Reunion '17

I'm so excited for this post.

If you don't know, I love my family, especially my nieces and nephews. Everyone else is a necessary extra.

My family is blended. If you don't know what I mean, my mom had two boys before she met my dad, and my dad had a daughter when he met my mom. Then they had my sister and I. So technically I have a half sister and two half brothers (but it's weird to say that, I've always seen them as full siblings. Plus I would get smacked on the back of the head if I ever referred to them as "half").

My brother Alan lived in England for the past 2 1/2 years with his family. Stranton and I dated in that time, so they hadn't met. My older sister Chrissy started dating a guy named Jarrett that hadn't met Alan. AND Alan and his wife Erin had a baby boy while they were in England that some of the family hadn't had a chance to meet. (I got to meet him because I flew across the world because I'm the best sibling ever. And there may or may not have been a Harry Potter play to entice me) We also had some unfortunate events in our family the past year or so. So I saw that we needed to not only get together to have a bunch of people meet for the first time, but we really needed to be together to support each other.

So I pitched an idea of having a family reunion. Family reunion is a very generous term, all of us are pretty broke so we decided to keep it here in Phoenix and just go to each other's houses. But I did what I could to make it as reunion-ish as possible.

First I had these AWESOME shirts made

Yes I included everyone's last name in the reunion title haha. The back had funny nicknames and our ages of the reunion. (Except James, he is 1, not 2 😬). If the "Safety Kids" part confuses you, send me a message and I'll explain 😊)

Instagram: @shayemaymay made our shirts!

I really wanted to get everyone to get to know each other, so I invented a Jeopardy game all about each other. Categories included were: hospital visits, favorite songs, places around the world you wanna go to, etc. I'm gonna be honest, it was more fun than I thought everyone would have. In the end, the girls and boys teams tied.

You can't really tell in this picture, but I'm Alex Trebek, and that board is the Jeopardy board. Everyone had to guess who I was talking about with the clue I would give.

I think this was my favorite part. Alan was in England doing his PhD. He moved his family back to the states after he graduated but before his graduation ceremony. So his wife Erin asked if we could do a surprise graduation ceremony for him at the reunion. Little did she know, that my sister and I like to go all out.

So we surprised him with a cap and gown as soon as he walked in

My sister Reanna did a freaking awesome job with the programs. Zoom in, they're my favorite. "Listed in alphabetical order" "valedictorian" she kills me.

I made a super cheesy video for everyone to watch. If you're bored enough, watch it here.

We even had a streaker 😱😂

We threw balloons on Alan at the end. It couldn't have gone better.

The rest of the reunion was full of bowling, photo recreations, naps, tons of eating, corn hole, family photos, and swimming.

All in all, it was a success. I love 'em. They're all crazy but I love 'em.

Why I Love Beyoncé

Blogging is a little out of my comfort zone. I don't like opening up to people and I definitely don't like writing, so this is pure hell. But I also am all about conquering fears and working on weaknesses (although skydiving didn't cure my fear of heights, we're gonna move past that).

So I'm gonna share something that's personal, not very well known, and intimate. I'm talking, of course, about my love for Beyoncé. (Keep reading! It gets real, I promise)

 

I was in junior high in the 2003-2004 era (ish, around there). Junior high is a super fun time for everybody. Self esteem is at an all time low, acne and puberty are at an all time high, and boys are still short. I was/am a tall girl so I seemed like a giant to most. I hit puberty before my friends. I got curves, stretch marks, and wicked acne (mind you I had braces too) all at once. I couldn't help looking at all the other girls that were a size 0 and 90 lb.'s, completely ignoring the fact that I had a good 8 inches over everyone.

Now it wasn't just my friends I compared my body to. 2003 was a good year for Paris Hilton (the only good year, perhaps?). She was "the star" in Hollywood since her show had just started with Nicole Richie.

 

On top of that, the Olsen twins were still relevant.

 

 It was a recipe for disaster. So I made a desperate decision and became pretty unhealthy with my eating habits.

Now I'm not gonna try and say "Beyonce is Jesus and I was healed" or anything like that. I am gonna say that a 13 year old girl was browsing CDs one day in 2003 and found Dangerously in Love. She looked at this woman, who was curvy, known for being beautiful, and confident. It was one of my first CDs I ever bought. I didn't change my lifestyle that day, but I did start to wonder if curves and hips and boobs were meant to be embraced.

 

I get teased and poked today "Did you hear Beyoncé is in the illuminati?" Or "Did you see that Beyoncé copied her dance moves?"

I acknowledge that she's a celebrity and all celebrities are ridiculous.

She's a great singer and a celebrity that embraced a healthy body. She has a freaking song called Bootylicious for crying out loud. And for that, I appreciate her.

(But low key she is kinda Jesus)

DISCLAIMER:

There is nothing wrong with being super skinny like the celebrities I mentioned above. There is something wrong with having unhealthy eating habits. 

WEDDING DAY BLISS

Well, we are hitched!

It's been a while since I've posted, and that's because I wanted my next post to be about the wedding. From this point onward though, I will be posting more.

Hopefully.

Maybe.

WEDDING DAY CREDIT:
Photos:  Natalie

Hair: Chickie and Claire

Makeup: MAC

Wedding dress: Polina

Venue: Gerber Gardens

Flowers: Tammy

Cake and desserts: my sister in law Kristie

Mocktail bartender: Brian

Decor and life-saver: Allison Smith

Videographer: Jared

Life-savers: Jared and Stevie

Anyways, I got all the wedding pictures back and I'm so excited to share them!

So the day started with breakfast with my mom, sister, Bri (the MOH), and my brother in law.

After that, my bridesmaids and I got our makeup done. This might sound dumb to some, but good makeup was important to me. And I've heard some brides say that they want to look better than their bridesmaids. I understand that to a point, I wanted to look good, but I wanted my bridesmaids to look good too. So they all got their makeup done and I was SO happy with how everyone looked.

(I hate the color purple, and it's Stranton's favorite color. So yes, I'm wearing a purple shirt and yes it is Stranton's)

Getting our hair done

My Maid of Honor, Bri, helped me get ready and tried to help me shake off my nerves

 

OH MY GOSH MY FLOWER GIRLS

My brother Evan walked me down the aisle

Stranton and I said our vows.

(Jeremy is our friend that married us. I've literally known him (from church) my whole life. But he became good friends with Stranton a couple years ago and we agreed that we wanted him to be the one to marry us)

Married!

THE RECEPTION

(While we were engaged, I thought it would be funny to reenact the proposal and propose to Stranton with his wedding band. I had a fun little detail added to the inside)

We then had dinner: Spinato's pizza and mocktails

After that, the MOH, Bri and Best Man, Sage gave their speeches

I had my dance with my brother and Stranton had his with his mom

Stranton and I had our first dance (yes, it was to Halo)

Ever since we were dating, I have asked him to show me the haka. The haka is a Polynesian traditional war cry that men do. It used to be used to scare enemies, but is now used in special occasions. I've heard it's supposed to scare the new family member to "act right" in the marriage. Anyway, he wouldn't show me the haka. But he did it for me for the wedding.

 

Next, I performed the tau'olunga. This is another Polynesian tradition. The chief's daughter would do this dance on special occasions. It also has evolved and is now performed at weddings while guests give money for the honeymoon. I learned mine from Emerald.

(Emerald was my best friend in high school. Stranton is her cousin, but I never met him until a couple years ago. After we met, we found out he had met and knew my cousin David. Small world, guys)

Then we cut the cake

We broke the knife

Then, the best part: dancing and dessert

 

Sparkler send off as we headed to Mexico for our honeymoon

Thank you everyone for coming, supporting, and loving us. As we drove away, we looked at each other and agreed that it was the best day ever and that we couldn't ask for anything more. We love you all and appreciate what you all did to help us. (Thank you cards will be sent out.. hopefully. maybe)