Thursday, March 12, 2015

Our Reception!


Well, here it is everyone! The last installment of wedding posts - kind of bittersweet, you know? But, it is exciting to finally have all of these beautiful pictures posted! I cannot say enough how wonderful it was to have Melissa from A&M Photography taking our photos. She's kind of become the Sowers/Tubbs/Frook family photographer, and I look forward to her documenting lots of milestones for Nathan and I!

I am so pleased with how everything turned out for our reception. Both of our families worked hard to make my vision a reality and I think it was a big hit!

The main "attraction" (other than the bride and groom of course ;) was our waffle bar! People could choose to grab an already done waffle or try their hand at one of three waffle irons. Then there were lots of topping to choose from - jams, chocolate, powdered sugar, syrup, whipped cream...





For our cake we did brownies. I am definitely a brownie person, I would choose it over cake any day! For the couples cake, I made three heart shaped brownies from some cake pans I got at Joanns, stacked them on top of each other and dusted them with powdered sugar. Our cake toppers were penguins! Nathan has loved penguins for forever and that means I love them too. They have kind of been our thing for as long as we've been together, so it just made sense. When I was looking for some, I found the cutest ones ever on etsy, but with a price tag of $125, they were WAY out of my budget! I have dabbled with clay over the years and some might say I was pretty good at it, so I decided to go ahead and give it a try! Not sure everyone was super confident they would turn out, but in the end I'm pretty sure they were one of my favorite parts of our whole wedding!




For favors, we had a candy bar with little bags for people to fill up. I spent the 9 months before our wedding scouring goodwill for all the different containers and even recruited Nathan's sisters! I love the ones we found and the old fashioned vibe it brought.



Alright, so now for how all this went down ;) my cousin, Daniel, graciously agreed to me our MC and he was wonderful! After we all walked down the aisle we waited for about 10 min. so that the food could be brought out and just so we could have a breather. Sarah fixed my hair some and took out my veil and then it was time for our entrance. We went ahead and made the rounds, saying hi to everyone and thanking them for joining in our celebration, and then it was time for our first dance.



We danced to "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perry. Yes, yes, I know it is technically a twilight song, but I have never seen the movies, I've just heard it, practically everywhere and I literally felt that exact way while Nathan and I were long distance courting. It brings me to tears every time I listen to it! It was perfect. 







And yes, I sang it to him ;) 
Then we cut the cake while my cousins helped Nathan's Mom set up the wedding party's table.






We all got a chance to eat and fellowship before the speeches were made. 





Jaquelyn and Hayden were our Matron of Honor and Best man - they both did a great job sharing and it was so wonderful to hear from them! They have meant a lot in our lives, especially mine.







After the speeches and a little more milling about, we were ready to blow that place ;) 
Of course the groomsmen, plus certain brides cousins took it upon themselves to decorate our car. It was pretty funny because Nathan and his whole family are AVID Gator fans and Seminoles have NO part in anything ;) Well played, well played.





Sadly it was raining so hard I think it all washed off after a few minutes. 
For our send off, everyone was able to grab a bag of sprinkles!



I had thought of that idea because I didn't really want bubbles, but I wanted something that would be biodegradable. I thought I was so original until I Pinterest'ed the idea ;) 



One of my favorite things about the send off pictures is zooming in and seeing all of the different faces. I think Daniels, Stevens, (Both cousins) were some of the best. They look so happy for us -Blush Face-




It made for some pretty cool pictures, but who knew sprinkles could get so many places! See my hair up there? Well there were even more sprinkles in every place imaginable, including every little fold in my dress, of which there were many! We still had sprinkles on our floor when we got back from the honeymoon. And who knew sprinkles stain! =O I obviously wasn't thinking too clearly when I was planning this... Oh well! All those stains on my dress are just memories. ;)



Then all that was left was to ride off into the sunset, er... Rainstorm. It was fabulous and perfect and lovely and fun all rolled into one package!

Thanks for sticking around as I made my way through all these posts! It was wonderful remembering all the details and emotions of our big day. We also have a video which I would love to share, except I need to figure out how to edit it down to just moments, unless you really want to watch the entire hour or so =P So whether or not I will share will depend on if I figure all of that out. 

Until next time...
Jessica


Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Dear Valentine...

My dearest, most beloved Nathan, 

I never, ever want to forget our first valentines as husband and wife. It was perfect in every way, and I could never have dreamed up a better one. 

I have to admit that when we ended up being at Silver Springs camping with your family on the actual day, I was a little bummed. It didn't feel like Valentines day, and I wanted it to be special. I knew you had promised we would celebrate Monday, but silly me couldn't quite come to terms with that. 



But then, Monday came. I worked, wasn't the funnest - except the whole day all I could think of was our date, and how excited I was for you to come home!

As soon as I got home, I started cleaning. I wanted you to come home to a nice, clean, restful house. Then it was time to get all dolled up for my fancy date with my handsome husband - I love being fancy with you -heart eyes- Waiting was hard... The table was set for our candle light dinner, the living room was straightened, the stuff strewn over the floor from camping was cleaned up, and I was all ready for you! 

Then, you walked through the door, and I felt millions of butterflies in my stomach, and my heart skipped a few beats. In your hands was our yummy dinner (Salad with chicken! Thanks for being willing to change our dinner plans and get exactly what I was craving! It was perfect...), beautiful roses and a lovely plant - one for now, and one to grow - you said. All I wanted to do at the moment was be in your arms, feel your lips on mine, and cry with happiness! And that's exactly what I did! You told me I was beautiful, and I knew you meant it, and I felt it, just being with you.



Nathan, I could never ask for a greater, sweeter, more amazing husband. You have lived up to my dreams and exceeded my expectations! Each morning that I get to wake up with you and each night that you come home to me, I thank God for bringing my soul-mate into my life and making us one. Everyday I fall more in love with you, and you show me more and more of what true love is. I am thankful for God's grace, and the way He has molded our lives and is continuing to shape us as we continue in this adventure of marriage. 

You are mine, I am yours, together we are His - and no matter what I will love you, forever and always, my dear Valentine. 

Song of Solomon 6:3
"I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine"

Your's forever,  
Jessica 

Why?

So, I don't really know what happened to this blog. I had such plans for it and enjoyed writing here so very much. I told myself when I was kind of lagging before marriage that I just needed a break. That once I was married and settled in I would love writing again - you can probably tell, that hasn't happened. It's not that I don't want to write. Everyday I think, I really feel like blogging, and everyday I can't think of a thing to say.  

But, maybe it is because I have forgotten why I started blogging in the first place. So, let me begin once more - with my mission statement! 



“The mission of this blog is to be a memorial of what the Lord has done and is doing in mine and my husbands lives through the remembering of events and feelings to do with: marriage, family, joy, hardships and everything in-between. Firstly, so that we may be encouraged by and remember what has happened, and that our children can see what our lives have held. 

Secondly, that through this memorial others will be pointed to the Anchor of our souls, who holds us tightly through all the ups and downs of life - namely Jesus and His good news. And that those who know Jesus will be encouraged and uplifted to continue to glorify Him through their lives - in their own marriages, families, joys, and hardships. {Joshua 4:5-7, Isaiah 63:7, Hebrews 6:13-20}”

The most important reason why I blog, is for myself. I want to remember what I went through; the happiness, the struggles, the adventures! And I think I lost that. I was too caught up in the fact that I didn't have much to share that others would like and that no one really visited this little place. But, this is for me, period. And if it can encourage others then great, wonderful - but I can't be so focused on that part of it. So, I'm going to share posts about things that I want to remember, because this blog isn't to make money or promote myself, or get page views, its a memorial so that I can remember.

Until next time...
Jessica

Monday, January 26, 2015

Family and Wedding party pictures

We're almost done with wedding pictures, guys! This time we have our family and wedding party pictures =) I love all of them so much - Melissa did a great job as always! 

(Picture credit, A&M Photography)


The Wedding party...


From left to right - Kayla, Jaquelyn (MOH), myself, and Charissa 






From left to right - Jonathan, Nathan (my hubby!), Hayden (Best man), Andrew









Our Families...

My sisters! Left to right - Jennifer, Jaquelyn, myself, Katheryn, Sarah


My family, left to right - Jennifer, Mom, Katheryn, Dad, myself, Nathan, Graham, Hayden, Jaquelyn, Sarah




His Family! Left to right - Brianna, Benjamin, Abby, Jonathan, Levi, Myself, Nathan, Dad, Mom, Andrew, Heather 

His sisters! Left to right - Abby, Nathan, Brianna, Heather

One super big happy family!

Nathan's (pretty much) entire extended family, too many to name ;)



Set 1 of 2, his grandparents 
Set 2 of 2, his grandparents

My Granny (my Granddad wasn't able to make it from WV)

My other Grandparents


Until next time...