Monday, August 22, 2011

Our "first-vacation-since-being-married" Family Vacation


A couple of weeks ago we had our "first-family-vacay-since-being-married" vacation. We joined my mom, dad, sister, and her friend in Seagrove, FL for a week of fun and relaxation. [My family has taken an annual beach vacation since I was 2 and this was Daniel's first time to experience it]. We had a fantastic time! The weather there was absolutely perfect...sunny in the morning, short rain shower about lunch time, and then more sunshine for the afternoon. We did all sorts of fun things like suntanning, reading, sand sculpting, boogie-boarding, and even kayaking. We also ate at some great places for dinner-- stuffing our faces with fried seafood, grilled seafood, raw seafood...you name it, we probably ate it! It was a great time to be with family and take time out of our busy lives to rest and recharge. I miss it already!

"Go Hogs"... our Razorback sand sculpture. Not that we are proud to be Razorback fans or anything



Me and my handsome man before dinner one night





My beautiful family


Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Engagement


Today marks the 2 year-anniversary of our engagement...the day that my dream of a life with the man I love became a reality. As many of you know, I was surprised (or maybe a better phrase is absolutely SHOCKED) and completely caught off guard when he proposed--which lead to my infamous response of "shut up!". :)

I'm going to take a moment to brag on my man: he did SUCH an amazing job with the proposal. It was better than I could ever have imagined! He really put a lot of thought into it--he knew my favorite place in the world was the beach, he picked out the absolute perfect ring, AND he kept the entire thing a secret for 2 months. But the best part of the whole thing was that he told me those words every little girl dreams of hearing from the time she is 6 years old: "I want to spend the rest of my life with YOU...will you marry me?" ME. He wanted to marry ME. At the time, I was too shocked and speechless to cry, but when I think about it now-- about how special that moment was, I'll admit I get a little teary-eyed.

Since that day, we have been through lots of life changes:
1) planning a wedding--and ALL the little details that go into it
2) we have since both graduated from college
3) we found our first home together...a duplex in north little rock
4) he got his first "big boy" job
5) made it through our first year of marriage (which was absolutely WONDERFUL, but it takes some adjustment to learn to live with someone)
6) prayed about and made the decision for him to go back to school at SBTS
7) moved to Louisville
8) currently looking for MY first "big girl" job

Throughout all of those changes, it has been a huge emotional roller-coaster...and i'm really not one to be very emotional. I have learned so much about myself and grown a lot in my faith. But even though it has been a roller-coaster, I have had two big constants in my life: my God and my husband. God has proven his faithfulness over and over and over, from jobs to where we live to taking a HUGE leap of faith and moving to Kentucky. And Daniel has proven his love and faithfulness as my husband, being my rock and comforter and best friend.

My mom always told me when I was younger that time flies as you get older...and I was always like "yeah right." But it is so true! Looking back at all that has happened in 2 years, let alone just this past year, makes me excited about things to come in the future years. My life verse for the next year is Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans for a hope and a future." God ALWAYS keeps His promises.