Everything is better in Texas

For the first time ever since I got married, I'm living in Texas with my husband!  Our first year of marriage in Maryland was amazing, and I will never regret it.  We had so many fun adventures and got to feel important living so close to our nation's capital, but there's nothing like coming home.  Part of me still doesn't feel like we're staying.  Just moments ago I had the thought that I'd leave something packed so it wouldn't be a pain when I go back, but I'm NOT going back!! It's such a relief. 

Yesterday, while running errands with Ben, he said he could already tell how much happier and more confident I am here.  I actually drove to the store and to get my very very expired inspection taken care of (oops!!!).  It's amazing what a year of fearing insane traffic will do to make you appreciate the crazy drivers here in Dallas. 

Today I'm excited to be helping my sister design the decor for her apartment. This makes me feel like I'm putting my event design skills to the test and to work.  And tomorrow I'm headed out to a Rangers game.  I've never been to one before.  Again, it's insane what a year of being away will make you appreciate and do.

That's all for now.  P.S. I promised a picture from our anniversary shoot, and here it is! Kara was amazing!!!

Photo by Click Chick Images

Our First Anniversary

One June 17, 2011, Ben and I tied the knot after 6 1/2 years of dating.  Our wedding was in Austin, Texas at the Vintage Villas, and it was 107 degrees outside! Did I mention that we had an outdoor ceremony?  But I honestly didn't even notice while we were exchanging vows, and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way!

So this year, we decided that the perfect way to celebrate our first anniversary was to go back to the place we got married.  By the way, we also got engaged in Austin! We love that place.  So, we flew down from Maryland, borrowed my mom's car, and drove down to beautiful Austin.  I was thrilled to be staying at the Vintage Villas!  The first night we got there, we were able to have a photo shoot with the amazingly talented Kara Trombetta of Click Chick Images at the Long Center for the Arts (the place we got engaged).  It was so hot, but we still had so much fun! (Pictures to come soon). I put my dress on for the first time since the wedding and was pleased to find it a little big! I call that a success.

Friday we spent the day down at Hamilton Pools, a fresh water pond just outside of Austin.  Despite the fact that we had an 80 foot hike down to the pool, the place was gorgeous and refreshing.  After that we got to spend time with some family before going back to the Vintage Villas and catching a view of a bride and groom exiting their wedding. I love, love, love being in the thick of weddings. 

Saturday, Ben finally got his stuffed avocado at Trudy's, and after being thoroughly stuffed, we headed out to Lake Austin for some much needed time in the water.  We went Kayaking for 2 hours, at which point we realized Ben's skin was starting to turn lobster red and left quite quickly (incorrectly put on sunblock... oops!).  Saturday night was amazing!  Ben surprised me by taking me back to the Four Seasons Trio Restaurant! It was so fun to be able to eat at the place we ate right before he proposed!

Sunday we drove back to Dallas to spend father's day with our dads.  It was the perfect weekend.  And to top it all off, I got the best anniversary presents ever.  Ben surprised me with an ipad that I can use for Sarah Ashley Events, and...

last week he got a job in Dallas!!!! It was the cherry on top of an amazing hot fudge sunday.  God has definitely blessed me, and I can't start to describe what a perfect year I've had.  Being married to my best friend has been the best experience of my life, and I can't wait to celebrate many more anniversaries with him.

Blessed

Today was a day of blessings.  My cousin and his wife had a beautiful baby girl yesterday, and today I got to see a picture of the beautiful Mackenzie Cole.  It's funny to have a Mackenzie Lee for a niece and a Mackenzie Cole for a cousin. 

I wish that I could speak openly about how many more blessings I've had, but for now all I can say is that I'm bursting at the seams with hope.  I can't wait to get more information and to be able to share it.

And above all, every day that I get a chance to talk to my best friends is a blessing, whether it be on Skype or on Facebook or by text.  And today was one of those days.  I have such an amazing life.

The Name Change

I have changed the name of my event business.  After months of staring at the ...To Last a Lifetime... page, I realized that I felt very frustrated with it.  The name seemed too immature, and I couldn't bring myself to leave it as something I wouldn't ever be happy using on business cards or fliers.  And I would have hated seeing it on my page every single time I used it.

Starting today, the company is officially Sarah Ashley Events.  I'm pretty excited, and that's why I wrote this whole post about it! Also, my husband is on a business trip, and I'm bored.  Blogging helps.

A Trip to the National Arboretum

I am absolutely obsessed with flowers.  It's a fact that I don't even try to hide.  If Ben gave me an unlimited budget, our house would be covered in fresh flowers all year long.  In my life, there are many things that I am passionate about, but flowers have to be at the top of the list.  So this weekend my husband took me to the National Arboretum. We tried to go a few weeks ago, but we got there right when it was closing. As we drove through to grab some last minute pics a security guard kicked us out. Although we did manage to get some pictures of the Azaleas. 

Yesterday we managed to get to the arboretum at noon and had plenty of time to take in all the beauty. The azalea blooms had all fallen off, so we were truly blessed to have seen them in April, but there was such an array of flowers, herbs, and trees and it was amazing to see them.

I really tried not to post every single picture I took, BUT I just couldn't help it.  I LOVE FLOWERS! They were just all so pretty!

The Koi in the Koi pond were huge! They kept coming above the water, and the babies would follow the parents around eating and swimming.  It was amazing.

Growing up, I learned about Bonsai trees because my dad has always loved them, but I never knew that they could look like this! They were absolutely gorgeous.  This one was from the Chinese garden in the Bonsai section.

I'm not really sure what the flower above is! They were so pretty and came different shapes and the layers of petals changed.  According to my horticulture book, they may be a type of poppy flower.

Every time I see Irises now, I think of my bridal bouquet and how amazing it was that I had such a talented florist.  My wedding would have been nothing without Beth Richard.

The peonies, oh the peonies.  They were in full bloom and gorgeous.  They are probably one of my favorite flowers.  I think the past five pictures have been peonies because I'm a little obsessed.

This is a magnolia flower.  The magnolias here were absolutely gorgeous and absolutely huge!!! I knew they could get big, but wow. I wish I could have gotten a good picture to show just how big they are.

Visiting the National Arboretum was such an amazing experience.  I loved seeing all the different plants and learning about their origins.  I also learned that herbs are not just plants used in cooking.  They are any plant used by humans, so, by that definition, roses are herbs! Crazy, right? 

I can't wait to visit the Dallas Arboretum and compare the types of plants and flowers each has.

Ben's 24th Birthday

Since Christmas, I've sat awake at night waiting for Ben's birthday, planning what I would give him, how I would make it special.  His birthday was yesterday, finally!!! So After much going back and forth trying to figure out whether to make cake or pie, I decided to make both.  Maybe it was overkill, but it was completely worth it.  I wanted to make Ben's first married birthday to be one to remember, to be special.  I ended up having to make my own decorations out of computer paper, floss and wrapping paper tape so Ben wouldn't wonder why the budget was messed up this month, but I think it turned out pretty well.  I enjoyed decorating and baking and putting his little "party" together.  I can't wait to do it more often.

For dinner we had pomogranate margaritas and Pad Thai and for dessert we had chocolate coconut cream pie and carrot cake.  Have I mentioned how much I love pinterest?  I find the best recipes there.

I was super excited to make this cake! I haven't made one since we got married, so I haven't been able to use the super amazing cake stand that Kim and David got us for the wedding.  I'm so mad that I hadn't used it until yesterday. It made decorating so easy! It turns on the base so you can decorate from all sides!!

 
I told Ben that his cake is starting to look like one an old man would have because the candles cover the whole surface! I can't believe we're almost halfway through our 20s already! When I met the 14 year old Ben 9 years ago I never thought this day would come so quickly.

 

After all was said and done, I think Ben had a pretty good birthday.  I had the use of such little resources, and I hate to toot my own horn, but I'm pretty proud of what I accomplished.  I hope this gives a little bit of insight into how much potential I have to plan more events in the future.

Where's the Website?

The website is not up.  That's probably the most obviously stated fact ever in the history of facts.  I could make so many excuses for why my husband and I have not put it up: waiting for certain pictures, trying to get the HTML to work, Ben's increasingly crazy schedule.  The truth is, we just haven't been working on it. 

Part of the reason is because I'm in desperate need to move back to my home state of Texas.  I really never thought I would say those words, but the longer I am out here, the longer I'm away from everyone I care about, the longer I'm away from the heat and the Texas sunset and the open skies, I just keep getting more and more depressed.  I miss my home so much, and I miss all of the people in it.  So I've been avoiding the website.  Instead, I've been sitting next to Ben while he checks his email, hoping and praying every night that this time, this day, he'll get some good news about a job in Texas. 

Anyways, in the meantime, I've been doing research.  Since the Twitter account happened, I've been looking up Wedding blogs, florists, event planners, photographers and anything else I can find in Texas.  I'm trying to find the best of the best without actually being in the area.  It's all I think about.  I seriously don't go to bed at night until I've completely planned out a dream wedding complete with the Texas sunset in the background.  It's not that I'm opposed to traveling for weddings.  In fact, I would LOVE to travel for weddings, no matter where they are.  I just can't wait to get started and to get back to my Texas.

Other than wedding stuff, I literally spent the entire weekend (meaning Thursday through Saturday) watching the Draft and looking for my Aggie men during every pick, and starting Saturday, I've been watching the NBA finals.  There are such amazing reasons to love spring..