Easter 2012

Easter is one of my MOST favorite times of the year. Generally it means warmer weather (although we have had quite a bit of that lately), pretty flowers, and newness around everything! This Easter was great – not quite as great as last year. Daniel and I have been happily engaged since last April and will be happily married in less than two months! The time has flown by and has been fairly stress free! Though I have enjoyed being engaged, I am ready to be a WIFE and have a nice relaxing summer!

Easter pictures are always some of my favorites – I love the pretty clothes and colors… here are a few from the weekend!

counting down days…

As hard as I try to live my life in the here and now, I find it so hard not to be anxious about all the great things in the coming days! As a teacher, I am counting down school days, as a bride, I am counting down the days until I am a wife, and as a friend, I am counting down the days until Luke Linder makes his arrival into the world!

On the home front, things have been uncertain and BUSY! I am sure the Lord laughs every time I make a plan because they never seem to work out! Currently Daniel is back at the railroad (under different management) however, we are hopeful that a job will open up close to home in the near future – preferably in the next 68 days!

On the school/work front, I survived my first set of standardized tests! We worked really hard and then were rewarded with a week off! It was fantastic to have a week off – Spring Break is kind of like a major perk of being a teacher!

Spring Break started last Saturday with a wonderful Miscellaneous Luncheon at the home of Mrs. Jackie Allen.

That night was spent eating my yummy mud bugs at Sage and Amanda’s.

On Monday, Momma, Sara, and I traveled North to Chattanooga – you say WHY? we say WHY NOT? We began our trip with a visit to the Aquarium and Imax.

It was fascinating and I always come out wondering why I didn’t major in something where I could feed animals for a living (maybe because of the SB thing?!?!) – We enjoyed dinner that night at Big River Brewery and Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream for dessert. Tuesday was busy, busy with Incline Railway, Ruby Falls, and Rock City.

We enjoyed dinner that night at our hotel – The Chattanooga Choo Choo.

It was an experience to stay in a REAL rail car and I would strongly suggest a trip to Chattanooga to anyone with small kids – a safe city with lots to do! After a riverboat ride Wednesday morning, we made the trip home (complete with a pit stop at Hobby Lobby)!

The rest of my SB was spent planning our wedding. Momma and I made what was hopefully our last trip to Jasper to pick up bridesmaids dresses and my veil from Diane’s Formal Affair. I was so happy to have that out of the way even though it took a whole day!

Saturday completed SB with a river trip with Mo, Sara, Daniel, and Pearl! We ventured into some creeks where we saw river creatures sunning! While they are great to see on the bank, we wonder how many were in the water with us!

Pearl LOVED the sandbar and acted so funny. She is going to make a good river dog this summer!

After a shower and a nap, Daniel and I headed to our first couples shower. It was held at the beautiful Utsey Lake House by some wonderful friends. The food was great and we got some great things! We are so lucky to have family and friends who have made this entire wedding planning process so much fun!

Next on the agenda: back to school, thank you notes, Easter party, Good Friday, fishing, river, Easter, more showers, and lots of little wedding details that are sure to keep me on my toes for the next 68 days!

And in case you need a laugh to get you through the week… YES. WE. DID!

happy birthday to me…

Based on the title, it's obvious that this post was started about a month ago - pictures haven't been added but here it is... better late than never!

No matter how hard I try to make time slow down, it seems to be flying by entirely too fast. I am 24… it seems like yesterday I was celebrating 18 and then 21 – now 24 and I am looking forward to an insurance break at 25… where are the years going? Since time does not seem to be slowing down, I am attempting to enjoy the present day-to-day, even when the days aren’t everything I expect!

The birthday celebration started (as always) with mine and Kaley’s joint celebration. We are so lucky to have birthdays that are a week apart (she is older) and we TRY to celebrate together each year. This year, she made the trip to Butler to have dinner with the family at the Country Club. After visiting around the fire and then enjoying supper, Kaley headed back – thank goodness she did because she was graced with the stomach bug for the rest of the weekend. As much as I love her, I am glad I was not sick on my birthday.

I spent most of Saturday working on wedding invites. I have finally finished addressing all of them and only need to stuff about half of them! This is one way we are saving money and I have been pleased with the results!

Saturday night was spent supporting Morgan at a political function and then keeping Rhett for Sage and Amanda. At two and a half, he is full of energy and keeps us going nonstop. I was actually asleep before him on Saturday night!

Daniel and Daddy have spent the past few weeks hard at work at “Granny’s” house. We now have walls and fresh paint. The kitchen is still empty and the floors need to be worked on but other than that, we they are making good progress!

Sunday morning (my actual birthday) was celebrated with a big breakfast. I love having everyone together to do anything (especially celebrate me)! I was so excited to get some Bobbi Brown make-up, a sewing machine, a Kitchen-Aid mixer, a scarf, and some Emi-Jay bands! I am so excited about my domestic tools and know that I will love learning to use each of them! The rest of the day was spent being lazy and enjoying the warmer weather!

In my 24th year, I will begin having wedding showers, finish my first year of full time teaching, marry my best friend, honeymoon, start “our” life together, make decisions about where we will make that life, be with one of my best friends (Katie) through her first pregnancy and welcome Luke Linder into the world, watch Rach marry her prince charming, and lots of other exciting things! I am excited about this year and can’t wait to see what it will hold!

2012 = busy, busy

In the few days we have had in 2012, I have been more than busy. The end of 2011 was a little hectic, too. Between teaching full time and planning a wedding, my time is spent. Daniel and I are also going through some tough decision making times right now as we determine where we will make our home. I am convinced that everything happens for a reason and that everything is done in HIS time, not in our time. I feel like things are working out but I am still nervous about the uncertainty we face in the coming months. It is so hard for a Type A control freak to “let go and let God” as I have heard it said but that is exactly what I am trying to do!

As far as wedding plans go, we are somewhat on track – my dress is in my possession, we have a photographer, the bridesmaids dresses are ordered, save the dates have been mailed (even though I am very paranoid that I left someone off the list), invitations are in – we found a calligrapher and then decided to save the money and do them on the computer… I downloaded a font from http://www.dafont.com/ and I am really happy with the way the envelopes look. While I know this will be lots of work on me, I know it will save money and a trip to Jasper. I have booked the band “Excalibur” from Birmingham (http://www.excaliburband.net/) – they seem like a fun group that will play a variety of music. I feel like the major things are coming together nicely and now we have the small things to worry about. In my spare time, I am working on a wedding slideshow for the rehearsal dinner and reception. It is taking me forever but I think it is something we will be able to enjoy for many years to come! Daniel and I have also been doing a workbook together called “Preparing for Marriage” – it is a workbook that is focused on communication. You complete questionnaires and then meet together to discuss some answers. They are questions about kids, television, church, and everything in between. Daniel and I are very close and talk about most everything together but even we have learned new things about each other!

I mentioned earlier that Morgan was running for Circuit Clerk. We are in full campaign mode around our house. I have enjoyed seeing Morgan out and about. I know that I am a little biased but I think he will make a great Circuit Clerk and I am really hoping he wins on March 13! We have lots of these floating around – and are hoping for a good turnout and lots of support.

IF (and that is a really big IF) Daniel and I do wind up living in Butler, we will be staying at my Granny’s old house in Desotoville. To call it a “fixer-upper” would be an understatement… here is the kitchen after Daddy and Daniel spent one afternoon there…

To say it has a long way to go is also an understatement. Though it will be a lot of work (for Daddy and Daniel), we are getting to fix it like we want it since if we do move we will be living there for a while. I guess I should mention that the reason we MAY be moving home is because of Daniel’s job… long story but I am convinced the Lord works in mysterious ways and that He secretly (or not so secretly) wants me in Butler… or maybe Momma has prayed me home.

No matter what the next few months bring, I am excited about getting married and starting a life together no matter what city it’s in!

Christmas 2011

First of all, let me say that Christmas 2011 came and went faster than any before. It seems like just yesterday we were having a Halloween hay ride and then eating turkey. Here we are two days away from a new year and all I can do is look back on 2011 and wonder where the past twelve months went.

On Thursday night, Amanda and I began making Christmas treats. I am now convinced that you can dip ANYTHING in white chocolate. We dipped Ritz crackers, pretzels, strawberries, and more! I enjoyed spending time with Amanda and in the kitchen!

Christmas started for us on Friday night with Chili and Potato Soup supper at Sage and Amanda's. Unfortunately we had some sickly boys on our hands... not the little boy, the big ones :) Sage was in the hospital all day/night on Friday with his back and Daniel spent Friday in the doctor's office with yet ANOTHER sinus infection. We are now told that his is caused by allergies (after at least four years of battling this). Anyways, back to Christmas - we enjoyed Shane, his wife to be Jennifer, and all of their girls for a visit. The night was spent laughing at kids, playing blocks, and of course opening presents!!

Saturday was spent with a lazy morning and a BUSY afternoon! That afternoon, we assembled not one but two trampolines. One for Rhett and one for the Rolison girls down the street. I love living in a neighborhood where everyone pitches in to assure that the neighborhood kiddos have their "Santa" assembled by Christmas morning! Daniel, Amanda, Rhett, and I headed to Aunt Jan's for the annual Christmas Eve gathering with the Vick family. It was great to see everyone and we even had a Skype date with Daniel's Aunt Sandy who lives in New Mexico!

The Reynolds House awoke EARLY (5:30 a.m.) on Christmas to fit all the festivities in. Morgan had to do Christmas with us before leaving to do breakfast with Sara's family. It was so nice to have Daniel, Morgan, and Tyler stay at the house on Christmas Eve. We unwrapped and ooohed and aaahed over everything. Daniel surprised me with the most beautiful diamond earring jackets. I have not taken the our since Christmas - they are gorgeous! Momma saved the best present for last - she had an old friend do a pencil sketch of our house, she had them framed (on for her and daddy and one for each kid), she also attached a sappy letter letting us all know that we were each her favorite! It is truly a gift that I will treasure forever.

After the tears were dried and paper was cleaned up, we  get dressed for Round Two, breakfast at Amanda's. This has always been a tradition for Daniel's family but it was so nice to have the Davis family across the street and close enough for Momma, Daddy, and Tyler to join us. We had entirely too much food and enjoyed watching Rhett play with all of his new toys.

We left breakfast and headed to church. I hate to say that it was strange to have church on Christmas but in a way it was. We celebrate the birth of Jesus yet many people skipped out on church to celebrate Santa - strange :) The service was great and there was a good crowd in spite of the holiday and the rainy/cold weather!

When we got home from church, we began the last minute cleaning and cooking. Also, this is when Morgan and Sara swapped presents. We had been hiding "Pearl" in the guesthouse and none of us could contain our excitement! Sara opened a box with some dog treats, a chew toy, and a strand of pearls. She wouldn't get too excited - unsure of what was to come. And in walked Daddy holding the tiniest little furball, our newest West Highland Terrier of the family, Pearl. Sara was ecstatic and shed a few tears. Pearl was ready to play and loved on her new mommy!

Lunch for us included entirely too much food (much like breakfast) and lots of visiting and laughter. It was so nice to have the whole family together for a few hours at least. We also got to enjoy Cole and Mady - nothing like kiddos at Christmas! After all the food was eaten and the dishes were piled, it was time to say good bye to Daniel. Due to the jam packed weekend, I really felt like I hadn't seen him at all. Luckily, Momma and Daddy could tell I wasn't ready to say good bye and Daddy told me I could ride back home with Daniel and that Momma would come get me Wednesday (wasn't that sweet of him!). Momma agreed and I got to spend the end of Christmas with Daniel. I will be so glad when we are together everyday and don't have to worry about good byes anymore!!

I spent my days after Christmas taking down decorations and cleaning. I also finished addressing and stuffing all but 30 Save-the-Dates. Those will go in the mail soon and we can check that off our wedding to do list. The list is getting shorter but the time to complete the things is getting closer!

As I look back on 2011, I am thankful for the good times, cautious not to repeat bad times, and anxious for the new times in 2012. May 2012 bring everyone peace, happiness, and a whole lot of LOVE (I know we will have all of that and more since it will finally be the year we are getting hitched!)