Pack. Unpack. Repeat.

7 weekends. And a day trip. From August 22 to October 10 I was out of town every weekend. Every. weekend. Now, I love to stay busy but I think in my elder age of 30, I now know my limit. And that limit? That would be 7 weekends. And a day trip.

Regardless of the amount of caffeine I consumed over these past 7 weeks to stay awake during the week, I have loved celebrating these people in their big moments and making really fun memories in the process. Here is the cliff notes version of the adventures:

August 22-24
Location: San Antonio
Event: Kristina gets engaged!
Disclaimer: Most stressful experience of my life but we pulled off the most ridiculous surprise engagement ever. So fitting for these two. 

August 29-September 1
Location: Houston > Austin > Fredericksburg > Austin > Houston
Event: LC in town, mini visit to Austin, drop off LC at her friend's house for weekend, head to Fredericksburg for a Bachelorette party for Gregg's best man/best friend's fiancé (got that?), back to Austin to pick up LC, back to Houston. This was ridiculous. But I have said it before...LC and I will do crazy things so we get to see each other, even it means we both plan simultaneous weekend events during an LC visit to Texas. We are insane.
Disclaimer: I will never do this much driving in one weekend again. 

September 6-7
Location: Dallas
Event: Co-host A&M game watching couples shower for Gregg's best man/best friend and his fiancé.
Disclaimer: When hosting one of these, it is nice if the game is not on a rain delay for 2 hours. Oh well, clearly we made do with other entertainment. 

September 12-14
Location: San Antonio
Event: Kristina is a bridesmaid for one of her childhood friends.
Disclaimer: My family loves a wedding. Don't believe us? Wait until Kristina's. 

September 19-21
Location: San Antonio Riverwalk
Event: A's Bachelorette Party weekend
Disclaimer: I may be from San Antonio but I know nothing about the Riverwalk and had to use my GPS to navigate us around all weekend.

September 26-28
Location: Galveston
Event: Hayley's Bachelorette Party weekend
Disclaimer: When you are celebrating one of your college besties getting married with the other college bestie who is 6 months pregnant standing next to you, all of a sudden you feel like it is the end of an era. You also feel old.

October 3-5
Location: San Antonio
Event: Wedding planning with sister-zilla
Disclaimer: Everytime we are home, Kristina somehow gets tricked into doing all this handy work around the house and I manage to avoid it. It's good to be the older sister. 

Surprise weekend event: I'm a MOH!
Disclaimer: I do in fact plan to share all the behind the scenes fun and fighting of the next 10 months of my life helping to plan this. 

October 11
Location: College Station
Event: A&M vs. Ole Miss
Disclaimer: Technically this was not considered a weekend trip because I didn't have to pack a bag and got to spend the day with Gregg. (you may have noticed this husband of mine was absent from the majority of these weekend trips) However, it required driving. It also ended at 2am when we got home. Therefore I am throwing it in as a bonus.

BOOM. This may or may not explain my blogging absence. Not that anyone cares other than my mother but there you go. Even though the weekend trips and events are not over, I do have a free weekend in my future. It might as well be a giant finish line being crossed. I require that every once in awhile to recharge. It could also be called Analisa crawls into a cocoon for the weekend with TV, wine, pizza, pinterest and Chloe. If Gregg is around then that is a bonus too, but not required.

Cheers! 

Austin Baby Showering

We lived in Austin for two years. Going into it, I knew it would be a strange two years. I would be working. Gregg would be going to school. I honestly felt like we were in a constant state of transition. Oddly enough though, it was under those circumstances that I met some amazing lifelong friends. God is funny that way I guess.

Meeting M:

For starters my friend M and I met seriously walking in and out of the parking garage at work. We were both always running late. We both always carried our gym bags. And one day we just struck up a conversation while waiting for the light to change…..and I guess you could say the conversation never stopped. She had a darling baby girl in December and will one day be one of those "can you explain this pregnancy stuff to me in real life terms" friends.

M & Me 

Meeting C1 and C2: 

My other two friends, C1 and C2, I met through bible study. I was in my 2nd year of bible study and had kind of shelved the idea of making friends there, yet God again had other plans. I was put into the same small group as C1 (I am calling her that because technically I did meet her first). After the first few weeks, I quickly decided C1 was so cute (plus I always wanted her wardrobe) and I needed to strike up a conversation with her. One day I did. Then she introduced me to her other friend C2. After some very fun dinners, meeting C2's spouse, late nights out and other events, they both became very close friends in a very short amount of time. 

Posing with C1( on left) and C2 (in the middle) 

Where does a baby shower come into all this? 

C2 is expecting twin girls and I was thrilled to be able to to help C1 throw her a baby shower. This was exciting on a number of levels but most of all, I haven't really helped throw a shower in awhile. After planning all of it via email, the big day came Saturday of Mother's Day weekend…I know, the timing was pretty cute. 

I drove to Austin Friday night and drove straight to meet M for margaritas and mexican food. Because the shower was the next day, I had volunteered to bring ingredients for "make your own yogurt parfaits" and they were stressing me out. I had seen the idea on pinterest and that is typically my problem- I can find and come up with an idea…then the execution gives me anxiety. Since M is also my foodie/chef extraordinaire friend, I forced asked her to go late night grocery shopping with me after dinner for supplies.  

She's kind of the best. 

Saturday we hosted the shower at C1's apartment party room which quite honestly I could live in and be just fine in life. The best part though is we had taken all these ideas of decorations, activities, food, etc from Pinterest and the guests thought we were absolute geniuses. I loved it. Who doesn't love people thinking you are a genius? And who doesn't love compliments?

'Decorate your own Onesie station.' I made Kristina decorate a sample the night before that said "I am cuter than my sister"

Food set up courtesy of one of the hostesses that can cook…i.e. not me 

My infamous yogurt parfait. I may not be able to cook but I am now the official 'Make your own yogurt parfait' bringer to all future showers. 

Cutest and most delicious baby shower cake in the world. 

This may not be a new idea to anyone else but it was to me: create little ribbons and small tags for people to label their mimosa glass. I've labeled cups before but never thought of how you do it with a glass. How many times do you set it down and not know which is yours? 

The beautiful Mommy-to-Be!

I also realized every time I have visited Austin since I moved has also meant Kristina is attending a baby shower with me. 

Shower hostesses with the Mom to Be 

As you can see it was a really fun Friday/Saturday spent with my very wonderful and very special friends. I may not be able to be there all the time in person but it is sure fun to still be part of all the fun from afar! 

Interesting topic- Have you ever thought of how people name twins if they are having the same gender? Wait until you meet them? Have names pre-decided based on who arrives 1st and 2nd? We talked about it at the shower and it was something that had never crossed my mind. 

Speaking of names, I cannot wait to meet the twin baby girls coming in just a few weeks and find out their names too! 

Adios 2013. Bon Jour 2014.

I don't believe in New Years resolutions. There I said it. I don't. I believe if someone wants to make a change in their life then just make it. You don't have to wait to start until January 1. Want to start a diet October 12? Go ahead. Want to be more organized December 12? Go for it. With that being said though here I am...starting a blog as a kick-off to 2014. 

And how did I kick-off 2014? First by spending the evening with my parents and Gregg at a wedding for a friend of mine since kindergarten. After getting home at 11:30pm we counted down to 2014 with chips, queso and champagne in the kitchen with my parents. Since Gregg and I spent Christmas with Gregg's family, we kicked off 2014 with a belated Christmas celebration with my parents and headed to sleep around 2:30am. 

Looking back 2013 was a big year and I think I underestimate that: Gregg graduated with his MBA. We moved from Austin to Houston in June because of Gregg's new job. I started a new job as the public relations manager for a nonprofit organization. I was sad to leave Austin. When we moved there in the fall of 2011, I didn't think that phrase was possible but two years later here I am saying it. I made some amazing friends there who I know will be friends for life. People I can laugh with, people who care about me and people who I know I can count on no matter what the future holds. Even after moving, it is still amazing to me that in a place that was only meant to be temporary, I met some of the greatest people of my life. 

It has been a year of change, a year of transition, a year of saying good-bye and a year of saying hello. As we are settling into 2014, I am excited for what is in store with this guy by my side as we explore the many photo booths of our future together. 

Adios 2013.You were good to us.