Farewell 2008

I still have lots of catching up to do in the blog world. It seems like I'll never finish all of my post-wedding blogs. I did get a new lap top for Christmas from my hubby, and Photoshop Elements so I can't wait to get to work on my wedding photos.



We had a great first Christmas together. It was a little different not being at mom and dad's on Christmas morning. This year we had Christmas lunch at my parents' instead of Grandma Clark's. My aunt Christy found out just before the wedding that she has breast cancer. She had her first chemo treatment the day after Christmas, so Grandma has been staying with her in Montgomery for the past month. Christy has started a website specifically for cancer patients here. You have to sign in with your email address to view the site. There you can read updates about her treatments and progress. She has a guestbook as well.

All in all 2008 was another great year, but we are both looking forward to 2009. Our house was started the week of the wedding, and is coming along nicely. I hope to get to move in during my summer vacation. I have registered for two graduate classes next semester ($1500 for 2 Classes!!). It's going to be another busy year for us. Just when Shelli and Anna were getting rested up, it looks like we have ANOTHER WEDDING to start planning!! I'll fill everyone in on that news very soon!!

Happy New Year!

Our First Christmas

Here's our Christmas card for this year. The cards were created on my favorite site, Shutterfly. I love all of the neat products they have, and recommend them to everyone! I placed my card order last Friday night and received my cards on Tuesday. The picture is of course of our wedding kiss. I think we need to come up with a kissing pose every year from now on!

Dave and I started and nearly finished our Christmas shopping yesterday. I know and appreciate how lucky I am to have a husband who loves to shop as much as I do. I grew up with two boys that made most shopping trips miserable!

We had a lot of fun together and spent a lot of time laughing. I have to say that being married is pretty great.

On a random side note, Hallmark has the cutest ornaments! You know me, I can't make decisions. I showed Dave all of the ornaments I liked, and let him narrow it down. We chose this for our ornament this year:

We can look forward to getting one of these next Christmas,


and maybe a few Christmases later?

The Rehearsal

Sorry it's taking me so long to blog about the wedding. I turned my camera over to Alyson (my brother, John's, girlfriend) for the weekend of the wedding and she managed to get about 2,000 fabulous shots for me.

Dave and I got married in a pasture at my parents' home. We chose a spot where the sun would be setting behind us. It worked out that it was on my brothers' old baseball field. When my brothers were younger my dad built them a ball field in our yard. It was a real deal regulation field. Their Little League and Babe Ruth teams practiced on it. Did anyone wonder what the big backstop was? The ceremony was actually set up in the outfield, so the ground was nice and flat. My dad nearly mowed all of the tall grass, but I asked him to leave it. I'm glad we did, because it turned out beautiful in all of the photos. I don't know how I'll ever repay Dave's Aunt Kathy. The woman scooped up all of the horse maneur in the pasture for our wedding! Thank you Aunt Kathy!

Our rehearsal was on Friday, November 21. It was a perfectly sunny, but chilly afternoon. We had a little chaos at first, which is to be expected anytime you get my brothers and Matthew together. Being serious is nearly impossible for them. We finally worked everything out and went in the house to warm up before our meal.

Next Post: The Rehearsal Dinner-Stay Tuned!

YAY!!

I know I'm jumping ahead of the wedding time frame, but I just saw Amy's Blog.
I can't wait to see the rest!

Bridal Portraits

Hello friends and family! I'm blogging from the honeymoon. I hope you all have warmed up from our chilly wedding night. I'm told it was cold. I honestly don't remember the weather so much. It was the fastest day of my entire life, and I feel the need to write everything down before I forget it. I guess I should start with the bridal portraits first, since I can finally share them with you. They were taken by my friend and co-worker, Nikki Guilford. She did an amazing job! These are a couple of my favorites. I think most of you have seen the others, but in case I missed out on giving you the info, go here. The email is mandi.clark@cov.k12.al.us and the password is wedding.

We're Getting Ready!

I had not planned on blogging again before the wedding, but after seeing all of the masterpieces my family members have created, I felt that I needed to give credit where it is due. First are the cake tiers my daddy made. I looked for something like this for months and was about to give up on it when my daddy asked me what I wanted them to look like. I drew out a sketch and the very next day he came home from work with these. Aren't they gorgeous!! The legs are "M"s!! I know Dave and I will use these often and one day pass them on to our children.

My mother is creative too!! She made these beautiful pumpkin topiaries. The pictures don't even do them justice. I am already fighting with her about having them for my house next fall!! Thanks mom and dad! I love you and could never repay you for all of the hard work and sacrifices you've made for me and the brothers!

I made this banner for the boys to carry down the aisle. They've been practicing with it. Houston says, "Here comes the bride...........here she comes!" We'll see if they make it down the aisle Saturday. Being 3 is tough, and it's going to be a long day for them.

Speaking of the aisle, I made this aisle-runner a few months ago.

These window panes will be hanging from the sides of the barn. They were painted by Honey, Shelli, and Anna. There are several of them, and they are all cute!

Here's a shot of our garage. The candleabras were made by Ricky Bass. He's my good friend, Ashly Bass Powell's father. He made these for her wedding, and I think all of the girls in our circle of friends have used them since. Shelli and her mom made the bride and groom scarecrows, and Anna and Shelli are still working on the arch.
Here's the barn. We started hanging lights and fabric last night. You can't see it well in this photo, but there's a wreath that Shelli made hanging in the center.

Here's my lovely assistant going up the ladder again.

Here's my other assistant smiling pretty for the camera!

Hope to see you Saturday! The 10 day forecast predicts sunny skies today. Folks keep asking us what we'll do if it rains. Dave and I talked about it and decided........we'll still get married:)

11 Days!

Happy Halloween!! (In Pictures)

It's not a secret that Halloween is my favorite holiday. It hurts my feelings when people deem it to be an evil day or un-Christian. I have nothing but memories of wonderful times spent with my family on Halloween. Last night was no exception. Check out the photos below. I even got Dave to dress up with me. Can you tell who we were??

Another Reason I like Halloween.........My Birthday!

Thanks for the cake Dave!

If you go to the fair this week.......

Stop by the Humane Society's booth and vote for our puppy. I think its a quarter to vote, but it'll go toward a good cause. I believe the winners get their photo placed in the Humane Sociey's calendar.

I don't have much time for blogging these days. It's extremely busy around our house and we have appreciated all of the help our wonderful friends and family members have volunteered on their weekends and afternoons. Maybe I'll be able to get in a few more posts pre-wedding, but if not, check back in about 5 weeks!!

Happy Birthday Granny Ruby & Laeton Reid!

One year ago today, Dave and I were wrestling with 2 twenty-five month old's in the hospital waiting room. I have a hilarious memory of Dave with his arms loaded down with balloons, clothes, and food maneuvering Houston through the hospital lobby holding on to nothing but the hairs on the top of his head! It was an interesting day to say the least!

Laeton Reid is one today, and yesterday was Granny Ruby's birthday, so the family gathered at mom and dad's for lunch on Sunday afternoon to celebrate.

Dylon giving Granny a birthday kiss!

The birthday boy!

His brothers were more excited than he was.

He was pretty happy with his cake....

Just don't try to make him wear a dorky hat.

The boys were curious to see what Laeton got.

Houston the Rockstar.

(Griff would be proud!)

Laeton wearing his new boots and riding his Thomas.

Stacy and Tamara made Granny a cake.

The best family pic I could get...