I know what you're thinking... "Where have they been?" "Have they given up on their blog?" "Are they still married?!" "Where are the updates?!" All of those thoughts are completely justifiable, and I hope to give you answers to all of them!
After our honeymoon, Todd and I jumped right in to preparing ourselves for another busy school year. And as we were working actively, trying to dig ourselves out of the first of the school year business, the first weeks of the school year came, went, and now we are almost to Halloween! Where has the time gone? I can tell you though, that my 8th grade English classes are a glorious night and day difference from my last year's kiddos. Don't get me wrong, I loved those kids last year, but I was a first year teacher, dealing with issues that my small town, small college eyes had never seen. Todd is also off to a great start, this school year! He has taken on an extra class, and no longer has a planning period. But if anyone can handle it, it's him! He is the most organized person I know! Some other things that we have been busing ourselves with are coaching cross country, working out, being yearbook sponsors, joining a small group at church, running the magazine, getting ready for Kansas Boy's State, buying a truck together, getting all of our finances together, going to events to DJ, organizing and beautifying our home, and trying to get thank you letters sent out. (Okay, so a lot of that official stuff is ALL Todd, but if he's busy, I feel like I'm busy too!) We are asked, quite often, "How is married life treating you?" Well, it's great! I feel like the only thing that has changes is now, we are living under the same roof! I love cooking dinners and watching OUR shows together! We try to date night once a month, and our biggest task as a couple, of course headed up by Todd, is coming up with a budget! Through many chats, re-working, and re-working again, we have come up with a budget that is perfect for us! On a final note, here are a couple things I have been pondering: 1. Todd has asked me to write an article for the November issue of Wichita Family Magazine. (His mag.!) What should my topic be? What would you and your family enjoy reading about? 2. Lately, I have been feeling the need for something more, something bigger, or different. I have asked myself many times, what will make me happy? Please pray for guidance! I'll open up more on this topic as I make more and more discoveries! After a crazy wedding week, a relaxing honeymoon week, and a few days spent organizing our lives again, Todd and I are back to share our stories with you! I know I told you that I would fill you in on EVERYTHING wedding, which I will; however, I think that I should tell you all about our honeymoon so you will be able to read the tales that go with the pictures that Todd put up! (Make sure to head over to the menu, and look for the "Honeymoon" tab!)
The Wednesday after our wedding, Todd and I woke up (way too early) to head to the airport to catch our first flight of the day! We left the new and improved Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport, in Wichita at 6:00 am to head to Atlanta! In Atlanta, we boarded a plane that took us to Montego Bay, Jamaica! We had no trouble catching our flights or maneuvering through the airports! It was a great day of traveling! What made our travels especially easy was that our travel agent, Mary Johnson (Bless Her!!), hooked us up with what called "Club Mobay" in the Montego Bay airport. We got off our plane and headed toward customs. Before we reached customs, we met an airport worker holding a sign with our names on it! She helped us get to where we needed to be, let us jump two-hour long lines, guided us to a lounge with free food, drinks, an wifi, and helped us find the bus to our resort! If you are heading to Jamaica, look into this! It is worth the small fee, trust me! Once we loaded the bus to our resort, we had an hour and a half long drive to Ocho Rios, where our resort, The Jewel Dunn's River Resort and Spa, was located. Along the drive, we stopped a few times to let other groups, going to other resorts, off at their stops! This ride was quite the experience. Jamaican's drive on the left side of the road. If you ask them, "The left side is the right side. The right side is suicide." So, not only was that different, but each driver droves as if they owned the road; passing, honking, turning, etc. whenever they saw fit! Luckily, my trip to India, back in college, prepared me for this. Todd, however, was in awe, saying, "These guys use horns how they were meant to be used!" We were at our resort for a total of five days and six nights. We left our resort twice for excursions! At our resort we: explored, ate amazing food multiple times a day, drank at the many different bars and tried many different rum-filled drinks, listened to plenty or reggae music, watched some reggae dancing, swam in the two pools and the BEAUTIFUL OCEAN, lounged, read, and napped on the beach, watched a cabaret show, watched a steel-drum band (FREAKIN' AMAZING!!!), talked to and ate with some awesome couples, slept in, golfed at a pitch and put golf course, and lived a "No problem, Mon" lifestyle! Everyone who worked at the resort, was so friendly. Todd and I were treated so nicely, and we were so well taken care of! Todd and I went on two excursions! First we went to what was called "Chukka river tubing." We loaded a bus and had what was the scariest 30 minute bust trip of my life. Extremely narrow, cracked, hole-filled roads with a rock wall going up on one side, and a fall a couple stories, straight down on the other side. On this road, full-sized buses would honk a greeting at each other, and the PASS EACH OTHER. Once we got to the river, our experience with the tubing group and guides was so much fun! We laughed, screamed, bonded with our group, and swam in and floated down a beautiful and refreshing river! (Go check out pictures in the "Honeymoon" tab of our website menu.) The other excursion we went on was the highest recommended by the resort staff and Jamaicans we talked to. We drive ten minutes from our resort to the Dunn's River Falls; large waterfalls on the Dunn's River that drained into the ocean. We had an awesome group and very spirited, experienced guides that helped make this excursion as fun and as safe as possible. So we walked down a large concrete staircase to the beach/ocean (where there were hundreds of locals enjoying the fresh water), got hyped up with our group, joined hands, and began climbing up the waterfall (again, filled with hundreds of locals!) This experience was my favorite, and one of Todd's favorite parts of the trip! In our water shoes, we climbed up the legit, sometimes slippery, rushing water-filled rocks of the falls! We climbed next to a group of four older ladies who were on a friend trip to Jamaica! We laughed, helped, and cheered each other up the falls. Along the falls, there were: different small pools to lounge or swim in, smaller waterfall areas to play in, a small nature-made water side, and an area where we did a backwards trust fall into the water! I would highly recommend this excursion, if you are planning a trip to Jamaica! There are so many more details I wish I could share with you; however, this post would be about five times longer, if I would write everything that we saw, ate, and did! Please check out our honeymoon pictures. Again, they don't capture every detail, but they give you a better look at our trip!! Watch our for the next post! Since the day after Todd and I's wedding, I have wanted to tell you about my dad and I's father/daughter dance! I know you'll love it as much as I did! As much as I would have loved a Steel Magnolias wedding, with pink decorations, guests like Truvy and Ouiser, and an armadillo cake, I would not have changed a single aspect of Todd and I's wedding. Our day was absolutely perfect.
I know I have been kind of M.I.A. when it comes to keeping you all filled in with our goings on, but I have resurfaced, thanks to the completion of wedding stress, and the next few blog posts will be dedicated to sharing some of our favorite wedding day moments with you! Let me warn you, our wedding was amazing, I cried the entire day (happy, happy tears), and the posts might be somewhat long! You all know I am not one to be skimpy with the details! Let's start with the Friday before our wedding. My family is from Minneapolis, America, and Todd and I's wedding and reception were both in Lyons, America. We planned to arrive in Lyons on Friday morning. We would decorate the huge reception hall, get cleaned up, head to the church for the rehearsal and rehearsal supper, and then drive back to Minneapolis; only to drive back to Lyons Saturday or the wedding! Friday was such a hectic day, and we were all concerned thinking, "How in the world are we going to fill this space and make it look beautiful?" We worked from 9:30 AM to about 2:30 PM, and we did it! In the middle of our tables were slices of wood! Todd's dad cut slices of a tree(s) in order to help us make our centerpieces. They were absolutely beautiful. We then had three bottles, varying is size and shape, that had been spray painted gold and decorated with burlap, peaches, and gold ribbon sitting on the wood. Every person had a piece of scrapbook paper as a place mat (which was way more beautiful than you could imagine), then we had small tealight candles placed around the wood slices, kissing menus and wedding Ispy lists strategically placed around the table, and finally Todd and I's wedding koozies. I will do my best to find a picture of the tables and reception hall! Let me tell you, my description of the reception hall doesn't do it justice. I could try to describe to you every single decoration, but you really have to see it to get the full effect! After decorating, we headed to the church where the rehearsal went flawlessly, and our dinner was super yummy! I'll stop writing for now! There are many more important details to share with you!! Be looking for another post tomorrow! Wow! Time has flown by! I can't believe that Todd and I will be married in 52 days! I also can't believe that I haven't written since April 17th; for that, I apologize! I have so much to fill you in on!
Currently, I am working on a few different projects! The invitations are in and my mom and I will be addressing, stuffing, and sending those off! That will be quite the process, I am sure! We are also busy working on decorations. I am pretty confident in saying that if Todd and I were to get married tomorrow, we could have a wedding. That being said, it would't look pretty, and we wouldn't have any guests there! Over the weekend, I spent my time in Minneapolis, with my parents! We were in full table decoration mode. I can't even begin to guess how many wine, beer, and liquor bottles we soaked, scrubbed, cleaned, dried, and spray painted gold. In the beginning of the process, my parents and I were very concerned about getting every little smudge and label scrap off of the bottles. By the end of the process, I was ready to leave the bottles brown, green, and clear, and throw them on the tables without a second thought. Alas, we now have beautiful gold bottles to be filled with flowers, for center pieces. (Pictures to follow!) Other things that we still have yet to do are: everything marriage license related, gifts for our bridal party and hosts and hostesses, finalizing the schedule for that day, make playlists for the reception, finish decorations, and... I am sure I am forgetting many more items. I will update you with many more wedding details as we become more frantic, and the preparations become more intense! (That being said, those posts may be brief, and you might be able to feel the stress while reading them!) Oh my, thanks Ken ! tears mlb My most favorite of all time, I’m outside 1st thing in the morning , warm , cold, hot , raining Doesn’t matter. Usually at work walking between bldgs “It’s a Beautiful morning” I sing it, I whistle it. I just thank God I’m living , walking and able to think Of all the things most beautiful in my life, C K L K - LKT – MMQ - Gma It’s a beautiful morning my little beauty Love you much, fd The text above is an email I recieved from my dad this morning. After hearing about his bad day yesterday (his car overheated and is out of commission) I wanted to tell him I loved him and that I hoped he had an awesome day today! Then, a few minutes later, my school email alert sounded and I was greeted with this tear jerker. I know that a lot of it won’t mean anything to you. He uses some pretty trippy email lingo and some abbreviations only myself of family members would understand. But this email… simple things like this, from my dad mean more to me than anyone could ever imagine. (Not to mention, I am a sucker for a good, sweet note or letter!)
Anyway, my email to him told him how much I was thinking about him this morning. On my way to work, I heard “Isn’t She Lovely” by Stevie Wonder on the radio! I imagined, as I often do, the different songs that my dad and I could dance to on my wedding day (and there are often tear as I’m picturing this!) The song we choose won’t be any old, sappy, daddy/daughter song, (even though there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with those types of songs). It’s just that my dad and I’s relationship is different than that. A love for good music is something that we have always shared. I remember being five or six years old, sitting in the front seat, next to Dad! It was always a Saturday morning, and we were always headed to the good old YMCA for a volleyball or basketball game. He was my coach, and this pattern continued for many years; him being my coach, the Saturday morning car rides, and the music lessons. I would say this was a six-year tradition! We would turn the radio station to oldies or classic rock and we would listen. He would tell me about the songs, the artists, which parts of the songs were best, which singers were his favorites, which old songs he and his friends would play in band on their trumpets, and so on! Then we might put in the Commodores CD and listen to Lionel Richie sing away! I will remember those car rides for the rest of my life. I would say that those moments spent with my dad are the reasons why I am, and this might be the only reason why, a daddy’s girl. I really never thought I would say that I am specifically a mommy’s or daddy’s girl because I love both of them so much, I respect them, admire them, look up to them, seek their approval, and all that parent/kid stuff. But if I had to choose, I would tell who ever asked me the long story of the car rides and come to the daddy’s girl conclusion. The memories that I know he values just as much as I do and the lessons that he taught me, bind he and I together. Thinking of my dad, the music, his genuine, truthful, and his whole-hearted love for me and everything I am make me emotional every time. And I hope that never changes. |
WHAT IS THIS?Todd & Kendall both share their thoughts on this blog. Archives
September 2017
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