We Did!

Now that my unplanned sabbatical from blogging is over, I just want to give a big HEY Y'ALL from Texas!!! Cash and I have been so busy. Excuses, right?!

We have been meeting with Women's Republican club and Young Republicans here in town. I study 8 hours a day and have been since I've started back to work. Cash bought me a new bike while we were in Santa Fe, so we've been riding (we'll use that term loosely) as many nights as we can. We even went to Ruidoso this past weekend for a race!



Post-Race: Tour de Ruidoso

One weekend we spent down at the hog lease putting up feeders and blinds. We went to South Texas during Labor Day weekend to see his extended family. I've spent the past 3 weekends also in tears watching the Razorbacks. It's going to hit even harder this weekend when the game is actually in Texas.

hog at feeders..maybe the only hog I care about seeing the rest of the year!

I was out of commission with using a computer for almost an entire week because of the big crash I had on my bike...right on the boulevard in front of one of the biggest country clubs in this town! So embarrassing yet so funny.

Oh, and if that wasn't bad enough, I wasn't watching where I was walking last weekend and ran head first into the bike rack on the back of the truck. It literally knocked me on my behind in the middle of the road. Cash felt the truck shake and looked back to realize I wasn't in his line of sight. When he got out, I was getting off the ground laughing so hard I was crying. We've had some wild few weeks!!

I meant to do an entire wedding post of just the wedding ceremony, but I failed. And quite frankly at this point we've done so much that it just seems pointless to dedicate a whole night to feeding you with 40-11 pictures of our wedding. So...a few highlights:

walking with my dad!!!!

ceremony--notice the Methodist preacher marrying a Lutheran to a Baptist!

married!!

 

"Wedding Crashers" our bluegrass band for the night--they were amazeballs

cake topper in honor of my husband who played rugby for 7 years

Braeson asked me to dance to "Wagon Wheel"..and he rocked it!

my mom's side of the family

 I could've put so many family pictures up, but I chose my mom's side of the family. Until the past couple of years, literally, we all lived in our hometown. Every aunt, uncle, and all but 1 cousin graduated from Ozark High School. Every single daughter and granddaughter was in OHS homecoming. At some point in the past 5 years, eight of us have worked for the Ozark School District in some capacity.

I love being married, but it's hard to leave that when it's all you really know. I love my dad's side of the family equally..and in fact I was the 7th generation born and raised in North Franklin County. It's just harder for me to go back through that picture without my grandmother here.

being married is the best

The love I have for my family is why this picture meant so much when I saw what our photographer did. Of course I love Cash, but she also put the handkerchief I carried around my bouquet in the background. It was my granny's grandmother's handkerchief that my granny attached a penny to. That penny is the one my granny wore in her shoe when she married my pa over 50 years ago. I seriously draw tears when I think about it.

I hope one day our grandkids want just a little something from our wedding.

The past 2 months have been the best, hardest 2 months of my life. My sister texted me a picture last week of my niece framing a picture of me because she was missing me. So we skyped until our hearts were happy. I hadn't seen my parents since the night we flew in from our honeymoon, so they drove 12 hours to meet us in Ruidoso this weekend. When they left I wanted to cry so hard knowing I won't see them again until November.

It's hard, but I can honestly say I feel I'm right where I'm supposed to be. I've grown a lot being away from my parents, yet I've grown so dependent on my husband as he's the only deep friend I have here. I've made friends and enjoyed company, but nothing will ever compare to the smile I get on my face when I see his truck pull up and him walk in with that brown leather briefcase he carries back and forth every single day.

I love lunch with him. I love brushing my teeth with him (gross, I know). I love Sunday afternoons when I don't have to go catch a plane. I love when I'm hurt and how he takes care of me. I love seeing his e-mails pop up the moment I log in to my computer at work. I love the little stamp he bought with our names and address on it so I can stamp letters I send to my aunt back home. I love that he lets me read my hometown newspaper's 40 years ago column to him like he really is listening. I love that he puts the dogs out and feeds them so I don't have to get my dress dirty. And I love that he takes me to eat Chick-fil-A or King & I because I didn't even think about if I should cook supper that night.

So that sting of missing my family hurts, but I'm not too far removed from that deep pain I felt leaving Cash for weeks at a time. I do feel sorry for myself at times, but I would never go back to 4 months ago. I love my family, but now I have my own family. It may be me, a man, and 2 self-absorbed dogs, but it's my family--and leaving that would be even more painful.

Okay...gush gush gush. I think you get the point. I just had to catch you up in case you had forgotten in the weeks since my latest post. :) And Toi--I'm so sorry I haven't responded!! I got your message and have been meaning to e-mail you, but I am in a whirlwind. Thanks for it! I will catch up with you soon.

As I say everyday in the elevator at work...Hope y'all have a good one.

More next time.

...Avery...