first annual boatright holiday letter* (kinda)

*a holiday letter....as a post on our blog…which is where I’ve been known to ramble…which is why our holiday letter is so long…which is why it kinda stops being a holiday letter and just turns into one big post.
enjoy!

This has been such an amazing year for Will and me and we’re so happy that we were able to share some of our best moments yet with our friends and family! We can’t thank you enough for your love and support throughout the year and we are so blessed to have such amazing people in our lives.

The highlight of our year, of course, was our wedding on October 3rd. Our families had travel times of 8-9 hours from Georgia, and 10-12 hours from Michigan/Illinois to Boone, North Carolina for the ceremony! It was so special to have everyone there together, despite the long distances! Two words to describe that weekend – ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE. My only wish is that we would have been able to spend more time with everyone. The day flew by so fast! Just as soon as we had a break from all of the events, it was time for everyone to get ready to head home. So… we are planning (and have already accomplished some of) the Boatright Wedding (Continued) Tour to the North and South!

Our southern tour began last week when we headed to Waycross, Georgia to spend the holidays with Will’s family. We had so much fun seeing everyone and I got to meet a few new family members which is always fun :) We headed south on Wednesday and stayed the night with Will’s brother Cliff in his new house in Valdosta, Georgia. He just finished his first semester at Valdosta State University and did very well. The next morning we headed out to Douglas, Georgia to Bran Hill Plantation where we stayed for two days with Will’s parents, sister (Ann) and her friend (Megan) and boyfriend!! (Ty), Cliff, cousin (JP), and Uncle Cliff. Megan’s parents and brother also came by for the evening. The boys went on a quail and pheasant hunt with the owner of the plantation and then all shot skeet that night. We also had a super competitive game of spoons where I explained the “traditional Hammersley” rules of the game. This is one of our family’s favorite game to play when we get together (Beth and Jamie – you know what I’m talking about!!). I will now never be able to live down the phrase “Hammersley rule” ever, ever again. I was also able to try fried quail for the first time (aka Will put a piece on my plate and told me I had to eat it) and it was actually very good! We headed home from the plantation on Christmas Eve and met up with Will’s grandparents, Mama Pat and Pop, for the evening church service. I will tell you this – the food prepared for us at the plantation was good, but Will’s mom definitely takes the cake for delicious meals every morning, noon, and night while we were there!

On Monday we took a little trip to Kingsland, Georgia to spend some time with Will’s other grandparents, Granny and Papa Gerald. There was family around all day – Uncle Kerry, Uncle Bud, Naomi and her boys (AJ and Cole), Aunt Karla, Uncle Art and their twin girls (Lauren and Leanne)! It was great getting to meet Lauren and Leanne, who are in their first year of college, as well as their significant others :) My favorite part of that day was when Will got up from the couch to introduce himself to Leanne’s boyfriend (Cody) and didn’t realize that I had stood up too. He swung his arm out (thinking that I was still sitting on the couch) and smacked me square in the forehead saying, “And this is my wife Lindsey!” We all could not stop laughing! The trip flew by and before we knew it, a week had passed and we headed back home yesterday morning. We left wearing t-shirts and came back to freezing temperatures and snow everywhere! The tour to the north is definitely going to be in the summer and we can’t wait to see everyone! (I already called dibs on the bouncy bed at Grandma Carolyn’s house haha)

One year ago on New Years Eve, Will got down on one knee in front of the giant Christmas tree at the park in downtown Greensboro and asked me to marry him. Since that moment, our lives have never been the same. We’ve had ups and downs and sometimes struggled as a young couple, but ever since day one (almost 7 years ago!) we were always there for each other and looked out for the other. The strength of our relationship has carried us through life’s challenges and we have grown so much in the past year. I’ve been told several times by several different people that “these are the years we will look back on and laugh…. and maybe even miss it a little.”

Will worked as a “tree surgeon” for a little while this year and then started with Ansco, a company who is subcontracted through AT&T, setting cell phone poles and running the new UVerse cable and internet lines around the state. He has been looking for a local company to work for as a transmission linesman, which is what he has a college degree in and has done in the past when he worked for Irby Construction. Most power line transmission companies require a lot of out of state traveling for long periods of time, and not wanting to leave his super amazing wife, he has settled doing other similar jobs. His big break came a few weeks ago when he applied for and got the job at Buck’s Communications, a local company (yes!!!), building and maintaining cell phone towers and all of the other types of long haul cable line installation and maintenance.



Will's job description doesn't really need any words :)


He has also worked a few independent tree service jobs for our neighbor and people who were referred to him by our neighbor.



Will giving me a "demonstration" of how to cut down a tree -- in the front yard of our old house!


As always, he sets aside plenty of time to hunt and be out in the woods. He still claims that he has been tracking a huge deer that will be in our freezer any day now. Hmmmm….uh-huh, sure Will! We’ll believe it when we see it mister! :)

I permanently (very, very permanently) retired my waitress apron at the end of June when I landed an awesome job with the internship program at Syngenta Crop Protection in the transportation and logistics department! How did I go from waiting tables at Mellow Mushroom to working for a multi-billion dollar global company? – by realizing that my online Supply Chain Management class that I was taking at the time was going to be an uphill battle and deciding that I would persistently tackle each chapter on a daily basis in order to get a decent grade. I was “one of those” annoying students that would email my professor all the time challenging his point deductions and asking a long list of questions on a weekly basis. The beginning of the semester was a struggle (mentally – I just didn’t get it! emotionally - I was having a hard time getting back into school after taking time off to cope with my mom’s passing and be with my family), but in the end did very well and apparently made an impression on my professor because he asked if he could recommend me to Syngenta for a job. Of course I said yes, and the next day I received a call from the head of the department asking me when I could come in for an interview. I interviewed on a Tuesday and was told that there were still several other applicants that were scheduled to interview, but that I would know either way if I got the job by Friday afternoon. Two hours later, I received an email from the head of the department congratulating me on being chosen for the position and requesting a formal acceptance so that I could start as soon as possible! I love my job and have learned so much in the past six months! Their internship program is definitely going to improve my chances of landing a permanent job here when I graduate and will look pretty nice on my fresh out of college resume.

Four of the five and a half years that I’ve lived in North Carolina have been spent taking orders, refilling drinks, cleaning up the post-meal wreckage from small children and sugar packets (or crackers, or crayons, or all of the above!), refusing obnoxious drunks another round, bussing tables, rolling silverware, burning my fingers on hot plates, smelling like an old wet greasy towel when I got home, making $2.13 an hour and crossing my fingers for a 20% tip. Not that I’m complaining - but waiting tables is harder than most people think!!! However, the pay can definitely make it all worth it depending on the potential generosity of strangers and the never-failing generosity of the family and friends who came to Ruby Tuesday and/or Mellow Mushroom and requested me to be their waitress! Knowing that I was graduating with a marketing degree from a prestigious business school in less than a year, I began to panic because I had absolutely no relative job experience to my field of study. My nightmare: future interviewer looks at my resume and asks me why I would be a valuable asset to his marketing/sales department and I answer, “Umm, because I can up-sell the crap out of pizza and beer?” In my professor’s request for recommendation he pointed out that even if I had a job already, I should strongly consider the fact that the company, who is well-established with 24,000 employees and locations in 90 different countries, would look be a selling point on my resume. I’m so glad that he appreciated my effort in class, and that I now have a job that I love – with a great boss, co-workers, and work environment to boot.

Recently, Will and I have been talking about what our next step should be. In the past few months I have realized how much I want to stay in school and get my master’s degree as soon as I graduate. I figure that while I have the momentum and the drive to dive head first into an MBA program (eep!), I should take advantage of it. Right? I went to lunch with Will’s mom on Tuesday and had a really great talk with her about the possibilities for the future. The biggest decision that Will and I are facing right now is who takes the next step?
Will has been wanting to go back to school for a while now, but it would be very difficult for both of us to be in school at the same time.
I can definitely see myself earning my master’s degree over the next two years.
We both can see ourselves starting a family.
About the family…she said what most other people normally say: “don’t feel rushed to have children right away,” “take the time that you have now to focus on yourselves and enjoy the freedom you have to make last minute plans and be flexible with your lives,” “you won’t get to have any time alone for the next 18 years!” (haha), etc. But here is what most people don’t know and what Will and I didn’t know until recently – there is a deadline. Without going into a lot of personal details, I’ll say it like this… Unknown to me, my chances of being able to carry a baby to term have been slowly decreasing over the years and will begin to rapidly decrease in the next two to three years. An unlucky string of events have caused this deadline to be brought to our attention in the last few weeks and handling the news has been quite difficult. It meant a lot to me to be able to talk openly about everything not only to Will, but also his mom (and now my mom too!). She gave me some great advice and although we do have some time, it doesn’t feel like it’s enough to make that big of a decision. We're still waiting for me to graduate so we can go on our honeymoon! We have been praying about this decision a lot lately and for those of you who have been doing the same, I can’t thank you enough. The fate of Baby B is in God’s hands and that has given us such peace and comfort. I have a million questions for the big man upstairs, and I know in time He will answer them.

In eleven short days I will be back in school for my last semester as an undergrad business student. The break in between semesters has been much needed and I definitely got tons of well-deserved naps in, which always makes me happy. I finished the semester with a 3.9 GPA! After (barely) making it through the curveballs of the fall 2009 and spring 2010 semesters, my GPA was beginning to sink but I worked hard this semester and am back on the Dean’s List and Chancellor’s List! It will be very close, but if I can pass my advanced Spanish class (I tested out of the first three when I got back from the Dominican Republic and was somewhat fluent but have been putting the last one off….for four years – oops!), I might just walk with honors and a fabulous sash at graduation! Next week Will starts his new job and then we are off and running into the new year! We miss you all and will hopefully be seeing you soon! Instead of jet setting to a Caribbean island in May, we are thinking about renting an RV and doing some sightseeing across the country. My favorite memories of my childhood involve family vacations towing along our little pop up camper and experiencing all of the little pieces that make up our country. Who needs an oceanside suite when you have the Horseshoe Ranch in Wyoming? Or buffalo burgers at Wall Drug in South Dakota? Or Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky? Corn Belt, Bible Belt, and Wheat Belt USA we will see you soon!



A little flashback from 2009: our first date - the first day of Will's visit after three lonnnng years apart! :) Little did we know that our innocent best friends date that day would turn into lots of romantical dates, and then an engagement, and then a wedding, and now - an amazing marriage!



We love you all – Happy New Year!

Lindsey & Will 

sneak peak: official wedding pictures

as most of you know, i am not very patient. i knew that i would have to wait for a little while to get the professional wedding pictures back, but again....not very patient. i emailed our photographer and asked if he could just send a couple if he had a minute. a couple days later he sent me these:

i am absolutely in love with them and amazed at his talent! how he made a gloomy day look so beautiful is beyond me. now i've lost even more patience to see the rest.

my family is my thanksgiving.

last year on thanksgiving my dad said a prayer before dinner as Sara, Michael, Will, and i stood around my mom. i didn't think she could hear us because she was so far gone, but when my dad said Amen, she opened her eyes just a little bit, smiled, and said "that was very nice."
i'll never forget that moment.

this year on thanksgiving my dad said a prayer before dinner as Michael, my Grandma, Will, and i stood around the table. there was silence as my dad gathered up the words he wanted to say to us, to God, and to my mom. this time, i knew without a doubt that she could hear us because i felt her there when he thanked the Lord for giving all of us the strength to go on without her.

it was in that moment that the last year of my life went flying by me and i was back with my mom again. it's hard to believe that is has been a year now. my struggle is that i get stuck in the past and i can't just leave it be. in my thoughts, i cannot seem to leave the comfort and familiarity of being with my mom, to face what is happening in my life right now. it was hard for me to accept the changes that happened this thanksgiving because all i really wanted was for everything to go back to the way it was before. i needed to feel like nothing had changed, even though our whole worlds have changed. i knew that, but i still struggled to come to terms with the fact that life would never again be like last year, no matter how hard i tried to put it all back together, like the way it was then. i was so thankful for my dad, especially this weekend, because he was the strength that i needed when i got stuck in the past. he was my reminder that if he could do it, then i could too. i was so thankful that my Grandma came here to be with all of us. we needed her and she kept us all together that thanksgiving night.

this year on the anniversary of my mother's death, i learned that i needed to stop trying to hold everyone in place so that nothing ever changes, and no one ever forgets.
i learned that i needed to embrace the family that surrounds me now, the ones that have been there all along - my husband, my dad, my brother, my sister & her fiance(!), and my little nephew.



my family is my thanksgiving.

i carry your heart. i carry it in my heart.

weekend warrior

i am this weekend's biggest fan.
why?
i have gone to war this week and now i'm really, really tired.
i'm not complaining, i swear. i know that my hard work will pay off when i graduate this spring and especially when i get my paycheck next week, but i'm having a hard time seeing things that way right now because i have been in battle with just about everything and then some since monday morning, just hoping that i could make it until five o'clock today.
i'm in need of some major down time. as Will said to me last night, "Lindseybear, you need to go into hibernation don't you?"
yes i do.


my monday to friday life went a little like this:
5 hours in the bryan business building getting everything ready for a 30 minute presentation to the president and owner of a local company that i had to pitch my export marketing strategy to (which was the result of tons of meetings and the never-ending research report that i have been slaving over for the past four months).
10 hours in the library.
a market research exam.
6 hours of in-class work.
2 business law exams.
a 7 page business practices paper.
oh, and also a full 40 hour week at work.


there are only three weeks of school left which is such a relief. this weekend i have "nothing to do for school" because i'm exhausted, so i am pretending that i don't have anything that needs to be started/worked on/finished before wednesday night (since every professor likes to give their students a bunch of last minute exams, papers, etc. to do before break). i'm hiding my books, shutting down my computer, turning off my phone, and going into hibernation for the next two days.


for now, denial is bliss. i am a happy girl.
see me on monday and i probably wont be so happy anymore.

a few more wedding pictures

a few more pictures from aunt karla and my sister...

Will's mom hosted an amazing lunch for me a couple hours before the ceremony. thanks mama jen!



sara & corey with chubby! i love that little man!
plus... they are the cutest little family ever.




last time i saw my cousins they were shorter than me. i didnt even recognize them!



grandma carolyn, allie, aunt becky, beth & nick, and jamie/james (love my hammersley family!)

the hammersley sisters (should we hyphenate now sara?)
p.s. i'm mad that i'm wearing 4" heels and i'm still shorter than her!



my father-in-law and sister-in-law




aunt lynda with my lovely lady friends - becca, stacy, nanda!




grandparents unite!



just in case you need yet another picture of my amazing dress :)

wedding pictures

my new "aunt-in-law" took tons of pictures during our wedding weekend and i'm so thankful she did! we have to wait a couple months to see our professional pictures so in the meantime, here are some official unofficial photos. she did an amazing job! thanks aunt karla!

the inn at crestwood in boone, north carolina

terrace

even on a gloomy day it was so beautiful

family! brother (Cliff) and cousin (JP)

Will with granny & poppa

me!

stacy keene you're such a dream! mom = 27 & i love you



sara making sure my train never touched the ground! (i think im right in the middle of being bossy and telling her not to ever let it touch the ground haha)



more dress action

this dress made everything so perfect - thank you daddy!!

trying to "swing low" when your wife is a whole foot shorter than you was difficult :)

so happy! Will couldnt stop playing with his wedding band (if you're wondering what's going on with his hand haha)

prayer

robert kept telling us to try and have a "quiet moment" together - he obviously didn't realize that it's almost impossible for us to ever have a quiet moment....ever.

annnnd this is why i love my best friend. dear becca, thank you for making me smile every day. i love you.

michael (my brother) with my "entourage" -- becca, ann, stacy, sara

our lovely (and cold) wedding party - so dedicated!




all together

 



getting ready to jump

 


jumping! well kinda... we were all laughing so it was kinda hard to get it all together






flower toss. Will isn't tossing anything - i told him he had to catch my veil so it didn't touch the ground. i was all about not letting anything touch the ground that day.

  



funny

 

the reception



our cake topper says it all. no explanation needed...



...plus i think it looked almost exactly like us - the groom even has the classic "rugged" Willbey beard

will and the lady friends

our getaway truck "got hitched" - you can't see it but on the front it says "can't hunt alone anymore" and "laundry boy" hahahaha

my rollerskate mobile "caution! just married"
Will: i think it should just say "caution" all the time har har




one of my very favorite shots

 




 this is my absolute favorite picture so far......



our faces say it all... i look blissfully confused and will just looks.... pouty. he hates taking pictures.
pouty and confused - a match made in marriage heaven :)  

  

tornadoes and a deer

i'm really, really sick and having a really, really hard time focusing at work right now so here's an update.

last week Will and i were watching one of my favorite shows ever Parenthood when it was very rudely interrupted by a weather alert for a tornado watch...and then a warning...that it was coming straight towards us. we watched (and i panicked) as the radar map showed a nasty storm coming our way from winston and there reports that there had already been a couple spotted near the house. Will called up to the fire station down the road and asked if we could head over there for the time being until it passed, but it was already full! we ended up sitting in front of the tv for the next couple hours watching and waiting. luckily nothing came within a few miles of the house. but then the next evening.... an even worse storm and another tornado formation was headed our way. lucky for us (again) it didn't come that close to the house but the thunderstorm and wind took its toll on our little country bumpkin road (and my nerves!)

my husband the hunter has been living in the woods lately tracking his prey and finding where the innocent little deer creatures sleep and eat, and the paths they habitually travel along. he set up his deer stand and informed me that saturday was his lucky day for hunting so he would be waking up at 5 am to continue his tradition. last year on october 30th, he shot (as his brother says) "the oldest deer in the forest" at his parents hunting club in georgia. the year before that, again, on october 30th, he shot the "biggest deer ever in his life" out at his uncle's farm. this year proved to be lucky too. he woke me up at 9 am to tell me to get up and come outside to look at his trophy deer. being sick and cranky, i put up a fight for a few minutes until i realized that my 23-year-old hubby was dancing around like a child on christmas morning and this was something really important and exciting to him. i bundled up and followed him out to the backyard to admire his hard work and also, take a picture:

he spent the rest of the morning cleaning the deer and packing up all the meat.
i went back to bed.
all is well.

a steamy message

i promise a huge, super awesome, way bigger and better update soon but i'm at a coffee shop down the road from our new house trying to get as much homework done as my attention span allows since Clearwire lied to me and promised me that they could give me the "best internet ever! we guarantee it!" but ultimately could not "service me at my location" even though i'm on their "service location map." anyways...that's a long story.

between working long hours and camping out at school trying to get homework/papers/exams done, i haven't seen much of my lovely Willbey lately... but he did manage to sneak in on my late night shower and leave me a little message:

in my stressed, exhausted, sleep deprived, overwhelmed, and very emotional state of mind i'll admit it made me a little teary. he is the sweetest.

married for 2 weeks & i've already lost my husband

we're finally moved in to our new house out in summerfield! it took a week and a half but we finally made it and have most of the boxes unpacked. yes! we have definitely fallen in love with the area - our neighbors are great and it's very peaceful. i knew my hubby was going crazy living in the city and as soon as we saw the house we knew it was perfect for us.......and when i say "us" i really mean Will. here's why:

1) the neighbors have all kinds of fun farm animals which is amusing to him. one has mini donkeys, fainting goats, fur-less sheep, and the other (our landlord) has three horses with an open invitation to go riding with him and his wife.
2) he has his own shed and workshop to go work on man stuff in.
3) he has his own room to hang antlers, his bow, guns etc. (i wouldn't let him "decorate" in the old house because....well, you could say i'm just not a big fan of his decor choices haha)
4) the land our house is on is pretty big...really big actually. there are 60 acres of woods and creek behind us that are all shared between us, and two of the nighbors. Will has been really antsy to find out the rules for being out on the land and finally got his answer on saturday.

saturday started out pretty rough - we woke up at seven a.m. to roofers pounding directly over our bedroom ceiling. i was not happy. we got up and saw that both of the neighbors had come over on their riding lawnmower,tractor, etc. and were standing in the front yard watching the roofers. as we were leaving to go get breakfast before i went into work, this conversation occured:

landlord: "saw some coyotes back in the woods the other day. heard em last night."
Will: "oh yeah?"
landlord: "yeah there's a bunch back there. hey - if you see one you kill that *$%^ okay?"
Will: "alright, will do. i got my bow and my shot gun and my rifle here so that's not a problem."
neighbor: "you know...we should just make a day of it and go hunt those &^#$! and get em all."
Will: "sounds good to me"
        later....
Will: "you got a lot of deer back there?"
neighbor: "oh yeah. see em all the time. you hunt?"
Will: "yes sir. i've been wantin to go for a while but just havent found a good place."
neighbor: "well i tell ya what, you're free to hunt back there whenever you like if you don't mind takin my son out with you once or twice."
Will: "not at all. sounds good!"
neighbor: "you use a bow or a gun or what?"
Will: " i got both but i've been wantin to get that gun out in the woods for a while now." (hint hint)
neighbor: "well i dont have a problem with you usin your gun as long as your safe, responsible ya know all that. but hey, you just let me know when you get one and i'll ride my four-wheeler down there and help you get it back to your house." (i started getting sick to my stomach at this point in time)
Will: "well thanks man i appreciate it."
neighbor: "no problem. you're doin me a favor! hey while i got you here, i got a ton of turkeys that i can't get rid of. my dog can run em off for a short while but they always come back. think you can take care of those *&@# too?"
Will: "yes sir absolutely."

so now Will has his very own hunting club and what do you know, saturday was also opening day for our county's hunting season. it was a fun two weeks while it lasted but i have now officially lost my husband to a deerstand somewhere deep in the woods. he should resurface sometime early next year. i hope.