Proverbs 17:17

So I was thinking...that God has blessed me with an amazing group of friends.  I am lucky to be surrounded by encouraging and uplifting friends. Throughout the past week I have been able to spend time with some of these friends. Last Saturday, my best friend Catherine came into town for the annual Alpha Psi Rodeo.  Loving the chance to french braid my hair and wear cowboy boots we decided join the fun, along with the rest of Auburn.

Rodeo ready with Miriam and Catherine.  

Catherine is from my hometown and we have been friends more than 10 years. She is truly one that I go to with every problem or piece of exciting news. Miriam is another good friend that I met at college through my best friend Morgan. Miriam comes over to our house weekly to watch Glee together! Also at the Rodeo was my friend Whitney; Whitney and I met in the third grade and have gone through it all (from matching outfits on picture day to the hardships of being separated by different colleges) Last year she transferred here which made me so happy.

 Catherine and I also attended the Rodeo to see our good friend Blake Shelton 

and sing along to some of our favorite songs!

The next day I put away my cowboy boots and travelled to Birmingham to spend the day at my friend Meg's wedding tea.  Meg and I met freshman year through our sorority and found a connection that has remained through our four years together. I am lucky to have her and honored to be a bridesmaid in her June wedding.

Ally, a fellow bridesmaid; the bride, our friend Sarah, and myself at Meg's tea.

After an action packed weekend, I returned to school bright and early Monday morning to teach my seven and eight year olds.  It was a good but long week and I was excited for Friday to arrive.  Yesterday, was our sorority's Braves date game and I was excited because it meant that I got to see my good friend Gaines and also my sister and brother in law. However, mother nature interfered with our plans. We had a horrible thunderstorm that actually produced a tornado near here.  So our Braves trip ended up being us riding buses to Atlanta to spend an hour in the stadium enjoying ballpark food and Dip n Dots, and then returning to the buses to ride home after the game was called on account of bad weather. This bad weather also hindered my sister and her husband from attending the game and getting to see us. However, the bus ride did allow for Gaines and I to catch up on our friendship since he goes to college in Birmingham. 

Still smiling even through the tornado warnings!

Mariglenn and her boyfriend Kenneth joined us on this adventure. Mariglenn and I were meant to meet each other in college, and my life has been blessed ever since with a dorm roommate and a great friend who has a great way of listening and understanding me. 

As Proverbs 17:17 says a "true friend loves at all times." As I said before I have been blessed with some amazing friends.  We are all growing up and graduating from college, but I know that wherever we go our friendship will always be there.

Here are some quotes that I found that reminded me of my friends:
"True friendship comes when silence between two people is comfortable." - Dave Tyson Gentry
"It takes a long time to grow an old friend." - John Leonard
"A good friend is cheaper than therapy."

~Rachel  

Going to the Chapel

So I was thinking... that it has been way too long since I have blogged, and I have too much to say to wait any longer.  I spent last weekend in Andalusia celebrating an amazing marriage: my best friend/roommate and the love of her life. We spent Friday night practicing walking down the aisle and then headed to dinner to celebrate the couple!

Such great girls! I'm lucky to have them in my life. 

The roommates with Mr. and Mrs. Sanders!

With the rehearsal behind us, my roommates and I headed back to the lake for a relaxing night spent trying out different hairstyles for the next day's festivities.  My roommate took a risk and let me fix her hair the next day (look for the blonde with a bun in the wedding pics). I might have to pick up hairstyling on the side...or maybe not, ha.

Saturday was the big day and we started it off with a bridesmaid brunch. We were swept away that morning on the pontoon boat to a nearby lake house for a very filling and delicious meal.

Back to the lake house we went to roll, curl, and pin and two hours later we emerged ready to head to the church. We were so excited to put on our dresses. They were all brown and we got to chose our style! They all looked beautiful! We spent the next hour snapping pictures and making sure the bride had everything she needed! 4:00 rolled around and we were ready for the ceremony to begin. With tears in my eyes I watched my best friend meet her "one" at the end of the aisle and vow to spend the rest of their lives together! Finally, the announcement of Mr. and Mrs. Sanders was declared and we were off to the park for a night of dancing under the stars. The park was beautiful, full of bright flowers, and the band was fun which made for a memorable night!

The bride and groom during their first dance and me watching on from the left side.

"Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." Mark 10:9

The Sanders wedding was the first of my "summer of weddings" and although I miss Mrs. Sanders living upstairs with me, I can not wait to see where God leads their path.

Rachel 

Celebrate Good Times, Come On!

So I was thinking...that I love any kind of celebration! I am blessed to get to have two celebrations this week. Sunday was my roommate's birthday, birthdays are my favorite celebrations, as well as she is getting married this weekend, so we are packing up and preparing to party it up in Andalusia to celebrate their marriage!!!!!

On Sunday, my other roommate and I spent the day preparing a cake for the birthday girl! We went and bought funny cards and the supplies for the cake. We quickly whipped up the cake and then let it cool while we went to our sorority's philanthropy event: a walk for JDRF. After the walk, we were excited to get to decorate the cake. Here are some pics of our process.

 Then came the most fun part. We decided to add sprinkles to the sides, so with a little help from Google we discovered the best way to achieve this is to just throw the sprinkles at the cake, which was hilarious and left our kitchen speckled with color. 

The finished product was delicious and our roommate was surprised when we met her at the door, cake in hand, singing at the top of our lungs.

I love birthdays! In my family, birthdays last the whole week long! Mine is close to Christmas, and a lot of my friends always ask if people combine my b'day with Christmas, but my amazing mother always made a point to wait till after my birthday to put the tree up and start the Christmas holiday. She made sure that it was my week, which made me feel like a princess. I love other people's birthday as much as mine. I have thought about birthdays alot lately. One reason is because my roommates' was Sunday, but also because one of my students had a birthday last week. He told me that his family didn't do anything for his birthday, that his parents had forgotten that it was that day.  This upset me, but I have to realize that everyone's tradition is not like mine. It is interesting to come to college and hear about how others celebrate and how that compares to your traditions.

I think I love birthdays because it is a day to remember all of the amazing things you have accomplished in a year. It means that hopefully you are another year wiser. This year at 22 its a whole new step in my life. Graduation and hopefully my own classroom are in front of me and I can't wait to see what these steps will bring. I can say that in my classroom I will make the most of birthdays, because everyone should feel special about themselves for at least one day!

I am so excited about my next celebration, M and D's wedding this weekend! I can't wait till I get to hop in the car and head down South! Be looking, early next week for a wedding post!

Remember to celebrate yourself, you are a beautiful creation of our Father,
Rachel