24 Days to Go

Here's an update. We decided not to wait until June to get married. Instead our wedding will be on April 14, 2012 in Columbus. Yeah, that's just 24 days from now!

It's all coming together beautifully. I am planning the wedding here and finishing up at work by training my replacements. We have kept it simple and low key so the planning is easy and we're able to make it super personal and meaningful. My brother has been ordained and he will be performing the ceremony and the estimated guest count is 20. The wedding will be in my father's backyard and I am hope/pray/wish/begging for the weather to be as amazing as it has been this past week. Spring sprung hard in the middle of March this year and I'd like to believe that will work to our wedding-day-weather advantage. Fingers crossed!

Meanwhile, back in Horseshoe Bay Joseph has been setting things up for us so that all I have to do is show up with Coop and all my stuff. And he's doing the hard part of that too, flying one way a few days before and then "getting my wife and bringing her home" in a Penske truck, towing my stationwagon (which I will own as of May 1!) It's gone remarkably smoothly, he got a good job offer he wanted to take, changing our plans from living in Austin to staying in HSB. It's too far to commute to live in Austin and work in the bay so I have just accepted that starting our life over just where we left it is a good thing and I'll be happy and make the best of it. I have never been happier in my life than those years with Joseph is Horseshoe Bay so it seems fitting to start our married life by the lake out in the country. Joseph kept the PO Box I have had since '05 and my banking is still done with a local bank there. So really, it's like going home. Joseph has secured us a lovely home that he assures me will meet my criteria. I have yet to see photos of the inside but I trust his taste and I have no choice, so it's working. He will be moving in as soon as the people living there now move out, yeah, it's crazy, that's how country real estate works. No. One. Is. In. A. Hurry. Except me. I'll be there in 28 days expecting to have a place to live. (Calm down, Amy, I can hear Joseph saying.)

I am going to stay with my sister and her family the week before my wedding. Yeah, that sounds crazy too, but I guess that's just my style. I'll be there over Easter, which will be fun, and I plan to enjoy every minute of sweet baby cuddles I can get with my new nephew Max. I will fly home from Alabama on April 11, the same day Joseph flies in from Austin. We'll have a busy week... and then 10 days later we'll be newlywed Texans.

After all the pain and suffering and lost time and regrets and wishes we have experienced in this story of ours... we wouldn't change one thing. It has all happened for reasons we couldn't have known and brought us here to this point in time. We are in the absolute right place doing the right thing with the right people for the right reasons and we are both utterly thrilled to be living this dream come true together. Life is spectacular. We look forward to a long, full, happy marriage. We will eat well, enjoy simple things, see the world, have as many beautiful babies as we can and raise them to be kind people, love each other, love our families and work hard to be happy, healthy and comfortable.

I will fix up this little blog of ours and document the rest of our story here. We are Joseph and Amy. And this is our story.

It's a Beautiful Day

Elizabeth recently asked me, after I complained about Texas, "when do you love it in Texas?"

I had a 45 minute business meeting driving around on a golf cart this afternoon. It was a sunny, glorious day that topped out at seventy-seven degrees! So lovely. (PS. The meeting was to plan the garden that we're planting at the club, to grow some vegetables and herbs, as well as a means to reduce our waste by creating a need for a compost pile. All things I am really really excited about getting to be involved in. More on that later.)

As I drove home about 4 o'clock with my windows wide open and my left arm hanging out, I realized that days like today are the reason that I live here.

When I have to wear sunglasses and it's almost 80 degrees on a day in the middle of February ... that is when I LOVE living in Texas.

It's offically spring. It may get cold again for a day, but as far as everything around me is concerned, it's springtime, which is my very most favorite time of the year.

When I got home we took a 3 mile walk (in tshirt and shorts) with Joseph, Cooper & fatass Marshall (more on that later too). It was A Beautiful Day. :)

Day Trip to San Antonio

We took a day trip to San Antonio on Sunday. The trip was pretty unremarkable, just your typical shopping, waiting in Christmas shopper-traffic and eating filled our day. We stopped at a gas station in the lovely, thriving community of Blanco, Texas. We were so tempted by the attention grabbing message board to go enjoy some Chicken... That's Fried, especially considering the napkins for free, but we did not. We got a hearty laugh though and the opportunity to post these photos on our blog.

On the way home we stopped to look at some really awesome lights set up in Johnson City. Every year the power company puts up this crazy lights display. Although it was REALLY FREAKING COLD, we got out a took some good pictures.



We had had some debate about whether or not to have photo cards made this year. We ended up not, mostly because Joseph runs screaming from any request to pose for photos. When Joseph saw this picture he said, "What a great picture. Next year we should use it for our Christmas card!" Okay, that's progress. Unfortunately, despite being really darling of the two of us I do not think this photo will work for our Christmas card. I am unwillling to send this picture, as it includes a horses ass coming out of my head!
Merry Christmas!