Always Abrams

His Family

admin — Fri, 14 Oct 2022 21:06:49 +0000

Our family

I love you all. There have been incredible memories and many journeys traveled together along this journey. It is difficult to describe the amount of respect I have for all of you. Here is to making many new memories in the future.

Daniel and Carey, Its an honor for me to be your brother. I am proud of you both and Love you more than you know. You are both very happy and successful. Two things though; Care what is wrong with your leg and Daniel may or may not be adopted…

Dad, to our rock, our father, our protector. Honest and loyal. Thank you.

Mom, we love you so very much and know you are around.

Tay, to go tribe, and prefers to go by the name Mitch.

Dale & Elliot, to the most fascinating people I know.

Paula, to my favorite aunt!

Scott, to our teacher, Earth traveler.

Family and Friends, to us all!

The post His Family appeared first on Always Abrams.

Her Family

admin — Fri, 14 Oct 2022 21:02:42 +0000

Parents of the Bride

What can you say about Dave and Brenda? Well….they go together like Bush Light and popcorn! Although they had a bit of a detour early in life that took them separate ways, they were always meant to be together.

Fast forward many, many… many (seriously folks, it’s been a long time) years later, they are devoted grandparents who love a good road trip, and spending time at the lake house.

Brother of the Bride

You remember those old Energizer Bunny commercials? Yeah, this is them! This group is full of energy, doing all. the. things. They are also the most loving and compassionate people you will ever have the pleasure of meeting. I am truly blessed and proud to be able to call these folks family.

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The Fur-Kids

admin — Tue, 21 Jun 2022 17:33:38 +0000

Having a traditional family, making our own tiny humans, hasn’t been an option for us. And that’s okay, because our hearts are absolutely full with love and appreciation for our fur-kids.

Nick came to the relationship with Hiero, a magnificent beast of a Boxer-Pitbull mix with the biggest heart and a complete misunderstanding of his size.

Danalee came with The Minions, Ziyal and Riker, two of the most charming Chihuahua mixes you’ll ever meet. Everyone that has been able to spend time with them falls in love and agrees that their preconceptions of Chi’s have totally changed.

And then… there came Cooper.

Riker, aka Rikes, is one of the most spunky, goofy heart-stealing, lap-warming Chihuahua’s you’ll ever meet. He may be old and only have two teeth, but he makes it work and plays like a puppy.

Cooper is the puppy of the pack. He is obsessed with his ball and is incredibly suspicious of the pool. Don’t let his breed fool you; he is all bark. And oh boy what a bark! But really, he is all love and snuggles.

Ziyal, aka Z, is the princess. She never really got the hang of being a dog and prefers to chill with the human folk. Especially if they have a warm lap and lots of pets to give out.

As with many big decisions in our life, absolutely zero thought went into it!

We were hanging out at one of our favorite cigar bars, chatting and randomly browsing the Craigslist ads. We had been talking a bit about getting a puppy since we wanted to get one before Hiero passed on. And that’s when we saw the ad. A bunch of little furry faces stared at us, and I was instantly hooked. Of course, I had to play it cool and joked about going to “just take a look.” Who am I kidding, we ALL know what that means.

We text the lady and sipped our beers… me still thinking this isn’t going to be a thing.

Next thing I know we’ve hopped in the car safely, we were not drunk and were on our way across the valley to a random Pet Smart parking lot. The lady greets us with a cardboard box with three little, floofy puppies. It was down to a little girl that was dark and brindle like Hiero and Cooper. The lady tells us that Cooper is the most outgoing and that the girl is much shyer. In hindsight, we may have gone for the shy one! Totally kidding! Or am I?

Cooper is growing into a great dog. He’s all of what you would expect from an Australian Shepard, Red Heeler mix. So smart. All the energy. Absolutely all the back talk and sass. But I would have never expected him to be so sensitive and loving.

Unfortunately, Cooper did not have as much time with Hiero as we would have liked. We said our final goodbye to Hiero in July of 2021. It’s been a rough transition for everyone. Still, we’re finding our new rhythm, and although we miss him dearly, the pain is starting to subside.

If you want to follow along with more of the fur-kid shananagins, you can follow them over on Instagram @Cooper.and.thepack

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The Proposal, Danalee’s Perspective

admin — Tue, 21 Jun 2022 16:37:41 +0000

Looking back on it, I should have seen it coming.

The first hint was during lunch with Ashleigh and Mike. Ashleigh, bless her heart, ask Nick when we were getting married and he immediately got flustered. That was very out of character for him, but I shrugged it off as fast as he changed the subject.

A little while later, Nick very casually asked for Dave’s phone number and again, I didn’t overthink it. He mentioned he’d been trying to get a hold of him for months, it turns out he had an old number. Not 20 minutes after this realization, he’s pacing around the front yard talking on the phone. Now I thought that was a little odd. Not the pacing, more the front yard bit. Again though, I went back to work and didn’t think much of it.

Now it’s Friday, June 3. All week we’d been having the same conversation as I log off work – Do we go out? Or do we stay in? If you know you know. This night was different, Nick had a plan! Yes! I was so excited. You know what I’m talking about if you’re in a relationship. When one of you has a plan for dinner or what to do that night, it’s incredible! Am I right?! Nick leads with, “Whatever we do, we have to dress up.” Ummm… okay. Quirky, but I’m down.

First on the agenda, after getting dressed and doing all the things. Learning a choreographed dance to Everybody by the Backstreet boys. Now y’all, I haven’t done a choreographed dance since my cheerleading days back in High School. So to say this was a hilarious mish-mash of flailing limbs and huffing and puffing would be overly kind. But we did it!

Next up, Nick seems to whip this Playschool mini-golf set out of thin air. We set up a few trick shots and about pee ourselves with laughter because Cooper cannot keep his composure. He is obsessed with balls and cannot deal if we’re playing with a ball that he is not allowed.

This is where I take a quick sidebar because, in the moment, the fact that this is somewhat recreating our first date is nowhere close to entering my mind. I’m still thinking this is just a fun, goofy date night at home. Because why not?

This is when Nick excuses himself to the backyard to set up the next activity. So I’m chilling in the living room, all dressed up, casually sipping on some bourbon, still completely and utterly clueless.

Nick comes back inside and escorts me to the backyard….

Let me set the scene here. There’s a circle of candles waiting. I Was Made for Lovin’ You by Kiss was playing. Nick drops to one knee and proposes. I honestly couldn’t tell you exactly what he said because I was absolutely overcome with love, gratitude, excitement, and awe. After I said “yes,” Nick ran over and lit a roman candle. Sparks flew and thank goodness we didn’t set anything on fire! Although Cooper had mixed feelings at this point.

We spent the rest of the weekend in a love filled, pink haze if happiness. And of course some day drinking with a dear friend.

And that’s it, friends. The story, at least from my perspective, of how we got engaged.

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Our Story

admin — Mon, 06 Jun 2022 21:28:55 +0000

When people ask us how we met, we giggle and tell them that we live in a rom-com movie.

Cue opening scene.

Danalee moved to Tempe for graduate school. Nick moved to Tempe for work. They both moved into the same apartment complex without knowing how this would dramatically change their lives.

It’s essential to understand how this complex is set up… the fronts of all the two-story-four-plex style buildings face each other, with walking paths and park vibes in the middle. With me? Can you picture it? Good.

Enter the doggos.

Living in small apartments, walks are crucial. And since we didn’t have many options for quick potty breaks, the dog owners in this place either actively avoided each other, we’re talking full on stratagie meeting at the mailbox and a lot of window peeping, OR really got to know each other. Spoiler Alert: Nick and Danalee were the latter.

Surprisingly, Hiero was the only dog the minions didn’t mind having around, so we had a lot of opportunities to chit chat while the dogs were finding the perfect spot to do their business. Many dog walks later, we realized we had a lot in common and started hanging out at the local watering hole next door.

One slightly buzzed evening, we got to talking… and decided with a group of folks that mini-golf sounded like fun! So, Danalee being Danalee… she went for it and bought the tickets immediately. Not everyone else followed through. All said and done, three people kept their word: Nick, Danalee, and Carey (Nick’s sister). It all seemed innocent enough. Looking back on it, though, we both agree that was our first date.

Fast forward through some Haunted Houses, a few trips to Las Vegas, and whole days absolutely inseparable. We knew we had found our person. So when the opportunity presented itself for us to move in together, we decided it was now or never and gave it the old college try. Although our little family was happy as could be, three dogs and two adult humans in a tiny one-bathroom apartment was NOT ideal.

We got extremely lucky finding our current home with a big backyard, a pool, and just enough space, aka bathrooms. Although we’ve grown some deep roots in this home, we’ve also had some wild adventures. From Independence Day, Sand Lot style, in Iowa to many more trips to Las Vegas, beach stays on both coasts to mountain getaways. We are both so grateful for the opportunities we’ve had to adventure around with the pups, spend time with friends and family, and our many cozy nights snuggling at home.

It never matters if we stay in or go out. Laughter and love follow us wherever we roam.

Our story isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. We’ve also experienced sudden traumatic loss. In 2016 we had started discussing getting married, and we were over the moon when tragedy struck our family. In November, Annie, Nick’s mother, suddenly passed away. Rightfully so, this shook us to the core. She would have never wanted us to postpone our plans; however, it just never felt quite right. That’s when we made the very personal decision to do a handfasting.

We had a small spiritual ceremony at home, committing to our relationship and celebrating our love. We knew we’d return to the idea of a more traditional wedding ceremony at some point. Still, we wanted to wait until things felt right.

Fast forward to 2019, life was feeling good again, and although we still had a massive hole in our life, we began to think that this might be the time.

Sike!

I suppose you probably know what threw a wrench into our plans this time. The Pan-damn-it. As the world plunged deeply into survival mode, we holed up at home, eternally grateful for our privilege. Work went on without skipping a beat. The backyard and pool helped to maintain our sanity. And, we never knew how grateful we would feel for living in a massive city with all the creature comforts like grocery and beer delivery.

Now, as the world is slowly healing, amidst the chaos that still envelops some communities and countries, it’s time to make the move and let Love win.

Now you’re all caught up! We’re aiming for a Summer 2023 celebration, so stay tuned for details as we figure things out. In the meantime, drink lots of water, get lots of sunshine, and don’t be afraid to love.

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