Spring Happenings

It's been a while since my last post - this spring has been a busy one!  So let's get caught up on the latest happenings, shall we?  Here's what I've been up to since we last chatted:

- A belated birthday trip to Houston, including a delicious brunch with my sister and the epic Houston Rodeo with my college roommate.

Thoughts on being a swammer

This past weekend, I drove down to Austin to watch my high school swim team compete in the Texas high school state championship.  I graduated from high school over a decade ago now, and some of the swimmers that competed on Saturday were 6&under guppies that I coached in summer league back in college.  I hadn't been to a high school meet in ages - the last meet I attended was probably my sister's senior year in high school, nearly a decade ago.  But this year, I decided to drive to Austin and go to the state meet.  And I'm so glad I did.

{happy reunion!}

So Long Summer: Washington DC Wedding

In August, Steve and I flew out to Washington D.C. to celebrate the wedding of a friend from law school.  Jon and Steve were best friends in school and won our school's moot court competition together.  They are cut from the same cloth and Steve was really excited to be a part of Jon's special day as a groomsman.

{law school friends reunited at the reception}

leah and (other) steve's wedding - a halsey family album

My cousin Leah got married this past weekend on a beautiful September day here in the Midwest.  Her husband is the perfect match for her, and also happens to be named Steve.  Since my Steve was introduced to the family two+ years ago, we have been jokingly referring to Leah's Steve as the "Other Steve" - too many Steves gets to be confusing!  We will find a better name for him soon.

Almost all of my dad's side of the family was able to join in on the fun, so the weekend also felt like a family reunion of sorts.  I did a terrible job of documenting the wedding itself, but have plenty of family pictures that I want to keep track of.  So I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce you to the members of the Halsey clan!

sweet south dakota: day 3 and 4 (the badlands)

{We spent a wonderful weekend in South Dakota for my family reunion.  You can read more about our trip here and here.}

On Sunday, we woke up early and drove down the canyon where we were staying to check out the Spearfish Canyon Waterfall.  Our flight was set for early afternoon, so we wanted to make the most of the rest of our time in SD.

sweet south dakota: day 2

{We spent a long weekend in South Dakota at my family reunion - you can read about all we did on our first day (including Mt. Rushmore) here!}

On our second day, the family split into several different groups depending on what we wanted to do for the day.  Our group decided to hike Harney Peak, the tallest mountain in South Dakota.  It was a hot, sunny day - perfect for a hike!

sweet south dakota: day 1 (mount rushmore)

Two weekends ago, Steve and I joined my family in beautiful South Dakota for my family reunion.  It was my first trip to South Dakota and I am pleased to say that all of my expectations of the state were blown out of the water.  The lodge where we stayed was nestled in beautiful Spearfish Canyon, where the topography is stunning and the cell phone service, non-existent.  It was perfect.

{This is a very picture-heavy post - I wanted to make sure I savored and memorialized every moment of our trip!  Thanks for bearing with me and all of the pictures :) }

growing up - what I learned at my high school reunion

High school reunions are strange things.  You walk into a room full of people that you spent four entire years with, but most of whom you haven't seen in a decade.  Everyone looks nearly the same, and yet different.  I walked in to my ten-year high school reunion last weekend with certain expectations of how the night would go.  Some of it went as expected, but I was pleasantly surprised by other elements of the evening.  I learned a lot by spending four hours with my high school colleagues.

 Homecoming game senior year - if you're wondering what the huge ribbony things are, you aren't from Texas :)

hey there, high school

I flew down to Texas for the weekend to attend my ten-year high school reunion and had a blast.  After arriving in Houston and spending a great day with my mom, my college roommate and I headed off to our favorite restaurant, Chuy's, for the best tex-mex in Texas.  I filled up with tons of chips and queso and a swirl margarita - yummm.