The Best Day Of Our Lives

3 months. That's how long it's been now that David and I have been married. I can hardly believe it! It seems like only last week that we said "I Do". With so much to do in the days leading up to the wedding, and then transitioning into married life, there hasn't seemed to be much time to write. Now that things have settled down, and life is returning to normal, I really want to start using this blog of mine again. So, how about we play catch up?

On May 1st, David and I became husband and wife. Our ceremony started at 5pm on a beautiful Friday evening.

 

 

Before the ceremony started, David and I met up to hold hands and talk one last time before we became husband and wife. I'm so glad that we did that, even though it was driving David crazy that he couldn't see me in my dress yet.

The ceremony went beautifully. The weather was perfect. My baby sisters and David's niece were our flower girls. My little brother was our ring bearer. My oldest brother was David's best man. David's two brothers were two of his groomsmen. Everyone that we love showed up to celebrate with us. We had communion. And best of all? I became his wife.

We had a small wedding consisting of only 70-75 people, but it was the perfect amount for me. I have always wanted a more intimate wedding. And our wedding was literally everything I've ever dreamed of. It was more than worth the wait.

Our reception was made up of dinner, lots of tears (I mean, how can you not cry while dancing with your daddy?), and lots, I mean LOTS, of dancing. David and I truly had a blast! I always knew that my wedding would be fun, but I never realized how much fun it really would be.

 

Mother/Son dance

 

 

Mother/Daughter dance

 

Father/Daughter dance

Our first dance as Mr. & Mrs.

 

Right before removing the garter

Smashing cake in my face even though I BEGGED him not to

Dancing the night away

 

At the end of the night, we hugged our family and friends as we hopped into our getaway car that read "Just Married" on the back. It truly was such a magical day. David and I were so blessed to be able to celebrate such a beautiful thing with all of the people we love.

Now that I finally posted about the wedding, I have been requested by my best friend to write a blog post about the married life. So, that is exactly what I am going to do :)

Happy Wednesday, my friends!

Blessings, David & Ashley

My thoughts 17 days before the wedding

David and I get married in just 17 days. I can hardly even believe it. We have been engaged for so long that it really almost seems unreal that we are getting married so soon. We are in the process of finishing up last minute wedding details and getting all of our ducks in a row. We have been in wedding planning mode for so long that I may not even know what to do with myself once the wedding is over haha 

I have been experiencing the emotions that come with wedding planning and preparing to get married. Basically, feeling stressed out and extremely excited yet incredibly nervous but really, really happy. 

I try not to think of the fact that I'm going to be leaving home in just a couple short weeks (2 1/2 weeks to be exact) because I really am trying to just enjoy this time and not make myself upset by the thought of moving out. It's hard not to think about, though, when my baby sister comes into my room in the morning, says "Hi, Sissy!" then proceeds to climb into bed with me. It's going to be impossible not to miss that. It's hard when I am sitting on the couch with my parents and all of my little siblings watching tv, and the thought "It won't be like this for long" crosses my mind. It's hard when I'm out shopping with my mom, laughing with her and just enjoying her company, knowing it won't be as easy to have days out with her when I'll be living 30 minutes away. 

I know that it won't always be hard. I know that a time will come when living with David and calling his apartment my home will just become natural. I know that we will settle down, and I will discover a new normal. 

As I was heading to bed last night, I went around hugging everyone as usual and telling everyone goodnight.... "Goodnight, Cody and Landon and Laura and Mom and Travis." (They were the only ones awake at the time) As I was saying my good nights, I kind of laughed to myself and told my mom how weird it is going to be at first just saying goodnight to David every night when I am used to saying goodnight to 9 people every night. 

As we get closer to getting married, I have been thinking less of the actual wedding planning and more on what's to come for me. Big life changes are coming. I've been used to living the life that I am living for 23 years, and it's going to take some time to adjust to our new life together. 

But do you know what? I am SO excited! The sadness that comes with moving out does not in any way trump the complete bliss of knowing that I am marrying my best friend. 

David and I would appreciate all of the prayers we can get as we start this new chapter of our lives. We love you all! 

Love, 

Ashley 

2 Years Later....

Over 2 years.....
That's how long it's been since I've updated this poor little, neglected blog. So much has happened since my last post, so I won't even try to cram ALL of that stuff into a blog post. Instead, I will just update about what's currently going on. Back in April of last year, David and I finally set a wedding date. In case you all were wondering when we will say "I Do"......

 

 

May 1st, 2015! We were so excited to finally be able to set a date. You all are probably wondering why in the world we were engaged for so long before we finally set a date. Well, the shortest answer is because God had us wait that long. There were SO many set backs during the first almost 2 years of being engaged that kept us from setting a date because there were SO many unknowns. It's quite a long story, so that's why I decided to share the short version.

 

 

As of right now, we are 95 DAYS away from getting married! I can't even believe it! We are knee deep in wedding plans, and I wouldn't have it any other way. We will be having a small, intimate ceremony/reception at a local venue that we instantly fell in love with when we saw it. Everything is coming together so nicely, and I can't wait for our big day. We have colors picked out, our wedding cake ordered, flower girl dresses have arrived, bridesmaid dresses have been ordered, taste tasting appointment has been scheduled, deposits have been paid, the honeymoon has been booked, and my wedding dress will be available for pick-up in just a couple of weeks. We do still have a handful of things we still need to accomplish, but most of them are just tiny details.

 

On New Years' Day, David blessed me by upgrading my engagement ring! He had been talking about getting me a new one for about a year, but he just wasn't in the position quite yet to be able to get me one. On January 1st, we had gone to the jewelry store to get my brother's fiancé's ring resized. I was looking at the rings (as usual), and I found one that I instantly fell in love with (Totally not expecting to get it. Just admiring it). Then, David pulled me aside and asked me if I really liked that one, and I told him yes. Then, he proceeded to tell me that he was going to buy it for me. I was so surprised and happy! The people in the jewelry store talked him into re-proposing to me in the store (even though he planned on doing it later as a surprise), but I'm so glad he listened because it was so cute! He got down on one knee again, said a few words that almost made the both of us cry, then he handed me the ring. It really was the sweetest thing ever.

 

 

I mean, seriously, isn't it gorgeous?

The whole experience was such a blessing, and I will remember it for always. David really is such a sweetheart.... He spoils me :)

I'm going to end this short update by saying sorry that I have not updated in so long, but I promise that I will do better. As the wedding gets closer and closer, I have more and more to say. I have some future blog posts in mind already that I would like to work on. So, keep an eye out for those :)

Blessings, friends!

Love,
Ashley

Just a little update

Hey friends! I am sorry that we have not blogged here in a while. We have been busy! I know everybody keeps asking, but no, we haven't set a wedding date yet. We are still working on it though :) I was in the process of looking for a job, but decided to put it on hold for now until my family's adoption is complete :) David is getting ready to go back to school to get 4 welding certificates which will be completed by mid-December! We are excited for that! It will bring in a good income for us in the end. Anyway.....
We just celebrated our 9 months together! I fall more in love with David with every day that goes by. Now, onto the pictures!

These two are from when we went camping in June.

Last week, I was feeling sad so David brought me over these beautiful flowers. He is such a blessing!

A couple of weeks ago, David bought this book for us! It's a book for engaged couples, and it has pages in it with questions and spaces to write your answers. At the each of each chapter, it has a "notes" section, so me and David write letters to eachother in that section about what we learned from that specific chapter. I love it!

On our 9 month anniversary :)

This past weekend, we celebrated our 9 months together by going ice skating!

Thank you so much for continuing to follow us on our journey! We would appreciate prayers as things continue to get busier and busier for us, and as we get closer to setting a wedding date. Love you all!

Love,
Ashley

We are so excited because......

We made our first home purchase last night! I never thought I'd be so excited to buy glasses and silverware haha It's all starting to come together piece by piece :)

Please continue to pray for God's leading in our lives as we continue on this journey together :)

Love,

Ashley

Beach trip

The past several months, me and David have been trying to make it to the beach. We live in California, and have only been to the beach once since we've met! So, we decided it was time to make another trip down to the beautiful ocean. Like I said, we have been trying to make this trip for the past several months. We have planned about 6 or so beach trips and each of them have been cancelled for one reason or another. Yesterday, though, we were finally able to make our way to the beach. It was absolutely perfect. We spent a couple of hours on the beach relaxing and eating and just enjoying eachother's company. Then, once it started getting really hot (I'm talking "it feels like your skin is going to burn off" hot), we decided to pack up our things and take a little walk around some of the stores by the beach before heading home. We had an amazing day, and I am so thankful that God gave us that time together :) Now, for the pictures.....

He was trying to get the cap off, and it was being difficult.....

So, he had to resort to using his teeth haha

My engagement ring and his promise/purity ring :)

Please continue to pray for our relationship. We want to continue to keep God in the center of everything that we do. Also, please keep our wedding in your prayers as we try to figure out all of the details. Thank you all so much in advance for your prayers!!!

Love,
Ashley

Our Saturday Afternoon

This afternoon, me and David went out on a date. We've hung out since our engagement, but this is the first actual date we've been able to go on since then. We had an amazing time just relaxing, enjoying God's creation, taking some instagram pictures, and diving into God's Word. We had such an amazing day together, and I fall even more in love with David with each day that passes. I can't wait until I can officially call him my husband. Here are some pictures from our day for you all to enjoy. Some were taken by him and some by me :)

*Taken by me*

*Taken by David*

*Taken by me*

*Taken by me*

*Taken by David*

*Taken by me*

*Taken by me*

*Taken by me*

*Taken by me*

*Taken by David*

*Taken by David*

*Taken by David*

*Taken by David*

*Taken by David*

*Taken by David*

*Taken by me*

*Taken by me*

*Taken by me*

I hope you all had as an amazing Saturday as we did!

Love,
Ashley