30 Day Challenge: Day 5: My Siblings

I am the youngest of three girls. And by youngest... I mean - YOUNGEST.

My sister Denise was born in December of 1965. 

My sister Diana was born in July 1966

Miss Amber Lane was born in August 1984

That my friends is a 17 year difference between me and my sibling closest in age. Can you say- SURPRISE! My mom was 7 months pregnant with me at my sister's high school graduation. I LOL at the thought!

Growing up it was kind of like having three mothers. Diana got married when I was 3 and Denise when I was 6 so they didn't really live with mom and I together ever with the exception of a year or so.

Diana:

 Diana always lived near by so she was the sister who picked me up to go shopping or have lunch. Who never missed a play or awards ceremony. For many, many years I didn't quite understand Diana. Her husband ; though he treats her well has never been too friendly with me so that prevented us from being closer in my younger days and I kind of resented her for that for a long time. Then one day she showed me one of her favorite pictures of us together- a picture I had never even seen:

This picture was taken at our grandparents house and Diana said she had just gotten up and ready for the day and was getting ready to make me my favorite breakfast: scrambled eggs. I instantly fell in love and some of my "childhood resentment" melted away. 

Personality wise I see now that a lot of my personality traits are very similar to hers. When it comes to style, and grooming, and organization,  

Diana's birthday- we were being hat ladies

and approach to projects.....

She was the cornerstone of all my Wedding DIYs. She let me use her basement as my workshop and it remained in turmoil for MONTHS! 

The result of weeks of work on centerpieces!

Diana has one son named Calvin: He's 13 plays the sax and guitar, loves old school comedy like Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, etc. 

Calvin in 2001:

Diana's Family Mother's Day 2010:

Our wedding day portrait

Denise:

Denise and I were always close even though she lived away for the better part of the first 19 years of my life. First Tennessee, then Virginia, Indianapolis, Tennessee again, Florida and now finally back home in Ohio. Because of her distance away when I would visit her, they would be extended visits. Whole summers, spring breaks etc. This helped reinforce our closeness. Her husband David is also one of those awesome father figures I mentioned in yesterday's post. Denise is the wife a music minister in the church of God and the two of them have been my "spiritual guides". Our relationship has always been more mother/daughter than that of sisters (at least until recently) and I've appreciated that.

Denise and I Christmas 1987

Thats what sisters are for...1 to hold the dress and 1 to hold the camera lol

Our Wedding Day Portrait

Denise also has 1 son named Devin: He's 15 and an awesome musician; singing,guitar, mandolin, saxaphone, piano - the kid is gifted. He's also an avid skateboarder.

Devin and his Aunt Amber in 1995 x 2

(In case you ever wondered about the Cuban heritage of mine that I talk about- this pics from my younger days prove it lol)

Denise's family (2006 maybe)

Both Nephews in June 2010 - They've grown up so fast! ) ; Sniff

So, well its not "traditional" to have sisters so much older than you with no one else in between- its worked out pretty well for me! 

Awesomely enough  my wedding actually helped bring us closer by getting us together for project nights, showers, and pre-wedding slumber party with just the three of us: 

One of my fave moments before the wedding was when they handed me a gift bag with a picture frame that read:

Together Through it All....

Which evoked this reaction from me.....

I didn't actually cry...yet. No the only thing that actually made me cry was when my 15 year old nephew got up to do his reading and balled through the whole thing. THAT was a heart melter.

Anyhow I could go on and on about my awesome sisters and the awesome nephews that they have provided me with but this post is getting long enough. 

Instead I'll leave you with a few more photos: Enjoy!

Ready for the wedding!

The picture in the earlier mentioned frame

Sassy girls

rehearsal

Bachelorette Party Down Town

Graeters Ice Cream

Much Love Always!

Miss Amber Lane

30 Day Challenge: Day 4

My Parents:

My mom is awesome. She's been a single parent from day 1 and has done a pretty stellar job. She's always had to work super hard to make it work and sometimes the things that we went through kind of sucked but we were always together.

I think its hard for her now that I'm married and into a new phase in my life. She made me her life for 20 something years and change is hard.

Some facts about my mom:
1. I call her Ma Mere
2. She loves spicy food and dining out
3. She still has her old school Nintendo, Sega, and Super NES and still plays them when time allows
4. I think she's addicted to Farmville on Facebook
5. Her go -to karaoke song is "Crazy" by Patsy Cline
6. She's an awesome cook- and her sketti is the best
7. She has a cat named Toby
8 She loves to travel
9. I stole her face....seriously....

Until recently I never thought I looked like my mom...but clearly...I do. We even make the same faces as demonstrated above.
10. She always made everything a blast. New Years at home with Mom when you're 8...PARTAY!

Go ahead... LOL your face off. I die. Wonder how my hair turned so blonde......???

And nice glasses Sally Jesse. Oh memories.

My mom rocks.

As for the Father person.

That was complicated. Suffice to say. Never had him around, never missed him. Watching the Teen Mom finale with Dr Drew the other night- I watched some teenage girl burst into tears because she never had a dad and she talked about how hard it was growing up.

I totally don't feel that way. I had an awesome mom and great father-figures who more than made up for what I didn't have.

I am lucky.

Much Love Always,

Miss Amber Lane

30 Day Blog Challenge: Days 2 & 3

Combining these days because my blog name story isn't that interesting and my "first love" doesn't deserve a whole post to himself.

Meaning Behind My Blog Name:

My blog name used to be Miss Amber Lane Takes on the Universe- when Ben and I got engaged I changed it to a Blonde Bride & Her Boo- because I was and I call Ben- Bennyboo or sometimes just boo, or sometimes Boo Box - don't even ask how that got started - its even more wierd when he just shortens it to Box- oh the progression of a pet name.....I digress.

I've thought about changing it again - but get stuck on it, "A Blonde Wife and Her Boo" just doesn't have the same ring to it and though "A Blonde Bombshell and her Boo" is probably quite appropriate I think it just gets messy when you go changing names on people.

As for my user name "Saucyminx410"..I loved that Hugh Grant said that in Love Actually and Blogger made me add numbers because apparantly I'm not the only Hugh Grant/Love Actually Afficienado.

My First Love:

Called me babydoll, bit my bottom lip when we kissed, and beat the crap out of me early one Sunday morning on the way home from a party.

Yeah. That sucked.

We met through our parents who worked together even though we went to the same school. We dated a couple months before I moved away and then when I moved back we officially got together. He was tall, dark, and handsome- smoked a lot of pot, was a crazy good artist, and well...just sort of crazy. He did cool things like draw pictures of me as a fairy and gifted me with crystals to hang on my headboard to keep bad dreams at bay- he was a hippy and I tried real hard to be the yin to his yang. It was a messy couple of years that spanned senior year in high school through sophomore year in college. We used to talk about getting married and using pot seeds mixed with glitter and bird seed as our "tossable" - interesting alternative to rose petals or bubbles huh?
 Our relationship was all this crazy, hippy, dreamer crap and then literally blood, sweat, and tears that took me years and a VERY strong, supportive, awesome Ben to pull me out of the wreckage.

In short. It was a disaster. But now you know.

Much Love Always,

Miss Amber Lane

30 Day Blog Challenge: Hello Day 1!

So you all know this 30 day blog challenge has been swirling about in the blogesphere- I'm not usually so awesome at challenges and generally they have the opposite effect of making me blog everyday. However, since my last attempt at a challenge I have discovered the joys of scheduled posting- so I might actually make it through this time. We shall see. I'm not sure where this challenge originated or who to give credit it to- so I'm not linking up to anyone. If this is YOUR challenge however, feel free to let me know and I'll give credit where credit is due. ( ;

Anyhow: The Challenge:

Day 1-Introduce, recent picture, 15 interesting facts


Day 2-Meaning behind your blog name

Day 3-Your first love

Day 4-Your parents

Day 5-Your siblings

Day 6-A picture of something that makes you happy

Day 7-Favorite movies

Day 8-A place you've traveled to

Day 9-A picture of your friends

Day 10-Something you're afraid of

Day 11-Favorite tv shows

Day 12-What you believe

Day 13-Goals

Day 14-A picture you love

Day 15-Bible verse

Day 16-Dream house

Day 17-Something you're looking forward to

Day 18-Something you regret

Day 19-Something you miss

Day 20-Nicknames

Day 21-Picture of yourself

Day 22-Favorite city

Day 23-Favorite vacation

Day 24-Something you've learned

Day 25-Put your iPod on shuffle, first 10 songs

Day 26-Picture of your family

Day 27-Pets

Day 28-Something that stresses you out

Day 29-3 Wishes

Day 30-a picture
 
 
Miss Amber Lane Day 1:
 
 

My name is Amber. I'm 26, recently married, and all kinds of awesome if I do say so myself.

1. I have a degree in Theater with a minor in Arts Management from Miami University (of Ohio). I also took a thematic sequence in Gerontology. I used to think I was going to be Miss Broadway superstar but real life was much more glam (amirite?) Currently I am working as Director of Activities for a senior living community. Talk about create your own path huh?

2. I am wierd about my hands. I don't like them to get wet if I don't immediately have lotion to put on them when they dry. I also don't touch certain things when my hands have been wet recently- like paper- for some reason it makes my skin crawl

3. I've never seen Twilight or Harry Potter or read either of them

4. I have lost something like 56 lbs since January of last year- I used weight watchers points system but never set foot in a meeting - or a gym- everything happened through portion control, counting points and getting my ass up off the couch for walks, exercise dvds, cleaning, etc.

5. My favorite color is pink. Pink, pink, and more pink!

6. Favorite candy reeses peanut butter cups or hershey chocolate. Don't get much of either these days. Also LOVE Tabasco jelly beans and jolly rancher gummies.

7. I consider myself to have a highly versatile taste in music. This morning I was listening to Jimmi Hendrix and the Doors on the way to work - on the way home it will probably be Christina Aguilera and Lady Gaga and tomorrow Rascal Flatts- lol. I grew up in a very musical family- we all sing and most of us play at least one instrument. I personally sing and play the flute. I have a guitar that I never learned to play but would still like to. I think this lends its self to my music taste.

8. I can't figure out how to eat grits...butter and sugar, salt and butter, butter and jam - how do you do it?

9. When I want popcorn at home I always pop it on the stove. No microwave pocorn for me - I'm old school.

10. I have 5, count em' 5 cats. Ben and I are both suckers: Izzy, Zoey, Bryndel, Rennie, and BG Snuggs.

11. Favorite Movies are pretty much brainless chick flicks: Clueless, Legally Blonde, Dirty Dancing, Two Weeks Notice, Love Actually, The Wedding Planner, Fried Green Tomatoes, and Dazed and Confused (a remnant from my stoner days lol). Movies to me are an escape from the everyday and I want something light hearted and fun.

12. I'm a magazine junky. I really should have gone into journalism or advertising or something. I know this may sound silly but magazines are organized the way I think. On the shelf under our coffee table right now I guarantee you would find the following mags: InStyle, Women's Health, Shape, Self, Lucky, Vogue, Weight Watchers, The Nest, and Playboy. And yes, they're all mine. Junky. You should have seen it when I was wedding planning. I had em all!

13. Favorite Smells: Fabric Softener, Crisp apples, Baby soap & powder, Calvin Klein Euphoria, moth balls and bleach - yeah I'm a wierdo.

14. I drive a 2001 Malibu with a turn signal that only works when it wants to and lipstick smears on the back windshield from my bridal party writing just married on it- WILL NOT COME OFF! I dream of a brand spanking new car- but that's not in my immediate future. We own my car free and clear.

15. Some of the things that Ben and I want to do before we start thinking about a baby Smith: Mardi Gras, Vegas, NYC, buy a house, pay off our debt to his parents and my college credit card, own a Louis Vuitton handbag ( not on credit), buy a big screen TV, lose the last 7-10 lbs and do a nekkid photo shoot, watch The Wizard of Oz while listening to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and smoking hookah, and probably a whole lot more if we ever really stopped and thought about it.

Day 1 - that's a wrap!

Hope you enjoyed getting to know a little bit more about me. See ya manana!

Miss Amber Lane

(You think one day I should change my signature to MRS. Amber Lane?)

Nah.... ( :

Baton Rouge: Houmas House Plantation

The day of the wedding Ma Mere and I decided to do a little bit of site seeing and drove out to the Houmas House Plantation for a few hours.

You already know that no road trip is ever complete without a trip to the Cracker Barrel.

Ma Mere sat in the LSU chair- we are still amazed at how fanatical you people in the south are about your college football. Me, I could care less.

So beautiful. The view from the road is breathtaking.

Welcome to Houmas!

Practicing my delightfuly aloof look in front of the main entrance pond.

Wanna swing?

They do weddings here every weekend- wouldn't that be magical?

Beautiful gardens on each side, in front, and behind the house

Ma Mere and I before departing to get ready for the wedding.

My pictures inside the house- were not so awesome. It was beautiful but I didn't do it any justice!

Wish I could live in the Houmas House- my dream house would absolutely be an old, old house - I know they have problems but I think it would be worth it!

And also...just to keep you current..visited my cousin Thursday night for karaoke in his town about 45 min. away....

I was bored waiting for Emily to get off work so I started playing around with my camera...

Not sure about this face here but I like the close up uf my bif ole muppet baby eyes. lol

Emily and Me.

Me and my cousin Danny. Can you tell he's kind of a ham?
Hell of a good karaoke singer though!

I'm working this weekend - like it or not. So for now...I gotta run!

Much Love Always!

A Louisiana Wedding

I'm Back! The trip down to Louisiana for Rachel's wedding was great. Mom and I left at about 5am Ohio time and arrived in Baton Rouge at about 9pm Louisiana time. We made a lot of stops including one in Memphis to scope out Graceland- which let me tell ya - is nothing to see from the outside so the trip down took a little longer than expected. The trip back was a snap however because mom basically let me sleep the whole way home- lucky me, poor mom.

We'll talk more about the rest of the trip later this week but for now lets get down to brass tacks. The wedding. 

Before a wedding you need a rehearsal. Rachel's rehearsal was quick and painless- so fast there was no time to even take pictures- so I'll jump right ahead to the dinner which was held at Rachel's uncle's beautiful house with rooms built specifically for cooking big meals and entertaining large groups. 

Dinner was traditional Louisiana fare and delicious!

The bride-to-be and me

The future Mrs. and Ma Mere

Never too old to sit on your mommy's lap

The Wedding:

Was held at a place called the Oak Lodge. The ceremony took place at sunset outside and was simple and lovely - very much suited to Rachel and Brett and very sweet.

The reception was all about delicious food and dancing your butt off. On to the pictures!

The bride to be smiling excitedly up into the photographer's camera

Peek-a-boo bride

The bride and her maids. I know we look less than thrilled but this was between photographer's shots!

Me and My Mom

Rachel's unique and oh so fun bouquets!

Ready to get married!

After the ceremony I posed for some proud mommy pictures

Sassafrass

Me and the bride on the dance floor

Having a ball

Ma Mere looks like she's up to something!

The newlyweds and yes my stupid finger was covering the flash

Saying goodbye to the Cabo-headed Newlyweds

That's the wedding of Rachel and Brett. Be back soon for more pictures of non-wedding related such and such in Louisiana! 

Missed ya'll! I'll be catching up on your blogs ASAP! 

Much Love Always!

Miss Amber Lane