Dieting....Or Not

Mr. Higgins and I had a full three-day weekend! And it got us thinking....three-day weekends really should be the norm! Ha!

One of Mr. Higgins' best friends is moving in mid-June. It's got us all really down. We're trying to make the most of the time we have left with him, though, by visiting all his favorite restaurants and doing all his favorite things around town. Add Mr. Higgin's birthday into the mix next week and we're eating out a lot - and having a lot of desserts. As a result, my post-wedding diet is suffering. Ah, well. You only live once, right?

Perhaps in July I'll finally get to settle down and work on that wedding scrapbook. And knit. And make cards. And catch up on movies and such.

Deja Vu

The Mavs have won the Western Conference. I can hardly believe it! But I'm super happy!

The Finals match-up brings a hiccup to every Mavs' fan, however: the Heat will most likely win the East. Every Mavs fan is scarred by the finals in 2006 when the Mavs collapsed in Miami and lost the series, the championship that was within their grasp. Now they're headed back to Miami, to a Heat team with new players: LeBron and Chis Bosh.

This does not make me happy; it's terrifying! This Mavs team beat Kobe, though, and if they can beat LeBron's stuck-up arse, then I will be ecstatic. It will serve LeBron right.

Only time will tell if these Mavs can stand up to the Heat.

Hail!

We've had two days of crazy weather here in north Texas.

-On Monday, around 10am, the skies darkened and, if one hadn't known better, it looked like it was 8:30pm! Soon, dime-size hail rained down for a good ten minutes. I was, of course, at work, and feared for my car in the open parking lot. There was no big damage, but I know of at least one dent on the roof of my car.

-Last night, as Oklahoma City was dealing with mega tornadoes, we had our own scare. Around 7:45, after only a few rain drops, hail the size of ping-pong balls fell for a good ten minutes, hitting the windows with such force that I was sure they would shatter. Finally, it stopped and we went outside. The wind was crazy! For the next hour, we watched, transfixed on the back porch, as two storms went by, skirting our house....with swirling clouds. I've never seen anything like it. The clouds in the upper atmosphere were billowing upward while the ones below swirled closer to the ground. We didn't see any funnels but I've never seen anything closer to a funnel.

We lost power and had no internet for the duration of the storms. It was pretty scary.

An hour after the hail, when the creepy clouds had passed by, the tornado sirens finally went off for the first time. We had clear skies. This doesn't give me any confidence in our local emergency personnel.

Settling Down

After a month of craziness, things are now - thankfully! - settling down.

The house is empty. The bags are unpacked. The wedding decorations are stored. All is quiet. Except when there's a Mavs game on! (GO MAVS!) It's a welcome relief. After the weekend, I finally feel rested and back to normal. I'd forgotten what this feels like!

I had such an amazing time the past few weeks.... And now, I can't wait to scrapbook it all! I've already started going through pictures, tagging those I want to print to include in the book. There are so many pictures....and so many wedding events. I'm probably going to have two albums chronicling all the happenings since the engagement.

It's going to be a lot of fun!

Biking on Jekyll

On the Friday before the wedding, my two girlfriends and I ventured out on our tour of Jekyll Island - on bikes. It turned out to be a great day - one away from wedding planning and pressure...just what I needed!


It was so much fun getting on a bike again! I felt like a kid again! Of course, I wore long sleeves and tons of sunscreen to prevent any unattractive red lines in my wedding dress!


The trails took us beneath towering oaks filled with Spanish moss....


...and to the beach: Driftwood Beach. This was a really neat place: a beach littered with old oaks.


Here, you can see the pier and then, further in the distance, the bridge to Brunswick. Driftwood Beach was definitely a sight to see and very unique!

I had so much fun with my two girlfriends this day! I'll treasure these memories for years to come! And I can't wait to get back to Jekyll to bike around the other half of the island! The girls and I did half the island which ended up being 8 miles. And it was great!

All in a Name....

My project for next month is a daunting one: changing my name.

I had never really given it much thought seeing as how I never really thought I'd ever get married. There was a mental block there, for some reason. When I was in the wedding planning process, I printed off a checklist, of sorts, on how to get it all done. Then I put it out of my mind until someone brought it up during the wedding festivities.

The first time I wrote my new name was on the place card for our reception at home on Saturday. It felt weird. I'd never written it before! Now I'm wishing I'd been one of those girlie girls who sat around doodling, writing my new name over and over again. I need practice, after all!

But how am I going to break the habit of writing the name I've had for almost thirty years? I only know myself by that name. Talk about an identity crisis!

At least my new name is a good name. It's not weird or long or hard to pronounce, like my given name. And I like it. I'll adapt, I'm sure, though it will take a while.

Off to doodle now....

Go Dirk!

The NBA playoffs are upon us and the Dallas Mavericks are in the Western Finals. It's an awesome time for a Mavs fan. We got to watch our team take down Kobe Bryant and the cocky Lakers. It doesn't get much better than that.

The first game of the Western Finals - against Oklahoma City - is over and the Mavs persevered once more, thanks to Dirk.

This article explains why I'll always be a fan of Dirk Nowitzki.

Jekyll Island Club

It's been two weeks since the wedding and all the festivities are now at an end. It was all wonderful and now it's time to pass along a few pictures. These two show you where the important events happened. Up top is the Jekyll Island Club on Jekyll Island, Georgia. The island was built up by millionaires at the turn of the century: Morgan, Rockefeller, and Pulitzer to name a few. Now the island is a state park and the Club sits in the historic district.


Also on the grounds of the historic district - and a stone's throw from the Club - is Faith Chapel, the oldest church on the island. It was the perfect setting for our small wedding especially since guests could walk to the reception at the Club (and stay at the Club!).

I can't say enough about the Club and those who helped make our wedding special. Everyone was so nice! The grounds - filled with flowers and huge oak trees - were gorgeous! And the hotel buildings were charming - old and beautiful.

I look forward to spending many anniversaries at the Club.

Newlywed Glow

Someone mentioned "newlywed glow" the other day and I laughed. Here's how much glow we have....

We came home to find the cats had made some serious messes in the house. Spent three hours cleaning that up and finally got to bed at 3am.

The next morning we awoke to find a water leak outside. Water is turned off for most of the day.

We have a reception at home to get ready for on Saturday and a house to make spotless before guests arrive on Friday. There's a mound of mud in our front flower bed where the plumber had to dig down to the pipes. Oh and the lawn can't be mowed due to crazy rains.

There has been no time to sit down and have a quiet moment together between cleaning and back-to-work stress.

Glow? More like newlywed circles under my eyes and frazzled nerves. I was really trying to stay positive but that ended this morning. There's no way to keep from being overwhelmed.

So, it looks like pictures will have to wait until next week. But I promise to get some up then!

Home Again!

I'm back!!!!!!

We had a perfect wedding - and weekend! - on Jekyll Island, Georgia. It truly was the best that I could have hoped for! Actually, I was afraid to hope for something so perfect! The weather was gorgeous, despite the fact that we, and a lot of family, were on the road - and in Alabama - when the catastrophic tornadoes hit. Two tornadoes even came within ten miles of my parents in East Texas! Despite it all, we got to Georgia and, on the Friday before the wedding, everything started going according to plan.

The honeymoon was wonderful! We had a few unplanned adventures but St. John was perfect. I can't wait to show you the pictures!!

Once we got home, we had a few major problems to deal with that cast an early pall over being home. Hopefully, it will be better today!

We have tons - TONS! - of pictures to go through. And a reception at home to get through on Saturday. I'll try to get some pics together to show you tomorrow. Hopefully!