goin to the chapel.

Earlier this summer Kyle and I attended the wedding of one of my very best friends. I had the privilege of being a bridesmaid in Meredith's wedding and got to spend the whole weekend celebrating Meredith and Charlie. 

We started the weekend with bridal party pedicures. We were missing two of the bridesmaids for our pedicure party but we had a fabulous time! 

I didn't get any pictures of the rehearsal or rehearsal dinner but it was a fun night! We dined on delicious Texas style BBQ and heard loads of stories about the happy couple.  

Wedding day fun started with a breakfast that Charlie's aunts hosted. Unfortunately I got lost and arrived late so was a little frazzled when I finally got there, thus no photos. 

After breakfast, the ladies headed to the salon to have our hair done... 

then it was off to the wedding venue for makeup.

I had the most fun getting to spend the weekend with Meredith's bridal party! I had met all of the girls before and loved getting to know each of them better. These are some of my favorite bridal party pictures that Meredith sent me. Meredith was a gorgeous bride!

This collage makes me laugh a little bit. Meredith is such a glowing bride, Sara looks incredible in her yellow dress... and then we have the pregnant bridesmaid. But goodness knows I love those two girls!

My parents and handsome husband were also at the wedding. 

In addition to celebrating Charlie and Meredith, we had some quality time with my cousin, Allison, her husband and their baby girl. Kyle and I stayed at their house over the weekend and had so much fun! My parents met up with us the morning after the wedding so we could all have brunch before driving home. 

My dad brushed up on his baby girl skills and Anderson seemed to approve! She was a big fan of playing piano on his iPad which makes me very proud. She'll be a concert pianist in no time!

Kyle also got in some baby girl practice with sweet Anderson. I think this picture proves that he was doing a good job!

And just one more photo of the little cutie when we went out to breakfast. I am hoping that Anderson and Annabelle will be very close friends as they grow up.

Happy two and a half months of marriage to Meredith and Charlie! Kyle and I were so thrilled to be able to be in Dallas and celebrate such a truly wonderful couple!

party in the atl.

Let me start by saying that we will be ignoring the fact that this trip took place over a month ago and this post has been in my 'drafts' folder for about that long. Let's pretend I have not put it off for that long and that I am on top of everything in my life. Deal? Deal. On with the recap...

We spent Valentine's weekend with two of our favorite friends. Troy and Ivy made the trip out to Atlanta and we had the best time! 

They arrived Friday night and we spent the evening catching up and enjoying a delicious dinner at one of our favorite local restaurants. 

Tucker was thrilled to have people sleeping on the pull-out couch. He seems to think that bed is just for him.

Saturday was filled with sight-seeing, beginning with lunch at The Varsity...

After filling our tummies with hot dogs, we headed downtown to World of Coca-Cola for a tour. This was the first time for all of us to go. The tour was great! We learned about the bottling process, saw some Coca-Cola art and even did some taste-testing.

We even convinced the boys to take a group picture with the Coca-Cola polar bear. This thing was so creepy but I'm pretty sure this is my favorite picture of the weekend!

If you are ever in Italy, I highly recommend that you do not order Beverly at a restaurant. Not the greatest beverage to come out of the Coca-Cola franchise. 

Next on our list was the Georgia Aquarium. Ivy used some fabulous grad school connections and was able to get us a free backstage tour of the aquarium. We were able to see so many hidden areas and learned a lot about the aquarium.

Looking out over the beluga whale tank

We thought it would be fun to make dinner together and prepared quite the feast after our fun day. I didn't get a picture of the whole set-up, but here is my plate filled with deliciousness. The boys grilled steaks while the ladies made twice-baked potatoes and asparagus. 

And we followed dinner with a few rounds of Buzz Words, boys vs. girls style. I'll let the score card speak for itself...

Sunday was a wonderful, lazy day at the apartment. 

Ivy and I had some homework to do (while snacking on a failed attempt at homemade queso) and the boys spent some time talking about math or science or maybe computers. I can't remember... Ivy and I were too engrossed with the queso to really pay attention. 

Kyle had an intramural basketball game Sunday night so we all headed over to campus to cheer him on. Ivy is the greatest intramural-watching buddy ever. We kept ourselves entertained with coffee and court-side manicures.  

After the game we got dressed up and went on a Valentine's double date at a great restaurant in our neighborhood.

And as if their presence wasn't enough, they brought me a set of these adorable Valentine's coffee mugs that I had been tempted to buy! So thoughtful and sweet.

Troy made a great toast before dinner one night "to friends who are more like family" and it perfectly sums up how much we love these two. Sounds cheesy, but it is completely true. I am so thankful that Troy and Kyle have remained such wonderful friends over the years. I am also thankful that not only do he and I get along great, but he married a girl that I absolutely love spending time with. I can't tell you all how many conversations we had that weekend about trips we hope to take together in the future and things we want to do as our two families grow. What is even more fun that talking about those hypotheticals is that I know they'll all come true. I see many years ahead for the Krueger-Ruths duo!

going to the chapel.

This past weekend I got an oh-so-exciting phone call from one of my very best friends. My beautiful former roommate got engaged Friday night and I am bursting at the seams with excitement! Meredith and Charlie are a wonderful couple and I cannot wait to see them get married!

Big, HUGE congratulations to the future Mr. and Mrs. 

My dancing shoes are ready and waiting just name the day and the Kruegers will be heading to the Big D to celebrate!

bff.

Two of my best friends came to Atlanta a few weekends back. Sara and I have been best friends for pretty much eternity and Meredith and I became fast friends our senior year of college. I am so thankful that not only am I lucky enough to call each of them friends, but that they get along so well. This was the second time the two of them have made the big trip to Atlanta and I do believe it is now an official tradition! 

Kyle and I picked the girls up Friday night and took them to one of our favorite local restaurants. After that we headed back to the apartment for some quality girl time. 

The weather on Saturday was perfect so we headed over to the cutest little outdoor shopping area in town. We did our fair share of browsing, shopping and enjoyed a yummy lunch on the patio of a local restaurant. It was such a fun afternoon and I wish these girls lived closer so we could spend more Saturdays just like that.

After a relaxing day around town, we got all dressed up and went to dinner at Two Urban Licks. It is one of the most unique restaurants I have ever been to and the girls both loved it! 

We finished the night off with a comedy show at The Laughing Skull Lounge. 

The girls didn't fly out until Sunday evening, so we packed as much fun into Sunday as we could! We started with a delicious lunch on the patio at another favorite local restaurant.

Mani-pedi's were next on the agenda.

After our relaxing time at the nail salon we picked up Tucker, grabbed some Starbucks and headed to Piedmont Park. We had a great time there, indulging in a few more heart-to-hearts, some people watching, and, of course, a few more photos!

I had the best time getting to spend the weekend with these two. Living away from family and friends can be so hard at times and traveling is incredibly expensive these days. It means the world to me that they put their lives on hold for three days, packed up their bags and bought some plane tickets to come to Georgia. I didn't even have to extend the formal invitation (it's hard to make people feel obligated to spend that kind of money on airfare), the two of them came to me and said they wanted to make the trip and I am so thankful that they did. I love these girls so very much and cannot wait until our next reunion... wherever it may be!

24.

Kyle turned 24 way back in March. The two of us (well, three if you count the pup) were able to spend a few weeks in Texas thanks to Kyle's spring break and a conference that he attended in Dallas. 

As soon as I realized that his birthday was going to overlap with our time at home, I set to work planning a party for him. We both miss our TX friends so much and I knew he would love an opportunity to get a bunch of his friends together. I also knew he would never in a million years ask for a party so I stepped in! He had mentioned before that he has never had a surprise party so I took things into my own hands. 

We had the party at my parent's house a few days before his actual birthday.  I was so busy playing hostess that I don't have any pictures of the guests, but we had such a great time getting to see good friends and celebrate my fabulous husband!

I took the party planning as an opportunity to get crafty!  This is the banner that I made... I love how it turned out!

These are a few of the snacks I made. The biggest hit were the crab-bacon rolls that I made from my El Paso cookbook and Pioneer Woman's BBQ jalapeno poppers. Both were easy (but time consuming!)  and can be made ahead of time... perfect for parties with lots of 20something boys!

The other food table. Kyle's parents supplied some yummy chicken wings, I made PW's roasted corn salsa and my dad made a delicious BBQ macaroni. We had LOTS of amazing food!

The fabulous Jessie from Edible Designs by Jessie made Kyle's yummy birthday cake. She also made our wedding cakes and is making Jenn and Jason's cakes. I highly recommend her for special occasions!

A little blurry, but the birthday boy and hostess with the cake.

Tucker had a great time at the party but our little guy was EXHAUSTED from the fun!

 

And of course, a family picture on Kyle's actual birthday

Thanks so everyone who celebrated with us as well as to my parents and Kyle's family! They were all SO helpful with all of the planning (and cooking and cleaning!)