Celebrating Claire

The next weekend was all about Claire and Trey, 

and was full of celebrations for them and their upcoming wedding.

This time, we were in Longview, TX.

I have heard so much about Longview from different people that have lived there, 

especially Claire's Mom, Laurie, and I was so excited to experience it!

The weekend started with a girls car ride out to Longview with Claire, her mom, and sister-in-law.
There was lots of chatting, laughing, and talk of wedding plans,
all of which are among my favorite things!

Once in Longview, we went straight to Trey's parents house,
spent time with his family, and getting to know everyone,
and then it was off to the neighbor's house for us girls to get some sleep before all of the parties.
 At least, that was the idea.
But when you are in a house with some of your best friends, sleep is the last thing on your mind.
Again, there was lots of chatting, laughing, and talk of wedding plans!
Saturday came early, but after a little coffee we were ready for the first wedding shower.
This was a different kind of shower than I had ever been to.
It was a Pampered Chef shower, where the guests come and go, and purchase the couple gifts from the PC catalog, along with a wishlist made by the couple.
It was so much fun, and made easy because you don't have to bring a gift!
They did have one gift to open from the hostesses, as well as several cards and recipes from guests.

^^Aren't they just the cutest?!

^^Us girls at the shower
The rest of the day was spent with Claire's family celebrating baby Luke's birthday, 

eating delicious Pizza King and Kern's Bakery,

and getting to know Trey's extended family through fun family games!

I have know Trey's immediate family for awhile now, but spending time with his extended family just confirmed for me what a wonderful family Claire is marrying into.

Sunday brought with it another wedding shower, and some much colder temperatures.

By the time the shower started in the afternoon, the temperatures had dropped 20-30 degrees, and severe rain/ice/snow was headed our way.

During the shower though, we were warm and cozy surrounded by the most adorable decorations.

^^Bridesmaids at the shower

^^Again, they're precious!

^^Best friends or sisters??
Yeah, we're not quite sure either.
I'm so happy that I was able to be there to celebrate this beautiful friend all weekend.
It is so wonderful to see how many people love them, and will be supporting them as they begin their lives as husband and wife.
Like I mentioned earlier, the weather was quickly getting worse.
Luckily we were able to get out before it got too bad, and it didn't follow us for long,
but our dear friend Sarah was all alone, and had one of the worst drives of her life.
She was headed to Dallas, straight through all the sleet and ice and snow.
We were extremely worried, and after several phone calls we got her a room at a cozy bed and breakfast, allowing her to stop and relax.
Then we were all allowed to breath out a sign of relief.
It was a very exciting weekend, and I was honored to be included!
Can't wait for many more fabulous celebrations leading up to the big day for the incredible couple!

Blushing Bride

It has been way too long since my last post. 

The good news is that we have been spending time celebrating weddings with friends, 

catching up with best friends and family, and traveling.

The bad news is that its going to take me at least 9 posts to catch up!

I guess there's no better place to start than the beginning.

A great friend of mine got married 2 weekends ago.

Unfortunately, we already had plans to be in California for a wedding that same weekend.

Since I was going to miss the ceremony (I was so devastated!) 

it was very important for me to have some way to celebrate with her.

Another friend and I put a little dinner and dessert shower together for her and we had a BLAST!

Helen is the essence of sweet and simple, so that is what we planned for her party.

We started the night with dinner at Hungry's and it was delicious!!

Next, it was off to Sweet Paris Creperie for some dessert and gifts.

 ^^ The beautiful bride-to-be

^^Our group at dinner

^^Happy to have this sweet friend

^^I am so thankful for this beautiful friend!

By now, she is already happily married and living the Mrs life!

I couldn't be happier for her and her new husband.

If anyone deserves a life of happiness and love, it is this girl.

Sweetheart Banquet

You know you've had a blog a long time when you've written about the same event over, and over.

This event is one of those posts.

We started it our first Valentine's Day at JV.

It was an event just like this year - a sweetheart banquet for the VIPs (over 60s).

You can see the decorations and post about that one here.

Last year we changed it up a bit and did an Appreciation Lunch.

Since I am crazy addicted to conversation hearts, I used that as our theme.

Just click here to see that post.

This year, it was back to the Sweatheart Banquet.

I didn't want to do it the same as two years ago,

1) because I'm an over-achiever

and 2) because that would just be too easy.

I changed up a few of the decorations, and thanks to the youth girls,

it looked great!

I also had the idea to add a photo booth.

We made one for our youth Christmas party last year, and it was a huge hit.

And the VIPs loved it just as much!

It was so fun to see them dressing up, and taking pictures.

They even took some with the youth group.

It was so sweet!

 ^^ All the photo booth props

^^ My great friend and partner in parties!!

So thankful for this lady and her enthusiasm for all my ideas!

^^ Of course, Michael and I had some fun in the photo booth too.

The VIPs had a wonderful time, and we had tons of food leftover,

which I was happy to take home. 

It was an exhausting weekend, but so rewarding to see the elderly people in our church having fun with our youth group.

Youth Group Christmas

Last weekend we had the Christmas party for the youth group. 

We did it a little different than last year, and went with the idea of simplicity.

We started the night by caroling at the nursing home.

It was so sweet to see the faces of the residents, and watch them sing along with us.

Some of them even did a few "dance moves".

I took a video of the group singing, but unfortunately, my microphone was turned off.

Awesome.

After caroling, we went to see the Houston Zoo Lights.

We might have underestimated the amount of people that would be there with us.

We finally got in though, and the kids loved it!

There weren't too many animals still out, but I did see the cougar, some giraffes, and a zebra.

This zebra was my favorite of the night, but the peacock was pretty too.

We finished the night back at the church with a Dirty Santa gift exchange.

One thing I learned is vast differences in people's idea of "white elephant"

All the kids had a great time though, and everyone was happy in the end.

I walked away with 3 pairs of socks (that I loved) and Michael ended the game with a DVD of 

The Land Before Time (which he bought himself)

He was so excited!

It was a great night, and I was SO happy to not have to set up or take down decorations!

Back to School Party

We had our first combined Youth Group and Village Kids event this past weekend.

A Back to School Party.

The Village Kids are our elementary school kids at church.

We have had 'family events' before, but not specifically for these two groups.

There were around 60 people at the party.

There was a great devotional by one of the dads in the group.

There were lots of kids swimming, and playing games.

And lots of adults cooking out burgers and talking.

It was a great night!

I may have said this before: I absolutely love the youth kids.

But it is also nice when there are other adults around for me to talk to at the events.

 We only had a little bit of thunder that made the kids get out of the pool

(which was blamed on me and my "let it rain - Seattle" shirt)

Other than that, it was a wonderful night with our Christian family!

She Said Yes

One of my best friends got engaged this past Saturday, 

and last night we threw her a little surprise party.

Saturday was also Claire's birthday, and that is the day he popped the question.

Her boyfriend fiance (Ahhh!) has been planning this for a while now,

and filled me and Michael in on the plan about 2 weeks ago.

I had so much fun planning the party with Sarah, and Claire's friend Ashlyn.

We wanted it to be absolutely perfect for our little Claire!

^ These cupcakes were a challenge

And they were store bought.

I got to the bakery yesterday and not 1 cupcake was made correctly.

They were supposed to be all white cupcakes, with white icing.

1 dozen were supposed to have mint writing that said "She Said Yes" on each cupcake,

and the other dozen were supposed to have white icing with pearls that we would later put a ring on.

1) The cupcakes have green icing

2) They made them half white, half chocolate cupcakes

3) The ones that had writing, had one letter on each cupcake

I decided I was okay with the green icing, but everything else need to be fixed.

The bakery people were so sweet, and fixed it immediately though.

And, I'm fairly certain they gave me a great discount!

Plus, they taste delicious.

Claire and Trey finally got there, and boy was she surprised!

 ^I also love Trey's face!

After Claire got over the initial shock, they told us the story of how Trey proposed.

It was so fun hearing all the details, and the little things Trey did to trick Claire, and throw her off.

And he did good!

We spent the rest of the evening just talking, looking at pictures from the engagement and taking pictures together.

^ Checking out the ring

^ Telling the proposal story

^ a little engagement gift

It was such a special time celebrating with Claire and Trey, and seeing how happy all their friends are for them.

It is going to be a great year of planning and parties.

I am so excited to watch as this beautiful couple moves into marriage together!

Aggie Ring Day

Since my first summer in Houston, 6 years ago, I have been hearing about the Texas A&M traditions, 

and yesterday I got to experience my first one - 

Aggie Ring Day.

It is a big deal around Aggieland, and these rings are prized possessions.

You must complete 90 hours of credits to get your ring, and yesterday was the big day for Claire!

They have 3 ring days a year: April, September and November.

I was told that yesterday's had the most people than any previous Ring Day.

It was CRAZY!

Here's how it goes. 

Earlier this year Claire picked out her ring, paid for it, and signed up for a time slot.

At that time she goes into a big building to the S section (her last name)

From there she goes into a smaller room, to the part of the table specifically marked for the group that includes her name.

She has to show her ticket and ID, sign her name, and then she will get her ring.

Claire chose to get her ring from her brother, Scott.

We had to clear out of that room pretty quickly so that the other people could get their ring.

From there we went outside to take pictures with all the family that came down for the day.

It was extra special because Claire's boyfriend, Trey also got his ring, along with some of their good friends from AFC.

That's just the beginning of the day.

Once we finished with pictures, and ate some dinner, we went to the big Ring Dunk Party.

Claire and Trey had their party with two friends, Andy and Erin.

There was lots of family, and LOTS of friends at Andy and Trey's house for the party,

and at 8:14pm (20:14 military time, for the class of 2014) they dunked.

What does it mean to dunk?

It means they have a pitcher of drink, and they drop their ring in.

Then they drink.

And drink.

Possibly spill some.

And drink some more until their ring makes it to their mouth.

They all dunked so well, and not a single one of them puked - which was awesome.

So there you have it.

They are official Aggies now, rings and all!

I am SO proud of Claire, and can't believe that she is already old enough to be wearing that ring.

Thanks so much for including me in your special day, Claire!!

Congrats on your AGGIE RING!!