My Visit to Kindergarten

Today I fulfilled a dream of mine, to volunteer in my child’s classroom. I remember being a kid and seeing my mom in my class. It made me so happy and I felt special because she came. Today I was the volunteer mom and my daughter smiled proudly at me. She focused in class but occasionally she'd sneak looks at me. Her classmate named Omar wasn’t so sneaky. He waved a lot and came to talk to me quite a few times. :)

Teachers have a lot of patience. There were several times that I wanted to stand up and wrangle-up the wild kids with my “mom voice”. I held it in and Mr. London took care of it quite nicely with such calmness. He would threaten to take away points from their groups and that seemed to work well.

We played BINGO in Spanish, wrote a comic in Spanish, practiced the English alphabet, practiced the days of the week, the months of the year, and learned two new words: square and rectangle. I was quite impressed that the students could follow along and understand the teacher in both languages. The dual language program at her school is amazing and I am so glad I was able to visit and help in Kindergarten today.

Honored to be a Matron

I was asked to be my best friend’s Matron of Honor in her wedding on September 8^th. The word honor is definitely fitting because I was truly honored to be asked. Since that moment I have spent a lot of my time researching inspiration and thinking of ways I can make this easier and more affordable for the bride. That’s my job; help the bride get hitched without a hitch.

I've designed her invitations and RSVP cards recently. We have the paper, so pretty soon we will print them. Her theme is Vintage so I have an idea about how to make the edges look old but still classy for her wedding. I cross my fingers it works out. We are also doing some cool things for the ceremony with wine bottles to hold candles and new postcards that appear old. It will be fun to post photographs of all of these after her wedding which is just 206 days away! It seems like an eternity when it's your own wedding. I remember that the night before my own wedding I thought wow this used to be 300 days away... and now it's HERE. <3

Helping plan someones wedding is much easier than planning your own. You get to be involved in all of the fun and be left out of the stressing side associated with prices. The wedding industry sure is a money maker. I almost feel like I should venture into event planning one day (because I like it, not just because of the money). I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the planning of her bridal shower and that is not for another six months. I wish I could share what I’ve come up with so far but I can’t tip off the bride to what I’ve got in store for her. Be sure to check back in September for some post bridal shower pictures.

Take a look at the soon-to-be Andersen family here: http://nicholasandaleigha.ourwedding.com/

Va Va Va Valentine

Yes, today is a consumer holiday and we love each other every day not just today. That said, I can’t lie and say that I don’t like seeing my husband walk into my work with red roses and a sweet card professing his love. He’s done this for my birthday and another day just because, but today he gave in to tradition and showed me some love. Happy wife over here!

My daughter had her first Valentine’s Day party today. When I picked her up she was very excited to show me all of the cards she received. She also had smudges of red frosting all over her face and hands from a cupcake. She gave me her Valentine from Lily because it was Harry Potter and said “Here mom, this is for you because it’s your favorite movie. Maybe you can hang it up at work and show your friends.” Of course I did what she suggested. :) I gave her a red rose from Garrick, her step-dad and she beamed at it. “Why did he give me this, because he loves me?” Well of course he does.

Today, my friend’s infant son Mason is recovering from a successful catheter surgery on his heart. At eight days old he is proving to be a tough guy just like his momma. He will need to see a cardiologist as he grows and have another surgery as an adult, but thanks to amazing technology, doctors, and research, he is going to lead a strong and healthy life. We are so grateful he received such top notch care. Mason’s life could not have been saved without the knowledge gained from research foundations like The Children’s Heart Foundation.
Join me today in supporting further research and saving more children’s lives. Every 15 minutes, a child is born with a heart defect. It takes less than 15 minutes donate to the cause that saves their lives.
http://www.childrensheartfoundation.org/donate-now

Hide and Seek

Where did I go? Where have I been? I left the blogging world in the dust. I wanted to track wedding planning on my blog but… well… I didn’t. It was all I could think about or work on for a whole year and it took every ounce of creative juice that I had. I enjoyed the process but I am so glad it’s behind me. Our wedding day was flawless. It felt ten times better than I had imagined. That happy elated feeling leaves tingles in your body the whole day. We have survived some pretty serious challenges together since the day after our return from our honeymoon. The roller coaster ride hasn’t stopped since.

We are 64 days away from our one year anniversary. 65 days from the anniversary of our first meeting. I look forward to the future year for us.

I Will Remember You

The sadness and anger that I feel today is only a small shadow compared to the feelings of my aunt on this day. I see pictures today of my Uncle George and cry at the unfairness of it all. No one should leave their life in pain. We all deserve to age and die peacefully in our sleep. As I wipe my tears today I remind myself to be grateful for the good in my life and do all in my power to keep me and my loved ones healthy.