Wedding Day!

Saturday, June 20th was Wedding Day! It flew by but was such a special and beautiful day filled with lots of love! It was a perfect day for sure!

The morning started by bride and bridesmaids getting ready- make-up and hair

Abby putting make-up on Whitney

Kahalia straightening her hair

Rachel braiding Whitney's hair

Marsha doing Ellen's hair and Isabel (Ellen's mom) looking on

It's official... she's a bride!

Lunch time!

me and Mom

Mother of the bride and groom

Ellen and her bridesmaids

Kahalia, Whitney, Katie, Ellen, Rachel and me

Ellen's bouquet

The bridesmaids' bouquets (bunch of lavender)

Paul with his groomsmen and ushers

Trammel and Meghan (our cousins) with Paul

Love this shot of the groom

The bridesmaids with the flower girl 

Mom and Dad during the wedding

Pree (friend from FL) and mom

The bridal party

Mr. and Mrs. Radcliff's first dance together

Sibling dance

Caitlin (we've been friends for 24 years) and me

me, Kate (cousin) and Caitlin

me and Kate

Radcliff Family

Killom Family

Family Dinner

Toast to the Couple

me and Brooke (best friend from college)

me and Chloe (my cousin's daughter)

A wonderful day for sure! Happy marriage to Paul and Ellen!

Heavy Heart

I have wedding pictures to post and a cardiologist appointment to update you on. But for now, that has to wait. I have something heavier on my heart I want to post about.

Yesterday Tunisia was attacked by terrorists for the second time in 3 months! I woke up to an alert on my phone telling me a terrorist shot and killed 27 people on the beach and in the hotel in Sousse (a beach/resort town about 2 hours from Tunis). I sat in my bed in tears! How can this happen again? This just happened in the Bardo museum 3 months ago!! Why again? Why terrorists? Why Tunisia?? I immediately texted my Tunisian friends to see how they were doing and to see what was going on.  The responses I got were heartbreaking... they said their country was so sad right now. Tourists were fleeing and they were so hurt by what happened. I could tell even through the texts that they were not the same and neither was the country I loved dearly. As the day went on, so did the number of people killed... 39! 39 people who were enjoying their summer vacation on the gorgeous Mediterranean Sea and soaking up the warm Tunisian sun. Tunisians, Britons, German, French and Irish were the victims. Today many of the tourists fled to the airport to get back to their country. I cannot say that I blame them one bit. I would be doing the same thing if I was in their shoes. But this is devastating for the Tunisian economy. Our country has been stable and it is beautiful so Europeans come to visit! Or they did. And I pray they continue to come. I also pray the terrorists leave us alone!

Yesterday, friends asked me a question that I have been pondering ever since. "How many attacks will it take before you leave?" We have had two attacks in the past three months. The first one I thought nothing of it because terrorist attacks happen. We have had our share of them in the US too. But to know we have had two back to back, something tells me this may happen again. I still feel completely safe in Tunisia but am I scared another terrorist attack may hit? Yes, to be honest, I am. But I love Tunisia and pray that it won't happen again. Right now I ask that you pray for the victims, their family members and Tunisians as they deal with their country being attacked by terrorists.

I found this video when I was teaching my students about Tunisia and I wanted to share it with you too. Because it shows all the different parts of Tunisia and it shows how the Tunisians are united.

Pre-Wedding Festivities

We are now in Maine which means I have time to catch up on my blogging! Better, later than never... the fun things we did the Thursday and Friday before the wedding!

My dear frisin (friend and cousin), Kate met me for lunch so we could catch up before the wedding craziness begins! It meant the world to me to catch up and talk- it has been too long!

Then we went to the church building to help set up for the reception.  After the honeymoon shower, we headed out for the Bachelorette Party in downtown Raleigh on the trolley pub! It didn't last long due to scary thunderstorms but it was a lot of fun!

Friday morning was the Bridesmaids brunch at the Reynold's house.  It was a sweet time to spend time with family and the bridal party!

Next we headed to laser tag with the wedding party and family! That was a LOT of fun!! The bridal party won!

After the rehearsal, we headed to the rehearsal dinner which was a lot of fun with all of our friends and family!

Our family: me, Ellen, Paul, mom and dad

The happy couple on their wedding eve!

Then it was sharing time! These are not the best pictures but I thought they were neat because it shows the people who are closest to Paul and Ellen!

Nick (and his wife Carly) who he lived with in Gainesville, FL

Daryl and his son Carter (who was the cutest ring bearer ever) who they went to church with in Greensboro

Kahalia (dear friend of Ellen's from church in Greensboro)

 Rachel(best friend of Ellen's from church in Greensboro)

Marc (Paul's childhood best friend)

After the sharing, we got to chat with all of our family in town

Mom with Linda and Ken (mom's childhood best friend)

Uncle Glenn (my grandpa's brother), Uncle Roger, Nancy and Paul

The Killoms (mom's side of the family) with the bride and Groom

Antoine and Charlene (dear friend from Kenya who married an American so she lives here now- and she is pregnant!)

bridesmaids (missing Katie and Whitney) with the bride

me and my sister-in-law

me, Rachel, Meghan (my cousin and wedding planner) and Kahalia- as well as Ellen photo-bombing it- priceless!!!

Ty (my brother's childhood best friend who is like a brother to me) and me

After the rehearsal dinner, Paul and I went out for our last hurrah and that meant the world to me! We walked to downtown Apex (my old stomping grounds) and went to my favorite Mexican restaurant for chips/salsa and tequila shots! Then we went across the street for ice cream at the ice cream shop! That hour together meant the world to me to spend time with my brother!

Stateside!

I have arrived back in the states! I flew in Monday evening and I am not going to lie, it was a long day! Prayerfully, everything went smoothly and really had not issues but flying out of Tunis airport at 2am and landing in NC at 7:30pm (12:30am in Tunis which makes for a 22 hour day) was exhausting! I did sleep a good bit on the long flight and Zoe did awesome on the planes! So for that I was grateful! I am still catching up on sleep and can be a beast at night but I am grateful to be home!

From Tunis to Frankfurt, I flew with several people from ACST. I got to hang out with Laura and Jeff and the Harrisons in the Frankfurt airport during our 5 hour layover! It sure was nice to be with friends during a long layover! We walked around and shopped, ate a pretzel and drank beer. It was a lot of fun with friends. 

Then the inevtiable happened. Something I have been dreading for the past 9 months. I had to say goodbye to my dear and best friend in Tunisia, Laura and her boyfriend Jeff. They are moving to Houston to live. Since they flew out before me, I was able to walk them to their gate and see them off. It was so hard to say goodbye to such a dear friend. She is "my person". The one I go to to share exciting news with (Stitch Fix, clearance to go back to Tunisia), when I am scared or don't feel safe (guys following me while walking the dog, car won't start), and when I have sad news to share (open heart surgery- she cried with me on the phone and sat with me to take 5 pages of notes during my conference call with my surgeon). She is my rock and I don't know what I am going to do without her. Life is always fun with her! I am very thankful for technology so we can keep in touch!

 After our goodbyes, Zoe and I boarded the plane to head to DC! Our flight was uneventful and we were both able to sleep some which was much needed!

We arrived in DC and made it through customs easily! We then bee-lined for the indoor dog park so Zoe could go to the bathroom! Thank goodness for the dog park and it being right across from our gate!

We survived yet another 5 hour layover and eventually landed in RDU! Oh it is good to be home!

Beach Picnic

Today was the last day of school with students! We celebrated by going to the beach for a picnic! It was with those of us who all came in together 2 years ago. It was a great time catching up and celebrating making it to the end! We were going to have a bonfire but it was way to windy! But we had a blast eating graham crackers, chocolate and marshmallows without the fire!

Gammarth Beach

Jeff and Laura

Noah, Marc, Karin, Aidan

 John and Karen

David, Katie and James

Zoe

Sunset on the beach