Our Anguillan Honeymoon In Photos

For our honeymoon we went to Anguilla said like "vanilla" in the British West Indies. We found this place looking for a remote, relaxing, affordable place to go that neither of us had been to before. We left Sunday (2nd) for Baltimore then flew into St. Maarten Monday. We then taxied and ferried over to our island. The water was clearer than any I'd ever seen before and the place was so quiet and relaxed. We stayed at Carimar Beach Club- a set of 24 villas all overlooking the ocean. Another wonderful thing about Anguilla was how safe it felt- Jeremy and I would walk down the street to the grocery store or out to dinner and feel perfectly safe. We ate breakfast and three dinners on our patio and brought lunch out to the beach each day. Other highlights: our boat trip to Sandy Island and Prickly Pear, sailboat races in front of our hotel on Thursday, Jeremy driving a rental car on the left side of the road, dinners out at the fancy and delicious restaurants on the island, and being chased by a barracuda (we found out later they like to follow humans because they think we are large predators they can get an easy meal by staying near). We also made friends with the owners of one of the villas who gave us lots of advice and even drove us to the ferry on our last day. All in all it was an incredible honeymoon and a great way to start married life!
Sincerely Yours from the land of corn,
Leanne

The Wedding

August 1, 2009 was an absolutely beautiful day in Eden, MD. After a week full of showers the clouds parted and the sun shined down for our perfect day. Everything about the day was a testimony to answered prayers and as Jeremy says being in the center of God's will. Here are some pictures to share with you and a link to the beautiful slideshow our photographer made for the Des Moines reception:
http://www.jamesseipphotography.com/tempdowloads/ljslideshow.html

One More Day!

In one day they will officially be my brothers and sisters! I am one blessed girl :) The Bradys have fun anywhere they go- here we are in Ocean City, MD and they were good sports making a pyramid.

We are all getting very excited as the wedding becomes just a matter of hours away- our ring bearer and flowergirl arrived last night and we are super excited they made the long trip out! Today the girls are all going to go get manis and pedis and have some girl time before the rehearsal dinner this evening.

Good news: the next post will be wedding photos that the photographer is helping us out with! Thank you for all your prayers and blessings as we enter into marriage! We are so ready for our lives together to begin :)

Sincerely Yours,

Leanne Taylor

Jeremy's First MD Fishing Trip!

We took Jeremy for his first Maryland fishing trip on Wednesday. Jeremy was handed the second baited fishing rod and immediately upon casting a fish began to bite. I was a little dissapointed not to have the first fish (my rod had been in the water for a minute already), but didn't feel so bad when he tried to reel it in and nothing was happening. "Turn the fishing rod over" my dad told him- it was upside down! We then made Jeremy hold his catch... The fish flew out of his hands! I will say that he is quite the fisherman- he caught the most fish out of all of us- including an oyster/fish combination. It was a lot of fun :)

Back from Mexico!

What a wonderful maker!

beautiful photos courtesy of Caity

Iowa to Maryland to Mexico!

My summer in West Des Moines quickly came to an end this past week. It is amazing how fast this summer has flown by- can you believe it's already July 12th!!? Though I boarded the plane alone this week I know that it is almost the end to Jeremy and I's long stretches apart and I could not be happier about that! Only 20 days left on the countdown. WOW wow WOW!

Since Wednesday I have been to the florist, vineyard, caterer, and tailor and if you have heard about my last fitting you'll be happy to know that the dress is no longer two inches off the floor and an inch too tight! It was a relief to see the dress as it should be and remember why I picked it out in the first place. I have my mom to thank for all her prayers over something that seems so silly- which reminds me of Psalm 138 and some sweet words of advice I took away from working in the CF nursery. The Lord will perfect what concerns me. Your lovingkindness is everlasting!

To add to a wonderful weekend back home my aunt and maid of honor threw me a bridal shower :). Lots of family and long time friends all in one place to celebrate- it was lovely! In addition, I got to meet my niece for the first time :). She is absolutely precious. Tonight my brother and sister-in-law came over for dinner and we got to spend some quality time together- tiny baby on my shoulder looking into each others eyes- I love her. It's cool to see my brother become a dad and his beautiful wife an incredible mom.

Tomorrow I leave for a graduation trip with Caity- my maid of honor and best friend since the 6th grade. The years go by and I become more and more blessed by our friendship. Her parents are sending us to Riviera Maya, Mexico to celebrate her graduation from Ohio State :). I will have to share some pictures when we get back.

Sincerely Yours (Temporarily from the land of blue crabs),

Leanne

1 Month till Our Wedding!

Only 1 month to go until our BIG DAY! Things are hurrying along as we work on projects and plan out the ceremony. Jeremy has been especially amazing at helping with projects I've taken on. He is no longer scared away by Michaels and has spent hours helping me paint our escort cards the last two weekends. While I enjoy doing crafty projects he tends to want to buy the finished project and pay the extra cents, so his willingness to help (happily even) is such an incredible gift. Here's a peek at some of the decorations in progress:


Jeremy painting the escort cards with chalkboard paint

fans for our programs

This past week we also took our first dance lesson! For our first dance we will be doing the rumba to Michael Buble's Everything :) (http://michaelbuble.com/everything-official-video). The lessons were ten times better than I expected- I am rhythmically challenged but it is so much fun to dance with Jeremy and our instructor is great!

By far the biggest happening of last week was the birth of our first niece Kyla Lynn Taylor. She is 9 lbs 21 inches, healthy, and precious! I will put some pictures up to share as soon as I get them on my computer.

Yours from the land of corn,
Leanne