My Teammate

Six years ago today, this handsome fella dragged me out of bed on a Sunday morning {before the sun came up - which back THEN was so early} and whisked me away on a hot air balloon ride with our super sweet balloon driver (pictured below).  He asked me to be in his life forever. And it's the best decision I ever made. 

We always joke with one another and say "I'll be on your team" and most of the time it's trivial. But all jokes aside, over these past 10 years we've been together I don't think I could have found a better teammate. And I truthfully sometimes feel like that's what we are. We're husband and wife, obviously. We're best friends even moreso. But, at the end of the day we're teammates. 

Shane and I have both been athletes from the moment we both began walking - so it's pretty common for everything in our house to have a sports theme.  So in honor of today's Engageversary, I decided to make a little teammate take on the age-old "you're the macaroni to my cheese, the ink to my pen" verses that you often hear about. So in honor of our love day, and my favorite teammate, here's my teammate take where he's got my back when I fall:

You're the winning serve to my missed dig, the free-throw when I miss a shot, my goalie when it comes down to penalty kicks, you cover my block, my long putt when I undercut the chip, my Hail Mary in OT,  you make the three pointer right at the buzzer of a two point game, two a days that make sense at the end of the season, the minute shaved off my mile, the hand that reaches out to help me up when I trip, the pass that slips through the defender, the alley oop no one sees coming, the quarterback sneak that fools the best analysts, the line judge that knows for certain that hit was on the line, and the perfect back set for my right side hitter. 

He's my teammate. And goodness gracious, I love my team. Have a great week everybody!

9.10.11

The day we became a family.

The day I married the love of my life.

The day Shane became my bestest bestie of all time.

The day I will forever remember.

The day we were surrounded by everyone we love.

The day we were toasted the best toasts around.

The day my dad made me the awesome Katie video I will forever cherish.

The day our support system lifted us up.

The day we took the biggest step towards our lifelong commitment.

The day the Lord united us as one.

The day we became "man and wife".

The day I became a Mrs.

The day I wore my favorite piece of clothing ever ... my wedding dress.

The day we danced to "The Way You Look Tonight" by Michael Buble.

The day Megan Wynn captured the best memories we'd made to date.

The day my dad gave me away, but I promised to forever be his little girl.

The day I saw Shane's lip quiver when I walked down the aisle.

The day our friends and family partied the night away.

The day our groomsmen looked superbly dapper.

The day my best friends posed for pictures that will forever grace our walls.

The day my mom zipped me into my dress and hugged me with the happiest embrace.

The day I served corn on the cob at my wedding.

The day my bridesmaids pulled out the blue flowers in our bouquets because I had a bridezilla moment.

The day Emmie and Brody collided for the best flower girl and ring bearer entrance of all time.

The day MaKenzie finally became my Matron of Honor.

The day my grandma, my mom and I took my all time favorite picture.

The day my husband was the most handsome groom ever.

The day. 

The best day.

Our Wedding Day.

September 10th, 2011.

Two years ago today: The day I married HIM. 

Happy Anniversary Mister Shane.

I love you.

will you be my ____?

Choosing your wedding attendants is so fun - but was so hard to choose (and we had 10 ya'll - I'll introduce them individually later)! I know everyone always says "we have the best friends and family in the entire world" - but we really do. And were so proud to have them stand by our side on our big day. See what i mean, aren't they great?

Shane and I got engaged in a hot air balloon in 2009 - after almost 4 years of dating. if you want more deetz on how this sweet lil' guy popped the question

you can reference the story here 

aside from being the MOH in my cousin sister MaKenzie's wedding and being in a couple of weddings as a young gal - Shane and I were one of the first of our group of friends to tie the knot - so wedding planning, choosing attendants, the whole "what you're supposed to do while planning a wedding" mindset was a bit foreign.  And i didn't have a lot of people to talk to about it either.

mind you people - believe it or not this was BEFORE Pinterest - or well before i had learned about it anyways (it could have very well been out there, but I'm frequently a little late to the game).  so there was no "dream wedding pin boards" or "what i want on my big day" ideas aside from google images when it came to "creative ways to ask my bridesmaids".

yes, guilty - i googled that. 

*NOTE -- we're referring to asking the wedding party here, not the actual wedding.  when it came to actually planning the wedding i had been introduced to Pinterest at this point and it's safe to say it quickly consumed my every moment.  and thank goodness, because it helped to pre-occupy my wedding obsessed brain. i even learned how to share boards with people (so cool!) Kristen of Five Dot Designs and I shared an invitation inspiration board which helped us to share ideas easily despite being a decent distance apart and the invitations turned out BEAUTIFULLY (don't care in the slightest if I'm biased - they were the bomb) - if you're in the market for invites - follow her blog to get your own inspiration. (more details to come on these beauts later - but I'm still obsessed with our lace envelopes *GUSH*).

However, we still had to formally ask our attendants - so here's the deetz:

Asking the Bridesmaids...with COOKIES!

well - if you know me at all, then you know how much i love delicious treats. and if you're a member of my family (or a close friend) then there is a good chance you have encountered on one occasion or another - the "Cookie Lady's Cookies".  I'm sure she has a real name, and if i asked my mom i know she could tell me, but she seems so much more magical when i just refer to her as "The Cookie Lady"

Long and short of it - her cookies are delicious, extremely inexpensive, decorated by hand and a general great addition to any holiday or event.  So, it only seemed fitting i incorporate a batch of goodies for all of my lovely soon to be maids.

i had her personalize each batch by writing "(NAME), Will You Be My Bridesmaid?"  I then had my Junior Bridesmaid (Tatum) accompany me in delivering each set of cookies to everyone on a random weeknight :) (aside form the out of town girls - i sent theirs *BUBBLE WRAPPED* to their apartments and texted them nearly every day obsessing over a mysterious package.  Such a fun time - again now with the introduction of Pinterest, i likely could have been more clever, or used a cutesy poem - but my way suits me juuuust fine.

*****************************

Asking The Groomsmen - You Got Iced.

Shane was in the same boat as me when it came to coming up with a fun way to ask the dudes - NO INITIAL IDEAS.

He too however, wanted to ask his groomsmen in a unique way as well - to make the experience as memorable as possible (yes, husbands a sap and we love him for it).  So we thought and thought and finally concocted a plan we were content with.

He invited all of the boys to his house for a "guys night cookout" and during the festivities Shane made sure everyone was on the back deck cooking burgers and what not and snuck inside to "grab something" and instead brought out his little surprise for all the fellas.

He then presented each of them with a personalized Smirnoff Ice and "iced" all of the attendants.  For those of you unfamiliar with "icing" it is a game people play in which you inconspicuously present someone with a Smirnoff Ice and the victim then has to get on one knee and chug - if you're really interested - google it or visit wikipedia to learn more :)

the ideas are endless, and anything goes. but no matter how you ask, I'd vote to make it a little more personal than just a phone call  - I'd love to hear your ideas or stories of great "Will You By My ___" stories!