Wedding Rememberings

Since tomorrow is our anniversary, I wanted to take the time to share some of my favorite things about our wedding...
I loved taking communion with all our friends around us, it made the whole thing seem so special and intimate.. especially when Simon said "mmm, this wine is good" and all whole wedding party started laughing
I loved giving roses to my Mom and Simon's Mom, they both me so much to me and helped so much with the wedding.
I loved having Lynn Holt and Angel Hager there to keep me calm and make sure everything went well.
I loved walking out to "We are one tonight" by Switchfoot and Simon planning that Christian would set off the confetti...it was amazing
I loved listening to Josh and Lizzie sing my fav Bethany Dillon song ever, it was beautiful.
Hearing about how Simon introduced Kevin and Kerry as Kevin and Kerry Knight, which made the entire Challenge crew start laughing was great.
I loved our vows.
All my friends and family who were there made the whole thing so special and I hope that everyone felt they were sharing an incredibly special and intimate day with us. I am excited for the rest of the journey to come...

Last weekend in Lincoln

I can't believe that this was my last official weekend in Lincoln. I am sure I will come back to visit but still something about this weekend marked the end of a chapter in my life. It is just odd that I will never go to a class again at UNL or walk between Andersen and the Union. I will miss Ivanna Cone, Lazlos, Bison Witches and most of all my friends. I will miss Theresa's smile, knitting with Emmy, my hangouts with Michelle, my friends from Challenge, all the wonderful friends at Rivertree and so many others. Please, Please come and visit us in St. Louis if you get the chance! We would love to have you!

yay!

Simon's job here in Nebraska wants to keep him on while we move to St. Louis. This means Simon will be able to work from home, a coffee shop or basically wherever he wants to work. This is huge and so exciting for him (basically his dream idea of a job) so we decided to go out to eat last night.

We ended up at Outback where they were having their no worries Wednesday special. Apparently Wednesday is the new Saturday..who knew? Anyways basically we split a meal that consisted of steak, chicken, three jumbo shrimp and two sides of mashed potatos AND got a bloomin' onion for free. craziness..we walked out of there spending $25 and felt like we had cracked the Outback steakhouse system. It was a great night and we are so excited for St. Louis.

Weekend Recap

On Friday night, we went to James Arthur vineyard for a wine tasting. It was a beautiful night and it was so much fun walking around drinking wine and eating appetizers. My favorite wine was the Red Ibis while Simon enjoyed the Nebraska Red. We also found out that we both like Jambalaya. Probably the most comical par the this whole thing was when Simon was brewing beer with some of the guys the next day and pulled out the map of the vineyard to show "what we did the night before."

Afterwards we went to the Huckabees, to help celebrate Bailey's birthday...she turned 17, which makes me feel older for some reason. Simon's grandparents were there and we talked about our favorite movies and books. I am going to miss all of them, they make me feel like part of their family whenever I am around them.

We saw Ocean's 13 on Saturday night, I loved it and was laughing out loud several times during the movie. I think Matt Daemon probably cracked me up the most...I won't give away why.

Yesterday, we went over to the Becker's for a real BBQ. Alan smoked beef and pork in a wholemade ceramic smoker and grilled salmon. It was incredible. We also learned a new hobby of Alan's the bean bag game. This game consists of two boards with holes in them and four bean bags per team. You throw the bean bags at the boards to get points. one point for getting on the board, three points for getting in the hole. It sounds simple, but yesterday I learned bean bag is a game of strategy and high concentration. What can I say...we are still in Nebraska....and games like this make our weekends fun.

we got our condo!!!

Yay! our condo is secured and moving to the Lou is feeling more and more real every day. It's in Lafayette square and is absolutely gorgeous. Now if I would just find out what school I am teaching at then everything will be perfect..
Institute is getting closer and closer and I am getting more and more excited for the next adventure!
Summer Schedule:
June 23 -Simon and I's anniversary
June 24-Andrew & Liz's wedding
June 25-28-In St. Louis for Induction
June 28-29-Melissa's wedding
July 1-August 4-Institute in L.A.
Start school shortly after...

St. Louis, knitting, genealogies

I went to St. Louis for a site visit about two weeks ago. I interviewed at two schools and Simon and I looked for an apartment. Overall the trip excited me even more about moving there. St. Louis has these incredible neighborhoods that have their own vibe and flavor. We fell in love with an apartment in Lafayette Square. It is by a huge park and has its own restaurant/eclectic shops section. It's beautiful, hopefully when I go back in June I can take some better pictures so everyone can see it.
Amidst trying to do my pre-institute work, I have also started to do a family genealogy. Ok so I know I am a big dork, but there is something that excites me about learning about my family's past. I love putting all the puzzle pieces together and making sure they fit correctly. Maybe it's the research journalist in me, maybe it's the fact that I am the ultimate procrastinator, not sure but I love it. If you want to know more ask me, and I will tell you about my great great grandmother, Belle.
I am also trying to finish a knitting project for a baby that is on the way in July..love ya Anna. I need to put more time into that or it might potentially be done a few months after the new addition is born.

graduation

On Saturday despite the monsoon in the morning I graduated from UNL with two degrees. A bachelor of arts in Spanish and a bachelor of journalism in news-editorial. I was the last person to walk into the Bob Devaney Center because of my name change, which made it very easy for my parents and simon to find me but I didn't find them until towards the end when my mom decided to leave early.
The two broadcasting kids who were sitting beside me were wasted which made the whole thing absolutely hilarious. Example: the guy beside me got up two times to try and go get nachos...both times he did not succeed. They also tried to leave before the ceremony was over but apparently officials stopped them and told them they would take away their diplomas if they left.
My party was great. I loved having all my family there and all the friends who stopped by were amazing. Basically I felt really loved and celebrated. Highlight of my grad party was three year old Maci handing me a pile of toothpicks and saying, "Here...for your birthday." She is a cutie.

I really feel like I am starting a new phase of my life. It feels a little weird but mostly exciting. I can't wait to see my school and meet my kids next year. But before all that happens I have a ton of preparation to do , but at least now I am working towards a solid goal where I know I will be doing some good. Look for graduation pics on facebook:)