Elizabeths wedding

I would tell you about my good friend Elizabeths wedding, but i'll let the pictures talk.

(the actual pictures are poor iphone quality, but the decor and setting were perfect)

The barn is on their family farm.

I mean, come on.

She is one of the most naturally beautiful people EVER.

We've been friends since freshman year and have traveled Europe and Ghana together.

She has seen me at my worst. No doubt. She is effortlessly lovely

her wedding day footwear. just perfectly Elizabeth

Jen and I before the ceremony

Elizabeth gifted us the cardigans and belts(it was a chilly day, so we donned them during the ceremony)

E is an excellent gift giver

that chandelier. stunning.

it's the little details that matter people.

the pie table.

just take a minute and notice all of the sweet little details. go ahead.

the table... a door and barrels. hello!

smores.

details people.

as the guests arrived they hung out and drank cider and coffee.

i loved the casual vibe

instead of programs, the wedding partys names were written on the window pane.

brilliant.

the haybales served as ceremony seating.

casual mingling

more perfect little details. chocolate covered coffee beans

elizabeth, jenna and lauren.

love 'em

instagram photos

the entrance to the farm was beautiful

my friend buzz took this and i think it is an excellent photo representing the day

Brock and Elizabeth

they are comfy, casual people, but beautiful

the ceremony was one of the sweetest and most personal i've ever been a part of

E's mom and 9 of her friends spent 3 days out at the farm and decorated

they do that for all of their kids weddings. a team. isn't that wonderful?

the folk string band for the reception.

enjoy!

three little birds

2 weekends ago

2 of my favorite people came to play with me

2 of  my BFFs

luckily

I hope everyone has friends like mine

each day I am grateful that God chose to put some wonderful women in my life

I feel truly blessed to have friends that are great women of faith

they also happen to have great taste in music, food and style

I love them because they are selfless, confident and love great conversation

we 3 can be together and do nothing or something ridiculous and treasure the time spent

Kyla and I were rooms in college and in Dallas

2 of the greatest of times of my life

she has shared tears and laughs with me

many times the tears were because of the laughs

she sat with me and cried with me on my bed the morning i found out we had lost my Papaw Shack

she "feels" music the same way that I do

she'll watch Pride and Prejudice with me for the gagillionth time...anytime

she loves Jesus with her whole heart

she can sing....i mean sing people

we just get eachother. ya know?

she's the real deal people

those are a few reason why i love being friends with Kyla

Buzz makes me laugh so much

we were also JuGoJu sistas in college

we were Dallas babes together

she loves concerts with me

she can make up words that make no sense but perfect sense at the same time

she appreciates the small things

she loves my cookin' and lets me know

she knows how to give a compliment and i love to hear them. i treasure her advice, seriously

she has killer style

she is ridiculously easy to be with and makes others feel important. selfless

she loves blogs with me

we can talk about EVERYTHING for a long time

i love Buzz(laura is her real name)

someday i want my kids to learn from her. learn everything.

exactly

we drove around our land to the refuge

they appreciated it.

buzz being all woodsy and stuff

she loved on my doggies and the loved her

Buzz is from Philly, so it's fun to see her be all non-city

dreamy day

collage of the morning

photos taken of meals eaten at my house by them

they both love when i cook(or at least that's what they tell me and i buy it)

and i love to cook

so we just ate at my house the entire weekend

it was perfect

i'm not sure if there is much better than a long dinner accompanied by dear friends and lovely conversation

easy like a sunday morning

our friend David came over for roast, potatoes and biscuits after church on Sunday

we visited until 3pm.

that's a good sunday lunch, ya heard?

when i lived with Kyla and Kari(her twin. and yes, she's equally awesome), i had a cd that i burned(holla) and played constantly.

this song was on that cd and makes me happy and think of time with them.

good harmony, anyone?

thank ya mam.

Daring Girls Cup 2008

buzzs blogs:

mens fashion blog

personal

thanks for being great pals

BFFL and EVER,

Kate

Texas babes

GTs 2 best buds had babies within a month of eachother. Well, THEY didn't...their wives did.

But, you know what I mean.

We made the trek down to Huntsville/Houston last weekend to meet one of the newest members of their friend family.

Sweet little Tate and proud daddio Tommy, GTs BFF.

I know, they prob don't call eachother BFFs. But, they might.

He even cracked a smile for us.

Isn't he so handsome?

Look!

Tate is smiling at GT. Ain't that just sweeter than honey?!

I can't beleive that we got away without any pictures with Brice, the mom!

We love us some Bdawg.

She, of course, looked awesome and was so sweet to have us in her home with a brand spankin' newborn.

Next time.

In Huntsville, we were able to spend time with one of GTs other BFFs, Casey.

He has an almost 5 year old. 5! I can't believe it.

He is hilarious. We just listened to him tell stories and called it good entertainment. 

cute, huh?

He was asked if he wanted to do what his daddy did when he got big.

He responded, "Nope, I wanna be a policeman." Cool, we said. That's a great job!

"So I can put my daddy in jail for shooting a dove out of dove season."

He's 5.

gotta love an honest boy that knows the laws of the land.

What you don't see are his killer boots. They added a nice touch to his comment.

Don't worry, GT is still gonna show these boys how to watch some football.

We are still so excited to meet little Reagan.

She is Larry, GTs other bff, and his wife Rachels little girl.

She was born 5 weeks preterm.

She's home and doing great after about a month in the NICU.

We can't wait to meet you sweet girl!!!

(i stole this picture from Rachels blog...hope you don't mind Rach!)

We just feel so blessed to have such wonderful friends with stinkin' cute kids.

I praise God knowing that our someday kiddos will be raised surrounded by love and these families.

Isn't it a blessing to know that we are a part of a large family who loves the Lord?

and we kind of like being with them, too.

grateful,

Kate

Party time

We celebrated GTs 30th birthday last weekend out in the new/old barn.

His parents came in town for the weekend(which is always a fun weekend) to help us, along with my mom, dad, mamaw Lou and mamaw Jo throw the shin-dig. Some of our good friends came over and we had a grand ole time just celebrating our GT.

This here wagonbed was already on the property. Dad and GT just revived it.

Perfect for serving!

These delicious ham n' cheese sliders were found via Pinterest...hello! Delish

Warming up the barn with friends

The cake tried to crack into thirds.
In an effort to mend it, I loaded on chocolate frosting in hopes it would paste the parts back together.

In an effort to hide the cracks..."i'll just write on the cake with orange frosting".

Note to self...that should never be your solution. Orange is never the solution

homemade birthday cake. fail.

at least it tasted good.

We played HomeRun Derby.

Because GT's gonna "knock 30 outta the park".

Get it?

You're never too old for a themed birthday party, right?

I'm so grateful for my man and his birth! I'm thrilled to be his woman and love being the one by his side. He also happens to be my favorite person in the world.

I'm especially thankful for his leadership.

Not only in our family, but leading those around him. He is a born leader and does not take that lightly as he chooses daily to be a good man, a honest man and a Godly man.

He is also leading the way into the 30's.

He's paving the way, so he can let me know what it's like in the 3rd decade of life.

Love ya boo!

Kate

Jantsen's Gift

If you haven't read this yet, do it.
It is a read-in-one-day kinda book.
Pam Cope's story is quite inspirational and will leave you quite misty eyed.


Her book was just mentioned in Parade Magazine here:

http://www.parade.com/parade-picks/2011/08/14-jantsens-gift.html

JANTSEN'S GIFT

by Pam Cope with Aimee Molloy, nonfiction

After her 15-year-old son, Jantsen, died unexpectedly of a heart ailment in 1999, Pam Cope channeled her grief toward a new purpose: improving the lives of children around the world who suffer from poverty and abuse. This inspiring memoir of loss and healing traces the emotional journey Cope took to rebuild her family and honor her son’s memory by making a difference
(from Parade Magazine online)

 

  She is the founder of Touch a Life.
You should be familiar with this organization, as I have mentioned it on numerous occasions.
I also just returned from my first trip with them to visit the kids in Ghana.

sweet Joel

This is my friend Rachel

I can't say enough about her and her heart. I'm sure that I've blogged about her before.

She works for TAL and organized the entire trip with 55 volunteers and 550+ kids. Crazy, huh?

She's my age. Hello. No excuses here people.

The kids were so excited to see her and her feelings were mutual, obviously.

Rach and I with TAL kids

Here is Pam with Garrett and Kelly Nichols, the in-country directors for TAL and George Achibra, a Ghanaian anti-trafficking crusader(when i saw him, i felt like i was meeting a celebrity with the kindest spirit ever).

Rach, David(my good friend from WM and a brilliant pharmacist) and I with some of the kiddos


our very intellectual medical team

with Brad Gautney(on my right), the founder of Global Health Innovations, that partnered with TAL for the health fair. He is awesome and blogged a little ditty about the trip here:http://globalhealthinnovations.org/update-on-ghana

there are millions more pics taken by myself and many others on the trip.
here are a friends on facebook
an incredible profesh photographer also tagged along. here is a bit on her blog as well: nancy borowick


As you can see, i love this organization, i love these kids and am honored to have been a part of their work.
Thanks to Pam Cope for starting TAL through her heartache.
Because of her passion through tragedy, childrens lives are forever changed. and ok, mine too.

(i think i've posted enough links in this post, ha)


p.s. good to see you again blogger.
i'm back in the game
Kate