Dallas in honor of Kate Rags

This past weekend I traveled to Dallas, Texas with several of my close college friends for a bachelorette party! No it wasn’t this crazy weekend that no one remembers except for male strippers everywhere, it was… tastefully done! (I appreciated this greatly!) The bride, Kate is not so into the craziness of what a typical bachelorette party tends to be, so we did it her way. I will be the first to tell you she was a TROOPER though! She did wear a sash and a veil and a flashing button that said, “I am the Bride,” which was plenty of flashiness for her! Kate’s MOH, Molly Brown is an AMAZING weekend planner! She lives in New York, but her parents were gracious enough to lend us their house for the weekend so that all the girls didn’t have to foot the bill for hotel rooms and such. We were VERY thankful of this! It gave us time to visit with each other and get to know some of the other people in the wedding. (Kate has bridesmaids from both high school and college.) 

The Bride, Kate!

Just an FYI, I promised Kate that I would not upload any embarrassing pictures from the weekend, so per re request, I have shared the ones I think she would approve of J.

There were 4 of us that drove over from Mississippi/Tennessee (Oxford, Nashville, Jackson). This was a LONG drive but SO worth it! When your funds are limited, you do what you have to do celebrate with friends J The rest of the crew flew/live in Dallas, but I’m proud to say we were only missing 1 bridesmaid. Pretty impressive if you ask me! (We missed you Bry!!!)

Some of the Bridesmaids with Kate

L to R Kate A, Leah, Kate R, Elizabeth, Caroline, Laura Kate

So what did we do to entertain ourselves on this weekend? Glad you asked! Friday we got all showered up and spent some time just lounging around this GORGEOUS house! I felt like I was in a Southern Living Magazine, the details throughout the home were incredible! Kate’s mom dropped by with a couple of her friends early in the evening to say hey and have a few drinks with us and then left us to entertain ourselves for the evening. Molly’s parents provided supper for us from Mi Cocina, a local Texas Mexican restaurant. They even had corn tortillas that my roommate, Kate and I could eat!! (you can recall that Lent is still going on, so I am still not eating bread) Yay! So proud we made it all the way through the weekend without bread  J !!!  Okay back to the fun… We played a question game that got me thinking. Here is how it went:

L to R, Holli, Leah, Elizabeth, Kate A.

One of the girls, Caroline, emailed Eli, Kate’s fiancé, a list of questions about the two as individuals and as a couple. It was Kate’s job to try and answer the same as she thought Eli would answer. Let me tell you, this marriage is going to work!! She got some answers right that absolutely amazed me! There were even some that Eli answered, she is probably going to say this and then change her mind… and SHE DID!! Scary right! Well, not really scary, they just know each other really well. I won’t share the questions with you as they were for the bachelorette party only, but the fact that she knew all of the little things about Eli reminded me just how important communication with your significant other is.  You should always feel open and free enough to say/do whatever without wondering what your other half will say. That is a real relationship. I was talking to my friend Rebekah not too long ago and she was saying how much she looks forward to road trips with her boyfriend because it gives them time to just hangout and talk without any distractions. (no TV or internet blah blah you know what I am talking about) But it’s so true! If we can just take a little time to talk to each other, you can learn some pretty awesome things about one another. It doesn’t have to be a car ride, but say a spring evening on the back porch or cooking with each other with the TV off and maybe a little music on. It is just so nice to forget about distractions of the world today and talk with each other. In my opinion, talking to each other can only bring you closer and make your relationship stronger. Okay sorry, back to the weekend.

The next morning we went to brunch at a local place called, Bread Winners. It was quite tasty! I got a yummy “scrambler.” Scrambled eggs with basically anything you wanted in them. It was a great way to start the day. The café was located in a shopping center where the next activity was to be held. Manicures and Pedicures! Whoohoo! I love these but NEVER make time to go treat myself to one. We rented out the place (which is of course Kate’s favorite) but we finished up brunch earlier than expected so we had some time to kill. Okay there are 15 girls with nothing to do for an hour, what do you think we did. SHOPPING!! There was a Neiman Marcus Last Call in the shopping center as well, so that’s where we headed. Okay if you have never been in one of these before, they can potentially be dangerous. It is a majority of the brands that are in the regular Neiman Marcus, but they are either last season, or over bought inventory that they need to get rid of and they have GREAT prices! Perfect for us folks with champagne taste and a beer wallet. Oh and they were having a buy 3 items and get 30% off sale.. SCORE! The Oxford ladies went crazy when we walked in… Keep in mind there is not a Neiman Marcus in the STATE of Mississippi J

Elizabeth, Leah, Kate R, Kate A, Me

Goodie Bags

This picture is just so typical

We all got some great deals and then headed down the way to be pampered. Okay, remember how I told you Molly is a great planner, well she struck again at the nail shop. Mimosas with raspberries! It was the most relaxed I have been in a long time!

Mags and I were put in charge of mimosas

Ladies Relaxing

The Bride being pampered

Afterwards we headed back to the house and showered up before we got to one of my favorite parts of the weekend!! Showering Kate with lingerie for her honeymoon!! I wont give details, but it was so much fun! She would kill me if I told you anything about this part, so my lips are sealed (well I guess its really my fingers are stagnant on this issue).

Mollie cut out pictures of Kate's face and posted them all over the room :) 

Presents!!

Things to embarrass Kate

She's so cute!

Forget to mention there was a quick shotgun for Bry because she couldn't be there

The bride and myself

Holli, Kate, Laura Kate

Kate A, Caroline, Carley, Kate R, Leah 

We then headed out to supper at a local pizza place called Eno’s Pizza. It was in an area of Dallas called Oak Cliff, which is sort of the art district of Dallas so that should give you an idea of what the place was like.  LOVE IT!! After dinner we had a little surprise for Kate, PARTY BUS!! All of the girls walked out before her and then Molly brought down Kate a few seconds after and we were all standing outside the party bus ready to hit the town!! 

Surprise! Party Bus!

We drove around for a good while singing and laughing and just over all having a great time! We decided we wanted to go to the bar, so we headed to Dragonfly at Hotel Zaza where we may or may not have fibbed a little to get in. Thanks J Hat! It was like no place I had ever been before. There were people there that had flown in from Vegas for the night, several ladies from the Bachelorette show (which a few of us have a guilty pleasure of watching), and then us, haha!!! Your typical southern ladies in awe of everything around us, but enjoying ourselves thoroughly.

Some of the ladies in the back of the bus

Kate A, Leah, Kate R, Elizabeth, Carley, Soder

Hotel Zaza!!

Maggie, Me, Leah, Elizabeth, Kate R, Laura Kate

We realized it was close to closing time so back to the house we went, of course taking the LONG way as to fully enjoy the party bus atmosphere. Once again we had time to just hang out with everyone, eating a little late night guacamole of course. I won’t tell you what was discussed throughout the weekend or all ofd the juicy details, but rest assured it was a wonderful weekend! It is so nice to get away with friends and just have a good time with no worries! Okay that is all for now. Just wanted to share with you my wonderful weekend! It was a great reminder of how important friends are!! Keep them and cherish them! You will be glad later down the road that you have them to turn to when you truly need them.

I continue to Charge Thru life,

Emily

Lent time!

This past Wednesday was Ash Wednesday, the official start of Lent!! 

It is that time of year again to give up something for Lent. Lent is the time to fast before the feast of Easter to mimic Jesus’ 40 day fast in the wilderness.  It is thought to be a “spiritual spring cleaning,” a time to refocus your life on the Lord and get rid of those things around you that may be hindering your relationship with Jesus. (a little tidbit I learned, the word Lent comes from the German word for springtime)

My roommate Kate and I have taken on the task of giving up bread! I know crazy right! But I like to choose something that is really hard for me and not just give up something for the sake of doing it. I like to challenge myself so I can truly strengthen my faith during this special time. I mean in the grand scheme of things…it’s 40 days! You can do anything for 40 days right…  Yes it will be difficult, but with Kate by my side, I have faith we can do it! And hey, maybe we will shed a few pounds in this process J

So, I was sitting in Pilates class Monday morning and the subject of Lent came up. My instructor, Renee said you should give up something that consumes your life and distracts you from your relationship with the Lord. When she said that, it really got me thinking. That is really what Lent is supposed to be, so what do I need to give up that is distracting me from furthering my relationship with Jesus? This is a pretty obvious one, occupying my free time at work with Facebook, Twiter and everything else on the Internet. This too will be gone for Lent. These “social networks” have changed this world both for the better and for the worse. It is truly a way to stay in touch with family members and close friends but it also creates a distraction from the real reason we are here. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not bashing either one of them because I LOVE them (just a little bit of my guilty pleasure) but I’m going to cut back significantly, specifically during work hours.

Within one week, I received two different books that will help me along my way. Cole’s Dad and Mom, Mr. John and Mrs. Cindy, both gave me books dealing with encouragement and living with and for the Lord. I have started the one that Mrs. Cindy gave me titled “God Never Blinks, 50 Lessons for Life’s Little Detours” by Regina Brett. So far it is WONDERFUL! (More on this book later, it deserves a blog post of its own)

I encourage everyone to give up something for Lent whether you are a believer or not. Just to challenge yourself and I promise you can charge thru it with flying colors! I believe in you!

With Love,

Emily

Fam Jam!

The weekend before last was VERY special to me! One of my sisters, Lilian is expecting her first child and my 3 sisters and I were lucky enough to throw her a baby shower in Memphis!! Yes, that is special enough it its own, but coming from the HUGE family that I do, it is a task to get everyone together at one time. I wont even try to explain how my family all fits together, just know that it is rare we are all in the same place at the same time. When there are 9 siblings including yourself, it is tough to find a time when someone is NOT busy. Anyway …

Sisters! (L to R Melissa, Lilian, Myself, Eva)

My step-sister Eva was gracious enough to hold the shower at her house (she has the perfect house for entertaining) The kitchen opens up into a HUGE den area where there is plenty of room to sit and gossip about who knows what. The shower was a success!! I brought some yummy pasta salad and broccoli salad that is lets just go ahead and face it, ADDICTING, from a place in Oxford called Emiliegh’s Bakery. Even with her broken hip, my mom got some YUMMY cupcakes, and Melissa(my other sister) brought some delicious chicken salad on sister Shubert rolls… Add in some fruit and sherbet punch.. YUMMY!!! 

My sister, Lilian

Cupcakes! 

Green sherbet with floating duckies!   Shower invitation 

Okay I will take this millisecond to give my BF a shout out… He is from a place called Luverne, AL. Yeah I know you have never heard of it…It is about an hour south of Montgomery, AL and I love it! Even thought it only has a population of 2,600, it is nicknamed “The Friendliest City of the South,” and it is where Sister Shubert rolls are made!!  Whoohoo! No I haven't met her, Cole.. HINT* HINT*! :) 

Okay, back to the shower…. Lilian got TONS of presents for her baby to be (in typical Lilian fashion, she isn’t finding out the sex of the baby). We had so much fun talking with our friends and family! I never realized how much stuff you need when you are having a child, especially your first child. You could just see it in her face how excited she was. She is going to be the most incredible mother. I have 3 amazing sisters to learn parenting tips from, I should be a pro by the time I have children!

Opening Gifts!

     

I knew she would be such a cute pregnant woman~

After the shower everyone from my dad’s side of the family headed over to Melissa’s house to see the rest of our family. This is the first time all of my siblings on this side have been in the same room in over 2 years, (there are 5 of us) Pretty awesome!!! We were even only missing one spouse! (you were there in spirit Jay) He is a preacher in Cleveland so he can’t go out of town too often because his most important work day is Sunday J It was SO incredible to have all of us in the same room. Now as if that wasn’t special enough, this day was also the first time I met one of my nephews! Clemens was born 6 months ago but lives in San Francisco and I am…. well…. broke.  This was also the first day Clemens got to meet my other nephew, his cousin, Pal. This day was so very special to me because I am not sure the next time I will see everyone again… Makes me sad, but I know the Lord will bring us together in time.

Peepaw (my dad) with his grandson (my nephew) Pal

Holding Peepaw's hand

 Pal with his favorite Auntie Em

Peepaw swinging with my niece, Ann

My nephew Clemens and my brother Tate

Lilian and I

It is times like these that I remember just how incredibly blessed I am to have such a loving family. We may be a large family, but the more people the more love to go around.  Yes at times it is hard to keep up with everyone and we have our ups and downs just like any other family, but I thank God everyday for each and every one of my family members! 

Everyone on my dad's side of the family

(L to R) Back Row: Jesse (brother), Caroline (Sister-in-law), Pal (nephew), Lilian (sister), myself, Peepaw (my dad) Tate (my brother), Clemens (nephew), Tom (brother-in-law) Front Row: Betsy (niece) Ann (niece) Yes they are identical twins, Melissa (my sister) and Hilary Anne (my sister-in-law)

Although it was a HUGE challenge growing up in such a large family, I pushed through and allowed it to it shape me into the woman I am today. I would not have had it any other way. 

With Love,

Emily