Honeymoon

Well we are married! haha sorry it took me so long to post about all this. It's actually been three weeks ago today that we got married! Crazy how time flies. The last three weeks have been crazy. I am going to do a separate blog for each of the three weeks and then when I receive my wedding pics back from the photographer I will post those. The week directly after the wedding we were on our honeymoon, which was wonderful.

For those of you who didn't know we went on a cruise out of New York City up to Canada. We stopped in St. Johns, New Brunswick and Halifax, Nova Scotia. It was beautiful in both places and stayed in the 60's so it was nice to get away from hot Texas weather. When we docked back in NY at the end of the trip we spent that day in NY, which was the fourth of July. It was cool because we got to see the fireworks! Here's some of my favorite pics from our trip:









As you can see we did a lot of fun things. In both places that we stopped in Canada we went on what the ship called "excursions". They were coordinated and put together by the ship and it just made it super easy to get around and plan your day on land. In New Brunswick we went to the little fishing village of St. Martins and had some yummy seafood chowder and walked into sea caves while the tide was low. In Nova Scotia we took a boat out into the harbor of Halifax and saw lighthouses and pulled up a lobster trap. They they took us back to a restaurant where we learned out how to crack and eat a whole lobster. It was messy and fun.

While in New York we had a cab drop us off in Times Square and we just walked around all day seeing famous sights like: NBC studios, times square, central park, FAO Schwartz, Toys 'R Us, Empire State building, etc. Then in the afternoon after being super super tired of walking we went to the movies and saw Public Enemies. Finally in the evening we got dinner from a hot dog vendor and sat and watched the fireworks. It was so wonderful!

Well that's about all for now....next post: Moving to Waco!

Pa-Paw

It was only a few months ago that I found myself writing a post about my Nonnie and her passing. Now her dear husband has joined her in eternal life. This morning my Pa-Paw passed away peacefully in the arms of my Mimi his daughter-in-law. I loved my Pa-Paw very much and while I am sad that he is no longer here, I rejoice in knowing that he is with our Lord dancing in heaven with my Nonnie, his wife.

By the grace of God I got to see him for the last time the day after my wedding. He had not attended the wedding due to his heath and the high temperatures that we experienced on the day of our outdoor wedding. He did come the day after though, to my parents house to a sort of brunch they had for our family. It was wonderful to see him and spend such an exciting time with him.

One thing I will never forget about my Pa-Paw was his tender love and compassion he always showed to his family. The devotion in which he took care of my Nonnie was breath taking. He stayed by her side through thick and thin, sickness and health, poorness and wealth literally until death did them part. On the day of our wedding while I was saying my vows I not only thought of the husband I was saying them too, but each of the couples in my family who have been shining examples of life-long marriages and love. My Nonnie and Pa-Paw were one of those examples. I also thought particularly of the men in those relationships and the way they treated their wives and how they acted out the Biblical command of "cherishing". My Pa-Paw was an incredible example of that.

On that last day that I saw him he didn't say much, but sang the entire song that he has always sang to me since the first day that I met him. It goes:

K-K-K-Katie, beautiful Katie,
You're the only g-g-g-girl that I adore;
When the m-m-m-moon shines,
Over the c-c-c-cowshed,
I'll be waiting at the k-k-k-kitchen door.

I love you, Pa-Paw and I can't wait till one day we are together again in heaven with our dear Lord.

1 day

I can hardly believe I am saying this, but we are 1 DAY away from the wedding!!!! I am kind of in a state of excitement, nervousness and shock! :) But more than anything I am just loving every moment of this time that Blake and I are sharing with all our friends and family. Tonight is the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. I can't wait to see everyone and spend some time with the people we love. I know that when I get to the rehearsal is when things will really begin to sink in.

Last night I dropped my brothers off at Blake's bachelor party and stopped in to say hello. I just talked with Blake and his Dad for a bit, but I peaked in the windows of their "party room" to see who all was there. Seeing all those guys, both from college and high school, almost made me lose it right there. haha I just was so excited to see all these dear friends of Blake's there supporting him and celebrating with him during this special time.

I pulled myself back together pretty quickly though because I had a sneaky trick to play on my wonderful husband-to-be! :) I gave it to his Dad knowing he'd find the most opportune time to present him with it. It was just a small cardboard box that on top read: "To Blake, Love Katie, A little something from our registry! (Make sure you dig all the way to the bottom.)" Well when he opened it he found black see-through lingerie sprinkled with fake rose petals! haha then once he pulled that out there was a paper that said: "Surprise! The real gift is underneath." And under there was a wireless x*box controller that he had added to our registry not too long ago!

Nothing like a practical joke, but then a much wanted surprise underneath! Anyways...that's about all for now. Next time I post will probably be on my wedding day!!!!

4 days

Only 4 days left! Everyone has been paid and all the final meetings have been had. Now I'm just sitting around strumming my fingers waiting for it to hurry up and get here! :)

5 days!

We only have 5 days left to the wedding!!! So exciting! We also are going today to pick up our kitchen table and chairs. By the amazing provision of God we found someone who was wanting to give away their table and 4 chairs to someone who needed it. Well, we needed it! It was actually perfect timing because my sister just happen to be on FB and saw this person's status said something about giving away a table. She quickly messaged her and told her that Blake and I would really like to take it off her hands!

Well that's about all I have to say now....just counting down the days! :)

bachelorette party

This weekend my wonderful friends threw me a bachelorette party. With only a week left to the wedding it was the perfect beginning to a week full of excitement, anxiety and so much fun. Friday we drove up to my friend, Kristen's lake house. We stayed the night up there just hanging out and enjoying one another's company. Alyrose drove us up in a car decked out in "bachelorette" decorations and I was "forced" to wear a crown with a veil. :) That night we had some yummy fajitas and talked late into the night. Saturday we slept in, hung out and then went to lunch where the girls presented me with an awesome little scrap book thing that they put together for me with old photos and awesome Bible verses.

All I can say is that I am so blessed to have the amazing friends that I have. You are awesome girls and I so enjoyed getting to hang out with all of you. I simply can't wait for this coming weekend. It's going to be soooo much fun!

he's not finished with me yet

I have so much on my heart and mind today that I just have to share. There are those times in your life that I can really feel the Lord working and doing things. As I shared a couple of days ago I was amazed at his faithfulness in the job interview he provided. I was so content in knowing that he would provide and prepare my heart for whatever was to come. Well I was offered the job and accepted it. What an amazing relief it is to know I have found a job!

But what moves me more than anything is the timing of the Lord. He is so good and knew that if I would just be patient and wait on him he would provide. Yesterday I went to Waco for the interview and on the road back home they called to offer the job to me. They gave me a few days to get back with them and let them know my decision. I decided to take a day to think it over, talk it over and more importantly pray it over. I have discovered that the Lord seems to answer me when I choose to follow his will and just act as my heart feels led and that the Lord will stop me or close doors if it's not to be. So I had every intention of calling them back today and accepting the job.

But the Lord is good and not only did he allow me to go through it, he gave me a bit of a confirmation before I had even called. It was a different confirmation that I would have expected, but it was so cool. I was in the car on the way to do a photo lesson and on the radio came the song called Wait and See by Brandon Heath. The Lord knows that I am very moved by music and he definitely spoke to me through this song. The words of the chorus are:

There is hope, for me yet,
because God won't forget,
all the plans he's made for me
I have to wait and see,
he's not finished with me yet, he's not finished with me yet

And it's funny because you might read that and think that's something he would have spoke to me when I was still searching with no end in sight, but in that moment it spoke so greatly to me right now at this moment. I know that God has not finished with me yet. He has so much planned for me and so many things for me to still learn. And I know that though I've found a job and feel like that stage is finished, he's not finished. He has more planned for me than JUST finding a job. I'm scared and excited and nervous and anxious about it all, but I am ready and I can't wait to see where he is going to take me.

So I will praise him for all he's done, is doing and is going to do. I will cherish the moments, but also look forward to what is to come. I end with the song that always comes into my head when I am overwhelmed by the amazing faithfulness of God....

Great is thy faithfulness, Oh God my father.
Great is thy faithfulness, great is thy faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see
all I have needed thy hand has provided
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto thee