Mummy to Be ♥

We've officially had 4 baby showers! I guess people really do love babies!! Brandon's co-workers threw a baby shower for him at the VA, we had our little garden party shower, Christie threw one for me and then I was surprised with a Halloween shower at work, orchestrated by Cookie. I knew she was up to something, but I definitely didn't expect this! 

I think that people assume I will only dress Winnie in black and indoctrinate her with all things Halloween, disallowing the development of her own identity. This if fairly insulting. Passion is something that I want her to have. My cup runneth over in that department; I have many hobbies and loves and I think that is a positive thing. We only hope she knows and loves herself and however that manifests itself, only time will tell! Halloween will always be a big part of our lives simply because B & I share a love for the holiday, but I promise we won't scare her [?]. If anything, she'll get bored of it, rebel and refuse to Trick or Treat. We are fully prepared for that, actually ... 

In any case, Cookie knew I secretly wished I was pregnant during the Halloween season so I'd have an excuse for a Halloween shower, so Springtime be damned, she made it happen! She did such a great job! I loved it and I was overwhelmed by the love, gifts and well wishes from my fellow librarians. Monday is my last day before maternity leave and then the final countdown begins!

Yes, that is a Build-a-Bear Halloween Hello Kitty! I really believe that is just going to be for me. 

Sorry, Winnie.

♥

Oh, Bestie! ♥

Okay, so maybe this is just a baby blog now ... I don't know. I'm really too busy to post as much as I used to, but it is a good way for my family/friends who can't be here to keep up with baby stuff. Bestie Holly [Christie ... we'll explain later] and her mom Janice [who I've dubbed my second mom!] threw me the prettiest, pinkest baby shower ever this past weekend, complete with all the trimmings of a well planned affair. I have definitely been embracing the pink with Winnie on the way, and Christie couldn't be more proud of that, I think.

There were bunnies everywhere! Christie decorated everything so perfectly, made cake push-pops, sammies, some amazing popcorn that I desperately need the recipe for, and lots of other goodies for us to enjoy. There was a bingo game and a "guess the number" game ... I totally won a jar full of M&Ms at my own shower. Success!

Also, I got so many lovely treasures! I will definitely be posting an [obnoxiously long] gift post soon because I've been taking pictures of all Winnie's gifts. We are so lucky to have such great and generous friends in our life! Thanks so much to everyone who came!

Here are some highlights ...

She'll be here in a few weeks! I'm so excited! [despite the look on my face here] You all know how I am about pictures I'm not in control of. But I had to post a shot of me and the lovely hostesses. 

♥

Save the Date!!

Hillary and Rue sent out their save the dates! Just when I was about to start hounding her about getting stuff together for save the dates, Hillary said "no, you can't help with  these, I want them to be a surprise!" So glad I wasn't "in" on these ... I was very pleasantly surprised by their awesomeness. Not too surprised, though ... I mean, Hillary and I practically have the same brain ... hers just comes with whatever makes people nice.

I'm not going to rant ... but seriously - stop sending out magnets!!! They were a great idea at one point, but like most other trends, they have worn out their welcome. I'm over it. Everyone has been over it for quite some time, trust me. Okay, that's all. Now enjoy these beauts ...

I know what you're thinking ... "she only likes these cause they're the blackest blackness ever" which is totally true, but honestly ... these are so beautiful! Hillary lined the envelopes with velvety damask paper and they took the time to seal them with wax and stamp a love poem on the front. Teamwork, folks ... that is love.

A save the date has two purposes. 1. To ... save the date, duh. And B. To give a sneak peek to the feel or theme of  a wedding. As I am "in" on everything else, I can say that these express the elegance and timelessness of their upcoming New Orleans wedding. Take that, magnets!

Miss Shasta

I honestly believe that surrounding yourself with good people will promote goodness in yourself. This is, of course, why I married Brandon. [not the only reason, of course! haha] He is truly the best person I've ever known. I also have a few friends that are just good people. These are the people I want to always have relationships with.

My attraction to "good" people hasn't always been active. I actually prided myself a long time ago in dating bad boys or having friends of questionable motive so to make myself look better. [what the hell, right?] When I look back on those years, I realize that I had no idea who I was. I used to always joke about people who say they're "finding" themselves, but there is definitely a time in every person's life that they can look back and say "wow, I really didn't know who I was back then." I don't believe there is a magical age in which this happens, I just believe that once you get through some shit, you know ... stuff that makes you make decisions based solely on what you know and how you feel, then you're a little closer to knowing who you truly are.

With most of my friends, I can remember a time when they were lost, or confused or rampantly stupid ... you know, "finding" themselves. But there are a few friends that have just always been exactly who they are meant to be. When you know who you are at an early age, you tend to be able to do great things in the world. There is no break-out phase or lashing-out phase. I have at least one such friend and her name is Shasta.

In the few short years that I got to spend with Shasta at Centenary, she gave me countless one-liners [anyone ever heard me say "I'm sweatin' like a whore in church!"? ... yep, Shasta] and mini life lessons that I of course didn't realize then. I guess that I can tell the difference in a friend of convenience and a truly dear friend by how often I think about that person now, at nearly 28 after not seeing them for years. I can't remember my suite-mates or even most of my sorority sister's last names, but I remember nearly everything about Shasta and I think about her more than any other person from that time in my life.

After college, Shasta decided to help people [see? not like me at all ... I love it!] and so she joined the Peace Corps and began teaching abroad. She's been at it for a few years now and I am so proud!! I selfishly want her to move back to east Texas so we can make day-trips to see each other and I can have some of that goodness rub off on me again, but I know that there are kids who need her elsewhere at the moment. She was in South Korea for awhile, now in Honduras and will be moving to Japan [ah!?] sometime next year I believe. Then, like a good Southern woman, she promises her mother [and all of us Shasta groupies] to come home for a bit.

 Yes, she is also beautiful. She's hoggin' all the good human qualities!

She was recently written about and interviewed for TeachingTraveling.com ... please read! I'm so proud to know and love Miss Shasta and I can't wait to see her again!! Also, I sent her a little Zombee, so now there are Zombees loose in Honduras!

Sugar Skulls

I am so glad I'm finally able to blog about this! A soon as Hilly & Rue got engaged, I went hunting for the perfect engagement gift. Since I'm on Etsy, I usually go there first to find something really unique and fun! While it is a bit over saturated and the quality of product is still kind of iffy in a certain percentage, I still feel that Etsy is a great place to find unique gifts.

I really wanted to find something traditional with a twist. [I think I just summed up my taste in housewares.] The gift, as it was to celebrate their engagement, also needed to reflect on their personal style. I remember when Brandon and I got engaged, my parents gave me the most gorgeous champagne flutes to toast on our big day. That gave me the inspiration to find the perfect flutes for the future Mr. & Mrs. Torres ...

 Yay!! I am so in love with these!! I love that there is a boy skull and a girl skull, and I love anything personalized. I can't wait for January 7th, 2012!! 

Of course, I had to wrap them up with some goofy shit. I swear, I love tissue paper more than anyone should.

These were made by LaserBird on Etsy. Great service and a beautiful product! 

The love birds loved them, too!

Xmas Treasures

Toil & Trouble

Jenny & Danny got me this AMAZING gift for Christmas ... I mean, where do you even find this sort of thing? The "look what we made for Kate" store? In any case, I can't think of what to do with it just yet, but I'm sure I'll think of something soon.

Ahhhhhhhhh!! Just what I always wanted, a giant cauldron that is also a Jack O'lantern!!

Mawwiage

Besides the amazing Jack O'Lantern cauldron that my sis and bro-in-law gave me (which I plan to give his own blog post,) I'd have to say that my very favorite Christmas gift this year has been hearing the news that one of our dearest friends is getting married!! Hillary and my husband Brandon became friends a long time ago under the pretense of space rock [Bowie] and solitude [they're both back porch chatters] in the lost world of Bossier City. Later, Brandon would meet me in a bar and eventually confess to Hillary that I was "the one." Hillary, much like Brandon, is calm and collected and like water for my fire which is why she and I had no problem becoming best friends. 

Hillary has been dating the man of her dreams for a few years now, the last couple of which she has spent with him in L.A.! As sad as we often are that they aren't here to participate in silly Sunday fun, Corgi experiments and cooking/wine-fests, we could not be more proud of her for devoting herself to a meaningful and wonderful relationship with her boyfriend Rue, whom we just so happen to adore. Brandon and I have the honor of sharing maid/man of honor duties and we could not be more excited! I don't often gush, but I cannot help it ... these are the people we want on our team [marriage] ... those who truly love each other, take time to cultivate a loving bond that doesn't need to be defined, but just so happens to eventually have paperwork. I don't have faith in much, but I have faith that some people do truly love and cherish each other and among those rare couples whom we admire are the future Mr. & Mrs. Torres.

Whatevz, I'm Over It

This is sad, but for me, it is most often the people closest to me that I can count on the least. I don't mean that in terms of my husband or my entire family, but there are definitely friends I've had for years and family members that let me down on a regular basis. Why? I realize I'm pretty awful, but if you're my friend or the like, you probably already know that and are accustomed to my shitty ways. I feel like I'm supportive of my friends and their endeavors and I don't do that for the sole purpose of having it returned, but I often find myself thinking "why am I having to beg for support right now?" I definitely spent most of my young life begging for attention and was made to feel horrible for it, but as an adult, I don't consider assuming someone who cares for me will be there for me as attention-seeking behavior.

I don't consider this a rant, or a vague non-name-dropping slight to a specific person whom I'm too cowardly to confront. I am speaking generally about several people over several years. This is more of an "isn't life grand" type post. The fact that I have to say that is sad; people are so quick to assume I'm talking about them when I write something critical. Any time I have an issue with someone, they know it first. That is the point, right? I get a lot of flack for bringing up issues or calling people on their bull-shit [and honestly, denying my own from time to time] but how on earth can anyone cultivate a real relationship with anyone without being honest and dealing with their issues? Communication is key, but for the record ... I don't think that involves begging for encouragement.

The problem with having this type of conversation is that the person almost always gets defensive and then overcompensates, cheapening their words and making it seem as if they're feigning emotion to suffice the crying titty-baby. Then I [the titty-baby] just end up feeling like an asshole. Ugh. OR they get defensive and react the opposite way by playing freeze out or  throwing your relationship away completely. I'm pretty great at the latter; I weigh my issues with people against involving myself with them at all and if my Benjamin Franklin style pros/cons list doesn't add up ... it's over. [I'm such a guy.] I guess this is why people just write Facebook status updates like, "I REALLY WISH GIRLS WEREN'T SUCH BITCHES!!! EPIC FAIL!!!! SEE MY REAL FRIENDS TONIGHT!!!" ... shit, just typing that makes my bowels twitch. Getting it out of your system in a safe [as in, non-consequential whatsoever] way is great, as long as you don't plan on learning any life lessons. Honestly, how can you be sure you have any real friends whatsoever if you're constantly hating everything they do, but never talking about it?

I guess I can safely say that I've learned a lot this year about my relationships; old, new, real, fake, tormented,  and blissful. And I have to say ... WHO NEEDS 'EM!?!

I'm kidding, I'll probably make more friends, lose more and maybe just keep a few forever, but I'll be kicking and screaming the whole way if people don't stop stunting their growth out of fear of an 'icky' feeling and learn how to interact on a real level.

Maui Amour

I'm glad I can finally post pictures I took of Kim before she walked down the beautiful, sandy aisle to marry Tyler. I thought I'd take the pre-wedding pictures in black and white to capture the mood. Kim was the most calm and collected bride ever! We had a great afternoon getting dolled up and counting down the minutes to the ceremony. My favorite part was when she was being asked a few "what ifs," she responded, "oh, I don't care ... I just want to marry Tyler today!" Precious.

It was truly the most romantic wedding I've ever been to. Mostly because I only remember the two of them; no distractions, no pressure ... just love! So amazing. There was, of course a professional photographer [and videographer] there, but I snapped some shots while Kim was getting ready and a few right before the ceremony. You can really tell how happy she was! I switched to color for the last few; they were literally taken minutes before she became Mrs. Hicks and I couldn't resist the greenery growing on the stone wall you walk through to enter the beach. We were in Maui, on Makena Cove; a tiny, secret beach just before sunset. I am so glad that Brandon and I were able to be a part of this amazing moment.

Killer dress ... killer figure to put it on, too!

 This is happiness ... beautiful!

Beautiful bouquet!!

Perfect! She required no airbrushing, obviously. Not that I know how to do that ...

 My dear hubby helping her up the stairs! Definitely one of my favorite shots. Cant wait to frame it!

Mr. & Mrs. Hicks!

Bye!! What a cute patoot!!