My blog has continued to be neglected...with good reason! Between wedding planning and summer activities I have been pretty busy. Hopefully after the wedding, things will slow down and I can get caught up on documenting my summer. (I haven't even gone through my pictures from our Fourth of July vacation!)
Quick recap of summer highlights:
I had a solid chunk of time off at the beginning of July. Perk of being nanny: when they go on vacation so do I :) Since Ahmed was finished up at IBM, we spent Fourth of July weekend at a cabin in Yankton, SD with my family, followed by a week at my parents' house which included THREE wedding showers, and a quick weekend trip to Kansas City to see family. Busy busy!
The first weekend in August, we attended my cousins' beautiful wedding in Sioux Falls, which was the last wedding Ahmed and I will attend before our own.
Last weekend, my sister and sister-in-law came up to Rochester so we could celebrate at my bachelorette party with some friends. It was so much fun!
Tomorrow, we are heading to Yankton, SD with some of my high school friends for our Weekend o' fun tradition. Next weekend I need to move out of my apartment, and then there will be less than two weeks before our wedding. Hopefully I'll be able to breathe around September 14 ;)
I have done a few photography sessions over the summer, which has ended up being a lot to take on with wedding planning and a full time job, but I really enjoy it :) Ahmed has stayed busy with job searching and his web design/marketing business.
Hopefully I can eventually get to editing all of the pictures from summer. For now, enjoy the new header :) The picture is courtesy of Rachel Ebel Photography. Feel free to check out more of our awesome engagement pictures on her Facebook page. I am so excited to have her shooting our wedding, which is in 22 days!!
How is tomorrow July 1st already? This happens every year, but every time it still seems like a surprise. Summer is my favorite time of year, so it usually makes me a little sad that it slips by so quickly, but this year I'm a little excited. Every day that passes is one day closer to our wedding, and I can't wait!
Yesterday, we attended our first wedding of the summer. It was a beautiful wedding and a fun day spent with great friends- congrats to Mandy & Kyle! Last summer at this time we were at our FIFTH wedding of the season (with several more to go). It was an honor to celebrate with so many of our friends and family, but this year it's a little relief that don't have so many.Last summer was full of uncertainty with not knowing where I was going to live or work after August. This summer, unfortunately, is a very similar situation. Ahmed was on the receiving end of a resource action at IBM (fancy way of telling him he was being laid off), and is now in full gear with his job search. This is not what we had in mind in the months before our wedding, but we are trusting that God has a plan, and have hope that there is a great opportunity somewhere out there for Ahmed. I am so proud of Ahmed and his positive attitude in such a tough situation. He is pretty amazing :). Since "out there" could be just about anywhere, we have to wait to look for a place to live for after we get married until we know where we will be. Turns out I'm not done working on patience. :)Since we haven't spent all of our weekends out of town or at weddings, we have enjoyed some time hiking, biking, grilling, sitting around a fire, bowling, watching movies, cooking new food, and folding wedding invitations (I'm pretty sure folding invitations was Ahmed's favorite activity. He was so excited, he folded about five of them ;).We are very much looking forward to some vacation time with my family over the Fourth this coming week! Bring on the rest of summer!
Enjoying some ice cream from Flapdoodles, sitting in the same spot where Ahmed proposed :)
Expectations are one of my biggest weaknesses. What starts out as a nice thought turns into a dream. Sometimes dreams turn into expectations, but they often aren’t realistic. I am quick to make high expectations for many situations, and when they aren’t met I am left disappointed and sometimes upset. This is a lesson I’ve learned repeatedly (and continuously). I know that I don’t have total control over my life. I know that God does. I also know that it’s better that way, but in some ways I just cant seem to let go of my illusory control. The ongoing part of this lesson is in my relationship with Ahmed. We have been dating for over six years, and there is a long story that I would like to write down some day, but I’m not ready to be that vulnerable :).
When I moved to Rochester four years ago, I had expected I wouldn't be here that long. Rochester has grown on me a little, and I feel like this is where I’m supposed to be right now, but I still have dreams of moving on (maybe somewhere warmer :). This is my least favorite time of year. I am craving sunshine and warmer temperatures. Since a vacation isn’t in the plans this winter, I am glad we had some time with my family to cheer me up.
My dad turned 50 on January 30, so we spent a night in Sioux Falls to celebrate. It was short and sweet,and thankfully we had better driving weather than the previous weekend.
Who wins for best slide picture?
Kisses for Papa
Is this kid seriously old enough to be losing teeth?
I hope spring is coming soon! Until then, I will just picture Emma telling James they aren't going to church "cuz Ahmed is getting bitchtized." True story. Still makes me laugh out loud :)
