Going to the Chapel...

It was a BUSY weekend for my family! My younger brother Nathan got married to his sweetheart, Laura! There was a lot going on this weekend, so this is going to be a LONG post! First, I will say that we are so happy for God's faithfulness in our family and for how he so clearly ordained for Nathan and Laura to marry. They are PERFECT for each other, and will be such a powerful witness for the Lord!

For me, the weekend started on Thursday when I took the day off to do the flowers for the rehearsal dinner. Can I just say that I LOVED it!!! I went to my parents house to gather hydrangeas, greenery, and queen anne's lace. Then, I went to a few different places to get the rest of the flowers I would need...my kitchen looked like this...

 Which soon turned into this...

 Three large arrangements and 24 small ones (couldn't have done it without my sweet roommate's help!)

 Friday started off with a luncheon at one of Laura's family friend's house:

 Beautiful view:

 Friday afternoon, my roommate and I went to the venue where we were hosting the rehearsal dinner. We worked hard decorating and making it beautiful! It is a really neat place! An old warehouse has been turned into a unique shopping facility, and there is an event space on the lowest level. Laura's mom actually has an orchid store at Warehouse Row, so we were able to use the space! The arrangements outside to mark the entrance:

 When you walk into the lower space...

 Here is what it looked like once we were finished...

 Our tablescapes:

  This was right behind the buffet, and they used it as a dessert bar...

 Yummy banana pudding and chocolate cake selections...

 Me and my Aunt Marlene!

The girls:

 The store on the upper level you see is Laura's mom's store! It's neat the dinner was just below her store! Love the HUGE tree branch that hangs in the open space between the levels!

 Sweet daddy welcoming everyone!

 The happy couple:

 After dinner, we gathered in the lower level where we could hear each other a little better and toasted the bride and groom...such a sweet time!

 Saturday was wedding day!!!!! I did my best to photograph what I could, but I missed a lot!! Here's what I do have...the handsome groomsmen from my family...

 My sweet parents...

 Retying the bowtie!

 Siblings:

 Sisters:

 Thomas was ADORABLE in his searsucker suit!

 He had a blast!

 Sisters (only Kathryn was a bridesmaid representing the sisters...Ivey was too pregnant, and I was a reader...)

 Love me some cutie pie! Trying to get him to look, but he was interested in the bridal pictures!

 Laura's family:

This is the only picture I got during the ceremony...my camera was making too much noise, so I waited until the recessional...

 After the wedding...

 Grandmother...

 Love this one...

 More sisters...

 The girls...

 I snapped this one right before they made the grand entrance at the reception:

  Thomas got tired of waiting for them, so he just sat down in a flowerbed and started reading his book! :)

 Finally...here they come! In a restored Porsche...

 Groovin' to the first dance...

 Upbeat mother/son dance...the band loved how great my mom can dance! :)

 Dancing!

 Me and my dancing buddy for the night!

 A view of the reception from the side yard...one of Laura's family friends had the reception at their amazing home!

 Aunt "Tat"

 Front view of the house:

 Yummy cake:

 We wore ourselves out dancing! :) Taking a breather....

 Thomas loved this HUGE mirror that was floor the ceiling...

 The send off...

 On their way!

It was a great night of food, fellowship, dancing, and celebrating God's goodness! Of course, we were a little teary eyed watching them go...it's hard to see your little brother grow up! But we are so proud of him and look forward to all that is in store for them as husband and wife!

Happy birthday, Daddy!

A certain young man had an important birthday this past weekend! My sweet Daddy turned 60!!!!!

 Happy, happy birthday to an amazing man! He is such an example of a godly leader, servant, provider, and protector! He loves to have fun, and has a huge heart for others! I am so thankful for his life, and look forward to many more years together!

For his birthday, we decided to surprise him with all 6 of us children being at my parent's house (and my Aunt Marlene and Uncle David--didn't get a pic of them :(. It's like an act of congress to get EVERYONE together at one time with all of our different schedules, but we did it!!! We all met up just down the road from my parent's house and caravanned up the driveway honking our horns...

 My dad came out on the porch to see what the commotion was (of course, my mom knew!)...He was so surprised!!

 We grilled out steaks and had a lovely lunch on the porch!

 Thomas showing "Mimi" the baby's nose...we are trying to get him all ready for his little sister's arrival in July!

 Thomas showing Granddaddy his car:

 In addition to celebrating my dad's birthday, we also celebrated Nathan's graduation from UGA. He was supposed to walk, but decided since he has been finished since December and has been at home since then (and he is getting married NEXT weekend!) that he didn't want to participate in the official ceremony...so we had one for him...Bosshardt style!

 Part of the agenda for the day was getting a family photo! Since it is so difficult to get EVERYONE together at one time, we decided that we needed to take advantage of this opportunity. I just used my camera on a tripod, and Uncle David pressed the button for us! They turned out pretty cute!

Thomas was pretty much over it at this point, so we grabbed a leaf off of a nearby tree and handed it to him!

 Love this one of the sisters:

After that photo shoot, we were hungry for some more cake!

I thank God for such an sweet family and that we were all able to be together to celebrate God's faithfulness in our lives!!!

The move!

This past weekend, my brother Jonathan, sister Kathryn, and I headed down to B-ham to help my sister and brother-in-law move! I didn't get many pictures...too busy working hard! They had several friends from church as well as Tom's family all helping out, so the move went smoothly and quickly!

 All ready for church on Sunday:

 Thomas doing his "cheese"

It was a great weekend, and I'm sure I'll be back soon to help decorate! :) Just can't stay away!

Busy, busy!

So, folks it's moving time in Birmingham! Load 'em up and move 'em out! My mom and I were in B-ham Monday and Tuesday helping pack and move some stuff over. Thomas was such a big helper!

 He's getting so big! I can't believe that in just a few short months he will be 2!

 Was back home for 2 days of work, off today, and then back to B-ham in the morning! I managed to squeeze in a little baking today: Whole wheat Banana Bread (added a few mini-chocolate chips, too). I'll have to post the recipe...

 Tonight was my future sister-in-law's nursing commencement ceremony. She graduated with her BS in Nursing and we are so proud of her! Here she is with her mother "pinning" her:

 The handsome couple. In just two weeks, they will be Mr. and Mrs. Bosshardt!

 Laura with her sweet parents:

 The girls:

 Mr. McCandless took us all out to dinner at Alleia. Fabulous food and fellowship!Here are two of the bros:

 Me and sister:

Home away from home and other happenings...

So I have a new home away from home...it's Birmingham! Over the past several weeks I have spent the majority of my off days in this lovely city with some lovely people! :) My sister's house is really coming along...yesterday we finished painting and started moving the kitchen stuff over! Here is a terrible picture of me doing my thing! :) This was definitely the hardest room to paint...it's the office and it has tongue and groove paneling. I had to use a paintbrush to paint every "groove" before we could roll it! 

While I was in Birmingham, I got to attend a little baby shower that some of Ivey's friends threw for her! I met some really sweet ladies and enjoyed some WONDERFUL food!

 Here we are with some of the cute little outfits she got:

 In my busy life of going back and forth to B-ham, I forgot to mention last weekend....One of our dear family friends hosted a kitchen shower for Laura...it was a sweet time of yummy food and fellowship!

 I had to leave the shower early to head to work and show a TV super star around the hospital. She is on a show on Nickelodeon, and apparently kids love her show! She was really sweet and I enjoyed introducing her to some of our sick patients! Of course, I had my picture with her too!

Easy Meal

I needed a quick and easy meal to take to work this week. This literally took about 15 minutes--super fast! I just boiled and drained some whole wheat penne pasta, steamed some asparagus (cut it up into pieces once it was tender), mixed in a jar of basil pesto, added some grape tomatoes and feta cheese, and there you have it! It was really tasty!

More Painting!

In the past 6 days I have been to Birmingham twice to help out with sister's new house! It's amazing what you find out that you can do when you set your mind to it...my sweet mama went with me on Monday and helped paint as well. So far we have painted the entire kitchen (including cabinets), 3 bedrooms, a hallway, and 3 closets. It's coming along nicely! Here is a before and after of Thomas' bedroom. His is one of the only ones that you can see a clear difference in the colors due to the lighting when I took the pictures:

The main color in the house is Benjamin Moore "Hazy Skies" Here's what they had to say about it: This subtle, delicate gray-green envelops a space with quiet, misty color. Hazy Skies is evocative of early mornings in mid-summer. 

Sounds delightful doesn't it?!

Before:

 After--Hazy Skies:

The Master bedroom is painted Benjamin Moore "Elephant Tusk" and is a great neutral! The baby's room is appropriately painted "Lullaby."

Can't wait to help them start moving in to show some real before/after shots!