Wedding party and ceremony

Kelly's Korner is hosting a "Show Us Your Life" for us girls to show off our wedding ceremonies/flowers...and what girl doesn't LOVE talking about their wedding??? I sure do!

These are our programs and cute little "Tears of Joy" packets I made. I SLAVED on those programs but I really loved them. Glad I made them myself instead of paying for it too =)

Here's a close up of my flowers and bridesmaids flowers. I knew I wanted to have white flowers and I really wanted red roses to match the girls dresses (like Britney Spears had if you've ever seen that pic). When I went to the florist she said some pink roses would look good in there and so I told her to do whatever...just make them pretty. I didn't see an example bouquet or ANYTHING until the wedding. When the florist pulled up with them, I CRIED. They were more beautiful than I could ever imagine. SO glad she led me to this decision!

I could cry every time I see this picture. I love my dad walking me down the aisle in the church I came to know the Lord in, was baptized in, and grew up loving. Not the most beautiful (paisley carpet...YUCK!) but really sentimental.

LOVE this picture. Me and my mom hugging during the rose ceremony. Such a special moment.

Totally cheesy but my whole wedding party danced out of our wedding to "This Will Be An Everlasting Love" by Natalie Cole. It was such a fun way to end our perfectly "us" ceremony.

My maid of honor Ashley and best man Justin boogie-ing down the aisle. Each couple choreographed a little something that morning (while I waited in the bridal room alone...but it was worth it!).

I think this is the classic wedding picture you do if you have enough people in your wedding party. I'm pretty sure we'll look back in 20 years and make fun of it but I think it's adorable.

Groomsmen left to right

Richard-Chris grew up playing baseball with him and they played 2 years in college together.
Jeff-Chris went to high school playing baseball with him and went to college junior/senior year with him. They were roommates when we met.
Justin (best man)-Chris' lifelong roommate and brother. Great guy and SINGLE if you're in the DFW area ;)
Josh-Chris played ball and lived with him while living with Jeff.
Under me-
Jared-Played baseball together and lived together at Missouri Baptist.

See why we had a February wedding? All these boys still have baseball ties (coaching, minors, etc.) so no spring wedding for us! Did I mention it was in STL and 32 degrees that day???

This just somes up how fun our day was!

LOVE Chris' face!

Bridesmaids-

Lynn-best friend from high school. Shared the role of captain our senior year on the pom squad making us fabulous friends.
Ashley (maid of honor)-roommate throughout college. Her husband sang and played the keyboard in our wedding. Her wedding was the month after ours!
Ann-we worked together forever at several different jobs. She helped lead me to the Lord and I helped lead her back. We have a strong connection because of that.
Stacy-my funny sister. She was hilarious all day...kept me laughing!
Lindsay-my smart sister. She's the brains in everything. She kept me laughing but she wasn't trying.

And my favorite picture of the day.

We had 2 slideshows-one of us growing up to "When God Made You" and one of just the two of us to "We Will Dance" by Steven Curtis Chapman. My friend Lindsey who is in the music industry in Nashville had a friend write a song for her sister's wedding that fit us PERFECTLY. We played that during the unity candle and rose ceremony. It talked about how happy we made each other and than how pleased God was with our covenant. One of the lyrics said "and He said, I've never been happier than I am right now watching my son and daughter, take these vows, the angels are singing and I am so proud, never been happier than right now." AMAZING. The bridal party walked down the aisle to "Your Love is Extravagent" and my maid of honors fiance' at the time played and sang it. It was beautiful!

I really don't think it could have gone any more perfectly than it did.

And a SYTYCD post

How much do I love Sonya Tayeh? Her choreography is CRAZY good. I love all the starts and stops, flexed feet, and big jumps. She is really incredible. I'm so glad SYTYCD picked her up as a choreographer and hoping she is the next Emmy winner from the show. She definitely deserves it!

Who do you think is going home? I'm hoping Melissa and Evan. I feel like the other 4 are incredibly strong technical dancers and need to be in the finale. My fingers are crossed and I'm waiting for 7 pm!

You have to watch this if you haven't already seen it. Again, Sonya is a GENIUS.

Dave Ramsey is a Genius!

Can I just say this man is a genius??? Chris has ALWAYS been into finances and has been a fan of saving since before we ever met. I only the other hand am a SPENDER! I make money to spend money. That's why we're the perfect balance =)

Chris started reading this book and planned out a budget for us. Our typical budget was pay the bills, put some in savings, invest a little, and spend the rest. We really had no idea where the rest was going. Dave Ramsey has you budget a percentage of what you make for each category. For example, 23-25% of what you make should go towards your mortgage, 3-7% toward clothing, etc. We broke everything down and figured out exactly where our money needs to go. We don't have any credit card debt but we do have my student loan and one car payment. If we remain faithful to this "program", we will have my student loan (which I thought wouldn't be paid off until I was 40!) and car paid off in 2 years! That's INSANE! Then all that money we were paying on those bills will go into savings for the future. So EXCITING!

I'm sure this is so exciting for you to hear about our finances but I highly recommend Dave Ramsey's book. It will change the way you spend your money!

Fertility News

I haven't written about our fertility issues in a while because we really haven't been focusing on it at all. We have spent a lot of time this summer focusing on us-going out of town, relaxing at home, working on the house, etc. I think this time off together has been SO wonderful and I'm excited that we'll get to do this every year from here on out. I was a little worried in the beginning about what it would be like being home, 24/7 together but we have really had a great time. I'm thankful for that.

ANYWAY, I got to thinking a few weeks ago about our miscarriage and the timing of everything. While I was thinking, I realized that we got pregnant the month AFTER Clomid. I talked to my doctor about whether or not the pregnancy could be related to the Clomid and she said it wouldn't hurt to try it again. So next month I will officially be back on the meds for then next 3 months. Chris is mentally preparing himself for me to be crazy again and I'm ready for the hot flashes to begin. Please be praying for us because this is the last step we will be taking for a while. We're not going to go back to the fertility specialist until at the earliest next summer and just spend the time enjoying each other. God will bless us in His PERFECT timing!

SHOW US YOUR LIFE-wedding dress

Kelly's Korner is having fun letting all us girls show off our wedding dresses! I LOVED my wedding dress at the time but would pick something lacy and slimmer if I had to do it today. My dream was always to have a big dress so that's what I had!

I loved all the beading at the top, the fullness and silk at the bottom, and some beautiful beading details at the bottom.

Details of the beading on the train. When the train was bustled, all this beading started at my waist and went down. I wish I had a good picture of it!

Me and my dad. I LOVED wearing a big slip to get all that fullness. I felt like a princess!


I love this picture of us.

Can we get married again, PLEASE???

Yearbook Yourself

So today I found the most AMAZING site in the world...YEARBOOK YOURSELF! Pure amazingness. You put in a picture of yourself and it takes you through the different styles WITH YOUR FACE throughout the years. Here's me-

I had this permed hair as a little girl in the 80's!

Here's Chris through the years-

Chris' dad looked EXACTLY like this!

Hello Zack Morris!

Go have fun making your own yearbook pics!

Thank You SYTYCD

+

= HEAVEN!!!

I'm really loving this right now. She is keeping the judging panel so light and fun. I don't even care that she knows nothing about dance...she is DANG FUNNY!

And that's really all I have to say today =)

***And did you see this? Holy Moly. I was in tears after this.***

See why I love dance so much?

Blog Hop-Favorite Recipes

Of course my two favorite recipes are super easy, non bake desserts =)

Oreo Cookie Balls

You will need

A box of Oreos (how funny that the picture I found is in Spanish!)

8 oz. of cream cheese

A package of almond bark (found by the chocolate chips)

Crush the Oreos into the cream cheese. I use a hand mixer once they are pretty well crushed to make a really good mix. Take a tablespoon of the mix and roll it in your hand. Once it's in a ball shape, set it on a cookie sheet covered with a wax piece of paper. Roll the rest of the mix. For those who are cooking challenged (ME!), here's how you melt the almond bark. Take a saucepan and fill it 1/4 full of water. Bring it to a boil. Put a glass bowl over the pot. Break the almond bark in half and let it melt. Make sure to mix it so it doesn't burn! Once melted, drop an Oreo ball in at a time and drop back on the wax paper after it's covered. Put all the balls in the fridge to chill for a few hours and enjoy your not-even-close-to-fat-free dessert!

Chocolate Chip Cheeseball Dip

THIS IS SOOOO EASY. YOU ONLY NEED 3 MINUTES!

The best invention ever-Philadelphia Cheesecake Filling (found by the cream cheese)

A bag of mini chocolate chips

Graham cracker sticks

Empty the cheesecake filling and mini chocolate chips into a bowl. Mix well so chocolate chips are evenly distributed. Serve with graham cracker sticks to dip into the mixture. YUMM-O!

The Big D

How much do I love this stinkin dog? Today I had a TERRIBLE headache (I think it's the barometric pressure) and pretty much moped around all day. I went to boot camp, came home, slept some, ate lunch, and slept some more. Dallas was my cuddle buddy through it all. I just love snuggling up with her. She's so sweet---but only to me and Chris. She pretty much dislikes anyone else. She barks and hides and when she decides she wants to come around, it has to be on her own terms. She's super skiddish and wants to be under our feet when other people are around. I just LOVE HER!

Can you see why?

Why am I thinking about school in July?

It's summer time and what am I thinking about...SCHOOL!! Ay yi yi. Not even the educational part, the decorating fun part. I recently got back from Frog Street educational conference and bought some super fun border and letters.

How much do I LOVE this border??? So adorable!

Matching letters

So here's the dilemma I'm in. I wanted to use the border and letters to write "Wild about Kindergarten" on my bulletin board. I was going to find cute jungle animal cutouts to write their names on and staple them up around the words but I can't find cute ones ANYWHERE! The only jungle animals I can find are monkeys. Will it look weird if I only use monkeys with all this zebra border? Or will it balance it out? HELP ME!

One of the monkey cutouts

The second one. I think I like this one better.

I really shouldn't even be thinking about school right now (I have a month of summer left!)...maybe they'll have some more jungle cutouts by August.

Blog Hop-3 Things You Didn't Know About Me

Hmm....this is kinda tough. Let me think....

1. I'm obsessed with vacuum lines. I really don't like Chris to vacuum because he runs the vacuum all over the place and I like the lines to look nice and neat.

2. I'm pretty sure I have close to ZERO blog followers. I really like to journal/reflect but who wants to write all that down with their hand? I like to go back and read past blog entries that I've written to see what the Lord is doing and how far He has brought me. Even if nobody reads this, I can follow my growth as a person which is pretty cool. =)

3. I love to go to Home Depot or Lowe's and look at all the paint colors. I bring home 50 of the paper samples every time I go. I hold them up against all the furniture until my brain hurts. I also search on the internet for those colors on other people's walls. Then I decide I like the color(s) the wall already is. Ay yi yi.

I'm pretty exciting huh?

I Would Die for That

I just think this song is SO powerful and such a testiment of what I've been going through the last two years. I'm so glad to have my trust in the Lord and that I know He is good but man, it still hurts. I'm definitely more at peace about it than I've ever been but after 2 years of trying and 1 miscarriage, there's nothing I wouldn't give to have a baby. Keep praying for baby Crowder, we know that the Lord will bless us in His amazing timing!

Weekend wrap up

How much do I L O V E Sundays?? Get up early, praise Jesus at church, eat a yummy lunch and nap...does it get better? Today we went to the early service and made our first step to get involved in our new church called "Starting Place". It's a fairly large church so it can be hard to form relationships. I'm glad that this church does something to help people get to know people and be known. We had a great time this morning. There were about 8 other families/couples there in the same boat as us, trying to get connected in the church. I really can't tell you how excited I am about this. One of my favorite things at our church in St. Louis and the church we were at here in Texas was serving and being involved. Can't wait to find our place at Valley Creek!

In other news, this weekend was Frog Street educational conference. It's a conference targeted for early childhood teachers which makes it VERY crazy. Only at an early childhood conference can they dress up like characters and grown women scream and yell....so funny! This year I helped present at the conference with my friend Emily. She uses lots and lots of technology in her classroom (as I also try to do) so we led a class on ways to incorporate technology in the classroom. It went so well! People seemed to enjoy the presentation and got a lot out of it. That was my first time to present at an education conference but hopefully it won't be my last. It was a blast!

The last weekend highlight-my sweet husband painted the guest bedroom/office/hopefully future nursery! I refinished an old desk white and it is going to look SO good in this room. I picked out the wall color based on that but it would be pretty amazing if we had a little boy one day too. Chris is praying for that because he really doesn't want to paint it again =)

The color is a little brighter on camera than in reality but you get the idea. Yes, that crate is our dog cage for our 18 lb. dog. We like her to live large and in charge!

Blog Hop

Today is "post your favorite picture"day! That's pretty difficult for me since I LOVE pictures so I'll try to narrow it down.

This is my favorite picture I've ever taken. We went to San Francisco this summer and I took this picture very quickly from a boat trip around Alcatraz. When I got it on my computer and started editing it and I LOVE it. The water looks amazing.

This is my favorite picture of the ladies in my family. We haven't had a picture together in a while since I live so far away so I'm really loving this!

And this is my favorite picture of my favorite person. This is on a cable car in San Francisco. I think he's pretty handsome =)

Shoes + Education = Awesomeness

I was randomly scrolling through my blog friends and came across a recent post from a college friend of mine who is a FABULOUS photographer. One of her recent weddings she shot had a gorgeous picture of the bride, her bridesmaid, and ADORABLE shoes on all of their feet. My friend posted beneath the picture that the bride was a cofounder of this amazing business called Sseko Design. This company is designed to help women in Uganda pay tuition for their college. Super awesome. Here's what their website says-

Sseko {say.co} Designs was created as a Not-Just-For-Profit business that will help these bright young women continue their education. The Ugandan school system is designed with a nine month gap between secondary school and university. These nine months are intended to allow time for students to earn money for tuition before continuing on to university. However, in an impoverished and male dominated society, many of these young women struggle to find fair work during this time.

How awesome is that (not the impoverty, the fact that this girl is trying to help them)??? And did I mention, these shoes are SO CUTE! Think I'm buying a pair ASAP. Here's the picture of them from their website-

Pretty sure I need to buy a pair now! By the way, I am by no means a saleswoman for this girl. I don't even know her. I just think this is such a great cause and I would love to see this business do well for the sake of these women in Uganda. And the shoes are super cute =)

Michael Jackson-The Hidden Lyrics

In honor of Michael Jackson's life, I thought I would post the alternative lyrics to a few songs that my dad made up. This probably is not nearly as funny written but it's funny nonetheless.

Man in the Mirror-alternative lyrics

I'm stalking all the manic depressants

I'm aksing for a cham boulee' (say in a french accent)

And Momesso (Sergio) could have played for the Clippers

If you want to make the world a better place

Take a look at yourself and make that
CHANGE.

Both lyrics, equally as deep. I think my dad missed his calling.