Jesse's wedding!

So over Labor Day weekend my little brother got married on August 31, 2013. His now wife Kelly is amazing and they are perfect for each other. I couldn't be more happy for them! Rob and I took half days at work on Friday so we could make it down to Ky for the rehearsal. Kelly asked me to be a bridesmaid so I was in the wedding. One of the best parts about the wedding was seeing family I hadn't seen in over 8 years! My mom has 7 siblings, 6 who are still living. 5 of her siblings traveled from far places to see Jesse get married- Diane from California, Mary Ellen and her daughter Karlifrom California, Danny his wife Joan, and son Michael from Oregon, Monica and her husband Gary from NJ, and Liz from California.

When we got checked into our hotel room a welcome bag was waiting. I love this idea. It had goodies from Ky and the itinerary of the weekend. I took a picture of the bag bc it was so cute. 

Friday night rehearsal-

My mom was in charge of the rehearsal dinner and she did a great job planning it. She had it catered and had a guy with karaoke set up for entertainment. It was a hoot! 

Here are some pics:

My Uncle Gary, Monica's husband, serenaded the bride and groom! 

My beautiful aunts Monica and Liz. The wedding colors were Ky blue, yellow, and black. My mom gave coozies and playing cards as favors for the rehearsal dinner. Kelly's family loves to play cards and they play all night long, literally. 

My cousin Michael, son of Danny, with my Mom.

The beautiful married couple to be 

My mom, Kelly's mom, and Kelly's aunt singing karaoke! hilarious! 

Jesse and Kelly singing Love Shack! 

On Saturday the bridal party met at Kelly's mom's house to get ready! We were supposed to take pictures outside but right around the time we were ready it started pouring rain! So the photographer made due and set up some photo ops indoors. 

Here is the day in pics:

Kelly getting primped

Kelly's cousins made this hanger instead of buying one. They are very crafty! 

Mrs. McHugh!

Tasha holding her gorgeous gown! 

Putting it on

She put a shirt over her face so her dress wouldn't get makeup on it. 

Her vail was custom made from her moms wedding gown. Gorgeous!

It's on- woo hoo! 

Kelly and I. I was thankful for the black dresses since I am 6 months pregnant. 

I tried to get a picture of the rain but it didn't show up in the picture. 

It was pouring when we were getting into the limo to ride over to the venue. But Kelly's stepdad had umbrellas and escorted us out. 

Kelly and Samantha in the limo

Tosha and I in the limo 

I can't believe I didn't get a picture of all the bridesmaids together! 

She took off her dress to ride over to the venue. Here it is hanging up. 

Which meant she had to put it back on. 

My brother and his groomsmen. 

They're married! 

Grooms cake. Go Cats! 

First dance 

Mother/ son dance 

My cousin Emily and I. She is my cousin on my Dads side and we have been very close our entire lives. She lives in Indiana so we don't see each other as much as I would like. :( 

My dad and stepmom, Lois

My Aunt Mary Ellen and her daughter, Karli

My Aunt Monica and Uncle Gary. I just love her new haircut don't you? 

The 4 cousins from my moms side- Jesse, Michael, me, Karli

Rob and I- the only picture we took the entire weekend and it didn't turn out good at all! 

My beautiful Aunt Liz- My moms youngest sister. Blurry I know! It's the best I got from my iPhone. 

Aunt Monica, me and Aunt Liz

My Uncle Danny and his wonderful wife Joan 

The whole family! Gary, Diane, Rob, Joan, Danny, mom, Monica, Karli, Mary Ellen, Liz, and Michael! 

Where was I- with the bridal party taking pictures of course! 

They had records for guests to sign instead of a guest book. It was a really cute idea! 

The bride and I

It was a beautiful wedding for a beautiful couple. Congrats Jesse and Kelly! I'm so excited to have a sister! Love you both! 

1 year Anniversary!

On July 21, 2012 I married the love of my life. That was exactly 1 year ago. So much has happened in the last year. Many ups and some low points too of course. When I reflect back over the last year I think about all that we have accomplished and all the good memories that we've made. We are blessed and God has given us so much to be thankful for. What a wonderful life! I went through the wedding pictures and chose some of my favorites that really tells the story of our wedding day. I wish somehow, I could redo our special day over and over again! 

Getting Ready 

Bridal party 

Beautiful mantel 

Programs

Mom and Dad getting ready to walk me down the aisle 

Laughing because I tried to kiss him

Mr. And Mrs. Stan 

Tables 

Dad and Lois 

Mom and Jesse 

Cake 

First dance- At Last  

Flower girls watching

Dad and I dancing

Rob and his mom 

My brother Jesse and Kelly dancing away 

Rob and his Dad 

My Mom and  I

Saying good-bye 

To celebrate our first anniversary we had a casual fun day to ourselves. Nothing fancy, but it was nice to spend time together. I wanted to make Rob breakfast but after eating out the last 4 meals I made us healthy kale/ banana shakes. After working out we gave each other our gifts. Rob gave me Gerber Daisies and in the card he wrote that I could pick any concert to go to since the 1st anniversary's present is paper. 

I gave him his favorite candy, Twizzlers, and the art of shaving soap/ soap dish that he's been wanting. 

We decided to head to Easton for lunch next. We tried to go to our favorite place, North Star, but there was a line out the door so we ate at Cosi instead. We also wanted to see a movie and thought a matinee would be perfect. Between lunch and the movie we stopped in Buy Buy Baby to look at baby stuff. It was fun just browsing. The movie we picked was The Conjuring. We love scary movies and it was opening weekend for the movie so were excited to see it. It was actually really good. Once the movie was over we were ready for dinner since we skipped the popcorn. We tried NorthStar again and no wait! We actually sat outside which is surprising since its usually a lot hotter in July. We talked about how far we've come, memories, and how happy we are today. After we ate, we browsed through Barnes and Noble then decided to head home. On the way Rob suggested we stop for ice cream so we drove over to the only ice cream shop in our little suburb and it was closed! The next best thing was our local grocery store. We each got an individual flavor which was perfect so we didn't have a big tub of ice cream sitting in the freezer. We sat on the front porch and enjoyed the ice cream. I thought about how this is going to be our one and only anniversary without kids. How crazy! I've always dreamed of getting married and having children but I can't believe this is my life now! So blessed!