My Brother's Wedding

My brother and his fiance, Angela, got married on Saturday at Pennyrile State Park.  The alter looked out over this lake and these woods.  The leaves are just barely beginning to change colors and the scenery for the wedding was beautiful!

My mother.  I think that she was glad to be the mother of the groom this time and not the mother of the bride!  Apparently, its much easier.

The beautiful bride and her dad.

This was the point in the wedding where Keil told Angela that he had forgotten his tux at their house, which happened to be a 30 minute drive from the wedding location.  After driving for an hour at 12:15, he was able to make it back in order to get in time for his 2:00 wedding.  Nothng like a little drama!

Cutting the cake..

The first dance....

I am so excited that my brother has found somebody to make him so happy!  Congrats Keil & Angela, I hope you have a great time in Hawaii!  I am jealous!

Baby & Bridal Showers

Weekend before last I had two showers to attend.  Actually one to attend and one to host. 

The one that I attended was a bridal shower for my brother and his fiance, Angela.  They are getting married tomorrow, October 2.  Our grandmother and aunts hosted the shower which was attended by lots of our extended family and members of the church where we grew up.

Jennifer was there and I was so excited to be able to actually see her two weekends in a row!  This was also where I broke the news to my family that I was expecting...  It was definitely a great surprise!

Angela and Keil, opening presents.

The shower that I hosted was a baby shower for my friend, Brittany, and her baby, Addison Clay.  One of my responsibilities was to make a diaper cake.  Mom and I were scared and definitely had no idea what we were getting in to.  Luckily, there are great websites on the Internet that include awesome step by step directions that say just exactly what to do.  Needless to say, we were very proud of our finished product!

This was the cake table.  Do you see the pumpkin that is surrounded by cupcakes?  It is actually a cake!  Isn't that amazing?  I didn't get a chance to eat cake but everybody that did said it was wonderful!



We were shocked when the RSVP's started coming in for the shower.  There were 54 people who were invited and 45 RSVP'd that they would be there.  There were approximately 50 people there.  It was definitely a little stressful but luckily for Brittany, everybody brought amazing presents.  She was able to almost complete her registry at one shower.  I was so excited for her!

See the green bath tub on the top with the pink bow?  That was my gift!  It was filled with bath accessories and some onesies for Addison :)  I hope that she gets lots of use out of them!



Riding Lessons

So you guys remember how I started taking lessons back in June??  Well, I STILL LOVE THEM...

They are absolutely fantastic! 

 

My mom was able to come and watch my lesson Friday night before we went to Lexington for the reining.  I was glad that she was able to watch me ride because she is definitely the reason for my love of horses.  She had a horse when I was born and has supported me 100% any and every time I have wanted to try something new.  She also travelled many miles and paid tons of entry fees for me while I showed through high school and college.  It definitely means a lot to be able to include her in the riding that I am doing now.

I am thinking that the jumping might have made her a little nervous though, especially because by the end of the lesson I was jumping two little cross rails like this one in a row.  Its definitely fun :)  It kind of feels like flying!

World Equestrian Games...

The World Equestrian Games are currently taking place in Lexington KY.  They have never been held outside of Europe and can basically be described as Horsey Olympics.  When I found out about them and learned that they were only 2 1/2 hours from BG, I knew that I had to go and watch at least one event.  While searching through the events, I decided that it would be best for me to go and watch something that I actually understood and had participated in, so I chose reining.

Reining is a class that is designed to show the skills that a horse would need while working cattle on the range.  They would need to be able to show dramatic variations in speed (fast and slow while at the canter), agility (sliding stops and spins), and an ease in handling that would make them a pleasure to ride for long days while performing ranch duties.  The horses used are primarily American Quarter Horses and this is an event that is the most popular in the US. 

 A typical reining pattern looks a little like this:

Walk to center ring and perform 3 pivot spins to the left and then 3 to the right.

Perform a large fast (hand gallop) circle to the left.

Perform a small slow circle to the left.

Change leads in the center and perform a large fast (hand gallop) circle to the right.

Perform a small slow circle to the right.

Change leads in the center and canter around the end of the pen.

Increase speed at center ring and ask for a sliding stop.

Roll back (a turn on the horses hocks) and lope around the end of the pen.

Increase speed at center ring and ask for a sliding stop.

Back 3 horse lengths.

This pattern (with the exception that it has two large fast circles each way) can be seen here...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt5WOCMAFhY
That is Shawn Flarida from the gold medal winning Team USA...  He had the highest score of the whole competition!  I didn't get to see him ride but the video is awesome!

Show Us Your Life - Master Bedroom

Well, friends, it's time for another Show Us Your Life with Kelly's Korner and today we are showing Master Bedrooms.

Like the rest of our house, our master bedroom is kind of a work in progress. At this point it is probably our favorite spot in the house. In our old house, our furniture was so big that it took up almost the whole room but in this house I think that it fits really well!

I love our furniture. When I walked into the furniture store and saw it, I almost died. It was exactly what I had been looking for. Drew wasn't with me, but I called him and had him google the collection. It is Broyhill Attic Heirlooms and the style is Fireside Cherry. I don't think they make it any more so I am glad that we went ahead and bought all of these pieces.

I bought this rocking chair when we were in our old house and had absolutely no where to put it. I think that right now it works in our bedroom and provides a little extra seating. The little blanket hanging across the back of it was made by my grandmother and I think that it looks great on the chair!

Our bedroom has a door to the covered patio. At some point, we'd like to screen the patio and then when the weather is nice we would be able to leave this door open and enjoy the sounds of the outdoors!

Scooter is a regular addition to our bed! I'm pretty sure that she sleeps curled up against Drew's pillow everyday, all day while we are at work. She has a rough life :)

What I have Learned About Pregnancy (At Week 10)

• It is never possible to get enough sleep...
• Just because you used to be able to go 8 hours between lunch and dinner, does not mean that you will still be able to.
• Some days you will feel really amazing and not feel pregnant but others you will just really want to go back home and go to sleep
• Dr's appointments are odd and may seem like a waste of time sometimes (I have been twice and the second time all they did was weigh me and take my blood pressure?)
• Working out while pregnant is really hard but will hopefully be really worth it.
• Dry heaving is not fun.

Ok, so that is a short list but its interesting. I have actually felt really good so far. I have been able to maintain my weight even though I feel like somedays I eat like a horse. I'm pleased with that so far, but know that it will be a continuous struggle. I have also continued my riding lessons with the warning that if I fall off I can not be x-rayed and can not take pain medication any stronger than Tylenol. I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to do this, based on the time change and the fact that it is already dark much earlier in the day.

I have had very little nausea and I'm pretty sure that about half of what I have had is related to a cold that I had week before last. The cold came with lots of head congestion and drainage, which pretty much sent me over the edge. I've had that happen before so I'm thinking that it wasn't morning sickness so much as it was just nasty head stuff!

The other nausea has come from me attempting to learn that it really is ok to eat more than three times a day. I had a riding lesson a few weeks ago at 5:30 after work and it ended up being 8 before I was able to get home and eat. My lunch at noon was very gone and by the end of the night I was not doing so well. Like I said, lessons learned :)

Anyway, thank you all again for your sweet comments. We are doing well and can't wait to see how this adventure goes. We are also so excited about adding this new addition to our family!

I've been keeping a secret

Paige, at Mommy to Charli, posted this poem today and I hope that she doesn't mind that I'm going to borrow it to make a little announcement...

You are my I love you
Author: Maryann K Cusimano

I am your parent, you are my child
I am your quiet place, you are my wild

I am your calm face, you are my giggle
I am your wait, you are my wiggle
I am your audience, you are my clown
I am your London Bridge, you are my falling down
I am your Carrot Sticks, you are my licorice
I am your dandelion, you are my first wish
I am your water wings, you are my deep
I am your open arms, you are my running leap
I am your way home, you are my new path
I am your dry towel, you are my wet bath

I am your dinner, you are my chocolate cake
I am your bedtime, you are my wide awake
I am your finish line, you are my race
I am your praying hands, you are my saving grace
I am your favorite book, you are my new lines
I am your nightlight, you are my sunshine
I am your lullaby, you are my peek-a-boo
I am your kiss goodnight, you are my I love you

The Richeys from BG will be going from a family of three (Drewby, KB, & Scoot) to a family of four in April.

We are very excited and can't wait to welcome "Peanut" into our family!