Let's Try This Again

Well...yep. It has indeed been one full year since my last post. Where did the time go? I am not sure! But let's not waste time talking about it. I am here again and I am hoping to keep up with the blog moving forward. For now let me give you our 2012 all wrapped up in a post or two with a couple of pictures!

January - EcKauffs Came to Town

Fort Gaines

Tim & Betty came to visit us in Mobile! We had a great time taking them to the Sea Lab, Fort Gaines and eating lots of great food! Tim & Taylor even got a round of golf in! We just loved having our first visitors!

February - Gibbs Came to Town

We had our 2nd group of visitors in February! It was a blast to have my aunt, uncle and four cousins in town. We showed them the sights as well - the Sea Lab, the beach and of course, the outlet mall! We had all you can eat catfish and introduced them to Foosackly's (aka the BEST chicken fingers in the WORLD). We also stayed up all night playing Just Dance and many other games after a failed attempt to go see "The Vow". The Gibbs Gang is always a good time!

My beautiful cousins: Emily, Madeline, Sam & Shelby

March - Meme's 80th Birthday & Grandparents Came to Town
The first weekend in March Taylor & I drove to Sugarland to celebrate Taylor's Meme's 80th Birthday. It was a wonderful celebration with the Smith family and many of Meme's friends. She was glowing and seemed to have a great birthday! We spent the day celebrating Meme and spending time with family. There was good food, a pretty cake, balloons - it was a party!

The next weekend my Grandmother & Granddad came to visit us in Mobile. I loved having them here. Over 50 years ago my grandparents lived in Mobile as newlyweds. It was so fun driving around and seeing where they used to live (or at least trying to find it), and also seeing how much had changed since they were here. We went to the Sea Lab and also went to the Battleship for the first time. It was really neat to walk all through it and learn the history. We also took a stroll through Bellingrath Gardens, which was gorgeous! I loved being able to host my grandparents and show them our first place as a married couple.

April - San Fran with EcKauffs & McDade Wedding

We took our first big trip since our honeymoon in April. Taylor's dad & step mom took us to the San Francisco area for an AMAZING trip! I'm not going to write a lot here because the trip deserves it's own post, so look forward to that soon!

At the end of April I was honored to be a bridesmaid in my really good friend Kelsey's wedding! It was a gorgeous day in April in College Station. It was a lovely ceremony and a very fun reception! She was a BEAUTIFUL bride. Taylor & I enjoyed being there and sharing in their love.

May - Final Review & Two High School Graduations

Taylor officially felt old the first weekend of May when he returned to A&M to take part in a wonderful tradition. Taylor went to Final Review of the Corps of Cadets to pull boots. He pulled the boots of the class that just three years prior were pulling his boots as freshmen. It was SUCH a fun day! Taylor was able to see and catch up with a lot of his buddies and it was so sweet to watch him pull a couple of his once freshmen's boots. We loved our time in College Station and with those forever friends.

We had a whirlwind the last weeks of May though. One weekend we had my younger brother's graduation from Medina High School. He looked great and we were so proud of all of his awards and accomplishments. We were able to spend some sweet time with our God daughter Olivia while we were there and take some precious pictures that we will forever cherish.

The weekend after that we were headed to east Texas to watch my oldest cousin graduate from West Rusk High School. She was salutatorian and made our entire family so proud! Madeline is currently attending SFA and will be an incredible band director before we know it! It was a fun filled weekend with my family!

June - Taylor's Baptism

We experienced the greastest blessing of our marriage in the month of June. Taylor & I began attending Creekwood Church of Christ on Easter Sunday, and continued going after that. We made a couple friends, really enjoyed the classes and the sermons on Sunday so we discussed placing membership. This discussion led to many discussions and after a lot of studying and praying, Taylor made the decision to be baptized. It was such a sweet and intimate moment. Just Taylor, myself and our minister David were there. I have never been more proud of Taylor. His commitment to the Lord, loving Him and serving Him is beautiful. He is an incredible Christian man leading our marriage and I couldn't be more blessed.

Come back for the second half of the year! If you are still here after all this time - you are a TROOPER! And I am committing to you now that I will be better about this. I have to remember that not every post has to be super long.