Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Introducing: The Bailey Blog :-)

Welcome to "The Bailey Blog"! Now that I am officially a Bailey, and the wedding is FINALLY blogged about, I can now start up my brand new blog and say so-long to "Becoming Bailey". 

Life as a newlywed is awesome! I absolutely love being a wife! Each morning I get to wake up next to my husband and each day starts with a good morning kiss...what could be better?! Patrick and I have adjusted to living together quite smoothly. Yeah, sometimes he drives me crazy when he fails to put his dishes in the dishwasher or leaves his socks on the kitchen floor...but I'm sure I drive him equally crazy when I nag at him not to do that stuff anymore lol. All in all, we are having FUN! It's interesting learning how to be a good wife, and I'm enjoying every minute!
I'm loving learning to cook so if any of my readers have any must-have recipes please share! I love to experiment making new meals! 

The last 3 months have been a whirlwind that's for sure! They have gone by so quickly, I really can't even believe we've been married 1/4 of a year already! Crazy! I'll share some fun stuff we've done in that time...

MONTH #1
After the wedding, Patrick and I were off to Playa Mujeres, Mexico for a much-needed Honeymoon! It was pure bliss! We spent 8 days and 9 nights at Excellence Resort and Spa, and it was paradise! Anyone looking
for a place to stay in the Cancun/Riviera Maya area, this is the place to go! Aside from being absolutely beautiful, the food was great (guests can get food 24 hours a day), the staff was pleasant, the entire resort was pristine cleanliness, and there was always some activity going on for guests to partake in. 

Patrick and I enjoyed kayaking, beach volleyball, archery, rifle shooting, salsa dance lessons, bartending classes, bike riding, and nightly shows...all complementary of Excellence! Not to mention we got to eat all the food we wanted and drink all the alcoholic drinks we wanted at no additional cost. I usually love toting my Burberry bag around, but I used it not once on this trip!

Included in our honeymoon package was fresh flowers, champagne, and fruit waiting for us in our room, a couples massage and hydrotherapy session at the spa, and dinner on the beach. It was amazing! 

I would go back to Excellence in a heartbeat! I think the name says it all! 

Below are a few of my favorite pictures from the trip :-)

 



 

 

 







Patrick and I then spent about a week at home before we headed down south for our Texas Reception. A lot of Patrick's family and friends weren't able to make it up to Pittsburgh for our wedding, so we decided to go to them!

My parents, sister Kristy, nephew Blayze, Patrick and I flew down together and rented out a house not too far away from where Patrick's parents live. My Aunt Monica and Uncle Joe drove down from Pittsburgh to take part in the celebration as well. We all had a blast!


I was so happy to see my family get to see where Patrick came from! Texas is SO different from Pennsylvania and I'm glad they got to experience that for themselves. While in Texas we visited Patrick's parents house to see the horses and meet their new dog, Angus. We also checked out The Whitte Museum Fiesa Texas, and the Alamo and Riverwalk during Fiesta Week. While back at the house we fished in the pond around back...check out the photos below!
 

The Texas Reception was very lovely! We had it at the house we rented out. I was shocked at how many people came out! I had met a lot of these people before during a prior visit, but there were lots of new faces too. It was fun to hear all the stories about the mischievous Bailey Boys - haha! We served straight Texas food...brisket, creamed corn, baked beans. It was yummy! I told my parents that they had now officially gotten a taste of Texas! 

One of Linda's friends made us our cake...how cool is this?! 



We sure are loved! Thanks to all who helped make this day possible, and thanks to all who came out and took part :-)

MONTH #2
Patrick and I celebrated our first holiday as a married couple, Easter Sunday. I kicked off the day by making breakfast for my husband on our new griddler we got as a wedding gift. Cinnamon Raisin French Toast...can you say mmmm?! After we got ready for mass. The rest of the day was spent with my side of the family at my parents house. Now that there are grandchildren in the mix, my mom goes all out there, orchestrating an egg hunt...always fun!!
 

 

 

 


 

Later in the month Patrick and I were invited to a meet and greet and concert with Craig Morgan. We both love country music so we were game! The meet and great wasn't anything spectacular...Craig didn't really talk and it was just a line of people waiting for a picture or autograph. I was a little disappointed at it, but he made up for it with his show. I'll just say he must have been saving his vocal pipes - lol! He was amazing on stage! Man can blow! He had the whole place going, he was very entertaining. One of my favorite parts was when he came on stage and his mic was going in and out. He stopped the entire show to get a new one and when he came back he said "Y'all paid good money for my show, I'm not going to put up with anything not being perfect." I thought that was really cool! Opening up for him was Sarah Darling and Due West. Both acts were great!


Patrick's brother, James, graduated from West Point this year. What an accomplishment! These men and women who choose to go there for school take their last four years of real freedom and devote them to others. They go through bootcamp and basic training, they have to wear a uniform every day, there is no sleeping in, and heck, they even have curfews! I felt so proud to have this man as my brother-in-law! Way to go James!!!


The commencement ceremony took place at Michie Stadium. They had snipers keeping watch just in case...


My favorite part was at the end when each cadet threw threw their hat in the air...


Each hat held a note and/or money and all the kids in attendance got to go on the field and catch one! Cousins, Codey and Caila got theirs and it was so sweet seeing them wear them all day!


James took his oath of honor in front of one of his class buildings with one of his favorite professors. His parents swore him in...what a special moment for all of them!

Patrick, Aaron and Andrew got to pin on James' new badges...


After we went back to the camp we were staying at and had a cookout with everyone...so much fun! It was the weekend of the Apocalypse and I'm so happy my last day on earth wasn't spent living here...


But it did have some nice views...check out the waterfall!


It wasn't SO bad, but having to use a communal bathroom is something I never want to have to do again! LOL! The bathrooms were across the lawn from us which was no fun because I wake up to pee at least once a night - lol! Lucky for me when I did have to get up to go, I got locked out of our place!!! Ugh...I'm just not a camper!

MONTH #3
Patrick and I have kept busy with weddings and showers!! Our friends Anne and Neal got married at St. Stanislaus church in the Strip District.

 
 

They had 17 flowergirls and ring bears!!! 3 of which were my nieces!Anne and Neal's wedding was awesome! They had such a fun feel to it. Each flowergirl wore a different colored sash and each bridesmaid carried a different colored bouquet of flowers, so the whole event was very colorful and fun!


Following the ceremony was a reception at the P.A.A. and it was so nice to go to a wedding there and actually enjoy it!!

Keeping with the colorful theme...check out their gorgeous cake! It tasted as good as it looks!!



This wedding was so much fun! They had a photo booth for guests to enjoy and instead of a cookie table they had a popcorn bar - can you say sweet?! I love Pittsburgh Popcorn! That was such a fun treat!

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. McGrath! We were so honored to be a part of  your special day!!


The following day, Patrick and I headed to Somerset, PA for our friends Nicole and Josh's wedding. I went to college with both and remember when their friendship became a relationship, so it was so special being there for their wedding!

Nicole is probably one of my most down to earth, no frills about her friends. She's a country girl! She enjoys jeans, a tank top and flipflops with a side of country music and a cold beer! So I had a had time picturing what kind of wedding dress she would wear...gosh did she look beautiful!!!

There was some time to spare between the wedding and reception so Patrick and I went to lunch with my old college roommate, Kristina, and her fiance, Josh. This was the first time Patrick and Josh really got to hang out together and they brewed up a little bromance - haha!


The reception was great! It had a country feel to it - just what I expected from these two being that they requested I wear my new cowgirl boots!! Loved the cake!!


What a great time at this wedding! I felt like I was back in college again! I'm so glad Patrick got to hang out with a lot of my college friends :-) Below are some of my favorite pictures from the night...Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Hickey!!



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