Our Vow Renewal…

DW and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary on May 17th.

Growing up, I always loved a good fairy tale, and like most little girls, I dreamed about the day I’d meet my own prince. After only a hand full of dates with DW, I knew I had. I’ll never forget carrying the first Christmas gift he ever gave me inside the house and singing “Today I met the boy I’m gonna marry” to my parents. That gift was an Easy Bake Oven because I’d told him once before that when I was little, it was the one thing I always wanted at Christmas and never got. When I opened it on our lunch date, that Christmas Eve of 2001, he told me that he wanted all my dreams come true. My heart still beats fast when I think back to those days. It was the sweetest time and the most sweep-you-off-your-feet,  young love that I could have ever dreamed. 

A year and a half later, we ended the programs at our wedding, “Thank you for being here tonight when our Happily Ever After begins…”  For several years, it felt like that, too. Then our lives were rocked when we lost our Cooper and I wondered for months if we’d ever be “happy” again. We used to have a sign that hung in our house that said, “Happily Ever After” and after Cooper’s accident, I couldn’t stand to see it anymore, so I took it down and trashed it. I didn’t think “Happily Ever Afters” were real anymore. God is good and He is faithful, though-  because he brought us out of that sorrow and He has restored so much of our joy.

Over ten years, DW and I have seen many mountain tops and quite a few valleys together.

Our marriage is far from perfect, but we both feel like it’s a good one- and we love each other more now than we did then—that’s the reason I wanted to renew our vows. I read a quote a while back that said, “Some things in life are so good, they’re worth doing again.” That’s exactly how I feel about marrying DW. (I used that quote on the invitations to our renewal ceremony, too!) I know most of our family thought it was kind of silly – WHY did we NEED to do it? We didn’t. I’m just one of those people who likes a celebration and I just felt like 10 years together deserves to be celebrated. :) Even DW thought it was kind of crazy until a few days before and then he finally started warming up to it. I warned my SIL, Lauren, that it would probably be cheesy, to which she replied: “But you do cheesy so well,”  Ha.

I bought a dress literally two days before the ceremony and got DW a new tie to match. The girls wore their Easter dresses, which were perfect, since I’d read that the color for the 10th anniversary is BLUE. Who knew…

Our anniversary fell on a Friday night this year. So on that night, we stood before our parents and siblings (except for Beau & Kristy & their family who weren’t able to be here) and we reaffirmed the vows we promised ten years ago.

The ceremony was simple and sweet. Like I said, our immediate family were all we’d invited (except for Carrie & Katie, who came to take pictures).

We had it at our church’s small chapel, which DW’s great-grandfather had built in memory of his great-grandmother.

I thought that made having it in the chapel even sweeter.

It was a little awkward at first, because none of us have ever been to/done a vow renewal ceremony, so I don’t think anyone really knew what to expect…plus its kind of weird doing something somewhat “formal” with just your close family. But it turned out really sweet and I would totally do it again.

Before the ceremony, we took some pictures and welcomed everyone as they arrived. We also had music from our wedding playing.

We started the ceremony as soon as everyone had gotten there – and the girls and I walked in with DW to “There is Love/The Wedding Song” (which is what the pianist played for our wedding during the bridal party procession).

As for the ceremony- our pastor performed it. He started off with a welcome and a charge to us as a couple. During those two things, is when we had our parents come up and read a portion of scripture that we’d chosen. My parents read Joshua 24:15. This is particularly special to me, because it was one of my Granny’s favorite passages. DW’s mom & George read Titus 2:7. DW’s Daddy & Kellee read 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.

Everyone had to suffer through an 8 minute slide show of pictures of us.

After the slideshow, the girls sat with my parents. Mamie and Grammy had to do some watching from the back, though. Next, came the family vow and response. And then we had communion. I loved this part of the ceremony. Our pastor served DW and I first and then the rest of the family was invited to the prayer rail where DW & I served them. It was such a sweet time. How special to serve something so sacred to people that we love so dearly. The song “How Beautiful” played during communion (which was another of our wedding songs).

After communion, we renewed our vows and I loved the ones the pastor chose for us. They were a mix of the traditional vows with a few modern things thrown in.

After the vows, Pastor Will even insisted we kiss and be (re) introduced…

Still excited to be Mrs. DW

Our First introduction as Mr. & Mrs. 10 years ago

We took some pictures after the ceremony…

A group shot

My how we’ve changed (& grown!) in 10 years…

 

Pictures with the parents…

DW even had his best man & two of his groomsmen there… That’s what happens when you have family in your wedding.

May 17, 2003

This bridesmaid of mine, is probably the one who’s changed the most in 10 years! Kelsey was 8 when we got married! I loved her then and I love her still!  

These two probably didn’t think bridesmaids duties extended ten years!

Katie, Me & Carrie May 17, 2003

They were so sweet to come and take pictures for us!

We had cake & punch in the foyer after the ceremony.

My Mom even had a box of our napkins saved from our wedding, so we got to use those!

I tried to do the same or similar things we had at our wedding for the renewal – the flower arrangement was similar to the ones from our wedding and the lacey-moss pew markers were, too. (Just on a much, much, much smaller scale!) :)

 

I did a program to look like the ones from our wedding, and favors were given out in white boxes, just like we did 10 years ago.

Our wedding program & favor boxes displayed on the table in the foyer

We ate our cake for dessert first, and then all went to dinner together at the Ivy House.

It really was a sweet night and I loved standing up in front of our girls, our parents, and most of our siblings to reaffirm our vows and to celebrate our life together. We are blessed and we are thankful.

We both agree that if we had it to do all over again, we’d still say “I do.” And as far as “Happily Ever After” goes, I do still believe it…just in a different way. I think the fairy tale is loving each other like crazy and living this life we’ve been given together. But we won’t know the “Happily Ever After” part until we are standing at Heaven’s gates.

DW & I are counting down the days until our big anniversary trip! Celebrating with the family was way fun and super special, but we’re really excited to celebrate with just the two of us! :)

~amw~

Dance 2013

The dance year began in August. Since then, AB has loved her weekly Beginning Combo I Class – which was an hour long ballet and tap class on Mondays from 5:30-6:30.

Mondays have also meant Mamie having a weekly date with my parents while I take AB to dance. Afterward, DW comes over and we have dinner at Grammy & Pop’s and we all love that!

AB has been working on her recital number for a few months now, and this weekend was finally show time!

We started the recital gauntlet with dress rehearsal on Thursday night.

We found our dressing room first. AB & I were both loving that it had a sparkly star on the door with all of the dancers’ names below.  :)

Mamie wasn’t a big fan of dress rehearsal. I kept her busy with snacks and my cell phone until Daddy got there, too. Then he took her to dinner and they spent a lot of time outside until it was time to watch big sister practice on the stage!

There were two performances of the recital, with the first being on Friday night. It was a packed house both nights!

On Friday afternoon, Grandma stopped by our house to bring AB a good luck recital prize – which was a purple ballerina to hang jewelry on. AB loves a “neck-a-lace” and purple, so it was perfect for her.

That night we all met up at the auditorium to see our girl in her first recital!

AB, Uncle Adam, Aunt Nen & Grandma

 

Grammy, Pop, Uncle Van, Elliot, & Taylor were all there, too, to cheer her on.

Mamie got to go on Friday night and we all passed her around and took turns trying to entertain her! :)

AB got to watch the whole first half of the recital before it was time for me to take her back to get her dressed and ready. She was so excited and even said, “I’m so just READY to get on that stage!”

At intermission, I took her back to get her dressed.

When the curtain opened after the break, she was standing on stage with the biggest grin.

Her class’ dance was to “When you wish upon a star” and was so sweet!

She was precious. Her class was the sweetest little group and the whole audience just “ahhhhhed” the whole time they twirled around.

We were all so proud!

After their dance, the girls went back to the dressing room to wait through the rest of the recital. I was a “dressing room mom” that night. The girls did so good while we waited to be called back to stage for the finale. I pulled out AB’s coloring book and gave them all a page and dumped the crayons on the floor and they colored, had a snack and then watched part of a movie on one of the other mom’s laptops.

The recital was LONG to say the least, but finally it was finale time and AB’s group came out and took a bow and blew kisses.

Her Daddy & Pop took flowers to the stage for her and she was so excited that they were pink and purple! She was so cute afterward holding them outside- you could tell she was so proud of them. The purple ones were from Pop and the pink ones were from DW. My mom totally saved the day when she called to see if I’d ordered flowers yet. I had thought about it, but hadn’t yet and Grammy even remembered to to get some for Miss Cyndal, AB’s dance teacher.

Everyone else had to leave after her performance, so we didn’t get pictures of all of them with our ballerina.

Saturday night, we got to do it all again!

This time, Mamie stayed with a babysitter. We’ve never had to get a sitter for AB or Mames, but Grammy & Nie-Nie (& Kels) would both be at the recital that night and Nen was going to Tampa…and since that’s the extent of the people who’s ever kept Mamie, we had to get a sitter. We got one of Kelsey’s friends who also used to keep the nursery at our church, so it worked out great and Mamie did wonderful. (& it was so nice not to have to try to keep her quiet and entertained for the LONG recital!) :)

Saturday’s performance was just as sweet as Fridays.

My favorite may have been though, when AB was helping the youngest tiny ballerina in her class know what to do. She kept looking back and trying to help her little friend and I was SO PROUD of her. It was so sweet.

The finale was the cutest on Saturday night, because the girls had to sit on stage a little longer than the night before. AB kept waving at us and smiling so big.It was precious. Finally, it was time for Daddy to get her off stage again and give her some more flowers! :)

Pappy, Nie-Nie & Kels brought her a bouquet, too…

Grammy & Pop with our dancer on night 2…

AB with her dance teacher, Miss Cyndal

We made it home around 10:00 that night and AB was still riding the ballet recital high. She loved everything about it and she can’t wait for the next dance year to start!

AB with her flowers from both nights

I put them in vases & she’s so proud of them. She has to tell me over and over who gave her which ones. :)

~amw~

Dads & Daughters…

 

I’m a firm believer that everyone needs a good Dad. Being a girl, I know the importance of girls having a good one. A girl’s relationship with her father influences her in so many ways. Self-esteem, self-image, confidence, opinions of men, and ultimately how she will see the world are all things that come to mind when I think of the influential role a Dad plays in his daughter’s life.

I was blessed with a great Dad. I grew up knowing that my Daddy would kill someone over me and I still believe it.  :)  I’ve always had the security of knowing that he was big, strong and always had my back. I’ve always believed my Dad can do anything. It doesn’t matter how big or how small, he can handle it. Seriously- if it’s broken he can fix it…from alternators, to washing machines, to balloon drops to broken hearts. Over my 30 years I can’t begin to count how many things I’ve seen him fix. Most people think he’s a bit of a “hard-tale” and in truth, he probably is- but there’s always been two girls who keep him soft…my Momma & me. My Dad hasn’t always liked my mom (and my Mom will say that feeling is so mutual…ha) but my Daddy has always loved my Momma… Every time I read something about the importance of a father loving his children’s mother I nod my head in agreeance.  My Dad is a hard worker and we never had to worry if we’d have food to eat or shoes on our feet, (or ice cream at our birthday parties) :) because he worked day in and day out to provide for us. There’s not a more noble characteristic. Work ethic and the drive to provide has been lost on so many men in today’s society. My Dad was from the era of Dad’s who didn’t change diapers (I’m pretty sure the only diaper he’s ever changed was Cooper’s – and that was because he had him all by himself one day!)—he wasn’t a hands-on Dad, but he was there. It’s sad to say how many kids can’t say that about their fathers. My Dad is a good man who’s lived his life in a way that my brother and I can be proud of. My brother would argue that my Dad loves me the most and honestly I wouldn’t deny it, but truly he’s just as crazy about my brother as he is me…it’s just different for Dads & Daughters. Plus, of the two of us, I am most like our Dad. We understand each other and it’s easy for us to see things the same way. We have a long standing “joke” that he’s my only friend- it goes way back to when I was in high-school, but to this day he always signs my birthday cards “Your Friend, Dad” – and while he’s not my only friend-  he’s certainly my truest. I love him a lot and I’ll always be thankful that of the two people who call him, “Dad,” I’m one of them. 

 

My babies’ Daddy is a little different than my own Dad. Yes, he’s hard-working, has blossomed into quite a Jr. Mister Fix it, & I’m pretty sure he'd kill someone over our kids, too… But, that whole “Dad’s don’t change diapers” era ended for my family when we brought Cooper home from the hospital. I had no idea that Dad’s were that hands-on until DW became a Daddy, too. I remember having to remind him that I was the MOMMA & I had it under control! :)  DW is the epitome of a patient Dad. It blows my mind how much time he puts into our kids. His day is thrown completely off if he doesn’t get to see them at lunch, or if they don’t get their time together in the evening. Weekends aren’t about finding a sitter so we can have some time to ourselves- it’s what we can do as a family. It’s the sweetest thing and I’ve never known ANYONE who ENJOYS their children more than him. There’s a million reasons I love him, but the biggest might just be because of the kind of Daddy he is.

DW had a great example at being a good Dad. My FIL is, as my Middle school math teacher would say, “one of the good guys.” Over the years, Mr. Pug has been a great father-in-law to me. He’ll tell anyone who asks, that I’m his third favorite daughter-in-law. (He has THREE daughter-in-laws). :) DW & I have been married the longest, so I can handle it, though. If he wasn’t picking on me, I’d worry. I know he loves me and I know he’s one more good man in my life that I can count on. He’s been a part of some of the happiest times in my life and he’s been there for the absolute worst. Those good and bad things – LIFE- is what bonds people together…and when it comes to Father-in-laws and Daughter-in-laws, we’re bonded. I will always be thankful for the part he plays in my life and what he means to me.

 

Having two girls scares the life out of me most of the time. But when I think about where a girl’s self-image, self-confidence and so many of the things that shape her come from – I’m not really that worried. Because such a large portion of those things come from the men in their lives. My girls have the best Daddy, and the sweetest Pop & Pappy who are going to make sure they grow up knowing how special, beautiful, loved and treasured they are. (Not to mention some pretty amazing uncles who are wild about them, too!)

 

I know what it’s like to grow up feeling like somebody’s “favorite” – my Dad & my Papa sealed that deal- just like I know these guys will do for AB & Mamie---

 

Thank you, Lord, for our Dads.

Happy Father’s Day.

~amw~

Summer

Besides the fact that when I walk outside it takes less than a minute for me to break out in a full sweat, I’m washing beach towels at least once a week, and those are tell-tell signs that summer has officially arrived.

This weekend we went over to the beach to spend the day with “Grandma.” DW’s Mom invited us to join her for some fun during her week at her timeshare.

Taylor, AB & Grandma

I boiled some peanuts to take, because it’s summer and everyone knows you should boil peanuts as often as you can this time of year. I’m pretty sure if my cooking dinner all three of the nights that we were home last week, didn’t make DW glad he married me, my boiling a big pot of peanuts for the weekend DID! :)

Our niece, Taylor, rode with us to the beach. AB & Mamie love Tay, so they were excited she was with us.

We were a little worried about the weather, but the clouds rolled away and it ended up being a beautiful day.

AB & I caught a crab – this may not sound like a big deal, but for us, it was monumental. The only thing I’ll hold that crawls are babies, so this was huge.

We had a great time playing in the sand, jumping waves, and swimming in the pool!

Besides, the sweating thing, we’re really glad summer is here!

~amw~

Friday Five… on Monday.

 

1. I’ve mentioned it before, but my sweetheart has an intense hatred for what I call “gophers” (the yard variety, not to be confused with the turtle kind) and he calls them “salamanders” – He stalks them in our yard like a predator and any time he sees a new mound of dirt they've dug up, he sets a trap and waits. Unless, of course they’re digging then, and in that case, he gets his gun out and goes all sniper waiting them out. I’m not sure he gets more excited when he kills a buck or a turkey as he does when he gets a “salamander/gopher” --- So imagine his delight, when he and our big girl caught one on the trap they set a day or so earlier… So excited that he took a picture of their trophy…

(To clear up any confusion on her outfit of the day…she dressed herself) :)

I thought I was going to have to draw the line at him teaching her about the Avengers – she even knows Iron Man’s “real” name is “Tony Stark” – But I’m SERIOUSLY going to have to draw the line at her holding up dead rodents to have her picture made. I’m just waiting on her to add “BB Gun” to her Christmas list this year. :)

2. This girl loves to play peek-a-book (which we call “pee-pie”) and to be “got”… if you tickle her and then stop, she’ll throw her leg back up and say “get-get-get” so you can “get her-get her-get her” again. She’s SO.STINKING.SWEET & SUCH.A.HAND.FULL all at the same time.

Mames checking on “her” cows…

 

3. My SIL, Lauren and I went to see Chonda Pierce’s “Laughing Through It” show last Thursday. By night’s end we’d both eaten a bacon cheeseburger, laughed, and even cried a little. If that’s not the perfect combo for Girl’s Night then I don’t know what is. Chonda had special guest Geoff Moore (a Christian singer who was pretty big in the 90’s). He was so good and I think he may have sang “He Knows my Name” better than Chris Tomlin. His testimony was so good, too. Have you ever been listening to a speaker or singer and felt like you could totally relate to what they’re saying/singing? That’s a pretty neat feeling – but even better is when you’re with a person who knows you so well that without saying a word, they squeeze your arm and you know that they know exactly what it means. Our lives weren’t meant to be lived alone.  “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” – Galatians 6:2    I am so thankful for those closest to me – that they have shared (and continue to) my joys as well as my burdens. I consider it a great honor to get to do the same. 

 

4. Nie-Nie’s birthday is today. Pappy had a dinner last night to celebrate her. The “I’m SO excited” picture was when she opened her present from Kels… plane tickets to see her “brother/boy” Sam  & Gracie! It’s blurry, but when I had her reenact it so I could send it to Sam, it wasn’t the same. :) Proof you can’t fake excitement like that! Pappy asked me to do the cake, so I put a few of her favorite things together… white cake, butter cream icing, rice-Krispy treats and topped it with oreo truffles. If only I’d had a Kripsy Kreme donut to throw on top of that. I’m totally not bragging, but it was over-the-top good, but so is Nie-Nie, so it was a perfect fit. :)

5. This week I’m on a mission… A cleaning & organizing mission. I’m only writing this out, hoping it will make me more accountable to follow through. I lost my engagement ring for two days last week. I was sick over it. Thankfully, after searching for hours yesterday afternoon, I found it. It had gotten scooped up with a bunch of stuff of our countertop and thrown in the diaper bag. While searching high and low, though, I was ashamed at the current cleanliness of our home. We’ve got drawers that need purged, beds that need vacuumed under and baseboards that need washing! It’s probably going to take longer than this week, but I’ve got to get it done (especially while I’m feeling motivated to tackle it!) Ha… :) We’ve got to get that out of the way, so we can proceed with all of our summer fun!

And just because it’s pure sweetness…

~annie~