Celebrating 8 Years

My hubs has been my hubs for eight full years, now. My how time flies.

 

 

We celebrated our anniversary in style by going to a fancy restaurant.

 

We sat outside by the flowers and got to watch the sun set during our meal. Every bite of every single thing we ate was absolutely delicious. We shared a cheese assortment for an appetizer and a berry cobbler for dessert. For our entrees, Bradley chose the "Seared halibut over caramelized fennel and Vidalias in a blood orange vinaigrette," and I picked the "Roasted Amish Chicken over parmesan whipped potatoes in a caramelized fennel, smoked bacon and chive jus." You guys, it was amazing! And each course was paired with a wine that perfectly complimented the taste of the food. We really felt like high rollers.

 

The night was very romantic, and it was fun to celebrate another milestone in such a classy way. We like being fancy every now and then.

 

 

Eight years. It's gone by so quickly, and it's also been forever. I still can't believe it. How have eight whole years already passed us by?

 

Love you, Boo!!

Seven Years is Legit

We may not have looked that legit back on June 11, 2005. But now, we're the real deal.

Today marks the end of my seventh year as Brad's wife. I love this picture of us acting silly on our wedding day; the first day of my life as a Mrs. to my Mr. I'm starting to look back at our wedding photos and think, "Man, we were just babies!" At the time we thought 21 was sooooo grown up! Ha.

I'm finally beginning to feel like we've been married a long time. Up until recently, I was like, "Oh, we're still newlyweds! We just got married! It seems like only yesterday!" Now, I think, "Wow, we've really been married a long time. Seven years is kind of a big deal. We have accumulated a lot of history and experience as a married couple. We've grown up a lot together over the course of this totally legit marriage."

I thought I might feel sad when the "honeymoon phase" was over, but I actually think I like this part even better. It's real. I know it's real. I'm not worried about what it'll be like when the fantasy is grounded. I trust myself as a wife, and I'm not always wondering what kind of wife I am or want to be and how to be that. And I trust Brad as a husband; trust him to know how to put our marriage first, to treat me in a way that would make our parents proud, and to strive to be the husband God expects him to be. We really have learned a lot together; about ourselves, about each other, about life and finances and responsibilities and friendships and compromises and adulthood and love. I know we'll continue learning various lessons as the years go on. I can't wait to learn how to be a mama to his many precious babies as he masters the art of being an incredible daddy. Hopefully, the eighth year will also be the year we add parenthood to our marriage cocktail. Only God knows that at this point.

Anyway... (Sorry. My brain seems to always find a way to back to babies, right now.)

I feel very blessed to have been able to spend the last seven years as Brad's wife. I'm honored that he chose me to be his One. I'm happy that the dork I fell in love with in high school remains the handsome stud I continue to love today. ...Even more than I ever thought possible back in the day when he held my hand outside my locker.

Love you, B. A whole lot. Happy 7th anniversary, my sweet boy.

Six Years

(Pic taken after our anniversary dinner.)

Today marks the sixth anniversary of our wedding. I can't even put into words what that means to me. I'm going to be honest with you; we had to work pretty hard to add this sixth year to our marriage. I have to admit, sometimes marriage is hard work. I totally believe in love with all of my heart, but my attitude toward love has altered quite a bit over the last twelve months.

Love doesn't simply equal perpetual smiles, giggles and flirts, although it's nice to have them present. It doesn't consist of constant euphoria and unwavering happiness, although there are periods of time that it can lift you up to the clouds. Love doesn't effortlessly come easy, like I maybe thought it did before (even though I didn't think I thought that at the time). I've come to learn that love is an action. Love is a verb. Love is a decision. Love is something you do, not necessarily something you feel.

I've also learned that love is something real; love is worth fighting for; and love can only come from the One who IS love.

I believe that marriages consist of both peaks and valleys. I'm especially proud of this particular anniversary, because the past year has honestly been a span spent in the valley. We've had our fair share of highlights, also, but overall, the sixth year of marriage has proven to be the most trying we've experienced thus far.

Thankfully, God is faithful. He has stayed right by our sides through all of the trials the devil has thrown our way, even carrying us during the times we weren't sure we could hold ourselves up. He ceaselessly extended His grace and mercy upon us, allowing us to bestow that same grace and mercy toward each other as needed. His perfect example of love for us has paved a path of love for us to follow in our marriage.

To represent our journey, our struggles, our perseverence, our committment and our focus, Brad and I prayerfully decided to commemorate our sixth wedding anniversary with corresponding tattoos.

On my wrist, I got two hearts joined together by a cross. It is a design which I created myself that symbolizes Christ being the center of our relationship. Furthermore, in my mind, it's also a visual representation of Christ completing each of us individually, as well as bringing (and keeping) us together.

Brad got a Celtic knot on his shoulder that is made up of two entwined hearts encircled within a larger heart to symbolize our relationship within God.

The permanent marks on our bodies serve as a representation of God's grace in our relationship. They provide a constant reminder of where our focus needs to be, which is first and foremost on the Lord, and then on our marriage within Him.

The sixth is a notch in our marriage belt that I am happily, proudly, and passionately claiming. With God's help, we have made it through a year worth of valley and are on our way up toward another beautiful peak in the clear blue sky. I'm sure that our futures hold many more rollercoaster rides up and down, but I'm also confident that we can get through all of it. We've done it once. We can do it again. After all, it's not like we'll be riding alone. God will always be right by our sides. And besides, without the rainy days, we wouldn't know how great the sunny ones actually are, right?

          ♥  God sure is good.  :)

5th Celebration

Brad and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary by spending an extended weekend away together in Atlanta, Georgia. We stayed in the Beverly Hills Inn Bed and Breakfast, where we enjoyed a glass of wine in a bubble bath every night of the mini-vacation. Ahhh...

Since we've been married for half a decade now, and we're both officially in our upper twenties, we had to be all mature and sophisticated in our anniversary celebration. Our high class evening began with a fancy dinner at the Antica Posta Tuscan Restaurant, which was recommended to us by one of my coworkers. It really was fabulous, but we could hardly decide what to order since the menu was primarily in Italian. We shared an octopus salad (!) appetizer, before Brad savored some gnocchi and I relished some bow tie pasta with crab meat. Talk about yum! And then they surprised us with a Happy Anniversary dessert. We couldn't figure out if they charged us for it or not, but it was delicious, either way!

To continue with our sophistication, we took our 5-year-old marriage and our formal-for-us attire to the symphony! This was one of Brad's surprises, and I was so super excited. Brad was a band geek his whole life, but I've never been nearly cultured enough to frequent such "finer things." It really was pretty incredible... For a little bit... Then Brad and I realized that this was way too high class for us (after he accused me of falling asleep, even though we both know that I was just "envisioning the music set to a cartoon like in Fantasia in my mind."), and we snuck out during intermission.

So what if we can't can't decipher an Italian menu or quite appreciate the aspects of high society or comfortably breathe in that dress? We're still Brad and Mindy Mehaffey, and we still rock in our own layman type of way. It was really nice to mark such a special occasion with such special events that we'll always remember. But the rest of the weekend happened a little more Mehaffey style.

We spent plenty of time walking around downtown Atlanta and working our way through the public transportation. We were able to see some of Atlanta's finest features, including the Disco Kroger. (Uh, huh??)

We spent one afternoon at the Coke Museum, or what they call themselves, The World of Coca-Cola. Did you  know that Coke was invented in Atlanta? Don't worry, they'd be more than happy to tell you all about it. And we were more than happy to learn!

One of the first treats the Coke Museum had was a real life (aka, man in a suit) polar bear just to offer great photo ops! Seriously, I love cheesy photo ops. And I loved this one even more, because that polar bear reminded both of us so much of our very own little Chester! For real, this guy was legit. He could open, close, and move his eyes, move each finger/claw individually, and open and close his mouth. I'm not kidding, when he smiled, he looked just like our precious puppy. I wish we could have taken a video of him, because he seriously could communicate with people, and you could totally tell that he was so happy! He must have known that it was our wedding anniversary, however, because he did not propose to me like he did the girl before us. Maybe Brad was just way too intimidating.

The rest of the museum was awesome, too. They taught you about the origin of the soft drink, as well as the "most recognized logo in the world," let you walk through a bottling process, displayed Coke memorabilia, aired all of the Coca Cola commercials, had interactive exhibits allowing you to draw your own Coke art, presented a 4-D movie searching for the "secret formula," and so much more. It really was quite fun.

Probably, the most memorable portion of the tour was also the last - the tasting station. They had over 60 different fountain drinks provided by Coke from all around the world. Let me tell you, everything outside of the USA was dis-gust-ing! Blegch! Brad and I had a pretty good system going where we would each put a beverage in our cup, taste it, then swap. We literally sampled every flavor, and didn't find a single one that was even decent. Thankfully, there was a final USA Coke room that just offered all of the different Coke products we know and love here. Ahh, it felt good to be home again.

Saturday morning, we really got back to our roots by going to Six Flags White Water. (Theme parks are our bread and butter.) We met our friend, Kris, there, who currently lives across the street from us but is from Atlanta and was in town the same weekend for his wife's family baby shower. Anyway, Kris and his brothers were skipping the shower to go to the water park, and we tagged along. He has a waterproof camera (how cool is that??), and was able to get some pretty great action shots on some of the best water slides. We had so much fun, and I'm proud to say that we did not get roasted, thanks to the gallons of sunscreen we applied rigorously throughout the day. These pale complexions have learned their lessons.

After the fun in the sun, we joined Kris and Emily and their families at Stone Mountain. Have you ever heard of this place? Me either, but it was way awesome! It's basically exactly what it sounds like, a big giant mountain of stone. But they have a whole little village thing going on, kind of like Gatlinburg. It's totally a tourist trap, but since I am the target market, I eat it all right up. There were lots of shops, putt-putt courses, ropes courses, hotels, lodges, and camp sites.

Sadly, we were only there long enough to enjoy one aspect of the mountain. Happily, it was the best part! The Laser Show!! Once night falls, they do this whole laser show on the face of the mountain intertwined with a fireworks display all set to great music. Most of it was dedicated to Atlanta, Georgia, or other Southern states (Sweet Home Alabama). They basically made an entire music video narrating The Devil Went Down to Georgia, and it was fantastic. Brad and I were like little kids on our big quilt enjoying the great show.

Oh, speaking of being little kids, Brad couldn't pass up the opportunity to buy some cotton candy as a tribute to the tons and tons of it we consumed on our honeymoon. Only then it was called Candy Floss, because we were in Canada (Niagara Falls), and it was a little more rebellious to eat it for dinner every night, because we were very brand new adults. The memory was great to relive, exactly five years later.

Can you believe we've been married for five years?? I know I can't. Either I think we just got married last month, or that we've been married our whole lives. But either way, definitely not five years.

I can't believe how far we've come and all that we've been through in such a short period of time. We still have so far to go and so much to do together. Thank goodness we have the next 60 years to do it all side by side. We truly are blessed to have each other. I pray that we never forget that.

Complete Anniversary Trip Photo Album

5 Blessed Years

Today is our five year anniversary.

I can't even begin to describe what our marriage means to me, or how wonderful of a husband Brad is. I honestly could go on and on (and often do) about our love. So, for now, I'll just thank our Lord for the blessings of marriage and of each other. Five years sure has gone by fast.

You hold my heart in your hands, Bradley. Thank you for taking such great care of it. I love you with all that I am. I am so proud to be your wife.

High School Sweethearts

Today is Brad's and my dating-versary. Eight years ago today, is when our relationship officially began. Eight years! Can you believe it? That's a long time. That's basically 1/3 of my entire life.

It was nearly a decade ago when he called me on the phone and asked me if I'd "go steady" with him. Naturally, I laughed and called him Kevin Arnold with that 1950's dating proposal. But when he responded that he didn't want it to be some silly high school relationship, but instead a real, forever love, I was speechless and, of course, agreed to be his girlfriend.

That's the moment when forever began. The butterflies in my stomach assured me that my life would never be the same. From February 24, 2002 to February 24, 2010, Brad and I have never not been together. We never broke up, never "took a break," never dated other people. We have been together, consecutively for eight years; a feat of which I am very proud.

Being high school sweethearts is fun. It's fun to have memories of the same home town. It's fun to have been named the Cutest Couple of the Class of '02. It's fun to have high school prom pictures with each other framed in our house. It's fun to have senior portraits taken together, (These are actually engagement pictures, taken in 2004. I didn't have our senior pictures in digital format.) and remember the same graduation speech. It's fun to have known each other before anybody else that we know now, knew us. It's fun that we have a past together, as we continue to look forward to our future.

Brad is not only my high school sweetheart. He's my soul mate. I knew it at 17, even while my parents were a little leery, that he was the love of my life. My one-and-only. My steady. How is it that a girl like me can get so lucky so young? He truly is the greatest guy in the whole world, and the best husband any woman has ever had. What a blessing.

Mr. & Mrs.

Matthew and Heather have finally tied the knot! They are now, officially, Mr. & Mrs. Mehaffey. Happy day!!

(I greatly apologize for the long delay in this most important post. My camera went to Cancun with them for their honeymoon, and you all know that I can't post on my blog without pictures. So it just had to wait. Even now, I don't have all of my pictures, since they had to delete some to make room for their Mexican pictures. Once I get those back in my possession, we'll have a post about the rest of the weekend including the rehearsal dinner. Until then, enjoy this much overdue wedding post.)

Matthew and Heather got married on September 19, 2009, at The Factory at Franklin. Everything was perfect. Heather was a stunning bride, and Matthew was completely smitten by her radiance. The ceremony was short and sweet. Gerald, a like-father to Heather, performed the wedding and included personal, sentimental stories and details of both the bride and the groom. They exchanged rings, vows, and declared "I do," in front of their Lord, family, and friends. As Matthew kissed his bride, neither of them could have ever been happier.

Elaine had the honor of being escorted into the ceremony by her Son of the Day, and escorted back out by her other two boys. She was a very proud momma, indeed.

Colors of black, ivory, and sage green decorated the venue. The wedding and reception were beautiful, simple, and elegant. The make-your-own-favors at the candy bar were a huge favorite of many of the guests, as well.

To make their special day even more unique, they included a couple very personal touches. They honored various couples whose marriages and Christian examples have impacted their lives by displaying each of their wedding photos. Furthermore, Heather paid respect to her late Mamaw by showcasing wedding gowns that she sewed by hand for her daughters. The sentiments were a very poignant way of paying tribute to many influential people in their lives.

As the reception began, they cut the cake. Matthew was very polite as he fed his new bride. Heather, however, got a little feisty and wiped some icing on his nose. A glimpse of things to come, maybe? :) Shortly after, they tossed the bouquet and garter. To everybody's amazement, Jeremy and Madison both caught each of the tokens signifying the next marriage. Hmm, very interesting...

The reception was not only filled with love, great Southern food, and a mashed potato bar, but also lots of fun and dancing. The bride and groom's first dance was completely romantic (interrupted only slightly by the Mehaffey family's duck calls). They also had father-daughter dances and the lucrative dollar dance, followed by some good, old-fashioned party tunes. The dance floor was hoppin', and everybody had a great time!

To add another super-fun element to the party, they had a "photo booth" set up with their incredible photographers for their guests to dress up and take silly pictures in or use to leave messages to the newlyweds. Here's one of the entire wedding party, and another one of us welcoming Heather to the family. (You can see all of the great photo booth shots by visiting their website* and searching for Matthew and Heather within their clients. Also, you can see a sneak peak of the wedding pictures on their blog. Leave them a comment to let them know what you think, and then check back later for more.)

*Photos by Nashville Wedding Photographers, Chris & Adrienne Scott

After a perfect day of love, romance, sentiment, dedications, fun, partying, and dancing, the happy couple drove off to begin their new lives together. First thing on the agenda: Honeymoon in Cancun!

We couldn't be any happier for the bride and groom. From one Mr. and Mrs. Mehaffey to another Mr. and Mrs. Mehaffey,

CONGRATULATIONS!

Reservations for Two

Saturday night dinner at 7:30
Make sure and bring a cardigan because we may be sitting outside by the pond and I don't want you to get cold.

Love!

This was the subject line and email that I received from Brad early last week regarding our 4th Anniversary celebration. He gave me no other details, and refused to let any hints slip for the rest of the week, despite my multiple pleas. Much to his great pleasure, the suspense drove me crazy!

We were going to be spending the weekend in Illinois helping my brother move and prepare his new house, so I didn't know what he could possibly be planning. I was expecting a simple dinner at TGI Fridays or something, since I know what few restaurants are available in my Illinois hometown. But then Brad whips out this sneaky little trick, and convinces me to bring a dress with us on our trip north. Hmmm... I figured that we must be driving out of town for dinner.

At 6:00 on Saturday, he instructed me to put down my paintbrush and start showering and getting ready for our date. I wasn't sure how this would leave me enough time to get ready and drive to the nearest decent-sized city, but I didn't ask any questions of that ornery face he upheld.

To my surprise, there is apparently a really nice restaurant tucked away within the little town in which I grew up! Brad was sneaky, indeed! We enjoyed a romantic dinner for two at the Firefly Grill. While we waited to be seated on the back deck, we relaxed at the bar, where Brad got a sophisticated glass of wine, and I got a pretty strawberry daiquiri (virgin, of course - much tastier and much cheaper).

After a short while, we were escorted to our secluded table out back by the pond. We loved pretending to be fancy enough for this nice place. When seated, the server asked us if we would prefer "sparkling, spring or tap water." Brad shot me a confused expression, and I quickly requested spring water. He then brought out a brand new bottle of spring water and proceeded to pour it for us. Wow, totally out of our league, and totally so much fun!

I chose the rib eye steak and snow peas and Brad decided to test their "signature elk steak" and whipped potatoes. We were both extremely pleased with our selection and soaked in the sunset, sounds of nature, and the uninterrupted company of our soul mates. It's nice to still be so in love after four years of marriage...

Brad wouldn't let me order dessert at the Firefly Grill; he said he had something else special planned. Following dinner, we drove to the other side of town to a very familiar location. Brad tapped into my nostalgia and surprised me with a trip down memory lane as we pulled into the Homewood Grill parking lot for some ice cream.

My friends and I used to frequent this tiny little ice cream stand when I was younger. We would walk, roller blade, ride bikes, or beg our parents to drive us over to Homewood for some candy (they have everything you could ever want), ice cream (a variety of soft served, hand-dipped, sundaes, and shakes), or some good, old-fashioned junk food (nachos or cheese fries, anyone?).

I abandoned my childhood favorite of two scoops of hand-dipped home-made vanilla ice cream in a waffle bowl to sample a (more adult) turtle shake-n-more, and Brad (not having grown up in this small town, nor being very familiar with its offerings) based his decision off of his favorite Dairy Queen cool treat and went for an M&M shake-n-more hoping it would taste like their blizzard. He was right, and we had a great time reminiscing the "good ol' days" and comparing my childhood ice cream shop in Illinois, Homewood Grill, to his childhood ice cream shop in Indiana, Dari-Licious. I believe I won.

How blessed we are to have enjoyed four wonderful years of marriage. How blessed we are to be able to happily celebrate the milestone together. What a wonderful memory, just perfect for the two of us. I mean, really, who doesn't love getting all dolled up and spending a lovely evening with the one you love?

Oh, and by the way, I was glad that I brought a cardigan to wear. Thanks for thinking ahead, Baby!

Entire Anniversary Celebration Photo Album

Four Wonderful Years

Four years ago, today, Brad and I said our vows, exchanged rings, and began our lives together as Man and Wife.

Four years.

I can't believe it's already been that long. It's gone by so quickly. I remember our wedding, honeymoon, and first (1-bedroom) apartment as if it was only a few months ago.

However, on the other hand, I feel like we've been married forever. It's completely hard to remember my life before it was joined by his. We've come a long way, and we still have so far to go.

My life has been so richly blessed by his presence. God knew exactly what I would need when He brought our two hearts together. Brad is my best friend, my confidante, my lover, my spiritual leader, my other half. He knows me and understands me down to the core of my soul. He quite literally completes me. He is my husband, and the love of my life.

Two are better than one,

because they have a good return for their labor:
If they fall down,

they can help each other up.

But pity those who fall

and have no one to help them up!
Also, if two lie down together,

they will keep warm.

But how can one keep warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered,

two can defend themselves.

A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

I pray that the Lord forever remain entwined in our relationship as that third strand. We would be nothing and have nothing without the Grace that He has extended to us.

I love you, Bradley Jay Mehaffey, with all of my heart, even the point. Thank you for who you are, and for who you are to me. I'm so proud of the man that you are and of the marriage we have created together. Happy Anniversary, Darling. Here's to many, many more blessed years together!

27 Years of Blessings

Today, Don and Elaine are celebrating their 27th wedding anniversary. What an incredible accomplishment! We are all so proud and excited to rejoice with them.

Over the years, they have been blessed in many different ways. This year, they are blessed with an empty nest. To commemorate the 27th celebration of their wedding (and their freedom), they are spending a long weekend together in Chicago; just the two of them enjoying the city as well as each other's company. I can't wait to hear all about their trip as we gaze through 100's of pictures (as she was instructed to take).

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad! I love you so much and am so grateful for the example that you have set. I couldn't have asked for a better set of in-laws.