Show Us Your Life-Wedding Part 2

Part 2 of the "wedding series" over at Kellys Korner is show us your flowers/songs and wedding party.  We had 4 songs to play during our wedding. Our mom's walked out to David Tolk's Grace, I walked down to David Tolk's In Reverence and we had a moment during the wedding that was just to ourselves, we were able to say everything that was on our hearts in private, David Tolk's Revelation played.  If you've never heard of David Tolk, check him out, he is so gifted and his song are annointed!  We walked out to Jason Catro's version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Our flowers were simple, varying shades of ivory.  I didn't want to compete with the natural beauty of the wedding location.  Speaking of, the wedding was held in East Texas on land that has been in my family for over 100 years.  Five years ago, I purchased it, about 90 acres.  It's rolling land, surrounded by pine trees and overlooks a beautiful pond.  The pics you've seen with the dirt road and trees were taken on the dam of the pond.  The exact spot we were married on is the spot that Bleu first told me he loved me.  We had taken my parents ranger over to "our" land and parked it overlooking the pond.  We were dreaming...dreaming about our future, our home, our children.  I knew when Bleu told me he loved me, that I would be his wife.  We hope to have a home/farmhouse on that same land someday.  You'll see in the photos below that my mom planted daffodils around "our spot".  They will bloom every year around our anniversary, an awesome reminder of God's blessing!

My bouquet was comprised of ivory roses and hydrangeas

Rose and hydrangea petals

More detailed shot of my bouquet

Both my mom and Bleu's carried small nosegays of roses and hydrangeas

The wedding site, "our spot" and the daffodils my mom planted

Topper on the cake, I'll show the whole cake next week!

Reception flowers: white stargazed lilies, white gladiolas, filler, branches.

Bleu and I chose to keep our guest list to family only.  This included our parents, brothers, sisters, nieces/nephews, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.  Basically anyone that attended the wedding, could have been IN the wedding.  Therefore, we didn't have bridesmaids and groomsmen.  I included a pics of our awesome families!

Bleu's parents, bros, sisters, nephews, niece

My mom, dad, bro, sister-in-law, nephew.

It was the most amazing day of my life!  Bleu is such a precious gift from the Lord, I'm often overwhelmed with how much I love this man and how much he loves me!

Come back next week for reception pictures!

Road Trip!!

Bleu and I took the mother of all road trips when we decided to move ourselves to New York.  We drove (well, he drove) a 17 foot  UHAUL through Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.  We left from my parents in East Texas early on a Tuesday morning, aiming to arrive in New York on Thursday afternoon.  We didn't even get out of town before I made Bleu stop at Wal-Mart, we had a little extra room in the UHAUL, and I needed to pick up some supplies.  They don't have Wal-Mart in Manhattan, ya'll, I had to take advantage of the opportunity.  After loading up on cornmeal, pinto beans, salsa, (you would think we're moving to a foreign country, but I couldn't risk not being able to get our southern food staples in the city) and road trip snacks, we were finally on our way!

Driving

More driving....

The first night we stopped in Nashville.  After filling our tummies with Cracker Barrel, (it's un-American if you don't eat at Cracker Barrel at least once on a road trip), we crashed.  Why is it that sitting in a car doing nothing makes you so exhausted?  Tennessee was beautiful.  We saw corn, LOTS of corn, I swear 78 of the 86 pictures I took on the trip were of CORN.  Corn in Arkansas, corn in Tennessee, corn in Virginia...you get the picture.  We called Bleu's dad (who's a corn farmer) reporting on the corn crop in that part of the country. Bleu to dad : "Well, it looks good in ______(wherever we were at the time)" People, if you are worried about corn, you shouldn't be, there's tons of it, and it looks good.

Corn in Tennessee

View for 2 1/2 days..

Corn in Virginia..

The last night we stopped in Pennsylvania, about 2 hours from the city.  We woke up that morning loaded back up, made a Starbucks run, and sat in traffic.....and sat in traffic....and sat some more.  It took us 5 hours!! WELCOME TO NEW YORK, where it takes you a really long time to get somewhere and we charge you a lot for stuff.  Below is our first glimpse of the sky line...yes it was a classic moment for us, a "what are we doing here" moment.  The next photo is of the GW Bridge headed over to the Upper East Side where we live, it was a toll bridge, and it cost $8 bucks...wow.  That was after New Jersey handed it to us with about $12 in tolls, geez.

It was a little scary navigating the UHAUL through the city, but Bleu did so great!  We made a good team.  We pulled right up to the apartment and found a parking spot, which was a miracle in and of itself.  We hired some guys to help unload us, and we had everything in the apartment within 2 hours.  It could not have gone smoother.

So now we're about 4 weeks in, and we really do love it.  Awesome apartment, great part of the city, yummy food, Bleu loves his job, we found a church (praise God) an we're making friends! Thanks for all of your prayers, we've needed them and felt them.  God is so good....

Here Comes the Bride...

UPDATE:  I wanted to post one more of the dress so you can see the detail in the lace a little better, and a pic of my old beat up boots!

Kelly over at Kelly's Korner is hosting a "Show Us Your Life" - wedding dress post.  Here are a few pics of me marrying the man of my dreams!

My strapless gown is antique ivory lace over a latte lining.  At the waist, there is an embellished belt with pearls and crystals.  It was absolutely perfect for the rustic setting on our land in East Texas.  We were married surrounded by family and pine trees this February 2009.  The exact spot we were married on, is the same spot my husband told me he loved me for the first time. The ceremony was outside and a tent reception followed. 

Gown by Monique Lhuillier.  Boots by Lucchese

Last Days in Dallas..

WOW, I've really got to get better at this blog thing.  I promise to try.

Our last few days in Texas were a whirlwind!  Some of the highlights were:

Packing up our apartment for the 2.5 day drive to NYC.  It was so cute, and our first "home".

2 residency graduations, Bleu was awarded Chief of the Year for Baylor (I'm so proud)!

Bleu and Dr. Joe Liechty

Dr. Jake Abbott

The "chiefs" 2008-2009

Dr. McReynolds at the JPS Roast

Bleu and I at the Baylor graduation.

Lots of making the rounds with all of our friends.

Dinner at all of our favorite restaurants, plenty of Tex-Mex.

A bbq at my parents in East Texas in celebration of our move to NY.

My next 2 posts will chronicle our road trip to New York and our first few weeks in the city....Stay Tuned!

Almost Summer..

May has been such a great month for Bleu and I...full of fun activities with our friends and family.  We started the month off with a trip to Cedar Creek lake to have a reunion with Bleu's medical school buddies.  It was an awesome time.  Bleu is so blessed with amazing friends, and it was an honor for me to meet them, their wives and kids.

On the lake

Bleu wake surfing

Next up was a trip to Dalhart.  Bleu's mom and dad graciously hosted a post wedding party for us in Bleu's home town.  It was amazing, from the food, decor and most importantly the company.  The weekend was packed full of fun!  In addition to the party, we swam, bbq'd, swam some more, spent time on the farm, made homemade ice cream and even played a family baseball game!  

Our beautiful party decor, love the "B" & "L" at the end of the table

Bleu on the combine

Riding the dirt bike is a must on the farm :-)

On the farm

Corn in May

The countdown to NYC is on, less than 30 days and we're off to the Big Apple!

We heart New York..

Bleu and I took a "scouting" trip to New York to asses what we were in for when we make the big move in June.  We flew into La Guardia on the Thursday before Easter.  After getting all settled in our hotel, in Midtown, we decided to venture out for some lunch/sightseeing.  We went up the street a couple of blocks to Grand Central Station.  Bleu and I both agree there is something romantic about Grand Central.  After a quick smooch in the main terminal, we went downstairs to the food court.  That's where the romance ended...that place is a zoo!  After circling twice trying to decide what to eat and dodging people that walk faster than humanly possible, we got our food.  Then, the hunt for a table began, you have to be quick and not get distracted.  After 5 minutes of that hunt, we were successful.  We collapsed in our chairs.  I'm not sure we spoke to each other for 5 minutes.  We both just sat there staring into space.  Bleu broke the silence with "WHAT are we doing here?".  I tried to convince Bleu that we were in one of the busiest parts on Manhattan, and our neighborhood would be so much more quiet and nice (all the while TRYING to believe the words that were coming out of my mouth). 

As if the crowds of Grand Central weren't enough fun, we thought we would enjoy the crowds of Time Square later that night!  It really was a blast.  We ate at a great Asian bistro, Ruby Foos, and stayed long enough to snap some pics.

On Friday, we ventured up to our soon-to-be neighborhood, the Upper East Side.  It really is one of the nicest parts of Manhattan.  We met the staff in Bleu's new office, they were all SO nice and welcoming.  After our visit to the hospital, we took a tour of our apartment building, located just 2 blocks from the hospital.  It's great, and  the best part.....central air conditioning (a luxury in NYC, most have window units)!  Ha, that and the gym, the doorman, the cool courtyard, and the fact that it's a NEW building- that is a rarity in NYC.

Saturday, we took in some sights of the city.  We went to the Natural History Museum and Bleu treated me to a tour of Central Park....he informed me that we would spend a lot of time in the park, in the wide open spaces and grass and trees.  You can take the man out of Texas, but not Texas out of the man...

One might assume the above is a pic of the famous dinosaur at the museum, but this is, in fact, my alter ego, Bleu has so sweetly named "the monster".  This alter ego only makes an appearance when I need to be fed.  It gets ugly if I go too long without food.  Bleu has only met "her" once.

Easter Sunday, we visited Redeemer Church.  It was a great service, and a church we will definitely visit again.  Please pray that we find a church home quickly and fellowship with other Believers.  Below is our first annual Easter Picture, this is a torture, ahem, tradition in my family that has been going on forever.   And we have a BIG extended family, every year each family "poses" for their annual Easter pic down at my Mamaw's.  I've included some for a blast from the past.

Circa 1983

Circa 2006

We arrived back in Dallas on Sunday evening, and drove promptly to our favorite Mexican food place, Uncle Julio's...we were having withdrawals being in NYC for 4 days, we needed to get some Tex-mex back in our system, stat.  Over dinner we started to get really excited about our 2 year "adventure" up to New York, but we both agree 2 years is just about the maximum amount of time we can be away from our beloved family, friends and Lone Star State.