Wedding Bells

Last weekend we were lucky to share in our friends' big day.  Corey was a groomsman, so we drove down Friday morning to be there in time for the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.

The weather all weekend was beautiful, which was good because the ceremony was outside!  The rehearsal went without a hitch and we headed off for the rehearsal dinner.  Good food and good conversation was had before wrapping up.  We walked back to the hotel and the evening was beautiful.

Rehearsing

Dinner

The happy couple

The wedding was great.  The ceremony was beautiful, simple and sweet.  The wedding party looked lovely.  During the vows you could tell how in love the bride and groom are.  The reception was beautifully decorated with touches of purple everywhere (they are fellow TCU alum after all).  The wine was flowing and the DJ had the dance floor busy all night.  And the most important measure of any wedding - the cake was phenomenal!

After the "I do's"

Corey & his bridesmaid counterpart

Cakes - yumm

The bride

The groom & Corey

Us   :)

 
We had a great time during the wedding weekend.  Sunday morning was a bit rough, but we managed to get ourselves packed back up and drive home.

Congrats to the happy newlyweds!!  Thanks for letting us share in your big day :)

A Texas Spring

Spring is in full force here in Texas.  It started in early March and has been going strong since.  I absolutely love spring here - quite possibly my favorite season.  The cold dreary winter is gone.  All those dead, brown plants bloom into striking greens, yellows, pinks and purples.  And not to mention the weather!  Sunny, breezy and 75-80 degrees?  Yes please!

Well, there are some things you can count on when you're talking about a Texas spring.  First, as any weatherman will tell you, thunderstorms are the norm.  And when I say thunderstorms, I'm talking loud rolling thunder, howling winds, pounding rain and often hail.  Last week we had one just as described.  We were on our way home and saw some crazy lightening displays off in the distance.  About 10 minutes after getting home, the rain started.  Then the hail came, pelting our walls, windows and patio furniture.  It was so loud and hard it sounded like people were trying to break our windows - yikes!

Our little hail collection forming outside the back door

Aside from crazy storms, spring is also a time for blooming plants.  We got adventurous and decided to plant some beautiful flowers in our front bed.  Of course, midway through planting a friendly neighbor stopped by to let us know that rabbits in the neighborhood just love to eat flowers.  Oh well, we forged ahead.  Turns out having a pretty garden isn't as easy as planting and watering - at least not for us.  About half our plants are dying.  We're working on a remedy but haven't made our minds up yet.

Our flowers just after planting - now they are dying 

The one successful plant - a great rosebush (planted by the previous owners)

To many sports fans out there, spring = baseball season.  This year we've spent many a weekend afternoon watching our beloved Horned Frog baseball team.  The stadium is great, our seats are shaded and there's a fun atmosphere at the games, plus they have the cutest bat boy in the world!  We're just hoping they make it to the regional, super regional and on to the college world series again this year!

View from our seats

And what says spring more than love?  I'm talking weddings people!  This past weekend we were lucky to share in the nuptials of great college friends.  More on it later, but until then - here's a picture from the big day:

The beautiful bride and I

Bubba Corey

Our TX niece (the only grandchild on my husband's side of the family) is a handful.  We missed out on almost her first 2 years of life when living on the East Coast.  She came into the world in a scary and dramatic way (was born far too early), but has been quite the fighter.  Now she's 2 1/2 and a bundle of energy and joy.

We can't put into words how much fun we've had being around her the last several months and watching her grow up.  And the best part?  She's become quite attached to her uncle Corey.  Over the past couple months she's taken to calling him "Bubba."  We aren't completely sure where she got the name, but that's what she's decided to call him.  Last night we were out to dinner with the princess (and her parents and grandpa) and she decided to start calling him "Bubba Corey."  We couldn't stop laughing, so of course, she continued calling him that.

We have so much fun spending time with her.  I enjoy it because I don't get to see my nieces very often. They live on the coasts and we're here in the middle of the country.  Watching her grow up makes it easier for me to be away from my other girls.  Also, she's so much fun to watch.  She's hilarious and makes for great entertainment.  And each time we see her she's grown so much!  It's amazing how quickly she's developing a personality and a vocabulary.  Finally, I love watching Corey with her.  He lights up when he sees her and totally morphs into a different person.  I see how he acts with her and can see how he'll be with our future children - it warms my heart.

She's just one of the reasons we're loving living in TX again.

The love each other!

Anniversary Celebration

We had a wonderful time celebrating our 3 year wedding anniversary.  My gift from Corey was tickets to see A Chorus Line, the broadway musical.  While he doesn't mind going to musicals (and actually really enjoys some, like We Will Rock You) it meant a lot that he was willing to take me.  We decided to do a low key dinner at PF Chang's just before heading to the show.  The theater was quite nice and we had great seats - 3rd row right.

Not the best picture we've ever taken, but oh well

I knew what the show was about because I'd seen the movie in high school choir.  There's not a lot of action, the only stage decor is a full wall mirror and there's only one costume change - at the end.  Its a simple show, but a good story line.  Although it wasn't the best show I've ever seen, we still had a great time.

When we got home I surprised Corey with cupcakes with the same flavors as our wedding cake.  I was going to try making a small cake with buttercream frosting and amaretto filling to replicate it, but then I discovered that the guys who did our wedding cake had opened up a bakery!  I had to drive almost an hour to pick them up, but the look on his face was worth it.  He loved our wedding cake and I'm pretty sure he loved the surprise.