Happy Mother's Day!!!

It's mother's day again, and Randi and I want to give a special shout-out of appreciation to our moms!

Randi's mom:

My mom:

I also want to give a shout to my sister, who is also a mom! Great job!

And if you're reading this, and you're a mom, we like you too. Will you send us some cookies? Thank you.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

First Anniversary

One year ago...

We got married!

We had exactly the wedding we wanted, pulled together lovingly by our incredible community of family and friends. We were out on Lake Travis at a little spot called Hacienda del Lago. It was gorgeous.

The wonderful Jason Harper officiated. Our Mamas read from Corinthians. My dad walked me down the aisle and gave his blessing on behalf of my family. The ceremony was short and sweet. These were our vows:

I take you to be my husband. I give you my hand, my heart, and my soul and know that they are safe with you.

Let this ring be a constant reminder to you that in all conditions, under every circumstance, I am always on your team because your happiness is inseparable from my own.





We had the best flower girl and ring bearer ever!

The boutonnieres, corsages, and bouquets were arranged by Rachel, Mercedes, Alicia, and me. Then distributed by the wonderful Shelley, who was so extremely helpful with everything.

Alicia went out to her boyfriend's family farm to pick fresh flowers for the centerpieces.



Our friend, Randall, played the cello for the ceremony.

Our friend (and owner of Eastside Pies, where Nate was working at the time), Michael, made our beautiful wedding cake. Nate painted our love bird cake topper. I'm looking forward to digging into that top tier a little later today....

Our family cooked the food. My Dad and Uncle Charlie smoked a bunch of brisket, made beans, and creamed corn. Our aunts and uncles, my Grandma, our sisters, and our parents helped make all the food, set up for the wedding and reception, and clean up after. What an amazing feat to feed 150 people!

Our sweet Benji was our DJ. He was amazingly detailed and the music was really perfect. He also helped out in a million other ways, including keeping me sane leading up to the wedding.

The beautiful Trisha Leslie did my make-up. The wonderful Bob Buford built the dance floor. Look how grateful these dancers are!

Nate's Dad supplied the bar.

Candy and Steve gave us such a wonderful rehearsal dinner at the Clay Pit.

As always, my sis was right by my side making sure everything ran smoothly.

These two worked incredibly hard to make sure we had such a nice wedding. We are eternally grateful!

We were serenaded. Brit wrote an original wedding song that you can watch here:

Our lovely Epoch peeps rented a van so there wouldn't be drunk driving. And they generously supplied our hotel room that was complete with champagne, chocolate, and strawberries. Thanks to Sara May for orchestrating that!

I wore the garter my mom wore at her wedding. And I kept a picture of her and my dad on my bouquet. Rachel and Lydia also wore lockets with our grandparent's pictures so they could be with us. Nate's Granddaddy's handkerchief peeks out from his pocket.

And there was so much love I felt like I could burst!

Our loved ones sent us off with sparklers in our saturn.

We couldn't ask for a more perfect way to start our marriage. We were surrounded by our very favorite people. I didn't really imagine myself as the "marrying type" until I fell for my perfect match. I didn't imagine that I could ever be this happy.

***All of these photos were taken by the lovely and talented Sarah Brooke.****

busy bees.

We have been so busy lately!

1. Nate is finishing up his second quarter. He graduates in June, so he's been working on his thesis in addition to his class work. I can't believe he's so close to finishing.

His books are taking over our apartment. I've given in; it's futile to resist.

2. We took a road trip to Madison, Wisconsin to support public workers. Madison is only about two and a half hours away from where we live, so we drove up after I got off work and back that night. It was incredibly inspiring, but I'm afraid the fight is far from over. It is likely that we will be headed up there again, maybe as soon as this weekend.

A fellow Texan! He's lived in Wisconsin for over a decade, but still has a strangely thick accent...

My old roommate from Austin (who now lives in DC) was there doing some union work. It was great to see him! Just pretend like my eyes are open....

We also met up with Madison residents, Richard and Wendi for dinner at a delicious Tex-Mex (!) place. Wendi is also from Austin, but we didn't really know each other when we lived there. We became friends over the internet as we both prepared for our April weddings. Getting to see her again was so exciting for me; it was like meeting a pen-pal! She is eight months pregnant and beautiful! I am kicking myself now for not taking any pictures...

3. THE ILLINOIS DEATH PENALTY WAS ABOLISHED TODAY!!!!! I have spent most of the day smiling, crying, making media calls, sending out e-mails, and trying to get my head around how amazing this is. Now abolition everywhere! I've been thinking of my Texas peeps all day. I know we can make this happen there, too.

My co-worker, Mark and I took a trip to Champaign, Illinois on Monday to speak at the University of Illinois. For those who don't know him, Mark spent 28 years of his life behind bars for a crime he did not commit. He was accused of an arson and tortured into a confession by Chicago police when he was just 16 years old. He has an incredible amount of energy and is one of my heroes. I am proud to fight for justice beside him.

4. Granny B has been on my mind lately. She was extra Irish around St. Patty's Day. I think we'll probably head down to the parade next week. In the meantime, we bought up some bells of Ireland to remind us of Granny and to bring some Spring joy into our nest.

Speaking of Spring, when will it ever be here?!? I have picnic dreams--dreams of lemonade, tea sandwiches, bocce ball, horseshoes, skirts, bicycles. Maybe Spring Break will be full of warm weather and rest for us weary kitties.

hugs and smooches to all of you!