Wedded Bliss Wednesday

I've been seeing these posts on several newlywed pages I read and thought, what the heck I should do this too!!!  Next week I promise to return to So What Wednesday bc I suck and don't do it anymore!

What is the best gift to give your husband?

My husband is so hard to buy for, he buys everything he wants and most of what he wants is expensive.  But here are some winning gifts: black hanes socks (sad yes, does he love them, yes), muskie fishing lures/fishing poles, a photo mug with pictures of his dog and magazine subscriptions.

What is a meaningful gift that you can give that does not cost money?

Helping with housework or doing something nice like making breakfast in bed or putting a little note in their lunch!

What is the best gift you have given to him?

Myself ahahahaha ummm hmmm he did love that photo mug with the dog pics on it!

What is the best gift he has given to you?

My engagement ring is a big one, but other than that.....the journey necklace he got me for my birthday when we started dating and my new/used car.  That was something I wasn't really expecting but needed.

What are you giving this holiday?

I honestly don't know.  He wants a tool kit for trips to the junkyard/road trips that fits in a case for the car.  I really don't know what I want or what our budget will be after the wedding/trying to save for bedroom furniture and our beach trip next year.

And here is our holiday photo from last year :) this year it will be wedding pics!

Be sure to click the button and link up too!!!!

our new family member

Meet Bradley (name subject to change) our Kitty we adopted from Cat Welfare this weekend.  I've been waiting to get a cat and Andrew told me I could get one for my birthday in may, but we were so busy with the wedding.  He is very slowly adjusting to our home and doesn't seem to mind the dog.  He does like to hide but will cuddle in my lap while we watch TV.  I hope he adjusts well and stays attached to me :)

Another wedding post - why I loved my reception

When we got engaged I knew I wanted to have an outdoor reception under a big tent.  I had been to several outdoor receptions as a kid and have been dreaming of my outdoor reception for years.  Andrew's parents have a beautiful farm which we knew right away would be the perfect location and we would be the third generation to have a wedding reception on the property.  Done and done!

We spent all summer keeping the area mowed, trimming trees (and cutting a huge one down after it got struck by lightening) and making sure we had the perfect spot picked for the tent.  We rented the tent, tables and chairs from one company for much less than it would have cost to rent a reception hall (about $4,000 less) but had trouble finding a dance floor.  Thankfully my brother built one for us and it worked out perfect.  My cousin's husband is a DJ as well so we were able to have our music for FREE as a wedding gift, nothing better than a free wedding vendor!  So why did I love my reception so much, well here is some photographic proof as to how awesome that night was.

And in case I didn't mention this in my last post, all photos are courtsey of the AMAZING Loveletter Photography which can be found here oh and here too!  If you're looking for a photographer in Columbus, OH and love the romantic, vintage feel of these photos please give her a call.  I could not have been happier with my photos and what an amazing job she did!

Our tent

 

 
 Our grand entrance on the hay wagon, it was awesome and hilarious.
Andrew's dad is driving, he had all these huge pipes draging behind the tractor,
along with tools and a boat prop for Andrew.

Our first dance

 My amazing maid of honor.

My brother and I get a little crazy when beer is involved.
We were singing to our significant others and they were obviously making fun of us.

 We did a karaokee duet to Jackson by Johnny Cash and June Carter.
This was towards the end of the night.

Of course there was lots of line dancing bc I'm cheesy like that :)

The Ray-bans were totally necessary!

Hold up, gotta bust a move.

I danced so much that I thought my feet were going to fall off, sang so loud that my voice was horse, drank a few beers, you know nothing too extreme and had the time of my life.  At one point while we were dancing Andrew said to me, "You love this don't you, getting to be the center of attention for a whole day and a party just for you and me."  Boy, he called that one!

Our Honeymoon

 

 Our honeymoon was sort of a throw together last month plan to get away for a week and relax.  We knew we couldn't afford a lavish trip since we were still trying to make improvements to our home and didn't want to put a vacation on our credit card.  We planned to drive down to Kentucky and take our boat so we could check out some of the amazing lakes.  I caved and said I would camp for a few days and that we could stay in a lodge/hotels the rest of the vacation.  I also didn't want to be far from home in case something happened to my grandfather while we were gone. 

 

We arrived at our first stop, Cave Run Lake on Monday and the weather was lovely!  We set up our tent and went to check out the lake which was just down the hill from our site and a trail was already made to get there!  The lake was beautiful (as you can see below) and because it is set down in the mountains, the water never gets choppy.  Its also known for holding some record setting Muskie (huge fish with teeth that Andrew likes to catch).  We launched our boat and tied it up near our campsite so we could go on the lake as we pleased.

Cave Run Lake Campground Boat Launch

 

We ventured into town afterwards to get gas and find a place to eat, town (which was Morehead, KY) was not very big and the only non-fast food place to eat was BW3's which we both hate but we decided to give it a shot anyways.  We came back, went out on the boat to watch the sunset, came back, built a fire, sat and talked and had a nice evening. 

When we woke up on Tuesday (at 5am) Andrew felt the urge to go fishing, all I wanted to do was sleep so he ventured out on his own.  When I finally crawled out of bed, I realized it was FREEZING outside and starting to get pretty dark and cloudy.  I checked the weather on my phone to see that the chance of rain had gone from 20% to 80% overnight and by the time Andrew came back, it was pouring!  We drove around most of the day trying to find something to do without any luck, had a late lunch and by dusk it finally quit raining.  We took the boat out for a cruise to the other side of the lake which made for some good photos.  That night, racoons invaded our campsite while I cooked hamburgers, scared me to the point that I screamed bloody murder and we had a good laugh for the rest of the night around the campfire over a few beers.

Crusin

My love and the moon
 

By Wednesday I was totally over camping and we knew it was just going to keep raining so we headed for Cumberland Falls and booked an extra night at the lodge.  We made a few pit stops along the way at the Red River Gorge Geological Area, which was beautiful and broke up the long drive through the mountains.

Devils Gorge

Resorted log cabin that was once the post office for the area.
 

When we arrived, I realized that the lodge looked nothing like the pictures online, the girl at the front desk was a total airhead and couldn't even process our payment right and our room was the size of a tin can.  The area around the hotel was beautiful and the falls were amazing. 

Bridge over the Cumberland River near Cumberland falls



Cumberland falls
 

We knew there wasn't enough to do in the area for two days so we headed towards Lake Cumberland and then decided to move onto Mammoth Cave after that and find a place to stay.

Lake Cumberland, I could not believe the size of this lake.

Lake Cumberland was pretty neat, its not the busy season there in the fall so we got to see a lot of houseboats tied up to dock and floated around for an hour or so before we got bored.  The water was beautiful and clear and the cliff and beach shorelines were really something amazing.  I'd love to go back in the summer.

Our last stop of the trip was Mammoth Cave, which I was the most excited about.  Though the day took a sad turn, while we were eating lunch my brother called to tell us my grandpa had passed away.  Since we already purchased our tour tickets, we decided to take the two hour tour and then head back to Ohio.  I'm glad that we stayed and took the tour because it was spectacular!

In the drapery room, probably the most amazing part.

Looking up from the huge stairs we went down to get into the cave

Though I was a little disappointed with some of the trip, it was fun and it was nice to get away.  Our next vacation will be in June to the beach and I cannot even explain how excited I am to go!

3 weeks to the day

As I had mentioned in an earlier post, my grandpa was put into hospice while I was on my work trip to DC in early September.  That week I was away, was a wirlwind of sleepless nights, stress and a lot of anxiety.  I could not wait to get home, I knew things were not good, I could hear the worry in my mom's voice and in Andrew's voice when I had a brief moment to actually call home.

 

I arrived home from DC very late in the evening on September 12th and got to my grandparents house as soon as I could the next morning.  We were given a four day weekend when we got back from our conference, I was so thankful for those extra two days off.  The social worker came to meet with us and told us it could be any day now and her goal was to make sure he was comfortable and that my grandma had as much help as she needed to care for him in their home.  Seeing him was quite a shocker, he was in a hospital bed, so thin and tired looking and I was doing everything in my power not to cry in front of him. 

I stayed the night with him Friday night and knew that I was going to be frantic and busy the following week with the wedding.  A few days before the wedding, he started to get worse.  He wasn't eating much and had pretty much stopped talking.  My grandma had a volunteer come sit with him so she could come to our ceremony and it was so emotional for her to leave him alone just for that one hour.  My heart broke when she walked into the bridesroom to see me and for the first time all day on my wedding day I cried. 

The Sunday after our wedding we went to see my grandpa again, knowing we'd be leaving for our honeymoon on Monday.  He was even more silent and didn't eat a thing.  His eyes looked strange and I wasn't even sure if he knew we were there.  I cried the whole way home and really couldn't decide if we should go on our honeymoon or not.  My grandma and family insisted that we go and have a good time so Monday morning we headed for Kentucky.

Thursday the 27th we arrived at Mammoth Cave after a whole morning of driving and sat down for lunch.  That was when I got the call from my hysterical brother telling me that he had passed away.  I didn't know what to say or think, part of me was glad he wasn't suffering but part of me knew that going home was going to be so hard.  We drove through the night and got back to Columbus at midnight and spent the entire next day with my family.  The whole weekend, the service, the funeral everything was such a wirlwind and didn't seem real.  I realized that day how lucky I was to have married Andrew, he never let go of my hand every moment he was with me those two days at the funeral home.  He held me, let me talk and sleep when I felt emotionaly exhausted - I feel even more in love with him.  It was so hard to watch my grandparents 59 year marriage end and think about our life together only beginning. 

I don't have any regrets that we went on our honeymoon, though I did feel pulled to come home I know that he would have wanted me to have fun and relax.  I know I'll never get over loosing him but with each passing day it grows easier and I know he'll forever be watching over me and Andrew.

I'm back & I'm a Mrs!!!!!

To my handful of faithful readers, my apologies for taking FOREVER to post anything about my wedding.  Its been almost three weeks since we got married and its been quite a wirlwind, but I'll get to that in another post, for now I'm going to post some wedding pics and tell the story of our wedding day!  Enjoy :)

At the hair salon

My dress, I wish I could wear it again, I loved it!

My broach bouquet that my mom and I made, it was amazing!

My bridesmaids flowers, which my mother-in-law and I grew

My mom lacing up the back of my dress.

Our first look at the church.

Waiting for the ceremony to start with my girls.

My dad giving me away, he cried more that I did!

Finally husband and wife!

The bridal party.

Andrew's custom boutonniere from The Ritsy Rose

Our rings

  

Our first dance to "Patience" by Guns n Roses

My maid of honor and very best friend.

 

The reception was a blast if you can't tell from this photo.

And at the end of the night my brother and I sang Jackson karaoke as we do at most family parties.

I have to say, I could not have asked for a more amazing wedding day.  I felt a little nervous that morning, mostly because Andrew isn't always into seeing me dressed up and I had no idea what he would think of my dress.  The weather also caused some issues, but it was beautiful that morning at the church and for all of our outdoor pictures in front of the barn.  I am so glad we rented a tent because right in the middle of our first dance, there was a storm with a lot of wind.  We had to move the food inside from another area but everything worked out fine. 

I danced the night away at the reception and couldn't have felt more happy and grateful to have so many amazing friends and most of my family there to celebrate our special day.  I will say, it does feel different to be married.

Monday, we left for our honeymoon, but I'll do another post on that adventure soon.  I'm hoping that now that so many busy events in my life have come to a close, I'll have more time to keep up on this blog!