Married!

So, I must apologize that it has been a month since Scott and I tied the knot and I have not posted!! But-- we still don't have the internet in our apartment because AT&T apparently has a strong desire to test our patience. They are taking quite a lot of pleasure in it, I believe. But! I have found a wonderful coffee shop with free Wi-Fi that I am taking advantage of to update all of you on what has happened in these last 30 days :-)

We had a great honeymoon that started in the Texas hill country. Beautiful. We stayed at a friend of the family's 100 acre ranch in Pipe Creek, Texas in a small, un-airconditioned cabin that is primarily inhabited by come-and-go hunters. All of which are men, I am assuming, based on the quirky details of the place. It was a wonderful week! My grandfather told us that there was a Jeep on the property, gave us they keys, told us where it was, and said "have fun!" We did. We opened the rusty garage door to reveal a 1940s military Jeep with no top, no seatbelts, and yes, it was actually plugged into the wall charging! I felt like I was hopping into an adult-size version of those little red battery-operated Jeeps that we all toted around our driveways in as kids; it was AWESOME! Took us a while to figure out exactly how to get the thing started because, in lou of the fact that is was created in the 1940s, it was not an automatic start. Thankfully Scott can drive standard because, ha, I sure can't. My first and ONLY attempt was in the Temple Bible Church parking lot in a 1996 Ford Ranger when I was 17. I was with Scott, actually. And embarrassing myself in front of the entire 100-person youth group. Anyway, we got it started and we bumped and bumped and jumped and hopped over the very rocky terrain to find an awesome and beautiful river that we swam around in for several hours. We went to a Brandi Carlile concert in Gruene, TX at Gruene Hall, ate at the Greistmill, went to Fredericksburg, and slept in a lot.

The next week was in the Dominican Republic!! A total surprise to me. I didn't have any idea where we were going until the ticket was in my hand the day we took flight. It was stunningly beautiful there. The people were so fun and life there just seemed simple. We did a lot of nothing, but it was the every bit of something that I wanted to do. We stayed at a gorgeous resort on the beach, played some sand volleyball, made some friends, and took advantage of the "all-inclusive" aspects of the trip. All day, all you can eat food, free water sport activities, free alcohol (we did not take advantage of this perk as much as others...) and free tennis! We played tennis everyday for at least an hour and usually more. We went kayaking, which was scary for me, but fun! I came away with only a minor scrape on my ankle from when my kayak flipped over and dumped me onto a pile of coral. That stuff is deceivingly sharp!! Perhaps the neatest and most beautiful part of our week was our day trip to Paradise Island, a small raised sand bar in the middle of the Caribbean surrounded by a most colorful and exquisite coral reef. We snorkeled for probably 3 hours, diving and weaving amongst waving rainbows of coral and swimming amongst an actual school of fish! There was at least 100 in this group of black fish that we followed for several minutes! Now, if you know me, you also know that I am terrified of anything that is deep, wide, dark, huge, vast, etc. The ocean so happens to be all of these so snorkeling was quite an accomplishment for me, but so worth it! The only time I got nervous, aside from looking to my right and realizing there was miles of endless depth and breadth of ocean, was when I saw an eel. Yes, an eel. He was about 1 foot below me. He had absolutely no intrest in me, but who is thinking that?? I quickly popped my head out of the water, choking on a bit of salt water, and dog paddled my way out of that area.

Well, since then, Scott and I have moved into the concrete jungle that is Houston. But fortunately, we have found our quirky and quaint patch of ground in the Montrose area of Downtown. It feels a lot like Austin, TX, which is what we wanted, and we could not be happier with where we live. We have found a wonderful church that is small and so welcoming. It is less than a mile from our apartment so we have been walking/riding our bike to church. We have hooked up with a small group (a.k.a. Bible study/community group) that meets on Tuesdays about 3 blocks from our apartment. So, despite the monstrosity of Houston, we have found our niche that has everything we need within a 1 mile radious. The grocery store is 2 blocks from our house, along with a Starbucks, Einstein Bros. Bagels, Houston Public Library, and several spunky shopping places (yay!)

That is all for now. My fingers are tired :-)

We love you all and hopefully my next post will be from my own apartment with our own internet!

Blessings.

Is it already Tuesday??

They all said this week would go by fast, but goodness! The hours are soaring past and often times I think, "what exactly have I gotten accomplished today...?" Then, as I was washing my face tonight I noticed that my right thumb and pointer finger were red and sore. "Oh yeah... I stuck over 600 hair pins into 12"X12" styrofoam blocks to hold down the sheet moss... whose idea was this for the centerpieces?" Mine. Don't get me wrong, it will look great :-) But my fingers are reaping the consequences! The rest of week entails tying 1/4" width ribbon onto 222 programs through 1/8" holes punched in the fold, hair-pinning 5 bags of moss onto my 28" wide by 18" tall styrofoam cake stand, and placing 250 water bottle labels with Scott and I's name on it onto 250 water bottles that already have a very attractive Ozarka label glued around the circumference. I say all of this with a smirk on my face and slight chuckle because, though it all sounds a little crazy (because it is), it is what my mom and I planned and we really are enjoying the process :-) After all, what would a Huddleston wedding be without plenty of Do-It-Yourself projects? I will float down the aisle with a pretty smile on my face, a fresh pedicure on my toes, and blisters on my fingers.

1 More Week!

Wow. Is it really only one more week?! Scott and I have been waiting for 6 1/2 years for this day! We have been watching the weather like crazy, since we have an outdoor wedding, and so far so good! It is going to be sunny with a high of 89 degrees. A little warm, but at least there is NO RAIN!

Scott is home now :-) He graduated from JBU last Saturday (Magna Cum Laude!!) and now he is home to help us out. My dad has really put him to work. He has been power washing all of the rock and limestone outside in my parents backyard, which is a surprisingly long task. I have been doing the inside duties like cleaning, organizing, finishing last minute details for the wedding, etc. The both of us have told ourselves that all of this work is just getting us that much closer to our wedding day and that much more grateful that we have a honeymoon to follow!!

I will try to post some this next week. We'll see how crazy things get!

Blessings.

Only 2 1/2 weeks left!!

Since coming home, I am officially in full-on wedding mode! We have been printing, cutting, folding, punching, and putting ribbon on 240 programs for the past 2 days and pretty soon we will be making center pieces for all of the tables! This DIY mentality has been so much fun, though, because it is what my mom and I are all about! We LOVE this stuff!! I will not say that it was has been stress-free, but I am determined to have a POSITIVE attitude during this whole process :-) I want to have all good memories from the process and obviously the BIG DAY. Today I am going to Irv and LouAnn White's place to order Scott and I's wedding bands. Running a bit late on that one, haha. Irv said that they should arrive in plenty of time, though.

Well, that is all I have for now! Have a blessed afternoon!

4 Weeks To Go

So... it's been TWO YEARS!! since my last blog. I'm not good at this, clearly. As of yesterday, I have four more weeks until I get married to my high school sweet heart, Scott Key. We have had the most blessed relationship. Like any, we have had our ups and downs but ultimately, he is my best friend. I am marrying my best friend.