our wedding!

It happened!!!!!! :) And here are a few pictures as well as a phenomenal slide show that I've already watched a handful of times today:

http://lightlyphoto.com/blog/mary-bobby-married-at-christ-chapel-community-church-and-colonial-country-club-ft-worth/

Thank you to our wonderful friends and family for making that night the most magical and special thing we've ever been a part of...it went far above our expectations and I had more fun than I've ever had in my life!

love for my sweet mama

One of the song choices at church this morning couldn't have come at a more perfect time; here is the chorus which spoke right to my heart:

Oh No, You Never Let Go
Oh no, You never let go
Through the calm and through the storm
Oh no, You never let go
In every high and every low
Oh no, You never let go
Lord, You never let go of me

This week stands to contain both the highest of highs and lowest of lows thus far in my life. I think I'll hum this tune to myself all day tomorrow as we wait for the amazing doctors to work their magic on my sweet mama.

If you're the praying kind, my family would be most grateful for any you care to offer up.

m and m

To say I'm thankful for these two amazing friends isn't enough. Blessed, thankful, forever grateful and appreciative just begin to scratch the surface. I got to spend a full day with each of these lovelies as they stepped in to help me finish wedding tasks so that I can go be by sweet mama's side for two days (those two days just happen to be the week of our wedding-hello, stress and expletives and tears and no sleep and endless praying). Anyway, sweet Meredeth and Margaret took the reins as wedding planners and ran around with me in the 256 degree heat trying to finish things on the never-ending wedding to-do list. Meredeth went to 400 stores with me to find a rehearsal dinner dress, she tried on dresses that they didn't have in my size just so I could see what they looked like on, she befriended the saleslady in order to make sure my overnighted dress would get here in time, and she made me laugh the whole time, which was very much needed. Margaret and I went to a few less stores looking for jewelry and other day-of necessities. ;) We managed to find multiple pieces that would work and then came back and worked on the ceremony program for hours. Man, she is ah-mazing on the computer! It was so nice to get those things accomplished with friends alongside for the fun/stress.

More important than all of the items bought and tasks scratched off the lists, these two souls are the truest definition of what a friend is. They stepped in and required that I accept their help, they've made me laugh and they've listened. They've shown love in the most outstanding way and I will forever remember that while in the midst of heartache and uncertainty combined with the craziness and excitement that comes with finalizing wedding plans, my friends displayed loved that I've never seen before.

a cat and her cardboard

**Disclaimer: I realize this post puts me fully into the category of being a cat lady.**

I'm ok with that because:
1. I love her.
2. Her love affair with biting/playing in/jumping in/hiding in it is mind-boggling.
3. She has made packing a very entertaining event, which is a miracle.
4. I can't truly be a cat lady if I'm getting married in a month, right???

P.S.-Instagram is the coolest app!!

hello, home

She is ours! Isn't she cute:
We're running out of things to sign away, but for now this will suffice as signing our lives away.

The first child is going to the band for our reception.

The second child is going to the wedding photographer...really, the wedding photo album/book.

At this rate we're going to need to have more kids than we've discussed.

because i aspire to be snow white

I want to be this woman:

tastes of summer

Hello, summer: Edamame Succotash
1 slice center-cut bacon
1 tablespoon butter
2 cups chopped sweet onion
2 cups fresh corn kernels (about 3 ears)
1 (16-ounce) bag frozen, shelled edamame, thawed
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sugar
3 plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons torn basil

Cook bacon in a nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan, reserving 2 teaspoons drippings in pan; coarsely chop bacon.

Increase the heat to medium-high. Melt butter in drippings in pan. Add onion; sauté 3minutes, stirring occasionally. Add corn kernels; sauté for 3 minutes or until lightly charred. Add edamame, and sauté for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in vinegar and next 5 ingredients (through bell pepper); cook 30 seconds, stirring occasionally. Sprinkle with bacon and basil.

*This is a light dish that is good on hot summer nights (you can eat it hot or cold) and also is a winner if you've got fitting into a very important white dress on the brain.

(from Cooking Light)

Here's another one I just made (doubled it) to take to a work luncheon tomorrow:

Strawberry Field Salad
1 (5-ounce) bag spring mix salad greens
1 1/2 cups strawberries, halved (about 1 pint)
1/2 cup prechopped walnuts or pecans
1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese
Sesame Vinaigrette (recipe below)

Place spring mix in a large serving bowl and top with strawberries, nuts and blue cheese. Pour vinaigrette over salad, toss to coat ingredients well and serve.

1/4 cup bottled Italian salad dressing
1 teaspoon honey
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon Asian (dark) sesame oil

Pour salad dressing into a small mixing bowl and whisk in honey, soy sauce and sesame oil.

(from The Dinner Doctor)

sacred

In our young couples class at church, we've been going through a study based on the book Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas. The idea behind the book and the group study is to ponder the question "What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?"

That's quite a question to ponder. Particularly at the halfway point in an engagement. But I have ended up LOVING this study and am so thankful for the timing of it in our lives and our relationship. The study wipes away the romanticized notion of a marriage and instead talks about growing with your spouse and growing your relationship in order to bring God glory. Through this class, Bobby and I had many opportunities to talk with others couples, hear their insight and experiences in their marriages, reflect on our own strengths and weaknesses, and really look at how we help balance each other out and how we can honor each other. I could probably write a lot more about the study, but alas it is Sunday evening and everything I've put off doing over the weekend is now staring me in the face. Boo. My favorite thing from the whole study was a prayer suggested during class this morning: "Lord, how do I love my spouse today like they've never been loved before and never will be loved again?" I feel so honored to be the person who gets to pray that over my sweet boy.

they said it's not broken...

Buuuuut, it ain't right.

In fact, it's a bit crooked.

This is the result of changing poses in yoga-going from downward dog to warrior 1. To quote my dear friend's blog, um....seriously?! I've done that change 100 times without injury.

Sorry to those of you reading this who are grossed out by feet.

just a preview...

Yep.

Thank goodness for Photoshop (we now have a decent copy of this picture where he's actually looking at the camera...he's pretty).

Yes, there were laughable pictures of me as well, but after all, this is my blog and I chose to not share those with the world. :)

Thank goodness we did an informal practice shoot with a very patient friend...otherwise we wouldn't have known how important drinks will be before the real engagement photo session. After all, we're basically agreeing to give our photographer our first child in exchange for pictures and a wedding album, so we need to be relaxed and get some good shots.

Thank goodness for love.