Word for 2014: Love

 "I have found that if you love life, life will love you back." - Arthur Rubinstein

When I sat down to write this blog, there was really only one word that I could select.  Never in my life have I felt as loved as I did this year.

Obviously, marrying this fella played a big part in that.  There's nothing like seeing a boy down on his knee to make a girl feel loved.

He has already taught me so much about love and life and I am so glad to be spending the rest of my days with him.

Then with the 400 of you who showed up to celebrate with us, and the numerous well wishes and prayers from afar...how could I not have chosen love as my word?

During the sheer misery of taking the Texas Bar Exam, I felt love from all of you who sent up prayers (and those of you who sent over cookies!)  Fortunately, the prayers and cookies worked and I was able to  be sworn in at a ceremony with my parents and the Boy from Texas.

I continued to absolutely love my job.  This year, I gave 60 presentations across the country and enjoyed every minute.  I spoke everywhere from a sale barn in Central Texas to a ballroom at Tufts University in Boston.  The fact that I was also able to see so many great friends and watch a game at Fenway was all just gravy.  I feel so fortunate to be able to have a career that allows me to work on something I truly enjoy.

I celebrated the day of love (Valentine's Day) by surprising The Boy from Texas by showing up to spend the weekend with him.  As much as I am glad the long distance thing is over, I did love surprising him and seeing his face!

God's love was, of course, ever present, but I so enjoyed the opportunity to tangibly feel that during the hours I spent at adoration and in the perfectly timed red flower surely sent by St. Therese.

Celebrations of love were celebrated throughout the year.  My cousin's wedding shower, ND Friend's Ranch Party and wedding in Chicago, and Blonde Oklahoma Girl's beautiful wedding day.

 

 

We loved winning guns at the NRA banquet as we celebrated the anniversary of our first date.

 I was surrounded by love at four--count them, FOUR--amazing wedding showers and an epic bachelorette party full of non-lake people who trecked out for a day on the water just for me.

 

People I love had great achievements that we had to celebrate.  Aunt and Uncle Evil Kineval's new lake house.  Baby Hepburn's high school graduation.  Running with ABJ's Mama in her first half marathon.

 And, of course, there was the week celebrating marriage during which we fell in love with our neighbor to the north, Canada!

It was the best year.  Sure, there were struggles, losses, stressful times.....but throughout, there was love.  From God and from the people who he has seen fit to put in my path.  I am so grateful for both!  Here's to showing this love to others in 2015.

Bucket List Year in Review

“If there's one thing I learned, it's that nobody is here forever. You have to live for the moment, each and every day . . . the here, the now.” ~Simone Elkeles, Perfect Chemistry

Each year I like to look back and remember the bucket list checkmarks I was able to obtain in the past 365 days.  Here are the recaps for prior years..... 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013.

This year, although fewer in number, I am pretty excited about the list items that have been achieved!

1.  Get married.  The biggest item on the list has fallen.  WOO HOO!

2.  Visit friends in Canada.  Ever since I met my first Canadian friend (The Crazy Canadian) in college, I knew that I wanted to visit one day.  As you will read about in a recap series coming soon, our honeymoon offered us the perfect chance to see the beautiful country, have fondue with our sweet friend Miss Canada, and to visit The Crazy Canadian's parents' ranch.

3.  Complete a 365 day photo challenge.  I've tried this a couple of times with no success.  I am so excited to report that I successfully completed the Fat Mum Slim 365 day challenge!  And I didn't do it alone!  College Roomie, Miss Arizona, and High School Friend all completed it as well.  I could not have done it without them!  Coming up soon, I will be sharing my favorite photos from that challenge.

4.  Grow my own tulips.  I love tulips.  Hands down my favorite flower.  So growing my own had always been on my list.  Last fall, I planted bulbs.  This spring, up came beautiful tulips.  They didn't last too long before I killed them, but it was enough for me to check it off the list!

5. Watch a game at Fenway or Wrigley.  I'm not a huge baseball person, so it may seem strange for this to be on my list.  But being a major sports fan (and a good American), I felt like seeing our national past time played in one of the most iconic venues in the country had to be on there.  When I work trip took me to Boston this past summer, Fenway was calling my name!  Read the full blog here.

6.  Become a famous blogger.  This is a checkmark that I honestly didn't think would actually ever come.  But when I started blogging back in 2009, I put it on the list.  And although "famous" is pretty arguable, I'm going to go ahead and count the fact that my Texas Agricultural Law Blog was named one of the top 100 legal blogs in the country by the American Bar Association count as famous enough!

Best Blogs of 2014

The tradition of selecting my favorite blogs of the year continues!  If you're new (or just want a refresher), here are my best blogs from 2010, 2011, and 2013.  Now, for 2014...

Every year, I think that I'll narrow this list down to the Top 10 blogs.  Every year, I fail.  Whatever, it's my blog and I'll have 20 if I want to!

1-4.  Wedding Related. You know that I have to start off with wedding related blogs.  Obviously.  The he said/she said recap of our first date was a huge hit.  Followed up by the he said/she said description of The Boy from Texas proposing to me.  Then there was my realization that The Boy from Texas was even better than the Letters to Mr. Right I had written over the years.  Finally, there was my thoughts on wedding planning and remembering exactly what is supposed to last forever.

5.  Being Single.  Having been single throughout nearly all of my 20's, I hope that some of my posts can be encouraging to the other single ladies out there.  The series jointly written by Blonde Oklahoma Girl and me (both of whom got married at 30!) offering advice to single ladies was a huge hit.

6-7.  Diversity of Friends.  Twice this year I have been compelled to blog about the diversity of the friends that God has so graciously placed in my life.  First, I wrote "What I Would Have Missed" and I followed that up with "One of Everything."

8.  Respecting Different Paths.  Next up came a soapbox about how even though people may be on different paths than we are, they still matter and deserve respect.

9-11. Ag Related Posts.  You knew there would be some of these in here!  First off, two Family Farm Friday blogs make the list.  The first was titled "I'll Take the Stock Show" where I explained that in my mind, the benefits of a stock show outweigh Disney World every time.  Along those lines, I wrote "State Fair Did That" where I reflect on all of the impacts that the New Mexico State Fair had on my life.  Finally, we celebrated the glorious rains that finally came after years of absolutely horrific drought.

 12-14.  Current Events.  There were a few times I felt compelled to comment on events in the world.  I celebrated my favorite Pope becoming my favorite Saint. I have zero doubts that he has interceded for me each time I have asked.  Then we discussed America's Most Eligible Bachelor getting married in my post encouraging girls to wait for their George Clooney.  Lastly, I felt compelled to weigh in on the Brittany Maynard assisted suicide controversy and remind folks that there is another way to die with dignity.

15-17.  Remembering The Lost.  There are so many amazing people who made an impact on my life that are no longer here.  You frequently read about them on my blog, and this year was no exception.  On the tenth anniversary of her death, we remembered Gran and her Reward.  Five years after losing Mr. Franklin, I vowed to remember the good, rather than dwell on the sad.  And while mourning the loss of an elementary school classmate and friend, I spoke of the scars that people leave behind when they take their own lives.

18.  Anniversary.  On my parents' anniversary, we discussed why they are a bad example of marriage.

19.  The Point. After losing my cool in an airport, I realized that I was in danger of missing much more than the flight, but the whole point of this life.

20.  Closing a Chapter.  As I packed up my life into a Budget truck and bid farewell to College Station, I  deemed this chapter one of answered prayers.

Wedding Recap Post #13: Photographers and My Final Thoughts

Over the last 13 posts, you have seen absolutely amazing pictures taken by absolutely amazing women.  We didn't have the budget for a fancy wedding photographer.  Luckily, we didn't have the need for one either, because we have three of the most talented friends you can imagine.  Super Mom, High School Friend, and Ag Teacher went above and beyond what I ever imagined when I asked if they would be willing to shoot our wedding.  They were absolutely the perfect photographers for us---they were laid back, flexible, quick (thank the Lord because my Dad's patience was about .25 seconds), and fun.  Plus, it was fun getting to spend the day with three of my friends rather than some stranger with a camera. There is no way to thank them for what they did.

Super Mom, Me, High School Friend

The Boy from Texas and Ag Teacher

 Now, with that, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite shots they each got that we haven't seen yet.

Super Mom

She took the lead on the photos and I am so glad she was there to be sure we got everything we wanted!  She's started up her own photography business, so if anyone needs her info you just let me know.

All the boys put a ring on it. :)

  High School Friend

She took the lead on the "detail" shots and on helping get people lined up and posed.  All of this because she claims not to be a people photographer.  Some of these beg to differ.

 Ag Teacher

 She was given the most difficult assignment of the day...shooting the boys.  After a rocky start to the engagement photo shoot, I wouldn't have blamed her for quitting.  But when I asked The Boy from Texas who he wanted to come to the lake and shoot him getting ready, "Ag Teacher, she's my favorite photographer" was his response.  God bless her.  She also got great shots from the balcony during the ceremony and managed to get pictures of all of the guests at the reception!

 

 Final Thoughts

I have to admit that even I, the bride, am sick of wedding posts.  I'm ready to be talking about something else!  (Honeymoon updates are up next...)  But I wanted to take the time to write down and share the details of our wedding day, and I think that some day we will be very glad I did that.

It was the absolute perfect day for us.  Everything else aside, we made a covenant with God and with each other to love each other for the rest of our lives.  That, alone, was enough to deem it the perfect day.  Pile on top of that doing so surrounded by 400 members of our family and best friends?  Well that put it over the top.  Then add in all of the beautiful ceremony music, fun dancing, great food, amazing pictures, white flowers with pearl stems, adorable flower girl and ring bearer, a seven year old usher reading Psalms 23, and a pretty white dress?  Well.....there are really no words.  

One comment that was made multiple times to me (that was frankly sort of hurtful) was, "I thought this day would never come!"  I waited just shy of 31 years for this day....you're telling me!  But, fortunately, God's timing was more perfect than mine.  He brought The Boy from Texas and I together at just the right time---not too late, not too early---and He opened the right doors at the right time for us to become husband and wife that Saturday in October.  For those of you still waiting....trust that His timing is perfect timing.  And ignore those who try to make you feel that you are doing something wrong or that you are not enough.  They are wrong.  It's as simple as that.

Thank you so much to all of you who celebrated with us--both near and far.  Please continue to pray for us as we enjoy this adventure together!

"You will reciprocally promise love, loyalty and matrimonial honesty. We only want for you this day that these words constitute the principle of your entire life and that with the help of divine grace you will observe these solemn vows that today, before God, you formulate."  ~ St. John Paul II