Eight Photos of Happiness

I have been nominated for the ‘8 Photos of Happiness Tag’ by Bridget over at Expat BS.  I followed Bridget back when she was an Atlanta blogger.  Now she's "crossed the pond" and started a whole new blog.  :-)  I'm really enjoying reading as she and her hubby-to-be get settled into their new life!

Here are the guidelines for the tag:
1.Thank your nominator/s and link them in your post.
2. Link the creator Ariel's Little Corner of the Internet
3. Post your 8 photos of happiness
4. Pop in a brief description of the photo, why you chose it, or let the photos do the talking!
5. Spread the happiness and tag up to ten other bloggers!

This is my cousin Kristin and I at a wedding earlier this year. (The wedding story will be another post soon.)  She is one of my best friends and I'm so lucky to get to have her in my life. 

This little one is baby Vivie!  She's Kristin's little girl and will turn a year old just days after my birthday.  She has such a big, happy personality and I just adore her!

From my gram's 90th birthday party.  She was adamant that she get a big party when she turned 90 and so she that's what she got!  Gram was thrilled! This picture is bittersweet, as it's the last picture of gram with all four of her children.

It's not the best picture in the world, but I have such great memories of my first trip to the UK the summer I turned 16.  Here are my brother Josh and I getting chased by sheep...it was a recurring theme during that trip!  I can't wait to be in England again this fall.

As a little kid, my grandparent's had a summer home on the lake in New Hampshire.  So many awesome family summers!  Here's a picture of my dad and I when I was really little.

My herd.  They bring me such joy every single day.  So much personality, love, silliness and utter devotion in such TINY bodies!

These girls!  They are all absolutely beautiful inside and out.  We do a yearly group picture at Christmas and here's our 2014 picture.

Ok...so this isn't a picture of me, but it is a picture of the rag quilt I made for baby Vivie.  I love to craft and take such pleasure from it.  That counts, right?!

Now it's my turn to nominate some bloggers to take on this challenge. I'm still getting into the swing of blogging again so I don't have 10 bloggers to tag, but if you read this post and would like to join in  please do!

• Sara at Running from the Law - I've loved Sara's blog for years.  Even during my blog hiatus, I kept up with her and her adorable kiddos on Instagram.  :-)
• Karen at A Peek at Karen's World  - Another awesome blogger that I've followed for YEARS!  She just moved her blog from blogger to Wordpress on her own, which makes her my technology hero.
• Rachel from Countdowns and Cupcakes - I've only recently found Rachel.  Her blog is super cute and she's a fellow dachshund mom!
• Carolyn from Life, Love and Puppy Prints - Carolyn is another recent find.  I love her sense of humor.  She just might be one of blogville's cutest pregnant girls too.  :-)
• Jennifer from Crazy Shenanigans - Jen is another blogger that I've been following for quite a while.  Like Christmas or Elvis?  She's your girl!
• Dory and her mom at Dory's Backyard - Dory and her siblings are Lhasa Apsos and ShiTzus respectively.  They (with their mom's help) have lots of adventures and share life from a dog's perspective!
• Puddles and her mom at We 3 Doxies - Think dogs don't have a sense of humor?  You haven't met Puddles yet!  We know dachshunds are a huge part of my life - and Puddles (with her mom's help) shows all the personality in their little bodies!

Kristin's Wedding

As some of you may remember, I was one of my cousin Kristin's bridesmaids when last we spoke of her upcoming nuptials!  (In case you don't remember...here's a link to the post I did on her bridal shower)

Fast forward almost two years and now I need to catch you all up on what you missed - including Kristin's wedding!

This pretty lady indeed got married on August 2nd, 2013 to the love of her life with their (then) almost 9 year old son quite excited (as were everyone else in the bridal party).

Here she is with her mom!

The wedding was lovely and the country club that hosted both the ceremony and reception was absolutely beautiful.  Now, you all know that I'm a klutz.  And Kristin's wedding was no exception to my rule about tripping over my own feet.  I was the first bridesmaid "out of the gate" so to speak...and unfortunately did NOT count on the aisle we were walking down to be lush green grass that was horribly uneven.  People, I fell!  Flat. on. my. face.  It was mortifying!  I still remember all the faces that were turned towards me going from smiles to looks of shock.  Not fun...  It got hurt and tried not to cry during the ceremony. My goal was to make it through the ceremony and reception without drawing any further attention to myself.  For once - mission accomplished!

Unfortunately, I did have a super fun trip to the ER to have my knee looked at at midnight. I have to thank the hospital staff for taking such good care of me and the mess that I was - still in my hot pink bridesmaid dress (um..yeah.).

Stay tuned for my next foray into being a bridesmaid....

Bridesmaid Dresses

Friday evening, Kristin (aka the bride!) and all her bridesmaids convened at David's Bridal to pick out dresses.

We started with a vision of her two matron of honors in begonia/fuschia and her three bridesmaids in a lighter pink.  I think Kristin originally was thinking a shorter dress too (but wouldn't swear to it).  After trying on lots of gowns and having the salesperson deem us "the happiest bridesmaids all week", we'll be wearing these gowns on August 2nd:

via David's Bridal website

 

The bride and Sandy (the lucky girl who WON'T need it hemmed like some of us shorties!)

What do you think? If you're nice, I'll model it for you AFTER it arrives in May and I get my alterations done.

She Said YES!

You may have noticed a few mentions of my favorite cousin (and one of my best friends) Kristin & her fiance lately.  For those of you that have been reading awhile, I've always said "boyfriend".  Well...there's a good reason for the recent change in terminology! 
The man in her life asked her to marry him!!!  Not a day too soon, either.  They've been together for 10 years, and make a great couple!

Aren't they adorable?!



To document her voyage from new fiance to wife, she's created a new blog - And I Said Yes!. Come on by and say "hi"! I know she'd love to share the experience with you...and get some great tips for a fun, economical and beautiful wedding too!!