Bakery- banana pudding (her apartment was on the upper west side about 2 blocks from one of their locations and many a morning consisted of a banana pudding power breakfast), Penelope- nutella french toast, and Peels- build-a-biscuit. We got her a coffee mug from Penelope for her to sip her coffee. It was a  virtually calorie free morning....

 This is what girls do. We eat, we layout, we read gossip mags, and talk about the upcoming season of the Bachelorette and So You Think You Can Dance, and the benefits of laser hair removal.

 After everyone else was nice and tanned, and I had a minor glow of pink and smelled of sunscreen, we gussied up and headed to a local vineyard for a fun (at times funhouse) dinner. 

 Me, my sister- Kristen, and my future sister in law- Rebecca. Rebecca is the October bride!

 What a fun weekend! It was the perfect blend of fun and relaxation! With just a little crazy mixed in. :) Hope you all had a great weekend!

My Cup Runneth Over ~

"But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD's love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children's children" ~ Psalm 103:17