Keep Holding On!

Hello blogging world! Long time no see. Really, really long time! I promise, I am still alive and kicking. I want to eventually do a "what you've been missing" post, but there is just too much on my plate right now to give these past six months any justice. Obviously, if you couldn't tell, my semester started right after my last post and there has been no stopping since! I'll give the rundown later with pictures galore, but between working at Anthro, full time grad student, picking up running again, and of course hanging out with my man :)--I was a bit busy this Spring semester. Funny thing is, that seems like nothing now.

This summer, I'm taking two classes, working about 18 hours a week on site at my practicum, working a shift or two a week at Anthro still, training for the Peachtree, spending time with friends, family, and as much time as Brian and I can fit in, studying for my exit exams coming up this fall, and oh yeah planning my wedding!!!!! Eeeeee! I really wish that I could do this blog justice to talk about the in's and out's of wedding planning (I have quite a few thoughts haha), not to mention telling our engagement story, but that will have to wait. Life is happening too quick while I'm sitting in front of this computer screen and as much as I miss the therapeutic and connection piece with friends from far with my blog, it will have to wait until life taps the brakes a little bit!

I haven't forgotten about you and trust me, an update will come! It might not be until August when this semester is over, but better (really) late than never!

An AKA Wedding!

So if you haven't picked up on this by now, my friends and I in high school were all about "clubs"...well, I wouldn't say clubs per se, but putting a name on our groups (Foosball #2 as an example). Well another acronym named group is AKA--Anna, Kristin, and Alexa...later with the addition of Annie. Anna was a year older than Alexa and I while Annie was a year younger.

AKA did nearly everything together. We shared guard as a common interest and in our limited time off, we would go on adventures. Adventures ranged through a course of activities; dressing up for fancy dinners around East Cobb, visiting graveyards, movie marathons, driving around just for the heck of it. We did what we could to keep ourselves entertained around the EC. Anna was always ready for a new adventure and often came up with some pretty advantageous ideas!

We even went on a vacation with Anna's family--those are memories I will never forget! 

Anna and I both went to Georgia, but I was busy with the sorority and she was busy with theater and plays. Once and a while, Alexa would come visit and we would try to catch up. I especially loved when Annie and I got to see her in a play one year!

But sadly, we got wrapped up and drifted. Anna moved to California for a stint while I was in Chattanooga. She started dating and got engaged to Wayne! During a trip home a year an some ago, AKA was reunited at one of our traditional brunch places, J. Christopher's. The last year we had a Serenade reunion and I was reconnected with AKA all over again! It was so fun to reminisce, catch up, and just spend time together with old friends. 

The little time I've gotten to spend with Wayne, I can so easily see his and Anna's strength in their relationship. Anna's quirky, fun personality is so compatible with Wayne and I am so excited for their wedding tomorrow. I consider it an absolute blessing to be invited! I hate that I haven't been able to go to either her shower or bachelorette party, but it has been a busy wedding season for me to say the least!! (Anna's will mark my 10th invite, 7th to attend this season) Anna will be a flawless bride and I cannot wait to see her on her special day!!

The Road to Mary's Wedding

So I normally do this post before the actual wedding day and I started this post at least 4-5 times last week, but time got away from me and it just never happened. But it is happening now! 

So I've known Mary since high school. I couldn't tell you the day or time that I met Mary (which is a creepy gift that I typically have for specific memories like that), but all I know is that before I knew it, we were apart of FB #2 and apart of each other's lives forever. 

We both went to UGA, but lost touch over the years...different schedules, different friend groups, you get the gist. We had a little reunion in 2010 over Thanksgiving with a group of our high school friends, FB included of course, and were reconnected at long last! That was the first time I met Dan. He and Mary met on October 20th in 2006 at a Halloween Party while she was at Georgia and he was getting his PhD at Tech. Dan got his undergrad at Florida, but other than being 0 for 2 for school choices, Mary thought he was pretty alright.

In early 2011, Dan proposed to Mary while they were traveling in London! We got the overjoyed text from Mary while she was traveling. Before long, FB started getting together to catch up and celebrate Mary's upcoming wedding! Mary wanted plenty of time to plan, lose some weight, (holy COW she looks awesome now!!) and figure out work/living situations for she and her fiance :)

 Over the next year and a half, I got to hear so much more about Mary and Dan's relationship and how much they meant to Mary, but even better, I got to know Dan when we went to Vegas!! He was such a great sport to put up with all of the girly talk and picture taking!

Even though Dan was in Portland, there have been a couple of weekends he's made it in town, St. Patrick's Day was probably my favorite.

I have loved being in Marietta and so close to Mary so she and I could spend some intentional time together as friends. The way our friendship has grown one on one and our FB friendship has meant so so much to me, especially to share honestly as the wedding quickly approached.

Getting to help plan and celebrate Mary's Bachelorette party has been another gem in our friendship/wedding approaching celebrations of course!

And now that the wedding weekend has come (and gone...), I was so glad that I got to celebrate her love with Dan!! Mary's friendship means so much to me and that fact that even if life got in the way for a while, our friendship has grown stronger with the test of time. Dan is the perfect match for her, beyond a shadow of a doubt. Their wedding was so perfectly them, but more on their awesome wedding celebration later!

Samantha's Getting Married!!!

Samantha and I became fast friends during my last full summer working at camp in 2009. She had gone to Christ Pres Academy with several other camp staffers and was one of Jerry's recruits from the old church he had worked with. She and I had mutual friends so conversation came easily. The "moment" that I really remember as the start of our friendship was during clean up week when we were raking the path beside the camp store. I can't remember what exactly we talked about, but it was that day that I remember thinking of her as a true friend.

Although she only worked the first term, we spent all of those weekends together with friends and I got to see her soon after camp ended when I went up to Knoxville for Boom's Day over Labor Day weekend. Hands down, still one of my favorite memories with camp friends.

Throughout the years, we kept in touch the best we could with our busy schedules, but definitely took advantage of random weekend trips, birthdays and camp friend's weddings (like Matt and Drexel's and Hannah Card's!) when we could spend quality time together face to face. 

Fast forward to this past fall. Samantha was in town visiting Elliot--pause: Insert Elliot and Samantha's story. Elliot and Samantha went to high school together and were in the same group of friends. His senior year/her junior year, Elliot asked Samantha to prom. They both went to Africa that following summer with their church on a missions trip and started dating soon after that. Both E and S went to the University of Tennessee so they at least were in the same city after dating for a year. Something I have admired so much about their relationship is that they both encourage each other to experience their own adventures while the other is their cheerleader, even if it's from a distance. After graduating, Elliot moved to Chattanooga when he was offered a job at Amazon while Sam finished up nursing school in Knoxville.

Okay, that brings us back to this fall when Samantha was visiting Elliot in Chattanooga. I had Sam up to my mountain home for dinner one night she was in town. Earlier that day, our sweet friend Taylor had called me to tell me what Elliot was planning on proposing and wanted to have a surprise engagement party with her friends and family after he popped the question. I have never had to so consciously lie again and again to a friend like that!! We talked about how hard it was for her to wait for their next step, considering they had been dating for over 4 years, and she was anxious for a commitment of forever. Holy. Toledo. I wanted to scream--It's coming! So soon! It'll be perfect! And wonderful! But nope. I held my tongue. Go me. Seriously, I considered that a more than small feat to keep a straight face that whole night.

A few weeks later, Erin, Cara, and I hopped into Cara's car to visit Knoxville for the afternoon to surprise our friend after her engagement. Naturally, I was the sappy one and started to tear up when I saw the absolute look of surprise when Samantha saw that we were there. And the wedding planning began!

 And now the weekend is finally here!! Samantha and Elliot are going to be Mr. and Mrs. Dyson tomorrow evening and I am so excited to celebrate their marriage! And almost as excited, selfishly, I am so excited to and catch up with wonderful camp friends that I don't get to see or talk to nearly enough.

Cheers to Samantha and Elliot! So excited to be apart of your special day as you start your life together as husband and wife! :)

Top Ten of 2011

One of my favorite posts to do is always right around the start of the new year. I love my "Top Ten" post because I can look back every year and see how far I've come and have the chance to reflect on the things I'll remember from that year. So here's my top ten of 2011:

 10. This past year, I got to go on Spring Break to Southwind as an adult leader for Wyld Life. (When did I become old enough to chaperone things...much less be one of the most responsible?) I loved the middle schoolers that we had, but a highlight of the trip was getting close with Paige and Kelsey. I love these girls so so dearly and will always treasure memories from that trip!

9. When my life was in limbo from September through now, something that gave my days purpose was working with the Signal Mountain Guard. These girls were so fun and easy to teach. I really missed the sport and it amazed me how quickly it all came back to me. One of the biggest pulls for me to stay in Chattanooga for school was that I could teach this guard again. I hate that I won't be able to teach this group of girls again next year, but I am so grateful for the time I spent with them!

Part 2 of my time in limbo was working at Ribbon and Bows Oh My. Again. Although it wasn't my first choice of jobs and not something I really bragged about to people, I LOVED getting to know my co-workers. They made work fun to be at and I really valued their friendships more than they know. They made my time their feel worthwhile and I loved that we had friendships outside of work too. :)

8. This part of my yearly highlights has become a regular and I have a feeling it will be the case for the next few years: my friends weddings and babies and engagements!

The first wedding of this past year was extra special because I got to be apart of the wedding! I felt so blessed to be one of Hannah's bridesmaids! 

The others were so fun too (and less stressful because I got to just show up!)

And I will remember 2011 as the year that my friends are starting to have babies too! 

And I always love getting the phone call or text from close friends to share the excitement of their engagements! Mary, Kathleen, Shahrukh, Becca, Katie Lewis, and Samantha Stevenson are just a few that some to mind! I cannot wait to share each of y'alls special days with you in 2012!

7. Whenever I get the chance, I love to spend time in Athens. I get to reminisce over my days in the Classic City, go to football games or concerts, and catch up with friends! I definitely am trying to take advantage of the fact that I have very little tying me down so I like to make as many weekend trips as possible!

6. I love youth group in the summers and this being my 2nd summer was no exception. I felt like I had the hang of things a little bit better but man! this summer flew by! The two big trips we had planned were only a week apart so that threw off any kind of a normalcy for the month of July! But I will always remember my trips to RYM in Panama City and a second trip to New Orleans with the middle schoolers. Both of those trips came after I found out my contract wasn't going to be renewed so it was a wonderful, bittersweet time that I could really be intentional with the students knowing that would be one of the last big things I did as their youth leader. 

5. Time with my family is another mark of a great year that will always make my Top Ten list. This year, the 2 things that come to mind when I think about family time was the Mardis family Destin Trip and the annual Rover Rally. 

Staying in a huge house with lots and lots of Mardis' makes for a loud and fun week at the beach. I love that this is becoming an every other year tradition!

 Another family memory from 2011 is our annual Rover Rally! I'm so glad that Kirby and Felicity could make it! It was so memorable and fun to have a "redneck" type weekend of offroading, eating lots of barbeque, and getting to stop by the apple orchards on the way home. Even more memorable because we were stuck on the side of the road-thank goodness the Rovers that came soon after we stalled were well equipped!

4. The 3/4 of this year that I was the middle school girls youth leader at First Pres will be memories that I cherish forever. That job was my ideal. My dream job. And I know that God has some crazy plan worked out to show me something even better and He's already showing that to me by opening the door for me to go to grad school in 2012, but that doesn't make how bittersweet it was to say goodbye any clearer right now. The conversations, time spent together and the beautiful friendships that I had and still have with the students, parents, and volunteers of that ministry impacted my heart and guided my walk with the Lord. I have too many memories to recount, but I love that ministry and what it means to me. 

3. FB Goes to VEGAS. What else could be said? 

2. Living in the mountain Home, Bob and Lisa, my small group, and my friendship with Kelly and Cary. I don't even think words can describe the magnitude of how deeply each of these things/people have affected my year. I've talked several time about how much I love and respect Bob and Lisa and cannot thank them enough for their generosity to let me live in their guest house for free. They are so generous, understanding, and honest without question. The girls in our Monday night small group have been a consistant part of my life and so supportive when my life has been in limbo. And Kelly and Cary. I'm so grateful for K's continued friendship and our newfound friendship with C. The Trio will be around for some time to come and I don't think I could have handled the ups and downs of this year without them. 

My favorite memory that involves all of these people was my birthday weekend at the Franklin's lake house. I loved every minute of that weekend with them. 

1. And finally, what I will love to look back and think about when I think about 2011 is being an aunt. My nieces have held the #1 spot on my countdown for the last 3 years and 2011 is no different! I am so grateful to be close to both of my sisters which allows me a chance to be close to both of my nieces. And it's so convenient that the Newmans are at my parents house and the Clelands are a quick drive to Atlanta! I LOVE being an aunt--being apart of the milestones, spending time with them, and seeing them grow. They are such a big part of my life and of my heart! 

 Here's to a great 2011 and an even better 2012! I'm excited for what the Lord has in store for my life as a student, my friends' weddings and babies that will be arriving, and lots more quality time with my friends and family!