Wedding Sneak Peak

Well we finally did it.

We are officially, legally married!

The wedding turned out amazing, everyone looked awesome and the decor was gorgeous. We of course had a few hiccups, but in the end we are married and that is what matters. I am only allowing myself one more day to be angry with a certain couple of people that threw a wrench in our fun, and then I'm moving on. :)

First of all, chances of rain and storms had been forecasted for literally every single day the week before, which would have made for a very muddy reception as we couldn't afford to rent the flooring for the ground, but thanks to diligent prayer it barely sprinkled a couple of times the whole week!  When Saturday's forecasted storms were taken out, they were unfortunately replaced with gale force wind gusts, leaving a dilemma with how to keep the tables from being blown over at the reception.  Enter my mom, brothers, and uncle, and a couple others who spent a good portion of the early afternoon zip tying the largest tarps in creation to the sides of the tent. Problem solved! 

And then, all day long I kept telling the girls that I felt like I was forgetting something I was supposed to handle, up to minutes before the ceremony began. It wasn't until we were taking family pictures afterwards that my mom said "Um, Aud...who was supposed to handle drinks??"  Um yeah, that would have been me, but luckily my uncles swooped in and saved the day!

My friend Ruth Ann took pictures for us since she had her camera with her for the photo booth shots, and I thought I would share a few before I get the official photos from our amazing and incredibly sweet photographer. Oh, did I mention that our photographer was a victim of the tornado outbreak 2 weeks ago, and she and her 2 year old son survived the complete destruction of their house by being in the bathtub?? And yet, she still manages to keep her commitment to our wedding!

Enjoy!

My gorgeous mom being escorted in by all of her boys



The first look at his bride! Isn't he handsome in that tux??



Brooke is cut out of this shot, but didn't my girls look fabulous? We opted for black dresses and shoes of their choice, with the only consistency being the peacock feather hair clip and the flowers

We had a time of giving vows to Carter, sort of a baby dedication, although he has already had that. In true Carter fashion, he threw a wall-eyed fit on stage and screamed through it, and Ruth Ann caught me trying to make him laugh at my funny face...

Introducing...the now LEGALLY married couple!

And then he stole the show when he went chasing after us on the way out of the sanctuary!

Holy. Deliciousness. These are from Candy Haven. It has long been my dream to have my wedding cake be white chocolate cake from there, and thanks to some amazing friends and hook-ups from a coworker, it was made possible! They were the talk of the reception!

First dance. We danced to Adam Sandler's "I want to grow old with you" from The Wedding Singer movie, one of our favorites!

Photobooth time!

We were already missing 2 girls, but these are all coworkers of mine! We are a very close bunch and love to have fun! Most all of them attended my bachelorette party too!

And of course, the truck was decorated

Probably going to be one of my favorites pictures ever of us.  The sparklers looked way cool, except that I kept thinking "please don't burn my dress!" and Christiaan was telling everyone not to get too close to my hair because it was solid hairspray! 

The guys found a use for the church's leftover Easter eggs....seriously?? So as we drove off, Christiaan had the brilliant idea to put them in Brad and Bri's yard, since they live just around the corner, and man I wish now that someone had pictures of us chunking those things in the yard, in our tux and wedding dress!

We are truly blessed people.  This whole experience really made me realize how many amazing people we have in our lives, both family and friends.  Again, I do not know that I am a good enough person to deserve everything that was done for me, and I only hope that I can repay the favors. 

A huge thanks to everyone who did anything to make this day so special for us!  There are seriously too many to name and I would leave someone out because there was so much going on that day that I didn't even know about! We are so looking forward to moving on with our lives, and are more than ready to take on our future together!  

I hang

See??


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

I'm so fired.

I know. Its been a ridiculous amount of time since my last post of any worth. I am not even going to pretend that I have very good excuses for leaving out a 2 month chunk of my poor kid's life, although the list is long and includes things like....thousands of riveting 2nd grade papers to grade....packing up my mom's ENTIRE house, then unpacking it....a camera battery charger that went MIA somewhere in the packing...Carter having the flu, then strep and an upper respiratory infection back to back...and of course the mind-boggling experience of planning a wedding.


Y'all.


I totally get why people elope.


Somewhere in all this Carter turned 2. Although by the way he acts, you would think he had been 2 forever. I would love to post pictures of his party, but my computer has decided that it is not friends with my DSLR and refuses to recognize its existence. And for my latest excuse for lack of blogging?? We found out yesterday that the apartment we moved into does not get the internet because it is so far out in the boonies!

So yes, Carter has turned 2, but not before we spent most of spring break and the week before that miserable with his illnesses, and he is keeping us moving more than ever. His favorite things to do are to climb on everything, playing baseball with his real glove, and he is super into motorcycles for some reason. He cracks us up when he says his signature words and phrases like "I hide" which he says as he is trying to weasel his way into any tiny crevice, "I hang" which he says when he sees any surface that he might possibly hang from, and says words like whatacle(motorcycle). He has taken to saying "AMEN!!" just before he eats, as soon as he sits down at the table. No prayer needed, just amen is sufficient apparently.

And then there are the mi mi's. Oh, the mi mi's. Most people know these as pacifiers, binkies, paps, whatever, Carter's are called mi mi's. And there are many of them stashed in various places, none of which I can ever find when searching, but he seems to go straight to. Unfortunately the type he prefers are no longer sold at Target or Walmart even, so I tried to replace them with another version of the same brand. Nope, wouldn't have it. He considers those as a last resort if none of the others are to be found. They drive me INSANE because he will beg incessantly for one, but lord knows he doesn't need it! I have tried to limit him to only having them in the car and at bedtime, and I think this summer they will make their way to mi mi heaven, but I haven't figured out the best way to make that happen yet.

In 2 weeks we will officially(legally!) be married. I am in the panic attack a day stage, trying to make sure that everything has been covered. Planning a wedding is actually not as fun and romantic as you dream about! Especially when you have a limited budget, a smallish church sanctuary, and extensive family and friends to invite! We have been blessed in many areas of the planning part, and I am surrounded by wonderful girlfriends who always are there to give me the best advice. I am just ready for the day to be here so that I can't sit around and stress about anything anymore!

So my goal is get back into regular blogging once the wedding is past us, and especially once summer is here. 34 more days til school is out!!

Engagement Photos

This past weekend we took our engagement photos. I wanted to use the ferris wheel as a backdrop, since that is where it all went down, and thanks to Pinterest I found some cool ideas for that and for some other shots as well. And FYI-- the blue dress with the yellow tights? Totally Pinterest. Like I would ever think to wear mustard yellow tights! I asked Jo, who took the photos of the wedding at the hospital, to take our pictures, and come to find out it was her first engagement shoot! But seriously?? If this is what she does with her first engagement shoot, what else can the woman do?? We are super excited about how these photos turned out and cannot wait to get them printed out and hung on a wall! I tried to narrow it down to my favorites, but it was just so dang hard!

We bribed Carter with Pez, and he was mildly cooperative. Remember that shirt he is wearing? Christiaan was way more ingenius than he realized!

How is this picture of us?? It should be from a magazine or something! LOVE LOVE!

My favorite picture of Christiaan. Ever.

Just cool.

I have a feeling we will be calling Jo for many photos in our future. Because clearly she is very talented! You can't even tell that it had been raining for like 2 days prior to our shoot, or that it was super windy and chilly out that morning! Oddly enough, it felt very similar to the weather on the day of our wedding at the hospital. God sure has a sense of humor.

The Christmas Wish

FYI--Yes I am aware that it is February and I am just now getting around to writing about this, and am also severely behind on other updates, but maybe this will help explain where my brain has been....

Back in August of last year, the fragile foundation of my parents' house finally gave way and the a pier from the previous foundation work shot out of the ground on the front porch. Unfortunately this cause the front door to jam, rendering it useless. I tried calling the foudation company that had done the previous work, but was told by them and then later by several other companies that the earliest they could come out was around a month later! I guess they really picked up business due to the drought over the summer. So we resorted to using the back door only. When someone finally was able to come out, it was discovered that there was a plumbing leak under the house, and thus began all the back and forth of whether the foundation issues were due to the plumbing break, or the break was due to the foundation issues. None of which my parents had the means to repair.

Eventually it was decided to repair the plumbing first, and this was supposed to start just before Christmas break. Literally just as the they were going to start, the man in charge got a phone call that they had a family emergency and had to leave. At least, that was the story he gave my mom.....

In reality, several friends and family members had written in to KLTY's Christmas Wish program. Our family friend, Karen's, wish letter was chosen and they began the process of sneaking around to check out the situation at the house unbeknownst to my mom or me. They recruited my aunt Karen, my mom's friend Debbie, and Christiaan to accomplish everything.

On the Tuesday before Christmas, my mom was finishing the last day of school before break and was called to a principals office to talk. He stalled for time and eventually took a phone call from KLTY's Bonnie Curry, who broke the news to mom about the answer to all her prayers!

She read the amazing letter that Karen wrote in, telling the history of what all has happened to our family in recent months and why my mom was so deserving of a granted wish. She informed mom that a foundation company was going to fix the house, and plumbing company was going to repair whatever was going on with the plumbing, a storage company was going to provide pod storage for everything in the house since it would have to be cleared out, and a band called FourTwelve was donating cash to help cover other costs.

Mom was totally floored, and of course cried her way through the call, which was broadcasted multiple times throughout the next day and next few days before Christmas. I have it saved on my computer but cannot figure out how to get it uploaded to my post for some reason. But she spoke so wonderfully and really portrayed a faithful servant of God and showed why she truly was so deserving of this wonderful gift! I still can't believe that all of this was coordinated without either of us knowing about it!

So we have spent the month of January prepping the house and our lives for the ridiculous amount of work the the house is undergoing. We had to clear out and pack up every room of the house except for mom's room, due to the extreme amount of foundation work that has to be done. It was quite a feat, seeing as how they have lived in that house for somewhere around 28 years and have managed to accumulate a lifetime and 3 kids worth of living there. We filled to the brim 3 entire pods with everything from the house! As of now, the foundation is done, and plumbing repair is scheduled to start this week, followed by repairs of the walls and new flooring. Once everything is done, I will post pictures of all the work!

Here is the letter that Karen sent in....

Steve and Pam have been friends of ours for over 30 years. They met in the 4th grade at church and began “going together” in the 7th grade. Steve said that he knew then that Pam would be the love of his life. They married in 1979 and celebrated their 32nd wedding anniversary this year. During their marriage, they were blessed with a beautiful family – including 4 children and 1 grandson, who has blessed their lives in ways they never knew were possible.
Steve served for many years as a Music Minister with Pam right by his side playing the piano so beautifully. Together, they were such a Godly couple and team.
In August of 2009, Steve was diagnosed with Leukemia. For the next 27 months, they spent more time in the hospital than they did at home as Steve endured round after round of chemo. For over 2 years, Pam would make a bed right there in his room wanting to spend every moment she could with him. She was his biggest encourager, cheerleader, spirit lifter, prayer warrior, and never giving up hope. She went to work when she could, but always felt torn when she would have to leave him. It was such a blessing to watch their love for each other grow deeper and deeper.
Our hearts were broken on November 10th when the doctors called for the family to come to the hospital. They were told at that time that there was nothing else that they could do for Steve, and that he would be going home with Hospice.
Their daughter, Audrah, had gotten engaged this fall. She was waiting until Spring for the wedding in order to give her Daddy time to get stronger and be able to walk her down the aisle. When the hospital staff heard this, they quickly put things in motion and got a wedding together in 36 hours. They had a beautiful ceremony in the outside courtyard at Medical City Hospital on Saturday, November 12th with Pam pushing the wheelchair as Steve escorted Audrah hand-in-hand down the aisle. Steve left the hospital the next day – they went to Pam’s brother and sister-in-law’s home to spend their last few days together.
Here is the heartbreaking message that we received from Pam on Thursday, November 17th:
At 3:40 this morning, I lost the love of my life. No words can express the heartache I feel today. We have known each other since the 4th grade, share the same experiences, held each other tight through the joyous times and through the toughest of times, raised incredible children who make us so proud, and served our Lord side by side. We are comforted knowing that he is rejoicing with our Lord and being reunited with our son, Tyler. But my selfish being misses him terribly and is not sure how I will be able to go on without him. Please lift our family in prayer as we try to cope.
Pam is not only left now trying to figure out what life will be like for her and the kids without their husband/daddy, but also dealing with issues that came up during Steve’s illness. Pam is not even able to go back home at this time. Because of the drought during this past summer, their foundation cracked in 3 places. She has checked with their insurance company and they are refusing to pay for this repair. Also, since Steve was not able to work for over 2 years, Pam is in a financial bind and has MAJOR medical bills she must deal with. In addition to that, their youngest son had to drop out of college to move back home to help the family. It was Steve’s wish that he would be able to complete his degree.
I pray that the KLTY Christmas Wish program will be able to help this precious family during this difficult time in their lives. God bless you all for all you do for the families of your KLTY listeners! Merry Christmas to you and yours!!
In Him,

Christmas Vacation, Part 2

After a couple of short days back home for Christiaan to work, we went back to Waco. We made it in time for JuJu's 10th birthday dinner. Carter of course was more than excited to be back to play with the kids!

Happy birthday Juju!!

Make sure you gimme some of that, Aunt Kristi.....

Cake!

The next morning Christiaan and I and some of his friends headed to San Antonio for the Alamo Bowl. It took forever to get there, but once we got checked into the hotel we decided to eat dinner at Cheesecake Factory before the game. It was close to our hotel in some fancy pants mall, which made for some great people watching. Then we made our way to the local park and ride, which I had reservations about, but changed my mind when I realized it was only hoards of people riding to the game.

The Baylor spellout

Mr. God Bless the Usa himself Lee Greenwood sang the national anthem and of course his signature song. That gorgeous bald eagle wasn't too thrilled to be inside a stadium with thousands of screaming fans.

Enjoying the game, which was crazy intense. It was back and forth most of the game, but at halftime it wasn't looking good for Baylor, then the 2nd half was much more in our favor and we won!

RG3 being interviewed after the game.

Final score!

The team accepting their trophy

We noticed the balloons awaiting to be dropped before the game ever started, but then when they were setting up the stage we realized that they were also setting up fireworks, which doesn't really sound like a good idea to me, but I'm sure they are professionals and know what they are doing. Still I couldn't help but be a little nervous, since I was well aware that were the Alamo Dome to catch on fire, it would take a good 15 minutes to get from our seats to the outside!

Carter would have had a hayday on that field

Is it just me, or did my hair seem really straight that day?

Jennifer, Cody, and Matt. Cody had to be at work at 8 the next morning, in Waco, and the game wasn't over until midnight. Plus a 3ish hour drive back, they got home after 4 that morning!

Our public transit bus. I was rather impressed with their efficiency with transport the throngs of fans back and forth!

We were the first ones on so we went all the way to the back of the bus, and literally not a single other passenger would come join us. It wasn't until the last people on were forced to sit by us that anyone came back. Weird.

We stayed the night at a nice hotel, and I'm not sure about Christiaan, but I know that I didn't even think about waking up until 10:15! Carter had not been sleeping well AT ALL that week so we were exhausted. On our way back to Waco we stopped in Austin and had lunch with Brandon, Candice, and Elan. Where I didn't get any pics of the little guy.

Back in Waco that night the kids and Jason shot off some fireworks from Debra's driveway. I love that she lives just out of town enough that we can do that without driving to the middle of nowhere. Carter had some trouble with the loudness of them, so we watched most of it from inside Christiaan's truck, but he did eventually warm up to the thought of holding a sparkler like the big kids.

Julius the goon

Brave little thing!

We left Waco the next day and spent New Year's with the Pruitt's, Malone's, and Perrin's. We had a sleepover at the Perrin's house! The boys were up at all ungodly hours of the night, because, you know, they might miss something if they went to bed.

The only picture I got of us the whole night

I would like to point out the cable box literally says 11:59. Happy new years Brycey!

Bri and Brycen

So. Dang. Cute. But freaking go to bed already!!

I'll leave you with this hilarious video. This was taken after midnight, when most children are tucked away in bed. But no, ours turned the Perrin's living room into dance party central.