Next to my wedding day, the second best day of my life was the day, one year ago today, that I said "YES!" to the most life changing question I have ever been asked - "Clara, will you marry me?"
I can still remember that day like it was yesterday and I imagine it will always be that way. Chris and I had planned to spend some much needed time away thanks to my wonderful friend Shannon that gave us some buddy passes to fly anywhere Southwest flies. After much deliberation, we decided on San Francisco - neither of us had been there before and it was a great escape from this Texas heat! Can I get an AMEN?!
After several attempts to catch stand-by flights (and by several, I mean we were in Hobby airport for like 12 hours that day...), we were about to give up and try again the next day, when they fit us on a flight to Denver - ultimately headed to San Fran. Not quite that easy, folks. We got to Denver and it was full for the second leg. Eventually got on a flight to San Diego, where we were told that we would need to spend the night there and then catch a flight first thing in the morning for San Francisco. We landed in San Diego and ended up finding a room at a Hilton about 20-30 minutes away from the airport - paid way too much for a room we were in less than 6 hours - literally! Little did I know that Chris had the ring in his pocket all day - through all our waiting and waiting and waiting in airports. Chris had been insisting on getting a picture of us to document our day of "waiting" and traveling. I didn't really think anything of it. So when we got to the room, he pulled out his phone (I, of course, insisted on using my camera) - so we set up both. As I'm setting up my camera, I hit the button on the self timer, then turned around to stand next to him and he was down on one knee!! I was completely shocked. I had hoped that it would happen on our trip, but definitely wasn't expecting it at the end of this loooooong day! Of course, it was out 2 am on the west coast, so I had to wait until the next morning to tell anyone! You can imagine the lack of sleep I experienced that night. Here are a few pictures from the proposal and our trip to San Fran...
The Proposal - excuse the view!
The next morning - looking good after no sleep :)
Our first night in SF - down by the piers
Golden Gate Bridge
(and my personal favorite pic of the trip!)
The Famous Lombard Street
In the Square just down the block from our hotel.
We had a great time and definitely enjoyed getting to celebrate being engaged all week long. A trip we'll always remember!
So, I'm not really sure what it is about my blog that makes it versatile, but a huge thank you to my precious, soon-to-be sister-in-law at The Next Chapter: Blog of a Baylor Graduate and Bride To Be that nominated my blog for the "Versatile Blogger" award and even more for giving me something to blog about!
Official Rules:
Thank the award-giver and link back to them in your post.
Tell your readers seven 7 things about yourself.
Give this award to up to 15 recently discovered bloggers.
Contact those bloggers and let them in on the exciting news.
So here it goes...
1. I grew up in Bossier City, Louisiana - but it took a couple moves over the course of 8 years to get there. I was born in Memphis, Tennessee and shortly after my brother was born, we moved to Jenks, Oklahoma (just outside of Tulsa). We lived there for about 5 years before packing up and moving to Pleasant Garden, North Carolina (just outside of Greensboro). After 1 short year, my family landed in Bossier City and it's been "home" ever since!
2. I'm a PK - preacher's kid - through and through. My dad has been in the ministry since before I was born. Makes all that moving listed in #1 make a little more sense, huh?! He was a youth pastor for many years and currently serves at Campus Pastor at The Simple Church. Check it out!
3. Most of you know...but my husband and I met at work. We both started working for Target a little over 2 years ago. He had a girlfriend at the time and I was sure to let him know I was interested. Eventually they broke up, we continued spending time together outside of work, and before you knew it, as Chris would say, it was game over!
4. I have a tattoo. Just one. It's little and on the inside of my left hand wrist (most of the time covered by a watch). I got it my senior year of college - kind of one of those let's go do something crazy before graduation sort of things. But it was also something I had been thinking about for a while. It's in memory of my sister that I lost in a terrible car accident my sophomore year of college. I brought her Bible back to school with me after the funeral and one Sunday, during a sermon on the Beatitudes, I noticed that she had underlined Matthew 5:4 -- "You're blessed when you feel you've lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you." It brought a lot of comfort to me during the time and when I started thinking about a tattoo - I knew that had to be incorporated!
My best friend and greatest supporter - Kelli
5. I have the best friends. Hands down. They've been there for me through good times and bad times...we've laughed, cried, sat in silence, and had so much to talk about we couldn't shut up! I don't know what I'd do without them.
Dinner for my Bachelorette Party
6. I LOVE country music! No secret to those that know me. I can't sing a lick, but you better believe if a song is on that I know, I'm going to sing along! Somehow I was blessed with an incredible skill of lyric knowledge and it doesn't take long before I've got every word down! As I sit here typing this I just finished watching Tim McGraw on Invitation Only and now Miranda Lambert is on. My college roommates used to joke that they knew I was home if they heard GAC or CMT coming my tv! :) I'll finish with this - Carrie Underwood is my girl crush and this is a perfect example of why:
7. I'm kind of a nerd - my husband would say definitely so. I can't sing or dance and never was very athletic. So my outlet most of time is a good book! I LOVE to read and I always have! Chris got me a Kindle for Christmas last year and it's the greatest! I, like Amanda (see #7 on her blog, too!), am a book-before-the-movie kinda girl. Just started reading The Help and already can't wait to see the movie!
Now for my nominees for "The Versatile Blogger"and hopefully giving them something to blog about:
So I feel like all I ever post about (okay...all of about 3 posts I've ever done) have been around our weekends. And honestly, it's because that's the only time we have anything exciting going on outside of our normal routine of work, eat, sleep. This weekend was no different. Saturday morning we hit the road for Dallas to celebrate my sweet friend Genna's wedding day. Genna was my "big sis" in Chi O and one of the first friends I made at Baylor. She's definitely one of the reasons that my transition to college was so easy. Anyway...Saturday she married her prince, Newton, and it was no doubt a beautiful ceremony and reception that just reflected Genna in every way. I am so excited for them and what lies ahead and even more excited to welcome her to the "married club"!
On our way to Dallas, Chris and I stopped at Sam's Restaurant in Fairfield, Texas. Chris's Mawmaw and Pawpaw used to live on a farm in Fairfield and he spent a lot of his childhood going to visit them out in the country! When they would go visit, every Sunday consisted of church in the morning, then lunch at Sam's afterward. It was so fun to hear some of his memories of Fairfield and finally getting to see a little piece of it. (By the way - lunch was DELICIOUS! If you're ever headed anywhere on I-45 - we recommend stopping at Sam's!)
Funny side story before I share pictures from the wedding. Chris and I decided to get a hotel last minute and stay near the reception venue. We arrived Saturday afternoon and when we got to the lobby of the hotel we quickly found out that there was a Mary Kay convention going on. There were so many women - everywhere! And of course...all wearing some form of pink. You can imagine the looks on our faces when we came around the corner and saw it all! On to some wedding pictures...
I'm really not that short, Paige is just really tall!
Genna & Newton's first dance
Our Chi Omega Family - Genna is my big sis
and I'm Paige's big sis
Me and my handsome hubby :)
Chi O's singing "Shades"
It was such a fun wedding! Genna and Newton - congrats you two! Hope you thoroughly enjoy your vacation to St. Maarten!
This weekend, Chris and I spent most of Saturday doing some much needed cleaning up around the house. Chris got the fun stuff outside (mowing, edging, car washing, etc...), as well as finishing up painting some doors and the windowsill in our kitchen. And I got to take care of your typical wife duties (cleaning, dishes, laundry, vacuuming, dusting) - all those things I really enjoy! HA!
Saturday night, we got to enjoy having some friends down to our side of town to go eat dinner and then come back to our house for dessert and game night! Caylin and I went to Baylor together and shared many memories during my time there. We were both float chairs (she taught me everything I know!) and during her 5th year, her apartment - The Box - was my second home. We're thankful her BF lives in Houston so she gets to visit often, but if anyone is looking to hire a well qualified fashion merchandiser, holla! I need to get this girl down to H-Town for good!
We ate dinner at T-Bone Tom's. It was featured on Diners, Dives, and Drive-In's a few years ago!
Once we were done with dinner (and completely over sweating)...we headed back to our house. The game we decided on was Cranium! Pop Culture. We had a great time! We had each other laughing so hard there were tears with our below par drawings, sculptings, hummings, etc. We played 2 rounds. Round 1 went to Caylin and Jonathan...Round 2 - to the girls! (We decided that made Cay the ultimate winner, since she won both rounds!)
Our resident sculpting pro - who knew?!
We were extremely focused - and it paid off!
10 points to anyone who guesses this band!
Drawing compliments of my incredibly talented husband.
But in the end...
GIRLS WIN!!
Sunday we enjoyed having a clean house, spent a little time at the pool, Chris washed HIS car, then we went to his parents' house for a nice home cooked meal (Chris said it had been a while since he had one of those...not really sure how to take that! LOL). Now we're just resting up to start another week! Chris starts week 3 of his remodel -- only 11 more to go! We're starting to plan a weekend getaway to celebrate the completion!
So in the last 2 1/2 months that we've been married, there's been a lot of newness. Besides the obvious of being married, living together, getting back into the groove of everyday life...we have bought a new car...
Meet Pearl - our new Toyota Venza
and a new motorcycle...
Rachel, the R6 (my vote for a name was Reba...)
...and Chris has started a new job with Target handling a remodel in Lake Jackson. It's been going well, so far...up until the remodel actually started this week. Chris has had to go into the store around 2 or 3 in the morning this first week just to make sure everything is going along as planned. He was in bed around 6:30 pm tonight and I got to enjoy the evening watching the Bachelorette and finally making this blog!
Chris will be in Lake Jackson for the next 3-4 months. Pray that I make it through it sane (as Chris will be working Mon-Fri and I'm still on an every other weekend rotation...) and that it leads to bigger and better things for Chris! We have truly been blessed so far and we know that best is yet to come...
For so long, my friends and I always marked a true married couple by the entrance into the blogging world. Guess this means that we've officially arrived...or at least I have - my husband more than likely finds this whole "blogging world" lame. But hey, at least this gives me something to do while he rides his new motorcycle. More updates to come on all that later. A quick update to bring everyone up to speed on our new lives as newlyweds...
April 30, 2011 - the best day of our lives. We got married in Bossier City and it's definitely a day we will never forget. We were surrounded by some of the best and most supportive friends and family anyone could ask for. I could post a million pictures of the day...but I'll stick with a few of my favorites :)
My brother and his precious fiance (who is an incredibly talented writer and has been the biggest supporter of my entrance into the blogging world - my blog posts will be nothing compared to what she writes! )...
And...hands down...my favorite picture of the day...
And we're off!
The next week we spent vacationing in St. Lucia. It was absolutely beautiful, despite the fact that it rained more than half the time we were there!
Zip lining in the rainforest - talk about a rush!
Massages on the pier of The Grande, St. Lucia
My handsome man in our favorite spot...by the pool!
Our favorite restaurant at the resort, Tuscanini's
