Show Us Your Life Friday--Reception & Honeymoon

Our reception was held in our church Family Life Center. We had a friend of ours introduce us once we arrived in the FLC as Mr. & Mrs. it was very cool to hear my new name again! Just before we were introduced an older man me if I loved him and I said "forever". Which is pretty cool, becuse we saw him about 9 months into our marriage and he reminded us of that at just the right moment. We will remember that sweet moment well.."forever" The tables were dressed with white long table clothes with tall vases filled with espernce roses and white ostrich feathers and rose petals. The Bride Cake table was on a large round table in the center. All of the food and cake tables were draped with lipstick pink satin fabric. We had an adorable candy station with all pink and white candy in apothocary jars. We had John and Lindsey stamped candy boxes for them to take with them as a favor. When I think about our candy station, I think about sitting at my parents kitchen table with mom and my sister sorting through a ton a candy just to pull out the pink candies and then stamping what seemed like a million favor boxes with our "personalized stamp" that a dear friend, Lindsey created and designed for us herself! It was a sweet touch! We enjoyed speaking with everyone who came to see us that day and made sure to thank everyone for coming. We left the church and stayed at really modern hotel called Hotel Preston. It was a really cool place to stay for the night of our wedding. The next day we ventured off to Gatlinburg for our honeymoon. That is a really special placefor us because that is where John proposed and we wanted to enjoy that again. We stayed in an amazing cabin through a spa resort. All week we shopped, relaxed, and enjoyed some amazing dinners. We enjoyed our first week as husband and wife. We were both so excited to come home to really start "real life" It was the coolest drive to our first home! Our little rental home was so special! We worked so hard to make it our own! We painted and bought fun, modern stuff to make the paneling look "good" ha! I'll never forget once we pulled in our road John started saying things like "welcome to our road. This is the first time we are on our road together." It was such a cool moment to drive into our driveway as husband and wife for the first time. And it was there at that very special place, where we began our family!

Show Us Your Life--Wedding Party, Flowers, & Ceremony

Kelly's Corner "Tell Us Your Life Friday" had a great theme today that I just couldn't pass up sharing with you! Our wedding day was by far the happiest day of our lives. It was so peaceful and Holy. Pieces of us want to remember that feeling in our heart forever. It was such a perfect day; exactly how we wanted it!
We got married June 21, 2008. Although the entire day was completely unforgettable, I will share special moments from our day that made it truly incredible!When I woke up my mom and dad gave me the sweetest letter, lists of firsts and lasts, and my dad's Bible.
My brother found a four leaf clover that day, his first one, and gave it to me sobbing..as he did throughout the day. I carried the clover in my bouquet. I got to hold my soon to be husband's hand before we actually saw each other walk down the isle. It was shaking yet comforting at the same time.

My flowers were the MOST glamorous flowers that I have EVER seen! I loved them so much!I actually felt like a queen carrying them..and of course the dress and tiara topped the queen feeling off just right! I carried pink esperance roses and white freshian with white ostrich feathers. The bridesmaids carried white freshia with smaller ostrich feathers. It was truly glamorous!Just before my father walked me down the isle, we had the Michael W. Smith song, Cinderella played. This song reflected perfectly mine and my fathers relationship. As a baby he would always dance with me. Once the song started playing he asked me to dance. We were a crying mess, but it was truly an unforgettable moment!

My favorite moment was when the sanctuary doors opened and I saw my Groom waiting for me at the end of the isle with tears in his face and I had all the people that I loved so much all in one room! I walked down the isle to the most awesome bagpipe song ever and it still gives us chills. A moment before I walked in the sancuary we cued the window covers to come up and the lights to come on! It was the perfect effect! Just thinking about it makes my heart race.

I surprised John with a song that I sang and had recorded for him just before my dad gave me away. When my groom said his vows to me I could have melted in the floor. It was so special. And once it was my turn, I had forgotten for a split second I had to do it too and I cried cried cried through every word. The vows were so special to us and we honored every word.

We walked out as Man and Wife to "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us" by Starship. Blue rhinestoned shoes and all! It was a happy happy moment!
Our wedding party was too much fun! We have got some awesome friends!My grandaddy was there, and that was a blessing in itself! He took pictures the whole time on his camera. It was adorable.My best friends/bridesmaides were all abolutly stunning and so awesome the entire day.The groomsman never looked so good in the pink! They were such men, and some were surprisingly excited about the pink vests!

The moment spent with my husband after the ceremony were breathtaking, romantic, and unforgettable.

The father of a lifelong friend of mine offered us his classic Thunderbird convertable to go away in! He was super excited about it, and so were we! We knew it would be nice and wanted it to be a complete surprise to see right as we were leaving. It was a fun little surprise for the both of us and truly classic getaway as Husband and Wife! Now, it wouldn't even be a post today if it weren't for our amazin photographer. Her name is Jodi Richfield in Jodi Richfield Photo. She was absolutly perfect. She captured the mood and essence of our day. We are so thankful for her and her amazing gift that she has and shared with us!

A New Do

Here at Joyful Living we are trying out a completely new "do" We have decided to focus a lot more on associating scripture and joy to our everyday blog entry's. Let us know what you think about our new "do"!

Prayer

Some of you may know the health history behind this precious baby boy, and some of you may not. They have no family connection to us, but they ARE our brother and sister in Christ. The hubbs and I have felt led to pray for this family for some time now. Baby Stellan has had a very long, hard trip of SVT since in the womb and now it is worse than it's ever been. We are asking you to LIFT HIM UP in prayer right now as he is flighted to Boston Children's. For more details please take a moment and visit this blog.

A Trip To The Zoo

To top off our week, John and I ventured to the zoo! We really enjoyed our time there together. We woke up really early because we were so excited, ate a yummy breakfast, and arrived to the zoo just after it opened! The weather was perfect, and the animals were too much fun! But, enough words! Enjoy the pictures of our time there and God's amazing creations! Yes, we totally posed in a giant snake mouth..and we also played on the playground! We don't care! We loved every moment of it! :-) These were John's favorite moments! And this was my VERY FAVORITE!

Road Trip!

John and I decided to hit the town early yesterday, and to fly by the seat of our pants! We headed to Hobby Lobby to search for some decor for the house. Did you know that they already have fall and christmas decor out? Did you also know that it was 50% off this week? After a moment of excitement for me, we refocused towards the reason for going there. We were looking for two things: candles for our master bathroom garden tub and a floor vase and floral for an empty corner in the living room. Those are the two rooms that we just about have perfect! Much to our surprise, all of those items were 50% off this week! After a little bit more excitement, we found the perfect red and cream candles and vase and floral. We were really excited! It's so fun to find a good deal! Here is a small part of what we got!

Afterwards, we ventured to Lowe's to research some more on fences, blinds, and washer and dryers. We hit up lunch and then after a brief conversation about Amish people, we decided to venture to Amish country in KY and to also visit the Jefferson Davis monument.

For some who haven't ever been out there, it is definatly a different feeling you get. It's straight highway, and then there are straight gravel roads on both sides that go back to their homes and stores. It's a little erie lookin. On our way, we saw a fun sign that said this. (sorry it's sideways..) So, we thought, cool! Flowers would be nice! On our way down the long gravel road we realized we only had our debit card. . . and we couldn't turn around. So, being the smooth couple that we are, we kept going,met the guy at a strange gate and he followed us on his scooter to his "house" There were chickens, dogs, donkeys, birds, sheep, roosters everywhere! I wanted to go to the zoo yesterday, so seeing this was good enough for the day! The flower selection was beautiful, but small. I quickly looked for a color he didn't have so we couldn't use that as an excuse, but he had them all. Quickly, my smart hubbs said oh, no perinials, that's what we wanted! BINGO! And we were out of there! John loved that little encountering experience, but I however, well...I told him, I would rather be lose in Mexico again! You know me, the control freak! Upon our exit, we decided to go down anoth gravel road with a sign that said something a little different for sale! Once we arrived to their "home" children were outside playing...and pointing...and men were pulling a huge thing with horses. They all seemed busy, so we waved nicely and drove on our way. It was a lot of fun to see just a bit of what they do and how they live first hand. It is for sure something that we will always remember!

We also ventured to the Jefferson Davis monument. You committed blog readers may remember a little trip that my friend Boober and I took to try to find this, and never did. So, this time, the hubbs and I were determined! We found it, and it was definatly something to see! It was really tall, and interesting to learn a little history!

Not Me Monday!

This past weekend was a total BLUR it went by so quickly. It began with a new litle "side job" if you will of cleaning houses. (and PS...I WILL clean yours if you like! Just let me know!) The day began early and I was off to my first house cleaning. It was a large house. A lot larger than my own, so I was excited to see how I could handle the pressure! I must say at this moment that once I woke up and immediatly left, I did not put my dogs immediatly back up in their room before eating breakdfast. As I cleaned the house in my not so short short jean shorts and beautifully fixed hair and makeup I realized that this was something that I would like to do often. The house was decorated beautifully, but when I came home I did not reak with envy of her home as compared to my own. Once I finished, I ran home, showered, let the dogs out but no I did not put them immediatly BACK into their room, and left for rehearsal dinner. You see, the Hubb's best friends got married on Saturday, and the Hubb's was a groomsman, and I was ...well, I ran around a lot and answered questions, and made things happen I suppose. So, I got ready and left in not the same dress that I wore to her wedding shower. I would never do that you see, because my dear friend Holly says no two outfits are the same when you accessorize differently. So I was in the clear! After the rehearsal we of course did not stay and visit with friends until 1:00 in the morning before the grooms wedding day. No, not me! On Saturday we most certainly did not sleep in until 12:00 and make biscuits that turned out not to look like cookies what so ever. No, I'm a wonderful cook, and that would NEVER happen! We got ready said hello to the pups and again, most certainly did not put them BACK into their rooms once again to stay a whole day. We would never do a thing like that! The wedding was beautiful, and very perfect for the beautiful Bride and Groom! Before the wedding, however, Holly and I most certainly did not run around frantic with a smile on our faces while wondering the answers to the questions that were asked of us and we said we knew. We also did not lie when we were asked a question and answered it with the correct answer. I would never do a thing like that! Not me! We also did not do a happy dance behind the scenes after we opened the doors to let the Bride make her entrance. That's not something a prim and proper lady would do, not me! But, we really did enjoy ourselves, and we loves helping out two awesome friends of ours with the awesome day! And, I will also say, that everything was perfect, and beautiful! Just as the Bride and Groom wished it would be! The reception was gorgeous, the food was yummy that I did not pile onto my plate, and the dancing was a blast! John and I both realized that we were both great dancers! Because, you see, we would not have been a hit if we were terrible at dancing! Not us! We twisted, we shouted, we cha cha'd and we glided! It was a blast! Congrats to the very, very happy couple! We love you both! Today, we did not sleep in until 1:00 and my husband is still not sleeping because, why would we need to sleep in this late! That's just not right to sleep the day away and still be in my pj's, looking at a very long list of to-do's, I would never do that! Nope, not me!

Blog Hop!

Click here to enter your link in the blog hop and view the entire list of entered links...

A new blog bandwagon entitled "Blog Hop" Today's spotlight- Favorite Photographs! One of our favorite funny photographs we would like to name "Bad Timing Made By A Selftimer" This picture was taken in Gatlinburg during Christmas. Our best friends, Holly & Sam mean the world to us and we wanted to take them to the spot where John proposed to share it with them! While there, we thought we would cature the moment and set the timer! This was the result! We cherish Holly & Sam's place in our lives and what they mean to us.

Not Me Monday!

A blog created by MckMama to not quite admit all the things we did not do! Click on her "Praying for Stellan" link to join in on the fun!

Sunday afternoon I came home from a wonderful church service and ate Egg Salad which I have not eaten for the past two days for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. No, Not Me! I also did not take a nap afterwards until 5:00 and then wake up and eat more egg salad and go back to church...Not Me! Since we have returned from our trip I have had an unending pile of laundry that doesn't seem to get caught up. I definatly did not take the pile out of my closet and decide to let it sit in the floor for a few hours. NotMe! After I woke up this morning I planned on making cinnamon rolls and coffee for the Hubbs and I wouldn't have dared decided to clean the baseboards in the whole house instead. Not Me! I also haven't spent the past three hours on the internet trying to makeover my blog, ignored the loud fighting between the pups, skipped lunch, spanked Harley 100 times, let him out to potty with no results, or accidently woke up my hubbs. Those just aren't things that a proper lady would do! That's right, Not Me!

Meet Harley!

John and I have been pondering the idea of another puppy for some time now. Heidi always gets lonely and loves playing with our neighbors dogs. After a lot of thought we decided to go for it. John decided he wanted to get a Harley for his birthday. Since I told him the day he gets a Harley is the day I get my BMW convertable! He decided he wanted a Harley dog! He loaded up the Yukon with Heidi and headed to the breeder where we got her. It was a long drive...Heidi's longest road trip. She was a bit worn out once we got there. As soon as we got the the ladies home we sat Heidi down and our Harley dog ran straight to us. It didn't take us long to decide which one was our Harley. Heidi loves him to death. He is a lot different from Heidi. He is a maltipoo as well just like Heidi. It has been so much fun having two pups in the home. They are very entertaining, and Harley is learning QUICK! Which makes me very happy!

In the Maholland home, other than pups, things are about to FINALLY be in somewhat of a cruise control. God has blessed us with a wonderful job, shift change for John and he has now begun that. We are so thankful for God's greatness in our marriage. We are forever thankful for all He has done for us!

And now...enjoy your Smilebox Sunday just about Harley!

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