What I Discovered While Joining DAR

I haven't had a job for the past 6 months, this leaves me with a ton of time to do useless things, but sometimes I'm slightly productive, and browsing Ancestry.com happened to be one of the more productive things I've done lately. This all started around Christmas time, when Ancestry.com constantly runs commercials to try to convince people to gift memberships to their loved ones. I've always been interested in my family history, but no one seems to know much past my grandparents, so I thought I'd try out the free membership and see what I could find. This turned into one of the BEST things I've EVER done! I decided to trace all my paternal lines back to when they came to America. Most lines didn't go too far, but the Bowden line (My Dads, Mothers, Father) turned up some very interesting information. I traced the Bowden line because it's the family I look most like, and I knew they had been in this country for awhile. Well I traced the line back to 1280AD in France! The name has changed a few times over the years but the Beaudoin's were royals in France, before leaving everything to come to America for religious freedom in 1678. My 8x great grandfather Pierre Bowdoin brought his family to Ireland and then to America from Basse-Normandie, France and ended up settling in Isle of Wight, Virginia. The family name was changed to 'Bowden' from 'Bowdoin' shortly after. My 5X great grandfather John Bowden Jr ended up being the most interesting find of all. He fought in the Revolutionary War alongside George Washington and was good friends with both him and Ben Franklin! For history obsessed nerds like me, this was like finding ancestry gold! This find only adds to the strong military history in my family. My paternal grandfather fought in WW2 and my maternal grandfather was enlisted during Korea but was stationed in Germany for the cleanup. My husband is an Iraq veteran, and will most likely be sent to Afghanistan at some point (especially since he just reenlisted for 4 more years). Because of these findings I decided to contact the Daughters of the American Revolution to enquire about joining, I'm in the application process now but John Bowden Jr is already an approved patriot, which means my distant cousins are already DAR members! The whole process has been so educational and fun, I love to learn about my family history!

Laugh More.

the blowout (lit/fig): GOP Money Millionaire$: Part Two.


Read this blog, you will definitely laugh. Sorry about the inappropriate nature of the content, but if you're my age you'll remember the story she references from middle school, and the modern comparison is hilarious.


In other news, the weather in Kansas is beautiful, Fernando is in a training program about driving tanks (and other large military vehicles) and he hates it, and I'm allergic to the beautiful trees surrounding our apartment. Oh and I'll be in Ohio May 19th-22nd for my favorite little girls 4th birthday, and to get another tattoo.

Love you all.

-Taylor

It's Official!!

We're officially PCSing (moving) to Fort Carson, Colorado in November! We both couldn't be happier, we asked for either Carson or Fort Lewis is Tacoma, Washington, but I've always planned on moving to Colorado so this is perfect. Being a career Army family means we'll be moving around often, about every 3 years, many people consider this to be the worst part of Army life but I actually like it. I like getting to live in different places and meet different people. So far I've loved Kansas, and I know I'll love Colorado. Only downsides are leaving the wonderful friends I've made here, and beginning my job search (yet again) in a new location.
I recently interviewed with the USDA for a food inspector position here in Kansas, so hopefully that works out. I have a feeling a federal government agency would be more understanding of the Army lifestyle than a private business. This is also the job I've been trying to get for over a year now, so fingers crossed!
The best part of moving is that I now can have my dream wedding (eeeek!) at the base of Pike's Peak, just like I've wanted to since I was 8 years old! I'm super excited about planning our rustic/artist wedding! Fernando's only input was "I just want it to actually be on the mountain, oh and please don't wear that thing Kim Kardashian wore around her forehead, that looks ridiculous" It cracked me up that he was most concerned with my headgear! Really he just wants me to have whatever I want, which is every girls dream anyway! So if you're wondering what this wedding will look like, here are some idea photos from the wonderful Pinterest website!

We have to figure out how to do this shot! so perfect!

These will be lining the aisle outside and then moved inside for the reception

hopefully we can get a ceremony site with a view this gorgeous!

Our centerpieces will be simple, these cans with our initials and wildflowers

This is my dream reception 

This is the Cliff House at Pike's Peak, we want to book this for the reception

Love this bouquet

The perfect cake

Love this bright bouquet!

or just check out my Pinterest board :) http://pinterest.com/thoosan1178/colorado-summer-wedding/

Love and miss you all!

Dream Life

I always said I would get married at the base of Pike's Peak... although I'm already legally married, we may actually get to have our wedding there! More details to come Friday, when we have more (definite) information! Is this real life? I feel like I'm dreaming! Strange how life works out :)

Marley Lilly

So I just thought I'd share something I absolutely love with you all! I'm pretty much obsessed with anything personalized, it's the girly side in me, and I'm now in love with the Marley Lilly website. Basically they have an array of items that can be personalized with your name, single letter, or monogram (personally I love monograms!) I've already ordered a ring from them with my new (eeek!) last name, and I'm waiting for it to be delivered. I also ordered my sister earrings which I know she'll absolutely love. Everything from this website makes a fantastic gift! I'm ordering monogrammed scarves for all my bridesmaids as gifts for our big wedding.
Check out the website below, you'll be sure to fall in love with something, or everything!

http://www.marleylilly.com/

- Taylor

KONY 2012

I'm sure many of you have already seen this video, or heard about the movement at some point in the past couple days. It has taken over social media, and I couldn't be happier. The Invisible Children movement came to Kent when I was a freshman (5yrs ago) and showed one of their first films, I was crying 5 minutes into the film because I was so shocked and horrified. In 2012 the aim to make Joseph Kony a infamous face, in order to bring about his arrest. If you haven't already seen this video please take the time to watch the entire thing, it's well worth it. If you feel the same way I do you'll want to help stop this horrible man, even just sharing this video on any social media is a great help.

"Be the change you wish to see if the world!"