2 years ago today...

I became Mrs. Kimberly Audi.

Last year at this time, Daniel and I decided to start a Word document of memories that we wanted to record over the past year. And, I'm so glad that we did. I know that years down the road when more and more memories have been added and more and more time has elapsed, and our brains are older, it won't be as easy to remember the random fun, sad, scary, exciting things that we've done in our history as husband and wife. We've yet to make time to that again this year, but it's definitely a tradition we intend to continue.

Another tradition we began last year was to watch our wedding video on our anniversary. Glory Productions did a fabulous job capturing the wedding day and even the night before, at the rehearsal dinner. We LOVE reliving that evening and the following day. For anyone reading this who is not yet married, I highly suggest spending the money on a videographer when your time comes. The memories are so fun to relive!

On to reflecting: I recently saw a friend of mine's blog (Carrie) who posted pictures from her wedding day on her anniversary as well. I thought I'd do the same. (Pictures are all courtesy of Melissa Breedlove, our photographer.)

We didn't see each other before the wedding, so this was our attempt at calming any butterflies we had - a greeting through the door!

Our wedding party consisted of my sister, my 3 best friends since high school, Daniel's 2 brothers and 2 of his best friends. We were honored to have such fantastic people stand with us, supporting us as we became husband and wife. And Jim Reynolds, a mentor of Daniel's and friend of ours since we began dating, officiated our wedding.

When we started dating, Daniel said to me, "I think we should set some boundaries, so I just wanted to let you know that if I ever kiss Kim Hood, I'll kiss her at the altar one day." And well, he kept his word, and this was our very first kiss!

And here we are, "Mr. and Mrs. Daniel Audi!!!" I can hear the music now, Chris Hanchey singing, "You're just too good to be true. Can't take my eyes off of you. You'd be like heaven to touch. I wanna hold you so much...." as we walked out of the sanctuary!

We couldn't have had such a beautiful wedding without the sweet support of my mom and dad. Thanks, Mama and Daddy, for a perfect wedding. Really, it was the perfect day for us!!

My family expanded - these are my new in-laws. Along with them, I also gained 4 sisters-in-law that day as well as 4 brothers-in-law, and 8 nieces and nephews!

We left the church and drove to the reception in this great Model A car, I think it's a 1928 model.

Who needs to be serious at a wedding??? Weddings are for celebrating two people God has joined together. Let's celebrate big!!!

The reception was so much fun - seeing many friends who came to support us, dancing, eating yummy cake, and celebrating that we were now husband and wife! Ah...it was a great day!

after almost 5 years...

....Daniel will say good-bye to Catholic Charities. He's worked in several jobs of the refugee services program with Catholic Charities, most recently being an employment case manager. His last day of work with Catholic Charities will be the 31st of this month - just a few days away. He'll have a week off, then begin the next chapter - new teacher orientation. Yes, Daniel is going to be a Spanish teacher, teaching at Dunbar High School. We're looking forward to the change of pace. Who doesn't get excited about a week off at Thanksgiving, 2 weeks off at Christmas, spring break, and the entire summer????

Hawa (Somali), John (Congolese), Tory, me, Daniel, Kerby, Jen, and Jari (Albanian)

Brian, Anita, Faith, Stephanie, Sar (Cambodian), Brendon, and Peter (Sudanese)

However, he will definitely miss co-workers and the refugees he has served. Catholic Charities has been a fantastic place for us - great people to work with, both co-workers and clients. Our hearts are for the nations, so it's been such a joy to get to be 'in the nations' day in and day out. Friday Daniel's co-workers took him to lunch at Red Cactus, a small Mexican restaurant near TCU. They gave him one of his favorite candies, TWIZZLERS, and a really sweet card. I know he was so honored by words of blessing and encouraging words thanking him for his desire for excellence in his work and for his hard-working ethic. I must admit, I was beaming with pride to read all of the sweet notes to him - he is a fantastic man of intergrity, a hard-worker, compassionate, and excellent in his work ethic.

25 weeks...and counting....

Funny Faces and Friends

faces of the Wii

When Laura and Jason came in they brought their new Wii for us to play together. Daniel captured my facial expressions on film while I was golfing!

Laura, Jason, Allie, and Annie visit Fort Worth

We had a great visit in late June when my cousins came for a visit. Daniel and I took them downtown for dinner at UNO's Pizzeria. Annie and Allie loved the tall buildings!!

weekend in Ruston in June

I got to go home for Father's Day in June - my first return to Ruston since mid-April. It was so fun to be home - there were many things to celebrate that weekend: my cousins' daughter's first birthday, another cousin's baby shower, and of course, my Daddy! The 3 posts following tell more about those events!

Going home is always such a sweet time. It was the first time Jenny and I were home together since we both announced our pregnancies!

By the way, Jenny, me, and our cousin, Garson are all due with boys within 3 1/2 months of each other. Here we are together :-)

Garson and Matt await baby Trigger

Garson is my cousin. Her mom died in 1993 from cancer. Garson was 13 years old. Her mom's nickname was 'Trigger'. Garson and Matt are naming their son after her mom. Here's some of our family at Garson's baby shower - Mamaw and the cousins - as we celebrate the coming of little Trigger!

Allie Turns One

Our cousins' little girl turned one in June and we got to celebrate Allie's first year!

another generation of 'peach-ICEE-lovers'

Ever had a peach ICEE? I don't mean a slurpy. I mean an ICEE. The blue and red striped cup with the little white polar bear and the capital I-C-E-E letters? Mmmmm.... I have grown to appreciate them even more since my move to Texas 3 1/2 years ago. We have found some slurpy places here - Race Track, some 7-11s - but rarely can you find the real ICEE brand of slushy drinks. Two places that have the ICEE brand are the Wal-Mart off of S Cooper and Bardin Road in Arlington and the Diamond Shammrock that is off of Hulen near the Wal-Mart in Fort Worth. Well, it HAS been a great find to discover these, but we've yet to find one that has peach icees.

But guess where you can find them? RUSTON!! The Citgo (though it has just changed owners and I can't remember who the new gas station company is), always has peach ICEEs in the summertime! And, guess who also loves these peach ICEEs? Not only has Daniel joined the 'peach-ICEE-lovers' community, but our niece, Meredith, was initiated into the group this summer as well!!

"Mmmm...mmm....good. Thanks for the sugar, Gran-Gran!"

"More, please, Papa!"

"....all finished!"