Green Teapot

This green teapot sits on my stove and every time I walk in the kitchen and see it it reminds me of sweet Missy. She gave it to me for a wedding shower gift. I registered for it because I've always wanted a teapot on my stove but I've never used it. I love that it's there as a reminder of so many great memories. Here are just a few.
 
Keeneland


Halloween

 

The girls ready for a night out. 

Love this face

Dancing queen

 

Mandy's wedding

 

The girls

 

Every year we had a girls Christmas party. This year we had it at Mandy's because she had new baby Leighton. 

 

Another dance party

 

Lauren and Missy dancing. They came up to visit me in Ohio.

 

Beach trip to SC

 

After the drive from SC we went to visit baby Gracen

 

My wedding shower

 

My bachelorette party

 

My wedding 

Her sister Boo came with her. I love this picture and I'm so glad my photographer caught this moment. 

 

She caught the bouquet

 

Dancing the night away

 

 

  There are so many more memories I have of sweet Missy. I miss her sense of humor and her laugh, her kind spirit, and wonderful friendship. I know she would have loved to hold Marshall and have very funny comments about his hair.

A year ago today I remember exactly what I was doing when I heard the news of her passing. Not a day goes by when I don't miss her. I can't imagine what her family is feeling or going through today. My thoughts and prayers are always with them. 

Her sister Sarah writes about her often on her blog.

 

Mandy had necklaces made for us to wear with her signature. I feel like a piece of her is with me when I wear it. 

 

 

Remembering a very important veteran!

This post is devoted to all the veterans that have  served our country, especially my papaw: Thomas Robert McHugh.

There is not a day that goes by that I do not miss him. He was a wonderful man who served in the United States Navy during WWII. 

In this picture he is the one in the middle. 

My grandfather and his 5 brothers all served in WWII. 

May we salute those that have served our country and those that are currently serving our country! Thank you for your time and loyalty to help keep this country free! 

Happy Birthday Missy!

Today is Missy's birthday. She would have been 31. She had a big 30th Michael Jackson themed birthday party last year. I wasn't able to make it and am so sad about that. Last week I was kind of depressed. I don't know if it was pregnancy hormones, end of the school year, thinking about Missy, or all of it combined. I definitely didn't want to be alone on Missy's birthday so I asked her BFFs if they could meet me at the Cincy zoo. Sadly, Mandy and Becky could not. But Lauren and rachel could! Rachel has 4 kids- Anthony, Adrian, Andrew, and Ariana; and Lauren has 1- Brooklyn. Ari and Brooklyn were flower girls in my wedding. 

It was so much fun and I am so glad that we met! It was a beautiful day, very hot at times, but everyone had a blast. 

I didn't take any pictures but Lauren took a bunch. Here's a cute one! The Manatees were my favorite. I think they would have been Missy's too because it was the only part of the zoo air conditioned. 

Here are two of just the girls. 

Happy birthday Melissa! We miss you sooooo much! I hope you are having a big party in Heaven! 

Here are some of my fave memories of sweet Missy! 

The last 10 months

Hi! Its been a long time since I posted anything. I have been debating whether or not to keep up the blog now that we are married since its called "brown-eyed bride". After looking through some old posts and realizing how much I had forgotten I decided to dive back into the blogging world. It was so great reminiscing on wedding memories. I am so glad I blogged about my wedding planning journey.

Since the wedding not much has happened around the Stan household. My little bro turned 28 in August. Rob and I went to Phoenix, AZ to celebrate his Grandma's 90th birthday. My cousin got married in Nashville In September. It was beautiful. I left my phone and camera in Ohio so I don't have one picture to document it. Fall came, which brought our first trick or treaters. We celebrated the holidays in our new home. For Thanksgiving, Rob's parents came up which was wonderful but sad not to see my Dad, brother, and other family. For Christmas, my Mom came up. It was great spending time with her, but sad not to have everyone together. Both holidays were bitter sweet. It's great to spend time with my mom and his parents but the holidays are hard on me because A- my parents are divorced and B- the first 25 years of my life I spent the holidays with my grandparents, my Dad, cousin Emily, and her mom, brother, and step-Dad. I always get sad when there's not a lot of us around during the holidays. It just doesn't feel right. I need to realize that life is different now with Mimi and Papa gone and with me living in Ohio. I hope one day I can move back to 

Kentucky. I miss my family and friends so much. It's a blessing that I've made such great friends here in Ohio.

The other sad thing that happened since we got married is one of my best friends, Melissa, passed away from brain cancer on February 8th. We thought she was going to beat it. I was sure she was going to beat it. I couldn't believe the news when she told me in October that they had found another tumor and it was inoperable. It was heartbreaking to lose Missy. She was one of my bridesmaids and I thank God everyday that she was at my wedding. Two of our mutual best friends, Lauren and Becky, are not so lucky. Becky is getting married July 4th and Lauren, October 10th. I know they are heartbroken that Missy can not be there to celebrate their marriages. I hope they know she will be there in spirit. 

Actually, Missy is the reason why I decided to jump back into blogging. I was lookign through and reading some previous posts and she was in them. It made me so thankful that I have the memories and so sad that she is gone. I miss her everyday. I don't know how her parents or sisters are surviving. It must be so hard. I'm so thankful they have Henry and Darcy to brighten their lives. She was beautiful in so many ways, smart, strong, and soo funny! I miss you sweet Melissa! We all miss you and will forever miss you. Our mutual best friend, Mandy, has the cutest blog and wrote a eulogy for her. You can read it here: Mandy's blog. Her sister has a pretty awesome blog too and blogs about Missy often. She also wrote a eulogy which you can find here Bio Girl- Missy's sister


Some pictures of sweet Melissa:

Her sister Boo helping her put on her necklace.

Becky, Missy, Andrea, Mandy, and Rachel

Missy caught the Bouquet!

Random picture from years ago (the good ol days)