Catherine & Blake Garrett

Catherine and Blake Garrett

May 15, 2010

As usual, I am running about 2 months behind with my posting. :) But this was too fun not to document.

So back in May, we went to Shreveport, LA for one of Dave's best friend's wedding. Blake used to work with Dave and I back in the day and before Dave and I got married, Blake and Dave were roommates. So Dave and I were really excited for this celebration as Blake means a lot to both of us and we absolutely love his new wife, Catherine!

Of course, when you are the one obsessed with taking all the pictures - you don't find yourself in many! I need to be better about that. :) But here is my sweet husband with the groom (above) and the beautiful bride (below).

It was really fun that Marianne (my sister) came with Brett (Dave's brother). So she and I definitely enjoyed oohing and ahhing over all of Catherine's selections. She did a beautiful job with the wedding! We loved that she wore her mother's gown which was stunning on her. I think Marianne's favorite was her shoes. They were SO pretty and blue!

So obviously, my MO for the last 3-4 years is to where the same dress to every wedding of that year/season. Ha! So as you scroll back through my blogs, you will see this dress has been my wedding dress for Spring 2010. This was its 3rd appearance.

The estrogen of the wedding:

and the men:

Dan broke a glass at our wedding too! Its hilarious - on the dance floor in our video and he just turns around and keeps dancing. We caught him again on film. :)

It was so fun! The rain held off and they had a really pretty reception on the river. We didn't want it to end. They did, however, leave in one of the most fun getaways I have ever seen! Its like 3 wheels and they took off in downtown in it! Really cute!

Congratulations you two! We wish you many, many blessings in your marriage!

Summer Jam Kickoff Party

Now that the weather has finally started to warm up, we are trying to get as much 'outdoor time' as possible. It has been SO fun! We started having people over on the occasional Friday for a backyard cookout with our neighbors from downstairs. Mark and Meaghan have been the BEST landlords/neighbors! It has been so fun because they joined our small group and now we all hang out.

The first Friday, we were responsible for drinks - Dave made margaritas from a delicious recipe (courtesy of Kathy Allen - thank you!). I made/poured Sangria into a pitcher and added fruit. :) Mark and Meaghan did fish tacos and they were delicious!

This is Mark and Meaghan's little guy - I will call him 'A' as I am not sure how his parents feel about posting his name online. 'A' is precious! He waves hello and goodbye everytime Dave and I come and go. He just turned one and I saw him take a few steps this afternoon, which is super exciting! He has the best hair of any kid I know. :)

Mark and Dave

Kyndal and 'K'. 'K' loves the funny faces that Dave always makes at him. We would all agree they are on the same level. :)

Dave and Sky

Jen and Mary

Me and Elizabeth

Amy, Meaghan and Lisa

The guys definitely figured out how to enjoy a hockey game outdoors. Mark and Meaghan set up their tv in their bedroom window. They LOVED it!

We are so sad that Jay and Sarah have moved to Tennessee! This was their first and last cookout, but it was such a treat to have them before they left.

Me and Meaghan

It was so much fun! We have done a few more and can't wait until our next party.

Matt & Marissa Get Married!

So I am updating the last couple of months because I have been horrible at maintaining the blog! A fairly good indication that we have been busy with really wonderful, happy celebrations!

So back in April - April 10th to be exact - we celebrated Matt and Marissa's wedding down in Austin, Texas. It was a blast - first and foremost, because these two are the perfect match! I have never seen a couple that has so much love and fun all the time. The festivities were beautiful and fun! Selfishly, I loved that I got to hang out with the bride and groom as they live in Austin - so crossing paths in FW is tough. I also got to hang out with friends and family! Even Addi, Chad and Brett showed up for part of the weekend.

Us with the Bensons at the Rehearsal Dinner. I miss these people so much!

Dave, Kristen, Brooke, Grant and Me at the Rehearsal Dinner

Me and the Bride! I was very careful to keep the wine away from her dress. Those of you that know me well know this has been a problem of mine in the past!

It was so fun to have Marianne and Mom and Terry there as well!

These are some of my best friends from home. I love and miss them dearly. I cherish these weekends more than they will ever know. From the left: Whitney, Lindsay (and Nash), Me, Brooke, Kristen, Kathleen and Brooke.

The happy Bride and Groom! Congratulations you two! It was such a special weekend!

moving day

Our moving got under way last Saturday! We always feel like we try to prepare as much as possible, but we never feel ready when the movers arrive. We were so fortunate to have some good friends from work - Cole, Chad and Nick - help us with the big stuff!

These guys are so sweet - they gave up the first sunny day Pittsburgh has had in weeks to help us load up our couch, bed, washer and dryer (always the worst) and all sorts of other odd items we have accumulated. They even appeared to be having fun?! Perhaps just an act! Regardless, they are dear friends and we are so blessed to have them in our lives.

Here is Chad making every load count

Here is Dave and Nick. It is fun because Nick works with Dave in the HBP stuff and his wife, Emily works with me in Title.

Once we got to the new house, Dave and the guys took a much deserved break and started to admire the ice cycles. This is one of the smallest one from our winter storms!

Cole, Nick, Chad and Dave

Probably how they really felt about moving.

Thank you so much guys!!

Instead of packing, I have been....

For Christmas, we do an exchange on Dave's side of the family. It is perfect because the girls get to gift each other and the guys do the same - making it much easier on everyone! So each year, Julie, my sister-in-law, and I exchange. I have been wanting to start reading more, but didn't really have anything specific in mind. Julie is an avid reader - so this year, I decided to hit her up for some of her favorites. She gave me a couple of books by Karen Kingsbury. One is the first book from the Redemption series.

Oh my (to borrow from Julie's son's vocabulary)! These books have me hooked! Thank you Julie!! I usually never read and I can't put these books down! Dave has seen me leave in the evening to walk down to the bookstore to pick up the next one. I am in the fifth/last book of this series and thankfully there are more series with these characters.

They are defined as Christian fiction and to be honest, I wasn't sure what that entailed. But from reading 4 so far, I find them so encouraging and relational. The book centers around one large family and sometimes reminds me of my own. At any given time, different members of the family are dealing with real, raw situations in life. I find them fascinating how they handle those situations, sometimes seeking after the Lord, sometimes not and the results of that. I am honestly not wanting to read anymore for fear I will actually finish them!

So if you are looking for something good to start, I would recommend them to anyone!

Winter Weather

Here are a few more pics of the winter storm effect....

Loved the effort here!

While this is so not funny... Dave and I got a lot of laughs as we drove around. It was unbelievable. We have friends who spent 3-5 hours uncovering their cars and driveways. Crazy!

A car dealership definitely had their work cut out for them...

I can't believe this all occurred in one 12 hour period!

So, I saw this a few weeks ago and have been meaning to stop and take a picture for a while now. Classy!

Hope you are all safe with these winter conditions! Our moving has been slightly altered but we are so thankful to still have power & our vehicles in tact. We have one more evening of heavy snow ahead of us. Stay warm!!

let it snow!

So yesterday, when I drove to work, there was very little snow on the ground, if any. Then, around 3 yesterday, it started to dump down! We were supposed to babysit our little friend Owen - but the roads got so bad, I had to leave my car at their house and have his daddy drive me to meet Dave. I am definitely not used to this kind of winter weather!

While we can't even think about leaving, it is forcing us to pack and get ready for our move. Definitely not a bad thing! Here is the snow this morning....

This is our balcony

This is a view from our balcony. To the left of the tree is a bench - you can barely see it! Good thing I can't get distracted from packing with H&M today. :)

Here is another view from our balcony of the cars down below! Crazy!! I am sure mine looks like this somewhere in front of the Taylor's house. Looks like I won't be needing it for a while anyway.