I will always be a Galligan at heart!

I was just thinking about how it's been 3 months since I have been back in Austin. I can't even explain how happy it makes me having my brother only a 4 hour trip away! Me and Vince are hoping to make the trip to Austin for Thanksgiving. He hasn't been there in almost 2 years! I probably go once every 2 months to visit Michael and Karina!

I seriously have the BEST family in the entire world! I have two of the MOST AMAZING parents in the universe (who have been happily married for almost 32 years now!) I can only hope that me and Vince have a long and happy marriage like they do!! I know i'm pretty biased since they belong to me. But, I REALLY miss them being so far away! It's nice to have Michael close to me, but, I miss having the 5 of us together all the time! It's sad to think we are all split up right now - Michael in Austin, Mathew in Denver and Mom and Pops in Indiana.

My parents were such wonderful providers for our family growing up! My Dad really worked hard so my mom could stay at home with us. They didn't have very many rules for us (now that I think of it, I didn't really have any at all!) That could have been a bad thing, but it worked out for us! They let us make our own mistakes... And now look at us! Michael is a GM of the Marriott in Austin and Mathew graduated from Law School in Minnesota last May and is now a practicing LAWYER in Denver! I am so proud of all of us! 

Both of my brothers are my VERY best friends in the world. We are a crazy trio when we are together!  It's crazy to think of how much we all fought when we were younger (okay, how much they fought with ME! They got along great growing up!) I am SOO lucky to have the two best friends in my life.... My big brothers, my heros, my protectors!

God blessed me with an amazing family!!! How did I get SOO lucky???

Thank you Mom and Dad for being great parents!!!

Me, Mathew and Michael in Minnesota for Grandma's 80th birthday

Mathew, me and Michael - Christmas 2007

Of course Mathew didn't cut his hair OR shave for my wedding.. But, he did a week later for PHISH TOUR! What a hippy :)

Best. Parents. Ever!

Love my Momma Bear!!

One of my FAVORITE wedding pictures... I love how happy I am dancing with my Daddy!!!!!!!

Family :)

How classy... Mom and Dad gave us all KEG PONG for Christmas!

Me, Michael and Mathew on Christms Dos - Mathew's birthday is the day after Christmas. So, we call his birthday Christmas Dos!

Before Michael moved to Austin - they a bit to drink that night. Haha

A weekend home from college at USI

My favorite picture of me and Michael!

Mathews graduation from Purdue.. Then he graduated from IUPUI a year later with a FOURTH degree! Smarty pants!

Mathews graduation!

In Minnesota

I love my Poppyseed! 

Like Mother, like daughter... Wine-o's!

I love this picture!!!!! Mom and Dad in their 30's!

Again... I love pictures of them when they were younger!

At my Grandpa's house in Minnesota!

A little of this and a little of that!

Vince is 26!!

We celebrated Vince's birthday on Tuesday by going to dinner at Stir Crazy and getting ice-cream at Berripop! We had a wonderful night!! Yesterday, Vince got his new grill! I will have to post pictures later. It's AWESOME, he even cooked us delicious burgers last night! I am SO happy that I was able to spend my FIFTH (or is it sixth??) birthday with Vince!! Happy Birthday babe - here's to many more birthday celebrations together!

I got another case of bad news this week - A text from my brother, Michael, letting me know that his friend Rob had to have immediate surgery because they found a brain tumor. Still awaiting on news as to how he is doing. He was a very close friend of our family while I was growing up. 

On a good note, Dad made it safely to Minnesota! My uncle Brian text me this morning asking if I had time to FaceTime. I was SO happy to be able to video chat on my phone with my Dad, Uncles Brian and Tim, Aunts Kate and Marsha and especially GRANDMA!!!! She wasn't looking very good, but, it was so nice to see her smiling face! God is so good to be able to give my Dad the chance to spend time with her and his family up there!!!

Celebrating a life!

I got an unfortunate phone call from my mom today. She told me that my dad will be driving to Minnesota (again! He drove there a month ago) to visit with my grandma who is very sick with Alzheimer's and Dementia. It is so sad to think that just a few years ago at my wedding, my grandma was up dancing and laughing with all of us.

The last year has been a very big struggle for my family. Especially for my dad who is one of 8 children and the only person who doesn't live close to my grandma in St. Paul, Minnesota.

I just pray that my dad finds the strength that I know God is giving him! I hope he can enjoy his visit with his mom, brothers and sisters. Please say a prayer for my dad while he makes the 16 hour drive to St. Paul on Friday, after working a 12 hour shift at work.....

Just a FEEEEW of the Galligan's at our wedding with my lovely Grandma in the middle!

Just another day in paradise

Today one of my students gave me a present. It touched my heart! 

My present... A delicious apple!! 

It's amazing the difference between my 5th graders this year and my 6th graders last year. It's crazy how much can change in one short year! I am really enjoying my students this year, which is a HUGE change from last year! I just hope the rest of the year goes this smoothly!! I was so nervous for the change, but God has really blessed me with a good opportunity to educate these babies!! (They are still babies to me!) :)

This weekend I am going to help the Delta Zetas at the University of Houston with sorority recruitment. I am SOO excited! I miss my sisters so much! I can't wait to be back on a college campus and helping the wonderful women of Delta Zeta! I also can't wait for Bid Day to see the new baby turtles joining this amazing sisterhood!

Here are some recent pictures....

Bella in her stunna shades!

Me and V in San Antonio, TX for our 2 year wedding anniversary!

San Antonio, TX

GIRLS WEEKEND in San Antonio... It was a blast! I love the girls I work with!

Wine and game night with my lovely work girls! I am so blessed with such amazing friends and co-workers!

UNTIL NEXT TIME! :)

My first post!

Everyone has a blog, so I decided that I wanted to create one too! Hopefully, I find some interesting things to write about!

It was a very long and stressful day, but when I got home from work, Vince surprised me with a dozen red roses "just because!" What a wonderful husband I have!

Also, Lauren had her precious baby girl this morning... Welcome to the world Haley Anne!


**Please say a prayer for my brother Michael. His dog, Althea, is very sick. She had a seizure early this week and they found a brain tumor. They are only giving her 7-10 days to live. We are all taking it very hard, she is such a wonderful dog!

Here is a picture of Althea (left) with Bella (right) when Bella was still a baby. This was Bella's first trip to Austin to meet Uncle Michael and Cousin Althea!