WOOSH!!

I was so full of joy for my little sister on the day of her wedding. It was a beautiful day for such a memorable occasion. She had prepared for this day for such a long time, dreaming of it since she was a little girl. Katy worked very hard to make sure every detail was personal and perfect. Little did she know when she woke up that morning, how her sister would almost ruin it for her. Accidentally of course!

Hannah getting her hair done

The day started off like any other day. Jane, Hannah and I woke up, took our showers,visited with my parents, then left to go get our hair done right before lunch. Hannah had a very special hair appointment to make , as she was to be the Maid of Honor. She was incredibly excited and up for the task! I was exhausted. I had slept on the couch the night before because i didn't want Gracie to wake Jane up in the middle of the night. Silly, I know.

Katy and Hannah ,The Maid of Honor

The day seemed to fly by, as we had lunch at the hair salon and had our hair done. Once our hair was beautiful ,we ran a few other errands and made our way to the church. We were to be there at 4:00 to get dressed and prepare for pictures. Gracie napped until we got to the church and woke up about 15 minute after getting there.

Gracie taking her nap

This was a fun, but crazy time because I had to get myself ready, but also get little Gracie into her White dress. Needless to say, I was a little concerned about the damage my preciously, rambunctious, toddler could do to her beautiful white gown. There were Chick fil-A chicken nuggets and barbecue sauce in the dressing room for all of us to snack on along with a multitude of make- up bags for to her to get her little fingers into. So, I guess you could say that I was a little bit scatterbrained. Understandably so, I think.

Gracie singing into my make-up brush

Gracie putting on make-up

Craziness in the dressing room


Gracie's white dress

Once we were all beautified, all of the wedding party and family went into the Chapel to take pictures. This is the time that were were handed our flowers to keep up with. The were gorgeous flowers, in colors Gracie went crazy over. She loved them and wanted to pick them apart and eat them. She was also very excited to be awake, ( she woke up from a small cat nap as we arrived at the church), and have so many people to run back and forth to. Mommy had to run back and forth as well. I was a tired mommy be this time and was already ready for this event to be over. Luckily, Joey had just arrived in town, so he was able to help me corral our child as much as he could.

The Flowers

Gracie trying pull the flowers apart to eat them

It must be noted that Joey is often busy talking to friends and family about their ailments, and it is hard for him to step away when I need him. It is much easier for him to watch me out of the corner of his eye, pull my hair out as I run to the back of the church to grab Gracie before she knock over that oh so important Camera equipment. It would be absurd for him to try to excuse himself politely.

The Bridesmaids at picture time

While we were having our pictures taken, the wedding coordinator comes to me carrying a platinum wedding band encrusted with a row of diamonds across the top. It glistened in the sunlight as she walked in front of the windows. She said, "Sarah, you will be responsible for the groom's wedding band, keep it on your thumb until the pastor asks for the rings". I instantly tried to politely refuse this task. I did not need to be responsible for anything else other than me and Gracie. I was already having a hard time keeping up with just her. And with my luck over the past few days, I just wasn't willing to risk it.

Several other bridesmaids offered to take responsibility for the ring, but she insisted that I do it. She jammed the ring onto my thumb and said, "keep up with this! Don't lose it! Surely you can keep up with something for two hours."

"Fine. I will keep up with it."

I have to say that I was not feeling very confident about my new task. It took another hour and a half to finish up with pictures, then we returned to the dressing room to wait for guest to arrive and be seated.

Katy and my mom

While we waited in the dressing room, Katy was "banished" to the Bride's Room to spend time with my parents, pray,and collect her thoughts before the wedding started. I took this time to reapply some lip gloss and eat some chicken nuggets. Then I decided I should brush my teeth before I walk down the isle with chicken in my teeth. So, several of us girls went to the bathroom. While brushing my teeth, I decided I should "use the facilities" before the wedding started. I was in a hurry! The wedding party was lining up to start get the wedding started.

Katy wore boots under her dress

I was finishing up, and pulled up my panties. As I did so, the ring slipped off of my thumb!! Yes, it did! I will admit it, I said a few bad words as I didn't want to stick my hand into the dirty water to retrieve Dustin's wedding band. I bent forward to put my hand into the toilet and I heard a loud WOOSH, as the the very special ring that Katy picked out for the love of her life, flushed down the toilet and went sailing into the pipes below.

What do you do when you flush the ring down the toilet at your sisters wedding? You sob!! I Sobbed and Blubbered! Then I panicked! OMG! I have to tell her. The wedding was to start in five minutes. I had to tell her! I wanted to flush my own head down the toilet! I couldn't so sobbed into the wheelchair access rail on the wall of my stall. Bridesmaids kept running in to see what was wrong with me, and if it was a joke. It wasn't!

We only had a few minutes until the wedding was scheduled to start, so I went to find Dustin! He always knows what to do, he was a Paramedic and Firefighter at one point. They are trained to respond well in traumatic situations. At least he would be there to provide CPR, when Katy beat me to a pulp after she found out what I had done. She never would, I seem to let my imagination run when I am in a panicked situation.

Dustin, The Groom

Of course, he did have a solution as to what to do. Although, several people offered to let us borrow their ring for the ceremony;he knew Katy wouldn't be satisfied with someone else's ring. So he sent Eric, Holly's Husband, on a wild goose chase to find a ring that Katy had bought him on a for Christmas a few years ago. Luckily, Eric didn't do as he was told. Instead, he and a friend of his drove a million miles an hour to the nearest mall and purchased a new ring. Then he drove just as fast to bring the ring to the church. Yay!! Eric saved the day.
While Eric went to find a ring, Someone broke the news to Katy that I flushed the ring down the toilet. She laughed!! The wedding coordinator explained to her that we could just borrow a ring for the ceremony. She refused!! She wanted to give Dustin his own ring. She then spoke to me and reassured me that she was totally happy and okay. Not mad at me in the least!! I kept sobbing!! I couldn't stop! She hugged me and I went back to the dressing room to fix my running make- up.

On the way to the dressing room, I tried to stop crying and take a deep breath. I was feeling better until the wedding coordinator caught me. She backed me up to the wall. Not aggressively, but in an "I'm in charge" kinda way. The ring had arrived while I was in the Bride's Room. While holding hostage on the wall and glaring, the wedding coordinator said, "Sarah! This day is not about you! Katy may be at at you for about five years, but I promise, she will eventually get over it! Now, dry up those tears, go wash your face and reapply your make-up. Get it together!" So I did.

The Bownds

The wedding party lined up and the wedding started. It was amazing! I was so proud of my sister! She truly has grown up to be such a compassionate and forgiving person. Lucky for me!

A Wedding Story

My little sister and Best Friend, Katy got married on August 8th (8-8-08). It was a great weekend, but there were a few glitches. I wanted to share them now that I have beautiful pictures to remind us of the fact that regardless of a few mishaps, the wedding was better than anyone could have dreamed of. Katy was a RADIANT Bride in both of her gowns. (Yes there were two. One for the ceremony and one for the reception.) And Dustin very handsome as well, but I can't say that I was the right choice as a bridesmaid. Not that I didn't want to be a bridesmaid, because I did and was very honored to accept. I just happened to be a "Hot Mess" the entire wedding weekend!

Me and the other bridesmaids

How about I start from the beginning...

My mom's back yard
Rehearsal Dinner had been planned to take place at my parents house. Well, since January, my parents house has been under reconstruction and still isn't quite finished. Still, that is where the bride and groom wanted to have their dinner so my mom intended to be a fabulous hostess. That was until she smashed her finger off closing the gate at her shop, (My parents own a casing business called Permian Power Tong), 6 days prior to the big dinner.

My mom and Dad dancing with her broken finger
Well, being the perfect child that I am, I rushed home to her aid. To literally be her right hand.LOL! Not so perfect, I guess. Over the course of the week, lots of people chipped in to make sure the house was ready for guests. The part where my "hot messness" began was about 20 minutes prior to rehearsal. Everyone was suppose to meet at the church, so Jane and I loaded Gracie up in my mom's brand new car to leave...

I must note here that Jane from Janiebirdphotos came to photograph the entire weekend. Also, it must be said that I had just argued with my mom over whether I should take the rental car that we rented for Jane to the church or whether I should drive her car. She wanted me to take her car. Gracie and i had made quite a mess in her car, so my mom wanted to drive the cleaner, not cluttered rental car.

So, Jane, Gracie, and I loaded up in my mom's car. As I climbed into the driver's seat; Holly, my older sister pulled up behind me in the drive way. She asked me a question about shoes as she ran into the house. I am not sure where my brain went, but I proceeded to sit down and put the car in reverse. SMASH!!!! I backed into Holly's brand new car!!! My mom and Holly ordered their cars at the same time and both were about 6 weeks old.

My brain immediately dropped back into my head as I began to sob and apologize. Both my parents and sister did their best to console me as we all took a moment to assess the damage. IT was BAD! I felt awful. Jane could only laugh in shock. My very forgiving sister Holly

Still, we didn't need to be late to the church, so we all hugged and loaded up in our separate cars to head to the church. My foot trembling on the gas pedal and me blubbering the entire way.

The Church entrance
I couldn't stop crying once we landed safely at the church. News spread of my little incident as the night went on. I cried through most of rehearsal, having to tell everyone to ignore me and I would be fine.

My family at Rehearsal
(Katy hugging our little sis Hannah, my dad,Me holding Gracie, & Holly holding her baby Jake)

Rehearsal Dinner went great!! The caterers did a fabulous job on the food and tables. I thought my bad luck was over. Later that night I locked Gracie in the car. She was sleeping so she didn't know, but needless to say I am grateful to have Onstar!!

The buffet line at the dinner

Come back tomorrow to read about how I almost kept the wedding from happening!!

Finally!

So today was the first day that I truly felt like a real family in our new house. We have lived here since April, so it was a long time coming! We have been so busy this summer, so it has been difficult to do anything as a family. As you know, Joey is in his first year of residency, so he is constantly on call. He is exhausted all of the time as well. On the same page, Gracie and I have been in and out of town quite a bit this summer, and when we go out of town, we stay out. LOL! We never stay anywhere for less than a week. So, needless to say, It has been a crazy place around here all summer.
Well, summer is winding down. Today was just a quiet Saturday afternoon, and I loved it!! We did whatever we wanted to do. There were no places we needed to be or anything we needed to do. It was glorious!
It was so hot here tod ay! Joey started the day by bringing Gracie and I Chickfil-A for breakfast. I love their chicken minis. Then we let Gracie take a dip in her pool. Joey did some yard work and I just sat with my tootsies in the water.
After we were baked by the sun, Joey took a nap and Gracie and I watched a Lifetime Movie.
Once he woke up, I took a 2 hr nap and he and Gracie played until she finally conked out.
I woke up to RAIN!! It was Crazy! It had been so hot outside, but it was so nice to wake up to the smell of the rain.
The rain blew over as quickly as it came. I was so disapointed. Everything outside quickly dried up, so Joey decided to cook hamburgers outside on the grill. YUM!! They were yummy!!
It was a great day!! Gracie went to bed without a fight (in her own crib).
Sooo... I didn't do any shopping today, but it was even better to just be a family at home.
My sister is coming to visit on Monday, so we will shop then. I hope you all had a blessed Saturday as well! I hope tomorrow is even better!

P.S. Once I learn how to put pictures on here, I will do so. Bare with me until then!!

TGIF!!!!

I am glad it is Friday!! I am so looking forward to the weekend. I am planning to do a little school shopping for my little Gracie and am very excited. This isn't any old shopping!! NO! NO! This is our first school shopping experience and are hoping to start a few "new school year" traditions tomorrow. Any suggestions on fun traditions are totally welcome!

I know what you are thinking. Gracie?? School?? Oh yes! Gracie starts Mother's Day Out on Sept. 2nd. I don't know exactly what I will do with my new free time on tuesdays and Thursdays, but I plan to spend it doing everything I WANT to do.
First Stop.... Nail salon! I love getting a new pedicure! It makes me feel like a new lady.
My mom and i think that everyone should get a pedicure once every two weeks. Wouldn't that be fabulous!!!

I know I sound totally excited about little Gracie going to school two days a week, but I am also a little sad about it. My little baby is a baby no more. She is officially a toddler doing toddler things. She is growing up so fast!! It makes me want to cry just thinking about how things change in the blink of an eye.

NEWBIE!!

So... Hi! My name is Sarah.

I am new to the blogging world and it seems as if the cat got my tongue as far as this first blog is concerned, so i will just rattle off the basic info that is necessary for my readers to have an idea of who I am. I am twenty five, (soon to be 26 in october). I am struggling a bit with my age these days. The idea of growing older is a little bit unnerving to me right now. I don't know why.
Anyway, I have a great husband, Joey. He is a first year podiatry resident. I am a stay at home mom to our precious little toddler named Gracie. She is 15 months old and Growing like a weed.
We recently moved back to our home state of TEXAS!!! We had been living in Cleveland, OH for a few years while Joey finished up Podiatry school. I am a Texas girl through and through, so I am sooo much happier to be home.
I have so much more to say about things but felt it necessary to get the awkward introduction out of the way first.
I hope you like my beautiful page. My friend Ashley (from the blog have a lovely) made it for me, as I am basicly incapable of doing anything more than turning this computer on. Well, I hope you come back to read tomorrow's post. I promise it will be way more intersting! So until then...