Sunday, January 22, 2012

Our Precious "Children"

I figured we should introduce you to do our dear "children" that are of the canine species!

Chad's dog is Hitch.  Hitch is 6 years old, but acts as if he is a tiny puppy.  I've never seen more energy within any animal.  Hitch happily greets you at the door every single time you come home.  He wakens every morning with a HUGE amount of excitement to start the day.  At around 6:30 or 7 he starts circling our bed, whimpering at the window as birds chirp outside, and standing up on the bed while lying his head next to our heads and taking deep breaths (it's creepy).  When we finally do get up he sometimes gets carried away in his excitement and takes my legs out from under me during one of his many excited circles as I walk to let him out into the backyard.  Then, I'm not so happy and tell him (in my stern voice) to just, please, please, calm down.  (I'm not a morning person.)  All in all, Hitch is a delight of a dog to have.  He thinks he's a lap dog, and will try, with all his might, to inch up into your lap.  Sometimes now he just simply jumps up on the couch (only to be told, NO Hitch!)  His favorite things to do include: run, gaze out the backdoor, play keep away from Turk with the toys, cuddle, and wake me up by shaking his head incredibly hard.  We love you Hitch.  You're a good dog!
Hitch makes this face a lot.  It makes us laugh!

He was not supposed to be up there. . . but oh how he loved it!  Notice Turk's white spots and the tennis ball!


My dog is Turk.  Little Turk was most definitely a gift from God.  When I moved to Midland, the Lord graciously provided a family that had an extra bedroom I could live in.  After praying for a shelter over my head (that I could afford) for weeks, a friend of a friend told the Carters to email me.  The following weekend my Mom and I went to Midland to meet the Carters and look through some apartments in case it didn't work out.  All my life I've wanted a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.  Literally, as long as I can remember I've wanted "one of the dogs that always looks like a puppy".  When we got to the Carter's house, I met Jeff, Lisa and their three beautiful daughters Lexy, Sam, and Kenedi.  As they showed us around their beautiful home, they showed me the backyard.  There sat Turk looking up at us with those big brown eyes and that wagging tail that could melt any heart!  As strange as it sounds, God used this little dog to confirm to me that yes, this is the place He provided for me to live!  I lived with the Carter's for 15 months.  Towards the end of my stay with them, they asked me one evening if I would be interested in taking Turk with me to Lubbock when I moved at the end of the summer.  Well, that was a no brainer!  Yes!  I'd love to!  So Turky and I moved to Lubbock where he was affectionately spoiled by my roommate, Lauren, and I!  During his year with Lauren and I  he also provided many laughs and several much needed cuddle times during an overwhelming year of school for both of us.  Today Turk is (still) spoiled, and loved to pieces.  He is a calm, sweet little dog.  Turk is a CUDDLER.  He loves a good nap, and he can sleep just as long as I can (impressive).  He loves to play fetch (to the point of my arm hurting).  He is incredibly docile, you can hold him on his back, cut his nails, move his ears around, and he could care less.  He even let me listen to his heart and lungs a lot in school.  But, Turk is quite territorial.  After Chad and I got married, Turk was a rude little dog to Hitch.  He guarded the food and wouldn't let Hitch come near. . . we're still working on this!  Turky you're a good dog too!

He has a good heart and clear lungs. . . in case you're wondering. ;)


Chad snapped this picture this weekend. He is such a sweet dog!


Bath time isn't really Turk's favorite...but he'll let you bathe him as long as you'd like (especially when there's a bone in the mix)!

NO ONE can resist that little face!


Friday, January 20, 2012

Reception!

The great thing about our wedding was that the reception was just a few steps away from the ceremony! We hurried over to the reception and greeted everyone with a receiving line, which turned out to be a great way to speak with everyone that came!



The beginning of a nice long line of wonderful guests! 



Sweet friends, Jacob & Lauren Murphree!


 A dear friend from high school: Zach Gilbert! Thanks for coming Zach!


Raider Red workin' the crowd!

 
Such pretty flowers. 



After the receiving line, Red escorted us into our reception!

Feeding each other cake has got to be the most awkward thing ever!


 Toasts from our precious bridal party. Clay Hooten went first. It was amazing. 

Dr. Pepper & Diet Coke!

Then Brittnye! She walked through the MANY memories we've shared together. It was so special. She even put a copy of it in my purse along with sweet notes that I found when we got to Costa Rica. I definitely cried as I read them all. Thank you dear friend!

Then my dear little sister, Meghan. Oh how her speech had me tearing up. I love you dear Meg! You're the best little sister anyone could hope for!



We did all the "activities" that usually occur at a reception immediately so that people could leave if they needed to. Next was the bouquet toss. Sweet little Kenedi caught it!


And the garter throw! Chad's Grandfather is a hoot. He caught the garter and immediately put it on his head!


In between mingling with our guests we jumped in the photobooth for some fun! This is Kate...she is the most adorable child I know!



As I mentioned before, we had a tortilla toss as our send off. I can now tell you that tortillas hurt when they hit you!



Goodbye friends! Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to all of those who made the drive to our wedding! It meant so much to me!

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Music has a wonderful way of absolutely penetrating the soul. I'm so glad there will be song after song in Heaven.
This is my new favorite song.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Wedding Details!

In the words of our friend Kate (she's 5 years old) the stadium was my castle for the day! :)
Beautiful programs!



Chad's cousin, Blake, made all our the chalkboards for us! He did an amazing job! We framed a picture of each of our parents and grandparents on their wedding day's!

Beautiful arrangement at the Guest Registry table!


Sing in pens and guest registry book. 





This is my favorite chalkboard with the lyrics to Always on it! The chalkboard now hangs in our bedroom! 


Blake also made us these initials out of old books! By far the most unique wedding present we received! He's quite talented!


The staircase arrangement. Behind it is the Lord's Supper table as pictured below. 


Champagne Chair covers! 



Centerpieces in the reception area. 



Chad's cake table. 



My cake! (it was so delicious!)


Instead of champagne, we did our favorite drinks: Diet coke for me and Dr. Pepper for Chad! Blake found the antique diet coke bottle at an antique store in Lubbock for $8 after we searched high and low all over the world for a glass bottled diet coke. Sadly, the bottle got thrown away at the reception. :(




 Some of the chalkboards that were around the reception room. 


A picture with Raider Red!


When we left, we had a "Tortilla Toss". We can say that tortillas kind of hurt when they hit you!




Photo booth props!

We had a coffee bar at the reception! It was quite a hit!