Happy Anniversary: {Celebrating Three Years}

I had a lot of words to say, but none of them really felt right being shared on such a public forum. Instead, I wrote them down for the love of my life in a card this morning.

What I will say is that I never really understood the concept of unconditional, selfless, whole love until I met and married Stephen.

In three years, he has shown me more love, more laughter, more adventures, more sparks, more everything than I'd seen in all the previous without him.

Him. That man. That six foot tall man with the brown hair and piercing blue eyes that came to my doorstep on July 30, 2010 and made off with my heart like a bandit.

And I thank God every day for letting me do life with this guy.

A Blend, A Baptism

I'm bummed that this pic is a little blurry and dark, but love that we captured our family of three on such a special day!

I don't touch on religion or faith very often on here, but I did want to share about a very special weekend for our family.

Caroline Rose was baptized at our church, Central United Methodist, yesterday and it was such a special occasion. Our pastor, the same pastor that married us in 2011, performed the ceremony and it was so beautiful. It was touching to see the entire congregation come together to welcome Caroline into the Methodist church family.

Back when we were married, we decided to join the Methodist Church because it was the perfect blend of Stephen's upbringing (Catholic) and mine (Baptist). We loved to imagine the day that we'd have a baby and be able to baptize her in the church, then one day tell her the story of how her mommy and daddy chose a faith that blended their backgrounds. She is the first of our little family of three to be baptized into the UMC and so it was really special for us and the culmination of our faith journey as a married couple.

So, to any young couples out there who may be from different faith backgrounds, know that it can be done - pretty easily, in fact! Whether you find a middle ground like we did, or if one of you converts to join the other, it can absolutely work. I'm a big believer in the adage that we all serve the same God, and He will show up no matter what the church looks like : )

Yesterday, both of our families joined us for the ceremony and it was such a beautiful thing. We are lucky to be surrounded by such supportive parents, siblings and grandparents. And little Caroline will always be surrounded by the same.

Here are a few photos from after the service with family.

Two Years: An Anniversary Post

Today, I'm blessed to be celebrating two years of marriage to my darling husband. And what an amazing two years it has been!

I am still so grateful for that day in (hot) July when we went on our first date. I remember opening the door to my bachelorette pad. He was even better looking than in the tiny little picture I'd seen of him. I think I remember even (dorkily) telling him weeks later, "A 125 x 125 thumbnail just didn't do you justice." Ha!

What had me hooked more than anything though was his kindness. Anyone who knows my husband knows that he's a comedian, always the one to hold court wherever he goes. But, behind the dry and hilarious extrovert lies a man with a heart of gold.
 

We fell hard and fast and so perfectly (for us) that only God himself could have orchestrated the details. But, isn't that way the best things always happen? When we least expect them?

To Stephen:

Thank you for loving me so wholly and unconditionally. Thank you for accepting me for all my faults and shortcomings, and for giving me the grace to be my best self.

Thank you for supporting my career and my ambitions. Thank you for bringing out my best qualities and for loving me in spite of my worst.

Thank you for your faithfulness and for your commitment to "us".

I cannot wait to see you hold our baby girl next month. I think "dad" will be one of your best roles yet, only second to "husband".

I love you.

Leslie



Photo  of us by Bethany McGhehey

My Last First Date

Yesterday, Stephen and I celebrated the three-year anniversary of our first date: July 30, 2010.

Is it a tad cheesy that we like to relive the memory of that day each year? Yes, probably. But for us, it was that date that changed the course of our lives forever. (Funny to think that an evening of Cajun food and a movie could be so life-altering, huh?)

He picked me up five minutes early at my apartment that night and I remember (quite literally) feeling weak in the knees, like I needed to sit down and catch my breath. He was the most handsome man I'd ever seen and he was standing in my living room.

The conversation that night came easily. The laughter, abundantly.

At one point during the movie later, he slid his hand across the arm of the seat and grasped mine.

And for me, it was game over.

I wanted to hold hands with this man every day for the rest of my life.

And, thanks to the good Lord, I can.

..................................

I sat on the couch writing this post last night, trying to sum up just what July 30 means to me.

I looked at the bouquet, which S had brought home for me yesterday afternoon, sitting atop the kitchen counter. I looked at the various framed photos of the times we've shared, all lining our mantle...the same mantle that served as the backdrop for the night he proposed to me.

I looked down at the ring he gave me; a beautiful, emerald-cut stunner with baguettes, just like the style of the Harry Winston I'd always coveted, but never told him about. The ring he designed himself, the stone selected by hand. Just four months after we'd met without my having a clue.

And my eyes drifted down to the bump on my stomach, serving as a "desk" for my laptop. The sweet, ever-growing bump holding our precious baby girl, who we'll meet in just a few weeks. Our daughter. Half him, half me; all miracle.

My goodness. So much life has happened in just three July 30ths.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. - 1 Corinthians 13:13

Gettin' In the Groove

Pic taken last week in Charleston on our honeymoon!

Although we had a lot of fun planning this wedding and honeymoon (probably more so the honeymoon), both Stephen and I were SO relieved and happy to return home and just start our married life. We’ve been moving the final items from my apartment to his house over the past few days and are finally finished…whew! After this past weekend, we both agreed that we’re not moving again for at least 35 years.

And MY LORD…I did not realize how much stuff I owned until we started packing it up and moving it out. I was honestly ashamed at how many clothes and shoes and handbags I had. Poor Stephen sacrificed the better portion of our walk-in closet in the master bedroom for my mess of clothing. (I should mention that Wardrobe de Leslie is also filling up two-thirds of the guest bedroom closet and linen closet…whoops!

I’m thinking of having a blog sale to free up some of our closet space, but I’ve never tried that before…have any of y’all? Thoughts?

We’ve gotten our house in some semblance of order and I actually had a chance to do some fall decorating! I’m such a shameless seasonal decorator and Stephen is so sweet to just stand by and grin while I hot glue and stage our house within an inch of its life.

Oh yeah, and we’re enjoying being the cheesy, mushy gushy newlyweds. Lots of PDA and Facebook picture posting and whatnot. We’ve also been leaving each other little love notes around the house : ) I won’t post any of those on here because I love y’all and certainly don’t want to induce vomiting.

We have yet to cook a meal as a husband and wife, but I think we may tackle that tonight. Pork tenderloin and roasted asparagus, anyone?

We plan to go on our first “back from the honeymoon” date this weekend too! We’re heading to our old stomping grounds, Abuelo’s on Saturday for chips and queso and sangria…woohoo! Because if there’s one thing my hips and backside need after a food-filled honeymoon in Charleston, it’s more fried food.

We actually decided before we got married that we would do at least one special date night per week, just so we always remember to keep the romance alive. I think more people should “date” their significant other (married or not), ya know? It’s fun to get gussied up and look smokin’ hot for each other. And besides, that can lead to some very fun post-date activities ; )

(My southern momma is probably reading this and blushing.)

We got so many gifts. I mean a crazy, ridiculous, awesome amount of quality gifts. Problem is, we have nowhere to put some of the items we received. We got a panini press from Williams Sonoma that was great, but unfortunately, it’s also the size of a small refrigerator. And towels…OH MY at the towels. That’s more than ok though, you can never have too many towels.

We’ve already been asked by several peeps when we’re going to start a family.

No, I’m not kidding.

Unless the good Lord has other plans for us, we’re going to take a couple of years (maybe more) and just be a three person family, enjoying the perks of not being responsible for another human being’s life for a while, (I say three person family because we include our German Shepherd, Ari as the third member.)

We want to take a couple of years to do married-with-no-children activities like travelling spontaneously and sleeping 8 hours per night and whatnot. Besides, I’m terrible with toddlers. Awful. I have the patience of an arena bull and shudder when I watch poor moms deal with their screaming three year olds in Target. I know it’s par for the course, but bless my soul, I’m not sure I’m cut out to be a mom right now.

HOWEVER, I should also say that our new little nephew Lucas has REALLY given me baby fever. He’s got the best disposition of any kiddo I’ve ever been around and he just smiles and coos and kind of makes you melt. And watching Stephen carry him around when they bring him over makes my heart so full. Kelsi and Greg, if you’re reading this, we will happily babysit any time y’all would like to bring him over : )

So in summary, we’ll see what happens in the baby department : ) Maybe a couple of years, maybe not. But probably a couple of years.

I digress.

Know what makes me so happy though? Seeing older couples in restaurants or on park benches holding hands. So terribly excited to grow old with this man, my husband.

That word is awesome. Husband.

Ok, tomorrow I'll show pics of me and my girls getting ready at the bridal salon on the day of the wedding! Definitely some fun, candid shots in that bunch of pics! Here's a sneak preview:

My adorable hair stylist Jennifer creating my wedding day 'do!

Be blessed, lovelies-

I'm Baaaaack...and Married!

Well y'all, I'm a married lady now! Woot woot!

I'm L-O-V-I-N-G married life so far and have never felt so happy in my life...fo' realz, girls, this whole husband/wife thing is great! I get to go to bed and wake up with my best friend....what could be better than that?

We had the most perfect wedding day and reception and the honeymoon, OH MY WORD Y'ALL...bliss.

I really need to thank all of you girls both here and in Twitter world for your support and prayers on the wedding day. The outpouring of encouragement from the blog community never ceases to amaze me.

Of course since it has only been a little over a week since our wedding day, we don't have our professional pics ready yet, but I'll be posting shots from the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, as well as some candid shots of my bridesmaids and I getting ready the day of the wedding....so fun!

Oh and my bridal pics....those are coming up Friday : )

I'm really trying like the dickens to get through my email inbox, but it's slow going. So if you sent me an email during the past two weeks and haven't gotten a response, rest assured that I haven't missed you, just haven't gotten a chance to reply yet.

I'm also taking a break from e.Styles for a while, while we adjust to married life. I'm taking the next couple of months and just enjoying the evenings with my new hubby instead of pounding away on the computer keyboard for hours. I love doing e.Styling, but it's time to take a break and concentrate on this new season of life right now. I know y'all understand! I'll still be doing in-person styling here in Fayetteville, but the e. stuff was just taking up so much time at night that I felt like I really needed to unplug from that for a while.

Ah, so much to tell y'all about! Stay tuned and bear with me this week as I nudge back into the blogging world, girls! Again, thanks for the well-wishes and oodles of congrats that you all sent us - much, MUCH love!

Be blessed, lovelies-