Baby on Board

Joseph and I are very happy to share that we are expecting a little baby Higley in the spring. Just a few months into our marriage we are headed for our biggest and most important adventure yet: parenthood. To say that it's been a busy year is putting it quite mildly, and there's no slowing down in sight.

I first took a pregnancy test on July 12, after an icky-feeling day at work. I really didn't expect it to come back positive because it was 8pm, but I didn't want to wait til morning. Much to my surprise, a faint line showed up pretty quickly. Ummm, ok, that's interesting. Joseph was working, so I didn't say anything and went to bed. The next morning, which happened to be Friday, July 13, (I've written about Joseph's love of Friday the 13th and how he often experiences very good luck on those days, so it was very fitting) was Joseph's 37th birthday. I got up early, took 2 more tests, and then did the only thing I could think of... wrapped the tests up in a box. We both had to work that day so we had celebrated his birthday already and didn't plan on presents that day. I woke him up and told him I had one more present for him to open.

His reaction surprised me a little bit, as he wasn't surprised at all. He just smiled a big smile, and said "This is the best birthday present ever, I'll never forget this day." And then he told me he'd thought about it the week before and knew that I was going to be pregnant very soon. Since before our wedding people had been asking impatiently when we were going to have kids, so I guess I am the only one who was surprised that 10 weeks into marriage and without actually "trying", I'd turned up pregnant.

I have not felt well. At all. So it's been a couple rough, hot, tired months. I didn't imagine my first summer back in Texas to be like this, where I have stayed inside every single day, only bearing the heat to run to and from the car. Poor Cooper didn't expect it either, but despite being stuck inside and getting very little exercise, he's still as sweet and good as ever. Oh, and he's very excited to be a big brother. I'm just starting to feel much better and rather than totally opposed to most foods, as I was for a while, I'm gradually becoming hungry for everything. It's still miserably hot outside but I'm patiently waiting for cooler temperatures so Coop and I can get out for long walks. For now I'm staying inside, doing some yoga and reading, reading, reading.

Our families could not be happier or more supportive. Baby will have cousins close in age on both sides (extra close on the Marsh side, Mike and his wife are expecting a baby girl in February). We are lucky to have experienced mamas in both of our sisters and my mom who is an expert in all things pregnancy and baby. We are surrounded by love and support, despite being far away from everyone here in Texas.

Last week we had our first prenatal appointment with the midwives we'll be seeing. We'd had the appointment scheduled for several weeks and I was very anxious, as I knew we would get to hear the heartbeat for the first time on this visit. As I got ready that morning, I put on Dad's watch as I do every morning, but I also grabbed the bracelet my sister gave me for Christmas last year. It's a silver slip on cuff with the quote "I carry your heart with me" etched on it. On the inside are dad's initials "DHM". I had always kept it where I could see it in the bathroom, but had never actually worn it out of the house before. It seemed appropriate to wear Dad's heart with me to go hear baby's heart. If you knew my dad or have read much of what Kate and I have written since he died, you know that he loved and found great comfort, symbolism and beauty in rainbows. Since he got sick, we have seen rainbows at some of the most incredible moments and situations. So imagine my shock and overflowing emotion when, on our way to Austin to listen to our baby's heartbeat for the first time, on a completely rainless, sunny day in August, we looked up and saw this.

Baby Higley is due in March and we will be surprised and ultra eager to meet our son or daughter.

A Full House

Last week we were happy to have our first house guests. Joseph's sister and my dear friend, Elizabeth drove here from Albuquerque with her four kids. We had a lovely, relaxing six days together in our little house. We had just met Adam and Courtney last month in Columbus but that was quick, so it was my absolute pleasure to have their squishy baby selves to kiss and hold for a long period of time. Noelle is four years older than the last time I saw her and Madeleine was just nine months old the only time I met her. It was really speical to have so much time to really get to know their funny little personalities. Here are some photos, in no real order, of how we kept busy during their awesome visit.

The boys hanging out in the kitchen.

We made several different batches of jam with all the berries we picked.

Just so exhausted, she couldn't last past dinner. Also, this was the first meal eaten at our new table.

The slip n slide was a huge hit. The girls and Cooper played on it night after night. All the adults couldn't believe how short it looked.

After breakfast at the Bluebonnet we went to Sweet Berry Farm and picked 15 pounds of blackberries and strawberries.

The boys in the kitchen again.

The babies were really good about playing together on the floor. I thought this picture was really cute, because Coop wasn't quite sure what to think of a house full of kids.

Courtney ate as much as an average adult while she was here. Seriously, she's an itty bitty girl but she can put food away. All the kids ate well, and Adam ate just as much, but little Courtney chowing down was a pleasure to experience.

Noelle loved playing cards with the adults, but especially with Uncle Jojo. They spent hours and hours playing War, Old Maid and Uno. They both hate to lose. It was entertaining.

Beautiful, sweet, ripe berries.

Elizabeth and I worked in the kitchen late into the night while Joseph worked and the kids slept. We have so much to talk about and the kitchen is the best place to do that.

Avocado on wheat toast.

Madeleine got way into decorating the patio with chalk.

It was rainy for a few days, but the girls weren't afraid of a little mud. Or a wet dog.

More cards. It was a serious rivalry.

Courtney not being cranky.

She couldn't stay out of the puddle. "I LOVE WAIN PUDDLES! I LOVE WAIN PUDDLES!"

We are looking forward to many more visitors to this house... and the next time we see the Jones family.

Marsh & Higley get Married!

What a whirlwind few weeks it has been. Really, the last few months have been a crazy ride. And honestly, the last several years too. Anyway, we made it safely to our new home in the Texas Hillcountry. We have been here for ten days, so we are pretty much unpacked and mostly caught up on sleep. It was a rough couple of days after we left Ohio. It was a lot of miles with a huge dog in a hot truck. We drove straight through from Columbus, Ohio just three days after our wonderful, family wedding in the rain. Joseph is back to work now and this home is starting to feel like a sweet home. This life here is starting to feel like the real life we waited years to make.

The week before the wedding I had been in Alabama hanging out with my sister and her family, meeting new baby Max Daniel. Who ever in a right mind schedules herself to be out the town for a week the week before her wedding? It was a nice distraction, just cake baking, sprinkler playing and so much baby snuggling that I didn't think too much getting married and moving the following week. On Wednesday, April 11, I flew from Montgomery, back to Columbus. A few hours after I arrived, Joseph arrived in from Austin. And then, it was all systems GO! The next days his family started to arrive from east and west. Thursday evening, the boys (3 Higleys, 1 Marsh) went out for a Bachelor Steak Dinner and the ladies had a quiet evening out. Friday, the rest of our siblings arrived in town, we had a Going Away/Pre-Wedding Party at my Mom's house. It was lovely, lots of good food and yummy drinks, great conversations, introductions all around, laughter, congratulations and goodbyes. It was much better than a rehearsal dinner and the perfect way to start our Wedding Weekend!

Then we woke up Saturday and it was WEDDING DAY! Joseph and I spent a few quiet hours together at home and then went our separate ways to get ready. Oh. My. Goodness. The excitement! The weather forecast had changed daily for the 2 weeks leading up to this day. I had pretty much accepted that I could do nothing about it, therefore wouldn't waste energy worrying or stressing about what happened in the sky on April 14. That turned out to be a blessing, because there was nothing we could have done to prevent the 12 solid hours of POURING RAIN. As much as Joseph and I (and Robin, bless her heart) wanted it to be a warm, sunny spring day to fully enjoy the beautiful yard in all of it's Marsh Landscape glory, the soaking wet, grey, chilly day was not a disappointment at all. It was somehow more romantic. We huddled close under a tent on the deck, with 16 of our very dearest looking on, a mom and a dad looking down through the clouds and my brother leading the way, and we exchanged simple, heartfelt vows. I am completely biased, but it was truly the sweetest, most intimate wedding ceremony I could imagine. We laughed, we cried, we promised. Then we toasted!


After the ceremony we went to a nearby restaurant for a delicious family style Italian feast in their wine room. We ate, drank, laughed, took pictures and enjoyed being all together. My dear Erin made our cake for us, and although the top layer didn't make it home for us to save, it was the best, most beautiful wedding cake ever... Made by my best friend, who happens to be the best cake baker I know. After the reception we went back to Robin's house to keep the celebration going. As the night wound down, Joseph and I looked around in awe at our families together and the rings on our fingers. We were finally married!

Enjoy a few photos from our wedding day.

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.

Sweet Boy

It is a sad day in Horseshoe Bay. Joseph had to say goodbye to his faithful companion, the furry black boy he adored. Here are some good pictures of the "sweet boy", back in his healthy, younger days. I hope he's sleeping soundly on a dog bed in the clouds tonight...

REST IN PEACE, Marshall. You will be missed.
2002-2012

It Was Never Over

Where do I begin? We are back.

Back where we belong. Back together.

What a story this has become! The last time I posted it was with a very heavy heart that I signed off at the end of the marshigley blog. It had been my method of documenting and celebrating our lovely life together in Texas... the food & wine, the trips, the outdoor activity, the dogs, our happiness.

After four years we came to a point where we needed to no longer be together. The love and respect never changed, ugly words rarely said, there were just two different courses we needed to take. I didn't focus much on what would come in the future and charged full steam ahead being Just Amy. It was a busy year after that. I moved to North Carolina, reconnected with a dear friend, lived in a mountain lake house in the woods for a spectacular summer, spent the holidays in Hawaii and then came home to Columbus after ten years away. Sadly, my time in Columbus was some of the hardest of my life and losing Dad shook me so, so deeply. But from great loss sometimes comes great wisdom, and I believe that's what lead me back to where I ultimately belong.

"It was never over", according to Joseph. He promised to wait for me. And that is exactly what he did. In the ultimate demonstration of undying, unconditional love, Joseph kept our life mostly in tact in Horseshoe Bay. We never lost touch and after nineteen months of patiently waiting and never wavering from his stance that we were meant to be together and that I would realize it and come back... It became glaringly obvious to me.

As of the late hours of Christmas Eve 2011 Joseph and I are engaged to be married. We have decided on Saturday, June 16, 2012.

We will finally be The Higleys.

Just Checking

Just checking.

<3

The End

It's the end of an era, folks.
Our journey together has reached its destination, we're here. And now we must go.



Goodbye and Peace

The Last Time

Hello, if any even reads this. It has been quite a while since I have actively posted anything here and had pretty much accepted that I'd given up. I felt compelled to write tonight.

Hopefully not for the last time, like the title may lead you to believe, tonight I am thinking about doing things for the last time in this house. Last night we cooked a delicious Thanksgiving dinner in our colorful open kitchen in this spacious, quiet house. The dogs laid with their paws and noses on the line of the carpet and watched (and Coop waited for a drop of something, anything). It's a darling sight we've seen hundreds of times while we cooked. Most of our kitchen is packed up, and from the dishwasher into boxes the dishes went today. Just due to timing really, Thanksgiving was our final meal in this kitchen. For the lovers of food, it's a perfect finale in a house we have loved.

***Thanksgiving Dinner Menu*** (will add later, with pictures)

Tonight I shopped at the one small town grocery store in Marble Falls, for the last time.
Sunday I will drive that peaceful curvy 22 miles of country highway at sunrise for the last time. My commute will now be less than four miles, from the other direction.

The list of lasts we'll do here this weekend goes on. And the list of firsts we're facing is infinite. Our new place is a loft-style above a garage apartment, separate from a family residence on a wooded piece of land near Lake Travis. It's a little more than half the size of the house we're in now, which will be an adjustment, but definitely a good one. It's just been finished this month and we're looking forward to all of it's state of the art fanciness. I get to have a desk and laptop in THE PANTRY with a window!!!!!! and our washer and dryer fits inside the walk-in closet. We're downsizing quite a bit, leaving behind anything not worth taking, which for us is mostly everything. : ) Not entirely, but it feels that way. We are donating more than half of each of our wardrobes. Our dining room table, it's a piece of trash, literally now. And most noticeably, Joseph's 70" Monster Screen tv was hauled off into the darkness Monday night.

We'll replace the tv, the table and eventually the clothes. But we will never replace the years we spent in Horseshoe Bay. It's unlike any other place in the world and I can't imagine a more idyllic location to spend your twenties. We each spent ours here. It's the lake-side retirement community where Joseph and I separately, then together, grew up. Now we start our life... as grown ups, in Briarcliff.

Goodbye, Texas - Hello, Florida!

Will we ever be glad to fly the ^*%$ out of here on Wednesday morning!!!!! Yes, yes we will! We've been planning this trip for so many months and I felt like it would never get here. But it's here, finally!

Thank Goodness, because I don't think either one of us could work another week without going insane! You know when you just NEED a vacation? I have worked 17 of the last 19 days, which just about pushed me to the edge. Today was the last day of service at the club and tomorrow I have to work a few hours to close the place down for ten days. Feels like the last day of school for the summer! Seems like a rip off, ten days.

We got the first flight out of San Antonio on Wednesday morning. That means we will actually be leaving our house at 2:30am to get to the airport! I have a million things to get done on Tuesday, so I'm writing this post early.

I'm doing laundry, packing and cooking dinner with a bunch of random stuff, to try to clean out fridge. Joseph is working at Lorraine's on a Sunday, which he's only had to do one other time. A church band is playing and holding service there, at a bar...? He'll be home soon for a yummy dinner. (Citrus-soy grilled tri-tip, spring rolls, sticky fried rice and broccoli&carrots) There is a list of chores to get done that seems to be growing faster than I can check things off. Ugh. Nothing can get me down this week, though. We worked really hard to get here, I'm damn sure going to enjoy it!

The weather forecast hadn't been looking too nice, which had me a little concerned. I was trying my hardest not to bum out while imagining us irritated, stuck inside avoiding constant thunderstorms and hurricanes. But it seems to be looking up! Each day has a low chance of rain and a high of 90 degrees. That works for us! Lets go!!!

I'll post pictures throughout the trip on facebook from my phone. I'll write all about it when we get back. YAY!

PS... Get better soon, Dad. I love you.

Sorry, I suck

So I was a little lofty when I declared us as "back" into this blogging situation. Turns out, like most other habits, blogging is tough to get back into a rhythm of doing when you haven't in a while. Nothing seems exciting enough when it happens to go write a blog about, so I usually don't.

We have been keeping busy and there is plently of exciting news to report though, so here goes.

*We are leaving for Miami/South Beach in 8 days. Kick ass, we need a vacation! The weather report isn't looking super awesome and in our favor, but apparently that is because it rains every day in south Florida??? We are determined to have an excellent time and enjoy ourselves thoroughly, so we'll take whatever sunshine we can get. If it's rainy and nasty the whole time, we'll probably just get drunk a lot.

**I just blogged about Joseph's recent disc golf achievments. He's been playing several times a week, despite the record-high heat for the last 2 months. It's pretty dry and burnt up around here, so a little rain in green, lucious Miami will be a welcome tropical treat. You'd better believe that he plans to golf on vacation. There is a disc golf course a few miles from our hotel that looks so beautiful. He doesn't usually putt beside the Atlantic Ocean!!! Actually, Joseph has never been to Florida, or set foot in the Atlantic. He's a West Coast boy through and through. I will use that free time to go to the spa, so we both win!

***My job is going very very well. It is easier than any job I've ever had, because so much about it is absolutely natural for me. (Overseeing the kitchen and service, baking when I have time or someone requests something, organizing private dinners, day to day operations of a home-like establishment) It brings a new set of challenges for me at the same time, because my people-managing, department-running skills are still being developed. I can comfortably and effectively manage a group of people and get the results I want, usually, but there is always the "unpredictable" factor, and handling those situations is where most of the challenges occur. My standards and expectations seem to be a little high, and sometimes that makes working with people (around here) very hard for me. It is a perfect fit for me, the club in general as well as the position. I thrive on the challenges I face and look forward to "achieving greatness", as I was recently told I was certain to do. :) Aside from enjoying the work at the club, I have found myself fostering a genuine affection for a few of the members. They're all very pleasant and nice but a particular few are really great. We see the same guys day after day, and as Ben Crenshaw wished when he opened this club, the members get used to the same few of us each day, and actual friendships develop. It's kind of awesome and I'm happy to have met as many lovely people as I have so far.

****Our guest room is going to be full again soon! Mama Lisa was here a few weeks ago for a quick little visit. It was great to see her, we spent lots of time outside at the lake, ate way too much delicious food, shopped, went to the spa, typical Amy & Mama Lisa visit stuff. At the end of August Jim is coming out for a fantasy football draft! He's staying for a week and I know they will keep each other occupied the whole time. There's a lot of golf to be played and catching up to be done. They haven't spent time together alone in many many years. They're both looking forward to it. Less than two weeks after he goes back to NY, Elizabeth and baby Madeleine are coming! We have not met Madeleine yet and I can't wait to get my hands on her chubby self. Elizabeth and I will bake up a storm and cook some intense dinners. It will be wonderful to see them both.

That's it for now. I have tons of photos to post, but that's going to have to wait!

Disc Golf Champ!

He continues to defy the odds of the sport.

Joseph won his division in another disc golf tournament! He has now played in 3, and won twice.

Also, he hit his FIFTH ACE! That's five holes-in-one on one course in eighteen months. Not normal!

He needs to move up a division for tournaments and practice at a tougher course, because he is apparently not being challenged enough.

Way to go, freakish athletic anomaly that you are, Joseph!

Lakers Win!

Be advised: This is not a well written blog post at all. I am tired.

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Anyone who knows Joseph knows that he was beyond overjoyed to see the Los Angeles Lakers beat Orlando Magic to win the NBA Championship! Kobe's first since Shaq. Major!

Over the years I have developed little baby crushes on a few of the cute young players, as I have for a few young Dodgers, it makes the game more fun to watch, because I get bored after not that long. I enjoy when he gets to see one of his teams win, of course.

We watched the game and then opened a bottle of champagne when the game was over. He put the bottle, which had been collecting dust since '06 when I took it home after a busboy put it in my car by mistake on New Years Eve. He put it in the freezer in the third quarter when they were up by 15.

Joseph has forced me to leave the Lakers key chain that hangs from the rear-view mirror in the that car I drive. It had apparently been up there since a previous Laker Championship several years ago, and removing it, even to move it to another car, was not allowed. The Rockets and Spurs fans I work with talked mad shit to me about the Lakers for weeks because of that thing. So I was pretty happy that they won too. I guess it can hang there as long as I drive the car. : )

Back from Vegas

No, we didn't just get back from Las Vegas. Joseph got home Wednesday evening, after an exhausting 4 days with the guys in Sin City. I have been supportive of this trip from the beginning, after being a little pissed about having to change plans for an August trip, which has turned out to be a good thing. I was thoroughly excited for him to be able to spend time with his brothers alone, undistracted and on vacation. It's just precious that Joseph invited my brother to join them and I know how much he enjoyed the time with good friends able to be there too. I will admit to still being a little annoyed that he was in Las Vegas drinking by the pool while I was working my ass off and taking care of the dogs, the plant watering and garbage day all by myself. I'm mostly kidding because he does it all the time when I travel to Ohio and Florida, but it sucked nonetheless. Maintaining a garden in Texas without a watering system is time consuming and he usually does it, which I appreciate a lot more now. I missed him too, and that's never fun.

I haven't inquired too deeply about the raucous they caused. I know they consumed much alcohol, gambled many dollars, won many dollars!, ate delicious food while drinking good wine, acted inappropriately for the sake of hysterical laughter, swam at a cool pool with water slides and caught up after not enough time together for too many years. The text messages I got were awesome, he was super happy about everything around him.

Everything is back to normal again and we're happy to have nothing going on for two weeks until the end of the month, when Mama Lisa is coming to visit! The rest of the summer will hopefully include visits from at least three Higley siblings, one with an adorable nugget baby in tow and one with a whole family with him. :) We like house guests, so bring it on! The question is, do people really like coming to visit because of the food and the lake or because we're as awesome as we think we are? We still speak regularly at dinner about our desire to share meals with our families. It's one of our favorite things to do, cooking and enjoying a delicious feast with people we love.

Men they are, not a single one had a camera. I think they could have gotten some great pictures that they would have very much enjoy having. Saying that makes me sound like a nag, but I'm leaving it because it's true.

Catch up- Food Pictures

These are in no particular order and with very little description. I'm always willing to give up the goods, so ask if you want any recipes. :) These were the "pretty" dishes or just particularly good ones that we wanted to remember from February until May.

Grilled NY strip and shrimp scampi

Spicy shredded chicken, which we used in burritos, sandwiches and enchilada soup

Brunch! Waffles & berries, bacon, country potatoes and veggie fritatta

Massive (2000 calorie) baked potato, seared ahi tuna and a filet

Giant crab cake with lemon aioli

Red & green heirloom tomato & fresh mozzarella salad with pesto, basil and basamic reduction

Seared cod with grapefruit buerre blanc and green beans

Blackened chicken, white wine shrimp and dirty rice (that I finally got right after several not totally successful attempts to meet Joseph's description)

Mini banana bread loaves, with chocolate chips and almonds

Pad Thai prep

Spring rolls, pad thai and fried rice

Cousin Erin frying won-tons and shrimp rolls, and loving it!

Shrimp Pad Thai, ala Amy

Hawaiian Fried Rice

Chicken Parmesan

Cheese

Cooking Easter Dinner by himself, because I had to work. He always uses his butt as a towel when he cooks.

Easter by Joseph, smoked chicken, green bean casserole (with homemade mushroom soup, no shortcuts here), roasted potatoes & garlic sourdough

Spaghetti and Giant Meatballs

Making ice cream in the kitchen aid

Baked Spinach Artichoke dip

Marinated grilled tri-tip, rice, veggies and wine

Tres Leches cake and homemade strawberry ice cream

Pot roast for 10