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As a prior English teacher, I love telling each of my couple's love story. Each story is unique and in a culmination of love and a little planning, the wedding day brings that love to life in front of family and friends. As a lover of heirlooms and legacies, it's a joy to be alongside each of my couples as they create memories that will last forever for their children and grandchildren!

I'm ali rae.

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A Few of My Favorite Things

Personal

January 18, 2021

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I mentioned a few of my favorite things on my About page, but if you’d like to get to know me even more, here ya go! The older I get, the more I realize how much I love things that are family-centered…small traditions and sweet mementos are the way to my heart.


My Engagement Ring. When Caleb and I were about to get engaged…we were still in college and had very little funds for our wedding or our rings. Once my grandma mentioned that she had a stone that we could use for my engagement ring, I knew that was what I wanted. It may not be the biggest, the shiniest, the most expensive…but it is indeed rich with sentiment. I love that it was once my great grandmother’s, then my grandmother’s, and now mine. Someday I would love for it to be part of Huxley’s engagement ring too!

Photo by Hannah Chen Photography

Spotify Premium. I know I’m not the only one who listens to music while they work and podcasts while they’re on road trips. Spotify Premium is the best $10 a month that we spend! Caleb loves creating playlists for special occasions (yes, we have one for the births of both of our children!) and this way he has access to pretty much every song ever in order to make phenomenal playlists for any occasion. In case you were wondering, Huxley was born to “Here Comes the Sun” and Jackson was born to “Simple Man.” Here’s a link to some of my current/all-time favorites!

Birthstone Necklace. My everyday necklace is a gold chain with the birthstones of our family on it. Garnet for me, diamond for Caleb, sapphire for Jackson, and pink tourmaline for Huxley. Caleb got this for me as a Mother’s Day gift the year that we were expecting Jackson. As we grow our family, I plan to continue the tradition and add to my necklace. Once we are done having babies, I want a statement birthstone ring with all of us represented in it!

Sunday Morning Cinnamon Rolls. Sunday mornings are meant to be slow. I love that we have cinnamon rolls almost every Sunday as Caleb and Huxley watch Sunday morning cartoons on TV. The classic Looney Tunes and Tom & Jerry are their favorites.

Exploring Local Businesses. As a military family, we are in new areas often. One of my favorite things to do when we get to a new duty station is to find small, local businesses to explore. One of my favorites at our current duty station, Quantico, is The Grounds. It’s a local coffee shop and one of their specialty drinks is lavender honey latte…it’s to die for! Plus, it helps a small business owner succeed, and there’s no better way to pay it forward.

My Simplified Planner. Give me all the color-coded goodness. As long as Emily Ley continues to create her Simplified Planners, I will continue to buy them every year. This may sound obvious, but their simplicity is perfect for me. I have a whole blog post on just how I use mine. You can find that here!

Getting my Nails Done. I used to get my nails done every 3-4 weeks (pre-kids, imagine that!). Now it’s a special treat whenever I have the time to get them done. It is tradition that all the ladies in my family get them done all together on New Years Eve, so I typically get a seasonally festive color to celebrate. Something about having my nails done makes me feel like I can conquer the world!

So tell me…are any of these your favorite things too?! Leave me a comment below so we can see what we have in common!

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As a prior English teacher, I love telling each of my couple's love story. Each story is unique and in a culmination of love and a little planning, the wedding day brings that love to life in front of family and friends. As a lover of heirlooms and legacies, it's a joy to be alongside each of my couples as they create memories that will last forever for their children and grandchildren!

I'm ali rae.

Hey there!