Happily Ever After

While the other bridesmaids and I were passing out bubbles after Natalie and Kevin's wedding ceremony last Saturday, a woman that I didn't know (or at least didn't recognize) came up to me and told me that she could just tell that I adore my sister. She said she watched me standing up there and that I was just beaming and she said that I looked at Natalie with so much love. I told her that it's true- I love that sister of mine to pieces.

And now that sister has a new last name (she is now Natalie Furness), and I have a brother-in-law! I'm very excited about that. I even started out my toast by talking about how when Natalie and I were little, we really wanted a brother... but we got Nancy. And Nancy is wonderful, and I love having two sisters, but I always wondered what I was missing without a brother. After four years of hanging around this Kevin fellow, sometimes I thought I hadn't missed much! Kevin picks on me with the best of them... but he also is very sweet and protective of me, too, and I really appreciate that. Now he's officially my brother-in-law. It's just fun saying that. My very first in-law.

The wedding was beautiful and so much fun. Kristie did a nice job with the ceremony, Matthew did an excellent job with the music (he performed "The Luckiest" by Ben Folds), the weather was beautiful, and everyone was all smiles (and some tears). I could go on and on... but instead I'll just share some of my favorite pictures:

Me and my sisters with Matthew and Kevin at the rehearsal dinner:

My beautiful sister...

My family:

Nancy and our cousin Hillary:
The bride and groom:
Matthew and me:
My favorite picture of us from the day:
A silly shot of the bridal party:
Dancing with my daddy. He was so nervous about his big line, but he managed to deliver "Her mother and I do" perfectly.
And speaking of dancing, Matthew took some great action shots. I love Natalie's facial expressions (and her moves!) in all of them, particularly the first one in the second row.
Guess who caught both the bouquet and the garter?? And no, it wasn't rigged!
And they lived happily ever after...

Summer Shenanigans

Yeah, so I really didn't get to enjoy much of the 4th of July weekend. I was sick for four whole days straight, and then some. In fact, I was sick for over half of July. But, despite my incessant coughing and sniffles, I still managed to have a really fun month.

Where to begin... oh yes, of course. Charlotte and Jody got engaged. I'm telling you, this Year of Change keeps throwing punches all over the place. That Thursday night, I had just gotten out of the shower and heard a lot of commotion in the entryway. It was Charlotte and Aleeta, giggling. And then I saw the ring. I stared in disbelief, uttered a few "holy crap"s, and then promptly turned around, went back into the bathroom, and closed the door, just to dramatize my shock and surprise. I of course immediately came out and gave her a big, fat hug... and then the next day, she, Morgan and I hit the road for Denver, Colorado. It was my first official visit to the great state of Colorado, and I loved it. We stayed with Charlotte's family. I always love seeing where people grew up! Saturday we went shopping at this outlet mall in the mountains and went to Charlotte's friend Jonathan's wedding. And we spent a lot of fun time in the car. I tell you what, we are funny girls. I laughed more that weekend than I probably have the whole rest of this year put together. It was great, great fun.

Last weekend was Natalie Sue's bachelorette party and bridal shower. I can't believe my little sister is getting married in just a few weeks! It was a jam-packed weekend, that's for sure. Hillary even flew out for the weekend to join us. Natalie's other bridesmaids Jeanna and Rohana did a great job with the bachelorette festivities on Saturday: we went to a tea room in the morning, played games at Jeanna's house, had dinner at Genghis Grill, went to a Cedar Rapids Kernels baseball game, and then we had a slumber party at Jeanna's. At the game, we wore personalized baseball T's and even got our picture taken with the Kernels' number 15 (in honor of the number on our shirts for the upcoming August 15 wedding). Then on Sunday we followed it up with her Hollywood-themed shower (thanks to Stacy Mackey for all the ideas and all the help!). All in all, Natalie had a great time!






Change has hit me hard at work these past couple of weeks, too. Elaine gave birth to Catherine Hazel a little over a week ago- two days before, Lindsey left for new adventures in Pennsylvania. I miss them both already. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do without my two buddies! And now I've jumped into the Grants Manager position. I officially start August 17, but it's already keeping me on my toes. I'm trying to take it all one step at a time, but it still can feel overwhelming at times. I'm learning to trust that God will give me what I need to succeed in this new role. Below is a picture of the three of us before we left on our very last lunch outing together.

Matthew and I celebrated ten months together last week. It's gone so fast! Lately we've been enjoying the fruits of our garden. We have a lot of eggplant, and therefore a lot of eggplant parmesan. He's been frying some of it, and I eat it with applesauce just like I used to do when Oma made it, and now when my dad makes it. It's been a treat to have a little taste of home in this way. It tastes like summer to me.

And speaking of summer traditions, even though I was sick on the 4th, I did get to see fireworks after all at the baseball game...