First and foremost, my cousin is officially hitched!! The day of the wedding was interesting to say the least, but it went off with only a few hitches
MY gracious contribution to the festivities included (but was not limited to) eating shit down a flight of stairs, WHILE carrying the flowers for my family, right before we all walked down the aisle... I came away with some scrapes, my leg bleeding, my panty-hose ran, my ego taking another blasting... But the most amazing part was that I didn't get completely upset and make the rest of the day about me... HUGE progress... During the day, (have I ever mentioned how fantastic my man is??) Clay hung out with my grandparents, helped them get around, tied my grandfather's tie, kept them company. He did this for several reasons, 1. he wanted to, 2. I wanted him to, 3. he enjoys being with them, 4. cause I couldn't be the one to do it... My grandparents fell in love with him that day. They called me up about a week later and told me they wanted to come stay with us for a weekend -- HUGE -- that they wanted to hang out with just us... One word: Beautiful... They will be coming over Father's Day weekend and I simply can't wait!!We have an amazing, sometimes frustrating, addition to our home and lives. Her name is Abigail (Abby) and we just adore her to pieces! She does have a terrible habit of tearing things up (like carpet for instance...), but when she's sweet, she can just melt your damn heart! She, too, is a beagle. She has brought a new life to Toby. They compliment each other so very well -- they look just alike! Clay and I take them on walks with their color coordinated collars and leashes... Seriously, it feels like our family unit is complete now that she's with us...
Clay and I had an amazing opportunity to go to another conference in Hunt, Texas. This was a "reunion" conference, and the folks from Austin always rent out the YMCA camp for the weekend. We were shacked up in bunk beds, swimming in the river (although the water was FREEZING), eating smores, keeping warm by the bonfire, and all the while, hanging out with some of our closest friends. The people we went with had been before, so we were the newbies. But everyone was completely gracious and welcomed us with open arms. It was an experience I couldn't/wouldn't trade...
Last Thursday, Clay and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary. We didn't really know what day to go from since we had a lot of "firsts" spread out over a period of time, so we went with the first time Clay asked me out. Even though I said no, we spent everyday since then together... His present still hasn't gotten here, so I can't tell ya what I got him just yet
. He got me a membership at Gold's Gym and a certificate to get a mani/pedi. He knows the way to my heart for sure! haha We had a pretty low key evening, just went to dinner at Mimi's Cafe. The amazing part of this day (at least for me) was not that there were presents, not that we had some lavish celebration, but simply that I had spent a whole year having a REAL relationship. I have been in "serious" relationships before, but nothing compares to the relationship I have with Clay. As I have said before, I think that in the previous ones, we did the best we knew how to do with the knowledge of relationships we had at the time. And that applies to this relationship as well -- the difference is is that we are continuing to grow, to WANT to grow, with one another, individually as well as a couple. He IS my soul's mate, this I know...Okay, blog has gotten HUGE, so just a couple things to run down:
*One of my best-friends is coming to Texas to visit me. I simply can not WAIT for her to arrive. I've been needing this for some time now and am overwhelmed with joy at her arrival
*A great friend started working with me. This has been a huge blessing in my day to day life. It's actually a LOT more fun to get up and come to work, a lot more to look forward to haha
*I attended my first "Crawfish Boil" It was so much fun! OOOhhh and I didn't get wasted... Weird...
In reflection over this blog, it is my opinion that I have a great amount of huge blessings in my life. The greatest blessing of them all is that they come in small packages -- sometimes hard to see until you step back and look... My life kicks some serious ass -- I'm really glad I get to be me today, rather than wanting to be someone/anyone else... Thanks, again and always, for coming along on my rides with me! Birthday's comin up around the corner so I'm sure there'll be another blog before we know it!
Till next month!!!
