Reflections

One year ago today Jon and I celebrated our love for each other with our family and friends. It was an incredible day that went far too quickly. Instead of me babbling on about it, I think our wedding day is best illustrated in photos (taken by the talented John Bagdovitz).

These are some of my favorites of the bridal party. Yes, we really did go wading in the Oswegatchie River before the wedding, it was flipping hot out. And yes, the boys each had flasks to keep them lubricated throughout the day.

Our friend Jason married us, with an incredibly personal and secular ceremony. We were literally surrounded by our family in friends, with some of them floating in canoes and kayaks on the water below us. Caitlin Lee, the bagpiper, led the procession and kicked off the festivities, and was decidedly apropo since we were moving to Ireland. My two dads walked me down the aisle, something I'm so grateful for.

These people made this wedding happen. Kari did a killer reading of one of our favorite Martin Sexton songs, "Happy" and Robin and Jess were the best bridesmaids ever. A huge shout out to Doug and Kelly Tanner - Doug, you were a fantastic best man, and Kelly, aside from beautifying me, you acted as an impromptu wedding planner, and saver of my sanity. Thank you so much to our incredible families for helping us plan the wedding, and pitching in to do all sorts of stuff. 

Some fun details: Chucks on the men; pretty flowers; gorgeous handcrafted wedding bands from Silver Bench Jewelry; a fun bicycle exit (sneakily planned by Jon); manly boutonnieres; embroidered pocket squares; and, reversible suit vests for the men. 

A few of my favorite moments from the reception: best man and maid of honor speeches; thanking Lydia for making the most beautiful wedding dress a girl could ask for; snuggling our dog; and, enjoying the one bite of wedding pie that my husband and his baking entourage made.

The dances: our first dance, mother-son, father-daughter, and dances with my grandpas.

These are some of my favorites of us. 

There are so many more photos, I could have edited photos all day long and had a post a mile long. The wedding was so much fun, and it was great to spend Labor Day weekend hanging out with our friends and family. Here's to many more years of wedded bliss!

Sweet Summertime

The summer has flown by! I can't believe it's almost September, though the weather here in Dublin has been hinting at fall for the past few days. Honestly, the Irish weather never really showed us a true summer, but that's beside the point.

I spent three (short) weeks home with family and friends. I got to watch my little brother walk across the stage and get his hard earned high school diploma. I got to lounge in my parents pool (it was much needed - it was super hot in upstate New York!). I got to spend a day, with my family and friends, showering Baby Downes with so much love. I saw the Olympic torch relay through Dublin, and I finished writing my thesis! Jon and I also traveled up to the north to Belfast for a quick get away to visit some friends and checked out the Titanic Experience while we were there. We also got to see some tall ships while they were in Dublin.

Honestly, the thesis was kind of the bain of my existence, as it loomed over the house like an Irish rain cloud, but now, it's all said and done. AND, I'm finished with grad school! Just in time too, now I get to spend the next couple of months preparing (as much as one can prepare) for the baby. And, if the past week is any indication of the amount of nesting that will be done, the upcoming months will be filled with it, I'm sure. I framed an incredible print for the baby's room that we picked up at the local market from a Dublin artist (The Printing Rooms) who specializes in linocuts. The pyramid of farm animals was just too cute to resist and looks perfect on the wall. I tried my hand at knitting in the round, and I'd have to say, the hat I made for the little guy turned out pretty good!

Now, Jon and I are off to spend the weekend in Cork to celebrate our anniversary! Man has the past year been a busy, but incredible one.

London calling

Jon and I managed to find a few days to ourselves and hopped over to London for a quick visit. It was kind of a whirlwind tour of the city, but man, it was awesome. London, by far, is one of my favorite places we've been.

The first day we were there, we got off the plane, and headed to our hotel. We stayed at this nice little place in the Kensington/Chelsea area of London. Garden View Hotel lived up to its name, overlooking a tiny little garden park. The place was clean, quiet, offered free breakfast and was just a few minutes from the Underground. Once we checked in and got settled, we went on a four hour bike tour of the city with Fat Tyre Bike Tours (yup, the same company we toured Paris with). The tour was good, but our guide was mediocre at best. Who knows, maybe he was just having an off day. By the end of the tour I was exhausted! Being four months pregnant and cycling around a city in 70 degree weather, probably wasn't the best idea, but whatevs, it was still fun. We got to see a lot of fun things, but a lot of the typical sights, like Buckingham Palace was in full Jubilee preparation, so the views were obstructed. Ah well, at least we got to see the guards with the fuzzy hats.

On the second day, we celebrated my birthday! We did the Making of Harry Potter, a studio tour where the movies were filmed. That was the highlight of my day, hands down. Warner Brothers had sets like the Great Hall, the Gryffindor Common Room, Dumbledore's office, and costumes from the movies displayed like pros. I took gobs of pictures (probably close to 100 of just the tour, it was a little ridiclous. I was like a kid in a candy shop). The coolest part of the tour was seeing the "small" scale model of Hogwarts (pictured at bottom right) that was built for the movies. It was used for the incredible sweeping landscape scenes in the movies. They also had it rigged so the lighting in the room changed from day to night, and with the change of time, the castle changed as well - more candles and lights peaking out from the windows. It was  incredible. We topped off my birthday with a spin around the London Eye, which gave us killer views of London. The weather was perfect for it - sun just starting to set and no clouds. We also managed to find a burger place that rocked my socks. I know, I know, eating burgers in London? Seriously though, this place Byron's served me the best burger, onion rings and chocolate milkshake I've had since we moved to this side of the pond. Yum.

Our last day was actually spent outside of London in Salisbury. We picked up a bus tour in London and headed to Stonehenge for the afternoon. The weather cooperated and only rained on our way back to the city. This ancient heritage site is as every bit amazing as we imagined. It's so massive and incredible, and no one really knows that much about it. They do know that it was built in stages spanning hundreds of years, and what kind of stones were used, and where they originated from, but aside from that, much of Stonehenge remains a mystery. Pretty cool stuff. Completely worth the 4 hour round trip from London.

This trip to London provided us with some quality time with each other, which is much needed with the upcoming planned chaos of Jon opening a bakery and the arrival of the munchkin in November. A bit of babymoon, if you will. It was also probably one of the best planned trips we've taken, which (duh) makes the visit much more fun. Getting around London was a piece of cake on the Underground. Seriously, more cities with mass transit need to study London's Underground/Tube/Overground system - we didn't get lost once! London was a total success and I cannot wait to go back to visit (once the Olympics and the Jubilee are all said and done).

An addition to the family

We are proud to announce that The Downes' will be welcoming a bundle of joy in November! Jon and I are both so excited for our new addition.

Here is the baby at about 13 weeks.

We will be having the baby in Ireland, so the little one will be both an Irish and an American citizen (way cool!) As if being pregnant weren't overwhelming and amazing enough, try navigating a completely foreign healthcare system. The maternity care here is free (which still is incredible to me), and the nurses and midwives are awesome.

I will try to keep this updated as we progress. Currently I'm 13 weeks along, but when the ultrasound was done a little over a week ago, the technician said the baby was measuring at about 12 weeks 6 days, so I don't really know where I am now. It still amazes me that I'm growing a little human. Man, life is good.

Hey, Europe!

Phew! The past couple of weeks have been busy, and not just because the end of term is coming up (though that doesn't help). Jon and I have been bouncing around Europe visiting Scotland, Spain, and France!

Scotland was great because we were able to catch up with some Cobleskill friends, and hang out with them for the weekend. Then on Sunday before we flew back to Dublin, we spent the day in Edinburgh. After enjoying Scotland for a couple of days, I cannot wait to go back.

Pictured here from the top left, is my friend Jess, who we were visiting; me and Jon on top of Hailes Castle; and a shot of Hailes Castle. The castle was right down the hill from where we were staying - on a farm. 

The crest at Edinburgh Castle, Jon and I at Edinburgh Castle looking over the city, Edinburgh Castle, and the world's best bagpiper (because it can't actually play- hah!) and Jon.

Spain was phenomenal. We really enjoyed the laid back atmosphere here. We toured around the city, visited another castle, rode in a cable car, and enjoyed a very sunny day at the beach.

We picked up my brother Logan in Barcelona, and the three of us made our way to Paris. We took a bicycle tour around the city and got to see some of the incredible sights. We also enjoyed a delicious crepe for lunch. Logan and I stayed in Versailles, and were able to see the Palace of Versailles (bottom left picture).

Logan and I flew back to Dublin after a slightly disappointing time in France. We were supposed to visit Normandy, but with the Easter holiday, the tour company's wires got crossed and gave us the wrong info. Long story short, we didn't go to Normandy :(. While in Ireland, I took Logan up to Northern Ireland for a day trip to the Giant's Causeway, the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, and Belfast. We had gorgeous weather for a day on the northern coast.

I had a ton of fun adventuring around with my not-so-little brother. Hopefully we'll get to do it again in the future. Can't believe that boy graduates from high school in June. Man, I'm getting old.