Sunday, April 25, 2010

We're Back!

I've caught a lot of flack recently for not updating the blog so here's a megapost for all you complainers!
As you know, Nick got home on March 19th. Here's a shot of him waiting for his helicopter ride off of the FOB. We, of course, toasted his homecoming with some bubbly!

A few weeks ago we ventured up to Charlotte to shop for spring clothes. We had a lot to buy with our two big weddings coming up! My best friend, Rebecca gets married in less than two weeks, and our sister Mandy is getting married at the end of May. We have lots of fun times to look forward to! This picture was taken during Nick's first visit to the Cheesecake Factory. Yum!

Between our trip to Charlotte and the next excitement I'll post, we flew home to Waco for Rebecca's bachelorette weekend and some good family time. Unfortunately I don't have a single picture from that weekend! I guess I was just too busy enjoying myself...I'll just have to make sure to get plenty of good ones during the wedding weekend.

These next pictures are from our farewell bash here in Columbia. Several of our sweet friends got together to throw us a fabulous party where we got to celebrate good times with our friends and then bid everyone farewell. Nick and I were absolutely bowled over by the hospitality of our hosts and hostesses and the love and support showed by all of our friends who came. To echo the sentiments shared during last nights toasts, we have become a part of an incredible, loving family here that has supported us through some of the most challenging times of our lives. We can't even say how much we'll miss our friends here, and we are so thankful for EVERYTHING you've done for us. And don't worry, we're already planning our first visit back!

Here I am with some of my favorite Columbia women: Meredith, Lauren, Laura, and Kelly.
FFF (fabulous faithful females): Kelly, Lauren, Laura, Angela, and Hope

On the porch with Angela and Kelly - disclaimer, it was raining and humid so my hair and make-up situation is rapidly deteriorating before your eyes!

As usual, Rex and Paula Wilson graciously opened their home for our party. These two have been my Columbia Mom and Dad!
Sunday School friends: Matt, Kelly, Michael, Angela, and Christian
All of our Columbia friends put together an amazing South Carolina swag bucket for us. We will be representing the Palmetto State well in New Mexico as you can see. Even the bucket itself has a palmetto tree on it! If you come visit us in Clovis, we'll let you sample some sweet tea vodka. Yummy!

Finlay was very uncertain about these new items coming into his house...
As for our moving timeline, our movers come to pack us up tomorrow, and they'll be all done by Tuesday night. We'll leave Columbia on Saturday and arrive in Waco on Sunday, which is where we'll be until after Michael and Rebecca's wedding. We'll actually get to Clovis on Sunday, May 9th, and we'll be there until we leave a few weeks later for Mandy's wedding extravaganza. As usual, life is crazy, but I will try to be better about keeping you updated along the way.
Have a great week everyone!