Sentiments, Rain Delays, and Gratitude

I never really thought people paid attention to my teasers but a friend last night (shout out TayTay) let me know she had been waiting for my promised anniversary post all week so I think I owe it to her to do a little write up!

Last weekend, William and I celebrated our first anniversary. We are going on a cruise in May as the big celebratory bash, but we decided that for the actual weekend of the anniversary, we would each plan a date night for the other and celebrate all weekend! I’m all about dragging out celebrations as long as possible. It just makes everything more fun when you have a birth-month instead of day, two anniversary dates + a trip etc.

We decided we would do William’s date on Saturday night and mine on Sunday night (our actual anniversary was Sunday). So Saturday, we got home from soccer stuff around 4:30pm and William told me to get ready and pack an overnight bag and we’d leave around 6pm. The first place William and I ever met each other was at a Village Church Christmas party at the Hotel Intercontinental. We got in the car and I had no idea where he was taking me but sure enough, we pulled in the Intercontinental and checked in for a little anniversary stay-cation. We checked out the digs and spent some time people watching as the Dallas Military Ball was at the hotel the same night and then headed out to an amazing dinner at Uncle Julio's. It was a great night and I definitely appreciated the thoughtfulness and significance of spending some time in the first place we ever met.

Sunday morning we slept in, had brunch at the hotel and then headed down to church. It was a very overcast and drizzly day and I started to get nervous about my upcoming date night as it was scheduled to take place outside. Since soccer was canceled for the day and it was raining, we spent most of the day relaxing and watching movies (and doing a little laundry on the side). About 5pm, I decided that it wasn’t going to be dry enough outside and my date just wouldn’t be the same if I moved it indoors William suggested we wait and just do in on Monday night. We did treat ourselves to some Cane’s chicken for dinner and defrosted our saved wedding cake for dessert. We had a great, relaxing night in and the cake was surprisingly tasty (for year old cake!)

Monday night, we got to conclude our celebrations with my date night. I told William to take as long as he could at soccer so I would have plenty of time to set up. He got home right around dusk and took a quick shower giving it just enough time to be dark outside. I led him into the backyard through the side door where he found a picnic of our fave Papa John’s pizza, salad and wine on a pallet of pillows and blankets in the backyard. I borrowed a projector and speakers from friends of ours and hung a white sheet on the end of the deck so we had our own little makeshift outdoor theatre! I rented Sherlock Holmes because I knew William had been dying to see it but before the movie, I played him a little slideshow of “Our First Year in Pictures” complete with thoughts and captions on each one. It was an amazing night and we decided we need to do it again and invite all our friends for a little backyard theatre/picnic action soon!

A lot of people say that the first year of marriage is the most difficult. I really hope that is true, because if this is as hard as it ever gets, we’ll have an amazingly easy and wonderful life together! I love William more each and every day and he truly challenges me to be a better woman in all areas of my life. He pushes me to dig deeper with Christ, be more effective with my job, and more intentional with my relationships. He is a constant source of encouragement and my best friend. I know I am so blessed to share my life with this man and am grateful for our amazing first year!!

It's Been A Year

Sunday (April 18) is William and my one year anniversary. In one sense, I can't believe that it's already been a year since our wedding day!! It seems like the time has truly flown by but on the other hand, it seems like we have always been married. I sometimes find myself thinking back to when we were dating and remember how the drive home every night from his house (now our house) seemed to be the most miserable thing in my life. Being married really is much more convenient :)

There are so many things I want to write about this occasion, but I think I'll save them for Monday, after we've had a chance to celebrate with each other because I'd like to say them to William before I post them to the blog world.

Until then, here are some pictures of my favorite wedding day moments...truly one of the best days of my life thus far!

Giving me away...so happy to be getting married!



Fist Kiss as "The Spencers"


First Dance


Cutting the Cake


Dancing the night away...



Living Happily Ever After

Inspiration

I’ve been noticing lately that inspiration is very easy to find and I seem to be increasingly influenced by new and various “inspirations” almost daily. This is a very blanket statement that I will try to describe in some recent life experiences.

Inspiring Moment No.1
The NCAA tournament this year inspired me to get serious about being a Baylor fan again. In my college years, I was one of the most die-hard Baylor athletics supporters on campus. This partly stemmed from the fact that I HAD to be at events because I was usually working them, but mostly stemmed from a genuine passion for my school and a desire to see my classmates succeed on the field (or court/track/etc.) Some of that passion has waned over the past few years but our trip to the sweet sixteen, being surrounded by a relatively full house of fans wearing mainly green and gold and watching a team who undoubtedly left everything they had on the court re-inspired my love of good ‘ole BU.

William and I at the Sweet 16 in Houston


Inspiring Moment No. 2
I got an email from Real Simple magazine that directed me their website where I inevitably ended up browsing through all their “quick tips” and “solutions” slideshows. This picture inspired me to get serious about organizing my closet.



Inspiring Moment No. 3
Several months ago, I came across a link to an acquaintance of mine from Baylor’s blog. I clicked on it (because I often have slow days at work and these things help get me through) and was immediately inspired for all sorts of reasons. First of all, I want my blog to be as exciting as hers (it never will be. I’m just not that kind of person). Second, she has amazing photos of homes and spaces that inspire me to try new things with our décor and take on some new projects. She also posts delicious recipes that make me want to cook, great fashion spreads that not only inspire me to go shopping, but to take things I own and try them in a new way, and sometimes just fun blurbs that inspire me to laugh. At the risk of this person finding out I’m online blog stalker, I’m posting the link to her site here because it’s just that good and inspiration is meant to be shared.

Inspiring Moment No. 4
I can’t get through an entire blog without mentioning my new business venture in AdvoCare. Today, I listened in on a conference call where they announced outstanding performances by other distributors and the successes that people have found in their AdvoCare business. The top earning distributor in the last pay period (2.5 weeks) brought home a check for over $97,000. This is overwhelmingly inspirational to know this person was once just like me and has worked their way up to making almost 6 figures not annually, but every 2 weeks. Incredible. Really. (**legal disclosure- results are not typical**) I don’t think my goal is to make 100 grand per pay period, but if they can do that, surely I can make a few thousand a month , right??


Inspiring Moment No. 5
At the risk of sounding cliché, I am constantly inspired by our amazing God. Sometimes in the beauty of nature, sometimes in the love or acts of service from my husband and friends, and sometimes in the recount of stories I’ve heard countless times. Easter always moves me, but this year, I was especially touched trying to reflect on what Jesus really did for us on the cross. I tried to put myself in His shoes as he watched his friends betray Him, as He prayed and pleaded with God for another way to absolve the sins of the world, as He was berated, beaten and abused and ultimately nailed to a wooden cross to hang there until He died. I can’t even begin to wrap my mind around it but even greater was the moment that He rose out of death’s sleep and walked out of the tomb as our risen Savior. It inspires me to live every day in light of the cross. To bring glory and honor to God in everything that I do, and to live to serve the Lord above everything else.

Here’s our “church family” Easter picture from last Sunday. All these people (plus many not pictured here) are also one of the greatest sources of inspiration in my life, constantly pushing me to draw nearer to Christ.


Praise God for every inspiration, the insignificant and great that surrounds all our lives. Maybe someone will find something I’ve written in this blog a little bit inspiring. I hope so.