3 Weddings, 3 Weekends, 3 States, Part 2: Emma and Adam

Emma and Adam's wedding weekend was an amazing experience that I don't think any of us will forget any time soon.
It started off on Thursday evening, when Tim and I picked up Nora and Joe and we headed up to Vermont. We of course stopped at our favorite restaurant, the Northampton Brewery, on the way there for dinner and beers. We then continued our drive to Quechee, and stayed at my parent's place for the evening.
On Friday, Tim and Joe tried to get our car fixed (silly check engine light), then after stopping for some breakfast, we headed to the Ludlow, VT area for field games and lake swimming. We hung out with new friends and old - playing fun games,swimming in the lake, relaxing, and just enjoying a beautiful summer day. That evening with took school buses to the Long Trail Brewery for the rehearsal dinner, complete with awesome beer, delicious dinner, Ben and Jerry's, and Blue Grass Band playing. It was a ton of fun hanging out and celebrating the couple at one of our favorite places.
On Saturday, we had an amazing breakfast at the Apple Pie Co. with the Edwards and Perreaults. Awesome food, free samples, and a cute place! After an afternoon of resting, we got ready and headed up to the Castle (the wedding was at Castle Hill in Ludlow,VT), and were treated to Izze sodas with adorable straws for a refreshment during the ceremony. The bridesmaids were beautiful, the groomsmen looked great, the flower girl and ring bearers could not have been cuter, and the bride and groom were simply amazing. Tony did a great job officiating, and the rhyming vows were so sweet. Cocktail hour was awesome, and the scallops with bacon were the best! After we headed down to the reception tent, where there was a vintage 20s style theme.The speeches were touching, the First Dance to Stuck on You was so cute, and the Father/Daughter dance with a song written by Emma's dad made me cry. The cakes were beautiful (and one was an Iceberg) and the food was great. The wedding band was absolutely incredible, and we all danced all night long. It was one of the most fun receptions I have ever been too.
On Sunday, we had breakfast and headed home, exhausted and happy from the night before.
Emma and Adam truly have unique and wonderful friends, and it is so cool to see just how much they all love each other!

Tim, Adam, Joe

So cute!

Ben and Jerry's!

Ridiculous breakfast

Joe and Nora

Beautiful bride and her dad

They are crazy

:)

First Kiss

Iceberg cake

Izzes!

Long Trail tables

They are too cute

Awesome sign!

Ladies at the lake

Tim and I

3 Weddings, 3 Weekends, 3 States, Part 1: Shannon and Ryan

Our first wedding in the weekend of weddings extravaganza was the wedding of Tim's cousin Shannon and Ryan. They were married the last weekend of June (June 30th) at the Candlewood Lake Inn in Brookfield,CT. It started on Friday night with a rehearsal dinner at Down the Hatch, where we got to meet people and hang out with Tim's sis who was in town for the wedding from St. Louis. It was fun to see how excited Shan was for her wedding the next day.
 The day of the wedding was a very hot day, but with the ceremony being right at the edge of Candlewood Lake, the breeze off the water really helped! The ceremony was beautiful, with a stunningly blue lake backdrop. The purple bridesmaids dresses looked awesome with the lake, and the flowers by Mrs. D were beautiful! Shannon was beaming and a beautiful bride as she walked down the aisle toward her new husband, Ryan. There was a few awesome readings, a beautiful song by Aunt Amy, a releasing of the bees, very sweet vows, and even a fainting groomsman! All in all a very nice ceremony.
The cocktail hour had awesome hor dourves, such as fried mac and cheese and lots of fruit! The reception was a lot of fun, with a performance by Ryan and a few friends, an awesome choreographed First Dance, delicious food, and dancing sister in laws.
The couple sailed away on a boat at the end of the wedding, and it was a beautiful end to a beautiful day!

After the wedding, we had snacks and fireworks at Tim's aunt's house, and it was a blast.

The Boat Escape

Beautiful Bridesmaids

First Kiss

Sarah, Tim, Lisa

Shan and Me

Tim and I

Flagstaff Fire - Boulder

Please pray for everyone affected by this fire...so close to our former home. Pray that it does not crest over the ridge into Boulder proper, and that it stays away from those beautiful Flatirons :(

In the thick of it

Once again, life has seemed to get super crazy all at once...I know the saying is true, that when it rains it pours! Thankfully, even though it has been pouring these days (both figuratively and literally) not all of it has been negative stuff. Some of the many happenings in our life have been amazing and fun, and some have really stunk, but such is life.

 We are currently in the midst of buying our first home. We found an adorable old farmhouse in a small town in southern CT. It has a good amount of land for the area and a big barn. We love it. The down side is that it is a short sale, which means that even though the sellers have accepted our offer, we have to wait now for the bank to accept it as well...this could take forever. We are just praying that if this is the house for us that we will hear sooner rather than later. This whole process has been fun, but frustrating and patience testing!

 Tim's sister, Li, graduated from Nursing School, and we got to spend a weekend with her celebrating! We are so proud of her! :) we spent the weekend doing Crossfit, spending time with Sarah, having a party, going to graduation, having a Hine picnic, and going to Riches!

 My BFFs hubby turned 30 last weekend, and we celebrated in Northampton,MA. Nora threw Joe a surprise beer tasting party. It was an absolute blast to hang out with everyone and sample some new brews...Coconut Brown Beer anyone? We also got to spend the morning of the party with the Hersels, which was wonderful because we haven't gotten to hang out with them in ages!

 I'm also in the midst of applying for jobs for next year, and I'm trying not to stress, but I am. We shall see what happens!

 My family could also once again use some prayers. This has been weighing heavily on me as I go through day to day life, and I know I just need to stop worrying. Thank you God for all the wonderful people in my life tHat have been there for us!

 I just want to end this jumbled post by saying how much I love my hubby. Tim you are truly the best! Pictures of everything to come!

A little inspiration

Love this! Mark 10:27  Jesus was blunt: "No chance at all if you think you can pull it off by yourself. Every chance in the world if you let God do it."

Welcome to Miami

My dad and I took a vacation to Fort Lauderdale/Miami,Florida to visit my Grammy (dad's mom) and our other family. It was such a fun trip - great to spend time with my dad, see places he used to go a lot, and see my Grammy. I had a wonderful time, and really hope that I can go again with him sometime!

On Monday, we flew down to Fort Lauderdale, had lunch at a little Greek place, checked in to the hotel, had some free happy hour cocktails, and then headed over to Miami to see Grammy, Auntie Linda, and Drex. We spent a few hours catching up with our family and relaxing. It had been many years since I had seen all of them, and even more years since I had been to the house, so it was really awesome to be able to do that. I also got to  meet their bird, Rusty, who is awesome and has a HUGE vocabulary, and sings Take Me Out to the Ballgame - awesome. Then Dad and I had dinner at the hotel restaurant, and went to sleep.

On Tuesday, we woke up earlyish to catch the free hotel breakfast (always about the food with me! haha) then drove to the indoor flea market to see if there were any good deals, as the weather was a bit cloudy. It started to get nice out, so we headed back to the hotel to go to the pool and relax and read. It was beautiful out, although a little hot. We took shelter in the shade for lunch, then I did a quick run and we got ready to head back to Miami. This time I brought our wedding photos to show Grammy, as well as our pictures from CO. It was fun, but a little sad because Grammy's memory isn't quite what it used to be. Auntie Margaret and Uncle Milford came over for dinner, and brought over some delicious homemade sauce & meatballs and lasagna. It was fun to spend time with everyone!

On Wednesday, we got up early again for breakfast, got ready and headed out to Hollywood Beach. The beach is beautiful and has a really nice boardwalk for walking, biking, and running. It also has lots of restaurants and shops. We decided to rent some lounge chairs and just relaxed on the beach. It was such a gorgeous day, and the breeze made it so comfortable to sit out for hours! I didn't go in the ocean, b/c the tides were crazy and there was warnings of "dangerous marine life", but I did stick my toes in! We then headed to South Beach in Miami, and had the most gigantic Mojitos I have ever had in my life! Lunch was delicious, and I had such an awesome time sitting and chatting with my dad for a while. We then walked around a bit, and then headed to my Grammy's house again. At Grammy's I got to see a friend that I used to play with when I was a kid, and it was fun to catch up with her 20 years later! It was sad to say goodbye to Grammy, because I'm not sure when I will see her again, but this trip made me realize how much I miss that sweet lady - so hopefully it won't be long! After we headed back to the hotel, and had dinner at this amazing Irish pub across the street. I swear, everyone in the place was actually from Ireland, and the food was delicious!

On Thursday, we got up and had breakfast and relaxed by the pool for a bit before we got ready to leave. We then took a drive to Fort Lauderdale beach, and then had a quick bite at the German place my dad had been eyeing all week. Then it was off to the airport to head home.

It was really a wonderful trip - I was so happy to see my Grammy and family in Florida, and also get to hang out with my dad. I learned a lot about his childhood, and other parts of my family's life that I didn't know before. I loved it :) It was a great way to spend my spring break!

Grammy's house in Miami

Grammy and I

Auntie Margaret and Uncle Milford

Auntie Linda and Grammy

Hollywood Beach

Dad and Mojitos

Me and Mojitos

Me in South Beach

Shan's Bridal Shower & Easter

This past Easter weekend, we had my cousin in law's bridal shower, and we celebrated Easter at my cousin's house in West Hartford.

Shan's shower was lots of fun, with tons of great food! I spent the morning making Pizzagaina (Italian Easter Pie),and then spent the afternoon relaxing and enjoying the shower. It is always fun to celebrate someone getting married :)

Pizzagaina

Li, Shan, Me

me and the ridiculously heavy pizzagaina

G and her toad on Easter

Me and Tim - Easter Sunday

Family relaxing outside on a beautiful Easter

On Easter, we woke up a little late and had breakfast in downtown New Canaan. After getting ready, we took the scenic route to West Hartford since it was such a beautiful day. We spend the day eating tons of awesome food, hanging out with family, and watching the kids with their Easter egg hunt. I always love spending time with my fam, and it was a lot of fun as usual!

He is Risen INDEED!
Or, as one of my fav songs says - "My Gods not dead He's surely alive!"