Wedding Advice

At my bridal shower the girls had everyone write down some marriage advice in a little book. I loved the gesture and brought it to the wedding for our other guests to share their thoughts as well. Here are a few of my favorites:

- be sure to babysite nieces as much as possible to prepare you for parenting and to give your sister a break :) (from paul's sister)

- Three phrases a husband must learn for a happy marriage 1. yes, dear 2. you're right, dear and 3. it's all my fault (from paul's BIL)

- Remember to take out the trash, work on the honey do list and always say yes dear!! Oh yeah, I taught him everything he knows (from paul's mom)

- take time each day for each other, one little hug or kiss has alot of mileage, as well as the occasional I'm sorry. (from my friends)

- be grateful and loving to your partner and your relationship will be solid (from co-worker)

Our Vows

I loved our vows so much so I wanted to share them. They are a combination of a few vows I found online.

Vows

Sarah, in the presence of God, and before our family and friends, I, Paul, with joy and in love, take you to be my wife, to be the mother of my children, and the companion of my days. I promise to fully share my life with you, through days of happiness or sadness, abundance or want. I pledge to you my unfailing love always.

Paul, in the presence of God, and before our family and friends, I, Sarah, with joy and in love, take you to be my husband, to be the father of my children, and the companion of my days. I promise to fully share my life with you, through days of happiness or sadness, abundance or want. I pledge to you my unfailing love always.

Ring Exchange

As a ring has no end, neither shall my love for you. I choose you to be my wife this day and forevermore. Take this ring, as a sign of my love and commitment.

As a ring has no end, neither shall my love for you. I choose you to be my husband this day and forevermore. Take this ring, as a sign of my love and commitment.

Condo gardening

I'm doing my container garden again this year, but I think I might have gone a little crazy. We got the majority of it planted tonight. Paul took a bunch of pictures which I'll try to get posted later. Here's what we have so far.

12 beef steak tomato plants
4 roma tomato plants
4 cherry tomato plants
4 grape tomato plants
Green Onions
Spinach (already pulled, season is over)
10-15 basil plants
2 thyme plants
3 sage plants
3 oregano plants
5 cilantro plants
8 yellow bell peppers plants
4 super chili peppers plants
1 serrano pepper plants
1 tabasco pepper plant

His mom has some squash and zucchini going for us at her garden, since those don't do well in containers. She also planted 4 pepper plants though I'm not sure what kind. I'd love to have a few more things, but I think I'm done because 1. Paul will probably strangle me if I bring home anymore plants or potting soil, 2. The majority of this stuff will be ready just about the 3 week of nursing school, and 3. there is no more free space on the patios!!

Who says you have to have land to have a garden?!!

Gem Mining

I wanted to go gem mining while we were on vacation, so one night we went over to pigeon forge and stopped at a gem mining stand. You buy a bucket of dirt and they give you a screened box and you get to pan for gems. It was alot of fun and we did get several nice precious stones. One of the gems was a 6 carat ruby, the gem mining stand had a jeweler on hand and we made our ruby into rings for us. Very cool souvenir.

Me with the gem mining black bear.
Paul with the gem mining black bear.

Lodging

The entrance to the resort. A nice rock waterfall with stone bears.

The initial road went straight up and was lined with stone black bears, these have welcome signs. All the buildings are on the side of the mountain, it was straight up with lots of twists and turns to our room.
This was the view from our balcony. Awesome!!

We're Back

We're back, the wedding was perfect, the honeymoon was wonderful. Here's a few pics friends have sent us. More pictures to come later.

Announcing Mr & Mrs R.
Us watching toast from best man.

We're Off

We're off to go get hitched. The weather is not quite what I had hoped but it's not as bad as it could be, it looks like it will be warm, upper 80s, with a 50% chance of rain, right now it's really breezy and cloudy. Rehearsal last night went well, we're both exhausted and hoping we can savor every moment of the wedding today, but if the rehearsal is any indication it's all going to be a blur. In 8 hours, I'll be Mrs. R *~*~*~ Yeah*~*~*~