Wedding Story: How We Met



I'm thinking about doing a blog series on my wedding!  This is the freshest it'll ever be in my mind (seeing as how it happened last October) and I'd love to have it documented here so I can come back and enjoy it over and over again.

So I start with how Kevin and I met and our story of dating.  I hesitate sharing this with you...why?  I'm afraid of being judged.  I'm afraid of people thinking that I'm a jerk.  But our story is quite beautiful considering how God orchestrated it all.  If I had to summarize it all in one sentence, it would be this: God works in ways that you will never understand or ever be able to predict, but He is in control and knows what He's doing AND what is ultimately best for you.

So in November of 2010, I was not in a happy place.  I had just gone through a really tough breakup and to be honest, was pretty depressed.  I was 27 and not understanding why I was still single.  Though I was NOT old, I thought I was because most of my friends were already married and on baby #2.  Thankfully, I have a very supportive family who has always loved me and NEVER pushed me to marry quickly or feel inadequate because I was not married yet.  They believe in God making your story happen the way He wants it.

My roommate and I decided to visit the young adult gathering at my church on a Thursday night, November 4, 2010 to be exact. Ha!  It was on this night that I met Kevin, my future husband.  I remember thinking he was a good-looking guy who was very sweet and seemed down-to-earth.  At the end of the night, we exchanged phone numbers and agreed to hang out again. 

Now a bit about my thoughts at this point: my heart was very broken.  I still cried daily and just couldn't get out of my depression that started the previous September.  I had considered counseling before, but never wanted to pay the money to invest in it.  The daily crying finally convinced me that I should give it a go.  I was sick of being in a such a terrible place.  I got a recommendation from a friend for a great Christian counselor and started going weekly.  I cannot tell you how BIG this time in my life was!  I learned SO much about myself, my desires, why I process things the way I do, what in my childhood affected the way I handle situations today, the kind of men I was attracted to, and more.  This all came from the LORD and His guidance in this time of counseling.

Ok, back to Kevin.  We immediately became great friends and hung out often, even just the two of us.  I think that because of my brokeness, I couldn't see past being friends at the time.  I knew I was not in a place for a relationship.  I did go on dates with others in the meantime, but nothing became of any of it.  I got to know Kevin very well.  I knew deep stuff about him and he knew deep stuff about me.  I was always honest with him about my intentions - being friends.  He so graciously accepted me where I was and accepted me as his friend, best friend.  There were times that I felt like we shouldn't hang out as much but I just couldn't stop....I LOVED hanging out with him.  I felt like he got me for who I really am and accepted me despite all of my inadequacies.  In fact, I had an ex-boyfriend that viewed my querks as annoyances.  He rolled his eyes at the things that Kevin loves about me.  I was always 100% myself around Kevin.

So for a year and half, this was life.  I continued my counseling which went from getting over the ex-boyfriend to moving onto bigger and deeper topics that I had never dug into.  I highly recommend counseling for everyone - we all have stuff we need to dig into, no matter who we are.  No one is too good for counseling.  But hear me on this - there are good and bad counselors!  Get recommendations!  Ask around!  Don't just Google someone.

I was also digging deeper into my relationship with God and getting a true understanding of grace and His unconditional love.

Kevin and I became better friends.  During this time, we got to know each other's hearts without the temptation of becoming too physical or caring way too much about what the other thought since we weren't dating.  I so appreciate that phony filter not being a part of our friendship.

Here are some photos of the random things we did while we were friends over that year and a half:


 
 
 
 
 
 

Coming soon....Wedding Story: How We Started Dating

My Favorite "Road Trip" Things!

I'm linking up with Erika and Andrea for the Favorite Things Party today!!!  Since Kevin and I just returned home from our road trip with Grandpa Bill from Phoenix to Dallas, I thought it'd be a great time to share some of my favorite road trip items (all under $10).  And don't judge!  Health goes out the window when I'm on a road trip!!

First...some photos on the road:

Grandpa Bill and Callen (last stop on the roadtrip  - to see Kevin's brother, his wife and our sweet nephew)

My favorite snack: Jalapeno Cheddar Cheetos.  I'm so addicted!  I know they're bad for me, but they are so good.

Kevin's favorite snack: Smartfood White Cheddar Popcorn - also very delicious!

Other snacks we love to have on hand:

We try to not drink sodas often, but occasionally, we'll get a Vanilla Dr. Pepper from Sonic.  It's definitely our favorite drink on the road so we got one to share at the beginning of the trip.



And of course a good book to read when you're not the driver.  Right now, I'm reading "Love and Respect" by Emerson Eggerichs.  It is wonderful so far!  He hits the "conflict in marriage" nail on the head!  It's a little over $10 brand new, but if you get the Kindle version or a used one, it's under $10!

As for music, we usually just plug in our iPhones/iPods and let them shuffle with our favorite tunes.  Sometimes we feel like listening to country, including my favorite...









Why is Josh Turner my favorite artist??  Let me tell ya... He has the most amazing voice EVER, he can hit notes lower than I can even imagine hitting, he's easy to look at (wink wink), he's an amazing family man and sings about his wife and kids in many songs, you never hear about him getting involved in negative celebrity drama, and most importantly, he's a follower of Jesus Christ and is very vocal about it.  See his I Am Second video here.

Or sometimes we're in the mood for a little worship music.  One of my favorites is Kari Jobe.



What are your favorite roadtrip must-haves???













5 on Friday!

It's time for 5 on Friday!!  I look forward to this every week!

#1

Last weekend I did a wine tasting with my small group girlfriends in downtown Grapevine at D'Vine Wine.  We had such a blast!  I just love these girls and feel so blessed that God has brought them into my life.  We missed the three that weren't able to make it and love them too!  They are such an answer to prayer!

(sorry for the zombie eyes!!)

On that day, 50% of the proceeds from wine tastings went to support Golden Retriever Rescue of North Texas.  This is the organization through which Kevin got our sweet little (but big!) Riley....or as we call her "Riley Cakes".  Isn't she adorable?!



#2

This week, my sister, Lauren, sent me this adorable photo of my 3.5 month old niece, Kassidy.  Isn't she so stinking adorable???  I just had to share it with you all!

#3

I don't normally brag but I'm going to for a second.  Ok maybe I did in #2 about my niece already. Ha!  Before Kevin left for Arizona, he bought me flowers!  Aren't they so pretty?  I'm a lucky girl!  And I'm posting a photo of him looking mighty handsome along with it.

#4

This week I made Cilantro Lime Chicken Tacos using my Crockpot!  I used this recipe from Six Sisters' Stuff, bought some corn tortillas, shredded a little cheese, cut up an avocado and we made them into tacos!  You may have to scroll down that post a bit to get to the Cilantro Lime Chicken with Corn and Black Beans.  We also added a little of the awesome Fuzzy's Taco Sauce.  They were delicious!

#5

Caroline over at In Due Time had a really great post this week about "taking captive" your negative thoughts.  She was talking about Philippians 4:8 and the thoughts that the Lord does want us to have.

The Lord really convicted me while reading this post.  This is so hard for me.  I mean, how often does a negative thought come across your mind?  And more so...how often do you verbalize that negative thought?  I know it happens for me in the form of complaining.  I've really started praying and asking God to take those thoughts captive (2 Corinthians 10:5).  I'm really trying to be aware of when these thoughts come through my mind and ask God to take them away.

Have a wonderful weekend, folks!!!













Birthday trip to Gatlinburg, TN!

So this post is super overdue, but I think you'll enjoy it anyway.  Back in December, Kevin and I went to Gatlinburg, Tennessee to celebrate my birthday and also to just kind of get away.  In our original discussions about where to go on our honeymoon, I had wanted beach, he had wanted mountains.  I kind of won that, but found somewhere that had both - Costa Rica!  It was wonderful and I plan on doing a post about it in the future as well.

Since we did the beach for our honeymoon (and kind of mountains - well, rainforest in some mountains), we decided to take a mountain trip next.  Someone had recommended Gatlinburg, Tennessee - and specifically, the Bent Creek Golf Village.

We absolutely loved Bent Creek Golf Village!  It was very nice, very peaceful and very beautiful!  We had a mini kitchen, a balcony, a fireplace...it was great!

Let me just say this - Gatlinburg is one of my favorite places that I've ever been!  And that's huge...I've been to some beautiful countries.  Not only was it beautiful, it had a feeling about it that I have never felt anywhere else.  It was so warm and inviting.  And most importantly, the story of Jesus was told numerous times, not just because it was Christmas.  You could see the love of Christ in the hearts of those who live there.

Onto the trip (and photos! Though I do wish I had taken more)...

We flew into Knoxville on a Friday morning, rented a car and drove the 1.5 hrs to Gatlinburg.  After checking into our room, we grabbed lunch at the Smoky Mountain Brewery.

Oh my gosh, it was so good!  We tried their beer flight which we really enjoyed...very unique beers.  And my burger was amazing!

Then we walked up and down the main street in town where they have all of the shops.  It's very cute!  We don't usually buy much when shopping.  It was just fun to experience the town.  Everything was Christmas-ed out!  I loved it!  Carolers sang on the streets, light were glowing everywhere, everyone was drinking hot chocolate and shopping for Christmas presents.  I highly recommend going at Christmas time!

We saw dancing elves...

I might have acted like I was driving this sleigh...

And the coolest part was the Ole Smoky Moonshine Distillery!  Apparently it's legal to make and sell moonshine in TN now.  You can do a tasting for free which we did.  The server was very entertaining and animated in a country-folk kind of way...very "Tennesse".  I wish I had taken a photo!  I can't say I love moonshine because I'm just not a big liquor person, but the flavors were interesting....apple pie, strawberry, blueberry, lemon drop, etc.  I also hear they have pineapple now.  Here we are out front...

And checking out the moonshine making process...

We did buy the apple pie one for our brother-in-law...

Whiskey tasting at Davy Crockett's Tennessee Whiskey...



We had dinner at Calhoun's and then went to bed early.  We were pooped!

The next day, we went to the Log Cabin Pancake House for breakfast...AMAZING!!!  If you ever go, get the French Toast Royale!!!  Delicious!!!!

Next, we drove through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park right outside of Gatlinburg.  It was pretty though we'd love to go back when there were actually leaves on the trees.  We drove to Cade's Cove inside the park which was neat and educational.  It's a beautiful valley between gorgeous mountains where some of the first European settlers came in the early 1800's.  There are still a few of the houses they lived in, churches they built, and other buildings.  There is also a lot of wildlife though I think a lot of them were hiding while we were there.  We saw deer and turkeys which I see a lot in the Texas hill country.  They say black bears and coyotes makes appearances there as well.

Our only complaint was the 11-mile ONE LANE road you had to drive on to see the cove.  The speed limit is 15, but the occasional Grumpy-pants McGee would go 3mph and not let you pass.  It was quite annoying....especially because there were many opportunities for them to pull over and let you pass.

I'd recommend seeing this part of TN in the spring or fall.

Oh!  Here's a cool waterfall...

We walked around the town and chilled the rest of that day.

The next day, we explored Pigeon Forge, TN and did a little shopping there.  We drove by Dollywood though we couldn't see anything really at all.  I really wanted to run into Dolly Parton...haha...what are the chances?!?! 

We shopped a bit and had some awesome pommes frites at Poynor's Pommes Frites.  It brought me back to my trip to the Netherlands and Belgium where pommes frites (what we know as french fries) started.  These little shops/stands are everywhere there so it was quite a treat to find this gem in Pigeon Forge, TN...of all places!

Then we went to the Dixie Stampede...created by who else, but Dolly Parton.  I LOVED it!  They were doing their Christmas program so it was a little different than what you'd see the rest of the year.  It's very similar to Medieval Times in Dallas, but "country" instead of "medieval-y". (I like to make up words)  This was the green team against the red team...of course.

My favorite part was the live story of baby Jesus.  The whole show revolved around the coming of Jesus Christ as a baby and that being the true meaning of Christmas.  How awesome!

So after the show, we drove back to Gatlinburg and had to kill some time before our scheduled trolley tour of the town.  The Dallas Cowboys game was on so we found a sports bar in a hotel which turned out to be quite an entertaining part of the trip.  A traveler was hitting on the sweet (older) bartender and she was handling him really well.  At first he thought we were jerks because I asked him if he was driving and then he realized how cool we really are and he bought us a drink.  Ha!  I wish that dude was in this photo with us...

I have no photos from the trolley tour, but it was awesome!  We learned a lot about Gatlinburg history and guess what?!?!  The tour guide shared the gospel!  He spoke about Jesus' story, his sacrifice on the Cross and how He had changed this guy's life...oh, and this guy was Dolly Parton's nephew!!!  Crazy!

And we flew back to DFW the next day...my birthday!  Happy 31st to me!  What a great birthday gift from my amazing husband!

Birthday key lime pie!!!

Walking around Knoxville



Needless to say, this was a phenomenal trip!  I highly recommend taking a trip there!  We hope to one day bring our future children back there, especially at Christmas.

I hope you felt like you were in Gatlinburg with us after reading that!  Thanks for stopping by!