I now present to you, Mr and Mrs Jeffrey Dracup!!!

I know I'm a week late, but I had alot of resting and recuperating to do after last weekend's Dracup wedding in SantaFe. Could they have asked for a more perfect wedding weekend?! I think not! The weather was beautiful, all of their closest family and friends were present, and it all went off perfectly!! G and I flew into Albuquerque on Thursday after work, then drove to SantaFe. On the way to Santa Fe, I called Jeff to make sure he stayed up to see us before he went to bed, because I knew we would be arriving pretty late. He did, and I am so happy he did. Just the three of us hung out, grabbed a little food (because all the bars had already closed at 10pm) and reminisced about the "good ole days". It had been too long since we all saw each other, being in 3 different states, but we picked up right where we left off like great friends do! Friday night there was a welcome party at Georgia O'keefe's cafe. Time to catch up with old friends, meet new people, and have a few (ok maybe many) glasses of wine. It was fun to meet a few people that Jeff has been talking about for so many years but that lived in Chicago or in the MidWest and I had never actually gotten to meet. It was also great to see Jeff's family that I had not seen in several years, especially his sister Lisa who is also a dear friend of mine, starting with her visits to Tucson and of course living in Phoenix together!! After the welcome party, we all headed back to the hotel that most were staying at and where the reception would be the next day and went out on the deck outside and had an after party with cigars and a few more drinks! (Thanks to Jeff, I will not even touch a cigar again, and he now admits to feeling bad about that traumatizing event lol!) Everyone including mom and dad Dracup stayed up laughing, reminiscing, and celebrating with the groom until the wee hours of the morning. The next day everyone got some rest, got some lunch, maybe a nap, then it was time to head to the big event!! The ceremony itself was GORGEOUS. The chapel was very small and quaint and fit all of their guests PERFECTLY. As the front doors opened to welcome the bride, Jeff's eyes lit up like lightbulbs and he had a grin on his face that no force could have erased, and entered the beautifulllllll bride. Following the ceremony, we all participated in a local tradition, with a mariachi band waiting outside the chapel. The bride and groom then led a procession following the mariachi band, and all guests and wedding party behind the bride and groom, all the way into the reception. It was so much fun and all the people in Santa Fe stopped to stare and take photos of the adorable Mr and Mrs Dracup!! As expected, the reception was a blast! Yummy dinner, good toasts, a fun little love song game, some drinks, and LOTS of dancing! The room for the reception was GORGEOUS - it had glass doors all around the sides which led to the outside deck area and were open the whole time, therefore it was both inside and outside with AMAZING weather.

I don't think it hit me until the very end when we were all about to say good bye before the bride and groom departed for the evening that Jeff had actually just gotten married. He looked at me with that sarcastic grin and points to his wedding band as if he were saying " woah, I think I just got married!!" Of course a few tears flowed at this time, as it all hit me at once, and then I was going to have to say so long to my dear friend that lives so far away. Alison and Jeff were so extatic and happy the entire weekend, especially on Saturday night, and could not have seemed more in love and excited to start their new life together. I love them both and I am so excited to share in many more happy occasions with the two of them. Alison was a BEAUTIFUL bride (as I knew she would be!) and the whole wedding weekend was just as gorgeous! As I was travelling back to Atlanta from the wonderful weekend, I thought to myself "wow, when did we become adults". It's hard to believe we're at this point in our lives where we are all changing in such wonderful ways and all going from being "big kids" to adults. It's a wonderful fun ride. It was so great to see my very closes friends, G, Evan, Lisa, Jeff, Alison and I sometimes get sad thinking how far away they all are, but know that we all have each other only a phone call away, and will be able to visit for many happy occasions! Below are a few photos from the weekend, if anyone wants all of them I would be happy to send you the Snapfish album!! Until more news arises in the life of Amy Beth..... XOXO

Off to New Mexico for a Very Special Occasion!!!

So I am not gonna lie, this post finds me in a little bit of an emotional state, but a positive and happy emotional state...... tomorrow afternoon I am leaving for the wedding of one of my very best friends. It's hard to believe we have reached the stage in life that everyone is getting married, not to mention my closest and most special friends. It seems like it is all happening at once and things in life are moving so much faster than they ever used to. They say that happens, but I guess I never really realized it as much or believed it until recently reflecting on everything. There are people in each of our lives that leave an everlasting impression on you, people who help us to become the best personal self we can be, people that can make us smile when there isn't any light at the end of the tunnel in sight, and people that can tell you just the way it is and help you to see something clearly. My best friend Jeff has been one of those people to me for many years and I sincerely cherish our friendship and will always carry memories of the past with me and look forward to many more memories made as we each grow and evolve over the coming years and create many more memories. It's hard to believe that being trapped in a bedroom at a frat party (hiding from the cops, sorry mom,but the good news is, they didnt find us) with 8 other random people during one of my very first nights out in college could then eventually through other mutual friends, etc lead to such a strong friendship, but oh my, that was just the very beginning! I mean what other two best friends could make nicknames "focker" and "fockface" such endearing titles! We have each been there for each other through some of the hardest times and some of the best times, and I can't wait to be there to celebrate with him and his new wife to be over the next few days!!! This will be my first time to ever travel to New Mexico, and I can't think of a better reason to go out there, but than to celebrate with one of my very best friends and his soon to be wife!! Alison, his fiance, is an absolute doll, I know her personally as she used to be one of my old neighbors in Phoenix, and I am sure they will have countless years of happiness together! I wish them all the love and happiness in the world and cannot wait to grow old with them both as friends and celebrate many more happy occasions in the future!! Time to get to packing, and get some rest before the big weekend!! I hope everyone is having a wonderful week -- have a great weekend!! Im sure pictures will come next week... XOXO

Birmingham for the weekend...

This past weekend I ventured to Bham to spend some quality family time. Saturday morning I woke up and Carly and I drove to Birmingham, and a few hours later my parents drove in from Mobile. What was in Birmingham you may ask?? Cousins!! My Aunt and Uncle live in Birmingham and had a party for all the fun things happening in their family recently on Sunday night. My first cousin David graduated undergrad at UGA a few weeks ago, my Uncle Bert was celebrating a "big" birthday, and cousin Abby Lee returned from studying abroad!!! Now I hope you didnt think we were gonna just let Abby "return home" in a relaxed and non chalant way. Saturday night we all went to dinner and then went home gathered all of our signs, had a few more people join us, and ALL headed to the airport. If you have ever been to the Birmingham airport, you know I am not joking when I say we were double the amount of other people even at the airport, especially at 11 at night. But to pick up Miss Abby Lee we went. We had people that didn't even know Abby welcoming her by the time we made a ruckus and were in front of where they walk out from behind security, and even had a stranger holding a sign that said "we missed you abby!" Way too much fun. These times are not unusal however, it is always an adventure when spending time with the fam!! To David, Congrats!!! To Uncle Bert, Happy Birthday!! and last but absolutely not least, to my dearest Abby Lee, WELCOME HOME!!!! I am so glad you are back!!! XOXO

THE GANG AT THE AIRPORT.....

MOMMY AND DADDY WALKING TO GREET ABBY LEE....

ME AND COUSIN JAMIE AT THE SUNDAY NIGHT PARTY....

The Rollercoaster of Life..

The past 10 days have been a rollercoaster to say the least ..... it has been consumed with a wide range of emotions, from so very sad , to so very happy, to scared, to excited!! Welcome to the rollercoaster of life. Amongst it all, the past 10 days have also caused me to reevaluate many aspects of my own life and those in my life and effecting my life, some for the better, some for the worse. Through the news of the loss of a wonderful person / friend I have come to realize that in fact we may often take far too many things and people for granted, and have gained a whole new appreciation for the little things in life. On a much happier note, I have learned that my cousin Jill is expecting a baby, which is so exciting!! (yay, Jilly!! Baby Lyon will be so lucky to have such wonderful parents!!) So many of my cousins have recently had/ will be having babies, and it is so exciting! Work is going well, although was quite stressful for several days over the past week and a half! I have several things exciting taking place the next several weekends, and look forward to the fun times! Although I love living in Atlanta, during both happy and sad times, I often realize how far away many of my closest friends are and that often makes me sad. Keeping in touch and letting people know how much they mean to you is so very important is the moral of the story! This weekend I am off to Birmingham to see the fam and celebrate happy milestones! And then in about 10 days, I get to see 3 of my very closest friends -- I can hardly even wait, I am so excited!! It has been far too long since we were together in the same city, and to get together for a wedding makes it even more exciting- Santa Fe, here we come, it's time for Mr Dracup to get married!! :) I hope everyone's weeks are off to a great start ... before we know it, Friday will be here again!! Live life to the fullest, and enjoy every moment of it ..... hold on tight, it's quite the rollercoaster!! XOXO