We've Moved!!!

We did it! And boy was it hard work. We moved this past weekend to our new home. We absolutely love it. It's more than I could have even imagined having in a first home. God is so good. We started this adventure actually two Saturdays ago when we had a garage house at the old house. I'm not a fan of garage sales, but we (when i say we I mean mostly Brandon) had a lot of stuff to get rid of. My husband is a very hands on "guys guy", but when it comes to memories he is such a sentimental sap and likes to hold on to everything. I mean we were cleaning out his closet and finding love notes from girlfriends from 8th grade. Come on babe, really? Your 28 and a married man now it's time to chunk this stuff. We did for the most part. My husband is also quite the collector. From football cards to X-Men action figures to antiques the man has it all. We sold a lot in the garage sale and sold some on Ebay too. His mom was also the avid collector of Barbie Dolls which is no doubt where he gets it from. Anyway we sold a lot of stuff despite the rain and packed up our house and moved last weekend. It only took 2 trailer loads, 4 guys, 1 girl and a dog and we were moved. We unpacked boxes, moved furniture around, and crashed out on Saturday. Unpacked more boxes, worked in the yard, and went to WalMart a lot on Sunday. On Memorial Day we took advantage of the great sales going on and bought new furniture, a refrigerator, and dishwasher. That's a lot of money spending, but we went to Ashley Furniture and bought so much (which we needed desperately anyway) that we got a new 50" Plasma TV. It's awesome! I will post pics soon of the house, but I have some more decorating to do first. For now here are some pics of the furniture.

First Comes LOVE, Then Comes Marriage, Then Comes...

A New House!!! Gotcha didn't I? Brandon and I have been on the hunt ever since we got married and before to find a place to call our own. We were kinda looking before we were married, but with the stresses of planning a big wedding we quickly realized it was becoming too much too soon. So with the wedding and honeymoon out of the way, we decided to pick up where we left off. We looked at several homes in the South part of Lubbock. In fact, we even thought we found our dream home at one point and put an offer on it. However, with a competitive market we lost that house in a bidding war. It really wasn't much of a "war" actually, but unfortunately we were still without a home. We looked at several more from there with no luck. Last Tuesday however, we found it. Its a lot larger than anything we really have looked at and has tons of potential. We close on the 22nd if all goes well. It does need some cosmetic updates, but that is the fun part right? Here are a few pics.



Dining Room


Master Bath


Sun Porch


Living Room


Kitchen


Utility Room

One Month and Wedding Vendors

So today marks one month of marriage. I'm feeling pretty good. We are unpacking still, organizing, writing thank you notes still, and just enjoying being married. I finally got my wedding band in and it's beautiful. I love it! We are starting to look for a house. We going to look at some tonight. Other that that just working and trying to get back to some kind of normalcy. Whatever that is. Well a lot of people have been really curious about the vendors and such I used for the wedding. So I thought I would compile a list. We had fabulous vendors but a lot of it was DYI which I take a lot of pride in. You don't have to spend a fortune to have a fabulous wedding.

Wedding Site
First Baptist Lubbock



Reception Site
Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts
511 Ave. K


Love Love Love the Underwood Center! It was the perfect place to have fun, let loose, and dance the night away. When I was thinking of places to have the reception the one place I couldn't stop think about was the Underwood Center. We actually moved up our wedding date three months so we could be married at FBC and have the reception at the LHUCA.

Rehearsal Dinner Site
Gardski's


Ok if you are looking to have an event for a about 25 to 50 people Gadski's is the place for you. They were so accommodating. We had the front downstairs area all to ourselves and got to pick two items off the menu for people to choose from. The best part is they don't charge you to rent the space like a lot of restaurants do. Highly Recommend :)

Photographer
Captivated Images
Can't say enough about Barry and Dominique. They are amazing!!! If you are looking for the design photography, they are the people to call in the area.

DJ
Music to the Maxx
Tammy Maxx is awesome! She kept everything movin and groovin all night long

Catering, Cakes and Floral
Market Street


Ok we had fabulous food from Market Street. It was so easy. I did over estimate the amount I needed, but for the price, I still ended up way under budget. They even delivered all the food on time and for only a $15 fee. What a great deal!


Floral was more than I could hope for an unbelievable deal! Thanks Patti over at MarketStreet on 98th and Quaker for everything you did. It was beautiful



And finally Mark. One of my new brother in laws made the cakes. They turned out amazing!!! Call Mark at MarketStreet for all your bakery needs.



Bridal Gown, Bridesmaid Dresses, and Flower Girl Dress
Davids Bridal


Tuxes
Men's Wearhouse



Rentals
Gayle's Wedding and Party Rentals
Social Butterfly (this is were we got the gorgeous candelabras)

Stationary

I did all the print work, from the Save the Date to the Programs to the favors. It was a lot of work, but I would do it again. It all turned out so great. If you have a wedding or event coming up and need and invitation or announcement. Call me :) I work cheaply and efficiently. I use Dennis Brothers and Copy Craft Printers for all my printing needs.

Miscellaneous Stuff
Candles: Cudge.net
DYI Paper Supply: PaperSource
Jewerly: Redot Designs
Other DYI Items: Save on Crafts

Whoo! That took longer than I attended. Hope you enjoy

Wedding Pics

We had the best day. I felt this overwhelming sense of peace the whole day. I think that's why we were able to get so many beautiful photographs. I worked so hard planning that it was so wonderful to see it all come together. I know God had His hand in everything. It was really a fabulous time. Thank you Dom and Barry for capture the beauty of the day. Here are some images from the big day.

I See London, I see France...

So we are back in Lubbock settling into married life. I can't believe we've been married three weeks already. Time flies when you are having so much fun. Well since I can't decide which wedding pics to post yet, I thought I would go ahead and post about my honeymoon. We definitely took a more unconventional approach to the "honeymoon". Most people decide to go to Mexico or Jamaica, but Brandon and I wanted to do something different and visit a place where we knew we probably would have never dreamed of going had we not had this wonderful opportunity. We had a great time, but met some challenges along the way. When you travel to a different country not knowing a soul and have to adapt to a completely different culture, language, currency, transportation, food, etc. it really makes you grateful for what you have and appreciate each other that much more. We were both fighting different health complications throughout the entire time we were gone, but still managed to do and see a lot. With that being said here are pics from our wonderful honeymoon starting with London.

Our Hotel Marriott Grosvenor House


Windsor Castle

Roman Baths

Stonehenge (It was freezing cold)



The London Eye


The British Museum


Buckingham Palace (We got a glimpse of the queen driving away)

We went and saw the fabulous play Oliver! our last night in London. It was one of the main highlights of the entire trip.


We're Heading to Paris


The Thinker at the Rodin Museum

The Famous Louvre Museum


Notre Dame Cathedral

The Arc de Triomphe


Moulin Rouge

We just missed Obama twice. He followed us to London and then to France

Overall I would say it was a successful trip and one that we will remember forever.