Quick Hello And An Update!

Hello blog world! Once again, I've been majorly slacking in the blogging department here lately, but life has been busy, as usual! My BFF's wedding was yesterday and went off without a hitch! I can't wait to share photos with you guys soon! The weather couldn't have been better for a fall outdoor wedding. It was a truly beautiful day! Now that my Matron of Honor duties are over, it's almost time to head back to Germany in a few days! D and I are SO ready to get back and start exploring our new home again. And we've got an awesome trip planned in 10 days that I can't wait to tell yall about! I'll give you one little hint...think fish & chips!

This six week hiatus in the states has been great...non-stop busy...but great. I can't believe it will be over a year before we head back here again. Bittersweet. But I am so thankful for the time I got to spend with our families, friends, and our sweet puppy dog. I'm really, really going to miss his cute face! Wednesday I will have to endure another set of "see ya laters" and a possible "ugly cry"...but I will be taking lots of wonderful memories along with me. I'm looking forward to seeing what Germany is like in the fall...THE greatest time of year, mind you. :)

Also, I want to let all of my faithful followers know that I had the great honor of writing my first guest post for my sweet friend Jessica over at Jessica Lynn Writes!! She and her hubby have just made their way across the pond to start their own European adventure in Italy! She needed to fill some blogging time and was nice enough to ask me to help! Thanks so much for the opportunity, Jess! It was so much fun telling the story of our incredible dining experience in Germany a few months ago. Go check out her blog and our story...and leave her lots and lots of love! She's great! If you are visiting my little piece of blogville from her site, then HELLO and WELCOME! I'm so glad you stopped by for a visit and hope you enjoy your stay! As you might have noticed, I've been stateside for a while due to lots of weddings, so my posts about Europe have been minimal as of late. Here is a link to a post I wrote during our first week in Germany to kind of give you an idea of how life in Germany started for us!  Please feel free to have a look around and remember to stop by later for more stories and photos from our adventures in Europe. They're just getting started!

As for now, D and I will be spending our last two days in the USA tying up loose ends, spending a few more precious hours with our families, and packing up our DISASTER of a guest room at my parents house. I'm pretty sure my mom is ready for us to leave just so she can have her house back in order again! Next time you hear from me, I'll be back to blogging from Deutschland!! YAY!

Where In The World Have I Been?

Now that life has settled down enough I can finally get back to my blogging! Yay, right?! So, in my last post, I promised I'd tell you all the crazy reasons why I'm back stateside after only moving to Germany 2 short months ago. And because I like to keep my promises, here is a glance into one of the fun events that drew me back to the USA!

My Cousin's Wedding

For as long as I can remember, my immediate family, my Mom's parents (MeeMaw & Papaw), and my Mom's sister's (Aunt Debra) family have gotten together at least twice a year for Christmas and a big family summer vacation. We are all super close seeing as Aunt Deb's girls are pretty much the same ages as my sister and I, which makes for pretty perfect cousins! We are 4 peas in a pod. MeeMaw's grandbabies or "Flossies" as we've been called for years. Aunt Deb and Uncle Bob used to live in NC and were only a hop, skip, and a jump away from my family also living in NC. When I was around the age of 10 or 11, they up and moved to Kansas because Uncle Bob got a new job, but that didn't stop our two families from taking vacations and spending holiday's together! We've spent numerous summers holed up together in gorgeous beach houses on the NC coast. Some of the best vacations of my life were spent with my fabulous cousins. So, you see why it was so important for me to make it back to Kansas for Lindsay's wedding!

Emerald Isle, NC Family Beach Trip 2009--Brett & Lindsay (the bride and groom) are pictured on the left

Cousin's Weekend in Virginia Beach 2010
Lindsay, Me, Ashley, and Wendy.
Lindsay and I are a little over a year and a half apart in age. Wendy and Ashley are about 6 months apart in age.
I love that some of our best childhood playmates are our family!

The "Flossie's" at Brett & Lindsay's rehearsal BBQ. And how Ashley got so tall, we'll never know. I'm betting she's adopted, but no one will admit it. :) Love you ATOMIC ASH!

The 9 hour plane ride (plus 4 hour layover plus another 2 hour flight...making for a 7 hour time difference from Germany) was HORRID and I had a jet lag hangover for the first 4 days of my 12 day visit, but it was worth it getting to spend so much time with my silly extended family. We spent the week relaxing at the pool, went to a KC Royals baseball game, and laughed at the parents as they failed miserably at gambling on the "boats" across the Missouri state line. We also spent alot of time running around town getting things ready for Lindsay's big day! She met a great guy named Brett a little over 4 years ago and we were all more than ecstatic that they finally decided to tie the knot. Lindsay is a graphic designer for Hallmark and we all knew that this wedding was going to be very stylish and colorful, just like Lindsay's personality. I must say, the wedding did not disappoint! Here are some photos from the big day:

There was a magnetic wall at the venue and Lindsay blew up and printed off wedding photos of each of their parents and grandparents. The photo on the right is one of my MeeMaw & Papaw. Yep, my sweet Papaw was a devoted Marine! Even though they both aren't with us anymore, we felt them there in every little wedding detail.

 

Congratulations Lindsay & Brett!! 

I had such a blast celebrating your wedding week with you and our crazy family! I miss you all TOO MUCH already! And Brett, may God be with you as you enter this family of ALL WOMEN! D is glad to have you, that's for sure!