Hoskinwood Family

Wow...where has the time gone?? I've HARDLY been 'married to the blog' have I?! It makes sense though. There isn't really anything habitual or all that consistent about me. But hey, I try. The thing with writing is you feel the pressure to make it good, funny, meaningful, with a point, etc. And you feel guilty if you put if off and don't do it. Silly, right? I am leaving this pressure and guilt behind. I just want to write and document my life for the sake of it, not because I think it needs to entertain others. On that note...let me tell you of all the AMAZING things going on in my life!

Since last February, I am now spoken for, romantically speaking, for perpetuity. Philip and I tied the knot 7.5.11. I am also...WITH CHILD. :) I am five months pregnant at the end of this week, with a baby boy!! We have also moved back to good 'ol Tejas for the meantime while Philip goes to school.

I found out I was pregnant while we were visiting Phil's family in Anchorage.  It was definitely a bit of a shock and a little bit overwhelming since we were technically homeless, jobless, and getting married in a month.  Nothing like the art of timing, eh?  Also, I have had a miscarriage at nine weeks before, so that previous experience brought a lot of tentative feelings to this second go 'round.  I mean, you just feel like you really can't let yourself be too excited until you hit that magical second trimester.  So we gave understated enthusiasm our best shot and I tried to not count the weeks.  It was a lot of fun having my family together to share the news with them the first night we arrived in St. Croix for our wedding week. Am now here I am at almost twenty weeks and now I can revel in excitement. 

Ahhhh...wedding week.  Shall I tell you that story?  It would be nearly impossible to cover the entire week, so I'll try to just hit the high points, which would be....duh!  The wedding ceremony!!!

St. Croix had been getting heaps of rain in the days leading up to our arrival and the first couple of days as well.  Fortunately, the sun was shining upon us for wedding day.  I had a date that morning with Kelley and Emily to find someone on the island to arrange my flowers for the ceremony.  Yeah, ALL my flowers.  I'm talkin' bridal bouquet, bridesmaid bouquets, boutonnieres, table flowers, cake flowers...the whole dad gum kit and freakin' kaboodle.  This is because the company that I had made arrangements with weeks prior, to ship beautiful tropical blooms from Hawai'i (I know...a total shame you can't order them from the Caribbean!), sent me an EMAIL to let me know that they would be unable to do so after all.  Yeah, THANKS for that.  But hey, it's all good.  Because the way it turned out was WAY better.

The morning was smooth sailing.  It was nice to have some time alone with two great friends.  I met the nicest old lady on the island, Chris Johnson of Sandy's Flowers.  She hooked us UP!  Not only did she complete our order in a matter of five hours or so, but she did it for a GREAT price.  My budget was SHOESTRING, okay?!  I did not want to blow the bank on flowers that we only get to live with for a day.  But you don't want to completely throw aesthetics to the wayside either.  As usual, I got to have my cake and eat it too.  I know, I'm a spoiled brat.  Are you ready for this?  You sure?  She did ALL the flowers, ALL OF THEM, for $250!!!

• Bridal bouquet
• Bridesmaids' bouquets
• Groom boutonniere
• Groomsmen boutonieres
• Mother of the bride boutonniere
• Mother of the groom boutonniere
• Flowers for two cakes

Pretty crazy, huh?  But you can't really appreciate the awesomeness of this last minute flower action until you see pics!

Let's talk about how completely fabulous my hair turned out, okay?  Well that would be because my BFF has some serious skills.  Um yeah, the colors of teal and red were also her idea.  She has impeccable taste.  And I can be a bit finicky too, but she understood exactly what I wanted my hair to look like and the challenges she would face in making that happen.  My hair happens to be incredibly fine, and was pretty short at the time also.  I also had a veil and fascinator to incorporate.  Emily did such a great job!!  Creating a bride's vision is no small task.  I like to think of myself pretty easygoing (although I did already admit to some finickiness...shit), however, you think of these seemingly small details for months.  MONTHS...a hairdo.  I'm sure it must seem so silly.  But these pictures and these moments will live on forever.  You want to look the best you ever have in your life and you want that man to think, "Wow...my wife is such a hottie!" when you walk down that aisle.  The dress, the hair, the flowers...I felt beautiful.  But more than anything, I felt surrounded by LOVE.  All of it would have meant nothing otherwise. 

The ceremony site itself was another part of the day that was just perfection.  The staff at Hotel on the Cay were so great.  They mowed the whole area up on this point in preparation, covered the chairs with white covers and beautiful teal sashes.  Kathi, the manager, did an amazing job decorating some of the chairs with flowers and lined the aisle with flower-filled conch shells.  It just made me so happy.  It was just what I wanted for our special day - simple, picturesque, romantic, and vibrant colors.

I am going to stop there and come back to the rest, or this will be a marathon post!  I have set the seen at least.  Then we'll get to the good stuff.  :)