Nothing compares to the mom in your life

My mom has always been my best friend. She has been the one that I can talk to about anything, the first one that I want to share exciting news with, the one who always knows how to make things right and the best shopping partner a girl could ask for. Even with an awesome dad, a perfect fiance and best friends, there is still nothing that compares to the special bond between a mother and a daughter. It’s similar to that of a father and son I would assume, only, different.

I recently read an article in Glamour that made me realize even more how much I love my mom and how truly thankful I am to have her as such a big part in my life (and by my side throughout the entire wedding planning process keeping me sane when I start to go overboard!). In honor of Mother’s Day this weekend (even though I know we’re all still in Cinco de Mayo mode…and I did enjoy a few margaritas tonight), I wanted to share  🙂

http://glmr.me/koa4m0

Mother’s Day: 11 Times You Still Need Your Mom

By Kimberly Bonnell & Pamela Redmond Satran 

1. When the love of your life gives you a diamond ring

My mom was of course the very first phone call I made. 

2. The moment you pee on a stick and it’s (OMG!) positive

Although I think we all know the plan is for this not to happen for a few years. Fingers crossed the plan sticks! Not quite ready for this chapter just yet. 

3. On the morning of your birthday, when no one else is going to call til noon

4. When someone else gives you a compliment so lavish you’d be embarrassed to repeat it to anyone else

5. When you find a lump. Or she does.

Hopefully this is a path neither of us would have to cross in our lives. 

6. When the kids you’re babysitting won’t stop crying

This one makes me laugh. I’ve had very few babysitting experiences and of the few, none of them turned out to be so great. I promise once they are my own someday things will be very different though. : )

7. When you get your first food processor

Let’s be honest. I don’t even know what a food processor is. I am no top chef, but I am learning a lot along the way. When it comes to all of these high tech appliances though, I know we registered for a lot of them because we just assumed we might need them someday, and, not to mention, they look awesome. 

8. When you need someone to assure you that, yes, 30 (or 40!) is still really, really young

Luckily I am in my early 20s because I don’t think I’m ready to face this one yet : )

9. When you need to know the exact shade to fix your undereye circles

10. When the recipe calls for evaporated milk and you’re standing in the grocery aisle wondering, is that a powder? A liquid? A gas?

This has already happened a time or two…or ten. Like I said, I am certainly no top chef, but I am learning and using every bit of effort I have to learn. I want to be able to cook just like my mom some day 🙂

11. When you’ve swung up to the sky, and it doesn’t seem real until she applauds

So true. With every great accomplishment I have made it seems that much greater when I am told by my own parents how proud of me they are. That’s always when I know I’ve done something worth being proud of. 

Thanks for being the best mom you could be, mom 🙂 I only learn from the best. I am so thankful to have you, and I can’t wait to share the things I’ve learned from you with my own children. Someday!

Mother’s Day is a day that all great mothers deserve. Happy Mother’s Day!  🙂

i love love

“The consciousness of loving and being loved brings a warmth and richness to life that nothing else can bring.” – Oscar Wilde

This quote is the first thing I read on my computer this morning, and it made me smile : ) We officially have less than 40 days to go until wedding day. It’s officially May. This means that we are getting married next month. Words cannot express my excitement. I was thinking today about the fact that it was just a year ago from now that I was about to graduate from college and thinking about what was next. I honestly wasn’t too sure. I had some ideas, but getting engaged to my best friend and high school sweetheart was in the back of my mind. As much as I couldn’t wait for the day to come, I didn’t think it would be as soon as it was, and boy was I happy that it did happen as soon as it did. Now we’re approaching what will be 6 years of being together and almost one full year of being engaged. I’m dreaming tonight of reliving that amazing weekend in Chicago. After we came home I wanted to go back and relive it again and again. It was that perfect. Now we will soon be stumbling upon a new anniversary. June 11, 2011. We are wondering what it will be like once we start celebrating our wedding anniversary and people ask us what anniversary we are celebrating. Well, that’s complicated because we’ve been together for what seems like forever (in a good way : ) ), but the day that we become married marks something special. Even more special than our relationship and our love for each other. It’s the day that we get to show it to the world. Two will become one. We will have the opportunity to celebrate with all of our closest family and friends by our side. We get to show our love for each other to the rest of the world. I can only imagine how amazing it will feel when we put our wedding bands on each others hands. I can’t wait to express to the world my love for my very best friend. 39 days and counting. : )

I’m just plain excited about life

Do you ever feel just plain excited about life? I really do. I often do. Not just because I’m getting married (which I’m obviously SO excited about), but just because I feel so thankful to have the opportunity to do the things I do and to see the things I see in life on a daily basis. My average day may seem so plain and simple, but it’s far from. I was almost afraid of graduating from college because I was afraid that I wouldn’t have anything to do other than work (hopefully…and thankfully so). I was so used to being involved in 10 million different things in school on top of going to class and Greek life (which I count as a completely separate entity as ADPi was also my life). This past year as my first year as a college grad has had a lot of ups and downs, a lot of new things and a lot of changes. My life has changed greatly as I went from childhood to teen years, from teen years to high school drama, and from high school drama to college life. Apparently, I’m now in adulthood. Some people look at it as a negative when we start to get older and grow wise with age. I, on the other hand, do not see it this way. I know I know, I’m only 23, and you’re probably thinking I have no right to even be thinking like this yet. But I do, and I am. I feel like being almost exactly one year from college graduation, things are finally falling right into place. I thought that they have been slowly but surely throughout the past year as I’ve been striving to find myself and what I want to do and who I want to be, but I’ve finally come to terms with the fact that I may never really know this. I have so many goals, dreams and ambitions for myself and my life. I always have been this way, and I probably always will be. I feel like over the past year I have gone back and forth thinking I was exactly where I wanted to be. I’ve learned a lot in the past year. I’ve experienced so many new things. I got ENGAGED! What couldn’t be more perfect? I’ve already had a handful of different jobs and internships while trying to gain as much and as many different types of experience as I possibly could. Then something happened. And I ended up where I didn’t exactly think I would be. In more ways than one. And I’m happier now than I think I may have possibly ever been, in a new and exciting kind of way. (And I’m a really happy, optimistic person, so this is pretttty darn happy!) So many people think that I have it all together, my life is perfect and I have everything I want. No one is perfect, and I think that’s what makes life such an awesome thing. I definitely don’t have all my ducks in a row per say, but I’m learning along the way. And another thing I’ve learned? The best way to really ‘learn’ about life is to experience it for yourself. It’s not easy, but I’m not complaining. I’m thankful for being given all of these amazing opportunities and tools to figure out how to really experience life hands on on my own and with my soon-to-by hubby right by my side. I feel like I finally know what it is I’m supposed to be doing, not job-wise necessarily, but in life in general. A year after college graduation, things finally really feel so right. I’m working full time and so excited about all of the goals I have for myself and for the company. I have become actively involved in so many things throughout the community in St. Charles, and I couldn’t be happier to have been born and raised here and only been away for four years during college. People are coming to me for advice and encouragement, which is something that I love to give. Tim, Bentley and I have a home home, and I think we’ve found our new church to call home too. I have found a new, different and exciting relationship with God in the past year that I could not be happier to share with Tim and my family. I’m getting married. WE’RE getting married! Today, things just feel so right. Last weekend was Easter and I had the opportunity to celebrate with my amazing family and fiance and the week before I had my bridal shower provided by my amazing aunt who put in so much hard work. This is when things started to really feel so real. I was actually anxious before the shower which is odd for me because it was so nice to have been given a day for me, in honor of me and our upcoming marriage. This was a true test among many. Things like this really help you realize what amazing family you have and who the true friends really are in your life, and I could not be more thankful. Life is happening before our eyes, and I’m loving every minute of it : )

Our wonderful invitations created by Slice of Lime Design

Incredibly meaningful gift from all the girls

Most of my incredibly awesome bridesmaids

His and Hers for the soon-to-be Mr. and Mrs. from my amazing Maid of Honor, Jenn

Our perfect little family

60 days (less than 2 months) and counting

Tim and I had another of our monthly premarital counseling sessions with my Grandpa tonight, and little to my realization, it was already our last. Wow. Where has this past year gone? As we were leaving Bread Co. my Grandpa said, “Well, our next meeting is the wedding!” I can hardly believe it. It’s been almost exactly one year since we graduated from SEMO, since we got engaged in Chicago, since I’ve experienced one of the greatest and most exciting years of my life. Each year of my life has brought something new and exhilarating, but this has brought about a whole new level, a whole new chapter, of excitement, of independence, of my future. It’s been almost 6 years now that Tim and I have been together. So much has happened in our lives in the past 6 years, and I can hardly wait to see what lies ahead of us in our future together because, whether it’s planned or not, I’m sure there’s a lot ahead of us. For those of you who do not know, my Grandpa is a Baptist pastor who will be performing our wedding ceremony. He married all of his kids and will be marrying my cousin two weeks before Tim and I so this is something that means so much to us. He is truly one of the most amazing, influential men in my life. This past 6 months of having dinner with him at Trainwreck (his favorite place) then heading over to Starbucks or Bread Co. with just the 3 of us have been such a wonderful opportunity for us to get to know him and for him to get to know us in a completely different light outside of Grandpa being Grandpa. He has helped to remind me and make things seem more clear when it comes to making God a part of my life. Not all of my life, but a part of my life. Tim and I have been going to a new church for the past 6 months and are establishing our own traditions already, only to make me more and more excited for what’s in store for our future together. We have discussed so much in the past 6 months meeting with my Grandpa, and I’ve left each night knowing that he has so much faith and belief in us and knows that we were truly meant to be together. We have read books, discussed bible verses, talked about worldly issues. I have left each night feeling more and more anxious (the good kind :)) to be marrying my best friend. Tonight, we discussed the ceremony specifics. The readings, the songs. It becomes more and more of a reality each day. Reading the words and talking about my Dad walking me down the aisle make me teary eyed (again, in a good way :)) thinking that June 11, 2011, the date that has seemed so distant for so long, is almost here. 60 days. 8 weeks. Less than 2 more months left to go 🙂

“and said, For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother and will stick to his wife, and the two will be one flesh.”

And so it begins…again

Hi there! Welcome to this new and improved (well not really, but working on it) blog of mine. This is my third blog in the past year, and my hopes are to finally have the time to read and write more in my life, 2 of my biggest passions. Meet me, Kasey, and my  happy little fam…soon-to-be hubby, Tim, and our pup Bentley Girardeau.

Not Bent’s best photographic moment…Here’s a better one : )

These two are my life. Along with the rest of my family. I believe I have the greatest family a girl can ask for, and I’ve got some pretty great friends too. In my new blog, you will learn a lot about me and the way I believe life should be lived. If you read my about me section you will learn lots of little details about my odd little quirks right off the bat. If you continue to follow, you will also learn that I tend to get very excited about a lot of things in life, and in the past year, my most exciting chapter of life has come into play. I’m getting married. In two more months. Tim and I got engaged last May in Chicago (best city ever might I add, but no worries, I still really love St. Charles and St. Louis for many many reasons too 🙂 ). I will become Mrs. Kasey Lucas on June 11, and if you haven’t already heard about it enough, I’m sure you’re likely to hear more. Even once the wedding is over. Because once the wedding is over, even more fun comes into our lives. Overall, I am just really excited about life and all of the chapters in it. Each chapter I have lived thus far has has been more and more exciting in great new ways. I’m just so anxious and excited to see what more is to come. I know there’s an awful lot out there to look forward to. I’m so blessed and happy to have the opportunity to take all of it in and have great company with me every step of the way. I started building my new WordPress site in January when I realized I was done with Blogspot and ready to move on to something new. It sat with a white background and the phrase “hello world” (really!?) until this past week. It’s been sitting in the back of my mind because I love love LOVE to write, yet I just not had the opportunity to find the time to get back to it. Wedding planning has taken over. Not that I’m complaining in the least bit, but it has been hard to find a chance to breath in this past year of my life with SO many new and exciting things to look forward to each and every day. I was reminded by a close family friend a few nights ago that I am a great writer and my expression and true character really comes out in my writing. Thank you for that. What a great thing to be told. And it struck. Writing makes me feel so good. I need to get back to it. Therefore I will now find a way to devote my time to it. After all, with only 2 more months until the wedding, I’m going to have a LOT of free time after our big day! (Which will also be spent with my new hubby!!!!!!!)

Here’s to wishing you much enjoyment in reading my blog. I don’t try to mock others or be someone who I am not. I am who I am. If you like it, great, and thank you! If you don’t, you don’t have to follow yet I still wish each and every one of you the absolute best. We all deserve it. Now this here is a work in progress. The old blogs are being put to rest and combined in to one new blog here to come upon what is about to be one of the next greatest chapters of my life…as a newlywed : ) Plenty more to come. Stay tuned! : )