Father's Day Weekend 2014

We had a great weekend celebrating the fathers in our life. Marcus pretty much did whatever he wanted to do and we just tagged along :) We embraced the love language of quality time over gifts this year and I think we all preferred it.

We started the weekend Friday night by meeting with our architect to discuss the revisions to our house plan. We were at his house for FIVE hours. He showed us how a design plan would look from a certain angle, exteriorly, in 3D, etc. He was even able to put an average size person walking through the rooms to show spacing and room sizes. It was unbelievable! I'm anxious to make some final decisions soon. Geez louise there are so many decisions! And making decisions doesn't come easy for me.

Architect meetings and a wiggly 1 1/2 year old don't mix so my Dad kept Georgia Grace for us until the meeting was over. She helped him get ready for our lake day by exploring the boat. He said she played in his boat for 1-2 hours! Maybe we should just get a boat... :)

Saturday we spent the day at beautiful Lake Malone. Of all the lakes I have been to Lake Malone is my favorite. It's smaller and you can fish or do water sports. And the landscape is head and shoulders above the other lakes in my opinion.

"Ocean"
Ha!

For the past couple of years we have been going to the lake with our best buds Nathan and Rachel and staying in their family cabin. They weren't able to go this weekend but let us use it anyway. So we did :) They are the best! It's seriously the cutest little cabin ever.

Uncle "Erie" and GGH ready to hit the water


Georgia Grace's 1st time on the lake! She loved the water but wasn't crazy about the life jacket. Sorry but not sorry baby girl.

My Dad even let her "drive" the boat (we are idling). She thought she was big stuff of course. Love this picture of these two.

 I think we are looking at our crew in the other boat but I love how her little hand is on my Dad's leg and I'm holding her hand. Safe as can be!

After we went out in the boat for a while Mamaw, GGH and me came back to the cabin to sit on the porch while the rest of them went back out. She fell asleep in my arms while we were swinging. It was a perfect day at the lake.

Father's Day 2014

I didn't think I would ever know a man that was as good of a father as my Dad but I do. I'm blessed to have my husband and Dad leading our families. I'm so thankful for this man!

The way to my husband's heart is absolutely through his stomach. He is a foodie for sure so I made him a Father's Day breakfast of eggs over-easy, bacon, homemade buttermilk biscuits and fresh fruit to go with it. The biscuits are Grandmomma's recipe and he said they were good so I was proud of myself!

Sunday afternoon after church we were back to a body of water. This time my Uncle David's pond. As soon as we finished eating lunch at my Mamaw's we walked over to do a little fishing. We caught 20 fish in about an hour! Bluegill and bass. This is my first catch in many many years. I ended up holding the fish but didn't bait the hook. Rome wasn't built in a day :)

We went home and when Georgia Grace woke up from her nap she had a special Dad's Day card for Dada. She is reading it to him in the picture. Such a big shot! He loved it.

This was one of those weekends you never want to end.

#tbt Our Wedding Day

Today marks four years of being a bride and what better way to commemorate the event than a little throwback to our wedding day. Our wedding day was on the perfect Saturday in May. We have laughed at how we chose to get married during one of the busiest seasons of the year AND right at the end of the school year. But we were young and in love and Marcus's only stipulation to me was that he wanted to have his degree. So he graduated from college the second Saturday in May and we set our wedding day for the third :)

We have a billion and two pictures from our day but I am just picking a few some of my favorites to remember the day by. I love the story that these pictures tell from the day I became Mrs. Marcus Harrison.

I went for a simple updo and a birdcage veil with a long veil in the back. I love pictures of brides getting ready for their best hour. 

My Mom and Grandmas adding the finishing touches

The hands of three of the most important women in my life helping me in my wedding dress. We did the exact same picture for my sister's wedding last year. Same hands, same church, same special love. 

Matching shoes with the very best flower girl Maggie Ann :)

I carried my great-grandmother Embry and great-grandmother Porter's wedding bands on my bouquet.

Candid moments are the best moments. Love my MOH/sister with all my heart. I remember this was just moments before I walked down the aisle. I was so anxious I could bust so I thought doing a normal task would help. 

My beautiful ladies. I was the first one to get married in the group and since then I have had the honor to stand by three of them on their special days and will stand by two of them this year on their wedding days. I love them so!

A fine looking group of fellas

Cousin Keagen was a super-duper ring bearer

I'm proud that we were using monograms way before it became trendy ha! And we put Marcus's initial on the left because that just feels right to me.

My emotional groom. Love this picture so much. We chose to wait and see each other when I walked down the aisle. I'll never regret that decision no matter how crazy the photo-ops afterward became :) My man is a traditionalist and that's one of the many things I love about him.

We both wrote our own vows. His were knock your socks off amazing! How did I get so lucky that he was reading them to me?

Signed, sealed and delivered-I'm yours!!

I think everyone has that one picture from their wedding day that defines them. This would be ours. It shows our happiness, style and love. This is currently hung in a 16x20 frame in our dining room and will be finding a spot in our new house.

My handsome honey!

I have to give myself some props for a second here. I was the farthest thing from a bridezilla. The whole day I had a care-free, laid back attitude. It was shocking! I am a bit of a control freak and detail-oriented and high strung and you get the picture I am painting... I know we had several people praying for us and our special day and those prayers were felt. The day was not perfect (1/3 of the flowers became frostbit in the refrigerators, for example but I didn't learn this until afterward) but it was perfectly us.

I never knew he had such a big mouth!

First dance as husband and wife. I hope we are still dancing just like this 50 years from now.

If these two get married I take the credit :)

I was channeling my inner Jackie O for the leaving attire :) Another one of my favorite pictures from our special day on the 22nd of May. Raw emotion is captivating.

And then we were off to Hawaii for 9 days! We've already decided we want to go back at one of our anniversary milestones to relive our honeymoon. Minus the first night when we slept in our car in a Walmart parking lot. That's another post for another day. Our honeymoon story is a show stopper!

I'm thankful for my forever groom and this day four years ago when we committed ourselves to each other for life. I can't imagine a life without him in it.

Today we are celebrating by taking Georgia Grace to the zoo for the first time. These past four years have been good to us. I have truly found the one my soul loves.

Five On Friday

Is it just me or has this felt like a super duper long week?

It's probably just me considering the eventful week we have had. I feel like we are limping across the finish line to Friday.

I think I jinxed this week when I sat down and planned out our meals. It seems like everytime I do that our schedule gets turned upside down and I don't get a chance to cook one time. I loathe changes in schedule. It's probably my biggest pet peeve.

So the question is could this be a sign for me to stay out of the kitchen? Maybe so :)

One

Sweet girl is doing so well. There's nothing much to report because she seems really normal. No drainage and lots of energy. I think she drug out every toy she owns last night and played hard. But Owen was her favorite toy of course. He puts up with a lot, such a good dog.

Two

This was the text I received from Marcus after getting the news he has Type A flu. He went to the doctor yesterday after being sick since Tuesday. He has felt down right horrible. He has stayed with grandmomma two nights this week so I've been doing the single mom thing quite a bit. Don't like it one bit. We both really miss him. The good news is there is no school Monday (Update-and no school today, another snow day! Beautiful timing) so he will get an extra day to rest and recover. I'm praying he gets well and GGH and I can avoid the plague. I think I've finally talked him into getting vaccinated though...

Three

I love when people love my daughter and she has been loved well through her procedure. We have received several phone calls, texts, messages, prayers, a sweet book from our pastor and of course, food. I was so thankful for all of these things.

And then I checked the mail on Wednesday and found a package from Darcy. It was a get well box full of things to help Georgia Grace make a full recovery and a personal note with each item. PJs for comfort, a Minnie straw sippy to practice our new skills, bath letters to hopefully change her feelings toward that particular event and so on. Seriously one of the most thoughtful and intentional gifts I've ever received. So thankful for her friendship and heart of gold!

Four

Marcus received his Masters diploma in the mail last week. And I submitted his application for a school principal program yesterday. I'm blessed with such a smart & ambitious husband.

Five

Poor daddy was quarantined to grandmomma's house so that called for a facetime date. He received tons of "da-das", phone kisses, and big theatrical jabber stories last night. Hopefully this is our last night of separation. It's not "home" without him.

TGIF times a thousand! Is it spring yet?

Tradition & Throw-Up

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was one of those weekends you would gladly take a redo on. You know it's bad when you look forward to Monday and a fresh, clean start.

Marcus & Georgia both had stomach problems this weekend. We diagnosed Marcus with the stomach bug and Georgia we really aren't sure. I really think she had a touch of it herself. Because...

She fell asleep in these positions. Very non-Georgia Grace like. She has been a crib sleeper/napper since she was 12 weeks old so this was the first sign something was up.

She was totally fine one minute, laughing and jabbering, and then out of nowhere she upchucked...in her beautiful smocked pink pearl dress at Aunt Paigey's wedding shower three hours from home in a coffee shop!

Thank the Lord for a change of clothes and wipes.

Bless her sweet heart though. Her gag reflex that I have mentioned before is so intense.

We decided earlier in the week it was time to start brushing her teeth with an actual toothbrush. I get the toothbrush to her mouth and she gags! It is the strangest thing.

Even though it was a yucky weekend, we pressed on and attended my sister's wedding shower and church on Sunday (Marcus didn't get sick until Sunday night, and we didn't realize GGH was sick until afterward. We try not to spread sicky germs around!).

Paige and Eric's shower was held at his family business You & Me Coffeeshop in his hometown of Corbin, Kentucky. Such a neat, quaint shop situated in the downtown area.

Cute bride alert! 

They do showers a little different in Corbin. The shower was hosted by 9 different women who were associated with the Salmons family. The ladies opened the gifts for the couple and displayed them on the table for everyone to see. If the shower had been in someone's home, each gift would have been displayed in the room that it was for (i.e. sheets-bedroom, knives-kitchen). I had never been to a shower like that but I appreciated the tradition it represented. Also, it was an all-female shower besides the groom. I like that. Very southern.  

The newlyweds with their favorite niece who was giving some lovins during picture time. This was her 2nd OOTD.

I am so glad we were able to make the three hour trip for this special event. The drive from WKy to EKy is beautiful this time of year. Long, but beautiful.

During our outfit change, this happened! I was a little distraught from the whole event obviously. At least she was still for a minute :)

Sunday we kicked off turkey season! She's way too busy for pictures these days. This was the best I could get after several blurred attempts. She stayed in the church nursery and only cried for about 30 seconds and then she was fine. Progress!

Here's to a better week. We need everyone well and stomachs functioning properly for the Thanksgiving feasts next week!