six years

This is the one I love.

photo by Rachel Debell Photography

four years!

photos by Rachel Debell Photography

pretty pom

as seen at my brother-in-law's wedding in June

Kelly

three

Happy October 3rd and happy eve of our 3rd anniversary to us.

{photo taken of a university elevator floor number on a recent visit}

I looked back and realized that I never posted about our "rehearsal dinner" for our wedding so I thought I'd do that now. (I'm also retro-publishing part of this post back in it's chronological order as well.)

The venue where we got married had a lot of different events all the time so you didn't get to book it for an entire weekend or anything. Basically we got it for the day of our wedding and that's it. I think there was a high school homecoming dance there the night before our wedding.

We didn't have attendants and since our family members who took part in our wedding doing music, readings, etc. are all polished speakers, performers, etc. and our preacher is very accomplished at doing weddings and we certainly weren't his first, we decided that a formal "rehearsal" in the space was not important to us.

(Sidenote: our wedding ended up starting about an hour late because the deejay we hired did not have all the equipment he needed unfortunately. I guess if we'd done a rehearsal with him then the delay wouldn't have happened but it just wasn't practical given all of the logistics in play and it was fine in the end.)

So back to the night before the wedding . . .

We decided that we what was really important to us was actually getting to spend time with all of the wonderful friends and family who were coming to our wedding, particularly the many, many people who came from out of town and who we don't get to see just every day.

My old youth minister, Greg, once said that there are two times in your life when everyone you know and love is going to gather in one place. One of those is your wedding and the other is your funeral. Obviously, you only get to enjoy those people at one of those events. His point was to soak up that time with the people you love and who love you at your wedding rather than getting overly focused on details and things.

So . . .

we went a different route than the norm and had a big social at a park and invited everyone who was invited to the wedding to come the night before and hang out.

We made it simple by getting sandwiches, chips, soft drinks, etc., nothing fancy, and everything was just serve yourself.

That meant we got to enjoy

family

old and new friends

big hugs from people we hadn't seen in a while

beginning to be hospitable together as a couple

sweet conversations

watching our friends and family from both sides join together and pitch in to set out food, etc.

This was actually one of my favorite parts just watching all of the people that we love individually meeting each other, smiling, laughing, talking, working, eating and playing alongside each other. It was neat.

We talked and caught up on each other's lives.

People came from Alaska, California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, other parts of Texas and even overseas. I may even be missing a place or two.

It was so very special to us!

We had simple decorations.

Many handmade by friends.

There was laughter,

football

hugs

and smiles!

I think it was absolutely perfect for us and I'm so glad we did it.

What a wonderful night that in some ways seems like so many more than three years ago.

Kelly

One week ago . . .

my cousin was getting married here.

Isn't it beautiful?!

Once I have permission from the bride and groom I will share more photos.

Kelly

long time, no post

This is the farm where we spent New Years.

Happy New Year to you all!

I have been out of pocket, hence no posting.

During the month of December we traveled A LOT.

a lot, a lot.

We're glad to be home.

We were able to see so many wonderful family members and friends but little man doesn't sleep all that great "on the road" and we got to share an airplane row with a dog (not in it's carrier under the seat like it was supposed to be, and not a helper dog either) and experience the joys of airport security and lots of driving, etc., etc.

We are road weary but counting our blessings for sure.

Good things: laughing with family, remembering a life well-lived, comforting one another, celebrating together, good food, the Boxing Day party, the food at the Boxing Day party, getting to experience David's first live marimba performance with him, seeing David take down slices of freshly fried country ham, attending a wedding, hiking in the majesty of God's creation, giving and receiving gifts, Hampton Inns, incredible hospitality of friends, nibbling party treats brought home to the Mama who stayed in the hotel to put the baby to bed, king-sized beds, New Mexican food, cousins, friends who are so glad to see you and have you that they want to cry, kids growing up, David learning to crawl, people who have known you your whole life, "welcome backs", worshipping through song, and on and on. It was a Merry Christmas indeed and a blessed season.

Here we go getting into the swing of things in a new month, new year and new decade.

Kelly

photo by Adrian

my mother-in-law

has a birthday today!

I just love this photo of her and her son on the day he married me.

photo by Rachel Debell Photography

Have a happy, happy birthday!!

Kelly

p.s. I also love the hanging flower pomanders that were hanging in the foyer over the guestbook table that you can see in the background. Those were some of the decorations I really wanted to incorporate in our wedding.

p.s.s. Please continue to pray for Emily today! Thank you!! Kelly

wedding Wednesday - eye candy

photos by Rachel Debell Photography

two years and counting . . .

what a wonderful, wonderful evening!

Thank you to whoever snapped this photo and to all of you who attended and supported us in person and in spirit.

Kelly

believe

this isn't actually a Christmas card but a wedding card we received

Believe . . .

believe that God loves us enough to send His Son to us, to be like us and among us

Emmanuel, God with us

believe that Christ loves us enough to be sent

to leave His Father, His home, to come here to live among us

and die by our hands

believe in marriage

believe that it can happen even when you haven't had a date in months

hope

believe when we see marriages falling apart around us

when the day is hard

when we don't agree with our spouse

believe in marriage

believe that the God who loves us enough to send His Son here to live among us, loves us enough to help us through, to help us learn better how to love like He does, to learn how to live out day after day in covenant relationship with another as He does with us

believe that the God who loves us this much also hurts with us when people choose not to accept His help and turn away from their marriages and believe that He stands by those left behind and loves them through the heartache

Believe!

"Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness."

Genesis 15:6

"Then Jesus said to the centurion, "Go! It will be done just as you believed it would." And his servant was healed at that very hour." Matthew 8:13

"Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!" Luke 1:45

"Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" John 11:40

A + K

together for one year and forever after!

wedding Friday - it's time!!!

photo: Kelly

Do you remember this post?

I had set it to automatically post at the time of our wedding.

After all of the planning, dreaming, waiting and getting ready, it was time!

I loved showing up at the Cotton Mill and seeing how everything had turned out. Everything was ready to go, I felt great and I was so excited that it was finally time to marry Adrian.

photo: Rachel Debell Photography

I really like the crosses on the door in the background of this picture.

They were already there and went great with our decor.

photo: Rachel Debell Photography

a shot of my bouquet

From what I can remember, my hands were calm. I was just ready and happy and sure.

photo: Jenni

For some reason, the bottom of this photo is gray, but I love the way the sunlight is streaming in on the podium where we will stand together before God and all of our family and friends and publicly state our commitment to each other for the rest of our lives.

It was beyond my imagination to get to stand on such a beautiful bed of rose petals as we said our vows but it turned out to be quite doable to get bags of rose petals from our florist and was one of the easiest ways to cover the makeshift stage that was provided.

What I didn't know until the day of and what you can't see in the photo is that the stage was quite high actually and it would have been quite a step up from the floor. My brother and my friend Mindy, and maybe some others, I'm not sure, found some smaller steps to put in front of it and draped them with crocheted doilies that had been made by my great-grandmother. It was so special to me to have her present at the wedding in that way. What a blessing!

photo: Betty

Everything is ready and it is almost time for the ceremony to begin!!

photo: Betty

Seating

and finally . . .

photo: Rachel Debell Photography

the ceremony

What a blessing it was to be surrounded by our family and friends for such an important occasion. The whole room just radiated with joy.

photo: Rachel Debell Photography

Kelly

wedding Wed, uh, Thursday - almost one year!

this photo by me, all others by Rachel Debell Photography

wedding Wednesday - family

Here are just a few of the family shots from our wedding.

Of course there are more but I'm not sure who all would care if I posted their

photo on my blog but I thought the ones below were safe. :)

my mom, sister-in-law, Mandy and myself

my beautiful mama

my wonderful mother-in-law and my husband-to-be

my brother Jeremy, escorting my mom down the aisle

all photos in this post: Rachel Debell Photography

Sweetie and Poppy, my grandparents

my parents and I

It was such a joy to celebrate our wedding with those we love most.

If you're reading this and you made the effort to come to our wedding

(or even tried because a few people just couldn't make it in the end),

thank you again! It meant a whole lot to us!