I Will Live My Life As A Lobsterman's Wife.

Excursion #2

Cape Elizabeth, Maine for my cousin Lavena's wedding to Tucker Jordan. I love love love going to Maine! The whole family, all 5 of us smooshed into one car and tackled the 9 hour drive. All the aunts and uncles on that side of the family (the Fraser side) came to celebrate Lavena's big day. My family is big, welcoming, passionate, and blessed beyond words... and a pretty dang good looking bunch too :)

 

just a handful of the beautiful ladies of the fam! 

This trip I finally faced one of my fears... LOBSTERS! 

yep, that's right, I am was afraid of lobsters. This was thanks to my dad... when I was little he traumatized me into believing that lobsters were giant spiders. Even to this day I try as hard as I can to avoid walking passed the lobster tanks at Wegmans.  Since I was in Maine and the groom is a lobsterman, I figured if I am going to face my fear I might as well go big or go home & do it right. Fresh Maine lobster was on the menu for the reception.   

As I picked up the lobster to take a picture with it, it's claw fell right off... as it fell my cousin Gen yelled, "its alive!!" Needless to say I nearly jumped out of my seat and threw the lobster across the table. By the time I had finally figured out how to eat that poor thing I had pretty much massacred it.
Fear officially faced!! 

Here are just a few more of my lovely family...

 

 My lovely siblings... who would have ever thought we'd turn out to be such great friends??!

AND of course no trip to Maine is complete without a jump off the high cliff at DeepHole, even if the water is below 40 degrees! 

It's A Kiss, It's A Sip Of Wine, It's Summertime.

Summer Excursions...
So far this summer has revolved around trips to reunite with friends, celebrating weddings, enjoying family and facing a few fears. Perfection if you ask me!!

excursion #1...

Centreville, Maryland for Nikole (Strotman) and Zach Smith's wedding!! Nikole is a great friend of mine, who I was blessed to serve with on summer staff 2 years ago at the Young Life camp, Lake Champion.

I put on a little black dress, hopped in the car and hit the road at 6am, then drove 7 hours straight to the wedding ceremony. I loved the drive (and the funny looks I got while pumping gas in a dress and heels!) The weather was beautiful and I zipped right along the Pennsylvania turnpike for most of the drive.  

I had a little scare though, I thought I didn't have enough cash to pay one of the tolls on the drive down! So, in my little episode of panic I considered ripping into the wedding gift envelop, sorry Nikole and Zach ;) luckily I was just a turd and misread the ticket hehe

It was such a fantastic weekend! Nikole was such a beautiful bride and she married a truly incredible man. Zach and Nikole, thank you for letting me be a part of such a beautiful day!!


I also got to see Savannah and Carolyn, two other friends I served with at Lake Champion. It was so much fun catching up on each others lives, sharing stories, laughing with (and at) each other. Those girls have such incredible hearts and I love being able to share mine with them! I stole all of these pictures from Savannah because I forgot my camera :( (thanks, Savannah!)

 

I loved getting to spend the day with these ladies!

 I got to try real Maryland crab for the first time!! Definitely an entertaining, messy, and hilarious experience