Dream Wedding: Initial Moments as Husband and Wife

Chris and I were pronounced Husband and Wife

And everyone applauded :-D

And we happily began our walk up the isle -- our first walk as a married couple (with my wonderful maid-of-honor behind me handling my veil)

I love this picture!

We walked up the isle to the traditional wedding recessional Wedding March, and our wedding party walked up the isle to Ode To Joy ("Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee")

We were followed by our maid-of-honor and best man - Chris' brother, now our brother (Kelley and Nick),

Chris' family -- now our family, sister and brother-in-law (Becky and Daniel),

my cousin, Liz and my brother, Trent

and friends, Meghan and Jon

In our first moments, alone after walking up the isle, Chris and I looked at our wedding rings with excitement and bliss (and I'm actually showing Chris that I somehow cut my finger right where my rings are on my ring finger earlier that week... I know, of all the things to talk about...)

Then he kissed my ring finger where my cut was... and where my new wedding ring was!  It was a wonderful moment!  We were so excited, we never noticed the photographer, but I'm really grateful that he was there to capture these precious moments.

We hugged and thanked our wonderful minister

 

And a few good friends who attended our wedding and then had to run to be in another wedding... we were so grateful that they came

Then we began assembling the receiving line with our parents (my parents first, then Chris and me, then Chris' parents)

Another angle of our receiving line... and the start of our grandparents coming through it.  Upon close look at this picture though, I noticed something beautiful --

 

My dad shaking Chris' hand

I think I look oblivious even at that moment, on the wedding day, that Dad is officially welcoming Chris to the family.  Dad made sure this was the first thing he did after the marriage of his daughter (me).

Our first well wishers through the receiving line were our grandparents.
Here is my "Grandma" in the light blue congratulating us

 Here's a close up of Grandma and me

Chris and his beautiful Mom waiting for our first huggers to reach them in the line

My grandma kissing Chris

Chris' grandpa hugging me

Our guests then went outside the church to wait for our run from the church to our limo

 The last people I hugged through the receiving line were my beautiful bridesmaids...
my cousin, Elizabeth

My new sister, Becky

My friend, Meghan

... and there is no picture of my hugging my maid of honor because she was looking for my bouquet while the other bridesmaids came through the line.  She was so busy taking care of me, we didn't hug in the receiving line.

My new mom

My new dad

Such perfect first moments to begin the rest of our lives!

They'll Go On.

Yesterday I got one of those phone calls you never want to get.

It wasn't one of those life-changing phone calls that everyone will get several times in their life... but it was a call saying that someone close to me had received a life-changing call.  The kind of call that doesn't break my heart directly, but because I know the people involved, my heart is broken for them.

Last night as Chris and I were trying to fall asleep, I was heartsick to know that it was a mother's first night without her youngest little boy.  Last night was the first night of every night that a mother will be missing her little boy.

The five-year-old nephew of my cousin (specifically of my cousin's husband) went to be with Jesus yesterday -- very suddenly.

This little guy was in my cousin and her husband's wedding just over a year ago, and Chris and I are just heartsick for his parents and my cousin and her husband.

What is your response when things like this happen?
Do you pray?  Do you send a card?  Do you bring dinner?
We do all of these (although, we cannot bring dinner because they are on the other side of the country)... but most often my response is to hug my husband longer than I normally do.  I squeeze my animals longer than I normally do.  I call my brother and tell him to hug my nephews for me and I hug them longer the next time I see them.  I try to plan something extra special for my students the next day and especially treasure the time I have teaching them.

When tragedy strikes just outside our immediate family -- close enough to see but not quite close enough to grieve, I try to remember to treasure my loved ones because life can change in an instant.  Even if life doesn't change in an instant... life will change inevitably.

Have you ever heard the song by Josh Turner, "She'll Go On"?  The song is about women at different ages -- spend time with your little girl because she'll go on.  Spend time treasuring your wife because she'll go on.  Spend time cherishing your mother because she'll go on.



Even if you are fortunate enough to avoid sudden tragedy, things still change.  Your little ones will not always be little ones.  Your family pets will not always be healthy and happy and a part of your family.  Your parents will not always be a phone call away.  Your siblings will not always be around. Your husband will not always be snoring in your bed next to you.

Treasure your little ones today.  Give them many extra hugs and kisses.

And please pray for this family in New York who are just beginning the long process of grieving the loss of their son, brother, nephew, and grandson.

We Love to Laugh!

My hubby and I, We Love to Laugh!

Source: laurawinslowphotography.com via Vicky on Pinterest

I  have to credit this to Chris more than anything.  I like to laugh, but my wonderful hubby LOVES to laugh and he makes sure that I laugh much more often than I would without him in my life.

Last week, I noticed that our television DVR recorder had recorded a new show that I had never heard of, "Betty White's OFF THEIR ROCKERS".  I think my husband might have a little bit of an unnatural obsession with Betty White... he thinks she's hilarious.  If he hears that she is in a show, he wants to see it.

Last week we watched this new Betty White show, and it was SO funny.  We were laughing really hard.

Source: charlesdclimer.tumblr.com via Kellee on Pinterest

Betty White has a cast of about 6 older actors who interact with young people (people in their 20s) and the conversations and interactions are on hidden camera.  These sketches are so funny, and pretty innocent.  Mostly the older actor does something or says something that leaves the young person so confused.

If you're looking for a show that will make you laugh, I would recommend this one!

Easter Recipes: My Reviews

As I have shared, I gave up desserts and alcohol for Lent this year.

This meant that when Easter came, I was SOOO excited to do some baking!  I hadn't realized that when I decided to give up desserts, I would also give up baking.  Its not as much fun to bake when you can't even taste what you've made.

Thanks to Pinterest and other bloggers, I had a LONG list of recipes I wanted to try for Easter.  I told my hubby not to worry, that I was going to try many recipes this year to decide which ones would be worth making every year and which were worth forgetting about.

The seven Easter recipes yielded quite an Easter Sweet plate ... starting at the top and going clock-wise:
Easter Story Meringue cookies (12:00), Salted Caramel Easter Popcorn (2:00), Cadbury Creme Egg Brownies (4:00), Cake Batter Truffles (I called them Easter Cake Balls, 6:00), Rice Krispie Treat Eggs (8:00), Hot Cross Buns (10:00), Resurrection Rolls (Center) 

I will now share my experience with making each of these cookies starting with the Easter treats I am most likely to make again and proceed to the treats I am least likely to make again.

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First Place:
Easter Cake Balls
(The recipe calls them Cake Batter Truffles):

These cake balls were easy, really delicious and great size for a little Easter treat.  They make a great item to take to a party, share with teachers in the teacher's lounge, take to church, or send a plate to neighbors.  They are REALLY good -- coated with melted almond bark!

One thing I learned through making these Easter Cake Balls for the first time was how QUICKLY almond bark hardens.  The first tray of cake balls, I dipped all of them in the almond bark and then tried to add the sprinkles at the end -- that didn't work at all!  All of the cake balls had already hardened and the sprinkles didn't stick.  For my second tray, I dipped and I asked Chris to sprinkle so we had an I LOVE LUCY assembly line going as I frantically tried to dip before the bark hardened and tried not to run out of the delicious melted bark.  All in all, I will definitely make these again... and I will definitely call them Easter Cake Balls.

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Second Place:
Easter Egg Rice Krispie Treats
Rice Krispie Easter Recipe:

I largely tried this recipe for my hubby because he loves Rice Krispie Treats and the reason this recipe finished so high in my Easter Recipe Review is because of my hubby.  I'm not a big fan of Rice Krispie Treats but these were fun to make and I can definitely see these being really fun to make with kiddos in the future.

I couldn't find any Easter-colored M&Ms in our little town, so I added Sixlet candies, which I learned is my hubby's favorite candy.  I thought they turned out really colorful and they're so adorable with the egg-shape.  The recipe suggested dipping the rice krispie eggs in frosting and adding sprinkles, but I decided they were sweet enough without the frosting

Something I learned through making these was that once you choose to make Rice Krispie Treats in Egg-shapes, you then have Baking Plastic Eggs.  To get the egg-shape, you spray a plastic egg with PAM and press the Rice Krispie Treat into the plastic egg.  It works great, but what I learned is you can't really get the greasy PAM off the plastic egg after you use the egg in this manner.  I washed them in hot soapy water and washed each one individually and they're still pretty greasy.  I now have plastic Easter eggs just for baking.

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Third Place:
Resurrection Rolls
Resurrection Rolls Recipe:

Resurrection Rolls are a recipe that helps illustrate the story of Easter to children, because... theoretically you put a marshmallow in the roll, and then when they're baked, the child bites into the Resurrection Roll and the roll is empty, just like the tomb was empty!

It is a great idea, and the cinnamon, sugar, marshmallow and roll all taste delicious.  In my kitchen, however, many of the tombs were so excited to be empty that they burst open before anyone bit into them.  I'm not sure if this was due to the altitude, or maybe the biscuit was too thin around the marshmallow, but either way they were good and I love the story that goes with them.

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Fourth Place:
Hot Cross Buns
Hot Cross Buns Recipe:

Not only had I never made Hot Crossed Buns, but I had never eaten Hot Crossed Buns or knew that they were Easter affiliated.  Thank you, to the Pioneer Woman for introducing me to this Good Friday/Easter tradition.

Sometimes I am intimidated by Pioneer Woman recipes because she uses her iron skillet -- and ours is still pretty un-seasoned (because we don't use it very often), and she has recipes that involved rolling out dough (and most of our kitchen is tiled, so I end up rolling out dough on our flat, glass-topped stove)... and it is just a little intimidating.  However, I did not shy away from the Hot Cross Buns and I'm glad I didn't.

I think my buns could have risen a little more, and probably looked more golden and delicious, and making frosting at this altitude always seems to cause a headache... but the bottom line is that they tasted really good and I felt proud enough of them to send them to school with my hubby on Good Friday.  They tasted just like cinnamon buns!  YUM!

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Fifth Place:
Salted Caramel Easter Popcorn
Salted Caramel Easter Popcorn Recipe:

 
The Salted Caramel Easter Popcorn was fun to make and really delicious... but it is SOOOO STICKY!  I think if I could figure out how to make popcorn balls out of this recipe, it would be okay.  Or even just figure out how to store it without it sticking to everything would help... but despite the great taste, I might not make this again just due to the stickiness!

I did not send this to school with Chris because I basically had to end up storing it like a cake, and then you had to cut off pieces (or, more accurately, saw off pieces) as you wanted to eat some.  I'm not comfortable sending that sort of thing for adults to eat, but I did take it to my last Middle School Frisbee class yesterday and those kiddos LOVED it... so maybe I'll make it again next year just for the middle schoolers.  They weren't at all phased by the stickiness.

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Sixth Place:
Cadbury Creme Egg Brownies

Cadbury Creme Egg Brownie Recipe:

These Cadbury Creme Egg Brownies looked SOOO good... and they were really easy to make.  But all in all, I just think the brownie recipe wasn't all that great and I'm not really a big fan of Cadbury Creme Eggs.

I know... why did I make a recipe with Cadbury Creme Eggs if I don't really like them that much?  Well, I've always wanted to like Cadbury Creme Eggs, and I think Easter is just long enough year to year for me to forget that I really don't like these Easter treats.  I especially thought these Eggs looked SOOO delicious on the beautiful chocolate brownies.

I will say, if I have children who end up LOVING Cadbury Eggs... maybe I'll add the Cadbury Creme Eggs to the top of MY brownie recipe, but I won't need to follow this brownie recipe again.  Don't get me wrong, the brownies weren't bad... they just weren't as good as my mom's brownie recipe.  :-D

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Seventh Place:
Easter Story Meringue Cookies
Easter Story Meringue Cookie Recipe:

I think its a great thing that in the seven Easter recipes I made -- not having baked in the past six weeks -- only one recipe was a total fail.  My total fail was the Easter Story Meringue Cookies.

I really like the Easter story that goes along with the baking, but our meringue cookies stuck to the waxed paper, the waxed paper stuck to the cookie sheets, and the resulting cookies were more like crumbled meringue sprinkles than cookies.

This situation could have been that we used waxed paper instead of parchment paper, or it again could be the altitude.  We might try the Easter Story cookies again... but this year, they did not get eaten -- or sent to school with Chris -- or given to middle schoolers.

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Our Easter was wonderful, and it was so much fun to add some new Easter Cookies to our newlywed Easter traditions.  In addition to the Easter Cookies, I colored Easter eggs and Chris and Lexie and Lloyd hunted for them Easter morning.  :-D

Lexie with our "baking" plastic eggs (still trying to air them out)

Our Easter baskets

The Easter bunny brought Lloyd an Easter rawhide

 

What Easter recipes should I try next year?

Treasuring the Present: Springtime

I have four favorite seasons... and I'm being completely sincere.  My favorite season is the one that I'm in -- or on a very rare occasion, the one that's coming.

I have always been this way -- I am Thrilled for the arrival of Autumn, and I love Autumn until it is almost finished... and then I get really excited for Winter.  I am in love with Winter until Winter is in its final glory -- the Last Battle, and then I am beyond excited for Spring.

This year, however, I wondered if I would be ready for Spring because we didn't really have a good, snowy, wonderful Winter in Rifle.  The entire Winter was sort of a lousy Southern attempt at Winter.  Without a good dose of Winter, I wondered how that would affect my love for the next season.

It turns out, the lack of Winter goodness has not in anyway impaired my love of Spring!

Spring is WONDERFUL and I am so grateful for it!

From the moment I awaken, I can tell by the temperature and the light that its Spring!  I take the dog out and breathe in the wonderful Spring air, and I feel invigorated!  I am up earlier, more productive, in a better mood.  Its taking me longer to get ready every morning because I'm having transitioning out of my Winter wardrobe and into my Spring/Summer wardrobe.

I LOVE SPRING!

Here are some pictures of our family Spring Activities this previous Easter Weekend:

I ran a 5K race and Lloyd and Chris ran a 2K race
This race had MANY more people than the last race I did

Ready for the race
It was actually A LOT colder than it looks -- around 35*

The 2K was nothing for Lloyd

Here I come sprinting to the finish

Giving it everything I have

Chris put his number on Lloyd after the race and he looked adorable!

Great way to start our Easter weekend

Since Lloyd still had energy, we took him swimming

It had warmed up a little so he loved it

I was pretty pleased with this pictures -- I didn't even have my good camera with me

Lloyd is growing up so much!

I think Lloyd is shaking in this picture

I love this picture

He's ready to run

Finally a little tuckered out!

This is why we love Spring!

What are your favorite parts of Spring?
What is your favorite season?

Just a Hint of our Easter Weekend

Our family had a WONDERFUL Easter weekend.

I have many pictures to share, AND I'll be providing personal reviews on the seven or so Easter recipes I made this weekend... all later this week.

For today, enjoy this little hint of our Easter Weekend:

Hallelujah! Jesus Lives!

HAPPY EASTER!

"He is not here.  He IS Risen!"

I love those words!  Seven words that changed the world for all time!
Seven words of complete hope for mankind forever.

via

In the church where I grew up, sometime when I was in middle school they started singing Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus" on Easter Sunday.  The choir sings it, but they filter out of their usual pews to the center of the front of the church (called the Chancel) and anyone is invited to come up and sing with them.

I have often gone to sing with them.

It is such a glorious feeling to sing a song so powerful with so many voices all lifted in Praise over our Savior's resurrection!  I rejoice that the Lord will be praised through many songs, many voices, many different kinds of music, many different kinds of worship services...

But, feel free to take a minute on this Glorious Easter Sunday to Praise God with Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus":



"And He shall reign for ever and ever..."