Countdown to Claire

I said in my last post that Aaron and I had celebrated many things in our first year of marriage.  We are getting ready to celebrate the birth of Claire, our first niece!  My sister, Adelina, is pregnant, and due in just 10 short days!  I can't wait for Claire to be here and experience the joys of being a part of this wonderful family.  I can't wait to love on her, and see how Adelina and Reed parent her.  I think really Adelina has been preparing for this her whole life.  Being the oldest, she always took on responsibilities that she didn't have to, but did because that's who she is.  Adelina is going to be a wonderful, loving, giving, protective, active, fun mommy.  She will care for Claire in a way that only Adelina can.  She will teach her daughter how to love well, and Claire will probably inherit a lot of Adelina's Type A personality traits.  She will do everything for Claire, because her love is that big.  Reed will be Reed.  He will be an amazing father, showing his daughter immense love.  He will make her laugh more than anyone else could ever try.  I'm pretty sure he will give her a love for fishing, and water in general.  He will also give her a love for music that makes you want to dance.  Adelina and Reed will be the perfect balance of silly and serious.  I am so excited to meet Claire!  You should all be hoping that Claire will come six days early, on August 4.  That's my day in the family baby pool, and I'd kind of like to win!

Adelina with all of Claire's aunts!

One Year

One year ago today, I married the most wonderful husband!  I don't remember very much about our wedding or reception specifically, but I remember feeling very calm all day.  I only got nervous around the time that I realized that people were being seated in the church and the ceremony was set to begin in 30 minutes.

My sweet bridesmaids came to my parents house to get ready early in the morning.  We had our hair and makeup done, which was so fun!  I felt relaxed, and so thankful for my friends who would stand by my side as I got married.  We headed to the church, where things begin to blur for me.  I remember that the air wasn't working in the bride's room, so we sat in another area.  I remember walking down a hall that was all windows as Aaron and the groomsmen walked by outside.  Some of my bridesmaids, but I don't remember which ones, told me to run, so I hiked up my dress and ran faster than I ever have before.  I remember just having so much fun at our reception.

We took an incredible honeymoon to Ocho Rios, Jamaica.  We stayed at the Royal Plantation, and I would go back in a heartbeat.  It was wonderful.

This year has gone by so quickly, and it has been filled with exciting events and constant construction in our house.  We have celebrated friends getting married, and we are about to be an aunt and uncle!  We are finally on a break from construction in our house, but it will probably only last a little while until we decide to upgrade the next thing in our house.  What a wonderful first year!

Just a few pictures from the day.  Rachel DeBell did a fantastic job of capturing every moment of our wedding!

This cake was delicious! Thanks, Radford Cakery!

Ryan is my proof that the reception was fun.  I love this picture.

twenty-six

I turned 26 last Friday, and I am so thankful for all the love from my family and friends.  I am immensely grateful to my mom, who went into labor at midnight, and delivered me 10 hours later.

I started the week of my birthday with dinner last Sunday with some of my sweet friends from work.  I hadn't seen Stacey, Andrea, or Courtney since school got out, so it was a wonderful time to catch up and just hang out.  What a great treat!

Aaron has had a crazy schedule for the last couple of weeks with children's camp and youth camp.  I am thankful that he was coming home from Brownwood on Friday, and that he was able to hang out with me Friday night.  We went to see Harry Potter, which was fabulous!

Since Aaron was going to be in Brownwood for a week, I decided to visit Amber, John, and Josh, who also happen to live in Brownwood.  I hadn't seen Amber or the boys since the wedding last year, so I was so excited to see them!  I love that I got to spend a few days with my sweet friend, and that I got to see her on my birthday.  We made a cake, which was so much fun!

Fun cake!  We made the fondant, which was surprisingly easy!

John and Josh helped me blow out my candles!

After seeing Harry Potter on Friday night, I got to open my gifts from Aaron.  He gave me a gift card to Loft, which I love because Loft Loves Teachers, so I get a discount every time I shop!  The other gift was a new chandelier for our breakfast room.  I am beyond excited about this chandelier!  We currently have one that looks like a Tiffany lamp.  We get a lot of compliments about how unique and neat it is, but I can't stand it!  So, if anyone wants to buy my old light fixture, let me know!  I think I'll be putting it on craigslist or ebay soon.

Old light fixture.  So very much not my style.

New chandelier!  This is just a picture of the box.  It hasn't been put up yet.

 To end all my birthday celebrations, I enjoyed dinner with my family and Sammy and Sharon on Sunday night at Amigos.  We came back to the house to have ice cream cake.  What a wonderful birthday!

Aaron forgot to buy candles.  We used matches instead.

A Few Good Books

Reading is one of my passions.  I love it to my core, and I am almost always reading something.  During the school year, I really didn't carve out time for myself to read.  I was working on the yearbook (which I procrastinated on, but I think it turned out well!) and constantly grading papers, or at least it felt like it.  I've taken on very little this summer, which I'm really glad about.  I've already read several books this summer, and I am loving it!  I started with Same Kind of Different as Me by Ron Hall and Denver Moore.  It is an amazing read, and if you haven't read it already, you should!  I'm currently reading Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.  It is wonderful so far!  I think I'll wait a little while before seeing the movie when I finish the book.