Mom's Weekend

Our moms!

Our sweet moms, Janie (Dave's mom) and Paula (my mom) came to visit us last weekend. It was our first round of visitors and we had an absolute blast! I must say, our moms are the best! They are so fun because they want to know all about Pittsburgh now that we are here. They also love hanging out with each other, something Dave and I consider a huge blessing! We are thankful to have sweet friends up here who had filled us in on the best places to take out-of towners. It all worked out great and we got to try some new things too!

Our moms arrived Thursday evening ~ we were excited to take them to the Cheesecake Factory (a Buchanan/Drennan favorite). We had to make it quick because Dave had a soccer game that night. We had fun watching him and the rest of the Dale team play indoor soccer. It was a great way for our mom's to meet lots of our co-workers. ;-)


Friday, they were on their own and I must say, they did a fantastic job of getting around! Pittsburgh is a tough city to drive in because it is very difficult to turn around if you miss an exit/turn. They picked us up for lunch and we found a spot showing the KU game - go Jayhawks! They won!!

Later in the afternoon, we hit up the outlet malls by our office. They were great and kind of started the shopping trend for the weekend. Sweet Dave was wonderful - so supportive, but the shopping didn't really stop until Saturday night. We hit up Shadyside and Southside - it was SO much fun!!

Saturday night was a big treat! I don't know if you remember us talking about the Inclines in Pittsburgh, but we tried it for the first time. The Inclines take you from the top of Mount Washington to our street (down several blocks) or vice versa. There are several cool restaurants on top of the mountain. So we took the Incline up and walked to our restaurant, Monterey Bay (http://www.montereybayfishgrotto.com/pittsburgh). It was delicious seafood!! The crab cakes rivaled Trulucks, one of my very favorites.

Here is us on the Duquesne Incline...It was built in 1877! Its a cute little trolley and you can see all of downtown Pittsburgh as you go up. Really neat!


The outside...

Janie and Dave


Dave and Me


The view!!


Mom and me

Here is us at the top before we walked to the restaurant. It was so fun and really a neat opportunity to take advantage of something special about our new home.

Our moms are the greatest! They were so fun to have up and treated us a million times over. Thank you both so much for coming and we hope it isn't long before you come back!! Much love, Kristen and Dave

hello world...

So the other huge perk for going back to Fort Worth was meeting Rowan Lucille for the first time! I loved getting to cuddle with her!

Her hair is precious!!

Me, Rowan and her mommy...which is still amazing to me that my college roommate/bff has a baby!


I just love her!

I like this...

I am only as strong as the coffee I drink, the hair spray I use and the friends I have.

(This was in an email I received from my stepmom today and it made me smile).

Miller-Atnipp Fabulous Wedding Weekend: Wedding Day!

The celebrations continued into Saturday...

The wedding was at Kristen's parents house in Aledo. It looked fantastic! It is the only green grass I have seen in months and the decorations were warm and beautiful! They got married mullett-style as Kristen said...ceremony in the front of the house and reception in the back. I loved these huge floral arrangements. They got married in between them on the porch - so pretty!!


Officially Mr. and Mrs. Stuart Atnipp!

The food was delicious! It was catered by Reata - yum! Then, the best idea ever - they had a fire pit with all the s'mores utensils. It was great for the kids (and adults too)! It took all the restraint in the world for me to keep from eating this cake all day long before the ceremony!


I loved their first dance - looked so sweet! Just a moment that was theirs for the evening.


Me and my husband who hates a serious picture - and I love him for that. ;-)


His favorite girls


I had so much fun hanging out with Gretchen and her precious son all weekend! This is Bunny (Gretchen's mom), Hudson, me and Gretchen.


Bridesmaids in the pretty wraps Kristen got us. They had initials monogrammed in gold - so thoughtful!


Love this couple...

Boys...


This is the picture where I think me, Brooke and Whitney are all saying, "what?!" (seriously, what on earth are we doing?)

They are SO cute!! Love that smile.


Us with the McWhirters!

Our moms...looked so pretty!


Me and Kristen


Girls with the bride - having a blast!!


Nena and Kristen - they both looked stunning!



Okay, rewind back to that morning. Sheri, Gwen and Mom threw Kristen her bridesmaids luncheon. It was the best. We just went casual, had breakfast, napped, read up on some 'literature' thanks to LGB and joked around... a lot.

Lindsey, me and Brooke


Me and my best friend staring at my other best friend's little girl...

There she is...Miss Rowan.

Miller-Atnipp Fabulous Wedding Weekend: Rehearsal Dinner

Congratulations Kristen and Stuart! We had a blast during your wedding weekend! You both looked beautiful! The festivities were so fun and memorable! We hope you all had a wonderful honeymoon and we can't wait to see you back in Fort Worth!

Kristen and Stuart were married on March 7th. They planned a great weekend, beginning with the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner the night before at the Fort Worth Zoo. It was so neat as the food was delicious, toasts were sweet, funny and heartfelt and of course, the animals they brought out for display! We had lots of laughs and a few tears. =)


Here is Terry, Mom, me and Dave

Dave trying to feed the crocodile/alligator a beer

Lindsey, Sheri, me and Mom - look, mom and I are making the same face and so is Lindsey and Sheri.

Sweet Brooke with the now-Newlyweds!

Whitney, Lindsey, Brooke and me

Me and Brooke

Oh my...
We had a great time sitting with the Bensons!

Lindsey, Marissa, Kristen, Kathy, Brooke and Whitney at VIPs...where the celebrating continued well into the night!

Actually leaving and arriving...

So leaving Fort Worth was really much harder than I thought it would be. I was doing pretty good with the packing and emptying of our home. Mom came over early on Thursday to help and she was a life saver!
The packers and movers really did an amazing job! We have opened everything and the only thing broken was one crate and barrel wine glass and a mirror from ikea was cracked. Considering they packed everything in our home from our tv's to our clothes to our dishes, we were impressed! We decided they did it much faster too! Not like myself, who would have stopped, flipped through the books, looked through the pictures, etc.

We had some sweet friends stop by ;-) Oh and you can tell how little we actually have. Our stuff didn't even fill up past the M in Mayflower on the side of the truck!

We miss our house ~ but are really working on making our apartment home.


Mom made a chocolate pie ~ it was delicious!!

Since Dave left on Friday, he and Brett celebrated Valentine's Day on the road. Not really sure it is how Claire and I saw V-Day going down this year, but I was really excited for the Buchanan boys to have a roadtrip! So the best I could do was make them a goodie basket ~ which is harder to do than I thought. Brett is not into junk food ~ Dave is. Then, I didn't want to waste money, but was Aleve really exciting to get? Maybe they would need it? I finally accumulated all the 'goodies' and went to put them in the basket, only to find the basket had been packed! They pack everything! We had very few boxes lying around - but this sufficed.

Then, when Dave and Brett loaded up his truck to really move, it wasn't so easy anymore. I knew I would see Dave again, I knew I still had time with my friends and family, but to hug Brett goodbye was so sad. Thankfully, I had another day filled with my mom, sister and friends.

We woke up Saturday, cleaned the house one final time and headed to Neimans for lunch ~ my favorite! We had a champagne lunch and I LOVED it! But like the day before, leaving these girls afterwards was tough! They know me inside and out and I am praying for friends like them up here!

So then, Mom, Marianne and I did some last minute shopping: boots, check, gloves, check, cashmere sweaters on sale at Dillards for $29, check, check and check!

We arrived home and my sweet stepdad asked me what I wanted for my last dinner in Fort Worth. I was having such a hard time deciding between Piranhas and Taverna - so what did he do? He got both! It was delicious and SO fun! We laughed and relaxed. It was such a special night with family.

Thankfully, I woke up late and the race was on to the airport. I think I literally pulled up 44 minutes before the flight and I pretty sure you have to be there 40 minutes before to check your luggage and board. Can you imagine if I missed my flight to move?! Dave would never let me hear the end of it. This was by far the hardest goodbye...to my mom and my sister.

They both helped me more than I could possibly explain these last few weeks. I have a new found respect for people balling their eyes out in the airport while waiting at the gate - I mean, who knows where they are going, who they are leaving, etc. I couldn't manage to lock it up ~ it was really ridiculous. I managed to get to my window seat and just stare out the window for fear the woman sitting next to me would see how crazy I really was. Then, I heard it - Honey, do you need a kleenex? Did I ever! I was barely able to get out that I had just left my mom to move to Pittsburgh.

She was seriously an angel! Her husband was a pastor and she just gave me kleenexes, talked to me about all about Pittsburgh and marriage (hers early on), her children, showed me pictures of her daughter trying on wedding dresses...things I thought were so personal, she just opened up about. She gave me a list of churches to try. We shared a glass of wine and some chocolate and then she prayed for me at the baggage claim while just giving me a big hug. Honestly, I just don't think I would feel quite the same right now without her. It was amazing, just what I needed!

Then I got this email from her later on that night:

Hi Kristen,

Just wanted to welcome you to western PA and remind you that I am thinking of you and praying for you!

I hope you have a lot of fun getting your new home set up and settled into.

Looking forward to seeing you again soon. Maybe I can meet you sometime after I get back from my Florida and Maine trips in the next month. I'll be interested in hearing how your church search is going.

Warmly,

Lori

David was so sweet as he reminded me that this is where the Lord wants us...he even had my neighbor on the plane picked out long ago.