A Lovely Life

I've been in Alabama over the last few days being with my mother who was diagnosed with breast cancer a couple of weeks ago.  While incredibly scary, it was a small lump and the doctor is confident that he got it all.  They caught it early and we are lucky!  Ladies, please get regular mammograms ...they could save your life. I did a lot of driving back and forth between the hospital and my mother's place.  I don't know about you, but I do a LOT of thinking in the car.  And while driving around the town that I grew up in, I came to the realization that there will always be a special place in my heart for it.  I spent my early 20's hiding when I came into town, afraid I'd run into to someone that I used to know.  I'm not totally sure why I had those feelings, but I'm sure it had something to do with the fact that I wasn't proud of who I am.  The thought of seeing someone I used to know and not being in the best place personally was reall...

Happy Monday!  I found an old notebook from years and years ago, high school I think, filled with quotes that I had written down.  It's always been in my night stand and I would scribble in it any time I heard a line in a song or read a line in a book that I wanted to remember.  It's full now but I keep it in my night stand as a fun reminder of how much I LOVED quotes even back then and how they still speak to me....  Here are some of my favorites: "Failure is not an option.  It is a privilege reserved only for those who try." - Albert Einstein "Not all wanderers are lost." - Tolkein "Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eye off your goal." - Henry Ford "The years teach much more than the days ever knew" - Robert Frost "The tragedy of life is not that it ends so soon, but that we wait so long to begin it." - W.M. Lewis "May you live every day of your life....

Happy Mother's Day to all those mamas out there!  Here's hoping you all were spending it with those you love and (if you're in the South) enjoying this BEAUTIFUL day. J and I had lunch this afternoon and, as usual, I was people watching.  I saw a mom with 4 kids order everyone lunch and get every situated before she was able to sit down.  Even though we celebrate our mamas, that doesn't mean they get to stop all the work that goes along with being a mom.  So, here's to all you hard working mamas out there! " The phrase "working mother" is redundant."  -Jane Sellman "Biology is the least of what makes someone a mother."  -Oprah Winfrey " I know enough to know that no woman should ever marry a man who hated his mother."   -  Martha Gellhorn ,  Selected Letters “A daughter without her mother is a woman broken. It is a loss that turns to arthritis and settles deep into her bones. ”  -  Kristin Hannah ,  S...

My sweet family came in waves the week of the wedding.  It was the first time they had been to visit me and I was over the moon!!  My cousin & aunt were so lovely as to throw me a shower affectionately called: Girls w/Drinks: UK Invasion.  My cousin & aunt worked from across the country to pull the evening together figuring out dinner spots and bars.  It ended up being one of the favorite evenings of that time. The Thursday before the wedding, my cousin, aunt and I spent the day lunching and shopping before getting ready to go to dinner at a local pub.  Before we left, though, I was informed that all the ladies who came to girls with drinks would be wearing a Union Jack flag!  We had to represent, right?!  But I got the sweetest gift...my younger cousin's personal Union Jack flag to wear as my own cape for the evening!  He couldn't be here, but sent his very well worn flag just for me.... After a couple of happy tears and lots of ...

We were so lucky to have been surrounded by so much friendship and love around us during the wedding planning.  We were given an engagement party and two showers by our close friends an family.   Our first shower was thrown by a wonderfully awesome group of women who are friends of ours that we met through J's father and step-mother.  They're a group of life long friends who were very supportive and helpful in our wedding planning and went as far as to throw me a shower.  Everyone pitched in with food and drinks and we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful Summer evening for a party!  There was plenty of bubbly, lots of yummy food, a ton of laughs and fun gifts!  It was a blast and I felt so, so blessed to be surrounded by such awesome women. The shower was outside on the back porch...so beautiful! With J's step-mother With my AWESOME bestie and matron-of-honor....we didn't plan on being so color coordinated! Susan and Ann...

One of my favorite things about our wedding....any wedding....are the little details.  They are, obviously, what makes every wedding uniquely personal to the couple.  I love that our photographers both had an eye for the little details.  They both took some shots of things during the oh so crazy getting ready process and I'm thankful for that or I probably would have really missed them!! Right after the ceremony, J & I toasted each other and had a few moments together alone before the reception began. My bouquet was one of my absolute FAVORITE parts of our day.  Big, bright and gorgeous! The welcome table Our invitation at our ceremony site The little note J wrote me before the ceremony. I asked my bridesmaids to wear fun orange shoes...I had to incorporate orange somewhere! Where we became husband and wife. Programs that were made by family given I had completely dropped the ball on doing them myself! Re...

I figured we could start Monday off with a look at our engagement which was in December of 2011.  It still feels like a fairy tale and nothing I could have hoped or dream for.  I'm a lucky gal and this story is just too good not to share!! Thursday, December 8th I got home from work to find a note on our guest room door saying "NO Entry".  I asked what the heck that was doing on the door and Justin told me that my Christmas gifts were in there and he didn't have time to wrap them.  I grumbled a bit, but we had made plans to go see Woody Allen's 'Midnight in Paris', so we had to go.  The movie, by the way, is actually good and suggested!  Anyway, we get home, drink some wine and go to bed early because we had work the next day. Friday, December 9th I half woke up to smell bacon cooking which is weird because all we have for breakfast during the week is eggs, but my alarm didn't go off, so I didn't care.    Next thing I know, Justin walks into ...