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.
our story, as it happens
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
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
REST IN PEACE, Marshall. You will be missed.
2002-2012
Wednesday, January 4, 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.
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.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Sunday, January 31, 2010
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
Our journey together has reached its destination, we're here. And now we must go.
Goodbye and Peace
Friday, November 27, 2009
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.
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.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
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.
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.
Monday, July 27, 2009
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!
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!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
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!
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!
Friday, June 19, 2009
Lakers Win!
Be advised: This is not a well written blog post at all. I am tired.
*****************************************
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. : )
*****************************************
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. : )
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