Today's Blessings

I feel so very blessed to have my best friend (Judd...though Lucy is right up there too. Seriously, look how cute she is).

We celebrated his birthday last week and lately I have been thinking about how blessed I am to have him in my life. Happy Birthday Judd. Love you.

The Wedding Chronicles: Part VI

The last wedding we attended was awesome for several reasons:

1) It was LINDSEY's wedding. Lindsey has always been a bit like a little sister to me. Of course it was going to be special.

2) It was LINDSEY's wedding: Logically that only means she is going to do something silly (I saw a picture of her toasting champagne in a wedding dress while resting on a closed toilet seat. Classy....yet not going to be included in this post)

3) I LOVE her and her family.

4) The last wedding in her family included her brother being introduced into the reception in a monkey costume. You know this one has GOT to be good.

5) It was at BRYN DU. Deja Vu? Yes. It had more simlarities to ours than differences...which obviously makes it insanely awesome.

All of my High School cheerleaders with Coach Vicki

(Logically Lindsey needed to start a plastic chair rock band during the reception. The only thing missing was a monkey.)

And thus....an AWESOME wedding. Congratulations Phillip and Lindsey!

The Wedding Chronicles: Part V

At this point I feel like I have been to about 124 weddings this month. Fortunately, Judd seems to be faring rather well and I enjoy every one of them. Keep 'em coming!

Ever since planning my own wedding and attending 548 others, I have realized that weddings will NEVER be the same again. I enjoy them for reasons that I never would have realized before. The little moments are so much more special. The details are so much more noticeable. I appreciate them and experience them instead of simply attending.

A few weeks ago we had the honor of attending the wedding of our good friends, Caroline and John. Judd and I had a wonderful evening celebrating with friends. (Judd would also like to point out that John and Caroline had the best wedding food EVER. I'm sure this made Judd's experience of the wedding exponentially better as well)

And to think.....We only have 846 more weddings to attend this summer! Almost there!

The Wedding Chronicles: Part IV

Wedding season is particularly special this year. I am so proud to announce the marriage of my brother-in-law, Clay, and my NEW SISTER-IN-LAW, Heather.

Besides the fact that my "new family" desperately needed more girls (hint here Brock), I am so proud and excited to have Heather join our family. I greatly look forward to making many, many memories in the future. Congratulations Clay and Heather!

Rita and I were so excited to be given the opportunity to coordinate this wedding. We both had a wonderful experience and enjoyed every moment of making Clay and Heather's day more special. It was such an honor to have that responsibility. (On a side note, I also learned not to give Judd all of our picture taking responsibilities. This is the single "okay" picture that was taken with our camera.)

Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day!
This year I have been thinking a lot about Memorial Day. I love this video. Politics aside, it really puts the holiday into perspective. (Plus, our friend Brian is interviewed in it. Go Brian!) Enjoy!

Judd and I enjoyed the holiday by visiting with family and friends at a cookout and by attending and walking in the Grandview Memorial day parade. Lucy on the other hand, enjoyed the holiday weekend by stealing and eating the cookout hotdog buns, half a bag of chocolate chips, and about a quarter of a pizza.

Grandview Memorial Day Parade

Today's Thanks

Today I feel thankful for:

My Husband (Love you JuddT),

My Parents,

My sister,

My Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins,

My "new" family,

And all of my friends.

Blessings

I've been doing a lot of research lately for my "life long to do list". It turns out it is a lot harder than I thought it would be. The important things you do in life aren't necessarily the giant accomplishments. Instead, they are the day-to-day moments that make life more meaningful. That being said, it is rather difficult to think of the little moments and not focus on the giant life events.

I've also come to realize that I have been putting too much focus on things that I want to do in the future. If life was over today, what I want to do in the future will have no meaning. The past and present are equally as important as the future. Life is too short not to live in the current moment. Therefore, my blog is going to start a new chapter. As well as adding events to my "to-do list" I will also reflect on the blessings and little moments I have already experienced.

Jessica, reflect on the current moment and the blessing you already have instead of the ones you simply want.

Finally Summer!!!

WOO WHOO!!!! Its finally summer!!!

What is the best way to start off the summer? Ice cream with friends of course. Poached pear reisling ice cream is now officially my favorite.

Hello Summer. Its about time you arrived.

The Wedding Chronicles: Part III

Professional News!

Back Story: About 20 seconds into planning my wedding I realized this whole planning thing was a little out of my element by myself. If I was going to be the BRIDE, I couldn't also be the COORDINATOR the day of the wedding. My job was to say my vows, drink champagne, and try not to fall while wearing heals in front of everyone I know. My job responsibilities (and those of my family) couldn't also include mopping the floor, moving chairs, yelling at vendors when they bring the wrong flowers (vent over...), fixing the cake when the icing falls off (another vent over...), and calling everyone within a three county radius. I had enough to focus on with the heals....

Thus, I had the help of my dear friend Rita (We will now only refer to Rita as SuperRita). Rita is an angel. No, a SUPERHERO. I haven't the slightest idea how anyone on earth plans and executes a wedding without the help of SuperRita. NO IDEA. SuperRita made my wedding everything I had ever hoped it would be. She worked harder the day of the wedding than she probably ever thought possible. I am so thankful for the passion that she had for my wedding and the friendship that has blossomed.

Thank you SuperRita.

Flash Forward to now: Rita and myself have decided to start our own event planning and coordination business. Together, we have a very detailed knowledge of wedding and party planning and coordination, catering, and vendor services. Just this past month, we have already had the honor of coordinating Clay and Heather's wedding week, including set up, vendor success, rehearsal, wedding ceremony and wedding reception.

The responsibility of making another couple's wedding more special, relaxed, and memorable brings me so much joy. It is such a great honor to be the person to assist the bride and groom with responsibilities that are so close to their hearts. I've been that bride. I understand the emotional memories that are made in every moment on your wedding day. Rita and I cannot be more exited to make that a reality for another couple.

Thank you SuperRita. I cannot be more exited for our new adventure.

The Wedding Chronicles: Part II

Wedding season has officially started!! Our first wedding was the wedding of my sorority sister, Becky, and her new husband, Jason. What a fantastic event! I got to play "college student" all over again for an evening with (whom I would consider) THE BEST members of our sorority.

Becky and Jason included a photobooth in their reception. Judd and I fully took advantage of the opportunity. (Okay...I took advantage of it. See the previous post about photobooths. Having a photobooth directly next to your bar may or may not be a good idea.)

Love note: Becky, I love love love you. I am so glad I was able to take part in your special day. I am also glad that I was not your wedding coordinator. You are a braver, more carefree, and relaxed bride than I could have ever been. That being said, please do not go completely bridezilla after seeing this post (I love you remember?). Your wedding was beautiful and when you look back in 30 years you will laugh....I think.

Warning: The following pictures are not to be viewed by anyone planning a wedding, thinking about a wedding, paying for a wedding, or even going to a wedding. If I had viewed these as a future bride I may very well have collapsed into a little ball of lace covered stress.

The "before" shot.

Oh God....the "after" shot.

Deep breaths....

But not to worry. The cake was yummy and everything else went as planned.


Thank you for inviting us Becky and Jason. I am so happy for both of you.

Confession

Yes....I did finally blog again simply because Judd has been reminding me every day for the past 3 months. And get this....I think I have plans for more too....

The Wedding Chronicles: Part I

Judd and I have learned something new during our first year of marriage. When you invite 300 people to your wedding, you can expect to be given invitations to an UNBELIEVABLE amount of weddings over the following few years. I remember the process of sending invitations: "Well, they invited us to their wedding and we were so honored so we obviously want to do the same". It turns into a never ending cycle of wedding toasts, champagne, and First Corinthians.

Last year we had 6 weddings. This year we have 11. You read that right....ELEVEN. It is a good thing that I can honestly say I ABSOLUTELY LOVE weddings. I'm not sure what I can say for Judd...During the last wedding I found us having a conversation regarding centerpieces and we can have detailed debates on the effectiveness of invitation wording. I believe my husband knows more about weddings than any other former-groom on the planet. Challenge him. You'll see.

Life To-Do list: Check!

One of the items on my "lifelong to-do list" was to take photos in a photo booth. Thank you Becky and Jason! I enjoyed your wedding greatly and may have significantly taken advantage of your photograph opportunities.

New Hair Cut

I had asked Judd for a gift certificate to the hair dresser that did my hair for the wedding. Now that I'm on spring break, I finally used it! The color is "mocha and dark chocolate". In that case....it HAS to be good!

Happy Easter!!

You are never too old for Easter egg hunts when they are filled with lottery tickets...
Hope everyone had a blessed and happy Easter Sunday!

Welcome to my family!

I am proud to announce that I will be gaining my first sister-in-law in 2010. Seeing as though Judd's side of our family is made almost entirely of males, this is a long awaited, and highly anticipated, dose of estrogen that my family needed. I could not be more excited to have such a wonderful individual joining my new family.

In that excitement, I jumped at the opportunity to throw my new sister-in-law a bridal shower. Congratulations Heather! I can't wait until May.

Another year older

Another year older! What a blessing.

Lucy's Obsession Recovery Plan

As walked into my bedroom yesterday, I had an epiphany. Lucy has a definite problem. This can be evidenced by the giant trail of red tissue paper, cardboard heart box, and candy wrappers that used to be my Valentine's Day present. At the end of the trail sat a dog with a stomach ache, a guilty expression, and chocolate stuck in her teeth.

She is completely, totally, and fully obsessed with food. Today we are actually calling a dog trainer but are quite concerned that he is only going to tell us that our dog is nuts. When it comes to food she becomes completely insane and Caesar himself is only a dog trainer....not a dog psychologist.

That being said, we are going to start monitoring her progress in her "obsession recovery plan". We have started a list of all of the "treats" she has somehow stolen and are airing her dirty laundry on the internet. Please note that every item on the list has only been stolen since the middle of January... a month ago.

Good luck, Lucy. We are all supporting you in your obsession recovery plan....unless you eat my presents again.

Lifelong To Do List

I've added a new element to my blog. I created this blog in order to make sure that I was living my life to the fullest. If you scan down you will see that I have created a to do list to make sure that happens. I plan on crossing items off the list and adding to it as time passes.

Many Letters

Okay. So apparently I really stink at blogging. It's been a month? Really? Okay Jessica. Get back on task.

A lot has happened in the past month. Therefore, I have decided to compose this post of a series of letters.
Dear Lucy,
In the past month you have taught me several things about pet ownership. Now that I think about it....you may be the only pet in the world most of this applies to.
1) Apparently dogs can have food allergy reactions in their EAR. When you sneak a bite of the holiday ham this is sometimes the result. The vet bill was disgusting.QUIT EATING PEOPLE FOOD.
2) You are a (crappy) guard dog and you have no attention to detail. I put that giant vase near the door months ago. There was really no reason for you to start growling in that direction at midnight when I was home alone. Vases are NOT scary people breaking into the house and I do NOT want to explain this to any 911 operators.
3) I am tired of baby-proofing my home for you; a dog. For some reason you choose ONLY those opportunities to be incredibly intelligent. QUIT getting into the pantry. The marshmallows were not for you. The chocolate chips were not for you. The Andy's mints were not for you. The gum was not for you. The last buckeye was not for you. The numerous loaves of bread you have eaten were not for you. QUIT EATING PEOPLE FOOD!
4) How else can I say it?! I have no sympathy for you. You brought this on yourself. Eating an entire container of chili seasoning was a stupid idea. Beyond that, you smell like a giant burrito.QUIT EATING PEOPLE FOOD!!!!
However, after all of that I still love you...but it's a good thing you are cute. Love, Mom.
Dear former Christmas Tree,
What on earth did we ever do to you?! We simply took you home and made you gorgeous. You fell on me in December then you decided to destroy the living room and give us hives when the holidays were over. So much for the holiday spirit! The only tree we may get next year might, very well, be a picture of a tree.
Annoyed, The lady that put you in the backyard to stay forever

Dear Buckeyes,
Thank you for finally winning a bowl game. I was beginning to become embarrassed. I love you dearly....but it was about time.
Love, the fan that, most likely, has actual buckeye DNA

Dear Best Buy,
Why did you let my husband buy the world's largest television without upgrading the cable?! For goodness sake, having high definition isn't that great when the only channels that have it are the home shopping network and the channel developed by high school kids in New Albany.
Still bored, the girl with nothing on her giant tv
Dear Judd,
You rock. You make most other husbands look pretty sucky. I love you even though you took the tv master remote to work and decided to leave it there. What would you have done if we wanted to watch the home shopping network?
I love you, the person that lives with you