Our First Anniversary!

I know that I've graduated to my baby blog, but this post only felt appropriate (and it is my 150th post!) for my wedding blog.

One year later... it blows my mind to think of the fact that I was a newlywed just one year ago today. I remember waking up and feeling that first hint of sadness that it was all over. But then I quickly got to go down to our breakfast and gift opening, and then spent the day watching football and playing trivia in my favorite environment to make it all feel ok. Not to mention, we left for our honeymoon the very next day and Tahiti certainly helped to ease the post-wedding blues.

Then an entire year flies by, and  I found myself in tears as Kyle and I danced at our friends' wedding to "God Only Knows" by the Beach Boys, one of our wedding songs, on Saturday. I can blame it on the pregnancy, or I can admit that I can't believe how fast time seems to go, only reminding me of the limited time (although it may feel like eternity) we have here. Perhaps it is just the overwhelming thought of all the changes that are about to happen and a little bit of the fear that we will never get a chance to accomplish our goals as a couple once we are no longer "just the two of us".

Who would have a thought that our first year of marriage would have given us so much?! A dream vacation to Tahiti, numerous weekend mini-trips all over the U.S., family celebrations from births to engagements, memories to last forever. Here's to many, many more anniversaries and many, many more celebrations, vacations, and of course, new adventures.

The moment we sealed the deal- September 29, 2012! (photo courtesy of Devon Adams)

We visited Sedona for our first anniversary (although the plan was to revisit Vail, my big bump has some travel restrictions)

The final stretch...

We have hit it, the one month mark. No more counting down months, as now we focus on weeks and days. Soon enough it will be hours. I can honesty say I had no idea how fast a year would go!

The sad part of today is that I am celebrating alone, with Kyle being gone to India for another week. I grilled my first turkey burgers by myself (and they came in a two-pack, rub it in why don't ya!), I am toasting myself, and I am going to watch some Arizona Highways in honor of Kyle.

Dinner for me! (See, minus the cookie, still being healthy).

This week has made me realize that I am very, very excited to marry Kyle, because I really miss him (now that the chaos of my shower weekend is over at least) and I realize when he is gone how much I love to be around him. Everything is more fun when Kyle is around. And although I was excited a week ago to have some down time to get all my work accomplished, I have barely made a dent in that list, and I don't know where my time has gone! So really, it must not be his distractions alone that cause my procrastination.

I also have so, so much left to do, and everyone is being so nice and offering to help, but really there isn't much I can pass on to others. The last tasks involve gifts for friends and family, things to buy, and personalization of items. And I don't want to give away every surprise for our wedding!

So here's to one final month of the stress and single life! (Let's get real, I haven't been living single for many, many years). But for some reason, I am so excited to have the title of "married" officially!

I LOVE AND MISS YOU, KYLE.

Hello from India!

Kyle is in India

So, you know how you wanted to freak out the month before the wedding because of the long list of things to do, and felt like it would never get accomplished?! Thank God your husband-to-be was there to help, along with friends and family.


Or not.


India. That is right, Kyle left today to go to India until September 5. That means I have 2 full weeks of wedding planning chaos that I will have to do on my own. Luckily, I have my mom and sisters in town this upcoming weekend to help figure out some of the more artistic details.

I took a picture of Kyle's lucky travel Buddha so he could "take it with him"

I know I have influence when he has a typed checklist...

Should I be worried this trip required shots?

What is worse than not having help is just not having him around, though. I will be bored, not know what to do with my evenings, have to make dinner for one, learn how to grill a good chicken breast, and make sure I keep up on household chores on my own.

Wait a second here, I may be on to something...

Without Kyle running interference, I might ACTUALLY get some of these things done! No more putting grading off because he wants to go out. No more waiting to go to the gym so we can go together until after he is done with work. I can eat dinner before 8! I can get into bed before 11! (I know he will say that I can do all these things while he is here, but you all know that is much easier said than done when you're working on 2 separate schedules).

I get 2 weeks of chick flicks and "Bride Nights". 2 weeks of down time. This may be the best thing to happen to our marriage as of yet.

Productivity. Here I come...




As soon as Kyle finally gets on the plane. Right now I will just keep talking to him and get my fix of gushy love talk. I really will miss him.

Wedding Review!

Unless any of you are planning on a quick engagement, I think that we have officially attended our LAST wedding as two separate last names! That makes it #24 out of 7 years. We are really touched that we had so many friends and family who wanted us to help celebrate, and hope that they are all excited to be a part of our day.

This past wedding celebrated my college friend Sarah, who really became my friend after college, but the sorority started it all! Sarah is part of our ski gang, always reliable for hitting up the slopes and going down any run with you. She married Jason in Wyoming, the first time I've ever been there, and here are some of my favorite details from the wedding:

J Crew bridesmaid dresses and cowboy boots!

When they left up the aisle, the sign said "Just hitched"

My friend/bridesmaid Jenna's son Arthur and the cute (and delicious) program!

Love this dress for her! So elegant!

This location was just gorgeous! The rain even held off just long enough for the ceremony!

Check out Kyle's Western digs! And can you start to see the difference in our size?!

The place cards and menus- Baby's Breath centerpieces were also aisle decorations.

Gift table with cute banner, and nice card box!

Candy bar!

So many delicious cupcakes, so little room on the diet for sweets :(

I absolutely LOVE this cake. It is just perfect.

Me with Sarah

All the Delta Gamma ladies! We are a cute bunch.

Why I've been away so long...

Ah, it feels so nice to be writing again! I have spent way too much time these last 2 weeks reading and grading, planning and packing, and have sorrily neglected my most cathartic pastime. Since this blog is about being candid and honest, the truth is that writing, and for that matter wedding planning, have been too far down on the "to do" list. I know I've said it before, but I'll reiterate, that life cannot be about one single thing, for instance a wedding, because there are just too many factors involved. For one, work, which is something I am equally as passionate about as my wedding, but that takes up as much of my brain power as I can spare at times, like the ends of the quarter. Luckily I have 2 week breaks to get back to a balanced life. Another distraction is people, sometimes time spent with friends is much more rewarding than time spent writing a blog for friends to read from afar. This weekend we've been skiing, last weekend we were camping, it's all about the outdoors in our house, obviously. Now I have some down time, some "me time", thanks to a week of Spring break in Colorado, driving through the state to visit with some of the most important people in my life, and given time to myself to sleep in, read The Hunger Games trilogy, and write once more. I have many stories to tell, and now that I have the time to tell them, I will hopefully be updating more often and will get back into the habit for everyone's enjoyment.

Brides-to-be out there, remember this: Don't apologize when you get tired of the wedding, because sometimes you need balance in life, and weddings tend to tip the scales in one direction for too long a time. Find that balance, take time off, and don't worry about it!

Seriously Slacking Wish

We brides all hit that bump in the road, you've already heard about mine, but that wall where we can't go further with wedding planning because we are burnt out! So, my wish today has nothing to do with weddings. Sorry for my brides to be out there, I don't want to put the wrong idea in your heads, but every once in awhile it is important to remember that we are not brides-by-profession, and our professions will consume our lives at points, putting weddings on the back burner. This past weekend I traveled to Washington, D.C. and attended a leadership conference with 12 high school students. It was a really fun trip. Lots of walking around and seeing the sights, lots of motivation, and a positive feeling to spread to all upon my return (I CAN make a difference!)

Today's Wish: For more of my students and more of my coworkers to be able to attend leadership training to inspire their souls and ignite their passions (or reignite) for the young men and women we work with daily. This is one of the motivational videos we watched that really got me thinking...

The U.S. Capitol

Georgetown Cupcakes

Lincoln Memorial