LADIES BEING LADIES

These ladies are seriously THE best. They planned the most perfect bachelorette weekend ever. They flew me to San Francisco where the weekend got started with opening our goodie bags and champagne out in the city. Then we went to an amazing brunch and started our drive to Napa stopping, of course, for photos at the Golden Gate bridge. 

We arrived at the cutest little house in downtown Napa where we made flower crowns and sipped on mojitos with our "special" straws. After, we went to a delicious dinner in downtown Napa wearing our gorgeous creations! Bachelorette games were played. All of the girls got me panties and I had to guess who got me which ones (I got them all correct!). Then there were questions that they had Austin answer prior to the weekend and they compared my answers to his.... our answers were all the same! My heart melted when they read me Austin's answer to "When did you know you were in love with Kristen" and his response was "when she became my best friend". 

The next day involved a limo and a lot of vineyards! The weather was gorgeous and I was surrounded by my best girls. 

The weekend ended with a hike followed by lunch at Lagunitas brewery. Then stopping by Sausalito before heading back into the city for some exploring!

My heart was so full all weekend. I am forever grateful for the amazing memories and I wish we could get together like this more often!!

**I snagged a lot of these photos from the girls because I was too busy living in the moment to take my own!**

AZALEA FESTIVAL

Back in April we took a mini vacation to Wilmington for the Azalea Festival. One of my friends from Vermont was visiting so it was a perfect excuse to go! It was mostly just a street fair but at night Widespread Panic played, which was fun! After the festival was over Austin and I stuck around and played tourist. Unfortunately most of the old homes were closed for touring but we did a bit of our own exploring and got to check out the battleship. We ended the day with oysters and tasty drinks! Overall it was a successful weekend!

QUICK TRIP TO VERMONT

We went home for a quick trip to get some wedding planning accomplished and to see family and friends! It was fun to see snow- we went for an afternoon show shoe in the woods by my parents house. We also ate out at as many of our favorite restaurants that we could fit in. It was nice to be home and relax for a few days. Photo credit goes to my uncle! Thanks for the great pics :)

SAYING GOODBYE...

My sweet Grandfather passed away yesterday. He went peacefully in his bed surrounded by his wife and children. It is how I imagine anyone would hope to leave this earth after 94 years. He lived a long and happy life and was loved by so many. While it is hard to say goodbye, I'd like to think right now he is in heaven judging a horse race or two.... yes, I think he might be doing just that :)

Obituary

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER...

We went to Ohio to visit my family for Thanksgiving! We had been checking the weather wondering if we would get stranded in the big snow storm that had been pummeling the east. We packed up all of the best road trip snacks and prepared for a long and possibly treacherous drive. Luck was on our side and we only ran into a small snow/wind storm through Virginia. The drive was actually quite nice scenery wise. If we had pulled over at all of the pretty scenes to take pictures (like I wanted to) we would still be driving! Of course I made Austin double check that we had packed the camera and of course did not use it once.... We were too busy spending time with family... meeting the newest little additions and admiring the diamond rings ( the Agner family is having THREE weddings next summer- mine included). We did get to check out the Pierman homestead (distant relatives of mine) which is the only time I snapped photos... with my iphone no less. 

Hanging out with the ponies at my Grandparents :)

A huge thanks to my fiancé for being a rockstar at driving- LOVE YOU