Year One Complete

Today is our FIRST wedding anniversary! : ) 

It's been one year of crazy happy moments and plenty of crazy fights, too. We have loved hard, fought stupidly, made up easily, laughed heartily, cried brokenly, and prayed mightily. Life is a roller coaster, but the highs always make up for the lows. 

Marriage is the greatest blessing that the Lord has ever given me and I am so thankful for my wonderful husband. I couldn't ask for anything more...he does anything and everything that I ask of him and then some. He treats me like a princess, but knows how to tell me no, too. He is trustworthy, dependable, honest, Godly...and a good man. He's someone that I admire and respect and I'm so glad that God made him for me. I can't wait to see where the next 60 years take us!

Thank you, Justin, for being the best husband to me. I love you. 

I actually did have a giveaway scheduled for this afternoon, but the shop backed out at the last second! So I guess really it's only 8 days of giveaways, but hey, who's counting? ; ) The giveaways will start back tomorrow!

Love, love!

PS: We will be flying back to the states tomorrow! Pray for a safe flight please!

So Long...Farewell

I don't exactly know how to say this, so I'll just spit it out...

WE ARE HEADED ON VACATION!!!!!!!!!!

We are going on a tropical second honeymoon to celebrate our FIRST wedding anniversary, which is coming up on October 2nd. : ) I can't wait to lay on the beach, see the crystal clear water, read several books, snuggle with the hubs, have no responsibilities, make babies, and eat dessert with every meal. Our cell phones will be off and we won't have internet...and I can't wait to be unplugged.

I won't be around the blog world for the next week or so, but I do have an amazing surprise for y'all! As I was contemplating who to ask to guest post for me while I was gone, I was inspired by my bff Michaela and decided instead to do a week of giveaways to celebrate our anniversary! Wouldn't y'all rather free stuff over guest posts?! The answer should be yes here.

So while we are getting spoiled, y'all will be getting spoiled. All is right with the world.

The giveaways will start tomorrow and there will be TWO each day, so don't forget to check back! Confession: it's actually not a week of giveaways...it's NINE days of giveaways!! I have some amazing shops lined up...like aaaaamazing!

Talk to y'all next week...with lots of picture recaps, of course! Pray for a safe trip for us! 

I'm going to totally miss y'all. And that's the truth. I'd bring my computer if it wasn't $15 a day for internet. 

Love, love!!

PS: The winner of the Ezza Exclusive giveaway is........Joel and Cindy! Email me! : )

Honeymoon Round Two

(catch the first honeymoon post here!) 

The hubs added the honeymoon package to our trip and it was full of sweet things to do!

It included:

A picnic. 

A little "photo shoot" with free pictures. 

A bubble bath. 

A couples massage. 

And a candlelight private dinner on the beach. 

We didn't do many excursions since we had done the honeymoon package, but I did surprise my sweet husband while we were there by sending him on a deep sea fishing trip. He LOVED it! I would have puked my guts up. Those little boats are rough, y'all!

Our last night there, our butlers (that came with the room we booked) sent us out for a fancy dinner. When we returned, our room was decorated in rose petals and candles. It was the sweetest thing!

The next morning, we woke up early to head back to the airport, after a huge breakfast, of course! 

The best thing about our honeymoon package was that it included a private car back to the airport. So basically, while everyone else rode the pokey bus, we whizzed in and out in our fancy car. At some points, I was little bit scared for my life, but the driver didn't speak English, so there wasn't much that we could do other than buckle our seat belts and give each other "the eyes" behind his back. : )

It sure is nice faking rich for a little while.

When we got to the airport, we waited for our plane to board. And waited. And waited. About an hour after we were supposed to board, we were informed that a bird had hit the plane and they were "repairing something." Oh, good. Because that soothes my soul. After several more hours, we were informed that our plane was beyond repair and we would have to stay another night in Jamaica, courtesy of Delta. 

My sad face. 

Husband's sad face. 

Maybe that sounds exciting, but trust me, it wasn't. We had waited 10+ hours in the airport and were really just ready to get home! So we filed back out of the airport and into buses to head to our new resort. It was decently nice, but not nearly as spectacular as Sandals. We got there around 7 pm and had to leave the next morning at 6 am. It was a super quick visit and we basically just laid in the bed and watched tv and wished for McDonald's, Sonic, and Taco Bell. ; ) A really sweet lady let me use her cell phone to call my parents and let them know that we would be delayed a day. Thank goodness for her!

The next day, things went more smoothly and we finally made it home! We arrived to find the sweetest thing from my mom:

Thanks, mommy!!

I would totally recommend Sandals to anyone and everyone!! The resort was amazing, the food was delicious, and their service was truly excellent! As I mentioned in my first honeymoon post, we had to go to a different resort than what we had booked, so the folks at Sandals kindly offered us a free trip, which we are using this coming week!

Hope y'all have a wonderful Saturday!

Love, love!!

Sealing the Deal

Romantic title to talk about our honeymoon, right? I thought so.

After we left our reception, we headed to The Hilton for the night, but not before stopping at McDonald's first. Yes, the first place we went as a married couple was McD's. We are high class. : ) 

When we got to the room, Justin told me to wait in the hallway for a minute while he went "to do something." After a minute or two, he came back to the door and told me to close my eyes as he escorted me inside. 

When I opened my eyes, I saw this:

It was truly stunning and I think I might have screamed a little bit. 

Then I noticed the rose on the bed and more importantly, what was tied TO the rose! It was the top half of my wedding band, which he told me that I would get at our 1 year anniversary!! Sneaky snake!

Tied on with a ribbon. 

It's safe to say that I was a happy little wife at this point. And still am. Duh. 

After a looooong night (ha!), we woke up bright and early the next morning to head to Jamaica! 

When we arrived at the airport in Jamaica, we were informed that a tropical storm had hit the Sandals resort that we were scheduled to go to, so they were sending us to another Sandals resort in Jamaica instead. I'll be honest, we were both pretty bummed at first. We had spent SO much time researching and were set on going to Negril, which is renowned for its beautiful beaches. We quickly decided to let any disappointment go because after all, we were still in Jamaica and still headed on a fabulous tropical honeymoon!

The orange house was our home for the week.

Our indoor pool and hot tub. It was between the sitting room and the bedroom, but the roof was open.

This is pretty much how we ate for every meal...and why I returned 10 pounds heavier.

The resort that we went to was Sandals Ocho Rios.

We spent most of our days on the beach or in our pool. Or sometimes in bed watching tv and eating cheese plates. It was definitely the most relaxing trip of my life because there was no cellphones and no internet. All we had was each other...and endless food. : ) And y'all, seriously, we ate at least THREE cheese plates a day, each of which was piled high with a variety of sliced cheese and crackers. Yummmmo.

The hubs brought Monster energy drinks to Jamaica. #spoiled

One day we went out in this seemingly serene glass bottom boat.

All was well for the first 2 minutes, until I thought I was going to puke my guts up.

I didn't, thank goodness. But no more glass bottom boats for me.

We did go on a sunset cruise one day, which was amazing. No sickies on this one! It was a lot more smooth!

This was about day 3 and he was pretty done with all the picture taking. : )

I'll be sharing the second part of our honeymoon recap tomorrow and then we will be all caught up, just in time for honeymoon number 2...which starts this coming week! Hooray!

Love, love!

These Three Things - Bless this Nest

Thursdays mean it's time for another round of  "These Three Things" - where a fabulous blogger tells us about three things that define them! Today I'm thrilled to have a great friend here, Erin from Bless this Nest. I love Erin for so many reasons. She is hilarious, positive, encouraging, thoughtful, and so darn cute! She always leaves the most heartfelt comments and it's evident that she really cares about people. She has been through a lot of hard stuff lately, but she has kept a beautiful outlook on life and has been so strong and positive through it all! She's a total inspiration. I can't wait for y'all to meet her!! Take it away, Erin!

Hey everybody!  Happy Thursday!  My name is Erin and I blog over at Bless This Nest. 

Me and my Husband  : )

I feel so honored and excited to be guest posting on Megan's blog today!  She is such a wonderful woman and is filled with so much positive energy, I can't help but feel better after reading her daily posts.  I've been going through some crazy heath problems lately, so being asked to participate in "These Three Things" sure lifted my spirits!  Hope y'all enjoy!

Laughing is my absolute favorite thing to do.  I always tend to gravitate towards people who are funny-- in my opinion, laughter is the best medicine for the soul.  I learn the best from the teachers who are funny, embarrassing things just aren't as embarrassing when you laugh about it afterwards...  even guys become more attractive if they are funny.  I certainly lucked out with my husband.  Not only is he funny, but he's a total stud!  ; )

I just don't know how to live without being able to laugh through life.  Even the other day when I was experiencing some of the worst physical pain of my life and crying hysterically from it (true story) I managed to crack a few jokes between sobs.  It's just what I do.  I laugh and I like it.  A lot.  And that is all.

To me, hope is about trusting in the Lord wholeheartedly.  Knowing deep within that He is there to carry me through these tough times.  It reminds me to never ever give up because on the other side of this pain, He has something wonderful for me to embrace.  I have "Hope" tattooed on the inside of my right wrist.

I have things (pictures, trinkets, doodads etc.) all over the house that say "Hope."  I think I do it because at times my mind gets so lost in all the negatives that I need to see those physical reminders to get me back on track.  I guess you could say I collect "hope" in my house.  ; )

And finally, saving the best for last.... my husband, John!  Ironically today is our 11 month anniversary!  I can't believe it's almost been a year since I married my best friend! One of the best days of my life! Even after all the crap we had to go through to get there... I'll never regret or forget walking down that aisle to become his wife.  My husband is simply amazing.  He is my Godsend and makes me laugh ridiculous amounts.  I have changed so much since I met John.  He makes me a better person and has helped me grow up a lot.  He challenges me to stay away from negative situations and people and has taught me how to take care of myself and not let people stomp all over me and my heart.  He is the diet to my coke.  ; )

Well I guess that right there concludes my edition of "These Three Things!"   Feel free to stop by and visit anytime lovelies!  Thanks again for having me, Megan!  Love you lots!

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Isn't Erin just the sweetest?! I love the hope tattoo. What a sweet reminder! Go ahead and head over to her blog and make a new friend!! Thanks for being here, Erin! You're the best!!

Love, love!!

PS: The jewelry giveaway ends tonight! Last chance to enter!

The Reception

Our reception was laid back and full of friends, family, and great food. We had so much fun and it literally seemed like we had just gotten there when it was time to go. 

One of our favors was hand sanitizer. Yes, I'm a nurse and a germ freak. : )

The cake was my favorite thing ever...it summarized our wedding perfectly: simply, girly, and pink. 

One of Justin's THREE cakes!

First dance - George Strait's "I Cross My Heart."

Oh, daddy. : )

We played nice. 

Cupid shuffle up in here!

I totally adore my super dramatic friends. : )

My leaving dress. 

Such a sweet moment with my mom. 

And we're off to our honeymoon! : )

YAY! The wedding recap is finally over! If y'all have stuck with me through all of them, THANKS!

All pictures (except the dress change picture) taken by Brandon O'Neal photography.