Flower Girls (and a Tooth Fairy + Elsa)

This year's Halloween was a bit different for the girls.

Aubrey wrote about it at school when the teacher asked the class to draw a picture of what they were going to be for Halloween...

"I will be a tooth fairy. Too bad that I can't come to Halloween. I am going to Atlanta to be a flower girl. I am excited."

(See the end of this post for her custom-made costume she wore to a Halloween party. :))

So instead of trick-or-treating on Oct. 31st, the girls were practicing their flower girl skills before Uncle Jacob's wedding the next day.

And let me just say, I cannot wait see the professional photographer's photos!

I know I'm biased, but goodness gracious. These two make my heart swell!

Despite the massive temperature drop and 25+ mph wind, the day was absolutely beautiful!

I even snagged a photo with the best man!
(This guy was made to wear formal attire. Swoon!)

And what's a wedding without dancing?
Daniel captured this gem of a video while I stepped out to help Aubrey bandage her skinned knee.
I'm pretty sure I've watched this a gazillion times...

It was such a great weekend!
Congrats Jacob and Brandy!
Thanks for letting us share in your special day!
_________________________________________

Even though the girls didn't get to go trick-or-treating this year, Aubrey came up with her own costume as the Tooth Fairy for a Halloween party at a friend's house, and Mina has been in non-stop Elsa mode. The girl can seriously NOT let it go.

10

Today Daniel and I are celebrating our 10th Wedding Anniversary.
Ten years, y'all!
August 9th, 2003 was absolutely the best day of my life.

I've kept this photo with me every day for nearly a decade.
It's been through countless purse and wallet changes.
I never leave home without it.

When I think back to that special day, I can't help but smile.
We were just 21 years old (babies!).
Both still in college.
Neither one of us had a job at the time.
We were young, poor, naive, and madly in love.
Now we're not so young, still poor, not so naive, and even more madly in love.
Oh, and Daniel still isn't finished with "school". ;)

So much has happened in our ten years of marriage:
College Graduation.
Medical School.
The death of Daniel's dad.
Buying our first home.
Medical School Graduation.
Moving to Cincinnati for one year of Daniel's Internship.
Arrival of Baby Aubrey.
Moving to Oklahoma City for four years of Residency.
Bringing Mina home from China.
Moving to Cleveland for one year of Fellowship.

While many things have changed, more has stayed the same...
I still manage to butcher meals.
I still shrink his clothes in the dryer.
I still get frustrated when he forgets his phone, or wallet, or (fill-in-the-blank).
I still leave my hair in the drain.
I still put my cold feet on his under the covers.
I still can't wait to kiss him every day he walks in the door.
I still can't wait to tell him first when something funny happens.
I still can't wait to cuddle up every night.
I still can't wait for our kids to graduate and for him to retire so we can spend all day / every day together.
I still can't wait to see what God has planned for us.

I cannot imagine navigating life without Daniel by my side.
His strengths are my weaknesses and my strengths are his weaknesses.
The longer we're married, the more I'm becoming aware of just how intricately God has woven us together.
How He specifically created us to be partners.
The Perfect Matchmaker.
How His grace has held us both in the midst of challenges, uncertainties, and struggles.
How we've prayed together.
Cried together.
Laughed together.

So from Miami Beach to Lake Erie, I pray that Daniel and I would always follow where God leads us.
It's been quite a journey these past ten years.
I wonder what God has in store for the next ten years.

Miami Beach / Lake Erie

marina + the beach + a marrying date

A little over a week ago, our family of three hit the road.
Oklahoma to Florida.
That's about 1,000 miles -- one way.
IN. A. CAR.

On our way there, we made a pit stop after 12 hours to spend the night at our dear friends' home in Birmingham. They, ironically, were in Florida at the time, but opened their home to us even in their absence. I cannot begin to tell you how thankful we were to have a free, cozy place to stay for the night as we rolled into their driveway after midnight.
(By the way, they even left sweet notes and chocolates on the pillows! Seriously, awesome friends.)

We were up a mere 6 hours later and needing to hit the road to finish our loooong journey.
But, before we left the Birmingham city limits, we stopped at a park to let Aubrey get some much needed energy out before the last leg of our trip.
And this particular park happened to be less than 2 miles from our sweet Marina.

Quick sidenote: I met Marina through Reach Orphans with Hope the Summer of 2007. She is from Ukraine and now has a family in Birmingham. We left for Cincinnati right before she was adopted, so I hadn't seen her in over 5 years. 

Words cannot describe how my heart felt when I saw her again. I think I cried an entire bucket of tears.

The last time we were together, Marina couldn't speak English. I used to have dreams that we were talking together in the same language, and on this glorious day...my dream became a reality. It was one of the most precious blessings God has ever given me.

When we had to say good-bye again, I got in the car and could not stop crying.
This adoption process has made me such an emotional mess, and seeing Marina -- the one who God used specifically to cultivate my desire to be a mother -- was so overwhelming. It all was such an experience of God's divine plan and call on my life.

So, leaving in a trail of tears, we made the last leg of our trip and arrived at the beach just in time to watch the sunset. Again, I just stared in wonder at another example of how amazing God is...

Yes, I'm blessed, that's for sure.

 

Oh, and guess who met us in Florida?!

ZUBIE!

After the sun went down, we all went straight from the beach to dinner at The Red Bar...

The band was just getting started, and Aubrey was working up an appetite after some serious dancing with her dolls.

The next morning, we were on the beach by 9 a.m.

Aubrey's favorite thing was building sandcastles and then knocking them down. 

P.S. Daniel and Zubie are similar in so many ways...

We decided to bury Aubrey in the sand.
She thought this was hilarious.
We regretted it after spending the rest of the day cleaning sand out of every crevice.

Then, the next day, Jacob came down to join in on the fun!

 

 

So, the WHOLE reason we drove to the beach for essentially two days, was because my wonderfully amazing friend from college, Ann Wade, was getting married!

Which also meant my lovely college roomie, Dana, would be coming too! 

ROOMIE REUNION!!

And! Cherry-on-top: she brought her new little man! CHARLIE!!

The wedding and reception: LOVELY.



I'm telling you what, it will definitely go down in my book as one of the sweetest weddings ever.
And I'm not even talking about the cake, which I looooved, by the way...

After we had been at the reception for awhile, Daniel and I scurried back to the beach house to pick up our little munchkin. This was her first wedding to go to, and she was SO excited.

She kept saying, "Ohhhh, I just cannot wait to go to the marrying date!"
My goodness, I could just eat her...

The evening took a chilly turn, but luckily we had this handsome fella around to keep us warm! :)

And the absolute highlight of the trip for Aubrey?
Getting to meet a REAL princess...

She seriously watched Ann Wade the entire evening -- completely mesmerized.

That night when we put her to bed she wanted to pray for the Princess she met at the marrying date. :)

The next morning, we woke up and drove the whole way home.
We left at 8:30 a.m. and pulled into our garage at 12:30 a.m.
That's 16 hours in the car.
Good Golly, Miss Molly!

I need to give a last little shout-out to Aubrey.
She was an awesome traveling cowgirl.

"Giddy up, Pony! We're headin' back to Oklahoooooma!"

Sunday Snapshot

Happy 35th Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Your true commitment to one another has been such a testimony to Daniel and me long before our "I do"s.

{Scanned photo from our wedding -- Miami, FL ~ 2003}

Friday Funsies

When my parents visited us last weekend, they brought along our wedding photos.

I am ashamed to admit that Daniel and I will celebrate 7 years of marriage this August, and we STILL have not ordered our wedding album (gasp!).

It's not that we didn't like the pictures, it's just that life hasn't slowed down since we said "I do!".

So last Saturday night, I plopped down on the couch and had fun reminiscing the -- hands down -- best day of my life.

I flipped through at least a gazillion pictures. Some made me smile, some made me cry, and this picture...made me laugh. Really hard.

Yep, that pretty much sums up what it's like being married to Daniel. :)

Hope this weekend blows your socks off (or veil, in my case).

Catch Up Post: The Lovely June Bride

There's nothing quite like a June wedding. Birds chirp a little louder, flowers bloom a little fuller, and you can just taste the wedding cake if you close your eyes. Ahhh...delicious.

A couple of weekends ago {has it really been that long?!} I had the privilege of being a bridesmaid in Marjorie's wedding. Marjorie is one of my dearest friends, and having the honor of standing next to her on her wedding day was such a joy.

I believe I have mentioned on here before that I have never been much of a crier. Aubrey enters the world, and I am one Rice Krispie commercial away from sobbing my eyes out.

The only wedding I shed tears at was my own. Well, now I can add Marjorie's to the list. I was a mess during my rehearsal dinner speech, teared up during the ceremony, and blubbered like a baby on my way home from the reception.

Motherhood has opened up a strange new dimension in my life. I value friendships more than I ever have, I love my family with a deeper respect, and I treasure every day moments as if they were Christmas morning. Not that babies are the key to opening up one's box of feelings, but for me, it has been a softening of my emotions. With that being said, however, don't think I've lost my slightly cynical, sarcastic side. It's still there...just ask Daniel.

Back to the wonderful weekend of wedding festivities...here are some shots from all the fun:

Rehearsal Dinner

{Henry & Marjorie}

{Post speeches}

{On our way to the Hermitage Hotel for a last "Girls Night Out" with Marjorie.}

{Marjorie getting "wedding night" advice from the married friends and Cosmo. Scary combination.}

Wedding Day!

{Getting ready!}
{Just hanging out.}
{Sassy}{Dressed and ready!}{Fueling up for the ceremony.}
{Ready to go!}{Almost time...}
{Marjorie hearing that Henry had on his family's heirloom cummerbund. It was hideous--no offense Henry.}{Lovely.}{Stunning.}
The Reception

{The new Mr. & Mrs.!
Henry took off the cummerbund, I'm sure at Marjorie's request.}
{The GORGEOUS cake.}{My wonderful friends. Sadly between the lot of us, we now all live apart: Oklahoma City, Birmingham, Nashville, Tuscaloosa, Knoxville, and soon-to-be Los Angeles.}{My final goodbye to the bride.
Little did I know the flood gates were about to swing wide open after this shot.}

It was such a fantastic wedding. Marjorie was a vision {as you can see} and everything was completely perfect. Seeing my sweet friends before making the journey to Oklahoma was a bit bittersweet. Glorious to all be reunited -- torture not knowing the next time we'd all be together.

It only took four unforgettable years at Samford to bond us all together. Now I'm here in Oklahoma for the exact same time frame. I pray that God would bless me here with friends one iota as wonderful as these ladies.