Hannah and Kirby's wedding

They did it! They officially tied the knot on 05.09.2014 in Florida! It was a BEAUTIFUL wedding. The weather was perfect--high of 75 and partly cloudy (although there was major wind) which created beautiful photos that I simply cannot wait to see! We spent the morning of the wedding relaxing--eating donuts, running last minute errands, girl-talk, etc. Starting at 1:00 pm, we girls started getting our hair and makeup done. At 3:30 we all loaded up and headed to Anna's Veranda, a 100- year old completely restored Victorian home located directly across the street from a public access to Inlet Beach. Kirby's family and the groomsman all stayed here in the days leading up to the wedding and it was also the venue for the wedding reception. Pictures do not do it justice! 

About 4:00 pm, we got Hannah into her dress (which was well documented) and we started taking family pictures about 4:30pm. Now, Hannah and Kirby did not see each other before the ceremony so we had to be all sneaky transporting her around so that the groom wouldn't see his beautiful bride. But we successfully pulled it off and the ceremony started on the beach at 6:00 pm sharp. 

     

My hubby is an ordained minister and last summer they asked him if he would do the honor in marrying them. Isn't that so cool? So for his first wedding ceremony to perform, he had the honor of marrying his "sister" (as he called her in the ceremony--so sweet) to the love of her life. I just have to brag on him--he did an absolutely amazing job! You would have had no idea it was his first wedding! 

So, Daniel and Kirby are standing up there as people start getting seated. First, the grandmothers, then the mothers...

I don't have a pic of Kirby's mom being walked down, but aren't my parents adorable?

Then, the bridesmaids and the flower girl (Kirby's niece, Aubrey) and the ring bearers (our cousins, Finn and Crane)...

And then......

I couldn't look at my mom, cause she was crying; I couldn't look at Kirby's mom, cause she was crying;  And then, I looked at Kirby. Y'all. It was so sweet. I started tearing up! The look on his face when he saw her----I can't even accurately describe it. Delight and surprise and love and admiration and joy and all sorts of emotions just rolled up into one and he was trying not to lose it too. So. precious. I'm so thankful my sister has someone who looks at her like that--she deserves it. 

Daniel started the ceremony, my dad gave her away, they said their "I Do's" and their vows, they did a unity knot ceremony and the parents prayed over them...

And then, they were husband and wife and Kirby kissed his bride! 

After the ceremony, we finished taking photos with the photographer and then we all headed back to Anna's Veranda for the reception. We had a chef cooking up a scrumptious menu of caesar salad, korean beef skewers with chili sauce, smoked tuna dip, crab cakes with lemon dijon sauce, and a grit bar with gouda cheese grits and toppings of blackened shrimp, bacon, peppers and onion. Y'all. Seriously some of the best food I've EVER eaten. PLUS there was cake! The backyard was strung with cafè lighting and there were tables with lanterns and candles and our bridesmaid bouquets. Then we had a dance party! Everything from "Wobble Baby" to slow-dancing country to a few Spanish songs (one of the groomsmen was from Brazil and serenaded us all). They have a noise ordinance starting at 10:00 pm (kind of bummer cause we were having so much fun), so we shipped the newlyweds off and cleaned everything up before crashing in our beds for the night. 

Yeah, that stud is mine

Now that they are back from their honeymoon and starting their life together as husband and wife, they wanted to celebrate with all their family and friends who were unable to be there for the day itself. We are having a huge reception in Conway on Friday, May 30th at Centennial Valley Country Club starting at 6:30 pm. EVERYONE IS INVITED. This is crucial that you know this because they did not send out invitations--we would have to send out like 10,000. Please come! Hannah will wear her dress so everyone can see it in person, plus there is going to be great food and of course a fabulous wedding cake! It is going to be great fun!  

And that friends, is the story of Hannah and Kirby's perfect day! Ok, a few more pics...

The three of us ladies (and Holt) at the rehearsal dinner the night before

Our beautiful cousins, Katie Jo and Caroline with the bride

I snapped this during her Bridal Portrait session--holy moly it was beautiful!

The newly-minted newlyweds

5 Years

November 23, 2008.

Daniel came over to my parent's house and asked their permission to date me. Can I just insert here that it absolutely floored me! I had never had a guy tell me they wanted my parent's permission and it made me like him (and respect him) that much more. 

Now, FIVE years later (can't believe that), it's so neat to look back on all that has transpired in that short amount of time: I started and finished x-ray school, we got engaged, the Lord provided Daniel's first job and a place for us to live in North Little Rock, we got married, I graduated, we moved 525 miles away to Louisville, I worked two part time jobs, we went into debt by taking out loans for Daniel's school, we found deep and lifelong friendships at Seminary, our car died so we had to go into more debt and get another one, the Lord provided Daniel's job in Fort Smith and allowed us to move home, and Daniel graduated from Seminary with his Master's degree (trust me--this is just a brief overview). 

The Lord has been so faithful. I am humbled at His grace and mercy bestowed upon us again and again and again. His ways are definitely better than mine! If you had asked me five years ago what my life would look like, I don't think I would've said anything close to what it's actually been. 

It makes me giddy and excited to think what God has in store for us the next five years! Hopefully it includes settling down more, purchasing a house, and starting a family at some point. :) 

My Baby Sister is Gettin' Married!

Y'all, I am SO excited to announce that my baby sister is getting married! I am incredibly excited for her and my future bro-in-law, Kirby...they are so perfect for each other (and bless him for putting up with her lol). We had been secretly plotting behind her back for a couple of months--talk about biting your tongue to keep a secret--and everything went absolutely perfect and without a hitch!

Ok, story time!

Kirby called me back in January to discuss rings and what Hannah liked and what cut of diamond she wanted, etc, etc, etc. Right in the middle of all that, the Lord decided to up and move Daniel and I back to Arkansas and it was a really crazy time, so the plans kind of got put on hold for a couple of weeks. We picked right back up in February, going to a couple different jewelry stores and just seeing what we could find. One of the ones we went to was Brooks Jewelry in Conway and they specialize in custom-made rings. DING DING DING! We had a winner! Kirby really loved the idea of creating Hannah a one of a kind ring that no one else would have, so we went to work deciding what kind of setting he wanted, where to get loose diamonds, and all that jazz. It just so happens that his grandmother had a ring that she told him he use for Hannah's ring (how special is that?!). The ring was yellow gold with a .35 carat solitaire. Now, Hannah absolutely loves rose gold, so Kirby decided he wanted to incorporate that into her ring somehow. He also decided he wanted to do a three stone ring, because it would signify that their marriage relationship would consist of God at the top and then the two of them. Kirby was able to use the solitaire diamond from his grandmother and then the other two stones we found from some close family friends. Brooks Jewelry went to work drawing up a design and it was absolutely STUNNING! 

Now that the ring was taken care of, we had to decide when and where he would propose. The weekend of April 13-14, UCA had a Spring football game and Kirby's parents and sister were driving up from Austin, TX to watch him play. We decided this would be the perfect opportunity cause then all the families could be involved! He called my grandmother to see if she could do lunch on Sunday before his family had to leave--our grandmother's house is very special to us because we have so many fun and loving memories there and this would be absolutely nothing out of the ordinary to Hannah. Again, it was perfect! Knowing that she really wanted me at the proposal, I had to let her think I wasn't coming to lunch since Sunday was a work day for Daniel. Secretly, Daniel and I drove down after church so we could be there and watch the whole thing!

The Proposal:

Sunday, April 14, 2013, was a bright sunny day with a high of 75 degrees---absolutely perfect weather! (notice a trend here). They all get up and go to church, and then head to my grandmother's house for lunch as planned. Meanwhile, Daniel and I are driving down from Fort Smith and my Aunt Linda and Uncle Jim are driving back from our cabin to be there to take pictures. Once we arrive, we sit and hide at the end of the driveway so she won't see our cars. Kirby takes Hannah down to the lake that my grandparents live on, and at that moment we RUSHED into the house to watch the whole proposal transpire. It was so fun and beautiful to watch--especially to see the look of shock of Hannah's face since she had no idea it was coming that day! We got some great pictures and came back up to the house to celebrate and eat cake! 

I mean, honestly, how gorgeous is that ring?! 

The rest of the afternoon, we ate cake and took pictures and sighed with relief that we didn't have to keep a secret anymore! Since then, she and Kirby have already set a date---May 9, 2014 in an intimate beach ceremony in Florida! The countdown has begun so let the wedding festivities begin!

PattiCakes Bakery made this beautiful cake

Yay for being engaged!

The happy couple

Mike and Jan O'Meara, Kirby, Hannah, Mom and Dad

The couple with our grandparents :)

The Henderson women and our bling. I'd say our guys did well.

Surprise 25th Anniversary Party

This past December, my parents celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. I'm so proud to just even type that statement. What a privilege to have parents who are still "head-over-heels" in love--25 years later!! So, of course, my sister and I wanted to plan a big celebration party--I mean, this is a big deal! During our beach trip in August last summer, Hannah and I started talking and brainstorming ideas. We wanted it to be a small, intimate, family affair and we wanted to cook a 3-course meal with our favorite foods we had grown up with. And most importantly, we wanted it to be the surprise of the century! Mom was hilarious--I don't think she knew we were planning anything, but she did say a few times, "Don't be planning anything...It's not a huge deal...etc, etc, etc." And of course, we would just laugh behind her back like, "yeah right Mom."

Our last plan was the present we wanted to give them. We teamed up with the photographer of the family, Aunt Linda, and started gathering photos from the past 25 years. We found pictures from when they were dating, wedding pictures, baby pictures, family vacation pictures.....everything. In the end, we had over 700 pictures to choose from! In the end, we created a family photo album off of shutterfly.com that chronicled all the moments and memories our family has shared since my parents got married. It turned out even better than we imagined!

We decided to have the party in January...for two main reasons. 1) Their anniversary is December 27th. That is way too close to Christmas for us to be able to have time to squeeze in a celebration party! 2) It would be more of a shock and surprise. As the date got closer, we nailed down details and sent out invitations and finished the photo book and boy, was it HARD to not say anything! Especially when we left to come back home after Christmas--it was hard to not say, "see you in a couple of weeks!" Finally, the weekend came! Daniel and I left on a Thursday--which of course, it was snowing up here, so we were just praying we would make it! We got in late Thursday night and spent all day Friday decorating and cooking and getting ready for the big party. In order to pull off the surprise, my grandmother invited my parents out for fondue. We knew they were coming out about 6:30pm, so we told the rest of the family to arrive about 6:00pm. To hide the cars, we parked them at my dad's aunt's house right down the street and carpooled down to my grandmother's house. We went down to pick everyone up and headed down to the party. But, SURPRISE! Wouldn't you know, my parents who are ALWAYS late, arrived to their surprise party 25 minutes EARLY!!! Holy Cow! So, to avoid my parents seeing us, we pulled up to the front door and all ran inside and Daniel and I hid in the back. They walk in, and I can hear my dad say, "what are we celebrating?" Lol. After the initial shock, Hannah told them we had one more surprise for them. They closed their eyes and Daniel and I walked out from the back. I'm so glad my Aunt Linda captured their faces on camera---it was priceless.

We sat down to a dinner of wedge salad with homemade blue cheese dressing, Imperial chicken with twice baked potatoes and green beans, and Italian Creme Cake from PattiCakes bakery. It was all so yummy!

After we stuffed ourselves on the delicious food, we let them open their gifts. Hannah and I gave them the photo book, but we requested everyone else to write them a letter describing what they have meant to them the past 25 years.
                                                                               

 

 It was the perfect surprise party! In a hilarious way, we ALL got surprised--but I wouldn't have changed anything for the world! It was such a special time to spend with family and I think it's one of those memories we will love to remember!

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.