Show Us Your Life- Honeymoon

Ok, so I had WAY too many pictures to do the final installment of Kelly's Korner Show Us Your Life Wedding Series in one post! So, this is the second part of that installment, our Honeymoon! We chose to go to Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge, TN. We drove straight through the night of our wedding to Tennessee. We had rented a cabin from Aunt Bug's Cabin Rentals, Lover's Lake. It was beautiful!! We were in Tennessee for a week and stayed very busy!

This is our first sunrise as husband and wife! Forgive the splatters! I was driving, so Jud took this picture from inside the car!

This was the front of our cabin, Lover's Lake.

This was the living room from upstairs.

And, the kitchen, which was completely stocked with pots, pans, dishes, and glasses. Not to mention the refrigerator, stove, microwave and DISHWASHER.

This was the bedroom. It had a huge bed, a TV just to the right of where the picture ended, and a Jacuzzi just under where you see the towels hanging! Just in case you didn't read that right, a JACUZZI in the bedroom!! The door that you see was to the bathroom, which had another door on the other side to the kitchen.

This was the upstairs! Obviously, it had a pool table! Just to the left of where the picture ends was a TV with a Playstation with a couple of games. We never played it, so I don't remember what games. Behind where I was standing, was a small bar with bar stools. The door that you see led to a small alcove with the clothes dryer in it. There was another door to the right with the washer in it!

This was the back porch (off of the kitchen) with a hot tub! That was VERY useful after a full day of sightseeing!

These steps led down from the front porch to the pond!! Jud was actually standing on the first landing looking down at me. There was two landings, not counting the actual top. That tells you how high we were from the pond. There was a house about 50 yards to the left of the bottom of the stairs, but it was down on the level of the pond and one-story. You can actually see the very top of the roof from the picture of the back porch through the trees.

This was how we started our Monday morning. We got half way down the mountain before we realized we had a flat. So, instead of going on down and finding a somewhat flat surface, Jud drove back up to the cabin to change the tire in the uneven drive.

After he changed the tire, we headed to Gatlinburg to go to all of the Ripley's stuff. They had a deal where you could buy a wristband, and you could go to all the Ripley's stuff for seven days as many times as you wanted. So, that's what we did. This was "Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies" and is probably the best aquarium I've been too.

Yep, I even got to pet a stingray!!! That was very cool!

This is going through the acrylic tunnel. There are sharks, fish and stingrays swimming around and over you as you go through. And, we see the above picture just before we see the sign below:

"The scratches you see are the result of a shark attack on the acrylic tunnel December 15, 2000; And no one was hurt." We couldn't get a picture of the scratches due to the lighting. (We were both taking pictures with different cameras. And, neither of our cameras had the right dates!)

We also went to Ripley's Believe It or Not and Ripley's Haunted Adventure. I'm just not including any pictures of those due to the very few that I have of those.

Jud with the General Lee at the Stars Cars.

Me with Hugh Hefner at the Wax Musuem!

Tuesday, we went to Dollywood. We don't have any pictures due to it raining while we were there. But, we bought ponchos and kept riding rides.

Wednesday, we went White Water Rafting. Jud and I both decided we would do that again someday!! It was very fun!

Thursday, we went back to the aquarium. Then, played mini-golf at the above mini-golf course.

Jud with the cows!!

That night we went on one of Haunted Ghost tours in town. And, guess where we ended up at midnight?? And, we didn't see a single ghost. Surprise, huh?

Friday, before heading home, we went up the Uber-Gatlinburg one last time. It takes you up to the top of one of the mountains.

This was the sign in front of the first house in Gatlinburg; a one-room house that Martha, her seven kids, her brother and his family lived in.

Then, we played a little more mini-golf at this course before leaving Gatlinburg and heading into Pigeon Forge one last time.

This is the sign that we saw heading into Pigeon Forge from either direction.

Once we left Pigeon Forge, we made two more sightseeing stops before heading home. We went to The Apple Barn, which is exactly what it's name says, but more. One of the buildings had all sorts of Apple stuff, including kitchen stuff and apples fixed different ways. And, another one of the buildings was an ice cream place.

Then we stopped at the Forbidden Caverns to go through them. That was very cool! The above picture is from the Caverns. The guide said that the temperature stays the same in the caverns no matter what the temperature is outside!!

This picture is of my good-looking husband, as we were getting ready to leave the Caverns to start the trip home!!

I hope you enjoyed this look into our Honeymoon as much as I enjoyed remembering the trip!!

Show Us Your Life- Reception

This is supposed to be the final installment of the Kelly's Korner's Show Us Your Life-Wedding Series. This installment is covering our Reception and Honeymoon. I have chosen to separate these into two separate posts. This is about our Wedding Reception. We had our Wedding Reception at a local Methodist Church. Our reception was beautiful. We kept with the lavender, dark purple and white from the ceremony.


This is the table just to the right of the entrance. The picture to the left is one of our engagement pictures. The heart frame to the right has one of Jud's baby pictures and one of mine with my older sister. (Thanks Mom, for that idea. We loved it.) The picture frame also matched the idea of our song for the First Dance, our toasting glasses, serving set and cups, which read "Two Hearts, One Love."


All of the tables were decorated like the above picture. (Thanks to my cousin, Kelsey, for all of her help decorating for the reception and putting up with all of my last minute stressing the week before the wedding!)


This was our Wedding Cake. The top layer was in the shape of a heart and the layer off to the right was our layer to keep and was round. This wasn't exactly what I had in mind, but it was done by a friend of mine.


This was the Groom's Cake. And, this wasn't ANYTHING like it was supposed to be. The end with the flag and golf ball was supposed to be done like a golf green. And, when is the dirt white?

The golf balls were Jud's idea for a wedding favor with the idea of the golf green for the Groom's Cake!

This was the Father-Daughter dance! We danced to "My Little Girl" by Tim McGraw.

And, our First Dance as husband and wife! We danced to "Two Hearts" by Zona Jones.


Our toast. The glasses had white ribbons with a double heart charm. The serving set for the cake matched the glasses also.


And, one of our youngest guests (our niece, Gracie) really enjoying her cake with her Uncle JimEd's (Jud's brother) help!

Jud taking the garter off! I think we were both embarrassed at this point. See the guy in the background? That is Darren, one of Jud's groomsmen and Morgan's husband.

And, us leaving the reception! Stay tuned for the Honeymoon!

Show Us Your Life- Wedding Party and Flowers/Ceremony

This is the next post in the Show Us Your Life series that Kelly at Kelly's Corner is doing. So, again I decided to join in!!

Jud and I were married July 21, 2007, exactly 3 years and 20 days from the day we started dating. The day was beautiful and warm. (That's putting it mildly for a July day in Texas.) My colors were Lavender, a dark purple and white. (Not very summery, but purple is my favorite color.) We were married in the same chapel of the same church that Jud's twin sister, Jamye, was married at.

This was taken before the wedding date when I was planning the decorations. The chandelier was beautiful! Jamye (Jud's twin sister), my mom, and the wedding party entered while "Amazed" by Lonestar was playing.

My dad walked me down the aisle in his Navy dress uniform. We entered to the traditional "Wedding March" by Wagner (per Jud's request).

We had "I Loved Her First" by Heartland play just after my dad gave me away.

The Lighting of the Unity Candle. We had the song "One" by George Jones and Tammy Wynette playing while we lit the candle. (Notice Jud's boutinerre? My sister-in-law, Jennifer, made that!!)

Our first kiss as husband and wife! "Lost in this Moment" by Big & Rich was supposed to start playing as we went to kiss, but it ended up starting after we kissed. Then, the wedding party exited to "From this Moment On" by Shania Twain.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Jud and most of the guys! (L to R) Jud's best man Justin, his groomsman Darren, our ring bearer (and my cousin) Fisher, my good-looking husband, his groomsman Blake, and his groomsman Scott.

Derek (left) and Raymond were the two ushers.

My two sisters-in-law, Jamye (Jud's twin sister) and Jennifer (Jud's brother JimEd's wife), and I. Two of the best friends a girl could ask for!! Jennifer also helped with all of the bouquets, boutinerees and corsages.
My younger sister, Ashley, and I.

This picture is of all of us. Kelsey (my cousin that I'm closest too and bridesmaid), Jennifer (my sister-in-law and bridesmaid), Ashley (my sister and bridesmaid), Lindsey (had been my best friend since high school and maid of honor), and Carly (my cousin and flower girl).

This is Dad, Jud, Me, Mom, and Ashley. (Jennifer made the bouquets and corsage. Mom, Jamye and my Grandmother were given corsages.)

I thought my wedding was beautiful then and I still think so now. That was one of the happiest days of my life. I married my best friend and love of my life!


Love,
Amanda

Favorite Ingredients Friday (Deep-Dish Chili Pie)

So, I finally decided to take part in this wonderful set of posts that Overwhelmed with Joy puts on, Favorite Ingredients Friday. I know, I am a day late, but it happens!! And, despite the name it is actually healthy. I found this recipe in one of Mom's Weight Watchers' recipe books.

Deep-Dish Chili Pie

1 pound ground round

1 (15 oz.) can seasoned diced tomato sauce for chili (such as Hunt's)

1 (12.8 oz.) can refrigerated pizza crust dough

Cooking spray

1 cup (4 oz.) shredded reduced-fat sharp Cheddar cheese, divided

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

-Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

-Cook beef in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until browned, stirring to crumble. Drain well; return to pan. Add tomato sauce*; cook 1 to 2 minutes or until heated.

-While beef cooks, unroll pizza crust dough, and press into bottom and halfway up sides of a 13x9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese over pizza crust; top with ground beef mixture.

-Bake, uncovered, at 425 degrees for 12 minutes. Top with remaining 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese, and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake an additional 5 minutes or until crust is browned and cheese melts. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Yields: 8 servings

*Or, you could do like I did, write the recipe wrong and leave sauce off when copying the recipe. So, I ended up putting diced tomatoes in there before I realized it was supposed to be tomato sauce. So, I then added tomato sauce too. I'm sure that changed the health values on it, but it sure was great!!

Enjoy!

Show Us Your Life- Wedding Dress!!

I've been telling my friend, Morgan, that I was going to do a new post this whole last week and have not done so. Well, she decided to point me towards a post on Kelly's Korner, by the same name as this one, in which, Kelly is asking everyone to show their wedding dresses. So, I decided to join in.

Jud and I were married July 21, 2007 in a very wonderful summer wedding. Despite the summer wedding, I chose purple (my favorite color) and white for our wedding colors.

The night that my mom, dad(Yes, my dad CHOSE to go!) and I went to look at dresses, I knew which dress I wanted. I had done my research and I KNEW! We arrived at David's Bridal in Shreveport and began talking to one of their wonderful ladies. She persuaded me to pick three dresses to try on, so I, of course, chose the one I had looked at online, Mom chose one and we chose one together (which they did not have in my size). While the lady was finding the first two, Mom and I found another one for me to try on.

I tried my favorite one on first (The red would have actually been purple for my dress.):

Then, I tried on the one Mom and I found on the rack:

I tried on one more, but I had already made up my mind. I don't know all of the details or specifics of the dress. I just remember thinking that "This is the dress that Jud will love." It had already won me over.

Mom and I

Dad and I.

The back of my dress.

Jud and I

I was extremely happy with my dress the day of my wedding and I am still happy that I chose that dress!!

What is bedtime??

Ok, two nights ago, I had the bright idea of starting Wesley's bedtime routine a little early. I thought that maybe he would go to bed just a little earlier than normal. You know, maybe 9 instead of 10? That was MY plan. Wesley's plan was apparently VERY different.

First, we started with his bath at about 7 pm. Jud usually gives him his bath and tonight he did not disappoint! This is when Wesley discovers the water coming out of the faucet and became fixated on it.

Of course after taking such a wonderful picture of him turned around, I was "obligated" to take the embarrassing butt picture!!

All done! Next comes Daddy trying to dry Wesley off!

Then, for some more fun, Daddy decides to tickle Wesley while finishing up!

Can you see his eight teeth??

After Wesley, got dressed, it was time to eat! Or, maybe fight Daddy putting the tray on his chair!

I took a few more pictures of this little fight, then I had to set the camera down. It's my job to feed Wesley his last meal of the night.

So, by this time it's about 8 pm and I'm thinking that he'll eat and maybe last another half an hour.

So, I decide to go ahead and cuddle with him! Notice his tired little eyes? It shouldn't be long now! Especially, after the extra three ounces of warm formula.Yep, Daddy took this one!!

Or, so I thought!! About 10 o'clock, Wesley catches his second wind. This is AFTER being cudddled, rocked and sang to!

About 11 o'clock and still going!!





He was still going an hour later!! Where did all of this energy come from? And, why couldn't I have been the one to have it? So, we decided to do something that we very seldomly try. We decided to load up and go for a drive! We drove around town and came back home after Wesley fell asleep! We got him home and in his crib. I sat down to finish looking at a blog. And, this is what I see!!

12:51 A.M.

Are you kidding me?? So, much for going to bed early!!

Love,

Jud, Amanda, and Wesley