Show and Tell Monday::Wedding Bells Ringing

Show and Tell Monday; Wedding Bells Ringing

Today I'm Linking up with Becky at From Mrs. To Mama

1. Are you married? If so when did you get married, and tell us about your special day. If not? How would you describe your dream wedding? 

 

     Yes!! My husband and I were married on January 16, 2010 in San Antonio, Tx.  It was really everything I could have wanted, the most important thing was that we were surrounded by our family and friends.  It ended up being somewhat of a huge college reunion and we wouldn't have changed that for the world!! It was so much fun having 200 of our closest friends and family to celebrate the day with us.  I planned the  wedding for 9 months and it was beautiful and so special.  

3. How about the engagement? Tell us your story. If not engaged, what's yourdream proposal?

 The hubby proposed one day as we were packing up to go to San Antonio and it came as a complete surprise! I knew we would be getting engaged at some point but he knew if he did some big thing I would have known so I woke up (I worked the night before) and was trying to pack up the cat into the carrier so we could head out of town and I called him to come help. I said "Can you hold this so I can put him in the bag and he had knelt down on my level and said " Well can you hold THIS" and I started to get annoyed because I wanted to leave and I looked up and he had the ring in his hand, He said a bunch of sweet words that I don't really remember because I was so blown away!! It was so simple and sweet and a surprise which is what I wanted!

4. Show us your wedding rings or an engagement photo! If not engaged/married ... show us your "dream" ring.

5. Tell us why you think marriage doesn't work out for so many? What can we do to make things last

I think marriage doesn't work for so many because people give up too easy, no one said marriage would be easy and there are going to be times of turbulence and hardship, but I think when you say your vows you are making a commitment to work through those tough times.  I think God needs to be the center of a marriage and if you build your marriage with God at the center it will last.  I know there are circumstances where it is healthier for a marriage to end and those two people have tried and can not work it out but I think that is a special situation and I think in general people give in too easy. I also think there needs to be compromise and communication, Not gonna lie communication is something we need to work on but I think the fact that we are honest with each other and compromise when needed is a big part of why we have been together for 9 years.  

We take time for each other to have date nights, we respect and trust each other, we make it a point to have dinner as a family at the table and talk about our day.  These are just a few things that I think help contribute to a lasting marriage, I know there are going to be times of hardship and times of happiness but this marriage is a journey and God is our leader.

Flying with a Toddler

As I mentioned previously, a few weeks ago me and my lil guy took a trip just the two of us to visit family in PA.  I was so nervous about this trip as my hubby was supposed to go initially but due to some work scheduling issues wasn't able to.  There were no direct flights from Houston to Buffalo so I knew we would have a layover and then on top of that once we got to Buffalo, we had a hour and a half drive to the house.

Per my usual I did some research to try and figure out what I could do to make things as smooth as could be and that in conjunction with my experience have compiled a little list of what I found to work.

- Buy a few small toys they haven't played with before.  The one thing I bought that he loved was a travel size doodle board thing

this entertained him the most honestly even more than the iPad which was very surprising since the iPad is his crack.

- load up on snacks a little bit of a bunch of different things.  I didn't use these ItzyRitzy pouches but in hindsight I have them and they would have been perfect, I used the little snack trap cup things and they take up so much space!! These little pouches I might add are so good for so many things!

- Get a window seat!! I only had one flight where I had a n isle seat and thought it would be good so I could get up easily but no, our first flight we had a window seat and then the second flight we didn't and L just wanted to climb over our neighbor to get to the window and thus threw a fit because he couldn't get to the window.  plus, not only can he look out the window if you have a baby you are still nursing you have a bit of privacy since your nestled in the corner.

- If you can afford it get them their own seat.  I decided to have L sit on my lap but on one of our flights we actually had an empty seat next to us and it was so nice to have room to spread out a bit even though he stayed on my lap it was a nice space to put  few toys to get to easily and for me to not feel so cramped.

- Bring a small fold up stroller that you can fold and carry easily.  I used the Chicco Liteway and it was a bit heavy.  After I checked my boarding pass I had to carry L, my bag and the stroller down the gateway and it was a bit of a struggle.  I did use a gate check bag for the stroller to avoid any unnecessary damage.  

- Use a carry-on thats easy to carry with lots of pockets.  I wish I would have used a backpack, I used the Lands End canvas bag which was ok since I had the stroller to drape it on but I think a backpack would have made life easier.  If you have lots of pockets its easier to put things in their own space thus easier to find things in an instant instead of rummaging through your junk with a squirmy baby and people waiting behind you!

- Bring a packet of cleaning wipes and lots of hand sanitizer.  traveling is dirty and on the plane your baby will want to touch everything and then snack and put things in his mouth so once we sat down I wiped everything off and it gave me a little more peace of mind!

- FInally, get to the airport early and try to plan your flight with no layovers or a long enough one so you have time to get to your gate and get something to eat! Luckily we got to go through the special line at security because I had the baby but it still takes time to unload all the stuff take shoes off fold the stroller and traipse through the security thing and then put it all back together.  

Things went as well as they could with a 14 month old trapped in a small space for a long period.  I may or may not have given him a little benedryl to help him sleep as he is not the type to sleep anywhere, he has never fallen asleep in the stroller and rarely in the car, plus he was cutting 4 molars at the time.  I think that you should discuss that with your pediatrician though as I am no doctor!

Disconnected

This past weekend me and L ventured into the great wilderness to visit my dads side of the family.  My grandma and grandpa are getting older and I really wanted Landon to meet them, not to mention I had not been up there in 12 years!!!

The flights went relatively well, traveling with a 14 month old by myself is a blog post in itself, I tried to be as prepared as possible but many a lesson was learned for the future!!

We were in Rixford, PA essentially where the red dot is above, its a small town and the entrance sign calls it a village "Welcome to the village of Rixford" I believe it said the population is around 200!! We had no internet and no cellphone service.  Every now and again if we got into a larger town I would get a few bars of service but for the most part, nothing!!

It really is such a sweet little town and its absolutely gorgeous with all the trees and the weather was perfect (they don't have central air and we just left the windows open at all times and that was sufficient even chilly at night!).  We basically spent our days sitting on the back porch, L would play and I would read or watch him play.  He was in heaven! He loves to be outside and the center of attention and both of those were happening in a big way on this trip!

It was so sweet to see L interact with his great grandparents who were so smitten with him and thought he was the funniest thing, it was so sweet to see them smiling and playing with him.  It was also so good to see L get to spend time with my dad, my dad has really up until now only seen L about 3 times in his life which does make me very sad but it was good to see them spend time together.

There are hardly any pictures because I was tired of trouble shooting,I forgot my camera so I only had my phone so the quality is crappy, but alas here we go.

Not having access to phone and internet was a nice break that I really needed, its so easy to get caught up in social media and I feel like a lot of my time was being sucked by it lately so I think God put this trip at the right point in my life.  It was a nice opportunity to be in the moment and just simply enjoy it.  It is such a simple life there and it really made me realize that thats what I need right now.  I see a lot of decluttering and simplifying in my near future!

My DIY Secret Love

I absolutely LOVE the blog Young House Love, they have so many fabulous and ingenious ideas.  I have been following their blog for a long time and they are finally coming out with a book!! Yep, I preordered it and can't wait for November to get it !!!

I ordered it here

I'm still working on my post about our trip from last week and our experience flying with a toddler but Im having trouble with the pictures so hang tight, I know your just on the edge of your seat with excitement!!