Hailey's Big Day

Ahhh, I was home. Sure, I was just here a few months ago but stepping off the plane onto US soil was still exciting. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t have traded our first Christmas with just the two of us for anything but I was quite anxious to see everybody. Not to mention, my little sis was getting married. Woo hoo!

I landed Monday evening in Oklahoma City, which I’m certain was actually colder than Germany at the time. We had a wonderful dinner at a great little sushi place then spent the rest of the evening at home relaxing by the fire. I had to soak it all in because this was the last week I’d spend at the home I grew up in. :*( Tear.

Tuesday was Lulu Day. I spent all day with my Dad and we had a blast! Lunch at a cool hibachi place, a little shopping…but mostly just walking around, afternoon margaritas, Avatar at the IMAX in 3D (if you haven’t seen it – do it!) and lastly dinner at Louie’s on the Lake. A good marble day.

My Mom and I drove to Tulsa the following day to go pick up the bride and check out her new place. Then it was nothing but wedding talk all the way home. You’ve got to love all of the last minute wedding details that suddenly pop up. But with this being the third wedding between us in less than a year, I’d like to think we had it down to an art….and by “we” I mean my Mom.

Once Friday arrived, it was all a blur after that. We had the rehearsal that afternoon at the chapel followed by the rehearsal dinner with friends and family. While the rehearsal dinner was fun, the party was just getting started.

While her big sister/Maid of Honor may live halfway across the world, Hailey was NOT getting married without at least some sort of a bachelorette party. Not on my watch. The tiara, the veil, the sash – the whole shebang. And we kicked it off at a fabulous little karaoke bar where I/we utterly embarrassed ourselves singing Dixie Chicks. This girl doesn’t sing…not well, anyway. But we had blast! It was so much fun hanging out with my little sis the night before her wedding! The singing was followed by dancing and we finally whisked the bride off to a hotel downtown to get some much needed sleep.

Our Grandma had a beautiful Bridal Luncheon in Hailey’s honor on Saturday morning at Deep Fork Grill. It was the perfect way to kick off her Big Day. The rest of the afternoon was spent doing all the girly stuff. Nails, hair, makeup. And before we knew it, we were all standing in the bridal room of the chapel helping her get her beautiful dress on.

To say she looked gorgeous would be an understatement. She was glowing and we all couldn’t wait to see this beautiful creature walk down the aisle to her man. The ceremony was lovely and how I didn’t completely lose it….I’ll never know.

But that part was over before we knew it and it was time to celebrate! Cake, toasts, champagne, dancing….I just love weddings! Everyone had a great time and we didn’t want the party to end. We sent the happy couple off and that was that.

My Mom and Riley hosted a brunch at the house for all of the out of town guests which was awesome. Mike made ALL of the food and you would have thought we’d had it professionally catered. Just incredible. After we stuffed our faces, I was able to have a little mini Christmas with family I missed seeing over the holidays.

We said our goodbyes and everyone hit the road on their journeys back home.

And that afternoon I dyed my hair brown. The end.

Prosit Neujahr! Happy New Year!

It’s been one crazy month and it’s time to fill you in on all of our adventures. So we’ll back it up by a month and start from there.

Christmas for the two of us was hardly over on the 25th. My S.I.L., Stephanie, arrived bright an early on the 26th and by some miracle of God she actually arrived early. She weathered some serious ice and snow getting to the airport in OKC, flew to Cincinnati, then to Paris, then to Frankfurt. Have I told you how excited I am that DFW has a direct flight? I’m just sayin’.

We spent one day at Ramstein AFB. I know what you are thinking – “who wants to come to Germany to go see an Air Force Base?” But it was the perfect opportunity to see what her big bro is talking about when he discusses what it is that he does, exactly. Plus it’s a nice drive and with the weather being absolutely disgusting, we didn’t really want to go sightseeing that day anyway.

But we sucked it up the following day and trudged through the rain and cold and wind because Stephanie was NOT leaving here without seeing a castle. What better place to see a castle than good ol’ Heidelberg? And despite the weather, we actually had a lot of fun. I’m sure we were quite entertaining to watch. “Here, you hold the umbrella and I’ll take the picture. Watch out for that puddle! Ahh! The umbrella flipped inside out again!”

The minute we got to the bottom of the hill we went in search of hot chocolate. The good hot chocolate. The kind where they steam the milk, you pick out which flavor you want then drop the little bar in watching it melt into pure deliciousness. Mmmmmm.

With New Year’s Eve only a couple of days away, Stephanie and I were on a mission to find something fun to wear. I know Brad was thrilled. So we made a day of it and did both sightseeing and shopping in Frankfurt. While we were both unsuccessful on the shopping front, we had a blast walking around town all bundled up.

The following day was my darling husband’s 26th birthday. Stephanie and I made him his favorite meal – Eggplant Parmesan, which worked out great since Stephanie is a vegetarian. Then we topped it all off with a Chocolate, Chocolate, Chocolate Cake. Whew! I’m full just thinking about it. But it sure was tasty!

Before we knew it, it was New Year’s Eve. Some friends of ours invited us to their party that night which we were really looking forward to. I figured it would be a great view as they live right on the Rhine River but I had no idea what we were in store for. Our friend’s condo was on the 7th floor of their building which gave us the perfect view of downtown Mainz across the river. Just before midnight, the show started….and my jaw hit the floor. For as far as the eye could see left and right, people were setting off HUGE fireworks nonstop. Miles of fireworks right along the river that last a solid 45 minutes! It was incredible!! What a way to bring in the New Year!

We were pretty worthless on New Year’s Day as we didn’t get home until about 5:00 am. Note to self: book your taxi early on New Year’s Eve. So we watched a few movies and munched on leftover birthday cake.

Stephanie left the next morning on her trek back across the pond. Brad and I spent the day getting ready for the weeks about to come. Laundry, cleaning, all of that fun stuff. Then came the hard part, dropping Miss Stella off at the kennel. She just about broke both of our hearts; she was devastated and I’ve never heard her cry like that. It was like she knew we were going to be leaving her for THREE whole weeks. My poor baby.

And as soon as I recovered from that traumatic experience, it was time to say goodbye to my husband for 3 weeks. That’s right, t-h-r-e-e weeks. He left early the following morning to catch his plane to Kuwait and that was that.

But it’s not all sad. I flew out the next morning and arrived Oklahoma City for a week full a family, fun, food, and most of all…..Hailey’s big day!

A Very Married Christmas

Christmas is filled with a lot of traditions. Things your family does year in and year out that you look forward to more and more the closer it gets. This year was going to be different. Just me, my new husband and our pup. I guess I thought I would be sad that we wouldn't be with family, and a part of me was, but when I look back years from now at our first Christmas together as husband and wife, I will think of nothing but perfection.

Christmas Eve is typically my favorite part of the whole shebang and this year was no different. Brad and I cooked an amazing dinner together (Stella helped) and it was certainly an occasion to bring out a bottle of "the good wine" that we had shipped from Italy. We made peppered beef filets with blue cheese potatoes and a side salad, a wonderful recipe that my Grandma gave me. And last but not least, a tasty pecan pie.

After dinner we let Stella open one present since she's been such a good girl this year. It was no surprise that she was more interested in the tissue paper than the actual gift....until she realized how tasty her treats were and how pretty she looked in her holiday collar.

We watched a couple of classic Christmas movies before calling it a night. Stella had to get to bed so Santa would come.

We woke up Christmas morning and had a delicious breakfast to start the day, cinammon-swirl breakfast bread pudding. Delish! Then it was time for presents. Stella had a few more gifts to open from her grandparents, which she thoroughly enjoyed. At one point she decided she was a snow leopard.

We kept warm by the "fire" and opened our gifts from parents and grandparents. We must have been really good this year because we got spoiled!!

The rest of the day was spent being quite lazy, just as it should be. More Christmas movies and more food. Stephanie arrived right on time the next morning and we got to do it all over again. But more about her visit later...